#i will never be able to make everyone use the & tag correctly

[devondespresso]

i will not dedicate hours to explaining that & pairings are not the lower-focus version of romantic pairings, i will not dedicate hours to explaining that & pairings are not the less important version of romantic pairings, i will NOT--

[bisexual-kane]

So, some insight about why so many older dudes on Reddit and such viscerally hate the Young Bucks is that the Young Bucks make them feel stupid and uncool.

Like, even as late as the 1990s, even when wrestling was the most popular thing during the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude Era, you would still get people who would laugh at you for being a wrestling fan because, dur, don't you know it's FAKE???

So part of the response to that is to insist that you're not a mark, you're a smart fan, someone who is hip to how the business works. Instead of getting caught up in the magic of kayfabe, because you're too smart for that, you analyze matches and assign them star ratings based on performance. You cheer the heel because you get they are putting in the work to add heat to the match. You obsess over TV ratings. You speculate on where storylines should go to build heat. You insist you know better ways to get people over and complain that Vince or Bischoff or Russo is not using someone who is so obviously the next big thing correctly.

It's very much an "I Enjoy the Muppets on a Much Deeper Level Than You" vibe.

But the most important thing of all, though, is that you must always be one step ahead of the wrestlers, bookers, and storytellers. See, you're a smart fan. So you must never, ever, get worked. Because that would be very uncool and lame.

And that's where the Bucks come in.

Maybe it's less obvious now, but after the Bucks left TNA/Impact, part of their brand was to very specifically get heat from all of us dorks on the Internet. These "smart" fans are the ones who are most likely to be going to PWG shows or following NJPW. So how do you get heat in your match? You have to piss off the smart marks.

I think the most obvious example is the Superkick Party. The Bucks start absolutely spamming a move that is usually a protected finisher. They get accused of exposing the business. They are upsetting people who obsess over start ratings and post on Reddit. But they are doing a classic heel move--they are working the audience. And of course, this pisses these people off even more because it reveals that they aren't as "smart" as they think they are. Which just builds into the Bucks' heat even more.

It's why they named their finisher the Meltzer Driver.

It's why they stole the NWO's "Too Sweet" and DX's "suck it."

It's why Matt Jackson kicks out of everyone's finisher like he's John Cena or Roman Reigns despite looking like a doe-eyed pretty girl.

It's why the Bucks became such successful independent wrestlers that they were able to build the second most-successful wrestling company in North America on the back of their YouTube vlog.

But again, the main people they are working are dudes who hate getting worked. And the Bucks are very good at this.

Just, as a personal anecdote, The Bucks are one of my favorite tag teams ever (if not my number one). At their Revolution 2020 match against Hangman and Kenny, I was in the crowd, and I was cheering for the Bucks. But then they grabbed Kenny's arms--Kenny who is supposed to be their best friend, Kenny who they didn't really have an issue with--and they hit him with the Golden Trigger--Kenny's finisher with his soulmate Kota Ibushi. The crowd turned. I turned. I was so infuriated at them, and I realized--they totally got me. For a great moment, I believed wrestling was 100% real, and I hated them so much, and the magic was there, and it was awesome.

Because, actually, it's not more fun to be smarter than the magician. It's not better to be cynical. It's actually pretty cool to not understand how the trick works, to get caught up in the wonder and possibility that just maybe magic can be real.

Wrestling is more fun when you get worked and let yourself enjoy it.

And the Bucks are always working this certain set of fans that are trying aggressively to not enjoy wrestling, not get sucked into it, to show that they are "too cool"--but the Bucks actually reveal that isn't the case. They are marks just like the rest of us. And they hate that.

But, yeah, TL;DR: The Bucks are amazing at specifically working Internet fans for heel hit, but these fans need to prove they are "too smart" for that. But the Bucks are smarter than them, so it makes them feel stupid. Hence all the outrageous hate.

[the-radio-demon-blog]

Hello hello, its me again! *gives a small grin*

Thank you for sharing a bit of insight into your childhood pastimes with me. It was really intriguing!

I used to enjoy tag as well, though I am not very good at card games, minus go fish and possibly old maid. I can play uno though. I don't think I have the best poker face myself. Surprisingly enough, though, I am exceptional at liar's dice. It's a social game of deception and strategy were people make bids and call bluffs on other players while attempting to avoid losing their own dice, so to speak. Its quite fun, I recommend it!

However, math isn't a strong suit of mine, nor is figuring out the probability of things; but some how I have a weird sort of luck with that game in particular. I believe I even made an acquaintance of mine nearly loose his mind in trying to figure out how I was able to guess correctly almost every single time without an ounce of thought put into my strategy haha.

*clears throat and shuffles in place, holding both hands behind her. It's obvious she's holding something*

In any case, that's not the only reason I'm back. I wanted to give you a surprise. You seem the type to appreciate those, I'm assuming.

*glances over into the lobby at all of the flower arrangements present gifted from previous guests*

But I think I'm a little late to the party with the surprise I have for you, haha. Well, great minds think alike I suppose. Anyways, the suspense is probably killing you, so here you go!

*Presents a bouquet of magnolias and violet Louisiana Irises in a sizable vase with a soft, shy smile*

Everyone deserves to at least get a bouquet of their favorite flowers every now and then. Its a token of my respect for you, my appreciation for your time and just to say I'm a fan of your work and radio show.

Also, if you guys need any help around the hotel, I don't mind volunteering! Though I'm not the best at fighting for security purposes, I am quite good at listening if someone needs to express troubling emotions and the like. I am also somewhat of an artist and can help make pamphlets and such for the classes and activities the Princess is providing, if you think that would be beneficial to anyone...

*Sheepishly laughs*

Though, I suppose you would need to discuss such an arrangement with the princess first. In any case, if you think my assistance would be necessary or profitable, I am willing to lend a helping hand wherever it is needed.

"Ah, of course, my dear! I am happy that you found my childhood pastimes intriguing!"

"Hmm...that's quite a curious skill? Terrible at poker yet good at liar's dice? How fascinating! Ah, yes, I have played old maid in my time at the bars. You should truly take up card playing, my dear! It is quite fun!"

"Well, fate and luck works in mysterious ways, darling! That's what keeps life fun, hm? I must also admit my strategies can be erratic. I like to be unpredictable. Once you fall into a pattern, your opponents can exploit it."

Alastor gives you a curious look and tries to discreetly peer behind you.

"Oh my goodness! Thank you, dear!" Alastor takes the flowers eagerly into his hands and sniffs their wonderous scent. He lets out a good humored laugh. "I never thought I'd ever get to smell them again! Hah! As strange as that sounds! It is always nice to meet a fan of my work!"

"Yes, of course I would have to discuss such things with the princess." Alastor tilts his head and grins at her. "That's quite alright that you aren't exactly prowess, not everyone is built to be. However..." Alastor taps his chin. "...the Princess has been organizing this...hmm...this odd "therapy" activity. Perhaps you could help her with that?"

Alastsor sets the vase on the coffee table, taking good care to arrange them in a pleasing position. Then he turns back to her and offers her an arm. "If you would follow me, I can take you to the princess herself if you'd like!"

[zwoelffarben]

#nice #right to repair movement #though I think right to repair should be limited to some extent #I don't want unqualified people trying to fix essential life-or-death things like brakes #or engines

Tags from some video it's not important, but they make me want to talk about right to repair, what it is, and what it ain't.

Right to repair is a specific framing of a more general personal and/or private property right that grants you the ability to alter or have altered on your behalf any object in your possession. Whether you want to upgrade, fix, break, downgrade, or laterally customize the object, the right to repair bestows on you that capability, and the additional unspoken right to choose any qualified person you want to make the desired alterations on your behalf if you yourself are not qualified.

The reason it's such a big deal is because companies don't want you to be able to do this. Apple, Toyota, Ford, John Deer, and so on all want you to be entirely reliant on them as the sole source of repairability and modification so they can take as large a slice of the pie out of that secondary market as they have in the primary market; because if they can charge you for repairs, or refuse to repair it at all (inventing the need for a full cost replacement) that's more profit in the shareholders' pockets.

Having the right to repair does mean having the ability to open up your car and ruin the engine; but everyone who isn't my father would never do that because cars are the most expensive consumer good normal people will ever own, and the tendency among normal people is toward preserve the car's value as a functional object.

Instead they'd take the car to an expert of their choice to be repaired on their behalf, and again Ford etc would rather you be required take it to a liscenced Ford repair person paying Ford repair liscence premiums, even for something as routine as a tire rotation or oil change, because then Ford gets a kickback which is more money than they'd get if you tooke it to the equally, or perhaps more, qualified Moe's Auto Repair that doesn't bother with Ford liscenced repair shop nonsense.

And if someone vastly unqualified to throw a wrench into their car engine does so, and shreks their car's roadworthiness, there are laws defining road worthiness and the privilege of driving which regulate to mitigate the potential damage that behavior can cause without infringing upon the right to repair. Not to mention cars without working engines don't run; just ask my father who somehow managed to completely brick his Ford F150.

...

The right to repair movement isn't telling everyone to repair everything they own themselves, or at least that's not what anyone correctly articulating the point of the right to repair movement is saying, but rather trying to free everyone from the oppressive policies of manufacturers who want a monopolistically large cut of the repairs market, and are using paternalism to justify their unfair business praxises.

[poppitron360]

One thing I felt like HoO really dropped on is the characterisation of the Argo II itself.

Where a lot of shows like Star Wars, Firefly, Doctor Who, and Star Trek really shine is where the ship itself becomes it’s own character.

I’m gonna use firefly as an example here, because I started re-watching it today, and this is something that’s a VERY key theme.

I think Joss Wheadon (the creator of the show) talked a lot about Serenity (the ship) actually being the “ninth cast member”. “Serenity” is the name of both the pilot episode and the follow-up movie, it’s name-dropped in the theme song, and the show is called firefly because it is a “Class-3 Firefly Spaceship”. And we as an audience really connect with the ship- despite the show being only fourteen episodes long (If I was only able to throttle 20th Century Fox… I answer to no god)- and I think the reason we do so is because every single character has their own personal connection with the vessel. Wash being the pilot (Also, if I remember it correctly, it being the place he met Zoë), Kaylee being the engineer, for Simon, it being a safe space to hide his sister from the totalitarian government trying to do experiments on her brain, and Mal and Zoë starting the ship together- Mal naming it “Serenity” after the battle of Serenity Valley which he fought in with Zoë (I could lore-dump about this show ‘til the gorram cows come home). And the whole premise of the show being about surviving with your rag-tag crew on this piece of shit that you love dearly, and just… keeping flying. Ugh, there’s something so magical in the writing that makes you adore the ship itself.

Other examples, like the Millennium Falcon, the TARDIS, and the USS Enterprise, are also good for this.

Now, onto how the Argo II itself:

The only person who really has a personal connection with the Argo II is Leo. The rest of the Seven just feel like they’re… on Leo’s boat. All the food is provided by the magic plates from Camp Half-Blood. Most of the piloting/engineering is done by Leo, and a little bit by Annabeth and sometimes Percy when they’re on the water. You never get the sense that any of the others really love the boat, or have any connection with it at all.

I think that’s the reason why the Seven never felt that close in my opinion. There was never a sense of community. Of people united by a common location.

I think, just love for a place in fiction is something really powerful to me. That’s where Harry Potter most thrived, not necessarily the plot, but wanting to be in the world, go to Hogwarts.

Camp Half-Blood had that charm and homeliness. So did the Waystation in TOA. Camp Jupiter didn’t for me, but I think that was kinda the point. But I never really got that from the Argo II, because of the way it was set up so that Leo was the only one who could really bond with it. And this is what makes Leo so compelling to me, is that he actually connects with his flying ship. I just feel like the Argo as its own character, similar to Serenity from firefly, could’ve been so good if it had been written right and was such wasted potential. It would’ve strengthened that bond between the Seven, and made that “familial” dynamic feel a lot more natural.

In conclusion? Everyone should go watch Firefly on Disney plus. It’s just fourteen, forty-five minute episodes, plus the movie. But man, is it worth it. You will cry at the deaths (why do all the good ones get impaled?). You will laugh at the jokes. You will probably say, “Wait- is that a young Zac Effron?” When a young Zac Effron has a cameo. You will wish you were as badass as River.

Idk, it’s 3:03am and this is basically a good idea of what the inside of my brain looks like most of the time. I’ve mentioned at least six obsessions of mine in this post.

[chwedout]

chwedout has finally reached 1k followers! thank you to everyone who decided to press the follow button, from those who followed me way back in the spiderstingle days to those who only followed me recently, i really appreciate it! to celebrate this milestone, i've decided to do a few things.

first of all, i've finally started a tracking tag — #chwedoutbox. you can find more about it in this post. i can't wait for you all to use it so i can see and share all the cool things you create.

secondly, i've decided to open up my ask box to requests! all you need to do is choose one of the following prompts and send a request through my ask box.

seventeen member + music video (e.g. vernon in rock with you)

seventeen member + going seventeen episode (e.g. mingyu in svt's kitchen for two)

this or that (e.g. left & right era wonwoo or 24h era wonwoo/ long haired jeonghan or short haired jeonghan)

there's no limit to how many requests you can send, go wild if you want to. i just ask that you be patient with me as sometimes i do like to go outside to breathe in fresh air and touch some grass. sending requests on anon is okay too! however, i won't be able to tag you when i do eventually post your request.

now i just want to say a massive thank you to all of my mutuals! being sappy lowkey makes me cringe but i couldn't have reached this milestone without any of you. to my og mutuals (i won't tag you dw) who were here way before i turned into a kpop blog, to my newest mutuals who i probably haven't spoken to, thank you! i hope you all know how much i appreciate you and that you all mean so much to me ♡

first of all my ride or dies- the hhu wives- sarah @vertiny, bec @storyoflight, and alex (idk if you deactivated </3) i literally would not be here without all of you. we've been through so much together and i just want to say that i love all of you so so much! let's all hope that we can one day go to that svt concert together.

j @vcrnons - my dolly in crime and my first ever caratual on tumblr! if i remember correctly, you followed me way back when i hadn't fully committed to being an svt blog yet. thank you so much for being so kind and supportive to me when i first started. i mean it when i say i don't think i'd be here if we didn't become mutuals since your work always inspired me to start creating myself.

ophelia @lee-sanghyeok - another one of my fave vernon stans! thank you for always being a joy to see on the dash! you're so incredibly sweet and i know i can always count on you to send me vernon content when i ask for it.

kashi @jeonsupershy - one of my fave wonwoo stans fr! seeing all of your wonwoo gifs always puts a smile on my face. every time he does something i just know that i'm going to be reblogging one of your stunning gifs later in the day. thank you for always being such an awesome presence on the dash. i'm so grateful to be mutuals with you!

max @scouped - you are so incredibly talented and i really hope you know that! i'm always in awe whenever i see one of your creations on my dash. you definitely inspire me to push the boundaries of my creativity when it comes to making content. i do miss your presence on tumblr but i'm always happy when i see you on the dash from time to time.

tiff @uservernon - my beloved dolly moot! thank you for always being so sweet. you always bring such a fun and bright presence to caratblr and i love seeing you on the dash or in my notifs especially when you're screaming about vernon. the url is still a powermove in my opinion!

maddie @jeonwon-wonwoo - you are genuinely one of the kindest and friendliest people i've met on tumblr. i've had so much fun talking to you about the most random things. i'll never forget our chats about the walking dead and teen wolf. i hope you're doing well!

yena @fairyhaos - my fave joshua stan! i hope you know that every time i see the couch shua pic i think of you lmao. i always love seeing you lose your mind over shua and you never fail to make me laugh with all the tags you leave on posts. thank you for bringing such a positive energy to caratblr! i'm so glad to have you as a mutual.

zaynab @galatariel - another one of my insanely talented mutuals! your gifs are always so gorgeous and always inspire me to go out of my comfort zone and create something new. i always enjoy seeing you make content for the things you love. thank you for being so kind and helpful.

nuri @jjunhui - again, another mutual who is extremely talented! everything you make is just stunning and your svt as text posts gifsets never fail to make me laugh. thank you for being so supportive and kind. i am so grateful to have you as a mutual.

nana @kyeomies - so glad to see that you're back! i've always enjoyed seeing your pretty gifs on my dash and can't wait to see more of your content. i hope you're doing well!

yo @redrcbin - literally one of my most beloved mutuals! i'm still not 100% sure when we became mutuals but i think it's pretty funny if it was because of the c-word game. i always love seeing you on the dash and in my notifs, especially when i see you losing your mind over wonwoo or mingyu. i'm so happy i get to call you a friend.

and to all the mutuals that i haven't talked to or interacted with that much - @jeongtokkie, @kimsmingyu, @wonboos, @leedonghun, and @soonhoonsol - thank you so much for being awesome! i really hope we do get to talk more in the future.

now i'm going to kick myself because tumblr won't let me tag anymore people and i'm pretty sure i've missed out on so many beloved mutuals of mine. i'm extremely sorry if i did, but please know that i appreciate every single one of you so much!

[kinzis-writing]

Jellyfish | Tee Higgins

Summary: a Jellyfish tank in your boyfriend's house, what could go wrong?

Pairing: Tee Higgins x Reader

Requested: Yes | No based on this request.

Warnings: mentions of jellyfish as pets? suggestive content, i think that's all.

Note: This has taken exactly two months and I apologize! I am finally rolling with requests so let me know if you want me to write anything. Also, if this isn't what you wanted, feel free to let me know. This was requested by an anon, so I cannot tag a certain account!

*Not edited or proofread*

Word count: 2.01k

When your boyfriend, Tee, had mentioned getting a Jellyfish tank. You thought he was joking, that was until you walked into his house and noticed big boxes sitting on his living room floor. It was then that you noticed he had bought a Jellyfish tank, and he was getting ready to buy some to put into the tank.

“Hey baby,” Tee greeted as he got up and placed a kiss on your cheek and gave you a quick hug. “How many Jellyfish do you think I should buy for the tank?”

Y/N eyed the boxes before turning her attention to her boyfriend. It was offseason and she knew that he would be back at practice before too long. “You’re actually making a tank?” she asked carefully. “I thought that was just a dream.”

Tee shrugged his shoulders before looking at the computer in front of him, “Why not make It a reality?” He spoke his eyes while staying trained on the computer. “You think three would be enough? What light should I get?”

“I think three is more than enough.” Y/N mumbled not sure on how this whole experience would go. She knew that it had been on her boyfriend’s mind for a minute, but she didn’t know that her boyfriend had been serious. She thought it was one of his intriguing thoughts.

Y/N was right that three was more than enough, seeing as the Jellyfish had not survived the trip the first time. Tee was disappointed that he would not be able to put Jellyfish in his tank right now and He was looking for a safer way to get them to his home. He had to start practicing within the next few days and he was finally getting his tank installed correctly by someone he had paid to come do it.

“Be honest with me, am I getting too crazy?” Tee asked Y/N as he watched the men put the tank together easily and do it in no time.

Y/N shrugged her hands wrapping around his muscular arms, “Maybe a little, but it is why I love you so much.” She muttered, leaning up and giving him a quick kiss on his lips. “Whether I act like it or not, I want whatever you want because I want you happy.” She added honestly giving his arm a squeeze before heading to the master bedroom and grabbing her extra work uniform. She always left clothes here in case she ended up staying all night with him. “I have to go to work but I will see you later.” She told him before kissing him quickly and bidding each other goodbye to head off so she could support herself. One thing she would never do is ask Tee for money or use any of his money, because she has a great Job and can support herself.

It had been two or three months since Tee had gotten his Jellyfish tank installed and he had still yet to put any Jellyfish in it, but the Bengals games had started so his time to focus on his tank was limited. Today they were facing off against the Buffalo Bills in Cincinnati. Y/N had gotten herself ready in her Higgins Jersey and headed to the stadium. She knew that she could meet up with Tee’s mom and sit next to her so they could support their boy together.

Y/N grabbed her clear bag out of the passenger seat of her car once she had found a parking spot and made her way into the stadium. She was a bit early, but lines to the games started to get long within two or more hours before the game. Everyone wanted to make sure they could see the boys practice and warm up.

Once getting past security and getting her pass, she made her way to the stadium seats, Tees mom usually showed up around 30 minutes after her, so she knew that her man’s momma would be there soon. Y/N had made sure that her tickets were next to the field so she could easily reach Tee in case of emergency, but mainly because she could see him for a moment before the game.

“You look fine, can I get those digits?” A voice called up to you as a grin spread on your face. Your heart filled with love as you turned around and walked to the edge of the seats.

You shook your head and thought for a moment, “I have a boyfriend, I don’t think he’d be so happy to share me.” You responded finally leaning over to where you could meet him face to face.

Tee grinned, his perfect smile causing your smile to grow back once more. “You right,” He nodded. “You look great in my jersey, baby.” He then leaned up to meet you in a kiss. It was quick but passionate so attention wouldn’t be drawn to you too consistently.

“You say that every time.” You muttered when the kiss ended.

“Only speak the truth,” He shrugged before Chase was calling him over. “I’ll see you after the game.”

You nodded before leaning down a placing a “good luck kiss” on his cheek and lips, “Go beat those Bills.”

“That’s the plan.” He winked before starting to walk away, He paused for a moment and turned around to face you again, “I love you.” He added before running over to the guys he considered his brothers.

“I love you.” You mumbled to yourself before turning back and walking the couple steps to your seat. Tee’s mother had joined by the time that you had gotten done talking to Tee. “Hey, how are you?” You asked as you gave Tee’s momma a hug before sitting down beside her.

You and Tee’s momma made small talk while you waited for the guys to come out after they finished warming up. “Is he still wanting Jellyfish?” His momma asked you to know that he had discussed this with both woman on many different occasions. “He told me about the mishap.”

You nodded at the mention of his last Jellyfish purchase, “Yeah, He still wants some.” You assured her as the team came running out and you two stood up so you could cheer your man on. “I actually got paid last week and there’s some supposed to be delivered today, I was counting on beating him to his house and getting it ready.” You explained as they did the coin toss and the kickoff started.

“That is very sweet of you, He is so lucky to have someone care for him like you do.” She gushed as the game in front of the two progressed. “He was worried about finding someone because of his job and he didn’t want someone who wanted him for the wrong reasons. I am beyond thankful that he found you.”

You teared up hearing how highly Tee’s mom talked about you. Never had you had any potential in-laws to talk so kindly to you. Most of the time, your ex’s parents didn’t like you or had other things to say about you. It felt nice to have someone on your side since you were deeply in love with her son. “Thank you, that means a lot.” You told her honestly as you blinked the tears away. “I truly love him, and you’re his favorite woman so I am happy that we have this bond.” You explained.

After the conversation settled, you guys’ paid attention to the game. With Tee’s momma yelling at him from the stands to catch the ball, not to drop the ball, and so on. In the end, the Bengal’s had beaten the Bills and it was a win under Cincinnati’s belt.

After the game, you had spoken to Tee’s mom for a bit longer before bidding her farewell and safe travel. You had also found Tee and told him that you were heading to his house, and he could meet you there. To which he agreed and understood because he would be a minute. So, you had made sure to rush to his house, but made sure to be careful enough to not wreck. You had to get his Jellyfish in the tank before he got home so you could surprise him. He hadn’t known that they were ordered and since they were on the cheaper side compared to the items he usually bought, you made sure to buy them for him.

Once arriving at his house, you located the Jellyfish and googled and watched videos on how to properly transfer them so they would not die or have any issues. Once watching the videos and you felt you could safely transfer them. You placed them in the tank and made sure the tank was officially ready.

Once the Jellyfish were in the tank floating around, you made sure to turn the lights off, so they would emit the light of the tank. After watching them intrigued, you quickly tracked Tee’s location before facetiming his mother so you could ask her what she thought.

“Is it set up?” she asked after the initial starter conversation.

“Yes,” You replied as you flipped the camera and showed her the three Jellyfish floating in the big tank that he had bought. “Do you think he’ll like it?” You asked nervously. What if he wanted to buy the Jellyfish himself? What if he had a change of heart? Tee was someone who hated it when you spent your money on him, because he felt as though he had enough money if he ever wanted or needed anything. Which is why you resulted in the Jellyfish since they were $30 apiece.

“Oh, I think he’ll love it.” She spoke with so much emotion in her voice. “I sure do hope that you’re going to be my daughter-in-law.”

You spoke to his mother for a few more minutes before getting off the phone once you tracked your shared location and he was in the driveway. You quickly rushed through the living room and to the front door when you heard the door open.

“Why are the lights off?” He asked once he noticed you walking up towards the door.

You gave him a smile, “I have a surprise for you!” You spoke with excitement. It was getting harder to keep this a surprise and you were beyond happy that he would be seeing what you had been keeping for the past week.

A smirk appeared on his face for a moment, “What kind of surprise?” he asked in a certain tone.

You scoffed a bit knowing where he was going with it but brushed it off as you grabbed his hand and led him to the living room. The LED light lit up most of the space and the three Jellyfish floated around in the cylinder fish tank that he had bought.

Tee’s eyes widen slightly at the sight of the Jellyfish in his tank that he had gotten installed. “Did you buy those for me?” he asked as he turned to you.

You shrugged a huge smile on your face, “Who else would I buy Jellyfish for and store them in your house?” You asked rhetorically.

“I love you so much!” Tee mumbled before turning and pulling you into a hug. You already knew how excited he was, seeing as he was usually cool, calm, and collected. Yet, he was becoming Giddy like a child on Christmas morning because he officially had Jellyfish in his house. “You are the best girlfriend ever.”

You shrugged a cocky smile making its way on your face, “I try.” You joked before meeting him in a kiss full of passion and love. “Seriously though, I love you and I hope you understand how much you mean to me. Think of this as payback for all the “because you’re having a bad day” gifts that I have received from you.” She explained, noticing the happiness all over his face.

“I’m going to marry you one day.”

“That’s the plan, Tamaurice.”

[nocturnal-desolation]

Hello sorry for tagging. I am very sick, my asthma is at its maximum level, my nose freezes, I have no medicine or food. I am in bad shape financially, I am a black disabled, who uses multiple medications, I pay for my food and lodging

Unfortunately I do not have all the resources to keep me safe, that is why I need your help, whatever you can contribute to me will be of great help.

Would you look at that… I have a prime example of how to spot a scam in my asks. It's not very well done, just well enough that some people might fall for it - and some have even reblogged it. You've been redirected to the Fraud Detection Unit, which will take it from here. (actually it's still just me, I'm the fraud detection unit, we have "Fachkräftemangel" in Germany, sorry, jk)

Seriously though… First of all, I'd like to address the fact that it's incredibly sad to play with people's emotions like this. You should be ashamed of yourself, but I'm sure you're not. It's the same with scams asking for help and donations for people and families in Gaza, which has come up a lot recently and is even more despicable because there are actual fundraisers going on (which are official) and these people are in a terrible situation. So to exploit that worldwide sympathy or solidarity and use the inhumane circumstances of these or other people for your scams is disgusting to the core.

But back to this particular ask and blog… The text itself makes no sense. Like, not at all. For example, a " freezing nose" is not a typical symptom of asthma. I've never had asthma, but I'm pretty sure your nose doesn't freeze up when you have asthma. What are you trying to tell me? That you got asthma in the middle of a blizzard? Sorry, I can't help you with that. "Get out of the blizzard!" is all I can tell you. And what is the "maximum level" of asthma? Is that some kind of asthma end boss? Sounds more like you need an ambulance, not money...

That's why it's important to be fluent in English if you want to pretend to be a native speaker. I can't help you there either. I can barely speak my own language, let alone English.

Some other things everyone should notice or look for when getting messages like this:

blog was created fairly recently, no consistency, just reblogged some random things (like posts from 'tumblr staff' lol - no offense) to have something on it at all + obviously otherwise empty blogs that are just begging for money or reblogging other similar posts all the time are even more suspicious

something I haven't seen before either is "Black Lives Matter" being used as bait to appeal to those involved in the movement

randomly generated usernames (what is "toosaladgarden"? I've never had a salad that was too garden, so I don't know - not too important, but in this case it doesn't help to be convincing)

no bio, no age, no country (usually not important, but in this case it is)

non-transparent fundraiser, no one knows why this exact amount of money is needed (I think it even went from $1700 to $1900 since yesterday if I saw that correctly lol) and how the supposed current donations came about (you could put any number in there)

randomly contacted

scammers often use tactics such as emotional manipulation and urgency to evoke sympathy and to prompt a quick response

lack of details, very vague in general, limited information about specific circumstances

But that made me curious and I wanted to know more. You (the scammers) were "smart" enough to use a profile picture that can't be easily traced back to the original source, I'll give you that. But that's a problem for you, because it seems to be the only picture you have of this person with this child, so you had to use it everywhere…

And that's why I was able to trace your picture back to a Twitter / X account that goes by the name "Aska" and the handle askafarao… which also engages in very, very obviously fraudulent requests for money. Every few days or weeks since August 2023, this "X" account posts nothing but new "reasons" why the money is needed. And it's quite funny how little effort they put into it, because the reasons are not creative and half of them don't even add up. But most importantly, somehow there are a couple of different email addresses for different paypal accounts with different names on them. I think we can all agree that unless you're trying to hide something, you don't need more than one name… right? Unless Paypal is going to close your accounts all the time, or you're afraid they will because they're detecting fraudulent activity, you don't need more than one account, right?

TL:DR Let's make this part short and sweet: If you get a message like this, or see a similar post, be aware that it's a scam. Don't reblog it and don't be like, "But what if it's true…" It's obviously not, and when I saw the X account, I actually had a good laugh because this account is a complete mess, even for a scammer.

[statisticalcats2]

God, going through my blog for the tag over-haul and I just....

Motherfucking Cats fandom.

My friends and I privately complain about people harassing and threatening us and accidentally misgender someone (with immediate correction) and it gets a callout post with lots of notes and people dogpiling on and harassing us, and continuing to stalk our blogs and spread lies about us years later and another fucking server infiltration because they're not content to just chase us into privacy.

An anti openly harasses a CSA survivor, including sexual harassment, and no one fucking cares when people try to talk about it. It gets no notes.

Years of death threats and threats of real world violence and no one fucking cares. "How could you be so mean to the people who said they wanted to shoot you???"

None of you actually fucking care about victims or harm reduction. You just care about "gross" fiction. And almost everyone just fucking lets you get away with it.

So yeah, no, I'm never gonna just shut up about it. I'm done making that mistake started years ago where I'd get disparaged for "causing drama" when responding to people directly and publicly harassing people and I'd actually step back.

I'm not stepping back. I shouldn't have to be the bigger person while everyone treats bullying, sexual harassment, stalking, and verbal abuse as normal, innocent things.

Fuck you Vixy, fuck you everyone on the mod team for that Cats zine, fuck you everyone who would publicly complain and threaten me and my friends by name but would throw a fit and claim harassment if anyone dared to complain about them even without naming them, fuck you everyone who shared that callout and stood by it, fuck you all the people who openly didn't care about the truth and just wanted to be able to be violent without feeling guilty, fuck you Cats fan who saw the real-time response to a 15-year-old in another fandom attempting suicide because of bullying over fiction and decided the people who bullied this teenager to attempted suicide were the right side, fuck you Cats fans openly telling your victim you're going to continue stalking them and then crying "doxxing!" when they correctly threatened to contact law enforcement about your self-admitted crime, and fuck you everyone who just stood by and let these people take over the fandom, abuse anyone they wanted, and treated them like there's nothing wrong with them and like there's any validity to their actions and ideology.

[prettyboykatsuki]

yes pls more detail if you can

there is functionally no difference between self-insert and x reader imo. the communities overlap so much they're basically a circle. and while it's possible to come across someone who writes self-insert and not x reader or someone who only writes x reader but never self-inserts, its extremely unlikely. they're the same community to me and most other people

like i cant emphasize enough that they're just the same thing. but i figure you're asking something else so i'll explain like this.

if you want to get specific and technical, on the perspective of writing - "self-insert" tends to be when the author of a fic is injecting themselves wholly into the dialogue and story they're writing. this can be appearance specificity or character traits or actions. but it ultimately means that the author is in some form, directly putting themselves in the story. some authors write self-insert in second pov and some in first.

"x reader," tends to lean more towards a non-appearance specific character. reader can be a manifestation of anyone, not necessarily the author and tend to take on their own livelihoods. none of what i've just said is strict or finite, they're just general trends. they're more akin to an OC in terms of story telling and as a sub category of fic are defined by the use of second person pov for the most part.

this difference is ultimately very arbitrary and this distinction is kind of pointless to make which is why i have to emphasize that i use them interchangeably. most people who write x reader will inevitably have pieces of themselves appear in their x reader which is by definition a kind of self-insert.

the reason people tend to shit on "self-insert" is when things go untagged that break the immersion of a fic. it's completely fine if an author wants to write about them, specifically, screwing their blorbo. but as someone reading a fic, specifically if you're going into the x reader tag - you'll want to be able to project some parts of yourself in the story your reading and it can be frustrating to come across that.

that being said, no reader is entitled to that. nothing can be completely catered to everyone and if an author wants to post the most specific fic ever about themselves that's their prerogative. the only thing the author is responsible for is tagging it correctly.

but a lot of people (very entitled people) feel like everything has to be catered to them, and this entitlement appears doubly in the x reader genre because it involves and engages the audience more than other fics do.

so the reason people dislike self insert specifically is because it isn't catered to them. i do think the way things go untagged is a huge issue and i think inclusivity is something worthy of being discussed - but ultimately there is nothing wrong with raw-dog self insert. go and make yourself fuck that guy.

[nururu]

Hi. So I saw your posts about the x reader stuff, and I'm sorry that your having your time on Tumblr ruined by a community you aren't apart of. I know the tag feature has been an issue with a lot of people in tons of different communities.

But I am genuinely curious, because shouldn't this be something your more mad at the Tumblr tag function or just Tumblr in general for? Like I checked the posts you showed in the video, and both seem to be tagged fairly normally, and neither seemed spammed with tags. So wouldn't it be more productive to submit reports to Tumblr about the lack of the tag function reflecting your blocked/muted tags and creators?

As someone from the x reader side, I can assure you that we aren't doing this stuff maliciously, and I know I can speak for a lot of people on here when I say that we just want everyone to enjoy their time on the site. But taking the anger out on the creator when the fault really is with the site's tagging feature itself doesn't really solve anything.

Especially since this is an issue much bigger than just fanfiction side, as I know many artists try their best to tag their art with phobias that may trigger people in a particular piece, and how the tagging system is now, it's not really able to help as effectively as it should.

But anyways, again I'm sorry this is having a negative impact on your time here. I really do hope they get this stuff sorted out soon. And I highly recommend that you submit a report to possibly further help the push for a better tagging system.

I hope you have a wonderful day. ❤

Since 2012 when I started using Tumblr, it's always had issues with how it's functioned and how the tagging system has functioned. That's why it's userbase came together as a whole to do a damn good job at making sure things were tagged properly so people wouldn't have these issues with the tagging system (that has never once been perfect since the beginning of Tumblr and most likely never will be.) I'm specifically mad at x reader writers because they are the ONLY people who do not tag properly.

Example: don't tag x reader stuff with main fandom tags. Like instead of tagging it [character name] AND [ character name x reader], tag it with JUST [Character name x reader] instead of tagging it with [show name] AND [Show name x reader] tag it with JUST [Show name x reader]

That way, when I mute "show/character name x reader", it will actually mute it. The I can properly avoid it. But when you tag it with all the main fandom tags as well, it gets unmuted and I can no longer avoid it.

Also x reader writers will tag it with EVERY main fandom tags. Not just the characters they've wrote about, but every single strawhat. So I'm seeing usopp x reader in the Luffy tag.

Truly, this is less of "Tumblr tag system not working" and moreso "people not using the tag system properly and ruining its purpose". If I tagged every single dog I saw with cat tags, it would show up in all the cat tags. So when people search cats, all they'll get is dogs. Not that they hate dogs, but it's NOT what they're looking for. And just because I want everyone to see dogs, doesn't mean I should force them to.

Tumblr doesn't use an AI to auto tag things and sort them properly. It uses it's userbase to do that. If it's userbase isn't using it right, it doesn't work.

I am 1000000% blaming x reader writers. Every single fandom has this issue. Ive seen multiple viral posts complaining about this NOT just from the one piece fandom. It's inconsiderate, and rude, and ruins many peoples tag pages, fyps, AND dashes.

It's not my responsibility to fix an issue I didn't create. All it would take is for this one group of people to stop accosting everyone and start using the tag system as it was intended. This is the first time in my 12yrs on this site where it's been an issue. And it's because none of these writers tag correctly. Simple as that. Tumblr can't stop "dog" from being sorted into the "cat" tag if everyone is tagging dogs as cats.

Also it's not an accident or simply forgetting. It's intentional. And it shouldn't be bc it ruins everyone else's experience.

[qpr-prompts]

Will there be any more prompts?

hi hello!!! this blog has been suuuper dead. mod tragedy is super busy, and i think qce might've just lost interest in tumblr altogether, but im still around!! (also, im engaged to my qpp now??? queerplatonic MARRIAGE is REAL guys)

unfortunately i dont think im all that good at coming up with prompts on my own :( i started this blog because i really want to see more qprs written about and drawn in fandom! ill try my best to come up with some ideas if there's still interest in filling this niche! in the meantime, the inbox is always open for you to send prompts of your own!!

now, this part is slightly unrelated but since this blog has been dead, i want to say it somewhere! i know a while back there was a movement to start (tagging QPRs on AO3) with the tilde (~), but AO3 support didn't go for implementing the idea on their own? if i recall correctly, they told everyone to just do it themselves and added the idea to a waitlist. which... means we'll probably never see it, given AO3's track record :(

but since then, ive come across a different archive project that's just like AO3 called squidgeworld archive (SqWA)! they've (officially implemented the tilde as a relationship marker, as well as given QPRs their own relationship category)! its been super refreshing to be able to correctly tag and post fanfictions on there as QPR and have it be recognized, so that's where ive mostly been posting my own works. the tag wranglers on SqWA are also super quick to canonize tags and make them available for everyone to use, so it's very easy to trailblaze a fandom on there, and squidge is extremely responsive to their users so it feels a lot nicer than AO3 :)

~ Mod Comedy

[rocketturtle4]

The Eclipse Takeaway - It's about the kindness

Alrighty folks I hadn’t decided whether I was going to write this post or not because all of ya'll already know the show is great, but right now I feel like doing it so might as well.

@wen-kexing-apologist @plantsarepeopletoo @thegalwhorants @grapejuicegay @dropthedemiurge you all enjoyed my eclipse journey so tagged in case you want to read this

I already did a much more self-indulgent post of how Akk affected me personally but I wanted to talk a bit about how much the kindness in this show resonated with me.

The Stairs Shot

The first time I was utterly struck by the kindness of the show was with this moment with Khan and Ayan on the stairs

After watching Khan spy Ayan with first Akk and then Thua, combined with his previous warnings to Thua, on how dangerous Aye was, I full expected this confrontation to BLOW UP.

The framing of this initial shot and the power dynamics implied by this difference in height did nothing to temper those expectations

And yet…

It doesn’t blow up, and not just because Ayan keeps a level head, but because Khan never loses his in the first place. He approaches the conversation softly, mostly trying to make sure that Ayan isn’t toying with Akk or Thua’s feelings and then apparently giving him his blessing to date Thua, even as Ayan correctly notes that Khan wishes to date Thua himself (even if he can’t admit that out loud.) This scene also resonated with me for the way, as both parties speak with kindness they move closer onto the same level (literally) as Ayan moves up the stairs.

The kindness makes them more equal.

This got me thinking about the way kindness to used in so many parts of the show to connect our isolated characters in together.

Khan being Bruce Wayne

Khan choosing to reach out to Thua via an anonymous internet friend is a beautiful example of this kindness, not for how it helps Thua (who I’ll get too) but for how it helps Khan. The closeness he gains through anonymity to check in on Thua and try to keep him safe makes him realise how much he wants to be able to do this in person. Which in turn leads to him prioritising Thua over his prefect responsibilities when he goes to the rally and reveals his identity.

Khan choosing kindness once, makes him more able to choose kindness again.

Uncle Dika

It is clear from the beginning of the show that Dika’s presence had a pretty clear impact on the school when he was there, at least for our main cast. Akks visceral feelings of betrayal at his absence come from the belief that someone he trusted has abandoned him for (he believes) no reason.

Dika’s kindness is seen again in the moment in episode 7 when Khan is acting out different characters (specifically the teachers) for his friends to guess and when he acts as Dika his words and actions are unbelievably kind and EVERYONE knows immediately who he is enacting despite the length of time it has been since they saw Dika (it’s also realistic enough to trigger poor Ayan)

Ayan himself is obviously a wonderful example of his uncle’s kindness with every flashback we see of them (and Chadok and Dika as well) is irrevocably altered by Dika’s kindness even though, with Dika’s death, we see Chadok’s regression and fear forcing him back into a space of repression and unkindness.

Ayan

Ayan is undoubtedly the heart of kindness in this show and it was so unexpected to me that, given what he knew from the beginning about Akk and his Uncle’s death, he continues to choose to be kind. This kindness is shown throughout the show to be the means of far greater change and persuasion than any other tactic used (Fear, Anger, Defiance, Hate, Financial Enticement, Neutrality etc.)

We see this with the World Remembers Gang, when he successfully gets them to leave their location with a quiet suggestion that they’ve done enough that day (Leading Akk to even more suspicions whoops)

We see this with Khan in the above conversation and again later with his encouragement to Khan to tell Thua the truth

We see this with Thua and the way Ayan notices he’s not okay and sets up the conversation with his mum. Ultimately, in my opinion, it is Ayan’s kindness that convinces Thua to fight for the change (regardless of what you think of his methods) where all the other pressure he was under only left him to sink down, Ayan’s kindness causes him to rise up.

Akk

Before I talk about Ayan’s kindness with Akk, I want to talk about Akk’s kindness with Ayan, because their entire relationship comes about (in my opinion) because even as they are suspicious of each other, they do remain fundamentally kind. We see this in the early stages most clearly in this moment

And when Akk asks the teachers to be responsible more managing Ayan.

But even before this, the sitting together in class and the volunteering to help train him in the martial arts class weren't steeped in malice. Yes, these things were about keeping tabs (and maybe wanting to be close for unacknowledged reasons) but regardless of complicated motivations Akk takes these things seriously and does not use them as a chance to bully or otherwise make Ayan’s life at school more difficult (think semantic error style) even if he wishes Ayan would just follow the rules already.

Additionally a key moment of understanding and softening between them comes from a moment of pure human kindness, when Ayan see’s Akk feeding the dog.

This friendliness builds up because as Akk remains kind, despite his suspicions, Ayan responds with kindness despite his suspicions (and actual knowledge of Akks actions)

Ayan again

Ayan’s support of Akk through all this is incredibly central to the story so I’m not going to go into it in detail. His kindness towards Akk extends to the point of covering up his wrong doing as he sees Akk for who he is and prioritises Akks mental safety over finding out the truth of his death. But all this came about because throughout their initial antagonism, harm was never Ayan's primary intent.

Another moment

Another moment which struck me on my initial watch through was this moment

Where Akk apologises to The World Remembers gang even as he follows his orders and takes away the things they’re using to protest. (I think it's around episode 10?) The shock and confusion on their faces as he does this, and their immediate relinquishing of their things compared to their loud anger over his removing them on other occasions (when in the past he stepped forward not with apology but instead with anger) highlights to me how he has changed, and how his new kindness de-escalates the situation (in much the same way Ayan’s had some episodes earlier).

Related thoughts on the Isolation of the Characters

The isolation of Akk, Thua and Khan at the start of the show is a grounded foundation. Akk is desperately scared of being perceived as weak (in terms of his authority and management - this later is added to by his fear of being gay), Khan is desperately scared of being perceived as Gay, Ayan is isolated as a newbie and Thua is isolated as an ?out gay person in the school. (Thua’s identity seems to be known by his classmates but not his teachers so not sure on the details here but he is definitely isolated). It is these characters reaching out to each other in kindness, and continuing to reach out to each other in kindness despite the difficulties that arise as their identities shift and grow that results in positive change within themselves and within the school.

Brief mention of Thua

Just to officially state my opinion on the record I am absolutely including Thua as part of this without caveat, he is the most isolated character and his change is wrought by Ayan’s kindness causing him to wish for change. His anger came from a place of hurt and I don’t view his actions as more extreme than Akks, especially as neither the banner or the fire were likely to hurt anyone. His goal of drawing attention to the wrongdoings of the school made sense and though it was NOT driven by kindness, it was pushed on by the desire to have a kind place for all people, (especially LGBTQIA+ people).

Forgiveness

I loved how everyone in episode 11 got to be angry, Thua at Ayan, Ayan at Chadok, Khan and Wat at Akk etc. They were allowed to have these emotions and express these emotions and in doing so they didn’t end their relationships or loose their friends. Everyone’s anger was used to create understanding because THEIR ANGER WAS MET WITH KINDNESS.

The forgiveness of ALL our teenagers in the final episode underlined this theme of kindness with the welfare teachers standing up for Akk and Thua, The World Remembers gang forgiving the boys because they sincerely apologised and were regretful.

And of course Akk coming out to his parents.

Final thoughts

Kindness isn’t perfect of course, in some ways Akks parent’s kindness lead to his own warped self image and Ayan’s kindness to Thua in part lead to some of the not kind choices he made.

Many shows have examples characters choosing not to forgive and that is a valid and healthy choice (one we could all stand to make more often). I’m not saying that always being kind to everyone is the right choice, and it’s certainly not a sustainable one.

Instead I’m highlighting how this show used kindness in defiance of isolation, in defiance of jealousy, in defiance of anger and in defiance of hate.

For the record, rating wise this show got 97% making it equal third overall out of 77 BLs and counting. I loved it for so many reasons and I honestly can’t wait to watch it again.

[ruggiethethuggie]

Cooking with Chef Ruggie

Summary: You've been enrolled in culinary school for a few months now. Today's task- making Fondant Potatoes with your assigned partner, Mr. Ruggie Bucchi.

WC: 3382 Tags: one shot, fluff, culinary school, gn!reader, this has an actual recipe you can follow lmao, Ruggie is really good at cooking, he's also so helpful, mild cussing

a/n: thank you @the-dumber-scaramouche for this super cute, uwu idea! I can't wait to see and read about your chef oc ❤️

You came into class, looking at the board behind your professor to see what was in store for the day. You had been in culinary school for a few months now and every day your professor would write on the board something relative to your lesson for the day. To your surprise, the board simply just said “pommes fondant”, or Fondant Potatoes. Your lesson from the day before dealt with the different types of oils and how each affects the searing of different foods and can even help infuse flavors into them when used correctly. Fondant potatoes were seared on both sides, so you figured it made sense to be in today's lesson, but what was your professor going to do- make them for the class?

The professor got up from his desk once the clock struck the hour; he never missed a second of teaching. It was clear from his enthusiasm every day that he thoroughly enjoyed what he did. “Alright, so can everyone see the board? This is what we have going on today,” he started to say. Around the room you could hear the oo’s and ah’s of the other students. Fondant potatoes weren’t ever something you really experienced; simple as they were, it was still a nicer way to make potatoes. You were just used to the regular baked and french fries variety.

“So are you making these for us then?” you heard one of the cheekier students ask as he raised his hand, smirking at his friends around him. The professor chuckled for a moment and shook his head. “Actually, no. You all are going to make these. You’ll be in the kitchen today. Each of you has been assigned a partner, so lean on them and help each other. You’re not only going to be graded in technique and execution of the recipe, but also how well you work with others. I’m watching,” he said, giving a few students an obvious side eye. Your fellow students seemed pretty excited about being able to work in the kitchen today, already chatting amongst themselves as the professor started to go through his list and read off the assigned pairings.

“Y/N,” he said. Your ears perked up, waiting for him to tell you who would be your partner today, hopefully not that obnoxious guy across the room. You knew he would just shittily try to do the recipe by himself because “he just knows better” and would ruin it, leaving you with a bad grade without even being given a chance. “Your partner is,” he said, running his hand across his paper, “Ruggie”. He pointed out the student a few tables over from you. Honestly, you had ever really noticed him, which was surprising to you. He was not bad to look at, and the way his messy, biscuit brown hair kissed the side of his face and forehead made it hard for you not to swoon over. 

He got up from his table and made his way to the back where the kitchen setups were, you took it as a sign and also got up and made your way back there. Ruggie was looking at the recipe sitting on the counter as you approached the work space. “Hi, I’m Y/N,” you said, holding out your hand to him. He looked up at you as he put the card down and smiled, taking your hand and shaking it. “Ruggie,” he said. You let go of his hand, but couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt in yours. “So… have you ever made these before?” you asked as you picked up the recipe card and started reading it. “Yeah, a time or two before. They’re not that hard to make, just have to take your time with it,” he said confidently. “You?” You looked up from the card, meeting his eyes. For a moment, you lost all thought process, getting lost in the cool, blue-gray hues of his them. “Hello?” he said, confused. “I-I’m sorry,” you said looking back at the card. “I haven’t made them before. I’ve never even eaten them, but they look really good from the picture.”

Ruggie took the card from your hand, looking it over once more, and placed it on the counter. “That’s ok. If you don’t care, I can kinda take the lead if you want. I’ll share all my secrets with you,” he said, putting his hand behind his head and grinning. “Sure, I don’t mind. I have no clue what I’m doing with these,” you said, laughing back. “So where do we start?” you asked as you made your way to the sink to wash your hands. Ruggie followed suit and washed his hands as you dried yours. “Well, we start with the Yukon potatoes, gotta slice ‘em a certain way,” he said. You nodded as you grabbed the potatoes from the ingredients provided by the professor on the counter, taking them to the sink and washing them. “So how do you have to slice them?” you said, bringing the now washed potatoes over to Ruggie. Ruggie had out a cutting board and knife, ready to start his prep. “Well, the potatoes are supposed to be thick, but will melt in your mouth when you eat them. So you take em,” he said, grabbing a potato,” and cut like this.” You watched as he finished cutting them all. “Wait, these in the picture don’t have skins like these,” you said looking back and forth at the potatoes he had cut and the picture on the card. “Yep! That’s where the next step comes in,” he hummed. “Look in that drawer over there and see if there’s like a round cookie cutter in it.” He gestured his head to one of the drawers near the sink behind him. You opened it and dug through all the utensils in it; finally, you found a round cookie cutter. “Here ya go,” you said as you handed it to him. “Thanks.”He smiled.

He took the cookie cutter and used it to cut the center of the potatoes, making them look like little cylinders. “Ohhhh, that’s pretty neat. Looks cool,” you said in awe. “It ain’t that special,” he snickered. You rolled your eyes at him playfully. “Yeah, well to me that looks pretty cool.” Ruggie chuckled again. “Alright, so next we gotta get the pan and oven ready. Could you preheat it to 450 degrees for me, please, while I finish these up? Then we just need a good sized skillet for ‘em.” You nodded as you went to the oven and set it to preheat like he instructed. You found a bigger skillet in the cupboard and held it up. “This a good size?”

Ruggie looked over and nodded. He was busy patting the potatoes dry, trying to get rid of the starchy juices that came from cutting them. You put it on the eye, turning the heat on to medium. You glanced at the recipe to see what was next. You took the avocado oil sitting out and used it to grease the pan. Ruggie just smiled as he watched you work, seasoning his potatoes with salt and pepper. “Alright, the oil is about ready for the potatoes. Time to get to searin’,” you joked as you took each potato and gently put it in the pan. Ruggie shook his head at your silliness, grabbing the herbs and cloves of garlic from the ingredients. You could see him out of the corner of your eye as he crushed the garlic. As much as you wanted to watch how he smashed it so easily with the muscles in his arm flexing each time, your mind was preoccupied with watching the potatoes on the stovetop. Once golden on the underside, you had to flip them over to sear the other side.

“Wow, that looks amazing. The sear is like.. perfect,” Ruggie said, peering over your shoulder. “Yeah, I’m like an expert searer actually. I actually got a National prize for it,” you teased. Ruggie gave you a stare, still smiling at you though. “Wow, I had no idea my partner today was a world renowned chef already. Guess I don’t have to do anything else then, shishishi,” he snickered. He picked up his dirty cutting board and knives he used and put them in the sink. You could hear him run the water for a second and turn it off behind you, so you turned around to see what he was doing. He came back to the counter with a wet paper towel and cleaned it. Wow, he seems pretty chill. Not to mention, he cooks and cleans? Seems like a house husband, you thought to yourself.

“Okay, so the recipe says once seared to add the herbs and butter into the pan. Could you grab me the butter, Ruggie?” you asked. To your surprise, Ruggie laughed at your request. Nothing is funny? “We don’t need butter, I got something better,” he beamed. “But the recipe says to use butter?” you said, confused at what he was planning. “Yeah, it does. But think of it… more like a suggestion,” he said as he took a few steps backwards out of the work space and then scurried to the back of the room. Past the workspaces were the bigger fridges and pantries. They had extra ingredients and were free to use if the students chose to. Ruggie came back a few moments later, a container in his hand. He brought it to you and let you read the label. “Beef fat?” you said looking at him. “Shh, shh. Don’t say it too loud,” he said looking around. “Can’t have these other guys knowin’ our secrets, now can we?” 

You shrugged and complied with his suggestion, adding it to the pan. Ruggie put in the sprigs of thyme and rosemary and then the crushed garlic. He happily smelt the air above the pan, closing his eyes to really take it in. “Wow, it smells so good already. These are gonna be so good. I can’t wait to eat later,” he purred. You used a spoon to help glaze the tops of the potatoes with the liquid. “So, why the beef fat? What difference does that make?” you asked curiously. Ruggie grinned wide as he answered. “Well, ya see, the beef fat actually gives it more flavor than just regular old butter. You kinda get some of that beefiness infused in the potatoes. It’s not like they taste like beef, but damn does it makes ‘em taste way better.”

“Time for the oven now, right?” you asked, taking the food off the eye. “You got it, that’s right,” Ruggie said, snapping his finger at you. You put the pan in the oven carefully. You brushed your hands together and looked at Ruggie. “And now we wait,” you said smiling. “How long are they in there for?” You picked up the card off the counter to check. “Uh, about 25 to 30 minutes, gotta make sure they’re nice and tender,” Ruggie chuckled. He wiped his own hands off on the hand towel by the oven and set the timer. “So what made you join culinary school, wanna own a restaurant or something?” he asked.

“No, not really. Truthfully, I don’t even know what I want to do after this,” you groaned. “I like the idea of owning one, but I don’t know if it’s for me. I just love the idea of marrying flavors together, putting stuff together. The look on people’s faces when they eat my food? Man, it makes my heart full. I just- I like it, that’s all.” You stopped yourself from saying any more, not wanting to talk about yourself too much and sound vain. Ruggie looked at you pleased, content listening to you talk about your passions. “What about you, Ruggie?”

“Oh, me?” he said. “Well, shishishi. I work a lot of side jobs to make money. Catering is one of my biggest payers, but you can make a lot more as one of the cooks. So I’m here to finish school so I can do that, and who knows, maybe one day I’ll own my own catering place.” He was leaning his back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t speak with the same passion as you did, but it was obvious he enjoyed cooking. “You seem like you know your way around the kitchen. The places never let you cook before?” you asked.

“I mean, one of the catering places had this chef who was super chill. He taught me a lot when I worked there, even how to make these,” he said pointing at the recipe card. “He doesn’t do catering any more so I can’t work with him. But he would always show me stuff if he had the chance.” You nodded your head at his response. “That’s cool, sorry you don’t get to see him really now. Why do you work so many jobs anyway? You don’t look old enough to have a shit ton of debt,” you asked curiously. Part of you wondered if you were prying too much. “Well, someone’s gotta pay my bills.” He laughed. “I just don’t like the idea of struggling, so I work a lot so I won’t ever have to.”

He smiled softly at you, making you look away and try to find something else to put in your line of view. You were trying so hard to not seem flustered, to not seem weird. You were brought back to reality as Ruggie approached you, his arm reaching in your direction. Oh god, what is he doing? What is happening? He smiled as his arm went behind you; you closed your eyes shut trying to process what was happening. And then you heard it- the beep on the stove as Ruggie turned the timer off behind you. “Sorry, ‘scuse me,” he said as he grabbed the oven handle to open the door. You were so in your head about Ruggie, you didn’t even notice the timer was going off. You moved out of his way so he could take the pan out. Now you just felt stupid for thinking it was something more than that.

Ruggie took the pan and put it on one of the unused eyes on the stovetop. The potatoes were glistening under the lights, they looked perfect in every way, in your opinion. You took a spoon and used it to glaze them some more with the juices in the pan, only making them shine more. “These … look so good,” you whispered. “Wait til teach tries ‘em. We’re definitely getting a good grade on this little lab,” Ruggie purred. “Well, we gotta plate them first,” you laughed. Without even finishing your sentence, Ruggie was grabbing two plates from the cabinet. He put them both down on the counter. “Y’know, I’m no good at this plating stuff,” he nervously laughed.

“No biggie, I love plating. It’s a way for me to show my creativity,” you said as you gently started placing some of the potatoes on one plate. Ruggie watched as you carefully plated them and then lightly glazed them with more pan sauce. “Your plating is so clean. What’s your trick?” He smiled. You shrugged your shoulders and gave him an “I don’t know” look as you laughed a bit. “I guess I’m just that good,” you said with another laugh. “But really, it’s just taking your time with it. If you go too fast, the juices and everything spill and then it just looks sloppy.”

Ruggie nodded his head as he gestured to your professor walking around the workspaces. “Check it out, teach,” he hummed as he made a ta-da gesture to the plated Fondant potatoes. The professor gave a look full of surprise and excitement. “Wow, they sure do look amazing! Guess I’ll have to try them out,” he gleefully said as he picked up a fork and cut the potato. The fork easily glided through the potato, it was so tender. As he took his bite, the teacher closed his eyes in ecstasy. “Now that is delicious,” he hummed. Ruggie looked at you with a beaming smile. “So?” Ruggie said to your professor, waiting for him to finish.

“Well you two definitely pass, with flying colors even. But I gotta know, what’d you put in this?” You smiled widely, excited to boast about your food. “Well we actually used-“ you started to say. Ruggie cut you off before you could say anything more. “We can’t give away all our secrets. Not even to you, teach,” he snickered. Your professor hummed in amusement. “You’re right. A good chef never tells his secrets. Once you two are done cleaning up, you can have whatever food you have leftover and leave for the day. Great work, guys!” And with that, he left and it was just you and Ruggie once more.

Ruggie turned to look at you. “So whatcha wanna clean? I’ll do whatever you don’t wanna do. I don’t mind,” he said sweetly. You looked at the work space and your eyes trailed to the sink full of dirty dishes. “Uh, is it bad if I hate doing dishes?” you asked coyly. Ruggie shook his head and grinned. “No, not at all. I’ll do ‘em.” Ruggie made his way over to the sink, rolled his sleeves up, and started the water. You grabbed a few paper towels and used the running water he had going to get them wet. You finished up wiping down the counters and putting stuff away as Ruggie was washing the dishes. 

Ruggie could see you eyeing the plate of potatoes from the corner of his eye. “You can go ‘head and eat some while you wait on me,” he snickered. “Are you sure? I can wait, it’s ok,” you tried to reassure him. But truthfully, your mouth was watering so bad, you wanted them now. “Shishishi, yeah. Eat away, just leave me some,” he said with a wink. He didn’t have to tell you twice, you were already at the plate and grabbing your fork. You cut up one of the potatoes and took the small piece into your mouth.

Your taste buds exploded in joy. The amount of flavor that came from every bite was intoxicating. You never knew potatoes could taste this good. The sear on the top and bottom gave a nice, crunchy contrast to the soft, tender inside. You felt bad as you looked at Ruggie from the other counter. He worked just as hard as you did today and he’s still doing dishes and can’t enjoy his own food. But there was one way he could enjoy it with you.

“Open,” you said as you held the fork with a potato on it close to his face. He looked over and laughed at the display. “Feeding me? Like a baby?” he teased. “Oh come on, I feel bad I’m over here pigging out and you’re still doing stuff,” you said. You gave him a pleading face and he rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay. Fine,” he said quietly. He let you feed him the potato; his face giving the same expression you did when you ate them. “They’re so good, damn. We did a good job,” Ruggie hummed as he finished the potato. You took turns taking bites for yourself and feeding Ruggie bites afterwards.

Soon enough the plate was finished, and Ruggie took it and the fork from your hands. You crossed your arms over your chest and waited for him to get done. As Ruggie finished and drained the sink, you handed him the hand towel that was hanging on the oven handle. “Y’know, I think we make a pretty good team,” Ruggie said with a chuckle as he dried his hands off. “You think so? I mean I guess we do work pretty well together,” you grinned. “Yeah, we do,” he said, smiling back. “Maybe next time he’ll let us pick our partners, that way I can pick you and we can bring our A game again.” Ruggie lifted up his hand, holding it there for a high five. You laughed and gave him one. “Yeah, together.”

© please do not copy and or repost my work as your own, my brain is massive and these are my thoughts.

[andreal831]

I understand you have your favorite characters and preferred ships, but you don't need to tear down characters and ships you dislike to uplift the ones you do like. People can like their Klaus ships, just the same way you like your Elijah ships. And it's even to create fantasy ships for fanfic purposes. Fanfic isn't real anyway, so it's not that serious. It's all just in good fun. And as for your point about Klaus and Genevieve, it's okay for Klaus to have some fun too and for women to be interested in him too. Klaus and Genevieve were both consenting adults, it wasn't even a serious relationship, so I don't see the problem with it. You make it sound as if women who show interest in Klaus and not Elijah are any lessee than those who are interested in Elijah. Not everything revolves around Elijah, not everyone had to be pining over him only. He's not the only one allowed to have sexy time. I'm just saying.

I say this with all due respect, if my post about my least favorite ships upset you, you may need to take a step back from fandoms or just tumblr specifically.

When we are in fandoms, it's important to protect our own peace, so block tags you don't want to see or avoid reading posts that may trigger you. I was specifically asked what my least favorite ships are. I tagged it correctly and emphasized it was my opinion multiple times. It doesn't need to affect you or your opinions/favorites. If you disagree, that's absolutely fine. It does not impact my opinions, just like my opinions shouldn't impact you. Fandoms are fun and we can have great discourse but this response isn't it.

I'm not sure if you are a regular follower and just having a rough day and this set you off or if you are new and went through my blog, either way, you've read my posts and know that I always answer truthfully and try to stay as consistently as possible. Yes, I have biases and welcome people to call me out on them. However, I don't believe that's what's happening here. But I'll still address your concerns.

First, I never tore down any characters in that post. Rather I addressed why I didn't like the ships. Critiquing a character/ships is not the same as tearing them down. Art is meant to be critiqued. Second, I did not use that post to uplift any of my ships I like. I personally think you should be able to like characters/ships without having to discuss others. I often avoid talking about characters/ships I don't like because it brings discourse like this and I don't prefer it. But again, I answered an ask. I also never said you can't like a Klaus ship. Klamille is a top 5 ship for me. But I won't apologize for not liking his other, more abusive ships. You can like them all you want, but just because you do, it doesn't mean I need to. Yes, Klaus and Genevieve are consenting adults, I never claimed they weren't. That is the least of their problems. The problem lies in the fact that she was plotting against his family, specifically plotting to murder his unborn child. Especially considering Klaus has always made Rebekah feel bad for her choice in men when he is actively inviting their enemy into their home.

And finally, I get you were upset by my post but this idea that I don't like these ships because they don't revolve around Elijah is a little absurd. I even mention an Elijah ship I don't like. There are actually several that I've discussed. I don't like this idea that every character has to be obsessed with one character. It doesn't make sense for the specific characters and makes a boring story. Again, Cami is one of my top favorite women in the show which negates a lot of the points you made.

I'm sorry you go so upset by that post. Tumblr should be a fun place where you engage with material that makes the fandoms exciting. If you have any more concerns, I welcome you to reach out. Hopefully in a less hostile tone next time.

Hope you have a great new year!

[mouthsfullofsharpteeth]

I noticed in a tag you said you had vampire Alex thoughts.

Could we hear them?

yes. yes you can. answering this days after you sent it, but thats because i had too many thoughts to properly pin down, and i wanted to be able to actually list some headcanons :>

so i have two different sort of thoughts for this, one being in a post canon setting that i've been roleplaying and am probably going to try and convert into a fanfiction format which i would post, so i can say more about that one later. but in this post i'm gonna talk about my other concept, which takes place during college in a pre-canon/alternate universe setting.

cw for animal death, violence, general vampire and canon typical stuff

alex getting turned was essentially him being a failed midnight snack. he's leaving a party that involved some of his cast and crew, he might be a little drunk and so he makes for easy prey. as alex is passing an especially dark part of the road, he get's pounced on by some hungry vamp, immediately starts freaking out, because even though alex likes horror this is still a bit much for him with no warning. he should have been dead meat, but the vampire gets attacked by something (or someone) else, giving alex the perfect chance to flee. i'm using twilight logic here too for the turning, so when his attacker becomes the attacked, some vampire blood falls into his open neck wound, and thats what kickstarts his turning.

after that, alex is holing up in his room for a few days, sick and exhausted and hurting and so so hungry, but unable to keep any food down, his body practically repelling it. at some point, he gets this urge to go into the woods, and i have this image in my head of him going completely radio silent to everyone, just off in the forest for WEEKS. no on hears from him at all, which is so unlike alex, because even though he can be bitchy sometimes, he is fiercely loyal to his friends and would never just up and disappear like this. in reality though, alex doesn't even feel like alex anymore. he's a new vampire, doesn't even know fully what's happening to him, and is inadvertently starving himself to death. he's delirious, 90% out of his mind. all the humanity gone from his eyes, just over dilated pupils and blood red irises, upper and lower canines that are too big for his mouth now, at least an inch long that poke out when he closes his lips. alex doesn't know how to hunt, doesn't know how to correctly feed, just knows he's desperate and hysterical with hunger, racing through the woods at night like an animal, holing up in the hollows of trees during the day, when he really does seem to become an animal. after all, the sun feels like fire now, sets his skin ablaze, smoke and all, and if he's human sized, he's too big to hide. so figuring out that he could shape shift into a bat was sort of accidental, but now it's what he used to protect himself from the daylight.

he catches squirrels and rabbits and mice and drains them dead, unable to stop himself from feeding in time for the small animals to survive. it tastes like trash, like the worst fast food he's ever had, and it might hold him over for a few hours, but after that, he's just as insatiable.

eventually, he would regain enough sense briefly to find one of his friends and drop to his knees begging for help, and thus begins his friends routinely allowing him to snack on them, occasionally letting him have a full meal. that stops being a thing when he finally tries tim's blood, because something about it is so different from brian and jay's human blood. something indescribably more... wild about it. aka, tim is a werewolf, and werewolf blood is even more delicious than plain human blood, and tim's wolf self was what saved alex from that vampire when he got turned, and then they fall in love later <3

i really like this au, and would be super up for talking more about it if anyone wants to hehe