#so I have decided that I don’t actually care if it is niche. I am going to say it anyways.

[podcast-hemocytoblast]

Not to out myself as a theatre kid tm or anything but Rose Red Ghost Quartet kinda has some Eye vibes with the way she watched Pearl get run over by a train and took a picture of her death instead of trying to help.

[fanby-fckry]

You know what, I’m just gonna say it. I think that Alastor being aroace is part of the reason he’s so shippable to me.

Before you come at me, check the flag in my pfp; I’m aroace-spec.

Maybe it’s me projecting, maybe it’s because I love exploring relationships through an aroace lens, but goddamn. I ship him more than any other character and every time I do, his aroaceness is a major component in the ship.

Examples below the cut because it’s gonna get long:

📻🍎 || RadioApple:

There are so many versions of this dynamic and I am here for all of them.

We have the pre-canon kinky QPR that I show in UH3. I could talk about that all day, but to summarize:

Aroace x genuinely respectful allo is a dynamic that heals my soul.

Lucifer is less tied down by human constructs like amatonormativity, having never been human himself.

The Devil values consent.

Kinky cannibalism, kinky cannibalism, kinky cannibalism, kinky ca- *I am removed from the stage with a comically large hook*

Then we have the Evil and fucked up QPR dynamic:

And of course, trying to get along for Charlie’s sake and eventually bonding over their shared love of dad jokes and musical theatre, both being violinists (yup, Alastor plays violin too, check the wiki) with niche hobbies/interests (ducks, furby organ) and accidentally winding up in a loving, healthy QPR.

📻🕸️ || RadioDust:

There’s something about an aroace and a sex worker who very rarely falls in love.

Angel would know that Alastor isn’t with him for sex, would know that he values Angel beyond his body.

With greyro Alastor, Angel and Alastor would both be inexperienced with romance, but in wildly different ways. Angel has never had a healthy romantic relationship and therefor tries not to fall in love. Greyro Alastor has probably experienced romantic attraction like less than three times in his 100+ years of existence.

And if Alastor never gains romantic attraction for Angel, that’s a whole other level to the dynamic.

It’s got some great angst potential with Angel wondering if he’s not good enough to love romantically or Alastor feeling guilty or confused as to Why It Hasn’t Happened Yet when he cares for Angel so deeply, and eventually it gets resolved with the two of them accepting that their attractions don’t have to match up for them to love/appreciate/care for each other and they smash the amatonormative relationship hierarchy as queer platonic partners.

Or, Angel’s just totally cool with it from the start because he’s spent decades in the kink scene and has potentially been exposed to more relationship anarchy than Alastor.

Kink and queerness have a great deal of historical and cultural overlap, and that includes aroace queerness. Because Angel’s had way more canon exposure to both, it’s possible he knows more about Alastor’s orientation than Alastor does, and I love the idea of Angel introducing him to terms or just being super chill about not labeling things.

📻♥️ || RadioHusk:

Drawing like 90% from pilot dynamic and headcanon on this. They’re just two old men. They get drunk and cuddle. Alastor is one of the few people who knows Husk can purr and takes advantage of this fact. Alastor considers Husk a friend in a fucked up, possessive way. Husk considers Alastor a pain in the ass, but does care about him on some level.

It’s Fucked Up and Evil QPR: Remix Edition.

And the versions where the author puts them through fanfic couple’s therapy and actually gets them into a healthy point in their relationship? One where Alastor no longer owns Husk’s Soul? *chef’s kiss*

📻🌹 || RadioRose:

For me, personally, this is an exclusively nonsexual, non-romantic ship. They’re besties; they’re QPPs. They’re married for the tax benefits and so that they cannot be forced to testify against each other in court.

Rosie knew Alastor was aroace before he did and rather than sit down and explain it to him, she decided to make ace puns.

📻🖤 || RadioSiren: [edit, context here] RadioFemme

Ok, so this is entirely based on non-canon-compliant Lilith. Or, I guess, non-series-compliant Lilith. More of the old WOG stuff from the pilot era, with a healthy dose of headcanon for flavor.

I love the idea of Lilith and Lucifer having an open marriage; I love the UH3 style polycule dynamic.

Lilith being the original seductress and Alastor being aesthetically but not sexually or romantically attracted to her is very near and dear to my heart.

I’m an aroace with a voice kink who is aesthetically attracted to Lilith and I think Alastor is an aroace with a voice kink who would be aesthetically attracted to Lilith, ok?

📻📺 || RadioStatic:

I’m gonna be real with you, 90% of my interest in RadioStatic is in the one-sided version where Vox is a pathetic little incel simp and Alastor is either oblivious, mildly annoyed, or finds the whole thing hilarious.

Whenever there’s any reciprocation on Alastor’s part, I always imagine it being in a very aroace, very Alastor-esque way. He needs to be get something out of it completely unrelated to sex/romance. And he needs to be manipulative and sadistic in the process.

Whether that something is kink-related, a business transaction, or simply the quality entertainment provided by Vox being a cringefail TV-headed little bitch, I love to see it.

[thealtoduck]

Working in Madame Xanadu’s parlor and meeting Garfield Logan…

Garfield Logan x Male Reader

Warnings: none

Summary: You get hired at Madame Xanadu’s Parlor and you end up meeting the several superheroes including a cute green haired boy…

(A/n: The story dosen’t take place in the Titans show, just your average dc fan universe.)

——

It all started when you were looking for a job, nothing fancy just something for a bit of pocket money. That’s when you stumbled by Madame Xanadu’s parlor where you noticed a ”Help Wanted” sign.

You looked at it for a bit. ”Am i really considering working in a fortune telling parlor…” you thought to yourself. You then decided why the hell not.

So you entered the parlor where a beautiful woman in a colorful dress was standing behind a counter. She looked at you and said ”I’ve been waiting for you”. Which left you a bit confused.

”Do you mean in like a psychic fortune teller way or did you just see me looking at the ”Help Wanted” sign through the window?” you questioned. ”Both” she answered. ”Cool” you stated and then asked ”So what sorta help are you looking for? Cause honestly i don’t know much about fortune telling”.

”Well, I’m a very busy woman so i am simply looking for someone to manage the shop, book appointments, clean and whatever else is needed” she explained. ”I could do that, i used to help my mom at her hair salon, you know sweep up hair, take care of appointments and everything” you told her.

”You’re hired” she said simply. Little did you know that you had started working for an actual fortune teller and a member of Justice League.

But it soon dawned on you as people like Wonder Woman, John Constantine and Zatanna stopped by for Madame Xanadu’s assistance. You also noticed that several objects in the parlor had actual magic powers.

Other than the magical boss, the superpowered customers and powerful magic objects and potions, it wasn’t that different from working in any other store. And fortune telling being a very niche market gave you some of free time, during which you would usually study or read a magzine.

One afternoon you were sitting behind the reception desk studying for a test when two people entered the store. A goth girl and a cute guy with green hair. They walked towards the desk and the girl asked in a slightly stressed tone ”Is Madame Xanadu here?”.

”Do you have an appointment?” you asked. ”No but it’s really important, is she here?” the girl asked again. ”Yeah, i can go see if she has time, do you have a name i can give her?” you asked. ”Rachel Roth” she said and you went in to Madame Xanadu’s fortune telling room.

Meanwhile Rachel and Gar, outside…

”That guy is kinda cute” Gar said making Rachel give him a look that said ”not the time we’re here for important stuff”.

Back to you…

She was sitting on the floor meditating. ”Uhm… Madame Xanadu, there’s a girl here named Rachel Roth, she says it’s something important, do you have time now or should i get her an appointment?” You asked.

”Send her in” Madame Xanadu said opening her eyes. You exited her room and went back to the recteption and said ”Madame Xanadu is waiting for you inside”. The girl uttered a quick ”Thanks” and went inside to meet with the fortune teller.

You went back to studying as the green haired guy looked around the parlor. He then stood himself in front of you and asked ”What are you reading? Somekind of spellbook? Or like potions book?”.

You lifted the book and showed him the cover and answered ”American history, i’m studying for a test”. ”That’s cool too” he said blushing a little. You then realised something ”Wait? you know about magic and all that stuff are you and your friend like wizards?”.

”Uhm… no but my friend is a half demon who was raised by magic monks” he explained. You nodded in understanding. You were about to continue the conversation when Madame Xanadu and Rachel suddenly came out of the room. Rachel having changed in to a cloak.

”Y/n. Me and Rachel need to travel to a magic temple to retrive a powerful artifact, I need you to look after the parlor. If i’m not back by closing time, just lock up, the key is on my desk” she told you. ”Yes, ma’am” you answered casually.

”Gar, you need to stay here” Rachel said. ”What? Why” the green haired boy questioned. ”You won’t be able to survive in there without magic so it’s best you stay here” Rachel explained and using magic to open a portal. The two magical women went through the portal and it closed as quick as it had opened.

You looked at Gar and asked ”Wanna go get some take out? There is a great place close by?”. ”Do they have good vegetarian stuff?” Gar asked. You nodded and the two of you went out.

You came back about 20 minutes later and sat down in the parlor and ate. Gar told you that he and Rachel aka Raven were part of the Teen Titans. You then explained to him how, you an average human ended up working the reception desk for a magic sorceress.

After you finished your meals Gar helped you get some studying done for your history test. Then you and him did some cleaning around the store. Once you finished the two of you sat down and talked for while, Gar even showed off his powers.

Eventually a portal opened and Madame Xanadu and Raven returned, Raven carrying some sort of weird probably magical mask. She and Gar started getting ready to leave. Gar turned to you and said ”I had a really good time tonight”.

”Me too, thanks for the help with studying and the cleaning” you said gratefully. ”No worries, anytime” he said and noticed a pen and a notepad on the desk. He took them and scribbled something down. ”Here, it’s my number in case you ever need more help studying or anything” he said handing you the note.

”Thanks” you said and Gar started walking towards the exit, you gave each other a wave goodbye. Madame Xanadu gave you a knowing look and offered ”If you want, I could get you a tarrot reading on where THAT is heading”. ”No thanks, i’d rather just wait and see what happens” you said and started getting ready to go home.

Once you got your history test back with a great big ol’ ”A” written on it you sent a text to Gar saying ”Got an A! Thanks for being a great study buddy”. A little while later Gar texted back saying ”Good job! Happy to help. What’s up next? Maybe chemistry? ;)”.

[sanderssidesthehouse]

Sanders Sides Ranked: Flirting???

Why do I have “For Legal Reasons This is a Joke” stamped on the front here? Because I get to saying some shit later that is NOT meant to be taken seriously. I enjoy saying words recreationally and making bits, not everything I say all the time is an accurate representation of my thoughts or beliefs and I just want to make that clear when posting on the piss on the poor webbed site.

Sorry, Logan. I don’t think he cares actually, but just in case. I would [verb] you. I also don’t think he cares about that, but just in case.

Also after adding the text on Logan's picture I decided I should add a little blurb to every slide so you can tell exactly how not biased I am.

When trying to decide on widespread appeal I had to acknowledge that most people would probably find him kind of annoying, which is his right, for sure, but then I had to gauge how annoying and how much that mattered and it took me a while.

For niche appeal, I just think that most theater kids™ don’t want to [verb] other theater kids™. They do [verb] for sure, but mostly because they can’t get anyone else because they’re theater kids™ and I think other insecure people mostly want to give him a hug.

(I was a theater kid but not a theater kid™, though I knew some. I just want theater kids™ to know it is their right to be insufferable.)

He's really kind of got two tricks, one is being dad and the other is being sad. I think I'd like to give him a Patt-on the head. If you're into that, though, hopefully you're also into frogs.

Look I was at one point part of all four niche appeal groups and I’m still part of two, this may be a targeted attack, but I caught myself in the crossfire.

Putting Roman in there was a joke bc you cannot tell me you don't classify what Janus was doing as flirting and it worked very well on our prince.

And unrelated to the ranking, I just get jump scared every time I see what Janus actually looks like bc he has long hair to me now. Where are his beautiful locks? Who cut my wife's hair?

Ok look. Quality of banter. We ALL saw his episode, ok? That was NOT top tier creative work. Granted he’s been locked in the basement for a long time so it’s understandable, but that doesn’t change the facts. 

For his blurb I was between what I wrote and something along the lines of "I would forcefem him" and I don't think either of those convey to you how not biased I am but just know that I adore him.

I had a blast making this, I kept cracking myself up, which means probably zero other people think it’s funny but here we are.

I actually went into this thinking I would have Logan as the worst and I thought Roman and Janus would tie for best so I’m glad to see we all have the same general consensus. It looks like this list would go Roman, Janus, Patton, Remus, Virgil, Logan.

I did my best to cut out any egregious swearing and anything explicit so I hope everyone can appreciate my sacrifice /j. Thanks for joining me, argue about it in the comments and reblogs. (<- Also a joke, please be nice.)

[pastafossa]

Charlie Cox experience at Philly Fan Expo 2023

So LET”S TALK ABOUT ME MEETING CHARLIE. I’m actually going to make two posts - this one just about my experiences with Charlie, because they were incredibly meaningful and deserve their own post, and then another one about the rest of the con!

I’m going to talk about Charlie first, because of how amazing the experience was, one of the best I’ve had, especially at the autograph table. I’ve done photos, gotten autographs and such before from other celebs - from niche voice actors I loved to people like David Tennant - but this felt Really Really Big. Obviously, I was nervous as all hell because holy shit Charlie Cox, my favorite actor whose work altered the course of my life. I won’t lie - I’d been practicing what to say to him in case I freaked out, but I’m happy to say that everyone who reassured me it would go great, because he was so, so genuine and kind, were right.

The photo op happened first (and thank you to everyone on tumblr guiding me where to go, cause I was LOST about where that was happening), and that went fast. By that point in the con hall, I’d already ditched my Jessica Jones jacket and gloves cause holy shit it’s hot and I am a creature of snow and ice, and my hair was a mess, but honestly I didn’t care, cause there he is. You don’t get long, but he made the most of it and he was SO sweet. Ya’ll, he asked my name, said my name as he shook my hand, and called me ‘my dear’ in that beautiful voice.

I was literally on the moon, but it was time for the big question:

Will he hold the red thread from TRT?

So in a quiet, nervous, soft author voice, I asked, ‘would you be ok with holding this end of the thread?’

HE FUCKING DID.

HE HELD IT.

HE HELD. THE. RED. THREAD.

I’m fairly certain he doesn’t know about the fic at this point - he wasn’t sure where to hold it until I told him, but he loved that it lit up! AND THEN HE PUT HIS ARM AROUND ME AND I GOT TO PUT MY ARM AROUND HIM BACK.

I’m fairly certain I’m dead in the photo. My soul had left my body. I had ascended. I saw Jesus and he looked like Charlie. I had achieved fic author heights never imagined. My brain filled with enough serotonin and dopamine to sink a ship. I didn’t care that I was hot and sweaty or that my hair was messy or that my cosplay didn’t work out like I’d planned. I had been blessed.

also look at that forearm holy shit

I floated outta that gd room ya’ll. I’m pretty sure @wonderlandmind4​ did the same. WE FROLICKED OUT OF THAT HALL LIKE

But things got even better at the autograph table, and I had one of the most touching experiences ever.

not me tearing up thinking about it.

That line was long, but I kept getting glimpses of him and I could already tell he was enjoying interacting with people, and he was making sure everyone got their bit of time with him instead of letting anyone rush people through. He was so happy looking, laughing and grinning, high fives and fist bumps for kids, chatting with fans. Which made me feel a little more confident.

I know some people wondered if I’d tell him about TRT, and I’d already decided I wasn’t going to. Instead, I really, really wanted just a second to tell him what his work as Daredevil had meant for me, as someone who became disabled around the same time Matt did as a kid, and who related to... a lot of what Matt went through in the show. I’d practiced it over and over again, and there was only a fifty percent chance I wouldn’t start crying while telling him, and I wasn’t even sure I’d have time to tell him depending on how much time we had.

He made time.

I got up to him with my art print holy shit he’s even more beautiful in person and his eyes are STUNNING. He said hi, and asked my name so he could personalize the autograph if I wanted (DUH, YES PLEASE), and he apologized about the line after we shook hands. I jokingly told him it was fine since I’d driven hours to get here. A little time in line wasn’t a bother. He even loved one of the buttons on my lanyard - the button of Matt wearing a heart crown specifically! And as he was writing, I knew this was my chance to tell him. He was still signing, so I just decided to go for it in case I ran out of time.

“I just wanted to tell you,” I said quietly, “as someone who became disabled as a kid around the same age as Matt did—”

And then he did something I didn’t expect, something I’d rarely seen anyone do, famous or not, and something I’d never had an actor or artist do for me.

He immediately set down the pen, leaned in close over the table, and made direct eye contact, while giving me the most genuine, gentle, encouraging smile I’d ever seen.

In that moment, I knew everything in him was listening, that he cared about what I was about to say and recognized that this was important to me, and that he’d closed the distance to make this conversation just... us. It felt personal in a way I’ve never experienced at a con or signing.  

Just like that, I wasn’t afraid to tell him what I’d wanted to.

“And as someone who related to... a lot of what Matt went through, his struggles in the show, and especially the dark parts of season 3,” I said, more confidently now, “I wanted you to know that all the work you put in, the way you played it, the way you played Matt and treated it seriously, seeing that helped me process and heal from a lot of my own trauma and pain over what I’ve gone through with my illnesses. What you did was important and it really helped me. So I wanted you to know that, how much that meant to me, and to say thank you.”

The whole time I spoke to him, he kept direct eye contact, and didn’t look away once. He didn’t get antsy, or look like he wanted me to hurry up (which I’d have understood, cause damn, these are long days for him). He listened, fully engaged and leaning in, his eyes warm and soft and kind but incredibly serious. I’m not sure how often he’s been told something like this—a lot, I expect; his portrayal was just that good, and I know it was important to a lot of fans—but what I was trying to tell him clearly meant something to him. I felt heard, seen, and understood.

Charlie really does care about his fans. It isn’t an act. I’m sure of it now.

“Thank you, truly,” he said, just as quietly but with that honest smile, eye crinkles and all, and seeing it in person, that close up, I swear the room felt ten times brighter. “Thank you for coming to tell me that. It means a lot, the idea that something I did meant so much and that it could help you. I’m so grateful that you were able to come visit and tell me.”

We shook hands after that. He wished me a good day and I told him thank you again, and that was that. The interaction only lasted maybe a minute, but it meant the absolute world to me, as did what he’s done as Daredevil. And now he knows that.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 65 – System Collapse by Martha Wells

I’ve had this on preorder long enough to have entirely forgotten about it by the time I got the email that it’s available for pickup – but thanks to the magic of an extremely obliging local book store, I was still able to pick up and read the entire thing before it’s technically released. So score one for buying indie, I guess.

The book is set directly after Network Effect – directly directly, to the point where I needed to look up a plot summary to remind myself what the situation was – following our beloved rogue and rampant SecUnit, ART, and their assorted humans as they try to convince an abandoned and alien-contaminated colony’s inhabitants to trust them and accept evacuation with them (and also go along with the colonial charter they’re forging) rather than the indenture offers the corporate mission also on site are offering. Along the way there’s hacking, shuttle chases, gunfights, and plot-critical media curation.

Mostly though it’s about Murderbot having PTSD (on account of all the horrible trauma in Network Effect specifically, and also just its life generally) and absolutely zero idea how to cope. After a false memory/panic attack makes it crash out of nowhere it spends the majority of the book terrified that it’s going to crash or freeze up at some vital moment and get everyone killed, dealing with constant alien-related paranoia, and generally second-guessing itself and feeling useless and depressed. Absolutely no one around it has any idea how to deal with this, and their awkward attempts to be supporting are both endearing and entirely unhelpful.

Anyway, this is a Murderbot novel. Do you like Murderbot? Then you will like this. Do you not know the series? Then by god start with All Systems Red none of this will make any sense at all without context. Do you dislike murderbot? I mean hateread as you like but it is largely more of the same, don’t expect any series-saving twists for you.

It’s kind of absurd to call the series ‘cozy fantasy’ – by the end of the book SecUnit is down several extremities and bleeding out on the floor (as is traditional by this point) – but I feel like the series fills about the same emotional niche for me as like say Becky Chambers does for people with normal tolerances for low-tension sentimentality. The setting is a horrible dystopia and the plots are full of violence and trauma, but all that is more or less set dressing to stories that are actually about SecUnit making connections and deciding at a tortuously slow pace what sort of life it wants to have (usually several hours after commuting itself without thinking) while consistently running into the best possible friends and forming mutually affectionate relationships it absolutely did not want. It’s a story about fun, low-tension character dynamics, corporate kill teams aside.

I am being entirely sincere when I say the fact that SecUnit has no idea what it wants or what its doing is a selling point. In the same way, the fact that there’s never any real ~breakthrough~ or moment of sudden recovery is absolutely key to the book working. The story closes with it being hopeful and doing better but from any remotely reasonable baseline still being pretty far from ‘okay’ (in much the same way, it is utterly vital to the whole series that it has absolutely zero angst over ‘not being human’ or pinochle syndrome and only cares about ‘not being normal’ insofar as its had to work really hard on some automated scripts for walking and idle motions to pass as human while doing infiltration work).

Anyway, speaking of character dynamics – look, I’ve always been the first to roll my eyes when people complain about not being able to keep tracks or large casts. But every time I open one of these books, I realize I have only the vaguest idea who the vast majority of the (human) supporting cast is. Not really an issue with actually following the story, but I’m absolutely certain I’m missing out on some things.

The non-human supporting cast are great though. ART best spaceship, and I cared significantly more about the colony’s central control computer than any of the actual colonists. I’m like 70% sure this is intentional.

Stepping back, it’s interesting how the series’ setting has evolved over time. In All Systems Red the universe around SecUnit was incredibly broadly sketched, generic sci f playing with space opera and cyberpunk tropes it pretty much relied upon readers already being familiar with. This never exactly stops – especially for the aesthetics and technology, the book has a profound lack of interest in the specifics of what ‘projectile weapons’ look like or how spaceships work beyond the convenience of plot – but as the books go on the world definitely gets more specific and also broader. You can mostly blame ART for this, I think – there’s a definite shift in the tone of the setting when you introduce an institution like the University with power like it can throw around, and more generally make active resistance to and subversion to the corporate status quo a plausible and fruitful endeavour.

All this to say that there’s an offhand mention at one point about ‘intracorporate violence’ increasing and the system being increasingly unstable, and I’m curious what Wells is going to do with that going forward. Especially with the book’s final resolution and the status quo it sets up going forward.

Anyway like I said, it’s murderbot. This is the 7th book in the series. If you’re considering reading it you’ll probably love it.

[ask-the-four-lords]

Dear Lady Dimitrescu,

While I am no noble, I’m certainly not a manthing, so here’s a list of reasons why I would be a perfect candidate to be Daniela’s spouse. (HUY SPOUSE??? exag na)

Though before I get into that, how was your day? Was it pleasant? Did something inconvenient happen? If so, please tell me about it before thinking about slicing me to ribbons..

So, anyways, I will be giving my reason then explaining, so if you’ll give me a moment of your time, that would be splendid.

Reason 1: The usual ‘I’m kind, empathetic, caring, etc.’ spiel. I have evidence to back this up because I’m the therapist friend TM (charot). I don’t have receipts but my friends can vouch for me, I swear. I’m open-minded and not easily disgusted by things, so I have no problem with being around death and all that.

Reason 2: My music taste. It doesn’t really count BUT it should, because who would want to be with someone who only listens to rap or drill? I have a diverse music taste, including: jazz, classical, broadway/west end, pop, and rock. It doesn’t say much, but it basically does. Music taste is a large part of someone’s personality, and music is a thing people use to express themselves, hence the whole thing.

Reason 3: I’m educated. Thankfully, I am, and although many are, I’m also educated in pretty niche topics, so yippee!! I can’t exactly delve deep into it as it’s a bit complicated so I’ll leave it at that.

Reason 4: My hobbies! I love reading, so I’m sure it would be a good match with Daniela. I can also write, albeit not that well to an extent, but I can be poetic when I am. I love performing, especially acting. It’s like an escape for me, and I’m good at it too, thankfully. I also love learning about niche topics, and it’s something I’d love to share with someone. I love photography, and taking pictures whenever I see something beautiful. No doubt my SD card would be filled with photos of Daniela. (it’s giving.. autism? jk) But if she’s willing to listen, I could go on and on about certain topics.

Reason 5, hopefully the last reason, though I can still give more: My personality. It goes without a saying that personality plays a big role in spouses and their compatibility, and I (firmly) believe my personality is fit for Daniela. Although I can also be quite energetic at times, I can mostly keep calm and a level head. As I said before, I’m not easily disgusted and I don’t have a weak stomach, so I can handle all the blood and the killings n stuff. I can be silly at times, and serious at some. It’s a perfect match, I swear. I’m not judgmental, and I’m extra lesbian so yea..

All in all, I’m not quite sure if you can make your mind with these. I desperately hope you won’t slice me to ribbons for even suggesting the idea, but please try to keep an open mind. As always, have a good day.

— K.D.

Oooh, I like this one far better so far. Some actual manners, *cough cough* Odysseus. Still, it's almost improbable I will give up Daniela to anyone, I will listen to this one. Well, my day was perfectly acceptable, this is also an acceptable stalling tactic as in the event I decide to "slice you into ribbons" there will be no running. Although something rather inconvenient did happen, that tragic un-babysat toddler Heisenberg tried to get Moreau to decide if my wine or his repellant moonshine whiskey was better. That blathering freak chose his whiskey, then again that does confirm how repulsive and classless he is...

To your first reason: Yes, yes, blah blah, I've heard it all before. Especially from that clown who couldn't even get national clown college certification although it's probably best you can handle the viscera.

To your second reason: Good, as you may know I was a jazz performer. I'm in support of jazz and classical as genres so good for you. And yes, the ribbon treatment would be inevitable in the event you did say drill or rap.

To your third reason: *sighs* it's something, at least you're not entirely a peasant.

To your fourth reason: And on and on you have went although you still seem a better candidate for my darling Daniela as of yet but she still most likely won't be married for another century, I imagine. Still, House Dimitrescu will only accept those with true talent, so on the off-chance you have that than that will assist your chances.

To your fifth reason: Well... I don't even know how to respond to that. Daniela will decide that in the event you get as far as meeting her.

In conclusion, you are the best candidate so far but it's still more or less improbable you'll receive my sweet, lovely Daniela's hand. And I will keep an open mind, although if you test me, even slightly, you'll find your mind far-far too open, my claws do have a habit of "opening minds."

[qprpbj]

do you have any tips on how to start writing fics?

the outsiders brainrot actually has me coming up with ideas and i have a desire to start writing them into actual stories but i've never written outside of class papers/assignments and i don't really know where/how to start since it's all just my own prompts and ideas and there's no grading rubric lmaoooo

like do you plan out each fic with a list first or do you just start writing about the main plot point of the chapter and fill in out of order or do you just start writing and see where it takes you... do you do any research while you're planning or pull from other authors/fics/posts or write from experience...

how do you decide when to stop writing or decide on which endings/paths/plot points to go with... the deadly combo of indecisiveness and perfectionism along with having no guidelines or due dates is crippling me so im asking some of my fav authors (who have also been inspiring me to write and be creative)

wait hi this is so sweet thank you!!! 🥹🥹 i will preface All This (sorry i yapped so much lol) by. i’ve been writing fic for like ten years and i think a lot of my old fic, while deeply cringe and awful, was all very important to getting me where i am today where i feel i can accurately get across what im trying to say!!!

first. hone your ideas!!! try to find a good niche you feel comfortable in (but also. don’t limit your creativity!!!). idk for me it’s easier to start specific and small rather than super general bc then i have Tooooo much freedom u know. i think my niche sorta across fandoms is generally softer dialogue, exploring close siblings or familial or friendship bonds an dynamics through situation, a lot of fluff, maybe a lil hurt comfort

i basically exclusively write in order! unless i get a really cool line/paragraph in my head that i write out and save for later to fit in somewhere. i usually have a like one-line idea that just Comes to me (ex. this was my entire line idea that turned into that pony getting jumped fic!)

then i’ll expand it a little more into a shitty little paragraph (ex. here’s a few!!!)

and then tbh after that i just kinda write everything in order from top to bottom from there. i wish i were more organized tbh and writing long fic/chaptered stuff is still sooo hard for me (which is why i don’t do it much yet lol) but im really trying to break out of it!! slowly we are learning!!! retaining the inspo and drive necessary to write that much is harddddd lmfao

before writing i always do have a solid idea where i want it to start and go and end though. like that ponyboy jumping fic i Knew i wanted to have pony get jumped in the opening scene, then go home, try to break down cutting his own hair, brothers come in and talk him down and it ends with talking abt johnny, even if i didn’t like. List that all out in words in a document.

definitely do research!!! espppp for outsiders bc it was like 60 years ago!!! well researched fics are soooo obviously tonally different and it’s always super obvious imo when that sort of care is put into ur writing. that fic i wrote about darry getting a panic attack was important researching bc panic attacks weren’t well known or researched or even Called panic attacks back then, so it’d be hella jarring seeing like 1967 13y/o pony whip out “you’re having a panic attack darry 🤓👆” yk lmfaoo

i SOO get the perfectionism and having no due dates thing btw. i have literally like 5 fics i’ve started and not finished in my docs rn with like 15 more ideas i wanna write someday. tbh! try to enter that Hyperfixation Zone and be really excited about what you’re making!!! helps it go by easier bc i swear sometimes i’ll write fic and it feels like pulling teeth even though it’s supposed to be fun!!!

last thing. try and find friends to bounce ideas off of and go crazy with you <3 or ppl to beta read!!! makes writing SO much easier and sm more fun having a your own lil personal cheerleader!!! if you ever need a beta id be soooo happy to read whatever you’ve got and hype u up!!! <3 i hope this helped at least a little bit LOL my writing process is kinda chaotic ngl

[havvkinsqueen]

dear victoria, it's almost the end of 2023 and with this in mind, i'd like to return the favor. well, not exactly favor, but i'm here to bring you what you've brought to me and an entire community every friday for the past year. you're the kindest soul i've encountered on this hellhole and i'm so freaking glad that i got to met you. you're kind and sweet and extremely talented in case no one reminded you today. i know life can be tough sometimes and it may get difficult especially at this time of the year when work is hectic and you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. but i hope you do realize there's something great awaiting you. even greater than you've accomplished thus far. words can't even begin to describe how grateful i am for you. you're an amazing writing partner who has singlehandedly decided to take a muse that appeared for exactly 5 minutes and 48 seconds and do a better job than the duffer brothers ever could. and i am in awe with your interpretation, okay? all the verses you have for her, all the nuances she has because of you, all the great threads i am reading from you and your writing partners. you are a bloody brilliant writer, i hope you know that. and above that, you have a superpower aka you bring life to your muse, even when she's barely even a walking dead creature. but your writing is not everything, you see. i've seen your kindness when i was in a pretty bad state mentally and despite having your own problems, you were there for me and i can't thank you enough. but your presence did leave a mark on me. and i love hearing what you're passionate about. i won't list them here because it may give away who i am, but just know that in my opinion, your passions/hobbies are cool as fuck. some took me by surprise and in a good way. you're a fantastic friend, i hope you know that. and this is just the tip of the iceberg. but to actually return what you've brought us, i hope you take care of yourself. mentally, emotionally, physically. i hope that when you look at the christmas lights you do realize that's what you are to many of us. a source of light and delight. and i hope you treat yourself as you treat us. with kindness and patience. and i hope you have the best of holidays with your loved ones. you deserve a break after working so hard this year. i am proud of you nonetheless. for everything you've accomplished and for everything that you are. it's an honor to have met you and still stand by your side after a year. i love you and thank you for everything, friend.

"And if we look closely, we can find those moments, every day in our regular lives, from sipping on our early morning coffee to munching on our midnight snack, from taking a moment to gaze at the sunset to simply sitting silent listening to our soul, beautiful unfiltered unadulterated moments that often go unnoticed yet remain forever warmed up in the cold embrace of our heart, frozen in a niche of a dream called Life." - Debatrayee Banerjee

— Oh, Anon, this message was so sweet. And so very long! I don’t know what to say. So, thank you. This is so very kind, I 😮‍💨. It’s always nice to get these back and any time I do, I really treasure it. My first instinct is to say I’m not worthy of this, but I do work hard at everything. So, once again, thank you. I’m touched by the kindness you’re showing me right now. And to hear my presence and everything brings people joy and light; That makes me so happy. Life is so hard, all I want to do is alleviate that for people even for a moment.

[conundrumoftime]

Twenty questions for fic writers

From a few people!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

At the moment 59 under my name, plus a couple of anonymous ones for fic exchanges that haven’t hit the author reveal date yet.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

345,058

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment: Rings of Power, Silmarillion and LOTR. My other big fandom is Babylon 5, although my much-loved WIP for that one is currently on hiatus.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I don’t think these are my top 5 fics by a metric I care about given my love for small fandoms and obscure niche content alongside the Haladriel juggernaut stuff, but with that in mind:

- Shadow-Bride, my big Haladriel WIP, my baby, my love, my precious;

- A man is a god in ruins, my first multi-chapter Haladriel, which started life as a short ficlet to be the ‘+1’ of a 5 Things fic and took on something of a life of its own;

- Silver Queen, my first half-Maia Celebrian story - really I just wanted to give her enough half-Maia powers to blast ambushing orcs down a mountain;

- Five times Halbrand’s secret got revealed, my second (I think?) fic for Rings of Power. One of the scenarios turned into Shadow-Bride, and the +1 scenario in which Galadriel doesn’t learn his secret (well… arguably…) is ‘A man is a god in ruins’.

- Lady of the Seas, second part of a Haladriel two-parter; Haladriel smut with Sauron doing a lot of thinking about Ossë and Uinen.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! I got behind at one point and had to declare temporary amnesty. I am so grateful for almost all (see answer to q8) the comments I get, and I love responding to either discuss things or just say ‘thank you’. I never manage to find time to do it as soon as I would like.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This would probably be one of my Babylon 5 ones - either ‘A spirit haunts the year’s last hours’, an AU drabble where the Minbari took Valen prisoner and now Delenn has her own pet god figure; or ‘MIssing’, about Delenn searching for Lennier after s5 and not finding him.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

‘Tar-Mairon of the Shire’, a Rings of Power AU where the Harfoots really did find Sauron. Does what it says on the tin. My summary for this one is ‘Hobbits make everything better, including Dark Lords’ and I stand by that.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yes! A ridiculous amount! I have had multiple comments inviting me to harm myself in various graphic ways over making the wrong fictional characters kiss. I get the most hate for writing Celeborn in a way the haters have decided is mean to him (?? he’s fine!) and particularly on my G-rated baby ficlets. Who can even fathom this, honestly.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do, and mostly the ‘overly wordy’ kind.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I was going to say yes but apparently nothing I have on AO3 is a crossover and I can’t remember what I’ve written in my pre-AO3 days. So: yes I think so! once! But alas, can’t remember what.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not the whole fic in a copy/paste sense, but: yes. I won’t lie, it was pretty weird and unpleasant to discover, but once I’d got over the initial “?!” reaction I saw it a little differently - that kind of plagiarism was obviously coming from an author who was insecure in their own abilities, was deeply jealous of mine, and who ultimately was missing out on much of the actual fun of writing. What’s even the point of fanfic if you aren’t coming up with your own work? It’s not like we’re getting paid! How unsatisfying must it be to have readers like your work and know it’s actually someone else’s thing they’re liking anyway, right? So I ended up in a place of taking it as a compliment in the ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness’ sense.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes - one of my Rings of Power fics got translated into Russian. I am very happy, and very impressed by the translator’s work.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes and it didn’t go well and I nearly fell out with my co-writer friend over it because we had different schedules and different takes on the story, so: never again.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

It’s probably one I haven’t even written for: Jack and Irina in Alias. It’s got everything I love about ships! They’re enemies working for rival organisations, they’re married, they try to kill each other, they can’t quite bear to do it, they have to sort out awkward co-parenting arrangements, they plot, they dance, there are stabbing attempts… honestly, SpyParents forever.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I plan to finish all my WIPs! I only have three at the moment: Shadow-Bride; Set Fire to the Stars (Babylon 5 pre-series Minbari worldbuilding with Branmer, who I love); and All The Kinds of Alive You Can Be (Rings of Power Sauron/Celeborn where Sauron shapechanges into Galadriel).

16. What are your writing strengths?

Especially these days (I’m a fandom old) I like that I’m happy to try writing new things based on thinking it would be interesting and I’d like to go with it, and not being intimidated by finding the fandom too scary or writing in a different direction to popular fanon or getting a baffled “that’s… nice… I guess?” reaction from my usual readers. I love writing Rings of Power Celeborn; I love writing fics about him raising half-Maia Celebrian; I get untold fury about this from a lot of the Twitter fandom youth, but I continue to have fun :)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have tons about my actual writing (dialogue, endings, failure to come up with titles I’m happy with) but along the lines of the above answer: I wish I was better at doing long multi-part fics, because the ones I’ve done I have had loads of fun with but I usually stick to one-shots because I don’t feel like the energy of the story will keep going long enough.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

A few of my fics across fandoms have language as important, and specifically, different languages belonging to different people/who’s speaking and what they’re speaking in. My Silm-LOTR Galadriel/Celeborn fic ‘Softest of Tongues’ is a lot about Quenya and Sindarin, and how inadequate translation can be - one of the tags is ‘Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as a metaphor for the pain at the heart of your marriage’.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Poltergeist: the Legacy, back in the late 1990s. Fandom OLD. (I am glad none of those stories nor the forums they were written in have survived the ravages of internet time, I tell you.)

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I have a few and the thing they all have in common is ‘I am really pleased I was able to make this thing I like work’. So:

- Tar-Mairon of the Shire (Rings of Power), for combining hope and Hobbits and History of Middle-earth, in a way that is both fluff and also genuinely sincerely written Sauron redemption;

- Civil Twilight (Rings of Power), for getting Haladriel and Galadriel/Celeborn into the same fic and for a take on Celeborn I’m really happy with;

- Softest of Tongues (LOTR and Silm), for writing Galadriel/Celeborn in a way that got the exact right language-as-symbolism and the tone of sadness and love and hope and grief that I was trying to hit;

- Deceptions (Babylon 5), for being a short fic that still captures Lennier going from protective to horrified in realising how terrifying his boss is (and also for Delenn making Neroon bow to her)

- Things That Go Bump In The Night (Ghosts), because I was not sure if I could write comedy fic for a comedy, and it turns out I could!

Tagging: @bad-surprise @stitchingatthecircuitboard @liminal-zone @myrsinemezzo @ophidion @formerlyir @hazelmaines @wyrd-syster and anyone else who wants to do it!

[killuaisaprincess]

THREE YEARS OF WRITING 🧁 (or close enough!)

Lemme start by saying I am tired. One hater takes enough out of me, I have ADD hypersensitivity, so yeah, still kinda recovering!

I wanted to make this something super happy! And actually on time, but literally, one day later, today some asshole wants to show up in my tumblr inbox and complain? And it was about the old me! So I'm doing it early! I’m here to celebrate my growth! Fuck them! Lol 🖕🎉

They were basically, oh, you’re not Q! You’ve fallen off! No, I’m not! Q is dead! And Q was never truly entirely me! I will always be grateful if she hadn’t taken the first step, I wouldn’t be here, but Q got scared even writing the simple niche of Gon carrying Ki more than once! I still remember that authors note Q wrote apologizing! I wanna laugh at her! Like she owed anyone anything! It was like her fourth fic, I think.

I get her, part of her still lies in me! Like I’m sorry to that person you’re so insecure and pathetic that someone changing and growing into a confident person who writes what she totally likes full on indulgence! Bothers you! She was always in there okie! She was just scared! 

Creating Qutie was the first step. And I’m proud of her and how far she’s come! I don’t care anymore if everyone hates me! I know most probs do! I am confident and happy about my presence here! And love that I can speak up without fearing anymore! Realizing I don’t fit! Or belong with the fandom was the best thing that ever happened to me! I don’t forgive the og hater/stalker and made me poof Q, but I am actually thankful to them. 

My third year anniversary of writing is coming up on Sept, 4! 

And I probs would’ve made a speech about how happy I am and how far I’ve come then too! So consider this that! Except it probs would’ve been 50 tags cuz that’s my style lol 😚

No matter what anyone says I am proud of me!

I love my writing, and I love my fics! It really just is the simple concept of imagining finding an author you like! And then there are tons of works ready for you to read! Even if they're small thingies like mine! I was into GK back in 2012, but I was young and there wasn't any GK really, and plus after CAA I was just depressed there was nothing there for me. So I left! And then 2020 of June I fell back into Gonki!

I watched tons of reactors and got back in, but I couldn't find anything that was my taste fic wise, so I just took a leap of fate, I found maybe one fic of Gon carrying Ki maybe one and billions that I did not like! So I decided to do it for me!

I wanna be with Gonkillu forever! I don't wanna imagine a world where I leave again! But on the chance it ever does happen? Look what I've done for me! I've become that author I would like with tons of fics all ready to read! For me! 90+ will be there if it does happen.

And nothing pleases me more! I do reread my fics as is! But the idea of knowing me of the future should something ever happen has that... it's the best feeling!

And no one will take that from me! When I couldn't find anything I wanted in 2020 I didn't go to writers and go WAHHH WAHH WAHHH DO WHAT I WANT I took action. So no loser anon is gonna stop me. If you liked the old me become her, but I like the new current me more! Who goes full in no fear!

I do wish there was a GK world and I will say stuff like that! Cuz I do wish there was! But I've never gone to a writer and been like dooo this for meee, like!

I put my money where my mouth is and am creating the GK world I want for myself!

Thank you, me! For the three years of writing! Here's to many more!

I’m on a little teeny tiny island by myself! I need a cute flag 🥺 IT HAS TO BE PINK OMG WITH GON CARRYING KI AND KI WEARING A CUTE PINK DRESS AND LITTLE BUNNY EARS 🥺 he’s a little bunny 🐰 

[drowninginblox]

My thoughts on Cole Cassidy/Jesse McCree‘s real name

I want to talk about this ever since Jesse got a rebrand but I haven’t really had the space to talk about it. Or whenever I try to talk about it it just came off as a little weird. So this is me trying to alleviate that urge to ramble.

Again…

Sorry

By the way, all of my thoughts are going to be taking place in Canon. I already know about Blizard being dicks, and all that other crap. All of what I am going to word vomit is my own in universe justification for Jesse deciding to change his name or going back and using his real name.

So. Cole Cassidy.

Not his real name

I don’t like the idea of Cole being his real name. Not because it’s a bad name but because of the headcannons I have about his family.

I like to think that Cole grew up in a very rough and tumble household you know? Dad wasn’t really there and if he was, he was a shitty parent. And mom, if she was there, either worked her ass off to take care of her kid and deadbeat husband, or was just as much as of a dead beat as dad.

Regardless of the tragic backstory, I don’t think Jesse would willingly go through with the name he was born with

If anything, I think he would carve a new name for himself one that history will remember- hence Jesse McCree

TLDR very much Eugene Fitzherbert

Who does he tell about his real name/changing his name?

I don’t think he tells anyone in overwatch his real name. I think they all assume that his “real name” is Jesse McCree for the longest time because that’s what he refers to himself as and that’s what The Wanted posters say

That, and I think he has documentation under that name to further solidify it. (thanks, Ashe)

But if he had to tell anyone in overwatch, and I mean anyone, I think it would only be two people maybe three.

Those people being in no specific order

Angela Ziegler

Genji Shimada

Anna Ahmari

If you’re in overwatch fandom, I think you can assume why each of these people would qualify for the honor of knowing his real name. But for the sake of me rambling, I’m going to indulge in my thoughts and feelings, as to why each person knows

For Angela, I think it would be in a life or death situation. Very much when he lost his arm. If he sincerely thought that he was going to die I think that he would confess a few things to Angela. One being Jesse McCree isn’t his actual name. Now would it be the first thing he would tell her- absolutely not, but it would definitely be one of those things. He’d do it to have overwatch get in contact with his mother if he does pass in the line of duty. (I have some headcannons about his mom, but that’s a whole ‘Nother conversation.)

For Genji, I can see it both as a life or death situation, or as a very niche, private, casual conversation. Just for the exclusivity of Genji knowing who Jesse was before he got into overwatch. Trust issues and all that from one Jussie and Genji, or for us getting to know each other.

Now for Anna. Again, life or death situation. However i prefer to think this would be a accidental happenstance. Very much a “I got drunk and told my mom somethings she shouldn’t have known.” I think that if he were to disclose this information to her, he would also add how much he hates his dad and/or extended family.

Regardless, of who he tells no one will tell anyone else about this information

And no, I am not giving Gabe the benefit of the doubt when it comes to knowing Jesse’s true identity. I don’t care about the father/son relationship HCs. I think that Jesse’s real name is a one of those things that Jesse doesn’t feel comfortable telling Gabe. And that is completely fine!

Now, when it comes to changing his name- the first person he would tell after all this time would probably be Genji.

Then Tracer. Then anyone else who is new or hasn’t gotten the memo yet.

Going off of this train of thought, I think Reinhart would have a hard time getting it down. Not out of disrespect! Just out of hazy memory, and- like- the habit of referring to Jesse as Jesse for so long. The same can be said for junkrat as well. Mostly cus he probably refers to him as cowboy or Clint Eastwood (cus of Roadie)

Outside of overwatch, I think the people having the hardest time getting down this new name is the media. Hell I think the talon is more progressive than the media. Most of their team are gay so

Now we’re onto my favorite part- how do I utilize this fact in my fics

Ever since blizzards, melt down/the overwatch two trailer, I’ve been setting most of my fics in that time of the team is still getting together, but they aren’t on the same page yet

To elaborate- the team that we see in Paris are currently all traveling in a pack. Meanwhile, the rest of the people who are on the overwatch roster i(n game) are currently in groups/on their own in different parts of the world

For example, Jesse and Hanzo are traveling together. Mainly for my own shipping pleasure! (Fic coming out about that soon by the way)

I also like to think that road hog and junk rat are finally getting out of that outback after being inprisoned by the junker queen

The junker queen maybe trying to conquer the world. Effectively canoeing her way off of Australia and into New Zealand

The new Kitsune character and Dva are meeting up somewhere. Probably at like a fan meet in greet or something (I have a lot of head cannons about the kitsune girl)

Just a lot of smaller stuff like that you know?

So, in this weird scattered-about moment in overwatch lore/limbo, I like to think that some people know when other people don’t and that’s OK. Sometimes people won’t know until last minute, especially in overwatch’s line of work.

In fact, you can see in my latest my HaiNoon/ McHanzo or… Ig McGenji fic? BITE. I mean Bite. (Bite is such a gray area my God. Like it has McHanzo implications, but it also has McGenji interaction for the main meat of it so you know… I’m rambling!)

Bite has -throughout the fic- Cole acknowledging himself as Cole, but he’s letting Genji refer to him as Jesse.  it is until the end of the fact that Jesse corrects Genji. In that same story, while I was writing it, I was thinking about what the other characters refer to Cole as. And I don’t think he’s gotten the time or courage to tell them what name he wants to be preferred by yet.

They were on the battlefield like not even a few days ago for crying out loud. Priorities need to be set.

So yeah

Thanks for reading.

[luna-rainbow]

Really sad to see your brain wasted on moronic shit like MCU….. Have you tried going outside? Or like going to college? Humans weren’t meant to liquify their brains watching and obsessing over propaganda films! You can do better than braindead shit taste media consumption :)

Thanks for giving me a good laugh, anon 😂😂😂

The fact you think college is the pinnacle of life achievement gives away how young you are. The fact you think someone’s blog is the entirety of their whole life suggests you have very little experience of real life offline. The fact that you’ve missed that my blog only posts about once a day shows you’re not very observant, nor do you use any critical thinking skills…meaning you’re either yet to get into college or you’re struggling to learn critical analysis. The fact you’re flaunting your college education like some ape-level chest thumping suggests you’re not only emotionally immature, you’re an underachiever in real life who needs to prove your worth on the Internet by…your taste in movies (🤣🤣🤣 omg I can’t stop laughing as I write this). You also clearly haven’t read my blog, so you’ve basically decided to drop in on some stranger’s lawn and take a dump, classy display kiddo, really tells me more about the kind of person you are than you think it will upset me.

The reason I am taking time to answer this is because while most of my mutuals are older and are perfectly self-assured in their preferences, there might be a few followers who are college age or younger. Listen. The only people gripped by existential dread about their taste in movies is in their teens and early twenties. You’re at an age where you want to be an adult and you’ve been told by adults that these things are for kids, and you need to now be responsible and grown up and stop having fun.

What actually changes in adulthood is that no one can stop you from having fun (as long as what you’re doing isn’t illegal of course) except yourself. I think that is what gets missed in the messaging. As an adult you need to prioritise your responsibilities, but once you do, you absolutely need a space where you can relax and unwind.

Do whatever that can effectively take away the stresses of meeting your responsibility. But what if it’s cringe — no one cares! No one is your mother or your teacher anymore! Anyone who judges you for it doesn’t deserve to be part of it! And what you’ll find is that most adults with life experience really don’t care about your niche hobby, or they might find it quaint. Differences are what makes humans interesting, not freaks, and that’s the mindset you need to unlearn from years of school life. Finally, there are so many more important things that define you as a person than your taste in movies, and people will remember you for your kindness (or conversely your nastiness), not by your movies taste.

But also yes, the MCU has turned into a hot pile of trash and there’s plenty of posts on my blog about why 🤷‍♀️

[hexalianrebel-blackfeathers]

Masterlist Pt.2

This is every item Panda has written since joining Tumblr.* Some exceptions have been made. This does not include my list of WIPs, because we’d be here forever, and you would be mad at me.** Edits will be made as necessary…when I remember.

If you’d like to see Panda’s original ideas, including OCs, Tickles, and most of the novels I’ve been poking on and off, follow me!

(*Continued from...)

(**…Would you guys be interested in seeing my WIPs? Or having access to them in some capacity?)

(Sorted by Fandom, A-Z)

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jackson’s Diary

Light Up My Day (2023)—The first time I’ve written a fanfiction for a Webtoon, and I’m still really happy with it. I think it’s adorable.

[Ao3]

Tickle Fights with Magic. A Single Mischievous Cat.

Word Count: 1,501

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Legend of Zelda

Ocarina of Tickles (2012)—Fully willing to call this my “claim to fame”, I guess. I always seem to find out that someone read it years ago and loved it. Completely unrelated, but Panda—and other creators—always love when you tell them if you liked things. …IT’S BEEN HOW MANY YEARS?!

[Ao3] [Original]

Rewriting Canon to Inject Tickles in Narratively Functional Places

Current Word Count: 18,655

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pokémon

The Pandadex (2022)—Is it cheating to count this? I don’t care; I still want to share them. I should probably update this, actually.

Fakemon Concept Showcase. I Love Making Monsters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spiderman/Spiderverse

(Tickle) Fight Club (2023)—I’ll level with you, I’m pretty sure I can trace a pattern through a lot of my writing that led up to an AU like this. >w< I’m thinking of making it a multi-fandom AU.

[Ao3]

Tickle Fights, So Much Teasing; Normalized Tickle “Culture” (It’s still niche, obviously, but it wouldn’t necessarily be called “weird”. Think, like, if your community had a local club for stage magicians, or, y’know, Pokémon TCG tournaments. >w<)

Current Word Count: 10,201

British Taxi (2023)—One of the original trio of ideas I had for Across the Spiderverse. We all know how that turned out. >w<

[Ao3]

Kids Being Gremlins. Tickle Game or Tickle Trap? You Decide

Word Count: 3,308

God Save the Queen (2023)—Is this how “songfics” work? I don’t know. Slap on your headphones and let’s analyze a Queer Anarchist.

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

HEAVY Emotions. Mix of Angst, Rage, and Hope in Not-Entirely-Equal Parts.

Current Word Count: 1,740

I Want Jessie’s Girl (2023)—This is what songfics are. >w< I’m kidding; I still don’t really know. But I love this so much. It’s getting sappier and sappier, but writing it makes me happy.

[Ao3]

Pining So Much, It Hurts. Puppy Love and Bonding Through Tickles. One is Bad At Reading Cues, and Frankly, Two Aren’t Too Great At Sending Them.

Current Word Count: 6,994

Let’s Just Call It Joyriding (2023)—I am still iffy on the title, yeah. Although, it kind of fits, considering how it’s going to end. >w< Maybe I’ll have a better title once it’s done.

[Ao3]

Kids Being Gremlins. Hijinks Ensue. Interrogation Tickles, Lots of Them.

Current Word Count: 2,386

Mumbattan Skyline (2023)—For some reason, I have trouble writing Pavitr. He and Gayatri have an adorable relationship though. I definitely want to play with both of them more often.

[Ao3]

Some Couple Silliness. Someone Trying To Pretend They Don’t Know A Poorly Kept Secret.

Word Count: 1,558

My Body is a Temple; I Just Love Graffiti (2023)—I don’t know what it is about the Spider Gang, but I can’t imagine writing any of them without some level of ~*sparkle*~. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean. >w<

[Ao3]

Tickly Tattoos. Exploring Identities and Selves Through Sleepover Shenanigans. There Will Be A Crisis.

Current Word Count: 5,439

Never Let ‘Em Know Your Next Move (2023)—Switch Hobie is best Hobie. This is not up for discussion. Pavi’s scene is my favorite. >w< Title is clunky, but I still love this.

[Ao3]

Ticklish Switches Getting Flipped Left, Right, and Center. Kids Being Gremlins.

Word Count: 4,404

Spiders and Tics (And Only One of Them Bites) (2023)—Consider this a headcanon showcase of the Gang’s little stims and quirks. I love the beans. >w<

[Ao3 Exclusive!]

Stims and Fidgets. A Grumpy Guy Realizing He’s the Team Dad.

Word Count: 4,192

Task At Hand (2023)—The first step into what is now my current pit of madness. >w< Definitely not my favorite title, but I still think the story is cute.

[Ao3]

Gremlin Energy and a Little Violence. Zappy Tickles.

Word Count: 2,361

Tickled Pink (2023)—One of my favorite titles; very simple. I had actually wanted at least one scene for Pavitr, but I couldn’t think of anything… T~T

[Ao3]

Denial or True Ignorance, You Decide. >w< A Lee Who Will Never Admit He’s a Lee.

Word Count: 6,519

Trick or Sneak (2023)—My lovely friend made a lovely drawing, and I just had to write this Halloween scene. >w<

[Ao3]

Haunted House Pranks and Cool Costumes. Sneaky Tickles. >w<

Word Count: 2,440

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Supernatural

Advent (2022)—Squealing Santa is when all the interesting ideas come out, y’know? >w< I had originally wanted a section for all 25 days, but…My brain deleted most of them before I could write them down.

Christmas Themed Chaos. >w< Angel Mojo and Tickles

Word Count: 4,594

Angel Cake with a Touch of Raspberry (2015)—I technically posted this here, didn’t I? >w< Fun Fact: None of my Supernatural stories have made it to Ao3.

[Original]

Cuddly, Teasy Tickles; Immortals Being Bad at Technology.

Word Count: 2,421

Cold Hands (2018)—An idea I randomly got for someone in the community when they were feeling down. It’s kinda cute. >w<

Disney Movies and Tickle Attacks

Word Count: 667

Untouchable (2016)—I’m pretty sure this was the very first year of Squealing Santa. Right after I graduated high school. The setting is loosely based on the year I spent in boarding school. ^w^

Journal-Style, Tickly Prank War Leading into a Relationship.

Word Count: 2,346

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zero Escape

Blooper Reel (2022)—My first Actor AU! And I needed it, because Zero Escape is wild. >w< Highly recommend the games, and thanx again to Ro for inspiring me during our playthroughs.

[Ao3]

Goofing Off On-Set with Tickle Fights.

Current Word Count: 1,108

His Real Blind Spot (2022)—Part of the reason I’ve started putting the “start date” on things that I write when I’m working on them. Time goes by too fast.

[Ao3]

Couch Cuddles and Getting Cozy with Tickles

Word Count: 1,260

[niuxita21]

I was gonna put on my clown mask and write a thesis about how Mariana going back to Ferrán even after having amazing (thanks for the confirmation, show, much appreciated) sex with Ana is a necessary step toward any Ana/Mariana endgame, but like I said I am just too sad and don’t have the energy, so instead I’m just gonna ramble about how mind-blowing it is that, here we are, three and a half seasons in, and the show is having all these discussion about the feelings between its two lead female characters like it’s a matter of fact??? It’s not subtext anymore???? Said two lead female characters have canonically slept together and it was canonically amazing???? And the show is now going around having all these scenes that are TEXTBOOK the angsty OTP shit that het pairings get??? And it was all planned from the start??? Like season 1 was written and shot before they even knew whether people would take a liking to a potential romance between their two lead characters. This wasn’t a pivot or deviation from the established storyline purely because fans saw something between the characters and they agreed to explore it. They just decided to create a show that was literally actually about that and went, “We’ll see if people like it I guess” huh? (Obviously, there’s the GoT factor to consider, so my ability to still be talking about the show in these terms down the line is contingent on how it ends, and I don’t even wanna begin to speculate because I don’t wanna clown myself lol so for now I am just talking about things that have actually happened and no one can take away from us.) And it just blows my mind because this is literally Just A Regular Show. It’s not a niche, The L Word-type show where one could reasonably expect this level of nuance and care being dedicated to a potential romance between two lead female characters, it’s a silly comedy marketed to all audiences where you literally wouldn’t even have known there was f/f activity unless you watched until the last two episodes of season 1 (and not one episode sooner). IDK where I was going with this but I guess what I was getting at was that, in the midst of all the pain and suffering episode 5 caused (and regardless of how everything ends), I will never not be amazed that we live in a world where a show really Did That like it was the logical narrative path to take and didn’t even draw attention to it. What a time to be alive, truly.

[sammccart]

Just a thought

Today I was thinking about the time I decided to start a blog and I started to think about all the different kinds of blogs I could start.

Back then it was going to be a blog about travel. Then I found out that in order to have a successful blog, you need to actually travel.

Then I thought I could start a blog about health and fitness because, after all, I am pursuing my Bachelor’s in Exercise Science. Why the heck not.

Then I thought about how I would also like to help businesses improve their customer satisfaction, leadership, and employee satisfaction as well.

When I was thinking these thoughts, however, I started to also think about all the different rules the “pros” say you should do to be successful

Write out what you’re interested in

Research the topics

Niche down

Only write blah blah blah

I don’t care about rules anymore…..

Number 5 was the biggest one that stuck out to me because I really started to think “why?”

Why do I need to niche down and focus on one thing? I’m not necessarily looking to make a bunch of money from blogging. I mainly just want to do my part to try and help people. I also like to write.

So why can’t I just write about a couple different topics and focus on those? Why can’t I make this blog what I want?

Well….that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

I’m not going to focus on all the rules. I’m just going to write what I want to write about and if I reach some people, great. But mainly, I just want to make sure I write about what interests me.

I also would encourage you to do the same.

You don’t have to start a blog or anything but getting your thoughts out there (even just in a journal) is a great thing to start doing.

And hey….maybe you will be able to help others with your words as well.

Sam.