#ig the long story short is i feel like a lot of their most interesting and fun qualities get left in the dust

[thisisadonaldduckblognow]

all the rise boys get done dirty on characterization by fandom in different ways i think. (not ALL the time every fanwork etc etc these are just like, trends i tend to notice?) every fandom suffers from losing character nuance.

- leo i’ve talked about plenty on this blog, how some of his canon traits (genuine belief in his skill and cockiness, capacity for joy, his manipulativeness whether for good or ill) seem to get watered down or wiped off the board and supplemented with generic sad boy. his struggles with purpose and identity and not wanting to fail somehow morph into “he hates and completely holds no value for himself”

- donnie’s canon personality gets blurred out and largely replaced with whatever list of Neurodivergent Traits. and i think there’s such a fine line to walk between exploring a character that’s been word of god confirmed as on the spectrum and overwriting what’s canonically there. it’s a hard needle to thread. it also feels like a lot of his canon emotiveness gets left off the table for some reason. bc he does have his moments of flat/deadpan delivery, but a lot of the time he’s honestly very emotive. he has the passion of a theatre kid and the vindictiveness of... also a theatre kid. and the mind of a scientist.

- raph loses so much of his rowdy teen boy energy it’s kind of wild? like interpretations sand off that he’s also impulsive and can be reckless and dumb and LOVES fighting and roughhousing and isn’t the most eloquent person. suddenly there’s this pitch perfect soft boy big bro who would never hurt a fly and always says the exact right supportive thing and singlehandedly raised his 3 brothers (which simultaneously sands off all the nuance of splinter’s issues emotionally connecting with his sons and how that affected all of them). and like i LOVE raph, he’s so full of love and care and anxiety, he clearly has learned to put a lot of work into being aware of his strength and size. but there’s a difference you know?

- mikey is like. where raph gets overparentified by fanon, mikey gets over “family therapist”-ed IMO. the impulsiveness, the goofiness, the powerful emotions including a VERY powerful temper, the flat-out dumb teen boy choices... they get ignored. suddenly there’s this only very sweet and earnest boy who has read a hundred psychology books and runs group family therapy weekly or something. he is crying in his room bc leo and raph are arguing about something. which is so. he IS very sweet and can be very earnest and is full of love! he HAS come in with his opinions and unsolicited advice a couple of times and life coached for the greater good. but there’s a difference between what he does in canon and the role he gets in fanon.

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #idk this is not a very eloquent rundown its very hard to explain exactly my vibe #ig the long story short is i feel like a lot of their most interesting and fun qualities get left in the dust #mikey as family therapist is getting under my skin the most rn i think its just so. #for as much as it seems like his brothers try to shelter him (esp raph with his overprotectiveness)..... i just dont see it #i dont see his brothers and definitely not his dad putting their issues on him like that... #him dragging donnie into that one dr feelings session and dragging draxum into a new moral alignment were different #than 'yeah everyone tells mikey their stuff and he has to do the labor of helping with it' #like it just doesnt vibe for me #i think he is very emotionally OPEN on all levels compared to his family #i think he is more likely to share when HE struggles #i dont think raph or leo is sitting with him at 3am like 'it all started when i was 4 and accidentally broke a plate' or what have you idk #it's all so ymmv i do just scroll past stuff i dont vibe with i dont drop hate on it i just #idk dudes its so hard to see the appeal in some of the choices made

[marveinator]

Bad Idea Bella Ramsey x fem!oc (original character)

inspired by "Bad Idea" by girl in red (after part one) masterlist

This story is complete imagination and how Bella acts here is probably not how they would act irl. They/them pronouns used for Bella. pairing: Bella Ramsey x fem!oc (Mina Willow Lane) word count: 2.4k summary: You and Bella have been childhood friends, but broke off contact because of their acting career. Will your paths ever meet again? a/n: I´ve had this obsession with girl in red for a while now and of course with Bella so... here yall go! I hope many people read this story, because I am again putting my whole heart into this. And I figured since I basically already read all the Bella fics existing, I´d just write my own. Enjoy! I will try to make the chapters as long as possible so that I don´t have to post so many parts and yall can read the story faster! (Don´t be mad I simply but Pedro in the hashtags because he´s a part of the story) chapter warnings: nickname calling, ig that´s it? next chapter: Bella and Mina decide to go to a party as friends- but are they leaving it like this again?

I closed my laptop. I had just finished watching an interview of Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal. Not only because I was so interested in the series "The last of us", but also because… well. Long story.

I knew Bella. Well, at least I used to. I don't know what they´re like now…. but I'm trying to find out by watching all these videos about them. I miss our friendship a lot.

When we were little, our parents were very good friends and so we always played together. However, when they turned 11, their career went on and on and we broke off contact. They were too busy and now we really had no contact at all, especially since their new series.

I read through the comments under some tiktoks about them and realized how many girls admired Bella. Not only because of their acting, no, also as a person. For whatever reason, I felt an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I wanted to go out and scream loudly "I know Bella Ramsey in person!" just so- I don't even know why. I knew all these girls probably had no contact with Bella, and to be exact, I was one of them too.

It just hurt to lose friends. I missed how Bella would still send me videos every now and then of them practicing their guitar, or when we would have a pie-eating contest together when we were 8. I missed their brown eyes and their beautiful hair. Which, as I had now noticed, was a lot shorter.

But Bella was without a doubt still beautiful. Even more beautiful than I remembered, to be exact.

Sometimes I wondered if they still knew that I even existed. My Bella would never forget me, they were outgoing and cheerful. But were they still like that? What if they had changed? I probably wouldn't even find out.

I turned over in my bed with a sigh. For a few months now, I no longer lived with my parents, but in a small apartment on the outskirts of London.

I grabbed my phone from the table besides my bed and decided to go a bit on Instagram. Only to find a new post of Bella on my home feed. They posted a few behind the scenes pics of their new short film “Requiem” which I had obviously already watched. I sighed and liked the post.

This is how it had been for years. I went on their Instagram, liked the new posts and it went unnoticed by Bella. Of course, they probably got thousands of notifications a day, but still, it made me a bit sad. Almost seemed like they completely forgot about me.

Sometimes I wanted to post something just to see if they would like it- but on the other hand I knew that if they wouldn´t, I´d be heartbroken.

I sighed and switched off my phone, after seeing it was already 11 pm. Usually I stayed up longer, but today I felt extra exhausted. Which didn´t make any sense, I mean I stayed at home the entire day.

That´s what I do most of the time. Normally I work at a small café, but it´s currently closed because they are fixing some stuff in there. I´ve been looking for a new job for the few weeks while it´s closed, but everybody said they only would accept me if I would stay. And I love the café I work at too much and having two jobs isn´t an option right now, so- whatever.

The boss said they´d probably open again in 2 weeks- which was 3 weeks ago. I honestly didn´t know what to do because I did slowly run out of money… I just hoped they would open as soon as possible again.

*1 week later*

I didn´t even know if it was legal that I wasn´t even paid while the café was closed (because that seriously wasn´t my fault?) but I managed to handle everything and was back at work again now.

I wiped all the tables clean; we would open soon. I already saw some people outside patiently waiting, so many loved this place.

Not going to lie, I mean the drinks were good, the workers were friendly, and the little muffins were worth coming here.

After we finished preparing everything, I nodded at my coworker Jamie, and he opened the door.

3 hours later the whole café was full, except for one table. This was good, maybe I would get a lot of tips today. I thanked an older couple who just paid and went over to the next table. “Hey, what can I get for you?”, I asked as I looked up from the wallet where I had just put the money in. You gotta be shitting me.

“Mina? Oh my god, you´re the last person I thought I would see here!”

It was Bella.

Bella fucking Ramsey was sitting on the table in front of me.

What is this, a fucking movie? I surely doubt that.

“Hi, Bella”, was all I managed to say. Bella smiled from one side to the other and happily jumped up from their chair to hug me. It hit me all of the sudden and so I awkwardly hugged back. Bella seemed to notice that I was quite surprised about their sudden action, because they replied with a short “Shit, sorry, that was a bit- out of nowhere…”

They sat down again and looked up at me. We were almost the same height; I was just a little bit shorter. I know, I was tiny or something. Sorry.

“Uh- how have you been? Oh wait- I´m probably interrupting you and your work- uh… Can you recommend anything that is vegan?” I looked at them. Seeing them in real life after such a long time was insanely weird but amazing at the same time. “I´ve been alright I guess, and no worries, they won´t mind if I stay here a minute longer than I should. Well, we have normal juices that are probably vegan, but also, I love the vegan version of our hot chocolate or the iced coffee”, I replied.

Bella smiled again and nodded. “Choose one of those for me, I don´t mind which one, it´s your choice.” I agreed and went to get them a drink. I decided to serve them the iced coffee, I loved it a lot. When it was done, I made sure to decorate it a bit, just because it was for Bella. I know, you shouldn´t prefer any customers, but… could you blame me? I just met my childhood best friend (who is also like- really famous now) after years of no contact again.

With this in mind, I went over to the “boss” of the café, Brian. “Hey, uh, would you mind if I-“ He nodded, without even letting me finish my sentence. “You´re free for today, I figured out it was them.” I had told Brian everything about Bella because overtime we grew closer. Not in any romantic way though, I mean he was a 45-year-old married man, and I was definitely a lesbian (he also knew that). I smiled as I thanked him before running of to Bella (not forgetting their iced coffee of course).

I asked if I could sit down a bit, and they said yes. “So- you just got free for today? That easily?”, Bella asked as I gave them their iced coffee. “Yes, but, it´s only an exception, because well, we haven´t seen each other in such a long time and… yeah- “, I answered.

“I missed you, Mina Willow Lane. I´m sorry I didn´t stay in contact with you, I was just so… busy with work and I know that´s a shitty excuse because I mean almost everyone our age works and you should never leave your friends behind”, the brunette across me explained. “I just felt like it would be easier for the both of us that we weren´t in contact that much anymore because I knew that if we stayed best friends, you would be pulled into the spotlight too and I knew you wouldn´t want that.”

I looked into their eyes and tried to smile a bit. “I know… still. You just like- vanished. I´ve missed you like hell too though, Isabella May Ramsey. Don´t ever leave me like that again, or I swear to god I´m gonna get more mad than last time”, I explained. Bella laughed and nodded. “Do you maybe… wanna hang out a bit? I´m not working for a few weeks and we could- get to know each other again, I mean it was a long time, right?”

I decided to agree with Bella and later that day we went for a walk outside.

“You know, I live in this hotel and the people there are like sooooo rude. I´ve been trying to find a better one for weeks. But they have so many good vegan food options, that´s the main point why I chose it”, they explained while walking next to me. I was so happy we were finally together again; I had missed them so much I almost went insane.

“You could stay at mine, I mean, I still have a guest bed left, and it´s just a tiny apartment, but I could make you any vegan food you´d like-“, I said without any hesitation.

Bella Ramsey POV

I stared at Mina. Was she serious about this? Oh.

"I mean, yeah, I'd love to.... But I really don´t want to get into your way of living-", I replied to her offer. "Keep it down Bella, you're not going to get in my way or anything. Besides, if you live with me, we can spend more time together, I mean you owe me that somewhere after all...", said the girl walking next to me with a grin on her face. I couldn't stop smiling either, we had seen each other for the first time in years and had only been walking for 1 or 2 hours- but I already never wanted to leave her again.

I had to admit, I had missed Mina a lot. Sometimes I even went to her Instagram account, but they didn't post anything there and so I couldn't even know what she looked like now. But when I saw her in front of me today, I recognized her immediately. She hadn't changed a bit. Her hair was still long and dark blonde, her eyes green. Her style was a bit different, but I wasn't complaining, I was convinced that she looked good in everything she wore.

"So... you get your stuff, and we meet at mine again?", Mina asked, nudging me out of my thoughts. I nodded and we parted ways again.

As soon as she was gone, everything was different. I immediately missed her laugh, her beautiful green eyes and her unique way. I hated myself inside that I had pushed such an amazing girl away from me.

Just as I was packing up my things in my hotel room, my cell phone rang. Pedro.

"Hey Pedge, what's up?", I picked up. "I just wanted to check up on you, you haven't called in a while..." I had to chuckle, Pedro worried about me so often, for no reason. But I was grateful to have him, he was almost like a best friend by now- or more likely an annoying MUCH older brother. (To be honest- most of the time it was a father-daughter relationship, with me being the dad of course-)

"You're not going to believe this. I met her. Let´s keep it short and sweet, we uh- move in together?" Pedro stared at me (he just loved video calls, okay-) "You what?!" (A/N: I swear I wrote that and had Bill's voice in my head...)

I just grinned a little sheepishly and stared at Pedro.

"I'm so happy for you. You had missed her so much, and now you're going to see her every day for a while.... But- Bella. Keep me up to dated... if- you know- anything happens-" Pedro said with a wink. I just rolled my eyes.

I had probably told him about Mina almost every day, so now he thought I wanted something from her (in a romantic way). Sure, I loved her, but she was really just a friend- (A/N: Adrien Agreste who?)

"Pedro please, nothing special will happen between the two of us," I replied dumbly. After a while I hung up again, I finally had to finish packing.

Mina Lane POV

Nervously, I bounced around my apartment while waiting for Bella to arrive. Everything was clean, I had put a new bar of towels in the bathroom, picked out a few vegan recipes, and prepared the guest bed for them. The guestroom was right next to mine, and about the same size.

Sure, why had I left this room vacant when I lived alone? Well... just in case an old friend would show up here once-

Suddenly I heard the doorbell ring and I pressed the door opener, so that the front door opened downstairs. Now I had only a few seconds until Bella would stand in front of me, with their luggage, ready to move in for a few weeks. Everything had happened so fast, I couldn't even believe it yet.

When there was a knock on the door of my apartment, I felt goose bumps rising all over my body. Carefully I turned the door knob to the right and opened the door. Bella was dressed differently now, they had gray sweatpants and a dark green sweater on, much more simple and comfortable - but still beautiful.

"Hey, come on in," I said and accompanied Bella into the kitchen. It was an open kitchen overlooking the living room (A/N: Here a plan I MADE of the apartment, so that you can imagine it better <;3).

"Cozy in here," Bella said with a grin on their face. I had to giggle and showed them around.

"There's only one bathroom, unfortunately, but it's between our rooms, so I hope that's okay-", I explained. "Oh love, don't act like I'm a complete stranger, we've definitely had sleepovers, so if we ever run into each other in the bathroom at night, I think I'll be able to handle it-", Bella grinned. My face turned red. Not only because of the nickname, but also because of the way they looked at me. What was wrong with me?

"Um yeah... I think it´s pretty late already, I picked out food, plain pasta with tomato sauce, hope that's okay..." Bella nodded and thus I started cooking the food while they settled into their new room. This was going to be a few interesting weeks....

#bella ramsey x you #bella ramsey x reader #bella ramsey #ellie williams #fluff #lesbian #sapphic #writeblr #pedro #lgbtq #pedro pascal #fanfiction #fanfic #the last of us #isabella may ramsey #marveinator #friends to lovers

[dogueteeth]

Fanfic Writer Questions

Thank you @silvery-bluish & @glitchy-npc for the tags! Not sure who else to send it to atm but if you see this on my page and decide to pitch in with your answers feel free to @ me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I've got 12! Most are oneshots, others are series.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

47002 on AO3 at the moment! And so much more in my docs.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Fallen Hero, with a dash of TWC and some other fandoms sprinkled in my WIPS but I've been on Fallen Hero brainrot for a long time now so the other fandoms are currently neglected.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Nightmare (surprisingly enough) w/ 28 kudos

focus (it's harder than you think) (also surprising lol) w/ 20 kudos

new pavement w/ 18 kudos

anamnesis w/ 18 kudos

freefall w/ 13 kudos tied with bath(toaster)tub also w/ 13 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to all of them! But some days I just don't have the spoons to and I forget, but I really appreciate any comments I receive.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

HA. you want me to pick??? Ok hrm. maybe bath(toaster)tub? anamnesis also has so me pretty angsty pieces in there.

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

PFFF. ok gotta. go look for this one. Maybe sargasso sea, though it's technically not the last iteration in its series between a continued plotline hinted out in after the fall and a third part planned for its series.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet! I think.

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

(slaps brain) this bad boy can generate so much smut. I write pretty much any kind? Soft, rough, indulgent, M/M, F/M, F/F, other any everything, kinky or emotional, etc. Just whatever strikes me at the time, but most just dont get published bc I'm mid.

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

I typically HATE crossover fics they just aren't my thing I do write AUs of X story set in X story's universe, just haven't published them (wait does that still count as a crossover).

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nah, considered it once tho.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! Haven't found someone with the vibe ig, it's just never crossed my mind to co-write a fic and just never been asked too.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

(cue strained breath) i have no all time favorites BUT. but. Ricardo/Wei gets me SO soft ok. i just. unrequited years long attraction finally requited and i. AAAAA. place sidestep in there too and i'm just so happy. i need poly rep in my life sometimes ok.

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

I stare into the google docs hell and ask you how you could expect me to pick one but. BUT. Praeludium//Allegro. A piece meant to dive in how Sidestep is able to experience the moment someone dies through their mind.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Shorter pieces! They tend to be about ~2000-5000 words per part, that's usually when I feel I've done my best. I'm also. Decent at NSFW writing? Sometimes, at least.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Definitely long fics. I had a plan for freefall and have scrapped and adapted it multiple times now, pus it's just difficult to keep myself interested in specific but necessary chapters.

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

It's fun! I've included Spanish and Russian excerpts into my fics before but I don't do it a lot. Considered writing fully in Spanish at some point for an Ortega POV but I'm not confident in my grammar abilities. Spanish verb tenses my beloathed.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Naruto. On a different old account best left to gather dust.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Hm, I'm not sure if I have a favorite. I do really like the NSFW piece I wrote from Remy's POV, though. Short but good.

[lucyyygg]

Hi. I just want to somehow make catharsis about the whole Chenford break up going on and listen other takes on it.

Maybe Im just a girl going through Mercury Retrograde being delulu not wanting to aknowledge they are over. Having said that:

I just know this is not the end for them. But not for plot reasons that we are all speculating. I mean sure for plot reasons is necesary for Tim to get his shit together before taking the next step with Lucy (Eric said in his interview that Tim loves her and its seen in the lie detector scene and all the Tamara moving out storyline that has been going since last season they are sure heading to moving together). Also sure Lucy has suffered many things and is interesting to see her next steps.

But I just know this is for marketing reasons. They need the show to be renewed for another season and a massive cliffhanger like this one when there's a 3 weeks break between episodes where they know people will be engaged on it is a good way on getting that renewal.

They know people still watching the show because Chenford. They have stated they are endgame. But they are producers and writers and plan things ahead in order to keep the show going. Is just trust the process and the fact that they work on this and know what they are doing. I have seen many shows (most of them from ABC) to know they give the fans what they want bc in the end is a product that is sold and know that not doing something your target audience wants equals not product to be sold.

Also, even though Melissa and Eric had said that there are some things coming on Tim and Lucy on the season finale and blah blah blah. They are putting a lot of effort on the breakup promotionally speaking. The interviews released the second the episode finished, the TikToks from Melissa, the whole ice cream promo with letters to the cast about the breakup and they laughing and making jokes (also like the ig account still saying Chenford stan account) is more clear is about making the people engaged and furthermore, making the network renew the show for season 7. They are actors and know they must keep a good relationship with their fans (I mean if you make something that upset your fans then how would you keep getting called to act if you dont have people watching them for you and other actors can), what Im saying Is they are laughing and all of this because they know how it ends and know they end in a place where fans will love it, if not they are basically bullyng us lol.

So long story short: just keeping my peace of mind knowing it is just marketing. By the interviews we know somehow the season finale lets them in a good place, so if season 7 comes maybe we got time to see them making up with more time and development (things this season had been rushed bc the strike, not only here but in most shows) and if there's not season 7 it will end up with Chenford with a sort of an open finale where all points to them giving it another chance in their inmidate future.

Hope i made myself clear. Just wanted to vent haha. And lets chill and cross fingers for season 7 and an Oscar for Melissa and Eric because that break up was so CHEFF KISS like girlll I have felt that pain too.

Hi! So glad to have you vent in my inbox lol!

I know that this isn't forever and I can see why they did it. I hope more people can also think about that as they calm down and as the rest of the season plays out. I'm seeing a lot of negative opinions right now and everyone is entitled to how they feel but the writers aren't dumb, they know what they're doing.

Something like this happening near the end of the season will bring attention to it and hook people in, since they'll wanna watch to see it resolved. Even though that's not gonna happen til season 7 unfortunately.

Also a lot of people criticizing the writers need to realize that the show isn't for them specifically lol. Not targeting anyone but these are commonly used tropes in tv for a reason, they aren't a personal attack. I can think of 10 ships off the top of my head that this happened to. It's a common thing, getting into a relationship that has been anticipated for so long but life gets in the way, so you need to work it out individually, then together happens a lot. And pretty much all of them come out stronger on the other side.

I'm crossing my fingers for season 7! I'm not really worried about cancelation since its rating are pretty good and it's a big streaming hit, but anything can happen unfortunately. Still, I think we're safe lol.

I still haven't rewatched the breakup scene in full because it HURTS. They both killed it but Melissa's face and inflection on her voice makes me wanna curl up and die its so heart wrenching 😭😭.

Thanks for your ask lol I love big, long rants (that sounds sarcastic but I promise it's not)

#the rookie #the rookie spoilers #chenford #ask

[szynkaaa]

What are your thoughts when you see mutuals of yours using AI in their binds? I'm not defending afb at all, I think what they did and their attitude is vile, but why don't a lot of binders on instagram hold the same attitude towards AI and programs like midjourney? From my understanding, it's the same concept. It's still theft. These programs steal from artists without permission for the AI database. I've even seen someone using AI to edit a piece (avendell's art from grayscale to colored), which is as horrible as editing someone's typeset. I guess I'm just frustrated as an artist when I see such pretty books only to find out AI was used in the endpapers or dustjacket, and then see their friends cheering them on in the comments :/ It is so harmful to the art community, yet I feel like I can't speak up because many binders support it. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this though as a fellow artist

Hi! This is a very interesting ask and something I have been pondering for some time now but never really had the chance to put into words, so I will try me best to do it here :)

Disclaimer: those are my thoughts and observations about AI being used in book binds since I started binding almost 6 months ago. Please keep in mind this is just how * I * personally have decided to deal with my mutual using AI for their binds. I am not telling anyone that they should do or feel the same way as I do, each person has their own way to handle it. 

Short answer: Have spoken up about this before, which you can find in a post here and also on my IG story, there is a highlight called “no AI”. This is mostly from when I first started binding. I think my tone there is a bit more aggressive because there were just a lot of penned-up frustrations LOL, but most of the things I said there I still stand by them. 

Long answer under cut:

I’m an artist and have been drawing for 13 years now, and mostly hang out in the creative / artist sphere of the fandom sides online. Most artists do not support AI, and it has been incredibly frustrating to see how AI has just made life so much harder, from getting accused of using AI even though no AI is used, to seeing companies hiring artists who have also made a switch to AI and also support it, to Etsy sellers selling AI art on mugs and what not. 

I was in the exact same spot as you when I was doing my social media research on how to get started with bookbinding, and spent a lot of time scrolling through other binders instagram accounts to see what they have made. I am in awe of what they can make because like every craft, it takes money and time and practice to get really good at it and I have seen so so so so many pretty books, but then also quite shocked at how most binders view on AI art differs so much from the art community. AI is used for typesets and endpapers and dust jacket, and scrolling through the comment sections, there was no one speaking out against AI art (or some did and got snarky replies or comments were straight deleted). This did discourage me at first from taking up a new hobby and being an active part of the community. I should add here though that no one has to make their hobby public and post everything they make. Personally, for me, I don’t have any IRL friends to talk about bookbinding or, and I’m also an introvert, so meeting and making new friends online to chat about hobbies is the best way for me to go. Also I just like sharing my work, I’ve put so many hours and time into it, why shouldn’t I get to show it off. 

In the end, I have decided to make a book-binding account and be part of the fun and honestly, I don’t regret it. Everyone is super welcoming and will help you with any questions you have, I have made many great new friends and exchanged a few binds with people from across the pond. 

And yes, some of those friends and mutual binders use AI for their book binds, I’ve had discussions with them about it, where everyone gave their input and thoughts on the topic in a respectful, mature, and civil conversation. Opinions are split on the topic in the binding community, this is what I have observed and gathered from my binding journey so far: 

some people don’t know much about AI art or how it works, hence they decide not to touch it. 

Some didn’t know how AI worked, dabbled with it, read up on and decided not to use it anymore. 

Some have done extensive research on it with arguments from both artists and tech side, and then made a decision based on that 

Some see MJ as another tool like Canva to make graphics or whatever for your bind. 

Many binders use AI for their binds, because no money is made from it. It is (mostly) personal use, either for themselves or to gift away to friends.

One should always be transparent about whether MJ (midjourney) was used in their binds or not, to give people the choice to decide if they want to interact and support something with something that uses AI or not

Not all artists reply DM requests for permission to use their art for personal binds, or the art style / concept they have in their mind exists, so they resort to MJ as a quick solution

Not everyone has the money to commission artists, and especially for commissioned book binds, the prices for commercial art are not something everyone can afford.

The gist I got from the instagram binders (I don’t want to muddle them with AFB binders), is that they will try to use artist’s art with permission as much as they can, but roadblocks like the ones mentioned above happen and make them resort to MJ

Some artists do no want to be associated with AI at all so when they see that binders have used MJ for their binds before, they will not permit them to use their art

Some artists have spoken out against AI and talked with binders about the AI, but still take commissions / collab / trade with binders that have MJ works on their account 

I see more artists permitting binders to use their art for binds than rejecting the request even though some of those binders used MJ in their binds. I do believe that most artists do a quick social media check and see what exactly their work is being used for before answering

Some binders are not fully active on IG anymore because they see so many AI being used 

Many binders are still supporting artists in different ways such as subscribing to their patreon, donating to their ko-fi, buy their merch, share their art etc.

If given the chance, many binders would also love to collaborate with artists on a bind together - I’ve had several reach out to me and express their interest in collaborating together which I think is great. 

About Avendell’s art being colored via AI: there is one known binder on IG that edits art without artist’s permission and we all do not like them LMFAO. All the binders I have hang out and spoken to respect artist’s boundaries and would not use their art or edit it without their permission. 

The points above-mentioned are not me trying to justify and defend the binders that use MJ/AI, it is just me listing up my observations and things I have read and heard from binders that use AI.

I can’t fault artists for charging xxx amount for commissions because they have to make a living and pay bills too, but you also can’t condemn binders for not having the spare funds to commission artists because they also have bills to pay and groceries to buy. 

So on the one hand, if I put myself in the binder's shoes, I do understand the appeal of MJ and understand to a certain extent why they use MJ for their personal works, no money is made etc etc etc. On the other hand, it’s AI/MJ and as an artist myself it is frustrating to see AI on my dashboard and until there is a more ethical way to use AI, the law has updated on the usage and the artists whose work were used to train the machines without their consent, I will not support AI. 

AI art aside; binding books - especially a whole fanfic from scratch - requires so many other skills and labors put into making a book that also takes a long time and money invested to get better at. There is so much love and creativity put into a bind, and it amazes me what people can come up with that you most likely will never see in any mass production because it is a one-of-a-kind book. There are binders who have spent money purchasing stock image and font license for their personal binds, and will make sure they are respecting fanfic authors wishes and boundaries. For that, they have my admiration and respect and support and I am very happy to be still part of the community. I don’t think I need to get into how disrespectful the AFB Admin’s tone is in the overall post on top of them seemingly flipping off every one that is trying to have a civil conversation on the topic of sharing typesets without permission, editing art and straight up hold a best-copy-contest  in a “”Private”” group that accepts pretty much any application and has over 6k members. 

I don’t support AI, but I am very grateful that I have been welcomed very openly into a new community even though I have expressed freely in my public instagram account and on discord servers my disdain for AI. If I see my friends and mutual doing a bind where MJ is used, I simply don’t interact with the post, will not comment and share it in my stories, and move on. I personally don’t have the energy to comment and educate binders in comment sections for using MJ. I am friends with binders that use MJ, despite our different views on it, I have also blocked binders on insta because I do not agree with some of the things they said about AI and artists. And if binders do not want to interact with me because I don’t wanna support binds with AI - or artists do not want to talk to me anymore because I am friends and mutuals with MJ users, that’s fine too. I don't wanna get too caught up in the us (artist) against AI war, I wanna enjoy my new hobby and make pretty books.

I have been trying to incorporate more art that I draw myself into my binds and sharing WIPs and timelapses of the process, and I do hope that in some way this may help other binders also want to give digital art a go. 

At the end of the day, it’s up to each individual both binders and artists how they wanna deal with MJ being used on binds and how they are gonna interact with it. I’ve decided for myself that I do not want to let my view completely stop me from enjoying what has been a wonderful community experience so far.

#ask box #egg fried penguin #book binding #bookbinding

[ginnyrules27]

How do you feel knowing that your fic has a pod fic ? And would you be surprised if Mitchell Hope read your story? Like how you met him?

Honestly, it's one of the most flattering things I could think of. The fact that someone thought my fic and its predecessor are worthy enough to take the time to record, make specific voices for the characters, add the inflections into the dialogue so it's more than just the robotic text-to-speech all of the apps have, and post it on Youtube is definitely not something I ever thought possible.

I know this is going to sound egotistic and I definitely don't mean it to be but PJ Read's podfic of Choosing Love has almost become appointment listening for me and listening to both the Choosing Love and the Choosing Family podfics have helped me fend off multiple rounds of writer's block. I highly recommend their podfics!

As for your second question...not going to lie anon, it would be highly surprising if he read my work or anything I wrote on here. I know he's got a link to my FFN profile but he's a celebrity and I'm well...not. (To make a long story short, I may have sent him a Cameo request back in 2021 because I told myself I'd buy one for myself if I got a decent review at my old job having come off a really bad one and working the whole year with the Pandemic but then my anxiety convinced me that it was weird and so I ended up basically buying a Cameo that thanked him for the happiness he brought the people who love Descendants because I know for me, re-watching those movies made 2020 a lot more bearable. But anyway, I...may have mentioned in there that I write Descendants fanfiction and he seemed interested in the fics so I sent him a DM on IG with my FFN profile. Yes, I am really pathetic at times when my anxiety lets me act like a semi-normal person.)

...wait...Anon, you're not Mitchell Hope are you? Cause if I've just electronically rambled to Mitchell Freaking Hope, I think I'd have to go ahead and just delete my whole internet.

#responding to ask box #ask box #answering ask box

[leothil]

Hi! I know you got the anon ask, but in your answer you seemed to know what anon was talking, so I gotta ask you.

"Like one gets back with their partner as soon as the other does? Single at the same time and then not? What went on on that driveway 🤔!"

What does it all mean???? Was Ryan single recently? Is he back with his wife? Is Oliver back with his ex? What driveway? What is going on? 🤣

I ask as a good chismosa who likes all the tea, and then never speak of it again. I come in peace. 🥰😘

Hi, no worries, welcome to the inbox! 😄

So short answer first: no, neither Oliver nor Ryan has been single for many years, as far as anyone knows.

Last spring (and some whispers already on the fall 2021 side) fans started speculating that Oliver and his partner had broken up since she never showed up in his ig-posts anymore, he posted a lot of stories that'd fit in the genre I'd call "late night sad girl posting" and he seemed to attend Aisha's wedding alone. But he made a reference to his long-term partner on the recent morning tv appearance he made, so it's quite possible they just decided to take their relationship very private and off social media (more power to them, if so).

Now, when it comes to Ryan it ventures much more into fan speculation (and conspiracy theorizing?) so I just want to reiterate that that's what it is and none of us know the people involved or what their intentions behind any picture were. Ryan has always had an... interesting prescence on instagram and writes some truly wild and weird captions on both his posts and his stories, bless him. Some months ago most of the things he posted started having this really melancholy and resigned tone to them that made a lot of people go 👀, and around the same time his wife started writing posts about finding your true self and growing into who you're meant to be and restarting your life and so on (and following a podcast about breakups which. Fksjhdg). Perhaps the most "damning" was a story Ryan posted with the caption "attention is not love" that he then deleted within 30mins. Both of them have also deleted pics of each other off their instagrams. They did have similar vibes drama some years ago (before I was in the fandom and/or cared about the actors) and then it seemed to resolve when uh. Well, around the time she got pregnant again. 🫥 So while all of this can mean absolutely nothing, you can also see why people would kind of side-eye it.

The driveway thing stems from one of these ~dramatically captioned pics~ Ryan posted. It was of stonework that some people thought looked suspiciously like Oliver's driveway, that we recently got to see in the Men's Health interview he did.

So! Those are the broad strokes. Feel free to message me if you have more questions, but be aware that I'm just a person on the other side of the world from LA. 😂

#ask frida #nunc-spes-spei #putting this in the tags... but the wife genuinely rubs me the wrong way as a person #she posted a lot about how covid lockdowns were a conspiracy and vaccines were dangerous and all but endorsed the maga movement #not to mention her copious gun videos and pics that are still all over her ig

[infiniteorangethethird]

Hellooooo hi, I'm too lazy to scroll yeah

Can you tell me a bit about your paracosm? :3

A bit? Nope, sorry, no can do, I can only tell you a metric fuck TON about my paracosm. Hope ur prepared for an infodump >:)

Sooooo uh. There’s a lot to talk abt (because I don’t know how to shut up) so let me break it up a little. Setting-wise, the story’s set in a fantasy version of Earth, where the most important difference (aside from the presence of magic) is that if someone writes a story and enough people read it, the story becomes real in a parallel dimension. I originally thought of this as a way to explain how my OCs could meet with the characters from my favorite shows/books, nowadays it’s both a mechanic that facilitates the story and (recently more frequently) the focus and source of conflict.

Because of the setting, aside from the numerous stolen characters from other media and reworked versions of said stolen characters, there’s obviously a lot of magic going around with a fuckton of places to visit and even more magical species to populate the world and wield said magic – “angels”, demons, shapeshifters, monsters, gods, you name it. Most of my paras are non-human and those who are also tend to have non-human ancestry or some kind of extra magical power (what’s the point of fantasy without fantasy, yknow?). But also, because I have a weird obsession with Organizing and Putting Things In Boxes, I have the physics of magic worked out to an absurd detail, feel free to shoot me an ask abt it if you want to be bored to death :D

Plot-wise… well. I would summarize the story, I actually HAVE a pretty decent summary, but it’s like, 100+ pages (50k+ words if I recall correctly), and I’m pretty sure tumblr would not Like That (and this version’s not even up to date), so. There used to be a lot of exploration of the world (aka me integrating my current interests into my paracosm because I can), nowadays it’s a lot more character-focused, with the plot revolving around 15-ish “main” paras and their lives. Which can be anything from “I can finally go to college and study the stuff I wanna study! Yay!” to “oh god oh fuck I’m a general in a multidimensional war and thousands are dead if I make the wrong move” so. There’s a lot of throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. (I am a sucker for big epic fights tho so that happens a lot lol)

Thematically, I like to focus on the inner worlds of my paras and how they relate to the world around them. Each of them come from different backgrounds with different perspectives so any time I wanna explore a concept I can just pick whoever falls closest to that (like, “oh THIS one was abandoned by their family but THIS one is a stable father figure, found family trope go brrr” just to name an example). There’s a lot of hurt/comfort generally speaking, heavy on the emotional angst and, because I’m a secret whump enjoyer, there also tends to be a lot of blood. Like a lot. (Dw I always balance it out with some old-fashioned “finding peace in each other’s presence” daydreams, especially soft and cuddly.) Oh yeah and also everyone’s gay but that’s pretty much expected at this point.

Sometimes I also like to wonder about the morality of certain aspects of this universe, since the setting and world is so different from ours, but ig that’s a topic for another day haha

Anyway yeah that’s as short as I could get it 😅 it’s a bit hard to talk about my paracosm as a whole because it’s so old and as a result incredibly widespread. I do have a sideblog dedicated to it but tbh I haven’t really touched it in ages so what little info it has is probably outdated. Idk what else to say, if there’s any part you’d want me to go into greater detail feel free to ask (I know ppl mostly only care about the paras which, fair, but when it comes to talking abt my paracosm practically any topic is free for the asking lol), and sorry for the long ramble haha

Bonus doodle of one of my paras (Rowena) I did like a day ago

#paraportal #the orange dimension #<- had to come up w a tag for my paracosm lol #my art #para: Rowena

[darrowsrising]

Hi! I read your Odysseus = Darrow post and as someone who did classical studies for many years i wanted to offer you my two cents on the matter because you always give the best analysis so you might find this interesting. I start with the premise that always and forever i’m a darrow stan and a lysander hater, even though i find interesting his path under a narrative point of view. Odysseus is a kind of complex character and I feel that according to how you read his story he can be also similar in many ways to Lysander. I mean, if we think of him as the hero who did not want to leave for war for fear of not returning, but was forced to to save his son, who had the brilliant idea which allowed to win the war, then traveled for years trying to go home to his wife, plus the whole plot with his son, which is also the most known version of Odysseus, then yes, he indeed is Darrow. But under a certain interpretation, he is a man who, although known for his intelligence, benefited from the help and protection of powerful figures like Athena or Circe, often taking merits of other people’s actions. Like there are a lot of different version on the whole plot of the Trojan horse which don’t put him in a very good light (in modern terms), which is very similar to lysander’s whole plot in DA. Also his arrogance and curiosity (always according to certain interpretations) lead him in his travel which caused the death of all his mates. And these are the main traits with which Lysander is presented in IG, especially the curiosity with bad consequences (for others). So I feel like this is a kind of addition to your interpretation of “Lysander is a foil to Darrow”, which i always love to read whenever you add something more. Like they are two faces of the same coin but Lysander is the bad side. Plus, it’s very indicative that Odysseus is particularly linked to two figures which are Diomedes and Ajax and if nomen est omen, it’s a key thing. As for Iliad Ajax, the relation with Odysseus indeed mirrors that of Lysander and RR-Ajax in a brilliant way. As for Iliad Diomedes, we still know too little of RR Diomedes, but it’s interesting because it depends on the direction he will take, whether he will join Darrow or not. Actually, if I haven’t bothered you too much, I think the greek hero which mirrors darrow the most is Achilles. in GS, the Jackal told him to be achilles and learn from his mistakes, which i think is really the key of darrows character. achilles wanted a short life with glory, darrow would have chosen a long one, happy but without glory, but “his enemies bought him war”. I feel this is the whole point: Darrow is trying hard not to be Achilles, but events are bringing him down to that path (though i have no doubt he will succeed). And he is also trying to not be perceived as Achilles, as a glory and fame driven man. The references are many: the whole rage thing, which is another similarity, or even the fact that Darrow is notably fast and often mentions the speed of his feet in duels, which is a distinctive trait of Achilles. And as for Patroclus, Darrow had a lot of people who were his Patroclus. Btw i’m really sorry for how long this turned, I hope I haven’t annoyed you. Have a nice day!

That's very interesting, thank you for your input and you never bother me, you are always welcome to share stuff.

I did not mean it too literally, though. Pierce is not trying to re-tell homeric ballads, he's just inspired by them.

It's interesting to be to see the similarities. Regarding the Darrow = Odysseus/Ulysses, I actually think that Darrow will get to come back to his family after his own odyssey, it's not meant to mirror Ulysses' adventures back to Itaca. He's had his own stuff to deal with and will continuw to have others, it's just that he'll succeed. Also, I sort of disagree that he's most similar to Achillies, because the Golden Son era ended 10 years ago for him.

In Golden Son, I agree that he has similarities with Achillies most of all, but it's Dark Age now. Darrow doesn't 'try not to be like Achillies', he'als legitimately not like Achillies.

Back then, he was self-aware enough to know he shouldn't be fooled by the adrenaline his own glorious stunts gave him back when he was a wee over 20. Now, it's basic instinct, there is no point in Dark Age where he had Achillies tendencies - all he did was his best to survive. And his rage was not a huge part of himself as it used to be, he was in survival mode, he was driven by trying to move forward, not by his own spirit raging at the worlds.

He also mentions that when he was younger he would attribute sheer will and dedication to people who would stay days and nights to do their part, while kow he knows full well it's stimms, as he himself uses. Rage alone cannot fuel him. He cannot even afford it to rule him like he used to do. His purpose is not glory or martyrdom - it's a home to go back to, no matter how impossible it seems.

Also, Lysander being a foil to Darrow is not about being the other side of the coin, it's about being a cheap replica or rather, a bad replica in order to highlight the original. His traits are twisted to highlight Darrow's.

For example, Darrow is extremely hard, if not impossible to manipulate. While Lysander is played like cheap kazoo.

At the same time, Lysander is his own person, being a foil is used to characterize him, not flaten him.

But I do find the Ajax and Diomedes parallels interesting. I kinda hope the RR guys will have something to do with Darrow directly and I wonder if they will parallel the homeric counterparts someway, beyond a bunch of similarities.

Thank you for your input, it's fascinating.

Howl on, 💖🐺

#red rising #light bringer #dark age spoilers

[banghwa]

Idk if you’ve talked about this before, but what are your predictions/hopes for the jimin album?

What sounds and genres do you think he’ll go for? What will he choose to talk about? I find it so hard to say, but based off Lie and Promise and Filter he might continue exploring those themes? - And whatever he meant by a “raw concept”? 👀 I’m so excited !!

(I’m ready for whatever honestly, I’m mostly just desperately crossing my fingers for a full choreography)

hiiii my love! doesnt matter whether ive talked about it before or not im more than happy to talk in circles about what jimin potentially has in stores lmao <3

tldr bcs under the cut is kinda long :'): im expecting so much but also nothing! i really cant wait to see what it is he decides to do. even though i kinda assume he's gonna do something more on the pop side and discuss identity a lot, also expecting lots of mannequins and styling used as a narrative vehicle etc., i also half expect him to do something completely different....i really dont know but im excited!!

first of all, sound-wise, im expecting something more on the pop side: he seems to have been working with a lot of pop/kpop producers and few rnb/hip hop producers which is kinda surprising, as well as ghstloop and pdogg who are behind some of bts' best songs and solo stuff. my gut tells me its gonna be fun and strong albeit safe pop/rnb....but given how he says he wants to do something "raw". i fully expect ghstloop to deliver on that and that SCARES me. crossing my fingers also for his lower register PLEASE i miss her, hopefully him having more control on a solo release means he actually gets to sing in his range :')

what also scares me is i do fully expect him to talk more about the same themes he explores in lie and filter and what promise was originally supposed to be about -- identity, autonomy, subversion, dichotomy, authenticity, etc. i think given his portfolio project that those seem to be the topics he likes to work with most. but so far the way he handles those themes in his solos is so like. between the lines and indirectly. the thing with jimin that i find soooo interesting is that his solos, esp filter, are told from an unreliable or conflicted first person, which is different from a lot bts songs where the "narrator" ig is very self aware. so perhaps he will keep with this perspective, which i think would be sooooo cool and really set him apart from bts' lyrical tendencies.

long story short, i really dont know what to expect! jimin hasnt really had the opportunity to put out anything on his own aside from his solos in bts so its hard to gauge the mechanics of it.....the impression i get from jimin that at times hes so versatile and subversive that it gets a bit predictable. and i feel like he knows that and plays into it, weaving in an undercurrent of a clashing idea to the concept, hence that earlier unreliable first person. so for me i see pjm1 being either really fun but ultimately incredibly chart-safe and unadventurous, with the kind of put-on sultriness that fans feel entitled to expect of him. perhaps with that continued conflicting subtext. OR alternatively he and bighit will take his popularity as an opportunity to do something really out of the box of what people, myself included, might expect! like will bighit play it cautious since he's their golden boy? will they seize the chance to get experimental without risk?? i really dont know! im just excited to see what he has planned :')

#cant wait for this post to age poorly when im proven wrong tho lmao #💌 #anonymous

[kogameh]

I don't know where else to post this so. Uhh. All Nintendo systems we've owned!

We never had any real console and have always been strictly handheld haha. We also missed out on the 3DS because of, uh, tregic backstory™ reasons, we just couldn't afford one at the time (same story on why I never owned a drawing tablet growing up lol)...so uh, character development? I guess? It's gonna take me multiple occasions to even tell the story behind them so I'm just gonna dump them under the cut \o/

GBA Micro - Actually the first legit game system we owned! A friend of my late dad was selling it with Pokemon Naranja (yes technically my first Pkmn game is a bootleg cartrige'd romhack...), which is kinda surprising because my late dad knew nothing about video games at all- He only wanted to give a Pokemon game to the 10-years-old me and struck gold with this haha. I didn't even realize this model existed after the SP until years later, it's so small and sturdy! The screen is noticeably more vibrant and crisper than the SP even. This later got passed to my twin sis after we got a GBA SP.

GBA SP - My late dad also bought this from a friend months after we got the Micro just so all 3 of us siblings would stop fighting over the Micro- Okay kidding but. Yeah. (Ironically we never tried multiplayer with both GBAs because no shops ever sell GBA Link Cables here-) Actually has a Lot of Pikachu stickers, though obviously the ones on the top lid peeled off. The only reason it has...uh, seen better days is that my older bro keeps playing in bed and most often than not he always fell asleep mid-game so yeah... Imagine the number of times it fell off... I'm still too scared to even touch it anymore because the hinge feels like it could snap off any day now jkasghsgfhasj

DS Lite - Let's just say I got this as a sort of "graduation" gift from my mom as we finished our final elementary school year haha. The funny story is: I never bought a legit game for my DS since day 1. The seller we bought it from bundled it with an R4 card being all like "oh yeah pick 10 games from our catalog and we'll "install" it on your DS! But ofc if you want to add any new games, do come back :D". Didn't take too long for me and my bro to discover the R4 has an SD card... And can be attached to our laptop...And we found out DS ROMs from the interwebs work with it....... So we never came back........... To this day I have 0 ideas if the seller underestimated us or is sabotaging his sales like this. This still works like a charm even today after I replaced its batteries :D Also this might as well be the first ever red-colored gadget I've owned and kickstarted my obsessions with them ig haha.

Switch Lite - Uh, my twin sis bought this with her own pocket money months ago. Long story short she basically bought it because her friends really wanted her to play ScarVio on launch with them lol. Of course I got stuck in that FOMO too haha-- Plus it matches her baby blue/turquoise laptop and Intuos tablet! Albeit the "turquoise" in this one is more Miku Green™ leaning-

Pokemon Switch OLED - Ah yes I hope you guys know that I worked 3 vacation-less weeks for this knowing that I'll never ever be able to afford this from commissions alone ahahhahahahhahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahhhah 😇 Okay. Well. On a lighter note. At first, I was more interested in the Lite because I didn't like any of the colors from the reg Switches but then this ver was announced when I'm still saving up so I'm just "Eh. It has mine and my sis' fav colors (red and purple respectively) so why not." Didn't regret though because I LOVE how nostalgic the sticker bomb pattern at the back!! Reminds me of how I decorated my GBA even!!!! And the dock is so cool!! My attachment also adds up unexpectedly as I ended up liking ScarVio more than I thought euhuhuhu....

Honorable mentions: The PSP 1000. It's the only Sony we ever have and we never even bought it because..........someone left it at my parent's workplace and they never claimed it back for months so. yeah. played the hell out of W/inx Club out of it 7.5/10.

Also the N-Gage which was my bro's "GBA" when we had ours. The N-Gage was so damn cool y'all I've seen more people with an N-Gage than the DS around my area as a kid. Fucked up.

#kogami's diary #uh if you just dont like me posting this kinda stuff just lmk #but ive prob told you enough that im not rich :') and why im mostly overexcited about being able to get these (thats my only intention...)

[liqsouls]

Some thoughts (mostly reaching) about Snow on the beach (ft. Midnight rain).

Ig some of those takes were discussed before but I need to get those thoughts out of my mind so yeah.

When my dear Spotify decided to play SOTB after Midnight rain my attention *finally* was caught by the fact that Taylor used "midnight rain" to describe herself but her feeling for her lover(or their feelings/love in general) she described as a "snow at the beach". I found it interesting cause basically, we can describe snow as frozen rain. So here I'd assume that Taylor is also part of this "snow", she transformed into it. In this context firstly I want to point out a super obvious thing. Midnight rain or even rain on the beach is a more common natural phenomenon than snow on the beach. So ig it can mean that this love from SOTB is something even more unique cause it seems extraordinary (maybe even greater) compared to any other experience Tay had. Or it made her feel greater and unique. Next point is that transformation from one physical state to another aka water(rain) to crystals (snow) may be a metaphor of a personal transformation. The question is what does it mean? Which difference between snow and water? I thought abt it and for me, one thing stands out: snow reflects light much better than rain does (that's why snow is white and raindrops - transparent). This can mean that in this relationship Taylor (and probably her partner) reflects love, and feelings better. I like to think that "reflect" here means that they are not just consuming(receiving) love from each other but also giving it back. Also in terms of having color(snow) and being transparent (rain), this metaphor can mean that she is feeling more seen in this relationship. Here my take based on the possibility of a connection between SOTB and midnight rain ends and it's time for SOTB solo.

Firstly, I heard a lot of interpretations of "snow at the beach" as a way to say that this love was destinated to "melt" aka to end. And I can see where it's coming from but now I wanna talk about the full process of circulation of water. We all heard abt it, so long story short, in the end snow will evaporate, form clouds in the sky, and snow/or rain again. So it also can mean this love is destinated to come back no matter what. Like it's how the world works. Yeah kinda forevermore vibes and I like it.

One more thing that keeps me awake at night is that Tay mentioned snow and aurora borealis in one song and it obviously screams Antarctica. Actually, for me Antarctica is something that can be associated with Kaylor's relationship especially with all this "blackout" period. Antarctica is smth almost uninhabited (if we talk abt humans), far from other continents (I can say hidden in some way?), some counties claim parts of the lands, but other countries (including the US) don't recognize those claims, so ig it's safe to say that Antarctica doesn't belong to any country. Also, it's something unknown and unexplored for most of the ppl and that makes it kinda magical and mysterious, fits the isolation "take me to the lakes" vibe and technically snow at the beach is a very common thing in Antarctica. At the same time, it's in constant danger cause of global warming and stuff. Yeah, I can find some similarities between the description( or rather vibes) of Antarctica and Taylor's and Karlie's relationship.

Fun fact abt Antarctica is that time kinda works differently there (change of day-night specifically). We have such terms as Polar day and Polar night. It's when the sun doesn't set(day) or rise (night) for more than 24 hours (usually it lasts for a few months). So basically Antarctica is about constant daylight for days (months) but at the same time, it's about dark nights for days as well. Also at the South Pole itself days and nights last for almost 6 months each, so in this context "One night a few moons ago" can mean a few years ago. Btw, there is another popular term for "Polar Day" - "Midnight Sun" and in Antarctica day time occurs December which is fun ig.

#kaylor #humming abt sotb

[jupitercomet]

hi:) im trying to write a fanfic for the first time and i was wondering if you have any tips! i like my concept but i feel like my writing is no good. do you know anyone who would be willing/able to proofread my work and tell me how i can improve? i’ll take all the help i can get because i’d LOVE to publish something on here.

you are one of my favorite writers and i’d appreciate any advice you could give. :))

okay so I am by no means an expert on writing, but I will do my best!

I think the most obvious advice is write what you want to read, like if it's a story line you wouldn't be interested in reading, you probably won't be interested in writing it either.

but I guess my personal advice on that note would be write how you want to write too. love writing dialogue? write dialogue. love character building? focus on character building. I think that (especially with the way some of those pretentious tiktok girlies talk about fanfic and classic literature 🙄) there's kind of a pressure for writing to have really deep meanings or metaphors, but if that's not something you like, don't write it.

I started writing super young, so I've had a lot of practice (I wish I had some of the first things I wrote that I could show you guys because they are the cringiest things I swear) but my point is that practice is what is really going to be what strengthens your writing. also people on here are super nice, like there's definitely a few fics I've posted that I'm not that proud of or think aren't that good, but I know that people's positive feedback is a big motivator for me so I'll post it anyway.

ALSO super important if you post on tumblr: make sure you're ultimately writing for yourself. I remember really caring about notes and such when I like first started posting on tumblr and it would be really demotivating when I'd work super hard on something and it would get like 30 notes. but now (while I love seeing peoples reactions and it's super motivating) I'm also okay when I don't get those notes. like writing is something I do for myself because I love it and ultimately, if I'm proud of it then that's enough.

as for writing tips:

I don't have anyone edit or proofread my writing but (I do this for essays too so school tip ig) you can copy and paste your writing into like an english to english translator and have siri read it to you and that will help you catch misspelled words, missing words, etc.

I use google docs to write all my fics because tumblr doesn't have great editing catchers (also because once I posted something and it completely disappeared so I had to write all of it again lmao)

I also edit my fics on my computer but I read them on my phone because the dimensions are different and sometimes paragraphs look way longer on mobile.

I use a website called OneLook Thesaurus which helps me if I'm repeating a word or if I can't remember a specific word because you can look up things like "looking madly at someone" or "part of the house where dishes are" and it will give you the words you might be thinking of.

when it comes to series or long fics (or short fics too ig) I don't always write in order. sometimes when you're planning out a story, there are parts that you are going to be more excited to write and, I say, write them! for example, I wrote the scene of Bradley comforting Dove when she wakes up after like chapter 3. because, when I sat down to write, that was what I wanted to write. any progress you put into a fic is progress, so write the scene you already have planned out/are excited to write, instead of staring at the computer trying to figure out what happens next.

anyway, I think that's all the tips I have, I hope they're somewhat useful lol. if you do ending up posting something, please tag me if you're comfortable, I'd love to read it!

#what’s up doc

[multi-lefaiye]

Shag anon but im putting on a warrior cats mask rn. THERE STUFF U MISSED!! First off, Cats cant taste sweet stuff, but im pretty sure medicine cats use honey to hide food bc its sweet. And i wanna actually expand ur reach rq bc we have Midnight and Rock hanging out who just feel extremely weird even in the context of the series. Maybe its just power creep but theres a whole fuckin badger that is meowing out there. Theres even foxes!! Im still pissed about hollyleaf and the fox cub bc she 100% couldve raised the cub BUT theres a short story out there i swear. where graystripe is in charge while firestar is gone and a fox is hunting prey so the clans get together to chase it out, but by the end graystripe realizes the fox A) understands them, B) has cubs, and C) sorta tells the fox to leave and the fox NODS and leaves??? Idk if im imagining it i could be. I thought ivypool met a cat who speaked wolf for the LONGEST time but it was kid me reading fanfic and taking it as fact and my friends had to tell me that, no, there was no cool wolf cats. Anyways i am gonna touch on cat behavior real quick, arent male cats suuuuper aggressive about mates? Also there is a throwaway line about leafpool getting plump so she did grow a stomach while pregnant but ig everyone just thought thunderclan was eating well (theres problems with THAT too since theres be other signs but, like you said. no cat sex ed). Theres also the fact that humans would 500% find out about the clans some way or another. You're telling me that no one thought it odd that literally hundreds of cats were in the forest? Or that they made structures and dens? or saw then travelling and grouping up and shit??? Anyways cats are aliens thats why cat heaven is called StarClan

SCOOB AND SHAG ANON U AND I ARE BROTHERS IN ARMS- unless you don't like that term in which case I will respectfully high five you and say we are Besties. Or something. The point is that I think you're cool and I love reading your thoughts-

But yes THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING MY THEORY. MY COMPLETELY LEGITIMATE AND CORRECT THEORY ABOUT WARRIOR CATS. (context: [link])

I'm going fucking feral holy shit you're so right about all of this. I've always been so intrigued and confused by Midnight tbh--it's been a while since I read the books, but there's never any real.... canon confirmation on like Anything about her. I enjoy her existence for narrative reasons, but what's happening here. Millie speaks dog, Midnight speaks cat.... whadda hell

Also that Greystripe story and Hollyleaf with the fox cub.... there's a lot of potential for interesting dynamics with this series regarding the idea that the cats aren't the only sentient animals, but the series just doesn't address that most of the time. Though honestly that's kind of just a point with the series as a whole--lots of interesting concepts get brought up that are just never elaborated on.

(Also as a side-note, this reminds me of a story arc we did in a Warriors RP group I used to be part of. Long story short, it was about the foxes fucking unionizing to take out the clans, and it was really intense but also super interesting and had a lot of interesting fox NPCs who showed up. My favorite was the one-eyed vixen and her gay son <3)

AND ALSO ON THE NOTE OF THE HUMANS FINDING OUT, THAT ALSO BOGGLES MY MIND... THE CATS LIVE SO CLOSE TO CIVILIZATION. HOW HAS NO ONE FUCKING NOTICED. This was actually one thing that was addressed in that rewrite I mentioned that I liked--it suggested the concept of the humans being aware of the clan cats and like... making the clans' territory a protected national park of sorts, b/c imagine how amazing it'd be for tourism to show off these wild cats living in societies and having complicated rules and religions.

God what I wouldn't give to be an anthropologist in the Warriors universe studying cat societies

Anyway on the note of behavior as well, that was actually the thing in the rewrite that put me off reading it ASDFJKL;. It had a moment where Firepaw was super aggressive towards a kit b/c Instincts and it established like... a canon thing that toms aren't allowed nearthe nursery b/c they will try to harm kits that aren't theirs. I don't know how true that is to cat instincts, and I can definitely see that as an interesting concept to explore, but child death is like one of the three things that actively puts me in a really bad headspace when I encounter it without warning so I noped the fuck outta there.

Also man. Fireboy wouldn't do that. Not my orange man. He's built different.

Anyway I think you're 100% correct and I'm going to stand by this theory forever actually. Gonna rewrite Warrior cats but with the context that the cats are aliens (I am not going to do this).

#talk to the bunnykitty #scoob and shag anon #genuinely this ask delighted me so much thank you #warrior cats #the cats aren't cats theory #i'm gonna make a tag for this #that's the tag #also on the note about leafpool i think it probably does come down to the lack of literally any sex ed in the clans #i understand not wanting to include it explicitly in the books #but not even establishing like.... some kind of thing even off-handedly #b/c like. are you telling me that only meddies can identify pregnancies #after a certain point there's a lot of signs u can't just ignore #wait ok new headcanon #there's so many unwanted pregnancies in warriors b/c only meddies get sex end #and i'm going to arbitrarily blame a random background character for this #because i think i'm the funniest man alive #anyway ripplestar. the leader who dies b/c Act Of God takes him out #im blaming him he decided that the clans don't have sex ed #prove me wrong (you can't)

[incensuous]

Fam I… *DEEP BREATH*

Ok so I have this friend whom I’ve known for most part of my life. Meaning we were comfortable around e/o families and basically felt like extended families at one point. Now idk if its just me projecting but I had a crush on his older sis, and from a lot of their interactions throughout the years I was convinced he did too. Now here’s what makes me think maybes I’m just not projecting- he didn’t know about my crush and I noticed he acted towards her the same I did, but not to his other sisters?? They did come from a toxic family and I supposed that kids from such home environments learn to stick together as a survival tactic of sorts and to stay sane. Now y’know how teen guys are especially and our friends used to talk about all sorts of stuff related to girls. Idk who it was but someone once shared an (accidental) incest story that was now in hindsight PROBABLY meant as a cautionary tale against looking for premarital sex and especially against using criminal methods. While I forgot about it soon after, this friend was almost obsessed with the story. He even wanted to tell her sister it, but I thought it was really weird and talked him out of it. One more thing, she loved reading but was possessive of her books (ngl I just thought she read dirty books and didn’t wanna be found out lol. I was partially wrong) and he used to “borrow” them without her knowing and read them too bc the forbidden attracts ig? He used to let me read them too sometimes when I wasn’t feeling too guilty about reading her very cool novels without permission. So, at around her 17-ish bday, her friend gifted her a book as a bday present. She wanted to wait till finals were over to really enjoy it, and my friend took his chance knowing he had plenty time. He read it before her and… there was a lot of surprise incest in it. I don’t think her friend had known because nothing of that was mentioned in the book description/summary at the back. It literally came as a shock to the reader. I became a lil concerned when my friend became obsessed with those parts, talking about them and how insane it was that someone would write two siblings doing it. I thought it was crazy too but like I wasn’t as interested or obsessed as him. Honestly, I found his obsession a little creepy.

There were other instances too, like for example once our macho male teacher who all the guys loved told a dramatic story of rescuing a pretty girl, and ended it with girls know intuitively how someone’s looking at them. If you’re staring at them with bad intentions or dirty thoughts, they’ll know (and come on that’s bs… right? Definitely sounds like it. But this idiot, my friend, he gleefully told me the next day that it worked because he’d tried it on his sister. He didn’t tell me what he was thinking of when he’d stared at her from a hidden spot but he said she got a scared look as until she spotted him before angrily asking why he was staring.

Long story short, we’re all adults now, and I think he’s ashamed of how he used to act or the thoughts he used to have. He has a gf he refuses to call a gf but goes on dates with. And she. Is the opposite of his sister. In all aspects, looks, voice, dressing etc. And I don’t wanna think he’s just using her but I do think now that he’s older and thinks all that is unforgivable and is dating someone the complete opposite both as guilt and to show himself that he’s moved on. I hope he has. Especially because the bastard made me interested in incest couples 😭 Lmao the irony. And uhh I wouldn’t ship them how they were back then bc I still think the way he acted was creepy, but now, that he’s gentlemanly to her and tries to be protective without the creep factor, I’m shipping them a lil. Huge tmi I know, but sorry! I saw them yesterday and ig the memories were triggered. Tc!

... HOLY CRAP, NONNIE

OMG

i agree with you, i don't know all the nuances of your friend and his sister when they were kids, idk how close they were. i think even him reading her books without her knowledge or permission would have annoyed me, no matter how small it is in the big picture. i wonder if his sister felt uncomfortable with that, but i'm glad he's grown up and tried to move on. i agree, now that he's matured i'd find the idea of him and his sister cute, especially if he's pined after her his whole life. but unclear with how the sister reacted or if she noticed at all.

thank you for sharing, nonnie!!

#anon #replies #tw: rpf #sorta?

[awiola]

Normal update, winter XXIV

BUT IT'S NOT WINTER ANYMORE HA! Happy after-equinox to y'all. I planned to write the update in march and it's still technically march but, like, y'know, it's the first day of spring so it feels kind of late, ig? Not that it really matters here and I drew Morana on fire so all is good.

This is not completely [un]related but I'm trying to complete the 'draw sth for 100 days straight' challenge and rn it's going okay though I have to admit I'm being a lazy ass. But hey, a bad sketch a day is still a drawing. Not sure if that's the reason I wasn't able to complete my easter sketch dump but knowing me it wouldn't be finished anyway so whatever ig. AND YES, I WILL DRAW FATHER DAKI ON TIME. I planned to do it when I was drawing Agatha for thug in PE's style but oh well... You'll see both ot these pics on the first of april.

Also, like, in case anyone was interested, I finally decided to learn how to adult and might open comms this year? I tell myself I'll open them since, like, 2020 so yeah. Maybe. I think I will, tho.

Current game stuff

Mushroom game... Yeah... It exists and I technically haven't dropped it but yeah... Yeah... Tbh I even hid the link from my page but it's still public and all... But yeah... It goes into the "finally finish it in 2024, you stupid fuck" list - which, incidentally, is a mouthful so from now on it's gonna be "24 >:C" - together with Enmity and all.

Remember the golem game? Yeah, we don't see its non human form but I did technically draw it. Humanoids are, like, so last decade. It's called Sorcerer's golem and because I was not the lead, we managed to nicely finish it on time ✨ [Unrelated but I wonder what happened to the old unicode emotes, I need to look into it]. There's not really a lot I have to say here, tbh. It's short, it's wholesome, I'm totally not gonna go almost fully lineless again. I almost died and it was only two sprites. Never again proceeds to do that again later anyway.

Some time after, or maybe during, I can't really remember, I heard of Queer Vampire Jam and ofc had to join because I wouldn't be me if I managed to stop myself from joining yet another jam. It just so happened I both felt like shit and read something from my SF gods at the time so I commited this open ended 3k long story and it's, like, really obvious how I felt and what I was reading but then I decided to go yolo and publish it anyway, especially since I got an editor and made laby draw for me. Just had to publish it at that point. Enough about that, though - let's see what is it all about. Vani vani, because Tas tatum was deemed too lame of a name is a story about a [queer obviously] vampire who's kinda dead inside and it shows. I did say it was obvious I felt like shit. I'm not sure if it ended up being too edgy or not... I mean, I made it really obvious it's, like gestures vaguely y'know? I don't wanna spell it out but, like, the theme and everything there was so obvious I'll be disappointed in you if you didn't get it based on the pun title [the other two layers of puns there aren't as obvious] and the page/thumbnail. Unless, of course, you never heard about it at all which might be the case for people from other continents, I wouldn't know. I realise that doesn't say a lot about the contents but I mean, it's more of a progress update, I'm not actually trying to market anything here lol So whatever. It might be the only game ever where I put a whole nsfw scene of a sexual nature... Or it might just be the beginning of my unsexy h scene adventures. I even asked others how to make it as unsexy as possible and I hope I succeed. Going into gore or kink migh be sexy for some but boredom? Probably to no one who actually reads it. And, as is the case with my other personal games, not a lot of people read them. So I think I succeed at that. It's just the beginning of my SF adventures, though. Be prepared.

Now for the thing that might interest the potential reader the most because I saw the statistics and I bet all the follows are alse due to that - Impostor Syndrome. I know the page is pretty much silent but we are working on this. The common route received a lot of notes to make it longer, more cohesive, funnier and possibly better for all the gremlins that wanted a troll mode. Or at least that was the plan. Route wise we had something but after some consideration, it had to be basically scrapped. I won't go into all the details here as for why, but the rewriting of the outline is proceeding. Slowly cause it's kinda hard to find the best time to talk when you have multiple people from different timezones to consider but I think it's looking good. There's a sliiight possibility it might be a bit less vanilla than, like, your typical sfw otome but I don't think any vanilla lover would think it's too much or anything. Not nearly kinky enough for that. I think labelling it as having a soft dom MC might even be false advertising. Maybe. Hell if I know, I suck at tags. But yeah, it's proceeding. Obviously it won't be out during winter but I do think it will be finished this year. Most likely.

From other game stuff... I might have a monster type project made with Ameena for you. Or I might not. The designs are done but is anything gonna come out of them? We'll see. Leaving the possibility open.

I helped Doibats [who I helped with Cool Days before] with some art. This time it's an rpg, currently still in development. The cool art direction is still there so I think it would be worth a play when it's out. I think I'm more of a guest artist than an actual member of the team, though lol But yeah, check it out when it's done, I'll link it then.

Yet another game where I didn't do much - The Villainess Just Wants To Eat!! had its full, official release 🎉 Congrats to the team [check out their gui, btw]. I was mostly helping with this or that due to the usual jam team stuff that happens but yeah. Syd wrote afterstories for the charas, too. They're technically linked on the game's page, too, but you can read them on her tumblr, too.

I kind of forgot to mention, which also ties with my next point, but she hosted the Ossan jam again which I planned to join with my nano project about Wedding crashers but I overestimated my ability to write energetic chaos so... umm... Well, it's not dropped and while it won't get done in time for nano, I think I'll manage before Ossan jam ends. It started as a loose idea that kinda parodied romcoms and then the protag became an AAA battery but also aplatonic and then I got some concepts from tea[? - dunno how they want to be called 'officially' and this one seemed safe but?] and yeah. I'm trying to work on this, though. Even though I feel so stupid attempting to write an anthropologist. Should've stuck to writing mostly what you know like with Vani vani, eehhh... Wish me luck o3o

The last thing, or two, probably, is more of a... forecast? I happened to help with the editing of a certain 18+ otome game but I'm not on the team or anything so I can't really tell you more since I don't know how much should I reveal to the potential player but from what I've seen, the development goes well since they started making it for nano and might actually be finished before Otome jam ends so I'll link it then.

The other thing is that in an unspecified future I might have a yet another AAA battery protagonist, this time replacing the MC of an otome isekai story. I'm not sure how much I'll help with [maybe just editing, maybe we'd become a two person team, who knows] but it has a hight possibility of being developed eventually. No set dates or anything, though.

Pariiish noootiiiceees

Remember Tentacle jam and Insect [adjacent] jam? They're still happening, I'm just being lazy setting the pages up. The working date is from around the middle of august to the middle of october due to all the other jams happening at the time. I think it's the final date, though. It's come to my attention there's also the Monstrous Desires jam that also shares the timeframe almost perfectly so, y'know, why not make a game that lets you join all three of them? Just a thought.

---

My god, this thing became so long. Like half the length of my typical personal project orz I had to add all the Ps and BRs manually. Damn you, html shakes fist

Over.

#devstuff #vndev #awi update