#most of my irl friends are older than me by more than 20 years and have kids my age or older

[littleplantfreak]

just know that any time i go to an event i usually have a 50+ year old milf with me as moral support

[aromanticannibal]

yeah so if you genuinely don't know how to write an email instead of using chatgpt and getting something that 1: has a chance to just fucking suck (and potentially be noticeably AI) and 2: uses stolen content, ruins the environment and indicates to the gen-AI companies that you want more gen-AI bullshit that will steal things and ruin the environment, you can look up how to write an email or look up email examples. here's a website, here's another, here's the wikihow page (it's a bit shit but it does its job), here's a good one for formal emails, and here's an email I sent today (more examples under the cut):

something that's really annoying right now is that most websites are desperately trying to sell you their cool funky AI friend that can write the email for you, and look at me: you have to tell it to go fuck itself (in your head, don't use it). this isn't about you being a moron for not being about to write an email, I struggled with it for a while too, I still do sometimes, writing emails notoriously sucks. gen-AI sucks more.

also, this might not be the case for everyone, but please at least try to learn how to write the email before using chatgpt, it will help you forever. if you have a question about emails or if you're not sure how to write one specific email, you can send an ask: I'm not all-knowing but I'll do my best to help.

I can mostly help for college/high school levels and I am studying in a French school, so the codes may not be exactly the same, but I am in fact being taught by English speakers, sometimes native ones.

I'll give more general advice at the end, but here are a few examples of emails I would send.

If there's even a small chance of your teacher not recognizing you, write at the top something like "I am Name Last name, I am in your X-Y-Z class on Mondays from 8AM to 9AM". This isn't too useful in high school because your teachers likely know you, but in college your teachers might not. This will give them context.

Do your best to avoid typos or grammar errors. Reread your email, especially if the teacher is a language teacher.

Be polite, always, unless the teacher explicitly specified they don't care.

You do not need to beg for anything, don't debase yourself, and if a teacher makes you debase yourself, report them. You shouldn't have to beg for something that you ask for in an email. (so no more than one please per email, and avoid this one please if possible).

If it's possible and safe for you, prefer discussing important matters IRL.

Remember who you're talking to. Is the teacher strict or chill? Younger or older? Are they a white abled man or a Black disabled woman? Are they very into "respect the teacher!!" or do they put themselves at your level? Are you a 15 y/o high school student or a 20 something college student? Is this teacher familiar with you? Have they been understanding in the past? etc.

Generally, despite all my warnings above, a simple polite email will be fine with most teachers. If you're not sure how to identify the above possibilities or how to alter your emails depending on them, just write a formal, polite email (like seen above).

Some universities have online courses that teach you how to write emails. If there is a web-type course in your university and you can take it, take it.

Mine has one. I hate it. They defined a tweet as a "post on a blogging platform". I have to complete it or I don't pass. It still has a good tutorial for writing emails. You are lucky in the sense that emails are like the basic thing that even the boomer teachers know how to do (even if they don't like doing it), so there are a lot of resources for people who haven't written emails yet and need to learn.

If possible, ask your teacher at the start of the year what email to contact them with - if you're lucky, they'll say things about what kinds of emails they want.

If you're lucky still, someone else will send a shit email and the teacher will make a point during the class to remind how to write a proper email.

I put "Dear name" everywhere, but if it's not an extremely formal setting, some teachers will be fine with a "Hello". If you're not sure of the receiver's gender, use their title (Dr. etc).

For the extension: sometimes teachers aren't allowed to give you an extension or are assholes who don't want to give you an extension. In that case, don't bother writing another email (again: don't beg. + it will make them dislike you which you don't want).

This works more in work settings, but I read once that it's good to say "I will be taking a day off" rather than "May I take a day off/is it possible to take a day off". Just say that it's going to happen.

Know your rights. I can't know them for you. Figure out what the teacher can and cannot do through legal documents on your school's website or whatever. Know your rights depending on your state or country.

If you have a bad memory and don't want to have to look up how to write an email everytime, open your notes app or your blocknote or any preferred place to take notes and write down the important. I'd advise to note common greetings, subjects, opening and closing lines. Same for your teachers, if you need to remember which one is a bitch and which one is chill, write their name down with a description.

[cvttmutt]

fuck it im doing all of them :P Skip any you're uncomfortable with btw! /nf

0: Height

1: Age

2: Shoe size

3: Do you smoke?

4: Do you drink?

5: Do you take drugs?

6: Age you get mistaken for

7: Have tattoos?

8: Want any tattoos?

9: Got any piercings?

10: Want any piercings?

11: Best friend?

12: Relationship status

13: Biggest turn ons

14: Biggest turn offs

15: Favorite movie

16: I’ll love you if…

17: Someone you miss

18: Most traumatic experience

19: A fact about your personality

20: What I hate most about myself

21: What I love most about myself

22: What I want to be when I get older

23: My relationship with my sibling(s)

24: My relationship with my parent(s)

25: My idea of a perfect date

26: My biggest pet peeves

27: A description of the girl/boy I like

28: A description of the person I dislike the most

29: A reason I’ve lied to a friend

30: What I hate the most about work/school

31: What my last text message says

32: What words upset me the most

33: What words make me feel the best about myself

34: What I find attractive in women

35: What I find attractive in men

36: Where I would like to live

37: One of my insecurities

38: My childhood career choice

39: My favorite ice cream flavor

40: Who I wish I could be

41: Where I want to be right now

42: The last thing I ate

43: Sexiest person that comes to my mind immediately

44: A random fact about anything

THIS IS SO EXCITING TYY :3

0. 5'7"

1. 16

2. X

3. Sometimes if I'm bored I take my dad's cigarette butts

4. I wish

5. I'm actually 2 months sober off marijuana! :D

6. If I've ever been mistaken for an age I haven't been told but I guess I do look a lot younger than 16

7. nope

8. Yes!! I definitely want some matching ones with my best friend when we're older

9. Only ear piercings unfortunately

10. Yess I want my lip pierced, my eyebrow pierced, and maybe some more ear piercings

11. Hes not on here but I've been trying to get him!! He's a shedtwt user 😢

12. Single!! If anyone has a crush on my cuts dm me I don't bite (unless you want me to)

13. X

14. Whenever someone misuses you/you're and their/there/they're

15. Smile tbh.. and I just watched it for the first time a few days ago

16. You carry the conversation but still enjoy talking to me

17. My best friend 😢 (he's a text away)

18. My dad almost beat my grandpa to death with a hammer LMAO I don't think I've actually fully thought about that

19. I'm very anxious irl!! I act like a loser

20. I can't talk to strangers without stuttering and its not even a cute stutter I mispronounce every single word I hatteee it

21. Im good at art ig

22. X

23. Love them even if we fight a lot

24. Honestly I'm eh with my parents but also I'm a teenager and it's normal to hate them at this time so

25. Having lots of fun, no worries about prices, no worries about time limits

26. Refer to question 14

27. Blonde, chubby, SO PRETTY AND BEAUTIFUL

28. 5'4" twink with commitment issues

29. So they don't worry about me

30. Having to sit on my phone the entire time, or having a really hard assignment I can't do.

31. "That's freaking fire"

32. X

33. Any praise

34. Not an asshole, gives me attention

35. Not an asshole, gives me attention

36. Washington or maybe somewhere in Europe but idk if that's happening cuz I'm BROKE

37. X

38. Astronaut. I still want to be an astronaut deep down but realistically that's never happening 😭 My grades r ass and I come from a poor household so that means no fancy college and I can't just pay to see the stars

39. Chocolate!!

40. A four year old boy

41. Right where I am right now

42. Mashed potatoes with onion gravy

43. X

44. Ankylosaurus' tails are so strong they can break their own bones just swinging them

[olderthannetfic]

I've stopped wearing merch for most fandoms in public, or expressing interest with strangers irl because I'm scared that people will call me out for being a pro-sh*pper or engaging with problematic content. ¶

Like, I'm never going to understand every bit of nuance to every show ever. Some antis will dub an entire piece of media problematic because one voice actor was charged with SA ten years after the show came out. Am I supposed to know that [x] character is a racist stereotype against [y] group, just like, intrinsically? ¶

It's so tiring to try and keep up with all this nuance that I've just gone back to hiding the fact that I engage in anything more specific than "superhero comics" where I can just pretend that the problematic material didn't happen in my canon. It's like it's 2008 again and I wouldn't admit to reading fanfic if you held a gun to my head.¶

There was like a good 3-5 years for me where I could drag my friends by their ankles into fandom and hand them notebooks filled with my early fics, and now I can't even play "Paint it Black" in the car without my passenger telling me that it's problematic to cast a woman of color as a bully archetype. ¶

I'm certainly no fandom elder, I'm in my early 20s, but it feels like once Twitter became a fandom space, it was all downhill from there. And I can't help but feel like this purity culture does more harm than good by removing all the nuance and making everyone that much more susceptible to propaganda. And it's obnoxious that I got those 3-5 good years and saw what fandom could be like before it was ruined.¶

Ant/s have controlled the narrative and branded themselves as these bastions of "good fandom" and anyone who disagrees with them is an irl pedophile or something. Purity culture is exactly the reason ff.net has fallen in the eyes of a lot of us. ¶

As a fandom elder, maybe you've seen this happen? I've been tempted to block mutuals for posting anti-AO3 takes even though we're good friends in specific fandoms. I have actually slowly dropped contact with real life friends for their takes when I moved to college and stopped seeing them every day. It's just.... So exhausting. I just wanna read my 30th hurt/comfort fic in a row in peace, ya know? ¶

~🧰

--

This isn't something I ever experienced. When I was your age, the reactionary stupidity was of a different flavor. (We were still young, excitable dumbasses and everyone picked up a new and passionate conviction freshman year of college, but they were different passionate convictions.)

I absolutely drop people for being antis the same as I would drop them for being a racist or opposing abortion access or otherwise having disgraceful political stances I don't want in my space.

Twitter has done a lot of harm, but I also think some of this is a problem of being out of step with people one's own age. That gets much better as you get older and people have friend groups with a much wider age spread and/or people one's own age grow in different directions.

[almightyhamslice]

KIRBY'S DREAMLAND 3 ON THE SUPER NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAY IM SO STOKED ABT THIS DRAWING SERIES (it is going to take me a million years to finish and be much longer than KDL2 just a warning LOL)!!!! KDL3 is one of my favorite Kirby games, I played it all the time as a kid! Tbf a lot of Kirby games are my favorite. But this is probably my favorite OLD Kirby game! It's missing a lot of modern Kirby conventions, but I still love it so much, it's so cozy and warm.

In my gijinka AU timeline it's set about a year after Star Stacker, so Kirby is now 13. I dunno if I set ages for the original Animal Friends ngl. I think Coo's in his early 50's, Kine's in his early 40's, and Rick's in his mid 20's. ALSO I finally found out what the nonbinary equivalent to nephew/niece is!! It's nibling!! Kirby is Rick, Coo, and Kine's honorary nibling!

I will get into Acro and Ado's context in this gijinka universe during their respective boss encounters, but for now I CAN tell you about the new generation of Animal Friends! I described them on instagram as "extended found family"-- they're loosely connected to the original 3 Animal Friends in the sense that they know them well, but they're brought closer together through knowing Kirby!

Nago is from the Iceberg and knows Rick well because he often visits the Iceberg to improve his climbing skills. I imagine that he and Kirby might 'click' because Nago is trans and Kirby is nonbinary? Nago's a teenager/young adult, but is the oldest of the 3 new Animal Friends. He's a werecat and can turn into a giant calico cat whenever he feels like it! So I guess he and Rick probably would be friends since they're very alike?

Chuchu is from Ripple Field, so she and Kine have met before! Kine has told her many stories about his adventures as a Dark Matter hunter on the surface world, though Chuchu finds herself most interested in his friend Kirby! She thinks Kirby is cute and wants to date him. Kirby has never dated anyone in his entire life and has no idea what romance is like! Chuchu is a flapjack octopus mermaid with mild transformation abilities-- she doesn't have a fully human form like Kine does and is instead half human half octopus in her default form, but fully octopus while transformed. Chuchu is a year older than Kirby.

Pitch is a harpy like Coo, but he's just a lost baby essentially. He's only 4 years old! For now Coo is looking after him since there aren't many other harpies in Dreamland (much less any who'd want to care for Pitch) but they both really want to find Pitch's mother. Pitch sees Kirby as an older brother and likes to shadow him. Unlike Coo, Pitch shrinks when he transforms and turns into a tiny bird you can fit in the palm of your hand! I think he is a shima enaga specifically. A colorful one I guess. They can't be green irl lol.

ALSO I decided to reveal Zero extra early because honestly I don't like that they're just, at the end of the game only! And I like their design a lot. I've drawn them before. I think they deserve a bit more limelight! So I drew them in 2 panels here.

ALSO ALSO (oh my god this post is so long already) thank you everyone for blowing up my Gryll post!! glad 2 see there r so many Gryll enjoyers on here :)

[pluraladvice]

hello, host of a fairly newly discovered system of 10+, our story is very long but basically our co-host, in a panic and while dealing with identity issues of their own as the oldest alter (formed at age 6, and even then we're not sure if they were around earlier than that), kept me separated from the others for basically all of our lives until this year; Life Happened™ and the "curtains fell" as we like to call it, so we've had to learn how to communicate from basically 0. it's been very grueling, and some days are better than others, but we've managed somehow. getting a proper diagnosis is tremendously hard and expensive in a third-world country like ours, but we're working as fast as we can to get one.

with context out of the way... we would like some advice/positivity. a few days ago we came out to a friend who too is a system; things got taken out of context, and we weren't allowed to explain many details... so we were met with disgust, anger and rejection. i personally understand that they have been badly hurt in the past with people faking being a system, but it was never our intention to harm them. i didn't make our situation known sooner, and that i will accept as a mistake. needless to say we're now hated, and many hurtful things were said towards us (aside from them talking about us behind our backs to my irl best friend, who immediately told us what happened), mainly myself and our co-host, who has gone missing and we fear that they might've gone dormant out of reignited trauma they hold. i guess my question is... is this all there is for us? just because the realization dawned at an adult bodily age, rather than during childhood like them? is my trauma not enough? are our individual struggles, issues and sets of trauma not enough, nor real? sorry if this makes no sense, many of us are struggling in diverse ways regarding this situation, and i, as a host, feel like i am just faking it more than ever.

-🌙 (proofreading done by ❄ and 🐻)

If someone is making you feel this way they're not a very good friend. On top of that MOST people don't discover they're a system until early adulthood and later adulthood. Discovering your a system in your childhood, especially younger years, while not impossible nor unheard of, is not the norm and is pretty rare. The time in which you discover your systemhood doesn't make you a faker, nothing except faking being a system makes you a faker. The only way to be a faker is to consciously take steps and make efforts to fake being a system. Otherwise? You're just a system with a lot of self questioning and self doubt. Which is also completely normal for systems. Even systems that aren't online and don't interact with a lot of space that have people claiming what is and is not fake will have self doubt on their own system hood. Simply put, that is a part of being a system. We discovered our system in are late 20s. Some systems discover themselves in their 30s. Or 40s. There was an older man with a wife and kids in his 50s on a sub reddit for systems that had JUST discovered he was a system. In his 50s. The age at which you discover your system plays no part in whether or not you are a system. Again. You can only fake being a system if you are faking being a system. If you are not putting in conscious effort and steps to fake being a system. Then you aren't faking being a system. That's it. That's all there is to it. And that person and other people do not get to decide for you that you are. You decide that. You are the one that knows, not them.

[writer-rubes]

I figure before I get too deep in with my self indulgent crap, I might as well introduce, well- me. My persona. She’s basically everything I want to be.

I’m not much of an artist. It’s why I prefer to write. But here’s what she looks like roughly.

Her name? Rubes Brightheart. Sounds like a protag’s name? She’s heard that one.

Additional info under the cut!

Girl has her own story, that changes slightly depending on the universe she lives in, but I’ll just leave a few bits of her for now!

Her base age for the stories she’s featured in is 20 years old.

Rubes is a very sweet individual. She hates seeing others hurt, and she always gives more than she has.

Rubes has two brothers. One that’s about twelve years older, and one the same age.

She only has a mother. She lost her father when she was about twelve years old. (Not inaccurate to irl, I just lost mine later in life)

She loves writing like I do. But she tends to write by hand, and in weird places other than her bedroom.

Rubes is Asexual, and Panromantic! (For those unaware, that translates to doesn’t like anything sexual, but adores and has romantic relationships with anyone, regardless of gender!)

Rubes hates loud noises, and has very sensitive hearing. Especially sudden ones. They freak her out. She won’t go to certain places because if the atmosphere is too loud, it gives her anxiety.

She usually tends to work at a library in most universes she lives in. It alters depending on it, but in most universes, she works in a library, or something close to it.

She’s got a lot of body issues. She’s overweight, and hates how she looks almost all the time.

As promised in this blog, she’s gonna get into many, many ticklish situations. Girl’s practically a magnet for them, even if she refuses to admit her enjoyment for it. She’s even in the tickle community! But she doesn’t tend to tell people, she’d take it to her fucking grave.

Anyways, I could do more. But if anyone wants to draw, write about, or anything with her, please feel free! But there are some guidelines!

-NO NSFW WITH HER. EVER.

-Midriff exposing stuff can sometimes be okay, but please don’t make her show too much skin!

-Please, please credit me! Ping me if you draw or write with her!

-You can draw tickle stuff, but please keep it SFW and friendly. I don’t like people torturing her!

Also… I might as well say that I’m opening my ask box for now. Feel free to ask whatever!

Of course I still do Sun and Moon Show stuff, among other DCA things. But they’re not all I do!

Anyways, have at thee, friends!

[poorticklishsoles]

When I was around 10, I searched for the word "tickling" on Google and stumbled upon a guy face down, feet tied together to the bed, getting his feet methodically tickled with fingers and a small electric toothbrush. This was my introduction to what would later become my seemingly lifelong attachment to this kink we all share. I can still hear the exact sound of that toothbrush in my brain, but sadly the video has been erased with no trace of it online. (It was called Ken's Feet Get Tickled if anyone has it)

Throughout the years, while growing up, I knew there was something weird about liking this stuff. It seems like I also became attached to feet from that video, and I soon became very fascinated and almost obsessed with finding these so-called "tickle videos" online. Soon enough, I realized it made me feel funny, and at that point where tickling, feet, and bondage became full-on fetishes for me.

I spent even more time after this realization digging deeper into the topic and trying to figure out just how many other people were like me. There were times when I felt really alone and strange... and sad while growing up because although I knew there were people like me online, they all happened to be much older, and I was not of the age where I could meet anyone anyway. I ended up signing up for forums with like-minded people, creating a kink Instagram account, and desperately searching for people like myself. I just remember thinking, "Why am I such a freak for being into this stuff so young." I would have to wait much longer to realize this is common for many more people than I initially thought.

I got supper excited when I turned 18. I thought, "wow I can finally get out there and explore this stuff safely!" I was pumped to be out there and meet cool people that I could become friends with. That was important for me. I feel like I never could properly engage with my kinks if I wasn't friends with the person first... So I decided to make friends.

I met so many incredible people through Instagram, as I thought that that was where the largest group of people in the community were. (I didn't know about Tumblr yet) One of whom became my best friend. I met ticklewitchjess on Instagram back last year. What amazed me about her was our ability to talk about things outside the kink. We formed a genuine friendship. I learned about her favorite color, how she loves thunderstorms like me, some of her trauma, how she cosplayed, and how she loved to learn things even if they were random because of her adhd... I learned that we had many similar interests in the tickling tropes out there. We roleplayed... A lot. I learned that she was an absolutely gifted writer from that, and I genuinly feel like my own writing improved as a result.

We talked everyday like that for a few months... From morning to when we would go to sleep... but one day she told me....she told everyone that she had to take a step back for personal reasons and take a break from her kink account. We talked for the last time and I gave her my last bit of support. I hope one day she does come back when shes in a better place... 

I never thought I'd have a connection like that with someone ever again... And for the most part I was correct, at least for just under a year. One night I again got in my feels about not having any real connection with anyone, now at the age of 20. I genuinely felt sad and depressed that I wasnt getting to explore my kink irl and even felt jealousy when id see tickle vids with 18 and 19 year olds having such a fun time. I ended up sending around 6 or 7 copy pasted greetings that night just to see if anyone would respond. I was about to send the same thing to a person I found that was super far away from me but instead I decided to switch it up and be genuine. And that's how I met @tklish-princess

We started chatting, taking our time at first, but eventually speeding up when we realized we had so much in common! Over time we flirted with the idea of meeting up and I honestly still can't believe we made it work. That's right! I had my first meet up ever! It wasn't just sessions though. We stayed together in the same Airbnb for a full week, essentially living together, and she showed me all around. We even got to do some super fun stuff further away from the town. It was just such an amazing time and Ari was just so sweet and kind to me that I was just constantly melting. I've never really been to college yet so I never got to have the experience of like..really being on my own and living with someone so I can't lie and say I wasn't a little nervous, but as soon as we met and hugged all that went away.

As you've probably seen on her post we did have sessions...some of which were recorded, and we'll be dropping teases as time goes by 🤭. I'm super excited for that and I'm super excited to finally say I have a real tickle partner in my life now! She has the cutest little feet and toes and even her hands are cute and ticklish 🥺.. I'm quite literally obsessed. She's such a sensitive little tickle bug but also a pretty evil ler...which surprised me because when we started talking she claimed to be 90% lee....yeah no. Youll see soon enough that that's not the case. I truly believe I found the best and it was 100% worth the wait.

So Ari...thanks for making this stubborn little dream of mine come true. I love you, and I can't wait to see you again.. 😇

TLDR: I MET AN AMAZING PERSON IN THE COMMUNITY IRL AND SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND NOW AND IM SUPER HAPPY 😄

[drivingsideways]

For AO3 Wrapped: can you please answer all? 💋

Right. So by popular demand (hahahahaha)

ao3 wrapped [writers edition]

1. How many words have you written this year?

121,711 words were published on AO3, and I have another 10k sitting in drafts, so...quite a lot? 2022 brings up my total word count on AO3 since 2017 when I first started posting on AO3 to 853,262..which..blows my mind, honestly.

Putting the rest under the cut!

2. How many works did you publish this year?

6 works, in total. This is the year when I used AO3 to “archive” rather than “publish”, which I will talk about in another year end post, maybe. But as a quick round up:

For Twenty Five, Twenty One : Rival which gives Na Heedo and Ko Yurim the romance they and we deserved, and Hakuna Matata which is a light romp in which two besties take twenty years to do what their moms had planned for them all along. 

The bulk of my work   was for an entirely made up fandom :  The Chung Jung One Soy Sauce ad ft Lee Jung Jae & Jung Woo sung  aka the Terms of Surrender series (3 works and counting), which I’ll probably continue into the next year.

I tried to FIX Lee Jung Jae’s directorial debut “Hunt”, which features his bestie/soulmate/jagiya Jung Woo Sung in Juche, which is the first of a planned two-part series. 

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

I answered this as Rival, yesterday, but I think Juche also is pretty good. 

4. What work of yours has the most hits?

Rival

As a side note, AO3 doesn’t allow me to track hits on older works in the current year, but the 2020 fic I wrote for TKEM still gets a lot of hits, perhaps from re-reads, and there are even people clicking on my older Black Sails and The Rise of Phoenixes fic, which I am grateful for. 

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

I have very very few readers this year compare to last few- which was as expected. But! Terms of Surrender got a comment from someone who’d subscribed to my work and just jumped into a completely niche fic and it melted my heart a bit!  I still get comments on older fic that I didn’t expect anyone to be reading- just yesterday, my notifications were filled by someone working their way through my fic for Serenade of Peaceful Joy, and that was completely unexpected because (a) it was a terrible show and (b) it was a flop and (c) the fandom is dead and buried, and should stay that way. 

6. Favorite title you used

“Instructions for Dancing”

7. If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most?

I was trying to recall if I’ve used song titles more than once -”Instructions for Dancing” this year is from  “The Book of Love” by The Magnetic Fields- and I think I’ve only done it once before, using a David Gray song lyric -Tell the Stars Above (You’re the One I Love)- for the concluding part of the Stars’ verse in TKEM. 

8. Pairing you wrote the most for this year?

I’ve answered this before, but just to elaborate for the ones wondering why I had to make up a fandom to write in - Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woo-sung  (aka the Cheongdam Couple) are actors, producers, directors and have been the best of friends for 20 plus years. I just find their entire deal so damn charming and lovely- imagine being able to have that in such a brutally unforgiving industry. However, their combined filmography is largely what I put in the column of “TRAGICALLY UNWATCHABLE” and I feel I’m just inventing the stories that I wish they’d make and star in. They’ve only acted in two movies together- 1998′s City of the Rising Sun, which is a really good, fun film and 2022′s Hunt, directed by Lee Jung-jae, which was mediocre on the whole, though with some undeniably good elements. I just want the ahjussis to make the movies in which they are as soft with each other onscreen as they are irl, and failing that I’m going to have to write the fic. It is what it is. * shrug hands emoji *

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

I’ve written almost 100k words (including WIPs) for the characters Jang Do-chul and Kang Hong-gi; the protagonists in a fictional universe being collaboratively created by me and my babygirls (real) @rain-hat  and @elderflowergin

10. What work was the quickest to write?

I think I wrote both Hakuna Matata and Instructions for Dancing in a day. (They’re quite short!)

11. What work took you the longest to write?

I took about three months to write  the Terms of Surrender series, that was a total of ~ 75 k words .

12. How many WIP’s do you have in your docs for next year?

I’ve answered this before- not too many- 3. Two are continuations of Terms of Surrender and The Exiles series, and one is a different fictional universe for the Cheongdam couple. But my head is teeming with ideas for stuff, time will tell if any of it will actually make it to a document. :D

13. What’s your longest work of the year?

Longest single work: Terms of Surrender. 

14. What’s your shortest work of the year?

Shortest single work: Instructions for Dancing.

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

I don’t publish WIPs for good reason- I’m never sure whether I will finish them, so there’s nothing on AO3 that’s in progress as such. But as I mentioned above, there are a couple of WIPs in google docs that I hope to plug away at. 

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

Oh, this turns out to be a little hard to figure out, but I guess it would be the most boring- “Romance” ;)

17. Your favorite character to write this year?

I really, really enjoyed writing both Jang Do-chul and Kang Hong-gi, as well as the assorted characters I’ve put into  Terms ‘verse, but shout out to Ko Yurim (Rival) and Park Pyung ho (Hunt). 

18. The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year?

I didn’t much- one of the reasons is that the characters I spent most time on were sort of entirely original creations (with very little reference to any particular established canon), and that was freeing. 

19. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

I’ve been spending some time thinking about another pairing that exists nowhere but in my head and a discord chat- based off a tumblr post that I can’t find now- but basically it would be Tang Wei and Kim Hye soo starring in a Hallmark Christmas movie- with some twists. 

20. Which work of yours have you reread the most?

I go back to 2020′s Destiny’s Child for a comfort read, but from this year, I think it’s been Moon River, and I re-read Juche sometimes to get me to think some more about the sequel. 

21. How many kudos in total did you get this year?

257

22. Which work has the most comments?

Rival

23. Did you do any collaborative works this year?

I feel that @rain-hat and @elderflowergin are my co creators for the Terms of Surrender ‘verse and also Juche, though I wrote the stories. They wouldn’t exist without my babygirls, my cheerleaders and fic conspirators. (Sorry y’all, I’m just very EMO about them) 

24. Did you write any gifts this year?

Yes! Terms ‘verse and Hakuna Matata for Gin and Rain.

25. Did you receive any gifts this year?

Yes! Gin wrote The Process of Discovery for Rain and meeee. (Niche pairing, best writer, you GUYSSSS) 

And in creative works that were not really gifts for me but felt like it: 

@revolutionaryjo did amazing, beautiful podfic for not one, but three of my fics: 2 parts of The stars are filming us for no one and Aphrodite Comes Calling , all three for TKEM fandom

@rhea314 did a stunning podfic of Tell Me the Truth About Love  and it made me cry and fall in love with my own fic again. 

26. What’s your most common category?

M/M

27. What do you listen to while writing?

I’ve taken to making playlists for thinking about fic- thematic playlists- usually because something in the lyrics pings me as appropriate for the characters. I find music distracting when I’m actually writing. 

28. Favorite work you wrote this year?

I can’t choose between my fic this year, I wrote them all at different points in the year and love certain elements in all of them.  I love Rival because it’s funny and cute and achy; and I love Terms ‘verse because it’s a love letter to my two years of kdrama/ movie watching and also because it made my babygirls laugh and cry and I think Juche turned out to be crisp and delicious, even if tonally very different from everything else I wrote this year...sowwie! I can’t choose between them!

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Again, hard for me to choose and I’m sure my answer will change next week! 

Single line, from Rival: “ Here’s how it works: When Heedo’s around, nothing is out of reach, not even happiness. “

Passage, from Juche:

“Last stop,” calls the driver from front. “Ahjussis, you getting out or what?”

The others had already disappeared, Pyung-ho catches a last glimpse of blue as the ahjumma got down.

“We’re taking the bus back, ahjussi,” Kim Jeong-do calls back.

The driver stares at them both, and then shrugs.

“Fifteen minute break,” he says, “You can sit here or get out.”

“Do you want to-”

“No.”

“We’re fine here, ahjussi, thanks.”

The driver grunts, and gets off, leaving the door open.

A cold draught of air fills the bus.

Kim Jeong-do opens the window, asking, “Smoke?”

“Those can kill you,” Pyung-ho says, “You know that right?”

“Not fast enough,” says Jeong-do, and Pyung-ho can’t help the chortle that escapes him.

Jeong-do smiles too, eyes crinkling at the corners.

It makes him look handsome.

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

To have been able to write at all, in the midst of a bad mental health year has been a surprise and a blessing. And this isn’t a new feature- it happens all the time- but I’m somehow also always shocked by how stories take a life of their own and go where they will, just dragging you along. It’s the best thing, really. 

[sofiadragon]

Welcome, Friend

I've been writing fanfiction since the '90s. While I do post in-progress snippets of fanfiction I am writing here (you can check the "my writing" tag for that) the main place to read my written work is on AO3.

In case of shenanigans here is the address: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SofiaDragon/works

I use my bookmarks as a collection of stories I have read and enjoyed enough not to lose. I also use the Recommended Stories feature, so if you want to see a list of fantastic stories, you can utilize the filter or just click here.

I reblog a lot of things that catch my attention, but mostly fandom stuff and current events. There are a lot of different fandoms I am interested in, and sometimes I'll go back to the stories that first got me interested in writing. From Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek to the latest MCU movie and Spy X Family - I like a wide range of story types so long as the characters are well crafted. Give me someone who seems so real they can walk right off the page, and I'm happy. If you like that sort of thing, pull up a chair and stay a while.

More personal stuff about who I am under the cut!

I do a lot of worldbuilding in my writing and I'm told that I'm skilled at inserting humor and dramatic irony. In IRL conversation I'm sarcastic and enjoy ethical and political debates - and I have the privilege of coming from a family where we don't take those disagreements personally and will happily "devil's advocate" a position just to prolong the discussion. Especially on the internet, hot intellectual debate without catching feelings is a rare commodity.

I studied world religion, psychology, and creative writing as an Early Childhood Education major for my first round in college. Then I had to go make money due to a family calamity, so I swapped to Small Business Management and learned about economics, politics, teaching adults, and bookkeeping. Eventually, I took a job at a small chocolate shop and learned how to make gourmet chocolates, because the stress of my office job was actually killing me.

I believe that some of the hard fan criticisms of series and movies come from a place of love, since we wouldn't care so much if we weren't invested. You will see posts tagged "critical" or "criticism" related to fandoms that I adore. That thing I said about intellectual debates? It absolutely applies here.

I also use the tag "us politics" or "us politics falling on its face" for political posts. If you don't want to see commentary on real life drama than skip those posts, there is plenty of fictional drama to talk about.

I've had some mental health struggles related to my poor physical health and a hormone imbalance caused by working in an office where the boss used testosterone cream irresponsibly. I'm very strong on trans/genderqueer issues partly because I have experienced the distress of my body doing masculine things like growing a full beard against my will and partly because I have a cousin 20+ years older than me who transitioned when I was a kid and is one of the most actualized and happy people I've ever known.

Nobody should be forced to use their body or perform their life in a certain way for the benefit of other people so long as they aren't hurting anybody else. This also includes medical privacy and legalizing [while responsibly regulating] drugs. You will see this theme in some of my stories and it colors all of them in the sense that my idea of what is morally correct includes that kind of freedom.

[tumbleringismycopingmechanism]

11-33, 36, 37, 40, 41

Thanks for all the asks! (Totally not using this to procrastinate learning for my next exam 🙈)

11: Best friend?

Tbh, noone really comes to mind. I'm not really good at holding contact, so I don't really talk to my school friends anymore, and I'm awful at making new friends, so I don't have any friends from uni either. The only people I consider friends currently are the handful of people that text with me on here, but I've known most of them for less than a year (heck, mostly even less than half a year) and we usually only text like once or twice a week (sometimes less), so I don't think any of them count as a best friend either.

12: Relationship status

I'm single and have been wondering for a while now if maybe I should try to remain single because I'm not sure I'm fit for a relationship rn

13: Biggest turn ons

I'm not sure how to answer that, because while I'm into wg stuff and bigger guys, I'm not sure it turns me on irl (as in, I will find it cute/sexy but I'm not sure I'd get sexually turned on, if that makes sense. I'm not really fond of the idea of having sex anyways, and the only times I kissed someone so far I disliked it as well, which is why I'm wondering if I'm somewhere on the ace spec.)

14: Biggest turn offs

Well, for one, an unlikeable personality (e.g. if someone's racist, sexist etc., doesn't matter how hot their body may be, I'm turned off). Apart from that, I'd advise you to look at the jars on my pinned post. Pretty much every one that is empty is gonna be a turn off for me.

15: Favorite movie

I'm a sucker for Sleeping Beauty (1959). (I'm a sucker for fairytales and their retellings in general, but this movie is the one dearest to me.)

16: I’ll love you if

... you spend time with me without me having to ask (or beg) you for it. Because most people don't.

17: Someone you miss

Weird as it may sound, some of my old teachers

18: Most traumatic experience

I think the one that has influenced my life the most is probably my best friend that I'd had since kindergarden deciding overnight that not only we weren't friends anymore, but to bully me through the entirety of 4th grade. (The breaking with me as friends part was well justified, the bullying feels like it was probably the over-reaction of a 10-year-old.)

19: A fact about your personality

I love being amongst people, until I realize that I'm shit at interacting and that me being there is no different to me not being there - then I get melancholic and need a break or leave entirely

20: What I hate most about myself

My social incompetence and my competitiveness as well as my eagerness to please

21: What I love most about myself

My creativity (though I'm usually not capable of expressing it in the way I want to)

22: What I want to be when I get older

Happy

23: My relationship with my sibling(s)

Could be better. I think both of my sisters dislike me for opposing reasons

24: My relationship with my parent(s)

Could be better. I feel like neither of them was really there for me growing up, but now that I'm an adult they seem to wanna rectify that - which just feels weird because it's like two strangers suddenly want to spend time with me

25: My idea of a perfect date

I've always wanted to lie underneath the stars and stare up into the universe with someone

26: My biggest pet peeves

The only one that comes to mind rn is my sister somehow managing to drop water on half our bathroom floor when taking the two steps from the sink to the towels every single time. (I'm sure I have tons more though)

27: A description of the girl/boy I like

Edit: almost forgot this one.

Well, in general, kind men with a chubby figure

28: A description of the person I dislike the most

Okay, so the first one that comes to mind is a girl I went to school with. She was usually a huge bitch but when she was in a somewhat decent mood she'd always act super casual, like she didn't spend 99% of her day trying to find new ways to mock/insult you. I also suspect she's kind of a gold digger, because the guy she dated (and still dates) has the personality of a brick but is really fucking loaded

29: A reason I’ve lied to a friend

The only thing that comes to mind rn is that I was super ashamed of my crush in high school, so whenever my friends asked if there was someone I found cute, I'd lie and say there wasn't

30: What I hate the most about work/school

The pressure of it all. I usually feel like I should be ashamed when I spend even a minute on myself, because there's always something else I could/should do for uni (like right now for example...). But also, all courses make it seem like there's exactly one proper way to be a teacher, and if you don't fit into that, you fail your students (like, supposedly as a teacher you should be capable of making your students interested in your subject, make sure they don't get any mental health problems because of school, teach the subject in a way that shows the students how it connects to (their) everyday life, follow the curriculum, be close to your students but not too close, anticipate and avoid any misconceptions that may apear, etc.). Idk, it just feels like a bit much sometimes, especially when you have to have all of that in the back of your mind while standing in front of 30 people and teach.

31: What your last text message says

It's in German, but it roughly translates to "I'm leaving soon; is there anything I should take with me for you?"

32: What words upset me the most

In the recent past:

Being accused of fetishising gay people (and my sister half-agreeing with the accusation)

My mother sometimes casually refering to the time spent with me instead of working as "time wasted"

Someone telling me that a compliment I got from a teacher at the end of my school time wasn't as special as I had hoped, because it's something they say regularly to students when they graduate

33: What words make me feel the best about myself

Honestly, I'm not sure words can do anything to make me feel good about myself anymore. I'm so used to getting nice words but actions that don't match them that I think at this point my default is just smiling, thanking you for the kind words (maybe giving you some in return, if I can think of them quick enough) and feeling hollow inside

36: Where I would like to live

I like my home town and plan on moving back there when I'm done studying

37: One of my insecurities

My weight/figure

40: Who wish I could be

Depends on my mood. Sometimes I wish I were literally anyone else. Sometimes it almost feels enough to just want to be the best version of myself. Sometimes I want to be a version of me that I know will never exist. 🤷‍♀️

41: Where I want to be right now

Approximately a week in the past, actually studying for my exam instead of putting it off for so long. (Also, once the exam is over my answer might be France or Italy, or maybe somewhere I've never been before.)

[hellebore-petall]

Tag Game To Better Know You! Send this to people you'd like to know better!

Tagged by @yarn-dragon​

What book are you currently reading?

Kith and Kin by Marieke Nijkamp! I’ve had it for over a year and have just gotten around to actually reading it lol

What’s your favorite movie you saw in theaters this year? 

The only movie I remember seeing in theatres this year is the Dune movie, so that one wins by default. I do have more plans in the works to see more movies next year though, namely the Mario movie, and the DnD movie.

What do you usually wear?

Jeans or yoga pants/leggings, with graphic tees in the summer and graphic sweaters in the winter, or a graphic tee with a jacket over it if the temperature is right. Most of the tops I own are merch for various dnd actual plays, most of which are Critical Role because they make good quality clothing.

How tall are you?

5′5″

What’s your star sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or historical event? 

Gemini! I found out last year that Kyle from Unprepared Casters and I share a birthday.

Do you go by your name or a nickname? 

My name irl, I go by Petall in online spaces and on the occasions where I have met internet friends irl.

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be as a child? 

Growing up I was deadset on becoming a veterinarian. From the time I was 9 to the time I was in Grade 12 I seriously pursued this as a goal. I volunteered at vet clinics, looked for opportunities to watch surgeries, and took all the high school sciences I would need. Then the first week of Grade 12 I realized that becoming a veterinarian would take a lot of time and not give me much of a social life, and I wanted to be more present for the people in my life, so I decided to work with people instead. I just got my Bachelor’s Degree in Child and Youth Care and I have a job at an Emergency Youth Shelter.

What’s something you’re good at vs something you’re bad at? 

I’m really good at writing (and writing lots), I do a lot of creative writing in my spare time. I am not very good at sports, or anything athletic.

If you draw/write, or create in any way, what's your favorite picture/favorite line/favorite etc. from something you created this year? 

I am insanely proud of this paper lantern that I made for a final project in an art class I took as an elective early this year! It’s meant to depict Lottie from arc 6 of Unprepared Casters, as well as her ghost friends. I still have it hanging up in my room.

Dogs or cats?

I do like both, but I probably lean more towards dogs than cats

What's something you would like to create content for? 

I would really love to be on one of my favourite DnD actual plays, but I am a cast member for a Minecraft DnD actual play podcast coming out in the new year! I still feel like joining the cast of one of the actual plays I listen to is a pipe dream, but I am excited to be entering that sphere and hope it opens up other opportunities in other smaller actual plays!

I also really want to stream myself doing a series of pokemon nuzlockes, but my schedule is too unpredictable rn to settle into a routine with that, so that’s a future plan.

What’s something you’re currently obsessed with? 

Unprepared Casters, always. Also, boy howdy, Dimension 20: Neverafter sure has a hold on me rn, the brainrot is real.

What's something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

I was really excited to get my job in Out of School Care at the same place I worked summer camp at, but while I love working with kids, working with youth at my practicum placement (and now part-time job now that my practicum is done) has lead me to see I much prefer working with an older age group. Once an opportunity for a full-time position at the youth shelter opens up, I plan on giving my notice to the Out of School Care position, but until that happens I plan to see out the school year to follow through on my contract.

What’s a hidden talent of yours? 

My middle sibling and I are really good at doing spontaneous improv bits together and I wish I could show them off, but we never plan them and attempting to film them would not allow it to happen naturally.

What's something you wish to have at this moment? 

I want my cold to go away :( I have been sick for the past several days and have had to cancel multiple fun plans as a result :(((( Let me get better so I can enjoy Christmas shenanigans!!!!!! I want clear nostrils again!!! My body faked me out yesterday and I felt better for most of the day, then I took a nose-dive in the evening and I feel worse than ever :(((((((((((

No pressure tags to @loudobjectprincess​ @jimbothy-magma​ @winter-changeling​ and anyone else who wants to do it! I would tag more but cold sick brain fog :((((

[rookie-catgirl]

I’m kind of tearing up a bit bc this was my favorite cartoonist as a child, possibly the most central, and I’ve never given a thought to the man’s actual personal existence. He’s always been the words “bill watterson”, because especially as a child I rarely was interested in the people who make our entertainment.

As children, most of us don’t care about or don’t even understand that years or decades of human lives are spent working for our personal enjoyment (and as part of the larger structure of the media economy). I think part of getting older and having more developed brain-stuff, is getting to know these processes more intimately, if time permits. I’m personally still not incredibly fascinated by technical film direction and effects, but do enjoy reading about how directors build relationships with their crew members and their stars.

Still, the work that goes into video games, doesn’t provoke my curiosity, while it obviously is so fascinating to so many other people (most of my irl friends included) Watterson’s main idea here though is so moving, and uplifting and positive because he’s sharing it through the lens of a stay-at-home father, which even now, but especially in the 80’s was a socially lambasted role, even for one who works from home.

I love this comic almost as much as I love Calvin and Hobbes. I know this biographical account omits the corporate structure of comics publishers, but I imagine (assume) that making strips for dozens of newspapers is less restrictive than working for a comics publisher, or for that matter, working at an ad-agency. It’s not perhaps totally relatable to many people, as it’s a unique life, but parts of it can be relatable to anyone. Stories and images like these make me want to become a parent, some day… or maybe that’s just my human instincts kicking in now that I’ve reached the late 20’s lol

This is all over the place but my main points are, his story is new to me and I love learning about people like him who’ve given me so much joy!

BILL WATTERSON ‘A cartoonist’s advice’

[opinion-piecemeal]

Recently one of my partners re-watched Legend of Korra and I happened to see bits and pieces of it while they watched through ALL of it. Just gonna say it’s genuinely a terribly written show. Like. Okay I’m not like a Last Airbender super-stan or anything (which I hope would be obvious as I hadn’t watched Korra for years), but it is substantially more interesting and better paced. I haven’t seen every episode of Korra but like, the introduction of Korra herself is completely half assed.

Like one of the first scenes shows her being able to do 3 different bending elements as a literal INFANT. A fuckin not-even-child. Barely older than a baby. And she can bend water, fire, and earth already. And she spends, what, 20 years NOT learning the one type she couldn’t already do??? It’s like spitting in the face of Last Airbender. “Oh the avatar this time is so much cooler and better guys, so much more capable.” Like I know the point is that we’ve already seen the training happen in the original (which was my personal favorite aspect of the original, but that’s neither here nor there), and now we can skip most of this training business and move right on to the “cool and interesting stuff” because apparently the very literally spiritual journey of learning these very deeply intimate techniques, pushing yourself into the literal spirit world, is not interesting enough. (I know they do the spirit world stuff later, it fucking blows chunks also). But could you not have simply introduced Korra AS AN ADULT, so it makes sense that she knows how to do 3/4 bending styles already?! Because she’s been training to understand and master them her whole life? But no, instead we get “she already knew how to do 3 of them. Skip 20 years. She still knows how to do the same 3 elements but she’s a little better now”. Like. C’mon man.

I really don’t like that the Chi blocking is just. A thing. That ANYONE can do with the right equipment. That takes away all the weight and impact of its original usage in Airbender. It was literally the last resort. Aang had been told over and over again that he HAD to kill Lord Ozai, even if it went against his very nature. Aang had to literally conceive of an option that didn’t even exist in the mind of any person, including past avatars. He had to figure out how to take away Ozai’s powers without conceding his morals, without sinking to the depth of taking a life. That’s heavy shit, that has a lot of weight to it. But no. Now they can just Do That if they get a new fangled piece of technology.

I dislike almost every character that I’ve seen, I don’t like how they’re written mostly, Korra is boring. She lacks a decent amount of defining character traits, and kind of just is “girlboss who’s already good at everything even if she fails sometimes”. I don’t want to call her a Mary Sue because I really haven’t seen enough to give a full well rounded take on her characterization, but from the sporadic bits and pieces I’ve seen throughout the show, at least 3 episodes from each season, I can tell you that at almost no point did she interest me. It felt like they just wanted to portray a strong female character again with none of the nuance they did with most of the female character from Airbender, and with way less effort.

Oh my god also I keep hearing from random fans of the show (like in irl conversations with friends) that “you just have to get passed the first 2 seasons”. Why is that acceptable? Why is it an okay thing to ignore an entire 1/2 of the fucking show to get to the good stuff? Like no. You wasted my time with your piss poor attempt at writing, I don’t want to sit through a shit ton of random episodes just because there’s some “good stuff” down the line. Like yeah, a few episodes in is whatever, it usually takes a few episodes for the people making the show to fully find their footing and how they want to produce the show itself, but 2 entire seasons? 2 seasons of some really lazy dialogue, lazy exposition, serviceable at best performances, decent at best fight choreography, and little to no character chemistry??? I’m set. I’m so good man. I don’t care if there’s the best monologue in modern history in your last episode, you did not give me enough enjoyment. I understand taking the good with the bad and trying to find the good in all media, but how is it that I’ve heard “oh just ignore the first 2 seasons” from real life people talking about it like that’s an okay thing???

I don’t really feel qualified to give much of an in-depth anything on this show, but these were my thoughts and reactions to it when I watched what little I’ve watched from it. I just hated it man. Deep dislike from the moment I watched the first minute of it and nothing about it piqued my interest after.

Idk. Anyway. That’s just like, my opinion, man.

[riddlerosehearts]

sigh

i feel like the older i get the more i just get worse and worse at life lol. i only have online friendships and even most of those started to slowly fall apart over the years since the pandemic and now i've become just straight up too nervous to really talk about my interests or try making plans with them. i had two close friendships that didn't fall apart during the pandemic but i feel like these people have grown distant from me too and i don't know what to do. idk if anyone has ever valued my friendship half as much as i've valued theirs except for one single person who is often very busy. and all of those posts that go around on here about how friendships as an adult are about making time to talk for 20 minutes every 3 weeks and hanging out once every 6 months just make me feel worse because that... sucks and honestly sounds more depressingly lonely than just Not having irl friends, and makes me feel like i irreversibly missed out on life by not having friends as a teenager. and i know i'm not being particularly fair to any of my friends by posting this instead of saying it to them. this is one example of me being absolute shit at life!

[borealalice]

🎀 list 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! get to know your moots or followers <3

-@letsgoricciardo

Ohohoho! Thank you for the ask @letsgoricciardo, and apologies for the delay in answering, it’s been a hectic couple of days irl. Now, let’s see…

Music. Basic answer, I know, but it’s true. Nothing makes me happier than a good tune, and I spend hours each week digging for new stuff, to the point where my friends straight up come to me when they want to freshen up their playlists.

Two cities: Seville & Lisbon (is this technically cheating?). I was born and raised Seville, and I’m somehow still not tired of it even after 20+ years. There’s something magical about this city, and it just never loses its charm. As to Lisbon, it’s the second most delightful place on earth, according to *me*. I’ve been 6 times and I just keep going back, it has such a unique vibe and so! Much! Good! Food!!! Always visit Lisbon if you have the chance.

Books. Another basic answer, but what can you do. I read a lot, and the older I get the more I appreciate the way a good book opens up a door to a different reality. Some favourites: Pereira Maintains by Antonio Tabucchi (set in Lisbon, what do you know), East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and Wizard of the Crow, by Ngugi Wa Thiongo.

Cubiletes. A traditional sweet from Asturias, Northern Spain. My mum is from there, so I’ve spent many a vacation enjoying the Cantabrian breeze and eating cubiletes to my heart’s content. Unfortunately, it’s practically impossible to find them in the South and I’m a shit baker, so they’re exclusively a vacation treat for me ;(

And lastly, and this is a somewhat recent addition to this list: the scent of my favourite perfume, Cristal, by Narciso Rodríguez. I’m very sensitive to smells so it’s taken me a really long time to find a perfume that clicked with me, but at last it’s happened! It makes me happy every time I catch a whiff of it on my clothes.