#note that this is gonna be the first art book i've ever made so... go easy on me pfft...

[not-xpr-art]

ok so a few weeks (months?) ago I made a poll asking what sort of thing people would be most interested in seeing me make a art book of...

welllllll I may have finally finished something that I'll hopefully get a preview of in a few weeks!! And once I'm happy with how it looks I'm hoping to get it online and order ready in November!!!!!!

so basically what I'm saying is keep your eyes out for updates about this because I'm really excited lol!

[dinogoofymutated]

Okay so like,,,,I usually never make requests (I’m a lurker fr fr) but your writing Is god tier, so I gotta ask:

Could you do a fic for Hank/Beast? He’s my personal fave but I never see any content for him ever, like the fic scene for this man is a ghost town. he’s underrated as hell. My man is ripped, highly intelligent and respectful of the arts! Yet he doesn’t get any attention.

I would love to see some general headcanons (SFW & NSFW) if you’re up to it. no problem if you don’t write for him or something, I just thought i would ask.

Thanks!

SFW!Beast/GN!Reader

To be honest, I actually wasn't really sure about writing for Hank at first because I've never really had a connection to the character, but he grew on me!! Plus, I'm here to serve lolol we've been starved of fics as a Fandom for basically forever and it would be a disservice not to fill the Hank void out there! Hope it's okay that I only wrote Sfw headcannons, I have a separate req for NSFW for him so I decided to split it into two to save my sanity lol. Finals are gonna be hell for me.

-ps- Should I be writing right now? no. Am I doing it anyway? Yurp. Also, I'm basing his history off of the fandom wiki, so I'm sorry if anything is off.

Tws: none that I can think of atm. As always, reader written while picturing fem but no pronouns mentioned.

Hank, despite what some would think, was most definitely a heartthrob, particularly in his college days!! I mean, a man who's confident, smart, respectful, and also an athlete? Who wouldn't swoon? He was 110% the guy that everyone wanted to take home to their parents.

And He's such a sweet, attentive lover too!! Acts of service almost definitely is a love language for him. He cooks for you, fixes the broken things that you didn't even realize were broken, even organizes your notes before a difficult exam.

He loves to surprise you with flowers, even if it isn't any special occasion, and if you ask, he'll help you preserve them as well!

He loves to kiss your forehead, temples, and hands. On top of that, he's very touchy. The two of you were most definitely seen as the parents of any friend group.

Things changed a little after he took the serum that mutated him further. His confidence had taken a blow, and he just didn't quite know how to approach you anymore.

It took a hot minute to reassure him that you didn't really care if he was blue, or furry, or beastly, he was still Hank Mccoy, wasn't he? He was the man you were in love with, and you certainly weren't going to stop now. Besides, you still thought he was handsome. With the kinds of books he's seen you read, you're a bit surprised that he didn't think you would find him attractive.

Things gradually got back to normal, but for a while, he didn't kiss you as often as he used to. Well, he didn't kiss you period. Even though he knew the incredible extent to which you loved him, the shape of his mouth had changed. Hell, he had fangs that he would rather die than mark you with.

You practically had to tie him down into a contract to get him to kiss you again. He was always one to experiment, why not treat this the same? If you kiss, and it goes well, you do it again. If it goes well a second time and a third, you have a pretty reliable test. Validity shouldn't matter when he knew that you loved him to bits already.

He felt like he was falling in love with you all over again, and yet he still hesitated. It wasn't until you had grabbed him by the collar to drag him into a kiss that he actually relaxed, and what do you know, it was a pretty reliable test after all. A predictive one too, with how often you continued to kiss him afterwards.

Domestic was the best way to describe your relationship with Hank.

    You yawned as you made your way down to the lab, still in your pajamas and slippers. Just a few hours previously, after a shower and self-care routine, you had settled into bed with an eyebrow-raising book as you waited for your husband to come to bed. This was a normal routine for the two of you, you immersing yourself into a book to stay awake until Hank entered, kissed your temple sweetly, and began his own nightly routine. It was a set of events you were used to. 

    Today, however, you felt like you had done a lot more reading than usual. When you finally pulled yourself out of your book and checked the time, the clock by your bed read 11 pm. A rather late time for Hank to be out, but you already knew where he would be. The lower levels of the mansion were extra cold at night, and you find yourself rubbing some warmth into your arms as you approach the lab. 

    The doors open with a swish, the light of the lab having all been darkened exempt for the lamp on Hank’s desk. He’s so immersed in what he’s doing that he doesn’t even realize when you come in. You walk up behind his chair, running your hands through his hair softly when you reach him.

    Hank isn’t surprised, sighing at the pleasant sensation as he tips his head back to encourage you. You giggle a little, leaning down to press a kiss to his head as you begin to massage his scalp.

    “It’s late.” You say gently. Hank hums in response, eyes closed as he appreciates your touch. 

    “I’m sorry, my love. Seems I was a little entranced.” He says. You huff at him playfully.

    “You say entranced, I say you’re overworking yourself. You’ve been working on this project all week. Don’t let it cut into your rest time.” Your scolding always sounded too nice, but he knows you mean it. Hank sighs again, this time sounding a little more tired, but he doesn't argue. He rolls around to face you, pulling you into a tired hug from his chair. 

     “Perhaps it is time I go to bed. What time is it, my dear?” 

    “Eleven.” Hank lets out a quiet chuckle at your quick reply, finally standing up. He doesn’t let go of you however, choosing to rest his head on your shoulder as he sways the two of you back and forth.

    “You’re most certainly right, it is late. Much too late for a man to leave his lovely spouse waiting. Oh, whatever shall I do to make it up to you?.” His words come out as a purr, and you let out a curt laugh at him. You pull away a little, taking his large hands in your own as you lead him to the door. He smiles widely when you stop for a moment, remembering his glasses and placing them on his face before starting to drag him to bed. 

    “I’ll let you decide that, Love. As long as you make it to bed, that’s apology enough for me.”

[thewiz9062]

Smiling Critters AU: Dogday's Psyche

NOTE: THIS IS NOT RELATED TO CANON IN THE SLIGHTEST. An accurate description of this au is that I took every playtime.co poster art and promotional material from the game and lit up the rest of canon in a bonfire. Meaning that EVERY character is part of one big cartoon. Thats it. No bigger bodies project, no child souls, no experiments, just a depiction of a cartoon. PLEASE do not ask me to do anything suggestive with anyone.

OK I know it's been a while since I posted one of these but bear with me here this one was interesting to write

So dogday

In my other posts, I've already made him a constant in everyone's lives (as he's the main character) but I want to go into how he thinks because that explains alot of his actions and most importantly, his interactions with catnap.

Tldr, dogday is elation (que demoic giggling if you get the reference)

Now usually when you see a happy go lucky character you immediately go "they've either had the happiest childhood ever and are genuinely like this or they didn't and they're faking it" and that was gonna be my original assessment with dogday. But yk.....that's bland. So i decided to mix the two: pretty bad childhood but they're happy....unhealthily so. Hear me out here:

In my au, dogday was abandoned as a baby at a foster home. So they "raised him" (they just did just over the bare minimum, I don't wanna villianize the workers though because they did have like a bunch of other kids there as well, not excusing them of course) but he was mostly left to his own devices. Normally this would dampen a child's spirit but dogday is quite a fighter, finding joy or happiness wherever he could. Whether it be picture books or TV shows, he found a way to make himself happy. And All the media he knew subtly shunned sadness or anger or anything of the sort. So now all dogday knew was happiness, as anything else was 'bad' and needed to be fixed.

The people around him didn't help his mindset either. After interacting with the other kids there, they usually had some semblance of an uplift in mood for the rest of their day. It usually didn't last long, though, because while dogday lived there their entire life, the others were there due to...unfortunate circumstances. He also could notice how the workers felt like he was a breath of fresh air compared to the other children, who mostly needed consoling, while dogday was 'self-sufficient' (they try I swear they're just not good at it)

So all in all, after 13 years of this dogday... was in a very unique state of mind. If you want a simple explanation, then he has this mental limiter. Anything happy or can bring joy can stay, and any other thoughts get snuffed out immediately. So he's not faking happiness. In a way, he just doesn't know anything else. Present him a situation where someone is sad his first instinct is to cheer them up, and usually it works, but in the situation it doesn't, he'll pretty much blue-screen. Cuz after all, it's always worked before, what else does he know?

So enter catnap.

Catnap is essentially his foil, and his main purpose is to help him see the other side of things because sun and moon dynamic yk I had to do it

Someone like catnap won't be cheered up normally, catnaps sort of nihilistic when it comes to problems, believing nothing can be done about it, cause in his situation he had no control over what happened, so why try and fix what he can't, that's meaningless. So letting his emotions pass by and move on is his way of 'comfort' So dogday's attempts at cheering him up doesn't work, and as Dogday does in those situations, he blue-screens. Normally when dogday fails to cheer someone up and he visibly panics, they'll give him a smile or a laugh, and seeing that instantly fills dogday with relief, even though he doesn't see that it doesn't reach their eyes.

Catnap won't do that however, because of his own coping mechanism. So dogday will panic, quietly spiraling into thoughts like "why isn't it working, what do I do, how do I fix this" and catnap reads his face and tells him to stop, he just needs a moment. Dogday wouldn't understand, he's never seen sadness be good for someone.

And from there his learning journey begins (aka how to feel other things)

God I love making them mentally unstable

[expectopatronum18]

Okay, I have something of a confession to make

I'm going to massively limit my interactions in the Harry Potter fandom (not that i think anyone particularly cares lmao, I just want to put my thoughts into words for myself), I have a couple of reasons for this. First off, as someone who's been here for a couple of years now, it's getting rather boring; the same topics and discussion points have been over used to the ultimatum. But that's not the main reason. It's the fact that I've been called all sorts of shit for not sharing ppl's opinions on characters and magical systems in a children's book. The most common thing to happen in this fandom, ik, but name calling and insults by random strangers on the internet is not the point. The point is that this sort of stuff makes me question wtf I'm even doing with my time, especially considering that it's grown ass adults(mostly in their late 20s/ in their 30s) who do this 95% of the time (at least in my experience.) Lyk...am I really gonna sit around and argue abt magical systems and characters from the 70s/90s and get insulted by ppl who are close to my parents' age when there are so many more real, more interesting things in the world? Idk, it just seems so futile and immature. Don't get me wrong, I might not be very interested in this stuff atm (with regards to hp i mean), but it's not about discussions among ppl with contrasting opinions, I'm all for tht stuff, it's about the broader idea of adults who pride themselves on being 'smarter' and more 'correct' than the rest of the anonymous internet about a children's book (even typing tht feels stupid) (note: i m not trying to undermine hp in any way by constantly calling it a children's book, it'll always be one of my favourite series, but it is what it is.) This especially strikes me because I could never imagine my (asian) parents insulting me over something like this (when they were tht age), lyk the thought itself is hilarious and really helps put things into perspective 😂😂. Now obvs, I'm not relieving myself from the blame here, it's not lyk someone's holding me at gun point, y am I wasting time on things as useless as this in the first place lmaooo (tho i ve made it a point to treat ppl with respect on here), and as it is, it's embarrassing enough tht I'm only realising this at 17.

This is not to say that I'm going to leave the fandom completely, I'll still be on here for recreation, and i don't ever want to miss out on all the incredible fanfics and fan arts (and the occasional metas). Tho I really hope ppl understand that I'm not undervaluing any aspects of the fandom, that's completely not what this is about, each to their own ofc.

[mooifyourecows]

I love the humor of your fics! I've genuinely never read a story that does it's humor so well and even after multiple rereads I find myself laughing out loud reading Open Tab for example. What tips would you give for writers who are trying to incorporate humor into the story without it being corny?

Hey, sorry for the late reply, i've been really busy lately with the holidays, womp womp 🥲

My advice is: embrace the corny. Every joke I've made will someday (if not already) be corny to somebody. Some of them have become corny even to me. But that's okay. Corny is good. Corny is funny too. Life is too short to be embarrassed about your writing. Embrace corny.

And what makes you laugh the first time might not make you laugh the fifth time. That doesn't mean it wasn't funny the first four times, right? There are tons of jokes I read back on now and I'm like "oh GOD that's lame" but when i wrote it, and when people first read it, it was HILARIOUS. Humor just wears off a little the more you expect and remember it. I mean sure, there are always going to be those jokes that you think are ALWAYS funny, but they're probably not always funny to other people. They might not have been funny ever at all for some people.

All that matters is if YOU think it's funny. Make YOURSELF laugh and giggle and snort over your stupid, corny jokes. That's what I do. I write something, and if it makes me laugh, I know it'll make someone else laugh. Maybe only one other person, but hey, me and that person are the only people in the world with taste anyway so, bombs away. Don't play to an audience unless you're trying to sell something. Play to yourself and you'll attract like minded people and those are the BEST people to have as your readers. They'll love and support you more than your own dang mom.

And then of course the usual advice i give to people about writing comedy is to consume comedy. Watch some shows/movies or read some books/comics that you personally find hilarious. Really pay attention to why they're funny. If you have to, pause and really break a joke down. Even take notes if that's helpful. Basically treat it like you're about to write a deep dive essay on why you laughed. I know it might seem unfun, explaining the joke, but if you understand comedy, you'll have an easier time writing it. Pay attention to word usage, timing, physical gags, silence, etc. It's all important. But don't be afraid to play around! Comedy is like any art and is meant to be creative and unique to every individual. There are some things out there that people find funny that I can't even pretend to laugh at. And that's okay! It's about taste. Find what you like and try it on.

Personally, I like witty banter. I like humor that is a little surprising and over the top. I like when something is so dumb that you can't help but laugh about it. I like funny characters AND funny situations, but especially funny characters in funny situations. So these are the things I try to include in my writing.

But I also really enjoy contrast, so I like to pair humor with other stuff. Sweet romance, deep emotions, sad drama, etc. If you try to be funny and only funny all the time, you're gonna come off a little desperate and the jokes will fall flat. Ever watch a long running show and have to suffer watching it slowly get less and less funny as the seasons go by because all the nuance is gradually replaced with signature character traits recycled again and again and again until every character is a husk of their former selves? That's what it feels like when you focus too hard on making everything funny. You lose the soul of the writing.

Really pay attention to the things you find funny and try and emulate that same energy. Don't use the same jokes, of course, but try and capture the general vibe of the humor in a way that suits your story/writing style. A lot of the stuff I like to consume is witty banter/outlandish situations/crass euphemisms/puns so those are the things i like to put into my own stories. And hey, sometimes it doesn't work. I've written jokes that make me laugh until I cry but nobody seems to feel the same way and HEY, that's alright. I like it. And liking the stuff you're doing is the most important thing in the end.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful in some way. If you ever want any more advice, feel free to shoot me another ask! I'll try my best 👍

Good luck! Sending you good funny vibes for your adventures into comedic writing 🌈

[game-boy-pocket]

I was wrong about not being able to fit one more Mario game in before the Mario Movie. I just beat Odyssey, though it took me all day.

I forgot that if you aren't trying to grab everything, Mario Odyssey is actually pretty short. In fact I was a little upset that the game took me a single evening to beat when it first launched. I'm generally not a fan of locking so much content behind post game.

But to be fair to Odyssey, I played that game in a very wrong way, and under very poor circumstances where I was stressed about family related drama, and it soured that whole day for me. I just breezed through it, leaving each kingdom as soon as I had the minimum stars, I actually thought thats how I was supposed to play the game because we were chasing after Bowser and the Broodals, it seemed urgent not to linger. I even missed some bosses because of this.

Well now I know that's not the case I can play the game at my own pace. I eventually got all of the moons... not this time though, I played much like I did on launch day, except I didn't go for minimum moons, I at least made sure to solve all the major problems in each kingdom so I could experience most of what the game had to offer. So it didn't fly by nearly as quick as it did launch day.

I actually think this game is better for being able to be beaten in a single day. I don't want every game to be a huge commitment. I don't think i'll ever do 100% in this game again unless something terrible happens to my switch and I lose save data.

I'm also a lot more keen on this game than when I first played it. I was a bit harsh, partially because of how I spoiled it for myself by playing wrong and in a bad mental state, but there were things that I felt were legit issues with the game. I still kind of stand by them, there are way too many moons, and I think there's a lot of really bad decisions with the art direction... I understand Mario is meant to be a kind of experimental series at times but I did not care for the realistic humans in new donk city, or the vaporwave colored playstation 1 world made out of food, I think we really need to ditch the tradition of multiple Bowser fights in each game, and I think not fleshing out the ruined Kingdom was a huge mistake, seeing what the game could have been via the Mario Odyssey Art Book really brings my opinion of the game back down, you know? Almost everything in that art book is better than the final product.

But anyway, I don't want to end on a bummer note, because man this is a fun ass game, I really wished Nintendo would consider making a sequel but I feel like if they had plans to, they already would have, and if the rumors of true that EAD is now doing a Donkey Kong game, I would much rather have that, but man.... I really want a new 3D Mario now. Bowser's Fury was just not enough...

And speaking of Bowser, I discovered that in the end segment, if you do a triple jump, he does a "Yahoo" with his fist up like Mario... god damn, I forgot how fucking good that climax is and how badly it makes me want Bowser to be playable in a platformer, but like, the whole thing, not the last five minutes.

Mario Odyssey, fantastic game. And with that, I've spent too much time playing Mario today, but I think i'm gonna go watch the Super Mario Bros. Super Show with my buddy.

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #199

Have you ever bought a YouTuber’s merch? I have two Cloak shirts, which is owned by Markiplier and jacksepticeye. I would love to have more products by YouTubers with how much of my time goes into watching their shit lmao

Do you think oatmeal tastes better when made with water or milk? MILK. It's not even a competition.

Have you ever left a note in a library book? No.

What time of day do you prefer to wash your hair? Daytime, because I have more strength in my legs early in the day.

Has anyone ever spread lies about you? Yeah, I'd say by the time you're an adult, most people have dealt with this to some severity.

Have you ever taken a photograph with a celebrity? If so, did it turn out the way you wanted, or do you wish you could retake it? No. I'm kinda scared to do this even if I had the opportunity, because first of all I'd feel annoying, but also, I'm sure I'd hate how I looked in it lol.

If you could move out of your home country permanently, would you? If so, where would you go? Not by this phase in my life. I know and cherish too many people here to leave. I hate the U.S., but I love these people more than I hate this county.

Do you think that after we die our spirit is still alive? I think so, at least in some way, but I won't bet my life on that. Honestly I'm fine with the concept of after death, there's nothing. No awareness. I really think it adds more beauty to life while we have it.

Have you ever felt like you were someone’s rebound? No.

Did you have a lot of role models as a kid? I wouldn't say A LOT. It was mostly people like Steve Irwin or Jeff Corwin, Jane Goodall too.

Do you feel like anyone looks up to you? Why or why not? Big no, because what's there to look up to? What've I got goin' on over here? I don't mean that in a pity-hungry sort of way, I just factually am not doing inspirational things, other than fighting mental illness I suppose.

Who is the nicest person you know? My mom.

Do you feel safe in your country? Not really, no, because I'm just waiting for a bomb to drop on the capitol, and certainly NC would be in the blast radius. I'm pretty convinced that's how I'm gonna die, tomorrow or 40 years from now.

Do you know anyone who has been struck by lightning before? Not directly, but my mom did get shocked one night during a severe storm when she was just running water into a soda can to clean it before disposing of it. She's joked that she's still waiting for her new powers to come in, lol.

Which cartoon character would you want to keep as a pet? An Eevee or Vulpix.

Do you like marshmallows? Yes.

Have you ever fostered an animal? No, I'd never be able to let it go.

Have you ever thrown up from cramps? No, thank christ.

Would you ever start a vlog? No.

What are your favorite spicy foods? Hot wings or things like spicy Cheetos or Takis.

Did you feel insecure in high school? I was WAY more confident in myself than I am now. Like yeah, I did have some insecurities, but they're NOTHING compared to now.

What was your favorite class in high school? Art.

If you’re female, would you feel uncomfortable having a male gynecologist? I would 1,000% refuse to see a cis male gynecologist. If you do not have a vagina yourself, I'm sorry, I don't trust your reasons for wanting that career.

What gives you nightmares? Just going to sleep, dude. I have some sort of nightmare condition that's baffled the doctors I've seen.

Were you ever hospitalized as a child? No.

Did you get senior pictures taken? No.

Would you rather wear ivory or white on your wedding day? What color will your bridesmaids wear? I'm probably wearing black. I want the theme to be black and gold, but I'm going to assume gold bridesmaid dresses are expensive, so we'll probably do orange, idk.

Do you think babies are cute? Some are, but very rarely are newborn/very young babies even remotely cute. It happens, but. If I think your baby is cute, you did good lmao

Have you ever moved to another state? No.

Can you say the alphabet backwards? No.

If you were to make videos on YouTube, what would they be of? I have no idea, I've thought of this.

Posting pictures of yourself in a bathing suit on the internet - ok or not? Of course it's okay, I personally just wouldn't do it because I'm too self-conscious.

If you’re in a bad mood, would you rather be with friends or alone? Alone.

What’s the last thing you took a picture of? My cat being cute.

Are you good at remembering birthdays? god hell no, I wish.

Do you listen to podcasts? I don't, except sometimes when I'm in the car with Girt, he'll occasionally have one on instead of music.

Would you rather watch a movie in a theater or at home? The theater, for sure. I enjoy that experience.

Who’s the messiest person you know? My sister's kids, lol. I know the vast majority of young children tend to be messy, but those three are next fuckin level, my mom can't stand it because she raised us girls completely the opposite.

Are you close with any of your exes? No.

What’s your favorite type of cheese? I'm such a basic bitch, American. Most cheeses I don't like.

Can you read sheet music? I could once upon a time, I played the flute all through middle school and almost all of high school, but I couldn't anymore.

Have you ever lived in a mobile home? No.

How many times in the past week have you eaten fast food? Once, I wanna say.

Do you prefer carbonated or uncarbonated drinks? Carbonated.

Favorite thing that you can see up in the sky? The moon, stars, aurora borealis... so muchhhhh

Friend asks you to hide drugs, booze etc for them, do you do it? Nope.

You fill your best friend’s Xmas stocking, what do you put in it? Some Sour Patch gummies, maybe a pair of socks, a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card or something, uhhhhh... I'm not sure of the rest. He is so super hard to buy for, considering if he wants something, he's able to just buy it. It's not just me, even his mom and sister struggle with presents for him.

You fill your worst enemy’s stocking, what do you put in it? Nothing, because I'm not interested in investing my time into her.

You fill your OWN stocking, what do you put in it? A Mountain Dew Voltage, my favorite Reese's bar, a book, gift cards I guess, maybe some video game.

If someone gave you a kitten, would you keep it? I'd like to, but I don't think Mom would be game for it because Tobey (landlord) would supposedly have a cow.

Favorite type of cracker: Cheez-its.

Animal you like to watch but sort of creeps you out: Centipedes.

Bagels or English muffins? Bagels.

Who is a family member you look forward to seeing on a holiday? My dad.

Do you do anything to recognize St Patrick’s Day? No.

Who mows the lawn at your house? Well because it's winter we haven't needed to, but during the warm months, Mom used to pay Nicole's ex to do it, but she hasn't been pleased with his supposedly very uneven and rushed work, so she gave the daughter of a dance mom a try last, and she was super impressed. I'm definitely assuming she'll pay her again this year.

Where do you keep your phone at night? Normally, it sits under the pillow that Girt uses when he's here, but if he spends the night, then I just sit it on my bedside table.

Best Happy Meal toy you ever got: Oh I have no idea.

Do you like the color yellow at all? It's one of my least favorite colors, actually. I do like a very light, pastel yellow, though.

Who sings the last song you listened to? Till Lindemann.

Have you ever watched South Park? Who’s your favorite character? I have, with other people. I was never really into it.

What member of your family are you most similar to? In which ways? My half-sister Katie. We struggle very similarly mentally and are alike personality-wise.

If you could have any animal as a pet, what would you have? At this current time, a tarantula. Preferably a Brazilian Black.

Do you ever shop at Aldi? Do you even have one nearby? We have one very close actually, and Mom will go there every now and again, primarily with Nicole if she wants to go there.

Do you enjoy rhododendrons? Look man, I enjoy basically any flower you could name. I just love them.

Have you ever met someone who supports Nazism? Yes, Sara. She liked to be "technical" about it in calling her branch Neo-Nazism, but she was still a fucking Nazi, I had her explain her way of thinking plenty because I was trying to understand that she wasn't politically evil but never did. She didn't believe Jews deserved to die, but Hitler and his doctrine were her political idols. Which is evil, if you somehow forgot.

If you’ve ever been to another country, what was the best thing you did there? I haven't. :(

What’s the worst sickness you’ve ever had? Some fucking insane stomach virus I had as a teen, I'd say. I will never forget hurling my guts up past the point where only bile was coming out. The abdominal cramps were mental.

Is your favorite animal something you can have as a pet? In certain countries, but thankfully not here in North America. I aggressively wish that it was illegal everywhere, like there is no case of you giving a meerkat everything it needs to be well, all the while saving your house and personal relations with how territorial they are.

Are you good at gardening? To be fair I've never really tried. I did help Colleen's in-laws with their personal garden quite a bit one summer, and I can tell you I FUCKING hated it, because of how out of shape I was but even moreso because of my hyperhidrosis, but I've never tried it on my own. I'd actually quite like to get into plants, and I'd LOVE to grow specifically berries when I have my own place, but I have strong doubts I'd care enough to maintain everything. Depression already makes that challenging with other things.

What was the last classic novel you read? Did you enjoy it? The Yearling, I loved it.

Do you own any pet fish? What kind of fish are they? No, pet fish aren't my thing.

When was the last time you took your pet to the vet? What was wrong with it? Quite a few months ago when Roman apparently had an ear infection.

Have you ever known someone who was in an abusive relationship? I know multiple people who have, and one who still is.

[sdwolfpup]

🦅💥🧠

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

Both. For anything 10k or less, I just start writing and see what happens. The tricky part is that most fics I have ever started, I have started just writing to see what happens. And then I'll usually get about 2-3k in and subconsciously determine if it's going to be a shorter fic or a longer fic, at which point my brain takes two extremely different paths.

If the story is rolling and my brain can see the end in sight, I just keep writing until I get to the end. If my brain has decided I need "just a little more" or I'm thinking about something midway through or at the end, I'll start writing a very general list of plot points so I don't forget them. If I start making organized, bulleted lists, it's all over, that fic is gonna be long. 😂

For very long fics (anything 30k+), I write pretty extensive outlines. (The longer the fic, the more intricate the outline.) Not usually scene-by-scene breakdowns, but I'll have each chapter as a line item and then underneath, lists of what needs to happen in that chapter. These can be plot points, emotional growth, callbacks, foreshadowing, or relationship movement. Often it's a little bit of all of that.

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

I think it's valid and normal to not like things, and people can talk about it all they want, but I also think fanfic is free and a lot of us are dealing with a lot of other shit and we're all just trying to have a good time, so directing that criticism to the author themselves (or publicly in a space where you know the author will see it) -- unless you have specifically been asked by the author to do so -- is thoughtless at best, and mean at worst. I think the art of sharing your negative opinions about fanworks in a small group of friends has been lost in the shift to very public fandom lives. We were given private messaging for a reason, people. Put your petty opinions there. But never to the author! I don't care how much you hate that person's story, you don't need to tell them about it.

I think criticism about racist works (and these are works that are being actively racist, not using racism as a plot or character point, if that makes sense), is different from just telling someone "your characters are OOC" or "your writing sucks" or "this should have been written like this," and should therefore be handled differently. ALTHOUGH I also personally think those conversations should be first made as directly as possible to the author alone to give them a chance to do the right thing. But that shouldn't be on fans of color to have to do, so this is where white fans can do more of the heavy lifting.

But mostly I wish people could recognize that having feelings and acting on those feelings are two entirely different things, and make better choices.

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

Here is my most shameful fannish secret: I don't really have headcanons? You could ask me for a specific character's headcanons all day -- let's take Brienne of Tarth, whom I have spent many many hours thinking about. You could ask me for my headcanon about her and I would have no answer that isn't something already suggested in the books or show. For whatever reason, my brain doesn't work like that and I have no idea why. I've always been like this.

I could tell you director's notes about characters from my fics, but I don't consider those headcanons. I'm sorry! I'm weird!

[unseelie-grimalkin]

Yo, you can call me Grim and this is the first fandom side-blog I've made in actual years (that's how much Na Daoine Maithe has me in its clutches)

Here's the tag list:

#MC Mondays (MC building workshop tag! I host this on the NDM discord and on Tumblr as well)

Ship Masterlist

MC Masterlist

#scribbles down notes (if you want all my insane annotations on the asks in one place, here you go)

#ndm fic (all my NDM fic in one place)

#Flavour Text (quotes with NDM vibes)

#Tir na nOg (pictures that help me think about the setting)

#ndm theorycraft (all my NDM metaposts in one place)

#ndm folk research (snippets from books about the folklore that flows into the game)

“WTF I saw these three dogs blazed by you? What is that? Why? Hello?”

The context behind that is below the readmore

So once upon a time, my favorite indie visual novel, the one this blog is focused on, Na Daoine Maithe (The Good People) by Moirai Myths, was having a kickstarter signup campaign (not to get money yet, but simply to give an email so they could let you know when the kickstarter was ready to go, in case you were interested). Because my favorite character was the highest tier on this kickstarter campaign, I (without any input from the developers or anyone associated with them) decided to write a little post that I blazed just as a fun feral fan thing.

It blew up, beyond any of my expectations or how much money I put into it. My notifications were flooded, largely with positive attention and people saying thanks for using Blaze to showcase something cool instead of the usual nonsense. The only people I had to block from that post were largely folks that taught me a few new slurs and said dumb things like “the Irish deserve to be colonized, actually! Specifically because of this Blazed post!”

But what prompted the dogs you’ve seen was a singular anon who told me (who already on the record for not planning to Ever Blaze a Post Ever Again) that I was not allowed to use the Blaze feature ever again. And I said, yeah no, I was not planning to Blaze ever again. And then I kept thinking about it, about how this one person went more or less out of their way to try to control how I live my life and spend my money.

So I thought, “okay. I’m gonna Blaze a picture of a dog, just for them. Should be an Irish Wolfhound, because there’s three Irish Wolfhounds in the game, why not.” And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it would be strange, perhaps even invasive to Blaze a picture of a dog I did not own. So I started to think about commissioning art, specifically to Blaze, and realized I had a chance to turn this moment of spite into something life-changing for a friend of mine, the artist of the picture who I tagged (@/direbeastrex). I could commission them for the piece and then I could Blaze it, getting them both financial compensation for their time and skill and more people to see said skill and possibly commission them for their own dog or various critter pictures.

So that’s the story of the dogs you’ve seen Blazed: I kept the context out of the post itself so the post would be small and pass by dashboards without too much hassle. I hope the bois brought you joy!

[22003191artstudioiiib]

Week Three

Second Lecture - Richard

From Studio to Situation (Claire Doherty)

Barn

Cameron Ah Loo-Matamua, art happens in many places. the audio and the gallery are two sites

Making art with what you've got or getting what you need to make art

Beatle Barkers

pyramid of bxies

Grant and Terry

speakers without the outside parts

Juan, traditional Mexican artisan

Wearable cardboard

Six rules for making

You should make it with your skills and knowledge, and with the materials and processes familiar to you.

you…

Didn’t get to finish copying the rules :(

To do List

Book dark space for friday✔️

DVD burner from Mike

Buy blank DVD’s

Can art ideas

Microsoft 95

Internet Explorer

Firefox

Coolmathgames

Fireboy and watergirl

Myspace

Club penguin

AOL instant messenger

I think these ideas were good to start with but too broadly chosen. There is no theme other than the fact I used them when I was a kid.

I need to identify a theme, a niche, an interest area that is specific and that allows me to investigate it thoroughly.

Week 3 Crit

I’m honestly kind of proud of the fact people thought that the lights I painted were glow-in-the-dark paint lit up by a black light, shows that I painted them really well because if I’d used the glow-in-the-dark paint, they would NOT have glowed like that. Definitely gonna use this ‘technique’ again.

fluorescent light buzz

thought i painted the dark room

teenager staying up late on the internet going for a walk down the dark hallway for a drink of water

they look like the lights glow, makes the lights actually look on

scary, sidewalk afterlife

sculptural, 3D, more than a painting, the lights bring it out

more like a hallway, an office, industrial and the windows adds to it

the angle implies peripheral vision

using an actual nightstand

scary but comforting

blackout, in the unknown, everything crashed

the crash, the windows and the blue screen

illegible writing 

Side note: This is my seventh acrylic painting EVER. I started painting properly for the first time this year, I've painted with watercolour before but that was faces and I used a lot of blank space to make shapes and values so I'm very lost on how to paint with acrylic right now. Considering my last paintings I would say this is my best yet.

Readings with artists

Electronic Superhighway curated and edited by Omar Kholeif

boomerang Nancy Holt Richard Serra

Collaborative performance broadcast on public television in 1974

Nancy narrates her experience with being recorded and hearing her own words with a 1-second delay in her headset.

You can visibly see her dissociating from her voice and words, questioning her sense of self and place in this echo chamber.

Hearing your own voice back strips the usual resonance we hear in our head

stan vanderbeek poemfield no1 and stan vanderbeek poemfield no2

Part of a series called POEMFIELD.

The films explore computer graphics, poems and some live-action images/image collages, geometric, colour and fast-moving.

The series has eight different films that are samples of future art that explore the abstract variations of geometric forms and words.

Comparative to manuscripts of the past.

Silent and filmed on 16mm film.

I’ll be your mirror edited by Alison Hearst

cory arcangel super mario clouds

Above is the gif that was made when he first created the code in 2001/2002.

Hacked video game cartridge of Mario Brothers.

Tweaked the code to only have the iconic moving clouds, every other visual and sound was taken out.

Arcangel is a classically trained musician and considers video games and computers to be his instruments, he insists upon mastering the technology before beginning his creative explorations.

He sometimes learn an entire programming language just to complete one work.

This installation can iterated to include projectors and, depending on the size of the space, there can be multiple monitors and projections. Most use two to three projections and one monitor (all placed on the floor with visible cording between).

It was first released online and the code was accessible on the Internet.

The two versions are parallels but provide two different perceptions of the works.

cassie mcquater black room

Browser-based narrative video game, 2017 - ongoing.

Intended for the insomniac to be played late at night.

Only by changing the browser size can the game begin, doors and hidden secrets can also be revealed by making it smaller or an odd shape.

The URL is a string of 28+ random letters, this makes it unmemorizable and means that to be shared, someone must be directly given the link to the site.

This game is so vast it is virtually impossible to make it through all the levels and layers.

Feedback after Week 3 Crit (in Week 4)

Israel

Revisit the Matrix, Plato’s cave and the other stories behind it

Move away from ‘liminal spaces’ because the term is confining and is withholding the potential

Industrial spaces

I think I need to do a closer examination of ‘why’ I like liminal spaces and what the similarities and key things there are in my work. And maybe rethink IF there is a connection between liminal spaces and my work.

It’s becoming clear to me that there are two different ‘types’ of liminal spaces, the ones we see now which are digital images of spaces of familiar spaces that are abandoned and ‘off’ and the origin of these spaces which came from immigrants and migrants being made to move from their homes. I see a connection between these two as the images we see now are our own liminal homes/familiars and the images are our way of missing that space and time.

Eugene

try painting on a full can or a filled can

empty can, empty space, operating system

look at the parallels and similarities

hearing the buzz and glitch of the lights and the blue can

non-space

surrealist connection

David linchs twin peaks

the red room scenes

acronistic

why the outdated technology

95 was one of those evergreen systems

probably computers in the world that still run it

what does that mean

try the video projected, on a monitor

why do I prefer to show it on a CRT tv

connect flavours to the things painted on them, blue screen could be blueberry or blue v

look at can designs and see how I could replicate them

the cans are matte and textured compared to normal cans

Ideas

Hand-painted glow-in-the-dark stars

I think the glowing concept of the stars and the paint that I used in the first semester should be brought into my next making. Maybe make glowing lights or something similar, and play around with glowing objects/lights/colours.

revisit past things

There were so many texts and artists and things I found last year that I researched but didn’t digest.

I don’t need to consume MORE and NEW media and texts, I just need to filter and focus on the things I already have and know and read.

[angelo-oteroart]

Hey there, stranger!

Welcome to my little corner of the internet. Introductions are always weird and awkward for me, but they're important in getting to know someone, so here goes!

Since this is mostly gonna be an art blog, I think I'll start with why I want to be a pro artist in the first place. Simply put, I want to spend most of my time making art and the only realistic way to do that is to make it into a profession. Despite the frustrations all artists feel, especially Imposter Syndrome, whenever I draw everything feels right in the world even if only temporarily. Making art is how I process my emotions and the world around me.

My earliest influence in art was Anime. Growing up in the Philippines in the late 90s to early 2000s, Anime wasn't as niche as it was in the U.S. and it actually was more common for kids to watch Dragon Ball Z, Yuyu Hakusho, and Naruto than it was to watch Spongebob! Anime fascinated me and got me wanting to draw.

My hometown at the time had no bookstores to buy art books from and the internet wasn't as common yet. One summer while spending time with relatives in Manila and getting ready to immigrate to the US, I had to beg my mom to let me take a summer art class. While in Manila, I also got a book called How to Draw Manga by Katy Coope and some art magazines by local Filipino artists.

Looking back, it wasn't the most impressive or life-changing art book I've read, but for a young version of me, it was the start of a lifelong obsession with learning how to draw.

After moving to the US I continued to watch and love Anime and made fan art of Naruto, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Death Note, Bakuman, and Bleach.

I also remember seeing concept art and illustrations on the cover of Game Informer magazines at my high school's library and being absolutely in awe.

I also discovered illustrations from Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. My focus started slowly moving towards a more Western art style. This would eventually lead me to pursue Game Development a few years later.

After graduating college, wrestling with self-doubt, and putting art on the side burner for a few years I finally decided to go all in on improving my art skills back in 2020. Everyone was staying indoors anyway, and what better way for me to keep my sanity than rekindling my love of art?

Since then I went through Drawabox, Proko's figure drawing and anatomy courses on Youtube, got a 3-month subscription to New Master's Academy, joined Ross Draws' Digital Art Bootcamp, and bought tutorials from some of my favorite artists and a handful of art books. And It's been an absolute freaking blast!

At the time of this writing, I'm preparing for my first-ever Artist Alley table at Awesome-Con and I'm pretty nervous but excited! My art style is somewhat of a mix of Anime and Western illustration styles though I'm comfortable fully leaning either way. I still have a lot of stuff I wanna learn and improve on, but I'm enjoying the process and my life a lot more.

For any creative who's reading this and just getting started I want you to know that you're in for a long and tough journey. However, most things that are worth doing will ALWAYS be arduous. You're not alone in your experiences. Please take care of yourself and support each other whenever and however you can.

Until next time and thanks for taking the time to read this! 😊

[splendidemendax]

and then the half-portuguese one:

this is a little less relevant to the question you were actually posing than my previous answer, but in true tumblr fashion i misread your post the first time around and went off and wrote a most of a response before i realized my mistake. however, imo it's still interesting and relevant to the broader topic of how cardassian circumstances might shape cardassian art, so here you go!

portugal had a fascist dictatorship called the estado novo* ("new state") from 1933 to 1974.** the estado novo, like many 20th century fascist regimes, loved traditional/folk art and so they were very interested in fado, a genre of portuguese folk music. a key example is the the ambiguous relationship that the most famous fadista, amália rodrigues, had with the government; sorting this out is a major point of contention. but regardless of amália's intent (and that of various other prominent artists), fado was pressed into service of the regime.

an important note about fado's form: it's conceived of as poetry set to music. the boundary between poem and lyric is much more mutable in the context of fado than it seems to me in an american context. some famous fados started out as poems and were only later set to music, sometimes centuries later.

music that could not be interpreted as favorable to the regime was banned. in earlier years, the main strategy for poets who wanted to avoid censorship was metaphor or setting the story in a historical context (zeca afonso, who would later become the musical symbol of the revolution with his song grandôla vila morena, wrote a song about vampires that's actually a devastating critique of the state).

censorship ramped up over time and poets adapted by getting ever more creative with their metaphor; some even began to make use of the works of camões, the portuguese national poet and a particular favorite of the estado novo. this would be analogous to making a song from a carefully framed version of a shakespearean sonnet to comment on current events bc you're not gonna censor the bard, right?

in terms of "lost works," you can't recover what was never written, either from fear or lack of opportunity. however, there are some opportunities for recovery of things written and then surpressed.

barco negro ("black boat;" lyrics here, amália's version here, my favorite version by mariza here) is a fairly standard fado that i've loved since i was a little kid. it's got a fabulous take on the traditional fado themes of the ocean, lost lovers, and saudade;† also i've always loved the way mariza uses drums in her setting.

i mentioned this to my mom at some point and she told me that it was just like me to fall in love with an iconically controversial fado. remember how i mentioned that fado was two separate parts (poem and music)? well, the music of barco negro was originally written for a poem called mãe preta ("black mother"; lyrics here, dulce pontes version here), which is about a black maid (possibly enslaved, though the language is ambiguous) who cares for the child of her boss/enslaver ("filho do senhor") as he beats hers. obviously, this moving critique of racism did not jive with the estado novo's creative vision and so the poets, banned from selling the poem in portugal, sold the music, which was used for another poem and made famous by amália.

like a palimpsest, the original poem was surpressed, but it was lurking just below the surface, waiting to be uncovered; the most famous version of the original lyrics was recorded by the fadista dulce pontes in the 90s.

* i'm not super fond of the way anglophone scholars in general tend to talk abt the estado novo. for some unfathomable reason, salazar (dictator of portugal for 36 years) seems to get a lot of credit for being the supposedly reasonable fascist dictator of 20th century europe (see, for example, this wsj book review from last month that makes me want to spit). hot take: you don't get to be the "benevolent autocrat" when you have a secret police, designated show-trial courts, and designated torture cells in your designated political prisoner jail. the english wiki article is no exception to this fucking infuriating trend, but as a basic overview, it works i guess.

** if you ever look at dates of independence for formerly colonized african nations, you'll notice that former portuguese colonies became independent like ten years after most of the rest of the continent and that about half of them are in '74 or '75, within a year or so of the carnation revolution. this is because fascists really, really enjoy having colonies (in the portuguese context, the underlying theory is called lusotropicalism, which basically proposes that the portuguese are, like, genetically destined to be colonizers and that holding colonies was requisite for the survival of the portuguese national identity). they also don't care how many people have to suffer or die to keep them. the economic and human cost of the state's colonial ambitions were a major cause of the revolution, though more bc ppl thought that the colonies were more work than they were worth than from any real anti-colonialist spirit.

† saudade is very loosely the sense of sadness associated with longing for what you once had and can never get back. it's typically translated into english as "nostalgia" which isn't quite it but whatever.

I wonder how Cardassians interact with the idea of lost media, post bombardment

Obviously with a lot of literature, given how Cardassian memory works, a sufficiently motivated person could probably copy it from memory. But what about shows and films? Songs? What about written works whose audience was mostly killed during the war and "alliance" with the Dominion?

[cindyyberman]

more. | peter parker

synopsis ── no matter how well peter thinks he knows you, you're apparently determined to prove him wrong. ♡

── peter parker x fem!stark!reader

genre ── fluff

word count ── 2k

note ── i've been waiting for this series for so long!! i'm really happy with how it's going so far. i'm going through a major account overhall on everything on my account. my fics are gonna be longer and i finally found a theme i guess, so i hope you like this different kind of style. i hope you enjoy this first part of the series :)

♡ series masterlist ; marvel masterlist ; misc masterlist ; prompts ; character list ; request rules

warnings ── food and eating ; i'm really bad at editing cause my attention span is like 1 second long but i think i caught all the typos?? if not then i'm sorry

I am more

Than I could ever show

I am more

Than the girl you think you know

Privacy was not something you were rewarded with as a child. Despite Tony’s best efforts at preventing it, the media would have a field day whenever you did anything. The photos from across the street, the articles speculating on your love life, the questions directed towards you during press conferences, they never bothered you much. They did at the beginning, but then once you saw a newspaper article claiming that you were Natasha’s daughter and she’d abandoned you because of your lack of combat skills, you’d learned not to care.

What mainly annoyed you was when the reporters acted like they knew you. They knew the details you and Tony had carefully selected that they were allowed to know. They knew what you were planning on majoring in, what your favorite color was, that you went on early morning jogs on the weekends. They didn’t know you, and you weren’t planning on letting them any time soon.

Someone that did know you fairly well was Peter, your boyfriend. He met you in Germany, you weren’t in combat but you were there to help. You’d been on the plane when he got there, moving your feet to give him a place to sit. He’d never been on a plane before, especially after what had happened to his parents. He’d expected to be nervous and anxious the whole time, but you had shared one of your earbuds with him and let him read your book (a textbook on biofouling) which didn’t interest him, but it gave him something to focus on. Not the book, that wasn’t what interested him, he understood nothing, but you did.

Of course, being raised by Tony, you had a penchant for robotics and physics, but environmental science was where your passions rested. You were working with your dad in the lab on making his tech more environmentally sustainable. Tony had homeschooled you until you met Peter, and you could have had at least one PhD by the time you were fifteen, but you’d surprised him. You wanted to go to high school.

You’d already been over all of the material, and your dad had argued about the security risks, and it seemed to be a closed subject until you met your boyfriend. Peter was the same age as you, he went to a science high school, and he was more than capable of protecting you if something went down. So, after swearing Peter to basically be your bodyguard, you were allowed to attend Midtown with him.

The two of you had grown much closer in the time you were there, he was your best friend, your partner in crime and, recently you noted, your first love.

Tony was pissed at first, kicking Peter out of the tower, and taking his suit away, but you calmed him down. You were his only daughter, his little girl and he just wanted you to be happy, and Tony could see that Peter made you happy.

You loved going to school. You got to spend more time with Peter, you met his friends, you and MJ bonding immediately. You sat down next to her at lunch, automatically swapping half of your sandwich for half of her fries. The two of you started talking about a book you’d both read when Peter and Ned sat down. “What are you guys talking about?” Peter kissed your cheek.

“The Art of Human Bondage,” MJ replied simply. Watching as the boys exchanged wary looks.

“What?” Peter asked you.

“The book MJ got me to read?” you said. “The one I haven’t shut up about?” you were trying to jog his memory. When he didn’t remember, you rolled your eyes, not really annoyed. “Damn, Parker. You don’t listen to a single thing I say, do you?”

Ned let out an ‘ooooooh.’ “Do you not know your girlfriend at all?” Peter looked at you, alarmed.

“Wait, no, no,” he rushed out. “I know you so well,” you laughed. You really didn’t care, just wanting to mess with him. “I know that your favorite movie is Spy Kids, and you watch it when you’re sad about things related to your work specifically. General sadness is when you break out The Parent Trap, because you don’t want to taint Spy Kids with sad memories and all the tech helps give you ideas. I know everyone, including your dad, thinks you’re allergic to carrots after you faked an allergy attack with a chemical you engineered when you were only seven years old, but in reality you just hate them, and I know that you’re coming over to my place after school to help me study for my calc quiz,” he looked over at you triumphantly.

“Yes, dear, you know me very well,” you squeezed his hand. “And yes, I will be at your place at four-thirty,”

“Why then?” he asked. “You can do any homework at my place if you want?”

“No, I have cheerleading tryouts this afternoon,”

Ned and Peter went quiet, the only person not surprised was MJ. “You have what?” Ned asked hesitantly, not wanting to upset you.

“Cheer tryouts,” you said, like it was obvious. You’d always wanted to try it, the teamwork aspect drawing you in along with the physical component. If you had something to do after school that was giving you physical activity, it would give you an excuse to skip training. You loved that your dad didn’t treat you like you were made of glass, letting you train with Nat, Steve or Bucky, but Friday training sucked. It was the most intense of the week, and you were exhausted from the week.

“You want to be a cheerleader?” Peter spoke up.

“What?” you scoffed, putting the fry in your hand down. “You think that because I’m smart, I can’t be a cheerleader?” They both took a second too long to answer before you stood up. "I've been training with Nat since I was like ten. Just because I don't go out in combat with the other Avengers doesn't mean it's because I can't,"

It was a stereotype you were a little sick of. You could be smart and pretty, and you had hoped Peter would be a little bit more supportive of you. It hurt a bit, not that you'd admit it. You didn't need his approval to do anything, but you'd be lying if you said you didn't at least want it.

"I think I'm finished with lunch," you said, standing up. Peter looked up at you, alarmed. You were leaving. You wouldn't be leaving if you weren't mad, he'd upset you. He was about to rush out an apology when you spoke up. "Coming, M?"

MJ nodded, leaving her lunch tray on the table. She knew Ned or Peter would dump it, and she was annoyed with them on your behalf.

You both had algebra after lunch, so you figured you could kill some time out by the bleachers, you still had nearly half an hour before your class. You were laying on a seat, head in MJ's lap while she drew something. "Am I overreacting?"

"No," MJ spoke without hesitation. You were her best friend, and she was yours, the only person she would ever allow so close to her, both physically and emotionally. "You're allowed to be upset, but Peter also didn't mean it,"

"I know," you said. "I just feel like everyone sees me as this delicate little flower who can't even do a sit-up," you said. It was true, despite the fact that your dad made sure you were trained by the best from a young age, he still didn't think you were capable of taking care of yourself, shown by the way that he literally made Peter promise to take care of you.

"Well, I know you're badass," she offered. "If Peter doesn't, I'll date you," you smiled up at her.

"I'll have to pass," you said as the bell rang. You groaned as you got up and she smirked.

"I thought you could do a situp," you flipped her off and she showed you her drawing, it was you in a Midtown cheerleading uniform, surrounded by a pile of dead bodies. You giggled. "Some of my best work,"

MJ gave you a friendly punch on the shoulder. "You'll do great this afternoon," you smiled at her, squeezing her arm as the two of you walked to your next class.

You had English last period with Peter and as he sat down you didn’t acknowledge him. “Darling?” he asked quietly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“Peter, I know you didn’t mean it like that but it still hurt,” you said quietly. “You know, I have so many people out there thinking they know what I can and can’t do, and I just thought that, considering you know that, you’d be a little more supportive,”

“I know, I know,” he said, earnestly. He really hadn’t meant what happened at lunch and he’d felt awful about it the entire time. “I’m sorry. I never meant to make it seem like you couldn’t do anything. I’m so sorry,”

He took your hand and squeezed it for a moment, but when your teacher walked in, you slipped it out of his grasp, leaving him staring at the spot on the desk your hands had rested for the rest of the lesson.

After school, you went to tryouts and you aced them. Of course, you lived with the Avengers, and they never went easy on you. Your negative feelings towards Peter went away when the coach announced who got on the team, your name being one of the few. You ended up walking to Peter’s apartment rather than calling Happy, still bursting with energy when you got there. “I made the team!” you said as you burst through his bedroom door.

Peter dropped his book, startled, but rushed off his bed to hug you, spinning you around. “I am so so proud of you,” he said, squeezing you. “I knew you could do it,” he pulled away, suddenly scared again. “You know that I always knew that right? I never thought you couldn’t do it, I guess I was just surprised that you wanted to, which I know, is dumb. I guess I don’t know you as well as I thought I did,”

You placed a gentle kiss on his lips, smiling widely, “I know, Pete. I know you knew. And it’s okay. You still know me better than anyone else does,”

You sat down on the bed beside him, Peter pulling you in for another hug. “I really am super happy for you, darling,” he said into your shoulder. “I can’t believe I’m dating a cheerleader,”

“Now I know why you’re dating me,” you joked. “That’s cold, Parker,”

“Well, Stark,” he said, poking you in the sides. “How do I know you’re not just dating me cause I’m Spider-Man?”

“You’re Spider-Man?” you asked, mock surprise filling your voice. “You kept that from me this whole time?”

“I guess you don’t know me at all,” he smiled and kissed you. “I love you,”

“I love you too, Spider-Man,” Peter huffed and went to stand up, but you pulled him back by the sleeves, bringing him into another kiss. “I love you, Peter Parker,”

“Hey,” May appeared in the doorway. “I stopped by that new bakery on my way home, got this really nice looking carrot cake. You guys want any?”

“No, thanks, May,” Peter shook his head. “She’s allergic,”

“Oh,” May looked over at you, surprised. “I didn’t know that,” you could feel Peter’s teasing gaze on you as you answered.

“Not many people do,” you shrugged. “It’s alright, though. I should be getting home,”

Peter walked you to the door, knowing Happy would be there soon to pick you up. “See? I know you better than anyone else,” he said, a smug smile on his face. ��You know what else I know?”

“What, Peter?” You asked, a smile sneaking onto your lips.

Peter pressed his lips to yours, wrapping his arms around your waist. Your hands went around his neck as he held you for a moment, before pulling away breathless. “You impress me more and more every day,”

Listen to 'More' by Olivia Rodrigo here!

♡ taglist ♡

@tom-hollands-wife ; @bxnnywriting ; @kenzieriley

♡ sweet taglist ♡

@pvarker ; @peter-parkers-gf ; @mrosales16

[outer-space-face]

Nutmeg, papyrus, ivy, sage? :) You don't have to do all of em just whatever ones you wanna answer

Well lucky for you I AM gonna do all of them! :D

Nutmeg: how’s your room/home decorated? do you have a specific theme or style going on?

It's got a lot of my little crafts and sculptures scattered as decor. Idk if I've ever mentioned it before but I'm a pretty arts & crafty person. I've tried so many mediums of crafts at some my room's just gonna turn into a craft store. But it's got a couple of little mushroom sculptures, art pieces I've made amd hung up, and then also just random knick-knacks like crystals, blankets, a couple of perfumes and essential oils laying around. Essentially I've got my own little treasure trove of knick-knacks (a la ariel, ya know?). I've also got a lot of natural light cause' I love me some sun :) . At night time it's got some cozy lighting too.

Papyrus: if you put your ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle, what’s the first song that comes up? what do you like about it / associate it with?

Okay so this is one that I discovered pretty recently. It's 'What once was' by her's. The chill but atmospheric instrumental is what sold me on this song. It's just a really nice groove with a good melody. It's a really nice late night song.

(Also I wanna add that I had to disqualify like half the songs on my 'on repeat' playlist because I kid you not, half of it was just the hadestown soundtrack. I- *sigh* :')

Ivy: what are your ‘tells’ for your emotions and moods? how can someone tell you’re happy, annoyed, upset or tired?

I mean, with how emotional I am I don't think they really need to have any tells ajahjahsjs. But seriously, although I think I'm a fairly open book, I think some of my less noticeable tells are I start answering with a lot more one-note answers to questions when I'm upset or frustrated. Not in a passive aggressive way, but more in a "my mind is elsewhere" kinda way.

Sage: what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

Well, surprising absolutely no one, it's probably gotta be theatre. There's something so special and personal about going to see shows. I love rich storytelling, I love music, and I love silly little costumes so it's right up my alley. There's something so touching about the medium, especially when it's a sad or bittersweet story (fun fact my favorite movies or pieces of media tend to be the ones that make me cry waterfalls).

Thank you so much for all of these questions! These were super fun to answer so thank you for all of em' <333

[bugsy-maria]

Harry x Reader

I sat patiently, waiting for harry to answer my question. he probably didn't hear me ask it though, he was too busy talking to Ginny. I continued to draw in the notebook that Harry gave me for my birthday. harry and I have been best friends for about two years, but lately, he has been ignoring me. it hurts to see the only person to ever stick with me, leave and trade me in for a younger prettier model.

don't get me wrong I love Ginny to bits and pieces, she's my best friend right after harry of course. but I just wish that Harry didn't love her. okay so he never told me that he loves her, but it's obvious. he would always want to practice quidditch with ginny instead of me. it might be because I'm in Slytherin, but he never had a problem with it before.

And it doesn't help that Ginny loves him too. they were made for each other and I was just too blind to see it. I hated that the only friends that I ever made would rather be with each other. I couldn't let my feelings get in the way of their relationship though. I had to step back and be happy for them no matter how much I wanted to scream and pull all of my hair out.

instead, I sigh and try to figure it out on my own, I hear them laugh and force a fake smile onto my face, it shouldn't be fake though. as long as they are happy I am too. I jot down some quick notes for Defense Against the Dark Arts, the writing is a bit messy but it's my notes so I don't mind all that much.

"Hey (Y/N)?" harry grabbed my attention.

"hmmm?" I looked up at him.

"Ginny and I are about to go practice," he got up with, Ginny following suit. I nodded, slowly picking my stuff up, putting my quills in their own case and my books in a bag. i put up and stretched my arms behind me while puffing out my chest. my eyes squeezed shut as I took a large inhale, which then released in a sigh. I felt a tap on my shoulder and my eyes shot open.

I look to the right and see a very giddy Ginny practically bouncing on her toes.

"I think I'm gonna tell him." her cheerful smile shown through. I smiled at her, happy that she got the guts to take the first step.

"Really?!" I smiled widely at her, my cheeks hurting.

"Mmhmm!" she nodded violently.

~~~~~8 Years Later~~~~~

I stood in the front of the room, across from Harry who was dressed all nicely in a tailored suit and tie. he fixed his glasses as the music started to play. we all look at the end of the aisle and the audience stands up to see the lady in white.

Ginny walks with gracefulness as she makes her way to the alter. I watch as she smiles that big smile of hers and as harry wipes stray tears, but not taking his eyes off her. I watch as they change rings and vows. I watched as they cut the cake and have the best day of their lives. I smile and laugh at Harry's terrible dancing and Ginny as she trips over her own heels.

"Thank you for coming." I looked away from the sight of Ginny laughing at Ron who dropped cake all over his front. "It must have been hard."

"What?" I cocked my head to the side in a questioning look.

"I've always been able to tell when you hurt, kid." he rested his elbow on top of my head while giving me that smile that never failed to make my knees weak and butterflies fly all over my stomach. but I force the butterflies to halt their fluttering, this is my two best friend's wedding. I should be happy and those feelings are selfish.

"I'm not that much younger than you!" I playfully shouted while swatting his hands away to make him stop using me as an armrest.

"Okay, okay!" he laughed swatting back at my hands. we both share a good laugh as our hands fall to our sides. we both look back at the scene, Hermine is now wiping the cake off of him while scolding him for his clumsiness. "But really, thank you for coming."

"Why wouldn't I? it's both of my best friend's weddings." I smile up at him.

"Still." he still looked ahead, not sparing me the last bit of closure I needed, but I still somehow got that night.

[rikumorimachisgirl]

Title: Eyes on you

Pairing: Shaw x You

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 2,901

A/N: You (Y/N) are not the MC in MLQC. This is a plunny that's been bugging me for quite a while, I had to write it. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own MLQC or its characters, but I do own the concept of this fic.

There were a few mysteries in this world that the esteemed Archeology Graduate Professors at Loveland University can't explain - for instance, the formation of the Stonehenge, the exact location of the lost city of Atlantis, the origin of the Nazca lines… and your presence at the Metro Art Gala dressed to the nines, positively gleaming as you strode arm in arm with your classmate and Thesis partner Shaw, who seemed like the perfect gentleman that evening. Thanks to your work at the Loveland Museum, you scored two invites to the gala featuring the recently discovered works of a well-known artist - an event any Archeology fanatic wouldn't let pass. The two of you walked along with LFG's Exhibition Hall, pausing occasionally to admire one of the recently discovered sculptures by the Renaissance artist D'Romani. As you both looked at the intricacies of the artwork in front of you, your charming companion would lean in slightly and whisper something in your ear, causing you to roll your eyes or stifle a giggle. 

To the guests in the prestigious gala, the two of you looked like two young people at the cusp of falling in love, but the members of the Faculty of the Graduate School of Archeology saw it differently - this was a real-life mystery if they'd seen one. 

As your eyes swiftly swept through the entire room, you could see that your professors only had one question in mind - how'd this happen? How did two people as different as day and night, who argued with each other throughout Graduate studies, end up amiably enjoying each other's company tonight? 

You drew a sharp breath and sighed. The answer was simple: Your Thesis defense was right around the corner. You needed him to cooperate, you were willing to go to great lengths to make it happen. And your Thesis partner (unfortunately) was ready to take full advantage of the situation. 

***

"Tell me why we're doing this again, " you said through the door that separated you and your date, as you were putting on the dress you bought (or invested on, as he casually stated) for tonight's gala, which he insisted on attending with you. It was six in the evening on a Friday, and you had just arrived home after cramming your workload at the Loveland Museum and foregoing your meal breaks just so you could leave work at exactly five-thirty. 

"I already told you a couple of times - you want me to cooperate with you so you can pass our Thesis, and I need a reason to be around her," the purple-haired man waiting at the other side of your bedroom door called out nonchalantly. "You can drop your fantasy about me asking you out because I'm attracted to you."

You hissed silently at his snarky remark and counted to ten. You haven't even left your apartment yet you already wanted this night to be over. "How do you even know she's gonna be there?"

She - the Miracle Finder Producer, the object of your Thesis Partner's fantasies, and as fate would have it, his brother's girlfriend. 

"They're doing a show featuring our Thesis adviser. Didn't he tell us about it during our last consultation?" He asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I wasn't listening," you shot back, as you took off your ponytail and started styling your hair with your curling iron. You chose a one-shoulder fitted black dress that stops right above your knees, so you thought of wearing your hair down for a change. 

"Ah, yes. You were too busy looking at your notes, trying to prove me wrong as always."

You closed your eyes, as you continued to make big beach waves and prayed to the gods you wouldn't commit murder tonight. 

"How much longer are you gonna take?"

"Excited much?" You asked, smirking while you now removed your glasses and put on your contacts. "You sound like a teenager excited to see his crush in a school fair!"

"Don't compare me to you!" 

"I don't have designs on anyone in the party," you called back. "Unless your brother's attending the event, that is. From what you've been telling me, he seems like a great guy."

Silence. You arched an eyebrow as you strained your ear to listen for any sign of life outside your bedroom door. What must your grunge-rock skater boy-turned-date-for-the-evening be thinking? 

"Do you want to pass our Thesis or not?"

You struck a victory pose at his remark. Finally, one point - you, Shaw - about twenty. 

"Are you done yet? This suit is really uncomfortable. Damn, why do people even wear these?"

"Because they're decent?" You shot back. "You know, you can always go home if you're not comfortable in your attire because when we get there, you need to act decent, too. Can't have your usual swagger in a formal affair."

"Just hurry it up already!"

You rolled your eyes as you applied your nude-colored lipstick to finish off your look before putting on your black stilettos, and stuffing your phone, wallet, and your makeup in your purse. 

"All done," you replied, as you finally emerged from your room. 

***

A part of you wished that the dynamics between you and Shaw were different. While he was a pain in the neck, and too carefree for his own good, you also thought he made for a good intellectual sparring partner, quite attractive, and it was hard to deny that he's got your heart beating double-time whenever he got too close for comfort like he was at that very moment. 

"My, you two kids seem to be having fun tonight."

You gasped, at the sound of the voice behind you, and you felt your date nudge you ever-so-subtly while straightening.

"Hey, Professor Adler," he said in his usual unruffled tone, his lips stretched into a smirk as he held his hand out to your Anthropology professor and Thesis adviser, who watched you both amusedly. His gesture made your eyes shot wide open, you thought they'd fall right off. Shaw shaking someone's hand? That's one for the books. 

"Shaw. Fancy seeing you here," the stout middle-aged man greeted while shaking your date's hand. "This isn't your usual scene though."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't exactly turn a pretty lady down, can I?" 

"I can see that," your professor said as he looked at you appraisingly. "Well, well, you clean up well, Miss (y/n)."

You fought the urge to squirm at the older man's words when you heard your date cluck his cheeks with his tongue and suddenly felt his arm around your shoulders, pressing you protectively close to his side. 

***

"All done!" You happily announced as you stepped into the living room of your small apartment where your date was impatiently waiting for you. 

You could've sworn he was stunned for a second or two before he shook his head and tried to regain his usual impassive expression. Finally, he stood and walked closer to assess you better. 

"You're not wearing your glasses. I thought you said you're practically blind without them?" 

You cocked your head to one side. Out of all the things he could've complimented or called out, that's the first thing he noticed? 

"Wouldn't it look awkward if I wore glasses to a formal event?"

"Your hair is all curly," he continued as if you didn't say anything. "And your shoes are so tall, won't you trip? Also, surely you have a jacket to go with that dress, right?" 

You stared at him in disbelief. Why did this carefree, bass-playing skater boy turn into your dad all of a sudden? 

"Uh…"

"Well, at least you're not wearing red lipstick. You don't have to try too hard to look sexy. Geez! I've got plans of my own this evening, so don't expect me to be your bodyguard," he continued to mumble as he circled around you. Before long, you felt something warm and heavy on your shoulder. His coat?

"It's just until we get to the venue," he shrugged as he led you to the car he borrowed for tonight. "I don't want people seeing you freeze to death."

You sighed, your shoulders slumped as you followed your date to the car. You already expected he wouldn't throw you a compliment for looking like a proper human tonight, and you cursed yourself for feeling gutted over it anyway. 

 ***

"So, which one of these sculptures did you like best, Professor?" You sighed in relief as Shaw changed the subject, his arm still wrapped around you, making you blush furiously. 

"Oh, I have to say I liked Eros and Psyche best. In case you haven't seen it yet, it's located a little further down the hall near the bar area," the older man was starting to explain when someone tapped his shoulder from behind. 

"Excuse me, Professor Adler," a gentle voice called out, making both the professor and Shaw jump. From behind the old man, a pretty petite with brown hair and big brown eyes, and the biggest smile on her face stepped up. "My name is MC from Miracle Finder."

Almost immediately, Shaw withdrew his arm around you, almost causing you to stagger backward. He straightened up and feigned disinterest. 

"Hey. It's a little rude how you stepped in while I was talking to the Professor," he said, his tone teasing. 

"Oh, I didn't notice you here. Do you mind if I talk to your Professor? We've invited him for an interview about the exhibit," the girl said sweetly. 

Based on how unconsciously coy she acted around Shaw, and the way he kept egging her, there was no doubt that this was the girl he was crushing on. You felt like the odd person out all of a sudden and needed to step away. 

You backed away slowly, careful not to rouse their attention because it would probably suck if you knew how Shaw would introduce you to his little crush. As soon as you were in a safe distance, you turned and walked aimlessly down the hall, pausing briefly at paintings or sculptures that caught your fancy, looking at its intricacies as you did so earlier. But somehow, it wasn't as fun as it was before, so you moved on quickly, to give way to the other guests who also wanted to view the artwork.

Finally, you came upon the bar and decided to rest your tired feet at the far corner, hidden from the rest of the world. Sighing, you slipped your feet off your stilettos and quietly watched as the guests around you - mostly couples - happily chatting away as they enjoyed the beauty of the art around them and the wonderful music that filled the air. You knew somewhere in the crowd, your date was fawning over his lady love, probably getting in the way of her filming your professor. 

Tch. 

You knew he liked her - he always told you he did. And why wouldn't he? MC was pretty, seemingly sweet, and dainty - the kind of girl any guy would like to protect. And you. You were the opposite. You lived for your work, were 'one of the boys', and didn't need anyone to protect you - that's just how you were - and now you started to realize that maybe guys don't exactly like that. At least not Shaw. 

Wait, what were you thinking? You scolded yourself as you shook your head. Why were you even thinking of what he liked when you don't even like him to start with. Or did you? 

"Ugh. What the hell is wrong with me?" You groaned when a cold bottle of beer and a frozen glass was placed in front of you. 

"I was gonna ask you that myself." 

You straightened up in your seat and shot a look at the guy seated beside you. Dressed in a nice grey suit, he smiled as he raised his beer bottle in front of you. 

"You look like you needed a drink. I hope the beer is okay. They don't have fruit beer or soda," he said calmly, his amber-colored eyes never leaving yours. 

"Y-yeah. Beer is perfect," you replied while pouring the amber liquid into the glass. "Thanks," you muttered before raising the glass to your lips to gulp down some liquid courage. 

"I saw you with Shaw earlier -"

The name on his lips drove you to a coughing fit, as you choked on your drink. "Sorry, " you mumbled in between coughs. 

"No, I'm sorry," the brown-haired guy said, as he cautiously and politely patted your back. "I didn't mean to bring that up. I was just curious."

"It's fine," you replied when you finally regained your composure. "Yes, we're just classmates in Grad school who decided to check this exhibit out for the heck of it."

"Classmates, huh?"

"Yeah, that's what we are," you said, taking a sip off your glass. "Grad school classmates."

"Are you telling me or telling yourself?"

You looked up and saw him smiling. There was something about Dreamy McHandsome who was seated beside you that felt so familiar yet different at the same time, but you couldn't point a finger at what it was exactly. 

"We're classmates, and we're working on our thesis together. But we're not friends - far from it even. We hate each other's guts."

"Can't blame you for doing so," he shrugged as he drank his beer. 

"Yeah. He dragged me here so he can get with someone he's been crushing on for so long," you rambled on, frowning. 

"Oh? And who might that be?"

"The Miracle Finder Producer. You know, the pretty girl in a blue top and white skirt. He's been going on and on about her for weeks…"

"You mean my girlfriend?" 

His girlfriend. You choked on your drink once again. "Y-y-your girlfriend? You mean to say…" You gasped. Has the beer made you stupid? You've barely drunk half of it, you thought as you fought to regain your dignity. This was Shaw's brother you were talking to - and boy, we're they blessed with good genes…

… And the same social awkwardness, you noticed, judging by how he kept his hand at your back, but not exactly touching it, as if trying to assess if he had to pat you or not. 

When you finally calmed down, he cleared his throat and gave you a small smile. "Don't worry. She talks to me about their conversations. I know what that guy is playing at, and I most definitely know he's not after my girl," he said, his voice broke no room for doubt. "My name is Gavin..."

"Yeah, I know…"

"You - what?"

"Oh," you said, tapping on your glass nervously. "Shaw kinda mentioned it in passing before."

"I see."

"So, what were you saying earlier about Shaw?"

"Oh. From what my girlfriend tells me, he's got his sights set on…"

"Ahem," you heard someone say loud enough for you and Gavin to turn your heads around. And there, standing behind you, was an angry-looking Shaw. You sat up, your gaze shifting between the two brothers as the air started to thicken with tension. "I talk to someone for a minute and the next thing I knew, my date walks out on me and right into the one person I'd hate for her to meet."

"Well, if you were just honest with her as with a lot of other things in your life, maybe she wouldn't have left your side earlier," Gavin retorted flippantly. "Is she finally done with filming?"

Shaw simply grunted in reply as he watched his older brother finish his bottle of beer and stand. "Well, Miss, there's a lot I've heard about you. Seems somebody couldn't stop talking about you, but I'll leave it at that." 

With a wink and a mischievous smile upon his face, the brown-haired guy sauntered off to look for his better half, as you and Shaw watched in awkward silence. 

He cleared his throat and glanced at you. "Hey."

"Hey," you replied, shakily. 

"So, about what that jerk said -"

"Yes?" You asked, feeling your heart hammer against your chest by the second.

"Whatever he said is not true," he said dismissively, as he took his coat off and draped it over your shoulders. "I told you before, I don't find you the least bit attractive."

You felt tears starting to sting your eyes, as he continued with his harsh commentary. "You're tough, highly opinionated, and you always want to come out on top. I don't find those attractive at all," he said. "I prefer a damsel in distress. I want someone clingy… someone, needy."

"I know that -"

"Oh do you?" He teased, his amber eyes twinkling. "You seem to know a lot about me."

"We've been working together for months now," you said. "Of course, I'd know more about you."

"I see," he said, as he took a step closer to you and touched your cheek, rubbing the stray tear that had managed to slip down the side of your face. "So, you must know I'm also a good liar. After all, I've kept all these feelings to myself for quite some time."

He snickered when he saw your frown deepen and he bent down just as he had done so earlier, to whisper. "I made you think I liked someone else when in fact," his low voice made you shiver. "I've always eyes for you."

The End.