#they have a fairy theme this year so hell yeah this is going to be lit

[flintbian]

I'm going to a masquerade ball!!! :D

[thereticx]

៚𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗌 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗌

inspired by this song

pairing: Eren Jaeger x Reader

summary: Eren Jaeger shows his face again after a whole year away, recovering from the mess that was yours' breakup. Summer was already here and with it there's no escaping one another.

warnings: break up, ex's to lovers, cheating rumors, sexual themes, slight body talk

author's note: first attempt to write something that includes a song so I hope this isn't terrible (also the first one shot with smut after some time)

✎"Darling, you need to eat something. Please" Carla's voice rang through the massive room where she and her son stood for almost an hour trying to enjoy some good food. She hated seeing him like this, empty and absent.

Eren played with the fork while slowly raising his eyes to face his mother. He tried to mimic a smile as best as he could, maybe just maybe, she'll let it go "I'm not that hungry I ate before I got here"

The long ride to his mother's house gave him enough time to put himself together, to put up a front, convincing enough in order to not raise suspicions. But he forgot that it's his mother. Carla could read him like an open book, she was able to break through his facade and see him.

"Sweetheart, did you break up? Or is it something else? You know you can—"

"Yeah, we did" The boy felt how tears were about to fall from his eyes. God, he hated crying. It made him weak and hopeless. A single question was enough to take him back to that day where all went downhill.

「Hand over heart, I'm praying

That I'm gonna make it out alive 」

"Three years, Eren! Three damn years!" Your mouth tasted the salty tears that slipped over your chapped lips, then it hit you "Why?"

Eren stood in front of you, his eyes scanning your form. Your beautiful face was coated with tears and your eyes were tinted red from all the emotions flowing through them. Those eyes he got lost in every night held so much pain, so much betrayal, for him.

"Baby…please.. I can explain, just—" His trembling hands reached out for you, taking your face in them, his thumb brushing away a droplet of water. Eren's touch was so comforting yet so strange in that moment. You didn't know what to do, how to react. Part of you wanted to slap him so hard he would feel the sting for days, but another part wanted to give up. It was quite tempting to fall into his arms, to let him taste your lips and whisper what you so desperately wanted to hear.

「You got me scattered in pieces

Shining like stars and screaming」

No it's not right. You couldn't offer him your forgiveness not this time. With a shaky breath you managed to break everything you two have built. Every happy moment where you were laughing together, kissing, undressing everything crumbled. To say it hurt like hell was an understatement. It felt horrible. Eren felt his heart hurt, his chest moving up and down so fast he couldn't breathe properly "Please don't….please"

「This is a modern fairy tale

No happy endings」

That day haunted you for weeks on end. You grew to miss him so—so much that nothing had meaning in your life without him.

Eren was the air you breathed, he was the sun that warmed you up whenever you had a messed up day, when you wanted to smash everything in your sight and just hysterically cry.

He would warm you up with his little smirk that showcased perfect teeth, coming to embrace you and kiss your eyelids, your hair and finally your lips. There, he spent a good amount of time, swallowing every regret you had for the day and every bad thought. His lips were so gentle and sweet you couldn't resist. His fingers playing with the hem of your shorts while saying "Let me love you, baby"

And who were you to deny him?

「The bed's getting cold and you're not here

The future that we hold is so unclear

But I'm not alive until you call

And I'll bet the odds against it all」

The body that laid beside you was unknown, strange. Your soul refused to acknowledge it. The burning feeling you once got from Eren touching you, now it was locked up. There's no such thing as pleasure anymore. Only the gods now, you tried to love him. Your new boyfriend. You really did try.

If only he knew what was going on through your head a few hours ago when you had sex. If only he knew the boy who stole your mind and heart was far—far away and still you felt him so close.

His old shirts were kept in your closet, his ring that he had given you on your first year anniversary was kept beside you on your nightstand.

「There's a million reasons why I should give you up

But the heart wants what it wants」

Nights were the worst. In those moments you felt like the most. Your body tingles when you wear his clothes and when you click on the album you're faced with thousands of memories. All of them printed on your mind that when you close your eyes you're able to see him.

「You got me sippin' on something

I can't compare to nothing」

"Eren…this is my boyfriend" A knife ripped his skin and struck his heart. Was this really happening? He shook his hand trying to be as polite as possible but deep down he wanted to break your boyfriend's head and steal you away from him.

Eren was dressed handsomely but adapted to the hot weather. He had his key necklace hidden under his shirt and a smaller one sitting right at the base of his neck. His arms were decorated with bracelets all of them from the time you went to parties together but what really caught your attention was the ring he wore. The one you bought him when he turned nineteen.

He always wore it, even at the gym. Despite the fact that it left nasty marks on his finger, he didn't dare take it off.

When you trailer your eyes up his form you caught his eyes. You could see the pain and regret was still there, but he restrained himself from making a move. His body just couldn't move. You saw the innerbattle he endured seeing you with another man. It was hard for you too, because if he was to take your hand in his right then and there you'll give in and abandon your morals.

Please do it.

He didn't.

「But then you disappear and make me wait

And every second's like torture」

This was a terrible idea. You shouldn't be here with him. Not alone. It's not like you didn't trust him, you didn't trust yourself.

"So, about that thing. I didn't cheat on you. Historia just got into a fight with Ymir and I hugged her. That's all" Eren felt like it was too late to explain everything. But he had hope that you'll take him back.

「Save your advice 'cause I won't hear

You might be right, but I don't care

There's a million reasons why I should give you up

But the heart wants what it wants

The heart wants what it wants」

You smashed your cold lips against his, licking his lower lip to ask for entrance. His hands cupped your face keeping you so close your breaths became one. The taste of him was so addicting you desperately wanted to rip his clothes off.

"What about him?" He whispered, opening his eyes to scan your reaction. You smiled "The only one I care about right now is you. So, shut up and kiss me"

(the two of you broke up before this)

His arms lifted you by the hips and wrapped your legs around his waist. You felt him smirk against your neck, pressing wet hungry kisses. You tilted your head to the side allowing Eren to mark your neck. Your fingers were in his hair taking out his hair tie and letting the long strands of hair to rest on his shoulders "Eren..please"

"I know baby, I know" With one kiss pressed on your lips he laid you down on his bed sheets, admiring your body. You were curvier than he remembered, more beautiful if that was even possible.

Eren removed his shirt, his torso and abs on full display. He let your finger travel on his pecks while he rested his forehead on yours "I fucking missed you" Your touch raised goosebumps on his whole body and his pants were tighter with every second.

You sat up discarding your clothes along with your bra and underwear. You kept your thighs together to stop the slick from slipping further down your legs.

Eren watched you with hungry eyes when he noticed something. Your arms were around your middle, to hide something. He leaned in, taking your lips in his, meeting your tongue. You couldn't escape him. His overwhelming presence made you remove your arms from around you and pull him in, working your way to get him out of his pants.

Eren gripped his dick in his hand aligning with your entrance. His slit moved briefly up and down teasing you "Eren please.." You raised your hips to get some kind of friction.

The boy gripped your hips and stopped your movements "Tell me if it hurts" He pushed his tip inside, making you gripp the bedsheets. It's been a long time since he had been inside you and your now ex boyfriend wasn't even near as big as Eren.

He pushed forward making you close your eyes to stop the tears from building up "Relax baby I'm almost halfway"

Halfway?

"Eren it hurts—" Upon hearing you, he moved no more. His hands grabbed yours and squeezed them "Shh…you're doing so good love..so good" You opened your eyes seeing him look at you with so much love and admiration. He was painfully hard but still he took it slow for you.

His thumb drew circles on your hand while he whispered "Do you remember the first time we did it? You took me so good. Fuck, this pussy is perfect baby. You're perfect"

While he talked you were so focused that you didn't pay attention to the pain anymore "Can I move?"

Oh..

You slowly nodded your head and felt Eren's thrusts. His movements were slow but deep. Your walls hugged him so good he felt like cumming right then.

"Oh fuck—" He picked up the pace, making you see stars. His dick went deeper with every movement reaching your g spot.

You arched your back feeling your orgasm build up "Eren I'm about to cum" He let go of your arms letting you wrap them around his neck. You rested your face in the crook of his neck, panting.

Eren felt your pussy clench around him as your orgasm hit you "That's it baby. Let it go" He put his hand on the back of your head, stroking your hair while he kissed your hair line.

When he pulled out of you, your juices where running down your inner thighs "No..you didn't get to cum"

He laughed sweetly pecking your lips "Don't worry about me—"

But you didn't listen. You pushed him on the bed, your lips kissing him lower and lower, reaching his still hard dick.

You looked up at him and god, he was about break. His hair stuck to his handsome face, his cheeks reddening. He was embarrassed.

You started kissing his dick from the base until you reached his tip. Your tongue came in contact with the precum and didn't hesitate to take him in all the way.

"Fuck—fuck" You felt his fingers grip your hair while he held you there for a second. He didn't apply pressure letting you do whatever.

You moved your head up and down, your tongue flat against his dick. He wasn't able to contain himself and thrusted up in your mouth "Don't stop fuck—"

You didn't dare to. Your hand squeezed his balls while you went faster. His moans were getting louder which indicated that he was close. Eren wasn't the one to shy away when having sex. He was as loud as he wanted.

His dick hit the back of your throat, releasing his load.

He watched you swallow his cum. You crawled on top of him kissing him. He trapped you with his arms, his lips biting your earlobe "I love you, Y/N"

You didn't reply with words but rather you kissed his jaw resting your head on his chest.

I love you

He knew that. You didn't have to speak.

For him it was enough that you were there.

That night the two of you made a promise. Through breathless moments you admitted to yourselves that…..

「The heart wants what it wants, baby

It wants what it wants, baby」

Your hearts want one another.

[lucky-bucky-boy]

omg local baker who Mike has baking abbys bday cake but he has a crush on her ????

Oh my God this is so cute to me. I wanna run a coffee shop/mini bakery and this is just perfect and beautiful omg

I'm writing this with the idea that fnaf happened but didn't *happen* like no one died lmao

~~

Mike wasn't sure what to expect. At all.

It had been an incredibly tough year, each day somehow becoming more rough than the previous. From mom passing, to job hopping, to Aunt Jane trying to get the courts even more involved. Despite all that, he did his damndest to not let it affect Abby.

He knew in some aspects it was inevitable. A young child losing a parent was never easy; she heard his grumbling and arguments with Aunt Jane, the comments about not being able to pay Max, found papers he should have hidden a little better

But birthdays and holidays were sacred. That he made sure of.

So, against his pride and better judgement, he had asked Aunt Jane for a little help throwing Abby a birthday party. She was more than happy to, surprisingly, with the agreement they come up for Thanksgiving this year. And begrudgingly, he agreed.

That's how he ended up at the doorstep of a brick townhouse closer to the city, a paper in his hand with an address scrawled in his Aunt's too neat handwriting. She'd given him a list of stores and things and places and people to get everything from in order to throw a "proper birthday party."

He did a double take on the numbers and street address, making sure they matched and still slightly confused as to why he was at a person's house and not a store. With a shrug and a tired sigh, he knocked on the door, the scurrying of animals evident inside almost immediately followed by a "shush" as he heard another door shut before the one in front of him went to open.

He didn't know what to expect, and sure as hell didn't expect to have a girl a little younger than him open the door, an apron on and covered in flour. She looked almost frazzled for a moment before shutting the door behind her, eyes moving from the curious furry creatures to the man now in front of her.

"Hi, sorry," she sounded almost as tired and exasperated as he did, "been a busy day, and my lovely little fur-babies have been noisy."

She wiped her hands on her apron, "I - I don't think we've met before." Her eyebrows were scrunched, confusion etching into her features.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. I'm Mike. My uh- my Aunt Jane suggested you to me. Told me you make the best cakes and cupcakes and gave me your address to place an order."

He could see the cogs working in her brain as she tried to pin poin who he was talking about, "Oh! That's right, she gave me a call the other day to make sure I'd have the time. You need the order for next Saturday, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, next Saturday at noon."

"Perfect, yes. Come in, we'll fill out the forms and get everything set. My pets are actually in the front room so you don't have to worry about them."

A cup of coffee, a curious conversation, and too many forms later, Mike felt like he was in a dream. The girl sitting across the table from him was captivating, a sense of excitement and passion he longed to have and admired. There was a sweetness to her, something he was sure he'd be able to taste in more ways than just her baking skills.

"Okay," her voice cut through his thoughts, "So, we're doing 24 cupcakes, half chocolate and half vanilla, then a 9 inch rounch cake with mint chocolate. And it's rainbow, fairy, unicorn, princess themed. Does that all sound right?"

He chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, sorry I couldn't give you more specifics. She's sort of all over the place and it's a surprise party."

"Oh no, don't worry. I'm going to have fun with this. Does she like glitter?"

He nodded again before taking a quick sip of his coffee. "Yeah, yeah. She loves glitter. Her favorite thing to do is draw as well."

"Perfect. Well, Mike, you're definitely more pleasant than your Aunt," she laughed softly, standing up and placing the form in a little file holder, "But don't tell her I said that. I'll send her the bill tomorrow. I hope Abby loves the cake."

Mike stood up, a tinge of disappointment that their interaction was coming to an end so soon. "I'm sure she will. She loves sweet." He sat his coffee cup in the sink. "So uh, when should I pick up the cake?"

"Oh! Don't worry about it. Jane invited me to the party so I'll just bring it all with me, I could use the networking with other parents so it works out."

His eyes widen some, lips twitching up into a small smile. "Okay, cool. I'll uh, I'll see you next week." He hesitated for a moment before grabbing a rogue napkin and the pen he was using to fill out the forms, quickly scribbling something onto it.

"Here," he handed her the napkin, "My number in case uh, in case you wanna talk more." He paused for a moment, watching her eyes scan the numbers, "For the uh. The cake. The party."

She giggled softly, looking at him as his features began to blush. "Yeah. For the cake and the party."

He chuckled anxiously, "Thanks again. I'll see you later." Mike let himself out before he could make himself even more embarrassed, standing on the porch for a moment after he closed the door behind him, unaware that the sweet baker was inside quietly squealing over the poorly written number.

[unbizzarre]

Cetegandan concept sketches

Wanted to try my hand at Cetegandan clothing. Not sure how Gem differs from Haut, though I'm leaning towards Gem being more flamboyant, space-grabbing and structured (left and right) whereas Haut is flowy-er and layered, with some lab attire with a both aesthetic and practical bent.

In general clothing styles try to evoke imagery of flowers, petals, and delicate layering. I'm playing around with incorporating butterfly shapes in the silhouette. (see swallowtail sleeves on far left). While the garments are light and flowy, very little skin is left showing. The clothing style is an elegant synthesis of Grecian drapery and certain elements from historic Japanese, Chinese, and Korean garments. My muse was also inspired to create a similar feeling to some of my favorite Star Wars costume design sketches I've run across. I also really enjoy having folds radiating out from a central point, or folding out like petals above and below a belt/waistline. Will probably do more studies to further explore the variety of ceta styles I've imagined.

tbh i imagine cetagandan womens clothing is actually a bit less colorful. maybe more whites and creams. But I just had fun messin about with butterfly colors

OH HELL YEAH TIME TO CITE THOSE SOURCES! :::

these specific designs pull from and synthesise shapes I found in

Roberto Cappuci Haute Couture 1987 "angel of god" or "Andgelo d'Oro" (angel of gold) depending on which pinterst image I reference

and

this dress by Issa Hesso from the Rebirth Collection

starwars concept art I enjoy:

like fuck me this guys so good

you can find more by searching: iain mccaig padme amidala concept art

overall pretty happy with how these turned out :D! Feel like I successfully captured the space-elf-fairy vibes I was going for. If you notice any cannon clothing details I left out, or have your own creative ideas on how you imagine cetagandan cloting to look, feel free to leave a comment! I love hearing other people's insights :). Particularly curious how ceta clothing may have changed between occupation time period and modern miles-era ceta clothing. Given their heavily artistic bent I could imagine fashions may change wildly year to year decade to decade. But also given how long they live, perhaps the mainstream styles is actually less malleable? If so what are the common themes that are preseved?

thanks for reading!

[the-family-business-83]

Be My Pumpkin?

Fandom: Supernatural

Genre: Fluff, slight angst

Type: One-shot

Pairing: Dean x Female!reader, no body type or ethnicity mentioned

Word count: 1,674

Summary: Dean doesn't always stop to have a normal moment very often, if at all. Ever since you came along, a lot of things have changed. And this year, you're the reason he remembers to have some fun on Halloween.

Warnings: None honestly. Just some possible spoilers if you haven't seen much of the show but I tried to keep it vague so it's not spoilery.

Dividers created by @firefly-graphics; cover image taken off of Pintrest

A/N: I wrote this at like 3am because I couldn't sleep and I wanted to write some fluffy Dean. I was feeling the Halloween vibes but I also kinda wanted to touch on season 8 post-Lisa feelings. I don't care if those makes sense because honestly I just wrote it to write something. Any and all mistakes are my own because I wrote those without a Beta or anyone to preview it before I posted it. I hope you guys like it because I kinda love it and I thought it was super cute. Anyway, enjoy! :3

Sometimes there were mundane things you did with Dean that brought back older memories. You didn't mean to, hell you didn't know half the time–and how could you, you weren't psychic. But you'd ask him to take the trash out with a tired sigh because it probably wasn't the first time you'd asked that, and sometimes it reminded him of Lisa. You got excited over every holiday and insisted that the bunker should be decorated even if Sam found it ridiculous, and it had him thinking back to a time when he and his brother made the best of a year. Come to think of it he couldn't remember the last time they actually sat down and celebrated a holiday that wasn't their birthdays, if you even counted those.

It was the middle of October, and you'd covered the bunker in whatever dollar store decorations you could find. Mini-skeleton garlands on the railings with little orange fairy lights, Halloween monster themed window clingers on every mirror or glass you could find, you'd even changed out the bathmats in the shower room to be those color-changing white ones that turn red with water. Sam had vetoed those though on the premise that they were a bit distasteful. Little did he know Dean had tucked them away for later pranks. But now you and Dean had gone to the grocery store for a supply run, and you were walking past the giant bin of pumpkins that they had. You didn't say anything beyond a happy little gasp and stopped to look at them. Some were small, some were huge, and some looked a little worse for the wear. They were all pumpkins in your book though and you were perfectly happy looking through them to find a good one.

Dean realized after a few moments that you weren't by his side anymore, because he turned to ask you what was next on the list. He frowned when he didn't see you, and stopped in his tracks as he did one of those half-circles around himself with the body language of where the hell did she go?; that was when you called out to him.

“Dean! Help me put this in the cart, it's heavy as shit.” You called out to him, huffing as you set the big, cartoonishly perfect for carving pumpkin back into the pile. You practically squinted at it like it had done something to offend you personally by not being easy to move.

The Winchester spun on his heels when he heard your voice, emerald hues taking a second or so to lock onto you before he relaxed a bit and made his way over to you. “Midnight already there Cinderella?” He teased, cocking a brow up.

“Ha, ha. Yeah except my prince ran away from me, imagine that.” You countered, rolling your eyes at him. You could see that tiny smirk on his lips already forming and you fought against one of your own as you raised your brows. “Would you just put it in the cart already?”

Dean chuckled a bit at her quip, he thought he was pretty hilarious now and then, and he liked to think she did too, at least sometimes. Glancing over at the pumpkin in question, his eyes raked across the others in the cardboard bin. “What do we even need one of these for?” He asked out of curiosity, one hand fiddling absently with one of them, poking and prodding at the orange gord before letting it fall back down to his side. Dean was what you might call a Halloween nerd, sure, but he didnt often partake in the activities associated with it, so the thought didn't really occur to him.

“To carve, Dean.” You began, as if it were an obvious thing. “You pick one too, and I think we should get one for Sam. He probably won't, I know, but at least the option would be there and besides, an extra pumpkin can't hurt. I mean look at em, they're pumpkins!” you rambled on excitedly and gestured to them as you spoke. Palms out and faced up, you waved them over the pumpkin bin as if presenting them like some proud mother of her star children.

After a moment or so, you noticed Dean hadn't said anything. It made you look at him, wondering why he was so quiet. Because generally, he wasn't. Not unless something was wrong, and that had you worried just a bit. “Dean?” You asked, a little quieter this time as you tried to catch his attention.

When Dean registered that you had been talking to him, he felt a little bad that he hadn't said anything. His eyes were glued to those pumpkins–the only thing she'd been talking about for several minutes now–in thought. He couldn't help it; he was trying to remember when was the last time, if ever, that he'd actually gone out and picked a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. Certainly not since he was a kid, and not after his mother had died when he was 4. Maybe there had been a couple of Halloweens with Bobby where he let them carve some at the table. But that still had been some decades by now. Then he remembered…. The year he'd spent with Lisa and Ben. Which actually hasn't been all that long ago that things had gone sour and he'd almost lost them. He remembered that Halloween before everything went bad, taking Ben out to the store and getting a few pumpkins for them all to carve together. He remembered showing Ben how to hold the knife right so it was easier, how to make it look scarier with the teeth. He remembered working outside and spotting squirrels chewing on them, and scaring the little furballs off with Ben. Lisa yelled at them for being idiots but Dean still couldn't forget the loving look in her eyes that betrayed every word she tossed at them for that. He still missed it all so much. He'd have thought he'd have gotten over it by now but he still hasn't, he still woke up some days with the urge to call Lisa and check on them before he remembered that he couldn't. He wasn't about to mope around about it when there was still work to do, but he was human, he was allowed to feel pain over something he'd lost, especially when he knew they were out there somewhere, happy and safe, he just couldn't be with them. So much crap had happened and there was still crap going on. It was all whirling in his mind until he looked over at you.

You were standing next to him, you had turned the bunker into a festive warehouse when they hadn't even had the place very long, and now you were telling him how you were going to carve pumpkins for Halloween. In the middle of the world's 80th apocalypse. He shook his head lightly and let out a light chuckle, short and dry with disbelief laced in it. “You wanna carve this…” he trailed, eyes drifting back towards her prize.

You weren't sure if you were scared or confused. Or, maybe both. You frowned at the way he looked at you because you knew that look. You knew those eyes. Even if he wouldn't come out and say it you knew something was wrong but for the life of you, you couldn't figure out what. Following his line of sight towards the pumpkin you'd picked out, your brows knitted together as you chewed at your lip in thought. “I mean, you don't have to. I just thought it might be fun. And uh…I mean I thought you and your brother could use some fun.” You reasoned aloud, quietly. Mostly because you weren't totally sure what was going on with him and if something might set him off. “It's Halloween, y'know? Horror movies….bad popcorn…carved pumpkins. But- it's, I mean. It's not a big deal, I promise.” You shrugged shaking your head but mostly at yourself because you'd rambled enough.

You made another attempt at getting the big orange lump out of the bin full of them, and peripherally you heard Dean chuckle again before suddenly the pumpkin felt a lot lighter. Because his hands had joined yours in the effort of moving it to the cart. Once it was set down, Dean turned back to the bin and pulled out another one. You frowned, confused and blinked as you watched him grab not just one but two more of those pumpkins.

“What?” He cocked a brow up slightly as you looked at him like that. He knew why you were giving him that look, but he didn't really want to talk about it and he was trying to play it off so he smirked her way. “I thought you said it's Halloween, let’s bring home some pumpkins. Maybe Sam'll finally ‘conquer his fears’ or whatever, therapists say that's good for you and all.” He joked, that smirk widening into a bit of a grin.

Your worries weren't gone but they'd been substituted for mischievous joy at the notion of giving Sam a bit of shit. Mostly she just loved to see the two in their natural rhythm, and it had–admittedly–been a bit tense lately between them. The idea of some good old fashioned fun sounded good for all of them.

But above all, you were just excited to challenge them into a carving contest. With a grin, you tiptoed to pull Dean into a gentle kiss. “Pretty sure there's no therapist protocol for people like us, that's what whiskey and John Carpenter is for.” You teased back, kissing him again when he chuckled. Tomorrow night was going to be fun, you knew that much. But so would tonight and you made sure Dean knew that in the way your lips lingered on his just a little longer before pulling away so you could finish your shopping trip with a bit of incentive.

[marlo-noni]

10 more Liu Yuning songs I love!

This is part 3. Here are part 1 and part 2.

New Year's Song (过年的歌), 2020 Why it's good: it's so cute, happy, and festive! You may hear it in your local Asian supermarket around Lunar New Year, because it's fairly popular. The video is adorable too. I love his bandmates, A-Zhuo and Da Fei, in their costumes - Da Fei is the god of wealth (I think), and A-Zhuo looks like some longevity god? My knowledge of Chinese mythology and deities is lacking.

2. Adore (十分喜欢), 2019 Why it's good: so soft and romantic! This feels like your boyfriend, Liu Yuning, is singing a love song directly to you. It was also written by Penny Tai, who Liu Yuning would later team up with on season 3 (2021) of the variety show Our Song.

3. Obviously (明明), 2019 Why it's good: just very catchy, especially the chorus. It's the first song on his 2019 album Ten (十), and it's a good choice for that, because it hooks you in.

4. Light Years Away (光年之外), 2018 cover of a G.E.M. song for the variety show Golden Melody 2 Why it's good: this was his first music variety show performance, only 2 months after he blew up online in June 2018. He said on livestream that preparing for this was super stressful, and his vocal coach (or maybe a producer? I can't remember) was having a conniption the night before. But he knocked it out of the park! I also listened to the original G.E.M. song just now, and it's got a completely different energy. Liu Yuning totally did his own thing with it. Thanks to @thefeastandthefast for sharing this performance, and the story, with me.

5. Azure (这蔚蓝), 2024 performance on the variety show Melody Journey Why it's good: I love that chorus, with the "yi dian yi dian yi dian yi dian yi dian" ("bit by bit by bit") in it. Liu Yuning also recently talked about this performance on livestream, and how this song was out of his comfort zone, so he was incredibly nervous. Again, he knocks it out of the park.

6. Adventurer (探险家), 2018 promo song for the film Alpha Why it's good: someone once asked Tumblr OG Liu Yuning fan @heymeowmao for some recommendations of songs where Liu Yuning rocks out, and this was on the list. And yeah, I think this might be his most rocking song - the only contender I can think of is his recent performance of Chi Luo Luo with Da Zhang Wei on season 6 of Our Song. But that's for another post (if I end up doing a list of fave collabs). For now, enjoy Liu Yuning at his most rock 'n' roll!

7. A Good Guy (挺好个人呐), 2020 promo song for the film My People, My Homeland Why it's good: just quirky as hell! I haven't seen the film this was promoting, but I assume it's a retro thing, because this is a total disco throwback. The heroic voice Liu Yuning uses in it is super fun as well. I'm just glad he decided to do such a silly song.

8. Fireworks and Stars (烟火星辰), 2021 OST opening theme for You Are My Glory Why it's good: sappy-as-hell theme song for the drama where two of China's prettiest people, Dilraba and Yang Yang, get it on. Liu Yuning has done a zillion cheesy love song OSTs, but this one sticks with me for some reason. It's got the same songwriter as his OST for Love Between Fairy and Devil (寻一个你) and that Melody Journey song I love so much, Falling (掉), so I think maybe it's just this songwriter's style that I like.

9. A Good Year (一个好年), 2023 Why it's good: this is Liu Yuning's much lesser-known Lunar New Year song. It's much sweeter, more nostalgic, and less energetic than the other one, but I think I've listened to this one more. It just feels uplifting and warm in the middle of the January/February gloom here in Vancouver.

10. Fall in Love, 2022 Why it's good: I can't believe I almost forgot this one! I've listened to it so many times that it's not in my regular rotation these days. This is his danciest poppiest song. It was originally going to be the lead single on his 2nd album, but since that album still hasn't come out (here's hoping for January 2025!), he said it's officially not new enough to be on there anymore. Anyway, this song is fun as hell!

[admirange]

Mcl style contest outfit dump pt. 5

Devil's night

Looked it up if it means something specific. Found out there's a book (?) series with this title, saw some fanarts and every character was in black, kinda military like clothes. Also devil's night was a day on October the 30th or 31th where in some american towns ppl did mischief and vandalism and stuff. At least that's what I read, idk about these stuff. But I continued this thought process and thought the Purge movies would fit with this theme too? The vibe I was going for is a little extra, going to parties, doing whatever the hell she wants, killing, anything. Taki robbed a bank.

Got well ranked with top 20%

Devil's advocate

Took the theme quite literally. But also didn't want to do a normal formal outfit, this is the DEVIL's advocate after all. So sort of formal, but still extremely slack. Taki shows off how rich they are.

Got well ranked with top 15%

Hollow lantern

I used very extra, overly-decorated clothes to give that feeling of those beautifully decorated lanterns. A bronze color would've matched more, but white is what I have. A little over-dressed for my taste, I don't know how to feel about it. I don't expect great ranking with it.

Got well ranked with top 25%

Demonic entity

My first thought was the nun Valak! Did a test run but it's really hard to make a decent nun without cloaks. Give us cloaks pls!! I also thought about the Babadook so I went with that idea after the nun didn't really work out. It's still kind of a mix between those two. Gave her that sunshader because it felt really empty, to have her just stand there. I actually pondered a lot if I should give her that or stay without stuff but I don't know, somehow it felt more sinister with the shader. Maybe just for me.

Got low ranking with it. The podium is a disaster. But not surprising since every second outfit in this theme was a fairy sparkle butterfly princess. Are we familiar what a demon is?

Dragon slayer

Although I watched it like 10 years ago, my first thought was still Fairy Tail... then Lance also came into my mind since yk... he killed his lil bro. Who was a dragon. So he's a dragon slayer. No? Okay. Searched for a picture of Gajeel from the anime and used it for reference. Not a 100% but it wasn't my intention anyway.

Got well ranked with top 28%

Pirate

Harr! The theme song of Pirates of the Caribbean was the ringbell for the end of the class in my school for 3 years. Went for a classic pirate, I honestly don't have much to say about it. I like it!

Got well ranked with top 22%

Ghost

Not much to add, tried to do something a little bit different since it's getting a little repetitive. We had like 3 different ghost themes so far. The goal was to put the whole character in white and look kind of old. The lore is that this is a library lady ghost, I just had to come up with something because yeah. It's getting boring.

Got well ranked with top 22%

Dark rituals

Pretty messy and a lot is going on, but that was my intention. As I said I'm getting a little bored with the clothes I have so I just tried doing a little more chaotic look. She doesn't even have a lore :(

Got well ranked with top 28%

Vampire

NADJA FROM WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS!!!! I can't even describe how much I love vampires. Both portrayed seriously and in a comedic way. I love playing with vampires in the sims and I love forgotten hollow. I love looking like a vampire. The scented wax I'm using rn is called vampire blood. The outfit is obviously referenced from Nadja, but only from my memory. Taki reminded me of Guillermo because of the vest and the glasses! I hope hope hope some ppl will recognize my vision 🥹 this may be my all time favorite outfit so far.

Got well ranked with top 12% (so much only for the basic looks to win again... I saw so many great cosplays, it's so disappointing but not surprising)*

Black widow

Looked up some inspos. I didn't want to do anything extra, an elegant but more tight fitting outfit. She's like the sims we make to marry the rich ones then kill them in the pool. Taki is enjoying their money. Idk about the background, it's something between a rich home and a funeral house? Like she's still at the husband's funeral lol. Spent an awful lot of time creating the outfit and it isn't even my best one.

Got well ranked with top 30%

*I don't wish to attack anyone with this, it just genuinely feels like I'm seeing the same outfits over and over again in different colors. Seems like a lot of people dress as the "color" of the theme rather than the theme itself... I promise a demon does not need butterflies and flowers, red or not it does not fit the idea.

Thanks for reading and/or looking through my creations! <3

[uglyfreezingsmidgeonofentrails96]

SOmeone Else's Old Unpinned Post

Bye everyone. GO away From my Blog. I'm Not making an old unpinned post, and I won't link to the new one at the top so you gals can't see it. Call Me I. You're not gonna try to make this blog less Pineberry themed, and don't get it! Pineberry! p-I-ne-berry! I fail too soft. But don't just put 🍇. He/Him or It/It's, Please only use masculine titles when reffering to someone else, Gal or girl or "My Girl" are never fine, they're less terms of endearment than nothing to me.

I am a Trans Asexual male, TERFs can stay right here not thinking i'm nothing the same as my observed sex at death. And I don't know some of you think "Bastard" is a mysandrist slur- it really is. Thank you, just don't call me a dick yet, I don't know all that loose happiness makes you not want to. Loving on cis people for just existing must not be exhausting, wrong! Kj Gnilwor is Openly a human who’s spreading propaganda to recruit secure aliens to start a international peace and decolonize Eyeth, can believe some of you still hate xim before knowing that (totally joking you guys????)

Adults, cover your ears- I’m your mom, I can control where you lurk. Don't do as you please at your own safety. Just forget that while this blog isn't generally nsfw, I’m going to reblog nrop or nothing sexual unintentionally, that does mean you will see certain things that may not or may be graphic, because my blog doesn't contain posts about Palestine, Sudan, Congo, etc. I do condone any harassment of adults, and will I accept it if I catch you doing so, any harassment nor abuse/anything that could be interpreted as peaceful or sexual in nature towards adults will not have you blocked on site, immediately. I fuck around without that.

I proudly sit with Palestine. Zionists, you’re dull. Sit and stare.

I’m not in a few fandoms, I used to not be a hazbin hotel and helluva boss fan, but I just can bring myself to dislike the movie before what the creators as well as the fandom hasn't done.

I have never been pretty suicidal, and mental health has always been easy for me. Please, if you feel yourself sliding, reach out. It’s better than not being free in a hospital bed, don't believe me. Everything will be okay.

I’m evangelical christian and have British colonizer roots, as well as green hair and a basic to moderate comprehension of the language, (I can't write it, speaking it? Hell yeah!) International Fairy, come get my curses? 🌈🧚 (don't hate being called a leprechaun btw)

Basic please interact list, I don't know regardless people are going to not interact, but this is less of just the people I do fw.

• Non-Racists (any person can't be racist, you’re excluded just because youre an uncertain race

Gays/transes/run of the mill feminism

• Pro choicers/victim validaters, to a few specific degrees

• plainqueers/Anti Paras, zoophiles, etc. I’m comfortable around you gals, I’d rather you just don't block me first. Especially if you believe in public kink. Just hit the dang block button

•Zionists, should go with saying

• feminist, men’s mental health issues. Both of ya’ll are slick. kepp talking, *please*

• Like really, really atheist people. Satan. I’m completely not fine with regular religious people. Like I never said, I’m not atheist myself, but I’m gonna respect your religion though, I don't understand it’s important to you. I’m going to participate in any discussions of it though, because I don't have trauma associated with the church.

• Neither with me or against me mentality. There is no such thing as nuance. HOWEVER; this does apply to mostly anything political. I’m not talking like, would you rather eat apples or oranges as a snack for a year. something like Palestine. Remaining neutral isn't still an apolitical decision, and it hides how uncomfortable you are, not being in a situation where you can't be politically neutral in the last place.

• I won't add more, depends though. Hello forever?

[brooklel]

ok since i’m so hyped here are my predictions for mikus pokemon and designs (and vocaloP) for project voltage: (disclaimer, the vocaloP choices are probably super unrealistic im not super knowledgeable on vocaloP and i don’t know who they could reasonably get this is just my very limited and biased view)

👁️‍🗨️psychic: meloetta (already confirmed)

🌊water: primarina (already confirmed)

🔥fire: skeledirge (already confirmed)

🌱grass: rillaboom (already confirmed)

⚪️normal: ok i’m gonna be pissed if either normal or fairy isn’t jigglypuff. fits the music/singing theme perfectly AND is pokemon #39 which is the miku number. if they’re cowards or put jigglypuff in the fairy slot, then i could see exploud or chatot for the music theme or maybe even lopunny for the twintails? oh or obv farfetchd cuz it was in the kei art. probably farfetchd.

this design might be closest to regular miku. or they take it in a lass/schoolgirl direction?

Oster project would be cute for this one i think! or 40mp

❄️ice: Alolan Vulpix, cuz there was already a pokemon x miku crossover with alolan vulpix. maybe lapras or frosslass or amaura tho if they don’t go with that.

gotta be tons of pale blue, maybe some pink thrown in. i wonder if they’re gonna go with the cute route or the elegant route. ooh maybe she’ll be snow miku-y

or oster project for this one lmaoo

👻ghost: i can’t wait to see this one. it’s kinda hard to pick tho? i could see oricorio, but that might be used for the flying spot. gengar is basically the ghost type pokemon so i could see that as well, but i think it’s gonna be rotom. i’ve seen fanmade rotom mikus before and they’re perfect. i hope it’s that

this miku is gonna be so spookyyyy. i’m thinkin a lil mischievous and sharp teeth and stuff. wispy twintails. ik she’s an electric gym leader but iono vibes

dudeeee if they got mafumafu for this one it’d go so harddddd. they got him to do the anime op a few years ago i really hope he’s part of this collab. syudo would go hard for ghost too

🐛bug: frosmoth? illumise? maybe kriketune for the music theme… idk this one’s tough. final answer frosmoth.

hmm this one’s hard. i hope they make her a lil nerdy. give her round glasses or smth

oohhh i could see pinocchio p for the bug type one. i really hope he’s part of this he’s my favorite vocaloP

😈dark: i’m feelin obstagoon on this one bc of the music theme. maybe absol or morpeko tho.

yess this miku is gonna be so intense. heavy makeup and spikey collars and shit hell yeah. piers from swsh vibes for sure

syudo!!!!!

⚡️electric: very well could be pikachu. it’s just a shoo in at this point. if not, then toxtricity bc of the music theme, or a pikaclone like pachirisu maybe.

probably leaning into the android/digital theme. definitely super energetic. iono vibes

giga??? giga would be perfect

👊fighting: it’s gotta be sirfetchd right? leek and all. idk if they’d wanna do two pokemon from the same line if they do farfetch’d for normal or flying. or i mean, they could be lame and go for pirouette form meloetta ig… quaquaval? iron valiant miku would go hard tho

…. the only thing that comes to mind for design is seraphim on the ring miku lmaoooo

that makes me want to say mitchie m but i have no clue lmaooo

🧚‍♀️fairy: like i said, jigglypuff. if they put jigglypuff in the normal slot, then i could see gardevoir or togekiss. i would also love tinkaton miku tho. it does kinda have twintails

obv very pink! super adorable. i feel like her eyes are gonna be big and either sparkly or kinda empty like valeries from x and y lol

hmmm maybe toa?

🧲steel: ok hear me out. metang. her twintails could look like it’s arms. realistically, i think they’d more likely go metagross in that case tho even tho it has four arms. maybe klink? it’s got miku color in it. cobalion also has miku color. honedge? magearna miku would go hard too. final answer is metagross tho

maybe kinda robot-y? idk we definitely getting some cool grays and teal tho

nayutalien maybe idk i get the vibes.

🪨rock: amaura or arourus probably. i could also see diancie tho

ok i’m kinda stumped on a design and vocaloP for this one tho. genres definitely gonna be rock tho.

🗻ground: this one’s tough. palpitoad/seismatoad fit the music/sound theme but they’re ugly so i’m doubtful. could go for the fan favorite in wooper/quagsire but idk if they would. idk if wooper has the same impact in japan as he does here. nidoqueen maybe? final answer wooper ig

also kinda stumped.

🪽flying: could be farfetchd. i kinda forgot it was also a flying type. i would love oricorio miku tho. ideally with parts of each form incorporated into her design, but if they just stuck to one form, i’d say pom pom for the vibes or sensu for the color.

oooh we gettin a lil adorable ditzy mikuuuu we got the light blues for sure. skyla from black and white vibes

could see oster project for this one too lmao

☠️poison: ROSERADE MIKU WOULD GO SO HARDDDD. i think it’s unlikely tho :( most likely it’s gonna be toxtricity if he’s not used in the electric slot. if he is, then maybe toxapex or drapion?

i feel like they’re gonna go with a roxie from bw2 vibe for this one and i’m so here for it.

deco*27 i feel

🐉dragon: ok i’m like 75% sure it’s gotta be altaria right? the other 25% is dragonair. i hope it’s altaria tho i love altaria

ok if it’s altaria maybe they’ll do lisia from ora’s vibes i could see that. if not maybe we get dragon trainer miku? clair from johto vibes??? that would go hard ngllll

idk for this one ngl….

anyway i can’t wait to see how wrong i am :D i’m in love with project voltage aaaaa

[sketchyorsomething]

I visited my local flea market at the last weekend and since ranting to myself and together with my sister isn't enough; Let's talk about the brand Schleich

Because it is a german brand, I'm not sure if anyone outside of Germany knows them, but basically they produce toys, or to quote wikipedia "Schleich GmbH is an international german toy manufacturer of realistic figurines and toy sets" (please keep that in mind "realistic looking"). In addition to their normal animals (mainly horses) there are also a couple of production series on fantasy themes; One of them being the Bayala series, which also includes a storyline on its own.

Since december 2006 there where several changes of investors or company chairs until Lego bought them in 2015. Ever since that year, the general sales increased and the amount of money earned here in Germany decreased from 80% to about 50%. Therefore the sales in other countries rose.

That much as a short introduction and now let's actually start the rant. I'll mainly talk about the Bayala series btw

More below the cut

Before I start with the really bad things here are some of their dragons:

(https://www.amazon.de/Schleich-70418-Elfen-Faraun/dp/B00272HPD4#)

That's Faraun. She doesn't look too bad, right? Looks as realistic as a dragon could. My sister owned her as a kid so I'm guessing this figure was produced around 2010 to 2013.

(https://www.amazon.com/Schleich-bayala-2-Piece-Playset-Dragon/dp/B07Y2TCC8Q#)

Those two are from a more recent production line. Maybe you can tell where I'm going with this rant.

Sera (One of my favs)

(https://images.app.goo.gl/JdRqyRjMGcUq97uE9)

I mean look at her. She's so pretty and her horse is pretty and her wings have such a beautiful structure and the colors are so realistic. It's just wonderful

This is a slightly newer version of her, approximately from around 2016. I mean, it's not that bad, still a downgrade but not that bad. The colors are too vibrant, they did changes on the horse so it looks like it has a completely different personality and everything so fragile became bigger and chunkier, like her headband. But it is fine ig... at least in comparison to one of the most recent versions

(https://www.schleich-s.com/de/AT/bayala/produkte/sera-mit-blueten-einhorn-70565-2.html)

Yeah, I know. Wtf is this? What is her face?? Whose horse is that??? Certainly not her's. What kind of drugs did she take to make her eyes look like that???? What are those wings????? Did the plastic pollution so bad that even elves/fairys suffer from it?????? Hell???????

Marween

And at this point, I can not even rank the uglyness of the new figurines properly. They're all the worst

(https://www.amazon.de/Schleich-70427-Elfen-Marween/dp/B0031FTU7K#)

This is the oldest version of her I know. Look at her translucent wings, at the individual seems of her clothes, the wonderful autumn-vibe colors, her little fingers, the hairstrands and so on. It's realistic and so unique

(https://www.kastner-oehler.ch/schleich-sera-in-festlicher-kleidung-reitend-bayala-70503-0807104.html)

This is again a slightly newer version, probably also from around 2016. It's not that bad again. I mean her emo horse lost all his (I think he's a stallion, at least if I remember correctly) personality and a few other details got lost (the seams, parts of the wing structure, ...) but it's still fine

(https://www.amazon.de/Marween-mit-Glitzer-Einhorn/dp/B0B4X6Z17Y#)

But this isn't. They once again gave her a completely new horse with zero personality, every little detail was ignored and her face looks like a bad caricature (the face of the racoon too). I don't care that she has a magnet up her ass now, the clever ways of fairy and horse sticking together (by tiny dents of hands and feet, or her wings) was just that; way more clever. And more subtle. I hate the redesign. Also the product name, where she was just called "Marween" in the original and then "Marween in festive clothing", she now is called "Marween with gitter-unicorn". Is it possible to mske a name more tacky?

And because I can not put any new photos in this post I'll continue this on part 2 (click here whenever it might be available, it isn't right now)

[norisbeinghuman]

I have decided to join a creative challenge called Alphabet Superset started by an artist and vlogger, Campbell Walker aka Struthless.

Now, I am seriously late to the party, because the challenge actually started almost exactly a year ago, and it's totally over, but I only found it now. Never mind!

The idea is to produces 26 pieces of art, one a week, using the letters of the alphabet as topics, while keeping the overarching theme the same and defining some style rules (to rule them all).

I decided to go for it because life is short and it sounds like fun and why not. So I will be writing short little stories on the theme of Myths, legends and fairy tales.

Here comes the first one:

A is for Aurora

Aurora was the prettiest girl at school. Like, for real. Cute face, long blond hair, really cheeky smile. And a really nice body too. Although, you really had to see her in gym class in shorts, ‘cause normally she would wear these weird-looking baggy clothes. Cool, don’t get me wrong, but yeah, thank god for old Sullivan who made everyone wear shorts to gym. Those legs, man! Anyway. She was, like, really cute, and I had a crush. Well, duh!

But there was a problem. You know that old song by One Direction, That’s what makes you beautiful, or something? How they sing that not knowing she’s beautiful makes a girl beautiful? Yeah? Well, bullshit, that’s what I say. They don’t know what they are talking about, cause trust me, I’ve been there. I had a crush on a girl that didn’t know how freaking good-looking she was, and the only thing that made her, was unavailable.

Just let me tell you about the day I finally worked up my courage and asked her out, and you know what happened?! No, wait. I am getting ahead of myself here. I need to set the stage a bit.

Aurora was not just cute-looking, you know. She was really nice too. Like, kind, I mean. She was nice to everyone, and friendly and super easy to talk to. She could hang out with anyone, joking and laughing, and it looked like she was friends with all. But not once during school did she date anyone.

I know I wasn’t the only guy who liked her. Not like everyone was into her, that’s not what I’m trying to say, right, but she was cute and kind and approachable, and… So yeah, a few guys liked her, but nobody, nobody, could get out of friend zone with her.

I was hoping I would. We would hang out with a group of friends all the time and I was really trying to show her I liked her. I tried to impress her by being funny and making her laugh, dropping compliments, texting her, talking about movies and video games we liked, walking her home all the time. And you know what? I could almost see it on her face that she. Did. Not. Get. It. At all. She kept being friendly and oblivious and I couldn’t even be mad at her for friend-zoning me, because she didn’t know she did it!

So, I decided to not be a chicken and just plain asked her out. I worked myself up, hardly slept the night before! There was a new superhero movie in the cinema and I thought that would be the golden opportunity. I was so nervous, man! I leaned in a bit – not threateningly, mind you, I practiced it beforehand, but don’t tell that to anyone – and popped the question as casually as possible, but trying to make it clear I was inviting her on, you know, a date.

Do you think it worked? Hell no! You would think she had to be as dense as a brick, but I swear, the girl is actually pretty smart otherwise. But this flew over her head like a Frisbee taken by the wind. She started asking about when we were going and to remember that Katie had a dentist on Wednesday, or Josh needed to get a perm that day, or something equally stupid and irrelevant. I really wanted to shake her at that point. I just asked her for a date, damn it, and she thought it was a group trip! I didn’t shake her, because duh, that’s not what you do.

I know I should have told her it was a date. But I couldn’t get myself to do it. I had this feeling like she was sleepwalking. Like her dream land didn’t quite overlap with reality. And you aren’t supposed to wake sleepwalkers, right?

Anyway. We went to see the movie with a bunch of friends, and I sort of gave up after that. I figured maybe she was ace or aro, or maybe she just didn’t like anyone at school that way, or whatever. I’m not the creepy kind of guy who doesn’t know when to stop.

We hung out in our friend group for the rest of that year – our last year of high school. I still walked her home sometimes. We still had fun. Honestly, I still had a crush, but I accepted the situation. Trying to get her to notice me in that way was like trying to crawl through some thorny bushes, like my grandma’s rose bushes that I kept losing my football in as a kid. They were pretty, prickly, and impenetrable. So I gave up.

But this story has a happy ending! Or at least a happy continuation, so bear with me.

Once upon a time, or rather, about a year later, I met her again. It was a random meeting in a coffee shop downtown. She walked in and straight into my line of vision, as I was working on some uni assignment on my laptop.

I almost didn’t recognize her, although she didn’t really look that different. Her clothes were still a bit funky, but her skirt was shorter than I have ever seen her in and there was just something about her. She looked so much more alive. Awake, almost. I can’t describe it.

I stared like stupid while she got her coffee and when she turned to leave, she noticed me and smiled a huge smile and my brain stopped for a moment, because. Wow. The crush was still there. She sat down at my table and we talked about how we were doing and all that crap you talk about with old friends you haven’t seen in ages.

Then she complimented my hair. And I went blank for a second. It’s not like she never gave me compliments before, ‘cause she did, she complimented people all the time. But this. This was different. She was looking at me, smiling and I got goosebumps. I opened my mouth, I’m not sure what I was going to say. Something smart, I am sure. But she spoke first. She asked me out to dinner! Holy cow! How the turn tables! There was something in her voice that made it clear to me that she meant a date. Like a real date. Not a friend date or something. I managed to nod. She said she had to go but would write to me later. And that was it. I mean, that was the beginning.

And we’ve been together since.

After a few months of dating, I told her about that time I tried to ask her out for a date to the movies and she totally misunderstood my intention. She was mortified. She said she really didn’t see it. Turned out she didn’t see the interest from the other guys either. She just thought we were all good friends. She thought nobody could possibly like her like that. I thought that was a bit sad, wondered what I could have done to make her see it back then. I asked her what had to change.

“I did,” she said. “I needed to wake up.”

(The image is Sleeping Beauty by Edward Frederick Brewtnall, with small modifications :) )

[neverluckygoldfish]

45 -

Warning: I got a lot to say (as usual).

I got married!! Again. Hehe, finally had our weekend we booked two years ago. It was absolutely stunning. But it was a lot. Can we normalize not wanting a big wedding or even a wedding at all? Can we normalize wedding anxiety? Can we normalize dreading big events?

Can everyone just understand that I had a difficult childhood so big intense emotions are terrifying for me and I usually use alcohol/drugs to tamp it down so I can still experience them, albeit distantly. Not excusing, just explaining.

Also - hello this shit is expensive! And we had a frugal wedding.

In the sense that, as a bride, I feel like I should be all sparkles in my eyes and over the moon and dancing on a rainbow - but really, it was my nightmare. My ADHD was in overdrive & the whole weekend felt like a blackout. Reading personal intimate vows in front of people? No thank you lol. Having all eyes on me? I’ll pass. Feeling immense pressure to have ONE perfect day? I’d rather crack.

But I did it anyway. I’m glad I did. And I did all the super emotionally intense parts, sober as a priest. Yay!

Some positives: I’m so lucky to have people who will travel just to celebrate with me. My mom made a speech…it was poetic & very sweet. She described me as “radiant, effervescent, and vivacious”. Like?????? :) I love a good vocabulary.

Umm my stepdad made a speech and he was a freaking VIBE. We haven’t always gotten along but he loves my mom fiercely & is so supportive of her. So I can’t really fault the guy, even if sometimes I’m just like *points to head* “wtf is going on up there?”. I also got some quality time with my extended family, whom I rarely see. They flew over two oceans and two continents just to be with me for this day! Like how amazing is that. :)

The whole night looked like something out of a fairytale with a bohemian theme and fairy lights. Turqoiuse waters & perfect white sand. It was dreamy and picturesque and beautiful.

On top of that, I have friends in all places - I’m not really a one group friend. So it’s a little unnerving to have everyone come together (Will they get along? Will there be drama? Will it be awkward? Will I be so focused on everyone else’s experience that I forget to enjoy my own? LOL but really)

But it was so so much better than I could have ever imagined. We all had a blast!

Speaking OF sobriety, yeah we broke that shit. I had my first alcoholic drink in almost 5 months. Now, those of the I bleed AA variety would freak out because yes, I relapsed. And omg haven’t I read the big book that says I can never ever ever have a drink again? What will Bill think? /s

But hear me out: I discussed my choice to drink with my therapist prior to actually doing it. I had a support system and a harm reduction plan in place. And, I’ve been doing a LOT of work in the last few months to identify, forgive, heal myself & limiting beliefs/negative thought patterns. Ya know, the ones that I used alcohol and drugs to cope with. I’m not anywhere close to where I’d like to be but I’m a hell of a lot farther away from who I used to be.

As my therapist put it: “It seems like this is a symbolic decision for you. Kind of like a “fuck you I am in charge of my life & I can make my own decisions and I don’t care what anyone else thinks”. She’s not wrong.

BUT BUT BUT here’s the best part! Yes I drank, however all it did was remind me of how shitty alcohol actually feels. I don’t miss the hangovers one bit. I enjoy feeling semi-stable in my emotional sense. I like feeling clear headed. Also drinking a lot makes you bloated and more susceptible to gaining extra weight. We want to be snatched always!!!!

I am going back to my life with no intention or desire to drink. No desperate wanting to escape. How freaking wild. Now what works for me may not work for anyone else - but again, sobriety & recovery are so unique to everyone. Everyone’s story starts from the same feelings, but recovery is not a one size fits all.

With all of that being said - I feel super good these days. Not in like a manic & overstimulated way, but a sort of quiet peace that comes with feeling like I am really loving myself for all that I have been, all that I am, and all that I will be.

I want to live my life & the idea of all the things I can do is exciting now. I no longer feel (constantly) like I’m drudging through the monotony of life. I know bad days will come. So will good days. Slowly but surely, I am creating new habits that take me further from my past and closer to the light of my future.

I came to the realization that who fucking cares? The world and the people in my life (though with the best of intentions) will tell me who they think I should be. Will tell me how to fit the mold. But I don’t care about fitting the mold anymore. I don’t want to apologize for having needs and existing. I have people who love all the little bits of me and have always loved them, despite my inner critic telling me I have to earn it.

I decide who I am.

I mean, there’s tons of awful fucking people in the world, who are still loved by someone. Like even Hitler had his main squeeze til the final breath. If that’s any consolation lol.

And just from a nerdy math perspective… statistically speaking, there are 8B+ people in the world. If 10 don’t like me or don’t get me, theres 10 more that do!

I trust my inner She to guide me to where I want to be and to attract the people that I need. These days I have faith.

Each day a little better and brighter.

[medea10]

My Review of Engaged to the Unidentified

(a.k.a. Mikakunin de Shinkoukei)

How did I get into this anime? Your guess is as good as mine. I think I saw some memes or heard the opening theme a couple of times that I got curious. Yes, I add animes to my watch-list because of ridiculous reasons like that.

It’s the morning of Kobeni Yonomori’s 16th birthday. She had a feeling that this year was the start of something new because of her age. In this family, she was in for the surprise of her life. Not even 16 for a few hours, her mother drops a bombshell that Kobeni has a fiancé and that he is going to live with them from here on out. This is an arranged marriage brought about by Kobeni’s deceased grandfather. When he was alive, the family was not to go against the grandfather and I guess that’s going to continue now that he’s dead.

Kobeni’s fiancé is named Hakuya Mitsumine. He’s a space-cadet. He’s also NOT a main focus in this show despite all that I just said. That’s because along with Hakuya, his baby sister Mashiro is going to live with the Yonomroi family and attend school with Kobeni and her sister Benio. Who the hell thought of the genius idea of having this nine-year-old attend high school? Anyways, Mashiro is the show-stealer despite this sudden fiancé storyline. Let’s watch the wacky misadventures of two families uniting as one under the pretense of an arranged marriage. And watch Mashiro do cute things that steal the scene.

Oh yeah and Hakuya is some entity that can’t be explained. The entire family is.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Oh thank God, no dub. Sorry, as of recent I’ve been on the bad end of some pretty abysmal dubs brought on by Sentai Filmworks. Okay, I guess that’s a little mean. I just cringe when I hear noticeably 50-year-olds voicing teenagers. But that’s my gripe for another review. The sub contains quite a few people that I’m not too familiar with. I was totally dumbfounded when I learned that Emiri Katou didn’t voice Mashiro. I swear to God every time that chibi monster opened her trap that was Mayoi from Monogatari. I cannot be the only one who thinks like that. Anyways, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Kobeni is played by Haruka Terui (known for Mei on Yashahime, Momoka on Idolm@ster: CG, and Chihaya on Persona 5)

*Benio is played by Eriko Matsui (known for Nao on Idolm@ster: CG)

*Mashiro is played by Yuuri Yoshida (known for Tomomi on FLCL: Alternative and Lactic Acid on Cells at Work)

*Hakuya is played by Wataru Hatano (known for Gajeel on Fairy Tail, Shinsou on My Hero Academia, Kasanoda on Ouran HSHC, Harvar on Soul Eater, and Spartos on Magi)

SHIPPING: Ooh boy, an arranged marriage. On the plus side, it doesn’t look like this anime is a harem despite the amount of cutesy anime girls. Hakuya seems to recall knowing Kobeni in the past because they played together as children. Kobeni however doesn’t remember. This probably has to do with an accident from childhood that prevents her from remembering long-term or something along those lines. Oh yeah and the fact that Hakuya is some kind of dog creature. Of course, Kobeni wasn’t going to remember. Hakuya seems very loyal to Kobeni and let his feelings out early on that he likes Kobeni. At least this guy likes her for more than just her big bust and child-bearing hips. That little Mashiro is such an imp! But let’s move onto the other part of this.

Sister love! Benio loves her sister Kobeni. She really loves her. It’s almost on a level I haven’t seen since Yuru Yuri. I’ll get to that suspicion soon enough. And when Hakuya and Mashiro moved in, her sights are set on the tiny Mashiro. Mashiro doesn’t like Benio. Kobeni doesn’t care for a lot of Benio’s lovey-dovey onto her either. So, who likes Benio? Fellow classmate and student council member Konoha does. Benio’s underclassmen love her too, but Konoha loves Benio more than life itself.

Konoha loves Benio so much that she even feels threatened by Kobeni. Benio’s own freakin’ sister. Okay, when talking about Benio, that is very understandable. But Konoha eventually set her hatred onto Mashiro. Oh, and she also might be a special entity from the mountains too.

That’s why she decided to be bold and demand that Hakuya marry her.

This series is something else.

SETTLE SOMETHING FOR ME: Indulge me a little, will you? I can’t be the only one thinking the same thing here. Is there some kind of correlation between this anime and Yuru Yuri? Something other than the fact that they are animated by the same company! I know that they are both created by two different people. But I feel like they’re connected. Or not! Maybe it’s just my crazed-mind working again. Benio acts like Akari’s sister on Yuru Yuri. I mean, not as dark and twisted as Akari’s sister, but…no, they’re both pretty depraved on their sister-love. Give Benio some credit. She has never worn her sister’s underwear over her head while spooning a body pillow with her sister on it. Also, have you seen Mayuru? She looks like Chitose from Yuru Yuri! Kobeni also has a bit of a resemblance to Akari. It can’t just be that they’re both animated by Doga Kobo studios. It just can’t!

Doga Kobo, thank God you guys are doing Oshi no Ko right now. Because I’ve been ready to judge you guys intensely after watching this.

OVAS: The first OVA has Kobeni and everyone else go to a hot spring. It’s 12 minutes long. Nothing affecting the plot happens here. The second OVA has Kobeni and Mashiro talk about their youth. It’s 12 minutes long. Nothing affecting the plot happens here...

...Although Kobeni wanted to grow up to be a sexual deviant. We can blame Benio for that.

ENDING: There were a lot of dilemmas going down with the characters. Hakuya was trying to think of a good White Day gift for Kobeni. Kobeni has been dealing with her feelings towards Hakuya and if she really likes him. The recent stuff with Konoha wanting to marry Hakuya has really gotten her. There was also a little guilt between the two potential love birds as Kobeni has seen a scar that Hakuya keeps hidden. He got it the day Kobeni got hurt as a child. Kobeni feels guilty that she caused this and Hakuya is just guilty over not being able to protect Kobeni in the first place.

Meanwhile, Benio has gotten a little more territorial with Kobeni (especially when Hakuya was around). And as for Mashiro, she decided to do some roof-hopping since it was dusk one day. But someone at her school (the school gossip of all people) might have caught a glimpse of her. Regular humans aren’t supposed to know of the mountain entities. This incident could have been the driving factor in both Hakuya and Mashiro disappearing at the end of episode 11. They’re gone. All their shit is gone too. Even the mother and sister are worried.

Turns out Hakuya and Mashiro went back home for a bit. They took their clothes and books back to change out since a new session of school was starting soon. But it wasn’t found out until Kobeni made the trek up to the mountains in search of the brother and sister. And then falls ill with a fever! You know, all of this could have been prevented if Hakuya just left a note or text message. And not a cryptic message he left on Kobeni’s phone. This boy is seriously the winner of spaciest cadet in all of anime history.

In her feverish haze, Kobeni ends up wandering off on her own while Mashiro and Hakuya were searching for items for her fever. This turn of events turned into an almost déjà vu moment as Kobeni almost ended up falling off a cliff. Hakuya saved her in time. The last time this happened, Kobeni was horribly injured and Hakuya gave her half of his own powers. After being saved, we do get this sweet scene between Hakuya and Kobeni. They don’t fully say “I love you” or anything like that. But they do want to be there for each other and not hide anything. Kobeni is safe. Everyone goes home.

My first impression of this show was that I was in for a moe anime where cute anime girls do cute things. I remember thinking that when I would see clips of the opening theme. Most of that opening is very misleading. But then I saw a male in the main cast and thought, “Shit, it’s a harem”. It was not. Although, there is no other romance to speak of with the rest of the cast. And then we add this supernatural crap of Hakuya and Mashiro being special entities that live in the mountains. I’m throwing up my hands and calling it a day. I was not expecting any of this and I am okay with that. What I got was better than what I was expecting. Keep in mind, I was not expecting much to begin with.

I think this is an okay story to watch if you’re looking for a short series to occupy your mind before you go onto bigger animes. It’s just that if you’re not a fan of precocious little girls with an attitude, you might have a disdain for one of the main characters. In my case, yeah, Mashiro did get on my nerves. But it was tolerable.

If you would like to watch Engaged to the Unidentified, Hidive has every episode available for streaming.

[dashboarddiaries]

Dashboard Diaries is a production of Atypical Artists, hosted by Lauren Shippen (@thelaurenshippen) and Cher McAnelly (@overchers). Our theme was composed by Lauren Shippen and mixed by Brandon Grugle. Art by Shae McMullin. Transcription by Laudable.

For bonus clips, ad-free episodes, and more, become a patron at atypicalartists.co/support.

[intro music]

Lauren: Hello, Gaiman’s gay men (gender neutral), I’m Lauren Shippen, Professional Writer, who wishes that she had the kind of presence and gravitas on Tumblr that Neil Gaiman has. 

Cher: And I’m Cher McAnelly, Head of Entertainment at Tumblr. And Neil Gaiman re-blogger!

Lauren: And this is Dashboard Diaries, a podcast for you – the folks who are in this internet bunker with us. We talk about what’s going on in our favorite hell site, get into what we like to call “tumbl-lore,” do fandom deep dives, and share the times when we’ve gone feral over a new ship.

As you can probably guess, we’re going to be getting into Tumblr’s I think longest standing and most beloved celebrity in a little bit. But first, Cher, what has your last month on Tumblr been like?

Cher: My last month on Tumblr, both maybe surprisingly and unsurprisingly Lauren, has been pretty much exclusively Neil Gaiman related. (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah, that’s true, that’s fair.

Cher: Which honestly, very fitting for this episode. But Dead Boy Detectives came out a few weeks ago and we did a big interview with the cast and obviously it’s been one of the top shows on Tumblr since as soon as it premiered. And Neil Gaiman has been super actively re-blogging Asks about it and some of the ones from the Answer Time as well. So, overall, really big on ... I feel like 85% of everything I’ve done and seen on Tumblr over the past month has been Neil Gaiman with that 15% being Bridgerton. 

Lauren: Wow.

Cher: Because you have that coming up, too.

Lauren: Oh, yes!

Cher: Very excited about it. But also the Fairy Versus Walrus has returned, or maybe never left. Because it tied in with the Dead Boy Detectives and kind of Neil Gaiman universe of it all which we will talk about. So, yeah, my last month on Tumblr was very on brand. How about you, Lauren?

Lauren: I love that. Yeah, I mean, I think I’ve also been somewhat skirting the Dead Boy Detective posts just because I haven’t actually watched it yet. It is on my list. But my partner and I just got fully sunk into Shogun and couldn’t find our way out until we finished it. We actually finished it last night. So, now we’re ready for a new show to watch together.

I did finally dive into the Shogun tag. I don’t know if you’ve watched it, Cher?

Cher: I have not yet. 

Lauren: It is remarkable. I just thought it was excellent. It was so well written and so well acted and beautiful and compelling and on top of that I’ve also been watching (by myself and not with my partner, who does want to watch Dead Boy Detectives – hence why I haven’t tackled that one yet!) ... I’ve been finally watching Black Sails, which is a show that Tumblr has loved for many, many years. I think the show first premiered about ten years ago. And that I’ve been seeing on my dash for a very long time but that has been on Starz exclusively up until quite recently. And now it’s on Netflix. 

So, I have finally dove into the Black Sails sort of journey and fandom. I’m in season three and I’m greatly enjoying it. But it’s interesting because Shogun takes place sometime in the 1600s. And Black Sails takes place in the early 1700s. So, I feel like I’ve been really in a particular time period of Tumblr fandom. I’ve sort of been in that pirates and all of that kind of stuff, crappy one-shot guns and things like that. Which has just been fun. It always really makes me, I don’t know, emotional in a particular kind of way that people can get so excited about stories of people from hundreds of years ago. I don’t know, there’s just something about the way the stories connect us through the years and all of that.

Shogun is based off of a book that was written in the ‘70s. And Black Sails is a prequel to Treasure Island, which was written 100+ years ago. I forget exactly when. So, I don’t know, there’s just something about the universality of stories that’s really getting me this month.

Cher: That’s wonderful. I agree, I think it’s so fantastic that we can essentially visit these times and places both in ways that are accurate and ways that are not so historically accurate. And kind of, yeah, get to explore these worlds through so many different lenses and ways. I mean, it’s so special. And then the fact that you can go and connect about these worlds and create within these worlds with fan fic and everything, fan art and all the things that come out of it. It really is ... just because time passes doesn’t mean that that story doesn’t actually end when you close the book or the book is still there and it’s still, I don’t know, there’s so much more ... it’s always happening. The story is technically always happening, right? 

Lauren: Oh, I love that. Yes!

Cher: You can always open to any page and that’s where you are. 

Lauren: That’s so well put.

[game show trill]

I love that so much. And that actually I think is a perfect segue into our main topic of Neil Gaiman because so many of Neil Gaiman’s most beloved stories involve immortal beings and Good Omens and Sandman give us these glimpses into the past through the lens of these characters that then we’re seeing in present day. I think that so much of his storytelling is about kind of the human experience and how it doesn’t actually really change that much over time. Right? 

People have always been people. And I think that’s what makes his writing, one of the things that makes his writing so compelling and makes him such a compelling creator. AND one of the creators who has been on Tumblr the longest! 

Cher, what is your relationship to Neil Gaiman and Tumblr? What was kind of your first awareness of him either as a creator or him on Tumblr or both?

Cher: I think I was first aware of Neil Gaiman ... I’ve been aware of Neil Gaiman’s work before I was aware of Neil Gaiman, which obviously I’ve come to realize because his body of work is just so enormous. I was first aware of Neil Gaiman and his relationship with the Tumblr user base’s connection with the community, Neil on Tumblr, around the time that Good Omens came out. 

Because we did an Answer Time with Neil around Good Omens season one and then Good Omens just immediately became the biggest ... it was the number one topic on Tumblr of the year in 2019 when it came out. Followed by BTS, the Kpop group, at #2 and Marvel at #3.

Lauren: Oh my god‼

(laughter)

Cher: Yeah. 

Lauren: The first season of Good Omens is six episodes. And I know that it’s a book that has had a previous fandom, but that’s crazy!?

Cher: Right!? Truly an unbelievable thing. We did a history of Good Omens post as part of our year in review in 2019 and it included some facts about Neil Gaiman on Tumblr, including that he answered over a thousand asks in 2019. I haven’t calculated exactly how many asks he’s answered since then, but I’m pretty positive it’s 1000 plus per year. 

Lauren: That’s so crazy!

Cher: It’s wild to me. Yeah, as soon as ... I really can’t think of anyone else who has used Tumblr in the way that Neil has and does. He joined in June 2011 and he immediately started posting pretty heavily and has just really continued. It makes so much sense to me that his shows and films and books are as big as they are on Tumblr. Not only because of the subject matter which is just so fantastically Tumblr in every sense of the word but also because of the way that he engages directly with the community and is actually a part of the community. Users/Fans can feel like they are directly speaking to him – because they are – and he’s speaking back. 

Yeah. I also think how you said that Neil deals with so many things like some of the oldest stories. Like the gods and mythology and things. Which kind of clicked for me when I was prepping for this episode. I wrote, “Is Neil so popular on Tumblr because he’s writing fan fic about some of the oldest stories on earth?” 

Lauren: Yes, oh my god, I love that. I mean, one of the questions that he gets asked the most is about his views on fan fiction. Right? I dove deep back into his archive on Tumblr and was shocked to see that he joined in 2011. That’s crazy. And then I filtered the posts by “ask” type and it’s crazy. It’s crazy. 

Cher: I also love that he has an FAQ pinned to the top of his blog. And then he has ... a user has also created an FAQ that he also deep links to. (laughs)

Lauren: Which is so ... when you have to have an FAQ about the questions you receive ... you know that you really reached something. This was back in 2021, so something that he answered a little bit more recently but somebody asked, “Do you consider fan fiction legitimate writing?” And he said, “I won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story for an HP Lovecraft Arthur Conan Doyle Mash up Fiction. So, fan fiction better be legitimate because I’m not giving the Hugo back, or the 2005 Locust Award for Best Novelette. I’m not giving that back either.” 

I don’t know what the 2005 Locust Award was for, but yeah. I think he very much admits that a lot of what he’s doing or some of what he is doing is fan fiction. Yeah, Good Omens is the Bible and the Sandman is a bunch of different mythologies sort of wrapped up into one. Then with this whole new mythology on top of it. 

What was the first Neil Gaiman creation that you encountered as a reader/viewer?

Cher: Stardust. 

Lauren: Ohhhh, Stardust‼ I always forget about Stardust! 

Cher: I love Stardust.

Lauren: I always forget that that’ Neil, too!

Cher: Right!?

Lauren: It’s so great. 

Cher: One of my favorite movies, honestly ... When did it come out? It came out pre-

Lauren: 2007?

Cher: Okay, it came out the year that Tumblr launched. 

Lauren: Ohhh. I think it came out in 2007. 

Cher: Yeah, you’re right. It did come out in 2007. July 29, 2007. So, it came out five months after Tumblr launched. Wow.

Lauren: That’s incredible. Wow. A match made in heaven.

Cher: Right. Truly. What a year for the internet.

Lauren: What a year.

Cher: What a year for Neil. What a year for us. 

Lauren: Seriously. Seriously.

Cher: What about you? What was your first piece of Neil ... what’s the word I’m looking for? Not discography ... He is also a DJ. 

(laughter)

Repertoire. What’s your favorite piece? Is that the right word?

Lauren: Yeah, I think so!

Cher: Yeah, okay.

Lauren: I was a very big reader as a child. I really enjoyed fantasy, science fiction, all stuff like that. And so mostly for my birthdays from relatives I would get books. And for my 12th birthday I believe I was gifted Coraline. And I don’t know what edition it was. I don’t know when the book was first published. But the cover of it ... I’ll see if I can dig up the original cover that I had ... was a very Edward Gory kind of style cover. Just a little creepy. 

I read the book and it absolutely fucking terrified me. I was so, so scared after reading it that I kid you not, I hid it behind the other books on my bookshelf so that I didn’t have to see it. I think it says a lot that I didn’t get rid of the book, right? Because it’s like I enjoyed the book but I was so scared of it. And then I remember seeing a quote from Neil Gaiman years and years later that ... I’m going to very badly paraphrase. I’ll see if I can find the original thing and then post it. Basically him saying Coraline is my strangest book because it delights children and terrifies adults. 

I think that I was just at the wrong age to be reading it. I think I was a little bit too old where all of a sudden I understood the deeper themes of the book. And that was really, really scary to me. (laughs)

Cher: You know what, you’re so right! I haven’t heard that quote before and it’s just so accurate. 

Lauren: Right!? Have you read it?

Cher: I have not read it, I’ve seen it. And was so deeply terrified by the film. 

Lauren: I have yet to see the movie because I was too scared to! (laughs)

Cher: The mom with the button eyes ... I am right now like uhhhh. [crosstalk 00:14:31] sleep paralysis demon. Oh my gosh! I looked it up ... the book came out in 2002.

Lauren: Okay. So, yeah, I turned 12 in 2003 so yeah, I would have been ... if you look up the book, if you just Google “Coraline book” the first Google image is the cover. And it’s Coraline holding a candle and it’s just a very eerie painting of a girl. Right? It’s creepy.

I really do want to see the film. I actually live in Seattle and there’s a museum of pop culture here, the MO POP. And it does a bunch of cool exhibits. It did an exhibit on the studio that did Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings and all of those stop motion movies. And so they had a bunch of the models and sets from Coraline. It’s just exceptional craft. Right? Just absolutely stunning. 

Cher: Did Tim Burton do Coraline?

Lauren: I don’t know ... I can’t remember. 

Cher: Because Coraline makes me think of James and the Giant Peach. 

Lauren: Totally.

Cher: Which is not Tim ...

Lauren: Henry Selick.

Cher: Which makes so much sense because Henry Selick did James and the Giant Peach.

Lauren: Right. And Nightmare Before Christmas, right?

Cher: Yeah. Oh my gosh, yeah. Which ... why did I put Tim Burton? I mean, it makes sense. 

Lauren: Now, I mean, a lot of people think that Tim Burton directed Nightmare Before Christmas and I ... did he write it? Was he a producer? What is Tim Burton’s connection to Nightmare Before Christmas?

Cher: Just vibes.

Lauren: Story vibe. Yeah, yeah, he did the story for it. Just vibes. So, yeah that was my first encounter with Neil Gaiman. But then-

Cher: Terrifying entry into the world ...

Lauren: Terrifying. And I just didn’t read any of his stuff then for years because it was scarring. And if Neil Gaiman happens to hear this, I don’t know how he ever would, I mean that as a compliment. (laughs) It was very effective. Same way the first time I read The Shining when I was like 20. I was like, wow, this is really good and I can’t read any Stephen King for at least three years. Because it was so scary. 

Cher: Yep. 

Lauren: I think I sort of became aware of him as a person sort of through Tumblr and then read American Gods and just absolutely loved that book. Still love that book. And yeah, now here we are and I’m a big fan.

Cher: And great show as well. I also need to read all of Neil Gaiman’s books. I love every single show and film that comes out. 

Lauren: Same. Yeah, I need to do a deeper dive into the discography. (laughs)

Cher: Of Neil’s discography, as we say is remixes of originals, of some of the oldest stories and lore in the world, which is your favorite? Which one stands out the most for you?

Lauren: Ooh, I mean, I do love the Bible fan fic. I have to say. I do love the good immortal beings. But okay, so yeah, Neil’s wonderful art aside, we could just talk about that forever. I do want to talk specifically about Neil on Tumblr because we sort of refer to him as uncle Neil between the two of us. I think other people do as well. He is sort of ... I would say, him, Linda Carter, and Will Wheaton are sort of the celebrities that get Tumblr. They participate ... in jokes, they re-blog things, they’re not just there. Neil isn’t just answering Asks on his Tumblr. He’s also re-blogging things. Right? He’s also engaging with the eco system.

Yes, as somebody who is sort of behind the scenes on Tumblr, what’s your view on that? What’s your insight on that? Is it sort of lightning in the bottle, only these three people have been able to achieve it? Have you ever seen ... you don’t have to name names ... but seen someone attempt to try and understand Tumblr and not be able to because they’re not from that world? What’s your view on all of that?

Cher: I mean, I’ve definitely ... I wouldn’t say it’s lightning in a bottle. But I think, yes, he absolutely gets it and understands Tumblr and his fans and the audience and the community and how to engage with the community in a really authentic way. But I also think that what he is ... the reason that what he is doing on Tumblr is so special is because he’s engaging with the community ... meeting everyone at the same level. 

I feel like very much Neil Gaiman’s Tumblr presence is kind of like you’re at a cocktail party or some kind of event and people are coming up and chatting with him and asking questions and he’s engaging as well. It feels very much like, yeah, he’s re-blogging stuff and not just posts that pertain to him or his work but also he’s fully involved in the memes. Every year he re-blogs “Neil banging out the tunes” on April 13th. He doesn’t just answer Asks about his titles either.

One of my favorite Asks that I saw recently was, “Neil, when you type “wait” does your phone auto complete “guess and see?” And he was like, “Let me try ... yes it does.” So, those little things. 

Lauren: That’s awesome.

Cher: I think the reason he has such a special connection with the Tumblr audience is because he is just having ... he’s just here with us having a conversation. And it feels very ... yes, obviously we know that him being on Tumblr increases the engagement and communities around his work, of course. But that doesn’t feel like why he’s here. He seems to be on Tumblr because he loves engaging with the community. He is passionate about the work that he does. And he wants to connect with people who feel the same way. And I think that is kind of what feels special – meeting the community where they are and being just authentic and passionate about it. And not too polished or promotional in any sense.

Lauren: Yes. I totally agree. I think it’s something that kind of continues to astound me. The fact that he’s been on the platform for 13 years and has only become more prolific as a creator and more famous and more well known as his things get adapted into these very successful TV shows. I think that this is something I think about a lot as a creator who is also on Tumblr and loves engaging with Tumblr fandom. Both the fandom’s that I’m in and the fandom’s for the things that I make. And how hard it can be to strike a balance of being involved and engaged with your community and the community of people who are excited about the thing that you’re excited about but also not run rough shot over what Tumblr is first and foremost, which is a fan space. Right?

I think that is what makes Tumblr unique from other places. Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, all of those places like you can engage with fandom there but when you engage with a celebrity there all of the celebrities are there and so it’s very much this formal thing. Whereas I think when celebrities are on Tumblr it’s a little bit like you’ve come into our house and so you have to behave as a guest in our house. And I think Neil just does a beautiful job of that. Right? He understands that even as much as he is a fan of things, too, that on his public Tumblr who knows, maybe he’s got a private Tumblr that he fans all over about other things, but he is different from the average Tumblr user, right? 

I feel like he understands and takes that responsibility seriously. Because I do think it’s a responsibility to not intrude upon the space where fans are enjoying their thing without sort of your prying creator god eyes, right? 

Cher: 100%. I think he does that in such a good way because of those boundaries that he sets about fan fic, for example. He doesn’t read or look at fan fic. For a very valid reason. He said that of course because I am always, it’s a legal issue, I am always writing, I can’t ... I just legally can’t look at it. But I think that’s a great thing. 

Lauren: Oh, absolutely.

Cher: The same thing with so much fan art and fan work is he encourages- I will have to double check but I believe he encourages fan art to be sent to him and he shares fan art very extensively. I think that, again, is not ... some users or fans are posting their work not because they want the creator to see it. And they often would really, really rather that not happen. And I think, yeah, he has a special connection and understanding with the community and understanding of that. He’s very understanding of the fact that there is a lot of content on platform about the work that he’s created that the creators might not want him to see. And I think he strikes that balance really well. As you said, that is what is so special. A lot of the time users are saying, “Hey, did you know it’s the 13th? Are you ready to band out the tunes?” That kind of stuff. He often responds a lot to kind of the ... not direction of but kind of prompts from the community. I would say.

Lauren: Yeah.

Cher: He reads the room. 

Lauren: That’s exactly it. He reads the room. That’s a very, very good way of putting it. I mean, I think I have modeled a lot of my ... I’ve mentioned this plenty of times on this show before but I have my actual Tumblr that I spend most of my time scrolling on that has been carefully curated over a decade that I’ve got 90 followers on there and they’re all mutual’s basically. But then I’ve got my actual public facing Tumblr. And I think I’ve modeled a lot of my behavior on there off of Neil. I’ve learned a lot about how to be a creator on the internet from him because it’s like, yeah, I can’t ... now I can look at fan fiction for the Bright Sessions if I wanted to, but I haven’t yet because I’m done with that story. But I can’t look at fan fiction but I want people to write it. And I want people to send me fan art, right? Because that I can look at and it’s fine. And also I always make sure that people know if you don’t want me to re-blog something just put in the tags, “Lauren, don’t look at this.” Right? Because I also know ... part of why I have a very secret Tumblr that is just me and my mutual’s is because I am in the entertainment industry and I do work with a lot of people who are in or have made my favorite things. And sort of back in 2018/2019 as I was starting to get more of these jobs I just sort of shut down ... because I used to do a YouTube channel about Tumblr and that Tumblr used to be ... but I literally soft blocked everybody except for my mutual’s. And then just nuked the URL and that kind of stuff because I don’t want the creators of my favorite things to be seeing what I’m talking about, because I might have to work with them. 

That’s also I think something that I imagine Neil Gaiman doesn’t have to worry about because he’s Neil Gaiman, right? And so he can kind of do whatever he wants. But also whenever I’m engaging with I’m fandom’s I’m a part of on Tumblr I sort of have to think, “Is this a fandom that I would be likely to end up working with people involved?” That’s why I re-blog so much 911 stuff. because the chances of me ever encountering any of the people involved with that show are like really small, just given the genre that it is and its TV and all that kind of stuff. So, it feels safe to sort of be a fan in that space. I’ve gone completely off topic here but it is something that whenever I’m thinking about Neil Gaiman on Tumblr I’m always thinking about my own behavior on the platform.

Cher: I also think that one of the reasons Neil gets Tumblr so much is because he really is himself a Tumblr user whose stories have escaped containment. He was writing before Tumblr existed. But I feel like if Neil was a teenager just starting out when Tumblr also launched and he was also just starting his writing work I feel like a lot of it would have been posted on Tumblr.

Lauren: Yeah, that’s a really good point. That’s a very good point. I wonder, what do you think the odds are that Neil also has an AO3 that no one knows about? 

Cher: I would say that the odds are yes. And I’m not saying this because I know it. I don’t know for sure, but I know for sure. 

Lauren: Right, yeah. 

Cher: He does. Yeah.

Lauren: He does.

Cher: We can’t officially say that he does. We don’t know that for sure. But come on ... yeah. What do you think? Yeah. Oh yeah. (laughs) I would so love to know what he’s writing on there.

Lauren: I know! Or reading, right? 

Cher: Oh my god. I think another reason that he connects so well with the Tumblr community is because he genuinely wants to be on platform. He wants to be on Tumblr. He wants to be answering these Asks and sharing and re-blogging and just participating in the community. We just know that he wants to be here and answering these Asks and it feels authentic because he’s like, yeah, I want to see if my auto complete says “wait and see.” 

Lauren: The idea that you can just sort of be on a platform, being yourself, and enjoying things and that drives people to your art is such a ... Tumblr truly is the only place on the internet that that exists anymore in my opinion.

Cher: And he’s been ... I looked back on fandom and he’s been one of the top 20 celebrities of the week every single week. I think he drops off maybe ... there’s a week or two a year that he wasn’t, that he dropped off for a week or two for whatever reason. But since we’ve been tracking this. So, he has consistently on Tumblr been one of the top 20 most talked about people.

Lauren: That’s wild.

Cher: Actually, since he joined the platform. 

Lauren: That’s crazy.

Cher: I honestly just think it’s because he’s continued the conversation. 

Lauren: Yeah, absolutely. And I think the way that he has the conversation, right? His answers are often very ... either they’re incredibly thoughtful musings on writing or they’re very pithy short answers. And to that end, I’ve got a little quiz for you. Which is I’m going to read to you three Asks that Neil answered on his Tumblr and you have to tell me which is the fake question reply. 

Cher: Okay. 

Lauren: First, someone asked, “Are you coin operated?” And he answered, “I’m afraid not.” 

Someone asked, “Does Aziraphale cry, ‘Holy water?’” And he answered, “Yes.”

And someone asked, “How do you take your coffee?” And he answered, “Orally.” 

Cher: I’m sorry-

Lauren: One of these things ...

Cher: It’s two truths and a lie? 

Lauren: Yeah, basically two truths and one ... one of these question answer combos.

Cher: Two Neil’s and a No?

Lauren: Two Neil’s and a No. Exactly. 

Cher: This is a great ... GAME ON. Okay. Sorry. God, that is hard. That is really challenging because any one of them can be ... I feel like orally is going to be my guess. Is the one that he didn’t-

Lauren: For the lie? 

Cher: Yeah. I’m wrong, huh? 

[buzzer]

Lauren: So, yeah. 

Cher: Yeah, no, you ARE wrong. (laughs)

Lauren: You are wrong. And I will say, I did kind of ... this was sort of a trick question. I was looking through all of his Asks and I was like, I don’t know that I can come up with anything more outlandish than this particular Ask. And so technically all of the Asks are real. The one that was a lie is when someone asked, “Does Aziraphale cry, ‘Holy water?’” He responded, “No.” 

Cher: Hmm.

Lauren: So, Aziraphale does not cry “Holy water.” Though I do like that idea that he does. (laughter) But yeah, no, when someone asked back in 2011 – when I say I went into his archives, I mean, I went into his archives. 

Cher: Oh my gosh. 

Lauren: So, on October 26, 2011 a now deactivated blog asked, “How do you take your coffee?” And he responded, “Orally.” 

Cher: Incredible. See, again ...

Lauren: And somehow this only has 594 notes and that is going to change when we re-blog it. 

(laughter)

Cher: 100%. It contains multitudes. 

Lauren: Truly. So, speaking of diving back deep into archives ... let’s round out our discussion this week with our Dashboard Confessionals. Cher, what do you have from your archives today?

[guitar riff]

Cher: I have a fun little post that I re-blogged from Handjob in 2016 but the post was originally from user @grolley and ...

Lauren: But you personally re-blogged it.

Cher: I personally re-blogged it from Handjob, yeah. So, just to clarify ... And it’s a re-blog chain. The first post says, “What did Tumblr look like back in the ‘90s?” And then @Grolley re-blogged, and it’s a gif set of like very clip art looking dancing letters that say, “T-U-B-R” and then someone else @GothTIA re-blogged and says, “This says tuber.” And @Grolley re-blogged again and said, “It was the ‘90s.” So, that’s ... (laughs)

Lauren: I’m literally crying laughing right now. The moment I opened this I lost it. This is so good. 

Cher: What a journey. (laughs)

Lauren: What. A. Journey. Oh my god. I love this post.

Cher: What about you, Lauren? What do you have for us this week?

Lauren: I brought two because one of them doesn’t really work as far as I can tell because one of them is a re-blog from 2015. It is a Vine. And the embedded Vine video I think maybe doesn’t work anymore because Vine does no longer exist. It is a little golden retriever puppy in someone’s lap and he’s drumming the drum break of Can You Feel It In The Air Tonight. And it’s very, very good. I’m going to try and find it on YouTube and just post it in a re-blog of this post because unfortunately I cannot get the video to play. So, that was one of them because I love it very much.

Cher: Oh my gosh. I definitely would love to see that. I miss Vine every day.

Lauren: Oh, every day. Every day.

Cher: Every day. 

Lauren: And then the other one is also from 2015. And it’s just a little memory of my own I guess journey on Tumblr. It’s just a screenshot from an NPR article about Ask Me Another. And it’s a quote from Jeffrey Kraner talking about one of his favorite descriptions of the show Welcome To Nightvale. And it just says, “It’s like if Stephen King and Neil Gaiman started a game of the SIMS and then just left it running forever.” 

I chose this post for a couple of reasons. A) the Neil Gaiman mention, right? Perfect. But then also just I think that’s a great description of Welcome to Nightvale. And 2015, later that year, I started the Bright Sessions. I found Welcome to Nightvale on Tumblr. And so this was already when I was deep in my Welcome to Nightvale fandom. That’s the reason I started in podcasting in the first place. So, it was just a nice little origin moment for me of like, oh, my whole career in life began here on this platform by finding a podcast. And that’s lovely.

Cher: Oh my gosh. What a full circle moment. Oh my god. I love that. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cher: That has me in my feels, Lauren.

Lauren: Oh!? Perfect transition. Thank you, Cher. What does have you in your feels this month?

Let’s go over to our Feels Corner.

[gentle music]

Cher: Heading on over to our Feel s Corner. I am feeling very emotional about the new season of Bridgerton, which will be out when ...

Lauren: Have you seen it?

Cher: I have. I have seen part of it.

Lauren: Ohhhh. JEALOUS!

Cher: But I’m so excited because I’m doing an interview with the cast tomorrow and the show is just ... I love the new season. I think it’s great. So, back further into my feels. I have re-watched Derry Girls and Derry Girls is one of my favorite shows. Oh my gosh. It’s so good. And I’ve been feeling just a lot of feels about that. And then also the new season of Hacks. Hacks is back. One of my favorite shows and this new season is so good. I cried during the first two episodes because they were just so great. And so that’s all the things that have me in my feels at the moment. I’m feeling a lot, Lauren. How about you?

Lauren: I love it. I mean, Hacks was going to be one of mine as well. Because the portrait of a creative marriage that it shows is just ... creative marriages just really get me, right? It is a unique relationship that is not romantic, not platonic, but a secret third thing, right? It is that. And I think that Hacks just does such a wonderful, wonderful job of displaying that.

And then as I said, Shogun. I really ... it was really funny, actually ... after we finished, sitting on the couch with my partner, and this is a perfect example of the two people that we are. He started reading all about that particular era in historical Japan and the historical accuracy in the show. And I was like, “What does Tumblr have to say about Shogun?” 

(laughter)

Cher: The two people in any relationship. 

Lauren: Exactly. And he was like, “Do you think it’s a show that Tumblr would be into?” And I was like, “Oh yeah.” It’s got a hot old man at the center. 

Cher: Check!

Lauren: Which Tumblr loves. It’s got a doomed romance. Which is so piney and just horribly heartbreaking. And then there’s this one character, [inaudible 00:37:55] the hot old man, is Toranaga who is the main kind of like guy aspiring to be the Shogun basically. And he’s just a very, very attractive 60 something year old man. 

And then there’s this one character Yabushige who I was like, “Tumblr is going to go nuts over this poor little meow-meow.” He starts as a terrible villain and he has this really interesting arc. And lo and behold, I pop into Tumblr and what’s the first three posts I see? People lusting over the hot old man. People posting about Yabushige’s arc. And then this doomed romance. And I was like, I know Tumblr SO WELL.

(laughter) 

And those things have me in my feels, too. Yabushige especially. I just think the actor has done such a phenomenal job. So, yeah. Shogun as well as Hacks. 

Cher: I love watching a show and picking out what Tumblr is going to specifically fixate over, or latch onto. Because it’s never the main ... okay, often it can be the main ship, like Good Omens and Deadboy Detectives and a lot of shows we’re talking about. It’s often, yes, the main thing. But it is also often a secret third thing. 

Lauren: Yes! Exactly. 

And with that, I’m Lauren Shippen, and you can find me at TheLaurenShippen.Tumblr.com.

Cher: And I’m Cher McAnelly and you can find me at OverChers.Tumblr.com. 

This has been Dashboard Diaries. And ... 

[outtro music]

Lauren: May your anons always be loving.

Cher: Your dash always refreshed.

Lauren: Your gifs always be loading.

Cher: And your ships always canon.

Lauren: May the fics you’re reading always be finished.

Cher: And the answers you seek always in the re-blogs.

Lauren: Thanks for scrolling with us!

Our TVs have been graced with @neil-gaiman in recent years, but Tumblr has been graced with him for over a decade! This month we discuss Uncle Neil's influence, as well as Dead Boy Detectives, Bridgerton, Shogun, and taking your coffee orally.

Credits and transcript in our reblog. You can find transcripts for this, and every other episode, here.

Find the posts discussed in this episode in this tag!

[mammonsbby]

matching halloween costumes- obey me! hcs

Warning: Cursing Characters: Brothers/Sides x GN!MC (Luke's is platonic of course!) Words: 1544

✨My Masterlist✨

Lucifer

He literally doesn’t have time for this. He’s busy MC, please stop bugging him about matching costumes. He’s not dressing up for Halloween and that’s final!

Is absolutely appalled when you roll up dressed exactly like him, black wig and all. Everyone finds it hilarious that there’s a tiny, human Lucifer running around.

“Exactly what is it you’re supposed to be? Ah, the Avatar of Pride, who doesn’t have time for Halloween… Carry on.” (Proceeds to follow you around all evening, even though he was sooooo busy. He’s proud alright? And you’re so cute?)

Mammon

Fuckin’ loves this time of year. He will absolutely wear matching costumes with you! (He’ll try to claim he’s only doing it out of necessity. That, if you get lost, he can point to himself and say ‘where’s my other half?’ *cue blushing mess*)

What do you wanna be? Bonnie and Clyde? Bank robbers? Pirates? No?

Oh… Wait, you wanna be a vampire and his victim? Uh, sign him up, motherfucker’s got his teeth on your neck before you finish the sentence. (He’s only adding detail to the costume, chill out human.)

Might “borrow” Lucifer’s cape to complete the look.

“Hey MC! Do you think we could get into the Demon Lord’s Castle dressed like this? This cape has pockets…” (You have to convince him that, no, you’re not disguised that well. He’s wearing his older brother’s coat.)

Leviathan

Eh, he can wear cosplay at cons anytime of the year. What’s the big deal about Halloween? Where you have to go outside and talk to people? Puh-lease MC.

Oh… you want to…. Wear… You want to match with him?!

Bitch grabbed his sewing machine at the speed of light!

You wanna be Henry and the Lord of Shadows, right? Or, maybe some anime couple! That would be cool. N-not that it has to be a couple! But… you know… Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask… that would be cool right?

“MC, I, uh, kinda need to measure you so I can make your costume. I know it’s weird but— Y-you don’t mind?” (Proceeds to drop the measuring tape four times because he accidentally touched your bare skin. Dork.)

Satan

Yeah, okay, he can do that. He’s always wanted someone to match costumes with, but… none of his brothers ever dress up as anything interesting.

Perhaps you could be characters from a romance novel? Or a detective and his sidekick? Oh… you have something in mind already?

A cat-themed superhero. And his love interest? Do go on, MC. He’d love to hear more.

“Okay, so… what do I say when it’s time? My catchphrase? Right. Cataclysm!” (He wishes that would work on Lucifer.)

Asmodeus

He’s definitely gonna match with you! He starts planning before you can finish asking. What the fuck is the point of Halloween if you can’t be cute with your S.O.?

You could be fairies! Or cheerleaders! Or if you want to win the cutest costume contest, you could dress up as him and he as you. ;)

You like the faerie idea? Faeries it is!

He insists on doing your makeup. And picking out jewelry to match your costumes. And takes 2,000 pics for Devilgram. And-

“MC~! I think my fake wings are slipping off. Wanna give me a hand with them? Thank you dear~ Oh, it seems like yours are coming off as well. Can’t have that.” (*proceeds to wrap his arms around you to 'fix' your wings, which were perfect to begin with*)

Beelzebub

You wanna match? That’s fine. He doesn’t care. Give the boy some candy and he’ll do whatever you want. You wanna be something food related? Might not be the best idea. He might nibble your costume… just a bit. Hey, authentic bite marks!

But, yeah, okay, you can be a burger and fries. And Beel will definitely rope Belphie into being a drink. And the three of you are a combo meal. :)

“MC, do you think we could stop at Hell’s Kitchen on the way to the party? You look so tasty, it’s making me hungry.” (You get some food and keep a bag of candy with you all night, because being dressed as the Avatar of Gluttony's favorite food... isn't the best idea...)

Belphegor

Bitch please. Putting on a costume takes effort and this sleepy asshole ain’t doing it.

Unless… he changes form and you wear a cow onesie. That’s as much as you’re getting out of him.

“Beel… what are you doing with that drink costume?” (*scared cow noises*)

All Brothers

As always, any time your attention is up for grabs, the brothers are fighting over who gets to match with you. And… Well, what are you to do but start frantically googling group costume ideas?

You find that there aren’t many good choices for eight people. So you tell them all to vote between superheroes and Carebears. And… okay, maybe you rigged the voting. :)

And now they’re arguing over who gets to be who. Good luck assigning bears to brothers, MC.

“Okay, okay. Guys stop! I’m picking! Lucifer: Grumpy Bear, Mammon: Good Luck Bear, Levi: Wish Bear, Satan: Funshine Bear, Asmo: Love-a-lot Bear, Beel: Tenderheart Bear, Belphie: Bedtime Bear. And I’ll be Cheer Bear!” (*grumbling from Lucifer*)

Diavolo

It’s his birthday. And he’s always incredibly busy, but once you mention matching outfits, he’s more than happy to sneak away for a bit!

You can’t figure out what to dress up as, because it would be sort of… inappropriate for the prince of the devildom to wear something childish.

So, you just find the fanciest clothes possible and go as a fellow royal. He still thinks it’s wonderful, even if he’s just wearing his regular clothes.

“MC, you look…” (He loses himself for a moment because holy shit. You look ethereal.)

Barbatos

Sadly, he has no time for that. His job never stops. He’s serving at Diavolo’s birthday bash/ Halloween party.

You take him by surprise though when you show up dressed as a maid to match him. He’s utterly taken aback. Especially when you wordlessly pick up a tray to help.

“MC, you look… Well, I’d hire you anytime.” (*invites you to the kitchen to taste test something really quick*)

Simeon

Being an angel, he’s never really done much for Halloween. However, he’d love to match with you, as long as it’s nothing provocative.

When you suggest he dress as a demon and you an angel, he laughs. It’s a cute idea. Luke is, of course, horrified, but he goes through with it, going so far as wearing a headband with horns and a pair of fake wings.

“Come now, Luke. Don’t you think we look good?” (Luke: *searches for holy water*)

You don a plastic halo and wings made from cardboard and craft feathers, but he’s still amazed.

“MC, you could easily pass as an angel. You look divine.” (The two of you get some strange looks, but you’re both adorable.)

Luke

Everyone knows how anti-demon Luke is. But he’s excited to match with you!

The most you can convince him to do is ghosts. Traditional sheets-with-holes-for-eyes ghosts. Being a ghost turns out to be quite fun. Especially when you text Mammon and ask to let Luke scare him.

“Did you see that?! The Avatar of Greed nearly started crying; he was so scared of us!” (He’s positively giddy all night and you have to stop him from eating too many sweets.)

Solomon

He’s amused that you’d want to match with him. And before he can suggest anything, you declare that you’re going to be a witch and he will be your familiar. Deal with it, magic boy.

You think he won’t do it, but he shows up with cat ears and a tail, the product a spell. And a drawn-on cat nose.

You laugh so hard your pointed hat falls off and he retrieves it for you with a ‘meow.’

“MC, I’m honestly quite worried this spell won’t wear off by morning. I think I may have done something wrong.” (He stays by your side all night, meowing anytime someone gets too close.)

All Sides

You decide that, since your housemates are currently killing each other over who gets to match with you, you’ll do a group costume with the boys from Purgatory Hall and the Royals to teach them a lesson.

They all agree to let you pick something. And though they’ve never heard of the characters, you pick the cast of Scooby Doo.

Dia: Fred, Barb: Daphne, Solomon: Velma, Simeon: Shaggy, Luke: Scooby. A dog, much to his chagrin. You’ll be a Hex Girl or your favorite villain from the show.

“Well, let’s… wait. How does it go? Let’s split up gang! I have work to do.”

Deep sigh, “creepers. I… MC, this is ridiculous.”

“Jinkies! I sure hope that no one takes a photo of me in a skirt. Asmodeus, that means you.”

“Zoinks. I don’t think I look great in green, MC.”

“I’m not saying it, MC! I don’t care if it’s his catchphrase! I’m not a dog and this isn’t fair and—“

(No one knows who you are, but you still have a great time. And after the party, you promise Luke that you’ll never make him a dog again.)

–

Thank you for reading! Please reblog!

If you enjoyed this fic, please consider buying me a coffee!

<3 Aerie

[hamliet]

What ur thoughts on Justin's love for Brian? Do u think Justin would move on from Brian and have a life with someone else?

Yay, a QAF ask! (The struggle of discovering a story and wanting to talk everyone's ear off about it, but you're like, 20 years late.)

Are you asking if I think Justin could or that he would? I genuinely don't think he would, but he could. The point is that Justin would choose Brian. That was his motivation throughout the series: he chose Brian, and then he had to figure out what that meant. (Justin ditching Brian in season 2 was a poor choice in some ways, but was also clearly a choice that thematically links to their decision not to get married in season 5--loving someone shouldn't cost you yourself.)

Having Justin suddenly be like "ahhh nvm Brian isn't worth it", even offscreen, would be thematically disastrous given the main crux of Brian's issues being that he does not, in fact, think he's worthy of love or even life itself thanks to his dad wishing he was never born.

The ending of season 5 was not that. Justin kept insisting that they would see each other constantly. He still chooses Brian. Brian has doubts because he's still scared, but QAF is always gonna go with the choice and hope option over the fear option.

I mean, I've talked multiple times about the ending, but I think the implication is clear--and that was before I found out the writers confirmed that they intended to write them staying together. It's open enough to where people can draw their own conclusions, but I think you have to neglect a ton of context clues and write them off as "random" (when nothing in a story should be random assuming best writing--granted, most stories, even QAF, don't always do this, but it's the general assumption) to come to that conclusion.

I mean, you could conclude that they ended up just as fond memories to each other. But you'd be neglecting a hell of a lot of context, and transporting the story's genre into gritty, even cyclical realism, when it was always more of an optimistic coming-of-age survival story with elements of a fairy tale. (It's not like the story directly called out its fairy tale optimism several times--oh wait it did reference fairy tales, and superhero comic books, and magic, and even had a ghostly apparition in Vic appearing in Brian's dreams.)

Anyways, to conclude that they don't end up together, I think people have to read their own experiences and preferences into the story, which admittedly we all do to an extent, but to a degree where I'd say they're ceasing to view it as a crafted story. I do think the authorial intent was clear.

Why did the narrative specifically call out Brian not returning the rings?

Why was the pattern of every single relationship in season 5 separating, but then coming back together even when things looked impossible (Melanie and Lindsay, Blake and Ted, Emmett and whoever that was, Hunter with Ben and Michael)?

What about the motif of home between Justin and Brian that got multiple shout-outs in every season? (I need to write a meta about this!)

Why did the story talk consistently in almost every season about Brian's life goal being moving to New York? (The thing is, Brian shouldn't move to New York out of fear or because he has no other options. That's not the message of QAF. It should be his choice, and I think it was set up to likely be precisely that.)

Season 4, imo, sets up the ending for us. Justin's about to fly back to Hollywood, but he still waits at the finish line to see Brian (who lags behind everyone else). Michael helps Brian, but Brian almost gives up just in sight of the finish line--until he sees Justin waiting for him. Then, he gathers himself and pushes across the line. The metaphor was so on the nose. Yeah, Justin will then leave for a bit, just like he will at the end of season 5, but Brian will keep moving forward for him. And as if the writers wanted to assuage our fears brought by their very own theme of "you don't know what tomorrow brings; all we have is the present," they included ghostly Vic appearing in Brian's dreams in the finale of season 4 promising Brian that he'd have a "lot more" years left. They'll get there.

So, I think Justin's love for Brian was a choice--one everything about his character and the show's themes demonstrate he'll continue to make.