#originally posted november 14th (on my main)

[fernisfreaky]

trust me when i say this will NOT be the last time i draw synthen dom ratchet......

[clarenecessities]

He-man.org will close in 5 days.

He-man.org has been a staple of the Masters of the Universe community since the early days, originating as an email list that worked to document episodes before anything (not footage, not lists, nothing) was available online. It grew into a sprawling, multi-faceted beast of a thing, including an encyclopedia (an in-house wiki), merch lists, a marketplace, forums, anything you could think of.

Several years ago now, the main site went down for updates/maintenance. For a few weeks, we were told, maybe months. The forums remained open for fans to communicate, and barring a period of downtime earlier this year things were going smoothly.

Yesterday, the owner of the site, Val Staples, announced the site would be closed on November 14th, 2023. Six days later. We are currently attempting to contact him, to see if he’s interested in selling, and if he means closed as in “no new posts” or closed as in deleted entirely. Regardless of its eventual fate, the archiving of these forums is essential to preserving the history of the franchise, the fandom, and the brand.

TO SHE-RA (and MotU) FANS SPECIFICALLY: I have personally used these forums to answer questions that could be answered nowhere else. Had I not had access to them, I would never have been able to prove that Purrsia was fake, or found so much unpublished concept art, or discovered that Scott “Toyguru” Neitlich personally wrote Catra’s MOTUC bio (even if he’s put off answering my questions about it for over a year now). Forum members have conducted interviews with the likes of Jon Seisa, Cathy Larson, Janice Varney-Hamlin—essential figures in the very foundations of POP, and those interviews revealed and recorded priceless information for future generations (me! you! us!) to find. Did you know Cathy Larson named Adora? That she originally pushed for “Dorian”, after her own daughter? We cannot let this treasure trove disappear into the ether(ia).

TO THE UNAFFILIATED: Please help. Pretty please. If you’ve ever liked my art or my writing or my haphazard blogging, ever, at all, consider archiving just one board. Just one page. Literally anything helps. I am spiraling into madness & this is my library of Alexandria. The mythical one that was totally unique and persevered nowhere else and was destroyed in a single cataclysmic event. Pretty pretty please help.

HOW TO HELP:

Archive.org has several ways to upload shit but most of them are longer term than “a few days” so we’re focusing on two (which can be run simultaneously): Save Page Now, and browser extensions. From their help page:

1. Save Page Now

Put a URL into the form, press the button, and we save the page. You will instantly have a permanent URL for your page. Please note, this method only saves a single page, not the whole site.

We want to keep outlinks and screenshots wherever possible. The Archive does not keep your IP address, so your submission is anonymous.

2. Browser extensions and add-ons

Install the Wayback Machine Chrome extension in your browser. Go to a page you want to archive, click the icon in your toolbar, and select Save Page Now. We will save the page and give you a permanent URL.

One plus to installing the extension is that as you surf around, when you run into a missing page they will alert you if we have a saved copy.

More extensions, apps, and add-ons:

Firefox add-on

Safari Extension

iOS app

Android app

I strongly encourage you to use these tools even if you aren’t helping with this project/after it ends. Documenting and preserving information is essential in this day and age & The Internet Archive is at the heart of it. Please support them however you can.

I’m serious about paying you, though I may need more communication with folks I don’t know so we can coordinate/verify shit gets done. I think this is a worthwhile pursuit in itself but I recognize your time is valuable & like, people gotta eat. DM me if you’re interested and we’ll talk. I may need to adjust pay depending how many people bite but I’ll do what I can

[saltnsugarbear]

saltnsugarbear's 200 follower banquet!

omg hello! hi hello!

we've made it to 200!! this is very, very exciting and I'm a bit more organized this time! below you will find the details of the celebration and rules and some more thanks!

Some rules before we begin!

-- This event will take place between November 14th all the way to November 22nd!

-- Meaning! From 12am November 14th to 1159pm November 22nd you can send anything from the list below!

-- I ask that you include a prompt paired with a character from my x reader list, if no character or prompt are paired your ask will deleted for maximum organization on my end!

-- try as I might, I looked over the lists and attempted to pick some that didn't have stuff I'm not into. However, if I managed to miss one, I will communicate that it's not something I vibe with and will ask for you to submit a new prompt!

-- I think this is everything?

-- Like everything else, I ask for some patience!

Here are the prompt lists!

You can pick from the family friendly lists; fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, new relationship or secret pining!

Or you can choose from the smut selection; inexperienced, "just like that", guided, list 1 or list 2!

Don't want to do a prompt? That's okay! I've got two games going on!

-- the fruit game where you ask me about writing!

or

-- the emoji game where you can learn more about me!

Don't want to play a game or send a prompt? That's okay! here's some other options for you:

-- send a 📸 and a character from the x reader list or my dynamic list and I can make you up a moodboard!

-- send a 🎧 and I'll tell you what I'm listening to/listened to last!

-- send one of these 📻, and i will give you a song i think suits you or your blog!

(moodboard idea from Mouse <3)

And now, for the thank you part of the post! (you guys already saw this and don't need to read it but I'm keeping it here)

-- Once again, just the biggest thank you to Olive, who continues to be,,, honestly just my biggest supporter and I could not ask for a better person to have in my corner of bearblr. I love sending sneak peeks to you and my posts wouldn't be half of what they are without you inspiring me. You are the original babygirl and I love you soso much

-- To Maggie who is just,,,, rah you're the coolest I love you and I love talking about writing and not writing and silly things. i fear i would repeat so much of what i've already said. first person to nurture my lip ideas and one of the main introductions i had to actively participating in the content i consumed and created and allowing me to continue to share my ideas with a delightful community

-- Moon!!! iloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyou, Moon you are so beloved by me. I freaking love talking to you and being sillys together we are literally iconinc duo Snoopy and Woodstock and I freaking adore you soso much

-- tumblr daughter Sonia!!! tumblr daughter sonia i love you dearly. our shared brainchild of vampire Lip is so dear to me and I love chatting with you you're my tumblr baby my tumblr daughter i adore you

-- my mouse the mouse in my pocket if you give a mouse a blog she is going to want friends to go with it mouse i love you so bad

-- my handful collection of mutuals I don't talk to enough; worm, capri, ruby, cass and the beloved l4l! you guys are so fucking cool I love you all and rahhh I'm so glad to share a space with you guys <3

-- all of these are starting to sound the same to me but all 200+ little freaks I love you so bad!!

[finepairingsfanblog]

Episode 01 Notes

After - Part 1

August 14th, 2019

"A podcast about fanfiction. The inaugural episode of the Fine Pairings podcast! Join Grace and Claire as they dive into the wildly popular fanfiction that's been all across the news. A Harry Styles fanfic written by Anna Todd. Drinks will be mixed and understandings of anatomy will be lost. What they know for sure is that from now on there will only be... After."

🐢 { Hello everyone and welcome to The Inaugural Post! I am currently working on the episode's transcript so stay tuned (warning: I type slowly). These extended "show note" style posts are where I'll share additional information on the fic and my less-than-alcoholic paring recommendations. I'm open to ideas of what to add, so please send me an ask! }

Fic

After by Anna Todd Published to Wattpad in April 2013.

Rating: PG-13 Fandom: One Direction // Harry Styles Pairing: Harry Styles x OC Notes: While this fic originally used the names of 1D members for much of the main cast, it's been edited to reflect the published edition. This seems to be a recent change since the release of the film, if you have a copy of the original please DM me! Also, this fic contains alcohol/drug use and addiction as well as sexual themes. Proceed as is comfortable for you.

The history of the fic, from Wattpad to the screen, can be read here

The Author: Anna Todd (imaginator1D on Wattpad) started as a fanfic writer with the After series being her flagship work. She is now the author of multiple published romance novel series and has started her own publishing group Frayed Pages. Her information can be found here.

"Tessa Young is an 18 year old college student with a simple life, excellent grades, and a sweet boyfriend. She always has things planned out ahead of time, until she meets a rude boy named Hardin, with too many tattoos and piercings who shatters her plans."

Pairings

🍸 Our boozy pairing is Miller High Life. This drink is the champagne of cheap college beers much like After is the champagne of bad fanfics. This paring is best served at room temperature in a slightly dusty solo cup left over from a party that was "just okay".

☕️ Our coffee pairing is an iced pumpkin spice latte. The quintessential "white girl in the 2010's" drink, which is what you'd have to be to read this fic. It is best served left in your fridge overnight. Warm enough for the ice to melt but not enough to give you food poisoning.

🍟 This fic's snack pairing is yellow mustard Doritos, a chip almost as toxic as our protagonists' romance.

{I promise my pairing recommendations won't always be this goofy, but my goal is to match the tone of Grace and Claire's pairings.}

Recs

Sold to One Direction - Last updated 2014 November 9 - by Coleen Hoover

Fine Pairings Pod Links

[uta-no-sin-sama]

New Post Series Coming Soon: 5 Fun Facts and 5 Headcanons

I hope 2022 has treated you all well so far. I've had this idea for a post series for a couple months now, and wanted to wait until the new year started before I started the series.

This was inspired by a TikTok series by user alli_bugg that she does on her page where she mentions 5 fun facts about various anime characters on their canon birthdays. I figured, why not do that on my blog?

I'm also adding my own little twist to this series by also adding 5 small general headcanons I have for each character. I know most people here just write an imagine as a sort of "special" for character birthdays, but because my life offline is too hectic and energy-draining for that, I figured this would be easier to keep on top of while still celebrating with the rest of the fan base.

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More Info about this series

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What can some of these fun facts include?

I'm going to try my best to include things that can be found in material other than the anime (the games, manga, etc), but my main source I'll be using is the Fandom wiki page. Some things I might include are:

- star signs

- likes and dislikes

- Canon information (Warning: might contain spoilers, especially for later seasons)

- info about their VAs and their roles outside of Utapri (important note: because Utapri does not have an official English dub at the time of writing and is likely one of those anime that will probably never get an English dub, assume any and all information regarding VAs is for the Japanese versions of any other anime mentioned)

- original concept ideas/stuff deleted from final product we all know and love (this one will probably be lacking, ngl)

What can headcanons include?

I have already posted a few headcanons on here, but I'm going to try not to repeat any of the ones I've already posted. They'll be more focused on the characters themselves rather than in given scenarios. These can include, but are not limited to:

- fluff (what I write best lmao)

- angst (I'll try not to post too much of this, we're celebrating birthdays here, after all)

- possibly canon-inspired

- smut/semi-smut (some characters, definitely not all in this little series)

When can we expect these posts?

My time zone is about 12 hours behind Japan's time zone, so I plan on posting each of these between the hours of noon and midnight EST the day before the birthday of the character in question, so that would make it available sometime between the hours of midnight and noon in Japanese time.

When's (insert best boy/girl here)'s going to be posted?

Here's the order of when I'll post these. There are 23 total characters that will be in this series, 20 of which I regularly write for and 3 I don't usually write for. You can also find the links to their posts here in case you miss any!

January

- 7th: Nagi

- 23rd: Camus

February

- 14th: Ren

March

- 1st: Ai

- 3rd: Haruka

April

- 30th: Yamato

- 11th: Otoya

May

- 5th: Kira

- 15th: Ryuuya (Note: This one might be posted a little bit earlier, maybe by a day or two, because I actually have the same birthday as him lol)

June

- 9th: Natsuki and Syo (they will each have their own post, and I'll try to space it out so they're not posted at the same time)

July

- 7th: Tomochika

- 13th: Reiji

August

- 6th: Tokiya

September

- 1st: Eiichi

- 15th: Ringo

- 29th: Ranmaru

October

- 20th: Eiji

- 31st: Cecil

November

- 4th: Shion

- 22nd: Shining (I'm probably going to regret including him in this list lmfao)

December

- 12th: Van

- 29th: Masato

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I can't wait to start this new series for you all and I hope this will make up for a lack of any kind of imagines as I try to get back into the swing of things.

Up first, our favorite cosmically-cute idol!

- Lizzie Rose

[fountainpenguin]

It’s an Update

Hello, Riddle here! I know I’ve been pretty quiet on Tumblr lately. Here’s an update on my situation:

I will definitely post more fanfic updates soon. I’ve picked at drafts, but haven’t posted anything lately. Here are the reasons why:

I got a new IRL job. It’s a good fit for me, but I have less free time than I used to, of course. It’s a job that involves writing lots of articles on a variety of topics, and I enjoy how every day is a little different

Most of my free time for the last year has gone towards my mod work at the Creature-Crossing ARPG, and to my personal CC writing. I’ve been working on new activities over there (my recent favorite being our seasonal familiar shows... I won first place in the summer show!) and I have a lot of plot plans that are coming together now. If you ever want to see my original characters and read my CC writing, you can find my character directory HERE and my Table of Contents HERE.

Once November 1st hits, I won’t be preparing for the release of any more CC activities or events. All future activity or event releases will be overseen by the other mods, and I’ll simply be someone they can ask for extra help if needed. This is a big change for a mod who spent the last 12 months working on new releases, and will give me back some of the free time my IRL job will eat

The Creature-Crossing admin (my boss) greenlit my request to bring an assistant on the mod team who will specifically help me with a lot of my behind-the-scenes work, such as data entry and organization. I’ve never had another mod who specifically helps me with the back end duties before, so that will be awesome. I will need to spend some time training them, but once they are official, that will take some of my workload off and allow me more free time for this blog and personal writing time.

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Fanfic updates you can expect to see soon:

- Reedfilter Rules

- Frayed Knots

- Origin of the Pixies

- Debut of Factor It In, my Kid Math-centric “WordGirl” fanfic (Subtitled “Tales of a third-grade superhero in training”)... Yes I am still in love with this idiot boy, expect lots of doodle pages soon

- The 130 Prompts project is on a slow-burn writing schedule... I’ll write for it when I want to, but I mostly want to focus on Origin and Knots this year.

Further info below the cut. There is more info about non-Fairly OddParents ‘fics in here too (under “non-FOP fanfics”), so if you’re looking forward to Mario World or “WordGirl” ‘fics from me, give this a click so you know what’s coming!

So, what does this update mean for your fanfics?

They’ll be active again soon! I’ve been picking at them behind the scenes, trying to build up a buffer. In an ideal world, I would love to release a new chapter for SOMETHING every Friday. I doubt this will be possible, but it’s something I would love to work towards in the future. Realistically, you can probably expect some kind of fanfic update once every two Fridays (two updates per month).

There might be some Fridays where posting an update is not possible. Instead, I’ll make a post about what progress I made instead. In the past, I often overworked myself to get a chapter out in time for my old deadline. I will not be doing that anymore, but will instead hold myself to a goal of “Make progress on something every week.”

In the best ideal world, I would love to post one FOP fanfic update per week and one non-FOP fanfic update per week. This is not likely to happen for a long, long time, but that would be the dream.

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Here are the things I most likely worked on if there is no fanfic update:

- A fanfic chapter draft that needs more time

- A sideblog profile

- A Toyhouse profile for personal characters

- IRL work or mod work may have kept me busy this week

- Creature-Crossing writing... I will try to prioritize my fanfics more, but my CC writing is still important to me and I will be working on it in a lot of my free time too. At the moment, I have a hard deadline of December 14th that I need to meet if I want to release huge plot drama on the day that it happens in canon. I’ve been building up to this for a long time, so I’m really excited about that.

I currently have summer or autumn 2022 planned as the “finale” for the majority of my plot to explode. I will be hosting a member-run event in Creature-Crossing that will last for two months, so a lot of my time from January until the event’s release will be spent doing event prep. Once the event ends, my story content will mostly be a “return to slice of life.” Stories will be more casual one-offs as characters grow, live their lives, and start their own families. Hitting seasonal deadlines for plot will no longer be so important. I’ll be giving Creature-Crossing work less attention after that, and much more attention to my fanfics.

- I may not have a fanfic chapter out each week, but I WILL post a note every Friday to let you know what I have been doing with my time. You’ll see me around. Feel free to send Asks and talk!

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What non-FOP fanfics would you like to work on?

For literal years, I’ve been claiming I want to post Mario World fanfics. This is still something I want to do. I tag Mario World posts as “mushrooms and more.” I’ve already done a lot of worldbuilding, I have thousands of words of content written for this fandom... I just haven’t posted any of it. I hope to do this soon.

- “WordGirl” fanfics are prioritized over Mario World fanfics. After I finish my first “WordGirl” multi-chapter, I will probably be ready to post my Mario World ‘fics. I may possibly post some Mario World one-shots in between other fanfic updates. Might take another year or more before I touch Mario stuff unless there’s high interest in seeing it sooner?

I also really want to write some WordGirl ‘fics and get more involved with the fandom community. I’ve been building headcanons and lore for this show ever since I was a kid, and I have multiple ‘fics for this fandom that I want to write.

- “AlgoRhythm” is a ‘fic I have already posted on FFN and AO3, about WordGirl introducing Kid Math to the villains in town

- 28 Cities is a ‘fic I started about Rhyme and Reason before they arrived in Fair City. I put it on hiatus since it didn’t seem like anyone was interested, but I’m willing to post more for it if there is interest in it now that years have passed and I’ve gotten more followers who like WordGirl. I have a lot of worldbuilding and plot I never shared for it

- Factor It In is a ‘fic I’ve been working for a while that parallels the official show from the moment Kid Math arrives in town. It focuses on Rex’s struggle to adjust to this world as a child coming into his superpowers for the first time (Y’know, the whole “superheroes don’t have powers when they’re on their home planets” thing), his struggle to adapt to the social world of a non-logical planet, and Becky’s struggle to help him become accustomed to Earth and learn to share it with her as well. If the episode “Kid Math” was a full-length novel about Rex’s arrival and character development, that’s what this story is. This is the highest priority of all my non-FOP ‘fics... I’ve had a cover image made for 6 months and even though I tried setting it aside, I’ve always been super inspired to write for it. If I felt like it would be a good idea to commit to weekly updates alongside my FOP updates, I would, haha.

- I have two one-shot WIPs called “Squishy Feelings” and “A Little Ambiguity”, one of them focusing on Becky and Rex talking about the events of “Rhyme and Reason” and what it means for Rex’s secret identity, and the latter being a future ‘fic showing WordGirl and Kid Math dealing with life 10 to 15 years down the road. I’ll probably post the latter, not sure yet on the former.

- If desired, I may make a WordGirl specific sideblog where I post lore, answer Asks, post character profiles [smaller than my FOP sideblog ones], and mention fanfic updates. If you would be interested in this, feel free to send me an Ask requesting I do this. If there’s not interest, I’ll just keep my WordGirl stuff on the main blog.

- I’d like to get more involved in the WordGirl community, so I’ll probably post more content and reblog more art and headcanons

I also have a handful of miscellaneous ideas I might follow through with. I’d like to write at least one “TUFF Puppy” fanfic so I can say I did. In a perfect world I would like to finish the two “Danny Phantom” and “Bunsen Is a Beast” fanfics I started because... I just kind of want to dip my toe in each of the Hartman shows once since I already went through all the effort of worldbuilding for them to make them canon in a single Hartman show universe. “ChalkZone” is another show I adore and might touch someday (You may recall I have a full outline planned for an FOP/ChalkZone crossover ‘fic called “Dust to Dust”).

Will I write all of these things? Maybe not. I have no idea if I want to spend the next 10+ years writing fanfics, or if I’ll simply be done with all misc. fanfics immediately once I decide to be done with my main ‘fics. I definitely intend to write for a few more years and finish my main ‘fics, but I might not go through with some less popular side ‘fics if life is getting busy for me.

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What is the posting schedule for FOP ‘fics?

Reedfilter Rules, Frayed Knots, Origin of the Pixies, the 130 Prompts project, and “Come What May” are all high priority FOP writings. I will swap between them depending on my mood that week.

Here are some other ‘fics I want to work on.

- If you like, you can send me Asks requesting I work on a specific story above the rest. I will try to prioritize whichever stories interest you guys most.

Snips and Snails is a ‘fic I started and posted the first chapter for years ago. I’m not sure when I will get back to it, as I ran into some writer’s block. It’s still on tentative hiatus for now..... Possibly forever, though I hope it isn’t forever since it’s only supposed to be, like, five more chapters.

Pink and Gray is on official hiatus. I actually have a lot written for it, but I know it’s a little weird to put so much time and energy into Gary and Betty content when... well, let’s be honest: they’re my niche favorites and most of you probably don’t care. So, I am lifting my usual “no spoilers” policy from my Ask Box. If you would like to ask about my Gary and Betty backstory headcanons, feel free. I will tag my replies as “ridwriting spoilers” for anyone who wants to blacklist the tag, and spoilers will be hidden under a Read More line. 

I’d like to return to this story someday because there are tons of things I like about it (ranging from Betty’s secret tattoos to Gary’s plot drama with his mom to the background drama between Talon and Anti-Cosmo, but I always feel immense pressure to make it extra cool to make up for the fact these are weird side characters, so... it’s officially at the bottom of the priority pile. Once Talon shows up in Frayed Knots and readers understand who he is and why he exists, I’ll consider coming back to it.

Identity Theft is a story about Foop and his time in the alternate dimension he was flung into following the episode “Playdate of Doom.” To put it short, Foop was abused by alternate versions of his parents in this dimension and he witnessed some pretty intense stuff, including the death of the alt version of himself who existed in that reality. The trauma he experienced resulted in his alternate personality, Hiccup. Foop himself has very few memories of what happened, as Hiccup has all of those memories. This story is canon in my works, and it is regularly referred to during the 130 Prompts as part of Foop’s backstory. It’s my highest priority side story to work on.

Along the Cherry Lane is a 20-chapter work focusing on the lives of the main human cast from age 11 to age 30, with one chapter showing a snippet of their lives each year. You see Timmy raising Tommy and Tammy in this ‘fic, and it ends with them receiving godparents. Since the 130 Prompts don’t give humans much attention, this ‘fic does. You’ll probably see it debut two years from now, closer to when the 130 Prompts is ready to talk more about humans.

If this becomes a popular ‘fic of mine, I’ll probably write a sequel or continue it past Chapter 30 and write about Tammy and Tommy living with fairies, but I won’t if there’s no interest in that.

Little Imperfections is a Pixie AU ‘fic of mine about what life would be like in a universe where the Fairies are even more like insects than I play them as during my main works (where I already play them as semi-similar to insects). In this world, the Head Pixie is a figurehead whose duty is to reproduce for the sake of the colony and do nothing else, and he’s bored out of his mind until he befriends Sanderson, who introduces him to music. It’s extremely self-indulgent and silly because I like Pixies.

Francis is a multi-chapter ‘fic about bully Francis’s life getting yet another fairy godparent in a long string of memory wipes and godparents. It takes place during the canon series, and when you see an “orange fairy” mentioned in some of my writings, it’s usually referring to this fairy. His name is Rover and I occasionally post art of him. I feel like I can’t truly call myself an FOP fanfic writer until I actually write about a godkid and their godparents, haha...

Hawthorn Haven is a side ‘fic that will be posted towards the end of the 130 Prompts, as it veers off from the prompts in its own self-contained multi-chapter story. It will be approximately the length of “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.”

Acacia Arcadia is a far-past ‘fic detailing the fall of the ancient fae, the imprisonment of the nature spirits, the rise and fall of the chimera nation, the fall of the Martian genies, and the early days of the cloudlands. This is close to the bottom of the priority pile... It’s something I spend time on for personal reference to ensure accuracy in my other ‘fics, but it’s probably not what you guys came here to read.

AA has a bunch of characters in it that you might vaguely recognize, such as Ezekiel Whimsifinado, Evadne, Ione, Two Feathers, Rho, and Sablewood (If you’re astute, you might recall cloudland legends and landmarks in modern day that refer back to these characters). There are also a lot of characters who were reincarnated as Anti-Fairies, in accordance to traditional Anti-Fairy beliefs; Foop for example exists as a main character in one of his past lives, and you’ll see a hint dropped about each of his lives in the first chapter of Identity Theft. My tentative plan is to use Foop’s past lives as my central characters, following the events of each part of the timeline until he gets killed and reincarnates at a later point of the timeline.

I also keep some one-shots in a file I call Mixed Nuts and I may possibly post them someday (they’re mostly just one-shots of main cast characters I do to get a feel for their personalities, I have some Wanda and Cupid in here). @zachbrightside and I are also working on a collab ‘fic called Like a House On Fire that shows more of Timmy and Chloe’s lives during Season 10 (especially around the time of “Which Is Wish?”) No news on a release date for that yet.

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As I’ve said before, once all my other FOP works are complete, I will write Devil’s Backbone, which is my far-future ‘fic and the finale of my FOP writing. I do not plan to write any more FOP content after that story is finished, as I expect to have all other FOP projects done by then.

- Devil’s Backbone is a finale 'fic, so all worldbuilding from all stories is fair game to blend together, and it’s highly recommended you read everything else first. This story has been outlined since 2016, and it might not be published for another 10 years... Who knows! But it’s something I always work towards as a concrete endgame goal.

- If something serious comes up in my life and I officially decide I don’t want to write this story, I will post the outline for it. The link to this draft is included with all the other Google Docs links I have in a far-future queued post unveiling my WIPs in case I unexpectedly die and you still want to know how my stories would have gone, so you’ll get access to this story eventually even if I die young. Yes, share access is turned on for them all and I do take extra careful measures to be sure that post doesn’t get posted early skldfj

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What is the plan for the main blog?

Every Friday, I will post either a fanfic chapter or a progress update. You can blacklist the tag “ridlife” if you do not want to see the progress updates on your dashboard. Fanfic updates will not have the “ridlife” tag, so you will not be blocking them.

During the rest of the week, I might post doodles, reblogs, or general comments. Basically... you’ll see the blog become active again. Feel free to send in Asks about my worldbuilding and thoughts on fanfic characters.

@fountainpenguin is my personal blog, so you will see non-fandom things on here sometimes

@riddledeep is my FOP-exclusive sideblog. It contains all my lore notes and goes into a ton of depth, more than my fanfics give in one breath

===

What does this mean for the Riddledeep sideblog?

I really want to go back and edit those character profiles that were posted early by mistake. The reason they were queued is because if I turned them into drafts, they would have been buried all the way at the beginning of my draft collection, and I have many, many drafts saved. There are no page numbers to navigate quickly through the draft collection, so I would have to click through each page one by one if I ever wanted to look at them. I hated doing this, which is why I kept my posts queued.

I was regularly updating the queue deadlines, trying to keep things in the order I wanted to post them in, but Tumblr made a change to the way drafts are dated and it kept throwing off my system. My inability to remember when my queued things would post combined with my busy schedule led to some profiles being posted early and incomplete. I want to fix these.

Over a year ago, my good friend Vulpix150 helped me finalize my designs for the Aos Sí and Daoine Sith. I’ve been sitting on that art in secret for a while, and at some point I plan to post it on the sideblog and talk more about that lore.

Updating fanfics is my higher priority (and it was the priority my followers voted for when I asked you to send votes to my Ask Box a while back). So, I will usually spend my free time working on fanfics unless I need a break from them and want to work on sideblog profiles instead. Thank you for your patience!

===

TL;DR

I’m posting fanfics again soon. I’m going to take a more relaxed approach to posting them. I’m going to post more of what I want to post and what I feel motivated to post, not always a main ‘fic update. If I’m not “feeling it” when working on a draft, then I’ll set it aside for a while unless I know my followers and readers have high interest in the next chapter of that story. I always write for me first, but if I know there are other people who care a lot about a story, then of course I want to write it for you too!

I’m going to embrace my decade-long love for WordGirl and post more ‘fics and art or this fandom. I’ve always been a little shy about doing this, but I’m ready to make it an official fandom on my main blog (unless there are lots of requests for WordGirl things to be contained in their own sideblog). I will be posting the first chapter for a ‘fic called Factor It In very soon. Love my easily frustrated alien kiddos having a long day.

I am working on Creature-Crossing stuff too, and will be especially busy in November and December. Updates will be slow for a few months, but I hope to find my groove and a good pace soon.

Each Friday, I will post either a fanfic update or a mention of what I am working on. I will be checking in on Tumblr regularly. Feel free to talk! I much prefer you send messages to my Ask Box, not my private messenger, please <3

===

Is there a specific story of mine you like and want more updates for?

Asks and reviews help me know which ‘fics people are enjoying. I plan to keep writing ‘fics no matter what, but I definitely give more time to the ‘fics that get more attention (and I have been spending so much time writing for Creature-Crossing because that’s where the attention was coming from)

It’s easy to stay motivated and get the next part of a story out soon if I know that people like it. It’s always harder if you feel like people are silently judging you and ignoring your posts. So, let me know what you’re interested in. And if you only leave Likes or Favorites instead of asks and reviews, that’s okay too! Thank you for interacting anyway and enjoying my work.

Thanks for reading!

[myimmortalisimmortal]

Why Chapter 39 of My Immortal was due to an actual hacker

After considering some findings, I’m confident in this theory. And thus, I’m confident anyone who claims to be Tara Gilesbie while claiming the hacked chapter was faked is not being honest. Below I will explain why I believe so and how I came across this information in the first place.

All this was from a long chain of breadcrumbs. Let’s go back... all to the mid 2000s in the LiveJournal days when Tara Gilesbie had a dedicated fan club.

The Tara Gilesbie Fan Club

One thing that particularly stuck out was members mentioning finding Tara through IMDb. Yes, you heard right.

[ID: Two comments on the Tara Gilesbie Fan Club LiveJournal.

The first is from ‘golden_helikaon’ on 2008-01-19 writing, “I found it on the Order of the Phoenix IMDb board. There were several long threads dedicated to ripping her apart with every new chapter.”

The second comment is from ‘heartdreamerz’ on 2008-01-20 writing, “It was almost 2 years ago and I've told this story many times. I knew Tara a month before My Immortal was published. It was on IMDb's board for My Chemical Romance. When the story came out I knew about it but didn't pay attention because I wasn't into HP at the moment. Then, like icarus_malfoy wrote, there were the threads about her and that's when my interest started. There were also another troll on the His Dark Materials...” (Image cuts off.) End ID.]

According to this, Tara Gilesbie was already tyrannizing the internet before she posted My Immortal. This actually is very consistent with the fact “Tara Gliesbie is totlly Gottik” was a petition that existed in November 2005. (My Immortal was posted in March 2006.)

This IMDb profile seemed very intriguing. It hasn’t been mentioned much, and isn’t considered to be official by most people. Was it a legitimate account? If so, was there gothicness we were deprived of all along? I searched to try find out more about it, hoping screen captures or something would turn up. Luckily, one of the same members copied and pasted Tara’s bio in another comment.

[ID: A comment on the Tara Gilesbie Fan Club LiveJournal by ‘heartdreamerz’ on 2007-05-05 writing, “All her posts are deleted now. I can still visit her profile because she's on my friend list. Her bio:

‘hi im tara. im a goth (n prode!). i have died blak hair n blu eyez. i wer eyeliner a lot of da time. i hav a bf. his naym is justin. he rox! i liv in Dubia.

likz: eyliner, goffik makep, beng goffik, GOOD CHRALOTTE, death, sleting my rists, drak colorz, hot topik _

dizliks: beng alive, bo, pop music, brite colors, pink, brabie, hiraly doof da music i lik: linen prak, GOOD CHRELOTE, evinezenz, simpl plan, akon, arvil levine, blink-183, panik! at da disko, foll oot boi, mcr. HIRALY DOOF IS A PSR!

fav moviez: when a stranger kallz, da grudge, da grudge 2, korps bird, da nitemare b4 krismas, da ring 2, da ring, shrak attak, undreworld 2, da texas chonsow massakre da bogenning

ps 2 all da prepz nd pozers tryin 2 diz me u r jus jeloz!!!! so yolsentik nd hartdremer u kan go fok ur momz 4 al i ker ok U SUK!!!111′

I feel so special to be personally insulted by her on her profile.” End ID.]

People like to copy & paste things stupid things to laugh at all the time (no offense Tara), so I thought: why not Google some of the bio? Maybe whoever did that posted additional stuff.

And it worked! (I found more content from Tara’s supposed IMDb, but more on that for a different post.)

When searching the bio, a Reddit thread about Rose Christo popped up.

During Rose Christo’s brief reign, a user said Rose’s claims seemed to check out. This user actually happens to be the same commenter, Heartdreamerz, in the LiveJournal thread. (Which makes sense, considering she’s the one who originally had the bio I was searching.) 

If you don’t feel like clicking the Reddit link, basically she confirmed Rose’s claim that two Filipino users from the forums hacked the account.

Because of Heartdreamerz’ long involvement in My Immortal and the fact she never claimed to be Tara or Raven, I take a lot of trust in her word.

Heartdreamerz linked the FF.net profile of the original hacker: Coruscate Corruption.

Looking up “Coruscate Corruption” had me come across this from the LiveJournal fan club, which implies that there were two hackers.

[ID: post on the Tara Gilesbie Fan Club Livejournal by 'nicespice' on Dec. 28th, 2006, writing, “Just a little thing I drabbled down. Hope it's not too horrible. What do you think?

There is an evil on FF.net and All who encounters it feels their Respiratory system give out And become too scared to scream. Gruesome, it is. The anti-christ fanfiction, My Immortal, written by a total idiot. Does she Leave you to cry tears of blood, because I have before. EarnestInBerlin and Coruscate Corruption, the hackers, Sought to bring My Immortal redemption. Too Bad the real Tara had to come back so soon to ruin the fun. I wish she had at least continued her story, I look at her fic Everytime I go online, wishing she'd just update so I could laugh at... Tara Gilesbie." End ID.]

While searching “Coruscate Corruption”, a few posts popped up from a forum for The Bartimaeus Sequence called Bartiforums.

[ID: Two images showing 3 forum posts by Mwamba.

The first post was a reply to, "Mwamba, how did you crack both passys? Just guessing or what?"

On December 8th 2006, Mwamba replied, "Tara's was just pure luck. It didn't take long to get. The password was tara. *snorts* Post's was just guessing too, but I remembered when his passy was cracked on here, so I tried out the same password. It worked. Oh yeah, and I wrote a fanfic for Post, it's a rip off of Tara's story, but meh.”

The last two posts were made on January 14th, 2007. The second post wrote, "It was me. I had complete control for two days. And then EarnestInBerlin had to hack in too and change the password. But then she told what it was and then the real Tara had to come back and rechange her passy so nobody could get in. But that's old news. That account is most certainly not mine. I could not continue that fic for 39 chapters, I'd get bored after the first fifteen.”

The third post wrote, “*Shrug* It doesn't matter. Call me whatever. Though if I have to pick, I suppose you can call me by my FF.net name, Coruscate Corruption. What book category are you writing this fic in? Just curious.” End ID.]

Chapter 39 was posted late November 2006, so that first post was only a few weeks after it happened.

The password was “tara”... does that ring a bell at all?

[ID: A screencap from Rose Christo’s now-deleted blog. It says, “And My Immortal? You can come to your own conclusions. This was really never about the fic; it was the marketing team at SMP that decided to make My Immortal the main part of the story. Our email address was gofikchick@hotmail.com and our password was tara.” End ID.]

-- Rose Christo’s claim before deleting

 You may be asking, “Rose Christo? The woman who lied about her family, being Native American, and writing My Immortal to sell a book?” Yes, that Rose Christo. Yes, she was a fraud and a scammer, but she peppered in some little-known true details to make her claim seem more legit. For instance, she talked about a Voldemort rper in the reviews, and that ended up being true. You can actually find this Voldemort reviewer in the web archives of Raven’s stories. (Apparently, that Voldemort even came out and said “hey, that’s me!” Cannot find it unfortunately.)

Keep in mind the only way I found any of this was because Rose Christo made that claim. Without it, Heartdreamerz wouldn’t have made that post that led to Coruscate Corruption and those posts on Bartiforums. It’s possible Rose somehow came across the same information I did, but it’s more likely she was there. Rose Christo may not be the author of My Immortal, but it was likely she was a spectator as it all went down. (As I was a spectator for Rose’s ordeal when it all went down.)

 Since it was said the hackers posted on the fanfiction forums, I sought to find it by searching “Tara”, “My Immortal”, etc. on FFnet’s search. The posts are unfortunately long gone, but there is a surviving forum called “My Immortal Forum Tara Gilesbie is a genius!”

[ID: A screencap of “My Immortal Forum Tara Gilesbie is a genius!” from Fanfiction net. Someone named Ebony Dark’ness wrote, “I have personally logged on to Tara’s account when her password was revealed after she got hacked.” End ID.]

TL;DR: Multiple, separate people made consistent claims over the span of years. Because of this, I personally believe Tara’s account was legitimately hacked.

(Sources/links will be added in a reblog.)

[goodboylupin]

Hey, all! Sorry if this post is giving you deja vu. We’re only a week into the challenge, but in addition to some great fics, art, moodboards, and more, I’ve also received a lot of great questions! While I do have a FAQ tag, I thought it might be beneficial to make a new, updated rules post. If you already read the original rules post and are wondering what’s changed: Rules 2, 5-7, and 11 are the amendments.

A fun, stress-free Wolfstar mini-fest!

They’re sold by many companies and known by many names: Candy Hearts, Conversation Hearts, Sweethearts, and Love Hearts. Whatever the brand and whatever you call them, they’re the signature sweet of the season. Sure, you could buy your beloved a box of chocolates, but that’s an option any time of year! Good luck finding these bad boys in November!

Not that candy hearts are bad! Sure, they’re kinda chalky… and they taste stale no matter how fresh you bought them… but it’s not about the taste with candy hearts, it’s about the pastel, the experience, and above all else: the sayings! Who doesn’t remember going through a pack with friends, trying to find the kookiest message? Digging through a box to find one that was just the right level of romantic to give a certain special someone? (And maybe the heartbreak when you received one in turn where the message was just a big, pink smudge?)

Now, candy hearts have been around for a long time. And with a constant rotation of messages so we always got fun variety in a box, they’ve had a lot of sayings.

Through a great deal of internet sleuthing, I’ve collected over four hundred of them.

Some are a little raunchy (TEASE ME), and some are outright rude (EW NO). They range from classic (BE MINE) to contemporary (SWIPE RIGHT) to were-at-one-point-contemporary (FAX ME). Some of them are, quite frankly so hyper specific it’s a wonder they made it into circulation at all (ME JULIE BEST MUM).

And they are all, even the weird ones, ripe with potential as fic prompts!

So here’s what we’re gonna do!

Starting January 15th and until 11:59pm EST February 14th , drop me an ask with these emojis in it: 🍬💕

If you don’t want to be associated with this challenge on your main tumblr account or don’t have a tumblr, you can still ask for a candy heart anonymously, but you need to make mention of your sideblog/AO3 username in the ask so I can keep track of who received which heart.

I will shake my great big box of candy hearts and pull out a unique candy heart for you and only you.

With your message in hand, create whatever that candy heart inspires and your own heart desires! Fanfic, art, graphics, playlists, head canons, shit posts, interpretive dances, cosplay, meta essays, it’s all great as long as its central focus is on wolfstar, the relationship between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black!

You can either directly quote your candy heart message in your work or use it as a broader inspiration.

You are allowed to use the same candy heart as inspiration for multiple unrelated works and submit all of them to the fest.

You do not need a beta before submitting your work, but I strongly encourage you get one. I want this to be as stress-free an event as it can possibly be, and in my personal experience, it reduces stress to have someone else look over your completed work for at least spelling and grammar so you don’t have to reread your own stuff and psych yourself out before posting. If you don’t have any fandom friends with whom you feel comfortable sharing your fanfiction, there are also online resources to find a friendly stranger such as the Beta Boutique discord. But if ultimately, you’d rather be your own editor, I certainly won’t reject your work

If posting on Tumblr, @-mention me (eg. @goodboylupin) and include your candy heart message in the caption, and tag the work with #RSCandyHearts (preferably within your first five tags)

If posting on AO3, post your work to the collection and include #RSCandyHearts in your tags (it will probably not be common enough to be a drop-down option, just type the whole thing out and hit enter)

Works are expected by March 1st, but this is a low-stakes, self-posting challenge! If you need more time, just message me or drop an ask. And if you want to drop out, that’s totally fine! I’ll even delete your first ask where you requested a candy heart. I only need to know for the sake of my own record-keeping. Let’s all just be honest, considerate, and try to have a good time!

If, after completing your first work, you want another helping of candy hearts, that’s more than welcome! Since I don’t want anyone to get a sugar crash, there is a two-day wait period between submitting a work and getting a second (or third or fourth or wherever you are) candy heart. You can send the ask earlier, but I will wait two days before answering it.

I will reblog all works and keep a masterlist of works pinned on my blog until March 7th.

[vicky82gargoylesfan]

My Theory on The Tracy’s Ages

Please do not copy and re post on other websites.

Here's my theory on Tracy's ages and the years they were born.

They are younger than there original show counterparts but Alan seems to be a lot younger than his counterpart. They have the same birth dates as the original show. According to this website Filmed in Super Marionation Tracy’s profiles, Scott is 11 years older than Alan, so i'm sticking with that age gap.

Here's my guess at there birth years, (I even worked out when they they were conceived, I used a conceived calculator thing on a website)

Scott  - Conceived July 2034 - Born -  4th April 2035 Virgil - Conceived November 2035 - Born 15th August 2036 John - Conceived February 2038 - Born 28th October 2038 Gordon - Conceived May 2040 - Born 14th February 2041 Alan - Conceived June 2045 - Born 12th March 2046

There is a possibility that there Mum got pregnant with Virgil 7 months after Scott was born, ok it's not recommended to get pregnant after given birth so soon, but it does happen in the real life (I know someone got pregnant 5 months after giving birth. it could be why Scott and Virgil are so close.

There is 5 years difference between Gordon and Alan, so why the big age gap. It's hard to know if any of the brothers were born early, on time or late but if I had to guess, Gordon could of been born premature, so that could be the reason for the age gap. But there could of been another reason and that could be when Jeff and Captain Taylor went to Mars for the 1st time between 2041 - 2045, so that could be the main reason. I'm going to stick with that theory and the brothers were born on time. 

I seem to remember Rob Hoegee saying that every season is a year, so season 1 - 2060/61, season 2 -2061/62, season 3 - 2062/63. Virgil said in Signals part 1 that there Father had been missing almost 8 years, so he had been missing 6 years when the show started, so he probably went missing in 2054 and depending how long it took Gordon to heal and getting the new Zero XL built, Jeff could of been missing 8 1/2 to 9 years by the time they rescued him.

If I had to guess when there Mum died I would probably say around or before 2050 Jeff disappeared in 2054 Depending when the episode Breakdown happened, Virgil could of been 23 years old when the show started and he turned 24 in Breakdown, or the episode happened in 2061 and he turned 25 years old in Breakdown

Scott - 19 in 2054,  25 in 2060,  28 in 2063 Virgil - 18 in 2054,  24 in 2060, 27 in 2063 John - 16 in 2054,  22 in 2060,  25 in 2063 Gordon - 13 in 2054, 19 in 2060  22 in 2063 Alan - 8 in 2054, 14 in 2060, 17 in 2063

Alan must be at least 14 when the show started, I know it's weird that a 14 year old could fly a rocket in space but don't forget it's 2060 so there could be different laws, also IR is the Tracy's independent rescue company and there Dad was a colonel, so maybe Alan had special permission.

Alan was learning to drive in the episode Designated Driver, the age of learning to driving is 16 -18  depends which country they go by, so as it's a British show they could be going by UK laws which is 17. Rob Hoegee is American and the Tracy's were originally from America, so they could be go by USA law which is 16, Tracy Island is near Australia and New Zealand so they could be going by there laws, which is 17/18 in Australia and 16 in New Zealand.  But as it's 2060 laws could have changed, so the age of learning to drive could probably be lowered.

Alan graduated from school in the last episode, again depending which country they go by (UK, America, Australia and New Zealand) it's between 16 -18, so i'm sticking with him being 17 when he graduated. I know he fell behind in his work at one point but he could of caught up.

Also due to Alan being at least 5 years younger than Gordon, Alan said in Home on the Range he was away at school, and in Life Signs it seems that he didn't seem to take part in any training with the others.

I would like to guess Kayo's and Lady Penelope ages too but it's more difficult, but if I had to guess Kayo is 20 and Lady Penelope is 23 in 2060

[seungcheolrk]

HEADCANON: PUBLIC VS PRIVATE INFORMATION !

UPDATED FEBRUARY 12TH, 2019

PUBLIC INFORMATION !

BASICS

FULL NAME choi seungcheol STAGE NAME prhyme BIRTH DATE august 8th, 1997 PLACE OF BIRTH seoul, south korea HEIGHT, WEIGHT 178cm, 65kg COMPANY sphere entertainment GROUP, UNIT convex, rap unit  POSITION main rapper, unit leader SOCIAL MEDIA all public / unlocked

youtube ( icecreamscoups, retired september 8th, 2016 ) 

youtube ( naboogungan, active from january 2016 as part of a monthly project to cover a song released each month, but last updated december 25th, 2017 to focus on convex after a special christmas project )

instagram ( icecreamscoups → cheolvex, september 23rd, 2018 )

twitter ( icecreamscoups, inactive since december 27th, 2016 )

PREDEBUT APPEARANCES

CAFE COLLABORATION, APRIL 2016

performed merry christmas in advance by iu & thunder with former royal and sphere trainee song jieun on april 4th, 2016.

FIRST SINGING STREET PERFORMANCE, AUGUST 2016

performed listen to my word / a-ing by oh my girl on august 9th. 

YEOUIDO SPRING FESTIVAL, APRIL 2017 

performed good morning by verbal jint & 10cm with convex performance unit member lee jihoon ( jace ) ( @jacerk ) on april 8th, 2017.

performed i’m in trouble by giriboy & loco with now nova trainee kim hyuna ( @hyunark ) on april 9th, 2017. 

SPHERE BOYS STREET PERFORMANCE, JULY 2017

performed plz don’t be sad & yey by chaos & rock the world by junsu at an outdoor market in itaewon on july 30th, 2017 with then current sphere boys. 

fell numerous times after the downpour began but pushed through to the end to prove to himself and his coaches that he could do it. 

not notable. therefore, trainee status: still unknown.

STREET PERFORMANCE #2, NOVEMBER 2017

performed hey mama by exo-cbx with shin hoseok ( @hoseokrk ) and kihyun ( @kihyunrk ) on november 4th, 2017.

SAMSUNG COMMERCIALS AIR, DECEMBER 2017

status change → now public samsung trainee. company unknown. 

#BEADVENTUROUS, second team. 

SEOUL PLAZA FESTIVAL, DECEMBER 2017 

performed show me your love by tvxq & super junior & white by oh my girl at seoul plaza festival on december 24th, 2017 with original convex line-up. 

status change → now public sphere trainee. 

CONVEX PREDEBUT SHOWCASE ADVERTISING, JUNE 2018

roamed the streets with other members to advertise convex’s predebut showcase. 

performed debut track mansae and unit track ah yeah at yes24 muv hall on june 30th, 2018 with original convex line-up. 

first public appearance as convex. no stage name revealed. 

PAIRED TEASER UPLOADED, JULY 2018

second pair of members revealed to be prhyme and romeo on july 13th, 2018.

teaser features cover of hit me by mino & bobby. 

PROJECT CONVEX EPISODE ONE, AUGUST 2018 

uploaded to sphere’s youtube on august 20th, 2018. 

features dance and vocal solo cover of movie by btob. 

very briefly features in jace’s ( @jacerk ) war of hormone cover. 

short clip of conversation with k.i ( @kibumrk ) regarding worries about debuting airs. 

PROJECT CONVEX EPISODE TWO, SEPTEMBER 2018

uploaded to sphere’s youtube on september 3rd, 2018.

features short clip of recording mansae in the studio. 

POST-DEBUT APPEARANCES

CONVEX DEBUT SHOWCASE, OCTOBER 2018 

participated in pre-show press conference and later performed mansae and ah yeah at olympic hall, seoul on october 28th, 2018.

MANSAE PROMOTIONS, NOVEMBER 2018

promoted mansae on various music shows between november 5th and december 9th, 2018.

fell during convex’s wet stage scandal on november 14th, 2018 but only suffered bruising. continued to perform. 

SAMSUNG NEW YEAR SPECIAL, JANUARY 2019

performed mr. chu, mansae & ah yeah at samsung’s new year special on january 12th, 2019. 

CONFIRMED FACTS

stuttered consistently through spoken segments of debut showcase, though since he hasn’t had any other opportunities for prolonged public talking, it’s unknown if this is permanent or a nervous reaction to it being their debut day. 

SEMI-PUBLIC INFORMATION !

this information is public, but not confirmed. it can be deduced at varying difficulties from his social media or previous appearances. 

seungcheol’s father is choi kyungjae, a violinist formerly part of the kbs symphony orchestra from before seungcheol was born until around february 2013. for a while, he occasionally filled in when desperately needed, but that has recently stopped completely. 

after retiring from the orchestra, his father opened a music store selling instruments, sheet music, etc. 

attended sopa and graduated in february 2016. 

long-term best friends with convex member jace ( @jacerk ) as evidenced by numerous posts and comments across his and jace’s instagram accounts.

huge star wars fan as evidenced by literally anywhere and everywhere. 

plays guitar, piano and keyboard to a high standard as evidenced in various youtube covers. 

efficient in composing and remixing existing tracks. often created the backing tracks for his covers from scratch and layered vocals on top, so knows his way around a recording studio and semi-professional software. 

has two piercings in his right ear. 

adores john williams with his whole entire heart. will see almost any movie if it’s scored by him. ( unless it’s too scary. ) 

PRIVATE INFORMATION !

this information is private either because seungcheol wants it to be, or the opportunity for it to naturally come up hasn’t presented itself. 

started learning harmonica and keytar and would like to continue with the former. 

signed to sphere november 8th, 2016 via a private audition after meeting a casting agent at sphere’s save the environment concert. 

signed his convex contract on september 7th, 2018 binding him to the group for six years.

his parents’ home ( and his own former home ) is above the shop his father opened after retirement. 

close friends with former luxe member sona ( @rksona ) and understandably, good friends with the other sphere trainees. 

is extremely easily frightened, particularly by loud noises, sudden or otherwise. 

hence, known as sphere’s scaredy cat during his time as a trainee. 

unfortunately has the ability to perfectly imitate jar jar binks’ voice. 

as of rome’s recent departure from the group, has stepped into the additional position of rap unit leader, though this hasn’t been announced yet beyond the group and associated staff. 

couldn’t dance when he joined sphere. has worked insanely hard on it over his years in sphere and still now, must practice a choreography a lot before he feels even a little comfortable with it. 

speaks limited conversational english that he learnt from and for convex member jace and old friend ‘hannie’ predebut. 

please assume anything not listed under public/semi-public is private, as I have more than likely forgotten something! 

[ads-is-shady-blog]

#5) [Otome Games/BTS] An Update on Aeon Dream Studios - hiatus, founder leaving, allegations of emotional abuse and non-payment by a former employee, + more

View the discussion on reddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/amiuas/otome_gamesbts_an_update_on_aeon_dream_studios/

Post (words by original poster linked):

This is an update to my previous post here which has some background and a Tl;dr at the end for those who need it. It's time for an update as a lot has happened in the past month.

Before that, though, here's something I missed in my last post: a scandal in June 2018 where ADS tweeted on their official account to call out a fanfic author on Wattpad for copying ADS's work. The tweet included an image containing the author's username, leading the fifteen-year-old author to receive harassment from TTEOTS fans who had seen the tweet. Considering TTEOTS itself did not have legal permission to be using BTS's likenesses, the call out post seems rather hypocritical. There was also an exchange in the replies where the devs passive aggressively blamed a fan who asked for help due to the app being glitchy.

So, to recap where we left off:

The studio went silent for a couple of months at the end of 2018, letting a promised release date for TTEOTS pass without comment. In mid-December the CEO emerged to link her inability to work to a BTS member sustaining a minor injury, and then pushed back Echoes to 2019 (initially promised for March 2017), giving no date for further TTEOTS content.

January has brought renewed anger and attempts to raise awareness by ex-fans and customers who have been burned by the studio.

January 14th

In two tweets on her personal account, the CEO decried the capitalisation and dehumanisation of BTS through merchandise and idolatry and condemned fans for buying products that contributed to this. This was certainly an ironic tweet to make for someone who:

dehumanised BTS by turning them into characters for her game without their consent;

promoted the game using BTS's faces, name and existing fanbase, and strongly encouraged fans to pay for crowdfunding, TTEOTS merch and, later, the monetised Premium version;

enticed fans to buy Premium by promising Premium-exclusive content such as eventual romantic content with said characters, further dehumanising the members of BTS without their consent.

Several people responded pointing out the hypocrisy of making such tweets after capitalising on the faces of BTS, but the CEO did not respond; instead one fan chimed in to defend the studio.

January 18th

The CEO posted a new blog on ADS's official website announcing a hiatus for financial reasons. It is no longer accessible for reasons I'll explain, but there is a cached version viewable here. The hiatus will last until at least March and means writing and programming will continue but almost everything else is paused and their social media presence will be reduced. Elaborating, she explained that they had "been on hiatus in some ways since September [2018]", having slowed work due to budgetary constraints.

The post also included a vague paragraph about a personal financial settlement she was owed from a person referred to as "He-Shall-Not-Be-Named" which she had planned to invest into ADS, but allegedly he had dragged out the proceedings and this, combined with the "untimely" cease and desist from BigHit Entertainment and decreased sales, led to financial difficulties. During the hiatus, which will last until March or later, the CEO wrote that she would work on novels and commissions in order to help the company.

Ex-fans linked the hiatus post in the Steam forums and in a post on /r/otomegames. Criticism was directed at numerous parts of the statement, including:

"We promised you guys a lot of things, and we’re going to deliver, come hell or high water. It might not be in the time frame I had planned, but it will be done. I am definitely known as a person of my word." (emphasis added)

A claim critics would happily dispute, and:

"Anyway, as a result I decided the best thing for us was to be honest, now that I knew more, and let the fans know exactly what was happening as soon as possible and take an “official” hiatus." (emphasis added)

This latter statement attracted particular criticism considering the studio had already been winding down development activity since September but had failed to inform fans and eventually went radio silent for roughly 2 months, leaving TTEOTS fans confused and worried about the status of the game. Further, this hiatus post was not announced anywhere on ADS's social media, leaving those who had noticed it wondering exactly how this constituted keeping fans in the loop.

January 25th

On the 25th, the CEO made several tweets, one of which began with:

"Lately, relationships have ended in my life. I'm grateful for the lessons I learned. Courage, generosity, empathy, honesty, openness are all traits required for a healthy relationship."

Perhaps coincidentally, that same day the other remaining founding member of the studio announced her departure for mental health reasons. As she is no longer an employee I will not link directly out of respect but here is a screenshot of the main tweet. This left ADS with two remaining employees - the CEO (the only remaining founder) and a writer who had formally joined the studio in February 2018 and who is allegedly now living with the CEO. This departure means there are now four former employees listed on the official ADS website. The third founder was the longest serving former employee at 2 years.

Shortly afterwards, the official ADS Twitter tweeted out a new hiatus statement on their official website, the previous one having vanished. The new post was shorter than the first - down to 426 words from the original 1,089 - and now included the departure of their founding member as a reason for the hiatus.

The tweet attracted a mix of supportive and critical replies, with former fans and backers wading in to demand answers about the two versions of the hiatus post and to back up frustrated TTEOTS fans. Unusually, the CEO appeared in the replies to respond to some of these criticisms, tweeting that:

anything perceived to be "shady" by critics was merely due to their founding member struggling with her mental health behind the scenes;

the second hiatus blog was the "same exact blog" as the original except for the addition of the founding member leaving (in fact the original was twice as long);

the only reason they didn't share the original hiatus post on Twitter was because the member responsible for sharing it had quit.

January 27th

The CEO posted two blogs on the ADS website: a post detailing her plans for restructuring and fulfilling their obligations, including hiring more freelance staff after the hiatus, and another detailing the struggles of ADS from their founding, written in response to a critic who had apparently claimed not to believe in the recently departed founding member's mental health issues. (I am unsure what comment(s) the CEO was referring to specifically as the reference is vague.)

As you've probably guessed, ex-fans picked this latter post apart too.

"I haven’t seen all the bad things out there about us. I don’t read them, because I know that some of it is made up,and would only distract me from my job. I know the truth, and I have always been honest, even if there were things I couldn’t say. I have no motive to lie, and I know these people don’t know or understand me." (emphasis added)

Critics wondered how the CEO could know if criticisms are made up if she doesn't read them.

"I thought of the possibility of course, of hanging it up, working on providing refunds to people (what, you REALLY thought we were so dishonorable as not to do that?)..." (emphasis added)

Of course, as mentioned in my last post, numerous customers had reported difficulty obtaining refunds (despite a threat from the devs that backers who were toxic would be forcibly refunded).

On their official Twitter account, they also announced plans to move away from social media and focus on communicating through the "healthy space" of their Discord channels. Ex-fans speculated this was a way to more tightly moderate speech and shut out critics. One began lurking in the official Discords, reporting on what the studio's remaining employees were saying and alleging that critics' arguments were being misrepresented by ADS devs to their fans in the Discord enquiring about the controversy.

This user also heavily hinted at having testimony from an inside source that supposedly included emotional abuse allegations against the CEO, but was holding off on saying anything due to concerns about preserving the source's anonymity.

28th January

Despite failing to give a release date elsewhere, the developers posted a backer-exclusive Kickstarter update which as a non-backer I cannot read, but according to a poster in the Steam forum it gives the release date for Echoes as March 2019, despite the hiatus.

The CEO also tweeted refuting past criticism that she was throwing employees under the bus in her updates, and closed by stating she would not be tweeting about negativity or rumours anymore.

29th January

A Twitter user who is the MDSOA Deluxe Edition Kickstarter's highest backer (to the tune of $2000+ USD, proof posted on their Twitter account) posted a series of tweets strongly condemning the studio. She claimed one employee from the studio had blocked her (something at least one other backer has also reported) and that she had been refused a refund.

In fact, when she had emailed the studio in November 2018 asking for refunds for physical Kickstarter rewards which did not yet exist almost 2 years after the Kickstarter in question - and indeed still do not exist - ADS responded that crowdfunded pledges are "donations" and "ordinarily considered non-refundable", with the promised rewards being "just a perk". (This screenshot of the reply is embedded in one of the tweets.) However, they generously stated they would "consider it" when they start sending out merchandise.

In fact, according to Section 4 of Kickstarter's Terms of Use, this is very much not true: "project creators must complete the project and fulfil each reward." Backers are owed regular updates, and if the project fails, creators must go to lengths to show why they failed, prove they used funds appropriately, and either refund backers with any remaining funds or use this money to complete the promised project in another form. The only way to terminate these obligations to a backer is to issue a refund, ending the contract between them.

And, in any case, the developers had promised refunds in December 2017 for those who wanted them and had set up a page for refund sign-ups which they posted about in January. As such, it's clear their email response was not consistent with their past statements, especially as some people were previously able to get refunds. What changed?

Again:

"I thought of the possibility of course, of hanging it up, working on providing refunds to people (what, you REALLY thought we were so dishonorable as not to do that?)..."

31st January

Meanwhile, ADS were posting teasers of new character designs for TTEOTS, including one of the redesigns that had been made necessary by the cease and desist in August 2018. As the main male characters had originally been based on BTS they had all appeared Korean, but the redesigns had changed the races of some characters to reflect a more racially diverse future.

On the 31st they posted a passive aggressive tweet with a meme gif alluding to comments they had apparently received in the past, encouraging people to unfollow if they were likely to be upset by future character designs, all of which are "various shades of brown", with one also being agender. Again a mix of supportive and critical replies followed; even some of the studio's supporters criticised the tone as condescending and unprofessional. Several responders appeared wary of being branded as racist for criticising Five's redesign for not fitting his established character. One or two even expressed views that the devs were intentionally avoiding adding white characters out of spite or pettiness. Matters were not helped by ADS making a couple of replies of a similar hostile tone.

1st February

At last, the "inside source" that had been hinted at came forward: the former Lead Artist and Art Director at ADS, Monzana21.

Monz alleged in a Twitter statement that she had been a victim of emotional abuse at the hands of ADS's current management, ended up in the hospital with extreme exhaustion, and when she left the company received only one and a half months' payment for 7 months of work. She appealed to people to question what is happening at ADS and why they have lost so many employees, but declined to give further information publicly in order to protect herself and her friends and coworkers. In other more recent tweets she added that people in the art community are also aware of abuse and mistreatment within ADS and the scamming of fans.

Replies were overwhelmingly supportive, with a couple of other Twitter users who had interacted with ADS chiming in to say that their experiences with ADS were also negative and they did not doubt the veracity of the allegations.

Since then, any tweets on the ADS Twitter have numerous responses asking about the abuse allegations and trying to spread awareness, but the studio still has plenty of eager responses from fans as well.

On her personal account, the CEO tweeted to thank those who believe in her for their supportive messages and retweeted this on the ADS Twitter, but there has otherwise been no official statement on the matter outside of Discord. There, the CEO has outright disputed the allegations (compilation), as has ADS's other writer (compilation), and members of the Discord (some of whom address the CEO as "mom") have mostly taken them at their word, while people who were already critical or doubtful of the studio appear more inclined to believe the former Lead Artist.

The #TTEOTS, #MDSOA and #MDE Twitter tags are awash with criticism towards the studio from numerous different users, and new tweets from the CEO and the official ADS Twitter are quickly met by former fans and backers banging war drums. The fallout from the abuse allegations has yet to settle and presumably more drama is to come.

Tl;dr

Throughout January, angry ex-fans have increased efforts to raise awareness and turned ADS-related accounts and tags into a battleground on Twitter

Conspiracy theories abounded as a post about a hiatus for financial reasons was never shared, then vanished and reappeared significantly edited down a week later

A founding member of the company departed for mental health reasons

A $2k+ backer alleges she was refused a refund for items she had not received and was informed her Kickstarter pledge was a "donation" and "ordinarily non-refundable"

ADS stirred up further controversy with more passive aggressive tweets

A former employee came forward with allegations of emotional abuse and being underpaid for 7 months of work, which the remaining ADS members have refuted

[mediummagazine-blog]

‘Bullet Train’: Derek Mcnally Discusses A Reunited NoEXIT And Infectious New Single

Although NoEXIT hadn’t released anything collectively since 2002’s Into Your Head, the members of the multi-platinum English-pop group known for hits like “Back Here,” “Still On Your Side,” and “Out Of My Heart,” have remained friends and occasionally found themselves meeting up at various social events.

It was during one of these soirees that an impromptu jam session occurred. A resulting video clip of the performance was posted on social media and instantly went viral, sparking talks of a full-on reunion.

Now, after a fifteen-year hiatus, the reunited members of NoEXIT — Mark Jeremy Barry, Derek Mcnally and Stephen Adel Burns, are back with an infectious new single, “Bullet Train.” Releasing on Friday, May 3, the track is a small taste of what to expect from the group’s highly-anticipated new album due later this summer.

“Bullet Train” is the logical next step in the band’s evolution. A groove-ridden locomotive of musical maturity, guitar-driven hooks and, of course, the ubiquitous NoEXIT signature three-part harmony.

To coincide with the release of the new single, NoEXIT will embark on the first leg of the group’s North American “Back Here Tour” which begins May 6 in Boston, MA. Other dates include stops in cities like New York, Detroit, Nashville, Dallas and Chicago.

I recently spoke with NoEXIT’s Derek Mcnally about the reunion, “Bullet Train” and more in this exclusive new interview.

How did the NoEXIT reunion come about?

Even though we hadn’t done a show or anything together since 2003 we’ve stayed in touch and remained friends and gotten together at various events. We had an event a few years ago where we got out the guitars and had a jam. I posted a video of us singing “Back Here” on Ello and it went crazy. It had about two million views. We really enjoyed singing together again and it morphed into where we’re at now — our first new album in fifteen years and about to hit the road and go back on tour. It naturally felt like the right time to do it.

What was it like getting back in the recording studio again as NoEXIT?

It was like riding a bike. You never forget. We hadn’t written in the same room for many years so we just got the guitars out and had a jam. I remember the first day we came out with four really strong ideas. Two of which are on the new album.

Let’s discuss the new single, “Bullet Train.”

That was one of the ones we wrote on the first day we got together. We liked the feel and drive of it. It’s the glue and transition from the last album to where we are now. We’re excited to get it out there.

What’s your songwriting process like?

Everyone has a different approach and there’s no right or wrong way. For me, most of the time it starts with a melody. Sometimes I’ll have a little hook or will pick up the guitar and just start playing over a few chords. I rarely start with lyrics. It’s mostly melody-driven.

How do you determine who sings which part?

Arm wrestling [laughs]. The reason it works so well is because we have three completely different tones. Mark’s is a deeper tone; mine is in the middle and Steve can get really high up. We play to our strengths, so whatever fits.

What else can fans expect from the new album?

The main thing for NoEXIT is our sound. It’s very much guitar led but the main glue is the three-part harmony where we all take lead. Our tastes have changed over the years and in some ways we’re able to feature more electronic elements and sounds. On the whole the old NoEXIT fans from back in the day will not be disappointed and we’re looking forward to picking up some new ones along the way as well.

What can you tell me about the upcoming NoEXIT tour?

We’ve got twelve dates coming up and cannot wait to get back out on the road. We did three shows last November as a warm up and to dust the cobwebs off. We’re ready now and couldn’t be more excited.

Can you tell me the origin of the song “Back Here” and more importantly, did you know at the time how special it was going to be?

We were writing a lot of songs at the time and had no idea how big it was going to become. We wrote it with Phil Thornalley who’s amazing songwriter and good friend of ours who produced The Cure and wrote the song, “Torn” (Natalie Imbruglia). I remember we wrote that song in literally about three hours. It was one of those ones that just flowed out. We knew it was a great song but it wasn’t until Oliver Leiber and John Shanks got ahold of it in the studio to produce it up that it became a big radio track.

Of all the highlights of your career is there one thing that stands out to you as most memorable?

There’s been so many great memories throughout our career. It’s hard to choose. One big moment was back in 2001 when “Back Here” went crazy on the radio. I still remember going to a performance at a mall in Los Angeles and it was absolutely incredible. People were literally spilling out of the mall in layers. That’s when we knew something big was happening. It was a pinch me moment.

What excites you the most about this next phase of NoEXIT’s career?

One big thing that’s changed from the last time we were out is the way the music industry is run. There’s such a direct link to the fans now and I love that we can interact with them through social media. It’s a very exciting time for music. This is our first album in a long time and we’re looking forward to putting out music and making people smile.

NoEXIT Tour Dates:

May 6th — Boston, MA: City Winery May 7th — Boston, MA: City Winery May 8th — New York, NY: Gramercy Theatre May 9th — Wilmington, DE: The Queen May 11th — Vienna, VA: Jammin’ Java May 12th — Cleveland, OH: Cambridge Room @ HOB May 14th — Detroit, MI: Shelter May 15th — Chicago, IL: Back Porch w. VIP May 17th — Nashville, TN: City Winery May 18th — Atlanta, GA: The Loft May 20th — Dallas, TX: Cambridge Room May 21st — Austin, TX: Stubb’s Indoor May 22nd — Houston, TX: Bronze Peacock

[hetaliaindie]

Going down memory lane

Just a little photo post.

June 9th 2017

I come back after more than a year, ready to try this out again.

I love how I'm always straight with ya guys in the tags yeesh.

July 4th 2017

The start of my first proper event, the Gandharva Event! (Though I've revised his design greatly ever since- there's no trace of Shiv in this anymore!!)

July 24th 2017

My first interaction with @grandparomeaskblog !!! When will I stop drawing your son in compromising situations-

August 28 2018

The very very first glimpse of Mr. G!

Also August 28

The day I started lowkey introducing the world to Shiv's 2500 year old crush.

September 1 2017

Young Shiv art!

September 9 2017

The most cursed artwork in this entire blog, thanks to aforementioned Grandpa Rome and Mr. Camel ( @de-beste-persian-empire) 

September 16 2017

I think, this is the first sridevi we got on this blog. No introduction, nothing.

Same day and we have Sridevi being as demanding of sweets as she always is, and our lovely Aarya! @ask-ladylotus​. The world deserves more india wamen.

September 21 2017

One of my favourite answers to date: Jugaad

September 24 2017

Gosh I don't like the art here at all, but here's the start of the lotus/god angst.

Same Day

The cutest darn Shiv ever. I hope I've kept this side of him alive.

Same Day

I think this is interesting because it seems that I was really fond of a more metaphorical approach to some questions and I'm still like that today: Jealousy

Same Day: Start of the God (dream) Event

September 30 2017

Yeah that's really what they looked like then.

October 5 2017

This may have happened nearly 2000 years ago but I do keep referencing it so here, boys and their issues.

October 24 2017

Same story, more details

October 26 2017

This is truly one of the most beautiful works I've made, and this is when I start getting very fond of this kind of storylike narrative, bright colours and literal metaphors.

November 3 2017

Jerks.

November 5 2017

Mr and Mrs. did have their casual pretend intimacy. Now she's alone but Mr. Gold has Zar. I hope we see her grow now that her fake love partner's dead and reborn.

December 19 2017

This is about when I fell in love with both of them tbh. Btw the baby was carefully delivered to an orphanage and quickly adopted by one of Mr. G's workers.

December 28 2017

The start of a legend. The Highschool AU. Would you believe me if I told you that Gypty and I still work on it casually or see various futures spawned from it? 

January 15 2018 (Welcome to 2018 my good folks, we made it)

This isn't important content but artwise, It's when I really started pushing for dynamic stylistic choices for my art.

January 16 2018

You really really see it here, and also I start indulging more in patterns to brighten up the simplicity of everyday life. I'd also say this is where the general body differences are most exaggerated between them all (even with sridevi as a child).

January 22 2018

A comment on Arthur Kirkland.

January 23 2018

A memory of the Sack of Delhi. It may strain your eyes (unfortunately I can't say that was on purpose), but it's a tribute to a nation who's heart has been stamped on by circumstances that no one can predict, yet its spark still lights. From an art standpoint, I was very proud of the expression I felt I conveyed well in this panel.

January 28 2018

Listen the amount of research I put into giving you a culturally intriguing gag response- 

February 2 2019

Mrs. Gold, I definitely improved a lot with colour usage here.

February 1 2018

This is where I have truly tried too hard on colours but I'm really warming up to it. (Oh nu is my icon that old- i'll get a new one soon I promise)

Please just take a moment, if you're someone who is an artist and is on a journey, to compare this piece with some of the earlier ones in this post. This improvement wasn't completely random. It started with looking for stylistic changes in the way I drew- in my case, really exaggerating the flowiness of my strokes and sharp points (messing around with a grittier brush, helped me a lot too, if you're someone who sticks with soft brushes or mechanical pencils, I couldn't recommend trying to use a textured brush or irl charcoal to get a grasp on the type of mood you want to evoke). At some stage it became a love story with color too, but colour takes time and lots of adjustment, which is why you won't see much of it in my blog.

March 5 2018

This is where I really start pushing the exaggeration on Mr. G, but only to get a feel for him. He evolved from a chunky nosed, physically imposing figure with a laughable quantity of gold, to something more desperate and dependant on money, something lean and mean with a nose that could poke an eye out. And here, most prominent is the shape of his lips, which had grown more prominent than before and very good for emphasizing his frown (and hell to work with when trying for his dimpled smile).

March 11 2018

I drew this for an rp starter since words couldn't describe what was in my head. I think it's a fine example of my adoration for patterns- but not just patterns, the idea of luxury beyond compare. It's prominent in my blog but only because I have the brain of a magpie and am constantly like ‘ooo shiny’. But really, I drew what I liked, so I improved. Find something you like drawing if you haven't yet. It can be skulls, it can be leaves, feathers, find your motifs and everything will honestly follow along.

May 17 2018

Post exam-hiatus, I am back with the gang, my art style is a bit rusty but boy have I got intimately involved with colours.

May 22 2018

I can't get colours out of my head, I'm thinking about them day and night, I need to create, I need to and so I do. (In all honesty I am certain that something greatly inspired me to do this but I cannot recall what).

June 12 2018

The Kill Cindy 2k18 movement is born. I can finally show you the Mr. G I have been hiding from you all.

July 1 2018

Something I can point out now is that while I think my colours work (honestly i was making use of patterns to distract you all at this stage- before I returned from my hiatus, I'd been rejected in an interview for an animation course and the key point my interviewer made was that my sense of colour was jarring, so I really was sensitive over it but seeking out improvement), what I would change is that adding a clear light source and allowing an atmosphere (by adjusting the main figures’ hues slightly to match the background) to emerge in my art would make it a lot better. And I start to grasp at this knowledge.

August 19 2018

The start of the bodyswap event, I swear I'll get back to it. I just want to use it as a stepping stone to get some meaningful character development out of it, thus it's ongoing.

See here, this is where I just stop caring about skin and character colour as something that should more or less be constant. Now it's vibrant and blinding for no other reason than I want to make you feel (granted, I did that too much here and it makes things hard to understand much less appreciate).

September 8 2018

Here I'm really just feeling the colours, Shiv's home is easy- everything is luxurious but at once welcoming (or at the very least, pampering), Sridevi's home on the other hand was shown to be neater and almost less personal, there isn't much immersion allowed in her place but in Shiv's..oh man.

November 2018

As you can see, activity has been dwindling what with rigorous college days and having moved to a new city. It should pick up eventually, but let me close this off with some new art.

Do I have something to say about this piece? Yes, I do! The point of view is Shiv's, thus the warm colours and the way he blends into the background. The main figure here is not himself or his 2nd player, but the vibrant peacocks, that exist in a shade of blue too vibrant to be real. In between the two sentient figures, is our young Mr. Gold, clearly he has the favour of these birds but he doesn't seem very affected by them- unlike the jealous Shiv. He's the dullest colour present and he wears the blandest clothing, the matters of peacocks (be they blue or orange) do not apply to him and he is at once alienated. 

Today, November 14th 2018

So after everything, here we are. Is this what all my art was moving towards? No it isn't, it's really just me playing around with photoshop brushes, but the mood of this image is something I feel that I've conveyed with integrity. That's what I want to keep striving for. Thank you all for staying with this blog as long as you have, thank you to all my newer followers, I've linked most of these points to their original posts, I hope that Tumblr does not break them. Love you all!

[ariadnasakura]

November 14th, 2022 Problem Solving GDES with Ryan Shriver

Sprint recap

This sprint recap the team focused on the construction on the box. We received more responses from the poster left at the bus stops however 10 of those posters were removed shortly after we have posted them. We went to lowes and art plaza to collect supplies to start construction. We decided on a main color , chartreuse , for the box and sanded , primed , and later spray painted the box. The team then attended the Problem Solving field trip at Shriver's office. I wasn't able to attend due to still being ill , unfortunately. However, my team relayed the feedback we got to me so it helped me suggest changes to the box and discuss additional ideas needed. I was also informed about another connection we could communicate with to help with our box development. Overall this sprint has heavily been collaborative, with not one person solely working on a specific task. This "all hands on deck" attitude helped us discuss the specifics of the project better as well as effeicentaly come to design conclusions. Everyone has been very responsive during discussions and bringing good ideas for how we should finalize the box.

Next sprint plan

Our next steps is to finish the box by next week so we are able to document the usage of the box to present on our last sprint presentation. This week we are planning to finish construction on the box and to send out the final designs for the type to be printed with the vinyl sticker maker at the go lab. We are also going to attend a 3D printer orientation to help us manufacture dispensers to house our supplies in the box. I might also distribute more poster but I'm worried they will be taken down, again. We also might discuss the idea of creating a zine to use as a way for riders to learn more about why we decided to create the box and additional information about the future of GRTC.

Reflection

Unfortunately, following our last sprint I fell ill with ether a bad cold or the flu so I wasn't able to make progress on the project for over a week. Not having the box finished has caused me some stress as we near out last sprint. Originally, I wanted the box to be finished 2 weeks ago but time complications with the rest of the team prevented us from working on the box. Due to the amount of work needed , it was hard to have individual progress on the box. We continued discussion through our group chat about matters such as the development on the box. We even scheduled a time to attend a 3D printer orientation but the instructor was not there to teach the workshop so we weren't able to get our certification. Physically building something is very demanding and hard to coordinate between 3 other people. I've realized. I honestly just want to put something out already so the community can use it and hopefully have it improve their experience at the bus stop. I'm not losing my steam yet and I'll get pushing forward until we satisfy the project.

[acaddicts]

Meet your Admins!

**Not all admins are pictured above**

>Click their title/name to see their posts on our page<

Head Admin: @sunflowercrosser 

Name: Amy-Louise

Nickname: Ames, Amylou, "Queen"

Age: 20 Birthday: 24th November Timezone: BST (GMT in Winter) • Best Available: after 5pm Fave Villager/NPC: Rosie|Phylis Fave AC Game: New Leaf About Me: I am a full time carer at the moment. Originally a secretary. I have a puppy called Sox. I am a devoted auntie, and love spending time with my family. Originally from Northern Ireland. Suffer with several chronic illnesses.

Co-Head Admin:

🌿 Name: Eliana 💕 ✨ Nickname: Eli, El 🌿 Age: 18 😱 ✨ Birthday: July 2nd 🌿 Timezone: EST (I think EDT in winter??) ✨ Best Availability: I’m active 90% of the time if I’m not in school or at work 🌿 Fave Villager/NPC: L O B O npc is Sable ✨ Fave AC Game: Honestly New Leaf it’s really great 🌿 A little about you: I am a mother to a chinchilla, I like to play guitar, I’m a huge sims fan, did I mention my chinchilla? And I love everyone here so much💕

Head Artist:

• Name : Cynthia • Nickname : Anakya • Age : 23 • Birthday : February 5 • Timezone : Est • Best Availability : Night • Fave Villager/NPC : Spork • Fave AC Game : New Leaf • A little about you : Im Canadian french. Im a big fan of plushies I think I have an obsession with plushes. Im a big gamer, if I have some free times im probably drawing or playing pc or ps4.

Head Security: @wickedwitchofacnl

• Name: Michelle • Nickname: Mish, mama Mish • Age: 24 • Birthday: October 1st • Timezone: EST • Best Availability: Pretty much at any time, except between midnight and 7 AM • Fave Villager/NPC: Skye • Fave AC Game: ACNL • A little about you: I am a mom of 2.5, I like to be outside and write. I hope one day to become an L&D nurse, or maybe an OBGYN. I love to read and my favorite animal is a penguin.

Co Head Security:

- Jessica - Jess - 19 - 24/09/98 - probably best available in the evening time or late afternoon or weekend mornings (or day cause I'm allowed on my phone at work ) - UK time zone (can never remember proper name lmao) - Benjamin has been my fave for about 5 months but it always changes 😂 - new leaf probably I've spent the most time on it - uh I'm pretty sure you all know me by now, but I have a cat called Murphy who is my fave boi, my created gecko called morph and two fish called tipp and ponyo.. and broccoli is my fave vegetable could eat it all the time 🍒

Head Hacker:

- Candyce - Candy - 17 - January 16, 2001 - Central (USA) - It differs, but usually at night - I love Pudge :) - City Folk - I love cats, plan on becoming a graphic designer, work at a bubble tea shop, and I have celiac, body dysphoria, and lots of anxiety disorders. I've fully recovered from depression and mostly from my eating disorder (it turned into the dysphoria). I'm in a long distance relationship of 4 years and I like to play Wizard101    

Co-Head Hacker: @ladykayacnl

• Name - Kayla • Nickname - Kay, Kaylala, Layla, Kayduhx • Age - 27 • Birthday - September 11 • Timezone - Central • Best Availability - All day • Fave Villager/NPC - Cookie! <3 • Fave AC Game - New Leaf :) • A little about you -I've been married for 8 years and I have 5 kids! I'm an Air Force Veteran :). I love tattoos, music, anime, reading, coffee, and helping people! I suffer from resting bitch face, PTSD, and anxiety. I'm generally really nice until someone messes with my family (both IRL and my Addicts family <3).

Head Services Admin: @chibi-bat

Name: Keisha

Nickname:Red 🦇 Age: 24 ��� Birthday: July 20th 🦇 Timezone: PST 💜 Best Availability: Anytime 🦇 Favorite Villager: Gayle & Lucky 💜 Favorite AC Game: New Leaf 🦇 A Little About Me: I am a natural redhead, a mother of 2 boys and have been with my soul mate for 7 years. (We are officially getting married October 27, 2018) We also have a Jack Russell called Kaia. I love video games, am currently obsessed with Paladins & Overwatch. My dream is to become a published author! I am obsessed with bats, foxes, and all things spooky. My favorite time of the year is fall and I love when it rains. 🎃

Head Landscaper:

🌸 Name • Laird Deanna 🌸 Nickname • Marshmallow Melli (Long story) 🌸 Age • 27 🌸 Birthday • 3rd April 1991 🌸 Timezone • GMT 🌸 Best Availability • Evenings and late nights. 🌸 Fave Villager/NPC • Stitches and Sable 🌸 Fave AC Game • New Leaf by far 🌸 A little about you • I come from one of the largest clans in Scotland and proud of it. I also followed in my families footsteps and am a trained seamstress. I make a lot of clothes for myself, headbands, turn up trousers so they don't drag on the floor cuz I'm a short ass, even made a couple of quilts in my time (currently planning another one)

Co-Head Landscaper:

• Name - Stephanie • Nickname - Don’t really have one but I dislike being called Steph! • Age - 27 • Birthday - January 14th • Timezone - CST • Best Availability - Evenings/Nights/Weekends • Fave Villager/NPC - Ankha & Labelle • Fave AC Game - New Leaf 🍃 • A little about you - I’m a pharmacy technician, licensed esthetician and video game addict. I loooooove cats and baking is my favorite hobby besides ACNL 😍😝

Mods

Alanys. 🌌Nickname: Ally or Marie. 💜 🌠Age: 16. 🌌Birthday: October 18th. 🎃 🌠Timezone: AST. 🌌Availability: 3:30 pm to 10:30pm on weekdays, 12:00pm to around 3:00am on weekends. 🌠Fave villagers/npc: Marshal, Merengue, Étoile (even though I'll never get her card 😥😭) and Resetti. 🌌Fave ac game: New leaf. 🍃 🌠A little about me: I'm from Puerto Rico, I speak spanish and love to teach people about it if they ask, I'm going to uni next year and I absolutely want to be a psychologist. I love to help people and hear a thank you, and for some reason I like to hold doors open for everyone. 😂 I love to read about anything Greek mythology, and sometimes I create my own characters based on it. 🏛 My fav games are Resident Evil 4, Metal Gear Solid, God Of War, Danganronpa and two games on my phone called Mystic Messenger and DBZ Dokkan Battle. My fav food is pasta! 🍝 I hate coffee, but I love hot chocolate, and I have a thing for strawberries, strawberry frappes/smoothies and strawberry popsicles. 🍓 I love spending time with my bf and my mom, mostly when I acompany her to go shopping or help her cook! I like watching cooking videos even though I can burn water. 😂 Other than my main hobbies, I like to read/write fanfics, look at memes, listen to music, dance, and play with babies and animals. 💕 Used to want to be a part time babysitter too haha! 💜 And I also love anything related to the galaxy. 🌌💕

Andrea Nickname🌻 •Andi Age🌼 •19 Birthday💫 •30.12.98 Time zone✨ •UTC + 2 Best availability⚡️ •Depends, but normally 12 pm - 8 pm Fave villager/NPC🌷 •Bob is by far my favourite villager! He is my baby. My favourite NPC would be Isabelle, she’s so sweet. Fave AC game🌟 •New Leaf A little about me😸 I love cats. Almost everything I own is cat related. I currently work in a kindergarten (whenever someone is sick I come in), but my dream is to become a dementia nurse. I’m engaged and we live together in a small apartment in Northern Norway. I struggle with my mental health, but I try my best to beat it and do my best to help out in our lovely group. When I don’t play AC or do admin stuff I play other games (Skyrim, Pokèmon) or watch Netflix😎

Ashleigh

🌺 Nickname: Ash 💖Age: 23 🌺Birthday: 19/12 💖Timezone: ACDT 🌺Best Availability: Anytime 💖Fave Villager/NPC: Bluebear 🌺Fave AC Game: New Leaf 💖A little about you: Other than ACNL, I love playing Sims 4 and Pokemon. My favourite Pokemon happens to be lucario.

Ava

🌈Nickname: Vee 🌺Age: 15 (Mentally 5) 🌈Birthday: January 1, 2003 🌺Timezone: CDT (CST during winter) 🌈Best Availability: I’m available about 70% of the time when I’m not in school 🌺Fave Villager/NPC: Favorite villager is Bob (we share the same birthday!) and my favorite NPC is Isabelle 🌈Fave AC Game: New Leaf 🌺A little about me: Starting in September, I will be a sophomore in high school. I suffer from depression and anxiety. I’m in a very unhealthy relationship with my boyfriend but I’m staying in it anyway because I find it too hard to break up with him. My parents are divorced, so I live with my mom until I am old enough to legally move out, but that doesn’t bother me since I get to live with my three year old sister (I swear she’s the most adorable thing ever) and I’m looking forward to having a baby brother sometime near September! I love video games (but nothing can beat Animal Crossing, in my opinion). I also love hanging with friends, reading, and coffee! And of course, the Addicts family❤️

Berkeley

• Nickname: Borkeley, Jo • Age: 23 • Birthday:June 28th, I'm a cancer! • Timezone: EST • Best Availability: Anytime really. • Fave Villager/NPC: Lily + Sable • Fave AC Game: New Leaf or Population Growing • A little about you: I'm a married cat mom, I'm a twitch streamer + i love Gavin Free. Thats about it!

Christina

• Nickname - Chriss or Vicko • Age - 21 • Birthday - July 24th • Timezone - UTC - 6 CST • Best Availability - Mornings and at night • Fave Villager/NPC - For NPC's, Kapp'n and the Porter, for villagers uff I have lots but specially, Molly and Muffy 　. • Fave AC Game - New leaf • A little about you - I love potatoes, anime and manga :3 , also I'm a student from college, I love doing pics editions, draws and such, so if you guys ever need help with thigns related to this, you now know who to call ;) I also can give spanish classes 😝

Emma • Nickname: I don’t really have one but if you call me Em I’m fine with that! • Age: 24 • Birthday: 16th of December • Timezone: PST • Best Availability: Evenings, nights, and weekends • Fave Villager/NPC: Tex and Lottie! • Fave AC Game: New Leaf 😍 • A little about you: I’m a substitute teacher and I’m in the process of going back to school to get my teaching degree! I hope to be an English teacher at either a middle school or a high school. I love reading and writing and I’m really passionate about sleeping 😂

Hanna Nickname: none Age: 22 Birthday: 4th August 1996 Timezone: GMT (Germany) Best Availability: most of the time, but the highest chance is in the evening Fave villager/NPC: Colton, Lobo Fave Ac Game: New Leaf A little about you: My AC passion started with ACWW and I also love Pokémon (Eevee is my fav) and other RPGs like Skyrim and Fallout. I also love my pets (I have a lot^^), reading books and draw some stuff. I’m a student and study the science of language and and literature (but mostly german literature).

 Hannah 👑 Nickname: Han 👑 Age: 24 👑 Birthday: Feb 7th 👑 Timezone: GMT/BST 👑 Best Availability: Evenings and Weekends 👑 Fave Villager/NPC: Chrissy & Cookie, Celeste 👑 Fave AC Game: New Leaf 👑 A little about you: My favourite Pokemon has always been and will always be Vulpix, so when Alolan Vulpix was revealed I lost my shit. I have anime, I write fanfiction, I write stories and edit for a living, I play a lot of other games like League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Persona, Bloodborne - you name it I've probably played it, I love sunflowers and roses, Sailor Moon is my life and aesthetic forever, and finally, I have three cats <3

Jennifer  • Nickname: Jen or Jenny • Age: 21 • Birthday: February 9th • Timezone: UK, GMT • Best Availability: Late night • Fave Villager/NPC : Whitney and Skye • Fave AC Game : New leaf • A little about you I work in retail maybe 2 days a week, I love animals, Disney, games, drawing, reading and writing. Im self teaching guitar and writing songs as a hobby. Tryng to be a vegetarian which is going well, haven't ate meat in a week, yay. The tv shows I like vary in type, I like: The walking daed, Once upon a time and A series of unfortunate events. Movies I like are mostly Disney , the lion king most of all. I also love animals , especially my dog Amber. I do hope to run my own business to rehalibitate pets and wild animals to find homes and re release the healed ones back into the wild. I also appreciate kind and loyal people 💜

Mollie 💖 Nickname: MolflakeMagic (my main gamer tag & online name) 💚 Age: 19 💖 Birthday: December 1st 💚 Timezone: GMT / BST (UK) 💖 Best Availability: Currently Afternoons through to Night unless I'm with family or my boyfriend :3 💚 Fave Villager / NPC: Goldie!! 😍😊 💖 Fave AC Game: Animal Crossing City Folk 😍😊 💚 A little about me: I'm generally very goofy and always looking to make people laugh and smile. I'm currently preparing to move to Nottingham to study at University in September, so essentially preparing to be an official adulty adult xD I play lots of League in my spare time but also love to design on New Leaf, and I'm currently working on completing all the collections for the museum. I also love to dance and I'm also currently starting to learn Japanese :3 When not with my goofball boyfriend or at home, you can usually find me at my grandparents with my doggy Poppy 😍😊

Panyia 🎀 Nickname: Pan/Panini/Pancakes 🎀 Age: 20 🎀 Birthday: Feb. 16th 🎀 Timezone: PST (soon to be HST) 🎀 Best Availability: Depends, usually 12pm - 10 pm 🎀 Fave Villager/NPC: Coco/Celeste 🎀 Fave AC Game: New Leaf 🎀 A little about you: I’m soon-to-be engaged, going to be moving in with my partner very soon. Im usually playing any Harvest Moon game series when I’m not playing AC and helping out with the group. I’ve played other games but it’s too many to name lol. I love watching anime too! They all help me with my mental health and depression, which I try not to let them get to me when I’m helping out with our group ❤️

Ruth 🌸Age: 21 🌸Birthday: 25th December 🌸Timezone: BST/GMT 🌸Best Availability: Usually evenings or any day that I’m off work 🌸Fave villager/NPC: Apple and my fave npc is Kicks ❤️ 🌸Fave AC Game: New Leaf 🌸 A Little about me: I have lived in the south west part of the uk all of my life with my parents and older brother. I love cats so much, I used to have a black cat called Twinkle but he was very ill and passed away from a heart murmur at only 7 years old. I now have a calico called Poppy who I love very much ❤️ I have suffered from anxiety and depression, with the occasional severe migraine (to the point I passed out) since 2013 (but thank goodness I’m nowhere near as bad now) I also love an incredible KPop band called BTS (you may have heard me talk about them already 😛) and playing games like Animal Crossing and Zelda ❤️ Sorry I’m rambling now 😂😂 

[dansnaturepictures]

Introduction to my wildlife and photography highlights blogs of 2021

I am back for my highlights posts this December (beginning just inside November this year actually) and to those who don’t know every year since 2013 at the end of year I post a series of blogs I put together from a certain point of the year onwards which I first ever did on the premise of it was some of the highlights so best things in my wildlife/photography hobby I did/happened to me in a year. But it evolved into a number of posts that explore key themes of my wildlife/photography year which I write about at length saying the best bits, key points, explaining why it was so good this year etc. so it takes on the term highlights of being a bit of compilation of what has happened over my year a bit like a football TV highlights package at times. The highlights blogs are all different, some relate to a specific key period of time such as a week, others a season or some have experiences from the whole year fed into them and are more geared towards the theme rather than the time period.

Heightened by working from home due to the pandemic and taking photos and seeing wildlife every week day on my lunch breaks and at home so consequently I enjoyed so much and had so many highlights I decided half way through writing the highlights blogs this year to have a change in format going forward. In the new format I strip it back to basics of what I wanted to do when I first had the idea to do blogs on my ten highlights of my wildlife and photography year in 2013. From next year, I will do ten blogs in which I will mention ten key moments of my year on a different theme. The themes will mostly be an area of my interest so birds, butterflies, mammals, flowers, etc. with also a summary of holidays that year and one for ten key day trips and there may be different themes year to year. Within the blogs it will just be a little bit of text about each highlight/moment, a picture I’ve taken in the photoset corresponding to it or for some a picture from the same day if more applicable (I may see a rare bird and have it as a moment and not photograph it for example), and also a link to the or a daily blog I did about the moment at the time. In addition, I will also have a summary/my wildlife and photography year in numbers type highlights blog that may say some of the key themes etc. of the year and will definitely have summaries of how my bird and butterfly year lists went comparing to previous years, key themes and journeys and also the list of my key bird and butterfly species seen that year possibly mimicking the wildlife sightings summary in my daily blog more. I don’t want to make this too long and these are the main two year lists of mine so will spark most for me to talk about but there is potential for it branch into my other year lists.

This year with me wanting and needing to feel the benefits of the new format by taking away the nightly writing up and writing notes for the highlights blogs but still wanting to post what I’d already prepared I did the switch mid-way through, so the highlights posts this year will be twelve with some quite long posts about different highlights of my year in the old format spanning up until my early August this year then six with this new format about things that happened from August-November. With the time of year I began doing it and way I merged a few things together to constitute some highlights points in the posts it may be that not all of the new style ones will have ten highlights in them. I shall just call them my Wildlife/Photography highlights posts and not specify a number. But for the twelve original format ones I will call them “The story of…” and the other six will say <insert number> key or <insert number> standout... moments so it’s clear.

This does then mean that I am using 18 weeknights before Christmas Day to post them. There will be one each week night up until 14th December (the old style posts), then posts on 16th, 17th, 20th, 21st, 23rd December and the final one on Christmas Eve with the new style ones. The themes of the old style ones are my week off in January, my year of birds, birds on patch and at home part 1 and 2, favourite birds of mine this year, a year in the New Forest, butterflies, other insects and flowers on patch and at home parts 1 and 2, butterflies, other insects and flowers further afield, my week off in April, our holiday to Anglesey and day trips to Knepp and Durlston in the summer. My new style posts for the latter half of the year are on key bird moments, key butterfly, moth and flower moments, key dragonfly, mammal and other wildlife moments, key New Forest moments, some day trips and time away and key autumnal and fungi moments.

As always if I have to deviate from the plan stated now for any reason I shall do a post to update.

As always before I get going with the posts, in this introduction post, here is a flavour of some of the key points of my year. In 2021 I; saw an incredible amount of birds again having some of the most intimate and spectacular avian experiences I’ve ever had and seeing a real fight back in my year list with extraordinary runs of year ticks as lockdown restrictions eased after my best ever start with 60 species seen on New Year’s Day my year list is currently my third highest ever which I’m proud of seeing more of my favourite birds in one year than I ever did before, see an extraordinary amount of butterflies also seeing them well despite a changeable weather spring and summer with some sensational experiences close to home and further afield seeing 45 species my joint highest ever in a year having amazing moments where I saw tens/hundreds of butterflies together over the summer, have an phenomenal wild week in Anglesey in June, have three smashing weeks off of day trips and walks, see three new bird species in four days in June, have a marvellous mammal year also with so many seen from the off, see my interests in flowers and moths deepen greatly with bee orchid, snake’s-head fritillary and more shine in my year for flowers and learn so many more species, learn a few tree species this year, have a great year for dragonflies, damselflies and beetles too, enjoy taking part in the Big Butterfly Count and Big Garden Birdwatch surveys as well as others, love seeing so much more wildlife at home and on patch at Lakeside whilst working at home, see Purple and White-letter Hairstreaks at Lakeside, enjoy seeing the goslings, ducklings and chicks in another brilliant nesting season at Lakeside, enjoy a fantastic Naturetrek Stone Curlews in Hampshire tour, go to Knepp and Durlston/Dancing Ledge twice, visit Rutland Water on a weekend packed with birds and more, visit WWT Slimbridge, RSPB Otmoor and Rushy Common Nature Reserve and Tar Lakes on another amazing weekend seeing so many birds and more, go to Richmond and Bushy Park on more packed wildlife days, visit the Hawk Conservancy, have one of my best ever fungi seasons, enjoy autumnal colour and may other aspects of this season, have one of my photos appear on BBC Springwatch, spend an afternoon with “Colin” the Cuckoo at Thursley Common, have a utopian afternoon seeing two birds I dreamt of seeing for so long Tawny Owl and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on the same day at Pig Bush in the New Forest and so many more brilliant birds that day, seeing the third dream bird in that club for me many Black Guillemots in Anglesey in summer plumage for the first time and take thousands of photos wildlife and many landscape and sky photos too. What a year! Attached to this photoset are my Christmas and New Yead edits made from some of my photos this year.