#my opinion changes from time to time though

[moonstruckme]

Hi Mae!

Thank you for the response! Now that I have an identity on here, lol, can I request a tasm!peter x fem!reader fic if you’re comfortable doing so ?

can I request it based on this prompt, with reader saying it to Peter?: “I can’t tell if you’re really charming or if I’m just easily charmed.” Relationship and context can be whatever you decide :)

Thanks! <3

- 🪻

Thanks for your request <3

tasm!Peter x fem!reader ♡ 780 words

“You’re getting predictable." 

“You’re getting better,” Spiderman replies, dropping down onto the sidewalk beside you. He keeps pace with your unbreaking stride. “Don’t you feel safer when you can hear me coming? Or anyone?”

You scoff a little. Spiderman bumps his shoulder into yours chidingly, like you’re old friends. Yes, like every old person you’ve ever come across, he had some opinions on you wearing your earbuds while walking the streets by yourself. Vigilance, awareness, blah, blah, blah. It was only the touch of caring in your unlikely tagalong’s voice that had pressed on something tender in your chest and ultimately persuaded you. 

“Don’t act like you don’t wear earbuds too when you’re off the clock,” you say, though you know how it’ll go. You like to quip at Spiderman about his maskless identity, but that topic is where your strangely effortless camaraderie ends. It’s the rock against which the waves of levity break. 

He changes the topic instantly. “You’re pretty hypocritical to call me predictable, you know that? Who needs to go to the grocery store every night?” 

You fish in your bag, pulling out the sole item, a pint of ice cream. “The cravings hit like clockwork.” You shrug. 

Spiderman takes the pint from you. It’s strange that you know him well enough to read reactions into his silences, but you swear you can feel his eyebrows rising behind the mask. “Half baked?” 

“What about it?” 

“Nothing. Just, the tonight dough’s obviously better.” 

“Wrong.” You take it back from him, dropping it into your bag. “That one doesn’t have brownies.” 

“It has peanut butter cookies.” 

“If that’s what you’re prioritizing, you’re hopeless.” You turn a corner, trying not to smile when Spiderman has to backtrack a bit to follow you. This is another game you enjoy playing with him. You know he knows where your apartment is by now, and obviously there’s more than one way to get there, but sometimes you like to take routes which lead you away just to see if he’ll correct you. The consequence of getting to spend longer walking with him is a secondary effect. “I bet you haven’t even tried half baked.” 

“I don’t need to.” 

“I’d give you some if you came over.” 

Spiderman turns his head to look at you. Again, you feel like you know the energy of it even without seeing his face. You laugh. 

“Come on, you’d only have to take the mask off a little bit.” 

“The obvious solution here is for you to go back for a pint of tonight dough,” he says, following you through a random crosswalk. You’ve passed your apartment three blocks down on a parallel street. “And that way you can tell me I’m right after you compare.” 

You stop. Spiderman pulls you to the side, out of the flow of traffic, and you let him. His touch is warm on the inside of your elbow. “I’ll go back right now if you try both with me,” you say. 

Spiderman’s eyes are white and unblinking. He stares you down (or does he? You feel like he does) for a few moments before asking, “You’re really curious, aren’t you?” 

The corners of your mouth lift helplessly. “You have to know you make people curious.” 

“Uh, yeah, it’s my mysterious aura. You think I’d have gotten half as far walking pretty girls home without it?” 

“Girls?” 

“Girl.” His voice softens. A touch of caring, just where you left it. It disarms you the same every time. “Well, sometimes girls, but only when they need it.” 

“I get why it’s a secret,” you tell him, sincere now. “I’m mostly just messing with you.” You turn around, back the way you came. “But it is weird that you know when I go to ShopRite every night and I don’t know what you look like.” 

“It’s less weird than you think.” Spiderman begins ambling alongside you again. He makes no comment on your directionlessness. “The mysterious aura is half the fun.” 

“Eh. I’d like you the same with or without it.” 

“Yeah?” There’s a smile if you’ve ever heard one. Oh, you’d love to see his smile. It sounds like it dimples. 

“Yup,” you affirm, popping the p. 

“What makes you so sure?” 

You shrug. “I can’t tell if you’re really charming or if I’m just easily charmed, but,” you give him a sideways look, “I like you. I’d like you no matter what, I know it.” 

You like to imagine you’re making Spiderman blush under all that spandex. “You think I’m charming, huh?” 

“Don’t go getting a big head about it.” 

“Me? Nah. I’m your humble neighborhood hero, why would you even say that?”

[bokettochild]

which of the links (in your opinion) would give the best hugs?

Sky

Now, don't get me wrong, they all give amazing hugs! But each of them have a "fault" in their hug giving

Legend's kinda boney, so while his hugs (when given) are hardly lacking in warmth and care, they're not the most comfortable

Four being short means most people have to hug down and that can put a strain on the back, as well as make it a bit uncomfortable for both parties

Twilight is an amazing hugger, but I feel like he's the kinda guy who hugs you so hard that your feet leave the ground, and while strength is an asset, he doesn't quite grasp just how strong he really is, so it leaves the person he hugs just a bit out of breath after

Time isn't much of a hugger. He's a "hand on the shoulder/back slap" kinda guy. the only persons getting hugs are his wife, kids, and whichever loved one might be dying in front of his eyes at the moment

Wind's at that age where he doesn't hug as much, because he doesn't want people to think he's a little kid anymore. When he does hug though, it's with a lot of enthusiasm, but very brief. the best hugs are the ones that last a moment, so this means he's not the top ranking hugger

Hyule doesn't like hugs. Fairies as a rule don't tend to get in each others' space much because it interferes with the ability to fly (nobody wants to bump into each other) so he's unused to much physical contact at all and even with people he likes, he gets uncomfortable and stiff when people hug him. He's learning, but it's also just not really something he enjoys, so his hugs are just a bit too stiff

Warriors is a very good hugger. He's mindful of his strength, got enough meat on his bones not to make it uncomfortable, and I think he generally enjoys physical affection from his loved ones, so he's not too quick with it or uncomfortable, but he's also touch and go on when it's good to hug him. He doesn't always want to be hugged back either, because he doesn't handle being grabbed well. He might think he'll be fine, but then he's not, and there's no way for anyone to tell when it'll be okay and when it won't.

Sky, on the other hand, is strong enough that you feel secure in his hold, but he's not unaware of his strength, so he's able to be careful with other people. Additionally, he's got just a bit of extra padding on him, between clothing layers and the fact that he's physically healthy, so, again, he's not so bony it's uncomfortable. He definitely loves physical affection, and he doesn't have many bad experiences with physical touch (just don't whisper in his ear and you'll be fine), and I think he genuinely loves giving out hugs. he's also be one of those huggers who makes it a rule to never let go first, so you get as long a hug as you want, but the second you pull back, he let's you go and just smiles at you.

EDIT: It's been brought to my attention that I have sinned and forgotten Wild, so here's my HCs for Wild's hugging type. My opinion overall hasn't changed though: Sky is still the best hugger.

[bluemantics]

JULANCE DAY 14: POTENTIAL

Everything happens so quickly after Naxzaela.

Without any serious interrogation efforts, Lotor is accepted onto team Voltron. He pretends to be gracious and generous, but Lance can recognize his sleazy character from a million miles away. Having a good read on people is something he prides himself on, and he knows in his heart of hearts that this Lotor guy? Total bad luck.

When he tries to voice as much to Allura, he’s shut down, hard.

“Can’t we allow people to grow, to change?” she tells him, grabbing at his shoulder armor. It silences Lance quickly, and he can’t find the energy to fight it any further. Well, at least she learned something from the whole Galra Keith incident. Sucks that it extended to Lotor, though Lance supposes that might be an over correction.

His blood practically vibrates with his unvoiced opinions. Still, he shuts his damn mouth, sidelined even further as he watches their princess schmooze with the greasy purple prince. Lance really thought they had something going, a solid friendship. Now, it feels as if his only companion is Coran. And the older Altean has been somewhat subdued in wake of being freed from the Voltron Show parasite.

So, Lance is often alone. Especially in disagreements.

Another thing: Zarkon is dead. It should feel incredible, like a great victory and an end to the devastation. In his place, though, there are thousands of others desperate to replace him, including the witch Haggar. Take out one hydra head, fifty more ugly purple ones spring from its neck.

Lotor announces that a coronation is to occur, and that he must go. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge express concerns, but Lance is aware that he’s the loudest. He raises his voice a little as he tells Lotor the dangers, skirting on his mistrust. It’s impossible to miss the cold gleam in his eyes as he sneers down his nose at the red paladin. However, it’s Shiro who speaks up.

“I told you to stay out of this!”

Once again, Lance feels a heavy castle door slam down right in front of him, essentially forcing the matter. Bitterness creeps up like a familiar, ugly taste in his mouth. The potential energy in his limbs continues to grow and press against his body, begging to be let free. Lance refuses to let it out. He’s been able to tamp his emotions this far, and he won’t fold now. With his head held high, he carries on.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t work for much longer. It’s Pidge’s voice who snarks in his head when it all goes to shit: then, after the buildup of pressure, it all goes ‘kablooey.’ Granted, she’d been describing a gaseous container, but same difference.

Allura and Lance are at the training deck, tag-teaming a few bots. Lance stays behind her, aiming sharp bullets from his shiny red rifle while she takes out kneecaps and elbows. It’s the first alone time they’ve had together in weeks. He’s clumsier than normal, frustrated by his poor performance, his distance from his team, Shiro’s harsh tone. The emotions of the recent days are catching up to him, tearing apart his normally collected facade. Allura notices his missteps and shoots him a concerned look out of the side of her eye.

Lance snaps. He charges the bots, bringing his rifle over his head and letting the charge pulse out of his chest and into his arms, through his fingertips. A burst of red light sears his vision. He cuts through two bots like putty.

Cuts?

“End simulation!” Allura yells, and Lance barely pays attention to the training bots as they sink to their clanking knees. No, his gaze is fixed on his hands, awed at the bright red sword resting in them. It’s tall, with razor sharp edges and a sturdy pommel that fits perfectly in his grip.

“I haven't seen that for ten thousand years,” Allura reverently says, her hand reaching over to gently skirt over the blade. “It's an Altean broadsword - my father used one just like it." Lately, she’s gotten worse at hiding her feelings. Her memories and despair are plain on her face.

“Is having three bayard forms… normal?” Lance questions, nervous.

“I don’t believe anything about Voltron has normal limits,” Allura admits. She withdraws her hand suddenly from the sword and curls it into a gentle fist. “Coran might be able to show you the basic forms, but I’m afraid I never trained intensively with the sword. It’s a shame Keith isn’t here.”

Lance has to laugh at that, even if the sound of it comes out falsely. “Yeah. It is.”

He deactivates his bayard and resolves to tell no one. The princess is too occupied to spread the word, and he doesn’t need this additional reminder of Keith’s absence. Red rumbles in his mind, reminding him through vague pulses that she will be furious if he does not act, let out the anger and the stress in any manner. She hisses that he cannot accept himself if he doesn’t take ownership of this sword and what it means.

But Lance isn’t used to jumping heart-first, anymore. He hasn’t operated that way for a while.

That doesn’t work for me, Red, he explains mentally.

Another pulse shoots back that it could, if he’d just let it out. Released the pressure. There are great heights he can soar to, if he takes advantage of the passion that cries to be expressed. Images slide through his mind and quicken his heart. Keith, angry and loud, holding his fury like fire in his hands and forming a sword with it. Keith, teeth bared and hands high, channeling passion into every strike. Keith is everywhere and his feelings are everywhere and his happiness and his rage and his agony and they all explode out into firelight—

“I’m not him!” Lance shoves up a mind wall to stop Red from continuing her barrage. He pinches his nose, an ache developing behind his forehead. It takes a few beats to slow his breathing and relax all the tense muscles that sprang to action with the visions.

“I’m not him.”

The red bayard in his hand taunts him all the same.

[glenthemes]

Ten years ago today on July 16th 2015, I created glenthemes. Just to be clear: I'm NOT saying goodbye. You're all stuck in here with me. This is a look-back on my journey, the good, the bad, the ugly, and how I ended up where I am now. This short journal is mostly written in chronological order; if you'd like to skip to the parts you're interested in, here's the overview in which the the titles sound suspiciously like episode names:

humble beginnings

how I learned to code

glenthemes was problematic 💅

glenthemes logo

paid themes & pages

landing internships

Discord community

powerpoint guides

college & hackathon

featured on Tumblr's "Getting Started" page

tumblr changes / mobile & NPF era

design style & branding

“the friends we made along the way”

what's next?

10 years of glenthemes.

◍ humble beginnings:

During my early teens, I had a habit of changing my theme every other week (sometimes it would be every other day.) Back then, it was a way of showing my appreciation for my favorite fictional characters; every sidebar image or corner image would be a low res GIF or a poorly cut out mangacap, and that meant the world to me. It was a form of creative outlet during my troublesome high school years. My greatest coding achievement at the time was adding a sepia filter over my posts, but I was sold. I wanted to do more, make more. Some of the theme makers that inspired me to start exploring theme making and coding in general are:

@⁠7th-district

@⁠a--themes/@⁠dianthus-s

@⁠altairisthemes

@⁠cocorini (deactivated)

@magnusthemes

@octomoosey

@pohroro

@⁠redfox-themes

@⁠viwan-th

@yukoki (now @⁠xuethms)

@⁠zeldathemes (now @rachaelthemes)

The first base code (Tumblr theme code starter template) I used and continued using for a few years was by @⁠mrsthemes. Tumblr's theme documentation was confusing and daunting to me at the time, so having a base code provided by others to work from was a major blessing.

(If you're looking for a more up-to-date base code though, I recommend ones from @eggdesign; she's put helpful comments throughout the code! Check [this one here], or [this one] for NPF posts compatibility as well).

◍ how I learned to code:

This is by far the most popular question I get, I'm only touching on it briefly in this post; I have a #learning tag with linked resources if you're interested!

In my opinion, there isn't a "right way" of learning anything, and coding is no exception. While many learn from courses on CodeAcademy, others (like myself) learn from more hands-on projects and via experimentation. As mentioned earlier, I used a base code template; I tried rearranging things, breaking things, building things (you can learn a lot from breaking things, especially in coding) to see what happens. Another underrated resource is CodePen – a coding playground where developers share their mini projects with the full code available for you to study and edit (just remember to credit/link back to the pen link if you end up using it in your projects!).

As an avid gamer, I enjoy challenges and gamified learning experiences, so to further my studies into full-stack development (Node, React, DevOps), I looked to Zenva (they also have courses on how to develop games if you're interested!).

◍ glenthemes was problematic 💅:

I had...issues for the first few years:

Those of you who've been around for a long time may remember that I used to be rude when replying to asks or requests. Even if I was going through a rough period of my life, it doesn't justify the attitude that I had (to users and fellow theme makers alike), and for that I sincerely apologize. I like to believe I'm a better person now; no one is perfect but it doesn't hurt to get a little closer.

I used the smallest fucking fonts for my themes. This issue is arguably way less severe than the one I just mentioned, but there's actually a ✨ good excuse ✨ for that. I used a hand-me-down laptop to make my themes and the resolution was tiny. The text, from my screen, didn't look small; that is, until I finally got a new laptop and realized just how ant-sized everything was. (This was one of the reasons I decided to revamp my older themes).

◍ glenthemes logo:

In 2018, I commissioned my high school art classmate Julie (you can find her on Instagram at julieoolie_!) to make my logo. We went through a variety of different styles ranging from my blog initials ("GT") in a brush font to firmer, geometric shapes. In the end, I settled on the logo I've been using ever since: a 3D cube with its front-facing sides taking the shape of "G" and "T". I wanted to go with this subtle design quirk that makes you go "OH, that's what it is!" after taking a closer look at it. A box/cube with open corners is also a loose metaphor for my style – recognizable and familiar at first glance, yet willing to peek and venture "outside the box/norm" a little. Whether I've actually ventured outside the norm or not is up to interpretation, but I like to (perhaps foolishly) believe that after these years, my themes are at least a little recognizable and have their distinct feel/branding – not too minimal, but too over-the-top either.

◍ paid themes & pages:

In 2018, I released my first paid theme & page. I wasn't expecting much and was nervous – I'd never sold anything online prior to this. Although I started my shop on Gumroad, I transitioned over to Ko-Fi in 2022 as Gumroad's tax on transactions became ridiculous. As a creator that mainly provides free content, publishing paid content can be daunting. While I know that I should charge fairly for the work that I do and the time I've put in, sometimes I still feel guilty for setting a higher price than "expected". So I was pleasantly surprised to see that folks took a liking to my "Ignorance" and "Bliss" pack.

I'm a firm believer in "try before you buy", so I always put up free previews and guides for folks to look through before they make their purchase. Guides take a long time to make, but rest assured that I'll always keep them free. You have the right to know what you're getting into; the more complex a theme is, the more uncertainty there is. And even though I provide free support for any type of content that I do, if I was a customer, I'd feel more at ease if I had a handbook from the start.

It wasn't until this year (2025) that I actually...made my premium code packs available to be purchased as packs. Before this, all themes and pages in each pack were available for purchase separately. It sounds super silly now that I type it out, but hey – you can get each pack for 15% off now!

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if a theme of mine is free or premium; my support / maintenance for them is the same. Premium themes don't get special treatment just because they're paid. If Tumblr comes out with an update that breaks a part of a custom theme, that will apply to all my themes. So there's only 1 goal and that's to keep everything up to date.

◍ landing internships:

I was grateful to have landed several internships despite not having any formal education in web development. The first was at a fashion boutique, where I was in charge of setting up their new online shop (from inventory management to the eshop's website). The second internship was at a software development company where I learned from and worked alongside full-stack devs, back-end devs, and design and marketing teams for the first time. It was an invaluable, eye-opening experience as it made me realize just how much I had yet to learn (more on that later).

◍ Discord community:

As time went on and more theme questions were sent in, I came to realize that a single "ask and answer" exchange is generally not enough to answer the question properly. So in March of 2019, I created a Discord server so users could join and ask questions in the chat. At some point, Tumblr removed support for code formatting in Tumblr posts and answered asks, which ultimately meant that any piece of code meant to be copied would turn into regular text and lose its syntax, and straight quotation marks (used in coding) would turn into curly ones. Since then, the server has guidelines on how to ask questions, gotten a server mod (hi Keith if you're reading this 🫵), has dedicated channels for art and content sharing, and amassed 1,000 members (a small and quiet Discord community, but a cozy home I've built nonetheless).

◍ powerpoint guides:

If there's anything that I want to be known for, it's this one right here. Guides. Manuals. "README"s. Whatever you want to call it. It's a notoriously detested activity amongst the coding community considering most of us are (jokingly) illiterate, but I love writing documentation. While my main motivation is to help users easily install and customize complex themes, another vital part of it is poor memory. Too many times has someone asked a question about a theme of mine that I barely remember making (10 years of coding and bad habits does that to you), so writing a guide helps pinpoint where I'd start looking. It's also helpful because I can just "tap the sign" and point users to which powerpoint slide in the guide they should refer to (...if I've covered that feature).

◍ college & hackathon:

As my earlier internships introduced me to how much more I could learn, I decided to pursue a formal education in web development. I was ecstatic to have achieved a distinction and went on to participate in my first hackathon. For those unfamiliar: a hackathon is where you (or a group of developers and/or designers) work on a program/coding project for a fixed amount of time, typically 24 hours. This particular hackathon was 9 hours. Many pizzas and energy drinks later, we presented WheelScout, a live accessibility reporting site that helps mobility aid users plan their journey in advance, and we were awarded 1st place. Since then, I've been working on making my themes and overall content more accessible, from best semantic practices to adding improved alt text.

◍ featured on Tumblr's "Getting Started" page:

In May of 2022, I noticed by sheer chance that I was mentioned as a recommended third-party theme maker on Tumblr's "Getting Started" page:

(The wording in this paragraph has since been updated by staff). One thing I'd like to clarify is that a "third-party theme" refers to any Tumblr theme that isn't on Tumblr's Theme Garden. I have many reasons for not publishing my themes through Theme Garden; most of it is due to the fact that I tend to push out updates/fixes and like to see them applied asap, but doing so through Theme Garden could take up to a month, as a member of staff needs to manually approve it. Regardless, being mentioned was an absolute honor, and I've been working to keep my themes up to date with all of Tumblr's changes (and will continue doing so).

◍ tumblr changes / mobile & NPF era:

This section's long, folks. Remember to take a stretch / hydrate / bathroom break if you've been reading since the start.

Tumblr has been gradually switching over to prioritize updates for mobile/app users for a few years now. Whilst the exact starting point is up for debate, Tumblr isn't the only one – most, if not all social media platforms have switched over to a mobile-first experience.

A while back, a poll titled "how do you use tumblr?" circulated:

So it's not just Tumblr staff prioritizing mobile features & updates – it's also in response to a growing number of mobile users. A lot of it attributes to the fact that many of us on Tumblr are in our twenties and early thirties – we just don't have the time to sit at our computer and scroll through our feed like we used to. So the next best quick and convenient thing? Mobile app. But it's not just convenience –

Here it comes – the rant.

Posts look normal on mobile. They look as intended. They're not squished. If there are multiple images in a row, they aren't stretched, pixelated or blurry (most of them, anyway). And the reason? NPF posts (posts made with the "new" editor which now applies to all users) look like shit on desktop themes unless you're using Tumblr's default theme or a theme tailored to accommodate NPF posts. And before anyone says anything akin to "well, just learn to adapt and make NPF posts look good 🤓☝️", it may be easy for some, but not for those who are accustomed to the legacy Tumblr documentation that was based on "blocks" system which allowed for a theme to be made with plain HTML & CSS. Now, all posts are considered "text" posts despite supporting various types of media (which is great! but that isn't the problem here) and theme makers have the following options:

Use {⁠block:Text⁠} (which is part of the legacy Tumblr documentation, but that includes every post made with the new post editor regardless of what type of contents there are), which is still HTML & CSS, and style things from there (this method is the most common from what I've gathered).

Use {⁠NPF⁠} which is also a Tumblr variable (albeit a newer one), which returns a string of the post's content and details in JSON format. This can then be dissected and extracted into displaying the post contents like they do on the dashboard. However, JavaScript knowledge is a must, and is completely different from how Tumblr themes used to be made.

Use Tumblr's API (v1) to retrieve posts (similar to how {⁠NPF⁠} is retrieved) and add them to the theme. Again, this relies on JavaScript as well.

So whilst NPF is not "bad" per se, a different (and arguably more advanced) skill set is needed, and acquiring these skills takes time; usually not enough for the coder of your theme (who isn't constantly on Tumblr and has more important IRL commitments) to update it to be NPF compatible by the time you've noticed your posts look off on your blog. Which is partially why I wrote a NPF fix (first released in 2020 but I've rewritten it so many times that we're on version 4 now) that can be applied to any theme (not just for theme makers, but for users too) in attempt to make NPF posts (images in particular) look tidier. But all things considered, the fix is flawed and is in no way a one-size-fits-all solution. Nowadays, most of the help requests I get are to do with my NPF fix applied on someone else's theme (which is fine, that was the intention!) since the HTML markup of posts is different depending on how the theme maker coded it.

Whilst I can't speak on behalf of every user who has chosen to turn off their custom theme at some point, in my opinion (and speculation) a lot of it is because of how unstyled NPF posts look on their blog theme. Although staff has had NPF in the works since as early as 2018, very little support or clarification for the actual changes were reflected on the Tumblr docs. Even certain legacy posts (which should have nothing to do with the NPF changes) were affected:

A legacy quote, at the time of posting or reblogging with the legacy editor, would show up as intended on your blog theme, but reblogging it with the new post editor not only destroys the quote formatting, but it restructures the HTML markup as well. Forget the "quote text" and "quote source", now it's just a plain blockquote (which is synonymously used when a user reblogs a post and adds a comment to it) and a paragraph tag. Its post type also changes from "quote" to "text".

A legacy chat post, at the time of posting or reblogged with the legacy editor, remains a chat post. However, reblogs made through the new editor turn its post type from "chat" into "text". Any additional reblogs with comments will also turn its type into "text". These, however, at least have a HTML/CSS class name you can work off from (.npf_chat).

But back to users not having custom themes enabled and just having the default in-dash / in-app blog view: it's not just a NPF issue. As of 2022, all newly created blogs have custom themes turned off by default. So newer Tumblr users either don't know about custom themes in the first place, or they're convinced it's not an important feature if it's turned off by default. Tumblr has been pushing users towards a mobile-oriented experience regardless of whether you have a custom theme or not. Let's say you visit a Tumblr blog on your phone's browser (e.g. Chrome or Safari and NOT through the Tumblr app), when you scroll down the blog a bit, an obnoxious purple toast appears that takes up a good 40% of your screen:

Personally, it makes me not want to visit the tumblr.com website again. And the sad part is that the same obnoxious toast popup is appearing across other social media platforms as well (staring at you with rage, Reddit).

So while it's easy to point fingers at staff or hold a particular party accountable, it's more complicated than it seems.

That being said, the NPF changes have had positive impact as well. Photosets no longer rely on iframes to be generated, audio snippets don't rely on iframes anymore either (...still unstyled, but at least we have names to work with), and alt text works very well on NPF images (I've only seen it bug out once). Legacy photos and photosets with alt text had a chance of being muddled with the post's actual caption text, so it's not clear which is the image description, making it harder to determine and display when the photoset lightbox is triggered in custom themes.

Since NPF posts became prevalent, I've revised my own base code many times, and the JavaScript fixes that I've applied behind-the-scenes is 3–4 times longer than the actual theme code. Not every theme maker is going to have tedious and repetitive JavaScript code like what I've come up with, but we've all got our own ways of doing things (I'm actively trying to make my code more concise whilst still being coherent!).

◍ design style & branding:

So you might wonder – how did I ever go from this:

I. A bare-ass minimal theme that has nothing in it (it's not available to download anymore),

II. To this, where no pixel dares to be left untouched and the user guide is 23ish slides long?

This may sound corny as hell (and it is) but the answer is just – practice. Stumbling. Realizing what hits well and what doesn't. It's embracing the pang of hurt when you've spent weeks nonstop on a theme and it falls flat on numbers. It's that odd mix of confusion and joy when a theme you didn't spend as long on does do numbers. It's about realizing that you can make something you enjoy, and make content that the audience enjoys even if you're not as enthusiastic about it as they are.

I've grown to learn that minimalism is not my thing. The only exception is if I accompany it with 100+ options for my users to fiddle with. Interestingly, I've had complaints about not having enough options, yet I've also received complaints about too many options. And I understand both sides well from a user's standpoint. However, there are plenty of minimal styled themes out there already, and I don't particular enjoy making them either, so I figured I'd find my own niche. It was rather simple – I just focused on what I would want in a theme.

A major aspect that forms my style is the color scheme / palette. If you look through my portfolio, you'll notice that each theme (mostly) follows either a monochromatic color scheme or analogous palette. It's made to appear that there might be 2 or 3 major colors there (and that any other color is a variation of it, e.g. a couple shades darker), but in reality (if you've used my themes more than once then you're probably aware) pretty much every color can be changed. Although I have a specific mood or feel when I personally envision a theme, users may set an entirely different tone based on their preferences, and I want to give them the ability to be creative with the building blocks I've provided.

In order to make as many colors as customizable as they can be, most components cannot be images. They'd need to be text, a background color, border colors, mask overlay colors or SVG path fill colors of some kind, which adds a whole new level of complexity. But at the end of the day, it's fun. It's like having a shit ton of sliders on a character creation/customization screen in a RPG and you're trying to make the foulest abomination mankind has ever laid eyes on without breaking the game.

Naturally, this extends to other options I offer in my themes as well. My earlier themes (pre 2019) not only have less options to choose from, but are also a lot messier. This was before I figured out how to make dividers / separators in the customization panel, so all the options (regardless of type or element) would show up as one huge list. Also, I hadn't made glorified instruction manuals to walk you through everything back then. It was sort of expected that you'd just know your way around Tumblr themes and how to install them (which is foolish, because imagine how new Tumblr users must feel, especially with the blog settings interface changing every now and then? I'd be pretty discouraged and avoid using custom themes altogether). I now have a handful of options for everything ranging from post widths to paddings to font sizes, gaps, margins, border sizes (both inner and outer), positioning, shadow strengths (if applicable), and many more. An unexpected yet welcoming outcome of providing a plethora of options is that it encourages me to be organized. If I have each part recorded as a variable (properly named, not some keysmash or random food name that I used to do, no matter how amusing it was to me at the time), it saves me a lot of time and effort to then go back and change things if something goes awry. It also helps users who are more familiar with CSS/HTML to edit things in the code if they wish.

This is also an appropriate time to point out that in my newer themes and revamps, toggle options no longer exist. This is because it's been a Tumblr customization page bug for years and still has not been fixed ("on" toggles will appear as "off" and vice versa, rightfully confusing the hell out of users), so I've given up on them. Besides, toggles only provide 2 options: on and off. So why not turn them into dropdown options instead, when you can have even more?

Sure, this makes my theme code super long compared to most other themes out there but I think it's worth it. Waking up and randomly spotting someone having customized the fuck out of one of my themes (positive!) gives me a rush of euphoria like no other (though if you're going to make layout-breaking changes, I do appreciate asking me first 😅). On the other hand, I completely understand those who prefer to have a theme up and running from the get-go without much editing and guide-reading. I have multiple side blogs for my different interests and I'm only using my own themes on half of them (I don't make that many minimal themes, and sometimes a blog does look better when a minmal theme is applied!).

◍ “the friends we made along the way”:

Of course, I wouldn't have made it this far without the power of friendship. I'd like to give a special shoutout to the following lovelies who I consider the closest friends I've made through theme-making (and the ones I talk to the most, always at the top of my DMs list):

Felix ( @nonspace ) — My edgelord partner in crime; the one I share all my soulsborne and metal music obsessions with. His themes are like manifestations of HEALTH album covers in the best way.

Ces ( @tanaka-drew ) — The chaotic and loving sibling that I never had. Not only is her rate of pumping out themes astonishing, but so is her ability (rate of fire) at sending me memes/reels. The friend who I'd help hide a body and vice versa.

Bridgette ( @eggdesign ) — Fellow villain enthusiast, holder of my deepest darkest secrets (only half joking). Queen/monarch of building murals and interactables with CSS. She also draws over at @⁠cornetespoir and is participating in her first artfight!

I'm extremely loved and grateful to have become friends with the theme-making community – and with users of my themes, too! I consider all of you my precious family!

◍ what's next?

For the foreseeable future, I'd like to keep on reworking my older themes so they're up to my current standards. Although I patrol them regularly to check if there's a Tumblr update that impacted the appearance (it's also thanks to you folks who report these issues!), most of my older themes are not an accurate reflection of my standards and abilities of the present day. I still cringe when I receive an ask concerning an old theme that hasn't been revamped yet (usually involves looking through the code again), but I now see it as an opportunity to improve everything from the ground up!

Revamping themes (and not just themes; widgets too) is also the perfect chance to get rid of any jQuery code for good. For me (and I think this is the case for many other theme makers on Tumblr too), I learned jQuery before JavaScript itself (jQuery is a library/extension of JavaScript that designers prefer to use over JS). Sadly, jQuery is outdated, unnecessarily bulky and is infamous for causing issues (e.g. if feature A gets broken, subsequent features will break too, even if they're in a separate function), so since college, I've been going "backwards" to learn core JavaScript so I can eventually eradicate all traces of jQuery from my content.

I'll be making new themes whenever the inspiration hits me! I know I don't release themes at the rate I did 9 or 10 years ago (which was definitely not healthy, at one point I released a new one every other week and they were never checked properly) but that's just adulthood. Nowadays we're elated to accompany our friends to the dentist just so we can spend some time together.

...And that's all 🥹

Thank you for reading (if you actually read the entire thing: are you okay??) and I love you all 🥹

If you'd like to get to know me when I'm "off-duty", here are my socials:

Personal blog / no-context chaos: @⁠devsmaycry

Discord server: discord.gg/RcMKnwz (feel free to lurk or chat as much as you want!)

Bluesky: glen-px.bsky.social

[rawserhh]

my thoughts about the season 4 first episode!

spoilers across the cut!

i’ve seen a lot of mixed opinions so far..so i decided to make my own ramble about what i thought myself! there’s a lot of things i enjoyed and some things im partial to and some things i think would’ve been better not in the episode at all

i think it’s also important to remember that it is the first episode of the season, and while it does give a glimpse of what may be to come later on, it doesn’t necessarily mean everything is final completely. characters change as episodes are made which i feel is an important aspect of any analysis . with that said, there are some things i still want to comment on that seemed to have changed, starting with the pros:

the animation is really bouncy compared to ii2, and seems more expressive in general! i really think the animators outdid themselves with it, it’s genuinely really appealing compared to ii3 imo. the coloring and backgrounds are amazing too, and kept me invested the whole time . i really liked in this specific scene how the hospital reflects salt and pepper as objects (similar to how fans fantastic features and inanimate insanity infinity did, with the pink and heart theme)

it makes me happy to see the writers don’t forget about characters like salt who only have had big roles once or twice, it makes a lot of fans happy and stays true to their character.

the new voice actors are incredible too, and i think the voicing in this episode in general was just really well done :-) not much to comment on here, i just think the new voice actors were awesome. it’s nice to see more of them outside of the remaster too!

i loved seeing old debuters come back, along with some new characters too. the designs for jack and tapey are pretty awesome and had me excited to meet them. i hope we get to see more of how they develop and interact with other characters

also cheesecraft is back is that not awesome. it’s on java if anyone is interested LOL. i really like how they’re tying back to season one again, especially since early season 2 seemed to shy away from it a lot

i also enjoyed the starting plot/rising action, the idea of a sanitized, overly protective society that was created to avoid anyone getting hurt in any way is a cool way to stem off from season 2. especially protecting glass objects like lightbulb is really cool to me, she looks very cute in blue lol . i hope we learn more about it and shimmer power in general!

the play at the beginning portraying the way the contestants see mephone and mepad was really interesting to me, and showed a lot more into their characters, especially characters who weren’t seen in season 3 like floory and bot.

i see a lot of people upset about how mephone was portrayed, but i feel like people are failing to realize that it’s the writers intention, the contestants hold resentment towards mephone, so he is going to be villainized by them even when he isn’t. remember that most of contestants see mephone as their host and abuser, so they aren’t going to necessarily be overjoyed to talk about him (in play form or not). im 100% certain that the writers aren’t going to throw away mephone or 3gs just like that. things require time to be shown or explained, and with a 30 minute episode only so much can be done .

with that said, there are some things i really didn’t enjoy in the episode, im possibly more bewildered and confused than anything.

?this beginning. we learned about the red line game inside mephone, but never any other game requiring basketball of any sort. maybe i missed it somewhere, but it requires a lot of interpretation to understand what’s happening . also, how did 4s manage to meet these guys? did he remember them from season 1, or just met them inside mephone? it’s really hard to empathize with these new characters 2 minutes into the new episode, even though it’s supposed to be a heartfelt scene. we don’t know them yet, so it had little to no impact .

the town in general confuses me a lot too. how were these jobs assigned to everyone? some people seem to dislike their job more than others. how did everyone agree on what should be built with the shimmer magic? HOW does the shimmer magic even work? did the metag just decide to abandon meeple?? a lot of these things feel like they were just thrown in for comedic effect without much else behind it, which feels a lot more tainting to me, unless it is yet to be explained in a later episode

it feels like too much is happening at one time, like too many mini plots and characters were trying to be squeezed in 30 minutes. it felt like tpot, but more in a negative way. this kind of pacing doesn’t really seem to fit the ii characters as much

to backtrack for a minute, one of the things that made season 2 almost everyone’s favorite season was the storyline. each episode had dedicated segments to each character, without feeling pushed to only one storyline . in this episode, it felt like it was rapidly switching from one thing to another, while trying to fit in comedy and character progression only seconds apart, giving it a tacky feel to me. i felt like i couldn’t blink without something new happening, new characters and getting a feel of what the season will actually be like.

in all honesty, it felt like too much at once. i feel like it could’ve been better if it was stretched out a bit, so we can actually learn about the new characters and how season 2/3 characters interact with each other. a lot of it just feels so out of character and weird,

another issue i kept seeing happening was telling instead of showing. it felt like every action a character was doing they announce it, instead of just doing it. for example, it felt like fan kept on mentioning over and over again what made the old show so enjoyable, when instead an example could’ve been shown instead, like contestants enjoying something that was only in the show.

it’s stated that the shimmer power helped them rebuild and rejuvenate their society, but they don’t show how! everything felt so explicitly stated or not stated enough, making the episode less enjoyable to me

in all honesty, i’d give the episode a 6/10. it has its work, but it’s what’s expected from an opening. it feels like it gives too much away while also not saying enough at the same time. however, the visuals and new style of characters are stunning, and i can’t wait to see how it improves in the future. i think it just needs some time .

that’s all my thoughts on it, though i may add later if i feel like it :,D thanks for reading my thoughts

[mwahbabe]

having a family with chloe <3

pairing: chloe price x fem!reader

mdni!, mama!chloe, mama!reader, domestic!chloe, reader and chloe are mid twenties, g!p chloe, breeding kink oop!, cunnilingus(r!receiving) unprotected p in v sex, descriptions of nursing and pregnancy, loser!chloe. you don’t like it or it’s not your thing? there’s the door and don’t come for me.

thankyou @gardengnosticator for the inspo & help much appreciated <33

“she’s so strong, look at her lifting her head by herself almost. she’s gonna be kicking ass and wrecking shit in no time.”

you had baby on your chest after a feed, pump on the breast that she wasn’t just latched on to. your milk supply was stocked and full. you began to do up your top, much to chloes dismay. “noo. not fair.” she whines. you chuckle. “perv.”

“bite mama.” she whispers to the baby

“don’t listen to your mommy.” you block your babys ears as if she can comprehend and understand what chloe was encouraging. “she’s a bad influence.”

chloe snorted. “she’s part me, can’t help it if she acts like me.”

“she also doesn’t have teeth. not that her gums don’t destroy my fucking nips.”

“wow. swearing in front of our daughter and i’m the bad influence?” chloe smirked and kissed your forehead before she kissed babys. “also i told you i’m happy to help with that.”

“uh huh. everytime i ask you for a massage you fucking make me horny instead of helping.” you side eye her as you finish pumping, chloe watches you and gently holds babys tiny hand, “hey who said that’s not helpful? puts you right to sleep.” chloe retorts. “okay babe.” exhaling a laugh as you shake your head, chloe watches you shift your wriggling little bean up so she was more supported as you begin to stand up off the couch up wincing at your sore back, her expression changing from smug to concerned.

“hey hey hey why’re you getting up?” chloe stopped you and gently moved to push you back down. little bub gurgling happily as she lifted her little arms. you sigh. “chloe.” she shakes her head “give her to me, i got this.” you chuckle shaking your head. “you were up all night with her.” chloe’s already reaching for her and lifting her out of your arms, “yeah. i got energy, you went through the horror fest of childbirth and i infested you with my baby making juice and helped you make her and you’re still recovering, idiot. so hand her over.” her logic made sense to you, though her filter was absolutely non existent.

“jesus.” you laugh as you hand bubba over, she cooes happily and makes a loud happy baby sound that makes chloe grin. “woah dude, you’re already a rockstar baby huh? you know how to thrash and scream.”

you watch as your lover and your child have a heartfelt conversation, with chloe talking to her as if her gargles and cooes are controversial opinions and things she agrees on while she gently jiggles her. you feel a deep love for the both of them, besides that your stomach clenches at the sight of chloe being so nurturing and caring, as well as knowing how when your daughters asleep chloe has your legs over her hips as she pounds into you, her tip kissing your g spot over and over and her ragged breathing and grunting in your ear as she whispers how much she loves you and how gorgeous you’re gonna look round and full with her kid.

it was even more intense when you were pregnant with your daughter, chloe went crazy, she had to have her hands on you constantly, always sneaking up behind you when you were cooking or brushing your teeth, her hands cupping your swollen belly and then your enlarged breasts. pregnancy looked so good on you. so so good. it made chloe’s cock throb in her boxers, pre cum leaking out constantly.

before you could register it you would be up on the bathroom sink as chloe lapped at your cunt, moaning things like, “god babe.. taste so damn good.. you look so fuckin pretty with my kid in your stomach. fuck.” she was whimpering as she tasted your arousal and cum, and when she stood back up there was most definitely a wet patch on her pants from how hard and leaky she is from your perfect pussy.

chloe also loves your tits. like she loves every inch of you but she loves them even more with them being gorged and full of milk while you're carrying her baby. her perfect girl, the mother of her child.

so with chloe’s mission that was balls emptying mating press on the nearest horizontal surface as soon as possible, especially when you were ovulating oh you could not get that woman off you. with the way she would be thrusting into you as skin on skin with your moans and whines were the only sound along with her talking you through it, “hah.. fuck oh fuck.. need to give you a kid .. you’re gonna be the best mom. so damn hot carrying our baby.” her loads are full and seem to keep going, shooting into you so much that it leaks from your hole all over her dick. and that girl can go for many rounds. you struggle to keep up with her.

chloe gets a sick sick satisfaction from pulling out and watching her load just dribble and bubble out of you, her words full of praises like "wow you took me so well, look how full you are, bet you’re hella pumped about having my babies right?" as you were just kind of staring into the ceiling because you physically cannot comprehend how she did all that and how shes literally ready to go again so quickly.

that’s what got you into this. and when you found out you were having a girl you were so overjoyed, and she was the most beautiful baby you two had ever seen. she looked like you with chloe’s soul in her eyes. no matter how biased you were as her mothers. the both of you loved that little princess to death. chloe would kill for both of you. literally.

chloe snatched her off of you whenever she got the chance. she just loved to hold her. and she must have had some kind of magic touch because no matter how inconsolable your little baby was, as soon as chloe held her or she heard her voice she was instantly calm, maybe it was chloe’s aura and kind soul, maybe it was the way chloe held her, you didn’t know. you did hate her for it sometimes, sometimes. “ugh fuck you.” chloe would be swaying the cooing baby and patting her back and smirk at you. “when she’s down.”

when you would breastfeed chloe would be smiling as she gives you that look. “stop being a perv.” “just watching our girl eat.”

chloe choice of style for her was very different to yours, but you found it extremely adorable. chloe would buy her baby clothes with graphic band pictures in it or skulls or words like “i only cry when ugly people hold me.” things of that nature.

chloe would play sharks and pirates with her when she bathed her, she admittedly had way more fun with it than baby did.

the three of you loved your dance parties, chloe played her punk rock music as she made your baby dance to it, wriggling her little body and putting her tiny arms up in the air. to the point where she’s used to it and chloe puts her to sleep to paramore.

you three really had the perfect little family. although..

the night you had just put her to bed after her nightly feed. it was 2am and the house was still. you head to the kitchen for a late night snack, your feet padding softly on the kitchen floor. chloe comes up behind you as your fixing yourself something. “hey mama.” she buries her face in your neck.

“hey yourself.” you chuckle, chloe hums, holding you by your belly gently. “our little peanut asleep?”

“yup.” you smile. “she wasn’t that hungry.”

she nods against your shoulder, “you good baby? been taking care of yourself?”

you nod. “yeah. nursing makes me super thirsty so i drank a lot of water. and i had those leftover pancakes you made.”

she hummed in satisfaction, her hands moving lower now. “good job babe.” you smile. “you looking for something?”

chloe smiles at the sound of your tone, “yeah, it’s right here on the counter.” with that she bends you forward against the counter, her cock hard in her pajama shorts, throbbing at you for attention. you moan softly, “chloe..” your breathing grows more heavy and laboured.

her lips latch onto your neck, one hand cupping your full breast and the other pulling down your pajama bottoms, no underwear of course. you gave those up ages ago.

chloe’s breathing hard and whimpering softly as you feel her grind the tip of her cock against your slick folds, already wet from her voice and touch. she knew well and good how to get you going in the time you had been together.

“please?” she asks softly. “can i fuck you?”

you feel your stomach clench in response, pussy throbbing for her to fill you. “mhm.” you nod, your eyes roll back as chloe gently grabs your neck, one hand on your hip as she aligned herself with your slippery entrance. “ohh fuck..” she whispers as she feels your warm wet walls tighten around her, your hands gripping her arm and the kitchen counter holding on for the ride you were in for. “so fuckin good.. agh” chloe tries not to cum immediately apon entrance. “wanna- ah- put another one in you .. “ she gently thrusts into you, keeping the pace steady, at first at least, your eyes are dazed as you just moan in response, “gonna let me mama? gonna let me give you another.. god please let me–” she sounds so pathetic, so desperate, so in love with you, and you know damn well you wouldn’t have your chloe any other way.

her steady thrusts turn desperate as she moves faster and grips you tighter, her cock already sensitive, the way you were squeezing her making her clench her teeth and twitch inside you, she rubbed your clit drawing firm circles to get you to cum before her, or try to. the added stimulation had you clawing at the counter and her arm, you swore your pussy had gotten more sensitive since having a baby, crazy because you were terrified it would be the opposite.

“fu-uckk oh god yes yes!–” your thighs shook as you felt that delicious throb in your gut and the warm feeling that overcomes your lower body as you cum for her, your pussy clenching hard around chloe’s cock, and she’s right behind you, literally and figuratively, timing her thrusts with the pulsing of your cunt as ropes of seed fill you up to the brim. god it was a lot.

you both come down in each others embrace, riding that high you just experienced. “fuck..” you laugh. chloe kisses you sloppily, all tongue and teeth. before she exhales and lets go of you. “oh fuck i love you.” you pull up your bottoms feeling her cum leak and bubble out of you. “love you too my girl.”

chloe puts herself back in her shorts and fixes her hair that had fallen in her face. “go shower. i’ll whip something up for you.”

“damn right you will.” you half heartedly shove her. she laughs and watches you leave, her dick already throbbing and ready for another round. you were for sure going to be pregnant again by the end of tonight. your baby girl was having a sibling and chloe would make sure of it.

[peachblossomfire]

Astro Stuff I wish I knew as a Beginner

1.Not all "astro observation" posts are created equal: You'll find many of them floating around tumblr, and though they are quite aesthetic to look at, not all of them are observations by definition. I've read some points in those posts that I have seen in real life, but a lot of them relate to the PERSONAL experience of the astrologer, and may not be relevant to you.

Example: opinions on scorpios. I've seen everything from people characterizing them as sexy and vindictive to emo and loyal. Not every post is worth your time. One person's scorpio ain't another person's scorpio. And who says they can't be both?

2. Stereotypes: This one gets old very quickly. By the time you read your hundredth post describing Aries as simply "fiery" and Pisces as simply "dreamy" you'll quickly realize surface level 'pop' astrology, while FUN to read, pales in comparison to real life analysis of how these placements work in relation to an actual environment, the person's life experiences and their chart.

Example: Aries sun vs Aries moon, two VERY different expressions of Aries energy. Chart positions; An Aries sun in the seventh house does not behave like an Aries sun in the third house(though you will find common patterns), Aspects to that placement that challenge and change how that energy is expressed through.

Also!!! People don't always react the same way every single time. Context matters dude.

3. "Bad" and "Worst" Placements: You'll see a lot of posts like "why ____ is the WORST placement" or "why you'll have bad luck if you have _____" and the biggest offender of all, "Saturn is scary" type of posts. FIRST OF ALL, I don't believe in being afraid of one's own placements. It's quite the self-defeating prophecy.

SECOND OF ALL, Saturn is only truly shitty if you perceive it as a scary party pooper oppressive force. Saturn is, in fact, an incredible planet if you learn the lesson it is trying to teach. Jupiter may give you all the riches in the world, but Saturn will make sure you MAINTAIN it. And true knowledge is worth its weight in gold.

You can avoid all the lessons in life, take every cheat code and shortcut. But Time is the great Equalizer. The athlete that wins the race by taking steroids and drugs will be feeling different when his kidneys eventually give out.

And the athlete that actually did the painful work of working out will be feeling different when he outlives his opponent due to good health and wins the race by his own merit.

4. CHARTS: I don't know if anyone else had this issue, but while shifting from placidus to whole sign, all my planets shift into the next house, which becomes very confusing because it completely changes the story and meanings of that chart. I recommend reading both interpretations and choosing one which you truly resonate with. Astrologers and astro sites use different chart types.

5. Potential: Every chart contains the potential of that individual to be their best, their average, or their worst. There is no "I'll be like this forever" because a. the only thing forever is the fact that nothing is forever and b. it can be difficult to perceive your progress and change when you're ACTUALLY LIVING IT. There was a quote that went "Life can only be lived forwards but understood backwards" or something like that.(please reblog this with the actual quote if you guys found it)

6. Space Racism: Lets always remember this folks; Your zodiac sign is not an excuse to be a shitty person. And vice versa; You shouldn't be shitty to someone because of their zodiac sign. Anybody who goes "oh my god I don't like you 'cause you're a libra" is just giving this really interesting subject such a bad rep. Tell that person they're "being such an asparagus right now" to infuriate them and move on.

Don't hate someone 'cause of some constellation in the sky, understand why you dislike them based on real-world behavior and actions.

Okay, mention if I missed anything or if there's something I'm wrong about. I'm learning all this just like you guys, and would appreciate it if I'm going off course.

Also, saturn is much deeper than what i mentioned earlier, but the point was not to fear planets like they are out to get you.

[ageremoji]

DO NOT READ IF REGRESSED! (CW: SLURS)

Small vent because @tfemlamb felt offended by this response I answered to someone’s question. Shi said it was rude and misinformative so I asked how I could word it more kindly.

Instead shi attempted to educate me about endogenic ‘systems’, telling me shi was diagnosed as an endogenic ‘system’ since birth, and specialist have confirmed this. That’s Clinically impossible- But I’m not a system, so I do a whole bunch a research, including asking diagnosed systems from 3 different discord servers I’m in, and they tell me what I already knew. Thats Clinically impossible. So I tell her, that’s impossible and maybe there’s underlying issues, shi’s misunderstanding or misdiagnosed, or maybe shi can’t remember her trauma or maybe shi’s lying. But What do I know? I don’t personal know hir, I don’t know about hir life and what’s potentially wrong with hir and what shi’s lying about. All I know is I had research backing up my claim, and hearings diagnosed people who says she’s possibly lying. The only thing shi gave me to back up hir claim was a link where people who aren’t diagnosed and aren’t medical professionals expressed their thoughts, opinions, and personal experiences, when I asked others about the link, they told me it had to do with a lot of religious stuff as well.

Hir response to all this ended up in her calling me the r-slur several times in the comments. When told hir to stop and that hir comment will be deleted she blocked me so that I wouldn’t access to hir comments and came after me on 2 other accounts. I had to delete the post all together. I messaged hir from another account as well letting hir know hir comments from the two other accounts that shi hasn’t blocked me on will be deleted and that shi will be blocked—denying her access to any of my content.

Shi’s 22 and I’m still a minor, and more educated on the topic then shi is. And you know it’s bad when an AGE REGRESSOR has to tell someone to GROW UP. Hir responses were very immature for a 22 year old and very rude. I’m honestly disappointed that there are people who choose to stay ignorant and can be that grown and be that emotionally immature.  Like- how does one get so angry that someone on the internet won’t believe in what they do so they call them slurs? I know some people have strong beliefs that I can’t change, and I’m okay with that, and I know I wasn’t wrong with my response because I made an effort to educate myself. I may not understand everything about DID and OSDD—and please anyone DIAGNOSED correct me, POLITELY, I’m almost certain I was as clinically correct as I could be as a singlet.

Im not severely hurt or upset by this im just disappointed, especially with the usage of the r-slur. That word was used against people with autism and other physical and intellectual disabilities in hurtful ways. I don’t understand why people use slurs at all tbh. As a person of color I hear my family and peers use (a certain) slur all the time, I understand trying to reclaim a slur to an extent. But why even bother if it’s a word that was used hurtfully. I wouldn’t even want it in my vocabulary.

I do not hate or dislike people who claim they are an endogenic ‘systems’, but I don’t want them interacting with any of my content specifically made for people who really have DID/OSDD. They are free to interact with my agere stuff as they please though. I do not want any endo’s going into my comment section being rude and unprofessional. If you want to discuss, dm me and be polite, respectful, and kind. If you cannot show due diligence don’t interact. If my not being a supporter of Endogenic systems make you angry, block me.

[alaanz]

I saw @nabi-unveiled and @biochemjess ’s posts on their favourite revenged love moments so far and so of course I had to join in too!

There are so many amazing scenes in this show and so hopefully this will show just why me and so many others love it so much.

~

If I had to summarise the show in one pic-

I feel like this sums up the theme of the show pretty well as their whole relationship is built on manipulation.

There’s a lot to feel guilty about for every single person in this show. Everyone sucks at least a little bit. Which is exactly why we all love watching so much.

Best kiss-

This is, in my opinion, the best kiss of the show so far for the way that it shows exactly the kinds of characters they are.

Cc is dominant, manipulative and more often than not chooses the selfish option over being selfless. There’s also a tenderness there and a clear desire for a deeper connection with wsw. He knows that wsw likes to play mind games and so uses the same tactics to try and move their relationship along. I also get the feeling that if wsw really didn’t want to kiss cc, then cc wouldn’t go through with the threat. Despite his selfishness, he doesn’t want to actually hurt wsw.

Wsw is also manipulative, very strong willed and selfish. He also has a lot of passion and drive. Which is how he has ended up in this situation with cc. While he could reject cc completely and ruin his plan out of discomfort. He decides to go through with it and kiss cc. His morals and drive ultimately outweigh potentially ruining achieving his end goal. This isn’t to say he doesn’t know his limits though, and he will challenge cc when he sees best fit.

They compliment each other amazingly, and give exactly what they receive, which is why they work together so well.

Favourite Chi Cheng smile for Wu Suo Wei-

This is a tough one. There’s so many good cc smiles, and he also smiles A LOT.

I love the look of love this man has for wsw, and so my favourite has to be the one above. This is the scene that feels like cc’s love for wsw finally clicks into place completely. Wsw is talking so passionately about what he wants to do with his life and cc just stares at him like nothing else could ever come close to wsw’s beauty. Ah I just love it!

The fit I want to steal-

There are so many good outfits in this show. Everyone has at least one outfit that I love. For a fit I’d want to steal though it’s got the be wsw’s cardigan in this scene. Man I LOVE a good cardigan/jumper and this is one I’d for sure wear everyday.

Special mention goes to cc’s classic fit. When I saw him come into frame wearing this I fell in love with it immediately. It’s not something I would wear myself, however. This fit was made for cc.

(Also just all of Cheng Yu’s shirts)

The moment that lives rent free in my head-

The amount of moments from this show that live rent free in my head is insane. Funny, serious, romantic, everything in between. From the most recent episodes though I’d say it’s this scene.

Cc refusing to let go of wsw’s hand even when wsw tries to pull away multiple times is just ahhhhhhhhhhh. Cc who normally makes sure his outward appearance is well put together has now completely disregarded any of that for the sake of staying by wsw’s side. He truly loves that man.

And wsw who has watched cc suffer so much because of his father and doesn’t want to make it worse by cc’s father seeing them together. He cares about cc so much despite his initial intentions.

This scene shows how much they’ve changed because of each other. Cc will stand against his father and risk potential repercussions if it means staying with and comforting wsw. And wsw now only looks to help cc and make his life as easy as possible even if it means have to lose the comfort of being near him.

Wu Suo Wei’s peak manipulation-

Wsw is a very smart character and his commitment to the bit is unmatched, however, for me, my favourite wsw moment of manipulation comes from when he just throws himself at cc in this scene.

Yue yue called cc and so in peak wsw style, the only way he could think to keep cc’s attention on him was to tie their clothes together and just hurl himself at cc. Incredible.

In the words of cc, I’m mesmerised by his loser aura.

~

There’s a lot of text in this so I hope I’ve managed to get everything across well enough hahaha.

I’d also love to see everyone else’s favourite moments and why they love this show. So if you decide to join in on the game please tag me so I can see!

[housepartyprotocol]

Booktok

Pato O'Ward x YouTuber!Reader

Summary: Pato O'Ward joins a bookclub after losing a bet and falls for the girl running it

(a/n: most of the book discussions are based around the book "Cleopatra and Frankenstein" which I read recently. I will attempt to avoid spoilers for it, but this fic will be able to be read without knowledge!)

Masterlist / TipJar

ynusername

liked by yourbff, and 3,964 others

ynusername May romance book review posting tonight at 8pm, Hope you enjoy!!

view all 42 comments

user Can't wait!

user I love your take on modern romance authors and the current rise on advertising books using so many tropes!

ynusername Omg thank you so much xx

yourbff Yess! This is what I live for

ynusername Hahah thanks love! yourbff So proud x

patriciooward

liked by nolansiegel, arrowmclaren, yourbff, and 105,256 others

patriciooward Said if I could finish this whole thing in one sitting, I would get 1 favour, anything I want, from Nolan. I failed.

view all 258 comments

nolansiegel But now you get a punishment

patriciooward What is the punishment?? nolansiegel Based of the fact in your last interview you said the last time you read a book was when you were 15, something off that patriciooward NOOOOO user Ha he is going to be forced to read a book yourbff @ ynusername has a book club liked by nolansiegel

user No stomach of steel there

arrowmclaren What did we say about making bets

patriciooward As long as no money is involved, bet away arrowmclaren no

ynusername

liked by yourbff, nolansiegel, and 4,068 others

ynusername June book club read : Cleopatra and Frankenstein

view all 52 comments

user Can't wait to read!

user I have already read it but want to read it again to be involved!

ynusername you don't have to! just join in the group at the end of the month and we can all talk about it xx

yourbff Heard good things about this one!

ynusername Me too! I love Coco Mellors, so excited!

patriciooward

liked by nolansiegel, yourbff, arrowmclaren, and 120,352 others

patriciooward Being forced to join a book club has to be the most cruel punishment

view all 201 comments

user What book is he reading?

user I want to join this book club

nolansiegel its the @ ynusername bookclub! user so going to join! user they are reading 'Cleopatra and frankenstein' omg user thats a crazy book to read after years of not reading nolansiegel threw him in the deepend

yourbff @ ynusername he's joined your bookclub!

liked by ynusername

ynusername

book club discussion group - June - Cleopatra and Frankenstein

ynusername Hi everyone! How did everyone find the book?

user I loved it, I loved how certain chapters had a different formatting and writing style for each character perspective shift!

ynusername Yess, it was so refreshing and kept me on my toes! user I found some of the chapters to run too long, though ynusername Hmm, I can see your point, however, I always found that there were good moments to pause within a chapter

yourbff I love seeing the relationship between Cleo and Frank grow, shift and change throughout the book

ynusername It felt like a real representation of a maybe toxic or unhealthy relationship yourbff At some point, I think I hated and loved each character, like my opinion of them changed throughout patriciooward I agree, characters I thought I liked towards the beginning I disliked towards the end! and vice versa! yourbff OMG HI ynusername omg please don't go fangirl crazy in this group patriciooward (hi)

user Wasn't my taste in books but it was a nice shift in genre for a change

ynusername Everyone is entiled to their own opinion of every book! Sometimes a shift in genre just consolidates my love for others user Exactly! Probably going to stick to my murder mystery/crime novels after this ynusername Oooo I'm always looking for books for the next club or just general recommendations!

patriciooward

liked by nolansiegel, yourbff, ynusername, and 152,887 others

patriciooward This book thing is quite addictive

view all 198 comments

user haha where is he getting his book recs?

patriciooward @ ynusername ! She has a book club and really good youtube! user Omg I follow her, she is so lovely! yourbff @ ynusername HE SHOUTED YOU OUT! ynusername aww thank you so much x So happy you enjoyed my content liked by patriciooward

nolansiegel Omg you are so easily influenced

praticiooward shush user Do you think it is because he thinks the book youtuber is cute? user I wouldn't blame him

ynusername

liked by yourbff, patriciooward, and 6,632 others

ynusername Busy day of editing videos when this lovely bouquet arrived at my door with a lovely, but nameless, note. Why do I feel like I'm in my romance books?

view all 36 comments

user Living the dream!

yourbff You could have a stalker... like why do they know where you live

ynusername They came through my manager, and if they thought it was appropriate, they must be! yourbff okay so it's definitely cute!

user So pretty and well-read!

ynusername Thank you! xx

patriciooward Can't wait to watch the next video!

ynusername Can't wait for you to see it! yourbff Do we need to have a lesson about how to flirt ynusername shut up

patriciooward

liked by ynusername, nolansiegel, yourbff, and 364,238 others

patriciooward Been a good few days in my life!

view all 301 comments

user @ nolansiegel what did you do to Pato

nolansiegel I tried to educate him but I created a monster nolansiegel He won't stop suggesting books to me nolansiegel And keeps talking about that book youtuber user omg down bad Pato

yourbff Getting more men to read books, you're doing God's work @ ynusername!

ynusername Hahah don't be silly! patriciooward I have been changed! Good though yourbff omg

user He has a dog and he reads, how is he single omg?

ynusername

liked by patooward, yourbff, and 6,871 others

ynusername July book club read : Just for the summer

view all 42 comments

user OMG THIS ONE IS SO GOOD

ynusername No spoilers!

patriciooward This sounds really interesting and fun, its a romance no?

ynusername Yes! A more classical romance book rather than the last one we all read, but still fully fleshed out! patriciooward Can't wait to read this with you ;) x yourbff oh. my. god. how have you done that ynusername shushhh I have no idea yourbff omg flower man??

user I love your cat omg

ynusername He is called Pickles! He's a little stupid, but we love him!

patriciooward

liked by nolansiegel, ynusername, arrowmclaren, and 285,644 others

patriciooward Date

view all 283 comments

user Love the caption is just that

user He must have hope for this relationship if he is posting just a date

nolansiegel Good god man

patriciooward What? nolansiegel You down bad, you flew to her? patriciooward Was going to, she actually lives close! nolansiegel Fate

yourbff hmmm

ynusername What? yourbff I didn't even tag you...

ynusername

liked by yourbff, patriciooward, and 7,252 others

ynusername Last few days: More bookshops, got this lovely hoodie as a gift, went on a few dates, edited lots of videos, prepped for July book club!

view all 42 comments

user Omg she went on a date!!

ynusername I did! I'm living in a novel!

yourbff I approve

ynusername Ha like I need your approval ynusername I do, thank you yourbff He is good liked by patriciooward

user Can't wait for book club!

patriciooward Me too, this one was brilliant! ynusername Glad you all enjoyed it!

ynusername

book club discussion group - July - Just for the summer

ynusername Another month, another book club

patriciooward I will read anything you tell me too

patriciooward This one was brilliant and I loved it ynusername Amazing xx Do you want to go into more detail for the group?

--

patriciooward

liked by ynusername, nolansiegel, yourbff, and 341,544 others

patriciooward got forced to read a book, met a lovely beautiful girl because of it

tagged : ynusername

view all 415 comments

user So cute x

nolansiegel I am taking credit for this

patriciooward Did you ask her out? No patriciooward Did you charm her? No patriciooward Are you dating her? No nolansiegel Did (like you said in the caption) I force you to join a book club which lead you to meeting her? Yes patriciooward Fine yourbff If anything, I should get credit for telling Nolan about Y/N's book club patriciooward You get credit

ynusername Handsome man x

patriciooward Thank you cutie x

user Has she even been to a race?

user Does that matter?

user Should I start reading a book

patriciooward Yes, and watch @ ynusername for recommendations! yourbff Down bad

(a/n: God I think Pato is SO FINE and this was so much fun to write omg!!, let me know how you think it was)

[prickly-porcupine-memes]

Look, i wont pretend to know you, to know what you've been through and what life experiences you've had. We are simply two strangers on the internet.

But surely there are shades of gray to this issue. Idk maybe there can be understanding and empathy extended to people you see as enemies?

I dont expect you to agree with all of them, but i think you should try and see their arguments from another perspective. Even just to better debate when people like me ask you stuff! Maybe taking a step back and putting yourself in an antizionists shoes. Why do they believe the things they do, what experiences could've informed these opinions.

Even just considering the optics and the things are seeing outside of debate. People on tumblr for example see the rubble, the sheer destruction of urban warfare. And for zionists like yourself, you see the protests, the anger directed at you, which i can only imagine feels terrifying. Like im sure theres a reason your askbox is labelled in such a way. But i think its important to remember the people on the other side are still human. They are just as pasaionate and firm in their beliefs as you. Im sure the mean comments people send you either sting or galvanize, and the barbs you send back do the same to them. Maybe seeing them not as enemies but people you disagree with or cant stand will help you win a debate and change a mind, or you'll find your own position changing.

Thank you for your time, i know you probably get a lot of hate mail so if you at least read this far and considered even one of my points id be quite happy.

(Also my blog is mostly me being a massive lesbian and reblogging cute girls. And i dont really wanna make a second blog specifically for political thought so i'd advise against digging through my blog since it wont really help you sorry)

Anyways i hope you have an okay day

I'm going to answer as though your ask was sent in good faith.

You say you don't pretend to know me...but then you build your entire ask on assumptions about who I must be.

You assume I see people as enemies. You suggest I lack empathy. You imply I haven't considered opposing views. You tell me to remember that people are human, as if that's something I've forgotten.

I don't dehumanize people, I don't treat disagreement as a threat, and I don’t think strong emotions automatically make a belief system valid. I've spent a lot of time understanding why people believe what they believe, including those who oppose Jewish national self-determination. If anything, that's exactly why I disagree with them. Understanding is not the same as agreement.

You're asking me to do a kind of emotional labor I already do. Meanwhile, you say nothing about what anti-Zionists might owe in return. You don't ask them to consider how it feels to be on the receiving end of protest signs that erase Jewish peoplehood, slogans which endorse violence, or the torrent of harassment many of us face online. You frame empathy as a one-way demand, from Jews and to antisemites.

You talk about Tumblr seeing rubble and destruction, but not the context of how wars work, or why those buildings were targeted, or what Hamas does from inside civilian areas. You pretend to be fighting for complexity while displaying a very selective compassion.

If your goal was to model dialogue, it would help to avoid dressing up assumptions as invitations. Dialogue works best when both sides are treated as human from the start, not when one side is scolded for being inhumane.

You seem to congratulate yourself for not sending hate mail, but writing politely while misrepresenting someone's values is pure condescension, and that's what your entire ask reeks of.

If you want mutual understanding, start by assuming that the person you're addressing already engages with complexity, already sees humanity in others, and already thinks carefully about what they believe.

[pseudophan]

As a Late and Old phannie, what was the general reaction when wad came out? I only watched it recently which changes the context so massively… (I wasn’t super impressed but I’m v happy for him he did it)

putting this under a cut cause it got a bit long oopsies. which is funny because tl;dr i don't have a good answer

honestly i'm not an expert on this because i didn't see that much phandom content around that time? like i was active on here and i went to wad in oslo and london, but it was before i followed new phannies on here and most of the people i used to follow had left, so i mostly just saw whatever was in my inbox

from what i did see though, the reception was kind of a mix? it was a difficult thing to get a proper read on because you had ex-phannies who hated it and current very active phannies who loved it, but there wasn't any nuance in either camp like it was either the worst thing ever made because fuck dan howell specifically, or it was a masterpiece and if you disliked any part of it you're mean and just didn't get it. i'm not saying this was what the entire discourse was like, it probably wasn't, but from what i personally saw that i still remember there was a lot of that lol

i don't even remember what i said about it at the time, if i even said much. i feel like i may have actually seen more discourse than i think i did, i've just forgotten all of it 😭 the phandom was just kind of boring, watching their solo stuff was fun and all but i never felt like i had that much to comment on

i will say "not super impressed but i'm very happy for him that he did it" is basically my exact opinion of wad. i mean i was impressed by the performance, he really is a good live performer and i think i kind of forget that when it's been a while since i saw him, but the comedy aspect... i think maybe it would bother me less if i didn't know for a fact that man can be funny. i need him to be less safe in his jokes so bad lol like i know you have it in you can you PLEASE JUST- nvm not the point here. the emotional aspect was better but i'm just not the type to get moved by Everything Will Get Better speeches, so while i appreciated it idk that it did much for me personally. but yeah i really am glad he did it, i think it was really good for him and he should be proud of it. hell for a first ever solo stage show it's not bad at all, i know a lot of people who absolutely adore wad and say it changed their life, it just isn't my personal favourite. it's not bad it's not great it's just mid. and that's ok <3

[sparkpup-likes-drawing]

Okay I need to scream into the void about something because I just saw a post that reminded me of this idea for an AU I've had, and I started ranting in the tags but it's better as a full post so people can actually see my ideas for this okay? I wanna just throw it out into the world for y'all to judge

So, TGCF, right? What if- and hear me out on this- TGCF... But the ghosts are actually vampires? Pretty much all the major plot points are the same but the ghosts are vampires.

It would work think about it

(also spoiler warning for some stuff obviously)

He Xuan feeding on water ghosts? No, maybe vampires get stronger from consuming the blood of other vampires, and the strongest of the strong can even suck out lower vampires' powers as well, leaving them as nothing but a husk, a shell of the vampire they once were

Ghost City? Vampire City, duh. And the Gambler's Den deals mainly in blood no I will not be taking a second opinion on this.

Hua Cheng's title, "Crimson/Bloody Rain Sought Flower"? Puh-lease, it's so obvious. Bloody Rain Sought Flower?? It's because he's known as the strongest vampire of all, of course, and the blood from his bloody rain?? Oh-hoh, just imagine him standing there, fangs glinting as he smiles, wiping his thumb on his cheek and licking the blood off with a cocky grin 🤤😍❤️‍🔥

Mt. Tonglu spitting out spirits and being the gauntlet for them? Nuh-uh, it's Mt. Yinlu now. Silver Kiln Mountain instead of Copper Kiln Mountain. Vampire gauntlet. Something something evil miasma or whatever that turns people into vampires, IDK haven't thought about too hard yet but let me cook ok

And the ghost rut?? Hehe, well it's the vampire rut now. Bloodlust everywhere. They all have a desire to hunt and to feed and that's why it's considered so dangerous.

Also about the vampire rut, so in the books we all know and love how Hua Cheng gets desperate for Xie Lian, kissing and making out with him during that scene etc etc BUT what if instead he gets the unsuppressable urge to feed? Xie Lian is right there, and he's so trusting and so easy to just bite, but Hua Cheng's subconscious refuses to let him drink Xie Lian's blood, because who is he to be able to even taste a drop of that divine ichor? Anyways, Hua Cheng starts holding Xie Lian down and kissing him after Xie Lian hugs him because of course he does, and his fangs are out, so they brush against Xie Lian's lip and- fuck. He tastes blood. He's trying so hard now not to just bite or fuck Xie Lian and Xie Lian is having a time discovering the very problematic fact that he really likes the feeling of Hua Cheng's fangs on his lips and skin.

Vampires are able to turn into animals, of course. They can also turn into an incorporeal dark mist because I say so. Vampire powers oooooo *wiggles fingers*

Vampires can cultivate as well as gods and shit so they also have other powers (so basically my lame ass excuse for why vamp! Hua Cheng can change his appearance and do magic shit)

Aforementioned cultivation makes it so Hua Cheng can hold his silver scimitar E-Ming without it hurting. Yes he's a cocky bitch about it

Speaking of turning into incorporeal mist, that's what Hua Cheng does in place of dispersing when he frees Xie Lian from his shackles. Does the mist dissipate on the wind while Hua Cheng regathers a corporeal form? Does the mist hang around Xie Lian like a little puppy, terrorising people as they wonder why His Highness is being followed by a shroud of terrifying maroon mist with an evil-as-fuck aura? IDK haven't thought that far but you can imagine whichever scenario you like the best

And, I can definitely not hear you asking because I'm definitely not in your walls: "But Sparkpup, what about ghost's ashes? What about the "soulmate getting the thing that controls your life" thing?" Okay. So. Vampires' blood is considered inherently dirty and cursed, even though it like. Tastes just the same or maybe even better than other blood. Anyways, all vampires have a single drop of the pure blood in their heart, called the silver blood pearl (as it is their greatest weakness, and this purest drop of blood is silver-coloured), and when a vampire trusts and loves another with all of themself, they will take this purest drop of blood and turn it into something physical; an amulet, a pearl, a diamond- or, a crystal clear ring. They will give it to the one they love, and that purest drop of blood can control the vampire, and if it is destroyed, it destroys the vampire. He who holds the silver blood pearl holds total power over the vampire. This is their way of showing total trust and love for someone. Of course, as in canon, it is often abused, as people will force vampires to give up their silver blood pearl and use it to either make the vampire kill themself or force them to go on rampages and cause chaos. But ofc Xie Lian believes in agency and individuality even though Hua Cheng would be 100% fine with being his puppet.

Also young vampires tend to hunt and feed on animals, but when vampires get older, they are expected to find a mate, and they will 'mark' that person, as that person will become their primary food source. It requires a lot of trust between the two parties overall, and yes if you're thinking it I could not help myself I did bring in the omegaverse-ass mating bite thing into this because fuck you I do what I want.

So obviously it's implied with the whole "only doing it with a mate" thing but it's considered a very intimate act to feed directly from someone. Feeding directly from animals in adult vampires is only done as a last resort if they don't have a mate and is considered crude and improper. If needing to drink blood and not having a mate, adult vampires will drink blood from pouches, or artificial blood in the case of the vampire version of vegans. They also can eat normal/other food and get nourishment from that, but a vampire who doesn't eat blood or artificial blood cannot fuel their powers and will constantly feel unsatisfied from their meals that way, hence most of them find a blood or blood-like alternative.

Xie Lian is a very willing food source for Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng is definitely not hard when feeding from Xie Lian, and Xie Lian definitely isn't hard from Hua Cheng biting him.

On that note, asexual and aromantic vampires who don't have mates will either just drink blood from pouches (most common method) or will continue hunting wild animals (those who do this are considered weird for this but non-aroace vampires don't want to cross the scary aroace vampire hermit clans in the forest so they just vibe with it)

Anyways I've thought too much about this and haven't written it at all lmfao

[hheartsdramas]

a year of watching cdramas: my top 10-ish favorites

i discovered cdramas a little over a year ago after several years of mostly watching modern kdramas. i remember viki pushing the double a lot when it aired, so i clicked on it. and at first i was like, "wtf is this?" i mean, talk about a campy introduction. but before i knew it i was sucked in, finishing the series, and looking for another one. i've barely watched anything but costume cdramas since.

so in honor of a year-plus of cdrama watching, i thought it would be fun to make myself pick my favorites! this list could change and re-order depending on the day and on how much i love the next drama i finish (because recency bias is a thing, though i don't see my top 3 getting unseated any time soon).

honorable mentions

story of kunning palace: a natural follow-up to the double, and the first cdrama i rewatched more than once. i got...embarrassingly attached to xie wei. jiang xuening is also the kind of snarky i enjoy, and watching her constantly trying and failing to get away from the palace life was just too addicting. it's the drama that made me realize i can excuse a lot of red flags if i'm having a good time.

night of love with you: still holds the distinction of being the only romance-focused modern that i've finished. it's a sort of transmigration mini in which a career villain character ends up playing the fl in a standard ceo romance drama...but she ends up falling for the villain. fun, smart, and a delight if you're into stuff with a bit of meta.

a journey to love: the found family to end all found families, not to mention the first cdrama fl i truly fell in love with. i would rank this higher if not for the ending, which i have...opinions about. so i mostly pretend like those last few episodes don't exist and i can love ajtl unbothered.

top 10

10. the legend of shen li

a demon general who gets stuck in chicken form after trying to escape a divinely-ordered marriage. a god of the universe roleplaying a sickly human for funsies. one of the ultimate "burn the world for them" couples i've encountered so far. leads that actually feel grown up, believable stakes, communication, and a happy ending. it's practically perfect in every way.

9. legend of zang hai

i don't think this is necessarily one of the best-executed dramas on my favorites list, although it's much better executed than the trolls would have you believe. i just love a revenge quest that cares more about the people than about the revenge itself, and lozh is exactly that. plus xiao zhan is honestly hotter than i expected him to be in this and i got a stabby slinky fl.

8. lost you forever

i'll be honest: this one makes it into my top ten mostly because of one character. it's not that i didn't enjoy the drama as a whole (minus that dream fiasco at the end), because i very much did, but let's be honest: imo this is xiang liu's show, xiao yao is second lead, and the rest of them are there for color. i mostly only rewatch his/their scenes. i don't actually ship them as end game (jing was the right choice imo), but i'm still a xiang liu simp. he's just too damn tragic. but it's visually beautiful and the ost/score are magic. sometimes i listen to 爱之哀叹 (which google translate tells me means "love's lament") and 梅林同焚 (which google translate tells me means "merlin burns together" ???) when i want to feel something.

7. a moment but forever

do you like stories about broken people that question the meaning of loyalty, power, healing, and love? than boy oh boy do i have a drama for you! liu xueyi is a tour de force as the extremely traumatized high priest of the worst clan you've ever heard of, who learns to love the world again thanks to the no-nonsense goddess of craftsmanship who just won't leave him tf alone. i analyzed and meta-d more scenes in this drama than any other, i think.

6. the ingenious one

remember how i said i love revenge dramas that are interested in the human impacts of seeking vengeance? well this is probably the best version of that i've seen so far. a brainiac with no fighting skills is on a quest to avenge the massacre of his family, and along the way he meets one of my favorite fls in dramaland (stabby! sassy! grounded! complex! gets to grow!), as well as a cast of entirely lovable secondary characters that also get to be layered and real. i think this is extremely underrated and more people should watch it and talk about it.

5. under the moonlight

who needs flashy cgi or big traffic stars when you have such a down-to-earth heroine to anchor your drama? a former courtesan becomes a constable and crime-solving savant, but it doesn't feel too glossy or girl bossy. no one in this drama escapes their circumstances entirely, but it's so gratifying to watch how everyone goes about building a life they are happy to live. the main ship is also so well done, in the sense that i went from wanting to scream at the ml to melting into a puddle of goo every time the leads were on screen together. way too underrated for how good it is.

4. love in between

MY BABIES!!!! lib came out of nowhere to absolutely clobber me with feelings. believed-dead marquis's son living as a doctor reunited with the girl who gave him the will to live again when they were kids. they each have an agenda, but one of them is more willing to give theirs up than the other. two more perfect ships round out this angsty, intelligent story that made me scream and cry for all the right reasons.

3. the blossoming love

i thought i was signing up for some candy-colored silly fun. what i got was one of the smartest and tightly plotted xianxia that might exist. i love a chaos agent paired with a starchy mcstarcherston, but i love a chaos/starchy/emo shoulda-been-a-polycule even more. this one has all the tropes but uses them intelligently to weave a story that can unironically ask its characters: who are you? what is destiny? and is that paperwork really so important?

2. the untamed

i don't know what they put in this show. it's crack. it's now one of my most re-watched shows in any language and i only saw it for the first time last autumn. it's massively popular for a reason and it's not just because those boys are pretty (though they are, ridiculously so). i don't have much else to say except that if you haven't seen it yet a) where have you been and b) you should fix that.

1. joy of life

i still can't believe that the first time i tried to watch jol i dropped it after three episodes. i am constantly wowed about how this drama takes what seems to be a basic palace drama with fun characters and manages to create one of the most layered, complex, and human stories i've seen in any language or type of media. there's not a single character that doesn't get dimensions, to the point that you find yourself seriously enjoying spending time with the most twisted villains you can imagine. it somehow balances really dark shit with humor and sweetness. it surprises at every turn. it is killing me to wait for season 3.

think you know a drama that could bump something out of my top 10? i'm always open to being influenced...

[fir-fireweed]

Hi Fir! :D

Thanks for giving advice, I really do appreciate it. Though, please don't feel pressured to answer anything I ask. Writing should be fun and with you writing Cantata and answering RO reaction asks, I don't want to add unnecessary stress by thinking of answers to my questions too! Apologies if that comes off as me being overly worried, I just legitimately don't want you to get worried over a question for advice when you have other things on your plate!😅

That said, here is question numero uno :)

How do you write when you don’t have people to bounce ideas off of? It’s just me, myself and I over here and, uh, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to change anytime soon lol. And I’m sure that other people also have that experience of writing alone for one reason or another. Not just for IFs but for their own original books and fanfictions too (not me looking at my pile of ongoing and abandoned WIPs, haha). Like many things, writing is something that is much easier when you have someone else there with you that's invested.

As you said, writing in a vacuum is really hard! Not impossible, but hard at times. Do you have any ideas as to what people can do when they don’t have that sort of support? Something to make things just a little easier.

Thanks again and I hope you’re doing well! <3

Hi Blue! Ooh, starting with the big questions. Okay, long post incoming!

My knee jerk reaction is to say “Are you sure there’s no one else?” But that doesn’t help you. I volunteer myself as tribute, but no pressure, and as you say, many people simply write alone. So here’s some tips that help me brainstorm ideas when my cohorts are unavailable.

People Watch

I have a small journal I always carry in my tote and I jot down little scenarios I see or conversations I overhear. Make up stories behind the people you see. Who are they? Why are they there? And be granular—why are they there on that particular day? I once wrote an entire short story around a snippet of conversation I overheard on the L on my way to college in Chicago.

Consume Media

Read, read, READ!! And watch movies, documentaries, broadway, listen to music, get lost in a rabbit hole on Wikipedia. But especially read. If you discover a book you like, read more from that author. Read everything you can.

Write What You Know

And by this I mean you personally. Write about something that happened to you or you witnessed. We tend to think our own lives are boring but even the small moments make good fodder for stories or character studies. One short story I wrote was about a time my parents accidentally locked themselves out of the house at night. They managed to wake my younger sister through her window and were trying to get her to wake me to open the door, but she was afraid to wake me up. Don’t know why, I was an angel. 😇 Ahem.

It’s a small instance but it makes for a great character study. You don’t have to write that exact moment truthfully, feel free to embellish—whatever helps generate ideas.

I am an awesome big sister, btw. Just ask me, I’ll tell you. 😉

Avoid Scope Creep

I’ve seen mixed opinions on tumblr when it comes to the scope of your writing. I’m on the side of keeping things small. I’ll preface this by saying I have a professional background of project management, creative briefs, and business proposals. I’ve been trained to keep my scope manageable, but I honestly do think it’s best. Set real expectations, small goals, and write short dabbles.

And if I may add, this is a skill that will help you professionally.

Don’t Force It

This is another I’ve seen mixed advice on. Many people will say push through the writers block and write what you can, even if it’s a few sentences. I say close that laptop, iPad, phone, whatever and go for a walk. Watch a movie. Play a video game. If you don’t write for 2 weeks or 2 months, that’s fine. If you’re not enjoying it, forcing it will only make it worse. You’ll start second guessing everything you’ve already written. Step away, go do some people watching at the park, then return when the inspiration strikes.

These are all tips that helped me, but of course everyone is different. My sister likes using writing prompts when she’s short on ideas, but I personally have never been a fan. They feel like homework, lol.

However, I do 100% recommend taking creative writing workshops at the local college if you can. It’s a great way to generate and share ideas; not to mention nothing helps you accept criticism better than having a dozen of your peers absolutely demolish your writing. 😭

I hope that helped, and I’m honored that you’re seeking advice from me! ❤️

[kittydruthers]

Part One

They don’t get to have a conversation before being thrown into the fray.

Langdon, Dr. Langdon that is, gets introduced to the new and old faces of the pitt alike by Dr. Robby, who claps him on the back like a son returned home. And Langdon, soft, gentle, but all tough exterior Langdon who walked in with a cautiously cocky smile that only faltered when he caught sight of Mel, is refusing to look at her. A little crowd forms around him with greetings and handshakes and typical conversation with a newly returned coworker/friend. Robby dismissed the group though so Mel lets it be her cue to go back to her patients.

Langdon is conveniently not around whenever Mel goes looking, until a few hours into the day when she goes to consult Robby about her sleeping boy. He tells her to pull Langdon in on this one, pointing across the work station to where he's charting, because he has a knack for medial mysteries. And who are either of them to deny Robby? Langdon looks like it’s a death sentence. But Mel is perfectly professional going over the case in her usual matter of fact way and that seems to put him at ease for the moment. He’s the one to discover sleeping boy Tyler ingested THC from weed gummies, and Mel is honestly a little in awe of how he knew to check, but stores it away in the back of her head.

It turns out they work incredibly well together. His quickly growing confidence as he reorients himself to the ED and hit the ground running rubs off on Mel making her more confident in her role. Still, even with the role reversal she needs to talk to him about their other connection. It was still tentative, up in the air, but they had been consistently talking after exchanging numbers at the end of the night, once Langdon had fully come down. Over that week of texts and calls and filled out listed of yes, nos, and maybes, they'd agreed to continue pursing scening together. They were extremely compatible. It felt, to Mel, like a shame to waste their potential because good matches were hard to find.

She manages to get him alone in the break room, carefully stands in the pathway of the door but not blocking it. He can leave if he wants but she really hopes he doesn’t.

“Dr. Langdon?" She broaches carefully, voice tentative, hands clenched. She is nervous to discuss this but her desire for connection spurs her on. "I hope you know despite our, um, previous outside activities, I understand the roles are different here. And it would never make me think of you differently. You’re an incredible doctor and I think I can learn a lot from you.”

Frank looks practically stunned. She's not sure what he expected this conversation to be, but clearly it wasn't this.

“I didn’t ever think—" he shakes his head, forces himself to look at her, "seeing you here threw me off and today was already a hard day as is being my first back. You don’t know—you don’t even know why I was gone. You would look at me different if you did.”

“I don’t think so.” Mel shrugs her shoulders, inching closer, pulled in by his gravity. “Whatever happened in the past, is not something to judge you for. I base my opinions on what I see and what what I know from a person. You have been nothing but good to me. Do you understand that?”

Frank is quiet. Mel hopes that means he's taking her words in and processing them. She doesn't rush him, even if she fidgets rolling back and forth on the balls of her feet. He should answer in his own time. Mel knows patience.

Then he says, chin raised and eyes on hers, “Yes, Melissa, I think I do.”

“Mel. Everyone here calls me Mel.” It comes out before she can stop herself. She always goes by Mel in professional settings. Her heart is beating hard right now. This is a pivotal final moment. Mel has to let him know his presence here hasn’t changed her mind. “But…if we happened to continue exploring our other relationship, you can use it all you like outside the hospital. There is no pressure or obligation. I will never mention it again unless you tell me otherwise. I understand if me, technically, being your subordinate feels like crossing a line. I don’t see it as a problem. I just want you to know the door is open if you want it.”

She gives him a nod, one he returns before she leaves, keeping the break room door open behind her. He follows her out back onto the floor. They don't say another word about it. Fall back into the flow of the work, exchanging questions and responses in the trauma bay and over charts. Mel likes this side of Langdon. She can't wait to keep working with him.

Hours later, long after the end of their shared shift a texts come through Mel's phone: I want it. Can we meet up soon like we planned?

She's typing out her reply before she finishes reading.

Of course we can. Are you still free on Friday, honey? I've got plenty of time to share.

Those three little bubbles light up instantly.

Mel has a lot of planning to do.