#this probably isn't one of my best works

[tiresomeimagination]

I’m learning Spanish right now so I’ve been thinking a lot about the wacky ways Saeyoung would probably try to help you improve your language skills. In this context, italicized dialogue means it’s being spoken in the target/foreign language! Also the small marked off section is supposed to imply it’s over the messenger. Anyways, this was just a short silly idea I had lolol.

~~~~~

"What'cha working on there?"

came the voice of your boyfriend as he peered over your shoulder to catch a peek at what you seemed so involved in studying at the table.

You chuckled as his fiery curls entered the edge of your vision and you felt him leaning against you. "I've just got to get through this next chapter," you explained, lifting your textbook and turning it so he could read the title. You were taking a foreign language class and it was already so much to remember.

His face lit up at the sight of the title, recognizing the language immediately. "Oh! I know that one! it's pretty easy once you practice it enough."

"Yeah... it's just tough to keep up with the practice I guess..." You groaned, rubbing your face tiredly.

He hummed in thought, absentmindedly resting his hand on your shoulder. "hmm... how about I give you a hand?"

"Uh... well, I guess it would help to drill some stuff with somebody. I'll have a test coming up soon and I'm not sure if I'm ready…" you admitted, assuming he was offering to go through flashcards with you or something.

He gave you a confident grin. "Oh don't worry! You'll be acing your tests in no time after we're done!"

If you had known what he really meant by this, you probably wouldn't have accepted his interference so readily. But it was too late. The gears were already turning and he knew exactly what he was going to do to help you.

You didn't notice the change right away. You got up the next morning and went through your usual routine. It wasn't until you opened the fridge and pulled out a drink that you spotted something so strange you had to do a double take. 

The label was in a different language.

"...What…??" You breathed out, your brain struggling to catch up to what was happening. You pulled out a different bottle from the fridge, eyes widening as you found its label had also changed languages.

After a few minutes of rummaging through the cabinets, you realized just about everything had been relabeled in your target language. Once you reassured yourself that you had not gone crazy in your sleep, you came to the conclusion that only one person could be responsible for pulling off something of this scale.

"Saeyoung!!" You called out.

It wasn't long before the culprit in question came strolling in at your call. "Yesss, my honey?" he greeted you casually, and it took you a moment to register that he was speaking your target language.

"Saeyoung, what in the world is going on??" You huffed.

"Immersion really is one of the best learning tools, Y/N. Trust me, I had to pick up a lot of languages on pretty short notice with the agency," he explained, shrugging.

You frowned, brows furrowing. "I understood next to none of that." You grumbled unhappily, hoping he would get the idea and go back to talking normally.

Instead he just laughed, ruffling your hair teasingly. "You'll get the hang of it!"

Oh you were going to kill him.

— — — —

[Jaehee] "I can't help but notice that Y/N has been speaking strangely in the messenger today."

[Yoosung] "I noticed that too! I wonder if their phone keyboard is broken."

[Y/N] "Help!! Saeyoung change me messenger. Language stuck!! No use good T-T"

[Jaehee] "...I'm sorry, Y/N. I can't understand what you're trying to say. There's something wrong with your copy of the messenger?"

[707] "Don't worry, they're fine lolol. They're just using a special version today."

[Y/N] "fix language set!! >:( no more help;;"

[707] "You're doing great, honey! ^^"

— — — —

You tossed your phone aside with an aggravated groan. Your entire version of the RFA messenger had been switched to your target language, but only on your end. Part of you couldn't help but admire the effort Saeyoung must have put into all of this…but that didn't change the fact that it wasn't exactly the kind of studying you had in mind.

"Aww, is my grumpy little kitty getting tired?" You heard Saeyoung coo from his place beside you on the couch as he wrapped an arm around you.

You just pouted at him, your brain too tired to try decoding all his words.

He chuckled at your expression, leaning in closer. "You did really good today. But of course I already knew my 606 was smart, hehe..." he breathed out softly, finally speaking normally again, much to your relief.

You couldn't stop the bashful smile that spread across your face at his gentle teasing and tender praise.

Your flustered look only spurred him on. He slid closer and leaned towards your ear, slipping effortlessly back into your target language and whispering, "There aren't enough languages in the world to tell you how you make me feel, you know. I love you, agent 606~"

You shivered slightly at the feeling of his breath, recognizing at least one particular phrase in that. Before you could form a coherent response, he brought his lips to yours in a gesture that needed no translation. Maybe his way wasn’t so bad after all if you got rewards like this.

[sprucewoodmpreg]

still thinking abt the life series as a video game so here's a mockup of a chiptune battle theme for bdubs' ender dragon fight ^_^

[blueskittlesart]

cold fruit in a hot kitchen (so i had this great watermelon last weekend)

[oifaaa]

lying in the dirt thinking about how they made jason the impulsive brash bat when thats cass.

"the bat that punch first and asks questions later" thats cass thats casssssss

Cass' way of dealing with steph for a long while was just to knock her out and run off girl just does what she wants and I love her for it

[canisalbus]

I'm sure you get loads of these but heck I said I'd give it a shot anyway!

Your artwork is so inspiring and beautiful. I recently graduated from art school with a degree in Animation Production but I've decided I'd love to be an illustrator some day. Your work really motivates me and gets my brain juice buzzin. Keep it up!!!

.

[paimonial-rage]

what are they like in a relationship? For diluc

do you have headcanons about them? for xiao

[Character Analysis Ask Meme]

What is Diluc like in a relationship?

The day you found out his feelings, he didn’t approach the matter like most men in Mondstadt. He didn’t smile, nor did he meet your gaze. If you had to be honest with yourself, it seemed as if he wanted to be anywhere but here with you. Yet even with his stiff expression, he asked if you would meet him on the veranda privately. There, with the sun setting from behind and a slight dusting of red upon his cheeks, he then requested permission to court you. 

It doesn’t take you very long to notice how awkward he is in his courtship of you. Whenever you walk side by side, he always keeps a respectable distance. He does not reach for your hand, nor does he hold you close. Still, you can’t deny he’s earnest. Every meeting greets you with a bouquet of flowers. Every parting leaves you with a kiss upon your hand. 

It takes you a bit longer to see through his cold exterior. How his frowns when you speak are only in frustration due to not knowing how to respond in a way that’ll make you smile. How his eyes tend to follow you when he thinks you are not looking. How he turns away to hide his smiles when you do something that warms his heart. 

You come to the conclusion that even though he left his past behind him, he is a knight through and through. Never having been in a relationship before, he lets propriety dictate the way he acts toward you. It’s so incredibly stiff and awkward, you can’t deny that. And yet, when you look in his eyes, all you can feel is warmth. 

-----

Xiao Headcanons

Self-focused

Though many of the workers at the Wangshu Inn attempt to create a calming atmosphere for Xiao, there’s nothing he hates more than silence. Many people would not expect it with the young adeptus, introverted as he is. How would they know that the worst times of his life were spent struggling to survive on his own? And the best? When he closes his eyes, he can still hear them—the melodious voice of Sister Bonanus, the loud and rambunctious teasing of Brother Bosacius—his family. Sometimes, on the worst nights, he finds himself drawn to the edges of Liyue Harbor to let the sounds of life and living draw him to sleep.

Relationship-focused

Though you may have realized it before entering into a relationship with him, it only becomes even more noticeable after that Xiao isn’t one to express his needs. Oftentimes, it’s only until after he’s fully withdrawn himself that you realize something may have happened that caused him undue stress. It takes you time to realize that it’s not because he’s upset with you or that he doesn’t trust you; it’s simply that he does not wish to inconvenience you with his problems. It’ll take time and patience before he feels truly comfortable relying on you during his weakest moments.

[burning-academia-if]

Hey, this isn’t related to the story but I was curious how you got started with twine? Your story inspired me and I want to learn the program so I can make my own. I wanted to see if you had any advice or reference points. Perfectly fine if not, much love regardless!

I've messed with Twine on and off for a while now, so I'm not sure when I actually got into it? It was probably when I originally got into IFs back in like 2015 lol

I use Twine Sugarcube specifically, and I pretty much just watched/read through these:

Twine or Treat: a youtube playlist where a guy shows you how to make a game. Focuses more on making an exploration/puzzle game in Twine, but still has some useful/relevant info

Introduction to Twine: another video playlist, although again, I really only watched what I needed

The Twine Grimoire: there's 3, with each one going through more complicated concepts each volume, includes Harlowe as well as Sugarcube

Sugarcube (and Harlowe) also have their own documentation, but it's so Long and Daunting that I honestly just ignored it when I first started LOL. It's obviously useful to have and reference, but I always need to watch people doing the thing first. I really struggle with just reading through things personally. I'm comfortable enough with Twine now that it isn't overwhelming though lol

Also I'd argue you really only need to learn how to set variables to get started with IFs. Once you know how passages work and how variables work, you're almost set to make an IF.

I'd also recommend learning the very basics HTML and CSS just in case. There's plenty of Twine templates available for free on itch.io, but if you want to adjust them in any way, it's helpful to know CSS/HTML. Also just have fun and mess around! From visual novels to this IF, my learning process has honestly just been 'fuck around and find out' and it's been useful so far! I also think it helps with the inherent anxiety of trying something new too

But yeah, hopefully some of this is helpful/useful to you!

[elvisqueso]

I am on some bullshit right now, bruh

[irregularbillcipher]

watched the musical demon show (don't wanna name it so this post isn't in the tags) at the behest of an IRL friend and i can already tell this is going to be a piece of media where i absolutely cannot stop thinking about it, not because i really love the show as-is, but because it has so many individual components i really like and find incredibly fun or compelling, and i'm so frustrated that it doesn't come together for me

i think the main thing i can say about it as a show, setting aside some of the insensitive choices that were made that i really don't feel qualified to tackle or talk about, is that the entire thing sort of gives off this vibe of someone really excited to show you every single oc they made in high school and college and i very genuinely mean that in both the best and worst ways possible

there are some good hooks for season two though so i will absolutely give them that

[procrastinatorproject]

New game: Share your three best fanworks. No thinking, just the three that instinctively occur to you. Then copy-paste this ask to anonymously share with as many people as you want.

Okay. A) I love this! Thank you so much, nonnie, for a brilliant idea!

B) Whoof. That's tough 😅

Without thinking:

My very first fic. It is finished, it has pacing, it has an arc, it has an actual story... The prose might need a bit of polishing, but I think it's still some of my best work!

My most artistic fic:

I just... I don't know. I feel like it's very personal and almost has something lyrical about it and I feel very deeply about it, even if it is perhaps a little pretentious.

The third one is hard, though...

I'm very torn between something like A Night at the Opera, which I'm still extremely proud of, In the Palm of his Hand, which I love and hope to finish one day, and even The Cake is a Lie. Though the last two are probably not nearly as good in their current published form as they are in my WIPs, where I have additional material that really adds A Lot to them 😅

But I feel like I also want to put one of my metas here, because I have a bunch of those and they're important to me and feel like they're out of contention for this sort of thing. So here's my probably favourite bit of meta writing:

I love Rios and Agnes! And I find their budding relationship fascinating and gentle and lovely and want to think about it more. And this was such a great way to look at their interactions and psychology, and to explain why I think they make sense together.

(Also: it always reminds me of the incredible "Your Light on Me" by @regionalpancake and the gorgeous Love Comes Softly by @smhalltheurlsaretaken, which is essentially the same argument but as an amazing fic (and gorgeous podfic by @thelaithlyworm). And these kinds of connections always make everything better 🥰)

[cdreambur]

another fanfic idea by yours truly that i will probably need ages for or not even finish at all but i need to talk about it:

chapter one is set sometime in the middle of l'manberg's fight for independence. through an event i haven't decided on yet (maybe an attack from sapnap and/or george, maybe something stupid like him tripping over his own feet, etc.), wilbur ends up unconscious.

in the following chapters (i'm thinking maybe five but more are possible if i have more ideas), wilbur wakes up and lives in different alternate universes. and in all of them, one thing is always the same: dream is in love with him. every time he realizes that, he lands in the next one.

in the last chapter, wilbur returns to his own reality. haven't decided yet how exactly i'd end it but he would definitely notice that dream's feelings aren't any different in this universe than in the others.

[novelconcepts]

i don't make resolutions, but if i did

it would be to finish this fic

(and to be kind to myself for however long it takes to actually do so)

[pennielane]

in my brief absence from here i’ve managed to fall in love with a man 11 years older than me

[gideonisms]

what am I even going to do when I graduate? wait a few years and then get another degree? am I going to like have a party for this. Who would I even invite

[nostalgia-tblr]

it's not a plot hole if you do it on purpose

okay but there's a few "anti sylki" takes about at the mo which are converging in my head to form Wait I Think That Might Be How Whatever S2's Plot Is Gets Resolved and i am gonna splurge that onto a tumblr post because alas there is nobody around to stop me. And I shall be using screencaps to illustrate because everyone enjoys looking at hot people, right?

we shall start with the following sub-tumble: this bit of touching causing a nexus event is not actually a plot hole. we have indeed established that you don't get those things in an apocalypse, as proved by the fact that they didn't cause one just by arriving on Lamentis (neither of them is "supposed" to be on this timeline). by the rules we've been given thus far there should be no possible way for anyone to cause a nexus event here. certainly not by holding hands, ffs!

that's why everyone in this shot looks so surprised! WTF! "that's not someone stepping on the wrong leaf!" yelps mobius, who knows what to expect in such scenarios. he has spied an obvious plot hole and it shocks him! but for now we don't need to know how that impossible nexus event happened because for the short-term plot this is gonna get those damn variants 'safely' back to the TVA.

they are brought in and immediately separated. this is (maybe) important! they will not be in the same room together until near the end of the episode, which means no touching or doing any other gooey emo stuff at each other.

when they do reunite we discover that The Time-Keepers Don't Real. shocking twist! Oh no, Sylvie despairs as her years-long plan to bring down the TVA falls to roboty pieces around her!

And to sub-tumble again: I absolutely agree that Loki is having A Thought here about something Mobius said to him earlier in the episode. To wit: "the nexus event the two of you caused, whatever that connection is, can bring this whole place down." Mobius - who as we recall knows that the nexus event on Lamentis should not have happened - reckons that whatever the fuck that was must be pretty powerful. and he has a point (maybe). if holding hands can cause an impossible nexus event in an apocalypse what would happen if they got handsy and/or emotional at each other inside the TVA itself?

'Fear not, Sylvie, for I have worked out how to bring this motherfucking place down! Maybe those dudes were robots BUT we can still fix this because... um...' ALAS this is going to require some actual Feels to be expressed D: D: Loki awkwardly attempts to lead into this by explaining the theory: "We will figure this out. [...] Because, uh… Well, back on Lamentis…" Eventually he gives up and seemingly decides to just go right for the Declaration Of Feels.

OOPS, NOW HE'S FUCKIN DEAD, guess they won't be bringing down the TVA after all. Note that after all this we see a fair bit of nexus-tempting touchy-feely stuff but (BUT!) it all happens outside of the TVA and outside of normal time (whatever the heck normal time even is). And it seems you really can't cause a nexus event there.

And here I stop with one simple observation: Mobius's theory that getting your ship on with yourself can break whatever the TVA is remains untested and thus not proven wrong. This whatever-it-is might still destroy the weird agency that controls everything. Now that I have gone to all the effort of doing this post it probably won't but it might.

[coquelicoq]

i finally wrote an xword that i think might be nyt-submittable...i originally wrote it for the local paper though so i now have to go back through and rework the clues to take out the specific local ones and make some of the others harder. i know exactly which day of the week this would run in the nyt (if it gets accepted) because this type of theme always runs on the same day, so at least i know which clue difficulty to aim for, but i'm still finding it difficult to hit that precise level! i'm used to just making the clues as easy as possible because my local paper's audience is mostly people who aren't xword aficionados. i already reworked this puzzle a couple times based on feedback from friends and family but that was all still when i thought i'd be running it in my local paper. i kinda just want to be done with it but i've never had a theme and fill i thought were completely nyt-worthy before!