#i've been itching to create recently

[bookwyrminspiration]

ok i think i got it out of my system enough to respond to the previous message!!! i just love books i love stories i love READING i have missed it so much. i hope your mom enjoys if you're able to make the muffins!!! and i'm glad you got down safe, unpredictable weather is unfamiliar to me--it is more just a one note song generally until winter and then the weather is just (opening my hands dramatically) wind haha.

and hey i would be so down to watch arcane together with you but i do not have netflix so it would probably all be more difficult than it should be... if you mean it though we can always schedule it for a date & time and watch things very slightly out of sync and talk through discord or something!

hilariously i think those are the exact reasons i love acrylics so much--and they were the most accessible and easy to learn for me when i was younger so i'm very familiar with them, too. i really enjoy being able to feel the things i make and so i love how thick acrylics are, but also FULL RESPECT for watercolor bitches. i do not have the patience to be one outside of class but i love watercolor art it is so cool. and re: stretched canvases i ended up using the square one and made this! but i've got to ask a friend because i know THEY stretch their own canvases and i would like to see if they have tips because. help. how do you do that.

You get me, i love stories I love reading I love when a book reminds me exactly why I love it so much. Because sometimes you go through slumps and you don't feel that connection, like a drought, and when the rain comes its such bliss. A Chorus of Dragons did that for me, I missed the feeling of anticipation and analysis it brought out in me.

I hope she does as well! I might try to make the muffins mini, as I think with how rich they sound like they'll be that'll be better. And it's so interesting to hear about weather other places. Here we have a base of generally dry and warm, with only brief interruptions to that. Today it rained for like half an hour this afternoon and then went back to pleasantly sunny, if overcast. And yesterday it went from legit thunder and lightning to completely clear in 40 minutes as if it'd never been here. it's amazing to me that there are places where when it rains it's just. Raining all day.

And I would also genuinely be down to watch arcane with you, however we work that out. Whether watching slightly out of sync or if we could screen share over discord or something. Whatever it is, I'd be interested!

Kudos to you on the acrylic thing--I can understand what it is people like, they just happen to not be things I like, unfortunately. I've used them a few times before but it's just not my preference. I don't like that my sketch disappears beneath it, I like having the reference. But the people who can use acrylic? Phenomenal, exquisite, I'm in awe. Idk how you do it but I'm saluting you. FULL RESPECT to acrylic bitches. And that is a lovely piece! I can definitely tell it's yours; you have a very distinct style, but I don't know if I can explain it. It's the shapes and the colors, they're very consistent and I can almost always identify something as yours on my dash--though once or twice a piece slipped by

I wish you many successes in figuring out the stretching canvas thing! I respect the...control? That it gives you over your art. Like that's another aspect that is now made to your specifications, and now there's something of you in the canvas. So the piece is even more representative, which is super cool!

[avanii]

Mightyena! Painted traditionally with ecoline, cleaned up a bit digitally (and made a shiny version for the double-sided charm I was designing). Always love drawing a snarly face >:D

[thecoppercompendium]

So, you want to make a TTRPG…

Image from Pexels.

I made a post a long while back about what advice you would give to new designers. My opinions have changed somewhat on what I think beginners should start with (I originally talked about probability) but I thought it might be useful to provide some resources for designers, new and established, that I've come across or been told about. Any additions to these in reblogs are much appreciated!

This is going to be a long post, so I'll continue beneath the cut.

SRDs

So, you have an idea for a type of game you want to play, and you've decided you want to make it yourself. Fantastic! The problem is, you're not sure where to start. That's where System Reference Documents (SRDs) can come in handy. There are a lot of games out there, and a lot of mechanical systems designed for those games. Using one of these as a basis can massively accelerate and smooth the process of designing your game. I came across a database of a bunch of SRDs (including the licenses you should adhere to when using them) a while back, I think from someone mentioning it on Tumblr or Discord.

SRDs Database

Probability

So, you have a basic system but want to tweak it to work better with the vision you have for the game. If you're using dice, this is where you might want to consider probability. Not every game needs this step, but it's worth checking that the numbers tell the story you're trying to tell with your game. For this, I'll link the site I did in that first post, AnyDice. It allows you to do a lot of mathematical calculations using dice, and see the probability distribution that results for each. There's documentation that explains how to use it, though it does take practice.

AnyDice

Playtesting

So you've written the rules of your game and want to playtest it but can't convince any of your friends to give it a try. Enter Quest Check. Quest Check is a website created by Trekiros for connecting potential playtesters to designers. I can't speak to how effective it is (I've yet to use it myself) but it's great that a resource like it exists. There's a video he made about the site, and the site can be found here:

Quest Check

Graphic Design and Art

Game is written and tested? You can publish it as-is, or you can make it look cool with graphics and design. This is by no means an essential step, but is useful if you want to get eyes on it. I've got a few links for this. First off, design principles:

Design Cheatsheet

Secondly, art. I would encourage budding designers to avoid AI imagery. You'll be surprised how good you can make your game look with only shapes and lines, even if you aren't confident in your own artistic ability. As another option, public domain art is plentiful, and is fairly easy to find! I've compiled a few links to compilations of public domain art sources here (be sure to check the filters to ensure it's public domain):

Public Domain Sources 1

Public Domain Sources 2

You can also make use of free stock image sites like Pexels or Pixabay (Pixabay can filter by vector graphics, but has recently become much more clogged with AI imagery, though you can filter out most of it, providing it's tagged correctly).

Pexels

Pixabay

Fonts

Turns out I've collected a lot of resources. When publishing, it's important to bear in mind what you use has to be licensed for commercial use if you plan to sell your game. One place this can slip through is fonts. Enter, my saviour (and eternal time sink), Google Fonts. The Open Font License (OFL) has minimal restrictions for what you can do with it, and most fonts here are available under it:

Google Fonts

Publishing

So, game is designed, written, and formatted. Publishing time! There are two places that I go to to publish my work: itch.io and DriveThruRPG. For beginners I would recommend itch - there's less hoops to jump through and you take a much better cut of what you sell your games for, but DriveThruRPG has its own merits (@theresattrpgforthat made great posts here and here for discovering games on each). Itch in particular has regular game jams to take part in to inspire new games. I'll link both sites:

itch.io

DriveThruRPG

Finally, a bunch of other links I wasn't sure where to put, along with a very brief summary of what they are.

Affinity Suite, the programs I use for all my layout and designing. Has an up-front cost to buy but no subscriptions, and has a month-long free trial for each.

Affinity Suite

A database of designers to be inspired by or work with. Bear in mind that people should be paid for their work and their time should be respected.

Designer Directory

An absolute behemoth list of resources for TTRPG creators:

Massive Resources List

A site to make mockups of products, should you decide to go that route:

Mockup Selection

A guide to making published documents accessible to those with visual impairments:

Visual Impairment Guidelines

A post from @theresattrpgforthat about newsletters:

Newsletter Post

Rascal News, a great place to hear about what's going on in the wider TTRPG world:

Rascal News

Lastly, two UK-specific links for those based here, like me:

A list of conventions in the UK & Ireland:

Convention List

A link to the UK Tabletop Industry Network (@uktabletopindustrynetwork) Discord where you can chat with fellow UK-based designers:

TIN Discord

That's all I've got! Feel free to reblog if you have more stuff people might find useful (I almost certainly will be)!

[artficlly]

➞ 2K FOLLOWER CELEBRATION

hello everyone! firstly, i just want to say thank you all so so much for supporting me and my fics! it means so much to me that all of you take time out of your days to read my work, comment, reblog and send me messages to my inbox! i've been having such a crazy fun time writing recently, and i have so many ideas and fics to come. thank you again, i appreciate you all so much!

to celebrate reaching 2k followers, i’ve created four moodboards, each one inspired by a different genre, trope, or plot i’ve been itching to write as an au. i’ll be holding a poll so you can vote for your favourite! the moodboard with the most votes by the end of the week will become my next fic, either a longer one-shot or possibly a multi-parter, depending on where the story takes me.

can’t wait to see which one you choose! | main masterlist

➞ ONE

➞ TWO

➞ THREE

➞ FOUR

[razmerry]

Recently I've been getting the itch to make a centaur OC, as I have always loved centaurs with all my heart, and I decided to do that by rebooting one of my oldest and dearest characters. He has changed so much, both in name and design, since I created him. But his personality is basically still the same which I find very funny.

Ford Valentine is a 43-year-old writer, who had a popular newspaper column in his early 20s that lasted for a little over a decade, well known for his sarcastic wit and dry cleverness. Currently, he writes books of his compiled essays and guest lectures for universities. He's English, born in Yorkshire on a small farm, but resents his childhood and doesn't speak to most of his family. He could be described as "introverted and distinguished", or perhaps as "a pretentious, bitchy misanthrope". Ford spends most of his time holed up in his countryside home writing and moping, or begrudgingly spending time with his brother or best friend.

The universe this story takes place in is set in the late 80s to early 90s, where magical creatures were previously hidden but revealed to exist about 20 years prior. Glamors exist that can disguise magical creatures, but they work best on those who already had human-like proportions, and many others had to hide.

Norrin Valentine - Ford's younger brother, and the only sibling he gets along with despite the differences in their personalities. Norrin is flashy and upbeat, an excitable entrepreneur who sells grooming products and is well known for doing interviews and TV commercials.

Javier "Javi" Orrito - Ford's closest friend and really his only one, a laid-back beach bum who is also a werewolf. Javi spends most of his time being chill and unflappable, and doing odd gigs that leave him with a variety of weird skills. He's mixed Spanish and Greek, and also gay.

Quinn Goodman - Ford's ex-fiance, who left him just before they got married. She's an elf, who is also a writer but primarily for fiction books. She's smart and quiet, but prone to nervousness and slight paranoia, and can be brutally honest. She and Ford dated for many years before they got engaged.

Also, Ford's Abssynian cat Vixen. She is very cute.

[kidicaruslover911]

Chapter 1: The Damsel of Devastation

Mizu x Fem!Reader

a/n: i started this back in 2023 on ao3 (and it's still going!) and decided that maybe it was time to start crossposting on here.

the recent (it’s a stretch tbh) lack of mizu x reader content on this platform is making me itch so here i am…

anyway, this fanfiction follows more or less the original plot with a few twists.

the story has more to it-whatever you'll see for yourself. it's been a while since i've written anything so yeah, terrible writing ahead!! btw a tantō is a short blade, usually used to stab people, it's the weapon the reader uses when faced with an easy opponent enjoy!!

story on AO3

est. wc 2.9k

“Faster, they’re about to start!”

“Hurry up! It’s going to be a bloodbath!”

A growing crowd had slowly gathered around you and your opponent, curious and eagerly placing their bets about the winner of this unexpected duel.

You hadn’t really expected to fight anyone today.

It was supposed to be a day of rest, peace and just overall fun. Especially since the little town you had arrived in was in the middle of it’s festivities. But there you were, tightly holding your tantō, stance unwavering and ready to strike. Your enemy was far from worthy of the commotion you had created but backing down now was out of the question.

The surroundings were a stunning view, and the icy air filled your lungs with its pureness as you admired the winter's embrace. Snow covered everything from the rooftops to the streets, transforming the landscape into a buzzing and wintery canvas.

Too bad some decrepit dog had decided to ruin your entire mood for the day.

The intermediary held up a little panel on which the terms and conditions of the ‘dispute’ were written on.

This was ridiculous.

It truly was.

”Your names and teachers! Announce yourselves!”

The same guy you had humiliated twice somehow still found the courage to stand in front of you, literally gloating. Just where did these men find the audacity?

”Hiroshi Takanaka, former student from the Shindo Dojo in Kyoto.” The man announced loud and clearly.

‘Shindo Dojo?’ Well, that explained a lot.

People awaited your introduction but to no avail.

You had closed your eyes, focusing on your breath. Inhale.

Japanese winters were not to be taken easily. They were brutal and the freezing temperatures slowly made you lose sensation in your fingertips. Despite the harsh conditions, the cold air somehow helped you focus. It was only when you reopened your eyes that you noticed your own breath in the air and the shit eating grin the male was wearing on his face.

Well, this probably wasn’t the best time for short meditation but fuck it. Exhale.

“A table for two please” You watched two individuals enter the restaurant.

Examining them, you came to the conclusion that they were both men.

One of them was tall and chubby, had a shaved head and wore a chef uniform. And by further examination, he had no hands. ‘An invalid’ you thought. Even if you couldn’t hear any of his talking, his demeanor made you giggle a bit. He seemed to have such an energetic and bubbly personality, to which the other man only sighed and dismissed his endless blabbering.

You shifted your gaze towards the second male, who had immediately caught your attention.

‘Big hat’ was the first thing you noticed.

The man was tall and slender, wearing navy blue garments, baggy pants with a katana bound to his side.

A samurai?

It was difficult to see what his face looked like, since apparently, he wasn’t planning on taking off his kasa. But from what you could perceive, he seemed to have a rather thin face and wore orange tinted spectacles with round frames, masking his eyes.

After talking some more with the restaurant’s owner, both men made their way to their designated table, walking past yours.

As the two of them passed by your table, you glanced up at the mysterious man, who, to your surprise, already had his gaze fixed on you.

During these few seconds, you could see his inky brows lift just a bit, eyes lighting up as if he had been struck by your presence. You could tell he was in awe but at the same time he kept up a skeptical front.

‘Strange…’

Some time had passed and you were now peeking at another man that had been checking you out for the past 10 minutes, debating whether he was actually dealing with a woman or simply a man with a very, positively striking face.

Another one of those puffed up crows posing as swordsmen.

His confusion was somewhat understandable.

You wore a simple black silk haori with a charcoal colored kosode, setta sandals and tabi socks. A hakama of a lighter ebony shade acted as a pair of pants. Your hair was done up in an indoor style with hairpins and you carried a long sword at your side.

Basically a man’s attire.

So of course, your presence never failed to make people gawk at you. Some in adoration others in utter confusion, disdain and pure shock. The only thing that could safe one from such an unusual sight were your feminine facial features.

While you did dress as a man, you never shied away from your true identity as a woman. Why would you? After all, you had your reasons for your ‘strange way of dressing’.

The reasons being simple. You found that the art of fighting was more comfortable in men's attire than in the restrictive silk kimonos that women were expected to wear.

Sparing wasn’t just a passion, it was your life. The love of battle ran deep in your veins, an art that had always captivated you.

The skill of wielding the sword had always been a source of interest, even during your more vulnerable years as a child.

And over the years, you had decided to perfection those skills of yours in your very own way.

Another reason being your travels.

Besides the sparing, you had medical treatments to take care of. Only when necessary though.

Well, seems he made up his mind. The man rapidly made sure to look charming enough, wiping some dust from his clothes before slowly making his way up to you, an assured expression on his face. Seeing you roll your eyes at his antics, the man only chuckled, clearing his throat.

Unbeknownst to you, the mysterious samurai fixed his glasses, watching the scene closely.

Brace yourself.

“And what is a beauty like you doing here, sitting all by herself?” A confident voice greeted you.

”…”

“Hm…Allow me to pay for your food, pretty”

You didn’t even bother looking up and made sure to finish your meal quickly. You had just arrived in this little fishermen’s town and you weren’t really in the mood for small talk. Especially if it meant having to listen to some guy’s painful flirting.

”No thank you. I do not wish to have any compa-“

“I insist.” The man smiled only to be met with a defeated sigh. He took it as a green light to come and sit next to you to which you didn’t respond. “The name’s Hiroshi, but you…you can call me your future husband.” Hiroshi grinned.

Uhm, what happened to hello? How are you?

His introduction physically pained you and the navy clothed samurai mentally shared your pain.

You decided it would be best to not pay any mind to this man, who was desperately trying to get some of your undivided attention.

“So, you still haven’t answered my question…What is a flower like you doing here all on her own? You know, you almost got me there, with your funny way of dressing…” The man tried to get some sort of reaction out of you.

Silence.

“Not very talkative, eh?” You hoped that maybe if you ignored his outrageous attempts to flirt, he’d get the message and move on. But today was just your luck and of course, Hiroshi took it as a challenge. Ugh.

A sly smirk formed on the man’s lips as an idea came to his mind. He called the waiter for two cups of sake, which you tried to politely refuse, stating that you did not drink. But, your rejection fell onto deaf ears.

”Maybe some alcohol will ease up that stubborn mind of yours…” Hiroshi giggled.

You tried to stay as formal and pleasant as possible, yet you really felt like telling him to fuck off. But at the same time you didn’t want to make a big fuss over it, after all, you were used to it.

”Listen, I appreciate the gesture…but I am not very fond of alcoholic beverages and-“

“Just a cup?” You shook your head as a no.

“Oh come on, you can’t deny me a cup now, can you?” The man cooed.

God, why was this always happening to you? Sharing a cup of sake with such an individual just didn’t feel right. Yet the possibility of him leaving you alone without you having cut his family jewels was big (?) Who the hell were you kidding? You just wanted to get this over with.

The man’s eyes inspected your form once more for the Xth time before stopping at the sword that was bound to your waist.

A woman carrying around a sword? What a joke…

”That seems to be a pretty heavy katana you carry on your waist…you know this isn’t a toy, right?” While Hiroshi kept on going with his nonsensical chatter, you felt him place a hand on your thigh, stroking it, as the other one reached for your sword in an attempt to take it off.

“Master, maybe this would be the right time for us to intervene?” The chubby man whispered to his superior who was still observing the situation at hand.

That was it.

The moment you felt his touch on you, your hand shot up to slap away his filthy ones, spilling the cups of sake in the process. He didn’t even have the time to blink before realizing in what position he was.

You behind him, trapping him in a tight chokehold, firmly gripping one of the chopsticks you had used for your food. You held it in front of his eyes, like a dagger, ready to stab them out. One wrong movement and he was done for. The buzzing atmosphere in the restaurant had suddenly vanished as everyone froze, staring at you.

”Or not…” The round man whispered dumbfounded. He definitely hadn’t expected that. Nobody had. Not even the mysterious samurai.

”This blade is worth far more than anything you have worked for in your miserable life…You don’t deserve to touch it. You dirty it’s worth by even looking at it. Try that fucking shit again and you’ll be dead meat.” You hissed at him. Well, now he certainly got a reaction out of you.

Hiroshi just couldn’t believe that a woman just threatened his fucking life. And so effortlessly too. He was drooling, coughing, desperately trying to get some air to breathe but you wouldn’t let him. After some more contemplation, you decided to spare his life and let him go, forcefully pushing him away.

It didn’t take long for the man to get back up on his feet, snatch an innocent client’s chopstick away and charge towards you, furious at the humiliation you had just inflicted on his broken honor.

You were nimble and agile, quickly ducking and deflecting Hiroshi’s clumsy attacks. The man fought with a lack of skill, continually fumbling his ‘weapon’ and missing several occasions to hit you. Anyone could see that he clearly was no match for you, as you easily kept dodging his attacks and countering him with swift strikes of your own.

“Your technique lacks consistence, precision, grace…” You chuckled, still dodging him.

“SHUT UP, YOU BITCH! When I catch you…” he shouted at you, only making a fool of himself.

”And your defense…its like cutting through paper…”

Laughing at his face, you could only pity his ridiculous attempts, trying read your moves. Perceiving an opening, you lunged forward, disarming him in the process and struck him in his forehead. A simple trail of blood dripped down his nose and you left him lying on the floor, defeated. In the restaurant, the clients and staff watched on, horrified at your victory. Most people thought that you were a woman that just wanted to be different by dressing as a man and carrying around a katana at that…

But now, it started to become clear that you perhaps knew your way around a sword. Probably extremely well…

The chubby guy couldn’t help but cheer on you, amazed by your fighting abilities (even if it was literally just a chopstick fight) while his master held a proud smirk on his lips. ‘Not bad’.

You scoffed.

“Whoever your teacher is, let them know that his students need better training.” That was a statement. And with that, you left.

Getting off him, you simply put money on the table for the food, thanked the restaurant owner for it and made your way towards exit, leaving everyone flabbergasted at the events.

“WAIT!” God, what was it now? You turned around and of course, it was Hiroshi, back on his feet. Again. He was determined, you had to give him that.

”What is it?” You sighed.

”I want…no, I demand a duel of you. With a naked blade. This was not fair, nobody fights with chopsticks!? There was no chance I’d win!” Excuses after excuses…men and their fragile egos. Pitiful.

No way this guy was serious…At this point he was just begging to die.

“I demand a death duel.”

So he wasn’t joking.

You held your tantō up in front of you, visualizing the technique you’d use on him.

”What a waste…” the man started, drawing his blade. “What a waste of a beauty…” He chuckled drawing his blade.

“You would’ve made a magnificent wife if it wasn’t for your insolence and your disgraceful way of dressing.” Hiroshi snickered.

At this point you started asking yourself why the hell you had given him the honor to fight you with a naked blade.

Breathing out heavily once more, you gritted your teeth. His nonsensical words made you want to skin him alive.

“I won’t be anybody’s wife. Not yours or anyone else’s. Ever.” You stated assertively.

Loud gasps and complaints could be heard from the crowd. Wow, what a shocker…

You were confident in your skills and looks, yet the reactions from the spectators were seriously becoming a nuisance.

“You know, we can always use practice sword-”

“You talk too much”

While the man kept on going with his brainless chattering, you were still debating whether you should strike him with a clean cut or spare his life and humiliate him (again) in a way you still hadn’t figured out yet. One thing was sure, you didn’t feel like spilling too much blood today.

“Wha…?” A smirk creeped up your lips as you watched the indignant expression Hiroshi had switched to.

The intermediary had given the green light more than a minute ago and this guy was still talking his ass off.

He cleared his throat, in an attempt to mask his shameful behavior and positioned his sword accordingly to the technique he had chosen. “Put away that short blade and show me your sword.”

You simply ignored his request, your concentration unwavering. In the crowd, the mysterious samurai and his companion were still ardently watching your duel. It was only because of the round man’s request to see the result of the fight that they were still here.

And of course, the samurai understood that you had deemed Hiroshi undeserving of your katana and the fact that you faced him with ‘only’ your tantō was basically you just pitying him.

Finally everything quieted down, and it was just you and Hiroshi. Now, it was about timing, precision and speed.

The air had grown heavy and neither one of you dared to strike first. It was like watching David and Goliath calculate their one and only next move.

After some more silence, Hiroshi seemed to have made up his mind, charging at you with his sword as he yelled out a battle cry. And then…

‘Swosh’

It was swift and clean, leaving no question as to the victor of this duel. One could have blinked and already missed it. Only the sound of your blade cutting through the flesh resonated in the air. It was over.

You had already put your short blade back in its sheath, making it disappear in your kosode, while the rest of the crowd was still trying to comprehend what had happened.

All you did was take a step forward, while Hiroshi was still charging at you. Having your tantō meet with the man’s throat, it slashed it open in the process. It took everyone more than a few seconds to realize what how that happened. A trail of crimson in the white snow led to a crumpled, shivering form. Blood shot from his neck as his lifeless body dropped to the ground, dead.

The atmosphere was suffocating and suddenly an applause erupted from the audience. It was gruesome but your skill had to be acknowledged.

You made sure you hadn’t gotten any of his blood on you, before taking a small and quick bow.

“‘The Painters Signature’, and she performed it with a short blade too…Immaculate.” You heard a raspy voice state between the sea of clapping hands.

It didn’t surprise you to see that the remark came from that mysterious samurai.

Feeling the corners of your lips lift themselves, you couldn’t help but feel intrigued. He got you there. You had indeed used that specific attack. Now, you were sure that he was definitely more skilled than what he pretended to be. And he now surely had piqued your interest.

You wanted see what he was made of, but before you could reach him to get him to talk to you, he was gone.

Hm. Just you wait…

a/n: sorry I’m bad at describing fights💀🙏

Masterlist | Next Chapter

[goatyoat]

Interested in a Dirk Gently Zine?

Hey dghda peeps! Recently, I've been itching for a new project to take on, and I wanted to get a feel for how folks would feel about creating a dirk gently zine!

Mostly I'm just looking to know who would be interested in participating in such a thing (open to artists & writers) So;

More details to come after the results are in!

If you would like to reblog this so more people can see it, that would be greatly appreciated <3

[fenimores-book-nook]

We're back to talk about Aros and Aces :)

June 11th (and 13th, shh), 2025

Hellooo all! Ever since I posted my Aromantic visibility day post, I've been itching to write more on the Aromantic and Asexual communities. Also since then, I've felt more like I want to use those labels. Just last night I was thinking about how I love my communities. I love being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, I love being a part of the Aromantic and Asexual communities, I love it. I love being Aromantic Asexual. Yes, it was difficult for me to come to terms with and honestly, sometimes it still is, but overall, I like having these words to help describe a part of me. And knowing that I really don't have to do all the things society says is so important to being human. And you don't have to be Aromantic or Asexual to feel like that. Screw what society says. Just be you. (Which sounds a little cheesy, but seriously, just be yourself. You don't owe anything to anyone.)

This post might be repetitive-unless you haven't read any of my other ones-but it's just because I really am in the mood to write about my AroAce identity. Honestly, it's been through a lot. I have a post called "My AroAce Journey," where I talk about how I came to the conclusion of me being Aromantic Asexual, but since then a lot has happened.

And let me preface by saying, it's okay if your labels change. Let go of the fear of "what if I use this label and later realize it's different?" and just use the one-or not use one-that you feel like fits you. We're supposed to grow and change and find out new things about ourselves. That's being human. And don't say you were wrong, because you weren't really, you were using the label that felt right to you at that time. Now, you just have more knowledge of who you are.

I had stopped using the labels Aromantic Asexual a while back, I think mainly because I felt tied down by them. Which was really me putting too much pressure on myself to be a certain way. But the thing is, I don't have to look or act a certain way to be Aromantic Asexual. Because there's literally no one way. There's no one way to any sexual or romantic orientation.

Just recently I started using them again, but almost unintentionally. And honestly, I feel like I was still using them, just not explicitly. What made me want to be more spoken about it recently was when two of my besties and I went to a park to take pride photos. I had suggested it because one of them and I had gone the year before and it was a lot of fun, plus it's pride month! So why not go take pride photos? When I was deciding on what flags to bring for the pictures, the ones I went to were my AroAce ones. (I've got a big Aro one, a small Ace one, and a big AroAce flag, teehee.) They just felt like they were the right ones to use and it didn't feel like I was putting on a mask over something else. If anything, it was like taking a mask off. So I had my pride photos with those flags-which I think turned out great, hehe-and since then I've wanted to use Aromantic and Asexual more and be outspoken about it. Hence: this post.

Honestly, I love, love, love writing about the Aromantic Asexual communities. And just being a part of it, I love writing about it. It feels like I'm creating a bit of visibility for us. So get used to these kinds of posts. ;)

Be who you are!! (It's beautiful)

Lots of love,

Thalia <3

[matchalovertrait]

Me??????

Thank you to everyone who tagged me for the simblr appreciation 💗 That was @bouncytrait, @elderwisp, @catsinmugs, @bloomingkyras, @woohoojuicesimoleons2,

@spotlessssmiind, and @smulie :)

I am so happy you thought of me and I love your blogs too!!

I’d like to tag everyone, but I can’t do that. However, I can acknowledge all of you whose posts I come across every day! I make sure to hit the like button to let you know that there’s someone here waiting for your next post. If I haven’t been liking recent posts, it’s because I’m reading your story from the beginning. I’m an awfully slow reader, so my apologies. I like to take my time and not rush through the stories to ensure I understand everything and take in all the small details.

Also, I know it can be easy to become disillusioned on here but trust me, there are a lot of incredible people. I see them every day on my dash.

I’ll mention some of my friends here who inspire me. Um, it's kinda long:

@changingplumbob: I don’t know how she balances so many projects at once and does it all with love! Each one of her characters is unique and steals the spotlight. When it comes to her posts, I'm either philosophizing or laughing. It's also admirable how much research she puts into the stories she writes. You can definitely tell!

@deardiaryts4: I love people who do extra things for their sims just like me LOL. She doesn’t have to make a music video or album cover CC. Nor does she have to create actual code for us to solve a mystery, but she does it anyway because she's passionate! She gives it 110% every time with her intriguing story and gameplay.

@ruthplaysthesims goes DEEEEPP into the lore! Blink and you'll miss it. She also has an impressive cast of characters. There are many mysteries in her stories that I am itching to have the answers to. I need to see/know!!!

@abbysimsfun OMG I absolutely love her style of writing, which became a recent influence over my own. She's also a fellow fan and user of Chekhov's guns (I know the name of that literary device now because of her hehehe. No, no actual guns here!). I am captivated by the storytelling!

@dreamyyesenia is so incredibly sweet! She also takes her sims' personalities and interests very seriously and creates the perfect homes/wardrobes for them. She's a master at it and I'm taking notes.

@authorspirit: Her builds are absolutely fantastic. Joy is a smart cookie and she does everything with precision. I really like the chic and regal aesthetic in her posts too. Quite demure

@sharona-sims is my slice-of-life queen!!!! She seems apologetic for the "slow pace" of her gameplay, but I don't mind it one bit. I could keep up with Lily and Michael for the rest of my life, idc, I love them.

@teadreamsims is immensely creative and a great storyteller. I always forget they play on console. That just shows how important imagination is. The gameplay with Fern and the rotational gameplay with the townies happened ages ago but they live in my head rentfree.

@aurorangen: Details details details!!!!! I eat it all up and Rory always gives us extra insight and behind-the-scenes stuff. She's talented in both writing and telling her stories through pictures. And her builds are insane.

@cakepoppresent: Nahhhhh cuz the drama and the wholesomeness, omg. I like how we explore different groups of characters at a time and it never seems like too much. And her videos are everything.

@miralure is on hiatus sadly :( But she definitely left her mark, I never forget her. When I came back to Simblr, I had no idea a lot of people saw commenting as an "embarrassing" thing? She was very welcoming and her mindset is the one I've been following ever since. Because of her, I'm often all up in your guys's comments like nothing lmao. Anyway, her lookbooks were perfection as well as her male sims. Amazing.

@windslar also seems to be on hiatus :( I admire the way she composes her dialogue posts through photos and I've been trying to do it as well as she does. The facial expressions, the angles, etc! It's cinematic.

@cinamun: I don't even have to explain, but I will anyway. The drama, the real-life-issues, the gifs, the heartfelt moments, the plot twists, the in-depth characters, the lore, the background, the wardrobes. Phenomenal work!

[ghidoraposting]

sadly, with worlds.com's servers dying last year after a slow degradation of its features, it is basically impossible for me to continue updating this blog in the future with worlds.com exploration (without it being the base-game places everyone has seen hundreds of times).

It was a bit of a slow burn, seeing more and more places become broken/inaccessible, and hopefully LibreWorlds (see link for info) will get to a state where we can revisit all the archived worlds. Fingers crossed that we don't lose 99% of everything that was accessible before the death of the game.

Until then, I think I may come out of my tumblr retirement home and use this blog to post screenshots of Yume Nikki and its various fangames (and potentially other obscure exploration-heavy games) I find interesting, as playing them satisfies a similar itch that Worlds did for me. I already have a ton of absolute fucking HEAT saved up by way of screenshots, which I will probably start to post a bit of later today. I totally get it if that's not your thing so feel free to un-follow, but it will also follow the same formula as the previous stuff I've posted. No personal posts or reblogs (maybe a few exceptions). Only OC.

A huge part of my time spent online was making friends there and exploring, with a couple of them being people I still talk to today. It's sad seeing something die that was not only a time capsule of late-90/early 2000s culture, but a (seemingly) eternal resting place of the creativity of its users from 1995-2024. Many of the user-created worlds were an insight into the personality and passions of the people who made them, and I absolutely applaud anyone who is passionate about something to the degree of figuring out how to use the dogshit that is WorldsShaper. I wish I had been on a bit more in recent years instead of taking-for-granted something I didn't think would soon die.

RIP to one of the most interesting video games / chat clients ever.

[Friends & I's mugshots. I have pretty bad time-blindness, but I want to say this was maybe... I was gonna say 7 years ago, but jesus it may have been more close to 9-10?!]

[tarabyte3]

I've been thinking a lot about the recent episode of The Acolyte and I have some ✨thoughts✨

(The Acolyte Episode 5 spoilers!!!)

I think the narrative is intentionally making us, the audience, doubt the Jedi and paint them as possibly being the bad guys specifically because now Mae is the one that's going to hear Sol's story. We were encouraged to doubt him and believe he's going to confess something awful about that night to Osha, but instead, I think what he reveals is going to make Mae (and us!) have a change of heart in some way and realize we were wrong. I doubly believe that will be the case because the one casting the most doubt on the Jedi is Qimir, the villain that's also been manipulating and using Mae's anger.***

Because how do you kill a Jedi without a weapon? Easy, you manipulate them, too. You make them paranoid and afraid. You make them doubt themselves and each other. You hurt them in every way that matters. Then you step away and let them destroy themselves. That's a basic Sith tactic, and I think that's exactly what Qimir is trying to do with Sol. Either Sol eventually gives in to the anger and hatred he felt and falls (I highly doubt it) or Qimir wants to get Mae or Osha to turn on/kill him (maybe now he wants to try and make Osha his acolyte instead. Emphasis on try). We've already seen Sol is unwilling to activate his lightsaber when facing Mae because he doesn't want to hurt her (that entire confrontation in the streets), and Sol would probably choose death rather than ever use it on Osha. The girl he connected with and saved and keeps a hologram of and smiles at and loves.

Something terrible obviously happened that night, but I don't believe for a second it was the Jedi's fault. However, it was terrible enough to scar Torbin and make him take the Barash Vow, to make Sol cry, and to make Kelnacca retreat to the woods and hide. Perhaps they all feel guilt for what they couldn't do. Perhaps they blame themselves, which looks like actual guilt from the outside.

But hey, I'm prepared to be wrong and say so, I just don't think it would be very good *Star Wars* storytelling if I am. For 2 reasons:

1) It wouldn't make sense in the existing story. We've seen that Indara, Torbin, and Sol are compassionate, kind people. We saw how soft Kelnacca was with little Osha. Sol radiates warmth, he believed Osha, and he wants to save Mae even after everything she's done. Indara died to protect someone else. For as impersonal and professional as she was when talking to the Coven, I don't think someone that would make themselves vulnerable in a life or death situation to save even one person would be willing to kill an entire community of people unless it was absolutely, completely necessary. I don't think self-defense would even necessarily qualify, I think the Jedi would do everything they could to retreat first. The one caveat I can think of is if someone attacked Torbin. Then I could possibly see Indara as a Master protecting her Padawan, something Masters would give their own lives to do (as we see repeatedly during Order 66), and the situation escalated. (Could be why Torbin is injured and blames himself?)

2) The point of the story in Star Wars has always been that the Jedi are the good guys. They hold up the ideals of goodness and peace, and even though, individually, they sometimes stumble and fall short of it because they're still flawed, mortal beings, they always try to reach for the light. ("Jedi cannot help what they are. Their compassion leaves a trail. The Jedi code is like an itch.") If a group of them has done something unspeakable, unforgivable, and then covered it up (or worse, the Order covered it up), how do we ever trust the Jedi as the good guys again? It goes against everything they believe in. It goes against the story George Lucas created (or has ever said about how Jedi and the Force work). If this is the story being told, it will be a very bad Star Wars story, and I have to hope that's not the case.

***((Side note: The guy that just killed 6 Jedi and a Padawan did not make a good point with "You brought her here." Sol brought Jecki there, with many other Jedi, as her Master to teach her more about how to resolve conflict thinking they were only confronting Mae. And even then, Sol didn't make Qimir confront the Jedi and kill Jecki. Jecki's death is entirely Qimir's fault since he's the one that killed her. Also for a Sith to have "freedom" to be themselves is to allow them to do evil things through the Dark Side, which is ALWAYS evil. Full stop. The Dark Side twists and corrupts. That's how the Dark Side works. Qimir isn't some guy being oppressed because the Jedi are power hungry and unwilling to share the Force. Fascists shouldn't be allowed the freedom to be fascists.))

[v-writes]

Unexpected Help

Phic Phight 2025

Prompt: Danielle needs a place to crash and recover from Vlad’s latest attempt to turn her into goop and finds refuge with someone (human or ghost!) completely unexpected

Prompt by: @spacemomnephmoreau

Word Count: 3517

Read on Ao3

"Shit, shit, shit."

Danielle was crashing.

Denial about the fact, white lies she could tell herself about flying low to make herself less of a target, using the cityscape as cover, squashed as she blinked, and upon opening her eyes no longer saw the horizon in the distance but the ground, raising up to meet her as she rapidly lost altitude.

And then abruptly Danielle had crashed.

Impact rough, her destabilizing form refusing her attempts to brace for the collision she leaves a burning gash in the city park. Ignoring the burn in her arms, in her everything, Danielle props herself on one elbow, her knees collapse under her when she tries to stand, but she forces herself to move, crawling away from the glaring target that is the crater she was in.

Flying was out of the picture apparently.

She needed to get to Danny, needed to find cover, starts for the nearby pavilion, she needs to - fuck she was tired.

Vlad may have misjudged her ability to control her destabilizing form, allowing her to slip her binding, but she had misjudged how useful that would be if she couldn't get to Danny.

She feels her ghost sense rise in her chest, swallowing around it she forces a burst of speed and shoves herself under a playground structure hoping the shift of the pebble ground will cover any ecto she is dripping, while the climbing gym hides her from the air.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Danielle if you're longing for some Father/Daughter bonding you could have just said so, no need to make things difficult."

Why couldn't Vlad just leave her alone?

She tracks Vlad's movements as best she can while staying hidden herself, studying the graffiti above her head and littering the underside of the climbing ramp in a desperate bid not to panic, to not make any noise, her eyes lock onto a familiar logo, flaming 'D' with a break in the bottom, creating a 'P' in the negative space.

She sees the reflection of the flash from a transformation, and the itch in her ghost sense allowing her some idea of where her creator was vanished.

Straining to hear anything from a man as silent as the dead Danielle does not startle when a new voice calls out, but it's a near thing.

"Mayor Masters! Hello! What are you doing out here?"

"I'm on an evening walk young man, what are you doing out this late?"

"Free throw practice, sir, basketball season is starting soon."

"Of course, go ravens, might I suggest you call your practice early? I think there is a ghost in this area?"

"Oh that crash mark? That's from a fight from yesterday, your clean up program assessed it earlier, there's no damage to any of the piping stuff underground so it's not going to be fixed until Monday."

"Are you sure? It looks rather recent."

"I don't know man, ectoplasm makes shit act weird, but it was here when I got here and I've been here most of the afternoon. I'm just glad the programs you put in place are helping amity so much in the wake of all these ghost attacks."

"I'm so glad to see our young people so well apprised of the civil service programs, I certainly hope that support translates to your vote in a few years."

"I mean, who is going to run against you and be worth voting for? Jack Fenton?" The eyeroll is almost audible from where Dani is hiding. "I'll leave the park if a ghost does show up, but avoiding ghosts is the entire reason I'm practicing here and not at the school with most of the team, I do not understand most of the teams obsession with Phantom, and with him hanging out above the school he is sure to attract ghost trouble eventually."

"Above the school you say? I'll go contact some people, we can have clean up crews ready for assessment and reconstruction should he turn violent, or if any fight should breakout if another trouble making ghost find him."

"Thank you for all your hard work, Mayor Masters."

She didn't recognize the voice, or know why he had redirected the fucking fruitloop, there's no way anybody practicing in the park wouldn't know her crash was recent, but he had sent Vlad straight to Danny. Danny could handle him, right? Vlad wasn't trying to kill him, and if Vlad made it clear what, who, he was looking then Danny would know to look for her, so now she just had to hold out for him to find her first. If she could just close her eyes for a moment, catch her breath before finding Danny herself, she could manage. Why didn't she bother to learn the layout of Amity Park better? It wasn't a problem from the air, the ghost eye view meant she could see all of the landmarks easily, it wasn't like FentonWorks was hard to find, but even if flying were in option it'd be a bad idea with Vlad and his stupid vultures flying around.

"Hey do you need help?"

Dani froze.

The stranger did not go away.

"Look if you're weak enough to crash without a fight I don't think you used invisibility to sneak away while I was talking to Plasmius, but he flew away already, the coast is clear."

"You know Vlad Masters is Plasmius?"

He scoffs, "Yeah, his and Phantom's secret IDs kinda hinge on the fact that no one would assume someone alive is a ghost. If you're willing to look past that they're really not that sneaky."

"Why did you send him away if you knew he was looking for me?"

He sighs, "well I guess it seemed like the right thing to do, and I mean, it's not like I've done anything too dangerous yet, you really didn't damage any of the infrastructure, and he is real easy to lie to if you flatter his ego." Crouching more of him comes into view, unimpressed green eyes assess her goopy form. "But I've got a feeling the part about not doing anything too dangerous is about to change. Do you need- What do you need me to do to help?"

"I need medical attention."

"Yeah I kinda figured. Don't imagine I can take you to an urgent care though."

"No. I- Danny- I need my cousin. But you just sent Vlad to him and I'm in no state to join a fight, so I need to hide until they're done, Danny will look for me after he and Vlad fight, and he'll know what to do."

"Cousin is the story the two of you went with? Does Fenton even have living cousins or are you just cashing in on the family resemblance?"

"What does that matter when I'm known as Phantom's family, not Fenton's? Is that really what you're stuck on?"

"Right, not the priority, I've got some good news then," he offers her a hand, Dani takes it tentatively and he helps her out of her hiding spot, "I don't know where Danny is."

Dani stumbles as she rights herself, falling hard into her good Samaritan, who supports her easily despite his lanky form. "You, what?" She asks, question ending up more directed at his side and arm than face.

"I lied to Plasmius. Told you, flatter his ego and there's nothing easier, but then he may question you more than he does me. But that does mean he'll be back sooner than you're expecting, we've got to get you to cover, I don't think he'll believe me again, not with your uh, blood on me."

Was she getting blood on him? Blinking her eyes into focus she sees that, yup, small drops now, but growing as she leans on him. "Sorry."

He scoffs in response, guiding her away from the playground, "don't mention it, hey I don't know how long it'll take him to figure out there's no one at the school, can I carry you? I think it'll be faster…"

She nods, he turns away from her, crouching down he lays her against his back, picking her up in a piggy back, and he walks much faster than she could have kept up with through the park.

Danielle has the disconnected realization that it's her first piggy back ride. Instead of thinking about that, her 'childhood' with Vlad, or sporadic time with Danny she points out, "you've definitely got my blood on you now."

"If you can keep it on me and not the ground where it'll leave a trail that'd be great."

Her laugh startles her, but his deadpan attitude reminded her of Danny, and she clutches his shoulders tightly. "Where are we going?"

"Grounds-keeper's storage shed."

"What?"

"Well I took the bus here, so I don't have a fast way to get you out of the park, but you said Danny will be looking for you?"

"Of course he will!"

"Woah hey, I didn't mean to doubt you, I'm just not trying to get you away, there's no point, just better hidden to wait for him. I don't know your history with Masters, but I don't think I liked his tone when he was looking for you."

Dani doesn't respond.

"Right, well, do me a favor?" Dani tenses, tries not to knowing he would be able to feel it, wondering what he would ask for, Danny would help her if she ended up owing him a favor but- "pretend you didn't see this." He approaches the storage shed from the side, opening the cover on a lockbox built into the wall, inputting a code and taking a key out of the box.

Dani snickered, "I have intangibility, when I'm not dying I won't need a key."

"Well lucky you, I've got the key code from my summer job helping out, and I'd like for them to not feel the need to change the code."

The shed is dusty, motes hanging in the air that leave Dani thankful she doesn't need to breath as a ghost. He sets her on a folding chair, set up by a rickety desk, surrounded by lawn care tools and supplies she has no name for, Vlad thought that stuff was beneath him, and she didn't need to know this stuff to imitate Danny.

"Do you know one of team Phantom's phone number?"

"What"

"Danny's number? Jazz's? Sam or Tucker? Look I don't have any of their numbers, but here." He hands her his phone after messing with it. "I just turned off the password. Say you snatched it from my backpack while I was playing basketball, Danny or whoever feels like lying can give it back to me at school, 'I must have dropped it somewhere' or he can use intangibility to hide it in my locker, or something."

She stares at the blank phone in her hand before looking back to the teen.

"Who even are you?" It's a question she should have asked earlier. Probably would have if she had more experience with people.

"Wes. Says so on the homescreen, along with a 'please contact if found' note with my brother's number and my email. Figure with the ghosts attacks lowering the normal crime rate, most times I'll lose my phone are when I've misplaced it, so being able to know whose it is will make it easier to get back."

"I guess?"

"It's the only reason I've got enough plausible deniability for this to work, so say that with more confidence yeah?"

She smiles, as Wes digs through a storage container, swapping his stained shirt for a practice jersey, "not going to ask me my name too?"

Wes tenses, turned away from her. Sighing, he turns around slowly. "If it's all the same I'd like as much plausible deniability as we can manage, I don't really want to be involved in all the ghost business. Besides, I heard Plasmius call you Danielle when he caught up to you in the park."

"Oh, right. Well, I prefer Dani? With an 'i'?"

"With an 'i'. Gotcha."

Turning back to the phone in her hands, Dani turns the screen on, seeing the message on the home page for herself. "Wait, Wes Weston? Aren't you the guy who keeps trying to out Danny as Phantom?"

"Really? That's the reputation that precedes me?" Voice rising in incredulity Wes begins pacing the small space, "not that I distract Mr Lancer when he needs to leave, or did almost the entirety of our geography project by myself, noooooo I'm just the conspiracy therapist who can't keep his mouth shut. You know Danny is really lucky that people aren't going to look at a ghost and try and guess his living alter ego. I'm the reason there are theories that Phantom is Fenton's dead uncle! Did team phantom think to spread a rumor that not only ties into the Fenton parents obsession, explains the resemblance, and helps with the secret identity! No! It was me! I-"

Wes cuts himself off, catching sight of Dani's smile, eyes full of mischief and voice full of teasing, "oh now you sound like the stories I've heard, I can almost see the conspiracy board behind you, newspaper clippings and red strings and all."

"…It's green string."

"What?"

"It fits the aesthetic better! Actually, I don't need to explain myself to you, I'm helping you."

"And thank you for that. But, can I ask for an explanation? If you're trying to help why tell people that Danny is phantom? Isn't that still a risk?"

For a moment Wes looks defensive, and Dani thinks he won't answer her, but he cracks under her puppy eyes just like Danny would, patheticness helped by her sorry state.

He sighs, full body and resigned. "You know, Danny doesn't know this, but my parents also moved to Amity for it's weirdness, like his did. But instead of 'ectoscience' they are more… spiritual. Did a whole bunch of charts and readings when my brother and I were born and everything. Real believing that gut feelings are messages from the universe and all that type of people. Didn't give it much weight myself until we became ghost central, but my parents have always made a big deal that if I had been born a girl, they would have named me Cassandra."

Dani stares uncomprehending for a long moment, then all at once she is overcome with laughter, "the prophet who was cursed by Apollo to never be believed?"

"That's the bitch. I'll admit it was a bit of a risk leaning into that, but like. I mean it's working. His mom gave me a whole lecture about the appropriateness of school gossip a couple weeks ago sooo."

"Mrs Fenton gave you a lecture about the rumour?" Dani leans forward, giddiness evaporating as she overbalances, nearly falling out of the chair before Wes catches her.

"Kid-"

"Don't call me kid."

"Alright 'with an i', a chance to calm down seems to have helped, but you need to call Danny. Text if you think he won't answer an unknown number, and I need to get out of here."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? 'With an i', you're literally coming apart in gooey pieces, I've got bits of you staining my shirt again-"

"No. Why leave? You helped me, you're smart, good with people, and-"

"And what the hell am I going to do if Plasmius decides to target me? Right now I'm just a kid with bad information, I doubt he even knows my name. How well do you really think I'd be able to handle getting swept up with Phantom? I will do what I can to help. Please don't ask me for more than that."

They hold eye contact, and Dani believes with every part of her, even the parts she has left on the park and on Wes, that if she asked him to, he would stay. She wouldn't have to be alone while she waited for Danny.

She wants to take advantage of that. Feels the urge to put all of the pleading and tears she can muster into a desperate 'stay?'

She doesn't.

Swiping to the keypad she inputs the number Danny had drilled her on, more memorized pattern than phone number. She doesn't look at Wes as she says, "if you want your plausible deniability you should leave now."

Danny picks up after three rings, a tired "hello?" Coming through the phone.

"Danny? It's me, your cousin?"

"Dani? What's up? What number are you calling from?"

Wes' hand lands on her head, she looks up startled as he ruffles her hair, he mouths 'good luck' before leaving, locking the door behind him.

"Dani? Dani are you there? Shit if you can hear me don't hang up, I can have Tucker track the call-"

"I'm fine. I mean I'm not fine, I need help. But I'm here. Vlad he, I'm in the park, hiding in a grounds-keepers shed. Stole the phone from someone playing basketball."

"I'm on my way, just-"

"Stay on the phone." Dani finishes with him. "You too."

~~~

The tardy bell rings.

Wes doesn't even pretend to be rushing, haven given up being on time when his brother 'forgot' to wake him as well this morning, despite Wes having made a point to ask last night, knowing he wouldn't have his phone as an alarm, but he couldn't explain that and now Coach Tetslaff would have him running laps for the next week for missing morning practice. But it's whatever.

"Hey Wes!"

Or it was whatever.

Should be whatever.

Wes takes a deep breath and braces himself as he closes his locker, "Fenton. Aren't you late for class?"

Danny scoffs, "I think you mean we're late for class. But I found something of yours on a walk last night." He holds out Wes' phone.

The exact lie he had told Dani to tell them to use, how unoriginal. Wes had kinda hoped Phantom would ignore that and use ghost powers to sneak it into his locker or backpack. Would have avoided whatever conversation Fenton looks like he wants to have.

"Oh thanks," Wes takes his phone, notes the full charge, and hopes Tucker didn't do anything weird to it, "I had assumed I'd left it in the Athletics locker room after practice, thanks for giving it back."

Fenton blinks at him blankly, oh come on dude it can't be that surprising that I lied, you are also lying, we are lying together, play along.

When Fenton doesn't say anything, Wes says, not at all awkwardly, "well. We're late for Geometry. So."

Fenton begins walking alongside him, and oh why did they need to be going to the same class, and finally speaks, "about that. I was actually wondering if you've got a partner for the egg drop project coming up?"

"Aren't you just going to make your little triumvirate with Sam and Tucker?"

"We could, but Mr. Warner says he would prefer pairs, and I think it'll be easy, so if you don't already have a partner?"

"Easy? If the egg breaks when we drop it it's an automatic fail on the project!"

"And if it doesn't it's an automatic 100, I know. And I think it'll be easy." It clicks for Wes as Danny continues, "but then there's an odd number of people in the class, Sam, Tuck, and I could probably get dibs on being the group of three-" The Fentons are a family of engineers.

"Deal. Yes. Do we need to strategize? Make blueprints?"

"Dude. You're overthinking it. We're just gonna hot glue a fuck ton of toothpicks into little 'x's and then combine them."

"And that will work?!"

Danny rolls his eyes. "Yes, it'll work. It's more of a physics project than a geometry project, really."

"We're not supposed to take physics until junior year?!"

Danny shrugs, "I don't know man, I think Mr Warner just wants something easy to grade for a project. But it's not like it's a trick question, it's just like, the crumple zones in cars? We're doing that with toothpicks for the egg."

Danny explains more in depth on their way to class, clearly understanding the topic but not explaining succinctly, when Wes is struck by another realization.

Oh God.

Wes is going to get dragged into Team Phantom.

This is exactly what he was trying to avoid.

He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. Checking it without thinking he sees a contact he knows he did not make.

With an I: an offering for the oracle =P

A moment later a picture follows the text, Wes recognizes the desk in the grounds-keeper's storage shed, placed on the center of the desk is a large zip lock bag presumably filled with the legend of every Amity Park bake sale, Fenton Family Fudge. Sharpie swirls and stars decorate the bag, surrounding a label that reads Wes W.

Wes smiles, and decides to ignore all signs, and not speak into existence his 'theory'.

Hate to trigger Cassandra's Curse after all.

[rosewoodcafe]

Some of my favorite Current Reads !!

I wanted to hop on here since I know have a bit of people interacting with my page and send some people to look at some very good fics that are being written as of now !!

These are some fics that I have been actively read and ones that are done [or pretty much done] that have stolen my whole heart <3

[This is also shameless promotion for my friends who deserve every kudos in this entire world]

The Princess and the Parselmouth By @whalesongsblog

OHHHHHHHH my god, I cannot begin to express how much I love this story. The divergence from the source material, mixed with cultural influence, and the political feel of the entire work so far just makes me throw my phone every time a new chapter comes out. D has perfectly captured Ominis in an older form, and the relationship he's formed with Mira so far is so beautifully developed it was one I could not put down. If you love a story that has its own backbone, and world building that is made completely from scratch you will love this soooooo much.

In another life by @heylorrain

I cried. It was so good I was sobbing through most of it. A truly amazing story that takes the darkest themes and expands them in a way that makes it so your eyes can't leave the page. I wouldn't say its for the faint of heart, but it is a remarkable story, I was thinking about it for days after I finished the most recent chapter. Sadly it only has one more chapter, but that just leads into my next suggestion.

Looking thru my eyes by @heylorrain

Once you fall in love with Lorra and Ominis in IAL you have to read their main story with them. The world she has built in the walls of Hogwarts is incredible, and the most meticulous details have been thought out. There is so much lore just behind Lorra and Ominis's relationship; the push and pull, it's beautiful. I have yet to completely finish it, but it has me in a chokehold right now.

The Light in my Darkness by @butternutt613

Charlotte, my beloved!!!! Not only does Butters write such a unique story after the events of Hogwarts Legacy, but she also writes in a way that makes you smack the table a few times because it's so cute. Butters is an author I've encountered who writes with such respect and love for her character, who may share a disability with those in real life, and it makes me love her work that much more. I can't express how much I care for this story and this character.

Out of What Crypt They Crawl by @whalesongsblog

Another one by D that I LOVEEEEEEE. She's got such a brain, you guys don't even know. The story she has planned for this is beyond amazing. I can't even begin to thank her enough for including my beloved Evie along with Charlotte and Lorrain. It's compelling and the world-building outside of the main HL story has been crafted in a way that it just pulls you into the woods and eats you up. Every chapter I read I have to put my phone down and walk away because I'm just itching for more lol.

Blood of Innocents by @amethystandemma

Not a HL fic, but that doesn't matter because I love this one regardless. Emma has built such a character that is Victoria [ and I guess her relationship with Percy pffttttt ] that I love it so much. You can just feel the affection she has for the golden trio era of Hogwarts, the love she has for the characters that already exist, and the ones she's created. She is always cooking up something, and regardless of our opposing views on a certain Weasley [I love you emma lololol] she has drawn me in to love the story and the characters.

I have many others as well!!

And as I start to read more of them I want to share them because I feel smaller fics don't get as many love <3

If you want to shamelessly promote your fic; comment it, tell me about it, because I will read pretty much everything and anything.

I love you guys !!

[chronically-ghosted]

i totally agree that it’s ridiculous for people to write fics for films that haven’t been released yet, but the problem isn’t the smut itself. people have every right to write porn if that scratches the itch.

i think your main point is the most important: it’s impossible to write a thoughtful, inspired fic when we don’t even know the story it’s based on. no one knows who this character is or what he’s like.

at this point, everyone should just call a spade a spade and write pedro rpf. all they care about is seeing his face in different situations.

so my earlier post was not so much a statement on Pedro Pascal Character fanfiction/porn, but the commercialization of art and I interpreted the thoughts and opinions of others through the lens of the medium I most often express myself with, which is fanfiction.

let me be clear: i have no problem with smut - pwp or otherwise. people are allowed to write whatever they want, about whoever they want, with whatever tropes make them happy.

my overall focus (and granted it was probably very muddled by the end of those - what, like three reblogs?) was an interrogation of fanfiction as art, and the state of art in this modern era. and after doing some more thinking and listening to more people much smarter than me (thank you to everyone who dm-ed me directly to talk further about this), my opinion is thus: the creation of content (not art) is more ubiquitous today is not because we are getting more stupid as a society, not because of our failing attention spans, not because we are on the brink of moral collapse but because we physically do not have the mental strength to be intellectually curious as a direct result of constant, distracting, emotionally-draining stimuli.

i can explain what i mean below the cut with two primary examples, specifically regarding the shift in fanfiction cult, and yes, the prominence of smutty oneshots in the pedro pascal character fandom of which this blog is a part of.

I have been in various fandoms for almost twenty years. I have been writing fanfiction for almost that same amount of time. In recent years, I've noticed two trends that initially discouraged me, but that I now believe is a symptom of our adjustment to a modern, constantly online era.

A severe lack of engagement within the artistic artifacts of a fandom

The quality of the fanfiction itself (because yes I do consider fanfiction to be an artform) has gone down hill - mostly.

Lack of engagement:

Art is inherently created to be shared. This is especially true for fandom because the community lives or dies by how many people are interacting with each other and sharing ideas (news, theories, fanart, fanfic, etc). If you say a fandom is dead, it means there haven't been any new posts or fic about it in years. So I don't wanna hear it when people say, "oh write for yourself, you shouldn't be chasing engagement" because that is antithetical to the very concept of fanfiction.

In recent years, I have seen and experienced myself engagement in my work only so far as a like or kudo. This is not how it used to be. Message boards (yes I am that old) and niche fandom sites were constantly abuzz with media sharing and excitement, and everyone enjoyed some version of praise (unless you got hit by the antis but they're never fun anyway). Initially I blamed this drop in engagement on laziness: people just want the next thing, they can't be bothered to appreciate the hard work writers put in and they just see content and art as the same thing - stuff to consume.

But I myself am GUILTY of minimal reblogs and comments and I LOVE what I'm writing - the impact certain works leave me with is long, long lasting but for some goddamn reason, I can't sit down and praise the author's works. Am I lazy? Possibly, but this is also not an isolated behavior and it's on the rise: people do not have time to engage with fandom/fanfic like they used to. Most people I know have worked at least two or three jobs at some point in their lives to just to make rent. This gen z is the first generation in DECADES to be worse off economically than their parents. With an interest rate at 8%, who the fuck can afford the security of a home anymore? We work ourselves to the bone for scraps and the realization that The Dream has officially died. And so what do we want to do in the free time we do have? Engage with the very bare minimum. We want to read things that we can at best skim, things we don't have to think about or engage with in any meaningful way. We want a way to turn off the noise of the next apocalypse and sometimes the best we can do is the tap of a thumb.

Which brings me to my next point: what the fuck happened to thoughtful fanfiction?

But this question is inextricably linked to the points above: oneshots are easier to write, faster to write, and if you write fic that is basically "Mad libs porn" (without ever engaging in the actual medium because it is literally not released yet), you are doing the most minimal work for the most amount of engagement. But I can't fault ANYONE for doing that. It feels good to be told your smut is "so hot" or "this exploded my panties" and in this era where the time available to create is so fucking small and minimized of course you're going to write for the most popular character, whether or not you're interested in the source material because we want our art to matter to someone. Intellectual pundits loooove to lambast our "shorter attention spans" but fuck, when are we allowed the time to think - in between this "100 year storm" that's happened twice in the past five years, or the global pandemic that turned millions of deaths into a political punching bag, or the next video of a white woman crying wolf to the police over an innocent black man, or - or - or - or

In a day where reality and the world as we know seems to be holding onto a thread, we turn to comfort: comforting tropes (dbf to rape/kidnap fantasies), comforting fanfic (pwp), and comforting ways to engage with fandom. There is nothing wrong with wanting your art to be appreciated and there's nothing wrong with inherently wrong with pwp - but I do believe its symptomatic of a MUCH larger and more sinister movement within ALL art right now.

I come from the generation who banished fanfic authors for scrubbing off the filing numbers to their fics and publishing it as original content because, in our communities, they were selling out. Fanfiction is inherently an act of rebellion. Every time you write fanfiction you break canon, an established structure with its own rules and boundaries. So by trying to appeal to the masses, to curb your own writing to fit whatever is mainstream, you are doing a disservice to yourself AND to the art of fanfiction. If something you write becomes popular, wonderful, great, you are very lucky and there is nothing wrong with that either. But do not sell out your 13 beloved fans who WILL take the time to leave a comment, who WILL take the time to reblog because your weird little fic spoke to them on a fundamental level and now is with them for the rest of their lives - in favor of a 100 thumb taps.

If you've made it here, thank you very much for reading. I've added some links to some additional references to see how this concept of "populist" art is having a serious negative down turn in the quality of art, but is also not any one individuals personal failings:

Why the world is addicted to background tv by Kayleigh Day

How Modern Audience are failing cinema by Like Stories of Old

Rupi Kaur episode of Rehash podcast

I'm always here to talk fic and art and what makes you excited about your writing. Much love and please rest. We need you here.

[allpiesforourown]

Hey, so sorry to be using your inbox like a fuckin confessional, but getting that dream thing off my chest literally cleared my skin and I've just got this itch that needs to be addressed so I'm taking it out on you again. Reflecting on this thought the second after I had it made me think, "Oh, I get what Shen Yuan was on about now," and so here I am, typing this shit out ig. fucking embarrassing, anyway.

So, like. I watch those gacha react videos on youtube. Like a concerning amount of those gacha react videos, man. I fuckin love them so much, even if I wouldn't admit to it under pain of death to anyone I know or love. I have a seperate youtube channel I made under a fake email that I made specifically to watch them. It's bad. I remember back when it was just me and the FF.net filter system before they added the 'Without' section at the bottom and trying to find crossover content in the LoZ tag between games. 10th circle of hell; my 13th reason. Gacha react videos in concept are heavensent for my inner child, and on the rare occasion I find one of those 'fandom react' series that are active or complete and well done, it grants me joy on par with nigh nothing else.

This being said, I understand that the main demographic for this content tends to be a handful of years younger than me. I've seen community posts on some channels mentioning their time in college, but these are few and far between in my experience. I appreciate these teen's artistry in putting these all together, because god knows I'm not, but like,,, --and I know I sound like an ass right now but bare with me-- it feels like with the conclusion of Arcane came a flood of reaction videos with no real substance. I've watched upward of what feels like thirty seperate videos --at least,-- on the show and its the same ten to twenty edits I've seen on repeat and I'm watching them by pressing the skip key and catching half the dialouge only to come out the other side tired and a little miffed. Then I feel bad, because they created something and all I did was mindlessly consume and feel entitled to complain. Ugh.

Now, Because I've been cycling through these almost cookie cutter videos for ages --I used Arcane vids as an example before because its recent and relevant, but I do have this take for a whole slew of the fandoms I watch react videos on, and I picked this addiction up in 2021 so it's been a minute-- I've begun predicting the dialouge before it's come up and projecting what I hope the author will say. If I see a video with, for example, Giyuu from kny seeing Sabito in a video, I hope to see shock, yes, but also to see him comment or think about how he hasn't seen his face in so long, you know? Just... things that aren't just "OMG!!" or making the characters eyes widen. I've found now that I seek out these videos for the slim chance that they'll provide me with the satisfaction I get from these moments of true understanding with the presented characters.

Yes, I know that there really isn't any "true" way to understand a character, and that while we are all entitled to our own interpretations of media, the insistence that mine alone is more "right" or "correct" is bullshit, but I'm not saying that my preference has to be law, only that I get a rush of happiness whenever something I like happens to pop up in a video that I was already checking out of because it failed to really,,,,wow me. This is my bias speaking, of course, but its also the reality of my situation borne from overconsumption of this genre.

But anyway, onto the main point of how this relates to svsss. I was watching a video just a minute ago --an Arcane video, big shocker I know-- where there was a line from the creator's Vander character about how he wasn't ready to see Vi so grown up, because to him she's still his little girl. I thought, "Yes!!! This!! He's a father! He's showing realistic reactions to seeing your child suddenly grown up, and while he's proud of the woman she became, he still loves her as she is in the moment!!" ....I then watched the rest of the reaction, and was left cold and disappointed in the end. I'd clicked for Viktor, got three videos of him in a twenty minute reaction when the rest was the same four edits of jinx on repeat. Love you Jinx, but holy fuck. I thought then, "God, what a waste of potential." The creator of the video had insightful dialouge, clearly a decent grasp on character interaction, and the drive to create the video in the first place, but settled for pumping out another copy of the same video they've released three times previous on the same channel.

Then I thought, "Oh, like PIDW."

I need to get a life, Tumblr user allpiesforourown. If your blog wasn't so damn entertaining, I might even go out and touch grass one day. Take responsibility, damn.

(ty for reading my rant, if you did. have a good day regardless.)

I think you watching gacha react videos for characterization might be the one and only thing more baffling than Shen Yuan reading porn for plot. Hope you find gacha videos of Vander teaching his daughter how to ride a bike

[just-a-carrot]

I Carrot I just wanna talk about how much of an incredible artist you are because I cannot stop thinking about it. Your writing greatly humanizes each character in a way I've never seen before. As a matter of fact, it's never been this hard to pick a favorite character from a piece of media, because I've never seen so many well written somehow relatable characters within the same cast. I also am basically in love with your artstyle, on top of being unique and intriguing, it feels very respectful and human. I'm not too sure how to explain it, but everytime one of your characters' body is exposed in any way, the artstyle and anatomy feels very respectful to the characters. It looks amazing, and it looks.... I don't know, real? And that's not something that can usually be seen in art pieces of the sort. From the bottom of my soul, thank you for sharing all of the incredible work you do for FREE. You're incredible.

;-----------------------;

ahhhh... 💕

you made me cry...

thank you...

i've been feeling really washed up lately. especially with recent itch comments and ratings. and just the general feeling of whether there's a point to keep sharing and creating stuff

thank you so much 💕

this really really brought a bright spot to my day