#it's just fun for me to occasionally revisit old ideas

[light-wynd]

What's a more appropriate time to remake my first ever drawing of Nagisa than his birthday month? :D

Can't believe I've been drawing this boy for 4 years now... the 23rd of this year will be the 4th time I make birthday art for him. Wild.

and don't worry, this'll be my last remake post for quite a while lmao. i've just been sitting on this one for ages and thought this would be the perfect time to get it out.

[hyunverse]

hi my love! i’ve slowly been getting into skz fics so i’ve been watching you from afar for a little while now and reading your amazing fics (i have so many in my liked posts, waiting to be read - i promise i’ll get to them soon 🙏)

i just wanted to say congrats on 5k and i was hoping i could join your event !! it’s such an adorable idea and sounds like so much fun hehe <33

my ideal date is something unplanned, romantic, and childish. i’d love to go to an arcade and play all the games and lose track of time and later maybe we could go out for ice cream on a late night drive with no destination in mind or we could stop at the beach and it’d be cold so he’d give me his jacket while we walk around and talk about everything and nothing under the stars 🤭

sorry for being a hopeless romantic anyway, just wanted to say i love your fics and i look forward to getting through your masterlist eventually <33

— the cupid's heard your wish, your match is yang jeongin .ᐟ

note: ahhh you're so sweet and kind ^.^ thank you so much for the kind words, do take your time to read them!! i hope you'll like them, and that you'll like this <3

playlist...

back to the old house by the smiths ・ because you're pretty by giriboy ・ 18 by one direction ・ bad by wave to earth ・ 10,000 hours by prettymuch ・ dance, baby by boy pablo ・ every summertime by niki

trope...

boy next door trope!! jeongin's the boy next door you've had your eyes on throughout your teenage years. one day you become friends with one of his brothers and with his help you manage to get closer to jeongin. i feel like he gives off such boy next door vibes tbh.

headcanons...

dating jeongin = spontaneous dates. all the time!! if he has time after practise you'll get a call and he'll ask you to dress up and takes you out on a spontaneous date.

due to his tendeancy of having impromptu dates, i think you'll end up discovering a lot of secret spots together. a beautiful pond that overlooks the city, a hidden gem of a cafe in the corners of the city, and instagrammable spots. you name it!! jeongin keeps track of these places to revisit with you.

loooots of time spent in arcades. he gets competitive!!! always either trying to beat you in a game or trying to win you a plushie. either way, you're pretty sure he's used up a lot of his money in arcades.

your instagram game will 100% be upgraded. seriously. jeongin would take so many pictures of you and insist for you to post them because he's so proud to have you <3 occasionally, you'll wake up to see a candid photo of you posted in his instagram story.

losing track of time while hanging out with jeongin is so easy. he's just so comfortable to be around with. some nights, you get to stargaze with him in a field as you lay on his lap and he plays with your hair <3

[velvet-games]

intro post

I'll probably add more to/change this later; I've just needed an intro post for a while, and this is what I could think of. you should probably remind me to update it if this section is still here after like six months lol.

name/pronouns/age/gay shit~

honestly you can call me whatever, but I probably won't know you're talking about me unless you use vel/velvet.

prefer they/it; any pronouns are fine.

I'm probably non-binary I guess.

I'm an adult.

I basically just identify as queer at this point, but I'm like,, vaguely aroace-spec probably? still figuring it out. I'm actually very happy to talk about it more specifically, but I might have to sit you down for an entire day to explain it lol.

what I do/post~

I mostly post fandom stuff, and my original posts include a lot of art + occasional meta. I'm starting write fic too, so that might be a more regular thing in the future :)

other accounts~

@/velvetygames -- explicit nsfw twitter/x account, not very active

@cornerbytes -- old dragon prince account that I will probably revisit when the new season comes out

@/velvet_games -- ao3 account

nsfw~

I post occasional nsfw here (never super explicit; that's saved for my twitter); it'll be tagged #nsft.

fandoms~

current fandom: hazbin hotel

previous fandoms:

hannibal (will always have a very special place in my heart)

arcane (will revisit when the new season comes out)

ofmd (literally so happy this exists; devastated it's not getting a new season)

the dragon prince (will probably revisit when the new season comes out)

good omens

lotr (I also read like 2/3 of the hobbit and will hopefully finish it this summer lmao)

things in media that make me go insane (in a good way)~

friendship

happy endings

cannibalism

(WELL-WRITTEN) romance (THAT RESPECTS THE CHARACTERS AS INDIVIDUALS AS WELL AS WHO THEY ARE IN RELATION TO OTHERS)

surrealism

good visuals (even if everything else is shit; extra points if it's animation)

angst

fake-hating

this one's weird but I love situations where a character is really helpless; I thought I liked whump because I can be borderline sadistic about it sometimes, but whump is really not necessary at all to this concept

religious stuff, mythology, angels specifically for some reason (especially when they're terrifying and/or fallen)

gay people

requests~

you are welcome to send in ideas through comments, DMs, asks, etc., but I can't guarantee I'll draw them. if I don't, it doesn't mean that I don't like your idea; I'm probably just busy or have too many brainworms about a specific thing to draw anything but what's on my mind.

notes~

I randomly get really anxious about feedback on stuff sometimes lol, but I promise I read every single comment/tag and cherish them very deeply <33

also, like/rb spamming is totally fine and welcomed! I know some people don't like it, so I just wanted to make it clear that it's completely cool with me.

mutuals~

for a really long time, this was my pinned post, and it's still true! definitely welcome any interactions from mutuals <3

I do have a problem with randomly ghosting people though; I've been much better with it recently, but please try not to take it personally if I don't respond to DMs quickly. I'm probably just being insane and in my head about it. I'm really sorry.

misc~

this is an account that is purposely removed from my irl stuff; I'm here to have fun and relax on my mostly fandom-oriented blog.

I don't block often since I mostly meet nice people on here, but I am very happy to block accounts that make my experience on this app shitty.

I try to tag triggers when appropriate, but please let me know if you need me to tag anything I haven't.

art for me is just a hobby I use for fun and self-expression, so while I really appreciate concrit, keep in mind that my goal is ultimately to make stuff that makes me happy.

I am also very protective of young artists that get made fun of for being beginners or making unconventional art; you should never assume why someone is making art, and you especially should not assume that they are focused on becoming more skilled or making things that are beautiful to you. if they're not hurting anyone and you're not their target audience, get the fuck out.

I am of the mindset that media is not real, but that your reaction/the things you learn are. liking cannibal media does not make you a cannibal, but seeing bigoted portrayals of minorities can feed your biases (doesn't necessarily mean you can't consume it; does mean its effect on you/others irl should factor into if/how you decide to interact with it).

I'm vaguely fucked in the head. just keep that in mind.

[poetzproblem]

Poetz, I'm going to adjust your game a bit that'll probably make you embarrassed and uncomfortable. I'm doing most memorable sex scene. And you have many great ones to choose from but I'm going with 'I Can Put on a Show'. You have the high school animosity paired with the maturity for them to act on it. Even though you do it from Quinn's POV, I've always imagined all the emotions Rachel is processing. Love the idea of her getting the epiphany, "Damn, she was so hot in that uniform."

It only makes me a little embarrassed since I never think my sex scenes are all that good. But that one was definitely fun to explore exactly because I got to revisit some of their high school dynamics in a happier, safer environment for them. I think it was probably very cathartic for both of them to let that play out the way they did.

And yeah, Rachel definitely had that epiphany.

Also, just for you, have a moment from Rachel's pov:

--

The moment Quinn disappears into the Berry’s spare room, Rachel rushes into her own bedroom, anticipation bubbling low in her belly as she throws open the door to her closet and hastily shuffles through the perfectly preserved remnants of her questionable teenage fashion choices. She’d seen the way her girlfriend’s eyes had glazed over when she’d spotted Rachel’s old skirts yesterday. That along with the knowledge that Quinn had been secretly fighting an attraction to her back then had inspired so many possibilities on ways to revisit those memories in healthier ways. 

There’s no question in Rachel’s mind of which skirt she intends to don for this little activity of theirs. She quickly grabs the yellow and black plaid that had been one of her favorites back in freshman year—the same one Quinn’s attention had lingered on yesterday—and a matching soft yellow sweater that thankfully hadn’t been thrown out. There’s a brief moment of regret that it doesn’t have a bumblebee sewn into the front, just to give Quinn the full Rachel Berry Experience, but this will just have to suffice. 

Tossing the clothes onto her bed, she rummages through her dresser drawers in search of any appropriate accessories to the ensemble. She squeals in triumph when she not only finds a yellow headband but a pair of yellow and black argyle socks.  “Perfect,” she mutters to herself, throwing them onto her mattress next to her outfit before eagerly stripping out of her current clothes. She pauses for a moment at her underwear, considering, before she decides to strip them off as well. She has a feeling Quinn will appreciate the easy access and she knows she certainly will. A heavy spike of arousal zings through her, and that’s without even thinking of Quinn in her uniform. 

She’s not completely disconnected from the less fond memories of that uniform. She has a complicated relationship with the red, white and black of their alma mater for numerous reasons, not all of them related specifically to Quinn. But when Quinn had mentioned that her mother still had her old uniform—well, the rush of heat that had overtaken her at the image of Quinn in that skirt had not been the least bit unpleasant. 

Rachel tosses her discarded clothes onto the closet floor, unconcerned with neatness for the moment, and grabs a pair of Mary Janes before she closes the door again. She reaches for her skirt first, tugging it up over her hips, relieved when the zipper closes without incident. (Her workout regime really has paid off in the best of ways.) She pulls the sweater over her head, and although it seems a little more snug around her breasts than she recalls, it still fits comfortably enough. The socks and shoes come next, and after quickly brushing her hair, she slips the headband into place, eyeing her reflection in the full length mirror. 

Okay, the Catholic school girl thing that Santana occasionally teases her about is not entirely undeserved. “Were these skirts always this short?” she wonders out loud, unsuccessfully attempting to tug the material down another inch. While she suspects her breasts have actually gotten fuller since she was fifteen, she knows she hasn’t gotten any taller. Laughing, Rachel shakes her head. “No wonder Quinn was so enamored with this look.” It makes her legs and ass look fantastic. All in all, Rachel is very pleased with the effect.  

The sharp knock at her door tells Rachel that the object of her musings has arrived, and her heart begins to race with excitement. She can’t wait for Quinn to see her. She can’t wait to see Quinn.  A second impatient knock sounds at the door. 

"Open up, Berry. What did I say about keeping me waiting?"

Rachel rolls her eyes at her girlfriend’s impatience, but she can’t deny that the commanding note in her voice is doing things for her. Just the thought of Quinn barking out orders in that uniform—

She shivers visibly before she draws in a calming breath and wills herself to get into character. Setting her face into a serious expression, she opens the door. "Really, Quinn? It would behoove you to practice your patience as well as your scales."

The words are out before Rachel has a chance to fully take in the vision before her, but when she does, her mouth goes instantly dry while parts further south do the exact opposite. She’d somehow forgotten just how that uniform had looked on Quinn up close and in person. The sleeveless top shows off her wide shoulders and strong arms. One hand is propped on her hip in a familiar pose, and the position stretches the fabric tight across her breasts. Was the top always that tight? Quinn’s enticing curves are obvious even under the WHMS insignia, and Rachel can immediately tell that her girlfriend isn’t wearing a bra. Her fingers itch to go exploring despite the rough polyester fabric. Her gaze dips even lower to the short red skirt that clings to Quinn’s hips. The pleats do almost nothing to hide the entire length of Quinn’s smooth, muscled legs from her view.  

Rachel’s fingers tighten around the doorknob as she struggles not to simply throw herself at Quinn and kiss her breathless. There’d been a small worry niggling at the back of her mind that the vision of Quinn in this uniform would bring back enough bad memories to dull the attraction she feels, but apparently that’s not an issue at all. (In fact, she’s suddenly worryingly aware that the remembered meanness might actually add to the overall appeal of the fantasy, but she’s not willing to unpack any of the potential psychological implications of that at the moment.)   

"I…I like your sweater," Quinn stutters out, endearingly awkward for just a moment—enough to remind Rachel that this isn’t the same scared, defensive girl who’d worn this uniform in high school. 

The words are achingly familiar, and Rachel’s heart takes flight at the memory of their very first meeting.  She smiles when she realizes that Quinn is clearly appreciating everything she’s seeing as much as Rachel is. Oh, this is going to be so much fun. 

Lifting a hand to her chest, she slowly drags it down over her breasts and watches hazel eyes follow the motion with delight. "Why, thank you, Quinn. And may I say, you look very,” her hungry gaze drags over her girlfriend again, a dozen adjectives jumping forward in her mind: gorgeous, powerful, sexy, ridiculously hot, but she settles for, “spirited in your uniform." She somehow manages to keep a friendly smile on her face when all she really wants to do is drop down to her knees and find out exactly what’s under those pleats. "Do come in," she invites, opening the door wider and gesturing for Quinn to come inside. 

Her eyes fall helplessly to the enticing sway of Quinn’s hips as she saunters into the room, and her entire body ignites with arousal. Cheerio Quinn Fabray is in her bedroom, and Rachel Berry fully intends to fulfill every single one of her teenage fantasies.

[llycaons]

I've been revisiting youtubers recently. some I like under the cut

Folding Ideas: a marvelously well-spoken social and media critic, with commentary on symbolism in film. his breakdowns of the editing failures of films such as Suicide Squad and The Snowman are entertaining and informative, and he has mini-episodes on narrative concepts like Thermian arguments (the Watsonian of Watsonian vs. Doylist explanations) and ludonarrative dissonance. politically on top of it (mostly), extremely astute, and a pleasure to listen to. See Earthsea and Adaptation Sickness, End of Evangelion and the Audience Author Membrane, The Thermian Argument, The Art of Editing and Suicide Squad, Cinematic Trainwreck – The Snowman: A Vlog, Cooking Food On The Internet For Fun And Profit, Annihilation and Decoding Metaphor

Ariel Bissett: a delightful young Canadian book reviewer takes us on her journey of renovating her old house. mostly cosmetic changes rather than structural as she's essentially self-taught, but she's a charismatic and charming host with a unique eye for style and color. her design sense matches closely with my own (we're both Monet fans), so I find her videos very soothing and satisfying to watch. I haven't seen any of her book reviews, but she seems thoughtful and passionate. I like all her house videos, but particularly the three yearly house tours so far (intro video, one year in, two years in,), Building The Perfect Guest Room, Complete Office Renovation!, Living Room Renovation To Look Like Emma's House!, Building The Perfect Reading Nook, Transforming the Smallest Room In My House With Wallpaper, and honestly all the others. it's a real pleasure to see the changes she makes over the months. I can't wait for the kitchen redo!

Accented Cinema: probably my favorite youtuber right now. he's a Chinese Canadian filmmaker with a focus on films and film-making processes, both his own and those from China (most often) and other non-American countries (occasionally). his videos have brought me to tears more than once. honestly I love too many to list all of them so I'll just list my top favorites but I highly recommend this channel. I loved Why China Cared About Kung Fu Panda, Shadow: Adapting Chinese Art, Who Killed Captain Alex: What Makes a Movie Good?, Chinese Animation: In Search of a Style (brief shot of mdzs donghua at the very end), Why Ghibli's First 3D Looks Soulless, East vs. West: Differences in Story Philosophy, Mahjong & Crazy Rich Asians, Why Are Kung Fu Movies So Patriotic, How I Made a Fake Video Essay

Local Script Man: a professional screenwriter whose advice and commentary on creating stories is really interesting and different than what you tend to see on tumblr. he tends to be kind of harsh but not in mean-spirited way, just in a way that makes it obvious that he knows what he's talking about. I like Oops No Plot, The Key to Writing Freakishly Good Dialogue, and both parts of 5 Essential Storytelling Rules I Just Made Up (part 1, part 2)

Schaffrillas Productions: a guy breaks down and ranks various animated films, often by studio. these videos are just a lot of fun. I liked his videos on the Shrek franchise (one, two, three, four, and the musical), and Raya vs. Encanto - How One Message Failed and Another Succeeded

Super Eyepatch Wolf: this man is, as we speak, convincing me to read Berserk. he has a slow, dramatic presentation of his arguments that draw you in and a great sense of humor. All of his "Why You Should Watch" videos are interesting even if you don't have any plans to watch the show he's describing, because they give an overview of the themes and strengths without spoiling it. he also presents a wealth of information on manga/anime history, and miscellaneous commentary on other media. I liked in particular The Fall of The Simpsons: How it Happened, "Non Battle" Battle Anime, What Makes A Fight Scene Interesting?, The Impact of Dragon Ball Z: The Series that Changed Everything, Why You Should Watch Yu Yu Hakusho, What Makes A Good Character Design?,

Cinema Therapy: these two guys are charming and sometimes funny. they can get annoying and their analyses tend to be very superficial, but I really like their videos tearing into bad romantic cliches. I like 10 TROPES We Hate About Rom Coms, 7 Tips from THE ADDAMS FAMILY to Keep Your Marriage Alive, TITANIC: Love Triangles and Compatibility, Therapist Reacts to THE KISSING BOOTH (Part 1, Part 2), Relationship Therapist Ranks Christmas Romances with guest Shona Kay

Sideways: a channel about music! knowing nothing about music at all, I find these videos really interesting and accessible. see Why the Music in Cats (2019) is Worse than you Thought, Why Pipe Organs Sound Scary, Decoding the Music of The Matrix, Why Avatar has the Most Ironic Soundtrack of All Time, Why the Soundtrack to Shrek is Actually Genius, Ear Training and Sight Singing: The Superpower you get from Music School, Why "Spoken Word" Makes me Nervous

Pop Culture Detective: I like this channel for the analyses of troubling tropes in media, especially the ones on misogyny. See Marvel Defenders of The Status Quo, The Ethics of Looking And The “Harmless” Peeping Tom, Born Sexy Yesterday, The Complicity of Geek Masculinity on the Big Bang Theory, Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs (Part one, Part two), Stranger Things, Belligerent Romance, and the Danger of Nostalgia

favorite misc videos here

[purity-town]

Ask responses below the cut! Got this out a bit later than intended as I passed out for a few hours as soon as I got home, haha. Inbox should be all cleared out again!

Yeah of course! And if you decide to post it to Tumblr, tag me -- I’d love to see it!!

Ahhh thanks for reading!! I’m really happy to hear that you’re enjoying the comic :D

Yeah!! Andrew is doing his very best, and he knows a bit about magic, but he’s hardly a mage of his own -- the Old Man could help Chris with all the little things that Andrew just wouldn’t have the knowledge or ability to teach.

Lemon wins on the metric of pure vitamin C content, but as most folks don’t enjoy eating whole raw lemons, I’m going to give grapefruit a win-in-spirit for being the slightly more palatable of the two fruits.

First off, thanks for the kind comments!! Glad you’re enjoying the comic!

Second off, make your story happen!! Terraria most certainly could use more fics/art; it’s a pretty barren landscape currently, haha.

Those are some awesome questions, that I can’t answer, because I have been bouncing all over the place with ideas for the immediate before-and-after of the Wall of Flesh fight and haven’t solidly settled on anything.

Ultimately, Chris is far from stupid, but Andrew is incredibly good at taking secrets to his grave, which is a nasty combination.

Outside of the most main/recurring characters, I probably won’t explore background relationships that much in-comic beyond small background details or side comments. That said, I do occasionally write shorts exploring character dynamics, and so you may see some of that show up there if the inspiration hits me!

Thanks, I had a fun time expanding on his design!! I’ve definitely grown more confident in my artistic abilities since the pilot, so it’s been fun revisiting that same scene with updated designs!

[lordofthestrix]

house rules for tristan and freya too 😂

Send me a URL and I’ll post 10 house rules their muse and mine would have if they lived together This one was more challenging than the one with Leah (Don't tell her. I'm pretty sure she might get offended if we let her know she wasn't the difficult one this time) I was going to go with an alternative third season that sees Tristan around when Lucien goes all red-eyed and annoying but the trouble is even if they are sharing a place as part of some unlikely alliance I can see both of them hyperfocusing so much on the task at hand that their interactions remain pretty superficial beyond the occasional glare and quip. So instead...I'm going to jump through quite  a number of hoops. I'm going to start with the question you once raised to me about what could have happened if they had met before the events of the series. Let's say Freya's awakening this century arrives a couple of years sooner. Let's say that Tristan takes notice of a duo of immensely powerful witches that appear to arrive into existence out of nowhere. Let's say that after the uncertainty of some tense initial exchanges he offers Freya a collaboration. And let's say that with a mixture of old and new magical knowledge and inventiveness they succeed in not killing but messing with the internal mechanisms of the sleeping circle of Dahlia's spell, forcing her to take a sudden, premature nap just as she is not very peacefully inquiring what exactly is her niece doing with a group of vampires. Next, let's say that Tristan offers her to stay around for as long as she wishes. Pointing out that his coven represents a collection of magical talent in diverse branches of witchcraft ideal for any sorceress who might be hoping to expand and upgrade her skill in all sorts of new directions she missed during her sleeping years. Varied spells and ways they would be delighted to exchange for Freya's expertise in old magic forgotten to time. Pointing out they are her best bet for a more permanent solution regarding her slumbering aunt. Pointing out she might even find something in common with them, considering the members of The Sisters often carried a past of misfortune caused by the scale and potential of their power.  Let's say Freya says yes? And there we have it. That's the best I could come up with for this situation. Does that work? Oh and for extra fun and future drama Tristan would have no idea she is a Mikaelson. Because honestly you can hear her whole story with Dahlia without reason to make any association to them and as good as Tristan can be knowing about you, I can see this situation as one that would take him entirely by surprise if just as they are advancing in trusting each other suddenly Freya casually mentions Esther or Mikael by name. Okay. Unnecessarily long prologue over. The rules:   1) Even if the culinary masters of the Strix immediately love Freya because she gives them the perfect excuse to revisit the most delicious foods from each period she didn't get the chance to experience, from breakfast to dinner, they should never forget the occasional undertone of blood is always a no for her. She isn't that kind of immortal. 2) The sisters wearing capes during the execution of some spells and hexes is part of an aesthetic and not at all a sign that the leader of the organization might have a flair for the dramatic. There is no need to overly question the level of current relevance connected to the garment. 3) Just because one of the other witches might be a prodigy and artful expert in all sorts of magical relics, dark objects and charmed trinquets doesn't mean Freya is in any way inviting her to touch her amulet without her permission. 4) Just because the antiquity of the volume may not inspire her a natural reverence, Freya should be careful not to treat and go over unique, 700 years old grimoires as if they were magazines. 5) If at any point it just so happens that she starts feeling as part of the group, Freya is entitled to her own cape. She can be certain the quality and cut of the fabric is next to none and past magical voices assure that there is a certain ineffable theatrical satisfaction in spellcrafting in it. 6) It is perfectly okay for Freya to command a scene she liked to repeat itself as many times as she wishes in any electronic device of her choosing but that doesn't imply that it is suddenly socially acceptable to tell legendary actresses and actors to start again in the middle of a performance. 7) Freya is encouraged to enjoy any fun she can have from what she might perceive as unexpected popularity among a certain section of vampires just as eager for the occasion to revisit their decades of origin in some grand event or activity after hearing of her strange tale but highly discouraged to pick favorites, no matter how craftily they may ask for comparisons in her perspective. Courts of vampires are complicated settings to navigate. 8) Freya will do her best to avoid assuming that any open curiosity about her form of immortality suggest the other person wants to break her neck to see it in action. 9) It doesn't matter if she perceives any form of intended treachery in a member of the Strix, it isn't her place to act in accordance.  Proposed by Aya. Overruled by an impressed Tristan who instead offered his approving gratitude after hearing of the happening. 10) This rare state of ambiguous association, with her collaborating or not just as little or as much as she wishes, is transparently offered since a certain degree of paranoia is rightfully expected given her circumstances but Tristan remains just as transparent in letting her know he very much intends for her to find a place to belong there. He believes they should talk, whenever she is ready.   @viikingwitch

[genshinteapot]

Ardennes Forest

"The Traveler is coming back to Sumeru?"

"Yeah, that's what I heard."

"We should invite him and Paimon over for dinner."

"The Traveler, the same one who helped rescue Lesser Lord Kusanali?"

"Same one."

"Oh~! Yes, bring him! We can all chat and relax and have a few drinks~! It'll be quite a fun time, I'm sure~!"

"I'll head to Sumeru City then. I'll be back with him shortly."

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

Cyno stayed close by the Adventurer's Guild, as he knew the Traveler could be coming by sometime soon. Though by this time Katheryn had noticed the General Mahamatra just lingering about, not at all attempting to hide the fact he was waiting on someone.

The two spared a few glances towards one another, occasionally making eye contact. Katheryn was always the first to look away, staring into the stern eyes of the General Mahamatra was always a little disconcerting.

Eventually though, the Traveler and Paimon came into view, walking on up the path towards the Adventurer's Guild. Aether was hard to miss, with his long golden hair, matching golden eyes, and an exotic outfit. Cyno wasted no time in moving from his position towards the pair.

"Oh look, it's Cyno!" Paimon called out with glee. She clapped her hands and giggled a little. "It looks like he's coming this way? Ooo, I wonder if he has something important to tell us?"

"Greetings Traveler, Paimon." Cyno greeted with a nod of his own. "It's a pleasure to meet you two here."

"The feeling is mutual, Cyno~." Paimon responded. Aether agreed with the sentiment, giving a small smile towards the Mahamatra. "Soooo, what's up? Do you need something from us?"

"Tighnari, Kaveh, and I are having dinner at Gandharva Ville, and we wanted to invite you two to come over." Cyno informed. "Would you two be willing to spare the time to come and eat with us?"

"Oh really~? That sounds like fun!" Paimon was beyond ecstatic. Mention food and she's there, 100%! "Come on Traveler, lets go get some food~!!"

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

"And I said to him--! And I said!! 'You've got to be kidding me! I do all this stuff around the house, and you can't even dust the bookshelves like I asked!?', I was floored! Like-- can you believe it!?" Kaveh was ranting and raving about Alhaitham, as he usually does, everyone gathered around the table with food in front of them. Selva Salad, Sabz Meat Stew, Lambad Fish Rolls, and off to the side is some Padisarah Pudding. "I was absolutely outraged! I told him off for hours after that!"

"Eugh! I can't believe him!" Paimon was so quick to side with Kaveh on the matter at hand. Alhaitham can be a tough guy to get along with, this much they all knew. "It's literally so simple to dust some bookshelves!"

"Right!" Kaveh was exacerbated, taking a drink of wine from his goblet. He then sat it back down with a rather loud CLINK against the table.

"You seem tired, Traveler." Cyno pointed out, tilting his head slightly. Aether perked up when he was spoken to. "How have your travels been as of recently?"

"Oh! We've been revisiting some of our old friends~!" Paimon chirped up. "It's been a bit exhausting, because we've traveled to so many places and met so many people, but it's always nice to see them all again! I don't even think we've got a good wink of sleep since then! Heh heh~!"

"That's not very good for your health." Tighnari hummed. "How about you rest here for the night? Get a good night's sleep before you head out?"

"Paimon likes the sound of that! That would be super refreshing~!"

Aether turned his attention towards Kaveh, making a light gesture towards his goblet. "May I have some of that?"

There was a startle from the Architect, his orange red eyes flicking towards Tighnari and Cyno, both of whom looked equally as startled. After a few moments, he shifted his gaze back towards Aether. "Traveler, I don't think that's a good idea... you're not old enough to be drinking, surely--"

Almost a mechanical motion, Aether turned back to the food in front of him and began eating again... going quiet. There was now an awkward feeling lingering in the air among them. Unsure glances are all spared between them, until Paimon spoke up.

"Uhm... Traveler, are you alright?"

Aether merely hummed, giving her a smile and a nod. It was not the least bit convincing, not to any of them. He noticed the expression on Paimon's face, her concern was so obvious. After a few extra seconds, he glances towards the others sitting at the table, and they all looked equally as concerned-- even Cyno, whose expression almost never changed still held that faintness of concern.

"Why don't we play a game...?" Aether suggested. Silence lingered after the question, their expressions never changing. "We can play 'truth-or-dare'?"

"Paimon has never heard of that game before..." Paimon hummed, finally breaking the silence among the others. She put a hand to her chin in thought. "How do you play?"

"It's a common child's game." Kaveh pointed out. "Where you ask someone 'truth or dare', to which they pick one of the two options, and then you either ask them a question they must answer truthfully, or tell them to do something and they must do it." His gaze then shifts to Aether. "Why do you want to play truth or dare, of all things?"

"Paimon wants to play, Paimon wants to play!" Paimon was eager to give this 'new' game a try. "Let Paimon go first!"

"Are we all actually going to play...?" Cyno questioned, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"I suppose I don't mind." Tighnari could only shrug.

There was still that lingering awkwardness in the air, but it had lifted just a bit with the suggestion of a game.

"Okay!! Cyno, Mr. General Mahamatra himself! Truth!! Or Dare~??" Paimon is steadily giggling, such a gleeful little smile on her face.

"Dare."

"I daaaare yoooou~... to hop on one foot for a minute!"

"That's absurd. No."

"You can't deny the dare Cyno, you have to do it. That's part of the game."

Cyno rolled his eyes and stood up from the table. "You know--" Tighnari began, which caused Cyno to pause and all eyes were on the Forest Watcher. "I'm also aware of a more... 'adult' version of the game. Which if you refuse you'd have to take a shot of liquor and either first to 5 shots loses or whomever passes out first loses."

"That's irresponsible."

"That sounds like fun~."

"But the Traveler isn't old enough to drink! And Paimon doesn't want to drink any of that stuff!!"

"We can make an exception for the Traveler, since you two will be staying here for the night?"

"I do not condone this."

"Are you afraid you'll lose, General Mahamatra~? Worried the Traveler might drink you under the table~?"

"Absolutely not."

"Cyno, do you want to hop on one foot like an idiot or just drink a shot?"

"......"

"Tighnari, do you have liquor?"

"Stashed away, yes."

"Go get some and lets spice this up~. We can all take a starting shot to loosen up and then we can get down to it~."

"Aww, does that mean Paimon doesn't get to see Cyno hop on one foot?? Paimon wanted to watch Cyno hop around like an Electro Slime!!"

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

Despite the hesitance at the start, everyone was having fun with the little 'kids game'. Curious questions, prying questions, dares that were easy and simple, some not so much.

Kaveh had not taken any shots, though had plenty of wine in his system that he really didn't need any.

Tighnari had taken a few shots, questions he didn't want to answer, questions he felt too prying of his personal life.

Cyno had two shots, dares he didn't want to do, feeling insulted Paimon would ask him to do such idiotic stuff-- it was always Paimon trying to get him to do dumb little things.

Paimon refused to drink any alcohol, but instead she would float upside down for thirty seconds as punishment for dares she didn't want to do or truths she didn't want to answer.

Aether, of everyone, hadn't taken any shots yet. The truths given him weren't things too prying, the dares given him weren't daunting to do. The renowned Traveler who's fought Gods and won, saved several nations, there's very little he wouldn't do in all honest.

At some point, alcohol found it's way in front of Aether. He hadn't been paying too much attention, watching everyone be loosey in their behaviors while intoxication thrummed through their brains.

Wine, to be specific. Without hesitation, he picked the glass up and drank from it. It was delightful~.

"Cyno, truth or dare~?"

"..... truth."

"Truth... is it true you and Tighnari are-- fucking~?"

Tighnari spit his drink out hearing the question, his face turning a bright red and his ears pinning back against his head.

"Yes."

"Cyno!"

"I knew it!! Hah hah!!"

It was a question Tighnari himself had refused to answer, but Cyno answered without a care.

"I can't believe you."

"I love you."

"Shut up."

"Tighnari, truth or dare?"

"I'm mad at you, don't talk to me--"

"Tighnari, he asked you, you can't refuse."

The Forest Watcher rolled his eyes, sending Cyno a glare. "Dare."

"I dare you to let me pet your tail."

"Really?" Tighnari gives an exhausted sigh, shifting in his seat a bit so he could flick his tail into the Mahamatra's lap. Without hesitation, Cyno is holding Tighnari's tail close to his chest and... cuddling it like some sort of plush toy. "Archons above... Paimon, truth or dare?"

"Dare~!!"

"Uh..." Tighnari's face twisted in confusion, trying to think of something. He grumbled a little before perking up. "Oh... I dare you to untie the Traveler's braid."

"Eh??" Paimon looked almost bewildered. She glanced towards Aether. "Is that okay? Can Paimon untie your hair?" Aether hummed and nodded. "Okay~!" And without hesitation, Paimon is floating down to the end of Aether's braid and is beginning to untie and unbraid it. "Alright, Mr. Honorary Knight! Truth or Dare~??"

"Dare..."

"Paimon dares you tooo.... sing us all a song! Sing us your best song! And not the one you sung to the Glaze Lillies!"

"Glaze Lillies?"

"Yeah! The Traveler sang a song to some Glaze Lillies, and they turned into Whopper Flowers!!"

"Pluviam super tectum huius domus vacuae capere possum, Quod non pugnes contra me. Aliquot lacrimas interdum capere possum, et modo eas emittunt."

Silence lingered as Aether began singing, in a language the four of them couldn't understand. Paimon had even stopped unbraiding his hair to listen.

This is different than the singing to the Glaze Lilly, what is this? It sounded beautiful~... but why did it also sound so... sad?

"Non timeo flere semel in quamquam, Offendit me sine te hic procedere. Sunt dies omnes nunc et iterum, Im 'okay simulare me. Sed hoc non operatur in me."

Aether had begun tearing up, his gaze shifting down to the glass in his hands. A deep inhale--

"Quod maxime nocuerunt mihi. Tu tam prope me. Habens tantum et dicere tibi. Et vigilantes ambulas a me."

"Aether...?" Paimon left his hair alone, now floating over to his side.

Aether had taken his hands from his glass, pressing them into his eyes as he began sobbing. Paimon floated closer to the Traveler, wrapping her small arms around his head and giving him a small hug. She rested her cheek against the top of his head, feeling her heart hurt for him.

It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go, But I'm doing it. It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends, And I'm alone.

It was so unusual to see the Traveler, the one saving nations, defeating Gods, solving everyone's problems... break down and cry... to be utterly shattered, into tiny pieces like this.

Tighnari stood from his seat, taking his tail away from Cyno and walking on over to Aether. Much like Paimon had done, he lightly draped his arms over Aether's shoulders and gave him a small hug.

Even Kaveh was getting up and joining in, and he didn't even really know the Traveler quite like the others. His hug though?? A lot tighter and embracing everyone within his arms! Unintentionally squishing both Paimon and Tighnari but-- neither said anything.

Cyno stayed where he was at. Alcohol doesn't bode well with him, he'd probably fall over just trying to walk over there. "It's okay to not be okay, Trav-- Aether." A kind word? Sure, lets go with that. "You'll always have us to help you. Remember that. We're your friends, and we want to help you however we can."

[bestfriendforhire]

Children of BFFH, Entry 187

 As I listened to Rona ramble about her favorite parts of our camping trip, I smiled, glad that she had fun.  We had spent the last two days playing the VR games that the quadruplets and Momma Mila had made, and the quadruplets had assured us that they were going to make it even better for the next time we tried it, though I had plenty of fun wandering the alien environment already.  We’d be arriving home shortly, and then Rona and Layla would go to their homes tomorrow.

 We were driving, instead of just stepping home through one of Valeria’s doorways, because Momma Emma had declared that driving was part of the camping experience before we even set out.  I didn’t complain.  Since I rarely left home, having a chance to see the different places on the way was interesting, and I had a better feel for where we were after actually traveling there.  I wouldn’t bet on my ability to fly home quickly, but I was reasonably confident that I’d manage within a day, given that Best Friend For Hire was really noticeable from the air.  The large, forested area next to the yard could be missed within the city.

 Looking over at Valeria, I was glad to see that she was looking more relaxed again.  She had been a little tense around Ben and his family, probably worried that she wasn’t acting human enough.  She had improved greatly since we had met.  Thinking about the quick, jerky movements she had exhibited when I met her, she actually had adjusted amazingly quickly.  Of course, I couldn’t be too surprised with Momma Cosette teaching her.  Even having grown up around Momma Cosette, I still found her a bit intimidating.  Four had once told me that Slayer blood and vampirism were an exceptional mix that gave Momma Cosette a tremendous edge over vampires near her age, but her training was what really made her fantastic.  He might have just been encouraging me to continue working hard with my studies, but I still marveled at how Momma Cosette always managed to appear a little dangerous.  Would Valeria be like that eventually?

 “Stormcrow, we’re here!” exclaimed Rona as she grabbed my arm with one hand while pointing with her other.  

 I smiled and nodded.  There always was something wonderful about being home.  I did like seeing new places and revisiting old ones, but nowhere else ever seemed quite as comfortable as home.  As I grabbed my things from the room Valeria opened next to the car, I couldn’t help thinking about how much studying I’d need to do after having a whole week off.  Plus, Doc’s birthday was barely more than a week away, and I hadn’t prepared for it yet, though I did have some ideas on what to make for her.

 Walking with Rona to drop off our stuff in my family’s rooms, I debated with myself on going through with designing an outfit as Mom had suggested or on making her a new ornament for her room.  The downside with making clothing was that Deo often made clothing, and I never felt like I designed outfits as well as Deo.  Furthermore, Ella occasionally made outfits for gifts, and competing with her for artistic flair was like trying to outwit Crazy.  I’d have better odds at wrestling a polar bear.  Making a new figurine for her room was a safer choice.

 After unpacking my bags, I asked Momma Mila if anyone else had decided what they were making for Doc.  After hearing that Deo was making Doc a new pair of shoes and Ella was making a figurine of Holly Wood, I was really glad that I asked.

 “Oh, wow!  I didn’t know her birthday was on the ninth!  I need to make her something.  Momma Mila, can you check with my mom about attending the party?” asked Rona with a pleading look.

 “You’ve already been approved.  I set that up at the same time as the camping trip.” replied Momma Mila.

 “You could’ve warned me!” complained Rona with a cute pout.

 “I did.  If you look more than a week ahead on your calendar, you’ll find there are many events listed.” stated Momma Mila with an amused tone.

 “Oh.  My mistake.” she replied, still pouting.  She was getting better at not trying to argue with Momma Mila.  That was always going to be a losing battle, considering that Momma Mila was practically all-seeing.  Looking at me, Rona grinned and asked “So what are we going to do now?”

 Smirking, I told her “I bet it’s on your calendar.”

 She rolled her eyes and sighed.

 Laughing, I said, “I figured we’d play some Ancient Tribes of Earth with the others.  A whole lot might have happened in the game while we were away, and we need to keep our city running smoothly.”

 Rona nodded.  “Good point.”  Then she grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room.  “Let’s go!”

 I got her to slow down once we were in the hall, but Rona was obviously excited about getting back on her necromancer.  As she bounced along, she explained her plans for creating a new type of undead.  Unsurprisingly, the unholy lands were very beneficial for a necromancer’s craft, but I hadn’t realized that one of our exploration teams had found research notes from an ancient necromancer.  Rona had been looking over them before the camping trip, and thought she could implement some of the rune patterns to create more powerful versions of her zombies and skeletons.  Considering how strong they already were, I was looking forward to seeing what she could pull off.  I was somewhat tempted to get Crazy or Messy to look over the information, certain that they’d see something that Rona and I missed, but I didn’t want to ruin Rona’s fun either.  She was surprisingly good with her character and certainly had a passion for her creepy craft.  Ultimately, I decided to hold off on asking for help unless Rona got stuck on something.

[coffeecakefanfics]

Rocky Mountain Skies

So I live in the 719 (CO) and I have been DYING to write about it so here’s this hot ass mess Also it’s my first multipart story on tumblr so bear with me (I’ll do a part two because omg) 

Christmas is a magical time of year where families get together and revisit the political opinions of the past month but turn around and gift each other things. For the (L/N) family it was no different. 

(Y/n) waltzed through the bullpen, coffee in one hand, phone in the other.  

“Yes mom I’ll be home for Christmas,” she set her things down and sat at her desk, “No mom I already requested the two weeks off, I’ll be fine,” her sigh caught a few peoples attentions.

“Mom seriously, I get into Denver Sunday at 11, papa already said he’d come pick me up. . .  yes mom I know how old he is but you don’t have time remember, besides it’ll be nice to see him. . . Mom I gotta go I have a meet- yes mom I’ll let you know when I get to the airport. . . Mom I have to go byeee” She clicked her phone and leaned back, letting out a long groan. 

“Mom troubles?” Derek smirked.

“You have NO idea, I love her but she needs to chill,” she smiled. 

“Well I think it’s sweet,” he toys.

“Of course you do, go to work,” she shook her head teasingly. 

“All right, all right,” he laughed and walked off. (Y/n) stayed seated at her desk for a majority of the day, skipping lunch to finish files.  People stopped by to make small talk while she worked, which she happily sat through.  As the day continued on people started packing up their things to head home.  It was quiet, the only people left were (Y/n), Spencer, JJ, and Hotch.  

(Y/n) Stretched, popping her back, before getting up and walking around the desks.  She set her hand on a chair and spun it so the messy haired man was facing her. She smiled at him brightly.

“Hey Spence”

“Hi, uh, is something wrong?”

“No I just wanted to talk to you is all,” she sat on his desk.

“About?” he looked at her curiously.  He watched the way her hair set on her shoulders and framed her face, the way her waist dipped and hips bulged slightly, the way her thighs squished when she sat. He forced his eyes beack up to her and felt his face go a little warm.

“You know in the past three years I’ve been here I don’t think I’ve seen you take a vacation, and it’s none of my business if you save it or whatever but I was curious, why?” her face twisted in thought.  He sat for a second and thought. 

“Well I mean I go “home” occasionally, but I guess I’ve just never had a desire to go anywhere,” he shrugged, “I mean all we do is travel for work so I guess it never really crossed my mind” he smiled at her. 

“Well, I uh, look I have an extra plane ticket back home. My ex was supposed to go with me but we broke things off a few months ago.  So I guess I’m trying to say if you want to, you could come with me.  I mean you totally dont have to and I mean-” 

“To Colorado?” he quirked his eyebrow.

“I mean, yes? but only if you want to, I mean you’re my best friend, and closest one so I figured I’d ask before getting a refund,” she twisted her foot into the ground.

“Do I get a cowboy hat?”

She looked up surprised and laughed, “Duh”

“Then I’ll go”

The two weaved through the airport traffic.  The building was loud and crowded and both were getting antsy.  (Y/n) clutched her bag tight as they maneuvered through the crowds of people.  Finally making it outside, the cold mountain air bit at their skin. A old man stood at the end of a row of cars holding a huge sign 

‘(Y/N) (L/N)’ written in huge letters decorated the sign. 

“Papa!” she cried and dropped her bags, getting swallowed into a hug that itself felt like home.  Spencer stood awkwardly by watching the two.  

“Where are my manners, My Name is Jim (L/N) but you can call me Papa.  You must be Spencer?” The man, Jim introduced himself.  He was only about 5′10″ and was clad in a red and white pearl snap with stained coveralls over top.  His face was covered mostly by a long Beard and Mustache and he had a pair of glasses perched on top of his head. 

“Oh, uh yes sir I’m Spencer,” He smiled at the man who held his hand out.  Spencer shook it gladly. 

“Well we need to get you kids home. Granny is making soup for dinner,” he bent down and picked up (Y/n)’s bag and rolled it to a old pick up truck, may be ten years old Spencer guessed. He stared at the backseat for a second, his stomach turned, maybe this wasn’t the best idea, maybe he shouldn’t have came, I mean I’m being so awkward an- 

“Spence what are you waiting for?, hop in,” (Y/n) called from the back seat.  He blinked a few times at her before jumping in and closing the door. She leaned over to him, “I didn’t want you to be alone back here,” she pulled back and smiled. 

“Thank you,” he breathed a sigh of relief.  As close as they were he had never met her family.  He had spent countless nights sitting on her couch easting Chinese food while they finished files or watched bad movies but he still felt nervous being around her like this. 

“So Spencer, where are you from?”

“I’m from Vegas,” he replied meekly.

“A gambler huh?” The old man grinned at him in the rear view, “you any good?” 

Spencer laughed and shook his head, “I guess we’ll have to see,” he teased back.  Jim laughed and smiled at his granddaughter. 

“i like this one”

“You like him just because you’re bad at Texas Hold em” she playfully rolled her eyes.

“Hey whatever gets the money,” he laughed again.  It was a laugh that filled you with joy.  Spencer finally understood where (Y/n) got hers from.  

“So Spencer, I know a feller like you can’t be single, so do you have a lady back in D.C.?”

“PAPA!” (Y/n) shrieked, “Don’t go running him off already, good god” she shook her head.

“What I’m curious, he’s a handsome man,” Jim grinned. Spencer was full on burning at this point. 

“No sir, I’m single,” He almost mumbled out.

“You know who else is single. (Y/n),” Jim wiggled his eyebrows. (Y/n) glowed the same red that the poor man next to her did.

“Papa oh good god.  Stick to breaking horses not my love life, and besides you’re gonna make him regret coming here before he even sees the ranch,” she rolled her eyes.  Spencer actually laughed.  The two of them were obviously close, it was . . . nice.  It was a nice break from what they deal with every day.  

The rest of the car ride went by semi fast, (Y/n) explained all of her plans for the two of them while they were here.  She was almost glowing with excitement. The wooden fence that stretched along the property line came into view as the truck began up the drive.  A gorgeous two story log cabin came into view behind a row of evergreens.  The wood was a beautiful light brown, and towered over the yard.   A old lady was standing on the porch dressed in a fleece nightgown and brown slippers.  She waved as the truck stopped.  The group jumped out and began grabbing bags. 

“There’s my baby girl,” the woman hugged (Y/n) tightly.  She had her same eyes.  The woman stood maybe 5′2′ and had a pink and white fleeced nightgown on.  Her grey hair fell in neat curls down her back.  Her face was wrinkled and warm, the kind that you know showed so much joy in her younger years. 

“And this must be Spencer, You’re even more handsome in person,” she cood at him. 

“grandma!” 

“It’s alright. Yes ma’am I’m Spencer,” he smiled at her, “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” he grinned. 

“Oh where are my manners, lets get you babies inside and warm,” she ushered everyone in.  “(Y/n) baby your room is all set up, but um there’s been a change of plans,” The lady frowned. 

“What Dawn is trying to say is that your mom and your stepdad are staying in the last guest room, and your cousin Rita is in the other”

“WHAT!” (Y/n) yelled. “Mom said her the Stepdouch were staying home for Christmas! I was promised to get you two to myself. And Rita!” she was fuming. Spencer set his hand on her shoulder, trying to bring her back to earth.

“We know baby but she insisted that you wouldn’t go see her if she stayed,”

“Of course not, not after what she did!”

“And Rita is your cousin, at least try to play nice,” Jim begged. 

“No, Not after what they did!” (Y/n) was breathing ragged, anger radiating off of her body. 

“Hey, uh why don’t you help me to my room?” Spencer forced her to look at him.  She sighed and grabbed her bag.

“Okay” she grabbed his hand and began through the living room up the stairs.  Spencer admired the “family” room on the balcony overlooking the living room. (Y/n) led him around the bend and over to the room. She popped the door open and let him inside. She followed and closed the door after her. 

“So since my cousin Rita took the guest room we’ll have to share this one, I’m really sorry. I have an air mattress that I can sleep on and you can have the bed. This isn’t how I wanted this to go, I’m sorry,” she spoke almost in tears.

“Hey you didn’t know and I’m kicking you out of your bed, I’ll sleep on the air mattress, besides we can always still do everything you planned. We’ll be okay,” he smiled and held her face.  She let a tear fall. 

“I know but this was supposed to be a fun trip for you,”

“It will be, what’s more fun than two weeks without work,” he smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear. 

“It’s only like one, so would you show me the property?” he smiled.

“Sure, but we need to get you a new wardrobe,” she laughed. 

“Hey what’s wrong with my clothes?” he spun for her. 

“Well for starters you’re in loafers and there’s snow on the ground, and second I do owe you a cowboy hat,” she grinned. “Come on lets play dress up”

The two of them sat in the attic surrounded by boxes of old clothes.  She held up a nice quilt lined coat, identical to the light brown one she had on. 

“That should fit, he was about your size,” she smiled and handed him the coat. 

“Who?” he asked and examined the inside of the coat when it stared him right in the face. 

‘Merry christmas daddy, (Y/n)’ stitched on the tag.  his heart stopped.

“(Y/n) I can’t accept these, these meant the world to you I-”

“Spencer please, I’d rather you have daddy’s stuff than any of those other brats,” she sneered. “It’s the only other thing I got from him when he passed.  He would’ve liked you,” she smiled and pulled a bunch of pearl snaps out.  Spencer's heart leapt.  We slid the Carhart on, it sat nicely against his body.  She looked up from the boxes. 

“Whoa” she gasped. “Spencer you look, just wow” she grinned. 

“Wait I have one more thing,” she rushed off to the back of the attic.  She returned with a box wrapped in red wrapping paper she smiled and handed it to him.  He pulled the top of the box off.  Inside sat a nice dark brown felt hat with a brown leather strap around it.  It was adorned with a small gun charm on the leather strap. 

“(Y/n) this is, this is way too much,” he looked up at her.

“I bought it for you last year, I remember you saying you wanted to be a cowboy so I figured I’d buy it but I forgot it last time so there,” she beamed at him.

“Well, try it on,” she ushered  He set the hat on his head, a perfect fit.  

“Well?” he spun

“You look like a true cowboy Spence,” 

They walked the property talking for hours.  The air grew cold and bit at their cheeks. 

“Hey do you want to see my favorite spot?” she asked

“Of course,” he grinned.  They walked out into the woods behind the house before coming to a clearing.  The sun was beginning to set.  The mountains had a purple haze but the sky was bright blue.  Golden streaks danced across the clouds.  The clearing was full of dry grass and thistles that would become tumbleweeds when it got windy. 

“(Y/n) this is amazing,” he breathed the fresh mountain air.

“This is my favorite part of being home, the Rocky Mountain Skies.  They seem to dance with color.  I forget how pretty they are when I leave,” she smiled and watched the clouds float by. 

“Why did you leave?” Spencer asked.  He turned to look at the girl next to him.  She looked small in her coat and her hair was messy from the light wind. 

“After my dad died. My mom got with my Stepdouch a month later, the will had been “lost” the will that would have granted my this ranch.  The only reason I got it was Papa and grandma claimed they needed a place to live so I mean it’s theirs.  My mom got mad because she wanted to sell it.  and my cousin Rita wanted all of my dads horses, thousands of dollars worth of horses that she and my mom fought over and split the money on.  That wasn’t dads vision, they never cared about this place. Mom moved us into town, So when I turned 18 I left,” she shrugged. 

“I’m so sorry (Y/n)” he hugged her. 

“It’s okay. So why did you want to be a cowboy?” She teased.

“Well I mean every little boy wants to be a cowboy, I wanted to catch the outlaws, or maybe be them I’m not sure,” he laughed. 

“(Y/N), SPENCER, DINNER!” Dawn yelled to them.  

“Race you there” she smacked his chest and took off.

“No fair!” he called after her. 

[doorsclosingslowly]

3, 10, 13, 20, 21, 23, 29, 33, 39, 44 for the fanfic asks!

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

I am probably low-key inspired by everything I read. I got into this whole thing because I like thinking, okay but what if this happened? and observing how word choice and story construction affect me, etc. I know I learned the idea of going into tiny parenthetical flashbacks mid-scene from a fic.

In terms of plot, though, everything I’ve actually published went through so many changes that it’s pretty unrecognizable from what spurred me into thinking about it.

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

That changes over the years. Currently I read a lot of Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence (and especially those beautiful Daniel LaRusso/Amanda Larusso/Johnny Lawrence ones) because I got sucked in by the promise of sad middle-aged men being bad at figuring out their shit. In a karate soap opera that’s sequel to some old movies. So fun. I like the deconstruction of the heroic movie narrative but also I just like middle-aged people muddling through

But I still like all the other characters I’ve cared about over the years, and I revisit them (and new work I find) occasionally

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

I have a document for every fic that’s basically notes and draft combined, and I put down everything I think of in there in roughly the place I want it and flesh it out either when I get to that chapter or installment (for serialised work) or when I feel like it (for one-shots). So everyone else would know as much as I do, though I don’t know if my thoughts will make as much sense to them

For my first fic Epicenter I have way more notes, but that one has a lot of moving parts because it’s a slave rebellion in space told from the pov of vagrant pirates who are both symbols and outsiders to the actual rebellion, and I wanted to keep track of like. travel times. what the other characters do at that point in time. I even had language notes for the two POV characters because I wasn’t confident in just making shit up

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

When I have an idea (whether it’s a serialized story I’m writing already or the seed of a new story) and I toy around with it and suddenly, there is an ending that is both emotionally and thematically compelling. That’s the good shit

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

I don’t write linearly, I have a document for a story and some ideas where it all goes and I write scenes somewhere in there and skip ahead or back to work on another scene or edit. So it’s a set of patches I feel good about connected by notes and ideas how they flow into each other, and those lat few connections are hard. Like, if they weren’t I would have done them earlier, there’s a reason why they were left, but I had fics where I sat for days figuring out one sentence to join the bits I had written

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

I like different characters perceiving the same thing in completely different ways. I like kindness winning over violence--not because it’s more ‘powerful’ in one scene but because the presence of kindness changes the whole story so that a violent victory is impossible or undesirable.

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

I wrote Down in the Ground where the Dead Men Go for my friends @humanformdragon and @expatgirl ‘s deancas christmas ghost story event. It was really fun and challenged me to write something I never would have otherwise and it’s also fascinating seeing the breadth of stories that came out of that event, but I was also super lucky my brain was cooperating at the time. I twice signed up for another event and had to drop out because depression dried my words up, and in general that’s why I prefer writing on my own time

33. What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

Some ideas have enough meat for a long story and some work better as a short bit; some are more episodic and can be broken down into chapters (if they have a tight plot) or series installments (if they’re more loosely connected) and some only really work taken as a whole. I tend to follow what I think works for the idea tbh, all forms have their neat aspects

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Pride is one of the emotions I don’t really get, tbh

44. Rant about something writing related.

I’m not really a rant person? I love reading them, they’re often funny, I’m not very good at them :( Idk. Maybe... So I write in a language that’s not my mother tongue, right? Which is really fun because I love the intricacies of how English works, but every once in a while I get an idea for a sentence that only works in German. I can find the literal translation but the connotations are off, or the German word is related to other words that I want to bring in but the English word has different roots, the idiom exists and works the same but it doesn’t use the animal i need it to, etc. I love all those layers of meaning and I’ve been obsessed in learning them as well as I can in my second language. But it sucks when it just doesn’t want to work the way I need it to. For my writing I’ve decided that the further away from Coruscant a culture is the more freely I can systematically fuck up English so it’s less of a problem now, haha

[the-east-art]

Can I have a general overview of Zelda? As well as your personal top rated zelda games?

I had a huge response to this typed up and my laptop died. I shall try to recreate it. 

Important note - Zelda games were initially unconnected games that reused/played off of similar themes and ideas. They weren’t initially supposed to flow together in a certain order, so really they can be played in any order you want! The Zelda timeline and the overall lore and stuff is there if you want it, but isn’t mandatory. 

The whole post will be under the cut since it’ll get long fast

Common Characters: 

Link - the silent protagonist. He is the main character of the games and is usually a pretty blank slate. Coming from humble origins such as a blacksmiths apprentice he journeys to save the land, typically Hyrule. 

Zelda - the princess. Usually a minor supporting character or a damsel in distress her involvement changes from game to game, although typically the more recent the game the more involved she is. Occasionally she is accompanied by a nurse maid called Impa who watches over her. 

Ganon - the antagonist/villain. His exact history and background changes from game to game, the one most popular one for the fandom being the only male of the desert tribe called the gerudo. Sometimes he’s just a big old pig tho. 

Common races: (some games have unique races for the game, but these ones reoccur across several titles.)

The Hylians - the residents of Hyrule, Link and Zelda are Hylians. They have pointed ears ‘to hear the voice of the goddesses’ according to legend. A kingdom that actually pretty normal citizens. 

The Zora - fish people and to be honest some of the cooler designs in the Zelda series. They are usually associated with Nayru. An elegant race. Comes with a river counterpart that is usually isn’t very nice. 

The Gorons - Rock people that live in the mountains, usually at a volcano called Death Mountain. They all have masculine pronouns so that’s cool. Usually associated with Din. Very friendly. 

Kokiri - the small children of the forest that never age. Sometimes they appear as the koroks, little wooden guys that make wooden bell sounds when they move. Cute and secretive, they live in the Lost Woods. Associated with Farore.

The Gerudo - A desert tribe made up of exclusively women. Supposedly men are born to their tribe once every hundred years and becomes Ganondorf. Usually are wary of outsiders and often painted in a bad light (coughracismcough). Sometimes they are associated with their own Goddess of The Sand but other than that aren’t directly tied to the Hylian pantheon. 

The MacGuffins: 

Master Sword - Special sword that is like the only thing that can get rid of Ganon. A lot of the games revolve around finding it and restoring it’s power. 

The Triforce - a lot of games revolve around finding or protecting this in some way shape or form. Supposedly if you have all three pieces it will grant your hearts deepest wish. The three pieces are Courage (held by Link and crafted by the goddess Farore) Widsom (held by Zelda and crafted by the Godess Nayru) and Power (held by Ganon and crafted by the Godess Din). The three goddesses made the world and the triforce. There is also a fourth goddess called Hylia, but she’s really only relevant for like two games so far. She’s associated with the triforce, Zelda, and the master sword. 

(I’ve done my best to be brief but if you can any questions or anything feel free to ask and I can expand on anything!)

For someone first coming into the series Wind Waker (gamecube, Wiiu) is a good place to start. It explains and explores a lot of the lore and ideas of the story and has my favorite interpretation of Ganon. Ocarina of Time (N64, Gamecube, 3DS) is a fan favorite, although I just thought it was good, but it also has a lot of formative concepts that the series is based on. 

My personal faves are: 

Skyward Sword

The Oracle Games (lol they’re Gameboy color games)

Majoras Mask 

Breath of The Wild

(Twilight Princess also isn’t bad,and Wind Waker and Ocarina of time as I said are good. Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass are good but they both have things that make them frustrating.) 

HOWEVER if you can’t buy games and consoles (like me when I was a wee lass) I highly recommend the manga adaptation by Akira Himekawa! As a kiddo I remember going to the library and checking out those little mangas and falling in love. None of them are a perfect one to one to any of the games, more an artistic interpretation, so even if you read them you can still play the games and get a fresh experience, but they’re a good way to get to experience the Zelda stories in my opinion. All enjoyment of Four Swords comes from the manga tbh which is far more interesting than the game. 

I hope this was helpful!

(Fun Fact - I have never played the A Link To The Past or Minish Cap, just read the mangas. I was only able to play games like Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time by borrowing them from a friend who I no longer am close to so I’ve only played either of those games once on the gamecube, probably why they can’t really be in my favorite list since I’ve never been able to revisit them). 

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with nevdull

nevdull has 8 stories at Gossamer, and there are more X-Files fics at her website. They wonderfully and smartly capture the Mulder/Scully dynamic in various ways. I’ve recced some of my favorites here before including Fish for Fallen Light and Gazzaniga. Big thanks to nevdull for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

I'm surprised if there are wholly new readers, less so if people are revisiting old favorites and following discussions (like this one!) that might bring stories to their attention that they missed. I know of at least one "classic" story group reads that featured one of mine and it was extremely flattering to have been picked. I haven't done much fic re-reading myself but I completely understand the impulse to return to a beloved story.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

It was all so positive for me. I'm no stranger to internet drama but I didn't get drawn into it with this community (and when drama would erupt I generally had no idea what anyone was talking about!). I had a small group of friends I knew either purely online or partially in person and read the kinds of stories I liked or were recommended. I got a chance to practice both writing and editing, and get introduced to the practice of supportive critique that fandom does especially well. (Most modern software is extensively peer-reviewed, and I think I brought a lot of what I experienced with beta reading to my practice of code review both as a programmer and a manager.)

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

atxc first, as I was very active on Usenet in general. But I connected most with the Scullyfic mailing list. The writing prompts were especially fun to play with.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

XF is my only fandom experience—I've gotten into other shows but I've read very little other fanfic and I've never gone to cons. I tried following some of my favorite writers to other fandoms where I also liked the source material (Buffy, Bones) but it just didn't take. XF was singular for me in that way.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

I got a pretty late start, I think around season 5, and had to work backward. Watching was a group ritual with my roommates and I would occasionally forward some fandom things to them like the blooper reels or super top secret spoilers, but I was the only one who went all-in with the online community.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

The naughty stories! At first that was the only thing that made sense to me to read, because that was what was missing from the show. I didn't immediately grasp why anyone would read casefiles or post-ep fic or other genres—ironically these were the genres I ended up writing in. As time went on I would read just about anything from a favorite author or that got strong recommendations.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Occasional get-togethers with the Boston crew, and I had fun live-watching some of the recent season with folks on Facebook.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

My memory here is pretty poor and I'm going to forget lots of authors whose work I really loved, but just to list a few: Jesemie's Evil Twin, Anjou, syntax6, prufrock’s love, cofax, Penumbra, and Vehemently.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I write (and do advocacy work for) a different sort of niche: interactive fiction, which has some overlap with video games but also the broader writing community through tools like Twine. Interactive fiction (IF) and Twine in particular has become an active area for authors from underrepresented groups. Like fanfic, IF is generally authored for free and is often people's first opportunity to get their work in front of a worldwide audience. (Also like fanfic, several IF authors have gone on to full-time writing careers as either novelists or journalists. And I know of at least one other IF author who got their start writing XF fic.) My IF story Stone Harbor definitely draws from an XF tradition, though I didn't realize that until just now!

What's the story behind your pen name?

There's a special file on many operating systems called /dev/null, which acts like a black hole—anything you write to it is immediately deleted. It's just a tweak on that.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

At the time I was writing I treated it like a big secret, which seems silly now—especially since my stories are pretty tame. These days I don't advertise it just because it was so long ago, but I don't mind if people know. My husband is fully aware of the crew I hang out with on New Year's Day, and why.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

I'm on Twitter as @liza and for some reason my stories are still up on https://nevdull.tripod.com/ and at Gossamer.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Thanks for everything y'all taught me!

(Posted by Lilydale on January 19, 2021)

[funky-furby]

rough furby fandom timeline

reminiscencing abt old furblr made me wanna revisit some of the changes we’ve seen over time! to give new people an idea of it, and also to spark discussion with older members, i joined in 2017 and i havent been as active as of 2019 so i cant speak of prior or after, but heres my thoughts

2017

fandom is still small, but growing

focus is on them as toys

lots of posts are guides on names of colors, or how to push start

2005s are not very popular, i saw someone struggle to sell 2 working ones just because their beaks were damaged

besides the pink ones, people really liked those

i also lost a bid war on an orange 2005 that ended up going for 50 bucks, do you  understand the regret i feel

lots of furbys are cheap, furbys in general are cheap, besides the occasional person thinking their nib snowball is worth 300

rise of furbology (later furbae)

popular for owning a lot of furbys, and owning a very very roughed up frog furby called swampy

theres discourse abt drawing furbys with 4 feet

small nature of fandom means that discourse usually involves people everyone knows directly (furbyconfessions accidentally contributes to drama but some spin off accounts purposefully try and start it, furby discourse blogs are a thing)

small nature also means that a lot of people remember each others furbys by name

each furby usually has a personality attached to it too, describing things that furby tends  to do more than others, or what its physical differences mean (like being mute)

furby brotherhood is the only furby discord server and it gains notoriety due to the lack of moderation but in my experience it was a really fun wild ride

customization is fairly limited to maybe drawing on freckles, accessories, eyechips (people were poking them out with needles), to my knowledge tracer was the first popular furby to have further customizing

furby blogs humour is very silly, lots of piss and vore jokes

customized furbys from ebay sellers are pretty widely disliked, usually because theyre the clay ones, or because theres a lady trying to pass off her customs as rare releases that never happened

people go out of their way to help each other  find listings for their dreamies

2018

purity culture? in furblr? since a lot of people use furbys to cope (many many posts of people bringing them out in public, describing what  they and their furbys did), theres a pressure for furby blogs to be happy safe places, safefurby tag to avoid swearing and other stuff is started?, and also to avoid hatred in the main tag

theres like, a 70% chance of anyone u interact with in the fandom being a 15 year old trans guy on the autism spectrum, similarities make it really easy to make friends

considering special interests also usually mean wanting to know as much as possible, there is a WELL of information still

rise in popularity also means a lot more information is found abt furbys, like prototypes, a new factory and more obscure merchandise

since a lot of people empathize with  furbys, damaged or not completely working furbys start to go for higher prices than previously as people empathize with them

that one furby that was found in the desert (bumbleweed) gets REALLY popular

rise in customizing coincides with more stylization in how people draw furbys

whenever someone comes up with a new idea u’d see a lot of it in the next week

like stuffing a furby to make them fat, that one took OFF

painting fur and also furby patterns to sew own skins creates a strange demand for  just the furbys faceplate

furbys start to get strange names, like hot  dog water

fall of furbae as shes revealed as a scammer among other reasons

crap ton of new furby discords are started, for specific topics, or just to avoid brotherhood despite them having a completely new mod team (im a little biased)

theres a still a large overlap in furblr with animatronic and other toy robot blogs

an age of really creative stuff tho, content was constantly evolving

oddbodies are a controversial addition to customizing, longfurby wasnt the first, but i do remember a lot of people taking the faces off of plushes and adding a furby face instead

before they were called oddbodies some people were really uncomfortable with them, but people also didnt like their furby friends being tagged bodyhorror, so oddbody was a good compromise

people were calling dibs on listings before, but its more widespread here, even though you cant call dibs on an open listing

furby prices go through the roof oh my god

kid cuisines especially, i saw more than one person pay 600

2005s go up in price too

oddbodies also caused rise in price on furby buddies

2019

mainstream success?

customization and oddbodies seems to the fandoms focus?

customization starts to overtake previous guides to the point where i see newbies struggle to find information

Plushification

First plush ones have clay eyes, later ones add in the eyes of the original furbys

Some controversy over taking apart furbys

popularity from within  and outside of the community further effects prices

since 2012s are both really common, and not popular their prices seem pretty unaffected (besides rainbow crystals)

at this point i think people are taking their furbys out with them less, and i see less people make stories abt what they and their furbys did that day

customization trends were really really cool to watch happen, but since my reasons for being in furblr was the community nature of it, i have a lot less information  for 2019 as i was less active in the fandom

and for 2020, i have nothing! so essentially this is me asking, what was 2019 and 2020 furblr for u like? did i remember any older stuff wrong? whats some stuff u wouldve included or have questions about?

[luxekook]

[teaser] zero gravity ✰ namseok

✰ pairing: namjoon x hoseok x reader

✰ genre: space au, f2l, angst, smut, crack, fluff

✰ summary: being the captain of a spacecraft is all fun and games until you catch the only two others on board hooking up and you’re in love with both of them. it’s only natural that you act out - just a little...

✰ teaser word count: 0.8k

✰ teaser warnings: 18+, cursing, established mxm, dom/sub themes, grinding, implied smut [dirty talk, voyeurism (aka the reader listens to namseok gettin it on), oral (f receiving)]

✰ banner by: the amazing rose @jeonggukingdom​

✰ commissioned by: THE LOML ATLAS @miamorjoon​ hope you prepare urself hehehehe

You arrive at the navigation deck and sigh in disappointment at the absence of Hoseok who sometimes monitors the flight course during the night. Instead, you activate your ship’s Responsive Electronic Environmental Systems Engine - simply called R.E.E.S.E. for short. “Hey, R.E.E.S.E. Status report, please.”

“Hello, Captain (y/n). It is my esteemed honor to deliver a status update to you at this hour. I have been getting so lonely, you see. Usually Pilot Hoseok stays up with me, but tonight he has abandoned me for—”

“R.E.E.S.E.!” You groan. This is typical R.E.E.S.E., going off about something trivial in a dramatic fashion.

“Oh my. I have done it again. My apologies, Captain (y/n). All systems operating as normal. Shields activated and secure. Navigation set on nightly autopilot course.”

“Thank you, R.E.E.S.E.” You gaze out of the front windows for a moment; the view never gets old. Countless stars surround you with planets of every color scattered in between. Sometimes, you would see an occasional ship passing by, but right now there is not one to be seen. 

You deactivate R.E.E.S.E. and head back to your captain’s quarters. Walking through the control room once more, you pass through the common quarters and finally enter the hallway containing your shared bathroom, both Hoseok and Namjoon’s respective quarters, and then your own at the end. The hallway is dim, illuminated only by the slight glow of the floor beneath you. 

You move slowly, careful not to wake either of the boys.

And then you hear it.

Your first thought is porn as you pause in your tracks, standing stock still as the sounds of muffled groans and slapped skin seep through the sliver of space under the metal door leading to Hoseok’s quarters. Is he really jerking it right now, you think as you shamelessly creep closer to get a better idea of whatever - or whoever - is going down right now.

“Fuck, give it to me harder.”

Yup, that’s Hoseok all right. You place your palm on his door, dirty visuals racing through your mind. Who is he imagining? What you wouldn’t give for him to be thinking of you...

“Oh yeah, I’ll fucking give it to you hard, baby. Just how I know you like it.”

Your breath catches in your throat as you slap your palm over your mouth. Holy shit. Holy fuck. Holy hell in a handbasket. That’s Namjoon. Namjoon is there with Hoseok, fucking Hoseok.

Your imagination goes wild - as does your heart and your thoughts. How long has this been going on? How have you missed this? Are you that oblivious? Or are they just that good at hiding their relationship? Why haven’t they told you? Do they not trust you as much as they say they do? Do they think you won’t accept them if you knew?

It’s those final thoughts that hurt the most.

How is it possible that you know the intricate plans of an uprising occurring on a planet light years away, but you don’t know your only two crew members are hooking up?

You somehow manage to soundlessly continue down the corridor to your quarters. How does someone respond to overhearing the two men that you’re desperately in love with having sex? And just steps away from you at that?

All of your training never prepared you for this moment. You sit in your empty bed, gazing out the large window that takes up the majority of your quarters’ back wall. Emotions roll over you like waves. Arousal. Grief. Shame. Longing. 

It isn’t that you are upset at them for being with one another. If anyone in the galaxies deserves love, it is Hoseok and Namjoon. You are more upset with yourself for naively thinking that they might have had feelings for you, that they might have loved you back.

There had been that fateful night at a bar on Xyreus when the three of you had gotten just a little too drunk on Xybrew and had fooled around. You still remember the feeling of Hoseok grinding into you on the bar’s tiny dance floor, his hands wandering across your body, driving you insane. You still remember the taste of Namjoon’s lips as he pushed you up against the wall of the small alley behind the bar, his fingers digging into your ass as he pushed his hips into yours. You still remember how Hoseok watched you with fire in his eyes as Namjoon sunk to his knees and—

Fuck, you can’t go there. You can’t revisit that memory because it only ends in disappointment. 

“A drunken mistake,” They had called it the next morning before you could get a word in edgewise. “A threat to our crew’s dynamic.”

What a joke. 

It turns out that their only regret must have been including you.

COMING SOOOOOOON [later this week uwu]

[kuramirocket]

Whenever I visit Olvera Street, as I did a couple of weeks ago, my walk through the historic corridor is always the same.

Start at the plaza. Pass the stand where out-of-towners and politicians have donned sombreros and serapes for photos ever since the city turned this area into a tourist trap in 1930.

Look at the vendor stalls. Wonder if I need a new guayabera. Gobble up two beef taquitos bathed in avocado salsa at Cielito Lindo. Then return to my car and go home.

I’ve done this walk as a kid, and as an adult. For food crawls and quick lunches. With grad students on field trips, and with the late Anthony Bourdain for an episode of his “Parts Unknown.”

This last visit was different, though: I had my own camera crew with me.

My last chance at Hollywood fame was going to live or die on Olvera Street.

I was shooting a sizzle reel — footage that a producer will turn into a clip for television executives to determine whether I’m worthy of a show. In this case, I want to turn my 2012 book “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America” into the next “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.” Or “Somebody Feed Phil.” Or an Alton Brown ripoff. Or a TikTok series.

Anything at this point, really.

For more than a decade, I’ve tried to break into Hollywood with some success — but the experience has left me cynical. Personal experience and the historical record have taught me that studios and streamers still want Mexicans to stay in the same cinematic lane that American film has paved for more than a century. We’re forever labeled… something. Exotic. Dangerous. Weighed down with problems. Never fully developed, autonomous humans. Always “Mexican.”

Even if we’re natives of Southern California. Especially if we’re natives of Southern California.

I hope my sizzle reel will lead to something different. I doubt it will because the issue is systemic. Industry executives, producers, directors and scriptwriters can only portray the Mexicans they know — and in a perverse, self-fulfilling prophecy, they mostly only know the Mexicans their industry depicts even in a region where Latinos make up nearly half the population.

The vicious cycle even infects creators like me.

As the film crew and I left for our next location, I stopped and looked around. We were right where I began, except I now looked south on Main Street. The plaza was to my left. City Hall loomed on the horizon. The vista was the same as the opening scene of “Bordertown,” a 1935 Warner Bros. film I had seen the night before. It was the first Hollywood movie to address modern-day Mexican Americans in Los Angeles.

What I saw was more than déjà vu. It was a reminder that 86 years later, Hollywood’s Mexican problem hasn’t really progressed at all.

Birth of a stereotype

Screen misrepresentation of Mexicans isn’t just a longstanding wrong; it’s an original sin. And it has an unsurprising Adam: D.W. Griffith.

He’s most infamous for reawakening the Ku Klux Klan with his 1915 epic “The Birth of a Nation.” Far less examined is how Griffith’s earliest works also helped give American filmmakers a language with which to typecast Mexicans.

Two of his first six films were so-called “greaser” movies, one-reelers where Mexican Americans were racialized as inherently criminal and played by white people. His 1908 effort “The Greaser’s Gauntlet” is the earliest film to use the slur in its title. Griffith filmed at least eight greaser movies on the East Coast before heading to Southern California in early 1910 for better weather.

The new setting allowed Griffith to double down on his Mexican obsession. He used the San Gabriel and San Juan Capistrano missions as backdrops for melodramas embossed with the Spanish Fantasy Heritage, the white California myth that romanticized the state’s Mexican past even as it discriminated against the Mexicans of the present.

In films such as his 1910 shorts “The Thread of Destiny,” “In Old California” (the first movie shot in what would become Hollywood) and “The Two Brothers,” Griffith codified cinematic Mexican characters and themes that persist. The reprobate father. The saintly mother. The wayward son. The idea that Mexicans are forever doomed because they’re, well, Mexicans.

Griffith based his plots not on how modern-day Mexicans actually lived, but rather on how white people thought they did. 

A riot nearly broke out as Latinos felt the scene mocked them. It was perhaps the earliest Latino protest against negative depictions of them on the big screen.

But the threat of angry Mexicans didn’t kill greaser movies. Griffith showed the box-office potential of the genre, and many American cinematic pioneers dabbled in them. Thomas Edison’s company shot some, as did its biggest rival, Vitagraph Studios. So did Mutual Film, an early home for Charlie Chaplin. Horror legend Lon Chaney played a greaser. The first western star, Broncho Billy Anderson, made a career out of besting them.

These films were so noxious that the Mexican government in 1922 banned studios that produced them from the country until they “retired... denigrating films from worldwide circulation,” according to a letter that Mexican President Álvaro Obregón wrote to his Secretariat of External Relations. The gambit worked: the greaser films ended. Screenwriters instead reimagined Mexicans as Latin lovers, Mexican spitfires, buffoons, peons, mere bandits and other negative stereotypes.

That’s why “Bordertown” surprised me when I finally saw it. The Warner Bros. movie, starring Paul Muni as an Eastside lawyer named Johnny Ramirez and Bette Davis as the temptress whom he spurns, was popular when released. Today, it’s almost impossible to see outside of a hard-to-find DVD and an occasional Muni marathon on Turner Classic Movies.

Based on a novel of the same name; Muni was a non-Mexican playing a Mexican. Johnny Ramirez had a fiery temper, a bad accent and repeatedly called his mother (played by Spanish actress Soledad Jiminez ) “mamacita,” who in turn calls him “Juanito.” The infamous, incredulous ending has Ramirez suddenly realizing the vacuity of his fast, fun life and returning to the Eastside “back where I belong ... with my own people.” And the film’s poster features a bug-eyed, sombrero-wearing Muni pawing a fetching Davis, even though Ramirez never made a move on Davis’ character or wore a sombrero.

These and other faux pas (like Ramirez’s friends singing “La Cucaracha” at a party) distract from a movie that didn’t try to mask the discrimination Mexicans faced in 1930s Los Angeles. Ramirez can’t find justice for his neighbor, who lost his produce truck after a drunk socialite on her way back from dinner at Las Golondrinas on Olvera Street smashed into it. That very socialite, whom Ramirez goes on to date (don’t ask), repeatedly calls him “Savage” as a term of endearment. When Ramirez tires of American bigotry and announces he’s moving south of the border to run a casino, a priest in brownface asks him to remain.

“For what?” Ramirez replies. “So those white little mugs who call themselves gentlemen and aristocrats can make a fool out of me?”

“Bordertown” sprung up from Warner Bros.’ Depression-era roster of social-problem films that served as a rough-edged alternative to the escapism offered by MGM, Disney and Paramount. But its makers committed the same error Griffith did: They fell back on tropes instead of talking to Mexicans right in front of them who might offer a better tale.

Just take the first shot of “Bordertown,” the one I inadvertently recreated on my television shoot.

Under a title that reads “Los Angeles … the Mexican Quarter,” viewers see Olvera Street’s plaza emptier than it should be. That’s because just four years earlier, immigration officials rounded up hundreds of individuals at that very spot. The move was part of a repatriation effort by the American government that saw them boot about a million Mexicans — citizens and not — from the United States during the 1930s.

Following that opening shot is a brief glimpse of a theater marquee that advertises a Mexican music trio called Los Madrugadores (“The Early Risers”). They were the most popular Spanish-language group in Southern California at the time, singing traditional corridos but also ballads about the struggles Mexicans faced in the United States. Lead singer Pedro J. González hosted a popular AM radio morning show heard as far away as Texas that mixed music and denunciations against racism.

By the time “Bordertown” was released in 1935, Gonzalez was in San Quentin, jailed by a false accusation of statutory rape pursued by an L.A. district attorney’s office happy to lock up a critic. He was freed in 1940 after the alleged victim recanted her confession, then summarily deported to Tijuana, where Gonzalez continued his career before returning to California in the 1970s.

Doesn’t Gonzalez and his times make a better movie than “Bordertown”? Warner Bros. could have offered a bold corrective to the image of Mexican Americans if they had just paid attention to their own footage! Instead, Gonzalez’s saga wouldn’t be told on film until a 1984 documentary and 1988 drama.

Both were shot in San Diego. Both received only limited screenings at theaters across the American Southwest and an airing on PBS before going on video. No streamer carries it.

How Hollywood imagines Mexicans versus how we really are turned real for me in 2013, when I became a consulting producer for a Fox cartoon about life on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The title? “Bordertown.”

It aired in 2015 and lasted one season. I enjoyed the end product. I even got to write an episode, which just so happened to be the series finale.

The gig was a dream long deferred. My bachelor’s degree from Chapman University was in film. I had visions of becoming the brown Tarantino or a Mexican Truffaut before journalism got in the way. Over the years, there was Hollywood interest in articles or columns I wrote but never anything that required I do more than a couple of meetings — or scripts by white screenwriters that went nowhere.

But “Bordertown” opened up more doors for me and inspired me to give Hollywood a go.

While I worked on the cartoon, I got another consulting producer credit on a Fusion special for comedian Al Madrigal and sold a script to ABC that same year about gentrification in Boyle Heights through the eyes of a restaurant years before the subject became a trend. Pitch meetings piled up with so much frequency that my childhood friends coined a nickname for me: Hollywood Gus.

My run wouldn’t last long. The microagressions became too annoying.

The veteran writers on “Bordertown” rolled their eyes any time I said that one of their jokes was clichéd, like the one about how eating beans gave our characters flatulent superpowers or the one about a donkey show in Tijuana. Or when they initially rejected a joke about menudo, saying no one knew what the soup was, and they weren’t happy when another Latino writer and I pointed out that you’re pretty clueless if you’ve lived in Southern California for a while and don’t know what menudo is.

The writers were so petty, in fact, that they snuck a line into the animated “Bordertown” where the main character said, “There’s nothing worse than a Mexican with glasses” — which is now my public email to forever remind me of how clueless Hollywood is.

The insults didn’t bother me so much as the insight I gained from those interactions: The only Latinos most Hollywood types know are the janitors and security guards at the studio, and nannies and gardeners at their homes. The few Latinos in the industry I met had assimilated into this worldview as well.

Could I blame them for their ignorance when it came to capturing Mexican American stories, especially those in Southern California? Of course I can.

What ended any aspirations for a full-time Hollywood career was a meeting with a television executive shortly after ABC passed on my Boyle Heights script (characters weren’t believable, per the rejection). They repeatedly asked that I think about doing a show about my father’s life, which didn’t interest me. Comedies about immigrant parents are clichéd at this point. So one day I blurted that I was more interested in telling my stories.

I never heard from the executive again.

A pair of boots

Five years later, and that Hollywood dream just won’t leave me.

I’m not leaving journalism. But at this point, I just want to prove to myself that I can help exorcise D.W. Griffith’s anti-Mexican demons from Hollywood once and for all. That I can show the Netflix honcho they were wrong for passing on a “Taco USA” series with the excuse that the topic of Mexican food in the United States was too “limited.” And the Food Network people who said they just couldn’t see a show about the subject as being as “fun” as it was. Or the bigtime Latino actor’s production company who wanted the rights to my "¡Ask a Mexican!” book, then ghosted me after I said I didn’t hold them but I did own the rights to my brain.

When this food-show sizzle reel gets cut, and I start my Hollywood jarabe anew, I’ll keep in mind a line in “Bordertown” that Johnny Ramirez said: “An American man can lift himself up by his bootstraps. All he needs is strength and a pair of boots.”

Mexicans have had the strength since forever in this town. But can Hollywood finally give us the botas?