#2023: rl

[kinetic-elaboration]

January 5: Drawer Fic

I took a nap after work, which was a bad idea because I woke up at the time I should have been going to sleep. So. That's not great. I was really tired and also just generally kind of overwhelmed. I've been really good this week with, like, not being bothered by the sheer amount of STUFF and just sort of doing my best and then letting go. Even with all the office moving stuff on top of that. But I do think in general I was just getting worn down. Maybe that's just the nature of any full time job, even one you like, even one that's going well, even one that's not too arduous, even one you try to keep in perspective.

I could definitely feel work seeping into my thoughts even when I got home and so I just... I just wanted to rest. Close my eyes in a dark room. I guess I didn't trust anything to distract me enough.

I've been doing this thing where I write a little bit every night before bed--not these posts, but a fic that I'll just refer to as the Drawer Fic. It's been a long time since I wrote something fictional I had no intention of sharing with anyone ever. I'm allowing it to be bad. I'm allowing it to be embarrassing. I'm not writing it the way I usually write, in big chunks and with a timer, trying to get that perfect flow, but just lying in bed and pecking out words as fast or slow as they come to me. The goal has been 300 words a night--or rather, that the story advance in 300 word intervals each day, so if I start with say 700, I'd stop when I got to at least 900, etc. The story is the written down version of a little thing I had going in my head on the train. I had a different idea earlier that I was going to use for this purpose but this one was closer to the surface so I went with it instead. In my head, I wasn't thinking about it too much or about how it would translate to text; I was just sort of watching it unfold. I wish I could capture exactly that narrative and dialogue now but I know I can't; I was barely memorizing the general structure let alone the specifics. But I'm trying to be okay with that. The primary purpose here is to have something I look forward to at bedtime/something singular to focus on as I wind down. The secondary purpose is to have something to re-read later that's in the same family as this little fantasy story I'd otherwise totally forget. So far I'd say it's going pretty well.

Anyway, it's late. I want to hit my next multiple of 300, so I better do that quick and then sleep.

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

lmfao I'm watching the new goosebumps series and the main villain is trying to rebuild slappy the dummy but this show is trying to be hashtag serious so all the adults keep going "he's looking....for Him. he wants Him back. He will come after our kids." because not even an Oscar winning actor would be able to seriously deliver a line like "slappy the evil dummy is coming to kill us"

[xccentriktigress]

If you grew up with Goosebumps, do yourself a favor and go check out the new Goosebumps series. Because it has an overarching narrative it's very different, but I'm kind of in love with it.

This show has everything.

- Classic Goosebumps stories retold with care

- Justin Long doing the absolute most. I had no idea he had so much physical comedy in him

- Trans actors playing canonically, openly, on screen gay characters

- Hardcore 90s grunge nostalgia

- Plausible villains with plans that make sense, even if they involve ritual sacrifice

- Quickly resolved love triangles

- Goo that smells like watermelon Jolly Ranchers

And so much more. Honestly, if you like campy horror-lite nonsense go find this. It's on Disney and Hulu (or probably your preferred port of call 🏴‍☠️) and it's really fun.

[count-horror-xx]

Somebody PLEASE 🙏 make x male reader fics about this fine man

I NEED to give him kisses 🙏 I NEED to make out with him in his cat suit 🙏‼️‼️‼️

[taylorswiftstyle]

Chiefs vs Raiders | Kansas City, MO | December 25, 2023

Ralph Lauren 'Cable Knit Cashmere Sweater' - $198.00 $139.99

What a blast from the past with this sweater which I'm tentatively calling based on Taylor owning and wearing this particular knit in six different colours over twelve years.

Worn with: Guest in Residence coat, Hill House skirt, Jennifer Behr hair accessories, Foundrae jewelry, Sheertex tights, and Prada loafers

Photo by Jamie Squire via Getty Images

[dreambob]

Dinovember 2023 Day 30-Microraptor

Drinking the rainbow potion

Thank you everyone! I had tons of fun with this month :D It was wounderfull to see all kinds of different art works! just muah 😚👌 excellent stuff. And lastly thank you @1dinodaily for organising this!

[amyfevernight]

about the new goosebumps tv show

guys you don't get it, this goosebumps did the scariest thing ever

THEY MADE SLAPPY BRI'ISH.

[freerangeranger]

CASTELIA TIMES: OCTOBER 31ST 2023

are you fucking serious.

[undertheopensky]

We Are But Children 2

Whumptober Day 17: “Leave me alone.”

Characters: Legend, Twilight, etc

Trigger warnings: Past violence to a child, panic attacks, deaging

Read on Ao3!

This is set before We Are But Children 1, but is intended to be read afterwards.

No idea what I’m talking about? Read the first instalment here!

-----

Tiny!Legend is thirteen and already impressively cranky. He has also, fortunately, seen enough quest bullshit that multiple iterations of the hero’s spirit and a transdimensional monster hunt only gets an irritated sigh.

The thing that does give him pause is the fact that he’s supposed to be a nineteen-year-old veteran with seven adventures under his belt and a bottomless hoard of enchanted equipment.

He still refuses to wear pants, though.

-----

The wizzrobe didn’t look infected.

Every era’s monsters had differences only thousands of years could explain, so seeing a fiend that was only half-familiar was routine by now. That it was a wizzrobe was annoying. Warriors sometimes got a pinched look about him over those, and their attack patterns and weaknesses varied a lot, so they were often a bit of a wild card, which no one enjoyed.

Twilight had never seen a wizzrobe before all this portal business. On the one hand, he’s had no practice, and on the other, he has no expectations about how they’re supposed to move and fight. He still doesn’t like them much. No matter who they belong to, they’re always throwing magic around, and he doesn’t appreciate being set on fire.

This one at least isn’t throwing fire. It’s mostly just zipping around the battlefield, cackling unsettlingly, and dodging any swords that get too close. Wild takes potshots at it occasionally, but it’s mostly a big, flashy distraction that they all start to ignore.

A mistake, as it turns out.

Twilight almost misses it; he’s occupied with a moblin battering at his shield while he waits for an opening. But from the corner of his eyes there’s a flash of weirdly purple light and he turns just in time to see the wizzrobe’s magic cannon right into Legend’s unprotected back.

Legend doesn’t make a sound. He just crumples.

There’s more than one yell. The wizzrobe vanishes, three of Wild’s arrows finding a simultaneous mark, but the damage is already done. Wind is closest, and already fiercely rebuffing the bokoblins Legend had been fighting, while Warriors and Hyrule race over. Twilight forces himself to focus on the last two moblins - he’s no good to anyone if he gets a spear in the back because he missed one. Sky takes out one from behind and Twilight uses the distraction to cut down the second, and then both of them are racing for the commotion around Legend.

“No! Don’t touch me!”

Twilight’s never heard Legend’s voice sound so high and panicked. He looks so small, cringing away from Hyrule, and Twilight hopes he’s not too badly injured -

He doesn’t just look small. He is small. Too short, with too-thin shoulders, and wide violet eyes set in a child’s too-soft face.

“What the fuck?” Wind blurts out.

“Language,” says Sky, but his heart’s not in it. If he’s anything like Twilight he’s thinking much the same thing.

“S-stay back!” the tiny version of Legend is saying. He scrabbles for his sword, and though several people protest they’re all too slow to stop him drawing it. “D-don’t come any closer!”

“Easy, easy,” Warriors says, holding up his hands to show he’s put his weapon away. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

Tiny!Legend scoffs. “Like I’ve never heard that one before.”

Having made it to his feet, he’s slowly edging away from them towards the thicker stand of trees. And Twilight’s struck by the thought that if they lose him now, they may never find him again.

Time must have the same thought. When Tiny!Legend’s sword dips in preparation to run, Time swoops in and scoops him up against his chest.

Legend screams.

He twists and thrashes in Time’s grip, desperately thumping on every part of him he can reach. Even with the armour dulling the blows Time is struggling to keep his balance. The old man drops to one knee, but still maintains a careful hold on Tiny!Legend’s small form.

The boy screams again, thin and wispy, and gasps for air.

He’s so scared he can’t breathe, Twilight realises, like Colin when he wakes from nightmares he won’t talk about. And that - that’s something he knows how to deal with.

“Hey, hey, buddy, you’re gonna be okay.” He sits cross legged in front of the two and grabs Tiny!Legend’s hands. “I need you to breathe with me. I’ll count, and we’ll breathe in, and count and breathe out. All you gotta do is follow it.”

Yanking against him, Tiny!Legend tries to growl, but nothing comes out except a squeaky wheeze. His eyes are big and wet and frightened.

“I know it’s scary but you gotta breathe with me. Breath in, two three four -” Twilight exaggerates his breath, making it loud and whooshing - “and out, two three four -” he relaxes his hold on the boy’s hands just a little.

At first Tiny!Legend doesn’t even try - he’s preoccupied trying to wriggle free of Time’s deceptively gentle grip. Twilight just keeps counting and squeezing, keeping his voice low and calm and steady, and slowly the boy starts calming down. As soon as it’s safe to let him go Time retreats, and the boy relaxes a little further.

“Easy,” Twilight murmurs. “That’s better, now, ain’t it?”

He’s not hyperventilating anymore. Hiccuping with sobs, but no longer panicked, just - scared, and confused.

Tiny!Legend sniffles. “You - you don’t - you don’t look much like a knight.”

“That’s cuz I’m not,” says Twilight. “‘M a rancher.”

Tiny!Legend blinks. “Is that - is that like a farmer?”

“Well, a farmer usually deals in crops, see - plants that you grow t’eat. A rancher like me jest works with animals, and that could be fer food, fibre, or work.”

That gets a little frown, less angry than confused. “But, but my grandparents have a farm, and they have animals too! They have cuccos and goats and sheep.”

“Do they grow plants for food?”

“Yeah. Wheat and corn and tomatoes and pumpkins, sometimes.”

“Then they’re fer sure farmers. A rancher like me only does animals, no crops, but farmers can do both. Make sense?”

“I guess.” Tiny!Legend still looks dubious. “You’re sure you’re not a knight?”

“Very sure,” says Twilight, feeling the beginnings of amusement. “Too much politics for me.”

“Then why are you travelling with knights?” It’s almost accusing.

“Well I don’t actually think most of them are knights, but it’s kind of a stupid story to start with…” Twilight scratches the back of his neck, playing at sheepishness.

Tiny!Legend leans in. “Wha’d’you mean?”

“Well, my day started out pretty normal. Feed the goats, milk the goats, chase the buck around the yard until he lets me put ointment on his bad foot… then durin’ lunch hour, a dark magic portal just appears in the pasture. Now, portals are bad news. Usually monsters come out of ‘em. I didn’t really want monsters rampaging all over my village an’ botherin’ the goats, so I grabbed all my gear and went through first t’see if I could head ‘em off.”

“That doesn’t sound very smart,” says Tiny!Legend, riveted.

“I’ve done worse,” says Twilight. “But, on the other side o’ this portal, I didn’t find no monsters. All I found was these suckers -” he jabs a thumb at the other Links, who’d dispersed to a semi-polite distance while Tiny!Legend was panicking - “who’d all done the same damn thing as me. So there was a bit o’ arguing about whose fault it was that there were portals appearin’. And then we found monsters. An’ since then, we’ve been trackin’ ‘em down.”

“What kinda monsters? Why did you have to track them?”

“All kindsa monsters. I seen monsters with this lot that I never even knew existed. And we gotta track ‘em because somethin’s wrong with ‘em. They got black blood, an’ it makes ‘em more dangerous. Tougher, and smarter. They been usin’ tactics we never knew they could, an’ it’s too dangerous for normal people to leave ‘em wanderin’ around.”

“That sounds a lot like what knights are supposed to do.” Tiny!Legend flexes the hands Twilight’s still holding; not like he wants to get free, just - thoughtful.

“Back where I come from, knights are pretty useless, so people like me help out where we can.”

Tiny!Legend nods thoughtfully. “Yeah, I get that.”

“Mm, good. Now.” Twilight tugs gently on Tiny!Legend’s hands, spinning him a little towards Time, who’s been leaning against a tree leafing through his notebook. “I think someone has something he’d like to say to you.” Over Tiny!Legend’s head, he mouths APOLOGISE at Time.

Time looks briefly enlightened before sobering. “I’m sorry I grabbed you. You were about to run off, and there’s more black-blooded monsters in these woods, and you didn’t know about them or where we were. I thought it would be safer for you to stay put, but I’m sorry for scaring you.”

Tiny!Legend screws up his face angrily at Time saying he’d been scared, but doesn’t protest, still eyeing Time’s plate armour with a wary gaze. “Don’t do it again,” he says.

“I’m sure he won’t,” says Twilight. “Now. I’m pretty sure you’ve still got questions, yeah?” Like where they were, and why Legend was here, and how he’d gotten here from wherever he last remembered being.

But even at thirteen, Legend’s already got a shrewd light in his eye.

“…what’s your name?”

“Now that’s another story entirely…”

[prettyskitty973]

a good first day. we will be set up for the week.

i enjoyed our unown guests. even though they tried to take over my booth for their spelling bee. @unown-sanctuary please come back anytime.

[thatmultifandomchick]

I am DISGUSTED, I am REVOLTED, I dedicate my entire life to our Lord and Savior RL Stine, and THIS is the thanks I get?!

(I may understand the vision, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.)

[kinetic-elaboration]

December 12: Work Shit

Today was such a shitty day. And for the most dumb-fuck reasons too. There was work drama in the morning so incredibly inane I am embarrassed to post about it in a pubic space but the tl;dr of it is that I had no opinions about the thing, but was still the brunt of others’ (an other’s really) annoyance about it. We kept saying ‘it’s not personal’ as we spoke harshly to each but it felt SO personal, and I just couldn’t get over it for pretty much the rest of the day. I am quite sure it wounded me more and affected me for longer than anyone else. I want to be like ‘please don’t do this to me, I am a sensitive flower, I am easily emotionally decimated’ but also like ‘I am not bothered at all (lying), I am strong and fine, I am above this, I am not engaging because there is nothing to engage with.’

Again, there was nothing to engage with. But it just made me feel so shitty. I still feel kind of sad even now, to be honest. I was so bummed out and tired that I took a nap as soon as I got home (after a bus ride sitting in front of someone who was yelling into their phone and kept saying ‘no one can hear me! It’s the bus!’—um? We can all hear you because it’s the bus?). There was probably nothing else for me to do but of course now I am up late because it takes a while to wake up again from a nap, then I am all riled up and easily distracted. So I will go to sleep at a stupid hour again, and also have accomplished nothing with my paltry post-work hours.

Fuck I’m so depressed. This is such a depressing train of thought.

Anyway, yesterday I mentioned at work that I had never seen a single episode of Doctor Who (this is the truth: I think I saw a partial episode on TV, but not even the whole thing) and this shocked my co-worker considerably. She said it was incredibly surprising of me or something of that nature. And I do not know how to take this. I mean, probably what she means is ‘you are known as someone who likes science fiction and is rather nerdy’ and these are true things and also positive reputations to have. But I have literally never given the slightest fuck about Doctor Who lmao. I can’t tell you why, but it obviously doesn’t feel weird to me that I don’t because I never have! Obviously I’ve been in a lot of spaces that are sort of Who-adjacent (fandom, tumblr, nerd-dom, crossover appeal with other stuff I like) but it’s never been tempting or intriguing at all. It’s not on my list.

What I said was just like… a non-answer that sounded like an answer based on my tone of voice. Like, ‘Hmmm, well I’ve seen a partial episode on TV and I’ve seen Torchwood.’ This is all true but does not at all address the surprise or the reasons of my not being interested. I was surprised by her surprise, I don’t have good reasons, and also all I could say would probably read as insulting to Who fans, one of whom was in the room.

I think part of it is, honestly, that my mom isn’t into Doctor Who, and so I did not have anyone getting me into it at a formative time. Not that people can’t get into Who independently and not that I haven’t gotten into things independently but I just… I really think that in this particular instance, if she had been into it, I would have been. My mom being into Torchwood is the reason I watched it (well… 2-ish seasons). She thinks Who is a kids’ show and while it’s probably more a family show, that opinion really influenced my non-desire to watch it.

Another part is that I’m sort of a sci-fi poser in a way. I hate to admit it but it’s true. I love that people think of me as a sci fi fan and I think of myself that way too but I am NOT well read. I’m more like an ST:TOS fan with aspirations to sci fi fandom. This isn’t to say I want to pick up Who (or Dune, the other piece of science fiction I was strangely assumed to be familiar with), but I do want to be more well-read in some classic sci fi literature, as well as be more aware of like modern sci fi stuff. Especially books. There are very few sci fi TV series that interest me. A couple but not a ton.

I also have a weird definition of science fiction which is, it’s science fiction if it FEELS like science fiction to me, personally, the arbiter of all things. Some media are in the sense that they can’t be anything else, I guess, but they don’t feel like science fiction to me and so I’m not interested, which is a weird and irrational and unreasonable thing for me to say, but it’s the middle of the night and I’m sad so there it is.

[violetmina]

UPDATE

Hey, y'all. I know it's been a while. A shit ton has happened for me the past month and a half. But I'm doing better than what I was. I have a new place lined up and should be moved in by mid-October. I'm also in a very healthy relationship now with a guy whom I still wonder if he's real tbh. He's very supportive of all my creative endeavors, so I have another person to kick me back into gear to finish Chokehold. I'm planning to start writing again once things have settled.

On a similar note, I am attending FanX this weekend. For my SPN family, you're probably aware that Jared and Gen Padalecki are attending. I have rushed out this piece to try my damndest to get Jared's autograph, to join the Crowley piece I had Mark sign years ago. My art skills are rusty, so I'm nervous. Wish me luck that I can buy an autograph before they sell out.

Thank you all who have reached out, for all of your support. It means a lot to me.

[blacktofade]

Bought myself a camera to take bird pics but instead I've become nutria paparazzi.

[aleksa-sims]

Fav Photos from 2023

I was tagged by @nightlifeseries ❤️🖤 Thank you friend! ❤️🖤

Since I only made story posts in 2023, some of my pics are with Captions. Sorry. Just ingnore the text.

1. Of course, D.'s & my wedding. ❤️

2. ❤️🌴Love Sulani!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So pretty!!!

3. My Baby 🐱

4.Bunnies & Snow ❤️☃️🐰

5. And Autumn!! My absolutely my fav season 🍂🧡

I'm going to tag @sims4littlebird @kissalopa @marishaeee @mysimsloveaffair @igglemouse @zuskarumoto and everyone who wants. Also, please feel free to ignore!!

[lacnunga]

ships ships ships sHIPS SHIPS SHIPS 🚢 ⛵️🛳