#even though I only make original posts on here once every 100 years or so

[yeehawpoorcryptid]

Me, wondering if I’ve become immune to media, that, even if I find something I enjoy a lot, there’s been nothing in a few years that has rocked me to my core & become a fundamental part of who I am, so maybe I’ve just read/watched/listened to too much and can no longer be affected as deeply as I used to be: 😐

Kevin Perjurer: …so what a monumental achievement it is to be remembered for four.

Me:

[factual-fantasy]

26 ASK! :DDDD🎉🎉🎉

I do not.. :/ Sorry!

@mason-gaylord

:DDD Thank you!! ☕ I'm hanging in there as best I can <:) Thank you for the well wishes. I hope the same for you!

@boxofcreampuffs (SKJAJD HORSE XDDDD)

AAAAA THANK YOUU SO MUCH!!! THATS SO SWEET!! I PLAN TO GET BACK AROUND TO BOTH FANDOMS SOMETIME SOON AFTER MY COMIC IS DONE!!💖💖💖💖💖

@chaotic-public-menace (Post in question)

<XD While that is true, this comic is way overdue. Its taken me some weeks to make and it should have been up like a month ago! I just wanna get it done already so I'm trying to not get distracted by FNAF and other drawing ideas-

@ditzyclown

I haven't actually decided on whether or not the other Addison's were good or bad guys. This would change their reaction to seeing Spamton.

I had this idea that Spamton's world is a lot like Seam and Jevil's. Its more cruel and wicked than the original Deltarune.. And Spamton might not have been particularly close with the other Addison's.. They had no time for bonds or relationships. It was a dog eat dog world, every man for himself.

Branching off of that, one idea I had was the other Addison's had become jealous of Spamton's success and tried to kill him by pushing him into the acid pools.. Only for Spamton to survive and reemerge as a horrific looking creature..

If I go with the evil Addison story.. some Addison's might run away in fear just because of how horrific Spamton looks. Though some might deliberately abandon him becuase they hated him/were jealous of him and felt like he deserves this.

If I go with a story where the other Addison's weren't responsible for the acid fall.. they might still run away in fear. Seeing this horrible beast.. not realizing its one of their own.

@bunny-coffee

XD No problem! Soft boi Gregory is best Gregory!

@beryl-shade

In my AU, none of the other Glamrock's know that Gregory exists. But if they did, maybe Roxy would envy it a bit..? Having someone look up to Freddy and not her might hurt her ego a bit.. :(

@elegysonnet

Oh no no, his top and bottom row of teeth are separate. Like these pictures here show,

(Post in question for the pictures)

The top row of teeth all fused together and became one big cracked tooth. And the bottom row did the same. But the two rows are separate and he can still open his mouth.

To think that if while he was initially melting, he had kept his mouth closed? His teeth would have melted together and he wouldn't be able to eat anything easily.. if at all.

Please don't draw fanart of any of my stuff. There are no exceptions.

(Also thank you💖)

@skellacant

Thank you! :DDD

@iziria09

You just made their night XDD

Thank you! I'm hanging in there 😅 I hope you are well too! :}}

They're dry :x

@crimson-thinker

I imagine that Bonnie Bowl might have a flashlight.? And Pirates cove would have a box of confiscated Bon-cams XD

I don't really remember what the other collectables were in the game so I don't really have a reference to go off of..

Buuuut,,, maybe from Bonnie bowl you could also get one of Bonnies signature bowling balls? A purple bowling ball with a rabbit ears print on it somewhere.

And for Pirates Cove perhaps a cheap pirate captains hat? I had this idea that there's 100s of these cheap captain hats that Foxy gives away to the kids every day. So maybe that could be a collectable too? :00

@ninaandthegames

XD Once I'm done with this project that will be me. Posting the most painful angst I can conjure up

I have not. But something tells me its about Hares/Rabbits XDD

@randox-talore

Yeah, me and some friends theorized about that. We thought "Maybe Vanessa or William is taking care of the animatronics and keeping them clean"

But even if they were, you cant help certain wears and tears. They would look noticeably worn, stained, torn in some places and a bit brittle in others after so many years of just existing.

They also missed out on a lot of scares by making them pristine. Bonnie's face could have had a crack/split down the side. "Oh yeah that's been there for a while, its fine" Only for it to fall of later in the movie revealing these piercing red eyes and a Childs head lodged in Bonnie's face/jaw.

Or Chica could have her beak come off or dangle down and reveal colorful wires hanging down.. and.. is that a childs arm.?

(Post in question)

Oh yeah, he'd be scared. Even the Captain is spooked in that AU XD

@kaiserdarken (WAAA SORRY FOR ANSWERING SO LATE! I was originally going to draw something as a response to this but I never got around to it and it got burriedddd.. my apologies. Better late than never I suppose-)

I do celebrate Halloween, which means Bibi and Jangles would as well XD For Halloween I like to dress up in some way and carve pumpkins. Although I forgot to carve any this year and didn't have a good opportunity to dress up unfortunately-

I can see Bibi wanting to dress up and carve pumpkins too. But he might not actually be strong enough to puncture a pumpkin to carve it <XD He'd need some help-

Jangles would just eat all of the candy. Plus pumpkin pie and more candy-

(Again one of those asks I was going to respond to with a drawing but never got around to ittttt.. I'm sorry-)

Its been so long since you sent this I cant actually remember what it was referring to.💀 IM SO SORRY! Its still funny though! <XDD

(Another ask I was going to respond to with a comic- sorry for the lateness!)

Thank you so much! And yeah, "Jangles looks like Papyrus," I get that a lot <XD

(Yet another late ask that was meant to have a drawing attached😭 Sorry!)

(Bibi sweating profusely) "PLEASE do not die for me- I prefer you were alive--"

@minnesotamedic186 (ANOTHER late ask meant to have its own post but I got lazy😭💔Sorry!)

The basic idea for my Kirby AU is that I took the other metaknight's and added them to the Kirby Right back at Ya universe :00 I cant remember what info I shared before because this ask was sent so long ago.. but I'll just recap Axe Knights story because it has the most detail!

Axe Knight was Metaknight's first follower, and best friend. He was with Metaknight from the very beginning. They became star warriors together when they were both a bit young. Axe Knight truly believed in Metaknight. He saw greatness in his friend, he saw a true hero. And he truly believed Metaknight was going to end this war and save the world. Its because of this adoration and belief, that Axe Knight devoted himself to Metaknight and proclaimed himself to be his first follower.

It was not too long after when tragedy struck. A battle broke out and Axe knight sacrificed himself to protect Metaknight. As he lay on the ground, dying from his sacrifice.. he saw Metaknight too laying on the ground nearby. Unmoving, and in a pool of his own blood. Axe knight died with his heart twisted in grief. Thinking that his sacrifice had failed. And that his best friend had died.

Metaknight of course survived, and Axe Knights sacrifice was the only thing that saved him. But Axe Knight didn't know that before he died. Metaknight buried his best friend and left that planet in grief. Forever changed by this loss..

But Axe Knight.. wasn't totally gone. Axe died grieving, thinking that this world lost a great warrior; Metaknight. Thinking that it was so cruel Metaknight didn't get to live longer. To travel the universe and save lives. They were robbed of a hero. Because of Axe Knights failure. His soul was so disturbed that it couldn't move on. He later crawled out of his grave, with a fiery determination to make things right. To go out there and save as many lives as possible. To protect anyone he can and to help all who need him. Because that's what Metaknight would have done.

Eventually after years of blindly wandering the universe.. battling monsters and saving innocents.. he crosses paths with dreamland. He finds himself in a little town full of Cappys.. And then he runs in to a familiar face...

(ANOTHER ASK THAT WAS MEANT TO HAVE A DRAWING RESPONSE IM SORRY-)

I was going to draw a comic of Jangles making a vlog style video. "Hey guys, welcome to pranking with Jangles. Today I'm gonna prank Bibi by throwing this cheese slice at his face!"

He sneaks up behind Bibi who is sitting on a beanbag and reading or something- "Hey Bibi" He turns around

Jangles throws the cheese slice and it completely misses and just splats on the ground. "Oh oops"

Bibi: "????"

@uay778 (The last ask that I was going to draw something for and never got around to. So sorry!)

I was going to draw a comic to this where I replace the bandages with clean, fresh ones. But then they immediately get soaked with blood again XDD Its just a part of my design!

[meowsticmarvels]

hello. seeing as some of you liked the previous analysis here's the other one i did. not solely on radar but very radar-centric bc of the nature of this scene. anyways under the cut is an analysis of this scene: (copy and pasted from a twt thread)

OKAY you know what. ive already been crazy about this scene to multiple people already but i need to post this publicly. anyways thread abojt this scene GO i can say something about literally every line so that's what im going to do atp. "you'll never change"... this is a particularly interesting line to me for some reason because it doesnt Sound like something youd expect radar to say. not only does this immediately reveal that he Knows Stella but also implies she was pretty much the same in the past. also.

- once again this is not ooc for radar to say but unexpected based on what the player knows about him as a character up to this point

- this is what somehow gets stella to recognize him. even though she says he looked Familiar this is what makes her go Oh Yeah I Know You

"oh I thought I recognized you! you're the quitter who used to work on my inventory management team!" this is another particularly interesting to Me. for one it does give the backstory that he did quit himself - she didn't fire him or anything. quitting was radar's decision. whatever the circumstances were, though, stella seems to be clearly a bit resentful of it (or at the very least it stands out to her), enough to where she defines radar as a "quitter" and that's how she remembers him. notably, when she says this his expression quickly changes from kind of neutral to slightly frustrated which is. hm. whatever happened between them seems to have left them on bad terms as both radar and stella seem really. hostile

"do you two know eachother?" despite one of the main writers saying that radar's worked foe jesse for abojt a year, this has never come up. it's possible thag it was just Never Important, but it could also be that radar's trying to hide his past with champion city. which makes sense given how ashamed he seems when admitting he used to work for champion city. whatever happened between radar and stella is clearly kind of a sore subject it seems

"i don't know what he told you to get on this little 'team', but I don't think he even knows how to use a sword" see this also has a lot of relevance. the first clause kind of implies that stella thinks there's no way radar could have earned a place on the team of his own merits. like she thinks that he basically either had to manipulate, lie, beg, whatever - she doesn't think he's worthy of being there. and this is particularly interesting because earlier on in the episode radar specifically has to ask to go with them. like originally nobody considered bringing him.

and then she says "i don't think he even knows how to use a sword" which. i have said this before but mcsm seems to operate in a very survival oriented society so not knowing something like that is seen as like. Odd. essentially seeing radar as weak. and this was New information too so shes basically. exposing yhat fact to everyone else. and you can tell radar's ashamed of that fact too from how he reacts when she says that! he KNOWS he's not strong and that he doesn't know how to fight properly and is 100% aware of that fact, stella's just using that to what seems like get people to turn against him (???) or whatever. she's not talking to radar because he Knows this, she's telling jesse. idk what else to say about that really but its. hm

also "you don't know anything, stella, so zip it" again! unusually hostile from radar but like this and in later lines its clear he's trying to prove himself and overcompensate a bit

"ooh how do you put up with that little voice of his, jesse? i never could" not entirely sure what this means open to suggestions but twice she makes comments on how squeaky his voice is (later in the episode she calls it "shrill"). unsure what this means really

"not everyone needs to know how to swing a sword, stella - radar has a lot of his own skills" something abojt this option. even though radar's not physically strong he is fairly smart snd thats something Very intrgral to his character I Think.

"yeah! thanks jesse" almost came across as if radar was struggling to stand up for jimself. he's just like me fr

"can't wait to see 'em. ill call you if the admin needs to file anything" once again she views radar being unable to fight as a flaw that overrides his other abilities (...interesting considering she herself never directly fights shit really). like she's saying basically Oh yeah filing and organizing is the only thing youre good for!! like OKAY... not even going to go into on hownautistic coded radar is but like. lord

also the way he says "...i appreciate that" is a lot more like. idk how to describe it but his va delivers it in a much softer tone than when he thanks jesse a few seconds earlierniys like. hm idk "im not the person she thinks i am anymore. ive changed, and i can prove it" who is the person she thinks you are radar. not only is this alluding to his whole Yeah I Have To Overcompensate And Be Strong!!! thing but also he seems to want to impress jesse in particular

"i can be different. braver" girlie you do not have to change yourself for otber people.. do not like what this person picked for the final choice so analysis thread over. but as a general thing this is Really.interestinf and important to me and i wish this was expanded on more anyways. im normal now. original tweet thread here: https://twitter.com/rival_trevor/status/1683476048715849734?s=20

[marinecorvid]

2.21.23 (but actually drawn at least a month ago - and now posted 6.2.23) - some xy fic sketches. rambles beneath the cut

.

in my Great Fanfiction Rewrite of the (X)Y plot because it was sadly lacking in some places, Calem/Xavier kinda sorta joins Team Flare! To be honest this isn't my 100% original idea, I saw someone post once on here somewhere how cool it would've been if your rival, frustrated with constantly losing to you, joined Team Flare in desperation to beat you. I have taken this concept and am running with it. Xavier in my story Did Not take kindly to losing the Mega Ring to Yvonne: a rookie trainer, a girl, a girl who doesn't fall into his preconceived notions of what a young female trainer should be like, a girl he initially assumed he would be in a relationship with and he'd be the tough trainer in contrast to her contest abilities, someone from a poorer family from his. He gets uhh a little wild trying to prove his might makes right (deeply sheltered child who was never exposed to anything that would upset him syndrome)

In my head Y is the canon, but I'm doing a ramshackle combo into a tentative Z in which Yvonne and Yveltal fight Lysandre together, but also Xavier and Xerneas at some point and Zygarde is there too as a result of Team Flare managing to find BOTH legendaries (who in the anime were depicted as being right on top of each other) but only figuring out how to use Yveltal in the Ultimate Weapon. Xavier steals the Poke Flute and uses it to wake Xerneas (willingly or not - he's irrational, but IDK how down he'd be for the "destroy the world" plot, but Xerneas DEFINITELY uses ~fairy powers~ to fuck with his mind)

Yvonne has vitiligo! Dyes her hair blonde for the first halfish of the game, lets it grow out to its natural brown as a symbolic representation of not wanting to conform to certain beauty standards. She starts wearing very snazzy suits post-game, avoiding short sleeves and skirts

My HC is that Sycamore is her da! He and Grace were an item back in the day when Grace was in Kalos Rhyhorn racing, and she only realized she was pregnant when she'd already left. Sycamore didn't feel ready at all to be an active father, and Grace didn't feel any strong need to be in a relationship with him/have him be a part of Yvonne's life with a strong circle of friends and family who'd help with childrearing, so he stayed in Kalos and continued his work on evolution and Fairy Types in Kalos, every other month or so receiving an email of an update of Yvonne's life in progress. Eventually Grace's racing injuries/chronic pain is too debilitating to continue racing, and Sycamore offers his grandparents' cottage in the starting town. Yvonne knows her father is an academic/scientist in Kalos but doesn't know it's him, and doesn't want to know until she's more comfortable in the region. She DOES start to suspect though, but only confirms it mid/post-Geosenge crisis (haven't decided how long that's drawn out) in a hospital bed. Sycamore (after years of watching his daughter grow up from afar, and has become more invested in her life in the past few years) is delighted that she's willing have a familial connection

a lot of people draw Yveltal as a bird (super cool, no judgement) but it's very dragon-y to me with the hands/wings, kinda like how bat wings are just elongated fingers with skin between them. The logic of the tail eludes me though. It's Yvonne's buddy post game! As much as she does not want it to be her buddy! But when a super powerful ancient deity of death decides it wants to be your friend there's not a lot you can do to stop it. She warms up to it eventually. They have a fun time threatening Malva together

Korrina is a sports lesbian

Shauna slight redesign. She and Yvonne become an item around Laverre. In my story there's a cool Ren Faire-ish thing happening when they arrive and they both get a little tipsy and kiss and spend the evening running around in semi-accurate reenactment dresses giggling and dancing and giving each other wildflowers

Gogoat =)

[motherofthecorvids]

Figured as my first post I should show off my currently existing OCs, so here’s the Dragon Ball ones. I have a lot of old OCs that I don’t use (my art isn’t great I’m sorry 🙏)

First up: Yamoshi

You might know him, he’s a canon character, but with 0 actual content besides filler explaining he’s THE legendary Super Saiyan, and a little info in BoG that implies?? I think, that he’s the original SSG but like…. no. Anyways I made him the Legendary Super Saiyan, capital L, cause it was interesting and it would fit more in line with the whole “A Super Saiyan only emerges once every 1000 years” thing which is still stupid anyways

Next up: Cassa

Technically my first truly 100% original OC. I say technically because I had a few before but they don’t matter and are rotting in the ground. The name is not 100% original though I have met like 3 other people that have used it

Next-er up: Kalot

I don’t have an image cause the only ones are old designs, but he’s got hair tied up and back, if you play Xenoverse 2 there’s a hair that’s like exactly like it, 12 for MSaiyans/Humans iirc

Even Next-er up: Kiln

He’s evil. And gay. What more could you want honestly

Finally: Genesis

She’s a bio-android Majin. Probably my most creative idea, which is kind of sad

Ok finally for realsies: Vega

Her hair is different when she gets older which j need to draw, but I haven’t yet

Bonus! Ruta/Rutarot

I don’t make anything of her (and her fusion with Goku), but she has a special place in my heart because she easily has the best art I’ve ever made be of her (note: Her SSJ4 is not godly at all, it’s just purple)

[littleturtlefish]

Sigh 😔 at this point, I might as well just post my art classwork since I haven't been doing any art in my free time...

Not art-related at all but I've been (kinda) reading Komi-San Can't Communicate and I wanna post my thoughts on it since I like it (I do have some personal complaints though) but I have absolutely no way to put these thoughts out aside from here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Somewhat related but have you seen how weird some Komi-San fans are??????? Knowing the genre and all, I shouldn't be surprised, but still...i wouldnt want to share my thoughts with some fans either way

Forewarning, literally the only manga I was ever fully invested in was Mob Psycho 100 and I haven't even touched the Komi-San anime. It's also been a while since I reread the entire manga so my memory may suck, my apologies. There will be many paragraphs, my double apologies.

[SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING UP TO CHAPTER 412]

Overall, I think the manga is really cute. I don't read manga that much but I'd still say that it very much fits the slice-of-life genre well. Maybe too well 🙂 but I'll talk about that later. It's a great manga to read for fluff and just to have a good time.

Side-note: I'll be talking about the one-shot for a bit and when I say "current" Komi, I really just mean Komi throughout her 2nd/3rd year.

First things first, I absolutely fell in love with the concept and the one-shot (...first chapter?). The idea of a character with crippling social anxiety slowly coming out of their shell with the help and support of others? Fantastic :D And jeez, the art style change is REALLY obvious once you look at the one-shot. Honestly, I really wish the entire manga kept it u_u the dead-inside eyes Komi had actually showed why everyone was so scared of her. Her cute-ified/chibi look isn't as intimidating and only shows that people were scared just because she kept staring at them (which is fair lol, but her original look makes more sense). Tadano, though... I would prefer his current look compared to his old one LOL. Style aside, I'm gonna talk about this specific little thing that truly made me binge this manga: the diner and hospital talk. Technically two scenes but they share one thing and that is that Tadana and Komi sit facing AWAY from each other. I don't think I ever really struggled with social anxiety but when I was younger, I had a very hard time talking to people while making eye contact. I know chronlogically that the hospital talk is before the diner one but as a reader (since diner scene is shown first), seeing that issue be addressed without it ever being directly brought up was just...really sweet. I understood it right away. Hell, even when it was noticed and brought up in the hospital talk, Tadano was such a caring person to suggest the idea of facing away from one another i straight up wouldve cried if someone did that for me irl moreonmylovefortadanolater— One-shot Komi is also pretty interesting because she actually IS able to talk, she just varies between saying very little to saying a lot. I'm no psychiatrist but personally, I felt that could've been more relatable BUT that's not a complaint because the manga isn't obligated to accurately portray every single thing about the disorder (especially since it's clear that this manga is focusing on being lighthearted so of course it won't necessarily go into the very heavy stuff). I find current Komi's trait of using a notebook to speak much more interesting but I was shocked on the relateability of one-shot Komi, haha.

Okay, now for the actual manga. I'll admit, I don't really have much to say in the beginning portion purely because I don't really remember much 🙃 The chalkboard scene was really cute but I'll just be saying that for any scene with Komi and Tadano alone, tbh. Komi and her reactions in social situations are mood as always. Tadano was a KIND, CARING, and LOVING lil guy and all he got was death threats smh. Yamai.

She's part of a bigger issue.

In general, I love seeing Komi and Tadano together. Together relationship-wise and also just simply interacting with each other. Their relationship is SO adorable and I always reread their pining moments :ↄ I understand the dislike for the trope of an extraordinary woman falling in love with Some Guy™ but I like it here because while Tadano truly is Some Guy™, he's a genuinely nice person and not even just basic-human-decency nice; he goes out of his way for people. He also sees Komi as a friend before all else, too. Like, yes, he finds her attractive and, yes, she is literally his girlfriend now, but they still share a lot of platonic moments together and just act like a couple of besties ✨

Manbagi is also a main character I can't help but adore. I found it fascinating that the love triangle, while still a competition, was lighthearted and friendly. I've personally never seen one portrayed like that so I'm really impressed! The love triangle showcased Komi and Manbagi's friendship so much that, despite not being a fan of OT3s, I genuinely just wanted both of them to date Tadano lmao and I truly believed that it would've worked out!!! I still do; all three of those characters have chemistry with each other! Anyway, love triangle arc aside, I'm happy that she's at least getting her happy ending with that one dude :)

Speaking of that dude, the side characters are cool. My favorites are Hiki and Komitani. I like the name puns and some side stories are pretty sweet (like with Hiki's). I forgor their names but surprisingly, I liked those two bitchy girls who "bullied" Komi (quotes because it wasn't that serious). How they acted towards Komi and the reasons why they acted that way (AKA their assumptions about Komi doing it for attention or whatnot) was a nice change from the standard character reaction towards Komi. Yeah, they were still dicks and I especially didn't like how everyone quickly forgave that one tsun (?) girl, but they were a refreshing deviation from status quo. Those good examples aside, there...are a lot of side stories to the point I get tired of them :U I mean, I assume that's just a genre thing because I have read other slice-of-life manga before but would drop them because the side stories were too much >.> Clearly, I didn't really drop this manga since I'm talking about it but 400+ chapters feels like a lot to me (especially when a good portion of those chapters are side stories) and it's still ongoing, which I typically wouldn't even touch since I like endings to a story :u It feels like trudging through mud sometimes but I gotta get through it or I won't see my favs Komi and Tadano ✊😔 The side stories really would've been a dealbreaker if not for those two.

Ah, and finally: sexual fanservice. God, I hate it so much. Both, in the manga and in general. I hate how it's prevalent in so much media, I hate how it is used as a tool to attract audiences, and I hate how it works in attracting those audiences. Yes, the manga has many, many instances of sexual fanservice but I've just accepted that I can never escape it. Yamai and her sexual harassment. Close-up shots of teenage chests. Hiki being a literal middle schooler at one point. Almost every character's sexualization of Komi, no matter their age. All make me disappointed, but not surprised. You gotta make money somehow ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I am surprised that Tadano and Komi's relationship isn't sexualized all that much. Maybe I missed some things but the only sexual things I can recall are the "Tadano unlocked a new fetish" moments (which happens only twice? Thrice?) and other characters asking/teasing on how far they've gone. I like that. It makes their relationship very wholesome and also reinforces the fact that Tadano sees Komi as an actual person.

Kinda related to fanservice but I very much dislike the current art style. Y'know that meme of anime girls being compared to pugs? That's exactly what happened to Komi's face. Why is it so scrunched up??? To be fair, this applies to every character so I guess there's consistency... Her sharp edges in her hair are kinda jarring, though, because she has these really detailed eyes but her face is small and her hair, although detailed, is a geometric shape and all of these factors do not look good together. I'm fine with Tadano's design because it gives him personality, which...may or may not be a good thing, character-wise? Like, yeah, he's supposed to be some normal guy and all, which his original design perfectly portrays that bUT ITS SO BORINGGG. I like his sharp edges! It's better on him since he isn't as detailed as Komi. Anyway, I say this is related to fanservice because, while yes, this art style is much easier to draw with than with the old style, Komi's prominent eyes and tiny face surely must've been influenced by some other factor other than time management :U but that's just my theory. Final note: this art style kinda ruined the Tadano confession scene for me a bit because the close-up of Komi's face was...not good, imo.

One last thing: YAY THEY KISSED!!!!!11!°!! When I stopped reading, I stopped at the end of the Kawai arc since I do not like being left on cliffhangers and there were only some chapters left at the time. I heard about the kiss scene at Chapter 411 and so, I only read the chapters that led up to that scene instead of picking up where I last was 🙃 I have some thoughts. Why is Kawai trying to insert herself into Komi and Tadano's relationship. Why is Kawai's family weird. Why...is Kawai even here lmao. Komi and Tadano are adorable, though <3

My final thoughts are that it very much is a slice-of-life manga. Nothing revolutionary, I think, but that's fine! Watching the relationship grow between Tadano and Komi was the main thing for me and now that they're officially together, I'll admit, I'm not all that interested in the story anymore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I know the main goal of the story is for Komi to overcome her social anxiety and make 100 friends and I do like the development of that goal, but...eh... I remember seeing a comment in the subreddit mention that they wish the goal was changed so that the quality of friendships mattered over quantity and I agree. The manga does emphasize that Komi has made meaningful connections with some of the friends she made (Tadano, Manbagi, Kawai...I assume? Didn't read LMAO) but that's the thing: it's only some friends. Her other friends are side characters that have their own side stories which may or may not be boring. They're not as fleshed out as Tadano or Manbagi nor do they share the same impact. Sure, a mean character may push Komi to stand up for herself once or twice but there's no revolutionary moment within Komi compared to her moments with Tadano or Manbagi. To be fair, those small moments with side characters do build up for Komi but my point still stands that Komi has friends that are much closer than the rest. Because of that, I just feel like Komi already reached her goal 🤷‍♀️ She has Tadano, her #1 support system and friend, along with other friends that played a role in her development. She doesn't really need more friends, since the friends she has now are already caring and considerate. She was able to form deep relationships despite her communication disorder; I feel like that's a great ending. And I know, ending a story when the main couple gets together is cliche and there'd be no kiss scene if that did happen but I'm just saying!!

oh and komi's parents' lil side story was adorable

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

ELEMENTAL Projections

So apparently ELEMENTAL is on track to flop-a-doo this coming June, huh?

Recent projections made by Box Office Pro have it opening at $28m minimum, $38m maximum. They note that the picture has the chance to have those usual Pixar summer legs and break the 2020s Disney theatrical animation bad streak at the box office, and make it to around $155m domestic, which would be a fantastic total for a post-outbreak original animated movie. COCO, back in early 2018, finished up with around $209m domestically. $200m is usually an easy threshold for Pixar. Only one picture in the 21st century that wasn't a sequel missed it, that was THE GOOD DINOSAUR, which still made over $120m domestically. ONWARD I do not count, because that was cut off one week in by the pandemic.

Box Office Pro has a history of lowballing animated movies on their opening weekends, though. They also had THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE pegged for a roughly $65-90m opening, when the thing cruised well past $140m+ for the three-day alone... I knew it would top $100m easily, and I'm no box office pro... I've only made predictions for fun for about a decade, many of which concerning animated movies, haha.

They also weirdly note that the picture, being a romantic comedy, will have a hard time appealing to young boys... Okay, are young boys the ones with the money buying tickets? You know, Walt Disney had once said in an interview with the BBC in 1959:

"Well, no, you have to appeal to the adult, or... Well, the adults have money, the children don't have any money."

Interestingly, Walt had kind of cracked it when it came to making movies by that point in time. As he saw it, anyways. He had theorized that appealing to "mom" was the way to go, the target to hit. Because mom takes dad and the kids, the whole family, to check out the movie... And mom tells her friends... So on, so forth... Maybe it's not young boys that Disney should be appealing to. Remember when they tried very hard to appeal to that demographic in the late 2000s? Making major changes in animation because of that? Nearly jettisoning fairy tale stories for good and messing with movie titles for fear of boys finding them to be too girly? (I still dislike "TANGLED" as a title, to be completely honest.) I guess the romances of classic Disney animated movies were a hard sell, huh? Because boys under the age of 13 might not like them?

I'm not trying to knock the good people at BOP, by the way. I frequently enjoy their podcast and analyses, but sometimes I think they can be a little off with animated movie, and because there's a lot of internet dogpiling on this one Pixar picture that no one except the film crew has even *seen* yet... I just wanted to weigh in.

As BOP noted, and many others have noted as well, ELEMENTAL has a big uphill battle to face in the form of the Disney+ problem. We all know what that is... A lot of people, especially those who are tight on money and have to narrow their moviegoing choices every calendar year, might've been conditioned to just wait for these family movies to come to Disney+. No need to spend $100 at the multiplex on tickets, snacks, and of course take a gamble on whether the experience in a theater will be good or not... It's right there, at home, in a few months, and we got all the snacks without having to spend a mortgage on!

I've stated on here many times before that I work at a movie theater, and a major chain movie theater at that. A Cinemark. Been there for almost 8 years, and I feel I get the first-hand idea of what audiences want to see as opposed to very-online "experts" on twitter and elsewhere.

And it seems like people are digging ELEMENTAL. "Ah cool, a water and fire people movie! Looks cute!" Most of my co-workers think it looks like it's worth watching. I've seen some customers walk up to the posters and say "Is this INSIDE OUT 2?" "Hah, looks like Sharkboy and Lava Girl."

A lot of people online are writing ELEMENTAL off as generic-looking, but that might be... In a weird sense, its secret weapon.

Familiarity sometimes works for movies, and sometimes it doesn't. LIGHTYEAR, I'd argue, had trouble having some kind of longevity at the box office because of how much it deviated from what people associate with TOY STORY and the titular character. Of course, if you're me, and you knew full well what that movie was going to be (read: an actual sci-fi space adventure where Buzz is actually a space ranger, not a toy), that wasn't much of an issue. Some just genuinely didn't like the execution of it. It rung more INTERSTELLAR and '70s sci-fi movies than anything, Buzz was a little more serious here, he wasn't his toy counterpart at all nor was he the fun cartoon hero in the 2000s TV series BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF STAR COMMAND. I get that. I myself quite enjoyed the movie, but I can totally see it how it just wouldn't gel with most audiences.

TURNING RED, I feel, would've done okay at best at the box office, not because of its perceived quality (I loved the movie), but because of - again - most audiences being very careful with their money. I keep thinking it would've made around BAD GUYS/ENCANTO numbers, $90m domestic and around $200m worldwide. Not enough to cover the usual Pixar budget... Which is typically a gargantuan $150m+... I feel they, and Walt Disney Animation Studios for that matter, shouldn't spend so damn much on their movies... It puts an unnecessary strain on them, gives them a sometimes impossible task to achieve. It soooo ain't 2003 anymore, when any CG animated movie you dropped in front of an audience was 99.99% guaranteed to make a blockbuster amount of money...

ELEMENTAL also shares June with... ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, TRANSFORMERS LIVE-ACTION MOVIE #7, THE FLASH, RUBY GILLMAN *comma* TEENAGE KRAKEN, and INDIANA JONES 5... Wowee... And a good chunk of those movies weren't supposed to open in June 2023 in the first place, they all just ended up landing there. Pixar usually locks mid-June for a movie years in advance, and the movie could be anything, be it ELEMENTAL or TOY STORY 5. It just so happened to be ELEMENTAL... Maybe they should've moved it, just to be safe...

So, opening weekend could make or break it... But the legs will be the most important thing... And we don't know what those will be like... We have to know first and foremost, come opening day... Did audiences like it?

LIGHTYEAR got a not-so-hot A- CinemaScore, and had abysmal legs thereafter... STRANGE WORLD from WDAS was the rare family friendly animated movie release to score less than an A...

It's hard to gauge off of two animated sci-fi action movies, which have a history of... Not making blockbuster totals meant to cover ludicrously high budgets... Just ask TITAN A.E., ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, and TREASURE PLANET. WALL-E was a sci-fi romance movie with cute robots, and that did very well. Also had that Pixar goodwill that was very strong back then. The name's not a guarantee anymore.

How do I think ELEMENTAL will do?

Animated movies that aren't sequels are usually kind of hard to track, and they seem like they'll do okay-ish at first... Until the week of release, the tracking shoots up... And word-of-mouth kicks in after opening day...

So, $28m for ELEMENTAL could very well be looking like $40m minimum within a week of its release... Opening at Cannes this coming week, if the picture is acclaimed, will look nice too. I don't see why it can't open below $40m, the only thing that could hurt it is just SPIDER-VERSE and LITTLE MERMAID being out, and families having to make tough choices. Adults w/o families will be the ones to get, if they're not as choosy. The romantic comedy angle might just make it a date movie.

Not the first time that happened... That's what Disney took total advantage of during the Disney Renaissance in the early '90s, pushing BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and ALADDIN as date movies for young adults... Oh, and it paid off nicely... A lot of people tend to overlook this, but... It's *adults* who make animated movies huge, too. Not just "kids dragging their parents" to the cinema. If that were the case, every kids' movie would be a FROZEN or MINIONS-sized blockbuster. No! Those movies make so much because a lot of adults like them, too, and there's stuff in them that appeals to adults. A novel concept, I know!

A movie like THE BAD GUYS didn't need to worry about that, being a much lower budget endeavor, ditto DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS. Even Illumination's movies don't have to worry about that, either... But Disney Animation and Pixar? They gotta hook everybody if they want to make back the $150m+ they spend on each and every movie. LIGHTYEAR seemed to turn families away and had a hard time getting adults, STRANGE WORLD seemed to appeal to no one. ENCANTO dealt with Delta and Omicron, RAYA was still a bit too early to be a theatrical release. SOUL, LUCA, TURNING RED, all straight to Disney+ releases.

It's like each new Disney animated movie release is some kind of test... ELEMENTAL is next line, and WISH will follow... And do I think ELEMENTAL can get that adult appeal?

I think so. ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE already has it built in (projections are saying $85m minimum for the opening weekend, which sounds about right, could go even higher), but does anything else coming out in June other than INDIANA JONES have it? I think audiences are largely burnt out on the Autobots, THE FLASH comes on like some big NO WAY HOME-esque event for DC but I sense a real "who cares?" aura around it, plus superhero fatigue seems to have kicked in... That's about it? RUBY GILLMAN seems muted and quiet, it probably doesn't need to make a blockbuster gross... It's very possible ELEMENTAL is the most appealing June release to... Normal people.

Online, it looks like some crap generic Pixar movie... But normal people? Who aren't there for TRANSFORMERS 7 and a DC movie that happens to have Michael Keaton Batman in it? They might be digging it. For what it's worth, when I caught the trailer in theaters before GUARDIANS VOL. 3, I heard some of the adults in the crowd laugh at the funny bits.

It's kind of a wild card, but I have kind of a good feeling about this one. Maybe... Or, come late summer, I'll be eating crow on here. I'm sure Disney Co and Pixar don't want it to fail. Especially since the smarter of the two Bob CEOs came back, the very Bob who wants to focus much more on theatrical releases than sending massive-budget movies quickly to Disney+.

So, rough prediction. Around $40-45m on opening weekend, very solid legs, over 3.5x multiplier, $140m minimum domestically and double that overseas, $400m+ worldwide finish. We shall see...

[decepti-thots]

Hey you said that some of the transformers comics were jumping in price bc of paper shortages and limited prints due to poor sales. Is that true basically across the board, and they might go down if IDW prints more of them? I'm trying to collect the phase two hardcover collections and for some reason I can find all of them at retail price or lower, but there's like 3 copies of volume 5 online at any given time and they're 3-4x the retail price, and it's driving me crazy. (and the fact that it looks like phase 3 doesn't include the last 2-3 volumes-worth or so, and I can't tell if they just haven't published it yet, or it's going from limbo straight to never-published hell thanks to the reboot and IP sale...)

Ohhh this is about my SotW TPB post I take it?

So all the below is 100% conjecture for the record, and it is perfectly likely that I am wrong in every regard, but this is just what I've seen discussed these past few years in both fandom and publishing generally. Grain of salt, etc. Sorry to go into wayyy more detail than you asked for anon, but I figure while we're here and since I've seen people ask similar questions, may as well give all the advice I have to offer!

So yes, the reason they have jumped in price is they're out of print, period, and it is indeed more or less across the board bar brand new releases (which are likely getting 1-2 printings tops) as far as anyone can tell. We think this has been the case for a while, actually. A lot of stuff just didn't fully sell out everywhere so the last few copies in stock made it seem "in print" for a lot of titles, but then when IDW lost the license and people ran to buy up copies, well. Turns out those were just leftovers, mostly? So the prices started going way up.

The hypothesis in fandom is that IDW has almost certainly been running on a 'reprint only if needed' policy for at least some of their books for quite some time now, putting off doing new print runs for trades to avoid slapping a lot of cash down for a run that might take years to sell out and fully make a profit. Because again, publishing right now is expensive and risky for various reasons, so the threshold gets higher and higher before you want to go for it, especially for something as high-cost as full colour comics, especially for smaller print runs period.

So the stuff that the original print runs of haven't sold out yet are going for RRP, and that includes a lot of the more recent books, plus just some random older ones. Once they sell out, the price skyrockets. This leads to weird, random stuff being way more expensive, like volume 5 of the IDW phase 2 collection as you said, or volume 8 of MTMTE (saw one of those go for £110 not long ago).

(Also, stuff that came out before this was likely to be quite so big an issue isn't as badly hit even once out of print. LSotW is much cheaper than SotW despite both being out of print and both being in high demand. Why? LSotW probably got more and/or larger print runs. Not just because it's been out longer, but because when it was out, IDW may not have been as shy about when they reprinted stuff. See also: AHM is cheap as hell still, it's not as in demand and they probably just... printed way more copies total before the problem struck.)

For most of the TF stuff that's just sort of. It, really. They're not re-printing when the license is going next year, why would you. Buy whatever you can now tbh, if it's worth it to you; there's already MTMTE volumes on UK ebay not only being offered for £100+ but bought for £100, which means it's not people trying their luck and failing.

For the hardback collection volumes, though, there is the caveat people have speculated whether it's remotely possible IDW have retained the rights to finish publishing the rest of those comics in that specific collection past 2022. That is PURE speculation to be clear and not backed up by anything solid. The sole reason a few people think this is that they are, as you say, going ahead with the next phase three omnibus release as late as September 2022, which neither brings them remotely close to finishing the series nor makes a lot of sense if they are hoping to get them all out before losing the license January 2023. So we're wondering if they're not scrapping it because the transfer of rights allowed them to keep those in print, in which case maaaaybe reprints of earlier volumes will happen... but on the other hand maybe they're just. Gonna release a random last volume and let it end uncompleted. WHO KNOWS.

All of this may be eased somewhat if the new rights holder chooses to re-print IDW1 comics to make some cash off them, of course! The caveat being, there's a lot of IDW1 comics that just aren't... well remembered or beloved the way stuff like e.g. Wreckers is, so unless they specifically pick up the hardback omnibus series that covers the entire run, it's unlikely we'll see every comic physically reprinted even then. Some of this stuff is probably never going to see a physical re-release. Alas. They're a lot more likely to do a fancy MTMTE/LL omnibus release than like. Any of the random IDW1 crossover comics. (Which, sure, they're not worth it or anything half the time, but on principle it makes me sad, haha.)

tl;dr: it's not likely to get better for these versions, and we won't know til it's too late if the new comic publisher will make new versions. sorry. :(

[bllsbailey]

The Washington Post Is in Full-Scale Collapse

Is The Washington Post in full-scale collapse? A recent look at the numbers provides a fairly convincing answer to that question. 

According to the report, not only is the Post losing $100 million a year, but it lost over half of its online engagement by the end of 2023. The signs were already there by mid-year, and the worst has come to pass. 

See: The Washington Post Is Facing a Financial Buzzsaw

Having a billionaire sugar daddy has helped mask some of the issues plaguing the Post, but the tide can only be held back so long. To lose over 50 percent of its online viewership is catastrophic for an outlet with such high overhead costs. Subscriber numbers have also nosedived throughout the Biden administration. 

That last fact is interesting because the trend was originally blamed on Donald Trump no longer being in the news. The former president has been firmly back in the headlines the last year, though, and the Post has continued its downward spiral. If Trump being charged with multiple felonies isn't enough to save the once-storied paper, it's hard to imagine what could. 

As to the reasons behind this precipitous fall, I think they are fairly obvious. Nothing the Post produces is worthwhile. Their columnists are boring parrots who all say the same thing, levying the same boring attacks they were levying nearly a decade ago. Even a dyed-in-the-wool liberal can only take so many Jennifer Rubin columns claiming the end is nigh for the nation because Republicans get to vote. 

Then there's Taylor Lorenz, who has done more to harm the Post's credibility in the few years she's worked there than any other "journalist" at the outlet. She's been caught committing multiple ethical violations dealing with her "stories," and the response from her employers has been non-existent. Of all the people who should have been given the boot long ago, Lorenz was one of them. 

Where does Jeff Bezos, who owns the Post, go from here? The path the news outlet is on is not sustainable. Continuing to dump money into a sinking ship is a bad investment, and because the Post's leaders are more beholden to their left-wing radicalism than market forces, there's no reason to think the ship can ever be saved. 

That's the problem with letting the inmates run the asylum. Like with Deadspin, far-left activists are more than happy to run a publication into the ground pursuing their political wants. The culture at the Post is so toxic and entitled at this point that it would take a top-down cleaning out of every level of the outlet's operation to make a dent. Is that going to happen? Of course, not, because the backlash from the radicals would be overwhelming. Bezos is stuck, and it wouldn't surprise me if he tries to cut his losses eventually.

[zerokissingbooth]

every number but with gepard or sam drake or both, up to you

EVERY NUMBER? ARE YOU INSANE???? ok well im not listing out the questions here's the original post

gepard

forehead kisses,,, to me he's like 6'4" and i'm almost a whole foot shorter than him so it's more convenient for forehead kisses!!

hmm... neck kisses...

definitely soft and tender. his desperate kisses are just as gentle.

he likes spooning but i think when it's been a bit or he's having a rough patch he likes resting his head on my chest.. comfort in proximity

hugs from behind esp in the morning... sleepy where he hides his face in my hair as he wakes up

pancake.. likes the size different and he feels more like he has security in the hand hold :)

ideally he'd want to go to fancy places just bc i think that's how he was raised to treat a partner, but he prefers actually cooking instead!! he likes servicing :-)

accidentally keeps the relationship a secret.. he just doesn't want people to bother me !!

back massages. 100%.

he would only say "i love you" in serious moments or before going off to work with the guards... he takes the phrase very seriously (vs me who says it every other 5 sentences)

he either calls me by name or 'dear' / 'love'

just simple hand holding in public :) he probably gets a little flustered if someone makes a joke about PDA

stay at home most of the time... a nice home-made meal and something to watch is probably his ideal but he wouldn't hate a night out

both of these suggestions sound bad to me he could just take me to a cabin up in the mountains and keep me warm during the snowfall

he would have it ingrained in his head it has to be fancy so it probably would be... not loud and flashy but it definitely screams that gepard had a budget to splurge a little LOL

i think gepard would not want kids just bc fear of dying on the field and not coming back home + past trauma from his own parents mistreating him and his siblings creating a fear of 'what if i do that'... but he'd be a great uncle :)

he's demiromantic to me so it'd def be a slowburn on his half... me however i think i would have called him archangel gabriel as a pickup line and then leave out of embarrassment

he tries to maintain space in bed but he cuddles in his sleep LOL... he gives up after 3 weeks of waking up with some of my hair in his mouth

GIFTING FLOWERS 100% they're flowers he did his damnest to raise well and he's so excited about them being well grown for once

he also would value anniversaries a lot... not like huge events but makes a nicer meal than normal and buys nice wine for the night

ok i'm putting sam under the cut so it's not cluttering

sam drake

nose kisses. hes a freak

thigh kisses.. he is a freak and likes seeing me get flustered / stubbornly call him a jackass

heavy and passionate. bro was in jail for 13-15 years, he's gonna do his best to step up his game and i am the poor victim to be tested on

SPOONING!!! spooning!!!

hugs from behind bc he's a horndog but also likes the intimacy :-)

waffle!! he likes squeezing his fingers into my hand and vice versa

take-out dinners but he wouldn't be opposed for a quick run to a hole-in-the-wall

would brag to everyone like a smartass because he somehow still has game even though he was stuck in jail for like a decade

back massages also! type of dude to moan when you get to a knot in his back

says "i love you" pretty often too. since he is technically a criminal he doesn't want to risk missing the chance to say it

lots and llots of petnames... 'sweet heart' and 'pretty boy' are top of the list followed by my name and 'dear'

dude is casual pda core. arm over the shoulder, hand in my back pocket while we walk, maybe arm around my waist and keeping me close

cheap out on the town dates!! throwing rocks at cans and drinking in his shitty car or driving around on his motorbike

his ideal honeymoon is going on another treasure hunt. yes it would be to an island but hes bringing rope climbing gear picks and flashlights we are GOING to find something

definitely casual but intimate. closest friends and family only..

he does NOT want kids bro is emotionally stunted and is happy enough just being cassie's uncle

love at first sight on his side bc he's a sucker for stubborn idiots (me)

he likes both, but enjoys cuddling more. gets lonely and yearning when he has no body to sleep next to yknow

he wouldn't gift either but instead probably more antique vintage items... "hey i got you this rare 15th century snuff box" "where did you steal it from" "well."

yes but he doesn't make a show of it. treats it more like a private day alone with me, probably more into lazing in privacy and really cementing the fact he is in love

[dashawfrostart]

This Week In "Time & Again" #7: And The Wheels Keep Turning

Hallöchen! 👋 Took me a little more time to come back with a new blog post - but here I am, delivering you a new tiny wall of text to read, just as originally intended 😁

Christmas is steadily on its way, and the life is exploding with events, big and small, good and not quite - but mostly good ones; and the jolly festive music is playing all around, and as a certain somebody plays one truly mesmerizing and entertaining Christmas Doom mod in the evenings - of course, with Christmas music in it, too - the work on "Time & Again" goes on and quite well (can't complain; Lothar can't complain either). All's good. In fact, I have only about 3 pages left to finish up The Lineart Stage, although some little parts here and there were skipped previously. But I doubt it it's gonna take me considerable amount of time to make everything 100% complete and to wrap it up (no, not the presents - tis the season, I know, but I meant a different kind of wrapping... y-yeah 😅).

Since time is a valuable resource - which is exactly what one of my absolutely favourite characters in the entire "Time & Again" series once said (hey dear readers, can you guess who I'm talking about?) - I think, for the first time in my life, this once, I'll make a new post very short. Gotta go back to nannying me kids, after all (ah, life of an artistic parent is hard 😫). Don't wanna waste a lot of time distracting myself, especially during this hectic end of the season. Also, I still got my eggnog to drink. It's on my list of important things to eat/drink. So yup, time is sure valuable!

I was gonna make a special post about the procedures and peculiarities of how I create page templates for "Time & Again" using Inkscape and Krita to create a functional and convenient workspace for myself. But I'll save that for another day, because writing a logically structured and sophisticated post about such a technical topic will require some mental effort. And since currently my mind is preoccupied mainly with blue jays, eggnog, laundry, und Spätzle, this topic might be a tad too exhausting for me to take on right now. So I'll just spam with a few cute panels portraying Lothar - to keep y'all happy 😁

We already talked about Lothar's disgusting habits earlier, we did. However, cigarette smoke dreamily twirling upwards in the air is something that I really enjoy drawing often outside the outlined boundaries of the comic panels. As you can see on the screenshot above, Lothario is super excited about something in front of him and he absolutely does not notice that the cigarette is sticking out from the panel. And you know? I like that. What you will often see in my graphic novel for sure - and especially in Chapter 5 I'm working on right now, because holy effing ****, is Lothar a heavy smoker! 😱 - I use the smoke outside and sometimes across a few panels, sometimes intertwining the lines and arranging them in such a way that they create a neat effect of interconnection. It's not only about smoke/aromatics though; I really enjoy drawing hair sticking out from the frames, too. I must admit - your dear creator hasn't read a lot of comics in her life, but you'll have to put up with me 😎 - I do not see this happening in a lot of comics or mangas. Or perhaps I'm just attempting to read the wrong ones all the time 🤪

Here's another one peculiarity I really grew really fond of within the last few years. Whenever I draw limbs on the background that are directly behind the limbs on the foreground, I just fill the background one with diagonal strokes. Of course, I do it by hand every time. I did have an idea to automate this and just fill the areas I need with the predefined strokes/crosshatch - luckily, Krita has an amazing function to add a fill layer with a wide variety of parameters of choice. But for such a simple task as illustrated above, I just do it manually all the time. Also, it looks natural and with a slight degree of imperfection - that's just what I need! And pistols... ugh. Pistols take a certain talent to draw well, too 😁

And this... Honestly, why am I even showing this one to you?.. 🤔 Probably because I really like Lothar's face on this picture. Once coloured, it won't disappoint you.

Welp, that's probably enough for a very short post in between sessions of creation and life undertakings.

Aaah, no! Just one more thing - a little but extremely funny animated gif before I go offline to create more stuff! Here you are! 🤣

See you next time! Take care! Don't forget to drink some eggnog. 👋

[toshis-puppycat]

Original Work, based off a dream

A/n: So this is an original work that I have been thinking about. It came from some wild ass dream of being back in school. But more specifically college bcs high school isn't a vibe for me, I hope to continue working on this on a more serious note but I also wanted to like genuinely share it on here bcs I'm proud that I even had this?? It was a fantastic dream, and I hope I can do it the justice it deserves. I hope yall enjoy. And uhh eventually I'll come up with a name for it but for now it's basically just like That Wild Dream. I'll come up with something, so don't worry.

Also this is 100% dedicated to my friends whom I love very much and always encourage me to write and post things. I'm so very grateful for y'all and I love you very much. I hope that yall like it especially and please let me know what you think. 💖 And never forget yall are the best and deserve every forehead smooches.

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

The school was… nice. Kinda ancient really. The ancient history behind the family who founded it in fact, the current headmistress was a descendant of the founder of the school. For Ari though the school felt sort of like a mystery! A real-life mystery! One that they wanted to solve in a sort of desperate way, even if it was impossible. For one, it'd already been years since the tragedy that occurred. Missing students, finding dead bodies of individuals that went missing some years before that… It was a mysterious tragedy that they wanted to solve for the families more than anything. And from what you understood, they still grieved the lost lovers, siblings, and children who left the world long before their time. This Univerity held some dark secrets in Ari's opinion. But even if they wanted to solve the tragedy, it was just an impossible one to solve. It sort of felt like Ari were aiming to solve the Jack the Ripper cases. And even if they tried, they didn't have a lot of knowledge of how to even start. Knowledgeable but it was so spaced out that to them it felt completely useless. Who knew that one who felt so unreliable, unworthy of any title that gave praise to them would be the one to solve such a mysterious tragedy. Because it was going to happen again. And they were going to solve it whether they wanted to or not. 

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

She looked down on the decrepit bodies that were left writhing on the ground. Now she only had one servant, the only success. The others had aged well past their prime now. ‘How unfortunate.’ She sneered at the bodies she had yet to absorb. Now she needed new ones, and she had to train them all over again since her experiment to transfer memories had mostly failed. Humans had such frail minds. If all had worked well when she first tried those experiments… they would’ve been able to rule this pathetic planet, and be able to use those useless sacks of meat as cattle and material. The right way to use humans. Her form changed, gone was the attractive feminine form she always used, leaving a wriggling mass of tentacles. Her face turned grey, eyes turning into those of an octopus. Pure anger that would make a living soul run in fear. She grabbed at the now-dead decrepit forms of her former guard. Blood splattered on the walls as she viciously tore the bodies apart. ‘Forty years wasted because of the finite lifetime a useless human could have.’ She thought angrily, using her limbs to absorb the now torn-apart bodies. Her form changed back to the one she always used, the anger no longer in her system. No mess anymore, until she looked at the walls, but she just took a deep breath and when she looked again the walls were sparkling clean again. She smiled and looked to the corner. Her servant looked at her with long-dead eyes. Still living only because her mistress willed it. Once upon a time, she was a vibrant child to her doting parents and now… she was a puppet, barely living and only breathing because her mistress required her to do so. A long-buried part of her was screaming for mercy, anything to let her be free like her now-dead comrades. But all she did was obediently follow her mistress as she left the area. Her mistress sat at her desk and began looking at applications. The humanity that she had left was wallowing in misery. The mistress only looked at applications when she was thinking of having more guards, and more experiments. The whole school was a victim of it. All those missing students over the years, all written off. 

She looked at one application appraisingly, she remembered seeing this one at the orientation. So lost looking. And based on the test scores, they were knowledgeable. But it was so spaced out and sporadic where the information they learned could land. Open but closed off. She would keep her eye on that one. Watching and biding her time until it was right. Perhaps this time, none of her experiments would be a failure. Not with this promising feeling she had in her chest while looking at their application. Ari Monroe. With that openness they had, it made them easier. But the more they ended up closing off others made it so much easier to gain their trust, morph them into what she needed. To break them. She'd keep an eye on them. And if she was able to get them, her experiments would follow something that worked. Have the base ready, her only success and have it modified if she could to make it even better. It would work out in the end. She believed it. Felt it in her very being. She would get rid of the pathetic beings that ruled the planet and form a proper planet. 

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .

© all content belongs to catsonthebeachfics. do not modify, repost, or redistribute.

[respectable-username]

🔐 Why You (Probably) Don't Need A VPN

A rant by a software engineer sick of VPN ads from her favourite YouTubers

TL;DR:

Here are some legitimate reasons the average internet user might want to use a VPN:

To connect to their company's internal network

To bypass the Great Firewall of China (or other types of website blocks at country or organisation level)

To watch Netflix etc as if you were in another country

Here are absolutely rubbish reasons to use a VPN:

Privacy

And today, I'll tell you why.

Hang on, won't a VPN stop hackers from stealing my passwords?

I mean, it does encrypt the web traffic coming from your device.

You know what else encrypts web traffic coming from your device? Your browser.

Yes, in the year 2021, pretty much all websites on the internet are accessed over HTTPS. The "S" stands for "secure", as in "your request will be securely encrypted". If your browser is using HTTPS, nobody can capture the data you're sending over the internet. More detail in the "I like too much detail" section at the bottom of this post.

It's very easy to check if you are using HTTPS by looking at your URL bar. In most browsers, it will have a lock on it if secure:

(From top left to bottom right: Chrome on iOS, Safari on iOS, Chrome on Windows, Edge on Windows, Firefox on Windows, and Safari on Mac. Screenshots reflect the UI at the time this post was written. Oh gosh this has taken over 4 hours to write.)

But isn't moar encryption better? What if somebody breaks HTTPS?

For starters, nobody's breaking your HTTPS, and there isn't any benefit from double encrypting. This is because of the maths behind encryption/decryption!

Encryption works kinda like a lock and key, except the lock is maths and the key is a special number only known to the person allowed to unlock the information.

The important thing is, without the key, all the locked data looks like complete and utter garbage. Completely unusable. Barely distinguishable from random noise. There's absolutely no way to tell what the original data was.

The other important thing is that the key is nearly unguessable. As in, with current technology, will generally take more than the lifetime of the universe to guess by chance. And when technology gets faster, we just make the numbers bigger again until they're once again secure.

For any major website you use, they will use a strong encryption algorithm (ie lock) with big numbers so your keys will be strong enough to withstand an attack. This means your data is safe as long as that lock icon is in your URL bar.

A VPN will not make the existing garble any more garbled. The extra $10/month or whatever you're paying for does not buy you any extra protection.

If you want to know more about how encryption and HTTPS in particular work, see the "I like too much detail" section at the end of this post.

Something something viruses

How's a VPN going to stop viruses? It controls the path your internet traffic takes, not the content that gets sent down that path. I guess it could block some known virus-giving hosts? But if it's known to the VPN provider, it's probably also known to the built-in antivirus on your computer who can block it for you.

(Oh yeah, 3rd party antivirus is another thing that's not worth paying for these days. Microsoft's built-in Windows Defender is as good as the third party options, and something something Macs don't get viruses easily because of how they're architected.)

Honestly though, keep your software up to date, don't click on anything suspicious, don't open files from sources you don't trust, and you'll be right most of the time.

And keep your software up to date. Then update your software. Hey, did I mention keeping your stuff updated? Update! Now! It only takes a few minutes. Please update to the latest version of your software I'm begging you. It's the number 1 way to protect yourself from viruses and other malware. Most major software attacks could have been prevented if people just updated their damn software!

But my ISP is spying on me!

Ok, it is true that there are TWO bits of data that HTTPS can't and won't hide. Those are:

The source of a request (your IP)

What website that request is going to (the website's IP)

These are the bits of information that routers use to know where to send your data, so of course they can't be hidden as the data is moving across the internet. And people can see that information very easily if they want to.

Note: this will show which website you're going to, but not which page you're looking at, and not the content of that page. So it will show that you were on Tumblr, but will not show anyone that you're still reading SuperWhoLock content in 2021.

It's this source/destination information that VPNs hide, which is why they can be used to bypass website blocks and region locks.

By using a VPN, those sniffing traffic on your side of the VPN will just show you connecting to the VPN, not the actual website you want. That means you can read AO3 at work/school without your boss/teachers knowing (unless they look over your shoulder of course).

As for those sniffing on the websites end, including the website itself, they will see the VPN as the source of the connection, not you. So if you're in the US and using a VPN node in the UK, Netflix will see you as being in the UK and show you their British library rather than the American one.

If this is what you're using a VPN for and you think the price is fair, then by all means keep doing it! This is 100% what VPNs are good for.

HOWEVER, and this is a big "however", if it's your ISP you're trying to hide your internet traffic from, then you will want to think twice before using a VPN.

Let me put it this way. Without a VPN, your ISP knows every website you connect to and when. With a VPN, do you know who has that exact same information? The VPN provider. Sure, many claim to not keep logs, but do you really trust the people asking for you to send them all your data for a fee to not just turn around and sell your data on for a profit, or worse?

In effect, you're trading one snooper for another. One snooper is heavily regulated, in many jurisdictions must obey net neutrality, and is already getting a big fee from you regardless of where you browse. The other isn't. Again, it's all a matter of who you trust more.

For me personally, I trust my ISP more than a random VPN provider, if for no other reason than my ISP is an old enough company with enough inertia and incompetence that I don't think they could organise to sell my data even if they wanted to. And with the amount of money I'm paying them per month, they've only got everything to lose if they broke consumer trust by on-selling that data. So yeah, I trust my ISP more with my privacy than the random VPN company.

But my VPN comes with a password manager!

Password managers are great. I 100% recommend you use a password manager. If there's one thing you could do right now to improve your security (other than updating your software, speaking of, have you updated yet?), it's getting and using a password manager.

Password managers also come for free.

I'm currently using LastPass free, but am planning to switch after they did a bad capitalism and only let their free accounts access either laptop or mobile but not both now. I personally am planning to move to Bitwarden on friends' recommendation since it's not only free but open source and available across devices. I also have friends who use passbolt and enjoy it, which is also free and open source, but it's also a bit DIY to set up. Great if you like tinkering though! And there are probably many other options out there if you do a bit of googling.

So, yeah, please use a password manager, but don't pay for it unless you actually have use for the extra features.

No I really need to hide my internet activity from everybody for reasons

In this case, you're probably looking for TOR. TOR is basically untraceable. It's also a terrible user experience for the most part because of this, so I'd only recommend it if you need it, such as if you're trying to escape the Great Firewall. But please don't use it for Bad Crimes. I am not to be held liable for any crime committed using information learned from this post.

Further reading viewing

If you want to know more about why you don't need a VPN, see Tom Scott's amazing video on the subject. It's honestly a great intro for beginners.

I like too much detail

Ahhh, so you're the type of person who doesn't get turned off by long explanations I see. Well, here's a little more info on the stuff I oversimplified in the main post about encryption. Uhh, words get bigger and more jargony in this section.

So first oversimplification: the assumption that all web traffic is either HTTP or HTTPS. This isn't exactly true. There are many other application layer internet standards out there, such as ssh, ftp, websockets, and all the proprietary standards certain companies use for stuff such as streaming and video conferencing. Some of these are secure, using TLS or some other security algorithm under the hood, and some of them aren't.

But most of the web requests you care about are HTTP/HTTPS calls. As for the rest, if they come from a company of a decent size that hasn't been hacked off the face of the planet already, they're probably also secure. In other words, you don't need to worry about it.

Next, we've already said that encryption works as a lock and a key, where the lock is a maths formula and the key is a number. But how do we get that key to lock and unlock the data?

Well, to answer that, we first need to talk about the two different types of encryption: symmetric and asymmetric. Symmetric encryption such as AES uses the same key to both encrypt and decrypt data, whereas asymmetric encryption such as RSA uses a different key to encode and decode.

For the sake of my writing, we're going to call the person encrypting Alice, the person decrypting Bob, and the eavesdropper trying to break our communications Eve from now on. These are standard names in crypto FYI. Also, crypto is short for cryptography not cryptocurrencies. Get your Bitcoin and Etherium outta here!

Sorry if things start getting incoherent. I'm tired. It's after 1am now.

So first, how do we get the key from symmetric crypto? This is probably the easier place to start. Well, you need a number, any number of sufficient size, that both Alice and Bob know. There are many ways you could share this number. They could decide it when they meet in person. They could send it to each other using carrier pigeons. Or they could radio it via morse code. But those aren't convenient, and somebody could intercept the number and use it to read all their messages.

So what we use instead is a super clever algorithm called Diffie-Hellman, which uses maths and, in particular, the fact it's really hard to factor large numbers (probably NP Hard to be specific, but there's no actual proof of that). The Wikipedia page for this is surprisingly easy to read, so I'll just direct you there to read all about it because I've been writing for too long. This algorithm allows Alice and Bob to agree on a secret number, despite Eve being able to read everything they send each other.

Now Alice and Bob have this secret number key, they can talk in private. Alice puts her message and the key into the encryption algorithm and out pops what looks like a load of garbage. She can then send this garbage to Bob without worrying about Eve being able to read it. Bob can then put the garbage and the key into the decryption algorithm to undo the scrambling and get the original message out telling him where the good donuts are. Voila, they're done!

But how does Alice know that she's sending her message to Bob and not Eve? Eve could pretend to be Bob so that Alice does the Diffie-Hellman dance with her instead and sends her the secret location of the good donuts instead.

This is where asymmetric crypto comes in! This is the one with private and public keys, and the one that uses prime numbers.

I'm not 100% across the maths on this one TBH, but it has something to do with group theory. Anyway, just like Diffie-Hellman, it relies on the fact that prime factorisation is hard, and so it does some magic with semi-primes, ie numbers with only 2 prime factors other than 1. Google it if you want to know more. I kinda zoned out of this bit in my security courses. Maths hard

But the effect of that maths is easier to explain: things that are encoded with one of the keys can only be decoded with the other key. This means that one of those keys can be well-known to the public and the other is known only to the person it belongs to.

If Alice wants to send a message to Bob and just Bob, no Eve allowed, she can first look up Bob's public key and encrypt a beginning message with that. Once Bob receives the message, he can decrypt it with his private key and read the contents. Eve can't read the contents though because, even though she has Bob's public key, she doesn't know his private key.

This public key information is what the lock in your browser is all about BTW. It's saying that the website is legit based on the public key they provide.

So why do we need symmetric crypto when we have asymmetric crypto? Seems a lot less hassle to exchange keys with asymmetric crypto.

Well, it's because asymmetric crypto is slooooow. So, in TLS, the security algorithm that puts the "S" in "HTTPS", asymmetric RSA is used to establish the initial connection and figure out what symmetric key to use, and then the rest of the session uses AES symmetric encryption using the agreed secret key.

And there you have it! Crypto in slightly-less-short-but-still-high-enough-level-that-I-hope-you-understand.

Just realised how long this section is. Well, I did call it "too much detail" for a reason.

Now, next question is what exactly is and isn't encrypted using HTTPS.

Well, as I said earlier, it's basically just the source IP:port and the destination IP:port. In fact, this information is actually communicated on the logical layer below the application layer HTTPS is on, known as the transport layer. Again, as I said before, you can't really encrypt this unless you don't want your data to reach the place you want at all.

Also, DNS is unencrypted. A DNS request is a request that turns a domain name, such as tumblr.com, into an IP address, by asking a special server called a Domain Name Server where to find the website you're looking for. A DNS request is made before an HTTP(S) request. Anyone who can read your internet traffic can therefore tell you wanted to go to Tumblr.

But importantly, this only shows the domain name, not the full URL. The rest of the URL, the part after the third slash (the first two slashes being part of http://), is stuff that's interpreted by the server itself and so isn't needed during transport. Therefore, it encrypted and completely unreadable, just like all the content on your page.

I was going to show a Wireshark scan of a web request using HTTP and HTTPS to show you the difference, but this has taken long enough to write as it is, so sorry!

I could probably write more, but it's 1:30am and I'm sleepy. I hope you found some of this interesting and think twice before purchasing a VPN subscription. Again, there are legit good uses for a VPN, but they're not the ones primarily being advertised in VPN ads. It's the fact that VPN ads rely so heavily on false advertising that really grinds my gears and made me want to do this rant. It's especially bad when it comes from somebody I'd think of as technologically competent (naming no names here, but if you've worked in tech and still promote VPNs as a way to keep data safe... no). Feel free to ask questions if you want and hopefully I'll get around to answering any that I feel I know enough to answer.

Nighty night Tumblr. Please update your software. And use a (free) password manager. And enable two factor authentication on all your accounts. But mostly just update your software.

[dimeeasy]

10 Legit Ways to Build Passive Income Online

Whether you are a student looking to make some extra cash, a working professional wanting to build a side hustle, or a corporate escapee and whosoever who is starting to build an online business need to have some cash inflow for the further smooth flow of your business.

There are many sites out there saying make money like $100 a day with surveys, with google sites, etc. Of course, they may make you money for a certain period of time but are not long-term and passive.

You always need to look out for ways to make money that are passive. You need to earn money every month and double it. Here are my top creative ideas to make money online. These real methods have worked in past and will work now and then too.

Freelancing

You would have heard a lot of this from others. But yes, this is the first best way to earn some cash before starting out your business. It will help to get some extra money into your pocket as well as fund a little for your software if you are starting out. You can start freelancing with no investment upfront. It's FREE. You can make money online freelancing.

Don’t worry if you think you don’t have any skills. You can learn small skills by taking a free trial in skillshare. There are tons of gigs people are looking for to get their work done and with the right process, you can make money as a freelancer.

By the year 2027, freelancers are projected to make up the majority of the workforce in the United States, with 50.9% of the working population. In fact, at the current growth rate, it’s estimated that 67.6 million Americans will be freelancing by the end of 2021. That’s 42% of the American workforce! (Website planet).

What are you waiting for? Search in-demand gigs on google keywords and search trends. And yes, patience is the key. You need to wait a few weeks while you get your first gig. Start promoting your services on social media and find your spot.

Starting a Blog

As of 2021, there are more than 570 million blogs on the internet, based on activities reported by WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, Wix, Squarespace, and Medium (and this number is constantly growing) (firstsiteguide).

Now do not get overwhelmed, the one thing is though blogs are growing rapidly, and so are people reading blogs. Of course, blogs are saturated, but when you niche down and find your audience then you can achieve your space in this sea of bloggers.

Starting a blog, yesterday, today, tomorrow, is possible as long as you are using proper rules, like optimizing your SEO, giving unique content to your readers, and more. But, the best day to start blogging for your profit is today and now.

Let us look at some stats on why you should start your blog today

61% of online shoppers in the US say they made a purchase after getting a recommendation from a blog post

Companies that blog actively have 126% better lead growth

80% of bloggers say that they see positive business results from their blogging efforts

Blogs affect customers’ buying decisions as 47% of them go through 3 to 5 blog posts before the buying process (Firstsiteguide)

Give me a better reason why you should not start a blog after these mind-blowing facts.

You can start a niche blog, review blog, cooking blog, gaming blog, parenting blog, and more. Just write what you know or keep an eye on your competitors and outperform them. And blogging is the best for your long-term passive income.

Starting a YouTube channel

Now as we’ve known how YouTube has evolved to be like a video search engine, the platform has grown considerably and is been growing millions of YouTubers.

Again, let’s talk about some statistics about YouTube. YouTube has 2.3 billion users worldwide.

79 percent of Internet users have their own YouTube account.

YouTube viewers watch over a billion hours of video on the platform every day and generate billions of views. (YouTube, 2021)

YouTube is localized in more than 100 countries and is available in 80 languages. (YouTube, 2021)

Every day people watch one billion hours of video on YouTube (source-Oberlo)

Now, the real question is how to make money out of YouTube? Well, there is enough space for you to sink in. Are you a coach, fitness enthusiastic, a person with good communication, or even just an individual with no skills at all? You can make videos, monetize your YouTube account, and earn from AdSense and affiliate marketing.

Umm! Some people may say that YouTube is not for me. I don’t know how to make and produce videos. I don’t have any skills. Well, I have a solution for that. You can make money from YouTube absolutely by not showing your face at all.

Here are some of the niches you can make videos y not showing your face.

If u do not want to record videos, you can head up to free stock videos or images and give a voice-over and start making content.

If you feel shy to start, you will never get ahead. So, the one thing I want to tell to everyone who is shy to make videos and for my younger self, stop doubting yourself. Just do it, don’t care about criticism, success will follow you

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is when a person earns a commission for referring a product to others. For eg: You register yourself as an affiliate to promote certain products, when the person you promote the product click on your unique affiliate link and purchases through your link you earn a commission. A commission can range for each and every product.

And the affiliate marketing model is the best, safe model for beginners. You can drive traffic for free and for paid as well. You can be an affiliate marketer if you need a passive income, you don’t need to have any other customer support, you can work from home at your own comfort.

Now, how to register as an affiliate. First, think of what do you like the most. What products do you love using? Type the name in google and see whether there is an affiliate program or just see other affiliate programs in your niche. Choose the one you love so that you don’t feel tired and exhausted in the long run.

There are many other sites where you can choose your products from. You can take products from Click bank, Digistore24, Share a Sale, Jvzoo, and similar other platforms.

Here are the best affiliate platforms for you to choose from

How do you want to promote is the next question?

Well, you can create landing pages in click funnels, kartra, or builderall and promote them through ads. If you are on your budget, you could start a blog and promote it. You can write blogs for free on medium.com. It is a cost-effective way to sell your products. You can create a YouTube channel, talk about how you love using those products, and promote them, you could even use Pinterest to promote your blogs and landing pages.

We all know that Pinterest is a visual search engine and no doubt you can get quite a good sale from affiliate marketing in Pinterest

Once you get your first sale and testimonials you can start your Instagram page and build trust with others to promote the products and scale your business.

Instagram Influencer

Do you love making TikTok videos, always want to be active on social media? Then here is your chance to start earning being an Instagram influencer.

You can start by creating content about the topic you want to talk about the most. If creating a YouTube channel feels a bit challenging, grow your audience and monetize them through Instagram. Feel free to talk about what you feel.

Collect your follower's email IDs. Once you become consistent with the audience and platform, the content you are generating makes a digital course or something you think to monetize your people. Giveaway a lot of freebies, checklists, and many other things to lead your audience to the product you are offering. Build trust with them and try to use all of Instagram's available channels. Use carousals, reels, IGTV, go live to show behind the scenes of your work, and more!.

Staying consistent is the key to grow your audience on Instagram.

Starting a T-Shirt Business

Whether you’re an artist, writer, designer, or entrepreneur, physical products can be the perfect canvas for monetizing your creativity. Yes, you heard that right. You can start your own merch for free. Starting an online T-shirt business is booming in this era an why don’t you be one of them. You do not need to hold any inventory, just design your t-shirt online and publish it.

Let me make it clear. So what is print on demand? How to start your free t-shirt business

Print on demand is a process where you work with a supplier to customize white-label products (like baseball hats or tote bags) with your own designs to sell them on a per-order basis under your own brand.

That means you don’t pay for the product until after you’ve actually sold it, so there’s no need to buy in bulk or hold any inventory yourself.

Plus, with print-on-demand services, everything after the sale, from printing to shipping, is handled by your supplier. Once you’ve set everything up, it takes only a few clicks to fulfill an order once you’ve made a sale.

You can use print-on-demand services to:

Test a business idea or new product line for an existing business without the risks that come with buying inventory.

Monetize an audience you’ve built. Printing on demand is a great option if you’re a YouTuber, cartoonist, or social media influencer who wants to spend your time creating content instead of fulfilling orders.

Create original products for a niche of customers. For example, apparel for people who are passionate about gaming.

Easily print one-off items—t-shirts, books, shoes, bags, wall art, phone cases, clocks, laptop skins, mugs, and so much more. You can send these as gifts or keep them for yourself and your team (source-Shopify)

You can get started with print on demand for almost free with teespring, redbubble, printful . Or you can start your online store on Shopify and sell them as a custom branding.

Do not worry if you are not a pro in graphic designing. You can design your t-shirt on canva and paste the design on your t-shirt too. This is a legitimate and easy business for beginners online. You can promote your merch by using SEO, keywords, and various social platforms.

Let's take a look at the print on demand statistics:

This statistic depicts the market value of the custom t-shirt printing market worldwide from 2016 to 2025. In 2016, the global custom t-shirt printing market was valued at 1.16 billion U.S. dollars, and was forecast to reach a value of 3.1 billion U.S. dollars by 2025.

This is insane amount the industry is making from print-on-demand only.

COVID-19 impact Fabric face mask accounted for 11.14% of all goods sold through Printify in September 2020. (Printify)

A 2020 survey revealed that about 96% of millennials and Gen Z have concerns about how the ongoing pandemic will impact the economy. (BigCommerce)

With more people staying at home and focusing on home improvement projects, the Home & Living category is on the rise, with the first 6 months of 2020 seeing a 243.77% growth. Both canvas gallery wraps (2.19%) and premium vertical posters (1.35%) are in TOP15 products sold by Printify merchants. (Printify)

According to Merkle’s report in 2020, roughly 79% of consumers plan to be more conservative with how much they will spend shopping online during the pandemic. (Merkle)

In the first 6 months of 2020, Printify monthly active users have grown by 69%, with registrations up 39%. (Printify)

62% of sellers in the United Kingdom changed their marketing plan because of the pandemic. Moreover, only 14 percent of businesses have decided to stick with their original marketing strategy for 2020. (Statista) ( All sources- Printify) Read more at: https://printify.com/ecommerce-statistics/ And these are just stats alone. Don’t wait now. Start your print-on-demand business right away.

Online Tutoring

Again, online tutoring is gaining massive demand in this digital age. During the pandemic the online tutoring business was a boom and it will be more in the coming years. Just teach people what you know. There are many people in this world who want to learn and are ready to pay for it.

Whether you know to speak English, or drawing, graphic designing, marketing, business, or anything that matters, turn your own skill into a business

You can tutor in paid platforms like cambly, Oakary, iTutor, or just start teaching in YouTube and create tour own course and sell it. You can create courses and teach in udemy too. People all over the world are searching to learn skills and may be you can teach them what you know and monetize your skills.

Amazon KDP [ Selling E-books and low content books ]

As I told you print on demand is a big thing and so does amazon KDP is too. What is KDP? Amazon KDP is nothing but kindle direct publishing. KDP allows you to self-publish eBooks and paperbacks for free. Amazon gives you direct access to your book on Amazon and allows you to create a product detail page for your book. It also gives you the option to expand your book’s availability on a global scale, making it more accessible for readers around the world. Publishing with KDP gives you full rights to your book, which is not something a traditional publishing house typically allows.

What types of content can I publish through KDP?

KDP allows you to publish eBooks (Kindle) and paperback books. However, KDP does not allow the creation of magazines, periodicals, or spiral-bound books.

Content types typically published using KDP include but are not limited to the following:

Novels

Book Series

Children’s Books

Comics

Cookbooks

Journals

Poetry

Textbooks (source: amazon.com)

Selling Photography

Are you a photographer? Are you making enough money? If no then this will help you , if yes you are gonna make an extra dime.

You can sell your beautiful photos on Getty Images, Pexels, Shutterstock, Adobe Stock and many more sites and earn money whenever your image is downloaded. If it is a subscription-based site then your earnings will be more. You can post your beautiful images on Instagram and become famous. Ultimately you can collaborate with various brands for their product photography.

If your camera is lying there near you, take it and start clicking pictures and sell your photos online.

Selling on Etsy

Etsy is an online market place that works as an intermediary between customers and artists, crafters of handmade items or collectors of vintage products. The company engages in customer to customer (C2C) or peer to peer (P2P) e-commerce in which both the seller and the buyer are private individuals or micro-businesses. This is in contrast to other forms of internet commerce such as B2C or B2B (source: Statista).

Let's head to our facts about how profitable it is to sell on Etsy

Etsy had over 2.5 million sellers at the end of 2019, and we can only expect that this number has increased.

Etsy sellers live all over the world, in 234 countries

62% of Etsy sellers are based in the US.

California is home to the most Etsy sellers with 14% of US-based Etsy shops. (credits: veeqo)

Etsy is a huge commerce platform, with an especially strong US presence. Plus, the fact that most sellers are multi-channel retailers—and also selling their products on marketplaces like Amazon and Shopify sites—suggests that the platform isn’t just for amateur makers. It’s for eCommerce businesses.

So if you’re already selling handmade or vintage products on another platform, it’s worth it to expand and start selling on Etsy.

If you’re starting a business, it’s important to run the numbers before setting up shop—or at least quitting your day job. Etsy does have associated costs, though it’s worth noting that the listing and transaction fees are lower than other platforms, like Amazon and eBay. (cre: veeqo)

So, if you can start your print on demand you can sell it on Etsy too. If you are good at handicrafts Etsy is the best place to promote.

Conclusion

So here are the top 10 ways where in you can make legitimate money online. You can try all these methods one by one. Well, everyone will look for quick methods to make money online, but those won’t suffice for long run.

If you should build a strong business online you need to stay consistent no matter what. Staying consistent will help audience grow along with you on your journey to make money online. For beginners starting out these methods will help you in starting out to make a dime or two.

One thing I need to make particular is you will not see results instantly. You need to try and try, keep on trying. Whether it is 2 weeks, 1 month or 3 months, you should not stop. Keep up that grind and let’s start the digital lifestyle. Start by making money online fore free with these methods and start investing in ads and make the business run for you in long run.

[undertale-data]

[Image Description: An Undertale chat box that has “WHY FANS LOVE UNDERTALE” at its center. Next to it are a line chart and an Egg from the Dating Hub on its left, and a CRIME measurer (also from the Dating Hub) on its right. End I.D.]

[Image Description: a pie chart titled, “LEVEL OF LOVE FOR UNDERTALE.” The textbox on the top right reads, “On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the least and 10 being the highest, how much do fans enjoy Undertale?” From the top going clockwise, 12 or 0% chose 5 and below; 23 or 1% chose 6; 98, or 4%, chose 7; 325, or 12%, chose 8; 529, or 20%, chose 9; and 1664, or 63%, chose 10. End I.D.]

It’s clear from all of the data analyzed so far that fans who took the time to answer our survey love Undertale. It is unlikely that they would have taken the time to answer so many questions if they had not, and even less likely that they would have come across our survey in the first place. Naturally, it comes as no surprise that 63% of our responders gave their love for Undertale a score of ten out of ten. 95% gave their love for Undertale a score of eight or higher, and only 12 responders responded with five or below, a number so small that their responses had to be lumped together to be visible on the pie chart. Of those, only 3 responders gave their love for Undertale a score of 1, and based on those responders’ other answers, it is likely that they were only intending to troll. We are very fortunate that the vast majority of responders took the survey seriously, enough so that responses like this are barely a blip in the data.

Now, for our final analysis post of the event, we will delve into the reasons that fans love Undertale so dearly.

(Essay and highlights under the cut.)

There have been countless essays on the impact that Undertale has had on people’s lives. I can hardly add more on the subject than what has already been said, but I hope this summary can provide a brief overview of what stood out among the over two thousand answers given in response to this survey. That said, due to the sheer volume of answers, I could not read every single one in depth—however, I did skim all of them, and some that stood out or were representative of several responses have been highlighted below. If you would like to see what every fan who consented to share their response had to say, you may view the full list of responses here. Note that these responses have not been edited in any way. This document may take a long time to load, as it is over 100 pages long.

(Warnings for mentions of suicidal thoughts in the following essay.)

Several responders loved the theme of choices mattering in Undertale. Whether people played the pacifist, merciless, or neutral routes, they enjoyed how the game reacted to their actions. For some, it even made them consider their own morality. One touching response explained the impact that the theme of mercy made on them. “I realized that Mercy isn't something that's given to those who deserve it. Flowey didn't deserve it. I don't deserve it myself. Shoot, we ALL need Mercy in our lives.” Many fans left similar comments about how the themes of Undertale made them better people.

Undertale changed how its fans treat others, and it also changed how fans treat themselves. The theme of staying determined and the messages of hope in the game were a light to a very large portion of fans. I cannot list all of the fans who said that Undertale helped them out of a dark place, or that they would not be alive if not for Undertale. “DETERMINATION became a metaphor for not killing myself at a really rough time in my life and I’ll always cherish that. Undertale isn’t afraid to go to really dark places but at the same time holds on so tight to its hope.”

Undertale brought fans together in unexpected ways. Some said they met friends or significant others through the fandom. “I wouldn't have met my now husband without Undertale,” one fan said. A different fan who is non-native English speaking mentioned that the game and the fan community helped them to learn English.

It would be impossible to discuss Undertale without mentioning the fan community. Whether for good or bad, many responders mentioned the fandom in their responses. Overall the feelings towards the fandom seem positive, though many made references to “toxic” parts of the fandom without specifying which parts they consider toxic. Others rejected the idea of toxicity in fandom. One response said: “[SLAMS FIST ON DESK] I KNOW MOST PEOPLE SAY THE FANDOM IS TOXIC AND CRINGE OR WHATEVER BUT OH MY GOD. The Undertale fandom, both the UTMV and the actual UT fandom, has been so much fun to be a part of. I've met countless friends because of our shared interest in something related to the game! The art people create can be breathtaking and so inspirational, and the fanfics are so so good!! I've seen people write incredible things for this fandom and it's what made me continue writing!”

One thing that makes the Undertale fandom unique is the way it embraces various AUs. Some fans are tired of AU content, but the majority of responses show a love for the creativity behind AUs. “Roll your eyes at the 50th AU Sans all you want, it's encouraging people to step outside the boundaries of fanart and pushing people to make their own ideas! I mean, hell, it was how I gained the confidence to start making my own original content.” The lack of a judgemental atmosphere seems present in the AU community, according to the responses we saw. There is an interesting balance between AU and canon (sometimes referred to as “classic”) content that another responder pointed out: “The fandom helped keep the game alive all these years, with all of its AUs. Although personally, I always enjoyed AUs that kept characters as close to the classic material as possible (dancetale, outertale) I do appreciate the creativity of the fandom. They almost created entirely new stories with new characters of their own! If it weren't for those people, the Undertale fandom would have probably not been as active as it is now. I do feel like we're getting a resurgence of classic content now too! (In 2021)”

Regardless of the many AUs the fandom has created over the years, the original game of Undertale still feels like home for many fans. They wished they could reclaim the feeling of playing the game again for the first time, but even though we can’t reset time in real life, there is still a special feeling for fans each time they play Undertale. One fan said, “Even the best fics I've read can't capture that feeling of nostalgia/almost-"coming home" that comes with hearing the music and talking to the characters.” This feeling is one that can be cherished time and time again. In the words of another responder: “It always feels welcoming like home or like comfort food that I never grow tired of no matter how many times I go to it.” Others pointed out the strength of the found family trope in Undertale, which likely contributes to this feeling of “home” as well.

As mentioned briefly earlier, the music is part of what makes Undertale feel like home for fans. Even when responses focused on other aspects of the game, many would throw in a comment about the soundtrack at the end. One comment focused on the music said “IT'S SO GOOD like I will literally go through the entire thing over and over and not be bored with it. It makes my monkey brain so happy you have no idea.” Like with the game itself, the music has incredible replay value, an amazing feat considering most of the tracks use the same few motifs. “I think what I like the most about Undertale is how the music attaches you to the story,” another responder said. “They're simple melodies that stick with you throughout the whole game, and they can remind you of both good and bad times.”

If the music sticks with fans in their hearts, then the game’s lore sticks with fans in their minds. Even six years after the release of Undertale, fans are still creating new theories and digging up new secrets. The way the game breaks the fourth wall in particular intrigued many fans and has stuck out through all these years. The awareness that the game shows for the RPG genre makes it memorable. The game plays with the player’s expectations and turns them on their heads, all while reminding the player that they’re in a game. There are few other games that do this on such a large scale, so it’s no surprise that fans cite this as one of their favorite things about Undertale.

Lastly, the LGBT+ representation in Undertale has been a huge draw for fans. Especially in 2015, the sheer volume of non-cishet characters was unprecedented, as one fan pointed out: “It's practically unheard of to see so MANY from just one source, especially during its heyday in 2015-16. Hell, you can't even GET the true pacifist ending without helping two gay couples hook up. It's really nice to see all of them being accepted for who they are and not judged for their sexuality or gender, at least in-canon.” The LGBT+ cast including Frisk, Chara, Napstablook, Monster Kid, Mettaton, Alphys, and Undyne each connected with fans in unique ways. It’s clear how important this is from responses such as: “There are canon nonbinary characters 🥺. i have never seen representation of myself before.” “It made me gay and trans so thanks for that.”

Once again I am overwhelmed with just how much there is to say about Undertale. One responder really understood when they compared Undertale to an iceberg, explaining that there are so many layers to the game that there is something for everyone: “everyone can find something to enjoy in the lore/game regardless of what kind of fan they are! Being able to appeal to various types of fans—from simple happy shipper people to deep dive lorediggers—is the mark of the coolest games!” I would have to agree with them.

It’s been six years, and despite everything, it’s still you. Thank you for reading, participating in this survey, and above all, staying determined.

Highlights:

DETERMINATION became a metaphor for not killing myself at a really rough time in my life and I’ll always cherish that. Undertale isn’t afraid to go to really dark places but at the same time holds on so tight to its hope.

I think the coolest thing was having the opportunity to watch the AU community grow from its bare roots. It's nearly insane how big and complex it's gotten, unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Roll your eyes at the 50th AU Sans all you want, it's encouraging people to step outside the boundaries of fanart and pushing people to make their own ideas! I mean, hell, it was how I gained the confidence to start making my own original content.

i love how the lgbt rep is so naturalized... there are just gay people! and its nobodys business!

The music is my go to answer, but what I really really REALLY love is how the minor characters have so much personality to them when you talk to them. They aren't incredibly important to the overall story, but they're all so likeable and diverse that you just can't help but like them immediately!

I think it was the first videogame I have played that broke the fourth wall that much. Of course there has been other videogames that broke it but just for one or two tongue-in-cheek jokes. The guilt of killing mama goat was also something intense as well that I appreciated as an experience and that I didn't think a videogame could cause on someone.

I love how no character can be seen as completely bad! Everyone builds up Asgore as some horrible villain, but he turns out to be a 'fuzzy pushover' who's broken and just wants his family back by the time you meet him. Then you think Flowey's an irredeemable killer who engineered the suffering of the monsters across many timelines, and he is... but he also used to be the kind and beloved Prince Asriel Dreemurr, traumatized by his death and subsequent rebirth, projecting his best friend onto you.

The fact that choices matter in the game. Your first playthrough and getting the golden ending for the first time. I can never replicate those feelings again, wish I could erase my memories and replay the game from the start.

I wouldn't have met my now husband without Undertale.

(Toxic parts of the fandom aside) The community is possibly one of the kindest I've ever met. Cringe culture is completely dead, and I feel like I can be myself. I felt a very close connection to many of the characters, and I loved consuming content about them when I was in a rough patch in my life.

just everything, the whole game has just impacted my life so much. i know it sounds really lame, but when the game first came out, i would purposely put my hands in my pockets and sway slightly, like sans' idle animation. of course i dont do that anymore haha, but undertale still really impacts me to this day, and i wouldnt have it any other way :)

it made me gay and trans so thanks for that

I realized that Mercy isn't something that's given to those who deserve it. Flowey didn't deserve it. I don't deserve it myself. Shoot, we ALL need Mercy in our lives.

The thing I love most about Undertale is no matter how many times I play or watch a playthrough it always makes me genuinely happy. It always feels welcoming like home or like comfort food that I never grow tired of no matter how many times I go to it. Toriel still makes me feel all warm and cozy in her home, the Skelebros always make me laugh, and I still cry on the inside watching Frisk comforting Asriel. And on the flip side the No Mercy run still invokes the negative emotions in me as well. In short Undertale just feels like a second home to me and I always wish I could stay.

The reader inserts are my favorite way to decompress after a hard day

I think Undertale helped me discover my love for 8-bit games, and made me realize how IMPORTANT music is in video games.

the worldbuilding and character design are my favorite parts of the main game apart from the music! I’m also a huge fan of the random AU music- not for like underswap or underfell i like the stuff where someone makes a megalovania for a random au where gru from despicable me replaces sans as the character. i think its funny

Just... the vibe, honestly? Even the best fics I've read can't capture that feeling of nostalgia/almost-"coming home" that comes with hearing the music and talking to the characters.

there are canon nonbinary characters 🥺. i have never seen representation of myself before.

[SLAMS FIST ON DESK] I KNOW MOST PEOPLE SAY THE FANDOM IS TOXIC AND CRINGE OR WHATEVER BUT OH MY GOD. The Undertale fandom, both the UTMV and the actual UT fandom, has been so much fun to be a part of. I've met countless friends because of our shared interest in something related to the game! The art people create can be breathtaking and so inspirational, and the fanfics are so so good!! I've seen people write incredible things for this fandom and it's what made me continue writing!

There's a scene where Frisk (the player) is going towards what is presumably going to be their death. They will fight Asgore and he will use their human soul to break the barrier and free his people. The music, despite the player's impending doom, is... triumphant. You are not the triumphant one here, and yet, the score invites you to experience the monsters' joy and happiness as they tell you the tale of their subjugation. The monsters are going to be free. This is their victory, but they don't hate you or want you to die. They're just... happy. That scene has always struck me very deeply. I feel it represents the best parts of Undertale.

I loved how well thought out the Geno route was. It really made me feel like I was doing something horrible, and the characters were very obviously reacting to dire circumstances.

I dunno? I like Undertale for it's characters, story, music, secrets and many more. I am not good with Headcanons but I also like the neutral endings and how different they can depending on who you spare and kill

I was very bad at english before, i thought i couldn't progress because i was very shy and not confident. But my sibling and i wanted to have the best experience with this game so we wanted to play it in english. It's this game and the fandom which helped me to make huge progress in english !

THE SOUNDTRACK. IT'S SO GOOD like I will literally go through the entire thing over and over and not be bored with it. It makes my monkey brain so happy you have no idea.

to avoid writing an essay i will say one word. Mettaton

It is like Toby specifically made the games to fit the iceberg meme and it's awesome, everyone can find something to enjoy in the lore/game regardless of what kind of fan they are! Being able to appeal to various types of fans - from simple happy shipper people to deep dive lorediggers is the mark of the coolest games!

I love almost everything about Undertale as a game on its own. The music, the art and especially the characters and how they interact. They made me feel at home. Undertale means a huge amount to me. (I even got a tattoo of the castle when you and MK walk together!) The fandom helped keep the game alive all these years, with all of its AUs. Although personally, I always enjoyed AUs that kept characters as close to the classic material as possible (dancetale, outertale) I do appreciate the creativity of the fandom. They almost created entirely new stories with new characters of their own! If it weren't for those people, the Undertake fandom would have probably not been as active as it is now. I do feel like we're getting a resurgence of classic content now too! (In 2021)

the mystery. toby fox refused to give answers to anything and i think thats very sexy of him.

I just feel guilty for liking it so much when I'm in my 30's. But I recently got diagnosed with ASD, so I guess it explains things a bit. Many ppl consider Papyrus to be neurodivergent, and some adult fans are too, so seeing that makes me feel a bit better.

i think about "Despite everything, it's still you" everyday of my life.

I like how it's just as funny as it can be serious. All routes are this way. I laughed as much as I cried when I played the Pacifist route and then once I opened the game again and Flowey was telling me to let them be happy, I immediately turned off the game. I somehow felt bad.

The Found Family Trope

The True Pacifist Ending is just...man. And the fanworks about saving everyone even when the game doesn't let you? MANNNNNN

I think what I like the most about Undertale is how the music attaches you to the story. They're simple melodies that stick with you throughout the whole game, and they can remind you of both good and bad times.

there's honestly a LOT to love about this game, but i think one of my favorite things about it is just how many lgbt+ characters there are??? i can think of alphys, undyne, frisk, chara, mettaton, napstablook, monster kid, asgore, mad mew mew, the dress lion, the royal guards, and arguably even papyrus off of the top of my head, but im sure i'm forgetting a few from just undertale alone (there's even MORE in deltarune)!! it's practically unheard of to see so MANY from just one source, especially during its heyday in 2015-16. hell, you can't even GET the true pacifist ending without helping two gay couples hook up. it's really nice to see all of them being accepted for who they are and not judged for their sexuality or gender, at least in-canon.

[Image description: A wordcloud in the shape of the capitalized word UNDERTALE. The text is white on a black background, and uses the font found in the game. Some of the most visible words are: Game, Love, Music, Life, AU, Store, Friend, and Feel, which represent the most common words in the essays people wrote about their love for the game. End of ID]

[justkending]

Moral of The Story. Chapter One.

Summary: Marrying too young out of highschool leads to a naive and failed marriage. Now 10 years later, word comes that the divorce was never actually completed. Bucky and Y/N have to come back together after all these years to settle what wasn’t all those years back. Passive attitudes, miscommunicated endings, and reminiscing of an old love all comes back for the two.

Pairing: Bucky x Y/N

Word Count: 2600+

A/N: Ok, here is the first chapter! If you have not already listened to the song that evoked this idea from my imagination land, I suggest giving it a go! Moral of the Story by Ashe. I’m excited for you guys to see what this story brings and I really hope I do it justice! As always, comments and thoughts are welcome as they help me grow as a writer and let me see what you guys notice:) ENJOY MY LOVES!!! <3

(The posting will be once every other day until I have finished the series. If I finish early, I will post an update once a day:)

Read the Prologue here first!

Chapter One:

"You already got the flight?" Nat asked, perched on Y/N's couch as she ran around frantically packing. "Don't you have a huge meeting next week with that new business? What was it called? Bee's Knees?"

"Yes, but it's not until Monday evening. I highly doubt I will be there longer than a weekend to sign a few divorce papers. I'm planning on coming back early that afternoon, so I shouldn't miss it," she answered, not even stopping to look at her as she ran through the rooms and bathroom in the apartment.

"How soon did you book that flight?"

"As soon as I hung up the phone with Murdock," Y/N sighed. Nat sent her a questioning look not knowing that name. "New lawyer. The guy who took over for the sleazeball known as Justin Hammer," she rolled her eyes.

"Right," Nat nodded. "So, are you staying at your dad's house?"

"I would take my dad's house over my mom and Jerry's any day. You know this," Y/N paused in her actions, sending her a bitch face.

"I know. Just didn't know if you'd be all fancy and rent a hotel room to escape the smothering that is bound to happen from good ol' Mr. Y/L/N," Nat grinned.

"It's been so long since I've seen him not via facetime. And we both know that's barely seeing him as he doesn't know where the camera is even after a hundred calls," she laughed.

"Parents. Either they're technologically challenged or know how to work it better than us. Never in between and it's weird." Nat watched as Y/N froze in her stance and looked lost trying to think of something else to pack. Deciding she needed a distraction, Nat changed the subject some. "Hey, did you get Melody to go on that date tomorrow?"

"Yes!" Y/N answered proudly. "I know your aunt wants grandbabies from her daughter, but that girl just needs a night on the town more than anything. She's in her early 20's and holes herself up at the office almost more than I do, and I'm the boss."

"Cousin's got my work ethic. What can I say?" Nat shrugged smugly.

"Well, she needs to get your spirit in living some too."

"Touche," Nat pointed. "I need to have Yelena take her out. She's the real party sister out of us two."

"That is true. How she's able to party for 48 hours straight and still wake up at 8 am for mimosas, blows my mind," Y/N commented on Natasha's younger sister. "She's only a few years older than Melody, right?"

"Yeah, Yelena is 24, and Melody is 22. They were best of friends growing up, but once they got to high school, they kinda went different routes about life. Lana, the party gal, and Mel the studious bookworm."

"I'm not surprised by either of those," Y/N shook her head before collapsing next to Nat on the couch. A loud breath and sigh escaped her body.

Nat watched as her mind escaped back to the original issue at hand.

"What's going on in that brain of yours, Y/N/N?" she said, softly touching her shoulder. "Not that I don't already know, but maybe letting it out will help unscramble those thoughts."

Y/N lazily rolled her head to the redhead next to her.

"How is he?" she asked.

Nat was a part of their friend group from middle school through high school. She kept up with all of them still, whereas Y/N kept up with all of them except one.

"I actually haven't talked to him in a while. Steve on the other hand..." Nat nodded. "From that source, it sounds like Barnes is just as surprised and freaked out as you."

"He's freaked out?" Y/N asked, a hint of interest peeking out.

"Who wouldn't be? You get a call from a lawyer saying your marriage is still intact after 9 years of breaking it off, I would be freaked out too."

"He deserves it. I hope he's just as freaked out as me, if not more," she responded bitterly, crossing her arms across her chest like a pouting child.

"Y/N," Nat sighed.

"No. Don't. Don't defend him to me, it's pointless," she put up a hand. "I know you're still friends with him, but you guys still don't understand the pain that that man brought on me."

"He fought for you, Y/N. He didn't mean-," Nat countered.

"Again, you're wasting your breath. Defending him now does nothing to change the past," she said stubbornly, getting back up and carrying on with her packing. "You can still take me to the airport tomorrow, right?"

Her best friend wanted to keep pushing, knowing she had harbored this heartbreak for too long. Sure what had happened between them sucked and was a horrible chapter of their lives, but neither made an effort to talk it out and understand the other's side of the story. Faults of being young, immature, and not knowing how to handle a grown-up decision.

"Yes, I'll pick you up at work at 10. Flights at 11:25, right?"

"Yes, and you know California traffic. That will probably get me there 10 minutes before my gate closes. I had to get an early flight though because that time difference is going to kick my ass. It'll be close to 5:30 in my head and 8:30 there by the time I land... " Y/N huffed, rolling her bag to the front door for tomorrow. "You mind taking this tonight and keeping it in your car for now? That way I don't have to lug it to work?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll grab it on my way out. But we're still having a girl's night, right?"

Y/N laughed some before going to the kitchen to grab beers. "I Survived is already recorded and ready for us."

___________________

"Shit man... When's the last time you talked to her?" Steve asked, sitting across from his best friend in the chair diagonal from the couch, leaning forward on his knees after listening to the new news.

"Since I was supposedly signing our divorce papers. And even then, we didn't really talk. She sat there quietly straight-faced until it was signed and then rushed out the doors," Bucky sighed, still trying to wrap his head around the situation. "She was out of the state within the next hour."

Steve nodded before falling back into the single seat.

"So, do you guys have to see each other again, or is it one of those situations where you can sign separately?"

"I don't know. I just got off the phone. All I know up to this second is that Y/N and I have been married for the past 9 years without knowing it," Bucky said somewhat harshly. Steve didn't flinch at the tone knowing it wasn't directed at him. "I'm sorry. I-I just can't wrap my mind around this."

"It's ok. This is crazy shit, Buck," Steve waved off. There was a long pause before Steve decided to ask the question he was sure anyone would want to know. "Do you want to see her?"

Bucky slowly looked over to the blonde. God, he had been asking himself that question for the past 10 minutes himself.

On one end, yes. He wondered where she was now in life. How she was doing. What accomplishments he knew she would be making. He knew a few small things just by the whispers and small talk of her with their shared friend group that he still hung out with, but a majority of the time, they didn't bring her up around him. They knew what it did to him.

On the other end, he never thought about facing her again. I mean maybe for the year after their divorce, but when he never heard anything back from her all those times he still tried to reach out and she blocked him on almost all forms of social media, he gave up any hope of them falling back into good terms again. He hated it, but he wasn't going to push her when she clearly hated his guts.

And honestly, he deserved it. His young, stupid, college self was not a smart guy when it came to relationships. Even ones that had been there from the beginning of time practically.

Yet again, she wasn't perfect either. She made some mistakes of her own that pushed him to act the way he had.

"Hey, you both are older and more mature now. I'm sure you if you guys do have to see each other again, you can handle it like adults," Steve reassured, seeing Bucky's face turn to a soft frown. "Ok, so she may be a little stubborn..."

"A little?"

"Ok, a lot. But she's older now. She's not the 19-year-old girl that you remember," Steve defended.

"I believe that but I'm sure she still holds a grudge that is very, very, very, very-," Bucky was going to go on about 10 more very's before ending with BIG, but Steve cut him off.

"You don't know that," Steve shook his head.

"Really? Because usually when you no longer hold a grudge against someone, you might just reach out to that person and reconnect possibly," Bucky argued. "I mean that's what mature people do, right?"

"Not always..."

"So she's either not mature or still just as stubborn. Hell, for all we know, both," Bucky shrugged, pursing his lips.

"If you go into this with that mindset, nothing good is going to come out of it." Steve pointed an eyebrow at him.

Bucky rolled his eyes not replying to Steve. He knew he was right, but he was still bitter after all these years about how Y/N handled the situation. Sure, he messed up, but she had to. Yet she made him into this big bad wolf that was at 100% fault in the downfall of their relationship. It made him feel like shit, and though he tried to make amends knowing he did some fucked up things, she acted like she was Miss Perfect and didn't do anything wrong the entire time.

Damn, even after all this time, it still lit a fire in his chest with annoyance and hurt.

"When's the meeting?" Steve once again interrupted his thoughts.

"I guess Saturday morning. They said they were coming in on their off hours to fix up a few cases they found like ours," Bucky answered.

"How many cases were there?"

"Eh, I think he said it was single digits, but there were a shit ton of other cases in different areas that were worse off. The divorce ones are a small number compared to those."

"Damn. That sucks for all the couples who got a call today then," Steve huffed, running a hand down his face.

"Yeah, you're telling me..."

"Hey, we were going out with Wanda and Vis tonight. You still up for that, or...?" Steve stood up.

Bucky looked back at the beer on the coffee table and then at the TV still playing I Survived stories quietly in the background.

"You know what? I'm going to need a stronger drink than an IPA to get me to sleep tonight," Bucky nodded, standing and wiping his hands on his jeans before walking to his room.

"Looks like I'm the DD tonight then..." Steve sighed.

___________

"Vis," Wanda motioned to her fiance as he came back from the bar. "Nat just texted."

"About what? How is she?" Vis smiled as he sat next to her with Sam across from him. Sam tagged along at the last second since his other plans got canceled.

"She's good, but it's not about her," Wanda waved off, still reading whatever lengthy text was sent her way.

"Wow, that looks like a novel," Vis noticed with wide eyes as he looked over her shoulder.

"Wait 'til you hear what it's about." 

Sam shook his head as he took a sip of the beer Vis had brought over.

After reading the rest of the text out loud from where she had left off, everyone at the table looked at each other with shock ridden faces.

"They're still married?" Vis said softly as if it was a secret.

"Apparently..." Wanda nodded with wide eyes.

"So that Hammer guy was a sham?" Sam questioned.

"I told her not to go to him. He had some shady hole in the wall kind of establishment," Wanda chided. "But she said they needed something cheap and fast. She hated his guts and wanted it out of it then and there. Plus, they were 19. They didn't have much money anyway."

"Why didn't they just ask their parents for help?" Sam questioned. "Isn't Y/N's mom loaded?"

"Yes, but she refused to help her. She said it was her own fault for getting married so young and that she had warned her. Told her she had to get out of the mess on her own," Wanda answered.

"What about her dad?" Vis jumped in.

"Bucky and her dad were close. She was off in Colorado for school and didn't want to put her dad through that or make him have to help her in cutting him off. Bucky was like the son he never had and they were bonded at the hip. No matter how much Y/N hated Bucky, she wasn't going to ruin or take away his relationship with her father. That would have been cruel, and Y/N is anything but that."

"Weren't Bucky's and Y/N's dad's best friends?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, they were old-time war buddies. They're the reason Bucky and Y/N had known each other since birth. But Bucky's dad died when he was about 13, and Y/N's dad, Thomas, kinda took him under his wing. Growing up a teenage boy without a father figure messes with you, and Bucky was on the edge of a bad path after losing his father."

"He's still rather close with Thomas, but I'm sure Y/N doesn't know that. Unless Thomas has said something, and with how everything came to an end for the two, I'm sure he doesn't bring it up knowing how tender of a subject Bucky is to her," Vis added.

"Makes sense..." Sam nodded. "I only knew you all from the start of college, so I'm still a little lost in all the beginning stuff."

"All good. It's complicated with those two. Their past and upbringing are so interconnected with the other, it makes their downfall all the more intense and messy," Wanda sighed. "God, if this is the news, he's going to be a wreck tonight..." She looked up worriedly at her fiance who shared the same concerns.

"It could go two ways. Either he comes in all solemn and says three words all night, or Steve's going to be the DD and he's waking up with a head-busting hangover," Sam noted with a small grin at the thought. "I'm going to go with the latter though."

"Poor guy," Wanda sighed, taking a drink with a sad face. Ever the sympathetic one.

"We'll be here to listen if he wants to talk. If not, we act like we have no idea and don't bring it up," Vision spoke up, throwing his arm over her and running his hand up and down her shoulder.

"I'm going to tease him still most likely," Sam shrugged nonchalantly. Wanda sent him a warning glare. "Fine, mama bear! I'll be nice... Until he starts making a fool of himself." He added the last part quietly.

Moral of the Story Taglist:

@taylormobley @ximaginx @vicmc624 @leyannrae

Marvel Tags:

@thejourneyneverendsx @death-unbecomes-you @heyiamthatbitch @lizzymacy555  @srrymydood @xa-dia @redhairedfeistynerd @morganclaire4 @connie326 @captain-asguard @mollygetssherlockcoffee @teenagedreams-bucky @shower-me-with-roses @pham-tastical

My Lovelies forever:

@natura1phenomenon @lauravicente @kakakatey @traceyaudette @notyourtypicalrose  @laneygthememequeen @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @sandlee44 @thorne93 @thefaithfulwriter @essie1876 @greyeyedsmile14 @capsiclehan  @xostephanie @averyrogers83 @awesomenursingstudent @gh0stgurl @cs-please @carls1022 @jjlevin @rainbowkisses31 @anise-d-castle6 @deannotmoose @their-bibliophile @kitkatd7 @willowbleedsonpaper @mariaenchanted @snffbeebee @couldabeenamermaid @rebekahdawkins @alyispunk​ @princess-annna

Bucky Barnes Tags:

@chloe-skywalker @charmedbysarge @jbarness @bellamy-barnes @katiaw2 @aikeia