#my offline life has also been really busy

[callioope]

i have once again been sucked into critical role by the gravitational pull of essek thelyss and am furiously attempting to catch up

[peppermintquartz]

Buck volunteers for the Thanksgiving shift. When Maddie asks, he apologizes, saying, "I don't really feel festive right now. But keep some leftovers for me?"

On the day, firehouses around the country all have similar calls to deal with: kitchen grease fires from frying turkeys, sprains in backyard games of football, people injuring one another because "did you hear what she said about our Emma/Francis/Kailey?". Buck is kept too busy to think, and it's nice having the time to catch up with Ravi, who's thinking of going to school to study law.

Their brothers and sisters in uniform also drop off dishes at the station, so between calls, they get pretty good food. Captain Graham gives them an hour offline after four consecutive calls. Buck collapses into a chair and serves himself pasta salad and a delicious honey baked ham, while his dinner rolls warm up in the oven.

He's scrolling through his phone, diligently avoiding the messaging apps, when a message preview pops up.

Tommy.

Buck almost drops his fork. He scrambles away from the dinner table, even though no one on C shift will try to take his phone from him, and finds a spot in the stairwell to read it.

Tommy: hope you have a good & safe Thanksgiving

As he's reading, another bubble appears and Buck's heart skips several beats, but this time it doesn't disappear. A second message arrives, followed by a third.

Tommy: don't know why I texted that

Tommy: guess I just wanted to say something to you

Tommy: you don't have to reply

Tommy: anyway. Happy holidays

Buck feels a slight loosening of the vice around his heart that has been there since that night. With a smile on his face, he types, deletes, types again.

Buck: happy Thanksgiving to you too

Buck: how many kitchen grease fires you got this year? We had 3

Tommy: you're working today?

Tommy: 4, but one of it was in the backyard

They're having a conversation. They're having an actual casual conversation, as easy as they used to on calmer shifts. Buck wants to cry. But he has to answer Tommy's question or have this conversation end too soon. Thinking about his options, he decides that he has nothing to lose anyway.

Buck: I didn't wanna sit around and smile and pretend I'm thankful for everything

Buck: it's better to keep busy

Tommy: I know that feeling

Tommy: I'm sorry

Buck: I'm sorry too

Buck: I wish we could've celebrated together

Buck: I would've said that I'm thankful for you

Tommy: I would have said that too

Tommy: I'm still thankful for you jsyk. I'll always be grateful to have got to know you

Does Tommy think he can't stay in Buck's life just because they broke up?

Buck: I don't think you know me well enough

Tommy: sorry

Buck wishes he'd run after Tommy that night, or done something since to show that he wants Tommy. Well, here's your chance, his brain reminds him. Do something.

He takes a deep breath. Then he types.

Buck: I want to meet. If I come over after Thanksgiving shift, will you please be home?

Tommy: is that a good idea

Buck: idk. But I can't stop thinking about you, and I miss you, and I wanna know what I did wrong. I wanna meet.

Tommy: I miss you too. You didn't do anything wrong, I just didn't want to... Idk. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much.

Buck: we need to talk in person. Texting is not good enough.

It isn't. He needs to see Tommy again. Tommy with his storm blue eyes and tender smile and broad shoulders and soft clothes. Tommy whose crinkly smile drives Buck a little (a lot) insane. Tommy whose lips he now knows the shape of by touch alone, whose body he has mapped out in detail, who knows how it feels to be inside Buck in the most intimate of ways.

He waits for a response. Hopes there will be one. It comes several minutes after, like Tommy had to really think about it.

Tommy: maybe not immediately after Thanksgiving shift

Tommy: are you off on Monday

The relief that crashes into Buck feels almost as overwhelming as the tsunami he was caught in years ago.

Buck: yes

Buck: your place this time

Buck: I'll bring cake

Tommy: you don't have to bribe me to open the door

Buck: no I just baked too much stuff is all. I'll explain when we meet

Buck: I'm really thankful you texted

Tommy: I'm thankful you replied

Tommy: have a good rest of the shift, Evan

It's Evan again. Buck can't hide his smile at all. Tucking his phone into his pocket, he goes back to dinner. Monday can't be here fast enough.

[timelessmulder]

[Fibercrafting] Whatever Happened to Spun With Love? {heavy}

(31 days of horror day 9: Spin)

For the past five years, Caitlin "Cat" Doherty found her foothold on sites like Instagram and Ravelry selling commissions for her eye catching, hand spun yarn made with ethically sourced dyes and alpaca wool. She had a small but moderate presence on the convention circuit, selling handmade goods that showed off her yarn. Eventually she started making limited runs, available at convention booths and through higher tiers of her Patreon. Shortly after this she quit her full time job in data entry to pursue fiber works full time.

In mid-2022, at the urging of some other people in the hand dyed yarn business, and people who had bought from her before, she opened her own Etsy. The catalog was massive, with at least twenty listings. This included her most popular limited runs that always sold out within moments. This was when the cracks first began to show, even among her most devoted followers: this was a huge amount of work for one person to be undertaking, even if the listings promised continued limited runs and wait lists.

In an Instragram announcement, crossposted to her Twitter, Cat said:

I appreciate the concern from all y'all :3c but I calculated the amount of work I think I'll be able to handle running a small business. If things actually spiral out of my control, I will step back and reevaluate.

Despite her words, a healthy amount of skepticism remained. Her fans worried about her health, and naysayers thought she'd fold within a few months.

this is a lot for someone to handle! take care of yourself cat

she's going to hightail it the first time she gets orders and the backlog goes crazy. shes doomed

wouldn't it have been smarter to start with like five??? get that bag ig

The orders remained steady for the first five months of operation. Cat would periodically close listings and get items out to customers with slow wait times that remained consistent, typically a few weeks before arrival. The convention appearances came to an end, much to the dismay of people who enjoyed seeing her cottagecore booth in person, but Cat assured people that once she found a groove with this business she would start going to conventions again.

No one was really surprised when things started to slow down. Reports brought up longer wait times, and a major backlog that she couldn't keep up with.

i was put on a waitlist like two months ago and people who ordered straight from the listing got shit before me

girl just limit the waitlist no one will judge you!!!

Cat Doherty tweeted an apology:

I'm so sorry for all the issues. A major life event happened, but I'll be getting back on top of things! I will be halting any new listings to work on my backlog. I'm so sorry for the frustration and inconvenience. In the meantime, why don't you check out Jessica's shop, Spindle and Thimble?

Jessica White was a fellow dyer who also did work dying fabrics. Her store was not as prominent as Cat's, but she had an unmatched business savvy that gave her a solid niche despite middling Etsy reviews. While most of their friendship remained behind the scenes, with Jessica being someone who preferred to keep her life offline, it seemed that Jessica wanted the novice entrepreneur to succeed. Many took the shout out to be Cat returning the favor.

True to her word, Cat closed her Etsy for the time being and started to send out yarn to the people still waiting on orders. People responded with annoyance at how long it took, but surprised delight that the quality was excellent as always.

Three months after the announcement, the shipments stopped. A thread by Lisa Fitz appeared on ravelry:

Has anyone gotten an order from Spun With Love recently?

I should've been in her next batch of orders but its been weeks. I haven't gotten a shipment and no text communication from Doherty. I paid upfront for this!

This spun out in predictable directions.

Christ I hope she's okay ):

lmao who wants to bet money that we've got another "fake her death because she couldn't handle the pressure?" going on

The second comment referencing multiple situations where fiber craft artists have faked their deaths due to being overwhelmed by their sales numbers, most notably Mystic Creations Yarn (talked about in this thread). This situation exploded, with some people doubling down on the idea that she's vanished off the face of the earth rather than deal with potentially irate customers, while others expressed genuine concern. Everyone agreed that if there was an issue, they hoped she would reach out to them and explain.

A few days later, when the argument was a post every few hours instead of a constant stream, Jessica stepped in.

Hey guys, Jessica here. Cat has asked me to let you know that she's had a major health scare and she's very sorry for the upset she's caused to all of you. In the mean time, I will be offering free products of similar color to those who haven't had their orders fulfilled. Just email me a copy of your receipt. If not, we will work on getting refunds out to you.

Most were relieved at the update on Cat's well being, while others preened at being correct that she'd fold under the pressure. More arguments ensued between those people, and those scolding them for being so callous about her health. The argument got pretty heated, only stopping when a mod stepped in to tell everyone to play nice. Creative burnout is a known thing in the crafting community and Cat shouldn't be punished for it, though she should have stepped forward sooner to let everyone know what was happening.

The thread fizzled out after that. People moved on with their lives, chalking this up to another piece of craft drama and more than happy to leave it at that.

Months passed, and someone returned to that thread:

Sorry to necro, but did anyone else see the news report?

In the post was a link to a news report from the town where Cat was living. She had been murdered, and her body only recently found.

To say the thread exploded after that would be an understatement. There were people apologizing for being so cruel about her vanishing, people were trying to reach out to her family to see if there was any way they could help. Digital vigils were held for the person taken too soon. And as it often does on the internet, a question arose from the posters: who had done it? Why?

hey can anyone get into contact with jessica???

i don't think its appropriate. they were friends, jessica is probably grieving like the rest of us

dude leave her alone

idk yall her post is pretty suspicious

what the fuck is wrong with you?

But the seed of suspicion was laid in the minds of some forum users. It spread into the wider community, though everyone's grief disguised any suspicions placed on Jessica. Those who found her behavior odd were often shunned and blocked for it, until they stopped bothering outside of their conspiracy corners. These people would soon be vindicated when news broke that Jessica White had been arrested in relation to the death of 34-year-old Caitlin Doherty.

The investigation at this point is still on going and very little is known about it, but initial reports are saying that someone broke into Cat's rented studio and beat her to death with one a piece of her spinning wheel. Few other details have been released to the public.

--------

ffiberfarrts commented | 2.1k upvotes:

hey op why is this on hobbydrama

[marengogo]

UGH!-10: It's Too Early For This Shit

Nuts - by RM  [Right Place, Wrong Person]

[Music is a very big part of my life and I’m MOSTLY INCAPABLE of writing without music, so I just thought I’d share what I am listening to while writing this]

–🐺–🐺–🐺–

⚠️ super angry post ahead ⚠️

I've just opened the blue bird App and I'm already done for the day.

"the travel show should've been these two. I'm very fond of their dynamic", "so true. It would've been more interesting more fun and less drama", "Heavy on the less drama. We'd also be having discussions too, the way we are massively ignoring the current one is sending me-", "ikrrr😭😭 also actual and long conversations between them" ...

Is it so fucking hard to just not give into the people you swear on your life you are "protecting your fave" from? Is it so hard respecting your faves decisions? Is it so hard to ... I dunno ... express your frustration without having to shit on someone else who has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING?

So you are frustrated that 🐰solos, 🐻solos, and 🐰🐻ers are in 🐥's business as always? Okay. AND? That should never stop you from watching the show your fave worked so hard on! You support your fave, you show him that his will, wishes and opinions do matter and YOU REPORT THE MOTHERFUCKERS, YOU IGNORE THE MOTHERFUCKERS, AND YOU MOVE THE FUCK ON, FFS!

It is really as simple as that.

KPOPPIES and their mamas have been against 875 since time immemorial, yet here we are, supporting them because supposedly we think they are worth our support and them pursing their dreams. Imagine going "I wish 875 disbanded because we have to report antis everyday" ... in 2024? on the Blue Bird App? Really now?? Where've you been Fam?! On Blue Bird Dot Com IT BE LIKE THAT. In K-MEDIA it be like that. In The Streets of the World with ignorant people It be Like THAT!!

Being AMI is not easy. It is frustrating many a time, it is angering many a time, it is downright aggravating many a time, but you'll never see me disrespect ANY of the members because other people in the world are dickheads. NO BRO.

You sad? Stay off SM for a day or two. You mad? Bitch with your friends offline, rant on a post, and/or start boxing, I dunno! But whatever it is ALWAYS 👏🏾 AIM 👏🏾 YOUR 👏🏾 RAGE 👏🏾 AT 👏🏾 THE 👏🏾 RIGHT 👏🏾 TARGET 👏🏾 .

Certain people resorting to hate 🐥 and viceversa IS NEVER going to be 🐰's fault and viceversa .

🐥 loves all his hyungs, and arguably 🐿️ is the one he is closest to. But he also loves all "his" maknaes, and you don't have to believe he is even close to 🐰 but YOU WILL RESPECT the fact that for a good 7 years at the very least ever since GCF Tokyo came to be, both 🐥 and 🐰 seem to really not give TWO FLYING FUCKS about what any of us have to say about the time they choose to spend together. So much so that, not only did they do a whole show together, but where and with whom are they now? 🦻🏾 ...

Yes. I thought so.

Also more interesting more fun ... actual and long conversations you are just a hating hoe for that. Two people not being chatterboxes doesn't mean there is anything wrong with tem. Not your cup of tea? Move on alone, no need to shit on it. Sure 🐥🐿️ may have a more "marketable" dynamic from 🐥🐰 but maybe, just maybe, 🐥 wasn't completely aiming at entertaining, in fact on multiple occasions they even said they weren't sure if this would air at all, but they weren't bothered.

In fact, if you ask me, this particular show aired because it wasn't like every other show so hellbent on trying to entertain. It aired because this were two people who actually ended up entertaining while constantly reminding themselves that they had to, and mainly failing to do so. So fuck you wholeheartedly.

If any of the other members want to have their show I'll be up for any pairing, any trio, etc and it will be just as special and interesting in its own way. If it ends up being shit ... I can assure you it will probably not air which would be a shame because i would watch anything my boys want to show us.

Just, it would be great if for once, some people could stop the hate-comparison and try the appreciation-despite, it goes a long way, and for the looks of it, 🐥 & 🐰 are not going to stop until their 50 so ... yeah.

I'm so fucking angry obviously,

Marengo.

PS - If anyone tries to come at me saying that I hate 🐥🐿️ I'LL END YOU.

[here2bbtstrash]

as promised, here it is: The Big Life Update Post (aka m where the hell have u been and what the hell is going on with this blog)

TLDR: went thru it, came out better for it, i love y'all. and we're getting back into this writing thing as i have the time and capacity 🥳

2023 has been a bit of a whirlwind, to put it very mildly. while the first three months started off relatively smoothly, my saturn return began in the middle of march. only a few short weeks after that... well, i'd basically say everything went off the fucking rails.

content warning: drama talk incoming ft. extremely brief mentions of racism and racist hate mail (no specific details shared).

i haven't spoken on this yet since everything happened, and i want to be explicitly clear that i won't be speaking on it further after this post. but i just want you to understand where i've been at since april.

i will own it entirely and say: i fucked up. i put content in a story that i shouldn't have, that i had no business speaking on, and i think people were well within their right to call me out on it, one hundred percent. however, after i went offline at the end of april, my friends ended up learning that the person who initially stirred up all of the "tea", and submitted the first several anonymous posts about me to a hate blog, was actually someone i knew well and considered a friend.

this was someone whose stories i gladly beta'd, someone i consoled through multiple hard moments in their life, someone i actually even met in person. yep. this was also someone who had read the chapter of my story that featured the problematic content when it was released, and proceeded to send me paragraphs upon paragraphs of how much they enjoyed it, and the story as a whole. this is not to say that people can't change their minds on content after sitting with it, not at all. but to think that i had been through so much with this person, done so much to be there for them, and that they never once gave me any reason to think we were anything other than close friends. yet ultimately, they didn't feel they could come directly to me... or find quite literally any other way of dealing with the issue?

instead, they chose to send multiple messages about me to a hate blog, as well as hateful anons to several of my friends, thinking that we wouldn't know it was them (we did). not only that, but their actions encouraged an actual torrent of racist hate mail to be sent to all of my non-white friends who publicly chose to support me. ultimately, they ended up admitting all of this, and still, they never once apologized or showed even a single iota of remorsefulness or responsibility for the onslaught of vitriol they incited. (even though, you know, this whole thing was supposedly about how racism is bad.)

and this user is still on the platform, operating under a new blog name and pseudonym. so. that's fun. 💀

i don't say this to beat a dead horse, or to drum up sympathy, because i promise i don't want it. it's been long enough, i understand the mistakes i made, and i've done my part to take accountability for my actions. but i needed to start this post here to have you all understand where i was at the end of april - just in time for yoongi's tour 🤪 - in many ways, i felt like i had no friends, at least none that i could really trust. i felt unsure who might have been acting one way to my face, perhaps even praising me, but talking different about me behind my back. and it was beyond fucking nervewracking to think that i would be meeting so many friends IRL for the first time, quite literally days after what essentially felt like a public execution.

i wasn't doing well, to say the least.

and then... the funniest thing happened.

y'all showed the fuck up for me. in droves. in a way that i have quite literally never experienced in my lifetime and doubt i ever will again. even recounting it now is lowkey giving me chills. i received, literally, yes i counted, hundreds of DMs from the most incredibly kind people- on tumblr, on twitter, on discord, in AO3 comments. the vast majority of you wrote paragraphs: about what my stories have meant to you, about how you found my blog to be a safe space in the noise of the world, about how much you'd enjoyed our time together here. so many of you said something along the lines of "even if you never come back here again, please keep writing". honestly, for like a week straight all i could do was read my DMs and cry and cry and cry.

i didn't receive a single hateful DM. not one.

as if that alone isn't more blessings than i deserve in an entire lifetime, i also, you know. saw five shows of agust d on tour. (my credit card is still recovering.) spent two of the best nights of my life in pit getting a water bottle baptism and screaming myself hoarse. and met dozens of incredible moots, who held me when i cried, scream-laughed with me, and of course, drank plenty of booze with me.

at a time where i wondered to myself if i even had a single true friend in this fandom (or, like, in the world), you all showed me that i had so much more. that we had so much more-- we had a community. and i believe we still do. and i am more than ready to block out all the shit that doesn't matter and get back to having some fun around here.

in short: thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. if you sent me a sweet word, i promise you, i read it (and probably cried lmao). i wouldn't be doing any of this without you. i will never ever deserve all the love that you have shown me. but for as long as you'll have me, i'd love to have a fun stupid horny time in this little corner of the internet. as a part of our community. what a fucking gift it is. 🫶

phew. okay, so- that was april and may. it's november. what the fuck happened?

i knew i wanted to properly take time to get my head on straight before i found my way back to writing. what i wasn't expecting was to 1. fall in love, 2. get a new job, and 3. move myself and my cat approximately 800 miles across the country... but yeah, since the end of may, those 3 things are exactly what i've been doing!

i won't talk too much about my partner here, because our relationship is important enough to me that i want to keep it largely private, but my god. he is the most incredible human. i can't tell you how much of what i wrote out as silly little daydreams in my fanfiction has somehow manifested itself into this very real human being (like, it's kinda crazy lmao 🙈). i'm grateful for him every single day. and what makes it even more special is that we met for the first time in person while i was traveling for yoongi's tour - yep! he saw me going through so much upheaval, and fell for me all the same. just another thing i will never fully believe i deserve. but goddamn do i feel luckyyyyy 🥰

and in addition to my amazing partner (and in part because of him but honestly i had plans to move before i had even met this man it just happened to work out okay 🙄) i have also finally managed to do what i've been planning for the last year and a half, which is move my ass out of the southern suburbs where i'd been for nearly a decade, and to a ✨walkable city that actually has public transit✨ - what a fucking dream. i may have only been here 8 days, and i may not have much more to my name than my cat, my TV, and my mattress, but i swear to god, i've never been this happy in my entire life.

so yeah. exhale. like i said, it's been quite the year.

now i do want to end this with a small caveat, which is to say, i can't make a promise as to how much i can *be* here (particularly not compared to how terminally online i used to be lmao). i spent a lot of time online because i was unhappy and feeling very stuck with where i was in life, and i needed escapism, bad. now, i've finally gotten to a place where i'm excited to go out of my house and do things, but i still want to make intentional time for tumblr as a form of connection and community, and writing as a form of creative expression. these things are really important to me!!! i just ask that you give me some grace if i'm a little slow on the uptake. i promise i'm still here 🥰

and writing is gonna happen!!! i can't say much more than that, because tbh i haven't so much as opened a google doc since april, but i've been itching to get back to it. maybe.... we might start off....... with some........... drabble requests??? 👀 we'll see we'll see we'll see hehe.

in any case, i think that's more than enough for now 🤪 oh how i've missed babbling to you all, the gay people in my phone. i hope you're well, and if ya feel so inclined, i'd love it if you'd send me a comment or a DM on what you've been up to in the many months it's been since we've spoke! what's new in your life? what are we manifesting??

talk so so soon, eeeeee~ i'm so happy to be back~ love you babes!!! 🤍

[the-tarot-witch22]

First of all a big thankyou to you for always cheering me up and making me feel confident within my work, I'm so happy to know that you liked them. And yes it is actually funny because I do get some vibes of you two having same religion/culture yet I was also receiving something about European country/london especially so I was like is it a foreigner? But same culture hmm. But anything is possible so whatever that is you deserve the best and I'm sure you'll receive it. Also your fs definitely wants the best for you and love yourself, i also feel your higher-self would love herself too and as she should!!

Here's a feedback; OMG! Just few seconds in the reading and I'm already tearing up, because please the reading if just so beautiful :)) Okay so hearing about healing and self-love and all I'm just so happy because I've been doing a lot of shadow work and self-love is something very important to me now so knowing that my higher would reach that point of life where she's receiving the fruits of her hardwork I am very emotional, "Go for it" how do I explain i words what it meant to me because I was just thinking about things in life and all, especially about my career and then I hear this. Definitely I'm someone who's still learning to trust herself and all it was a huge sign for me especially for the steps I've been wanting to take/taking. Hearing about friends made me so greatful because I've been kind of unlucky when it comes to friendships especially offline (ik it also had a reason) so that is just so beautiful. Also about luxuries and money, and my higher-self??? She's exactly what i want to be or imagine her to me omg. Yeah like f*ck it, wait last life connection came here too?? And my fs popping up in ng reading again okay this reading is all I needed I am gonna give myself a good cry. And also that's so true I'm definitely the type of even now who looks at past just to remind myself how far I've came and what they've taught me and feel greatful even for those tough moments. "I also feel pink, green (pastel) or dark shades have importance in your life" wow please i should kiss your hands rn because it resonates even with colours, like i really love pastel shades and dark shades, and i would say they do play a role since when i wear dark clothes i feel much more confident and tune within mymasculine energy and with light colours with my feminine energy and I'm sure that maybe these colours play another roles too. "felt you standing in front of mirror and admiring it" *cries again* because I do have struggled with my body since my childhood and very insecure of it because of how skinny I look, and seeing her admiring her parts made me realise a lot. And yes I am a forgiving person and I've already forgiven everyone woah please you picked on the present too!?? Also about job, and career with growth...(Just so very greatful) Literally so very greatful because that's what I've wanting to give myself and even the higher position/business definitely aligns with my goals. And coming to my intuition and the Messages just blessed!! I am definitely gonna start hearing it more and also about the mysteries it makes sense and resonates (I'm surprised) because it's just a huge confirmation to me. Also coming to education, honey it resonates again because that's one of my biggest goals. Also "thankyou for meeting me baby" my pookie baby i already love you so much you popping up in the reading again!!!? Or atleast knowing something about you, it's okay love ik we'll meet when the timing is right. 🤍🫂 Also the moodboard?? Bro it's just so beautiful energetically and the fact I do see so many angel numbers, 444 too. Okay everything literally everything RESONATES!!

How do I explain in words how greatful i feel. Love you so very much honey, i really appreciate each and every moment, really greatful that I met you. Everything has a reason and I'm it had too. Sending my warmest hugs to my sweetheart, you are amazing don't question yourself. You are moving forward and making progress and that's a really huge thing, things take time but ik we'll be okay!!

Proud of you bub. Have an amazing day ahead. Sending lots of love and blessings 🫶🏻🤍✨🧿

You sweetheart!! I love you so so much 😭🌼 you deserve the compliments and your readings work is literally so gooood!? How can I not like it! You are so sweet for giving me both readings and moodboard and they resonated so much with me, it made me so emotional and happy thank you sm, I appreciate you so much that I can't describe in words, my love yes exactly!! Its funny maybe that country has important value in both of our lives I am just so excited to meet him! I love him already! Yess, we will have everything we deserve and I am sure the universe is working our favour!! Amen 🙏

✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼

The detailed feedback?? I am so in love with it , you are so so sweet 😭 the messages I kept picking on it was like everything your higherself wants you to hear and lessen your worries and doubts, your future spouse/soulmate he really wants to give you love and confirmation that he is out there, the way lovers card flew and pop up and I was like he is too excited to show himself to you lol, and it was cute, I am happy for him and for you 😭 I am so glad you liked the moodboard I kept feeling drawn to those pictures and I know they all had something for you, to feel and hear, I am literally smiling and feeling just so emotional?? Like I am so glad for the feedback and they way our energy aligns it just made me so so happy! I am so glad your higher self has everything , she literally is the sweetest, thank you so much for letting me read for you, ilysm!

✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼

Love you more! And I am definitely sure it had a meaning and I am glad we met, thank you so much, sending love and hugs to you as well!! Yess! We both are and I know things will look up for us, I just know it. Yess everything will be~!

✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼✨️🌼

Thank you so much for this and I am proud of you too! Have an amazing day too!! Sending love and positive vibes to you tooo ! 🧿✨️🌼🎀

[lolashifts]

DAY 4 OF SHIFTMAS 2024 ❆ ⋆⁺₊❅ .

⌗ 𝟒. sledding ; what does a hang out with your friend group look like? where do you go? who is your friend group?

(answering for my teen fame dr)

psa: not using pictures here bc i couldn’t for the life of me find anyone who resembled them on pinterest and it got me frustrated lol

for this dr specifically i scripted i'd be friends with the pjo cast (obviously) but i also scripted in my own friend group from school whom i adore very very much so i'm gonna write about them <3

note: i am currently doing online school because of the busy schedule i have. besides the percy jackson tv show premiere, i'd miss basically an entire semester since i'm filming the "how to train your dragon" live-action in ireland in a couple of months, therefore there are no other options for me. all this to say that i don't see my friends in school anymore but we all live in the same city so we still meet up very often!

i won't go into too much detail: my friend group consists of sadie, laurie, felix and will and this is what i can share - coming from my own script:

sadie ; incredibly taylor swift coded in the way she talks and expresses herself, she's a rep stan and a concert girlie! also loves drama, but likes to not be involved in it more and is obsessed with horror books and movies (her favorite is "us")

laurie ; that sweet, cottage core and hopeless romantic cutiepie who you'd want to hug and protect with your LIFE. she's an evemore girlie, adores palette colors and autumn and wants to study law in college + our friends say me and her are the pure souls of the group (it’s kinda cute i’ll give them that)

felix ; literally THEEE farkle minkus of our clique five !! he's on the robotics team, looks a little too much like james potter for his liking while being a remus kinnie and, in fact, despises candy but loves chocolate! also he's so chronically offline the only reason he even has social media is to keep up with us (lmao i promise he loves us)

will ; the greenest green flag to ever walk on the face of the earth + clueless adhd softie boy from the swim team everyone loves (he's such a sweetheart it's impossible not to really) and he's a reki from sk8 the infinity kinnie !!

we all usually meet at cafés to study all together or in parks to catch up. they always tell me the ultimate gossip from school and i in return share my experiences, stories from set and things that have been happening in my life. to be honest, though, i mostly try to avoid talking about my career to keep things as normal as possible. they all support me a lot and i love them for it but i don't want to make them feel weird around me because of it, if that makes sense?

anyway, i love all four of them so sm they’re great people and i actually will get them to meet the cast at the pjo premiere !! that’s gonna be fun, i can’t wait to see how the dynamic goes there 😭

[tennessoui]

kit i'm so curious about your writing process, as someone who writes fanfic too it's amazing how much you write tbh, do you write on your phone or your computer? I'm pretty old school and write in paper idk why lmao

For the most part I write on my laptop and using Google docs (which has many many cons but the pros at this point still outweigh the Google doc cons) (the pros are mostly related to convenience and being able to edit offline and document syncing when online access comes back but also the ability to share a single link with the internet has been game changing tbh)

In situations where I have a lot of dead time but I don’t want to pull out my laptop, I’ve written on my phone (airplanes, at work between customers/tasks, in long car drives where I’m not driving) on either the Google docs app or on my notes app and copied it over to the main document later

I also come up with a lot of dialogue or action sequencing while I’m outside on walks that I just write down when I get back home - but rehearsing the scene and the dialogue in my head many times really helps it stick and makes writing it down go quickly. sometimes I feel like a director yelling “cut” and resetting the scene in my head, subtracting lines and then going “action!” 😂

I think mainly I’m just a pretty quick writer though if I have a sudden intense burst of creativity or passion for a project/chapter! and if I have a passion for the project, I’m more likely to find ways to write it even when real life gets busy or when I have obligations to attend to (i.e., I wrote the majority of the hot air balloonest anakin fic waiting for a train twice, and I wrote the majority of the first chapter of the hunger games au on a plane in a middle seat)

[the-hedge-hypnotist]

A Drunk Texan Stole My Identity.

I've had this blog since 2017. In those 6 years, I have been consistently active, sometimes more than others, depending on IRL factors, but in December I lost my Dad. To say that this was devastating would be an understatement. I made posts on my social media channels that I would not be active for awhile, because there was no way I could juggle things in my online life with the needs of my offline life.

The majority of people in the hypnokink community have been wonderful during this time. I received a handful of kind messages that really meant a lot. I would be remiss if I didn’t also highlight the kindness of a lot of the fetish models, I’ve worked with who reached out. They got hired for a job and could have left it at that, but many of them took time out of their busy lives to reach out. They’re great people.

And that brings me to the drunk Texan who I’ll just refer to as “James”. Although part of me wants to blast his full name all over the internet, I’m not. James decided to use my bereavement leave as an opportunity to impersonate me on Tumblr. He used the “Hedge Hypnotist” name, posted my content and claimed it was his own, and messaged people pretending to be me in attempts to hypnotize them. James has also stolen content from @qu1etdroprop (who is awesome and makes fantastic content). I’ve also been contacted by another producer who informed me that James has been pirating their content, which is not only illegal but a deplorable thing to do considering the amount of effort goes into making Hypnokink content, especially at a time when Hypnokink content is under attack.

James is a moron. While you might be thinking that he just does not know any better, let me tell you that James is in his 30s and has a kid. James knows better than to do this. His smug smile during his over a decades worth of mugshots and excuses when confronted about all of this (as seen below) lead me to think that he’s a narcissist who uses mental gymnastics to relieve himself from any shame or accountability for his actions.

Originally, I confronted James and was just going to leave it at that. There is a steep learning curve when entering the online hypnosis community and no definitive structures to educate or prepare people. Almost everyone makes mistakes in this community and, in most cases, I think they should be used as lessons to move forward in the future. This is not one of those cases. Identity theft is far outside from the typical learning curves within the Hypnosis Community and, as I’ve heard from more and more people about the interactions with James while he has been pretending to be me, letting him off with a warning is beneath the threshold of what his actions warrant.

If you interacted with James while he was pretending to be me, please let me know. The more I hear the more I’m considering legal action (something I’m becoming more and more well versed in due to insane people on the internet). If you've been wronged by him and want more information, I will be happy to give you more information.

I would advise against interacting with him. There is something wrong with him. He does not have any concept of how to operate on the internet, let alone within the hypnokink community, or even behind the wheel of a car for that matter. If his conduct online and his decade worth of mugshots are any indication, I feel incredibly bad for (as he referred to her) his “crazy latina ex”.

Here are some of his current accounts. I have no doubt that there are more and that he’ll change screen names in the near future. Please keep an eye open.

Usernames: DreamyDominant91#7395 SleepDoctor91 MasterKaa91 James Kay (Not his real last name) Jamesk.tti@gmail.com Hypno Dream Master hypno-dreammaster

Also a huge THANK YOU to @pruning-the-minds-garden for helping to get the word out about this.

Apologies to all the awesome Texans in the world. Sorry you share a geographic region with this guy.

[mywrittingwonderland]

Toronto or London

Hello Everyone, Am I back? I am not sure, but I just really got stuck in my head these past few days, and well, I figured writing would help me. I didn't really proofread this, so I apologize in advance. I also don't necessarily love this that much, but at least it got me out of my limbo phase. Warnings: None really Word Count: 2,510 Summary: She has always been in love with Toronto; she just didn't know why yet.

Enjoy!!

- - - - - - - - -

20/05/2018

“Toronto or London?” — Jimmy asked as the last question of the fast questions round.

“Toronto” — Emily replied, without a second thought to the question. Which got the audience and all her fellow colleagues to look at her by surprise. 

“Wait a minute, weren’t you born in London? What makes you choose Toronto?”

“Honestly? I just have always had a good feeling about Toronto, even though I never really got spend that much time there, I hope that at some point once I have a break I manage to go touring on that city.” — She replied, with an honest response. The truth is that she always had a good feeling when she was around Toronto, she just didn’t know why. - - -

12/06/2018

“Shawn, someone told me you wanted to tryout for a few acting gigs, and that Harry has been pushing you to do it?” — Shawn laughed at the question while nodding his head confirming the information. — “So my question to you is, if you had to work with any actor/actress who would it be?” 

“Oh wow, that’s a difficult one Jimmy, but I think I would have to say Emily Wilson, I just really love everything she does, like it would be such an honour. I am a huge fan! Honestly even meeting her would be a huge honour” 

“Well I was told she loves Toronto! So maybe it won’t be that hard to find her roaming around the city, you could just ask her on a date you know?” — Jimmy joked.

“I don’t think I would ever even dare to do that!” — Shawn answered, his face definitely a bit flustered.

“Well, but moving on to business Shawn, talk to us about your new album!”

30/09/2019

“So, Emily lets talk about your new film, you are now shooting in Toronto, right?” 

“Yes, and it has been an amazing experience to be able to be in Toronto for 3 months now, I really love this city so much!” — She replied with a smile on her face.

“That’s so great! I hope you managed to finally go to all the places you wanted to visit around the city, did you manage to have the time to do that?” 

“Oh, I really wish! We barely stopped during the filming process because I need to run to London right after this, we are starting to shoot The Selection series with Netflix, as you all know, so I manage to visit a few places but definitely have to come back.”

“So, if you had to choose between life in Toronto or London, which one would you choose?” 

“Toronto!” — She answer without second thoughts. — “Don’t get me wrong I love London, but there is just something about here that I can’t take my head off it.” 

 - - -

10/01/2020

“Girl I just loved your work so much! I mean you know I love your acting gigs but your song, I just don’t know how you didn’t win song of the year! It was my song of the year for sure!” — Billie said as soon as she spotted Emily at the Grammy’s after party.

“Come on! You are queen here today, don’t even start! You killed it!” 

“Thank you! It means a lot coming from you! I heard you are back to filming in New York this month? Maybe we can meet up for a coffee when you are around?”

“Actually, I just finished filming yesterday, I am heading to Toronto tomorrow, and then back to London for more filming.” — Emily said a bit sad she would miss the coffee with Billie.

“No wayyyy! Wait up, I will probably head to Canada for a few days too, Justin recommend me a very nice retreat in which paps won’t find me, and I am in need of some offline days, especially after this crazy night, I feel like I can definitely go for that!” 

“That’s amazing, if you want you can come with me in the plane and we have that coffee and you can tell me more about how was this masterpiece production”

“I am in girl! Let’s go!” — Billie answered before being dragged by her brother to answer to a phone call they had just got.

- - -

11/01/2020

“Wait up! You have never talked with Shawn or Justin before? Even though you have been obsessed with Canada your entire life? How is that even possible? 

“You know I was nominated for a song for the movie I did right? I don’t actually sing B.” — Emily said laughing at her friend.

“Oh shush girl, you just won a grammy yesterday for best song for visual media, maybe you don’t want to admit but you are good in what you are doing” 

“Billie, I literally have one song out!”

“True! But still…” 

“Enough on me and my obsession with Canada, tell me more about what you have been up to! It has been so long since we had time to actually talk!” — Emily answered, eager to know more about her friend.

- - -

12/01/2020

“Shawn there is an invitation for you to go to this interview tomorrow with Emily Wilson, I know it is last minute but if you want to do it, we can do it.” — Andrew said over the phone.

“Wait, what? Really? Of course I want to do it, should probably talk to Camilla first about it, but yes.” — He said, immediately texting his girlfriend about the interview as he knew she could become a bit insecure with Shawn going to an interview with his celebrity crush. But her response came out being super supportive which made Shawn at ease about going.

- - -

13/01/2020

“Hello you guys, I was told you had never met! And honestly I didn’t believe it!” — The interviewer at the radio said making Shawn and Emily smile at each other before answering.

“I honestly just never spent enough time here to get to meet new people, I am always hanging out with the crew and it just never happened, but it is an honour to finally meet you Shawn!” — Emily said with a smile.

“No, please the honour is all mine! I just really cannot believe this is happening right now and I am not sure I know exactly how to properly behave, I am like your number 1 fan!” — He said, totally fingerling over her and making her giggle. 

“Normally Emily comes over to talk about acting, but today we will talk about song writing, and her process on writing and recording her song for a Disney movie! How did that happen?” 

“Well Kate, I don’t even know myself if I am being honest, I knew I would have to sing, but when Julia contacted me asking if I wanted to help with writing it took me a lot by surprise, it was the first time I ever wrote a song in my life, so I definitely was not expecting the response we got, honestly I really believe it was all Julia’s magic and I ended up being there with her by a struck of luck or something” — She answered.

“What do you think of the song Shawn? And how it is writing for you?”

“What do I think of her song? I wrote with Julia a few weeks after they finished recording and Julia couldn’t shut up about you and how you brought all the sparkles into the song, and I really think it is an amazing vulnerable song and that you really should give yourself some more credit, I really love it. And about writing, for me this song is an example of what I am trying to do every day, really just pouring my soul into it and making feelings into words.” — He answered making her blush a little. 

“Thank you Shawn, we don’t have a lot of time today unfortunately, so we chose one question from fans for you to answer: If you had to choose between writing in London or anywhere else in the world where would you choose to go?” 

“I really like recoding in LA, but London is on my top 5 places too.” — Shawn answered and waited for Emily.

“Toronto, 100%! If there is one place I feel the most comfortable being in such a vulnerable state is Toronto for sure.”

“Time is up, guys thank you so much! I hope I get to see more of you around Toronto Emily, and Shawn let’s please meet up soon! I will see you again tomorrow to talk about the process of filming Game of Thrones with Emilia Clarke!” 

As they left the recording room, Shawn finally had the chance to compliment Emily properly.

“I really really love your work so much, you have no idea! — He said in an exited way which made her smile. — Can I hug you? — He asked and she immediately nodded and was engulfed in his hug. She really had a strange sensation when they were hugging, it was the same sensation she felt whenever she would arrive in Toronto, it felt like home. “Is it too much if I ask for an autograph too?” — He asked, making her laugh.

“Of course, here you go.” She signed on his notebook.

They talked for over an hour after the interview, and he also left her his number for whenever she was around if she needed company to tour on his city. She knew he had a girlfriend but at the same time she couldn’t help but to wonder which is also why she promised herself to never text him.

- - -

15/08/2021

“Our final question of the night” — Elen said with a pout and the audience also made a sound of protest. “I know, I know you love her, I love her too!” — She said taking Emily laugh

“And I love you all of course” — She said seeing a kiss to the audience.

“If you had to make a song duet, and I mean a real one, not one with me for this show. Who would you like to sing with?” 

“Shawn Mendes” — She said, very fast and without thinking too much.

“Oh wow, that was fast, is there something going on that we don’t know about? You definitely do make a lot of visits to Toronto.” — Elen said, leaving it open to her to interpret it.

“I just really like the way his voice sounds” — She said, bluish a little when she noticed how her response sounded. — “ And of course if we record in Toronto even better”

“Smooth Emily, I guess we all will have to let that slide since our time is up for today”.

- - - 

19/10/2021

“So Shawn” — Elen Paused —“Do you watch my show?”

“Whenever I can, I do.” 

“A few months ago we had an interview with Emily Wilson, and apparently she really likes your voice” — She said making him blush because he had no idea what she was talking about.

“I am not exactly sure what you are talking about Elen” — He answered, not wanting to mess things up with his favourite star.

“Here is Emily on this show, and what she said” — Elen replayed the clip, and Shawn immediately felt his blushing. “Adorable right?” — She said making him close his eyes for a second and smile timidly.

“I really like the way her voice sounds too, not only in music but also everything she has even acted on, she is perfect in everything she does” — He answered and bit his lip softly at the end, still embarrassed by the situation.

Later that night he was surprised when his phone received a text from Emily, as he hadn’t really talked to her in over a year.

Emily: I will be in Toronto next week, if you are around and want to meet for a coffee maybe?

Shawn: Text me your hotel once you have it and I will pick you up and show you around the city if you want a proper tour.

- - -

25/10/2021

“Connor I am sincerely nervous for this. — Shawn said for the 100th time that day.

“It will be fine, honestly I can’t believe it took you guys so long to actually go on a date!” 

“What do you mean, Man I did have a girlfriend before remember?”

“Shawn, we both know your relationship with Mila started for the wrong reasons, and honestly the possibility of it evolving was very slim.” — He said referring to the publicity stunt they had agreed and that later evolved into a relationship. — “You love her, but only as a friend, whereas you have been fungirling over Emi for years, even before Camila.” 

“I am not sure if you saying that helps a lot to soothe my nerves at all” — He said adjusting the collar of his shirt and deciding it was time to leave.

- - -

05/04/2022

“Okay, so since you are here, and we are being honest with each other, I though we might as well go for Spill your Guts or Fill your Guts!” — James said being filled by a round of a applauses. — “Everything in here is vegetarian, so you can eat everything, or nothing if you decide to answer the questions.”.

“Oh God, this does not look good at all, but yeah, I am ready, ask me”. 

“We are nearing the finale of your series with Netflix, are there any spin-offs of the series being prepared for later? Or is that the last of The Selection we will see? — He asked making her close her eyes.

“Come on James, that is really not fair, I can’t answer this.” — She said trying to sound a bit mad, but laughing at the end.

“That’s all right, you can always go for the onion and garlic tea.” — He said, and she took a sip making a lot of effort to not throw up in the process.

“My turn, James, is there any celebrity who you refused to invite to your show before?” — She read her question and smiled at him.

“She really knows what she is doing you guys, nop I guess olive pudding for me it is” — He said looking a bite of the disgusting looking olive pudding.

“Emily, some photos have been circling around the internet, and I we are all wondering if they are real, so I would like to read Shawn’s last 3 messages to you” — He said making her blush, they still hadn’t officially confirmed nor denied anything, but their photos of the grammy’s were all over the internet already so there was really no hiding to do anymore.

“Okay, I guess you can do that” — She said after verifying the messages quickly.

“Oh wow! I was not expecting that you guys! I really wasn’t, okay so let’s do this:

Hi Emi, I really really miss you. I hope James is not too mean to you, Love. Good luck, I love you, and see you later.

“Awww… you guys are melting our hearts right now.” — He said taking her phone close to his heart. — “IT’S REAL EVERYONE!” 

[orthodoxadventure]

Hello, I prayed for you and I hope you’re doing well. I know lots of really heavy stuff has been going on in your life. I hope you have a good community you can really on, and friends to keep you company. I had to leave my friend group because they were anti-Catholic, and I am struggling with mental health. I have dreams to do something but I am scared I can’t get in. I feel so behind in life. For years you’re account has encouraged me, I hope you have close Christin friends to encourage and be with you if your ever lonely. I feel so empty most days, and hope I can have a strong Catholic community. I hope anything that is bothering or hurting you, you can overcome. I hope you get closer to God and you can do His will. I hope your dreams can come true. God bless you

Thank you so much for the kind message and your prayers, I really appreciate it. And please know that I will keep you in my prayers also.

I'm sorry that you're struggling to develop friends that are supportive of your faith. One thing that I would suggest, if you haven't already, is reach out to your doctor about your emptiness and your struggles. It may be possible that they would be able to refer you onto support services that can help you in this area. And I would also suggest trying to speak with your Priest about it, he might be able to again direct you towards services and groups that can help with these feelings.

One thing I would really suggest is trying to get involved in Church life as much as you can - ask to volunteer, participate in any social groups (or look to other Catholic Churches in the area that offer social groups and partake in those). If your Church has a coffee hour or something similar, then participate in that when you can. And if it doesn't, see if you can organise with the Priest to start one.

As much as online spaces are no real substitute for something offline, joining in with them can really help bridge the gap. And you might find local Catholics this way also. Find and join Catholic discord servers, see if there's any online reading clubs that you can join, connect with other Catholics on Twitter or in Facebook groups or on Reddit. And so on. Unfortunately, a lot of it is just about continually trying to push yourself out there and persevering.

Look also to events held in your local area in general, even if it's not faith based, it might be a good way of socialising with others and keeping yourself busy. Art workshops, gardening classes, cooking clubs, etc. Are all great ways of participating in the community - and get involved in volunteering as much as you can. Because these are also great opportunities to meet others with similar values, and of course, almsgiving and volunteering to help others is particularly good for the soul during Lent (as well as every other time).

I know it can be really hard, but please do keep trying and persevering. Because I truly do believe that over time, you will eventually develop the community and connections that you need. May God bless you, comfort you, and guide you!

[tackytigerfic]

Loving First Watch!!! That latest chapter!!!!

Thank yoooou dear Anon. I'm deep in a crazy week and haven't had a chance to reply to comments yet but it's been so nice to read people's reactions to it. The upcoming chapter that posts tomorrow has one of my favourite scenes in the fic in it, and also just quite a lot of stuff happening, in general. because what are we going to do with two draco malfoys but only one harry potter, right?!

This December my offline life has been really busy, but posting this fic feels like a little oasis of calm in the middle of the madness - this is my version of self-care lol.

Thanks so much again, Anon! You really made my day with this.

[czigonas]

20 Questions for 20 Writers

Tagged by @sudsandspectre. Thank you! I finally remembered to fill one of these out haha.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 50 on my main and three on a side account.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 169,923 on my main and 13,908 on the side, for a total of 183,831, which I think is a neat number.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Star Wars, Deus Ex, Mass Effect, Pathologic, and Assassin’s Creed are the big ones. I have a few other fandoms, but usually only one or two per.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? They’re all Star Wars ones, funnily enough. And If (Well); There Are Frontiers, They Are Endless; It’s Coming Home; Made Whole Through Broken Jaws; and Time is a Thief (Gladness and Grief).

5. Do you respond to comments? Sometimes. I have been trying, but when I get busy in my offline life, I tend to forget to come back to them.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don’t really write angst, so they all have pretty hopeful endings at worst. I guess it’s probably Pandora’s Box (Mass Effect), though.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Haha well… since most of them are happy, I guess maybe Not With Haste (Deus Ex) since it’s pure fluff. Angel’s Chorus (Mass Effect) and And If (Well) are both fix-its, but the ramifications aren’t really explored beyond the end of the fics, so…

8. Do you get hate on fics? I don’t recall any. If I have, I’ve put it out of my mind immediately.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. When I do, it’s very explicit and a one-shot. I write mostly m/m these days, but I have written m/f in the past. I will continue to attempt to write f/f smut that I am not embarrassed to post (so far, no luck).

10. Do you write crossovers? Only a few. Outside of Pinky Swear (Iunyasha/HP), I only have Mass Effect crossovers published, but I have a few others hiding in the depths of my WIP folders. I have a hard time with them usually, as I want the crossover to be plausible (which is easy with an entire galaxy+ to play with from ME).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Maybe? Someone asked to translate one of my Patho fics into Russian. I asked for a link when they had finished and never received one so I don’t know if they ever did it.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes. Before I was comfortable writing my own smut, I had a friend help with a handjob scene. It's very funny to look back on. Also, all of my side account fics are technically collabs, where I fleshed out someone else’s outline, even though they’re posted under only one name.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship? I simply cannot pick just one. I usually only have one otp per fandom though; I am nearly incapable of multi-shipping. Some of my favourites (in no particular order) are Fem!Shep/Zaeed, SoapGhost, Jensard, Burakovsky, Fem!Revan/Canderous, JangObi and Kagome/Sesshoumaru.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? As much as I want to say I will finish everything I’ve started, probably Pinky Swear. It’s half an HP fic, and I just can’t bring myself to write on it, really.

16. What are your writing strengths? Timelines, I think. Even for oneshots I will usually have a whole sidebar of notes on travel speeds or when something happened in relation to other things. It helps me keep things organised enough to slide little asides into gaps in the canon (or, as in There Are Frontiers, They Are Endless, co-opt canon for my own means).

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Keeping going on the longer ones. I want to write long fic, but I have a hard time keeping the momentum. Even with outlines, I need to be in the right mood and it’s hard to get there once the initial drive has faded. Also, endings.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I admit to doing it more than is probably necessary (pretty much exclusively for mando’a in my Star Wars fics) but my view is that if you are not going to have translations, the phrase must be inconsequential (one-off endearments or swears that are understandable through context clues, and are only added spice to the fic).

If you have translations, they should be screen-reader friendly. I use a CSS script that translates on hover (long-press on mobile) only when the creator’s style is shown. If the creator’s style is turned off, the translation is shown in square brackets behind the phrase. I find it easier than footnotes, but so long as the translation is easily accessible, I think that’s what matters.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Inuyasha? I think? Or a comic series I can’t even fully remember the name of (Skate Girl? Maybe?). Either way, any digital copies are lost on a very old FFN account, and the physical ones are even further gone.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? This is a hard question! Maybe Quinine (Deus Ex). It’s very dreamy, imo. Same with The Bends (Deus Ex). I think There Are Frontiers, They Are Endless will be very satisfying for everyone in the end, though.

Thanks for the tag! I certainly don’t have 20 people to tag, so I’ll just pass it on to @rigil-kentauris if they want.

[mariska]

i don't usually type out posts directly like this because i am a very very traumatized and anxious and depressed and scared person 24/7. but i have been almost entirely sitting and rotting away from multiple lifelong chronic health struggles for years and years and years and if i'm gonna be direct and channel my absolutely fucking furious anger into one hopefully good helpful thing then im gonna do that now, because we all need to speak the fuck up for ourselves and each other and we will not survive in this world if we don't work together, which brings me to the thing i need to say:

if you are able to, and i know for a fact that many, many people are able to, you NEED to wear a mask when you leave your house. yes, every time. every single time. outdoor events too. anywhere you go where there's other human beings. schools. doctor's appointments. work. taking a walk. by yourself, with friends, with everyone. you do not have another choice. you have to wear a mask and if you're also able to, because there are a lot of us who are disabled to a point of very little to absolutely no independece in our lives who are not able to, you need to be telling, not asking, the people you hang out with, go places with, family that you are in contact with etc to also wear a fucking face mask.

the pandemic is NOT over. there is no post-covid era. it's here, it's been here for years and those of us who have both been disabled long before it was discovered and those of us who have become disabled since have been screaming at all of you for almost 5 years now to give a shit about the other living human beings around you AND YOURSELF!!!!! i am one person who does not and has no intention of speaking for the entire global disabled community (we ARE in every community of people, worldwide, by the way. every single one. disabled people are everywhere and we have been since the earliest days of humanity), and i've tried really really really hard to hold myself back from hating so many of you for not caring about anyone's general health and safety when you step into the world, but i can't anymore. i don't have any spare compassion left for you. get it the fuck together, get your fucking covid and flu vaccine/booster shots and actually make an effort to learn how often you should get the boosters again after that, and WEAR A MASK OVER YOUR FUCKING FACE AND STOP KILLING PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO HAVE BEEN DRAINED OF ALL ENERGY AND STRENGTH THAT WE HAVE BECAUSE WE HAVE TO GO INTO THE WORLD YOU ALSO LIVE IN AND SO MANY OF YOU KEEP GETTING US MORE AND MORE SICK AND YOU DO NOT CARE. you HAVE to care. there is not another option. N95 is currently the most effective mask type as far as i am aware but i don't know everything so do your own research about which masks will work best for you.

my fucking god. so many videos online where i just see so many people talking about the very true fact that we all need to stand up for each other and do what's right and help out however we can WITH NO MASK IN SIGHT WALKING ON BUSY CROWDED STREETS AND BUILDINGS AND CONCERT HALLS!!!!! STOP KILLING DISABLED PEOPLE. please please please please, yes, to those who are able to, continue protesting, logging offline and going into the world to take part in actions of community care, but WEAR. A. MASK. WHEN. YOU. DO. do not put it on your chin 90% of the day. do not put it UNDER your nose. put it on your face. like a mask. and wear it. and make sure the other people in your life do the same. i am literally begging you. none of us can do the work that NEEDS to be done to take care of each other in ANY society if we are all too sick or DEAD to be able to actually do that work.

thanks.

[rosecrystal]

hi pam!!! do you have any advice for moving on from someone you really loved? i had been secretly in love with one of my friends, which we didn't realize was mutual until i moved away like 10 months ago, and despite promises to stay in touch he never reaches out, doesn't engage with my social media, doesn't seem interested in hearing about my life now. he said he might visit this fall (of his own accord i literally didn't ask him to say that) but can't confirm until he figures out his work situation but i feel like he is just stringing me along at this point and like i'm making this fake narrative in my head that he must ignore me because it's just too painful to talk to me etc which is so dumb because if i can't feel it then he doesn't love me, whether or not he loves me ykwim?? i have done all i can to communicate my feelings and try to keep the connection and show he is still special to me, but it feels stupid and embarrassing at this point. he said he didn't think long distance would work out, but that he still wants to be my friend and stay in touch, but i don't even feel like he gives me the level of effort needed for a friendship, like he definitely treats his other friends better than this, so it's not just the romantic rejection it's the total apathy from him that has made me feel fed up. i don't want to care so much about someone who makes me second guess so much anyway. and i'm trying to tell myself the whole "he's losing someone who really loved him, i'm losing someone who doesn't give me anything anymore" and be offline and be present in my new life here but i haven't met anyone else and i can't stop wishing to hear from him.

Hello angel! I’m sorry you are going through this and you are right about everything rationally speaking but of course feelings don’t really follow a rational line. I think it is normal to linger and miss him, if you wanna actively do something maybe try to hide his posts from you on socials (you know how on instagram for example you can mute people’s profiles) or if you wanna go towards a more “absolute” route you can tell him you need some time off touch and that you will delete/block him from your socials. That’s sort of like a “trick” on your brain if you put up that kind of barrier (so you don’t wait/expect for him to get in touch with you anymore) and I know a lot of people have negative feelings when it comes to blocking people bc they don’t wanna seem rude or whatnot but a lot of times you don’t need to hate someone to block them or delete them, a lot of times it’s to protect your peace. Either way I also think you need to give yourself time, you just started a new adventure and I’m pretty sure you will meet people and soon be so busy this person won’t be in your mind anymore. Wishing you good luck!🍀

[davidmariottecomics]

Burning a Resource (Or How I'm Leaving Twitter)

Hey again! 

Yesterday, I drew and posted a little comic on my various socials (reposted here) about how I'm gearing up to officially shut down my Twitter. And I want to talk a little bit about why it isn't an immediate thing that I'm doing, and some thoughts I've had on losing what has ultimately been a really valuable resource in my personal and professional life, particularly in light of how it has gotten people jobs. 

Why am I Leaving?

The long and short is I can't ethically stay. I find Elon Musk to be detestable as a human being and wish him nothing but ill-will, in the same way that he uses his money and resources to push ill-will upon the world. And under his reign--because he certainly treats it as a kingdom--the site had gotten a lot worse in a bunch of ways. For months, people have been describing the overall site's decline into far right views and activism. You can see all the problems of greed and bad business sense at work as so many functions have gone offline or been shunted to only being accessible behind a pay wall. There're increasing problems of the user experience--I know someone who has basically given up on Twitter because the site makes them "verify their identity/that they're human" multiple times a day, and then directs them to the Twitter Rules, without any sort of guidance on how any rule that Twitter has may've been violated. And, yes, there are a lot of services that I've elected to use despite having compunctions about them, but that's uhh... living in a capitalistic society and having to make decisions on how far you're willing to flex and while that's not a morally great feeling, it's part of how we have to exist at the moment and being cognizant of the decisions we make around these things is an important part of navigating further use. And this point, I am not going to keep using Twitter. 

Why am I Staying? 

That all said, I'm not leaving this exact moment. I'm not sure of my exact exit date. By the end of 2023, certainly. But I have a few things I'd like to wrap up before I go, and I want to briefly walk you through them. 

First off, let me just say, this is also very highly influenced by my age. I am of the age when I have never worked at a company that didn't have a social media presence while I was there. I watched in real time as platforms like Twitter and Facebook became a regular part of business--through promotion and connections--and how that was added to workflows as I was coming up. I think a lot of the people who've had an easier time detransitioning from socials are folks who were not trained onto it from a young age. But that's not my case and I want to make sure that the business and personal aspects of my life that have been entangled in Twitter are compensated for in other ways. 

To me, the most important loss that will come from this is of community. And that's why I've continued to stay above all else. There are a lot of folks I'm connected to on Twitter that I don't have connections to other places. Functionally, I like Bluesky a lot. I'm about to hit 1000 followers, which all told, is pretty good. I have over 4 times that on Twitter, but I would guess a significant portion of that difference is not on Bluesky because it's invite only. And while I may have connections here and there on other platforms, they're pretty diffused and I am not using most of those platforms regularly enough to actually know who all is where. Like, despite everything I just about Bluesky, it's my second largest platform above Facebook (not counting the IDW Sonic Squad page), Instagram, and on anything else, less than 100 people are set-up to regularly see my posts, and that makes the way I use social media harder to do. 

And the primary way I do use social is to find and connect with creators and help promote their projects. So, this week, I'm setting my Twitter up with scheduled posts and through whenever I deactivate, I'll still have my posts going out about new projects that are important to me and to the people who worked hard on them. I think their work deserves whatever boost of recognition it might get from my social presence there.

In the coming weeks, my other big project will be to get as much contact info as I can. I have found so many artists that I really like on Twitter and I want to be able to reach out to them when I want/need to. I want to make sure my friends and I exchange ways to communicate outside of this. I'm taking this upon myself because that's, I dunno, my role? Editors tend to be the ones to reach out when we have a project. So I want to make sure I'm doing my part of be proactive about keeping that up. 

Finally, I want to make sure that I'm not completely out of touch with the other personal and practical parts of Twitter. I follow Genshin Impact because I think the game's fun. I frequently get updates on it through Twitter and should probably make sure if I want to continue those updates, I'm aware of how to get them otherwise. I follow journalists and sex workers and activists and unions and smart people whose thoughts I don't want to lose and dumb people who post real funny and just like... my friends and I'd like to make sure they aren't lost in the ether either. 

How We Collectively Move Forward Earlier this week, Becca and I got to do something pretty cool and talk to a class of sequential art students. If you were one of those students and are now reading this, hi! But we were asked to attend to give sort of a really cumulative look at working in comics from the point of view of an editor who has been at this for a long time and from a working freelance artist who does a lot of tabling at shows and indie work and is also still looking to get in and start doing work at bigger companies. As part of that, we talked to the kids about the advantages of tabling at and attending cons and how to go about meeting editors at shows and generally, how best to get the attention of an editor.

One of the things we talked about was with Twitter becoming less of an option, one of the more accessible ways to get on an editor's radar is going away. Not that editors like to be cold DM'ed necessarily, but as someone who has found a lot of talent through specifically Twitter and who recognizes that interstate, much less international, travel for cons is expensive and taxing, it sucks to lose that resource. And that's compounded by a lot of other resources going sideways--like, DeviantArt and ArtStation and some of the other art sharing sites have become hotbeds of AI theft bullshit and were full of NFTs before that. Some of the other potential social sites that could be used to promote your art like Cohost or Mastodon or TikTok are not always the best at discoverability or a good match to how you interact online (I don't really use any of those platforms). It's tough.

As has been said time and time again, it's neither fair nor particularly productive to have a significant portion of your work day be crossposting a million times and places and slightly different formats hoping to have your work hit where and when it needs to. Making comics is often a 2nd shift job, or a 4th & 5th shift job as you're trying to do more consistent work--be it a day job or non-comics freelance, plus caring for a family of some sort, plus the act of making art being a different job from the act of promoting it being a different job from the act of actually running an independent business to do all these things. 

My only real solution is, y'know, collective support. On my own website, I have a Friends page with links to the sites of people I like and have worked with or like the work of. I know that the Cartoonist Cooperative has a talent database of their members. There's a fairly new Adult Artist Webring. One of the best things I think creators can do with their peers is equivalent exchange projects--be that getting blurbs from or having your friends/peers post about your new project on their platforms, exchanging promos of projects on Kickstarter updates or just reposting each other's stuff, making ad swaps so if you have an indie project, you can put an ad for your friend's thing in it. I think other people should of course have Friend-type pages on their websites, and I am always appreciative when an artist reaches out or declines a project and recommends some other folks they know. It's a major part of how things build in this industry and how we do maintain connection outside of social media spheres. 

And, from an editorial perspective, one of the things that's really tough to navigate sometimes is how welcome you are in some of these spaces. I've mentioned Discords before, and while they can be a really great communal resource to the artists in them, there are a lot of very regular, valid reasons why artists might not want an editor in that space. So it does have to be considered and measured where and how folks are presenting themselves to get that visibility and traction. 

My last thought is y'know do try your hardest while also, again, accepting that this is a ton of work all the time and is often done on top of other work, to figure out what makes sense for you to reach out to people. If you aren't able to go to cons and meet editors, or you're only able to go to cons where you don't think many editors are attending, how do you move forward? Well, maybe your solution is to do a lot of anthologies that have a mix of talent involved and might get some extra eyes on your work because it also includes people who are known names that editors follow. Maybe your solution is to get an agent who can send your work out to editors on a regular basis and let them know when you're looking for work. Maybe your solution is to get a hold of cool comic and zine shops and see if they'll do consignment on your books, even if you aren't local, because they're local to where publishing is. Maybe your solution is to look up if a company has a talent director/scout type role and to reach out to them, rather than editorial directly. There are alternate ways to both social media and cons to get your work in front of hiring folks eyes, thought they also require a bit of leg-work and luck. 

Because I've talked about it a lot, here are the other places you can find me online. 

Bluesky Instagram My Website Patreon Tumblr Buttondown Linktree I am on Cohost, Mastodon, Facebook, and LinkedIn, but don't really use them actively, so not linking here.  You can email me, though I ask you please follow my rules on the contact page.  If we know each other, you can ask for my Discord handle or my phone #. 

Until next time!  What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Solve This Murder (Podcast), One Piece (Manga), The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon (Book), Reverse 1999 (Video Game), Joe Pera Talks with You (TV show), Witch Watch (Manga), Freakazoid (TV show), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Troy Little's graphic novel adaptation), drawing a little comic and generally trying to do a little more art to go with my writing, when the cats do understand their new litterbox. 

New Releases this week (11/8/2023): Godzilla Rivals: Round Two (Editor on most of it) Sonic the Hedgehog #66 (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: Knuckles' Greatest Hits (Editor) Sonic the Hedgehog: The IDW Art Collection (Editor)

New Releases next week (11/15/2023): Godzilla Rivals: vs. Mechagodzilla (Editor)

Announcements: If you'd like to have me on your podcast, Twitch stream, at your convention, signing at your store, talking to your students, whatever, feel free to hit me up via my contact page. To those first couple things, sorry a few podcasty/Twitch-streamy things have been delayed. We've been having some headphone/mic technical issues, but that should be fixed soon. 

Wanna support me? Visit my webstore, my Patreon, my Kofi, or my eBay. And you can always visit Becca's portfolio/shop/Patreon/Twitch streams too.

It may feel futile as all polling already shows we aren't being listened to, but email, call, or fax your representatives to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and the stopping of a genocide. There are also plenty of places to donate your time and money. 

Pic of the Week: Enjoy a little comic about leaving Twitter.