#she says as she has spent all of stats on tumblr

[koravelliumavast]

i knew my gifted burnout mixed with the piss poor need for academic validation, my executive dysfunction and my never really needing to study in high school was going to bite me in the ass in college.

[hlficlibrary]

HL FIC LIBRARY 📚 AUTHOR REC

AO3:  disgruntledkittenface

Tumblr: @disgruntledkittenface

STATS:

📚 Number of fics: 49

📚 Posting Since: 2017

TOP 5 FICS:

📚 you came into my life (M, 57k)

They stand around talking for a minute and then Jonathan starts to ramble, “Has there ever been, like, an unrequited gay love story in here? Like a Brokeback Mountain moment where, like, someone just fell in love and they didn’t mean to?”

Louis feels bile rise in his throat as Jonathan’s eyes sparkle, pleading for a yes. He manages to look around and see thoughtful looks on his coworkers’ faces before their heads shake no.

“Not here,” Liam says finally.

When the Queer Eye cast and crew sweep into Louis’ small town and fire station to make over his best friend and coworker Liam, Louis’ carefully constructed walls start to fall down and he has to face his fears – and the only guy he’s ever been able to see a future with.

📚 caught up in your love affair (NR, 8k)

“And the corgis took to you straightaway,” Harry remarks.

“That’s true,” Louis chuckles.

  “I’ve spent the last 29 years being barked at,” Harry deadpans, jerking his hand toward Louis, “this one walks in, absolutely nothing.”

 Louis outright giggles at that, saying, “They were just lying on my feet during tea.”

 “Wagging tails,” Harry says, shaking his head.

 “It’s because they don’t understand flirting,” Louis tells him, “you can’t charm them the way you do everyone else.”

Royal AU. Prince Harry announces his engagement to Louis Tomlinson in an interview with longtime friend and BBC host Nick Grimshaw. Inspired by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

📚 an honest mistake (NR, 2k)

“You look different when you’re not covered in come,” he blurts out, immediately regretting each and every life choice that has led to this exact moment. Elevator Guy is going to hate him.

Louis has ridden the elevator with his neighbor all week. The first time they speak, there’s a misunderstanding. Based on this prompt.

📚 tell me what you need (G, 2k)

“And a fresh cherry?” he asks, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers. He waits as Louis stares him down, his brow furrowing. “No? What the fuck,” Louis rasps, looking bewildered.

coffeeshop AU based on this iconic prompt:

harry: can i please get a semi-iced half caramel half vanilla decaf latte with no foam using fresh almond milk with a small swirl of whipped cream covered in a pinch of cinnamon and a fresh cherry? louis: ...no? what the fuck

📚 baby, you're the end of june (E, 13k)

“Up for it, Harold? We can go over the rundown when we get back. If you’re not busy then.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Harry says, closing his laptop and setting it on Louis’ desk. “It’s just Harry, though.”

“You look like a Harold,” Louis says, standing up and brushing some brownie crumbs off his t-shirt. Harry briefly wonders how he’s still hungry for lunch after demolishing half the plate of brownies as he stands and moves into the hallway. “It’s the cardigan, I think.”

“You guys can flirt on the way,” Niall says over his shoulder, beckoning for them to follow him as he strides down the row of cubicles. “Come on, I’m starving.”

Harry looks at Louis, but he just laughs as they follow Niall. Oh. He thought he’d been picking up a vibe while they hung out, but apparently not. Well, it’s better to know how Louis feels now, so he can nip his growing crush in the bud. Louis is a great guy, at least they can be friends as well as coworkers.

In which Harry courts Louis. Entirely by accident.

HIDDEN GEM:

📚 i must admit i thought i'd like to make you mine (M, 50k)

Louis fell apart when her ex broke up with her and moved across the country. Just as she’s starting to move on, Zayn comes back to town for their mutual friends’ wedding – with a new girlfriend as her plus one.

Blindsided and scrambling to save face, Louis lets herself get talked into a fake relationship with her new friend Harry. Their arrangement makes Louis feel pathetic and embarrassed, but it’s only going to last a few weeks. She just has to get through the wedding – what could happen?

[dollyllama108]

Get to know my Tav!

No one asked for this and I won't pretend they did! Brockley Rob Oleracea | Wood Elf | Circle of the Land Druid | Aggro vegan yoga boy

What is your Tav's…

Favorite Weapon: is the concept of ahimsa, non-harming, a weapon? There's a line in the Sutras that says in the presence of one truly grounded in ahimsa, no violence can occur, and Brocks does his best to emulate that.

Most prized possession: Nah, he's good, thanks. Ascetic.

Deepest desire: See above.

Guilty pleasure: Sometimes picks up rocks and moves them to look at them. Sorry, rocks! He'll put you back when he's done.

Real guilty pleasure: Fine, sometimes he picks leaves. Sorry, plants!

Best-kept secret: Not a himbo and the high wisdom stat isn't merely informed---just doesn't know how to say much more than "oh, okay" and "that sounds like a bad idea."

Greatest strength: Due to making peace with his own death, he is grounded, stable, level-headed, reliable, and can model this behavior for other party members. No angst whatsoever. He will listen to the dying wishes of a rabbit, tell Vlaakith off (shoeless), and help kill Cazador with the same blank smile.

Fatal flaw: Is it that he's poorly socialized and can't communicate after wandering the forest for 250 years? Nah, too easy. He knows how to love, and love deeply, but has spent so much time cultivating his practice of non-attachment, he doesn't know how to act when he finally has something to lose.

Favorite smell: Oh gods, there are so many smells, and all at once. Sensory overload! He does not understand the question.

Favorite spell or cantrip: Spike Growth. Won't say whom, but a certain boss is such a giant ham, he dragged himself back and forth so many times through the spikes while monologuing that even his undead thralls were like, dude stop.

Pet peeve: Everyone else being so horny. First of all, if you're whipping your bits out in the presence of Brockley Rob, you are down bad. Second of all, Brocks has weaponized his disinterest in sex so well, if he responds affirmatively to an advance, run because he's just going to ask a question that tricks you into several hours of talk therapy.

Bad habit: Not wearing shoes. The nautiloid was particularly challenging, there being so many textures on the floor.

Hidden talent: Flexibility equivalent to a practitioner of Ashtanga third series. Reminds everyone to stretch after combat. Chills in a forward fold split to release his back but if someone asks "damn, do you know how to work that" his entire party will say "no" in unison.

Leisure activity: Normal wood elf druid stuff. Record changes in population to ensure balance of predation/herbivory, monitor trees for bark sickness, get owned by songbird for conjuring goodberries wrong, those things. Also he makes soap.

Favorite drink: Clean water!

Comfort food: A stuffed sweet potato with kale and white beans.

Favorite person: Gale knows so much about rocks. Wow. Like. The names of the rocks, and what they're made of, and why they're shiny, and what happens when you pour acid on them.

Favored display of affection: Everyone is furniture when Brockley is around.

Fondest childhood memory: I mean, his entire family left him there and he never saw them again, but it was a pretty fun circus.

Tagging ferosh; I think she deleted her tumblr. Ferosh, tag yourself!

[duckprintspress]

Contributor Spotlights: Jessica Black and Sebastian Marie

Welcome to She Wears the Midnight Crown and He Bears the Cape of Stars, two brand-new anthologies that share a common theme – masquerades – but tell different types of stories – wlw in She Wears the Midnight Crown and mlm in He Bears the Cape of Stars. These collections are the latest titles from Duck Prints Press, the indie publisher founded by fans to publish original works by fan creators, and they’re crowdfunding NOW, only on Seed & Spark!

Curious about the collections? Well, here’s a sneak peek of the works of two of our creators!

He Bears the Cape of Stars Contributor Spotlight: Jessica Black

Biography: Jessie, pen name Jessica Black, fandom name alocalband, decided she wanted to be a writer at the age of seven and hasn’t looked back since. With a degree in screenwriting, she spent the majority of her career working on assorted projects in Hollywood, New York, and Puerto Rico. Lately, however, she’s settled down to a quieter life with her cat, her library, and a constantly filling notebook of new ideas. Hobbies include reading, hiking, gaming, knitting, and going to hockey games.

Links: Archive of Our Own | Discord: alocalband#6844 | Tumblr | Twitter

Story Title: The Numbers Game

Teaser:

The first time Braden tries on a Pro League helmet, he feels like he’s been blindfolded. No, worse. Like a bag’s been thrown over his head that he’s not allowed to dislodge. He reaches a hand out blindly in front of him, searching for purpose, only to grab at nothing. For the first time since he was three years old, the skates on his feet don’t feel nearly solid enough on the ice to keep him standing.

Braden wobbles and tries to keep the panic out of his voice as he says “I can’t see,” when what he means is I can’t breathe.

Ollie’s voice is uncharacteristically calm and reasonable, so much so that he sounds like his dad. “I’ve heard it takes a second for your eyes to adjust.”

Braden focuses on making his lungs work and on not falling on his ass like he’s still on a peewee team, but he slowly finds that Ollie’s words are correct. He’s not blindfolded; the face shield isn’t completely opaque, just dark and immersive, doubly so at first since he’s been staring at a bright, white sheet of ice under clear blue skies all day.

“I know we call them buckets, but this feels like overkill.” His attempt at humor feels strained, but Ollie laughs all the same. Ollie always laughs.

“Hold up, let me turn it on.”

There’s a thunk to the side of the helmet that Braden wasn’t prepared for, but what really startles him is the sudden graphic display across the visor. Stats to one side, biometrics on the other, and changing indicator lines down the middle, like he’s playing a video game.

She Wears the Midnight Crown Contributor Spotlight: Sebastian Marie

Biography: Sebastian Marie (he/him) is an engineering student with a penchant for writing off-the-wall fantasy, darkly comedic prose, and sickeningly indulgent short stories. He has a lot of opinions about dragons, pirates, and swordfighting that he explores through fanfiction for various fandoms. His original works often combine fantasy and dystopia into what he calls “queer fantasy hopepunk,” something that will be explored in his future novels. He loves to write conflicting traditional and non-traditional family dynamics, especially where they intersect with queer relationships. And if he can throw werewolves and brujas into the mix? So much the better.

When not writing, frantically completing homework, or reading, he can be found boxing, sewing, playing Dungeons and Dragons, or going on long rambling walks while plotting stories (and occasionally falling into rivers).

Links: Archive of Our Own

Story Title: That Danger Would Seem Sport

Teaser:

“No! I can’t…I won’t just collapse into your arms again like nothing’s changed. Not after–” 

“After what? Being separated for something we didn’t do? Thinking the other was dead for years? Almost forgetting what your face looks like? I’m sorry it took me so long to find you again, and I’m sorry I had to leave you in the first place–”

“That’s not something to be sorry for! Piracy is a duty, we knew the risks–”

“No, I’m going to say sorry for that because fuck duty. You didn’t deserve me leaving you, and you definitely don’t deserve to feel so guilty or whatever that you won’t even hug me!” Mo takes a breath. She has always loved the complexity of Marianna’s emotions, how duty and empathy pull her in so many different directions. Mo doesn’t understand all of it, doesn’t understand how Marianna can see their reunion as anything other than marvelous, but she will respect her. “If you’ve got someone else, or a family, or you don’t want me anymore, I’ll go away. But if we both want this, and we can have it, why can’t we try again?”

*

Intrigued? You should be! But, if you want to read the rest of these stories you’ll need to back our campaign, running now through July 14th, 2022!

Can They Try Again? You’ll have to Back Our Campaign to Find Out!

[fanficwritersinterviewed]

MCM, furiosophie

<<This post is a part of a longer conversation about fanfic writers, how they view fanfic, and their writing process. All views are the fanfic writers’ own, and whatever fanfic they choose to write is entirely their own decision. No judgement value will be placed on fic content. These conversations are meant to provide insight for other fanfic writers in whatever stage they are at in their writing life>>

Meet-Cute Monday (with furiosophie, @furiosophie)

AO3 Stats:

Pseud: furiosophie Pronouns: she/her (currently) Current fandoms: Star Wars Current pairings: Dinluke (Din/Luke), Dopeyluke (Din/Poe/Luke) How many total fic: 6 How many fandoms: 1 Total word count: 202,988 Longest fic word count: 103,615 Shortest: 2,148 Highest kudo count: 2,928 Lowest: 107

What's the story behind your pseud? It's a dumb pun I have with myself - my name is Sophie, I easily get furious about fandom shit and I'm dyslexic thus "furios sophie" with one s and no u.

You get furious? I am actually really surprised, I don't think I’ve ever noticed you getting furious before. Hahaha well I'm working on it. It's less furious, more very, very passionate. Like talking a mile a minute, forgetting to regulate my tone of voice, gesturing wildly, the whole deal.

How long have you been reading and writing fanfic? I'm not fully sure how long it's actually been but I remember asking my mom to print out fanfic at work that I copy and pasted into a doc so I could read it up in my room because we only had one pc at home, so I'd say probably 17 years or so? And I wrote my first fanfic at nine, I remember that very vividly because I wrote it in a notebook with some company logo on it and spent more time drawing the Star Wars logo on top than actually writing. Plus I had my mom proofread it so it would count as me doing my spelling homework.

It was set just before the beginning of Empire Strikes Back on the rebel base on Hoth and it was basically just a conversation between Leia, Han, Luke and the OC (original character) I created who used to be Vader's apprentice but had a change of heart and came to warn them about the imminent attack. Which I am aware is not super exciting but apparently my nine-year-old self really needed to write a fix-it.

No no! That's actually surprisingly involved for a nine-year-old kid, I'm impressed. Well my OC also rode a space skateboard and wore turquoise overalls so I feel that balances it out.

Ha!! Spectacular! Okay, so this furiosophie incarnation is your newest writing self, though you've been a few other people before this, right? I've had two other pseuds before this, yes. Kind of one for every phase of my writing: one for back when I was still writing in German during high school and one for when I first switched to writing in English during uni.

What was the inciting incident that led to the creation of this pseud?Honestly? I saw the Mandalorian season 2 finale, absolutely lost my mind when Luke showed up, went on tumblr to soak up any crumb I could get, got hit with a dinluke meme and thought "hahaha what a fucking dumb idea" and then three days later I found out that my note program apparently has a character limit because I had typed out the first 7k of “oh the things we left behind” on my phone. So I just resigned myself to my fate and created the new pseud. I had no idea what it would end up being. “ottwlb” was supposed to be three chapters, max maybe 30k. To put that into perspective - it had been roughly ten years since I had written anything at that point and the most I had written in one go was around 22k.

And it ended up being nearly 104k words. So what happened, exactly? What was it about this story that needed to come out of you and why? It started with the simple line of "Din thinks of the Jedi often. More specifically, he thinks of Grogu." That was the first thing I wrote down, and for a long while it was very much just an exploration of that thought I had since I first watched the movies which was something along the lines of "the Force and post-Return of the Jedi Luke must seem terrifying to others" until that turned into "if the Force and post-ROTJ Luke seems terrifying to others, how terrifying must that feel for him?" and I think that is where it clicked for me suddenly that I was processing a lot of my own complicated emotions around mental illness with some of this fic, that simple truth of "part of your mind is no longer your own.”

It’s funny to think, looking back, that I wasn't really aware I was processing anything with the story until I was in the thick of it. Like I knew I needed to process some shit-- I was one and a half years into recovery from severe burnout when I started writing-- but I didn't set out to do any of that processing through writing, it just happened. So this fic kind of became about accepting that sometimes the darkest parts of yourself just won't go away, that there is no absolution and no easy fix and that the only way through that is choosing to move forward. Or it's simply about two idiots taking 80k to kiss, you decide, haha!

If it’s not too invasive, do you mind talking a bit about what “severe burnout” means? Because before I met you I’d heard of burnout but it was always just a term tossed around when people got tired. I didn’t realize what it actually meant from a mental health perspective. Oh yeah sure! Though I'd like to preface this with simply saying that everyone's journey is different and this is just my personal experience. In retrospect it is not that surprising that I burned out eventually–  I had been struggling for a while in my twenties because I had a very intensive job, moved countries multiple times, tried to maintain relationships with friends, etc., but burnout is something that creeps up on you slowly and is often very hard to catch in time. It started with insomnia, then came the constant health issues, then the irritability, then I lost all interest in things I used to love, was unable to write at first, then draw, then hang out with friends, then watch TV, eventually I stopped making dinner because it was too much of an effort to make and then, right in the thick of it, I was unable to take care of myself at all.

But that whole process happened over the span of nearly two years, and in my case really probably my whole life because my specific type of burnout was brought on by the fact that I grew up undiagnosed autistic. So it wasn't one big thing, it was me continuously over-exerting myself from a very young age. There is this concept of disabled/neurodivergent kids being "twice exceptional"  which basically means that to excel you have to work twice as hard as your peers, once to bridge the gap of the base requirement of function and then once to actually thrive at school, or university, etc. and that ultimately led to me burning out. I actually had several unrelated burnouts throughout my life, the most severe ones after high school and university which, since I was seemingly functioning, were all treated as "you're just a little tired".

When you had that “a ha!” moment that your first fic was really about you processing what you’d just gone through, how did that inform your writing? I think the biggest plot point that was informed by that "a ha" moment was the choice to write chapter seven from Luke's perspective. Once I knew what I was doing it seemed impossible not to tell the story from his POV. I also kind of doubled down on the "being force-sensitive is a metaphor for being neurodivergent" thing because that analogy was just very comforting to me.

And “go and get your hands dirty”? Lmao. Very, very different vibe. I think dinluke kink week was going on back then and myomikan was drawing something for it so my idiot brain thought "you are incapable of writing smut why don't you also participate?" Which ended with me writing the first scene of that fic and then it just...I honestly don't know what happened, it was supposed to be max 10k. I had it all planned out, but apparently I am not only incapable of writing smut but also incapable of writing anything other than a slow burn. There really are no deep thoughts in that fic, which is probably why it was fighting me in the beginning, but it did end up being very helpful as a kind of sandbox where I could try out different pacing and character conflict that I struggle writing. I am still very on the fence about that fic, I know it had somewhat good reception but it is the one fic where I honestly can't tell if it works or not.

What's something in that one that you were intentionally trying out all the while knowing it wasn't your strong suit? The physical elements of it mostly. I am not joking when I say I am very bad at that, as well as the conflict based on miscommunication/a secret rather than outside factors, and the tension that comes with that. In “ottwlb” there is conflict but they are always a unit, while in “gagyhd” their turmoil is to some degree self-inflicted. Also parts of their relationship are genuinely unhealthy but in a sort of helpless way that stems from their trauma and upbringing which I really enjoyed exploring because trauma does not absolve you from being an asshole so my challenge was kind of to walk that line of "they are very dysfunctional but aware of it and trying to work towards being better."

Dysfunctional but aware. I think there’s a lot of us that can relate to that, lol!

[heretic-altias]

FFXIV Characters as Star Stable Players

Went through a ton of them talking to my friends and thought maybe some people out there somewhere might enjoy these so look below the cut to begin bc there's a lot of them.

Alphinaud: Every horse is level 15. He feeds them every day. Meticulously plans the best gear out for racing and studies each track. Top high score racer on his server, also does champs in his spare time. Will talk about racing to anyone who will listen

Alisaie: All her horses range from levels 1-5 and are depressed. She never feeds them, she's not wasting star coins on stable care when she could be saving up for another horse for her collection. Beat Alphie in a championship one time, will not let him live it down. Spends most of her time either chasing Alphie around or messing with her friends.

Thancred: has no idea what hes doing but Ryne really likes this game so he's playing with her. Lets her pick and name horses for him.

Ryne: Adores all of the horses. Roped both Thancred and Gaia into playing with her. All of her horses have names and personalities and she loves talking about them. Never asks for star coins because they're expensive, but Thancred always gifts her some on double sc weekend.

Gaia: Another one in the 'never feeds the horses club' has one Friesian and insists it's the best horse in the game and the only one she needs. It's level 15 bc she literally never rides another horse. Mostly plays with Ryne. Wrote a backstory for her horse at Ryne's urging, it's very edgy and tragic.

Y'shtola: Rarely plays. Saves up for a horse, logs on, buys it, takes pictures of it, and leaves for another two months until she can afford another.

Urianger: Spends 300 years naming each horse. Has an entire backstory for his character and all of their horses. Obsessed with the lore, frequently writes long lore posts for sso tumblr. Ryne loves reading his fics. Owns all of the old disc games, spent forever trying to get ahold of them and now treasures them.

G'raha Tia: The WoL likes this game so he expected it to be amazing. Ended up playing mostly with the others, but not really on his own. He just really likes hanging out with everyone else. Thinks all of the horses are nice, could never criticize a new release. Probably named his starter after the WoL or asked them to name it for him.

Emet-Selch: Hates every update. Writes long tumblr posts about how the game is terrible now and used to be better. Only rides old models, has thousands of star coins saved because he refuses to buy any of the new horses.

Lahabrea: Constantly leaves comments on sso's instagram about what they should add to the game. Takes it personally when those things don't appear literally the next week. People wonder why he still plays this game bc all he does is complain on instagram over stupid things. Still adores each of his horses and knows their names and personalities.

Elidibus: Analyzes every update and its pros and cons. Thinks SSO should hire him. Posts carefully worded critique posts that he spent hours thinking out. Forgets to actually play the game because he's so focused on doing this.

Aymeric: Loves taking screenshots. Will carefully coordinate every outfit and tack set he has and loves spending his time on it. Probably an instagram celebrity, maybe even an ambassador. Owns a well known club. Only says nice things about the game online to avoid drama, but admits criticisms to his friends.

Estinien: Instagram famous only because he's in Aym's club and Aym posts about him a lot. Complains about other players annoying him. Eventually privates his account bc Aym's fans are driving him insane. People probably wonder why Aym hangs out with him. Lets Aym take screenshots of him and goes to all the club events even though he'd rather just play his msq and save up for horses because he knows Aym is happy.

Lucia: acts as the co owner of Aym's ingame club. Helps filter out some of the chaotic join requests they constantly get. Manages the wait list, handles the club instagram page. Likes to run her training route every day.

Haurchefant: Thinks every horse is great, also in Aym's club. Loves being an instagram celebrity and talks to his fans all the time. Writes lots of posts about how great his friends and the game are. He's just here to have a good time.

Zenos: wants to race against everyone all the time. Gets mad if you say no. Competes with Alphie for those top scores on the server. Probably has one of those ongoing weirdly dark Instagram story accounts where characters like die and horses are stolen/abused and such.

Ysayle: collects pretty horses and enjoys screenshotting them. Likes light colors and a winter type aesthetic. Her club is the other big club on the server besides Aym's. They all ride white horses and matching outfits. She tries really hard to diffuse any drama in the community.

Hien: honestly just probably having a fun time. Likes to host tumblr meet ups just to talk to the people and hang out. Posts mediocre memes that are really only successful bc he's the most active meme page on tumblr. Everyone knows he's a really chill guy.

Arenvald: Probably plays with Alphinaud sometimes but is a little lost when Alphie starts talking about his racing obsession. Still likes to hang out with him even though Alphie crushes him whenever they race.

Minfillia: Owns the club all the scions are in, but it's really just a club for their friend group to chill in. Probably plans events for them all and coordinates everything so that everyone can make it. Takes good care of all her horses, reminds everyone to buy stable care each week even if they dont actually do it.

Lyse: Only feeds the horse she's riding. Loves running championships just for fun on whatever horse she happens to have when the announcement pops up for one. Chats with other players in the race waiting areas, and sometimes even in global if theres nothing happening.

Papalymo: Plays with Lyse. Tries to tell her she'd have more success in champs if she fed her horses and got some tack with actual stats, but she doesn't listen. Sometimes lets her beat him so she feels good about the race.

Fandaniel: insane. Constantly bugs the game and glitches into locked areas. Brags about it to anyone who will listen.

Magnai: really wants to start a romance RP in global. Never finds anyone who wants to play bc everyone reminds him they're against the game's rules.

Sadu: probably making fun of Magnai in global. Likes to start fights in that chat.

Nero: loves finding glitches and testing exploits. Knows a concerning number of ways to use cheat engine for funny things without being banned. Never actually cheats and uses these things solely for meme purposes. Probably leaks horse coats/models online before release just to watch the chaos.

Cid: Also good at finding bugs, but does so in order to report them to SSO support. Nero hates him reporting all the good bugs.

Ardbert: Has a little friend group club with the the other heros from the first. Doesn't really use social media, they prefer to just use their discord server with each other. All of them train together most afternoons.

Tataru: Her gear closet is perfectly organized. Every horse has an assigned stall. Also writes them backstories. Plans out her star coin saving months in advance and exactly what horses she'll buy in what order. Does not stray from it even if a new one comes out, she'll add it on to the end.

Krile: Another lore nerd, started playing at the same time Alphie did and sometimes reminds him about what he was like as a new player. Loves writing and responding to lore posts. Her and Urianger probably interact online a lot.

Louisoix: Played star stable years ago, was super famous in the community. Quit playing a couple years ago but everyone still talks about him. Others desperately try to be like him, but nobody can fill his shoes in the community.

Forchenault: Writes extensive posts of what he thinks of the game, mostly complaints. Will fight anyone who disagrees. Refuses to meet up with anyone else ingame, nobody actually knows if he even logs on still or just complains. Thinks actually playing every day is a waste of time.

Ashai: Instagram fanboy for zenos and his weirdly dark story. Zenos isn't even famous, he has like 220 followers, but Asahi worships the ground he walks on. Runs a fanpage for him where he just reposts Zenos's screenshots/edits and talks about how great they are. Draws fanart too, but he's a terrible artist. Zenos pretends he doesnt exist. Purposely switched his server to the one Zenos plays on and always keeps an eye out for him.

[pikapeppa]

Year-end Writer’s Round-Up: the 2020 edition

Tagged a million years ago by @mythicaitt​ and @lostinfantasies38​ - thanks friends! I have finally put aside a chunk of time for this, since I am a nerd who likes to get accurate calculations. 

I will preface this by saying it’s been an insane year, and I know many people’s creativity was sucked dry by, well, everything. I find my emotional escape/comfort in writing fic, so I just... I dunno, went nuts with writing this year. To that end, I’ll keep most of this post below a cut for those who don’t want to see my “stats”, but with an open invitation to participate for ANYONE who does want to share their writing achievements for the year, and a tag for those writers that I know for sure were active this year: @crackinglamb​ @barbex​ @solas-disapproves​ @elveny​ @alyssalenko​ @nug-juggler​ @musetta3​ @cartadwarfwithaheartofgold​ @iarollane​ @in-arlathan​ @charlatron​ @queen-kass-the-writer​ - NO PRESSURE TO PARTICIPATE OR TO READ THIS AT ALL, THOUGH.

Word count and smut count table (i.e. NERD ALERT):

(Here’s a masterlist of all my fic, if any of the fics in that list strike anyone’s fancy and they want to find and check ‘em out.)

There are a couple of things missing from this word count that I only posted on Tumblr, a couple of Solas/Nare drabbles and a piece of Orsino/Hawke smut, but I’m too lazy to track those down right now. And I have another unposted chapter of Inadvisable that’s about 10k words… ANYWAY, MOVING ON.

New things I tried this year:

I jumped headfirst into a few Dragon Age rarepairs this year! I’ve always loved rarepairs and have particularly enjoyed writing them for Horizon Zero Dawn in the past, so it was a pleasure to take on a few this year:

Felassan x Lavellan in The Love That Grows From Violence

Sten x Yara Mahariel in Fall Into The Tide

Samson x Roman Hawke for my soulmate @schoute​ - a ship that I never even saw coming and that hit me like a ton of bricks in the feels.

I also took the plunge into theorizing and sorting through Big Lore this year for Dragon Age — something I’ve avoided doing for years. I usually don’t like doing very deep dives because I’m a canon-compliant sort of girl, and the idea of getting attached to a theory that might end up being wrong makes me feel itchy. But when I started writing a Felassan-centered fic, I had no choice but to try and figure out the big lore since YA BARK-EATING BOYFRIEND KNOWS THINGS. I spent 10+ hours sorting through DA meta, both canon and fanon, to try and come up with something cohesive for that fic that feels as canon-compliant as possible, so that was definitely a cliff I didn’t mean to jump off of, LOL.

I also took a jump into writing a fic with three simultaneous and interconnected relationships in Inadvisable, my modern university AU with @elbenherzart​, which includes relationships for Solas, Abelas and Felassan. I was super excited but SCARED to do this: how to keep all three relationships interesting and exciting when the narrative keeps moving and flowing between the three relationships and the six characters who all know each other in different ways? Luckily, I had the wonderful Elbenherzart cheering me on and encouraging me with all the BEAUTIFUL ART she’s done for the fic, and I’ve been really enjoying it!

Fic I spent the most time on: 

Um, it’s probably a tie between two fics: The Love That Grows From Violence (Felassan x Lavellan) just because of that Big Lore deep dive, or Lovers In A Dangerous Time (Fenris the Inquisitor), which I finished earlier this year and took a long time just by virtue of the fic length and THE AMOUNT OF FEELINGS I HAVE FOR FENRIS AND RYNNE HAWKE.

Fic I spent the least time on: 

Wake Up, a quick oneshot featuring Varric and Solas, which I keysmashed in a couple of hours after the most recent DA4 trailer was released. 

Favourite thing I wrote:

Oh my god. Everything?? Writing is my escape and my pride and joy, so I love everything I write. All my rarepairs were absolute delights this year. Finishing Lovers In A Dangerous Time was bittersweet since I now kind of feel like I can’t write any further Fenris/Rynne until DA4 comes out. But Felassan has become my darling toward the end of this year and I’m thrilled to have brought a handful of wonderful readers down the Felassan rabbit hole with me. 

Favourite thing I read:

… I… have once again failed and read basically nothing this year. I started to read Pressure Point by 17734 on AO3 and really enjoyed it for a few chapters before I just… ran out of steam. Not because of the fic, because it genuinely was great —  the smut in the first chapter just about killed me, STG — but because I realized this year that, with very few exceptions, I don’t have enough emotional space to invest in fics with long intricate plots. I’m a fucking goblin who just likes to read smut, so I lose interest quickly if the fic isn’t strongly smut/romance-centered. 

TO THAT END, I do have a couple of smutfic recs:

Force of Nature, a Stenwarden oneshot by @minionripley: Maker save me, this was soOoOoO good and in-character for StennySten.

Provided It Tied You Down First by JadeLavellan on AO3: Solas and Trevelyan go to a Tevinter sex party for recon reasons. Oh my god, guys, IT’S SO GOOD.

Writing goals for next year:

Honestly? I’m not gonna make any. I’ll just go where the winds of inspiration take me, and where the winds of others’ whispered suggestions take me as well. 

To that end, I have to make a few shoutouts to people who have inspired me this year, either with their art or suggestions or encouragement (read: ENTHUSIASTIC SCREAMING): @schoute​ @elbenherzart​ @whatomen​, without whom a huge chunk of my fic this year would not exist; and @lethendralis-paints​​ @ashalle-art​ @slushrottweiler-blog​ who gifted me with beautiful fan art this year and made me want to weep. LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. 

Wishing everyone a safe and happy new year filled with love, warmth, and most of all, with hope. If anyone else wants to join in and share their achivements, please do and tag me so I can see what you’ve been up to!

- Love from your friendly neighbourhood Pikapeppa xoxo

[n7punk]

Able Sisters unlock requirements

EDIT: Thanks to everyone who told me what stats they hit before Mable moved in! I’ll leave the original post below but based on cross referencing everyone’s feedback I’ve found:

I believe Mable will always ask to move in the 3rd visit, based on feedback that she had even though the player hadn’t bought something at every visit (as well as a lot of other feedback that she moved in on the 3rd visit for other players). Again, there may be the hidden requirement of having your tent up to a house or a certain level of house (although based on feedback you definitely don’t need more than having the west wing built), or perhaps having the campsite complete, but I don’t believe these are required.

However, it is possible to get her on her second visit! I have had multiple people tell me that after buying a lot from her (also, having friends come over and buy from her), upon being spoken to again later on visit two she offered to build the shop, versus “the normal way” where she makes the offer on first conversation during visit #3. So if Mable has been stingy with her appearances, dropping some bells could get her to move in on the second visit! I personally followed this behaviour of buying a lot, having some friends buy from her, and speaking again with her throughout the day just to say hi without getting this early move-in so it likely is prompted by amount of bells spent or a secondary factor.

Original post below the cut

Reports online are conflicting on what actually triggers unlocking the Able Sisters. I tracked a number of stats related to my game and shopping, and the most accurate estimate I found was actually from an ask on Tumblr: on her third visit, Mable should offer to build her store the first time you talk to her. There may be additional requirements, such as speaking to/buying from her on each visit, but the store can be obtained on her third visit.

Below are all the stats I tracked related to the store if you wanna compare for your own notes. It might be important to note I was not time traveling either.

After seeing Sable on the first visit to Nook’s Cranny, she will show up randomly in town square.

Days shown up: 22/3 (day after Nook’s Cranny opening, day of museum opening), 27/3 (day campsite was finished building), 28/3 (day of first campsite visitor).

Number of visits: 3. Polygon says she’ll open the store after several visits. Tumblr ask to bramblescrossing says three visits.

Number of items purchased: 10.

Total spent: 10, 230 - IGN claims she’ll build the store on the first visit after 5,000 bells have been spent, however, they have verified false information on their golden tools guide so take that with a grain of salt. I also believe that I spent almost 6000 on her first visit because I wanted her to move in, so I definitely do not believe this claim.

It’s important to note these numbers only include what I personally bought - every day she was in town I had friends over who also bought something from her, usually 1-3 things.

Number of days on island: 11 (I said above the cut I was not time-traveling, but I did start playing at midnight on launch day, and I did time-travel one day forward then one back on launch day to get the pole vault since my island layout trapped me in a small space. However, Nook’s Cranny wasn’t even offered to built until after I time-traveled, so the single day shouldn’t have really impacted Mable’s arrival).

Number of house upgrades: 7. I had the final upgrade complete on the morning that Mable appeared and offered to build the store, but I know plenty of people have unlocked her without upgrading their houses nearly this far, so this likely isn’t a factor, or if it is the only requirement may be to have upgraded once or twice.

Based on her dialogue when she asks to build the store (“[you] helped me build a customer base [here]”) I believe Mable sets up the store on her third visit as long as an unknown number of items have been purchased from her in the past, but how many items or how many bells they must total up to is unknown. Based on IGN’s (incorrect) information it can be inferred they only spent 5,000 bells with her before she asked to move in, so I wouldn’t worry about spending more than that unless you are on her third visit and she hasn’t made the move-in offer. The requirement might also have just been to speak with her when she visits instead of having to buy. But again, from what everyone else is finding, it seems the main, and perhaps only, requirement for her to move in is to visit three times.

[crisisdparity]

Game Master Akuma AU

(Note: Originally submitted to @justanotherpersonsuniverse, on their advice I will be using my own tumblr for anything in the future related to this AU.)

Xavier Duchamp was rather proud of himself. What he had before him was an absolute masterpiece of a campaign if he did say so himself. The product of over six months of study, research, and rebalancing efforts followed by two weeks of discussion with his five players to hash out schedules, meeting times, characters, backstories, potential character arcs, and getting them set up with a messaging app that was really good for sending discrete messages between the GM and the players.

Valentine and her boyfriend Justin were onboard in an instant. Within days, he'd greenlighted their Half-Elf Bard of the College of Glamour whose spell list was 100% Illusion spells and Half-Orc Fighter (Eldritch Knight) who was focusing entirely on Abjuration as Rena Rouge and Carapace respectively.

Olivia had spent a few days coming up with a Halfling Rogue and debating subclasses with him until settling on Scout. Along with some discussion over how her special magic item's stunning and paralysis effect would work with Sneak Attack, the campaign had its Vesperia.

Jeanette had gone back and forth with him for a week looking at various homebrew subclasses for her Gnome Artificer before they both agreed on one particular Master Tinkerer entry that would be balanced and do the character justice. And with that they had their Ladybug.

Even Matt was on board with a stealthy human Chat the Barbarian using the Path of the Beast. The class choice was something Matt had insisted on (and that Xavier would have suggested anyway just for the high hit point totals given Matt's history with characters dying) and he'd even come up with a backstory that Xavier felt was quite compelling compared to Matt's usual efforts. Morally ambiguous, likely to be tempted by promises of power, but with a great deal of story potential to work with.

Which was a relief. Getting a new player into their group to replace Matt was not something Xavier really felt comfortable with. There were too many unknowns with introducing a new person, far too many for him to risk his masterpiece on an unknown factor. He knew Matt. He could work with Matt. Despite the history.

He'd put everything he had into this. Every known Akuma ever fought by the heroes had been made into a boss-tier foe. He'd carefully documented each and every power the heroes had shown to craft special legendary magic items based on the Miraculous. Hawkmoth and Mayura themselves were going to be the final bosses of his campaign.

In response to criticism about the difficulty of his campaigns (he tried to make them fair, but still challenging enough to be memorable), he'd made several guest NPCs based on every other hero that had ever been called upon, statted out like player characters that might show up in a pinch to help. He even had a genuine Deus ex Machina that he was ready to use to get the players out of a truly impossible jam if they found themselves in one.

Not always, but a few times at least. Enough to get them to the point where they wouldn't need it anymore.

-----

It was thirty minutes in, right in the middle of exposition from the Guardian NPC, when Xavier got his first message on the app.

Matt/Chat - Chat's going to wait until everyone breaks up and follow Ladybug stealthily.

Xavier/GM - Starting party conflict on the first session? Not what I'd advise, but it's your character. Go ahead and make your Stealth roll now.

Matt/Chat - <photo> 17

Xavier/GM - Yeah, that beats everyone's passive Perception easily. You'll sneak off handily without anyone noticing.

-----

"Jeanette, Ladybug is grabbed from behind by an unknown assailant. Roll to resist the grapple."

"Geez, already? Okay, what did my assailant get for their grapple? How screwed am I?"

Xavier pretended to roll a die while consulting the message from Matt.

"19."

"Okay, difficult, but not undoable... Crap."

"What'd you get?"

"Nat 1..."

"Hah! I rip off her earrings and claim them for myself! The Wish is mine!"

"Seriously Matt?! What the hell?!"

"Because it's payback time! Payback for every character of mine killed in these hellish campaigns!"

"Oh, come on! You're not the only person whose had a character die at this table! Xavier runs some pretty challenging campaigns, but they're always fair!"

"What about the time he killed Allric the Allmighty in a single round of combat?"

"Dude, you tried to Leroy Jenkins straight into melee with a 4th-level Wizard that had a CON penalty. Even at full health you had like 10 hp."

"14!"

"Not much better, dude."

"Guys, it's fine. I can handle this. Okay, Matt. Chat the Barbarian managed to get the earrings-"

"Yeah, Ladybug screams bloody murder when he rips them out. Good luck getting out of this in one piece."

"The moment Rena hears Ladybug scream, she bolts for the sound."

"So does Carapace."

"Vesperia too."

"-and with their current locations and movement speeds, I assume you're all using the Dash action?, you've got maybe one round to decide on your Wish before they're all over you, so choose carefully. And be aware that I plan to grant whatever you wish for in the worst possible way, just as I would if any of the others pulled this."

"Rena screams 'What the HELL, Chat?! We're supposed to protect the Miraculous, not use them for our own selfish purposes! Didn't you listen to the Guardian? Such actions always bring misfortune upon those who misuse the Miraculous!'"

"Because I am Chat, avatar of Destruction and I WISH THIS WORLD NEVER EXISTED!"

There was dead silence at the table.

"Matt... What... just... WHAT?!"

"Hah! You like that?! How does it feel now that the shoe's on the other foot, huh?!"

"What the hell is your problem, Matt?!"

"My problem? MY problem?! Do you know how much time I've spent making characters for these shitty campaigns only to have them turned into paste in one session?!"

"Because you made primary spellcasters and played every last one of them like a barbarian, charging in headfirst without thinking! All of us breathed a sigh of relief when you revealed that your character finally matched your playstyle!"

"I HATE BARBARIANS! THEY'RE BORING! I SHOULD GET TO PLAY CHARACTERS THAT CAN AT LEAST CHUCK FIREBALLS!"

"THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP RUNNING THEM FACE FIRST INTO ENEMY SWORDS!"

"NONE OF YOU COULD EVER HANDLE THE FACT THE I MAKE MORE AWESOME CHARACTERS THAN ANY OF YOU, SO YOU JUST LET THIS DOUCHEBAG KILL THEM OFF SO YOU WOULDN'T GET OVERSHADOWED BY HOW AMAZING I AM! WELL NOW I KILLED SOMETHING YOU ALL WORKED HARD ON, SO SUCK IT! I'M DONE WITH ALL OF YOU FOREVER!"

"MATT! HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU JERK! MATT!"

"Crap, I think Olivia might actually kill him this time..."

"It's going to take all of us to stop her from getting arrested at least."

Xavier just watched numbly as the rest of the group ran out of his apartment. Over six months of work. Gone in less than an hour.

He'd given so much to making sure this would work. He'd apologized to Matt at least twice for every character of his that had died to get him to come back. He'd agreed to demand after demand just to keep a familiar face on board, never dreaming he'd pull something like this.

He'd nearly gotten fired from his job trying to rearrange his schedule to fit with everyone else's. They'd somehow, miraculously, gotten the whole day with no other obligations among any of them and decided to make the first session a true marathon. They'd meet in the morning after breakfast and eat both lunch and dinner at the game table before calling it a night late in the evening.

It was barely 10:00 in the morning and the whole campaign he'd slaved over for months was kaput.

He never noticed the butterfly landing on his custom Miraculous-themed Game Master screen and being absorbed into it.

"Game Master, I am Hawkmoth. Few people appreciate the kind of effort that goes into making something truly grand and memorable. I shall give you the power to bring your entire world to life and in return, I ask only for a few simple things."

This was wrong. Hawkmoth was the worst of the worst. The kind of person who would be at home among all the final bosses he'd ever made for his campaigns. Heartless, manipulative, cruel.

"Not enough? Ah, but what is a game without players? How would you like to have the Miraculous heroes themselves run your great campaign? Surely they would be far more appreciative than those ungrateful peons that left you alone with nothing but the broken remains of your efforts."

He knew all these things, but the allure of bringing the world he'd spent so much time on to life... What creator could ever turn down an offer like that?

"I, the Game Master, accept... Hawkmoth."

"Excellent. And in exchange, you shall bring me one of two things: The Miraculous, or the identities of their wielders."

"No."

Hawkmoth was silent for a moment.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said no. I am the Game Master. I make the world. I craft the challenges. I decide the rewards. But I do not do anything for anyone. If you want these things, get them yourself."

"If you refuse me, it shall be very unpleasant for you."

"No. As Game Master, I decide the limits of all powers within my realm. And I decide that you have none over me."

And with that, he unleashed his creation over all of Paris, drawing everyone and everything within into his sphere of influence.

-----

Ladybug blinked the spots (ha) out of her eyes as the flash of light died down and looked at herself. She didn't remember transforming, but she was clearly in her spots. Except her red and black superhero uniform didn't usually look like it was headed to a steampunk convention. Looking around, she tried to figure out what had happened and her eyes landed on a familiar belt and pants combo.

Problem. Whoever this was, their groin was at eye level for her.

She looked up.

And up.

To find a grinning Chat Noir, sans anything resembling a shirt and having put on at least a foot of height and apparently a hundred pounds of pure muscle, grinning down at her.

"How's the weather down there?" Chat Noir chuckled as he flexed his unfairly attractive muscleman physique.

"I WILL END YOU!" the heroine snarled, already 100% done with whatever new insanity Hawkmoth had cooked up.

Characters:

Ladybug - Gnome Artificer (Master Tinkerer - Homebrew)

Chat Noir - Human Barbarian (Path of the Beast)

-----

Vesperia had to admit, as Akuma attacks went, this was pretty dope.

She was currently a halfling. A halfling! If it wasn't for her fantasy ensemble being yellow and black, she'd have thought she stepped straight out of Lord of the Rings.

Of course, fantasy setting or not, there were still things she'd have rather left back in the real world. Like racism. And stigma against mixed couples. Not directed at her, but rather at the two walking down the street next to her.

"You know, people are staring..." she said as she craned her head to look at her companions.

"Let them," the Half-Elf Rena Rouge (who looked like a cross between a musician and a belly dancer) said from her perch atop the shoulders of the heavily armored (and surprisingly buff) Half-Orc Carapace. "They're just jealous because their boyfriends can't carry them everywhere."

Characters:

Vesperia - Halfling Rogue (Scout)

Rena Rouge - Half-Elf Bard (College of Glamour)

Carapace - Half-Orc Fighter (Eldritch Knight)

-----

Ryuko blinked as she studied the apparent snake-man-thing before her who claimed to be Viperion. She lifted a hand to study it and found what appeared to be bronze scales covering every inch of her skin.

She sniffed herself, smelling the sharp tang of ozone. What was she?

And why did she appear to be wearing wooden armor?

Characters:

Ryuko - Dragonborn (bronze) Druid (Circle of Storms - Third Party)

Viperion - Naga Sorcerer (Divination Magic - Homebrew)

-----

Polymouse giggled as her friends ran over her. Okay, she'd freaked out a little to find a swarm of mice (with hair like hers no less) crawling all over her surprisingly mouse-like body when she'd come to in the middle of some forest somewhere. But she'd gotten over it pretty quickly. It helped that her new friends were adorable.

It might help more if she could figure out where she was.

Or find another person.

Characters:

Polymouse - Kobold (rodentlike) Ranger (Swarmkeeper - Reskinned)

-----

Purple Tigress sighed as she felt the hair (fur?) on the top of her head being shifted around and twitched her new catlike ears in mild annoyance.

"Are you quite done?"

"Almost!" Pigella's cheerful voice answered. "Your fur is so comfy!"

Tigress sighed. Of course Pigella would end up being a fairy, and having her normal cheerful enthusiasm cranked up to previously unimagined levels.

"I love you dearly, but if you start shouting 'hey listen' I will stick you in a bottle."

"Aw, I love you too! Hey, what's that?"

"I think it's my character sheet?"

Characters:

Purple Tigress - Tabaxi Paladin (Oath of Glory)

Pigella - Fairy Cleric (Order Domain - Reskinned)

-----

"According to my analysis, we have been placed into what appears to be a Dungeons and Dragons campaign under 5th edition rules," Pegasus stated in a mechanical monotone. "I am apparently a Warforged Wizard using the School of Conjuration whose spells create portals to bridge dimensions and summon or banish my intended targets. You are what is known as a Simic Hybrid, with the class of Monk, following the Way of the Drunken Master."

"Aweshum," King Monkey slurred, his generally human appearance clad in monk's robes marred by his monkey-like hands and feet as well as the monkey tail swishing behind him.

"Why do you keep slurring like that? According to my sensors, your gourd is filled with only water."

"Gotta keep up appearanshes!" King Monkey grinned as he continued faking drunkenness.

Characters:

Pegasus - Warforged Wizard (School of Conjuration - Reskinned)

King Monkey - Simic Hybrid Monk (Way of the Drunken Master)

-----

Hawkmoth studied the dark red horns growing out of his head in the mirror. The change in appearance was disconcerting, but he felt a rush of power in this new form that he'd never felt before.

"Hmm... perhaps I can work with this..."

"Speak for yourself..." Mayura muttered off to the side, ruffling her peacock-like feathers in annoyance as she tried to glare at the beak on her own face.

Characters:

Hawkmoth - Tiefling Dark Lord, Warlock Patron, Contracted by Lila Rossi, Volpina, Queen Wasp, and many others.

Mayura - Kenku Assistant to the Dark Lord, Creator of Monsters

-----

"Oh, come on!" A figure in a cyan and white hooded robe complained as they waved a similarly colored umbrella around angrily. "Everyone else gets to be part of this adventure, why can't I join them?"

"Because you're too OP. You'd completely break everything and remove all challenge from the adventure."

"But sitting around is no fun at all!"

"If you like, I can put you in the position of the main quest giver. Your job would be to direct them towards their enemies and means of becoming stronger."

"That's it?! I'm on 'mysterious hooded figure' duty? Boo! Why can't I fight with them?!"

"Because you're too OP. But if you insist, I'll allow some Deus ex Machina interventions."

"YES!"

"Five."

"I'm sorry?"

"I'll allow five interventions at your discretion to aid them when they are in peril. Once you have come to their aid five times, I will allow no more meetings save to impart quest information."

"That's it?"

"Yes. Choose your interventions wisely."

"So... if I manage to save one for when they fight Hawmoth and Mayura in the final battle...?"

"Then I would allow you to join them of course."

"Score!"

Characters:

Bunnyx: Mysterious Hooded Figure, Deus-ex-Machina (5)

Game Master: Akuma Lord of the Miraculous Campaign

-----

Addendum

When the Game Master is finally purified and the damage reversed, it turns out that he took the effort to trap all of Paris in a temporal stasis bubble so that no matter how long passed inside no more than a few moments passed outside. Meaning that after what seemed like months in the bubble, it's basically less than a minute after he was akumatized when everything is put back.

All his friends, minus Matt, come back in bringing a new person named Zack that they vetted themselves to take Matt's place in case he pulled something like what he did. And while he has a similar playstyle to Matt, he's savvy enough to know what kind of characters that is suited for and he loves playing barbarians.

They all sit back down and restart the game they were all looking forward to.

[taekooktimeline]

i love this timeline and i congratulate you guys on how much effort you seem to be putting into it! however, I still can't 100% they have something, or ever had something. I do think theyre cute together and they do have. amor of questionável moments...but most of it is completly explained by a little logic thinking. I don't think two guys who grew up in small towns in Korea during the 90's/00's when there was no discussion at all about homosexuality would take this so lightly. Specially Tae, who was raised on a rural town by his grandparents. Could they have changed their minds by now? Absolutely, yes. But we also have to remember that kpop os built on encoraging performative homoerotic behavior in order to allure fans, because they know it sells. There are literally lots of testimonies from trainees that say that by contract they are obliged to do that. Sure that at this point in fame they wouldnt need to do it anymore, but they are bora dumb, they know it sells and they are well aware of the dynamics people want to see the most. Now, I do believe they love each other, but I also believe they don't make themselves that much available to one another outside working hours anymore (ex: one of the meetings for BE, the one they were diacussing the units, Hoseok said that it was hard to get all 7 of them together like that so they needed to say what they needed and get it over with), which is okay given that they lived together for years. So I do believe that most of the things taekook does that seems couply is simply performative bc they know it attracts attention, and they do it because they are confortable enough, yk? we also have to remember that asians society works very differently, men are expected to behave in a more community way. Anyways, I still think theyre very cute and If they do have something with eo or gfs, I just hope theyre happy. Once again, awsome work you two have been doing! congrats!

Kayla:hi Anon - thank you for the well wishes with the timeline. We are going to have to agree to disagree on this. If TK were solely doing all of this for marketing / fan service where is the subunit that people have asked for for years? The only subunit to trend at festa 2020 before units were announced .. Two big powerhouses who sell out everything .. yet BH never takes advantage of that? As a business, shouldn’t they want that? Why did BH visibly restrict TK or separate them in a lot of official moments? A lot of moments are subtle, caught by fan cams or sleuths .. so again, how is that marketing if it’s subtle and not bold, in your face, obvious, which is what fs is? And their actions and reactions don’t necessarily happen at concerts, where I would be inclined to agree some is enjoyed FS by them .. some of their actions are away from concerts .. and FS, by definition, is for a performance, so if it’s subtle, not at a concert .. it’s the exact opposite of that. We barely see TK anywhere in the 2019 dvd so again, and there’s a lot of other examples that are similar, so how are they selling themselves and appeasing shippers when official content in the old contracts really didn’t market them? Not only that but there are lgbtq people in every country, progressive or conservative, rural or more liberal household. It’s not like being born to a conservative family just negates out who a person is attracted to...I highly doubt Tae is professing love of LGBTQ artists, designers, photographers, etc, reading CMBYN and professing a fondness for rainbows for nothing. Besides that, people have spotted TK out and about in 2020 alone, and have commented on it. Unless you’re their best friend and know their day to day, you can’t confidently say they’re not spending time together, especially when there are people who have sighted them. Think about it, would people believe namsan without photographic proof? compound that by years .. how many times they may have spent time together but it was kept private. Besides that, I’m sure it’s hard to get 7 people with varying schedules and pursuits together. They’re all busy people and I’m sure they want to rest, have “me” time or visit with people they may not get time to see when work commitments hit. It’s not like Hobi said it for TK only. Hobi said they’re busy and need to plan the schedule out. That makes sense. Planning for a lot of people will always be tricky because you’re factoring in multiple timetables, multiple plans and preferences. That’s anyone in the real world planning for any gathering. It takes coordination.

Also BTS as a whole has been pretty outspoken about hating fanservice and not enjoying it (e.g. remember that variety show episode where Yoongi dropped the paper so they didn't have to that paper kissing game?). Plus this year has seen a very significant drop in fan service even with all their stuff from BE, including dynamite--so i fail to see how this makes sense? Also as already mentioned if BH is so aware about how much the pairings sell why don't they market them more? BTS has been around for 7 years, marketing them in the 7/8th year after none for like 3-4 years seems like a weird choice no?

Plus, Jk comes from Busan which isn’t a small town. And Daegu isn’t small either. South Korea is one of the most, if not the most technologically connected and 'linked up' countries in the world. Not being from Seoul doesn’t mean they’re in the boonies.

I’ll probably come back and edit this but I don’t see how being from a more conservative home means Tae can’t be gay (and Jk’s home was more progressive) or how Taekook are “marketed” when they’re the exact opposite of that by every definition. I’m fully aware of Kpop and shipping, but I stand by a lot of moments TK have are not on performance platforms and do not fit the criteria of fan service. Not only that, but I’ve said a million times Korea is getting more progressive. I’ve linked multiple articles with hard stats showing as much. And it takes brave people to push that change forward even more. It’s cool if you don’t see them as romantically involved .. but my stance doesn’t change on this. They don’t meet the criteria of fan service in a lot of instances and BH sure as hell isn’t marketing two of their most profitable members as a pairing, which is suspicious on its own. Unless Tae or Jk say different, their actions speak loud for me on who they are to each other.

Sara’s General Disclaimer: I may select some asks, think about them and answer in the future through either Tumblr, Twitter or YouTube. Kayla will take over the discussion section as she enjoys active debates and will make the time for it, but I still read them all. Be nice to each other 💜 As it’s natural, I may or may not differ with Kayla’s take/ words.

[dgrif]

okay so. just to let tumblr know what is going on with twitter wrt the she-ra ending and what's blowing up on lesbian twitter, someone made a post celebrating canon sapphic couples, with she-ra, korra, adventure time, and steven universe.

then this fucking asshole made this comment on it:

...which was followed up by this comment of the asshole below him.

[a twitter retweet with the comment "girl on girl is the safest and laziest LGBT representation" by twitter user TroyVaderInk, with a comment below from twitter user UnHolySpork that says "its almost like they are completely fetishizing lesbian relationships and also completely ignoring that lesbian relationships are most often extremely abusive. EXTREMELY."]

and the overt lesbophobia is enough to be mad about, obviously. but this is getting under my skin for more than that, too.

so, contextually, the discussion these people thought they were having was pointing out how seriously hard it is to get m/m couples on a show like this. however, the conversation had instead was this extremely offensive mess.

the original comment does a few things here, 1 being the complete erasure and dismissal of the struggle LGBT people have had actually getting these f/f couples on screen.

2, acting like these four children's cartoons are somehow elevating wlw representation to straight representation by pitting mlm rep against them vs against het couples, rather than acknowledging both facts: that four shows of minor, one-to-none kiss rep is pathetically low, AND that mlm rep is pretty much nonexistent in media like this.

and 3, he used the phrase "girl on girl" like a goddamned porn category, implying his opinion on the apparent "easiness" and "laziness" of sapphic couples is in fact informed by and probably counting fetishistic lesbian porn made for straight men.

(this man also spent a good deal of time on twitter antagonizing lesbians who called him out, many of them teenagers, some by saying some sexist shit and defending it with utterly stereotypical sexist responses, and he had added to his callout, a post of him referring to a sapphic character with the d slur, so feel free to go report him.)

the second comment here chimes in with an almost hilariously hypocritical assertation that a) these sweet, canon wlw couples on CHILDREN'S shows are (somehow) fetishistic (for existing at all i guess??) and that b) most lesbian relationships are (somehow) abusive; which is besides the point of this post, but still one of the most hurtful and damaging things said in this thread. there is an additional comment of hers (not shown) below this one that clarifies that is what she meant.

in any case, this drove me up a fucking WALL.

because while the initial point here - that media creators are still too scared to show boys as much as even holding hands in shows like this - has a lot of validity to it, it was posed at the utter expense of lesbians, and requires of heavy dose of hypocrisy to follow through in that way.

because while media is still scarce on similar mlm rep, fandom is literally DOMINATED by it. to the point that many lesbians, including myself, have said we can't find a safe space within it ANYWHERE. I've had to drop out of active participation in SO MANY fandoms i previously loved, because the entire fandom was reduced down to thirsting after and fetishizing men in the fandom, particularly in m/m format.

there is overt hostility towards lesbians in fandom spaces when we express our discomfort over this, and to boot f/f often gets ignored or mistreated by the same people, so it only adds to our discomfort and alienation.

these 4 shows have hardly put a dent in that. they are very meagre representation at best, save maybe steven universe on a technicality, because the rest are all end-of-show or even post-show confirmations, and all of these shows have about 1-2 kisses each, if even that. pathetic stats when compared to m/f couples. it has not made fandom that much of an easier place to be as a lesbian, but i am nontheless INCREDIBLY thankful they exist nonetheless.

the hypocrisy is hard, because as a lesbian the most we are often offered is blatant fetishization, so wlw media that literally DOESN'T do that, coming from lgbt people, is incredibly important. anything that is normalizing is desperately needed.

and yet this person calls what little bit of non fetishistic media we have fetishistic, underneath a fetishizing comment about them, decrying it existing because of claimed fetishization - all in the name of speaking up about mlm rep, which is, within fandom, actually JUST as fetishized, if not more.

and it breaks my fucking heart as much as it enrages me, because this COULD have been a valuable discussion. we could have talked about the fact that mlm have yet to get similar representation to this, likely mostly due to toxic masculinity. but instead these posts used that as merely an excuse, the afterthought to tearing down lesbians and this wlw rep.

and all this to say: it literally doesn't matter how valid your original point is; if you build it on a foundation of hatred and bigotry, it loses all credibility, and destroys the desire for anyone to put in discussion about it. talking about mlm rep under a heavy blanket of lesbophobia will get you nowhere except on a lot of shit lists, unless you WANT to align with general homophobes; but i promise you they will care even less about the plight of mlm rep, save for, oh how ironic, cases of fetishization.

if you look at four, yes the whole FOUR shows sapphics got of representation like this, and your follow through logic is that sapphic rep is thus "easy" and "lazy," you are clearly lesbophobic already and have no ground to start with.

the clashing, hypocritical combination of ideas here that bizarrely imply that both a) fetishized lesbians count as rep, and b) that lesbian rep shouldn't be there because it's fetishized, do not create a cohesive starting point for a discussion of lack of mlm rep, and conveniently ignores the endless bounds of fetishization that is involved with m/m couples in fandom; which means none of it is actually about fetishization at all. it's about these couples being sapphic.

the fact that these two people are bi, people from within our own community, makes this hurt all the worse. lesbophobia is so goddamned pervasive among us that even when we should be fucking celebrating this factually rare achievement of rep, instead people are tearing down lesbians, both characters and real people.

it's disgusting, disheartening, and it's something we need to pay attention to so we can call it out and make it abundantly clear that it will not be tolerated or normalized.

the height of offensive irony is calling us "safe" when this is what we get just over an episode of a cartoon showing two girls kiss.

[xellandria]

Zmija Yilan was a temporary character I played towards the end of our Tomb of Annihilation campaign after my boy Alexus got petrified by a beholder somewhere deep in the bowels of the tomb itself.  We were able to “salvage” both him and Amara (who had also gotten petrified in the same fight) by shoving them into the Bag of Holding, but short of having the two of us sit on the bench while the remaining two party members waddled back to town, we had to roll some new characters.

I spent most of the week between the petrification and the new characters appearing being mad at myself for not remembering I had Inspiration I could have used to reroll either of my failed dex saves and not being able to do much beyond that, but with less than 72 hours left until she had to debut, I finally pulled an idea out of my butt, ran it by the DM because it involved Shenanigans™, got the OK and started designing her. Thus was born Zmija Yilan, whose appearance was based partly on an old photo that was semi-viral on Tumblr several years prior and partly on Xelloss from Slayers because when I’m in a pinch, that’s always who I fall back on, and have been doing so for like, 20+ years at this point lmao.  Personality-wise, there was a post floating around Tumblr that week about proverbs in various languages that, when translated literally or without context, made very little sense so she got a lot of that (and associated misunderstandings based on language mix-ups) mixed in with—again—Xelloss from Slayers, because I am a hack.  I would probably never play her again because she was so firmly entrenched in that campaign and also there’s some parts of how I designed/played her that I look back on and am like “ehhh I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the optics of this,” but I enjoyed playing her a lot more than I expected, and I look back on the end of our Tomb campaign very fondly because of it.

I haven’t been able to talk about her in public both for a lack of reason to do so and because I didn’t want to “spoil” my group in case they found my various social media posts, but as it’s nearly a year since she was introduced and nine months since the campaign ended, I’m gonna absolutely wall of text the shit outta this bitch, rofl (that said there’s baby’s first nekkid pin-up under here so assuming Tumblr lets me actually post it, fair warning for that under the cut)

Zmija Yilan - level 8-10 Human* Warlock (Great Old Ones/Pact of the Tome) (usually this is where my D&D character posts put stats but I don’t actually have access to her character sheet anymore, so let’s just pretend she had something ridiculous like maxed Charisma because I remember my spell DC being ridiculously high)

Zmija Yilan is a traveler from the far-off land of Zemlya, and a disciple of Matrymriy, one of the "family" of five gods in the pantheon of that region.  Matrymriy came to Zmija in a dream one night and told her to travel across the seas because She had a task for her, and that she would learn more once she reached her destination.  She's been traveling around Faerun for seven or so years—reaching one place, being given hints to go to a specific location, and upon reaching it, being told to travel on without seeming to do much more than just Be There.  Upon reaching Chult sometime within the last few months, her patron's hints indicated that she should travel to a place called Shilku Bay; she hired a guide (named Salida) and a bodyguard (a Fort Belurian mook) with what little locally-acceptable currency she had; they got separated after being attacked by a band of undead, and after failing to reunite with them, she was wandering around lost, trusting that Matrymriy will guide her where She desires her to go.

Part of her wandering had her end up in the Tomb of the Nine Gods itself, where she encountered our adventuring party (down two player characters) desperately trying to find their way out of the tomb in the hopes of returning to Port Nyanzaru to depetrify their friends.  Our barbarian’s player immediately distrusted her because I’d drawn her tabletop token with her back to the camera, which was an awkward feeling almost immediately returned in-game because both the barbarian and paladin aren’t hardcore RPers but they had to carry all the RP weight as they were introduced to this new character and explain that they were there to destroy a lich (both because it was the source of all the bad undead in the area, and because they’d been promised a reward—a motivation Zmija understood, as “a hungry bear will not dance.”)  Beyond the usual RP awkwardness there was an additional layer of awkwardness between the characters IC as at the time, Thokk was barely wearing more than a breastplate and loincloth, while Zmija was covered neck-to-ankle despite the heat and humidity of the region.  She claimed that in the culture of Zemlya, having strangers see your skin was a mark of great shame and that modesty was of paramount importance, so seeing so much of him was very off-putting and threw her off-balance for much of their initial interactions. 

Getting off on the “wrong” foot with the party and pushing as hard as I could into Zmija’s quirks (the weird proverbs, sprinkling in her Zemlyan vocabulary and making a point of her being from Very Far Away with Very Different Customs) meant I went a little too hard on them at the beginning, which is partly what I’d do differently and partly why the whole thing ended up working, so it’s a weird retrospective balance.  If my partymates had ever shoved (almost) any of the names or places Zmija mentioned into google, they probably would have twigged to the scheme pretty dang fast.

In reality, Zmija is not a human traveler from Zemlya, because surprise! she's actually Zsaksatyi, a Chultian Yuan-Ti Pureblood under the command of Fenthaza.  She worked as a bit of a double agent/interrogator within the Fane prior to her current assignment (hence her spell list's focus on information gathering, silent communication, and manipulation); she's been fleshing out her alternate persona for years and would occasionally pretend to be a captive and be thrown in one of those cells the party was in to get relevant information from the other prisoners, or assist others that were interrogating prisoners by more direct means (via Detect Thoughts).  In-universe, the language she pretends to speak is mostly made up, and something she's been working on for years at this point—it's not a fully-fleshed conlang and she only has a couple hundred words and phrases but it's enough to be consistent and believable when she sprinkles it into regular speech.  Since there's no real risk of running into anyone else from Zemlya (because it doesn't actually exist), it mostly didn't matter, and since there's actual meaning behind the words she does have, in theory it would have held up to a spell like Comprehend Languages as well. Out of universe, the language she speaks is an amalgamation of my own conlang stuff (which, like the in-universe version, is very limited and not complete) and various words and phrases pulled mostly from real-world Slavic languages (russian, croatian, hungarian, etc) with a little bit of Turkish thrown in when my English-only ear felt that it fit or when I had already used a word and needed another word for the same thing.  Zsaksatyi (pronounced dzahk sot-YEE) is the only name/word in the whole mess that doesn’t actually mean something somewhere, and was a combination of syllables from an online Yuan-Ti name generator that I kinda liked together. If she had ever been outed, I would probably have come up with something a little less cumbersome for me and my (almost certainly wholly monolingual) D&D group to say... but she didn’t, so Zsaksatyi it stays!

She very much looks up to Fenthaza and almost idolizes and worships her—if she ever had to choose between Fenthaza or Dendar, things might have gotten a little bit rough for her (possibly no matter which way she ultimately jumped, though I imagine Dendar's vengeance would be more immediate, if Dendar's a hands-on sort of patron).  Thankfully (for her), there was very little risk of that given that the party had left Fenthaza on reasonably neutral terms (having already helped her oust Ras Nsi from his position of power in the Fane and the party having essentially marked that dungeon as “cleared”). Fenthaza had sent her to scout the Tomb of the Nine Gods and locate (or steal) an artifact known as the Black Opal Crown, which will allow the Night Mother to emerge into the world.  The group actually came across the crown pretty soon after Zmija (and our other new character, a firbolg druid named Mei Ren who replaced our cleric, Amara) joined them, but the party couldn’t figure out how to get it out of the room it was in and Zsaksatyi was content that it would be safe from both our group and other adventurers there while she found her way back to the Fane (though she Sent the location to Fenthaza in case she wasn’t able to make it back).  That was actually like, halfway through the session right after she’d been introduced so having her sneak off that fast would have been absolutely wild, so I kept playing her as Zmija and while there were myriad opportunities for her to be discovered—including a hallway where any non-magical non-living thing got evaporated, up to and including clothing—she never was.  The fact that the only spells she ever used spell slots on were Hex, Counterspell, and Identify never really got commented upon, because prior to her joining the party we didn’t have a source for any sort of utility magic and we’d been feeling the lack for a while.  She was a lot of fun to play just as Zmija once I got the hang of her, but the hidden agenda that only our DM & I knew about was an extra layer of fun, too. It would have been neat to see how the party reacted to a reveal, but unless Jim wants to take us back to Chult to actually deal with the Night Mother’s return (because without having to keep up appearances and alignments, I’m pretty sure I could have gotten that crown out of there even before the weird teleport-defying magic of the Tomb got turned off), her story is over for us—taking her outside of the setting she was designed for would be weird... plus we already have two warlocks (well, one and a half) in a party of four PCs; adding a third would be a little bit bizarre, I think.

Her more Yuan-ti features include scales down her spine and across her shoulderblades, on the backs of her hands, and on her hips and thighs—mostly in reds, oranges, and browns, but as she increases in power and connection with the Night Mother, more of them are darkening to Her blue-black; it started right at that spot between the shoulderblades where you always picture being stabbed in the back, and has expanded from there; I imagine by level 20 all of her scales would be that blue-black and may have encroached further on the more human-y leather bits, probably encroaching on her face at the last, which would make being a spy a lot more difficult (even moreso than wearing as much clothing as she already does) but I guess at level 20, do you really need to be sneaking around pretending to be human?

In direct sunlight or other very bright light, her pupils constrict to slits, which is the real reason for her heavy eye makeup—between the distraction of it and the (somewhat exaggerated) squinting that such light induces, it often goes unnoticed, as it did with her character portrait (although to be fair to my party, Alexus also has slit eyes because that’s one of the traits of elves and half elves in D&D, and also I’m not sure if they ever saw her portrait any larger than 150x150 or whatever Roll20 shows them at). Both her top and bottom canine teeth are sharper, longer, and narrower than is typical for humans, and she is careful not to grin too widely and will cover her mouth when she laughs or yawns, whether she is in disguise or not.  That part I’ve never drawn though, so I can’t really point to that as something the party overlooked, heh.  In hindsight, I wish I'd given her more/heavier snake features but even the official art for Yuan-Ti player characters are very light on them and getting around the differences between human and yuan-ti racials without tipping off the party was hard enough as it was—I took the 120 feet of magic-ignoring darkvision invocation to disguise the fact that she innately had darkvision, I never used my racial spells and abilities unless I was willing to “use” a spell slot on them and had another plausible way to have obtained them, the one time I got hit with a poison ability (which she was immune to) I spent a lot of time “figuring out the math” on how much HP I had to drop, etc.  I also wish I’d given her darker skin, as she is supposed to be Chultian but she is significantly lighter than all the NPCs we came across.  Then again, I’m as white as a sheet soaked in bleach so there’s something weird about me RPing folks of colour regardless (especially given her fake backstory, agh agh agh) so yeah.  Really enjoyed her, don’t regret her, will not ever play her again rofl

In our very last session of Tomb of Annhiliation, the party—fresh off the victory over the big bad lich whose name I can never spell and his weird world-eating fetus—headed back to Port Nyanzaru via the Aarakocra village of Kir Sabal, which the previous variant of the party (of whom only Thokk remained alive and mobile enough to talk to them) had helped out significantly earlier in the campaign, unlocking a flying ritual that we were like “man we’re not coming back here if we’re gonna use it we gotta do it now” to get us the rest of the way to the port.  En route, Zmija tried to leave the group and rolled a secret 15 Stealth roll... contested by 17 and 18 perception rolls from Mei Ren and Thokk, but as she wasn’t carrying much of the party’s stuff and it was the end of the campaign, they kinda just let her give some line about seeing them again in the future maybe, the Mother’s will is unknowable, etc etc.  I think if Duf and Kattii didn’t know that I wanted Alexus back as badly as I did and that we were like twenty minutes (real time) away from actually getting him back, they might have considered that more suspicious than they did.

Pronunciations (and translations): (mostly C&Ped from her bio, which is the only part of her character sheet I can still access on Roll20)

Zmija Yilan: zMEE-ah yee-LAHN.  Because I'm subtle as hell, that's Croatian/Russian/Ukranian (first name) and Turkish (last name) for "snake/serpent," according to the internet.  What do you mean Remus Lupin is a werewolf?!

Matrymriy: mah-tRRuh mRREE (Rs are rolled).  Matrymriy is Zmija's claimed patron—one of five major Zemlyashan dieties—but she'll state that she doesn't know the name that she goes by in the local dialect.  That's only partly true, of course—мати мрій is Ukranian for "Mother of Dreams" (at least according to google translate), which is close enough to her patron's actual names and titles (Dendar, the Night Mother) that she can get away with it without actually raising suspicions about the true source of her powers.  She'll also do that thing where if someone tries to say the name back to her she'll "correct" them by saying it exactly the same four or five times and then "give up" and accept whatever "butchered" version the speaker comes up with, except she'll do it even if they're actually saying it perfectly correctly.  She may do this with her own name as well (sorry, Jim. And Duf. And Dustin. And Kattii. And Kattii's coworker, if he ever joins us and I'm still playing this character by then, lmao.) (2021 addition: and literally everyone who has a name that isn’t typically pronounced by us English-only plebians, I am so sorry I’m not better at your language)

Zsaksatyi: dzahk sot-YEE.  Zmija's real name, when she isn't pretending to be a human.  That doesn't mean anything as far as I know, it was just a combination of some of the syllables the random Yuan-Ti name generator was coming up with that I liked (which is also where "Itszella" was from), lol.  I may end up changing it to be less cumbersome at some point, unless it comes up before then and ends up written in stone, but I'm on a bit of a time crunch for the moment.

Zemlya: zem-lyah.  If pressed for more detail on where in Zemlya she's from (e.g. by someone pretending to know details about her country), her home town is Fal'shyva (fall-sheh-VAH), southeast of the capital of Hayali (HI-yah-LEE) and just north of the port city of Farazi (fah-ra-DZI), which is where she originally sailed from seven years ago. фальшива земля is Ukranian for "fake land," Hayali is Turkish for "imaginary," and Farazi is Turkish for "hypothetical," lol.

Proverbs & (approximate) Pronounciations: (if I recall correctly, asterisks indicate ones I had used, so I didn’t repeat myself too frequently)

Wziąć się w garść (zvun shih garsch): lit. take the self into the fist (polish), pull yourself together Галопом по Zemlya (gal-OH-pohm poe zem-lyah): lit. galloping across Zemlya (russian), to be hasty/haphazard. * У кого немає собаки, полює з котом (Ooh koe-hoe meh-MIGH-eh soe-BAH-kay, poe-LOO-yay koh-tome): lit. who does not have dog, hunts with cat (ukranian, original proverb is portugese), make do with what you have. Z choinki się urwałaś? (dzi hoink-E she urr-vahl-wash): lit. did you fall from a Candlenights(aka Christmas) tree? (polish), you are obviously not well-informed; are you dumb? * Mi o vuku (MEE oh voo-koo): lit. to talk of the wolf (croatian), speak of the devil. * Thalai muzhuguthal (tha-LIE MOOz-GOO-thal): lit. pour water over someone's head (tamil), cut off a relationship. * Хоть кол на голове теши (coat-coal nah gohl-ehvee teh-SHEE): lit. you can sharpen an axe on this head (russian), a very stubborn person.

Other Languages Are Hard Today, Let’s Just Proverb It In English:

Cat's Forehead (japanese): a tiny space, usually used humbly to refer to owned land. It fell between chairs (swedish): group work that everyone assumed someone else would do, and didn't get done as a result * It gives me a beautiful leg (french): fat lot of good that'll do me Drown the fish (french): avoid a subject by talking about anything and everything else, confuse the issue In a river with piranhas, the alligator swims backstroke (brazil): protect your weaknesses * Accusation always follows the cat (iraqi): it's easy to blame someone who can't defend themselves The honey only sticks to the mustache of he who licked it (arabic): he who smelt it, dealt it * A hungry bear does not dance (greek): the reward must be worth the cost (or at least exist) * The crayfish sides with the crab (korean): people who have a lot in common stay friends * If you can't live longer, live deeper (italian): get the most of your time * A spoon does not know the taste of soup (welsh): intelligence is not wisdom Examine what is said, not who speaks (arab): don't take things at face value * Turn your face to the sun and the shadows will fall behind you (new zealand): have a positive outlook He who does not travel, does not know the value of men (moorish): wide experience is gr8 Do good and throw it in the sea (arab): don't expect anything back from kindness * Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is halved (swedish): friends make things better If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together (african): strength in numbers, speed on your own.

[iamthepulta]

📌 🎥 🎶💢🍀💕 Almost the same questions as in your ask for me :D for the three Fallen London games, and Mask of the Rose if you want to! (To answer the question from your ask in short, I am very excited about it - what are you thinking of it so far?)

Initial Introduction: Nicktosaurus (on tumblr) started ranting about Fallen London way back when we first met. I think I disregarded the first few times? And then I saw Sunless Seas and Skies had a sale going on Steam, so I bought them, and started playing Seas. xD Understood fucking NOTHING because I didn’t play FL first, but I loved the atmosphere so much I just kept learning. In way too deep at this point.

Favorite Scenes: I absolutely adore the imagery when completing the cavern in Godfall, and I loved the imagery from Varchas’ storylines. I really don’t play a lot in the South of the Neath and I should. Completing all of Varchas’ storylines is on my list of things to do the next go-around. I love a lot of the imagery from the Zubmariner ports too, even though they’re also more terrifying than the surface ports? Finishing that stupid cigar plot turned my stomach lol.

Favorite songs: I have a pavlovial response to Wolfstack Lights, haha. My favorite in general is when going to Port Carnelian, then maybe Sunless Skies’ intro music. That’s another pavlovial response because we play it as background music for DnD and now anything that sounds remotely like it sends me into Westlie-mode.

Raar, Anger: I CAN ONLY HAVE LIKE TWO GUNS? Drives me up the fucking wall every time I start over before I get the Cladery Heart, omg. I think everyone would just tell me to play Skies, but I love the challenge of Seas, even though GOD I just want more guns are you fucking with me. I also wish infiltrating spies and getting knowledge to sway those storylines was easier early game. I think I need to wait until I have a few more legacies under my belt. I’ve spent a lot of time on the game and I’ve only finished the Father legacy, lol.

Comfort Char: This varies. x’D For Skies/FL/Seas, the Captivating Princess. For Seas, the Pirate Poet and Deviless from Mt. Palmerston, lmao. For Skyfarer, obviously Westlie.

I really just wish I knew more about the Deviless from Palmerston, lmao. I keep trying to sneak in, but my Veils aren’t high enough. And her storyline ends so abruptly! I wish Seas were a bit more like Fallen London where you could interact with the characters who just disappear.

Oh! And there’s that one storyline where the woman from the tomb colonies wants you to help her find her disappeared lover and eventually she sinks under the sea and never returns. I REALLY wish I knew what happened to her. Which... maybe that’s a zubmariner thing! I don’t think I’ve played long enough with the Zub to grab that. 

I’m an absolute sucker for the characters who just disappear lmfao. I guess that’s the moral of that story. I want to know how they’re doing. There was that one kid in Varchas who starts the whole revolution too. He was dope. 

Favorite Character: Impossible to pick. xD Maybe the Pirate Poet. I’d REALLY like to see more of her somehow. I want to know more about her background, about the clay men - you fucking have a brief trist with her! and engrave poetry - and then you never really see her again, except to save her. At one point, end game, maybe I’ll let her drown and see what happens then - but ahhh, it would be really cool just to be friends, or have some sort of Fallen-London-esque social interaction beyond what we see in game.

I really wish I’d played more of Zubmariner before this because a lot of the characters underneath seem amazing but I haven’t finished their storylines and I don’t know them well enough. ;~; 

.

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Misc note because I just remembered this and it fucked me over: The fucking tomb colonist curator who goes and dies after you give him the colors and he turns into that stupid moth. I took the moth because I wanted to see the stats and holy shit I should have taken the money. Now I might not get Aestival because I baaarely have enough change saved up to buy the shitload of supplies it requires, AND I need to get the judgement’s egg to save the Presbyterate Adventuress so she can rule the colony because I did the Doctor’s storyline this time, for some stupid reason and now he won’t talk to me unless I fix him up in London. 

I really fucked up this round, lmfao. And this is why I haven’t played Seas in 6 months, because I’m still trying to figure out the best way to get out of this one.

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Second Misc Note: I’m fucking convinced that one of the writers on the team is a geologist or mineral nerd. I know because they keep using geology-specific terms like schorl when anyone else would just say onyx and move on with their life. They also have a love affair with basalt and serpentine. I cannot prove this other than straight up asking them, but it HAS TO BE a thing. Nobody in their right mind who doesn’t have mineral knowledge is going to compare the color black to a tourmaline and call it schorl, not black tourmaline- who also knows the difference in the first place. I just- mmm. Their word choices fascinate me.

[camelotcinematicuniverse]

About Harry and Maple

Well, this is gonna be a really strange little thing that I write, but I'm still excited nonetheless.

In a Mario Golf 64 Twitch stream clip, the awesome speedrunner MetalYoshi ProGamer (yes, that's his alias. No, it's not lame, shaddup) asked the following question to his chat:

"Do you think that Maple has some kind of relationship to Harry?"

And that got me really thinking to the point that this very blog was made. So thanks, MetalYoshi. If you ever read this, I really needed that boost to put my thoughts out there.

Anyway, I actually have a few headcanon theories relating to Maple and Harry, but first we need context. Both Harry and Maple are the final characters from the Camelot OC bunch to be unlocked (without the Game Boy Color Mario Golf save file), thus making them the "best" of the Camelot OC golfers as character progression is measured through how far you get in the various modes of Mario Golf 64. Harry is the final Camelot Character unlocked through Get Character, while Maple happens to be the first character unlocked through earning 50 Birdie Badges. Technically that makes her the weakest of the four final characters (Maple, DK, Bowser and Metal Mario), but out of every Camelot OC she's probably the best alongside Harry.

Metal Mario may topple everyone else in stats and control alone, but don't let that discourage you from checking Harry and Maple out either. They have their own little quirks and low points, but they're still really good choices if you want something different from Bowser and Metal Mario.

Now for the fun part: my headcanons! I have three ideas to throw out in the ring, so you can decide for yourself which headcanon you'd like to go with. Hell, make your own and let's see what we can all come up with! Now then, let's begin!

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Headcanon #1: Maple is Harry's daughter/little sister/family member:

This is an extremely cute idea to me because both of these characters look similar in a way, but they definitely have a difference in behavior with their mode select screen idle poses. Here we see Harry, with his alt colors, doing a semi serious crossed arms look. Like he takes himself a bit too seriously, but you can tell he loves the game of golf:

As for Maple, the screenshot wouldn't be enough, but she's dancing and just generally being cute:

Do you all notice anything about these two? How they have almost the exact same alt colors, how Harry's older, more seasoned presence kind of trickles down to Maple's eagerness (due to her dancing)? They're both blonde, and even the small things like the structure of Maple's nose kind of seem like a natural feminine version of Harry's being smaller and a lot less prominent, but it's still more than Plum's to me.

All this to say I have the theory that Maple could be Harry's daughter or even younger sister. It's just something about Harry that gives me this "older and wiser" vibe to Maple, and with some of the similarities pointed out, I like to imagine that Harry is a proud dad or brother to a young lady (honestly have no real idea of Maple's age, but I go with young adult/older teen vibes) who is as interested in golfing and competing to get even farther drives than before -- Maple. She looks up to him heavily and even starts to wear some of the same things as him but in her style. Note the first (1st) and third (3rd) alternate colors on the pair: the former is an orange shirt, and the latter is a red shirt. Hell, Maple goes so far as to change her shorts color to red as well, instead of the usual blue/purple. Look also at the hair color from Maple to Harry's hat color. The second (2nd) alt on Harry has an auburn-esque color, and Maple has her hair color changed to Auburn too!

I know that the more practical response would be "that's just how the game works in alt colors," but in universe, why else would Maple go out of her way to change her hair color and wear similar color coded outfits to Harry? Could she be extremely happy to emulate his behaviors and style from the extremely healthy bond the two have shared? Could he have been the closest thing to an exceptional male role model she had in her developmental years, so she trusts him and loves him to the point of having the same colors as an alt? That's something I like considering. Imagine if we had Harry console Maple on things that she's going through in her personal life, giving her a man's perspective on relationships and friends, and them enjoying their time together and being super close. When it comes time to golf, though, they are both competitive!

Headcanon #2: Harry is Maple's mentor:

A lot similar to the dad/brother one, Harry still is able to give Maple advice and pointers on her life, but it's about as much time spent as an average evening of golfing practice, typically a few hours at most. This is really the one I spent the least amount of time thinking about as it's not as interesting as the other two points, but I still thought this would be cool to share alas.

Headcanon #3: Maple and Harry are dating:

Ok, ok, here's the one I think MetalYoshi was hinting at with the way he worded his question. "Do you think Maple has some kind of relationship with Harry?" is probably something I figured he meant as a romance thing...well, I'll explore this one here.

From the first headcanon, we can see they have things in common physically and hobby wise, but what else do they like to do? Maybe Harry secretly likes cooking and Maple does too. Maybe he takes her out when she's upset. They would cuddle every night with a glass of wine (dare I say...Sherry?), and for Harry, Maple is what he needed in his life to keep him from taking everything too seriously. Loosening up to let her in after he puts up his own barrier to his emotions and probably has some puppy eyes thrown in.

Maple really likes Harry in this case because it gives her a sense of security, safety, a feeling of trust and realistic love that no one she had ever been with had before. She's unafraid of letting her walls come down and being more social and being herself around Harry. Her cute, tomboy, dorky self is what he truly cares about.

Hell it even goes through to golfing. Maybe the fact that they foil from each other and compliment well together is what makes them strong as golfers with a good drive and above average control. (Clearly not the best, but for them, that's ok)

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When it's all said and done, I do really like the idea of Maple and Harry together in some way. I think it's all too coincidental for them to nearly match in their alt colors, have some of the best stats of all the Camelot OCs, and how much they really do seem to mesh well together. In my eyes, the headcanon I do like the most is the familial one, but the romance option is such a cute option as well, and not to mention in my personal fanfics all three headcanons are interchangeable. The mentor/family friend one is used more often in my writing blurbs, but I liked the other two so much more that I'll have to implement them a lot more!

Ay, thanks for reading this. I really appreciate the traction since I don't usually share a lot of my headcanons on Tumblr...ah well. Enjoy!

[souvercine]

hey y’all ! i’m jia and i’m super excited for opening; i have two super clingy cats in case any of you ever need a visual pick-me-up, i’m a uni student in canada and a big skincare and dark chocolate junkie, more than likely gonna be typing replies while indulging in either jsyk !

tried to keep it short since i’m a rambly bitch, but xan’s basic stats and a proper wc page will be up soon as i just got home from grocery shopping and we open in an hour as of typing this, the theme as a whole will get a refresh eventually and i’ll be posting a little tracklist for her playlist later ! and if tumblr ims are as much of a nuisance for you as they can be for me, you can add me on d*scord at genuinely sick of this shit#2030 if you’d like to plot ! anyways, without further ado:

( samantha logan , cis female , she/her, twenty-four ) omg ! i was walking yonge street downtown , and you’ll never guess who i saw . xanthe lowe ! i just saw a post about them on sixsecrets ! i think it said something like “ when they go high, she goes lowe ! xan spotted leaving a gala with her former friend’s ex, after last week’s reportedly tense exchange between the girls ” . isn’t that wild ? i guess it makes sense through , since they’re apparently merciless and imperious . but i’ve heard they’re also conspicuous and astute ! i’ll just stick to giving them the benefit of the doubt . i mean , it’s not like i know them personally — they’re a famous socialite ! you know , i’ve actually heard rumors that redacted , but they’re just rumors … i think . i dunno . if you happen to run into them , tell them i’m their biggest fan !

tw: drug mention

when i tell you that i have so many muse posts i’m holding back on for this bitch —

which, btw, will all slowly see the light of day soon enough bc god knows i can’t articulate my muses’ personalities as well as i’d like so that shit makes up for it fdgslk

her parents’ eldest child together, xanthe’s also the oldest out of her and her siblings

also, never call her xanthe. friend or otherwise, don’t take the risk dklgsjdlk

grew up with a silver spoon, her dad being a wall street giant and her mother being an entrepreneur with a love for art ( so much so that her two partners after separating from xan’s dad were artists themselves sdlkgj )

thus she split her time between toronto and manhattan even before her parents’ divorce, she merely spent more time jetting back and forth for special occasions and vacations compared to when her parents were still together

mind you, she was probably still in the single digits when that became a new normal for the brat

basically could’ve been a main character on gossip girl with her reckless antics and partying as a teenager…. and now, even sgdlkf

drk how to elaborate on that, aside from stressing that from her teen years onward she’s presented her own take of a rich bitch, and is a socialite/fashion week regular type if i were to describe where she stands rn

i think a good mix of references would be nicky hilton meets the delevingne sisters meets blair waldorf and sabrina pemberton’s lovechild

she attended an ivy league at the behest of her father so he had at least one child who could take a senior position in his company simply to keep it in the family

.. before he realized what a Mistake™ it would be to put that responsibility on xan and now has her slightly older cousin as a backup instead GDSLFJKS but nonetheless !

isn’t the most studious person, but she somehow wound up graduating with a major in communications and a marketing minor

she reasoned that, with her reputation in the gta and nyc, she’d need the bit of knowledge in how to clean up her messes. even if she wasn’t the one who had that responsibility

though.. the entire time has been spent sleeping with some of her rich friends, drinking and smoking pot, with the occasional hit of whatever clean enough drug that one of her friends had on them

as of now, she’s pissing off her neighbours with her house parties wherever she might be at a given time, staying in the good graces of the media as a budding, fun yet classy heiress — despite doing dumb shit the second she’s inside of a gala or club

uhhh ik i had something else to add but a quick break for dinner messed that up, rip LKGFSJD

personality and shit

her little blurb on my indie is: refined party girl still set in her ways with her future left uncompromised; detached and pretentious, she soaks up the attention that continues to roll in

which. we’ve basically been over already lkdfsg but still

if i were to use a label to describe her, she’d be the sovereign

she’s messy as hell, but puts on the façade of a poised woman who has some fun because she knows it bodes well

she’s not a complete dick per se, but she can be snide and boastful

big superiority complex, independent and lives lavishly with reckless abandon

probably jets back and forth between nyc and the gta as it’s her version of normal, so ig she hates the environment if it means not having things go her way !

non-committal as all hell and will abandon girl code if she drops you fgkljfs

.. fr, she’ll fuck an ex-friend’s ex if she technically saw them first, so being spiteful and resolving some past attraction ?? right up her alley !

hence the choice of headline gdfslkj

keeps her true inner circle small, but gets off on attention and likes to stay cordial with some people, so she’s got quite a few friends all the same

she’ll fight tooth and nail to protect her image and won’t hesitate to throw anyone under the bus to do so/in retaliation if they screw her over

which happens to mean that her family is to be protected as well. fuck with any of her sisters ?? you’re done ! try to call out one of her brothers on twitter ? she’ll quote it with a single clown emoji as a warning

there really isn’t much to expand on tbh, though i will say that her emboldened nature and need for a good time however she can get it comes out more than her uglier side ( except her vanity. that’ll never go away ksfdg )

some quick plot ideas

a childhood friend or two that she made in either of her main hubs or through events she attended when she was young, whether they’re still friends or not for x reasons can be discussed of course

could carry over into a trio type of thing depending on where she stands with either of them, or they’re a different couple of pals she’s made in the last few years

enemies are always fun ! probably rooted in a competitive streak more than anything else but i’m all ears for a more complex reason

ex-hookup(s), current hookup(s), throw it all at me klgfjd

a hateship/ewb would be fun with her too, oh my god sfdgklj

it should go without saying that they are all relatively wealthy or well-connected kids here, but that doesn’t mean that someone who’s using her for their fifteen seconds of fame, or just to get some perks out of their friendship, is necessarily a write-off — not that she cares too much about fake friends, face value hype and knowing they need her more than she needs them gives her too much satisfaction fkskgls

an ex-something, open to anyone. either someone her parents forced on her to straighten her out that she wound up liking…. after a good period of her telling them to fuck off sdglk or someone she’d been seeing for a while at her own accord. would’ve ended the same way: with her calling it off because she didn’t want to settle down, not even for a relationship ( and perhaps bc she’s scared of commitment with her cracked family dynamic that’s been a thing since age two, but that’s another story jsdfkg )

[coepiteamare]

2020 in fic

2020 was terrible year but an okay year of fic considering i didn’t really write till october. 

STATS: fics: 1 fic; i wrote drabbles because i can’t write long fics. but i wrote 8 drabbles? female pov: 8 male pov: 1 (i thought i had more but nope, they’re all wips) both pov: 0 (i haven’t written anything long to justify both pov) total word count: (lol, i’ll update this later but i know it’s absolute shite) OVERALL: Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? both! i started this blog in january, wrote two things, then forgot about it because life kind of took over. because i didn’t write for so long, i didn’t intend on coming back, but i realized that i had a couple wips for the dictionary of lovers that i never uploaded so i came back sometime in october? (i published one and then kind of tucked away the rest because i wasn’t sure what i quite wanted to do with tdol)

i started off this year intending to write and finish tdol (26 drabbles), but that didn’t end up happening, so less. but when i stopped, i also didn’t think i would ever come back to posting, yet here i am! and i’ve posted drabbles and have a bunch in the wip folders, so more! tl;dr: less than i thought but also more than i thought. What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? i don’t write cross fandoms anymore (though that was my start in ff, my peak poetry days), but i never thought i would write 2nd pov/memberxreader because i started off writing memberxmember fics for bangtan, so i suppose that!  Did you take any writing risks this year? most definitely. i never thought i would write 2nd person pov, but here i am. and i didn’t think i’d write memberxreader, but here i am! (a bundle of surprises i am) 2nd person pov is actually a lot harder for me to write, but i’m getting better at it. 

pens and paperwork actually has a lot of dialogue and less purple prose: i think it’s the one piece i wrote that was less emotion based and more plot, which is very out of character for me. it’s also a little (a lot) different than what i normally write, so that was also a risk, but i enjoyed writing that one so much: it’s definitely one of my favourite pieces and i want to flesh out that universe a little more. Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year? write! longer! fics! i want to rewrite “the dictionary of lovers” and put it together into a long fic. i have a multiverse fic that i’ve been planning out, and i want to finish 9,719km and make it at least 10K: i want to practice fleshing out characters and worlds. my goal in general is just to write a long fic (9,719km, i’m looking at you). and also return to writing memberxmember fics too (i have a namgi fic in the works and there are def taekook ideas). get better at writing openings and closing and titling fics. god, i suck at titles. 

also, i would very much like to publish most of my wips. so, future violet, here’s to hoping you do that.  What were last year's goals? this is my first year, but last year, my goal was to just start a writing tumblr and write! and i’ve managed to do that! so yay  🎉  BEST AND WORST: My best story of this year: nine thousand, seven hundred nineteen kilometers. i love it to bits and pieces and i had it in my drafts for a while? because i wanted to publish it as a full fic but who knows when that will be, so i published it anyways. also this part was so much better than the other parts, so no regrets, i suppose. i think it is my favourite piece i’ve written, along with pens and paperwork, because it’s so different from what i’m used to writing? (both are also yoongi fics, funny enough) i definitely think it’s less purple prose (though 9,719km def has elements of that still; can’t get it out of my system) so hs me would not have approved, but i love it to smithereens. i try to not read any of my fics after posting them though because i’m incapable of letting it be: i have to perform autopsies on it, pick at the bad parts, cut open the good ones for flaws, until it’s virtually unrecognizable and ruined, so i can’t bring myself to reread it, but as of now, from what i remember, i think it’s my best story.  My most popular story of this year: love is a losing game (we played anyways): i’m so flattered and in awe that people actually liked this story because it was so hard for me to write. it’s only 1k and it took me a good week before i could publish it because i kept tripping over the language. and i felt (still feel) like pre-dialogue and post-dialogue are two different stories, which was extremely frustrating for me. i think i can write dialogue (this story is a different beast, just because of the nature of the beginning) but it’s really hard for me to combine poetry/prose with dialogue. i feel like it throws it off but the only other way to write it would be in a short bit compilation (i’ll write fics like that again someday) and i didn’t feel like it would work for lialg. (funny story: it was actually a royalty!namjoon fic where he wants to give her the world but it turns out she was a spy and she essentially burns his kingdom to the ground) i’m honestly not too happy about how it turned out but i’m still glad people enjoyed it!  Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: none! i really didn’t expect to have an audience, so people stopping and reading my fics? wild. Most fun story to write: pens and paperwork. that drabble was so much fun to write and i loved the characters. also gave me the least amount of headaches, probably because it kind of wrote itself once i started. i really do want to expand on that universe, just because i want to revisit it and explore 007′s background (maybe write about 005 and 006 as a spin off though whether i want to make it taexreader or taexjimin is to be determined) and yoongi’s journey in the MI6/NIS as well!

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: probably pens and paperwork? i’ve always known that yoongi was a dynamic and versatile person but that fic really did it for me. i can totally see him being this sarcastic, dry person, but also someone with a lot of love and care for others, like he does with 007 by bringing her alc when she’s in pain and generally trying to distract her as she’s getting stitches. someone who’s as loud as they are quiet. i definitely want to write more soft yoongi though. 

Hardest story to write: i am your ocean (your little mermaid). hands down. i don’t know if tae is just really hard to write (for me) or if that fic was a monster of it’s own, but i spent two+ weeks working on it. it went through so many storyline revisions and changes and then even after i had a decent idea of the final plot, it took me another week to write fucking 1.4k. absolutely awful. do i like it? i don’t even know. but i don’t like hoarding fics, so it’s out there for the word to pick at, to dissect it’s anatomy, to taxidermy it.  Biggest disappointment: the movietheaterworker!oc x marvelnerd!jk fic that i never published. i don’t know if it’s just bad or it’s just not what i wanted but i haven’t touched it since october (and idk if i want to look at it) so that says something. 

in terms of something i published, probably “heart” from tdol. i re-read it recently and it just felt really bleh to me? i should have more attachment to it considering it’s my first drabble on this account but nope. some parts of it are cute but it’s so clunky. i don’t like it.  Biggest surprise: pens and paperwork or monsters under the bed. pens and paperwork because of how much i loved it/how fast it wrote itself and how much i liked it afterwards, even though it’s written in a much different style than i normally write? monsters under the bed because it was written with no direction and honestly feels like a fever dream (though i did have a backstory to jk’s character and his relationship with oc), yet it still was well liked! i kind of posted it as the start to the “things you said” drabble collection and was like here goes nothing, but people seemed to really enjoy it!! which was very surprising. and my butterfly, noor, called me the bob ross of fanfiction (that still cracks me up) so!  Most unintentionally telling story: hmmm...probably anything from tdol. i’ve been so fortunate to have such beautiful, healthy, intimate platonic relationships, but the one (two if we’re being generous, which we most def are if counting it) romantic relationship i’ve had was quite awful and extremely toxic. (ask me about it if you want to: i like to rant about it from time to time) so tdol is a creation of wishful thinking, of what i think a healthy relationship should look like, through the ups and downs, the highs and lows. because i don’t have experience with healthy romantic relationships, i def put a lot of my friendships and bits and pieces from those into tdol. and it’s not published yet, but there’s an unwritten piece from tdol where oc talks about how she doesn’t believe in love but jk very much is a hopeless romantic, and that’s me writing me into a fic so. 

HIGHLIGHTS + WRAP-UP: Favorite opening lines:

(god, i suck at opening lines)

tdol “perfect” + coming back home to you would always be one of the highlights of my day. whenever the sun shined for a little too long, a storm would hit, but this--coming home to and closing the day with you--was one of the few things in life that was completely and utterly mine to have, out of the reaches of whatever was out there that made sure the road was never too smooth. [note: this isn’t THE opening line but we’ll ignore that]

9,719km + paris is much quieter than the places you’re used to, but it’s not a bad thing.

Favorite closing lines: (i struggle so much with these) i’ll be your ocean (your little mermaid) + the enfilade of rain continues and pelts against the windowpane, against your balcony floor. 

monsters under the bed + but when he opens his eyes again, to the blaring 1:01AM of his clock, you’re no longer by his side. 

9,719km + p.s. did you miss me? + maybe he’s just as potent as a habit, just as hard to kill. 

Favorite lines in general: i’ll be your ocean (your little mermaid) + you let the words fall from your lips, dribble down your skin like water droplets, and dissipate in the ocean of your feelings. watch them dissolve into the seafoam of your being and sink down, down, down. + it feels a little like that now as you card your fingers through his sweaty locks, dyed red like ariel’s, bright red against the blue of both your feelings. 

love is a losing game (we played anyways) + he looks at you like you hold the secrets of the universe, even as he tears through the valley of your breasts with the claws of his ambitions and devotion. + (the summary line: he builds cathedrals in your name, whispers prayers into your skin, and you shatter the stained glass windows of his dreams.) 

9,719km + nothing has been able to keep him out: not the gallery treasury in newport beach with its earthquake proof alarm system, not the cartier vault in new york city with its impressive randomized laser grid, and certainly not the flimsy, fickle alarm system of your heartbeat. 

LIST OF COMPLETED STORIES: [note: does tdol count? i’ll put it here anyways. also i suck at titles] the dictionary of lovers: heart the dictionary of lovers: confirmation the dictionary of lovers: perfect love is a losing game (we played anyways) monsters under the bed pens and paperwork i’ll be your ocean (your little mermaid) nine thousand, seven hundred nineteen kilometers you feel like a holiday

WIP TEASERS: welcome to wonderland (we’re all mad here) (aliceinwonderland!au) summary: queen of hearts!jk x alice!reader

excerpt: be careful in the woods, they whisper. so many girls have gotten lost and made it out with just their bodies intact, bones rattling hollow and mind astray. the girls mumble about tea parties with madness, about croquet games with the heads of the executed, before they are wheeled off to hospitals, still talking to the wall. 

be careful in the woods, they warn. it preys on your fear and feeds on your sanity, if you linger too long. 

i know you (i’ve walked with you once upon a dream) (dreamwalkers!au) summary: oc works for the department of dreams: bureau of night terrors as a dreamwalker. jungkook has chronic nightmares.

excerpt: They tell lucid dreamers to look down at their hands, notice the garbled image to recognize they’re in a dream. Your brain backtracks to what it last remembers. A click of the seatbelt, Jimin’s soft “sleep tight,” the cool air inside the tank. Darkness. You grip the wand a little tighter. 

Dreamscapes are weird, you think as you conjure up an ironwood table and a cup of earl grey. The fabric of reality is so thin, so permeable and malleable with the right amount of knowledge. If you think really hard, slip a hand through that curtain, you can still feel the cold air lingering on your skin from the tank. You look down at your watch. 8:44. Eight hours and fourty four minutes left to wander through other people’s nightmares. 

if the world was ending (you’d come over, right?) (au where the world slowly comes to a halt and you find yourself calling your ex. inspired by “if the world was ending” by jp saxe and julia michaels) summary: ex!tae x female!reader

excerpt: The world starts to freeze over when you’re on the bus ride home. 

Pedestrians pause in the middle of the sidewalk; cars decelerate in the middle of accelerations. The chatter in the bus groans to a stop, like a radio after the plug has been pulled, as everyone slowly freezes. Your hair, which once fluttered in the breeze, gently falls back into place. 

The traffic light is red. 

You pull your earbuds out. It’s quiet. Too quiet. 

“Hello?” you whisper, shaking the arm of your neighbor. No response. The silence is loud, almost deafening.

“Hello?” you walk down the aisle to where your driver sits. His face is still. Annoyance clouds his eyes, chest puffed like he was about to take a deep breath. One he’ll never take again. 

You shuffle your feet back and trip on the stairs, back slamming against plexi glass and metal.

The light never turns green. 

untitled (mermaid!au)

excerpt: Jungkook loves the sea, but he thinks he might like you a little bit more. You, with the sea breeze in your hair and summer storm in your eyes. There’s something about the way you sparkle like the ocean top, sun skimming across skin, that makes him think you might be more than human, a trick of light, an optical illusion.

untitled (desert princess x pirate!jk au) summary:  i love you the way ocean clings to shore, the way the horizon wants the sea, but, darling, we were never meant to be

excerpt: you’re pretty sure the ocean is enchanted, bright blue waters glimmering with magic. nothing else could explain how jeon jungkook, notorious pirate and thief, owns eyes that twinkle like the night sky and a face that puts the sunset to shame, unless he managed to somehow steal those too. you wouldn’t put it past him. + they name hurricanes after girls, he tells you. a prayer for gentleness, a hope for small casualties. huh, you reply, whoever came up with that idea must never have been caught in the storm of a girl. 

IN CONCLUSION: 

wow, could i be any more conspicuous about which drabble i like the most? why do i use so many parenthesis? also, i suck at titles and opening and closing lines. but hey, i’m trying, and sometimes that’s all i can ask from myself. i wrote a lot less than i thought but also more than i thought, so cheers to that. maybe next year will be better, maybe it’ll be worse. who knows? hopefully it’ll read easier though.  p.s. if you’ve read this and if you’ve read anything i’ve written, thank you for reading. thank you for sticking through the calamity of my thoughts, through the hurricane of my mind. you have no idea how much it means. i hope i’m able to make your day a little better, a little brighter, a little light in this time of darkness.  p.p.s. i’ve made a few friends on tumblr. i won’t tag them because i don’t want to put them through this awful clusterfuck of words, but if any of you read this, hi. you’ve really shaped my tumblr experience and i’m so glad to have met you all.  noor (papillionsgf): my butterfly, i adore you. you were my first tumblr friend and you’ve been nothing but sweet to me. thank you for talking to me and thank you for our lovely conversations, for letting me squeal about tfua, for  i absolutely adore you.  hana (cutechims): the two of us are awkward potatoes, and i still need to rewatch batman begins, but thank you for always being so sweet, so kind. i love talking with you and reading everything you write. you make me smile when i see you on my dash, with every response you send. jlin (bratkook): i slid into your tumblr dms because you’re so talented and so awfully pretty. i absolutely enjoy our conversations about rich folxs and karens, and i really hope the pandemic comes to an end because i would love to meet you in person and teach you aerial! (also i will bake you lots of cookies) erin (yeojaa): hi lovely. i adore you to the moon and back and to be honest, you still intimidate me because i love your writing so much, but i wanted to say how much i adore you and how i love talking to you. i hope you’re taking care of yourself and staying warm and i hope to get to know you better in 2021!

notes: adapted from lj, where i started writing! i used to see this a bit on lj (or maybe it was the circle of writers i followed) but i figured i’d bring it over here because it’s a good reflection piece and tumblr feels like a good place for that.