#30 days of Shae

[moiraimyths]

Howdy, fateful friends! Are you an artist or illustrator with an interest in visual novels?

If so: Moirai Myths, creators of the visual novel The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe), are in need of guest artists! More specifically, we're looking for up to two artists to help us with the content graphics ("CGs") for Maeve and Shae's upcoming routes. All of the details will be listed on our application form (linked below), but here is the gist:

This is paid work with 20-30 business day deadlines per piece!

Complicated revisions in the post-sketch phase are compensated!

You will be prioritized for future guest artist opportunities!

You will be featured/credited on Moirai Myths' website and in the game itself!

Sound interesting? If so, apply here:

Click under the cut for some F&Q 👇

Who are you? (I'm new here!)

Hi! We're Moirai Myths: a small, newish visual novel company based out of Canada. We're making a game inspired by mostly Irish mythology, which was funded on Kickstarter in 2023! Our game's got fairy politics, a diverse cast, a Gaeilge-to-English translation tool, and routes that can be played either romantically or platonically! Also horses. An ungodly amount of horses, really.

If that odd pitch sounded intriguing, perhaps you'd like to play our demo! It's free on Steam & Itch.io.

Why are you looking for guest artists?

When we originally launched our Kickstarter, the plan was to have our three in-house artists collaborate on the CGs in the same way our header image was. However, we quickly realized that adding CGs, even if they're done collaboratively, onto the existing duties of our artists was a tall order. Add to that the departure of our original sprite artist (who has since been replaced by our graphic designer), and we determined that having our in-house team work on CGs was simply not possible if we still wanted our first release to happen in 2024. So, rather than omitting CGs or adding them in at a later time, we came up with the idea of hiring guest artists. Overall this means our CGs will be a bit more varied in terms of art style, but we like to think of this as a positive! NDM's development will take a number of years to complete in full, so we hope our CGs will allow us to feature a lot of artists either within the VN/indie dev community already, or artists who aspire to work in gaming and are looking for entry positions.

How long will applications remain open for?

This application will be open until Sunday, March 24 at midnight (EST)! If we intend to extend past that deadline, we'll make an announcement about it.

I can't apply right now. Will you look for more CG guest artists in the future?

Definitely! As mentioned, NDM will take a while to develop in full, so this is by no means your only opportunity to apply. That being said, we suspect we're going to end up shortlisting a number of artists over the course of this application period, and we intend to keep a list of all the runners-up. So, even if you won't be able to participate this time, it might be a good idea to apply anyway just to remain in our contacts! Either way, this will not be the last time we have apps.

Will you be looking for guest artists outside of CGs?

Maybe! We already have two guest artists (Nefukurou and Madi Funk) working on sprites and CGs respectively, so it's always possible that we'll have other artistic needs later down the line. Likewise, we may also reach out to past guest artists for future work with us, whether it's on this game or something else!

You say we need to sign an NDA. What does that entail?

The non-disclosure agreement essentially means you will be legally unable to publicly disclose any confidential information you become privy to as a result of working with us. This would include personal information about the developers, as well as spoilers from the game itself. In addition do this, you will be expected to sign over the IP and copyright of any artworks you produce for us.

Can I still use my artworks in portfolios, even if I don't own the copyright?

Yes! We'd only ask, if your portfolio is a website, that you wait to do so until after your art has been made public by us, either on our social media or via the publication of the game. Our first release is anticipated to happen later this year, most likely mid-autumn.

How do you guys feel about AI? Do you intend to use it, or would you ever train an AI off of the artworks whose copyright you own?

No.

Making a game is expensive and time-consuming, but AI is no replacement for human artistry. We fundamentally believe that any advancements in AI should be used for the purpose of giving people more time to make art, not take away opportunities for it. Moirai Myths will never, ever use AI or train an AI off your work.

***

If you've got any more questions for us that we didn't think to include here, feel free to send us an ask!

[lola-andheruniverse]

I have a fic rec (I don't know if it's recommended already)! The Sweetest Thing by Shae on 9L. The whole fic is modern AU where Carol, Daryl and Sophia are a happy family. The vibe is very warm and cozy with a strong infusion of Autumn vibes. It's also spicy 👀 (nudge nudge wink wink). She does a beautiful job of capturing a wholesome snapshot of what their lives would've been like (without zombies + apocalypse)

Thanks for doing this. You're wonderful.

Hi, dear @indigoraysoflight! Thank you so much for your kind words (here and on DM) and your support for this little project. I love @shimmershae's style of writing as it's always beautiful and emotionally driven. I hadn't had the chance to read this story yet so your rec was a gift to me too. I really enjoyed reading it while I took a time away from tumblr. It warmed my heart. I hope other carylers like it too. The Sweetest Thing by Shae/UAgirl is posted on 9Lives, FF.net and AO3. Summary: She’s warm in his arms—sleepy sweet and soft and so damn pretty. Rated: M / Mature Word count: 7802  Published: October 30, 2018 - ONE-SHOT You said it all on your rec, so I'll add an excerpt of this lovely fic to give an extra nudge to our fellow carylers to go read (and review) it:

“Thank you,” she tells him later.  “You…I…thank you.”  “Ain’t nothing,” he says.  Uncomfortable with her gratitude when he’s the one should be doing the thanking.  The one should be sending up a word to a God he ain’t always believed in.     “Daryl,” she sighs.  Cups his face in her hands and stretches on her toes.  Lets her soft kiss linger ‘til he has no choice but to let all those maybes just fade away because this is right.  She and ‘Phia?  They’re fucking everything and he’ll spend the rest of his days trying to honor that truth, even if all he has right now is a single, inadequate word he can barely get out.  Rough and laced with gravel.  “Welcome.” 

[cemeterywretch]

lmao, so the new manager asked me last week if i wanted to pick up an extra shift today, "4:30-8:30", and like, that's a short but not atypical closing shift, so i was like "yeah sure". she failed to specify that she meant 4:30-8:30 am. so i got a call after having been asleep for one hour like "hey shae i'm so sorry to bother you, but this says you're my other opener and that can't be right, can it?"

so i showed up 30 minutes late to my first ever opening shift. this shit is so fucked up, like, there are people awake right now, like starting their day. what the fuck. that's not right. i was on the floor at 5 am and there was like one single lady in scrubs out there in the lobby glaring directly at me with the dark of the early morning in the windows behind her, it felt unnatural, like a fucking nightmare. super fucked up shit.

[dashboarddiaries]

DASHBOARD DIARIES, EPISODE 2 - The Game (Unpacking Fandom Fallout) is On

We tackle a second - and shortest running - part of Superwholock: Sherlock. Lauren walks us through the rise and fall of the fandom for the TV show BBC Sherlock, explains the broad strokes of The Johnlock Conspiracy (TJLC), and admits the wild internet rumor she wanted to believe. Meanwhile, Cherokee is literally losing sleep over For All Mankind. Episode may induce flashbacks to the mid-2010s, spontaneous shipping of old ships, and deeply analysis of wallpaper. Share your Sherlock feels in our ask box or email us at dashboarddiariespod@gmail.com!

Credits and transcript under the cut. You can find transcripts for this, and every other episode, here.

Thank you Lindsay and Mallory for sharing your feels with us!

Find the posts discussed in this episode in this tag!

Credits, show notes, and transcript under the cut. You can find transcripts for this, and every other episode, here.

Dashboard Diaries is a production of Atypical Artists, hosted by Lauren Shippen and Cherokee McAnelly. Our theme was composed by Lauren Shippen and mixed by Brandon Grugle. Art by Shae McMullin. Transcription (which can be found on our Tumblr) by Laudable.

Sound effects: "Bad Beep" by RICHERlandTV; "Correct Answer / That's Right!" by Beetlemuse; "Weather Forecast Introduction" by SergeQuadrado; all licensed under the Attribution 3.0 License.

Mark Gattis + Steven Moffat Answertime

To learn more about TJLC, here are a few resources to get you started:

Decoder Ring Podcast Episode about TJLC

Vox Article About Shipping Culture (with a focus on Johnlock)

YouTuber Sarah Z Video Episode

101 from a TJLC-er

Insider Breakdown on r/HobbyDrama

[intro music]

Cherokee: Hello, soft, sad freaks. I’m Cherokee McAnelly, professional tumblr’er, and ship poster. 

Lauren: And I am Lauren Shippen, professional writer, and a person who to this day still thinks of that one scene, you know what I’m talking about, whenever I plug in my phone and miss the plug.

Cherokee: And this is Dashboard Diaries, a podcast for you, the folks who are in this internet bunker with us. We talk about what’s going on our favorite hell site, get into what we like to call “Tumble’lore,” do fandom deep dives, and share the times when we’ve gone feral over a new ship. So, Lauren, what have you been up to this week? What have you been watching? What have you been thinking? What have you been feeling?

Lauren: Well, after our conversation last time I did watch all of The Bear in two sittings. And felt more stressed out than I have ever felt in my life. I absolutely adored it. It was just phenomenal. And I also went totally nuts over the finale of Ms Marvel, which was just incredibly delightful. And that show gave me everything that I could have wanted from a Ms Marvel TV show, except for the fact that I just want it to be 100 episodes. I want to watch it every single week until I die. So, I hope that there is a second season that comes sometime soon.

But, Cherokee, what about you? What have you been up to?

Cherokee: Well, first off, I am so glad that you watched and enjoyed The Bear. 

Lauren: It’s so good.

Cherokee: I agree that watching it feels like taking the SAT’s but I can’t turn it off. 

(laughter)

Lauren: Why is that so accurate? 

Cherokee: Or, you know, the SpongeBob/Mr. Krabs’ meme where it’s like him in the middle and then everything is kind of spinning around him?

Lauren: Yes. 

Cherokee: That. (laughs) 

Lauren: Oh, my god. You’re so right. 

Cherokee: So, yeah. So, this week I, thanks to you Lauren, watched two seasons of For All Mankind. So late.

Lauren: Which has episodes that are an hour and a half sometimes. (laughs)

Cherokee: Yes. I watched it till 3:30 in the morning, not once but twice.

Lauren: (laughs) Oh my god.

Cherokee: The second time I slept through my alarm and missed my 10:00 AM meeting. 

Lauren: (laughs) Sorry, Tumblr.

Cherokee: If you are listening to this – don’t , if you’re my boss. Anyway, I really, really loved For All Mankind. I have lots of thoughts and feelings about it. But in addition to that, I watched the first episode of Supernatural, in the first step of this journey of watching every episode. 

[rock riff]

Lauren: It has begun. Your Supernatural journey has begun. All right. Give me the low down. How was the first episode for you? 

Cherokee: I really enjoyed it. I will admit. I have watched the first episode before.

Lauren: Sure.

Cherokee: I’ve probably seen the first episode three to four times because the amount of times I’ve been like, “I’m going to watch Supernatural.” And then I get distracted naturally by something because there are 15 seasons. But this time, y’all, I’m sticking to it. I’m sticking to my word.

Lauren: It’s happening.

Cherokee: I’m watching it. So, first episode of Supernatural, as you all know, that is the episode where the mom dies on the ceiling, as I described very perfectly last episode. 

Lauren: Oh yeah!

Cherokee: Of course, the woman in white, which I think what a girl boss villain to start off with. Good for her. You know?

Lauren: Yes. We love a strong female. 

Cherokee: A girl goddess, yeah, look at her go. She’s so powerful that even after the grave she’s still messing stuff up. I respect that. I wrote down some thoughts. The first one was: this was on network TV following the very graphic death of the mom, one scene in? And the second was: I forgot that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is in this. Just icon, love him. Also, I just wanted to note that Sam got a 174 on his LSAT and that is not quite as well as Elle Woods scored. Elle Woods got a 179. So, I just wanted to-

Lauren: You’re right!

Cherokee: ... just wanted to point that out. Sam did really well, but if we’re going by the Elle Woods’ scale, he should take it a couple more times. 

Lauren: That’s true.

Cherokee: But I got a 168 on my practice LSAT. So, Sam did out-score me. And I look forward to watching the next episode. I love the reluctant savior trope. The coming back for one last ... “this is gonna be the last one” and then at the very end it’s like, “oh, we’re gonna kill monsters for 15 seasons.” So, yeah, I’m very into that trope. I’m in it. I’m ready to go. Yeah, I will be updating biweekly. Hopefully I watch more than one episode this time. But I was really-

Lauren: For All Mankind really sucked up that time.

Cherokee: It really did. It’s a thinker. So, wonderful week that we had. And speaking-

Lauren: Absolutely excellent.

Cherokee: Speaking of Supernatural and diving back 15 years in the past, let’s dive into our own archives with our Dashboard Confessions.

[guitar riff]

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: So, Lauren, what archive post were you checking out this week from your secret Tumblr?

Lauren: Well, it’s so funny because I decided to dive back into July of 2017. And what did I find but mostly Supernatural gifs. Genuinely, it’s like wall to wall. I mean, honestly, it’s a lot of Destiel. But it’s like wall to wall supernatural stuff because I started watching in earnest Supernatural at the end of 2016, because that is when I met Meghan Fitzmartin, who we will have on the show at some point, who was a writer on Supernatural. Who is one of my best friends, and got me into the show by telling me about how great it was. And how great it was to work on.

And so I think by July of 2017, so about seven months after I started watching, I was embarrassingly far into it. I started watching it in November or December and I think by that August I was done. And this would have been season 12 or 13. So, I watched a lot of episodes in a very, very short amount of time. 

But actually the post, specifically, that I want to point out this week from July of 2017 is not Supernatural related at all, but a classic meme that I had forgotten about. So, it’s a screen cap from Gone With The Wind of Rhett looking at Scarlett. And instead of his famous line, the caption says, “TBH Bae, IDGAF.” And it’s just this funny remaking of this line in 2017 internet speak. It went around a bunch on Tumblr at the time. So, we will re-blog that to the www.DashboardDiaries.Tumblr.com, and you can see it for yourself and re-live those days of 2017.

Cherokee: First off, I thought that was the line from Gone With The Wind. So, you know, the more you know. 

Lauren: I mean, it basically is. It has the spirit. You know? What were you seeing in your archives?

Cherokee: So, I have a very special post that I found this week. And it is from July 2015. This is the summer between me finishing my internship at Tumblr and working at Tumblr full time. And as I mentioned, I hung out with anyone associated with Tumblr. I went to everything, all the time. That whole summer. So, this is a selfie with David Carp, the Founder of Tumblr. Good ‘ol Tumblr Daddy. 

Lauren: Oh my god.

Cherokee: I was at this thing and I was like, “David, I gotta get a selfie with you.” And my thing was is this going to be my last opportunity to get a selfie with David? What if I never work at Tumblr again? And thankfully that did not happen and I got to bother him for many more years. But yeah. Good little moment in time.

Lauren: This is incredible. 

(laughter)

So, we will re-blog that as well. And you all can see Cherokee with our Founder. With our Father of Tumblr fandom. 

Cherokee: The creator of Supernatural. Not literally, but in spirit. 

(laughter)

Well, wonderful. Following our great little deep dive and staying with the superwholock vibe that we started the first episode off with, this week we’re going to dive into Sherlock. Which I believe you, Lauren, are a very big fan of.

Lauren: Yes. Yeah. I believe I talked about this on our first episode. But Sherlock is the thing that got me back into fandom as a 20-something. And is sort of the reason that I’m in fandom to this day.

Cherokee: Sherlock’s impact. So, some top line information on Sherlock that I pulled from the depths of Tumblr. Here’s the numbers, folks. So, Sherlock, the BBC show, has been a top show on Tumblr for 100 weeks since 2015, which is when we started recording these fandom metrics. Which essentially every week we published. If you’re not familiar, those listening along every week, we publish the top 20 in TV, film, music, movies, celeb, what have you, and it’s updated weekly. 

And so we started have the categorized list in 2015. And I feel like there was a whole year where Sherlock was just, 2016 or 2017 I wanna say, pretty much every single week. Sherlock was a top show. 

Lauren: That’s so wild.

Cherokee: Johnlock was only in our Ships list twice. And at first I was shocked about this and then I realized we didn’t launch a ship list for a few years. 

Lauren: Oh, okay.

Cherokee: So, we launched the ship list in like 2018, 2017. So, there was a lot ... There were some key Johnlock times that just did not get counted in our ship list. So, I don’t think that’s a fully accurate representation. So, all you Johnlock stans out there, do not fret, it really isn’t ... it’s big on Tumblr. You know? 

As in currently, there are 661,000 followers on the Sherlock tag. And 80,000 followers on the Johnlock tag on Tumblr. So, that’s just people following the tag alone.

Lauren: Right.

Cherokee: And we only launched tag following a couple years ago. Maybe a year ago. So, that’s again something that was-

Lauren: Oh wow, okay. 

Cherokee: ... launched post really the big Sherlock kind of extravaganza. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: I do know there was hinting of a season five, potentially. So, maybe.

Lauren: We’ll get to that. (laughs)

Cherokee: (laughs) So, to start off, before I jump the gun here. Lauren, can you give us a brief history of your relationship with Sherlock and the Sherlock discourse for all of our unfamiliar listeners out there?

Lauren: Absolutely. So, as many of you probably already know, BBC Sherlock was a TV show that launched in 2010 and ran for four seasons of three episodes each with one Christmas special as well. So, there’s only 13 episodes for this entire series, essentially. But it was a massive, massive cultural phenomenon. It basically launched Benedict Cumberbatch’s career from someone who was doing decent sort of trade in British movies. He was busy. He was working. But then Sherlock made him this mega star that he is today. And spawned this renewal of the Sherlock Holmes fandom, which has really been around since the 1890s. 

So, Sherlock Holmes is a character that has instilled a lot of fervor in people for over 100 years. Myself included. So, before we really dive into the fandom as a whole, this is not going to be a super academic break down of the Sherlock fandom or the drama conspiracy. It’s not going to be a gossipy fandom drama run-down. There are some really interesting deep dives into the larger sort of fandom conspiracy that occurred within the Sherlock fandom that we’ll link in the show notes. Because it is very, very interesting. 

But for me it really started out as a show that I just really enjoyed. I watched the first series, the first season. They’re called “series” in England. That’s been the Sherlock fandom mostly, how you refer to the seasons of Sherlock as “series.” I watched the first series in December of 2010. I watched all three episodes over my Christmas break from college and absolutely fell in love. And was already on Tumblr and hadn’t really actually used Tumblr for fandom stuff at that point beyond music fandom. And so I started to dive deep into the Sherlock tag and it led me to AO3 as well, which I believe at that time was a still pretty new website in the grand scheme of things. And I started reading fan fiction again, which I hadn’t done since I was 16. 

It was just a really, really wonderful time on Tumblr. Cherokee, I don’t know if you remember that time with the Sherlock fandom or if you were watching the show yourself when it was being released?

Cherokee: I was not, actually. I have seen a few episodes of Sherlock. I watched the first series in college when it came out. I had a friend studying abroad in England, I went and visited her, and instead of doing anything she was like, “I have discovered this show. Let’s watch it.” And that’s what we did the whole time. I was with her a weekend in London and we watched Sherlock. 

Lauren: I love that.

(laughter)

Cherokee: So, I have seen the first season. I have now watched most of it. I have two episodes left. I wasn’t able to fit them all in. And again, that is entirely my fault. Because of my For All Mankind fixation for the past couple of weeks. But I’m familiar, as someone who lurked and was scrolling during the time. Also we did a Q&A with Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffit. We did an answer time in 2018, which we can also link in the podcast so you guys can all jump into it and learn ... I’ll also drop it in here for you, too.

Lauren: Please. 

Cherokee: So, you can take a gander at it. 

Lauren: I’m fascinated that took place in 2018. Because the first season came out in 2010, then the final season, or rather the fourth season that sort of has become defacto the final season came out in January of 2017. And so I’m really interested that they did that answer time in 2018, because that was a decent amount of time after the show had, for all intents and purposes, ended. 

Cherokee: I think they were doing a Sherlock themed escape room or event or something. 

Lauren: What’s interesting, to me, about some of the Sherlock fandom in the grand scheme of SuperWhoLock ... and I think just to set expectations, it will probably be a while until we do Dr. Who on this show, just because neither Cherokee, nor I, are huge, huge devotees of the show. We will want to get somebody on who is. But Dr. Who is sort of its own thing. It’s always had its really loyal fans. It’s been running forever. It’s constantly reinventing itself with the new doctors, et cetera. Supernatural, as we know, ran for such a long time, has such a dedicated fandom that will continue to live on past the show for the rest of time. 

And Sherlock is kind of interesting in that, like I said, there have always been Sherlock Holmes fans, this show in particular really drew a massive, very active fandom. But since the end of the show, the fandom has really not gone dormant. There are still lots of people making fan art, a lot of people making fan fiction, a lot of people talking about the show still. But it’s certainly not to the degree that it was at its heyday. And I think that is in part, at least for me as a fan of the show, kind of because how things ended up going within the Tumblr eco system specifically. 

So, when I was watching the show I fell in love with it because I love Sherlock Holmes. I always have. In seventh grade I went as Shirley Holmes a gender bent Sherlock Holmes for Halloween. (laughs) So, it’s like I was the target audience for this. And for the first time ever I found myself shipping Sherlock and John in watching this show, which is just something that people have done pretty much since Sherlock Holmes was first invented. There have been lots of queer readings of the text since, I think, the earliest sort of documented one in the 1940s. But this is not a new phenomenon of people shipping Sherlock Holmes and John Watson together. 

But this was the first time that I had personally sort of seen the chemistry between them. Because Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are fantastic together. They have great chemistry. The show does sort of wink at Sherlock’s ambiguous sexuality. And the fact that he and John have this incredibly co-dependent life partnership where they are each other’s most important person. 

For me, as a viewer of the show, I was really enjoying the whole show and then anything I wasn’t getting from the show I was getting from the fandom, because the fan art and the fan fiction and the fan sort of chatter around the show was just phenomenal. And then after season three things kind of changed a little bit in the Tumblr eco system. 

And I think what’s really interesting about experiencing the Sherlock fandom on Tumblr, specifically – like, why we’re talking about this on this podcast – is that I had friends in my real life who were big Sherlock watchers who even shipped Johnlock, who maybe read fan fiction, but who weren’t on Tumblr and had no idea that any of this was going on. 

For me, a lot of what happened from season three onwards was beginning to sort of dominate the circles of Tumblr that I was in. So, in short, and once again we’ll link to the deeper dives around the Johnlock conspiracy as it became known. TJLC. But basically it was this idea, and still is this idea, which we’ll talk about in a little bit, that not only are John and Sherlock in love in the show, but that the show is building up to them becoming a romantic couple. And that there is all of this evidence in the text of the show that suggest that Moftiss, as they’re called (Stephen Moffit and Mark Gatiss collectively are Moftiss). There’s all this evidence in the show that tells the audience that Moftiss is planning this. And that eventually Johnlock will become canon because it has been intricately signaled by the show itself. 

And this was something that came out of sort of this huge meta post that somebody put up after season three that then a couple of other users saw and were talking amongst themselves and said, “It’s like the Johnlock conspiracy.” And then that kind of became the name for the whole conspiracy. And that sort of started to take over the Johnlock tag. I was not necessarily following any TJLC’ers as far as I knew. And yet I was still seeing a ton of that stuff on my dash because I was a Johnlock shipper and I was following Johnlock blogs and increasingly there were these discussions within the fandom around if you are a Johnlock shipper or if you were a Johnlock shipper that really believed that it was going to go canon. 

As often happens with these things kind of end up creating this fissure between parts of the fandom. There were a couple of sort of fandom blow-ups where people were sort of getting angry at other people and it was trickling into the larger fandom tag. And then after season four, when nothing went canon and it was pretty clear that despite the creators saying that they were open to a season five, that that was not going to be planned imminently and that season four was kind of the end as far as we knew it. Things really kind of cratered from there because you had all of these people who were really disappointed by season four and then you had other people who were really disappointed by season four, but really believe that season five is still coming and that it’s going to correct things. 

Really, what that equals to, regardless of what side you’re on, is that just everybody was kind of bummed. Which is a bummer when you’re in a fandom, especially that has so much wonderful fan works being made. Right? There’s so much great fan fiction. There’s so much great fan art. That for me as someone who was really enjoying all of that stuff and somebody who was enjoying the show, but who also was deeply disappointed by season four, for a number of reasons, my experience with the Tumblr fandom being consumed by this argument around the ship that a lot of us, or a lot of the people I was following, we all shipped the ship, that was not the issue – kind of made it difficult to engage. 

So, it was really interesting to dive back into the tag this week and kind of see what I was talking about with Sherlock and the things I was reacting to and see what was still active now. And remember, oh my god, this ship and this show consumed my life. And I’m being drawn right back into it. I want to read fan fic again. I want to dive deep into the tag again. I remember having such a good time with this. And the fourth season and the subsequent fall out within the fandom was sort of so difficult at the time that I just walked away from the fandom for a while, which I think a lot of people did. And I think a lot of people have also experienced in a lot of other fandom’s as well. 

Cherokee: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, from someone who obviously when I first initially watched the first season didn’t know anything about any of the discourse around it and also I think it was pre-discourse, honestly. It’s like 2014, 2013? And then now having watched it, I feel like I texted you after watching two episodes and I was like, “Excuse, me. How is Johnlock not canon?” Because it is so-

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: They’re not hinting at it, they’re slapping you in the face with it. I mean, the first episode, he moves in with Sherlock just kind of immediately. There’s that kind of flirty back and forth where Sherlock is like, “My work is my marriage. I’m married to my work.” And so he’s not being like, “No, I’m not into you.” He’s just saying he’s focused on his work. And then there are so many ... When John gets engaged and the land lady whose name is escaping me at this moment.

Lauren: Mrs. Hudson.

Cherokee: Mrs. Hudson is like, “To a woman? You’re engaged to a woman?” It’s so in your face. They’re obviously in love with each other. 

Lauren: Exactly. And I know that there are lots of Sherlock viewers and a lot of people who are active in the Sherlock fandom on Tumblr who were not Johnlock shippers at all. Or who ship different ships, or just want them to be platonic friends. And those people are completely valid and I love you, you’re great. I hope that you had a great time in the Sherlock fandom, despite the fact that a lot of it was Johnlock shipping. 

But yeah, I was completely on the train of these two guys are in love. I personally did not believe that the show was going to make it canon. But then also I would see these meta posts and be like, “Well, you make some good points.” And to sort of, I guess, admit something that I’ve never admitted before around my own relationship with the Johnlock conspiracy, which is called the Johnlock Conspiracy and it is a conspiracy theory and I think that’s something that a lot of the people believe it don’t shy away from because it involves a lot of very deep reading of the text, connecting all of these dots, really intricate sort of red string type stuff. It also involves believing that Moftiss have been actively lying to everybody for years, which tends to be a central tenant of conspiracy theories. 

On that particular side of things, we know for a fact that creators and the Moftiss specifically do lie to us. Right? That is a huge part of Marvel’s marketing machine. Right? Is having Andrew Garfield on late night talk shows being like, “Oh, yeah, I’m so excited to see the Spider Man movie. I wish I was in it. But best of luck to them.” And of course he shows up on screen in the Spider Man movie. So, that to me is like not outlandish really to think. And if it turned out that everything was true and the Moftiss had intended it all along I’d be like, “Great. Fantastic! They didn’t need to put us through that much pain for that long.” (laughs)

But the piece of it that really got me, and that I sort of didn’t put together – why and how this was so appealing to me at the time. So, season four premiered New Year’s Day as all the season except for season one, did. In 2017. And I was home that month back in New York, sort of staying with my parents. And I was watching each Sunday. Sherlock was on and I was watching the episode. And the week of the finale premiere a couple of things happened. I believe the Russian dub of the finale got leaked online somehow. And so people started watching it and writing about what the finale was. And everybody was like, “Are we being trolled? This doesn’t sound like a Sherlock episode. This sounds really weird. What’s going on?” 

And then the finale premiered and the thing that was sort of most baffling to me was that it just didn’t feel like a Sherlock episode at all. It felt like this very weird ... somebody compared it to, I think this was a critic, an episode that was like a Saw movie. Because it involved John and Sherlock and Mycroft going through this series of rooms that were all orchestrated by Sherlock’s secret sister who was kind of psychic. It all just felt very out of left field and strange. 

Cherokee: The secret sister thing was interesting, I will say.

Lauren: It was interesting. 

Cherokee: Yeah. (laughs)

Lauren: And we all kind of knew because Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman’s careers were getting so busy and the show had gotten so big. We sort of knew that this was going to be the last episode for a long time, if not forever. And so it was really hard to stomach that the final episode of the show that you dedicated so much of your love and energy to doesn’t actually feel like an episode of that show. And so there was this conspiracy that was going around online that the next week, the following Sunday in the Sherlock time slot, a BBC show called Apple Tree Yard was taking over that time slot. And there was a conspiracy that actually Apple Tree Yard was not a real show and that was going to be a secret real finale of Sherlock. 

And I remember just scrolling Tumblr Sunday night, seeing this theory going around, having just watched this finale and being like, “Well, maybe.” And of course that’s not what happened. Apple Tree Yard was a real show that ran on the BBC. But as I was sort of revisiting this time period of my life I realized this was January of 2017. The reason that I was home is because the 2016 election had happened a few months earlier. I went home for Thanksgiving. I stayed through Christmas. And then I stayed through the end of January so that my sister and I could go to the march in DC at the end of the month. And also me and my family were just like reeling with the results of the 2016 election. It was an incredibly dark time. It was an incredibly ... it was just very, very bleak. 

And looking back on it now I’m so able to recognize, oh my god, I was just so sad. I was so isolated. I was feeling so scared about the world. That the idea that there was this conspiracy about a secret actual finale of the show that I loved where I didn’t like the finale very much, is incredible appealing to me. That I’m actually going to kind of let myself believe it for a week. So, that’s the closest that I came to sort of really believing the Johnlock conspiracy. (laughs) And I really get it. I get it from all sides. I get why people still believe it now. Because to bring it back to sort of the season five prospect, Moftiss have said that they have a plan for season five, and it’s just a matter of scheduling and all of that kind of stuff. And that they would like to do it someday. 

And there is, as far as I can tell on Tumblr, sort of diving into the TJLC tag some people think that January 1, 2023, which is the day that all of Sherlock Holmes becomes public domain ... there’s a couple of stories that are still under copyright and January 1st of next year they all enter public domain. The copyright expires. January 1st will be the premiere of season five, because the show would always premiere on New Year’s Day. 

So, you know, for those of you out there who still believe, I hope you get what you want. I understand wanting more of the show. Because just spending a week diving back into the tag I remembered what I loved about it. And what I loved about the fandom, which was that you had incredible fan artists, incredible fan fiction writers, and also people who were writing these incredibly in-depth meta posts around the lighting in the show, the costuming in the show, the set design in the show, the parallels from episode to episode, season to season. And whether those things were intended or not by the creators, it was really lovely to see people apply such analysis to something that I loved. And think so deeply about this thing that we were all enjoying collectively, even if at times things maybe got a little bit out of hand.

Cherokee: Just like in March 2022. What do you do? You go straight and you watch the thing you love. You go on Tumblr and you look at all the stuff about it. You get really passionate about a thing that is so low stakes in the grand scheme of things. I completely ... I do exactly the same. 

By the way, one of the answers in the Sherlock answer time ... user Milk-Bag asked, “When can we expect the next season of Sherlock to come out?” And the answer is, “The future.” 

Lauren: Interesting. 

Cherokee: And that was 2018. 

Lauren: Yeah.

Cherokee: Yeah. So ...

Lauren: You know, everything gets re-booted. Everything comes back. Never say never. It could happen. It’s so interesting how fandom’s can kind of get so big and get so passionate that they sort of eat themselves a little bit. I think that this is something ... I have friends in my non Tumblr life who love the show and it’s still one of their favorite shows and they still think of it very, very fondly. Because they weren’t sort of deeply entrenched in the fandom. All of those people were also very disappointed by the finale. (laughs)

I think something that was particularly interested for me as a big sort of transformative works person, I love fan fiction, I love fan art, I love head canons, all of that kind of stuff. It’s also interesting to see the other side of fandom and see more of the curative fandom, right? The analysis, the really engaging with the text and only the text. And I think that Sherlock really had both in abundance. 

I abide and hope that all of those sides of fandom can get along and that everybody can be nice to each other, ‘cause as sometimes happens on Tumblr and in other internet spaces, there was some very bad behavior and it’s never okay to be mean to people on the internet. But yeah, I think that it’s something ... I think getting to witness people be passionate about something is always a real gift. And I have to say, diving back into the Sherlock tag I was excited to see that there was still some active folks. 

One of the trends that I was seeing a lot of, which I really dig is Fleabaglock, which is people taking quotes from Fleabag and putting them over Sherlock screen caps or gifs. And boy oh boy. There was one, I’ll re-blog it to our Dashboard Diaries blog, that just made me feel all the Johnlock feels that I was like, oh god, I’m going to have to dive back into my AO3 bookmarks and revisit the ship. Because I am having the feelings again.

Cherokee: And I will say, Moriarty, I know he’s pure evil ... I love him. 

Lauren: Oh, of course.

Cherokee: I would do anything for him. Also, Johnlockiarty ... Why don’t they-

Lauren: Ooh! OT3?

Cherokee: You know? Yeah, like a nice little polycule. 

Lauren: Yep.

Cherokee: Johnlock can solve the crimes that Moriarty commits.

Lauren: Such cute ways of flirting, just committing crimes and having your partner solve them.

Cherokee: Yeah, he can leave little clues, which he already does. Because he has a crush on both of them, because he wants them to show up everywhere they go. 

Lauren: Yes. 100%

Cherokee: Obviously. (laughs) I mean, come on, the whole thing with the taxi cab and the video in the back of the cab. He loves him. He loves him.

Lauren: Oh yeah.

Cherokee: This is flirting. Everyone in Sherlock is in love with each other – is my take away from that show.

Lauren: I love that. I think that is a perfect place to sort of wrap up our Sherlock deep dive. And head to a quick break. 

Cherokee: And after the break we’ll play a little Sherlock quiz game.

[Exciting synth music]

Cherokee: Lauren?

Lauren: Yes?

Cherokee: For this segment of fan fiction versus fan fact. 

[Rolling synth music]

So, I have four quotes for you. The first one is: So, you joined a cult. 

The second one is: You’re thinking, it’s annoying. 

The third one: Suddenly, I’m Mr. Sex.

And the fourth: Brilliant impression of an idiot. 

Lauren: Okay. I know the second one. I know that’s something that Sherlock says. I am pretty sure three is something that Moriarty says. I think it’s “So, you joined a cult.” I think that’s the fan fic. No!?

Cherokee: It is. No, you are correct.

[positive beeping sound]

Lauren: Oh, it is. Okay. 

Cherokee: “So, you joined a cult,” is a quote from Dr. Strange. 

Lauren: Oh, brilliant. 

Cherokee: But you got it right. 

Lauren: I have seen the show a lot, Cherokee.

Cherokee: You foiled me. Honestly, I was like, “How do I find ...” every quote I wrote down, “She’s going to know this!”

Laruen: No, I think you did fairly well. I did have to think about it. I did.

Cherokee: You had to ponder. 

(Laughter)

I’ll get you next time. So, the next one is less of a quiz and more of a question. And I want everyone listening along as well to ponder this question, too. As we know, Sherlock has a mind palace.

Lauren: Mm hmm (Affirmative).

Cherokee: And as we know, Tumblr is our internet bunker. 

Lauren: Mm hmm (Affirmative).

Cherokee: What do you have? Mind palace? Mind swamp? Mind shack? Mind forest? What’s going on up there?

Lauren: Interesting. Have you seen Severance? 

Cherokee: Yes. Twice.

Lauren: That’s what’s going on up there. Sometimes when I think about stuff and I’m trying to recall something, I’ll imagine a little person walking down a really long row of filing cabinets. I think it’s like a very blank and dower office. (laughs) What about you? What do you have?

Cherokee: So, I was thinking about this and I do think it’s a swamp. 

Lauren: (laughs) Like Shrek?

Cherokee: Like, I was thinking Shrek at first, but it’s more like the swamp from the Princess Bride. 

Lauren: Okay. With the enormous rats?

Cherokee: Like the Fire Swamp. 

(laughter)

Where it’s like any wrong move ... it’s like, “Oh, no, I didn’t want to think that.” I would say that is like-

Lauren: I love that.

Cherokee: ... that chaotic mind swamp up there. Yeah. 

Lauren: That is amazing. 

Cherokee: For those listening at home or wherever you may be, tell us where your mind location or situation is.

Lauren: Yeah, what’s going on up there?

Cherokee: What’s going on up there? 

Lauren: Tell us.

Cherokee: Send us a voice note, send us an artistic depiction, a painting. You know?

Lauren: Ooh.

Cherokee: I would love to see everyone’s interpretation of what their mind palace or mind space is. 

Lauren: I love this. 

Cherokee: Up next, we have our Fandom Forecast.

[Fantasy keyboard music]

What’s going on? What trends do we see? What is afoot? What have you been looking at this week, Lauren? Or looking forward to?

Lauren: What have I been looking forward to? I mean, I have been seeing a lot of What We Do In The Shadows on my dash, and I imagine I’ll continue to see a lot of that as it gets deeper into the season. I’ve been seeing a word this week that has been on Tumblr for a little while, but for whatever reason has started to gain ground over the last week. And I think I’m going to declare this the Word of the Week!

[fanfare music]

Our very first one. I think I’m going to be seeing more and more of it. Which is “Scrumpt.” Scrumpt as a past tense of scream. You scrumpt a scream. 

Cherokee: Put it in the dictionary. 

(laughter)

Lauren: So, I think I’m going to see my dash, in particular, using the word “scrumpt” more. I predict myself using the word “scrumpt” more, because I just learned it. 

Cherokee: I mean, you’re already scrumpt’ing in the tags. So ...

Lauren: Exactly. So, what about you? What are you seeing sort of behind the scenes at Tumblr that’s coming up? 

Cherokee: Behind the scenes. So, I mean, not unsurprisingly, What We Do In The Shadows has overtaken Tumblr in the last week. Especially ... that show is just made for shipping. 

Lauren: Oh yeah.

Cherokee: Also, I know I mentioned this last episode, but nope. Which is coming out, it came out yesterday. 

Lauren: Yes. Yeah.

Cherokee: And first off, Keke Palmer’s press tour, everyone is obsessed with every interview she did. She’s so funny. And her opening monologue, everyone has been talking about. I have not seen Nope yet, but I have seen a lot of Keke Palmer videos, clips, gifs. She does a really great Angela Basset impression. 

Lauren: Oh, I love that.

Cherokee: So, also trending this week, which is something I’m not super familiar with was Goat Simulator. Which is a game-

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: Have you played it?

Lauren: I have not. But I’m playing Stray right now. And I know that Stray is kind of a similar game to Goat Simulator. 

Cherokee: Well, which is interesting, yeah. ‘Cause Stray and Goat Simulator are both on the fandom list. And then Untitled Goose Game is what was really trending apparently. And not Goat Simulator. And that was where people were really getting excited about, Untitled Goose Game, which is similar to Goat Simulator, which is similar to Stray. Maybe there should be a crossover with all three.

Lauren: I would love that.

Cherokee: Yeah, I’ll have to check them out. I was scrolling through the tag and just looking at the post. And Goat Simulator looks like Untitled Goose Game in the chaos realm of things. All of every screen cap looked completely chaotic. One of them, they’re also you can have an avatar that’s a human, too, because there was one of someone riding a goat.

Lauren: Oh. We have questions.

Cherokee: Again, I love finding out about things by just looking at the Tumblr tags. 

Lauren: Oh yeah. 

(laughter)

Cherokee: And with that, we are going to mosey on over to the Feels Corner. It’s near the end of the episode. Do you know where your blorbo’s are? 

[Light romantic tones]

Lauren: So, my blorbo’s this week, it’s definitely been a week of time travel for me. What with diving back into the Sherlock fandom. And the other fandom that for whatever reason was popping up on my dash this week, because it pops up periodically but for whatever reason just had me by the throat was Hannibal. Every now and then a Hannibal post will cross my dash and I will completely lose my shit and just ... that’s my afternoon.

It was really nice to go back to 2012, 2013 in my head and have my collection of Johnlock and Hannigram blorbo’s. It was lovely.

Cherokee: Which is honestly perfect, because I saw a lot of comparisons between the Hannigram ship and the Johnlock ship.

Lauren: Mm hmm (Affirmative). Yeah.

Cherokee: Lots of comparisons drawn and also I saw a good post that has images of both ships and it says, “Are you the do crimes or the solve crimes type of gay?” 

(laughter) 

Which I love. 

Lauren: That is perfect. (laughs) 

Cherokee: Why not both?

Lauren: Why not both? Will Graham is both. He solves crimes and does crimes in Hannibal. 

Cherokee: Yes, he does. You are very right.

Lauren: How about you, Cherokee? Where are your blorbo’s this week?

Cherokee: My blorbo’s are For All Mankind.

Lauren: Hell yes. 

Cherokee: Yeah, my sleep schedule has been replaced by this television show. 

(laughter)

And Molly and Wayne Cobb’s specifically. I don’t know if you can have a couple as blorbo’s but I think you can-

Lauren: Yeah, absolutely.

Cherokee: I just love both Molly and Wayne individually and as a couple. First off, healthiest relationship on that show by just-

Lauren: Bar none.

Cherokee: ... a million miles. And also just the most well adjusted and down to earth H’ank. 

(laughter)

Characters on the show, too. I really love them both. I will say where I am in the show now, I’m not feeling great about where things are going. (laughs)

Lauren: Yeah. Oh boy.

Cherokee: Oh no. Maybe I’ll have to do that thing where I just stop watching. Which is something ...

Lauren: No.

Cherokee: Hope starts to go downhill and I’m like, “You know what? If the show ended here, they’re okay, right?” 

Lauren: They’re okay. Nothing bad will ever happen to them.

Cherokee: Yeah. Keep them safe. If you don’t watch the finale, everyone is safe and fine. 

Lauren: That’s true. 

Cherokee: That’s how I feel about the Killing Eve finale, too.

Lauren: That’s very fair.

Cherokee: It didn’t happen. Yeah. So, yeah, I would say Molly and Wayne, big blorbo’s this week. And then another time capsule blorbo ... I actually didn’t just watch these movies in the past week, but I think about them all the time and specifically Alan Cumming in Spice World and Josie and the Pussycats. 

Lauren: Oh yeah.

Cherokee: He plays a similar character in both. First he’s the documentary in Spice World and then Josie in the Pussycats he’s the music manager or agent. And I just ... what an icon. What a star. I found out recently that Alan Cumming owns a club in New York called Club Cumming. 

Lauren: (laughs) And you have to go.

Cherokee: And I know where I’m hosting my 30th birthday. Yeah.

Lauren: Yep. You have to go there immediately.

Cherokee: Yep. (laughs) Or a Dashboard Diaries Meet up at Club Cumming. Everyone. 

Lauren: Well, in speaking of our delightful Dashboard Diaries, we have a couple of your feels to share this week in our Feels Corner. And so stay tuned to the end of the episode to hear some listener feels. 

Cherokee: And submit your feels for next one, too.

Lauren: Yes.

Cherokee: Keep feelin’.

Lauren: Yeah. DashboardDiariesPod@gmail.com. Send us a 30 seconds or less voice memo about your feels. And with that we have come to the end of Dashboard Diaries. I am Lauren Shippen and you can find me at the LaurenShippen.Tumblr.com, or you may already be following me on my secret blog with my Sherlock memes and I’ll never let you know what that blog is.

Cherokee: I’m Cherokee McAnelly and you can find me at chero.Tumblr.com. This has been Dashboard Diaries. And ...

Lauren: May our anons always be loving.

Cherokee: Your dash always refreshed.

Lauren: Your gifs always be loading.

Cherokee: And your ships always canon. 

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

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

Lauren: Thanks for scrolling with us. 

--

Dear Dashboard Diaries, my name is Lindsay and my current obsession is the TV show, What We Do In The Shadows. Season Four just started airing and there is long awaited pining, over all hilarity, and of course the inherent romanticism of vampires. Consider this a warning, because it will probably top the trending page every Tuesday for the next couple of months. 

--

My name is Mallory and I finished Our Flag Means Death at 2:53 AM on Sunday, June 26th. Which means as of recording I am 20 days, 14 hours, and 57 minutes into this fandom. And it is my whole personality. 235,287 words of fan fic read. 61 hours, 49 minutes, 31 seconds of fan vids watched on YouTube. 94 TikTok’s liked. 18 Tumblr’s followed. Countless feels felt. And absolutely no sign of slowing. Here there be queer pirates and I am in! 

--

[outro synth music]

[anarchy-and-piglins]

hello yes I greatly admire your fic writing skills! It takes me two months to write a one shot and you somehow write fics so quickly! Do you have any tips?

Aw, thank you, that's very nice of you! Believe me though, it definitely still takes me months to finish a oneshot sometimes lol. I don't know exactly what part of the writing process you're struggling with so I hope these rather generic tips I use are helpful:

Try to write daily & either don't set a word goal or make the goal ridiculously small. Writing is a skill, and just like any other skill practice makes perfect. Or keeps you from becoming rusty anyway. Do your best to write every day (but don't beat yourself up for taking a day off either). HOWEVER, my advice is to not set a specific daily word goal to strive towards. When I do that, I just become obsessed with whether I will or won't manage to hit it. I only focus on making sure I try to write daily, be it 100 words or 8000 words (both have happened).

Avoid distractions while writing!!! Local ADHD dumbass here, yes I know this one is hard and I fail at it sometimes too. But try to keep distractions while writing to a minimum. Put away your phone, make sure your music is one long playlist that won't require you to change it halfway through, stay away from social media or even the internet in general, do not get up to fetch stuff, etc. Also do not edit while you write. Just try to get words down and worry about if they're good later. And in the spirit of no distractions:

Do writing sprints. If you don't know, sprinting is where you set a timer (usually for anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes) and completely focus on the task at hand - in this case writing - during that time. After the sprint, you take a short break (ranging from 5 to 10 minutes). Then back to sprinting, and so on and so forth. This allows for what I call my reward system (again, ADHD) where I can tell myself "so for every sprint that you do, you can make one Picrew and check Tumblr during that break". Or I could get a snack. Or I can watch a funny video. Basically, anything where you can reward your brain between sprints helps. Just be careful that it doesn't make you stare at the clock all sprint long waiting to finally do fun stuff, actually write during them lol (<- has fallen into that trap before)

Write what you WANT to write. "But Shae... we're fanfic writers, we write imaginary situations for our favorite blorbos. We're always writing what we want to write." Well yes, but I mean literally in that very second make sure you're writing what you want to be writing at that exact moment. Yes, it sucks when you have three ongoing fics that really need to be updated but your brain is only yelling about a random oneshot idea you just thought of. Or worse: the one small scene in a completely different longfic that won't even happen until chapter 24. But trust me, forcing your brain to work on something it doesn't want to be writing is a pain. Just write the scene. It doesn't matter that your readers won't get to see it for weeks or even months. Just do it.

[shimmershae]

So.  I slogged through TWD Episode 17-Lockdown and, you know me, I had some thoughts.

I always have thoughts.  They’re not always coherent, but they’re definitely there.  

Look behind the cut if you’re interested in skimming through them.  

Slogged is definitely the word I meant to use because it took me almost 3 hours to consume this episode--I kept getting up and leaving to do other, more interesting things (blasphemous in the TWD fan days of old, the only way to keep my sanity in these trying times).  

But like I said, I slogged through it and all I could think about afterward was thank God I didn’t pay AMC any money for this.  

Shae’s stream of consciousness thoughts incoming in 3-2-1.  

So finally, finally they are giving us some connection to the past, playing up on our nostalgia with Judith’s voiceover and the flashbacks.  

IMHO, they should have included flashbacks of Lori in there since, you know, she’s kind of one of the biggest reasons why Judith is alive at this point and able to hear these stories.  Like why is she hearing stories about Shane’s descent into madness and not stories about the mama that sacrificed her life for her?  I mean, did I miss it or do they continue to do the most to erase Lori from the fabric of baby girl’s DNA?  

That said?  Carol and Lydia at the cliff!  My forever bruised heart!

Oh lawd, more Daryl and Maggie. I can already tell this episode is going to be lacking because they are BORING AF together.  Like there is just ZERO energy between them.  

I love how Aaron says “Carol’s there” when Gabe worries about Hornsby going after their people/families.  My girl is Team Family’s one woman protection squad.  

You know I’m proud AF but also?  I cry.  Because who’s looking out for her?  After the way so many of them seemed to turn on her last season, it doesn’t feel like they have her back back, you know?  

Negan and Annie would be kind of sweet if they weren’t basically one of those mug cakes that you throw in a few ingredients and toss in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Oh and if there weren’t actual good people still struggling to find their own happiness when this “reformed” murderer is basically getting to play house.

Negan really using that nasty ass Whisperer mask as the centerpiece to his entire wardrobe whenever he has “date night” has me simultaneously cringing and laughing because yuck.  And also?  Wonder if Annie’s like “Eww, didn’t I throw that out with the trash last week?”  

I hate how my Denny Duquette crushing days rear their head at the most inopportune times.  Like here I am, fighting against finding any redeeming quality in this butt abscess of a human being and I remember how charming Denny was and I’m like, fuckkkkkk.  Let’s not even get into JDM fanning the flames of the hellscape that is fandom since AMC decided to insert its head so far up its ass I can see Scott Gimple’s bolo tie dangling between Chris Hardwick’s teeth whenever he opens his mouth and just glides over the spinoff debacle with 101 questions about Princess and Mercer and Judith’s hairstyle like it’s nothing.  

Daryl and Negan tag-teaming it will never not make me go WTF.  Like the ways in which TWD has contorted these characters to keep that fucker alive would be impressive in some kind of alternate universe where people weren’t such assholes about a woman mourning her murdered son and seeking vengeance and ultimately the protection of her people in a two birds, one stone kind of way.    

Those Walkers ripping out those guts like people down at Disney during free dining (RIP) going ham after buffet snow crab legs.  

·AMC lying even in its opening credits because Melissa McBride and Christain Serratos been glorified guest stars this season and they’re 2nd and 4th billed.  

Oh look, they decided to put all 99 members of the cast in the opening. Cool, cool.  Too bad only about 4 of them have had any appreciable screen time this season.  

The comic style opening is cool and all but the original opening hit way harder.

Lance losing his shit in that suit is sending me.  

Don’t they know they’re wasting a precious commodity in the ZA—fuel. Jeez.  

Wow!  Yumiko lives!  Magna too.

You know Negan wants to comment on the pumpkin suit.  I mean, that twinkle in JDM’s eyes is on point.  He’s having to forcibly restrain his lesser angels (actually devils, but eh), lol.

Negan’s in is April?  Guess she’s dead so she can’t refute his story. Makes sense.  If I hadn’t rewatched the 2 minutes of that episode where Carol and Daryl awkwardly make a date and Carol comes to save her Pookie’s bacon recently I wouldn’t have remembered who TF she was though.  

Carol!!!  How is it possible she gets ever more beautiful every time we see her on our screens?  Granted, AMC is doing the most to see how that absence makes the heart grow fonder thing works out.  

 Fuck TWD having her play babysitter.  I know she’s been working things undercover and I know I’ve been salivating over Aunt Carol/Judith scenes for literal years but damn them for doing it this way.  

Seriously.  I hate how now they’re doing more than implying Carol has a relationship with these kids.  You know, conveniently sidelining her from the action.  They’ve been employing this same tactic for years.  Remember when they kept her from Negan’s lineup (my only consolation is she was spared that trauma) by shipping her off to the circus that was the Kingdom?  

That’s it!  Daryl’s solo spinoff is about him going back in time to that silly Ren Faire and showing his girl why she belongs with him and not some man who would self-appoint himself King.  

I kid.  I think.  Let’s move on from that farce, shall we?  

I do like, however, that Daryl and Aaron know their kids (because let’s face it, Daryl’s had more time playing daddy to those kids than Rick ever got the chance to) are safest WITH Carol. Takes the wind out of the sails of the old and tired mantra of the haters that Rick never trusted Carol with his kids.  Feels kind of like a fuck you, haters to me, lol.

Fake Stephanie and that other person I can’t remember the name of—hmm, guess they weren’t all that memorable. The hell are they doing coming in on Carol’s (Daryl’s?) apartment that way?  

You know.  I love the implication that Carol has been in that apartment enough that she’s super comfortable and knowledgeable about the whereabouts of everything but like, would it have killed this damn show to actually SHOW us Carol and Daryl slouching on a couch together instead of taking another whack at the dead horse that is Carol’s failed marriage with the petting zoo keeper?  Would it have?  Really?  

Poor babies be pretty skilled at that quiet game.  Especially RJ.  ; )

“Where is Carol?”  

Negan, Man.  We been asking that same question the whole damn season.

Carol’s always right, lol. We been knew.  Now we just got to convince the haters to accept that IN CAROL? EVERYBODY TRUSTS.  Actually, we don’t.  Because haters gonna hate.  Sure would be nice though.  

Carol’s been planning for things to go to hell from word go.  Sending the babies to an attic safe space?  Stocking it with supplies?  

Oh look. They remembered Yumiko and Magna used to know each other.  

They should have used Magna more in this class struggle in CW.  Given us more scenes showing her struggles instead of Eugene getting his groove on.  

Lockdown?  Hmm.  Oh damn.  Just remembered that’s the name of the episode.  My bad.  

The hell did all those Walkers come from?  Thought I was watching a different show for a second.  I mean, I know my attention’s wandered quite a bit but still.  

So Pamela releases “swarms” of Walkers on her citizens whenever she’s feeling some heat?  Sounds like something, eh, nevermind.  At least that’s the impression I got.  

Negan talking to Carol like they’re friends.  Look. I hate the hoops they’ve jumped through to keep him alive and relevant but I love the scenes he shares with Carol, lol.  I realize there are some double standards at work here but they fascinate me because he respects the absolute shit out of her (AS HE SHOULD) and MMB/JDM have their own kind of magnetism at play.  

Ya’ll already know all these Maggie/Daryl scenes are flatlining my interest levels but can you imagine if Daryl wasn’t there at all with her?  Because I think I honestly would end up wearing my thumb out on the FF button. Like no offense to LC at all but she needs somebody dynamic or in direct opposition to her character to come alive because Maggie is too straight line A to B, black and white, what have you.  They’ve muddied her up some this season but keep drawing the line at letting her really lean into the shades of gray because they want to keep her “heroine” persona intact. Guess it’s much easier for simple-minded folks to hate on Carol.  Besides. MMB is much better at selling her character’s layers.  

“I know that Leah meant something to you.”  Bitch, please.  Not as much as LCol hoped but I guess we’re supposed to at least pretend that whole waste of time Reapers storyline served some kind of purpose or had some miniscule impact.  

Daryl looking out for Maggie because of Glenn.  Now that actually tracks.  

Little dude that plays RJ can’t even sell that he’s terrified for his life.  He ain’t even breathing fast.  Kid’s stone cold.  As in dead and unable to portray human emotion.  Flare some nostrils.  Something.  Damn.  His parents putting back the money he’s getting from this show for his college fund though so kudos.  Plus, he’s a cute little boo so.  He still winning at life.  

Oh goodie.  Another trip through some sewers.  Aren’t they worried the CW is going to smell them coming?  

How shitty, literally, would it be to spend your eternity in a shit tunnel?  

OFC, Carol sniffed out Sebastian.

“I have seen her pull little bunnies right out of her ass with my very own two eyes.”  LOL.  But also?  Eww.  What ya’ll wanna bet Gimple sits at his laptop gleefully rubbing his hands together as he thinks up Negan’s dialogue and it’s always the most cringe ever.  Like there’s a distinct difference between the shit that has come out of his mouth this season versus last season.  And it’s not like he was weaving sonnets but his words weren’t full body cringe inducing either.  Dare I say it, they had more nuance.  At any rate, even if Gimple didn’t write it himself, you can still see the faint impression of that damn bolo tie in the stamp on it.  

Who is this random dude shouting on the megaphone?  I literally don’t know or care anything about any of these people.

I mean, I know I’m supposed to care more about this protest but all I can see are a bunch of redshirts taking up screen time from the characters I’m really interested/invested in. And sadly?  Kelly is the only “known” person in that crowd I’d be upset about if something happened to her.  I’m just not there with Connie because largely?  They’ve failed to put in the work to actually develop her, instead cheapening what she could be?  By using her as a tool for shipping wars.  If they stopped that bullshit and really and truly committed to fleshing her out more, I get totally get onboard because she has the foundation of a good character.  But right now she’s a crepe paper flower whereas Carol’s a whole bouquet of homegrown Cherokee roses.  

Rosita telling Mercer her family comes first and him respecting that and offering her help to get out if/when she needs it? One of the few moments of this episode so far besides the Carol moments where I’ve been like, yes.  Give me more.  I like this dynamic.  We could have had so many more quality moments with Rosita had they cut all that Daryl/Maggie fat that’s unneeded.  At this point, it isn’t even giving the episode more flavor.  

Speaking of flavor--is it just me or are these Walkers especially ravenous this episode?  

I love how my girl Carol is always ten steps ahead of every damn body but would it kill this show not to skip every step she takes until the final one?  

Lance looks like he might enjoy a little knife play, lol.  

The best thing I have to say about this episode insider thing is Angela’s hair looks pretty.  

Anyway.  I hope you got more enjoyment out of my free-flowing word vomit than I personally got out of the episode.  I’ve yet to work up to caring enough to sit down and watch 18 but whenever I finally do, expect to hear all about it here, lol.  

[maurypovichofficial2]

Aw shae don't say that. You're not "washed up" that's a horrible term. I feel like too many women and gay men are too caught up on age but like it literally doesn't matter. If you really feel that way you should talk to someone. Y'know, get therapy. Because 30 is still so young. When you're older you're gonna look back at your young days and the pictures you're gonna look at are your 20s 30s and 40s.

i dont need therapy its not that deep for me like dont get me wrong i do feel old at times but i still know im a hot ass bitch with a glowing personality that shifts any energy in a room that I walk into but yeah....

[dezithinks]

30 in 30 Reading Challenge 2023

As I mentioned in a previous post, I plan on participating in the 30 in 30 reading challenge this year. Incase you missed the post and have no idea what I am talking about Shae from Shaegeeksout on Youtube and a couple of other amazing booktubers are hosting the 30 in 30 challenge where, they challenge you to read 30 volumes of manga in 30 days. Since I LOVE reading I thought it would be fun to…

[bongaboi]

Tulane: 2022 American Football Champions

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As Tulane receiver Shae Wyatt watched jubilant fans streaming onto the field, he couldn’t help but reflect upon how far his team had come since finishing last season 2-10.

“It’s definitely surreal,” said Wyatt, whose two touchdown catches were no small part of why a celebratory scene so hard to conceive of a year ago was unfolding around him. “Seeing all the other schools with their success, and having their fans storm the field — eventually, everybody wants that.”

Michael Pratt accounted for 442 total yards and five touchdowns, Tyjae Spears highlighted his 199 yards rushing with a 60-yard score and No. 18 Tulane beat No. 22 UCF 45-28 on Saturday night in the American Athletic Conference championship game.

The victory virtually assured Tulane (11-2) would play in the Cotton Bowl — its first major New Year’s Day bowl since the 1939 season.

A full hour after the game, Tulane players were still in uniform, walking back to the field from the locker room to pose for photos with teammates, some with cigars in hand. Spears joked that his elbow was sore from fans pulling on him for a congratulatory embrace.

“It was an amazing feeling, man,” Spears said. “That’s something that will stick with us for the rest of our life.”

And Wyatt suggested that Tulane’s remarkable turnaround should serve as a lesson. “They were just throwing dirt over us and for a while it was hard to bounce back,” Wyatt said of last season, during which Tulane was displaced by Hurricane Ida to a Birmingham hotel for a month, and plagued with injuries to prominent players.

“If you keep your faith and you believe in your brothers that are next to you, flowers will grow. I promise you,” Wyatt said. “I hope this is a testament to anybody out there.”

Pratt passed for a career-high 394 yards, including touchdowns of 73 yards to Duece Watts, 60 and 10 yards to Wyatt and 43 yards to Lawrence Keys. Pratt also ran for a pivotal 18-yard touchdown with 4:04 left.

“It was awesome to close out that game and have those fans so fired up,” said Pratt, named the game’s most outstanding player.

Spears electrified the record crowd of 30,118 at Tulane’s cozy, on-campus Yulman Stadium with his long scoring run, on which he broke two tackles near the line of scrimmage, made two other defenders miss and hurndled his own fallen teammate after cutting back inside.

The Green Wave, which earned the right to host the title game by ending Cincinnati’s 32-game home winning streak last weekend, avenged a 38-31 regular-season loss to UCF (9-4) on the same field on Nov. 12.

But UCF was not quite the same team because of QB John Rhys Plumlee’s nagging hamstring injury, which appeared to rob him of the explosiveness he displayed by running for 176 yards in the previous meeting.

Plumlee struggled enough early on that coach Gus Malzahn pulled him in the second quarter in favor of Thomas Castellanos. But with Tulane up 24-7 in the middle of the third quarter, Malzahn put Plumlee back in as primarily a passer — and he nearly led the Kights all the way back.

“He’s one of the toughest players I think I’ve ever coached,” Malzahn said. “John Rhys just kept telling me, ‘Coach, give me another chance.’ … He really gave us a spark.”

Plumlee led UCF quickly for a touchdown to make it 24-14, converting a fourth-and-10 pass along the way and capping the drive with a 17-yarder to Kobe Hudson.

“You work all year to play in a game like this,” said Plumlee, who completed 29 of 39 for 209 yards and one TD, but finished with minus-7 yards rushing as Tulane had six sacks. “I didn’t want to sell myself short or sell this team short.”

Tulane responded when both UCF safeties froze on a play-fake to Spears and Pratt found Watts running free behind the defense.

UCF cut it to 31-21 when former Virginia QB RJ Harvey took a backward pass from Plumlee and launched a 49-yard TD pass to Hudson.

And the Knights got the ball right back when Spears fumbled after a catch on the Green Wave 30. Isaiah Bowser’s 10-yard run shortly after got UCF as close as 31-28 with 9:48 still left.

But Pratt again found a way to lead the Wave down the field, connecting with Wyatt for the longer of the receiver’s two TDs, and UCF didn’t threaten again.

It was a dream end to week that got off to a less-than-ideal start with reports out of Atlaata that head coach Willie Fritz being pursued by Georgia Tech.

“Well, I sure am glad I stayed,” Fritz said. “I made a commitment to these kids and the last thing I ever wanted to be was a distraction. So, I’m just proud to be here.”

[luinquesse]

30 days OC challenge.

Day 24. Symbols

[arcadia-city-stories-if]

Arcadia City (WIP)

Welcome to Arcadia City!

Touted as a modern day utopia, where everything is achievable and anything is possible, the largest free city state to ever exist has become a beacon of progress and technological advancement that has stepped to the forefront of global importance after an exponential boom in population in the last few decades.

Frequently referred to as the 8th Wonder of the World, will the city live up to its highly polished reputation? Or can a city that is 90% owned by shady corporations, taking advantage of the city's unique laws and loopholes, truly have anything other than the seediest of underbellies?

Plot

Play as a small town deputy sheriff who, after a surprise run-in with a supernatural creature, somewhat impulsively accepted a job with the not-at-all suspiciously vague 'Agency' that had mysteriously shown up in the forest immediately following your little moonlit encounter.

Eager to get away from the home town you've never left, and the bad memories trapping you there, you're now moving half way across the world to start afresh in the most infamous city in the world, to work for a governmental agency that most people don’t even believe exists.

Whether or not you're just jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire is yet to be seen.

Features:

Customise your name, gender, appearance, skill-set and personality.

Explore 5 romance options, 2 of them gender selectable, with both human and supernatural beings.

Tactfully avoid the mystery 6th partial romance route that would definitely, without a doubt, be a mistake to succumb to.

Choices matter. Find your way as your world becomes bigger, both literally and figuratively, than you ever could have imagined.

Get settled into your new job, explore the city, and maybe solve a mystery or two along the way.

| Contains graphic descriptions of violence, grief, physical and verbal abuse, mild body horror and sexual situations | Rated 18+ |

Demo (TBA) | RO Appearances | Ro Playlists |

RO’s under the cut!

Harrison Murphy, early 30's. (m)

-The New Partner-

Abnormally tall, he has dark eyes and sandy brown hair that's slightly too long to be considered professional.

Sporting a pleasant farmers tan, he'd probably be traditionally good looking if it wasn't for the constant 5 o'clock shadow, a nose that's clearly been broken more than once, and the perpetual scowl he wears which may, or may not, have something to do with the endless supply of nicotine gum he's currently getting through a day.

Even with his gruff nature the man is surprisingly well liked across the city, and always willing to go the extra mile for those he considers a friend.

Shae Amana, 30. (nb)

-The Government Handler-

Just shy of 5'9, with an accent so neutral you're convinced it can't be genuine. They have long (dyed) dark silver hair, light blue eyes and deep golden skin, with splashes of freckles across their cheeks, among other places.

They have horrendous eyesight but are too squeamish for contacts so they'll never be seen without their glasses in place. They're new to leadership and that anxiety shows at times.

They have some curious tattoos and there seems to be more to them but you haven't figured out what yet.

Callie Redwood, 25. (f)

-The Lycan Wildchild-

Exactly 5'5, with rich brown skin, bright grey green eyes, and a permanently fixed youthful grin, most people would be tempted to believe Callie to be harmless. Those people would be making a mistake.

Her mess of loose dark curls are irregularly cut, half tied back with some attempt to tame it with a variety of pins, making her easily recognisable even at a distance. If all else fails, the constant collection of bandages and minor injuries she accumulates will always set her apart from the crowd.

She has a childish eagerness at times, with zero filter on what she says and a hairtrigger on her temper, times are never boring around her.

Toni Dynbane, 28. (m/f/nb)

-The Nocturnal Neighbour-

5'11, when they're not slouching. Messy shoulder length dark hair and hazel eyes that are strikingly pretty, even with the accompanying red-eye that's constantly in place.

Between their weed habit and their sleeping patterns, it's clear they're going through something, though they don't seem eager to open up about whatever it is.

With an easygoing attitude and an ear always free if you need it, there are definitely worse people you could have been neighbours with.

Claude/Claudia Valentius, ?? (m/f)

-The Executive Vampyr-

With a long and prosperous lineage, expectations on the newest head of their House are ludicrously high. Tall, dark skinned with ethereal golden eyes, everything about them just screams fancy vampire.

Always dressed immaculately, they're doing their best to keep a cool demeanour while trying to change the Old World ways they feel like their family is stuck in.

With a life full of soulless business suits and untrustworthy family members who definitely don't have their best interests at heart, they've almost forgotten what it's like to have anyone who means more than that in their life.

??? (he/they)

-The Wrong Choice-

Would be a terrible idea on your part to pursue this one. Do not recommend.

[jedinerd27]

The First Snow Fall

basically the mortal kombat fanfic I wrote of my oc first meeting her dad/subzero

barely proof read so I apologize for typos and grammar mistakes

Enjoy

“One one, Two, three four” Ai’s voice echoed through the gym.

A line of 5 teenagers sweating their busts off as the young woman shouted instructions. All in a kickboxing studio that was in the basement of a city building. If one took the stairs up, there would be a nail salon, and the stairs down was the studio. Filled with punching bags, matted floors, a wall lined with mirrors, and a window that looked up to the city street.

“Jab, Jab, straight, hook, uppercut” She repeated Walking past observing the teens’ technique.

At the age of 25, Ai had decided to teach Kickboxing at the studio she learned from. Now she was 27. While it paid twice as much as Waitressing, she could only do a couple of lessons on weeknights. The studio never offered to teach weekends. At least she could go to the studio to work out for free.  SO, the young girl took the job regardless but still waitressed during the day. Money was tight and hard to come by, she was raising her teenage sister all on her own. Ai would do pretty much anything to keep Rode by her side and not in the foster care system.

As she stood in front of her class, showing how to do a sidekick. AI looked up to the windows that showed the street. She saw the outline of a person, blicked, and it was a gone

Huh! Ai thought, Must be a trick of the light and reflection across the street...

“Alright kiddos, Start with the boards, and remember, aim for the center. The force of your kicks will separate it.  If not well, have fun with a twisted- '' Ai was cut off by the sound of a shrill scream.

“OWWW!” the cry of a teen yelled. It was Melvin, a teen that was a little too impulsive.

“Coach Shae, got an ice pack?” One teen asked, looking at Melvin as he sat on the floor nursing his foot that might have been twisted. Ai signed and nodded. It was always melvin.

As she walked to the back room of the studio, she noticed the lights had been turned off, Greg the owner usually let Ai close the building on the nights she taught. So it was no surprise, but at points, she thought she was in a horror film. Maybe the new Johnny Cage one, the one with a chainsaw maniac, Rhode and tried to convince Ai to watch it one night, but Ai had fallen asleep on the couch as it played.

As she reached the community fridge, she saw the purple dolphin-shaped cold pack was on the countertop.

“Dammit, Greg.” Ai opened the freezer to see if there were any extras. There was not, kids kept forgetting to bring them back after getting hurt.

Ai took a deep breath and held the smiling dolphin in her palm. Just like how mom taught ya, deep breaths. As Ai breathed, she concentrated on her energy, how it flowed through her body, and imagined directing it to her hands

One, Two, three Ai looked down, first from the feeling of cold creeping up through her veins. Then she had ice flakes form on her hands, creeping slowly over the smile of the dolphin, and then it was as solid as a rock. The woman smirked. “Still got it”. Shaking the excess ice off her hands and walking back to her class.

Ignoring the sudden urge to yawn, she handed it to Melvin. Then she noticed the time. 9:30.

“Alright everyone, good job for the day except for the last bit, but you all did great.” The class murmured back and grabbed their things.

“Melvin, need some help?”

“No thanks Coach s, my mom is picking me up.” Ai closed the door as he hobbled out and looked at it. She grabbed the mop and soap and started to clean the studio. Earbuds in, she started to listen to a podcast her sister had recommended. One about a haunted archive or something.

“I never understand why she likes this stuff,” Ai mutters to herself as she gets half of the floor done.

DANG BANG BANG!!! The front door of the studio was hit upon.

“AI, AI LET ME IN PLEASE!!! PLEASE”

Ai’s heart dropped. It was Rhode, her little sister.

Ai ran to the door, as quickly as she could, getting the deadbolt unlocked, and pulled open the door.

Into her chest fell her 17-year-old sister, her dark maroon/pink hair a mess, no longer in the fishtail braid AI had seen her do in the morning. Her blue Jean jacket ripped at her arm as if something had cut it.

“Rhodey what's going on-”

“Close the door, someone is chasing me! Please!” Rhode said in between sobs. The girl's face was red, her eyeliner and mascara rolling down her face.

AI did so quickly and grabbed the bat that was kept at the front door for an emergency.

“Get to the break room, I’ll be there in a_”

“NO! Please, don’t, don’t leave me alone sis! He, the guy chasing me, he’s made up of shadows, there were multiple of him, but it was the same guy and--”

“Rhode, What have I told you about watching horror movies, or shows or whatever”

“Ai, this is real, please! Listen to me,” Her sister would not stop sobbing. Then and there, AI knew her sister wasn’t lying. Rhode was never the one to cry, only after bottling up her feelings. She never cried out of fear, or any horror flick.

But a man-made up of shadows? That did not make any sense

“Okay, okay I believe you. Deep breaths, let's get away from the front door.” Ai said, pulling her sister to her side and giving her a forehead kiss.

Leading Rhode into the break room was easy. Ai put the kettle on, which rested on the center coffee table, pulled out some chamomile tea bags she kept for her way home. Sleep never came quickly to Ai, but it helped with tea on the walk home.

AI stuck her head out the door, looking into the studio across the small narrow hallway, so she could get a view of the street. See if there is anyone suspicious, but all she saw was the flickering street lamps.

“Rhodey, start from the beginning, whenever you're ready, okay?” Ai said, kneeling to her sister. Who was curled up in a ball on a flooding chair?

AI stood easily 5 feet 10 inches, and it surprised people. Rhode however was 5 feet 3. People oftentimes did not realize they were sisters, not just for their height, but how they looked. Ai was part Chinese from her father’s side, a side she never knew, but regardless was a part of her. She had brown hair that slowly got darker as it fell down her back. Blue eyes that were almost pale, like ice. Arctic icebergs in a sense. She also had broad shoulders and was well defined with muscles.

Rhode had inherited her mother’s fair skin, turquoise green eyes, and dyed light brown hair a dark pink. Plus Ai was not much for flashiness, while  Rhode wore many accessories like glow-in-the-dark alien earrings, and had a pension to do elaborate sparkly eyeshadow.

“I was walking over to the studio to bring you dinner, work got off early, homework was done,” Rhode said, she was still shaking, but her sobs had stopped. “And on this block there was a guy, just standing outside the front of the studio, across the street.… Please believe me when I said he  was made out of shadows, cuz I saw him step out of the shadows. ``Rhode took a shaky breath and held onto Ai’s hand, gripping tightly. The air seemed to be getting colder, the outside noises of the city seemed to stand still. Dead silence around them.

“I think I stopped, I just froze trying to process what I was seeing, still am. Sis, he  pulled a fucking khopesh out of his fucking chest!!! He, oh god, we have to go, he talked about mom, he said he knew her, He said-”

“Your mother might have escaped, but you two will not.” A voice said at the doorway to the break room. Gravelly and yet faraway. Oddly like Darth Vader's voice but not as deep. Ghastly.

Ai’s hand went to the bat and stood to Rhode’s side blocking her from whoever spoke.

Looking up at the man, it was exactly as Rhode had described. This man, this creature was head to do in black clothing, a mask covering his face. Oh god, his eyes, they glowed white. His shadow, his shadow peaked out behind him, holding onto his shoulder. What is this?

“What do you want, this is private property.” AI tried keeping her voice leveled, but she could not explain what was happening.

“I originally came here for Fiona,” Ai’s stomach twisted in a knot, “ but she’s gone now, am I correct?”

“The hell do you want with our mother, she is dead, so yeah, gone ass face!” Rhode asked, standing up, hand grabbing the kettle.

“Rhodey, not now,” Ai said, she could feel the energy going to her hand.

“You look like her, but the eldest looks nothing like her,” The man said, “but this one looks just like him.”

“Listen buster, leave.” Ai gritted through her teeth,

“Noo, I found one way to hurt him and it is better than the original” The man stepped forward, pulling the Khopesh Rhode had mentioned, out of his chest. He swirled it around, and inky smoke surrounded it.

Striking with the swiftness of a Viper, Rhode threw the kettle at the man, boiling water flying straight to his face… mask?

The man stumbled back, holding his free hand to it, sword still in hand, cursing in a different language.

Ai followed her sister's instinct, slamming the bat down onto the man's head.

CRACK

The top half of the bat snapped, a flurry of snow and ice erupted at the blow. Ai had focused her power on it.

“Back door, NOW!!!” Ai screamed, grabbing a hand and running.

Running past, the monster struggled to get up, but head and shoulders were covered in a blanket of snow and ice.

As they ran, the back door came into view, AI let go of Rhode for a second and charged, her body going to the side, then bull running the door open. It opened but not with Ai suffering, she could hear the CRACK that sounded when she slammed the door.

I dislocated my shoulder or something gah

What was left of the bat, laid at her knees, splintering, but could still be used.

“Ai!!!” Rhode screamed, running outside to her, but was stopped.

The monster’s shadow had caught up, slamming a ride to the brick wall of an alleyway, holding Rhode up by the neck. CHoking her

“NO, STOP YOU BASTARD!” Ai ran up with the bat, charging at him, but then…

BAM! The original one appeared, sucker-punching AI in the stomach.

The bat was dropped and Ao stumbled out of its reach and fell onto her back.

GET UP! GET UP GET UP OR YOUR SISTER WILL DIE!!!! GET UP!! One would assume Ai’s veins were filled with fire, But it was a deadly cold that rushed through them. Like rapids during the middle of winter.

Ai pushed herself up. She could see the man stalking her.

THUMP!

The shadow had dropped Rhode, who was coughing, holding her throat with one hand, while another propped her up. The shadow just echoed the monster’s movements.

Getting to her feet quickly, she would not let years of self-defense go to waste, and decided on something else.

I have to use it. Ai focused on her breathing, her mother’s words about focusing and visualizing the energy, the power. She would have to create something big, something she only did once.

The man got into a fighting position. Blade gripped tightly, glaring she thought, deep into her soul.

“Maybe in a different time or place, things would be different”

“Just, just shut up” And AI created what looked like a huge icicle, charging forward. Blinking, and the man wasn't there. The tiredness setting in through her shoulders. Damn it not now

“Boo” sounded behind her, grabbing her ponytail, pulling her toward him, and lifting his blade toward her.

Blocking it with her spear, she turned and tried to stab him with it from behind her.

He let go of her hair, hissing as it had slashed his thigh.

Now, Ai was in front of Rhode, guarding her.

“Rhodey, listen to your big sister for once, please! Get out of here, don’t go to the apartment. Go to a friend's place, just something !” AI prattled, “I made a promise to mom, and I’ll do whatever I can to keep it.” Something hot rolled down her cheeks, she was crying.

“Ai, no please!” The teen’s voice was raspy, she still had the wind out of her lungs.

“You are pathetic, you both are that who-” Ai threw the javelin, which shattered into millions of pieces when it made contact with his face.

Ai could feel the temper drop even more in the alleyway, it was a mid-spring night, but she could see the cloud of her breath. Her shoulders dropped up and down, as she panted heavily, running at the man. That bastard had done enough.

One jab, two jabs, a straight punch, a hook that connected with his jaw, and then...then he grabbed her wrist in the uppercut.

“Foolish girl” That stupid twirl again. Then something grabbed her shoulder, the shadow.

The shadow grabbed her by her wrist and held them behind her.

“Fan Freaking-” A hand on her throat. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn't move her arms, and her legs could not kick him, he was too far away. Grubbing harder, she gasped for air, nothing.

Ai’s ears were ringing as she lost her breath, slowly, painfully, she could hear Rhode screaming. Whatever she was screaming, Ai could not make sense of it.

Run Rhodey, please just Run! The corners of her vision started to fade, darken.  Any second, she would pass out, or die. The monster’s grin tightened.

Then all of sudden, out of nowhere AN Icicle Impaled the man’s shoulder, causing him to let go of Ai. The Shadow screamed a banshee’s wail, letting AI go as well. She fell to her knees gasping to fill her lungs with air.

“Kuai Liang…” The man muttered, looking behind Ai. Turning her head, she saw a man dressed in blue armor.  A… a ninja?

“Bi-han what is the meaning of this?” The newcomer shouted. His voice leveled but commanding. A sense of pride and nobility radiated off of him.

“Fixing your mistake brother. I would say ask your Fiona, but she’s been gone for over a decade.” The tone in the monster’s voice was venomous, but… They both knew her mother.  The newcomer had tensed at the mention of Fiona.

“You say another word about my mother and I swear to whatever is above…” Ai started her voice like gravel.

“We’ll kill you” Rhode finished, standing behind the newcomer with her knife out. A story for another time

The man started to laugh. Through gritted teeth, hearing that raspy voice, what sounded of metal against stone, haunting Ai’s ears and mind. Concentrating all that she had left into her dominant arm, she stood up and focused on generating ice. Like a pitcher in baseball, she wound up and focused that energy out.

At the last moment, her leg gave out and she fell. Her right hand caching her, but at the same time realizing all the pent-up energy. Increasing the woman by her knees and arm in ice. Her hand

“You see what I mean, Subzero? Fiona gave this one that little trinket you gave her all those long years ago.” The monster walked toward Ai who was struggling to get out of her ice.

“No, no, move dammit” and other profanities were yelled.

“Cryomancy, but Fiona wasn’t a-”

“But her purpose in our clan” THe monster was standing before Ai so she could see the black boots. With each step he took, the inky smoke had splashed up as though he was stepping through muddy puddles.

Taking his hand, he gripped Ai’s chin. Her blue eyes stared into the glowing white eyes. No pupils. Like an angler fishes lure. He took a moment, it looked to be observing Ai closely. AS if looking at a prize.

“No matter how hard you tried to get her away from the Lin Kuei, she had fulfilled her purpose”

Move, dammit, I need to break out of the ice.

SPLAT! AI used her free hand to sucker punch the monster’s jaw.

He stumbled back onto his backside and Ai started to punch the ice trapping her. She felt stinging and tenderness as she crunched the ice. Her hand would bruise and it was cut up, blood had been sweating out of the open wounds.

“Here!” Rhode cried running to her sister, holding…. A fire extinguisher?

“What the hell are you_” Rhode started to hit the ice with the bottom of the red can.

WHACK WHACK WHACK

The man started to get up, and Rhode turned to him. Then proceeded to hit him in the head.

The newcomer had to help as well. Kneeling down to Ai’s kneeling form, he placed a hand onto the ice. As Ai looked at him, hearing the sound of her sister cussing out the shadow man, she could feel the ice cascade off of her in a second.

The man had done that, not ai. He could control and make ice just like her.

Ai looked closer at him, his eyes were blue, a pale blue, similar to attic ice… like Ai’s own eyes. He started back in eyes scanning the young woman. Ai tried reading his face, to read his body language. He just stared at her with eyes dancing across, until stopping at her neck. All the sudden, the presence of her leather-strung necklace was prominent. Instead of a hand-carved wooden pendant, it felt like a Boulder.

The symbol was on his shoulder pads and AI instantly felt her stomach do a 360.

“Why you little-“ the staring contest ended, as their head snapped to see those dashing between the man and his shadow. Holding the fire Distinguisher like a Tusken raider and his stick, Rhode had bashed the shadow and its master on their heads. Whenever they tried to grab her, she ducked out of their way twirling behind them and bashing the heads in.

“Rhodey what are you even thinking!!” Ai mumbled, trying to get up, but the newcomer put a hand on her shoulder.

“Stay here, I’ll get your sister out and deal with him.” He spoke soft but firmly, standing up, and I could see ice forming on his hand.

Ai just started in amazement, she had created ice just like him. But how she did it was rushed and impulsive. The man was only trained to do it as he flawlessly created an ice orb between his hands. It continued to swirl and levitate in between his hands.

Ai remembered trying it once, but she had just passed out. The winter's up at her uncle's cabin. Christmas and winter break celebrated in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. Where she had discovered her powers first hand in a snowball fight with Mike.

The winter air stung as the 12 years old Ai Shae wanted to build a snowman. Left alone as her mother tended to bay Rhode, and Mike was gathering firewood. She didn’t know why she tried it, it felt right.  When she woke up to the kettle whistling,  she could hear her mother talking to her uncle about it, but she was too weak to speak. The old black cast iron fire furnace had hit her with a wave of warmth and comfort. She felt safe and loved.

Kuia could do it, but he had years of training

Find him then Fin

Her father is dead, the lin kuei with him. I got out just in time. If he was alive….

my connections say otherwise

Your connections want you dead Mike, I won’t have her found.

Thinking back to that moment, and the present, her mind wandered. The battle before her still happened but as a blur. Ai didn’t want to be here. She wanted the cabin, the furnace. The regret of selling the cabin never went away.

An outline of blue fighting two outlines of black. A blur of pink and blue ran to her. Ai wished to be back on that coach, right in front of the iron furnace. Whatever was happening, it didn’t seem to matter.

Ai could hear her name be called out but nothing else. It all sounded weird. She could hear her heartbeat and only her thoughts.

Father, father, kuia, father, kuai Liang, lin Kuei,could do it

And with that, Ai had felt her head and body connected with the cement beside her.

[nobur-tone]

11/17(水) ラジオ石巻76.4 19:30〜の #rockerstownradio は、ワタクシNOBU R-TONEが、OLD TO NEW (REMAKE RIDDIM)から.BRAND NEWを中心にお送りしますので、お楽しみに！！アプリ　https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/mytuner-radio-%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B8%E3%82%AA%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC-fm-am/id520502858 などで全国どこでも聴けちゃいます！！！翌日には、#mixcloud にUPされますのでそちらも是非！！再放送は同局日曜日18:30〜です🔥🔥プレイリストです！！！ 2021.NOV.17TH ROCKERSTOWN RADIO 〜REMAKERIDDIM&LATEST REGGAE&DANCEHALL〜 ・V.A/INTRO ・TONY GOLD/COOL RUNNINGS ・JAH MALI/SHE BRINGS JOY ・PERFECT GIDDIMANI/CALI GREENS ・NISHA K/SWEETER THAN YESTERDAY ・TYRON TAYLOR/TEST OF OUR LOVE ・ALTON ELLIS&CHRISTOPHER ELLIS/I DIG YOU BABY ・TONY TUFF/RUN COME ・HORACE ANDY/ZION GATE ・GEORGE NOOKS/ROAD TO ZION ・TALEE,SHAE&DJ SNOW/WHATS GOING ON ・RICHIE STEPHENS/SLOW DANCE ・SIZZLA/DAYS OF SLAVERY ・CAPLETON/TAKE WHAT IS NOT YOURS ・BARRINGTON LEVY/BETTER THAN GOLD ・BARRINGTON LEVY/HERE I COME(JAYMES SAMUEL REMIX) ・FRANKIE PAUL/I REMEMBER ・NINJA MAN/PERMIT TO BURY ・NICO DEMUS/OLD VETERAN ・BEENIE MAN/TATA FOOL ・BOUNTY KILLER/IF A WAR ・PAN HEAD/GUN MAN TUNE ・SUKU WARD21/GUN MAN ANTHEM ・DADDY FREDDY/DANGER ・JIGSY KING/YA SO ・HARRY TODDLER/REAL SICKHEAD ・BLACKOUT,JA,YT/GREATEST TREASURE ・RED FOX/HOT BOTTLE ・KOFFEE/THE HARDER THEY FALL ・TOMMY LEE SPARTA&LEROY JUNIOR RUSSELL/SUPARSTAR ・ALKALINE/SYSTEM ・VYBZ KARTEL/EVERYBODY BAD TILL ・MASICKA/LOVE STORY ・SILK BOSS/STAY TO MISELF ・DEMARCO,BEENIE MAN,BOUNTY KILLER ・MASICKA,TARRUS RILEY&DUNW3II/CORNER #石巻 #radio #reggae #dancehall #remakeriddim #latesttunes #mixshow #staypositive #staystrong #goodvibesonly #nowanna #badmind https://www.instagram.com/p/CWVwtloPxna/?utm_medium=tumblr

[greyias]

6.2 Mail Time!

Last mail call for 6.2 under the cut! Because it all finally came in!

First up some kind words from Mando Mom:

Suitably Mandalorian 😂 And maybe it’s just me, but I kind of see some echoes of Shae during the Sacking of Coruscant in Heta Kol. Different scenarios, but definitely the same energy. And I do love me some some character parallels.

Next up, Jekiah: 

You know, Jekiah, fair. I was kind of suspicious of you too at first. And Rass is adorable, so don’t be too hard on him. He just wanted to help his big bro! I think it’ll be interesting to see if Heta turns out to somehow be of Clan Ordo (considering that little toy/codex entry you can find in the FP.)

And then:

Oh. Oh bless you writers! Please, give me more of this Mando MLM creep! Please have him send me mail after every encounter sending me a detailed invoice for everything he thinks I’ve cost him. 

Bask you are a joy and I never want you to change!

Oh, and hey look, speaking of budgets--

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

🤣

I’m sorry, brb, wheezing. I absolutely adore how it seems to be a recurring joke/canon thing that the Outlander has almost no concept of the monetary value of things. From either trying to give away entire fleets of invaluable warships or setting a 10 billion credit bounty, to crashing ships willy nilly because hey, gotta land somewhere and that clearly too small hangar is just as convenient as any other.

I’m just imagine Lana sitting them down at a desk, the Outlander glumly resting their chin on the fifteenth ledger that Lana has gone through in painstaking detail, each highlighted column and line clearly showing how much their antics cost the Alliance as a whole.

I’m starting to suspect the reason she insists on coming on so many missions is to try and cut down on collateral damage and try and keep the Alliance’s insurance discount.

And then, of course, the very last one to arrive, backdated to three days ago. What the heck game??? That’s not fair. Especially since this will disappear after 30 27 days :(

OH MY HEART! ♥♥♥♥♥ gdi Theron, you do this to me every time, you sweet, wonderful doof. Like oh god, so many feelings here. Between the fluffly OTP feels of him just showering his partner with praise, the light teasing to smack him if he doesn’t keep doing so, to the mother-son stuff of him actually making the decision to try and establish something of a relationship with her -- and the conversations being on a deep enough level where Satele’s like “Your Outlander’s a keeper”. Especially knowing Satele’s past, this is... ahh the feels! Like, her encouraging Theron to pursue happiness over duty--that’s so huge for her!

ALL THE FEELS. ALL THE TIME. Best update ever! Imma go roll around in this field o feels now. Don’t mind me.

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

[ICE JEWELS VOL. 12 SPECIAL INTERVIEW - YUZURU HANYU

Translation by Juro (juroscorner.blogspot.com)

Please click on the link in the reblog to read the full interview (I put left out parts in brackets [...]) and the Yuzuru related part from Satomi Ito’s interview about her costumes! (Tumblr is acting up with a direct link in the post)

Towards a “me” who surpasses myself

The World Championship (“WC”) was cancelled, drawing the 2019-20 season to a sudden conclusion. This season, he won a title that he hasn't conquered before. The victory at 4 Continents Championship (“4CC”) established Hanyu Yuzuru’s Super Slam as he entered glorious records and memories. His reflection on this season and resolution towards the upcoming season is told as follows. 

On the victory at the 4CC

Do you think of the victory at 4CC as a special memory? -       I really did win that competition, so I was happy. The last titles to obtain would probably be World Champion or Olympic Champion, but in this season, so far I’ve fulfilled tasks like winning competitions (which I haven’t won until then) like Skate Canada. Rather than any competition, this very one (4CC), is where I competed and won a silver medal at 16, but from then on, I couldn’t win it for a while. It’s good that I can finally win it. We heard that after Japan National, there was a period when you couldn’t get back on your feet. How did you spend that period? Was there any specific feeling? Then, how did you recover? Please let us know some details. -       I went through 3 consecutive competitions. (After JN), for I while I thought that Ahh, I’m quite tired out. I’ve been living placing pressure on myself and there was no time to recharge both my physical strength and emotion, so I let myself do whatever I felt like doing. I didn’t really pay attention to anything, so I don’t remember (what I did) clearly…

Just for now, “SEIMEI” and “Ballade no. 1”

[....about change of programs...]

You gave us a brilliant performance of “Ballade no. 1” at 4CC. It’s been previously said that you skated in absolute harmony with the pianist or as if you became the sound of the keyboard. What was your feeling this time? -       This time, it seemed like my body’s movement synchronized with the music playing in my head. Every single sound and melody thoroughly soaked into my body, and I let my body be in charge of the performance. Although I was nervous when doing jumps or difficult parts and there were plenty of matters to focus on, I left more than 80% of myself in the program to the music’s guidance rather than my consciousness. About the FP, what did you have to be cautious about when editing the music, to avoid destroying the world of “SEIMEI” now that the music needs to be 30s shorter? -       I found it compelling not to spoil the flow of the music or the program, so I avoided omitting any iconic part. There were parts where the tempo was quickened in the interest of time. However, even when the tempo was faster, for me, there was a certain meaning in skating [“SEIMEI”], and I had to be careful not to let the unique rhythm of my own fall apart. If the rhythm was changed too much, the true meaning of skating this program would be substantially different. Do you have any intention with SEIMEI’s new layout? To be specific, in the first 1 minute, you include 4 jumps. There was no run-up in between, only a mere turn from 3A to 3F. Please let us know how you came to engendering such a layout, something that can’t be done by anyone but Hanyu Yuzuru. -       Firstly, I wanted to cherish the music cuts which make up the program as much as possible. Then, there was editing to do. I didn’t want to change the flow of the first half, so the solution was to have 3 jumps with [1.1x] bonus in the 2nd half, I must find some way to insert one more jump in the 1st half, and I came up with placing 3F there. It could be either 3Lo or 3F, but I chose 3F since it did not to disrupt the music and rhythm. I showed Shae [my idea] right after she finished shaping the whole program, but she was also pleased by it, so we went with that layout. 

Is there any experience from skating “Otonal” and “Origin” that you can utilize? -       “Otonal” is a piano piece but there’s also an orchestra. With the piano’s sound as the core, I was trying to express the completion of the music, and [skate] while gathering picking up various shades of music. When skating “Ballade no. 1”, because I have [experienced] expressing an orchestra, I’ve come to feel the purity and transparent quality of the piano’s echo, and the expansion of sound even more deeply. I skated “Origin” while channeling the power surging up from deep inside and I always performed it taking my own self as a (candle’s) wick. Throughout the performance, that energy became the nuclear*. In “SEIMEI”, even when receiving those energy and power, it’s important to adjust so everything is kept under control. Rather than letting the overflowing energy run loose, I want to embody floaty, airy image and philosophical insights, even with my feet on the ground.

On this season’s achievements and next season’s goals You adopted the strategy of changing jump layouts according to the competition. You also competed in the GPS, GPF, and JN. What did you achieve? -       I think not getting injured is my biggest achievement.When I forcefully try to push myself from poor to peak condition, my body can’t catch up. I went through a long time with no serenity even in my heart, but this season, I think I was able to adjust well. Would you let us know how your training, for injury prevention and such, is coming along? -       I think I know the where within myself the “line” (limit) at which I should stop pushing ahead is. However, I’m aware that if I can’t overcome that boundary, I can’t improve, so I think cautiously about the days when I can push beyond the limit and days when I shouldn’t.

The WC was cancelled, but how was the result of your training after 4CC, and how that will connect to next season? -       I feel like I was even more attentive to practicing skating basics and jumps. I wouldn’t say everything is completed, but if I train earnestly now, I can detect what goes wrong, and that’s how the result will connect to next season in my opinion. Did the novel coronavirus affect your training and daily life in Canada? Also, what are the precautions you’re practicing? -       I’ve been washing my hands and gaggling my throat. Besides, whenever I come home from practice, I disinfect various things. I think there isn’t much impact on my training. From now on, it’s off-season. Do you have any training you want to do in mind? -       I want to spend time on practicing 4A, for it’s extremely difficult to train for a new jump mid-season. My home rink was already closed, so it’ll be tough from now on (Interviewer: By 3/16, Ontario had been locked down to reduce the spread of coronavirus). However, I can still make use of other methods like on-land training, etc. I think it’s helpful to build a good foundation. Please let us know your vision of next season’s program, image of music and such, to an extent that you find acceptable. -       I want to do new programs. I don’t know for sure how long it would take to incorporate 4A, but that’s also my goal to work hard for next season. I haven’t had any tangible image of the programs or music for now. However, I hope to do something that is meaningful to myself.

We’ll ask you about the 4A. At GPF, you’ve given us a glimpse it for the first time. What do you think about the atmosphere in the arena at that time after you showcased the jump? -       I was nervous, but because I was jumping in front of everybody, I kind of hoped I would succeed. I really enjoy the taste of climbing over the hindering wall.

[...about state of 4A...]

Finally, please let us know your resolutions for next season and send a message to fans. -       I’m really thankful that you keep supporting me to the end in this season as well. I think everyone is all going through a hard time because of the novel coronavirus right now. Please be careful. For me, from now on I will keep on accumulating the training towards next season, including the 4A. 

[...Bonus: Yuzu-related parts in Satomi Ito’s special interview ...] [Juro’s explanation on use of words and message by Juro]

[dezithinks]

30 in 30 Manga Challenge 2023

Read 30 volumes of manga in 30 days! Shae from Shaegeeksout on youtube has teamed up with a couple of other booktubers: Happy for Now, RealmofComics and Loc’D Booktician for this years 30 in 30 Manga Challenge. If you are new to the 30 in 30 Manga Challenge like I am here is what you need to know! The challenge will begin April 1 and end April 30th. The goal of the challenge is to read more…