#matches my blog's theme perfectly haha

[ask-an-innocuous-taco]

Dear reader,

Hey there! Welcome to my Inanimate Insanity-themed blog! You're in the right place if you're a fan of the show (and don't hate Taco.) Just a heads up, though: spoilers might be ahead, especially if you're not caught up with the latest episodes.

Oh, and before I forget, I'll be answering your questions and prompts mainly through text, with some headcanons thrown in for good measure. Just keep in mind that my interpretations might not always perfectly match the characters from the show, but I'll do my best to stay true to their essence.

So, a bit about me—I've been obsessed with Inanimate Insanity for a couple of years now. It's basically taken over my life, in the best possible way. And I figured, why not channel that obsession into something creative? Hence, this ask-blog.

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BLOG'S STORYLINE:

Their conversation leads to MePad introducing Taco to this thing called Tumblr, suggesting that instead of dwelling on lost connections by letters, she could try making new ones here. It's a nice little moment of growth for Taco, don't you think?

We're picking up after Microphone's reality check on Taco and after Taco's whole ordeal with kidnapping MePad. Lonely and needing someone to talk to, Taco switches MePad back on from slumber mode. And instead of just using him as a pawn like she did before with anyone else, she's opening up a bit, showing some genuine sincerity. Maybe some honesty wouldn't hurt.

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Be Respectful: Treat others with kindness and respect. Harassment, bullying, or any form of hate speech will not be tolerated. !!REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A REAL PERSON BEHIND THE SCREEN!!

RULES:

No Spamming: Avoid spamming the ask box with repetitive questions or messages. One well-thought-out question at a time is preferred.

Be Patient: Understand that the creator behind the ask-blog may have a busy schedule. Please be patient for responses, as I may take time to answer questions.

Keep it PG-13: Ensure all questions and discussions are appropriate for a general audience. Avoid explicit content or language. (Unless it's funny haha. I won't hesitate to publicize your inquiry, all in good fun, of course).

Respect Privacy: Avoid asking overly personal questions or prying into the personal lives of the creator portrayed in the blog.

No Plagiarism: Respect original content and intellectual property. Do not steal or repost artwork, writing, or any other creations without proper permission or credit.

Use Trigger Warnings: If discussing sensitive topics or themes, provide trigger warnings to alert readers of potentially distressing content.

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Taco inquiries - Asks that have to do with Taco.

SPECIAL TAGS:

MePad asks - Asks that have to do with MePad.

Mod 👓 - Asks that are answered by the mod.

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If you want to ask anything related to Taco or maybe even MePad, feel free to shoot me a message using the tags provided below. Can't wait to hear from you all!

- Yours truly, 👓.

[raayllum]

Hello! Just wanted to pop in and say thank you for the fantastic content! I just found your blog recently but have kept being surprised at just how perfectly your tastes seem to match mine haha. You are helping my Rayllum brainrot so much and also I am feasting on the wonderful angst. Like CHET??? How did I not know about that before?? That whole theory is a combo of my favorite tropes! I'm so hyped in hopes it'll be a thing. Anyway! No actual point to this ask except to say thanks and I think you're cool :)

AWW thank you so much!! I've always loved pushing characters into scenarios where they are no right choices, just the ones they're willing to live with, so as CHET grew as a theory it just became more and more up my alley - and it's come a LONG way in the (just under) three years it's been a theory of mine. (CHET themed playlist for vibes here.) It started as a whim after TTM came out and then flourished as I picked up on the game motif, the thematic resonances, etc.

Which, I don't know if I think it'll be a straight up hostage exchange anymore since 5x08 Already Did That (although I'd considered the same after 4x09, wondering if they'd repeat it so soon - and then 5x08 had two of them, so who knows) but I think the Game Motif and Rayllum's steady Salvation-Destruction reconciliation are still going to be interwoven and resolved with each other together, so next season it is! More thoughts and theories about our different options & how they could manifest here <3

And while I think at least some of those predictions will be right (I'd have a hard time imagining a plot element where Rayla isn't the one to break him out of the brainwashing, given all the setup and foreshadowing) even if they aren't it's like - I got literally everything I wanted in 5x08. Anything else that comes true or happens in line with prior thoughts is just a Bonus

That being said the cut lines from Finnegrin's Wake of "Seems to be love's got a tighter grip on you than those chains round your wrists, so I'll do you a favour and set you free" verbalizing the already implied dichotomy "lose Rayla and be Free from Aaravos (bye intro)" VS "save her and play into his hands (hi intro)" has been absolutely batshit beautiful to witness, it is coming back 100%, is already a 10/10, the universe loves me and i love them back

[gothamslostboy]

Hey there! Was wondering if I could request a ship? I just found your blog and I love it!

Been in the Lost Boys fandom since I was 12 but I just found the fandom on here recently! (My LB blog is waitaminute-whowantstoknow)

If you’re not taking requests I totally understand!

Fandom: Lost Boys and Scream

Preference: I’m pan and I really have no preference

Favorite Animal: OWLS! And cats and bats!

Music taste: I love 80s and 90s music, goth rock, metal, I love H.I.M. And The 69 Eyes. Anything I can rock out to

Gender: female

Physical Appearance: I’m kinda short (5’3), kinda plus sized hourglass(if the bottom of the glass was a little bigger haha) around shoulder length wavy dark green hair, blue/gray eyes, lots of tatoos(including a chest piece that takes the whole space with bats and flowers and a large tarot card) and piercings

Clothing style: comfy goth? I wear a lot of black leggings and crop tops with a flannel or my battle vest or my leopard print faux fur coat, vans or big boots, a charm bracelet I don’t leave without

Personality: mom friend(have you had water today??). Loudly opinionated and really loyal, will fight for my friends, I like to think I’m funny, and I just really love talking to people so I’m the really chatty friend

Traits in a partner: I want someone who’ll make me laugh, who will be just as obsessed with me as I am with them(loyalty is huge for me), someone who will love that I need to be touched basically all the time(physical touch and quality time are my tops), someone I can chat with endlessly

Hobbies: I’m a Rocky Horror Picture Show shadowcaster so I perform as Janet, Rocky, and RiffRaff regularly, I love to write, I make crafts out of comic books(flowers and signs), I love games(video, arcade, tabletop)(surprisingly good at pinball) and I love reading, I’m obsessed with theme parks(had a pass for every one in Southern California when I was still living there)

Favorite movie genre: I love campy movie, comedies, mysteries, horror, but also cute Disney movies and fantasy

Thank you so much! I hope you have a great day!

Hello @its-freaking-bats ! Sorry this took so long, haven’t been feeling very well, and I’m sorry it’s just lost boys, I haven’t watched scream in a while and I can’t be sure about a match, but I’m think Stu!

THE LOST BOYS:

He definitely has dressed up as dr. Frank n’ Furter one year and will be so impressed you’ve been in the musical and is high key jealous

Y’all go on dates where you two ride every ride at the boardwalk, go to the comic book store (avoiding the frog brothers glares), then you teach Paul how to make different things out of them. He’d be estatic if you gave him a flower crown btw

He is also good at pinball and will challenge you to a tournament w/ the boys to find the best in the group

Honestly Paul fits your ideal partner perfectly & y’all like the same movies so it’s a match made in heaven

Y’all rock out together and chat for hours when Dwayne, Marko, and David are busy and Paul loves to trace over your tattoos:]

[muutosarchive]

🌟 ― i love how you portray your muse(s)

🎀 ― i love your aesthetic / graphics

✨ ― i love the way you write

💖 ― you seem like a genuinely nice person

☀️ ― your posts always bring me joy

❤️ ― you're one of my favorite blogs

🌺 ― simply admiring you from afar

I'm so late to this meme, so please forgive me for coming into your inbox like a jumpscare with this! Haha. Even still, I gotta send you in these symbols! I've never gotten the courage to reach out with the cooking ghouls, BUT OH MY GOD, I LOVE YOUR BLOG SO MUCH.

Everything from the personalized graphics for each thread containing your characters featuring imagery consistent with their character and overall roles and theme, such as the ghouls with what looks like black flicked paint and a screenshot of them with their instruments like with Rain, to their era's uniform like with Flora! Or with Special, the imagery of his clasped hands

LIKE, it's the little details that resound to aesthetic beauty and get a feel for their overall characters too!! And the fact that while you have such beautiful graphics, you also make sure to match with your partners and stagger their use, switching out with other icons to bring out the poignancy of larger headers and fill what would otherwise make bigs wall of text without breaks into something that's really broken up and digestible and so personalized, like, now that I write it out it seems really small and nit-picky. Still, it is HEAVEN for how I personally process reading threads and getting a feeling for all the gears moving!!

AND ON THAT NOTE: The way you perfectly transition between actions and speech and even inner thoughts of characters makes all your posts drip with the individuality of the characters and the style and overall voice of your characters and just!!!! It's so awesome, and you inspire me so much in my own writing and really make me want to focus on my own formatting and graphics because seeing your stuff just sparks so much love for the medium and for all the attention to detail that I can only point insistently at my screen and go 'that!! I someday hope to be able to make something that will spark in other people the creativity and drive to write, and format make like you make me!' y'know?? I hope my gushing makes sense; I just want you to know I think all your stuff is cool as hell and that you seem baller!

@dcwnthercbbithcle

while i did selfishly want to hoard this for a while, i also just wanted to make sure i was giving this the proper attention, because it honestly made my jaw drop. & i screen-grabbed it immediately to show it to my fiancé. i was so unbelievably floored, it honestly was a really true boost to my confidence & a reminder that we're all our own worst critics sometimes. so first of all, no apologies needed because this was the most welcomed ask! i always welcome late memes, & i'm honestly so happy. (putting the rest under the cut bc sappy & long!)

first of all, i'm going to reach out! i'm sorry i haven't already, i'm also somewhat shy believe it or not. at least with new people, so while i'm always trying to be approachable we all have our bad experiences that make it harder to want to start new ooc interactions. but, i cannot wait to speak/plot/write with you !!! immediately. 👀 first i just wanna say thank you for sending this? thank you for liking my blog, thank you for the compliments? i'm so bad at taking them, and all i usually do is compliment people back, but!!! thank you all the same. it meant so much to me to read this, and it's hard to understand how words like this affect me. my banners for my ghouls are made by my lovely fiancé @chrchgrl btw!! so i want to thank her very much for that, and i'm so glad you like them! same with most of my graphics, except my single icons which i do make myself (sometimes ofc with help from creators making base icons & psds). i don't find it nit-picky at all? especially since i sometimes wonder if it even matters. but for me, i like to have visuals & it also helps ME a lot to have them, even if they're consistent banners. like an expressionless mask i don't need to icon 20,000 times just for icon variety. and they're giving off what i want, at the same time. so i definitely understand & have the same opinion when it comes to post breaks and that it's less for aesthetic than for other reasons, so this is just really cool to hear. i like that it's resonating with others, & not just exists purely for my benefit. i like that i can make your experience better, if you are reading my threads and stuff. which if you are, THANK YOU 1000X !! now like, this next part is the part that got me fucked up. like the idea that someone could think something like that about me, or get inspiration from ME? from MY WRITING? like hello? excuse me? it's so humbling and incredible and unbelievable to hear something like this, because of how much i pick at my own writing and ESPECIALLY my characterization. it makes me insane when i think i'm not producing my very best, & i constantly pick my work apart. i always say i don't think we should compare each other to someone else. i literally have a writing degree, and i'm not under any impressions that i'm better than ANYBODY else. you miss out on some amazing interactions that way, & it's really not fair. writing is expressive and beautiful and as long as you're having fun (or anyone is having fun, i'm talking generally obviously), than it's worth it. and creativity is a beautiful thing. i'm just so happy that someone actually enjoys what i do here, because i do put an unbelievable amount of effort into it. & that is my choice as well! it's just tumblr rp, and we do what we can/what's fun! that's what this is about, at the end of the day. it just??? it makes me scream and cry to even think that people are reading my shit, let alone enjoying it. so the idea that i inspire you is incredibly unbelievable and i thank you so much for being so kind as to tell me this. it means so much to me! just thank you thank you!!

[cosmicdreamgrl]

oh! the pinned post 🥺💗 it really suits with your theme huh?! haha but anyway... HI STEPH! i'm here because i've read it a post of yours that really messed up with my own feelings and decided to came here to easy that impostor feeling you're having about yourself and your creations. so i'm going to tell a little thing about my own experience: when i first started this 14 years ago i constanly compared my things with another ones, when tumblr got really viral in 2010/11 with all the harry potter's content i was in the middle of it feeling mediocre because i couldn't make a proper coloring and didn't even know how to put sharpen and etc. like the great ccs alreayd was doing at that time. i saw every big network birth and huge other creators receiving that great attention after me and constanly made the same questions that you made on your post. the worst one was: i will never be as talented or creative as this person will i? and that is the WORST feeling to have as a creator. because you started to doubt yourself, your talent, your colors... and we shouldn't do it because every person has his own colors, his own style. we shouldn't doubt about the encouraging comments people left on our posts or our work in general. every single one of us has his own way to see beauty, so we must believe in that. i took so long to make my bangtan blog because i was so afraid!!! afraid of the people but mostly afraid of myself. i talked about it not long ago on my blog. anyway, honey please don't let this feeling be more than you are! you're talented, there's no "oh you like that person's posts more because she/he is more talented than me" it's your brain trying to confused you. tumblr creators has often this feeling as my personal experience can tell 😖 i particularly am very glad that you started giffing, i really am. because you make things that you like, with your own personal way to make it, your comps are majestic, the choreo gifs, everything and would never be able to do that and it's all fine... i love to see the improvement on your things... but you don't have to be so HARD to yourself. let things be as they are. if you wanna make diff things, so make it, if you wanna keep as you are, so keep it. everything is fine as long as you're comfortable with it. i hope i could make sense, i hate english, but it's the only language i can talk with my friends so... 😔 sorry if i interpreted your vent post differently tho. wishing nothing but the best, sweet. if you need anything, i'm on a message away 🌷

before i begin answering this, thank you for checking in in general pat, it means a lot to know that at least one person cared enough to. also yes, i pinned your post (which i'm very much in love with wbk) and realized it matches my theme perfectly. go figure lol.

as for said vent post? i wish i could say it was a byproduct of the time of the month but as someone who works in a creative field for a living & is now a part time content creator for this site, i think the imposter syndrome is an unfortunate but inevitable side effect. am i aware that it's my own brain playing tricks on me? yes. does it stop it from happening? no. deep down, i know i'm good at what i do; in fact, there's so much i've gotten better at and i'm proud of myself for it but when you see other creators getting more attention and love for their work? yeah, it can be easy to spiral and doubt not only your abilities but your worth and what you actually contribute to this site.

i'm doing my best to undo this mentality, it's a work in progress to be sure. i know you and so many others appreciate my creations, that's what keeps me going on some days because if not, i think i would've quit ages ago. truth be told, sometimes i still feel like it but i do enjoy the process of making gifs and trying out new things, so don't worry i'm not going anywhere in that sense. but i was serious about taking a break from posting for a bit, i'm feeling the emotional drainage and i need some time to recover before i get back into the swing of things.

i digress, thank you for taking the time to reassure me and honestly just being one of the sweetest & most supportive people here. i couldn't be more grateful to have you in my life, i hope you take care and i hope you get better soon (i saw your post about having an infection, ooft). all my love as always 💞💗

[uglypastels]

7k Celebration Fic Event (announcement + teasers)

So, that just happened. I really cannot thank you all enough!! this has been such an incredible journey and it still shakes me to my core to think so many people would want to keep up with my chaos haha.

I really suck at these kinds of things, and I never know what it would be that people want from my blog, but then again- there is one thing I know yall like and that is fics! so, I decided to take some inspiration from my recent trip to Disneyland, and combine it with some stories I have wanted to write- the result is this kind of silly little event of non-cohesive stories that really have nothing in common besides what I'm trying to make you believe is an overlapping theme :p

MAIN STREET - Modern AU

Premise - you keep on encountering the same stranger while waiting in line for the Disneyland rides. It's almost too much of a coincidence, in fact. You find each other in the crowds time after time and eventually, as the day progresses, sneaky glances evolve into more.

His eyes lingered over you as the corners of his mouth pulled into a simple smile. When your eyes met, he dared to wink playfully, but through his flirtatious playfulness, he had completely forgotten about the line he was standing in. The people before him started to move, creating a gap in the queue. He had to be pulled by the collar by one of his friends. "C'mon, Munson, let's get a move on."

ADVENTURELAND - Pirate AU

Premise - as the daughter of the Governor, there is quite a heavy prize set on your safe return home, and the captain will not let anything come between him and his bounty.

'Do not worry; we shall release you straight back into your father's arms– for a reasonable price, that is,' he looked around at his men, who all once again erupted in a jolly sea of laughter, matching his much softer depiction of humour. 'But for now….' He dramatically removed his hat as his unbrushed locks grazed the floor. When he rose back up, his grin had spread to the widest corners of his mouth, and his dark eyes were filled with menacing mischief, freezing your core at the thought of what he could possibly be holding back in his mind. 'Welcome aboard the Hellfire.' 

FANTASYLAND - Regency AU

Premise - Men are quite literally lining up to get the chance to speak to you, and yet, the one who has charmed you the most and has, in fact, effortlessly stolen your heart, is the stable boy with a past full of secrets.

'Who are you?' you inquired. Never having seen him before, your own curiosity ascended. 

'Eddie Munson,' he said, somewhat shyly in your presence.

'Well, Mr Munson–' 

'Please, call me Eddie,' he interrupted.

'I most definitely shall not,' you scoffed. To call a man you barely knew by his first name— but he did not seem to take the same offence or seriousness in his suggestion. 

FRONTIERLAND - Cowboy AU

Premise - being new in town, you had to fend for yourself, and learn everything about everyone one way or another. That is how you found out about the notorious Eddie Munson. "Stay away from him if you want to live," they said, but what if he's the one who saves your life?

His horse slowly came to a halt beside yours.

'Everything alright, miss?' you could see the concern in his brows dissipate as he looked you over for any signs of harm you could have gotten yourself into.

'Perfectly fine, thank you,' you tried to push down your wind-blown hair, composing yourself in front of the handsome stranger. You had expected him to appreciate your gratitude and leave, go wherever he had been on his way to, but the man remained steadily by your side. 'You may go now.'

'Why don't I take you home? It's dangerous to be alone out here, especially for a beautiful lady such as yourself.'

These will all be Eddie Munson x Reader au fics. some may contain smut and/or angst, but the order, release date, length and specific warnings are not yet established, as I have not yet finished writing any of these haha, but I'm too excited to keep these all couped up to myself. Let me know what you're excited about!! I'll be announcing the release of each fic way ahead once i get going into the writing of it all, so we can all get in the mood :) feel free to send an ask with any questions comments concerns opinions etc <3

Cant't wait for you all to read these, and once, again, from the bottom of my heart- thank you for all the support!!!

taglist below (join Stranger Things Character taglists)

@spiderrrling @theglitterymess @dorianelizabeth @theletterhart @niyahwhoreworld @chatnoirfangirl1624 @fopdoodle1624 @pastel-abyss-x @ghoulsgraveyard @prettytoxix @lovesickollie @xbreezymeadowsmunsonx @ssanjuniperoo @nxrdamp @meaganjm @yourmommilf @mischiefmanagers @roseyykris @capybergara @brother-lauren @h0sh1verse @ghostlyreads @croweater @ladyapplejackdnd @bilesxbilinskixlahey @kbakery @sleeping-willlow @lizzylynch1 @liltimmyst @hellfire-state-of-mind @escape-in-time-x @miscelaa @sweetpeapod @the-a-word-2214 @eddiemunsonbby @wh0re4munson @eddiesdingus @zoeyquinn94 @munsonmunchies @overthewhiteclouds @wroteclassicaly @groupies-do-it-better @stitchity @celestialsxturn @hoe4eddiemunson @inanausomewhere

[idiacide]

Sooooo

Let's see

I am pretty quiet in general - I'm a Scorpio and tend to line up with a lot of those traits lmao I'm perfectly happy being alone, I'm pretty secretive, I watch more than I talk alot - but when I get to know someone, I can be a blabbermouth, hahaha! I get really bubbly, I try to make people laugh. I Too have the ADHD so I get hyperfixations and usually revolve my entire interest around them for however long they last. I can and will talk your ear off about my hyperfixation if I feel like you care haha. I really love writing! I also really love Vidya games but I'm not good at them hahaha. Doesn't stop me from Playing them 👀 I'm really quite daydreamy and get lost in my own head quite a bit!

I love really spicy food! Was that like, important? No, but I gotta brag. Actually I really love food in general - it's not uncommon for me to have a foody themed background on my phone. And I have a food side blog.

On the negative spectrum, I do definitely get distracted, and I need things repeated to me. Alot. I'm kind of a mess, in all aspects of the word! I get more sensitive than I'd like to admit to criticism, though I'm trying to work on that. I can be really petty and I play dumb more than I really should haha. I'm also really impulsive! I'm used to getting what I want in general u.u;

I'm told by others I'm just a really sweet person in general and I give really good hugs, so that's something!

You know how people send Anon hate messages? Since my teen years I just randomly do the fuckin opposite, I just

Anon love messages

"hope you have a great day, you' deserve it"

Lmao it's fun

Laaaast matchup!

I match you with Trey Clover!

-Silence until you have something to say is a style that works for him. Trey tends to adapt to the conversational needs of the room. But, so far as his preferences go: he likes the fact that when you speak it’s because of something you’re actually interested in. You’re not just trying to fill silence, and you don’t necessarily need him to keep the ball in the air. Ramble away. He finds it cute, and when you run out of words, that’s ok too.

-He’s a good grounding influence if you’re the type to space out a lot. He tends to be very plugged into the world around him as a matter of course, and can keep an eye out for anything important that you might miss while you’re in outer space. He’ll tease you about it from time to time, but for the most part he finds it endearing and is happy to let you take your own time.

-Trey’s wheelhouse tends to be sweets, but he’s also very capable of introducing spicy dishes when needed. His signature spell also comes in handy, meaning you can have it as hot as you want without burning everyone else’s tongues off in the process. Food is a bonding ritual for the two of you. One of his favorite more laidback date nights is going through your side blogs to find something new to challenge himself with, and then cooking it together. It keeps things fresh and gives him something to do with his hands while you talk.

-A born older brother, Trey is generally very patient and not overly uptight. Sometimes its unavoidable that he has a problem with something that’s happening, but he’s tuned enough into your mood to know how to say it without hurting your feelings too badly. He never minds having to repeat himself, as long as he knows that you do care enough about his feelings to listen when its really important.

-As a side effect of that, he has a tendency to turn his partners into spoiled brats. Trey actually likes that you’re assertive about what you want, and impulsive too. It's not how he’s wired, he has a tendency to just default to polite and accommodating. Still, he admires people who are ready to go for what they want (as long as they’re not being assholes about it). You find him pretty easy to bend to your will when you want, and he enjoys being able to keep you happy and satiated.

-Your kindness is a big part of the reason why he’s able to trust you with that, though. At the end of the day, even if it can sometimes appear to the outside view that he’s mothering you. He knows you care about other people, and about him, enough to be there for them when they really need it. That trust means that he’s more than happy to carry his weight.

And now. Finally. The Meetcute.

You really needed to ask Crowley about a map. 

With how weird and dramatic the architecture was you wouldn’t think it’d be this hard to get around. But a few weeks into the semester you were still struggling to get a strong mental geography of the place. As a result, the trip from the store between the cafeteria had managed to take twice as long as it should before you finally got your bearings. By then the sun had sunk low in the sky, and most of the other students were filtering home to their respective doors. You were just hoping against hope that they hadn’t locked the doors...

Luck was on your side, though. The knob turned readily, allowing you to slip in to the hallway. Dinnertime had long since passed. Half the lights were turned on, and some of the janitorial ghost staff were out getting a head start on the evenings tasks. Graveyard shift, you thought but restrained yourself from saying out loud.

For a moment you stayed frozen by the door, waiting for someone to notice you and tell you to clear out. When that didn’t happen, you walked as briskly as you could while keeping the noise down, making a beeline for the employee entrance to the kitchen.

Technically you seriously doubted you were doing anything that would put you in trouble. You just didn’t technically know if this was allowed, and you were too bent on your purpose to really want to be stopped this close to the finish line. You spared the room one final glance and peered through the glass porthole to see if the kitchen was occupied. Not a single ghost. Must be working on dishes. You pushed the door open quickly-

And felt it smack into something solid quite forcefully. There was a “WHOA-” and a crashing sound next you that made you jump, ducking out of the threshold and into the hallway like the door had shocked you.

It took you a second to get your bearings. Someone must’ve been approaching the door at an angle you couldn’t see through the porthole, and you’d smacked right into them. Tentatively, you pushed the door open a little more, peering around the corner to see the damages.

The guy sprawled out on the ground was wearing a school uniform, though it was hard to make it out under the foodstuffs that had spilled all over him. You were hit by an eyewatering smell of cinnamon, though you could see a bag of sugar spilling everywhere too. He was seemingly still in the process of coming too, feeling his glasses for cracks as he slowly sat up.

“I am so sorry!” You said, quickly kneeling down to try and pull some of the stuff off of him and set in on the counter nearby. “I came in too fast, I didn’t see you at all-”

“Its alright.” He said, voice slightly strained sounding. Might’ve knocked the wind out of him with that fall, which wasn’t doing much to assuage your guilt. His glasses at least seemed undamaged, and he set them back in place as he gave an awkward smile. “Was carrying too much to see the door coming before it was too late.”

“...I can see that.” You say, looking around. Flour, sugar, cinnamon, yeast, a few bowls and whisks. Was this guy trying to carry off the entire baking section? “What’s all this...?”

“There’s a party coming up in my dorm and we’re a little wiped out for materials at the moment. It was too late to go to Sam’s store, and we’re allowed to take what we need from the kitchen if we reimburse the school.” He looked down at himself, grimacing as he tried and failed to brush the mess off of his red vest. 

So he was in the same dorm as Ace and Deuce....unbidden a memory sprung to your mind of this exact guy, hair unfloured, sitting across from you. What was his name....”You’re....Trey, right?”

He seemed slightly surprised that you remembered him, eyes widening a little even as he nodded. “That’s right. You’re Ramshackle’s prefect, right?”

“Sounds a little stuffy when you say it like that.” You get to your feet, offering him a hand up. He takes it readily, though he gets to his feet easily enough. You take another look around at the damage, grimacing. “I don’t know how much of this can be saved.”

“They have a lot of supplies.” He stooped down to pick up a burst blag of flour. The powder spilled out of the tear in the bag, making a pile of white dust despite his best efforts to staunch the flow, and he sighs. “They’ll want us to clean this up.”

“I’ll....help.” You said, cringing as you looked around for a broom.

“Appreciate it.”

For a little while you work in relative silence, mostly focused on gathering up what can be saved and throwing out what can’t. You take a broom to sweep up the remainder while Trey tracks down replacements. At least the glassware seems alright, you don’t want to imagine what the staff would have to say if you’d broken that.

“So what were you doing here this late?” He said, startling you out of your thoughts. 

“Oh...well, Crowley keeps the dorm supplied with a basic grocery list, but...its not very fleshed out.” You position the dustpan carefully next to your pile. “I came in here looking for some spices, mostly.” He leans over, tapping a cabinet to the right of the sink. “That’s mostly gonna be in here. What do you need?”

“Um....” You struggle to remember your list as you get what you can into the dustpan. Your sleeves and pants are gonna be covered in a thick layer of white dust at this rate. “Cayenne, chili powder, some garam masala if they have it, paprika...”

He lets out a low whistle, and you turn to see him giving you a wry smile as he pulls your requests from the shelves. “Some like it hot, huh?”

“Very hot.” You say, with a grin of your own. You turn to dump the pan into the trash, brushing your clothes off as best you can. “I’ve also got some new recipes I want to try out, and Sam’s inventory is actually pretty limited in that department.”

“If you want some advice, pass a list of things you need pretty regularly onto him. He’ll charge you through the nose for the special order but he’ll get it to you. Or, if you’re on a budget, have someone take you shopping off campus, there’s some decent stores in the area.” He finds a small pile of paper bags in one of the drawers and puts the spice jars inside, handing it off to you.

“Thanks, that’s actually good to know.” You reached out to take it, your fingers brushing against his in the tradeoff. His hand lingered for a second in midair, and he cleared his throat as he looks away.

“Uh...Ramshackle’s kitchen can’t be very well kept though, can it.”

“Its...a work in progress.” You admitted, rolling up the top of the bag to keep it tightly closed. “I’ve been making do with an old camp stove...oh!” Your eyes lit up as you looked at him. “Heartslabyul has a good kitchen, doesn’t it? Do you think I could come by some time to use it? After hours, I promise I’ll clean everything up and use strictly my own ingredients. If there’s anything else you want me to do-”

He seemed a little stunned by the overflow of words, but you noticed a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He holds up his hands to slow you down. “Iiiii’m not really the guy you should be asking about that, technically that’s a housewarden decision. But, uh, I can ask Riddle, I suppose? He might take the suggestion a little better coming from me.”

“I’d super appreciate it.” You said, beaming as you tuck the bag into your jacket. You take a final look around the room. “Do you have everything?”

“I think so..”He fishes in his pocket, pulling out a small roll of bills which he tucks under a nearby jar. “Just have to get them home.”

“Let me help with that, then.” You gathered up as much as you could carry before he could protest. He seemed a little awkward about accepting the help, but in the end let you follow him back to the dorm. He didn’t seem entirely displeased at the arrangement. Mostly he just listened to you ramble as he walked. Every now and then you’d turn, only to catch him staring right at you. He always went a little pink when he got caught.

A new friend. A new kitchen. And a bag full of spices. Possibilities were opening up right before your very eyes.

[fanfic-reading-challenge]

Hello! Idk if I'm being dumb but I need to see if I understood the challenge correctly (this is my first time!! :D)

So basically If I want to try to finish ALL the challenges I have to begin with regular mode, then hard and in the end extreme, right? And in case I wanna just complete the extreme mode I can jump right in with that?

I know these are stupid questions, but I need to be sure lol thanks ❤️

This is a ‘no question is stupid!’ zone, so your question is perfectly acceptable. ☺️

I’ll keep it simple.

You can’t ‘win’ the Extreme badge by doing only the Extreme tasks, same as with Hard Mode. You must do (all) three things for the Extreme badge:

Complete 80% of Regular Mode

Complete 90% of Hard Mode

Complete 95% of Extreme Mode

Now, if there’s a task you really don’t wish to do, take a look at the ‘Swappables’ tab and if you find something you like better, you can swap the tasks, no matter if it’s a regular, hard, or extreme mode task. :) So if there’s an easy-ish task, you can plonk it in the extreme mode tab if you really want haha.

For Hard Mode completion, you need to accomplish both of the following things (and you’ll notice a theme here…)

Complete 80% of Regular Mode

Complete 90% of Hard Mode

For Regular Mode… you guessed it:

Complete 80% of Regular Mode

For the Participant badge, you can complete anywhere from 1 task to 79% of the Regular Mode tasks.

Read at least one fic!

Hehehehe

I hope that this helps clear some things up for you, but please don’t hesitate to contact me again with any other questions or requests for help! Always happy to. 😘

P.S. The Info Pages on the blog are out of date still as I’m recovering from omicron — be safe people; thank goodness I was double vaxxed and also had my booster, otherwise my lung problems, scar tissue from whooping cough, yaaaaay, could have led me to my grave, ick — but as soon as I get some decent sleep I’ll be sure to go through it all and make sure everything matches up.

So for now, the best place to find an answer is the FAQ page on the first tab of the spreadsheet. Or just come to me and ask, and hopefully I’m awake and not coughing up a lung lol. ;)

Stay safe, stay sane, and take care of those around you! And yes, I have constantly worn my mask outdoors and indoors when out, was double vaxxed and with a booster — that just shows you how transmissible omicron is, but thankfully it’s not so terrible (unlike my previous and numerous bronchitis episodes) when you’re vaxxed. :) This isn’t meant as a preachy thing… all my friends know I overshare and just like to let people know how I’m doing. 😋 So, welcome to their world! I’ll still try to rein it in, though.

[modestmuses-a]

@thejester-hacker​ said: “1, 36, and 38!”

try honesty | accepting

What would prevent you from following someone?

//honestly, if you don’t have at least one rp reply on the first page of your blog, i am extremely unlikely to follow you.  i want to see if our styles are compatible, and i should not have to go 5+ pages back in your writing blog to find any examples of your writing.  i follow this rule myself and try to set up my queue in such a way where it won’t push my writing back too far in my blog so that people will always have at least one IC post on the first page of my blog.  for example, if i’m going on vacation, i set my queue to only post one post a day so i can leave it for a couple of days and still have the most recent IC post on page 1.

and speaking of incompatible styles, i’m very unlikely to follow if i see that you mostly do short < 100 word threads.  liking short threads is perfectly fine, of course!  i am not shaming anyone for writing short stuff bc i know people are busy and some people want to just chill and do rapid-fire short responses for their partners and not sit here and craft whole epics.  and that’s totally okay.  however, it means that you are not going to be the right partner FOR ME.  i tend to word vomit in my replies, and i get really bored of threads that are less than two paragraphs.  i like para and multipara, and i’m not interested in exchanging 1-3 sentences back and forth.  you can have your fun over there, and i will have my fun over here. lately, i’ve actually had problems with people who write nothing but short stuff trying to interact with me, and i’m like.  dude.  it’s not going to happen.  stop trying to make it happen.  your writing style is your own and it’s cool and everything, but it bores me to tears FKJDSKJDFK

also, while aesthetics don’t matter to me, having a legible/accessible theme DOES.  if your desktop theme has transparent posts on a patterned background, or low-contrast tiny text, or it turns your italics into cursive, or does some otherwise unreadable bullshit... not gonna follow you.  the other day, i passed up someone’s blog just bc i highlight everything i read on the computer and i didn’t like the way their theme highlighted stuff.  like highlighting on their desktop theme felt clunky for some reason?  and that may have been my imagination but anyway.  i was like no ❤

What’s one thing that other people seem to hate that doesn’t bother you?

//i’ve talked at length about reblog karma before, but i’m gonna do it again because fuck it.  but i really, really just do not understand the sentiment behind reblog karma.  back when i started in the rpc, if someone reblogged a meme from you, you just... were nice and sent them one instead and you didn’t sit there and bitch about it like a tiny baby.  i have very little sympathy for people who are going to sit here and complain that people just use them as a meme source and they have no interactions while NOT TRYING TO INTERACT WITH PEOPLE.  you know you could FIX your interaction problem if you just SENT PEOPLE THE MEMES THEY REBLOG FROM YOU.

everybody talks about how ~great~ reblog karma is, but it has not solved the interaction problem at all.  the only thing that it has done is make people go even further out of their way to avoid interacting with each other.

basically, you get out what you put in, and if you’re not gonna toughen up and reach out to people first, then you DON’T get to sit here and whine about no one sending YOU any memes.

i actually STILL follow my rule where i will send people memes if they reblog them from me, or at least i try my best if i’m not too busy with something else.  but instead of inviting me to come interact with them, people avoid me and reblog from the source instead.  i won’t know you want me in your inbox if you don’t ping my activity feed, especially since i work anywhere from 8-13 hours a day depending, and i cannot be looking at the dash all the time to see who reblogs what memes and when.

What advice would you give to someone new to rp?

//don’t give up and write what makes YOU happy!  i did not start this blog so that i could follow trends and write what other people wanted me to write.  i don’t have very popular muses, i don’t play the characters that people like, except for my league of legends muses.  and even then, i don’t even write my league of legends muses in the way that people want me to, haha!  the amount of times i’ve been ghosted for not shipping akali...!  i have never once picked up a muse just to match with one of my friends, i have always stuck with the muses that resonate with me.

and it can take a little bit to get a blog off the ground!  i have been running this blog for two years now, and i have worked hard to build up my following!  i once went to follow a new blog, and they were already posting about quitting when they had only been on tumblr for, like, a week.

and also... reach out to people!  and if those interactions fall through, who cares!  reach out to more people and start new ones!  i have had a lot of partners come and go over these two years, and a majority of the people i’m writing with now are not the people i was writing with in 2019.  and a majority of the people i’ll be writing with in 2024 probably won’t be the people i’m writing with today.

keep writing whatever you want and keep reaching out and forcing your niche muses down other people’s throats.  you will find people who are willing to write with you and stick with you, no matter what.  and be patient, as that might take a bit!  tumblr really isn’t as dreadful as a lot of people make it out to be.  most people just aren’t patient or tenacious enough to make it work for them.

[fiirelords]

hi ana! we haven't been mutuals for long but i already love your blog! totally know how you feel about coming and going lol, i think that's perfectly fine i mean we all go through phases on here haha. hope you're well anyways! could i please have a detailed blograte? x

hey steph! thank u sm💖 I hope you’re well too and I’m really glad we’re mutuals :)

want one?

B A S I C

url - dgi sorry | not from my fandoms | could be better | pretty cool | really like it | absolutely incredible!

domain - don’t have one | dgi sorry | not from my fandoms | could be better | pretty cool | really like it | absolutely incredible!

icon - basic yikes | don’t recognize it | poor quality | pretty cute! | omg awesome | tempted to steal it

  T H E M E

desktop theme - basic yikes | not my style | kinda pretty | gorgeous | i wanna steal

colour scheme - not my taste | pretty | gorgeous | my fav colours!

updates tab - don’t have one | i think something’s not right | bit basic | lovely | absolutely perfect

nav page - don’t have one | i think something’s not right | incomplete | bit basic | lovely | absolutely perfect

about page - don’t have one | i think something’s not right | incomplete | bit basic | lovely | absolutely perfect

mobile header - nonexistent | i don’t get it | not my fandom | bit blurry | alright | lovely | absolutely gorgeous

mobile colours - kills my eyes | don’t match | looks nice | urgh aes af

  P O S T S

activity - you post too much | you post too little | you post the perfect amount

reblogs - urm nonexistant ?? | kinda random | not my fandom | pretty good | wonderful | incredible!

aesthetic - inconsistent | eye pleasing | absolutely perfect

original edits - you don’t have any | not my fandom | great start | not bad | lovely | so original | gorgeous | omg i’m jelly af of your skills

personal - nonexistant | not enough | too many | you seem sweet | omg you make me laugh so much

activities [e.g. botm / awards / rates/ reqs etc] - nonexistant | not enough | good | wonderful | such original ideas

  O V E R A L L

overall - meh | pretty nice | lovely | incredible

following - no sorry | not my fandoms | now | how was i not before?! | yes ofc | you’re one of my fav blogs

[aili]

Valentine’s Day Music Newlsetter 2019!

Welcome to the 13th Music Newsletter! Short intro for the newbies - I love music. I love sharing music with other people. In college I started a "music newsletter" email with some playlists (aka mixtapes) I've made and some song/band recommendations. Why Valentine's Day? Because I think this day should be about love in many ways - including love for music!

That brings us to today. The first Valentine's Day mixtape I put together was actually a physical mix CD that I mailed to my home friends while I was away at college. That was in 2008 (11 years ago!). A lot has changed since then, but my love of music has not. While I feel sometimes too busy or too old or too out of touch to know what I'm even talking about, I hope you'll get some enjoyment out of this - as much as I've been enjoying listening to these songs and picking them for you! 

*Click here to download Valentine's Day 2019 mixtape!

Click here to play Valentine's Day 2019 on Spotify!

*Note that the file downloads as a zip file, double clicking on it to open it up should give you the individual songs. Then move the songs to iTunes into a playlist!

1.) "Happy Unhappy" - The Beths New Zealand indie rockers The Beths debut album, Future Me Hates Me, is full of catchy, energetic sad-twinged songs. This song feels like it could have come out back in the 00s when we had to find new music by reading blogs and actually downloading MP3s - it feels closer to the Garden State soundtrack era of indie than the recent moody electronic vibe. It's a lot of fun! Sounds like Courtney Barnett by way of The Wombats, with a splash of Los Campesinos.

2.) “City Looks Pretty” - Courtney Barnett Courtney’s 2018 album “Tell Me How You Really Feel” is only her second studio album, but somehow it feels like she’s been around forever. The album features a “fuller” sound and more production, which may appear dulled next to 2015’s “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.” However, I feel excited by Courtney exploring a more mature sound and think it accurately reflects the albums depressive theme. “Sometimes I get mad / it’s not all that bad” is sung with a definite apathy compared to her shout-singing past record. As the bridge settles in, Courtney captures the depression symptom of lack of interest in things you used to enjoy. The city looks pretty when you’ve been stuck inside isolated for two weeks. 3.) “Screwed” - Janelle Monáe feat. Zoë Kravitz Janelle’s 2018 album “Dirty Computer” is an anthology of songs (and truly, poetry) that tell of reckoning with being a queer woman of color in an oppressive, violent society. It’s an incredibly personal album with her fans in mind - “I want young girls, young boys, nonbinary, gay, straight, queer people who are having a hard time dealing with their sexuality, dealing with feeling ostracized or bullied for just being their unique selves, to know that I see you. This album is for you. Be proud.” (Rolling Stone, 2018). My favorite part of this song is “See, everything is sex / except sex / which is power / you know power is just sex / now ask yourself who’s screwing you.”

4.) "BAGDAD - Cap.7: Liturgia" - Rosalía 25-year-old Rosalía Vila Tobella from Catalonia has an excellent 2018 album El Mal Querer. The album combines traditional flamenco with modern R&B. The album is a story of love and heartbreak over the course of 11 chapters/songs. This particular one might sound familiar due to the sampling of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River."

5.) "Gun" - St. Lucia St. Lucia's first release off of their 2018 album Hyperion caught my attention with its connection to a more traditional rock sound and the heavy-hitting, one-word title. The production and sound almost reminds me of Oasis or U2. Turns out that the album is indeed produced by someone who worked on records with PJ Harvey, Depeche Mode, and U2. In interviews, Jean-Philip Grobler talks about how this song is generally about both gun control and power. "You said you wanted to feel a gun in your hands" in Verse 1 transforms to "You said you wanted to feel the blood in your hands" in Verse 2, highlighting the fact that guns are designed to kill. 

6.) “Apathy” - Frankie Cosmos With a catchy bass line, gorgeous lyrics, and endearing vocals, this song and entire album are not to be missed. As you may notice on this year’s playlist, this year I was super into what I would describe as punk-influenced, low-fi indie female vocalists. Pretentious enough for you? Haha. I just mean that there are a ton of young women blowing up in the indie music scene with a huge crossover in sound. As demonstrated in “Apathy,” many of these songs are short, lack a traditional pop music format, use low-fi production, and have a storytelling aspect of almost speak-singing. These elements are all found in traditional punk music, so it’s interesting and exciting to see these artists shaking things up and challenging the punk genre. Frankie Cosmos has a long history of creating music, under various projects using Bandcamp as a teenager. Her 2018 album “Vessel” is nothing short of delightful and another one of my favorites of the year. 7.) “Your Dog” - Soccer Mommy Soccer Mommy is Sophie Allison, singer-songwriter based out of Nashville. She opened for Paramore on their recent tour and she has launched into the indie music scene with a lot of attention in the past couple years. I love how her voice clearly carries so much anger as she sings about an emotionally abusive relationship. Her lyrics describe the agony of small, sweet gestures pushing her back to her ex, despite her wanting desperately to end it. Using the metaphor of being a loyal, sub-servient dog, she describes the way her SO treats her like she’s his property. Because the song lacks a traditional “pop” format (verse 1 / chorus / verse 2 / chorus / bridge / chorus), there is a sense of the story ending unresolved. Fortunately, she has an excellent album (one of my favorites) from 2018 called “Clean” where you can learn more of her story. 8.) “Pristine” by Snail Mail A stunning debut from 19-year-old Lindsey Jordan, “Lush” is a 2018 release not to miss. “Pristine” perfectly encapsulates teenage life and love - “it just feels like the same party every weekend. Doesn’t it?” There is such a sense of genuine hormonal angst that she is almost joyfully celebrating. Her album reads more like a diary - and how lucky she is to have these future memories and be able to approach them with such wisdom.

9.) "Uncomfortably Numb" - American Football feat. Hayley Williams Paying homage to Pink Floyd, legendary emo band American Football joins with Paramore's lead singer Hayley Williams for a devastating track about losing emotional sensation. "I blame my father in my youth / Now as a father, I blame the booze." I couldn't find too much information on the exact inspiration behind the track, but it's the second track released off their upcoming album out March 22nd. Hayley is usually front and center as a singer, and it's interested to hear her take more of a backing role, as well as explore a bit of a lower vocal range than she usually does.

10.) “Geyser” - Mitski Mitski absolutely killed it last year with “Be The Cowboy,” which was consistently rated not only in the top 5 best albums, not only top 3, but making MULTIPLE end of year lists as the number one album of 2018. It’s easy to see why, given the incredible breadth of music she wrote for her album. I see Mitski's influence reflected in the rise of fame in other punk-inspired female vocalists in the indie scene, building off her ability to capture the attention of a wide audience. Which is also very interesting because she incorporated elements of many other genres on this album (spot any disco on “Nobody”?) While it was difficult to pick one song for my playlist, “Geyser” stands out to me as not only an excellent album opener, but a fascinating look into Mitski’s own relationship with the art she creates. In an interview, she explains that this song is about her feeling like she has to create music because she would never be satisfied in life without it, but feeling sometimes stifled, stuck, and resentful when she puts music above basic needs such as her health and self-care. She needs her art to survive but it simultaneously kills her.

11.) “Me & My Dog” - boygenius It’s impossible to pick just one song of this album. Boygenius is the supergroup of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, and Julien Baker - who each could also have one of their incredible solo songs on my playlist. Partially because they enjoyed each other’s creative energies and partially as a response to constantly being compared to each other as “women in indie,” the trio came together to create an EP of emo-influenced, folk-inspired gorgeous tracks about grief, loneliness, identity, and heartbreak. This particular song features Phoebe Bridgers in the verses and is a beautiful representation of the embarrassing and frustrating feeling of being in love with an ex. Please check out the individual work of these artists too!

12.) "bless ur heart" - serpentwithfeet Serpentwithfeet, aka Josiah Wise, has a gorgeous, intimate voice throughout his 2018 debut album, soil. This song starts off with a question of how his art will be received by the world. The rest of the song is a tender message of gratitude to his first love. It seems like Josiah questioned the choice to speak about his experiences with his ex in such a public fashion - with complexities of privacy, being open about sexuality, and possible painful memories on the table. Josiah's writing is very much like poetry, and his raw, unfiltered, un-autotuned vocals match the beauty of his words.

13.) "Bury A Friend" - Billie Eilish 17-year-old Billie Eilish is set to release her debut album, When We Sleep, Where Do We Go? next month. This song matches her goth aesthetic with a creepy story from the perspective of the monster under the bed. We learn that the monster is part of Billie herself, who is struggling with her own demons. 14.) "Loading Zones" - Kurt Vile A gorgeous guitar track, Kurt Vile paints a picture of his hometown Philadelphia and feeling on top of the world exploring his city's streets. He included a hilarious marketing strategy of sending fake parking tickets to fans in the mail to promote the song. Kurt Vile talks about the metaphor of "I park for free," which is how he sometimes lives his life - breaking the dumb rules because it's his life, his streets, his town. 15.) "Dylan Thomas" - Better Oblivion Community Center Is it possible to already be nostalgic for the late 2000's? Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers released this surprise collaboration last month and this is the standout track for me. Conor Oberst's incredibly recognizable voice is hard to match in terms of strength, timbre, and uniqueness. While Bridgers is young enough to be from a different generation than him (she also grew up listening to Oberst's music), he saw something in her that resonated with him. I love how they sing in unison on this track (and much of the album) and think their voices sound really good together.

16.) "Butterflies" - Kacey Musgraves Kacey Musgraves is bringing a breath of fresh air to country. After self-releasing three albums, she tried her hand at reality TV through Nashville Star over a decade ago. Golden Hour is her fourth album using a record label, and she just won Album of the Year at the Grammys! Her voice is beautiful and has an earnest, authentic approach in joining elements of country pop. 

17.) “Prior Things” - Hop Along “Bark Your Head Off, Dog” is Hop Along’s third album, released in 2018. Singer/songwriter Frances Quinlan has the ability to transform the themes of her songs. Layered with a multitude of different sounds and instruments, it could easily sound scattered and busy, but instead feels like we are huddled around a campfire with an enthusiastic, stream-of-consciousnesses storyteller. “Prior Thing” is the last song on the album and crosses time, space, and memories with the start of a hallucinogenic drug trip. She has the ability to take a phrase and transform the expected - pausing or elongating notes at unexpected places. This method keeps you invested in figuring out what the song is really about or what the conclusion is. 18.) "Kids" - Pup Emo/pop punkers Pup have a new album Morbid Stuff coming out on April 5th. Their songs are made for live shows - shouting/singing alternates, sing-a-long catchy lyrics reminiscent of the Hold Steady, and unison whole-band lines. Pup frontman Stefan Babcock said this song is about finding someone who agrees with your view of the world being a fucked up place, and enjoying small moments of solace in spending time with them. 

SPOTIFY

Don't forget to subscribe to my playlists on Spotify! Here is the link to listen to this year's mixtape on Spotify.

I try to add new songs at least once a week to this playlist: What I'm currently lovin' (updated freq)

-----

I hope you guys enjoy the new music and feel free to send me recommendations of anything you like!<3 aili

Previous Mixtapes:

Autumn Love mix | Autumn Love Spotify

Copenhagen mix | Copenhagen Spotify

Valentine's Day downbeat 2010

Valentine's Day upbeat 2010

Valentine's Day 2011

Philadelphia mix | Philadephia Spotify

New Crime mix | New Crime Spotify

The City mix | The City Spotify

Drive mix | Drive Spotify

Valentine's Day 2012 | VDay 2012 Spotify

King's Myth mix | King's Myth Spotify

Hold On mix | Hold On Spotify

Valentine's Day 2013 | Vday 2013 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2014 | Vday 2014 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2015 | Vday 2015 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2016 | Vday 2016 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2017| Vday 2017 Spotify

Valentine's Day 2018 | Vday 2018 Spotify

[resbang-bookclub]

AMA Transcript: Close Your Eyes

Next up, @redphlox​ & @mrsashketchum​ stopped by to chat about their Resbang, Close Your Eyes. Here’s some of what went down:

Q: What inspired the concept behind the fic?

redphlox: WELL, I've had the idea to write a left-at-the-altar fic for a while, but I never quite had it envisioned in my mind scene/plot wise. I only had the premise. Then this year I decided to research wedding planning and ask my married friends [about] their wedding planning experience, and after brainstorming/talking it out with @professor-maka​ I had a solid idea finally. I love writing about emotions, especially coming-of-age/working through difficult situations, but writing this was difficult because I've never been in that situation (being left at the altar) so it was a journey.

Q: Mak, what went into how you chose which scenes to art/gif?

Mak (mrsashketchum): I actually had to work closely with Julie on what scenes to art and for the animatic :D But for the first piece, I really loved the bathtub scene and I thought it was such a unique challenge for me to draw the backgrounds and to bring the scene to life visually :0 If it makes sense?

redphlox: Mak drew the bathtub scene first right after she read the first chapter, like she mentioned, and we worked on picking out the scene for the icon collage together! I had the characters closing their eyes during specific moments and wanted to highlight those, and Mak brought them to life!

Q: Jackie/Soul brotp is a thing that you've created in not only this fic but some of your past ones as well! What inspired that? :D

redphlox: I LOVE Jackie so much, I think it's because I see her as a snarky, quietly sarcastic type that I relate to, so writing her with grumpy ass Soul just makes sense to me. They both are so reticent in canon, it just fits to me to put them together and have them be BFFs :D

Q: Mak, what made you decide to do an animatic?? It was so cool I looooved it.

Mak (mrsashketchum): I enjoy making animatics so much and I've always wanted to be a storyboard artist. I've also been planning to make an animatic anyway for Resbang, but when I saw Julie's fic summary I knew that the animatic was absolutely something I wanted. And I thought a trailer-like thing would go very well with the story? (This is definitely not because of watching so many wedding themed movies before, nope, lol).

Q: For Julie: There were a lot of feelings spread out through the fic, some that nearly brought me to tears. Did you have the same reactions to writing it? What emotions exactly were you trying to bring out in the reader? (because you brought out a lot).

redphlox: Hmmm, well... I wanted to bring out a sense of loss in reference to relationships, and rebuilding, and growing together after the trust is lost or the other person seems to be changing in a way you aren't. I also wanted to touch on Soul and Maka's separate and individual relationships with other people outside of their relationship, if that makes sense? I also aimed to highlight all sorts of love, so it was important to me to talk about everyone's relationships with each other. Friendship, lala, haha. My reaction to writing it was... ahh, frustration, because certain scenes were beyond reasonably difficult to write.

Q: What brought about the Soul and Wes conflict? Because like I was telling you in DMs, that wounded me ahahaha it was way too real.

redphlox: The Soul and Wes conflict was something that came up as I writing. Originally Wes was supposed to be the all-knowing, all supportive and understanding brother, but the more I wrote the more Soul started to resent Wes's blind optimism, and it makes sense - Soul can be a negative person, and it seems like he needs to sulk to process, and Wes just wasn't having it. Their personalities are too different, and showing that was important because it's okay to love someone and not know how to comfort them.

Q: That felt so real julie I loved it. As the owner of many siblings it read as absolutely true. Did your life influence that?

redphlox: Wes and Soul's relationship issues are inspired by some self-reflecting I've been doing, and taking the Love Languages test and comparing it to my loved one's results.

Q: For Mak: What inspired your color palette for the bathroom scene? It was very warm and it brought out as much emotion through visuals as the words themselves did. Was that intentional?

Mak (mrsashketchum): Yes it was definitely intentional! Like I said in my previous answer, I worked so closely with Julie (we fangirled so much over everything honestly), she helped me with colors and their poses and if there were tiny details I missed. She sent me a lot of references too which is very helpful for me since I tend to make use visual references more. It's always helpful to work closely with the author so that the feeling of the artwork doesn't wholly overwhelm the feeling of the writing style? Like I wanted it to match as well :") I'm glad it turned out amazingly.

Q: I was wondering Julie how you came up with the concept of the radio confession. I loved that Jackie's show was commandeered.

redphlox: Well, I was thinking, what's the opposite of having Soul be constipated with his feelings?? Blurting them out in public of course, haha, so that's how I came up with that scene. It's the first scene I had actually, and I plotted the fic for that ending. I also have Jackie as a public figure in many of AU's, she was a blogger in my model au, so the role seems a running gag in my writing.

Mak (mrsashketchum): Constipated was the best way to describe him with his feelings.

Q: So weird question for Julie: There's a movie I remember watching years and years ago, that I was reminded of when reading the radio confession scene, unfortunately for the life of me I can't remember the name of it. Did you draw that scene up from what would have fit into the story, or were you influenced by an outside source, like perhaps that mystery movie?

redphlox: I like to listen to the morning radio and always wonder how people are brave enough to go live on air and talk about their relationships or embarrassing moments etc, so that kind of inspired the radio scene too!

Q: I really enjoyed TsuWes btw, and it's not a ship I've really seen. What made you decide on it?

redphlox: AHHH well, they're both Tall, and I love both of them so.... I made them love each other. Also the ship name WesTsu Bestu got me.

Mak (mrsashketchum): I always thought that Tsu and Wes love to tease Soul and Maka together, so the ship happened like that haha.

Q: Btw Tsubaki owning a flower shop is greaaat was that always the plan?

redphlox: Tsu owning a flower shop was also one of those things that just came about because I needed someone to deliver those "I still love you" flowers, but it fit so perfectly because of how Soul fit into learning flower arranging from her and thus getting him to stay in Death City. It was one of those things that fell into place.

Mak (mrsashketchum): Those stuff in AUs that fall into place are the best accidents, if u can call it that.

Q: Question for Mak; the animatic, that collage, the illustration; how did you manage to capture the fic in its entirety, while still giving each piece made its own personality so to speak? For example; the bathroom scene with your color choices made it warm, melancholy, touching, the watercolor for the collage was deep and soothing at the same time, intense, and the animatic, the monotones give it a blank canvas for each viewer to create their own emotional interpretation. How are you absolutely amazing I guess is my overall question??

redphlox: This is the most important question of this AMA tbh. I love the lighting in that piece akfdsgnfkdfdss. I felt it in my heart.

Mak (mrsashketchum): Oh my god. Thank u for the question!!!! I... actually honestly have no idea haha. I guess it's just that when you love a concept so much and completely have a wonderful connection with your partner that it just flows? I wanted to really make the artworks fit into the theme and the feel of the writing. I made sure that while Julie checked if my artwork had the feel she was going for, I also wanted to make sure that what I was feeling was gonna reflect on it as well. This is for the bathtub scene btw haha. The collage was actually supposed to be monochrome as well but I wanted to give it some color too? Like the fic in its entirety is just blasting with emotions? And yet it's generally so soft to me. The animatic was really supposed to have that gray background because I've seen a lot of animatics drawn that way haha. But I did make it work to my advantage that it wasn't too overwhelmingly dark but it's so that you could see the tears as well? It would be hard if the background was white and the tears were white too, right? :0

Q: By the way I loved the weddings in the fic. Like I wanted to attend them they sounded gorgeous. How did you decide on those elements?

redphlox: I have an aesthetic/personal blog where I reblog a lot of pictures of flowers and I came across one that was a ball room covered in flowers and I thought - yep, Wes and Tsu would be married here. As for Soul and Maka's wedding, I LOVE being out at night, and I love soft lighting and would like a night wedding if I ever get married, so yeah. Aesthetic, haha.

Q: How did you manage to capture a canon-like Soul in an AU?

redphlox: Ahhh I just... plot out the fic centered with feelings first and go from there.

Q: I wanna know more about this fantastic partnership. it sounds like you guys were a great team and worked so well together - any tips on communication for anyone out there who may have felt shy? Also, give us the beta comments >:)

redphlox: Okay I LOVED working with Mak! Even though we're like, what, twelve hrs time difference??? we still managed to be online at the same time and work on our projects together. She'd draw line art and show me and I'd write a scene and show her and we'd keysmash at each other. It was soooo rewarding and fun!

Mak (mrsashketchum): I would like to say that Julie and I are the Angst Twins actually. I love working with Julie too???? Like everything just really worked out.

redphlox: It wasn't even planned tbh, I would see her online and go like :eyes: and she'd be like "im working on the collage!" or vice versa. It really felt like it was OUR resbang and not just MINE y’know? Tip wise, I'd say find a platform you really enjoy being on/are available on the most and communicate through there, that really worked for Mak and I.

redphlox: Since this was a srs fic most beta comments were of surprise and like, offended bc I did something Bad.

Jaded [@jaded-envy​] made a lot of silly comments! She is amazing. Like when Maka is at the bookstore and looking up self help books for looooove, jaded titled them after some fics i've written.

Q: Question for both Mak and Julie; your partnership sounded like it flowed like a dream. Did you guys ever feel like you were overpowering one another? I know alot of partnerships struggle with the "am I bugging them too much" or "what if i'm doing it wrong" mindsets, so how did you guys get past that, for anyone who suffered from those feelings.

Mak (mrsashketchum): Oh that's actually an interesting question!  I never thought of me overpowering Julie or her overpowering over me? It's more like I want to be able to do as much work as she does? Since we're partners we must work hand-in-hand and not with one of us being the overpowering one? So to speak.

redphlox: SAME what Mak said, I always offered her to give suggestions for the fic and she always asked me for advice on colors and we listened to each other. Basically we were considerate of each other, it was/is amazing :' D

Mak (mrsashketchum): aaaaaaa true ;w; Since it is technically a partnership, we treated it as if it were like something we needed to work on together, and doing stuff at the same time really helped put it into perspective in a way?

Q: Where did the inspo from the bathtub scene came from? Did you draw from a specific experience/influence for that?

redphlox: Hmm... well, no specific experience influenced that, it just like, happened? I thought like, "ok where would Maka be if she were crying?" and it made sense to put her in the bathtub after she spilled the ink on herself, and she prob had no energy to leave, so there she stayed until Soul found her.

Q: Also Julie, I know you suffered from writers block I kicked your butt into gear once, lol. How did you overcome it? When I get to a sentence or idea that I can't exactly word or find a way to explain, I usually drop it for weeks and then come back to it. Can't do that with Resbang to an extent so how'd you get past it within a limited amount of time without rushing the pace, or glossing over an idea that was meant to be incorporated into the fic?

redphlox: ahhhh WELL, I wrote 40kish between Jan 1st and Jan 16th, so a deadline kicks me into high gear. A lot of the block was not knowing what happens in weddings and doing research tbh x) I died a little but it made me stronger.

Q: Okay you broke my heart a number of times, can you explain the thought process of why Maka never texted Soul?

redphlox: Maka was just too shook to think rationally :0 Have you ever been so anxious it feels like you're going to die? That's basically how it was for her, the emotion was too strong. She realizes later she could have done better and coming to terms that she makes mistakes is also a lesson she had to learn.

Q: How long did recording voices for the animatic take? And did you have any silly moments while doing so? haha

Mak (mrsashketchum): I actually had the weirdest time doing every voice, it's crazy. It took half an hour to be honest? It didn't need to be perfect, it just needed to have the right emotion. I had to channel every angsty fiber of my being for crying!Maka.

Q: For Mak: Do you feel like you grew in your art skills through this bang? If so, how?

Mak (mrsashketchum): I actually did grow a lot in my art skills with this bang! I felt that giving myself more challenges in backgrounds helped a lot in dealing with drawing perspective. And also with hair. I learned so much with color as well and how each shade and palette is definitely super important.

Q: What are you most proud of for the piece/pieces you did?

Mak (mrsashketchum): I’m really proud of all my pieces! But if i could only pick one then it would be the bathtub scene for sure! I spent most of my waking hours for it and I even made a 3d model for the perspective just for a reference.

Q: What are you working on next?

Mak (mrsashketchum): I’m definitely working on some more animatics and animations and my Vday art will be super late haha. Also SoMa Week is near and I'm planning really big things!

Q: Favorite/least favorite moment/scene to write?

redphlox: Mmm my fave scene to write was all of them, I felt like I looked forward to all of them now that I look back to it, if that makes sense?

Q: Hardest scene/part to write?

Redphlox: A difficult scene to write was the very end where Soul and Maka finally talk it out bc I felt that I had gotten them in SO MUCH TROUBLE that I was like "how the fffff do I fix this?" But luckily I had the best betas, jaded and proma, there as I wrote it and we were all on the doc at the same time and we were all just, live writing/betaing. I’m v happy to have explored Soul and Maka's friendships and family life. One of my favorite scenes was the scene where Liz talked Maka through some Hard Truths. I love Liz. I think there was a scene I had to delete bc it just wasn’t fitting, it was with Kim and Soul, but I ended up using bits of it later.

Q: Tell us about your writing process.

redphlox: My writing process was basically writing like a turtle at the beginning/struggling to find inspiring music to write to/plotting, and then the last bit was writing 7k daily and going !!!! internally. Lots of keysmashes to my betas.

Q: What are you most proud of this Resbang?

redphlox: Im really proud of writing and finishing this resbang tbh, I had an amazing partner and had fun with my betas, and I pushed my writing speed/abilities because I explored some feelings I hadn't ever experienced before (being left at the altar) I'm happy with the outcome!

Q: Was music important to your process at all, and if so, are there any songs/playlists that were relevant?

redphlox: Yesssss so jaded made a playlist! Lemme get it. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7rssdV2CkoNRl4-cPWuqm7ocC-QxP0Vn

Q: What are you working on next?

redphlox: Next, I'm working on plotting this year's Resbang, finishing Siren AU, writing and posting my longfic Sailor Moon AU, and aside from writing I'm working on being a better reviewer/commenter and beta :D

[thestudyfeels]

november botm winners!

ahoy there! i’m finally done going though everyone’s blog and honestly everyone’s blog is so special in their own way that it was super hard to get to the winners. however here we are, so much congrats and love to the november botms :-) + happy november everyone!!

@skiesandjournals

what i like about her blog: i really like her posts bc they have a special theme to it which matches perfectly with her theme’s color which in fact, is the most beautiful peachy color. along with that, the graphics of her articles are so cute and happy ahh :^) and honestly i was on her blog for a good 20 min just smiling at the overall happiness that it radiates off. good job dea, i am ur new stalker hah :”)

@athenastudying

what i like about her blog: it isn't a secret that i have been obsessed with meike’s blog for a rly long time so i’m pretty sure this isn't a surprise to anyone haha! i look up to her in almost every way when it comes to blogging and i love how she interacts with her followers. i’m also a huge fan of her advice and masterposts since they are super informative and real. along with that, i also love her updates about her personal life and her theme - she’s a wonderful blogger!!

in case you forgot, here are the awards!

a spot on my blog’s front page for the whole month

promos whenever u want for the month (just message me!)

a follow back, if i’m not following you already

a mood board/long playlist (let me know which one please!)

we can talk and be friends?

thank you to everyone who participated! i hope you had a pleasant start to november and to the winter weather, don’t forget to make the best of it! <3

[nobilism]

⏤ ♞ ;;

Send me a number from 1-500 and I’ll tell you how I feel about you in a post without anyone knowing your identity.

333

Homie. Homie. Homie. We gonna have to sit you down ‘cuz I’m sure this post is gonna be a mother fucking doozy. 

God. Hello. I love you so much. Thank you for being a gem and an absolute light in my life for this past month and some weeks. I was so nervous at first when I made my Tsukasa blog. I said it in another one of these meme posts how I came into this comm knowing no one. It was so god damn nerve wracking. I messaged my friend Deen being like “HOW DO I MAKE FRIENDS OR FIND PPL TO RP WITH?” and of course Deen was a little bitch and said “Just look for promo posts” NO FUCKING SHIT. This bitch. I’m gonna punch her when I see her for new years and then delete her Todoroki blog.

But I went from being in a very comfortable and knowing a good number of ppl to knowing no one at all and that was really hard. I was plagued with self doubt how no one would want to play with my Tsukasa. I was sure everyone had someone they liked already and wouldn’t give me the time of day. IDK if you noticed yet, but I’m hyper critical of myself. haha 

So to dive in like I did, it was so hard. I was so nervous. I think back at it now, but I definitely had some sort of wall up when I first started this blog. ‘Cuz some pretty shitty things happened to me this year in terms of friends, so I guess I was also just kinda nervous letting my guard down too. I wanted to make friends, but putting myself out there was really hard. I definitely said things like pls feel free to message me, but then I couldn’t bring myself to message people myself ‘cuz I was so afraid of putting myself out there and just facing rejection from the get go. 

But then you came into the picture. 

If you were to ask me if I followed you first or if you followed me, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. All I know is I was suddenly following you and I’m so happy that you did. I think when you wrote me that first starter I only really solidly had a thread with Gabby’s Aya and Dusty’s Chiaki, and please let us not take this the wrong way ‘cuz I love them both to bits and pieces and I love my threads with them just as much, but I was dying to rp with Knights. And I was mostly dying to rp with a Leo. And you just swooshed into my life and was like “here you go a starter.” I think I was pretty much crying in my room when I saw the starter. 

But not only did you make me feel so welcomed, you also gave me so much confidence in my Tsukasa. 

As we can see, being nervous was quite a theme for me early on. I even made a post about how I was not confident in my portrayal Tsukasa. Saying how I had to step my game up in order to meet all of your standards. It’s like, so silly to think in retrospect that I was saying those things ‘cuz I know no one here was making any sort of demands that I needed to get better. Everyone had been nothing less than kind and understanding, but that was my hyper critical self talking and I felt like I needed to be so much more in order for people to want to interact with me whether on an ic or ooc basis. 

But every time we talked, you always had such wonderful things to say about my Tsukasa. It really did help every time you assured me replies were fine. My length was fine. How you like long threads. How you really enjoy our threads. So on and so forth. It may not seem like much, but every time you said it, I was really touched. I did a couple keyboard smashes I think when I received those compliments, but I def held back on a lot ‘cuz I was like “I need to play it cool. Don’t be that guy.” But Tsukasa is my best boy after all. To do him justice, this is all I ever really wanted when I made this blog. 

It’s not like Tsukasa is too far of a stretch from characters I normally played in the past. But he was different enough where I was constantly plagued by self doubt. And you have single handedly casted away pretty much all of my doubt regarding to how I portray Tsukasa. So thank you for giving me so much confidence, love and acceptance. 

I’m really glad how well our portrayals match up. I’m so glad when I talk to you on discord about stupid shit for Tsukasa and Leo that we are generally speaking always on the same page. The feeling that I feel like I get your Leo and that you get my Tsukasa, it’s so wonderful. 

Thanks for being there when I had my: I CAN’T BELIEVE I SHIP THESE GAYS CRISIS 

When you said “don’t worry megan I ship leokasa too” I swear I heard the choir started playing as angels descended down upon the earth before me. 

Thanks for also saying you’ll come join me on this Animatsu adventure and I venture to the middle of America for the first time and not just stay in the airport ‘cuz I’m only there for a layover to California for AX or some shit. But you know, when I offered for you to come join me and Emma at Animatsu, I didn’t think you would actually say yes, so when you did I was really really happy. We were talking for a total of like what? 2 weeks by that point and we’ve already planned to meet up at a con. That’s really god damn crazy. But I’m happy we were both crazy enough to do it. And I’m really excited to meet you in person and give you the biggest hug ever!

Also another thanks for being open and willing to hear me ramble about stupid things you have no clue what they are like me screaming about Makki and Naoya and other stage things or Marginal#4 or whatever other idol boy bullshit I have brought up. Also thanks for accepting the fate of me just sitting you down at animatsu where I can show you some of these beautiful boys I love. But also get hyped ‘cuz we also sitting down and watching the Knights stage. I’m so excited for you to fall in love with these beautiful boys too. 

So I guess, just thanks for being there for me. And listening to me over whatever dumb bs I had to say. Your sister said thanks for supporting you and stuff, but no, thank you for allowing me to be there for you. It would have been perfectly acceptable if you didn’t share a single thing with me ‘cuz I was like “tell me your deep personal feelings” on the first day we started talking to one another. 

I’ll admit right now, I feel like it was selfish of me to ask you to talk about such things of what was making you upset. I told you how I like helping people and like talking to people. So I feel like I selfishly put those desires on you to talk to me about your problems. I’ve been feeling rather useless at times due to some of these friend issues I’ve been having this year, so I think I kinda pushed that desire of trying to feel useful to someone, anyone, onto you, which probably wasn’t really all that fair of me. 

But I guess in the end despite my selfishness of wanting to feel some amount of selfworth of making a friend happy, things worked out for the best, and we have bonded quite a bit over various things too. 

So I guess sorry for being selfish, but at the same time, I’m not that sorry. haha 

But yeah, thanks for everything you’ve done for me. I’m sure there are plenty more thank yous to come. You have been so good to me since day one. I look forward to what the future holds. Whether they’re rps of heart warming nature, dumb shit posts, heart wrenching pain and misery, or just us having a good time. I look forward to it all. 

Bless you. 

Have a good day. 

I told you this would be long. lololol 

[alexanderhamllton]

Your actual icon is beautiful and perfectly matches the rest of your blog, however, this new icon is just as perfect. If you were to change the rest of your blog theme so it fits the new icon then it would look pretty good, too. Change is good, isn't it? Go ahead and change it, you can always put it back to how it was if you don't like how it looks.

Oh if I’ll change I’ll definitely change all the colors of my themes as well, haha I’ll change and see how it looks, wish me luck!

[p4xman]

Oh my gosh I love the theme for this blog so much!! It matches perfectly with Bandersnatch :D

thank u so much! yea i picked it out cuz i wanted my blog to have at least SOME retro feel even if it wasnt 80s haha