#i'm still really just working on my original story

[corrupted-ciphers]

Thought this would be a fun project to work on! I <3 weird women. My thoughts on each of the characters below the cut. Version without names added below the cut as well.

Current Favorite: I love Junebug, she's been my blorbo recently, she's really weird. I love her. As I started this project though, I also started playing ENA Dream BBQ. I've been waiting for it for four years now, and damn was it worth the wait. It's a surreal game about ENA's adventures to find the b̷̸̸̡̧͇̜͎͙͙̥̥͚̫̪̩̩̏͑ͩ̓̇ͪ̋̑ͧ̂̃͊͋͘͝͡͝ͅ_̗̖͕͉̻ͯ̍̒ͤ̊́a̢͉̺̫̙̳͓̣̗͔̙̻̔͑̿͛͛̀̽͒̂̒ţ̡̧̼͙̰̥̳̹̻̍ͫ͋̌̏ͮͣ́̔ͯ͊̇ͤͪ͐̿̉ͫͨͧḩ̷̧̡̛̞̩̹͙̱͍̯͇͉̪̫̹̭͙̭͉͚ͬͯ̄̄͗ͯ̅̐̀́ͯ̈́͂̇͆̾͂͘͘͢͠r̾̆͢_̽̆ơ̶̸̡̡̛̠̥͓͔̪̲̥̥̱͙̲̲̫̖̽̊̎̎͒͊̅̔͐̄̈́̓̈́͊ͩ̂̋͘ͅȍ̶̢̙͕͍̰͓̖͉̼ͯ͆ͮͩ̓ͭͭ͑̿́́͢͝͠m̵̧̛̗͉͔̯̦͙̟̼̲̜̫̱͊͋̀̊͊ͯͤͬ͆ͭ̽̃̄̔̋̾͞. Chapter 1 is out now and free to play on Steam right now, and I highly recommend it! Anyway, Junebug is my girl, I love her.

Comfort: Okay, I know the reception ch 4 of Poppy Playtime has been receiving. Do I think chapter 4 is scary? No. Do I think it's good? Also no. Do I think it's hilarious? Hell yes I do. We got several game breaking bugs that were honestly rather amusing, and also the devs letting you move around in Doey's monologues is honestly the funniest decision they made. You can clip into him and let him just eat your head mid talk. He'll also fling you if you stand on his limbs while he talks, it's great. We nearly got killed by him flinging us under the pipe in that one section where he gets froze. Having said all that bad stuff, I love Doey. Okay, there's a lot going on in my life right now, and he came along in the middle of that. As the older sister to three little brothers, I relate to Doey in multiple ways. He is me, he is my brothers, and I just want to give him a big hug himself. I too am trying desperately to pick up the pieces of our home life collapsing around us, while trying to keep my little brothers happy and managing my own angry outbursts. It was a (in my opinion) jankily written scene, but the bit where Doey was torn up over Safe Haven getting destroyed really got to me. It was probably tied to the emotional state I was in when I played the chapter, but damn, I get it man. I too failed to protect those around me from what I knew was inevitable but selfishly pushed to the back of my mind. Damn, I really was made to hurt things and fuck up too bud. I get it. And in a lore perspective, Doey is three little boys mashed together. I have three little brothers, need I say more about that? This character has consumed my life, and I just want to give him a hug. Although honestly his in-game model is a little oily looking tbh. Also Michael Kovach knocked it out of the park with his performance here. Also also, fuck you devs for making us squish/kill Doey in the end. If he's actually dead I'm gonna be so mad at you guys.

By Design: Look man, I like women. I like murderous women. I mean, when I first saw the original Alice, I was still a child and wasn't pan yet, but like, she likely contributed. hnnnrg, girls.

By Plot: Unlike Doey who brings me comfort when I relate to him and kicks in my material instincts towards anyone even remotely younger than me, Jupe's relation to me does not bring me comfort. Instead my connection to Jupe is more uneasy. Ricky and I both express our traumas in similar ways. That is to say monetize them and put them on display for all the entitled voyuers out there on the internet for attention. Now, I'm obviously not someone who was a victim of a chimp attack, but there's that familiar death of childhood there. I've grown up with an abusive father, which I didn't realize the extent of until this divorce is going through. And guess what my most prominent stories feature? yeah. I'm also the type of person to build a shrine to my trauma like him. While Ricky's is obviously a little more extreme, I still have my hospital bracelet from my appendectomy. That is not a normal response. I wear my first dog's tag on a chain, and when it's not worn it's next to that hospital band. Most of my stories involve my internal or external traumas in some way, just like Jupe capitalized on the exploitive movies and shows he was roped into as a child. I'm white, but I'm a woman and I'm queer. I get being the token item. Reduced to stereotypes. Forced to uphold other stereotypes in a never ending cycle of wanting to be on top, of vainly hoping that others will finally accept you into their group. But they won't. Jupe's storyline makes me viscerally uncomfortable, but my favorite part is the end. Just before Jean Jacket eats him, we see his lips twist into a smile. Faint, but there. Because finally, for the first time in his life, Ricky isn't defined by what groups he's part of, he's not vying for anyone's attention, he's not this special chosen one because he survived all those years ago, he's just like everyone else. He's merely food for that creature. And that is a freeing feeling. Finally, something has accepted him the way he is, with no fighting, no tense acceptance into a world that could throw you away at any time, he's finally safe. And for that, I think he loves Jean Jacket. Because I know, there's parts of me that wish the same. A release from the responsibility, and freakish nature of myself since I'm so different than those around me. If Doey is my comfort character, Ricky "Jupe" Park is my discomfort character. (In a good way)

Guilty Favorite: Look man, she's weird as fuck. She also saved my nightmare mode run. Again, I love weird women. Choo Choo Charles is great because it knows its lane and sticks to it. It knows it's a goofy ass train spider game, and it sure does deliver on that premise. Pickle Lady is so bizarre, I love her. I can't help but love her. Is she a good character? No. Do I like her anyway? Yeah.

All Time Favorite: DO I even need to say much about this guy? It's FNAF. It's toilet Bonnie. It's the boy. I love him. My favorite animatronic since I was like 12. Hell yeah dude, let's keep it up.

[thebramblewood]

I find the evolution of scenes fascinating as a creator, so I wanted to post these side-by-sides. This started out as part of a casual playthrough of Julia's prom (winter formal for the sake of the story timeline). It was going to be bonus content until I got a better sense of how I wanted to slot Julia back into the story. When I redid the pictures, I knew I wanted to hit certain "beats" from the original screenshots, since the dialogue had already started forming in my head.

Even during the second series of shots, though, it still only existed in my brain. It only hit the page during the editing process. Sometimes it's better for me to approach dialogue this way, if I'm intimidated by writing a certain conversation out or don't know exactly what direction it will take. The expressions I see in screenshots often help draw the words out. On the other hand, it can also be difficult to work this way because I just have to hope the shots I'm getting will work. In the past, I've had to go back and get a few more because I don't have exactly what I need. In this case, I luckily managed to get enough.

Anyway, I really appreciate that you can see a couple things in this comparison. One, just how much of a difference Relight (and a couple Photoshop actions) makes in terms of brightening up Sims. It may be more "natural" for them to be less well-lit and blend in more with their surroundings, but I like them to really stand out since facial expressions are so important to me. Two, how difficult it is to portray subtle and varied emotions using in-game animations only. I briefly thought about just sticking with the original screenshots, but I'm glad I redid them in the end because I don't think they convey the movement of the conversation well at all. You can also see how I spend more time framing shots for posed scenes vs. gameplay.

The only thing I maybe miss from the first pictures is the visible snow cover, but since I chose to shoot the second set a bit later at night I don't think it would've made much difference anyway. (I also had to take every picture with Alma in it twice because the jean jacket and dress textures conflicted, but I could hardly let her wear that skimpy little dress on its own in winter!)

[nabi-unveiled]

So I started the third episode of Love for Love's Sake DAYS ago, but I got stuck. I'm giving up. Any help would be appreciated.

Because this scene here...

I don't understand. at. all.

As a somewhat awkward personal confession, I don't understand hugs. I say things like "I just want to hug them" or "they need a hug" frequently when watching shows, but it's just a popular phrase to convey they need comfort. I also really enjoy seeing good hugs on screen between couples. But I don't actually "get" hugs the way most people seem to process them.

Hugs fall in three categories for me:

Sexual - The only type of hug I actually understand. Probably my enjoyment of on-screen hugs between couples comes from associating it here. I'm very huggy with my partner, but it's 100% sexual.

Social Obligation - There are times I know cognitively that I'm supposed to hug, and I've prepared myself for it. I hug my kids daily, because I know mothers are supposed to hug. I want to minimize any trauma I cause them as much as possible. I hug my dad on his birthday and Father's day, because I know it's important to him. I also know you hug people if someone dies or people are crying. Eesh..this sounds really bad typing it out. Anyways, I logically know that there are times that hugs are expected by others due to social norms or that the people I care about need them for some reason.

Uncomfortable - All other hugs (and most uninvited touch), I find HIGHLY uncomfortable. This includes if someone is trying to comfort me. If you want to comfort me, do NOT touch me.

So, this hug in LFLS...I don't get it. It's not sexual. It's not really comfort...is it? It's not a social expectation. How does this hug answer the question of "how did you live?".

I paused so I could think about it as I had a work meeting anyways, but I've never went back. Because I still haven't figured it out, and my brain is refusing to move forward.

My only thought was that it was trying to say he lived by caring about other people. But that doesn't make a lot of sense with what I know of Myungha's life so far. I mean, he did care about Yeowoon in "the story", but it didn't seem like he had a lot of people in his "real" life. Again, I'm only in episode 3.

I finally reached out to my brother as I always do when I can't process. He's very much a feeling, huggy type. For those that enjoy the bunk that is MBTI designations - I'm ISTP. He's ENFP. He delights in torturing me with hugs on the rare occasions we get to meet up. I'm sure I'll take a lot of sibling shade in our next phone call for overthinking a hug.

He answered "It's supposed to convey that they got through with help from others and companionship. It's the idea that they aren't actually alone and that they have someone there who supports them. It could also be a "love got me through" thing. Even without others, love wins all."

Which is sort of like my original thought. So was that correct? Is that what "like this" means in this context?

Ugh. I may just have to force myself to hit play and hope my brain decides to move on too.

[neon-delirium]

a warning in this story for dog bites and hospitals but I promise it's very funny and has a good ending

so when I was 6 years old in first grade my school tested every class for spelling bee candidates using spelling tests and my hyperlexic autistic ass got a perfect score and was selected to do a spelling bee and I was absolutely so hype about it. I would be able to show how smart I was as an eager little tiny me and I was just so happy that when I went home I decided to play horsie riding my dog. this was a Mistake

my poor old dog who I'm gonna call opera for privacy reasons had a bad back but otherwise would never hurt a fly and every time I tried to ride her she would just push me off and move until I cornered her in front of my parents' door and she barked at me. her teeth BARELY grazed me and I actually didn't feel her bite so I'm pretty sure my dumbass leaned in and nicked myself but either way my skin which was paper fucking thin I guess on my nose and my right temple started bleeding. again this was at my parents' bedroom door so I scream not out of pain but Blood Happening that my parents open the door to this terrifying fucking scene and it wasn't until after that I could explain this was my fault entirely but my dad had to drive me to the ER and explain to the nurses while I'm holding a rag to my face but again I'm not in pain so I'm just sitting there kicking my legs in the chair just sorta taking it. and everyone is looking at me deeply concerned

the bite didn't need stitches they were just gonna superglue it so it would heal faster. unfortunately the doctor I got was a Dipshit. I mentioned the injuries were on my nose and temple. well. when he tried to glue my nose wound his hand drifted. and drifted. and. bam. glob of superglue on my left eye. he went OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY! and glued my nose. whatever. inconvenient but I get it because it was right next to my eye. I did close my eyes thankfully but it did bond my eyelashes together so my eye was very much glued shut. fuck it, we ball anyways

then he went to glue my right temple. and then drifted to the left... again... AND GLUED MY RIGHT EYE SHUT TOO. WHAT THE FUCK

"oh my god are you doing okay???" the doctor who GLUED MY EYES SHUT asked in horror

I didn't remember what I said. but my dad does, and he told me I stunned the doctor into sputtering by sassing him with "I was doing pretty good until you glued my eyes shut" in autism bluntness

so he glues it again and we go home. I Can't Fucking See. I still manage to learn for the spelling bee by reciting lists orally with my parents and practice pretty well. unfortunately Doctor Dipshit Gluefingers also didn't disinfect my wounds very well so they got infected! and it was kinda comical because I looked like I was bruised from a boxing match. as a 6 year old.

my parents and teacher asked me, do you wanna go and do the spelling bee anyways? I think about it. I think about how hard I worked to be a smartie. I think about how I can still spell even if I can't fucking see. I can see a little at this point because we were given a solvent to dissolve the glue over time gently without harming my eyes but even then I can barely open my eyes at this point and everything is blurry. so it's a fair question

I think. I ain't giving up my spot to the runner up over a little glue and a couple scratches. I don't care that I look like a blueberry I'M DOING THE SPELLING BEE

so I march up on stage and I perform the best I can. I'm spelling 3 syllable words that are impressive for my age like original and fantastic. there are 4 kids left including me.

they throw a word at me I didn't anticipate, one so simple, I choke. it was pretty. I spelled it with one T. I focused so hard on the long words I choked at a short one thinking it was easy. I get fourth place.

I'm kicking myself for losing to such an easy word but my dad picks me up and says he's proud of me for toughing through it even though I was having a really hard time. he takes me out to get soft serve and says I'm still a winner and a champ for everything I managed. I didn't care for soft serve ice cream until that day and I still get nostalgic anytime I have it on occasion 16 years later. and I can still navigate my childhood home with my eyes shut to this day.

btw opera lived a long and happy life after and we were still thick as thieves and I haven't faded the scars as a memory of her because besides this incident she was a fucking angel to me and I never faulted her and it was SUCH a good lesson on the importance of respecting animals

hey say something nice to me

[raybeam-littlebean]

Okay, I posted about my Ocs yesterday and now I really wanna talk about so I'm going to talk about my first: Void

Void is a bit.. gender ambitious, so if I range from them to him to her– We're still talking about the same person, I just don't know what gender I want them to be in my head

Their name is Ray Flores, yes, I know, so original– It's a play on Sunflower, their family runs a florist shop and has for generations.

Their family is of Mexican Hispanic descent, when their grandparents came to America they became florists because Americans liked the strange flowers they brought with them

Thus, the family business was born. Something that Ray finds suffocating because she hates taking care of the flowers in the shop, ending up having to do everything. Her mother, an interesting character of a woman, kills everything she touches but Ray has a magic green thumb with anything plant

Her mother doesn't like her very much because of that, being the favorite of her in-laws, Ray's paternal grandparents because she takes better care of the shop than her mom

Backing up a little, Ray was a strange little kid. Very accident prone, even by herself, always getting in the most trouble. She would swear up and down that it wasn't her when something happened, broke or fell or something, that it was her new friend. But no one ever believed her, thinking she was just lying and a difficult kid. The drawings she'd make about her all dark shadowy friend were.. disturbing to say the least.

All that seemed to fade into forgotten memories until some time in her teens when things started to get strange around the shop. Things breaking down, disappearing, pots falling over, the works. The mother tries to spin the story that Ray is starting to act out again because she hates the shop and it trying to run it into the ground. It gets to the point that even the grandparents start to believe it with a heavy heart.

Mexicans being a religious bunch think that maybe Ray is possessed by a spirit or being followed by one. Their LGBTQ+ status being cited as a reason and that just breaks Ray's heart that thought they were all accepting of her and they run away.

Fast forward a bit, they end up finding out that she's actually a Homo Magi, the thing Zatanna is. It's like, a sub species of humans, they're just born with magic ability instead of learning it. The little shadowy thing was her magic manifesting as an actual being of sorts. This is where the Umbrakinesis comes in, it's the controlling of darkness and shadows, but I'm limiting it greatly because she doesn't know much. So for now, it's a semi sentient familiar situation that feeds off her emotions for the most part and protects her. Think of Venom, it's kinda like that.

He doesn't become a Anti-Hero on purpose, she doesn't see her new powers and go "I can change the world"– No, he actually doesn't give much of a shit about any of that. They just want to lay low for the most part in this little studio apartment he may or may not just be squatting in. They become an anti-hero on accident, helping out here and there when they come across it. A mugging here, a robbery there–After a while it just keeps getting more and more until they wake up one day ans they have a completed vigilante suit ans they just sigh

"Shit."

[obsidianpen]

OP! I don't usually submit asks bc I'm awkward af but I just wanna say thank you for Blood and Gold! I read 70++ novels last year and while I loved some of them, B&G was my favourite thing i read in 2025 lol.

Just wanna say. Like damn. How are you able to consistently write so much? You're amazing. I'm currently knee-deep in a novel manuscript, and I'm feeling really burnt out already and I'm only at 68k words. But I've seen you consistently update B&G over the months and it's incredible

Thanks again, and I'm sending best wishes/good vibes your way!

Awww that’s so nice, thank you!!

and that wasn’t always the case for B&G! I only wrote it sporadically for years because I had so many other projects going on, most of which weren’t even writing related (although I had several of those as well), and I didn’t write at all for a few years when I was getting my Masters. I didn’t start to focus more on B&G until recently (and I still do have other projects going on lol but less of them!).

as for focusing though… man it’s a different world, writing the manuscript of an original novel. I’ve written a couple original stories, and it’s much harder for a lot of reasons. Building a world and a cast of characters from scratch is absolutely a much greater challenge. And you don’t have the built in support system and cheerleaders like you do when you post on ao3. Getting nice comments and feedback is a HUGE motivator when working on a long story. When you’re working on a novel, trying to hash out an entire book, hopes up on your laptop (or phone in my case, I cry) for hours and days and weeks and months on end, alone, it’s easy to get in your own head and lose steam. And for good reason. You hear all the time about how many manuscript submissions get rejected, so it really is hard to not convince yourself you’re just wasting your time. I don’t have a magic solution to power through that - I’m in it with you, honestly. I’m about to start all over and write my second draft for a story I already wrote (I did not realize this was a normal part of the process; I cry). It sounds corny, but I think writers really really really do just have to believe in themselves, otherwise we’ll never write the damn thing at all. Maybe we even have to be a little (very) delusional for like… a long time lmao. “Of course this is genius!! Of course I’ll get it published someday!!!!” Gas yourself up the same way you would your bestie - maybe even enlist a bestie to read your WIP specifically to gas you up as you go!! There will be plenty of time for mental anguish, wallowing, and editing (and more editing, and more editing 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠) later!!!!

Sooooo… here: You’re a genius!!! You’re a writing god!!!! You will do the world a massive disservice if you don’t finish your manuscript!!!!!! Your words and story are important and I believe in you!!!! If some other asshats can publish their mediocre books, then you can definitely write and publish your amazing one!!!!!! You can do it!!!!

[laminy]

a short Roy/Jamie fic for @mccorky, who wanted Roy showing off his dance moves for Jamie in the kitchen.

Jamie’s taken up more of the cooking, thank god. Roy always ends up staying later now, and he was getting tired of coming home to Jamie sitting on his arse, looking at TikToks, wondering where dinner was. Or worse, eating takeaway that was not meal-plan approved.

When he comes home after training tonight, Roy’s ears are immediately assaulted by— he doesn’t even know what, just loud. “Christ!” he exclaims as he walks into the kitchen. “This might sound half decent if you fucking turned it down.” And now his eyes hurt too. Jamie’s been cutting onions, he can tell.

“What’d you say?” Jamie waits a moment for a response, and then he sticks his tongue out.

“The cheek on you.”

“Right here,” Jamie says, and he turns his arse towards Roy, who rolls his eyes and gives it a light playful swat anyway. “Now give us a kiss.”

“Fucking hell,” Roy says, but he’s not-so-secretly happy to do it. He wraps his arms around Jamie’s waist, and snuggles against his back, kissing his neck. “What are you making?”

“White bean chicken chilli,” Jamie says, snuggling back agains Roy. “Saw it on YouTube. It’s got—” He puts his spoon down and starts counting on his fingers. “Chicken.”

“And white beans?”

“Shut up.” It rolls casually off Jamie’s tongue, no heat behind it, and he continues. “Onion, jalapeño, corn, and avocado.” He turns around in Roy’s arms, so they can actually get a good look at each other, and he bats his eyes. “Sound alright?”

“Sounds fucking delicious.” Roy gives him an actual kiss, and Jamie practically melts against him. “I missed you,” he murmurs.

“I saw you two hours ago,” Jamie says, kissing him again. 

Roy pulls back. “And?”

Jamie smiles. “I missed you too.” Then he steps out of Roy’s arms and turns his music back up. “Now fuck off, old man, I’m busy.”

“Nice welcome home,” Roy says. It’s really not so bad, since he can take a step back and watch Jamie’s hips sway to the rhythm of the song. Even if it is still way too loud, it’s a pretty sight. 

Roy grabs a beer from the refrigerator, and drops down at the kitchen table. He takes a drink, and settles back in his chair. “You looked good out there today.”

Jamie glances over his shoulder and winks. “Yeah, I know. You too, Coach.”

“Hmm.” Roy takes another drink, and chuckles as he watches Jamie start tapping his feet to the music, like he’s trying out some fancy footwork. “You going on Strictly?”

“I’d fucking win it too,” Jamie says, and he does a dramatic spin before settling back in at the stove, his feet still moving. “If you distract me, dinner’s gonna be late.”

“You’re the one distracting me,” Roy says. “What are these moves?”

“Uh, I’m an amazing dancer,” Jamie says. “You’ve seen me. Remember NSYNC?”

“How could I forget,” Roy says. He keeps watching Jamie’s feet, and he laughs.

“Fuck off,” Jamie says. “It’s not like you’re any better.”

“Fuck off, I am,” Roy says.

“I’ve never seen you dance,” Jamie says. Roy doesn’t say anything, so Jamie turns around. “Have I?” Roy shrugs, amused, and Jamie’s eyes widen. “Royth. Why haven’t I seen you dance?”

“Because I don’t like to show off.”

“You fucking love it, egotistical prick,” Jamie says.

Roy gestures towards himself with his beer bottle. “You’re talking to me?”

“Course I am,” Jamie says. “You’re saying you’ve got secret moves?”

“I am.”

“Let’s see ‘em.”

“Not so secret then.”

“I’ll give you a handjob later in the bath.”

“You were gonna do that anyway.”

Jamie sighs. “Please, Roy?” he asks, voice all quiet and soft and goddammit he’s playing Roy like a fiddle but it’s working. “It’d mean an awful lot.”

“Oh fuck off,” Roy says, and he pushes his chair back with a loud scrape. “At least turn the music down a fucking little, please. I can’t think.”

“Okay,” Jamie says eagerly, and he turns it down. He also checks on the chilli, then takes off his apron. “Let’s see then.” He takes Roy’s hand, and looks down in shock when Roy puts his other hand on Jamie’s waist. “Uh—”

“I’m leading, you twat,” Roy says.

“Whatever.”

“What are we even listening to?” 

“Aaron Burr.”

“The vice-president?”

“Yeah.”

“Fucking hell.” Roy squeezes Jamie’s hand, and smoothly begins, stepping to the left, then back. He really gets into with it a rock step, and then he’s off, with Jamie stumbling to keep up.

“What the fuck is this, Roy,” Jamie says. 

“The cha-cha.”

“When the fuck did you learn the cha-cha?” Jamie keeps looking down at their feet, in confusion or awe or maybe both.

“Twenty years ago,” Roy says. “Needed help with my footwork.” He does a spot turn, leaving Jamie staring at him. “Thought you could dance.”

Jamie rolls his eyes. “Not like this. Shit, Roy.” He starts trying to mimic Roy’s footwork, matching some steps but missing others. He laughs in delight and surprise, and Roy smiles back. Nice to know he’s still got it. “You have to show me.”

“You need to finish the chilli.”

Jamie rolls his eyes. “We can get takeaway.”

“No, we fucking can’t.”

“Fine.” Jamie glances back at the stove. “I’ll finish it. But do another turn for me?” 

Roy does just that, and Jamie’s on him in a second, arms around his neck.

“That was fucking hot, Roy.”

Roy gives him a quick kiss. “Chilli.”

“No fun.”

“Naked cha-cha later?”

Jamie light ups. “Very fun. Deal.”

“Deal.”

[rosieblogstuff]

I'm sure I've told this story before, but here it is: It's September 2021 and I've been alone in my house with no company but my own children for approximately 1 million years. Before the pandemic I spent my free time writing original fiction and had group of writing buddies I was close with. But it all fell apart in spring 2020, and by fall 2021 I was thoroughly lonely. My office was closed. My bestie had a severe health condition and we still couldn't really hang out. My online writing buddies were unemployed and writing amazing stuff while I was working 75 hours a week and homeschooling my kids. Going to our group Zooms was making me frustrated and depressed.

One night I sat down to trudge through an episode of The Americans because one of my writing forums had just started a group chat analyzing individual eps, and I thought maybe it would be fun. But it wasn't. The Americans is great, but it was too dark for my mood. At the end of the episdoe I was watching, the Amazon show page said: People who watch this also watch the new MacGyver! or something like that, you know how it works. I had never watched newfangled MacGyver because I adored OG MacGyver but a bunch of middle aged guys I went to high school with had hated on it on Facebook when it came out. (See also: Rosie's Theory of White Middle Aged Guys Hate New MacGyver). And I was like, FINE!! I'm in a mood to hate watch something awful! Let's do this!!

I was just going try to stick through the first ep and go to bed. But I did, and it was... fun? and good? So instead of going to bed I watched the next ep, and... really enjoyed it?? So confusing. To check that I wasn't just hallucinating I then watched episode 3 just to make sure because it seemed like maybe actually it was the most entertaining show I'd ever seen? 😂

Sometime shortly after that I started reading exclusively MacGyver fanfics, made my kids start watchng it, tried to get my parents on board (my middle aged brothers, fwiw, proceeded to turn up their noses and hate on it. Whatever, siblings!), got myself a Tumblr account, actually figured out how to USE Tumblr, and set out to make friends with every Tumblr I could identify as a MacGyver fanfic writer. I'm pretty sure that was October sometime, although I didn't really post much of anything until I posted my first MacGyver fanfic in late November.

How did you discover MacGyver (2016)? What is the first episode that you remember watching? Which episode made you decide to move in?

[starrysharks]

hotel manager

[rms10]

I really appreciate your response. It shows a lot of maturity in that level of self-reflection and willingness to break away from those bad takes you were inundated with, when you revisit the original source material. It really speaks to one of the big issues I run into in the greater fandom, which is people creating analysis and metas that have no real touchstone or connection to the actual show. Really, those are more the people my first response was aimed at, rather than those who consumed those and didn't realize - until revisiting the source - how intellectually hollow they actually are.

To be clear, I don't mind the ship itself. There's nothing wrong with people doing what they want with fictional characters for their own amusement. I've read a number of people who are very upfront about finding Zuko hot (lol) when they watched the show in their youth and self-inserting for Katara. I've read others talk about how they love the ship and then go on to talk about they've changed Zuko and Katara to make it work. While, I have no interest in those works, I have no issues with people who are honest about changing the characters, setting (AU's), etc. in order to create the dynamic they enjoy. (OK, this particular ship has some real squickiness for me personally, due to my background, but I'm still not going to say someone else is bad for enjoying it, so long as they don't push it on me.)

Since you shared, my own journey into fandom and eventually shipping was quite a lot different, and probably different from many in it. I first watched the show in 2020 during covid lockdown and netflix peak popularity. People had pushed me to watch it since it came out, but I'd never watched anything in this genre or even associated genres. I completely fell in love with the deep world development, the three-dimensional, multi-facetted characters, and just the overall story. (I understand why people pushed it so hard!)

When I finished, I wanted more. The graphic novels only provided a quick fix, so I dipped my toes into fan-created material for the first time ever. I quickly learned that a good way to parse fics to something that had a reasonable chance of staying true the characterization of the show, was to search the kataang tag. The entire concept of shipping was new to me at the time, and I wasn't really into it for the ship per se, just a good chance of finding accurate characterization. (I even steered clear of AU's, and still don't engage very often with them. Once the characters are removed from the canon setting, much of what i want from them is lost.)

Over time, the wonderful community and some of the excellent writers got me to slowly get into some AU's, though I'm still mostly limited to those in the same general world/setting, with variances, rather than complete rewrites. Again, I don't mind people doing the other. It just isn't for me.

I came across a screenshot of a certian anti kataang post, and even though it's been done before, I wanted to give my two cents.

‼️ DO NOT HARASS OP IF YOU FIND THE POST. DON'T GO AFTER THEM, DON'T INSULT OR BERATE THEM, DON'T ACT CONDESCENDING, NONE OF THAT SHIT.

The fact that Aang didn't call Katara Sifu is a bit concerning on the surface, but the reason to why is quite wholesome when you think about it. When Katara started teaching Aang, it was after a whole season of them bonding as friends. He didn't see her as just his sifu, he saw her as his friend. Not because he doesn't acknowledge her abilities, (he clearly does: "I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher". "Go Katara"!), but because she's so much more than a Sifu.

Meanwhile, he hasn't spent nearly as much time with Toph. She originally joined the Gaang on episode 06×02. Episode 7 is solely about Zuko and episode 8 focuses more on Katara and Toph's dynamic, with Aang only coming in to defend Appa. He calls her Sifu in episode 9. Obviously he was bonded to her, he helped her, they had a connection, but one episode ago, he referred to her as his earthbending teacher after insulting her.

In the direct aftermath, he was hardly concerned about hurting her feelings. Back then, he simply didn't view her the same way he views Katara. Therefore, the label "Sifu" came naturally with one but not the other.

In the screenshot of the original post, this is the only direct evidence presented to support op's idea. However, there's another flaw in their argument despite the lack of examples I have access to. I urge you to read one sentence again:

Meanwhile, in canon, the focus of Aang's crush is how pretty Katara is and how she takes care of him.

The only times Aang and Katara's connection is framed in a romantic light are mostly when he thinks she's pretty or when the feeling appears to be mutual (The Headbend & The Cave of Two Lovers). We can safely assume that how Katara looks out for him is a factor, but it's never directly shown romantically.

They're friends first and foremost, so most of their interactions are presented that way. Yes, one can easily infer that Aang loves Katara because of how she cares for him as well. However, if you do take those interactions into account, then you mustn't ignore the many other qualities he is shown to appreciate.

He doesn't appreciate her fierceness,

or even how good at waterbending she is.

So there you have it. Aang loves Katara for who she is inside. While he does appreciate her appearance, he also appreciates her skills and her strong sense of justice.

[nightmun]

I've had Otta for a while and finally decided it's time I show her to the world via this template (made by @emo-hermit)! I also decided that since Haniel does become a patient at some point in their story I could also use this as an opportunity to rant about them more. So get ready for a big ol block of text about these two under the cut:

Otta:

So as the template states, Otta was a pediatrician who worked in a town not too far from Middlesea. She had worked there for a quite few years, but unfortunately she was laid off from her job. After that happened, she started to look for a new job, but with little success. She had always had issues with SVT, but the stress she was under (as well as a lack of sleep from said stress) started to cause it to act up a lot more. This came to a head one day while she was passing through Middlesea in order to get to an interview the next day in the next town over. While boarding a bus, a particularly bad SVT attack caused her to faint and end up in Middlesea Hospital.

Early on in her stay there she is absolutely not a happy camper. Her premise initially was that she is the one person who really questions a lot of the strange happenings around the hospital. Especially at first, she is very much not okay with how weird the hospital is. She sees the guys with swords (one of which can take their head off like it's no big deal), musical treatments, and an intern that is literally just an arm that snakes around the hospital and she's like "nope this place is insane I hate it here." She wanted to leave as soon as she could but she ended up having to stay after her SVT symptoms kept returning. During her first week there she spends a lot of time holed up in her room, refusing to leave or interact with anyone (except Ada, she's the one person that Otta can tolerate at first because she seems to be the most normal person there).

She does eventually start giving the hospital a chance after comforting the now human Haniel during a breakdown but it takes her a while to really warm up to anyone or anything. In the past she had had a lot of bad relationships with other people so she really wasn't too keen on interacting with anyone outside of the bare necessities. But over time she became more and more willing to talk with the people around the hospital. She's still very closed off though, rarely opening up to anyone about anything. The only person who really gets through to her ever is Haniel after the two of them begin to bond (Haniel is pretty much an unrelenting positive force so they eventually wear her down and get her to open up more).

Haniel:

As you may already know, Haniel started out as the Handtern in their early days at the hospital. But after a particularly strong encounter with connectifia abortus, the virus somehow changed them into a human (why? Who cares logic be damned). After this happens, they go through a bit of an adjustment period for a while before they eventually start to get the hang of being human. When they do, they focus a lot on the rhythm defibrillation system, being the main person to run it while Ian and Ada are focused on other tasks.

A bit later on though they end up learning that Edega is pushing Ian to create some sort of "miracle cure" upgrade to the system, putting a lot of strain on both him and Ada since Ian's working day and night on the system leaving Ada to be responsible for the patients. After hearing this, Haniel offers to start helping out with more than just the system, taking on any and every task they are capable of handling. At first it goes pretty well, but when the tasks keep piling up, they start to sacrifice sleep (or any real rest for that matter) in favor of working in order to keep up. The last thing they want is to put any more work back on Ian and Ada's shoulders, so they are more than willing to practically work themself to death to do so.

Eventually the constant strain starts to become a problem, and they start to experience chest pains. They had one particularly bad episode while treating Hailey, who went and got Ada to help them. After that they had to have their heartrate monitored like the rest of the residents in the hospital. They were not very happy about this since they didn't want Ada and Ian to have to worry about them (the last thing they wanted was to add more work to their plate).

At some point they have another encounter with connectifia, and when this happens they find out that the virus has a very negative effect on them now that they're a person (likely a side effect of the virus having been what them human to begin with). Even being in proximity to it can cause them to become sick, and their heart with race and glitch similar to the insomniac when this happens. Interactions with the virus cause them to be pretty delirious for a period of time, where they will talk as if they think they are still just the hand (making comments like how they can see their hand despite there being no mirrors around or how they can't stretch it as far as they should be able to). Their eyes will also glow a faint purple color when they're sick. These effects last a varying amount of time depending on the strength/duration of the encounter, but they do wear off after a while.

Anyways that's all the ranting about them I'll do for now. At some point I plan to go a lot more into these two (both the ongoing story they have going on and their relationship with each other since it plays a pretty integral role in said story) but that's a rant for another day. I hope you liked reading this little bit about these two though! Also I am planning on opening asks on these two later today so if you want to learn more about them absolutely take advantage of that!

[brynn-lear]

I never got too deep into enstars but there are days where I miss Mama 😔

[sheyshen]

man considering i haven't actually done all that much this week I'm like exhausted.

[circlesroundthemoon]

diska just ended????

[dayurno]

Devastating that you had ten peaceful years to get into Jean and Jeremy but you only became interested in them when your headcanons got an expiration date... Like yeah Ill always keep smoker Jeremy in my heart no matter what Big Canon tries to sell me but it is a lowkey hilarious turn of events for you. Here you dropped this *hands you a cardboard L*

BAHAHA (takes the L) thank you............................... to be honest ive always liked jean and i never really cared for jeremy beyond his friendship with kevin and those opinions haven't changed so much as they have evolved. i still don't think much of jeremy beyond that he's funny and a good man, and i'm glad he's a good captain for jean, but there's not much investment here. perhaps the new book might make him more worthwhile to think upon, but truly there's very little about jeremy that makes him interesting or engaging to me beyond the amusement of his dynamics with jean and kevin. i daresay that as a protagonist for tsc he'll be the weaker end

BUT YEAH IT'S TRAGIC. it's all very tragic. i'm not looking forward to ten years of fanwork getting disproved or rendered useless, and to me, that's the most awkward part about the timing of tsc's release. i don't think there's anything anyone could do about this, or if there was any way nora sakavic could've timed it better, but i guess it's just still a little sad to think about. personally i'm not excited for the influx of post-tsc release content that suffocates the fan content made in the past ten years

[irhabiya]

today sucked the life out of me ya Allah