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substituted-shinigami · 1 year

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We… We have a lotta fun here xD

Channel Update!!!

Hello Everyone!!! Despite the, uh…rather silly presentation, I really have been working super hard on some fanworks in the background, and now I’m proud to finally present to you the “We Can’t All Be Winners” Fall Season Schedule! Plus I've got some previews for you to boot!!!

Let’s take a look!

"We Can’t All Be Winners" Fall Season Schedule plus FAQ and Previews!!!

(this post is already kinda long, (and is about to get a lot longer) so I put the rest underneath a tag xD)

October

Oct. 7th - Tiger Robe (fanfiction, renruki & Ichigo, hurt/comfort)

Oct. 14th - Three Times I Dreamed of You (fanfiction, renruki, some angsty longing but also fluff)

Oct. 21st - Who is Ichigo? (Karakura Gang Comic!)

Oct. 28th - Night Scare, Morning Care (fanfiction, renruki, hurt/comfort)

November

Nov. 4th - Double Feature! Bleach Book Club - Letters From The Other Side (light novel overview) + Roommates Assemble (Rukia & Ichigo + Karakura Gang drabble + fanart)

Nov. 11th - Bubble Tea (fanfiction, renruki + Yoruichi, slice of life, fluff)

Nov. 18th - Peaceful Day, Peaceful Night (fanfiction, renruki, fluff)

Nov. 25th - Commercial Break - Pocket Renji (Comic/fake ad)

December

Dec. 2nd - Bloodlines - Learning to Breathe (L2B) Prologue & Ch. 1 (multi-chapter fic, renruki, hurt/comfort, some angst, some humor)

Dec. 9th - L2B Ch. 2

Dec. 16th - L2B Ch. 3

Dec. 23 - L2B Ch. 4

Dec. 30 - L2B Ch. 5 & Epilogue

And that’s it! Yeah, Ichigo wasn’t kidding, it really is mostly just RenRuki fanfiction, haha!😅 Now I'm sure you all have some questions like: Wait…What is this?! Why is this?! How is this?! When is this?! And Where is this?! And I'll do my best to answer them in the FAQ below!

FAQ

Wait…What is this?!?

“We Can’t All Be Winners” or “WCABW” started out as an anthology series of RenRuki one-shots I started back in January. It contains a handful of stories featuring Renji, Rukia and occasionally others, and puts them in different scenarios, some of them canon-compliant and some of them in alternate universes. Originally, I planned to write and post one story a month, but I quickly fell behind. So I took a break and reassessed and decided to try posting in “seasons” instead. So now it’s a season of weekly uploaded fanworks to be posted from October to December, and will feature a variety of Bleach related content such as fanfiction, fanart, fan comics, bleach light novel overview, and, when I’m able to write one, a multi-chapter fic. All the fanfiction will be available on both Tumblr and AO3, but the rest will only be available on Tumblr (sorry!). Once this season is completed, I will mark the AO3 work as “completed”, and if I can do this again next year, I will start a new one!

Why is this?

Like most people, I originally planned to create and post fanworks whenever I finished them. However, I eventually found keeping up with a social media account stressful. Something about it makes you feel like you need to post all the time, even when no one else is pushing you. So I thought, hey, why not have a season! That way I have a predetermined end goal AND I don't feel like I gotta post outside of it! Plus if I feel like I need to just step away for a break (which I will most likely be doing once the queue starts running), it won't affect it since everything is already queued! So yeah, that's the idea behind it.

How do you plan to post this on AO3? It doesn’t have a queue system!

Yeah, that is a problem. My current plan is to have a tab open for each story/chapter I need to post, and then will just press the button to post it on the day it’s due to come out (or within 24 hrs). This will probably mean that the Tumblr post will link back to the table of contents of WCABW on AO3 rather than the chapter itself, so I would like to apologize for that in advance. I’ll try to fix it whenever I am able, or at the latest, when I become socially active on Tumblr again.

When is this?

Every Saturday from October 7 to December 30th at 11 am EST here on Tumblr, and within 24 hrs (either before or after) on AO3 (I'll try to make it before, but life happens sometimes). Now obviously this is no real substitute for the Bleach anime, not even close! But Saturdays were already a convenient day to post, so I thought, "Hey, why not?!" And just pushed the joke all the way!!!

Where is this?

Right here on Tumblr and on AO3 (links provided). On AO3, the one-shots will be posted under the We Can’t All Be Winners anthology series of one-shots that's already on there (if you haven't seen it yet, why not check it out? It already has some of my other one-shots on there!) The multi-chapter fic will have its own posting.

I have some questions/comments/concerns!

No problem! My ask box is always open! Now to be honest, I will be on break starting in early October, but I'll answer any I don’t see before then when I am able/get back! Also, if you are a part of the RenRuki discord, I may be checking in there from time to time even while on break.

And that’s it! Thank you all so much for reading this needlessly long and very silly announcement for Bleach fanworks of all things! To thank you for making it to the end, I added some previews for some of the upcoming works!! I hope you all enjoy!!! xD

PREVIEWS!!!

(Note: works are subject to minor changes)

Three Times I Dreamed of You

Chapter Summary: Nightmares are always terrible. But they are made even worse when you aren’t even able to talk to the person that they are about. (RenRuki, some angsty longing but also fluff)

"Rukia!"

Renji awoke with a start, sweat dripping down his brow. He whipped his head around wildly, as he mopped off his forehead with his sleeve. He was alone, utterly alone. Quickly he reached out with his spiritual pressure to feel hers, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. Finally, he found her, a tiny cold gust on a frigid winter night. It felt so impossibly far away, but… it was enough. Renji left the Eleventh Division barrack's dorm and climbed on top of the roof to feel it better.

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Tiger Robe

Chapter Summary: While shopping with Ichigo in the World of the Living, Rukia finds a tiger print robe that reminds her of someone from her past. (renruki & Ichigo, hurt/comfort, Starts out in the Soul Society Arc, but then jumps around a couple of times)

“Okay, we're here,” Kurosaki Ichigo began as they entered the clothing store, “The women’s section is in the back. If you need clothes, I don’t mind buying you a set or two, so can you just please stop stealing Yuzu’s?!? She’s starting to get suspicious…” But Rukia wasn't listening to him. Instead, she was looking around the store, completely enthralled.

“Woah! This is incredible!” Rukia replied with wonder, as her wide eyes flitted from one brightly colored clothing display to the next, “And you can afford such garments on your allowance alone?” Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her in response.

“Yeah…? It’s just a cheap department store, Rukia.”

“Incredible…” she muttered to herself again as she continued to look around the huge, lively store with a mixture of awe and nervousness. Several people passed them by, chatting as they filed in or out of the entrance, and loud music played on the speakers overhead.

This is nothing like the open markets that sold only rags in Inuzuri, she thought, And once I got adopted by the Kuchiki Clan, the tailors came to me. I don’t think I’ve been to anything even resembling a regular clothing store since the Academy. There is too much choice! What should I…?

Rukia could feel Ichigo’s concerned eyes on the back of her neck. Quickly, she stood up straighter, and turned towards him.

“You said, I could get whatever I wanted, right?!” she asked with a devilish grin. Ichigo sighed heavily as if he was immediately regretting both this decision and his entire existence. He scratched the back of his head.

“Within reason! I’m not rich, you know," he scowled, "You can get one everyday outfit and one sleepwear, that’s it!” With that, he set off across the store.

“Ah! You're so stingy, Ichigo!” Rukia teased as she followed after him.

“Keep talking smack, and I’ll make you shop in the children’s section!”

“I might anyway,” Rukia mused, as they passed by a pair of child’s pajamas with bunnies on them, “children’s clothes have nicer prints.”

“Whatever,” Ichigo replied, “Wear what you want when you sleep, but when you are out and about, try to wear typical 'teen clothes'. Otherwise people might get the wrong idea when we are walking together.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rukia dismissed with a wave of her hand. As they continued walking along on their way to the back of the store, passing from the children's section into the men's, Rukia’s eyes were caught by a brightly colored robe. Turning towards it, she felt taken aback when she beheld the largest, tackiest tiger print bathrobe she had ever seen. Suddenly, she felt like she was thrown back over forty years…

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Bubble Tea

Chapter Summary: Relaxing is difficult when you are so used to fighting. Now that the Winter War is over, Rukia and Renji shoot the breeze and talk about the future. (renruki + Yoruichi, slice of life, fluff, During the Fullbringer Arc timeskip)

“Hmmm… Getting to know you without the fangs of death constantly nipping at our heels feels…weird,” Rukia commented suddenly, and a little too casually, one day as she sipped her bubble tea. Renji coughed in surprise. That or he got another tapioca pearl stuck in his throat, Rukia wasn't too sure.

“H-Huh?!" he spluttered, after he had finally begun to recover.

"Well, think about it," Rukia continued, as she settled her cup down beside her upon the park bench. She began to list things off on her fingers, “First it was surviving in Rukongai, then Aizen's betrayal, and then the Winter War. Whenever we were together it felt like our lives were in constant mortal danger. That it was us against the world. But now…now there’s no real threat.”

"Oh yeah…" Renji agreed, looking up to the sky in thought, "I guess, you're right…huh."

“Yeah," Rukia went on as she picked up her cup again, "The only other time it was seemingly this peaceful was when we were separated."

At that, Renji was silent for a moment, before asking quietly, "Kind of makes you wonder whether or not we're cursed, huh?" Rukia turned to look up at him, but Renji continued to stare up at the sky.

"If we are cursed," she began slowly, "then whoever made it, absolutely sucks at making curses," Renji quirked an eyebrow at her as she turned back towards her tea, "Curses are meant to make you the most miserable, but despite the dangers, I'm always more miserable when we're apart." Renji stared at her wide-eyed as she went back to sipping her tea.

******************************************

Learning to Breathe

Story Summary: Turns out purple eyes and short stature aren’t the only things that run in Hisana’s family, illness does as well. As Rukia and Renji try to help each other navigate through this new storm in their lives, will they remember to take time to breathe? (multi-chapter fic, renruki, hurt/comfort, some angst, some humor, Post TYBW, Rukia gets the same disease that killed Hisana. (Bloodlines AU))

Here’s a scene from chapter 1:

I faced an execution. I faced an espada's blade. I even faced a man who could literally murder me with fear. And yet, tiny medical needles are too much for me? You are utterly ridiculous, Kuchiki Rukia… Rukia thought glumly to herself, as she laid in bed one chilly morning before yet another doctor’s appointment. She began chuckling wryly, I've heard the pen is mightier than the sword, but I think the medical needle might be mightier still.

Rukia stared up at her bedroom ceiling, the sound of the room's clock ticking loudly in her ears. She'd been laying there for hours as sleep frustratingly eluded her. Sighing, she tried rolling over and closing her eyes again, but she couldn't shut out the anxious thoughts that plagued her mind.

I really hope today’s tests don’t have them. If I can’t get through these appointments without stressing out everytime I see one, then I’ll never convince him that he can rest, because I’ll be okay. That it will all be okay in the end. Hopefully…

Suddenly, Rukia’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the alarm on her soul pager going off. Again. Rukia’s hand shot out, flipped the infernal device open, and managed to press the snooze button for the third time that morning without even looking at it. She went back to staring up at the ceiling.

Guess I better get up now, huh? Can't keep putting it off, after all… My friends, my brother, and…Renji… they’re all so worried about me, so I can’t… I can’t be weak… I must be strong for them.

Rukia sighed, her stomach already all up in knots. Taking a deep breath to center herself, she forced herself to sit up. As she looked out her bedroom window towards the sky, she saw that it was pitch-black, that even the stars were blocked out by clouds.

Hmmm… Looks like a storm is rolling in too… Figures…

Rukia slowly pushed off her blankets and got up to search for her clothes. She thought about just wearing her black shinigami uniform, but she already knew neither her third seat nor her escort were going to let her go back to work this afternoon. Speaking of her escort…

Rukia left her room, a neatly folded dark blue kimono tucked underneath her arm, and approached the door of the guest room next to hers. She lifted her hand to knock, but paused.

I could just leave without waking him… she thought briefly, Let him sleep in. Gods know he needs it. That way, when I make it through the appointment on my own, he’ll see he has nothing to worry about! But she quickly shook herself. No! No, I don’t do that anymore! I don’t just run away... I talk about it. We talk about it. And even if we can’t figure it out, we still do even that together. Rukia took a deep breath, glared resolutely at the door, and knocked.

“Oi, Renji, you awake in there?” She heard what sounded like a groan to the affirmative. “Okay, just so you know, we’ve got to leave in an hour.”

“Mhmm… Yup. I got you,” he responded groggily. This was soon followed by the sound of very fast shuffling, a very loud bang, an almost as loud curse, and then more shuffling. Rukia raised an amused eyebrow at that.

“You good in there? All your limbs still present and accounted for?”

“Ha ha. Very funny. And yes, I’m fine. Thanks so much for your concern.”

“Of course!” Rukia smirked. However, the heavy feeling inside her soon dragged the corners of her lips back down. She took another deep breath. Here we go… "Oi, Renji…" she began quietly, "If you are too tired, it's okay, y'know? It's like I said before, it’s basically just a long doctor's appointment. I'll…I’ll be okay going by myself."

At that, Rukia heard the stomping sound of footsteps coming rapidly towards her, followed by the shoji door immediately sliding open with a sharp bang. Renji looked rather frazzled, with his sleeping robe half hanging off of his shoulder and his hair loosely pulled into a messy braid. He also looked rather cute…at least until he started shouting.

“WHAT? NO! OF COURSE I'M COMING WITH YOU, IDIOT!”

“QUIET, RENJI! ARE YOU TRYING TO WAKE UP THE ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD WITH YOUR RACKET?!?”

"You are way louder than me!" Renji replied in his terrible attempt at a whisper, "In any case, don't try to change the subject like that. You are downplaying it again, I know it. They are running medical tests today too, and I know those tend to make you nervous.” He managed to actually say that last part quietly. Then he smiled at her, “We're in this together, ya?" His lips might have been smiling, but Rukia saw his eyes. He was exhausted. She felt her heart lurch into her throat.

"Ya, well…don't go overdoing it, okay?" Rukia told him firmly as she fixed his robe for him, but her fingers lingered on his shoulder. Renji placed his hand over hers.

"Hmph… As if I could ever do too much for you… I'm fine, Rukia, really. Go get changed."

"Okay…" she murmured quietly, looking down. However, her face must have betrayed her troubled thoughts, because when she tried to remove her hand from his shoulder, Renji held it firm. She looked back up at him and he tilted his head down closer to hers.

"I love you~" he whispered to her in a cheeky sing-song voice with that toothy grin of his. He was clearly trying to lighten the mood, to make her smile or push him off and call him a dork, but instead Rukia felt her heart, already firmly lodged in her throat, leap even higher into her mouth.

“I know…” she barely got out, “I know Renji, but…”

“Uh uh. No ‘buts’, Ru. Go ahead and take your bath. I’ll see you in an hour, alright?” He winked and let go of her hand as he cheerfully went back into the guest room, closing the door behind him.

Rukia, on the other hand, just stood there, staring at the floor.

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And that's it for the previews! If you somehow made it all the way to the end, thanks so much for reading! The "We Can't All Be Winners" Fall Season starts next week! Hope to see you there!

#renruki #renruki fanworks incoming!!!#and some other characters too sometimes xD #hold on tight y'all #you're about to go on a bumpy and very fanfic-y ride!#Sorry to subject you all to this #but I gotta post my madness somewhere!!!

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scorpiolight-madd · 2 years

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Laid-Back Battle

Sonic Rebellion: Chapter 1 - Scene 1 (1st Draft)

I’ve been wanting to upload drafts, so I can show the progress I make on the series as I go. This’ll be queued, so it’s not going to upload exactly when I finish the draft, but I’ll be sure to upload them in order. Eventually, there’ll be updates and more drafts, until I finally upload the completed thing, but for now here’s the first draft!

Sonic shoots through the forest like a rocket, zigzagging through its maze-like paths as if it were second nature, the dense foliage barely managing to slow him down. He can feel the familiar rush of adrenaline rush through him as he flips upwards, crashing into two badniks before landing on the third in what he hoped to be a really cool-looking pose."Quit showing off!" Amy calls from the forest floor below. Her stance is wide, feet planted firmly in the ground to steady herself as she swings her hammer, smashing another badnik to pieces."Wait, are we showing off?" Knuckles turns his head to blink at Amy, and an opportunistic badnik swoops down on him the moment he looks away. He snatches it out of the air, slamming it into his fist and crushing it with his bare hands without even glancing in its direction. "Hang on, I gotta think of something cool to do."

Sonic rolls his eyes, flipping over backward to send the floating badnik he had been posing on hurtling into a tree. He lands deftly on the grass below, backflipping to kick another badnik out of commission. It spins off into Tails' direction, who quickly crouches to catch it. He reaches inside the smouldering hole Sonic had made, yanking out a handful of wires and sparking cords.

"Hey, did you change the types of circuits you use in these?" He calls, making Eggman pause his lazer fire."Well, yes, you mentioned last week that you were having an easier time after switching to a new type, so I thought I might give it a try.""It looks really good! Though you may want to rewire a few things, I noticed you're probably overloading the-""Tails!" Sonic interrupted, giving his little brother a what-on-mobius-do-you-think-you're-doing type look."Oh, yeah, sorry." Tails tosses a bomb over to two advancing badniks, shorting them out with a blast of electricity. They collapse in the grass, their metal shells falling off and piling around them. Eggman heaves a sigh, staring down at the mechanical carnage."Do you guys have any idea how hard it is to clean this stuff up?"Sonic simply shrugs, his snickering destroying his attempt at feigned ignorance.

"Well, now I'm gonna..." Eggman glances around his Eggmobile for something, anything to attack them with. "... Go back to my lair and think of something to destroy you with. I'll be back.""Seeya, Egghead!" Sonic waves, shouting at Eggman's retreating form. The moment he's out of sight, Sonic turns back to his friends. "How much do you wanna bet he's gonna come back with a robot we've already beaten before?""It's likely." Tails shrugs. "Honestly, it seems like he's starting to run out of ideas.""Maybe it's a budget issue?" Amy suggests, resting her hammer over her shoulder as she turns to head back to the village. The others chuckle, close on her heels.

The forest grows silent as the team of heroes leave to return home, only the quiet sparking of broken machines and wind rustling the leaves above. Sunlight glints off their metal exteriors, the smoke slowly dissipating in the gentle breeze. A rustle finally breaks the silence, a cloaked figure stepping out of the shadows to survey the destruction. Heels sink into the soft dirt below as they circle the robots, kneeling beside one to run their hand against its shell. They frown, looking over to the opening between the trees. They could just barely make out the heroes' retreating forms.

#paracosm: sonic rebellion #type: writing #sb:u writing #type: drafts #sb:u drafts

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sherl-grey · 3 years

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I posted 1,813 times in 2021

228 posts created (13%)

1585 posts reblogged (87%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 7.0 posts.

I added 1,937 tags in 2021

#doctor who - 785 posts

#ninerose - 204 posts

#tenrose - 204 posts

#writing - 149 posts

#queued - 123 posts

#dw fan art - 121 posts

#text - 95 posts

#asked and answered - 90 posts

#tenth doctor - 86 posts

#rose tyler - 80 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#but obviously instead of a romance she’s just there to tell spaceman he’s a fucking dumbo and alarm the hell out of the current companion

My Top Posts in 2021

literally every night i get stressed about choosing between watching dw, reading dw fic or writing dw fic 😅 it’s possible i have a problem

30 notes • Posted 2021-11-29 05:45:56 GMT

look i’m so tired i’m practically hallucinating but: alec hardy is nine in ten’s body

31 notes • Posted 2021-10-15 09:21:35 GMT

me: haha this song is gonna hurt clicks “add to playlist”

me, listening to playlist and crying: okay so what the fuck did i do that for

32 notes • Posted 2021-10-06 06:33:46 GMT

if you all could pick one episode (or set of episodes) and change the incarnation of the Doctor in it (companion optional too) without consequence to series overarching plot or anything, which episode and Doctor would you pick?

33 notes • Posted 2021-10-15 03:38:17 GMT

Shirley G what's your favourite Eleventh Doctor episode rewrite with Rose? Can be an existing fic, or just an idea of an episode you would have loved Rose to be in from Eleven's run! ☺️

hello loup!! this is so tough oh my... once again i'm lamenting my lack of organization, haha. i need to find a better way to save fics... apologies in advance, this will probably be long!

so, i might just be blanking, but i'm not even sure how many single episode rewrites i can think of with Eleven--a lot of them are either full series rewrites OR original plot + a "Day of the Doctor" rewrite at the end (yeah... here's one called "Time Rewritten" that's also Eight/Rose where Rose wakes up in Eleven's TARDIS with no memory and then gets stuck in the Time War, and here's one called "Three Doctors and a Baby" from the fantastic Tentoo/Rose and Eleven/Rose series Consequences, and another Time War one called "Battle in the Sky" that's mostly EightRose but ends with Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor... it's a good trope!)

that being said! the rewrite I go to most often for pure joy is "Until The End" by mltrefry, which is part of the "Run with You" multi-series rewrite. Specifically for Eleven's chunk of the series, I love "Vincent and the Doctor" (chapters 9 and 10) as well as.... I honestly think this is either original or maybe an EU takeaway, but there's an Eight/Rose and Eleven/Rose episode called "Before the Worst" (chapters 11 and 12) that I ADORE. This series also has Eleven show up in Blink in a previous fic which is incredibly sweet.

honorable mentions that came to mind:

there is a single episode pairing rewrite of the astronaut duo by no_nutcracker that i just read! ("if i believe in One thing")

there’s also one “i’m at odds and ends but that’s me” by CupofSonic if you like OT3 (tentoo is still here)

i absolutely refuse to read this one ever again because i am emotionally traumatized but here's the god complex ("in blackwater woods")

"when the wolf runs" is fantastic angst-with-a-happy-ending that isn't necessarily a rewrite but certain episodes are addressed and redone? essentially, Rose is woven in to Eleven's overarching plot really well and it's a great fix-it for River as well

i know this fic from the series "Tyler Family Adventures" has an Eleventh Hour rewrite at the very least; it's Tentoo/Rose at first and they actually semi-raise Amy growing up, but it shifts to Eleven/Rose when... well, you can probably guess.

"Out of Order" by lastincurableromantic also pops in on some canon adventures without doing full rewrites! we get a tiny glimpse of Venice and post-The Big Bang at the Pond wedding at the very least

I'm sure I'm still missing some good ones; I know there a couple Doctor's Wife rewrites (Sonic and I and someone else? maybe multiple someone elses?) in existence and that episode is always a pleasure since Rose and the TARDIS obviously adore each other, and I really want to read a reunion that takes place during or after "Hide." The line about "it's not a ghost story, it's a love story" and yearning across time and space... that's it. That's ElevenRose. I think one might exist but I keep losing the link.... Sorry for the novel-length answer but there are just so many good fics!

38 notes • Posted 2021-11-13 23:37:08 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #this entire thing is so embarrassing goodbye

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taihorror · 4 years

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April 29, 2020

I've never been a baker. The last time I baked something, I was in a home econs class with 40-something other bored teenagers and a scary old teacher who directed the last of her life energy towards glowering at us rather than teaching us any useful life skills.

That was misleading, by the way. I didn't actually bake. I was just one of the students crowding around that teacher watching her bake. The joys of a neighbourhood school...

The last time I actually baked was probably when I made Shepherd's Pie as a kid. You can tell I don't really have a sweet tooth.

Another reason for my mild aversion to baking: I've always hated being judged, being compared to girls who bake. You know: the pretty girl who brings cookies and just happened to make a personalised chocolate lava cake for everyone at the office, and can sing and cook and crochet and do karate and hand lettering and gets called "wife material"(Getting a bit personal here). More power to her, and she is living her best life! The problem is society expects us all to do that. And I hate it and have always thought baking was the gateway activity to catering to the people who unironically use terms like "wife material". And if I'm being perfectly honest, I am a little jealous too! I know it's internalised misogyny and I shouldn't be comparing myself to others. But I am also not the kind to want to outdo others when jealous of them, mostly because I am lazy AF. I am Jaye Tyler. Modern female slacker but without the hot guys hanging around (and without looks to attract said guys).

And yet, as I binge-watched Masterchef (after I binge-watched Community for the third time, Superstore, etc etc), the macaron episode made me sit up. I love macarons. And it made me crave them. Being in the hilariously termed "Covid-19 circuit breaker", it's impossible to just get them at a store as we did in ye olde capitalist times.

And so I dared to dream. Could I, a complete noob at baking, actually make macarons - one of the most challenging desserts to make, ever, and yet the easiest to scarf down?

Thankfully, I was equipped with an old electric mixer (none of us knew how it got there), an oven, and wifi. So I set about doing copious research on this tricky treat, getting vicariously high on others' successful macarons (hm... just an "i" away from macaroni? Just occured to me). A quick dash to the supermarket to buy the ingredients needed and a really nice dad who queued for more than an hour at an overtaxed baking supplies store later, I made my first attempt.

It ended in abject failure. Never in my life had I failed this hard. I made unforgivable blunders. Namely, I somehow accidentally added water to it mistaking it for egg whites. Speaking of egg whites, I broke a few eggs trying to seperate them like they do on Masterchef. Bad idea. The smart way was just to crack an egg normally and then seperate the yolk and the white into two different bowl using a spoon. But this, like many other common sensical things, did not occur to me at the time. And so I made the sweetest, hardest almond cookies of my life. I think if there were a hall of fame for how badly one can screw up a macaron, I'd be in it.

Crushed by failure, I slept on it. The next day I was really bored and decided to try again, very chanto style. There were significant improvements: for one, I didn't mistake water for egg whites. I made sure to follow every step as best as I could and remembered where I made mistakes. The piped batter even looked pretty! And so I waited for it to dry, for it to form that dry film that's so important.

An hour passed. Another hour. The fan on full blast, my poking at the batter increasingly desperate. I'd forgotten to account for the humidity of Singapore. I googled some solutions, and solutions there were! Bakers are some incredible geniuses. Obviously, these bakers were from Singapore and did all the thinking for me.

One of them suggested drying the batter in the oven to achieve that dry film (seriously. Brilliant.) Like magic, after 10 minutes, the oven gave me that dry film that the two hours of naturally flowing time could not. I almost cried tears of joy.

And in the oven, I watched my babies excitedly like a mom secretly watching her kid at their first day at school. They were doing well. Growing up fast! They were rising, and even dare I hope developing those beautiful feet! And then they suddenly deflated. Pockmarks appeared. Was this puberty?! I thought I should let them find their own way - surely they'll rise again, right? No. They started getting BURNT.

This was the end result:

And kids, that's when I learnt that oven settings are so important... I had just used to default setting I was so used to (the all round heating PLUS GRILL) that I didn't even think that could affect it. Basically, the oven was way too hot.

Also, they might not have developed feet because I'd let them rest for way too long (is this a metaphor?).

So today. Today I finally tried again. I made some decisive changes:

I aged my egg whites 24 hours in advance

I used a "drier" recipe from a Singaporean baker

I blended the dry ingredients

I changed my oven settings

And it worked. I'd have to say it was the recipe that really did the trick! Because of the scaled down egg white proportion, the batter developed that dry film (I never thought I would say these words so much) within 15 minutes, even without that oven trick! Thanks to that they weren't over-rested and were able to develop feet.

And what happened next made me so emotional. I actually jumped for joy.

Look at those beautiful feet! (No pornbots pls) They were still a little burnt but they were still beautiful. Just need to adjust the oven settings even more next time.

And that was my journey into the world of baking. It really does take a lot of effort and preparation. And when you're ready for it, it will change your life. I will never be that girl, but I have so much respect for her now. You put yourself through this for other people if you really care about them.

Me, I just wanted to eat macarons. And that's self love 2020.

#char siew bakes #macarons

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milkmateartist · 7 years

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Hey there ! Sorry for bothering you but since i look up to you as an artist i felt like asking you for advice... So the thing is, I run an art blog and i post my art 3 times a week and i feel like this is not enough and i can't seem to keep my followers =s So the question is, should i "force" myself to draw more and post more or should i keep this pace i'm confortable with and... hope people will eventually stay ? Thank you in advance ^^

Gday m8! Hey, I’m really glad you asked me and I feel very honored you look up to me! You’re not bothering me at all! ^^ I’m always happy to answer asks!

So well, I have myself thought about this at some point too to be honest. I guess the question you have to ask yourself is what is the purpose of your blog and who is the audience you want to target. Do you want it to be for followers, or for yourself?

A few months ago I was like, man, what do people wanna see? And I was scrolling through all the notes on other peoples stuff and trying to figure out patterns of what content got more notes and what time it was posted, etc etc. I looked on sites and collected resources to try to figure out what I was doing wrong.

But the truth is its very hard to figure out a good equation on notes and followers. It has a lot of other properties like that audience, what type of audience it is and how many members of the audience, what time you post it and what day it is, if any popular blogs follow you and repost your work, who sees it and is willing to share it, the content, whats the message after the post, does it look reposted instead of original to ppl, and there are just so many factors that are out of ones control and if you can control it, how much of an effect it actually has with all the other factors. Also Tumblr’s ‘best first’ algorithm plays into stuff too (shows stuff based on whats popular instead of chronologically which messes up everyones feed on mobile if its on).

When I got to this point of realizing I can’t control so much of everything I wanted to, I’m like, welp, oh well. I give. Realizing I couldn’t do too much about this mystery equation, I focused more on myself and improving my art and having fun while doing it. I even have stuff queued to go at popular times of the day but I get so hyped over a piece I did I post it immediately anyway XD.

So I guess in conclusion, if you want to post more for the sake of the followers, figure out some kind of motivation or a method to make it a fun or interesting experience so it’s a positive ‘forcing’. For example I like to come up with new ideas (such as vampire creek au) that I enjoy and is what gets me hyped. 1) thats fun for me and makes me wanna draw and invest more 2) followers can get into it as well.

When I feel like I have to force myself to draw to the point of being overwhelmed and unhappy, I feel like that is when the learning stops, because then I don’t have fun and don’t seem to learn anything new and just have to push through with a frown. Some forcing is okay and perfectly normal! It’s when you get to this point where it becomes the kind of ‘forcing’ that is very negative and draining.

If you let the concept of followers dictate you you’ll feel like a slave forced to make art and appeal. “Followers” consist of individual “follower”s who have all kinds of different likes and opinions, and you can’t appeal to all of them, so sometimes its best to go at your own pace and do what you find fun, or find ways to make doing what you want more fun so its not negative ‘forcing’, but positive ‘forcing’. Our society revolves around public appeal and we can get services to service us anywhere (restaurants, commissions, etc). But when someone comes out and presents their own ideas and pushes forth with them and expands on them and such, I feel like it provides more colorful, creative and unique alternative than this conformist mindset. (Oh god i sound like Tall Goth aaaaaa)

Also when you say “keep my followers” and “hope people will eventually stay” does that mean that the number of followers have been going down recently? If so then there might be an external issue aside from just posting art.

Ooo my that was long! I hope this helped! ^^ I hope I made some sense X3

#milk_asks

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