#this may be the longest post I've done so far

[amerricanartwork]

Quetzalli's Needle Felting Commissions: OPEN! (5/5 Slots)

That's right, after YEARS of wanting to do some needle felting commissions, I believe I'm finally ready to put this plan in motion!!

If you're interested, make sure to read the important info below, or you can message me for other details! I also may update this post as time goes, on, including adding more categories of figures.

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GENERAL INFO

I update my prices from time to time. For now, checking this original post is the best way to get the most accurate pricing estimate.

My prices are ultimately based on an hourly rate of $15. Anything on the subject that would require more time to make than the base prices, whether that be because it requires me to add more wool or because its features are more complex, will therefore increase the price.

My felted figures are made primarily using Maori wool batting and natural core wool, wrapped atop aluminum wire armatures that make them semi-poseable as well.

Right now, I'm most comfortable making animals (particularly mammals), but I'd be willing to try other creatures and humanoid figures to some degree.

I can make real animals of various species and breeds, including pets, and OCs, both completely original and fan-characters

My figures are typically stylized with a somewhat cartoon-y appearance, especially in the face. If you don't want your figure(s) to look this way, please let me know so we can discuss it. I'm open to making figures in other styles, such as a more realistic look or a chibi-esque style.

Unfortunately, I will only be shipping to the United States as of now.

Though the figures I've made so far range in size, in general, the minimum size is 3 inches tall (bottom of the feet to the top of the head, not including any ears/horns/hair/etc.) or long (the front of the face to the end of the thighs, not including any tail), and the maximum size is 8 inches tall or long. These constraints may change depending on the complexity of the figure(s).

Unless the figure(s) is based on a general species/breed and not a specific animal or character (ex: if you want a German shepherd, but not a personal pet or other specific German shepherd), make sure you can provide reference images from as many angles as possible for the subject(s) you'd like me to make, whether that be photos of a real-life pet, or drawn reference sheets and images of a character.

All transactions will be done via Etsy. I require 50% up front and 50% after the artwork is completed, which can be paid by purchasing corresponding listings on my Etsy shop.

I may not have all of the right wool colors for your subject. If the figure requires me to buy additional wool, the cost of the wool will be added to the total cost and it may take longer for me to make. In this instance, I'll let you know when the wool arrives.

I often make traditional blueprint sketches of my figures before starting. During the process, I may ask for confirmation on the blueprint to ensure I interpret the subject to your liking.

While my figures are somewhat durable and meant to be slightly posed, they are not toys, so avoid being rough with them after you receive them.

I may reject a commission offer for any reason.

Rain World-inspired commissions, unless explicitly agreed to before any payment, will be posted under the "project: rain wool" tag on this blog.

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PRICES

The prices below are base rates for types of figures I already have experience with and examples of. For all figures, the prices may change based on the size and complexity of the figure.

Real-Life-Inspired Animals: $115 to $150

These figures will be animals inspired by real life species and breeds, including pets. While I can vary their size, the minimum size is 4 inches on the longest side (for quadruped animals, this is usually from the tip of the snout to the end of the thighs, not including the tail), and the maximum size is 8 inches on the longest side.

$120 is the base rate for a 4 inch figure, and $210 is the base rate for 8-inch figure, like those shown in the photos. The price may changed based on the complexity of the figure, such as one that requires more colors or has special features (antlers, horns, clothing, accessories, etc).

Rain World-Inspired Slugcats & Lizards: $45 Base per Slugcat, $60 Base per Lizard

These are figures inspired by Rain World's player characters: the slugcats, and a common type of creature in the game: lizards of various colors. The minimum size for a slugcat is 3 inches tall, from the bottom of their feet to the top of their head (not counting the ears), and the maximum size is 8 inches tall. The minimum size for a lizard is 3 inches long from the tip of the snout to the end of the back legs, and the maximum size is 8 inches long.

The base rates are for the respective minimum sizes, and will increase for larger figures. The base price also assumes only 2 colors for the figures (a body color and a "face" color for slugcats, and a body color and head color for lizards), with little to no special features besides perhaps simple scars. More intricate features, such as clothing, detailed markings, special appendages (like Rivulet's gills) or additional colors will cost more depending on the complexity of the additions. I can also make small props for these figures, such as spears and food items, at an extra cost.

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PROCESS

If you're interested in a felted figure, fill out this form so I can put you on a waiting list, which will start out at 5 slots for now.

Once I'm available, I'll contact the email you provide to discuss more information about what figure(s) you want, how long it will take to make the artwork, how much it will cost, and any other important details. I will also send you my Terms of Service document, and if you aren't comfortable with any of the terms, I'm willing to negotiate some details before payment. We must both agree, in writing, to the terms before I proceed.

Once the terms have been explicitly agreed to and the price established, I'll send you a listing on Etsy at the price of the first payment. Purchasing this will give you access to a digital file acting as a receipt for your commission. It will also contain the date I plan to start working on your commission, and up until this date you may request a refund.

From there, I will continue to email you update images of the figure(s), and may ask for some feedback before continuing.

Once the final artwork is done, I'll send you another Etsy listing at the remaining payment price with images of the finished figure(s), marked as "Commission for [Buyer Name]: [Figure Name(s)]". After purchasing this, you will be shipped the felted figure(s).

[patron-saints]

the official beginner's guide to olizumi

so! you're a fan of fma or maybe a friend of mine, and you're interested in learning more about the relationship between olivier mira armstrong and izumi curtis! great, you've come to exactly the right place.

if it's been a while since you've seen fma:b, or if you've never seen it and don't mind watching some scenes from the final arc, i recommend getting started with my compilation:

(original video post here)

when i first watched fma:b back in march 2023, i thought i would manage to watch the entire thing without getting obsessed with a wlw ship. i was wrong. the second these two started interacting i immediately became enamored with the trust, respect, and intimacy that they share, and with the way they seemed to find in each other the same steely spirit, grit, and inner sense of self. their ability to communicate their philosophies, despite their differences, and listen to each other with ease and tenderness just. GOT ME. they got me.

get ready for SO MUCH MORE under the cut:

(i was lucky enough to have a chance to draw up a little list of most of my headcanons about them, which can be found here! the most important of which i'd say are that i write them as t4t, and olivier as a stone top!)

if you're convinced of their chemistry just from that, great, my job here is done! but if you don't believe me yet, or you want a little more, it would be my honor to point you in the direction of the first ever fic i wrote for them, "recognition." (tumblr post for chapter 1 here!)

"recognition" can best be described as a 4 chapter old woman yaoi where (almost) nothing happens and two milves fall in love. or if you like, sorry izumi, two very young women navigate the beginnings of a long distance relationship, polyamory, workaholism, and chronic illness. it is sickeningly fluffy, and to date the longest thing i've ever published.

it even comes with an illustration! @wlwsakura did THIS for me:

(original post here) which i will never be over not in one million years!

AND it also comes with a whole entire soundtrack, made by myself and my dearest friend @summerwoodsmoke! kinda a folksy gentle, very sappy vibe. i still listen to it all the time! alex picked some bangers tbh.

for the very first @fma-rareships event, i wrote two little ficlets set in the world of "recognition," which are here and here!

if you're keeping track so far, that's a compilation, a headcanon list, a fic(+ficlets), a commission, and a playlist. but wait, there's more!

so, okay, maybe 23k is too long for you. or maybe fluff isn't your thing. or maybe, somehow, you've made it through all that and you want more. not to worry. i have more.

just this week, i posted "bone deep" (tumblr post here), which is a 5k E rated omegaverse fic that's kind of like recognition on fastforward and if i didn't cut out the sex scenes. and if it was omegaverse. it's the first omega thing i've ever written, but i really wanted a chance to write more in depth about how i see olivier's stone identity, and weirdly this setting gave me the chance to do that!

and now we've covered everything i've made for them...so far. but i want to give a shout out to some others in the rarepairs mines with me, because i'm not the only one who care them!

@machinerismsx's fic "An Open Invitation" is genuinely incredible. it's hilariously funny (there's lines in there i still think about and giggle), and also like. super hot. we didn't know anything about each other's fic projects til after i posted "recognition," but we were stunned to realize we'd written a lot of the exact same plot points, including what i refer to as The Curtis-Armstrong Alliance.

you may have noticed that in my compilation, sig and alex also had like, off the charts chemistry. m and i noticed that too! so in both of our fics, while sig and izumi are still married, they are also each get an armstrong all to themselves, lol.

which brings me to @eggos-esper! my brother-in-arms who is out here as the reigning champ of sigalex! (& you can read the sigalex fic i wrote for him on ao3 here ((or see the tumblr post here!)))

but maybe you're nostalgic for youth. or you like epistolary fics. or maybe you, like me, are deeply obsessed with the miniep "tale of the teacher." if that's you, PLEASE PLEASE check out @baudleaires's fic "Notes from Briggs" it is the cutest thing on planet earth and it had me kicking and squealing the entire time.

maybe you want more art! there's more art!

@iztopher did this one for my birthday and it made me actually scream and then weep:

and @wlwsakura's first piece of them is what made me commission her in the first place:

it's still the photo for one of the groupchats i'm in. it rules.

also, while they're not on tumblr atm, i could not bear to make this list without acknowledging @chillingoose, who is one of my dearest friends and who has come up with some truly stunning things for olizumi as well.

and! and! also @littlebear1537! who loves briggs more than anyone else in the universe!

if i managed to miss anything, my olizumi tag is here! there's not a ton in it at the moment, but there are some jokes, like this one by @heavenlyshadowhunter:

:D

i would LOVE to add more to that tag by any means possible, so if you make anything for olizumi, PLEASE tag me in it! i am also going to work on setting up @olizumi as more of a proper archive too! (edit: i did it! it’s a real blog now!)

thank you so much for reading this incredibly long post, and for giving my girls a chance! <3!

[jelly-dragon231]

Oops I forgot to post the art that I did for a One Piece 2024 calendar

I wanted to make each piece a visually distinct style and/or technique, so some are more experimental than others. Blurbs about each one under the cut!

January: Law

Experimented with dramatic bi-color lighting I've seen used in photography — can't remember what it's called, but it looks like this:

February: Sanji

Inspired by this one oddly specific genre of whimsical yellow art of chefs tasting food:

Guest appearance by Luffy who smelled the meat.

March: Franky

Inspired by vibrant and geometric styles that use bold linework (@kuroiyuki96-art and @krookedglasses on Tumblr are 2 great examples of artists who use this style that come to mind).

April: Zoro

Inspired by ink illustration styles originating in China and Japan (sumi-e being a big one, specifically).

May: Nami

Went for a stained glass window look with some smaller motifs pertaining to Nami's character.

June: Ivankov

Had to pick Ivankov for pride month! Inspired by psychedelic abstract works.

July: Luffy

Inspired by pop-art and comic book styles.

August: Usopp

Didn't have a specific style or this one, really. I wanted to emphasize contrast between Usopp and his alter ego good friend Sogeking, and decided on vibrant graffiti against a grayscale backdrop.

September: Robin

Done entirely with hatching! This one took the longest by far (worth it, since Robin's my favourite!).

October: Brook

A direct parody of Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell album cover —

— made to look like Thriller Bark.

November: Ace

Inspired by black velvet paintings (which I learned originated in Kashmir, despite typically being associated with Mexico).

December: Chopper

This one's special, as I asked a group of my friends to make drawings of Chopper's different forms! I thought it would be cute for him to be 'drawing' his different transformations and hanging them up. The copy I printed has each friend's name on their respective drawing, but I removed them for privacy before posting.

[pyschedtrickster]

TADC Ep 2 - Depression and the Meaning of Life

Well, I may or may not be a day late to release of the episode, but I've watched it three times so far and I have some thoughts. Let's get the gritty stuff outta the way.

First of all, The Amazing Digital Circus belongs to @gooseworx and therefore everything I say here is just my personal take on the episode. I could be wrong, talking out my ass, etc. But this episode really spoke to me, so good job Goose.

Secondly, spoilers <3

Third, I think I've written enough that people won't get jumpscared with spoilers. This is gonna be a long read, so bear with me. This post will contain ALL my thoughts on the episode, both meaningful and just silly things I liked.

BUBBLE

So anyone who knows me from Bunnydoll Burrow knows I love Bubble. They're my favorite so far and this episode only cemented that further. They're wonderful comedic relief and even if they don't have any character development (which I don't think they will), I will always love them.

Caine Cares Too Much

While watching this, I was immediately off-put by Caine's reactions, even beginning with him calling Zooble back. He sounds so... dire? I don't know if that was intended to mean something or if it was just to put emphasis on how much Caine cares about his creations. Caine is AI, so world-building is likely his ONLY goal, or his prompt if you will. It wouldn't surprise me if that was why he was so upset by everyone's reactions.

But I can't help but wonder if this will play into his character arc. We understand that Caine is ambiguous right now and there's no real explanation of what his intentions are in the Circus. Something about this just really set me off. It made me feel unsafe in a way as if staying behind would result in danger of some kind. Obviously, it couldn't be that bad, as Zooble did stay behind and turned out fine. Still, I can't shake the feeling that this is foreshadowing.

Zoobie

Hilarious. What a solid nickname, I've seen so many headcanons that Zooble would be a stoner in the real world. This only makes it better. They are now Zoobie in my mind.

Pomni's Child Comment

While I'm sure this was just a silly comment to be made, I kinda liked it. Just a little in-show reminder that through all of this, Pomni is a real, grown-ass woman stuck inside some digital Hell. The whole first episode, we see her wallowing and panicking, justifiably so. Finally, we get to see her grow more serious and stable.

Through the episode, we see more of her being a good character and becoming more at terms with her situation. I'll touch on this more soon.

Gangle

My girl CANNOT catch a break. Gangle is such a funny character and so, so sweet. She's level-headed in my opinion, even through her emotions. She seems to have a good grip on the shit happening around her but has a hard time communicating properly because she has a lot of feelings going on. Me too, honey, me too.

Even in the face of violence, danger, and overall shitfuckery, she doesn't shut down. Sure, she cries. But I've cried plenty of times while still holding the fort down. I think I just relate to her.

Lastly, I NEED to know what this means like I need oxygen.

Government Mandated Shipping

I dunno man, I just really liked this. I'm a shipper at heart. I've been writing fanfic since middle school. I saw pure fanfic material when I watched this scene.

Kinger and Raggs

This scene made me smile. It's a cute nod towards how Kinger is the longest-standing character and, according to some lost post of Goose's, Ragatha is the second. Plus, all of episodes one and two, we see her trying so hard to be a rock for Pomni. She tries to include everyone, keep everyone cheerful, and be a stable constant in a realm of chaos; Seeing Kinger recognize how far she's come and using that to bring her back to reason was just so refreshing. Ragatha deserves more appreciation like that: less about what she does for others, and more about what she's done for herself.

Jax's Disappointment

So we don't know much about Jax besides how Goose loves him and says he's an asshole who may or may not be irredeemable. When he started talking about violence and getting excited at the thought, I chalked it up to him being an ass. But it struck me just how much this mattered to Jax in this scene. I have questions, man. But I'm about to go on a wild tangent, so hear me out.

Jax is happy when being destructive. He gets immediately upset when things go well. And in the circus, we can assume that there have been a lot of traumatic, wild things that have occurred. I wonder if the chaos, the violence, is a comfort for Jax because of those traumatic experiences. As a person with trauma, I've learned that there's a funny cycle that I and other traumatized people experience.

We don't like the situations we're in, but when faced with normalcy, it's so much scarier than the damaging situation we come from. So, we run from 'normal' back into the suffocating arms of our traumatizing situations for comfort. Going back to the situation means more trauma, more trauma means a harder time finding peace in a safe, normal environment, which means more trauma... you get the picture.

So am I saying a fictional purple bunny is using violence in a digital realm to cope with the very real topic of trauma? Maybe. Yes. Yes, I am. This is how I cope.

Depression, Finding Your Place, and the Bigger Picture

Now you may be saying, "hey! You skipped over some major scenes to talk about silly stuff! What gives?"

Well, as the title of this post suggests, I had some heavier stuff to address in this episode and wanted to compile it all in one section. So that meant skipping over a scene to bunch it in with other ones. I'll break it down.

Depression

Let me begin with the fact that I have been diagnosed with depression for years now. I've been hospitalized for it and I've had family members struggle with it around me. This heavily influenced how I viewed this episode and specifically this scene.

Gummigoo had a perfectly reasonable reaction to seeing the perfect replica of him that is his model. Seeing something like that would shatter your world, and we see that happen to him immediately.

But when Gummigoo talked to Pomni and asked why anything matters, it gave me this really familiar feeling. Thoughts of being nothing, of feeling meaningless, the mere idea of being an obstacle--I've experienced all of these. I'm sure others have. Pomni was right when she said it's normal. Everyone has felt down from time to time.

But what Gummigoo is talking about really hit home with my depression. Thoughts like these, especially when they linger for long, change how you view the world. Everything is tinted blue and desaturated. You feel empty and eventually, so does the world around you. You feel like when the party is over and everyone leaves, you disappear--or you think you should, at least.

"Why are you trying to cheer me up? How does this benefit you at all?"

And it's so, so hard to accept help when feeling like this. Depression is a bitch in the way that it wants you to stay depressed. It feels like everyone around you wants you to feel better because it is a convenience for them. It almost feels transactional if you smile.

But Pomni says it so beautifully; "I guess I just don't want you to feel like you're nothing. I don't want anybody to feel like that."

The way she says it makes me feel like she knows the feeling too, and in reality, she says she does understand in a way how Gummigoo feels. But that? That made it real for me. I don't know why. This whole scene, the entrapment and loneliness despite not actually being alone, just embodied how I've felt for years. What amazing writing.

Finding Your Place

This scene was really the cherry on top of everything I just spoke about. We see that these two understand each other, at least as much as they can. They recognize all of this, it's ridiculous. They're hurtling through space into the unknown, hoping everything works out. They may feel empty, but they're not alone. They've got each other, for better or worse. Maybe they don't know where they belong in this liminal space, but they know where they stand in each other's minds.

And then we get this ending scene. God. Fuck.

I knew that there was obviously something to that dream Pomni had in the beginning, but somehow I didn't expect this to be the conclusion to it. I guess I was too distracted by everything else. So when I got to this shot, I got all warm and teary-eyed.

Pomni finally feels like she's got a pack, a place in this digital circus. When you don't feel mentally alone anymore, there seems to be a weight that's lifted off your shoulders. It doesn't cure the sadness, but at least you know that if you need to be picked up, someone will be there. Depression wants you to be alone, but it just lost that battle. The internet has said it best: A win is a win.

The Bigger Picture

We all know where the end of the road is. How we get there is the mystery. This thought can really make a person feel small, especially when depression comes in to tell you that you in fact are small, according to the chemicals in your brain. But the power of numbers and knowing your place in the world makes facing the unknown a little easier.

I'll be honest, the words are kinda lost on me at this point. Our demise is a really hard topic to broach. I've lost a lot of people, especially some major players in my life (shoutout to the Dead Dads club), and still, I don't understand it all. But the best way I can explain it is through my own experience and how I applied it to this episode.

I had for a long time gone through life trying to prepare and prepare. I played the role of the strong, unaffected individual after being hardened by trauma in childhood. I didn't want to be outwardly emotional, because if I was I would have to admit defeat.

It made me feel weak, especially when my depression would whisper nasty things to me about my self-worth. The bigger picture at that time didn't even exist in my mind. I lived to serve and die. It was no way to live.

Only recently, with time, a couple grippy sock vacays and therapy have I started to form my own, new big picture. At the center of this is my interactions with others. Family, friends, and strangers, all of them are affected by my actions. Even during the days when I feel worthless or alone, I remind myself that even the little things I do have a spiderweb effect. I have worth, more so than serving others or being some obstacle. I can simply walk down the street and perhaps I'll be the person who some kid looks at and hopes to look like when they're older. My existence is so much more than just a give-and-take situation with everyone around me.

It felt like Pomni found her purpose in the circus, and it was more than just playing along until the end. Rather, it was to befriend the people around her who have proved in one way or another way that they care. Abstraction wasn't in vain to them. Lives mattered, and therefore so did Pomni.

In a vast, digital world where chaos looms like a grey cloud, Pomni always mattered. She just had to realize how, and it was much more than being an obstacle or a pawn. And so do we, I think.

[sequinsmile-x]

A Few of My Favourite Things

It's Emily's birthday, and Aaron and Jack seize the opportunity to right some of the wrongs of the past.

-x-

Hi besties,

Nearly four years into my Hotchniss writing career and I finally get to write one of 'those' ao3 author notes.

I know it hasn't been *that* long since I posted a fic, but 5 days is probably the longest it's been without me posting for a couple of years. I had (planned) surgery on one of my lungs on Friday and only got home from the hospital yesterday. I'm still recovering and will be for a few weeks, but I've been working on this on and off for a few days because I always write something for their birthdays <3

I'll absolutely still be posting - writing keeps my mind alive - but probably not quite as often as we're all used to whilst my body remembers how to...breathe properly hahaha

Anyway, here's a belated birthday fic for Emily based on an anon I got <3

As always, let me know what you think!

-x-

Warnings: None, just super super fluffy

Words: 3.5k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

“Emmy, can I ask you something?” 

She smiles as she looks at Jack, nodding as she sits up to make room for him on the couch, her book already closed and on the coffee table by the time he joins her so he has her full attention. Aaron was still at work, kept behind by paperwork and reports, and she’d offered to pick Jack up from Jessica’s and take him home. Aaron had smiled gratefully at her, his eyes shining with everything he couldn’t say to her whilst they were at work. He glanced towards the window of his office to ensure no one was watching before he stamped a quick kiss against her lips, a tiny moment of them lingering between them before they returned to the professionalism they held as dear as they did their relationship. 

It was a fine line they’d walked for months now, the 8 months since their first date some of the best of her life, and she knew eventually they’d have to stop. That as they moved further into this, as they took every next inevitable, wonderful, step into officially living together and marriage and kids, working together would no longer be practical. The blind eye that Strauss and the higher-ups had granted them so far would go away, any prentice of willful ignorance gone with by them submitting an address change form, or the existence of a marriage certificate. 

She knew realistically it would be her who would leave the BAU, and she was content with it. If it hadn’t been for Aaron, and by extension Jack, and the love and happiness they’d brought to her life she’s sure she would have left the BAU, and potentially DC, anyway. That she’d have taken the first offer that got her out of here, no matter how far away it took her, because she needed to be who she was now without people looking at her and mourning who she once was. Aaron had helped her through it, had helped her help herself more than anything else, and she finally felt at peace. Like she had a home for the first time in her life, only it wasn’t made out of bricks and mortar but a man, who she would have once called stern, with a dimpled smile that made her stomach flip every time, and his little boy. 

She loved Jack so much that it scared her sometimes. At first, she’d doubted her place in his life, never wanting to overstep, the gap his mother had left behind was not one she wanted anyone to think she was trying to fill, but as time went on she got more comfortable with it all. She cared less about what other people may think because it worked for them. She was the one Jack would seek out if he was sick or sad, his face pressed against her neck as she soothed him with soft words, gentle kisses and fierce hugs. He’d bring her paintings he’d done at school with a proud smile as he presented them to her and she’d react as if they should be hung in the Louvre. She loved him, and he loved her, and that was enough. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that when she and Aaron had more children she wouldn’t love them any differently to how she loved him. 

He’d taught her that she could be a mom, even if he never ended up calling her that. 

“Of course you can, sweet boy. You can ask me anything, you know that,” she says, patting the couch as he joins her, her smile getting wider as he sits next to her and huddles against her side as if on instinct, “Is everything okay?” 

He sighs as if he has the weight of the world on his shoulder, “I don’t know what I want to do for my birthday.”

She has to press her lips together to stop herself from laughing, never wanting him to think she was making fun of him, “Your birthday is meant to be fun, kiddo. Let’s think about it together,” she pushes his hair from his forehead and then drops a kiss there before she encourages him further into her embrace, “Have you had any ideas at all?” 

He half shrugs against her, “I know I want Daddy’s chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.” 

She hums and rests her cheek against the top of his head, “The best birthday breakfast ever.” 

“And it would be fun to go to the park. And maybe the arcade?” He muses, his fingers idly playing with the delicate chain of her bracelet, something she’d rarely taken off of her wrist since Aaron gave it to her one date night just because, “I just want to spend the day with you and Daddy.” 

Her cheeks ache with the smile that spreads across her face, love for him so overwhelming it briefly makes it hard to breathe, “Well, you’ll get that no matter what we do.” 

It’s a promise she knows she can keep because they’d booked two weeks off work so they’d be off for both Jack’s and her birthday, a positive side effect of Strauss’s recent ‘use it or lose it’ policy when it came to the team's leave. Aaron and Emily both had so many vacation days left she’s sure they could have taken a month off and still had time to spare, but they’d settle on this for now, both of them silently agreeing they’d keep the rest banked until the honeymoon they both knew was somewhere not too far away on the horizon. 

Jack pulls away and looks up at her, his head tilted slightly to the side, his eyes full of curiosity, “What did you used to do on your birthday?” 

“When I was your age?” She asks, something that gets her a nod in response, and she suppresses a sad sigh, “My mom would take me out to eat at a nice restaurant if she wasn’t busy with work.” She runs her fingers through his hair, smiling when it flops back down immediately, partially covering his horrified expression. 

“She never took you to the park and pushed you on the swings? Or went to the arcade with you?” 

She smiles at that, internally laughing at the image of her mother in an arcade, the red soles of her Louboutins sticking to the soda-covered vinyl floor as her daughter tries to win enough tickets to get a stuffed cat from the prize stand. It wasn’t something Emily had ever really thought about all that much before. Her birthdays had consisted of over the top gifts and very little time with her mother. Any meal they did go out for was in a restaurant designed for adults - fancy dishes created to be paired with wine, nothing for a little girl who wanted pizza, chicken nuggets and ice cream until she fell asleep. 

It briefly makes her sad, familiar sorrow for the younger version of herself flickering in her gut, and she promises herself Jack and any siblings he would one day have would never have to feel this way. 

“No, sweetie,” she says, “She didn’t, but we’re talking about your birthday,” she says, diverting the conversation back to him, tickling his stomach to draw a laugh about him, “Chocolate chip pancakes, the park, the arcade…anything else?” 

He furrows his brow and pauses, deep in thought for a moment, before his eyes go bright and he looks at her, “Ice cream.” 

She laughs and nods, tugging him back into a hug, “Ice cream sounds perfect.”

___

The first thing she notices when she wakes up is the smell of pancakes. The second is the sound of Jack giggling followed by Aaron shushing him, his voice low as he tries to stay quiet. 

“We need to be quiet, buddy.” 

“But we’re about to wake her up anyway.” 

She decides to take pity on her boyfriend when she hears his exasperated spy, not that she’s sure she could hide that she’s awake much longer anyway, her smile wide and sleepy as she half presses it into his pillow, and she opens her eyes. 

“Lucky for the two of you, I’m already awake,” she says as she sits up, her smile getting wider at the sight of them - matching grins on their faces and splatters of flour in their hair and on their cheeks. She looks at the tray in Aaron’s hands with a huge stack of pancakes on it and a cup of coffee, and then back up at her boyfriend, “What’s all this?” 

“Happy birthday, Emily!” They say in unison as Jack scrambles onto the bed, throwing himself into her arms, an embrace she returns just as fiercely. 

“Thank you,” she replies, stamping a kiss against his forehead before she turns to Aaron who is now sitting on the edge of the bed, ready to hand her the tray. She gratefully takes it from him and rests it over her and Jack’s laps and cups Aaron’s cheek, tugging him in for a kiss, keeping him in place, chasing the taste of batter and him before he pulls back, “Thank you too.” 

He smiles and kisses her quickly, “You’re welcome sweetheart,” he winks at her as he sits back so she has access to the tray, “They’re your favourite.” 

She looks down at the pancakes, her smile getting impossibly wider when she realises they are heart-shaped, and she chuckles when she sees the scattering of chocolate throughout them, “Chocolate chip!” 

“The best birthday breakfast ever,” Jack says, repeating something she’d said to him weeks ago when he was agonising over what to do for his birthday. They’d ended up doing everything he’d wanted, and he’d fallen asleep on the couch that night as they watched his favourite movie, happy and content and safe between them. 

She hums and leans down to kiss his forehead, “Well, there are a lot of pancakes here,” she smiles up at Aaron, “I think you boys are going to have to help me.” 

Aaron chuckles and reaches for one of the forks on the tray, “Why do you think we brought three forks up here?” 

She laughs and shakes her head at him as he cuts through the soft pancakes with the side of the fork. She leans forward to eat the first bite when he offers his fork to her, and she smiles, “You’ve got it all planned out.” 

“Trust me, sweetheart,” he says, winking again, “We’ve got the whole day planned out, don’t we Jack?” 

Jack nods enthusiastically, half a pancake in his hands, his fork already abandoned entirely, “We do!” 

She narrows her eyes playfully, “You two are lucky I trust you.” 

Aaron kisses her cheek, and then the corner of her lips, “Eat your pancakes, Em. All will be revealed.” 

After they’ve had breakfast, Aaron insists he’ll clean the kitchen, ignoring their usual rule that if one of them cooked the other cleaned up, and he encourages her towards the shower. He joins her when he’s done in the kitchen, his hands on her hips as he pulls her back under the stream of hot water, whispering he’d distracted Jack with a video game to buy them 30 minutes before he kisses her. 

They give her gifts, a framed photo of the three of them from Jack and a necklace from Aaron to match her bracelet, and cards with beautiful things written in them that almost make her cry. Aaron’s warm and comforting hand on her thigh, a gentle squeeze through the material of her jeans, is the only thing that keeps her together. They tell her it’s time to go and she doesn’t even care where they are going because she feels warm and loved and just happy to be with them. Aaron insists they all wear jackets, a hint that wherever they are going they’d be outside, and they get into the car. It’s when they are just over halfway there she realises they are going to the park, a journey they’d made only five days ago for Jack’s birthday, and she smiles curiously at her boyfriend, reaching over the centre console to reach for his hand, his eyes giving nothing away when he turns to look at her. 

When they are a safe distance away from the parking lot, Emily and Aaron walking hand in hand just a few paces behind Jack, the little boy takes off at a run, “I’m going to go save the swings for us.” 

“Jack, be careful,” Aaron says, “Make sure-”

“I stay where you can see me, I know,” Jack says, rolling his eyes at his father and the warning he always gave him. Aaron chuckles as Jack continues to run towards the swings and he shakes his head lovingly. 

“You know, he never used to do that before you,” he says, squeezing her hand, his smile getting wider when she laughs and looks at him, her eyebrow raised, her smile diminishing any attempt to pretend she was annoyed. 

“So,” she starts curiously, purposely knocking her shoulder against his, “The park,” she presses her lips together to contain her smile, “Are you going to tell me what you two are up to yet?” 

He stops her, turning them so he can talk to her and keep an eye on Jack, “A couple of weeks ago a little bird told me you never got to do any fun things on your birthday like go to the park or the arcade.” 

She bites the inside of her cheek and looks over at Jack, the little boy now patiently sitting on one of the swings as he waits for them, and then back at Aaron, “Did he now?” 

Aaron nods and squeezes her hips before his hands slip to her lower back, encouraging her closer, “He did, so we decided we’d make sure you got to do all of those fun things on your birthday this year,” he explains, his smile adorably nervous, “We’re going to a pizza place for lunch, then the arcade and then out for ice cream - which I was told was non-negotiable - which will be followed by heading home to order in dinner from a place of your choosing,” he smiles, his dimples carved out into his cheeks, “And then we’ll watch whatever nerdy movie you pick.”

She chuckles and hooks her arms around his neck, her fingers trailing through the short hair there. She feels tears pressing at the back of her eyes, her chest tight with love and everything she’d never been able to find the words for. She’d never been loved like this before. Never been loved so unconditionally or deeply, and there were moments like this when it was overwhelming, something that not all that long ago would have sent her running in the other direction. 

These days, she didn’t want to run anywhere other than towards Aaron and Jack, and the future they were building together. 

She watches as panic washes over her boyfriend’s face, mistaking her silence for annoyance rather than joyful disbelief, “If this was a bad idea, we can go home,” he says, half stuttering out his words in a way she’d never heard from him before, “I have a backup reservation at that new Italian place this evening-”

She cuts him off with a kiss, her hands on each of his cheeks as she pulls back, “No, this is…” she trails off into a wet chuckle, shaking her head at him, “This is perfect,” she kisses him again, “You’re perfect. I love you so much.” 

He smiles, his relief spreading through him in a way she can feel, his body relaxing against hers, “I love you too.” 

She leans in to kiss him again but they are cut off by a yell from Jack, his patience finally running out. 

“Dad, Emily, hurry up!”

They both laugh and look at him, his hands on his hips as he stands just a few feet away from the swings, and then they look back at each other, wide smiles on both of their faces as they start to walk towards the young boy.

“He never used to do that either.” 

“Aaron.” 

___

It had without a doubt, been her favourite birthday she’d ever had. 

Jack insisted that he had to push her on the swing, his small hands on her back helped along by Aaron’s bigger hands just above them, both of them laughing as she tried to pretend she wasn’t enjoying herself. They’d ordered more food than they could possibly have eaten at the pizza place and then spent more money than she thought possible at the arcade. Hours and hours lost to the three of them moving from game to game, the tickets they’d won stuffed into their pockets as they drank giant sodas and somehow found room for hot dogs and ice cream. She’d handed her tickets over to Aaron when she went to the bathroom, her lips stamped against his as he said they’d meet her at the prize counter, and she expected that she’d find them standing there with some plastic game Jack had picked out for himself. 

Instead, she’d found them there with a large stuffed cat in Jack’s arms, his smile wide as he handed it to her and told her they’d chosen it for her. It’s probably the ugliest looking thing she’s ever seen - its black fur looked unevenly distributed, its sewn-on smile was wonky and the stare from its eyes was something close to unnerving - but she loves it. It’s immediately her favourite thing she’s ever been given, and she’s sure she’s never come closer to crying in public. It’s something that would have felt ridiculous in the middle of an arcade filled with screaming children and exasperated parents, so she’d held it together. She’d held the cat close all night, cuddled up against her as they watched Star Wars, a physical manifestation of their love for her that she wasn’t quite ready to let go of yet. 

When they get ready for bed, she places it on an armchair in the corner of Aaron’s bedroom and pats it on the head before she walks to the ensuite. She’s just finished with her skincare routine when Aaron joins her, his arms wrapping around her from behind as he smiles at her in the mirror. 

“Did you have a good birthday?” He asks, kissing her cheek, making her smile when he shifts down to kiss her neck, his nose nestling against her jawline, his love for her lotion well known. 

“I did,” she replies, resting her hands over his on her abdomen, “The best.” 

He tilts his head to look down at her, “Are you sure? It was only when we were at the arcade I realised I’d let Jack talk me into the perfect day for a 6-year-old boy.” 

She’d laugh, but she wants him to know how much this had meant to her, how this had been infinitely more special to her than a dinner in a restaurant they could eat at any night could ever have been. She turns in his arms and wraps her arms around his neck, letting her thumb stroke back and forth over the patch of skin beneath his hairline. 

“Honey, today was perfect,” she says, her eyes boring into his, hoping more than anything that he’d believe her, “You gave me something I didn’t even know I’d been missing,” she smiles when he relaxes, “This was the best birthday I’ve ever had,” her smile turns mischievous as she leans in to kiss him, “If anything, you’ve just made more hard work for yourself next year when you have to try and top it.” 

He grins at her, his grip on her tightening, “I look forward to the challenge,” he kisses her, his hands firm on her lower back as he holds her close, his fingers sneaking under the hem of her t-shirt. He starts to lead her towards the bedroom, both of them grasping at each other, their kiss eventually lost as her knees hit the back of the bed and she pulls him down on top of her, “Just one thing though.” 

She frowns at him as she tries to catch her breath, “What?” 

“We’re not doing this with that fucking cat watching us.”

She laughs as she looks over to the stuffed cat sitting on the armchair in the corner of the room, and she holds Aaron’s head against her chest, his forehead against her collarbone, “Don’t worry honey,” she encourages him to look up at her, her lips stamped against his as she scrapes his hair away from his forehead, “I’m sure we’ll find a permanent place for it.” 

18 months later, the cat is one of many stuffed animals lined up in their daughter’s nursery. Its wonky smile a well-loved companion on long sleepless nights as Emily feeds the baby and Aaron holds them both close.

[yooniesim]

So, I may be a day late, but I still want to make a little post for Simblr Gratitude Day 💜

To start off, my memory is pretty bad, so I just know I'm gonna miss tagging people... and honestly, there's way more people on here I'm grateful for than tumblr's limit of 50! So I'm starting out addressing everyone.

To everybody that likes or reblogs my posts, sends comments or asks, shares their sims with me, or uses my cc: I love you. Yes, you! I may be bad at answering back sometimes, but I cherish every interaction I get- a lot of the times they have me kicking my feet and giggling, or sometimes I'm barking and scaring my cat. Asks really make my day and even when I don't reply so fast, they warm my heart. Asks I've gotten on here have genuinely helped me in my dark times, and renewed my faith in this community as a whole, because some of you are just so freaking amazing and kind. Especially now with everything I've been going through, sims and being here has remained a comfort for me because of you all. Even if there's speed bumps from time to time, I truly believe there's more good here than bad, and y'all should be proud of yourselves and your capacity for endless kindness. Thank you!

Now, I'm going to address a few specific precious people I'm grateful for.

@wastelandwhisperer - Moon, my precious mom friend, I adore you. The joy, comfort, and hilarious memories you give me can't be understated. You deserve all the love and light in the world.

@neverheresims - God's eepiest soldier, what would I do without you? Thank you for always being genuine, reliable, and a true friend.

Vi - Thank you my sheriff, my paggro detector, my master of copypastas, my right hand catboy. Even though you're untraceable, I couldn't leave you out. I love you!

@divinedionym - Thanks for always being straight with me and taking NO shit. I truly admire you and your attitude, friend.

@dyoreos - We may not both be active at the same time anymore, but I still think of you, friend! You've always had my back and I'll always have yours.

@nucrests - I'm so grateful to be your friend, and every time you share your beautiful content and gorgeous sims with me, it really makes my day. I adore you.

@cinamun - You probably don't know this, but in certain times when I was feeling low, your comments and kindness really lifted my spirits and made me feel like I belong. You're a lovely person and deserve all the love you receive, friend.

@woosteru - You won't see this bc you're retired so I can be sappy as I want, so there!!! I adore you, your sweet personality, and your sense of humor that matches just right with mine. (Nobody tell them)

@superflare - Lulu, you're an incredibly creative and intelligent person. I can tell you're going to go far in life and do great for the world. Be proud of yourself, always!

@fiftymilehighclub - Thank you for always being yourself, Manda! You're such a hardworking person that's kind but firm with your opinions and what matters to you. You're amazing.

@nicatnite88 - Tay, you're someone that's always empathetic, understanding and kind, yet hilarious at the same time. I look up to you as a person and admire your skills as a parent.

@pluto-sims - What do I say about Eli? Despite being unfortunately bri*ish, you've exceeded expectations in all other areas as a friend. I genuinely appreciate your presence and kindness in my life.

@bloody-soda - As one of my longest and dearest mutuals, peachy, my love for you can't be understated! I think of you whenever I see cute meme pics lol and you're so lovely as a person.

@wubblesgonefishin - Beautiful wubs, you're such a wonderful person with so much love to give! My day brightens every time I speak with you and I'm so glad you're back.

@toastie-sim - Meg! One of my few brain cells, I don't know what I'd do without you! You're so helpful all the time and unbelievably patient. I appreciate you.

...Phewph. Now that that's o- wait. You thought I was done??? Nuh uh, the king of long ass texts posts is not done that fast. Here's some more beautiful people I'm grateful for and love seeing grace my dash 💜

@simandy @void-imp @therichantsim @adelarsims @marsosims @shysimblr @1-800-cuupid @xldkx @xiuminuwu @hexcodesims @cassymblr @lotusplum @rebelangelsims @denzellion @strawberrylattesims @anachrosims @cowplant-snacks @fierce-trait @simanin @ghostwoohoo @llama-head @aghilasims @janjumjam @jellyfish-tea @bbdoll @puppycheesecake @mwvwv-sims

[lgcrp]

HAPPY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY!

HAPPY FIVE YEARS, EVERYBODY ! ♡ can you believe we're already half a decade old already ? the baby that is lgc is off to kindergarten, and we can't help but cry like proud parents. 😭 in all seriousness though, it feels like just yesterday that lgc opened, and now five years have already passed – and yet, it's as if we're still just getting started. of course, lgc would have never made it this far without its members, and we're all so grateful to still be able to provide a space through lgc for everyone – us included ! – to enjoy ourselves both personally and creatively. as a thank you to all of you –as there's not even enough words in the world to express it enough ! – for everything, we'll be gifting everyone +30 FREE SKILL POINTS to distribute. please submit your LGC 5TH ANNIVERSARY points to the points blog before AUGUST 24, 2024 11:59 EDT. you may use this post as proof for your points sheets. additionally, we've created a simple GRAPHIC TEMPLATE for the UNIVERSE platform to use on our FANSITES. moving forward, this template will be linked in the monthly sns updates. we also don't want to discourage anyone from creating their own graphics for the fansites, especially like some have been for the monthly universe prompt. there used to be a non-canon twitter account that acted as a fan translation account for lgc artists on bubble. while fun and enjoyable, it was confusing whether or not what was posted on that account was considered canon in lgc, so we wanted to OFFICIALLY create a way for members with debuted muses to send messages on universe. we also hope this encourages members to post on the fansites more than twice a month. we've put together a EXAMPLE on how the universe graphics can be utilized with tumblr's text editor. please keep in mind that your posts must be company-appropriate and that the usual rules for sns still apply. we also ask that you refrain from interacting with or commenting on other lgc artists' activities through universe. additionally, idols may only post with their group mates. make sure to tag your fansite posts with #lgc:universe, and let us know if you have any questions. ( if you don't have access to photoshop or other editing software, please message us ! a member of the admod team can create/update your muse's universe profile for you, and will upload the final images to the same drive folder where the templates can be found. ) we still have more cool and really exciting things ( as you might've already seen on the LGCMANAGER blog *wink wink* ) planned for our fifth anniversary, but before we get ahead of ourselves, we do want to reiterate yet again how incredibly thankful we are for everyone who's made lgc their home. we cannot stress enough how humbled we are to lead a group of such talented and passionate writers. under the cut, you can read a short letter from some of us to express our gratitude in our own words. but from us as a whole, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for five years. here's to many, many more ! ♡ your lgcadmod team

happy five years, everyone!!! i can't believe it, lgc has officially lasted longer than my high school career, my college career, etc... it's crazy to think that such pivotal moments of my life have happened with lgc always there, in the background, as one of the only constants in my life. i say it every year and i'll say it again, but i can't thank you all enough for making lgc be the home that it is for me. i mean, this is the longest relationship i've ever committed to in my life!! seriously though, i'm so grateful for everyone i've met here and everything i've accomplished here, but we're not done yet! we still have so much in store for you all, and the anniversary event is just the tip of the iceberg of the fun stuff we've got planned this year alone. after all five years is just a drop in the bucket, let's double it and make it ten. 😎

— love yall so much, kristin (admin *)

it felt like yesterday when i was writing a message for lgc’s first anniversary and now that we’re celebrating the fifth one is something that shocks me sometimes! from starting off as a regular member, to a points and press mod, and now an admin that handles an array of tasks, i’ve seen quite a lot and if there’s anything that these anniversaries remind me of, it’s the dedication and commitment that everyone has to building and maintaining this community. i still remember seeing the first batch of muses receiving their 200 notoriety reward and the excitement and anticipation of wondering what that special 200 notoriety reward submit had to…well, 1,000 notoriety rewards happening! as someone who loves seeing the muses’ progression, it brings me joy whenever i see other muses reach certain milestones because not only does it show the dedication the mun has towards their muse, but the development the muse has gone through, just like the rp itself. legacy started off as a new rp but over time, changes and additions were made to make this rp awesome and a lot of that is thanks to everyone’s contributions. your suggestions, reactions, and even written posts, shaped legacy to be the way it is right now and will continue to do so in the future too! i’d also like to give a special shoutout to the past and present admod team members! legacy itself is quite a massive roleplay to take care of, but thank you so much for all of your effort and ideas! it makes me happy reading and seeing some of the projects being worked on behind the scenes from the admods and every time i hope that everyone else enjoys them too! as mentioned above, there are exciting things coming and i’m certain that the rest of 2024 and 2025 will be quite a ride too (trust me, some stuffs for 2025 have been planned since q2)! once again, thank you everyone for being a part of such a special moment and happy 5th anniversary to lgcrp!

— love, cloud ☁️ (admin a)

five years already, it sounds surreal! Although my importance as an admin has become lesser since my return, I can’t help but feel pride that the roleplay has been thriving for such a long time. and that is all thanks to you, the members, as well as the wonderful team of admins and mods that work tirelessly to make LGC function. whether you have recently joined, or even to those who left, everyone who has passed through LGC has left their mark and helped make it the place it is today. when we created the rp, I don’t think any of us expected it to last this long with so many invested and wonderful members. it really warms my heart. let’s cheer to another five years, maybe?

— love, marie

[cattimeswithjellie]

My new favorite tags from @lemon-bread-slice on their reblog of my newest Stream Recap (Cleo's 6/23 stream, the quiet side of Scar's Audio Hell Day).

Why? Because Cleo typically talks very fast and very consistently through their whole stream, and because there were lots of talking Hermits in this one. The real scary part is when you realize it's that long EVEN THOUGH I EXCISED AN ENTIRE HOUR because it was just going round-and-round about who the redstone-touching culprit is, and that has already been summarized elsewhere. It's still only half as long as the Server Tour Recap.

(The other why is that so much is happening this season in streams that many people are having a hard time keeping up because they don't have time to watch streams. Many of these streams may or may not be destined for long-term retention either, and they deserve to be archived in some format.)

How? I sit down with my two laptops and a snack, run the stream on one and my word processor on the other, and I press pause SO MUCH. A lot of times the Hermits will have chunks of stream time where they are not doing very much and I can bump the speed to 1.5 and save a bit of time that way, but other times I will replay the same bit over and over again to catch bits of conversation or just try to figure out what is happening. I watched the 60 seconds or so around the alarm activation about 10 times and from every available POV to try and figure out where everybody was and what they were doing.

What? IDK, my BFF Cleo? (Yeah, that reference is gonna date me.)

How long did it take? About five hours for this one. I've been trying to get one stream recap done per day, but because this was a specific ask from a CC, I was highly motivated to get it done and posted. I'd finished Tango's Friday stream earlier in the day and I had work until 9pm, so I didn't even start until almost 11. I'm lucky today is my day off because I didn't finish the damn thing till 4am. I should probably not do that again, but the satisfaction of finishing just feels so good.

Awe or Scared? I'll leave that up to you. This is my fifteenth recap so far, and I'm at 92k words in the AO3 version. If i keep this up, I could get second-longest work in the Hermitcraft tag in just a couple months! Now I'm scared too!

[iguesswhatimtryingtosayis]

Where has Chappell Roan been my whole life??

Because it's not just one thing. She's made progress in so many areas, just by not taking other people's shit with her music and her media presence. For example, she:

directly addressed stalker behavior with celebrities - It's amazing to see a woman standing up for herself and addressing the fact that even if you recognize someone, you can't automatically expect them to do whatever you want them to. Harassment is still harassment, even if the person is famous. And I love that she was willing to stand up for herself and others who have and likely will be in the same position.

addressed how it feels to not fit in with the people around you (pink pony club) - I know that the song is specifically about how hard it is to be queer in a place where it isn't widely accepted, but I feel like it can apply to other areas too, because really the whole point is about finding a place where you belong and can be accepted, and it's amazing, and I feel like acceptance should be something that everyone gets to feel.

all around been a feminine icon - okay this has several points because she has done a lot, but overall she doesn't let people treat her poorly just for being a woman.

Her outfits?? They are pretty unconventional at times, but they are always hers. She doesn't dress up for anyone but herself, and she always presents herself the way that she wants to be seen, not how she is expected to, and also she has public appearances with everything from no makeup to full face, and I love it because women don't always feel like they can be without makeup, and seeing someone so iconic being comfortable with herself can be very motivating for people who may not have as much self confidence.

Normalizing sexuality for both women and queer people - in a lot of media and music men talk about how they want to touch a woman, and sometimes even rape is brought up as if it's something that is okay to do. And despite the fact that they talk about women in degrading ways, the same people shame women for being sexually active. But in Chappell Roan's music, she talks about sex in a respectful consensual way, and her music has quickly become some of the first music about queer sex that is widely popular.

Been an icon for queer people in general, one of the first popularized queer people that others cannot deny is queer -because despite everything about him, people still don't think Freddie Mercury was bi??? and apparently some people haven't heard of David Bowie?? I could keep going but this is already one of the longest posts I've made so far so I'll stop here. And while she's definitely not the first, she's definitely one of the most vocal queer artists.

To be honest I first started listening to her because the girl I like really likes her, but honestly I would be lying if I said I wasn't obsessed at this point. And while there is absolutely more that she has done, my hand hurts and I don't feel like typing anymore. If anyone has anything else they would like to add please feel free!

But yeah basically I love Chappell Roan

[bingebuddie]

Here... We... Go...

Hi all,

Well, so far, 2024 has sucked for me... but anyway...

I've been feeling pretty out of sorts mentally, and depending on where my head is at, I've been bouncing back and forth between Fics and my Wes and Cole novel.

I am going on a writing retreat May 4-12th... so... expect some major movement...

I wanted to provide a few updates on where I am with my Fics and other works.

Sideways:

Published updates here have been slower than I wanted or anticipated. This has nothing to do with the story, as I have this outlined for Arcs 6-10... Yes, up to Arc 10.

My personal life has gotten in the way a lot over the last few months and has just eaten up my time to write.

Now, Arc 6 will lead right into Arc 7 and 7 into 8. You will want to throw some stuff at me for some of the wtf moments and having to wait between arcs... but it's all coming. Anyone new to the series has had the benefit of reading five fully finished-out arcs that took me about a year to write. Have some patience with me. It will be worth it.

Arc 6, Into The Unknown, has multiple chapters drafted. I just need to clean up some edits from my beta, and they will be posted. May is going to be a big month for this arc.

This is a pivotal point in the series. It spans Chapters 37-48, making it the longest arc so far. This installment will delve into the Seals' backstory, their connection with Buck and Eddie, and much more. It’s a substantial piece of the puzzle that you won't want to miss.

This one does have some heavy moments...

This does end with a cliffhanger... But I promise, it's not our boys directly you are left wondering about...

Arc 7—Strong—Eddie will need his friends and family like never before. This is a heavy Diaz family arc. The outline is eight Chapters.

This also ends in a cliffhanger and that promise I made above... does not apply here.... insert evil laugh...

Arc 8 Genesis—This is the big one. It all comes together here, and it is the part I am most excited to write. It is also the longest, with an outline of 16 chapters. You will find out more about Genesis in Arc 6.

This arc will change all of their lives and the status quo as we know it. Grab your seats and tissues. The previous title for this was Unleashed...

Arc 9 - Experience/Circles - Tentative Title - No tease, as it will spoil what's to come...

Arc 10 - My All - googles Mariah Carey ...

Sideways isn't going anywhere...

Shifted:

Volume 1: Nevermore

This was originally planned to be 30 chapters. I have 20 published right now. The rest of this is outlined, and chapters 21-25 are written and ready to be published. I haven't posted these because Chapter 25 ends on a massive cliffhanger, and I don't want to leave you all hanging. I will be finishing this... after Arc 6 of Sideways ...

I have a plan for the second arc... but that's all the way behind everything else on my docket...

Impossible:

If you have read this one, I have yet to post the last chapter...

This has an MCD, and while I was writing this, I lost a friend. It was hard to finish. I have finished the outline, and this will be completed soon.

Run:

This is on hold. I have too much else to focus on. Consider this on hiatus until I say otherwise. It might even be scrapped... will see...

Would You Mind:

This one was a lot of fun... The wrap-up/epilogue is done; it's with my beta...

Lap Dancing Eddie will return... in Sideways...

I Don't Want To Be Your Freind:

As of today, 7 of 11 chapters are posted. This is all outlined. I have drafts of chapters 8-11 done. Going to beta and will be posting soon...

I started this leading up to Season 7; it was my mind dealing with all the rumors and leaks... In my mind and my group chat, I was calling this my Anti Tommy and Marisol fic...

This got way out of hand and became a monster of a fic...

Now... on to what else I have brewing...

Future Shock - 3 Part Series - Magic/BAMF/Mayhem/Found Family/Soul Mates/Redux/Ryan Throw's The Timeline Into A Blender and Tada...

As It Is - 2030 and the 118 have been a fractured team since the lawsuit. When members of the team start to be picked off one by one, Hen, Chim, and Bobby, have no one to turn to until friends and family return in their most desperate hour.

As It Was - Details what led to the fracturing of the 118. A retelling of Season 2 and part of season 3...

As It Was Always Meant To Be - Now reunited, will the 118 be able to rally around each other, or will their painful past be too much to overcome.

This has a loose outline and it's very large ...

Depressed, Devasted, and Destroyed aka Something To Hold On To:

I keep calling this Triple D or DDD... This is a pure angst fest... major whump... like I'm mad at myself for the whump here ... seriously...

This has an outline...

Relationship Goals—In an effort to rebuild their friendship after their recent relationships crash and burn, Buck and Eddie join a local hockey team along with some of Buck's old seal friends. This was pure fan service to myself and a way to get Buck, Eddie, Wes, and Cole to play hockey and not have to do it on Sideways. This currently sits around 60 pages.

Stolen - A stolen kiss changes everything between Buck and Eddie... This angst fest is somehow incredibly soft... This is about 35 pages right now...

The Ties That Bind - Buck breakdown fic... This might get scrapped and merged into DDD from above...

All I Want for Christmas - Think Scrooged Vs. It's A Wonderful Life Vs 911... This won't be posted until holiday time...

The Wes and Cole novel is still moving along... it's my refuge when the show does something stupid...

I should probably get to writing... it's not like I have nothing to do....

[litgarchive]

It's at least December 12 everywhere in the world. Now what?

An LITG Archive Update

To preface, the original seasons are still playable at the moment if your auto-update is turned off. (I can confirm; I can still play on my Android phone.) I've heard (but have not tried) it's possible to play using older mods as well. Overall, this is good news!

However, no one is sure how long this would be viable, given that you do still need to connect to the Internet to play them. And, how long would Fusebox allow that from their end?

Well, I'm not putting this project on hold. And the fact that the seasons are still playable? A good time to collect more records. (IIRC, I don't have a Season 3 playthrough with Seb as the best friend yet. Please hook your girl up with any link whatsoever.)

What I'm doing and what are the goalposts moving forward, all under the cut!

Originally, I was going to do Season 3 first (as you might have seen from the demo), but I did realize that we'd likely lose more content from Season 2, given it's the longest and has most extensive branching compared to the other two seasons.

So, what am I doing now?

I've mapped out all the choices for Season 2 Day 1 Part 1. I will start transcription. If there are any missing choices, I will create a separate post requesting assistance (like I did before).

Season 3 transcription of a recorded Harry route is being continued by lovely people on their free time. They are currently doing Day 4 Part 1.

Any particular timeline when you'll be able to release a playable Season 2 (or any other season)?

What I can say is it won't be up for a while unless there will be more volunteers helping me transcribe seasons using a particular formatting and process. This is the most time-consuming part.

For a general idea, it took me almost 6 hours to transcribe the part for the demo using 2 recorded playthroughs by @queen-of-boops and by @mrsbsmooth. I broke up the scenes and added in some code/notes as I transcribed. Then I had a few more hours tweaking the transcript into ink, breaking it up a bit more so it won't flood the screen as much UI-wise, installing the UI framework, and testing it.

Granted, since I have brushed up on ink and have done base stuff for the demo, it shouldn't take me too long to code the full game once I've done all the non-coding related tasks.

Why not release it in chapters?

Honestly because I'm not a programmer, I have massive technical debt, and I could do that, but honestly I'm not very comfortable with doing that unless I at least map out all the choices first. I want to avoid missing variables which may, in turn, break everything else.

You might be surprised with the scenes we're still discovering as we repeat the playthroughs. We've got aliens, Islanders checking Bobby's reaction to Rocco possibly stealing you away from him, Ciaran being turned on by a belch, and Kassam actually considering you as a dateable prospect despite not being interested in you in the first place, etc. Honestly wild.

So, now what?

I will be posting an update once a week until all three seasons are completed. I'll post recording requests when needed. (Thank you to everyone who has shared their records so far, I could kiss you all. It's so lovely seeing our community band together like this.)

We can only hope Fusebox publishes the remastered versions soon (if at all) so people (like me) can play their comfort routes or just play some of the best seasons they had put out into the world.

So, yeah.

Much love before it's December 13 from my side of the world.

💕 Pine

[snek-panini]

Book time! This is On the Subject of Nests and Happiness by Nonesensed. I don't typically go for nesting fics, they tend to get a little silly for my taste, but this one is an old favorite. They put some very nice worldbuilding into it and I really liked their OCs, which is kinda unusual in fandom, at least for me. So I wanted to give it the book treatment, and it turned out really well! The cover is cardstock, with book cloth on the spine, neither of which were actually bought for this project but they looked so good together that I couldn't resist. The title is HTV and it was an absolute nightmare to get all those tiny letters to stick properly. Worth it, though. More pics under the cut!

Endpapers are scrapbook paper, also not bought for this book, but just. Look at them. They look so good. I had actually intended to make my own end bands on this project, but they fought me so hard that I gave up. And I already had these black-and-white checkered ones that matched, so it's not so bad. You can kinda notice my tendency to make covers too deep in this shot. I used to think that was a flaw but as I go on I'm kinda liking it. I get more wiggle room when casing in, and they feel nice when I read the books. View from the top shows how thick this one is. It's the longest word count I've done at this size and I want to do more like this. The textures and proportions make it very pleasant to hold.

Have some interior shots:

Title page, first page of first chapter with summary, and first page of actual chapter text. All the images came from rawpixel with minimal manipulation on my part to make the one in the third photo. I don't like working with images, I've never been that kind of artist, but I do very much like how things turned out. It's got three chapters and they all have a first page with the wreath image and short summary, then the actual text of the chapter starts on the following page.

This fic has so many footnotes. More than any other fic I've set type for so far, and some of them are very long. I discovered in the process of formatting them that footnotes are a pain in the ass to typeset. Again, though: totally worth it, they look so good even if they do make the line spacing a little weird. I think a lot of my frustration with them comes from trying to make Word do things it was not intended to do. It won't stop me doing more footnote-heavy fics in the future, but at least now I have a better idea of what I'm getting into when I do them.

Fun thing about this: I waxed and burnished the cardstock before I attached the cover, and the last thing I did after casing in was the title. I have a cricut mini press, which is shaped like a tiny iron, and when I was pressing the HTV it left an iron-shaped dark patch on the front cover. Cue panic. It looked so stupid, and it was already cased in so I was stuck with it. I think what happened had to do with the wax coating? Thankfully, pressing it again all over (instead of just where the title is) covered up the dark patch, but the result is that the front is a slightly different color than the back. Whoops. I may go back later and press the back too, to get the color even, but for the moment I actually kinda like it? Shows me what I'm learning. Another fun fact, thankfully less visible than the last one: while I was making the cover, I gave myself the worst papercut ever while working with the cardstock. There was actual blood, and right on the tip of a finger on my dominant hand. I had a mark there for weeks.

I'm very proud of this one. That's probably why the post got so long and ramble-y, but I just keep coming back to it. Colors, textures, size, nice sharp groove where the spine connects to the front. I'm just really proud of it.

[uncannyalien]

Asking some AU comp competitors & supporters:

- Are there any AUs you weren't familiar with that have recently caught your attention, or that you would like to learn more about?

- What are some AUs/fanworks that you enjoy, and would encourage more people to go check out? (Doesn't have to be in the comp!)

Oh Stars, where do I begin?

The server of the competition is full of so many creators, many of whom I have never met or known of their AUs before(I'm still quite new to the fandom), and it's been great engaging with all of them!

I can't list every single AU I wanna learn more about, there's too many!

I'm very intrigued by Aberration by probablynotarutabega whom I'm going up against in the coming bracket, and I literally spent some time today reading what they have available so I could get to know it better! I hope we're at least able to team up!

There's also the Revelations Timeline AU by idk im just here now who has a really cool insight into how the Krang and the magic system works in their AU! I'd like to say we've become friends over this little time

Of course I have to talk up some of my friends AUs!

Minecraft Isekaid by songdrop (who has teamed up with Mitosis by Varian_dislikes_cheese) is a really cool AU about the rise boys getting stuck in Minecraft but as they explore things are not quite how they know. They're incredibly talented at art and storytelling and have so many ideas it's absolutely insane!

There's also the Soulmates(Evil) AU by Evan that's heavy Mikey angst and it's wonderful to see the other characters beating up MeatSweats

Oh dear this is gonna be long isn't it ehe. There's just too many to count!

The Employees is done by multiple folks and follows a collective of OCs that work for Senior Hueso

Minor Interference by bambiraptorx is on my To Read list where the turtles accept Draxum's offer of training with him

As for ones that are not in the competition I have many suggestions:

Clean up Crew also by songdrop, a small fic that's part of his like, 6 AUs in one universe the guy's an idea machine!

I discovered A Mirror's Reflection by ratsistryingtheirbest here on Tumblr as just a "what if" post and I may or may not have sort of dared them into making it. And it's really good! A rise Future AU where Leo, Mikey, and CJ are sent to another reality post-apocalypse where their brothers survived. And won the war.

The Nexus Heir by ItzCoffee is a fun AU where Leo gets manipulated into Big Mama's care

I'm not particularly one for fics that have romance/shipping or the Next Generation trope, but Little Warrior by NovelistServant is a proud exception for me. This is an AU where Future Raph gets sent back in time with a baby CJ and things sure do happen. Prepare to cry, prepare to laugh, prepare to cry again but happy this time. I've read it twice

A Tale of Spirits by unorthodoxx recently updated and I'm so excited with where the story is going. You like turtles? You like ATLA? You're gonna like this one

And last but certainly not least, I'd be remiss if I didn't shameless plug my own AU: Remember Forever. I've written plenty of stories before but this is my first fanfiction and it's the longest project I've had so far. It's a post-season 2 pre-movie rise AU where Mikey discovers an alien(that is definitely not my self-insert) and shenanigans ensue. You can of course learn more at my masterpost which is pinned on my blog and by giving it a read! I'm trying my best to write some fluff while also acknowledging that these characters have Gone Through Things.

There are so many more AUs than these that I've mentioned so seriously go check everyone out! Thanks so much for the ask and I wish everyone a great time in the competition!

[waytooinvested]

fanfic writer questions

Thanks for the tag @sssammich! I haven't done one of these in years, I'm excited :D

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

Only 11, but a couple are long ones (100,000+ words)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

406,700 and counting - one of those is a WIP that will have a lot more to add so I MAY make it to 500,000 in the coming months, if I write another couple of short ones on top.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now I'm just writing for Supergirl (and supercorp specifically). In the past I wrote a lot for Call the Midwife (Patsy x Delia, my beloveds), and I have written one small one for Strange the Dreamer, just because I had an idea that wouldn't leave me alone until I got it out.

I tend to be a bit all or nothing with fandom, so I am usually only in one at a time.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Hands I Used to Touch (Patsy/Delia - Call the Midwife) by a landslide. It also (briefly) had the most comments of any fic in the fandom which was very cool (it was the one I was writing for longest during the peak engagement era for the pairing, but still it is my crowning achievement as a fic writer haha)

After that Vengeance, Victory and Undying Love (Supercorp), Little Things Mean A Lot tied with A Paper Bag of Pick n Mix (both Patsy/Delia), and Storybooks and Siren Suits (also Patsy & Delia, but as children so not a romantic pairing)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Definitely! I try to respond to every comment, because they mean so much to get and I want the people taking the time to write them to know they are extremely appreciated. Also I have made some wonderful friends that way!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I am allergic to angsty endings! Angsty beginnings? Almost inevitable. Angsty middles, sure. Angsty ENDINGS? Never. So angstiest: maybe "The Static of Distance" from my Paper Bag of Pick n Mix, because they are still half a world away from each other during a threat of nuclear war. But even so it's only an angsty ending if you squint really hard.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

They all have pretty unambiguously happy endings honestly, I'm not sure I could pick between them!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think I've ever had hate as such. Some maybe less than whole heartedly positive responses, though most of that was when I was teasing an apparently dark character arc before a twist and making people worried about what I was up to. But see above re: all of my fics having absolutely unambiguously happy endings, so we got there eventually.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not so far - I think the closest I have come was my wife and I writing a silly crack fic together that involved smut, but it was not at all meant to be actually sexy and we never posted it anywhere, sooo...

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not typically, but there was A Misplaced Midwife, in which Barbara from Call the Midwife (a fairly sheltered young 1960s midwife played by Charlotte Ritchie) traded places with Hannah from Siblings (a modern day selfish, chaotic disaster human also played by Charlotte Ritchie) and how they got along in each other's lives. It was silly and crack-y but a lot of fun to write.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, thankfully!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Alas, no

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

The aforementioned crack fic with @cynicalrainbows but that was just for our own entertainment. She also contributed several lines/ideas to A Misplaced Midwife. I don't think I have apart from that.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

I only really have two that I've been invested enough to fic about it, and while my current all consuming obsession is Supercorp, I have only been in it for a couple of months compared to the years long love affair with Patsy/Delia that also led to me meeting my wife and many good friends. So for now, Patsy/Delia still reign supreme. We'll see if that is still the case in a few more months!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I try to always finish my fics, but I do have one unfinished wip on my conscience, and that's Storybooks and Siren Suits. I still open it and do battle with progress now and again just in the hopes that I will manage to drag it across the finish line and put it to bed once and for all, but so far nothing doing. It remains stuck on the same chapter it has been stuck on since 2021.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Oh no don't make me pay myself compliments... Angst with happy endings? That is not really so much a writing strength as just a description of the type of story I write, but shh. I guess I got a lot of compliments on characterization back in my Call the Midwife days. Whether that follows through to Supercorp remains to be seen. I like how I'm writing them, at least!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

My dialogue transitions tend to be clunky, at least so I'm finding lately. Also I am a total feast or famine writer, so any kind of sensible process or schedule discipline is completely non existent.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I avoid it for the most part because I would certainly make a mess of it, though I have one or two very very brief bits here and there. I think the longest piece was a character recalling their own long distant school french, which contained deliberate mistakes the character was making that acted as excellent cover for the genuine mistakes I no doubt also made.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I'm trying to recall if I ever wrote anything as a young teenager for Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Willow/Tara, naturally), but I don't think I did, and if so it definitely stayed as tucked away in an old notebook never to see the light of day. The first proper/definite one was Call the Midwife, just after they decided it would be a good idea to hit Delia with a car and give her amnesia right at the moment she and Patsy were about to move in together.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Well right now it's Forgotten Not Forgiven for sure, because that's where my obsession is currently living.

Of all time though? Probably still The Hands I Used to Touch, because I poured everything into it at the time and it played such a big part in me finding my feet in the fandom world. No pressure to do this at all of course but tagging @cynicalrainbows @fabulousglitch, @shut-up-heather-d and @fazedlight as people I know write fic and may enjoy this if you haven't done it already. Anyone else interested feel free to claim me as your tagger, I would love to see your responses!

[fuchsiamae]

on may 16th, 2011, baby writer fuchsiamae (17!) came off anon for the first time, to post ch1 of a fic called "defrosting."

afaik this was the first cave/glados fic. around 5k words total, still on ffn. it was my first attempt at a multichapter, the longest thing I'd ever written at the time, and I was so proud of it. for a while.

then I grew past those baby writer skills and was embarrassed by its quality, but I could never let go of the concept. I knew it deserved to be done better. "glados finds cave johnson in cryo" burrowed into my brain like a fucking prion, and every year or two I'd try to write it again, and every time I'd fail without getting very far. until this time.

thirteen goddamn years later:

the complete rough draft of this fic is over 80k words.

the complete first draft of act 1 (of 5) is 30k words. which, terrifyingly, is double its length in the rough.

the first edit of ch1 (7k words) should be ready for my beta readers later today.

I'm not going to rush myself (or my extremely patient betas), so I don't have a release date, but I'm thinking a month or so would be a reasonable expectation.

and I've finally settled on a title:

Tragedy + Time

[pumpkinpartynoelle]

Update. Update! UPDATE!

I figure as long as Toby is putting out another newsletter, I might as well give a more thorough update of my own.

I've done a quick read of the newsletter, and skimmed through the Sans and Papyrus dialogue. Nothing seems all that revealing as far as Variable Angel Theory and its branch theories go, so it shouldn't affect all that much on my end, other than making it clear that I do, in fact, have plenty of time to finish this theory at my own pace.

That pace has recently picked up. I think I'm about 70% done with what I want to include now, though the sections I still have to work on, most especially Spamton and the Spamton Sweepstakes, might be some of my longest. Then again, given how many sections have spawned from my stumbling into random lore bits that recontextualize other parts of the theory, it's possible I'm overestimating my progress and I'll end up with a few entirely new sections of content that are too relevant to skip out on. Much like Deltarune itself, I've no idea what will come up, so I'm not going to promise any sort of release date, not that I imagine there are huge swaths of people waiting with bated breath or anything.

Good news though, the vast majority of VAT part 1 continues to hold up. There are a few bits that make things seem shaky, but there's not a single one that can't be very plausibly explained away by either more thought given to the information we have, or simply missing a piece or two given how small a proportion of the game I'm working with. As far as actual major contradictions go, I've found absolutely none, and I have been looking. I've no intention of presenting a theory I don't believe in, even if part 2 will admittedly involve a fair bit more guesswork and assumptions than part 1 did.

I may push some of the deeper Gaster stuff into its own theory post, if I decide to look into it. So far, I'm much more familiar with the in-game content than anything outside of it. That's why I didn't really reference the newsletters much in the first part of VAT, nor the Spamton Sweepstakes, and, to be totally honest, tracking down all the Gaster stuff that isn't in-game in some capacity sounds like a nightmare, which is a shame because it seems like there's a fair amount of out-of-game Gaster content, maybe even more than in-game.

As such, the Gaster content I'll be including in Part 2 of VAT is almost entirely the stuff that's in Deltarune itself (and in Undertale, of course, to whatever extent I see relevance), plus occasional bits and pieces from elsewhere if I happen to know about them. Don't expect an extremely thorough analysis of everything Gaster-related, that's well out of my purview, at least for now.

To be clear though, the section on Gaster is still fairly long, and there are, of course, bits of his involvement that are very relevant to Variable Angel Theory, like the DT extractor, and I think Gaster may even be at least partially responsible for The Roaring. However, if you're looking for something truly Gaster-centric, VAT2 isn't going to give that to you. The best person for that job that I know of, theorizing closest to my style, is of course Jaru, whenever he finishes putting his Gaster theory together.

VAT1, as I'm sure many people noticed, wasn't particularly focused and streamlined on specifically the bits most relevant to the theory's namesake, i.e. the Angel's identity, abilities, most significant roles, and creation processes. That was intentional. Everything in Deltarune is so interconnected, it'd be hard to isolate everything, and to be honest, I don't want to. Lots of things are useful context for lots of other things. As such, VAT2, while its primary focus will still be on Variable Angel Theory, will include even more branch theories and bonus bits. Directly related or not, the pictures you can paint with enough thousands of words can be a lot more revealing if you expand your canvas.

Here's what's (probably) done so far in broad strokes:

All instances of "Holy"

All instances of "Sin"

More info on Soul Power

How Kris’s soul works

The vessel's purpose

Nearly all of the Gaster stuff

Rouxls Kaard analysis

Miscellaneous branch theories and bonus bits

Here's what I have left to finish up:

About half of the Jevil section

One or two Gaster subsections

The Spamton and Spamton Sweepstakes sections

Analysis of "Heaven" and "Hell" (part of which will already be touched on in the Jevil and Spamton sections)

Brief reevaluations of VAT1's main 4 angel candidates with the new info in mind

That's about all I have left, and I think it'll be less work than it sounds. Well, not the Spamton section, there's a good chance that'll take a while, but the other parts I expect to be fairly straightforward. None of these important keywords that I'm giving full analysis to are nearly as strict and precise in their use as "angel", and to a lesser extent, "demon", were.

I've also reposted, and slightly reformatted, VAT1 on our system's AO3, so hopefully that gets more of a discussion going on all this. Once VAT2 is done, it'll go up on AO3 as well as on Tumblr.

That's about it!