#seeing a post with this many notes in 2023 is so cool....

[madokamagicaheritageposts]

Madoka Magica Heritage Post

girl with no problems

[bewareofthenewphannie]

sigh....please don't kill me for this

AO3 Phandom Stats - Top or Bottom?

As many of you may have noticed there has been a shift in the depiction of Dan and Phil in fanfiction over the past few months from previously predominantly Dan being written as the bottom to now largely Phil bottoming. This post aims to put that trend into numbers and visualise it in a few overly convoluted diagrams below the cut.

Does any of this matter? Absolutely not.

Is it interesting? Oh boy, it sure is!

Disclaimer: This is an analysis of the fanfiction writing and tagging trends within the Phandom. It's at most tangentially related to the Real People Dan and Phil and is not meant to spark any type of discourse. I am doing this as an avid fanfic reader and with the utmost respect and appreciation for the authors of these fics, so I don't want to see any negativity directed towards them. Above all this is meant to be fun and interesting.

And as always - don't like it, don't read it <3

Note on accessibility: linked here is a doc with all the numbers shown in the screenshots of this post. Inspired by emma's stats I will be putting the cell range in the ID - if there's a better way to do this, please lmk!!

Methodology

To get the numbers shown here I filtered the works in the Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF) AO3 tag by "date updated" from the Jan 1st to Dec 31st of each year and by the following tags:

Bottom Dan Howell

Bottom Phil Lester

Top Dan Howell

Top Phil Lester

Short excurse on AO3 tags for those unaware:

The tags I chose are canonical tags, which means other tags that mean the same thing but are for example spelled differently are linked to this tag by tag wranglers and appear when you search for the canonical tag (see example below).

Additionally, the "bottom x" tags are metatags for the power bottom tags, which means fics tagged with "power bottom x" also appear when you filter works for these tags.

It's important to note that not every fic where one of them tops or bottoms is tagged as such. That means these stats very specifically look at the author's choice to tag fics with these tags and not the overall amount of fics where one of them tops or bottoms. However, I would argue it's fair to assume that it's at least somewhat reflective of the general writing trends within the Phandom.

For simplicity's sake I will refer to these tags as e.g. "Bottom!Phil" (b!p) going forward.

Stats 2013 - 2024

Here you can see how many fics were tagged with each tag in the respective year and the amount of bottom!dan and bottom!phil fics relative to the total amount of fanfic written in the same time span.

As expected, up until 2023 the split was about 2 b!d to 1 b!p fic (precise numbers: 71% to 29%; see pie chart above).

In 2018 we can see a peak in both in the number of phanfics written and the relative amount of fics tagged as bottom!dan.

Starting in 2023 (more on that below!) this flips and in 2024 the ratio of b!d to b!p fics was 1 to 4 (precise numbers: 81% to 19%; see pie chart above).

Furthermore, making up 4,62% of the total amount of phanfics written in 2024, the bottom!phil tag is relatively speaking twice as popular now as the bottom!dan tag ever was.

Sidenote: You can see that generally the amount of fics tagged with b!d and t!p, as well as b!p and t!d correspond to each other for obvious reasons (they're usually fucking each other). This year however there's 16 fics more tagged with bottom!phil than top!dan, which shows that there's been a very specific interest in writing and tagging bottom!phil in the last year.

Here you can see the total amount of phanfics written by year because I already collected the data, so I might as well put it here:

Stats 11/2023 - 12/2024

Now I want to take a closer look at the past few months post hiatus.

You can see that there's been a steady increase in the total amount of fics written per month!

That's incredibly cool!! (Love to all the wonderful writers out there <33)

Before we get into the actual stats, it's important to note that we're working with very low numbers here, so don't be fooled by overinterpreting percentages in the first few months depicted and look at the actual numbers! In the diagram below I excluded September and October 2023 because there simply wasn't enough data to produce useable results.

Contrary to what I expected, the increase in fics tagged with bottom!phil does not coincide with gamingmas 2023 (pour bot hem and top bunk kind of guy), nor phil's birthday live stream (topped by kakuna) but only really starts in June 24 and spikes in August for reasons I'm not fully sure about.

If I had to pin it on one thing it'd be the precious baby angel picture, which was posted in mid August.

Much more likely is though that this was simply a dynamic that built over months and had a wide array of reasons mentioned above and could very well be a self-reinforcing dynamic of more and more people looking for that tag and also writing for it.

If anyone has more insight on this, please share your thoughts :]

On that note, I'm finally done yapping, I hope this was at least mildly interesting!

[ahqkas]

♯ STARMAN ; remus lupin

PAIRING! young!remus lupin x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS! during a snowy holiday at the potter residence, remus finds himself caught between the matchmaking ideas of his two best friends and his growing feelings for you

WARNINGS AND TAGS! fluff, idiots to lovers, kissing, james & sirius play the matchmakers, cursing + lmk

WORDS COUNT! 3k

NOTES! i posted this back on my old blog in 2022 / 2023 so if you’ve read this before no u didn’t❕ peter is absent in this ff , he’s spending the christmas with his own family

HARRY POTTER MASTERLIST!

© ahqkas — all rights reserved. even when credited, these works are prohibited to be reposted, translated or modified

JAMES POTTER AND SIRIUS BLACK.

Good lads, great company, and even better matchmakers. Who wouldn't want to spend time with them? The two boys were always full of energy, their laughter infectious, and jokes just rolled from their tongues as naturally as breathing. You could be certain that boredom was a foreign concept in their presence.

That's what everyone thought.

Remus Lupin, however, isn't everyone.

To Remus, James and Sirius were more than just pranksters and school celebrities. They were his closest friends, brothers in all but blood, and the kids behind some of the most outlandish escapades Hogwarts had ever seen. Remus saw behind the facade of their shared humor and carefree attitudes. He understood the deeper layers of their cores — the loyalty that bound them together, the masked fears and insecurities, and the stupidity and courage that defined their actions.

James Potter, with his tousled hair and round glasses, had a heart as big as the Quidditch pitch. Sirius Black, with his roguish good looks and devil-may-care attitude, possessed a sharp intellect that clashed perfectly with his rebellious nature.

Yes, to the outside observers, James and Sirius appeared to be the life of the party (which they were) but to Remus, they were the definition of family.

Even though they certainly knew how to fuck things up.

ONE

"Just listen to us, Moony! This one will work out, me and James planned it for . . . one week, is it? Just trust us!"

Sirius Black's voice was brimming with enthusiasm, his gray eyes twinkling with the unspoken promise of yet another grand scheme. As these words left his mouth, Remus felt a surge of frustration well up inside him. His hands itched to do something else than the dishes — but he resisted the urge to punch the oldest Black brother. The sheer absurdity of the situation was almost laughable. This wasn't the first time his best friends came up with a plan to help him with one of his many problems. Some of their previous attempts had actually worked out quite well. But there were also unsolved problems that Remus had learned to live with, issues he simply couldn't — or wouldn't — allow them to meddle with. Like this one.

"Exactly, mate! We're not doing this just for fun, you know. We're doing it just for you, because as you can see, we know you don't have the courage to tell [Name] how you feel. And we wouldn't be suggesting this if we didn't think it had a real chance of working."

Remus nearly dropped the plate he was washing onto James' head. Did they really have to put their noses into his personal matters? It wasn't that he lacked the courage — he told himself that repeatedly — but the timing just wasn't right. And he had came over to James' house to enjoy the Christmas holiday in peace, not to snog off his best friend's face.

But once an idea comes into a marauder's head, it won't leave until it's out for the world to see.

Just Remus' luck.

The warm, soapy water cascaded over his hands as he resumed scrubbing the plate, trying to focus on the boring task before him rather than the frustration rushing through his system. Sirius's words carried in the air again.

"It was originally planned for Evans, but she wouldn't be as cool with it as [Name]. You know how they both are! Evans would try to hex James' ugly face first, then mine. And [Name]? Well, it seems like you just have to find out, mate."

You just have to find out, my arse.

"Look, why can't you just keep this thing as it was first planned? I'm sure Lily would appreciate the opportunity to snog James' stupid face," Remus said, his voice tinged with the frustration he felt. James made a noice that sounded suspiciously like a gasp and opened his mouth to protest, but Remus ignored him and kept going. "Okay, maybe not for the next ten years, but one day she surely would."

“For the record, my face is unbelievably handsome, thank you!”

The oldest Black brother crossed his arms across his chest, the rag he used to clean the dishes dangling from his hand and making a puddle of water beside him. James glared daggers at it. "You see, even if you politely declined our offer to bring some spice into your already boring life, we can't take no for an answer. We spent our free time searching up a single spell in the library. A bloody library, Moony! So, no. If you and [Name] don't kiss by the end of the Christmas, this prank will be considered unsuccessful, which is something the Marauders don't do."

Sirius' eyes held the same look of determination they had when Peter confidently told the rest of the group that he, Sirius Black, was going to win the snogging bet they made in their fourth year. Remus hadn't liked that gaze then, and he certainly didn't like it now, because he knew what it meant. Peter had won that bet. Which just means . . .

Remus saw his short life flash before his own eyes. This was not going to end up in the way he would like to. A bad, no wait, a horrible idea. But before he could do something to save himself from the coming catastrophe, the whole point of the prank entered the kitchen with a lopsided smile on your face. The boy always thought you were pretty. A pair of eyes that seemed to brighten up whenever your favourite topic is being talked about. A warm smile that makes Remus feel the comfort you gave to him. He wouldn't need to drink Veritaserum to admit that he fancied you.

"I just finished unpacking my stuff, so if you want to do something together . . ." you trailed off, looking into their eyes with an inviting gaze. Remus awkwardly moved his gaze away, heart pumping against rib cage.

James, being the little shit he is, nudged Sirius with a knowing smirk and nodded his head in the direction of his room. "Well, it looks like our job is finished here, doesn't it, Padfoot? We should help Moony here to unpack his trunk. Come on."

Before the werewolf could do anything to stop his two best mates, James grabbed Sirius by the crook of his elbow and ran into his room, leaving the pair of obvious friends alone in the Potters' kitchen.

You looked around, a little surprised by the sudden reaction of James and Sirius. Remus stood next to the sink, drying his hands on a rag. "That was new."

"Yeah, it was."

You leaned over the table, a playful glint was dancing in your eyes. "So, they left to unpack your trunk, huh? I wouldn't let them do it if I were in your place, because I know how much of a messy person James Potter can be. Sirius does look like one too. I've seen your dorm," you let out a laugh that Remus quickly joined.

"You're not wrong. Last time they helped me unpack, I couldn't find half my things for a week. They think it's hilarious to hide my socks in the most ridiculous places."

A playful twinkle sparkled in your eyes at the sudden memory. "Well, at least you know where to find them when something goes missing. I once found a pair of James' socks in the Astronomy Tower. Still haven't figured out how they got there."

"You know," the boy started, but his dark eyes caught the green and white blur above your head, and his breath hitched in the back of his throat. They really had the guts to do it! A spring of mistletoe hung precariously above you, clearly placed by James and Sirius.

Thinking quickly, Remus took your palm in his and met your gaze again. "You could help me unpack my things, so I know where they are and all that stuff you need to know about unpacking."

With a nod, you let him took the lead. "Okay, Remus. I'll save you from them."

Remus was going to kill these two.

TWO

The weather seemed to understand the friend group's wishes for snow, much to their excitement, prompting them all go out and mess around in the white blanket of cold snow. They couldn't charm snowballs yet, and the ice on the lake next to the Potter residence was a bit thin for their liking, but it was fun either way. Laughter and shouts of excitement filled the crisp air as they chased each other, fell into snowdrifts, and made the most of the wintry day.

When they returned home, it was already dark outside, and four mugs of hot chocolate were waiting for them, accompanied by Mrs Potter's cheerful face. The warmth and aroma of the sweet liquid welcomed them inside, melting away the chill from the frost.

James and Sirius, their energy finally exhausted, soon trudged off to bed after they finished their cups, leaving Remus and you to linger a bit longer. The house was quiet now, the only sounds the gentle cracking of fire and the occasional creak of the old wooden floors.

If only it could be like this every day, Remus thought to himself as he sat on the couch beside the fireplace. The flames radiated warmth, and with the mug in his hands, everything felt nice again. No stressing over studying, no thoughts for the upcoming war. He was in his own bubble, praying it wouldn't break at any given moment.

In his lap lay an opened annotated copy of a book you had given him as a Christmas present in your fourth year. He had read the book many times, and each time he found something new that caught his interest. It was like a never-ending story he never planned to finish.

"Hey, Remus."

The sudden sound of your voice and the feeling of your frame settling next to him, a knee brushing against his tight, made him shut the book with unnecessary force. The boy could feel your eyes on the side of his face so, he turned to meet your gaze, brown meeting [eye colour].

Remus had really pretty eyes. The rich brown seemed to melt in the warm room like the sweetest chocolate you had ever put on your tongue, with hazel sparks dancing in them. His eyes held something you couldn't quite put your finger on — a mystery, just like his person. But there was one thing you knew for sure: you would find comfort in them no matter the situation.

As you looked closer, you noticed faint freckles dusting his cheeks. Had they always been there? The gentle smattering of the constellation added to the roughness around his scars, making him appear even more breathtakingly beautiful. You found yourself mesmerized by the little details of his face, each one telling a story of its own.

Remus decided to talk first. "What are you doing here? Not that I mind, I'm just wondering. It's pretty late, you know," after those words left his mouth, Remus felt like a total fool. Merlin, talking with you was getting more difficult since he realized he liked you more than a friend should.

But when he saw your lips curving into a smile, he knew he hadn't messed up. "Can't sleep. It's hard to do so when you have to sleep on a different bed."

"Yeah, I can understand."

Once the comfortable silence fell upon the two of you, Remus wanted to stay like this as long as possible. Life with you in it, even after Hogwarts, would be like a dream come true. You could adopt a cat or a dog together. Remus had always wanted a pet . . . The thought of a future with you filled him with a warm, hopeful feeling.

Suddenly, you were standing on your feet in front of Remus, the book no longer in his lap. Instead, you were holding it open, reading the first words he had written on the front pages. He could feel his neck and ears start to warm up, and he was sure it wasn't from the unfinished hot chocolate.

"Nice book you got here. Must have been a nice present, don't you think?" You were teasing him, he knew it from the glint in your eyes, and you seemed to be enjoying it, too. So, he played along.

"Oh, I don't know, would you be surprised if your friends bought you a book when they see you every morning reading them?"

"This one must be your favourite, as the front is starting to lose its colour."

At the further mention of the book, Remus forgot about the teasing at took it from your hands. "You should read it, [Name], it's a really . . . ," he trailed off again, like he did yesterday, and it started to confuse you more and more. His eyes were looking at something above your head, too. Was the moving photo of little James framed behind you that interesting?

When you started to turn and look, Remus quickly turned you to face the direction of the kitchen and pushed the half filled mug with warm liquid into your palms. "I want more of that. Could you help me make it? Thanks, [Name]."

Remus was ready to push James and Sirius onto the thin ice tomorrow.

THREE

Remus didn't like packing. First, he needed to pack at least a day or two before leaving so he could sleep without overthinking, but he did overthink it anyway. Did I pack everything? I think I had more stuff when I got here . . . He usually spends half of the train ride worrying about things like this; the rest was joking around with his friends and saying goodbye for the summer. And second, he didn't like leaving. The places he went to — whether it was Hogwarts or the Potters' — had a special place in the depths of his heart. The only comforting thought in his head about it all was that he would come back.

With a sigh, he started to pick up his jumpers from the Gryffindor-themed rug James had in his room. They had spent their first Christmas together when they were twelve, and the boys slept in separated bedrooms to Mrs Potter's wishes. She wanted them to have their own privacy (they shared a dorm at school, after all), but as time went on and she realised her boys wanted to be together, the witch let them do as they wanted. You got your own room as this was your first holiday here.

As much as Remus thought about the task being annoying and gloomy, it was kind of relaxing to his mind into something else. James and Sirius hadn't tried anything on you two in the last few days, which worried the werewolf a bit. What were they planning? It wasn't like them, giving up on something they were so determined about.

At a knock on the door, Remus put his just-finished folded socks into his trunk and went to open the it. It couldn't be James and Sirius, and the adult Potters had gone for a walk into the village, which just leaves . . . you.

Oh.

Remus opened the door and revealed, in fact, your glowing face. His eyes took a look at you, and he found himself thinking how pretty you looked.

Your nose and cheeks looked like they were freezing, but it somehow made your face glow. Your beanie covered half of your forehead, and there was a huge spot of unmelted snow on it, probably thrown at you by one of the Marauders. But your eyes still caught his attention first. They showed your real emotions, and you were happy right now, which made Remus feel happy too.

Your smiled reached the corners of your eyes. Remus liked your smile. "Hi! Knew I would find you here. As you can probably see, we are having a snowball fight and I was wondering if you wanted to join me? James is being a git . . .”

Remus couldn't help but chuckle at your enthusiastic invitation. The idea of being outside with you, engaging in a playful snowball fight against his brothers, sounded far more appealing than packing his things. He also knew that if James was being a git, he'd have to intervene to keep the playing field fair.

He listened to you, he really did, but his attention was drawn by the green plant, dangling from the doorframe above your heads. However, this time you followed his gaze and saw what he was always searching for.

"Oh."

Before he could regret what he was about to do, his hands found your cheeks, and his eyes focused on yours, not bothered by the cold that started to reach his palms. "Can I kiss you?"

Your eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment, the world seemed to stand still. The heartfelt laughter of James and Sirius outside faded into the background, leaving only the two of you in that small, shared moment. A soft smile played on your lips as you voiced your inner desires.

"Yes, Remus, you can."

You placed your hands on the back of his neck, your fingers tangling in the soft hair at the nape, and gently pulled him towards you. Your slightly cold lips met his warm ones, and the contrast sent shivers through both of you. The sensation was intoxicating, a rush of emotions and sensations that made your heart race. The warmth from his mouth spread through you, melting away any lingering cold from outside.

Remus's hands slid from your cheeks to cradle the back of your head, his fingers doing the same thing as yours, threading through your hair. You could feel the slightest tremble in them, a sign that he was just as affected by the kiss as you were.

When you finally pulled back, your foreheads rested against each other, and you took a moment to catch your breath. Your eyelids fluttered open, and the look you shared was one of pure emotion. His brown eyes, now darker with desire and something deeper, gazed into yours with a mix of awe and admiration.

It felt like a core memory of your new found relationship was forming, one that will be forever treasured and reminded with nothing but adoration.

Remus was glad about the whole mistletoe prank but the boys will not hear a word from him about it. They were right, the Marauders won't let a prank go unfinished.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Top 10 Things I Love About the QL Tumblr Community 2023

I'm loving everyone's end of year lists, and decided to make up one of my own.

I haven't been on Tumblr for very long and was originally just lurking. 2023 marks the year where I finally started posting, after I read a take that made me feel compelled to come to a fictional character's defense. (Saengtai, my poor little blorbo).

So in commemoration of my first proper year of active tumblring, I present what I love about this community (in no particular order).

(Side note - Technically I know this is still primarily a BL community, but I like to say QL because I am trying to manifest more lesbians for us.)

1) The Gifmakers

Y'all are a good 70% of the reason I joined Tumblr in the first place. There are so many show moments that I want to relive, but without having to search through videos. Sometimes I want to appreciate the aesthetics. Sometimes I want to remember adorable or goofy moments. Sometimes I just want to see cute boys eating each other's faces. Our gifmakers give all of that to us, with the addition of so much creativity and style.

There's too many amazing ones to mention everyone, but I have to shout out @sparklyeyedhimbo, because the way your brain works makes me so happy.

2) The expertise

The other part of why I joined Tumblr was to learn more about what BLs were out there and what I might be missing. And holy hell. Y'all are putting in the work. Not only lists and resources for finding all kinds of QLs, like these fabulous monthly breakdowns by @gunsatthaphan, but also amazing posts that add additional context, like @absolutebl's incredibly helpful breakdown of Asian honorifics. There is so much research people do, for fun! And then they share it!

3) The meta analysis

I frickin love reading people's takes and analyses on series. I love learning, I love seeing perspectives from people with different cultural backgrounds to my own, it's all so fascinating! There's so much context we can miss due to our own privileges, or lack of knowing about various cultures, or due to whatever bubbles we've been living in. People here are just so smart, and nuanced, and willing to reflect and think about things, and also push back at each other, but generally with respect (except when you call out the dumb shit you see, usually on Twitter or TikTok, where people are being reductive and dumb about gender and sexuality).

And I've seen a few takes where people complain about analyses, and say that the director/production doesn't do everything deliberately, and we're all reading too much into it. To which I say, eh, lighten up. How people connect to and relate to media has relevance beyond what was intended. The point is we get to think and discuss and learn and grow. That doesn't happen if we don't analyze.

Special shout out here to @respectthepetty because colors mean things!

4) The wild theories

The other side of the analysis coin, the clown cars y'all drive around in with the wildest of theories. I have happily climbed into an occasional clown car, and usually I am utterly wrong (*cough* Saifah *cough*). But it's a super fun ride. I love seeing how people's brains work. I love it when y'all are wrong. I love it when y'all are right. It's beautiful.

5) Immediate acceptance

I am one of those people who knows that I have a lot of good qualities, and also, always kind of expect rejection. Blame the childhood bullies, I guess. Anyway, whenever I delve into a new space, I still feel like a total dork that no one will want to talk to. It's kind of a fraught way to move through the world, but I manage.

Anyway, I started posting my thoughts as they came up, and people are just totally cool with it. People even follow me sometimes. Even my silliest thoughts and dumbest jokes get at least a couple likes. It's so validating.

And my very silly joke about gay mafia in Kiseki has over 800 likes. I feel very seen.

6) Mutuals

I still kind of can't believe I have any. This ties in to the dork feeling above, but seriously - they are soooo cooooool. They're smart and awesome and funny, and they somehow find me worth following back, which is baffling yet wonderful. I want to squish their faces and give them many kisses (if they're into that kind of thing).

7) The self-exploration

I really appreciate how it's become more talked about how a lot of people are discovering queerness through BL, because that is so the case for me. I think it's both that I was in a bit of a hetero bubble before, and also that I'm evolving a bit as I age. I had figured out I was demi, and maybe a little bit gay, before getting in to BL, but being in this community, and seeing so many of you share so openly and freely, has made me realize it might be more than a little bit.

Either it was a new realization, or being around y'all has made me more gay. Win win, either way.

8) The weirdness

I'm weird. Y'all are weird. I love it.

9) The thirst

So many in this community are thirsty as fuck, and as someone who is in that same condition, I love that it's not just me. There are not many places where I can freely admit how horny I am as a part of my general existence.

Here? I could post about wanting to lick some random BL actor's face, and it would get a bunch of likes and some tags like #lickable, and it's just not remotely a big deal.

Also the gifmakers understand this, and give us beautiful cuts of our spicy scenes. They are genuinely too good for us.

10) The communal watching experience

There is absolutely nothing like watching along with people in the community. It is so worth the torture of having to wait week to week for new episodes. Seeing the show trend, watching the theories fly fast and furious, or the way everyone collectively loses their minds over particular moments. In a world that can feel very isolating, it's a very warm experience.

So there you go. Thank you all for being you. Here's to another year of QL shenanigans and losing our collective minds!

[mj-iza-writer]

My note to the whump community.

Alright.... *takes deep breath*

31 original stories..... I am so tired.

Whumptober 2024 has been completed. I had an ot of fun writing for this event. It's also nostalgic for me. Whumptober 2023 was my first event. I was completely new to Tumblr. I had just joined in September of 2023 after Pinterest kept giving me issues. I wanted to be able to fully immerse myself into the whump community. Pinterest is where I first learned about it and only wrote in the comment sections of pinned post. These posts normally where screenshots from here. Prompts, small stories... I wanted to be with my whump heroes on this app.

I've been on Tumblr for over a year now. I've met so many amazing people. People that have pushed me to become a better writer. People who have allowed me to write freely, and when I had writers block, I always seem to get asks that help pull me out.

I have been able to see some goals met. I know the biggest one was fan art. It was my dream to see characters that I've written in an art form and see how others saw them. None of my goals have to be met. It's just something I enjoy setting for myself. But, when I was randomly scrolling on here one day, I hadn't even looked at my notifications yet. I looked at someone's art, and thought that it was cool how it resembled a character I had written, then to scroll and find out it truly was from my story. I tell you, I still think of that first one. @anonwithwhumperflies has also sent me art that I cherish so much.

I love the whump community so much. It is filled with the most amazing people. I don't think I've ever known a fandom to be so filled with people like the whump community. The nicest, sweetest people.

I know I have a few requests that people have been waiting for. I am so thankful for everyone's patience. I am going to take a one day break on posting a story, but I will get those requests out.

Thankyou to everyone on here, and thankyou to the whump community. - Mj-iza-Writer.

[tubborucho]

A LOVE LETTER TO QSMPBLR

I saw my mutuals write those and decided that I also want to say a few words.

My whole life I loved being part of the communities. I’ve been heavily into fandoms since I was 10, and now 12 years later I can firmly state that QSMPblr community is definitely in my personal top 3 of all the fandoms I have been in.

It’s been such a fun and emotional and thrilling journey with so many ups and downs and I would never refuse to repeat it all over again. I met so many wonderful and incredible people because of this server that I can’t thank the universe enough.

All of my mutuals and followers made most of my 2023 so happy, and continue to do so in 2024, and I really need this joy with everything that happens outside the community itself.

(I am sorry this text is all over the place, I am struggling with concentration atm)

And I am so elated and a bit surprised for how many of you I became one of the favorites blogs here. I mean, I jumped from barely 150 followers to around 820 since september, and it’s all thanks to having so much fun liveblogging and theorizing with all of you.

Despite everything, I think Purgatory 1 was my favorite ever time period here. Yes, there was a lot of frustration and negativity but I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a comradery as back then, with my fellow Soulfire mains. I was in the post limit jail every single day, because I just could not stop chatting with all of you and reblogging incredible posts.

I also hold very dearly the moment, where Bad showed Tubbo the Soulfire Base Recreation. But the main reason is not even that this happened, but the fact that so many people on tumblr, in dms and even in Bad’s chat were LOOKING FOR ME, because they knew how much I’ve waited for that to happen. It was just so heartwarming to wake up to dozens of messages and mentions. I struggle with ‘nobody really cares if i am here or not’ syndrome a lot, so it made my day to see that people do.

I also want to say special thanks to some of you (even though each and single one of you deserve a separate paragraph). Under the cut:

@qtubbo and @mikaikaika. I love both of you so much, our 247 crew maybe on a kinda hiatus, but every moment we spent together is so special to me. We had so much fun, and I couldn’t ask for the batter gang to gash about the lore and cool posts together.

@lionheartedmusings. I am pretty sure you do not open tumblr these days, but if or when you see this: I am so glad that I got a chance to be your friend. We held so many incredible discussions together, and I am so proud to see your success and happy to be at least a small part of it.

@ultra-raging-ghost @dappersautismcreature @born-in-hell @comradeboyhalo @bigboobyhalo @mangofanarts @haloberry @halo-chainsaw @kadextra @skullhalo @aesthetic-gem and all the other ghosties here. Man, ghosties and tubblings alliance is honestly the best thing that ever happened to this community, and I loved all of your posts and liveblogging of Bad’s lore even when I didn’t have a clue what’s happening. You are all so smart and so great, ghosties never deserved all the hate them and the streamer got, I will fight for you always.

@terezicaptor you always match my freak. and that’s everything anyone in the fandom can ever ask for.

@itsbebebrainrotting @cheese-water @soulfireblue @galatoma @phatcatphergus @angelpaperclip @an0nfr0mth3d3n @flojouno @dozyrogue @charliecuntcicle @sweetmoons @kqluckity @h3xt0r @wackytheorist thank you for everything, i see you in my notes very often and most of you posted a lot about soulfire (which are always bonus points from me ahaha), and i am very glad you are here💛

@sweetie-peaches @routeriver @snopiah @thepenguisalive7 @piecanl @shumistar @diornies @flowerquib YOUR ART MY GOD YOUR ART OH GOD OH MAN OH GOD OH MYGOD SO GOOD SO INCREDIBLE OH MY GOD

@etoilesbienne and @pommunist i think both of you have the most based takes, and i almost feel smarter when i read your serious posts.

I definitely missed some people I would love to thank, but honestly, as I said, all of you deserve a special thank you. So if you read this, you are awesome and I love you.

I am not leaving the fandom. But it’s always nice to appreciate people around you.

💛💛💛

[quicktimeeventfull]

hello all! there have been so many excellent fics written this year. i have collected a nonexhaustive list of some favourites.

kompromat by @lightyaoigami

interpol detective inspector light yagami goes to a hotel bar in london and sees a familiar face. memory loss lawlight -- bittersweet and utterly beautiful. this is a rewrite of the author's 2022 fic; please treat yourself to the HD remaster.

bury us both by @neallo

mello and near through the years, in love and agony. gorgeous lesbian meronia with truly enthralling prose. multichapter, ongoing.

take me with you or let me follow by @god-of-this-new-blog

the one in which light desecrates L's grave. this made me insane btw. disconcerting and somehow profoundly tender -- i think about this constantly.

disciple by @catboymettaton

kira's loyal disciple awaits his god's return. beautiful, melancholy mikalight in a kira wins au.

locked and loaded by @twinknote

when in confinement, light has a plan to get his needs met. yotsuba arc light lays some plans to get himself laid. this is so hot and so fun and you should all read it immediately.

oh, she was no phoenix but a creature of the ash by @imusayo-oyasumi

"there's something about the death note that makes humans want to use it, just to try it out." exploring the idea that the death note truly does influence one to use it. this is a really hard concept to pull off without undermining the themes of the series and the author does a stunning job.

yurei by @skyborneveggie

sometimes light feels like he's losing touch with reality light, ft. depression. i loved this very much.

three mistakes and a revelation by @coralflower-ao3

it's not that light disagrees with kira, really. it's just that he believes he could do a better job. tbh i'm not sure how to describe this fic without spoiling the twist. the twist is fantastic, though. please just trust me and see for yourself.

one day by @oloreandil

a day in the life of mello and matt, after they survive canon. a twine game! this was posted at the very edge of december 2023 but w/e it's my rec list idc. this is so so cool and so so incredibly beautifully written. please treat yourself to this.

[rainbowsky]

Hi...I am new fan and I want to ask is it true that during wyb birthday the letter that 'someone' write was first seen in 2020 until now except for 2022? Do you know why there no letter in year 2022?

Hi new turtle! 💛🐢💛

Those letters are always exciting for turtles to read, and it's a shame we didn't get one that year, but it was what was best for DD at the time that such things didn't get posted that year.

There was almost no birthday content at all that year, and nothing official posted, because of the political situation in China at the time. There was a great deal of political tension, and China was ramping up to go to war with Taiwan. At the time many suspected it was just posturing, but when your country is talking about going to war, that's no time to make a big deal about your birthday on social media.

If you want to see what was said about the situation at that time, I talked about it in my birthday post for that year, and later in an ask I got about it.

Here are the letters so far:

24th birthday in 2021

26th birthday in 2023

27th birthday in 2024

I didn't post the letter for his 23rd birthday in 2020 because I actually joined Tumblr on that day and didn't post any birthday content that year, but here's the letter from 2020:

Translation:

If you want to view any of the past birthday content you can browse my tags for each one:

Hello, 23-year-old Wang Yibo~ At this moment, you are filming on the set. It is both your birthday and a notification day as usual. As time goes by, you now have multiple identities. As an actor, the currently filming "Being a Hero" is a breakthrough and brave attempt for you. You can learn acting skills from senior teachers and accumulate experience. I believe this drama will allow you to gain more different experiences and get a new cool thing in life. As an idol, you are incredibly demanding of yourself, working tirelessly to achieve perfection. In the late-night rehearsal room of Street Dance of China 3, you practice over and over again, just to get every note and rhythm right, just to live up to your demands and persistence to be true to yourself. Regarding "pursuing passion to the extreme", everyone actually overlooks that your original intention is not to deliberately pursue "extreme", but because of your all-out passionate efforts and your unwillingness to admit defeat, you inadvertently take your passion to the extreme. Every day, you are making rapid progress; every time you appear, you are new and bright. You have multiple identities, but you are also the purest you.

DD 27th birthday

DD 26th birthday

DD 25th birthday

DD 24th birthday

GG 31st birthday

GG 30th birthday

GG 29th birthday

As a new turtle you might also find my masterlist post helpful. A lot of older topics, common questions and background can be found there.

[flightlessangelwings]

Ktober 2023 Day 12- Formal Wear

Duke Leto Atreides x fem!reader

Word count- 1.5k

Warnings- s.mut (18+ ONLY!), established relationship, reader wears a dress but it's not described to it's open for interpretation, praise kink, no use of y/n

Notes- I wasn't originally going to write for Leto but I was suddenly in the mood and this prompt fits so well! Prompt list made by me! Enjoy!

@flightlessangelwings-updates is myupdate blog so please follow that too and turn on post notifs to stay up to date on my new fics!

~

“My love are you read…” Duke Leto’s voice trailed off as he stepped through the threshold to your room and admired your figure in the low light.

“I am,” you turned around with a soft smile on your face. But, you looked down in embarrassment when you saw the way the Duke looked at you.

He looked at you in your formal dress as if he could devour you with his eyes. He looked at you as if he were a teenager again with no control of his expression. He looked at you as if he wanted to pounce on you and ravish you then and there. 

And pounce on you he did.

Leto crossed the room in a flash as instant grabbed you and yanked you against him, “My love,” he purred as he kissed your neck, “You look divine.”

You yelped at the sudden action, but quickly dissolved into a fit of giggles as his lush beard tickled your skin. Your skin warmed under his touch, and his gaze, and your heart fluttered at the way the normally composed man completely lost his cool at the sight of you all dressed up.

“My Lord,” you hummed, letting out a soft moan when he licked at a sensitive spot on your neck, “If we don’t go now, we’ll be late.”

“I don’t care,” Leto’s tone was low as he kissed his way up your neck and palmed your breasts through your dress.

“But,” you moaned as your mind swam, “It’s to honor you,” you squeaked when he dipped his hand under your dress, “We… Oh…”

“It doesn't matter to me,” the Duke said in a voice that made you clench your thighs together, “My love, all I care about right now,” he growled, “Is fucking you in this dress.”

“My Lord,” you whispered.

“Say my name,” he demanded softly, “I want to hear you say my name.”

“... Leto.”

He pulled his hand out to grab your hips and yanked you even closer so that your chest was flush against his. Leto took the opportunity when you dropped your mouth open in a silent gasp to take your lips with his. The kiss was deep and desperate and heated. His hands stayed firm on your hips to keep you close, as if he couldn’t get you close enough. His tongue explored every corner of your mouth, playing with your own tongue as he did so. Leto kissed you as if it were the first time, and to him every time he got to kiss you felt like the first time all over again.

Being with you never got old to Leto, and he craved you more and more with each passing day. Which was why when he saw you all dressed up in your best gown, he lost all his composure. The reception, the honor, the rest of the universe could wait. You were his entire world at that moment.

“Let me see how beautiful you are,” he purred as he broke away. Leto let you step back just enough so he could take in the sight of you once more, but he never let go of his grip on your hips.

“Leto,” you playfully chastised him from the way he not so subtly looked you up and down. But, you also took the moment to get a better look at him in his best uniform. Leto was always handsome to you, but the sight of him in formalwear took your breath away. Suddenly you didn’t care about the reception either. “You’ve never looked more handsome, Leto,” you cupped his face.

He smiled, a big beautiful smile that not many got to see, “My love,” he murmured before he took your lips once more.

This time, the kiss was deep and slow, and Leto dipped his hands underneath your gown once more. You clung to his shoulders as you adjusted yourself to give him better access. And when his fingers made contact with your clit, you squealed into his mouth.

Leto hummed in approval as he fiddled with your clit gently. You felt his smile even when his lips never left yours, and you tugged at his jacket to pull him closer to you. It started a dance between the two of you- you pulled him closer, and Leto pushed you towards a destination. Neither of you ever fully broke away from the other as you ran your hands all across his chest and his stayed between your legs.

When you bumped into the desk in the far end of the room, you knew exactly what Leto had in mind. Without needing to look, you leveled yourself up onto the desk, with his help. That was the first time the two of you broke away from each other.

You looked at each other, breathless, for a few moments. Leto’s neatly done hair fell forward and the greyed curls framed his face. He looked like living art. His already dark eyes were blown black with desire and his parted lips let out his heavy breaths. Your breasts rose and fell with your own deep breaths, and you saw his eyes trail down to watch the sight.

“Like what you see?” you asked playfully.

“Very much,” he groaned as he leaned in to kiss you once more.

Passions rose as Leto pushed your dress up your legs while your tongues tangled together. He swallowed the moan you let out as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, pulling him in close, as you parted your legs for him. A wordless invitation that Duke Leto eagerly took.

“I need you, my love,” he confessed in a hushed tone when he broke away for a breath.

“I need you,” you echoed as your foreheads pressed together while Leto unbuckled his pants and freed his cock. Instantly, your eyes landed on his hardened length, already throbbing and ready for you. “Please,” you begged in a whisper.

“You never have to ask me, my love,” Leto groaned as he pumped his cock a few times before he lined himself up with your pussy, “Fuck you’re so wet already.”

“Leto…” you whimpered as he slowly started to push into you.

You held onto him for dear life as his cock entered your pussy inch by delicious inch. You cried out as the familiar stretch burned so good. Incoherent babbles dripped from your lips as Leto fully sheathed himself inside of you.

“Fuck,” you breathed when he bottomed out inside of you.

Neither of you took anything off, and it only made the moment more meaningful. There you both were, dressed in your best, fucking on Leto’s desk. The desperation felt too great, and both of you were too turned on by the other in their formalwear to even want to take anything off.

Leto mumbled a praise as he started rocking in and out of you. He grabbed your ass and used the leverage to yank you closer, burying himself even deeper inside you. You cried out in pleasure as you clung to his shoulders and surrendered yourself to him. It was easy for you to relinquish control when it came to him, you trusted him, you loved him.

“Love,” Leto grunted, “You’re so beautiful.”

“So are you,” you moaned as the room spun with every thrust of his cock. As Leto picked up his pace, desperate for release, you started to feel that familiar tingle build from deep within you, “Leto… Fuck… I’m gonna cum.”

“Cum for me, my love,” he grunted as he pulled you closer and pounded into you, “Let me feel you.”

You screamed and threw your head back as your climax hit. Your legs trembled on either side of Leto’s body as you came hard, squeezing his cock as you did so. Leto wrapped his arms around you, holding you as close as possible while you rode out your orgasm on his cock until yo uhad no more left to give.

And that was when Leto finally let himself go. With a groan of your name, he came just as hard. His cock twitched inside you as he spilled himself in your pussy. He continued to spill incoherent praises as he thrust himself into you over and over again, riding out his own orgasm.

When he himself was spent, Leto reeled forward, keeping you in his arms as he did so. The two of you collapsed down onto his desk and let out heavy pants as you let your heart rates go down to normal.

“We really will be very late now, you know,” you said with a laugh.

“It doesn’t matter,” Leto pushed himself up onto his elbows to look at you, “You are always worth it, my dear.”

You looked at him with a pleading expression as you cupped his face, stroking his beard under your fingers, “So are you,” you gently guided him down to kiss you once more, “So are you, my love.”

[itsthatlake]

Reposting this directly on tumblr because YT deleted my channel.

In Our Bedroom After The War. Trash of the Count's Family animatic.

Consider supporting me via Ko-Fi! I would really appreciate it!

Extra stuff i wrote down while making this under the cut:

this took me so long you can literally see me get better at art from beginning to end lol

so many artistic liberties were taken here, you've no idea

confession time: i looked at references when doing the first drafts/storyboard(?) and then didn't for the line-art so yeah. rip lock's hair lock, i forgot about it until it was too late lmao

me, storyboarding this: SO. MANY. CHARACTERS????

@heart-select's Gashan design is so freaking cool I just had to use it, so kudos to them for that

me, repeatedly, while doing the line-art: oh god i still have to COLOR ALL THIS?!?!?!

how tf do you even draw wings?????

me, drawing the DHB: haha bones go brr me, drawing raon: you're damn lucky i love you

so glad I gave up on my original idea to color EVERYTHING jfc past me sure had high hopes

upset that I can't switch sheritt and DHB's order so they fit the lyrics bc I love sheritt too much to not draw her twice and also i'm not drawing a dragon bone head again thank you very much

ohn hasn't got ears. don't ask me why, i don't know either

on that note, i headcanon that ohn is the type to either look full human or full cat at all times, while hong (and lock too) like to have animal features while in human form whenever they can get away with it

added the kids' names to their piggybanks in korean bc why not

my blind ass made the subtitles far too big for my liking but i'm too tired to go and change everything now

this is also my first time doing an animation/video using only clip studio so i'm a little confused with why some things look like they do, but whatever

(Originally posted on 21/02/2023.)

anyways, enjoy!

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I'm still here ngl..

*

Listen, I see this and feel so much happiness. Jimin dancing, showing who he is, showing the versatility of his style and giving us just a glimpse into the extensive, vast range of his talent.

There's been some revisionism happening regarding BTS that's ratcheted up in the last three years or so. I can't be the only person who's noticed it. People more forcefully asserting things about the members that are just plain absurd, like saying this or that member isn't that talented, or that xyz member has this massive character failing that's only just apparent now for some reason, or that things they've said and done aren't actually the case. After FACE, I noticed people saying shit like Jimin can't sing and can't dance...

That reminds me, I went to a cup-sleeve event in June for another group and someone told me to my face Jimin can't dance and I almost uppercut that bitch. It ticked me off but I didn't actually assault her. What I did instead was ask her to explain what she meant, told her I disagreed, and showed her why by playing Jimin's Black Swan solo DP. She took back her initial claim and said she'd just been in a k-pop group online and all those people were saying is how none of the BTS members are that talented especially Jimin who apparently can't sing to save his life and whatever dancing he can do is limited to a few moves from 6 years ago.

Plain insanity.

Jimin, out of the kindness of his sweet, magnanimous heart, is giving the amnesia patients a crash course in who he is. He's reminding people he is Park Jimin of BTS. The dancer who joined a nearly bankrupt agency, had the shortest training period in that agency's history, and with the least resources, and debuted as the main dancer and lead singer of what is now the biggest group in the world. The man who critics from all over the world laud as a virtuoso, in voice, dance, and performance. His voice has brought men to their knees, calmed babies, enchanted concert halls, made stadiums full of people cry out in pure joy. There's nobody alive or dead like Park Jimin, and the fact we all get to exist in the same time as him is a blessing too many people (for my liking) take for granted.

ThisIsJimin is a gift I'm thankful to Jimin for giving us again.

*

Anyway, I was watching that clip again with a friend and she pointed out how cool the dance practice room was. Noted how it's a massive improvement from the old BigHit halls that had mold growing on the walls and water dripping on live wires in the back. It's taken years, hard work by the members, good business sense from BigHit/HYBE, and a lot of my own hard-earned money as well as the resources (time, money, otherwise) from ARMYs over the years to get to this point - and I just want to say, speaking for myself, even though I still see massive room for improvement, I feel very happy with the state of things.

HYBE is cultivating a solid roster of talent built on BTS's hard work. The world-class facilities in the building is the first good sign, as well as the talent now being fostered there. I love the quality of the army of dancers Jimin had access to for his SMF Pt2 performances, I love that NewJeans is doing so well that Riot Games sought them to feature on their new World's anthem, I love that a whole new generation of incredible groups are growing in the environment created by BTS's own trials and success.

BOYNEXTDOOR is a group that continues to have my attention because all six boys are just that good. They posted their dance practice for Crying today (my favourite song from a rookie group in 2023), and I noticed they did it in a similar dark coloured dance practice room Jimin filmed his #ThisIsJimin choreo in. And that really just put a very silly smile on my face for a reason I can't pinpoint yet.

*

Maybe it's aftereffects from the Jimin Effect after streaming his reel as hard as I'm streaming Indigo lately.

I see the asks you send, about Golden, JK in general, jokers, this or that thing happening in fandom, and I'll get to them at some point but I don't want to talk about them right now. Because I'm still stuck on Jimin showcasing himself in that air conditioned, world class dance practice room that's only possible because of his hard work, tenacity, talent, and love for his group.

I'm still stuck on Jimin and legit cannot move on. He's such a beast. Such a calculating, proud, stubborn, and kind beast of a man.

I'm not sure what's going on with me.

We're in Jimtober so maybe his juju is just extra strong and I can't escape his grip no matter what I try. Anyway, it's a good idea to stream FACE, allow yourself to re-experience his album, check out his other solos as well (played Christmas Love over the weekend and realized it sounds even better on low frequency speakers), and eat a lot of spicy food followed by warm/hot drinks because Jimin is curious about such things (and it really does work).

[dandylovesturtles]

Top Ten Posts of 2023

I decided, why not? ^^

I'm limiting this to fics/analysis/headcanon/etc posts I made during the year and skipping over anything that isn't my actual creative work. That said, if you're curious, my actual top post was this funky screenshot from episode 2.

10. Everyone's just fine with Donnie modding the moon buggy? (362 notes)

It occurred to me that despite being MASSIVE nerds for the Jupiter Jim franchise, the bros seemed awfully chill with Donnie taking an actual on-set moon buggy and modding the hell out of it.

A few people argued with me in the notes that the Turtle Tank is so cool no one could possibly be mad about it and I do think that's fair. The Turtle Tank is easily my favorite thing Donnie made in the show.

9. Splinter and Leo talk post movie (443 notes)

And then his dad walks in and says, “I would like to talk to Blue, please. Alone.” And suddenly Leo doesn’t feel so good anymore.

This is the most recent tumblr fic I've done (I think lol), so seeing it make it this high felt pretty good. I love Splinter and his boys... they make me emotional.

8. A headcanon about the Disaster Twins (445 notes)

I have a headcanon that the twins are lowkey always trying to get each other to laugh.

This is still true.

7. A showcase of Donnie's injuries in End Game (462 notes)

So everyone talks about Donnie getting his shell shredded by the Shredder in Many Unhappy Returns but I feel like it’s underappreciated that that happened to him coming off of getting his ass beat in End Game like

One of the first posts I made when I made this blog haha. Poor Donnie |'D

6. Donnie records everything (617 notes)

broke: Donnie listening to what happened in the prison dimension woke: Donnie showing Raph Leo’s big damn hero speech since he wasn’t there the first time

The main reason why this has so many notes is because @roseverdict wrote a great fic down in the notes that you should all go read.

5. Leo asks Donnie a favor (829 notes)

“You might as well tell me what you need,” he says, turning to his computer and pulling up his list. “I’ll assess it and prioritize.” “No, no, that’s okay. It’s nothing,” Leo insists. “Nardo.” Donnie levels his best stare at him. “What is it?”

I love writing the Disaster Twins being soft and you guys love it when I write it too.

4. Present Donnie and Future Donnie have a little disagreement (CAS AU fic) (1,242 notes)

“What was I supposed to do, tie him to a chair?” “Yes!?” says Mini-him like he’s stupid, which warrants a scoff.

Shoutout to @skcirthinq who doodled a comic version of their conversation.

3. Casey Jr. and Uncle Tello troll Present Donnie (CAS AU fic) (1,701 notes)

Casey Jr, says Uncle Tello’s voice. Uncle Tello? Do you want to see something really funny?

This is my actual fic with the most notes! I'm glad you all enjoyed this silly little take on what was actually an incredibly intense moment in Cass's original comic.

2. Mikey contacts the Hamato ancestors (2,054 notes)

future Mikey: *trying to contact the spirits of the Hamato for advice and guidance in the apocalypse* Donnie’s spirit: Hello, you are now communing with Donatello.

I can't believe you guys gave over 2K notes to the stupidest joke I've ever made. Shoutout to @nonymous06 for this artist's rendition.

and finally, drum roll please.....

My top post of 2023:

1. A very silly idea for a separated AU (4,283 notes)

non-angsty ROTTMNT separated AU where the boys meet online and bond over their shared love of Jupiter Jim and skateboarding and Lou Jitsu. Then one day they agree to meet irl for the first time at a con and decide to dress as turtle aliens.

This post spawned an adorable fanart by @thatsmutbean , this hilarious fanart by @onionninjasstuff , and an entire fanfic called new phone who dis by @rbtlvr

This has been an incredible year! My love for ROTTMNT has not diminished in the slightest and I still have lots of ideas, so I hope you guys stick with me for 2024. Thanks again! Happy New Year!!

[suniloli]

BOILING POINT p1

12 Dec 2023

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!reader (and a bit of Rick Grimes x fem!reader if you so interpret it that way)

Word Count: 1.76K

Warnings: Swearing, sexual innuendo

Setting: Prison

Summary: Your tumultuous relationship with Daryl has come to a head. You try to internalise why things have changed between you two. Will things go back to the way they were?

Author Note: This one sort of came to me out of the blue. Wanted to change it up a bit and challenge myself…was also thinking of starting a series, but I’m pretty sure I won't be able to keep up with regular posting etc because I procrastinate a fair bit. Anyways, there’s a lot of dialogue, and not a lot of Daryl x reader interaction yet. Hope the progression of things makes sense!  - Sól

“What the fuck’s wrong with you?”

“Nothin’! You’re just a good fer nothin’ bitch!” 

“How DARE you!” You screamed back at Daryl. “Get the FUCK out of my face!”

“FINE!” He spat as he stalked towards the prison’s gates. 

“What a prick…” you angrily rumbled. You could feel your blood reaching its boiling point. Your body felt like a furnace.

Clenching your fists, you resorted to murmuring not-so-nice things while pacing the prison yard. “He’s such a fuckin’ asshole…always like this…what the fuck….”

In the distance, you could hear Daryl’s motorbike roaring to life, a bit of a venomous back and forth between Daryl and whoever had to cop his attitude at the gate, and he was off on the run without you. Hearing his bike only fuelled your anger. 

“Why’s it always like this?” Glen asked Maggie with a hint of annoyance. “I mean, they’re assholes to each other all the time now…”

Maggie furrowed her brow, pondering the situation. “What happened between them? Y/N hasn’t shared anything about it…”

Putting his arm around her shoulders and squeezing them, Glenn gently kissed her cheek. 

“She probably doesn’t even know what’s going on herself…I mean, they used to get on like a house on fire!” Glenn exclaimed. Adjusting his rifle against the watch tower’s railing, he waved his arm in the air and pointed at you in the distance. “And look at her now…a literal walking ball of flames.”

Maggie sighed. Grasping the hand on her shoulder, she leaned her head against her husband. 

“I just hate seeing her in pain like this….she’s hurting…” Maggie said sadly. “I always thought there was something between them...makes me want to smack some sense into Daryl”.

“Yeah, same” Glenn commented, his gaze following you walking towards the prison. “Guess she’s cooled off a bit…wonder when Mr Cranky's gonna be back...”

All eyes were on you as you stalked back through the courtyard and prison. You knew they all probably heard your public spat, but you ignored their judgment and made a beeline for your cell. 

Once there, you threw your bag into the corner with a loud, muffled bang and sat on the edge of the bed with your head in your hands. 

Realising how bad the state of your relationship with Daryl had become, the waterworks opened and you started to sob. 

So many thoughts were running through your mind. The argument itself was so ridiculous! You accidentally knocked his crossbow off the bike seat and the string snapped. It was easily fixable! You were going to apologise, but you turned around only to be faced with Daryl's expression twisted in anger and something else unreadable. 

“Are you fuckin’ stupid?” Daryl growled. Taken aback, you were immediately riled up. 

“Uh, excuse me?” 

He dropped his eyes to the crossbow on the ground. As he bent down to snatch it up, you took a step towards him, gesticulating wildly. 

“Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? You on your period or something?” You snarked. 

“Always screwin’ around ain’t ya!” He yelled back. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You retorted. There was something else in his eyes at that moment.

“Jus’ shut up woman!” Daryl gnashed. The rest is history.

He was callous with you regularly now. The two of you were constantly in some sort of argument. If not, he was staring you down from across the way. Everything he said was cutting you into two, and you felt ashamed that you were affected by it. 

Admittedly, you weren’t being so nice back, but who was Daryl to speak to you like that? How dare he! 

You wanted it to go back to the way it was. The tension between the both of you had reached its peak. On multiple occasions, you tried talking with Daryl about his unreasonableness, but every time he would cut you off, leave, or divert the conversation altogether. 

You hated his stubbornness. You hated his unwillingness to listen. It seemed as if Daryl was content with having things never go back to how they were. And that is what made you feel upset. 

It was unknown why he was treating you with such disdain. It was wanting to know why he never smiled that little smile at you, brushed your hands with his anymore, or why he never gave your waist a friendly little pinch. He was being so unfair. 

What was wrong with him? You were starting to think that there was something wrong with you…

You could feel tears pooling in your hands and snot in your sinuses. Giving a couple of rich, flavourful sniffles, you lay down on the bed with your legs hanging off. Somehow, even with the crying-induced headache that you now bore, sleep found you. 

You woke abruptly to the early evening sunlight filtering into your cell. Headache much worse than before, you carefully brought yourself up onto your elbows and realised that you had gone to bed with your gear on. Moving to your side and dragging your leg up onto the mattress, you wiped your swollen eyes of any sleep and yawned. 

This wasn’t how today was supposed to go. 

You wondered if they’d give you shit for not going on that supply run. 

You wondered if Daryl had gone to retrieve what you needed from it. 

You wondered if he was back yet. 

Trying not to let any thoughts of him bubble to the surface, you slowly got up from the bed and noticed a small plate of something on your makeshift bedside table. You were so discombobulated that you didn't even notice that someone had left you dinner. 

Carefully balancing the plate on your left hand, you fully pulled the curtain across the doorway and decided to eat in the beautiful evening sun. 

Settling into the grass and watching the sun set below the horizon, a blanket of peace wrapped around your shoulders. Savouring the rich gamey flavour of what tasted like freshly prepared venison, you observed the oranges and yellows mingle with each other in the sky. The soft chill of the breeze helped soothe the puffiness of your face. You looked around and saw some of the  kids kicking around a soccer ball. Their laughter and boisterousness made you smile. 

“Mind if I join you?”

You turned around to find Rick smiling at you. 

“Yeah, of course,” You grinned back. He settled in the space next to you and leaned back. It was quiet for a few minutes. It seemed Rick was observing the beauty around him at that moment too. 

“You know, I never thought we’d be this lucky…” Rick started. He was still looking towards the open field and the activity there. “It still amazes me. After everything we’ve been through”. 

“I know…it’s so beautiful to see kids be kids again” you replied. “Speaking of, where’s Judith, that little cutie?” 

“Beth’s with her now. You know, Daryl’s very good with her — ”

“Seriously?” You sassed. “Are you trying to talk him up?”

Rick laughed. “Nah, ‘course not…” Rick looked away from you sheepishly and picked at his gun holster. “Just tryna’ see if you're still mad at him…”

“Well, now that you’ve reminded me, yeah. I am” you stated. He puffed some air from his nose, placed his hand on your knee, and squeezed it gently. 

“You know, it’s not only affecting you two. Everyone feels uneasy. I think it would be better for both of you if you trusted someone enough to share what’s going on. If you trusted me enough…” 

You paused to look at him. There was pure concern in his eyes. Feeling the weight of his gaze, you looked down at the hand on your knee. You gently placed your hand atop his and pondered for a moment. 

“You know, back at the farm, I remember this one time Daryl and I came across a stash of alcohol from the main house...”

Rick hummed. 

“And…that night we probably had one too many…”

Rick gave you a quizzical look. “And?”

“Uh…” You tapped your other finger against your lap. “We ended up behind the barn somehow, and then he kissed me…” you murmured. The memory confuses you. “But then he pulled back abruptly and left…I don’t remember much else. I’ve never told anyone about it.” You looked away. It was embarrassing to say out loud. 

Rick removed his hand from yours. Stretching his legs out, he leaned on one of his hands and turned to fully face you. 

“Y/N…”

“And I don’t even know if he remembers because he’s never said anything about it…I mean, who cares now right? We treat each other like shit.”

“Hey,” Rick said. He placed his other hand on your shoulder to attract your attention. “I remember how it used to be between you two, even at the quarry. If he decided to pussy out, then he’s the one who messed up, not you” he smirked. 

You considered his words. “I just don’t understand how we went from being so close to being at each other’s throats. He hates me now…”

“He doesn’t hate you…I think he’s just going through a lot with Merle being gone, and dealing with all the change that’s happenin’…”

“That’s such bullshit…” you muttered. 

Rick moved closer to you and wrapped his arm around yours. You leaned your head on his shoulder. 

“Well, luckily I’ve got this handsome cowboy to distract me” you snickered. Rick gave you a hearty laugh and kissed the top of your head. 

“Don’t think your boyfriend would appreciate that…you know, you don’t see the way he looks at you sometimes.”

“I don’t know who you’re looking at Rick, but that’s not Daryl at all…definitely not now.”

“I think there’s more goin’ on than you think…just trust me. If it never works out, this handsome cowboy’s a couple of cells away” he joked. 

“Cute, Rick” you smirked. You hugged his side and thanked him. The sky was now littered with stars, and moonlight shone across the courtyard. It was beautiful. 

As you bid each other farewell, the peace was disrupted by the resounding slam of the prison door, the harsh sound of metal reverberating across the field. Squinting for just a couple of seconds, you accepted the fact that the night sky didn’t offer a clear view that far away. Sharing a glance, you both brushed it off and parted ways. 

However, you couldn’t shake the feeling that you saw something orange glowing on the ground before it snuffed out.

Part 2 / Part 3

*I DO NOT give permission for my work to be used/adapted/copied in any way.*

[pascalsbby]

omg, I’ve been tagged by so many sweet people in posts like this, so I thought I’d make one too!!! these are all NSFW, 18+ - we all know I love a dirty joel.

please drop any other links/recommendations that you have 🤍

thank you to these writers for letting us escape our world into yours for a while, don’t know what I (or carnal!joel) would do without ‘ya.

°:. *₊ ° . ° .• ♡

July 2023

against mr. miller’s truck (not named) @chaotic-mystery

any brat tamer! joel @chloeangelic

attentive (ezra) @the-ginger-hedge-witch

biéten @netherfeildren

don’t you see? @pascalisbaby

cool about it @sinsofsummers

polaroid (not named) @velvetmud-h0e

sharing is caring @inlovewithquestionablecharacters

a madness all-consuming @divinehedons

‘tis but a scratch @strang3lov3

side note: xtremely high atm so apologies for my mistakes 🤭 like for real I’m on another planet brb

[sirfrogsworth]

My First "Viral" Post

Like, 20 people told me to submit my Brady Bunch GIFset to @world-heritage-posts and hundreds more tagged it #worldheritagepost.

So I was like, "OKAY OKAY, I'll submit it!"

And they never posted it.

Which is completely fine!

WHP, it's cool. We're cool. I don't need World Heritage Post reblogs.

I have reblogs at home.

(my reblogs at home)

I am definitely *NOT* going to do the "DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM???" thing.

I only do cool and funny "Don't you know who I am?" interactions like Tony Hawk.

But when I submitted the post it reminded me of an even earlier time on Tumblr when there were only a few people who could make a post go viral.

The main one was called @thedailywhat. If something got posted there, it could get HUNDREDS of notes.

HUNDREDS!!!!

Oh, that's another funny thing. Several people commented "Why does this only have 20K notes!!???"

There are currently 135 million active users on Tumblr and the site got roughly 2.4 billion visits in 2023.

In all of 2010 the entire site got 50 million visitors. Not users. Just people who went to a Tumblr address during that entire year.

In any case, if you thought you created something cool and you wanted more than 10 people to see it, you had to submit your cool thing to The Daily What. It was the first Tumblr to reach 100,000 followers which was more than the actual founder of Tumblr had at the time.

It was run by a single person but he was very private and never revealed his name.

His emails were very cryptic.

I'm pretty sure he sold the site and went to live on a beach or something. But whoever bought it did not understand how to run the blog and the final post was in 2013.

I'm not surprised the new owner crashed and burned. Johnny Internets was irreplaceable. He really understood what would connect with people. Nearly everything he posted would gain decent popularity. I'm not sure people realize how much of a skill curating content can be and how hard it is to post popular things with consistency.

He would reject a lot of content outright and was very picky about what went on his Tumblr. But when he actually posted something you made, it was almost guaranteed to go viral.

Well, viral relative to the time period.

I suspect I submitted nearly a hundred things before he finally agreed to reblog me. And I still remember the first thing I submitted that he liked.

I posted this in 2010. How many notes do you think it got?

Probably a million, right?

No less than 100K.

I mean, look at how cute that panda is!

SONOFABITCH!

Back then, that was enough.

But that was just me putting words on something. My ultimate goal was to get him to post one of my original photoshops.

And do you see how he gave proper attribution? That meant a lot during a time when other curators were cropping my watermarks and claiming things as their own.

A real mensch, this Mysterious Stranger was.

These two posts got me enough traction to grow my following and before I knew it, I was The Daily What for other people. I was able to help other artists and content creators get traction and grow their following.

It was a beautiful Tumblr version of paying it forward. Only not as awkward as those weirdos who do it in drive-thru lines.

I ONLY GOT A SODA AND NOW I GOTTA PAY FOR 40 MCNUGGETS?

It's fine.

Enjoy your nugs.

[painterofhorizons]

A Year in Writing: 2024

Reviews for 2020 (222k), 2021 (205k), 2022 (95k), 2023 (20-30k?)

Total wordcount as of Dec. 31: 74.090, which is a monthly average of 6174 words. So 74k is nowhere near close to the 200+k that I used to do, right? But don't be fooled, it's AMAZING 74k, because after two years of utter struggle I am finally having fun again with writing! So 74k might be even a bigger win than the 200k I used to do. Big Win. Like, Big.

General review: Remember (you don't, neither did I, but my last review clearly states it) how I wrote in my yearly writing review last year:

The blorbos might even be knocking at my door again - quietly and very politely, but I can see them. So, here’s hoping.

And boy. Little did I know.

So, this has been a very good writing year. Don't ask me what was going on in march and april, I honestly have no idea. Zero. No memory. As opposed to former years it was not like some big scary thing going on, I guess I was just busy with work maybe? Not feeling it? Who knows? Even better: who cares? Because bitch, I came back strong!

First of all, I did start tracking again, which now gives us nice statistics. And I set a monthly "goal" of 5k, which is something I can do, but like not as an actual goal but more as a number for tracking. And despite these two blurry nonexistent months I did that great.

But it's not about numbers. It's about being back in my since-I-can-think-favourite-hobby and outlet, and I am having fun with it again. There has been plenty of days when I didn't write anything, and I only wrote when I felt like/inspiration hit. But more often than not, when it hit, it HIT.

And I have to give a big shoutout to @kyratittyfish for this. (Which was already mentioned as a highlight in my 2022 review! Love ya, friend. <3) A lot of these words would not have happened if we didn't have that amazing Berlin trip in May with all the ideas that it sparked and if she wasn't such an amazing encouraging friend who always supported my late night "listen, what if..."-messages. Who always went all in "do tell me more about it" and "I like how you think" and I don't think I have to tell you, but that is fuel for writers. So the biggest part of these words would not have happened if dear Kyra wouldn't have supported all those small and huge what if's I have encountered this year. You know who you are, girl. (And then we met again and went on a fabulous winter island trip which has been another highlight of this year for me. <3)

So yeah, very good year, after two very hard years. Here's hoping for 2025.

Things posted: Plenty! Which includes two oneshots finished and posted on AO3 (a James/Steve ME3 banter and a James/Shepard post war scene) as well as a couple of WIPS from the post Akuze fic that has basically been my main focus this year (with a side of post war angst and some ME3 smut, mind me), which was tense knees, about cake, TBI, sleeping in the Kodiak, jello, two aces in disguise, post akuze promotion, sign language, James wrecks his knee, Corporal Giles, being stuck.

Things I would like to do next year: Write? Ehehehehe. Well, I would like to bring those MANY many many words of post Akuze notes into something I can start to post on AO3. That would be cool. As much as I love the fic, it's giving me a little trouble in terms of putting all those notes and ideas into one form to publish a fic with it. I would like to do that soon. Also, most recently the blorbo sleeper agents from 20 years ago woke up again, so maybe we will also see some King Arthur (2004) fic next year? Who knows?

Most important: take it easy and have fun. That's what I wanna do writing wise next year.

Since the Corporal Giles mini WIP was my most popular things this year, have it here once more.

“How’s Giles doing?” It’s a macabre question to ask, but it cuts to the chase. Shepard shrugs. The answer is as simple as fucked up. “Better.” Well, obviously Giles isn’t better. There’s no way he can get better, because he’s dead. He’s rotting in the dirt of Akuze, eaten alive by thresher maw acid, cowering behind a rock right next to Reda. He’s taken most of the hit, and she hasn’t (still got enough damage to need a trachea transplant and eighteen percent third degree burns on her skin, but she’s alive and he’s not, so that’s that). Corporal Giles won’t get better. But he stopped haunting her every single night, and every single minute of the day, and every single art therapy session. Because he’s the only thing of Akuze she remembers and while she’s bad at drawing, she’s apparently gifted in the horror genre, and she’s gotta draw something. Maybe she’ll draw something else tomorrow. Or maybe she won’t. Because Giles is better, but he’s still dead.