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snapscube · 1 year

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Remember when people were calling you the "long lost McElroy sister"? Do you see the similarity at all, or do you think it's just because you share a similar creative niche (gaming/streaming/comedy) with the McElroy brothers?

Lol, "when" people were doing it.

I still get it to this day, friend, despite my constant protests.

I used to understand, and it was even expected initially if not personally encouraged! There was definitely a period of time where they were my biggest comedic/creative inspirations, and the truth of the matter is that I am a mannerisms sponge. I mimic people around me, and people that inspire me, and whether or not it's more than the average person I have no clue, but I will go through seasons of daily watching a particular personality or creator I'm fond of and/or inspired by and usually come out the other end having picked up certain tendencies VERY quickly, a large portion of those being speech patterns.

There's definitely a segment of my content around 2017/2018 or so where, yeah, you can very much tell I adopted a McElroy-esque speaking pattern directly (like what felt like 70% of other Tumblr users also did lol) and it was both because of how much of their content I was into at the time AND also because at the time I found their output inspiring as someone who was used to more... Loud Gamer forms of comedy, to put it bluntly. So at first I took the comparisons in stride and saw it as a signal of my own growth as an entertainer, and my ability to be funny in a way that wasn't just Loud = Funny.

But the thing you have to know about me, and my time as even a minor public figure, is that this comparison was not the first of its that was constantly levied at me, and it unfortunately was not the last one in the slightest. Some will remember the days in which I was a reasonably renowned "Bill Cipher" impersonator in the Gravity Falls fandom, and the pattern was very similar at the time. I dealt with people CONSTANTLY telling me that, despite all of my attempts to separate myself from the voice work I did as the character, I always sounded Just Like Bill even when I was just using my casual speaking voice. If this sounds familiar to those of you who have only been around since the dubs popped off, it's likely because I also go through the same thing ever since I became known for Sonic impressions.

And then outside of voice work I've had my style of content continue to be compared to the McElroy's body of work and even beyond to the likes of Jerma and other big-name-of-the-era content creators. And I have to once again stress: I am completely self-aware that it is not entirely unfounded. I mean, the most recent one I got was just the other day when on stream someone told me I had a speech pattern similar to Northernlion. And like, I even admitted right then and there.... yeah! That makes sense! I've had NL compilations going into my ears and brain for hours upon hours on end lately. So I don't mean to only complain and say "this makes no sense" with delusions that it's completely baseless. BUT, I guess if I do have to circle around to a point, it would be that, though I can occasionally understand comparisons, I would hope y'all in turn can understand why it might not be an easy thing for someone like me to hear, especially in the way it never really seems to go away? Even if one like Bill Cipher fades out, the whole "SnapCube is just a female version of [insert larger male peer in the content space]" thing is something that cycles along regardless. And I get it, it's human nature to compare and contrast. I do it too! But as someone who is always trying to stand out in what I do and make my own value as an individual known above the cacophony of content saturation, I do implore people to think twice about the language they use when making otherwise favorable comparisons. Recommending my content by saying something like "if you like Jerma/McElroys/NL/etc., then SnapCube gives off similar vibes" makes of a WORLD of a difference compared to "This stream is just something Jerma would do" or "Penny is just a female Griffin McElroy" (both things I have heard almost verbatim, constantly). They approach the same ideas, but one gives me so much more of a chance to like... start off a first impression as My Own Person and not just a derivative Girl Alternative, if that makes sense.

Whoops I talked about this way too much :) Can you tell I think about this a lot LMAO

Anyway here's the obligatory joke response that's been spread before

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bloomingstay · 2 months

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favorite kpop group tag~ thank you @binniesbang!

who is your favorite kpop group?

stray kids, if that was any surprise

which member sparked your interest first?

hyunjin! i've almost always been pulled in by the dancer (lee know i know but) specifically the style of dance hyunjin excels in. the isolation is so satisfying and cool. for some reason choreo always gets a song stuck in my head??

But also!! I had heard they produced their own music and that really got me interested in kpop again

who was your first bias?

chris bang 🤍 went from zero to ult within no more than two days tbh…

what makes them your current bias?

oh god. um. i'll put this in the least embarrassing way possible. (this is a kpop tumblr blog I should probably get over it)

it was a particularly bad year. i stumbled upon their silly videos (thank you stay for the edits<3) and they made me laugh. then i started seeing clips of chans room and him interacting with the boys and just like... he's so wonderful. he's generous and kind and loving and thoughtful. just a shy lil guy who also happens to be a flirt and a fucking dork and it's cute man idk shut upp

who is your bias wrecker?

i was certain i'd never have one, i truly adore each of those boys so so much.

i was however proven wrong after a very sweet, silly compilation of binnie being ridiculous. followed by a face cam of his sclass performance in the supreme jersey?? and the curls?? he has such amazing stage presence and he's a great dancer. but he kept going from his cute sweet binnie expressions looking like he was just so into it and having fun, to the "dark rapper" eyes and commanding stage presence. and like, wow. 🖤 i am a sucker for that kind of duality.

which members are you currently obsessing over that aren't your bias/wrecker?

in another reality han is my wrecker. that boy is the epitome of what i used to look for in guys: babygirl. lol. well, and insanely talented and funny and everything. I adore him

after befriending a couple seungmin stans, i started looking for pics and clips to send them and found myself so incredibly impressed with him and touched by some of the things he's said and done. plus he’s a funny little shit.

hwang hyunjin is such a sweet boy. since we got producer jinnie on the last album i have been looking back and just so impressed with his growth 🤍

when did you first discover the group?

(Upon editing I realize I read this as ‘how’ but oh well)

okokok so

i was a kpop fan 2014-2017 and went all in. kcon and concerts the whole thing

but then i was just on my usual 6 hour yt shorts binge as i tried to fall asleep and saw skz reacting to the "your eyes" mv, specifically felix's part, obviously. i watched it like 12 times just cry laughing at han screaming, hyunjin trying to escape, channie hiding behind his hands and squealing. it was just so funny to see a group kind of clowning their own shit? i thought they were hilarious.

then i saw julien (solomita) had reacted to 'topline' and i was soooo into it. immediately went to watch some mvs and decided cool i'll be a totally normal casual fan of this group’s music….. :)

THEN a lovely lady i'd followed on my 10 year old tumblr account posted about skz. i messaged her that I’d finally decided to check them out and she was kind enough to answer questions and entertain my onslaught of messages as I screamed about how much I love these boys. and she still does everyday so. thank you hana 🌸

have you ever been to one of their concerts?

not yet~

what are some of your favorite songs by them?

THIS SECTION TOOK ME WAY TOO LONG. disclaimer: I absolutely could not include non ot8 this would’ve been 30 songs (I’m probably going to cheat)

Hall of fame. bitch ever since that live stage (which was the first time I’d heard it) I’ve listened to the sclass album 3 times a week no joke, goddamn it’s so good. so just know, i pulled almost every song from that album off this list when i made cuts

levanter. a hard pill to swallow mid relationship struggles and holds a lot of meaning for me.

secret secret. i can't get over how professional this song sounds and how it was just a few years in?

leave. where i got my username~ like I said, relationship stuff. You have not yet really bloomed When the new season comes I hope the warmth will make you bloom Into a flower that never dies

sclass. *bling bling* HIPHOPSTEP. such a fucking chaotic mess of a jam.

megaverse. the breakdown? MEGAPHONE. Han, bitch? We make the rules nobody can hold me yeaaahhh. Your body shakes - STRAY KIDS EVERYWHERE ALL AROUND THE WORLD. Sorry, flawless.

gods menu. ate, bitch. chan was something the fuck else

domino. neeed I say more

social path is bomb

grow up. read lyrics for the first time just now ow

eternity. told u I’d cheat.

love poem. big cheat my list worth it

I am going to be so mad when I realize I missed a song I listen to 7 times a day but been doin this for 2 hours so I’m calling it. Also forgive me I’m still working through the discography (backwards) and haven’t listened to the full first couple albums.

the adhd is allowing no further focus or thought so i will be tagging the same friends as my last tag post no pressure <3

@channieblossoms @skzms @roseykat @thefantasyden @seungsungracha @astraysis @channieswife

Thank you again @binniesbang for tagging me~!

#I WONT APOLOGIZE FOR HOW LONG this is #if yo i wanna read it you can if not that's absolutely okay too EVEN if i tagged you~#chatty #tag #<3 #binniesbang #ur a sweetie tbh thk u #stray kids #skz #stay

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sadaveniren · 10 months

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I'm the same anon as before and you're so right!!! I don't have a normal 9-5 so my hours are whatever I want so 🤷‍♀️ and just because of that my weeks looks incredible different to the ones of my friends, I will be doing the most random things at the most random times and I Can't imagine what my life would look like if in addition to the time I had access to the same kind of money they have.

I also think some fans don't want to seem crazy and want to feel superior so they shut down headcanons like this one just for the sake of it

Sooooo many fans try to kill fun headcanons just because they don’t want to “give antis ammo” or whatever. It’s like they forget two key things: 1. Fandom is fun 2. Antis are gonna fucking hate us anyway

Like we aren’t going to convince a hateful anti to leave us alone. We sure aren’t going to convince them Harry and Louis are together. We might barely be able to convince them either of them are allies much less part of the LGBT community. So why put any effort into policing ourselves in that manner? Just let us have fun!

I’ve been in this fandom since 2014 and I still have fun every single day. I also have made sure to cultivate an overall positive fandom experience. I have a large group of friends who are all as positive as me and we just share fun headcanons and try to puzzle stuff out in the most low key and low risk to our mental health way possible. I block hate anon pretty liberally. I don’t go looking for anyone who is doing anything I don’t care to engage with. If I see people getting sucked into discourse or spiraling into unhealthy behaviors when it comes to doomsdaying away I go in the OPPOSITE direction of it.

I watched “rad Louies” become a thing because fans were convinced Louis was being sabotaged in 2017 and rolled my eyes and continued on in my lane, writing fic and figuring that everything would be okay and now 5 years out I can pretty confidently say I believe there’s a lot of evidence Louis cut the promo himself on Back to You and his Epic contract because he didn’t like the musical direction he was going in.

I watched fandom tie themselves into knots over and over again with Harry’s stunts and have just shrugged and carried on because it’s not my life and not my job to worry about what Harry is choosing to do with his life.

I learned in May 2015 when fandom tried to “change the narrative about party boy Louis” that we as fans don’t actually have control at all. 1DHQ worked really hard to give us that illusion that we were all powerful and we had control on the marketing decisions etc but guess what? No one TALKED about Briana openly when Louis got papped with her in May. No one shared pap pics on tumblr. And yet we STILL GOT BG. We bitched and moaned and debunked left right and center and yet they CONTINUED ON.

As a fan my only job is to have fun. I have fun by trying to work out timelines and make up cute headcanons. My headcanons aren’t hurting anyone and despite what antis think I really don’t care if I’m right or wrong lol hell I’ll be the first to admit that I get shit wrong a lot. *gestures towards my guess that Louis was doing something May 25th when it turned out to be an error on his poster (which is a whole other issue but whatever) and that Steve Aoki might make an appearance at Louis’ Vegas show (which turned out to be that Louis showed up at HIS show)*

I’m having a blast. If my headcanons get debunked oh well I move on. Fandom is supposed to be fun! Be in it because you enjoy it and you HAVE FUN! If you aren’t having fun maybe… find something else to do?

#answered #idk I just think some people want to be taken too seriously #and they’re missing out on the fact that you shouldn’t be doing shit for others #do it for yourself

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lavender-phannie · 4 months

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I SEE PEOPLE sharing how they got into the dip and pip phandom and I want to participate

I was first and foremost a pinterest girlie. The typical oh my parents won't let me have any form of social media except pinterest oh oh no boy little did they know all the internet shenanigans ends up there it's objectively the best place to "culture" yourself or "acclimatise" for the internet or something

Like, really, it's all content from all the apps compiled for YOU according to the humour YOU like it's amazing

Anyways going off topic .. I have intense FOMO so I obviously started to educate myself on all things internet

One day whilst idly browsing pinterest I happened on pictures of dnp from a tumblr post I don't remember what the post itself was but probably something phan but I didn't know that at the time and I immediately went and checked who they were because I must know and google said they're two British youtubers people ship together and I said okay cool and just left it at that

A month or two later they happened onto my pinterest again and my brain said hey you've had a pretty well curated for you page all things we like so maybe check em out see how it goes probably something we like so I said ok bet and I did and I watched a video of them I think pinof 4 and I was like okay these guys are super random they're funny but I don't get half the things they reference

But then the youtube gods saw my destiny and said this is your fate child and starting recommending it to me all the time

So I gave in and I watched them and they were amazing, healing and wonderful and they really really helped me

Especially like BIG and dans monologue about gender and sexuality really resonated with me cause I didn't really think about this before but I realised I actually agreed with him that gender is baseless but that rant is for another time

And phil, loveliest dearest funniest phil, whenever I was having a hard time he'd been there cheering me up

If you can't tell I joined the phandom in the cursed covid years I was here for the 2022 phivorce which was objectively hilarious

I know this is incredibly long. Longer than necessary but I've typed it all now and words must not be gone to waste so here you are and here we are

Sending best wishes during these trying times (2 weeks since last upload) (they deserve the break) (I'm clawing at the walls of my enclosure)

Anon i am also going insane and clawing at my walls idk how i survived a 5 year hiatus and the insanity of phannies seeing dan's foot in a video and calling it "joint content" (also don't worry about stuff being long i love reading it!!)

Kinda relate with the pinterst thing except for me it was instagram and i followed dnp accounts that posted stuff from other social media i wasnt allowed to have at the time... people underestimate the importance of instagram and pinterest when it comes to getting people into new fandoms hahah (although i was introduced to dnp through friends but you know what i mean right??)

anyway same same about phil being there to cheer me up when im having a rough time... in 2017 i had a huge dip in my mental health and i literally just watched phil's videos every night to get to sleep lol! I wonder if he knows how infectious his positive energy is?

WHERE WAS I GOING WITH THIS RAMBLE!? anyway yeah throwing my jumble of thoughts at u anon sorry

#dan and phil #asks

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blueberry-lemon · 4 months

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What I Did In 2023

Ever since finishing school in 2017, I've always had a hard time feeling like I've "accomplished anything" in a given year. The months all blur together, and it's crazy how quickly I will forget something that happened or something I did.

To help myself with this, I wrote up a post last year of What I Did In 2022, which honestly felt good. So I figured I'd try again.

Sorry if you find these kinds of posts obnoxious. Hidden under the Read More just in case you do!

A few things I accomplished in 2023:

I wrote some stuff

I wrote Chapters 3 and 4 of Soul Symphony: Abandoned Encore. This is a sequel to a webcomic called Soul Symphony that I made and completed from 2010-2015. Olivia Myers, former music maestro and magical-girl adventurer, lives life as a depressed freelancer after quitting her teaching job. I think literally only like 2 or 3 people are even reading this, but good enough!

I wrote about JOMO, the Joy of Missing Out, when players have to work with different characters and resources in games.

I wrote a review of Bittersweet, an album by Jamie Paige.

My big piece of the year, which I chipped away at for months, reflected on nostalgia in culture and our personal lives.

I wrote about Cozy Games, which bizarrely was recognized in a Critical Distance weekly roundup.

I wrote about my fear for the direction of art and social media, a review of the writing in Sea of Stars, and other Cohost/Tumblr posts, which you can find in the #blogofkylelab tag.

As usual, I've continued my work as a Writer working on Rhythm Doctor, detailed below.

Art and Game Dev

Another sad year of barely 👏 drawing 👏 anything 👏 which is a huge bummer but I'm coming to terms with it.

Don't have anything finished to show for it, but doing a lot of messing-around in Twine and RPGMaker, which has been good for practice at least.

I funded the guest art and music for an upcoming card game, Isle of Swaps. I commissioned around a dozen artists, who I think drew around 50 total cards. Getting paid work as an artist is getting rough out there, so I wanted to help freelance artists the best I could.

Still working on Rhythm Doctor and A Dance of Fire and Ice at 7th Beat Games

We released Act 5 of Rhythm Doctor, which was our huge undertaking of the year! I co-wrote this with fizzd, and for the first time we were working with a completely blank slate with no levels made beforehand. I was recently looking through my Google Docs and was reminded how many different drafts and outlines I had come up with for this Act, some of which were long before the "athlete" story was even decided upon at all. I eventually helped come up with the character of Lucky (designed by our pixel artist Winston), and we got it all built out from there. I had a part in almost every sentence you see in the Act, I believe. I think I did an okay job, and players seem to really like the story and characters of Act 5, so that's a big relief.

Other Stuff

I've been running IndieGamesOfCohost for more than a full year now! I hope people have been enjoying this. It's been really tough to make the spare time for it, especially getting multiple developer interviews up per month, but I'm gonna keep pushing forward. Maybe "one interview a month" is a better goal to aim for. It's hard to tell how much people enjoy the efforts, but people do keep Liking and Sharing and Following so hopefully that means I'm doing something good with my spare time lol.

My partner and I moved! Aside from Act 5 of Rhythm Doctor this was probably the biggest thing. It was my first time apartment-hunting, as well as finding and paying for a moving truck and buying big furniture, getting renters insurance and all sorts of annoying stuff. In past apartments, I was lucky enough to be invited in as a roommate after the place was already set up. I also helped my parents pack up to move from the house they lived in for 28 years. Lots of moving. Hopefully no moving in 2024.

I hope your 2023 was bearable! Take pride in the little things you were able to get done. Let's all push through 2024 together.

#blogofkylelab #gamedev

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kingedmundsroyalmurder · 6 months

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Tagged by @batrachised. Thank you!

1-How many works do you have on AO3?

102. We will not discuss the number of fics posted on the ff.net account I maintained in high school.

2-What's your total AO3 word count?

298,956. Lower than I would have expected, actually. My longfic days were primarily, again, in high school, so on AO3 it's mostly shorter one-shots.

3-What fandoms do you write for?

Currently on a Blue Castle kick. Previously my main fandom was Les Mis, mostly bookverse, and prior to that I spent a decade or so as a Harry Potter girl. I have dabbled in other things, but none of them deeply enough for me to consider them actual fandoms that I am in.

4-What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

In the darkest time of year -- Hadestown, post-canon. I believe this is also the fic with the most notes on tumblr.

The Black Sheep and the Mad Muggleborn: a love story -- HP, post-canon. I really liked writing this one and, like all my HP work, now have deeply conflicted feelings about it.

And I could be enough -- Power Rangers 2017, character study. I only wrote 2 fics for this movie and I adore them both so much.

Stormforged -- ASOIAF, alternate ending. This was written for Femslash February and represents the sum total amount of time I have spent thinking about ASOIAF since reading the first four books in a week during standardized testing week back in high school.

We rose with voices ringing -- HP, alternate post-canon. Can you tell I default to song lyric titles a lot and also enjoy musicals?

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

I am trying to be better about this! For a long time I didn't because I hated everything I wrote the moment I published it and the only way I could publish at all was to throw a fic out the door and never think of it again.

6-What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

You know, I'm not sure. I haven't done full on angst in a long time. Probably either Waiting for sunrise (LM) or With nothing to remember (also LM). Honorable mention goes to Real in its consequences (still LM) which exists solely to take a ridiculous premise seriously.

7-What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

It's new and still my beautiful child, so this one goes to Ties That Bind, Bonds That Strengthen (TBC).

Oh! Honorable mention to The title of citizen (LM Animates-verse). It's... it just has to be read to be understood, tbh.

8-Do you get hate on fics?

Not since the old aforementioned high school era ffn account, where I once got flamed for writing het. Ah, the good old days. (It wasn't even endgame het, lol.)

9-Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Nope. I've played with some fade to black and a couple, like, sensuous bed scenes, but I find it boring to read so I don't write it.

10-Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have come to love crossovers, honestly. I like putting characters into Situations. Can't think of any particularly crazy ones though.

11-Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I've ever found or been told about, although realistically with how much I've written and how long I've been doing it I'm sure there are some out there.

12-Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, but I can't off the top of my head remember which ones, unfortunately.

13-Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

No. I am a dreadful co-writer. I will, however, build a world with you at the drop of a hat. Shout out to @steelplatedhearts for the PoTC mermaid worldbuilding we did years and years ago that I still think about fondly.

14-What's your all-time favourite ship?

It varies. Right now unfortunately it's the two leads from the Forbidden Hugs story, which is unfinished original fiction. Fandom wise, I still like me some Logic and Philosophy.

15-What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Anything started earlier than this year, unfortunately.

16-What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I have gotten decent at having an entertaining narrative voice without it being too distracting.

17-What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot? What plot? Plot is when people sit in rooms and have conversations about their feelings, right? What do you mean Events must occur? I'm calling my manager, this doesn't sound right at all.

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

Mostly feels needlessly pretentious, honestly. I don't know if I've ever really even considered it.

19-First fandom you wrote for?

HP, starting at age, oh, 14 or so.

20-Favorite fic you've ever written?

Again, Ties That Bind is still my beloved child, but I have a huge soft spot for both Power Rangers (2017) fics. Oh, and underdog fav status to Never go anywhere, never see anyone, the nichest of niche crossovers where Mary Bolkonskaya befriends doesn't-even-get-a-canonical-first-name Aunt Gillenormand.

Tagging @lemeute, @manyswarmsofbees, @amarguerite, @ohhgingersnaps

#audience participation

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bawwsadface · 10 months

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hello

incoming a long, rambling, wistful and romantic post

what is up my party people. it has been years. i may have a handful of reposts on here from 2018 and 2020, but this zone has not been in regular use for me since early 2017. so it's interesting to come back.

i didn't come here because twitter is dying, i'm still on there. in fact i also made a cohost, and regrettably i'm the most active on instagram these days of all things (mostly cuz of the stories feature) but i digress. twitter dying has made me reminisce about days when websites still existed and the internet could be fun instead of just algorithmically served slurry slopped onto the plate of 2 apps.

coming back here and looking at the blogs i still follow, seeing how many years i've been mutuals with people i'm just Real Life Regular Person Friends with now, has been a trip for sure. my tenure on this website is actually a lot shorter than it feels like in my mind. i registered in january of 2012 and was regularly active until summer of 2017. that's not nothing, but also it feels like 3 decades worth of living happened on this site in those 5 short years. i met so many of my closest friends here. almost all the social circles i have found and/or still find myself in either started or overlapped here in some way. i met my first partner on tumblr. i did a lot of Existing on this website in my early 20s. i even used to have a podcast on here man lol.

but oh how the times did change. by 2017 i was comfortably discovering who i was as a person, and going out and living all kinds of wild adult fantasies my dorky teenage self could only have dreamed of. tumblr had become a place i reported back to after doing things irl, and was no longer the destination for discovery it had once been. in 2018 i had the most active and busy year of my life. i also finally finished college. i'm not gonna act like i had everything figured out then, i didn't. but i was comfortable in my skin by that point, something i started off this journey decidedly not being.

and yeah if you're close to me you probably know that time for thombo after 2018 was difficult. and then you know, covid etc. i live in chicago now tho so that's a plus from that time period of my life lol.

so now the tides are shifting again. i'm trying to take better care of myself. the internet has become such a wasteland and is absolutely no fun to use anymore. most of the people who are still on tumblr or are getting back into it like me are around my age group it seems. i'm turning 30 next year. life is draining and i just want a space online where i can write and look at good jpegs again. and it seems like i'm not alone in that desire.

idk who's still following or what's going to come of my presence on here as time rolls on. but for all those whose lives have touched my own through being here, thank you for everything. i miss so many of you.

anyway here's a pic of me and @halo--hall from a few weeks ago 🖤

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cagedchoices · 10 months

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GET TO KNOW THE AUTHOR.

name: mel

pronouns: they/them/theirs

preference of communication: mainly tumblr IMs these days, but i have discord and wire and occasionally i will drop my info on tumblr, give it out privately if asked, or add if someone else is looking to add. it can take me a while to work up the courage to message someone in the first place and i'm really... not good at the usual social cues of "hey how are you/good how are you?/what have you been up to?" but i'm usually game to chat about other stuff

most active muse: Caleb. i've had a lot of other muses but he's been the one i've been most consistently able to write in the slightly over 3 years since i first started writing him.

experience/how many years: i had a couple false starts trying to set up rp blogs for Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Wirt from Over the Garden Wall back in 2014 and 2015? but i just never really managed to get off the ground and start writing in-character for them because i was super heavily intimidated by the rpc and too nervous to approach anyone. finally in january 2017 i stumbled across a parody of Portal 2 on youtube called the Unauthorized Musical and discovered that there were already a handful of muns on tumblr who had picked up characters specifically based on that production and regularly hosted rabbit streams where they'd watch the video again together and welcomed anyone who wanted to join to do so. i noticed nobody was really writing any antagonistic characters against them so i wound up setting up a blog for GLaDOS and following everybody i met during the stream and that was essentially how i became hooked on tumblr rp. i've been kicking around on and off for about 7 years now.

best experience: there's so many to choose from, but i think i'd have to say my best experience was when i started writing Caleb. i was just fresh off watching Westworld season 3, i was actually feeling more compelled at the time to try and write either Dolores, Maeve, Clementine or Teddy but i felt like i wouldn't do any of 'em justice. i ended up making a sideblog to my old multimuse after deciding i would try writing Caleb, and that's where i almost immediately connected with melody/aworldofyou/copiesofme and was enthusiastically introduced to a bunch of other muns residing in the tiny but mighty westworld rpc. 🥰

rp pet peeves: one is pretty much the same as Sandra said; making a new main blog in the spur of the moment. exhausting all energy on curating a distinct aesthetic for icons/banners/promos/custom themes/etc, and then completely losing interest in a week or 2 without ever getting to write that character. and then more often than not the process gets repeated down the line until that person either becomes overwhelmed from having too many blogs to manage or too many memes to answer or too many starters to write.

i also don't particularly love memes that promote making rp into a popularity contest or seeking an almost constant stream of validation from other people. things like "send a _ and i'll rate your blog on a scale of 1 to 10/using a scale template" i try to stay far away from. arguably every notification you get on tumblr is an instant dopamine hit just like all social media is but. idk there was just something about those blog rating/character rating memes that made them feel more addictive to send and receive than like, taking the time to give someone your honest opinion on how you feel about them as a person or on their writing and characters and such.

another similar thing is reblog chains to the effect of 'reblog this if you actually like following me/seeing me on the dash.' i really don't like these. there's a level of self-deprecation and guilt-tripping involved and when people already feel awfully low and vulnerable to negative self image this just makes it worse. especially when people post with side commentary like 'oh nobody will reblog this from me lol.' and i don't think they're always necessarily aware that this is manipulative behavior, but...it is. even just the way the source post is typically phrased, it preys on insecurity and it makes me sad when i do see mutuals reblogging posts written like this because then i'm like. just sitting there thinking "i'm not a spambot so...if i didn't like following you or seeing you on my dash i would not be following you??"

other forms of reblog chains like 'reblog to give the person you're reblogging from a hug' or 'reblog this and say something nice about the person you reblogged from' are far better in my opinion because they don't inherently contain that same level of insecurity. they put the focus on lifting up and supporting the person you're reblogging from instead of centering on yourself.

plots or memes: i like both but i am very much a memes person because i feel like i'm not very good at plotting.

long or short replies: i don't really have a preference! but lately my thing generally seems to be letting the length creep up so my replies just get longer and longer over time. i never expect anyone to match me, but like. the one thing that would crush my soul is me posting like. 5-7 paragraphs and getting back a one sentence or one word response 😭

are you like your muses: i have a few things in common with caleb, one of them being that we're both neurodivergent and just trying to exist in a society where it is typically seen as undesirable to be classed as such. i stumbled across a venn diagram a while back comparing and contrasting common traits associated with ptsd and autism and it has given me a lot to take into consideration in the way that i portray caleb

tagged by: @k4ndall

tagging: @gunslingcr @paddyfuck @weirdwonderful @killjoysanonymous @prettydead & you (not labeled)

#i'm an underachiever — out.#dash games.#in which getting to know me means getting to know...that i ramble a lot

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fuzzimutt · 1 year

Text

*Returns from the Void?*

Hello. Happy New Year.

It’s been strange, lol. Twitter became my new base of operations for many years, but I kinda miss things here, y’know? This was always my favorite social media. I’m gonna try to post here again, audience or not.

I have also renamed my main and personal tumblr: TehMutt → JustFuzzi, just to keep things tidy. I haven’t gone by “teh Mutt” in quite some time anyway, lol.

So hey, how about a roundup of the past 6 years? LOL [TL;DR version: I’m two locations later; Did way more conventions for a bit; had a major health scare; currently trying to get back to doing what I love.]

[End of] 2017:

Moved to a place where I could have a dedicated studio. It was small, but awesome

Roster switch to new fursona: Fuzzi. She’s great. Art of her here. Relevant for branding things, lol.

2018:

Website launch! check out FuzziMutt.com! 🌐

Did Furry Weekend Atlanta, AnthroCon, and my first Midwest Furfest. (twitter posts linked.)

2019:

Bought this monster, learned many new tricks~

Did FWA2019, Megaplex2019, and MFF2019

Had a whole adventure with an awful job, rage quit, then was asked to come back for a different branch. 🙃

Attempted (and nearly completed!) an October Art Challenge.

2020:

You know. Not a great year for anyone, but hit a low point with disaster after disaster. Had to move again; lost my beloved pets 🌈, battled chronic health stuff that involved a tumor. There were no conventions, business slumped for all. Virtual cons are neat, tho.

New and current studio, tho. Biggest one yet:

2021:

The voidiest year. Still no conventions, I had to contemplate what to do with business.

Work was all-consuming and not healthy for me.

My health was not healthy for me battling continuing chronic issues.

2022:

Finally stuck it to my awful job, never to return to abusive corporate retail again if I can help it. Just in time, as my chronic health thing required surgery. It was not successful. This came back later.

Cautiously did FWA2022 out of necessity.

Started a great new job that would allow me the time to run business in earnest; excited planning!

Left Etsy for many reasons, but launched my own store right on my website, and finally got on instagram. 🤣

My biggest health scare. :( I had a cryptogenic stroke. The cause was complicated, but a lot of blame was on the meds I was taking for my tumor/chronic thing. That lead to another surgery to finally be tumor free. The damage was done tho. I’m okay physically outside of one-sided loss of strength, but my memory is a little affected and my ability to manage neurodivergent things.

Therapy is great and important.

I have been slowly trying to get back into things since, but new job took a weird turn and I find it eats up my energy as I navigate my new health status quo.

2023:

Hi. Here we are, lol.

My plans are getting back to business in earnest, with a possible day-job-change in the works. One of these days I’ll be stable enough to just sit and sew and make cute stuff, I swear. Anyway, I’ll be intermittently posting things lost in the void and probably keep referencing this post for a bit. Hello again if you are still here on tumblr, and hi, welcome for any newcomers.

#The VOID #where i've been #update

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ghoste-catte · 1 year

Note

multiples of 9

@sagemoderocklee i know it's you

9. How do you find new fic to read?

Go to the GaaLee tag and sort by new, lol, since I've read almost everything in there at this point. If I'm joining a new fandom I'll generally sort by complete and under 15k by kudos for the pairing I'm interested in, or find an author I like and go through all their works and bookmarks, but in my old age I've become deeply accustomed to my single ship. I miss the reclists of ye olden LJ days; they were a great way to find hidden and underappreciated gems.

18. If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it involve?

Since you didn't specify a fic, I've got a couple of sequels/expansions on my existing fics planned.

For years now I've been planning to write a remix of if nobody moves, nobody will get hurt called 'if nobody gets hurt', which is basically the original story but expanded and from Gaara's POV.

There's an after-the-happily-ever-after epilogue to The Stolen Child that's actually based on a post someone made about it here on Tumblr ... but I need to ask their permission first, and I've been too shy.

There's a prequel to Worship as I Please that goes into the much-requested alcove in Grass Country, though probably not in the way that most people are hoping for (it's a pining-while-fucking fic, so heavy on the pain).

There's also an epilogue to To Love Like Broken Glass that @we-return-in-waves requested, which I won't give too much away about.

And finally, there's a part 2 to Try Again, where Lee teaches Gaara to do much more than kissing.

27. How long did it take to write [insert fic]? Describe the process.

Since there wasn't a fic specified, I guess I'll go with my most recent fic, Tsuru no Danna. I originally hoped to write the fic in one, one-hour sitting like I've done with a couple other fics recently, but it ended up being a bigger story than I planned. Ultimately, though, I think I wrote it in like 3 hourlong sittings over 2 weeks or so? That doesn't include the amount of time I spent outlining and 'marinating' on it (by far the longest part of my process). I also had to forgo my entire typical editing process so that I could make it in time for HorrorFest.

36. Do you visualize what you read/write?

Oh, definitely. What I write way moreso than what I read. When I'm reading, I'm generally pretty immersed in the story, so unless something's just super-duper visually evocative, I'm just really absorbed in the words more than anything. When I'm writing, though, I definitely swing wildly between "I know exactly how I want to describe this and the perfect words that sound lovely together" and "I know what's supposed to happen in this sequence and what it would look like but have no idea how to describe it." A lot of my clumsier, uglier sentences come from the latter, but sometimes striking at something 4-5 times to get the perfect sequence churns out a decent one, too.

45. What’s something you’ve improved on since you started writing fic?

I think I've improved on a lot, honestly; when I look back and read my first fic from 2017 it feels very amateurish and awkward to me. But I think I've most improved on developing my own author voice as well as (to an extent) being able to sometimes evoke the voices of other authors. I've gotten a better sense of how to word and pace things to give a poetic feel vs. a fairy tale feel vs. a childlike feel and so on. It's been a journey for sure!!

questions for fic writers - ask me some!

#ask meme #answered #anonymous

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sunflower-butch · 2 years

Note

I’m just gonna start by saying that I’ve already typed this whole thing out then my old as time computer died again! Anywho there’s tears in my eyes rn but I just hope I remember what I wrote in the first place😂

Hi Пчёлка! Which apparently translates into bee/little bee affectionate??? Bees are cute and you’re cute so I though I’d give it a try!

I’ve seen painted denim jackets before and every one of them looks so cool. I’ve always wanted a denim jacket though I do have quite a few cool jackets already.

How dare tumblr be homophobic against my half-assed flower paintings 😠 (Although I did see you were able to post I normally which is weird)

Fustercluck is stolen directly from my favourite sci-fi book.

Do you have a favourite book? Doesn’t even have to be for the plot it could be just for the aesthetic.

Love, just because just because it’s isn’t it my cup of tea doesn’t mean it can’t be yours! I’d never judge you for it, plus you’re not the first person to like it after I gave them a recommendation (you’re the second one but that’s not the point lol)

AS for Wild West Ronance all I’m saying is that for a brief period the Victorian era and the Wild West existed at the same time. Imagine... Nancy goes with her father who is attending to business across sea Canada/America doesn’t matter, they get there and he leaves Nancy alone for a bit so she’s decides to take a walk (bringing a shot gun in case) so she like sitting somewhere in a full Victorian dress reading and holding a shot gun, enter stage left COWBOY Robin!!! Hat, boots, and horse, who sees this beautiful lady readin AND HOLDING A GUN! That’s all I have to say thank you for coming to my ted talk.

Ah yes, Alvvays, my sweet, sweet Canadian band WHO STILL HASN’T RELEASED CANADIAN TOUR DATES(I may be a bit salty about that)

All three of those music recs are lovely!

99 Luftballons will always be bright red and childhood memories, Twinkle Lights is giving electric purple and sleepovers at your friend house in summer without A/C but also driving around in the middle of summer, Atom is bright orange (like max’s hair, or cheese) and also jumping on the trampoline.

YES! I am a Paramore fan they’re my second favourite band. This Is Why sounds like the colour maroon but with a bit of blue added in, not enough for it to be purple but enough the darken and mute the red.

One last thing about music but both Paramore and Alvvays are releasing new music for the first time since 2017 (Very Online Guy has been stuck in my head since it came out and I may be going a bit crazy) but all that with MOSS just being released means I’m being very musically fed. Blue rev comes out in 12 days and I am HYPED!

I actually had to look at up what a bradford pear was, here we have so many cottonwood trees I always feel so bad for people with a cotton allergy.

I guess that is a bit gay of me, speaking of gay I need more piercings! Yeah, I have decided on the hair I just have to go pick up the dye!

Do you have any pets? I have many but I also don’t want to be the weird one

As for the mutual thing, that’s for me to know and for you to (possibly) figure out.

A bit of a Victorian sign off today!

Sincerely and entirely yours

-el

Hello sweetheart! I’m so sorry your computer is being homophobic. Damn those Boomers and old people 🤪

I think I’m going to melt at that nickname. Little bee? 🥺 I love bees so much. That just made my brain go ahdjskjdkeksk. You think I’m cute? Yet again I say lord have mercy on my poor gay heart. I just know you are adorable as hell.

They’re so much fun to paint! Maybe one day I could paint one for you, if you’d like. Jackets are the coolest! Maybe it’s just because I’m bisexual, but layers!!! Jackets, button ups, flannels my beloved. I have a particular love for denim jackets tho

Oh, what book? I fucking love sci-fi dude

Oh lord, I love a lot of books, it’s hard to pick favorites. Ask me to pick a favorite child, why don’t you? You’ve found another subject I don’t know how to shut up about. But in all seriousness, The Hunger Games and The Hobbit were both very important to middle school me and I love them still very much. Also The Giver. I haven’t read as much recently because school gets in the way, but I loved “Leah On the Offbeat” by Becky Albertalli (god I related so much to Leah it’s not even funny) and “Crier’s War” by Nina Varela (enemies to lovers my beloved) are both recentish reads that I adored! How about you? Any favorite books?

Oh I’m aware! I say it all in jest, I swear <33

OH OH OH YOU ARE SO RIGHT. I see your cowboy Robin and I raise you: Outlaw Robin. Featuring Victorian Nancy with her gun seeing this swaggering cowgirl who speaks multiple languages and has a Secret Backstory roll into town, then seeing her wanted poster and deciding to try a little bounty hunting while also being hopelessly intrigued by her 👀 Is this AU sitting in my WIPs? I will confirm nothing—

El, darlin’, I could listen to you describe music in colors all day. That is so cool, and they sound so accurate!!! Atom is so orange, yes, and your imagery for Twinkle Lights? Astounding.

That makes so much sense! I love it so much already and I legitimately cannot wait for an album from them. I have been obsessed since I first heard The Only Exception. Last Hope remains one of my favorite songs in the history of ever and I WILL belt it full volume any chance I get.

!!!!! I’m so excited!!! I will have to listen to it all. We really are being musically spoiled this year and I am loving every second of it.

They look pretty, smell terrible, and are my worst seasonal allergy 💔 My parents both have trouble with the cottonwoods but thus far I’ve somehow ended up lucky enough not to inherit that one lol

Piercings YES, those are so hot and cool. I don’t have any yet, but I’ve been dying to finally get my ears pierced. I’m hoping to have a good chance to do it over fall break or something

Oh gosh, if you count with me now, I would say no because college, but back home is a farm so we have MANY. Dogs, cats, horses, goats, donkeys, you name it. No cows tho. I’ve always wanted a fluffy cow 😂 Do you have pets? I’m happy to hear about them <33

Darn, but incredibly fair! The mystery makes it fun, I am simply curious. Tell me one thing, perhaps? Are you from the US? If you’re not comfortable sharing/want to keep the mystery, that’s cool too of course!

Affectionately yours,

- Max/Lo

#elmax anon #I also have to go to bed because I have an exam in the morning #wish me luck!

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childside · 1 month

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Little update of my life since the last time I rant here on 2017-ish(?), just for memories

Well, today is 2024 but let's recap :

2018

I dropped out of college (in my last year while preparing for final) because I need to work 9-5 job. Feels lonely and severely depressed. Financially struggled to support me and my mom, but at least I got to do something. My social anxiety was very bad too. Using mass transportation for daily commute was very exhausting. But well, I'm still alive. And then I think 2018 was the first year I tried to see a psychiatrist for my depression.

This year was pretty weird for me because it was the beginning of my "whore" phase lol. I started sleeping around, had one night stand here and there. And somehow I get into bdsm.

2019

This was the most entertaining year so far. I stop my anti depressant cold turkey, and it affects me so bad. So still depressing. And somehow I join bdsm community and identified myself as a submissive. And yeah, I got myself a partner as my Dom. So I'm in bdsm relationship. I was so obsessed with him and literally obsessed. Because he treated me so nicely. But we're in open relationship (which actually not my things because of I'm very jealous, but i signed the contract just because i dont wanna lose him).

And things get so much in my head and I have a breakdown, suicidal thought won't stop, so i came out to my mom about my mental issues and i admitted to psych ward. It was a memorable experience. Somehow I enjoyed being in that psych ward. Like a safe place.

But because I need to be there for like 2 - 3 weeks, I resigned from my work. My boss already had new secretary anyway. So yeah, I was suicidal, mentally ill, and jobless. And by the end of the year I was back psych ward for another 2 weeks.

2020

Covid era. Well, not really affect me since I was jobless and already in my room all day. Still jobless. Going out of my house only for psychotherapy, meds, and sleep over at my Dom place. Not much happened this year I guess. No psych ward. I try to cut my hair buzz cut. I love it.

2021

I get admitted to psych ward again. This was the very bad one. I really couldn't think straight, severely suicidal. But then the doctors try to create discussions between me and my mom. Things get pretty easy from there. Me and my mom finally in good terms. I get better I guess. But I still jobless and mentally ill. Got money support from friends and family tho. Not much but keep us hanging.

2022

I'm still obsessed with my Dom, but then he needs to get back to his hometown, so we barely meet and not much sleep over, we have to stay at the hotel if we want to do "stuff". I get back to drawing, especially digital drawing and food illustration just for fun. This year were great. Still jobless and mentally ill tho.

2023

Get back to psych ward. Not as severe as before. Low key just because I feel very insecure and jealous with my partner's new partner. It's annoyed me so much, I try to planned my suicide. Well, thankfully I'm still here. Nothing much happened after that. Still jobless and mentally ill.

But by the end of the year, I decided to "retired" from bdsm community and left twitter/x (this is where I meet people from community), and barely active at instagram. I just using tiktok now for the source of entertainment, along with Ao3 and Tumblr for fangirling purpose. I kinda less obsessed with my Dom somehow, and getting back to obsessed with series 9-1-1 and buddie. Oh and this band named Dogpark. I get really obsessed, and it was fun. It is fun. Like, Finally I'm back to fangirling era.

2024

It's still early for recap, but so far I'm still jobless and mentally ill.

Well, I hope I'm still here next year to recap my life.

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ccfetish · 2 years

Text

(I felt emotional and wanted to reminisce but feel free to ignore this as it’ll all be my rambling)

I remember being a Darren stan circa. 2016-2017 - It really was very different back then. I also remember the morning after (cause timezones lol) that computer games show, in New York I believe, (anyone remember that?) when I woke up to all this talk on twitter and tumblr about this new song darren had done that he hadn’t released yet. People could not stop talking about ‘The day the dance is over’ and I went into the shaky, grainy clip and listened to the first 20 seconds before I turned it off. I could feel what a special song it was and it deserved more than a shitty iphone clip that could barely pick up the words he was singing.

So I decided that I would wait with hearing the song until it was released as a recording or I heard it live. That last option was said more as a joke because as a European, we all know those words are far more dreams than reality. Well jokes on me because just a few months later I found out I was going to elsie fest. There were several reasons why I was freaking out but the song had a lot to do with it as Homework had yet to come out for a couple of months which meant I’d be hearing TDTDIO live before anything else - something I thought was impossible. I couldn’t wait for that magical moment where he sang that song as I stood in the audience and everything was perfect...

Of course, it never ended up working out that way. My ‘magical’ moment ended up being me walking into central park, lost af trying to find summerstage and suddenly realising there was music playing in the background... darren’s music... darren was soundchecking... the day the dance is over. It wasn’t the special moment I imagined with me running around central park as darrens voice echoed through the trees like some weird scene from a movie but it was perfect. Everything about that day was perfect.

From the meet and greet that will forever be the most cherished three minutes of my life (us yelling at eachother, me telling him his Norwegian pronunciation was terrible (”I go to norway like once a year” wtf darren since when) and me leaving and him grabbing me to tell me to go see a dolls house on broadway cause I’m Norwegian all stand out. The soundcheck which was all kinds of chaos (”you guys out there listening to soundcheck, don’t you dare tweet about this next song it’s a surprise..” *plays ducktales*). The wonderful people that made it so special (AJW, Vic, B, Maddie). As well as the wonderful performances by Lea, Alan, Jeremy, Chuck, Keala... and so many more.

Today, several years later I was sitting in an Uber. No longer a small teenager in a tiny Norwegian town but instead driving home to my apartment in London as an adult and somehow TDTDIO came on my shuffle. I hadn’t heard the song in years and I sat there with a small smile on my face, remembering all these things I mentioned. 2017 me had a great time at elsie and I will never come close to forgetting those memories but I do miss them.

I met darren again in 2018 and while it was wonderful, it was different (except a very funny, quite odd moment) and this fandom and darren has continued to change since then. I sometimes miss the easier times pre-acs, others I’m so grateful that we’re past it. However, I’m always grateful for every piece of art darren ever created. Especially the day the dance is over, it acts now as a placeholder in my heart for those very special times.

#darrencriss

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boxoftheskyking · 2 years

Text

It’s my birthday so I’m doing a fun thing

Stolen from @deputychairman bc it looks like a good time and I miss writing

List the first lines of your last 20 stories. See if there are any patterns and choose your favorite opening line!

(I’m not counting my little Tumblr fills)

There are bodies in the creek bed. (Pick Up Every Piece, The Untamed, 2021 WIP) I dig it. Economical, sets up the recurring image, sets up a question

It’s meant to be redemption, or at least a chance in that direction. (Something Good, The Untamed, 2020) A little clumsy, but I also tend to start with a series of short sentence so it’s better in context. Does set up the question.

He does still love life on the road, even after three years. (Something for Yourself, The Untamed, 2020) Pretty straightforward, not super hooky

Nina doesn’t expect to arrive on deck first. (Continue to Continue, Six of Crows, 2020, WIP) Man, I do have a pattern of short little establishing lines

On a typically cold early morning in October, Daryl talks to himself. (A Man Asks for Help, Letterkenny, 2018) I do like this one. It’s followed with an “Or, rather” which I slightly regret, but I do like this fic

PLEASE BE ADVISED, the notice on the door to the mess hall reads in clear red print. (The Mountains and Hills Before You, Star Wars, 2018) Good setup of a question, if not the central question

Steve, if pressed, would say that they are fine. (Fourth of July, Stranger Things, 2018) I like this bc it feels very evocative and also Steve is always pressed poor thing

Caleb would never hurt him. (Ye Shall Receive, Turn, 2017) aw I miss Caleb and Ben. I think there’s some good tension here. Again with the choppy little babies.

Ben comes back to see him off, which he appreciates. (The Sticking Place, Turn, 2017) I do so much “clause,” comma “which”—I gotta work on that

“I don’t like it.” (Resurrection, Turn, 2017) I mean, typical.

“One month,” says Jesper, kissing Marya’s knuckles. (Delay, Six of Crows, 2016) I mean he’s a sweet lil boy, and it does set up a question

The guy who comes into the pub looks every inch like a potential client. (The One Where There’s a Kid, Leverage, 2016) This one I was trying to do as similar to an episode in my style, which was very to the point and script-like, not much emotion

Adam wakes up on Saturday morning in his own bed, which is the first disturbing thing. (Friday, Raven Cycle, 2016) Nice setup of a question and also a recurring image. Nice use of “disturbing” since that’s the overall tone of the piece lol

The crack of the bat is the first sound of summer. (Summertime, Teen Wolf, 2012-2016) Boom, bam, classic, doesn’t get better than that, ultimate my-style opening. THIS IS IT

It’s a Resistance-friendly bar, one that attracts all sorts but the fights are never too bad and the drinks are probably not poisonous. (Interlude: In Flashback, Star Wars, 2016) mehhhh too long and not hooky enough

Poe and Snap were gone a month longer than planned this time, narrowly avoiding capture on a sparsely populated planet hardly bigger than a moon. (An Old Song, 2016) It’s decent setup but I wish it gave more preview of the tone of the piece you’re about to read.

“It’s not going to show us the actual future though, right?” Blue sounds more hesitant than Adam expected. (Impossible Things, Raven Cycle, 2015) This was so long ago! I so rarely actually start with dialogue, which is wild bc that’s like all I ever write.

Two weeks after the funeral, Calla sends everyone out of the house on various contrived errands. (Dissertation: in fragments, Raven Cycle, 2015) I kind of wished I’d started this with a line from the dissertation out of context to knock the reader a little off kilter

“No, no, no, no.” (A Thousand, Thousand Years, Raven Cycle, 2015) Suits this fic, actually, quite well.

"What's on the docket, Wonderboy?" (Wonderboy, Maze Runner, 2014) I think it’s classic, it works, it’s hooky, not overthought

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vikingqueer · 3 years

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music recommendations because i have some thoughts™

i don't wanna be that person who's like "my music taste is so weird lol" but i find that very often most of my friends don't really care for the music i like so i thought i'd just make a long ass post about it on tumblr instead. Fair warning, I'm very passionate about MIKA and The Mechanisms and so this very quickly got VERY long because it is part of my ongoing campaign to convince people to listen to mika and the mechs.

1) MIKA in general, but especially My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019) and No Place In Heaven (2015) (especially the Deluxe version!!)

MIKA is a kind of British singer (half Lebanese, grew up in France blabla), and you probably know him for Grace Kelly and Relax, Take It Easy from his first album Life In Cartoon Motion from 2007. He writes a lot of FUN music, interspersed with the occasional slightly sadder song, especially when looking at an album like No Place In Heaven, which contains a lot of songs with gay themes, resulting in some songs that are just a little bit ouch. He's originally classically trained and has a frankly RIDICULOUS range and idk he just writes very good pop music. Also I have so much respect for that time he talked about how a lot of pop is very fake, with like expensive cars and stilettos and mini skirts in the snow and said "Because I walk down the street, and I don't see any of that. I see fat women and gay men. I don't know... That's real". He's written 5 albums; My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019), No Place In Heaven (2015), The Origin Of Love (2012), The Boy Who Knew Too Much (2009), and Life In Cartoon Motion (2007).

For starters, I recommend listening to Last Party, Origin Of Love, Grace Kelly, Blame It On The Girls, Blue, Happy Ending, Pick Up Off The Floor, Last Party, Underwater, Tomorrow and Tiny Love (yes this is a long list but i REALLY love MIKA). If you want a slightly broader palette that's not just my favourites, I recommend the Mika starter pack on spotify.

2) The Mechanisms. I warn you. I am making this a thing. I have been obsessed with the mechs since last march.

Boy, where to start? The Mechanisms were a British 9 member space pirate story-telling cabaret that "died" in January 2020. They rewrite songs to fit retellings of various stories. I don't even know what genre I'd describe them as, but probably folk but steam-punk?? Their 4 "main" albums are concept albums, and I honestly just recommend listening to the from beginning to end in chronological order. A good way to get into the mechs is also to listen to UDAD and then watching the live show on youtube or alternately try giving Death To The Mechanisms a listen, to get good quality live show audio of TBI and various other stuff. Also, it was streamed on YouTube and someone combined the footage with the album audio and it rocks. Really, I think the mechs' best selling points are honestly just their concept albums:

Once Upon a Time (In Space) Their first album from 2012. I'd say this is the most "easily digestible" for the general public, since it's a retelling of various fairytales. So, what if Old King Cole was in fact not merry, but rather a cold-blooded dictator, intent on colonising as much of the galaxy as possible. What if Snow White was a general, looking to avenge what King Cole did to her sister, Rose. What if Cinderella was to be wedded to Rose the day that King Cole attacked in order to kidnap Rose? But y'know, In Space and also like every other mechs album it's a beautiful tragedy. Fave songs are Old King Cole, Pump Shanty, and No Happy Ending.

Ulysses Dies at Dawn You guessed it, it's a story about Odysseus, or Ulysses because I guess Ulysses is easier to rhyme or fit in the meter or something, idk. Ulysses is a war hero of unknown gender who is said to keep something that could take down the corrupt Olympians, meanest families in the City, in a vault to which only they know the passcode. Oedipus, Heracles, Orpheus, and Ariadne have been hired by Hades, who happens to be The Mechs' quartermaster Ashes O'Reilly, to get into Ulysses' vault. I didn't care much for udad at first, but honestly it's got some real bangers and the story is really good. UDAD weirdly stands out as the only of the concept albums to not feature any gay relationships, per se. Fave songs are Riddle of the Sphinx, Favoured Son, and Underworld Blues.

High Noon over Camelot This is my favourite mehcs album. So basically, this is Arthurian legend, but it's a space western and Jonny D'Ville does a bad southern accent. This is the story of the cowboy lovers Arther, Lancelot, and Guinevere searching for the Galfridian Restricted Acces Interface Login, or GRAIL, in order to stop their world from falling into the sun. Meanwhile, Mordred and Gawaine are ruling Camelot, and Mordred has convinced Gawaine to try to establish peace with the Saxons by whom Mordred was raised, but Gawaine hates viciously. If you love getting your heart broken and songs by a fucking off the rails batshit preacher I HIGHLY recommend hnoc. Fave songs are Gunfight at the Dolorous Guard, Blood and Whiskey, and Once and Future King. Honorary mention for Hellfire because it awakens something animalistic in me.

The Bifrost Incident TBI is the frankly only good adaptation of norse mythology I've ever known of, and I say that as Dane who was literally forced to learn things about norse mythology in school because it's my heritage or whatever. I've been listening to TBI a lot lately because it's VERY good. It's definitely the most refined of the mechs' albums (because it's the newest) but also I just love a little bit of cosmic horror. 80 years ago, Odin, the All-Mother, ruler of Asgaard, launched a train through the wormhole Bifrost that would reduce the travel between Asgaard and Midgaard from 3 months to 3 days, but things didn't go quite as planned. Lyfrassir Edda of the New Midgaard Transport Police is trying to solve the case of why suddenly the train has arrived 80 years late; to figure out whether it was accident or maybe it was sabotaged by Loki, who was allegedly sentence to death her murder of Baldur, by the Midgaardian resistance led by Loki's wife Sigyn, or maybe by Thor, who was to take over after Odin, and who holds quite the grudge because he used to be a friend of Loki's. You might've heard the song Thor from this album, it's apparently quite popular. Fave songs are Loki, Ragnarok III: Strange Meeting, and Ragnarok V: End of The Line. Yet again an honorary mention: Red Signal because while Lovecraft was a bitch, his invocations are fucking RAW.

Basically, the Mechanisms do all of their performances in character as captain first mate Jonny D'Ville, quartermaster Ashes O'Reilly, pilot DrumBot Brian, master-at-arms Gunpowder Tim, science officer Raphaella la Cognizi, doctor Baron Marius Von Raum (neither a baron, nor a doctor), archivist Ivy Alexandria, engineer Nastya Rasputina, and The Toy Soldier, who is, as usual, present. You can find very obscure lore about the crew of the Aurora here, tidbits on Tales To Be Told and TTBT Vol. 2, such as One Eyed Jacks, The Ignominious Demise of Dr. Pilchard, Gunpowder Tim vs. The Moon Kaiser, Lucky Sevens, and Lost in the Cosmos.

If you feel like listening to a full 40-50 minute album to find out if you like a band is a bit much, I recommend listening to one of the mini stories Alice, Swan Song, or Frankenstein, which are about 12, 5 and 9:30 minutes respectively.

3) The Amazing Devil You know that guy who played Jaskier in the Witcher? I got into The Amazing Devil from spotify recommending them because I listened to the mechs, and apparently Joey Batey from The Amazing Devil is the same Joey Batey who was in the Witcher. Both him and Madeleine Hyland are VERY talented singers and songwriters and their second album The Horror and the Wild makes me go out into the forest and SCREAM. I listened to it on repeat for like a month straight. I guess they'd also be considered folk, but like. New Folk. Also yes, this is another British artist, I don't know why I'm like this. I've never really gotten that into their first album, Love Run, but King slaps. As I understand there's this whole lore about the Blue Furious Boy and Scarlet Scarlet, Joey and Madeleine respectively, but unlike the Mechanisms it's actually possible to find out things about the actual real people and harder to find the obscure lore? I'm open for people to please help me. Fave songs are The Horror and the Wild, Farewell Wanderlust, and That Unwanted Animal, which is literally a third of their second album, but again. I haven't really listened to Love Run that much, and I just LOVE the harmonies on THATW. (also im gay and dramatic leave me alone)

4) dodie I have so much love for this woman. Like many others, I first knew dodie as doddleoddle on youtube. I think I first stumbled across her in probably 2015, because I distinctly already knew her before she released her first EP Sick of Losing Soulmates in 2016. I think I watched probably every video she's ever made in the span of a few weeks. I just loved her quiet sound and was absolutely HOOKED. Also she's actually the reason I got into MIKA originally, so thanks for that. Dodie just realeased her first album Build A Problem (in addition to her three EP's; the one mentioned above, You, and Human) and it slaps. Yes dodie is also British Fave songs are probably Monster, Rainbow, and In The Middle.

5) Cladia Boleyn Unfortunately, Claudia Boleyn only has three singles and that's it. She's been making content on youtube for quite a while, and that's how I first discovered her. I don't know what genre her music is, but I like it. The songs are Celesta, George, and Mother Maiden Crone, of which the latter is my favourite. I'm not saying Claudia Boleyn invented women in 2017 when she released Mother Maiden Crone, but she did. Also you guessed it, Claudia Boleyn is British.

6) Hozier I'm not about to tell you about Hozier. You know who he is. Listen to Nina Cried Power, Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene, and Shrike. Also Hozier isn't stricly British in that he is definitely from A British Isle, but Ireland is not part of the UK. Give me a break.

7) Oh Land Oh Land IS DANISH. I like her early music best, because I'm not that into the electronic sound. I guess Oh Land is just you regular old pop, but with the occasional weird vibe? Oddly enough, I like her first album Fauna best. Unfortunately I haven't really listened to her newest album Family Tree much, but it seems good? Fave songs are Frostbite, Love You Better and Family Tree. I cried on the bus, first time I listened to the Danish version of Love You Better, Elsker Dig Mer because my mother tongue always just hits harder. Also Frostbite is Oh Land doing a duet with herself which is pretty cool.

8) Oysterband This is a live recommendation. I mean they're a decent folk band and all, but they're a fucking experience live. If you like folk and you ever get the opportunity to see Oysterband live, do it. Unfortunately, yes. They are British. Either way, they are incredible on a scene and I think they deserve a mention for that.

9) Ben Platt Honestly don't know much about this guy, but he's not British and he was in Dear Evan Hansen. He released an album in 2019, Sing To Me Instead, and I just think it's a good album, there isn't really not much more to it. Fave songs are Grow As We Go, Bad Habit, and In Case You Don't Live Forever.

and thats all for now. this has been a ramble. shout out to you if you actually read all of this, especially the mechs part.

#music stuff #amalie.txt #music recommendations #mika #the mechanisms #the amazing devil #dodie #claudia boleyn #hozier #oh land #oysterband #ben platt

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