#i’m so sorry for you random person on the internet you would have loved 2016 litblr

[jeanmoreaux]

just had to read the words “I’ve been told that there actually ARE aftg folks on tumblr I just haven’t found them yet.” with my own eyes and it took a decade off my life. are we a joke to you??? like bestie WDYM WE TUMBLRINAS ARE THE OG AFTG FOLK

[al-the-remix]

I’m sorry what?? You’ve had fic written about you?? Are you famous? How did I not know this?

lol no and that's the part that's actually embarrassing, not the actual fic... It's really not that interesting but if you're curious i'll explain btc

I don't know if you remember 2010-2016 ish tumblr pre porn ban fandom, but it was a slightly different flavour than it was now. Maybe it was just the circles I spent time in, but I feel like that was before tumblr as a whole had learn its lesson BNF wise. This was post the big move of fan artists over from Deviant Art and there was also still a large number of "famous" cosplayers that were most notable for being hot and posting suggestive photos of themselves on the internet. (Which don't get me wrong I'm all for, I was a big fan of having random dicks and tits pop up on my feed without instantly getting community labeled) but this was also the hight of the "tumblr girl/boy aesthetic" which was basically just repackaging heroin chic to insecure, impressionable teenagers, which for reasons beyond me people love to romanticize now. "Oh remember 2011 tumblr, it was so great", what I remember is like 2/3rds of the platform mainlining glamorized anorexia and self harm content non stop, so like agree to disagree... But that's beyond the point, which is: people were super primed to bestow ""celebrity"" on people who didn't deserve it at all, and being in a group of like seven relatively attractive queer people who posted way too much of their personal lives on the internet and were overly familiar with each-other on main was enough to end up with fan fiction written about you.

I'm still good friends with most of these people, and we all agree that in retrospect this was a cringy period in our lives that was a result of our own behaviour not any one else, because like what I wouldn't give to be able to nuke all reposted aesthetic pictures of myself on pinterest, lmao.

But literally the only reason I ever invoke this cursed knowledge is when I think it could be used as like a moral tale to help prop up an opinion I feel very strongly about now, which first and foremost will always be:

there is no such thing as tumblr famous, especially within fandom, the way the site functions works directly against it and that's a good thing. Anyone who tries to gain clout within a fandom and either consciously or subconsciously turns their entire goal of participating in fandom into "making an impact" or becoming a "prominent figure in the fandom" should be avoided at all costs. If they're unsuccessful in garnering attention they'll become bitter, unbearable, and often cruel, if they do end up getting that attention they'll turn into the most annoying person you'll ever have the misfortune of interacting with and will most likely end up trying to dictate how everyone in the fandom should interact with the cannon material. (i've seen both examples play out more than once much to my own and everyone around them's suffering).

RPF... you don't have to like it, you can personal qualms with the ethics of it, it can very simply make you uncomfortable and you don't want to participate in it, all of those reasons are valid and there are interesting conversations to be had there, but I would say about 95% of the time when I come across people arguing about it has less to do with personal issues, and more to do with this sort of overcorrecting when it comes to sex, attraction, and intimacy we see now a days where especially younger people think that if you so much as find someone attractive you're violating...or god forbid...fetishizing them in some way. And there's a ton I could say on that topic, but I'll try and keep this to the point. Obviously what I experienced is like a speck of sand compared to beaches that are some RPF fandoms, and it likely affected me less because I am queer and I was actually sleeping with a number of those people that I was being "shipped" with etc.--though I'd still argue that whether you're queer or sleeping with that person, being written about by strangers on the internet is an odd experience-- But that's really all it is: odd. The same time all of this was going down I had someone who I hadn't seen in a very long time beginning to stalk me. And like the RPF half of this story, I'm using that word in the lightest of terms. This wasn't a man I was physically intimidated by (I was taller and stronger than him), I was lucky enough to be in the process of moving to a different province so unless I went back to my family home he didn't have physical access to me, and I never had to get the authorities involved. But despite all that I was much more affected by him hanging around outside my house, following me, leaving me weird handwriten letters and presents, insisting that we had some sort of connection even though this is someone I hadn't seen or spoken to in 6+ years, then I ever did being perceived by people on the internet. It made me feel paranoid, physically revolted, and worst of all no one around me took it seriously so I didn't have anyone to literally have my back. So after like four years of microdosing having fanfiction written about me and also having someone physically in my space that I didn't wish to be there, I can confidently say the latter is far worse. You're not breaching anyone's (agency?? idk i'm blanking on the word I want) by thinking or writing or drawing them, it's when you begin to try and physically breach that person's personal space, or because we live in the age of social media, their online bubble and directly engage them, for fandom reasons or because you wrongly believe that you and them have some sort of connection, that things begin to get out of hand. To me the whole issue really comes down to the breaking of the 4th wall, which I'll admit is a super delicate balance and becomes harder to maintain the larger the fandom grows. I think you can see some of the most negative consequences of this when it comes to some of the worst behaviour exhibited by Kpop fandoms, just because they're so large, and the management companies play into it feeding the fire, but at the same time we have talk show hosts getting a kick out of showing off character fan art and fanfiction to actors on air... so wether you're engaging with the "actor" or the "character" in your art and fic there are still ways for that forth wall to be breached, and trying to moralize it is a looser's game. You might as well not engage in fan fic at all, which some people will argue, but I obviously don't agree with.

TL;DR life is short, stalking people is bad, and if you want to write fanfiction about your favourite singer no one should be able to stop you, but I highly discourage emailing it to them.

This is why I still don't use my main blog, because even though I nuked all that content in like 2017 and rebranded as a anime/manga/comics blog, it keeps ratcheting up non-porn bot followers and I've discovered I have much more fun on the internet with fewer eyes on me (another good reason to use the block button liberally, lol)

[klarolinedrabbles]

This super random but I wish I would have actually given in to the klaroline fandom back in the day, I loved them so much but could never give in to fandom life because it seemed so cut throat and I was depressed and had so many insecurities that having random people on the internet bully me for something I enjoyed was definitely not something I would have been able to handle. But anyway I started to rewatch TVD S1-4 during quarantine and it reunited me with my klaroline love so I’ve recently been going through tumblr looking for more content. But ANYWAY the point is I’ve stalked your blog (oops sorry) and now I desperately wish I could have joined back then. Especially since I saw you love the pens!! I’m from the Pittsburgh area and have loved them so much my whole life because I would have found your blog so much earlier! Like I’ve stalked your page (oops sorry) and found that you also love the pens and I love them with my whole heart (I’m actually from the Pittsburgh area lol) and my obsession with them was the highest at the same time my klaroline love was too. Like I could have had a friend to talk to about my two loves back then ugh. I can just imagine having the best 2015-2016 with the klaroline phone call then winning the cup 🥺😭 and it would have been amazing to have someone around to celebrate both wins with since I knew no one that loved klaroline. But anyway just wanted to say you seem like an amazing person and thanks for loving two things I really love they both deserve it so much❤️

HEYOOOO, WE LOVE A PENS FAN KLAROLINE SHIPPER. You're not the only one, there's a little cluster of us, haha. WELL, I both do and don't envy the predicament you were in. There were rough days in the klaroline fandom for sure. BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF REAAAALLLLY GOOD ONE'S. Also a lot of insane one's but that's talk for another day, haha.

PLEASEEEEE, OUR BACK TO BACK UP WINS, CAN YOU BELIEVEEEE. THEY REALLY DID THAT. AND KLAROLINE CAME BACK ALL IN THE SAME ERA, PHEEEEWWW. All we knew how to do was win, ya'll. Thank you sooo much, this was lovely! <3

[mrfutureboy]

I would like to know when you started drawing and where your passion for fanart started 😊

Oh FUCK dude i did not see this i’m so fucking sorry this is so late 😭 damn you, tumblr, for not fucking notifying me!! Anyway buckle up this is gonna be much longer than you asked for <3

Honestly ive kinda been drawing all my life! I hope that doesnt sound dumb cuz obviously almost everyone drew pictures when they were kids, but i know that it’s been a consistent hobby for me since i was little. By the time i was in 3rd grade I was hoarding notebooks to draw in. Cuz that’s something fun about me: i had a real huge habit of drawing in things that werent sketchbooks. Through middle school and beyond I did buy/receive sketchbooks, but I started out with various kinds of notebooks. One I had from like 2nd grade was like a hardcover, stationary-type notebook that I drew cats in lol, and I have 2 velvet lisa frank notebooks from 3rd grade. In high school and college I had a really bad habit of drawing in the margins on my notes and on handouts the teacher/professor would give. Those classes where the prof just prints out all the notes beforehand and gives them to you to follow along? Oh man, I spent so many classes barely listening while I drew on them! I also used to draw on my physics homework and tests and sometimes I even got extra credit for them (thank you jeff :D). I actually have a folder of various drawings I’ve kept from that 8yr time period and a lot of them are on classwork 😂

Obviously, I’ve been doing a lot of digital art lately, which I’m sure is what u were more curious about rather than the shit about drawing on my homework. I got a surface pro as a graduation gift in 2016 bc prior to that i had a wacom tablet and a janky ass laptop, so the gift was kinda a 2-in-1: i can do schoolwork AND art easily! i like digital art a lot and honestly im still learning new things abt it every time i draw. I use Leonardo currently (i’ll skip that story) but I started out doing digital art on sketchfu WITHOUT the wacom tablet in maaaaybe 2012??? 2011??? does anyone on this site remember sketchfu? Honestly couldnt even tell u how i found that site hahah the internet was just full of wonders back in the day. RIP sketchfu. Once i got the tablet tho some time later i used sketchfu still (i think) but also gimp and krita i believe.

Oh i suppose I should mention that i took art all four years of highschool and also minored in it in college! So it’s something i did academically as well as for fun. I keep thinking about going to art school for realsies but idk. I’m already $$$ in debt from my first degree i dont feel like adding to that 😅😓

Ok now for the second part of your question: I’ve also pretty much always done fan art! Ive never really been one for OC’s, EXCEPT for the self-insert superhero double life “comics” i wrote about a poodle named Sassy when i was in third grade. And then the knock off “comics” i wrote at a later time which honestly it was weird that i did a knock off of my own thing rather than just adding them to the original or making it a spin off with at least one of the og characters. Cuz it wasnt a spin off!! But anyway there wasnt really much to any of these characters; i just needed vessels to get my weird ideas out.

So anyway yeah most of what ive ever drawn has been fan art or self portraits, because its just easier for me to take characters that already exist and bend them to my will (artistically). Well excluding art assignments in school i guess because i would usually have to draw something specific and therefore not something self indulgent. But yeah ive drawn for lots of fandoms like the earliest i remember is warrior cats. Then theres things like pokemon and warriors and random other books i read thru middle school (i used to read a LOT but now im practically illiterate); spn, sherlock, and marvel through high school; and then marvel and bttf thru the end of hs and beyond. Idk i also have always loved looking at other peoples fan art and so im like “shit i wanna do that too!”. Tho i will say marvel was my biggest fandom and the one i had the longest interest in, so that was probably where the passion REALLY came from cuz I was drawing marvel stuff for such a long time (tho not posting shdjsk u have to trust me), but ive been doing fan art forever :)

(Of course, a lot of the fan art i was making prior to recently was drawn in lined notebooks or on homework sheets or what have you, and I wasn’t posting really any of it, but i was still making it and a good chunk of it still exists. Oh i should also mention most of it was with pencils or ballpoint pens like i wasnt doing anything too fancy. There was some digital art in the highschool-college time frame but it also really wasnt…much. Honestly i barely posted any of it here but I know some of it’s on deviantart)

I cant pinpoint the exact time I started getting more “serious” about my art in general, but i know the first pandemic lockdown gave me more free time and i was less stressed about schoolwork so i just kinda had a good outlet. (Tho i will say that prior, I had been in a life drawing club for a short while, and i had also been working on a personal sketchbook project that had me pretty ~inspired~ to do art. Also i watched twin peaks around this time and it inspired a lot of Feelings and i was making funky collages and other art pieced that were sometimes related to that. Some of those are on deviantart)

Honestly I think the Big thing with my digital art was coincidentally getting back into BTTF the summer of the 35th anniversary bc the fandom here was THRIVING and i was like “oh shit wait i want to contribute!” But as i kept drawing i kept wanting to improve and that leads us to right now where im constantly trying new things (whether subtle or obvious) and challenging myself to do full body drawings with different poses, and doing screencap redraws and what have you for various reasons (backgrounds, proportions, pose, etc)

So yeah :) Basically I’ve been doing fan art forever (I didnt even get into all the mediums ive tried but that’s another conversation bc this is already so long and convoluted) and it’s kinda coincidental that ive suddenly really gotten back into it and have improved dramatically in such a short time. Thank you so much @rovermcfly for the ask and again im really sorry you had to wait so long for a response! Stupid tumblr

[medea10]

Medea’s Top 20 Animes of the Decade

Hey all! Disappointed in some “best of” lists of this past decade? Well…prepared to be possibly disappointed some more because I’m doing one now! Here’s a top 20 list of my favorite animes that came out in the 2010’s. I seriously couldn’t do 10 this time due to how many awesome animes came out this decade. Unlike my anime superlative list, I’m going to be stricter here. Anything that aired in Japan before January 2010 is stricken from the list (which sucks because that means Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood & InuYasha: The Final Act are disqualified). And these are going to be MY favorites from this decade. Be aware that there will be popular animes I leave off the list due to my own personal opinions and the fact that some of them I have not watched yet. So I’m just going to tell you right now, don’t expect My Hero Academia, Hunter x Hunter, or Demon Slayer on this list because I have not watched any of that shit! Let’s get cracking!

20. Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (2018)

After nearly 20 years since the end of the first series, Cardcaptor Sakura returns with a sequel no one asked for and no one expected to come back. But it definitely brought back the nostalgia for those who grew up watching CCS. This story gives a continuation where Sakura is in middle school and ends up collecting a whole new set of mysterious cards. And the series is what you would expect with the cutesy feel whenever Sakura is with Li or it gets really intense when Sakura’s up against a really powerful card. While the ending leaves us on a bit of a cliffhanger with no continuation in sight, this series was one of the best reboots I’ve watched in recent years.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, & Hulu Coming soon to home video

19. The Rising of the Shield Hero (2019)

This is my first (modern) Isekai and I gotta say I really enjoyed the story. Unlike other anime characters that travel to another world, the main character Naofumi is not praised as a savior nor put on a golden pedestal. Quite the opposite, this guy has to fight for even a shred of respect from anybody. Because after watching past protagonists like Miaka Yuuki, Kagome, and Kirito, that trope gets boring. Despite many of these episodes making me physically ill as I watched Naofumi being shit on by the other heroes and everybody else, it was great to watch this struggle with Naofumi to become a great shield hero.

P.S. Myne is still a raging cunt!

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & FUNimation

18. My Love Story!! (2015)

One of the BEST rom-com animes out there! The story of a gentle giant boy named Takeo falling in love with a sweet, petite girl named Yamato and their story as a couple. Yeah, the big difference between this anime and a bunch of other anime rom-coms is that Takeo and Yamato reveal their love for each other in episode 4 in a 24 episode series! By anime standards, that’s unheard of because most love stories want to wait until the finale for something like that. This anime is just a cute story of watching Takeo and Yamato bloom with their budding relationship. Yeah, I admit some of the stories can be a little boring. Sometimes the beginnings of romances have a slow-start before we get to the good stuff. But even when they’re doing little things, they’re just so cute to watch.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, HI-DIVE & Hulu Available for home video

17. Durarara!! (2010, 2015-2016)

This story is a complete cluster-fuck, but I don’t care. The stories that come from this anime and the characters make this one of my favorites. Durarara follows the strange stories that happen around the town of Ikebukuro with a headless motorcycle rider, super-human strengthed men, an internet troll who loves to mess with humans, otakus, a mad scientist, a parasitic carrier, and gangs of different sorts. But if you would ask me what’s my favorite thing about Durarara (because there’s a lot of random things for anyone to choose), it would of course be any time Shizuo Heiwajima is on the screen. This guy is just pure rage in a bartender’s outfit. He’s able to casually pick up and throw a vending machine at a person, he can punch the clothes off a guy’s body, and even kick a mid-sized car down the street.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, Hulu & Netflix Available for home video

16. Daily Lives of High School Boys (2012)

If you’re looking for something random and hilarious to watch, look no further with this one. Each episode has random segments, mostly featuring three boys, Tadakuni, Hidenori, and Yoshitake in some of the most absurd moments ever showcased in an anime. Just to name a few fun moments; being caught experimenting with women’s underwear, finding a clever way to kill a hornet (indirect kiss), intellectual talk with a cute girl, using your jacket as a soccer ball replacement, and how to unzip your fly without using your hands! That last one still confounds me. But the show also expands to other characters around school and town. I know this series is severely random to have a coherent plot, but sometimes I prefer randomness. And that’ll continue with the next entry!

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll Available for home video

15. Nichijou (2011)

Yet another random segment anime (only this time with girls)! I know the official title is “My Ordinary Life”, but there is nothing ordinary about an anime where you have a six year old professor, a talking robot girl that was created by the six-year old professor, a talking black cat, high school girls capable of body-flipping police officers, a young boy who rides a goat to school, a high school girl capable of firing a bazooka, and a principal who fights a deer. That last one is just epic! If for no other reason to watch Nichijou, just watch the scene where the principal fights a deer! Much like Daily Lives of High School Boys, this series relies more on the random shenanigans of many of these characters (but mostly the main three girls, Mio, Yuuko, and Mai). It’s silly and fun! Check it out and give this anime a little love. Because there’s no way it’s getting a second season (Japan showed no love for this one)!

Available to watch on: FUNimation Available for home video

14. ERASED (2016)

I don’t care what manga readers say, this was a fine anime, you anal-rententive fuck-wipes (soooo not sorry for that statement)! This murder-mystery captured my attention when it first aired. The story is about a man named Satoru who has this ability to go backwards in time (usually a few seconds or minutes) to prevent a tragedy from occurring. But after an incident involving his mother, he ends up going all the way back to his ten-year old body in 1988 in order to prevent a tragedy from his childhood. This included saving his classmate, Kayo from her premature demise. It was a catchy time-leaping mystery that would enthrall me week after week…up to a certain point. Yeah, you can already guess who the culprit was early on. But all the suspense leading up to this was still a great tale.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & Hulu Available for home video

13. Panty & Stocking w/ Garterbelt (2010)

GAINAX, you wishy-washy, crazy-ass, can’t give a full conclusion to a story to save your life, leaving us on a decade-long cliffhanger bastards, YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN!

So this bizarre-ass anime is about two bitch-angels kicked out of Heaven, named Panty and Stocking. One likes to fuck men and the other gorges herself on sweets! In order to get back into Heaven, they must exterminate ghosts with the help of a black priest named Garterbelt, a fanboy named Briefs, and an Invader Zim knock-off named Chuck. And did I mention Panty and Stocking use their own lingere as weapons to take down ghosts? This story is balls-to-the-wall insane! And it gets crazier when you pop in the English dub! Dick jokes, fart jokes, and a whole lot of fucks! As any superhero show will do, this anime does stay to the villain of the episode trope with a few leeways here and there. This included a segment dedicated to the late Satoshi Kon and a music video. All of this leading to an ending NO ONE expected to happen leaving us on a cliffhanger that is now going on 10 years. Regardless, this absurdity in a thong is a treasure to behold. I would also advise not doing a drinking game whenever one of them says “Fuck”. You’d be dead by the end of the first episode!

Available to watch on: FUNimation Available for home video

12. Attack on Titan (2013, 2017-2019)

*singing incoherent Japanese*

YEAGER!!!

Get ready to get hooked on two of the catchiest opening themes of all time! I thought it was just about a young boy taking revenge on a race of titans for the death of his mother. No one expected there to be a twisted, messed-up origin to the titan race where the main character is connected to everything! That’s all my messy thoughts coming out after witnessing the climax portion. As for the rest of you, Eren Yeager’s world is turned upside-down when the town he lived in is demolished by titans. As a result, the entire town is demolished and left for dead and Eren watched as his mother is eaten by a titan. Eren ends up joining the Survey Corps along with his friends Armin and Mikasa to take down titans and prevent another town to suffer the same fate as Eren’s home.

Going into this anime, I SERIOUSLY thought this was going to be a comedy. You would too if you were going off of all the memes that emerged in 2013. But this anime takes a sharp left turn when Eren discovers a horrifying secret involving his own body. After that, this lead to more unbelievable discoveries involving people we all initially thought was the supporting cast. And this is as cryptic as I can be without delving into severe spoilers. The only way to get my meaning is if you watch this series. It’s just…WOW!

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, Hulu, & Toonami Some seasons are available for home video

11. Kill la Kill (2013-2014)

A girl with a giant pair of scissors picking a fight with the main bitch at school, all the while wearing a sailor suit that talks to you! That is the balls-to-the-wall insanity Studio Trigger gives you in a show like this. Ryuko Matoi enrolls in Honnouji Academy in search of the person who murdered her father. There, she comes face-to-face with the potential murderer, Satsuki Kiryuin. Satsuki rules over Honnouji as she has a special uniform capable of giving her super-human strength. But what Satsuki doesn’t know is that Ryuko is about to get a special uniform to give her that as well. A talking sailor uniform named Senketsu helps Ryuko in her journey of finding her father’s murderer. Yeah, this series goes all-out with the special powers brought on by certain clothing. Then again, it’s Japan and fanservice is a must in at least 75% of animes! I mean, there are moments where Senketsu gets skimpier on Ryuko, not leaving much to the imagination. As absurdly off the wall this anime was, I enjoyed every frame of it and it’s easily one of Studio Trigger’s best works.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & Netflix

10. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma (2015-2019)

You’d think with my picky-ass, I would have never watched an anime about cooking (and if my family is reading this, close this page now and play a wholesome game of shutting your gobs). But Food Wars never fails to increase my appetite. Yukihira Soma ends up in Japan’s most elite cooking school (with a 10% graduation rate) where he finds himself up against Japan’s and even the world’s greatest up and coming chefs. And every now and then, he ends up having to go up against one of these chefs in a cook-off known as a Shokugeki. If it wasn’t for the food orgasms, I would easily tell my cooking-show obsessed family members to watch this. I know no normal person would ever strip off all their clothes and have a raging orgasm when eating delicious food. But hey, it’s Japan! Gotta stick in fanservice somewhere! With inventive ways to spice up a regular dish, I may one day broaden my taste-buds into more exotic food-stuffs. Just, keep the peanut-butter squid away from me.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, HI-DIVE, Hulu, & Toonami Some seasons are available for home video

09. Your Lie in April (2014-2015)

Grab your tissues, children. We follow Kousei Arima as he regains his ability and passion for playing the piano with the thanks of new-found friend Kaori. What can I say about an anime that’s so beautifully animated with likeable characters and music to die for? OHHH…I shouldn’t have said that last thing! Yeah, the main character Kousei goes through quite a bit in his life dealing with the aftermath of his mother’s death and having to relive seeing someone he cares about die the same way. There’s just so much you wish would happen with these characters and watch as it’s dashed away during a Chopin piece. OHHH…I did it again! Well folks, if you’re into tear-bait and classical music, definitely watch Your Lie in April!

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, Hulu, & Netflix

08. The Promised Neverland (2019)

One of the newest entries with one of the most shocking first episodes in recent history! I know in the past decade we got a lot of first episode hookers like Attack on Titan, but if you came in this blind-folded, get ready for a trip. We follow orphan children Emma, Ray, and Norman as they plan to escape their home before they become food for hungry demons. In a weird way, this anime is almost like the 2000 film Chicken Run. I know I’m not the first person to think that up, but yeah, gotta say it here. This was one of my favorite animes of this year and I was hooked week by week with what was going to happen next. It got so intense that immediately after the series ended, I picked up the manga to find out what happens next. And let me tell you, it gets more insane after the events of episode 12. But one thing that always astounded me was watching all of these kids plot an escape so elaborate when all of them range from ages 6-12.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, & Hulu

07. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (2017)

What would you do if you opened the door one morning and found a dragon standing outside? Not just that but what would you do if you were living with more than one dragon and you now find yourself hanging around other dragons?! Kobayashi’s world changes for the better as she meets a dragon (named Tohru) that loves her so much that she would happily become her maid. And given the stigma for eons between humans and dragons, this series we see cute interactions with humans and dragons. Up to a point that it feels like all these characters are becoming family! There’s a dragon named Fafnir who finds humans horrible people, but ends up changing for the better when he finds himself hanging with a human that plays video games and creates manga. But I’m always so drawn to the relationship of Tohru and Kobayashi. Kobayashi was never really close to her family and when she moved away she mostly spends her nights drinking alone. But once Tohru and Kanna move in, it’s always a fun day with their cute shenanigans. It’s definitely brought Kobayashi out of her shell and gave her a family of dragons to live with.

And there’s this cute little dragon named Kanna! She’s so cute and adorable! Look at her nom at just everything she eats. She’s so adorable! Who’s a cute wittle dragon? Yes you are! Yes you are!

As a final note in this particular entry, I want to mention one particular member of the staff. Yasuhiro Takemoto! This man was the director for Miss Kobayashi, as well as many other animes from Kyoto Animation and I feel the need to thank this man for all the hard work he had done. I’m thankful for all of your work in the anime community and we miss you.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & Funimation Available for home video

06. Pokemon XY (2013-2016)

It might be cheating a bit to put a Pokemon series on this list since they’ve been around since 1997. But it’s not a continuous shot like Detective Conan and One Piece, so I’m counting the XY arc for this list. Even though this series didn’t show me my favorite character and it gave me a shipping that’s worse than Herpes (with a cult for that ship that’s on par with MAGA), this was one of the best arcs to the Pokemon series. And I was excited for this series when it first came out because with the introduction of Mega Evolution, I was hoping for Ash to delve into that. While Ash wasn’t the one using Mega Evolutions, we did see him grow more through a synchronization method with Greninja that brought about so much in terms of battling. Just to name a few awesome moments with these two, he took down an iceburg pokemon, went toe-to-toe with a champion, and even made it all the way to the finals of the Pokemon League. Now did he win that league? That’s not important! What is important is that these were some of the best moments this series had to offer.

But it wasn’t just Ash we followed, but an anime-only character introduced named Alain as we followed his journey to becoming stronger through Mega Evolution. It felt risky following a different person for 5 or more episodes (without mentioning Ash), but it was all worth it when we came to the climax of the series when Team Flare came from the shadows. Listen guys, I know Pokemon has given some disappointing seasons before (especially the arc prior to XY), but if there’s any season you should watch, it’s definitely this one.

Also, Rica Matsumoto sings this one song called XYZ. I don’t know if you all have heard this song, but I think you should. It’s so bad ass and always pops up in some of Ash’s best battles in this series…in the Japanese version! I love it so much that I always feel the need to bring up XYZ whenever I talk about this arc.

Available to watch on: Disney XD, Hulu, & Pokemon TV Available for home video

05. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)

I will always be a sucker for magical girl animes. Especially since Sailor Moon was the very first anime I watched fully! But Madoka Magica was…different and edgier. The premise is that a cute, white animal asks you to form a contract with it so you can become a magical girl. Magical girls defeat witches that cause havoc! Better read the fine-print on the contract ladies, because what the little rat doesn’t tell you is that you eventually become a witch yourself and will end up dying a horrible death, thus repeating the cycle. This anime would always leave me in a state of awe when watching it, whether it was the shocking deaths or the clever animation used when a witch emerges. But when you’ve got Shaft Studios animating this, expect some trippy moments. I think it’s because episode 3 was a big turning point that many of us were caught off guard by what happened and were scared of what happens next. Although thanks to Madoka, many other magical girl animes are following down the same path and trying to make it edgier. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I gotta say Madoka has definitely set the bar on edgy magical girl shows.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, & Hulu Available for home video

04. Violet Evergarden (2018)

Prior to this anime’s release, Kyoto Animation had a reputation for putting out anime that was geared to the “moe” genre. But with recent releases of A Silent Voice, Miss Kobayashi, and Violet Evergarden, their style has evolved into something I can’t describe in just one sentence. This anime is just beautiful to look at. The animation is just stunning, look at it. Now, I was a bit turned-off by the main character of this series, Violet. First of all, she literally looks like Saber from the Fate series and has arms that rival Ed Elric of FMA. Secondly, her almost robotic personality really turned me off. But it wasn’t until later in the series where we watch her interact with the people she was helping in each episode that made me truly appreciate what she’s doing.

Violet was once used as a tool for war and would always obey her commanding officer. But once the war was over, she found herself as an “Auto Memories Doll” where she’s writing letters people want to send to someone. Many of these episodes, we watch her see the world outside of the war and hell she was put through in her past. Her words were able to bring people together, heal two fighting nations, bring a family closer together, give closure to a grieving family member, and so much more. Add to that, this series gave out one of the most heart-breaking episodes I’ve ever watched in anime. It made me ugly-cry and that rarely happens! Not just me, but litereally everyone who ever watched this episode, but also Violet herself. This episode (that’s episode 10) was like the first time where she felt actual human emotions for anyone other than the person she once loved. This episode felt like a turning point in how I felt about Violet as well as the show in general.

I feel I have to say a little more on this entry. This anime is without a doubt, the most beautifully animated anime of this entire decade (despite what OTHERS have to say). And it couldn’t have gotten that way without the talented folks at Kyoto Animation. I can’t express enough how much I’m blown away by this series. Only now when I think about it, I get horribly depresssed due to the recent tragedy that struck KyoAni. Only now, do I appreciate all the hard work to put this masterpiece into action. And I wish it didn’t take me until a tragedy to watch this anime. But I’m glad I was able to watch Violet Evergarden. And I wish for you all to take the time to do the same!

Available to watch on: Netflix

03. Assassination Classroom (2015-2016)

Stand. Bow. Kill your sensei! Middle school students being trained by professional assassins to take down a yellow-tentacled monster (who is also their teacher)! These students must assassinate their teacher within one year, otherwise the world will blow up. Now I had my reservations watching a cast this big! I mean, we’re watching an entire 28-person class try to shoot their teacher. Thankfully, I didn’t grow to be annoyed by the concept like with Negima. I loved nearly all of the students and remembered many of them. One of the biggest drawing points with me is that, all of these students were seen as the ones to give up on. They were in the lowest-level class where school, family, and society have just given up on these children. Being in a much similar situation in middle school, I can relate. That’s why when I saw someone like Koro-sensei teach these kids so much more in the world of academics, it made me happy to see these kids have someone to look up to. Many of these episodes were fun to watch. Koro-sensei is a laugh-riot sometimes when the class has to do an activity together. Add to that, one of the hardest to watch goodbyes in recent history. For a good laugh and a good cry, Assassination Classroom is the way to go.

Available to watch on: FUNimation & Hulu Available for home video

02. Yuri on Ice!!! (2016)

AAAAAAHHHHHHH! *random screeching noises*

Why yes I love this series! It is so beautiful. I wish to see more of this in the future. I would like for Viktor to have Yuri’s babies. Don’t at me! I didn’t expect this series to give the female viewers an actual loving relationship between two of the main male characters. But halfway into the series, we get the kiss that cemented the deal. So besides the gay relationship, we’ve also got a beautiful soundtrack, animation that’s stunningly gorgeous, a story about an underdog working his way to receive a gold medal with the help of his hot, Russian coach…God, I just love this anime!

I’m a sucker for a root for the underdog story. And Yuri Katsuki definitely fits that description! Before Viktor came along, he was coming off of a humiliating defeat at a previous competition where he came in dead-last. But throughout the series, we watch Viktor mold Yuri into something audience members have overlooked in this boy. Viktor taught Yuri what love really is in more ways than one. But Yuri isn’t a total zero-to-hero in a span of 12 episodes, but at times he does come damn-near close. Every week, I’m amazed at how much Studio MAPPA put so much effort into this. While the quality did take a slight dip in some of the final episodes, so much has happened before that I’m willing to let that go. Watch Yuri attempt at making history with Yuri on Ice.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll & FUNimation Available for home video

Before I get to my anime of the decade, how about I quickly do my TOP 10 ANIME MOVIES OF THE DECADE? No commentary, just announcing them quickly.

10. The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014)

09. When Marnie Was There (2014)

08. Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

07. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013)

06. Kizumonogatari (2016-2017)

05. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010)

04. Pokemon: I Choose You (2017)

03. Your Name (2016)

02. A Silent Voice (2016)

01. Wolf Children (2012)

CLOSE CALLS FOR THE LISTS: Black Lagoon – Roberta’s Blood Trail, Sailor Moon Crystal, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Fate/Zero & Fate/stay night: UBW, Angel Beats, The Wind Rises, Parasyte, One Punch Man, Aggretsuko, Steins;Gate, Inu x Boku SS, and Dragon Ball Super.

And now, #1…oh, you should already know what it is by now. One of my favorite animes came back with the vengeance in 2019 that no other anime can touch it. Rightfully so! You know it, I know it, let’s get it over with! So say it with me now, three, two, one…

01. Fruits Basket: 1st Season (2019)

Thank you! Just…thank you! In a time where I hate reboots, this one was handled with the utmost care. What can I say about this anime that everyone else hasn’t said already? This anime is like warm soup on a cold day. The nice pick-me-up when you had a shitty day on the job! That beautiful rainbow you see after a rain shower!

Coming upon a family with a terrible secret, there’s much hesitation on who (if any) can be let in without being hurt. Tohru Honda accidentally learned of the Sohma family secret, where if one of them is hugged by someone of the opposite sex, they’re turned into an animal from the Chimese Zodiac. These people have had to live with this stigma their entire lives. Because of this, relationships are put in turmoil, obtaining friends was damn-near impossible, and everyone has to be on a constant state of worry in case their secret comes out. But Tohru loves and accepts everyone, no matter what. In many of these episodes, we see Tohru reach out to the members of the Sohma family to tell them that she sees the good in them and that they are loved. To reach out to the hurt, silent tiger, Kisa! To reach out to the mentally-scarred rat, Yuki! To reach out to the heart-broken dragon, Hatori! And to give a hug to Momiji…when his momma won’t!

All of these individual stories always gets to me! Even re-told, these stories have improved 100%! And in some cases like Ritsu’s story, done better than the original! I watched the original story God-knows how many times! But with the remake, I found myself re-watching random episodes in my off-time when I should be watching something else. I always have to go back to watching everything from this series. From the good and the sad! From the ultra-laughable moments, to the jaw-dropping moments! In a time where many of us yearn to be accepted for who we are, an anime like this feels absolutely necessary. I know it might be biased of me to pick something from this year and cheating a bit considering at the beginning of the decade I was heavily into the original series. Regardless, this is still my pick for Best Anime of the 2010’s.

Available to watch on: Crunchyroll, FUNimation, & Hulu

[twigstarpikachutroll22]

Day 3 of #30daysofautismacceptance

April 3: Talk about special interests. Do you have any? What are they? How long have you had them? What does it feel like to have special interests? What does having special interests mean to you? Talk about your past special interests

What comes immediately to mind is Trolls. As one might know from a post a couple days ago...or just from a bunch of posts I reblog...or from my icon and blog header and all that. In any case, Trolls came out November 4th 2016, when I was in 7th grade, and I saw it a day later.

The special interest kicked in FAST. It was, like, all I could think about all day every day, all I wanted to talk about, everything could be associated with it for me. I would blurt out random quotes from it at random times. I would listen to the songs a jillion times over. I would scour the internet for anything and everything related to it that I could find. Read all the wiki pages and memorized all kinds of information. Played the few games on the website over and over until I had the routes of every level of the maze game memorized. Looked at all the screenshots and stuff on Google Image searches. Any clips that were available on YouTube I would watch over and over every day. And the parts of it that had just been completely unexpected and blown my mind in a way no other movie had before leaving me with no idea what to think? My brain would, like, short-circuit at the thought of them, but there were times when they’d somehow fascinate me because of all that and I’d sometimes take a moment by myself just to think about them and start to enjoy the shock they sent through me until I started to understand their meaning more and they became my absolute favorite parts for all that.

Eventually, it started leaking into my life in other ways. I didn’t like glitter until I after I saw Trolls, now I frickin’ love it. I already HAD loved music and singing, but that got taken to much higher levels and became much more important to me after seeing Trolls, and I got a bit less shy about singing in public. Trolls was also my inspiration for starting to throw big, crazy digital parties on a certain website I spent a lot of time on. And what made me more conscious of the importance of positivity, and though I was already a sunny person to begin with (albeit taken down a notch or three by some pretty bad experiences I’d had leading up to this), I like to think Trolls gave me a boost in that area too.

I could go on and on and on about all the ways this special interest changed my life. But this is kinda getting long already.

At this point, I can actually sorta feel the special interest winding down, which makes me really sad to think about. I don’t think about it nearly as much as I used to or spend nearly as much time listening to the songs or just doing anything related to it, and when I do it doesn’t feel as riveting as it used to. But I am still pumped for the sequel coming in...HOLY FRICK IS IT SERIOUSLY ONLY TWO WEEKS NOW?!?!?! NDKLFNSDIOBSDFIODB KDNFKAD FKANFORBGOURBGPISNFSN  FKSLDNGSGBSIOGSBIFO SBGOBGIORBGOIHFOUHROUWEFNSDKLBDSJLGBSDOFSBOGIRBFIONFIONGILNGIBGIOGBOIGBOIFNOGBOGBIOG--

Ahem. Ha ha, sorry, I just....AAH!!!!!!! Anyways, I’m still PSYCHED for that, and I hope it blows me away as much as the first did. Or at least something fairly close to that. And I do still get absolutely ecstatic anytime I see Trolls merch in a store or some little kid wearing a Trolls bag or carrying Trolls toys. And the general impact it’s had on my life has stuck with me. And actually, I think a certain ship from it might be something like a special interest for me now, just that specific aspect and not every single aspect.

Anyways, I should mention some past special interests of mine, right?

Well, I think ducks might’ve been my very first. There wasn’t really a specific reason, though I attributed it to the ducklings being cute, but when I was, like, three years old, and for some years after, I just LOVED ducks. So much. I had this great big collection of hundreds and hundreds of little toy ducks. All different colors, all different designs and, like, costumes, a range of sizes, we had enough to fill BIG plastic bins. I got excited every time I saw a duck. To this day I have a little soft spot for them.

And I was really fixated on the Geronimo Stilton series for some time in first or second grade. For some reason my overly dramatic and imaginative self ended up always pretending I was slowly turning into a mouse because I loved those books so much. I dunno what the heck, I was, like, literally seven years old, okay?

There was also a period of time where I really liked Ash from the movie adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox, and he was constantly on my mind. To the point where I mistook it for a crush, because my mom had said having a crush on someone was “really really really really liking him” and thinking about him all the time, and she never specified that it meant in a romantic way. Boy did THAT lead to some embarrassing memories...

Pokemon was a REEEALLY big special interest of mine starting the summer before third grade when I picked up Pokemon White. I can’t give specific examples of anything here, just that I was really really REALLY into this game, and into pokemon battles and pokemon in general. And for years after that I always carried two of those books in my backpack that were like a pokedex and had all the pokemon in ‘em with stats and facts and types and moves it could learn and everything. Because duh, what kind of pokemon trainer would I be if I didn’t always keep one of those on me? I had friends to share that special interest with. I remember one friend had all kinds of stats and facts memorized including what moves certain pokemon could learn and would tell them to me. Me and him actually had a ton of imaginary friends that were pokemon that could talk like humans and all had names and personalities and in some cases outfits and super awesome clubhouses and over-the-top backstories and all kinds of relationships with each other. We’d talk all the time about the stuff they’d get up to together, all the friendships and rivalries.

So, like...yeah, I think this is where I’m gonna end it. MAN I rambled on for a long time with this XD XD

In any case, special interests are AWESOMESAUCETASTIC. Do neurotypicals honestly NOT get this intensely into anything? This level of love/passion/obsession for anything? Because if so, then, like, I feel sorry for them. Really I do. That sounds sad. I wouldn’t trade having special interests for ANYTHING, man.

[noahsfreckles]

Keeping Secrets from Strangers (chap 2)

The next morning I wake up to my alarm; 10:15am. I love my late schedule. I grab my phone off my side table and check my notifications.

1 mention from browneyedboy

4 texts from Lexi 🤪

1 reminder: you're awesome.

I open the texts first.

Lexi 🤪: where are you? @ 7:30am

Lexi🤪: oh yeah it's Friday late day. I h8 u. 😘😘 @ 7:34 am

Lexi🤪: get your lazy butt up and stop dreaming about you know who @ 8:14 am

Lexi🤪: remind me why I decided to take an 8 am lecture class I'm falling asleep

I quickly reply her.

Mia: Oh shush you're just jealous 😛

Mia: and who would I be dreaming about 🤔🤔

Mia: because it was the only time it was offered and you need it for your degree

Lexi🤪: his name starts with Noah and ends with Centineo

Mia: I am not dreaming about him shut up!

Lexi🤪: 🤥🤥🤥🤥

Mia: 😑😑😑

Lexi🤪: stop lying and get here I'm lonely ☹️☹️

Mia: stop texting then dork

Lexi🤪: 🤐🤐🤐🤐

Mia: you're still texting me.

I start laughing at our conversation and get out of bed. I go over to my closet and start deciding on an outfit for the day. I grab my white ripped jeans and a black t shirt with my black vans.

I quickly put everything on so I can start on my hair. I do a simple pony tail with some of my bangs hanging down. I look in the mirror and grab my eye liner, quickly and carefully put it on. I'm not really a make up wearer but I love eye liner.

I grab my bag from my chair and walk over to my side table, grabbing my laptop, unplugging it and grabbing the charger from the wall. I grab my phone from the bed and slide it in my back pocket.

I head down the stairs and see my mom in the kitchen.

"Hi honey."

"Hi mom, can you grab me an orange juice and the blueberry muffin, I'm running a little late and I blame Lexi," I laugh a little.

"Was she texting you again?"

"Yes, always making me late," I joke as she hands me the orange juice and a container containing the muffin. "Thanks mom," I kiss her cheek and head out the door.

"Bye honey," she says as I shut the door.

I get to my car unlocking it as I get closer, my baby; a black Jeep Compass. I quickly get in and head to school.

💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋

After a boring day at college, Lexi and I are on the way to my place to get ready for Neon's.

It's our weekly ritual while everyone is still in town to go to the local bowling alley. It's always Lexi, me, Josh, and Cami, but sometimes Jake, Haley, and Tyler come back tonight but tonight they can't make it.

"Hey, who's this?" Lexi asks as my phone lights up with a twitter notification. "Are you cheating on me with", Lexi, looks at the notification, "browneyedboy?"

I just look at Lexi and start laughing, "they're just a random person I was talking to last night, before bed."

"So you are cheating on me!" Lexi excitedly says.

"No, baby I love you." I move closer to Lexi and side hug her, "forgive me?" I look at her and give her puppy eyes.

"I guess," she says and rolls her eyes.

"I saw that."

"Saw what?"

"Your eye balls rolling into your brain." I laugh a little.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

I move away from her and grab my phone and open twitter to see what browneyedboy said when I remember I never checked to see what they said this morning.

'@browneyedboy: morning Mia. Hope you have a good Friday.'

'@browneyedboy: hey Mia, what's up?'

'@heyitsmia: not much just hanging out with @heyitzlexi and getting ready to go bowling. What's up with you?'

'@browneyedboy: not much just hanging out at home bored, hi Lexi.'

"Browneyedboy says hi Lexi," I say looking up from my phone.

"Tell the Mia stealer hi," she jokingly says.

'@heyitsmia: Lexi says hi. You should come bowling with us if you're so bored'

'@browneyedboy: really? I don't want to impose on you and your friends.'

'@heyitsmia: you're not imposing, the more the merrier. Come!'

'@browneyedboy: how about I think about and maybe text you and tell you I'm on my way or there?'

'@heyitsmia: um sure.'

'@browneyedboy: or I could just tweet you sorry, I shouldn't have asked for your number we barely know each other.'

'@heyitsmia: hey it's okay.'

'@browneyedboy: ill just tweet you if I decide to show up.'

'@heyitsmia: okay hope to see you 🙂'

A blue banner comes across my Twitter: Noah has tweeted. I click on it right away.

'@noahcent: asked a girl for her number and got rejected ☹️💔'

"Aww Noah just got rejected," I say as Lexi is fixing her hair in my mirror.

"Aww Noah," she says and makes a sad face.

I look through his replies, "oh my god his replies are filled with numbers."

"Really?"

I just nod my head and exit out of twitter and open Snapchat, I get off the bed and walk over to Lexi, taking a photo of us and tag it with 'going to Neon's'.

I close the app and toss my phone on the bed and start getting ready. Lexi moves over the bed and grabs my phone.

"So what do you know about your new lover?" Lexi says as she opens the Twitter app.

"Honestly not much, I haven't even stalked his twitter yet. Why?"

"Just curious. Wait he asked for your number?" She says loudly.

"Yeah," I look at her in the mirror, "he automatically said he didn't want it afterwards so I sorta got rejected even though I said he could have it."

"Would you have given it to him?" She looks at me curiously.

"I don't know, maybe."

"Maybe we should find out more about him before we give a random guy your number from the internet."

"Yeah," I bite my lip and walk over to the bed with her. "So what do we know from his twitter?"

"Well he's had it since 2016 and has 10k tweets. He doesn't have a selfie as a display picture but it's a picture of a cat. The cat is cute," she shows me the photo.

"Very cute."

'@heyitsmia: I think your kitty is too cute @browneyedboy 🐱💕'

"Lexi!"

"Yes my love," she giggles.

"Why?"

Blue banner comes up: @browneyedboy replies to you. Lexi clicks it.

'@browneyedboy: Thanks his name is Stuvi, like stew vee.

'@heyitsmia: aww too cute.'

Lexi gets out of the mentions and goes back to his account, "hey you can kinda see his hair in pic."

"Really?"

Lexi nods and shows me the pic again.

"Hmm," I say then look at the time on top of the screen, "we gotta go Lexi it's almost seven."

"Oh crap." She says and closes twitter and looks the phone before handing it to me and we head out to Neon's.

💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋

Lexi and I come back from Neon's around midnight. We change into our pajamas. We get into my bed, she rolls over and gets comfy as I grab my phone to do my night ritual; Snapchat, instagram, and Twitter.

Nothing too interesting on Snapchat, so I move to Instagram. I go through my feed, liking and commenting on different people's pictures and videos. I start typing in Noah's name in the search bar when I decide I just need to follow him and turn on his notifications so I don't miss anything from him.

He posted a new picture today.

Asked for a girl's number and got reject. Girls are mean.

I aww at the photo and like it. I click follow and turn on all his notifications. I close Instagram and open twitter.

'@heyitsmia: you awake? @browneyedboy'

'@browneyedboy: yeah what's up?'

I bite my bottom lip, looking over at a sleeping Lexi and decide what can it hurt. I click the envelope on my Twitter app and it opens up the direct message.

To: browneyedboy

'213-555-1362'

I hover over the send button then click it. I close the app and hope he understands. I plug in my phone and turn off my lamp.

My phone begins to vibrate as I receive a text.

213-555-0139: hi

Mia: hi

213-555-0139: why did you give me your number?

Mia: I wanna be friends and you said you didn't want it after I said I would give it to you.

213-555-0139: thank you 😊

Mia: I have a question.

213-555-0139: I have an answer 😋

Mia: what's your name? It's not on your Twitter, at least I don't think.

213-555-0139: Jamey

I quickly add him to my contacts; Jamey🐱

Jamey🐱: now I have a question; what's my contact name? 😎

I laugh a little at his question.

Mia: Jamey🐱

Jamey🐱: I like it. Meow.

I laughs a little causing Lexi moves and I freeze. Lexi stops moving and I let out a small sigh.

Mia: 😹

Mia: I should go to sleep. We can talk tomorrow more if you want.

Jamey🐱: sure. Night Mia. 😎

Mia: night Jamey🐱

I close iMessage and set my phone down on my side table, I cuddle the blankets and falls asleep.

A/N if you want to read this on Wattpad or ao3 links are in my bio. I post there faster than I do here.

[99centthoughts]

i really love how you draw tyler and jc interact ITS SO CUTE IT MAKES MY NIGHT A BIT BRIGHTER....goodnight sweet dreams 8))

I love drawing them doing dumb things it’s my favorite thing in the world………..I WILL HAVE ALL THE SWEET DREAMS TONIGHT FROM YOUR KIND WORDS THANK YOU ANON 😘 GOODNIGHT AND SWEET DREAMS TO YOU TOOOO

MORE ASKS under the cut!

1) bless YOU anon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2) Nothing too interesting LOL IT’s AN OLD PIC AND I RLY DONT LIKE THE FACE ANYMORE slkdmljfg

1) OH I mostly use redbubble nowadays and I didn’t realize that I haven’t set up any mugs there ?? I’ll look through it and see what might fit on a mug/ set that up for future artwork though!!! I DO still have some of my old mugs up on my society6 account! I FORGOT ALL ABOUT MY S6…I haven’t updated it in ages omg Let me know if there’s anything specific you would want!

2) THANK YOU ANON YOUR LOVE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR ME!!!! SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GET YOURSELF SOMETHING NICE U DESERVE IT 

HELLO!!!! OH I just used a normal hard round brush with opacity + flow pressure turned on for the colouring and the airbrush is just the same brush with the hardness set to 0%! I saved them here as a brush set for u if you find that easier to deal with! I HOPE U LIKE THEM!

omg that’s so specific LOL I THINK the anons I’ve gotten have always been rly nice! I don’t like to label people or their opinions unnecessarily as hate.. i think people are worth listening to in general 

ahhh ANON I ACTUALLY SAW THIS MESSAGE WHEN U SENT IT A WHILE AGO AND IT HAS KEPT ME SMILING BC IT IS SO SWEET AND LOVELY NAD IM JUST LIKE WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS………. honestly i do try to be nice bc i feel people deserve that, like i dont understand why anyone has to be mean to a random person for no good reason especially on the internet when sometimes text doesn’t always translate a person’s intention well.. u could make a person’s day or ruin it with how u speak to them and i know it rly sucks to be upset all day bc of one offhanded remark so i try really hard not to do it to others kjfklfjd SORRY I WENT OFF RAMBLING THERE BUT I DID WATCH SHINEE’S MV AFTER I SAW YOUR MESSAGE AND IT WAS A BLESSING I LOVE THEM SO SO MUCH AND IVE BEEN REPLAYING IT ALL WEEK

 thank YOU anon I hope u know that u are a wonderful angel yourself and that you are ALWAYS happy too!!!!!! SENDS YOU ALL OF MY LOVE 💖💖💖💖

I LOVE YOUUUUUUU EMMETT ANON im gonna call u emmett anon bc ur so cute omg  I WENT TO WATCH HIM ON BLACK MIRROR AND HE IS SOOO GOOD THANK YOU FOR INTRODUCING HIM TO ME I CAN’T BELIEVE I’VE NEVER KNOWN HIM TILL NOW

I DO but i dont want to post them on here sorry!!! NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU ANON I just dont like 2 show my face bc im a mess

1) skfjflksj omg I HAVE SO MANY WIPS OF HIM BUT I KEEP PUTTING THEM OFF INSTEAD OF FINISHING THEM I think i’m in a tyler phase now like how I was in a Fay phase from 2014-2016 LOL I WANNA TRY TO DRAW SOMETHING OF HIM FOR HALLOWEEN THOUGH????? give me strength anon my blonde son has been ignored for far too long

2) YEAH THEY ARE vonna and I are just in a very tyler and jc mood for the past 1.5 years … we have a very targeted attention span apparently 😭😭😭

LFKMSKFL I WAS LIKE IT’S TIME TO… GET RID OF THE POOP… bc ive had too many experiences of ppl being embarrassed to say my blog name out loud BUT YES IT IS ME HELLO ANON I’m glad to hear my art is distinct enough for u to notice tbh HAHAHAA 

[spine-buster]

I Thought You Might Be Mine (Ricochet) - Part III

May 31st, 2016 On a bullet train, somewhere in Japan

Iris never saw Trevor so attached to his phone in the two and a half years she had known him.  They were nearing the end of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, and just a few days before, he’d had a match with Will Ospreay.  And good God almighty, was it a match.  Everybody was talking about it on social media.  Hundreds of gifs were being made of the match.  Everybody had something to say about it – good or bad.  It was probably the most buzz either men had received for a match in their careers.

Trevor was his own worst critic but in the hours that followed the match he was glued to every social media and wrestling site available on the internet.  Even Fox News had picked it up.  He didn’t really care about random news outlets and their opinions on it – he made that perfectly clear to her.  What mattered to him instead was the opinion of the wrestling community.  Vader had already voiced his extreme displeasure with the match, comparing the two men to high school gymnasts.

“You know, I keep watching the gifs,” she said, trying to get his eyes away from the screen.  What she said hadn’t been a lie.  She saw them being posted all over Twitter and Instagram and loved reliving the feeling of seeing it all live.  “They’re fucking awesome.”

Trevor temporarily ignored his phone to look at her.  Unlike most other time he looked at her, when she knew she had his undivided attention, she knew his mind was elsewhere now.  “What have you been reading?”

“The same things that you’ve been reading,” she rolled her eyes.  “Websites don’t change their content just because a wrestler reads them.”

“Vader keeps going off about it,” he grumbled as someone on the train bumped into him on their way to the washroom.  He let her have the window seat because he was a gentleman, even though he hated aisle seats.  “Keeps talking about changing the business.  I’m sorry I’m capable of more than just Vader bombs off the second rope.”

Iris couldn’t help but smirk at his attitude.  “Yeah, when are you gonna add that corkscrew to your 630, anyway?” she huffed.

He gave her major side-eye.  “Don’t you start too.”

“I’m joking Trev!  Jesus,” she defended herself.  “You’re really hung up about this, aren’t you?”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

Iris didn’t know what to answer with.  Trevor was probably one of the most hardworking people she knew, and he always told her she was one of the most hardworking people he knew outside of wrestling.  If thousands and thousands of people decided to shit on her job performance, she’d be pretty pissed off too.  “Listen, Trev…it’s like people who shit on teachers,” she began.  “If they’ve never worked with kids or teenagers before, their opinions are horseshit and completely irrelevant because they don’t know what it takes.  It’s the same with wrestling fans.  Unless they’re wrestlers too, on the same grind as you are, do their opinions really matter?  And, like, the people that do matter, like Chris Jericho and Stone Cold Steve Austen…they liked it!”

Trevor considered her words.  “I guess I never thought of it that way.”

Iris chuckled.  Of course he hadn’t.  If he had, he wouldn’t be obsessively checking his phone.  “Did you like it?”

“Yeah.”

“Did Cameron like it?”

“He loved it.”

“Then that’s all that matters, right?”

Iris watched as slowly, almost painstakingly slowly, a smile appeared on Trevor’s face.  After two and a half years of being best friends, she knew how his brain worked.  She wished he knew how his brain worked.  “You always find these ways of bringing the most basic logic into things that just makes sense all the time.  Why can’t my mind be like yours?”

“One of us has to be neurotic, Trev,” she joked.

“Nah, I mean it.  You’re not even in wrestling and you get wrestling.”

“It’s because I hang out with too many wrestlers.”

For the first time in what seemed like days, Trevor locked the screen on his phone and dedicated all of his attention to her.  “One day I’m gonna forget my head in the morning and not know what to do, and you’re just gonna swoop in and save me.”

Iris shook her head.  “No you won’t.  You’ll learn and you’ll grow.  You won’t need me – you don’t need me.  At least not as much as you think you do.”

“I don’t know about that,” Trevor shifted in his seat, smiling.  “You’re the only person in this world who keeps me sane, Iris.”

She didn’t know what to say.  What could she say?  She knew she was important to him, just as he was important to her.  She’d be lying if she said he didn’t keep her sane most of the time too – every time she’d remember she lived a four hour flight away from her boyfriend; anytime she remembered she lived a fourteen hour flight away from her family and friends; anytime when, despite her happiness in Tokyo, a sneaking feeling of loneliness would creep up on her and all she would have to do was text him and he’d make her feel not alone.  

She linked her arm through his and laid her head on his shoulder, not bothering to use the wall like she had intended when she begged for the window seat when they first got on the train.  Trevor’s arm rested along her body, his hand on her thigh, as she felt him lean his head on hers.  

She would miss this.

June 7, 2016 Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

When Trevor heard a knock on his door at 11:30 at night, the night that Will Ospreay was crowned the first Englishman and the youngest-ever winner of the Best of the Super Juniors, he didn’t know what to think.  He assumed it to be one of the guys but then he thought about how tired everyone was and how they were probably all already sleeping.  Then he thought it would be Matt or Nick, surprising him, maybe even Akira.  But when he opened the door and saw Iris, he was thoroughly shocked.

“Can we talk?” she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Of course,” he answered automatically, moving away from the door to let her in.  He watched as she entered the room and walked towards his bed, moving to sit down but then deciding against it.  She looked down at the floor and started pacing.  He was getting worried.  “What’s up?”

She looked up at him.  “Can you come here?”

He did as he was told.  He could feel the nervous energy radiating off of her and he started to become nervous too.  “What’s wrong?”

“I’m…I’m leaving.”

“You going back to Tokyo already?”

“No,” she shook her head.  “Trevor…I’m leaving Japan.”

Of all the languages she spoke, ‘I’m leaving Japan’ were the most foreign words to ever come out of her mouth.  He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.  He couldn’t understand them anymore than he couldn’t understand French, or Italian, or any other language she knew.  “You’re what?”

“I can’t…I don’t really believe it either…but yeah,” she mumbled out.  “I’m leaving New Japan.  I’m leaving Japan.”

“What the hell?” was all Trevor could muster.  It wasn’t exactly polite but it was all he could say.  In his mind, it’s what the situation called for.

“Ryder…he got a job in New York City.  A promotion.  He’s moving in about six weeks --”

“Six weeks?”

“He’s going to be in New York City and I’ll be based in Orlando.  I’ve been hired by the WWE.”

Now Trevor really couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  “H…hold on,” he huffed out, sitting on the bed in pure confusion.  If he continued to stand he probably would have fallen over from shock.  “Start from the beginning.”

Iris took a deep breath.  “About six months ago, a position came up at Ryder’s work that he’s been dreaming about getting for years.  So when he applied and they interviewed him, they basically put him in the position temporarily to see if he could handle it.  And he passed with flying colours.  So when he finally got hired, they told him he’d have to move to New York City.”

“Just because Ryder’s going doesn’t mean you have to go,” Trevor said.

“I know.  But then, around that same time, Nick heard from Matt, who heard from Chris, who heard from Rami…anyway, through the grapevine, I heard that the Performance Centre was hiring for a position similar to mine, for all the international recruits they have and anticipate getting.  Ryder thought I should apply, because then that would mean we would both move to the States…and I did.  New Japan gave a sparkling reference.  And lo and behold…”

Trevor was happy for her.  He really was.  He knew he wasn’t exactly acting like it, but he was happy if she was happy.  He just knew how much she adored living in Japan and how much she loved her work here.  He couldn’t help but wonder to himself that if the job hadn’t come up in WWE, if Iris would have followed Ryder to New York City or if she would have stayed in Japan.  He wanted to think she would have chosen to dump Ryder and continue living her dream, but that was all heresy now.  Because that meant, in some small fraction in his mind, if she chose Japan over New York City, it meant that she chose him --

“It’s just that we’ll be on the same damn landmass again,” Iris said, wiping a tear, obviously referring to Ryder.  Trevor nodded his head, despite his previous thoughts wishing she would leave him.  “We’d be in the same country.  It’s only a two and a half hour flight.  We’d be able to see each other more often…”

“Hey, c’mere,” he said, reaching out for her hands and holding them in his.  He looked into her eyes and saw how red they were becoming and wished she would stop crying.  He hated seeing her cry.  “I’m proud of you, okay?  I’m so proud of you.  And I want you to be happy.  I’m just shocked.”

She sat down on the bed beside him, turning to face him immediately.  “I know you know how much I love Japan,” she said.  “But I couldn’t bring myself to tell you any earlier.  You were so wrapped up with the Ospreay match stuff and the tournament as a whole and I didn’t want to derail you.  It wasn’t a good time.”

“It’s never a good time to tell me you’re leaving Japan,” Trevor commented, causing Iris to smile slightly for the first time that evening.  He rubbed the backs of her hands with his thumbs tenderly.  “But he’s not taking you away from me.  You’re…you’re not being taken away from me.  Instead of Japan being our thing, the States will have to be our thing now.”

She let out a small chuckle.  “Japan’s always gonna be our thing, Trev,” she said.  “Unless you get signed at the PC.  Do you want to come too?”

Trevor snorted, leaning forward to hug her.  “I’m gonna follow you wherever you go,” he said as their bodies were entwined with each other’s in their embrace.  “You’re never getting rid of me.”

Neither were quick to let go of the hug.  Iris wasn’t quick to lose the warmth of his body on hers, and Trevor wasn’t quick to lose the intoxicating coconut smell of her hair in his lungs.  It was Iris who chose to move closer to him, practically sitting on his lap and nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck.  They stayed like that for a while; Trevor beginning to realize and understand the ramifications of her new job and big move; Iris beginning to realize how much different the next stage of her life would be in comparison to where she was now.  

“Can we lie down together, Trev?” her voice filled the void.

His favourite thing in the world.  Was he really going to say no?

Without saying a word, they moved their bodies further onto the bed, never letting go of one another.  Trevor lay down on his back while Iris moved to lay her head on his chest, resting a leg between his.  He wrapped both his arms around her, pulling her close.  

“Trev?”

“Mhm?”

“I’d never want to get rid of you,” she said softly.

“I know.”

“Japan’s been really special to us, huh?” she asked.  “We’ve made so many amazing memories here.”

“Damn right we have.”

“Can you promise we’ll make amazing memories in Orlando too?  Or wherever we find ourselves together?”

Trevor kissed her forehead, leaving his lips against her skin.  “I promise.”

@wrestlewriting @wrasslin-x @thegenericluchadora@thewriterformerlytaggedas@fan-fiction-galore @anerdysouthernbelle @spot-of-bother @amaranthine-reign@baleesi @flnnbalor @smuppies@sarahmatthews7 @daintymissdevitt@newjapan @corey-renee @running-ropes @balorsomega @karleedaniels27@kazuchika @ileana0300 @alexahood21@ohcristimhookedonhavocimsodunne@fembxt @heelturn-timesten@kaitlynwwefan @50shadesofadamcolebaybay@50shadesofkennyomega@chasingeverybreakingwave @thyestean-feast @thecandicej @devittsbalor@sp00kylesley @danahart @sietefinns@kaydee-kayyyy @powerbombshell@swedish-strong-style @blondekel77@irish-newzealand-idian-dutch@nickysmum1909 @houndofjustice-imagines @wwesmutdonedirtcheap@wweximaginesxd @indywrestlinglover-life @mandi512 @kakakatey@ourscratcheddreams @sleeplessandcynical @badame124 @thevixeniris@fabulousrockstar @lunatic-sambrose @writing-reigns @caramara3

[nanonaturalist]

Yo! I’m an Anthropology student but I’m super fascinated with entomology n’ the like. Any tips for how to self study entomology/get started? How did you become the bug lover you are today?

Sup! I am a HUGE animal lover. Like, I don’t think you understand how much I love animals. Back when google image search was this crazy new thing, I would google things like “puffer fish” and literally start crying from how cute and precious they were. I don’t remember ever not liking bugs. I was bringing in caterpillars when my age was single digits, which I named and kept in shoe boxes, and who would invariably wander out and make a random cocoon somewhere.

STORY TIME! (what? you wanted a short answer? Sorry!)

… (actually check out this post from a while back [link] about tips for getting started, it was written for a high school student but most of the things I mention are good for all ages)…

Thing is, this was the point in history when you needed to use a card catalog to look a book up in the library. No idea what I’m talking about? That’s how long ago this was. If there was a book about bugs in the school book order form, I would ask for it (and sometimes I’d get one), but that was the full extent of my knowledge pool for things that we weren’t directly taught about in school. In 4th grade, we had a unit on marine animals (with the most amazing field trip on a research boat ever, omg the scuba divers brought up things for us to touch, and we got to look at plankton in the microscope eeeeeee!), and it was like I was reborn. I memorized everything we learned, including the taxonomy of cnidaria (jellies, anemones, corals) and strange eating habits of echinoderms (starfish, urchins). I got REAL into this stuff, to the point where 4 years later, I told anybody who asked me that when I grew up, I was going to get a PhD in Marine Biology.

There was just one problem. You can’t get a degree in any kind of animal biology without doing dissections or killing things. Remember, I’m an animal Lover with a capital L. I wanted to be a vegetarian starting at age 4 (parents said no, but I picked meat out of everything until I made it official at 12). So I gave up on biology real quick. Flash forward about ten years to 2006. I had graduated from college (with a psychology degree that cost me $70,000), was working soul-sucking jobs, and needed a hobby. But wait, DIGITAL CAMERAS ARE A THING! WOW! So I picked up “crappy nature photography” as a hobby. And what did I take pictures of with my First Ever Digital Camera when I bought one that summer?

I found this longhorn beetle on the hood of my car at a rest stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Missouri. But back in 2006… What are you going to do with pictures of bugs when you have no background in biology? I posted some on LiveJournal, and that was that. What kind of bug was it? I couldn’t even tell you that it was a beetle at that point. And when I was going through my old photos more recently, I couldn’t even remember seeing it.

I still took photos of basically everything I saw, but nothing ever really happened with them.

Who are these? At the time (photos are from 2006 to 2009), the most I could have told you was “dragonfly, wasp, spider, caddisfly larva.” Which is pretty good, I guess, but I didn’t even realize how much diversity I was missing out on by not going any deeper. 

Me + Slugs: Left - Banana Slug in Redwood National Forest, CA (2008); Center and Right - Chocolate Arion Slug at my apartment in Redmond, WA (2006)

Time passes, nature photos are taken. I will take photos of any bug I see, but I don’t intentionally seek them out and I never know what any of them are. Now flash forward to 2013, when I moved from Seattle, WA to Austin, TX. 

My mind was blown. The bugs were huge, strange, and EVERYWHERE. I NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT THEY WERE! But… It was still hard. At this point, looking things up on the internet was just what you did, but … what was I supposed to look up? “Giant screaming thing in my potted plant that looks like a leaf?” “Pile of handsnails?” I took pictures, shared them on Facebook (nobody used Livejournal anymore!), and went about my day. 

At this point, I had gone back to college to study engineering (I moved to Austin for grad school), and somehow ended up watching a lot of youtube. SciShow got me onto VlogBrothers, which got me onto The Brain Scoop (@thebrainscoop), which got me onto tumblr *waves*. And I was thinking some hard thoughts about what I actually wanted to do when I grew up because I was tired of soul-sucking jobs. Hey, I love museums (that’s actually where most of my science knowledge came from), so I started thinking about careers in science museums, and I followed UT’s collection page on Facebook. One day in 2015, they shared an event for a Bioblitz, sponsored by several groups associated with UT and Texas Parks and Wildlfie. What’s a Bioblitz? I had no idea. So I clicked. 

Basically, you take as many pictures of living things as you can. There were subject matter experts who would lead you on hikes and tell you what things were and how you can tell them apart (WAIT, WHAT?!?). The event required that you download this new nature app called iNaturalist (@inaturalist), which is where you would post the photos you took. With the data you posted from the app, other users of the website would identify your photos, and the state park we were at would use that data to create species checklists to track what occurred there. Your iNat account kept a permanent log of all of your observations. I tend to be extremely skeptical/resistant to new technologies and being told to do things, so at first I wanted to know what was wrong with the way I took photos NOW, I didn’t need some stupid website telling me what to do.

But then I started testing it out before the event.

Two of my first iNat observations (both butterflies). Left: Henry’s Elfin caterpillar; Right: American Lady butterfly. Links to iNat observations.

I had no idea where to start with identifying either of these, and the Henry’s Elfin caterpillar took me a few years to ID myself. But the American Lady? People told me what it was within hours of me posting it. Within hours.

About a week later, the Bioblitz happened. It was perfect. For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by people who were just like me. They wanted to go on long slow walks through nature, turning over logs and walking directly into ponds and poking at insects, all while taking photos of things and identifying them. I was spending the weekend with real life biologists and I was learning everything I could. And the things I saw?

HOLY CARP. Texas has dung beetles?! (top left) Parasitic wasps REALLY DO THAT? (braconid wasp cocoons on inchworm caterpillar, top right) Diving beetles?! (water scavenger beetle, bottom left) Giant fishing spiders?! (bottom right)

This event was the moment I “got started” with entomology. I regularly used iNaturalist, and in the process of trying to identify my observations with BugGuide.net [link], I quickly began to learn some of the “basics.” For example, stink bugs are a thing. So are green lacewings. And there are a LOT more kinds of spiders than orbweavers and wolf spiders (who knew?). I was so smitten with iNaturalist that I professed my love for all to read on tumblr [link] (all being… 3 people?). I used iNaturalist regularly, but still, unless I was on a bioblitz, I didn’t seek things out. I mentioned I was a grad student, right?

Then 2016 rolls around. I’ve had enough of school and drop master out of my program. I get a Real Engineering Job and Buy a House with a Yard. I started my new job when I was finishing up my thesis (probably not the best idea…) and so my back yard took on a life of its own. By the time I had finished my thesis, the grass was hip height, and the HOA had no rules about what my back yard had to look like, so I just never mowed it. And the bugs… oh man, the bugs. The bugs were good. By January 2017, I was getting more confident in my Bug Knowledge, and I was using iNaturalist every week. I had joined clubs centered around nature (Texas Master Naturalists and Travis Audubon). I signed up for a birding trip in Malawi. Then in April, I found a pile of butterfly eggs and a chrysalis. And the guy leading the Malawi trip (one of the directors at Travis Audubon) asked me to do an insect table at their outreach event. Then City Nature Challenge 2017 happened (and I am *very* competitive). And… uh… I guess I just never looked back?

The thing to remember here is: the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. What I love about iNaturalist is that I can create a time capsule showing what I did and didn’t know at the time. And what I didn’t know is… really amazing. I taught the entomology class for my Master Naturalist chapter’s training course this year, and I told the people in the class that one year ago, I didn’t know any of the things I was going to talk to them about. I know it sounds like I’m putting on a commercial for iNaturalist (which is actually exactly what I’m doing, I love that website), but besides the curiosity about nature that I had to begin with, iNaturalist is the single most important thing that has enabled me to nurture and grow my love for our invertebrate friends.

Through my use of iNaturalist, I have met real people and made real friendships. Many of the people I meet are professionally biologists, but there are just as many randos like me who crawled out of the internet to hang out with nature freaks. One of the great things about this community is there is no elitism, and even professional entomologists are just as willing to admit they have no idea what something is and will listen to me explain what I know, as they are to explain something I don’t know and answer my questions. The people I have met are absolutely awesome, and the general attitude people on iNat (online and in person) tend to have has really rubbed off on me. If someone I’m talking to doesn’t know something that tends to be commonly known (example: my coworker is a gardener, but hadn’t heard about the ant/aphid relationship), oh boy, it’s awesome, let me TELL YOU about ANTS fighting off PREDATORS so they can DRINK APHID PEE!!!

Above: Crematogaster ants farming keeled treehopper nymphs on sunflower SO THEY CAN DRINK THEIR PEE

One of the best things you can do to get more into entomology is to just be observant. Look. Notice patterns. Pay attention to relationships between “higher” and “lower” organisms. When you travel, look there too. What is different from home? What’s similar?

The other best thing: meet people. Find groups/clubs for people into nature. Go on hikes with entomologists. Go to “nature days” events (these are always geared towards kids, but ADULTS ARE WELCOME!). A lot of nature clubs and organizations are heavy on the retiree demographic, which means the meetings may not be easy to learn about online. I actually joined the Austin Butterfly Forum after hearing about it from the people I was sitting next to at a Travis Audubon event (Victor Emanuel’s autobiography had just published and he kicked off his book tour with a live interview in Austin), and I’ve met several new friends through ABF. 

I don’t even know how to explain it, but naturalists are a totally different flavor than any other person I’ve known. It’s like, there are other people who would rather be crawling through the swamp in 105°F weather for 8 hours straight than sit and watch TV? There are other people who will skip two meals and stay up until 2 am to get really good bug pictures? I mean, I can’t describe what it feels like to be slowly picking through the deserts of west Texas with 15 other people, when one of them yells, “SNAKE!” and suddenly EVERYBODY RUNS TOWARDS THE SNAKE AND IMPATIENTLY WAITS THEIR TURN TO HOLD HIM. 

I know this is long and maybe not entirely what you were expecting, @marichuu, but want to make sure that anybody reading this knows that if you like nature, even if you don’t know very much about it now, there are a ton of people like me and those weirdos up there who are so excited to share the world with you that you can’t even imagine it now. Want to stay online because you’re nervous about meeting new people? That’s great! Tons of us are online! But if you’re ready to put yourself out there and meet people in person, chances are, they’re awesome and will love answering your questions (and if they’re not awesome tell me and I’ll YELL AT THEM FOR YOU YOU DESERVE BETTER). 

Anyway. Bugs are awesome and I hope they think you are just as awesome. Also anthropology is super neat and there’s a lot of intersections with entomology [link] that you can look at from an interesting angle.

Posted June 4, 2018

[typicalmidnight]

100 Questions

1.) Name Kaleea

2.) Where are you from? Canada

3.) How old are you? 13

4.) Do you have any siblings? yes, a younger brother

5.) Pets? an aquatic frog (i kinda hate it tho)

6.) Describe yourself um smart, funnyish, sarcastic 24/7

7.) What do you do for fun? read, watch youtube and netflix, sing

8.) Do you have a job? What do you do? nope i just go to school

9.) Have you had other jobs? i used to babysit?

10.) What’s your favorite memory? i have no freaking idea

11.) What is one thing you regret? so many things

12.) What is one thing you wish you would’ve done, but didn’t? tried out for my school musical

13.) One thing about yourself you wish you could change my hair cause i cut it and regret it so much

14.) What do you love about yourself? my singing voice

15.) Who inspires you? brooke sanchez, zendaya, emma watson, idk who else

16.) Do you collect anything? no?? i don’t think so lol

17.) Do you have any fears? SPIDERS

18.) Is there anything that annoys you about your job? uh homework?? lol

19.) Can you tell us a secret about yourself? 

20.) How about another secret? :)

21.) Favorite band? One Direction

22.) What music are you currently listening to? well currently as i’m writing this, i’m listening to Eyes Wide Open by Sabrina Carpenter. but in general lots of oldish pop from 2012-2016/17

23.) Do you have a favorite song? i don’t think so

24.) Do you have a favorite movie? ooooooh ummmm spiderman: homecoming at the moment i think

25.)What’s your favorite color? purpleeee

26.) What’s your favorite place you’ve ever been to? cuba!

27.) Ever broken a promise? i mean probably, small ones tho. wait actually tho this girl that i don’t really like told me her crush and made me promise not to tell anyone but i broke that one soooooo that was a mess. regret that a lot.

28.) Do you have a favorite book? harry potter and the deathly hallows

29.) What’s your favorite school subject? language (english)

30.) Least favorite school subject? GYM

31.) What’s your favorite food? sushi

32.) How about least favorite food? so many i have no idea

33.) What’s your favorite Holiday? Christmas!!!!

34.) What makes you mad? ahhhh so much but usually my brother

35.) What makes you happy? peter parker, reading, harry potter, brooke sanchez, music

36.) Do you have a favorite scent? no, but if i had to pick i would say vanilla

38.) Do you have a favorite TV show? uhhhhh full house maybe?

39.) Can you share an extremely embarrassing moment? once i punched my crush in the face by accident...

40.) When is a time you were extremely irritated? a few weeks ago i was under a lot of stress and my friend stole my earbuds but when she said she took them she seemed like she was lying and my anxiety levels were really high (i have diagnosed anxiety okay i’m not just saying that) and she was really stressing out and i was super mad at her. that’s long sorry. also super random.

41.) Is there anybody you hate? millie bobby brown (sorry y’all that like her) and this kid in my class.

42.) What do you look for in a person? a strong personality, funny, outgoing, nice, someone i can relate too

43.) How’s the weather? sucky it’s coldddd and even tho it’s winter there’s no snow even tho i’m in CANADA and like we usually get snow but there isn’t any so that’s making me kinda mad

44.) Are you currently in school? not at the moment, but yes, i do go to school

45.) What is your goal in life? to become a professional singer maybe??

46.) Is there something you should be doing, but keep putting off? homework, cleaning my room

47.) Ever been to a concert? yes, i saw johnny orlando and mackezie ziegler, and hayden summerall, brooke butler, and johnny orlando again

48.) What was the last movie you saw in theater? fantastic beasts: the crimes of grindelwald

49.) What was the last book you read? mockingjay (hunger games trilogy)

50.) What is your favorite season? fall

51.) Do you prefer it to be hot or cold? cold i guess but i hate both

52.) Do you prefer the sun, the rain, or snow? sun, but not too hot

53.) If you could go anywhere, where would you go? paris maybe

54.) Any current travel plans? nah but i wanna go to vidcon. i might go to flordia tho possibly to go to playlist live.

55.) Do you prefer day or night? idk

56.) Are you an introvert or extrovert? in👏tro👏vert👏

57.) What is something not many people know about you? i write fics, and i actually really love writing (nobody i know in real life knows this i don’t think)

58.) Where are you right now? my living room

59.) Look in front of you. What do you see? a blanket

60.) If you could meet one person, alive or dead, who would it be? does peter parker count?

61.) Would you rather look into your future, or fix something from your past? i honestly have no idea

62.) If you could sit down with anyone in the world, and talk to them for an hour, who would you like to speak with? zendaya

63.) What was the first CD you ever owned? i don’t own any

64.) What was the first CD you ever purchased with your own money? noneee

65.) If you own any Vinyls, which was your first? um none!

66.) How many CDs do you own? 0. nobody uses cds!

67.) What relaxes you? music

68.) Do you have any talents? singing?? idk sometimes i think i’m good at it, and others i think i’m terrible

69.) If you could give yourself the ability to do anything, what would it be? like a superpower?? um be a witch like hermione granger but without a wand. or combat my anxiety and ask out my crush (he would prob say no tho i’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me back)

70.) Favorite candy? gummies

71.) Is anything bothering you right now? i’m going to a new school soon i think and i’m hella nervous

72.) Are you happy with where you are in life right now? not really, the reason i’m going to a new school is actually because of my anxiety, so i’m upset with myself for letting it take this much control over me.

73.) Is there anyone you regret ever associating with? none that i can think of

74.) Do you have a favorite memory from your childhood? uh well one time i was eating ice cream in front of my tv when i was really little. that was fun.

75.) What is your least favorite memory from your childhood. when i was 3 i had a dream cookie monster was in my basement and he was trying to eat me. that traumatized me for years.

76.) Favorite memory of your parents? idk i have terrible memory i’m sorry

77.) Do you have a least favorite memory of your parents? again, terrible memory

78.) How is your relationship with your parents? um i’m closer with my mom than my dad, but there’s other stuff i shouldn’t get into on the internet

79.) What’s your family like? good? idk

80.) Are you clean or messy? messyyyy even tho i hate messiness

81.) What is your most recent purchase? books

82.) What’s the most amount of money you’ve spent at once? i have no idea

83.) What are you saving up for? vidcon tickets

84.) How much money do you have to your name currently? a lot? idk

85.) Have you ever done anything last minute? EVERYTHING

86.) What’s the furthest in advance you’ve planned something? nothing i’m terrible at planning

87.) Are you an introvert or Extrovert? you already asked this?? in👏tro👏vert👏

88.) What’s the latest you’ve ever been out of your house? 5 am?? maybe??? i have no idea

89.) Cats or Dogs? D👏O👏G👏S👏 (i’m not against cats, just not a cat person)

90.) How long have you gone without sleep? like the longest? 22 hours i think. currently tho like 5 hours i woke up late cause i’m sick

91.) What were you like as a child? shyyyyy but also very loud if i was comfortable

92.) What do you miss from your childhood? the innocence you have when you’re a child, and not having drama all the time

93.) Do you have a favorite memory from work? i don’t workkkkkkk. but from school, we went on a trip to Washington DC and that was cool.

94.) What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you? I almost got hit by a car once? (but like i almost did no joke my friend saved me tho) (happens to be the same friend who stole my earbuds)

95.) What’s a bad habit that you have? biting my nails oof

96.) What are your plans for the summer? uhhhhhhhh

97.) What was the last thing that made you happy? writing these answers

98.) What was the last picture you took on your phone? screenshot of the new spider-man trailer!!!

99.) Who was the last person you texted and why? my friends, because i was super excited about the new trailer

100.) Send me your own questions in the ask box!

[thebibliosphere]

I see we’re continuing the 2017 agenda of worsening my impostor syndrome one month at a time. Well start off as we mean to go on I suppose.

Hi, I’m the vampire editor person who just wants to rest. Clickable links are in bold for ease of navigation :)

If you’re here for more questionable puns, Death smut, food history and generally relentless vampire shitposting combined with unconditional love for Carrie Fisher, then boy are you in the right place.

Recommended listening for this post blog life : https://youtu.be/zzg4yACP4nE

*** IF YOU’RE HERE TO ASK ME HOW I BECAME AN EDITOR OR ARE INTERESTED IN HIRING ME AS ONE, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT MY FAQ . Thank you <3***

Due to tumblr tricking me into becoming a professional writer I’m currently working on about a million and one writing projects. Most of them vampire related for some bizarre unknown reason.

The most well known is likely Hunger Pangs which is available for pre-order via my Patreon, and hopefully soon Amazon for those of you who prefer it. Cause that’s right, I took that shit post and turned it into a queer-polyamorous-paranormal-satirical-romance novel featuring vampires, werewolves and punching undead fascists (It wasn’t intended to be politically relevant but here we are).

A fairly concise summary of it can be found here and excerpts can be found by searching for the tag ‘#the vampire werewolf thing’, which is the unofficial tagline for Hunger Pangs or #Phangs as some people have started to tag it. By request there is going to be two versions of the book, one which contains sexual content, and one which does not, for those who are not interested in smut and like a little more fluff with their fangs.

All of my work that I intend to publish professionally will also be available smut free in plain romance/fluff versions for anyone that wants it.  

Along with Phangs I’m also working on a gritty Scottish romance novella (extract) based on a pun; a pun based bakery romance(extract), a pun based werewolf Scottish romance (have you noticed a theme yet), and  a modern day romantic comedy concerning Scotsmen with questionable morals. Which also has an excerpt on my Ao3. Oh and also a vampire wedding planner romcom because apparently I have lost complete control of my life

I’m surprisingly okay with this.

All of my work is tagged appropriately, with anything that is 18+ being placed under a cut and tagged as #NSFW or #NSFW Text for ease of blacklisting if you would like avoid it. If you are under the age of 18, I do ask that you respect my boundaries and refrain from interacting with anything on my blog that is labelled 18+. I try very hard to keep my blog as safe for everyone as I can. No mean feat when you’re known across the Internet as “the crucifix vampire nipple lady” :P

If you need me to tag something for trigger purposes, no matter how silly you think I might think it is, please let me know, I will be more than happy to do so.

If you’re completely new here you might notice some people calling me “mom” or other variations therein of familial relation. It’s perfectly okay to greet me as such if you wish to do so, but it is by no means an obligatory title and not something I gave to myself. Tumblr decided to adopt me sometime back in 2016 after I did some helpful life advice posts, and I’ve been doing my best to be worthy of the honorific ever since. You can also, if you’d prefer, just call me Joy. Cause that is my name :)

Please have patience if you are sending me asks or IMs. I am but a humble smut peddler, peddling my weres, and have some pretty profound chronic health problems ranging from autoimmune issues to nerve damage which make keeping up with a high traffic blog as well as my work schedule rather difficult. So I’m sorry if you ever send me something and I don’t see it. I’m trying.

If you get tired of seeing my health posts, you may wish to blacklist the following tags: #chronic health tag & #chronic health tag: teeth, that way I can bitch and moan into the void and you don’t have to put up with me if you don’t want to.

Also sometimes we stream things in my chatroom or on my Twitch. You can find the link to my chat on my navigational bar, and are welcome to check out at any time though we are currently on hiatus. There is also a discord chat set up by my friends and followers, where people often hang out just to chat. The link to this can also be found via my chatroom or by sending me a message.

Oh and you can now follow me on Twitter if that is a thing you are interested in. I also have a PO Box listed in my FAQ for if and when anyone would like to send me something random like a book they’d like to see me review, or even the occasional Death fucking skeleton statue too. No I’m not kidding.

All of these things aside, welcome to my little corner of the Internet. I hope you’re having a good appropriate time zone, and whatever made you click on me was worth it.

Take care of yourselves and each other, and I’ll see you in the comments.  Welcome to the family. <3

[prettyfunkyunorganized]

Teleported to Overwatch Reader Insert

Just a for fun little reader insert about someone from our fandom being whisked to Winston’s lab and having to talk to the team about our love for them!

3,100 ish words. Female reader. Totally PG. Based off a lil chat I had with @zarcake-writes . 

One minute you were walking through the door from your bathroom to the hallway, and the next you were standing in a dimly lit room you didn’t recognize. You blinked and swiveled around, but your bathroom door was nowhere to be seen – there was just a set of stairs framed by walls that looked to be made of . . . metal? How odd. And oddly familiar. This time you turned more slowly, taking in everything around you. The worn ‘watch your step’ warnings on the floor, the cluttered workbench, the sleek modern style that encompassed everything but the one lone chalkboard. The hologram. There was a friggin’ hologram. An honest to god projected globe just floating above a table. You slowly tip-toed toward it and poked a random stop in Australia. The map zoomed in and brought up a number of news stories from the area. Junkrat and Roadhog were on the front page.

Junkrat and Roadhog.

On the front page.

Of a real news site.

Holy shit this was real!

You were in Winston’s lab! In Gibraltar! You’d played on this map a thousand times, and now, for some reason, you were here!

What the actual fuck was going on?!

Just as you were about to start panicking, the lights flickered on, and you yelped in surprise. As you whipped around to look at the entrance, you lost your footing and tumbled to the ground, hitting your head on the table on the way down. You groaned and rubbed the throbbing spot.

A burst of thudding came rushing toward you, and your heart raced. Winston’s movement was even louder than you had ever imagined.

“Are you okay,” he asked worriedly.

You stared up at him in utter amazement. He was so big! And hairy! And soft-spoken.

“Um, yeah,” you stammered. “I think I’m alright.”

“Good,” he said looking around the room curiously. “Uh, how did you get in here?”

“I don’t know,” you say honestly. “I just kinda showed up here.”

The scientist frowned at you, “You just showed up here?”

You flush and give a shy smile, “Yeah. Sounds crazy, right?”

��Sounds impossible,” he replies raising a brow.

“I know! But I promise it’s true! I was just about to grab my stuff and go to work, but then I was here.”

He continued to give you a strange look, but he didn’t seem hostile. “Athena,” he said eventually, “have you been recording my lab today?”

“Of course,” the AI’s voice came from nowhere. It was awesome.

“Can you bring up the video feed for the last few minutes? On my personal computer upstairs,” Winston said rubbing his chin.

“The videos are ready when you are.” You knew you had a dumb grin on your face, but you couldn’t wipe it off. A real AI who could just record everything and bring it up in a split second! Too damn cool!

“Why don’t you come up with me,” Winston said jerking his head toward the staircase. “I’d like to keep an eye on you.” He was sounding rather suspicious now.

The two of you entered his office, Winston holding the door open for you like a gentleman. Or maybe he just didn’t want to turn his back to you. You stood next to him as he hunched over his desktop, adjusting his glasses. Your arms were almost touching, and you had to convince yourself not to reach out. He looked soft. But you didn’t want to be rude.

You forced your eyes back to the screen and squinted. Empty room, empty room, BOOP, there you were! Winston’s head reeled back, and he instantly rewound the tape, watching again as you popped up on the screen out of thin air. After three more viewings, the massive scientist looked down at you, bewildered.

“You, you just . . . appeared! Out of nowhere! I don’t – I don’t understand!” Winston scratched his head and gaped at you.

“Told ya,” you say laughing awkwardly. “Sorry I can’t tell you what happened. I swear I was just going about my business then I was plopped into your lab.”

“I . . . believe you,” he said with a huff. “You’re looking just as confused as I am.”

You snort and nod furiously. “I am 100% lost, that much I can tell you.”

Winston chuckles and rubs the bridge of his nose. “Maybe someone else can explain this to me.” He reached for his communicator, still frowning at the video. “Team, I’m going to need everyone to come into my lab, now, please. Yes, Torbjorn, that includes you.” He rolled his eyes, and you giggled.

“Someone being cantankerous,” you asked jokingly.

“As always,” Winston sighed. “Anthea, bring up this video on the large monitor downstairs, will you? I’m sure everyone else will need to see it to believe it, too.”

“Done. And Winston, there is something you should know,” the synthetic voice said.

“What is it,” he asked tentatively.

“I have scanned the young woman in the lab with you, I cannot find any records on her.”

“Any,” Winston questioned.

“None. Her face has not come up on any of the international identification databases.”

“How is that possible,” the scientist whispered.

“Well,” you began, but were cut off by a flash of blue light darting into the room.

“What’s the problem, big guy,” Tracer said, standing at the ready. Her face contorted as she saw you. “I didn’t know we were expecting guests . . .”

“Neither did I,” Winston responded. “I’ll explain once everyone is here.”

“Uh-huh,” the Brit said skeptically, eyeing you with arms crossed. She’d seemed so friendly in-game.

Mercy was next to arrive, Lucio by her side. Then came Genji, Zenyatta, and McCree – his belt buckle glinting almost obscenely. It was fantastic. D. Va and Mei were next with Hanzo close behind. The archer was staring you down intensely, and you couldn’t deny the shiver of fear that ran up your back, but god damn his chiseled face was so handsome you didn’t care. Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and Bastion rounded out the group. They all sat on the steps of the lower lab, and you looked at them with giddy anticipation. And a lot of nerves. Winston described the absurd situation, and everyone watched as the giant screen on the wall played the video of you zapping into their world ten times over. They were all stunned. Reinhardt’s face was the best, all contorted and thrilled.

“What a sight,” the knight boomed. “I have seen a lot in my 61 years, but that is downright strange! Are you sure you’re not pulling our leg here, Winston? This seems too insane to be real!”

“I’m not buying it,” Torbjorn grunted.

“It’s right there on the tele,” McCree defended you. You almost swooned. “And look at the little lady. Looks baffled as can be.”

“I am not trying to trick any of you,” Winston assured them as they all began to murmur. “Unfortunately, it appears none of you have any idea what could be happening either.”

“It kinda reminds me of when I was floating in and out of the present,” Tracer spoke up, a grave look sprawled across her features.

“That almost, sorta makes sense,” you say thoughtfully.”

“She speaks,” Genji said gently, thankfully not sounding judgmental. “I would be interested to hear you elaborate.” Ugh, he was so nice. You bit your lip to keep from grinning and cleared your throat.

“So,” you began, “I should probably mention that I don’t think I’m from the same year you guys are.”

“What now,” D. Va said confused.

“I was in the year 2017 ten minutes ago, but I don’t think I am now,” you explain.

“No way,” Lucio gasped, “you’re from the year of the Stranger Things?”

“Well,” you say as your brows furrow, “the second season came out in 2017, but it takes place in the 80s.”

Lucio thought for a moment before saying, “Oh yeah! It did start in 2016. That’s so cool! You got the experience the whole ‘Strange Fever’ as it happened!”

You smirk, “My ‘Barb Deserved Better’ sweatshirt got here just the other day.”

The DJ’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes sparkled. “Oh my god I need one,” he squealed.

“Amazing,” Mei said smiling from ear to ear. It almost sounded like ‘ah-mei-zing’ and you were dying inside. She was too adorable.

“How did you know you had arrived in a different year,” Hanzo said sternly, tearing apart the light mood.

You squirm and try to stall. “Uh, you know, this place just has a much . . . different style than what I’m used to. And the tech is super fancy.”

Hanzo’s stance adjusted and his fists clenched. “You are hiding something.”

“Easy there, Hanzo,” Mercy said calmly, “this must be very overwhelming for her. We should let her speak on her own terms.” Hanzo glared at her and Genji rolled his head, annoyed.

“He’s not wrong,” you say softly. Everyone turns back to you, and your shoulders curl in. “The thing is, I know who all of you are, I know about this base, I know about your fight and the recall.”

“Even though we are from your future,” Zenyatta asked, tilting his head. His voice was even more calming in person.

“Yes,” you clarify, “because where I’m from, you guys are just a . . . story.”

“Story?” Winston is still closest to you, and his looming figure seems a little intimidating now. How do you tell someone they’re not real? Or that they may not be real? Or . . . well, shit. You didn’t know what any of this meant, but you had little choice but to run with it.

“To be specific, a game. A videogame,” you continue.

And they were off, asking a million questions – really? A game? What kind of game? Who played it? Who made it? Why did anyone want to play through their harrowing struggles? You went through all the basics with them until their curiosities seemed to be coming to an end, but then Lucio was smirking at D. Va who was looking deviously back at him.

“So,” Lucio wavered, “we’re pretty popular, right?”

“Yeah,” you say worriedly.

“Meaning we got a lot of fans right,” D. Va said leadingly.

“Uh-huh.” You didn’t like where this was going.

“That means we got wild internet fans too, right?” The DJ was way too excited.

“Yes,” you laugh. “You all have loads of fans on the internet. There’s a ton of fanart, cosplayers, all that stuff.”

Half the group looks concerned, half look intrigued. Much to your surprise, Torb looks interested.

“People draw pictures of us,” the short engineer said leaning in. Everyone gave him a shocked look. “I just wanna make sure they’re givin’ my baby proper credit!”

“People love you and your turret,” you promise him, “more than anything, they love the two of you together.”

D. Va was suddenly bouncing up and down excitedly, babbling in her native language. “Wait, wait, wait,” she squeaked, “I already get fan art, and I love it, but do I get fancy Overwatch fan art? Like of me in my Overwatch uniform?”

You think a moment. “I haven’t seen you with an official Overwatch skin, yet, but I’ve seen lots of other versions of you.”

“Skin,” Winston asks.

“Like costumes,” you clarify. “When you play the game, you can dress up in different ways to kinda express yourself or celebrate a holiday.”

“Tell me everything,” D. Va wails, enthralled.

“That’s a lot to tell,” you laugh, “but I gotta say my favorite skin of your is the B. Va one. You and your mech are decked out in yellow and black with extra bug-like antennae and stuff. It’s pretty great.”

“How cute,” Mei giggles.

“You have a beekeeper one, Mei, but I’m partial to your firefighter skin,” you say. The brunette ‘oooh’s as she pictures it.

“This is ridiculous,” Hanzo huffs. You purse your lips at him.

“Suddenly ‘Demon Hanzo’ seems especially apt,” you snark. Genji bursts out laughing.

“Hold on,” D. Va yells again, slamming her hands together. “Are there ships?” You go bright red. “There are! OH MY GOD YES,” she yelps.

“What is a ‘ship,’” Mercy frowns.

“It’s a term for couples that fans hope will get together,” Reinhardt explains through his loud laughter. “They are relationships you want to see come to fruition.”

“How do you know about this,” McCree chuckles.

Reinhardt shrugs, “What can I say, I loved the ‘Zena Warrior Princess’ reboot. I have no shame!”

“There’s a Zena reboot,” you repeat excitedly.

“There is, and it is beautiful,” the aging man grins.

“Who cares about Zena,” D. Va butts in, “tell us about our ships!”

You rub the back of your neck, unsure. “I get the feeling some of you may not like what I have to say.”

“I gotta hear this,” Torb snorts. “The web is a dark, twisted place and I wanna know how they’ve paired all you up!” He frowns a moment before looking to you. “I’m not included, am I? I’m a married man, after all.”

“Uh, no,” you say scrolling through Tumblr in your mind, “I haven’t seen you in any ships that I can think of.”

“Then spill,” the engineer demands with a grin.

“Oh alright,” you say as everyone watches you. Some look worried, but no one else is objecting or leaving. You decide not to bring up Gabe or anyone else in Talon for now, in an effort to keep things light. Ish.“One of the earliest ships was Mercy and Genji, and that one still has a lot of support.” The cyborg and healer exchange a glance and Mercy’s cheeks go red. Her little smile is so sweet. “But,” you continue almost regretfully, “a lot of people also want Mercy and Pharah to get together.”

“Ana’s daughter,” Mercy says stunned. You nod. The blonde’s gaze turns to the window. She doesn’t seem turned off by the idea. At all.

“Who else,” Lucio prompts you.

“Well, a lot of people like you and Hana together.”

D. Va smirks and smacks his arm. “You wish,” the Korean woman laughs.

“But I could serenade you,” Lucio teases back, “with original songs, too!”

“That does sound nice,” she says nodding, “but I’m kinda married to my mech for now.”

“That’s some tough competition,” Lucio laughs. “Who else is paired up?”

“Uh,” you say looking everyone over. “Lots of people are happy with Lena and Emily since we’re still struggling with prejudice in my time,” you say.

“Aw, I’m glad me and my girl can help,” Tracer beams.

“Um, I don’t Winston has been set up with anyone,” you continue.

“Thank goodness,” the scientist sighed, clearly taken aback by all this.

“Reinhardt and Ana are a definite thing.” The knight gives you a surprised look that turns into a fond smile. Looks like he misses her.

“I haven’t seen much about Bastion, but everyone loves his friendship with Ganymede.” The omnic beeps happily as the bird chirps on his shoulder. Holy shit its endearing.

“Not gonna lie to ya,” you say as your eyes grace over the other omnic with his floating orbs, “I’ve never seen Zenyatta with anyone other than Genji.”

The mentor and student turn to one another. “He is my student,” Zenyatta says, “and I will always be there for him, but I have no romantic feelings toward him.”

“Likewise, master,” Genji nods. “I suppose that only leaves my brother and McCree, then,” the cyborg says, and you have to stifle a laugh.

“No,” D. Va gapes, dragging out the word dramatically. “No freaking way!”

All eyes drag to Hanzo and McCree as you clamp your hand over your mouth and dissolve into giggles. Hanzo is looking at the cowboy with terror on his face and McCree is looking at the archer with a fiendish grin.

“That,” Hanzo sputters, “is the most ludicrous thing you have said yet!” His face is so red you can hardly believe it. The flush of his skin reaches up into his ears in the most delightful way.

“Oh come one now, darlin,’” McCree says opening his arms wide, “ya can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it.”

“I – ” Hanzo says as he begins to shake, but he clamps his mouth shut and turns away as Genji lets out a bought of laughter so strong he’s buckling over his cybernetic knees. Everyone else joins in too, you included. The archer’s reaction is priceless!

“Really,” Torbjorn says once he’s caught his breath, “the internet wants these two together?”

“Yup,” you say wiping a tear from your eye. “They’re the most popular ship, in fact!”

“Most popular,” Lucio blurts. He’s laying on the floor, still holding his sides.

“There is so much McHanzo shit out there guys, you have no idea,” you giggle.

“McHanzo,” Reinhardt coughs out, still howling. “They have a name!”

“A damn fine name, too,” McCree says winking at Hanzo, who only brings the archer’s his shoulders closer to his head in response. Could the eldest Shimada possibly get any redder? “Hon,” Jesse continues, starting to walk toward Hanzo, “looks like the people have spoken – we’re meant to be!”

“Her people,” Hanzo seethes. “Any reasonable person could see we are completely incompatible!”

“But sweetheart,” McCree chuckles, “what if this lovely little girl is our own personal cupid! A sweet cherub come to put us on the path of true love.” Hanzo scoffed and took a step back from McCree’s advances, but the cowboy didn’t relent. Instead, the man put both hands on his belt and wiggles his eyebrows saying, “Better buckle up, buttercup! I don’t wanna disappoint the fans.”

Hanzo’s eyes steal a look at McCree’s crotch before he spits out a garbled jumble of syllables and sprints from the room. The rest of Overwatch is still watching and whooping in amusement. Genji is literally crouched on the floor gasping for breath.

“Holy shit,” the cyborg rasps out, “I have never seen my brother so frazzled! That was a thing of beauty!”

“Well if he keeps running around with his toned little tit out someone’s going to jump on it,” McCree says adjusting his hat, “I’m just tryin’ to prepare him for the inevitable.”

All of these people were even more wonderful that you had ever dreamed of. You didn’t understand how you had been brought to Gibraltar, or why, but since you were here, you may as well enjoy yourself. You loved this team! If you could be a part of it for a while, you were going to try not to overthink things too much.

Additional tags: @watch-your-grammer @winchester-sonsandcastiel

[danganronpasurvivor]

Hello,sorry if I made you cry. :) I actually have a question now. How did you come up with all of the characters because they are really well made? (Especially Akihiko and Eri in my opinion)

OH GOSH, that means so much aaaaa!!! I can try my best to explain the process from my perspective, but obviously Teshis had a huge hand in it, too!!!

I’m going to go into as much detail as I can below the cut!!! Of course, some aspects of answering would be spoilerish, so I’ll do my best with what I can share.

Personality:

So at the time, NDRV3 wasn’t really quite... a THING, yet, so Teshis and I looked towards the first and second games and started noticing patterns within the cast. This comes into play more with the Physical appearances, so we’ll get more into that later, but basically we noticed some tropes and started making our own twists on things. Ayano was the first of the non-inspired characters to be made, so her personality was actually one we decided pretty early on. Characters like Aoi and Akane were a bit slow, but very high-energy, so we wanted to make a twist on that. Ayano is more tired and spacey; She’s not dumb, she just rambles and asks questions a lot and tends to be more Quirky in her tastes and the way she presents herself.

A few other characters spawned from SUPER early talks.

Look familiar?

Over a year ago, we kept making this random character named “Person A” who was this Kid-At-Heart, kinda slow, but overall loving and caring bro. Later on we made him into the Akihiko Igarashi we know and love today. His name Akihiko is actually because of the “A” in “Person A”. For a character like him, though, we needed something to match his high-energy, and I believe it was Teshis who decided Daredevil fit best. It doesn’t do to just Stop there, though. With any character, they need Depth, a backstory, reasons for the way they are.

Akihiko is reckless, but he’s very caring and looks out for others. Why? Because he’s the 3rd oldest of 9, and both his older siblings are away at University. He’s had to take a more responsible role, but at the end of the day what he knows best is making people smile. That’s why he got into doing dumb stunts in the first place. He gets to meet all kinds of people in his life, and gets to know his very large family, so this makes him charismatic and personable, as well as very accepting of others. He tends to be a bad liar, cause even though he just wants to make everyone happy, he struggles Not being true to himself.

Eri is another twist on trying to make a character more than just a trope, however you can see that more in the answered asks than in the demo currently. As an internet sensation, it makes sense that she’s good at playing a part, that she’s very talented in lots of hobbies and regularly looks for new experiences. While she might play a dumb, cutesy girl, she’s got a lot of smarts, and having dealt with thousands of douchebags, she knows when to put her foot down and when to help others.

I hope that gives you an idea of what we thought about to make our characters more well-rounded.

Lastly, the seven self-insert-ish/Inspired characters (as I like to call them now) were all BASED on our close friends in our DnD-esque campaign December 2016. However a lot of their personalities have been fiddled with to fit the dynamics of the group. Teshi was made into more of a Tsundere and her dislike of DDR stems from Teshis own, but was exaggerated for comedic effect.Yuuki, my own character, is actually so different from me now that I hardly consider them a self-insert. I would NOT be that cool under pressure and they have much more Smarts than myself, both of which tie a lot into their backstory.

Physically:

SO, this is where Teshis and my own input starts going maybe 40-60. Obviously I drew them all, but I was constantly talking through decisions and getting opinions and ideas from Tesh, so they had a fair amount going into the designs as well!

[About Orochi]And to be completely honest: I often was winging it! I think Eri was the only character who had MULTIPLE sketches made, but Tesh had come up with the hair concept in advanced, so it was just the outfit.

And again!!! To be honest? There’s a lot I think I could have done better with. Mikio for sure I wish I had thought of something more... original. And in general I think my designs tend to be very simple, which I do for ease of redrawing, but I think it often shows as a lack of understanding basics in memorable designs. While someone like Akihiko is memorable AND simple, I think someone like Yuuki might be less distinguishable from other sources in some ways.

That does bring up the designs of the Inspired Characters, however. Characters like Teshi and Daniela were totally my own thought process since they were originally, originally Early Christmas Gifts. Then we have ones like Yorua and Anabelle who were for the Dnd-esque game and their Creators were very clear in their ideas for what their character should look like. I followed that guidance and, while adding my own touches, mostly went through with their requests. That being said I’m sure Belle, if she had known what we know now, would have come up with something very historic or fun for her character.

In general we had personalities and talents before designing the characters. That’s what really guided me in my drawing, like making Akihiko’s outfit bright and based around motorcycle suits. Orochi worked in an office building and was supposed to be someone ya kinda wanted to punch, hence his signature Smug Grin and dressier fashion. Ayano was based around the “Sporty Big Breasted Brunette Girl” trope, but she also did Snowboarding in particular, so she wears winter gear and keeps her hair in a braid. Bee Gee was our kind of Fun, Doesn’t-Look-Like-Everyone-Else design, but that’s only because I thought the trope of having her eyes hidden constantly since she’s Short and wearing a Hat would be very funny.

Talents:

To be honest, I don’t recall a lot of it, other than just going through other people’s like, lists of 150 SHSL ideas and stuff. I could go through Tesh and I’s conversations and see who came up with what, but off the top of my head I know Teshis thought of Orochi’s talent (since we wanted an “unlikeable” character, he needed a terrible talent to go with it)I know I came up with Yuuto’s as just like... a random Shower Thought ahaha.

Names:

I already went over the meanings of names in This Post Here

But here’s some screenshots about the process!!!

This ended up SUPER FRICKING LONG, sorry to ramble your ear off!!!We’ve put a lot of thought and heart into these characters, so I cannot even begin to explain just how much asks like this mean to us. And maybe if you’re looking to make your own characters this can help give you some ideas about how to do it???

In general the order of stuff wasTalent -> Personality -> Name -> DesignBut you could mix it up and do whatever feels best for your brain!!!

[mdss-china]

pop-up random thoughts

Hey gus, Neil here. I know this blog hasn’t been active for quite a while now, and it has a good reason for that(other than my laziness, that is to say). 

First of all, as some of you might be aware of it already, internet restriction from Chinese government has gradually closing up access to non-chinese websites in the past 20 years, and since late 2016, we no longer have access to tumblr as well. Secondly, I struggled through my last semester in the first half of 2017, and begun my postgraduate study in the second half, thus demanding school life keeps it difficult to keep up with fandom updates. And thirdly, I am a little lazy biach and would rather disappoint my fellow prociutto sinners than try harder despite the fact that I am now in London. Sorry.

With the reason for why I left explained, it is why I’ve decided to came back that I’d like to spend more time to share with you guys. 2017 has not been the best yeat in my life, and knowing that it hasn’t been kind to all other persons in the world doesn’t make me feel any better. As a history major, I think it would be fair to say this year is like one of those critical moments in history that challenges humanities as a whole. While I’m fully aware that literally almost everyone is exhausted from their own(and others’) tragedies, Chinese’s voices are still nowhere to be heard, and it worries me so much. Not only do I fear that my peers and the generations to come would see the ‘internet great wall’ and the separation from the world as a norm, doing nothing but struggle with helplessness when struggles hit, but also, I am so eager to tell the truth to you guys, to show you the beauties, the heartbreaks and the struggles of this amazing country, to let you know that when it comes to rescuing and re-striving humanities, us Chinese people stands with everyone else in the world, together; but I am so terrified by the notion that I might not even allowed to do so someday.

Winter holidays here has officially begun, and I shall leave my askbox open for a while, and try to see what the Internet has to share with me, like the good o’ times. Feel free to reblog this message, and drop some random questions into my mailbox, such as: 

What exactly happened in China this year?

What’s your opinion on Newwork Neutrality/Refugees Crisis/Alexander Hamilton/Donald Trump?

If I want to take a trip to China, what places would you suggest the most?

Do you have any  hobbies other than being an annoying brat you are and tries to spread Communist over the world ye little cunt?

(Preferably, I’d prefer questions with a friendlier, or at least a netural tone.Thank you.)

I know-we have probably one of the shitteist governments in the world, and I really can’t give any pinky promise that Chinese people, as a whole, is the best bunch of person in the world either. But, hey, it’s home. It’s the place where I am born and race, a place that holds so many wonders that I’d love to share with you guys, a place I love with all my heart. Please, allow me to take this chance to change things slightly for the better.

Love you all beautiful creatures out there, and stay strong. All of us, no matter who or what we might be, or become.

Sincerely yours, 

her grace, the one and only Prociutto demi-goddess Neil

[seraphaltima-blog]

An open letter from Mateus’ Goblet Ward 12

And so I'm inspired to write my first, and hopefully only, tumblr post.

It's come to my attention that certain cranky people are quite suddenly extra cranky about Mateus' housing situation. That is to say: Mateus, which up until now has had the distinction of being the smallest server replete with open housing plots, suddenly has none left. This is in no small part due to the fact that SE has recently locked Balmung (among other worlds) and marked us as a "preferred server," causing many from Balmung--which hasn't even had so much as an apartment open in close to a year, if I understand correctly--to see us as the new promised land of milk and honey and housing. As such, we have officially unofficially been designated a secondary roleplaying server.

Do I feel sorry for Balmung's housing woes? You know what--no. Not at all. They crammed something like 25,000 people on a server intended to hold about 7,000, assuming the population was appropriately spread throughout the datacenter. Which, okay. That was their choice! But people don't seem to realize that it was a choice. Either you get to have the bustling community of dozens if not hundreds of characters everywhere you go and the rich market board full of any product you could dream of buying... or you get to have a small server with open spaces while tolerating an atmosphere I've heard described as "depressing" or even "skeletal" and a low-supply economy that may force you to be more self-sufficient than you'd prefer. They made their choice, and yet many felt entitled to have their bustling server AND open spaces of their own. SE did a fantastic job of obliging with the addition of apartments, which saw housing woes healed on basically every server but Balmung.

"But random internet person," you say, "what does any of this have to do with Mateus?"

Many people feel entitled to own a house. They feel that even knowing there are only 2,160 plots (soon to be 2,880) on any given server, they can and should be allowed to go at their own pace and have free access to any content they like, including housing. They want a house of their own, but they don't want to accept that lots of other people want it badly enough to work harder for it than they did. As such, when all the housing plots evaporate out from under them on account of people who wanted it badly enough, they get upset. And they find other places to direct their irritation--soandso is denying me a home--instead of directing it inward. At the end of the day, that upset person has had literal years to acquire a house of their own. Now that opportunity is lost, and it's no one's fault but theirs.

So Mateus is out of houses, and people are complaining because they feel like they lost out forever. That now they're at the mercy of vicious plotflippers or camping for auto-demos. That this dream that hasn't mattered to them enough to act on will now never come true.

"But random internet person," you say, "what does any of this have to do with you?"

Well you see, fellow random internet person, a fair amount of the hate people are feeling is being lobbed toward myself and my friend, because people see something we did as very unfair. They don't have the courage to speak to us directly about this, of course, but they talk a lot of crap behind our backs, and we're not stupid and find out about it.

A little about me first, so you might perhaps come to understand why I care so much.

I've played FFXIV a long while. I had a legacy character from 1.0, but I restarted on Gilgamesh on zero-hour of 2.0 beta phase 4, in which any character you created was going to be carried over to the real game. I watched as it grew to immense proportions. You see, it had been designated the official BlueGartr and Reddit and, somehow, generally raiding server. Gilgamesh was where you went when you wanted to get shit done. I didn't pick Gilgamesh for that reason. My husband was friends with some people who wanted to be there.

So it was crowded, and I wished it wasn't. I didn't really have a basis for comparison, though, having only really played on Gilgamesh in 2.0+.

I obtained a house in Gilgamesh when the subdivisions were first added, which was not long after they were first-first opened up from being FC-only to allowing for personal homes as well. My house was in the Goblet--ward 8 plot 54. Despite there being plenty of homes available to choose from, I chose the last ward's subdivision quite on purpose, looking to carve out my own little sanctuary of peace and quiet. Well, a noisy FC moved in next door that liked to trample all over my fence and roof, so... so much for that. Still, I loved that house and put a lot of effort into the decor, which was tons of fun. I like to think I did a great job, but everyone thinks that, I guess.

So fast forward a bit--we're in Heavensward now. I started a project that called for leveling an alt with the same name and appearance of my main. I picked Behemoth. It was still a big...ish? server, but it was nowhere near the size of Gilgamesh, and I finally felt like... I had been holding my breath without knowing, and finally I could breathe. So when a third alt was required for my silly project, I actively sought out the smallest, quietest server I could and transferred/fantasia'd my old legacy character there.

That server was Mateus, and to me, Mateus was perfect. Mateus felt like home. Random encounters with people were rare but incredibly friendly, and with Mateus’ inflated economy, I soon bought a home of my own with the money I'd made from PotD drops. For my home I chose a literally entirely empty ward. That first night, I watched the Moonfire Faire fireworks for hours from atop my roof, over a sea of empty plots, feeling at peace.

That screenshot is dated August 11, 2016. Less than a year ago. Housing was released to Free Companies on December 14, 2013, and expanded to allow for personal purchases on September 16, 2014. And yet, nearly two years after literally anyone could buy a home of their own, on Mateus, many wards of the Goblet were like this. Even the more in-demand areas of Mist and Lavender Beds had areas that looked like this.

Mateus showed no signs of getting bigger. At all. Homes were bought by whatever newbies were curious to play with them, and yet they were being demolished at roughly the same rate, as people streamed away from this "corpse" of a server toward the promised lands of savage modes and ex primals and real economies. Meanwhile I spent more and more time on Mateus, to the point where my small cluster of Gilgamesh friends were concerned that I was on the brink of leaving. Because to me, Mateus was perfect. Mateus felt like home.

Around this time, I got to chatting with a lovely person from Leviathan with whom I share some unique/niche interests. In September, we started alts on Mateus together, and we bought them houses together in the Goblet. Ward 12, plots 14 and 20, across the Brimming Heart from each other. We made a free company for ourselves, to share materials and gil, and when we leveled that up and saved up enough money, we bought ourselves the medium in the same area, plot 19.

We decided we really loved playing together--and that we really loved playing together on Mateus--so having no real attachments to Gilgamesh or Leviathan, we transferred our mains. And we bought them houses, too, once we were able to, seeing as how our savings had been wiped out by the transfer limits. But we worked together to earn the money, as we had the previous three homes, and we bought them. And we decorated all five houses together. Coming up with ideas, making lists, splitting up the work, placing things and playing with them until we got just the desired effect. It was the most fun we'd ever had playing this game. Our own tiny paradise, carved out just the way we liked it.

We finished those first alts to 60, and we started another pair. Because you see, our alts have a specific theme to them--a set of characters from this game, of which there are 15--and we wanted to have them all. It didn't start out being about houses. We just loved making and leveling alts together. So I'd have 7 and my extra character for my side project, and she'd have 8. We had always planned it that way. And, well, we were only two houses away from owning all seven around the brimming heart, so we completed our collection when the second pair of alts hit 50.

Or so we thought.

We did some really amazing things with houses six and seven. Made rooms and scenarios unlike anything we had ever seen. Things we thought would be impossible with the items available in XIV. We had found our true love in this game, and it was decorating. We began to talk about what this or that character's house would be like. When we wanted a break from leveling, we would pick a ward or five and ride around and look at every single house there. I'm serious, if you owned a house on Mateus at that time, we visited it. All of you.

The few other homes in our ward kept auto-demolishing. The mansion in 30 went first. We worked and saved and worked and saved, and it devalued and devalued for weeks, because there was no demand for it at all. We both had alts at 60 on another server--my aforementioned Behemoth alt, and hers elsewhere. We moved them both to Mateus and bought the mansion just before Christmas.

The next house to disappear was 27. That had been a cute little female elezen who always ran around in WHM AF, who was only like level 53ish... but one day their theretofore pristine chocobo stable stopped being cleaned, and a little over a month later their unsightly orange and blue default-colored house had evaporated. We only had three not-us neighbors left, and many of the other wards were in the same boat. We decided on an ambitious project given how disconnected our new mansion was to the Brimming Heart, where the rest of our homes were: we would claim the entire eastern half of the ward with our 16 characters, once they were all at least 50.

I mean, hell, clearly no one else wanted them. People were leaving, not moving in.

So we leveled and bought and decorated, leveled and bought and decorated. These homes were not just being claimed and left unused. They were, and still are, loved. We always go into a house with an idea. A theme. An intent. Furnishings are chosen with care. There are meanings in everything that no one will ever know but us. Symbolism. Look, we're nerds, okay? The weirder it looks, the more symbolic its intent. Probably. These characters we're paying homage to, we love them.

The next house to evaporate--and this was a huge surprise to us--was the mansion at 13. We knew for a fact the owner of 13 was still actively playing. He simply didn't want the house anymore and let it go. He never did anything with it, so perhaps he just didn't enjoy decorating as content. We knew exactly which character to put in it--someone who deserved a mansion but only had a cottage. Now that we had the chance....

So we took someone out of the Brimming Heart and moved him up there instead. And we were left with a hole where once there had been a sea of 17 beautiful matching black stone homes.

We wanted to fill the holes, and we still had so many ideas, and there were still at least a thousand empty houses on Mateus. That's when started to make extra free companies and move certain characters around to new plots in order to expand on their ideas.

Today, there are no more plots left on Mateus.

But long before that happened, there were no plots left in Ward 12. We own 28 houses -- 16 personal, 12 companies. Two of these thirty homes in the ward are not ours. We owned the whole ward even when this was posted, drawing sudden attention to the fact that this so-called corpse of a server had some meat left on its bones -- food for carrion birds, should someone desire a feast.

And then SE closed Balmung and Gilgamesh, and Mateus was invaded. And suddenly, people care about Mateus housing for the first time in nearly three years. Suddenly, people think we are *the* worst people. Because how dare we enjoy the game in the manner we chose to enjoy it.

How dare we?

How dare you.

You, who finally deign to set foot in my home. You, who hated Mateus for all the same reasons I felt it was perfect. You, who would take away the last year of memories I've made with one of the best friends I've ever known. You, who don't care about the fact that we have cultivated something unique, interesting, and amazing, because you feel it denies you the chance to throw up a hideous paissa wall and plop a chocobo stable and a garden plot in front of an otherwise unused black hole with Dragonsong screeching away in the background. You, with your head so buried in your cliques that you thought we came from Balmung within the last month and achieved all this thanks to SE’s allowance of free infinite gil transfers, not realizing we wanted to be here, that we love it here, that we worked our asses off for all this from nothing but the million gil each we were allowed to bring with us from our mains.

How dare you.

If you would look at something other than the placards in your impotent rage that the same FC tag is on a few of them, you just might notice you're standing in one of the best goddamn wards in the entire game. But more than that, you might just realize you're walking through the last year of our lives. You're seeing what we love, our passion, our reverence, our teamwork, our achievement.

And you demand we just give it all up. Because suddenly, these houses that have been here for years waiting to be loved… suddenly, now, you want one.

No.

Anyway, you're welcome to come look. We aren't quite done. We have a few closed homes, even (to our shame) a couple of yards that still need done, and some homes that want for some added detail since the doubling of furniture slots. It's all on hold for just a short while thanks to Stormblood. But we have ideas, plans... and we'll be right back to our housing obsession when we're done leveling our first few things to 70.

Please look forward to it. I know I am.

Final notes:

1- I don't claim to speak for my friend. For all I know, she'll be horrified I've posted this. If you take issue with anything I've said, take it up with me. My main is Seraph Altima.

2- We are not affiliated with any similarly named individuals on any other server. If you think you can send a tell to someone on Balmung and be speaking to me (or someone who can speak sense into me), especially after I've gushed about how much I love Mateus, you are an idiot.

3- As our houses are our passion, we are both happy to answer any questions you may have about our ward. Just talk to us.

4- While we do not roleplay ourselves, you are welcome to explore our ward and use it for any roleplay event or storyline you like. You have open and ongoing permission. If you take notice of the theme of our ward, you can see it's a perfect place to go if you'd like to write something about your OC being tricked, lured, or tempted by something otherworldly.

5- I'm well aware I'm not going to change any minds with this. People will say "but we couldn't save in time" or "but my friend just started" or "but if you love decor so much, why not give others a chance to love it, too." But we built this together, and I'm not giving it up, and you're not changing my mind, either. I just want my perspective out there, because right now we're just being demonized. Every story has two sides.

6- If you really want someone to demonize, the people in Goblet 12sub -- all those homes owned by FCless characters, whose homes are closed or, in some cases, entirely unbuilt -- actually did what you thought we did. But you know what? Whatever. They still put the work in before those without homes.