#writing retrospective

[babblish]

A Year in Writing; 2024 — A Retrospective

Due to circumstances I'm going to have to present this post a little differently than I normally do. You may note I basically retreated from fandom stuff, and I cannot share the fics I've published in chronological order. Nor can I share too much data in the way of word counts per each project exactly as I have done in the past.

Don't mistake me, I have been writing this year. It's just... something bad happened in my brain that isn't exactly burn out but is similar, in that presents in a way that means I don't have the cognitive capacity to write Prose™. It's been this way for the overwhelming majority of the year, and honestly I was already struggling with it for the last half of 2023.

There's a lot of reasons for this, some of them personal, some of them we're all struggling with to some extent. I could point to the increasing fickleness of fandoms, write a whole essay over how it is soooo incredibly difficult to remain motivated when no one is engaging with what you're working on, bitch about how fucking soul destroying and exhausting it is to be a disabled person in any capacity in our society, let alone one seeking access to further resources.

BUT that's not why we're here. This isn't a sob story, this is a post mortem of my writing efforts for this year. Sure it sucks to be you not able to read new additions to my fics, but the fact of the matter is I do not control the rate at which I heal, nor major life events that happen whether you are ready for them or not, and I most certainly do not control the rate at which hyperfixation.

Stats

Overall Word Count: 160303

Highest Word Count in a Day: 3227 (April 26)

Average Word Count on a Writing Day: 921

Priority Project: 118807

Other Projects: 1662

Notes, Emails, & Correspondence: 39834

What I Learnt as a Writer in 2024:

Personal private wikis and how to use them. It's still a learning curve, but each month I'm getting a little better at knowing what I need and what I can do.

How to be stronger and more resilient; knowing when it's okay to pack away a project (even it's unfinished but so close to completion) in order to focus on myself and my own immediate needs.

What I thought was strong will and resolve was actually catastrophically debilitating decision fatigue. With ADHD medication, I'm learning impulse control in ways that are downright humbling at my age.

(This is something I technically learnt as an artist years ago but...) When you're not actively practicing a skill but are still thinking about it daily, you're still growing and learning in understanding of theory that will be ready to bounce into action when you're ready.

Writing Goals for 2024:

I still want to finish Under the Wave, it bugs me to a neuroatypical degree that it remains unfinished. I cannot guarantee I'll be ready to return to it next year, but once I am ready I will make an attempt.

Outside of this I am unsure if I want to return to ToA projects. I quite like what I've done over the years and I fully support people going back and re-reading, downloading my fics, hell even binding them if you want, who even KNOWS what the internet is going to be like in 5-10 years time. (Just don't sell my fics for money or claim them as your own.)

But I'm tired, I don't know where that ToA spark is hiding anymore. I will ultimately go towards whatever makes my brain go brrrrrrrr, and for me rn that is in worldbuilding stuff and my gay little dnd guys. It is possible that finishing Under the Wave will bring it back again, but I can't make promises.

[2020 Retrospective] [2021 Retrospective] [2022 Retrospective] [2023 Retrospective]

[bam-stroker]

New Year Musings (2024-2025)

I want to take a look back on what I wrote in 2024 and muse on what I hope to accomplish in 2025

2024 was a huge fantasy genre focused year, but I'm really excited for 2025 to be super sci fi focused. I love both genres, but my sci fi style is very different from my fantasy stuff. I know a lot of folks know me for my robot fuckery, so 2025 is really gonna live up to the sex with robots year meme ✍(◔◡◔)

It's a bit lengthy, so I put more musings under the cut (❁´◡`❁)

Jan 20, 2024 - I kicked off my pen name with Rusalka!

There was so much learning that went into that story. From the writing and formatting, as well as creating cover art and illustrations - it was a big learning process. I'd written it in a fever state in 2023, and then spruced it up to publish in 2024. Within the year since I've published it I can see Just How Much my writing has changed. It's wild!! My editing brain hurt a little when I did a re-read of it last month, but the thing about writing is: stories are snapshots. I could edit for the rest of my life and have no stories to share. Rusalka may not be perfect grammatically/with formatting, but it is a step into the unknown and I can appreciate the love that brought it into the world.

Jul 10th, 2024 - the gay bugs happened with the Courting Web

I had SO much fun with that story! I adore, adore, ADORE Spark and Umbra (I already have at least 20k worth of drabbles/off shoots for them I'll eventually share). In keeping with the lesson that "stories are snapshots" I love the flexibility one offs give. As I struggled with my novel length projects, the shorts were able to stay fresh and exciting to me. There are less plates spinning plot wise, but I have the chance to pick things back up if I want to with the gay bugs. This story ended up my most popular, and I've been pleasantly surprised by the love folks have shared for them. There's only so much I can say in 10k of twink obliteration - so I hope to share some more about the characters elsewhere for those who love them as much as I do (❁´◡`❁)

Oct 13th, 2024 - Conquering The Dragon was slayingggg >;)

I've been working on a larger novel length project called Royal Rogue since 2021, which got me back into writing after a long long time. The thing is, I wasn't writing books/prose - I come from a film/stage background. So I was really struggling with all of the grammar/tense/POV stuff for it. I finished the first draft of the novel in 2023 but even then, I knew I was fighting the past version of my writing Too Much and I'd need to really do another rehaul in 2024. As a treat for finishing the first draft, I wrote Conquering The Dragon. It's set after the end of Royal Rogue and I was so torn on saving it till after the novel is finished or sharing it before. In the end, I decided to share it as an introduction to Asrir and Val (Valentine). I wanted to try something I'd never seen before, which is to drop directly into a role-play scene without the negotiation stuff happening up front. Then at the end the curtain lifts as a bit of a plot twist to show how their usual dynamic is. I am a solid dragon fucker, and this short is full of indulgent shit I want to bring to the dragon fucker community. Had a blast writing it!

2024 drafts

Novel Length: I'm a project hopper, so I was all over the place. The two biggest projects I was working on were Royal Rogue (ex-royal falls in love with a quirky dragon) and the first chunk of Bumper 2 Bumper (formula 1 inspired horny robot shit). I realized I caaaaaaaaaaaan noooooooooot work on 2 longer projects at the same time. And also, I learned that novel length stories are very difficult for me to stay interested in. Chopping Bumper 2 Bumper up to be a series of connecting story lines is what I landed on, so I can take my time writing it but share it before like 2027 :')

Sci Fi: Enter The Machine has been the one shot project I've been pondering for awhile. I knew I wanted it to be a short, but I also wasn't sure how to write the mind bending aspects of the story. I had to let it sit on the back burner while I learned more about writing. It's a tough one, but I have something Very Specific in mind and this is the story I was willing to take my time on to tell it how I want to.

✿ 2025 Goals ✿

Publish Enter the Machine

Publish episode 1 of Bumper 2 Bumper

Work on drafting out the other Bumper 2 Bumper episodes!

Finish the 2nd draft of Royal Rogue to release the full book in some form in 2026

Publish some shorts exploring Spark and Umbra's life/relationship! (I've got a holiday one, as well as some spider fuckery focused ones already getting drafted out)

Work on the cozy robot romance story drafts (this one is exploring disability for a human x robot in a coffee shop setting)

Truly the biggest thing I want is to just finally have Royal Rogue DONE. I have a lot of fantasy shorts I'd like to explore, but I know if I put it off any longer that book is going to fall into the abyss. And I have characters I really REALLY want to share with folks in it :')

OTHERWISE - LETS GO SCI FI 2025 BABYYYYYYYYY

[local-diavolo-anon]

i'm back!

ok so 2/3 days ago i found this youtube video where op turned Springtrap (or well, William Afton) into a fully build DnD character, and if i say so myself: things got out of hand fast

so here is my take on DnD Springtrap and specifically on that build (adding more infos under the cut for who is interested, i suggest to watch the video first)

starting with saying that unless you're playing in a scifi setting, this build is either not for you or to be modified, since in later levels spells are heavily centered around technomagic and electronic devices; personally when i will play him i will probably tinker around with the chosen spells and cantrips to make him less violently niche and/or more versatile

which kinda saddens me because it takes away not little of the characterization but, given most dnd stories take place in a medieval fantasy or high fantasy setting, a cantrip like On/Off or a spell like Remote Access are NOT particularly useful; so i will go for more psychic damage or necromancy oriented abilities, maybe i might take more than just 4 levels in artificier as well (especially given that again, all of those warlock spells at later levels are all technology oriented) but i need to see what those offer

however it is a kinda tank-y build given that with a shield on you can get up to a 27 of Ac, so even with low damage and not much hp you would not struggle too much to stay alive, and i like that!

as for the character himself, i put too much effort into my interpretation not to share it, so if anyone wants to play this guy as well, i fabricated a possible backstory that might come useful:

The character goes by the name "Dave Miller" (or whatever variant you want to use), and was originally a human artificier who created constructs for a living, mainly with the goal of offering aid to who needed it for whatever reason.

There however he ran into an issue, that being that a robot need a power source, and his own heart and lungs could not sustain a whole robot by themselves.

After losing part of his family to some kind of accident he became terrified of death, so with age he started replacing his own body parts with machinery to delay his last days (which made him a cyborg), until the point where he was very very close to become just a robot.

(This part may or may not involve a pact with a deity of death, this entirely depends on how you want to play him but it would make sense since the build is an artificier/warlock hybrid)

Through particular and very much not illegal experiments tied to necromancy he discovered that the life force of a living being could be shared, and used as a form of fuel. (possibly: age lived of the creature used= amount of extra months you get)

Here comes the second problem: this only worked with intelligent creatures, and more specifically, it worked best with creatures of your own race, which meant that he either went around murdering people or he found another solution. Non same-race creatures worked as well but not as good and there were not easy to find in the middle of a city and with a shop tied to your name.

And here is where and WHY he'd join a party of adventurers: after some time, his reserves or fuel were running VERY thin, and running into a group of adventurers was a god sent because by joining their party he essentially got a free pass to kill whoever he wanted, and reduce them to a dried raisin after sucking some life force out of them. Doing so you learn that the mowe powerful the creature is, the more energy it produces as well.

Your goal, that you as the player are following, when role-ing your character? essentially slay whatever powerful BBEG your Dm throws at you and suck all of that juicy fuel out of them, so that you can return to your little shop in the middle of the capital and return to create and sell whatever weird construct, doll, or robot comes to your mind for another few decades undisturbed.

And this is it. I think this might be a good backstory that could fit pretty much any setting you want to play this guy into, be it classic dnd or some scifi futuristic thing.

of course you don't NEED to use this one line per line, make up your own without looking back if you don't like it lol, dnd is the "make up shit and have fun" game after all!

Edit: also no his outfit makes no sense, i just went with vibes and decided a tanktop dress shirt, a twin tailed gilet and suspenders OVER said gilet was a good choice.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

We could have had it all...

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

[nenoname]

again it's wild that the mystery shack is right on top of a massive lumberjack graveyard where zombies actually rise up on their own every month??? and actually infected other people????

(yes i believe in classic stan pines fashion, stan ignored what the fuck was going on and beat up what-appeared-to-be-teens without bothering to ask a question)

[yuukirita]

Tomorrow...

It's actually a very happy chapter if you don't know about SecondBee Au... Compared to the last chapter at least. This one will make you laugh at least once (I hope)

Hug hug (or a single nod of the head)

[raijin-tribe]

I truly believe that the Raijinshuu is still one of the STRONGEST teams in Fairy Tail; even if they rarely get a chance to show it. (A Ramble~)

For the record, I adore Hiro Mashima. He's a creative soul and wonderful writer with drive I could only dream of. But nobody, not even the man himself, could convince me that he had any idea what to do with the Raijinshuu after their debut.

According to the Volume 13 Afterword, Mashima created the team on a whim along with the entire plot for the Battle of Fairy Tail. He wanted to create an arc centered around Laxus, and things like the Harvest Festival/Fantasia and the ideas for the Raijinshuu just came to him naturally for this arc. We actually almost had a different arc entirely—which means that Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow almost didn't exist... at least not in the way we know them today.

They served their purpose in the BoFT. And what happens after that? They are nerfed and sidelined unlike ANY other character. Yeah, a ton of characters get overshadowed and nerfed as the series goes on, but I wholeheartedly think the Raijinshuu has it the worst. The last time they're given any sort of justice is on Tenrou Island when they fight Rustyrose (but I'll ramble about that more in another post!)

Despite being a part of Team Tenrou, they are the only three that are CONSTANTLY left out. And over the course of the series, are pushed back into total background characters to having their characters and dynamic assassinated in the 100YQ. Considered nothing more than 'Laxus' Cheerleaders/yes-men.' Even in the newer Fairy Tail games they are COMPLETELY left out aside from a mention or two. (Not even DLC!! Like, WTH?!?!) I refuse to believe they are THAT expendable. (I've mentioned it before, but they are also some of the few Fairy Tail/Team Tenrou members with ABSOLUTELY NO backstory!)

Okay, I may be over exaggerating a bit... or not enough tbh! It's been a while since I rewatched/reread the series so I'm just going off what I remember. But I know that these are amazing and underrated characters who are so unique in design and magic abilities.... a uniqueness that I sadly believe is their biggest downfall.

I don't think Mashima knows how to write their magic (especially their eye magic) without defeating the enemy too quickly or overshadowing the main cast. (Don't forget that this is the same team that defeated a DARK GUILD in just a few attacks—where Freed didn't even lift a finger, might I add!!) This is why every big enemy they face has been immune to their eye magic in one way or another. Either by wearing glasses or being ANYTHING but human. (Rustyrose, Tempester, Wall Eehto... just to name the main ones.)

The Raijinshuu never get the chance to play to their strengths before they're sidelined... over and over again.

Look, from a writing standpoint—I get it. Really. Their magic is super OP if used in the right way. And it's not much of a story if the heros win too easily, if there isn't any conflict, stakes, or a challenge for the characters to overcome. Especially coming from characters who aren't even part of the main cast. It would be way too easy if Evergreen just turned the enemy to stone before the battle even began... Or if Bickslow took control of their soul.... Or not even mentioning Freed having the power to trap and straight up kill with his magic. But I feel like there is a better way to go about writing it then just pushing the Raijinshuu to the side every arc or knocking them down at every opprotunity.

Even before the BoFT, they had to be pretty remarkable to impress Laxus—especially young Laxus—so I seriously doubt they just gave up trying to improve themselves once they became more involved in the guild or even post-timeskip. If anything, they would've had to train and work even harder to catch up with that seven year gap. No cheats like gaining access to their second-origin though Ultear's magic. Just pure training and dedication.

I truly believe, or pretty much headcanon at this point, that they are always training and pushing themselves to be stronger. That they're always improving their magic and have new spells we'll never get to see. That they still want to live up to their name as Laxus' bodyguards. They just seem weaker as the series goes on because they're not the main characters. Plain and simple. Besides, you can't have already OP characters be even more over-powered. They don't get any cool fights or power-ups because they're irrelevant as far as the story goes. (As much as I hate to say it.) It doesn't really matter how strong they are as long as it's painfully obvious that Team Natsu is stronger. (Their fight with Gray in the 100YQ is still complete bullshit though.)

It sucks, but I don't think it'll ever change at this point—probably only get worse as they are used for gags, character fodder, or just plain forgotten about in place of more screen time for romantic pairings.

[asleepygremlin]

Pokémon scarlet and violet and its theme of isolation and overcoming that feeling

So I don’t know if people have pointed this out or not but I noticed with the main characters of Pokemon sv, they suffer from some type of isolation. This will only focus on the main characters which are Arven, Nemona, Penny, Kieran, and Carmine. This will discuss events of scarlet and violet and its dlc so spoilers will be in this post. I apologize ahead of time for my poor wording as I’m not good at putting my thoughts into words. (I also apologize if this theme was obvious and I just sound like an idiot for noticing it now)

Tl;dr the main characters suffer from some kind of isolation whether it’s visible or hidden

The most obvious one to notice in my opinion is Arven, first I’d argue he suffers from physical isolation as growing up, sometimes the one parent he has isn’t even home most of the time and at the very least had mabosstif. He has no parents in his life and the one that partially is, is now dead. Next from the way Arven latches onto the player later on especially when seeing how he acts in mochi mayhem and how he seems kind of jealous of the players new found friendship with Kieran. This to me also shows he doesn’t have any friends either (I believe he even says mabosstif is his only friend which is kinda sad). So in short Arven has no support figures besides mabosstif, but he doesn’t truly have any human connections. That is until he makes friends with the player, Nemona, and penny

Penny is the second one that I noticed, like Arven, she also suffers from physical isolation by locking herself in her room. She’s suffered from bullying which would obviously lead to isolation and has probably caused her to close herself off from everything, but at least she has her friends at team star right? Although she does, when she first was friends with them, her identity was anonymous. She knows and connects with team star but they will never truly know and connect with her until later events which finally allow her to bridge the gap.

For the next one, I’m going to skip Nemona for last and put the kitakami siblings into this one section (also this one relies the most on speculation since we don’t know exactly what their experiences were). Unlike Arven and Penny, both of them don’t suffer from physical isolation but mentally. Carmine and Kieran have both grew up in a remote village for most of their life until attending blueberry academy. The isolation they must have felt must have been staggering. Although from the sounds of it they eventually were able to find solid ground via the league club. Now with Carmine and her prickly attitude, that might have caused her to push others away and keep to herself at times (I admit I’m speculating, I wish the dlc was longer DX). As for Kiki, I admit it’s a lot more easier for me to speculate because I relate to him more I feel you get more insight into his character compared to Carmine sorry Carmine. He is a lot more introverted and shy compared to his sister and I bet his love for the ogre led him to being a bit of a social outcast and moving to blueberry academy most likely didn’t help with him, even just feeling like he was, an outcast, plus his already bad self worth. When he meets the player, he is still very shy but seems ecstatic to finally having a friend to talk to… until you have to lie to him. I could go on an essays worth on how Kieran’s self worth and paranoia caused him to quickly think he’s being betrayed and see himself as unworthy of the player’s friendship but that’s another story and this paragraph is already getting long enough already. By losing his friendship with the player, he further isolated himself from others and it’s even worse in the indigo disk. He now isolates himself by being a ruthless champion with everyone afraid to confront him. Now he’s not alone from being a shy outcast but instead from being champion and hiding his already fragile heart with thorns. Ignore the poeticism of that last line lmao and yep this section with Kieran is of course the longest. however while both were able to find some solace in the league club, I’d argue they were able to truly open with the help of the player especially Kieran who learned to accept himself as he is.

Now finally Nemona and one I find the most fascinating because she isn’t as visibly isolated as the others and admittedly is the reason I wanted to write this. First I’d like to point out something I think people forget often, just because people seem to have a great social life and friends doesn’t mean they don’t feel lonely. Nemona is champion rank, student council president, and is overall a star student. However because she’s at the top, some people are intimidated by her and in one area convo she mentioned how someone refused to battle her because she’s a champion and battle wiz that would wreck him. Then in another area convo, she laments over people thinking that battling is natural to her and ignoring the genuine hard work that she puts into her skills. And in her final convo in her dorm room, for this I’ll just copy and paste the quote from bulbapedia and let it speak for itself.

"People would tell me to my face that I'd only managed it 'cause I have some innate gift, or 'cause I was raised differently, or whatever. And suddenly I started to feel like there was this invisible wall between me and everyone else."

(Also I was also going to add more info from the scarlet and violet novel “after the rain with you” but it hasn’t been officially translated and the only translation I found was via google translate so I decided to take it with a grain of salt and not add any info despite it having the most insight on Nemona’s character imo, if you want to take a look here’s the link)

Despite being the at the top being up there can get pretty lonely… until she met the player and had someone standing right beside her.

Anyways if you’ve read this far then thanks. This was longer than I thought it would be as I mainly typed this in one go only taking a break to do more research for Nemona’s section so sorry again if it seemed kinda rambling at times.

Edit to add: rereading this I realized that Kieran and carmine in fact do suffer from physical isolation as they live in a remote region that resembles a traditional Japanese village which could add some cultural isolation. Another type of isolation I didn’t think about was class isolation(is that even a term?) coming from Nemona as she comes from a wealthy family which could also adds to the gap between her peers. I guess I didn’t think about it like that since in comparison Arven and penny’s situation is what would usually come to mind when you think of the word isolation, my bad.

[geddyqueer]

hard to overstate just how much lynch has influenced me as a storyteller. i think the most important thing he gave to the world was the concept that he was going to show you something, he was going to offer you a story, and it was your task and your responsibility to figure it out. the audience is part of the exchange and has a role to play, and the audience's role is just as important as anyone else's.

[monbons]

Stitches and Sentences Roundup 2024

Thanks for the tags on your writing round ups @run-for-chamo-miles, @drowninginships, and @emeryhall! I just got back from a weeklong trip and instead of doing laundry, I'm joining in on the roundup fun.

FIC I moved from lurker to active fandom participant this year with a bang. I posted my first fic ever for EGF and have basically been writing or posting non-stop since then. I wrote/co-wrote 5 fics this year and clocked in at 101, 725 words.

Kill Em With Kindness - rated T, 6.5k, Watford-Era, getting together fic

When no one seems to care that Baz is sad, Simon steps in to help. The only reasonable explanation for all Simon's kindness is that he's trying to kill Baz, right? (My most popular fic as measured by kudos.)

Knock Your Socks Off - rated T, 4k, Watford-Era, 7th year fic

Baz steals Simon's socks. Simon blames the sock monster. Chaos ensues.

The Eternal Life of Baz Pitch - rated M, 42k, Addie LaRue AU, a truly epic romance

Told in two alternating timelines that span from 1700s Hampshire all the way to early 2000's Washington, DC, this fic follows Baz as he spends centuries searching for the love of all his lives. (This was the fic that convinced me I could write long and holds a very special place in my heart. Is it angsty? Yes. Is it some of the most beautiful prose I've ever written? Also yes.)

The Boy Next Door - rated M, 47k, and they were neighbors AU, a coming of age romance

When Simon moves in with his gran, he decides to befriend the mysterious boy next door. He changes both their lives in the process. (My most popular fic by literally every other measure.)

The Reason for The Season - rated T, 1.6k, text fic, co-written with @thewholelemon

Dev and Niall make a list. Holiday hijinks abound. (A bday gift for @mooncello)

ART I do not currently have a great way to track my dolls and searched my Instagram to do the math, only to realize I hadn't posted every doll I made either! (If anyone has a good art tracking system, I'm open to ideas.) If my count is correct, I clocked in at a grand total of 35 dolls this year, including:

10 Simons

15 Bazzes

2 Pennys

2 Nialls

2 Devs

1 Mage

1 Fiona

1 Agatha

1 Shep

The picture below shows my earliest dolls, where I was still experimenting with style and form. As you can see, many of them are quite flat. (Fun fact: All of these dolls--including their clothing--were made before I owned a sewing machine.)

Going 3D was actually an accident, but we have the Watford Baz and Simon below to thank for it! After committing to 3D dolls, I kept evolving my pattern---improving joints, proportions, and adding details like ears!---until we reached my most current iterations.

Now every doll has their own special pattern that takes into account their canon proportions, where available. Notice Baz is tall and slender where Simon is extra fluffy!

I did not include any of the dolls I created for COC 2024 since I assume everyone has seen them already, but I linked the master post in case you missed a day.

Finally, in addition to dolls, I also created 2 plushies (a merwolf and a bunbaz) plus 12 finger puppets this year.

It's hard to quantify dolls like fics, especially since almost every doll before COC did not have a dedicated tumblr post. However, here are some fun art stats:

Most Popular Art Post: The Watford Map

Most Popular Doll: FIONA!

Second Most Popular Doll: Felt Smut (Look @emeryhall! Dragonboy Simon is indeed the sexiest given that this is my duplicate of your doll!)

I also had three art collaborations this year:

Baz and The Prophecy - Doll and Tapestry, a COTTA collaboration with @iamamythologicalcreature

Ballet Baz and Disco Simon - a CORB collaboration with @melodysmash (Read the fic she wrote--Body Language. It is as adorable as these dolls!)

Watford Advent Map - a tapestry made for COC 2024 with help from @rimeswithpurple

While it has definitely been a fabulously productive year, I think my greatest achievement has been all the new friendships I've fostered because of fandom. Y'all bring me so much joy, and I am so happy I found this little corner of the internet.

I am currently drained of all creative energy (I can't imagine why!), so you may not hear from me for a while. However, I promise I am still around---likely catching up on all the fic and art I've missed while being a literal word and doll factory. With all that said, if you have an idea and wanna collab in the new year, I'm all ears and tons of fun!

Hellos and high-fives for the last time in 2024! @alexalexinii, @argumentativeantitheticalg, @aristocratic-otter, @arthurkko, @artsyunderstudy

@best--dress, @blackberrysummerblog, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @bookish-bogwitch, @confused-bi-queer

@cutestkilla, @emeryhall, @facewithoutheart, @harrie-leithillustration, @hushed-chorus

@ic3que3n, @ileadacharmedlife, @katatsumuli, @larkral, @letraspal

@martsonmars, @messofthejess, @mooncello, @noblecorgi, @orange-peony

@raenestee, @rbkzz, @roomwithanopenfire, @shrekgogurt, @skeedelvee

@stitchyqueer, @supercutedinosaurs, @talentpiper11, @twinkle-twinkle-up-above, @theimpossibledemon

@valeffelees, @whatevertheweather, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @youarenevertooold

[angst-and-fajitas]

(a short nugget I love but otherwise have no use for)

He will never forget or stop thinking about this moment for the rest of his short life. Maddie Kim, sitting cross-legged under the glare of the afternoon sky, looks at him while giggling like a doofus, then throws her head back and laughs. Her dark eyes crinkle as her cheeks lift and her shoulders bounce with her, and it's contagious. His everything loosens. He feels his own mouth lift, and then he's laughing too. They laugh together, at their own stupid joke.

     There are feelings there, so big and so abstract and unfamiliar that he never fully unpacks it all. It's not love yet—not then. It isn't quite gratitude or relief either, though those are definitely in the mix. But one thing he always remembers feeling, strangely distinct, is a quiet certainty right there and then that as Maddie looks at him, she can see him. If there is any tiny fragment of his soul that isn't just a premature Holstrom—any stray hair that's just himself, just Caspian—that's who she's looking at.

     For just a moment he's only himself, and he's making her laugh, and it's all real. He decides then and there that Maddie Kim is his one and only friend in the world. It's one thing—maybe the first thing—that Logorythms can never take away from him.

[asexualjedi]

Still so iconic of Matt fraction to start his run like anyways off screen Clint and Kate who have met a few times before this run have become besties and are fundamentally now intertwined characters. Like and that’s just canon now. I think more comic writers should be willing to kinda just decide a new status quo like that especially with characters that have been under utilized

[timetravelsong]

𝐈𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬.

excerpts from a book I’ll never write

[miseria-fortes-viros]

are there any other lies you've told your obnoxious coworker. i yearn for more

not yet for this specific guy as im relatively new and we work in different departments. However i had a similar guy at my last job that i did not like and when i announced i was leaving he was like WHAT?!?! WHY????? so i told him that witness protection was finally letting me go home and he believed me. so theres that

[sysig]

Talk yourself into it (Patreon)