#it's a google doc in which i have put a bunch of info on my new oc

[lgbtmi]

vampire besties i need you all to observe She

[bluejayblueskies]

Do you have any advice/suggestions for getting into bookbinding? What is the process like if you don't mind sharing?

Hello! Very happy to share bookbinding advice/resources 💜 it's a wonderful and delightfully rewarding hobby, and while it can be complicated and easy to get stuck in the weeds with it, you can also get started with some really simple binds with materials you may already have around your living space.

Info below the cut:

First off, there are a lot of instructional videos and guides out there for bookbinding. My favorite YouTube channel for those just starting out bookbinding is Sea Lemon, who has a ton of instructional videos for various styles of bookbinding. Her method of explaining things is clear and concise, and she tends to work with simpler tools and materials that don't cost much and that you may already have on hand. She is not a professional bookbinder with professional tools (afaik) but in my opinion, that's perfect for a beginner because it's not as overwhelming and has a much lower barrier to entry. Perusing her channel and watching a bunch of videos was where I started before even picking up tools to start my first bind.

Another guide I highly recommend is How to Make A Book, by ArmoredSuperHeavy. This is a wonderful step-by-step guide for taking a fic from AO3 and turning it into a book. The most helpful part of this guide, for me, was the typesetting instructions. Typesetting is the act of taking a piece of text (eg. a fic on AO3) and formatting it in the correct way for printing and binding into a book. Note that this guide is specifically for MS Word, though you can also typeset in Google Docs, Libre Office, Affinity Publisher, InDesign, and other programs (even LaTex!).

(Pro tip: save yourself the headache of trying to use Word's bookfold option and just set your document page size to the page size of your finished book (if you're printing on letter paper, this is 5.5" x 8.5") and then use this software to put your pages in the correct order: https://momijizukamori.github.io/bookbinder-js/)

A final resource that I recommend, but that can also get a bit overwhelming, is the Renegade Guild Bookbinding Discord. It's a space specifically for people doing fanbinding, and there are a ton of resources within it, including typesetting guides for various softwares, guides for where to get the tools you need and which tools are best, and people who can answer any questions you may have along the way. It's gotten quite big since I joined, and it can be overwhelming since there's so much information available and so many people who have been binding for a while and thus often offer up solutions or advice that's hard for beginners to understand, but it has never failed me when I've had a tricky question that I needed answered that I couldn't find information on anywhere else.

All that said, here's some more advice from me when just starting out!

Start with a simple bind. A single-section pamphlet bind is easy, cheap, and quick. Here's a Sea Lemon video for how to put together a pamphlet bind.

If typesetting seems intimidating, you can bind blank notebooks. This is also a good way to practice new binding styles if you don't want to go through the hassle of typesetting, imposing, and printing for something you worry you might mess up.

A good word count range for fics when you're learning how to bind case-bound books (ie, the typical hardcover books you see in stores) is 25-50k. Shorter than that, and your books will be thin and a bit fiddly to work with. Longer than that is probably fine, but it will be a quicker process for a thinner book, which is nice when you're just starting out. (And then you don't have to worry about rounding and/or backing, which can be complicated.)

There are very, very few tools that you absolutely need to make a book. There are quite a few tools that will make your life easier, or that will make your book look nicer, or that will make your book last longer, but when you're just starting out (especially if you're trying to minimize cost or deal with space constraints), you can forgo a lot of "required" tools. I'll include a list below of the general bookbinding tools you'll want and some substitutions for them.

You might hear talk about the grain direction of paper or bookboard. When you're just getting started, don't worry about this. Once you get more comfortable with the bookbinding process, then you can start ensuring that your bookboard has the correct grain direction (parallel to the spine) to reduce the warping of your covers. The grain direction of your textblock paper matters the least, and I didn't start using "proper" textblock paper (ie short grain) until about 2.5 years after I started binding.

Bind something you like! Pick one of your favorite fics and bind it, even if it's your first bind and you're worried about it turning out ugly. The excited feeling of having bound your first book will be that much more exhilarating when you're able to put a story that you love on your shelf for the first time.

So you're ready to bind a hardcover book! Here are the tools you will want/need:

An awl, for punching holes in your signatures (groups of paper). You can use a thumbtack for this, or even a strong needle if you have something to cushion the end of it that you'll be holding, like an eraser. Awls are typically pretty cheap, though. You'll want a thinner one so you don't make huge holes in your paper. I have this one and it's worked just fine for me.

A bone folder, for creasing the pages. Historically, these are made out of actual bone, and the reason for using one is to get sharp creases in your paper without tearing or damaging it. You can also use basically anything else in your house that can accomplish this task. When I'm feeling lazy and just need to crease one piece of paper, I use my thumbnail. Bone folders are also cheap, though--I have this one. (As a tangent--when you're making your signatures for your book, you're going to be folding and slotting together usually between 4-6 sheets of paper. Fold the paper normally without creasing with the bone folder, slot them together, and then use the bone folder to sharply crease them all together. Trust me on this--the pages will fit together much better if you crease after putting the signature together.)

PVA glue, for all aspects of gluing involved when making the book. You can, I've heard, use Elmer’s glue for this in a pinch, but I've never tried it. PVA will dry flexible, which is what you need for your book, especially when gluing the spine. For things like attaching decorative paper to your covers, this is less important. If you're making a book that doesn't require gluing the spine (like a pamphlet or coptic stitch book), you may not need PVA. There are also lots of other glue mixtures you can use when bookbinding (paste is a popular one) but I've been a straight PVA guy for over three years now and I can't offer any advice when it comes to other types of adhesives. One note about PVA is it dries quick, so once you've stuck something to it, that's that. Prepare yourself for some crooked books until you get the hang of it.

Gluebrush/paintbrush, for applying glue. I recommend something with bristles; the foam brushes technically work but will absorb most of the glue and will probably cause you a headache. Silicone brushes are wonderful, as you can just wait for the PVA to dry and then peel it off, but a regular glue brush will also work; just be sure to put it in water immediately once you're done with it, otherwise the PVA will dry on it and ruin your brush.

Ruler + pencil, for measuring. Any kind of ruler will do, but if you have access to a quilting square or something similar, this will help you get nice and even right angles.

Needle and thread, for sewing the signatures together. You can use regular sewing needles and sewing thread (doubled up for more strength) if you don't want to buy anything specific for this. An easy step up from this that I recommend is buying a block of beeswax (I got mine for like $4 from a farmer's market) and waxing your thread (running the thread along the block a few times). This will keep your thread from tangling and make it easier to work with. You can also use embroidery thread, especially if you're doing a pamphlet or coptic stitch bind and want some color. I recently upgraded to linen thread (thread weight 35/3), which is the standard for archival-quality books, but you absolutely can use cotton thread and it will be fine.

Paper, for the textblock. You can use your standard white copy paper for this and all will be well. Or, if you want to get a bit fancier, you can use cream-colored paper; 8.5 x 11 hammermill 20lb cream colored paper is easy to find and relatively cheap and will make your books look better, as plain white paper can look almost blue in a book. (That said, I also have some actual published books that use white paper, and I've never noticed anything off about them.) If you decide you want to get really into the proper grain direction, I get my short-grain cream-colored paper from Church Paper. They have both 20lb (typical copy paper weight) and 24lb (slightly heavier) weight. I have both and I actually really like the 24lb; it has a luxurious feel to it, with less bleed from my inkjet printer. If you feel like springing for nice paper, check out their site!

Book press, for pressing your book while it dries and pressing your folded pages before sewing. There are a lot of different kinds of book presses out there, many of which are very very expensive. You can usually make do with some heavy books to weigh down your book while it dries, or thin boards and C-clamps if you have those on hand. If you have access to basic power tools, it's also super easy to make your own press with carriage bolts and cutting boards (this is what I did). There's a lot of videos out there with instructions; here's one from Sea Lemon.

Printer and ink, or a printing service/print shop like Staples. Print shops can get expensive in the long run, and it's nice to have your own printer so you can do test prints of your typesets. If you're going out and buying a printer, I highly recommend either a black and white laser printer (if you're not planning on printing in color; Brother is a good brand) or a tank inkjet printer (like the Epson Ecotank). Do NOT get a new HP if you can help it; their ink subscriptions are brutal. I'm upgrading to a black and white laser this year, but I've been using a very old, cheap HP inkjet that I got off Facebook marketplace for the past few years and it's been reliable (if a bit restrictive). If you do have an inkjet currently that takes cartridges, I highly recommend looking up how to refill your own cartridges. Buying one set of genuine HP cartridges and then refilling them with generic brand ink until they die has saved me probably hundreds of dollars by this point.

Book board, for the covers. Otherwise known as chipboard, which is easy to find on Amazon or at craft stores. This is NOT the same as corrugated cardboard; that will not work. You can cannibalize old three-ring folders, which have chipboard inside them, or even old hardcover books/textbooks. Don't bother with genuine bookbinding chipboard; imo, it's overpriced and unnecessary. You can find chipboard on Amazon for relatively cheap; I recommend the 12x12, as you can get a front and back cover out of one sheet with the correct grain direction. You can use chipboard for your book spine, if you're making a flatback, or you can use a thinner material that you can bend if you're making a rounded book (or for flatbacks as well). For this, thin cardboard (eg. old cereal boxes) or thicker cardstock will work just fine; you don't have to go out and buy genuine bristol board, and I've never bothered with it.

Exacto knife, for cutting things. You could also use a boxcutter, but a craft knife will be easier to handle. You will probably need to frequently change the blade, as cutting chipboard will dull it quickly, so get one that comes with a bunch of replacement blades.

Bookcloth and/or decorative paper, for covering your book board. Bookcloth is basically fabric with a paper backing on it. You can make your own using heat and bond, tissue paper (I use white tissue paper), and fabric; iron the fabric so it doesn't have any wrinkles in it, then iron the heat and bond onto the fabric, then iron the tissue paper onto the heat and bond. There are other methods out there that you may find easier/better, but this is the one I use. The purpose of the paper backing is to prevent glue from striking through the fabric; if you use a thicker fabric or paper, this is not necessary. For your first books, you may find it easiest to just use paper, or to go out and buy some premade bookcloth.

That's a lot of information, but I hope it was helpful! I'm more than happy to answer any more questions you (or anybody else) might have, and happy binding!

[bomberqueen17]

trying something

OK so. I was working on a draft of the solarpunk tallships disaster bisexuals novel, and figured I'd just do whatever as long as I had some momentum, and the momentum ran out and now I've let it sit and looked at it and it's sort of coherent but. Now we're to the point where I know of old that I for sure could use some help on this thing. I can do a lot writing alone in the dark but I would like some company.

A bunch of lovely people had commented that they'd love to help, but it's lost in Tumblr notifications, and trying to go back and find that post and track down people is prohibitive. So, lol please clap, I realized I could make a Google form and get people to tell me who they are so I can keep track of who is reading, and what their email address is in the same place, and then i can give access to those people via email address which is more secure than the "anyone with the link" thing. And then I can kind of keep track of what's up! So I'm going to talk about that a bit more under the cut and then put in the link to the form for anybody who'd said they were interested in either beta-reading or cheer-reading or just in general being there so I can talk this out with other humans rather than trying to get my disinterested cat to have an opinion.

Ah writing this post made me think of one more good thing to include in a beta contact info form: warnings. I am a big fan of putting warnings/ratings on published fic but it's easy to forget about them in a beta doc, so I've put in a checkbox thing asking what people would like to be warned about. I made it required, too, but the answers aren't that important-- what's important is to consider it, and make it clear that it's something I'm open to discussing. Also the list on there is surely not comprehensive, but it's the idea that's important.

Anyhow.

This first one is specifically about the novel I have done a shitton of planning for, which is based in a solarpunk kind of worldbuilding situation I've worked in before, and features a young officer in a tall-ship-based naval power, and his geeky radio engineer genius wife who has rather taken over the first draft so far.

I have another one in the planning stages which is me filing the serial numbers off the more unhinged bits of my Fit For Pearls continuity but that one is still very tentative in development.

So if the idea of me doing an original novel is something you're into, but you're not quite there for the Tall Ships Disaster Bisexuals Vs A Bunch Of Solar Flares And Some Pirates, just wait and I'll do another one of these for Lesbian Queen of the World and her Competent Girlfriend attempt to rehabilitate a pathetic Warcrimes Meowmeow while saving the universe. But that one's on the backburner for just now.

Anyhow. Give me your email addresses if you meant it and I'll have a doc of the first couple chapters with notes about what I'm worried about to share soonish. I can't do outlining so I just need idea-rattling instead and I can only do so much rattling on my own, y'know?

Here is the Google Form, which I am also accepting feedback on, LOL. Let me know if you're interested in this!

[junglefurytrash]

Starlight Express Headcanons/AU Canons Part 3 - Totally Professional Starlight Chatroom Edition

After writing the Electric Storm Arc and 30 whole chapters of TPSC (holy shit), I decided that since I had a lot of stuff that was on my mind regarding little random character info bits, old plans, and other random assorted facts and worldbuilding stuff that I've yet to incorporate into chapters, mentioned but not gone into detail over, or just can't fit anywhere naturally.

So I decided to make this to put down a bunch of fun facts and info for everyone in the form of headcanons/actual AU canon fun facts! I think a lot of this will be going into the eventual Google Doc of AU World Lore as well as a Google Doc for Character Files I'm slowly planning out.

This is all stuff relating to my StEx Chatfic, so for those who haven't read it and are wondering what half of these are on about, I'd highly recommend reading up on that! Especially the Electric Storm Arc where lots of plot and lore happened.

As an aside, life has been kicking my ass with stuff over the last 4 weeks, but with things roughly settling down now, I should be able to get the next chapter of TPSC out sometime! :D

The group chat/server everyone uses is basically Discord, or at least a version of it.

All of the events since the Pride Party have happened over the course of about 2 weeks.

Tassita is Transgender, female to male! I really enjoy this headcanon, especially because Tassita was female originally in the Workshop they stem from but are now male in the actual Revival Show. Just makes so much sense to me. :)

Originally, the resolution chapters of the Electric Storm Arc were going to be just one chapter, Chapter 29, where everyone talks about what to do with Galvanic & co and if they still want them in the group chat server, before deciding at the end and leaving things there. I didn't think it was a good enough resolution for the arc though.

^ Adding onto this: Chapter 29 would've actually been chapter 30. There was going to be a sort of filler chapter that'd be Coach-focused, with Buffy, Dinah, and some of the others talking about the menu for the yard diner, Volta and Joule come in and chat for a bit, and then the whole topic of Dinah bringing over some goodies would be brought up and lead into that whole thing. I decided to ultimately merge that in with Thundercab's introduction chapter via way of the group talking about Forbidden Snacks.

There was also another filler chapter about the group talking about Pokemon Sun & Moon.. Until I realised the plot is still happening in the summer and Gen 7 came out in like November, so that got moved and 2 more plot chapters got merged (which is why Chapter 28 is LONG AS FUCK). The Pokemon chapter will come later though!

Slick has Mild ADHD and Conduct Disorder, both having been gone undiagnosed and untreated. Her behaviour got chalked up to her being just a troubled child, who Mum (2024 Momma) tried her best to help and teach and look after, but struggled to do so while also focusing on Corry's own physical health being precarious. Slick's Conduct Disorder is why she took to vandalism, bullying, and setting things on fire intentionally (those are all signs/symptoms of CD).

When the Electrics get angry enough, they produce enough static electricity to make people's hair stand on end.

Dinah started the Conspiracy of the Secret Karen Organisation meme a few years prior to the Championship, and it's a regular shitpost between the Coaches.

Everyone is very defensive of Ashley, who's one of the few Smoking Coaches that didn't undergo conversion after the Smoking Ban on transport and in the workplace between 2005 and 2007. Ashley however is more than capable of looking after herself (though she loves the other Coaches and how they look out for her).

Mum (aka 2024 Momma) is Slick's legal guardian and has been since Slick was about 9-10 years old due to her parents being troubled in their own rights and being unable to look after their daughter. This makes her Corry's adopted little sister!

Caboose has Hypomania and PTSD. Both stem from his older brother, BV (Brake Van, aka 2018 Caboose) getting CB at a young age into doing damage and crashing Trainfolks, and egging him on/being "proud" of CB when he did hurt people. While BV crashed Trainfolks out of greed (and in some sense a way to better keep a roof over his younger brother's head), CB ended up continuing his crimes for the Hypomania adrenaline rush.

Radial has been pining for Dolly since she met them at the Wembley Park Trainyard Races, but absolutely sucks at managing her own feelings (she views herself very unfavourably and as irrelevant) and doesn't want to do anything to ruin Dolly's relationship with Thundercab (who she thinks would deck her if she found out Radial had feelings for Dolly). ENJOY YOUR SLOW-BURN, PEOPLE!

The Electric Racing Commission are a global presence, with different branches for Electrics registered under them in nearly every country with Trainfolks in it. It's an organisation created from exploiting Electric Trainfolks' fear of humans back in the 1850s when Trainfolks in general had less rights in human society. They, generally, are not very good people, as even in the present day in-universe they still somewhat treat Electrics as lesser - The American Branch that took in Galvanic and their Components is one of the worser branches in terms of mistreatment.

Greaseball and Thundercab very much have a big-brother-little-sister vibe after TC joins the Apollo Victoria Yard. Pretty much joins his Gang (which are less of a GANG gang and more now of a group of close-knit friends, mainly Diesels and Freights, who do workout together too).

Gets mentioned in the chapters anyway, but Hydra is an Electric/Freight Hybrid Trainfolk! He has an Electric Engine mother and a Water Tanker dad. His mother has been an Off-The-Grid Electric since birth - Off-The-Grid Electric being a term referring to Electric Engines who don't work for the Racing Commission. His strange heritage and different nature is part of why the other Freight take a while to fully warm up to him.

The Hall of Cursed Things was started by Pearl after one too many late-night-group-shower-thought-rambles. (Said "Hall of Cursed Things" is a channel in the groupchat/server where people will put screenshots of said Cursed Thing that someone else said/posted).

Belle and Moonstone are both Autistic! Belle hyperfixates on various drinks and mixology as a whole naturally, but she also hyperfixates a lot on other random miscellaneous stuff like Star Wars, constellations, and types of flowers. Moonstone meanwhile hyperfixates on her scrapbooking and photography hobbies mainly, though she also has hyperfixated on animals - mainly dog breeds and bird types.

Panda the Cat from Chapter 22 looks kind of like a mix of these two cats.

Memphis Belle is around in this AU, and she's like a wise old Aunt to the AV Trainyard. She and Poppa are old racing besties, and she's also his emotional support while he tries to find his missing-in-action wife (Momma).

The moment they get their freedom Post-Chapter-30, Ampera gets explorative and adventurous pretty much immediately; Hair extensions until her hair grows back to full length, cool shades, red hair dye, bracelets, anklets, the full 9 yards. The others in their group take a little more time.

Galvanic is the most socially stunted out of the Electric Engines, mainly because they only very recently got a bit of common sense and grounding to reality via losing the Wembley Yard race and also the Electric Storm Arc.

"Star-Touched" is a term across Vehiclefolks (but primarily the Trainfolks) for those who have been met in some way by the Starlight Express. Those in the main cast who've been Star-Touched are Rusty and Corry (of course), Charge (happened in her side-fic I wrote), Dustin and Hydra (being visited by The Starlight to go help Rusty/Corry respectively), and Electra as of Chapter 30.

Movie Nights started sometime after the Championships by Dinah and Rusty as an attempt to help everybody get along a bit better after the Championships and start forming friendships.

Just Dance is the equivalent of Monopoly for the cast - Competition ensues, everyone gets VERY into it, chaos breaks out as everyone tries to beat one another's scores.

Thundercab likes giving nicknames to everyone. It started teasingly with Corry and affectionately with Dolly, but it turned into just a habit she has with everyone.

Purse likes those old 2010-2012 internet memes and that's how he bonded more with some of the AV Trainyard crew.

The Freight love piercings the most out of the cast - Slick, Hydra, Lumber, and Porter all have their ears pierced, and Slick also has a nose piercing she sometimes has in, while Flat-Top just has a lot of piercings in general as do the Hoppers. The Rockies have a few piercings, but they have to take them out or put tape over them often so they don't come out during their sport activities.

How much would I break people's hearts if I said that Radial is heavily implied to be inspired by, if not outright related to, OLC Wrench, the version of Wrench prior to the character getting the helmet addition? That's why her hair is described as "once red and fiery curls" in Chapter 21. As shown in her eventual post-arc design I did here, her hair won't be the same for a long time due to having to bleach her hair regularly as per the other R.C Branch's regulations, but she will gradually regain SOME of the curly red colour - Whether it returns fully to its full fiery glory is uncertain.

^ The same goes for Hardwire! His hair is actually naturally a dark grey/black, just like Killerwatt's and Krupp's, but constant bleaching per regulation rules has damaged it just like Radial's hair has been damaged. He'll get his colour back too though.

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

WIP title ask meme

Prompt: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

-

I was poked to do this months ago, twice at least - once by @docholligay and I think the second was @jeejyboard, but I can't find the tag for the life of me. SORRY. I felt like doing something a bit more meta today re:writing and post about The Process, and this was a perfect excuse - thanks for thinking of me. So here's some actual effort! I went and dug deep, trawled through some really old stuff, which was fun. I write and scribble down way, way more than I actually polish and post (which I assume is probably normal, but who knows). 

General info, for whoever is interested: I mostly use Google Docs with offline backups for fic writing, as I shift between computers a ton, and I put fandom tags at the start of my filenames for organisation. I have a ton of prompt/meme/ask/event collection files - for example, the very latest: "[BG3, STRAHD, SM] Fic Prompts 2024". In these I jot down both the prompts people send or that are listed and the ideas/outlines/notes for each, then when I really get going with a certain fic I spin it off into a separate document. 

I hate coming up with titles and usually do that last, so most of my document names are silly references for my own amusement or just a boring old brief description of the main concept. For instance, my latest posted fic Cerimonia Compedum was for most of its WIP-hood known simply as "[BG3] Tadpoled Isobel". Sometimes I keep different versions/revisions/parts of the same WIP in different files, and if that's the case I've grouped them here. Note that for simplicity's sake this post includes my "solo" fic only, no collabs or coauthored stuff, of which there is also a bunch. 

Some of these are ancient and hit me in the face with "12 years ago" timestamps. Some ficlets will never make it out of the mixed prompt plot bunny dumping grounds into their own doc. I think Sailor Moon 10-ish years ago was the one outlier fandom where I actually wrote most of my concepts out fully and posted them. The ol' brain is currently overproducing stuff for the more recent BG3 flavoured moon lesbians (and no, that ship name will never stop throwing my HaruMichi-loving ass for a loop). Note that some of the SU WIPs on the list I've already posted about here, here, here, and here.

Obviously all of these vary wildly in terms of completion level, word count, refinement, and age (and capitalisation, apparently). So yeah, here's the list, roughly sorted by fandom - ask away, if you feel like it!

[BG3] Moon-chosen, Moon-guided | Moon-chosen, Moon-guided - Part III [BG3] Cerimonia Alārum | ISOBEL TO THE RESCUE AU [BG3] Tremulous Cadence followup | The Return of the Moon Daughter [BG3] Wizard Tower AU | Aylin & Rolan stuff [BG3] Karlach/Minthara Act 2 conclusion aka why are paladins Like That [BG3] I'm having something very strong indeed

[STRAHD] The d'Avenir Treatise verse tidbits [STRAHD] Road Trippin' [STRAHD] In-character notes & ficlets

[SU] eeEEeeeeEE BISMUTH | Bismuth ficlets | Like talking to a wall | Muse. Galatea. Suffering. [SU] SU Daemons HDM AU [SU] The Adolescence of Rose Quartz | But I don't think anyone turns into a car  [SU] Freedom To And Freedom From | Pearlrose Fixit | i love suffering!!! [SU] Forge Showdown AU [SU] Pearl Playing the Field TM | All I need in this life of sin is me and my pearlfriend [SU] The Grand Aventurine Heist (Not Really Grand And Only Slightly A Heist) | oh no who let Rose read the Scarlet Pimpernel

[SM] Future Vision blatantly ripped me off THANKS REBECCA | PUU fic [SM] Outers fall of SilMil | michific | The End is the Beginning is the End

[DS9] Kira fic bits

[TLOK] Five Times Kya Healed Lin and One Time She Couldn't | Kyalin fluff [TLOK] R.C. Noire | Lin BAMFong

[WATCHMEN] Silhouette fic bits

-

That's it! I don't think I have a single person that I know writes fic left that hasn't already been tagged in this, so feel free to do it (again) if it strikes your fancy.

[herarcadewasteland]

Danger Lurks

A/N: There's a significant lack (pretty much none) of Teddy Lobo x Reader from 2023 Renfield and since I'm fulfilling my own Renfield x Reader fics, I'm doing this for those hoomans who also wanted this but couldn't find it. (Such a good movie btw I've seen it like 4 times now) Nine google doc pages of this shit-

-Teddy Lobo x Reader

-Mentions of drugs, violence and the likes. Swearing. You're old enough to know what you can handle. This is your warning :) (also sui*ide :/.... it turned darker- sorry if you're triggered. this is your warning again)

TW TW TW TW TW TW TW

_______________________

Teddy Lobo. Yeah. Him. Your boyfriend. The one currently ranting about some guy who killed a bunch of his men in Mulates the previous night. A sigh left you as you sat and listened patiently. It wasn’t like you had meant to get involved with a crime family. It just… happened. On a Thursday. A couple years back. It wasn’t worth the mental effort to think on how you had met with each detail in place. So you settled for the simple thought of it all. You were working. He walked in, you smiled at him while everyone looked away. You kept eye contact.

You didn’t look scared, and you didn't know who he was. He took you out a couple times, wined and dined you. Took you places. Treated you right. And then after mind-blowing sex, you met his mother at the breakfast table as she plotted with her son on the next drug deal. There was no out at that point. Plus, Teddy was quite a nice guy… past the killing and cocaine and stuff. So, you stayed. Which landed you here as he continued in disbelief at what had happened to a good number of his men. It wasn’t easy to believe what he told you he saw, but you had to at least try to believe. 

It was a lot easier when he walked up to your chair and landed a kiss on your lips with a pleading expression,

“You have to fucking believe me, Y/N. We’re looking for the fucker right now and when we get him, you’re coming. It’s time you get out there with me. You’ve been staying behind with mother for too long. I’m better with you at my side. You know this, lovely.”

You sighed again and nodded, hands brushing over the stubble on his jaw, 

“I know, Teddy. I’m just worried. I don’t want to see you get hurt. Or anyone else. It’s just not my  thing.”

He sighs in return and pulls you from your chair into a bear hug, his deep breathing calming you against his chest as you snuggled in. His hands stroked over your hair and you hummed while he let out a short chuckle at how cute you were. 

“We’ll have the info by morning. I’ll wake you up an hour before we’re ready to go. There won't be many of us. I’ll keep you safe, lovely.”, his lips pressed against your head and you smiled into his chest, “Now go get some rest. I want you not to be groggy when we go get this dickhead. You’ll need to be alert.”

“Ok. Goodnight Teddy.”

“Goodnight lovely.”

He spun you out of his arms towards the stairs. You giggled and walked up them to the left towards your now shared room with Teddy. You could feel his gaze on you as you walked above him past the railings blocking the fairly large fall. Looking back at him, you smiled. He smiled back with love in his gaze. You felt it too. The love. You loved him. Unfortunately for you, Teddy felt a nagging in the back of his head about the upcoming events. And he didn’t like it one bit. 

—--

The next morning you woke to an empty bed. It was normal, but it felt wrong today. The day just felt wrong. It made your eyes water as Teddy walked into the room looking down at a tablet as he grabbed a suit jacket from the closet. 

“Teddy?”

He visibly jumped at your voice, his eyes searching you out immediately and noting the tears in your eyes. His panic was next. He hated it when you cried. All he wanted was for you to be happy around him and for you to be crying so openly, it was new. Off putting even. Especially for Teddy.

“Love? What’s wrong? Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Tell me what’s wrong.”

He rushed to the bed and held your trembling hands in his steady large ones as you looked at him sadly. Just shaking your head, you took your hands from his as he scanned you constantly for any visible wound. 

“N-No I’m…”, your voice cracked and you took a steadying breath, holding Teddy’s hands again to calm him as well as yourself, “I’m okay. Just… today feels wrong. Maybe it’s just one of those days but something feels different and I’m scared. What if the feeling is right, Teddy? I don’t want anything to happen to you… to us… to anyone.”

His grip tightened on your hands as you spoke, his eyes softening further as he watched the tears make a path down your flushed face. You sighed shakily and watched him watch you. It was simple. But it calms you down enough to take a deep breath, loosen your hold on his poor hands and kiss him gently. The kiss was… as it always is, wonderful. His lips cushioned yours in the best way that you never thought possible before kissing Teddy Lobo. It took over the fear as his tongue swiped over your bottom lip, a small groan leaving him as you parted from the kiss. 

“No no, come back. You should stay with me like that forever.”, he falls back onto the bed dramatically, his hand on his forehead as you giggle. “It’s heaven on earth. You can’t take that from me!”

You laugh loudly as you crawl on top of him, his hands resting on your hips as you place kisses around his face, “We have somewhere to be, don’t we? Maybe later, pony boy.”

You wheeze at the confused and nearly offended look on his face as you scramble from the bed, gathering your most Lobo coded outfit from the closet to rush into the ensuite bathroom and change before Teddy could fully recover and get you back with many, many tickles. His huffs reached your ears from the other side of the door as you tugged on the red leather jacket you had gotten for your birthday from Teddy a year back when he first asked you to go public with him. Properly. 

Finishing the outfit with a spray of your favourite perfume, you step back into the bedroom to see Teddy waiting for you on the bed, his eyes trained on you immediately. A whistle filled the room as he clapped you into the room, his applause guiding your steps subconsciously. Placing your hands on his shoulders when you reached him, you played with hair at the nape of his neck, his smirk making you smile shyly as he looked you up and down a few times. 

“Bout fucking time I see you wear this for me. Let’s make it count, lovely. Mother sent word for us to head down. The boys are ready. We have his location.”

You nodded with a sigh and pecked his lips, stepping towards the door and shaking off your hands. You were nervous. Sure you felt a little better but that feeling, that bad one, was still present and somehow got stronger as you loaded into the van with Teddy and a few of the Lobo troops. The drive was longer than you thought but also shorter than a trip to the costco somehow. You forgot to question it all as you pulled up to the very clearly abandoned hospital, pieces of the roof hanging off, boarded windows, broken windows, graffiti. It all screamed sketchy and abandoned. But Teddy was determined. So when he saw your hesitance standing in front of the tall building, he sighed and pulled you into his side with a gentle kiss to the top of your head. 

“Just stay close. I’ve got you.”

You nodded not trusting your voice the moment you stepped into the building. The air was suffocating. Heavy. Musty. Definitely smelled like a place many people died in. That feeling you had increased ten-fold as you continued down the falling hallway, the roof and pipes clanging together and causing a few of the men to hit their heads on the way. Off-handed comments were made along the walk to find something, anything that indicated life, that the place must be haunted. The men made the typical ghost noises as they walked before stopping abruptly in what you assumed to be the reception or waiting room. It was open, large. Echoey. And you hated it more than the man who thought it would be funny to scare you into Teddy’s strong arms. You stayed away from that man for the rest of the walk. But now, standing in the entryway with Teddy as he spewed profanities, you wanted all the knowledge you were surrounded by capable people. 

Glancing around and purposefully avoiding the hundreds of suspended blood bags, you counted each of the men with growing relief that there was no one else. You looked up at Teddy with worried eyes, his own angry ones softening at your fear. HIs large hand rubbed comforting circles into your back as he led you forward to search for this Renfield guy. He called out to his men once you reached a very rank smelling room, the flies making you cringe away from the room while Teddy looked inside.

“Ronnie, call my fucking mom. RIGHT NOW.”

His voice echoed as he shielded your eyes, walking back into the open space, his mom’s voice sounding from a discarded phone that you couldn’t see until Teddy dropped his hand from your eyes to pick it up and freak out. You glanced around again, the feeling back in stronger waves as Teddy grabbed your hand again, your own trembling in his grasp as he talked with his mom before a whooshing met your ears and you both glanced around in panic. 

“Teddy- I don’t like this… Let’s just go.”, your frantic eyes met his and he frowned at the pure fear in your eyes before he glanced at something over your shoulder and froze. “Please, I don’t want to be here anymore. Can we find this Renfield guy another day? Baby...?”

Your pleading fell on deaf ears as he stared over your shoulder with a rapidly paling face. You froze in turn, hearing a dark chuckle over your shoulder. Your first instinct was to step further into Teddy, his arms wrapping around you as you slowly turned in his hold to see what caused him that much fear. Meeting the eyes of the man, you gasped. His lips curled in a smile, his pointed teeth clenched together as he watched you. You let out a shaky breath and tugged at Teddy’s arms to tell him to get you the fuck out of there. Teddy being Teddy guided you closer instead, your body falling further back into his solid frame as you were now at least a foot away from the strange man in a bedazzled suit blazer. 

Teddy’s hand reached out holding his phone, pure confidence on his face until the man took the gap in security to dart a hand out with inhuman speed and grab you from Teddy’s hold, pulling you into his chest with a hand on your neck. You whimpered at his hold, eyes wide as you stared at Teddy, who waved his hands in panic, repeating “Woah” in an attempt at subduing the hold this man had on you. 

“Look, we don’t want any trouble-”

“Who are you? You were sent by the church?”, his last word was dragged out with disgust and contempt. 

“I’m a criminal! My organization is all about evil! We’re evil, okay?!”

“Why are you here?!”, the pale man growled as he jerked you back against him. 

“We’re looking for this guy! I’m tryna find this guy! He meddled in our business and killed a bunch of our guys tryna save a bunch of innocent people.”

The phone held out in front of you showed the man, Renfield. The man holding you growled and tightened his hold on your neck, your own hands grasping at his pale appendage as you gasped at the increased pressure. You didn’t move more than that, too afraid of the claw-like nails on the man's hand to move more than you already dared. Teddy watched you carefully as the man laughed maniacally. The panic in Teddy was clear as he took an almost threatening step forward.

“Do you know who I am?! Who she is?!”

 The guy holding you in a death grip tilted his head in confusion, a nearly mocking “Hmm?”, vibrating your back with his voice.

“I’m Teddy fucking Lobo and that’s my girlfriend!” 

The strange man chuckled and lifted you above him after turning you to face him, his eyes meeting your widened ones as your legs kicked in the air, the lack of ground frightening you enough to struggle in his hold despite the claws so close to your neck.

“I am Count Dracula.”, the man's smile was back as he somehow lifted you higher, your face turning slightly red as you shook your head. 

“You win!”, Teddy shouted as he watched you turn your head to look down at him, the desperation in his eyes so clear to you as the man who claimed he was Dracula brought you down enough to make eye contact with you directly.

“He is my servant.”, Dracula growled as you trembled in his hand, lips parted to take in more air than you could through your nose. Dracula’s eyes focused on the phone again, Teddy’s other hand shaking by his side.

“He doesn’t seem to be serving you very well.”, Teddy chuckled hesitantly as you glared back at him the best you could. 

Dracula’s clawed hand set you on the ground, your back to his chest in a split second as Teddy stepped forward again. Your hands shook as you gripped the arm around your neck again, Dracula’s maniacal, almost hysterical laugh filling your head as you stared down Teddy with a mounting anger. The man's free hand shot out to grab the phone, the looped video of Renfield being stopped as the phone was crushed in his hand like it was nothing more than a piece of paper. You winced, pushing yourself against Dracula in fear before you realized and tried to move forwards, out of his harsh hold. Your attempt failed as Dracula grabbed you again and held you still against him forcefully, your forearm exposed as he twisted your arm around under his hold to drag a claw down the vein. You whimpered and shook, Teddy panicking further and reaching out to you with his shaking hands. 

“Wait, no, no, no, no!”

“This crime family of yours, would it enjoy witnessing the beheading of it’s enemies and the impalement of all who oppose it?”, Dracula's claw traced up and down the vein in your arm, your hand shaking violently at the base of it. 

One cut into it lengthwise and you would bleed out in 2 hours max. A horizontal cut would take multiple and even deeper ones, he would have to cut your vein clean in half to get you dead in that same time frame. It was still a frightening situation, having experienced his strength. The blood around his mouth and dripping down his chin didn’t help your fear. 

“That's like- that’s like our w-whole thing, man.”, Teddy’s voice trembled as he tried to get you free from the man's hold without causing a fight or pain to you.  

“And can the family raise me soldiers?”, Draculas’ tone was curious now, his claw stilling just above your wrist.

“We can… I can make a couple calls, yeah.”, Teddy almost had a smile on his face now from the turn the whole situation took. 

“Whatever pain Renfield caused you, I will return 10, 000 fold.”, he said in a rumble, his claw returning to its original path with a small detour of your neck. “I will unleash an army of death whilst warming my skin next to mountains of burning corpses.” 

The tone of his voice turned whimsical, like he was day-dreaming of the scenario. Teddy watched in concern and growing excitement that this guy seemed to want to hurt this Renfield guy as much as the Lobo’s. 

“How does that sound to you?”, Dracula finished his speech while turning his fanged smile into your neck, his tongue tracing over your pulse point while he made eye contact with your lover. 

Teddy took a steadying breath and released it with a groaned sigh, “It sounds… like you gotta meet my mom.”

You groaned as Dracula burst out laughing a few seconds later. Teddy laughed quietly with him, his eyes focused on you the whole time while you trembled. Dracula’s pure evil laughter got louder and Teddy nearly retreated in fear as he laughed a little more openly, concern growing at the rate the laughter from the other man was. 

“Are you happy or are you gonna fuck us up?”, Teddy’s smile died as he spoke, Dracula laughing still.

His claw made a small cut on your arm as he reached out to Teddy who screamed as his laughter turned into an almost screamed laugh, Teddy’s scream turning into slight laughter as Dracula continued laughing with a hand now on your boyfriend's shoulder. You hissed at the residual sting, sliding from Dracula’s body to Teddy’s side as they laughed continuously until Dracula went stock still. His eyes were staring you down as you hid behind Teddy. You froze your tugging at Teddy’s sleeve in response, his eyes flashing with something before he ended up behind you both, hand trailing over your shoulder before he spun you and grabbed the arm he had sliced. You froze further somehow as he gazed into your eyes with an intensity while Teddy watched in disbelief as his tongue snaked out of his mouth to lick the small trail of blood from your arm. 

“Can you not do that, man? She’s still my girl. You’re scaring her.”

Dracula met Teddy’s eyes with a growl as he dropped your arm, stepping back with a new expression of politeness. Almost like he had been conveniently forgetting that you were in a relationship with the same man who screamed moments before at a hand movement. He knew what he was doing though, he had too. He seemed too self aware to not know exactly what he was doing as he eye-fucked you while you cowered into your lovers body again. 

“My apologies.”, He spoke with reverence that you could tell was a cover, but Teddy accepted it with a simple nod, leading you around the guy with a hand on your back and shoulder.

“We’ll be back in a few moments, we need to gather some more men to bring you to my mom.”

Dracula nodded and watched you go as you looked back at him one last time, hand rubbing over the small laceration he had made on your delicate skin. 

—--- 

It was days later when this Renfield guy burst through the doors, Teddy’s mom standing beside you, her son on your other side, his hands crossed over his chest. 

“Must be nice not having to be invited in.”

You blocked out the conversation from there, watching as the officer’s eyes scanned you with blatant interest, the conversation clearly shifting towards you as everyone looked your way.

“She’s merely a bystander. No harm has to come to her.”

Teddy’s voice had rung across the front room clearly, the two on the ground floor looking at you with increased interest as you shuffled behind Teddy to hide yourself from their searching gazes. Tugging at your newly acquired fiance's sleeve, you mumbled in his ear that you didn’t want to be out front with him, requesting that you go into the back with his mother. He refused, insisting that he could keep you safer while you were with him. You agreed reluctantly and grasped him by the waist as the conversation continued. You felt a pair of eyes on you the entire time but shrugged it off as a few men jumped the railing with increasing dramatics to fight this Renfield guy who now shared powers with a handful of the Lobo men. 

The fight went quickly, Teddy realizing quickly that he may be better off sitting behind the scenes with his mother. You both jogged to the door before you heard a voice calling out to you both. Officer Quincy. You shook your head as you both turned, Teddy pulling his gold pistols from his pants in a threat. Hands reaching up to pull his arms down, you stepped in front of him to stop him. Muttering at him, you sighed. He was stubborn, you knew that but for him to be this stubborn at that particular moment irked you. So you reacted. Grabbing his guns from his hands, you saw his eyes narrow at you. Before you could think on it more, you turned to the railing and leapt over the edge, running for the door as he called after you in urgency.

Nothing stopped you as you booked it for the doors, Renfield’s carnage doing nothing to stop you as you nearly made it to the door before Teddy reached you. His hands grasped your arms as you panicked, hands trembling as his golden eyes looked into your own coloured ones. Dropping the guns, you burst into tears, hiding your face in his chest as his hands rubbed up and down your back to calm you.

“Hey, hey. Look, it’ll be okay. I promise. Let’s get you upstairs to mother and we’ll see each other soon, I promise. I won’t let you get hurt.”

You sighed, wiping your tears with shaky hands as he picked you up, carrying you through everything calmly, the destruction avoiding you narrowly as Renfield downed the last man. You tapped Teddy’s shoulder frantically as you noticed his advance, the cop approaching from the opposite direction as your tapping got more panicked. Teddy noticed quickly, his hands gripping you tighter despite setting you on the ground.

Being exposed more for any attack, you stood still with your back pressed against the chest that had been pressed against yours the night before. The officer quickly approached, Teddy acting quickly and snorting the centipede that had been crawling up and down his arm without you noticing. You cringed away from the sight, Teddy’s eyes flashing gold again as he gently pushed you to the side before he lunged at the officer. That left you completely exposed. 

Renfield took advantage of the situation and pulled you into his hold like his master had done a night or so before. In a few moments, Renfield had you held on the balcony above, arm crossed over your throat as Teddy and the officer fought. It didn’t take long for Teddy to notice, his distraction enough for the officer to pull the shotgun on him and shoot him down. You gasped and fought the hold on you, your eyes stuck on your lover’s as he fell to his knees, bloodied wounds decorating his tattooed chest while you watched, unable to do anything but cry. Renfield took pity on you and let you go, your fist meeting his face before you raced past the murderer of your fiance to the man himself. 

“Teddy! No, no, no no no nonono. You can’t leave me! We were gonna be together forever…”

His pained chuckle met your ears as tears fell from your pained eyes. 

“Don’t you know who I am? I’m Teddy fucking Lobo and I’ll always be with you, lovely.”

Your head shook as you pressed frantically on his wounds, eyes scanning his face continuously as he just watched you, a single tear tracking down his face and meeting the small puddle of yours on the floor beneath him. You chuckled roughly, of course he would say that while dying. Footsteps drew your attention momentarily, the culprits sprinting to get to Dracula while you sat with the love of your life and talked him into the afterlife. You’d meet him there one day. You just hoped it would be sooner… seeing his pistols out of the corner of your eye, you nodded. You’d be with him soon. 

As you held his pistol to your head, you laughed in pain,

“Teddy fucking Lobo... I’ll see you soon, baby.”

-------

A/N: oh man im sorry it got dark :/ if i missed any words im so sorry but hopefully it made some sense. kinda my own take with a few direct quotes from scenes.

[gojinka]

hello! i've been making a whole bunch of ocs for a game that have connecting stories and long histories, but im really bad at organising all the info- some stuff in the notes app, others in word, some in google docs. it works out for me in the end, but it got me curious about how other people might handle this! how about you? love your art btw!! 😁👍

I’ve got random assortments of notes abt my characters all over, mostly unorganized in my notes app (which is unfortunate because they get buried by my Actual Notes) along with a doc filled with an assortment of bullet points.

Most of my doodles are on discord and I screenshot some notes and put them there, too. So discord may be my best place for undisputed facts abt my ocs that I can easily edit (stuff like birthdays and full names and ages, family connections, lore tidbits like that), but my Google Docs contains actual stories.

Honestly, despite tumblr being a place with tags I can sort through, somehow it’s really disorganized.

[thatonesimp-e]

another (much longer) rant session about recent events.

so.

I ended up blocking the person who's been being just strait up toxic and hypocritical. she used to be fucking awesome. we used to vent to each other all the time; And truthfully, I had thought she was genuinely someone I could trust. I told her about.. well, everything. and I allowed her to do the same. it just.. felt like sometimes I was the only one putting in any effort to listen, you know?

we tended to.. well, she tended to info dump a lot. whenever I tried to info dump, she would either get bored or try to move the conversation onto something else. which-at first-hadn't bothered me.

one day it finally started to really hurt, so I made a bunch of drawing and posted them here. this bothered her apparently, and she ended up getting upset. she had choked herself (supposedly) and told me that I should just tell her next time.

which-if you weren't informed-is really hard for me to just.. do. at the time, it felt like I had severely damaged our relationship, and I'd felt extremely bad for it.

this went on for about a week until she eventually moved on from the situation. I hadn't.

a few weeks later, she'd begun talking to another person, who-for privacy reasons I'll call Flower.

she would ALWAYS talk about Flower-which again-at first didn't bother me. But I have a tendency to get jealous of other people; Which stems from my trust issues. so, over time I became increasingly jealous and worried that Felix would leave me for Flower. and-in all truth-she was leaving me for this other person.

she would always talk so highly of Flower. about how she drew, how she would get to rp with her, and how Flower actually told her about oc lore. with each sentence, I felt a little more hurt.

I personally, get really burnt out from rps fast. and I don't really share oc lore, because 1) it's too complex to just tell someone, and 2) I haven't trusted anyone enough-not even her-with oc lore.

I ended up having to make a google doc explaining the lore just so that Felix-the person who started this shit-could be satisfied. I'm not trying to make her sound like the villain, and I'm not trying to control her. (which was something I was accused of doing)

eventually I really needed to vent about it to get it out of my system, and Felix decided she needed the attention instead, and tried to shift the subject-which I wasn't having.

the image above is what she tried to shift the subject to. herself. she completely ignored where I was coming from, and tried to make it so people felt bad for her.

the image above is what I said before Felix jumped in. I was trying to explain-without actually stating directly-that I was getting jealous and uncomfortable that she would always bring up Flower.

she completely misread the situation, as well. she probably thought I was directedly attacking her and her new friend. I wasn't.

this is what she ended up saying after everything was already said and done. I did not believe I personally owned her, nor did I ever say she wasn't allowed to talk about Flower. it's just because she would always talk about her. non-stop.

moving away slightly from that, I had eventually gone back into the vent channel and read that. I felt extremely hurt and saddened that she had thought that. apparently, she was mad that I had read that, and she ranted in her own server about how she was mad that I'd brought it up.

which-in my opinion-is where the hypocritical side of her comes in. while we would vent to each other, I would talk about how I got uncomfortable when people brought up past situations (from like a year ago) and she would agree. she hated bringing up past situations herself-and yet-she had brought it up when ranting about me.

I ended up having a sort of mental break, because I had originally thought I could actually trust this person with certain types of information.

such as me having trust issues and constantly worrying about people leaving me. she ended up trying to use it against me. which is just absolutely shitty of her.

I'm upset that I have allowed a situation like this to occur twice, but I am glad that its hopefully over. I needed to get this out, I am sorry. final note, however.

I think it is quite rich that she ended up making vent art about keeping things private when she was the one who had made it known to a large group of others first.

buddy, the irony of the situation is killing me.

with that all said and done, I am sorry if this ends up clogging your dashboard.

-DRGN :]

[nikooo-whathehell]

"Exactly, that why it's boring"

I think you're missing a point of why google doc exists in the first place. It's here not to tell a story or to be entertaining, it's here to explain context. It's like a footnote in a book, not the whole book. Again, it is not possible to fit the plot in detail into 3 minute music video even with dialogue intros, so it's a fact that the imagery in the MVs should be significant and tell story of its own, that's why it focuses on visual aspects more, and in my opinion it does it successfully, I don't know where you saw "fails to tell a story". I don't think that pafl is some genius work, however, of course, if the viewer does not spend any effort to think and calculate that two plus two is four then they will not understand what is happening in the series even with bunch of google docs with all the explanations. Yes, I myself have questions to pafl narrative (a lot of information is given through Ferry's posts on Patreon, which are later made available on Tumblr, for example. And without Ferry's explanation, Nikita's situation with his gf and the fact that he was basically in prison is completely unclear. But then again, these characters are secondary to pafl, so I can understand why their stories are not really explained)

"And the doc does undeniably contain tons of unnecessary detail, like the characters' birthdays, height and weight"

Are you, perhaps, new to the fandom culture...? Yes, these are unnecessary details but then again it's not unusual for creator's to give such info to their audience. A lot of mangakas even mention characters blood types (Yes, this is because in Japan, blood type is often correlated with personality type, but it's still would be "unnecessary detail" to the average viewer, but for some fan it's going to be piece of lore that they could find interesting)

"That was her choice of medium, and it was a bad one"

Again, I feel like you're just missing a point of why pafl is the way it is and what Ferry and her background has to do with it. Ferry is a voca-P. And I don't know how familiar you are with vocaloid culture, but in vocaloid community whole stories told in songs and MVs are a common thing and often when a song series gets popular it continues to evolve, it then turns into something bigger, like books, novels, manga, anime. Which is basically what's happening now with pafl too. I don't agree with "The Death Of The Author" idea, so knowing that Ferry is Voca-P, and knowing the influence anime and Japanese media culture had on her, it becomes clear why pafl is exactly like this. Simply put, if Ferry choose over media type to tell her story it would've been completely different kind of story by a different kind of author. People tend to do things based on their own capabilities and preferences.

"The MVs could've been in chronological order"

Fair point, and I would even agree, but I think that such a chronology in pafl just works better. First song established conflict and all songs that come after sharpen it. I think that the tension is built well precisely due to timeline not being strict about chronological order, the narrative is quite fluid, due to which it is noticeable how the past still influences the present, this is especially noticeable in the conflict between Sanya and Sergey, since their songs are most directed to the past and contain the most flashbacks, the past literally "haunts" the narrative.

"The characters could have had more distinct faces"

Yeah, I agree with this one.

"Some of the more abstract imagery could've been toned down"

Not exactly sure what you mean by this in the first place. If you're talking about "The Mill" then I probably won't agree.

"Why not use these kinds of scenes as intros and/or outros for the songs, which would help set the scene and orient the audience?"

I don't know how you watched this series, but these type of scenes present in like. Almost in all songs where it's needed? (Conversation between KT and Yura in "KT's Guide To Coolness", Sergey rambling about Sanya to Olya in "Punch It Punk", etc)

"I don't care if it was written by one person or an entire team of writers. This point is a cheap deflection."

I understand what you mean, but comparing someone's passion project to the work of established science fiction classics just makes you look elitist.

"This does not scream "well thought-out social commentary". It screams "we are the obvious bad guys™ from a Saturday morning cartoon"."

Speaking surnames in any media are not a rare phenomenon, I think in this case it's not necessarily to hint she's evil (could also be translated as Dr. Shady tbh, I think it's more to hint on her "has-to-do-something-with-the-zone" type of thing rather her being evil incarcerated), not to mention that she is not shown as a strictly negative character, she's high ranking scientists, but is not a lead researcher, since she obviously does not posses much power in the institution, considering they were about to illiminate Dmitry despite her undeniable bias.

"The lack of harshness in themes and tone"

I get that. That's why I'm glad Rough finally came out! Honestly, I was even put aback at first, because oh wow! Ferry finally showed Yura being really gross. Like, yes, it was already known that he was an alcoholic with vague morals, but the aftermath reality of this were only shown to us now. Also just in general I love the tone of it and that it actually shows Yura being ready to do anything immoral for the money. Like, in Execution Ferry tried to establish this but the tone of the narrative turned out to be more chill, directing the viewer to sympathize with Yura rather than feeling disgusted by his actions and behavior.

"What is the town in PAFL even called? According to Ferry's doc, it's "an Eastern European city". That's it, it doesn't even get a name"

Again, maybe it's more obvious to me as someone who grew up in this environment, but "The city of N" trope in russian literature is a widespread thing, and I believe in pafl such description is used on purpose: name of this town doesn't matter. Giving it a name would give it identity, as you said, will make it character of it's own. But the thing is, this town could be found anywhere, it could be set in Belarus, it could be set in Russia, it could be set in Ukraine, the point is that average viewer from cis country is already familiar with this town, it's the town they grew up in, it's no different from any other town, it's not a character – it's lack of it. If you're familiar with the movie "The Irony of Fate" it's quite literally what this film starts with: cartoon that makes fun of the way russian panel buildings lack personality, making every town the same. Which then correlates with overall mentality of people from cis countries – to be a conformist and like everyone else, not to stand out, which is what gives it such irony of the fact that some characters are literally mutants who would be very happy not to stand out.

Anyway, I think that people can take some existing concepts and change them to suit their story and what they think works for it (that's why it's called inspired by... and not "based on"). Then again, you are comparing already established authors, who have experience behind them, with a person for whom pafl is the first project of this kind. I believe that if you criticize something (especially, if that something is a one person's work), you should keep in mind such things and do some research first. Moreover, Strugatskys were adults who wrote about adults, while Ferry at the time of the first episode of pafl was hardly older than Yura, it's a coming of age series.

I honestly believe that objective criticism does not exist, but I believe that there is constructive criticism and there is destructive criticism, and if you are going to criticize something, you should know at least some context about the author, their background and their abilities.

That's plus or minus everything I wanted to add. I'm unlikely to change your opinion, but it seemed to me that many of your remarks are rather a misunderstanding.

(it’s not for nothing that the zone is addressed as a woman)

that's kinda specific meme I made for myself and one and a half people who are as insane as me to understand da meme

[styllwaters]

⚠️ Old designs and lore // Do not reblog ⚠️

Well folks, this is about as sci fi-fantasy as it gets. People have been asking about humans in Vivere 44, and a bunch of quick sketches turned into a full-on infographic, and now I have no choice but to elaborate. So! humans. (The story is set in the year 2155, and considering the lack of physical forms I suppose post-humans would be a more reasonable term...) 

Despite having changed significantly since they left Earth, humans have an established place within the Wider Galactic Community. Most of the essential info is in the image, but I’ll go ahead and slap on extra notes anyways. Long-ish post ahead!

For starters, if you want a more extensive read of humanity’s history in Vivere 44 and how exactly they came to look like that, then head on over to the google doc. Be warned, it gets a little dark at some points.

Although they might look like holograms, the human’s appearance has little to do with light fields. Instead, they are made up of millions of tiny ‘cyber-particles’, which were discovered by the **Angelum **in 2110. Their properties are still being researched, but they are known to be able to host consciousness - which has earned them the nickname ‘mind flecks’. They have been used in computers, AI, and projections, and have only recently been applied to digitized brains. 

Through these mind flecks, a human can shape their appearance however they please, however it relies heavily on individual brainpower and how clearly one can visualize an image. For this reason, young children often have difficulty with clear forms and are more inclined to look like vague shapes (or their default form). They learn by mimicking others. Fun fact, It’s also easy for experienced individuals to lose clarity in their form when experiencing strong emotions. Thus, the word ‘distortion’ has been used as a substitute for losing one’s composure.

Unfortunately in spite of their unique shifting abilities, humans have difficulty interacting with the non-digital world. Luckily, the Angelum are known for their expertise in machinery, so together they developed mech suits that allow people to walk around and pick up stuff and whatnot. Some people like the convenience, but others hate the restrictive feeling of the suits and opt for gloves instead (I’ll draw them one day). This embedding of intelligence systems in machines meant jobs like spacecraft intelligence (as opposed to spacecraft artificial intelligence) became quite prevalent among humans. 

Humanity’s new configurations also mean that they no longer have the need to eat or drink. Yet, unlike an AI they still need to sleep every now and then. And unlike an AI, humans are not immortal. The particles begin to deteriorate after about 160 years, and at 200 years will have completely disappeared. Still a pretty impressive lifespan. I should also note that once a person’s mind is transferred to cyber-particles, they are stuck like that. No changing hosts or returning to a body.

The first generation of post-humans is still around today, but since then two more have arisen. Artificial chromosomes and a form of gene swapping were developed in the early days allowing humanity to continue its legacy. There is a bit of controversy as to whether these new generations count as ‘true’ humans since they never had an organic body to begin with, but they certainly aren’t robots either. The new generations think, act and live just as the originals did, if not more progressively.

That’s about it for now! This concept has been bouncing around in my head for a while now so I’m glad to finally have the chance to put it somewhere. As always, open to questions!

[creeps-and-pasta]

Hi! Came across your blog while looking into creepypasta stuff and was wondering if youd know some key info on the main characters and the various versions of them? Ive seen lots of different versions of the creeps and lots of varying ages for them, it seems cool but also a little confusing. Like ive seen several ages for Jeff Woods: 13, 15 or even in his 20s. Im pretty curious about him and some others like Jane, Ben, and Nina!

Thank you for taking the time to send me these asks! I love explaining and going over creepypasta history. Also, thank you for your patience, I’m busy moving into a new apartment, so I’ve been neglecting this blog for a while. 

I haven’t yet found one place to find a bunch of creepypasta history in one place, which I’ve been trying to fix. I’m planning on making either a google docs or neocities page one day that will put a bunch of creepypasta info in one place, but that will be a while. The info I’m pulling from is TV Tropes and the creepypasta fandom wikia.

The creepypasta fandom is different from most fandoms, because it lacks a true canon. Jeff the Killer is a huge example of this, it’s really hard to tell who first came up with him, or which version is the original. 

Essentially, the famous Jeff the Killer image has been around since 2005, and in 2008 a user on Encyclopaedia Dramatica named Sesseur created a video about Jeff the killer and Liu, which I will link here. (WARNING for images of spiders and the original Jeff the killer image). My favorite line from the video is “he’ll fucking gut you” lol.

So anyway Sesseur is credited as the creator of Jeff the Killer and Liu, though it’s unknown if he created the og image or not. It’s notable that Jeff is an adult in the story. This version is Jeff C. Hodek.

The classic Jeff the Killer story, where Jeff is a kid that gets bullied and set on fire, was created by GameFuelTV on deviantart. This was in 2011. This is Jeffery Alan Woods. Jeff is like, 13? 

A rewrite was made in 2015, by K. Banning Kellum, who I believe has a tumblr account, so be nice to him. This is the Jeff that has half his face burnt off, I think Kellum possibly did this to mimic TwoFace from the Batman comics, rather than the Joker homage that Jeff has had for years. I believe this Jeff is still named Jeffery Alan Woods.

There’s also Mr.Betty Kreuger’s version that I may as well mention. He’s a voice actor that did a whole lot of creepypasta impressions back in the day, and has a terribly written creepypasta series on his youtube channel. I…do not like MBK, but admittedly his hallway of nightmares video is sick af. He has a really good LJ voice. ANYWAY. His version of Jeff is called Jeff Keaton. 

I could go into so much more depth with this, and I will probably make another post soon detailing the many Bens in this fandom, along with Jane and Nina. This is just…a lot of work to write about lol. I used to have notes about this somewhere, but I can’t find them atm.

    I guess the key word here is “interpretation”. There is no One True Jeff, or one way for a person to write him. It’s all up to your personal interpretation of who Jeff is, what he is like, and which last name you prefer him having.

[frostbite-the-bat]

I rambled abt this on Discord to my friends, but, ironically enough, I hate the Discord/Tiktok-ification of everything.

I try to access information on some thing - but uh oh! I am linked to a Discord server to join, or a Tiktok account!

I don't use Tiktok, I am not going near that fucking app - and despite being a very, VERY active Discord user, I do not want to pointlessly join servers anymore! Especially if it's for one piece of info I just need about a game or a project!

And if I ask about this information elsewhere, or look up other people who are asking this question rather, they are often passively aggressively told "It's on the Discord just join it bro"

What if I don't want to? I shouldn't need to join a community intended for chatting just to access some information I may need once! I want websites back! I want custom WIkis back, because most Fandom Wikis on any topics are shitty and or extremely out-dated!!!

I hate this shit so much!!!

(More personal rambles about this below.)

This may be a personal thing, but for certain things I also hate getting my information off Youtube, but... This is a Roblox game fan specific issue for me, I think, and I shouldn't expect more from a community geared towards children, and we all know how many there views are from children.

But for other games, or projects, etc... I feel like we should just bring websites back for those. Hell... Even active blogs or Twitters may do, as long as they have actual, like, logs for longer things like accessible Google Docs with more info. Like, for example, I have gotten back into Club Penguin recently, and I have been playing on a nice private server, since the original game has shut down.

I really would like to meet the mascots - however, none of this info is listed anywhere! I remember there being fan-sites and other things dedicated to mascot trackers! Since this is a fairly small, fan-owned community - it surely wouldn't kill them to add trackers to their own site for the game?? Then again, even their community stuff isn't updated...

And guess what? The only place to access the time mascots may be meet-able in the game, are on a fucking Discord server! And for another game I was introduced to by a friend, which receives frequent updates - because it was first made popular thanks to Tiktok in the first place, a lot of information on it is there (in often, admittedly, hard to bear/annoying formats), and the only other place is a Discord server. Which I am actually a part of, even if I don't chat there, just because I had no other place for info to join. (Especially with the wiki updating very slowly for it.)

The community there does provide a bunch of info and their own stuff - and there is info on the game, though it is sometimes a bit hard to navigate through it. But, info in-game? Not much! But it does fit into the nature of the game, so it makes a bit more sense.

But what is no excuse is fully relying on your fans for info... Youtubers, Discord mods, and a shittily put-together, barely updated Wiki. My god, even on the Discord server there is basically ZERO proper update logs!! And often they just let fans hammer them on for the updates they put out, not to mention the mods there are fans, which are usually fucking teenagers. I know this is about a Roblox game, but it's ridiculous... But I won't ramble on it further, lol.

I do understand Roblox servers are easier to use than Forums, hell - despite joining some forums myself I... Am too scared to talk there. Well, same goes for Discord servers, but I am less-so scared I'll mess something up there. But still... That's for communication... There should be a separate place for information on things. Sure, info can be here, but like, the more fun, not extra necessary stuff, y'know???

I am not sure if I am the only one angry about this, but I am so annoyed I had to get it off my chest.

[poirot]

I’m writing two philosophy term papers in english this semester and therfore, I’m looking for native english speakers* that would offer to proofread my term papers (I’m paying 2€ (≈ 2usd) per page). more info is under the cut.

*one for each term paper but you can also correct both if you want

UPDATE: already found two people for the term papers, biggest thanks to everyone who offered their help ♡

more info:

the term papers will have 8-12 pages.

I’ll pay via paypal (or ko-fi) only (half upfront, the rest when you’re done)

you need to proofread them in relation to grammar/spelling/stylistic devices/etc. + tell me if you don’t understand specific points, if you would phrase things differently etc. (feel free to criticise as much as you like)*

you will have around one week for the proofreading

the proofreading will take place around the beginning to mid september hopefully (I need to hand in the papers by the end of september)

*what people did in the past was that they marked the mistakes and commented what they would change/what is wrong/what would be right or better (for exmaple via the comment function on google docs or word) but you can do it however you like tbh 

also just mentioning this since I got questions about this in the past: in germany, it’s completely legal and actually very much recommended by professors to let your term papers be proofread. there a bunch of people actually putting up ads for this at university but my social anxiety is too bad to contact these people which is why I usually do it this way instead agdshja

term paper topics:

Anti-meaning and how it changes the discussion about meaning in life (realted topcis: meaning of life, new harms)*

How to measure the demandingness of ethical theories (related topics: utilitarianism, deamndingness objections)*

*you can proofread these papers without having any knowledge about these topics. the papers should still be understandable. 

who am I looking for:

native english speaker with a good spelling/grammar

above the age of eighteen (18)

preferably someone who visit/ed collage/university and already wrote academic papers themselves (or at least read/dealt with academic papers)

if you are interested:

shoot me a message via the tumblr chat or ask function

in the message tell me:

your age

the way you want to communicate (preferably via tumblr messanger or discord but we can also talk via mail if you would prefer that)

your experiences with academic papers

which term paper you would like to proofread

I might not answer your message right away social anxiety + work you know but I’m definitely gonna answer as soon as possible <3

[student-by-day]

since we’re officially a few weeks into second semester and i’ve had to write another paper by now, i thought it was about time i shared some precious knowledge for the benefit of the greater good.

some basic things i can’t believe no one taught us:

wikipedia IS NOT EVIL. repeat after me. wikipedia IS NOT EVIL. just be smart about using it. (hear me out on this one.)

it can oftentimes be a great place to start because you can get a quick, simple summarization on the topic you’re trying to learn about.

make sure to check out the bibliography at the bottom---a lot of those sources are credible (which means you can cite them in your work!) and can provide further reading/context.

there are a lot of linked topics within the articles---read up on those too if they’re relevant (for a better overall understanding/extra background knowledge).

just don’t quote or paraphrase from wikipedia (the same goes for any other non-scholarly source) and cite it as a source in your paper---your teacher/prof may or not murder you, knowing this site can be edited by their four-year-old child lol.

put quotation marks around specific words (like names, dates, etc.) to narrow down your search results in case the ones that pop up first are irrelevant or too general.

narrow down domains by sticking site:.edu, site:.org, etc. to the end of a search instead of manually sifting through blogs and a bunch of “unusable” stuff.

explore the other advanced search options that don’t have shortcuts by googling something > settings > advanced search to narrow things down based on language, region, publication date, usage rights, etc.

use ctrl+f on articles to find the most relevant passage(s) if you read through the first paragraph and think “yea man this ain’t it” or if the page is super long/wordy. this will save you a lot of wasted time. 

figure out how to do a split screen and snap windows on your device! this is great for taking notes during a video/documentary or when manually retyping something that you can’t copy+paste while looking at the source for reference. it’s alt+[ or alt+] for chromebooks and windows key+left arrow key or windows key+right arrow key for windows pcs (google it if you have a mac---didn’t want to give out info i couldn’t test myself).

RECORD ALL (ALL) THE RELEVANT SOURCES YOU ENCOUNTER while you research. i don’t know how many times i’ve read a tidbit of information and didn’t think i’d use it later but then spent like an hour scrolling and clicking through my history to find the right site because it turned out i did need/want that piece of information later once i changed the direction i was going in. my method: pasting the link on a doc and writing a little reminder below it about what info it contains/what i would use it for.

if you’re extra lazy, use the docs.new shortcut to create a new google doc.

when citing, WAIT UNTIL YOU’RE DONE WRITING and then use a generator (fyi: i like easybib.com and hate the google docs add-on) to get the brunt of the work out of the way, edit any incorrect blanks, add to ones you have extra info for, and PROOFREAD THE FINAL CITATION while referencing the criteria of your standard (whether that’s chicago, apa, mla, or whatever) using owl.purdue.edu, as mistakes *do* happen, and you don’t wanna get docked points for something as simple as a citation.

remember you’ll have better results if you stop using a ton of filler words and punctation just to be grammatically correct---use fragments or list key words instead when you search things that are harder to find.

reword and reorder the words in your search in several ways. don’t give up right away if you can’t find things---you’ve gotta show some resilience.

read past the third result. please. i can’t stress this enough, considering how many people i know that don’t do this. you have to realize some things just take digging.

explore “related searches” that are suggested at the bottom. even if they’re not as specific as yours, they might pull up different/more results bc they’re common searches!

there are ways to get through paywalls. i’m *not* saying you should go find the loophole links on tumblr... i’m definitely not saying that *at all*.

[thedayaftertomorrow]

I've been writing a lot again, and I think I'm actually gonna finish this story! :) I'm really happy with it. Anyways, here are some writing tips I needed to hear that I've had to figure out myself. Hopefully it can help you if you need it! Sorry it's so long, I'm a passionate little bastard!

So first, I wanna say that it's okay to let go of the standard way of doing things. You don't have to write in Times New Roman, you don't have to have 20 page long chapters (who says some of them can't be four pages or less? Just look at Maximum Ride), you don't have to plan out the entire book before you write it. Do what works for you. I used to write in Times New Roman on my laptop and it just wasn't working for me. So I made changes and now I write how I want to! For me this was writing in a soft, comfy font that I like (Comfortaa). I also write on my phone because getting my laptop out took a minute and was just another excuse to put off writing. So I write on Google docs on my phone and it makes writing so much easier. I write while I eat, while I'm falling asleep, while I'm laying on the couch, while I shower or go to the bathroom, while I brush my teeth, etc. I can write my book anywhere, anytime.

I have a bunch of documents, one for each thing I need: book, table of contents, character traits/outlines, ideas/important notes, potential quotes (where I write scenes that I want to include in the future or even just good dialogue quotes I think of and wanna incorporate), deleted scenes (where I put scenes that didn't work), plot outlines, my thoughts about my book (where I rant to the void about what I'm excited about/how I feel about my book because I can't tell people about it yet) And that's not even all of them. There's like twenty at least. If you have a thing you want to jot down and no place for it, it's okay to make a document for it. You can't keep ALL that info in your brain permanently, love.

I don't look at how many pages I have very often. This is another reason why using docs on my phone is so nice. I can't see the page count unless I turn on print layout! So I'm not stressing about how many more pages I need to write.

I have a plot outline but I don't follow it to a T, and there's plenty of wiggle room. I planned for a couple weeks before writing and now I'm planning and changing the rest of the plot as I write it. Planning and writing is a delicate balance as far as finding what works for you, but I've learned that I can't plan for a year, then write, cause I'll loose interest before I even write the first chapter.

I saw a similar tip to this one on Tumblr actually and tweaked it to work for me. I can feel it when what I'm writing isn't working. If feels like I can't write anymore from here. I feel like giving up. I feel like I ruined the book. What I do when this happens is figure out what element is ruining it (examples I've done: 1. Adding magic [and I think fairies too?] out of nowhere. 2. Having two characters, who are friends, physically fight over something small when really they'd never do that. 3. Taking electricity out of my story. 4. Introducing a character too soon and in a way that's our of character for them.). Then I get rid of that entire section (this can be several pages long, or even more) and I put it in my deleted scenes doc and delete it from my book. I then continue like that never happened and it works again! I just go "well that doesn't work. It's hard to get rid of it, but let's get rid of it and move on!" Don't give up. Change it.

I made my book one that I'm obsessed with. I have to be its biggest fan or it won't get written. It needs to be a story I love with settings I love, with characters I love. So I mashed a few story ideas of mine together (all of which didn't work on their own, like I couldn't get more than twenty pages out of them), added some excitement to it, and got a story I love. It has things I wanna talk about, writing it helps me work through issues I'm upset about within my self, and I think about my characters and scenes every day, almost all day. Make something you can become obsessed with. If it's just an okay story to you, you probably won't wanna write it.

I have a balance of comfy, cozy scenes and exciting, dangerous scenes. This keeps me happy and excited, and should hopefully make future readers neither stressed or bored.

I do things for my book other than write. I draw maps and floor plans of the settings. I'm bad at drawing people but I draw some of my characters. I write down my favorite quotes from my characters. I even made a stuffed animal that one of my favorite characters has and it's adorable! This keeps me interested in my book and helps me get my creative juices out more. The maps also help a lot with seeing the world and explaining how things look and work.

I did my best to make all of my important characters people who are rounded out, flawed, talented, and interesting. Some characters are based a little off of a vibe. I have a character who feels like a pirate. She's not, but she feels that way to me and it kind of helps me build her character. I made my main character the person I often wish I was. The love interest is someone powerful and independent that I'd love to date. One of my other main characters is the opposite of what you'd think he'd be.

I made my villains interesting and dynamic. I have one who isn't even evil, he's just neutral. I have another who's trying to do good but going about it all wrong. They aren't just evil, they have their own goals and lives, families and friends and lovers. But then some of them are just evil, because some real people are just evil, nothing more, no reason for it.

Oh, and another thing. I've seen so many posts saying to have a clear goal for your character, but I can't figure out how to do that for the life of me, so I just write and let it work itself out. I don't know what my goal is in my own life, how should I know theirs? They're just people doing their best.

I hope at least some of this can help somebody. Have a great week :)

[nanaminsonyfans]

Between Worlds; Chapter One

Previous, Next, Masterlist

A/N: Hey! I really appreciate all the world of encouragement from all of you. This is the first chapter, I am very proud of this one, it was about four pages long in my google doc so have fun with that info! This is about 1634 words in it. I think I should just put this here, there will always possibly be mild language. I do not own any of these characters. Please enjoy this chapter!

i do not own this gif

y/n = your name

"Black snow?” You ask confused, your head still foggy. Then the smell of smoke triggered your memory. Black snow. “Fire Nation…” You spoke breathlessly and pulled your hand away from Appa. “You’re right.” Katara said, “They might’ve seen the glow when I bent you out.” Oh yeah. You remembered now. “I’m y/n...and you are Katara and Sokka yes?” You said smiling warmly. “Uhh how would you know that?” The snarky voice of Sokka spoke.

Shit. 

“Uh..haha I’m the avatar duh! I know everything haha..” You say, trying to convince yourself more than them. “Right.” Katara said giving you a motherly smile that made you feel safe. “We better get going then.” You said as you climbed up on Appa. “Well? Hop on we’ll get there faster.” You gave them a childish grin, earning a soft giggle from Katara. Once the two siblings climbed up on the flying bison, you spoke the magic words. 

“Appa! Yip yip!”

It felt amazing to say that, you always wanted to say that. You used to run around yelling ‘yip yip’ when you were younger. It was a fond memory but, those memories seemed so distant now, you felt conflicted. You tried to remember your mother’s face. You couldn’t. ‘Why can’t I remember my mother?’ You blinked back tears, they felt like icicles against your skin. You let go of the reins on Appa to wipe your eyes as you sniffled to hide the tears. 

Katara moved to the edge of the saddle to look over at you. Your h/c hair blew in the wind as Appa landed behind the village. “Hey...y/n, are you okay?” She asked softly placing a hand on your shoulder before you slid down. “Hmm?” You processed what she said, leaving your little world. “Oh yes. I’m fine. Just...how long was I out?” You already knew the answer, but you wanted to seem clueless. 

“One hundred years.” Sokka spoke with a bit of resentment in his voice. “Oh. That’s a long time huh?” You asked yourself more than them. “Appa lay down. We don’t want anyone to see you, okay buddy?” You said softly jumping back up to the saddle to grab your glider. The black snow seemed to fall in thicker clumps. They were getting close. You knew how this went. You’d have to fight the Fire Nation, fight Zuko. You gulped. ‘Put on a happy face.’ You thought to yourself. 

“Let’s go to the village. Everyone will be excited to see you!” Katara spoke happily, grabbing your hand as she ran in. Sokka followed, a bunch of children running to him with snowballs. You let out a soft giggle and followed Katara. She introduced you to everyone, it was a fairly small village, but the people seemed happy. 

“This is my gran-gran.” Katara said gesturing to an old woman with grey hair and tanned skin, much like Katara. You bowed, “It is a pleasure to meet you.” You said in a respectful tone. “Oh dear, it’s alright. I’m honored to be able to live long enough to see you.” The grandmother spoke softly tucking a piece of hair behind your ear. “Though, we all thought you were a male.” You turned pale, this has to be a dream. Your head started to hurt. 

“Excuse me, Katara is there anywhere I could lay down for a while? I think I’m getting a literal brain freeze.” You smiled weakly rubbing your temples. “Oh! Of course, I’m sorry. I should have thought about this before. Follow me.” Katara leads you to a small igloo with a thin cot. “I’ll leave you alone for a bit.” She smiled sweetly and walked out. As soon as she left you pinched your arm. 

“Ow!” You hissed quietly. You always heard that if you’re lucid dreaming, you can’t feel pain. You can feel it. Oh no. If you were stuck here...you would feel the lightening from Azula when she almost killed Aang. That was the most memorable moment for you. You gulped hugging your knees to your chest as cold tears rolled down your rosy cheeks. The scent of smoke was getting more forceful as it entered your lungs. You coughed before you heard the sound of something heavy slamming down on land. “Shit.” You murmured standing up.

“Where is the avatar?!” You recognized that voice, it was commanding yet, had so much hurt behind it. You swooned slightly at the fact that you could see Zuko face to face. Not just through your screen. Katara ran into the igloo in an erratic state. “They’re here to take you, so don’t go out.” She said pushing you deeper into the home. “Katara, I am the avatar. I can handle a few soldiers.” You narrowed your eyes at the other girl. “It’s the prince of the fire nation-” She was cut short by a few screams of children. “Katara, I’m not letting your people get killed.” You said sternly, gripping your glider tightly as you walked out. Your grip was so tight your knuckles turned white, blending in with the snow as you stalked over to him. 

Prince Zuko.

 As much as it hurt your heart, you had to do this. You let out a deep exhale, leaving a foggy cloud in return. “Leave them alone.” You glared at the teenage boy across from you. Zuko whipped around with a snarl. “The avatar...is a woman?” He hissed then laughed. “We were all told you were a man. This will be the last time you ever surprise me.” He growled staring at you as a small smirk formed. You twirled your staff like glider around your fingers. “Let’s make a deal, Prince Zuko.” You said as you started to walk in a circle, him following suit, eyes fixated on yours. 

“What type of deal.” He spoke in a demanding tone that sent shivers down your spine. You smirked and blew a gust of wind at him, knocking him down. “If I win, you leave this water tribe and never come back, but if you win...I’ll go with you.” You sighed softly. “Deal?” Zuko got up with a hateful glare at you. Man, if looks could kill, he certainly would have slaughtered you. “Deal.” He growled kicking a wave of fire at you. 

You let out a small yelp and backflipped away. You started to pant and sweat. Good Airbenders can control their body temperature right? You cleared your head as well as taking a deep breath then sent another gust of wind. It came so naturally to you, and it felt exhilarating. Zuko kicked multiple waves of fire at you, you dodging each one. He screamed in frustration and let out a punch of fire at you, getting closer as well. You exhaled bending back to dodge him, as well as tripping him with your staff. “Stupid Avatar!” He yelled irritated, good. You had to let him catch you. Zuko ended up tackling you, pinning you to the ground. Guards started to walk off the ship to assist him with you.

Zuko’s cheeks flushed pink by being so close to a female, especially a strong one...He gulped which was only noticeable to you as the guards grabbed you. The cold made everyone’s noses and cheeks pink, so he had an excuse right? Wrong. Firebenders have a warmer body temperature than anyone else. You noticed and tinted a light shade of pink as well. “Ahem- Take her to the ship!” He barked his orders and followed behind the guards that were carrying you. “Y/n no!” Sokka and Katara yelled from the village.

‘Y/n? What a stunning name…” Zuko thought, absentmindedly of course. He shook his head and turned to you, tied up against a pole on the first floor of the ship. He walked over too you examining your staff. “Hey! Give that back!” You screamed in anger as Zuko took away your staff glider. He smirked and handed it to Iroh, your eyes following it. You normally wouldn’t care for an object, but you felt a deep connection with it. “Take this to my chambers-” “Oh, I’d like to take you to your chambers!” You hissed at Zuko, you meant it to be scary and intimidating. It wasn’t. If anything it was pathetic, earning the prince to turn red as everyone laughed at you and him. “I’ll take care of it myself.” He hissed grabbing the staff and marching away, disappearing into the dark metal cavern. 

You let out an irritated sigh blowing a strand of hair out of your face. You glanced around, seeing the old man. You smiled softly remembering how kind and loving he is. As you closed your eyes and relaxed your body, you knew what you must do. The ship shook as a powerful gust of wind went through the ship. It all happened in a blur to anyone but you. 

Your body seemed to fly through the ship making a beeline for the prince’s chambers. You busted through, the metal door crashing down onto the floor. Alarms rang out making your head pound seemingly to the rhythm of the sirens. You groaned and grabbed the staff from Zuko forcefully. “Don’t you ever take something from a lady again.” You glared before leaving to the bow of the ship. You whistled calling for Appa. 

You heard his call back and saw a gust of loose snow as he took off. You could see two figures on his saddle, you smiled to yourself. “Woah! Slow down there buddy!” You heard Sokka scream in a panic. You used your glider to fly up, the air hitting your face, it felt good. You landed safely on Appa’s head, holding onto the reins. “Hey there big guy.” You cooed as he flew through the air, he groaned in response to you. “Hey Y/N?” Katara asked in a motherly tone, you turned around. “Yes?” You gave her a childish grin yet again. 

“Where are we going?” 

“The Southern Air Temple.”

A/N: I really hope you like this chapter! I worked really hard on this and i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i do!