#ugh there’s so so so much more I could add

[unhappy-sometimes]

a 2024 reading retrospective

so. i read a lot of fics in 2024. here are some of my favorites.

before i get started, please note that these are not in any particular order and these are not all of my favorites!!!!!!!! i wanted to include so many more but i just wasn't able to! also please don't roast me for reading stuff from more than two years ago :(((

anyway, here we go!!

1. Air by Cantare

as always, @cantareincminor knocks it out of the park. i'm a sucker for alternate first meeting AUs and Air is one of the good ones!! i find that it can be hard to find authentic sounding banter between yor and twilight, but cantare manages it somehow! they have such great and natural sounding dialogue. it's just a one chapter fic, but maybe if we ask nicely enough, cantare will continue one day 😏

2. like the wild geese by anonymous_viscacha

okay in all honesty, i read this for the first time last week and i scrambled to add this one to the list. it's a short one shot about a shared lunch break between yor and loid, but it's so sweet and endearing that i just had to put it on. i love love love it when people let loid and yor catch up on the childhood they lost because they deserve it. i'm kinda obsessed with this fic right now.

3. what happens outside by aerequets

it's kinda unfair that @aerequets gets to be a great artist and author but here we are. i'm not complaining tho because what happens outside is a delightful read. i enjoy exploring post reveal pre relationship twiyor and this fic is perfect for that!! it's also just really cute and reading things from yor's perspective is super endearing.

4. chaos theory by sarsaparillia

so ngl this one scared me at first because i do NOT like major character death fics and this one really seems like it, but this fic was unexpectedly wholesome and has a happy ending!!! it's short but bittersweet so i can't really talk about it without spoiling it any more. go read it! it's short!

5. eventually i fall into you, you attack my heart by princessguard

i know this is a controversial (and somewhat ironic) take but i usually really don't like eden AUs but. this fic is proof that there are always exceptions to the rule. this one is a short little story about a serious student at eden and the weird girl he keeps meeting in trees. i don't know exactly why i love this one so much but it do. it's cute and the epilogue got me grinning like a fool.

6. like real people do by Puolain

once again another alternative meeting AU. i dunno, man, it's just so much fun to see twilight and yor having the chance to be real people and accidentally fall in love which each other. i eat that up every time. great work @loveroma!

7. I'll Be There in a Minute, Dear by fluffmelange

i was SO CLOSE to putting fluffmelange's "Leave No Trace of Yourself" here because that one is SO FUNNY but alas, this delightful fic barely won out in the end. you know what you should do? read both. fluffmelange is keeping us all fed with short and sweet fics that are so much fun to read. this one is a favorite simply because the premise is so goofy and simple but i could 100% see it being canon lol. we are in your capable hands @fluffmelange.

8. I've Been Throwing Bricks At Your Window Like There's No Better Way To Say Hello by thesmallestfishinthesea

this fic has such a silly and simply premise but i love it so so so much. it's about the three times yor forgets her keys (plus one extra time loid forgets!!!!) and it's so cute to have a view inside yor's (often frazzled) mind. i don't know what else to say other than READ IT RIGHT NOW!!! great work @smallest-fish-inthesea!

this is not all!! i really wanted to include the wonderful works of @whateversawesome, @briefhottubcoffee, @spencer-is-alive, luinel, and more (ao3 literally went out just as i was typing this UGH what awful timing) but i wanted to do something to give back to this awesome community. fun fact, today is my birthday and there's a tradition in my family where the birthday person gives presents to others. so this is my present to everyone!! thanks for everything you guys and here's to another great year!

oh oh oh one last thing, i tried to link everyone's tumblr if they have one, so if there's an author on here who has a tumblr that i didn't link, let me know and i'll link them.

okay! thanks everyone!

(ALSO DON'T MAKE FUN OF HOW DIFFERENT SOME OF THE DRAWING STYLES LOOK IN SOME OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS, I WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES AND THEY LOOK STUPID ALL PUT TOGETHER LEAVE ME ALONE😭😭😭😭😭😭)

[scottdoesitall]

fluffy bucky imagine/headcanons cause I said so (this is longer than I thought for it to be, sorry.)

how does bucky barnes show love?

bucky isn't necessarily 'used' to loving someone especially after years of not doing so, can't blame the guy really. last time he loved someone he was young, and that is one thing that he isn't anymore. it's not like he's really yearned for love either, he knew he wasn't capable of it, so why try?

...until he met you. you done messed him up, had him thinking about you all day. he had such a good streak going, not falling for anyone and actually keeping to himself, but you! ugh, he just couldn't. you thought he hated you at first, the way he'd get defensive after you'd just ask him 'what time is it?' and his first instinct would be to try and fight you off. he knew it wasn't right, nor was it the right approach-- but what was the right approach to his feelings?

you were precious, you were perfect in his eyes. all your imperfections were perfect--all the way down to the times you have a pimple sticking out on your face, or even the times you'd trip and fall going down the stairs down the avengers compound-- he didn't find it embarrassing he found it adorable. and that, that he hated. why were you getting to him??

as time went on, he grew less defensive around you, actually being more of a help to you. you were making yourself coffee in the morning? he demand that you go do something else while he makes it for you.

--

"go do something else, doll." his voice interrupted the silence in the room, making you jump before looking back, seeing him across the counter. your eyes were wide before returning to their natural calmed state, tilting your head at him. you hadn't even paid attention to the nickname.

your hands fell from the coffee machine-- you were just about to the coffee beans in the machine before he stopped you. (I'm gonna be so fr I've only used a coffee machine once so I could have my logic wrong) "...why?.." you spoke quietly and slowly, a confused look visible on your face. he started walking around the counter, talking to you in the process.

"I'll do it, go do something else. you have better things to do." he spoke actually quite stern, making his point very clear, he left little room for an argument or even a word from you. you stayed quiet, his form stopping in front of you as you just blinked at him. you didn't move, just sat there curious and all cute-- he found it adorable, though he knew he shouldn't. why couldn't he shake you off of him? why were you bothering him??

"go." he spoke as a demand before you nodded and walked away, ever so confused on why his behaviors were one of a bipolar's recently. (ahaha get it ahaha..)

he later brought that coffee to you, it was actually surprisingly good considering you usually add a certain amount of creamer and what not in your own.

...he memorized what you put on your coffee, and how much you put in your coffee..

--

he adored you, yet he couldn't understand why. he adored the way you spoke, your voice, your eyes, how you'd curl your eyelashes in the mornings-- though he knew he probably shouldn't be paying attention to that, he enjoyed the small details within you, or even how you'd run along with your life on a daily basis.

after that while coffee incident, you and him seemed to grow closer. you'd both end actually making coffee in the mornings, it was calming with him around. and it wasn't just the coffee stuff you both were doing together, he'd even join you on nightly walks. looking at the way the streets would light up at night, as you would talk and talk with that sweet voice of yours he adored.

he was loving this. doing chores for your even when you wouldn't ask, listening to your heavenly voice, or the way your knuckles would brush together when you both walked together. you were just so perfect in his eyes, yet at the same time he hated how everyday he would fall more in love with you. he's the winter solider, he's not supposed to love, nor does he deserve it in the first place.

yet here he was. falling head over heels for a girl he convinced himself he couldn't have.

--

on one of your nightly walks, you both rested on a bench as the cold weather brushed over you both, your eyes mesmerized from the lights and how they illuminated the streets. it was a perfect view too from where you were, sitting on a grassy patch viewing the city.

you sighed, bucky sitting there even just amazingly overjoyed to be in your presence. nervous, yes, but overjoyed. you sighed, catching his attention before you turned to look at him. he could swear he was looking into a goddess's eyes. "bucky," your hands reached close to his, clearly hinting at something bigger than yourself. "you have..much better things to be doing rather than being here with myself." you spoke softly with a somewhat distraught expression, bucky could only guess where this was going, his heart was sinking even just looking at your saddened expression.

"...why do you chose me? out of all the other avengers you can latch to...me?" you tilted your head at him, concerned to hear the truth from him. you weren't sure what to expect.

...but he was cornered. what was he supposed to say? 'i love and adore you more than words can say'? he was still trying to get over the fact you just put yourself down in front of him! he looked a little distracted, his eyes looking to the floor as he opened his mouth. nothing came out. he couldn't find the right words.

his mind raced, every possibility running through his head before he finally came to a conclusion. "...you're perfect. you are the perfect woman for me. nobody gave you the permission to be so perfect, man." he spoke bluntly, his metal arm going to his forehead with closed eyes. your eyes were the opposite of closed. they were wide. he liked you? no,no, no, this was more than a like, this was a love! he loved you!?

"I've spent days, weeks stressing about how perfect you are. how whenever I looked at you I can't help but feel as if you've managed to steal my heart. oh my god, do you see what you do to me?" he tried to cover up his words with a giggle, but it was feigned, fading only after seconds.

you stayed quiet, he thought you were judging him silently. he was expecting you to tell him off, tell him whatever he thought about you was wrong-- but he got an opposite. a twist. "...that's.. wow.. yeah, ok.. uhmm.." you scratched your head, your eyes hovering to where your hand was. seeing it was close to his, you took your chance. your fingers sneaked up on his own, making him flinch before he rested into your touch. "...I'd be willing to give 'this' a try-- if that's what you're implying?.."

he lifted his head up almost immediately, all was not lost! he had won! he spoke out quick, actually smiling back at you softly. "y-yeah." there was a level of comfort in the air, both your hands intertwined as you both stared at the illuminating lights of the city.

maybe he was deserving of love.

if you liked this you should put in an ask, rules are in my introduction.

[tenaciouschronicler]

December 28 2024 2009

We all need to take a second to admire the sheer beauty of Prospit and Skaia because WOW.

If i thought the blues and golds were stunning before these frames blow that out of the water. And the clouds! My god the clouds. As we see Prospit turn its moon lines up in the eclipse and the clouds reveal scenes we have witnessed or may witness, sometimes changing shapes but mostly acting as a portal. Earth and SBURB are much more intermingled than we could have anticipated.

One of the clouds showed the meteor from the past that formed Jades island. As the meteor passed it left the cloud vision and became a cloud itself, which begs the question how thats possible and if it can somehow do the reverse but thats neither here nor there. What is important is that this is the meteor that Jade heard, only it didnt land on Earth but a strange present-past double of Earth on Prospit.

Im super happy I was able to get a screencap of the superimposition of the Earth and Prospit Earth impact site. Its not the best but it really highlights how much intermingling occurs during an Eclipse and how Jade is able to get her future visions. Speaking of, @homestuckreplay does a great job going more in depth about that here (always appreciate you friend, that kinda theorizing isnt really my wheelhouse <3). We get to learn that this is the crash sound from Jades pesterlog, one of potentially several that she has while awake on Prospit.

From the meteor, Bec emerges out of the lava as well as a small glowing white spirograph that is at the site of the frog stature back on Earth. Theres another shot of Dream and Robo Jade heading to the site to investigate only to be blocked by Bec in both cases. I wonder if because Bec is a Skaian creation if his movements are outside of time in such a way as to be in both places at once (similar to Jade but just one body) or if he is connected to each version of himself and they move as one when necessary (exactly like Dream and Robo Jade are to Jade).

With that option foiled, Jade heads back to her room but notices that John has left his room. We dont see when exactly it happened, but sometime when Jade was exploring the crash site John left the bed and now floats in the sky outside of his bedroom (which looks so cool and just adds on to the mirror imagery we are getting right now). John is starting to wake up. We get flashes of his cloud visions (shapes only) from when he took a nap while Jades silhouette flashes between the black standard pose and her current floating dream self.

Unfortunately he is woken up (his real self that is) due to interference. Looking back at that sequence two things stand out, beside the trippy light show that is. The first is the ever present spirograph and the second is a pumpkin. The spirograph leads me to believe Skaianet had some hand in allowing the interrupution. Thinking on it, its strange that Skaia and Skaianet are named as such. Im sarting to be real skeptical on the purpose of Skaia as a whole. If they are one and the same why is it letting all of this happen? And is it really a good idea to be protecting it when we dont know its intentions?

The pumpkin, as far was we can tell at this point, has to be related to the Wandering Vagabond. The pumpkin in that sequence is not one that we have seen yet. It really seems that the theory of outside hacker forces is becoming more and more likely but in such an odd way. I genuinely dont think WV caused this out of malice, but I dont understand why it was allowed to happen. Again, Skaia or SBURB or Whatever is very confusing in its goals. Ugh, I might have to put my current little essay project on the back burner to try and parse each piece of this dubious entity.

Finally, we see John awake once more but at the same time whatever happened to keep his dream self from waking up also woke Earth Jade up. Another mirror, but this time between John and Jade. Im taking this to mean theres probably more similarities between them than we previously thought or its another way to highlight the simultaneous nature in which that interruption occurred.

All I know is the next compare/contast essay I make is gonna be WAY more convoluted than I thought.

[slutisnotabadword]

I’m currently writing a Bamon fic that basically reimagines TVD, starting with them starting college and with Bonnie as the protagonist. And like I have SO many headcanons I’m gonna incorporate. A lot of them comes from the show but just elevated.

1. Bonnie

My lovely, mistreated Bonnie… boy do I have ideas for you. First of all, she’s going to have some good ass hairstyles. BLACK GIRL hairstyles. I think Bonnie loves to wear curly ponytails with decorated scarves, or like some long knotless braids. AHHH I have some ideas for her hair. But speaking of style, Bonnie loves the bohemian aesthetic. So, air of half tops, waist beads, long skirts, etc (go on Pinterest and type “bohemian black girl, and you’d see what I’m talking about). She wears alot of brown, green, beige and like golden colors. She wears red when she’s feeling spicy. Bonnie is also into candles, HEAVILY, and crystals. She’s not religious but spiritual. And for college, she’s majoring in dance and minoring in occult studies. Her favorite genre of dance is contemporary. And her favorite breakfast is cereal, and she’s most likely a vegetarian. Also I wanna change her background a bit. She actually grew up being raised by her mother and her grandmother. Her father left because he couldn’t or wouldn’t handle with their witch ancestry, when he found out.

2. Damon

Damon’s bisexual. That’s it, that’s the quote. But no seriously, I firmly believe that he is, and I stand by that. And also in my fic, Damon has this kind of… “punk rocker” aesthetic going. Imagine eyeliner, leather jackets with pins, ripped jeans, black and red color pallete. With that being said, he has a SICK fashion sense. He paints his own fingernails, mainly the color black. Another big thing about Damon is that he LOVES music. He is a music fanatic. He adores all the genres and can see the beauty in all of them, and he collects records. He also loves to play various of instruments. He has mastered the piano, the guitar, the violin and the trumpet and other shit too, and he loves to sing but he never sings infront of people. He loves to cook. Whenever he’s frustrated or gets startled, he swears in Italian. And speaking of Italian, Damon and Stefan’s were born in like the late 1400s or the early 1500s in Florence, Italy. And their family portrait was actually painted by the famous painter, Caravaggio. Damon didn’t come to America till the 1920s as he began to admire the American people’s party era.

3. Elena

She actually stays pretty much the same. However, Elena really likes Britney Spears so a lot of her outfits are inspired by her. She wears alot of dark colors, but you will see her in a pink matching tracksuit and a baby blue cropped top. Elena kind of takes every moment to show her belly button. Oh, and she loves cropped jackets. Veryyyyy Y2K going on here. Elena is trynna become a doctor but she’s also minoring in writing.

4. Caroline

I gotta be honest, I have no notes for Caroline cause I think her character in the show was written perfectly enough to be memorable and entertaining. However I think her aesthetic could be boosted up a notch to rest for her image. Caroline wears a lot of bubbly colors. Very bright but also soft color palette, so imagine a lot of soft pinks, blues, whites. She loves to wear plaid skirts and cardigans and sweaters. She’s trying to be a lawyer, which I fully expect from her. Think of Elle Woods without the hot pink.

5. Stefan

Stefan is good ol’ Stefan (except in my head, the version that I like). He’s very athletic, he gives very much sensitive gym bro. And he’s actually kind of passionate about all sports, and watches them regularly. That being said, he also loves writing, specifically poetry. So therefore he’s majoring in writing. Stefan first came to America, following his brother in the 20s. They were trying to make up with each other, and as Damon was trying to teach him how to feed as a normal vampire, it caused Stefan to be the ripper of something something. Basically in the show but different timelines. Oh and Stefan wears the color red and blue a lot, kind of patriotic of him lmao.

[sysig]

They’re both so cute, what’s up with that (Patreon)

[acourtofquestions]

“She had no magic to wield, save for the keen eyes of the goddess at her shoulder and an uncanny ability to remain unnoticed, to play into expectations.”

[seventh-district]

not even gonna tag this properly bc i don't wanna get Involved but i do have some Thoughts i need to get out into the void so here we go

(aaa quick edit: CW for mention/discussion of Boothill leaks)

[screambirdscreaming]

At the bus stop one time there was a gaggle of preschoolers waiting to catch the bus for a field trip day, and someone walked past with a couple of friendly little dogs, to great general delight.

But after a little bit, the dogs were getting overwhelmed, and the preschoolers were gently coaxed to back off so the person with the dogs could continue on. Specifically, one of the preschool teachers said, "Sometimes, when you're small, being surrounded by big people can be a bit scary and overwhelming. Even if they are friendly."

This was recieved as great wisdom: after all, the preschoolers were also small, and understood how scary and overwhelming big people could be! And the dogs were indeed even smaller than the preschoolers, so it made sense.

What was funny and charming was that, upon absorbing and reflecting on this wisdom, they all felt the need to tell it to one another. In tones of great insight, they turned to one another and said, "Did you know? Sometimes when you are small, being surrounded by big people can be scary and overwhelming! Even if they are friendly!" Back and forth, without any particular concern that they were all saying the same thing. Have reached comprehension of an insight, it must be shared!

I must say that this behavior is less charming in tumblr users than in preschoolers. Not least because tumblr users, having gained a little analytical skill to misuse, insist on Summarizing and Generalizing and Unifying the insights they repeat, quickly turning any interesting new information into formulaic dogmatic mush.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[byanyan]

the thing that byan is most embarrassed of... is that they have days where they physically can't drag themself out of bed. a lot of the time on their worse days, they'll force themself to get up and do something out of spite (usually ends up being smth involving violence and/or their self destructive tendencies) bc laying around at the mercy of their poor mental health makes them feel weak, which in turn makes them feel worse, but sometimes the weight of everything is just genuinely too much and they end up spending the day either sleeping or dissociating. or both. a lot of the time they'll also turn to substance abuse to get them through, to numb themself and make things more tolerable.

unsurprisingly, you'll never hear them talk about this. it's the sort of thing no one needs to know about, and it's something they're deeply ashamed of. they'll make excuses and lie about having just ditched plans/skipped school/etc. if someone ever comments on them not turning up - which people do, fortunately, tend to buy, considering they already have a tendency to just not show up where they're supposed to.

[helenhuntingdon]

Casually made a playlist inspired by The Newsreader and Tim & Dale.

With tracks from The Newsreader, fanvids and fics (I’ll share the fanvids - see Ao3 for the fics!) and just 80s queer music!

See also: The Newsreader’s Official Playlist.

And this Tim/Dale Playlist and adorable Tim Ahern playlist.

[gatsby-system-folks]

I have a lot of thoughts about ai and most of them are sad

[mearcatsreturns]

“authors behaving badly”...are they behaving badly, or are they just writing a story that you don’t like or that doesn’t resonate with you in particular? are they not engaging in a way you like?

[pandora15]

i think it's really rude of the excedrin i took a few hours ago to not work

[orcelito]

My grandma reached out about hanging out with me n my cousin tomorrow, & since this week's fall break I actually Can for once. But also how last minute it was kind of annoys me hfkshfjd like I agreed to it but I'm like. Man now I have to restructure my plan for how I was gonna do all this. Augh.

I also remembered just a bit ago that I Do have therapy tomorrow lol. But that should only require pushing the family thing back a little. But it does mean more things I'm doing tomorrow. Augh.

[philosophicallie]

also being short in the western world is fucking humiliating and not even in a compare your appearance way. its the fucking constant lack of fitting clothing because your proportions are so fucking short because you total up to fucking FIFTY FIVE!!!! 55 inches ONLY

small sized clothing will usually still have 4-5 excess inches for fucking standardization IM NOT THE STANDARD IM A STUPID SHORT ASIAN IMMIGRANT JUST LET ME HAVE SMALLER CLOTHES WITH SOME FUCKING DIGNITY