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Behind the WoX - introduction 📌
The purpose of this blog is to provide a platform to discuss WoX sites and raise awareness of issues that exist but seem to be ignored or mismanaged by those in charge of solving them. By making issues public we can add pressure on the leadership to listen to us, as users and community members, and make the changes we feel are needed in order to make WoX the best it can be.
If you have concerns or criticism regarding a WoX site it's always best to take it to a site leader and/or mugwump first. There is no need to point out their oversights or mistakes in public without first giving them a chance to fix it. As leaders they can, and should, expect to be questioned and criticised for their actions at times, but they still deserve a fair chance to learn about the issue and adress it before being publicly attacked for what could be a simple mistake. I will assume that attempts have been made before resorting to this blog.
If the issue remains after you've raised it with the people in charge and nothing seems to happen, that is when you can submit your concerns to the blog. (If it's an issue that is clearly not a mistake but something done on purpose and it should be obvious that it will have negative consequences, I'd say it's fair game to criticise though...)
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KEEP IN MIND
§ This blog is a place for thoughts, opinions and feelings. Opinions, thoughts and feelings are subjective and aren't necessarily correct, factual or representative of the bigger picture. A person might be incorrect or misleading in what they express but that doesn't mean their opinions/thoughts/feelings are wrong or invalid. § One person's experience or interpretation of something can differ from another person's. Again: it might not be entirely accurate and correct, but that doesn't mean it's wrong or invalid. § Being offended or upset by something doesn't necessarily mean it was done in ill intent or aimed to insult or offend you personally. Objective, fair and constructive criticism is not an insult or offense.
(click "keep reading" for instructions, rules and information about submissions)
Submissions
On this blog there is a button which says "Say something!" where anyone can submit their own posts, either linked to a tumblr account or anonymously. The feature is technically for asking questions but on this blog we accept pretty much anything you want to say or share so don't feel restricted by Tumblr's wording.
SUBMISSION RULES
Submissions that don't follow the rules may be published with edits, or not published at all. If you don't want your submission to be posted publicly on the blog, please make a clear note of it! Start the post with "DO NOT POST THIS" in all caps so I won't miss it by accident. I may decide NOT to post your submission, or save it and post at a later point. This is mainly to keep a steady and cohesive flow of content.
You are responsible for what you write. I may be the one posting your words (I take responsibility for that part of the process) and your words may not be traced back to you, but you are still responsible for the consequences they may have.
Unless you specifically request that your submission is not to be posted, remember that your submission may be posted and made public for a wide audience. If published, anyone can see what you've written. Consider the potential risks and consequences of this before you post anything.
Try not to be rude. We all have feelings and sometimes it makes sense to express them freely, but sometimes it doesn't. I try to avoid insults, and so should you.
For negative feedback and/or sensitive topics, please avoid using names and use positions instead (e.g. "teacher"). If necessary, I will edit out names and any specifics that could make the person identifiable, but I appreciate if you do it for me.
If applicable, try to back up your statements with sources and/or arguments.
English, please. I'm not gonna share submissions that I don't understand myself.
Wanna submit anonymously but still separate yourself from all the other anons? Sign off with an animal of your choice (example: Best fishes! / Anonymous Fish)
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EDITS
Sometimes I post submissions in edited form. I try to keep my edits minimal and do my best to make sure the submissions retains its' original message. Edits are entirely due to practical reasons: protecting anonymity and integrity, avoiding unnecessary drama and insults, and in some cases simply to shorten down submissions to make them more manageable.
[text] = replacing (or rephrasing) original text [-] = one or more words have been redacted [/] = one or more sentences (in some cases paragraphs) have been redacted
On occasion I might use quotes from submissions, in which case I'll use quotation marks and sign it off with your name (if provided) or simply "anon".
I save all the original submissions, as well as submissions that I don't post, in case I need to go back to it later on. If you wish to retract a submission, feel free to make contact with me and request a removal. As long as the request isn't impossible or extremely unreasonable I will respect your wishes and integrity to the best of my ability.
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I, Fish, am an amateur: I don't have any training or instruction manual to follow, I'm learning as I go along and I like to try different approaches to see what works and what doesn't. I've messed up a few times and there are things I regret with this blog, but that is part of the process.
I do my best, and but I acknowledge that sometimes that's not good enough. I can't change that, all I can do is learn and try to do better. By all means, judge me by my mistakes, but please try to see the difference between mistakes and intent.
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Heart of Gold
CisFem Reader x Trafalgar Law
CW: ptsd, trauma, depictions/implications of suicide and suicidal ideation, language, violence, blood, canonical character death, mature themes and events 18+


Chapter 14: Travels
You stayed at your current island for a couple of days. The crew needed some shore leave for starters, and as long as the marines didn’t make a nuisance of themselves there was no rush. Someone stayed on the Tang with you – which was pretty standard for the crew. There were always a couple people available to move the submarine out of harm’s way if trouble caught up to them.
Law left with Shachi and Penguin at one point to tear the town’s library apart. Figuratively, he assured you. Sometimes knowledge had a way of hiding in small out of the way places like the islands he meant to visit, and there was a possibility that they could find something useful.
Whether that information was about his devil fruit, your ability, the seer’s prophecy, your current predicament, or even the One Piece, it was impossible to say.
There could also be nothing.
They returned with something, however, but it wasn’t something they could verify themselves.
You had shown Law some of the language that you’d translated for him before. The King’s tongue. By rights you were probably the only person who knew how to read it.
At the very least you might be the only person who knew how to read it that wasn’t a Celestial Dragon.
You flipped through it when Law handed it to you, skimming over some of the pages.
“It looks like a journal.” You state, paying closer attention to the page you’d randomly turned to. “It’s… kind of crude, but not impossible to read.”
“Crude?”
You tilt your head. “It feels like someone writing in a second or third language, and not their native tongue. It’s stilted in places, some particles are incorrect, but the concepts are complex, not childish. It’s not a child’s journal, and it feels too… motherly to be a teenager.”
You close the journal and smile. “I can read it in my spare time and see if there’s anything useful. I can imagine an anthropologist or archeologist would be interested in the contents, even if they don’t turn out to be directly useful to us.”
“It was a bust then?” Shachi moans.
“Mm, no, we don’t know yet.” You correct.
“Ah, sorry, Bell, it’s just… we were so excited to find that language.” Penguin explains. “And it’s a journal. That’s kind of boring to a pirate.”
“Robin-ya would be excited.” Law says, looking between the two.
“She doesn’t count, she’s an archeologist.” Shachi grumbles.
“She’s… one of the Straw Hats, yes?” You question, running over the list of your supposed allies. Law nods.
“Careful when you meet her,” Penguin rubs his arms. “She has, uh, a unique sense of humor.”
You smile. “I’ll keep that in mind. Anything else happen?” You ask, looking between the three of them.
Law shakes his head. “Scanning didn’t find anything. Admittedly, I’ve never really used it to scan an island, so I’m still making a lot of assumptions. I’m hoping we can find a book or two on geology on the next island, but everything here was basic.”
“On to further adventure then?” You question, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“Tomorrow,” he admits. “There’s a small… er…” His sentence trails off and his frown deepens.
“Festival?” You prompt, letting a small sigh escape you. “Alas.”
“Once everything is sorted out, we’ll take you on a festival tour!” Penguin offers, Shachi joining in with him. They’re trying so hard to cheer you up, and it’s appreciated.
“We can start at the Grandline Metropolis,” Shachi adds. “There’s festivals in all the quads, and once we’ve seen more of them we can do an island tour.”
“That sounds very… post everything else.” You admit a little sheepishly, but manage to put on a truly bright smile. “But something to look forward too, certainly.”
A soft metallic bang is heard from below decks, a call to a meal, and you all head down to eat.
You give one last glance to the island, curiosity and frustration in equal measure, before descending to the mess hall with everyone else.
The meal went well, and a couple hours later you were in your room, beginning to read the journal while you enjoyed the setting sun, when there was a knock at your door. Setting the small tome aside you opened the door and weren’t entirely surprised to see Law standing there.
“Busy?” He questions, eyes flitting to the book by your bed.
You shake your head. “Barely started. What can I do for you?”
He’s silent for a beat before shaking his head a little. “The festival’s fireworks might be visible from the deck.” He looks away, the default frown on his face twitching a little. “I thought you might enjoy seeing them.”
You smile. “It’s worth a shot. Are fireworks… um… Well, actually, what are fireworks?”
Law offers his elbow, and you take it. There’s a devious grin on his face. “All those technological advancements of days gone by, and there weren’t any fireworks?”
You feel your face flush. “I, well, the word may be different, is all.” You stammer a little, suddenly far more aware of his warmth than usual.
“They’re effectively colorful bombs.” He says, describing them as you ascended from the lower decks. “Fired into the air and packed with flammable minerals and chemicals to produce colorful light shows in the night sky.”
“Huh.” You’re really beginning to hope there’s a clear view available from the ship. “I’ve… never heard of such a thing. Colorful, recreational, bombs.”
“Fireworks.” He offers.
“So you say.” You step out onto the deck as the last few rays of the day’s light disappear under the horizon. The moments after the sun set were always your favorite. The world slowed for a time – man and beast alike, and it was easier to breathe.
The moment just before dawn was often the same, but days were often more hectic for you than nights, and so there wasn’t the same sense of peace to be had.
Law goes to the far side of the deck, leaning against the railing, and so you do the same. The world is quiet, and comfortable. So are you, standing against the rail on the deck of the Polar Tang, watching the sky steadily darken with a man beside you who had no desire to unnecessarily fill the quiet with words.
“Captain.” You begin, and see the scowl deepen.
He scowls when you call him captain, and the realization of why hits you like a bolt. At first you thought it was because you were teasing him, or maybe the tone with which you said it rankled him. But then you called him Law, and he didn’t scowl.
(Y/N)-ya.
Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, Ikkaku, Jean Bart, Clione, Hakugan, Uni.
(Y/N).
Robin-ya.
You tilt your head, and Law looks over at you in mild confusion. You had started to say something to him before you’d gone quiet and now he was waiting for you to get on with it. But your initial question was gone from your mind and replaced by something new.
“Why do you call people that?” You question, and there’s complete confusion on his face. “The ending you put on names, but not all names. You don’t use it for your crew, so I can’t imagine it’s a term of endearment. You used to put it on the end of mine, but now you do not.
“But when you referenced Nico Robin, you called her Robin-ya.” You’re too lost in your own thoughts to notice the expression on Law’s face. “Is it a statement of distance then? Like the tonal difference between sir dependent upon -.” Your concentration is broken as you hear a whistling sound.
You instinctively turn to it, eyes wide, taking in everything you could, and are relieved by your observation haki to realize it must be the firework that Law had mentioned. The colors were beautiful, the first and second time that you saw them. The distant pop that followed was barely enough to make you flinch, but it was followed by another whistle.
The sound of the bombs being launched into the air.
“Oh.” You murmur quietly, eyes glued to the sky as more explosions of color filled the air. “It’s like… flowers of light.” You say softly.
You stay still and quiet for a long moment, watching the bursts of light in the sky, soft gasps and awe-filled laughter, barely breathing the sound out into the air. Law watched you quietly, a small smile on his face. A softness in his features that you didn’t see.
At least, not at first.
You turned toward him after a particularly colorful display, smile wide on your face, and caught the look on his face. Your delight shifts to surprise, and the fireworks are no longer important. His eyes go a little wide, and the color that darkens his face gives him away before he looks away.
There’s no way you slept for centuries to fall in love with a pirate.
You slept for centuries for some purpose decided by the seer. You slept for centuries because you hadn’t managed to die when you tried. You slept for centuries because fate deemed it thus.
You slept for centuries because you’d been caught.
Falling in love with a pirate, was simply something that had happened.
You move to him, standing in front of him, eyes on his hands for a brief moment. The colors of the fireworks tremble over him softly, the subtle different colors lost due to the distance, little more than a soft blur of pale light.
You reach out, running your index finger along his, twining your fingers into his as he reacts to your initial touch. You’ve never felt so warm in the cool night air like this before, and part of you wonders if the soft light against his shirt isn’t from your own face, and not the distant light display. He reaches out with his hand, mimicking your actions and you twine the fingers of your other hand with his.
Looking up you see the soft expression from earlier. A tender smile you mirror on your own face.
He puts your hands on his waist, putting one of his own arms around your waist. His other hand comes up along your neck, fingers brushing over your skin. The gentle hand cups your jaw and tilts your head up.
You could step back easily. There’s a soft rush of anticipation and embarrassment that almost moves your feet, but it would be against your will.
Your lips press together as your eyes meet his, head dizzy with hope. You’re trying not to look ahead with your haki, but your heart seems ready to burst out of your chest.
“Law.” You say his name softly. There’s no purpose for it, no question behind it. A correction, perhaps, for having called him captain earlier.
The soft smile is more defined, and the shape of your name dances along the lines of his lips as he closes the small distance between you both.
The sky was awash with colors, and you were partially aware of the volley of explosions behind you, but the fireworks were mostly forgotten. Another time, perhaps, and they would have more of your attention.
Right now, there was warmth against your lips, and hot hands against your skin. Relief in your heart, and a rush of pleasure through your chest. Later, there would be words, but for now there was nothing to be said.
For as busy as your lips were, there was little else for them to do.
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10 Common Mistakes to Avoid Using AI Writing Tools
Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tools have become an essential part of content creation. They can save time, enhance creativity, and improve grammar. However, many people make mistakes while using AI-generated content. If we do not use AI responsibly, it may create misleading, inaccurate, or low-quality content. Let’s discuss ten common mistakes to avoid while using AI writing tools and how we can prevent them.
1. Over-Reliance on AI
AI tools can generate text quickly, but they cannot replace human creativity and critical thinking. Many users blindly trust AI and publish content without verifying it. Since AI models learn from data, they might produce incorrect or outdated information. In daily life, we often use spell-checkers, but we still need to double-check spelling and grammar. Similarly, AI-generated content must be reviewed before use.
How We Can Avoid This Mistake:
Always proofread AI-generated content.
Ensure that human input is involved in editing.
Check for factual accuracy before publishing.
2. Ignoring Context and Tone
AI writing tools might misinterpret the required tone. For example, if you need a formal business report but AI generates casual language, your work may seem unprofessional. This is similar to texting a friend versus emailing your boss. We need to modify AI responses according to the context.
How We Can Avoid This Mistake:
Set clear prompts while using AI.
Adjust the tone based on the target audience.
Review content for logical flow.
3. Generating Hateful or Harmful Content
Generating hateful or harmful content goes against ethical standards and can lead to serious consequences, including misinformation, discrimination, and harm to individuals or communities. AI should not be used to promote violence, prejudice, or divisive rhetoric.
How to Avoid This Mistake: Always frame prompts in a positive or neutral way, focusing on constructive discussions, historical analysis, or awareness rather than harm. If discussing sensitive topics, aim for an educational, balanced, and respectful approach that encourages understanding rather than division.
4. Poor SEO Optimization
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is crucial for online content. AI can help with keyword research, but some tools may overuse keywords, making the text unnatural. Proper balance is necessary for ranking well on search engines while keeping readability high.
How We Can Avoid This Mistake:
Use AI for keyword research.
Ensure proper keyword placement naturally.
Avoid keyword stuffing.
5. Incorrect Grammar and Sentence Structure
AI is advanced, but it still makes grammatical errors. Sometimes, AI generates complex or awkward sentence structures. For instance, AI might say, “The cake was baked by Mary,” instead of “Mary baked the cake.” The second sentence is more natural.
How We Can Avoid This Mistake:
Use grammar-checking tools to refine AI-generated content.
Read sentences aloud to check their flow.
Ensure the proper use of linking verbs and auxiliary verbs.
6. Lack of Human Creativity
AI follows patterns, but it lacks human emotions and originality. A blog post written entirely by AI might feel robotic. For example, saying, “The meeting went smoothl,y” is correct, but a human might say, “The meeting was a piece of cake!” Adding human creativity makes writing more appealing.
How We Can Avoid This Mistake:
Combine AI-generated text with personal creativity.
Add unique perspectives and insights.
Use idiomatic expressions to make content engaging.
7. Limited Emotional Connection
One big drawback of AI is that it struggles to bring out emotions. Human feelings are complicated, and while AI can act as it understands, it often misses the small details needed to truly connect with readers. If your content needs to win people over or stir up emotions, AI might not do the job well.
When content doesn’t pull people in emotionally, it may not leave a lasting impact, making it harder to turn interest into real action. Whether it’s gaining trust, bringing out empathy, or pushing readers to act, emotions play a big role in making content work.
How to Fix This Issue:
Add personal stories, examples, or emotional touches to make the content richer.
Use vivid language to paint a picture and bring out emotions.
Don’t lean on AI for the final version—human writers and editors do a much better job of creating content that touches people.
Try tools like Emotional Marketing Value (EMV) analysis to check how strong the emotional pull of your content is.
8. Misleading Information
AI does not always produce accurate information. For instance, if AI writes, “The Eiffel Tower was built in 1900,” it is incorrect because it was completed in 1889. Always verify AI-generated facts before using them.
How We Can Avoid This Mistake:
Fact-check AI-generated content.
Verify data with reliable sources.
Avoid spreading misinformation.

9. AI-Generated Content Sounds Repetitive
AI might repeat phrases, making the content sound monotonous. A well-structured article uses varied sentence structures and transition words to maintain flow.
How We Can Avoid This Mistake:
Use different prompts to generate diverse content.
Edit AI-generated text for variety.
Ensure smooth transitions between sentences.
10. Not Customizing AI Output
AI-generated content should be customized to fit the writer’s style and brand voice. For example, a blog post written for a travel website should sound adventurous and engaging, while one for a legal firm should be professional and precise.
How We Can Avoid This Mistake:
Personalize AI-generated text before using it.
Add examples, opinions, and unique insights.
Ensure that the content aligns with your brand voice.
AI Writing Mistakes and SolutionsMistakeHow It Affects WritingHow to Fix ItOver-Reliance on AIThis leads to inaccurate or low-quality contentProofread and fact-checkIgnoring Context and ToneMakes content inappropriate for the audienceAdjust tone and review contextNot Checking for PlagiarismThis can result in legal issuesUse plagiarism checkersPoor SEO OptimizationLowers search engine rankingUse keywords naturallyIncorrect GrammarMakes writing unprofessionalUse grammar-checking toolsLack of CreativityMakes content roboticAdd human insightsForgetting Cultural SensitivityCan cause misunderstandingsReview cultural appropriatenessMisleading InformationSpreads false informationVerify factsRepetitive ContentReduces engagementEdit and rewrite for varietyNot Customizing AI OutputMakes content sound genericPersonalize and refine AI-generated text
Conclusion:
AI writing tools can be powerful, but we must use them wisely. If we avoid these common mistakes, we can enhance our writing quality while maintaining accuracy, engagement, and professionalism. AI can guide us, just like using a GPS while driving, but we still need to steer in the right direction
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Finding your community // Self Diagnosis
Recently, while applying to join an Autistic Discord Community Server (which I'm not going to name) I was asked to state my opinions on Self Diagnosis.
I created this blog page to be an open and honest place were autistic teens can find advice and solace. I would like to remind everyone who reads my blog that I am not the be all and end all when it comes to autistic discussion. I also do not accept bullying, bad mouthing or being rude to people based on identity and disability. This blog is my opinion and advice as Sprkle. I am only human and I am likely to make mistakes and say the wrong thing. I am also allowed to change my opinions.
Following that disclosure...
I think that finding community is incredibly important. Whether that is, as Chloe Hayden says 'finding your tribe', or being part of any club, community, online forum, or fanbase. Quoting Hight School Musical 'we're all in this together'. It is important to have people with which you share common interests and can talk about what you like. This doesn't mean that everyone has to have the same personality entirely or that you all have to agree on absolutely everything. What a boring world it would be if that was the case.
Anyway, the other week I was attempting to join a discord server that prided itself on being an Autistic Community. Interestingly, along with providing a brief introduction about yourself you also were asked to share your views on Self Diagnosis*.
*Collins Dictionary defines Self Diagnosis as 'the diagnosis of one's own malady or illness'
I'd like to weigh in my own discussion and opinion on this.
Personally, I think that self diagnosis can be dangerous. It can affect not only the person self diagnosing but also the people in the community.
Self diagnosing can not only lead to people having an incorrect outlook on ones own mental health, it can also cause unneeded stress and anxiety (please read this article from the John Hopkins Hospital for more information). I will also add a link to a few more articles about the dangers of self-diagnosis at the bottom of this post that I would encourage you to read.
I would also like to state, from a more personal anecdote, that self-diagnosis can sometimes (I emphasises that I am not saying all the time here-) lead to the mistreatment of others in the community who do have a diagnosis. Some (again not all) people who self-diagnose do so in order to gain attention. From what I have seen in my own life with someone doing this, they have played on harmful stereotypes and this has lead to myself- and other members of my school community- to not receive treatment or help as we should. However, I do understand that for many a diagnosis can be hard to come by, and in some circumstances dangerous to ask for/have. Thus, some people turn to self-diagnosis. In these circumstances I still do not think self-diagnosis is the best answer, however, there is no harm in researching, joining servers or asking for advice. I think that you do not need a diagnosis to know how you are feeling, while for many it validates, it is not required to validate how you are feeling or what you have experienced. Again, I urge you to look at the links to Kooth, Childline and the NHS in my blog if you need support and are in the UK. This has been a rather long and controversial post and I apologise to anyone who may no longer feel welcomed to my blog due to what I have said, and I do hope that you still stay. Please know that if you wish to ask questions you can do so on my blog page or if you would like to have a chat that option is still open to you.
-Sprkle Here are some more links about the dangers of Self-Diagnosis:
#autism#autistic things#autistic#neurodiversity#neurodivergent#self diagnosed autism#self diagnosis#mental health#stress#therapy#support
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Back by popular demand (lol two people but let me have my moment): the Guardianofrivendell Birthday Writing Challenge!
A writing challenge?
Yes! To celebrate Tullaina's and my own upcoming birthday on June 11th, I challenge YOU, my dear mutuals, friends and followers, to write! Because what better way to celebrate my birthday than by being creative?
You can write anything from a little drabble to a full-blown 5k+ words fic story, whatever you feel like. But about what?
Well... If you remember last year, the writing challenge was all about the Incorrect Tullaina Quotes. I’m bringing them back because it was a lot of fun, but I’m adding two more options for those who want to try something else this year or simply don’t want to write about my OC (which I totally understand!!)
You can write fluff, angst, even smut, use every cliche trope in the book if you want, but make sure to tag your work accordingly so no one gets surprised!
You can find the three options further down this post.
How do I participate?
If you decide to join this little writing challenge, I'll be forever in your debt and super super grateful that you helped by not letting this flop!
Send me an ask or dm if you want to join this challenge with the option of your choice. I'll list the participants in this post and depending of if they want to, I’ll add what option they chose so you’ll have a basic idea of what everyone else is doing (because we like that, we’re human after all)
Deadline is Saturday June 11th 2022, this means you’ll have about 6 weeks time to write your work. On June 11th, everyone can post their work on Tumblr using the tag #Guardianofrivendell Birthday Writing Challenge 2022 so we can find the fic and don't forget to tag me in it!
The day after I’ll link all the works in one big GBWC 2022 Masterlist.
Can I post the fic on other platforms too?
Sure! Go ahead and post it on AO3, Wattpad or whatever platform you use outside of Tumblr.
What if I can't write, but I want to draw something or make a moodboard?
Uh... Yes please! You don't even have to ask! Same thing, send me an ask or dm that you’ll join the challenge and I’ll add your name to the list. You can still choose between the three options!
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send me an ask or message! I’ll probably reblog this post a lot of times the next 6 weeks, so sorry in advance for that :)
I read this post but I still don’t understand what this challenge is or what I have to do?
Don’t worry, we all get that sometimes! Luckily for you (and me!) I did this challenge last year as well. You can read all the works and watch the beautiful art pieces here so you can see how my wonderful mutuals and friends took on this challenge like a boss! Aren’t I the luckiest one?
Alright, alright, we get it! Now get to the options already!
You can choose out of three options, or combine them if you want, go crazy:

Pick a quote (or quotes if you’re feeling ambitious) from the tag “Incorrect Tullaina Quotes”. Use it as inspiration, build your story around it or use it as part of a dialogue in the fic. Your choice!
Search the tag “Incorrect Tullaina Quotes” in the Tumblr search bar or on my blog and you’re supposed to get most of them that way. There are over 100 incorrect quotes, so I can’t link them all in this post. It would simply be too much. However, if there are enough people who do want a list with all the quotes lined up, let me know and I’ll see if I can collect them in a doc and link that doc here. It’s a lot of work, so it can take a while before I’m able to do that.
If you need more information about my OC Tullaina, you can find fics, arts and her character sheet in my masterlist.
As you all know I’m a pretty slow writer and cursed to be visited by plot bunnies all the time. This can be quite frustrating because I know I won’t be able to write them all, even if I really, really want to.
So why not challenge you to write them for me?
Under the “read more” cut you can find a selection of Tullaina Plot Bunnies, little moments out of Tullaina’s life that I was planning to write someday. Some are almost summaries of the (non-existing) fic, while others are just “what about so and so”.
Don’t be afraid to write Tullaina OOC because you can’t! If I learned anything about last year’s challenge it’s that I love every version of Tullaina that was created, not once did I think “She wouldn’t say or do that!” because I was so in the moment!
Isn’t that a question we all ask ourselves sometimes? What if?
Well, now is the moment you can find out! Under the cut are 10 “What if” questions. Pick one and rewrite a scene from The Hobbit or Lord of The Rings, or write a new one!
For example, what if you pick the question “What if Thranduil was the smallest Elf in history?”, you could imagine how the scene in the throne room between Thranduil and Thorin would go a little differently... Let your imagination run free!
Thought of a What If-question that you would love to write but can’t find in the list? No problem, then you’re choosing number 11!
Participants
@midearthwritings
@grunid - art
@beenovel
@medusas-hairband - art plot bunny
@sunnyrosewritesstuff - what if
@sketch-and-write-lover
Tullaina Plot Bunnies
Here you can find little snippets out of Tullaina’s life that I wrote down in a doc (literally, it’s a copy paste out of that doc minus two that I really want to write myself) because I wanted to write a fic about it at some point. But you know me, I can’t write fast so who knows when it’ll get done, if ever. Feel free to give it your own twist!
Tullaina has a nickname ‘Tulls’, but only Fili and Kili use it. They get very protective if anyone else picks up on the nickname and uses it to address Tullaina. What would happen if at some point (say at a feast or gathering), another Dwarf uses the nickname when he talks/flirts to her? Could be any period of time: Ered Luin, during the quest, in Erebor, ...
There’s a ball in Ered Luin, the first one since forever (mostly to boost morale a bit) and the first one Fíli, Kíli and Tulls are allowed to go to. It’s the first time Fíli sees Tullaina all dressed up (hair done nicely, a proper dress). His mouth runs dry and he knows it will be a long night this way. How does the evening go?
Tullaina is trained by Thorin and Dwalin, and sometimes even Fíli and Kíli. She has the normal amount of training every Dwarrow gets, but once she decides to join the Quest, her training sessions pick up. What would a training session look like? How is she doing? And why doesn’t she wield an axe? Ered Luin era
When Kili meets Tauriel (? or another OC?) and falls in love during the quest, he tells Tulls he wants to ask her to marry him. And then Tullaina wonders ‘but who am I supposed to marry now?’ because they promised each other when they were teens that if they didn’t find their One they would stick together, maybe even marry each other. And she jokingly says (but secretly also kind of means it) that she’ll forever be alone now. Fili is standing there, he wants to swoop in and say something smooth like ‘you will always have me’ but can’t seem to find his voice. The moment is broken when Bofur says just that, and it becomes one of their ‘almost’ moments.
“Uncle Thorin” moments with Fíli, Kíli and Tullaina
There was really only one other Dwarf who genuinely wanted to court Tullaina, when they're in Erebor. You can imagine how that affected Fili... How is he dealing with this? And Kíli (aka their biggest shipper?)
Fíli runs into Kíli late at night, he’s looking for Tullaina. “Have you seen her? She’s not in her room and I can’t find her anywhere.” They’ve been working all day for the past few weeks. “Do you think she could have left?” “Maybe she finally got enough of being alone, we’ve neglected her” etc etc They look for her in the library, great hall, the stables but can’t find her anywhere. Slight panic, Fíli freaking out, Kíli trying to reassure him. When they’re on their way to alert Thorin and Dís of her disappearance, they find her sleeping with a book in her lap in a nook in one of her secret reading spots.
Once they’re settled in Erebor, married and all, Fíli surprises Tullaina with a grey puppy called Mouse (kind of like a Great Dane but the ME version of it, so... BIG, Fíli hates the name she gave him), as a guard dog for her when he’s out (worried husband y’all). Turns out it’s one big softie and instead of being weary of new people he’s welcoming to everyone. Until one time he doesn’t and everyone is suspicous. Rightfully so.
What If?
Pick a number and (re)write a TH/LOTR scene of your choice with this question in mind, or create a new one (a deleted scene if you want)
1. What if Dís went on the Quest, along with her brother and two sons?
2. What if Ori was the one to fall in love with Tauriel (movie verse)?
3. What if Boromir survived the arrows?
4. What if Hobbits could talk to animals? Like tiny dr Doolittles?
5. What if Gandalf couldn’t keep a secret/can’t lie?
6. What if Smaug was a different kind of animal?
7. What if Víli, father of Kíli and Fíli, was still alive when they leave for the quest?
8. What if Middle Earth was more modern than Tolkien let on?
9. What if Elves can’t tolerate water (maybe it burns them or harms them in some way) ?
10. What if one of the Hobbits is cursed with saying everything the opposite of what they mean? (fe yes means no, I’m sleepy means I don’t want to go to sleep)
11. (your own What If question)
Tagging a few people who were interested: @midearthwritings @beenovel @grunid
#Guardianofrivendell writing challenge 2022#Tullaina#Fíli x Tullaina#The Hobbit#Birthday Writing Challenge#Guardianofrivendell#The Hobbit fanfiction#The Hobbit OC#OC x canon
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Supplementary survey: they/them reflexives, The Sir/Ma’am Issue, and Spivak vs. Elverson
This short, clarifying survey ran from 4th until 24th April 2021. There were 2,998 usable responses. Unlike the annual Gender Census survey, this one was open to anyone of any gender, provided they lived in an English-speaking country.
It asked about two things:
They/them verbs and reflexives - basically whether people who prefer they/them pronouns prefer the reflexive to be themself or themselves, and which people feel is more “correct”.
Sir/ma’am/? - investigating why people use sir/ma’am in areas where it’s polite and common to do so, and whether there are any viable nonbinary or gender-neutral alternatives.
This blog post will also investigate the Spivak vs. Elverson issue, which was actually a separate poll that took place on two social networks.
~
THEY/THEM VERBS AND REFLEXIVES
Someone asked about themself vs. themselves, and it reminded me of some of the they/them issues that people ask about in feedback boxes and various confusions surrounding them.
Singular they - what is it, and when and how do people use it?
Plural they - what is it, and when and how do people use it?
What is the “correct” reflexive for each of these?
You can see the statistics in more detail here, but here’s the graph as an overview:
Participants were asked a series of questions about singular they pronouns. Everyone was asked a “which is correct” question, and participants who sometimes or always like to be called ”they” were also asked about their personal preferences.
The graph is a view of only participants who sometimes or always like to be called “they”.
Verbs. As you can see, participants overwhelmingly (94.3%) wanted people to use plural verbs (”they are reading a book”) when talking about them in the third person - even though the percentage of people who thought that was the most “correct” form was a little lower (81.8%). This was lower because 11.4% of participants who preferred “they” answered “both are correct”.
Reflexives. People were much more likely to say that both themself and themselves were correct (28.3%), and more likely to have no preference between the two (17.4%). However, themself was still more popular overall at 59.3%, and 47.3% thought themself was grammatically correct.
You as a control. I also asked all participants whether yourself or yourselves was more correct when addressing one person as a kind of control question, because they is almost grammatically identical to you - it can refer to one person or multiple people, it takes plural verbs even when referring to/addressing one person, and in that situation only the reflexive changes. Many people who say that singular they is grammatically incorrect have no issues with singular you, so it seemed like something that might be interesting to compare. In the graph above you can see that 93.6% of people thought yourself was more correct; only 4.2% of they-accepting participants felt that both yourself and yourselves were equally correct when addressing one person.
There were a couple of things that came up several times in the comments:
“They is” is common in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), and probably in other dialects too. As I don’t live in the US I’m pretty unfamiliar with this dialect, but either way that seems fine to me. It’s part of why I also asked for participants’ locations, because I wanted others to be able to download the results and see if some regions were more likely to use some words/constructions than others.
There were some alternatives to themself and themselves presented, such as theirself and theirsen. Both of these points lead nicely to the third...
The idea that any language choice is more “correct” than another is quite prescriptive. What feels correct or natural varies depending on a lot of factors, such as where in the world you learned English, and there is no such thing as objective correctness when it comes to such a broad and variable language as English.
I am aware of and agree with that third bullet point, so my asking which phrases were more “correct” was a bit of a trick question. It was a good way to get a feel for people’s linguistic instincts.
I also thought it was interesting that participants who never wanted to be called they were slightly more likely to side with the most popular view on what is “correct” across the board, and less likely to say “both are correct”.
~
PLURAL VS. SINGULAR THEY
I actually ran another version of this survey first and then scrapped the responses, because it was clear that my survey design was leading to some pretty confused and unhelpful data! Among other things, it asked participants whether they preferred singular or plural they for themselves and then directed them to particular questions based on their answer, and the comments suggested that people either didn’t really understand the distinction or meant different things by those terms, even though I had added help text.
This is my understanding:
Singular they is they/them pronouns when used to refer to one person. Verbs are usually plural (i.e. “they are” rather than “they is”), and themself and themselves are both common. Example usage: They are getting themself a cup of coffee. They bought themselves a nice new hat.
Plural they is they/them pronouns when used to refer to two or more people. Verbs are usually plural (i.e. “they are” rather than “they is”), and themselves is almost universal (with the exception of regional variations such as theirselves). Example usage: They are getting themselves some coffee together. They all bought hats for themselves.
Some plural/multiple people refer to themselves as “we” and prefer to be addressed as “they/themselves” (which they call plural they) because they are a group of individuals sharing one body.
The reason I initially asked directly about singular vs. plural they is because I was concerned that plural/multiple systems would cause some statistical confusion. Many plural people have asked me to add plural they to the checkbox list of pronouns in the annual survey, but since it has never been entered by over 1% of participants I have never had reason to do so. As far as I knew, the only difference between singular and plural they is the reflexive (themself for singular and themselves for plural), so I wanted to be able to investigate non-plural people in isolation, and I was curious to know about any trends or differences. I wanted to find out if I should be doing anything differently to ensure that Gender Census statistics are helpful.
So, I swapped out the badly-designed question for a straight-up checkbox, a “check this box if you’re plural/multiple” type of thing, with a note that participants should fill in the survey once per body wherever possible, and then I made some graphs.
Here you can see that plural systems were still more likely to prefer people to use themself to refer to them rather than themselves, though the margin is narrower:
Plural participants were also more likely to say that they sometimes or never want people to refer to them as they, whereas non-plural people were more likely to want people to always refer to them as they (or they just feel fine about it):
There’s not a lot in it, though. It’s all relatively evenly distributed, with no strong leader in either category there.
For the curious: 8.2% of participants checked the plural/multiple box.
In conclusion: plural and non-plural people alike all prefer people to use themself when referring to them in the third person using they/them pronouns, and I feel that there is probably no need to ask about plurality or separate out data from plural people in future. (Asking about this and seeing the responses did in part prompt me to start an anonymous feedback form for plural participants of the Gender Census, though.)
~
THE SIR/MA’AM ISSUE
For several years participants have been asking me in the feedback box of the annual Gender Census survey to also ask about gender-inclusive or nonbinary-specific alternatives to sir and ma’am. I’ve largely not done anything about it, because when informally asking around I’ve generally had the response “just don’t say sir or ma’am, just leave it out altogether.” I live in the UK, where if someone calls you sir/ma’am you’re either looking at home in a fancy restaurant for billionnaires or you’re being made fun of - or sometimes both.
However, during this year’s annual survey while talking about it in a little more depth I learned that there are places in the world where sir/ma’am is very common, required for politeness, and basically inescapable. Nonbinary people in those areas are really struggling, because they do actually need a nonbinary-friendly stand-in for those terms - omitting the sir/ma’am isn’t an option.
Again, the location question was asked so that anyone else downloading the spreadsheet of responses can analyse by region to find out whether sir/ma’am is ubiquitous in particular regions and in which contexts it is used, and can even check whether there is a region-specific alternative to sir/ma’am emerging. I asked several questions about sir/ma’am, including about reasons/contexts and personal preferences, and some superficial analysis is included on the spreadsheet of responses.
But the juicy bit is the nonbinary-specific and gender-inclusive alternative words, right?
[The counting formula is case-sensitive so I made everything lowercase to make the count a little more accurate.]
Suggested gender-inclusive alternatives to sir/ma’am
mx - 4.1% (151)
friend - 2.2%
comrade - 1.2%
captain - 0.7%
ser - 0.5%
mate - 0.4%
m - 0.3%
per - 0.3%
boss - 0.3%
folks - 0.3% (9)
Suggested nonbinary-specific alternatives to sir/ma’am
mx - 8.3% (250)
mix - 0.7%
tiz - 0.5%
friend - 0.4%
ser - 0.4%
comrade - 0.3%
mixter - 0.3%
captain - 0.2%
ind - 0.2%
mir - 0.2% (6)
So it looks like Mx (pronounced “mix” or with a toneless vowel that sounds a bit like “mux”) is the clear winner in both categories. If you want to try to introduce a gender-neutral version of sir/ma’am in your area this one is probably your best bet.
~
SPIVAK VS. ELVERSON
This wasn’t part of the same survey! It was a Twitter poll and a Mastodon poll that ran for one week and ended today, and I’m putting it here because it has to go somewhere.
Sometimes people refer to the ey/em and e/em “versions” of the Spivak pronoun set, which makes my eyebrows do things, because they’re not both Spivak. They are distinct established pronoun sets with their own names.
Spivak - e/em/eir/eirs/emself - written about by Michael Spivak in the 1990s. [source: Nonbinary Wiki]
Elverson - ey/em/eir/eirs/emself - created by Christine M Elverson in the 1970s. [source: Nonbinary Wiki]
The Elverson set is older, but it’s less well-known for some reason, so they’re assumed to be variants of Spivak due to the similarity in spelling.
I was recently asked how we can know which is more popular, given the “oh this checkbox option is close enough, I’ll just choose that instead of typing in my very slightly different set” effect and the “hmm this checkbox option is very close to my set, I’m probably meant to choose this one” effect, plus the boost that checkbox options get with the “oh I hadn’t thought of that one but yeah, why not” effect. Spivak (e/em) is on the checkbox list of pronouns in the annual survey, so it appears to be much more popular than Elverson (ey/em)... but is it really?
I ran a poll on both Twitter and Mastodon, and then used a spreadsheet to extract the useful numbers. There were 141 relevant votes after one week. I wouldn’t usually make annual-survey-altering decisions based on a sample that small, but in this case the results are extremely decisive:
It seems that the highest proportion of people who like at least one of the sets are happy for both to be used, at 48%. 45% prefer ey/em (Elverson) and 7% prefer e/em (Spivak). This is pretty stunning! I’ve been presenting e/em (Spivak) as a checkbox option on the Gender Census annual survey for years, possibly since the first survey in 2013, and because it’s a checkbox option it seems to be consistently a lot more popular than ey/em (Elverson). That’s 4.3% and 0.6% respectively in the 2021 survey. But this poll suggests that actually ey/em (Elverson) is much more popular when the two pronoun sets are viewed on a level playing field.
When you remove all “I don’t mind” votes, you get this:
Over 6 times as many people prefered Elverson!
I will definitely be adding Elverson to the Gender Census next year, just so that we can split the e/em and ey/em votes and really get to the bottom of this.
Anyway, while we’re on the topic, ey/em takes singular verbs most of the time.
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Hello! I have tried searching before but did not have the most reliable sounding answers, and I know this is the Lokean welcome committee, but I was wondering if you might have any insight to if it might be acceptable to worship deities of separate cultures, I know some pagans worship multiple gods, while I am certain in the fact I am Lokean and trying my best to find my way of doing so, I would like to worship a few other gods that are not nordic, but I'm worried if that might just be a bad idea in general and taken as offensive to anyone.
Thank you for the help, and for being here at all, somehow it feels a lot more steady knowing there are others around in person
Hey anon. Thanks for the kind words; hanging in there, as they say. In any case, at least coming from the Norse side of things it's certainly something you can do, but there are some considerations you may want to keep in mind. For one, the gods of course have agency, preferences, and opinions, so if you're using divination or some other communication form in your practice, it may be worth bringing that up with him or seeing how things go. Obviously you as well have agency so if there is an objection from Loki that's something to consider, but the decision is ultimately yours.
With that said, I linked the post I did up there not only because it includes some alternative options to divination, but also because while you will get different opinions on this, I personally concur with this post in advising that effort be made to look into and respect the cultures, history, and past practices regarding any deities. There is of course the matter of being respectful to other cultures and to the gods in question, but also the fact that the Internet has a lot of information, and as I'm sure we've all experienced in at least one Google search, quantity is not always quality. Sometimes misinformation is just incorrect/ahistorical, which is still not good, but there's also the unfortunate but very real possibility that misinformation could be rooted in hateful ideologies or otherwise harmful to people. To quote le Carré, to ignore history is to ignore the wolf at the door, and at least speaking for myself I would at minimum hate to be inhospitable, though I don't claim to be anything better than continually working on that front. While this post is from a more specifically heathen angle, I think it has a lot of good advice and things to think about for any sort of "starting out," whether that be your continued practice with Loki or more you may add in the future. Additionally, while we do have some good resources in our FAQ, basic informational posts, and reading list if you need them for ol' Loptr, for other traditions/deities most open traditions do have a decent amount of introductory material online, and asking friends who practice the tradition or getting in touch with a local clergy member for recommendations (if available) can also be helpful.
With that all said, to reiterate a sentiment in that linked post and above, your practice is really a process, and there's no need to rush or even incorporate everything at once. While there's some hopefully useful general advice here, where you go with things and how your practice continues to develop will really be something between you and any other deities/entities involved, but it's certainly an option that is pursuable if you choose to go that route in the future.
I wish you the best of luck wherever your path takes you, and of course feel free to send another ask if there's anything else we may be able to help with. (And while I think the previous mods and Mod E certainly deserve the bulk of the credit, glad the blog's been helpful to you!)
-Mod V
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different sexualities/genders and usage of pronouns~
author’s note- if any of this information is incorrect or offends anyone, please feel free to pop into my inbox or dm me to let me know and i will fix it asap! also, if you have any identities to add, dm/send an ask about their description and i will do some research and then add it to this post!
_________
there are so many different sexualities, genders, pronouns, and identities in this world, and i know that sometimes it can be confusing. this is meant to help explain a few of them!
_________
SEXUALITIES
homosexual- a person sexually and/or romantically attracted to people of the same gender as them.
lesbian- a woman (whether intersex, cisgender or transgender) who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to women. lesbian is can be an umbrella term for all gender identities who are attracted to women.
he/him lesbian- a person who uses he/him pronouns but is still a homosexual woman.
they/them lesbian- a woman or nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns and is sexually and/or romantically attracted to women.
gay- a man (whether intersex, cisgender or transgender) who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to men. this term is also used at times by people of other sexualities within the LGBTQ+ community who are attracted to the same sex as a slang. for example, many bisexual women use the phrase “i’m so gay” whenever they see a woman they’re attracted to, even if they’re technically a bisexual, and not a gay. this term includes people who use different pronouns but still identify as men, or do not identify with a specific gender but are attracted to men.
bisexual- a person who is sexually and/or romantically to multiple gender identities, but not all genders. for example, a women being attracted to women, men, and nonbinary folks. a common misconception is that bisexuals are only attracted to men and women, not any other identities. this is not true for all people, just some. another misconception is that bisexuals are transphobic, which is the untruest of all untruths, because not only is that implying that transgender peeps are not the gender that they identify with. it also implies that attraction is the only form of respect, along with being incorrect, as many bisexuals are attracted to transgender peeps. sometimes bisexual is an umbrella term which people use even if they are attracted to more than one gender, whether that be some or all. bisexuality can be divided into two categories- attraction to same and unsame genders.
pansexual- a person who is sexually and/or romantically to all gender identities. sometimes people prefer to describe themselves as pansexual if they base attraction off something different than gender entirely. some people who are attracted to all genders still use the term bisexual- this is just a preference.
asexual- a person who does not feel attracted to the idea of sex and/or are repulsed by it. asexuals can still experience romantic attractions, they just don’t desire people sexually. asexuals can still have sex, watch porn, or engage in sexual activities, it just doesn’t give them the same thrill as it does for non-asexuals. some asexuals may not feel no sexual attraction at all for some gender identities, but be sexually attracted to others.
demisexual- a person who does not feel sexual attraction to a person unless they have formed a strong emotional bond with them first. demisexuals may not feel sexual attraction to all genders, and may only need an emotional bond with some gender identities to experience sexual attraction.
queer- a term that refers to people who do not identify with any particular sexuality label and/or reject cultural norms surrounding sexuality. this term can be used if you are unsure of your sexuality, but know that they are not heterosexual. it is also an umbrella term that spans all sexual identities within the LGBTQ+ community. people with complicated sexual identities often use this term because explaining themselves becomes exhausting after a while. nonbinary peeps use this term because some terms, like lesbian and gay, would be inaccurate if they used them. however, they can still use those terms. they’re cool like that :)
panromantic- someone who experiences romantic attraction to all genders. someone could be panromantic but also a lesbian if they are able to experience romantic attraction to all gender identities but only sexual attraction to women.
aromantic- someone who does not experience romantic attraction
omniromantic- someone who experiences romantic attraction to all genders, but has a distinction or preference between them. for example, feeling attracted to nonbinary peeps but also women, however preferring nonbinary peeps and feeling a different sense of attraction between those two identities.
biromantic- someone who experiences romantic attraction to two or more genders, but not all genders.
pluralian- a term that refers to anyone who experiences romantic and/or sexual attraction to more than one gender.
viramoric- a nonbinary peep who is attracted exclusively to men.
enbian- a nonbinary peep who is exclusively attracted to fellow non-binary peeps.
feminamoric- a nonbinary peep who is exclusively attracted to women.
polyamorous- a person who has the capability or desire to be in relationships with more than one person. polyamorous people can have any sexuality.
_________
GENDER IDENTITIES
transgender- a term that describes people who do not identify with the gender assigned to them with at birth. this might be confusing for some, but basically, your genitalia do not determine what gender you feel on the “inside” or identify with. for example, a woman who has a penis is still a woman, and you can not say they are not.
cisgender- a term that describes people who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.
nonbinary- someone who does not identify with being a man or a woman. some nonbinary people can identify with being one of those two genders in part, just not completely. nonbinary humans can also be transgender.
stellarian nonbinary- someone who is nonbinary and neutrally aligned, and does not lean towards being a man or a woman, however they still identify with having a gender
solarian nonbinary- someone who is nonbinary and male-aligned, and partly identifies with being a man
lunarian nonbinary- someone who is nonbinary and female-aligned, meaning they partly identify with being a woman
nebularian nonbinary- a mix of lunarian and stellarian nonbinary
novarian nonbinary- a mix of solarian and stellarian nonbinary
*the above genders in bullet points are according to the galactian alignment system
agender- someone who does not identify with a gender, or is genderless.
gender queer- a term for people who do not have a normative gender or prefer not to have a certain gender identity.
genderfluid- someone whose gender changes over time. this could be day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, on an inconsistent schedule, etc.
intersex- a term for someone who is born with physical characteristics that can not be classified as male or female.
_________
PRONOUNS
they/them- someone who prefers to be referred to as they/them
she/her- someone who prefers to be referred to as she/her
he/him- someone who prefers to be referred to as he/him
*any combination of they/them, she/her, and he/him is possible and can be interchangeable. for example, genderfluid people may use he/him one day and then prefer she/her the next. some people may prefer more than one set of pronouns. some examples of this- he/they and she/they
_________
i know, this can be a lot to take in and it can be worry to use the correct pronouns, but most people won’t be mad unless you purposefully mean to offend them.
asking considerate questions is appreciated if you don’t understand someone’s identity :)
if someone says they’re pansexual while also being lesbian and gay at the same time, just go with it, it’s none of your business and who cares?
have a nice day everyone! love you all!!! <3
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INARIZAKI’S DIALECT ~EXPLAINED~ *
*as the way it's been translated into english by viz lol
I’ve seen a lot of people struggle with understanding/writing the inarizaki boys’ accents, especially for people who’s first language isn’t english, so I tried my best to explain, as someone who talks close to this irl, some of the more difficult nuances of it!
(this was originally posted to my twt, but figured that tumblr might be easier for people to bookmark it/read it. i also added a few more examples and things i missed the first time around!)
so lets goooo
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘YER’ AND ‘YA’
Generally speaking, ‘yer’ and ‘ya’ aren’t interchangeable, but they both are used when the speaker is referring to the person their actively talking to
‘you’re / your’ is what becomes ‘yer’
you’re a dumbass = yer a dumbass
your toss was perfect = yer toss was perfect
‘you’ is what becomes ‘ya’
you really like that = ya really like that
can you hand me that = can ya hand me that
there's sometimes exceptions where you can use 'ya' instead of 'yer'
yer crazy / ya crazy
they both mean the same thing, but i might personally argue that they're not in the same dialect.


DOUBLE NEGATIVES
these are a bit hard to nail down sometimes because it’s grammatically incorrect. two negatives cancel each other out. when someone’s using a double negative in a sentence, it’s not about what the sentence technically means, but what’s being emphasized.
“I didn’t eat none of yours” TECHNICALLY means “I did eat yours” since ‘didn’t’ and ‘none’ would cancel each other out, but that isn’t what atsumu WANTS to say (tho we all know he’s lying of course in this instance.)
the grammatically sentence would be “I didn’t eat yours” or “I didn’t eat any of yours” Atsumu adding ‘none’ here is him emphasizing that he ate NONE of Osamu’s ice cream.

“I don’t need no in-between participation prize” would technically mean “I need an in-between participation prize” but again, that isn’t what Atsumu WANTS to say.
The grammatically correct sentence would be “I don’t need an in-between participation prize” but the ‘no’ in the original is emphasizing the fact that he doesn’t want a participation prize.
and again in this panel, “That ain’t no faith” would also technically mean “that’s faith” but the ‘no’ is emphasizing that it isn’t faith at all.
USING DON’T IN PLACE OF DOESNT
This one is also a bit weird since it’s also technically considered grammatically incorrect, but it’s basically replacing ‘doesn’t’ with ‘don’t’
i personally tend to lean more towards this when i’m really heated about something and speaking faster than normal
this doesn’t add up = this don’t add up
do you guys think this doesn’t matter = do y’all think that this don’t matter
THIS HERE / THAT THERE
Usually you wouldn’t need ‘here / there’ after ‘this / that’ since ‘this / that’ already implies the subject’s location relative to the speaker and using ‘here / there’ would be redundant.
there's only these instances of older folk using it, but i still think it's relevant enough to mention. also there's probably a historical reason for this structure to exist in country-like dialects, but /shrug

REAL (ADJECTIVE)
because this dialect is relatively “simple” people tend to go for simpler adjectives with an adverb attached to it, but instead of using ‘really’ it gets shortened to ‘real’




INFORMAL CONTRACTIONS
so when people are speaking, there's sometimes the tendency to drop whole words or letters, and combining them.


here's a bunch of different examples i yoinked from here, not ALL of these will work for everything, but i say just play around and see what you think works best for your writing or whatever
DROPPED LETTERS
there's some words where the syllables get somewhat mushed together/not fully enunciated on/dropped
'probably' becomes 'prolly'
‘because’ becomes ‘ ‘cause’ or ‘ ‘cuz’ (entirely your preference on spelling imo)
‘little’ becomes ‘l’il’
there's also words like 'suppose' where if someone were to say it out loud, it would become 's’pose'
it’s also super common to drop the ‘g’ off of -ing verbs (feelin’, thinkin’), as well as dropping the ‘h’ off the beginning of words (here becomes ‘ere, them become ‘em)
something that i frequently do when i talk is slur together the word ‘its’ with the next word
it’s okay = s’okay
its not that bad = s’not that bad
you’re supposed to eat it = yer s'posed to eat it
it’s because it’s a little weird = s’cause issa l’il weird
it’s not supposed to be that cold out here yet = s’not s’posed to be that cold out ‘ere yet

DROPPED WORDS
in addition to dropped letters, they also tend to drop words where it might be obvious on what the subject is in the conversation.
"(what) the heck..."
"(do you) think we oughta..."

GENERAL VOCABULARY
i think this part of writing dialects is a bit more trial and error than anything since it's not so much grammar structures as it's just. using different words in place of more common ones (think of soda vs pop, they’re the same thing just used in different regions)
everyone's called hinata shorty but aran uses squirt instead
"socked in the gut" instead of "punched in the stomach"
"buttered up" instead of "flattered"
‘everyone/people’ become ‘folks’
there’s not really a ~masterlist~ i can give y’all to use for comparisons, it’s kinda just. trial n error i think.


alright!! i think that covers most of a general southern/country accent as it’s spoken in english.
i think the only other thing to keep in mind if you’re trying to write is stuff like accents becoming heavier when talking to someone who speaks with the same accent vs someone who doesn’t, or accents getting heavier the more excited/angry someone it. also going really heavy on writing like this might be a bit hard to read/understand so you dont have to do ALL of these things to make it realistic.
if there’s anything i missed, or if y’all need me to explain anything further in depth, please feel free to drop an ask or somethin!! i’ll try my best to help :)
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I love when you fix twilight. It's obviously not fix-able completely, but you make it way better. What do you think about how she calls her parents by their first names?.
i think bella’s relationships with her parents are super weird and sometimes even unhealthy.
some of the things i’m gonna say, i’ve already said before, and they are VERY VERY LONG, but i’m gonna say them again anyway and i’ve watched jenny nicholson videos for like three days straight, so i’m gonna do it in.... a numbered list!!!!
seriously it’s super long don’t open the readmore unless you want to look at a super long post
1. bella calls them by their first names, but only in internal narration.
most teenagers don’t call their parents by their first names, so this is odd and distances the reader from her. i’m not sure if it’s supposed to humanize her parents?
her parents would be humanized if they were acknowledged by the role they’re supposed to be playing in bella’s life; most of her readers would be seeing her as The Typical Teenage Girl, so having her parents be seen as entities separate from her who operate as peers instead of parents is bizarre.
furthermore, she never does this in dialogue. she only does it in internal narration.
so is this supposed to make her seem more mature and independent? bella isn’t independent; she’s provided with all her needs by her father, including emotional needs. when edward leaves her in the second book, her father takes care of her and ultimately considers having her go back to live with her mother again, because clearly bella is in need of some parental support. put a pin in maturity, i’ll get back to that in a second.
if it’s not to make her seem more mature, then it’s just a weird stylistic choice so that the reader knows her parents’ names, which - why? i’m sure when chief swan is talking to his friend and his friend calls him charlie, we will understand through context clues that his name is charlie. also, us knowing her parents’ names doesn’t add anything to the story. bella treats every side character as an obstacle in her life, so we gain nothing from knowing her dad’s name.
it makes sense for her to call her stepfather phil, but she should call her parents mom and dad.
2. bella is “super mature”
ouch! i pricked my finger on the pin i put in maturity. yowie!
we hear a lot about how mature bella is. she condescendingly tells us that her mother is stupid and describes her father’s inability to feed himself. is this true?
her mother got married and has begun a life with her new husband. her father is a grown-ass man who has kept himself alive for what, forty years? they never do anything particularly immature except one time stephenie meyer has her dad accidentally microwave a can of soup at some point (has he never had soup? in the whole decade since he and renee got divorced, has he been soupless the entire time?). i don’t know that fucking up a can of soup is immature so much as a mistake, but go off i guess.
so maybe she’s not more mature than her parents, but surely she is just mature in her own right. let’s see all the mature decisions bella makes just in the two years we are present for.
bella gets a head injury in a car accident. she resists the advice she receives from a medical professional to rest, and plans on not telling her mother about it. she’s even pissed at her dad when he tells her mom.
bella meets edward and senses from the jump that he’s lying to her. he gives her mixed signals that make her uncomfortable. he and many people in his life talk often about how he could kill her, how much he wants to kill her, but that he is holding back. she decides that she is safe based on her own feelings (she is objectively incorrect about this, by the way, regardless of how her story ends) and chooses to date him anyway.
bella catches the attention of a man who wants to kill her specifically. she does not tell her father. instead, she insults him and runs away from home. she then runs away from the people who are assigned to protect her, because she believes she knows better than they do.
edward breaks up with bella. i think most people after the ending of a relationship would go to their room and cry and process those feelings of sadness and abandonment. but bella’s not like other girls. she’s mature and has deep emotions. she refuses to accept the breakup and spends hours wandering around in the woods, forcing everyone in her town to go around in the night looking for her. okay.
she gets a part-time job at some point. but so does her classmate mike, and also 55% of teenagers in her age range (when the book is set, which is in the mid-to-late 90′s).
oh, but wait, then she withdraws all her savings and uses them to purchase and fix up a motorcycle - a thing she is specifically not allowed to do - in order to spite her ex boyfriend. at this point she has abandoned her plans to become a vampire, so there’s no reason to assume she won’t be going to college in a couple years. with what savings will she be paying the tuition? i’m sure her school counselor will understand when she explains that she spent it all on a motorcycle.
we are told bella is very mature and stephenie meyer clearly expects us to draw this conclusion based on how bella does her chores without being asked; but when it comes to major decisions about her safety, her future, and the effect she has on others, she repeatedly makes selfish and childish decisions. she hurts her parents, her friends, and herself, a lot. she does all of this based on her own intuition.
and actually, a lot of it tracks with her being a teenager. teenagers are not adults. they biologically do not yet have the full capacity for decision-making. that’s why they’re not adults. bella is not more mature than her parents and her belief that she is is demonstrably dangerous. she really needs more discipline in her life.
3. bella and her mom
bella is very sad in the beginning of the book. she loves her mom and sees her mom as her best friend.
she demonstrates her closeness by:
lying to her mom that she wants to live with her dad, because she believes renee will be happier without bella, her supposed best friend. renee does not notice that bella has lied or question this decision.
putting off emailing or calling her mom for several days, which makes renee angry. when she finally does, she basically just lists the things she’s done and logs off.
refusing to share information with her, including that she was injured in a car accident, because she believes renee will be upset. her dad calls renee anyway, and bella is angry and is incredibly reluctant to call her back and talk to her.
ignoring her emails for months when she’s sad over her breakup.
visiting her exactly one time in the whole two years spanned in the books. her mom is also never invited to come visit bella in forks.
renee’s absence from bella’s life actually works for the plot, as she can’t interfere with bella’s duplicity, while leaving the option to add an element of guilt from afar. but it doesn’t make sense as a character decision.
i think it would make way more sense if bella and her mother aren’t close. bella wants her mom to show interest in her life. she suggested moving in with her dad in the hopes that her mom would be like, “no, honey, stay, i’ll miss you if you go,” but renee doesn’t even question it, she just books her a ticket.
bella checks her email immediately when she arrives, and hasn’t heard from her mom, so she sends her an email herself, to which she gets a response like, two days later.
bella calls her mom and gets her answering machine. renee is on her honeymoon and she and her new husband are in the process of moving to another state, so bella reasons that her mom is just busy; but she is also dealing with the knowledge that she’s just not a priority for her mom.
yeah, this is very sad and makes renee seem like an asshole, but maybe she is an asshole in this version. it would neatly remove renee from the plot, it would explain why bella is so bummed about living with her dad, and it would lay the groundwork for why bella is so gutted when she perceives edward breaking up with her as being abandoned. bella believes she is not worth staying for.
4. bella and her dad
i don’t even know where to start with bella and her dad. he seems great to me.
he is the chief of police.
he knows and is respected by everyone in town.
he has friends and hobbies.
as i said before, he has fed and clothed himself his whole life - at the very least in the decade since his divorce.
...so he seems like a reasonable person and member of the community.
he treats bella with respect and offers her privacy, but he is always available when she needs help.
he notices and tries to intervene when she’s struggling.
he has an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and they communicate about their daughter regularly.
he bought bella a truck and put chains on the tires so that it would be safe for her even when it’s cold and wet out.
...so he’s clearly an involved and caring father.
bella goes through a serious depressive episode in new moon after her breakup with edward, and her dad responds to every bit of it.
he wants to find out why she is upset.
he is aware of how she’s doing in school and whether or not she’s seeing her friends.
when bella has night terrors, he jumps out of bed to comfort her.
when jacob deliberately lashes out at her and triggers another depressive episode, he immediately steps in and calls jake’s dad.
he is told bella is at fault, but he takes bella’s side and chooses to believe her side of the story.
throughout her depression, he never once judges her for it.
after what he perceives to be edward hurting bella and being a bad boyfriend (which - he is observably not wrong about that), bella’s dad is openly against bella dating him again.
...so he cares for and advocates for bella’s emotional state.
if bella expresses gratitude or appreciation for any of these things, it’s sort of bitter and backhanded, like “at least charlie leaves me alone.” he fucked up trying to make dinner one time, to which she responds by refusing to let him cook ever again. bella dates edward twice before eclipse, and both times she went missing and then came back injured; so chief swan tells her he doesn’t think she should be dating edward again, at which point she puts down ultimatums and threatens to leave. bella ignores his rules and requests, keeps secrets from him, and runs away from home a few times because she believes she knows better than he does.
no matter how many times charlie proves himself, it never changes bella’s opinion of him. there’s no arc there. bella arrives thinking her father is incompetent, and she leaves thinking her father is incompetent.
making bella disrespect her father does benefit the narrative by enabling her to be secretive and makes her feel even more isolated in her experiences. it also makes stephanie have to write about less characters. but bella being secretive and isolated just results in her being stuck in the same situation for like 75% of each book. i think it would make sense for her to want to fix things, even just a little bit.
there’s no reason for her to disrespect charlie, so her unfounded feelings of disdain toward him are confusing and just make her look like a dick; and furthermore, not giving him a character arc just makes him a boring obstacle. he might as well just be a door that gets stuck shut whenever it rains.
i think it would be a better idea, for character development, for bella to grow closer to her father over the course of her stay with him. i would like, at least two of the times bella disobeys him, for her to ultimately conclude that he was right and she shouldn’t have done the thing. i would like her to eventually open up to him about some things.
she doesn’t have to share that the cullens are vampires, but of all the people in her life, who has experience with having a romantic partner with whom he envisioned a future break up with and leave them? it would make sense for her to confide in him - or at the very least, seek comfort from him.
bella trusting her father’s judgment and showing caution dating edward again after the events of new moon would also be better for the story, and i have more thoughts about that but that’s for another post.
and probably biggest of all, your only tenuous link to emotional acceptance and fulfillment should not be your romantic partner. that’s so weird and unhealthy. bella is a teenager who, in general throughout the books, feels unmoored and stressed out. she needs someone sturdy and reliable who she can trust to protect her, even if it’s only emotionally. this would also give bella someone to bounce her thoughts and feelings off of and reduce the monotony of the narration a little bit.
her father is an excellent choice for that. he repeatedly demonstrates that he is in her corner, and her corner alone. (i also think vampires should be just a little bit easier to kill, so that chief swan can protect her just a tiny bit.)
5. why
stephenie meyer has children herself and it’s so weird to me that she would write a teenager deliberately disobeying and lying to her parents and consequently placing herself and many other people in grave danger, and framing it as a good thing. she makes it clear that bella was correct in doing this.
bella’s not the only one, either. edward allegedly sees carlisle as his father figure, but A. this was not consensual, and he is frequently unhappy that carlisle bit him and made him a vampire; and B. he often disregards or gets angry about carlisle’s advice.
wouldn’t stephenie meyer want to know if her son was hurting, or in danger? wouldn’t she want her son to respect her? wouldn’t she want to be able to share her wisdom and help her son make safe choices?
she does make it clear in interviews that this is pretend and she doesn’t believe readers should be seeing her characters as role models; but she made her characters teenagers on purpose, and it strikes me as kind of irresponsible to act as if she assumes her young readers won’t try to identify with them.
bella’s relationships with her parents are boring and unusual, and the older i get the more frustrating they are. they stifle the characters and make the plot repetitive and tiresome. these are relatively small changes that i think would benefit the story overall. and that’s my opinion, thanks guys
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FAQ
1. Where do you find those AU’s?
Well, mostly those are the AUs that cross my dash - when I happen to be active on tumblr. So you see, it is a bit restrictive and means there are probably lots of AUs I never found and I don’t even know exist! Every once in a while, I try exploring blogs or using tumblr search engine. It gets me results, but not as much as you would expect (tumblr search engine is not the most effective tool for that kind of things...). My ask box is also open in case you want to suggest a new tag/new post (see Q4 & Q5).
2. Are new AU tags meant to be added on the list?
I intend to. But it vastly depends on the AUs that cross my path (see Q1) and of the time I can manage to spend on the list. But I am always happy to discover new AUs :) On a side note, I intend to edit this version of the list rather than posting new versions. As long as I don’t have to split it again it should be fine!
3. Do you continue tagging the posts you reblog?
Yes, I try. So if you click on the same tag now and then in a few months, you may see new posts. ‘May’ of course, because I don’t encounter every AU everyday and some AUs are more popular than others...
4. Can I suggest an AU tag?
Yes please! The more tags the better. I can’t guarantee I’ll add it to the list though. Maybe I already use a synonym (or a concept too close to create a new entry). I also need to have more than two posts about an AU to create a tag (otherwise, it will be tagged as “Other AU” and possibly “Other /thematicName/ AU”). So it is best you also suggest post(s) bond to the AU you suggest (please send me links to those or directly submit the post(s) otherwise I might never find them!). It can also take me a few weeks to effectively add the new tag to the list since I must check possible affiliations/redirections/proximity (see “HOW” section of ABOUT) and see if it fits in any thematic list.
I must also warn you that I reserve myself the right to refuse an AU I am really uncomfortable with (typically heavy gore and obvious/graphic abuse). I try to be inclusive but there are some things I can’t bring myself to reblog. You can try reblogging and tagging that AU yourself, then create a post with a ‘yourBlogName.tumblr.com/tagged/tagName’ type of link, and I might add a link to that one post in the list. To be discussed. However, I will not add a pe /dophilic AU to the list. Ever.
5. Can I suggest post(s) for existing AU tags?
Yes, please do!! You can send me the link via an ask or submit it. Just try to look at the post’s notes beforehand (”see notes”) to see if I haven’t reblogged it already.
6. Can I suggest a new thematic list?
Yes you can! I can’t guarantee I’ll have the time to make it, but it could happen. Please try to provide an explanation for the theme (to make sure I get what you mean), with maybe a definition and an example of which tags you can see belonging to it (and which you think don’t). Note that all the tags appearing on thematic lists already exist in the general AU list, so I won’t come up with new tags for a new thematic list.
7. What about Kylux adjacent?
I only included technicians (Matt/Techie), since it was the first adjacent paring to emerge. Also, since Matt is a radar technician he is still technically in the Star Wars universe. I wish I could have “tracked” every adjacent pairing but there are so many and I lost count. It would have taken me an incredible amount of time I didn’t have. If you happen to have your own tag list referencing all/part of those adjacent ships, you can contact me if you’re ok with me adding a link in my AU list redirecting people to your blog for Kylux adjacent.
8. The same post appears twice or more for the same AU. Is it normal?
No, I try to have each post to only appear once for each AU. BUT this list has been in the making for so long and some tags have so many posts that it is sometimes difficult to avoid duplication. If it bothers you, you can send me the links to those posts (all of them please) and I’ll try to settle it.
9. I am confused as to why you tagged a certain post like you did. Could it be a mistake?
It could. I do my best but sometimes it is hard to sort posts into tags. It could also be that the post comes from a series of posts and that it only becomes clear that the serie belongs to an AU when you read/see all the posts. Both scenari are an option, so feel free to message me about it.
10. I am the OP of a post and you definitively tagged it wrong...
Ooops sorry! Please send me an ask so I can settle this!
11. I encountered a broken/incorrect link inside the list...
That is not normal. All of the tags displayed in the list should be working. This is however possible. There are many tags and I might have made a mistake. Please send me an ask with the name of the broken tag so I can fix it!
12. In ABOUT you said that there needs to be more than two posts for an AU to become a tag. Yet I found an AU tag with only two posts...
It happens. As I said in ABOUT, this is a general rule, and there are exceptions. If there are only two posts, but (one of) those posts are(/is) long, contains multiple art or a combination moodboard/fic, I might decide to make it a tag anyway. If, on the contrary, you spot a tag with three or more posts that doesn’t have a proper tag in the list, please let me know!
13. I don’t understand why you tagged a specific post “other” alongside already existing tags...
“Other AU” is a default tag I use when there is no existing category fit for a post. A post tagged “other” can also be tagged “Other /thematicName/ AU” if it fits in any of the thematic lists. Also, you must remember that posts can be multi-tagged as a same post can have multiple “dimensions”. For example, it can depict a scene happening on a boat (”Cruise AU”) where Kylo happens to be a secret agent (”Agent Kylo AU”). Thus, if there’s a specific dimension about an AU that would justify the creation of a new tag, but I don’t have enough posts of that kind to actually create it (yet), the post will be tagged “other”, even though the other(s) dimension(s) are already depicted by existing tags. Let’s pretend that in the previous example, “Agent Kylo AU” was not yet part of the list. I would have tagged it “Cruise AU” and “other AU” (+ “Other Jobs AU”). I might even have added the “Agent Kylo AU” tag for internal purposes (so I can check how many of them I have and determine if it is time or not to add a new tag to the list).
14. A “Read More”/redirection link on a post doesn’t lead anywhere...
A “Read More” link redirects you to the OP blog. If the blog has changed name/been deleted or if the OP removed the post, you will end up nowhere. It is sad but you won’t be able to read the full post and there is nothing I can do about it. When it happens, you can however send me a message so that I can precise on the post that the “Read More” option is not an option anymore (please send me a link to my reblog of the post otherwise chances are I’ll never find it). Same goes for any other redirection link(s) present on the posts. If the page you were supposed to land on doesn’t exist anymore, I can’t do much about it, save warn people about it.
15. You reblogged comics in the wrong order...
Reblogging multiple pages comics is difficult. Either you reblog it entirely at once, either you reblog each page as it goes (the comic appears thus in reverse order in your blog). And if you miss some, it quickly becomes a mess. I tried to reblog relatively short comics at once, starting with the last part (so that the first page appears first when people scroll/navigate) but I often couldn’t. Some comics are not even complete, either because they were left unfinished, either because I just lost the thread. If there are navigation links within the posts, it is probably best you follow those. If not, maybe try to open the pages in different tabs and to order those accordingly. Or, and this is probably my best advice, try looking on the OP blog. They probably have a tag for their comic and it may make things easier!
16. You reblogged one of my posts and I’d rather not have it referenced by your list...
No problem! Please contact me I’ll untag it asap!
17. I have a question regarding the list that is not referenced above. Is it ok for me to ask it?
Yes, of course. Just be sure your answer doesn’t already lies in the ABOUT section (and refer to Q18 in case my answer doesn’t come too fast...).
18. I asked you a question but am still waiting for an answer...
Obviously (except if you were sending (anon) hate), I am not mad at you. I might need a few days to answer you. If a week has passed and I didn’t post an answer, chances are: 1) I didn’t see your message (tumblr eats it sometimes) or 2) I’ve been out of tumblr (busy with work, on holiday or something) or 3) my brain is not really complying at the moment. I do have down periods and, when it happens, I might not have the heart/energy to answer. It can last a few weeks or several months. I try to look at my inbox when I come back on this site but I might miss a message if too much have been sent. In any case, you can try and send your question again later.
See ABOUT for more general information
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A quick guide to ball python substrate:
[This is not meant to be a comprehensive guide, but a starting point for further research. I encourage you to browse snake groups and look at other people’s opinions on substrate to then formulate your own. Pet ownership is a constantly evolving thing, and continuing education is paramount! That being said, I hope this guide is helpful.]
There’s debate sometimes about the “best” substrate. Though I don’t think there is any best substrate, I do think there are substrates that are best for certain keepers (and regions). Remember that ball pythons need relatively high humidity (I shoot for anywhere between 55%-60% as my ideal) and so you’ll need to take that into account when choosing a substrate. For example, some substrates are better at holding humidity than others. If you live in a dry area then more wet, absorbent substrate will be your best friend.
While on the topic, I want to take a second here and refute the claim that spikes in humidity can cause an upper respiratory infection (RI). It’s my belief* that RIs in ball pythons happen more because of a combination of incorrect husbandry than they do from either a spike in humidity alone or a drop in ambient temperature alone. I was constantly wetting my substrate when I lived in West Texas (yes, even with the use of substrate like Eco Earth), but because my hot spot was kept at a toasty 88-92 degrees Fahrenheit and my ambients were always 80-85 degrees, my snakes never got sick.
I still occasionally need to wet my substrate in East Texas, and I use paper towels now, however things like putting water bowels on the warm side of enclosures certainly helps, as does wetting the substrate at the same time every day. So, if you choose a drier substrate and live in a drier area, keep the whole sum of your husbandry in mind when maintaining your enclosure. It’s important to always check and re-check humidity and heat.
*As far as I know it’s merely speculation from the ball python community that spikes in humidity cause an RI. There has been no formal research for that claim or against, so do with that what you will. That being said, I wet my substrate to get humidity to 60%-65% from a dip of 47%-50%. If you’re needing to wet your substrate to increase humidity from more than a 10%-15% gradient then I would heavily consider switching substrate. Now, onto the post.
First, let’s look at substrates that should never be used for ball pythons:
Cedar is toxic to ball pythons
Pine
Sand (they are tropical, people)
Newspaper (c’mon...............do I even need to elaborate)
Aspen
This is debatable. I add aspen to this list because it’s dry and dusty, and not necessarily conducive to a ball python’s other heating and humidity needs.
Almost any bedding used for r.ats, m.ice, or other r.odents such as Carefresh and fleece.
Cypress mulch AKA “Forest Floor” (not because it’s bad for ball pythons, but because it’s bad for the environment)
Some people include paper towels in their list of substrates that aren’t for ball pythons, but I disagree and will elaborate on why below.
Next, let’s look at acceptable ball python substrate:
Sphagnum moss is a great addition to an enclosure, though I would never use it alone.
Coconut fiber AKA Eco Earth (best when mixed with other substrates because it is so loose)
Coconut substrate (like “ReptiChip,” which is mixed well with Eco Earth). Some claim that their ball pythons have choked on ReptiChip (and ReptiBark) however the risk can be eliminated by watching your snake eat and/or checking on them every few minutes as they do. You can also consider feeding on a slab of slate tile or paper towels so that when the snake strikes they aren’t getting a mouthful of substrate.
ReptiBark (made from the bark of fir trees) is a decent choice, however in my experience it works best when paired with Eco Earth.
Organic soil (with no additives). I have never used this before, but I heard that it can get seriously dusty when it dries.
Paper towels*
Personally, I use *paper towels and that’s for a few reasons:
It’s so much easier to keep enclosures clean. Cleaning can be an hours-long endeavor when you’ve got 10 snakes like me, and it’s especially troublesome when you’re a graduate student. I use paper towels because when my snakes soil them I can quickly replace them, and there is little to no residue left behind. It makes spot cleaning more effective and efficient.
You can always add other substrates to paper towels. I add stuff like big river rocks, a light dusting of Eco Earth, different textured paper towels (such as Viva versus Bounty), slate tile of different textures, and it’s only recently that I’ve thought about adding sphagnum moss to the mix as well. (And if your snakes want to/like to burrow I’ve found that adding things like this give them that feel of burrowing without actually needing the six inches of substrate.)
They allow me to better control the hot spot. Even just an inch of substrate like Eco Earth or ReptiBark makes maintenance of a hot spot difficult as the top of the substrate is always going to be cooler than the bottom. But with paper towels, the likelihood is high that the top of the paper towels are going to be as warm as the surface of the tub, thus eliminating the chance of my BPs going under the substrate and burning themselves.
They let my young snakes in the racks take advantage of the six inches of head space. I’m not willing to take inches away from my snake’s head space, and paper towels are thin enough that I can manage that.
That’s all, folks! Whatever you choose, just be sure your decision is an informed one. And as always, my ask box is open for any questions, comments, or concerns.
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Some Thoughts About Antisepticeye:
I really like puzzles, mystery solving, & storytelling. I have no idea if anyone else has made these connections or publicly stated them. But I also might have an overactive imagination, which got me to start going down this rabbit hole.
So when I think back to Seán saying that nobody has really figured out who or what Anti is, I got curious. Eventually (today-ish), my brain decided to take that as a challenge.
This may be a bit lengthy, so if you plan to read all of this: Buckle up, buttercups!
Now, I'm not usually one to try & actively theorize about this kind of stuff. But I love learning about lore & psychology! One thing I know is that there are a bunch of people in Seán's community who love to come up with theories about the egos, especially Anti (& I totally understand why, since Seán & Robin are pretty damn good at storytelling). One common thing that pops up is the idea that Anti is a glitch (bitch) or a demon. Or both. But because of what Seán said, either those ideas are incorrect or they’re not specific enough & we need to dig deeper. Like, much deeper.
One thing that caught my attention was a post on Tumblr (I included the link to it so it can be properly credited) that talked about the 1st time we actually see Anti's full body (the HTC Cubicle video) & how he 1st took over Jack's body VS. how he is able to do that now. But that's not the 1st time we see Anti or any hints of him at all! I looked into this by watching an edit someone made with (almost?) all of his appearances from the beginning of the channel up until the Bio Inc. Redemption video in 2017 (you can find this collection here). Obviously, Anti has made more appearances afterward, but I focused more on the early days for this as well as some of the more recent things Seán talked about regarding PMA & his mental health.
While I have met Seán in person (& can confirm that he gives amazing hugs!), I'm in no way involved in his personal life. So I could be wrong about some of the thoughts I have moving forward. I'm basically going by what I've seen & heard from videos, live shows, pannels, etc. & taking guesses based on that information & what I know about building/creating a character (I've done interactive theatre in different settings where I had almost total creative freedom in that with some guidance & training). I also can’t speak for Seán because...I’m not him.
I wouldn't doubt if any of Seán's egos came from very personal places, maybe some of them were made because of some silly idea that he decided to run with & build on. But Anti was possibly from a very personal place in Seán's mind (especially if this was one of the 1st egos he created).
And this lead to a thought that crossed my mind & started this whole dive into the rabbit hole:
What if Anti is a "glitch" in Seán's mental system?
Okay, hear me out on this:
We know there was a period of time where a bunch of YouTubers (including Seán) were creating evil versions/counterparts of themselves. I can't say how much thought was put into all of them (because again, I’m not them), but I don't doubt Seán thought this through A LOT because he's pretty damn methodical about what he chooses to show us (the audience). Meanwhile, Anti is chaotic, much harder to predict (especially because he's been much more careful about showing himself lately), & loves to fuck with everyone. But what about the character creation aspect of this? Where did Seán pull this character from?
My guess is that Anti is an embodiment of some of Jack's darker thoughts & feelings if they were more exaggerated or taken into a much darker, more sinister direction. Seán has talked somewhat openly about being depressed, sad, & lonely (particularly when he started making YouTube content). He has also talked about his fear of letting us down/failing us as a content creator, feeling that what he puts out there needs to be perfect, & the anxiety that causes him to feel sometimes. Just because the Seán/Jack we all know & love is kind, caring, & wouldn't want to harm anyone, doesn't mean he has never experienced some dark, scary thoughts. Especially if he's not kidding about having ADD or experiencing OCD-like symptoms (I'm only grabbing this from anytime he has says his "OCD kicks in" or talks about his "ADD" brain, I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that there's at least some truth to this). One thing I can say from personal experience is that when your brain is a hot mess & you have been through some shit (even if it’s just emotionally), it's hard to not have some dark & scary thoughts, which is why we try not to be alone with them.
And then there's Seán's interest in video games & computers. When you find a glitch in a game or software, it may or may not cause problems down the road (some of them are actually pretty funny & harmless!) depending on what happens next. You know what else runs on tiny pulses of electricity & some form of "wiring"?
Your brain!
In Jack's case: Those times when he was having negative feelings & thoughts could have opened a gateway for his "glitch/virus" (Anti) to work his way into Seán's brain wiring. You could go as far as to say that Anti is trying to crash the whole damn system! Trying to delete the "Seán/Jack" software & claim it for himself.
At 1st, Anti thought the easiest way to do that was to kill Jack (which he has tried at least twice now). But what if Anti realized at some point that if he was actually successful in killing him, there would be no "system" to take over because it would permanently shut down? And Anti may not have much interest in claiming a damaged body if there's a possibility he can keep it in the best condition possible.
So like anyone creating a computer virus or hacking into a system would do: Anti had to adapt & try a different approach. This could explain why when he last spoke to us (& anytime we see him afterwards), there was no throat slit or any injury to Jack’s body. Because Anti doesn't need to physically kill Seán. He needs to kill him mentally/emotionally! Which is slower, harder to pick up on, & potentially more effective in the long run because it builds up over time.
And being the glitch (bitch) that he is, Anti is slowly feeding off of Seán's doubts, fears, insecurities, etc. to become stronger than ever. Anti is slowly integrating his "code" in small fragments that are harder to find as deep & scattered as possible so then when they finally are able to fully connect & Seán is manipulated into the right mindset, Anti can hit the kill switch. And once he does that...it's hard to say what happens next.
We already know that Anti is able to physically project himself into our world. He actually may be doing exactly that or "hacking" into the other egos, manipulating his "puppets" (JJ; working on Chase; maybe Marvin?) in order to eventually get Jack to where he needs him to be mentally & emotionally in order to go for the "kill."
This could be where the events of the “Mayhem” videos come into play. Since Anti probably has JJ under his control already, Chase would obviously be the next best place to start. Chase’s state of mind is exactly what Anti is looking for & he knows exactly what buttons to push to use Chase however he wants to.
I’m not exactly sure how the “time is broken” concept plays into this yet (I honestly haven’t thought about that until later on as I finish writing this). Seán did mention that he’s really into sci-fi, space, things like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if Anti’s appearances in the Observance videos are adding on to what has already been building. Maybe the egos are all fragments of how Seán might exist in alternate universes? Or how he imagines he would?
But I mostly focused on the early stuff because if we want to know (or continue guessing) who or what Anti truly is...it’s probably better to start from the very beginning.
As awesome as it would be to hit the nail on the head with this: I also understand that I might be completely wrong or going in the way off into the wrong direction with this. Hell, I probably dug WAAAYYY too deep for this one. But I didn’t want to let this fester (especially if I end up being right!) in my brain & I’m curious what others might think about this. And hey, it’s JUST a theory. A GAME Theory! An Ego Theory!
If you actually read through this all of this: Thank you! I really appreciate it!
And now, my brain is off to go hyperfocus on something else...
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Surviving Covid 19
Close friends, family, and some people who follow me as a musician on social media are aware that I was recently very ill with Covid 19. I live alone which presented a few challenges, and am still recuperating, well over a month later.
I haven’t said too much about it online, apart from trying to battle the disinformation about the disease out there, and privately providing information and moral support to those who have become ill more recently than I, and who felt lost and confused by the system in place.
However, I feel that it’s time that I spoke about this publicly, in the hope of helping others and perhaps saving a few lives.
The biggest problem we face right now is a lack of easily accessible information. I have research experience, which helped me a great deal to understand what was happening to me, but not everyone has that skill set and therefore I hope my experience will be useful.
In the UK they have three symptoms listed on the NHS website, just three. This is wholly inaccurate and has cost lives. I am a member of a number of Covid survivors groups, and most of those in these groups share similar experiences to myself, and are still in recovery.
Symptoms of Covid 19 include, but are not limited to the following -
1. Fever ( I had this on the 1st night, but didn’t get another one until week 2, when I was hit with fevers, cold sweats and teeth chattering chills which came and went for the next 2 weeks. They do come and go intermittently for longer than that while you recuperate but they aren’t the same)
2. Dry Cough ( I personally only had this on the first night, I never really had a cough for the rest of the illness)
3. Anosmia ( I personally didn’t experience this, I did however experience a severe change in taste and smell in week 2. Everything smelled and tasted of chemicals which was extremely unpleasant. I would have preferred a complete loss than the experience that I had. Thankfully it passed after a few days, though I still occasionally detect that chemical taste momentarily)
4. Fatigue (This is a hard one to explain as I’ve never really experienced anything like it. That seems to be the opinion of all others who have had it too. On Wk1 I just felt exhausted, on Wk 2 it hit me like a sledgehammer. I now understand this was silent hypoxia. I could barely get out of my chair to walk 6 feet to the kettle. Just picking something up off the floor was like climbing Mount Everest. Just because you are not in bed doesn’t mean you aren’t seriously ill. I am now on week 10 and am still experiencing fatigue after mild exercise, and this is something most Covid survivors are reporting. My advice would be to get an oximeter and call the paramedics if it drops below 95. I didn’t have one but they suspect it was probably very low)
5. Shortness of breath/tight chest ( I didn’t really notice this but I wasn’t able to move around much with the fatigue)
6. Fainting/blacking out (This happened to me on week 2. I probably needed oxygen support and could also have been low blood pressure due to the blood rushing to my organs in defence against the virus, but either way I should have had medical support. I have been told since that I could have died. 111 symptom checker was still not advising anything other than staying at home, and didn’t have the option to add any of these symptoms)
7. Gastric problems ( Many people contract the gastric version of Covid 19/ This is not something that 111 has much information about, and is potentially as lethal as the mainly respiratory version. I was eating relatively normally but lost my appetite on week 2 with the change in taste and smell. I personally started with the gastric symptoms in week 3, vomiting and diarrhoea on day 21, diarrhoea for the next few days, and morning gastric issues for the next 2 weeks. Stomach is still iffy on and off)
8. Reduced lung capacity ( This seems to be very common. My local pharmacy is reporting a huge increase in the number of inhalers being prescribed, and I’m aware of many people globally with the same issue. I’m a professional saxophonist and singer, and despite having the gastric version, have currently got the lung capacity of an 85 year old woman with asthma.)
I have no idea if my condition will improve, chest X-rays have shown nothing, which I understand is quite common. Fibrosis may only show up via CT, and needs early treatment, but my GP is not allowed to refer anyone for CT scans, or to the respiratory clinic in my area, as they are only dealing with cancer patients currently. There is no post Covid treatment in place, my GP and others I have spoken to, are angry at the lack of information being fed to them from NHS England. They are being left to wing it, and do their own research. This very important stage, dealing with the long and sometimes complicated recovery from this disease has not been considered by this government. I find this unsurprising given that they chose to adopt a fire fighting approach to the outbreak. This needs action now though, to prevent long term health damage which could be avoided if dealt with early in recovery.
Other symptoms include rashes, headaches, ear and eye problems, dehydration, dizziness. brain fog and confusion. Also feet can develop purple lesions on the soles which then disappear. I experienced that very briefly, plus a very short period where the soles of my feet turned black, which I believe relates to low blood pressure, but it did frighten me when it occurred.
I personally felt quite dizzy, was inhaling large volumes of water during the illness and am still experiencing brain fog and blurred vision at times, something that others are also reporting. I began craving fresh fruit and ice-cream, probably Vitamin C and Potassium at the end of the illness. This disease lowers potassium levels and I’ve been following my body’s wishes by eating a lot more fresh fruit, especially bananas, for potassium.
During the period of fevers I was avoiding using paracetamol except at night, as fever is important for making your body a hostile environment for the virus. I’m also on other medication for long term medical issues, including blood thinners, which may have protected me against the blood clots that seem to be a big problem with this disease, but I can’t be certain of that, so I’ll leave those studies to the scientists.
I also found that baths helped me feel a lot better but I did find it very hard to get in and out of the bath during the second week, so it probably wasn’t that good an idea, as I was living alone.
Many people may have mild symptoms for a few days, fever, cough etc. and then feel absolutely fine, others may show no symptoms at all.
You also hear about the tragic deaths, and people who can’t breathe so need to be supported with oxygen and/or ventilators.
What they aren’t telling you is that there are a large number of people, yet to be counted in the official figures, and/or tested, that have a serious form of the disease, but don’t end up in hospital, due to the incorrect list of symptoms.
111 in the UK have failed to identify people with dangerously low 02 levels, who suffer from what is being called ‘happy hypoxia’, due to the woefully inadequate symptom checking system.
Most of the people I know that have had the virus, and there are many, have gone through this horrific illness without help, or recognition, because of the flawed symptom check and lack of testing. I have only been offered a test this week, long after I would have tested positive, but even then the site wouldn’t allow me to order one. I now need an antibody test, but can’t get one of those at present either.
We deserve better.
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How To Properly Feed Western Hognose Snakes
In our first year of selling and breeding western hognoses, we’ve noticed that lots of people will come back to us and say they’re having trouble feeding their new snake despite it eating great for us.
Most often, the problem is something they are doing wrong by accident that is causing the snake stress.
Common issues:
Temperature: we keep our snakes at 92-95 degrees Fahrenheit year round on the hot side of their tubs. During the winter, males often go off food even if you don’t change the temperature. Don’t worry if your male hognose doesn’t eat for a few months when it’s colder out. You can cool him down to room temperature (make sure he hasn’t eaten for at least two weeks beforehand), continue trying to feed, or move him somewhere with less temperature fluctuations. If the heat is too high, it could be causing enough stress for the snake to not eat.
Humidity: Western hognoses do not do well in high humidity. We recommend using dry bedding such as sani chips or aspen and only providing water in one spot. You can provide a humid hide for enrichment, but they are not necessary and your snake probably won’t use it. Having too high humidity may cause bad sheds and stress, both can lead to the snake refusing food.
Enclosure: another common issue we find is people putting their new snake in a tank that is way too big. Often, the more space you give a snake, the happier and healthier they will be. But with western hognoses, especially hatchlings, smaller is better until you have them eating consistently. Our hatchlings are kept in 12x3 inch tubs in a rack system until they are sold or get too big for them. Moving them from something that small into a ten gallon or even a five can be very stressful. Better eaters might do well, but it could put the calmer eaters off food.
Outside Environment: having a new snake’s enclosure in a room that is too busy, has bright lights, lots of noise, people who smoke, scented candles, or air fresheners is always a bad idea. The stress of all that will most likely put them off food, and candles, air fresheners, or any kind of smoking will cause stress and greatly increases the chance of them getting a lung infection.
Handling: we always recommend waiting at least a week with no handling at all before even offering food to a new snake. The stress of moving and adjusting to their new environment will usually mean the snake won’t want to eat. Putting the stress of handling them on top of that will just put them off food for longer.
Feeding Wrong: this is most often why new hogs won’t eat for people. You do NOT feed hognoses the same way you feed most other snakes. When they get their first hog, many people try to feed them like they would a ball python, by wiggling the mouse around and trying to get them to strike. Hognoses are NOT constrictors! Trying to feed them that way will only scare them. When you feed a western hognose, you need to hold the mouse still and very slowly touch the snake’s mouth with it. Some hogs will sit there for a long time doing nothing, in that case, you would just gently move the mouse up and down on their mouth.
This is an example of how we feed our less aggressive hogs:
If there is nothing wrong with the way you are feeding, the enclosure, or anything else, you can try leaving the mouse in their enclosure overnight. Sometimes, having a person too close to them, or the tongs, will scare the snake too much for them to eat. Just clear off a spot or put the mouse on a paper towel on the warm side of their tank and leave it overnight.
The next thing you could try is leaving the snake in a Tupperware with the mouse for a few hours. Make sure the Tupperware is in a warm, dark place. The Tupperware should also be small enough that the snake is forced to interact with the mouse and can’t just hide on the other side until you take them out.
If your snake continues to refuse, you can try braining, gutting, or scenting the mouse.
Braining: this is the way I feed hatchlings for the first time. It works best for younger snakes, but it also works on most older snakes. To brain a mouse, just poke a hole in the top of their head with tongs, scissors, or anything else that will make it through the skull. I know, it sounds gross, but it’s fast, easy, and the mouse is already dead. This works best if the brain is visible.
Gutting: this would be the next step after braining. It works especially well with adult snakes. Just make a similar cut on the mouse like you would to brain but on the chest or stomach. Again, it’s pretty nasty, but it works incredibly well to convince snakes to eat. This also works much better if blood or guts are visible.
Scenting: Probably the least gross way to convince a stubborn hog to eat, but it should be the last you try. Once a hog is on scented food, it can be incredibly difficult to get them off it. Common things to scent with are Vienna sausages, tuna juice, scrambled eggs, and frog legs. For each, you would just thaw a mouse like you would normally and then rub it on or soak it in whatever you choose to scent with. Frog legs should be the last thing you try to scent with. It is by far the hardest scent to get hogs off of and is the most difficult to find. If you have to resort to scenting with frog legs, make sure they are from a store, using frogs you find or catch outside could give your snake a number of different parasites and diseases.
Another important thing is to NEVER feed live! Feeding live mice could injure your snake and if they still refuse, you have a mouse to either take care of or watch die. If you think feeding live is really necessary, only use it as a very last resort.
If you have any questions or notice any incorrect information in this post, please message me or send an ask! I want this to be helpful and as accurate as possible. Feel free to add any additional information as well!
#hognose snake#western hognose#western hognose snake#reptiblr#snekblr#western hognose care#snake care#snake feeding#advice#snake help
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Blessings Wait For You
Summary: When the Dragon Clan begins terrorizing the kingdom again, your life spirals out of control, somehow landing you a spot at the royal family’s dinner table and a spot in the prince’s heart.
A/N: Hey, it’s @eccentricpineapples posting for Sarah today! She has been very busy lately with her job and a family emergency so we really appreciate your patience even though we told y’all this would be up last Friday. Finally here is Chapter 5! We definitely feel it was worth the wait haha.
Chapter 5
Your anxiety has always been worse than your peers, but today it hits an all-time high. You sit in your room, wringing your hands and ignoring how clammy your skin feels. It has been two days since your meeting with Hyunjin’s father. You’re not sure how these types of investigations play out, but you’re sure you should have heard something about your case by now. Did you not give enough details? Is the investigation at a complete standstill with no leads? Worse, what if you had forgotten and confused events and told them incorrect information? Your breathing picks up as you picture Mr. Hwang and the rest of the investigative team on a wild goose chase, looking for a man that doesn’t exist, thanks to your poor memory.
You can’t sit here like this all day or you’ll go insane. You wrack your stressed brain, your best coping mechanism so far for anxiety has been to obtain knowledge. Ok. You can do that. You plan out your actions in your head. To solve your unease over not knowing about your case, you need to find someone who can get you that knowledge. But who could tell you? You can’t just barge in to Mr. Hwang’s office, especially if it all turned out to be paranoia and the investigation was progressing fine. Ok, so scratch that plan. Maybe you could ask someone else? Who do you know that is ranked lower than Mr. Hwang but is still ranked high enough to know about your case?
“Chan!” You blurt out loud. Of course! Chan may be a stationed guard and not on the case, but he is close with the other guards, perhaps he overheard something or could call in a favor on your behalf! You smile to yourself, scaring Isabelle, who has quietly been folding your laundry the entire time.
“What?” Isabelle asks, startled and confused, which startles you. To be honest, you had been so distracted that you forgot she was there.
“Sorry, I was just thinking I need to go see Chan today, it’s about my case,” you say, getting up to change out of your nightgown and into some real clothes. Isabelle thankfully doesn’t question you further, or you guess she’s too afraid of you smiling manically to yourself to ask. She hands you a light-yellow day dress from your laundry pile and you quickly dress yourself. The corset is not too complex to require Isabelle’s help and you’re in too much of a hurry to leave.
“I’ll be back later!” You call as set out down the hallway on your search for Chan and your search for answers.
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The search, frankly, isn’t going well. After wandering aimlessly for a bit, hoping Chan is guarding a random corridor, you head to the kitchens. From what the boys have told you, Chan can often be found there, charming his way into fresh pastries. The delicious smells of breakfast waft throughout the kitchens, but you’re on a mission! This is no time to be distracted by food, you tell yourself, as you slip a blueberry muffin anyway. Jisung is in the back, stirring what looks like batter with a very intense stare.
“Jisung!” You call out and wave. The boy yelps and tries not to knock over his bowl.
“Hi Y/N, what brings you here?” He says, pushing the bowl away and leaning his arms on the counter, trying not to look suspicious. He sees the muffin in your hands. “Besides breakfast,” he adds with a smirk. You quickly hide the muffin behind you.
“I was looking for Chan, actually,” you say flustered, forgetting Jisung’s suspicious actions. “You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you?”
Jisung shakes his head. “Sorry, but I have no idea, guards like Chan rotate often as needed around the palace, so he hardly has a routine schedule. Good luck finding him though,” he adds once your face falls. Ugh, you’re never going to find Chan, he literally could be anywhere in this palace! You thank Jisung and head back out to continue your search. You angrily chew on your muffin, determined to find Chan if it takes you all morning.
As you wander, you run into Changbin and Jeongin, both whom have no idea where Chan is. Both boys suggest looking in completely opposite directions of each other, so you’ll just keep wandering and ignore the contradictory advice.
You turn down a corridor you haven’t seen before, not truly a hallway as much as it is a giant room. The walls are coated with books crammed into every nook and cranny, yet the place has a very relaxed and organized feel. ‘Someone must work very hard to keep this all clean,’ you think to yourself. Your footsteps echo briefly before the sound is absorbed by the surrounding novels, but you’re still heard by someone.
“Who’s there?” A nasally voice calls out before a small ginger head peaks out from behind a row of shelves. A boy walks out from behind with a slightly irritated expression.
“Oh, sorry, my name is Y/N and I was just looki-,” you get out before irritated ginger interrupts you.
“Oh, so you’re Y/N,” he drags out the ‘oh’ part and his irritated look now looks smug.
You feel uncomfortable. “Yes?” you reply, a question rather than a statement.
The boy realizes you are 112% confused and decides to humor you. “My name is Seungmin, I’m the royal tutor for the prince and right now you’re in the palace library. Felix has said a lot about you,” he teases.
Oh god, Felix talks about you? You are going to die, at this rate he has probably told everyone about how “funny” you are, just busting into people’s workouts like you have no shame. He’ll never let this go, will he? You have to clear your reputation.
“In my defense, I had no idea they were in tank tops and I was lost!” You blurt. Seungmin eyes widen.
“Wow,” he says bluntly. “I was talking about Felix refusing to shut up about his new pretty dinner friend, but now I’m really curious about what you thought I was mentioning.” He waggles his eyebrows mischievously.
Ok, you are officially embarrassed. “Never mind!” You need to leave before you humiliate yourself any more. “I was just here because I’m looking for my friend Chan, I need him to help me find out about my case,” you say. Seungmin seems to connect something, before you realize he just found out Y/N the dinner friend was the same Y/N the person being threatened by the Dragon Clan. Seungmin doesn’t look at you sympathetically the way some of the older ladies on the maid staff do, but he seems softer now.
“Chan rarely comes in here, except when he is assigned to the prince during his lessons with me. A shame, really, that man could really learn a lot from me,” Seungmin scoffs. “I honestly have no idea where he is now.”
Oh well, the search continues. “Thanks anyway, and sorry again for bothering you,” you feel you’ve interrupted Seungmin long enough.
“Don’t feel too bad,” Seungmin says, “honestly it didn’t bother me that much. I had already dusted the shelves in that section and I was bored. Maybe I’ll see you around? I’m sure it would make Felix’s day if you came to one of my lessons sometime.” He smirks and then disappears behind yet another shelf.
You stand there dazed. Is everyone in the palace collaborating to make you embarrassed over the prince? You call out as you head down another hall so Seungmin can hear: “M-maybe I will!”
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It is early afternoon and you’ve missed lunch by the time you finally spot the curly haired guard. You’re not sure if you want to punch him for being so elusive or to kiss him for ending your misery.
“Chan!” you shout, running toward him with a sudden burst of energy. He turns to face you, smiling once he registers your voice.
“Y/N! What are you doing here?” You look around at the unfamiliar corridor.
“Looking for you! I’ve been out all day-”, you pause to breathe, “trying to track you down.” Chan looks confused.
“What for?” He suddenly looks worried. “Not that I’m unhappy to see you, I’m just confused,” he adds.
“No, I understand, I was just wondering if you heard anything about my case?” You hold in a breath anticipating his answer. Chan looks at you with pity in eyes.
“You know I have no say in that matter,” he says.
“But I figured guards talk-”
Chan cuts you off politely. “Guards talk when they have something to talk about. They’ve only had two days to work with the information you gave, just give them some time.” You let out a soft sigh. Chan puts a reassuring hand on your shoulder. “Hey, it’s ok to be anxious, but remember that they’re doing the best they can. They’re dealing with a possible threat to the royal family’s life, there’s nothing else they’re giving their attention to right now.”
“Thanks anyway Chan, I won’t keep you any longer,” you softly smile and start to drift back the general way you came. He calls after you to spend the rest of the day relaxing.
Deep down, you knew all along that there was nothing Chan could do to help you. You couldn’t help getting your hopes up a little though. So maybe this search was pointless. Maybe you spent all morning and part of your afternoon tracking down someone who couldn’t even help you. Maybe all you had to eat was that stolen blueberry muffin since you missed lunch. But as you think of Seungmin and his smirk, you might have gained a friend today. And for now, as you waited for the investigation to progress, that was enough for you.
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You find your way to the dining room, for once remembering the location on your own. You happily take your seat next to Felix. Dinner is a lot less awkward now that you and Felix are friends. The two of you talk non-stop throughout the meal, no matter how much the queen scolds you both for being loud. You always shut up, obviously still intimidated by her majesty, but Felix goes on some wild rant that draws you back in every time. Every time you glance at the queen’s face to judge her response to this, she always wears a microscopic smile.
There is a brief lull in the conversation tonight as you are being served. You glance around and notice the empty seat at the head of the table.
“Where is his majesty?” You have gotten more confident addressing the queen, especially since the king is no longer present to intimidate you, but you rarely speak directly to her. Tonight, your curiosity is greater than your nervousness.
“Oh, my husband is busy with the investigative team. There have been reports of attacks in the outer cities, mostly general terrorism. It’s strange actually,” the queen pauses, “there have been no deaths so far, but they stir up trouble through looting and causing minor injuries. He does not tell me much, he fears it will worry me, but it seems they are slowly working their way toward the capital city.” She goes silent and you all sit with somber expressions.
“That’s awful,” is all you can say. You can’t imagine how you would cope with the attacks if you were still at home with your father. You’re so thankful to be at the palace, but you can’t stop the waves of guilt that begin attacking. You were just in the right place at the right time to be a witness and see one of the attackers. Other than circumstance, what makes you worthy of being protected at the palace? Your place at the table would be better off filled by a more innocent person who serves a purpose in society, who can do more than provide a blurry recollection of a five-minute event.
Your pity party is interrupted when a small hand reaches out for yours, covered from the queen’s view by the tablecloth. You look up to see Felix with a sad smile, who squeezes your hand briefly before letting go. You return the smile gratefully, he seems to recognize your anxieties easily even if he didn’t know the true reason for your worries. You couldn’t be more thankful for the distraction. You don’t want to think about your quickened pulse or how soft his hand was, no emotional crisis right now, thanks.
Thankfully, Felix switches topics. “We learned about history today,” he says cheerily. You are excited to hear about it, physically refraining from putting your elbows on the table and resting your chin in your hands as you focus on his voice. Instead, you sit up attentively. You love when he talks about his lessons with Seungmin, his tutor, who you can finally put a face to the name. He is so fascinated by everything he learns that he makes every subject sound fun. “Did you know-” Felix begins one of his infamous tangents, informing you all about every war that took place in the last twenty years in the surrounding kingdoms. You are not sure if battle strategies are normally this interesting, but everything sounds so much more exciting to you when Felix says it.
“That’s so cool,” you say when he finishes, taking your final bite of your meal.
Felix suddenly looks brighter. “I have an idea!” He exclaims. “You should come to one of my lessons! It’ll be so fun, Hyunjin will be there, and sometimes Chan too when he’s assigned to guard there. But you can meet Seungmin too!”
“I actually met Seungmin today, he seems really nice, but I’m not really sure if I’m allowed…” You trail off, looking at the queen apprehensively for approval. You really want to go, you can’t say no to Felix when he smiles at you like that, but you’ve crossed enough social boundaries already.
The queen ponders for a moment. “Well, it is easier to keep you safe and out of my gardens when if you are surrounded by guards,” she pointedly looks you in the eye as you smile sheepishly, recalling your soccer game from a few days ago. “Besides, Seungmin’s knowledge will benefit you.” You’re not sure if that is an insult or not, but you can’t find yourself to take it to heart when she continues. “I do not have an issue with it, as long as my son does not get too...distracted.”
Felix looks elated, then mortified. “Mother,” he whines, suddenly embarrassed. Does the queen not have faith in your studying capabilities? You may not be a true scholar, but you always took pride in the high marks you received from your own tutor.
“I won’t be a distraction, your majesty. I’m a really good student, I swear, Minho can vouch that I was always smarter than him in our lessons,” you vow, hoping to save your reputation yet again.
The queen blinks, confused. “That’s not what I mea-” You do not notice Felix frantically waving his arms and mouthing “please stop talking” and are equally confused when the queen abruptly stops mid-sentence.
“Anyway,” she corrects, “if you wish to join Felix next week, have someone notify Seungmin of your upcoming presence so he may prepare.” She then takes her leave from the table, assumedly on her way to more important things. You smile at Felix, excited to spend more time with him and to see Seungmin and Hyunjin again. Felix still looks a bit apprehensive, for reasons you don’t understand, but does his best to match your enthusiasm.
You go to bed that night, contemplating Felix’s strange behavior and Seungmin’s teasing. You roll on to your side and tell yourself not to get your hopes up before you fall asleep.
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They lied to you when they said there was always something to do in the castle. It is a Monday morning and you are laying in your bed after trying to find someone to hang out with. All your close friends are busy with something and left you with a wide-open agenda. If you are being honest, you are more upset about Felix not being able to hang out than anyone else. Ever since you admitted your slight crush on him to yourself, you try to spend as much time with him as possible. You tried him first thing this morning, but Minho, Hyunjin and were in the workout room, a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door this time. You know better than to go in, who knows if they even had tank tops on this time. You try not to think about it too hard. Felix also has no lessons scheduled with Seungmin today, so you don’t have an excuse to see him there either. You sigh, heaving yourself off the bed, deciding to roam the castle. Maybe you will find something to do along the way. It doesn’t take long before your boredom takes a turn. You bump right into Changbin the second you walk out of the door.
“Hey, Y/N. What are you doing right now?” He asks, his showstopping smile on display.
“I’m just walking around. Nobody can hang out this morning, apparently,” you chuckle. Changbin’s smile grows.
“Great, come with me.” You follow him down to the kitchen where Jisung is sitting behind the counter, a chocolate frosted cake in front of him. Your heart swells in your chest. Sure, the cake doesn’t look that great, but he made it just for you. “This is his fourth attempt,” Changbin whispers. Your mouth forms an ‘o’, he must have been practicing when you caught him in the kitchen yesterday on your search for Chan.
“Jisung, I love it!” You cry, pulling him in for a big hug. “I appreciate it so much!”
“That’s what I hoped you’d say,” he says, his shoulders slumping with relief. The three of you sit around the counter, eating a slice each. The cake is delicious, despite its sad appearance, and you chat happily with the boys.
“My dad used to make cakes for any occasion when we were kids,” Jisung begins, shoveling a piece of cake into his mouth. “If one of us got good marks, he’d make a cake and we’d invite literally everyone in the castle. He doesn’t do it as much now that we’re older, but when he does everyone comes.” Comically, the door to the kitchen swings open to reveal a very excited Chan.
“I could smell that cake from all the way down the corridor. Gimmie!” Chan squeaks, making grab hands at the cake.
“I made this cake for Y/N!” Jisung yells, quickly rounding the counter and standing protectively in front of you and the cake. You watch in amusement as Chan tries and fails to get around his younger friend.
“You can have a piece, Chan. A small piece,” you say once they’ve calmed down and stopped fighting. You cut him a sliver, smiling innocently when he pouts. “That’s for withholding information.”
“I don’t have any information!” he whines. You decide to share, though, since you obviously don’t hold a grudge for him not knowing anything about your case. You do tease him a bit, remarking how all it would take for enemies to sneak into the palace was to bribe Chan with food and he’d immediately abandon his post. You leave the kitchen, taking a slice to Jeongin and then outside to Woojin.
You bring the plate back to the kitchen before setting out to find the one person you wanted to see the most. You find the prince laying in the grass in the garden. You smile excitedly, skipping towards him until you are ten feet away. Pausing, you take a few deep breaths to calm your erratic breathing and slowly walk the rest of the way where he is laying.
“That one looks like a bunny,” you say, lying beside him. He turns his head toward you, a lazy smile on his thick lips.
“Look next to it. It looks like a dragon.” He points to the white, fluffy cloud.
“No way,” you huff. “That looks more like a fish than a dragon.”
“It is definitely a dragon.” You can hear the humor in his voice and you can’t seem to wipe the smile from your face.
“Yeah, okay, Prince Felix. That fish looks just like a dragon.” Sarcasm drops from your words and Felix’s boisterous laugh rips through the quiet air. You watch him laugh, the skin by his eyes crinkling with joy. You swear you could never be happier than you are in that moment. Felix sits up, laughter calming.
“I am glad you came here,” he says, bright eyes boring into your own. “I wish it was under different circumstances, but I am really glad you are here.” You sit up as well, blushing when your face is closer to his than you anticipated.
Taking a deep breath, you whisper, “me too.” Felix grins, eyes fixated on yours. Your heart hammers in your chest, beating so fast you are sure it will jump right out. You blink, holding your breath as Felix begins to close the gap between you. You cannot believe Felix is leaning in to kiss you, but you are not about to reject him. Your eyes flutter close as his nose brushes against your own. It’s happening, oh my gosh, you think, tilting your head to close the distance completely when Woojin calls out your name. The two of you break apart, blushing furiously and avoiding all eye contact.
“What are you two doing?” Woojin asks skeptically, an eyebrow quirking cutely.
“Nothing,” you say.
“Looking at the clouds,” Felix tries, and fails miserably, to sound nonchalant.
“Huh.” Woojin clicks his tongue. “I see.” A small knowing smile spreads across his face and the tip of his tongue slides across his bottom lip with amusement. Woojin turns sharply, his hands folded behind his back. “I’ll see you two later.” Your hands run down your scorching face, a quiet, embarrassed groan escaping your lips.
“Dinner is soon. We should go,” Felix says, chuckling at your embarrassment.
“Yeah,” you agree, still unable to meet his eyes. “Let’s go.”
#bwfy#stray kids#stray kids imagines#kpop#bang chan#woojin#minho#changbin#hyunjin#jisung#felix#seungmin#jeongin
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