#these are pretty silly and funny to make!

[pacofprunes]

THIS GIRLS JUST GOTTA BE KISSED

SUMMARY — you stress over him due to how stupid he can be sometimes. you express this to him but his ears aren’t on. all he can do is think how badly he has to kiss you.

watch this to understand the kiss.

PAIRING — daegil x reader (tazza hidden card)

WARNINGS — this is fluff! there’s like one mention of death and use of the word suicide but it’s not sad.

“gosh daegil, you’re so…”

“handsome?”

“i was going to say stupid.”

he pouts at you before going back to playing with his lighter.

“i’ll be done soon, okay? i just gotta close some ties first…”

“and when will that be, daegil? when you’re laying in your coffin from getting too involved with this stupid gambling shit?”

he stills, pausing his flicking of his lighter and you drop your head on the table. you close your eyes against the cold table and mess with your hair in one hand. the bang from your head meeting the table causes daegil to snap his head up.

“i don’t want you to die over some money.”

you mumbled that. you hear steps being taken toward you before a hand meets your shoulder, causing you to lift your head and make eye contact with daegil. he rubs his hand on your shoulder before giving you a small smile.

“i promise i’ll quit soon.”

you just sigh and look back down. soon wasn’t good enough. he had so many people praying on his downfall. he could die tomorrow just by going on a walk to the store. he lets out a huff before kicking the leg of the chair that you were sitting in, almost making it tip over before you grip the table and pull yourself back up.

“what the heck daegil?”

he lets out a laugh. his laugh was definitely a funny one, very contagious. it was a silly childish laugh that had you holding in your own and finally you let it out, your own laugh following his.

“it’s good to have validation that you think i’m funny.”

“no, but your laugh is.”

he crosses his arms over each other and sends a pout your way and you wave him off before standing and moving past him to go outside and get some air and he follows quickly behind you. for a moment you just stare into the sky before turning around to look up at him and you sigh, moving your hands to your hips.

“you ever think i maybe wanted some space?”

“do you own the sky?”

you give him a small laugh and look down at his chest.

“you know you didn’t come out here to look at the sky.”

you feel him shift a little and you lift your head from his chest see him looking up at the sky before he put his head down to see you looking up at him.

“i just was though, wasn’t i?”

you just roll your eyes and turn around, your back facing him again and he moves to stand beside you, the wind sending chills up his back and he shakes his head a little. his normally calm hair looking messy. he looks over at you now and oh god, you were absolutely stunning. standing in the moonlight with your hair blowing through the wind, he wishes he could take a picture. you feel his hand glide against your cheek as he moves your face over to look at him. oh how your eyes were so pretty, especially in this lighting. he could get lost in them.

“is there something you need sir?”

he scoffs before dropping his hand from your cheek and looking at you like you’re crazy.

“sir?”

you ignore him and change the topic quickly.

“i’m not happy with you right now which is why i came outside, you can go now.”

you give him a sarcastic smile, raising your eyebrows before turning away from him again, facing the street now. after a long while of silence you speak up again.

“you can be a ‘hustler’ without being an idiot on a suicide mission.”

“so it’s still about that?”

you let out a groan and just ignore him. he was clearly incapable of understanding how you felt. he looks up at the sky before scoffing and shaking his head, thinking of his next move. he knew he wasn’t going to listen to you and he knew he wasn’t going to stop gambling right now. he couldn’t, so you’d be mad at him for awhile. he hums to himself in thought and you look over to try and get a good look at him before he catches notice of you, but he immediately snaps his head over your way and smirks, causing you to look the other way. a light blush paints your cheeks.

“your pupils were pretty big there. you must think i’m just great.”

he’s found a new mission. if you’re just going to stay angry and bicker with him or ignore him, he’s just going to make you talk to him. he looks back at the sky hoping for an idea of what he should do next, and that’s when the idea comes to his head. when you’re not looking he looks over at you a little and smirks.

he looks back up at the sky, mouthing thank you to the stars as if they gave him his idea and he turns his body to you and you look up at him with confusion before he pulls you into his arms and presses a kiss to your lips. he bends his knees as he dips you, having a hold on the back of your head. you have to gather yourself before you can even reciprocate back. cupping the side of his face and pressing your forehead to his. he moves his lips away from yours but still has you dipped low to the ground. as you open your eyes, your sparkling orbs meet his, causing his heart to pause its motion before a shy yet cheeky grin forms on his face.

“you can’t be too mad at me now.”

you roll your eyes and bite the inside of your cheek before you start to blush a little, suddenly embarrassed at the proximity. you look directly into his eyes and it causes him to gain an even deeper blush on his. he pulls you up from the dip, but still has a hold on you, keeping you close to him and you press your face against his chest as you hold onto the sides of his arms.

“i really can be mad still.”

he frowns before you look up at him and you cup his cheek again.

“but i guesssss for now i’ll leave it be.”

he presses another kiss against your lips and you can feel his smile against you before he finally pulls away and pulls you back into him for a tight suffocating hug.

“you just can’t stay mad at me, can you?”

you pull away and give him a warning look before he starts spewing out apologies and patting your back and you just laugh. there was a lot of things you two needed to fix, and a lot of things to be mad at him for, but you can’t dwell on things forever. for now you’ll indulge in him instead of staying so mad. besides, why would you punish yourself for his stupid actions? just because he doesn’t know how to make smart decisions doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself from his touch. you feel like a babysitter sometimes and honestly, he’s probably taking years off of your life from his stupidity and childlike antics. but at least they’ll be some of the best years you’d ever have.

[mikuluvu]

Not saying 'I love you' Back

Tf141 x fem!reader

Phillip Graves x reader

A/n: 6/10 cod fics. It's been like 2 weeks since i posted- hehe sorry about that. i was sick :(

Oh Captain, My Captain (Cap'n john Price)

Are you mad? Because if you are, he WILL fix it.

You were both about to sleep, his arms wrapped around you from behind, his beard tickling the back of your neck. He let out a slow exhale, eyes closing as he murmured, “I love you.” His voice was deep and gruff.

…Huh. Weird.

Any minute now…

Okay, what the fuck.

His eyes cracked open, and he lifted his head slightly to glance at you. He couldn’t quite see your face, but he was sure you were still awake.

“Love…?” he whispered.

His fingers gently rubbed circles against your hip. "What's this about?"

You couldn’t hold back a giggle, your body shaking slightly against him. That only made him more confused.

Turning around to face him, your nose mere inches from his, you smirked. “I was just messing with you, silly. Wanted to see how you’d react.” you admitted,

Price huffed a small chuckle, shaking his head. “You little menace.” He pulled you closer, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “That’s the last time you’re getting a love confession out of me.”

You knew that was a lie.

“Mm, we’ll see,” you mumbled sleepily against his chest.

He sighed, amused. “Bloody troublemaker.”

But his arms tightened around you anyway.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

You were both cuddling in bed, him as the big spoon while you were the little spoon. His veiny, strong arms were wrapped securely around your waist, his face nuzzled against the back of your head. Yes, he still had his mask on. But you weren’t complaining… who would even complain?

"I love you,” he murmured—calm, low, steady.

The only reply he got was the sound of rain pattering against the window.

He didn’t react immediately. He just… stared at the back of your head. Processing.

A minute passed.

“…Right.” His voice was unreadable.

It made you wonder if he even cared. But in reality, he did—he just wouldn’t show it easily.

His grip subtly tightened, like he was bracing himself. He wouldn’t ask if you were mad—if something was wrong, he figured you’d say it.

Then, he felt you shift. Turning around to face him, a grin on your lips as you giggled at his expression.

“I love you too… sorry to keep you waiting.”

He exhaled through his nose. A slow, deep breath.

“Not funny.”

But his arms stayed wrapped around you. A little tighter this time.

Later, he would get you back. Probably by making your legs wobbly when you least expected it.

Better than your regular soap (Johnny McTavish)

“Mhm… I love ye’.”

...

He paused, waiting for your sweet voice to say it back, thinking maybe you just didn’t hear him. But when a minute passed, he gasped.

“Oi, did ye just ignore me?” he asked.

Still, you didn’t respond—you were too focused on the movie.

Then you felt it. A poke to your cheek. Then a nudge. And then, he started gently shaking you.

“Helloooooo? Y’feelin’ alright, bonnie?”

Silence.

From the corner of your eye, you could see him. He let out a dramatic sigh and threw an arm over his forehead like a��theatrical little shit.

“Ach, I knew it! You never loved me!”

That made you break.

“So dramatic… I was just messing with you,” you laughed.

He stared at you for a moment before groaning. “Hehe—ACK!”

Before you could react, he tackled you into the couch, fingers mercilessly digging into your sides.

“Ye’re gonna pay for that, lass.”

“HAAH—W-wait! Noooo! Pfft—HAHA—”

After a few seconds of your struggling, he finally stopped, only to smash his face against your chest, wrapping his arms around you so tight you couldn’t escape.

“Yer lucky I love ye, menace.”

Pretty man (Kyle "Gaz" Garrick)

When you didn’t say it back, he let out a playful scoff, thinking you were just teasing him. “Oh, so that’s how we’re playin’ it, yeah?” he said, but you still didn’t respond.

He narrowed his eyes, leaning in a bit. “Wait… you’re not actually mad, are you?”

God, you felt bad. He looked like a puppy that thought it did something wrong, giving you those sad, pleading eyes.

“Don’t leave me hangin’ like that, love.”

He took your hand, slowly caressing it before moving to tickle your sides. The moment his fingers made contact, you burst into laughter.

“Wait—no! Not there!” you squealed.

He blinked at you a few times before groaning. “You are the worst. I almost started drafting my apology speech.

”You smirked at him, and in response, he flicked your forehead.

“Hey—!”

Phillip Graves

The briefin ended, and the room gradually emptied as the Shadows left one by one. Boots echoed against the floor. You stayed, standing near the table, eyes staring at the map spread across it. Your mind was elsewhere, on the mission, on the risks,... on him.

Phillip was across the room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting.

When the las soldier was finally out the door, he pushed off the wall, closed and locked the door, and then approached you.

"Y'good sweetheart?" he asked,

You nodded automatically, but the worry weighted in your chest stayed. The mission details kept messing with your head, the potential dangers and the things that will be unexpected. You'd been through plenty together, too many, really, but something about this one made your gut twist.

You felt his hand on your waist, fingers curling around the fabric of your uniform as he pulled your closer. "C'mon now," he murmured, tilting his head to meet your eyes. "Ain't got much time,"

This was routine. After every briefing, before going to meet with the shadows, you both stole a moment like this. A secret between husband and wife, hidden in plain sight.

His hand brushed over your cheek, it was warm. “Be safe out there,” he said softly, eyes searching yours.

“You too,” you whispered.

His thumb grazed your jaw before he leaned in just slightly. “I love you.”

You opened your mouth—then hesitated.

You wanted to say it back. You always did. But this time, the words caught in your throat, tangled up with the worry clawing at your ribs. What if this was the mission that went wrong? What if this was the last time?

Graves pulled back just enough to look at your face. He waited. And when you still didn’t say it, his grip on you tightened ever so slightly.

“Darlin’,” he said, a bit more serious now. “Say it back.”

You swallowed hard, eyes darting away. “I just…” You exhaled sharply, shaking your head. “I’m worried, Phil.”

He knew. He always knew.

“I know, baby,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to your forehead. “But I need to hear it. Just once.”

You let out a shaky breath, forcing yourself. You wrapped your arms around his neck, holding onto him like he might slip away if you let go.

“I love you,” you whispered.

He huffed out a quiet chuckle, though there was relief in his eyes. “That’s my girl.”

REBLOG W COMMENTS IS APPRECIATED! SUPPORT ME BY BUYING ME A COFFEE

[connor-123-idk]

Hiiii!! I love your AU so much ever since I saw it on TT. If you can answer I’m sorta curious about Deuce, whys he so much more jaded? And does he still have a good relationship with his mama? (Again you don’t have to answer just curious!)

This one is pretty hard to explain.

His character has lots of philosophical background, but I'll try to explain it the best as I can

So first of, lets look at RSA!Deuce and RSA!Trey (Yes. Trey is important for this)

So. Both of these characters have direct connection to The Time (both as a concept and as a being). But they both represent two sides of the coin while being aware of the said time

RSA!Trey represents spending time as best as a person can. He's aware that life is short and that he's gonna die in very very future, so he spends time the best as he can: hobbies, magic, being funny and silly

And RSA!Deuce has a different mindset. Its pretty much apathy. Where you are aware of time, and you know that living is basically not worth it

My biggest inspiration for his mindset was Ecclesiastes (Book of Kohelet)

My explanation may not be the best one because I read the version in my native language, but its basically about how futile life is. That no matter what you do, time will go, generation after generation, and Earth will stay the same. Sun will rise and set, wind will go, water will flow. This philosophy text show that you will just suffer no matter what you do, because living is suffering. What is done, it was done. What was done once, it was done once.

This is basically a concept that RSA!Deuce owns

Also the concept of epicureanism and stoicism

Trey and Deuce

They are those.

For those who dont know, stoicism is basically living in peace with your body and soul. People like this are not putting their emotions first. They can show happiness, anger and sadness, but they show it in very neutral way and they know that its another passing event on their life time so there is no need for too much. After happy moment there is gonna be sad moment, and after sad moment there is gonna be happy moment

And epicureanism is only going through happy things, and completly avoiding anything that would make you suffer in any way. This was their way of happiness

You can easily tell which is which.

So if we have that covered up, whats exactly up with RSA!Deuce

I said about The Time, and stuff, but where am I going with this? For now thats all you need to know

And about his mom. Their relationship is tense, I mean they had it good before Deuce gave up on life. She tries to understand whats going on, but yeah-

Some things are better if they're unseen

[mistermalaprop]

finished au crosshairs art & talking about the stranded au

continuing from this post! want to start reading? here!

w/ the text and then-

no text! finally, he's all colored and pretty!

anyway, i know this idea is a bit niche and weird but i’ll talk about it here:

the fuck is this idea, mal!?

you don’t have to shout :(

but in summary: the stranded crosshairs au takes place after an alternate timeline in age of extinction (2014) where lockdown + cemetery wind was successful in nerfing almost all decepticons and autobots on earth. lockdown does not get defeated and humans are still assholes, yippie! crosshairs, being crosshairs, nopes the fuck out when optimus prime gets captured and executed— and drift comes with, because literally everyone else is dead… including the yeagers :( i’m sorry, but the government would kill them all.

the two are on the run in space for a couple months or years, but they get inevitably captured by lockdown and— oop! that’s all i’ll say about that.

this incident ends up with crosshairs’ spark being transported via a tear in the well of allsparks and he wakes up in the rid 2015 universe!

ohh okay okay.. but what about crosshairs himself?

crosshairs, in the live action movies, is a fucking jerkwad arse lmao and i know it. due to story reasons, his behavior is mellowed out and he’s not as obnoxious (we still need rid15 sideswipe to be that #1 nuisance) or violent. he hung out with drift for years alone in the middle of space, he picked up a few things!

well, not as violent towards other bots i mean. after cemetery wind back in his own world, he is distrusting of humans to a lethal degree (rip danny and russell) and hates being touched. i wont get into too many specifics, but just know he’s a tired, blunt bastard that just wants to sleep all day (it’s the depression and chronic attachment issues).

he starts off alone in the story but gets picked up into the bee team (against his will).

other info!

i’m happy to answer any questions about anything in this au (characters, relationships, story, etc) via the ask box. i like answering questions <3 other comments and concerns are also not minded :)

also! design wise— because i love designing things and talking about design choices— below is how i’d imagine the parachutes to work. i wanted to keep the paratrooper aspect of his original character since i liked how unique it was!

i hope it makes sense, because it was funny to draw.

i had fun drawing that, it’s silly.

and that’s all i got for now! here is my current poster for this au— in color and black/white! since i’m planning on it being a little comic thing with some writing (maybe).

[jessconsumesmedia]

Ghosts 4x10 The Not-So-Silent Partner

I thought that I might put together a well-organized piece of writing for this episode, but who knows how that is actually going to work out. I LOVED this episode and I have so many thoughts (many of which I am thinking about giving their own posts) So buckle in and enjoy my wild ranting about fictional characters.

Freaky Spoilers below the belt (they are so not i promise i just think im funny)

Overall thoughts: This episode was Really strong. I loved both of the main plots as well as the little background moments. The stories this season are building up gorgeously and I can't wait to get more payoffs as the season progresses. Pretty much as always I am just going to break up A and B stories and then add any other random bit at the end! (buckle up or leave this is going to be a long ride)

Issac - The not-so-silent partner

I love Issac and his bitchy little attitude; it brings us back to the fact that almost always his bitchyness* is just who he is. He is at heart a bitchy man who is realllllly trying (at least for him he is really trying) but he is also a deeply scorned man. By love, by society, by Hamilton, and even by his friends. The restaurant is his way of being seen, it is his way of being something in an afterlife where he feels like nothing sometimes. He of course is not going about it the right way but this guy has spent his entire life and afterlife being one upped often by people who don't even care about his existence. His hand in the restaurant is important to him. That being said I believe it was a really good decision to have him give up his partner position. He not only realized that he has stakes with his friends but it also is baseline Jay's restaurant.

Jay deserves to have the creative decisions plus he deserves a billion pats on the back for dealing with their eight idiot children/every other ghost on the property at some point. At the beginning of this episode I figured there might be a lead up to Mark finding out about the ghosts but I was surprised with the way they yes/anded their way out of that situation. But I realized it doesn't make a ton of sense for a network tv show to somewhat reveal two big bits (and subsequently lose a layer of jokes even if there are new joke possibilities) Mark finding out that the ghosts exist and Sam can see them takes away the Mark thinks Sam is a weirdo vibe and that is objectively a very silly dynamic. Also **Sam is a weirdo but mostly because of her small/odd family dynamic and also a little bit because of the ghosts. Poor Mark, bro is so gullible.

**"I think we sometimes forget that Samantha once hit her head really hard." definitely not the reason she is desperate for family but it is a good excuse actually for a lot of the situations she finds herself in. But also I wonder if she does have lasting effects, like I would assume considering she was literally dead for three minutes.

*"Issac complain about monarchy, must be day ending in y" oh Thor you are a comedic genius and you are very correct.

Hopefully I got everything I wanted to put in that lol.

IRISH HETTY

Holy shit. I knew, of course I knew. But having confirmation of something that hits you straight in the face is just really nice. This reveal is perfection. Poor Hetty believing whole heartedly that she is somehow British royalty and then she gets hit with one of the things she hates most in life. Love it. This managed to coincide with my English literature class going over a bit of Irish history so I was having a grand time sticking the two together into one big nerd pb&j. Plus I know generally that I have a good chunk of Irish somewhere in my history lol.

The actual implications of Hetty knowing she is Irish now are insane. Much like her encounter with the washing machine, dalliances with Trevor, and brief run ins with feminism, her finding out about her Irish ancestry is just another wall she is breaking. Almost like a another layer that is keeping her from "the real world." She is so stuck in her very stuffy uptight ways but these giant -for her- moments keep happening. They keep adding cracks and craters to the layers of her being. Much like Issac they don't change her fundamental elements so she is still the sam character/person but she has that growth we long to see. Mostly I love to see her views get challenged and she has to deal with the aftermath of those challenges.

Thor's part in all of this is also really interesting. We know he knows things about probably all of the ghosts but he has managed to keep these secrets for an incredibly long time. Thor is just a big guy who loves and cares about his friends. There is also another layer of Hetty being one of, if not, the only ghost who Grew up at Woodstone. The ghosts before her had an attachment to her because they were there for her whole depressing backstory TM. They know what all she went through (some stuff they probably have never said) But Thor specifically fell into some sort of protective figure for her (even if she didn't consider him as that protector for a long time after her death) Whether Sass and Issac just chose not too be as involved or even if they were Thor was there and chose to be there. He knew being Irish would be a huge crack in her worldview so he kept it to himself all to protect her. And let me tell you that made me cry. The Thor and Hetty relationship is one of my favorites not only because of the comedic aspects but also just the sheer care he has for her. She can't do much besides accept her friend and even affirm that friendship. (HETTY LOVE GORDON) Like guys she doesn't even say his pelts are gross and nasty it is such a huge moment for the both of them. They have to feel real life feelings which is a problem for them both, and as they tap into those feeling they are able to settle each other.

Trevor's part in this is smaller but it is still Very much there. He is quick to affirm that he loves St. Patrick's day. Quick to let her believe that her ***"Flaming red hair and alabaster skin" aren't particularly Irish traits. He stays by her side nearly all episode. Yet he was delighted to find out that she was in fact Irish, but he didn't make fun of her? Their whole relationship is based off of their conflict wouldn't he as the little shit that he is want to crowd her with snide witticisms? No he wouldn't. Their relationship genuinely makes me feel insane sometimes because we are clearly moving towards some sort of impasse. Whether its that we find out they have been getting closer but are just friends still or if they have been secretly hooking up off camera or any number of possibilities. There are choices being made that bring them together. Trevor likes Hetty's qualities simply put and Hetty apparently Loves Colin Ferrell who in many ways favors the pantless crusader. (He also uses that tone of voice that it seems like he literally saves for Hetty) I just cant wait to see more of their "complicated and diabolical" relationship.

***Now Trevor explain why you said that with a sarcastic air but at the same time plausible enough that Hetty would probably take it at face value. Plus why was he so poetic in his descriptions???

I believe that I have written what I can about Hetty but also I probably could think of other things lol.

Miscellaneous

Pete is such a good teacher. I love that he shows Hetty a bunch of Irish things.

"This man has plans for someone and I for one respect it" How even would he execute that plan lol?

If they wanted to take Issacs money I really think all they'd have to do is ask Trevor. He wants to be Mom and Dad's favorite.

Doctor Hoo

"No, baby, that was the scam."

Kelsey is so real for the gift card and seven dollars lol. (She is hilarious and a really good person to bring back)

Gaslight that poor man

Also Hetty looking too Trevor to calm her fears like she could have asked anyone in that room and she chose him.

Rebecca Wisocky the woman that you are. The line read on that bit about Whiskey is Hilarious.

I love Pete and his love of the craft. The improv your way out really worked I am curious if it could come up again somehow with Mahesh and Mark.

I love Jay that is the tweet hit send

"Except for Danes who brains are rumored to be mostly cabbage" He just can't get past his own prejudices.

That is the end of my very long rant sesh! Thanks for sticking around

He is down bad

I just like how for most of the scene she can’t look him in the eyes :((((

-Jess🫡

[5typesoftrash]

[Image Description: a reply on tumblr light mode from @pancho-pinto. It reads "Your asks are not active? Even so, I'd like to hear about Ranchers Skyrim AU, Rancher & Boat Boys Tuff Guys x Bad Boys, and Boat Boys Tornado Warnings song fic ^-^)!" End ID]

Irt my WIP tag ask game (link in replies) asks are on now and I will ramble away :D

Longish post under the cut

Ranchers Skyrim AU:

Tango's a guard in Whiterun

Jimmy's the Dragonborn

Lots of stuff about how Jimmy's the worst Dragonborn ever cause he doesn't like himself very much

Tango thinks he's awesome though and spends several hundred words just thinking about how funny and smart and silly and good at fighting and pretty Jimmy is

Basically it's just a short series of scenes of Jimmy passing through Whiterun and making a point to stop and say hi to Tango every time

It probably ends with a kiss because I love Themb

Tuff Guys x Bad Boys

Bad Boys have a mini reunion during WL, probably in session 7

Just them hanging out together and the Tuff Guys show up

There's some banter and some teasing and some general Bad Boy/Tuff Guy-ishness and then it ends with Boat Boys and Ranchers making out sloppy style while Bdubs and Grian stand there awkwardly with their arms crossed trying to find something else to look at lmao

Tornado Warnings Songfic

Basically follows the plot of the song

Joel is married to Lizzie and is cheating on her with Etho (he's a bit of a bastard in this fic)

(also this whole fic is angst whoops)

It starts with Joel and Etho on a playground at night talking about their relationship and Etho's thinking about all the things that are Wrong about them and his guilt over the fact that he can't seem to just end things with Joel

Then it's a therapy session (his therapist is Gem) and he's trying to convince her (and himself) that he hasn't seen Joel recently and that he's over him and it's Not Working

Some character study stuff I haven't fleshed out yet

Another therapy session

I actually don't know how this one ends tbh

[guillemelgat]

I'm only a month late but here's the yearly review! These goals were actually quite reasonable, and though I didn't hit most of them, they were good guides to have.

For Catalan, I did manage to find a Catalan speaker in this city (WILD story but we don't have time for that), who confirmed my suspicions that there just are no Catalans here by the fact that they know exactly two other Catalans. But I also might have an in on two professors who might be Catalan, and could also talk to, which would be exciting. Meanwhile my Catalan is quickly atrophying, but I did at least find people, which I'm very happy about. In terms of reading, I had a feeling I would read way less than 30 books, and I was right about that: I read 7 (I would have read way more if I was capable of finishing a book; alas, that skill is escaping me at this moment). But I still think that the challenge was absolutely worth it, and I'd like to do it next year, too. I'll write up a longer post about that, though.

In terms of Welsh and Basque, I wouldn't say that I followed these goals at all. But for both of them, I think I did put in a lot more effort and kind of got a reality check on how I should go about studying them. For Welsh, I started listening to a whole bunch more music. For Basque, I got to go to the Basque Country for a weekend and stay with a friend and speak in Basque the whole time, which was a huge challenge, but also really made me understand what I need to work on (comprehension/vocabulary/more advanced grammar). I didn't end up watching much Rownd a Rownd or Eskamak kentzen, but I think that I've had a lot of problems with attention span (and also realistic expectations) this year, and I'm slowly starting to figure out how to create a language routine that works with what I've got.

For Malayalam, I did start taking classes, and this is one of the few goals that has really worked out. Malayalam has gone from being something really frustrating and emotionally taxing for me to a language I feel like I'm starting to have a grasp on. The class has been very intensive (we learned the alphabet and all the noun cases in the first semester, and were reading simple texts by the end), but it's been good for pushing my limits. Unfortunately the time is a little rough, especially with a full class load and TAship, but it's so rewarding that I think I'm going to stick through this semester as well.

Alas, I didn't get to try Russian immersion. I still think this would be really funny, though.

As for Anki, I tried pretty hard at the beginning of last year to get into it, but unfortunately it takes so much time to make your own cards (if you're silly like me - I could probably put them together in a less complicated way) and eventually I just decided to stick with Memrise for now. We'll see, though. Maybe I can simplify my template or something - I just need a quicker way to set up large amounts of cards.

This year was a long and very heavy year for me personally, but also a very meaningful year in some ways, and I think it taught me to think much more about what matters to me, and to clear away what doesn't. I've been studying all four of these languages for a significant amount of time now, and I want them to continue be a part of my life and my world. Hopefully 2025 will be yet another year in which I continue to grow into them, and them into me.

Language Goals 2024

Another year, another set of goals! This year, in the actual spirit of my very reasonable 2022 language goals, here are my plans for language study.

Catalan

First and foremost, my goal is to find Catalan friends in my new hometown, because I really need to speak Catalan with people at minimum once a week or I get very sad, and currently I’m not speaking it with anyone at all. This goal is pretty chill though—I just have to actually sit down and put in the time to find people.

My main goal is to read 30 books in Catalan. I’ll make a proper post about it with a list of books that I’m thinking of and how the challenge itself is going to work, but overall I’m trying to pick a mix of styles and genres, so expect anything from medieval literature to YA novels to academic texts. I have a lot of books that I’ve been meaning to read for a while, so hopefully this will give me a chance to chip into some of them. 30 books is less than other versions of this challenge that I’ve seen, but it’s also many more books than I’ve read in Catalan possibly ever and I think it’s more reasonable in conjunction with a full class load. Hopefully it ends up being just the right amount!

Welsh & Basque

This year I really want to work hard to actually get these two to an upper intermediate level, because I’m so close if I put in the work. For both of them, I have two main goals: (1) go through the textbooks/workbooks that I started going through casually last semester (Basic Welsh: A Grammar and Workbook by Gareth King and Standard Basque: A Progressive Grammar by Rudolf P.G. de Rijk) so that I can continue to review and learn new grammatical structures, and (2) watch one episode of a TV series each week in each language. For the TV series, I’m going to be watching Rownd a Rownd on S4C (which is available outside Wales/the UK! Huge win!) and Eskamak kentzen on EITB. If I have time, I’ll try to go through episodes more thoroughly and note down new vocabulary and such, but the main goal is to make a routine of it and watch consistently so I’m trying to keep it simple. I’d also like to use both languages with other people more often if I can, but I think finding a consistent language partner will perhaps be a goal for another year.

Malayalam

I’m planning to focus the first half of the year on Welsh and Basque, and then next fall, I’m hoping to be able to take the Malayalam classes offered by my university and to get into studying my home dialect (or rather, my extended family’s home dialect, since I didn’t speak it at home) as well. Since this will be later and also classroom learning rather than self-study, I’m not going to go into details, but overall, after my trip to Kerala (which I have stuff about, it’s on the docket!), I’m generally feeling much less alienated and much more motivated to study the language. I’m also looking forward to being able to take real classes, which I think will help keep me focused and on track.

Russian

This is a minor goal, but at my friend’s house over the summer, her mom was joking that if they just spoke to me in Russian while I stayed at their house, I’d probably be able to understand it by the end. That led us to concoct a plan where I study a bit of Russian vocab, then go there and do intensive Russian immersion for a weekend or so. This is more of a silly goal, but I’d like to try it because I think it could be fun.

Anki

This isn’t a language goal per se, but rather a general resolution to spend this year learning to use (and tweaking and configuring) Anki. Anki has a notoriously high barrier to entry, and from everything I’ve seen it should be treated as a long-term, intensive project—I’ll hopefully reap the rewards later if I take my time and set up everything right in the early stages. With that in mind, I’m hoping that by the end of the year I’ve figure out a set up for my decks and cards that really works for getting me to remember and be able to use vocab and grammar. I’ll focus on the languages here for the start, but I’m hoping that with habit and time, if I get a good system going I can use it with other languages too.

And that’s it! It’s been a bit since I was systematic about studying languages, but I’ve found that I really miss it and want to go back. I feel like I’m at a really good place with all of these, and I’d like to continue to make progress, so I’m really trying to focus on consistency and hitting the sweet spot of just challenging enough to get myself out of my comfort zone while not burning out. Hopefully I’ve set this up in a way to build habits and make me excited to keep immersing myself with these languages in the coming years, which is really the key to learning any language in the long term—I've realized that I speak Catalan so well because it's fully integrated into my life, and I'd like all these others to be as well. Here’s to a good 2024, and I wish all of you luck with your own goals as well!

[lagt-duck]

Day 5 of Sharktober!

The shark druid of kelp forest is often seeking to offer his help to lost travelers

Say hi to him if you meet him!

As always this challenge belongs to @requinoesis and @capy974

[doctorsiren]

He’s like “wtf did I get myself into???”

[dat1angel]

Danny the tiktok star

DPxDC au

So Danny, as any high school teen would do, makes videos on the latest video sharing social media site. In this case that's tiktok, although if we look at the time that Danny Phantom came out Vine might be more appropriate...

Either way, he makes silly little videos that range from funny jokes, A Day in the Life at Casper High, Space Fact Friday, POV: You live in Amity Park, roasting whatever ghost happens to be attacking that day, ect. He gains a small following of people who like his content but it's nowhere near being able at call himself tiktok famous. Until one post...

"Hello, my name is Danny, and this is my Official Application for Bruce Wayne to adopt me"

He jokes about how he is a young teen male with black hair, blue eyes, and a questionable home life which makes him the perfect candidate for a Bruce Wayne adoptee. The video goes viral so Danny leans into the bit and starts making more of that content. Photoshoping myself into a Wayne family photo, What I would wear to a Wayne gala, Taking a 'Which Wayne Are You' quiz.

When the Wayne kids find his account they think it's hilarious and keep an eye for new posts from him. One day Tim is stuck in a boring WE meeting so when he gets a notification that Danny posted a new video he will gladly take the distraction. He wasn't expect what he would find...

The video opens with the camera facing Danny, but he's not in any of his usual filming locations. It's hard to tell what exactly is happening around him but there's shouting in the distance and the sound of sirens. In fact, it looks as if Danny is leaning against an ambulance. Danny looks unusually pale and has what looks like a shock blanket wrapped around his shoulders. The camera is shakey and when he speaks his voice comes out weak.

"Hey guys... It's Danny. You know how I joke a lot about being adopted by Bruce Wayne?..."

Danny pauses and takes a shakey breath. It seems like he loses his grip on the phone for a moment because the camera fumbles before being held upright again. It's not a great view, but viewers can catch a glimpse of a destroyed building in the background, firefighters still working to get all the flames doused. When Danny starts speaking again he seems to choke on the words.

"W-Well, something happened and.. I'm k-kinda and orphan now? So uh..." Danny gives a small sad sounding chuckle that fades into a light cough, "this is my official application for Bruce Wayne to adopt me. Internet, do your thing..."

The video ends.

[darkdragon768]

Various doodles of the Dorito Twins.

I just like to play with them like dolls and put them into situations.

[artuurle]

because today has been a Bizzyboy kick for me i decided to sketch my hcs about the height and builds of these guys. who knows if i draw them like this again or iterate upon the designs though.

Also calling out how horribly I dressed Grujaja. theres a reason i did it but its still foul XC

[scoriarose]

She came up with a new activity

[commandertartarsmoocher]

"Gay Is Okay 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇩🇪"

[aspiring-prototype]

Seeing all these posts on the DCA's bday and the 21st of September got me making this thing.

*sensibly chuckles to self*

Happy Reveal-versary to Sun & Moon and happy 21st Sept!

@crabsnpersimmons , thank you for the advice!

[sysig]

Take any opportunity at all (Patreon)