#most of all it was a challenge. i remember my main goal was to write a relationship between erik and a young woman

[lucy-ghoul]

Changed my pfp to the lovely Miss Daaé (one of, if not my most beloved gothic heroine 💕) as played by the super talented Amy Manford in the Greek production, since I'm in a Phantom mood these days (I'm even re-reading one of my fav phics and editing my....... *cringes* old Canon Divergent fic that I wrote when I was 19/20 because oh my god, it sure af needed some heavy adjustments brrrrr 🤦🏻🤦🏻)

[iateyourparents]

hello! could you write johnnie guilbert fluff? maybe a scenario where him and fem!reader are spending a day together (filming a video, doing random stuff) just being two people in love and jake and tara tease them and call them a married couple

deaf, mute and blind | j.g.

pairing: johnnie guilbert x fem!reader

summary: you, johnnie and jake are recording a new challenge video.

warnings: use of y/n, bad writing and grammar(i’m sorry but english isn’t my first language)

an: hi, thank you <33 hope you like it!

pictures are from pinterest :)

“Hi guys, it’s me, Tara, and today I’m here with Jake, y/n and Johnnie.” Tara introduced you and you all waved to the camera.

“Hi!” you greeted her viewers.

“Today I’m gonna torture my guests… No, but I wish.” she pouted and you all laughed “Today, my guests will be playing into deaf, mute and blind but…they will have many challenges and quests to do throughout the day. But they main goal is to do shopping and bake me cookies! Any words guys?”

“I hope I get deaf, cause I don’t think I can go much longer with them talking.” you rolled your eyes looking at Jake and your boyfriend.

“Hey!” Johnnie gasped pretending to be offended, placing hand on his chest “That hurt love.”

You only rolled your eyes but couldn’t hide the smile that was forcing its way onto your face.

“Alright, so now they will draw sticks and get to know what senses will be taken from them!” Tara showed her viewers three sticks and then she turned to you “Ladies first.”

You took the one in the middle and immediately looked at written words.

“Yeah! I’m deaf today!” You did a little winning dance. Next one choosing stick was Johnnie and he got mute.

“Oh, so I will be blind.” Jake stated “That’s good actually, at least I don’t have to look at your ugly faces.” he smirked and you laughed.

Tara handed you all your things - blindfold for Jake, duck tape for Johnnie and earphones for you.

“Let me also add, that the person who won’t do the most of their mini challenges, has to take a cold shower on the street!” Tara smiled mischievously.

“Is this enough to charge her with domestic abuse?” Jake asked kind of scared.

When everyone was ready Tara started talking to the camera and you could only guess she was explaining to people what you gonna do and not long later Johnnie took your hand to let you know you were going out. You both helped blindfolded Jake to the car and Tara drove you to the nearest store.

She turned on the camera and pointed it at you and Johnnie. You didn’t see anyone talking so you decided to speak “I think Tara already told you guys but we’re making cookies so now we have to find all of the needed ingredients.” you informed and Tara pointed the camera to Johnnie who was gesturing towards some alley. He took your hand and started dragging you there with Tara going behind you but you suddenly stopped, remembering something.

You quickly turned around and jogged to Jake to walk him to Johnnie and Tara. He said something that made Tara laugh and Johnnie’s arms shudder in a silent laugh.

You really started to regret wanting to be deaf one, because not hearing anything yet seeing it, made you frustrated. Also, not hearing Johnnie made you kinda sad. But atleast you listened to your favorite songs.

You all went to grocery alley where Jake gave you his phone so you and Johnnie could find all ingredients for cookies.

Tara was pointing the camera on you all the time and you decided to speak from time to time in case she and Jake weren’t saying anything.

“So we will be doing chocolate chip cookies. Or rather we will be trying to instruct Jake to do it without hurting himself or poisoning us.” you felt a light push on your shoulder and you laughed seeing how Jake was struggling with trying to not miss your form while hitting.

Johnnie swatted Jake’s hand when he tried to hit your shoulder again and side hugged you while looking for flour.

“Johnnie, we need flour for cakes, this one is for bread.” you told him and he gave you a ‘what the hell’ face and you knew that if he could talk and you hear, he would be asking about the difference.

“Alright, I think we got everything.” you stated when you found everything and you all went to cashier’s stands where everyone was looking at you like at idiots, but that wasn’t anything new with Johnnie and Jake.

Tara quickly paid when it was yours turn and you and Johnnie walked Jake to the car.

When you were at home you quickly started to prepare kitchen for your baking.

Suddenly, you felt someone tugging gently at your arm and you saw Johnnie pointing ahead of you. You saw Tara pointing the camera at you all and you took it as a clue to start talking.

“Alright, so now we will be trying to instruct Jake how to make cookie dough, wish us luck!” you smiled sarcastically.

You somehow were cooperating well, Johnnie was showing you the recipe and you were reading it for Jake who then with your and yours boyfriend help were making most of the work.

When cookies were in the oven you didn’t have anything better to do so you sat on the floor in front of the oven and you were just looking at the cookies.

Some time later Johnnie joined you, sitting next to you and placing his head on your shoulder. You hugged him into your side and he gladly snuggled into you, kissing your shoulder.

You sat there for a few minutes, when Tara came to you with a camera and some bowl and told something to Johnnie and then showed you her phone, where she wrote in the notes that now you will be doing random challenges before you could take the cookies out from the oven. It would decide who is the loser of the video.

You all stood in the living room and Tara came to you with the bowl and you took one piece of paper.

“I’ve got ‘activity without your sense’” you read it for them and viewers out loud and then showed the piece of paper to the camera.

Moment later Tara gave you another paper, which turned out to be an instruction what your activity was.

“So I have to call a random contact and try to have normal conversation with that person. That will be hard.” you sighed “Can Johnnie and Jake help me? Like by gesturing?” You looked at Tara and she only nodded.

You looked at the camera and smiled “I’m actually kinda scared that they will gesturing wrong things and I will make a fool of myself.” you laughed and you could see Tara snorting.

Your challenges were done, it wasn’t that bad or at least you were hoping so.

Then you took the cookies out of the oven and tried them when they weren’t hot. They were really good.

“Teamwork makes a dream work, i guess.” you smiled at the camera.

Then you could finally take off the earphones and you were never as grateful for hearing Jake and Johnnie as now.

“God, it’s so good to hear people again. I missed your voice.” you told Johnnie who smiled widely at you and kissed your cheek.

“I’m glad to see again, but I’m scared of how many bruises I’ve got today.” Jake laughed while still trying to get use to the light in the room.

“Alright guys, they made it.” Tara smiled at the camera “I can’t with how cute y/n and Johnnie were today. Literally goals. You were like and old married couple.” she giggled and you smiled.

“So, who’s the loser?” Jake asked after few minutes.

“You Jake.” You laughed “You didn’t do any of your challenges correctly.”

“That’s true.” Tara smirked “You will do your punishment later.”

You stopped recording for some time so Tara could get all of the needed things for Jake’s punishment, so you and Johnnie went to sit on the couch while hugging.

“I really missed your voice today.” you admitted again quietly.

“And I missed talking to you.” he smiled “And kissing you.” he kissed you.

[secondhandsorrows]

Some Vital Scenes to Include in a Romantic Subplot, pt. 1

I’ve been in the plotting stages of a novel I’ve been working on for some time now. It’s not a romance novel, per se, but the romantic aspect is very prevalent… dare I say important. Anyway, so as I was working on my scenes and character arcs, I began to realize that I didn’t have enough fleshed-out about romantic arc, nor deepened the protagonist’s love interest or their connection, for that matter. This led me to devise up some scenes that I felt were crucial to the story if I wanted to keep this romantic angle to it, and now that I’ve most of them arranged, I find now that I’m way more excited about my characters’ love story. 

These tips will be unnumbered because, obviously, the sequence of these events and how they will fall into your storyline will probably be different. Also, you don’t have to use only one scene for every suggestion that will be mentioned, as you can have multiple scenes of flirtations or deep conversations, for example. They usually blend all together into the narrative at this point. Just remember that there should be some relevance to the plot at hand in some of these scenes as to not derail completely from the main narrative or other conflicts.

I was going to post this all at once, but decided it was too long and wanted to split it into two parts to go more in-depth and for easy reading. /-\ Enjoy ~

- The meet-cute, or the meet-ugly:

Ah, yes, the first encounter. Or, as we sometimes like to call it: the meet-cute, or the meet-ugly if you’re feeling a little unconventional or perhaps mischievous. Though we may enjoy setting up our star-crossed characters in a whole range of moments from awkward to swoon-worthy, the initial meeting is what’s important (if your characters haven't already met before the beginning of the story, ofc, but this is useful to have in mind). Let us quickly define the two:

Meet-Cute: A charming and serendipitous first encounter between the characters in question that sets a positive, memorable, and oftentimes romantic tone.

Meet-Ugly: An unconventional, awkward, or disastrous initial meeting that adds a unique twist to the start of the romantic connection, often leading to unexpected chemistry and an added intrigue on whether or not they’ll get together.

You don’t have to nail your characters’ first encounter into a label or bubble such as these two examples, but I like bringing these up for a general idea. 

- Bouts of flirting and/or banter:

Just as the title suggests, these are scenes containing the flirtaious communication between the two characters. These kinds of interactions will, of course, develop over time and deepen the bond or relationship. Playful interactions, gazes, and witty exchanges between the characters can create a lighthearted and flirtatious atmosphere that hints at their growing attraction.

The way they might flirt or tease can reveal their personalities. For example, one character might be more sarcastic, while the other responds with quick wit, or quiet bashfulness. There’s an element of subtlety, as flirting lets the characters express their romantic interest without explicitly stating it (unless one of your characters lacks subtlety in general and prefers to shout their undying love from the rooftops, which would make for an interesting dynamic, but I’m only spit-balling). 

Banter, teasing, and romantic tension underscoring heated debates or loathsome gazes suit just as nicely, especially if you’re writing with enemies-to-lovers or rivalry tropes in mind. But be careful! A little goes a long way: too much all at once can repel any growth for the characters or narrative.

- Initial conflict or struggle:

Depending on your story’s big-picture conflict, the introduction of challenges or obstacles can create tension between the characters, adding depth to their relationship and making their eventual connection all the more satisfying. This might include cultural or class differences, opposing goals or values, history of past heartbreak, personality weaknesses such as stubbornness, or external pressures that threaten to keep the characters apart. Even a nosy family or a disapproving mother can be considered. How the characters navigate and resolve these conflicts contributes significantly to the overall emotional impact of the romance subplot, as well as allowing for some exploration of each character's strengths, weaknesses, and resilience. 

- Shared vulnerability:

This kind of scene involves the characters opening up to each other about their innermost fears, insecurities, past trauma, or personal struggles. Shared vulnerability goes beyond surface-level interactions. It involves characters revealing their authentic selves, exposing their emotional vulnerabilities, and allowing the other person to see them in an honest — and sometimes new — light.

This is a symbolic gesture of commitment we’re talking about, here… something that requires trust. As characters share their fears or past traumas, they are entrusting the other person with sensitive information, fostering a sense of trust and emotional intimacy. It might be scary, it could be out from left field, but they will end up learning something new about themselves, their situation, or about the other person, and thus deepen their connection, little by little.

[succulentsiren]

How to Structure Your Life Like a BOSS: SucculentSiren X @femmefatalevibe

FemmeFataleVibe

• Set Priorities

• Write Everything Down

• Devise A Plan

• Prioritize Important Tasks Like Non-Refundable Appointments

• Consider Batching Similar Tasks For Better Time Management & Productivity

• Become Attuned To Your Natural Energy Patterns

• Develop Self-Awareness Around Your Self-Sabotaging Behaviors

• Drop Inconsequential Tasks and Conversations

• Find Mentors (Online or IRL) Who You Allow Into Your Inner Circle 

Ask Yourself: * What are the main 3 action items you could complete this week that would best serve your goals?

* Approximately what percentage of your to-do list each week aligns with your priorities?

* What are some habits you could add or eliminate that would help you feel more in control of your life?

✦•······················•

SucculentSiren

• Time Management - Become aware of how you are managing your time. Set timers to remind you of your daily goals. Things flows easier when you set time aside everyday rather than trying to do everything at once or procrastinating. It can literally be just 10 minutes a day. This builds consistency and habit. You’ll also become less stressful in knowing that you don't have to complete everything all at once.

• Self Awareness - Identify what you want, how you want your life to look, what things in your life you would like to change, who you want to be seen as, etc. Develop self belief where you believe you're capable of achieving and having all your desires. Take calculated action towards your goals. You don’t have to start big. Start small instead and learn from there. Stay persistent and always remember your end goal. ‘Rome wasn't built in a day.’

• Mentors - Learn from people who inspire you. Everybody influences you, so follow those who motivate you to be and feel better about yourself.

Q&A

Q: Many people find it challenging to put themselves first and make something of themselves. How would you recommend prioritizing yourself?

SS: If someone else can have it why can’t you? Build up your self esteem. Write down what it is that you desire most for your life and act in accordance to those beliefs. Nothing is too big or small for you to achieve.

FFV: Give yourself at least 30 minutes after waking up to focus on yourself. Do your skincare, have your coffee, listen to music, journal, read. Allow yourself to ease into your day.

Have your non-negotiables for the day. Get them done when you say you will and don’t push yourself to do more if you’re exhausted or get too overwhelmed. Communicate your bandwidth to others so you set realistic expectations involved for any project, event, get-together, or errand.

Ensure you give yourself enough time to eat 2-3 healthy meals daily, drink enough water, move for at least 20-30 minutes a day, and have a hygiene routine (shower skincare, home cleaning, etc.) that you perform daily/weekly depending on the task.

Give yourself at least an hour before bed to wind down – with a book, TV show, drinking tea, journaling, relaxing music, etc.

Incorporate daily/weekly rituals you enjoy into your schedule. Make these self-love practices as much of a priority as taking a shower or a work task. These activities could be doing a face mask, getting your nails down, have a great cup of coffee or tea, watching an episode of a TV show, a long walk around your neighborhood, calling someone you love, etc.

✦•······················•

Q: What are some tips to maintain balance between work, play and rest?

FFV: Give yourself “business hours” to do your work/important tasks – even if you don’t have an employer setting your schedule. This tip is essential if you’re self-employed, a business owner, or a student. I share my business hours in all of my contracts so my clients know when I’ll be available.

Timeblock everything: Your work tasks, cleaning schedule, errands/appointments and even your resting/self-care hours. This process allows you to stop decision fatigue from taking over your life. If you say you’re cleaning from 2 -3 pm tomorrow, get it done so you have from 3 pm onward to chill, take a walk, and watch TV later that weekend afternoon.

Decision on your must-do self-care rituals for the day/week and keep your promise to do them for yourself.

Become attuned to your social battery. Know how many hangouts per week or nights out helps you thrive (say 1-3 times per week if you’re more introverted or busy with work, school, family, etc.). Make an effort to plan these events on your social calendar ahead of time or know yourself well enough to remain open to last-minute plans on certain days/times of the week (if you’re prone to cancelling or flaking).

[benkyoutobentou]

Ranking the books I read in Japanese this year

It’s the end of the year and I don’t think I’ll be finishing any more Japanese books this month, so I thought it would be fun to rank what I read! I read twelve novels in Japanese this year, hitting my goal (but not quite reading one a month). There won’t be twelve rankings here, though, because I read multiple books from the same series and will be combining those.

9. コーヒーが冷めないうちに - 川口俊和: This book just didn’t do it for me. I listened to it on audiobook in February for a target language listening challenge and got stuck in a vicious cycle of not paying attention because the story was boring me and being bored of it because I wasn’t paying enough attention. Most other people I’ve seen who have read it in Japanese also thought it was boring, though, so I’m not mourning any loss.

8. 宝石商リチャードの謎鑑定 - 辻村七子: I really wanted to like this series but the negatives outweighed the positives so much that I only read the first volume. The most damning part of this for me was that I couldn’t stand the writing style. It was extremely confusing, and having a language barrier on top of that just made it miserable. I’m really glad I read this with others because I was not the only one who found the writing style to be ridiculously confusing for a book that doesn’t even handle confusing or difficult topics. Seriously, the writing was so bad that I considered continuing the series in English. But the characters were good.

7. あん - ドリアン助川: Now we get into the books that I enjoyed, just not as much. I liked this book well enough, but it was just a bit middling. I wasn’t overly invested in the characters or story and I found myself wondering how on earth this story could go on for another hundred pages. It was sweet, but ultimately I don’t think the story will stick with me at all.

6. ちょっと今から仕事やめてくる - 北川恵海: This was another audiobook read and although I know I enjoyed it, I really don’t remember much about it. I’m also not sure if the twist, which I did think was really good, actually happened or was something I misunderstood (I’m pretty sure I understood it though). Overall, this one goes on the to-reread pile, just as soon as I can find a physical copy of it.

5. 旅猫リポート - 有川浩: This was an adorable story perfect for cat lovers, but the end had me a little bored. Honestly though, it was quite the experience to go from being a bit bored to crying my eyes out in the span of ten pages. The writing style and the main cat’s perspective was super charming as well.

4. 人間失格 - 太宰治: This was my first classic in Japanese and wasn’t as difficult as I expected. Dazai’s writing style is a pain in the ass, but I will admit that it started to grow on me as the book went on and now I find it endearing. It also wasn’t as depressing as I had heard it was, and I really enjoyed getting a perspective of that time period.

3. 美しい彼 - 凪良ゆう: I only read one volume of this, probably exclusively because I suddenly couldn’t stand romance when I had fifty pages left of this. What can I say, I love a good toxic gay romance. The writing style is chronically readable and the story is super engaging.

2. No. 6 - あさのあつこ: I’m a fan of the anime for this and the novels have not let me down. I’ve only read two so far, but the story and characters are super gripping. I really love the emphasis on dialogue in this series, I really feel like it makes the characters pop more. The only problem I have is this odd quirk in Asano’s writing style, where the majority of the series is told from third person point of view, but will suddenly switch to first person point of view for a single sentence. It’s not enough to deter me, but it is a little odd to see.

1. キノの旅 - 時雨沢恵一: My number one favorite read in Japanese this year and no one should be surprised. I’m a massive Kino fan and read three volumes this year. I love books that I can analyze the hell out of and this is exactly that. Additionally, I think the writing style and the way both Kino and Hermes are characterized adds so much to both the stories and the underlying meanings that Shigusawa is trying to get across.

[ninja-muse]

November started out bookish, because my Dad came to visit for a few days, which meant a bookstore visit, a poetry reading, and a bookish movie. It then got mundane and kind of time-dilated. If feels like October was three months ago at least and that all the books took ages to get through, which is absolutely not the case. I didn't write much, just kind of lazed around. Maybe that's it?

It was a good reading month, though! Apart from one DNF that was just not for me, I didn't read a single dud and Libby kept on coming through with anticipated reads. I not long have anything actively on hold there, and few things on hold physically at the library right now either, which hopefully means I'll be able to tackle The ARC Pile again next month and burn through a handful of those before the new year. Wish me luck?

I am well and truly going to lose most of my reading challenges this year. There's no way I'm going to hit 140 books, no way I'm going to read the remaining books on my personal "read these 50 books" challenges, and I might have hit 10 Canadian authors but I'm certainly not going to hit the stretch goal of 20. I'm mostly okay with this. Really. At least I finally passed my goal of 40,000 pages. Huzzah!

Also, as you can tell by that stack of six books, I do not have a book acquisition problem. You have a book acquisition problem! Only two of those were purchases though—I've been meaning to read The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and The Mighty Dead comes recommended. The rest of them were out of damaged shipments at work. If the publisher doesn't want them back and we don't have the space to store them, what am I meant to do? Throw them away? Salt Fat Acid Heat is totally writing research, of course.

Somehow, I suspect I'm not going to hit my goal of reading more books off my TBR shelves than I add to them this year either.

And now without further ado, in order of enjoyment…

The Water Outlaws - S.L. Huang When Lin Chong is convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, she finds herself allied with infamous outlaws.

8/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian, genderfluid), mute secondary character, 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: death, violence, torture, blood

The Night Watch - Sarah Waters

Four Londoners after and during the War, and the melancholiness of life and love.

8.5/10

🏳️‍🌈 main characters (lesbian, bi woman), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (lesbian, queer)

warning: self-harm, abortion, blood, war, suicide

Lay Them to Rest - Laurah Norton

A portrait of people solving Doe cases and their methods.

8/10

warning: missing and murdered people, human remains

Ogres - Adrian Tchaikovsky

The world is a cruel place full of powerful ogres, and you are a peasant with a grudge.

7.5/10

warning: violence, murder, classism, oppression

Turning Darkness into Light - Marie Brennan

Audrey Camherst gets the chance to translate lost Draconean texts but grows suspicious of her new employer.

7.5/10

Black British-coded main character

warning: xenophobia

The Circumference of the World - Lavie Tidhar

A pulp sci-fi novel that doesn’t exist, the real lives it affects, and the secrets of the universe.

7.5/10

albino Vanuatan main character, faceblind main character, half-Guyanese Jewish secondary character

warning: sexist, racist, and homophobic characters

Sleep No More - Seanan McGuire

October is a changeling born to serve her family, and happy in her role. Unfortunately there are people who remember her very differently.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (bi men), 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: villains really like their ideas about blood purity

The Innocent Sleep - Seanan McGuire

Tybalt’s wife has been caught in Faerie’s grandest illusion and he just wants to bring her home.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 main character (bi man), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (poly, sapphic, bi man), 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: eugenics

DNF

Moorewood Family Rules - HelenKay Dimon

Jillian is out of prison and determined to make her con artist family go straight, no matter what.

Currently reading:

A Power Unbound - Freya Marske

Jack, Alan, and their friends must find a hidden artifact and foil a plot. Jack and Alan do not get along.

🏳️‍🌈 main characters (gay, bi), main character with injured leg and chronic pain, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (gay, bi woman, lesbian), 🏳️‍🌈 author

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Victorian detective stories

major disabled character

warning: colonialism, racism

Stats

Monthly total: 8 Yearly total: 117/140 Queer books: 4 Authors of colour: 1 Books by women: 5 Authors outside the binary: 1 Canadian authors: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 1 Books hauled: 6 ARCs acquired: 2 ARCs unhauled: 2 DNFs: 1

January February March April May June July August September October

[t1meslayer]

Trying something a little different today.

Inspired by the incomparable @alchemicallymoon, I'm going to do a postmortem commentary on my latest fanfiction. If you haven't read "Stone-Cold Lovers" Chapter 3 on AO3, now's your chance!

I've done similar things in the past, with my Pre-Preparation of Shiver post for "Splatoon B-Mix," but I'm really testing the waters to make this a more regular occurrence — possibly even going back to older works. If you enjoy, let me know!

Tons of rambling beneath the cut. You've been warned <3

Alright. I can't think of any better place to begin talking about "Stone-Cold Lovers" than to mention it's a classic piece (in the era sense, though also in the literary sense). I started publishing fanfic in 2019, right around the time I was graduating from college. A bunch of pieces I wrote are still exclusively available on FanFiction.net, but I've slowly been transitioning them with a fresh coat of paint.

"Stone-Cold Lovers" was the sixth story I published on FanFiction. As I mentioned in Chapter 1 of the AO3 version, it came back to mind after Pokemon Masters EX introduced a Halloween alt for Roxanne.

Pokemon Crystal was my first "real" video game (not counting educational content like Sesame Street games), but Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire began my infatuation with the series. This was partially due to the fact that I could read the text on my own, which meant I could keep replaying to do little challenge runs.

===

Fun Fact: One of the most prominent challenge runs I can recall involved catching a full team of Wingull. I named the Pelipper of my team "Sergeant," and the rest had other army designations. I would later copy this idea using shiny Ambipom and Aipom in HeartGold and SoulSilver that I obtained through entirely legal means for a rare item Pickup group.

===

More Fun Fact: My favorite challenge run to this day is completing Pokemon FireRed with a single Clefable. I always really liked how many TMs a single Clefable could learn.

===

All of that is to say I seared Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald into my brain by playing it all the time on the schoolyard and at my grandparents' house in Florida. It remains my favorite region to this day. However, I didn't fall in love with Roxanne until the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire character designs came out.

Important note: I have shipping charts for basically every character-heavy... Anything. Something about pairing people up always makes my brain go brr. My body of creative writing speaks to many of the headcanons I've whipped up over the years. Similarly, I have headcanons about which Pokemon protag serves as the "main character" or "rival" in each title.

Yes, you can ask about my opinions. I will undoubtedly answer.

Brendan and Roxanne came into this framework because as much as I also love Brendan and May, I quickly fell into the rabbit hole of Brendan Champion/May Contest Idol, and therefore I'm legally obligated to ship May and Lisia. My original FanFiction Author Note says I'd been thinking about the idea for "a while," but frankly I don't remember where exactly it originated. All I know is that my goal was May scolding Brendan for being an oblivious dope.

This is not autobiographical.

As far as I know.

My truest sense-memory regarding this piece is writing the Rustboro opening in a Barnes & Noble parking lot at night, on the same night that I scored a new freelance gig (it didn't last all too long in the end). However, I helpfully noted that the Brendan and May banter was inspired by a FanFiction story called "Critical Hit" by Alphinia (it's still live!) and Carly Chaikin's Darlene from Mr. Robot. That was ending in 2019. Pokemon Sword and Shield were about to come out. The timeline lines up.

It's also very funny to imagine May as a raunchy, tomboyish smartass who also happens to love the fame that comes with princess-y Pokemon Contest shenanigans. Good headcanon.

The seeds of an idea for a date follow-up existed back then. My first inkling was to do a scene where, essentially, Brendan fucks the whole thing up by using Sandstorm in the middle of a food court because he's trying to impress Roxanne. Most of the set dressing around that, such as using ORAS' Street Thug trainer class (here portrayed by Shio — after ramen to reference the naming scheme of every trainer in Mauville Food Court), came later.

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Fun Fact (again): This is the first piece I've written using a new program called StimuWrite by Eve Harms, which was suggested by my beta reader. I liked being able to put my brain somewhere other than a blank white page, though all of the extra bells and whistles aren't all that necessary for me. Plus, I wound up jumping back-and-forth between the page and my 20 tabs of research anyway, so...

We'll see where this tool lands.

===

A lot of my decisions regarding the style of "Stone-Cold Lovers" Chapter 3 were based on concurrent reading; I recently joined a book club, and we just finished Babel by R.F. Kuang. My experience with Zine editors such as @kiliofdurinsline (Shrapnel) on Homemade in Hyrule (still available to pre-order!!!) helped me focus on creative writing structure and clarity rather than the more "vibes" based approach I leaned on. But Babel's rich descriptions suggested that I perhaps moved too far in the direction of snippets. So, here I tried to more robust scene-setting.

The bit about Gardevoir reading Brendan's emotions is being back on my bullshit trying to capture "vibes," though. I'm often a proponent for Psychic-types having full telepathy, especially Gardevoir given its canon emotional connections, but I decided the silent implications were more fun to play. I'm also a big proponent of leaning into the medium by using all of AO3's formatting HTML for things like Gardevoir's text. Hence my abundance of italics, or even the House of Leaves-style page falling apart for Arven's nightmare in "Paradiso."

Another note from Shrapnel that I took to heart: Give each character a stable of description types to help them emphasize their personality. That's why Gardevoir's movements use ballet terms (many of which I had to look up, like "bras bas").

One bit that I thought about a lot was Roxanne's response to weather talk. I knew that she should flirt by saying any weather would be great alongside Brendan, and the verbiage "would that it were" stuck. A bit of Googling revealed that the phrase doesn't mean what my brain thought it does — it actually refers to wanting a better reality than you currently have. But it rolls off the tongue... So, I decided to play with that disparity by having know-it-all Roxanne correct her old professor, even when recounting a heartfelt memory.

Also, I'd be lying to you if I said goofy teenager who can't speak French wasn't an integral part of my planning.

The battle scene is pretty straightforward, it was mostly fun to incorporate the idea of Brendan being over-leveled by having him immediately wipe the floor with this tough guy, Shio. This especially goes well with the Mauville Food Court gimmick of finishing your battles within set time limits. Hopefully little descriptors like the space-warping Boomburst help make up for how short it is.

But with all of that said, there's only one place left to go:

Roxanne's outfit

That's right! Brendan wears his contest attire, but Roxanne wears an entirely unique creation. I did something very similar to my experiments with Shiver by digging around Tumblr tags for specific outfit pieces to cobble together as part of Roxanne's preppy and academic wardrobe.

I essentially wanted to put Roxanne in an "elevated" version of her typical uniform. For example, something with a nicer blouse. When I saw this post by stiefel-rock-bluse, I knew it was the one. That ruffled 'V' is perfectly suited for comparisons to a fossilized ribcage.

Had to tuck that blouse into a nice skirt, too. I did toy with the idea of going full suit-style with slacks, but Roxanne feels like a skirt girl to me. So I settled on this pleated skirt shared by zoesrepository, at least in-part because I wanted a brown-and-white motif to reflect... Rock stuff.

Having exposed legs also introduced the opportunity to describe a bit of Roxanne's obsession with fossils. If I get callouses on my hands from doing ceramics, she can have some scuffs on her legs from digging in the dirt.

My inspiration for her off-the-shoulder draped jacket is largely me doing silly cape shenanigans with my jackets, but for the style I went with this cover image from an article by The Girl From Panama:

In brown, of course. That really emphasizes the idea that it looks like strata.

Because rocks.

Unrelated to rocks, I was originally toying with a different idea for her jacket, one based on this image of Kendall Jenner uploaded by disarmluna:

Ultimately I liked the draped idea better, but I kept on the idea of it being corduroy. Also, I took Roxanne's "loafers" from here.

For accessories, I riffed on one of my favorite pieces of lore introduced by Pokemon Masters EX: the idea that Steven Stone is in a club with all of the Rock-type experts who love collecting shiny rocks. Steven knows how to give some specialized gifts, and in this case I gave Roxanne a single earring, as shared by gemville, because 1) red; 2) flowers; and 3) stalactite. I went with one rather than a pair because I think it's a cute asymmetrical thing.

Then, of course, I imagine her nails alternate blue and red ala Nosepass/Probopass. Finally, Roxanne's elevated school uniform look had to retain a tie. What better way to keep that tie in place than with a clip inspired by the one, the only, our boy: Anorith.

If the Yanma inhaler from "Peaks and Caverns" is anything to go by, y'all know I love to invent kitschy merchandise that will unfortunately never be acknowledged by Game Freak/The Pokemon Company.

===

That's about all I've got. I'm not sure whether I'll return to this story again — the five-year pipe dream is already a big accomplishment in my book. But I'm really glad I finally closed the book on a longstanding idea in celebration of Valentine's Day! And I'm sure one day, if I can get through the rest of my insane backlog, I'd be happy to write further shenanigans between these two Hoenn lovebirds.

[painted-bees]

Thinkin’ personal thoughts about...why oppositely gendered characters are more engaging for me sit with than others, despite things.

particularly, main characters. I feel all of them are very fully realized, and I can talk about the most pedantic details about their life and personality at any moment upon being asked about it. But something that’s been constantly kinda tugging at me is my penchant to really *sit* in the headspace of my male characters.  It bothers me a bit because it makes my outward enthusiasm/presentation feel a bit lopsided--I obviously have my faves and...they’re all dudes lmao. It bothers me more because, as a pan person in a straight marriage, it makes me wonder if male characters are more ‘attractive’ for me to work with because maybe I just don’t be lovin’ the women as much as I *think* I do lmao it’s a really weird dumb thing to be insecure about, but yanno. But then I remember a thing Satoshi Kon once mentioned in an interview, about why all his lead characters are women. And his response included something to the effect of [[extreme paraphrasing]] “I’m a man, and I know too well how men think”, which very stuck with me. But also, I am pretty sure he did acknowledge his sexuality as a contributing factor. That stuck with me a little less. I feel like maybe, when I write a female character, once I’ve established their personality, their goals, their baggage, and their history, the rest is just very obvious and there’s not much for me to emotionally explore there in relation to myself. But when writing a male, I can take my own most obvious traits, challenges, etc, and view them from a very different lens. I know how the world interacts with and responds to women because that’s *my* world. But I’m much less familiar with how the world interacts with and responds to a man. And so, how might my traits, struggles, etc be navigated differently through this unfamiliar lens? I get a lot more catharsis from sitting in the headspace of a masculine character, and so I guess maybe that’s a big reason why I spend more time there. It’s free therapy lol I’m just curious as to why *gender* is the big differentiating lens to me, while other similarly novel identities such as geographic culture, sexuality, social class, race, heck *species*, do not affect my gravitation towards which character I find more engaging to sit with and develop/puzzle out. I feel like there’s something obvious that I am missing, and I’m real uncomfy with the idea that it might be related to my sexuality because no it isn’t and I would like to stop worrying that maybe it is lmao ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[foxywrites]

FIC WRITING REVIEW 2023

Thank you @loki-is-my-kink-awakening for coming up with this!

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

(I have tweaked a couple of things after having seen them changed on other post's, if you would like to find the original tag you can find it on the creators blog.)

Words and Fic's

269897 words published in 2023

18 fics worked on

6 completed fics

most productive month: January with 73831 words

monthly words average: 22491 words

Words Written per Fandom

Bungou Stray Dogs - 104548 words

All for the Game Series - 164688 words

Natsume Yuujinchou - 29762 words

Eleceed - 661 words

Top 5 Pairings

Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard [7]

Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs) [7]

The Foxes | Palmetto State Foxes Member(s) & Neil Josten [7]

Katelyn/Aaron Minyard [6]

Jeremy Knox/Jean Moreau [5]

Top 5 by Kudos

dancing with the ghost of you [kudos:961]

something worth remembering [kudos: 719]

to burn for your love [kudos: 451]

make it through another night [kudos: 451]

can't tell a truth until you learn to lie [kudos: 347]

Top 5 by Hits

dancing with the ghost of you [hits: 34695]

something worth remembering [hits: 13325]

teach me how to be a fox [hits: 8217]

make it through another night [hits: 7157]

Misfortune of the fortunate [hits: 6728]

Fandom Events in 2023

For this part, I'm only adding in Bingo's that I was able to get a bingo/blackout for (along with those that were only for the year of 2023)

Bingo's

[10/25] AFG Dark Bingo - bingo

[25/25] July Break Bingo 2023 - black out

[09/09] July Break Mini Bingo 2023 - black out

[04/09] Halloween Horror Bingo (01) - bingo

[05/25] Spies Bingo 2023 - O

Writing Challenge's

[11/31] AU-gust Writing Challenge 2023

[05/31] AI-less Whumptober 2023

[04/31] Angstober 2023

[05/31] Flufftober 2023

Upcoming Plans (link to my excel sheet)

Fic's I'm hoping to finish writing/complete next year:

[AFTG] to hunt a rabbit (from 'blood stained bare teeth' series)

[AFTG] peach tea & hot chocolate nights (sequel to 'Little Oasis', Andrew and Neil meet as kids AU)

[AFTG] the fox trap (the menu au)

[AFTG] devils come out when the sun goes down (halloween fic)

[BSD] at least the war is over (manga CH 109 aftermath)

Fic's that I'd abandoned at some point, which I'm hoping to return to this year:

[AFTG] Misfortune of the Fortunate

[AFTG] Teach me How to be a Fox

[AFTG] The Fox Trap

I have a couple of things that I want to write next to these, however I am aware that it will be hard to do so with everything going on IRL, so I'm setting these as my main goals for now (might make a poll at some point this year to choose what i might work on next)

Writing Reflection

This year was a crazy writing year, if I'm being completely honest, and in many different ways. The biggest change for me this year in terms of writing was discovering the JBBingo, along with AUgust, they really both inspired and pushed me to create more writing content and I loved taking a part in both of them.

The goal of this year is to pretty much finish write and share more than I have done this year, so hopefully 250000~ or more words this time around.

Tagging: @42donotpanic, @stevethehousewife, @wishfulstargazer, @mrs-steve-harrington, @voiceoffenrisulfr, @urisarang

[kpopfanfictrash]

heyy shanna, hope you're doing well. i was wondering: how do you get back into writing after taking breaks? or do you never stop writing? i've taken a very long break from writing due to my studies, but i've been wanting to get back to it and i feel very intimidated to do so now, just thinking of words to put down on a piece of paper is stressing me out ahaha.

hi, anon! Ugh, I totally understand your stress lol. Writing is one of those things that people love to romanticize, but in reality it's 80% sweat, 10% enjoyable daydreaming and 10% Halo effect, where something seems better in hindsight because it's over. LOL It can be very hard to get back into after you pause.

For me, it depends on my mood, since the two strategies I've found to be the most helpful are complete opposites:

Ease back into writing. Find a writing challenge or a prompt list and give yourself a new prompt every day (or few days) to practice. These drabbles can be only for you, or you can plan on sharing with others, but the main goal is to reacquaint your body/mind to the process of writing. Quantity over quality; the more you write, the better each drabble will get. Before long, you'll find the process gets easier and you can begin to tackle other (more difficult) things.

Dive in, head first. Sometimes, the best way to start is to start. Take the idea you're most excited about writing and dive in. You can start with drafting, or writing the first chapter (or a scene that excites you), but sometimes having a big goal forces me to focus and put words down. Keep in mind for this strategy you're likely going to need a lot of editing later. When you start, you'll make more mistakes than usual until you get the hang of the process. That's 100% okay. For me, a first draft is a rough guide. Terry Pratchett once said, "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." Keep that in mind, and don't be too hard on yourself! You can go back later and make the word choice/plot perfect. For now, you're just trying to stretch your mind and remember a process you haven't done in a while.

Best of luck, anon! I have full faith you'll find your way back. Be kind to yourself, take your time, and try to enjoy the process! Writers who only write don't tell a very good story, after all. People need to take breaks and live to have anything meaningful to say.

[drkstrudd]

A tip on writing characters

One of the main challenges in writing a character comes in the form of making said writing realistic enough to get invested in their actions, yet entertaining enough to not be a bore. When I write my characters, whether they're my own or I'm writing a fandom piece, I want to avoid that very real feeling all of us who have consumed any sort of narrative media have felt one time or another, which is, "Why are you renting a cabin in the middle of the woods where someone died? Are you stupid???" And the infamous, "Ugh, nobody would say that." 

And while I can't say my writing is the most realistic or the most watertight, what I can say is that striving for more realistic characters is something I keep doing, even unconsciously.

So, how am I approaching that goal?

Through writing a character that is bad first, then add goodness on top. All my characters are bad people first, then they're good out of those same traits that make them bad. Sure, this person rented a cabin in the woods after somebody died. Why? Maybe they're too into true crime. Maybe they were negligent, and didn't even see the news. Maybe they have a huge ego, and believe nothing will happen to them. It's in these choices where an author can make a character their meanest, their stupidest, their most cowardly, their angriest, where the most character can be derived.

Does a character cry when angry? Do they lash out? 

Making a hero doesn't mean one should scrub their flaws clean, nor should the narrative try to scrub said flaws off. If they show up, in my opinion, one should pursue these hints that perhaps, this character is wanting to take the narrative somewhere else. 

But Luna, what if my protagonist is an unreliable narrator? You may ask. Then, the mental gymnastics your character goes through to justify their actions should be clear and visible, and not dampened by the inherent belief that a protagonist should be good for a story to be enjoyable. 

Remember, that as an author you're also naturally bad, with good on top. You also have flaws inherent to being a human being, so I suggest looking at your fuck-ups as inspiration instead of shame. You are not above your artwork, nor are you above sinning or making stupid choices. You are not above being a monster, nor are your characters. Live, look around, read up on sociology and anthropology, but first and foremost, feel the cringe, feel the pain and the shame. Know you've lived, and that experience and passion shall take you to amazing worlds inside your imagination. You create from inside of you, as reality and fiction happens through you and not outside of you. 

Happy writing! :)

If you like what I do and what I write, consider buying me a coffee! I'd appreciate it. 

[omaskit]

Octopath Hardcore mode log 1

So I'm doing pre-session and first session in one post bc first session was on a plane. These are just going to be somethings I was thinking about before trying the challenge.

If you don't know the rules/challenge I posted them here.

Pathing. I started out as Alfyn, not for any strategic advantage but because I like Alfion and want those two to be my main pair. I'll be parring of the party so I can Lv and manage easily. My goal is to do Tressa's and Cyrus in one go and then follow Cyrus's trail to noblecourt. This should knock out Cyrus's, H'anaat's, Primrose, and Therion's chapter 3s. Tressa leads to Olberic and Olberic matches with Therion. The only thing I'm worrried about is Ophilia and Alfyn circling eachother. it's probably something poetic with the healers but to me its annoying. This means we'll have to backtrack to Golden Shore or the river place (Can't remember name right now. Alfyn chap 3).

Provisions. Because Therion is my second main I chose the steal option, meaning I can't buy things from the shops. We're stealing everything that's not nailed down. Items are more scarce and chest will be our best friend.

Boss fights. Primrose's boss fight is supposed to be the hardest first chaps to do alone. Because of my desire to keep Alfyn and Therion together Primrose is the last character I'm grabbing, all of the chapter ones will be filled with dread.

That's all for pre-game. My first session was on a plane so unfortunantly these aren't live reactions but here are some thoughts I had.

Man is Octopath 2's writing is so much better than octo 1. Don't get me wrong I like octo 1 but the exposition doesn't flow as easily.

Alfyn's dungon is hard alone. These stupid snails are draining all my Sp.

items items items. I need items. Any piece of armor I can scrap

Didn't Alfyn's boss have adds? I was sure he had adds. Where did they go?

Side quest. Side quest are going to be hell. No guide, no mini map, no fast travel. I need to get them done asap. Meryl, we need to talk.

Nice! most borderland things die to axe!

Is the player character so insistant on helping Therion that he literally can't say no? Amazing, go Alfyn, go.

*Opens writing notes* Therion is a little bitch... Got it.

JOBS! Jobs are going to be hard. I can't teleport back so I have to be level for them. I'll probably get them all going into everyone's chapter 2s. No idea how octo 2 will work though. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

forgot to mention 1st chap dungeons in the first post, Gonna say Alfyn can't do anything in here.

Did Therion's fight always have adds?

DO THEY GET HARDER???

OH NOOO

Please be based off of people in party and not level or members collected.

I've robbed everyone in this town blind except this one STUPID CHILD that made me have to restore my reputetation! XP

I've spent 5 hours looking for this egg only to remember her fucking egg is in the riverlands. I'll get it when I circle back.

DON'T DIE DON'T DIE DON'T-

we made it.

[jkpfr]

OC-tober Day 27: Monster

Knowing that I wouldn't have time to draw something, I spent the day wondering what I could possibly write for this prompt. I knew I was interested by it - I had a few ideas, but they weren't necessarily realistic to execute right now. My most solid idea featured my dear Artémis, but I'm pretty sure I already wrote about it before - and if I write about it again, I'd rather put a lot of care into it.

And then I remembered I started off this challenge by talking about my OCs rather than systematically writing for them, so I'll take the simple and silly route.

Earlier this month, you may have noticed I drew Benjamin as a mermaid. (Go give it some love! I'm not usually good at palette challenges, and I think I did well this time. Also I wish I could grab him by the waist and throw him over the roof.)

This is from an AU I have had in mind for a while in which the Murder Fabrication cast gets turned into different fantasy creatures. As of the last time I conceptualised this AU, the options for different creatures were very few. I'm considering having a second AU with many similarities but still enough differences to tell a different story, and that would include only having one human character and at least one more creechur.

In this AU, there are three powerless humans who are trying to survive, in danger at the hands of everyone else. The ultimate goal is for everyone to survive until they can find a way to turn back into humans, but will they manage to?

Those are not necessarily monsters... we're going by a very loose definition of the term for the sake of this post. Here are everyone's roles:

Jan, Chloe and Ciel as Vampires. Those three struggle to accept that they now have to feed off the blood of the humans. Will they consent to donating? If they were to actually bite the humans, they would turn into vampires themselves, which would of course mean less humans. In the end, they might turn out to be the friendliest to the humans, whose blood they need to survive. The vampires can turn into bats, but they have poor vision and they struggle to get a hang of flying. They do not need to eat regular food.

Andi, Isabella and Mina as Witches. The witches are pretty comfortable, powerful and their survival mostly comes down to finding food and minding their own businesses. Though they could be useful allies, they're scattered around the map and hard to run into. They'll only help you if they want to.

Benjamin and Alice as Mermaids. Behind their pretty and innocent appearances, the mermaids have violent urges and should be avoided at all costs. To the most tortured mermaid, this comes against their will. They're unlikely to target other creatures, but they should be kept as far away from humans as possible. Thankfully, they can only live underwater. Still, their charms might lure you in...

Noah, Lois and Oscar as Werewolves. The werewolves are the most dangerous enemy. It would be a shame if this world could be manipulated to make every night a full moon [...] because they are aggressive, mindless creatures, and they are big. They are constantly purchasing the humans and are likely to cause collateral damage. During the day, they live in hiding, and God knows what goes through their minds.

Akiro, Chris and Keith as Humans. They are completely powerless and everyone is a threat to them. Good luck 👍 Word is out that there needs to be at least one surviving human for the game to end as it should.

...Is anyone missing? Did anyone see them yet? Well, we'll probably run into them at some point.

This AU starts off within a regular setting for Murder Fabrication Chapter 1. The friendships formed throughout the story may be very similar to those formed within the main story, and some may have already started - but the characters' differing forms will impose many different dynamics, and for some of them to be unable to be together.

I don't really know what else to say, though I would be happy to discuss what people think of the potential dynamics at play here, pushing me to Drop Hints, Tell Some Stories and Giggle To Myself.

By the way, completely unrelated, but some time ago I Tweeted this mysterious list.

What it means? Nothing to do with my Fantasy AU, but everything to do with Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back), but make it Murder Fabrication.

Maybe I should have drawn that.

[profeminist]

Your blog is fantastic. As a women in these scary times, I’m looking for a way to act. Where can I find like-minded people to push this movement forward? It’s time to do instead of just thinking

HEY THANKS A MILLION!!!

I agree 100% - IT'S TIME FOR ACTION!!!

Here's my 1-2-3 recommendation to get you going, and for anybody who is also looking to step up their activism:

PICK THE CAUSE YOU ARE MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT, YOU CAN'T SOLVE EVERY PROBLEM AT ONCE.

Most caring folks have a lot of causes that they care about, and even within feminism / gender equality there are a TON of issues to address. My recommendation is to ask yourself, "what am I most motivated to work on, what am I passionate about?" and start there.

In my early 20's, after a busy week where I had been to various student group meetings around feminism, the environment, and the green party, I thought to myself, "there's no way I can effectively and actively support all these causes at once. I've got to pick a priority and work with that. I said to the universe, "what should my priority be?" and immediately got a thought, "stop rape." So while I read about and work on a number of causes, understanding and stopping sexual assault in all forms is my main focus.

Activism is challenging, and it can be easy to burnout, so the more drive and passion you have around the topic in the first place, the more fuel you'll have to burn! That said, pace yourself and take breaks when needed, see #3 below.

2. SEE WHAT PEOPLE ARE ALREADY DOING IN THAT SPACE, AND GET INVOLVED HOWEVER YOU CAN.

It is REALLY inefficient to try to "start from scratch." Building networks, resources and momentum takes a lot of work from a lot of people, so start by looking for groups addressing your passion issue.

Depending on whether you're looking to do activism "IRL" (on the streets, outreach, volunteers, etc.) and/or online, that will affect how wide your search for relevant groups goes. If nobody in your area is doing work you feel needs doing, see if other groups out of the area can serve as a model or template to get you started. Leverage the wisdom and problem-solving that a ton of people have already put and are currently putting into the problem!

Depending on your physical, time and financial resources, there are various ways to move these organizations forward: volunteer, organize online fundraisers, donate (if you have $ or goods), etc.

3. REMEMBER THAT ACTIVISM IS A PRACTICE NOT A TEST

This is a topic so important, I'm writing a longer post on it that I'll post here once I'm finished. 100% absolutism, purity tests and gatekeeping around movements undermine movements and contribute to their failure or marginalization.

Perfect example. I'm a vegetarian since high school, but in the time since, I haven't given one person grief about eating meat, and if someone said they wanted to go veggie but weren't sure they could give it up 100%, I'd say "GREAT! 10% veggie is better than 0%, 20%, 50%, all great, whatever you can do. This isn't a test."

LeBron James tried going vegan, then gave up when vegan gatekeepers gave him grief for some slippage. I was vegan for 2 years, you don't get a card, there's no magic vegan power (Scott Pilgrim reference), so while being 100% vegan, or ovo-lacto vegetarian (me) is great, I support people who are pescatarian, or flexitarian , ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING.

Feminism does the same thing, when gatekeepers spend more time shaming other feminists for problematic faves or naive politics vs. being on the same team and focusing on education and affirmation. We lose so many people with the ALL OR NONE attitude it's sad.

If you don't meet your expectation or goals, don't treat that as a FAIL, just KEEP PRACTICIN'! Treating yourself with the care and consideration you show others will help keep you going through tough and challenging times.

HOPE THAT HELPS!!! LET'S DO THIS.

[chrishoughton]

Dear Chris Houghton, My Name is Owen Dillon and First off I wanna say that you and your brother created one of the most underrated and wholesome shows that I have ever seen and I'm a big- no, scratch that huge fan of Big City Greens.

I really love the visual humour and the slice of life format, It really gives me tons of Chowder and Harvey Beaks vibes. My Favourite episode is a tie between Animation Abomination and Cheap Show, just because you guys completely demolished the fourth wall in every way possible and the cameo at the end of Cheap show was just the icing on the cake.

My favourite character would have to be either Gloria or Tilly. I like Gloria because she has tons of goals in life, but various things kept her from achieving the things she wants to do, which most things for her have been achieved like opening her own cafe along with Alice, trying to win over Kevin, stuff like that. and Tilly is heartwarming, sweet, kind, and in my opinion the funniest character on the show.

Anyways, I wanted to take some time and answer a few questions about the future of the show (Don’t worry there’s not that many questions).

1. Most Disney channel shows have ended around 4 seasons if they get popular enough, Like Phineas and Ferb, Star Vs, and Kim Possible to name a few, Are you planning to finish it after season 4, not because i'm saying the show’s terrible, I love it to death but i don’t want it to go through seasonal rot.

2. How in the World are two able to get so many celebrities to not just cameo but to be a part of the show, the easiest example being Danny Trejo as Vasquez?

3. Will the movie have a different style of animation than the show, like when cartoons get theatrical releases, and when will it be planned to come out probably after season 3 right, right?

4. How does it feel to become Disney Channel's biggest hit for almost 5 years?

Well that’s all I wanna say, I hope you read my letter and it gives you, your brother, and the whole team at Disney Television Animation love and support. Your (Hopefully) city slicker pal, Owen Dillon.

Thanks for writing in and watching the show, Owen! I'm so happy to hear BCG resonates with you so much. I love hearing that. Answers to your questions below:

1.) I agree- The longer a TV show continues, the more at risk it is to suffer in quality. One way we combat this on BCG is to continuously challenge ourselves creatively. That was one of the main reasons we took the Greens to the country. It was a huge undertaking to essentially "relaunch" but doing so, keeps us on our toes. None of us on BCG want the quality to dip and it's hard work to ensure that doesn't happen.

2.) Casting celebrities is difficult! We have a few tricks that we'll keep to ourselves but a lot of credit goes to our wonderful casting directors at Disney TVA.

3.) More details of the BCG movie to come! For now, my lips are sealed.

4.) It feels amazing to witness BCG's popularity slowly grow over the years. I remember thinking early on in production of season 1 that this show could really become something. So it's incredibly satisfying to see so many other people feel similarly. I'm so thankful to everyone who watches Big City Greens- y'all have allowed us to keep going!

[infitsovermisfits]

Rant Rant Rant- Eddie Munon and the way Mainstream Audience suck the joy out of anything different and out of the 'norm'.

Hello dear readers. I just want to rant- no clue if this will be posted, I am procrastinating on doing my uni work and just want to talk about some things. Call this a rant or an informal essay if you will. 

TLDR; big long essay on consumer and audience culture, a look at stranger things fans, and undeserved Eddie hate is the main bulk of this along with general media language, look into mainstream audiences and why they so quickly turned on Eddie and the fans, underserved bullying of fans, and a message to spread and focus on the positives.

I'm currently studying Film at university because it's a topic that genuinely interests me- though I'd far prefer to write for films or TV, and direct music videos or videos/films accompanied by music- and observing the discourse in and surrounding the Stranger Things fandom over tiktok and tumblr, and it has been... Interesting. 

When I was still studying Media in A Levels, we learned about categorising different audience types: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary; based on class: A,B, C1, C2, D, E; and based on what type of consumer they are: Young and Rubican's definitions & categories: 

The Aspirer- materialistic, acquisitive, driven by others' perception of them rather than their own perceptions and values. Core need for life is status

The Reformer- value their own independent judgement, most anti-materialistic, often perceived as intellectual and at the leading edge of society. Core need for life is enlightenment.

The Explorer- driven by a need for discovery, challenge and new frontier, first to try out new ideas and experiences.  Core need for life is discovery

The Mainstream- live in a domestic world, require fundamental daily routine and subscribe to the idea of 'normal', respond to big, established brands (usually ones that are popular/made popular). Core need for life is security.

The Succeeder- possess self-confidence, strong goal orientation, tend to be organised, occupies positions of responsibility in society, seek reward and presitge from brands as that's what they think they deserve, seek out caring and protective brands. Core need is control.

The Resigned- Predominantly older people with constant unchanging values, past is nostalgic, respect institutions and enjoy tradition, brand choices are driven by safety and need for economy. Core need is to survive. 

The Struggler- live in the moment, often seen by others as victims/loosers/wasters- aimless and disorganised with few resources apart from physical skill, rely on visual impact and physical sensations from brands. Core need is to escape.

(loose definitions, close enough to the original)

Fun fact: we actually looked at and analysed the first 10/20 minutes of Stranger Things season 1 at some point in Media so that was fun.

If you wanted to categorise Stranger Things audience (i would love to pull up some of my notes but I can't fucking find them and its making me sad) your Primary would be your fans of science fiction/ horror (likely Reformers or Succeeders, from A-D, people between 18-30) considering those are the main genres. The Secondary would be your older audiences (category E or B, Resigned, people in their 40's-50's) people who grew up in the 80's and receive gratification from noticing details from their childhoods. ((Note: I get these 2 mixed up, so they may be the other way around but you get my point)) 

Now the Teritary audience would be those who have a Netflix subscription and access to the internet where they find occasional discourse about the show (Explorers or, largely, Mainstream audiences- people from 15-early 30's) who only follow trends and are not familiar with the genre or setting. 

Got all that mumbo jumbo? No? That's fine. Let me talk about Eddie Munson now. 

With season 4 of Stranger Things being the largest, most popular of them all (look up any Netflix stats- if I remember correctly, season 3 had 300 mil. watchers and season 4 had 400 mil.), and most anticipated (announced in 2019, and released in '22), there came, in my opinion, an audience shift.

In my opinion, more watchers from the Mainstream audience type have begun watching the show, due to its increased popularity and advertisement on Netflix, bumping that Mainstream Tertiary audience up more. How do I know this? Observing fandom culture and social media. 

I'm too lazy to conduct any form of study so I'll base this 'research' on memory. Season 4, Volume 1 premiers in May 2022 and is an instant hit. The introduction of Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson perks people's interest and he instantly becomes a fan favourite character, with his charming personality and subversive characterisation- like certain viewers, Eddie's first scene had me uncertain, though seeing his kindness to Chrissy flipped that and I warmed up to him as the season went on. 

The experiences of a mainstream audience- seeing a character who in no way belongs to their personal category and worldview- is jarring, and they immediately (consciously or unconsciously) stereotype him as someone they dislike, due to his non-conformative nature. Like many of you, I grew up integrated with Fandom culture and niche interests and experiences that mirrored this character. I could personally relate to Eddie as a person who was (likely) bullied or looked down upon because of my interest in literature, games, and my general misunderstanding and confusion of the mainstream audiences. 

Another point I wanted to make is that Eddie is a character that fundamentally dislikes authority and the mainstream itself- shunning those who willingly fit into the moulds of society in the cafeteria- and he, himself, sitting outside it- being interested in Metal and DND. The mainstream audiences have their own views on those things- that metal music is just people screaming and being aggressive and violent, and DND is a lame nerdy game for kids. Eddie flips their views, and makes himself a likeable character to them.

The mainstream audience interest in Eddie was a product of 'Oh wow- that's different to what I'm used to! But instead of shunning it, I'm enamoured!' AT FIRST. Then it got bad. 

I understand fandom culture; Mainstreamers do not. This confusion sparks anger and amusement and the need to critique anything that doesn't fit into their 'mainstream ideas' or their 'normal'. To a mainstream audience, liking, enjoying, and having discourse about the show is 'normal' behaviour. To me, or anyone with experience in fandom, fanfiction, headcannons, lip syncs, edits, fanart, roleplaying, etc. is the 'normal'.  My point of writing any of this was because I found the "general" shift in people's opinions regarding Eddie- he went from a cool new addition to the cast to one of the most hated/cringey characters in almost the blink of an eye- strange, and somewhat hilarious.

The majority of mainstream audiences have likely never interacted with or been interested in Fandom culture (another fun fact: I had to learn about Jenkins Fandom theory in Media. I had to learn about fandoms. Hahaha. Jokes aside it was interesting- his definition is that it's a participatory culture: fans acting not only as consumers of the media but as producers and creators of creative media, or better named Prosumers). Very likely, they don't know it exists or have in the past made fun of such cultures and people in the past. Misinformation or having little to no experience leads to aggression. Seeing Eddie become popular amongst groups of people sharing his interests/personality/ or just enjoying the character was odd and strange to them, and in order to fit into their Mainstream ideals, they had to look down on the 'strange and unusual'. 

Which really fucking sucks and is so awful. Like many, I loved Eddie's character. I have written fanfiction about him and continue to do so- this outpour of hate and negativity surrounding him and the fandom surrounding the character/ the entire show makes me feel wrong for liking him or enjoying the show. Almost like a dark cloud hovering over the light. It almost feels like you have to perform for the mainstreamers or anyone asking by saying 'I like Eddie but I'm not like one of those fans'. Ugh.

Those fans implying the 'cringe' fans. The ones who cosplay; the ones who lipsync to audios- fans being fans of a character. The hate they received for doing harmless things is awful and undeserved- and I'm eternally sorry if you have been subjected to or affected by it. 

I remember after mainstreamers flipped and started hating on Eddie, how many people in the fandom were genuinely so disappointed. How many people would post on tumblr or make tiktoks saying "I'm afraid to wear my Hellfire shirt/express that I like Eddie/ express that I like Stranger Things incase people think I'm one of those fans/ in case I get made fun of", the replies full of people saying "I wear mine because I like Dustin/Mike/Gareth/Fred/Erica" along with more people agreeing and describing how they have been made fun of. The videos of people singing Master of Puppets dressed as Eddie that have been stitched and called 'cringe' and mocked. It's just so... Pathetic to sit there and call something so innocent that brings others so much fun and enjoyment cringe. Go do something else.

To some people, criticizing that which they do not understand brings them gratification. They bring others down for their own enjoyment- and if you do that, fuck you. None of those 'cringey' things are hurting you personally. Go focus on something else and not fans being fans and engaging in harmless fan behaviour. 

On the flip side of this, let me also say that if you call yourself a 'fan' that then actively stalks or sexualises celebrities, invading their privacy in real life or online, (*cough cough* Joe Quinn) or sends death threats to any costars for whatever reason (*cough cough* Grace Van Dien) you are awful and how dare you call yourself a fan? You're not being respectful or recognising these people AS people. You're seeing them as marketable things and objects and that is disgusting. 

If you, like me, are one of those people gripping onto this fixation with all your strength because nothing has bought you this much comfort/safety/enjoyment in a while, I'd like to tell you to try your best and ignore those who do not understand and refuse to do so. I'm aware a ranty essay about this and explanations and blah blah won't change anyone's minds. That's not my intention. It simply makes me sad to get made fun of for harmless things. 

I find removing that negativity and not engaging with the negative discourse is a good step into keeping positive- you can block tags on tumblr and click not interested on any tiktok videos you don't want to see if you hold down on the video playing. 

May, June and July were filled with some of the happiest memories I experienced this year. From writing my fanfiction to watching a show I have a lot of love and admiration for, to discover so much new, good music. I'd love to feel that happy again now. 

Thanks, 

Toothpaste.