#I’ve gotten a lot of cool feedback but some of this is a lot

[skinandscales-if]

Alright real quick I wanted to address some things I’ve seen floating around recently because it’s been a bit overwhelming to be honest and I want to at least have something generally addressed instead of trying to individually break down arguments. Check below the cut if you’re interested but if not, no worries I’ll get back to posting the regular stuff soon.

There’s been a lot of comments about MC’s lack of agency and the cruelty of certain characters and though there’s a lot of valid criticism in between this, I want to hit at the root of the problem.

The alienation is the point.

MC is in a place they don’t know with people they don’t know and a power structure that is doing everything in its power to keep MC in place. It’s awful and the people around you suck and that’s the point. In future chapters this will change, you’ll get the chance to take a closer look at things and react with more than just words but for now this is the way things are.

You’ll meet kinder characters as you move along and the ones you do know now will change with you, just give them that chance. Give me that chance to show this.

Finally, if you really didn’t enjoy what I had and wanted more from the game, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy but it may not be your cup of tea. If you’re willing to stick it out I am incredibly grateful but this game, at the end of the day, won’t be for everyone and if it’s not what you pictured, no worries! I genuinely hope you can find something that suits you better, I’m just gonna keep writing what I love ❤️

TLDR; I’m closing itch.io comments lol

[kaitlynpcallmebeepme]

Sea Sickness

Sea Sickness

Luke Hughes x fem!reader (established relationship, but still new)

Idea: Reader gets nauseous from being on the boat at the Hughes’s Lake House and snuggles up to Luke.

Requested: Nope. 

Author’s Note:  I know I’m bouncing around who I’m writing for, but I’m on a NHL spree right now. I also get nauseated if I'm on a boat or in the ocean for too long. Fun Fact: I wrote the beginning part of this on a note card while working by myself in the OR today. We had a really long case where I just had to check up on people during the middle of it (hence why I wrote this on a card because I don’t like going on my phone when I’m in the OR. It's unprofessional). I don’t know any of these people personally. The closest I’ve gotten to the team (that wasn’t just playing in the band at the games or when they were walking past us down the 2023 red carpet in tampa) was a tuba was talking to some of them in his plane row on the ride back from that trip (he ended up being the tuba you see in the senior picture from 2024) and one of the coaches had to share our bus on the way back from the 2023 frozen four game with his wife and two young daughters (I kept trying to get the younger one to smile at me unsuccessfully).  Someone from my hotel room also shared the elevator ride up with the entire Fantilli family the night they lost that game in 2023 (I think Adam also won the Hobey Baker award that same night). I’ve also been playing my lego lord of the rings game. Anyway, enjoy this little blurb.

Tagging some of my favorite Hughes/NHL writers, love y’all.

@wineauntie @thedevilrisen @winterbarnesblog @sc0tters 

I forgot to mention that this is kinda based on the cute stuff @bedsyandco writes

I'm now sad when I'm uploading this because a friend from college drumline has an incurable brain cancer. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers (he's only 19 or 20).

Requests are still open.  Feedback is always appreciated.  Also, tell me if you want to be part of a Tag List and I’ll tag you when I upload something new. If you want to only be tagged when I upload something for a certain character or shows, let me know as well.  

Warning: None, just general fluff. Feeling sick on a boat. 

Word Count: 488

Being on a boat wasn’t your most favorite thing in the world, mainly because the last time you were on a boat, it got stuck in the middle of the laek and had to be towed back to shore (true story), but when your boyfriend Luke invited you to spend the weekend at the lakehouse with ihs brothers and friends, you weren't going to say no. The weekend had been filled with lots of eating, playing outside, and the boys being competitive at every game they pick up (even the old board game you brought to teach them how to play).  Just trying to keep up with them all was exhausting, so that’s how you ended up on the back of the boat enjoying the warm air instead of diving into the water again.  The boys had been going back and forth between wakeboarding and chatting on the boat deck. With them supplying the lake with plenty of waves, the constand up and down was starting to make your stomach sick.  You scooched over and made yourself comfortable laying your head on Luke’s shoulder.  He then opened his arms and wrapped you in his warm embrace so you could crawl on his lap and snuggle closer to his chest. 

“You feeling ok?” 

“Yeah, just want to stop the constant movement.” It was getting to a point were you just wanted to stop the constant movement.  It being really hot out didn’t help either. 

“We’ll head to shore soon. Then we can cool off inside.” 

Being wrapped up in Luke’s embrace with his fingers gently carding through your hair or down your shoulder leaving goosebumps in their wake and shading you with his fit body definitely helped keep your mind off of your stomach and the boat’s ever shifting movements.  Luke wasn’t much of a pda person, but you always encouraged him to show little bits of it at least in front of his family or close friends.  

Little did you know, that’s exactly who was eyeing the interaction.  Jack, Quinn, Trevor, Cole, and Dylan all had stopped what they were talking about in favor of watching the interaction between you two.  Eventhough they were not all related, they felt like proud older brothers seeing Luke be so considerate and affectionate in front of them.  Of couse they’re all going to tease him relentlessly later about this, but they were gentlemen in regards to respecting the timing and the moment.

“Just lay down and close your eyes. We’ll be on shore soon.”  You snuggled deeper into Luke’s neck keeping your eyes closed and focused on his soft skin, his natural scent, and the way his warm body curled around yours. He even tugged on your legs to pull you fully into his lap as his large frame wrapped around your body fully encasing you in his warmth and comfort. 

Nothing better than enjoying the summer with those you love.

[austinswife]

PRANKS DAY — Austin Butler

FROM SERIES — THE BUTLER FAMILY CHRONICLES

SYNOPSIS — Life with Austin Butler has been nothing short of adventurous. Married with a beautiful two-year-old daughter, Wren, you and Austin share a loving relationship built on playfulness, deep affection, and a lot of laughter. One afternoon, while preparing for a photoshoot, you decide to prank Austin by asking him to leave the room while you change. This simple request spirals into a hilarious back-and-forth filled with tender moments, teasing, and the deep love you both share. But when you slip off your wedding and engagement rings, Austin’s playful tone turns serious as he worries he’s done something wrong, setting the stage for an adorable and heartfelt resolution.

WARNING(S) — Fluff, mild nudity references, childbirth mentioned, playful tension.

𝜗𝜚 ALL FEEDBACKS, IDEAS SUGGESTION, REQUEST — TO AUSTINSWIFE

It was one of those lazy, warm afternoons where everything in the house moved just a little slower. Sunlight poured through the large bay windows of your bedroom, dappling across the floor in soft, golden patches. You stood in front of the mirror, shifting through a heap of clothes laid out on the bed, trying to decide on an outfit for an upcoming photoshoot. Meanwhile, your two-year-old daughter, Wren, was bouncing between playing with her stuffed bunny and babbling to herself—seemingly in her own little world.

Austin was on the bed behind you, lying on his back with one leg hanging off the edge, scrolling through his phone in his signature relaxed, slightly-too-cool-for-anything posture. His tousled blonde hair framed his face in soft waves, and every now and then, you’d catch him glancing up from his screen to look at you with that boyish grin he always had, the one that never failed to make your heart do a little flip.

You caught his eye in the mirror and smirked. The idea of stirring things up hit you, because, really, Austin was way too comfortable right now.

“Hey, babe,” you called out casually, holding a top up against yourself and pretending to examine it in the mirror. “Can you leave the room for a sec? I need to change.”

You could feel his gaze snap up, immediately puzzled by your odd request. Austin sat up slightly, propping himself up on one elbow, his expression a mix of amusement and confusion.

“Leave the room?” he repeated, voice dripping with disbelief. “Why would I leave? What, have you gotten shy all of a sudden?”

You shrugged nonchalantly, tossing the top onto the bed and picking up another. “I just need some privacy. No big deal.”

Austin’s eyes narrowed playfully as he swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up, clearly intrigued by your sudden demand for privacy. He crossed the room slowly, that easy smile tugging at his lips.

“Babe, I’ve seen you naked, like… a million times,” he said, drawing out the words as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. “Privacy doesn’t exist between us anymore.”

You turned your back to him, pretending to concentrate on a dress you’d picked up, but really, you were trying not to laugh. “Yeah, well, maybe I’ve changed. Maybe I want some mystery back.”

“Mystery?” Austin echoed, incredulous. You could hear the smile in his voice as he stepped closer. “Pretty sure we left the mystery behind when we had a kid. I saw you give birth, babe. There is no mystery.”

You rolled your eyes, biting back a grin. “That was different.”

Austin let out a soft chuckle as he came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder. “Different? How is it different?”

You leaned back into his embrace, your body relaxing against his even as you tried to maintain the charade. “Because… that was a medical thing. This is just me changing.”

Austin nuzzled your neck, his breath warm against your skin, sending shivers down your spine despite yourself. “You’re saying you’re shy now?” he teased, his lips brushing just below your ear. “With me?”

You could feel the laughter bubbling up in your chest, but you pushed it down. “Yep. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

He pulled back, clearly delighted by this game, though you could sense he was becoming more curious by the second. “You know I’m not leaving, right? I love watching you change.”

You turned in his arms, raising an eyebrow as if his statement was the most absurd thing you’d heard all day. “You love watching me change? Really?”

Austin’s grin widened, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously. “Absolutely. It’s one of the perks of the job.”

You tried to hold back a smile but failed miserably. “Wow, romantic.”

His hands slipped to your hips as he leaned down to kiss you softly, murmuring, “You knew that going in.”

You kissed him back, feeling warmth spread through you, but then decided to up the ante of your prank. Slowly, you pulled away, letting your hand fall casually to your side. Without making a big deal of it, you slipped your engagement ring and wedding band off and set them on the dresser next to you.

Austin’s brow furrowed immediately. His hands stilled on your waist as he caught the movement, his gaze flicking to your now bare finger. “Wait… what are you doing?”

You kept your expression neutral, pretending to be absorbed in sorting through the clothes again. “Oh, nothing,” you said breezily. “Just taking these off for now.”

Austin’s eyes narrowed further, the playfulness in his voice ebbing into something more cautious. “You never take your rings off, unless… Is something wrong?”

There it was—his vulnerability creeping in. You felt a tiny pang of guilt for messing with him, but it was just too funny to stop now.

“Nope, nothing’s wrong,” you replied nonchalantly, pulling a random top from the bed and holding it up in front of the mirror.

“Are you mad at me or something?” Austin asked, his voice quieter now. He reached for your hand, lifting it up as if to confirm that the rings were really gone. “I mean… you wouldn’t take these off for no reason.”

You fought back a grin, turning to face him with an exaggerated sigh. “I just… don’t know. Maybe I’m rethinking this whole marriage thing.”

His face paled slightly, and his fingers tightened around your hand. “Wait… what?” His voice cracked with a mix of confusion and panic. “What do you mean you’re rethinking it?”

You couldn’t hold it in any longer—you burst out laughing. Austin’s face shifted from concern to utter disbelief as the sound of your laughter filled the room.

“Oh my God, babe!” you gasped, doubling over. “You should’ve seen your face! You looked so freaked out!”

Austin blinked, still trying to process what had just happened. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally groaned, running a hand through his hair. “You were… messing with me?” His voice rose in exasperation. “You were messing with me the whole time?”

You nodded, wiping a tear from your eye as you tried to catch your breath. “I couldn’t resist! You should’ve seen how worried you looked! It was priceless.”

Austin shook his head, a mix of relief and frustration crossing his features. “I seriously thought I did something. You had me thinking I was gonna have to, like, apologize for something I didn’t even know I did.”

“Well, you didn’t do anything,” you said, still giggling. “But now I know how easy it is to freak you out.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m not letting this one go,” he muttered, though his lips were twitching with a reluctant smile.

Just as the playful banter settled between you, Wren decided to make her presence known. “Mama! Dada! Look!” she chirped, toddling over with her bunny raised high above her head like a trophy.

Austin’s expression softened instantly, and he bent down, scooping Wren into his arms with ease. She giggled as he swung her up into the air, her little face lighting up with delight.

“Look at you, Wrennie!” he cooed, pressing a kiss to her cheek as she squealed in response. “Such a big girl with your bunny.”

You watched them with a smile, warmth spreading through your chest at the sight of your husband and daughter together. Austin held her close, planting kisses all over her cheeks, and Wren dissolved into fits of giggles.

“She saved me,” Austin teased, giving you a pointed look. “If it weren’t for this little one, I’d be in pieces.”

You laughed and stepped closer, wrapping your arms around both of them. “Okay, okay, I promise not to prank you for a while. Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Austin quirked a brow. “You know, payback’s gonna be sweet.”

“I’m not scared,” you shot back, sticking out your tongue playfully.

“Oh, you should be,” he whispered, leaning in close with that playful glint in his eyes. “You should be very scared.”

Before you could respond, Wren wriggled between you two, demanding attention. “Mama, kiss!” she babbled, pointing at Austin’s cheek.

You grinned, leaning in to plant a kiss where Wren had directed. Then Austin turned, giving you a quick peck on the lips, his expression softening as he looked at you.

“See?” he said quietly, brushing a strand of hair from your face. “Our little family. No one’s going anywhere.”

You smiled, resting your head against his shoulder, your hand gently running down Wren’s back as she snuggled between you. “No one’s going anywhere,” you repeated softly.

The three of you stood there for a moment, wrapped up in the warmth of each other, the playful prank long forgotten as the afternoon sun bathed the room in a golden glow.

And as you looked at Austin, holding your daughter close, you couldn’t help but feel that this—this beautiful, messy, love-filled life—was everything you’d ever dreamed of.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hey, I'm thinking of getting into the homebrew scene for TTRPGs, but don't really know any good starting points and know that at the end of the day its all about connections in the community. I know you're more for indie RPG advice rather than patreon content for discontinued games, but do you have any advice?

Hmm, I’m not sure how much help I can be answering this question, but I think one of the defining things of a community is the desire for everyone in it to do well - whether that’s designing a game, creating interesting home-brew, or getting listeners for your podcast.

In many ways, I think the TTRPG design community is an interconnected ecosystem: there are people who design, people who write reviews, people who create supplements, people who stream, and people who make podcasts. We all benefit from others in the space doing adjacent things, and rarely does doing one of those things exclude you from participating in some of the others.

I feel like a lot of the people I met in the space I met because I was doing something they found really helpful - I’m primarily collecting game recommendations under specific guidelines because of the number of times I’ve seen people asking about games that do X. I’m also creating character spreadsheets for games that I can’t find an online character sheet for. The biggest takeaway I’ve gotten from these endeavours is that I found an unfilled need, and I filled it. I put these out on the internet, and people showed up and showed interest.

I’m also entering game jams on Itch occasionally - in fact 80% of the games on my Itch page were created for game jams. I really like participating in the group part of this scene, and I started doing this mostly because I had more games that I was excited about than I could feasibly play in one year. I consider the game jam games to be ways to fuel and direct my creativity, as well as giving me concrete deadlines to ensure my work doesn’t founder in development hell. It also is a chance to see what other people are doing; what are people playing around with, what are people interested in making? Someday I hope to release something bigger, but I’m glad I’m doing these small bits and pieces first, because it’s helping me develop skills that I know I’m going to find useful down the road.

I don’t consider myself a prominent figure in any way shape or form, and I definitely feel welcomed by the feedback I’ve received from other designers who see what I do here. I’m also excited when I get to interact with other designers who do cool stuff that isn’t as well known yet - I’m not the only one getting my feet wet with game design and I am hopeful that those of us who are getting started at the same time get to watch each-other grow.

[bindeds]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 100 FOLLOWERS ! — i genuinely can’t believe i’ve come this far with posting my brainrot for hazbin. it has and will continue to be such an honor to keep posting for you guys, and to celebrate you guys i’ve prepared a little something for you guys, hehe!

requests.

i am willing to do any requests you guys might have which includes art, gifs, character ships (radioapple, huskerdust, etc) and of course character x reader ships despite generally being an x reader blog. though of course as any sane person would, i am not entertaining angel x val.

some fics along the way …

i have been cooking up something specifically for lucifer though nothing is confirmed yet except for the fact that i want to make a longer fic for him (AT LEAST 10k words long), but i’m kinda having trouble for the plot so this kinda connects to the first thing which if you have any ideas for me to write i am implore you to hit up my askbox, please! i’m gonna need all the help i can get! i’ve also gotten a radioapple worm in my head and the premise is too good not to act on though i will say it will be shorter than the lucifer fic. because of this both of these will be on my ao3 so stay tuned!

selfships.

i thought it would be cool for you guys to tell me a bit about yourself and then from there i pick a character from hazbin/helluva (depending on which show you prefer) that i think you would like/be with romantically (or even queerplatonically for the aro/aces out there)!! i’ve seen other people do this as well and they do 3-pic moodboards sometimes and i’d love to do that for you guys! or if you guys wanna go in depth i could also make short fics dedicated to you personally upon request!

get to know me + qna!

besides all the stuff that’s stated in my pinned, i’ve been writing since i was 10 (i am 18) and i’ve wanted to be a published author for the longest time, though as i grew older i realized there’s a lot of other ways i can get my stories out to the world, like screenwriting, animating (or being both the creator and writer of my own show AHEM totally not talking about hazbin) so i’m not really sure of things yet, but i will say i’ve learned a lot about writing since i first started and even though i know this is all for fun, i take the way i write things seriously, so any constructive feedback you might have will be valuable to me! anyway, i have A LOT of opinions on everything hazbin/helluva so you can ask about those or more about me! i’m a very open person so i like to give in depth responses. but yeah feel free to ask about my opinions on helluva/hazbin as well as my personal life too!

another thing i wanted to disclose about myself since i feel comfortable after having met such wholesome people after starting this blog, is that i have been through abuse very similar to angel dust’s meaning his character meant a lot to me and he was my favorite character when the pilot first came out so yeah! definitely ask me about angel too if you have anything to ask!

[writinandcrying]

TMNT HEADCANON - Turtle of choice x reader (GN)

Reader’s Birthday

the first slice goes to.. / showing love through cake lol

It’s a tradition in my country to give the first slice to the person you love the most during your birthday, so here a tiny Headcanon for how the turtles would react to it!

Here a demonstration of this wholesome act, TW cute kids

Reader and TOC (turtle of choice) are still on the “crush stage”, doing with the 2003 boys cuz I’ve recently started watching the show! (I only remember bits it cuz I was pretty young when it aired lol, I love how the very beginning shows how they found out a new lair, how they met april, how they barely got any human contact before meeting her, it’s super cool and has some fresh concepts comparing to most canon narratives, if you haven’t watched the 2003 series I highly recommend it)

Anyways, let me know if you would like me to do other versions as well :) hope you guys like it, feedback is welcomed 🫶

English is not my first language so I apologize for any grammar mistakes !!

Mikey

🛹 He’s deadass behaving like this after you tell him the meaning behind giving the first slice (i love this gif lol)

🛹 “AWW !! ANGELCAKES!!” Hugs you so tightly you barely have time to move the tiny slice to the nearest surface you can find, one second later the cake would have gotten smushed between you two

🛹 good luck if you have labyrinthitis, he WILL spin you around a few (at least 5) times to show how appreciative he is of the gesture

🛹 he’s not letting you go for a hot second

🛹 Sees this as an opportunity to finally kiss your cheeks, he has always wanted to but never really had a “reason” to without making things awkward, this is his perfect chance!

🛹will randomly give you kisses through out your stay

🛹 Gets addicted to it, your skin are much softer and smoother than theirs, does a mental note to give more attention to this area from now on

🛹 If you blush to his antics tho? Oh he is DONE for

🛹if you placed a microfone to his chest it would def broadcast the sickest beat

🛹 boom boom boom boom 💥

🛹Actually he will cling to you, will do anything you want or ask for, it’s your princess / prince / royalty day!

🛹 Pls confess to the poor boy lol he’s actually anticipating it now

🛹 Literally vibrating with joy, expect lots of hugs from him

🛹 Your bday will become his favorite “holiday” (yes for him it’s a holiday now )

Donnie

🔬”Cake time! “ Mikey sings out loud as he has been patiently waiting for your arrival to sing happy birthday

🔬you insist that Donnie gets the first slice tho, and he definitely reads into why you are persistent of him instead of younger brother

🔬he of course accepts it, but D keeps it quiet most of the evening, doesn’t want to put you on the spot, but he can swear he saw a faint blush adore your cheeks when you looked towards him

🔬 will ask to speak in private with you, hopefully when the “birthday commotion” dies down a bit, he definitely doesn’t want to deal with Raph’s and Mikey’s “oooooh” and “get it Donnie!” Teasing remarks

🔬He still deals with it tho, cuz I mean, brothers.

🔬 Donnie shows the reason why he pulled you over, a PowerPoint complication of several different birthday traditions around the globe he has read some before setting up the party earlier

🔬 “Isn’t it interesting?? “Totally trying to cover up his main question, did you or did you not give him the first slice? aka just said in front of EVERYONE that HE is your favorite person in the entire world?????

🔬 “one of the most wholesome ones I’ve fond was this one, apparently, I mean, if you wish to, you give the first cake slice to your- erm, to the person it means the world to you…”

🔬 “that one is pretty cute, yeah” you chuckle, looking down as his nervous hands, fidgeting with a random prototype he decided to hold it for moral support while showing of his presentation

🔬”were you.. aware of such tradition? “ Donnie finally looks towards you, searching for any indication of you confirming his suspicions, eyes shining with anticipation

🔬 “I was- I am aware of it Donnie” you smooth your hand on top of his as you caress it tenderly

🔬 literally let’s out the dorkiest giggle you have ever heard in your entire life

🔬 the “school girl / Kicking my feet” kinda giggle

🔬 cover his mouth right after he lets it out. Don is mortified, embarrassed as hell, deadass wants to crawl in a hole and die after he lets it out

🔬 Relaxes a bit after he sees you giggling as well

🔬 asks more about your birthday traditions, past birthdays memories you had to break the ice (that’s his way is being smooth)

🔬 please be noted, He does not let go of your hand, man is making his moves

🔬 but just a heads up; this moment will live rent free in his mind for MONTHS on end, for his sake (and his brothers sake as well) confess as soon as you can

Raph

🧨 says he doesn’t want it right off the bat

🧨 It’s not that he doesn’t want to accept your feelings, he actually has no ideia about this tradition whatsoever, if you have ever told him before, he definitely forgot it

🧨 Plus, I’m a firm believer most Raph’s aren’t really into sweet treats, they doesn’t want to mess with his diet or can’t handle much sugar (gym rat tendencies)

🧨 You try to empathize how special it would be for you if he accept it

🧨 you really don’t wanna say why tho, like, this is already really embarrassing as it is

🧨 just take the cake man, damn

🧨 mikey for the rescue! literally shoves the cake down his throat after Raph guarantees he doesn’t want it

🧨 Things get a bit awkward after that, you really don’t want to showcase that such a small thing had an affect on you

🧨 But there’s a tiny part of you that feels rejected, unconsciously start to shut down

🧨 Raph is extremely perspective of this, much the second youngest, he start to analyses what could have gone wrong, did something happen before you came to celebrate your birthday? Is someone bothering you? Should he teach them a lesson?

🧨 Will antagonize Donnie to check cameras around your area and work place

🧨 But it’s donn who comments about the birthday tradition

🧨 Will literally get so mad when he finds out lol

🧨 Feels SO stupid, Jesus Christ

🧨Will bark at mikey to spill the cake out, that was his slice

🧨”Dude, that was a week ago!

🧨 “I don’t care. Spill. it. out.”

🧨 “Raph, he probably already, uh- processed it out? “

🧨 “you guys are freaking disgusting, do we really have to discuss this at the dinner table?”

🧨 Will randomly show up at your place with a tiny red cake, a bit messy, but still pretty cute

🧨 “my birthday was last week, im pretty sure you were there to witness” you let out a chuckle, trying to ease out the undeniable tension in the air

🧨” this is my cake “

🧨 “ok..?”

🧨” …and I want you to have the first slice “

🧨 Oh.

🧨 OH.

🧨 oh.

Leo

🎏 Unlike his brother, Leo could never forget it

🎏He literally has a folder in his brain just for stuff you tell him

🎏Stores it like the most precious piece of information anyone has ever given him

🎏 It took him a really long time to process his feelings for you, but once he does it, he treasures every single moment he has with you

🎏 you don’t even have to say anything when he sees you holding the plate to his direction, holding a mix of surprise and yet seriousness look on his face

🎏it’s like eveything it’s suddenly in slow motion, The determination behind his eyes makes you concerned a bit

🎏”Thank you, y/n”

🎏He bows to you

🎏 His brothers have no ideia what that was but they are def crackling up a storm

🎏 “what was that????”

🎏 “Tone it down, splinter junior, it’s just a cake”

🎏 what the boys don’t see it’s you being absolutely speechless and looking like a tomato as Leo takes his slice

🎏 you are the one over-analyzing the situation here

🎏What did he meant by that bow? does he remember what you told him ages ago? He wouldnt simply just bow for a slice of cake, would he?

🎏It fuels a fire inside of you and him, both extremely aware of each others lingering touches and thoughtful gestures from now on

🎏This goes on for a while, this whole… mutual pining stage can be tricky, but when reciprocated, it’s so nice to navigate through, and honestly quite addicting

🎏 a confession won’t even be necessary, leo and you get together over thoughtful acts, your first kiss was under the mistletoe on Christmas was an easy feat, yes, it was barely a brush over eachother lips, but still just felt natural, like it was supposed to be

🎏the midnight kiss in new years was a whole other thing, hands gripping on each other, his hand holding the nape of your neck like his life depended on it, you two couldn’t get enough of each other, waiting for so long to actually make a move after the cake incident

🎏 you finally make it official on his birthday, gracing you a smile and a light peck as he gently places the slice right in front of you

[jaeyunverse]

the bet

pairing: sim jake x fem!reader

genres: fluff, neighbours to lovers, summer romance au

wc: 1230

warnings: i can think of none, but lmk if you want me to add anything!!

summary: in which jake bets he can make you fall for him in three weeks. you don’t tell him you’ve already lost.

note: happy jake day!! ♡ i raced against time to complete this before the 16th and YAYY i still have a little less than two hours :D i hope this is to your liking!! feedback would be appreciated <3

masterlist

“We should compare hand sizes.”

You averted your gaze from the sea and raised an eyebrow at the boy lounging beside you. “Really?”

Jake hummed, his eyes following a crab that was skittering several feet away from where you were seated. He was lying down with his legs stretched out in front of him, his elbows propped up to support his upper body weight.

There was barely anyone on the beach. One of the town’s biggest events was commencing at sundown and everyone was busy getting ready for it. Jake wanted some alone time with you before the festivities began, so he had dragged you to the shore to watch the sunset with him.

The cool evening air ruffled his fluffy hair, and you bit down on the urge to run your hand through the soft strands. It was a beautiful sight, really, watching him be at peace with nary a care in the world.

Tucking your knees under your chin, you rested your cheek on them. “Did you run out of ideas already?”

“Old is gold,” he quipped, finally sliding his eyes to meet yours. A mischievous smile adorned his lips as he said, “Though we can try something else if you want; how do you feel about comparing feet sizes?”

You laughed, shoving his shoulder playfully. “You’re impossible.”

Jake snorted. Pointing at himself, he feigned disbelief. “I am impossible? You are the one who keeps playing hard to get. I’ve been trying to woo you for over two weeks.”

“Giving up already?” you teased and pointed out, “I told you I wasn’t going to make things easy for you.”

You’d met Jake at the start of your break. Spending summer vacation at your grandma’s home was an old tradition for your family, but you hadn’t been able to visit the previous year due to a multitude of reasons.

On the day of your arrival, you’d exited the car and sprinted into the beach house even before your dad could stop the vehicle fully. You hadn’t seen your Nana in so long—your excitement obviously knew no bounds.

However, instead of finding her, you had come face-to-face with a strange blonde boy unloading groceries on the kitchen island.

Your first encounter with Jake had been horribly embarrassing. His soft, boyish features had thrown you off.

Literally.

You had tripped over your own feet when your gazes locked. Thankfully, he’d proven to be someone with good reflexes and caught you before you could fall.

Your Nana, upon hearing the commotion, had rushed inside (from the garden out back, you’d assumed) and gotten introductions out of the way.

Jake Sim and his family had only recently moved into the house next door. His parents, after a successful career, had seeked early retirement and taken sanctuary in the small town of Rockcrest.

Jake, apparently, surfed and ran errands for your grandma when he wasn’t busy doing his summer job as a waiter at the golf course.

The two of you befriended each other and started hanging out, only to discover that you actually had a lot in common.

For instance, both of you had the terrible habit of betting on things to prove to other people that you were right. One thing led to the next, and here you were now, risking your prized possessions yet again to win another bet.

If Jake couldn’t manage to make you fall for him in the span of three weeks, he would have to surrender his DSLR. But if he did make you fall, you’d have to hand over the signed first edition copy of your favorite book.

The stakes weren’t nearly as scary as the dangerous game you were playing. Though, you supposed, there wasn’t really anything to be afraid of.

The damage was already done. You’d fallen for Jake long before the bet came into existence.

Why, then, did you agree to his conditions?

Jake Sim was cocky. He was overconfident. If given the chance, he was sure he could convince you to be his girlfriend.

Admitting that you were already head over heels for him would have been embarrassing. It would have implied that he’d managed to have an effect on you without even trying. No way were you going to allow that to happen.

So, you let him try. You let him hold your hand. You let him hug you. You let him take you out on dates. You let him kiss the corners of your lips and do all sorts of cheesy things.

You let him in.

Each moment you spent with him made you open up to him more and more. Not only did Jake know your dreams and the things that made you happy, but he was also aware of your insecurities, fears and sorrows.

You didn’t even care about the bet anymore. Your pride and competitiveness could go down the drain for all you cared. You only had two months left before school began; time was of absolute essence.

“Jake—”

“Why would I give up when I know I’ve already won the bet?” he interrupted, answering your question. His eyes bored into yours and you felt your heart rate pick up. “Why would I accept defeat after I’ve managed to make you fall for me?”

Your mouth parted open in surprise. You could only stare at Jake dumbfoundedly as he stood up and dusted himself off, offering you a hand. “You might have done your best to keep up the pretense, Y/N, but I noticed your slip-ups.”

“Since when have you known?” you whispered, slipping your hand into his and allowing him to pull you to your feet. He didn’t let go, though. He only intertwined your fingers and caressed your face.

“A few days into the bet,” Jake answered, his gaze darting between your eyes and mouth, as if he had a hard time not looking at the latter. “I was reaching for a bottle behind you, but you thought I was going in for a kiss.”

Your cheeks burned with embarrassment. You hadn’t realised he’d known.

“Sorry for disappointing you then,” he mumbled. “Can I make it up to you now?”

You couldn’t believe your ears. Breath hitching in your throat, all you could do was nod. But Jake wasn’t having it. Tracing your bottom lip with his thumb, he whispered, “Use your words, princess.”

You exhaled shakily. “Make it up to me, Jake.”

And then his lips were on yours. His arm snaked around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer. Tilting his neck to the side, Jake deepened the kiss.

You thought you had died and gone to Paradise.

Your heart swelled with happiness and contentment, and if it weren’t for Jake’s thumb caressing your face in a comforting manner, you might have exploded into an array of light.

All your other senses dulled and for the first time in your life, you realised what it was like to live in the moment. To enjoy it so thoroughly that everything else becomes meaningless.

Out of breath due to the sheer euphoria you were experiencing, you broke the kiss and rested your forehead against his.

“Y/N?” Jake murmured. “Can I ask you something?”

You slowly opened your eyes in response and stared into his hopeful ones.

“Will you accompany me to the festival as my girlfriend?”

[nicestgirlonline]

Steal My Sunshine

Pairing: FEDRA!Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

Warnings: noncon elements, abuse of authority, forced relationship DNI if you find these upsetting!

Summary: In the dark, dismal post apocalyptic world, you made the mistake of being a bright spot in Sergeant Barnes's day...

@the-slumberparty Genre's Old and New Warm-Up: Here’s my genre generator warm up and my first entry for the Slumber Party! I got Horror and Authority Figure! I’ve been obsessed with The Last of Us so I decided to go with TLOU themed AU! Very loosely related, no fast fungus zombies in this one. Very excited for the slumber party, can’t wait to hear what you think!

Word count: did my best to try and keep it under 1k since it's just a warm-up, coming in at a cool 1610 words oops

This the first fic I’ve posted to tumblr since high school (yikes) so I’d really love some feedback! 

Enjoy!

“Good morning Sergeant Barnes, ” she said to him with a big smile. It felt so foreign, so antiquated. No one had a good morning in QZ. Sergeant Barnes was awestruck. The line for work assignments was a shit rotation for FEDRA soldiers, he was placed there temporarily after a violent encounter with some civilians. Riding the fucking desk for three weeks before he could go back to enforcement duties. 

But when She showed up in line, it was like he was seeing the sun for the first time. She glowed, with beauty and goodness. He wanted to sit and bask in her warmth forever. He was lost in his mind, She stood awkwardly in line, shifting from side to side hoping to hurry him along. 

“Uh, good morning. Sorry, what were you looking for?” Realizing he was staring at her, he glanced down at his ledger of jobs they needed bodies for. 

“Are there any street cleaning jobs left?” She asked so sweetly Bucky thought he’d cry. The only jobs that were open were all disgusting, body disposal, sewer work, scrap collection.  A woman like her shouldn’t be doing such filthy work. 

“We have an opening at City Hall. Clerk work. Pays well.”

“Oh, I’ve never done clerk work before um, will I need any training?” She placed her hand over her mouth to cover her surprise but Bucky could see right through that. She was so pleased, that he had gotten her the job. He quickly erased a few things, sorry Citizen Abernathy, he was no longer getting into city hall. She handed him her citizenship papers, he gripped them like they were precious jewels. He memorized her name, her address, her previous jobs. Most importantly, where his eyes went first, Marital status: single

With a bit of a spring in her step she left the line, all her official work assignments clutched to her chest.  Bucky couldn’t help but watch her as she left. Her little skip made her ass jiggle, he grinned to himself. The next citizen in line cleared their throat. The older woman glared at him for his lewd behavior. His mouth returned to its usual scowl. This was the world he was used to. No sunshine in here. 

+++

Street patrols with Steve were usually just a lot of bullshitting. Steve and Bucky would stroll together, recounting old war stories with clickers or encounters with the Fireflies. There were hardly any domestic disturbances here, the Fireflies little resistance movement had all been stomped out thanks largely in part to the two of them. Their unit had been deep in the shit at the Manhattan QZ before being moved to Pittsburgh QZ to set it straight. Now that things had been smoothed out it was the most depressing place they could’ve been reassigned to. 

“Better than Boston,” Steve would always say that made Bucky roll his eyes. He wasn’t wrong though. The two were walking along the repaved main street, walking past the long lines for rations at the local store. Bucky looked at all the glum, resigned faces. This was the world they all lived in now. What was the point of keeping this world safe if this was all they would have?

But then, like the sun peaking out from behind gray clouds, he saw Her. His Sunshine! 

She was leaving the store with a large paper bag, almost skipping again. She had a smile on her face again. He could see himself, walking arm and arm with his sunshine, bringing food home for dinner. He would hold her close and whisper all the things he’d do to her once they got back. She would shyly bat her eyelashes, so embarrassed by his lusty proposals in public. His heart began to swell. Part of him knew it was strange, he had barely spoken to this girl, yet a fiery passion consumed him. It had been years of nothing but violence and fighting for him. Sometimes he barely felt human himself, but she made him feel alive again.

“...could hardly believe the size of this one, barely even human just a face, and the rest was fungus covering the floor. Buck? You listening to me Buck?” Steve elbowed his friend who was lost in his thoughts. 

“Yeah, yeah. Sounds real gnarly.” He brushed his friend off, he headed straight towards his Sunshine. “That citizen looks suspicious to you? I think we need a random search.” Steve just raised an eyebrow and followed his partner, happy to have a little action on the usual boring patrol. 

+++

Your week-long stint at City Hall had given you extra spending money for the first time since you could remember. You couldn’t help but walk with a little bounce in your step, what crazy luck you’d had.

Two Fedra soldiers, both in full tactical gear, machine guns strapped to their sides were approaching you. You froze in place as their steel-toed boots stopped directly in front of you. 

“Excuse me, citizens.” The soldier’s timbre was low and serious. You were not a troublemaker, you only ever had contraband at parties never actually on your person. 

“I-Is there a problem?” You asked as sweetly as you could. You met the icy blue eyes of the officer who smirked. You looked down at the name on his chest, Sergeant Barnes? From work assignment?  One hand on his gun still, he reached out the other hand towards you. 

“Identification please.” He requested. You placed down your bag of food only for the other soldier to snatch it up. You reached for your purse and pulled out your citizenship card. Barnes grabbed it with a flourish.

“Hey!” You cried out as the blond one started to go through your food for the week, a can of beans falling to cobblestones and denting. 

“Random checkpoint. You’re not resisting us are you?” He asked, his tone dripping with smug victory. You bunched your hands into fists trying to stay calm. 

“Officers, please what’s wrong?” Sergeant Barnes chuckled. He went to hand you back your ID but pulled it away in the second from your grasp. 

“There have been a couple of red flags on your paperwork. We are just doing our due diligence to keep the QZ safe. Now, I’m sorry ma’am but I’m going to need you to come with me.” He grabbed you by the arm, his partner still holding onto your groceries. He pulled you off into an alleyway where he slammed you roughly against the brick building. You winced and went to grab the back of your head as sharp pain began to bloom. 

“There must be a mistake I-I haven’t done anything.” Tears began to blot your eyes. You raked your brain trying to think of what could have caused a red flag. You had smoked weed once at a party, which wasn’t even a Firefly party as far as you knew, you kept out of trouble. 

Barnes began to nuzzle the side of your face, his nose tracing along your cheek to your hair. He deeply inhaled, the sudden air tickling your ears. 

“I know Sunshine, I know, you're a good girl aren’t you.” He breathed. Your blood froze in your veins. He grabbed your wrists and pinned them to the wall above your head. “There are a few red flags though. Like, your marital status is single. No boyfriend then? Why would a beautiful young woman be all alone, at the end of the world? Unless you’re too focused on revolutionary activities to find a man.” He wasn’t making any sense. You weren’t a rebel, you were just a poor street cleaner, you didn’t have a black mark on your record, you didn’t even have messages to send out to the other QZs.  You feared you knew his true intentions. 

“Sergeant Barnes --”

“Call me Bucky.” He gave you a wink that sent a shiver down your spine. 

“Bucky, I don’t have a boyfriend but not because I’m a Firefly. I-If you let me go I swear you’ll never see me again, I’ll be so straight and narrow I’ll be invisible, you don’t have to worry about me.”

He clicked his tongue. “I don’t think you understand Sunshine. The last thing I want is to never see you again.” That was what you had feared. “You see, it's not me that’s suspicious of you angel, it's my partner back there. So how about I give you hand here.”

His hand slipped down and groped at your breasts, your breath hitched in your throat as you suppressed a whine. Bucky looked deliriously happy. He looked into your eyes and you were frightened at how intense they were. 

“How about you and I start going together, much less suspicious for a woman to be dating an officer of the law. You wouldn’t have a moral objection to that right?”

You nodded your head. What else could you do? His eyes sparked with excitement as you agreed to his bargain. 

“Why not have our first date right now, since you’re free.” He began to fiddle with his belt and you squeezed your eyes shut so he wouldn’t be able to see your tears. 

You thought there was no way life could get worse since the outbreak. You were wrong. Your fate has been sealed the moment you smiled at this deranged, lonely man.

[luke-shywalker]

Happy 25th birthday to The Phantom Menace and to me!

I started this blog in 2015, when I started liking Star Wars (because of…the Star Tours ride, for some reason). I was welcomed in by the Luke Skywalker Thirst Squad (and then I betrayed them for Kylo whoops lol). The 2016-2018 Star Wars fandom was such an iconic moment (Anakin Eats Live Bugs, Star Wars Bad Lip Reading, the SNL Kylo skit, Hux’s cat…if you know you know) and I loved suffering through the sequel trilogy with you guys, and I humbly submit to my Reylo overlords as long as they let me keep making my Ben/Rey sibling/cousin AUs. And thank you to everyone who survived teenagerhood alongside me and Ben Solo—we made it fam. :)

Since I revived my Tumblr in late March of this year, three years out of college and newly married, most of the mutuals I knew have faded away (@threadsketchier where are youuu)…but I’ve gotten to meet new friends here, and you know who you are! :D It’s been especially cool to discover the Star Wars/Jesus fandom crossover (as @avercado5 puts it lol—and this also includes you @seeking-elsewhither , the biggest Star Wars fan I know who’s never seen Star Wars XD) And I’m so touched that there are still people down to follow Ask Ben Solo after eight whole years. Lol

I’m thankful to God for bringing me this far in life. Y’all know I’ve been going back into the history of my blog and chuckling at the silly young lady I was. That Adam Driver thirst post from when I was 17 was something indeed. And then there was all the random humblebragging about having poor mental health, which used to leak into my ask blog too. (One time I got some feedback that was like “Hey…can Ben just be happy for like five seconds?” And honestly…valid.) I spent a lot of ages 13-24 being unhappy (some of that was self-inflicted for sure), but recently, things have been pretty good. I know the promise of God isn’t that now I’m out of the woods and life is always gonna be super great now; I know that bigger storms (that He will help me weather) are in my future; but for now, I’m thankful for this happy little reprieve with my handsome husband and my silly little fanfics and my galactic-conflict-enjoyer internet friends. :)

Thank you guys! <3

[codgod]

ok im silly and obsessed with your art so i wanted to ask you about it!

i really love your shading on art, the layering and different colors is very well done! do you have any feedback on how to do rendering and shading? cause i know nothing about it

im also curious about your anatomy, its accurate but also very unique between characters! do you mind doodling like... how your format it? u know what i mean???

NEXT I WANT TO ASK! ABOUT YOUR OUTFIT IDEAS!! where do you get your inspiration for those beautiful fucking designs?

on the drawing you made of shrimp mariana being held by charlie, im curious about how you did the filtering to make it like. fuzzy but still clear???

last but not least, what application do you use for drawing, and which pens do you use?

sorry for all the questions but your art is a very big inspiration for me and i want to be as talented as u ^^💦

this got really fucking long and i don’t even know if it’s particularly helpful but LETS GO

—

OKAY SO. shading, thing i am apparently accidentally really good at. it’s probably the thing i’ve gotten compliments on the most over the years which is funny because it’s probably the thing i’m Least confident that i can do well. therefore i can’t really give a tutorial but i can give a bunch of disjointed notes

(shown above is my Default Shading, further examples of different lighting below)

everything else under the cut or this is gonna be a mile long

i like using blue for shading, yellow/orange for lighting but generally you can just make them opposite/complimentary colours to each other and that’ll work. cool shadows, warm light or warm shadows, cool light. you get it. that’s a general rule there’s probably exceptions. i will say i hate using purple for shadows but that’s a personal preference (as is every colour i use being so saturated lol)

the orange around the edges is supposed to be subsurface scattering on skin but i put it on all the edges because i like how it looks 👍

yes there’s two different bounce lights. idk why i do this. i also just think it looks nice. i guess the one on the shading layer is more for form and the one on the lighting layer is more for the yk. lighting? anyways the first one is just a lighter version of the shading colour the second one is darker and slightly hue shifted (depending on the lighting scenario — it can be brighter if the situation calls for it)

the reason i don’t just shade around the edges is because it can make things look very flat which is the opposite of what you want when shading. sometimes it can just go on the edges in some specific scenarios but i like my shadows Chunky. basically having it go over the form instead of just along it can help show that form more

top left - night time | top right - bisexual? | bottom left - spotlight i guess? | bottom right - default/daylight again, just wanted to show a shape example

something i’ll also do a lot is have a separate multiply layer that’s just one colour and i’ll throw that over the whole thing to get the base colours correct for the lighting scenario. some people do it by eye but i am lazy so i cheat 👍 often it’ll be the same as the more detailed shadow colour but as with the top right example sometimes it’s different

shadows are either on multiply or linear burn, lights are either on add (glow) or glow dodge. depends on what looks best. same with opacity, i don’t have any real rules there

i also LOVE harsh lighting but that’s just a me thing. UMMM i can’t think of anything else to say

—

so next is ANATOMY okay this is also something i’m not super confident with lol but i can give some more disjointed notes by just redlining my own sketches lol

the uuuh “bottom of boobs is 2/3 down the ribs” isn’t technically correct? if ur drawing someone with big boobs and no bra on they’re probably gonna go lower but that’s kinda. where they come out from i guess. i also don’t think the “ribs” i draw are technically accurate but it works for a reference point

arms are a diamond (the shoulder.. muscle.. thing… idk what it’s called) and then some Tapered Tubes idk they’re not super complicated. if you wanna get more into it go google buff people and trace/redline their arms that’s how i learnt orz and uuuh i kinda also have the taking up 2/3 of the ribs but a bit Above. the way i’ve worded that makes no goddamn sense i’m bad at explaining this

ANYWAYS yeah bodies are just shapes if you want ppl to look unique just squash or stretch out the shapes 👍 and also learn actual anatomy stuff that always helps. my final message: learn to draw fat people it is no more difficult than drawing thin people

—

OUTFITS i love outfits. i have a pinterest board where a lot of my inspo comes from and it’s a section within a bigger board so ig i’m just giving you my whole inspo board. here (it’s the one called character fashion) (i do not condone art being reposted on pinterest without artists permission just ignore how much i have saved)

pinterest in general is good for outfit design stuff as long as you know where/how to look. u could also try fashion blogs and stuff

ummm a lot of stuff does just come from my own head tho, like based on clothes i like or vaguely inspired by stuff i’ve seen before. if you look through the board you can also see that like i rarely ever copy stuff directly i kinda just use whatever stuff i find as a base to work from. just find stuff you like and go from there i guess, i sometimes like picking a specific subculture or fashion style for a character and seeing what i can make from that (like missa is emo/scene, slime is like some kinda ravecore thing?? idk)

—

OKAY i’m assuming you mean like the glowy effect? makes everything look Soft?

(idk if u can even see the difference here orz also ignore how many fuckin layers i use i’m a mess) (the top layer is that catboy missa doodle i did ignore that too)

this is something i do on Most drawings to the point i have an auto action set up for it. duplicate the entire drawing (on csp the easiest way is to just merge visible to new layer), gaussian blur to like ? idk i think it’s 40% or something? i don’t remember, set that layer to soft light and lower the opacity

if that’s NOT what you meant feel free to send a follow up question LOL

OH actually if u mean the colour jitter stuff on the . colours. that’s not a filter i was just using a brush with slight hue jitter on i was Experimenting

—

AND FINALLY i use clip studio paint on my ipad and most of the brushes i use on the reg can be found here

favourites are the ones i made (i actually have more of those i need to upload—) and the raz sketch ones 👍 namely raz sketch (thick) with the density turned up a bit from the default, been using that a lot for lineart

[whenfatecollides]

I think this post will be with little to no surprise for most people, but I still want to talk about the transition that is happening with this blog (and with me). I know most people currently following me will have followed me for dreamcatcher, and I genuinely cherish a lot of moments I spent here in this fandom, one of the things that made my time here so much fun was exactly sharing it with you, laughing with you, hearing your feedback and opinions on situations we were going through, etc. I have a lot of regrets regarding my teens and my early 20′s, but I don’t have regrets in regards to the last few years that I spent with dreamcatcher. they actually pushed me to do a lot of cool things, to be more independent, I drove an hour ride by myself back in 2018 to see them, booked flights and hotels on my own, hell I even ordered a cake for siyeon and got it delivered back in 2019 and we all got to sing her happy birthday while they were on stage thanks to that. I’ve made so many friends that I’ve gotten to meet in real life, I’ve made friends that I know are going to be for life and I’m so eternally grateful that I got to cross paths with them thanks to dc. I’m so proud of so many things I did, as well as we all accomplished together for them. I have no hard feelings towards them, nor do I feel bitter about how things could have been. at this point in my life, I just feel like my time in the fandom has just naturally run its course. just like I’ve seen it happen to a lot of my friends in the last couple years. losing two pets last year also changed a lot of things around me, and it changed me a lot too, and I just feel like dc aren’t a priority for me anymore. I’ve finally let go of the expectations that I felt I had on me in regards to them, genuinely other than some things my friends send me here and there, I haven’t been keeping up with them anymore. and I don’t feel like I have to. they’ve changed a lot as well in the last 2/3 years, so in a way it kinda feels like we’ve just grown apart, and I’m okay with that. I know I’ve gone on deleting rampages before, but I promise that all the content I’ve done for dc here will remain available, like I mentioned, I don’t have any sore feelings about the last couple of years. this isn’t to say that I’ll never blog about dreamcatcher again, or make content for them ever again, I still enjoy their music a lot, but they won’t be my main focus anymore. anyway, I know it’s not that deep, this is just tumblr, but I did do a lot to try to help build a community for dc’s fandom here, help the fandom and dc grow, etc, so I feel like I owe that part of my life a proper farewell, even if it’s not a definitive one. when I first got into dreamcatcher, I became their fan with the mentality that I would stick around for as long as it made sense to me, and I just feel like that time has come (in regards to dc and kpop in general tbh). It’s truly been a blast to be a part of their growth all these years <3 for anyone that started following me recently because of them, I’m sorry I guess, if you wanna stick around for xena, warrior nun, and any other stuff I’m finding interesting at the moment, feel free. if not, it’s been nice to cross paths with you and I wish you the best ✌️😎

[mrfrunky]

THE WEREWOLF QUESTION

Hi guys as y’all can see I’m a huge fan of the world of darkness (specifically the old world of darkness) and as I delve deeper and deeper into my 20 gigabytes of WOD PDFs I notice more and more outdated and outright offensive things that just scream “I was made in the 90s and parachute wrote my ass off”

Parachute writing is a bitch (which is why you always consult others that are more well educated in the culture than you)

But that is besides the point, my first question regards a very controversial topic of Werewolf The Apocalypse, and that is the Uktena and the W*ndigo. (Primarily the latter as I want to focus on the name, from now on I will refer to this tribe as “Younger Brother”).

At first I was thinking that these names were to subvert the expectations, like the Get of Fenris of course referencing to Fenrir, a top notch dickhead in Norse mythos, (which is a lot considering most gods barring a couple are top notch dickheads… looking at you Odin.). But instead they are these strange protectors of the earth, while culturally they are known as the killer of odin, in reality they are the rivals of the evil odin (whom is possibly a vampire) that killed their tribe members, whilst also being a tribe that is adamant in preventing the apocalypse and fighting jormungandr (the wyrm) as much as they can.

(Small rant as I quickly educate myself why the fuck do they have a sub-tribe called the glorious fist of Wotan?!?!? DONT THEY HATE ODIN? ISNT WOTAN JUST THE DISAMBIGUATION OF THE WORD ODIN THAT WAS USED IN WAGNERS RING??? ? Ok. Yeah I’m gonna smash a table into pieces and eat the wood chips)

But now that I educate myself on the Younger Brother tribe in the WOD wiki, there doesn’t seem to be any subversion of expectations, its just a name some guy plastered on really quickly and it just ended up sticking because others thought it was cool. And if I’m being genuinely honest, a tribe of world protecting werewolves should not be named after such a thing.

There have been a good couple of posts I’ve seen that refer to this Younger Brother tribe and it’s controversy, but I have never seen one that offered a proper name for this misnamed Garou tribe. What do you all think? I’ve been planning on utilizing Garou into my world because I fucking love werewolves and I would love feedback on how to properly name this Garou tribe in a way that respects indigenous culture.

I feel like I will have a thread of posts like this because I want to depict W:TA 2e in a more respectful light (removing all the controversial and outright stupid gunk) whilst also helping all 5 of my mutuals depict them as well :). If you have gotten this far to read my crazy rambling, thank you so much I love u.

[only-by-the-stars]

Fic Writing Review 2023

Stealing this from @stealthnoodle, because it looks fun! :D copy/pasting the rules because I am lazy! Consider yourself tagged if you see this! But you don't HAVE to do it if you don't want. I'm not the boss of you. :>

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please do eat glass, I’ve heard it’s good for your gums.

Words and Fics

499,090 words posted on AO3

19* fics posted on AO3 (*one is an ongoing fic that started in 2022)

somewhere around 60k unpublished words written across multiple WIPs (five chapters for the ongoing thing, several zine fics, and a couple one-shots started but not finished)

Ships

have mainly written miphlink, though I also hinted at 1-sided Cremia/Anju in a zine fic!

Top Fic by Kudos

Song of a Champion

Top Fic by Hits

Song of a Champion

Fandom Events in 2023

I have recently hit a small milestone: I am now in ten zines total! Two are pinch hitter gigs after others dropped out, but still!

I have also applied for some more because WHY NOT

also got rejected from some, lol

Upcoming Projects

Still plugging away at SoaC, my biggest longfic yet! Possibly ever! That's what happens when you put someone as insane prolific as me in charge of a canon-divergent BOTW retelling! Doesn't help/hurt that I'm an intensely character-driven writer who can't get enough character interaction...

Started a really cool new AU with my lovely, wonderful friends @snail-studios and @baradesign that I am super super happy and excited to do more works for! one of the unfinished one-shots mentioned up there is for that! :3

also got multiple zine fics in the works! a couple have been turned in for initial check-ins and are awaiting feedback and editing, and with another zine I'm waiting to see what pitch gets chosen!

Writing Reflection

... that is a new record for being prolific, and I feel like I've written LESS in the past few months because of my new job! WHAT IS THIS INSANITY

I've mostly written for Legend of Zelda, but thanks to zines I've gotten to branch out to Stardew Valley, and now I'm gonna return to writing Final Fantasy fic after so many, many long years away :o super excited!!!

that published on AO3 number will get bigger before the year is out, methinks, cause of what I'm sitting on

I continue to do a variety of content and tones, which is really really fun for me! I love honing my versatility!

DEAR GOD I WRITE A LOT WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME

[bleue-flora]

20 Questions For Writers

One as tagged by @x-i-l-verify and I’m a sucker for answering questions. :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

7 (and since it’s not many I’m going to color code them) - Wow that’s actually crazy, can’t believe it’s only been a little over a year since I first posted.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

129,165 - Yo, I’ve written a couple novels worth in words let’s go!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Dream SMP. (though I have a real angsty fic idea for MCU’s Loki that I’ve considered doing…)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

(Poor B is for Betrayal is at a disadvantage with only coming out this week lol)

Crow’s Nest

Which makes sense since it is the longest finished work and the most diverse in content, but it’s pretty wild since it’s only been since October. (I’m going to try and not assume it’s just because of all of the co-author, @midnight-fangirl01’s readers lol<3 :)…)

Dreamcatcher

Which I am probably the most proud of as far as my individual work, especially because the concept is really fun to explore. Hoping to finish the sequel soon but we’ll see.

Good Cop ‘Bad’ Cop

This is the shortest non-one shot by like half, so it’s interesting that it ranks higher. I do make some kinda cool graphics for it so I’m glad people like it. Not gonna lie though, a combination of positive feedback and projecting has made it go much farther than the one shot I had originally planned. And since I usually do a lot of planning for stuff it’s no wonder that I have non idea what I’m doing lol. :)

Misery Loves Another Idiot With A Jukebox Where His Soul Should Be (Or umm Misery for short)

(Every time I have to type that out I wonder why the heck I made the title so long, I means its perfect but also you can’t even do a good acronym because that’d still be long…) To be fair the kudo count is really close between Dreamcatcher, Good Cop ‘Bad Cop and this one, which is interesting…

Back in the day, when I first posted this as my blooper reel I did not expect people to like it this much, but I’m glad I’m not alone in my affinity for torture box madness. >:D I still can’t decide which is more unhinged the hopscotch or the crucifixion… like my mental health this year was suffering for real… lol

If The Crown Fits, Wear It

I mean c!Techno should always rank top 5 so it makes sense. ;) As someone who doesn’t love to read one oneshots because I get too attached and sad when it ends, I can’t say I’m overly surprised at its ranking. But also still surprised. Regardless,it was really healing for me and I’m glad it seems to have been for others too.

(Ok though for real my first fic Hell in a Box being the lowest makes me kinda sad not gonna lie. Like it’s true that I think I’ve certainly gotten better at writing, which is actually why I edited it this summer, but it is the one that started it all and while it’s not my favorite work at his point it does have some really cool scenes and holds a special place in my heart.……)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always. Every one. They took the time to make me smile so the least I can do is share the love or fun. Especially when I spend a maddening amount of time on specific details it makes me so happy when someone noticed and enjoyed. <3 :)

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Yes. Oh wait lol I mean technically it would be Misery since there is both no ending and it’s more so a complication so technically it probably won’t get one. But if we are talking a finished work with an actual ending then probably Dreamcatcher I guess, because it’s kinda a sad realization, though technically it would have been Crow’s Nest if not for the co-author spoiling my plans lol >;)

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

I mean easily Crow’s Nest… I mean the ‘epilogue’ is like 13,000 words so that’s how you know it’s good. ;D

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

No not really. And honeslty my self esteem is low enough I’d probably quick if did. :) I did receive a hurtful but also wild accusation (from what I discovered to be a bot) that Good Cop ‘Bad’ Cop was written by AI, which is funny because honestly that fic is really uniquely formatted with literal nutrition facts I designed at the end, like heh? An AI doesn’t come up with this.

9. Do you write smut?

Nope. And I do not read it either. In fact, I originally thought that all fanfiction was smut but after reading my first one that was recommended by a friend I was pleased to discover there is plenty of fanfiction that isn’t.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Haven’t yet? But I wouldn’t be the most opposed to it…

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, someone is translating Crow’s Nest into Russian, which is pretty cool.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes with @midnight-fangirl01 and it was pretty fun. Though the short timeline and time difference made it difficult as well as my canon compliance extremism. But overall, I think we made a really good pair and I certainly got some new writing skills. It is by far the longest fic I have worked on so I’m pretty proud of it and certainly couldn’t have pulled something like it off without her.

14. What‘s your all-time favorite ship?

Umm I don’t really do ships, but Drunz is one that is cute, and I always try and keep my fics kinda open and up for interpretation for anyone who does ship them. I think in general my opinion on their relationship doesn’t change much on whether they are platonic or not.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I intend to finish everything I post whether it’s how I planned or less so, because it makes me sad when works are unfinished, and I like closure, however sad or open-ended it is. At the moment I’m struggling with Good Cop ‘Bad’ Cop because my writing is based on projection and spurs of creativity so I guess I’ve struggled to project onto c!Bad recently. I will say I actually wrote most of the end the other day, so worse case scenario I just post it, but I do have ideas for chapters before then. It’s just whether or not I get inspired to.

16. What’s your writing strengths?

I’d say despite generally disliking writing it, character/actual person sounding dialogue. Also my detailed descriptions that help you visualize the scene.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Probably pacing, like I don’t seem to cover a lot of ground in my fics. And for the Dreamcatcher sequel I’ve been struggling a lot with exposition.

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

If you mean because the character speaks it then yes that’s fine I love character accuracy but there should be translations. Otherwise it ruins my immersion and it’s rude to make me switch screens on my phone and get blinded by the light just so I can translate. Like lots of people don’t translate for Ranboo and it’s really annoying.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Dream SMP.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

How dare you ask be to choose between my babies! XD lol… I mean… I don’t know Misery is the most fun to write because I get to just be unhinged and I can stop or start wherever I want. Crow’s Nest is the one I’m probably the most proud of since it look a lot of lost sleep, research of characters I hadn’t done yet and we basically wrote it in a month and that just blows my mind. But I don’t know my favorite? Maybe Dreamcatcher I guess…

Hmmm tagging: @midnight-fangirl01 @elmhat @catsandgoodbooks @mistythedritten @draconixiaa @swordfright @the-final-sif … umm I don’t know I have no wifi so trying to figure out people to tag is hard but if you’re a writer and you see this consider yourself tagged and feel free to participate I’d love to see your answers. <3 <3

[graycats-arcane-blog]

I just made this cover art for my new Lightcannon fanfic, Fight and Flight! It’s an AU where Lux and Jinx are fighter pilots.

Fic preview and link below the cut.

(Future chapters will be explicit, but this one is clean)

Fight and Flight, Chapter 1: Flight Partners

. . .

"You're fresh out of training, right?"

It was cool in the Wing Commander’s tent. Beige walls quivered under the constant breeze which whistled through Zaun’s ravines.

Tugging her thick, standard-issue bomber jacket tighter around her lean-muscled body, Lux met Wing Commander Sevika's cool, gray eyes with a determined grin. "Freshly trained and ready to fly, Commander."

Commander Sevika pulled a cigarette from her pocket and lit it in a movement too swift for Lux to clock. As the leader raised the burning cig to her lips, dogtags clinked around her neck.

Despite her carefully composed expression, Lux could tell that her superior was troubled by something. Maybe it was the crease between her brows, or the way she sucked in smoke like a parched man chugging water.

Briefly closing her eyes, the Commander let twin trails of black char trickle from her nose before turning her hard gaze back upon Lux.

"Your trainers had a lot to say about you," she grunted. "I hear you've got a good eye."

Pride glimmered in Lux's chest. "I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on my ability to spot trouble."

"I also hear they've nicknamed you 'Searchlight.'" The Commander narrowed her eyes. "Do you like that nickname?"

"I don't mind it."

"Nicknames stick like glue around here, so you'd better say so now if you don't want everyone in the camp calling you that by tomorrow."

"Searchlight works just fine for me," Lux reaffirmed.

The Commander nodded. "Alright, Searchlight. My name's Wing Commander Sevika, but you'll address me as Commander. I'll be your leader for as long as you're in my squadron." She extended a hand, which Lux accepted firmly. "You'll notice that a few people around here call me 'the Ogre.' As I said before, nicknames stick, and you don't always get to choose what you get."

Lux nodded. She'd heard as much from her trainers, most of whom had their own nicknames to contend with. "It'll be my pleasure to serve under your command, Commander."

Sevika huffed. "We'll see about that."

Before Lux had time to wonder over those words, Sevika continued, "You'll want to know how things work around here. Wake-up call is at 6, breakfast in the mess tent at 6:30. Your schedule for the day will be posted just inside the tent. Check it early, so you'll know if you have to rush breakfast for an early flight.

"We go up in twos, once or twice a day depending on how busy things are. Most flights are patrols over the East Port of Zaun, or EPZ, about eight miles southwest of here. We guard our troops and shipments from the enemy's bombers and fighters.

"Once you have your schedule, you're free to spend your spare time as you like. Some pilots meet in the mess tent for cards; others stay in their tents and write to their families. What's important is that you're always ready for action - you never know when the enemy is going to soar in and try to strafe us, and you need to be prepared to get your plane in the air at a moment’s notice. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Commander."

Sevika heaved a deep sigh. "Now, the next matter of business is where things get tricky. Since we go up in twos, so you've been assigned a flight partner. She'll be the one you'll trust to have your back when flights get dicey, and you'll be sharing a tent with her."

"I'm used to sharing a room," Lux replied. "There were twelve of us sharing a barrack in training. I enjoyed the company."

Lux was confused by the pitying look Sevika had fixed her with. The Commander propped her elbows on the table, folded her hands beneath her chin, and leaned forward.

"Searchlight, would you consider yourself to be a friendly person?"

"Yes," Lux assured her eagerly. " I got on well with the other trainees. By the end of the month, I felt as if I knew them as well as my childhood friends."

"You like getting to know the people you work with?" Sevika pressed.

"Of course!" Lux let some of her confusion trickle into her voice. "We're fighting a war together. We've got to know that we have each other's backs!"

"Hmph." The Commander took another long haul of her cigarette. "We'll, here's a bit of advice for you: don't bother with your flight mate." Lux raised an eyebrow, opening her mouth to protest, but Sevika cut her off with a wave of her hand. "You'll understand when you meet her. She's a nasty piece of work with an awful attitude. Bratty from the start, and watching people come and go has only made her worse."

Lux frowned sympathetically. "It has to be difficult, seeing so many of your friends go down in the field."

"Whatever you do," Sevika stressed, "don't ask her about the old guard, the pilots who aren't here anymore. Better yet, try not to talk to her much at all. Give her space. Find friends in the other pilots. And... " With a deep sigh, Sevika finished, "if she gets to be too much, let me know. I'd rather triple you with two pilots in another tent than have you quit because she's driving you mad."

Lux wasn't sure if she was more concerned or curious. She'd heard that odd sorts of people popped up in the battlefield - war brought out the best in some people and the worst of others.

Was her new flight partner really as bad as her superior said?

Stubbing her cigarette out against the desk, the Commander rose from her chair. "Let's take this conversation to the Field - that's where we keep the planes when they're not in the air. I'll show you yours, and you'll have the afternoon to work in some practice flights before you enter the flight rotation tomorrow." She grimaced. "Your new partner might be out there too - I can get introducing you two over with."

"What's her name?"

"We call her Jinx."

. . .

read more on ao3

[lexiscooking]

im really glad that my posts are getting some attention!! thanks everyone for your feedback!!

so today we have one of the more popular recipes:

lemon possets 🍋

tis a shame there isn’t a yellow text colour:(

i’ve seen this dish a lot throughout different platforms, mostly on reels. and everyone did it a little differently, so here’s my version (о´∀`о)

we’ll need:

lemons obv

heavy cream

powdered sugar

vanilla extract

and also i added grapes. i liked it a lot, actually, i think they went great here.

most of the lemons in the videos are used as a plate (??) so if you don’t wanna make it fancy (like me lol) you can use some molds, i actually filled my silicone ice tray 10/10 convenience.

you zest and juice one lemon for around 300 ml cream, heat it up and add powdered sugar. experiment with the taste! a little more sour or sweet, whatever floats your boat atm ^_−���

let me tell you it was hard skinning those poor lemons, some peels ripped, and therefore couldn’t be used for plating, but i do not believe in wasting products on my kitchen, so the insides of lemons were frozen for tea, and peels will be given to my papa for his compost pile :)

when your sugar is melted into cream you can carefully (unlike me) pour it in forms of your choosing! cool it down in fridge or pop it in the freezer if you’re impatient or need to write a post about it.

so, remember i added grapes? just a single little grape.. all alone.. without his family.. poor guy and again, i think it was in its place. a little refreshing even?? do recommend!

i’ve gotten some feedback, so trying to style the pictures better, and also “use different text styles” hope you liked the post aesthetically and maybe feel inspired to try the possets now :))

p.s. thanks for helping with lemon devouring, d! and the support too.. i appreciate you immensely 💋