#if you want i'll message you for further details or whatever

[eevees-hobbies]

Hello! 1. your writing is AMAZING and 2. Sorry for this long request.

Can I request experienced!Reader x virgin!Sakura smut (or you can make it that he doesn't have that much experience as the reader). Sakura and the reader have always done things like heavy makeout sessions and him receiving bjs. He starts to feel bad because he hasn't eaten her out yet and he doesn't want to disappoint her, she always tells him to take things at his pace and that she will always be there for him when he's ready to take things further. So he asks the guys for advice on how to eat her out and then during movie date night at her place he's acting more flustered/nervous than usual and she notices. He then confesses that he wants her to feel pleasure to and that the reason why he hasn't done it yet is because he doesn't want to disappoint her but he wants to try and eat her out. You can have them go all the way after or just leave it at that. I'll be happy either way😊😊. Thank you in advance!!!

Author’s Note: Thank you so much for your kind words! This was fun to write and I hope you enjoy this. I’ll always enjoy writing for Haru, so this request was very much appreciated.

Synopsis: Sakura loves the fuck out of you, so maybe that’s why he’s asking his friend, Hayato Suo, to help him get better at initiating oral sex. Totally normal things happen to an orange, but it’s all worth it in the end, right?

Content Warning:  experienced!FemReader x inexperienced!Sakura. defiling of fruit, sexual education in a public place, pray (and perform a wellness check) for Suo’s girlfriend, dirty talk, insecure Sakura, harmless teasing, use of pet name baby girl, cocky Sakura makes an appearance at the end (because I can’t help myself), I curse a lot in my writing, cunnilingus, fingering, brief p in v. I’m on my usual bullshit, but at least the writers block is gone! Minors Do Not Interact.

Word Count: 3.1K

Story banner by me. Dividers by Firefly Graphics. As always, likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated!

“The first time we held hands, I thought my head would explode.”

“I see. Go on…”

“The first time we made out, I….” Sakura looks away, a crimson blush making its way past the collar of his white tee and up his neck. “I could hear my heart beating in my ears or somethin’ cliche like that.”

Suo couldn’t help but feel the corner of his mouth twitch upward at his inexperienced friend’s confession. Still, he knew better than to poke at Sakura. He was attempting to be supportive, and supportive friends don’t tease their friends during bouts of insecurity—much. When Suo had received a text message from Sakura the night before indicating that he had an urgent request, he knew he had to temper his usual faux-cheerful demeanor and provide his friend with whatever he needed.

But he wasn’t expecting this conversation.

Sakura shifts uncomfortably in the booth across from Hayato, his eyes now darting down to his knuckles, which always seem permanently purple and red with bruises and fresh knicks. “And the first time she….you know…”

Suo’s eyebrow quirks up, expecting Sakura to elaborate further, but he doesn’t. To prompt Sakura to continue, Suo clears his throat and carefully navigates the next sentence, “I don’t really know what you mean, Sakura. Care to be a bit more specific?”

Sakura lets out a frustrated scoff, but he knows that if he wants Suo to help him, he’s going to need to give him details—details that he had fully intended to always go to the grave with.

“The first time she gave me head…”

The cup of tea that Suo was bringing up to his lips shakes ever so slightly, but he offers a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes and provides a supportive nod. 

“Oh?”

Sakura sighs, figuring it’s too late to hold back now; he dives into the issue, ready to be judged at best, and laughed out of the restaurant at worst. “The first time she gave me head, I swear to fuckin’ god, if there is a god, I fell in love. But she’s always….doing stuff to me, and I haven’t done much for her.”

Suo nods, places his cup of tea down, and looks thoughtfully at his friend. “Sounds like you’d like to return her…kind gestures.”

Sakura runs a hand through his hair and nods, “Yeah, that’s it. I want to do stuff to her instead of her doing stuff to me, but I don’t know how to-”

“Initiate?”

“Sure.”

The silence that settles between the two is deafening. Sakura shifts uncomfortably in his seat, and Suo can’t help but look at his friend with sympathetic eyes. Usually, he’s the first one to tease Sakura, especially involving his relationship with you, but this feels different. Suo’s eyes wandered to an orange currently serving as a garnish on the small plate of untouched Omi Rice Sakura had ordered. “May I?’

Sakura shrugs, unsure what he plans to do with a piece of fruit. Doesn’t he see that he’s in crisis and Vitamin C can wait?

Suo grabs a knife and cuts the citrus down the middle, exposing the soft center. Discarding one half, he holds up the other to curious, dual-colored eyes. “Do we need to go over the basics of female anatomy? Like the labia and clitoris?”

Sakura sputters as he hears his friend say words he’s only heard you—his girlfriend—say. His eyes dart to the nearest escape route, but Suo's firm kick under the table brings his attention back to the scene in front of him. Sakura looks away in frustration and gives a curt nod, indicating that, at the very least, he could point to certain parts of your body and identify them.

He wasn’t THAT far gone. 

Suo nods, “Well, I’d say the battle is half-won, then. Let’s talk about what women like, shall we?”

Suo brings a finger up to the center of the orange where the small opening glistens with droplets of juice that are now dripping languidly down his fingers. The scene before Sakura is practically obscene, and the irony of Suo using fruit for his sexual education lesson that looks similar to your intimate area does not fly over his head, even though he wishes it did. 

As Suo points to the plump center, his finger gently strokes the small hole. “Some people immediately think it’s a good idea to force their fingers in with little thought to foreplay, but that’s crude, hostile, and not the trait of a good partner. In fact, bullying your fingers in could very well hurt her, so I personally like to take a few hours to get my girlfriend aroused.”

Hours?! Sakura doesn’t think he can come near being the type of libido-beast that Suo is. He briefly gives a silent prayer for his friend's partner but leans in nonetheless to listen intently.

“Now, the tip of your tongue can be rather overstimulating at first, so remember that the clitoris deserves to be kissed, too. Your lips are your ally.”

Sakura swallows thickly as he tunes in and watches his friend defile an orange in Cafe Pothos. As his cheeks burn, his fingers twitch, and his cock hardens as Suo goes into great detail about how much pressure the clitoris can take. Sakura can’t help but think that he must be absolutely, horrendously down bad for you to deal with this shit.

“I can’t BELIEVE she was Lady Whistledown this entire time!” 

You reach for the remote to select the next episode of Bridgerton, but a lack of response from Sakura, who is sitting on the couch next to you, causes you to look over. You can sense that what you just said didn’t register because he seems lost in thought, his thumb placed between his upper and lower canines as he chews on the skin aggressively.

“Kitten?” You turn your entire body to face him, worry already etching across your face. 

His eyes look up at you, and the faraway look quickly dissipates as he gives you a grunt.

“You’ve been distracted all night. Should we head to bed, or can we talk about it?” You offer him a gentle smile, hoping the bond you share will be stronger than any secret he may be keeping from you. You watch as he visibly swallows, his adam’s able bobbing as he turns to you, and he lowers his now mangled thumb to rest in his lap. The way he avoids eye contact, the way the air now feels somewhat stale with unspoken words, has your breathing slowing and you preparing to hear the worst. 

“Let me…eat you out.”

You blink once, twice, and then several more times as you stare at each other. You place a gentle hand on his knee, and your confused eyes meet his vulnerable ones. “Sakura, what the absolute fuck?”

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. You can see a pout practically form on his lips as he fights the urge to end the conversation. But Sakura is a man on a mission, and he continues. You have to lean in to hear what he mumbles but as his mouth moves, you realize you heard him clearly the first time. “You give me head almost every day. I’m tired of not reciprocating.”

Everyday, Sakura? Let’s be real. Sure, you like giving your boyfriend head but your jaw isn’t permanently attached to his cock. You give him a blank stare before responding and trying to keep your voice light and without a hint of sarcasm–and god, you REALLY want to be sarcastic right now but you’re a good girlfriend.

“Sakura, our relationship isnt about keeping score, especially in regards to our intimacy. I don’t count how many blowjobs I give you,” you pause as you realize you just spoke a lie. “Well, maybe I do count, but only because I have an ego, and I’m trying to beat a number I set in my head.”

Sakura’s eyes squint and he holds back the urge to ask further questions about your perverted personal goals. “That’s so weird. Anyway, it isn’t about any of that. I want to do it. I think about doing it a lot.”

You tilt your head to the side, your ear facing him a bit more because did your boyfriend, the one who was emotionally stunted when you met him, admit to fantasizing about you? “You think about eating me out? Say more, please.”

“Fuuuuuck, why are you so-. Fine! I think about it when you’re on the couch with your legs spread–I mean, sure, it isn’t lady-like–but it’s hot and I think about just getting on my knees and…”

“I might pop you for the lady-like comment but I’ll refrain because you made me tingle.”

“Shut up and…spread your legs.”

You purse your lips, stifling a giddy giggle at your boyfriend using his stern voice. You shimmy out of your sleep shorts and throw them haphazardly to a corner to be forgotten about until who-knows-when. 

Putting on a brave front, and as though he’s done this many times before, Sakura rises from the couch and perches himself between your legs with his knees firmly placed on the plush rug on the floor.

You bite your lip—his gaze is unyielding and smoldering. You aren’t surprised at how hot your face is getting under his stare; it’s almost enough to make you clamp your legs shut and call the whole thing off, but you couldn’t if you wanted to as his hands, which are placed firmly against your inner thighs, grip you like you’re being held open in stirrups. 

“It's nothing like an orange…”

“A what!?”

Before you can say anything and before you can back out, Sakura is leaning forward, his breath is hot and fanning against your labia. For some reason, you need to look anywhere but at the top of his head as his tongue slips past your folds and swirls small circles around your clit. His hesitancy is palpable, making you a bit insecure until he pulls back, an earnest but determined look in his eyes, “Am I doing ok? Does this feel…right? I’m trying to imagine an orange, but it’s completely different.”

Weird recurring comments about oranges aside, you realize he’s not hesitant because of you. He’s hesitant because he’s worried that he isn’t doing a good job. He’s hesitant because, above all else, Haruka will always desire to impress and please you, and anything less is unacceptable to him. His inexperience has always been a non-issue for you, but to him, it’s a crutch and another way he feels like he doesn’t deserve you. 

Your gaze softens and you give him an encouraging smile. “You’re doing amazing, Kitten.”

The corner of his mouth twitches upward and with a dignified nod, he dives back between your thighs. Your praise fuels his desire to please you—and that fire burns bright, and the cautious licks before are replaced with suckles and tongue swipes that are far more confident. 

Your head falls back to rest against the cushiony headrest of the couch. Your hand finds the back of his head and pushes him in further, encouraging him to get lost in you and risk drowning. Sakura doesn’t mind the threat of suffocation as he considers it a worthy way to go. Still, he thinks you’re getting a little too cocky, and humbling you is his favorite pastime, so the gesture earns a playful nip to your thigh from Haruka, which in turn makes you giggle.

“Can’t you be serious for once? I’m trying to eat you out down here.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Kitten.” Despite your snarky come-back, you give him an encouraging moan that’s brought upon by open-mouthed kisses against your clit. Sakura willingly entwines his long fingers with yours, his thumb tenderly stroking the inside of your palm.

His other hands grips the plush of one of your thighs and pushes them forward, pressing them against your stomach and allowing himself the unbridled access he craves to get as deep as his tongue will reach. His licks become far more aggressive as he takes the time to map out your cunt through eager exploration. He commits every one of your sinful moans and gasps to his memory and revels in the way in which you get increasingly louder for him. 

Each one of your cries makes his cock twitch, and he finds himself having to adjust himself in his jeans. The scent of you, the sound of you, is simply intoxicating. You, to Haruka Sakura, are everything and then some. Your pleasure is his pleasure and he’s going to take that fact out on your cunt which is growing increasingly more sloppy just for him. 

Something that felt intimidating only hours ago now feels natural to Sakura as he drags his tongue across your clit, smirking as he feels it swell and twitch under the assault of his muscle. 

“You’re dripping for me. We might need a new couch after I’m done with you.” 

You can’t help but roll your eyes because fuck, why is he so-oh! Yeah, that’s the spot. You nod in agreement as you spread your legs wider to give him better access. “Y-yeah, a trip to IKEA is definitely in the future, I think.” Without little to no warning, he pushes two fingers into you so deeply that his knuckles kiss your entrance. Haruka’s fingers curl, and the sound of him twisting them inside you makes a lewd, wet sound, the kind that would make anyone blush. 

The pads of his fingers rub against the bundle of nerves deep within your aching sex. Sakura lets out a satisfied grunt as he strokes the spongy bundle of ridges. He doesn’t need an orange to see that this is what you like, all he needs to do is look down at the way your toes curl or watch as your eyes roll back and you bite into the plush of your bottom lip.

“Holy fuckin’…just relax for me. Don’t act like we haven’t been here before, at least.”

You let out a pathetic whimper, the sensation of being filled up almost threatening to push you over the edge, and he fucking knows it. He’s doing this on purpose, stroking you like this, making you more sensitive than you already are as you drip into the palm of his hand.

You look down to give him a glare, but you can’t help the squeak that leaves your lips—his intense gaze is set on you and threatening to light you ablaze. He stands up so that he’s kneeling over you, his face mere inches from yours, as he continues to push and pull his fingers in and out of your fluttering sex. 

“Look at you….a fuckin’ mess. Look me in my eyes while you use my fingers to get off.” His eyes are scanning your face in predatory reverence, they flicker down to your lips as you let out a low guttural moan. “That’s it, baby girl. Cum for me.”

Your heart palpitates dangerously as he uses a pet name that feels so intimate you want to melt into the couch. Your bottom lip quivers as you begin to buck your hips to meet the motion of his fingers, but it’s hard to keep up when he’s finger fucking you like he owns every inch of your cunt.

“Tch, what are you trying to prove by holding out?” His lips ghost against the sensitive skin of your earlobe, his tongue darting out to lick and suckle at the sensitive flesh. 

“You’re practically milking my fingers right now. You like every single inch that I give you, don’t you? You get so hungry for just a touch.” His voice is husky, his words only making you ache and arch more as the cocky, ex-Bofurin leader goads you on.

His mouth finds its way to the curve of your neck as he presses his lips against your quickened pulse. The proximity and gesture feels tender until you feel his teeth sinking into your skin, sending a delicious, searing pain shooting through your very being. “Cum like a good girl so I can bend you over this fuckin’ couch.” His voice is hoarse and coursing with his desire for you, and he’s not asking you to let go for him, he’s demanding it.

Your face, despite being contorted into pleasure, heats up because who the fuck talks like that? 

Haruka Sakura does. 

You groan, pressing the palm of your hand against the nape of his neck and pull him forward so you can give him the physical and verbal praise he seeks–your moans fill his mouth and your hips grind against his hand to roll out your orgasm in desperation. He eagerly presses his palm against your clit, adding more pressure to the sensitive bud that takes your breath away as he continues his curling, pushing, and pulling of his fingers.

You let out a final moan into his mouth and the smirk that forms on his lips as they press against yours does not go unnoticed. You haven’t realized it, or maybe you have, but at that moment, you created a monster. He now knows you better than he ever did and will use it against you every chance he can. He may be unable to commit to hours of foreplay, but he can guarantee that every second in which he’ll have you spread open for him will have you looking at him exactly as you’re looking at him right now. He’s committed to your pleasure moving forward and makes absolutely no apologies for it. 

“Theeeeere she goes. Now was that so hard?” Your half-lidded gaze meets his arrogant and pleased one as he pulls away, his hands already moving to unbutton his jeans. “Guess I’ll start to keep a number in my head to beat now, too.” 

You don’t have time to react before he’s turning you around and positioning so that you're offering yourself up to him and he’s adjusting himself between your spread legs.

And Sakura is truly pleased with himself as he places a hand on your lower back to steady you as he slides into your welcoming warmth. His eyes roll back because you fit him sooooo fucking well. Like a goddamn glove, and fuck, you feel even better with his saliva dripping out of you. 

Who the fuck needs store-bought lubricant when you could just produce your own with spit? Moving forward, Sakura fully intends to put Astroglide out of business. 

As the loud squelches and airy sounds of his cock spreading you in half fills the air, Sakura reflects on how he got here. 

He can’t help but give a mental thanks to the orange that made this all possible–and he guesses, also Suo, but mostly the orange.

[tallerthantale]

Effective Boycotting is a Matter of Leverage

I'm not writing this to be critical of or police anyone's personal position on continuing involvement in Good Omens fandom or whatever their state is with Amazon. Some people may never want to engage in the fandom again, and that's ok. Some people want to keep working on their art, that's ok.

For people who are actively interested in strategizing around their relationship to the fandom and the work, I want to give you my thoughts on how that can be done.

Amazon appears to be considering reducing Neil Gaiman's roles from Season 3. As far as I have seen we don't know what any of the details are that are currently being considered. That means right now is the most impactful moment to consider the role of fandom.

When we look at this strategically, the first step is, what's the objective? For me, the long term goal is to have an incentive structure for Amazon and other such organizations to drop people from projects. I'll explain a bit what I mean by that.

Imagine a labor union that's contracted with a store owned by an evil corporation. It's too much of a monopoly to realistically take down the corporation, a lot of people are stuck buying from the store because they don't have decent transportation.

There is a labor dispute, the evil corporation is doing something extra evil and the union calls for a boycott until they stop. So the people who reasonably can stop shopping at the store honor the boycott, and buy from somewhere else. If it's a well run boycott they also help other people out with rides to shop elsewhere through community organizing.

Eventually the store gives in on the labor dispute and does what the union wants. At that point, the union drops the call for a boycott, as the parties have come to an agreement. The evil corporation is still evil. Here is the really important part: When the union drops the call for a boycott, you go back to shopping at the store. Yes, even if the store is still largely evil.

You do that, because that is what preserves the union's power. If no one who participated in the boycott went back to the store after the agreement, the store learns to not bother to reach agreements with the union to end their calls to boycott. Corporations are not acting off of moral principles, they are acting off of bottom line. If reaching an agreement with the union does not improve their bottom line, why bother to negotiate?

So my point is, for fandom to become a base of organized power that can have and maintain effective boycott leverage, there has to be a thing that we are taking away, and a thing we want Amazon to do, at which point those strategically inclined will put back the thing we took away.

The most obvious option is to go back to supporting the show if Neil Gaiman is removed from it to a reasonable degree. Doing that contributes to an incentive structure for Amazon and other corporations to remove people under similar circumstances in the future.

If Amazon can avoid the financial hit of the protest by giving the protestors what they want, they will do so. That helps break down the cultures of looking the other way in the entertainment industry. If shows that remove people get full on protested even after the person was removed, they have no incentive to remove people because it's all sunk cost.

Given how often shows are cancelled these days, I think it is a stronger message to have a show fire its showrunner and carry on successfully than to have a show nebulously not return. I like that outcome better even if it leaves Gaiman with some residuals, because for me the priority goal is incentivizing platforms to publicly dump people in these situations. Gaiman's bank balance is further down the list.

Other people will have other things they want their end goal to be and that's ok. Just remember you aren't appealing to Amazon's better nature, you are appealing to their spreadsheet. What is their incentive to care what you think?

Plan like you are in a negotiation with Amazon. What do you want them to do? What are you willing to stop doing that you will start doing again if they do what you want? And if you find what your position is on that, tell them. People who can drop prime and then offer to reinstate it probably have the most power, but pausing fan content is a meaningful thing to mention too.

[poisonlove]

i hate you!¹

I still hate you… but less.

4:35 PM

It was only 4:35 PM when the principal's verdict had hit us like a bolt from the blue. After the heated argument with the unbearable Jenna Ortega, we were forced to stay at school for an extra two hours. But the worst part? It wasn't just for one day; it was for an entire week.

"I want to die," I sighed. My elbow rested on the desk, my head propped up by my hand as I watched the clock tick away the time.

Our Science teacher shot us a stern look. "Absolute silence, please. I'll be back at the end of detention," he warned, making it clear that any infractions would lead to further penalties. "If you attempt to escape, the detention will be extended by a week, and if you argue, another hour... understood?"

"Mmm-hmm," I muttered with boredom, rolling my eyes in annoyance.

"Miss Ortega, did you understand?" the teacher turned his attention to the source of my frustration.

Jenna was sitting three desks away, her back against the wall, and from my vantage point, I could only see her profile. Ortega had her legs up on the table and earphones in her ears. It was as if she had erected an invisible wall between us, a clear sign of our tension.

"Ortega!" the teacher scolded with annoyance.

Jenna removed her earphones. "Yes, I understood," she replied through gritted teeth, clearly fed up.

"And remove your feet from the table," the teacher added with exasperation.

Jenna complied, and the teacher gave us one final glance before leaving the room.

I decided to pass the time by pulling out my notebook from my backpack, along with a pencil, and started drawing whatever came to mind. The punishment felt endless, and I needed something to distract myself.

As I drew, I scrutinized Jenna's profile more closely. She was clearly ignoring me, with earphones in her ears and a body posture that sent a clear message: she didn't want to talk at all.

My attention focused on her face, noting her upturned nose, heart-shaped lips, and slightly hollowed cheeks. But what struck me the most were her eyes. They were a deep brown, with long lashes framing them perfectly. They were physically flawless, and they captured the attention of anyone who gazed upon them.

My pencil began moving on the paper almost instinctively, creating lines and shadows that took shape. The graphite flowed on the page, delineating every detail of her brown eyes. Each individual eyelash seemed to come to life, capturing the imaginary light reflecting in her real eyes. It was as if I was trying to capture not only the physical appearance of her eyes but also the essence of what they might hide behind that distant expression.

I stuck out my tongue with a slight smile as I continued to draw, this time focusing on Jenna's eyebrows. She raised an eyebrow with confusion and shot me a glare, clearly feeling my gaze on her.

I increased the pressure on the pencil, creating heavy and precise lines as I outlined the curves of Jenna's eyebrows.

"What a pain," Jenna muttered and then stretched, yawning slightly.

In that motion, she lifted her hoodie slightly, revealing her perfectly flat stomach. I felt a bit embarrassed and quickly averted my gaze, my cheeks flushed, continuing to draw while only looking at my notebook. I had gotten the sketch I wanted, and now I wanted to fully concentrate on my work, trying to ignore the distractions around me. The tension between us was still palpable, but at least my drawing was taking shape as I desired.

This bitch has some nice facial features, despite being so insufferable I thought with a wry smile.

Her beauty was undeniable, even though her attitude was anything but amiable. It was a contradictory thought, but at least it helped me focus on my work and set aside the tensions.

"I must say I was wrong; you don't draw that badly," a voice murmured beside me.

"What do you want, Ortega?" I asked with a sigh, not in the mood for an argument.

Jenna had placed her hands on my desk, her head close to mine as she closely examined the contents of my notebook. Her breath was very close to my ear, her hair gracefully falling over her shoulders.

"Nothing from you, just the least I can do is see how you draw, considering that my eyes are on that notebook," she confessed in a bored tone.

The desire to draw faded.

Jenna, with a quick movement, sat in the desk next to mine. "Not drawing anymore?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"No, I feel a terrible presence by my side... very annoying, I must say," I muttered with faux irony.

Jenna burst into laughter.

"I don't understand why you've become so unbearable, you know?" I asked sincerely. "I remember that we were very close friends as children," I mumbled distractedly, smiling at the memory.

Flashback:

I was a little child using colored pencils, trying my best to color a car printed on a piece of paper.

"Wow, you're really amazing!" a voice came from my right, and I smiled when I saw a girl looking at my drawing.

That girl was completely covered in marker stains and seemed quite clumsy. "Can you teach me?" she asked with bright eyes. "Of course," I muttered absentmindedly, and the girl sat down next to me.

"I'm Jenna," the girl said with a big smile. "Y/N," I returned the smile. "I'm sure you and I will become great friends," she confessed, clumsily coloring the sheet.

"The best!" she added quickly, sticking out her tongue and running it over her lower lip.

"We're friends because I'm helping you draw?" I asked, intrigued and a bit confused.

She tilted her head to the side, looking at me curiously. "Isn't that what friends do?" she innocently asked.

End of the flashback.

The reminiscence of those happy moments with Jenna filled me with warmth, but at the same time, it made me feel the sadness of time passed and friendships lost. It was a missing puzzle piece that I had forgotten, and now I held it in my hands, hoping it could help resolve the current situation between us.

Jenna's fingers snapped in front of my face, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Everything okay, weirdo?" she asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, pain in the neck," I muttered absentmindedly.

"Ugh... what can I say? Those were good times," she smiled, eliciting a faint smile from me.

"Do you remember the times we used to play Romeo and Juliet?" Jenna asked with a smile on her lips.

I chuckled, nodding. "How could I forget? You dressed me up as a prince and said we had to get married," I confessed, making Jenna blush.

"And that time I broke my arm falling from the tree?" she asked, amused.

"I'm sorry about that, it's my fault the ball ended up there," I admitted, remembering the moment when Jenna had tried to catch the ball thrown too high, ending up falling and breaking her arm.

"We were friends... for how long? 7 years?" I asked uncertainly.

"7 years and 4 months," Jenna murmured, surprising me.

"Can you explain why you've become like this?" I asked curiously.

Her smile faded. She crossed her arms around herself, almost embarrassed. "Do you really not remember?" she asked in a whisper.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"No," I honestly replied.

"And if I tell you... 'monkey arms'?" she asked, making a grimace.

I widened my eyes in realization.

I couldn't believe it... Jenna had become so unbearable because of a comment I made when we were 12 years old. We were in the gym, ready for our physical education class.

"Hey, Jen," I called my best friend.

Jenna turned toward my direction, looking at me with a smile on her face and bright eyes.

"Tell me," she asked, adjusting her short-sleeved shirt.

"Have you heard the new song 'Dance Monkey'?" I asked, barely holding back my laughter.

"Yes?" she asked unsurely.

"With those arms, it's definitely your song," I exclaimed, making the girls in the locker room burst into laughter.

I was clearly joking. But Jenna looked at me with flushed cheeks and teary eyes, grabbed her hoodie, and rushed out of the locker room. That moment of light teasing had a much deeper impact than I could have ever imagined.

"Oh, crap," I looked at Jenna with wide eyes, incredulous.

"You made my life impossible because of a comment from when we were kids?" I asked, unable to believe it.

Jenna shrugged without thinking, looking at me with narrowed eyes. "Because of you, I'm still afraid to wear short sleeves," she confessed.

I analyzed her outfit again: an oversized hoodie that completely covered her arms.

"Damn... Jen, I was just joking! I didn't mean to cause all this drama," I muttered absentmindedly, taking her hand to uncover her arm.

"What are you doing?" she asked in panic.

"Showing that you look amazing regardless," I muttered absentmindedly, trying to address her insecurities.

Jenna blushed, and she seemed almost on the verge of a panic attack. "See?" I asked with a nervous smile.

I ran my fingers along her arm, feeling like a complete idiot for making this girl feel bad for years. I had never thought that such a joke could ruin a friendship.

Jenna broke free from my grasp and got up from the desk, seeing that the science teacher had returned to the classroom, ending our punishment.

"See you tomorrow, loser," Jenna muttered, a small smile on her lips.

In the end, now I knew why Jenna detested me so much. In the end, the responsible, clueless idiot was just me.

[cassiefromhell]

Unexpected (pt 3)

Part One Part Two Part Four

Fanbase: acotar

Eris x Reader x Azriel

Summary: After being interrupted by your newfound mate, you go for a walk for him. The next morning, you find yourself busier than expected.

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: very slight suggestiveness

A/N: Requests are OPEN! Check my pinned message for details on what I'll write <3 jjk, aot, mha, csm, acotar, etc! Additionally, I'm starting Throne of Glass soon, so those fics may be requested later!

Azriel stands there, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. His expression is perfectly neutral, eyes simply flicking over us both.

“Apologies for interrupting,” Azriel murmurs, gesturing between us.

Eris tucks me further behind him, and I grip the back of his shirt. “You are interrupting,” he scowls, glancing back at me. “Love, would you like to go back to the room?”

I open my mouth to reply, but not before Azriel does. “Actually, I wanted to talk to her.”

Shrinking, my body buries into the back of Eris, a futile attempt at turning invisible. I would rather jump into a pit filled with the Bogge, puca, and very angry pixies than have to face this other-mate.

Eris glances at me, raising a questioning brow. He’s leaving the decision in my hands: talk or run?

With a heavy sigh, I nod towards the Shadowsinger and release him. I’m going to have to face him at some point, especially if he’s already figured out the whole bond-pulling thing.

Eris presses a kiss to my temple, and leans down to murmur in my ear. “Remember that I love you no matter what. Good luck, and tug if you need me.” With that, he shoots Azriel a ‘hurt-her-and-you-lose-your-hands look, and stalks down the hallway.

I stare down at my shoes, arms crossed over my chest. When Eris vanishes from my peripheral vision, I feel both smaller and a little more relaxed.

Note to self: NEVER have my two mates in a room ever, ever again.

Azriel steps in front of me, gingerly offering a tanned, muscled arm. “Go for a walk with me?”

Hesitantly, very hesitantly, I take his arm. He shoots me a wary smile in return, and we’re off to the gardens.

I feel as though I need to hold my breath, like if I make one wrong move, or breathe wrong, or trip, then I’ll have betrayed Eris.

Azriel must feel how tense I am, because I can feel his intense gaze on the top of my head when he murmurs, “I don’t expect you to find this perfectly normal, or to be relaxed, or calm in any way right now… But I wouldn’t dream of hurting you, and I hope you know that.”

“You wouldn’t be able to hurt me,” I reply. “You wouldn’t be able to land a hit.”

He chuckles, grinning at me before returning to looking around. “These flowers are beautiful, who takes care of them?”

I shrug, reaching out my free hand to graze a fully bloomed hydrangea, bursting with violet pigment. “Mostly it’s the gardeners Eris and I picked out when he rose to power, though I dabble in my free time. Although, Eris has yet to let me go beyond watering these, after I killed the ones he keeps in our bedroom.”

“Not much of a green thumb, then?” 

“I kill people. It’s what I do. Not many people understand that, and neither does the greenery.”

A silence falls over the garden, and I immediately regret opening my mouth. Biting my tongue and internally cursing myself for having loose lips, I take a moment to thoroughly regret drinking so much alcohol.

“Maybe the mother doesn’t have such a cruel sense of humor,” Azriel murmurs, eyes unwaveringly focused on me. “We both kill. We follow whatever commands are given to us to the letter. And I don’t know about you, but I enjoy it a little, sometimes.”

His words seem to sink into my skin, taking root in my muscle and sending an unnamable feeling through my veins — better than adrenaline. My very soul seems to sing a little at the idea that someone else understands what no one else does, and suddenly I’m chewing my bottom lip, trying to not like this male.

I reach out to touch a large white rose, my fingertips skimming the petals gingerly. “You were right, these flowers are beautiful.”

“So are you.”

My heart flutters in my chest like a damn butterfly, and I mentally thrash against the feeling. 

You love Eris. Don’t fall for this male’s words. It’s only trickery.

“What do you think about this whole… situation?” I ask, deflecting his smooth compliment.

The shadows that have been swirling at my feet seem to pause, going thick and tense. The black swirls appear as though they have a personality of their own — or maybe they’re feeding off of Azriel’s emotions.

“It’s not… ideal,” he finally replies, scratching the back of his head. “I never exactly thought I’d have to share a mate with Eris of all people.”

“Eris is a good male. He’s caring, and kind, and… he’s my mate. We are made for eachother.”

The words leave my mouth before I realize the implication of them. 

That Azriel is also made for me, as if the Mother sculpted us of the same clay, or the Cauldron crafted our souls at once.

I pull my arm away from his, taking one, two, three steps away. I find myself needing distance.

Eyelids fluttering closed, I take a long inhale of the chill night air, scented with the flowers around us.

I allow myself to imagine what it could be like, just for a millisecond. Two mates. 

I’d still be High Lady of the Autumn Court — so long as Eris wants that after all this. I’d be doing that duty, whilst managing having two males to care for.

Azriel and I could get to know each other better. Maybe I’d begin to love him. And he would be the one to assist me on missions when I was in over my head. He’d bring me little gifts after particularly hard days, winnowing all the way to the Autumn court to see me. His shadows could wrap around me, bundling me close. I would feel so undeniably safe with him.

Maybe, I’d even have a home in the Night Court with him, or somewhere in between. I could spend some free time there, just the two of us.

And Eris… he’d still be my Eris. He would let me braid his hair when no one else is allowed to touch it. He would still help me learn how to grow flowers and cultivate a green thumb. He’d give me those little morning and night kisses that I savor so much. I don’t know how having a second mate would affect our sex life… but it’s really only possible for it to be improved, right?

“I have a proposal,” Azriel murmurs, startling me back to the present day.

When my eyes flutter open, I find the male standing in front of me, gazing down at me intently.

“I’m listening.”

“After your… mating ceremony… to Eris,” he says the words with a twinge of distaste. “We could get to know each other. I could show you Velaris—the city of starlight. You could stay there for a few days, maybe a week. You could get to know my friends, my family, even if you’re a little ahead on Rhys and Mor.”

It seems I wasn’t the only one fantasizing about the future.

Chewing my lip, I give him a quick once-over, allowing myself to take in his beauty. He is quite handsome.

“I think… I’d like that,” I whisper, discovering that my voice has gone completely hoarse.

He beams down at me, dark eyes glittering. He offers a tattooed arm once more, and when I take it, I allow myself one little tiny string of hope that everything will work out just fine.

“What do you mean, you don’t have the necklace?”

My favorite handmaiden in the palace, Fauna, shakes her head slowly. “I’m so sorry, my lady. I think it’s still in one of the jewelry safes under the palace.”

I raise my hand to rub it down my face, and then remember the kohl lining my eyes and the Fae glitter across my cheekbones. With a heavy sigh, I stand, giving Fauna a reassuring smile. “It’s alright. I know you don’t have that clearance — I’ll go get it myself.”

Fauna rushes to my side, adjusting my dress so that I will not trip. It’s the prettiest, most Autumn Court dress I own. It has an olive green bodice, flowing into shimmering skirts of buttery yellow, fading to deep orange and red. Little tiny leaves are embroidered into every inch of it, making it shine when I move like morning dew on a tree in Autumn. The sleeves are flowy and dance with my movements, giving me an ethereal grace.

The half-nymph adjusts the tiara in my woven-up hair, and then opens the door for me. I stride out, heels clicking down the hall as I go.

It is crucial that I have that necklace. It was Eris’s great-grandmother’s, and then his grandmother’s, and then his father’s, and now it is his. Well, mine, I suppose. It’s one of his many mating gifts to me. A double silver chain, with a sun-shaped pendant on one and a leaf on the other, all encrusted with diamonds and rubies.

I thought it had been brought up to our chambers days ago, but either I was lied to or someone put it back. 

Scowling, I walk a little quicker. I cannot be late to my own mating ceremony. Eris wouldn’t be mad, but I’d be angry at myself for letting it happen.

I knew I should have checked this shit last night.

Correction: I went to go and check this shit last night, and then a very drunken Eris distracted me.

“…I’m honestly shocked that you’ve muscled up and stayed,” a voice drifts through the hall.

I stop, watching as a shadow appears from around the corner. And then another.

Suddenly, I realize that voice is Cassian’s — which means he must be with Azriel.

And at the same moment, I realize that I’m incredibly curious.

I duck into a nearby room, casting a quick shield to mask my scent. Tucking myself against the wall, I use my magic to hide the sounds of my heart and breathing.

“Of course I stayed. She’s my mate. I have to be there for her,” Azriel replies, almost with a grumble in his tone.

Cassian chuckles, and their footsteps stop nearby — maybe even just outside the door. “She’s your mate, and about to be mated to another male.”

“I’m well aware.”

“With how competitive you are, I’m surprised you haven’t challenged Eris to a duel for her love.”

Azriel groans. “I’m not going to be that person. I want her to be happy.”

“Don’t act like you’re enjoying the situation.”

A smacking sound hits my ears, and I assume that Azriel landed a hit on the other Illyrian. 

“In what world would I be enjoying this? I think that she’s beautiful, and fucking perfect. Definitely not happy to see her mating Eris of all people, but she loves him. Plus, she’s agreed to come and stay in Velaris for a few days in a couple weeks,” he replies, with the tiniest hint of pride at the end.

“Oh, you dog. You got a wholeee date with the mated girl.”

Another smacking sound, and then another, and I’d place money on the fact that they’re straight up brawling in the hallway. I raise a hand to muffle my laughter.

“Stop it, you’re gonna ruin my suit,” Cassian whines.

“Then stop being a prick, and get better at clean brawling,” Azriel hisses, followed by a crash.

Silence.

“What were you just saying about clean brawling? Look at you, breaking shit in your mate’s palace—“

“Run.”

Footsteps race away instantly, and I remove my hand to let loose my laughter. Those two are easily the most chaotic duo I’ve ever met.

I keel over, laughing until tears spring to my kohl-lined eyes. I wipe them away carefully, straightening up and fixing my dress.

Turning to leave the room, I place a hand on the doorknob.

But the darkness around me is suddenly suffocating, and I get a nagging, nauseating feeling in my gut that something is wrong.

Movement in the corner catches my eye.

I stiffen, reaching for my dagger — which is not there, unfortunately for my life. Fauna had told me to wait until the last minute to slide it into a pocket of my dress.

Cursing under my breath, I pretend to draw a blade anyway. It’s significantly better than being obviously unarmed.

But I’m very much not alone, and very much unarmed.

And whatever or whoever this thing is, what it does next sends an inexplicable shudder through my body.

It breathes on me.

Tags: @cleverzonkwombatsludge (comment and ask to be added to tag list! <3)

[the-irken-pony]

Compilation of disorganized facts (and derived headcanons) about The Henry Stickmin Collection's "narrator"

First thing’s first, since I typed more than I should’ve for a single bullet point.

Who is this “narrator” anyways?

In this post I’m talking about the implied source of the fail screens, bios, and certain other interactions in the game (which I’ll get into as we go. It’s implied that this character is the same across these different sources of meta interactions.

It is possible that this character is a self-insert of PuffballsUnited, but for the sake of this post we'll assume that this isn't Actually Puff. I feel weird tying my blorbo detail-plucking thoughts to an actual person and don’t want anyone making assumptions about Puff based on anything listed here, plus certain things may be added, exaggerated, omitted, etc. to the character for comedic effect in a way that further delineates the two. (tl;dr narrator ≠ author)

The wiki (derogatory) notes a theory that this character could be Wilson Stone. Granted, it’s not an entirely groundless theory: there is no message on the fail screen for D.E.B., which could be seen as a result of Wilson dying. I disagree with this for a couple of reasons: Wilson is referred to in the third person in his bio, the narrator makes a disdainful comment about the CCC having a surplus of nukes in CtM (there’s little reason for Wilson to be opposed to nukes but not a dark energy bomb), and Wilson’s voice is different from the narrator’s (I’ll get to that later).

The general fandom consensus that I've seen uses "the narrator", but this character/being/whatever isn't known by any name officially, nor any pronouns. For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to this character as "the meta" or “the meta voice” and use they/them and it/its interchangeably for them (partly to distinguish from the large surplus of male characters). I prefer “meta” over “narrator” and “commentator” because it doesn’t really narrate anything, it gives more than just commentary, and just because it rolls off the tongue better.

More on the meta

It comments frequently on Henry’s stupidity, but it’s hard to truly baffle them. Not that Henry hasn’t managed to before in fails such as Cheese and Distract.

Getting the obvious out of the way, they’re known to crack jokes of all sorts, including memes, wordplay, references, & callbacks.

Lots of these jokes are at the expense of Henry, the player, or someone else. It frequently makes disparaging comments about the player or Henry in general; more common jabs include fatphobic comments toward Henry or making fun of the player’s poor skill.

Speaking of Henry and the player, it typically uses “you” for both you (the player) and Henry himself, but it does also differentiate between us and Henry, such as in the Duplicatorange fail and Toppy fails, even noting you to not be a stick figure

Not only are they aware of the player and Henry as separate, but they’re also aware that you’re playing a game.

The meta seems to have the most control over the timeline, including what counts as a “fail” and when a fail cuts off, as shown in the duplicatorange and invisibility pill fails.

It has a certain amount of control over the nature of the game itself. The slingshot fail in FtC has them creating various popups that the player must click through to get an achievement. This power isn’t limitless though: the CorrupTick fail in particular shows that things can fall out of their control.

They’re capable of summoning objects (this is implied in Dance Off v4 and outright confirmed in the Lockpick fail).

The free transform option also shows that it has the ability to directly alter people in-universe. The mind control fail implies that it may also be able to outright control people to an extent, but finds this difficult and thus avoids doing so.

They seem to exist in a flux state between being “the game master” and simply being a bystander. It knows at least a little bit about nearly every character in the game and has some control over the environment, but it also reacts to events as though it’s just a spectator and seeing things for the first time.

On a related note, they seem to be in a state between being “in” the game and existing outside of it. Things that would wipe out everyone in the vicinity have no effect on it, but things that alter things on a meta level (such as the corrupted disk, Goodball, and CorrupTick fails) do affect them in various ways.

They aren’t omniscient. They have info on nearly everyone, but they don’t know everything. A lot of their comments in fails seem to be guesswork, and their bios for some people, notably Ellie, are very lacking.

It can feel pain. They complain about their ears hurting from the high pitched sound of the sonic pulse. At the same time, it isn’t nearly as sensitive as Henry or other stick figures and can survive the subsonic wave with little consequence.

It can, supposedly, use the bathroom.

The duplicatorange and invisibility pill both imply that the meta voice has some sentimental attachment to Henry, triggering a fail screen whenever they lose track of Henry.

Related to the above, it seems to have a vested interest in keeping Henry alive, despite having killed Henry themself. Revenged is notable as an ending for the fact that Henry dies in every outcome, and The Betrayed isn’t much better in this regard.

It also shows mild concern for Henry’s wellbeing in RPE/RBH, asking him if his head is okay.

While it’s unknown if they know all languages, they do at least seem to know German, specifically commenting on Friedrich Spielen’s nonsensical German.

They can sleep and even dream; in the G-inverter fail they comment that they “had a nightmare like this”. It’s unknown whether they need sleep or if sleep is simply recreational for them.

I don’t know if the above indicates that they used to be affected by gravity or if they simply had a dream about being affected by gravity, but given their ability to simply hover at a point in the air or even outer space, they probably aren’t affected by gravity at any point that we know them.

The meta is aware of other timelines, making a reference to Charles during the helicopter fail in Toppat King.

While it doesn’t have a known physical appearance, it does occasionally emote with hand-drawn “emoticons”, some of which are even animated.

On rare occasions, it can conjure Twitch emotes or even a full animation of a stick figure.

Feel free to add if you think of anything!

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

have you ever broken up with someone? i need to do it for mental health reasons (we're still quite in love) and it's obvs really hard. do you or the maggots have any ideas?

Hey anon maggot! I have, yeah, a few times, and the last time was kind of similar to your situation. It was a really healthy relationship and I loved them but I was in an awful space mentally and I had to break up with them. I'll put it in after the uh advice so you can read it if you want.

So my advice:

1. Be very clear about the breakup, and about your intentions for the future. Make sure both of you understand that you are ending it, don't sugarcoat that part. Don't call it taking time or a break or anything other than breaking up. You're ending the relationship.

2. Explain the reason for you breaking up, but make sure the fact that you still have feelings for each other doesn't make it seem like there's any leeway about the breakup. You are breaking up. If less detail is better, then do that.

3. I know opinions are divided on this, but in my past relationships I've always found that you should cut off contact for a good while, rather than "stay friends". It's not helpful while you're getting better and they're getting over you, you both need space. Maybe you can be friends later when the relationship is properly in the past. But that's later.

4. Be prepared for it to fucking suck. It hurts, a lot. And you'll know it's hurting the other person too. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's the wrong choice. It's just that you cared about each other and the relationship was valuable. That's a good thing. Let yourself be upset without trying to fix the situation. Don't go back and forth and make it messier for both you and them. You'll miss them. That's normal. The breakup was still needed.

5. Take care of yourself. Talk to people you love. Know that you'll be okay, eventually. The pain heals and becomes bittersweet. You become grateful for the good parts. You begin to see the situation clearer. But all of that shit takes time, and give yourself that time.

6. You'll have to become okay with letting go of the other person and accepting that maybe they will blame you or be hurt or will never want to talk to you again. It sucks and their feelings are entirely valid, but you still have to choose what's better for you and for both of you in the long run.

Take care of your mental health, anon maggot. Been there. Survive it. Sending all the love and healing. I hope it goes okay, as okay as it can be anyway, and take whatever is helpful from this advice and discard the rest. <3

The breakup story under the cut:

So like I said, i was in a healthy relationship with someone whom I loved and who had been my best friend before that. But i was very ill mentally and physically, and i had to end it.

However, I fudged it up, kind of, because it was a couple of months before a major exam for me, and I said we needed to break up until then at least. They understood because I hadn't been in contact with people for a month at that point, and that was upsetting them too. So we broke up, except, well...

I didn't end up getting better, if anything i got worse. And I think they were waiting for me and were... excited for after the exam. I found this out through a mutual friend and I had to tell the friend to tell them that we weren't really going to get back together.

Long story short, we still wish each for our birthday via a message forwarded by the mutual friend. But they don't want any further contact with me and it took them a very long time to feel okay. I still feel guilty for how I ended it, even if it was best I could with the mental space I was in then.

So yeah, from that experience and my past breakups, I learned a lot and hence the advice. Take care <3

[dnalt-d2]

So About the Crows...

There's something I've been thinking about for a while, and I think it's time to bring it back up

We had some lore for Phil recently, regarding the Ender King. And with that, lot of people have been thinking that the Ender King is the one responsible for the black concrete around everything. (Since according to Phil's Hardcore Lore, it seems like when the Ender King tries to steal things, he leaves behind empty space in the form of black concrete. Or that's at least been implied)

And I'll be honest, this does sound super cool, but I wasn't sure if this could be the case. Though I'll admit that it's for a meta reason. I just wasn't sure if the admins would play such a big plot point around a singular player's lore. It seemed like something that would affect too much to be centered around a single player. And I do still think that personally. That it would be cool if the Ender King was the one responsible for all the concrete, but it just doesn't seem too likely for story reasons. (Though I do wanna note that this doesn't mean NONE of the concrete is from the Ender King. The concrete surrounding the first mysterious message Phil got could easily be attributed to him, but we just can't be sure)

But like I said at the beginning, there IS something I wanted to bring up that happened a while ago

Did you know that there were crows on the server at one point?

That Phil found a one in the wild, a pretty long time ago, but left it because "Oh he can just go back for it." But he never found another one

No one has

Even Dapper, the notorious mob collector, has noted that crows don't show up on the island anymore

Phil recently revealed that he doesn't specifically plan his lore himself. That he makes some broad suggestions, and the admins are the ones doing the finer details surrounding it. When he saw the note from the Ender King, he didn't know that was going to happen. He had no clue it would be the Ender King talking to him. Which as someone else noted, means that the admins planning this know about Phil's Hardcore Lore

Which would obviously mean they know about the crows. About US

I always wondered why the admins disabled crows, thinking maybe there's some ability they have that's a little OP. But I looked it up, and it looks like the main ability they have is the ability to collect items, and even put them in containers. Which compared to a lot of the other mobs from this mod, is pretty tame. The only other thing they seem to do of note is destroy crops (Though I am getting this from the Wiki, which I have noticed can be pretty bare-bones, so for all I know, there really IS a hugely OP ability they can do)

Now I'm thinking they had a different reason to disable the crows. A LORE reason. To Phil, we, the crows, are canon. We exist, basically just following him around and talking to him. But there aren't any crows there. We're not there. And this, along with everything that happened with the Birdcage, has just served to isolate him, driving him further and further into his deteriorating mental state. Instead of the usual crows, he sees parrots, and hummingbirds, possibly to distract him from their absence

Now I obviously don't know how long they've been planning all this lore, but it's just super weird that they disabled them in the first place. Maybe they knew they were gonna do SOMETHING regarding Phil, but didn't know what, and just disabled them to prepare for whatever they might eventually plan. Regardless, the crows are gone

But I think one day, possibly sooner than we think, the crows will be back

(AND IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE A HEAVY DAY IF PHIL'S LAST LORE DAY WAS ANYTHING TO INDICATE)

[xiabablog]

do you have any tips for speaking to/reaching out to recruiters? i'm looking for new grad roles and ppl keep telling me to but i don't even know where to start or find any and all the articles online are so intimidating

Hiya 💗

The people are right, it's one of the best ways to put yourself out there! Oh, this is going to be a long one~!

I'll share tips from my own experience, this might help you, this might because I did it any other way but this:

I applied to a bunch of jobs: like for 5 days straight I was just apply just for the sake of it. The more jobs, the more recruiters have my CV/Resume in their database. I recommend LinkedIn the most as it's super easy to drop a message to the recruiter.

Applied to jobs that I had 50%+ chance of getting a call to: Obviously this means apply to jobs where you have the skills and the experience (work or in building projects etc). I say this because say they do call you but they ask you if you have this certain tech stack and you say no... end of call really. So, for me, I had like 2 or 3 things they were asking for in a candidate so I got through to the calling stage!

LinkedIn is actually your friend, don't be afraid: During my random job searching and whilst I was in my job, I had recruiters message me about job opportunities. Why? Because of my profile. You need to have your LinkedIn vamped up, check mine out for reference (click the LinkedIn icon). But make sure to have your skills e.g. About > Top skills, your work experience (paid or volunteer) and any certificates you have! If you're brave, not like me, start posting on there for a while.

LinkedIn again but Connections: Oh my days please follow people, even if you don't know them personally. I have 300+ connections (not to brag) but I only know like two handful of the people, the rest are of people who connect with people who I follow, I have met like 5 recruiters through this way.

Actually message the recruiters???: Okay so you followed the people, your CV/Resume is done and dusted and now you're ready to message those recruiters! In my case, I had more recruiters message me than the other way round only because I'm shy hehe so I wait for them to make the first move. They would probably send a whole message about the new job that have posted and see if you're interested and then, if you like the job, you can say "Yes please" or whatever is the appropriate reply is, and then they will send further information or arrange a phone call! If you want to message them first, I would find them more after applying for a job on LinkedIn, they usually add the recruiter in the job posting as a way for people to message them.

DO NOT FEEL AFRAID IN MESSAGING RECRUITERS: I say this because a) imagine 100 people apply for the job, only 5 would message the recruiter (I don't know if the stats are right, I just remembered that from bootcamp-) because everyone else is too afraid to do it! Missed opportunity! b) recruiters actually want people to message them. Now in terms of what to write to them? I don't know really. I would always go for the classic "don't repeat what's on your resume", they're going to read it anyways, so just talk a bit about your experience and skills A BIT like

"Hello/Hi, my name is [name]. I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to express my strong interest in the [Job Title] position at [Company Name], for which I recently submitted my application. I'm enthusiastic about the opportunity to join [Company Name] and contribute to [mention something specific you find appealing about the company or role, if possible]. I believe my skills and experience align well with the requirements of the position. Thank you for considering my application, and I look forward to the possibility of discussing my qualifications in more detail. Best regards, [name]

No hire, don't be sad: Even if they don't hire you, or go through the next stages, keep in touch by even asking questions about what's on the market/what's new, how you could do better for other jobs you want to apply to that were similar to the ones you failed at. They could point you to the right direction! One recruiter said she wanted me to have more projects I was passionate about online like on GitHub or GitLab, even if they were "silly" projects - at the time, I didn't have much projects online so it made sense! See, I took that advice and now I'm a project making machine (a bit)! Advice they give sticks forever!

Remember, reaching out to recruiters and applying for jobs is a numbers game. The more applications you submit, the better your chances of landing interviews. I really hope this helps and I didn't make too many spelling mistakes! This is all of the things I could note down from the top of my head!

I've made other posts on on my coding blog about career advices:

🌐 Tips for Landing Your First Entry-Level Developer Job

🌐 Career Services For Web Dev (could be useful to you too!)

🌐 The Talent Cloud Community: Careers Workshop

Good luck with your job search!

⤷ ♡ my shop ○ my mini website ○ pinned ○ navigation ♡

[anchesann0]

Shugo Chara is better than Miraculous Ladybug

My opinion that I wanted to put out there. Clearly Miraculous Ladybug was heavily inspired by Shugo Chara that came out years before Miraculous Ladybug and the manga is better than the anime.

Mind you, everything I say is about the Miraculous series NOT the movie.

I just had to get this off my back since it's been bothering me for a while. Over the years, there are a lot of similarities between Shugo Chara & Miraculous

similarities:

MC that heal some form of corrupted spirits

little fairies that support main character in multitudes

black cat boy counterpart/love interest

dream prince that MC admires

But it goes even further into sometimes disturbingly minute details:

MC loves fashion

MC is shy, only confident in counterpart

MC has lucky symbols associated with her

Has unlucky black cat as counterpart

MC and black cat boy have artifacts that help them and others transform (highlighted in SC manga)

Artifact is given by a mentor (Tsukasa & Wang Fu)

dream prince crush only likes hero counterpart

Cat boy doesn't feel free due to family circumstances

cat boy has one missing parent

cat boy has substitute parent

Spirit corruption happens to someone experiencing a level of doubt

MC is a ms. fixit (Su/Amulet Clover only)

side characters have some action

Spirit corruption can be dumb (SC anime more than manga high-key)

It's disturbingly similar to me. Yes, I know inspiration is not plagiarism. And I normally wouldn't care of this since nothing is original in the world of art, but what irks me is that the product (MLB) SC inspired wasn't done well. It's not to say SC isn't problematic with age gap and child abandonment or that MLB is awful, but... there are problems in MLB that SC just did better.

First: Show not tell

SC did a lot of show, not tell. From the image alone, you can see that Amu loves fashion. She always had a different outfit or altered her uniform (since Japan enforces uniforms). And there was a purpose to it. Her fashion was a form of expression that she struggled with. How much of herself could she show without being judged? She herself struggled with change, and her clothes reflected that. It also reflected how she didn't know how to best connect who she was inside and express in a way that leave her feeling vulnerable to society's criticism.

Marinette, from France with no enforced uniforms, wore the same thing everyday. Only her room expressed that she loved fashion. That and the episode with the hat that had her signature. We also only got that she loved it. And you know, anyone could love whatever they loved just because, but as a story, it didn't really make sense on why it was a big deal.

To me, unfortunately, I saw her love of fashion as a connection to her crush, the model Adrien. And at that point, she could've been anything else, like a photographer or a fellow teen model. (I haven't watched it in a while, so maybe I'll eat my words.) The message of that for young girls so far isn't that great.

Second: Corruption

(Manga mostly) SC had pretty understandable reasons for corruption. A girl was moving to a different country, so she felt scared and overwhelmed about learning a new culture, making new friends. A girl thought her dreams of being a ballerina were over from an ankle injury. A man lost his dream after his mentor (the only person who supported his dreams) retired as a teacher to care for his sick wife. As an adult, I liked that SC showed all the very real circumstances, fears and insecurities that come with trying to fulfill your dream. Yeah, some in the anime were silly like the ramen one, but there are plenty of others that still resonate with me. Some of the motivational speeches that Amu gives do make sense.

^^THESE WORDS^^ have healed something in me and motivated me towards my new dream. And I'm saying this as an adult whose changing career goals after getting my college degree and work experience.

For Miraculous, there were some good reasons, like Stormy Weather not getting the job. But I think it's safe to say there were more weird and shallow reasons for some that outweigh the reasonable ones. Like the pigeon, the kid who wants to play, your friends not coming to a party... You know.

Were there some silly ones for Shugo Chara, of course, were there more understandable ones than silly ones. Yeah. When the anime caught up to the manga (that was in development while the anime was running) the producers put a reasonable OC villain Lulu deMorcef (approved by manga creators Peach-Pit) that preyed on people who weren't sure what their dream was. Season 1 was filled with people/victims who were working for their dreams but met roadblocks like performance anxiety, AI replacement (I see you corporate), and the ever-present doubters of society). Season 2 filler villain was literally victims of uncertainty, being pushed to choose a career course at a young age. Some weren't sure of taking over their parents' flower shop, some weren't sure they could handle the downsides of being a teacher. It makes sense to adults and children. Plus, they're making kids aware of these trials at a young age, like excuse me, thank you for treating kids with respect as thinking, developing beings.

Third: Romance

The romance. There is so much to be said about the love square of MLB and the friends to lovers trope (which is not my favorite). but at the end of the day, my biggest problem with the romance in Miraculous is that it dragged other people into it.

It was already bad that they liked each other's alter egos. It was worse that after so long (at least until the movie), they did not recognize who the other was behind the mask. It's a very problematic message to me, even now. Because shallow romance isn't love, and I really think that's important to say in today's dating atmosphere of swipes. Not only is it shallow, but Luka and Kagami got mixed up in their confused feelings. In their doubt, the two heroes said "I'm going to figure out my feelings by dating someone who has sure feelings for me. Maybe I can learn to love them." instead of "I'm going to focus on myself, be more confident in my skills, then see if my crush enriches my life."

No, they had to drag innocent people in along the way. My heart felt for Luka when he discovered Chat Noir and Ladybug's identity. You can literally pinpoint when his heart breaks.

SC, the predecessor, was better than this. Tadase, who fell in love with Amulet Heart the counterpart. By this time, Amu has been between two boys. Dream Prince Tadase and Cat Boy Ikuto.

BIG HEALTHY DIFFERENCE:

Tadase admits his mistake. He admits that he liked an ideal version of her, and that he liked one-fourth of who she was. He owns up in not seeing her for who she really was and wants a chance to make it right by getting to know the real her.

In turn, Amu admits that she liked the IDEA of Tadase just as much as Tadase liked the counterpart of her. She is incredibly aware of how shallow that is by the end of the series.

We, the audience, see her real connection with Ikuto, who understands her, the real her. Both Amu and Ikuto have been plagued by what other people say about them, and when they interact with each other, it comes from a place of "What do your actions say about you?" Not to mention, they met each other literally yelling, crying, and awkward, but still connect and are attracted to each other.

SC manga did not hesitate to let us know that the best relationship is the real one not the ideal one.

Don't get me wrong, the love square is new, unique, and different, making it a refreshing value of entertainment, however what does it say about how young people should approach doubt in relationships?

SC gave an answer. Go for the real, not the ideal.

Fourth: The villains

Straight up. One of the things I feel like MLB did right was Hawkmoth's motivation for corrupting all these people: to bring back the person who really mattered to him, Emilie.

Dark, romantic, tragic.

And it makes sense. Society can suck. It's impersonal, and not always fulfilling to just serve in society. There's that one person who enriches your life with happiness and laughter, who'll go with you when things get rough and hard, and will be there at your most vulnerable.

And then they're taken away from you by something no one can control.

He made it very clear that Emilie is that person to Gabriel and no one in society can replace her, that's why he doesn't mind destroying buildings and stadiums, etc. He's the foil to Marinette who loves everybody and wants to save everybody.

One of the failings of Shugo Chara is the big boss, who turned out to be a kid who lost his parents, suffered neglect from his grandfather, and his grandfather trying to get his grandson pretty things so he wouldn't have to deal with the emotional fall out of loss. AKA He was someone who didn't want to change, but this really could've been done so much better.

HOWEVER, I LOVED THE ARC BETWEEN AMU & UTAU

To me, that was the real creme de la creme of foils opposing each other, and how neither was really wrong or right. They are next to Ash Ketchum and Paul foil rivalry from Pokemon.

Utau is someone who values her own dreams. She is someone who thrives and improves because of competition. The best often come from people challenging others and themselves to be better. For example, Disney consumer make their own Mickey ears. Disney responds by expanding Mickey ear designs. How do consumers respond? By making more unique, possibly moving, designs. And it keeps growing and expanding.

Utau understands that people have the same dream as her, but not everyone gets to stand under the spotlight. Not without effort and struggle and endurance to keep going even when it's hard. She works hard for it and wants it so bad that when others fall to corruption she reasons that they just didn't want it as much as her.

The best kpop groups, athletes, and artisans thrive in doing better than others or better than who they were before. Utau represents the competition between dreams that create progress for something better. Progress is made by understanding something needs to be improved.

Bad part of consistently endorsing competition, the struggle to remain on top and going too far to remain there. Which is ultimately what Utau does, losing sight of why she was there in the first place and struggling with a sense of becoming a sell out.

Amu is someone who believes that everyone's dreams. She, herself, is insecure, doubts if she's making the best decision, and can only move forward doing her best. Because sometimes that's all you can do. She believes that every dream has a place, and destroying those niche dreams can create more harm than good.

Real world example: a person literally wanted to make a system that could better identify bear claws, next thing people knew, the same system could better identify cancer cells.

Right now, people are making SignAloud gloves, a glove machine that voice sign language so when a person signs, someone who doesn't know sign language can hear what that person is saying.

All niche, not focused upon, and often not supported. But when people do, amazing things can be brought into the world. That's what Amu represents in healing those dreams. Because to crush it would create an equal amount of stagnation where we would never enjoy this progress because someone else crushed it.

She has her own pitfalls too because of this quality. Amu spreads herself out too thin trying to help everybody, which eventually leads to her getting hurt too. She gives in too easily when things don't go the way she wants and that causes her to lose her diamond egg to Utau.

Amu and Utau literally force each other to grow.

Utau makes Amu realize that she needs to work on herself. Amu then proceeds to challenge herself to be more honest when admitting she lost her egg. Amu steps up in healing others' dreams while confronting people who make her uncomfortable. Amu even learns how to get the fuck back up instead of feeling sorry for herself as seen by Amu reconnecting with Dia.

Amu makes Utau realize that not everything is a competition. She doesn't have to compete for love (her own Shugo Chara and her brother's love). Utau remembers the core reason of why she loved to sing. Through Amu, she learns there is power in vulnerability and healing (by finally being able to transform with El and accessing El's healing ability).

Amu learning how to be resilient from Utau and Utau learning that there's strength in softness through Amu.

What a redemption arc! Women helping women grow? Showing how both ways of living can be correct and wrong at the same time? Beautiful!

Chloe from Miraculous did not do this for Marinette. I don't really think Kagami did this for Marinette either.

Fifth: Side Characters

MLB has sweet side characters. Luka and Kagami are the real ones. Alya and Nino are cute. But unfortunately, they never really get their moments in the spotlight or character growth.

Alya still reports. Nino is still best friends with Adrien. Everyone sort of stays the same. If not that, they get into relationships with each other. I truly see no lie in this statement.

Whereas, for SC, I love Rima and her moment of standing up to her parents who have been keeping her locked away due to the trauma of kidnapping. What a great exploration of seeing the aftereffects of trauma and how it affects the victim and the people around the victim. We see it in how Rima has a hard time making friends, in how her parents fight about who's fault it is, and how everyone holds onto it due to the remnants of love. And after all this Rima shows what people/children should and shouldn't do.

Instead of hiding away from the world, she wants to participate in it. Yeah the world hurt her, but she found people that makes her overcome her fear of the outside world. Her parents want to continue hiding her away, they continue to act in fear and love, which ends up hurting her more. Society will still exist even if it upsets us, and she says I'm going out there, even if it scares me because losing the people I love is scarier.

A girl full of bravery. Bless her heart and dreams.

I love Kairi confronting himself and taking responsibility cause men holding themselves accountable is chef's kiss.

Not to mention the unfortunately brief gender identity crisis of Nagihiko/Nadeshiko who saw himself as both man and woman and the internal struggle of how limiting gender roles actually are. Women can play basketball and men can dance. Period.

We all know this king^ didn't need to change.

I just hate how some arcs were so brief in the manga and anime because it was just too ahead of its time. I felt like they really could have done more but Peach Pit was really wrapping it up considering they were making other mangas synonymously with Shugo Chara. I get it.

Sixth: Main Character growth

The root of all this ranting: Character growth.

Ladybug's goals was to save the city from Monarch. That sort of bleeds into Marinette's personal life. Outside of Ladybug, her personal goal is to be a designer, graduate (I'm assuming), and get closer to her crush, Adrien. A lot of focus is her getting closer to Adrien. A lot of the series advances on her beating Hawkmoth and thinking about how to handle his growing power.

Outside of the hero goal and crush goal, I see her becoming a designer, but I don't see many episodes of her growing as a designer other than the hat episode.

The movie in gaining confidence is the exception. Which is really sad that the actual source of Ladybug didn't do this.

Amu's character arc from beginning to end has been her internal struggle to cope with change. She wanted to change people's perceptions of her so she could make friends, but she also wanted to be comfortable changing (which is impossible). And this is without the love triangle and the hero has to heal and fight bad guys. A lot of the series is her struggling with change.

It's struggling to fit in after transferring. Then she finds a place of friends among the guardians, which she hoped for.

But that changes too. She struggles making new friends out of Rima and Kairi. She eventually does while losing her new egg to Utau.

After learning to be resilient from Utau and regaining her egg, she struggles changes in relationship dynamics with Ikuto and Tadase

After that's sorted out, she has to deal with Ikuto leaving to chase his dream. Along with the amusement park being taken down.

After that, she has to struggle with the change of losing her Shugo Chara and accepting how her dreams will always be a part of her, even if she can't see it (wait here while I cry my fucking heart out)

SC provides the message that CHANGE IS CONSTANT. And that's ok. Because you're resilient enough to overcome those changes. Because you can change without losing parts of yourself. Because people who love you will come back to you.

I don't know what message you really get from Miraculous or Marinette. Cause we have Peter Parker sacrificing his personal life to save others. We've seen that in Batman, Wonder Woman and Steve, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, etc... It might just be the same message, just delivered... well.

I don't know what MLB is delivering about romance, I don't know what's it delivering about dreams, or saving the city and seeing the first episode to the most recent, I don't know how she's grown. Other than lying to Adrien about his father. Yeesh.

SC isn't better in terms of things, especially fathers. Again, I acknowledge the questionable age gap, but the other concern is the cat boy's father abandoning his family to pursue music. Yeesh. Souko should not have waited for him. They were allowed to marry because cat boy's dad agreed to take over the company (Nepotism and refusing female daughter to take over is problematic). Dad leaves with favorite violin after father-in-law dies. I'm like ma'am, "Your husband left you with two kids the day your father died."

Obviously flawed background. Could've been better. Ikuto & Tadase's background could've been conducted better with more reasonable stakes. Again, a lot of problems as the story was trying to wrap up so it's aight.

While Miraculous Ladybug, as far I know, is still sort of going on with this unfortunate lack of growth as a series. The movie was pretty great.

All in all: So many of my feelings truly stem from the fact that if Miraculous was inspired by Shugo Chara, then I don't think it was done well. To the point where I think MLB is a bit offensive to skew the messages of SC. If it isn't, then MLB is clearly similar and doesn't match the lesson/philosophy of growth.

Heartcatch precure (And certain precure series like Yes Pretty Cure 5 Go! Go!) happens to be a similar and better story. Corrupted hearts, heroines, surprisingly handsome men. Some hints at relationships.

Princess Tutu, Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha, have the best form of storytelling and unexpected loves.

[fl0atingbubbles]

Want to be a part of an Indi animated show??

yep, that's right! I'm working with some friends on an indi animated show inspired by all those who came before! The concept has been building for around a year now and we've decided to start looking for some more artists and writers!

The show is called ZOMBIECORE!

ZOMBIECORE is a horror mystery show about a zombie bunny in a city of cannibal demons! Follow her as she searches for her killer through the 5 districts of Ghastown!

(click on the images to see them better)

Now before I go on any further;

‼️THESE ARE UNPAID ROLES‼️

This is just a passion project that we are working on in our spare time, if things progress further there might be payment down the line, but that is extremely far away and not at all guarantied. If this does not work for you, don't apply!!

info:

anyway, onto the details! We're looking for concept artists/animators as well as writers for the script!

artists/animators will be (you don't have to be doing all of them if you're an artist, just what you're comfortable with!):

- making visual concepts for the show's overall look - character designs - background/location concepts - animation/movement concepts - and anything else that comes up!

this role could also evolve into you helping out with backgrounds, storyboards, or animations when we get further along!

Writers will be:

- planning the episodes - writing the scripts

yep that's about that! some important things for you to note before applying tho!

- this is UNPAID (like i said before) - you only have to do work you're %100 happy to do and take breaks whenever you need - you can drop out whenever - you don't need a specific skill level. We are accepting every and all applications from expert to beginner! so don't feel like your art isn't good enough <3

I'm working as the animation director and a Co-writer, so I'll be there to help with whatever role you have, and if you've been following me for a while you know i don't bite.

How to apply

- Have discord (no way around this) - Send me a DM on discord (user Fl0atingBubbles) - if you want to be an artist, please add examples of your art! Anything animation or concept based would be loved, but any art will work!

Once you have sent me a message I will look over your application and send it to the director (their name is Bloom)! We will then decide if you're allowed on the team! you might have to talk to Bloom before you can join just to check if you'll work, but they're super nice lol

after all that you'll be welcomed to the team and can start helping out!!

If you have any questions about this please ask and I'll give you the best answer i can!!

✨Also, if you guys could share this post around or tag anyone you think would be interested, that would be great! we'd love as many eyes on this as possible!!✨

[joyswonderland1108]

What?

How is it even JK's fault that Tae can't travel to see him and support him?

First of all, and i'll say it beforehand i don't know the exact details of the law so don't ask me about any further information, i know it very superficially if you need more information you might want to ask a K-army or a K-friend in general. With that being said, since BTS announced and publicly that is that they're cancelling their military service postponement and will be enlisting after the completion of their solo activities, they are now bound by the military rules.

Which means, the boys cannot travel outside of the COUNTRY, without an official schedule aka something related to their work, whatever other activity they decide to do while out of the country is their own business but they just can't travel for "fun" and supporting another member is actually inside that "fun" box it ain't no official or professional schedule.

Up until now the two times we were sure Jimin was there for members (Hobi and Yoongi) he still had a professional schedule aside but he took the chance to make it in time to support his hyungs. A friend brought up Joon in Spain with his family and while it might look like a regular vacation for some but he DID have a professional schedule, he also took that opportunity to make it a mini family trip, it's basically a win-win situation, you get an official schedule you grab the opportunity which is always great to see our boys having a good time.

Now, Jimin is "coincidentally" (I don't think it's coincidental at all but you feel me) having an official schedule during this period, was it pre-fixed or was he able to arrange it to be able to support our Maknae AND get some work done? Maybe, maybe he went for the two birds one stone strategy. Up until now we have no idea what's up, will he be able to attend GMA or not, we have NO IDEA.

For all we know, Tae doesn't seem to be having any official schedule for now, not in Paris not in the US so again, no official schedule means no flying out of the country. So why tf is JK to blame? He's not the one making up official schedules. Their only concern is Jimin and i'm sitting over here thinking why aren't they questioning why wouldn't Yoongi go too? Since apparently Tae is being "held back by the evil step-mother that is Hybe" to go support the love of his life, Yoongi isn't held back by anything so why isn't he going? Makes us go back to the same point which is : No official schedule.

Second of all, Bitch! And if Tae isn't interested in going on a 10+ hours flight just to support a member, doesn't even have to be JK and even if the military rules weren't applying, he doesn't have to, why do they make it seem like it's a MUST that Tae should go to support JK, support isn't just by being physically present, how do they know he's not very actively encouraging him via messages and video calls?

Bitches are quick to assume Jikook aren't even texting each other but now they're assuming that about TK as well or..? And again if it's Tae's choice to not travel all the way to the US for one day, then how tf is JK to blame? It's not like JK has been plotting with the evil step-mother again to stop Tae from going to him dafuq?

It's one thing to be a delusional shipper and another to be a delusional maniac. This isn't just shipping blindly, this is projection, very blurred lines between reality and fiction, dementia? Please go get treated in a mental hospital. I know someone else was saying that Jimin is going to grab the attention yada yada, why is he grabbing the attention just when it comes to JK? Why wasn't that said about him when he went to support Hobi and Yoongi?

All this bla bla bla and we're not even a 100% sure Jimin is going to GMA anyways, they're already combusting just at the thought of Jimin and JK being in the same country, same city. Chile~ anyways so.. SEVEN IS COMING!!!!! Are you ready? Personally i'm not, but i am at the same time.

(Tagging this under Jikook because well.. Jikook.)

[altraviolet]

My condolences for whatever is going on that you're dealing with right now, i wish the best for you and everyone around you. Since I don't have anything specific to ask about, as a fellow writer of a long running fic with lots of ends to tie up who knows what it's like, how about a free "ramble about whatever you'd like that you never got a chance to talk about because it never came up" card?

maybe little details you never got a chance to use but wanted to, or scenes that were intended to go one way but went another, or just interesting little things in the planning process that you just never got an opportunity to tell but would like to. it's self indulgence time!

thanks very much! it'll sound coarse if I tell my truthful feelings about the situation, so I'll refrain, but thank you for the very thoughtful message <3

ok ok ok... hmm. indulgence. let us indulge in our regrets:

after I posted the chapter where Soundwave makes 2938 Cybertron into an emoji... like, almost immediately after I posted it, I thought of something I DIRELY WISHED I had thought of like, 10 minutes previous. Or, better yet, 10 months previously. I hinted somewhere (twitter?) that I had had an idea that I ought to have put in at that time, and might be able to work it further into the story, but now that the end is near, I think I won't be able to do that. so I'll share it with you.

this is what I would've done, if I had thought of it. do you remember the scene where Swerve is showing everyone emojis and then SW reveals his 3D ultimate emoji with the music notes? ok so after that, Swerve woulda been jealous about how good that emoji was, and started an unspoken war with Soundwave of graffiti-ing that emoji in ever harder and harder to reach places. every time SW found the emoji somewhere hard to reach, he would retaliate by graffiti-ing it somewhere else hard to reach. Swerve would've won the unspoken war when he managed to spray paint the emoji on Ultra Magnus's back without being caught...

...until Soundwave did the whole PLANET in the emoji and fucking super won that war. Swerve woulda been BESIDE HIMSELF

and OH MAN I was so mad at myself for thinking of that 10 minutes AFTER posting that planet-emoji chapter adlkfjalsdfk xD damn it. I would've totally seeded that whole emoji war throughout the past 10 or whatever so chapters. so, that is regret #1 for sure

side note: when TEG is done, that will technically be the first draft of the finished story. if I was the type of person to write everything first and then post it, I woulda put in the emoji war. but also if I was the type of person to write everything first and post it, I probably never would've gotten past Enceladia. comments mean a lot :D

regret #2 is that I had Swerve calling the mini portal Brainstorm made "the finger hole" and Perceptor being all disgusted about it, and I fkn forgot to put that in there. the snippet had been sitting in the "actively writing" document for MONTHS and I forgot. dammit

[finishwhatyoustarted-event]

Tools Tuesday - Image Descriptions

Apologies for the late posting, this week really got away from me!

Tools Tuesday is a weekly part of the Finish What You Started event where I share various resources I have found to help everyone complete their WIP. Have a resource you want to share? Send it in a message and I'll take a look!

What is an image description? Just as the title suggests, it's a description of a piece of visual media. Think of it like you're on the phone with your friend and you just saw a hilarious sign or cool thing in a store that they should absolutely know about, so you describe it to them over the phone. It is communicating visuals through words.

This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. Accessible posts make everyone in your community able to connect and share the joy of your fandom.

Creating image descriptions or alt text for your visual media (images, videos, gifs) helps a wide range of people: those with low vision, those who use screen readers, those who have issues interpreting visual media, those who have trouble reading text in pictures, those with bad internet, and many more. There's a huge audience who just doesn't get to understand or interact properly with your beautiful art without the interface of description!

Creating descriptions can also help you, the creator. You can communicate mood or subtle details that are important, shaping how your piece is interpreted. You can introduce new people to your beloved media, gaining a larger audience of appreciators. And you can even learn something about your own work. After all, by describing something, you study it more closely.

Not sure how to make an image description? No problem! There are lots of guides out there that go into detail!

The most important part is trying. An imperfect description is better than no description.

TL;DR: A basic description should have the media type (photograph, illustration, etc), the subject's name and short physical description, and a summary of the action. If there are any words, they should be transcribed exactly, or converted to plaintext but keep the wording the same. Start the description with an indicator (Start ID, etc) and finish with one as well (End ID, etc).

Links to guides that explain the process better than I can!

General guide for image descriptions by can-i-make-image-descriptions - Basic, easy to follow.

How to Create Image Descriptions by antimonarchy - More detailed with great examples.

Image description resources by kurapikas-dangly-earring, with additions by others - Further resources and tips.

Can't do them yourself, for whatever reason? I want to make my posts more accessible, but can't write IDs myself: a guide by anistarrose

I (the event runner) write a lot of image descriptions, so I'm happy to answer questions or direct you to resources if you need them!

[yelenasdiary]

Kinktober Info

So, I have decided to join in on the kinktober trend this year! Please have a read below on how to request a fic and the times I'll be posting etc.

Please DO NOT read this post or interact with my blog in any form if you are a minor! This is for people 18+ ONLY!. Men, please do not interact, thank you.

This is kind of long but it includes everything you need to know before sending me a request x.

Requesting -

If you'd like to request a fic for Kinktober, please read these points carefully.

~ The deadline to have requests sent is September 23rd (AEST). For anybody outside Australia, this would be September 22nd.

~ When requesting, please mark your request with "For Kinktober", if you don't I will just assume your request isn't for the event.

~ Sending a request doesn’t guarantee it will be written, I may get an overwhelming amount of requests for this & if that happens, I simply cannot write them all.

~ When sending a request, please state if you want Reader to be fem or GN! If you want Reader to have a penis in the fic, please mention if you want them to be Fem, GN or AFAB/AMAB.

Here is a list of what I am comfortable with writing & what I am not comfortable writing. Please read these carefully, if you send a request that I am not comfortable with, I will delete it without an explanation.

Comfortable With: Daddy/Mommy kinks, Con Non Con, Character x Character, Character x Reader, Breeding Kink, Voyeurism, Desperation, Toys, Bondage, Double Penetration, Lactation Kink, Somnophilia, Exhibitionism. FAB! Reader with a penis and/or Character with a penis.

Not Comfortable With: Scat, Incest, Pedophilia, Character x Male Reader, Body Shaming, R*pe, Racism, Age Regression in a sexual setting.

I do not write smut for celebrity x reader. I only write smut for female fictional characters x reader.

Extra Details -

~ I will post a fic every Monday, Wednesday & Friday for kinktober, giving you all a total of 13 fics. Again, for all those outside Australia, this will be every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

~ All fics will be posted at 5PM AEST. If for any reason I will be late posting, I'll make a post about it.

~ I will not have a seperate taglist for this, if you want to be tagged for any of my work, please leave a comment on THIS POST.

Who I Will Write For -

If somebody isn’t listed here, it doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t write for them.

Yelena Belova (Marvel)

Wanda Maximoff // The Scarlet Witch (Marvel)

Natasha Romanoff (Marvel)

Kate Bishop (Marvel)

Agatha Harkness (Marvel)

Melina Vostokoff (Marvel)

Emily Prentiss (Criminal Minds)

Charlie Ross (The Little Drummer Girl)

Kelly Foster (We Brought a Zoo)

Jane Banner (Wind River)

Leigh Shaw (Sorry For You Loss)

Alice Chambers (Don’t Worry Darling)

Taylor Sloane (Ingrid Goes West)

Any variant characters from THIS LIST.

With that, I can't wait to be apart of this little event (or trend, whatever you want to call it!) I'm excited to see what you guys come up with! If you have any further questions, concerns or if you're confused on anything, please don't hesitate to send me a message or ask.

[vaya-writes]

Hello! :D

I am unfortunately so bad at leaving comments in a timely manner, (mainly because oh my god I want to talk about every detail and the day does not have enough hours for me to sit down and write a comment I'm satisfied with so procrastination hits pretty badly on that regard gdjsgsjsv) but! I wanted to come and say that Serving the Serpent has me absolutely captivated and I'm so excited to see where the story is going!

Briar is such a great protagonist and (while I don't have selective mutism) I relate a lot to her quieter nature, and can sympathize a lot with all her thought processes. What we know so far of her backstory really aligns with how she behaves and her fear of stepping out of line, but seeing how she thinks it's clear she has that spark in her that wants to take those small moments of silent rebellion in whatever ways she can have them. Nothing that could get her in trouble, but there are those hints of a strength she has that want to shine through now and again. I really feel for her and love her as a character!

And Isen! He's very charming and friendly, and seems to care so much about what he does and who he takes care of. I can definitely see how he can get on people's nerves with the teasing sometimes haha, but clearly he takes people's levels of comfort seriously when interacting with them. It broke my heart a little learning how much he had to strain himself to meet expectations and it's interesting how despite coming from wildly different backgrounds and levels of privilege, it's something that both him and Briar can relate to.

Not to mention the other characters so far! They might not appear as much as the main protagonists, but each feel really unique and consistent and I love learning the little tidbits we can about their lives and personalities.

Also, also the world you have created so far is so interesting and I'm really interested to see how it develops even more as the story progresses.

Aaagh, I know I want to say so much more, but this is already so long. I promise I'll eventually get to commenting on the specifics of each chapter! (I don't know if the story is in AO3 as well, or just on tumblr, so I don't know if you would prefer those comments this same way through asks, or maybe through a reblog, because I know the comment section of a post has a very small character limit and as you can see, I talk too much XD) But yeah! Amazing work and I'm excited to read what comes next! ^-^

I'm glad you like the story and characters so much <3 I've found that the characters in StS are a lot stronger than the characters I envisioned in my last big project, The Wyvern's Bride. Probably because I mulled them over a lot and thought a lot about them before jumping into writing. And I've had some practice putting less author voice into their dialogues. But I'm so glad you appreciate them <3

I'm pretty pleased with the world building I've done. I tend to dislike having to come up with stuff on the fly while I'm writing so it was another thing I thought about in detail before actually starting. I look forward to sharing more of the details with you :)

The story is on AO3 and on tumblr. I don't mind where you prefer to comment or how long your comments are, go absolutely ham. I will say that the story will travel further if you reblog with your comments (as comments or in tags) whereas if you message me directly, reach will be less far. But that's more for me to consider than for you.

Have a lovely lovely lovely day!!!

[dzthenerd490]

File: X-Files S2 E3 Blood

SCP#: AIQ

Code Name: Kill ‘Em All!

Object Class: Somnum

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-AIQ ceased after Person of Interest: Fox Mulder received the message “All Done, Bye-Bye”. Though this implies whoever created SCP-AIQ is done, it doesn’t deny the fact there is nothing stopping them from doing so again. Foundation field agents working within government, especially lower governments, are to ensure that pesticides or ones similar that helped activate SCP-AIQ are to never be released again. 

Description: SCP-AIQ is an event class anomaly that requires several components in order to work. First a victim must be exposed to [data expunged] an experimental chemical that increases the fear response to whatever phobia they have. Second they must fall into a situation where they are deeply afraid such as someone being placed in a small area with Claustrophobia, someone being around spiders with Arachnophobia, or someone being exposed to blood with Hemophobia. Then on whatever device is close to them will start displaying messages that further increase their discomfort followed by the phrase “Kill ‘Em All!”

This horrible mix causes the victim to go insane and start killing everyone and destroying every piece of technology around them. They only stop when they are subdued or killed, though killing is better as often once they are driven to such insanity that there is little chance they will recover and live a normal life again. Though it is possible for a victim to ignore the messages, the messages unfortunately persist and follow the victim wherever they go until they eventually go insane regardless. 

SCP-AIQ was discovered in 1994 in Franklin, Pennsylvania when a Person of Interest: Fox Mulder started investigating a string of murders. Agents assigned to watch over Fox Mulder noticed the anomalous elements within the murders and immediately contacted the Foundation. However, they were given orders to continue to monitor Mulder and Person of Interest: Dana Scully as they investigated. By doing this they were able to find out how SCP-AIQ worked thanks to Mulder and allowed him to be the one to subdue the final victim. Once the event anomaly finally ended all data was sent back to the Foundation. However, despite keeping their distance Agent Mulder found one of the agents and confronted them leading to another unnecessary conversation. Please see Addendum X-73 for details

***

AddendumX-73

The following is a recording between Agent [data expunged] and Fox Mulder after he confronted him when the SCP-AIQ incident finally ended. For context Agent [data expunged] is dressed and is to act as a normal civilian.

Begin Recording

Fox Mulder: Ah, I figured I'd find you somewhere around here.

Agent [data expunged]: Huh? Who are you?

Fox Mulder: Save it, I know your form the SCP Foundation.

Agent [data expunged]: I... don't know what that is, I'm sorry I'm not to familiar with FBI investigations so am I being interrogated or something? I'll have you know I am not involved with this incident.

Fox Mulder: Alright if you not going to fess up then at least look at this.

Person of Interest Fox Mulder gives the disguised agent his phone with the words "All Done, Bye-Bye" written in it in text.

Agent [data expunged]: What the hell is that?

Fox Mulder: I was hoping you could tell me.

Agent [data expunged]: Sir, I really don't know anything about any of what your talking about. I'm just a regular guy who works at the local store.

Fox Mulder: ... Okay then, well. Can I at least ask what you've been doing to Scully that makes her forget everything.

Agent [data expunged]: I don't know who that is.

Fox Mulder: What are the greys after?

Agent [data expunged]: The what? Are- Are you talking about aliens? You know those aren't real right?

Fox Mulder: What does the Foundation want with me and my family.

Agent [data expunged]: Okay, you know what I may be a civilian, but I know my rights. If I'm not under arrest, then I'm leaving.

Fox Mulder: What is the Foundation's connection with the Syndicate?

Agent [data expunged] lets go of his previous demeaner and looks at Fox Mulder with an almost blank expression.

Agent [data expunged]: ... You may not consider the Foundation allies but never confuse us with those traitors in the Syndicate.

Fox Mulder: he finally speaks.

Agent [data expunged]: I was under orders not to so don't be so shocked.

Fox Mulder: So, the Foundation has nothing to do with the Syndicate? If that's the case, why do you keep taking these oddities without telling the public.

Agent [data expunged]: ... All you need to know is that the anomalous world is much bigger than you realize, and the public is better off not knowing any of it.

Fox Mulder: You're hurting more people by keeping it a secret you know that right?

Agent [data expunged]: There's never going to be the perfect answer to everything, even your father knew that. Shame he used that logic to become a traitor to his own species.

Fox Mulder: Wait what? What the hell-

Agent [data expunged]: That's all Fox Mulder, I believe your partner Scully is about to arrive. Do be sure not to tell her of this interaction, lest we'll have to give her amnestics again.

Fox Mulder tried to speak out, but the agent turned away and did not respond to him even when Fox Mulder tried to grab him.

Recording Ends

***

The O5 Council shockingly considered Agent [data expunged]'s interaction with Person of Interest: Fox Mulder acceptable so he was not punished.

It is unknown who was the one that orchestrated the anomaly as it was obviously an experiment. PENTAGRAM denied any cooperation with the experiment and agents within have confirmed there was no involvement. None of the enemies or neutral GoI’s of the Foundation have claimed responsibility for the experiment either and as of late the Foundation has no leads. It is for this reason that SCP-AIQ is labeled as Object Class Somnum. However, this is not declared as a Foundation failure as now we know how to combat SCP-AIQ should it ever appear again.

.

SCP: Horror Movie Files Hub