#i just dont like the format tumblr has for titles of posts so im not officially calling it that

[chansaw]

on red and blue symbolism in heathers: an essay

i read one of those buzzfeed listicles the other day that was like “crazy fun facts and secrets about your favorite 80s movies!” and one of the first fun facts was “did you know that in heathers, every character is associated with a color?” that’s not a fun fact. it’s not even a secret. heathers is a lot of things but one thing it’s not is subtle. heathers practically beats the viewer over the head with color symbolism but in this essay, i would particularly like to draw attention to the colors red and blue and their significance in heathers’ narrative.

a short preface: when possible, i cite stills sourced from the movie itself. some images, however, are served better by the gif format, so whenever i post a gif i will also cite the tumblr user who made it. if your gifs are used in this post and you would like me to remove them, please let me know.

okay, with that out of the way, let's start at the beginning (naturally). below is the title card. right away, the cinematographers inundate the viewer with red, informing the viewer that red (and whoever wears it) will be significant to the narrative.

red represents the social order and the natural hierarchy of predators and prey at westerburg. red is omnipresent throughout the production design of the school's campus.

by assuming the color of the school itself, heather chandler assumes control of the school. and when she drags veronica along to the remington party to help boost their reputation, the whole dorm is bathed in red light.

when we first meet veronica, she's wearing gray and black, with only occasional pops of blue (the brooch in the outfit above, her croquet mallet, etc) but as veronica's discomfort and unease begins to grow, something interesting begins to happen!

blue light slowly begins to creep into the frame, and once veronica has finally had enough of brad's bullshit, it becomes even more prominent. just as red represents control of the social hierarchy, blue symbolizes discontent and rejection of the social order.

(gif by @/fireairshadow)

meanwhile, heather chandler isn't having a great time at the party either. this scene is the only time in the film we see heather chandler completely alone, in a moment of vulnerability and self loathing, and she's surrounded by the color blue.

(gif by @/tibby ily tibby)

and then all hell breaks loose. i honestly dont think one image or gif alone can do this scene justice so im linking to tibby's (beautifully colored) gifset of the scene.

note how as veronica declares war ("lick it up, baby!"), red and blue lights flicker across her face. and as heather promises to ruin veronica in turn, the red light casts heather's face in shadow and overpowers the blue.

of course, heather never gets the chance to make good on this promise because veronica and jd kill her. and that may have been a mistake, but the color of their poison is quite deliberate.

(gif by @/nowadayz)

and right before she dies, she takes off her red scrunchie - conceding her control.

of course, heather's death doesn't mean her exit from the narrative. red lingers throughout the rest of the film. but guess what color veronica wears to the funeral?

tumblr is a little bitch and i dont have the time or energy to expound upon the rest of my argument at the moment. it's probably been examined and analyzed in greater detail by people smarter and far more eloquent than me. but i'll conclude with veronica's reclamation of the red scrunchie at the end of the film. you could choose to interpret this as veronica conceding to the hierarchy even after all she's been through, but i choose to interpret it as a bitter compromise.

(gif by @/nowadayz)

and so it ends the way it begins.

anyways all this to say vote for chansaw in the @redandbluebracket tomorrow or i'll kill you.

ETA: a note to anyone who came to my blog from this post - hi! you don’t have to like chansaw romantically/as a ship. im not expecting to proselytize and convert people en masse (although if you HAVE been converted, welcome). even without the shipping element, i believe that veronica and hc’s dynamic as character foils is the backbone of the narrative, which is why i genuinely think they deserve to win the red and blue bracket. vote here. my name is heather chansaw and i approve this message.

[rgr-pop]

TIME SENSITIVE ACTION REQUEST!!: can you my beautiful artists/clever people on tumblr make us some abortion button designs this weekend? To sell to raise money for Mountain Access Brigade, a collective of abortion doulas funding access to abortion in east tennessee?

I’m tabling a week from today at Stoopfest in Lansing, which will be headlined this year by Jhariah, R.A.P Ferreira, Weakened Friends, and Direct Hit!. I’m tabling with the Lansing DSA Women’s Section (working title) as well as a coalition of other women organizing with leftist orgs in Lansing (we don’t have a name yet but we call them “the girlies”). We’re looking to hit $5k on our fundraiser by the end of the month, but equally importantly, I’m tabling to meet people who want to plug into projects we’re getting off the ground to organize to defeat transphobic homophobic and anti-abortion power in Lansing, especially (my baby pet project if you know me irl!) launching our campaign to chase out and shut down the anti-abortion fake clinics in the city.

Here’s our fundraising page, you can donate and share (please!) but you should also read it to get a sense of how we talk about our vision:

https://fund.nnaf.org/team/565397

So I need YOU to design abortion loving buttons for me to make to sell for the fundraiser and start conversations that connect people :). Please help lol. The vibe is queer, mutual aidy, creative! Many of the girls I’m going with are harm reduction activists and passionate about self management and self controlled healthcare.

We have a lot of fun/funny ones made already but we need more sweet/straightforward ones that inspire people and ground the sloganing in our principles. Some wording you can use in your designs (but please feel free to think of others)/some jumping off points/guidance:

- abortion is magic

- abortion access (or just access) saves lives

- we use the term “reproductive freedom” as a matter of practice (pro-choice and reproductive justice are okay, but we love this one)

- “bodily autonomy” is another one we orient around

- pro “repro worker” slogans (“i <3 repro workers” always good)

- “i fund abortion”

- tying in safer sex slogans (would love something like this in an 80s/90s safe sex campaign style)

- harm reduction/mutual aid framing (would looove some good ideas here)

- i REALLY want to come with something about bisexual women being statistically most likely to have an abortion (one of my favorite communist conversation starters irl) - in general messages about queer people getting abortions is a vibe!

- we don’t use “women” when referring to who gets abortions but feminist messaging is great. I’d stay away from body parts as imagery

- the classic, “i love abortion”

- slogan-free imagery that supports the vibe

- Y’allidarity :):):)

- This line from a lead organizer with DSA’s Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Campaign has stuck with me as a guide, it really gets at the core of this work for me: “In a political climate characterized by fear and isolation, our voice is steady, loving, direct, and shows courage in our democratic socialist convictions.”

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

- Make me some designs on a 2.25 inch circle button template (im a design idiot and need help) in whatever file format and give me permission to print them and turn them into buttons to sell for the fundraiser. THEY DONT HAVE TO BE AMAZING LOOOKING! email me at rikki.g.reynolds@gmail.com

- reply to this post with specific wording ideas if the above inspires you!

- share this post :) and hit up your designer friends who have time this weekend! abortion fund-a-thon is about making hard asks of your friends who can help, and you’ll be glad you did.

- if you want to help promote this fundraiser on your own socials or somewhere else, feel free but you can also dm me for ideas!

Sorry for the last minute (this is why I’m really calling on tumblr GOATs), but I would loooooove to make buttons next MONDAY or possibly as late as Wednesday— I’ll edit this post when I know for sure. It’s an emergency! But you’ll be saving lives!

What can I do for you?

If you ask, I can post pictures on twitter and tag you if you want some traffic (some of our posts get a little traffic). I can PROBABLY also send you a finished button of your design after fund a thon season (May) is over but I don’t want to make that promise for certain yet.

ty!!!

[robinainthood]

hello pls tell me about '!!!!! chatfic!!!!!!!!!!! aka sk8 the infinity nahmsayin' the title has enchanted me due to it's many exclamation points

!! That is very fair and understandable. I apologize for the wait btw, I was having dinner and then also had to reformat this for tumblr bc yea lmao

Concept: This was my first attempt at a chat fic ever, thus it was hardly a fic and mostly an experiment. I'd love to revisit the concept with a different ship/dynamic at some point because it was a lot of fun!!

Excerpt (it's a bit long due to the formatting, sorry!):

Ice King ❄️ Today at 2:09 AM hey, you up? Iori is typing... Iori Today at 2:13 AM This better not be a booty call... Ice King ❄️ Today at 2:13 AM you wish lol im at the rink. come see me Iori Today at 2:13 AM Now?? It’s two in the morning Gojo Ice King ❄️ Today at 2:13 AM and look whos up Iori Today at 2:14 AM I'm STUDYING. Some of us actually care about our grades Ice King ❄️ Today at 2:14 AM studying at 2am is chaotic as hell will you come if i promise it’ll be worth it ↱ Ice King ❄️: "studying at 2am is chaotic as hell" Iori Today at 2:14 AM Like skating at 2am is any better lmao? ↱ Ice King ❄️: "will you come if i promise it’ll be worth it" Iori Today at 2:14 AM No. You need to get your ass off the ice and into bed Ice King ❄️ Today at 2:14 AM pleaseee Ice King ❄️ Today at 2:19 AM dont make me call you Ice King ❄️ Today at 2:27 AM 🥺👉👈 Iori is typing... Iori Today at 2:31 AM Ughhh you're so annoying ↱ Iori: "Ughhh you're so annoying" Ice King ❄️ reacted: "😇" Today at 2:35 AM Iori Today at 2:38 AM 😑 Fine. I'll be there in ten ↱ Iori: "😑" Ice King ❄️ reacted: "💙" Today at 2:38 AM Iori Today at 2:40 AM Weirdo

I do love these two actually I always forget how much I love them lmao. Maybe I'll actually finish this up and post it for funsies :)

Obligatory edit to add: the gratuitous use of exclamation points in the title was, in fact, a result of my having just discovered that chat fics were a thing and being comically excited to try it out myself hsgdjkh.

It's just another way to get to know your characters like it's a great vehicle for experimenting with their personality (would X character type formally or informally? would they use emojis or emoticons? proper punctuation or improper? abbreviations or spelled out? paragraphs or spam texts?). Plus, the formatting part tickles my brain :)

[pankomako]

there's probably like a million others out there already, but since im seeing a lot of my friends hop on tumblr due to the twitter situation i figured i'd give this a go. so, welcome to

panko's guide to tumblr!

i've been using this site for almost a year now, so i suppose i'm at least somewhat qualified to do this. i mainly just want to do this for fun honestly. i think lots of people have covered more of the setup and what to expect from tumblr as a whole so i think i'll focus on more of the usage of this site, because it's definitely much different from twitter, and, in my opinion, FAR better, plus that's the thing people seem to be the most confused about. so, here we go!

Post Features

the first thing you may notice is that tumblr has no character limit on posts! if you want to post a 10,000 word essay on the motives of your favorite character from the video game or tv show you're super into right now, nobody's stopping you. already so much more convenient than making threads on twitter.

there's a variety of options you can use to make your text more visually interesting, add emphasis, and/or organize your post! when you highlight text (at least on browser, i dont use the app), these options will appear above what you highlighted. you can make your text bold, italicized, bigger (on a new line), smaller, crossed out, or even colored! under the drop-down list there are other options too such as cursive text and lists. you can also add hyperlinks to text if you want. (this is all in the rich text editor, you can also switch to HTML or Markdown by going to your post settings.)

you can also add plenty of other media to posts! you can add up to 30 images which you can arrange however you please, although from my experience arranging images is kinda clunky, but still way better than twitter lol. you can also add gifs, videos (one per post), audio files (10 per post), and embed links. you can also add a cutoff line where everything under that line is hidden under a "read more" button, which is very useful for longer posts.

when you make a post, there is a space to add a title, but it's not required. most people don't add titles unless it helps with formatting.

you can also schedule a post to be posted at a certain time, queue posts to be posted on a consistent schedule, change who can reblog a post, and even save posts as drafts if you want/need to come back to them later.

Tags

Under every post you make/reblog, there is an option to add tags. these are in their own section under the post itself. you can add as many as you want afaik, but they can only be so many characters long. on tumblr, tags have multiple uses.

you can add tags that correspond to your post such as the topic or fandom (and characters/people involved), or whether it's art or photography, for example, to try to help get your post out there. it's preferred and just better in general to only add tags that are relevant to your post. don't tag character fanart as sports or food or pop music, but ESPECIALLY not an unrelated fandom.

you can also use tags to organize your blog and make it easier to find specific posts. you can tag your own art as "my art" and art you reblog from friends as "friends' art", and even create your own tags for specific topics you frequently post about, such as your oc world or a fandom fic or au you have. i personally don't use tags for organization much, but i do have my own tags for the two oc worlds i have. (you can do this even if you're not a fandom-goer or artist, these just serve as an example bc im both lol)

you can even use tags to add extra comments to a post. lord knows i do this a lot myself. lots of people will use tags to sort of ramble off-handedly under a post when it's not the main content of said post. this is especially common under reblogs - more on that later. since you can add spaces within tags, writing full sentences in the tags is easy and a very common practice. just be careful when using commas; adding a comma starts a new tag.

Notes

similarly to how twitter has likes, retweets and comments, tumblr has likes, reblogs and replies. however, these are all combined into one sum of notes. all notes on a post are compiled under the source post. by clicking on the number of notes under a post, you can see a list of all replies, likes and reblogs on a post, if you're curious like me.

on tumblr, likes act as more of a bookmarking tool. you can look at a list of all the posts you liked, and you can have this list displayed on your blog if you want, but likes do NOT increase the visibility of a post. if you want to help a post gain traction, you need to reblog it. if you don't want that post on your blog, but you want to let the person know that you've seen and enjoyed their post, you can leave a like as a small but kind gesture if you want. if you were playing minecraft, liking a post would be akin to punching a mob, but reblogging would be like using a sword. it may not necessarily be a powerful diamond sword, but it does more than a one-damage punch. i should also mention - you can only like a post once; if you like a reblog of a post, you like the source post and can't like separate reblogs of the post.

reblogs are the core of tumblr's functionality. this site does not have an algorithm, so reblogs are the only way for posts to circulate. it's probably pretty easy to figure out, but reblogs put another person's post on your own blog and on your followers' feeds. this is likely the biggest difference between tumblr and twitter: you can reblog a post as many times as you want, and you can add on to a post directly by reblogging, which is much different from a quote-tweet on twitter. also different from quote-tweets, all notes on reblogs are notes contributed to the source post. in a reblog, you can add a comment either in normal text or in the tags, and you can add images and gifs as well. it's common courtesy to put comments that don't contribute to the post in the tags, such as saying you think a post is funny. lots of famous tumblr posts are chains of reblogs - unlike on twitter where you can only retweet one tweet/reply at a time, you can reblog these reblog chains. you can also add the tags of the person you reblogged from to your own reblog if you want, though usually people just say "prev" if they liked the previous reblogger's tags.

replies are a convenient way to have a conversation under a post without repeatedly reblogging. although convenient, replies are limited in what you can do with them. they're text-only and have a character cap. but they're still a good way to add a quick comment to a post if you don't want it on your blog. you can also reply directly to a person in the notes of a post by mentioning them in your reply. replies can be deleted from a post or be turned off for a post entirely by the original poster.

I think that's about all you need to know to get started posting and reblogging, but please feel free to add on if i did happen to forget anything. thanks for reading and happy tumbling! :D

[goldfinwrites]

Doubt Doubt knew he had abandoned his faith alongside his humanity centuries ago, but still asked God for forgiveness when a blond child wandered into his basement, demanding a contract, and he had agreed. The child had stared at him, self-assured with a piercing gaze, despite the slight tremble in the arm he held out towards the vampire. Doubt Doubt had sunk his fangs into the offering and felt the shift in his being as he was overwritten with the new name “Jeje”.

The blond reminded him of some pagan trickster god, Jeje thought, coiled against the forearm of his Eve. The white shirt and hoodie were soft enough to not catch on his scales as he moved, keeping himself warm, as he kept his fangs neatly tucked away. Attempting to steal from his capricious partner would only earn him an ascetic punishment, as he had learned through experience. He had been ordered to fast entirely for a week on his last attempt as penitence for his transgression.

Jeje was nothing if not obedient to his Eve, regardless of how unreasonable the whims he was subject to were. The vampire grumbled much of the time, knowing Mikuni’s fickle nature meant deference was unlikely to be rewarded -- though penace would still be demanded for defiance. He had figured out his Eve years ago, seeing him hurl a pillow at his bruised (albeit richer) then-roommate. Temperamental, but never foolish or naïve enough to let it harm his goals. Though Jeje understood Mikuni well, at times the Eve felt unfathomable, whether appealing for the vampire to purchase drinks at the nearby vending machine or in the quiet hours of the night as he silently wandered the streets with the snake around his neck. Though neither the holy nor unholy were meant to be understood by mortal existences, Jeje was reminded as he looked over the sleeping form on the couch with a cowboy hat covering his face.

The streetlamps glowed overhead as Jeje checked his bags were secure. The impromptu training exercise he was commanded to do with the other Eves had left him extra wary. Mikuni’s blond hair almost shone beneath the light as he tipped his head back, finishing the rest of his bottled coconut milk. After confessing his deliberate loss, he had been sent to fetch an appropriate offering for his Eve, which had been eagerly taken. The acceptance of repentance had Jeje swallowing the complaints from earlier and simply admiring his Eve.

The blond child that had sought him out years ago had become a mercurial path towards redemption he did not deserve but clung to desperately. He had sworn fealty and devotion to the undivine man before him, as no god could be as fragile as a mortal Eve. Though gods were objects for humans to behold, and Jeje knew that no sacred being would gaze upon him, who had seen beyond death and wandered the world as a revenant.

Jeje drank from the vial, knowing his Eve’s blood was a rare sacrament to receive. As profane as this Eucharist was, he felt strength surging through his godforsaken body. He had left his faith behind in the world of the living, but his Eve was the closest thing to salvation he had ever tasted.

[graymoon2-archive]

this post has been delayed by several days but

em graymoon’s guide to writing, formatting, and posting mcyt fanfiction

thank you to @dreamwvrld, @struggling-with-time, @anarchiststories, and @bunarise for their additions!

this covers everything from blog setup to the algorithm to making mutuals and more!

this will be in multiple steps and have as much info as i can think to include. feel free to rb or reply with any additional info! i’ve included reference posts by myself and some of my beloved mutuals <3

so you, dear reader. if you are interested in writing mcyt fanfiction, keep reading! its not hard, i promise.

a small disclaimer before i begin- none of this is for financial gain. you aren’t going to be paid. we all do this for fun. however, this doesn’t mean its okay for you to be harassed or have your writing stolen. writers are people, and we have lives.

step 1- make your blog

this is the simplest and most important step.

set up a theme however you want, fill out the bio, ect. if you already have a blog, you can use that! you’ll want to set up your pinned post with the following links (all of these are pretty optional except your masterlist)

references- x | x | x | x | x (dont steal peoples layouts)

a. masterlist- this contains all of your written works. mine are sorted by characters, but you can sort them other ways as well. you can find references here, here, and here from some of my mutuals

b. about me- self explanatory

c. requesting information (optional, only if your requests are open!) references: x | x | x | x

d. dni- self explanatory

you’ll want to set up all the links and such before you begin posting or writing.

(hot tip: requests are a great way to get ideas if you feel uninspired)

step two- actually write perhaps?

this is pretty easy if im honest so i’ll be including my best tips for writing here + what tends to be popular

1- do not feel pressured in any way to write or to meet a certain word count. this is supposed to be fun, don’t turn it into a task

2- pov, pov, pov. establish your pov from the start. you have three options; 1st [i, me, myself] (not very tumblr style, if you make x reader in 1st pov i’ll cry), 2nd [you, yours, yourself] (x reader is most commonly in this pov. its like 3rd but replace the pronouns with you), and 3rd [she/her, they/them, he/him, etc] (some x readers, mostly populated by character x character or other narrative style writing)

3- some characters do better on tumblr, some don’t. don’t look at the numbers too hard.

(hot tip: cc!dteam and cc!wibur fluff does the best.)

4- long fics or series need a plot layout. take my advice on this one. just lay out base events. thats it. it can be sarcastic, stupid, full of keysmashes, doesn’t matter. just get your base events down, and your brain will do the rest.

heres an example for a series im doing soon

like i said, doesn’t need to be perfect. it just needs to be.

5- headcannons are easy to make and easy to read (*cough cough you can get easy clout cough*)

6- make sure people know your requests are open (if you must, submit asks to yourself with whatever inspo you have and pretend it was an actual request)

7- make sure it follows boundaries (check @/smp-boundaries )

step 3- formatting

so here we are. you wrote. now we format.

a. images- some people add an image to the top of their posts, some dont. some use line breaks, some dont. whatever floats your boat. here are two line break images i use pretty often

just save them off the post and use them! credit to @sushisoot for the black one

(hot tip: look for macbook background images theyre usually a good size)

b. top of post information (aka: the hook- how will you draw potential reader’s attention?)

this is the formatting setup i'm using currently.

title

ship

line break image

masterlist- add masterlist link here-leads people to check out more works

summary- short 1-2 sentence summary of your writing

warnings- add tws here

pronouns- if in 2nd person put none used, if 3rd add the used pronouns (tumblr prefers 2nd and 3rd to 1st)

song rec- pretty optional, but i like to include one for fun

(word count)

line break image

first paragraph

add the cut (:readmore: +enter on app, insert using the formatting tools on web)

heres an example

another thing you want to add is a readmore. if your work is longer than 0.3k words, its a necessity. add it after the first paragraph (so you can pull readers in)

with this formatting, your authors note/ additional notes (a/n) goes at the end (usually some random note like “i listened to coconut mall on repeat while writing this”)

blank version:

masterlist

summary

warnings

pronouns

song rec

another option is the formatting i used to use, which is slightly more self explanatory

masterlist

ship- cc/c/au!(ch) x gn/f/m/au reader (ex- hs!au karl x gn!reader)

word count-

category- fluff/angst/hurt comfort

pronouns-

warnings-

a/n-

example

pretty simplistic, i just think its a bit long

blank version

masterlist

ship-

word count-

category-

pronouns-

warnings-

a/n-

(if you’re wondering what changed, i’m gay now /lh)

c. add a readmore i beg you (mobile tutorial) desktop is with text formatting stuff

d. consistency. keep your formatting style the same from post to post

e. if you start a taglist, keep a post where you list all of the tags and paste it at the bottom of fics (typically you want a taglist for any series you start)

f. tagging. this is how you actually get your post where you want it

most people use a tagging system similar to this (x reader specific, its what i write. if any other writers want to tell me how they tag ill add it in!)

mcyt, mcyt fanfiction, mcyt x reader, mcyt x you, dream smp, dream smp fanfiction, dream smp x reader, dream smp x you, [character] x reader, [character] x you, [character] x gn/f/m!reader, cc/c/[au]!character x reader, cc/c/[au]!character x you, cc/c/[au]!character x gn/f/m!reader

and for headcannons, just use multiple character specific tags along with the base mcyt and dream smp x reader tags (keep in mind, only the first 20 tags work, the other 10 are just for organization)

if you cross tag (use unrelated tags to your writing) i will come break your kneecaps. don’t do it.

step 4- actually posting

you made it! time to share your story with the simps fandom!

if you want maximum exposure, 8pm - 1 am est is a good bet. you can take advantage of the scheduling feature to make sure posts go up when you want.

step 5- making mutuals

the social game is a strange one, but i have more mutuals than i can count, so allow me to give you some advice.

1- be nice! reach out in their ask box, say hello, introduce yourself, ect

2- check on them every day or so, be a good friend

3- ask questions, discuss mutual interests, basic relationship stuff

if you’re scared, go on anon! send asks and get to know someone under the guise of an emoji or word. i did!

step 6- bust the algorithm

now look. im not saying this is the most ethical. but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do

a. send yourself requests so people know you accept them

b. self reblogs. it boosts your fic to followers in other timezones

c. literally just. ask for reblogs. put a little message that says “reblogs appreciated” or “please consider reblogging” like the more polite youtubers do. (reblogs boost your work in tags and spread it to other people)

d. if you have a fic, dm it to me! i love to read other peoples work!

feel free to dm me with any other questions! im happy to help

also allow me to plug- im a mod on a prompt blog called @promptplanetblr, we make prompts (duh) and there are some inspo playlists as well! if you feel uninspired go check it out!

[indomies]

#showyourprocess

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag up to 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

sabrina @lanwangiji​, my love, tagged me to share my process of making this typography edit! check out her explanation of her the untamed edit and her edit tag. 

1. PLANNING

i once opened lyrics edit requests so i can learn and practice typography. this edit was a request as well. i asked them which lyrics they wanted to have and the colors they’d like. since i got several requests and it was hard to keep tabs on them, i made a trello board so i could organize everything. i’m still using the trello board for every edit idea i have, the board makes my life easier.

above is what i filled the card in the board with. basically just information of the requests.

1.1 INSPIRATION

once i got the request, my first thought was to find the vibe the song/lyrics exude. “it’s an old curse” screamed witchy vibes to me, so i went to pinterest to find some inspirations. at first i was looking for witchy poster designs and i came across this. i liked how it has smoke-ish graphic and i thought the smoke suited the “old curse” lyrics. and tbh pinterest is a rabbit hole, they gave me suggestions after suggestions, like this and this which became my inspiration for the color palette (i added the gold from those pics) and the sun moon design gave me the idea to incorporate space stuffs too. i somehow landed on this too, and because i wanted to include space theme, i made a simple phases of the moon. ultimately the hero of this edit was the lyrics, i didnt want the graphics took the center stage. i was inspired to make a crystal ball and do this kind of typography but after several trials i couldnt get the the typography right, so i scratched that idea and went with the space theme instead.

1.2 PICKING COLORS

after i was feeling inspired enough, i went looking for the right colors. i usually just type “color name” and “palette” on pinterest. example “dark grey color palette” and i chose the one i liked best. when the request only asked for 1 color, i always searched for either a complimentary or contrasting color to give it a jushz, to add sprinkles. that’s why i added gold on top of the dark grey. 

1.3 FINDING FONTS

this is the hardest part. the fonts play important role to the design. they need to convey the vibes of the lyrics, in this case witchy/magic vibe. i needed to find fonts or font just as magical and a bit whimsical. tho i hoard fonts... i like to use new font for every typography edit lmao sue me.

i highly recommend going to creativemarket free goods site, pixelsurplus font freebies and behance to search for fonts. i always use 100% free fonts, that means i can use it personally as well as commercially. creativemarket gives me desktop license for the fonts, which means i can use it for commercial as well. the reason i do this because i want to open an etsy shop someday, and i want to have the right license when i sell my stuffs. i almost never buy fonts bc they are expensive lmao. 

the fonts in used are “Vintage” for the main typograpy (i think i was a freebie from creativemarket) and “Morganite” for the title of the lyrics and the name of artist. 

2. CREATING

once i have my materials and ideas, i open my illustrator and hope it doesnt crash every 5 min.

for this kind of typography edits, i use 600x700 px. tbh i dont like using 540px, the suggested tumblr size, as the width bc to me it doesn’t look as good in quality, so i up the px. but more on this sizing later. i utilize the artboards function in illustrator, and i use 2 artboards.

i use illustrator (ai) bc i’m working with vectors. when i work with vectors, the graphics/texts or whatever im making in ai wont become blurry or lose its quality when i enlarge or shrink it. in compare to photoshop, i need to make for example the moon graphic very big, so i wont lose the quality when i reduce and enlarge it again. with vector, i can start small and when i expand it, it’s still as good as when it’s tiny. 

2.1 GRADIENTS

i started with the gradients first. i created a rectangle as big as 600x700px and with the “freeform gradient” tool in ai, i played with the colors. below is the color palettes i used

2.2 LYRICS AND GRAPHICS

once the gradients are done, i worked with the lyrics and graphics right away. when i first doing this edits, i made typos a lot lmaooooooo. so i copy and pasted the lyrics on top of my artboard, so i wouldnt have any typos. 

i had 3 layers in my ai. one for the inspo pics and the OG lyrics. the rest for the edits themselves. i broke up “It's an old curse/dreamers diving headfirst” into to parts, hence the 2 more layers

i almost always started with the lyrics first then the graphics. but for this edit, i made the smoke first so i can layout where my text would be.

tbh the process of making the lyrics is a trial and error. i tried bunch of different stuffs and i chose whatever the best. but i worked like methodically, i made sure i finished the first part of the lyrics first then i could move on.

i was lucky with this font “vintage”. the font offers me several glyphs like these

and i chose the one at the bottom. you’re very lucky if you find a font and they have glyphs.

excursion: glyphs vs fonts

glyph is an individual character. It might be a letter, an accented letter, a ligature, a punctuation mark, a dingbat, etc.

A font is a digital file which is used to display a typeface, which contains the entire upper- and lowercase alphabet as well as punctuation, numbers, and other special characters.

after i was finished with all the lyrics i added some graphics to make the edit pretty like small stars or dots. i added the song title and the artist too, sometimes at the bottom sometimes at the top. and i added my watermark put it as small as i could and made it a bit invisible but still can be seen.

2.3 EXPORTING

exporting! this is where i’m going to go deeper with the dimension of my work. in ai, i always choose to save with “export as screens” function. it automatically divides the artboards i have and save them separately. i always save as png, bc the size is smaller than jpg but can maintain the quality.

now the export tab looks like this

see the formats? i always scale up my edits, 2-3 times the original artboard size. reason is, to maintain the quality. i have tried to save it as original, 600x700 px, but it turned out a bit blurry. bc everything in ai is vector, when i scale up it doesnt lose the quality. BUT once i save it as png, it’s not a vector anymore, and when you zoom in until a certain degree it’ll be pixelated. that’s why i always scale up, to avoid it becoming pixelated when it’s just zoomed 1 or 2 times.

2.4 FINAL TOUCH

i opened my photoshop and also pray it won’t crash. import the png of my edits, add some grains/noise. the reason i use photoshop is, the noise filter is way better than in ai. it’s smoother somehow. and then i export my edits.

(i have a timelapse of how i made one of my edits, it’s not this one, but it’ll give you a better visualization. find it HERE

3. POSTING

now the hardest parts are done, we go to posting!

i uploaded the 2 posters on tumblr as photos then i wrote the captions. for this typography edit, i always chose another lyrics that i like from the same song for the caption. i bolded the lyrics, add link to all of my typography gradient edits.

i always use this link to color my caption. i usually choose 3-4 colors, and i took the colors from my edit. but this was not until recently lmao. before i just took a guess and looked for similar colors that match the edit, but then i thought “why didnt i just use the color in the posters lmao”

ok after i have my html code for the caption, i go to this site to replace the “;” with “ “ so tumblr can read the code.

i’m not one who puts their edits in draft, bc i just cant wait to post it. i have to option here, either i post it immediately when the time is right (i usually post between 4-8) or i schedule it, if im finished before 4. 

i put all the necessary tags and click post! i am done finally!

i’m tagging:

@thetriangletattoo​ for this amazing series

@deludedandlostcause​ for this impressive gif

@half-lightl​ for this spectacular edit

@gayndrew​ for this stunning drawing

@thechampagnelovers​ for this cool collage

@cloudslou​ for this incredible edit

@heyangels​ for this incredible edit

[tidalcreek]

tumblr user @tashimione i would love to.

IN MY ARWEN UNIVERSE aragorn and arwen are lesbians and arwen is much more involved with aragorn’s plot because they are a dream team. tolkien knew arwen was an underdeveloped character so he literally cant blame me for this! for simplicity im going on what i would change about the movies so im also bound by that format and i am actively trying not to think about how long this post is gonna be. BUT what that au would look like is:

we still meet arwen for the first time in the 'ranger caught off (her) guard' scene, and arwen still takes frodo to rivendell because i think that's cool of her. this sets up a very collaborative and equal relationship between aragorn and arwen that will continue throughout the movies (i saw a post recently about how the scene where they discuss getting frodo to rivendell changes everything you thought you knew about aragorn from the beginning of fotr, and shows you she's Not actually a mysterious loner and she does rely on arwen as much as arwen does on her. which is a VERY sexy take)

arwen is at the council of elrond-- she doesn't join the fellowship but she's involved! she has a stake in this. also i think that she and legolas should have a silly little friendship

elrond gives anduril to aragorn in rivendell. i love the rotk scene as much as the next person but im changing this bc a) ive never liked that it makes aragorn's worthiness hinge on whether or not she has anduril, instead of her being given it at the beginning of the journey and having to grow into the kingship as she carries the symbol of it at her side. and b) the movie scene messes things up for this au so to rivendell it goes

we still have the scene where arwen gives aragorn the evenstar but with different dialogue-- we're gonna b spending more screentime on this dynamic so we are NOT going to knock out all their backstory with one scene. in fact we are not even going to let them talk about arwen choosing a mortal life-- elrond can allude to that in a side conversation with arwen before aragorn leaves rivendell, but it's not a choice that she's actually made yet

moving on from rivendell through the end of fotr, we have a flashback or two w material from the tale of aragorn and arwen so we know whats going on there (love story of all time). this is where we get actual setup of arwen's Choice that's going to drive her plot, and also more emotional setup of aragorn's kingship and her reluctance about it (we fit 'all that is gold does not glitter' in here perhaps?)

in the first half of two towers we have a couple more flashbacks or scenes to set up arwen's plotline in tt/rotk. we move the arwen/elrond tension from rotk to tt, but stop short of arwen Making Her Choice; instead she and elrond fight and she takes the army to helm's deep without his permission (knowing that she's only postponing her decision)

like i just think it would be neat if arwen came to helm's deep like pj was going to have her do. she can fight! if they were gonna add elves to that anyway she could at least have caught a ride from rivendell with them. she shows up leading the army and we have an aragorn arwen reunion and she makes friends with eowyn and she kicks some ass. she has a thranduil botfa moment of seeing all the death around her and contemplating Mortality, which sets up her rotk arc

rotk: in place of elrond bringing anduril to aragorn, we have an aragorn arwen scene where arwen decides she has to go back to rivendell and take the ship to valinor. it is heartwrenchingly sad and we all cry but we don't blame arwen for fearing death and we love aragorn for letting her go. aragorn takes the dimholt road and arwen sets off back to rivendell

now we have parallel scenes-- aragorn in the paths of the dead and arwen riding alone across the westfold. this is where arwen has her vision of old aragorn with their son (they can have lesbian biological kids fuck you). it's all extremely dramatic and a big moment on 2 fronts: aragorn claiming her title and kingship for the first time to summon the dead, and arwen realizing she's making the wrong choice and turning back around. both of them making choices that they can't unmake!

on the way back to the rohirrim arwen runs into ghan buri ghan (hi king) and secures the army's passage through the druadan forest (and to justify taking up screentime with this, the druedain probably join the rohirrim and go to gondor even though that's not really the point of them)

anyway arwen rides to gondor with the rohirrim and fights on the pelennor fields; aragorn gets there with the army of the dead; they reunite on the battlefield after the fighting ends and it is the most justified high romantic drama youve ever seen. this is where we finally get i would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone. and we parallel this with merry and pippin's reunion bc gay rights

i havent seen the extended editions in a while so i dont remember exactly what happens between pelennor and the march to the black gate. i think it's mostly houses of healing + aragorn looking in the palantir? anyway arwen is there

arwen rides to the black gate with everyone else and flies her own standard of evenstar thank you very much :) i think it would also be fun if she fired a warning arrow at the mouth of sauron instead of aragorn killing him (since thats like. a war crime?). in my mind arwen is the fiery one in the arawen dynamic and she's more likely to react impulsively to the mouth taunting them with the mithril shirt

anyway arwen charges the black gate with the others and the rest of the movie wraps up as it normally does except for arwen appearing at the coronation (instead she just finally gets to see elrond again which is great). and you get to be happy for aragorn and arwen with some EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT behind it because youve had THREE MOVIES of their backstory and intertwining arcs instead of the bare minimum scenes! this is so much and im deeply sorry i have lesbian arawen disorder!!

[spadesinglasses]

Love Victor (series)

oooh new format for this post let’s get into itttt.

Below are my reaction per episode. I will be writing them as i finish each so its more clear and fresh and all that jazz.

Let’s see if tumblr posts has a word count limit.

lol wrong title earlier X_X

Note, the #glassthoughts tags is a reaction tag. Its never a review, or an intellectual essay about stuff I watch. I dont have the capacity to do all those.

Spoilers below so beware. Episode 1 is posted separately because I intend to make posts for the first and last epsiode only but that did not work out lol.

EPISODE 2

it took me a looong time to finish this episode. I kept on pausing it because something just feels so wrong about it. I didn’t know what it was when i was going through it, but when it finally ended it finally clicked.

The episode reminds me of the sentiment most homophobes use against gay people. “If you focus on the emotional part of the relationship, you will be happy with the opposite sex.” Growing up ive heard this phrase used against other people so much. Hearing it in my native language has always been a punch in the gut. 

And now this show who is supposed to be something happy and nice, is just having this kind of phrase of mentality just well up there.

I’m sure that its not Victor’s and that he is just exploring his sexuality. But the usual tinge of homophobia whenever he talks that he might be like Simon is honestly grating.

It’s definitely a me issue because other people seem to be enjoying the series immensely, but whenever Victor gets into that headspace, I just hear my child self crying myself to sleep because of internal homophobia.

Also i can see why people say  that for a show that is supposed be about Victor’s sexuality and growth, it does sure show a heck lot of heterosexuality of those who are around him.

Maybe in the future i will rewatch the series again with a more patient mind, but for now, expect me to skip a lot of scenes X_X

End

Episode 3

Okay the audacity of Victor saying “he tries” to be a good friend. Like dang okay chill with the lies. You’re already lying about your sexuality lmao.

Sorry im being very critical and bitter about this show, but i must persevere for the fanfics and fanarts i will gorge myself into later.

anywho reaction time!

Mia and Victor would’ve been cute if only Victor doesn’t sound like he keeps on enforcing this compulsory heterosexuality he has in mind.  BUT hey he might be Bi people! 

I keep censoring myself because of how bitter and hateful i sound. My apologies for the phrases i forgot to delete above and beyond this line xD.

Anyways im over anything about Andrew. He can go fuck his egotistical self. If the series will show 

Hmm i wonder if the term “Comp Het” will even drop in this series.

Back to reaction,

Honestly Felix is just a lesbian in a man’s body at this point. Making his own shampoo? Like wow give me some of that kind of friend. 

The number of times I rolled my eyes at Andrew is ridiculous. 

Whilst typing this part it was more enforced in my mind that Love Victor is just a “supposedly gayer” Teen Wolf without the wolfing parts.

Lake is Lydia Felix is Stiles Andrew is a walmart Jackson Benji is basically a less grumpy Derek or Danny tbh Victor is Scott

I really hate this idea now.

The parents drama! Honestly, very unnecessary in my opinion. Victor is already dealing with a religious family, now he has to deal with a religious and broken family? Like dang they could’ve just chosen one struggle for him, now everyone will think his sexuality is a consequence for his parents’ sin or sth.

Maybe it’ll play into a bigger plot twist in the future?

Maybe Victor’s mom is cheating with Mia’s father? Seeing as how there was an unnecessary shot of her father with the back of a woman facing on the camera which is weird but okay. 

Im theorizing now X_X

Anyways have y’all seen how poor Felix was so nervous because his goddamn friend isn’t there to supposedly help him?

Sorry im hating on Victor too much but this scene reminds me of how awful Simon’s friends are and like bruuuh is Felix supposed to be the lead character?

He really is like Stiles who is supposed to be the lead for Teen Wolf in my opinion, he’s just a much better written character that Sc/tt

lmao sorry my issues with other series is bleeding into this one X_X

End

Episode 4

Not much to say without getting too salty so moving onnn.

End

Episode 5

This series is just showing all the fear and pain i went through and am going through back when I was a teenager and til now. Without getting into any personal stuff, that last bs Victor’s father spewed just hit me so much.

I guess one of the reasons why its hard for me to watch Love Victor is because it shows me the teenager side of me way back when. Minus the girlfriend one because i never really persevered that much to tamper any likes for men. Internal homophobia really hit me back then tho xD

End

Episode 6

This episode is a mess and I hate it.

We saw yet again Victor literally using Felix’s ignorance and naivety to get himself out of a situation he put himself into. 

AND Felix even got the wrong idea or got fed with the wrong idea that the reason why Victor brought him along is to act as a buffer because he wasn’t ready to give up being a virgin or have sex in general. Yep that is definitely the reason, no other reason at all that involves making latte art with a known barista.

Lake and Felix kissed so there was that. I still am shipping Victor and Felix together despite Victor’s continuous bs with him being a good friend, but that’s just me.

And totally knew Andrew and Mia got a thing. If this blew up and hurt Lake im suing.

Lake and Felix are literally the two people keeping this show intact. Not gonna drop some political statement here no sir.

Again Benji needs to grow a personality out of this whole barista thing. One thing i am grateful for this show is that there was no family drama at all!

I think.

End

Episode 7

UGHHH MISS ME WITH THAT NORMAL TALK.

Ive been making a conscious effort to stop saying that heterosexuality is normal. That shit is hard to unlearn because its what ive always heard in my asian household for yeaaaaaaars. And now this twink is just gonna throw the term around like he has no issues with it. TO SIMON EVEN.

Like brooooooh. Im over my 2010 internal homophobia, no need to dig it all up again. Every episode.

Aww the dancing in different clothes is cute but,

FUCKING VICTOR LIED JUST FOR WHAT?

Homeboy be doing the most to keep his fucking sexuality from bursting out, with his foot both planted firmly inside the closer AND THEN THE NEXT SECOND would end up as if he is ready to risk it all just to see Benji naked.

I AM FUCKING livid, confused, and just intense emotion everywhere.

Ive seen a couple of dumbo scenes from other shows that got the “closeted” man be doing literally the most obvious shit that could make anyone catch them, BUT THIS, with how VEHEMENT Victor is against being “NOT NORMAL” AND THEN LIE JUST TO STAY IN A MOTEL WITH THE GLORIFIED HOT GUY, takes the goddamn cake.

The fucking hypocrisy man. Ive battled internal homophobia before, AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WE ALL DEAL WITH IT DIFFERENTLY but holy fucksticks. I’m not this evil.

The thing is, there is so much a person could do that you could go “ah its because they are in the closet and is afraid to come out” before it goes to the territory of “fucking hell, this is not just about his sexuality, this is just him now doing stuff consciously to take advantage of his supposed fear”. The girlfriend thing is even waaay over the top, but we all went with it because he’s supposed to be figuring things out. BUT most of the time, he literally could not even imagine going beyond the line HE CREATED for their relationship. AND YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT HE WILL LIE JUST TO SPEND THE NIGHT WITH A GUY? Now he wants to test the male side of his sexuality? BECAUSE PORN DOESN’T EXIST?  BECAUSE LOOKING AT MALE UNDERWEAR MODELS IN THE UNDERWEAR SECTION IS NOT ENOUGH? HE NEEDS IT TO BE ACTUALLY PHYSICAL TO CONFIRM SOMETHING?

Im ahead too much, real time the scene im in the episode is still them about to leave the shop but holy fucking hell. If this lie ended up becoming something more in this same episode, expect more capslock because jfc.

And people will still claim he’s somewhat attracted to the other gender. 

AND SOMETHING DID HAPPENED. ANDREW AND MIA KISSED

FUCKIN VICTOR

Also i was very very worried that Pilar and Felix will be a thing BUT THANK GOD THAT DIDN’T BECOME A THING. Still unsure whether i like Lake and Felix together, but i love them individually.

I cant really comment on any of the parents drama because to be honest i skip them whenever its just her and him.

These two fuckers lie to one another. BECAUSE OF WHAT? THEY WANT TO FUCKIN STICK THEIR TONGUES INTO ONE ANOTHERS MOUTH? IS THIS REALLY WHERE THIS SHOW IS GOING? AND THEY ALMOST CENSORED IT BECAUSE ITS GAY? NOT THE OTHER HORRIBLE STUFF THAT IS HAPPENING?

Im tired.

But i hafta finish the show for fanarts and fanfics.

okay Benji has a legitimate reason for lying. I’ll take that.

See people you see me live writing this whole rant thing :D.

BOY TOOK MONTHS KISSING MIA FOR MIA TO ONLY SAY THEIR TONGUES GRAZE SOMETIMES.

bUT THE SAME GUY JUST WENT LAPLAPAN TO THE MAX WITH BENJI THE ONE NIGHT THEY SPENT TOGETHER?

REALLY PEOPLE? REALLY?

Huh I wonder back when I was his age, would I also just kiss the first gay guy i became comfortable with? Despite being so into the closet and battling internal homophobia via punching the walls?

Dang that monologue tho. We as non het doesn’t want our lives to be hard. But at this point, i stopped blaiming my own sexuality and just started blaming heterosexuals for making the world this fucking horrible for us. That’s when my internal homophobia SLOWLY lessen. It’s still there but hey at least every crosshair  is not on me.

Okay i get people saying that Simon is irresponsible for making Victor like put his family on the back burner for a bit etc etc. Also the reaction against Benji getting mad when Victor wanted them to stop being gay while in their house, is reasonable. Victor did calmly told Benji and his beau that his family is stretched thin etc etc. I get that. I get that sometimes hiding your sexuality for other people is what is necessary.

BUT  fucking please recognize how damaging that is to the person you are talking to. Even if you think Victor is in the 100% right about this, AT THE VERY LEAST acknowledge why Benji is mad. Sure he could’ve just left with his boyfriend instead of just staying there. And sure Victor pulled through in the end and put that dusty grandpa motherfucker to his place, but that’ll fucking sting okay.

Also i might be saying all this in a place where I’m not really that close to ANY of my relatives, so ya know, call me ignorant or ungrateful whatever.

END

Episode 8

Okay uhh Mia and Andrew is still a thing APPARENTLY.

AWW BRAM IS CUTE

Lol Simon’s “Yay boobs” like please Victor keep the heterosexual drama out of this chatroom lmao.

Also Felix group texting the others is hilarioussss.

If Victor touches or says one bad thing at Bram? its on sight.

Also Im not sure what to feel with Mia getting jealous at Andrew. Like girl you were the one who said he’s nothing, and now this? Issa bad look honey.

Victor is embarassing. Are all extroverts just this i dunno peppy? 

You know what makes me happy in this episode? Keiynan’s attitude bleeding out to Bram’s character. I love it!

Goddd Keiynan is so hot XD

hahahaha this episode is lighter thank god.

“why would they want to help a complete stranger” because they are good people and surprisingly they still exist! 

Ohhh So it seems like Nick Robinson filmed his scenes for this episode on a different day. Ive never seen him be with the main group. That’s weird.

END

Episode 9

Benji distancing himself because he wants to make his 1 year relationship work? Good guy! Him not saying to his boyfriend about the coworker of his kissing him? Bad move.

Sure we can all talk about how little stuff doesn’t need to be told to your lover if you’re sure its not gonna happen again. The thing is,  communication is key. Y’all will talk about communication being integral in a relationship but keep shit like this in the DL because yOU’RE JUST THAT SURE IT AINT GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN? Fo real?

Also Benji is feeling guilty for a reason.

Vincent is very in the wrong for kissing a taken man just because said taken man is comfortable with him or showed vulnerability. Victor is in the wrong 100% and I’ll never forget that.

Felix and that hug with Victor is adorableeee. Love that coming out scene. Again raising my eyebrows at those who say Victor is Bi.

Felix showing what’s in his apartment is fucking great. No wonder we don’t see his mom or anything. They say that the saddest people are always the one who will do their best to keep everyone happy. Felix is being peppy, have these random phrases he use to just amuse people makes sense.

In this household, we protect Felix no matter what. HOPEFULLY next season we get to fucking know his surname or sth.

Again nothing new with the drama surrounding the parents. I hate them and honestly i am so annoyed by the father’s face and everything. (still have that hatred from One day at  time but we don’t talk about that here)

The letter is stupid and i wonder what Pilar will do about it. Are we gonna get a To All the boys i loved before thing?

OH Felix giving Lake an ultimatum. Wow what a move honestly. On one hand Felix has the right to protect himself. He wants to be free with who he loves, and keeping it a secret stopped being amusing because he knew what it feels like to hide a part of yourself.

Lake’s confidence has been obviously shot and damaged by her mother. Not saying that justifies what she is doing  BUT it came from somewhere. A night with Felix talking to her about his life IS NOT going to just uproot all those thoughts from her mind. As much as i love Felix, he is not a solution.

hmm what else. The father can go die for all i care. Lmao.

END

Episode 10

OH I THOUGHT PILAR KNOWS NOW BUT NOOOO

OH NOOO O NO NO NOOO

AND ANDREW STIRRING SHIT UP NOOOOOO

PILAR STOOOOP

NOO NOT PUBLICLY

OMFG

 I CANNOT.

Also i cannot get over Andrew’s actor looking like Stromae. They have the same eyes, eyebrows and expressions X_X

THIS IS WHY WE DONT KEEP SHIT BEFORE A PUBLIC EVENT. IT ALWAYS EXPLODES ON A PUBLIC EVENT.

YOU BET YOUR ass i skipped the whole confrontation scene. I’ll go back to it maybe or just look at gifs but nope. My cancer rising and moon can’t handle that shit.

Is ... is Mia going to see Victor and Benji together and then theorize? Because god freaking damnit im tired of that plot twist.

Oh Benji. Honey honey honey please don’t do whatever I think you’re about to do.

FUCKING NEW IT. CALLED IT. CALLED ITITTTT MIA FUCKIGN SAW I HATE VERYTHING.

....

wait the way the ending was shot is weird. The cliffhanger is weird. Everything is weird.

ILL MAKE A HUNCH that it was actually just Victor in his dream land thinking that coming out is that easy and that you just blurt it out.

Bet you the next season will start with no body but Felix and Mia and Andrew know about his sexuality.

The shot was too much on Victor. There was no sound cue from the family etc etc.  I hate the ending so much. Love Victor could’ve been so much more. Could’ve pioneered a fresh way to show lgbt stories and how coming out is this and that. Even if the show is for Gen Z and this generation, coming out should reflect to how coming out is generally perceived nowadays. But i guess that was too much. Foolish me for having my expectations waay too high.

The End

[wordsablaze]

Chapter Seventeen: Trust

Cinder’s life revolved around the garage, working as a mechanic, until that one male student came in looking for a Mercedes and changed her life… AU AH Kaider story. Enjoy!

A/N: Want a fic? I posted this elsewhere 3 months ago and only just found out as i was posting another chapter, ahh, sorry!! Not that anyone cares but still. Also, this was a right pain to format on mobile, ugh.

Cinder's heart falters as she watches Kai literally stumble away from their conversation.

She can't think after he leaves, she can't get the image of his contained tears out of her mind, she can't focus on anything other than what could have happened. She doesn't even trust herself to try and come up with a plan for the rest of the day.

"Cinder?" Iko asks tentatively, clearly sensing that something is wrong.

"Hey, Iko," Cinder replies, sighing.

Iko raises an eyebrow and places her hands on her hips. "Alright, spill. What happened with Mr Sexy Barista?"

Cinder cracks a small smile at the title but then shakes her head again. "It's nothing."

"If that were true, you wouldn't still be polishing that wrench ten minutes later."

She blushes, caught oil-handed, and places said wrench on the table, sighing as she turns to Iko with a grateful look. "He left."

"He broke up with you?" Iko asks, her voice neutral but her eyes threatening to explode with rage.

Quickly, Cinder shakes her head. "No!"

Iko's relief is honestly almost as intense as Cinder's curiosity. By the time Cinder's thrown out some explanatory words and Iko has understood the situation, the two of them are equally as confused about and worried for Kai.

Cinder stays silent as Iko paces and mutters things to herself because, while she can usually work out people's motives and judge their character, she's absolutely rubbish at figuring out emotions and feelings, especially when it's someone she actually likes, even more so when it's someone she truly cares about.

"If I had to guess," Iko says eventually, "I'd say it wasn't anything you did directly."

"Iko, there was nobody else here, who else could it have been?"

"No, I mean, you probably just reminded him of something else. If it was you, he wouldn't have made an effort to be polite before leaving, would he?"

"I don't know; people are confusing."

Iko snorts in amusement but recovers quickly, clearing her throat. "Look, he'll come back. Just wait for him."

Cinder bites her lip but she knows Iko is intelligent and can be trusted when it comes to boys so she nods and exhales. Well, she nods, exhales and stops whatever she's trying to achieve by passive-aggressively cleaning random tools. Iko finds someone to cover for her and she trudges back to the place she wishes she didn't have to call home. Luckily, Adri has no chores for her yet so she can go back to her room, almost missing the fact that her laptop is back on her bed.

"What?" she asks the air, then scrambles to plug the laptop in and switch it on.

As soon as the home screen fades into view, she opens tumblr, needing to message Kai, needing to ask him if he's okay. The ten seconds it takes for the website to load could be ten years for how slow they seem to go by but it matters not because then she's logged in and finding Kai's blog like it's a second nature to her.

-kai?

-are you okay?

And then, after a moment's hesitation...

-did i do something wrong?

Not surprisingly, she doesn't immediately get a reply back.

It takes over an hour for a reply to come through, during which Cinder aimlessly rearranges her room and makes sure everything is organised enough to satisfy even the pickiest of the organised. She jumps when she sees the little light flashing even though she'd been expecting it to happen.

-My apologies for leaving so abruptly.

-I needed to clear my head.

-You did nothing wrong, don't worry, princess!

-are u sure?

-Of course.

-im almost sure ur just saying that to make me feel better

-What a ridiculous suggestion...

-it's ok, you don't have to tell me anything

-just...

-i'm sorry, ok?

-A comma? You must be sincere.

-Thank you.

-shut up

-Make me!

Cinder blinks. She's only ever seen couples say that to each other, and it's usually just before they kiss or something. She doesn't know what she's meant to say to that, whether she's expected to do something romantic in return, and she's about to panic when Kai saves her.

-Did I do it right?

-I've seen people say that and I figured it was a more interesting response than a simple denial.

-My apologies if I did it wrong.

-u scared me

-I scared you?

-i dont know why i told you that. nvm

-If it's any help, you don't need to make me shut up. I'm not even talking...

-oh, bc ur typing?

-very original

-It worked, didnt it?

-depends

-You stopped being scared, right?

She laughs. He's right, it did work. She replaced her anxiety with exasperation and it worked. If it was anyone else, she'd probably be annoyed at them having figured her out so quickly. For some reason or the other, she finds herself being amused at Kai instead of irked, and she appreciates him instead of being irritated with him. She makes a mental note to ask Iko about that tomorrow before shifting her attention back to Kai's message.

-you wish

-Goodnight, Princess.

-And thank you.

-For understanding.

-are u okay? ur using three messages for one sentence

-I'm slightly in a rush...

-so ur solution is to send more messages?

-No, my solution is to send fragments.

-So that I don't leave you with awkward silence.

-I really have to go.

-Can't wait to check up on the car!

-me too

-okay i guess ur gone

-bye

Cinder's mind immediately tells her that saying 'me too' was a bad idea but she ignores it, instead focusing on her relief that Kai is okay.

She shuts the computer down so no battery is wasted and flops down onto her bed, sighing happily. She's done a lot of happy sighing lately, mostly because of Kai and his adorable eccentricities, but she won't complain because she likes the rush of warmth in her heart every time she sees his smile, the comfort she finds in his eyes, the sparks she feels every time they're close to one another.

With a start, she realises she might have found someone to trust. Trust doesn't come easily to her but, with Kai, she's all but ready to give him everything. And it scares her. Cinder's trust is the key to a friendship with her but it's also a weapon that she's giving away, making herself vulnerable. As her eyes become heavy and start to close, she just hopes that trusting Kai won't be a mistake. She hopes it's worth it in the end and, frankly, she'd never hoped for anything more.

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