#if you're reading this i hope you have a wonderful halloween whether you're out and about

[hikayunas]

oni

[melancholy-of-nadia]

Devil by the Window (m) | knj

title: Devil by the Window pairing: namjoon x f. reader, a tiny bit of yeonjun x f. reader rating/genre: m ; smut ; HORROR; HALLOWEEN; summary: you are spending halloween night with two of your best friends, yeonjun and namjoon while having a halloween movie marathon at the olders' house. when you receive a strange phone call filled with moans and a knock that leaves you with a piece of paper that says 11:58, you wonder whether it's a prank or ominous warning of what is yet to come. warnings: dirty talk, fingering, unprotected sex, breast play, hickies, slight body worship if you squint, horror, haunting things happening, paranoia, smut, making out, creampie, namjoon has a marking and ownership fetish, biting, jealous namjoon?, TXT YEONJUN, blood, death, cliché horror tropes based on two different movies lmk if you catch them note: thank you @daegudrama for beta reading as always and supporting this... fcked up halloween dumpster fire last minute HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y'ALL 🎃 FEEDBACK & Comments are much appreciated !! total word count: 2.2k drop date: october 31st 2023, 8:00pm pst cross posted on ao3 here - -

It’s a chilly Halloween night, and you, Namjoon, and Yeonjun have gathered at the olders' house to enjoy a horror movie marathon.

The living room is adorned with eerie decorations, and a flickering jack-o'-lantern casts eerie shadows across the room. The three of you settle in, ready for a night of spooky fun.

As the movie plays, you can't help but get engrossed in the suspenseful plot. The room is dimly lit, creating the perfect atmosphere for a night of frights. The eerie silence is occasionally punctuated by gasps and laughter.

Suddenly, your phone rings, shattering the silence. The caller ID displays the words "unknown," and you hesitate before answering it. You are shocked when you hear harsh breathing that eventually turns to faint moans on the other end. Why does it sound uncannily like Namjoon? Your eyes widen glancing at Namjoon, who is sitting right next to you, engrossed in the movie. It's impossible for the sounds to be coming from him. He's right here!

Your heart races as you listen, unable to comprehend what you're hearing. It sounds like Namjoon, and yet, it can’t be. The unsettling, yet seductive moans continue for a few moments before the call abruptly ends, leaving you in a state of disbelief and unease.

"Who was it?" Namjoon asks as he grabs another handful of caramel popcorn from the pumpkin bucket next to him.

"Uh, all I heard was breathing and moans."

Namjoon nods, but Yeonjun chuckles, popping a handful of caramel popcorn into his mouth, his amusement contrasting with the eerie situation. "Breathing and moans, huh? Sounds like a childish Halloween prank."

You join in the laughter, trying to ease the tension that had settled in earlier. "Yeah, it's probably just some dumb kids trying to spook us on Halloween. Nothing to worry about."

Yeonjun, trying to ease the tension, chuckles and says, "Exactly! Don't let it get to you." He seems convinced that there's a logical explanation for the unsettling events.

With the unsettling phone call still fresh in your mind, you try to immerse yourself in the movie, hoping to forget what you had just heard. But not even five minutes later, the doorbell rings, jolting you and your friends from the eerie atmosphere of the film.

You exchange bewildered glances with Namjoon and Yeonjun. It's already close to midnight, and it seems unusual for trick-or-treaters to still be out at this hour. Deciding to investigate, you volunteer to open the door, determined to put your fears to rest.

However, as you swing the door open, there's no one in sight. The porch is empty, and the dimly lit street seems devoid of any Halloween revelers. A chill runs down your spine, and you glance down at the ground, where you find a folded piece of paper. The note simply reads, "[11:58PM]." Panic wells up inside you as you look at the clock on the wall. That is 20 minutes from now.

With a sense of urgency, you rush back to the living room, trying to explain the eerie note to Namjoon and Yeonjun, who are both puzzled by your urgency.

"There was no one outside! Except this note that says '[11:58PM].' I'm actually pretty scared."

Yeonjun shrugs, trying to dispel the unease that has settled in the room. "Come on, Y/N, It's probably just some dumbasses trying to prank you.”

“Calling me and coming to Namjoon’s house with a note…? It happened within a 5 minute timespan, Yeonjun!”

“I don’t know. But it's getting late, so I think I'm calling it a night. I have work tomorrow at 9 am."

“Fine. Okay bestie.” You sigh. “Are we still on for boba after you get off work with Taehyun and Jungkook?”

“Yeah, of course!”

You reluctantly lead Yeonjun to the door, giving him a hug goodbye, and wishing him a safe drive home. 

"Thanks for coming over, Yeonjun. Call me if you need anything, and I'll let you know if anything else happens."

“No worries, have a good night.”

As the door closes behind Yeonjun, you return to sit on the couch to face Namjoon, your heart heavy with the weight of the eerie events that have unfolded. The clock on the wall continues its relentless countdown, bringing you closer to "[11:58PM]." You and Namjoon are now alone in the dimly lit living room, and the sense of impending dread grows stronger. You had planned to stay over at his house, which he is okay with.

You take a deep breath and look at the older man, your eyes filled with uncertainty. As you're about to ask him to help you get to the bottom of this weird situation, Namjoon suddenly speaks up, his voice carrying an unexpected tone.

"So, do you have something going on with Yeonjun?" Namjoon's question catches you off guard, and you struggle to find the right words.

"Huh?"

Namjoon continues, "You guys seem pretty close. You're even seeing him tomorrow."

You try to explain, "Well, we're the same age and grew up in the same hometown together, but he's just a best friend to me."

Namjoon's expression shifts, and he presses further, "What about me?"

You hesitate, the memory of the phone call with the alluring moans echoing in your mind. 

"You... well," You stammer, your voice softening as you struggle to find the right words. "I feel different about you because I kind of like you as more than a bestie."

Namjoon's lips curve into a small, knowing smile as he responds, "Oh, really?" 

The tension in the room seemed to shift from fear to something entirely different.The atmosphere crackled with a potent mix of desire and danger. In a sudden, unexpected move, Namjoon pushed you down on the couch, his eyes locked onto yours, burning with a fiery intensity. With the specter of the imposter momentarily forgotten, your lips met in a passionate kiss. 

The room seemed to shrink, closing in around you as the intensity of your connection with Namjoon deepened. The haunting memories of the imposter and the eerie events of the night faded into the background, replaced by the powerful magnetism drawing you closer. With every touch, every kiss, you found solace and passion in each other's arms.

Namjoon's lips left a trail of fiery kisses along your neck and collarbone, his mouth hot against your skin. Each kiss was punctuated by a soft, needy sigh escaping your lips, your fingers threading through his hair as you pressed him closer.

His lips found the sensitive skin of your throat, and he sucked gently, leaving several marks that would linger long after this night. A quiet gasp escaped you, a mixture of pleasure and surprise, as he continued his ministrations, leaving a trail of hickeys. Your mind fills with a lustful haze as you watch him pull his sweatpants down, revealing his extremely hard cock. The sight makes you soak your panties a bit more than they were before.

“I guess Yeonjun lucked out on such a pretty girl like you.” 

You don’t have enough time to question or say anything else as Namjoon pulls off the skirt you are wearing, leaving you in your black lace underwear, displaying a dark, wet patch visible in your crotch. You didn’t expect this to happen tonight, but you are ready for him to fuck you senseless.

Namjoon's voice is filled with desire as he whispers, "So wet for me," his fingers teasingly sliding your panties down just enough to explore your pussy. He gently eases a finger into your wetness, and a soft, pleasurable moan escapes your lips.

“You’re adorable, Y/N.” Namjoon teases as he kisses you again, sliding his finger out of you. He takes off your crop top and unhooks your bra behind your back tossing both items to the floor, beginning to plant plenty of kisses on your breasts.

“Namjoon…please…fuck.”

“So eager for me, a shame that Yeonjun won’t get to fuck this pussy.” He whispers seductively to you as he runs his hand along your thigh. Fuck, his words leave goosebumps on your skin. He slides your panties all the way off, and you spread your legs out as much as you can. He then slowly places his cock near your entrance teasing momentarily before sliding into you fully. This action draws a long moan of pleasure out of you.

He smiles down at you, having successfully ruined you, and silenced you with his finger. 

“All mine. Just mine.”

Your eyes roll back, all you can feel is him thrusting in and out of your soaking pussy, making you blush all over. He looks deep into your eyes as he fucks you. You are overwhelmed by the lewd wet squelches your pussy makes as his cock enters you. The arousing sounds bring you closer to your climax. 

“Such a slut for daddy’s cock.” He grunts. “You like being fucked like this?”

“Yes, N-Namjoon…” You whisper. “Please don’t stop…”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, my love.” He smiles almost lovingly down at you, caressing your cheek with his hand as he still thrusts inside you.

This is sex. Really good sex. Probably the best sex you’ve ever had. All your past boyfriends and friends with benefits could never compared to the euphoria that Kim Namjoon is giving you. He is so sweet, so charming. Everything a girl could want in a lover.

“I’m getting closer.” You breathe out.

“Me too.” He grunts, grabbing your chin, making you look directly at him. “Let’s do it together.”

And with those words, he lets go. You can feel the heat of his cum flow through your walls. The downright lewd noise he makes on his release is just enough to cause your orgasm as well, your cum enveloping his cock as he pulls out of your pussy. Why did those exact moans from him give you deja vu? In your post orgasm haze you can’t quite remember why this thought came about.

You’re both out of breath, him from fucking you and you from being fucked. He stares down at you as you both take a few deep breaths. Your heart is racing, and your body is still tingling from the passion you both shared. 

He decides to get up, putting his pants back on, and goes to find a towel to clean you up. The dimly lit room takes on a new, intimate atmosphere as you catch your breath and bask in the afterglow of your passionate encounter. You decide to get up too and start putting your shirt and skirt back on, patiently waiting for him to return. 

However, the sudden ringing of your phone shatters the moment, and you fumble to reach it. Panic surges through you as you see Yeonjun's name on the caller ID. You quickly answer, hearing the urgency in his voice.

"Listen to me carefully, Y/N." Yeonjun says in a panicked tone. "You need to leave Namjoon's house right now. Because, that's not Namjoon!"

Your heart skips a beat, and confusion and fear wash over you as you ask, "Huh? What are you talking about?!"

You hear police sirens on the other end. And that’s when you hear Namjoon’s voice on the other side of the phone talking with Yeonjun. Before Yeonjun can respond to your question, you turn around and see the figure that looks like Namjoon standing there, holding a knife in his hand. The menacing glint in his eyes sends shivers down your spine as you realize the horrifying truth - the person in front of you is not the real Namjoon, and danger is looming in the dimly lit room.

As you make a break for the door, determined to escape the menacing imposter, your heart pounds in your chest, and adrenaline courses through your veins. You hope to reach safety, but the imposter, still wielding the knife, moves swiftly to intercept you.

In the struggle that follows, you desperately try to dodge a direct attack, but to no avail. The imposter's knife slices through the air with a malevolent swish, finding its mark on your abdomen. Agonizing pain sears through your body as the blade cuts deep, leaving a gaping wound in its wake. A guttural cry of anguish escapes your lips as you collapse to the floor, the shock and pain overwhelming your senses.

Clutching your wounded stomach, you feel the warm stickiness of your own blood oozing between your fingers. The room spins, and your surroundings blur as the floor beneath you becomes stained crimson, the red liquid pooling around you like a sinister halo. The metallic scent of blood hangs heavy in the air, mingling with the acrid undertone of fear, as the imposter, their face twisted with malevolence, continues to advance with deliberate, haunting steps.

Tears well up in your eyes as you gasp for breath, the pain nearly unbearable.

"W-Who are you?! Why are you doing this to me?!"

The fake Namjoon chuckles darkly, the sinister glint in his eyes unrelenting. "I said you're mine. And you will be mine. Just like this. Forever."

Your world spins into a growing blur as you fight to stay conscious, the imposter looming over you, and the horrifying realization that this is it.

In your final moments, you glanced at the clock on the wall, its numbers glowing ominously.

11:58.

The seconds tick away, echoing the dreadful countdown as "Namjoon" lifts his hand to deliver the final, fatal blow. 

The world around you fades into an abyss of darkness.

[dreamyimagination101]

~Nevermoon and the Midnight Realm chapter 13: Lapis~ Hello! I'm back! 😄 For those who celebrate it, I hope you have a wonderful Halloween! Make sure to stay safe! Regardless whether you're trick-or-treating, going off to a party, or just chilling out at home. 🎃

Also, to those of you magickal practitioners in the northern hemisphere, I hope you have a wonderful Samhain! To those in the southern hemisphere, I hope you have a wonderful Beltane. 🔮

After a while of being in slumber, Nevermoon and the Midnight Realm is back! On this day, we have chapter 13, Lapis! I'm so excited! Wattpad:

DeviantArt:

If some elements in the story are a little bit confusing, I've also got a glossary! Though I think this chapter is pretty clear as there wasn't little bits of extra exotic-ness of my imagination thrown around this time. Here's the glossary anyway! 

Alrighty! Now we wait and see what happens next. I assure you, you're not going to be waiting months for the next chapter. Speaking of chapter 14, it's in it's writing stage. 🙂

Also, for those who don't know and are interested, my series Nevermoon also has a Discord Server! Interested in learning more? Click below!

Thank you so much for reading! Enjoy! 👻

[banditthewriter]

Heyy, I hope you're doing well :) I was wondering, are you going to ever write for Billy Russo again? I love your work and I have read everything more than twice already. :))

Hey dear! Thanks for the message and I'm really glad you enjoy my stuff.

The short answer is IDK.

The long answer is I have a fic almost started and mostly planned but every time I try to write it I feel like I'm dragging words out. I also wanted to keep up my tradition of writing Halloween fics but I have 0 ideas for a fic for that plus no motivation. I want to write. Whether it be for Billy or for other characters or new characters. Hell, I'd love to work on my novels haha. I just got so burned out that it's sorta...carried on to now.

So yea, short answer is I don't know...but I hope so!

[battythewitch]

Heya

I was wondering if I could just get a general 'what do I need to know right now' reading? Also more than happy to do a read for you in exchange if you like.

Thanks!

I'm going to preface this by again apologizing for not seeing this ask for like 3 days :/ Also, I hope you don't mind, but I decided to pull an oracle card, then my deck decided to spit out two.

Liminal Spirits Oracle: Roots and Ash

The Halloween Tarot: 4 of Bats (swords), The Devil, Justice

What have you learned from failures and struggles? We tend to focus on and celebrate successes, but often the lessons we get the most from are the result of something not going as planned.

It can be difficult to see the good that can come from things going wrong, especially when the situation is fresh. It's easy to feel defeated or trapped by not living up to the standards we set for ourselves (or the expectations others have for us). This is a reminder to show yourself the same kindness, compassion, and understanding that you would extend to others, and to keep in mind that those difficult lessons can be part of the strong foundation on which you begin to build. Or, maybe you know that already. In that case, remember that it's okay to celebrate learning from mistakes.

While examining a situation can lead to understanding of what went right or wrong, that can only happen with the proper distance. Before then, you need to let yourself rest and process. Giving yourself this break can help you gain the perspective you need. Basically, "sleep on it" for a while, then look at it with fresh eyes and no judgment. Be proud of how far you've come, and how much you've grown, even if you didn't always make the best choice in the moment.

If you've been dealing with some difficult people in your life, try to keep in mind that minor differences can often be worked out if you (all those involved) focus on finding common ground. You might have to compromise, but don't make any sacrifices or commitments you're not comfortable with.

Be wary of overextending yourself. Relationships aren't always perfectly fair and equal, but if you find yourself consistently going above and beyond for someone who isn't willing to do anything in return, maybe it's time to assess that relationship and whether it's worth the energy you're giving it.

It can be difficult to break connections (to people, places, mindsets, habits, etc.), especially those we've had for a long time, but sometimes it's necessary to grow and move forward. You have to take care of yourself and your own needs, and sometimes that means pissing off people who would take advantage of you, by establishing firm boundaries. Maybe that looks like cutting them out of your life entirely, or maybe it's a smaller matter, such as saying "no" when they expect you to say "yes." Sometimes, it's taking back control of yourself if you're indulging too much in something that isn't good for you, or you find yourself avoiding something difficult but necessary. Ask yourself if what you get is worth what you're giving, and be honest.

Dig deep, and pay attention to what your heart and intuition are telling you. Let them guide you in deciding what is important and worthy of your attention and energy. If there's something you're clinging to, ask yourself why. If it's something that's causing you distress, now might be the time to decide if it's really worth holding onto.

[irish-urn]

What is a Dasey HC of yours that you love, but that you aren't necessarily going to write about?

(Asking this question to give people one shot ideas so that you're not the only one feeding this starving fandom 😂) ((also because I think you're crazy interesting and intelligent and I love your brain))

Oh boy. Dasey headcanons that I love that I might not get the chance to write about totally, but still kind of incorporate into my stories... AND THEN ASKED WITH COMPLIMENTS AND FLATTERY. HOW CAN A GIRL SAY NO???

(Seriously, thank thee for the compliments. My weird brain is purring happily now.)

1. Neither Derek or Casey are actually really good at cooking when they first move out. Sure, Casey has a few recipes that she’s learned -- breakfast foods, spaghetti, maybe a lasagna or some kind of casserole (easy things that can feed a family when Nora and George are too busy) -- and Derek likes mixing things when he needs to (my brother does this, and then eats it whether it’s good or not), but they’re not super great at it.

Which is why Casey signs them up for cooking classes. Now that Derek and her are living together, they can’t live off Queen’s meal plan any longer, and Derek’s hockey requirements have a very strict diet, and Casey knows that a healthy meal plan does wonders for her mental health, so this will solve all their problems.

...It would solve more problems if they weren’t Derek and Casey. No matter whether they’re in love or not, they’re not going to be the chill couple in the corner.

(AND, if you’re looking for oneshot ideas, it’s super easy to turn this into a “Casey accidentally signed herself up for a couples class, and now needs a partner” thing)

2. At some point in their relationship, after “I love you’s” are exchanged, Derek asks Casey to teach him how to dance. Because dancing is obviously important to Casey, and she’s hot and sexy and beautiful when she’s dancing, and Casey is all about “teamwork” and “partnership”, which means if he wants to make this last... he’s gonna need to know how to dance.

(I’ll keep this vague for fandom feeding, but there are so many ways this could go down.)

...Most of my HCs I’m hoping to write about, tbh, and I’d hate to spoil things for anyone reading kick at the darkness ‘till it bleeds daylight (aka: the college series)... But, uh. Other elements I strongly believe appear in a Dasey life that aren’t too spoiler-y:

--blanket forts (D’s pretty good at making these, tbh)

--Halloween couple costumes (the cheese factor varies at different points in their lives. As college kids, these costumes are hot and sexy; as parents, a range of Casey-insistent family themed (think The Addams Family) to a gleeful embarrassing papa!Derek when his kids need to be shown who’s boss (I’m thinking salt and pepper shakers, tbh) to a “Damn! That’s a milf and a dilf!” (as Mr. and Mrs. Smith)

(Damn, they would definitely do a Luke and Leia one year just to make everyone uncomfortable, wouldn’t they?)

--bets and/or competitions (there is almost always one happening, even if only casually)

--wrestling matches (look, does Derek limp into work one day from one of these? is the worst part of Casey’s pregnancies the fact that they have to halt these (because Derek doesn’t want to hurt the baby)?)

--all the hugs

[thoushallnotfall]

Hey, I hope you're feeling better!! 🧡 Also, I don't know if you're still taking questions but at what point you think The Boys mind tricks go? Do they read minds or they just can manipulate a little? Do all of them have that or this is more a "David thing"? I love your stories, man! Can't wait to your Halloween stuff! But no pressure, really. Take your time and be kind to yourself 🧡

Ahhh, I don't know when you send this to me (dang tumblr not telling me when I get messages! 😭) but thank you!! ❤️❤️ I'm definitely always taking questions!

I feel like the mind thing has sort of just been a universal headcanon by the fandom, so the 'rules' for it are kind of lacks. I personally don't like to take it all the way and have them read everyone's minds (that takes all the fun out of it for me. I like that air of mystery, back and forth repartee; and you kind of lose some of that when you already know what the other person's thinking) but I love the idea that they have a psychic link with each other. The idea that once you're 'part of the pack' so to speak that you just get tuned into each other's thoughts (whether you necessarily want to or not) is both wonderful and hysterical to me.

As far as controlling thoughts, I have seen some fics give them that power, though I personally have never really had them utilize any abilities like that. (I will say that does come into play in some vampire lore, so it's not totally off base, and I could totally see them having those types of powers) To me it just seems out if character for them though; they're just so...animalistic? Hmm, they're the 'shoot first ask questions later' types? Uhm...they don't always...plan ahead?

... ... ...

They're stupid teenage boys and they'd rather fuck shit up with their bare hands than use mind control.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say.

Anyway; while David is their leader I don't think he has any powers the others wouldn't. David might be more inclined to utilize mind control more than say Paul or Marko if they had it; but honestly I'd think would Dwayne use it the most out of any of them.

Anyway, thanks for the question! Again, sorry I didn't answer right away; tumblr didn't put it in my notifications and I totally didn't see it! 😱💀

-Rachel

[bethhxrmon]

do flowers exist at night? -chapter seven

Chapter Seven: Hands Clean

Pairing: Steve Harrington x OC

Chapter Summary: After the initial shock of the events surrounding Halloween and the days after, Steve and Annie both start to realize they may be wrong about how to cope. Their friendship also manages to strengthen in the process

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of trauma, might be filler but I call it the beginnings of pining soooo

A/N: Hope you guys really liked this chapter because I thought it was a decent break from all that angst I lumped on pretty early into the fic. It would be fantastic if you guys could let me know your thoughts, I live for it! Anyways, you can find all the other chapters here!

~*~*~*~

Admittedly, Steve could have handled himself alone in the house long enough for Annie to go to school. However, when she pretended to be both her mom and his, he didn't stop her. Not until he was okay enough to drive.

How school would work was a question both of them asked. Steve's bruises were faded enough for Annie to try and cover them up with makeup. That was what she used almost too much of on the cut on her cheek. Sure, she could hide it with her hair, she already did that, but it wasn't enough for her. Nothing was really enough.

Being near Steve wasn't enough to stop her from reliving everything in her head. Besides, she eventually had to go back to her own house. It was safe and she was sure that Steve could use some alone time. Though, she couldn't stand the quiet of her house.

None of that stopped Steve from picking her up on a chilly Wednesday in November. Frost crunched under her boots instead of leaves. It was clear that nothing was going to stop time from passing. She wished it would pause just so she could catch up, but she wasn't sure that would be enough either.

Going back to school gave Annie the same twisted feeling in her gut as her first day. Maybe they found someone else to poke fun at or to joke with. She didn't have anything to defend herself with. Her switchblade was somewhere in the Byers’ house, but she hadn't asked anyone where it went.

"You ready?" Steve asked, looking at her.

Annie took a deep breath and nodded, "It's just school."

They both knew it was more than that. After a few days of hanging out, it became pretty clear when Annie decided to put on a front. Her back would straighten up a little bit too much and she would appear to tense up all over. It wasn't something Steve pointed out, and Annie assumed that he, of all people, would understand.

She could only imagine what seeing Nancy with another guy would be like for him. Though, a part of her wished that a broken heart was all she had to walk into. Seeing Billy was a reality she knew that she would just have to face. However, she tried to avoid it.

Since Steve was feeling better, she knew that she couldn't convince him to stay back. And maybe doing this with a friend would be easier for her. She wiped sweaty palms on her jeans before getting out of Steve's car.

It was going to be okay. That was what she kept telling herself on a loop. Just eight hours, seven if she took out lunch, and then she could go right back home. She could lose herself in a book or maybe try to catch up on some sleep she could never get enough of.

People stopped staring at Steve, and Annie wished that being shorter than him meant that she was safe too. Except it didn't. Nothing changed. There were stares boring into her as she walked to her first class. She didn't bother with her locker. That was something which obviously hadn't changed. Giving other students the satisfaction of walking up to it every day was the last thing she wanted to do.

There was a rumor going on about how Billy slept with her. It wasn't followed nearly as closely as everything with Steve a few days ago. Still, all of that led her to looking forward to lunch.

Sitting in the cafeteria was not an option. The first day back, they both sat in his car. They tried a few more places. By the end of the week, they were sitting in the auditorium. There was something about eating on a stage that calmed Annie a little and Steve was just glad it was empty.

"So what's going on there?" he asked, nodding at her copy of War and Peace.

Annie looked up at him, "Well... how do I explain this... there's this Pierre guy, and he kinda tied a bear to someone."

"What?!"

"In his defense, he was drunk?" she offered, laughing a bit.

Steve shook his head, "Didn't realize books like that were so interesting."

"You're kidding!"

"Every time I try the words don't really make sense or I get distracted by something else."

She nodded, "I get it. I mean, I'm sure you had a lot of other stuff going on."

"Not really. Come on, you lived in Seattle and New York. That's gotta be way more interesting. No wonder you didn't wanna talk to anyone," he chuckled.

"I didn't avoid everyone because I was trying to be pretentious. I gave up. There's a difference."

"What? How? You... you seemed pretty okay."

Annie sighed, "Well, you should've figured out I'm a fair actress by now. It wasn't like I had a say in whether or not I moved. I had to go with my mom or my dad, and well, my mom was the only decent option."

"Well, you can't say you don't have any friends now," Steve said, nudging her a bit.

Annie smiled a bit, "You've got me there."

"Could you read that part, though? With the bear?" he asked, "It just sounds like you're screwing with me."

She nodded, "Gladly, and I can tell you that I'm not screwing with you."

As Annie read the passage out loud, she couldn't help getting into it. Not wanting any of the details to seem boring, she tried her hardest to make all the characters sound different. Not that she would have needed to do that to keep Steve's attention. He looked at her so intently as she read. Of course, it wasn't anything she noticed since she was too caught up in what she was doing.

Lunch was the only real time Annie and Steve got a break from the school. Though, the only people who really cared about what they did were Tommy, Carol, and Billy. The perfect trio to constantly leave Annie feeling like she was going to vomit. 

Annie had to stop carrying her books around in her hands. That was something she learned when her copy of War and Peace got snatched from her hands. Tommy didn't have the strength to rip apart the hardcover book, but she didn't want to take any chances either.

"So is it true you fucked Hargrove?" Tommy asked, cornering her in the hall when she was a bit slow to get out of the school.

"No, I think that was you," she said, trying to think of a quick getaway.

Steve sauntered up to both of them, "What's going on here?"

"Nothing, just having a chat with your psychobitch slut of a girlfriend," Tommy replied.

Steve nodded, "Right, I think you're done having a chat."

"No, I'm pretty sure I was just getting started," Tommy insisted, starting to get closer to Steve.

Annie was quick to move away from Tommy and grab Steve by the wrist, "You know what? I think we're done here."

She led Steve out of the school, promptly letting go of his jacket. Something told her that wouldn't be the last time they had to deal with something like that. It was the weekend again, though, and Annie was relieved that she hadn't completely fallen apart while at school. Getting through a full week sounded like it was out of the question.

However, that wasn't on either of their minds when they were sitting in Steve's room again that Saturday. She looked through his closet and sighed.

"Is it that bad?" Steve asked, sprawled across the bed.

Annie tossed a shirt to the side, "I just didn't know anyone could own this many polos. How were you so popular again?"

"Hey! It's because I'm good with the ladies, duh," he said, "What're we listening to right now?"

She found yet another polo and turned to face him, "West Side Story, the most heartbreaking musical I've ever heard in my life."

"I don't get it."

"Well it'd make more sense if we watched it. They're meant to be watched, but I don't have it and Family Video had it rented out already," she tossed aside the eighth polo, "I don’t get why you have so many polos."

He shrugged, "My mom told me they looked good on me and Nancy never minded."

"Well... I don't mind it, just... have you ever thought about what you like?"

"A little? No one really asks me, though."

Annie sat on the edge of the bed, "Do you like having all those polos?"

"Not really... I don't care, though. Same thing with the room," he shook his head, "Do you even know what you like?"

She thought a moment before speaking, "It took a while, but yeah. I don't have anything in my closet that I don't like."

That was a lie. What she wore that night with the demodogs was something she hated now. A part of her wanted to burn it, but she used to love that flannel. But now, it reminded her of everything so much. Mainly what happened with Billy. Shouldn't she have gotten over that by now? She didn't talk to anyone about it after she broke down that one time. A part of her wasn't sure if Steve even remembered.

As helpful as he had been that night and the day after, she knew he wasn't at his best. It was a relief that he was, for the most part, okay in the first place. 

"How do you do that?"

She shrugged, "You try different stuff until you find what you like. And you'll know when you like something, trust me."

They stayed in silence for a little while, just listening as "America" played in the background. By all rights, Annie should have just been at her house. Her mom would be home tomorrow, but until then she didn't want to be alone in her house if she could help it. Though, she tried to stay the night at her own house.

Never mind how it had barely been a week and the only thing keeping her from losing it was that her cat would curl up in the middle of her bed with her. She didn't know how to go about talking about it. Though, if he wasn't going to comment on how she probably wasn't sleeping or eating much, then that was fine by her.

"So... what did happen with your parents, anyway?" he asked, "I mean, I get the cheating part, but my parents are still together and my dad’s not much better."

Annie stayed quiet for a few minutes as she tried to think about how to explain herself, "They tried making it work. We moved across the country so that could happen. My dad got a guy for a TA and everything. Still, they kept fighting and they wouldn't stop, and I was getting sick of it. I'm sure the neighbors were too, and I tried to get their attention. The only way I could do that was by talking about hurling myself off the roof of the apartment building."

"Shit... did you um... were you-"

"I didn't mean it, I was just frustrated," she said, thinking that was true, "But they agreed to go to family counseling. It just brought up all the problems my parents had and taught me that I was way more screwed up than I thought. We only went twice before my parents decided on the divorce."

Steve sat up, "That sounds awful."

"Yeah, it kinda was at the time... but my mom's doing the best she can and I appreciate that," she let out a long sigh.

He shook his head, "You shouldn't have had to do all that just for them to listen, though."

"Tell me about it."

"Hey, I know I'm not perfect, but you can talk to me about this stuff. Not that you have to tell me anything unless you really want to, but I just know that not talking about it ended up hurting Nancy a lot," he looked at his hands.

She nodded, "I know- but did it occur to you that I don't wanna talk about it? It's already bad enough just thinking about everything, talking about it? Forget it."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't know what you're normally like since we kinda met a couple days before everything went to shit but," he sighed, thinking of the right words, "But you don't seem right."

"And maybe I'm not, but that's not your problem. That's mine. Let me deal with that on my own time. It's a lot easier to just make fun of how preppy you are."

"Hey!" he tossed a pillow at her.

Annie laughed, feeling the pillow hit her side, "What? I'm right!"

Really, talking about anything else was easier. It wasn't that she wanted to make Steve worry about her, but she couldn't help reacting to everything the way she did. Besides, Annie knew that he wasn't reacting the best to it either. Though, there was a lot more than just demodogs that he had to go through. Losing the girl he still seemed to love had to take a lot out of him.

On the outside, it probably looked like she simply stuck around out of pity or for some form of social protection. Maybe there was some truth in that, but she genuinely thought that Steve was fun to hang out with. He was funny and kinder than he gave himself credit for. Obviously there was a part of her that knew if she didn't stick around with at least someone, she would end up being more of a victim to ridicule than she already was.

All of that pissed her off more than she cared to admit. A part of her really did wish Billy Hargrove were dead. The way he would look at her made her want to run to the bathroom and throw up for hours. What if she had actually tried to cut his throat? No, they would be in a bigger mess than they were already. There was no need to add murder to the mix.

She wanted him dead in almost the same way she wanted her dad dead when she found out he was cheating on her mom. It wasn't something she actually wanted to happen. Death was so final yet uncertain. Saying that she wished that she wanted someone to still be alive but never come near her in any way, shape, or form was a bit long-winded and less catchy. That was more accurate to what she wanted.

"I know you don't like it when people touch you," Steve said, changing the subject back.

Annie shrugged, "Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, but... but you're really specific with it. I don't need to know why, I just need to know what you're okay with. We're friends, I need you to at least explain that."

"Um... I mean, I don't know totally, it depends," she paused, "Like, being snuck up on? That's a huge no-go, obviously. I mean, it's not that I hate touch or anything, I just- I prefer to be the one touching someone else. Or if it's, like, one of the kids, that I have a way to get out of it easily. It's mostly with people I'm uncomfortable with. Like you, at first, but it just- it depends, I'm not sure how else to tell you."

He nodded, "That's fine, I just don't wanna end up hurting you on accident or, like, one of the kids or something."

"Well, since you asked me something super personal... do you think you're getting over Nancy at all?" she asked, moving so she was criss-cross on the bed.

Steve frowned, "I guess? Seeing her and Jonathan together sucks a bit less every day. It's only been a week, though. And I'm not dumb, I know she's liked him for a while. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. After what I did last year when I saw them sitting together, I didn't wanna be the asshole jumping to conclusions again. I thought if she didn't love me that she would say it when she was sober. I put in so much effort for her and she didn't even care."

Neither of them brought up how obvious it was that Nancy and Jonathan probably did something when they were off getting some Murray Bauman guy to help them. Annie wasn't going to say anything if Steve wasn't. A part of her thought he knew, but she didn't want to hurt him even more if he hadn't put it together.

"You know she didn't leave you because you were a shitty boyfriend, right?"

"Now that's bullshit."

Annie tossed the pillow in her lap right at Steve's face, "No, you're gonna listen to me. The only one who's bullshit here is Nancy. If she didn't love you, then she should've said so. You were obviously a great boyfriend. You went to her dead best friend's parents' house when you didn't even know them. And you let her go, if you were a shitty boyfriend, you wouldn't have done any of those things."

"That's nice, but I called her a slut and I didn't even really like her much at first."

"If all that bothered her, she could have stayed broken up with you after everything a year ago," she pointed out, "You made up for all that. Not everyone does, and you obviously love her."

They both sat there, not saying anything. Instead, they both just let the music play in the background. Annie knew that she didn't have feelings for Steve. For all the bad luck she had with guys, they were too good of friends for her to mess that up. Because of that, she couldn't let him get over Nancy on his own. And she knew that for as moody as Steve would get at times, he would have told her if he didn't want her around.

Taglist (lmk if you wanna be on it!): @dungeons-and-demodogs​ @nxncywheeler​ @ilovebucketbarnes​

[fictional-worlds-are-exquisite]

thank you! i think you're genuinely the only person that has ever said they actually like the fact that my bathrobe is obnoxiously pink. and you're absolutely right, one of the things i like most about it is that it hurts people's eyes. i love it actually. if you ever celebrate halloween you should absolutely add your bathrobe to your costume. an amazing idea. since it has a mouse face on the hood it could be two costumes rolled into one - both a vampire and a mouse (if in the middle of the evening you get bored of one), which i think would be awesome. and you probably wouldn't get cold (is it cold in nz during halloween? because here it almost always is). we don't celebrate halloween in lithuania either though. which i'm a bit bummed about, because halloween sounds super fun. mostly because of the dressing up! but i did celebrate it once, when i was 11 or 12 maybe? me and a couple of friends decided it would be fun even if it's not really celebrated here. so we dressed up, even went trick ir treating (half the houses had no idea what was happening and also i pretty much froze to death because i was dressed as a dead bride and refused to put a coat on because then you couldn't see my dress) and also watched horror movies. 12 (or 11) year old me thought it was amazing.

oh yeah! i've broken a knife on 2 separate occasions i think. once i tried to get something out of between the blender's blades, used a knife and then accidentally turned the blender on (i'm so fucking glad it was a knife and not my fingers). so the tip of the knife broke off (the blender was ok tho). and the second time i have no idea how it happened. i was cutting up broccoli and the knife just fell apart??? i was so confused, because one second i'm holding a knife and the next it's just two pieces of a handle and the metal part, all separate. had fun explaining that to my dad. you sound pretty unlucky too! i mean, a cut every time you use a knife, but you don't even notice it at the time? i think it's just that knives are out to get us (it's my newest conspiracy theory). i actually get double vision too sometimes! mostly when i'm tired, but i just figured that it was because i have really bad eyesight

they definitely SHOULD teach about gender and sexuality in school. it's a really big problem that in a lot of places it's either not compulsory or not even in the curriculum. honestly, everything i know about sex ed or lgbtq+ i had to learn myself on the internet, because we only had one class when we were like 13 years old with a guest speaker and it was mostly biology and then a little bit about menstruation and pads for girls (i have no idea what they told boys because we were also separated). so sex ed definitely sucks a lot in my country and i bet it's the same in a lot of others, which makes me really mad

exactly!! it's so hard to tell whether i'm feeling romantic or platonic love sometimes! it's confusing. also i remember one time me and a couple of friends had a sleepover and the friend's, who was hosting, parents weren't home so we watched romance movies (scandalous i know). again we were maybe 12. and they kept going "oh he's so hot" and intensely watching the sex scenes. while i was looking away from the tv whenever sexy times were going on and commenting on how much i loved the house design and the garden. gee i wonder what that means. (still can't believe it took me this long to figure out i was ace)

the breakfast went very well though! it's so interesting how different traditions are everywhere. i hope your lunch and the rest of christmas day went well too! (also i forgot to ask last time, but what is boxing day? google says it's mostly a shopping holiday, is it that? we just call it the second day of christmas and it's pretty much the same as christmas day but there's no presents!) but yeah i hope you had fun with your extended family on boxing day!

having acid reflux sounds like it sucks. i love breakfast, it's my favourite meal of the day (when i don't have to rush that is) and i skip lunch a lot because i usually have no time for it (my schedule kinda sucks), so i usually try to have a bigger breakfast. but hey, peanut butter is good! so at least you can have something that tastes good for breakfast!

aaand i feel like this ask got away from me. sorry it's so long!

it’s because i have t a s t e. it may not be GOOD taste but it sure is...taste...and i am proud of it. and yes, i love the idea of adding my dressing gown to my costume specifically because it means i’m basically in my PJ’s. minimal effort. comfort to the max. living the dream. halfway through the night i’m tired of being the vampire no one invites in so i drop to my knees and start the mouse act. mice are good at getting in houses and getting to chocolate and such. the dream. also i absolutely would get bored of one costume within the space of a few hours knowing me, so that’s a plus. uhhhh halloween is october which is. mid-late spring so it really depends on the day. it might be a little cold, might be shorts weather. I rarely leave my house at night so I’m not an expert on nighttime temperatures sdflsdfjsd. 

I used to wish we did Halloween here but that was mostly because I wanted lollies. Although I also liked playing dress up as a young kid so maybe very young me would’ve vibed with the costume aspect. I know there’s a photo of me when I was like, 5 and my best friend of the time dressed up as witches at some point, maybe we had our own little halloween. I also possibly had a halloween themed birthday party once as a kid? I remember the little gift bags having spooky things in them and also possibly a bat cake but my memory is too bad to remember for sure. aha that’s the problem here too, no one locally would ever think to buy lollies to give out so it’d just be like um. you can have an apple I guess? at least you had fun though! i respect the commitment to the costume despite the cold. 

that is such a stressful story to read, i fear for your life. although i understand the knife breaking in that first scenario. that would be terrifying though. what if the blender launched it,,, nOPE. i’m very glad it wasn’t your fingers, that’s some horror movie shit. the second time is just,, it be like that sometimes. it was probably just waiting to happen. my parents have a cheese grater with a loose handle and it. falls off. every time. i dry it. with the dishes. and every time i fear for my life as the grating bit drops off towards my feet as i’m left holding the handle. i should expect it by now but i never do. I get scared every time it happens. knives are definitely out to get us, i fully support this conspiracy theory. oh yeah, tiredness doesn’t help with double vision. i kind of need bifocal glasses by now but I also don’t want bifocal glasses so i just suffer but I suspect having them would reduce the double vision. maybe. maybe not.

yup! i remember someone handing out tampons and pads at primary school, i assume after giving a talk about periods, idk. i do also remember a teacher pulling the girls aside and being like yo, this is what a period is, here’s a horror story about my daughter and a tampon, enjoy the trauma, go back to class. good times. we did actually get really comprehensive sex ed concerning most things at my high school but that is faaaarrr from the norm around here, clearly. although teenage boys are good at filling in gaps, in my experience. they’re like little sex encyclopedias that offer up information without you asking. i didn’t ACTUALLY want to know that but i do now, i guess, thanks michael. 

dude. the ‘oh he’s so hot’ comments are so confusing. ‘hot’ is like a category of attractiveness that I’ve never understood. ‘isn’t he hot?’ what does that MEAN rebecca. i think i asked once if it meant like, attractive or good looking. and the person i asked was like, you know, hot. you just look at them and, you know- no i don’t know. what is this. i don’t think i’ve ever watched a sex scene with people my age though, generally i just zone out for them sdkfhskdfh. i feel like there’s definitely all these indicators when you look back like oh yeah, should’ve realised i was ace then, but it’s just. such a hard sexuality to figure out. not that other sexualities aren’t but you’ve got to figure out an absence of something when you don’t even know what the something feels like- it’s a challenge.

I’m glad it did! It is interesting, for sure. I’ve always been interested in how winter Christmas’s work. As a young kid I didn’t understand hemispheres...obviously...i was like 5...and i’d go out on Christmas morning to see if there was snow. and sometimes it’d be a bit chilly in the morning and I’d be like damn. we almost had some this year. it’s a shame our climate tends to be too hot for snow on christmas :// like no you tiny dumbass it’s summer you little idiot there will be no snow no matter what. everything ended up going super well here :). boxing day is basically just a shopping holiday, i don’t know if it has any significance in any other way, i’m sure it did at one point, but i know there’s always boxing day sales everywhere. I think it’s also a public holiday (?) to give people another day off work and that, but I could be wrong there. I know I also used to regularly go to the races (horse races) nearby that were always held on boxing day, it was like a 150 year old tradition or something until people in attendance started dropping and I think they finally shut it down a couple years back. I didn’t care all that much about the horses but they also had food and carnival-type rides and such for the kids which is why I loved it. also we tended to meet extended family there for a picnic lunch.

acid reflux is like the least of my problems sdfkjshdkf. it’s annoying but it’s pretty managed with medication, I have to watch certain foods and drinks but I’m used to it by now. I think it’s also what causes me to not be able to eat large amounts normally so I survive a lot on snacks and a reasonable sized dinner. works for me. but peanut butter is good! i’m glad i can have that! I used to also have vegemite but that’s a bit more of a push, it’s easier to stick with peanut butter.

also it’s fine!! my responses are always very long too sdfjhskdf.

[moonstonemonika]

💎 Tarot Reading 🌙

So I started by lighting my candle and gathering my thoughts. I started shuffling my deck to get some engery flowing through them and thats when I asked my first question. I wanted to try asking about my boyfriend and I. Long Distance but we've been together for a year and 10 months now.

I decided to ask about my boyfriend and what he is in our relationship. And I proceeded with shuffling my cards until one popped up for me.

Death

Now this one is very commonly misunderstood. This card does not always mean literal Death. Sometimes it means the death of a part of you and making room for the new. Whether that be cutting ties and letting go of the past. At least thats what it means for me. Now what I think this card is trying to tell me is that maybe there are somethings we need to discuss so we can "kill" it and make room for the new.

(A little side note, we've had our ups and downs like many relationships and almost broke up but we talked about it and we're doing better. So maybe that's also another thing the card is saying.)

After this I then asked my next question. How does he feel about this relationship. And again, I shuffled until another card popped up.

The Tower ~ Reversed

Now at first I got a bit startled because I saw it was the tower and it means chaos and destruction. But in Reversed its a little bit different. Basically it means you're avoiding the inevitable when it could actually be for the best. For me it felt like change. Change is definitely going to happen whether I like it or not. And recently this years there's already been a lot of that. I moved places 3 times this year already and it has put a lot of stress in our relationship.

After this I asked what we could do to help, just some advice. And again shuffled my cards until a card popped up.

The Two of Cups ~ Reversed

The two of cups means a union between two people. Partnership, communication and compassion to name a few. But in Reversed, this card tells another message. It means there is a disharmony and lack of communication in the relationship. Imbalance, uncompromising, arguments and break ups. We did have an argument this October around Halloween. The week before I believe? And we almost broke up. There was a lack of communication, but we decided to talk about things and how we feel the next day. Now, I did do this reading today, November, 10. We haven't had another argument and things have actually been going a bit better so I will try and keep this message in the back of my mind. Maybe for the future.

Now I'm going to be honest with you. I recently started with tarot and this is the hardest reading I think I've done on myself. It left me thinking and feeling kind of sad. I really love my boyfriend and I know he loves me too. I feel like the physical distance between us is the biggest issue. But we are both still so young and have just started working our first jobs, even thoughwe really want to move in together, we probablycan't affordit yet. This alone has been putting at of stress in our relationship. But I'm staying optimistic for the future. Whether things work out or not. It'll be for the better.

Sorry if this was a little weird or something. I just wanted to put this here as a little tarot entry. Feel free to ignore this if you're not interested 😊

Now I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Stay safe and blessed be ~ ♡🌙

[thechekhov]

how would you recommend an artist make themselves better known on tumblr and in general? ive been drawing and painting almost my whole life but its hard to get people to notice me, any advice? thank you, you're my fave artist

Thank you so much! That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside…

As for your questions… hmm… it’s for sure a good one. 

I’m going to get a bit… strategical on that one. Hope you don’t mind this approach. 

Tumblr and real life are definitely alike in a lot of aspects, while in others they’re polar opposites. For the sake of keeping things neatly shelved, I’m going to focus on tumblr in this post.

＊*☆HOW TO GET ART NOTICED ON TUMBLR☆*＊

by chekhov

1. We have to understand how the tumblr sharing system works. 

I know this sounds a bit too obvious. I mean, we all know HOW. It’s by reblogging! 

I know that there’s a BIG opinion on tumblr that we should share and reblog art as much as possible to help artists get noticed. And that’s TRUE. It’s absolutely correct.

One thing I don’t agree with on that front is the guilt-tripping factor of it all. Like somehow people are responsible for the downfall of less popular artists because they didn’t reblog stuff enough. People are really quick to point at their followers and say “I GOT 100 OF Y’ALL HERE AND ONLY 3 ARE REBLOGGING ANYTHING”. 

I get it. It’s frustrating!

But the fact of the matter is, you can’t force people to reblog stuff. 

Instead, I recommend we harvest the power of the sharing we already have. We have to be smart about this. What I’m going to go into is a bit less concrete. We have to think about the PEOPLE who are doing the reblogging. 

Artists aren’t the ONLY ones with motivations for getting their stuff seen. And because they create media they are, for lack of a better word… a vendor! The buck STARTS with them, but it doesn’t stop with them. 

They have to also think about what the people are going to do with their product once it’s reblogged. Once someone buys from the vendor, they don’t just keep it forever. They distribute it to the others. And sometimes, those others distribute it again. We have to think about the bigger picture, and think about how FAR your art has the potential to go!

So, to get started we need to know… WHO are the ones buying from the vendor… and why?

What kind of rebloggers ARE there? 

I’m going to give my own opinion here, and feel free to disagree. But the 3 biggest rebloggers most important to the artist are these:

1. The Pleaser

Sounds sexy, right? In fact, the pleaser comes in many different forms. But essentially their goal is the same - they reblog stuff like aesthetic posts, and other pleasing things. They themselves tend to like a lot of stuff and reblog mostly beautiful photos, nice designs, and lots of fanart of whatever they’re into at the time. Comics and story-like posts are good here (although if they’re too long, people tend to lose interest.)

How to get reblogged by a Pleaser?

Appeal to their fandom, their interest, and make something that moves them. Pleasers are most active around the time when the new episode of their favorite show comes out, or when their favorite holiday comes around. Drawing fanart during its peak popularity will usually catch a Pleasers’ attention, as will drawing aesthetic Halloween posts around, well, Halloween. 

2. The Teaser

The Teaser is the class clown and the shitposter, and they reblog memes and jokes voraciously. In the Teaser’s audience are other teasers - and they also tend to be very generous rebloggers. The fact of the matter is - memes sell reblogs faster than any aesthetic art will. We’re social creatures and getting a laugh out of our followers is worth a LOT of fake internet points.

How do I get reblogged by the Teaser?

Memes. I mean, you knew this was coming, right? During the height of some new tumblr joke, people usually welcome any unusual spin, or any funny variation of an old joke. 

My meme redraws have consistently been popular and have ‘boomed’ very quickly. For example, this redraw of sapphire from Steven Universe doing ‘the scroll of truth’ jumped to 5k almost within a day. 

Many people peek at my page ‘for the lols’ but end up staying for the art, or because there’s another thing I post they’re interested in. Either way, memes are a gateway drug… to your blog. 

3. The Librarian

The Librarian is a bit more rare, but they’re still important, because they tend to reblog a lot. They’re a bit unusual in the sense that they do this for themselves, instead of for an audience. The blog of the librarian is mostly just a replacement for bookmarking interesting stuff. These people tend to reblog tutorials, reference posts, and things they want to read later on. 

How to get reblogged by a Librarian?

Make things that people want to keep around. Charts, references, tutorials. Chances are, the librarian will snag it up eventually. 

Of course, these 3 aren’t the ONLY type of tumblr blogger. In fact, many of them are a mix of these 3. But the main point is…

2. What do most of these (and other) people on tumblr have in common?

Just like you, many people (although not all) want to get their stuff SEEN. You might be creating the original product, but they choose whether or not to distribute it to their audience. 

Everyone is playing the same game, no matter which part of the chain they’re on.

You, as an artist, have the biggest responsibility to think about this long-term. Not only 1 reblog down the line. 

For example, let’s return to one of my meme-posts that I did about wrist pain (carpal tunnel). When I made this, I had a vague idea of who would consume it. Obviously… other artists. But the reason that this got so popular? Is not only because fellow artists follow me. It’s because the artists that follow me also have followers who are also, conveniently, artists. That’s why despite the fact that many people reblogged the post directly from me - even MORE of them reblogged it from @sergle​ (shoutout to sergle! u rock) who is also a popular artist and also has an audience who were prone to want to reblog the post.

See that orange dot? That’s me. See that bigger blue dot? That’s sergle. 

In a way, this is a game of chance. Will something you reblog be seen by someone with a large enough audience to keep it going? The thing is, we don’t know until it happens. And oftentime, the only way to achieve this is to keep trying. Stubbornly. 

But you can’t just headbutt the wall in the same place and hope it eventually crumbles. You have to look for a door. 

3. So what’s the door? 

Take a look at your art. Is it consumable BEYOND the surface level of your followers? 

Sometimes people get discouraged because their fanart is way more popular than their original art. Although I share their frustration, there’s a good reason for this, and your followers aren’t to blame.  

The thing is, fanart is consumable at deep reblog levels. If you post fanart, there’s a good chance that even 3-4 reblogs down the line, there’s going to be a person who sees it and thinks ‘hey, I know Steven Universe. My followers know Steven Universe. I’ll reblog this!’ Fandoms are efficient because they already have a lot of context for the consumption of the art. They have a story (humans love stories), they’re invested in it, they’re interested in it, and there’s a good chance that sharing more stuff about it will get them more interaction with their mutuals, even if they’re not consciously thinking about all this as they reblog. 

Unfortunately, that’s just not true for your original art. Many of us have beautiful, wonderful stories - but they’re not available to a wide audience. They’re not easily consumed, they’re not easily accessed (in comparison to being on netflix, for example). If you post a picture of your OC - maybe your immediate pool of followers who know that OC will reblog it. But their own followers who aren’t directly following you will not have any connection, emotional or otherwise, to that character. They simply don’t have a reason to care, and they don’t have any means to. Even if they visit your blog - will it be easy to find similar content? Have you got your links available on desktop AND mobile? Is it easy to find the beginning of your story? Is it free of mistakes and easy to read? 

Large companies that make shows or comics funnel tons of money into making their media consumable. There’s a LOT of effort that goes into advertising, too. You, as an independent artist, simply don’t have that kind of manpower. That’s not your fault - but it’s also not your followers’ fault. Why are they supposed to reblog things that their own followers will never understand and connect with? 

4. Back to square one: how do I get noticed? 

I’m gonna keep this short and sweet because I feel like I already took up a lot of your time. After everything I’ve said, hopefully this will make sense:

Make content that has a connection to your audience somehow. Make it relatable to their life. Make it relatable to what’s currently going on. Make it worth their while to look at it. 

Make content that’s easy to understand. Super detailed drawings, with nothing to focus on are difficult to digest. Simpler, sharper drawings that someone can understand within 3 seconds of looking at it are the most digestible of all. This isn’t a museum.

If you’re creating content that goes with a story, MAKE THE STORY. I know it’s tempting to create just a whole bunch of character sketch sheets and leave it at that, but you can’t complain about not getting an audience when your audience doesn’t have anything to consume in the first place. 

Make the story AVAILABLE. Organize your tags. Make sure those tags are easily accessible. People will never like 100% of your art, so many it easy for them to find what they WILL like. 

Don’t be afraid of fanart. Fanart gets you connected with people who like stories and content similar to yours. 

Don’t be afraid to follow and reblog people that you want to connect with. Don’t be afraid to make them stuff and @ them. 

Post your stuff to a LOT of places! Your audience is somewhere out there - probably not only on tumblr. You have to spread yourself thin sometimes, but make sure the account can all lead back to your main hub. 

And last but not least…

Critically re-evaluate your art at least once a year. (I’m personally working on this.) Just because you’ve been drawing for years, and just because your art might be incredible doesn’t mean it’s appealing to people. Sounds weird, right? But think about it - there’s TONS of people who are not that amazing at anatomy, or coloring… but they still have a huge audience, and people connect with their art. A lot of times, it’s because their art is straightforward and easy to read/understand. 

Ask a friend to critique your art. Ask them if they understand your work, or if it’s difficult to make out. Ask them what your work inspires in them. Ask them what they DO like about your work - and exaggerate that!

There’s a LOT that goes into art… no matter it’s a whole industry! Doing it all on your own is HARD and it’s a bit unthinkable how much artists have to do to compete with industries. But it’s not impossible, and it’s definitely worth it. :)

Hope I didn’t bore any of y’all who made it down this far. 

Thanks!

[books--andt]

Turtles All The Way Down by John Green Review!

Hey Bookies and Happy Halloween!

Turtles All The Way Down is about a 16 year old girl named Aza. Aza has a mix of mental health issues, specifically around anxiety and OCD. When news is released of Davis Pickett Sr. being missing, Aza and her best friend Daisy become curious about the case, especially since Aza used to be friends with Davis' son, and, there's a $100,000.00 reward for anyone who finds Mr. Pickett.

Ahh TATWD... John Green's newest book. I know some people are hesitant to go into this book, whether it's because they didn't like any of his previous ones or just don't want the heart ache, but I implore you to read this. It's my favourite book of his that I've read. As for the heart ache well... It's a John Green book c'mon there's gonna be some heart ache!

My favourite thing about this entire book was how real it was. You can tell that John Green made this book very personal to him, as only someone who's experienced anxiety themselves could write a book like this. I found it really interesting to be inside Aza's head. My heart ached for her when she would do something that she knew was illogical, but that she simply couldn't help because she was so anxious about getting sick.

This next part may contain some ***spoilers***

What really got me was when Aza started drinking the hand sanitizer. She knew it was wrong, crazy even, but that other voice in her head was just too overwhelming. These passages where Aza would have conversations with herself were the most powerful to me. This would be difficult to portray in a film, but it could be done in an artistic way. My heart was especially saddened when Aza was in the hospital after being in the car accident, and she drinks even more hand sanitizer which, is especially dangerous with her liver injury. Her mother sees her, but Aza still doesn't stop because she can't stop. She knows it doesn't make sense, but she just can't stop. I thought JG did a great job of explaining this, and for someone who doesn't have anxiety, or doesn't understand it, reading it this way, and seeing how Aza wants to be "normal" but just can't is eye opening. The mind is a powerful thing. For someone whose never experienced a thought spiral or anxiety it can be really hard to imagine. I hope that this book makes those people more aware and understanding of those living with these kinds of mental health issues.

On another note, I really loved Daisy. Besides the fact that she had written that character Ayala, in her star wars fanfic for so many years and who was clearly a version of Aza (that's not what bff's do!). But I thought she was really funny and in the end, a good supporting friend who understood Aza and how she worked. I literally laughed out loud when Daisy said to Aza, "Aza, I love you. I want to be buried next to you. On our tomb stone it will read, "Aza and Daisy, they did everything together, minus the nasty." Hahahahahaha.

When I got to the part that explains the title I was just jumpy with joy. I don't know, I love when the title of a book intertwines with the story and is explained that way. So when you pick up the book you're like, "huh I wonder what this could mean" and then you read it and are like, "ooooh!" I also see how the "all the way down" part relates to Aza's mental health, and other parts of the book. The turtles in the river, joggers mouth, thought spirals, etc.

I'm still worried about Noah, even after finishing this book. I can't imagine what would be going through a 13 year olds head in a situation like that. Especially when their father left them nothing!! I'm sure they will be okay financially, I mean, they had $100,000.00 in a fricken cereal box fir crying out loud, but still. Money isn't everything. I want them to be okay.

5/5 stars. Thank you John Green for writing an unforgiving, realistic book, one that I'm sure relates to so many people, and one that will be held dearly by many.

What are you reading now? Anyone wearing bookish halloween costumes tonight??

Thanks for reading!

- T

[nerdywriterlady]

Love In A Hopeless Place (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction)

Preface

I'll be perfectly honest, I'm a traditional novelist, and do have works completed, including a full novel as myself and a novella that's been published under a pen name. I've never written fan fiction, and never thought I would. So you might wonder, how I found myself here, penning this? I had an idea for a character, for a traditional story arc involving a British male, so I began consuming as many interviews with current British actors, ie David Tennent, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston... to listen to speech, mannerisms, differences in terminology, etc. During what I'm affectionately referring to as a "Hiddle-binge" I came upon Tom's diary or blog of his trip with UNICEF to Guinea last January. Charities that involve children have always resonated deeply with me, from St. Jude's Children's Hospital who cared for my cousin who was diagnosed with cancer at 13 and again at 16, to Operation Smile who provide underpriviliged children with much needed cleft lip and palate surgeries as my nephew was born with both so their works are very near and dear to me. I've always known of UNICEF, I've never looked into what they do though. I had quickly developed an appreciation for Tom's works. I feel much of my own writing style and subjects have been greatly influenced by the classics that I began reading as far back as an eleven year old. So, it came as no great surprise that Tom's blog was extremely well written, and filled with enumerable passages that carried such weight to what they conveyed.

For example:

"One small ward - about the size of a single room in a two-star or three-star hotel in the UK - housed at least twenty children, some of whom I was told had slim chances of survival. Their arms and legs were indescribably thin, their cheeks tear-stained, their skin a harrowing, slate-grey. Most shocking to me was the speed and urgency of their breathing, asleep or awake, but it was uniformly unsettled and uneven. When you see a child struggling so hard simply to breathe, it makes your heart hurt..."

As I read along, and looked at the images taken along his trip, I started to see the scenes of a story playing out in my mind. It's just how I write. I've always been able to "see" the scenes and then manage to put them into words. I tried to continue focus on my original work in progress, but kept being haunted by my characters in Guinea floating in my mind as an accoustic version of Rhianna's "We Found Love (In A Hopeless Place)" echoed behind them. I've concluded that they're not going to leave me alone until I tell their story. I fought over whether to write it traditionally  or not. Tom's words are so profound at points that I feel the story would suffer without them. So I decided to fanfiction them. Putting Tom as one of the main characters. Which I suppose should lead me to a disclaimer of sorts...

DISCLAIMER: While the majority of what you're about to read is completely fiction, parts of it will be the direct quotes from Tom Hiddleston's field diary. I will strive to ensure they are marked someway as quotes and maintain their diary format. I do not know Tom, I don't own his words, none of the conversations that take place between Tom the character and the other characters in this work have ever taken place. What I hope is to entertain you with a love story on a few levels, and hopefully also spread some of the awareness that UNICEF needs and deserves.

I know that was a really long intro, but I felt there needed to be some explanation other than a tiny synopsis which will try to entice you to read the story. I don't know how long it will take to write, I'm not 100% sure where these characters are about to take me, but I thank you for reading and following along with the journey until the final stroke of the pen, as it were.

Use the following link to the story...

Love In A Hopeless Place on Wattpad

Synopsis:

Single mom, Nessa Keefe, has never left the States. Never even crossed the borders into Canada or Mexico. She shocks her family and friends when she volunteers her skills as a photographer to International relief charity, UNICEF, after watching commercials at Halloween on "Trick or Treat for UNICEF". In December, she received her first assignment. In January, she was going to Guinea. And not just Guinea, but she was going along to photo-document a celebrity's first field visit.

Actor Tom Hiddleston is world known now and world travelled thanks in part to the huge success he's had from his portrayal as fan beloved Loki in the Marvel movie series. He's about to embark on his first visit into the field with UNICEF as a Junior Ambassador. It's a trip that's going to carry with him forever, and he'll return home from Guinea, with a deeper love and appreciation for many things and people.