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dragimalsdaydreams · 3 years

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ok soooo... I’ve never played Pokemon or watched the show or anything, but my dear friend @cobwebbing got into SWSH a while back and infodumped a lot of interesting trivia onto me, including the thing about fossil combinations. we were both horrified by the implications, to the point that she wrote a fun fic exploring the concept (HIGHLY recommend it), and I got invested in speculating the ACTUAL original Pokemon (also, these designs are technically ‘canon’ to her fic)

I tried to mimic some of the official art in lining/shading, but I don’t think I stuck fully to the ‘cartoony’ vibe of Pokemon. ah well, good experience either way

for ease of reading, I’ll be slotting both the image descriptions AND the extra “Pokedex” info about these guys under the cut-- I thought a LOT about their behaviors lmao. for the image descriptions, please assume that the style of all pieces is a mix of ‘cartoony’ and realistic in form, with solid lines and base colors

+bonus! to see the belly <3

[IMAGE ID: text above the Pokemon reads “Zoomzolt” with a yellow button underneath reading “Electric”. the background is a dull yellow with some areas of shade.

this Pokemon is shaped like a prehistoric raptor, with a small/round horizontal torso, a thin neck curved upright, small arm-wings, lithe digitigrade hind legs, and a thin tail held stiffly out at an upward angle from the body. most of the body is bright yellow with small areas of purple, as will be described. the Pokemon is standing cheerily, facing to the left.

the head has a long snout with a prominent bump emphasizing the tip, where a small purple nostril sits on the visible side. the mouth is held open in a happy gape, showing a purple tongue. the front half of the upper and lower jaws have serrated edges resembling sharp teeth, which seem to interlock. the eyes are closed, the lines of the eyelashes turned up with the smile. a small doodle to the left of the head shows the head with jaw closed and eyes open, showing off glossy black-button eyes with tiny eyelashes, and sparkles floating around the eyes. the head is framed by a crown of large, decorative feathers, all of which are a lighter yellow than the body and sport a couple spots of purple. each cheek also has a single purple spot.

a pair of small arms are held loosely to the sides of the body, each with three bare-skin purple talons with long claws, peeking out from under the fluffy yellow feathers of the arm. each arm sports a set of primary feathers resembling a simple wing, ending at around the elbow. these primaries are a lighter yellow than the main body, with a couple spots of purple near the edges. the overall outline at the trailing edge of the primaries forms a lightning bolt shape. there’s a long decorative feather on each of the wings, close to the body, which extends out into a simple zig-zag, before ending in a rounded tip which resembles a peacock feather with a small wisp and a couple purple spots.

the bonus image removes the closest wing primaries, better showing the lighter-yellow underbelly, and the hind legs. the hind legs are long and lithe, covered in yellow feathers up until the ankle, below which the skin is bare and purple. each foot has three toes, two of which are based flat on the ground with mid-length claws. the third toe closest to the body is raised high, sporting a large, sickle-shaped claw, curved sharply compared to the other claws.

a fan of long, light-yellow feathers spans out from the tip of the tail, resembling both the wing feathers and the crown of feathers on the head, adorned with purple spots. the overall outline resembles a diamond, with a vague zig-zag formed by a few feathers on the sides. two long decorative feathers resembling those found on the wings sprout from the sides of the fan as well.

END ID]

Name: Zoomzolt

Type: Electric

Animal Inspirations: road-runners, cockatoos, microraptors in general

Extra design notes: since the spots on the cheeks canonically match the other fossil in the pair, that gave me free-rein to choose whatever color I felt like, and I eventually landed on purple. I also redesigned the arms/wings b/c the shape was just kinda awkward and dull? I think the new wing shape adds more flair to the design, especially in combination with the tail. btw I only thought of the partly-arboreal lifestyle halfway through the piece, and I didn’t feel like changing the claws to fit it better. just know I’m aware that the wing claws should be curvier, and the toe claws (sans sickle) shorter, lmao

Pokedex entry:

Zoomzolts are a highly social species, roaming the moors and forests in groups of 20 or more. while individuals aren’t particularly strong, their tight social bonds more than make up for the lack-- several Zoomzolts can combine their electric powers and deliver devastating blows to even the fiercest opponents. if this isn’t enough, Zoomzolts are a quick and agile species-- they can race away across the plains or climb up nearby trees before their opponent can recover. their unique feet provide an advantage here-- a marriage between an arboreal lifestyle with the curved sickle-claw for climbing, and a grounded lifestyle with the rest of the flat toes for stable running.

besides scaring off predators, Zoomzolts mainly use their electricity to attract and capture prey. at night, packs of Zoomzolts will gather in the upper foliage of tall trees, settle down, and allow small sparks of electricity to arc across their purple spots-- from one part of the body to another, and from one individual to another. this creates a dazzling light show that many nocturnal Bug Pokemon simply can’t resist. when these bugs venture close, the nearest Zoomzolt will quickly snatch them up before returning to formation.

Zoomzolts are friendly and curious to a fault, known for snooping among human belongings if left alone for too long. they’re very easy to train and bond well with humans, but a Zoomzolt will always need more of their own kind to truly thrive. at least 3 or 4 other Zoomzolts are needed for an individual Zoomzolt’s social/mental health, but not all trainers are committed to keeping that many of one species.

~~~

[IMAGE ID: text to the right of the Pokemon reads “Dunkovish” with a tan button and blue button underneath reading “Rock” and “Water”, respectively. the background is a light blue with some areas of shade.

pictured is a fish-like Pokemon, with a typical torpedo-shaped body and a stocky, blunt head. most of the body is blue, with areas of orange and pale yellow, as will be described. the body is positioned in a downward curve, as if the Pokemon is poised to strike at something off-screen.

the head is heavily armored, with most of the main skull forming one large oblong-dish shape. much of this armor is dark blue, while other sections are a bronze-orange color. the jaws are formed out of large, jagged plates, creating massive interlocking orange teeth. the jaw is gaping slightly open, showing a pale blue inner mouth. the visible jaw hinge is rounded and prominent on the cheek. two small, round, bulging eyes sit just above the jaws, on either side of the head near the hinges. the eyes are pale yellow with black, vertical, rectangular pupils.

a few other large plates of armor (some dark blue, some bronze orange) extend out past the main head piece onto the body, arranged like overlapping scales. these plates all have lines at the trailing edges, implying a simple texture. the main body beyond these scales is pale blue, with splotches of dark blue and smaller spots of orange splattered across the body, arranged in a pattern to imply small scales.

there are two sets “limb fins”, one directly behind the lower jaw, and the other near the tail. both sets are built on prominent lobes extending from the main body and matching the main body colors, before the spines of the fin extend out from the ends, flaring out in a pale yellow. the front set of fins is medium-size, smaller than the head, while the back set is much smaller.

the tail fin starts on the back, in the middle of the spine, and extends down to the tip of the tail, then underneath into an extra lobe of spines. visually, this means the main fleshy part of the tail extends into the upper lobe of longer spines, while the lower, shorter lobe of spines flares out underneath, unsupported. this tail fin is pale yellow.

END ID]

Name: Dunkovish

Type: Rock, Water

Animal Inspirations: dunkleosteus, coelacanth

Extra design notes: added in a rock type b/c of the whole “armored fish” thing, and some orange to complement that

Pokedex entry:

this Pokemon roams the open ocean, traveling dozens of miles every day in search of large prey to attack. once spotted, Dunkovish will swim off an appropriate distance, then charge the prey at full speed, ramming their rock-hard skulls into their prey. these charging attacks can easily shatter bone and internal organs, leaving their prey weak and defenseless as Dunkovish feasts.

Dunkovish aren’t typically a danger to humans, as they usually steer clear of shorelines. small shipping vessels are more at risk, as Dunkovish can mistake the ships for prey and ram into them, causing shipwrecks and major losses.

while their power makes them dangerous for the inexperienced, Dunkovish are shockingly easy to train. they’re very food-motivated Pokemon, so all a prospective trainer needs is a lot of tasty chum and a bit of patience.

~~~

[IMAGE ID: text to the upper left of the Pokemon reads “Arctoise” with a light blue button underneath reading “Ice”. the background is light blue with some areas of shade.

this Pokemon looks to be a cross between a tortoise and a plesiosaur, with a large, rounded shell, two sets of long fins, and a paddle-like tail. the shell is mostly snow-white, while the rest of the body is mostly blue with areas of white, as will be described. the body is floating at rest, fins spread-eagle from the body for balance.

the shell is fairly tall and dome-shaped, with the lower half wrapping underneath the torso, between the front and hind legs. the shell has some ridges at the back implying “layers” of snow, which smooth out as they reach the front of the shell. the base color is snow-white, while the lower two “layers” get progressively darker, into a blue-ish light grey. this grey peters out into spots as it reaches the front of the shell.

the head is long, thin, and sharply pointed, making for a thin spear shape. the snout resembles a dolphin beak-- long and rounded at the tip. the eyes are sharp and triangular, with visible white sclera, light blue irises, and round black pupils. the nostrils are based at the center of the beak, raised up along with a small ridge of bone at the center-line of the beak, meeting the forehead. the nostrils are merged together into a small heart shape. a set of small spiral shapes frames either side of the cranium, implying some kind of auditory system. the neck is tucked into the body in the main art, but a small doodle to the side shows the neck fully extended-- long and serpentine like a heron. while the main body (outside the shell) is an aqua blue, the head itself is mostly dark blue, with a few stripes of aqua blue at the tip of the beak.

there are two sets of long, pointed fins, the front set slightly larger than the back set. the front set of fins sit to either side of the neck, settled into the open body cavity of the shell. the back set extend from the shell as well, just in front of the tail. each fin’s base color is dark blue, with white tips and white spots that vaguely follow the inner bone structure of the fins.

the tail is thick and somewhat short, smoothly transitioning from the wide main body-shell down into a pointed tip. lobes of short cartilaginous fins sprout from the top and bottom of the tail tip, the top lobe taller but not as long, and the bottom lobe shorter height-wise but longer. the main tail is aqua blue, while the fins are dark blue.

END ID]

Name: Arctoise

Type: Ice

Animal Inspirations: sea turtles, tortoises, plesiosaur, herons, anhingas

Extra design notes: in retrospect, the ‘shell’ is prolly meant to be a mane of fur, but I like my shell idea too much to change it (if I were to redo it tho, I might’ve gone for like... seal inspiration? selkie lore?? hm). also certain restorations of plesiosaurs shaped the ‘paddle’ on the tail like I’ve shown, which makes more sense to me.

Pokedex entry:

this Pokemon is closely related to the modern Lapras, as seen in their many shared structural features. many researchers even believe Arctoise to be a direct ancestor to Lapras due to genetic similarities, but this question hasn’t been fully resolved.

Arctoise are very successful predators of the frigid southern pole, utilizing a unique hunting technique. they float patiently out near glaciers, necks tucked into their shells and staying perfectly still for hours on end. when other Pokemon see the Arctoise’s shiny white shell, they’re fooled into thinking it’s a snow-covered glacier, safe to rest on. when the Pokemon settles comfortably on the shell, Arctoise snaps into action, quickly flipping over so their prey is thrown into the water. sometimes this is enough to drown the prey (often true for Flying Pokemon that dropped down to rest), but usually this only stuns the prey. this gives Arctoise the chance to snap out their long neck and capture the prey in their powerful jaws. once subdued, Arctoise will right their body in the water and enjoy their meal.

despite the ponderous size/shape of this species, Arctoise are still able to float quite easily due to air sacs located near their spine (thus, near the top of their shell). these sacs allow Arctoise to carefully control how they float, and help hold the large dome of their shell above the water.

communities of small Water Pokemon often form around Arctoise. the large shell and quiet demeanor makes for a stable underwater haven, and a steady source of food from the scraps that Arctoise leaves behind. they’re usually safe from Arctoise’s appetite, as they’re too small to be considered a proper meal. additionally, these small Pokemon often attract larger prey to the area, providing Arctoise more hunting opportunities.

Arctoise is an aloof species, and won’t respond well to “overly-affectionate” bond-based training. but as long as their space and solitude is respected, an Arctoise is willing to cooperate with a trainer towards mutual goals.

~~~

[IMAGE ID: text to the upper left reads “Dracoleon” with a purple button and magenta button underneath reading “Dragon” and “Poison”, respectively. the background is a light purple with some areas of shade.

there are two Pokemon in this image, one to the left with a “female” ♀ symbol, and one to the right with a “male” ♂ symbol. both Pokemon resemble stocky, low-set herbivorous dinosaurs, with short/thick legs, and round/heavy torsos. the female is far larger than the male, and sports two rows of large spikes along her back. the base color of both is a dark green, with large swathes of magenta patterns, as will be described. both are poised with their heads low to the ground, and the female’s tail raised in a defensive position.

the heads of both sexes are wide and triangular, with sharp points at either side of the skull, and a pointed beak at the tip. their round eyes rest underneath the flat top of the skull, facing outwards to either side. the female’s eyelids are pointed down in an angry expression, while the male’s eyelids are pointed up in a worried expression. their visible sclera are white, and their irises are dark magenta. their nostrils sit on either side at the point of the beak. there are prominent bumps on either side of the skull, just behind the eyes, implying an auditory system. the flat top of the skull is bright magenta, while the rest of the head is dark green.

the small head transitions into the larger body via a thick, short neck, held low to the ground. the torsos are both round, heavy, and somewhat horizontally flat like a lizard. the base color is dark green with a light green underbelly, while the magenta pattern on the head extends all the way down to the tail, covering the full back. several pointed spikes of color stick out from the pattern, trailing down the sides of the torso and legs.

the female has two rows of light magenta spikes sticking out from the upper-sides of her torso, 7 pairs in total. the front-most spikes are the largest, with a horn-like shape that curves out in a wave of out-up-out into a sharp tip. the shape of the spikes gradually transitions from round horns to triangular plates at the end of the tail. the sizes transition from the largest at the front, smaller on the torso, larger at the center of the tail, then small at the tip again. all the spikes point at an angle out/up from the body, except for the very last pair on the tip of the tail, which stick out flatly from the sides of the tail.

the legs of both sexes are short and stocky, with thick underlying muscles. the feet are all digitigrade, but the foot/”hand” sections are very short. the feet all have 3 main toes set flat on the ground, while the front feet have a dew claw set higher on the hand, above the ground. all claws are short/thick and hoof-like, though the female’s are slightly longer and sharper. the hind legs are longer than the front legs, pushing the hips higher than the shoulders. the legs are all dark green with light magenta claws. the female has extra magenta stripes running horizontal across the legs.

the tails are both thick, transitioning smoothly from the thick body down to a pointed tip. the male’s tail is short and stubby, while the female’s is longer, sporting the spikes.

END ID]

Name: Dracoleon

Type: Dragon, Poison

Animal Inspirations: stegosaurus, ankylosaurus. (also.... Kaim from Devilman......)

Extra design notes: I mostly color-picked for the other Pokes, but I shifted Dracoleon’s color a lot from the canon colors. the og colors were just a bit too much for me-- hurt a lil bit to look at. so I shifted the red more magenta, and the green to a duller, more subdued saturation. I’m hoping the purple-shifted red conveys the Poison type better. also added a couple more spikes to the tail for flair.

Pokedex Entry:

due to their heavy sexual dimorphism, researchers originally identified male Dracoleon remains as juveniles of the species. it wasn’t until this Pokemon was fully restored in the flesh that this misconception was corrected.

female Dracoleon are highly territorial, aggressively defending their territory against anything they perceive to be a threat. thus, females are generally solitary, only tolerating the presence of male Dracoleon. this aggression only increases during breeding season, when females compete for male attention, and then nesting season when defending their hatchlings.

male Dracoleon are much smaller and more docile than their female counterparts. while females will actively protect males when the males are still within their territory, males usually find protection in numbers by banding together into small groups. males are as attentive to nesting needs as the females, but since they end up mating with several females a year, they roam in small groups across several territories. they’ll visit one female’s nest to help with food and nest protection for a while, before heading off to the next territory for another round of nest-duty. these transition periods from one territory to another are where males are most vulnerable to predation, so they try to travel quickly.

females’ spikes are covered in a toxic oil which is mostly an irritant to fellow Dracoleon and Poison-types, but can easily kill other species if it penetrates the skin. their magenta patterns build an association between their bright coloring and toxicity, which helps protect the males from predation by association, despite the males not having toxic spikes.

while Dracoleon are herbivorous generalists of thick forest regions, they seem to prefer roots and tubers over foliage. Dracoleon territory is easily identified by scattered areas of dug-up soil and holes.

while male Dracoleon are generally easy to befriend and train, females are very stubborn and aggressive towards most training attempts. however, if an experienced trainer is determined enough to prove their worth to their Pokemon, Dracoleon can become one of the most loyal and trustworthy companions a trainer could hope for.

#pokemon swsh #arctozolt #arctovish #dracozolt #dracovish #pokemon #pokemon sword and shield #WHEW... that was a task

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mercyburned-aa · 2 years

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blyeth + teaching style!

She’s not great at first.

The game doesn’t show us this, probably because it wouldn’t have been interesting enough gameplay wise for most folk (tho it could have been a better tutorial tbh), but I do personally hc that H.anneman and M.anuela and S.eteth gave her a crash course in education, maybe for about a week or two, before she formally took over the class, and I also headcanon that someone probably sat in on classes for the first few months especially (another thing that just doesn’t need to be there gameplay wise imo). We’re not exactly told how much time passes in between when she arrives at the monastery and when she actually begins teaching. There’s that quick cutscene that shows B.yleth studying something in what looks like the reception hall before we see all the students, and iirc, the game starts in the first week of the first month of the year. For all we know, a month could have passed in between the bandit attack and the first day of class. It’s probably more likely to be a couple weeks, but I don’t hc it to be like, the very next day either. Also I think school was already in session? Lmao. What are timelines.

Also, remember that this is not the modern era where people go to school to learn how to teach and they have internships and exams etc to make sure they understand at least the fundamentals of education. That’s a modern concept that matters in THIS world; I’m not saying that it doesn’t matter at all in a fictional medieval-ish society, but…. It’s not the same thing as if someone walked in off the street in today’s world. Fodlan is not a contemporary society governed by our understanding of teaching and qualifications and etc. Even without the whole R.hea-wants-to-bring-back-S.othis thing, I feel like it’s not absolutely preposterous for (at least some of) a medieval society to believe / accept that the child of a famous mercenary / former captain of a military organization, who has themselves been a merc their whole life, might know a thing or two.

It’s also a required mechanic of the game so like…. I don’t take it too seriously. Same thing as with recruiting a student to your house is a required mechanic for them to not be an enemy during the timeskip whether or not it makes sense for their character. Some things just aren’t that deep. That also isn’t to say that I think B.yleth should have immediately been made a professor, because I don’t, but that’s what we’re given to work with and so I go with it. (Honestly, a lot of things I just recognize are gameplay mechanics / coding requirements and it doesn’t necessarily inform how I play my characters, or how I think about them, because the way things work in a game and the way things would work in “real life” are not the same, or so black and white).

Anyway, even with a crash course and likely weekly or even daily off-screen 1:1’s with S.eteth (because lmao, I do not believe he wouldn’t try to like, make sure B.yleth actually did a good job) to improve her skills, it’s a bit of a rocky start at first, but eventually she finds her footing and starts to gain confidence in the classroom. Also like, she isn’t teaching them math and history etc. It isn’t a high school although obvs there’s overlap with the age group and social dynamics. This is literally an elite military academy backboned by a large religious institution. They’re learning weapons, magic, and social responsibility. Luckily those are things she’s good at.

Anyway, she’s generally pretty straightforward with feedback — praise where it’s due and critiques where they’re necessary, though as she gets to know her students better, she learns who responds better to what kind of feedback and adapts her delivery to each student. She’s less about theory (although can talk about it) and prefers practical demonstrations where she can show in real-time why locking your joint is bad or why coming from this or that angle is better. She’s not as great with magic as she is weaponry itself and — this is another gameplay mechanic that I just have to headcanon around because otherwise it makes no friggin sense why B.yleth can have an E rank in flying and yet teach Ingrid who starts with a D rank — probably studies theory on her own with H.anneman and M.anuela before she tries to teach those lessons. Maybe one of them even takes over the class for that day.

She knows (most of) the material because she learned it herself albeit differently, but I strongly believe there’s a lot of off-screen 1:1’s and feedback sessions that happen between her and the rest of staff. We don’t see it in-game because that’s not what the game is about, but this is what make sense to me.

Tl:dr my personal hc’s about By.leth and teaching are a lot more flexible than the game permits and B.yleth is a direct sort of instructor but as time goes on she adapts to what her students need. She doesn’t tend to go off on stories or tangents but the practical demonstrations, I like to think those keep class days interesting. It’s how she learned, after all.

#&. ‛ she’s grasping for a purpose in life.︐ › byleth eisner.

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inkykeiji · 3 years

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hello, bby💞💞 i absolutely ADORE everything u write, ur insanely talented!! I wanted to ask, you’ve mentioned several pieces of art, precisely songs and films, that have inspired ur work; could u give us some music and movie recommendations that have similar vibe to some of ur fics??? Thank u in advance, I hope u have an incredible day/evening, lysm💓💞💖

THIS QUESTION OOOOOOOH YES ANON YES okay okay first of all, thank you so much!!!! i appreciate that a lot <333 YES i love film so much hehehe <3 my music recommendations are pretty much the same as they always are. the films i’m recommending here; i’m not exactly sure if they have a similar vibe to my fics as i’ve found it difficult to find many films that fit that criteria, but here’s a nice huge list of films that have influenced my main series’, and how!!

beware!! very long post under the cut hehehe AND POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR BMB IF YOU KNOW THE FILMS HEHEHEHEHE

𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬

the godfather, part 1 + part 2

AAAAAAAAH okay, literally one of my favourite films of all time, the godfather (+ the godfather pt 2) is a fucking masterpiece. tomura’s close relationship with his father was both inspired by bnha itself as well as michael corleone’s relationship with his father, vito. michael is the golden child even though he’s the youngest, and i love love love how cold and ruthless he can be!!! he’s also super smart.

goodfellas

listen. if henry hill from goodfellas and michael corleone from the godfather had a baby, it would be tomura. he’s slightly more henry than he is michael, but his characterization pulls from both of these characters!! henry is fun, he’s reckless, he’s young, he feels like a god and he loves cocaine. henry also becomes very paranoid, a path with tomura is currently speeding down (albeit much more intensely, with legitimate mental health issues, but you get it). i also love the subtle ‘mafia princess’ trope goodfellas has going on with henry’s wife, karen (that scene where she says she’s going shopping and asks him for money, and he takes out that massive wad of cash?????? brilliant, one of my faves hehehe). henry also has some difficulty dealing with his emotions!!

narcos season 1 + 2

k, i can’t say too much about how this incredible show inspired bmb; i kind of feel like listing it is already giving away too much hehehe BUT i love the pure POWER pablo exudes, and i love his relationship with his wife and how family oriented he is.

scarface (both the original 1932 version and the 1983 version)

WOOOOOOOOOO OKAY. for the 1983 film: cocaine my friends. cocaine and violence and toxic relationships!!!!!!! i kind of love elvira hancock more than anything else; she’s so glamorous and fun and just aaaaah she’s definitely not as ‘baby’ or ‘good girl’ as bmb!reader is, but her sheer class and cute dresses and just how SPOILED she is reminds me a lot of bmb! for both 1932 + 1983: tony’s relationship with his sister, gina (which tbh borders on incest). gina’s another one of those ‘mafia princess’ types, and tony is extremely overprotective of her and spoils her like mad, too. she’s also fits that ‘good girl’ archetype a lot more!!

reservoir dogs

purely the violence. the violence the violence the violence, the crude and crass way the men talk to each other, and the fact that they’re like a lil organized crime group put together by a boss. i am IN LOVE (IN LOVEEEEEEEE) with mr blonde (aka vic vega <333). mr blonde’s extreme sadism reminds me quite a bit of both dabi and tomura, and he’s even referenced in the lil torture piece i wrote!! also, you literally cannot tell me that vic wouldn’t spoil the absolute HELL out of his good lil princess if he had one <3

(not a film, but!!!!!) hamlet

break my bones is very very very loosely based on hamlet (which is my favourite story of all time. literally. i love hamlet so much i can’t even put it into words); with tomura as hamlet, dabi as a mixture of horatio and laertes, and reader as ophelia. hamlet, my precious baby, is a spoiled fucking brat, who loved his father and was loved by his father. he’s also very intelligent, but falls prey to his indecisiveness and his inability to make decisions, in addition to the rapid decay of his mental health. that’s all i’ll say hehehe

baby driver

the relationship between baby + debora reminds me of the relationship between dabi and reader a lot <333 i also just love the aesthetic of this film, and the undercurrents of organized crime!!

the shining

just a teeny tiny bit; i cannot say anything about this or i think it’ll give something away!!!!!

burning

trios!!!!! trios!!!!!!!!!!!!and the relationship dynamic between jong-su, hae-mi and ben??????? absolutely incredible and reminds me quite a bit of the dynamic between tomura, dabi + reader!!

𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐀𝐔 (𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞) + 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐲𝐚-𝐧𝐢𝐢

i’m grouping these two together, because a lot of their influences overlap in terms of dabi + reader’s relationship!!! (i’m pretty sure we can all agree that touya-nii is so fucking Daddy, too <3)

true romance

i fucking love this movie, so so so much. i’d go as far to say that clarence and alabama’s relationship has without a doubt inspired or influenced every single romantic relationship i’ve written in at least some way, shape, or form. i LOVE them. i love their co-dependency on each other, i love their whole ‘it’s you and me against the world’ vibe, and i love how far they’re willing to go for each other. also, again, organized crime (no surprise), and alabama is just the cutest fucking thing i swear to god. that scene of her + virgil in the hotel room will forever be one of my absolute FAVOURITE scenes in cinematic history. i would die for this woman i love her more than anything. she’s so cute yet so strong, so brave, so IN LOVE, and aaaah that is just one of my favourite characteristics ever ever ever. i love women who are soft and strong at the same time, even if that strength isn’t physical.

sid and nancy

hello to one of the most famous toxic relationships ever!!! honestly, i don’t think i have to explain this one much LMAO. obviously my readers aren’t as hardcore as nancy and almost always fall into the ‘innocent good girl’ category, but their RELATIONSHIP itself reminds me quite a bit of the relationship between touya-nii and his princess <3

bonnie and clyde (1967)

ahahaha yet again, another very toxic, very co-dependent type of love. like clarence and alabama, i love how these two are literally willing to die for each other—they’d go straight to the ends of the earth for one another, no questions asked. this type of love is extremely unhealthy, obviously, but it’s something i am extremely fascinated with and love exploring in my work! also, that whole ‘fuck the world let’s commit crimes together’????? very tag you’re it dabi x reader!!!

pulp fiction

more specifically, the relationship between mia and vincent. the sexual tension there is fucking crazy, and i love how mia is yet again one of those ‘mafia princess’ types. really, this film applies to bmb as well, but i’m putting it here because the way vincent gets so so SO soft for mia reminds me of the way touya-nii and dabi in these two series in particular get soft for their readers. also, to a lesser extent, the relationship between butch and fabienne. i know a lot of people don’t like fabienne and get annoyed with her, but i think she’s just the cutest thing and i heavily relate to her and her babie/crybaby nature <3 and of course, the relationship between pumpkin and honeybunny (for tag you’re it especially!) <33

breathless (a bout de souffle)

there’s just something about michel that reminds me of touya-nii SO much. i think it’s a combination of his attitude as well as his petty life of crime, and the way patricia hides him in her apartment...i don’t know, it’s difficult for me to put into words, but i love him a lot <3

𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

the joker + harley quinn: i feel like this is so obvious LMAO but i’m obsessed with the idea of that all consuming voracious love that borders on serious obsession. extremely possessive socio/psychopath and his dumb lil baby????? yes <3 (**i also wanna make a note to say that harley isn’t dumb AT ALL, but J will often insult her in such a way, and sometimes the men who write her portray her as such as well >.> but harley is one of my favourite female characters ever. i LOVE how girly and fun she is while still being extremely strong and (sometimes, depending on the version) independent. she isn’t without flaws, and i love how her mr j is basically her kryptonite <3)

speaking of batman, bruce wayne: what can i say, i just love spoiled rich men who have serious issues dealing with their emotions and walk the line of good and evil <33333

anakin skywalker/darth vader: listen, anakin was seriously slighted by those prequel films. but underneath all of that bad writing, at his core, anakin is a fantastic character. he is SO strongly governed by his emotions and is extremely selfish, and his love for his wife and family is ultimately what leads him down the path to the dark side <3 his emotionally charged motivations remind me a lot of CANON dabi!!!

thelma and louise: i just love their relationship, like, a lot hehehe. their relationship and the ending of this film reminds me a lot of my snowman & me; just yet again that whole ‘it’s you and me or it’s death’ type thing.

the darjeeling limited: it should be obvious at this point that i love trios, and i love complex characters and the relationships that come along with them. the relationship between the whitman brothers, the dysfunctional family, the truama and sadness...i love it all. this film is absolutely beautiful and really doesn’t connect much to my work other than the character dynamics, but i love it so dearly.

mad men: again, those misogynistic toxic relationships and the dependency betty has on don for the first few seasons!! also my god, the aesthetic, i am obsessed.

twin peaks: this hasn’t shown up too much in the work i’ve posted on my blog just yet, but i’m head over heels in love with the dreamy unsettling feeling that saturates this entire series, as well as the drugs and crime. also dale is my baby, protect him with everything <3

blade runner (both films): for city aesthetic

suckerpunch: an absolutely awful film but also one of my guilty pleasures, purely because i love babydoll so so so so so much <33 again, more for aesthetic than story.

𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂

honestly, my music recommendations are exactly the same as they are in this post right here. lana del rey, lil peep, chase atlantic + the neighbourhood are the four that i’d say influence my work the most tho, and have the most similar vibe to my stuff!! also, nicole dollanganger is an incredible artist and lyricist, and i’ve been told more than once that my work and her work are quite similar (which i agree!!!). her stuff is hauntingly beautiful, but i have a lot of difficulty listening to it because it hits a little too close to home and makes me cry literally every single time. so please be wary of that, i’m giving a general trigger warning for her because she can get quite dark. but her work is absolutely fantastic, i highly recommend as long as you feel that you can handle it!!! <33

AAAAAH I KNOW I’M MISSING LIKE A MILLION THINGS I SWEAR but these are the films (and tv shows) + artists that readily come to mind!! thank you again for your question anon, i love stuff like this so much and i love discussing films and art hehehe <33

#THIS POST IS FUCKING *MASSIVE*#U HAVE BEEN WARNED LMAO #i could just go on forever about film i love it so much #so so so much #i know i'm missing so many that have had an impact on me i can feel it #but yeah!!!#really the biggest trigger warnings here are for toxic relationships and drugs #so proceed with caution please!!#i hope you're having a fantastic wednesday anon bb <333 #please stay safe out there and drink enough water!!! ily!!!#clari gets mail #clari RAMBLES #my goodness #inky.bb

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idontwanttospoiltheparty · 3 years

Note

Ive never really understood the hype surrounding Taylor Swift - I mean, I like some of her songs, but im not big on modern pop music so generally she just doesn’t really click for me. But I find it interesting that theres quite a few of Beatles/Swift blogs - like, they should have very little in common given that they’re from completely different eras and all, but somehow people seem to find a lot of semblance between the two. << and thats not me shitting on any of these blogs btw! Hope I don’t come off as rude or condescending there <3

Anyway, I was just wondering what got you into Taylor Swift? (I think ive read your post on how you got into the Beatles)

Hi, anon! Don't worry, I don't think you're rude or condescending! I agree they don't have too much in common and I don't really like their music for the same reasons.* I do have a playlist of Paul songs that have similar vibes to Taylor songs but it's mostly lyric-based. (Also the Beatles For Sale songs actually have quite the Taylor-tinge because Paul and John were not immune to Country Music)

I saw @stewy say once that a possible reason there are a good handful of us Swiftie-Beatle People on here is the appeal of a vast discography, which I agree with. If you have an artist/group with 200ish songs, it's just really fun to really dive into their work and explore all the facets. I also think: we're talking about the most popular band of all time and one of the highest-selling artists of the 21st century. They have a lot of fans so there's bound to be overlap, regardless of musical differences.

Moving on to your question: Getting into Taylor was an extremely personal experience for me and so my explanation is probably going to be kind of long so I'll put it under a read more.

It was spring-summer 2014, I was 15. I had heard the more popular songs of hers starting with Love Story and enjoyed pretty much all of them (I always found her hopelessly romantic point of view fascinating) but before I got a Spotify account in 2013 it was difficult in general for me to really get into an artists' entire discography so most of her songs had flown under my radar.

At the time, I was in this very weird sort of codependent online friendship with this girl who was basically my first real best friend and my first more or less crush. She was very depressed and I was very much in an I Could Fix Her™ mood, except that I obviously couldn't fix her and it made me feel like I wasn't enough and she had begun pulling more and more away from me and not replying to my messages and it was simply driving me insane. I consider it the saddest period in my life.

at some point during this period, I started trying to connect with other people (all online, I didn't know how to talk seriously to anyone IRL) and explaining the issues I'd been having, and one of the people who brought me joy and whom I actually felt not drained talking to was a huge swiftie. And IDK the fact that she loved Taylor and the fact that talking to her made my life better (and also the fact that I liked all the Taylor songs I knew at that point) just made me decide to give her a listen. And I think that whole "large discography discovery" phenomenon really helped me at the time (funny, because her discography has doubled since then). It gave me something new to focus on; there were just so many songs to discover, all telling such rich stories. I also have always loved bridges, they are almost always my favourite part of a song. And Taylor, god-bless her, loves them too and always puts her ALL in them. Like pretty much every bridge of hers brings the song to the next level, and even a lot of her songs I don't adore tend to have great bridges (Stay Stay Stay and Paper Rings come to mind). I think one of her most underrated qualities is how good she is at song structure and really building up an entire musical journey with a song. She also almost always adds cool ad-libs in her second and third choruses to keep the songs interesting and dynamic (or at least since she's gone pop). Anyways, back to the story: Then Taylor announced 1989 as her next album and released Shake It Off, and it was just like this great happy thing for me to look forward to, when I had very little keeping me going. The era was promoting a lot of happiness which in hindsight was slightly fabricated and it was just a really great thing for me to latch onto.

At the same time I was coming to realize that I was gonna have to pull away completely from my friend and all those break-up songs just… Hit, y'know? Like, some people seem to think Taylor's a one-trick pony because she likes to write break-up songs but to me, break-ups are just like this moment where you as a human can potentially feel every single emotion, and Taylor's songs have covered every facet of the concept. Here are some songs I remember from that period, that all meant a lot to me at the time because they explained my own pain to me so well:

Haunted, for the absolute terror you feel in the first moments you realize someone is probably gonna leave you. Come on, come on / Don't leave me like this / I thought I had you figured out / Something's gone terribly wrong / You're all I wanted.

I Almost Do, for the inner turmoil you feel when you know you have to stay away from someone for your own good but you really, really have to resist just running back to that person. We've made quite a mess, Babe / It's probably better off this way / And I confess, Babe / In my dreams you're touching my face / And asking me if I wanna try again / With you / And I almost do.

Last Kiss, for that absolute sadness that comes simply with remembering everything that was good and not comprehending how it could've possibly ended. I still remember / The look on your face / Lit through the darkness / At 1:58 / Words that you whispered / For just us to know / You told me you loved me / So why did you go / Away?

Forever and Always, for that feeling of desperately wanting to hold on to what you still have but at the same time realizing it probably isn't going to last and having no idea how to fix it, plus feeling like the other person doesn't even care. So here's to everything / Coming down to nothing / Here's to silence / That cuts me to the core / Where is this going? / Thought I knew for a minute / But I don't anymore.

Dear John, my all-time favourite song, for that moment you find clarity and realize that you deserved better and that you were headed in an extremely dark direction because of this other person. [DISCLAIMER: my friend did NOT abuse me nor did we have some inappropriate age difference. But the way she would ignore me and her general moodiness really affected my own mental health and self-worth problems] You paint me a blue sky / And go back and turn it to rain / And I lived in your chess games / But you changed the rules every day / Wondering which version of you I might get on the phone / Tonight / Well I stopped picking up / And this song is to let you know why.

(She's covered more aspects of break-ups in other songs [cheating, divorce, feeling awkward around your ex amongst others], these are just the ones I remember being really important to me when I was first getting into her)

She really helped me feel a lot less alone during one of my loneliest periods and I really can't thank her enough for that. Soon after this, I started crushing on a girl in my class and Taylor's love songs started to take on a new meaning for me as well.

What's crazy to me is, when she went on hiatus for a few years, a part of me thought maybe I'd grown out of her and no longer had much in common with her, but when reputation came out I was pulled right back into my love for her as a person and musician and then when Lover came out I found that she was still explaining feelings to me better than I ever could (specifically with the songs The Archer and Cornelia Street). And now with folklore and evermore she's simply absolutely perfected her story-telling and I find myself deeply moved even by the songs I don't directly relate to. I feel like she has this amazing ability to find the absolute truth in the specific. I've never had a summer romance with someone who already had a girlfriend and mostly wanted to go back to her, and yet the bridge of august feels so real to me, y'know?

Back when we were still changin' for the better Wanting was enough For me, it was enough To live for the hope of it all Cancel plans just in case you'd call And say, "Meet me behind the mall" So much for summer love and saying "us" 'Cause you weren't mine to lose

It's hard to explain but looking at this, like it's so much more than the story it's telling. It's talking about how when you're young you really need so little to feel satisfied; how sometimes the idea of someone maybe spending time with you is better than actually doing things with other people; and how if someone using you without much thought can make you feel like you're not even entitled to grieve what you lost. Sorry. I'll stop. Don't want to go insane.

So, all of this is very personal and unique to me, but I think really the main thing that draws me to her is how vulnerable and honest she is about emotions, how eloquently she can explain the pain of being alive to me. Some people think she isn't the strongest singer, but I think, much like John actually, one of her greatest assets is how good she is at projecting emotion. The song happiness is a song I think has some lyrically weak moments but her vocal performance on it is so raw and devastating that every single line works even when, looking at it on paper, it feels like it shouldn't.

Hope this rambling made sense to you, lmao?? I love talking about Taylor though so thanks for the ask! Also very open to giving song recs if you do want to check her out more but I won't unless solicited to lmao *Sort of off-topic but I do think there's a relation between my fascination with the Beatles' history and my love for a great break-up song. I like pain I guess :)

#ask #anon #taylor #mine

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spelviin · 3 years

Note

has anyone thought of the relationship between gomens and spn yet. just curious

as someone who was at the height of my spn hyperfixation during the burst of good omens popularity back in winter-spring of 2012, i can definitively say that those parallels were extreeeeeeemely present.

i was part of a gomens rp group back in the day, and as far as i can remember, pretty much everybody worked in spn references freely and frequently. references to castiel as aziraphale’s weird rebellious little brother, god as chuck, and the obvious crowley connection (exacerbated by the fact that 2012 gomens fandom predated even the audio drama, so half of us, myself included, thought a.j.- crowley and mark-sheppard-crowley were pronounced the same way)... there was a ton of it.

even outside the niche little rp group i was in, i think there was just generally a lot of overlap in the venn diagram of 2012 spn and 2012 gomens fandoms. i mean, thematically there was a lot in common (at least, thematically for the time. it’s been like six or seven years since i’ve laid eyes on an episode of supernatural so i have no fuckin clue what its themes even are these days, if there are any lmao), both textually in terms of the main characters rebelling against roles and rules that had been set out for them, and subtextually in terms of the queer narratives that spoke to so many people (before spn in particular managed to alienate most folks who saw it that way).

i mean, at the time i was a young woman literally in the process of coming to terms with the fact that a) i was gay, and b) the values instilled on me by my religious upbringing did not actually align with my personal values as i started to think for myself and form my own opinions. so like, obviously (though not obvious to me at the time) castiel and aziraphale both resonated with me in a huge way. and i defs feel like that narrative is incredibly common with folks on this website, so it makes sense that that population would end up finding out about and finding comfort in both works simultaneously.

also, on a way less pretentious level, there is the fact that, back in 2012 tumblr, fandom mashups were just super popular in general, so like. jesus christ, i mean, if people found a way to do that shit for shows like spn and bbc sherlock and dr who, which had basically nothing in common, ofc they were gonna jump on the chance to do it with two works that actually made sense together lmao.

anyways, tl;dr, and also to answer your actual question: yup.

#well that was a fkn trip down memory lane lmao #i feel like a granny on a porch #yes let me tell you about 2012 fandom bullshit sonny jim #and by 'tell you' i ofc mean 'nonsenically jabber on for like 9 goddamn paragraphs'#whatever i've done my time on this hellsite i'm entitled to muse abt shit that happened nearly a decade ago fuck you #(also while i'm bein nostalgic abt old shit #rada/esi anon if you're still out there by some chance just wanna say #you're the fuckin realest and i hope ur doin good bro)#Anonymous

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ifishouldvanish · 5 years

Text

Editing tips, I guess?

Hey uhhhhh, so I've gotten lots of new followers over the past few weeks and wanted to do some kind of thank you?? Also, I have seen a fair share of "omg HOW" in the tags on my edits (which??? always make my day?? my week??? my life????)

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my ~techniques with y'all? So here goes:

(lmao this got really fuckin long so cuuuuuut)

1. Make EVERYTHING a Smart Object

Okay, maybe not EVERYTHING, but seriously. Do it. It will save ur editing life. You ever shrink something down and then an hour later change your mind and decide you want it bigger? If you're not using a smart object, it’ll get blurry when you scale it back up and you’ll be fuCKED!

To make a layer/group a smart object, just right click on it in the layers panel and select "convert to smart object". This makes Photoshop store the layer's original data in a separate space for safe keeping (an embedded .psb file, to be exact) -- so you can shrink it and enlarge it as many times as you want without any lossiness.

As soon as I paste/place a screencap, texture, or whatever into my document, the first thing I always, ALWAYS do is convert it to a smart object!!

Why, you might ask?? Continue to item No.2 :)))

2. Harness the POWER of Smart Objects!!

The reason I am obsessed with Smart Objects is because I am obsessed with making any edits as non-destructive as possible. If you use “Image > Adjustments > Levels/Selective Color/etc” on a regular layer, that’s a destructive edit. Same goes for any Filters (such as blur/sharpen) and transforms (Warp, distort, perspective). You lose the original data that was there and the only way it can be undone is with ctrl+z. Might not seem like a huge deal at first, but if you keep chugging along for an hour and decide, “hmm, maybe i went too hard on that levels adjustment after all...” your only options are deleting the layer and starting over, or uh... hoping it’s still in your history panel.

However, it's really easy to avoid destructive edits when you use smart objects!! Because all those adjustments, filters, and transforms become “Smart Filters”. Smart Filters have all the non-destructive advantages of performing these adjustments via adjustment layers, but have the added bonus of ONLY effecting the layer they’ve been applied to, instead of cascading down and effecting all the layers beneath. (Which can be a good thing sometimes, but that’s a whole other topic)

Smart filters are attached to their ‘parent layers’, and can be hidden, deleted, or modified (by double-clicking their names) at any time:

Can I hear a wahoo???

Other cool things about Smart Objects:

You can copy a Smart Filter with all its settings to another layer by alt+click+dragging it over

You can change the order in which Smart Filters are applied by clicking and dragging them around

You can edit a smart object independently/in a sort of 'isolated' mode by double-clicking on its thumbnail!! I like to use this for edits that are specific to a given screencap-- like cutting out the background and any initial adjustments, like levels and selective coloring. Once you’re done editing the contents of the smart object, hit ctrl+s and it will automatically update in the main document!

But really, the biggest thing for me here is psychological. I know I’m much more willing to try things and experiment when I know that I can easily go back and tweaks things at any time. Otherwise, I’d stick with adjustments I don’t really like all that much simply because it would take too much time/effort to redo them.

3. Don't even THINK ABOUT using the eraser tool or I will STOMP YOU to death with my hooves!!

Use a layer mask instead. Please I am begging you. It all comes back to making your edits as non-destructive as possible. If you erase something, it's gone forever. When you mask something, you can make changes to which parts are visible/not visible as often as you want.

For the newbies or the otherwise unacquainted, a mask is a greyscale ‘map’ attached to a layer (or layer group) that controls its opacity. Black areas give the layer 0% opacity, white areas will give it 100% opacity, and you can use shades of grey to achieve partial transparency. You ‘draw’ on these layers with the your trusty brush and paint bucket tools.

You can create a mask by selecting a layer and then clicking the little mask icon at the bottom of the layers panel (it’s the one with the little circle inside the box). Draw black on the parts you want to hide, and if you erase too much on accident? Just paint back over it with white!

I love masks, and sometimes i will throw an already masked layer inside a layer group and apply a second mask to said group. This way I have two masks that can be edited independently from each other. Like layer mask-ception.

So anyway, yes. Eraser tool? Don’t know her.

4. Try using channels to create masks!

This is a technique that works REALLY well for cutting out complex shapes, such as wispy hair (or feathers!) -- provided there's strong contrast between the subject and the background, and the background isn't too busy.

This is also a fantastic method for capturing alpha transparency. For example: If you have a neato paint stroke/splatter/watercolor texture you want to use as a mask, but has a solid background that’s getting in the way of things. This method will capture all the semi-opaque areas flawlessly!!

While editing your image (which you had better have made into a Smart Object!!!) do the following:

Switch from the "layers" panel to the "Channels" panel.

Toggle through the R, G, and B channels, and decide which one has the most contrast for the areas you are trying to mask.

Ctrl+Click that channel's thumbnail. This will create a selection marquee.

Switch back to the layers panel

Click on the target layer/group (the one you are trying to mask)

Click the mask icon at the bottom of the panel (the one with the circle inside a box)

Release the selection and invert the mask if necessary

If you're using this method to cut out a subject from its background, you probably won't want alpha transparency. In this case, select the mask thumbnail and use a levels adjustment on the mask itself to bump the contrast until you have more of a cutout effect!

It sounds like a lot of steps, but it’s really simple! So I made this handy GIF: (click to view from beginning)

Sometimes you won’t want to use this method for the entire image, but just a specific part. For example, if you’ve cut out a character with some other method (magic wand, manual brushwork), but are having a hard time with their hair in particular. Use this method to create the selection, but instead of converting the whole selection into a mask, use the brush tool to apply the mask only where you need it! You can invert the selection itself with shift+ctrl+i.

5. Outlining text

The font I used here is Salomé, which is actually a solid typeface with no outlined version. But you can make virtually any font into an outlined version if you so desire!

There's two possible methods here, actually:

The Easy Way:

Add a stroke layer effect to the text layer (by selecting the layer, clicking the little “fx” button at the bottom of the layers panel, and choosing “Stroke...”)

As far as settings go, aligning the stroke to the inside usually yields the best result/maintains the integrity of the letterforms.

Make the color of the text itself match the background.

If necessary, use the lighten/darken blend modes to create the illusion of transparency.

If you need true transparency (which I didn't until I decided I wanted to apply a gradient over the text), you'll have to try something else-- The Also Easy But Less Than Ideal Way:

Right click the text layer in the layers panel and select "convert to shape".

Now you can edit the fill/stroke the same way you would any other vector shape.

Again, you’ll want to set the stroke alignment to ‘inside’. For vector shapes, those settings are a little hidden. You’ll wanna open up that little dropdown in the toolbar with the line in it, and click “More Options”.

This is semi-destructive, so if you're working with a lot of text you might have to edit later, consider duplicating and hiding those text layers first so you'll have a 'backup' of it.

And while I’m on the topic of text...

6. Try breaking up your text layers!

I know a lot of people like to draw a neat little text box to put their text in, and then they center it all nice and neat and probably use a small font size to make it subtle and stuff... and that’s cool. Everyone’s got their different styles and things they like to emphasize in their edits and there’s absolutely merit to that sort of thing (case and point: the bulk of my dear @herzdieb’s work), but. Listen.

I love typography. I love a good typeface. The stroke widths, the letterforms, the ligatures, the serifs... I get like, horny on main for a good typeface. I like to make the text on my edits BIG, so that those details can shine. I also like doing interesting things with the text. Jumbling words/letters around, distorting them, deconstructing them and just... letting the text really ~interact with the rest of the composition instead of just kinda politely floating on top of it.

I’m not saying you have to do that kinda stuff. Or that I think neat little floaty text boxes are boring, or lazy, or whatever. It’s just... personally, I get really inspired by type. Fun type treatments are one of those things I LIVE FOR, something of a ~signature of mine, and I encourage everyone to just... try it? To use text as more of an integral Design Element and less of a... idk. A caption?

So if you have a quote, or even just a word... put each word (or letter) on its own text layer. And then: make ‘em different sizes. Make the words so big they don’t fit on the canvas. Rotate each one at a fun angle. Scatter them around. Go nuts. Use masks to chop parts of the letterforms off. Make ‘em overlap. Just have at it. Or, as the kids these days are saying: go absolutely fuckin feral.

If that really just isn’t your style, or doesn’t work/make sense for the edit you’re doing, fine. Delete all the layers and just do a text box or whatever. But. I’m tellin u.

Give it a try.

At least once.

Just... a lil taste.

7. Understand the difference between lighten/darken vs screen/multiply

For a while in my photoshoppin' youth, my understanding of these blend modes basically amounted to "darken makes things darker, and multiply makes things really darker", and vice versa for lighten/screen. But there's an important difference between how these blend modes work, and if you understand them, you can use them more... strategically? I guess?

Darken and Lighten are kinda misnomers tbh, because they technically don't really darken or lighten anything. What they actually do is make it so that only the areas of the layer that are darker or lighter than the content of the layers beneath them are visible. This produces some pretty nifty layering effects that you can't achieve with screen and multiply.

Here’s an example: (if you’re reading this on a phone with the brightness dimmed down you probably won’t be able to see the differences)

Without any the texture applied, you can really see the noise/graininess of Crowley’s jacket in the screencap. You can also see the ‘seam’ where Crowley fades into the background-- the jacket is a green-ish black, while the background it’s fading into is more of a purple-black.

With the texture set to ‘Screen’, the whole image becomes lighter across the board. Crowley’s jacket gets lighter, and so does Aziraphale’s jacket and the pink cloud thing. This does little to nothing to obscure the poor image quality and disguise that ‘seam’.

But with the ‘Lighten’ blend mode, ONLY the dark parts of the image appear lightened, and not only do they appear lightened, but they get kinda equalized. Notice how the patchy jpeg artifacts on Crowley’s jacket disappear, how that color seam smooths out, and how the brightness of Aziraphale’s jacket and the pink cloud doesn’t change at all.

This isn’t to say that lighten/darken are better and that you shouldn’t use screen/multiply. They each have their uses. But most often, I find myself using lighten/darken because the way they work is honestly really helpful? And just cool af?

8. Masking individual frames on gifs

If you ever feel like torturing yourself by making a gif that has frame-by-frame masking, my advice is don't try to mask each frame from scratch. You'll get patchy/wobbly results from the masks being slightly different on each frame.

Instead, mask the first frame, then alt+click and drag that mask onto the next frame. Make any minor adjustments to the new mask as needed, and repeat for each frame. This saves time and more importantly, keeps the masking consistent on areas with little to no movement, which makes a HUGE difference in how smooth the final product will be.

If you look at the edges of the animation, they’re nice and steady and consistent. It’s only the parts that have a lot of movement (like the back of his neck) where you can see any ‘ghosting’/wobbly-ness happening.

Sometimes the mask will move when I copy it to the next frame. Like, for the whole document. It gets nudged 20 pixels down or to the left or s/t every time. I have yet to figure out why, but I’m betting it has something to do with shooting myself in the foot with the frame 1 propagation settings at some point during editing?? ANYWAY, when this happens, just unlock the mask from its layer (click the little chain icon between their thumbnails) and move it back into place.

In these cases, I also like to pick a spot with a hard edge (such as the shoulder in the above gif) as a reference point of where it needs to be moved to. It kinda sucks having to do this for every frame, but you already signed up for some suckage when u decided to mask every frame of a gif, so I mean... 👀

9. Don't be afraid/too intimidated to do manips as needed!

Manips can be tricky if you're really striving for realism. There's light sources and color grading and perspectives to reconcile!! But when you're doing an artsy Edit with a capital E, odds are those kinds of discrepancies will be thoroughly camouflaged by all the levels, black and white, etc adjustments you're doing!

Something I run into often is, "I like this screencap, but the top of their head/hair is chopped off :(" But if I go back through all the screencaps from the scene, there's usually another frame where the camera is planned/zoomed out enough that I can steal the rest of their head/limb from it! And since it's from the same scene/shot, the lighting and color grading should already be a perfect match!

A super simple example:

So I wanted to use this picture of David and Michael for this edit, but 1) They’re standing on the wrong sides for their characters, and 2) part of David’s arm is covered up by Michael’s.

Of course, the easiest course of action would be to just mirror the photo so they’re on the correct sides, but 1) mirroring faces tends to yield wonky results, and 2) that still wouldn’t give me a perfect, free-standing cutout of Crowley to place wherever I want in my composition (as opposed to being forced to awkwardly position him off the edge of the canvas to hide the fact that the other arm is missing)

Fortunately, it only took all of like, two (2) minutes to draw a crude selection around his good arm, copy and paste it into a new layer, flip it around, and add any necessary masking to get the shape right.

My point here isn’t to teach y’all how to do manips, or to pass this off as an impressive example of one. Because it’s really, REALLY not. My point here is to demonstrate that even something as tiny and simple as this can really open up your options for what you can actually do with an edit/composition.

So next time you’re feeling limited/inconvenienced by the crop of a screencap, just... you know. Consider whether or not it’s worth attempting a quick and dirty manip to fix it.

Another Example:

Sometimes you’re torn between two screencaps. You like one element from Screencap A but also want some other element from Screencap B. What to do? Just frankenstein ‘em together. Layer one on top of the other, get them lined up, and mask out the necessary parts.

It’s easy to get hung up on stuff like “Uh... should Crowley’s shoulder be doing that?” but let me assure you that like... the people looking at the final product are none the wiser to your butcherwork and will not notice. Especially if you’re going to add a bunch of contrast and color adjustments later on. (in fact, sometimes I’ll apply those adjustments first so I’m not distracted by any discrepancies that are going to come out in the wash anyway)

“I dunno... 🤔🤔 doesn’t seem anatomically correct... 🤔🤔🤔🤔” thought no one.

Point is... point is... dolphins you can get away with a LOT more than you think you can. Don’t let the desire to make these kinds of manips perfect get in the way of just... making them good enough. The bar isn’t that high, I promise.

10. Know what inspires you

What types of edits get you EXCITED? What kind of work do you see on your dash and go, "oh, I'm reblobbin' THAT!!1!"

I know for herzdieb, she's all about emotional pieces. She likes matching words/lyrics/poetry to on-screen moments and punching you in the feels with both. She hears a song, or reads a poem, and the lightbulbs go off for her, and she does her thing.

As for myself, I just live for the aesthetics of an edit. The colors, the fonts, the composition. I almost never know what text/screencaps I'm going to use when I start an edit. I just see a font I like, or a color palette, or a texture, and think, "I wanna use that!"

And once you know what inspires you, collect that inspo! I hoard textures and fonts. I have them organized into neat lil folders. When I wanna make an edit, that’s where I start. I just browse through them all until one or two start calling my name. Herzdieb collects songs and quotes and poems. Maybe your thing is color palettes, or aesthetic-y photos. Or whatever.

The point here is make the kinda stuff you like/want to see. Not the kinda stuff everyone else is making or the kinda stuff you notice gets the most notes.

11. Be able to let go of things that aren't working

I often begin an edit with a rough idea of the style, colors, or layout I'm going for. And I almost always end up doing... something totally different.

So don't get too fixated on what your initial ideas are. Be open to experimenting and just let the edit be what it wants to be. If something looks nice, do it. If it doesn't, don't try to force it just because, "well, I was inspired by this piece that did xyz and I wanna try it too".

When you see a certain effect that inspires you, just keep it in mind as a possible solution for the next time you make something-- don't make it into a benchmark, or some imaginary 'goal' you have to meet for This Edit You Are Working On Right This Moment. In fact, sometimes the elements I end up ditching are the very ones I started with, that initially sparked my inspiration. And that's okay. Inspiration can be a moving target, and if your vision for something changes, let it.

You wanna know what inspo reference I was looking at when I started that “Temptation Accomplished” edit?

Fucking this: https://search.muz.li/YTdiNjkwN2Rh

You might be thinking, “how the fUCK was that the inspiration??!! Your edit looks nothing like that at all!” ...and you would be 100% correct, and that is 100% my point. I spent a good hour or two trying to incorporate that cutout text layering effect before finally accepting the fact that it just wasn’t working for the edit I was making. And it wasn’t until then that it actually started to come together.

12. Be patient, and take the time to explore all your options!

I’m not gonna lie, y’all. I spend hours on my edits. I usually complete them over the course of 2-3 days/sittings. I rarely have a plan. 99% of the time I'm just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. When I get stuck (when, not if), it helps to step away from it and come back later with a fresh perspective/set of eyes.

Every single edit I've posted, I have at some point felt like giving up on because I thought it looked like garbage (and not just because I was being self-deprecating/doubting myself, but because at those points, they simply weren't finished/something about the composition just wasn't working for me)

Work through those moments, and if necessary, take a break/sleep on it. It's always after I've exhausted my early ideas that the really good ones start to come to mind!

Here’s how the character poster edits I did progressed:

In Classic Me™ Fashion, I literally started off with just... textures I liked, and a font that I liked. Now, there were obviously a lot more ‘steps’ involved in both designs, but hopefully at the very least this gives a sense of how things get from point A to point B.

So uh... thanks 4 comin 2 my TED talk. I hope u learned at least one (1) cool new thing or maybe just feel vaguely inspired by this rambling mess?

#idk what to tag this...#photoshop #i guess?#tutorial #maybe?#w/e

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jebentnietalleen · 5 years

Text

By now most people have read and seen a lot about the convention already, but since I said I would write about it (and because I like to be able to look back on my own experiences later), I'll ramble on for a bit...

First and foremost, it was a pleasure to meet and see other Tumblr users and fans of skam in general, I loved being in a room with so many like minded people 💖🙏🥰 . I've never been to a convention before so it was truly special. I wanna give a special mention to

@chelouelou

, meeting her was one of my personal highlights and I am so glad we hit it off just as well as we did online. She is the sweetest person and a ray of sunshine, and we had multiple laughing fits for no good reason. All lovely things imo 🧡😍🙌✨

Some random facts:

I almost drew a braincell at La Petite Ceinture so I could write 'the skam france galaxy braincell' but I chickened out last moment because it felt like sacrilege

Every time we saw one of those step scooters we felt triggered

Every time we saw someone carrying a baguette we laughed

Elise brought everybody clown noses

La Petite Ceinture is absolutely calming and just a great experience to visit

About the convention:

We arrived around 9:00, and because we already got our passes the night before (the organization for that was also shitty, we arrived at 17:30, which was suppose to be the time that they would open up for the passes, and left at 21:00. They were not prepared, everything arrived in boxes through out the night, we had to wait a long long time) we didn't have to wait in line and sat on the floor for a bit while we waited for everything to start. We sat next to a large glass window, and suddenly we heard some fans shrieking in excitement. We looked up and saw Maxence walk past us, and let me tell you, that alone was quite an experience. Mannequin elite, indeed. There is just something so alluring about him, it's even more apparent in real life. We were all very nervous and also excited about the whole day, and this hyped us up even more ngl. We saw more cast members come in, Coline, Paul, Robin, Leo, and probably more that I can't remember. We got called into the big room where the panels were held, at around 10:00.

After a short speech by the host, and a video introduction of all the casts (which was lovely and I might post later, I don't know if anybody posted it yet? I haven't seen it) the cast of skam france came on stage. The crowd went wild, naturally. They got a standing ovation. The energy was buzzing. Axel was joking around from the first second, he was talking with Maxence and with the boys and with Zoe, making jokes the whole time, even gave the host what looked like a slap on the ass hahah. He looked very hyped up. The whole cast looked very happy to be there.

The duo photoshoot was suppose to start 10:15 but started around 10:45 instead. So the day already started with a delay, and because a lot of events had some overlap (for example they couldn't start the group photo shoot if a few cast members were still busy with their duo's) it had a sort of domino effect throughout the whole day. There was a lot of waiting and a lot of standing around. When I was in line for the duo photoshoot, Axel and Maxence were both hugging fans they met before (even though it wasn’t allowed, which I still don’t understand tbh) and one girl wanted to do the Polaris hand holding bit with Axel and he went with it and looked at her so softly it was a lot okay, I hope that girl is still alive. I saw Maxence do the same thing with another girl during the same shoot, so they stood back to back with the girls in question (the picture later became famous because of the manip smh) And just before it was my turn, Maxence draped himself over Axel and they hugged with Maxence standing behind Axel and Axel reached up to touch Maxence's arm. This wasn't for a photo they weren't even facing a camera, this was just them being their caring selves. They were really sweet together the whole day, as everyone has seen by now.

We had to wait a long time for the panel to start, and they started way later than planned. Maxence was still busy with his duo with Rocco and Assa and Lais also came in later. Everything was in French and the host translated. I considered going up to ask a question (tell us more about the 90% social media content that Axel wanted to do that went too far lmao) but the queue filled up so quickly and I knew there was a limited time for the cast, so I didn't. In the end it's probably for the best seeing as they went on for a half hour longer because Axel is the literal best and I will not hear anyone say anything different. I thought the host did a good job, but I still think a lot of details got lost in translation because he obviously couldn't translate every single thing word for word. I cackled because when he talked in English he pronounced Axel and Maxence's names very Englishy. I thought it was cute that Axel kept shouting for Maxence to come join them when they started, and that when Maxence came in he sat in front of him. I sat pretty close to the stage at that point and saw that Axel explained to Maxence that he yelled his name hahah. That whole panel was golden, loved hearing about their fave lines and upcoming projects, plus they were all so sweet to each other, ugh, name me a better cast istg. Some of the other highlights for me were how adorable Axel and Leo were together and how Moussa and Lais are integrated into the whole cast and got along with everyone. Seeing Lais and Maxence interact got me thinking about seeing Sofiane and Eliott together on screen and now I want it even more tbh. Of course everyone knows that Axel ignored the rules and insisted on talking to everyone who had a question, went off stage and talked to the people who were left, tried to include everyone, in general he had a really big role yesterday. I got an ask saying he is a true born entertainer and that's true, he really is (I will answer that ask later I promise, I am just way behind tbh sorryyy).

After the panel was the group photo with the skam france cast. The chaotic energy was off the chart. Especially Axel and Maxence, I saw Maxence bite some girls tag that was around her neck for the picture lmao. They kept cheering the people on who came for their picture, it was adorable. When it was my turn I stood between Axel and Maxence and ugh, just, it was great okay. I said thank you when I got my picture, and Maxence went: nooo, thank yOuUuU (you know the voice he sometimes uses? Yeah) what a sweetheart tbh.

After this there was a looooot of waiting for me. The only thing I had left was the autographs and selfies (this was one event) and that could not start before all the group photos were done, and they went on for way too long. That just means the organization sold too many or didn't calculate the right amount of time it would take. I managed to catch some of the skam og panel and italia, but not all of it, and tbh it's all a blurr because I was busy with processing everything haha.

Finally it was time for the autographs, and the line was looong. I had the pleasure of seeing Axel carry Lais to the tables up close and personal, what a legend. The times I fondly shook my head with a grin on my face yesterday because of that chaotic king are countless. Just before I was almost at the end of the line, they cut us off because they needed to start the closing ceremony (for lack of a better description). Luckily they wrote numbers on our hands so we didn't have to wait all the way back in line again, because after the ceremony they would get back to it. This wasn't in the schedule, it was suppose to be over, hence closing ceremony, so the skam france cast stayed behind way longer than planned. The closing ceremony was very emotional, most of the cast got tears in their eyes as people shared their stories. Not everything was translated but you could still tell it meant a lot to them. Not to mention the amount of money they managed to raise with the convention. Truly amazing. Of course we all saw the cast go absolutely nuts to one direction lmao, that was a treat to see after such a long day. Idk how they kept up their energy, especially Axel who seems to be inhuman tbh. He never seemed very tired, you could see it a bit in his face but he powered on and I love him for that. The rest of the cast was definitely more visibly tired, some more than others of course. Finally we got back to the autographs, and still it was a long wait. I think we were there for nearly 2 hours and I only got to Marilyn, Lais, Axel and Maxence. By then it was 21:00 and I could barely stand. I only ate two mini croissants for breakfast and had a few handful of nuts during the day. I wasn't hungry but that still probably wasn't very smart of me. I kind of regret not staying to get the other autographs as well, but I was truly spend. Lais is as much a ray of sunshine as he is on TV, he is super nice and thankful, as is Marilyn. They were kind to everyone. That's something that I can say about the whole cast: everywhere I looked, I saw happy cast members who were touched by every single person who come up to them. Amazing really.

I'm not gonna lie, I was looking forward to getting to Axel the most. Anybody who follows me will not be surprised by this. So let me tell you a little bit about it. Axel gives the best hugs, is kind, is soft, calls you by your name, explains to you that he will read your letter later and carefully because he reads every one of them (I assured him that I am aware of that and very thankful) and that he wants to take his time with it to be able respond to it (which is not something I expect or even want, I just wanted to thank him and tell him how great he is, no response necessary). When I said it's been a long day he said no no no no, it's been a cool day, and I think he really means it. He was so full of energy after that long a day. He is so happy whenever he sees someone he remembers. And when I asked for a hug he said pffff of course!!! Did I mention he winked at me? Yeah. I really thought I could not love him more than I did but I do. I'm so grateful to have been able to meet him and talk to him and ugh ugh just, I can die happy now.

Maxence was really tired and stressed by the time I got to him and he took a smoke break just before. They warned us to keep it short because it was taking too long, so I did. I gave him the letter I wrote and he thanked me and we took some selfies. He was very nice but you could tell it was a lot for him, and that's very understandable.

After that we went back to the hotel and I literally could not even form proper sentences anymore. We didn't get any dinner, we just talked for a bit to let it all sink in and then we went to bed.

Tbh, it's still a bit like a dream when I think back on it. It's a good thing I have pictures because otherwise I wouldn't believe it myself. I love this cast and this show and the crew too of course, I am so happy I went and the next time I get the slightest change to see them again I will take it without a doubt. They are all amazing. 10/10 would recommend.

PS: if anybody has any questions don’t hesitate to ask, although I might not know the answer or remember haha.

#tara at eli3 #eli3 recap

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anonymoustalks · 4 years

Text

It has a Confederate soldier memorial and statue out in front I'm shocked they didn't make them take it down

(6-18-20) You both like Politics.

Stranger: Hey

You: hi

Stranger: What's up

You: mhm sleepy mainly

You: you?

Stranger: Nice

Stranger: Just showered now I'm sitting here

You: mhm anything you care a lot about?

Stranger: Social issues

You: like?

Stranger: Hmm abortion, guns, religion, immigration

Stranger: Transgender people

You: okay

Stranger: You?

You: mhm I'm abstract

You: I'm kind of a hippie haha

Stranger: Oh haha

Stranger: I'm conservative

You: but I believe in being nice

You: that's fine

Stranger: Haha good

You: people have different beliefs

Stranger: That's fair

You: where are you from?

Stranger: US

You: one of the more liberal states or conservative?

Stranger: South East

Stranger: Conservative haha

You: oh it's late

Stranger: Oh yeah 2 am

You: I'm northeast haha

Stranger: Lol

You: what kind of things do you like the most?

Stranger: Like in general?

You: sure or big picture

Stranger: Food, guns, movies, video games

You: mhm guns for entertainment?

Stranger: Not sure what else

You: like shooting range?

Stranger: Yeah like that

You: mhm I've never been

Stranger: It's fun

Stranger: I'd like to go camping sometime

Stranger: I never have

You: really? you should

Stranger: Yeah I really should

You: does anyone in your family do much camping?

Stranger: Nah nobody

You: aww haha

Stranger: Haha

You: my family doesn't either, but I've gone a few times with friends

Stranger: That's good

Stranger: How old are you

You: 26 you?

Stranger: 20

You: mhm how is college this year?

Stranger: Well schools were totally shut down for a while haha

You: is yours opening in the fall?

Stranger: Yeah I'm pretty sure if nothing changes

You: I guess it's nice to go back

Stranger: You think we will go back into lockdown if the virus gets worse

You: idk, I think it's hard to say

Stranger: I don't think my state will

You: I think they might if the hospitals get overhwhelmed

You: otherwise I think many states will care more about the economy

You: even if there are infections

Stranger: Right bye grandma

Stranger: We gotta fix the economy

Stranger: Haha

You: it's hard to make value decisions...

Stranger: Yeah it really is

You: I guess that's politics in a sense

You: What do you think? family or economy lol?

Stranger: I have many older family members who the virus could easily mess up

Stranger: Or kill

You: right

Stranger: My grandmother is 89

You: mhm

You: so for you, you would prefer it if the lockdown stayed?

Stranger: Hmmm it's really hard to say

You: mhm

Stranger: Cause it really is wrecking the economy staying in lockdown

You: mhm

Stranger: But the risk is much higher now

You: yeah, I don't really envy the people who have to make that choice

Stranger: Pray and hope for the best basically haha

You: I guess that's for the best I guess

Stranger: Right

You: are you very religious?

Stranger: I wouldn't say very

Stranger: I don't go to church and I'm not going start now

You: ah, why not?

Stranger: But I do believe in God and all that

Stranger: Well you know the virus I meant during the virus time

You: oh yeah haha

Stranger: Sorry haha

You: sorry lol

Stranger: But maybe one day I will

You: for some reason I read that as you never went to church?

Stranger: Oh I never have I mean I've went like a long time ago

You: oh okay

Stranger: When I was still a kid basically

You: does your family still go or were they not so religious?

Stranger: They weren't so religious yeah

You: mhm kay

Stranger: They are religious but they just don't like church for whatever reason

Stranger: I guess mom has hangovers Sunday morning lmao

You: ohh

Stranger: I'm kidding but she does drink

You: yeah

You: although I can kind of vaguely relate to not wanting to go

You: I don't like to go to things in groups

Stranger: Well church at least down here has a lot of uppity bastards

You: I feel like a person's relationship with God is also a very personal thing

You: uppity?

Stranger: That treat church as like this thing like for connections

You: oh...

You: that's not cool

Stranger: Instead of going for religion

Stranger: Uppity like wealthy and snobby

You: ahh okay

Stranger: You know those types?

You: yeah, I feel very uncomfortable

You: my family also immigrated so there's a cultural difference for me too

Stranger: Where they come from

You: china ^^

Stranger: So you're Chinese?

You: yup, ethnically

Stranger: Cool

Stranger: Haha

Stranger: I'm white

You: there are not many asians on the east coast lol

Stranger: They are more west coast

Stranger: Haha

You: yep

You: I was like the only one in my high school

Stranger: Lol

You: yeah it can be awkward at times

Stranger: My highschool had no Chinese people

Stranger: We had like 1 Indian

Stranger: It was mostly just white people haha and some blacks

You: mhm

You: it's the same for us except not many blacks either

You: New England is very white

You: lol

Stranger: Haha

Stranger: We only have that big black population due to them staying after slavery

Stranger: Without the black people this place would be like all white

You: mhm

Stranger: Hmm how many gay people did it have?

You: up here?

Stranger: Yeah

You: we are pretty liberal so we had a couple

Stranger: We had like one gay one and one bisexual

Stranger: And maybe one trans but I don't know

You: mhm I think we had more lgbt people than that

You: how big was your high school?

Stranger: Pretty small compared to a typical high school

Stranger: I mean we only had 1 floor

Stranger: No upstairs

You: ahh that's pretty small

Stranger: You actually had to leave and go to the other high school in the county if you wanted certain classes

You: did you grow up in a rural area or something?

Stranger: Oh yeah lol it's all woods around the highschool

Stranger: And around my house

You: ahh kay

Stranger: Pretty cool I always thought

Stranger: But lonely too

You: yeah nature is nice

Stranger: Cause unless you go out of town there is really nothing to do for young people

You: right

You: were you always involved in politics?

Stranger: We have a movie theater that some old man owns and he plays new movies for like $5

Stranger: That's like it haha

You: oh those kind of small places are cool, at least I think so

You: I like small random bookstores and stuff

Stranger: I hope he isn't closed I mean I haven't checked

Stranger: I hope Coronavirus didn't kill his business

Stranger: Oh yeah we have lots of little random stores

You: mhm yeah...

Stranger: We have a little historical building downtown that uses to be the courthouse

Stranger: It has a Confederate soldier memorial and statue out in front I'm shocked they didn't make them take it down

You: is your local county/town/city more conservative or liberal would you say?

You: compared to your overall state?

Stranger: Very conservative socially

Stranger: Even the democrats are socially conservative they just are left money wise

You: mhm

Stranger: So thats probably why haha

You: yeah I guess that makes sense

Stranger: That was there when the building was a actual court house

Stranger: So a black guy going to court sees that lol

You: yeah I wonder what they would feel

Stranger: I broke the law in the wrong neighborhood

You: mhm I feel like it's a kind of scary thought

Stranger: Exactly it probably makes you think is the judge or jury racist

You: yeah

Stranger: The sheriff is like related to me

You: ohh really?

Stranger: Distant family

Stranger: Yeah

You: that's cool

You: is it like a small town family thing where all the families know each other?

Stranger: Lol yes everyone figures out everyone's business

You: oh lol

You: my town growing up had a significant catholic community, and they were really tightly knit

You: like some of the teachers, students, all went to same church

Stranger: Yeah it's pretty close knit here

Stranger: This place is weird

Stranger: It's like one county with three little small towns that are very close

Stranger: That almost overlap

You: huh

Stranger: Haha

Stranger: Isn't that great?

You: I mean it's interesting I guess

You: I wonder how things turned out that way

Stranger: Like you could drive 5 or 10 minutes and be in the other town

Stranger: And 15 to the other

You: I'm surprised that like with a school your size, you don't have something like a regional high school or something

Stranger: The biggest town in the county has a highschool

You: ahh

Stranger: And out in the boonies between the other two was mine

You: right

Stranger: Haha it's just interested

Stranger: Interesting

You: yeah it's interesting for me to hear

You: do you ever get new people moving into your town in stuff?

You: or is it pretty much always the same families?

Stranger: And if you shoot a gun in the yard the cops don't come haha

Stranger: I've had a neighbor do that

You: is your area mostly safe?

Stranger: Oh yeah

Stranger: My brother had a guy try to break in once

Stranger: But he scared him off

You: mhm

Stranger: Just the same families

Stranger: Rarely you'll get like a immigrant family coming

You: yeah we have a lot of moving up here

You: not necessarily immigrants, but people moving in and out of state

You: that kind of thing

Stranger: Oh I see

Stranger: You in a big city?

You: no, suburb, maybe like 45 minutes out?

Stranger: Oh I see

You: yeah, but I think a lot of people move here when they get a job somewhere

You: I guess they move out if they follow their career elsewhere

Stranger: We move out of town when we want a good job haha

You: oh lol haha

Stranger: Unless you do a store, cop job, or military

You: mhm

You: you have a military base nearby or something?

Stranger: We do have a small community college

Stranger: Oh yeah we have a national guard Armory

Stranger: You can be there I think

You: mhm

You: yeah it's cool to hear about the kind of place you grew up

You: and sort of think about how that affects politics on the bigger map

Stranger: Oh yeah lol

Stranger: That's a little about the south

You: a little about the south?

Stranger: Yeah my southern state

You: oh okay

Stranger: Haha

You: is the older generation in your area more conservative than the younger folk?

You: or not really?

Stranger: Oh definitely

You: hmm you sounded like you were pro-lgbt but not trans, if I'm guessing your position correctly?

Stranger: Yeah I don't like trans people

Stranger: But some gays are fine

You: only some? ^^

Stranger: Haha

Stranger: The ones that are normal people are fine

You: ah okay

Stranger: Like I don't like the really feminine ones or activist

Stranger: I'm bi

You: mhmm

You: okay that's cool

Stranger: Thanks

You: I'm surprised because I would have thought you would have been more supporting of other lgbt people

Stranger: Ohhh

Stranger: I guess it's my upbringing

You: you don't like the activists because... they stand out too much?

You: or...?

Stranger: Right

You: too liberal?

Stranger: I don't like the obviously gay guys

You: mhm

Stranger: And that too

You: are you out to your family?

Stranger: No

Stranger: Not yet

You: do you think you will some day?

Stranger: At some point maybe

You: mhm I get it

Stranger: But only if I'm with a guy

You: what about with your friends?

Stranger: Otherwise I'm not going to risk them having a bad reaction

You: yeah it makes sense

Stranger: I'll probably tell friends

You: mhm but you haven't?

Stranger: No just a online friend

You: aww that's sweet though ^^

You: I think it's good to be out to someone

Stranger: He's gay so he gets it

You: yeah

You: I'm happy for you

Stranger: He likes me but he lives very far off

You: aww yeah distance is a problem

Stranger: He's a British guy that wants to come move here haha

You: oh haha

You: I feel like that must mess with your timezones lol

Stranger: Lol hes conservative and likes Trump

Stranger: That's funny for a gay British person

You: yeah but hey, your sexuality doesn't define you

You: you can be conservative, liberal, whatever

Stranger: Yeah he's always sleeping when I get up

Stranger: Haha

Stranger: Or something like that

You: mhm do you like him?

Stranger: Oh yeah I do

Stranger: He's great

You: oh that's great ^^

Stranger: Haha you like hearing about this don't you

You: yeah I love hearing about this

You: it makes me smile haha

You: it's really sweet, seriously

Stranger: Maybe it is haha

You: mhm I'm happy for people when they find things for themselves

Stranger: Me too

Stranger: do you like someone?

You: yup

Stranger: Who?

Stranger: Guy or girl

You: mhm... I have a complicated situation

Stranger: Ohhh

You: oh? xD

Stranger: Are you a guy or girl?

You: well first of all, what do you think?

Stranger: I can't tell haha

You: lol

You: I guess that makes me happy

Stranger: Which are you?

You: mhm you can think of me as a guy I guess

Stranger: You trans?

You: I'm kind of have an androgynous perception of myself

Stranger: Ohhh

Stranger: I like to think of myself as masculine and all that

You: technically it's nonbinary, but most conservative people don't take that very seriously

Stranger: So you're non binary?

You: I'm not really that much of a labels person

Stranger: I don't know about that one

You: but yeah, if you want to put me in a group, that would be the most accurate description

Stranger: I know what it is but I don't know how that works

You: oh what I mean by "labels" is that I don't think the terms are important

Stranger: Oh I see

You: like bi vs pan vs whichever other term

Stranger: I don't like pan

Stranger: To me it's no different than bi

You: mhm

You: to me they're very close to interchangeable

You: but for some reason people have a preference for which term they like

Stranger: I see

Stranger: Bi makes more sense to me

You: mhm

Stranger: Bi means 2 and you like both sexes

You: yup

Stranger: Haha

Stranger: And do you like a guy or girl?

You: idk there's people who spend too much time thinking about this and come up with terms for a lot of things

You: uh, I lean towards liking guys, and a little bit less towards girls

Stranger: Ohhh

Stranger: You like a guy now?

You: nope I'm with a girl now

Stranger: Ohhh

Stranger: I gotcha

You: like if I were to give it numbers, like usually I'm more into guys like 80% of the time, and girls like 20%

Stranger: That's how I am

You: mhm awesome lol

Stranger: Lol

Stranger: It was great talking to you but I should go I think

You: okay, it was great talking!

Stranger: Goodnight

You: night

Stranger has disconnected.

#omegle #politics #southern #conservative #religion #coronavirus #transgender #lgbt #bisexual #pansexual #race #minority #confederate statues

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asgardian--angels · 5 years

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Calling All LOTR fans! Why aren’t you on LOTRO yet??

Hey everyone! It’s Molly here - aka, Sauron’s #1 fan lmao.

Now, we’re a big fandom, between LOTR and the Hobbit and the Silm, there’s millions of us out there, and thousands on Tumblr! And we’re always looking for new ways to experience and interact with Tolkien’s legendarium. Plus, many of us have an overlapping interest in gaming, of any sort. But even if you don’t - read on, I implore you!

There’s an incredibly awesome free MMORPG out there, one that I’ve been playing for years. It’s called LOTRO - Lord of the Rings Online - and it’s gotta be my absolute favorite interpretation of Middle-Earth ever.

For those not aware, an MMORPG is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game, basically an open world PC game that has thousands of other users you can interact with within the confines of the game’s universe. And in this case, that’s Middle-Earth!

Everything you know and love about Tolkien’s world is brought to life in stunning thoughtful detail, from the rolling hills of the Shire to the eaves of Fangorn and beyond. You become an integral part of the story of Middle-Earth, assisting the Fellowship both directly and in the littler ways that count most of all - staving off the forces of darkness by doing good deeds and helping the folk of Eriador, Rhovanion, and Gondor. Everything you do ripples outwards to influence the fate of Arda itself! Without you, there would be no hope for the Fellowship to succeed in its dire quest. Traveling from land to land, you become beloved and treasured as a hero by all the free peoples of Middle-Earth, royal and common folk alike. While you may start out small, soon your path will bring you to the feet of great lords and kings, and onto the very doorstep of Mordor itself, where the Dark Lord awaits. Fight the fell beasts of Sauron, skip through the Old Forest with Tom Bombadil, and ride your warsteed across the vast open plains of Rohan - the world is yours to explore, and to save, if you can. Middle-Earth depends on you.

I truly can’t overstate how much I love LOTRO. I’ve been playing for five years now and I am just as much in love with it as the day I first started. It’s always a little dicey, as a Tolkien fan, especially if you’re a highly devoted one, trying to judge and decide if an interpretation of his work will enhance your experience or ruin it - you just want to see justice done by him and everything he stood for. Trust me, I’m like that too (there’s no need to talk about a certain upcoming Amazon series...). So believe me when I tell you that the spirit of Tolkien comes alive in this game. The creators, writers, and designers of LOTRO have put so much thought and care, and heart, into staying true to Tolkien’s vision and messages. Great attention and care is paid with respect to accuracy to the lore and languages Tolkien created as well, something that cements the authenticity of LOTRO for diehard fans. You just feel good playing it (and honestly, I feel like it’s helped my self-esteem?? Those little virtual hobbits are so grateful for everything you do). Warm fuzzies all around. With a fair helping of angst, can’t forget that. Not all stories can have happy endings, but with your help, a whole lot of them can.

So... maybe you’ve read this far, and are a teensy bit interested? Or at least intrigued. This is a chance to expand the world of Tolkien to something you can actually immerse yourself in, be a part of, explore like never before! Wander the cobblestone streets of Bree, smell the pipe-smoke in the Prancing Pony, feel the chill winds of the icy wastes of Forochel upon your face. Do you have the guts to face the Witch-King himself?

LOTRO has so much to offer! Whether you are interested from a gaming perspective, or a story perspective, it’s endless fun. Before LOTRO I’d never played an MMO, and I certainly would not consider myself a gamer. I came from a love of Middle-Earth, and came for a chance to see that story brought to life. So don’t count it out if you think you’re not up for some hardcore gaming lifestyle - this game has the pace that you set for it. Whether you join a social kinship and roleplay, a raid group to do skirmishes, or go it alone and fish the day away, the possibilities are endless.

Plus, I feel like it’s worth stating that the scenery in LOTRO is astoundingly beautiful. It’s not uncommon for my friends and I to ride around just for the view. And you know what else? The music, guys. Just, the music. LOTRO has been blessed these many years with composer Chance Thomas, who has crafted some of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard - comparable to those of the Lord of the Rings films themselves. He truly encapsulates the emotions, the grandeur, the coziness, the uneasiness, the dread and the joy, of every corner of Middle-Earth. (It’s so well-loved by players that TWO official soundtracks were even put out, and I play them in my car all the time, ngl. Check out one of the Rohan tracks here!)

So, for the nitty gritty that you may be wondering about! This is a great time to join LOTRO. Over the years, the game has grown tremendously, adding more regions of Middle-Earth to quest in, building more storylines, and expanding the characters you can have, the clothes you can wear, and the activities you can do! Currently, you can play several races - Man, Dwarf, Elf, High Elf, Hobbit, and Beorning - as well as a wide variety of classes - hunter, lore-master, rune-keeper, burglar, champion, minstrel, captain, guardian, and warden- each with their own unique stories and abilities. Multiple characters can be created for free on one account. There’s a wide customization capability for characters and cosmetic items, for housing, steeds, emotes, pets, and more. That’s part of what makes LOTRO so fun! Most expansions can be purchased in-game using points earned by completing deeds, making LOTRO affordable and FTP (free to play) for a large proportion of its content. Additionally, we have an incredibly thorough and comprehensive Wiki-style website for all LOTRO-related information. This is an incredibly knowledgeable and welcoming community.

...Did I add that there’s maiar in the game too? If you have a keen eye you’ll spot them.

Molly why are really you making this post?

Now, earlier I mentioned kinships. Traveling Middle-Earth can often be more fun with others, and having friends can help you learn the game and offer advice and insight. They can be roleplay partners, band members (yes, you can play instruments in the game!), or just buddies to talk to. Many LOTRO players are in kinships, and each is different, depending on what you want to get out of the experience. You can find a kinship within the game, or on social media - in fact, I found my kinship, the one I’ve been in all these years, right here on Tumblr! I want to extend that hand in friendship to potential new players that are in the position I was all those years ago.

Our humble kinship is called Dwarrowdam. You may recall this is the name for a lady-dwarf! While many of our members are dwarrowdams, that is by no means a prerequisite. We welcome players of all races and classes. Dwarrowdam is a casual social kinship, where we enjoy helping others out, from learning the ropes to festival activities, deeding, raids, concerts, and much more. We host weekly kin nights, where we get together and have fun for a couple of hours. This kinship has been going almost since the start of LOTRO itself, and we are eager to meet new people! A few of our higher-ranking members have had to depart after many years, due to real life commitments, and we hope to build our ranks again. We all thoroughly enjoy mentoring new players, myself included. Dwarrowdam would be a great choice for kinship for any player just starting out, or a continuing player looking for a relaxed social atmosphere as part of their gameplay experience! We are located on the Landroval server, which itself is known for its friendliness and its roleplay opportunities. It is our hope that gaining a solid handful of new, active members will allow our kinship to return to its former glory. Kinships can fizzle out and dissolve if too many players leave, and that is the last thing we want to happen to Dwarrowdam. It’s been like a home for me and many others, and I believe we can restore it.

I am an officer in the Dwarrowdam kinship, along with Badari and Daerhovan. We strongly encourage you to contact us with any questions you might have, about the kinship or LOTRO itself, or if you would like to join Dwarrowdam.

Anyone who loves Tolkien and Middle-Earth should give LOTRO a try. For me, finding it was like filling a hole in my life I never knew existed. It’s thrilling, peaceful, emotional, hopeful, all in one - basically, everything that the stories we know and love already are, but brought to life in front of us. I’d like to think that if you tried it, you’d love it as much as I do. And if you’re in need of a kinship, please consider Dwarrowdam.

And besides, look at Gandalf and his bushy eyebrows. You can’t say no to that.

#lotro #lord of the rings online #lotr #lord of the rings #the silmarillion #long post #mine #do i enjoy writing posts about lotro? absolutely #we seriously need new members #n e w b l o o d #but more than anything i just want to share the joy that lotro has brought to my life #it's gotten me through so many hard and stressful times #you just ride out into the middle of nowhere in rohan and sit there and watch the sun set and everything is right in the world #i LOVE being able to mentor new players it's so fun and having that chance to be in a kinship as soon as i started was pivotal #we welcome you all with open arms #anyway yeah we're desperate for new members and if we can't get some we will probably be forced to merge into a larger kinship #which is alright i guess but you lose that sense of identity #so this is sort of a plea post? like please help us #we need renewed interest in LOTRO itself overall. there's a wide audience to be had but membership is down #and i feel like part of that must have to do with the fact that there's no more movies coming out #nothing drawing new people in #so this is me turning to the audience lotr already has that probably doesn't yet know this game exists

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peppusae · 5 years

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[ksj] the universe in our hands

the universe in our hands; kim seokjin x reader

genre; soulmate au, crack, fluff

word count; 7.1k words

note; happy birthday kim seokjin! i posted this on ao3 on his birthday but my laptop was down so i’m only able to post this here now lmao.!

this story is intended for light reading and is pure crack; hthis is what happens when you pair crack with soulmate au, and add an overdose of kim seokjin memes lol enjoy!

💫

the universe in our hands

There are certain moments in life you will never forget, no matter how long ago it happened, even when you start getting those gray hair and your memory skills diminish with age.

One of those moments for you would have been from that one Tuesday evening date with Kim Seokjin, where he’d patiently kept warming up a soft marshmallow, taking his sweet time and watching it turn into a warm golden brown.

It’s a cute thing, actually. How proud he looked as he took the perfectly done marshmallow and grinned, raising his eyebrows on and on. How adorable he looked as he raised an eyebrow before sticking a new one back into the fire… and watched it catch a ridiculously large glob of fire along with it.

You remember the way he’d started screeching his ass off, pulling the marshmallow out and shrieking your name in a way that is specific simply to Kim Seokjin… and accidentally loosen his grip on the stick he’d held; effectively dropping it on your arm.

And it’s hard to be angry at him because, even though it had left a permanent scar on your arm, his wide eyes, his mantra of apologies, and the way he’d pressed his plush and soft lips on your burn to soothe it; all of those combined… that had become a moment you’d never forget.

And it’s the first moment you recollect, after your happily ever after in your first life… and moved on to your second.

Soulmates.

Here on Earth, soulmates recollect their memories from their past lives.

The concept goes like this - one of you will remember the other, and the memories come back in abstract bits. You first recalled the pain of a marshmallow on your arm, then his laugh lines, his face, entirely, and finally… his full name.

For you, it takes weeks. It takes you weeks to move from one bit of Seokjin to the other, and after the very first memory, it triggers a series of other memories as well.

At 23, you remember every single memory of Kim Seokjin, clear as the day; the way he asked you out, the way he proposed, all three of your children, and every shade in between, from your past life.

And at times, it causes you to be confused about your memories in general, and the way they overlap.

One would think that, you remembering the name of your soulmate and the advancement of technology is a blessing…

But when you finally remember his name and type it on Facebook, you’re not just met with a couple profiles that could be potentially be him. Instead, you’re met with…

A fanpage.

And then another.

And then hundreds of them.

You almost choke on your own spit as you type ‘Kim Seokjin’ on Google, and find out that he is a Korean singer and idol from a group who called themselves the Bulletproof Boyscouts.

“What am I going to do?” You find yourself whining to your best friend Ami, and she’s unsympathetic, making the matters worse for you, as an avid fan of BTS, herself.

“I told you that you should listen to BTS. Jungkook in their latest, ‘Blood, Sweat, and Tears’, was some good shit.”

“Ugh.”

Here’s the case that makes the concept bad: One of you remembers the other, and the other person can only remember you via a trigger from the first memory that you had.

And since you remembered him first, he wouldn’t remember you, unless...

… How were you going to ask Kim Seokjin, world-renowned idol, to touch the back of your arm?!

Ami suggests that the best way for Seokjin to believe you is to attend a fansign. She has her ways; she contacts a penpal from Korea, and two months later, you’re flying off to attend a fansign, paired with your broken Korean language skills.

Even those bangtan bombs, songs, and variety shows could only do so much for you in the span of two months, after all.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” you tell Ami, who takes the lead and guides you through the length of Incheon airport. The air is cool from the fresh, February winter evening, and the sound of your shoes on the soft snow makes you sigh inhaling as much air as possible before you both pile into a cab. Ami's Korean skills are much better than yours, and she reads out the name of the venue with ease. It makes you calm down a little, leaning against the seat and looking outside.

“What if he doesn’t believe me and calls me a weirdo?”

“Well, you are one, so-”

“Hey!”

The squabbles and banters with your best friend shortens the trip to the apartment you two would be staying at, and next, the venue of the fanmeeting.

There are hundreds of people lined up at the entrance, and you hurry to give your card and get your details verified with the staff before you and Ami enter the venue.

During the drawing lots for seating, you and Ami end up in adjacent seats, and you feel your palms sweating as you wait for the boys to fill up the table at the stage in the front.

The sudden squeals make you look up from the fan fiction you are reading from your phone, and you see the boys wave as they climb onto the stage, each one of them grinning widely. Your eyes head right to Seokjin, who is blowing flying kisses, and it makes your heart warm, that he still had that habit even in this life… even though it is quite over-exaggerated now.

But it makes you smile anyways, because Seokjin has always been extra, and this life seems to not be any exception to it.

You've been assigned with seat number twelve in the second row, and you're a nervous mess when you follow Ami ahead of you when it is your turn.

All the members are soft and warm. Namjoon chats with you in English, Jungkook calls you Noona and you melt into a puddle of goo. Jimin gives you the soft crescent moon eye-smiles that makes your heart race, while Taehyung does excessive cute pouts with you. You're thankful that Yoongi is the member you are to meet before Seokjin, because it gives you a moment to calm down from the wack of softness you've been feeling, and it's really calming when Yoongi gives you a gummy smile and refuses to listen to you when you ask him to call you Noona.

After Ami moves from her point with Seokjin, you gulp, suddenly nervous as you slowly waddle in front of him and give him an expectant look.

“Hello.” He greets you with a warm smile, and you feel your legs wobbling a little as you offer him a smile and put your album on the table. “It says on this note that your name is [Name]. Hi, are you having a good day today, [Name]-ah?’

“Hi. I don’t have a lot of time, so may I ask a very direct question?”

“If you’re going to ask me if I will marry you, then the answer is no.” He has to say, turning up from the album and looking at you with an expression that clearly shows that he is trying his hardest not to burst out laughing.

“You’ll never change.” You mumble, smiling at him as he nods.

“I won’t. But I don’t think I’ve seen you before, so...”

“You see, Seokie, the thing is-”

“Seokie ? Are you seriously going to drop the -oppa suffix and call me nicknames like we’re friends, right off the bat?” Seokjin interrupts you, eyes wide and hands on his hips as he scoffs a little. There is no spite in his tone, and he has a little pout on which makes you understand that he’s just goofing off. “Bold of you to assume I’ll let that slide.”

“Look, I don’t have the time for your childish antics today, so for now, Seokie, do you believe in soulmates?”

“I do. But wait a second, did you just call me childish- ”

“I’m your soulmate from our previous life, Kim Seokjin.” You hurry to say, and watch as he raises an eyebrow at you, head tilted to one side as he rests his chin on his hand.

“You and ten million others.”

“I’m serious! What in hecks, you just need to touch here,” you start, lifting the sleeve of your dress up till it reaches your elbows, “And I’m sure your memories will get triggered too!”

“Listen, [Name]-ah. I love you. Thanks for being a fan and everything, but hundreds of people tell me things like that, so-”

“Oh for cripes sake, touch my arm, Seokie, you idiot!” You hiss, and Seokjin flinches at the nickname, which makes your heart drop; this was the nickname he’d asked you to call him, the one you’d called him for all those years in your past life. And now, here he was… reacting this way to it?

Seokjin looks like he is about to say something else, but one of the managers comes up to you, asking you to move ahead and let the fan behind you talk with him, next.

“You’ll regret this, Kim Seokjin.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No. It’s just me saying this, because I loved you a lot in my past life. And you’re asking to miss that, in this life.” You say, before moving on to the only remaining member, Hoseok.

You’re thankful that Hoseok’s bright personality had made you smile, because if not, you’d have started raging right in the middle of the members….

Now, instead, you’re raging back in your seat.

“Oh my God! I hate Kim Seokjin!” You exclaim, while Ami pats your head.

“It’s fine. We just need to get him to listen to you. There’s more chances, don’t give up just yet! You didn’t even tell him about the marshmallow part, that was an important bit!”

“I didn’t get the chance because he didn’t even let me!”

“Hey, you need to calm do-”

“That Seokjin! What a headass! He used to lie on the sofa sprawled like an old man and ask me to make caramel popcorn for him, and he freaking also asked me to weigh the amount of sugar I use! He made me go through all that in my past life and he thinks he can get rid of me in this life, just like that?!” You demand.

“[Name], people are staring at us…”

“That little brat! I’m gonna show him who’s boss! Why, I used to have to wake up at 3am in the morning because that little headass wanted me to scratch his back for him! YAH, KIM SEOKJIN!” You yell, and you see that Seokjin lifts his head up away from the fan in front of him and turns to you, standing up with your hands on your hips.

“Yah, I know I’m handsome and everything, but Miss, please calm down-”

“You little brat-” you start to say, only to be interrupted midway when the fans seated in front of you ask you to please sit down.

And it’s hurtful. It’s sad, because you’d travelled all the way here, with every memory fresh in your head, seeking the comforting words only Seokjin can give… Only to be shot down like this and have people looking at you with judgemental eyes.

It makes your eyes tear up, and you pick up your bag and stand up, glancing at Seokjin one more time before you exit the venue.

You’d have given up, you really would have.

But… Seokjin actually looked at you ever since you stood up, all the way till you exited the venue, and that…

That reminds you of your Seokjin. The soothing man who loved you endlessly in your previous life. His soft gazes, and his endless concern for everything and anything that concerns you, despite how lazy he can tend to be.

How can you not try once more, after something like that?

(“You know what I’m gonna do?”

“What?”

“Start a fansite.”

“You suck at photography, though.”

“... Oh.”)

The next opportunity you get is at the release of their next album, and black-haired Seokjin makes you teary-eyed; he had never colored his hair in his previous life, keeping it healthy and fresh unlike the slightly dried out hair that he sports in this life.

Seokjin recognises you instantly.

“Hey, you're that cute girl who claims to be my soulmate!”

You find yourself clenching your fists while ignoring him calling you cute; trying your hardest to listen to Ami's advice and not create a scene like last time. In fact, you think you received some odd looks from the fansite managers all over the venue who were present in the previous fan sign, as well.

“I claim so because I am your soulmate, you idiot.”

“You call me your soulmate, and an idiot within the same sentence. Jeez, you have a fuckton of audacity.”

You squint your eyes at the male, watching how he is casually drawing a smiley face underneath his signature on your album. After he is done and there is silence until he does so, Seokjin lifts up his head and raises and eyebrow expectantly at you, as if anticipating something from your side.

“Say it.”

“What?” You hiss, and this makes Seokjin grin, closing your album and handing it to you.

“What you're dying to say.”

This makes you crack your knuckles, taking in a deep breath before you mumble a low ‘yah!’ at him.

“Go on. You haven't made any chaos since the last fan meeting, and I realized you really were a fake.”

“Wow, you sure have a fuckton of audacity,” you start, “To relax and be beautiful while I'm stressing out about you being a headass.”

“How am I the headass here-”

“You are, because you think I'm just going to let you off the hook after you dropped a blazing marshmallow on my arm? I think not, you little shit.”

“I did… What?!”

“You were trying to show off but the marshmallow caught on fire and you dropped it… on my arm, here.” You say, holding out your arm and lifting up the sleeve a little to show the upper part of your hand which you remember clearly from your previous life.

“That… That actually sounds like something I would do.”

“Yes, you're the scaredy-cat between the two of us, after all. You even had those weird flashy lights over our VCR system because you refused to watch scary movies with me in complete darkness.”

This makes Seokjin pause, and it seems like he's thinking about something deeply, blinking.

“You really are something, [Name]-ah.”

“And that something is your soulmate.”

“For God's sake.”

“Also, why do you think you know all those dad jokes so well? I was a language teacher in my previous life and I wrote you an entire book on dad jokes for your birthday.”

“Wow, that's… that's wifey goals.”

“If it is, then touch my arm.”

“Goddammit, [Name].”

Once again, your conversation is interrupted midway by one of the managers asking you to go ahead to the next member. This time, Seokjin is looking at you as you sigh, telling a little ‘till next time’, to him before you move ahead, to Jungkook.

“I couldn't help but overhear what you and Jin-hyung were talking about, and I'm really curious…” Jungkook says after he greets you. “Are you really his soulmate?”

“I am. Do you also not believe me, Jungkook-ah?”

“I want to believe you, [Name]-noona. I watched ‘Kimi no na wa’ and I believe in soulmates. So I want to believe that one amongst us has finally found their soulmate. I kinda wish what I remrmber from my soulmate would be something related to an anklet, but that's just a little dream of mine, heheh. That's why I'm rooting for you, Noona. You should work hard!”

This actually brings tears to your eyes. It's the most sincere, innocent, and wholesomest thing that you've ever heard in your entire lifetime, and it was the kind of support you never realized you needed, until now.

“Thank you, Kookie.” You smile at him, knowing full well that you'll have his support the next time you try and break through the stubborn as hell walls of Kim Seokjin.

And you're thinking about this even after your turn is over and you're seated back in your spot with the rest of the fans.

Seokjin humors the crowd when the fans call him handsome, being the perfect kind of celebrity that shows professionalism and entertainment.

At one point, a fan calls, ‘Seokjin-oppa, do a flying kiss!’, and he is fast to respond, throwing one to the crowd and watching with a big grin on his face. And it makes you recall the way he would humor your kids back in your previous life, the way he was good at making faces and keeping them entertained as well, when they were younger.

“Seokjin-ah,” you find yourself calling out, and the male looks up from the album he is signing then, “Send me a heart, please?”

“No way, not for you, [Name]-ah!” He responds with a big, meaty laugh, and you feel your cheeks flush in embarrassment as the crowd bursts out into fits of giggles.

He even had the audacity to call your name out, now everyone was definitely going to beat your ass!

But you recall something Namjoon had told you when you chatted with him earlier: ‘Tomorrow will be better than today.’

And you realize that truer words have never spoken, because it's always one step closer: This time, after the fanmeeting is over, and when you're about to leave, a security guard comes over and asks you to follow him.

And this seems frightening, but he lets you know that one of the members had requested you meet with him.

“Was it Seokjin, or-”

“Jungkook-ssi.”

“Oh.”

The guard leads you across the hallway, towards a brown colored door, and when he asks you to step inside, you take in a deep breath.

Before you can turn the knob after you knock on the door, a loud gasp makes you turn around, only to see Seokjin, mouth agape, looking at you with wide eyes.

“YOU FOLLOWED ME HERE TOO?!” He has to screech, turning to the guard before saying, “SECURITY! THIS GIRL WON'T STOP STALKING ME AND TRYING TO GET ME TO TOUCH HER!!”

You are about to respond when the door flies open, and Jungkook steps outside, now in a plain white shirt and a portable fan in his hand.

“Hyung, what are you doing even.” Jungkook mumbles, before turning to you. “Noona! Come on in!”

“Yah, what are you gonna do to our maknae-”

“Shut up oh my God.”

Jungkook shakes his head at the two of you, grabbing hold of your wrist and pulling you inside and closing the door before Seokjin can respond.

“Sorry about that.”

“It's fine, I'm dealing with it.”

Jungkook shrugs, taking his phone and handing it to you.

“I had to ask you to drop by because I wanted a way to contact you. We're going to your country for a shooting next month, and I want to help you two get together.”

You take the phone in hand, feeling extremely touched that the member you thought was the most distant, turned out to be your number one supporter. Jungkook is innocent and wishes for the best, his pure heart accepting all the things you've had to say, and you wished Seokjin was more like him and actually listened to you.

“So, what are you going to do when you go there for the shooting?”

“I have a plan.”

(“Jungkook-ah, I can't believe you're so extra. You're even making me get a job at a café just for Seokjin.”

“Shush, Noona. I'm sure you would have wanted to show off your cute uniform for Jin-hyung.”

“Well, you aren't… wrong.”)

“Hello, do you know BTS?”

It takes every ounce of your self-control to not laugh out loud as you see Jungkook and your soulmate at the counter of your workplace, and you nod, as you say ‘Heck yeah I do.’

It seemed like the male recognized your voice, because he looks up from the menu and does a double take when he sees that it is you.

“Wait. WHAT. What are you doing here?!” Seokjin hisses, eyes wide, and you facepalm.

“I live here.” You state, turning to look at Jungkook, who has his face scrunched up as he laughs his ass off. “And this is where I work.”

Seokjin turns to the cameraman, and requests to pause the filming for a couple minutes. You raise an eyebrow in confusion, eyes going wide when the male motions for you to follow him out. You exchange a confused glance with Jungkook before the three of you step outside, after you asked one of your coworkers to fill up for you for a bit.

“We're filming something for Bon Voyage, and we got a little break. They're filming this part for the behind the scenes, so don't worry about it.” Jungkook reassures you. When Seokjin turns around after stepping out of the cafe, he sports on such a blank look on his face that it makes you sincerely nervous.

“I can't believe you followed me all the way to here. This is another country. And fansites are understandable but… You? This is getting really out of hand.”

“Hyung.” Jungkook, who had stepped out as well, interrupts.

“You. Keep quiet.” The male interrupts back, turning to you. “And seriously, [Name]-ah, I thought we were having a fun bantering and I enjoyed talking with you, and to some extent, I believed you as well, but you following me all the way here? This is getting out of hand. I really don't think this is something you should be doing just because I refuse to touch your arm like you claim I should.”

A moment of silence pass by as he says this, and your heart feels a little constricted as you loosen the fists you had been clenching ever since you had stepped out of the cafe.

“Are you done jumping into conclusions? Because if you are,” you say, glancing at Jungkook, who gives you a nod, “I live here. This is my home country. This shop is where I work. And Kookie is the one who asked me about here, wasn't he the one who brought you here?”

Seokjin blinks, glancing at Jungkook who continues to nod, his hair moving and fluffing around as he does so. It softens your heart to see the boy being so cute, and you turn to look at Seokjin again.

“I know you don't trust me and think of me as a sasaeng fan, but just… After this, I really think I’ll stop.”

“Noona, no-”

“But there's a really nice route up the hill there,” you say, pointing at the mountain east of the cafe, “And you're here in my city, and I really feel like it would be a shame if you had to leave without seeing it. Will you let me take you there?”

You notice the way Seokjin’s eyes waver slightly, many moments passing by as he doesn't respond. At one point, you thought Jungkook might say something, that you should say that you had to leave back to your shift, anything just to get him to not look at you that way.

There is a shift in his expression, and you think you notice him softening a little bit as he says ‘you are the shame’.

And it makes you sigh because you realise that the bantering Seokjin - the normal Seokjin - was back.

“Will you go with me there or nah?”

“What if you molest me?” Seokjin asks, actually raising a hand and putting his thumb and index finger against his chin, pretending to think seriously.

“... I highly doubt that I would.”

“And I highly think you would.”

“In that case,” you say, pointing at Jungkook, “Bring him.”

“WHAT, NO, YOU JUST WANT TO DEFILE MY JUNGKOOK.”

“What-”

“YOU CAN DEFILE ME, BUT NOT MY JK.” He interrupts.

“I would totally let [Name]-noona defile me.” Jungkook whispers. This makes both you and Seokjin turn to face the boy, and he shrugs, making you slap his arm.

“Well, fucking fine then, bring Min Yoongi.” You say, back to Seokjin.

“Yoongi?” Seokjin’s voice echoes as he crosses his arms over his excessively wide chest. “Bitch, he went to sleep five hours ago, and it's only 4 pm.”

“Oh… Then, Namjoon?”

“Wow, you're seriously a hoe...”

“EXCUSE ME, I'M NOT THE ONE WHO HAS A FOOD KINK.”

“How did you know about my food kink?! I never told that to anyone besides Odengie!”

“YOU NITWIT, ODENG WAS THE NAME OF ONE OF OUR KIDS.”

“Oh man, holy shit !” Jungkook interrupts, and you try your hardest not to burst out laughing, because the expression on Seokjin's face is pure horror as he clutches two handfuls of his hair. “Wow, hyung, you had kids? That too, plural? Damn. How are you a virgin in this lifetime, though?”

“Because he's being a stubborn brat for the past year and half. I could have changed that status a long time ago, but a bitch won't cooperate.”

Jungkook let's out another, loud, exaggerated ‘ Oh man holy shit ’, while Seokjin's eyes are wide as he hisses at you to shut up.

“Okay but seriously, Kook-ah, give us a minute, please?”

“Anything for you, Noona.” He winks, and it makes you giggle to know that Jungkook wasn't as reserved as he might seem to a lot of fans. Seokjin squints his eyes at you as if waiting for you to continue.

“Okay. So yes, I know about your food kink, and I could expose that. So, fucking shut up and touch my arm, like, haven't you been educated about how soulmates’ memories are triggered?”

“I have, but none of those involved a marshmallow .” Seokjin protests. “Also, what do you mean, you know about my food kink, like… How much do you know…”

“Well, do you remember the time we ran out of whipped cream, so you had the audacity to ask if sesame oil was an option?”

“Hey,” Seokjin interrupts, while Jungkook scrunches his face in disgust, “Sesame oil is great, ok.”

“I swear to God.”

“Okay, but how are you bringing up stuff that sounds like me, I'm scared.” He has to state, scratching his head.

“Because it was you.”

“Okay, but how was I like as a hubby?”

You can hear Jungkook groaning as he facepalms, and honestly, you feel the same way, crossing your arms over your chest as you squint at him.

“Oh my God. Don't even get me started. You claim to be husband-material as fuck and that you would like to cook for your wife, but after we got married you got lazy and you even had a fucking belly .”

Seokjin gasps loudly as he chaotically flaps his arms around. “Oh my God, the horror. ”

“You even wore a checkered tie at our wedding and I had to ask my brother if it was possible to commit suicide using the diamond of the wedding ring.”

“That sounds like Jin-hyung, alright.”

“You stay outta this.”

“No, I'm not gonna. Hyung, she isn't asking you to marry her, she's just asking you to touch her arm. So yeah, Hyung, don't be such a baby. [Name]-noona is cool.”

“I don't even know why I'm chasing you like this anyways. You're not even my favorite.” You have to state, pointing a finger at the younger male. “Jungkook is legit ten times hotter than you, and he's my favorite, not you.”

“Heh.” Jungkook gives a cocky wink at Seokjin when you say this, paired with shooting two finger guns at him with both hands. When the boy lets out a low whistle, you turn to face your soulmate again.

“But anyways, yeah, I know what your dick looks like, so you better cooperate with me if you don't want your ten million plus fans to know as well.”

“Heh .” Jungkook repeats, and Seokjin glares at the maknae before turning to you.

“You're seriously threatening me. All because I won't touch your arm.”

“WHAT HARM WILL IT DO, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD?”

“Hyung, you should do it.” Jungkook urges again, putting his hands on either side of your shoulder. “Because otherwise, I'm gonna go show [Name]-noona to the other hyungs and we're gonna kidnap you and force you to-”

“This is getting ridiculous now.”

“You are ridiculous.”

“Shut.”

Jungkook doesn't wait for a response, and hurries to drag you towards Taehyung.

“Hyung, this is the noona I told you about.”

Taehyung's big eyes go wider, blinking with a face void of expression. And you are reminded, time and again, that if looks could kill, Taehyung would be your reason for death.

You are thankful when Hoseok and Namjoon come over to see what the ruckus is about, and from the way Jimin, who waddles over a little while later and smiles at you, you can tell that he recognises you.

“I don't trust you.”

All eyes turn to Taehyung, and Jungkook hurries to explain to the rest of his hyungs about how you are Seokjin's soulmate. Hoseok looks excited, but his eyes dart to Taehyung, who still stares at you with furrowed eyebrows.

“I don't trust you.” He repeats, “What if you kidnap our hyung and hypnotize him? You need this Tata mask so that you can't hypnotize him!”

There is silence between the boys, and you stare at Taehyung, baffled, and it's so quiet that even Yoongi, who has been sitting under the shade of one of the trees a bit further away, walks up to you all; making Seokjin, who has been pouting with his hands on his hips the entire time, go a little closer to you.

“What's going on?”

“Yoongi-hyung, this is [Name]. She's Jin-hyung's soulmate!”

“She is not!”

You give a glare at Seokjin who responds that way, and he sticks his tongue out at you. Geez, he's 26, why is he acting this way and making your life harder?

“Taetae, how will Noona see if she wears the Tata mask?” Jimin finally speaks up about Taehyung's odd statement, and you have no clue how to respond to the utter shock on his face as he realizes what Jimin said was true.

“Oh.”

“Then what if Noona wears contacts?” Jungkook suggests, making the younger group nod and exchange high fives, and even Hoseok is grinning while you could swear that you saw a horrified expression on Namjoon's face.

Yoongi has already gone back to his spot in the shade, and Namjoon looks ready to head back, not wanting to listen to any more. He wishes you good luck, offers a thumbs up, and runs off to join Yoongi while Seokjin stares at you.

“You know all this would just be solved if you touch my arm, right?”

“You're such a pervert, [Name]-ah.”

Seokjin had said that, but his eyes are bright when he climbed out of the taxi at the venue you give. Jungkook follows behind him, too busy focusing on you two as he takes shots from his camera.

You're thankful that the younger boy has some sense, allowing you and Seokjin you walk ahead. You try not to bring up anything related to you two being soulmates, instead showing him the scenery and talking about your adventures of hiking. Seokjin tells you that he enjoys hiking but hates the fatigue, and everything is all nice and just like old times, the two of you smiling.

The weather really cooperated with you, and it's a cool evening with lots of stars in the sky, the wind blowing softly as you walk along with Seokjin, up to the mountain and dig your hands into the pockets.

The night view from up the mountain is beautiful. The light of the city blends with the sea, and the glossy calmness makes you feel a little emotional. You glance at Seokjin who stands a couple steps away, hands on the railing as he looks down at the scene and smiles.

And he smiles exactly like your Seokjin, and you realize that it may be another life, but it was the same man you loved so much, before, as well.

“I feel pathetic to say this, but… I really did love you, Seokjin-ah. But I can't do anything if you don't love me back.” You say, dramatically climbing up to the rail. The male raises and eyebrow, watching your every action as you let out a deep sigh and glance back at him. “I would have loved you so much in this lifetime, too.”

Seokjin had been sporting a neutral expression, save for the raised eyebrow, but when you say this, his eyes widen, blinking a little more than usual as he takes a step closer to you.

“Wait, what are you-”

“I kinda really love you, even though you're horrible to me, Seokie. Just like I did in our previous life. But you were so good then, and that's why my heart aches this time.” You interrupt, and when you turn around and take a step forward, you feel a strong hand taking hold of you by your arm.

“What the heck, bitch, there's no way I'm letting you jump like that!” Seokjin hisses, pulling you down back to the soil and looking at you with big eyes, as if he couldn't believe you were dumb enough to climb the railing in the first place.

But you weren't dumb.

And suddenly, both of your eyes go down to the arm Seokjin is holding.

“Oh.”

“HAH, you sucker!” You yell, clapping your hands together as soon as Seokjin lets go of your arm and takes a step back. “It's cliche as fuck but I knew you wouldn't not grab my arm if I did that, haha, SCORE!”

“Well, yes, because otherwise, it would be me who goes to jail…” Seokjin mumbles, furrowing his eyebrows at you.

“Did you know that you've been to prison once, for two days?”

“What?! In my previous life? What did I do?”

“You punched a guy at a club while being drunk, because he said he was the most handsome man in the planet, not you.”

“Why does that… sound… so familiar?” He asks, squinting his eyes at you, raising an eyebrow as he continues to stare at you. “Wait a minute.”

“What-”

“Wow, have you always been this pretty?

“I what-”

“Because I could have sworn you looked mediocre like three minutes ago.”

“I swear to God.”

“Wait, your eyes weren't black in the previous life, was it?”

This makes you take a step back, blinking up at the male in shock as you put a hand over your mouth.

“Holy hecks, I was just so focused on getting you to grab my arm, so I didn't think of what the consequences will be!”

“Amazing, bitch.”

“Thanks, you nastyass. Wait, do you… Do you hear something?”

This makes Seokjin raise an eyebrow, turning his head around before his eyes widen, turning back to you as the sound gets louder.

“Is that… Siren noises?!”

“Oh fuck fuck fuck I forgot… We're actually on the wrong hill.”

“WHAT.”

“Oh crap, we're on a no-trespassing hill lol.”

“What in FUCK-”

“Well, at least you'll go back to some place familiar from your previous life; prison!”

“Don't touch me.” Seokjin hisses as he opens his phone, letting out a grunt in frustration. When you peer at his device, you see a text from Jungkook that reads ‘sorry, hyung uwu’ and it makes you burst out laughing.

“DON'T LAUGH, WHY AREN'T YOU WORRIED ABOUT GOING TO PRISON?!”

“Well, because of you, I'm labelled as a stalker and a mental patient so I don't think prison can be any worse.”

“IT WOULD BE WORSE, WHAT IS YOUR LOGIC-”

“You two!” A voice interrupts your bantering, and this is the moment that you realize that you two had been too busy arguing to actually even attempt to flee, like Jungkook did.

In all honesty, you and Seokjin would make a terrible pairing.

But you two had been together in your previous lives for a reason, and this is why you are giggling when you are taken in handcuffs, to the police station, along with Seokjin.

“I didn't think the first handcuff I'd have on in this life would have been put on by a random police officer, I was hoping it would be you in our be-”

“Shut the fuck up.”

(“Oh, hey, Jungkook-ah. How did it go with Jin-hyung and [Name]-noona?”

“Oh, I think it went really well, but they're in prison now.”

“... Say that again”

“Prison.”

“WHAT.”

“You know. That institute where you're supposed to serve time for doing b-”

“Don't test me.”

“I just asked Sejin-hyung to help bail them, when they called from prison, and it's only for a couple hours and - hey, is that a grapefruit tart you have there?!”)

Somehow, you and Seokjin end up behind bars, inside a small cubicle.

He sits farthest away from you, which isn't very far, considering the cubicle couldn't fit more than three people.

It's dark in the hallway, your mood to joke about the situation has disappeared, and as Seokjin refuses to talk to you, you feel yourself get a little teary-eyed, after a bit.

The tears fall down your cheeks, and you start crying, full on bawling with ugly sobs in between. Seokjin's eyes go wide, turning to you with his mouth agape.

“I'm so tired of this drama, I swear to God.” You cry, “I’d say I'm so sick of this fake love, but I just know you're being a pussy and I'm done with you .”

This makes Seokjin actually turn himself to face you properly, and you grab the handles of bar.

“It's been two years. Getting opportunities to meet you is hard work, it takes me money and time. And I come to see you and ask you for a single thing.”

“Look,” he says, and you glace at him, not caring anymore that your face would probably be glossy and runny from all the tears and the snot forming in your nose. “I'll return all the money back to you, so-”

“This isn't about the money, Seokjin-ah. Well, it is, just a bit, but…. It's about my feelings. It's about how you don't acknowledge them. You would have let this continue for God knows how long, if you had your way, if you didn't feel obliged to hold my arm earlier. You didn't do it to acknowledge my feelings, you did it to save yourself.”

When he doesn't say anything in response, you wipe your face, taking in a deep inhale and looking out from the bars. When there is no sound for a while, Seokjin stands up, and you glance at him again, to see that he walks closer to you, seating himself beside you and pressing a hand on your wrist.

“Hey. Turn towards me.”

You pout, not wanting to listen to anything else he has to say, but your curiosity makes you give in, turning to face him. When you do so, he scoots closer, hands on your thighs which makes you screech.

“What are you-”

“Shh.” He responds, putting your legs over his, so that you sit between him, both your legs crossed over each other's. This makes you two come into closer proximity than ever, and Seokjin puts both his hands on your cheeks, which makes you sigh and close your eyes.

“You've worked hard, [Name]-ah.” He has to say, pressing his forehead against yours. “Did I propose to you while we were sitting like this, one day?”

“Oh my God. Do you remember me now, Seokjin-ah?”

“I… I don't remember everything, but I think it's you that I see, bawling your eyes out while sitting just like this, in front of me.”

“I… yes, I did cry a lot when you proposed.” You say, smiling at him. Seokjin smiles back at you, one hand on your cheek as he leans in and presses a gentle kiss on your cheek.

“I'm surprised you didn't stop trying until now, I feel quite bad.”

“If you feel bad, then a kiss on the cheek isn't going to be enough to pacify me.”

“You're a demanding bitch.”

“And you're a whiny headass.”

The two of you exchange giggles, and Seokjin brushes his nose against yours, and you feel your heart race with emotions. This is the same Seokjin from your previous life, the one who would pepper you with kisses and pat your hair when you feel tired and upset, the man who would make circles with his thumb on your palm, your soulmate who would say ‘I love you’ right after saying something shameless.

And it's the same Seokjin right here, and maybe he doesn't remember all of the events from your past life...

But it doesn't matter; you didn't remember them all at once, either. And when Seokjin's hands find their way on your cheeks and you hold onto his arms, he leans in closer again and presses his lips softly on yours. And your heart does multiple backflips while visions of your first kiss back in your previous life run through your head, making you overwhelmed as Seokjin leans back.

And then, he opens his eyes, looking at you with a dazed expression on his face, before he says, ‘Did you… feel that, too?’

And when you nod at him with a big grin on your face, the smile he gives you is enough for you to know that you've done well; that today is the tomorrow that was better than yesterday. And because you believed in that, you know that tomorrow will be even better than today, and you can hope for better days ahead.

It's in the way Seokjin screeches when he hears footsteps in the hallway, how he flails his arms around and scurries away from you, seated far from you by the time the police officer arrives to bail you two out.

Kim Seokjin would never change.

After all, you two had all the time in the world, now.

end

#happy jin day!#crossposting here!#this is intended for light reading #it's different from my usual angsts uwu pls enjoy!#jin fluff #jin crack #bts jin #kim seokjin #ji #bts #bts fanfic #bts crack #bts crack fanfiction

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strifesolution · 6 years

Note

Hey! I saw you posting about yogscast and I've been thinking of getting into like their Minecraft series, but I have no idea where to start as it seems they are spread on several channels? Do you have a good series to start? [I've never never really watched any yogs before except for their Dnd series lmao]

(SKIP TO THE TL;DR AT THE BOTTOM IF YOU JUST WANT A SIMPLE ANSWER!)

Ohh! Okay, I can answer this! Yes! Hope you don’t mind me making this public as a reference for everyone!

The Yogscast Minecraft series, unlike a lot of let’s plays, does follow a plot. Some series are more plot/roleplay heavy than others, and in general there’s a line between character and person. That’s why certain episodes are more important than others. There’s a wide range of channels the series are hosted on, some of them still active, some not so much…

DISCLAIMER: These series started in 2010. Some of them hold up well- some not so much. You’ll find people you like more than others. Some members are still cool. Some kind of suck now. In fact, there’s even series with members that aren’t part of the company anymore I’ve been a fan since 2012 and have probably not even seen half of these series. It’s all about watching the first few episodes and deciding if you want to continue.

Anyways! There’s three main categories of series. Tekkit, Complete Pack, and Everything Else. Let’s start from the beginning

guide:

* = Plot Heavy (the more stars the more roleplay)

> = Personal Favorite (the more arrows the more I like it)

Bold = Fandom Favorite

“Everything else”

Minecraft: Survive the Night

I recommend just the first episode so you know who the two main members are. I haven’t seen the rest of the series in a few years and it’s just vanilla minecraft so it’s kind of boring. Be my guest to watch the rest

***Shadow of Israphel

Takes place directly after the vanilla series, lot’s of characters and plotlines. Unfinished, but often considered the best old series

>Voltz

Just… a lot of messing with explosives and rockets. Two series going on at the same time that overlap (here and here- take your pick) Not relevant to the main series, but funny. if anything, JUST WATCH THIS EPISODE!

*Yoglabs

The overarching storyline- what makes everything connect. Mosts of the episodes are just shenanigans, there’s a few that are important to the storyline: THIS (and part two!) being the most important one. Definitely give that a watch.

Alright, those are the miscellaneous stories. Let’s get onto the good stuff

“Tekkit”

Tekkit refers to a modpack focusing on a lot of machinery and magic differences. The first world was most a fun test world between a few members, with the second being the real starting point, multiple series going on at the same time involving different groups of members. Most series are listed here.

You don’t really need to watch anything from the first world since it’s not that connected to the storyline, except for WAR (has two points of view, here and here, which is SUPER important for blackrock (see below.)

The rest of the series are in the second world!

>>Jaffa Factory

One of the first series I watched in full when it first came out. Highly recommend. Lots of shenanigans

Sipsco

Happens directly next to Jaffa Factory, so you’ll get both sides of the story in either one, just chose the one you like more and run with it instead of watching both if it’s too much. A lot of ridiculousness, but really funny, especially if you end up liking the two main members

Duncan’s Laboratory

Solo player (mostly,) I haven’t watched this series in full and not in a long time, but if you like Minecraft mechanics then it’s pretty good. Relevant to Blackrock (again, keep scrolling)

>Tekkit with Nilesy and Hannah!

Nilesy and Hannah have their individual series seperate from this one, but I’m not listing both since this one’s good without having to watch a ton of extra stuff. Mostly just fun minecraft here.

>Tekkit with Martyn and Toby

Unfinished, silly series. I’m just putting there here because I’m biased I love the people in it a lot, even though it doesn’t really hold up. However, if you do check it out, it’s not the best thing Martyn and Toby have done, so just ask me to recommend some better series they’ve worked on together!

Rail Bros Inc.

Not a series I was ever into, but pretty different than the others, as it focused on specific mods and such, so check it out I guess!

>>>***The Blackrock Chronicles

Considered the most scripted and roleplay centric, I highly recommend Blackrock as a starting point after you’ve watched a few episodes of everything else. It does hold up- it’s funny and angsty and the creators did a fantastic job. By watching this series you’ll get a hold on the stuff the Yogscast does and enjoy it.

“Complete Pack”

Considers a ‘sequel’ to the tekkit would with a lot of the same versions of characters, just with a bunch of new mods. If you’re going to watch any of these series, watch at least a bit of tekkit so you get the different first, I guess? But again, since there’s SO MUCH CONTENT you can skip around a bunch. A ton of series aren’t listed here just because I’ve never watched them lol

>>>Moonquest

Direct sequel to Jaffa Factory, except arguably better!

*Sipsco Space Program

Also a sequel To Sipsco. Same situation as last time, but with less moonquest overlap. More plot

*>Evicted! (and the continuation, Owl/Cat Island)

Continues to follow Nilesy and Hannah’s story, these two are relaxing to watch IMO

>>Hatcorp

Just a bunch of business and building shenanigans, absolutely hilarious.

**>>Flux Buddies

If you liked Blackrock, you’ll like Flux Buddies, basically. There’s a lot of content overlapping with others in this series, so it’s a good Complete Pack starting point (again, like Blackrock)

*Magic Police

A good series to watch the first few episodes of to get a hold of what’s going on in the server. Good if you like the members.

**>>>Blood and Chaos

Unique series since it’s not a commonly explored mod, and, again, good dynamics if you like the people in it

(I’m putting these two next to each other since they both have prequels (Magic Police’s here and Solutions in Chaos here) on the Chaosville server- which is more youtubers than yogscast specific. They’re not as good as the main series, but maybe watch the first and last episodes to understand what’s happening? Your choice)

About The Overarching Plot

If you watch Clone Labs (seen above) as well as other Yoglabs episodes, the whole idea is that multiple versions of each player exist at the same time, which is why these series can happen with characters having different knowledge. You can pretty much piece together something sinister is going on at Yoglabs, pitting their clones against each other and such. But it’s a very vague plot the fans have to put together, making the series so unique! You’ll always see different interpretations of their characters and lines, and sometimes people you didn’t know even existed pop up in fanart. You get the idea

_______________________________________________________________________

TL;DR

Blackrock if you like plot/roleplay, Jaffa Factory if you like shenanigans, Shadow of Israphel if you like both! Lastly, here’s a classic that just… shows what the Yogscast are like.

#yogscast #yogs

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sterwood · 7 years

Text

transphenomenality replied to your quote: …dividing something into two is an attempt to...

I know that it’s a bit anti-Badiou at parts (to its detriment), not to mention overzealous with its original content, but Clayton Crockett’s ‘Deleuze Beyond Badiou’ has really helped me keep the ontology bickering between the two straight. Cross-referencing 'The Clamor of Being’ (or some other Badiou plus D project) with 'DBB’ brings to light a lot of odd tug-of-wars when it comes to vocab.

I was thinking of checking that out! Thank you for the suggestion though. I know there’s a lot of overlap between Deleuze and Badiou, and I often get the impression that Badiou’s dislike of Deleuze is more due to a ‘narcissism of small differences’ than any substantive disagreement. At the same time, I know there are ‘micro-divergences’, you could say, and figuring those out would take mapping both of their ontological projects much more thoroughly, which is just exhausting, lmao. But if nothing else, sometime after this semester (where I’m reading Deleuze’s Foucault, and may be joining a reading group that’s reading A Thousand Plateaus), I’ll probably need to engage with the trio of Clamor of Being, Outside this World, and Organs without Bodies, to get a sense of where the Deleuze opposition is supposedly coming from. Basically everyone says that those books give a really unfair treatment to Deleuze, but everyone saying that also stans for Deleuze, so it’s hard to take them at face value either.

If nothing else, I think what Badiou is doing is similar to a phrase that Zizek is often fond of (and which I’m paraphrasing): “Okay, you [the anti-foundationalist and anti-dialectical thinkers of the ‘May 1968′ generation] had your anti-communist fun, but now it is time to get back to the real work of dialectical materialism and class war.” So basically, I see Badiou as opening up routes for reading the various ‘key’ post-structuralist figures in a way that allows them to be useful for Marxist theorizing, without losing fidelity to Marixism in its Marxist-Leninist-Maoist guise. That’s also why mapping out the differences and convergences between Badiou and Deleuze becomes increasingly important for doing work in Continental theory today, I think. But I will definitely keep in mind that reading strategy. Thank you again!

#transphenomenality

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lizzydizzyyo · 7 years

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Well, Hello to You Too

Summary: Dan doesn’t know why he keeps insisting on leaving cute, hilarious, and sometimes outrageously embarrassing little notes on that stranger’s bench. It’s not like he’s getting anything out of it or it’s going anywhere (even though it’s completely his own fault for not having the balls to just go up to the stranger and say hi, but that’s beside the point). Or maybe he never really wants anything out of it. Maybe it’s more than enough already to see the cute stranger’s little laughs or horrified but amused smiles when the notes he left on the bench are finally read. He just… adores that stranger.

did u know that blue whales dont have teeth but filter mouth instead, he wrote once. When he saw the stranger (from a different tree than the beginning because the grass was starting to get uncomfortable to sit on and also because he didn’t want to get caught), the stranger giggled and he swore that that was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

(a.k.a the secret admirer’s notes au that I prompted on phanfic.)

Word count: Part I – 3105 words (and AO3 link) | Part II coming soon

Beta: no one lmao (finger crossed it’s not that bad lol)

Warning: Not that I know of, but please feel free to tell me if you find some.

A/N: Just fyi, this is actually an old phanfic that I started two years ago, and I didn’t exactly proofread this that much, so if you noticed terrible writing, there’s that. I don’t know when the second part would be out because I’d like to focus on my original work since that’s the reason I got my AO3 account in the first place, but I will finish it. Just be patient, okay? Also, I would probably revamp it later after the second part is up because unedited work is ugh

Lemme know what you think and enjoy!

The first time Dan noticed him was when he was running down the hallway to get to his first ever class in uni. Naturally, he would be late. It is sad but it is just how the universe works; either he would be too lazy to get his arse moving when he needs to or the nature, the sky, and everything else would conspire against him to completely ruin his plan when he is feeling rather ecstatic about going with his day. The result? Of course, he would be late.

But he was a new student that day, a duckling who didn’t know his way around the massive University of Manchaster like the other freshmen around him, so that excuse could work in his favor.

He ran and ran from his dorm to his class building, faster than he thought possible with his completely unfit body. He didn’t care for what was flying past on his vision. He only cared about going to his class because as freshman as he was, 30 minutes late would still be pushing it. He vaguely remembered that there was an open greenery space between the buildings which the students used to just chill and study (and which the PR division of the uni frequently used to take those stockphoto-like promotional pictures). He could run on that space to cut his journey much shorter than if he trailed through the building paths, so he took that road.

That was when he coincidentally turned his head a little to look at the bench by at least 10 meters on his left.

It was just a nano second, but that was a sight he didn’t know he would never forget.

There was an angel with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes behind the glasses sitting on that bench. He was a very, very beautiful angel indeed.

The second time he noticed the same stranger was when he was less likely to die because of sheer exhaustion coupled with burning lungs and more relaxed after feeling like he had somewhat settled on the life of being a uni student.

He was walking with his thick law textbook to a tree in the same greenery space he just cut through a month ago. He then laid down under it and leaned back against the trunk, praying that he could actually be bothered to read and study the book long enough to retain some knowledge.

Five minutes after sitting down, however, he noticed some voices that gradually became louder (or he was just gradually pulled out of his overly-focused attention to his book), and he had no choice but to huff and turned his head to the source. On his right, around 15 meters from where he was sitting, he saw several other students talking and joking around jovially and loudly. He rolled his eyes and went back to his book.

He had to admit, though, that the voice was way too difficult to ignore. He was about to walk up there and told them to shut it.

But he was a British. British people don’t confront. British people just grumble annoyingly like the wuss they are and move on.

He finally decided to look at the group of seemingly older students and give them an irritated look, hoping that they could feel his heated stare burning through the back of their heads somehow. No such thing happened.

But what did happen was his narrowed eyes slowly widening as he took in the sight of a familiar stranger in the middle of the bench. He was as beautiful as the first time he accidentally took the sight in, if not more, because now he wasn’t rushed and he could drink in the sight more carefully.

Well, he guessed he could let his annoyance slide for that pretty face.

The third time Dan noticed him again was when he was walking back to his dorm after a particularly tiring class and a day that completely drained his mental and physical energy. He was exhausted, pissed, and ready to just flop right then and there in the middle of the grass land. He didn’t, of course, because the evil, daunting, dark grey sky promised a particularly nasty rain, so he kept walking.

As he was about to pass by the space between the tree and the bench that he’d been walking on for the last few weeks, he noticed a man getting up from the bench while gathering up his things. Just as he was probably only ten meters away from the said bench, the man had stood up with his back to Dan.

He didn’t particularly register who the man was, but as he vacantly stared at the back, he noticed the familiar jet black hair and body posture that somehow was already etched into his mind. Now that he was only few meters away from the stranger, he noticed just how broad and shapely the back was.

Goddamn, how he wished he could just run his hand on the surface.

He didn’t want to appear like a creeper just in case the man turned around and saw him drooling at the sight of his body, so he hung his head and just walked on.

He suddenly had a thought that maybe, just maybe, he could do something about the fact that he kept running into the man a lot this lately.

The next subsequent times he saw the man were no longer accidental as he noticed that the man had a habit of being on that bench while Dan himself liked to be under the tree near it. He didn’t particularly plan when he saw the stranger, but as he sat under the tree, stressed by the weight of the course he realized he didn’t exactly want to study, he always had a glimmer of hope that he would see him as he looked at his right.

It didn’t always happen.

Sometimes, when he sat under the tree, the bench was still (or already?) empty. Sometimes, as he walked to the tree, he saw the man getting up from the bench. Sometimes when he was about to get up from the spot under the tree, the man just walked into the grassy space. Sometimes when he needed to go to his class and did not have time to just sit and chill under his favorite tree, he saw the man already engrossed in his book or notes or a conversation with a friend.

As the time went on, though, he started to get a semblance of how their tree-bench sitting schedule could overlap each other. It started as a hit-and-miss, then he started to correctly predict whether the stranger was going to be there from 1 out of 5 times to 3 out 5 times.

Eventually, he ran just as fast as his first day of uni to the tree space when he noticed from his wristwatch (which he bought just for this very purpose) that he was nearing the time to see the stranger on the bench. He had never missed the opportunity to do so in the last few days. It was on the second month mark of his going to uni.

Still, all he did was just settle into this one-sided camaraderie of enjoying the cool and breezy space.

It was okay, though. He liked looking at the stranger and feeling like he had a comrade in struggling to study or do homework.

On the third month mark, he started to notice more than just the stranger’s attractiveness. He noticed a lot of things about what kind of person he was, who he was friends with, what kind of projects or events he was involved in, and what course he was taking (It was English Language and Linguistics, which sounded very cool).

He learned that the man’s name was Phillip (or was it Phil?) and he was a very humanitarian and active student. He was a senior, while Dan himself was still a first-year student (and likely wouldn’t be beyond). He was always involved in this and that project, going to this and that conference, being in this and that events, and so on. He also had a lot of friends, who were just as active and as ambitious as him, and they frequently hung out with Phil on the bench.

Their jokes were very smart and academic, as if they actually enjoyed their course so much that it was entertaining to them. Dan was jealous. He would throw up or punch the other person if they tried to have an inside law joke with him. Seriously.

One day, though, he noticed the stranger looking a bit solemn and quiet. Granted, in the three months that he knew (stalked) Phil, he saw the man being quiet and annoyed several times. Sometimes it was adorable, and sometimes it tugged at his heart to do something, but he never did.

Not at that one particular time, though.

He decided to close his book and observed the Phil-guy instead. Several moments later, he ran his hand through his hair in frustration, and Dan felt like walking up to him and consoling him. He didn’t of course, and instead opted to just look sad on behalf of the Phil-guy.

But that particular moment gave him an idea.

On the third month and 10th day mark of Dan being in uni, he finally went to the stranger’s bench (he knew his name, all right? But he was never introduced to the man, so he might as well be a stranger still) with a scrap of paper. Relying on his memory of when the stranger was going to be there, he went to the bench earlier, hands shaking and sweating with the paper balled inside his palm.

He looked to his right and his left before deciding that nobody was looking at him and it was safe to tidy up the paper and fold it properly. He then put the paper on the bench.

Anything else that would happen to the paper was up to Mother Nature to decide, but he sure hoped it wouldn’t be blown away by the wind and fall into a dirty puddle or something.

The next week, he noticed the stranger looking quite happier. He was reading a book (he always did, he was in English Language course for Christ’s sake). Dan was glad, although he wondered what became of his scrap of paper and what the stranger’s reaction was.

Looking at the stranger and sitting with him (in the loosest sense of word, of course) had become the only perk in his increasingly stressful and regretted uni life, so he was glad that the stranger was there to cheer him up just by existing.

He now had a hobby, trying to figure out what the Phil-stranger was reading or doing, or what he was planning. It took over more of his concentration and memory space than his own course lectures did. He didn’t care.

He suddenly had a desire to rip the edge of his notebook paper and write something, so he did.

Hey, you have nice taste in literature, he wrote, even though he only ever heard of one title from Khaled Hosseini (whose name he briefly read from the book the stranger was holding when he walked past him). He didn’t even know what the book was about. Maybe he should check that out.

Half an hour later, he walked to the bench just as the stranger was 100 meters away from it, and he put the scrap of paper on the bench before leaving.

Two weeks after that one particular paper-on-the-bench, he counted that he had already put around 5 scraps of paper with the most generic and sometimes downright cheesy messages like ‘smile :)’. He didn’t know whether the stranger really read it, or he just thought it was a garbage paper (which he had to admit, they kind of were) so he just threw them away.

Sometimes he wondered if the stranger got the paper at all. One time he noticed a random girl sitting on the bench and looking at the scrap of paper. She took it and he had never felt so horrified in his entire life. He made sure he write ‘For Phil, the bench keeper’ on the back of the paper to make sure it wasn’t read by the wrong person from then on. He didn’t care if it was cringy. At least it was cringy, but only to the intended person.

The stranger never seemed to have any different reaction or looked like was affected by the paper at all, though. He didn’t even look like he took the paper at all, or was aware of its existence. Dan felt that maybe he should stop his weird, stalker-ish habit. It was taking over his life because it was not rare for him to find himself daydreaming in classes about how the stranger was going to react or about what he should write next.

But then one day, the stranger opened his notebook and a scrap of paper (which suspiciously looked like the one he put on the bench three days ago) fell on the ground.

The stranger immediately went ‘Oh!’ and quickly bent down to catch it before it even hit the slightly snowy grass. He looked to his left and right frantically before sighing in relief and sneaking the paper back into the middle of his textbook.

He swore he had never felt so elated in his life.

For the next few weeks, he wasn’t ashamed to admit that the secret note ritual that he had was the highlight of his days.

He now deliberately chose the time as close to as the time the stranger would be arriving at his bench to put the paper, which meant that before that, he already had to have had thought about what the paper was going to say. He decided to change his time from after the stranger had left to before the stranger was there so that he could see how the stranger react to his note, instead of risking the paper blown away, thrown away, taken by the wrong person, or actually taken by the intended person but he would miss the reaction.

Sometimes, though, his schedule didn’t allow it that in 2 out of 5 days that he had classes, he had to put the paper after the stranger had left because he couldn’t be there beforehand. It was okay. In the other three days, he could see the reaction.

At first, the stranger seemed unaffected and kind of ‘meh, I get another note’, but he gradually looked like he actually looked forward to Dan’s note.

It gave him hope and spirit that he had been lacking because of his study and finals preparation.

did u know that blue whales dont have teeth but filter mouth instead, he wrote once. When he saw the stranger (from a different tree than the beginning because the wet grass was starting to get uncomfortable to sit on and also because he didn’t want to get caught), the stranger giggled and he swore that that was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

The notes he left gradually got less formal but longer, and sometimes they had the weirdest and most obscure messages ever. One time he wrote, ‘wat did the mermaid say to the lover? we mermaid for each other ;)*’

The stranger groaned, but chuckled anyway.

Other time, he wrote ‘Muse is awesome pass it on’ on the note, and he got an agreeing hum and a little proud nod.

When he wasn’t feeling the best, he mostly just said ‘I hope ur having a great day cos I sure am not :(‘ or something along the line.

One day after he left such note, he walked to the bench with a new note, but he noticed a book there which he knew the guy was reading yesterday.

He narrowed his eyes.

Did he forget to bring it back with him? But that was strange. The Phil-stranger seemed to consider his books to be very dear, so there was no way he forgot it here. Besides, he knew that yesterday, he brought the book back with him. Dan saw it himself.

Dan eventually decided to put the new note (which by this point was no longer scrapped paper but actual decorative special paper instead) to the bench and took the book to look at it.

He looked around a bit before deciding to open the book. Just the front page, though, and he noticed an unfamiliar looking folded paper inside it. He was about to ignore it and put the book back down when he noticed the tiny cursive-like writing on the corner of the note, which was almost obscured by the binding of the book.

It said ‘to the hilarious person who keep leaving notes on the bench.’

His heart jumped up to his throat, and he spent at least a minute just standing there with eyes as wide as saucers. He finally blinked his surprise away and carefully took the paper out of the book. He then walked away, fearing that the stranger was actually around and watching him somewhere. He wasn’t ready to come out from his hiding yet.

Later after talking to his mum and dad on the phone (and lying about how well he was doing at school), he stared at the paper.

He exhaled and snatched the paper before unfolding and reading it.

Hey stranger, whoever you are (yes, that’s the right spelling so I implore you to write like that from now on), I hope that this note actually gets to you because I’ll be disappointed if you don’t since I’ve written a lot already (I know I will, I tend to ramble a lot hahaha). Anyway, I’m sad to hear you aren’t having a good day :( It makes me feel kind-of guilty somehow because you’ve always been cheering me up at least 5 days a week (although it was weird at first) with your notes in the last few weeks, but I can do nothing to return the favor now that you probably need it. So can we do this instead, with me giving a note to you back? Or can I know who you are so that we can talk beyond faceless paper?

He sighed sadly, thinking that, no, sorry stranger, I’m not ready yet to see you. Perhaps another time, who knew.

But the back-and-forth note? He guessed he could do that.

*from justbadpuns.tumblr.com

To be continued.

#phan #phanfic #dan and phil #fanfic #alternate universe #fluff #angst #humor #writing #english #me #say hello to the fic thats been gathering dust for two years #just in case youre wondering #yes i did fill my own prompt bc nobody did 2 years ago #also while you wait you can check out my original fic and an old phanfic on my ao3

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