#back when i had a da i posted some art. and i remember you got notifs for what people put your art in folders n such

[ubashaaa-archived]

does anybody remember that period of time where “art critique” channels just started popping up everywhere. and would like. go on DeviantArt and just poke at art, most of the time being art by kids. what the hell was up with that

[ms-demeanor]

Looking through the notes on the post about Tumblr being terrible for artists, and seeing people talk about how people don't reblog art or follow artists just seems kind of bonkers to me considering that my first post to crack 1000 notes was a drawing back when I had like 600 followers and it gave me a panic attack that so many people were looking at my stuff.

And this week I managed to pick up about 5k additional notes on a reblog of a zine from 2021, pushing it over 13k notes (no tumblr radar, no promotion, no cross promotion, people just like the dog zine and it's currently showing up on a bunch of people's dashes. Because they're sharing it. Because they like it. So I'm sorry i also just don't really see the "people don't reblog art here" thing - there is art on my dash all day long, i reblog art, and people reblog my art. I don't know why people aren't reblogging your art, but yeah I do think it's kind of entitled when people lament the likes to reblog ratio. There's someone in that other post saying that tumblr has never been good for them because they don't make art on popular subjects and I'm sorry but popular things will get more attention than unpopular things. I am unsurprised when my Twin Peaks art gets more attention than a cartoon about Drop Dead Fred. Yes, kitty drawings are probably going to perform better than conceptual art here! People here like cats! That doesn't mean you only have to draw cats to get attention, but you should be realistic about why your OCs aren't as widely shared as, say, fanart of a popular ship.)

There are a bunch of artists talking about how actually you shouldn't have to have your entire personality online or promote yourself to promote your art, that tumblr is bad for art because what's "good" for art is sites like IG and DA where the art speaks for itself and spreads because people like it.

But.

Like.

That has never been my experience of those sites. I've been on DeviantArt for nearly twice as long as I've been on tumblr, and barring a webcomic artist commenting on some fanworks i made and tagged in their very small Fandom, i can't remember any interactions with people i didn't know personally, or pieces that got more than a couple hundred views. I stopped posting on DA mostly because it felt kind of, well, dead. Unless you pulled off something *ridiculously* clever (i guess i had one clever fiber art post that got a little traction in 2012) or with a pretty significant level of technical skill, nobody would look at it.

That first drawing that i had that went "viral" on tumblr (i think it ended up with 30k notes) was done with a ballpoint pen on some printer paper during my lunch break. It was kind of hot garbage actually, in terms of being "art."

The tiny Bastard zine wouldn't perform on DA or IG. It's too many panels to scroll through and no single panel is "good" as a standalone piece and it's not a style I draw in often enough that people would look for it specifically like the "oh no" comics that are allowed to be "bad" art (those are not bad art, btw).

The moving eye drawing might get attention on IG, but what the fuck would I do to present the companion piece, which is vertical?

One of the reasons that tumblr has never felt "dead" for me as an artist is that I've never felt the need to conform to a specific style or medium in order to get people to look at what I'm making.

Pornographic fanart altoids tin dollhouse? Sure.

Detailed pen-and-ink papercraft illustration that moves? Hell yeah.

Messy sketch of Argumate with the bowsette power crown as a shitpost? Cool.

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as Sam and Frodo bickering about throwing the ring into Mt. Doom on the end of someone else's post? Yep.

Ballpoint pen comic about rape culture? Yeah.

50 pages of a weekly grayscale comic about alt subcultures? Why the hell not.

Rainbow squiggly line digital drawing done in the ER? Yeah okay.

Advil chicken? You bet.

Gru excitedly telling people that practice means more than talent appended to a post about fanart? Not only yes but hell yes tumblr fucking loves "boobs" goblins and reaction images and reading people's posts as prompts.

Like, I get that artists want people to focus on and appreciate the art, but there's a BW architecture photographer in those notes lamenting the loss of curative aesthetic blogs that heavily relied on the tags.

Bud. People come here to chill. I absolutely love following brutalist and art deco and desert photography blogs, but what you're telling me is that the only reason tumblr is dead for you these days is that other people were collecting an audience for you. Your problem isn't that tumblr is dead, it's that your art fit the dark academia style and was shared by people who had strict themes for their aesthetic blogs, which is not particularly popular in 2024.

I don't follow any tags. I almost never tag my art. The "downfall of tagging culture" is not something I've experienced on tumblr because it's not something that was ever important or useful for me as an artist here, tags were always far, far behind "people who followed me for wild stories/shitposting/ranting" in terms of getting eyeballs on my art.

"Tumblr *is* dead for art because people used to follow tags" - friend, it is easier than ever to read and follow tags, but that is simply not the current culture of the site. People also used to make jokes based on post threading. "Just _____ things" used to be the favored style of gimmick blog. Are you telling me you haven't changed how you interact with tumblr since the days of superwholock?

You shouldn't have to put your entire personality on display to get followers for your art, i do agree with that. But you can't keep using a site that used to be drastically different and expect it to work the same (and people don't expect that on other sites - artist behavior changed on twitter and IG when they went non-chronological, artist behavior broadened to include reels and short video on IG, artists talk about posting schedules that will make sure they stay relevant to the algorithm on twitter, but you think this site is dead because there aren't aesthetic blogs trawling the tags and sharing your stuff anymore?! Keep up. "no sideblogs, you get to drink from the firehose" has been a prevailing attitude here for at least 4 years)

Anyway. Here's some art that I've had great success with on tumblr that has gotten zero traction elsewhere.

I'm in the enviable position of not relying on aesthetic blogs, which is good because I'm not someone with a clear aesthetic, and no aesthetic blog is going to get me thousands of notes on big titty duolingo owl or gaussian blur advil chicken.

(Btw, Gaussian blur advil chicken is heavily inspired by Chris Maggio, an artist i found and whose work i fell in love with on tumblr!)

[nipuni]

Hello! Time for another blog post! I think my last one was two months ago and a lot has happened since 😊

We have been attending a ton of historical recreation events so I still have many photos to share, hope you don't hate those! It's been really fun! We are exhausted and all out of social battery however so we are taking it easy this month. Another thing that's been happening a lot is that even when we are not dressed in historical clothing we keep getting stopped by strangers on the street because of our everyday outfits, it's been like that for a couple of years now so we are no longer startled or nervous about it but it's happening more and more often now and it's so nice! we always end up chatting about the events we go to and our jobs and hobbies and exchanging contacts or they ask for photos and stuff! people are really kind and excited about it and I still find it so surprising in the best way. We grew up in a very hostile city and environment and that makes you paranoid and cynical so these interactions and response has been healing really. I know their words will stick with us for years to come 😭 Sadly the unbearable heat is starting though so that means our outings for the next three months will be limited to the crack of dawn and after sunset 😞 but at least the summer brings a lot of fruit with it so we can sit at home and eat pineapples and strawberries while we wait for autumn.

My family came to visit a few months ago too and we made them watch most of Doctor Who's season one to four and some of our favourite episodes from all the other seasons lmao. And much to our delight they really enjoyed it!! They both loved Ten the most and my step dad is now in love with Martha 🥰

We have also been watching the current season and it's been so fun keeping up with fandom theories in real time and talking about it and speculating with friends in person, it's the first time we get a chance to do it since we got into the series and we are enjoying it a lot!

We also watched season one of Jessica Jones and we loved David's performance as Kilgrave!! He stole the show for real. Kilgrave is such an incredible villain, one of the best I've seen and DT does such an amazing job portraying every aspect of him. He's detestable and volatile and frighteningly powerful and has such an intimidating terrifying presence in the narrative while also being pathetic and vulnerable and ridiculous and childish and so human with all it's worrying implications. It was just so gripping and I wish he had stayed for the rest of the show honestly!! Now we have to pick our next David Tennant series to watch! 😊

Also!! Dragon Age is back!! AHHH I wanted to thank everyone that commented on my last DA pieces, it has made my month to read the comments, I didn't expect so many people to remember my art or my character after so many years and it's so touching and flattering you have no idea 😭💘 I look forward to making more and sharing them with you all, I'm truly grateful for the kindness you've shown me both back then and now I hope you know.

I feel so spoiled lately with all these franchises that I love releasing new content!! I've never been in these many fandoms at once!! I have so many ideas to draw and keep jumping back and forth between drawings from different shows and games AAAAA it's a good and welcome change honestly, keeps me busy and inspired!

Anyway that's all for now I think! I hope you are doing well and this summer/winter is kind to you all ❤️

[darqx]

Some BP/HH/General asks

That mood when you want to share all the things but also want to keep it under wraps for the actual thing haha! Thanks very much anon!

As for your questions, I can't actually be specific cos there's no definitive number I have in mind for either. Basically there are a number of sectors (you can consider them their equivalent of countries - they have less than what we do though), and a number of species of demon of which I've designed about seven of. The ones I've shown before are these guys (and do you think I could find this pic again? No, I had to recreate it cos for the life of me I couldn't remember what ask I'd previously stuck it in lol):

One day when i have enough species and stuff out there I want to make a proper field guide \o/

Thank you very much for the interest! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ I would actually love to for BP, but before I jump the gun there I have to get the comic out first lol. That being said I have made mini-games before featuring the HH versions and some other characs alas they are all lost at the moment to the sands of Flash becoming obsolete 😩

Me and Gato do still collab sometimes (and send each other Xmas presents)! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

I have been working on one off and on for a while actually! Hopefully I'll have some pages to post next year or so*, I've been doing a bit of thumbnailing recently :D

*that is the plan but i also don't know where people find the time to do anything with a full time job lol.

Hullo! Glad you are enjoying the snippets of BP I've got here and there :D Here is an older ref on Izm back when i first got the idea (at that time i didn't really plan to do anything with it, it was just an AU. Now it's my main project haha. Anyway the ref is a little bit out of date in that regard.)

I used to have a "field guide" which was also made quite a while ago, unfortunately the death of Flash kinda killed it. Here's a screenshot of some relevant info from it though.

That's an interesting one as it's questionable how sentient souls are after removal 🤔 In my mind its only form is the smoke light, it can "see" to some degree and MIGHT be able to talk (but in a very no one can hear them sort of way, a la i have no mouth and i must scream. So i guess it can think "aloud"). The more time passes the less sentience it has.

It could try, though it wouldn't really get anywhere if it's in Rire's collection. He might just eat it lol.

.D: Good with kids, will be fine in all aspects.

Izm: The fun dad however needs a partner that knows what they're doing to ensure the child safety during shenanigans.

Marcus and Zeke: Also would be good parents though might be more helicopter out of protectiveness/worry when first starting out.

Ren: Geek parent very good for homework help. Some Asian parent tendencies eg "ah see, i told you not to do that right? Now you see what happened."

They are similar to our known society for this! So basically, there are some good families out there (eg Zeke - who is a demon - is from a pretty average loving family), and there are some bad families out there who only care about power or having an heir or whatever.

HH Rire is a human. I differentiate between him and Demon Rire because they are two different characters...even though they are also technically the same character lol. You can consider them as alternate universe iterations of a base "Rire" concept.

I actually half jested this in an old comic lol

I am sorry to inform you that a HH webcomic doesn't actually exist 😅 I did a lot of art, animations and one shots (such as the HHJ comics) with them, but nothing actually planned or serialised or anything. Whatever's currently on my DA or here is basically what exists.

Bringing this image back cos it's relevant lol.

You spelled it correct there though! XD

[crimetimesteadicam]

ok @morporkian-cryptid tagged me to do this fic author interview so here we go...

if you would like to do this, i am officially tagging you, yes you, right now. tag me back so i can see your answers

1 How many works do you have on AO3?

i got 40

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,044,749

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

sorry like none of these are lupin iii. a blight on my lupin iii blog

Wabisabi (991 kudos) - Spirited Away. idk it's short and cute, read it

BONES OF BLACK MARROW (952 kudos) - Homestuck. the infamous cyoa cannibalism sex fic. scrolling through the things people say about it in the bookmarks is always so funny

Cum mortuis in lingua mortua (925 kudos) - Homestuck. no clue why it has so many kudos lol it was like the first long thing i've ever wrote (a whole decade ago??? jesus). it's a d&d/discworld joke

Vanitas vanitatum (914 kudos) - Homestuck. the same d&d/discworld joke except the LI is turbo depressed. notable for being the only fic i ever outlined and edited and that's why it whips

Supermassive Retinol Overdose! (677 kudos) - hey look, a lupin fic made it on here!

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

i do when i have something meaningful to say besides "thank you!" i don't have a lot of thoughts about my own work so therefore i tend to not respond if there's not a direct question :( my head is empty. i always respond to every single comment on the last chapter of longfics though because i'm always impressed people read that far lol. genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading all that

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

idk uhhhh i wrote a series once where two of the main couples break up at the end, but it wasn't really angsty

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

they all end pretty happily

7. Do you write crossovers?

if i did it was so long ago i don't remember it

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

no but people used to send passive aggressive hate about my art in fics once in a while. hasn't happened in like 2+ years

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes. every kind. EVERY KIND

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

a bot will sometimes scrape my high kudos homestuck fics and plant them on a junk ebook site

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yeah i think like 7 of them got translated into russian and do numbers on ficbook.net

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

in the past me and my friend would sit around a laptop and scream laugh write our way through crack fics

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

right now it's jiglup and fujilup

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

i finish almost all my WIPs because i'm a freak. if i don't finish a WIP it's because some dramatic life event happened. this has only occurred two times

15. What are your writing strengths?

im a funny binch

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

i don't outline or edit or re-read any of my fanfic. i just type it and then eyeball it for typos and then post it. i COULD outline and such to really make the narrative nice and tight, but i don't find it very fun to do (for fanfic) and this is like, my relaxing wind down hobby. i just wanna have fun haha. the only reason my fics like, make sense, is because i write at least one ending scene first thing and always aim for that, and also i write out of order so i kinda know the route of the story

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

it's fine if it makes sense to do it there as a narrative device

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

h-hetalia crack fic.....

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

once i figure out how to draw zenigata it's over for you bitches. luzeni hours on da clock

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

for lupin iii fic, i like Lightkeepers the best

[i-am-a-living-god]

Would you...Share the plot of a story/fic/comic you don't think you'll get to but would like the world to know about?

Ok I didn't answer this at first because I didn't think I had an answer. But now I remember that I do!

So about a year ago me and two other people came up with this au that we named evil Splinter au, (very creative I know.) E.S AU for short.

So the premise is exactly what it sounds like. It's a 2012 au, but because the three of us have an unexplained burning hatred for 2012 Splinter, so we made him evil.

So the deal is, Splinter hates kids, and he's racist, against mutants. One problem, he has mutant kids. So naturally, he decides to MURDER ALL OF HIS TURTLE SONS. Bear with me, he gets attached to the idea of having only one son. so he decided to find the strongest, and weed out the weak.

So when the turtles were young (about 4 years old) he thought that Donnie was the strongest, cause he's tall. But when they got older, Splinter realized that tall does not make you strong. He realized this cause Donnie started getting into medicine, which is for losers. So he stopped loving him, and found a new favorite: Leo.

So Leo ran into the kraang when he was a lil guy, and got experimented on or something. He waddled back to the lair, (because they're basically invulnerable, cause if they died we wouldn't have a plot.) Splinter recognized this as strength, and appointed him as him new favorite. Basically, Splinter tries to get his favorite to help him kill the others.

Omg he's so pathetic lol, he needs the help of a literal child to kill other children, which he still fails to do somehow???😭

So Leo kind of is rewired by the kraang to follow orders for them, but they failed to keep him and he immediately escaped. (Plot armor, don't question it!) Because of this, his eyes shift between pink and blue, blue means he's mostly in control, and pink means the kraang-washing is in control.

Donnie ditches and makes friends with April and Casey, and they get into a relationship. He tries to find a way to fix Leo, and save his brothers or something. He doesn't like Mikey cause he's "suspicious" and Donnie thinks he's totally secretly working for Splinter.

Mikey is just totally freaked out, and also ditchs, and befriends leatherhead, and other mutants. He gets a bit paranoid and starts putting little bits of different Poison's in his brothers food, to build an immunity. It works I guess.

Raph has no idea that Splinter is trying to kill them and just thinks that Splinter is giving them some hardcore training, where you even need to be alert while you sleep!

Leo knows exactly what's going on, and tries his best to find loopholes in Splinters commands, and always manges to understand usually the opposite of what Splinter tells him. (I want you to know that this concept started when we were talking about how splinter is cryptic af, and Leo always seems to understand the opposite in the show.) Leo will also often take killing blows for his brothers, that's how they are still alive. Since Splinter doesn't want to kill Leo, he will often stop the swing before it lands of halfway through so Leo doesn't die. Leo basically uses his own body as a shield.

Anyway that's it mostly, we all made a bit of art, and one-shots for this au that never got posted cause it's a shared au, it would be awkward.

Umm I'm literally writing this at 1am, yes I'm aware that this all sounds ridiculous, especially how I'm writing it. But I do like this au, cringe for the winnn!!! There is more lore shit that I can't remember. And a lot of the stuff that we wrote about it was good (not mine though, that was shit.)

So yeah, heres our shitty au. Ta-da!

Oh yeah I forgot to tag @writing-biting who was one of the people who helped make the au lol.

[emma-frxst]

Arcades and Anniversaries

Pairing: Colossus AKA Piotr Rasputin x Reader

Summary: Request “reader and colossus having fun at an arcade.”

@chromecutie requested this from me a while ago and I’ll be honest I forgot abt it so sorry K! I love you!

After the latest chapter of smooth criminal I posted last Friday being so angsty I’m posting some fluff for my and your sake. So here’s this quick little thing.

-

“Soooo where are we going babe?” You asked Colossus as he held the car door open for you.

“Darling for the hundredth time I cannot tell you, it is surprise.”

“Must be somewhere fancy, since you had me put on my fancy clothes.” You stated, hopping in the passenger seat.

Piotr didn’t say anything as he got into the drivers seat and started the car.

You and him were celebrating your anniversary and from the looks he has something big planned.

You two were dressed to the nines, Piotr looked absolutely divine in his suit.

You were thinking maybe he planned an evening at an art gallery followed by fancy restaurant.

Needless to say you were surprised when the car pulled up to an arcade.

But it wasn’t just any arcade.

It was where you and Piotr went on your first date so long ago.

“Surprise!” Piotr cheerfully exclaimed.

“The arcade?” You questioned. As you two got out of the car.

“Da! To recreate first date!”

“Piotr that’s so sweet of you! I love it. I love you.” You gushed, standing on your top toes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Lets go” you said, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside.

Once inside you noticed the place was empty except for a few employees.

“Why’s there no one else here?”

“I rented the place out for the evening. To save embarrassment when I kick your butt.”

“Oh it is on!” You challenged him, immediately going for the skeeball machine.

You remembered when Piotr had first moved to America. The two of you instantly clicked, becoming best friends and lovers not long after that. Piotr had never been to an arcade before, so you took it upon yourself to take him. Being teenagers, it was all you two could do to scrape enough money together for a gaming pass. He was terrible at the games at first, but with your help, got the hang of them quickly. Warm feelings filled your chest as you remembered the early days of your relationship.

After an hour or two of kicking Piotr’s butt at arcade games, you had acquired enough tickets for a decent prize.

You got up close to the counter to get a good eye on your prize while Piotr stood a bit behind you.

“Hmmmm…what should I pick Petey? The stuffed animal maybe? Or maybe the dart board? Would be good for the kiddos back at the mansion.”

“How about this?” He said.

You turned around to behold Piotr down on one knee, holding a ring box.

Before Piotr could give the loving- and let’s be honest- lengthy speech he had prepared, you flung your self into his arms.

“Yes, yes, yes, Piotr! Of course I will!” You exclaimed, kissing his face all over.

“Da?” He questioned. “You will marry me?”

“Yes!” You said, happy tears now streaming down your face.

He got up off his knee and scooped you up, spinning you around.

He sat you back down ever so gently, it was then you let him place the ring on your finger.

He looked at you, complete love and adoration in his eyes.

You couldn’t wait to officially become Mrs. Rasputin.

-Tags: (tag list of open, send me an ask if you want to be tagged, removed or only tagged for certain characters.) @chromecutie @xenomorphique @evelyn120700 @nightriver99 @iamwarrenspeace @this-that-and-every-thing-else @hsk-puma @bungeewabbit @pianomad @lesbianstarkx @hazilyimagine-blog @super-darkcloudstudent @thehuntress26 @siren-lamented-vampire @mooleche @rovvboat @leo-writer @dandyqueen @nitemaremotionless @thewintersoldierswife @reiner-exodus-rasputin

[anonymouspuzzler]

Yay Yipee I Finally Remembered I Should Update Folks On Things That Are Happening

because hey whoops as some of you might remember Supposedly I Stream Sometimes! That Uhhhh Hasn't Happened In A While Has It! so I should probably let folks know what's goin' on!! the long and the short of it is

Around late November/early December I started having issues where Discord would crash and restart anytime I tried to screenshare my capture software with my friends who I stream with. This put console game streams (so 2/3 of the games we were streaming) on the backburner till I could troubleshoot and solve that issue

On top of that it was Fucking Finals Season for me at my Graduate School so at a certain point I had to be responsible and focus on getting my final projects & essays done, which meant sacrificing stream time till my break (where I would hopefully have time to troubleshoot and then do a ton of streaming to make up for lost time)

Except THEN literally the second I went home for the holidays my hard drive abruptly and completely died. It is very possible that this contributed to the aforementioned tech issues

I was able to replace the drive and get my computer working again but because I have a Fucking Curse a lot of tech-side things were lost or started experiencing issues due to the new drive, namely A) I haven't been able to get my capture software working yet and B) whoops my entire OBS layout is just gone now I guess

This whole saga, on top of juggling other life shit and work and the like, effectively ate up my entire winter break

so tl;dr! I have a computer curse and because of it streams are gonna have to wait till I can get both OBS and my capture software working again. I'm hoping to work on that this weekend so I can be back to streaming next week, but given my school & job workload I'm guessing it'll more likely be two or three weeks. On top of that, I won't be streaming most of March due to reason of "my partner is visiting then". all of this sucks cause I want to be streaming, both for reason of "i like spending time with my good friends doing this" and "haha whoops I'm not earning money now and oh boy there sure are a lot of expenses flying at my head like rocks huh".

I've already rambled a bit more than I'd like to now so here's da main points:

Streams will (HOPEFULLY) be back in February. When they are, they'll be Monday & Tuesday nights, 5:30pst/8:30est, for as long as my friends remain available at those times (we're all adults having to look for or maintain Day Jobs so availability could change. y'all know how it is). I may also do occasional one-off streams on weekends as my energy 'n schedule permits, most likely art streams

I'll continue to be around on Holly's streams Fri/Sat/Sun as her schedule permits, because I don't have to rebuild OBS from the ground up for that

There is a 99.99% chance I'll be totally absent stream-wise during March

Even though streams are facing The Troubles I am still taking art commissions! Those haven't been affected!! You can submit an interest form here and I'll reach out to confirm prices as soon as I'm ready to start work on yours

If, out of the kindness of your heart, you would like to toss some support my way during The Troubles (which would be much appreciated; as said I've got a lot of expenses coming my way and unfortunately my day job covers my rent and nothing more), here are some other ways you can do so: -- Tip me on Ko-Fi; if you pay $9 or more you can request a doodle that I'll do for you and post on here & twitter (and might stream the process of drawing once that's up and running again). Here's an example of some Ko-Fi doodles I did previously -- You can also tip through my stream page if you want but I probably won't see those till I start streaming again. Still appreciated!!! -- I have a Throne Wishlist that's mostly stuff like kitchenware, household goods, stuff for my kitty, etc. There's also a few Fun Things though, like vinyls and a billy big bass Jay insisted I add. Either way, if you wanna contribute to something on there it means a lot. You can also suggest items to make me laugh

an' above all: thank you for reading and for bein' around!!

[consanguinitatum]

An in-depth look at David Tennant's 1993 short film, 'SPACES'

I'm back!

Today's David Tennant post will stick with my trend of covering David's roles in his harder-to-find short films. Before 1997's short Bite (covered in my last post) and 2001's One-Eyed Jacques (covered a few posts back), David played the lead role in the 1993 short film SPACES.

SPACES got made because of a Scottish joint short film initiative called First Reels. First Reels - funded by Scottish Screen/Scottish Film Council and STV - was launched in 1991 to provide grants for young and first-time filmmakers to complete their first film or video project.

With a running time of 14:54, SPACES was written and directed by Steve Pang and produced by Pang, Jo Roberts, and Stray Dog Film Company. SPACES starred David as Vinny, Colin Brown as Duncan, Becky Baxter as Jane, Mike Gibbin as the Kilted Drunk, and Daniel Byrne as the Homeless Boy.

When the First Reels project was announced, Pang was studying at Edinburgh's Napier University. He submitted a script - and won the grant. When I spoke with him, Pang told me winning the grant helped provide the funds to make SPACES a reality, in the way he wanted it made. "Had we not won the grant," he said, "I think the film would have still gone ahead in some form, but we would not have been able to pay the cast or equipment suppliers – which would have undoubtedly had a detrimental effect on the film, in my opinion."

In the following years Pang decided to shift gears and move into film and television editing. He began in film as an assistant editor in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and on television in 1997-1998’s The Vicar of Dibley. Since then he's worked in various editing capacities on a lengthy list of projects including Band of Brothers, The Da Vinci Code, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The 10th Kingdom, and Gravity.

Initiatives like First Reels (and Prime Cuts, which funded six 5-min film dramas annually and helped fund the production of Bite) allowed creators the funds to produce incredible pieces of art that would have otherwise never been made.

And bless them for it! The years these kinds of initiatives were active also happened to be some of the first professional ones of David's career since graduating in 1991 from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). The fact these initiatives were both available and encouraged certainly gave us David Tennant fans more early opportunities to see him on film!

IMDb describes the short as "a young man's night shift in a car park in Edinburgh and the characters he meets over the course of the night: an older colleague with a troubled past, a bright young girl who uses the empty car park for her violin practice, and a young homeless boy." David's character, Vinny, is challenged with a difficult situation and must rise to the occasion to face it.

Pang told me his goal was to "keep things simple", and he came up with an idea to collate all his experiences working part time in a 24-hr car park into a single night. He settled upon an idea that could be shot in one location, and with a small cast.

About David, Pang told me that he was his first choice for the lead role of Vinny in the film. He said DT seemed remarkably in tune with the character he had written, and came across as incredibly natural in the first audition. The role was his immediately. "We contacted a number of local actors’ agencies and as I recall, the actors in the film were all our first choices for each role," Pang told me. "Working with him from rehearsal to shoot was great. We had a tiny budget, a cold dark location, and a night shoot. I remember once our equipment caused a short circuit at the location which required us to completely re-order the schedule. I think our catering consisted of soup and bread for everyone? It was all very basic."

That's it for SPACES. If you want to see it you can- it's available for onsite viewing only at the Moving Image Archive in Glasgow. If you're near there go reserve a viewing. Oh. and here's a screenshot of the film taken from the record for SPACES at the Moving Image Archive website:

And here are all the other screenshots I've gathered up from the film:

[thedemigodoracle]

Please read:

Ok, so as I jokingly said before “I’m back.” - I’m not joking, I am back.

Not entirely yet but here are some things to wait for in the near future.

Before I list it I need to browse fast through the real life stuff first so bear with:

- one of the reasons I did go missing from art and fandoms in general wasn’t just the ammount of books but also family situations, depression, relationships and in the last few years I lost grandma, grandpa and even my mother to a disease they don’t have it diagnosed yet because it was so rare.

Obvsly took a major hit to my mental health and the ability to write and just have energy kinda left me. I’m handling it I’m in therapy. This is all we need to talk about it.

- it’s been over ten years since some of your fave fics have been updated and while both Clichesbullet on ff.net and thatu on DA will be there and won’t be deleted HERE are what’s to expect:

1. My endgame here is reading the books back and forth again, as well as other source

Material for other fandoms I will

Be publishing for.

-updating the old fan mixes and uploading it to Spotify so it’s more accessible and going back (when possible to art).

- I will use AO3 some new aesthetics and user name (though probably just thatu) and edit a lot more to fit what I believe is better not because the world changed in general but because so

Did I.

Some of the racism and homophobia will still be there are these are the characters having flaws whose arcs weren’t complete but lots of it will also be changed because I’m 34 now I also the world is changed and some stuff just wouldn’t fly and I kinda hate it (but the old material is still there available on the old

Accounts).

- I’m not sure technology will be adapted but some references will here and there and I can clearly deliver something better now that I’ve taught English for over half of my life and am taking a masters degree on translation studies.

- real life will get me too busy sometimes so please I hope you’re excited but I know lots

Of you also have jobs or even families. So leave reviews and keep

Me company but also understand I was bad at updating before even with better time

Management this is will be a ride.

- I’m doing this to prove myself I can do and make good things.

- This site as well as the thatu blog will be updated.

- if you were a follower and have deleted your tumblr or changed usernames please leave a reply with who we were because I’ve had an eventful few years. I remember most of you, but I may need a nudge.

- both my writing and art style have developed and so did my world views - stuff will look different but hopefully still bring you comfort. And laughter.

And tears…?

- there will be some one shots posted focusing on stuff like grown up characters and new knowledge

We now have though the characterization will still follow the book ones as that’s how I kinda got used to it.

- I’m back but I’ll be getting back slowly and posting updates here. Tell ur friends who haven’t been here in a while but used to be part of our group of

Weirdos.

- I missed being a fandom person and hopefully now I can find solace in you guys back again.

- some new fandoms will pop up, as will

Some

Ships (see what I did there? Find solace? Will some ships? Hehe).

-Some extra texts will be added to whatever adaptations I make especially regarding transphobia and HP though I do intend to finish my Hannah/Neville story.

- maybe I’ll write original

Stuff too who knows?

Also, I missed you, spread the word. There’s a brand new old me in town. New ships, new views, new one shots, edits, a very different music taste (actually no I just added more stuff) and a lot of improved knowledge of vocabs and world geography.

Please spread this to whoever you think might be interested. It’s not popularity or anything, I’m trying to get back some pieces of me I lost along the way and writing and drawing used to be FUN and help me make FRIENDS.

I’ll keep u posted once everything is at least remotely ready to go.

And omg you’ll finally know what Silena had on clarisse.

Oh and I’m still not for writing smut but there will be more Adult/Mature like material as some ships require it and I am older. No minors having descriptive s*x

Of course but u know it’d feel weird to talk about these huge ass long relationships and not bring it up naturally.

Anyway, reply to this with whatever. Leave a like or something too but mostly leave a reply so we can start this journey together -

New younger fans are also welcome I’ll make my best to keep this space as safe as possible!! I teach kids and teens and I’d kill for u to have a place to be you safely.

Also there will now be additions on author notes for whether a ship is canon or fanon what I adapted and new fandoms new ships and trigger warnings before sensitive chapters that deal with stuff that before I wouldn’t.

Love, I’ve missed this,

thatu.

[twstedpometea]

Subject of Ugi’s DA Art

Tagging @silenceiswelcome​ Hi, everyone! Sorry for my absence, but like I said in my previous post, I’ve been busy trying to source art with a few others. Though I wanted to return and talk briefly about where a lot of Ugigiugi’s art vanished off too. So let me start the conversation with some updated information: I have had a few people who observed her on DeviantArt; so they did see things go off when the call outs started to happen on Tumblr in late February and on-wards into March. Now let me be clear about one thing: We never investigated all of her stuff. I was only investigating stuff people submitted to me and some pieces I had suspicions of here on Tumblr. I’ve also been sent DM’s about some of her DA pieces. My friends were mostly watching her TWST fanart submissions and according to them, Ugi may have deleted or stored about 88-90 submissions from her main TWST fanart folders and half of her gallery. (On DeviantArt you can delete or store stuff in a “STASH” of sorts, but we don’t know which she did for her art.) At this point, with all the evidence we've uncovered, I think its fair to assume most of her pieces have more then likely been traced. I'm going to guess Ugi may have removed/hidden the stuff she has traced to prevent more people from calling her out. (Side note: We never heard back from the other artists we had notified about tracing, so we can’t say if a DMCA or copyright strike happened to any of Ugigiugi’s art during all this; if anyone knows otherwise please correct me!) Anyway! While I'm still sourcing with a few others I did have luck tracking one of the sources for her so-called Egyptian|Self-shipping art pieces that proves she’s been tracing for more then her TWST-fanart. Minor #Nudwarning though for these art pieces and the traced art is a bit mature and a bit cheeky. Lenbarboza’s Inuyasha- Inukago ship art Vs. Ugigiugi/Seth (For her Egyptian project) ship art.

Some notes with these pieces: 1.This is obviously another tracing situation with some adjustments. Please note: This art piece of Ugi’s is not longer on her gallery (possibly deleted or stored like the rest of her art) 2. This was traced from an older fandom artist in the Inuyasha fandom. I actually recognized this piece’s art style but I had to look for the artist again as their first tumblr was deleted. I thankfully did find the image to source here. So for sure she has been tracing stuff before she got into Twisted Wonderland fandom. How far else? I can’t say for certain(Especially with stuff deleted/or hidden) but it’s very obvious at this point she was just covering her tracks when all this stuff came out. That's likely why half of her gallery is gone. In any case that’s really I have to update on the matter of why her DA art pieces are gone. There’s not much else to it all. With all this in mind, please remember: Do not Harass Ugigiugi or her followers! Don’t engage and just block if need be! At  this point I don’t see a reason to get on her page or go about addressing her or followers. There’s zero point to having any conversations with them if their set in their own mindsets. More so; this entire drama basically created a large digital footprint so even if Ugi and her followers don’t listen to logic, we still have all this proof she did trace and chose to run  then handle things in a mature manner. -TwstedPomeTea

[shadowredfeline]

Three in One Post

For my A-Pal’s on this day Post

I have remembered seeing a bunch of foxes including Sam himself. And even when I first met my A-Pal back in 2015, I even asked him how he ended up drawing Tails in the color of Brown. Because normally Tails’ color is supposed to be orange, and we understand the diff between burnt brown or burnt orange, or just the color orange. I remember with Tails I thought his fur color is Yellow orange. But I know his color is usually orange. I remember seeing Tails in burnt orange color in some of the Archie Comics when I was young and watch some of the Dic Animation cartoons like The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic SATAM. But I do like a lot of the other Fox characters as well as for Fennekin and Vulpix, and if I my A-Pal and I had to draw Sam as part of the Pokémon Phantom Thieves, I had to choose Vulpix since it might be fitting for him.

For my Filipino Friend’s on this day Post

It has been 5 years with Sammir’s old look. I sometimes remaster draw Sammir with his current look by adding new things. Even Miya would enjoy that.

And now a Response to my Filipino friend.

I don’t usually get a Midnight Snack that much. I used to have a Midnight Snack when I was either young or as a teenager. But it would be nice if Shadow and Spot were to have a midnight snack together if they both can’t sleep if they’re both hungry. And also, I have remembered Robot and Monster as a kid. Normally before i got into Middle School. But no one ever talks about them anymore, I even know some fanarts of them back on DA. But i haven’t heard of that show that much even when I started watching Nickelodeon. Especially when SpongeBob is trying their best with their writing to some of their episodes and seasons.

[ghostwing404]

Memories of a Ronin, A Future Leo Au that has been floating around my head for WEEKS.

Look one of my first ACTUAL post's on tumblr, Elow hoomans! So recently ive been apsolutely obsessed with Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, ROTTMNT. Ive scrounged up all content i can find on them and espetually on the Future Timeline from the Movie, (and the movie in general, Technodrome My Beloved) but this idea in piticular has been floating around in my Brain juices for a bit. Everything goes the same initally, Mikey open's the portal, Casey goes through and yes Leo Dies...but not really. His fam, or some bored Deity wanting to see him both suffer more and heal throws his memories back in time, and only his memories. so shortly after the Shredder is taken down and our boi's are healing from that and the sudden increse in Goverment intrest in Mutants and Yokai (they blew a fucking hole through new york from the hidden city that was Seen from SPACE. The world would have noticed that and you can't tell me EPF isnt imediately Swarming.) plus finding a new home and a long list of other stuff Leo begins having odd Dreams and nightmares, at first its just small things, Flashes of fights yet to occur, both from years in the future and litterally a few hours from now, then they start getting a little too spicific, Mikey and him Eating with "Casey" This kid who he seems to care alot about who looks a bit like Foot Recruit, A Fight alongside Raph who looks much older and is missing an eye, Teleporting around like he was born too and then later memories lacking any Mystic's from him at all. The first real Horrid one he has despite the Mess of dead bodies and horridly messy Kraang Zombies he see's nightly already keeping him from sleep is him loosing his arm, he feels it from his own eyes, just like everything else he's seeing in these dreams, their like Memories and alike memories their not always that clear but this...this was far to...detailed. He Can remember what he saw but while in the Dreams he knows he has more Context, details that slip when he wakes up. some eventually stick, like Casey's name was initally slipping and then Stuck better after a dream where Casey saved him from a fucking Lazer when the kid was like 9...he knows by his own orders the kid wasnt allowed out of the base for a full 3 months after that one cus it scared him so much. As his current life calms down, they settle into the new lair and things go mostly back to normal, With Leo's only worry being Raph's constant attacks on his Judgement as leader (and his messy attempts at being leader...), Donnie fighting The Purple Dragons randomly again over some sort of Shitty charity (its Autism speaks and they faught over it at first, relized they were both trying to tear it apart and started working together to take it down, then faught again on who got to keep the money...) And Mikey's art started to make the place feel more like home his nightmares started to get worse. For almost a year straight Leo spent his waking hours trying to do his job as leader right, and living life and his "Sleeping Hours" trying to not sleep by any means nessicary or wimmpering in his sleep as another person dies on his orders or he finds another Scull of someone who was once an Ally...or he watches Raph Die...that was the worst and when his brothers truely saw the extent of these nightmares. They knew he's been having them but he's always had a hard time sleeping and they assumed it was just from the new stress of being leader and what happened with the Shredder which they were all having nightmares about. then the Screaming, it would be the middle of the day (Da Boi's are Nocturnal) 3pm and Donnie (Twin things) and quite often Mikey and Raph would wake up to Sobbing or screaming from Leo's room. it became routine when this happened for one of them to go and just Sit with him till he woke up because they learned pretty early on, you cannot try to Wake him up or Pizza Forbid Touch him because he will come up Swinging and he does have rather long Claws (Raph has a nasty Scar on his arm from one of these incidents)

And because tumblr decided to be funny and DELETE MY WHOLE FUCKING DRAFT! Ima just give you the TLDR- Future Leo's memories are sent to the past somehow and Mini Leo starts getting them as Nightmares or odd feeling first person dreams that he remembers too well just after the shredder incident, they get worse as things calm down and the bois find a new lair and then rather suddenly get better (for everyone else, Leo just remembered how to Cry Silently on instinct because as the leader of the resistance and dealing with nightmares for over 20 years by boi is VERY good at silently going through it on instinct.) life goes back to normal, Leo's an oddly good leader now taking things seriously and life is good though everyone is noticing something off about Leo as time goes on. a Bad fight with a Newer, more ruthless and unfamiliar villain causes those worries to be quickly justified as Leo kills at least half of them after Mikey is taken down hard enough to lightly crack his shell. he runs off and the group gets a distress signal from across the city almost 3 hours later, they find him bloody and missing his fucking arm with zero explanation as too why or how. (he Cut it off during his Mental break and in the process got back ALL his memories. Why? Imagine being a 38 year old War vet who just lost aforementioned war and then your suddenly shoved into your 15-16 year old self's body but not really cus its just him getting your memories, on the flip side imagine being a carefree 15 year old teen who's lived his life in reckless abandon for years learning not only does one of his own mistakes cause the apocalypse but he's not even really himself anymore as he forcefully is given the memories of his future self. ya that's alot my dude, id have a mental break and cut off the arm i already lost too. anyways that happens, Leo now has to carefully keep up appearances while looking for the key (he made up a good story to explain the missing arm.) he finds the Key, makes an excused about Spending the night with Cassandra (they have been getting closer to her recently) and Steals it, then ends up fighting his brothers because unlike his normal teams of Highly trained miliary soldiers he's instead stuck with 3 chaotic teenage brothers who will easily run off on a mission without So much as Leaving a note for their Leader. Because of that oversight and Leo refusing to reveal his identity beleving he needs to keep the key away from his family too the world is once again in danger because of one Hamato Leonardo. Hours later he's making plans with his brothers to get the damn thing back before they start the ritual (only thing they know so far is that thing is very dangerous in the foot clan's hands and they NEED to get it back imediately, Leo is still Leo so seeing him this damn serious about something makes them all listen) then of of course April comes in with a certain Casey Jones JR and Leo almost breaks, Casey wakes up in barely 5 minutes and the 2 imediately star talking in this...well is defentally a code of some kind (Basicly a bunch of languages, Conlangs and Literial word codes hiding under a trench coat pretending to be a single language, Grammar doesn't exist here and Donnie (whos the one that made it) is Absolutely appalled... no one can understand a lick of it but whatever they just talked about seems to have been agreed on and Leo's now updating their plan to include this RANDOM FUCKING KID WHO AMBUSED APRIL. a light explanation that they know each other and Shadow (Casey short for Shadow Scull a nickname he gave himself when he was 6 and that he never really escaped) was here to help them. This time they get the Key and Leo literally sends it to the fucking SUN but of course everyone is very concerned about WTF is going on with Leo (which is now becoming far more apparent as he interacts with Shadow...something changed) Of course Foot clan are still stupid and Fucking Stubborn and thus we begin dealing with the foot's shenanigans plus Leo's odd behavior, at the same time! woo.

Original inspiration from here and my own Brain mostly.

Spelling went to die i regret nothing

[mygainyear2024]

Day 15 Read if you have nothing better to do...a day without toilet paper!

My body was not happy with me after that run yesterday, and throw in the amount of alcohol and sugar I've been consuming, staying close to home was my choice today as I am exploring Albufeira tomorrow.

I did hobble to the gym to do an upper body workout as I wanted to burn some calories so I could try Sweet and Salt, as recommended by the waiter at the restaurant (currently nameless to me) that used to be the Post Office in Praia da Rocha. And OMG I'll be back every other day as there were too many options, including pancakes with banana, chocolate peanut butter and almonds! I wasn't 100% happy with my choice, the apple strudel looked great on the counter, but they heated it up!

So back to the gym, I need some advice....the toilet had no paper. There was definitely a human in the next cubicle. In a crisis, I need a universal language, among women, for "can you pass me some toilet paper please!" I tried "scusi, can you please pass me some papier por favour!" and then "olá, I have no papier, can I have some please?". Radio silence! The mixed language clearly didn't work, maybe banging on the wall and putting my hand under it might have helped? I had momentarily thought to mention there was no paper to the receptionist and then forgot - we'll come back to this later.

I think it was about 28° here today, it felt more like low to mid 30°s. After my homemade sardine tosta I decided to tick off a couple of art galleries and shops, forgetting sometimes places don't open on Mondays and in the Mediterranean sometimes places close for sesta.

It was a pleasurable stroll nonetheless, until it was time to find a toilet. I've been fortunate to find places just in time, including at the larger supermarkets. In the Algarve I haven't had to also find coins to pay. My local Pingo Doce was in close proximity, but no bloody toilet paper! You can never be too old to learn new things, this time it was that mentol tissues aren't the best substitute for toilet paper, but I guess the aftermath of a cool tingly sensation is better than a wet patch?

I headed home to fluff around before going back to the gym to try Power Jump, which I learnt a few days ago was a workout on a trampoline. I asked the instructor kindly if she could speak a little bit of english, as I've done with all the others (and when I was sold the membership, the woman said it was not going to be a problem for the instructors to teach in both languages). I do understand this can be tricky, but apart from the word "stop" used once, that was it! Thankfully I learnt numbers in those two language classes and I recognised 1, 2 and 4 and I didn't fall off.

I vaguely remember doing exercise on a trampoline in Australia about two decades ago. And two decades ago my pelvic floor must have been in better shape despite two births. Midway through the class I had a sensation in my anal sphincter that required me to tighten a different muscle in this class, and once I got that under control I had to turn on my pelvic floor muscles as my bladder was under duress! I thought about making an exit but it was dark and I'd have to return to deal with the trampoline. I couldn't wait for the class to be over! After putting away that heavy trampoline, I hightailed it to the toilet, the instructor got in my way and this time she could speak english "we're doing photos" she said. Fuck that! I said "no" and darted to the toilets, and FFS, the same toilet still had no paper!

Tomorrow is another day :)

[midnightprelude]

Senseless, Pt. 3

Previous | Next

Finally, three years later, I tested positive for COVID-19. Of course, I couldn't suffer alone, so @oftachancer humored me in inflicting the disease on Dorian so we could write Anders taking care of him (and falling in love). This is a 4-part fic which will post daily! You can follow the #senseless da fic to get updates. Written for @30daysofdorian!

He liked me. I’d known he liked men, of course. That was exceptionally obvious and, as Dorian seemed well aware, subtlety wasn’t what he was known for. Varric had once told me that he was all flash and no heat. But Varric hadn’t been standing by his bed last night when Dorian had thought I was asking him to go down- No. If he’d seen the glint in Dorian’s eyes and the slow, measured study as it went from considering to craving, he’d never have claimed Dorian was without heat. 

Even with a fever, the man had a way about him. He made slumping over the kitchen table look like performance art. 

“I cannot feel my face,” he whimpered, poking his cheek with a spoon. “Is it still there?”

“Still there,” I chuckled, pulling the kettle off the stove as soon as it began to whistle. “Cinnamon apple or orange cardamom?”

“Cardamom.” Dorian traced his brow with the curve of the spoon. “What would you normally be doing right now?”

“Now?” I glanced over at the clock. Half past eight. “I’d still be sleeping or I’d be working.”

“You don’t have to stay up with me. You can sleep.”

“I will after you do.” I poured the steaming water over the herbs, letting them steep in Dorian’s mug. I passed it to him. “What would you typically be doing?”

“Swimming.” Dorian wrapped his hands around the mug. “Sleeping in, if there’s no pool nearby.”

Swimming. I imagined there were a great many people who would pay a lot of money to watch that. No wonder he was in such good shape. I hadn’t been to a gym since high school, and it showed. “I haven’t had much time for hobbies lately.”

“No, I wouldn’t imagine so,” he paused and buried his face behind his elbow to cough. “I was surprised you answered.”

“I’d just gotten off.” I puttered about the kitchen, looking for something that would be easy for Dorian to eat. Why did everything he owned seem to have so many spices? “Lucky timing.”

“Lucky, indeed.” I could feel him watching me. “Nevertheless. Do you still have that garden on your balcony?”

“…more or less.”

“I remember you talking about your marigolds.”

“My poor plants have seen better days, I’m afraid.” Half of them were dead or dying. “No time, you see.”

“I do.” He plucked at the string of the tea bag, wiggling it absently. “Could I impose upon you further, do you think?”

“Hm?” I wondered, turning back to face him. “How so?”

“One of my downstairs maids takes care of all of my indoor plants. She times it when I’m out, so we don’t cross paths, but… she could use the hours. Perhaps I could send her to tend to yours as well.”

“…my garden?” I blinked, staring at him.

“She’s very good. You should see the conservatory.”

“Conservatory.” Why was I still surprised. “Ah- Okay. I can’t-“

“Thank you. I appreciate your willingness to help. The poor girl is bored to tears these days with the lockdown.”

“I was going to say: I can’t afford to pay her. I’ve still got loans-“

Dorian waved a hand. “Not at all what I was suggesting. I have direct deposit for her. She simply refuses to take donations.”

“Oh. Yes.” I felt my cheeks warm again and I thought of the thick wad of cash I’d failed to fit into my wallet. “That would be- Thank you. Some of those plants I’ve had for ages; my rosemary was from a plant I had with me in Ferelden.” 

“Write down your instructions. She’ll take good care of them, I’m sure.” Dorian sipped from the mug and sniffed. “Perhaps the tea is old? I can order more.”

“…what?”

“Nothing. It’s usually stronger.” He shrugged. “Perhaps it’s the way Dorothea brews it. I can ask her.”

I studied him curiously. “…can you not taste it?”

“Nor smell it. Not to worry. The heat is pleasant on my throat.”

“Ah-“ I could smell the spices from across the room. I brought the glass jar filled with herbs and orange peels to him, opening it under his nose. “Can you smell this?”

Dorian sniffed, glancing up. “See what I mean? Off. Perhaps the seal is broken. I’ll add it to the list.”

I shook my head, frowning. “I can, though.” I pointed to the far window. “From over there.”

His lashes fluttered and he frowned, sniffing and sipping again. “It isn’t enough that I’m sweating like a desert gardener?”

“I’m sorry, Dorian.” I winced, taking the loose leaf away. “Losing your senses of smell and taste can be one of the symptoms. They should come back after a few weeks.”

“A few- I apologize, a few weeks? I thought you said this would pass in a few days.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “It’s worse? Am I getting worse? I don’t think I can spend another few weeks in this house, Anders. I’ll go stir crazy.”

“Most of your symptoms should be better in a few days,” I began, cautiously. “Then you should be able to get back to work. Though I don’t think there’s really an end in sight for the lockdown, if I’m being quite honest. Is that- Are you- I know a good therapist if you’d like a referral.” Merrill was just as swamped as he was, but was also just as willing to make exceptions for Varric’s friends. “Let’s just focus on today, alright? Where do you keep breakfast things?”

“…breakfast things,” he repeated, massaging the bridge of his nose. “I order from Al Pano’s, two blocks past the gates. Lisetta does bike runs.”

“You don’t- You don’t cook here?” I turned in a slow circle around the massive kitchen. “Why do you have this, then?”

“I have a chef. Wilson. He’s exquisite. The things he can do with a single egg would make your eyes roll in your head.”

“…does he keep any eggs here?” I wondered, wandering towards the walk-in fridge. I opened the heavy door with a grunt, my voice echoing. “Milk?”

“He hasn’t been here since the lockdown,” Dorian said between sips of his tea. “Thus: Al Pano’s. Do you need milk and eggs? I can order them. I do have a wonderful array of cigars and brandy.”

“Cigars and brandy aren’t breakfast.”

Dorian tutted. “Anything can be anything.”

“You don’t need to be smoking when you can barely keep from coughing as it is.”

“Hmph.” Dorian rose slowly from his seat and crossed to the empty refrigerator. “What do you need.”

I sighed, returning to him. “Maybe Al Pano’s for today. I’ll make you a list.”

“Milk and eggs.” He knocked on the refrigerator door twice, swaying on his feet and catching himself against the wall, shaking his head. “Now the room is spinning. I do not like a spinning room.”

I blinked, staring at the refrigerator as it began to overflow with white oblong spheres, apparently cascading out of the back wall on a river of milk. Eggs. Milk and eggs. I pulled Dorian out of the way and slammed the door to the refrigerator shut as milk sloshed against the window. I turned to him, eyes wide. “What?”

His beautiful eyes were rolled back, his breaths short and quick as he held onto the wall. “I’m afraid I might faint soon. I apologize in advance.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him as steady as I could manage as he slumped, unconscious, into my arms.

With some considerable effort, I managed to carry him to a sofa in the other room, my shoulders aching by the time I sat down next to him. Gods, but he was powerful. Even delirious and drugged, I could practically taste the magic seeping out of him now that he’d used it. Like the air after a thunderstorm, electric and intoxicating. 

“Dorian?” I rested my hand against his forehead, waiting for his eyelashes to flutter open again.

“Hello,” he mumbled. “I’m on the sofa.”

“You were about to fall.”

“You can’t keep me out of your lap,” he slurred, sly.

“Why would anyone want to?” I wondered, honestly.

Dorian laughed, resting his cheek on my thigh. “An excellent point.”

“No more spellcasting until your fever is gone,” I murmured, brushing a stray curl from his brow. “We’ll just order food from your apps. Can you handle that?”

“It didn’t go well?” he asked, eyes fluttering closed.

“You passed out.” I reminded him gently. “So no, not really.”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever been this tired.” Dorian shivered, the pajama shirt clinging to him with sweat. 

“Good. Your body is trying to tell you it needs time to heal.” I touched his cheek gingerly. “Phone?”

He fumbled in his pocket for the device and handed it to me. Even his exhales had a crackle to them: thick, slow breaths. “Thank you.”

“Mmhmm.” I navigated to the app, scanning through the menu. Delicious looking flaky pastries, tartes, toasted sandwiches with eggs or jam. I ordered a few things from his previous orders along with some pastries for myself, letting Dorian doze on me until the order was ready.

The Maker only knew what we were supposed to do with a fridge full of eggs floating in milk. 

The doorbell sounded a moment before a text came through to announce the arrival of breakfast and I guided Dorian back to the kitchen to prepare his breakfast and then mine on smooth filigreed plates. 

Dorian ate the jammy eggs and toast with a sorrowful expression, occasionally sniffing at things with a grimace. “Weeks,” he mumbled, then looked to me. “How is it?”

“Delicious. Not as good as your Wilson, maybe, but good.” I smiled, resting my chin on my hand, sipping from the excellent coffee Dorian had offered me last night. “There are some studies that suggest breathing in strong scents like lemon and coffee for twenty seconds, thinking of memories you associate with them can help recover your senses.” I shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt.”

“I thought you didn’t want me drinking coffee,” he tucked the blanket around his shoulders a little closer, coughing into the washcloth again. 

“Not drinking it. Just trying to smell it.”

Dorian cleared his throat, leaning over to breathe the steam from my cup. “I know what it should smell like. Have you visited Antiva?”

“No, never. I’m assuming you have?”

Dorian grunted quietly, sitting back. “At least once a year. I have to keep my tan somehow.”

“I’ve, on multiple occasions, gotten sunburned while driving,” I admitted. “I’m not much of one for sand, either. It gets all up in your bits and you end up pouring it out of your shoes for weeks.”

“That’s a simple pair of wards.”

I rubbed my nose absently. “Simple for a man who summoned a lake of milk out of thin air, maybe.”

Dorian’s brow furrowed. “I’m out of sorts.”

“When you’re not, I imagine you’re a force to be reckoned with.”

“Ah. Well.” He shrugged, a timid smile curving his lips. “Yes, on all fronts.”

“Including modesty?” I wondered.

“Obviously.” His smile widened, bright white teeth below a ferociously red nose. “I am the most humble person I know. You could say I pride myself on it.”

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. “You do somehow manage to pull it off.”

“Being exceptional has always been my curse to bear,” he sighed dolefully. “Apparently even my viruses are exceptional.”

It didn’t seem right to mention that his case seemed to be moderate, at worst, so I simply smiled and nodded, waiting for him to finish picking at his plate. “Do you have any idea what you want to do today? I could download some audiobooks from the library or pick up a puzzle or…?”

“A puzzle… I do have a puzzle box that’s been in my family for generations. I suppose I could try opening it. Although I imagine what’s inside of it might be best remaining locked away.”

“Ah… Maybe a movie, then?” They already had enough messes on their hands as it was. “Or a nap? How are you feeling now that you’ve eaten?”

“Tired,” Dorian admitted, “although I’ve been tired since I woke. It’s an unsettling sensation.” He blew his nose heartily into the cloth. “We do have a viewing room. I’ve only used it for presentations.”

“…a viewing room? What’s a viewing room?”

Dorian looked at me as though he were trying to deduce a complex answer to a complex question. “A room… in which one views things?” he inquired, nasal and stuffed up and scraggly. I’d never seen him without a hair out of place and the last hours I’d watched a slow progression of hair curling wildly and beard growing and wondered if that polished perfection weren’t in place to protect us from the chaos of his handsomeness. “You mentioned a film. We have a collection. I’ve not watched any of them, but I’ve been assured they’re all rather exemplary examples of their genres.”

“…you’ve never-“ I stared at him, completely befuddled. “And who are you referring to when you say ‘we’? I thought you said you were here alone?”

“We. The house.” He waved vaguely. “And, I suppose, you, as you are currently in the house. Have I mentioned how very nice it is to have you in the house?”

“Not in those exact words, though you did seem rather grateful last night.” I smiled, watching him gesture. Every movement was so smooth and elegant, even the way he brushed crumbs off of his corner of the kitchen table. He liked me. Dorian Pavus liked me. Maybe he was just sick and lonely- But he said he’d liked me before. So maybe it was real, after all. Maybe. “I don’t mind hearing you say it, though.”

“Well, it is nice.” Dorian sniffled, lifting his chin. “It is not quite the circumstances I would have chosen, I will admit, for your visit or your preference to an enjoyable evening, but we must make do.”

“Must we?” I wondered, blinking slowly. “I’m having a great time. You look extremely endearing with a chapped nose, all tousled and unkempt. I’m almost inclined to take a picture.”

“Gods above and below, I beg you not to. I am hoping very sincerely you will forget that I can look like this.”

“Really? That’d be a shame.” I winked, chuckling to myself. “You’re cute when you’re needy.”

“If you like that,” he paused to cough, “you’ll love me. I have been informed I am very needy indeed.”

“Who told you that?”

“My family. My tutors. I’m afraid it’s part of why I am in this confounded situation in the first place. Poor Collette is also quite needy and my teachers were often one of my main sources of solace at her age.”

“So you’re needy and compassionate.” I clutched my chest. “Oh, Dorian, you’re going to make me swoon.”

“I have tried to do so previously only to be very much rebuffed.”

“Have you. The times you asked me out, or others?”

“What others could there be? I’ve only seen you the twice.”

“I suppose that’s on me.” I shook my head, giddy. “I guess I didn’t think it was possible you’d actually want to go out with me.”

Dorian squinted at him, rubbing his nose with a salve. “Do people often ask you out without the desire to do so?”

“No, I mean-” I laughed again, shaking my head. “No, they don’t. It’s just- I’ve never in my life been asked out by someone who looks like you.” I ran a hand through my hair, which fell loose against my cheeks. “Can you forgive me?”

“Forgive you for what?” Dorian sniffled, gathering his apparently tasteless tea to himself. “Not having been asked out by men who look like me? There aren’t any. I am uniquely blessed by my genetics.”

“You are,” I agreed, smiling warmly. “Dinner from your favorite restaurant the next time I’m off and you’re back on your feet? And maybe- if you’re up for it- I do miss dancing.”

“Dancing I can do.” Dorian held out a hand. “I could dance now. How’s your waltz?”

“Probably not as good as yours, but I can follow a decent lead.” I rested mine atop his lightly. “You’re sure you’re feeling well enough? I don’t want you to get dizzy-“

He shook his head. “That’s the benefit of a slow dance,” he assured me, rising as he drew me over to him. Hand on my waist, his palm dry and warm against my own. Dorian glanced between my eyes. “Alright?”

It was my turn to feel oddly warm and dizzy. I nodded slowly, my gaze not leaving his. Glints of gold hid among the edges of his starlit eyes and I sighed. “Lead on, Maestro.”

“Maestro,” he chuckled. “Hardly. Altus, yes. Sorcerer, yes. Devastatingly handsome, obviously.” Dorian leaned in, brushing his nose gently against mine. He smelled of spices and herbs. His nose was still damp from the salve. “I would like the dinner. And the date. Thank you.”

“You’ll have it,” I promised, knowing in that moment, with my heart fluttering like it’d gone and grown wings, I’d have promised much, much more. “Third time's a charm.”

[aprillikesthings]

YOOO time for more she-ra rewatch

lolol at myself bc when I opened Netflix it was clear I'd left it paused right at the end of that sword-dragging scene eheheheheheh

so I watched it again

ahem, anyway

s1 ep 10, the beacon

my headphones aren't buzzing this time, thank fuck

(lol I got real distracted during this one)

oh right they all think Entrapta's dead

Also ADORA STOP

I mean I can't blame any of them for feeling that way

lol and then I got distracted and wrote a bit on my fic--I got some ideas at work today and wanted to pursue them.

and by "ideas" I mean I suddenly thought "hey remember that one bad breakup when you were 23, how the weekend after when you were alone in the house you cried so hard you worried you couldn't stop and started to panic and hyperventilate, and it only ended because a friend called to check on you? you should put that in the fic :D"

back now.

I dunno if they meant to do this, but to me it looks like Adora's WAY more upset than Glimmer and Bow are. I know part of it is her blaming herself.

yeah that's not good

"I'll recharge, stop glitching, and my mom never has to know :)" that's not how that works bb but okay

(hordak is speaking here)

And...that's a good point. She-Ra is even more dangerous than Hordak thought before, because she was part of the Horde and knows a LOT about them.

BAHAHAH I WAS WAITING FOR THIS

So this is one of the episodes I watched the first time with Daci over rabb.it. (That was actually our first "date," which is THE MOST LESBIAN THING EVER. Literally watching She-Ra online together in voice chat because we were long-distance.)

And I know this because I made a joke post about it to tumblr referencing K/DA, my fandom obsession at the time. That was on April 30th, 2019. I think that was the day Daci bought the plane tickets for their first visit. They moved in with me less than a year after that first visit.

Okay I looked up that date in our discord chats and

EIGHT HOURS lolol okay we watched the show the day before I made the post. Also Daci had just bought the plane tickets I was right-- that visit was the last weekend in June.

We'd been flirting for months but I didn't actually believe Daci was serious about it until they bought the plane tickets. And then the NEXT WEEKEND after watching she-ra and Daci buying those tickets my dad had a brain hemorrhage and we took him off life support a few days after that, and Daci and I started video chatting EVERY DAY because I was alone in the house and off work for two weeks of bereavement leave.

ANYWAY OFF TOPIC

Fuck one of my keys is acting up and the the paintbrush I use to dig under my keys to fix it is upstairs where Daci is sleeping, if I drop any r's that's why

I mean that seems fair. Also: Emily!!!

I'm trying to suppress how hard this is making me laugh and FAILING

Also her nose is wiggling omggg

Did you know it's canon that Catra is entirely covered in hair like an actual cat? Or at least it's "word of God" via the showrunners on twitter. But outside of fan art by furries nooooobody includes that. Especially not in fic. Which is fine. Because I personally do not want to write that. Her ears are fuzzy, the marks on her arms are just birth marks, but the hair on her body is just normal human body hair and that's it.

THAT SAID I think I've only read one fic that intentionally included her sense of smell being stronger, and it was referenced in ONE LINE for smutty reasons eheheheheheh

Anyway it's this fic and it's by a friend and it's good

SURPRISE!

Catra's expression is so often some variation on "...the fuck?"

Literally read a fic last week with a scene about how getting ill in the Horde was a good way to end up dead from a combination of bad nutrition/healthcare and being a victim of bullies but I cannot remember which fic it was

NO WAIT it's this one I think. I've still got two chapters to go reading that fic because I've been intentionally savoring it, the character stuff is just SO GOOD and it's just such the opposite of my own writing style. (But it's also the fic that has a scene of "Adora has a nightmare and injures Catra in her sleep," and I really hope nobody thinks I copied it considering I wrote mine before I read it in their fic, aaugh)

oh god there's a gif I can't find of a guy pressing his lips together like he's trying not to laugh and then looking at the camera and if you know the one: that one

Entrapta and her lack of ability to understand personal space or normal boundaries is just so great but also the phrase "another woman's tail" is just perfection

Yeah yeah I know Catra's being a manipulative little shithead here but also if I were to meet Entrapta and she didn't mind I would absolutely be twisting her hair CONSTANTLY just like I do my own

the weird noises she's making must've been so much fun to voice-act

So like, the whispering woods are like that one forest the hobbits walk through in the book version of lord of the rings where the trees keep like, closing in on them?

DEEP SIGH

that's the name of a g-idle song

oh right I see what's going to happen here

DO YOU THO

DO YOU

she's trying to comfort Shadow Weaver after immediately insulting her, bc of course she is

DIE, BITCH

"I was hard on you, I won't deny it; and I won't apologize. I just wanted to prepare you for the world. I just wanted you to be strong. :(" BULL FUCKING SHIT

well, for a given definition of "strong"

oh shit

Yeah that's a weird thing to bond over but okay

I dunno why they did the cute little fangie thing here but I'm not complaining

Okay so her face is stupid here (couldn't get a screenshot that included the caption and not the terrible face) BUT she really leaned into the sexy voice for this one and I made a noise and my laptop nearly slid to the floor pfft