#this is such a niche reference to one of my own memes

[thatswhatsushesaid]

he's in

omg guys he did it!! he smuggled su minshan back into the olive garden!!!!

thank you xiandu 🙏

[lorax-devito]

i don’t think the people in my life understand the fear i have when going to sleep that i’ll wake up,log onto tumblr,and the townspeople are screaming that ao3 is down like a raid is happening and their first born has been killed while the straw roof bakery goes up in flames.

[phoebebuggers]

modern party high school/college headcanons that will maybe kind of end up in my text au if i ever go back to it

mike is a tote bag user and a letterboxd fanatic!! he listens to alternative rock especially weezer but he's not a music elitist he likes pop and stuff too. he still plays dnd and i feel like he probably reads like classic fantasy book bro books u know (brandon sanderson, GOT, LOTR, prolly also like steven king and stuff which the rest of the party also like.) cat person. he is such a film bro it's obnoxious and he has to shove his letterboxd account down your throat every 5 minutes after meeting you. says he's bitter and evil but would do anything for his friends (canon.) video essay watcher. dirty-ass pair of falling apart converse at the end of their life begging for mercy that he refuses to replace. ADHD diagnosis.

will loves thrifting and coffee shops and museums but not in a performative pinteresty way he just genuinely likes these things. had an art hoe aesthetic phase around 2020 and will never live it down. subverting all gay stereotypes by not knowing anything about gay/stan twitter and being happier for it. kind of a music elitist ('can i see your spotify wrapped??') but not as much as jonathan who he learned from. still loves the smiths, the cure, etc but i think he would also be into modern indie nowadays. i feel like he would have a huge chapsticks/lip balm collection bc his lips are chapped all the time and it's just like a running joke atp. major art kid draws all the time we been knew listens to podcasts while he does art. goes to therapy

lucas is still kind of a jock but i'm kinda anti jock lucas because he will never truly fit in with them he will always be a nerd first!!!! still plays basketball tho and runs cross country (all men who run cross country are a little bit unhinged and free.) wears a hairtie on his wrist in case max needs one. kind of matches will's evil music complex from the other side with objectively good music def likes tyler, brent, frank, SZA (max likes the same their music taste kind of bled into each others.) very good social media presence like color coded feed, highlights, pinterest worthy pics etc (digital camera user.) likes to cook. chronic notes app list user. wanted to be a youtuber as a kid. type of guy to say "um, guys, that was awkward!" etc etc and everyone clocks him for it

dustin is a reddit user but not in a weird incel way in a genuinely helpful and knowledgable way. he also wanted to be a youtuber because he fucking loved matpat as a kid. he also would love the green brothers. a sneakerhead. keeps his keys on a carabiner (max tells him he looks like a lesbian.) also very up to date on pop culture like max is, probably quotes that one baron trump suitcase video daily among other things. does a few very good very niche impressions. i feel like everyone in the party is a good student but dustin is definitely the best a genuis future engineer or smth. he's the friend who always has those party games but can't read a cards against humanity card without laughing (max has to read for him)

el knows it's trash but loves reality TV (real housewives) and also glee. probably volunteers a lot. she was probably like the most boy-crazy fictional man/celebrity obsessed tween but ended up being bisexual/questioning lesbian. chronic story liker and responder so everyone thinks she's in love with them but she's actually just really nice and maybe doesn't 100% understand the social cue. she was also in theater because i want her to be her own genre of nerd maybe not in big roles because i don't see her as someone who loves being the center of attention but in ensemble. type of person to make goals like "try a new type of apple every week for a year".

max is up to date on tiktok/internet memes and kind of speaks fluent reference. probably watches real housewives and dance moms with el (will will join in occasionally for glee.) she also thrifts a lot of her clothes and has very cool style in kind of an idgaf what anyone else thinks way. huge flannel collection. does stage crew. i know she skateboards in canon and she still would but i feel like she would also do roller-derby or like speed skating or something. similar music taste to lucas but also a swiftie from a young age. had a panic at the disco phase and did crazy 2020 eyeliner (it's not a phase, mom) and will never live it down. keeps a journal. goes to therapy

bonus:

mike and max never shut the fuck up during class and always have to whisper something objectively hilarious to each other/one of their friends while the teacher is talking

will el and max have a book club where at least someone lies about having read the book every month and they spend the whole meeting gossiping and eating snacks

will forced them all to get airbuds and airbuds reacts mike listening to mcr with mildly disappointed faces and cat emojis

mike and dustin had a phase where they were really into like conspiracy theories and UFOs and cryptids and stuff

lucas bought a stanley cup with no shame because 'it's so functional'

el is an ex-larry

[writingwithfolklore]

Pop Culture References in Writing

This is not an advice post as much as an opinion + opening to discussion. I’m really curious what you guys think about this!

                Every now and then I come across a book with lots of pop culture references. I think the last I read was “One Last Stop” by Casey McQuiston.

I intentionally don’t include any pop culture references in my writing—including more niche or time-specific slang, and I have a few reasons:

                I feel pandered to when I read it. I haven’t yet read pop culture references (or even watched it in media) that didn’t immediately take me out of the story. When it’s done poorly, it’s—dare I say cringe in our year 2024? It’s a bit hard to watch, let’s say.

                Even when it’s done well, I imagine the author is like that man holding a skateboard, “how do you do, fellow kids?” It never lands genuinely for me.

                It adds a time limit on the work. Memes, jokes, and slang of the cultural moment are just that—of the moment. I find things die far too quickly so by the time I’m consuming the media the reference is old or dead completely. Or, at the very best, I’ve heard/seen it so much that I’m tired of it.

                Last reason, I consume fiction to be somewhat out of my own world. The inclusion of pop culture references takes me right back to reality and breaks the escapism and immersion of the story. It’s the same as when media references COVID or something similar—I want to be in a fictionalized world, I’d like to escape this one for a little while.

(as an aside, I am totally fine with these references in children's media, because I assume children find it really funny and cool that their interests are in their media. I just watched a Bluey episode (don't make fun of me) where the girls teach their grandparents how to floss (as in the dance) and while I as an adult didn't enjoy it personally, I also know it wasn't written for me, and I'm sure the kids that watched it loved it.)

             Your turn! What’s your thoughts on this? Do you like pop culture references? Do you write them?

[tequiilasunriise]

Random canonshipping headcanons because I’m invested in this crackship:

Instead of common petnames such as ‘babe’ or ‘darling’, Perrin affectionately calls Viola ‘shutterbug’ bc DUH meanwhile Viola gives me ‘my muse’ vibes but also ‘ma cherie’ because French™️

Viola’s lockscreen is a quick phone pic she took of Perrin’s intensely focused face as she’s about to take a photo of some passerby Santalune Forest Pokémon, but the best part is Viola’s vivillon being casually perched on Perrin’s head the entire time kinda like a comically oversized bow

What can I say when you’re a Pokémon photographer you get used to staying extremely still as not to spook your subject, and sometimes you just get used to becoming a perch fer wild Pokémon who mistake you as a funky looking tree

In this case Viola’s ace just really likes to vibe with her trainer’s girlfriend and Perrin is more than happy with the arrangement even if she doesn’t notice the giant butterfly perched on her half of the time because yeah she’s just used to being a makeshift tree fer randomass mons

Perrin’s lockscreen is a photo she took on her camera of a victorious Viola leaping with joy and a jubilant sparkle in her eye after a hard fought gym battle against a tough opponent she had narrowly beat, the vibrant gym leader celebrating with her vivillon is defo one of Perrin’s favorite pics ever

Yes Perrin loves to photograph Pokémon, but her gym leader girlfriend in action is a very, very close second when it comes to favorite subjects

When it comes to how they met in the first place, I like to think Perrin travels around the world photographing a variety of Pokémon, and when she heard of a Kalosian gym leader who was also a Pokémon photographer specializing in bug types girly just had to visit the region and check her work out

They met in a gallery showcasing Viola’s latest collection of photos, and hit it off real quick with their shared love of capturing the hearts of Pokémon in a single snap (infodumping to each other bout their fave photographers, techniques, praising the other’s work, etc etc)

You know inside jokes with the homies that require seven layers of context and a highly specific sense of humor? Besides a love Pokémon photography itself, Perrin and Viola bond over photographer memes that only they understand like anyone who would overhear the conversation would be so fucking confused

Like, their Pokégram dms are just filled with spamming the other really niche photographer memes/reels because meme spamming is its own love language

Need Viola taking Perrin as her plus one to some Kalos Pokémon League event and Perrin to make some obscure reference that sends the bug type specialist giggling and Korrina leans over to Grant to playfully stage whisper, “Damn, you never made her laugh like that when you two were dating” and Grant would roll his eyes as he goodnaturedly shoves off Korrina and mutter something about weird photographer humor

Grant and Viola as besties who tried dating but found they were better as homies and Grant wingmanning Viola when she was mad crushing on this traveling photographer can I get an amennnnn

Jokes on her while Viola was meticulously planning how she’s going to rizz up this baddie with box dye, Perrin thought they were already dating and Viola preferred to take it slow because useless sapphics <3333

When they’re OFFICIALLY dating not much really changes between the two expect more physical affection (smoochies!!) because ah yes Viola, her calling you all these sweet nicknames and consistently ‘hanging out’ with you all alone at Kalos’ most famous romantic spots is soooo normal gal pal behavior mhm yeah y’all dressing up all cute and stylish to go cafe hopping around Lumiose City was soooo platonic

Perrin and several of Viola’s friends tease the HELL outta her fer this fer pretty much the rest of time but hey!!! Now that the air is cleared, Perrin turns up the blatant flirtiness with her official girlfriend now that she knows Viola is comfortable with going not so slow so to speak >:)))

Rip Santalune City’s gym leader girly got that raging gay panic on a daily basis now

There’s tons of long distance girlfriends shenanigans because Viola has to consistently stay in Kalos to run her gym while Perrin continues her travels, this leads to timezone shenanigans where it’s like three am fer one of them and the other is just casually grabbing brunch but it’s finnneeee gods knows the gays don’t need sleep

Ruining your circadian rhythm fer your gay lover is also a love language guys trust trust trust

Assuming they met and started dating pre-Kalos game events, imagine it’s a videocall that’s like:

“Shutterbug, hey, um, why does every news station say Kalos was hit with a huge mega death ray?”

“Oh yeahhh don’t worry about it the whole thing got resolved by that super tough challenger I told you about a few weeks ago, anyways LOOK at this gorgeous Volcorona I was so lucky to meet today!”

“Viola please- wait those wings are so glossy wow the trainer must be taking such good care of them.”

Perrin says she’s not sure how a single kid can singlehandedly save the whole region from certain doom mixed with legendary Pokémon, the events of the DLC go down (whatever they may be), and then she calls Viola with a, “…okay, okay yeah I get it now.”

Anyways that’s all I got fer now if I decide to make a part two list then yiipppeeeee I love getting invested in total crackships

[alexsorsis]

Well, hello there (MASTER-LIST)

Welcome to my personal hell hole where I post art, dank memes, and deranged comments. |—————|

first of all…

DNI:

Proshipers, z00philes, p3d0files, anti-lgbtq+, transphobia, anti-Palestine, and more that I probably forgot to mention

over all, just don’t be a asshole and or weirdo

if I notice that you are one of these, I will block you

|—————|

A bit about me

Name: Alex Age: minor gender: gender fluid pronouns: any

I make art, OCs, comics, and sometimes animations. I am Cambodian (Asian) but I technically only speak English.

give me a heads up if I make you feel uncomfortable

Jop.

|—————|

tags

#all hail jop - my art…

#alex does reblog - my reblogs, though I do have another blog for reblogs

#alex does respond - it’s a reblog but I actually say stuff that’s not in tags (wow)

#alex does funny - where I try to be funny. You can probably tell it’s going to be bad

#alex does ask - you give me a ask, I’ll give you a different question- nah, just where I reply to your asks

#alex does rant - I’ll ramble about some hyper fixation or my OCs here. Probably.

#jop - him.

#reset protocol - an original comic lightly inspired by STP (slay the princess)

|—————|

Projects

Wowie, I make some cool stuff. This is most likely what you’re looking for anyways

HORROR- Reset Protocol. an interactive choose your own adventure type of story where when you mess up you restart… though, it not only you that knows what happened before hand. (TW: likely to be gore, bright colors, gun, syringe)

|—————|

Events:

None :[

|—————|

Other blogs

^^^ reblogs

|—————|

Have a niche day and all hail Jop

[grandhotelabyss]

What makes an artwork highbrow? What makes another low?

Keeping in mind that this is a sociological rather than an aesthetic distinction, I believe the distinction hinges on how much you already have to know about art in general to appreciate any given work. As the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu writes:

A genre containing ever more references to the history of that genre calls for a second-degree reading, reserved for the initiate, who can only grasp the work’s nuances and subtleties by relating it back to previous works. By introducing subtle breaks and fine variations, with regard to assumed expectations, the play of internal allusions (the same one that has always been practised by lettered traditions) authorizes detached and distanced perception, quite as much as first-degree adherence, and calls for either erudite analysis or the aesthete’s wink.

This is most obvious in the case of a work that is both intensely allusive and extremely sophisticated in technique, like Ulysses, but it also applies to works of a radical simplicity or even contentlessness, like the writings of Gertrude Stein or the paintings of Jackson Pollock, where you have to know enough about art to know why this apparent non-art ("my toddler could paint that!") is actually very serious and meaningful art.

In practice, these distinctions don't hold. They don't hold aesthetically, because most actual practitioners say that the relevant distinction is not high and low but good and bad. But they also don't hold sociologically. The high-low distinction only applies after the mass literacy of the late 19th century, which generated both a mass culture industry and writers and artists who wanted to set themselves apart from this mass culture industry. The very same industry, however, produces such a proliferation of niche markets that even low-art genres become as complex and recursive in their own traditions as the high-art genres, such that you can't really just hand The Big Sleep or Dune or Watchmen to a person off the street anymore than you could with Ulysses. This is the symbolic import of the factoid I am always insisting upon: that this all comes from Poe, that Poe invents both Mallarmé and Lovecraft.

Then "middlebrow" as a concept presents problems of its own. A serious critic wants to scorn the middlebrow and uphold only the raw energy of the lowbrow and the radical intellection of the highbrow, but this standard is too severe. Anti-middlebrow critics get trapped in a hipper-than-thou spiral, or, to vary my image, they futilely chase an unreachable horizon of authenticity and difficulty. There is such a thing as middlebrow—we know it when we see it—but if you become obsessed with the idea, then soon you'll find that nothing is astringent enough for your taste. Anti-middlebrow critics may start by dismissing Our Town and The Grapes of Wrath, but they will inevitably end up writing "Against Ulysses."

Finally, these categories assume too much about who attends to what, and where and when and for what purpose. I quoted that Bourdieu passage above this summer in my Oppenheimer essay. Is Oppenheimer lowbrow, middlebrow, or highbrow? A film made for and sold to a mass audience through memes and sex appeal (lowbrow), a film full of Big Themes and Human Interest and Major Issues (middlebrow), a film formally ambitious, politically ambiguous, tragic in theme, and freighted with unexplained scientific, historical, political, and cultural allusions (highbrow)? I just don't think it's a very interesting question.

Do these categories explain why I read about Ulysses on Microsoft Encarta when I was 13 years old? (It included a recording of an Irish actress doing some of Molly Bloom's interior monologue.) I first checked the novel out of my suburban public branch library the summer of the same year and determined to read it, a task I admittedly didn't accomplish in full until later, when I was in college, just as Bourdieu would predict. But the ambition first found me in the lower-middle-class suburbs through a simple consumer conveyance rather than through any type of elite training.

I don't mean to sound a note of false populism here, to suggest that there's much hidden greatness in the morass of cranked-out junk clogging Amazon. It is, as I've written, "lonely at the top." My populist instinct, insofar as I have one, runs in the other direction: not "low art is actually great" but rather "great art is actually for everyone." (Or perhaps not "everyone" but "anyone." Not every single person but any single person capable of being found by it, which can't be determined in advance.) Still, the worth of a work of art is not extrinsically determined by the position it occupies in the social field, as the sociologists claim, but rather relies on its intrinsic merit in dynamic interaction with an unpredictable range of actual and potential audience members.

[kuiperoid]

How terminally online are YOU?

Some of us are extremely online these days, some of us terminally so. For each listed below that applies, please go and touch one blade of grass.

You can give a cohesive definition of an “anti-shipper.”

You have used the term “unalive” out loud.

You have referred to an animal as some cutesy name established on the Internet, ex: doggo, pupper, bnnuy, catto, et cetera (touch a blade of grass for each one).

You have referenced a meme in an in-person conversation, touch an additional blade of grass if you had to explain it to the person you were talking to.

You are familiar with a political-themed online streamer (touch one blade of grass for each one additional blade for each offensive nickname their detractors call them that you are aware of).

You have watched a modern Scorsese film-length video essay on a niche topic that you are not academically or professionally involved in.

You can give a detailed description of a conspiracy theory that gained traction in the twenty-first century.

You have recognized a scene from a movie or show after having previously seen it in a meme.

You know what “height gap discourse” refers to.

You have referred to a single person as “maidenless” (touch an additional blade of grass if used for someone not even attracted to women).

You absent-mindedly reached for the “find word” function while reading a physical book.

You own a piece of merchandise (shirt, sticker, et cetera) with a meme on it (touch a blade of grass for each one).

You have produced a piece of AI art.

You know what a Sigma Male is.

You can recognize more than five pride flags on sight (other than the rainbow, the Monica Helm trans flag, the bear flag, the BDSM flag, or any of the myriad of lesbian flags older than the “lipstick lesbian” flag, all of which predate the modern Internet and usually required leaving the house quite a bit to recognize on sight).

You have spelled it “tiddies.”

You are familiar with terms popularized by TV Tropes.

You at  some point believed that “your brain is all done changing at twenty-five” myth.

You spent more than twenty minutes looking into drama by two or more social media figures (touch an additional blade of grass if they were not even people you followed).

You know what a “catboy” is.

You have watched a livestream by choice (touch a blade of grass for each streamer).

You have said “LOL” out loud instead of laughing (touch an additional blade of grass if you pronounced it “lol” instead of spelling the acronym).

You have discovered a musical artist because their song was featured in a fanvideo.

You have strong opinions about the cutoff years of the different generations (as in baby boomers, generation z, et cetera).

You are familiar with the phrase “touch grass.”

How many blades of grass did you have to touch? I lost count of my own because they all apply multiple times over.

[frostbite-the-bat]

no but genuinely. i love shadow filbo dearly. he means a lot to me.

he marks a time for me where i began embracing what i like just... for the sake of it!

he embodies the things that inspired me to draw online in the first place. hell, sparklecat characters with bangs have made me stop cutting my hair. i haven't cut my hair properly since. just because i wanted the same bangs, not knowing how hair works. now i have what is best described as messy fluttershy hair. to many people just how long my hair is, is what defines me when they see me and my hair is in a way special to me.

and again - he was what inspired me to draw. in class i'd be drawing my own sparklecats at the age of like 8, with bangs and wings and little companions that sit on clouds that rain hearts. (and bolts and skulls when ANGRY!)

i put rainbows on everything. i thought nyan cat was the embodiment of everything good in the world. i listened to nightcore versions of songs only. i say, as i am listening to nightcore, right now.

because of all these old classic animation memes and sparklefurs and silly scene and emo song flash animations i'd find... i'd pick up ms paint and draw. i imagined just how i'd animate, finding even the simplest methods absolutely mesmerising. there is something to be said about me being this young with internet access - because it very much so had it's negative effects. not me watching fetish videos at the age of 8 just because it had pokemon in it. yea that did not have any lasting effects.

but despite all this shit - it raised me! and even just a few years later... like.. 2015 when i began posting online on deviantart for the first time, not being just a lurker... learning how The Computer works better - not only drawing on paper anymore and gaining more and more interest towards digital art... i was already nostalgic towards these earlier days. but still living IN it, y'know?

just having fun, doing my own thing! isn't that what art is all about?

well. then the cringe culture nation attacked. severe bullying at school. and in general, just shame - which i am still fighting in certain aspects. but it's a bit more complicated than just "shame". (more so fear of Things.)

i'd look back at things with either genuine "cringe" or a distaste. how DARE these people have fun? because deep down, i was simply jealous.

if i was going to reference anything old like this, like classic animation memes, it was framed as "JOKE" "NOT SERIOUS" because i feared i would be harassed, made fun of, or people would thing THAT is the best of my artistic abilities. but... it's not like that.

and now, more and more people are embracing this. and it makes me so happy. and shadow filbo helped me fight off these fears a lot and just let me love what i love and be myself.

maybe it's not an ""aesthetic"" that completely defines me, maybe it IS a tik tok trend to do nowadays - but i don't care. without any of this i wouldn't be here. those were my first inspirations. silly colorful cats animated to crunchy mp3s of songs using movie maker and 3 (three!) frames drawn in ms paint. it had so much charm. it had so much genuinity. and i could feel it even back then.

without it i might've not been here as i am now. there are so many things that go into this, of course. but i simply would not be the exact way i am. and i dunno. that's something to think about.

thank you so much, shadow filbo. one "mistake" with you i've had was thinking i should be a good creator of something and respond to every fan and fanart, which only stressed me out. i have... opinions! about being recognized in various places and, as some dub, a "NICHE INTERNET MICROCELEBRITY" (nothing against you fox </3).... yeah! not a fan.

another mistake was dubbing him as a "joke" always. and... he is! he is humorous! i am a jokey person! i like crunchy shitposts! i like being the reason people laugh! i will go to certain levels to even ridicule myself just for the bit, and i don't mind it. i'm hyper(active) and i am just a jokey person, that's that. but... him being called a joke was honestly just a shield from people taking him too seriously.

if people were to mock me for being nostalgic for nightcore, and rainbows, and edgy amvs, sparkledogs, scene culture and clothes, rave songs... all this!

but... no! people loved it! people loved it so much, it moved THEM to create art!

me, referencing things that made ME inspired to draw all those years ago - then inspired OTHERS to draw other things. to embrace themselves. to have fun. to connect.

it means so much to me. it's a bit odd to comprehend, too.

but it means the world to me. sorry if i am ever annoying about shadow filbo, and is often the first thing i bring up when bugsnax is brought up - but he is the highlight of my experience with bugsnax.

thank you so much, shadow filbo. and me and my wretched little claws, of course. for making them. and those that inspired me. those old friends i lost along the way, too. and those, that inspired those that inspired me. and so forth.

thank you.

[forcebookish]

thank you for tagging me, @ariadnekurosaki!!!

1 . How did you get into writing fanfiction?

uhh, when i was twelve i wrote horrendously bad self-insert inuyasha (and bleach?) fanfic on a now-defunct website that doesn't exist anymore lol since then i've bopped in and out of fandoms under different usernames across many platforms. often, i'll lose the muse in 2-3 year chunks, but get sucked back in for new fandoms.

except bleach. i always come back to bleach 😩

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

oh god, if we count dc, marvel, k-pop, and thai dramas (+rpf) as all their own respective fandoms (ie. not distinguishing between arrow, the flash, young justice, etc.), it's twelve - if we don't, it's almost thirty. a lot of my exo fanfics only reference other groups/solo artists, so i think that's too generous. the point is, it's a lot lol

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

on and off since i was twelve (although when i was five i wrote a picture book about the disney princesses hanging out with me), but probably a total of 8 years actually active?

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

write more. i rarely read fanfiction unfortunately D:

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

i'm less verbose and my voice is cleaner.

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

quebecois sacres.

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

when i make someone cry 😈 nah i really love detailed ones with quotations, ones that pinpoint exactly what parts hit them or meant the most to them. but tbh i love short keymashes too!

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

hmmm🤔 i don't think i write anything that out there... yet. i guess i like to write about psychic connections and niche super powers.

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

ones with a lot of worldbuilding. and porn lol

10. What is the easiest type?

ones with a lot dialogue and character introspection.

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

my office, the tv room, my bed, sometimes outside. i used to write in coffee shops, at the library, work (especially when i worked at the library lol) before the pandemic and i became a hermit. in gdocs, because i write on my pc, chromebook, and phone. all hours.

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

there's this one prompt from the bleach kink meme that i've been thinking about for ten years that has the potential to be really gross or really hot. or both. i might write it for the >5k au event in august idk

13. What made you choose your username?

lapmonster: my twitter username for a while before i decided to start posting on ao3 so i made my ao3 to match; it's a pun on rap monster. kairumption: when i started writing exo fic this was my livejournal url; another pun, it's kai + kyrumption (from angel). it's also where my nickname rum comes from. farewellswords: my twitter username changed from lapmonster in 2019 or 2020 because bts got too popular and army were accusing me of being a namjoon anti lmao; it's a chapter title from bleach.

probably should have kept kairumption as all of them, but i like farewellswords 🤷‍♀️ tbh it would have been my url here if an inactive acc didn't already have it. because, i mean, come on.

COME ON

okaaaay let's tag: @pomslices @retiredficwriter @komari-maxx @ellasaru12 @athousandbyeol @bytheforcebook and anyone else who wants to participate! :D sorry if i forgot you!

[neutrallyobsessed]

obviously u like topher x joan but how far does it really go? just curious cuz ur always making fanart and even fanfiction about them

Yeah, drawings, drabbles, edits, comics, collages, smut, videos, everything two dimensional I can manage! when I get a better computer with a good video editing software and a animation program it's all over for y'all~~♥!

I FUCKING SHIP IT WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ♡ww♡

What made you ship it?

I fell down the "this is a pretty funny ship" to "hol up this actually makes a lot of sense, this ship kinda fire" to "these motherfuckers have consumed my every thought and its GREAT!!!" pipeline xdd.

The more I thought about it, the better it sounded, the more ideas I had, EVERYTHING CLICKS SO PERFECTLY WTFFF

It do be like a sliding scale with me in the middle approving a het ship with Joan where sliding negative leads her with Confucius and sliding positive she ends up with Topher lolxd

What are your favorite things about the ship?

WHERE TO BEGIN!!!!! Well, they are terrible people and can always get worse, either doing shenanigans and bothering everyone in the process or just ignoring everyone to be in their own world~~

Age gap, people. It might be a technicallity but they do be 20 years apart and thats like, the best thing ever and the OW/YM strikes again so it's EVEN BETTER!!!!! And with their unconvencional tastes, they'd have A LOT of stuff to share and talk about and teach and learn and they could have so much fun with their niche lil hobbies and references that nobody but them could get and memes that could scar the average angloparlant for life!

And they both have this,,, love for nostalgia (not as apparent in topher, ill concede that its more of a hc) so reminiscing about the past or catching up with things they never lived could be so themmm and so fun to explore~~!!

To bring back something I said earlier, I also really dig the isolation of it all. How Joan feels betrayed by everyone but Topher is there to give her all the attention and devotion that she wants. I haven't decided if they'd finish school or drop off earlier but they do feel like a couple that could ride into the sunset to never be seen again as they build a new life for themselves~~.... it's just that after what happend, I don't see her going back to her old and new friends, but I totally see Topher manipulating all that he can to keep it that way, including Joan. They do be having some unhealthy clinginess towards each other and that's soooo damn good >w<

And yeah, I like Topher getting positive female attention, he looks cute when he likes girls and whoever said that they turned Joan into y/n was so right she really is very easy to project to x_v

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

That's the fun part! As the Queen of Joanpher, is everyone else the who may have an unpopular opinion, my word is law and the other 3 shippers are pretty much in similar Joanpher wavelengths. It is a very instinct ship, ya either get it or ya don't. I don't care and don't have to care bout what non shippers have to say btw 737

Joanpher tastes like: EVERYTHING!! I have eaten so many delicious foods, of many flavors and textures, and when it's Good I go uff si esto es muy joanpher =w=~ but if I had to pick one dish, it'd be The Brochette! Anything you can cook in a stick and directly on the fire cause it's hot as hell~♡! Any type of meat, any kind of vegetable, oil, sauce, sugar, salt, caramel, tender, crunchy, mushy, firm, literally all!! The most important part is that it must be eaten out of the metal stick, like gnawing meat out of the bone, cause it's both raw and wild plus ~elegant and sophisticated~

[cedarbranch]

OMG... tell your beloved fans about haunt me PLEASEEE + also "show me how you do that trick" + one dealer's choice :-D

WARGHH thank u <333

in response to the wip meme... putting this under a cut bc it got long lol

haunt me is my monstrosity of a stranger things wip, sitting around 90k and MAYBE 65% complete. if i'm lucky. it's fucking Long. the basic premise is that eddie dies and then steve starts dreaming about him and eventually comes to realize he is NOT dead, but in fact alive in the upside down and somehow psychically linked to steve... i won't get too deep into spoilers but it's kind of a kas!eddie fic but with a twist that's it's less kas and more similar to the pacific rim fic designations congruent with things (<= sentences that mean anything only to the most Niche Possible Audience). anyway the more complicated premise is steve's savior complex and how every single issue in his life connects back to it

show me how you do that trick is the sequel to my hellcheer fic, push the limit! (which. is fucking crazyy to me that that's the only stranger things fic actually posted on my ao3 given how much time i've spent working on haunt me 😭😭) anyway. it's as horny as the first in the series but with more feelings and plot. it's from eddie's pov and includes some actual proper kink negotiation and apologies following the insanity of the og fic, and also some RLY CUTE FLIRTING!!! a snippet for thee:

“I don’t like… weird dirty talk?” Chrissy says, wrinkling her nose. “Like, the stuff they say in bad pornos.” Eddie sighs in feigned exasperation. “God, it’s like pulling teeth here. Specifics, woman, I need specifics!”  “I don’t know! Like,” Chrissy opens her mouth, then closes it again, flushing brilliantly. “No. I’m sorry, I can’t, I can’t say any of it. I just—I don’t like the word ‘pussy,’ or ‘cunt,’ or anything like that, just—” She flaps her hands in the direction of her crotch—”Just don’t directly refer to it while we’re in the act? Like, if you’re having sex, it should speak for itself!”  Eddie grins at her.  “What?” she demands, all frustrated but laughing with her eyes.  “I love that you have porn opinions,” he says fondly. “You asked!”

for dealer's choice... oooh this is tough... but i think i'll go with 5 + 1, the full title of which will one day be "5 times steve tried to teach eddie how to swim and one time it worked" or something of the like. this fic was born out of me a) wanting to write something with intense hot-summer-day energy, b) being really interested in water/swimming as the focal point of Multiple Traumatic Incidents in steve's life as of s4, and c) can you fucking imagine if part of the reason eddie was last to jump from the boat in lover's lake was that he couldn't swim. and then he DID IT ANYWAY. but yeah second snippet:

Eddie is, in fact, wearing boxer briefs, and nothing else. Seeing so much of his skin never gets less startling, no matter how many times Steve’s splashed around with him in the lake. He always forgets that Eddie’s shoulders aren’t as broad as the vest normally makes them look. He’s pale as a goddamn sheet, too, except for the pink-red scars that pockmark his stomach and chest.  Eddie catches him looking. “Might not even be worth it to teach me to swim,” he says wryly. “Don’t think I can ever set foot at a public pool again with these bad boys.” “We could just go together,” says Steve. “Then we’d match.”  His own wounds have healed up better than Eddie’s. The demobats tore him up pretty good, but the bites were shallow; as months passed by, they’ve smoothed over into pale, warped ripples of scar tissue. Without thinking about it, Steve touches one close to his hip. As if in a mirror, Eddie does the same, his fingertips brushing over his stomach.  His boxers have little skulls on them.

your honor i fucKGIGN LOVE THEMMM!!! IDIOTS!!!!

[manebioniclegali]

for the writer ask game! 💖, 🎉, 🤯?

Writer ask game!

💖 What made you start writing?

The long and short of it is me, myself, and I; same with drawing, I wanted to be able to see my ideas come to life, and get personal satisfaction out of finishing a story. The oldest fanfic I wrote was from first grade lol, and anytime there was an opportunity to write a story for a school assignment, I went above and beyond. I did write plenty for myself, between first grade and when I started uploading stories online.

I started posting bc I saw people posting MLP fanfic on a specific site, and I was like "I wanna do that!" and I had just officially fallen into MLP G4 in 8th grade, so I had some ideas and wrote them and posted them, and I enjoyed getting feedback, so I kept writing and kept posting. That site was great for that, bc people would largely give constructive criticism, and it was SO easy to find someone to edit your stuff....posting on Tumblr and especially AO3 just doesn't hold a candle to the way that environment was. I moved over to Tumblr bc 1) didn't know AO3 existed, and 2) that's largely where the Markiplier fandom is. At least Tumblr you know that people are sharing your work by reblogging (sometimes); the website had a featured box and a popular box and groups that you could put your stories in and get exposure! I don't really have ideas for MLP anymore, hence why I'm not really on there as of late :(

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

It depends, really. Comments and reblogs are a huge part of it, and if every reblog I received had someone making a comment about the fic, I'd be thrilled (although that's not always the case). The number of notes are a factor (80-100 I'll consider it successful), but it's hard sometimes when most of those are just likes. 😞 I'm still deeply appreciative of all the interactions, but having 50 likes but no reblogs makes you wonder if you've done something wrong that nobody wants to share it. :(

The other side to this is that if I wrote something specifically to "target" another person, or it involves referring to lore I participate in, then as long as that person/those people see it and react and I get to interact with them about it, then it'll be worth it, even if the fic doesn't break like 20 (the only piece of writing I did for Egotober didn't get far cuz it was so niche, but the people whom I participated in the lore with saw and liked it, so I'm not as bothered (unlike the MLP art I did for the Cringetober part...can't believe that one)

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

Mystery for sure, bc I only attempted it once for school and I felt I didn't do the greatest (had to hide a phobia in the writing and my classmates guessed it rather quickly). I'm also not super interested in writing mysteries, so it works.

Angst might be the other one, bc it depends on the type of angst. Most angst I can't write unless I'm already in a funk, bc even my own writing has the opportunity to bring me down. At the risk of sounding like the meme, I have a bit too much empathy to write depressing circumstances unless I'm in that mindset. I wrote something with mild angst recently and it made me tear up 😅 I can't read angst cuz it usually hurts too much. Major angst/whump no, minor angst sometimes.

Thank you for da ask!!

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

THE LOCKED TOMB AU HAS COMMENCED. IT'S SKELETON TIME, BABY.

Do you like necromancy? Sword fights? Homoerotic necromancy? Homoerotic sword fights? Niche theological references? Badly-timed memes? SKELETONS? Cannibalism? Would you like to see Remus doing terrible crimes upon the human body? Roman's many accidental ass jokes? Virgil's long string of continuous panic attacks? Patton's terrible bone puns? Logan being sad? Janus being a totally classy bone nun who has everything together and nothing whatsoever wrong with him? Thomas, the most normal person here?

Boy have I got the fic for you. Because that's all in here. Eventually. All that. AND MORE.

Don't worry if you haven't read the Locked Tomb, I've striven to make it (fairly) accessible even if you haven't - you can just read it as an exceptionally bizarre AU.

All content warnings and additional nonsense can be found in the opening author's notes, so I won't bother to repeat it here. I will throw out one more thank-you to Rose, light of my fucking life, my flesh and my end, beta of this all -

...and say, in addition, that I have no idea what the update scehdule is going to be. It's all written, more-or-less - it just needs heavy editing and some time, which is (as always) in short supply. Shouldn't be too long between chapters, though. I really, really can't wait to get to the meat-and-bones of this all. Mors Deo, see you next time!

[memes-and-shit]

🍁 what programs do i use for my edits:

please note: the following is an extremely unprofessional set-up for one of the least serious editors/"editors". this is to help out anyone else who wants be extremely casual and only make dumb shit for their own personal use. if you want to be a semi-professional or professional editor one day, i suggest you do not copy my set-up lol

my (android) phone's screen-recorder (for videos, assuming i don't download them)

my (android) phone's screenshot feature (for images, assuming i dont download them)

my (android) phone's Gallery App (specifically its photo, gif, and video editors within said app) (i usually try this first, to see if all i need is achievable here. if not, i go elsewhere. and, if nothing else, it's great at helping me get crop-off/video-trim-away various app's watermarks. like?? lol no. i won't keep that. ill keep creators' watermarks, 100%; but not million-dollar companies lol)

the free version of the CapCut App (which i use when my phone's Gallery App just won't work, bc the editing needs to be too precise or something)

ezgif.com (is especially great for converting videos to gifs, examining and messing with frames of your project, converting the "gif files" creators' attach to their youtube Community Tabs post called "webpage files" to gifs, and a few editing needs that Capcut or my phone's Gallery App just won't work with. like ezgif can get REALLY PRECISE and gritty about exactly where you want the beginning and ending of a video/gif to be, down to the hundredth and thousandth+ Decimal Place. which is soooo useful lol just make sure you have the item you want to edit downloaded; some of the "insert the image/video's URL" options havent been updated to recognize the changed URLs of sites like youtube and whatnot)

imgflip.com (quick, easy way find and customize popular memes/meme-templates)

KnowYourMeme.com (very helpful for both finding niche memes if youre like "i really want some more Scooby Doo memes. let me look up the show on this website to go through its 'related meme entries' tabs". it's like TV Tropes for memes. it's also helpful for finding meme templates, finding out if someone did a variation of a meme already so you can reap the benefits while not having to make it yourself (eg. looking for a Doctor Who variation of the "Is that a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure reference?" meme), and more)

remove.bg (it deletes backgrounds for you. and you can download your image either as a transparent png or you can tell the website to download the image with a background, to which i typically use a solid black or white the rare time i don't want a transparent png. my favorite thing about it though is, if the auto-generator is wrong in any way, you can manually guide it on what you want erased and what you dont; and you can use their "magic brush" (AI trying to understand what you want to erase/store) or you can "turn off their magic brush" for something that follows your exact "erase/restore this pls" scribbling and does add intelligence to what you mean. i switch between turning on/off magic brush often, it's so helpful lol) (the sister-website this has for videos isn't good though, i do not recommend that one at all. at least how it is as of writing this in August 2024)

imgonline's specific "combine two images into one by putting them side-by-side" tab (it lets you put them side-by-side, what can i say. it does it by either connecting them landscape-style or connecting them vertically, depending on what you choose. the only setting i change, beyond the obvious "do i want landscape or vertical?", is i make the images the png-option. highly recommend you "Open The Image" to check it is what you want before you "Download The Image" bc sometimes i click the wrong toggle. i know i could just use Canva instead, but ive been using imgonline before Canva was around, personally, so it's a habit)

pinetools' specific "combine two images into one by overlapping the smaller one to be ontop of the larger one" tab (this is so helpful for my phone's Gallery App. bc it has a size limit on how small a "sticker from my photo albums" can me. so what i do is i go to pinetools with my ever faithful companion, WikiCommon's HD Transparent Large Image. i have the transparent image be the biggie, insert the file of my "too small image" to be anywhere on top, and wham-bam-yes-m'am, now my Gallery App will allow the the combo to be a sticker. love this for me specifically)

imagecolorpicker (helps me pick a color from an image to use as a hexcode, helps me find a photo-color scheme i can steal, etc. it's a great tool to use for anything that will accept a hex-code (but may/may not allow a tear-drop, or maybe you want a color from x-image to put into y-project and so the teardrop tool may be ineffective across tabs), such a great website)

[vocalintel]

Top Ten Gougars of All Time

I don't know how to explain the complicated linguistic evolution of slang in a Discord server but I know that it is very much akin to how salamanders in underground cave systems turn white and lose their eyes, hyperspecializing to an ecological niche to the point that they are destroyed when agricultural runoff pollutes their primordial cave water. Anyway basically we have ended up referring to a specific class of horror movie guy as a gougar, and in the interest of using this term in further posts I will give examples of some of our favorites.

10. That weird little baby from Phenomena

Argento apparently thinks of Phenomena as one of his best films, and I kind of don't. I think it was like highkey kind of ableist as a matter of fact. But the part at the end when they're fighting on that boat and he's trying to GET Jennifer Connelly with his little knife-on-a-stick contraption is funny to me.

9. The Byebye Man

Do people still think the Byebye Man is funny? I know it was a huge meme on here when it came out. Am I old now? Anyway I'm really fascinated by how absolutely terrible this film was, down to the minutiae. If it came out today I would accuse it of having an AI generated script. I would like to give a shoutout to Mr. Byebye's pet dog that's made of hamburger for some reason.

8. Snake Woman

I know she's from a manga but bear with me. This bitch is fucking fiendish. She's actually scary. I think if I was like a little 6-7 year old girl and this thing showed up pretending to be my mom I would have nightmares about it for the rest of my life. Therapy could NOT fix that.

7. This Specific Halloween Prop

Yes I know it's the image from The Russian Sleep Experiment. Yes I know The Russian Sleep Experiment sucks and isn't even scary. That does not change the fact that this thing is freaky as hell. It does all the heavy lifting for that shit ass story. There are very few creepypasta jpegs that are still unsettling outside of their original 2000s imageboard context and this is one of them.

6. Mr. Boogie

I like the first Sinister movie, my friends seem to hate it, life goes on. However, we can all agree that Mr. Boogie (née Baguul) is an iconic gougar. The only reason he's not higher on this list is that his competition is so stacked against him. We're getting into the real heavy hitters.

5. Newt Gingrich's wife

:(

4. Mesmer

Cure is one of the best films of all time and if you haven't seen it you need to go watch it right now. This guy doesn't show up in person once in the whole fucking movie and he's still like one of the most earth-shatteringly creepy gougars ever written. It's like a yuri of absence thing. Horror vacui.

3. The Fucked up Guy From Possession

This thing turns into a real(ish) guy later but holy fuck, when it first shows up. It's like a cross between a dick and a hammerhead shark with John Carpenter Silent Hill textures. It's so, so viscerally unpleasant. We weren't expecting it either, because the film hadn't had any shit like this right up until you get full frontal with it. Isabelle Adjani has sex with it. To each their own.

2. Pazuzu

So the demonic entity in The Exorcist wasn't like actually onscreen or named until the disastrously terrible second film, but then in the 'Director's Cut' edition of the original, they added in these blink-and-you'll-miss-it cutaways to this dude in vaguely expressionist white face paint. Due to RedLetterMedia's lambasting of the "I am... Pazuzu!" scene from Exorcist II, he has become a permanent fixture in our collective horror schema. Every time anything even vaguely scary happens, whether in a game or a movie or perhaps my house, it gets blamed on Pazuzu. Often we mock terrible horror writing/jumpscares by saying it was Pazuzu. At this point he's just a guy we hang out with.

Dr. Freudstein

I don't even want to mock Dr. Freudstein because he literally is just one of the most disgusting, unsettling horror villains I have ever encountered. The only time I have ever been actually nauseous while watching a film was because of him. I cannot think of a more iconic guy. Fuck Freddy, fuck Jason, there is nothing in any of their films even half as scary as when Dr. Freudstein starts cry-mewling like a little baby. This guy was in someone's basement! He could be in your basement! Fulci is a genius for making someone (something?) so creepy.