#got mine in june 2022

[chiefyteethies]

📍Ladybower Reservoir, Hope Valley

[seaside-writings]

[irisbleufic]

YOUR 3 CATS ARE SO CUTE OMG! How old are they/what are their stories?

Like many young-ish queer married couples, @one-eyed-bossman and I entered the fast track to pet parenthood in 2020. I was still recovering from extensive cancer treatment at the time, which is part of what makes our first kitty especially meaningful to me.

ZEL

Zel is my darling girl. She’s now 5 years old, and when we adopted her in June of 2020, she was already 1 year old. After being rescued on the streets at a few weeks old with her two personable siblings, she spent an entire year at this lady’s house with like 20 other cats at any given time. She was feral and unapproachable, but somehow I was able to get close enough to her at the rescue to pick her up and put her in the carrier. She nailed me with her claws in the process, but that’s the only time she’s ever hurt me or anyone else. The day after we got her home, I stuck my hand behind the bed in her safe room, and she set her little paw square in my palm and left it there for about a minute. I spent a couple of months crawling halfway under the bed to pet her while she was curled in her bed, and eventually I could get her to follow me around the house by asking, “Do you want to go for a walk?” She barely left my side after that. I spent a lot of 2020 sick in bed; she always curled up snugly between my ankles or my knees. She’s now the smartest cat I’ve ever met. Her language recognition shocks me even after 4 years of having her as a silly little shadow who likes to play fetch with her pink-eared mouse toy. She’s stuck to my side any time I’m on the sofa, and about a month ago she climbed fully in my lap for the first time. Her meow is barely a whisper when she does use it (only to talk to me and occasionally to the TV), but the trills, squeaks, and yowls she makes to talk to her toys are hilarious. She doesn’t even talk to her siblings like that. Unlike many white cats, she is not deaf.

NICKY

We got Nicky a year after we got Zel; he was about 8 weeks old when we brought him home in June of 2021. We met a kind lady who periodically bred her lovely Bengal queens, and Nicky was somehow a “non-show-quality” (?!!) discount kitten. He’s sweet, goofy, vocal, afraid of everything/everyone that’s outside the house, and occasionally very naughty. We hoped he would bring Zel the rest of the way out of her shell, and it worked. He just adored her from day one. She took a few months to warm up to him, but they bonded pretty fast. Now, at 3 years old, he’s a big boy—17 pounds. He likes to stand/sit on laps more than he likes to lie down in them, although he will lie down in mine a couple times a week. He brings me granola bars from the cupboard and loves trash more than he likes his toys:

EMBER

We hadn’t planned on a third cat, but the universe insisted. I mean that quite literally. On 31 July 2022, my mother died at my sister’s place a couple of states away. The morning she died, me and my four siblings took a walk around my sister’s neighborhood. We split up and went slightly different ways; my sister and her husband called me as I was getting back to the house to say that a tiny, tiny crying kitten had run out of the bushes toward them. My sister didn’t know what to do; one of my nieces is very allergic, and we were all burnt-out from dealing with Mom’s passing and the funeral home taking away her body. I told her to bring the kitten back to the house, because I was too grief-stricken to let another thing die that day. Out on the porch, I fed her milk from one of the droppers we were using to give my mom morphine, all the while making desperate phone calls to local rescues. After about 3 hours, a local vet with specialty in caring for bottle baby kittens came to pick her up. She told me that, because I didn’t live too far away in the grand scheme of things, she could foster the baby until she was old enough for me to arrange transport to my home state. There was no way I could walk away from that little baby, so I got regular photos, videos, and updates from her foster mom until I could arrange transport about 5 months later (she came home in December of 2022). She has grown up to be the feistiest tortie I’ve ever met. She has far longer hair than I ever could have guessed, and even now that she’s 1.5 years old, she has very short legs (longer end of munchkin, our vet says!) and an overall smaller stature than her siblings. She fucking adores Nicky, and he has never once played too rough for her given the size disparity. He lets her chase him, jump on him, bap him into play fights, etc. She will cry and cry at night if we don’t pick her up and carry her around before we close the bedroom doors (they get to sleep in the bedroom sometimes, but not always; Nicky likes to knock picture frames off the wall in there, and I’m not about exposing them to broken glass).

[eminsunnytoons123]

A small rant on a user called @finnandfillmore21 .

Disclaimer before I start, do NOT attack this person, Im just saying this for them to know that this is not okay what they have done. And im not trying to attack this person nor dox them.

And this is for all my besties, Sisters, Brothers, pen pals, my two girlfriends And my boyfriend to know:

@splashy900 @kxllboii @cheezekennith @aquamarine-dream-queen @dayzsaclark @oscarandgrinchfan @moshywoosh @ilovescaredysquirrel2 @nuggetaubrey @sharkyy599 @nightkit92 @familyoffood @mysafespaceblog13 @thelazzyblogzz @sugar-miss1 @shrimpathizer @shypeachrunaway @iggyguyy @sophia-does-skits @typical-sophie @peaceforpeople @ben5569 @itsmyaltaccountforshiitybloglol0 @ducktoonz903707 @artismeyou-12 @blackstar044 @acen402 @diego-r-the-artist-2009 @nia1sworld @rumplestiltsbear @s4gefr0g @muppet-fan-real @beeware-of-lulu @leafith @bluebird-in-a-cagedrawing @muppet-fan-frr @thegroovyskull @blo0st4r And red the demon King on discord.

And I Got inspired by @fabianvalencia561 to make this post.

Okay, so... This person would spam requests, likes And comments on nearly everyone's tumblr, especially if theyre the part of Thomas the tank engine Fandom And willys wonderland Fandom. And I was one of their targets since I was still into willys wonderland Fandom from summer 2022, to june of 2023.

And bro, this person used to request me stuff on february And march of 2023, mostly willys wonderland stuff. And it would sometimes get on my nerves, And they would whine And put crying emojis if I told them that my requests are closed or when I tell them to stop spamming me: "are you done yet?" And they literally whine like a little Baby for the requests. And they put my arts of willys wonderland requests they asked me on their profile from my first And old deactivated account called "cathy61528" And I Got Mad because they put my Art there without my permission. Heres proof:

And they put other artists' arts on their profile without their permission.

And look, Y'all dont have to ask me for my permission when y'all wanna draw the moopets, whatnots, teppums, parodies And even class of 4000 And more OCs of mine from the muppets or class of 3000, but this person literally screenshoted my Art And post it on their profile without my fucking permission.

And for the requests again, they would sometimes force me to draw their requests like either later or tonight, And when I would tell them that my requests are closed, they start whining And telling me: "please just for me 🥺" LIKE NO, NO MEANS NO, STOP MEANS STOP. And I have my own arts And AU's to do but they would constantly ask me "did you made it?" And that Type of bullshit.

And they would even ask other Artists that are part of Thomas the tank engine community to draw some stuff involving Thomas and Gordon, And it would sometimes get on other artists' nerves.

And also, @finnandfillmore21 ? If you're seeing this... Please listen to my advice I told you yesterday, I dont want you to do the same stuff I did when I was still good with my blue haired aunt, such as demanding requests. And it can sometimes make others block you or hate you. And im not trying to make others hate you after this post, its just that you shouldnt pressure People a Lot.

Thanks y'all for listening 💛🧡

[cuttergauthier]

Neighbours

Quinn Hughes x Female reader

Warning: against, fluff, cussing, alcohol

word count: 3.7k

let me know what you guys think🤍

April 2022

I moved to Vancouver 2 weeks ago for work even though I can work from home. I wanted a change so I decided to move. I'm a clothing designer. I started the summer before I started going to university. It was hard trying to juggle a clothing brand and university at the same time especially since i was doing extra classes during summer since i wanted to be able to finish a semester earlier so i could go back home for summer & be settled in Vancouver for when i come back in September, but i was able to make it work.

When I first started I would only make 1 shirt in all sizes and sell them, it took a while to be able to make money off it, but now the clothing company is doing really well, It’s an online clothing store. I sell both Women & Men clothes from comfy to fancy.

I’ve always wanted to open my own store and I thought Vancouver would be perfect for that, most of my buyers are from canada.

I was born in Plymouth Michigan, i grew up in a lake house, my parent’s love it here, so do i, during winter my dad, my older brother and i would go skating on the lake, it’s one of my favorite things to do during the winter, during summertime we would go on boat rides almost every day. 

I went to the University of Michigan, I graduated in June, it was the best 3 and a half years, now I'm on a new chapter of my life. I 

I am still getting used to Vancouver. I don’t really know where everything is yet, it’s only been 5 days and i can work on my own time as long as i meet my deadlines, so i’ve been walking around Vancouver. It was a pretty chilly day but it wasn’t too bad. We are now at the end of April.

It took a while before moving here to look for an apartment, And to get everything settled since I’m American i needed to apply for a work visa, it took a while before i was accepted.

I finally found a cute coffee shop so I made my way inside and in line to order. I looked at the menu to see what I should order. Once I decided to go with (favorite coffee order) the line was shorter and it was only a cute guy in front of me and I.

When I finally ordered, I made my way to the pick up station. The cute guy got his drink before me and walked out. I got my drink a second later and left the coffee shot. I started walking back to my apartment since I still have some unpacking to do. 

I’m walking and looking around me, Vancouver is truly a beautiful city. I looked in front of me and saw the cute guy was going in the same direction. He looks familiar but I can't figure out why.

I saw him getting in the same apartment building I live in, maybe he lives there too. I made my way inside to see the elevator doors about to close. The guy looked up from his phone and saw I was walking that way, so he put his hand to stop the doors from closing.

I smiled as I walked in and stood next to him, to see he selected the same floor as I live on.

“Thanks for holding the door,” I said thankfully.

“No problem,” he said. He looked so serious like he didn’t have any emotion in the fact that i said thank you.

“I’m yn” i said

“Quinn” he replied before looking down at his phone.

He looked pretty tired, maybe that’s why he doesn’t seem to want to talk. But so am I, so I can't judge. 

The doors opened on our floor and we both started walking to our apartments. We are both going the same direction.

Once he stopped at his place, I stopped at mine which was the one next to him.

How have i not noticed him till today, since i’ve been here, it looked like no one lived there.

I saw him look at me before he opened the door. I looked at him as we made eye contact for a second. 

“See you around neighbor” i told him smiling before walking in my Apartment and closing the door behind me. 

I really hope I see him again. I smiled before continuing to unpack my stuff.

1 week later, May 2022

I finished packing my suitcase to bring back home with me. I was finally able to finish unpacking the furniture and everything else in this apartment so I thought I would finally go back home, since it’s warmer there right now then it is in Vancouver.

I made sure everything was turned off and made my way out of the apartment with my suitcase. As soon as I locked my door, Quinn opened his and got out with his suitcase. Looks like I'm not the only one who seems to be leaving Vancouver.

I made my way to the elevator and I saw him do the same. I made sure to wait before pressing the lobby button. 

“Thanks” he mumbled

“ no problem… Are you going to Vancouver?” I ask him, trying to make conversation.

He looked at me confused for a minute, before he shook his head. 

“Going to see friends and family” he replied 

“That’s always nice,” I say. All he did was nod, I guess he’s not one for conversation. 

We both got out of the elevator and made our way outside, i had ordered an uber so that I wouldn't have to wait. It looks like Quinn did the same thing. Once my suitcase was in the trunk the driver started making his way to the airport. 

I texted my parents to let them know I was on my way to the airport.

I got my bags checked in and made my way to my area. I found a spot where no one was sitting and sat down. My flight is only boarding in an hour but I like coming here earlier in case it’s ever busy.

I saw that my brother had texted me, he’s only 1 year older than me, he's 23 but he’s my best friend.

Big bro

Yo, are you on your way yet?

I chuckled, of course he’s impatient 

Me

Just got my bags checked in, we are only boarding the plane in an hour

Big bro

Please hurry, I miss you!

Big bro

Also before i forget, apparently the hughes brothers bought the lake house next to us that was for sale, i met one of them yesterday and some of his friends they all play pro hockey, one of the brothers plays for Vancouver, Jack said he should be getting in today & the ones i met are really cool, they’re around are age, so looks like we’ll have a fun summer🤪

Me

Oh good, at least it’s not another older couple who would complain every time we try to throw a party when mom and dad go away for the 4th of July😂 & wtf obviously i heard about then you idiot, kinda hard not to when we both went to a school where a bunch of hockey players went to. Also I met the youngest Luke at university, Nick introduced me to the freshman at the beginning of the year.

Big bro

I know right😂 oh cool then i guess you’ll know one of them! Anyways see you soon kid!

Me

See ya!

I smiled, hopefully I won't be stuck hanging out with a bunch of idiots the whole summer, but at least we aren’t the only ones our age.

I was scrolling through instagram. In the corner of my eye I saw someone sitting in one of the seats in front of me.

I looked up and saw Quinn, looking like he’s going to Michigan.

He looked up at me so I smiled.

When it was finally time to board the plane, I went and sat in my seat. I'm thankful that i got the window seat, a few seconds later Quinn sat down in the seat next to me.

“Looks like we’re both going to the same place” I said. 

He just nodded.

I looked back at him with a small smirk, I have a feeling that I’ll probably annoy him on the flight.

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” I said teasing him, every time i try and talk to him, he looks like he ins’t interested in talking to me.

“Not really, do you need something from me? i’m not interested, okay, i get enough people trying to get with me just because of who i am i don’t need to have one who’s going to try the whole plane ride back to michigan” he said a little annoyed.

That was rude, why would he think I wanted anything from him… then it struck me that’s why he looked so familiar when i first met him. He’s the guy my brother told me about the brother who plays for Vancouver. He’s Quinn Hughes. He’s also Luke's older brother. How the hell did I not figure this out earlier? Luke told me that his oldest brother played for Vancouver, I just didn’t think he would be my neighbor and having him hate me.

Once I made the connection my eyes widened.

Quinn rolled his eyes.

“See you clearly know who i am, so just leave me alone” he said annoyed.

I scoffed.

“Don’t be so full of yourself, Luke’s my favorite anyways. I also didn’t recognize you until now, not everyone is going to recognize who you are. I’m also guessing you’re going to the lake house you and Jack just bought right?” I said. He’s pissing me off, and since he doesn’t know we are going to be neighbors or that I know Luke, I thought I would creep him out a little bit.

His eyes widened when I said that.

“Omg are you some kind of stalker?” He said in disgust.

I chuckled at his expression, he looks really creeped out right now.

“Not a stalker but according to my brother who met Jack yesterday we are about to be neighbor’s… again.” I said

“I’m sorry… what?”

“Oh My brother texted me earlier turns out you and jack bought the lake house right next to my parents house, looks like we’ll see each other a lot this summer” i said smirk 

I heard him curse under his breath.

“You better not go anywhere near our house,” he said.

“that’s funny because i can promise the second Luke sees me, he’s going to invite me over” 

“Like hell he is” he said laughing like there was no way that would ever happen.

“I don’t care if you guys play hockey, i’m going to go after you just because of fame or money. And Just so you know, I already know luke. I met him in September when he started at Michigan since I'm friends with Blanks. He's a good kid, i would help tutor him with calculus, i think of him as a little brother, same with the other younger guys. I even met your mom for fuck sakes and she was nicer than you are right now” i said, 

I could see a look of regret on his face. He sighed.

“Look i’m sorry okay, a lot of people try to get along just because of who I am , same with my brothers. Can we start over?” He asked.

He looked sincere, and I nodded, i know my brother will most likely hang out with them a lot this summer, so we should probably get along.

“I’d like that” i said  

He smiled 

“I’m quinn hughes, it’s nice to meet you” he said

“I’m Y/n Y/L/N, it’s nice to meet you too” i said.

We ended up getting to know each other for the rest of the flight. I told him about what I studied at university and what I do, along with a few funny stories about Luke and some of the other freshmen. He told me about hockey and his family. It was nice actually talking to him, and I really hope we can be friends since we are neighbors in Vancouver and now in Michigan.

Michigan 

When our flight landed we made our way out, and went to baggage claim.

I texted my brother to let him know, he said he was waiting with Jack and Luke since both Quinn and I were on the same flight.

“Looks like my brother is waiting with yours” I told Quinn as we started looking for them.

“I see Jack, come on,” he said. I followed him to our brothers

When my brother saw me, he pulled me in a hug, making me laugh.

“I miss you too Y/B/N” i said

“Y/N” Luke said when he saw me and pulled me in a hug.

“Hey Luke” I chuckle.

“You guys already know each other?” Jack asked, confused.

Luke let go of me and looked at jack.

“Yeah, she’s friends with blanks, he introduced us in the beginning of the year, she’s also the reason why i passed calculus, thanks for tutoring me by the way” he said 

“How did she tutor you if she lives in Vancouver?” Jack asked again, you could tell he was so lost, it was funny.

“I’ve only been living in Vancouver for 2 weeks now, i graduated from university of Michigan after Christmas” I said and he nodded.

“Oh make sense, and you’ve met quinn?” 

“Turns out we’re neighbors in Vancouver” quinn answered, i smiled at him.

Our brothers started laughing.

“What are the fucking chances” luke said

“Yeah seriously, now you’re also neighbors here” my brother said

“I know right,” I said.

“Let’s get going” quinn said impatient 

“Yeah, yeah let’s get grumpy,” Jack said.

Quinn rolled his eyes at him which made me laugh.

We made our way to the car and Jack drove us to the lake house.

Jack parked in his driveway and we all made our way to the trunk.

My brother took my suitcase before Jack turned to look at us.

“I don’t know what your plans are today, but we are having a bonfire tonight, you two are both welcome to join us” he said smiling.

“Thanks jack, that sounds fun” i said

My brother nodded.

“Yeah man we’ll be there” my brother said

“Great, then we’ll see you guys tonight”

“Blanks and a few other wolverines are here by the way, I won’t tell them, you’ll be able to surprise them” luke told me. I smiled and nodded before my brother and i made our way to our house.

As soon as we got in the house my parents hugged me.

I talked to them about Vancouver and how Quinn was my neighbor there and now here which made them laugh.

Then I went up to my room to unpack. By the time I was done it was 6:30 p.m. so I went to take a shower since I was all sweaty. Once I was done I got dressed in some Black Lululemon gym shorts and my blue Michigan hoodie.

My dad made food on the grill for dinner so I made my way down to eat since it’s already 7:30 and I am starting.

I sat down at the island counter on the chair and my mom gave me a plate. 

“Thanks mom,” I said smiling.

“No problem honey” she said, placing a kiss on my cheek.

“When you’re done eating we’ll go next door. Jack said they started the fire even though it’s still light out, and you can bring alcohol if you want or he said they have a lot so we should be good.” My brother told me.

“I think you still have some (favorite alcoholic drink) in the fridge from before you left for Vancouver, bring it with you if you go” my mom said before making her way to the living room with my dad.

I finished eating so I put my plate in the dishwasher and looked in the fridge for the drinks my mom was talking about and there were still 6 of them so I put them in a bag. My brother and I made our way next door. 

I saw Blanks was standing with his back to me talking with Luke. Luke saw me but I told him not to say anything. I gave my bag to my brother and ran up and jumped on his back.

“What the hell!” blanks screeched.

I laughed.

“Surprise!” I said before getting down.

“Yn?” He was surprised to see me. I nodded before he gave me a hug.

“I live next door '' I said happily, a big smile made its way on his face.

“This is about to be the best summer ever” he replied, making me laugh.

“Want to know what funny blanks she’s our neighbor here, and she’s quinn’s neighbor in Vancouver” Luke told him and i rolled my eyes, with a smile.

Nick let out a gasp.

“For real? Oh that’s awesome, like seriously what are the chances” he said

“I know right, also Luke, are you going to tell everyone?” I ask, chuckling.

Luke nodded, smiling.

“Everyone has to know” he said, like it’s the most obvious thing ever. He walked away leaving me alone with blanks.

“So, how is it like living next to Quinn?” He asked, smirking.

I rolled my eyes.

“Oh shut up” I replied, he laughed.

“No but seriously, how is it?”

“Fine i guess, he’s pretty quiet, but he kinda hated me until we got on the flight and sat next to each other, he thought i was some crazy fan” i said and nick burst out laughing i didn’t even know if he could breathe.

“What’s so funny?”

“Let me guess, you were nice and always tried to make conversation with him?” 

“Yeah…” I said and he shocked his head.

“That’s what a hockey player with think most of the time when a beautiful girl tries to talk to him and especially if you see him everywhere and end up on the same plane as him, he’s gonna think you’re following him, it’s just an instinct” nick said

“Yeah i know, but i really didn’t recognize him until after my brother told me about them buying the house next door to me and then accusing me of wanting something from him, then i saw the resemblance to Luke, so i kinda creeped him out a bit about telling him i knew exactly where he was going “ i said and nick chuckled.

“Of course you did… Quinn is a good guy though so i don’t doubt you guys won’t become friends… or maybe even more than friends” he said smirking.

I pushed him back.

“Oh shut up, let’s go see everyone else” I said, laughing.

We made our way to everyone else. Blanks introduced me to the guys. They all sound really nice.

We sat around the fire and drank, the guys were sharing funny stories. Nick told the story about how Quinn and I met. I put my hands on my face to hide the embarrassment. The guys laughed

“Seriously Quinn?” Luke asked 

“Look sorry but you never told me about her” Quinn replied.

We continued talking and sharing stories for the rest of the night. Some of the guys had already made their way inside to go to bed since it was late. My brother had gone back home, now it was only Quinn, blanks and i.

“I’m going to head up to bed before I pass out here” Blanks told us, making me chuckle.

“Good night blanks,” I said.

“Good night you two,” he said, smirking. I’ve known him for 4 years, he’s totally up to something.

“I should probably head to bed too, I don't want to be too tired tomorrow” I said, yawning.

Quinn turned to me and smiled.

“What?” I ask giggling.

“If I ask you on a date, would you say yes?” He asked, making me smile.

“I would,” I said blushing.

“Well, yn would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow night?” 

“ i would love to” i said smiling

“Perfect, I'll pick you up at 6:30 p.m.” he said and I smiled.

We said goodbyes and I made my way home.

Once I got into bed, I fell asleep with the biggest smile on my face.

September 2022

Going on that date with Quinn was the best decision I could have made. It went really well that we went on 3 more dates until he finally asked me to be his girlfriend.

We spent as much time as we could together this summer. When the guys found out we were dating they laughed since Luke had told everyone what happened when Quinn and I first met.

We have been in Vancouver for a little bit now, Quinn came back in August for training camp, i got back last week. I know how hockey season can be, but I also know Quinn and I will make it work. We’ll be seeing each other a lot since we are neighbors.

Quinn had practice this morning but he told me last night that he would come by after lunch.

He’s been stressed lately, he hopes he can have a better season than last year, i don’t blame him.

It’s now 12 p.m. when I heard the door open. 

“Babe, I'm here and I brought food,” I heard quinn. 

“I’m in the kitchen,” I replied. 

He made his way around the corner and smiled when he saw me.

“Hey beautiful” he said, making me blush.

He chuckled, he put the food on the counter and came over to me and kissed me. When we pulled away our forehead touched each other. I looked at his eyes to see he was doing the same. 

“I love you” I said happily.

“I love you more” he replied before leaning in and kissing me again.

Being with him, nothing could make me happier.

[magmythedevil]

Technoblade and Liam vickers similarities

I made this post bc technoblade was a hugeeee hyperfixation of Mine, so comparing him to my actual favorite creator at the moment brings me a lot of joy so this is extremely self indulgent lmfao

Deep Voice (?) Liam's is less deep so im not sure

Both are very inactive, and Just post content when they feel like it

Both have a niche community of very dedicated fans that have been around since the start of they careers

But both got more popular after they joined a group ring of other popular creators

Similiar speech manerisms and patterns

White nerd boys in glasses /endering

Big sense of humor that not everyone understands

Both don't use the popular social medias like the other content creators use all that much, they prefer Discord

Very reserved about personal informations. Making them the most mysterious content creators out of the other ones

Dont really care about clout.

Have been on YouTube since 2013/2014

Both got almost cancelled by twitter stan accounts of the big popular thing theyre being part of spreading out of context stuff ( techonables case was worse )

Both had a anime phase as teenegers

Dont show they face that much

Both got more recognized by a personal project of them that went viral (potato war and Cliffside)

Maybe i Will ad more

Technoblade was a Minecraft content creator that was loved by a lot of people. He was known for his Very smart Gameplays strategies. he died june 2022 at the very young age of 23 as a victim of cancer, rest in peace </3

[deliwrites]

Hickeys // Sapnap

Date: 12th of October 2022 (Originally; 13th of June 2021) Published: 22nd July 2021 Member: Sapnap Type: Fluff, semi NSFW, Female reader TW: Bruising Word count: 4018 Summary: Nick likes to place hickeys, like a lot. Y/n doesn't mind whatsoever, but there is a problem. Her brother is extremely protective of his little sister.

// MASTERLIST //

Y/n POV

"Thanks, Liz," I thanked my friend as I got out of her car. "I'll text you tomorrow or so okay?" I was staying at my brother's at least for tonight. He had invited me over since we don't get to see each other that often, so it was nice. There was one problem tho.

"Of course, also, do you really think you can hide. You're wearing a scarf in the middle of summer," she pointed out.

"I know, I know! But you know I don't wear - a lot of - make-up, I don't have foundation, and your skin tone is very different from mine."

"I know, all I'm trying to say is that you should just tell him, okay? Now have fun! See you later!" With that, she drives off leaving me in front of the apartment building. I sigh, pulling at the scarf around my neck a little bit, feeling so sweaty already. Not sure if it was because of the scarf or my nerves peaking. Swinging my overnight bag over my shoulder I walk to the panel by the door, looking for number 201. I ring the bell patiently waiting for someone to open the door. It could be one of three people.

"Hello?" George's voice came through, uncertain.

"Hey, it's Y/n, could you let me in please, it's hot as hell out here," I tell him and I hear him scream through the apartment 'Y/n's here!' before he presses the buzzer.

"See you in a bit!" He says before I can hear him put the phone back on the horn. I open the door and walk through, straight to the elevator. It was so much cooler inside! I press the button and wait for the elevator to come down. I stand back a little when it arrives, not wanting to be in the way of anyone who could come out.

"Hey babe," is the first thing I hear when the elevator doors open. My eyes widen as I look up at Nick in surprise. He walks over to me, pecking my lips quickly, then taking my bag.

"Wha- why would you come down?" I ask confused but follow him into the elevator.

"Because I wanted to see you before Clay," he says like it's obvious. "When he's there I can't do this," he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer placing his heavenly soft lips on mine. The kiss is soft and gentle, which comes as a surprise to me but I enjoy it nonetheless. After a short while he pulls away, I stare into his gorgeous eyes a blush on my face.

"Yeah well, you're gonna have to deal with it, just like me," I tell him and shove him a bit away. "Because of you I have to wear a fucking scarf in summer," he chuckles at that, shaking his head, a smirk on his lips.

"I might have to take advantage of that scarf and create some more before I can't," he starts coming back over, but I push him back while giggling.

"Don't even think about it! I am fucking sweating!" We finally reach the 20th floor and Nick opens the only door on said floor. Yes, Clay, George and Nick owned a penthouse and it was fucking beautiful. It had 2 floors and the first floor was basically an open floor plan.

"I don't know if you brought any swimwear, but we're out on the balcony by the pool," Nick says as he closes the door behind us. He took off his shirt as we walked through the apartment and I try so hard not to look.

"I did, but you and I both know that I can't take off this scarf," I tell him with a pointed look. He chuckled, dumping my bag on the couch in the living room.

"Oops," he says turning around to stick his tongue out at me. I roll my eyes and watch him run to the balcony, the glass doors wide open, and jumps straight into the pool. Clay getting splashed as he managed to land right next to the man relaxing on a blow-up mattress.

"WHAT!" Clay instantly yells and I can't help but giggle loudly at my brothers startled expression.

"I'm sure you needed some cold water on you," I tell him as I walk outside and sit with George at the table that is covered with a big beach umbrella.

"Ha ha, very funny," Clay fake laughs. "Why don't you come in, see how you like the cold."

"Nah, I think I'm good," I chuckle, I watch as Clay and Nick start play fighting in the water. A bright smile gracing my lips. 'God, if only'.

"Y/n, it's like one of the hottest days yet, why are you wearing a scarf?" George asks after a while, probably having battled himself about asking or not beforehand.

"I- I get cold... easily," I try to lie tho it's obvious. I can tell he doesn't believe me but decides to drop the subject for now. Thank goodness for that. I turn, looking at Nick and sent him a glare, not that he noticed.

If you haven't caught on yet, Nick is my boyfriend. Has been for a bit over a month now. Clay doesn't know this and we both want to keep it that way, at least for a little while longer. We like each other very much, but just in case it doesn't end up working out. I don't want Clay to have to worry about it. Along with the fact that he would probably smack Nick the moment he knew he had laid his hands on me. I like Nick a lot and I don't plan on letting that idiot go any time soon but I also don't want to ruin their friendship. Especially since I know how protective Clay is of me as his younger sister.

Nick had been over at my place yesterday and left a few very noticeable hickeys on me. I had gotten pretty used to them, hell, I loved them if I was being honest. Made me feel loved and to me, it just showed how possessive he was over me. It made me blush just thinking about it.

"You're staring at Nick for an awfully long time there, Y/n," George whispers, startling me out of my daydream.

"I am not, I don't know what you're on about," I tell him but I can tell he doesn't believe me from the smirk playing on his lips.

"Hmm, yeah, okay, sure," he smirks, sending a wink my way. 'Wait! Does he know!?'. "Yes I do know, do you honestly think Nick could keep it to himself for this long?"

"I-" I sigh and shake my head. "I guess not," you knew how excited Nick could get. I just pray to god he hadn't told Clay anything. Then again, if he knew I would have known by now.

"Anyways, you know he'll find out sooner or later," he says, gesturing with his head to Clay. "You might wanna tell him before he finds out."

"I know," I sigh and look away from George.

"Alright, what pizzas do you guys want?" Clay asks and he drops his ass down on the chair next to me. Nick sat in front of me, George next to him. It was now past 7 in the evening, the sun now luckily having moved behind the apartment building so we had at least some shadow and it was slowly cooling down.

"Can I have BBQ Chicken and Bacon?" I ask giving him pouty lips, not that I needed too but he chuckled anyways. He added it to the order also adding his own, Nicks and Georges.

"Alright, they should be here in tops 30 mins," he announces, placing his phone down on the table so we can all see the app as it shows us what Dominos is doing with the order. "Now, sister dearest, mind telling me why you're wearing a scarf?" Woah, straight to the point, huh? He props his elbow on the table, leaning his head on his hand.

"I am just cold," I try to sound as convincing as possible. But he obviously sees straight through me.

"Hmm, yeah I don't believe it," he says shaking his head. 'Okay, now what? I guess I could just show him and not tell him who made them? Ugh, well here goes nothing I guess'.

"Okay, fine, I'm not cold," I sigh and with a bit of hesitation I take the scarf off. From the corner of my eye, I can see Nick trying to hold back a smirk as his hickeys on my skin slowly come into view.

"Y/N! WHAT!" Clay instantly bursts out in overprotectiveness. "Who do I need to beat!"

"Calm down, you don't need to beat anyone," I tell him, rolling my eyes.

"Fine, I'll just have a nice talk with them, so who?"

"It's no one important, just some guy at a friends party," I lie as I look down at my lap. As long as I don't look at him he can't tell I'm lying, right? I look up slightly at Nick who, looks back at me, and is biting his lip. Probably just as scared about telling Clay the truth as I am. I will be begging on my knees just to make sure Clay wouldn't smack Nick just over a few bruises on my neck. "Please just let it go, I am fine okay?" Just then the bell rings, Clay mutters a fine and goes to answer the door.

"I don't get why you guys can't just tell him," George states when he's sure Clay is out of ear shot.

"Did you not see how he just reacted?" I ask him like it's obvious. "I am sorry, but I would rather not have him smack Nick in the face over hickeys."

"Look, George, I wanna tell him," Nick starts, sighing slightly. "And I don't mind if he hits because I know he is protective of, Y/n, but we're both scared it will change the friendship we have."

"Alright fine, but don't you think it's better that he hears it from you instead of finding it out himself?" The question leaves both Nick and me silent. I glance at him with a defeated look, knowing that George is right.

Eating is slightly awkward after that, but we still talk and joke around a bit. Soon enough it's 11 ish and I'm in the guest bedroom by myself. Sat in the middle of the bed, legs crossed and face in my hands. I am so mad at myself for not being able to tell my own brother what's really going on. He deserves to know, but what if it ruins his friendship with Nick! I don't want that to happen. I don't want that guilt. I hear two knocks on the door, knowing it's Nick, I answer yeah, not moving from my position.

"Hey," Nick says quietly as he enters the room, closing the door behind him. He walks over to the bed and sits down next to me. Gently taking my hands away from my face. "Look, I know we planned on waiting," he says while he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer. My head falling onto his shoulder as soon as I'm close enough to do so. "But I think we should tell him."

"I know," I pout slightly but he's quick to bend forward and take it away with a soft lingering peck. A small smile gracing my lips when he pulls away. "I am sorry in advance."

"Eh, it will be fine," he chuckles softly. "Might get punched, but I'm sure I can deal with it."

"Should we tell him tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I think we should," he sighs slightly and I can tell he's at least a little bit scared. He turns to look at me again placing his lips on mine again. I smile into the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck. His hands lay gently, yet tightly on my hips. "No matter the outcome tomorrow, I am not letting you slip away that easily," he says once we pull way, our foreheads pressed together.

"Good, cause the same goes to you," I smirk, nuzzling his nose with mine sweetly. "I like you too much to just let you go."

After one more goodnight kiss, he leaves the room to go to his own. Agreeing to tell him when we see him first thing tomorrow morning. I would have preferred it if he stayed, so we could cuddle, but I knew we couldn't risk Clay walking in and finding out that way. So with a sigh, I settle into bed and try my best to sleep. I mostly end up staring at the ceiling as all types of scenarios of tomorrow run through my mind. Grabbing the pillow from beside me I shove it in my face. 'Just sleep!' I tell my mind.

Morning comes quicker than I thought, the light coming in through the window waking me up gently. Today is the day. With a big yawn, I sit up and stretch. I look around the room for a sec before my eyes settle on my bag. Climbing out of bed I grab a simple pair of shorts (no, not short shorts, how in the hell is that comfortable anyway?) along with a plain white v neck shirt. I swiftly change my underwear and bra, jumping into the clean clothes and then make my way out of the bedroom. Going into the bathroom, I leave the door open as I brush my teeth with the spare toothbrush Clay had bought for me months ago.

"Morning," Nick says as he walks in, he had his own bathroom - lucky him - but it kinda became routine for him to join me whenever I was here. I sent him an awkward smile while brushing my teeth through the mirror. He grins, walking up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. His head gently resting on my shoulder as he still looked tired.  "You nervous?" He asks softly, I nod before tapping his arm. He lets go of me so I can spit and rinse.

"I am, do you know if he's awake yet?" I ask as we leave the bathroom, walking towards the kitchen. "What time is it anyways?"

"Uhm, about to be 10 I think, and I have no clue. It is Friday tho, could be going grocery shopping," he answers opening up a cupboard, taking out two bowls. I go and grab the milk carton from the nearly empty fridge, setting it down next to Nick as he fills both bowls with cereal. I hop on the counter sitting on the corner, right next to him.

"Thank you," I smile when he hands me my bowl along with a spoon. He comes closer standing between my legs as we both eat in silence for a bit. "Do you think he'll react differently because he knows you?"

"I am not sure, I hope it gives me some type of immunity but I wouldn't be surprised if I would still get a scolding from him," he answers. Setting down his bowl and taking mine from me he moves closer. Wrapping his arms around my waist he sighs excessively when his head leans on my shoulder. I smile softly, pecking the top of his head, wrapping my arms around his shoulders.

"I'm sure it will be okay in the end," I squeeze him a little, getting a chuckle from him. Moving his head, I feel his lips connect to my neck. My cheeks immediately heating up with a blush. "Nick-!" I whisper yell as he starts leaving gentle kisses all over my neck.

"Shh, just let me have this," he shushes me, going back to littering my neck with kisses, sucking every now and then. I knew exactly why he was doing this. He was nervous, he needed a distraction and right now, sucking hickeys was the best distraction. I bite my bottom lip, trying not to moan, just in case one of the two others living in this apartment would hear it. It just always felt so good when he did this. He was so gentle with it, yet rough when he would bite my skin. After a while I gently pull the hair on the back of his head, getting the hint he pulls away from my neck. I look into his gorgeous eyes for a second, before closing my own and connecting our lips in a sweet kiss. Wrapping my arms tighter around his neck, deepening the kiss. His tongue playing with mine in a teasing manner.

A sudden thud and objects rolling over the floor makes us jump and pull away from each other. There in the doorway stood Clay and George, I could see the latter roll his eyes as he walked in and placed his bags on the island.

"You're kidding," is surprisingly the first thing that comes out of Clay's mouth. When no one answers he shakes his head. "You know what, get out of the kitchen. I- I need to think," Nick is quick to pull me out of the kitchen. I look back in shock. Now, this was definitely not how I was expecting him to respond. We end up on the balcony sitting at the table in the shade.

"Well, there goes the plan of just telling him," Nick says in defeat.

"I guess so," I mumble, playing with his fingers nervously. "I don't know what will happen now."

"Me neither, but I think it's going to be alright," his phone dings. "George is talking with him while they're putting the groceries away," he informs me.

Third POV

"How did I not realize?" Clay mutters as he put all the fridge items away. "Did you know?" He asks George who is packing away in the storage closet. A sigh coming from said closet confirms his suspicion.

"Look, I haven't known for long, basically a week at most," George tells the somewhat angered older brother. "But I know for a fact Nick likes her very much."

"She's my little sister-"

"I know, but you know Nick. He would never hurt her on purpose," leaning his head against the fridge door, Clay bangs his head on it once. George chuckling at the sight. "Y/n is also old enough to make her own decisions, alright?"

"Ugh, I know," with a frustrated sigh he walks over to a pillar leaning against it, looking out to the balcony where the couple sat. Y/n had a bright smile on her face as the two talked. Nicks hand holding hers, his thumb stroking comfortingly on the back of her hand. "Is it bad that I hate that they look cute," George laughs, clapping his hand on Clay's shoulder.

"That's brotherhood for ya I guess," with one more sigh, Clay starts walking towards the balcony. George following behind him. Y/n's eyes widen when she notices the two walking over.

"Look, Clay, we were gonna tell you," she says and clay could hear the fear in her voice.

"It's okay," he tells her, sitting down beside her.

"Really?" Nick asked unsure if this was real.

"Yes, but I swear, if you hurt my sister, you're actually gonna get smacked," Clay chuckles as Nick pulls Y/n into his embrace, her back against his chest. Giving her a gentle peck on the cheek, and Clay can't help but be happy for his little sister and best friend. They looked so happy together. He for sure knew Nick was a whole lot better than any other person Y/n had dated before him. Not that there were a lot, but they were dicks nonetheless. "Just please, don't cover her in hickeys too much, cause I do not wanna see that," A blush instantly forms on Y/n's cheeks as she shrinks into Nicks embrace.

"I am sorry, I'll do my best to hold back," Nick says with a smirk on his lips.

"Thank you, Clay."

11 months later - Y/n POV

"Are you sure, Clay and George will be gone the entire weekend?" I ask Nick as soon as we enter the apartment.

"Yes I'm sure, now I actually get to spent alone time with you babe," he says tickling my sides as he pushes me into the bathroom. "Now go change, I'll be in the pool when you're ready!" With that, he runs off to the pool.

"Idiot," I chuckle closing the door to the bathroom. I swiftly change into my bathing suit pulling on the edges feeling just the tiniest bit self-conscious.

After a little pep talk to myself, I make my way to the balcony. Looking from behind a pillar I notice Nick in the water, floating on his back with his eyes closed. With a grin, I run for the pool and jump in right next to him.

"Oh, you're gonna get it," Nick says as soon as I reach the surface. I giggle, squealing when I get splashed with water. Diving underwater I swim away from Nick. "Oh no you don't," Nick chuckles swimming after me. Hands take hold of my waist, stopping me from swimming any further. Nick turns me around, bringing us up from the water. "Gotcha," giggling I wrap my arms around his neck.

"God I missed you," I tell him, playing with his wet hair. We hadn't seen each other for two weeks as both of us had been busy, but we were sure to keep this weekend free for our first year anniversary.

"I missed you too," leaning in he gives me a gentle peck. Moving is slowly to the edge of the pool. "Hmm, I think that neck of yours is a bit too clear for me," he smirks instantly diving for my neck. I squeal feeling his lips layer kisses upon kisses. Sucking and biting on my skin making me moan scratching my nails on his back at the amazing feeling. We had gone pretty far already over the past few months but it still felt new and so exciting every time. I wrap my legs around his middle, squeezing him tight. Biting just below my jaw he makes his way up, kissing his way to my lips. We stare into each other's eyes breaking contact every once and a while to deliver lingering pecks.

"I love you," I whisper sincerely, my brain wants me to look away in case of rejection but I will myself to keep staring into his beautiful eyes. I can see shock shoot over his face but it's quickly replaced with a gentle smile. Leaning forward he connects our lips, the kiss filled with passion making me almost forget he didn't say it back. It gives a tiny pinch of pain in my heart, but I tell myself it's alright. He could just not be ready to tell me and I need to accept that.

That night we end up on the couch watching a movie, tho I wasn't really watching. I cuddled into Nick's chest, him gently stroking my back as he tries to gently lull me to sleep. When I'm close to falling asleep he quietly whispers four words to me, making me grin just slight as to not give away I was actually awake.

"I love you too."

I hope you enjoyed this oneshot! Let me know what you think and maybe hopefully stick around for a few more!

[kanmom51]

It's going to be really funny if it turns out all this Festa content was created in early-to-mid 2022, as some are speculating. Since (as you recently pointed out) that was exactly the time the "Jimin and JK don't ever see each other" noise got really loud. If it turns out that all 7 of them were actually hard at work, together, banking OT7 content, and that's why most of them were radio silent... Since what they were doing was a huge secret as they hadn't even announced the hiatus yet... That would be pie in the face for a certain group of people for sure.

Lol @anneelizabethjanejimin , wouldn't that be hilarious?

Look, I kind of doubt the content was filmed early to mid 2022, all of it being pre last Festa celebrations. That would be kind of weird you know. Them shooting content for 2023 Festa all while they haven't even celebrated the 2022 Festa.

I'll also say this: I don't think that back in early to mid 2022 they knew what's going to happen yet. I do think that at that point they were still hoping for exemptions, so no, I don't think the content we'll be getting is from then.

That btw, does not mean we won't still be getting content from early to mid 2022 (we do have memories still to come).

I do want to say something about that though, even though I wasn't asked about it, and that is that I have a gut feeling that Jikook content will be culled down to the bare minimum in memories 2022. Gut feeling here based on the company behaviour for the past many months. I guess the test case will be Festa. Just how much Jikookery will be allowed. For instance Letter, which I do think we will be getting on the 12th of June.

Will it be a performance with the two? I have my doubts although I do still hope so. Will it be just JM performing or will it just be a digital release? In which case that will solidify that gut feeling of mine.

As for the Festa content that will be including all members, I'd be more inclined to believe that it was filmed around the time of the Busan concert including between the Busan concert and Jin's enlistment.

And maybe, just maybe, the Festa dinner was filmed in March 2023, you know, that special day during JM's promotions when we know they all met up for food and drinks.

Anyway, it will be amazing to see them all again together. Finally. Even if it's just for a very little bit.

Ok, adding this I just saw in.

So, the content was filmed before Jin and Hobi's enlistment.

[velvet-cupcake-games]

Made Marion June Development Update: Schedule Edition, Straight Talk

[I decided to post our June dev update early, because I have some difficult things to say, but I hope this will get us all on the same page about what's happened with Made Marion since our Kickstarter.]

Hi everyone! I've decided to check in early with a report on our development schedule and some straight talk on some tough stuff. I hope this will help us all get on the same page and be excited instead of worried about Made Marion's development process.

First of all, thank you all so much for your magnificent patience and concern! This is definitely not how I wanted Made Marion's development to go or how it would have gone if things were still the way they were for our team back when we ran our Kickstarter. We have been seriously kicked in the teeth repeatedly, and I'd like to offer a better explanation and our proposed solutions and revised schedule.

I'm also sorry for the lack of pretty pictures this month!  There will be many available very soon when Robin's beta test is ready to go!

The Problems:

1. As of fall 2021, things were going pretty well! We'd just run a beta for Made Marion's prologue and my route outlines were shaping up nicely. Then things began to go wrong. I had some issues at home that took up my attention, and then my darn town flooded. Drat it, ok, lost a couple months, but we can get back on track in 2022...

2. Then 2022, for various reasons was a disaster for pretty much our entire team (I'm only going to talk about my problems here, because those are the ones it is mine to share). It ended up being basically a wash for development. Why wasn't that obvious from our development updates? Because of my brain. I contracted Covid in January of 2022 and a few weeks later, the Long Covid symptoms started. I was near-narcoleptic for several months. It was scary and embarrassing and I didn't know how to talk about it. So I was as positive as I could be. Around May, my body started to recover. I was able to live more normally and I figured that meant I could get back to development.

What I didn't know and couldn't effectively communicate was that the brain fog was still there. I was writing, but not in a straight line. I wrote scenes for all the love interests here and there, scribbled a bunch in my notebooks, but a full, logical route for Robin wasn't happening. And the problem with your brain not working right is that it's very difficult to understand that your brain isn't working right. I thought things were cool! So it appeared that I wasn't being honest about the status of development without me realizing it did or even fully understanding that development wasn't going well. I'm very sorry about that.

3. Around November of 2022 my brain started working better again, but I was demoralized and felt like I'd forgotten how to write. I "eased" myself back into writing with a huge fic, along with finally getting back to putting words together for Robin. I wrote words!  Lots of words!  Good words!  Yeah!  We pulled together as a team and got our enhanced demo out, which was a lot of work but was super exciting.

4. Feeling guilty about the wash that was 2022 and excited because of how much verbiage I'd put out, I created an ambitious schedule toward an Early Access release of all the Sherwood routes this fall. It was based on the amount of words I'd been putting out, so I was convinced it was doable. Some of you wrote in to Tumblr with concerns that it was overly ambitious. You were wonderful and primarily concerned for my well-being. You were also correct.

The Solutions:

1. I need to accept that I have a disabling condition that currently has no cure and that, although it has greatly improved since last year, means that I can't always work at my peak capacity. This is super tough for a high achiever with general anxiety. I hate even talking about it, but I want to be as transparent with y'all as I can be.

2. The schedule: I still wish to keep a relatively ambitious target schedule for the remainder of development. I think it is helping us all Get Shit Done(tm). I just need to be a little less ambitious. I still plan to release Early Access this fall and I'm still hoping for October (which was always tentative), but November may be more realistic. It depends on how well my body and mind cooperate over the summer, and on the individual situations of our artists. Early Access will launch with Robin and Will's routes. John is going to need to take more time. It will be worth it, because he will get the full attention and care that his wonderful self deserves.

3. The weekly mini-dev updates: I have started posting mini-dev updates on Mondays on Tumblr. This is the place to go if you want a more granular report of the progress we've been making, and I think they're going to be very helpful for maintaining clarity and helping keep us all on-task.

4. Beta: I have more detailed information about Beta in the Kickstarter version of this update.

Conclusion:

Looking back from here, our original release date estimate from Kickstarter was too ambitious even under ideal circumstances. That was my development inexperience speaking. The rest was a lot of IRL horribleness. However, the gang is back together now, and the game is now, actually, truly, progressing nicely once more. Going forward, I'll be able to post much more concrete progress and I think doing so as I write each route is a better choice than posting a bunch of specific completion dates that we may not meet. You'll be able to see our progress as it happens instead.

Notes and Goodies:

Robin's new expressions are in!  I love the way he turned out and Arrapso (a fellow perfectionist, err, high achiever) seems happier with him now as well.  Awesome!  I will post some previews on Tumblr soon, once I have coded a few of the new expressions into the game client.

John's role-playing choice has been re-configured a bit. I was previously calling it "conflict or compromise," but I was getting stuck on the "conflict" part because I didn't want Marion and John to be fighting all the time if you made those choices. It didn't seem like fun, or particularly in-character for John. I am now calling it "challenge or compromise."  Because John is kind and wonderful and protective but is also traumatized and stubborn and overprotective. Sometimes he needs to be challenged, and it won't always lead to an argument. I think this makes for more interesting choices and for John to have more room to be John.

I coded in Will's first use of his genuine smile expression (you get to confront him about his attitude early on in Robin's route) and am happy to report that it is SUPER EFFECTIVE.

For any of you Ren'py devs out there, I continue to evangelize matrixcolor.  It's relatively new, but you should absolutely check out what it can do. Previously, I used it to tint our characters a bit so they blended in better with evening and night backgrounds.  I also used it to sepia-tone memory sequences.  I've now used it to make images slowly disappear via transparency and turn our blood animation green instead of red for... spoiler purposes.  It is so easy and flexible, you should absolutely play with it!

I'll be reporting in later this month on our Beta test status!

[theonethatyaks93]

Hi everyone!! I’m not dead, I’m back!! I apologize for the lack of posts recently; I was taking a break. But now, I’m ready to make regular posts again. But before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming, I have some exciting news! Last night, I attended both performances of Animaniacs in Concert!!! I finally got the opportunity to see this after two years of wanting and wishing. I was so excited!! Both shows were absolutely amazing and there were so many incredible songs, both recognizable and unreleased. I also laughed so hard that I got a minor headache. But it was worth it! I had the time of my life and it was so cool to see the number of fans who also love this show. So many people were wearing t-shirts or carrying the Animaniacs Loungefly backpack around. There were even some younger fans there and that was so awesome. I, of course, went all out, wearing an Animaniacs t-shirt, Pinky and The Brain leggings, a Pinky and The Brain sweatshirt, Pinky and Brain socks, my own Animaniacs backpack, and my cool Nike Air Force Ones which I’ve christened my “space shoes.” I got to sit in the third and second row at the venue (which I’ve been to many times) and I cheered and clapped as loud as I could. The talent here was unbelievable. Rob was incredible and I can’t believe he can sing this good. He is truly my inspiration. Randy was amazingly talented and it was great to finally see him. I was ecstatic when Maurice came on stage since I’ve never seen him in person before. The real Pinky and Brain were right in front of me!!! Ahhhhhh!!! This show was not only entertaining and hilarious, but I also learned a few new things and got to hear a few songs I’ve never heard before (I can’t get that song about things getting smaller out of my head!). Even my parents, who aren’t as into the show as I am, had a great time. Seriously, whenever they come back, I’m buying tickets pronto! This was incredible and I loved it so much. However, the best part of this experience would come before and after each show.

(This is kind of a real name reveal so surprise!!)

I met both Rob and Maurice not just once, but twice!!! OMG!! This has been a dream of mine for a long time and it’s come true. I hope I can meet them again soon! So, I’m going to get into a little story about what happened and what has happened in the past few months. Back in June of 2022, I got a surprise Cameo message from Rob, which made my entire summer! I actually started crying when I got the surprise and I thought that my dream of meeting him would never come true. I mean, he did respond to a few of my questions on Instagram Live back in October of 2022 (I stayed on for four hours!) but I really wanted to meet him. Thankfully, I got my wish when for an early Christmas present from my parents, I got to meet and talk to Rob for over an hour on Cameo. It was a great experience and my parents enjoyed it, too. I still wanted to meet him in-person, but this was close enough. And then, Animaniacs in Concert came around. I got tickets to both shows as a Christmas present back in December and I expected just to have a fun time. I did not expect to meet both Rob and Maurice twice! I met Rob before the first show. My mom pointed him out just walking into the lobby and I, of course, rushed over to him. It took a minute, but he did remember me and my family from the Cameo. We took some pictures and he was just the sweetest person you’ll ever meet. We even hugged! I was so excited and I was even shaking a little. After my family went home for an hour after the first show, we came back and though I’d seen it before, I was still excited. And then, when we were pulling into the parking lot, we saw Maurice walking down the street!!! We rushed to park and we got to meet him! I was so ecstatic! He was really nice and I got some pictures with him. It was an honor!! After the second show, my family waited so we could maybe meet Rob and Maurice and get them to sign my book (Which was in fact Rob’s book, Voice Lessons). We were about to leave when my mom said that they were just hanging out in the auditorium. We rushed in there and waited a few minutes. Rob even remembered my name! Eeeeeeeeeeeee! We got to meet him again and the Maurice showed up and joined us! They both were the sweetest things and they both signed my book! We got some pictures and I even got to show some of my impressions to them. They liked my voices especially when I did both Yakko and Pinky. Some people were even surprised! I told them how much Pinky and Brain meant to me and it was so cool of them. They were so sweet and nice. I was so excited and I didn’t want to leave. It was a true honor and of course, I hugged Rob goodbye. I hope I can see them again, maybe for a convention. It was a dream come true and I’ll never forget it.

So, yeah. All that happened in the span of about 8 hours. It was crazy and I’m actually still processing it currently. My dream came true and I had so much fun! I hope to see both Rob and Maurice again and maybe, Animaniacs in Concert will come around. Alright, that was my experience! It was so amazing and I couldn’t recommend it more. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to regular posting either tomorrow or the next day! Thank you guys for sticking with me!!

[thathartleykat]

A very lengthy letter before the series' departure.

Hey, everyone, Hartley here.

By June of 2023, it would be my 4th year in the Hilda community, and i'm still in disbelief that i've been active in the community for this long, as well as the animated series is coming to an end tomorrow.

I have been wanting to post this since then, but i've been extremely busy in my life, as well as my personal computer was broken for almost an entire year - hence why my activity in the community also got died down a little bit.

I have a lot of things to say to everyone, from people in the community to the people who worked on the show, as well as the past, present and future, so for the convenience of your reading, i'll divide what i want to say into chapters.

I. About me & how i got into the show ( Trigger warning: Deaths ) I've rarely talked about this to anyone, but... I live by myself, and there's a good chance i might not be around for much longer. It's sort of the reason why i got into Hilda from the first place.

I first found out about Hilda in October 2018 when i was browsing on Tumblr, but never really watched it until May 2019, when a friend of mine gave me a month free subscription of Netflix. I started to go down the list of things i wanted to watch on the platform, and when it came to Hilda, i never thought i would get fixated on the show. Well, guess where we're at now?

I was stunned by the show's colorful vibes, amazing plot writing and how the show built the characters and mythologies, especially how they portrayed the mentality of the children in the show when the kids interact with each other or with adults.

The one thing that i also extremely adore in the show is the relationship between Hilda and Johanna... because it deeply reminds me of my parents when they were still alive. I had a similar life and relationship with them. Every time i see Hilda and her mum together, it always makes me remember about my former childhood life, how kind my parents were to me, and how i wanted to be the adventurous kid that never disappoints them.

I had a pretty good life until my parents got cancer when i was 11 years old - the same age with Hilda in first & possibly second season. Things got worse since then, and they passed away a few years after that.

Now i'm pretty much alone, with a good chance that i might follow them, so if i ever just disappear without telling anything, well... at least i had a good run, i never thought i'd make it this far anyway.

The show had made a significant change on my life, as well as some of my future decisions and helped me through hard times.

It would be an understatement to say this series meant a lot for me.

Because of this, and the feeling of the show doesn't get enough attention that it deserves, i've been dedicating myself for the last few years to help the show and its community thrive.

II. About the animated series Sometimes, i feel really sad that they couldn't have done more for it. - As someone who lives in Vietnam, it's really sad to see the show lacks Vietnamese subtitles and audio language - despite there being a huge number of Netflix users in the country. Due to this, the series basically got hidden from anyone who's watching with their Netflix's interface language set to Vietnamese, which makes the show really hard to be recommended to anyone here. At the same time, many other animated series on the platform have either or both of those. - A lot of merchandise of the franchise has either never saw the day or short-lived. Hilda's GUND plushies only lived for 1.5 years, and by my count, there were 3 Hilda board games that got reported to the news, but never got released. - Hilda video games. The only official Hilda game we ever got was Hilda Creatures, and sadly, the company that made the game went defunct in April 2022, dragging Hilda Creatures along with it. - Netflix. Batch releasing the show and giving it the bare minimum marketing. The same thing happened with Jojo and we all know what happened to its hype. - The mishandling of social media pages, which led to Hilda's Facebook page got hacked for an entire month during May 2023, as well as a lack of interaction posts after season 1 to keep the community up.

I really wish the show got better treatment in a lot of stuff, but at the same time, i'm grateful for the crew's work to get the series this far. One of the directors at one point confirmed that the show got pitched to various networks like Cartoon Network, Disney, Children BBC, Nick... and no one accepted the show until Netflix came along. If Netflix never took the show in, or if it was another network that got it ( which i suspect it'd change the direction of the show by a lot ), where would we be now...?

Though the show will definitely not be reminded by Netflix every now and then as other networks do, but at least it is going out with a bang. Really wish the show would become a sleeper hit at some point in the future.

III. About the community Genuinely, it's one of the most amazing communities i've ever been in. People who are younger, same age, or even parents who are much older than me... I had amazing experiences with all of them. I've made many friends from here, which sometimes makes me wish our community would stay the same like this forever after the series ends.

Honestly, i don't know what else i could say about everyone, other than thanking you guys for making my days within the community, as well as your efforts in making it an amazing place for me and everyone else to stay in.

IV. About the future Well, i've been thinking about it quite a lot.

After the animated series ends, i'll try my best to continue sticking around in the community and do a lot more stuff for it. The franchise will still seem to continue for at least some more time, with the upcoming release of the new prequel Hilda comic series, "Hilda and Twig".

I'd be selfish for saying this, but if the current state of animations improves in the future... I'd want to see Hilda's world return as animation at some point - either following the same blue-haired girl that we all know and love, or just a spin-off from an entirely different character. It's hard to imagine how the worldbuilding we've seen in the last 12 years, where "there's so much we've never seen, so much we don't know" and "there's mystery everywhere you look" would potentially disappear after this... I really hope i would see it again, as well as be around long enough to see it.

As of now, this chapter is about to come to an end. So before it does, i want to say thanks to everyone who has been involved in this show.

Thank you Luke Pearson, the people who made Hilda the series possible, and especially - you. Whether you worked on it or are just simply a fan of the show, you have my sincere gratitude for all the great things that happened to the series in the last 4 years.

This is Hartley, and i hope everyone enjoys Season 3.

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Yesterday night was our last session of my first D&D campaign ever

Last night we drank merrily, saying goodbye (for now) to the 4 adventurers in my first D&D campaign ever, for which I was the DM (1st time ever also). I feel very happy and a little sad also, so I thought I could write it all up here - mostly for me, and for you reading if that interests you.

It was more of a Wrap-up session, we didn't play per se, but I wanted to recap the last scenes, and give the floor to my players to ask some questions and discuss what we've been doing. It was a good idea, I think, it went great, we had time to reminisce and remember the beginnings, the roads not taken and the what-ifs, the monsters and the battles they were traumatized by, and what their characters would do now.

Flashbacks and sneak peeks and more thoughts under the cut

When I started to watch Critical Role, I had no idea what D&D was. All I heard were mentions of it in media (tv shows, mostly). It intrigued me more and more, and I started to look at the rules, and the books published, etc. And then one day on an impulse, I bought the Starter Set : Lost Mine of Phandelver, and sent a message to my sister and some friends, asking if they were interested to see what it was about with me.

In April 2021, with my sister and 3 friends, 4 players in total, we created their characters, and we started truly playing in May 2021. At first, we played only once a month, in person, because Roll20 is awesome for battles but not much for anything else (personal opinion). Plus we were going out again after the pandemic, it felt nice. Then in June 2022, one of my friends and players decided to leave, and we recruited another friend at the same time, so I still had 4 players to manage through and through. They were all pretty much novices like me (only 1 had played before), and so we all learned together during the years. In multiple ways ! small but important things like : who's taking care of the scheduling, who's time is it to host and what food & drink will we bring, who has many dice and can lend them, how can we figure the characters without buying expensive minis (we ended up using fèves, which is a very French thing I will explain now : at the beginning of the year, you gather your friends or colleagues or family or whatever to eat the galette des rois, literally cake of the kings, and whether you make it or bought it, there is always inside 1 very small porcelain figurine, and the person finding it gets to be King/Queen for the day. Yeah it's the same country who decapitated the last king, don't ask. Anyway sometimes people collect the small porcelain figurines, and then their grandchildren sell the collection, and we ended up with a lot for practically nothing.).

In late 2022 and throughout 2023, we decided to try and play more, and managed - with a few exceptions - to play twice a month, which we found was a good rhythm : for me, to not have too much prep work, and for my players, to not forget everything that happened last time. In the meantime, another friend of mine with whom I am having lunch at work with very regularly, got used to hear me talking about "the shit my players did last night" and was very interested in following this as a story ; she asked questions, and gave me a space to think, and even ended giving advice and suggestions ! I'm naming her my unofficial co-DM now. It was nice to have someone know all the twists and the structure of the story, and to exchange ideas and jokes.

One thing I was very happy to do, and was very happy when my players talked about it saying I did a good job : PROPS ! The adventure as written has a few examples of message of hiring mercenaries, strange letters sent by a mysterious figure, etc etc. For one, I took time to write in ink (in my teenage years I was obsessed by calligraphy and I still have a quill), and for another I passed the paper in coffee and tea and then dried it to give it an ancient look. Props like this costs nothing but it's awesome.

During 2022 and 2023, 2 of my players had moved far away, but we managed to set up remote video calls for them, while us 3 others gathered 'round the table, and we even had an elaborate if precarious system to film the map during battles (pictured down). And yes for the final dungeon, I printed the map in extra-large, and ended using the wall to show the progress in exploring !

I won't recap all of the story, it doesn't matter in the end, everyone who's ever played knows that you can do an adventure 30 times and it will end up in 30 different stories. What's interesting was that the Lost Mine of Phandelver is described as "a perfect campaign to start playing" : that I agree with ; but that doesn't mean it does not need work. Thankfully the Internet is awesome, and since it's the most played adventure of 5E, a LOT of people have advices, do nots and dos, stories of their own campaigns, useful links and tools, etc. 1st lesson : if it exists already, use that shit. Use it like the world is ending tomorrow. At the start, I was doing this on my own volition, and prepping way too much, while being scared to change things. Then I was inspired reading reddits posts (yes, it happens), and seeing videos, and I started adding more details of my own - or stuff I borrowed from others Internet strangers. The paradox was that I was getting more comfortable while prepping less, because... I got the hang of it, I think it's what happened !

I still have some frustrations, some I shared last night with my players : easier-than-expected batles for my players (the 1st was a conscious act of mercy, and the battle ended way too quickly of course ; the 2nd was I forgot an important detail of the villain's weapon and could not use it, but in the end she had other stuff and the battle was still epic). 2nd lesson : listen to Matt Mercer when he says that as a DM, you really want to use the nuclear option in your opponent’s arsenal on the opening round. If you don't, you will have regrets. My other big frustration is about the player that decided to leave ; we just didn't understand the game on the same-level, but it makes me a little sad that she left before it could click for her, and we could truly talk about it. Especially since last night, I was overjoyed listening to my players talk each about their "epiphany" of how the game works, and how they got comfortable after feeling this truth, and seeing how "you don't win at D&D, the fun is everything else", and I was like yesssssss YOU you get it. 3d lesson : communication ! (it feels like there's still room for improvement, but we have a nice flow going).

All and all, it was an amazing experience, 10/10, will do it again ; and we will ! we agreed we will come back years from now to Faerûn ! and I'll be back as a DM ! and we'll do another written campaign continuing from level 5 (I know there's written options out there). In the meantime though, my sister is leaving our group just for this year, but we're going to keep playing at 4. And this time, I'll be a player !! One of my former players, the amazing @greetingsprogramms will be our DM : she already did 2 one-shots throughout the 2 years, and she did a fantastic job. We're going where a lot of fantasy people have not gone before : spaaaaaaace !

[spectrum-system]

I got fired yesterday, so that sucks. The benefits are that i can flip off the shitty assistant manager there, Mark Meling, as well as finally be open about why i hate him to the public. This is gonna be a long one.

If any of my previous coworkers see this, please go ahead and add your own stories to this.

TW: mentions of sexual harassment, predatory behavior, transphobia, racism, ableism, alcoholism, infidelity, and generally being a smelly garbage can of a person.

I'll try to keep this in chronological order, but that will be hard to do, as after certain events that i will mention, i stopped being the one fronting at work whenever mark was there. I am working with our primary protector to piece things together so im sorry if things arent perfectly chronological. All names but mine and marks are changed. One year ago, October 13th 2022, I started working at Kohl's as a seasonal employe, and was kept on after the season was over as a part time associate, eventually becoming a cashier mainly. I was 17 when i started there (this will become important later).

The first time i met mark was my first opening shift, maybe my 3rd or 4th shift there at all. I rang the bell to get in and was greeted by mark. He was rude and asked what i was doing. I stated i was there to work, to which he asked my name. I gave him the name they have in their system, Saturn, my work name, and he asked what me real name was with such attitude. I gave him the name "S", as that is what i use outside of work, and he doesnt need to know my legal name. He turned away and said "whatever", continuing to walk in and check me in, along with the other day crew. This was the first day of hell.

Throughout my time working at Kohl's, mark was consistently rude, controlling, disrespectful to all staff that werent also managers, and just an awful human being.

I often saw him engaging in predatory behavior towards minors, especially young customers, around the age of 16 or 17. He would flirt with them, even when they were obviously uncomfortable. This continued throughout my entire year of working there.

Now, here is where it gets particularly bad. November 26th 2022, Mark touched my thigh while putting a hanger into my hanger box. This was not a normal touch, this was a caress, very close to my butt. there were 3 other open registers he could have put the hanger into. This was intentional.

After this i grew a deep fear of mark, that would only get worse as time went on. You see, i was sexually abused twice between the ages of 15 and 16. I wont go into detail, but it fucked me up pretty bad, so having this happen nearly sent me into a panic attack, the only thing holding me together was the fact that i had a line of customers. I didn't know what to do or how to report it, so it just went unsaid, unseen, unpunished, until December 14th, in which i finally reported him online, thanks to a friend who no longer works there reporting him and telling me how.

I reported him, then a few days later the head manager, Cat, and another manager, Salmon, pulled me into their office, and took my account of what happened. They said it would be reported to HR and that i would be contacted within a week. They told me to keep quiet about it.

It's been almost a year. I have heard nothing. I refuse to be quiet.

I never received an update from HR. I never received anything. As far as i'm aware, neither did mark. His habits continued, but thankfully he never touched me again, likely because i became much more abrasive against him after that. After than nothing major happened as far as i am aware for a while, though this time is blurry, but i know he was still hitting on underage girls, making the female staff uncomfortable, and overall making everyone upset by generally being disrespectful.

To show the scope of what dealing with this man day in and day out for almost a year did to me, let me tell you this. On June 24th, mark had asked me to follow him into the stockroom to grab something, but once we got there, i was so frightened to be in an area alone with him with little to no cameras, that i switched out. Our primary protector took over work for me ever since then. Being around him made us on edge at all times. I could not work while he was there with me. They recently, on October 6th, had to switch out because of how much genuine stress they were under when around him.

Many times he would make inappropriate comments about the female staffs bodies, saying they were overweight when they were very much not. Allegedly, he commented on the weight of Poodle (a woman with a mom body), Bat (a very skinny and tall woman), Reindeer (an average skinny woman), and several underage employees, all of normal weight, calling them overweight to their faces, when they were never of the sort.

Not only did he comment about the associates weight and appearance, he would often make outright rude comments about the employees, especially the new hires. Any time someone would make a small mistake and he saw, he would outright berate them, often publicly. This was especially clear in the case with my good friend, Wombat, they were brand new to the store and they have a shoulder injury that limits their motion and causes them sevre pain. They were degraded by mark while they were there for not being able to do the tasks he deemed so simple instead of helping them.

One of my previous associates who no longer works there was studying to be a nurce, and had told me along with others in a group one night, that she suspects Mark would come to work intoxicated. His slurred speech, overly red face, frequent shifts in mood, frequent inability to pronounce common names correctly, apparent inability to stick to what he said, memory issues, as well as many frequent comments about alcohol, all lead to this being the truth. I do not know for sure, but i believe this personally. As of recent he seems to have stopped coming to work intoxicated, but this does not change the fact he likely did many times in the past.

Frequently, mark would do nothing helpful, simply sitting in his office doing nothing, only coming out when a manager was called to help. The same goes for telling associates to do things he was easily capable of doing in the moment, such as telling floor associates to pick up or move things that were right in front of him, sometimes literally just standing next to it, waiting for a floor associate to do what he could have done in one second. I dont even want to know how frequently this happened, but according to my friends who work on the floor regularly, it was quite often.

Over the year i spent at kohls, mark had never once used the correct pronouns for me, despite myself and many other amazing coworkers correcting him time and time again. He would always use she/her. When i or others would correct, he would deflect, saying he knows and he "just forgot". He never once apologized. When it was myself correcting him, he would always roll his eyes. He was once talking to “me” (our protector) about his son, who is transitioning, and he would only refer to him as his daughter and with she/her pronouns.

Over the year mark would talk about his failing relationships to anyone who would listen, including underage associates, often sharing personal details you should not talk about at work, especially without permission from the person you are talking to. He has an ex-wife, and at least 8 or 9 girlfriends over the course of the year i worked there, while still flirting and making unwanted advances towards seemingly any girl in the store as long as she was 25 or younger. I had overheard him talking to another manager, Hare, about how he was talking to two girls, one he stated was his girlfriend at the time, and when they learned of each other they both dumped him. Unfortunately for Hare, she seemed uncomfortable but couldnt find a way out of the situation.

Many times mark would have people do things that were not part of their job, including having regester associates go farther than we were supposed to go away from the register, having us do large floor projects on busy days, such as making me entirely redo a wall of product and getting angry when it didn't get done because of having customers, and having one of the people at customer service, Reindeer, unload the amazon boxes when she is not supposed to, we have an entire team dedicated to doing that from what im aware of. Heck, Poodle had even made a comment about how he was not supposed to make her do that and that it is not part of her job.

One of the policies he most frequently broke was that we are not allowed to accuse a customer of shoplifting. He did this numerous times. Once he had me ring up an employees partner because he thought they were letting them take stuff, when he had no evidence and it was obviously not the case. More recently, on october 7th, we had 2 customers who were made very uncomfortable by marks hunch that they were shoplifting, which they were not, as i rang them up. They both left reviews for the store, and i think i will let them speak for themselves.

Unfortunately, this is not the only time this scenario has happened, and i doubt it will be the last.

We had 2 new managers come to work at kohls over the year i was there, one being Sphinx and the other, who has not even been there for 2 months at the time of writing, Penguin. When Sphinx joined us he was immediately put down by mark, him being outright rude to Sphinx about trivial matters. According to Sphinx, he had finished cleaning his OMNI area, only to come back to it later so find it trashed and for mark to comment he should clean his area up. Several times mark has stated he does not trust Sphinx to close the store by himself, when he has shown time and time again he is just as capable as anyone else to close the store.

This is where Penguin comes in. She has been here for less than 2 months, and she is amazing. She is kind, smart, and genuinely helpful. A lovely person to have as a manager. She has been subject to marks unwanted advances since she started. She is now leaving at the end of the month, and i can only assume it is because of this.

Numerous people have reported his poor behavior, including other managers, like Sphinx, and another one i'll call Bear. All of us are sick of his disgusting behavior. I contacted my friends about this to get any stories they may have about mark, and one, potato (yes they asked me to call them that) had this to say;

I havent even covered everything he's done yet. Heck, yesterday, October 9th, one of my previous coworkers, Rat, had told me about how mark had made racist comments towards her husband, and i cant even say i'm suprised considering he often would pick out maxican and black people to follow around and harass, including the customers who left the review abovem the man of which i beleive was mexican (i could be wrong, I dont remember exactly). The following is a statement from Rat herself about mark.

I dont know how to end this, but this is really all i have right now. I'll reblog with anything i have to add. Just know, I wont be quiet about this anymore. I'm tired of him getting away with everything he's done. Mark Meling, know you are a piece of shit. You are disgusting. You are predatory, you are perverted, and god, you do not deserve to be a fucking asistiant manager. everyone there also thinks so. I wish i could have told more people about the atrocities you have done. Sorry about any bad grammar or structure, i wrote most of this between 12am-3am last night and finished it today. If any of my coworkers see this, please add your own stories to this.

[skylermadness]

Constitution (Jawbone O'Shaughnessey TF/TG/PMC/AP)

(Original Date of Upload: June 22, 2022)

Yeah, I'm dedicating some uploads this week to the hot dads out there. I shall preface this by saying I love Jawbone very much and no amount of words can express how intense that love is. He's a werewolf, he's a dad, he's a school counselor, he's a dad, he's got a sick Irish accent, I can go on and on but if I did I'd hit the word limit of this description (if there even is a word limit, anyway). The general summarization of things is hot werewolf dad. Three words that I absolutely wish could be said more nowadays... This is also my first FtM TF in a while! I tried something a little new to this one too, based on a few personal headcanons and the fact that I want to try some new stuff in these TFs of mine! Also I hope someone gets the joke I made in the story title. If not, then I guess I'll just give ya the answer if you choose to ask-

   Ashleigh had never been the most hard on herself when it came to grades, but something about getting a C- on her most recent Introduction to Psychology test struck a nerve. There were perhaps a lot of reasons as to why she got such a low score. The trouble she was having focusing on classes these past few weeks, the sheer amount of information overload she seems to get when she does focus, the fact that cramming the night before had resulted in frustrated confusion over the material. She was trying her best, but it felt like her best wasn’t good enough.

   And that was only one brick in the wall that was her many problems.

   The past few weeks have been the arrival of many issues and hardships in her life. Finances were becoming harder to manage, mainly due to the fact that even one month’s rent at the dormitory was enough to slash a hole in her budget with very little hope of getting it back on just minimum wage alone. The balance between working at a nearby retail store and trying to keep up with college also wasn’t helping in that matter, with her focus being challenged even there.

   Her own identity was becoming something that was harder to understand. Especially when it comes to her own gender, as she’s been trying to grasp onto whether or not she was trans. Trying to test the waters on that was also impossible in her current situation, which was reinforcing a budding feeling of gender dysphoria.

  Many of her friends were already busy with their own lives. She was in no place for a relationship. Her mind was effectively a vortex of confusion and information that she felt unable to piece together.

   To say college was getting a little overwhelming to Ashleigh at this point would be an understatement.

   What was funny was, she thought she was ready. At first college wasn’t in the cards for her when she had first graduated high school with her being in a low income home, and the fact that applying to scholarships felt impossible to her due to their high standards. It took a little more than ten years for her to get in a spot of perceived readiness.

    Belief that she finally had the income to do so, a feeling that now was the time to move out of her parent’s home and into someplace else, a full grasp on who and what she was.

   That view of herself and the world was shattered in weeks.

   She probably could have caught onto that when she first applied. First seeing the amount rent cost at her college. The amount of time it took for her to even decide on a major she had wanted. Choosing a Psychology major had made her feel worse as the weeks went on, since she would find herself thinking on how she thought she could help people if she couldn’t even solve her own problems.

   It got to a point that after seeing that her grades had been falling, one of her professors had recommended she speak with the college’s guidance counselor. Although he seemed to have trouble remembering the counselor’s name. It resulted in her having trouble finding their office, except it seemed that no staff in the college could recall who the counselor was. Only the fact that there was one.

   Except there wasn’t???

   Just an empty office with a scrubbed name placard. 

   That was effectively Ashleigh’s breaking point.

   The next logical stop for her was to head to a bar nearest to her college and pour her woes to the bartender. Which is where Ashleigh finds herself now, downing a small pint of alcohol at a bar that was also within a nightclub. It was her fourth one and she was already tipsy. She had also just finished retelling her life’s story to the bartender, a bear of a man named Maurice.

   Ashleigh let out a little hiccup, then tipsily giggled. “Usually I wouldn’t turn to alcohol to run from all my problems, but damn is this some good booze…” 

   Maurice just hummed. “Migh’ have to cut ya’ off at sum poin’. Can’t have ya’ dyin’ of alc’hol poisonin’.”

   “It’s fine! My family’s been known for having good livers…” She drunkenly laughed again. 

   “Uh-huh.” Maurice said, unphased. He was used to that kind of response from the more… sadder patrons to his bar. It took a few moments of thought, but he found himself picking up another pint glass from beneath the counter. “Ah can safely say none of yer problems’ll be solved ‘ike this.”

   Ashleigh shook her head. “It still makes my head all fuzzy though… makes me forget how shit my life is.”

   “Ah wouldn’ say that,” Maurice tried to reassure her as he headed to the back of the bar. The back was lined with multiple kegs, most of which Ashleigh had assumed was filled with liquor. “This could jus’ be a ruff patch.”

   “It doesn’t feel like it…” Ashleigh said, folding her hands onto the table and placing her head in them. Everything felt like one hell of a trainwreck. Problem after problem, piling up and causing a storm in her head. The fact she didn’t really have any to talk to about it made it all the more worse. At least Maurice was willing to listen, although he didn’t provide much help besides the provision of booze. He’s probably paid to just sit around and listen, she thought to herself.

   Her eyes drifted over to the man himself, and Ashleigh watched as the man walked around the bar pouring various liquids from the kegs into the pint glass. She could hear him mumble something, but the music of the night club coupled with the low register of his voice made it incomprehensible to her. She did take note that the drink looked particularly… sparkly. 

   “Ah’ve been in th’s line of w’rk fer a while, bud. It nev’r lasts like that fer long. No matt’r how much ya think it does.”

   Ashleigh looked away for a moment. She couldn’t tell if it was the booze, or just her recently budding cynicism, but she found herself having a hard time believing that.

   She was pulled out her thoughts by Maurice walking up to her, sliding the drink he just made beside her arm. “Here, on th’ house.”

   Ashleigh lifted her head and looked around the bar skeptically. Come to think of it, she’s the only person here at the moment… Eh, whatever.

   She then took a look down at the pint. It wasn’t beer, liquor, wine, or any mixture that she could recall, although memory recall was a little muddled due to her current buzz. The drink was actually a soft, but sparkly, beige. It smelled kind of fruity too…

   “Ah call it th’ Reliever! It may help ya’ find what yer lookin’ fer.”

   Ashleigh raised a brow and smiled. “Are you sure you ain’t trying to roofie me?” she joked. Judging by the grimace on Maurice’s face, it wasn’t very funny. 

   “I happ’n to want to keep mah job.”

   “Right, sorry.”

   Ashleigh stared back down at the drink and shrugged. Taking hold of the glass, she downed the uncreatively named drink in one fell swoop. 

   “Hm. Tastes peachy. What’s in this?”

   Maurice only smirked. “Nothin’ ya’ could und’rstand, boy.”

   Something about being called ‘boy’ made Ashleigh feel something… warm.

   “Now ah’m afraid I gotta have to cut ya’ off.”

   Ashleigh slumped in her seat. “Alright, fine. Thanks for the new drink, I guess…”

   “On’y the best fer my cust’mers. Hope it does help ya’ in what yer lookin’ fer.”

   “I have a little trouble believing one fruit flavored drink is going to give me the answer to my problems, but I… appreciate it.”

   Maurice nodded and watched as Ashleigh got up from her seat and walked out the bar. He took note of her slightly disoriented walking and wondered if he should have offered to drive her home.

                                        ----------------------------------------------------------

   The door to Ashleigh’s dorm creaked open, with the woman clumsily walking in after. Walking home while drunk is apparently not the best thing to do. Perhaps she should’ve taken that bartender’s offer to take her back here, but she felt perfectly content walking home by herself. It even allowed her to take a good look at the Moon, which she had found herself feeling oddly pulled towards during those ten minutes of walking.

   Ashleigh took a seat on the small, singular sofa that was on the side of her little apartment. It was nestled in the corner, beside her work area and window. The seat had given her the perfect look at the moon again, the celestial object now currently in waxing crescent phase. How she knew that she wasn’t sure.

   Ashleigh let out another hiccup. “Houh, still a little drunk…”

   She pressed her back up against the chair and closed her eyes, her only thoughts now being of that weird fruity drink, that bar, and that bartender. It did feel nice to vent all of her feelings out to him, even if he wasn’t very professionally trained. And admittedly he might be right about all of this bad stuff just being a ‘for the time being’ thing. Plus, now that she was relaxed and had the time to think about it, Maurice did look kind of hot. Well, in a scruffy middle-aged man kind of way. 

   Okay, weird to think about… she thought to herself. She did kind of envy him, though. Big, hairy guy; deep voice; slightly confusing accent. She… wanted all of that. Especially that hairiness. God, that man is quite the bear…

   She let out a small sigh. What time was it? It was probably pretty late. She should probably head to sleep.

   …although for some reason she felt really itchy now…

   It was miniscule at first with it being a slight discomfort in her hands, arms, and chest. It was something she would try and scratch, the woman shifting her body around the couch uncomfortably as she tried to reach every spot she could to relieve herself of this ordeal. It wasn't until she started feeling something coarse that she started to notice something was off.

   Taking a hand out from beneath her shirt, she found that it was hairier. Brown hairs were growing out of it at a rapid pace and quickly overtaking it in a thick, fluffy pelt. Curious, Ashleigh turned her hand around to see if a similar change was occurring on her palms. While fur was growing around her palms, the skin was also swelling; roughening and darkening into a paw pad. Alongside this came changes to her nails, the keratin lengthening and sharpening into pointed claws. She could even swear that her hand was subtly growing larger.

   Ashleigh raised a brow, a mix of intrigue and confusion forming on her face. She lifted up her other hand to check if it was any different, finding the exact same changes have come across it too. A large, wolfish paw instead of a small, human hand.

   "...cccool…" she slurred out drunkenly. Perhaps it was the fact the alcohol was still working through her system, but she didn't feel particularly worried about this. She rubbed a paw on her cheek, feeling the fluffy fur and rough pads brush up against her skin. It was great. Her body was still kind of itchy though…

   Placing her paw down, she rolled up a sleeve of her hoodie, along with the sleeve of the shirt beneath it, to try and scratch her arm again. This time she was being a little lighter so as to not scratch herself with her new claws. Her skin looked to already be growing out more hair, but it appeared that irritating it was causing the changes to pick up the pace.

   The patches of fur grew denser with each passing second, her skin now fading beneath the brown pelage. A feeling of power coursed through her muscles causing her arms to gain a little more muscle tone than they had before. It wasn’t an impressive amount, plus it was shrouded beneath all of her fur, but it was there. This was then accompanied by a brief lengthening of her arms.

   There was a feeling of contentment filling her as she watched everything unfold; a feeling that, for once, wasn't influenced by the booze from earlier. It was like something deep inside her was coming out, something that she so deeply wanted. 

   The fur growth eventually ran up her arms and beneath her rolled up sleeves, but judging by the slight tightness she felt in her shoulders (a byproduct of her thickening delts), alongside the feeling of warmth layering upon them, she knew where the changes were heading.

   She leaned forward and placed a paw beneath her shirt, proceeding to scratch away at her chest while feeling the brown fluff growing out of it. With her shoulders becoming larger, her frame had widened to match. While the fur trickled down her chest like a rushing waterfall, her torso flattened and her breasts shrunk away, and all that remained were some pectorals with a small layer of fat covering them. For a moment a horizontal scar visibly formed beneath each pec, but both got shrouded beneath the sea of fur just moments later.

   The intense itching began to dissipate as the pelt washed over her belly. Beneath it grew more small muscles, but those muscles quickly got drowned out by a medium sized gut. She found her hand slipping down towards it, unconsciously giving it a little rub and causing her tongue to fall out of her mouth for a moment.

   “This is… oddly appealing…” she whispered to herself. It took her a moment for her brain to register that her voice shifted at the end of that sentence, her voice now a little deeper and huskier. 

   The fur eventually flowed down to the lower half of her body. Her hips widened before a feeling of pressure started to fill at the base of her spine. Scooting up in the chair a little, something about her reaction felt almost instinctual. So much so that she lowered the back of her pants a little.

   “Forgot to wear the tail safe ones, huh…” she offhandedly mumbled to herself. Her voice was just getting deeper and deeper. Plus she could swear there was an accent getting in there…

   Slinking out from her rear came a tail; one that was big and fluffy with rich brown fur that had a lighter shade of it on the bottom. As her tail grew, her spine grew with it making her taller than she was before.

   Somehow knowing exactly how to maneuver it, she moved the tail to her lap before scooting back up to the back of the chair. Smiling, she softly stroked the long, furry extension of herself. It was already becoming evident that she was transforming into some sort of wolf creature. Fur, paws, weird enjoyment of having her tummy rubbed. The tail was just another addition to this experience, and Ashleigh was all for it. 

   She had to take into consideration other changes though. Her now flat chest, her deepening and clearly masculine voice, even in her mind she didn’t feel like a ‘her’. It was clear that this was some kind of sign, some kind of fulfillment of an internal wish.

   It’s about time he starts referring to himself as something he was comfortable with. 

   As revelations came to his mind, his legs and feet underwent their changes. Mirroring his arms, his legs got thicker in both fur and muscle while concurrently growing longer. He didn’t really shave them much before, but that would be a null thought now that they were completely covered in a pelt of wolf fur. The same happened to his feet, the two now becoming large paws like his hands. Claws, paw pads, everything. Although unlike the rest of his clothing, his shoes were getting particularly uncomfortable…

   He leaned his head back up against the sofa and closed his eyes. “Yer really gettin’ everything ya wanted…” An ear twitched as he instantly noticed that an accent had crept into his already deep voice. It was a little hard to tell, with it being deep in the guttural huskiness that werewolves had, but it was definitely an Irish accent. “I’m even gettin’ an accent too!”

   He smiled, although now his face was now starting to feel different. This was caused by a lengthening muzzle, his face now pushing out into a more animalistic shape. Nose melding with his snout; the skin of it becoming rough, black, and wet. Shorter brown hairs pricked out of his skin and ran all the way across his face, his eyebrows getting bushier in the process. Within his mouth his teeth sharpened and two of his canines poked out from beneath his upper lip. His ears twitched again as they lengthened to a point, soft fur rolling across the outside while even softer fur poked out from the inside. 

   Then came the changes in his hair. Previously a rusty auburn color; long, wavy locks shortened on scalp while longer bits of fur protruded from the edges of his head and the bottom of his neck. Growing out of his head from all sides was a long, fluffy mane, the red coloration of the hair fading beneath it to become a dark, chocolatey brown as it did so.

   The wolfman closed his eyes and drew in a breath, his vocal cords rumbling with a content growl. He felt at peace for the first time in weeks. That bartender was right, that drink did help him find what he was looking for. At least in one aspect, anyway.

   He eventually drifted off to sleep, smiling and unafraid of what would happen on the morrow. And in his sleep the world would shift around him…

   The small dorm room expanded; twisting and warping into a small, comfy home. The overall location switched to someplace near the edge of the campus.

   His clothes had also shifted. The hem of his hoodie lengthened, sleeves unfurling and settling over his arms. The material shifted from cotton to wool, the color dulling to a comforting gray as it did so. Buttons lined one of the ends of the split while the hood retracted and flattened into a nice shawl collar. Gone was a hoodie, now warped into a comfortable wool cardigan.

   The undershirt he wore beneath the hoodie altered alongside it. The sleeves shortened to make it a t-shirt, the color darkened to black. Emblazoning on the shirt was a simple hexagon with triangular eyes, four rectangles beneath it that emulated teeth, and a line that floated around the top four sides of the hexagon; triangles poking out of it to replicate ears.

   His pants were next with the portions below the knees magically tearing apart before stopping a little above his knee. The edges remained frayed, and the material shifted into a blue denim. A hole formed beneath the belt loop on the back, and the jeans appeared to phase through his tail in order to comfortably fit it in there. Once his tail was in, the changes to his pants were complete.

   His shoes underwent more subtle shifts, having only grown in size to alleviate the discomfort while the leather deepened in color to a dark red lined with white around the sides, soles, and straps.

   Deep in his sleep, the wolfman dreamed. Dreamed of a new life for himself, all of his goals fulfilled and him now helping others do the same. Dreamed of the perfect identity for himself. And dreamed of the happiest thoughts he could. With these dreams came a new name for himself…

   He was now Jawbone O’Shaughnessey, and these dreams would soon be revealed to be more than just mental conjurings…

                                        ----------------------------------------------------------

   Jawbone woke up with a start, in part thanks to the alarm clock he didn’t remember setting. He walked over to it to shut it off, quickly finding out that his vision was a lot blurrier than he recalled. He instinctively pawed the top of the dresser his alarm clock was on for a few moments, then grasped onto something. 

   His glasses.

    “Heh, that’s new…”

   Placing his glasses on his muzzle, he began to think. Come to think of it, a lot was new…

   As he got up from the sofa he took a nice glance of the room he was in. Instead of a small dormitory room, it was a medium sized bedroom. It retained a fairly similar layout to his old dorm room, but with the new space came bookshelves lining the shelves (containing the many books he’s read over the years) and a few picture frames hanging from the walls (all of which had assorted images of him with students he remembered counseling).

   A warmth filled his chest while he stared at the various images. All of these were of him, and they were all of the people he’s… helped… 

   Faces, names, voices, memories, so much flashing in his head at the sight of these pictures. It filled Jawbone with a euphoria that feels like it’s been felt a thousand times before.

   “I guess those weren’t just dreams, then...”

   The rest of the morning was spent preparing himself for the day and checking out what else seemed to change. Jawbone was a little surprised to find that he wasn’t in his dorms anymore, and was instead in a fully paid for house! Along with that, all of his credentials seemed to have changed to fit his new reality, and judging by his new memories he was now employed as the guidance counselor at his old college. Things had truly changed for the better!

   However, he was truly able to settle into his identity at college. The students smiled as he walked past them, greeting him and giving him high-fives. He was seen as one of the most chill, kindest, helpful people in the college by-far. People entered his office to ask for help in both academic, social, and personal matters, and Jawbone seemed to have the right answer for everything.

   There were times he was alone in his office waiting for a student to walk in, the man given a small moment's time to look around and think about the life he was now in. He’d pull up foreign memories, strange and crazy tales from his past, sifting through his mind to better grasp who he was now. This is his life after all, he’d like to know everything it had to offer. 

   The day would go on as all days would go. Helping students; chilling in his office; doing some miscellaneous paperwork. Every so often he’d stare at the nameplate on his desk and drift into happy thoughts, a feeling of reassurance of who he is settling further within him. He even started to feel like this had always been his life even if that wasn’t exactly the case. But semantics were pointless in the end because this is his life!

   Eventually everything for the day would be said and done, and Jawbone would get off work with a smile. Another day fulfilled for the carewolf! 

   At first he had thought about driving back home and finishing up what paperwork he had left, but a thought had entered his mind while he turned the ignition.

   After a minute of driving through the city streets, Jawbone’s ears perked up as he heard the music of his destination. The Oreum Sirius Nightclub: the exact place he had been the day before.

   He winced as he stepped into the doors of the place. The music was a little too loud for his werewolf ears, but he would get used to it like he did back at the Black Pit. Plus his real goal was far enough from the club portion that it wouldn’t be too much of a nuisance.

   His eyes drifted to the man tending to the bar. The burly guy cleaning a shot glass while looking out at the club’s crowd, awaiting a customer. The one and only Maurice.

   Jawbone walked up to the bar, a coy smile on his muzzle, and let out a low growl to grab the bartender’s attention. “Yer quite the bear of a man, aren’t’cha?”

   Maurice seemed a little startled about the appearance of a werewolf (something was telling Jawbone that lycanthropy wasn’t very common around these parts), but quickly regained composure in order to respond. “Flatt’ry ain’t gonna get ya’ anything free.”

   “I think I already got somethin’ free yesterday…”

   The sight of the bartender’s eyes was enough to prove to Jawbone that he got the guy. 

   “Wait- yer- woah…”

   Jawbone’s smile widened even more at that reaction. The wolfman stared into Maurice’s eyes, causing the bartender to blush a little.

   “I don’t know what you gave me, but it did exactly what you said it would!”

   Maurice just nodded, although Jawbone could hear the man mutter something along the lines of ‘usually they never stay in this world’ under his breath. Jawbone chose not to question it though.

   Jawbone placed an arm on the table and leaned over to Maurice. “How ‘bout I buy us both a drink, and we can get to know each other a little bit more…”

   Maurice’s enter face flushed, the man beginning to stammer. “R-right! Ah-Ah’ll get us a menu soo we can… ord’r somethin’.”

   This was going to be one hell of a night!

[oswlld]

✨2023: A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favorite edit/gifset for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

Tagged by (1)@casualavocados, (2)@pranink, (3)@alexshenry, & (4)@forcebook 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼 YAYY thank you all for tagging me, happy to tackle this for the third yr in a row (here’s 2022 and 2021; it’d be fun to look back and see if i agree with the choices today)

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January

most popular — the mandalorian: s3 grogu

favorite(s) — vice versa: basic process of a colorist series

February

most popular — my school president: random screencap #1

favorite(s) — my school president: a lover’s discourse

March

most popular — the mandalorian: the mines of mandalore

favorite(s) — my school president: periodic table 1+2

April

most popular — doctor who: langston hughes

favorite(s) — midnight museum: the payphone & vice versa: talay’s top outfits

May

most popular — our skyy 2 bad buddy/atots: a self-portrait in letters

favorite(s) — jump started a book redesign series over here

June

most popular/favorite(s) — taylor swift: speak now tracklist

technically edited this in may and took a break from editing that month

July took a break

August took a break

September took a break

October

most popular/favorite(s) — vice versa: end of an era

it was the first edit back from break and the only edit that month

November

most popular — doctor who: the star beast

favorite(s) — last twilight: episode three braille

December

most popular — doctor who: the giggle

favorite(s) — last twilight: ?/.

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tagging @morkofday @seatawinan @seatawinans @dribs-and-drabbles (for all your analysis, would love to see what popped off and what your personal favs are!) @i-got-the-feels @jimmysea @moonkhao @athousandbyeol @buffonia @taeminie

[the-rockit]

I think it would be funny if people described their current fandom as like an infection that's continually getting worse like:

The Catcher in the Rye virus just grows worse day by day. My first exposure to it in October of 2022 was very mild and I didn't properly start doodling Holden and Stradlater until November. Oh, how innocent I was back then...just mindlessly doodling for something my teacher assigned...what little I knew. We finished the book before Christmas break in December but that only put a temporary stop to my fixation. During this time I occupied myself with the DHMIS and the Shovelware's Brain Games. However, even stranger enough, in March when Character.ai was popping off I got an urge to talk to Holden. And so I did. 3 different bots at least 3 times each or so, usually playing as Stradlater with different scenarios. Around this same time is when we started to read Farenheit 451 and that did not stop the fixation.

However, in June, I got into the Onceler, then Batman(2022), The Real Ghostbusters, and Eddsworld but it was still a lingering comfort of mine and I found myself occasionally doodling the little edgelord and posting thoughts I had about him here.

Then, I got an ask commenting about how I talk about Holden and I got back into it(never left but still) but recently it has grown...increasingly concerning. It started as it always does, mostly just thinking about Holden and Stradlater...but then before I knew i, I was thinking about Ackley...and making an AU....and new ships...and rereading the book...and now it seems that even the critters of Jane and Sally have invaded my brain. I don't know when this will stop if it ever will, but this is by far the most extreme case of The Catcher in the Rye virus I've ever seen...so far? No cure is available...yet.