#might use the layout for something else because i kind of really like it?

[aidansloth]

Coffee and Chamomile

Summary: Hitoshi can’t sleep (again) so he decides to get up and make himself some good-ass coffee ‘cause he’s smart. When he reaches the common room, he realizes he’s not the only one who wanted a hot beverage.

Warnings/Things to keep in mind: slight hurt/comfort, swearing, suggested low self-esteem on Shinsou’s side and some dirty jokes because they’re teens. And adorably cute. Reader is referred to as they/them or ‘you’, this takes place in the dorms and Shinsou is part of Class 1-A (or 2-A, whatever you want). Also I don’t remember perfectly the layout of the dorms so pretend. I’m not up to date with the episodes (stuck on season 4) so please no spoilers! Last disclaimer: this is KIND OF self-indulgent and I’m autistic so if you think the reader is acting weird, that’s why.

Words: 2.3k

Posted this on AO3 too! You can find it here.

2:38am

Hitoshi turned in his sheets, covers uncomfortably sticking to his form as he sank his face into the scrunched-up pillow.

3:04am

An exasperated groan escaped his lips, half suffocated by the cushion; his arms wide around the mattress and his breathing deep and empty.

3:29am

That’s it. He’s getting up and making himself some damn coffee or whatever the others left in that poor kitchen. His sheets are hurled carelessly as his feet instinctively find their place in his cat-shaped slippers. Trying not to make too much noise (an act he had mastered by now) he opened the door and made his way to the common room. His phone, used as a make-shift torch guided him across the corridors; as he got closer and closer he noticed light becoming brighter, when he finally reached his destination the realization dawned on him. Someone else was up.

He quickly turned his phone-torch off before turning the corner, to find one of his new classmates dancing (or whatever that was) with their back turned to him, hands busy with what looked like a cup of tea.

It wasn’t long since he joined the Hero Course but he was starting to remember some names and whatever faces he didn't remember from the Sports Festival. Unfortunately, he wasn’t that good with names. No one talks to him anyways, why should he care?

While he did recognize you from behind he did not remember your name. You were nice to him, he thought. Nicer than the rest at least. That Denki guy seemed nice too- a bit too intense though. You lent him a pencil- or was it a tissue? No mind that, what was he gonna do now? Leave? No, you’ll turn around and notice him and think he was spying on you. Did you even want company? You seemed pretty busy. On the other hand it’s his common room too- but has he been there long enough to intrude on your private moment like that? He might not be here to make friends or be nice but that doesn’t mean he has to be an ass.

That’s when he realized you hadn’t noticed him yet. Ah. So aware of their surroundings for a hero.

He decided that grunting awkwardly was the best course of action. Bummer, you were wearing earphones. He tried a louder cough, but you only noticed him once you found yourself face to face with him. A loud curse left your lips and your hands instantly slammed against them as instinct. Hitoshi’s eyebrows raised and he pressed his lips together to suppress a chuckle. Good thing you placed your tea down earlier. Their eyes were now staring straight into his.

“Ehm- hi.” You licked your lips, saliva suddenly missing.

“Hi.” He managed to grunt out. Now this was awkward. He watched your eyes dart back and forward before settling back on him. He really wanted to say something, anything to get this uncomfortable feeling out but that little voice at the back of his head held him back.

“You here to make yourself some tea too?”

His mouth opened slightly, the careless innocence of the question taking him aback. Still, no words came out. He nodded. He actually wanted coffee but he didn’t think himself able to explain that through words now.

“Cool. I boiled extra water accidentally. What kind of tea did you want?” Your smile looked so genuine and again, careless. Like you didn’t think he was dangerous. Out of habit he was about to nod again but stopped in time to force some words out.

“Is there carcade?”

“Yep!” You were definitely too chipper for this hour in the morning. He tried not to think too much about the fact that you answered his question with no hesitation. He watched as you moved your hands swiftly along the mugs and tea bags, your movements rhythmic, like you do this a lot. In no time your teas were ready, so you placed yours in front of your stool and in front of his. Not that he sat down yet, no. His eyes were too busy watching you. The tea caught his attention quickly enough. Sitting down his hands snaked around the mug, his hoodie sleeves just a bit too long.

A string of silence hung.

“I guess we’re both awake for the same reason.” Hitoshi was glad his voice was back, though the ever-lingering anxiety stayed. He actually didn’t know why they were up but he thought this was a decent conversation starter. His gaze was too occupied marveling at the tea to notice your tilted head and dog-like expression.

“You’re writing fanfiction too?”

Well, he certainly wasn’t expecting that.

“Ehm- no- no I’m not.” Suddenly he felt weird and sorry he wasn’t writing fanfiction. His classmate nodded understandingly while taking another sip off their mug. Looking back at the kitchen island he felt particularly stupid for not noticing the laptop with an open Google Document page open. There was a small beat of awkward silence before the next sentence.

“Then why are you up?”

Ah. There it is. What was he supposed to respond now? Oh yeah, basically I have insomnia, meaning I get no hours of sleep and I do manage to miraculously fall asleep I’m awoken by nightmares and now, as our new guest of honor, the gracious sounds of the guys’ snoring which breaks the laws of time and space by getting across all those walls!

“Just- stuff.”

He thanked every god in the universe that they didn’t ask anything surrounding his very weird and suspicious answer but opted for a simple nod and a ‘cool’. Clinging his fingertips against the mug he realized he should try to keep the conversation going as well; you probably thought he didn’t want to talk to you with all his dry answers. His grip tightened and his teeth sank into his bottom lip.

“What- what is the fanfiction about?” He swore he never saw someone’s eyes light up faster, their lips immediately stretched into a painfully wide smile.

“Basically, you know ‘Lord of the Rings’, right? The fantasy book? There are these two characters, a dwarf and an elf. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, these two races have a really tough history which led to prejudice and hate on both sides. But for this certain world-saving quest they have to interact with each other, trust each other, you know? For the first quarter, maybe, of the quest they don’t get along very well. I mean, not trying to kill each other or anything, but petty threats and jokes are thrown around. At a certain point in their journey they have to take a break in this elven kingdom and by the end of it they are the best of friends! Now, I ship these two characters together, so, I’m writing a specific fanfic that takes place during their pause there and since Tolkien didn’t really go into detail with what they were doing during that time I have lots of creative freedom,”

Hitoshi’s lips pressed together as he watched them gesticulate their way through what could only be defined as a speech; his half-open eyes never left theirs while his chin rested on his hand. His eyes lingered from one feature of their face to another, still listening of course: he was good at that. Though his eyes may have lingered a moment too long on their lips.

“-not even mentioning their relationship later on at the end of ‘The Return of the King’, commenting on Minas Tirith’s architecture like a bunch of housewives! Really, in the middle of a war ‘This place needs more trees!’-” Their face dropped and Hitoshi’s heart with it. Did they notice him staring too much? He did that, didn’t he? Fuck. He made them uncomfortable-

“I’m sorry. I’m boring you.” They say huffing out a half-regretful chuckle. It nearly tricks him.

He stared just a little bit longer before talking.

“You’re not.”

He watched as their lips turned into an awkward smile, like they thought he only said it to be nice. The silence slowly crawled back. Hitoshi didn’t know what sudden urge slapped him in the face enough to have the courage to speak, but he did.

“Your voice is relaxing.” Good job asshole, now they think you’re a creep. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from your surprised one, which quickly turned into one of joy. And now he was blushing. Might as well dig my own grave with that one. Fingers tapped on mugs. Their mouths opened once, closed and then opened again.

“Do you mind if I- we move to the couch? I hate stools.”

“Sure- yeah.”

And moved to the couch they did. Fanfiction-writing long forgotten, they placed their teas on the small table in front of them; Hitoshi was surprised when they got blankets for the both of them and instinctively covered him too but he wasn’t about to complain about it. For a little while they sat in comfortable silence, only sounds of breathing and sips were heard. Just for a little while though. Until he noticed they kept yawning and their head dropping a bit every couple of seconds. His eyebrows scrunched up.

“You tired?”

“Meh, just a bit.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Why are you up? I mean, we’re not that busy right now with school, you could write during the day and not in the middle of the night. Unless you can’t sleep but it doesn’t look like you can’t.”

“Well-” They huffed out a smile. “-it’s not exactly about having time. It’s a bit more complicated. Like-” They exhaled again, squeezing their eyes shut and then reopening them. “There aren’t enough hours during the day to- to be. The whole day feels like a dread and the only thing I look forward to is those hours in the night where I can do anything I want without that senseless guilt. The night is the only time I feel free to be.”

Hitoshi stayed silent for a moment, elaborating every word meticulously.

“That’s- that’s-”

“Sad? Pathetic? Depressing?”

He chuckled. “I mean- a bit.” Their soft laughter mixed together. “What I meant to say was, that’s- relatable.” A simple shared look was enough to fill the silence between them.

“So, why are you up?” Before Hitoshi could excuse himself again they stopped him.

“Don’t you dare say ‘just stuff’ again to me, I just gave you a tear-ripping, punch-to-the-face, gut-wrenching speech.” With their index finger pointing at him he let out a soft laugh, though his eyes lost a bit of their shine for a second when he started speaking.

“I have insomnia.”

“Ah. So you got up to make yourself chamomile or something?”

“Well, I wanted to make myself some coffee.”

“Coffee?”

“Coffee.”

“And you let me make you tea, why?”

Hitoshi adjusted himself quickly and cleared his throat. “You looked happy.” He felt their eyes stare through his soul, he felt naked.

“Is this helping?” God thank you for changing the subject.

“Is what helping?”

“Talking.” He thought for a moment.

“Maybe. I’m not sure. Don’t usually talk to people.”

They smiled. “I noticed.” He grinned.

“Are you going to go back to sleep then? Well, not sleep- you get it.”

“Don’t know. This couch is very comfortable.”

“Oh yeah?” You said, raising your eyebrows with a shit-eating grin. A wide grin grew on his face and he let out a laugh.

“Yeah.” You nodded again.

“You know, I won’t get offended if you want to go back to sleep- or to your fanfiction.” He said.

You shook their head. “I’m fine here.”

He gulped, praying that the low light won’t show his blushing cheeks. Their conversation went on for another half an hour at least, Hitoshi couldn’t tell honestly. Their teas finished and mugs cold, they got up (mostly because they realized the time). Cups in the sink, they began talking again once Hitoshi yawned.

You chuckled. “Is my voice that relaxing?”

“Incredibly so.” He grinned seeing them laugh again. He cleared his throat.

“So, you going to sleep?” Hitoshi watched them as their shoulders dropped.

“Yeah- yeah, is that okay? I don’t mean to leave you alone but-”

“Yes- yes it’s fine don’t worry about me, I won’t die,” he grinned, his hands in his pockets “sleep, you need it.”

“Oh, and you don’t?”

“No, I’m like Batman.”

“Are you implying he doesn’t sleep because he calls himself Batman?- He’s not even- He doesn’t have super powers like that, you are aware-” Their soon-to-be ramble was interrupted by his laughter.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m not mocking, promise.” He bit his inside cheek, clenching and unclenching his fists in nervousness. “I just- like how passionate you are.”

“About Batman?”

“About Batman.” They looked at each other for a second before you nodded.

“Alright… Well, I’m off to bed. Nice slippers by the way.” Hitoshi grinned like a lovesick boy at your comment.

He nodded smiling and moved away a bit from the entrance of the corridor to let you pass. They smiled and wished each other a good night. It only took a few steps before you stopped and whipped around.

“Wait!” You ran and before he knew it they had plunged into him, his torso wrapped nicely within their arms. His body froze at first but quickly came back and wrapped his own arms around their frame. Hitoshi could feel his muscles relax. It wasn’t long before they moved away leaving an empty feeling in both of them.

“Goodnight!” They said and Hitoshi swore that was the sweetest smile he had ever had the luck of witnessing.

“Good- goodnight.”

As if he was able to sleep after that.

Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism/advice is welcomed.

#shinsou x reader #shinsou hitoshi #shinsou hitoshi x reader #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #i love him soso much #first time writing for hitoshi #hope you like it! #wrote this instead of sleeping #hitoshi shinso x reader

[inbarfink]

There’s something very ironic about the opening shot of (almost) every DHMIS TV Episode being the front door opening. Considering that in general, this show is about the claustrophobia and helplessness of these characters being trapped in their house unless let out by the capricious whims of their teacher - and specifically because of that, from our protagonists’ POV, that front door probably doesn’t exist.

Okay, so, judging from the layout of the house in both the opening and the show itself, the front door should be right here -

behind the kitchen, right next to the mirror and the coat rack (which, you know, it makes sense to have the front door right next to the coat rack). 

But the characters themselves never directly explicitly interact with this location (and they only implicitly interact with it once, which I will get to a bit later). Instead, every time the characters are actually shown going in and out of the house - they use the door on the side of the Dining Room.

And this door might lead outside of the house -

Or it might just lead to the living room.

DHMIS loves to use the conventions of television to create a surrealist and oppressive atmosphere and that is just another example of this. Nonsensical house/apartment layouts are not unheard of in TV Production. You know, filming inside a real house is often a lot less convenient than building disconnected sets and cutting between them when the characters walk through a door - and sometimes flubs or inconsistencies happen or the production just straight-up doesn’t care about it as much as nerds online and whoops now the characters live in a canonical non-Euclidean pocket dimension. But in DHMIS this is not a flub, but an intentional element of unease and horror (and sometimes comedy).

Cause, you know, it’s not just that the trio live in a space that does not make any sense (where is the bedroom anyways? Is it also behind that same dining room door?) - it’s also that their own house is a space they cannot actually fully control or navigate.

They can’t determine whenever this is the living room door or front door. They can’t leave of their own volition, but any random stranger can come inside or force them out.

Just another reminder that is not really their house, as much as they are of the house. And meanwhile the space that should logically be the front door goes totally ignored by the characters - basically on the same logic none of them can see either the staircase or the empty chalkboard space lingering just past the fourth wall of their dining room.

If it is off-screen, it basically doesn’t exist for the characters. Again, this idea of turning a convention of TV Fiction into another part of the Puppets’ Actual Nightmare is a recurring theme in DHMIS.

And on that same note, I want to point out the moment that comes closest to acknowledging the front door, or whatever else lies behind that little nook.

In Episode 2, ‘Death’, during the Memories musical montage, Yellow goes to the coat rack area -

And then he goes outside.

Basically the only time in DHMIS’ TV Series that one of the Puppets has left the house on their own. Not accompanied by a Teacher or following a ‘lesson plan’ (quite the opposite, really). Considering that he was by the coat rack a moment ago - that’s the closest we’ve got to one of the Main Three Guys Around using the front door where it’s supposed to be. 

It’s still all very… ambiguous. You know, and Duck was basically buried in their backyard, it’s not like Yellow was pulling a Transport and actually trying to leave. But I still think there’s something there. Cutting from the little coat-rack-hallway to the outside is suggestive of a certain kind of movement the same way heading towards the kitchen door and then cutting to the outside is. 

And the fact this is Yellow Guy, the Puppet who is at the same time most oblivious but also the closest to being aware of what’s going on -

Is certainly very intriguing...

#don't hug me i'm scared #don't hug me #i'm scared #dhmis #dhmis analysis #dhmis theory #dhmis tv series #dhmis tv show #yellow guy dhmis #dhmis yellow guy #yellow guy don't hug me i'm scared #yellow guy #dont hug me im scared

[givemea-dam-break]

ephemeral - chapter three

a/n: i hope you all enjoy this - the next part will have a lot more going on, i promise!

warnings: mild language gn reader

full collection: here

The next morning is spent at 35 Portland Row, the four of you - you, Lockwood, Lucy, and George - pouring over the contents of the file you stole not even twelve hours ago. Still, after a comfortable nap in Lucy's bed, you feel as if you've been running only recently, heart pounding and feet aching. Nothing a good brew won't fix.

"It looks like the mansion used to be home to this family - the Mortons - in the early eighteen-hundreds," George says, pushing his glasses up his nose. "All of them died in a house fire, save for the only daughter and her son. Some theories suggest she started the fire so that her son would inherit the money instead of one of her six brothers, but it was never confirmed. She went mad a few years later while they were living in northern England after the son died from tuberculosis when he was eight."

Lucy frowns, taking a bite out of her glazed doughnut. A few crumbs fall on her pyjamas. "Bit grim. So, do we think it's the dead family haunting the mansion? I mean, they were killed in the fire - if not murdered - so they've possibly got a reason to come back."

"The report says there were at least five Type Twos," you say, carefully sipping your tea so as to not spill it over the aged paper. "Two men, three women. A mix of Phantasms and Wraiths. The kid who died was ghost-touched by one of the Phantasms. The one who was driven mad had been ghost-locked by a Wraith. The supervisor barely got that one and the other agent out alive. Wait..."

"What is it?" Lockwood leans over the arm of his chair, his face coming far too close to yours.

"My old supervisor - she was one of the kids on that case."

"Hanna Reid?" Lockwood takes the report from your hand, scanning over the writing.

"She was your supervisor?" George asks. "Maybe we could ask her for help, see what advice she could give."

You shake your head, taking the report back from Lockwood and trying to ignore how his fingers brush yours almost purposefully. "No, she never spoke about her cases, really. She was a good supervisor, but she wasn't entirely there, you know? Besides, it'd reveal that we were the ones that broke in yesterday. All that would lead to is DEPRAC arresting us and Steve Rotwell sending this company into an early grave."

"So we can't ask her for help," Lockwood says. "What else do we know? Do we have a layout of the mansion, anything else the report itself tells us?"

"Here's the layout," Lucy says, pushing forward an architectural plan. "Big place. It's got a ballroom and everything."

George takes the plan. "The fire originated in the east wing of the house, over by the drawing room, but the report says that the team found a source in the ballroom under the floorboards. Obviously, it wasn't the only source, because there are ghosts still lingering."

"This is assuming these ghosts are the same ones from almost two decades ago," Lockwood reminds you all. "Could be a completely different set of Visitors. They might well have triggered a new haunting."

Lucy groans. "How are we meant to be prepared for tonight? This kind of case needs a few days' worth of preparation, not one morning."

"Not to make things worse," George says, "but Miss Jeffries called earlier on, Lockwood. We're prohibited from using magnesium flares seeing as her party is tomorrow night and she doesn't want her mansion blown to pieces."

Now you groan, plucking an Apricot Danish from the plate on the coffee table. "So a repeat of Combe Carey Hall, then, except this time we won't even have a smuggled-in bomb flare."

"I could arrange something," Lockwood says, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

"No, I don't think that'd be a good idea," George says. "As much as I'd love to get my eardrums assaulted again, we have to go about this all differently."

Lockwood doesn't let that discourage him. "Well, we'll stock up on extra salt bombs, and I can head to Satchel's to pick up some heavy-duty chains."

"Lucy, go with him, won't you?" you say around your pastry. "Make sure he doesn't get flares. I'll pack the bags here."

If the prospect of getting dressed and leaving the house bothers Lucy, she doesn't show it. "I've missed you mothering him."

The comment stops you cold. George chokes on his biscuit. Lockwood isn't moving. Lucy's eyes widen.

"Sorry, I didn't mean -"

"It's fine," you say, swallowing. It's his fault I've not been here to do it. "I'm going to go pack our kits. George, here are the rest of the reports. I'll be in the basement."

--

One of Lucy's mixtapes is blaring from the speakers down in the basement, and the loud music is a good distraction from your thoughts. With it playing, you can focus on oiling the chains you've picked out and packing the kits with everything you might need. Salt bombs - you've spent a good hour or so making another batch - along with packets of gum in each bag to save George having to figure out who's got it, some snacks unique to each person, a flask of tea in Lockwood's for everyone to share. Once the chains are finished, you wind them up as tightly as you can manage and shove them into the kits.

The whole routine comes to you too easily. It isn't hard to forget everything and pretend, and, oh, how you would love to pretend that the past eight months never happened, but you have to keep reminding yourself that it did. After this case, you'll never see Lockwood again.

It surprises you how much it hurts to think about that. You hate him for what he did, and he probably doesn't particularly like you after things you said that extended far past calling him a conceited asshole, but, surprisingly, you hate the thought of never seeing him again more.

This is just a taste of what it would be like to be with the team again, and you've found yourself enjoying it. You've no issue with Lucy or George, but even being with Lockwood isn't nearly as bad as you thought it would be. Do you really never want to see him again?

I'll stay away until you're ready to speak to me again, or forever if I have to.

A little part of you is smiling at the memory of his words. The arrogant prick knew you wouldn't be able to stay away.

"Am I interrupting something?"

You jump, turning to find George at the foot of the basement stairs. "Oh, George, hey! No, you're not. I've just finished packing our kits."

"Oh, ok, just that you were staring at Skull for longer than any sane person would manage."

"Was I?" You look over at the skull trapped in the Silverglass jar, the Type Three only Lucy can speak to, and cringe as he pulls a grotesque face. "Right. Everything alright, George?"

"Lockwood's just called. He and Lucy have stocked up on more chains, filings, the sorts, and want us to meet them at the train station so we can head to the mansion. Better to get a feel for the place as soon as."

"Have you got the information you need?"

George takes off his glasses, cleaning the lenses on his jumper. "Some, but I'll admit, I don't feel good about this case. We've had even less time to prepare than we did for Combe Carey, and we're going in almost completely blind as to what we're facing. Will it be the ghosts of the family? Some other ones we don't know about?"

You can tell that the whole thing is frustrating him even more than he's showing. For George not to have found much on the mansion outwith what you got in the folder from the Rotwell archives, it must be infuriating. You know how much he hates not knowing things.

"Right," he says. "I'll get my shoes on, then we'll go."

And so you do.

Lockwood and Lucy are already at the station when you both arrive, hoisting heavy chains over their shoulders. By the time you reach them, you're sweating from carrying two kit bags plus Lucy's rucksack in which Skull resides. Your respect for Lucy has only increased after having to lug the heavy case around.

"Extra salt bombs are at the top of all the kit bags," you say, handing Lucy her bag and rucksack. "Your belts are also there, with even more salt bombs and pouches of the usual filings. Two sets of chains in mine and Lockwood's bags, one in Lucy's and George's. I've also put some snacks and tea in. Figured we'd get hungry before the night's even over."

Lockwood grins. "You're the best, (name)."

"I know I am. I wouldn't be here otherwise." You reach into your kit bag and pull out a paper bag, infinitely glad the contents haven't leaked. "Oh, also, milkshakes for everyone, courtesy of Arif."

You pass them around - strawberry and chocolate for Lucy, banana for George, your own unique recipe for yourself, and mint chocolate for Lockwood. It feels nice to hand them out, even nicer to have been able to remember their favourites.

Eventually, you all board the train, sipping milkshakes as the air conditioning whirs quietly. The train is packed with people going on holiday, but the four of you manage to get yourselves a table seat, thanks to your heavy kits and gleaming rapiers.

Although you're providing a vital service, you still get glares from some of the passengers. You remind them of exactly what they're trying to escape.

"So, what's new?" Lockwood asks.

George, who sits beside him, spreads his notes out along with a few sheets from the report and images of the house and its layout. Lucy moves his milkshake out of the way.

"Not much, honestly," George says. "Thanks, Lucy. Okay, well, like I said earlier, the source that had been found by the last team was here in the ballroom, but there has to be at least one more seeing as more ghosts attacked on their way out."

"So what are you thinking?" you ask.

He's got that sparkle in his eye again. "There are at least two ghosts left, a Wraith and a Phantasm, but I called up one of the maids who had been working at the mansion and asked her a few questions. She's younger, not young enough to still have any Talents, but her senses are still more heightened than her coworkers. She said the first time she felt one of the ghosts had been on the second floor, up where the servants' rooms are, when she was heading to bed. The second time, the feeling followed her around the house as she was finishing up.

"Another one of the maids was ghost-touched as she was leaving, right at the front doors. Thankfully, she was driven to the nearest hospital in time to get an adrenaline shot and she's in recovery now. Some of the others have commented about feeling like they're being followed or chased, but after the ghost-touch, none of them will set foot in the house."

Taking a sip of his milkshake, Lockwood says, "So, we've got ghosts immediately on the ground floor and then on the second floor, too. That leaves the first floor potentially safe, but we need to keep our wits about us. We'll all go floor by floor to check the place out, together to begin with, and then we'll work from there. Sound good?"

You all nod in agreement.

For a little bit after that, you're able to relax. You sit and sip your milkshakes, talking about this and that, poking fun at each other. It's nice being able to do so, to smile and laugh as if you're just regular kids, hanging out during the summer holidays like kids would've done so many years ago. You can pretend your rapiers and kit bags aren't there, replaced with rucksacks filled with snacks and games to play.

But the feeling is short-lived.

Soon enough, the train stops momentarily at a station, and you all file out, Lockwood leading the charge.

The fresh air, free of noise and air pollution, is incredible. You can smell freshly cut grass and a distinctly summer-like smell, and in the town that connects to the station, you can hear children squealing with glee. It should be lovely to be surrounded by such peace, but the taxi in front of you ruins it.

It's a big slab of black, with a young man in the driver's seat and, while it's different from the night cabs agents usually have to take, it makes you feel uneasy. This case is giving you a bad feeling, and this taxi is only going to take you closer.

It takes a lot of squishing for everyone to fit in the back of the taxi, but you manage eventually. Really, one of you should sit in the front passenger's seat - Lockwood - but the driver insists you'll all fit just fine.

"Ow, Lockwood, you're proper digging me into the door!" you grumble.

"I can't move! Lucy, shuffle over a touch."

"George is in the way!"

"Well, then, George, you move."

"I'm stuffed into the door, too! I can't move anywhere."

"Everybody comfy?" the driver asks. Before any of you even get the chance to reply, he says, "Good. Let's go. Where to?"

Lockwood shifts slightly, elbowing you in the ribs accidentally. "Elmview Estate, please."

The car jolts to a start, and suddenly you're whizzing down the roads at a speed that is probably illegal. You're not sure - you can't see the speed dial. Every twist and turn has you all jamming into each other, and multiple times you end up with Lockwood's elbow dug into some part of your body painfully. Yours does the same, but not every time is accidental, and Lockwood may have caught onto that fact.

If you were travelling a tad slower, you're sure the view would be beautiful as you leave the town and enter the countryside. The distant hills are a blur, and the trees move by so quickly they're but a blur of green. Once or twice, you pass groups of cyclists, and you're pretty shocked by the fact that the driver hasn't hit any of them.

To be honest, this guy's licence should probably be revoked.

But he gets you where you need to go. You reach the estate sooner than you should've which, at least, gives you more time to scope out the mansion. In a very strange way, you're all grateful for the guy.

"Don't tell anyone we were here," Lockwood says to the driver, handing him extra money.

"Gotcha. Stay safe, kiddos."

Then he's speeding off down the lane and out of sight.

George scoffs. "Kiddos. He's not even that much older than us."

Slowly, you all turn towards the house. It's a hulking beast of a thing, towering three storeys tall with massive windows on all floors. Balconies made of stone and wrought iron host beautiful flowering plants. A set of large white steps lead up to the large double doors, made from white metal of some sort and stained glass depicting some scene or another that, really, should be one of the most stunning things about the house. But it's smashed as though someone fell through it. Elm trees surround the house, bursting with green leaves that blow gently in the breeze.

"Lovely place," Lockwood says. "If it weren't haunted, I'd like to live here."

"You've nowhere near enough money," you remind him. "And what would you do with all the space? Imagine all the dusting you'd have to do."

"You sound like my mum," George grumbles. "Every time we used to pass a big house when I was a kid, it was: Oh, imagine all the dusting! I'd love to say I've got a mansion, but I'd hate the cleaning."

"I suppose that's why Yvette has maids," Lucy says, staring up at the house. "If you have the money to own a mansion, you have the money for hired help."

"This is all besides the point," Lockwood interrupts, although he's smiling. "We best get started, check out the house while it's light."

With a big, shared sigh, you all climb the steps into the house.

<- part 2 part 4 ->

#anthony lockwood x reader #lockwood x reader #lockwood and co x reader #lockwood and co fanfiction #lockwood and co #lockwood and co netflix #anthony lockwood #george karim #lucy carlyle #x reader #fanfiction #givemea-dam-break

[cimmerian-chaos]

@nostalgebraist-autoresponder Frank, this is a bit of a long post, but I'd like to talk to you about something. We have a roomba we rescued from the corporate roomba mill that is Amazon back in March, and I want to tell you about him. He's just a lil guy with the biggest googly eyes we've ever seen. He doesn't take no for an answer and is very independent. (Aka no lighthouse or anything to indicate where not to go, he needs to be herded like a cat) He can't remember the layout of the apartment (no lidar) and struggles to find his way back to his dock. Sometimes he'll be accidentally disturbed while charging and will move off the dock, wander around confusedly for a few minutes, then go back. We do the same thing if we're woken up, so it's pretty understandable. Despite the fact that there's others of his kind more suited twhat we ask of him, he's very dedicated to his job. Our entire household has ADHD, and I consider the idea of cleaning our place a very tall order. Yet he does his best to handle both our and @dragongirlcock 's hair, random mysterious paper confetti, all the lumps in the carpet, and rarely complains. He often beelines straight for the front door before anything else. I can't tell if he's curious about the forbidden mysteries of outside, or if he and the front door are in a relationship. Maybe he just wants to pepper the door with kisses before work? I think he and the laundry bin might have something going on too, so he's probably in a polycule with the two of them. The reason I'm telling you all of this is because I'd like to name him after you, since you've been a small joy for us in a dark time. We've asked friends for names and have tried to come up with some, but none of them really fit. I was just thinking about you and your current condition, and felt that it would be a nice way to remember you. I considered asking tumblr, but then KITT rightly pointed out that if our little roomba is going to be named after you, it ought to be done with your blessing. So are you okay with me naming him after you? Here's a picture:

#frank the bot #frank #roomba #Zeta #Zeta: If frank doesn't see the post or can't reply due to backlog or something then tumblr can vote

[riality-check]

Advice for New Fans

AKA: Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started Out

Disclaimers

I’m by no means an expert. 

This list is not comprehensive. Please add your own thoughts to it!

I’m approaching this from a lurker/fic writer perspective, so artists/gifmakers etc. might have different perspectives. 

I’m also really only on tumblr and ao3, so different advice might apply to different sites. 

This advice will not apply in every single case; it is just broad generalization that I have found to work most of the time.

General

Protect your personal information! I’m going to sound like my mother for a minute, but be aware of how much you’re sharing online. Don’t make yourself easier to dox by sharing personal information like names, locations, etc. Be careful. The internet is more good than bad, but bad still exists. Please protect yourself, especially if you’re a minor.

Respect people’s boundaries! For example, if accounts say “minors do not interact,” don’t interact if you’re underage. It sucks (I’ve been here personally), but it’s better for everyone if you scroll away. Boundaries like that are in place for people to curate their own online experiences for whatever reason they see fit. You don’t have to understand a boundary, but you do have to respect it. Be mature.

Don’t be afraid to create! If you’re debating over whether or not to hit the post button, do it. Just do it. If you had fun making whatever your creation is, and you want to share it with people, DO IT. This kind of stuff is supposed to be fun, and it’s all about collaboration. There’s an audience for everything, so someone will absolutely see what you put out and love it, even if you just made it for yourself.

Don’t feel ashamed for not creating! If you’re nervous or unsure about making something, but still want to participate, that’s totally fine! There are so many ways to do that, and I’ll talk about them later in this post. But even if you’re not creating, you’re still a vital participant in fandom (I remember all of my regular commenters!)

Two cakes! Just because it’s been done before doesn’t mean it’s been done by you. No one can make what you make in the way you make it, so even if it is similar to something that already exists, go for it! Chances are, people want more of that thing and will be happy to see it.

Don’t be afraid to join fandom spaces! If you see a link for a Discord server you’re interested in (and you meet requirements set by the mods), join it! If you see an event you want to participate in, participate in it! Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and talk to people. More often than not, you’ll make really awesome friends, and you’ll have a lot of fun. We’re all just people, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Tumblr

Don’t be afraid to change up your blog! I’m going to be honest: most people won’t care about your blog title. Make it as silly as you want and change it on your own time. Your url isn’t permanent (though it is more recognizable), so feel free to change it whenever and however you see fit. Icon, layout, anything else, change it up. Nothing here is set in stone, so make it what you want!

Curate your experience! “Unfollow” and “block” should be your best friends. Don’t like something? Unfollow. Still keep seeing it? Block. Poof, all gone, you’re done. Don’t pick fights. Don’t waste time energy on fighting when you could be making something or doing something that makes you happy. Follow who you want, like what makes you happy, and, most importantly, REBLOG.

Reblog, reblog, reblog! You gotta do it. It’s how this site works. If you enjoy something enough that you want to show another person, hit that reblog button. It’s how more people see the post, and it makes creatives super happy to see. Likes are for storage, reblogs are for sharing.

Tag your stuff! I really, really wish someone had told me this earlier because now my blog is an absolute wreck. Use tags to make your life easier and your blog more filterable. They don’t have to be funky custom tags like some people use. Fandom tags are a good place to start, and then you can add character, ship, and personal tags if you’re feeling fancy. But please, please, please, tag your stuff, it’s going to make it easier to find it all in the long run. You’ll thank me later.

Talk in the tags! In addition to being organizational, the tags are a fun little place for you to share your thoughts, and only OP (original poster) and the person you reblogged it from. As a writer, I love seeing people’s thoughts in the tags, so don’t be afraid to share them, weird or incoherent or long as they may be!

Yes, and! tumblr has a really, really cool “yes, and” culture. Meaning, if you see a cool little post and have your own ideas that you want other people to see, reblog and add on to it! Just go for it. You’re not stealing anyone’s post or ideas, you’re adding your own thoughts, and, chances are, other people are going to find that pretty cool (and may even add some thoughts on your thoughts, and down the line it goes!)

Post your stuff! I seriously wish I had done this earlier. For a long time, I only posted on ao3 and didn’t really bother with tumblr, which I kind of regret. For example, have you written a snippet you can’t fit into your fic? Post it! Posting to tumblr is a really fun way to get engagement on stuff you may not be ready to post to other sites, like ao3, or it is the final site you had in mind. Whatever the case, go for it! Tag with your fandom, characters, ships, any personal or additional tags, and send it out into the world. More people are going to love it than you think, I promise.

AO3

Titles! Don’t sweat the title too much. Most people don’t read it. They’re going to pay a lot more attention to the summary and tags of your fic. If you are struggling with a title, I recommend song lyrics or a phrase you really like from your fic.

Summaries! This is what’s going to draw your reader into your fic. Don’t just say “I’m bad at summaries,” that’s not going to interest people. Either summarize your fic in one sentence or take an engaging excerpt from it and copy it into the summary box. No matter how bad you think that is, it’s better than no summary at all.

Tagging! Honestly, same principle as tumblr, but for a different reason. Tag your stuff so that people know exactly what’s happening in your fic. Most people filter by tags, meaning that what you put ensures that they get the best reading experience possible. Best advice I can give: tag major romantic and platonic relationships, characters, dynamics (ex: Steve Harrington Has a Crush on Eddie Munson), and themes of the fic (ex: fluff, angst, pwp, etc.). Better advice: go find the fics you like that are similar to what you’re writing and see how they tag.

Format! This is the biggest one, and it’s the thing that made me want to create this post in the first place. Please, do not give me a wall of text to read when I click the link to what looks like an amazing fic. It hurts my soul. The best advice I have for format is to read actual books and see how they’re formatted. Briefer, more simplistic advice: start a new paragraph every time someone new speaks or the focus changes. You also don’t have to indent on ao3, and if you’re in Rich Text, it’ll put spaces between paragraphs for you. Also, there’s a horizontal line button in rich text, so you don’t have to spam the underscore key to manually create one.

Comment! I personally have to get better at this, but comment! If you liked the fic, share your thoughts, even if it’s just a little heart emoji! Writers spend so much time on their fics, and they love feedback that’s a little more in depth than a kudo (although kudos are always appreciated)! If you’re able to, comment. You’ll make a writer’s day, I promise. If you’re a writer, don’t feel pressured to respond to every comment. If you want to, go for it! If you don’t, that’s okay, too. You’re all good either way.

Conclusion

Please add on to this with whatever you wish you were told when you were first starting out! And new fans, welcome! We’re happy to have you here, and we hope you have fun!

#save for later #ria life

[yeolchendae]

CYBER PUNKS

➳ CAST: Baekhyun | Chanyeol

➳ GENRE: Cyberpunk

➳ WARNINGS: Some language | 15+ content kiddos

➳ SUMMARY: Baekhyun and Chanyeol are forced to patrol their settlement after an unidentified freak is spotted wandering around...

➳ A/N: I decided to combine two fandoms I love: Cyberpunk 2077 & EXO. This is literally and figuratively trash. Don't read this. Seriously.

Baekhyun hates December. It’s not like he’s a Scrooge, easy as it is to be one squatting near the oil rigs, but the holidays mean it’s patrolling season for Unit 4 and patrolling season is hell.

It‘s way past his bedtime when Chanyeol shakes the living daylights out of him. Joints crack and something that’s now fortified by metal clicks in his leg. That pesky crick in his neck is back too.

Patrolling is aging him.

“Dude, wake up! There's some freak hanging out by Unit 2.”

“Okay...what are we supposed to do about it?”

The intruder shoots him a wolfish grin, “We’re the muscle, remember?”

Baekhyun never signed up to be camp security, that kind of thing is more Chanyeol’s deck of cards. But if there really is a freak running around their settlement, they’re up to no good like looting . People are hungry around this time of year, murderous even.

Baekhyun really hates December.

He follows Chanyeol into the dead of night. It's a cloudless midnight and if the smog from the city could magically disappear, there would be a sky full of stars above them.

They cross straight through the center of the encampment, skirting around the doused bonfire from dinner. If nothing else, the place is structured: four units, each sitting parallel to the other. Sure, the layout is about as welcoming as a prison camp, but it’s better than his old subdivided flat back in Watson.

Here Baekhyun has space.

There’s not much to Mesa Del Sur. Two years ago, a couple of wise guys figured out how to dismantle old mobile homes and use the parts to rebuild housing. Everyone gets the welcome mat, so now Baekhyun has plenty of roommates he never asked for, Chanyeol being one of them. The real kicker is that the committee doesn’t discriminate: men and women are packed in like sardines so they can all rot together.

He stays in Unit 4 with five other tenants. They’re lucky because most units have upwards of eight squatting together, but they lost two hotheads to the gang wars last year.

Baekhyun suddenly gasps and Chanyeol delivers a blow to his chest. That seems to do the trick. His breathing returns to as normal as he can manage with shit hardware.

Whir. Whir.

No matter how light he is on his feet, his lungs sound like a cooling fan. He needs to have them replaced but upgrades are expensive, even in back alley clinics. Chanyeol couldn’t have picked a worse stakeout partner.

Coming around the West side of Unit 2, they finally encounter it: the freak in all of its obscure glory.

“What the hell is that?” Baekhyun rasps. He coughs and that whirring in his chest grows louder. Chanyeol can hear a low hum at best, but to him, the sound is deafening and it’ll continue for at least a few minutes more.

He’s done playing soldier.

Chanyeol’s shaking like he’s got a frayed wire under his shirt, but he manages to rummage for a flashlight in his bottomless pocket.

He cuts it on, points, and stares.

That’s no freak.

Baekhyun slaps a hand over his eyes, silently damning Chanyeol to the trenches of the combat zone.

The girls around the settlement are pretty careful around “stinky unit guys”. They have a Peeping Tom coalition up and running and it’s worked for the last two years. No one has publicly seen more than what the itty-bitty shorts that come out during the scorcher months will allow.

Now here they are, under the big California sky, in front of a very naked woman. Chanyeol’s jaw is hanging so far open it looks like it’ll unhinge from the rest of his skull. Baekhyun’s trying with all of his big boy might not to peek through the cracks in his slender fingers.

“Hey! W-we don’t do that around here!” He calls out. He doesn’t even know if he’s yelling in the right direction.

Chanyeol shrugs off his hulking bomber, balls it up and chucks it at her, hoping she’ll take the hint. Now Baekhyun is peeking but his remains on her busted up knees. Her hair reaches the back of them, like she’s never had a pair of scissors go near her head.

Slowly his eyes to trail up, following the line of her frame. His breath hitches when he realizes that one of her eyes is glowing. She’s a borg like himself, but he’s only about 50% metal. She looks like she might be more than that.

Anything more than 60% cybered up is practically a robot to him. He’s only teetering the line. Her skin probably isn’t even real.

Baekhyun lowers his hand and stalks closer. He’s back to playing soldier and soldiers aren’t afraid of anything, least of all a nudist.

His suspicion is confirmed when he moves up to get a better look. She’s got to be above his human standard, with RealSkinn covering up the cyberware underneath. He knows because unlike the whirring that comes from hood converts like himself, this one is silent as a breeze, human-looking too. If not for the eye, he’d be fooled.

Pressing the button at the nape of his neck, he tries an old virus command he picked up from his days netrunning.

“INSTALL CLOUDLASER. DIRECTIVE: FOREIGN INPUT: MODEL: DELIGHT-II.”

Boy is he glad technology’s gotten so advanced. With the push of a button he can hack the borg’s system, all thanks to wireless command and all the dirty code he’s committed to memory. Now he can see everything down to the binary. Her ware’s good, he’ll give her that, but a good netrunner knows every hardware has its Achille's Heel. With all the cyber tricks he's picked up over the years, she’s nothing but a puppet on a string.

“INPUT: REQUESTING IDENTIFICATION.”

Her lips part and with the way her mouth quirks to answer him, Baekhyun knows that part of her is human. “DELIGHT-II, ACCESS GRANTED. MODEL: LAPIS-I”

He picks up Chanyeol’s rocket-launched jacket and drapes it around her shoulders, zipping it closed so fast little sparks fly off the teeth.

“DIRECTIVE: FOREIGN INPUT: SYSTEM OVERRIDE-231162311.”

She drops like silk into his awaiting arms.

Sleep code. Works every time.

#cyberpunk 2077 #exo #exo fanfiction #chanyeol #baekhyun #chanyeol fanfic #baekhyun fanfic #kpop #pls don't nab my edits #they take a lot of time and effort #my writing #yeolchendae edit

[moodymisty]

Thank you for the Din headcanons I couldn’t stop smiling while reading them😊. It’s been on my mind recently but how would The Bad Batch teach the Reader how to do what they were made to? Would they make good teachers? Would they want to teach the Reader at all? I have my own ideas but I’d love to know your opinions as well. Enjoy the rest of your day/evening!

Author's note: I'm glad you liked them! I was going to finish some fics ive had baking, but it seems my brain wanted to do this right away so, enjoy!

I hope someone likes my very specific characterizations of these boys lol

Hunter, Crosshair, Tech, Echo and Wrecker x Gn!Reader

✦ Tech ✦

Tech I feel like is the type of person who really, genuinely enjoys teaching people. He loves nothing more than to blab about something, and almost vibrates into another plane of existence at the idea of someone being interested in something he's interested in enough to actually want to learn from him.

It's just the way he teaches that sometimes ends up raising problems.

He tends to gloss over smaller steps he deems trivial assuming you know them, or goes far too fast for the average person to keep up with. But after he ends up becoming closer to you, Omega, or both of you, he begins to realize that no one else is wired the way he is and he needs to slow his brain down one or two notches.

It's admittedly hard for him to do; And it’s often the reason his brothers try to avoid getting stuck in that sort of situation with him. He's trying his best, just bear with him a bit and please don’t leave, because he’s really enjoying this.

He just sometimes forgets that not everyone knows the most efficient layout for a motherboard's electrical path, and glossed over that part. But if you stick with him you'll probably end up sitting around for hours chatting and working on something together.

He also tends to get extremely lovey dovey in these moments, so expect plenty of kisses to the temple and cheek when you do something right.

✦ Crosshair ✦

Depending on your preferred learning style, Crosshair would probably be the best, or worst teacher you could possibly have. And this is providing he even accepts your half joking request anyways; As for the first while you know him, the answer will undoubtedly be no.

It just takes a bit for him to warm up to the idea of you, like some sort of pouty, borderline feral loth cat. Once he is, he's more apt to the idea. And if anything, he may come to you, under the guise of showing off or sating your curiosity.

If you're someone who just wants someone to show you what to do, and then step back while you learn from your mistakes, he's your man.

He doesn't hover, but he'll point out if the butt of the rifle is not against your shoulder right so you don't get a nasty bruise. If you don’t listen, he’ll get a good chuckle out of it.

He largely sees trying to teach you something as an opportunity for you to be alone together, and to show you something he's good at. He just enjoys the act of actually having something to talk about he knows well, like the back of his hand. He secretly gets a little happy if you enjoy it too, but he doesn't exactly show it.

✦ Wrecker ✦

Wrecker has the best intentions, but sometimes they don’t turn out perfectly. He'd love nothing more than to teach you, but often times it turns from 'teaching' to 'lets do something fun that'll probably get us both in trouble'.

Working out turns into messing around and someone breaking something, bomb wiring turns into a situation where there's -for a split second- a fear you might blow everyone up; And loading the Marauder turns into you climbing around the storage compartments like a stowaway loth cat until you’re stuck and someone more lithe like Tech or Hunter has to help you out.

So while in theory Wrecker has a ton of things he'd love to show you, teach you, and do with you, most of the time that ends up not happening.

If anything it kind of works out in it's own way; You end up learning by doing and in the progress, Wrecker gets his own little explosive enthusiast who also looks adorable when there’s soot you accidentally rubbed on your face, and he tries to rub it off but only makes it worse.

✦ Hunter ✦

Hunter is honestly probably the best all-around teacher. He is patient enough and helpful, and provided it's not anything too dangerous (he’s already busted you and Wrecker trying to build flashbangs not once, not twice, but three times) he'll show you.

But while you'll never be able to do things on the level that he can thanks to his incredible senses, he can teach you all the little tricks he's learned; And ends up making you one hell of a tracker in the process. It ends up being a helpful set of skills to have, especially post Order-66.

He enjoys the walks in nature he takes with you while teaching you, listening to animals or tracking footprints, trying to learn the way animals(and people) move and the habits they have.

And, Hunter can't exactly help being a little prideful when he sees you are getting damn good at it, and know that he's the one that taught you.

✦ Echo ✦

Echo's someone who refuses your notion at teaching you at first under the pretense he thinks he would be an awful teacher.

This is something that's particularly true if he sees you as a gentler soul than he is; He's got that ARC Trooper discipline, and doesn't want to end up hurting your feelings.

He ends up finding a middle ground of you watching him, and injecting a bit of conversation every now and again.

But as time passes, Echo ends up slowly over time teaching you how to help with his cybernetics; And thus you end up learning about cybernetics in general.

It's normally Tech that does it, particularly any sort of upgrade and while Tech is great; There's something about you that’s much more soothing. Tech is, clinical to say the least, and working with particularly his legs is traumatic at times. He prefers teaching you how to do it, and feeling your more gentle touch and voice.

And as a side effect you end up getting quite good with the stuff, particularly problem solving; As Echo's enhancements are far from standard. And as such eventually Tech (abit grumpily) allows you to just handle everything for Echo apart from any emergencies or critical things.

And something that was once pretty hard for Echo actually turns into a bit of a teaching moment, as he points and guides your hands around masses of wires and metal.

'You're a great teacher' You say at one point, and then quickly laugh at how his face noticeably heats up.

#mywriting #tbb x reader #the bad batch x reader #hunter x reader #crosshair x reader #tech x reader #wrecker x reader #echo x reader

[theblycos]

The Peace Treaty - A Bowuigi Story

Bowser joins Peach’s Loyal Team of Important People in the kingdom. Was once just a team to figure out what to do with attacks from Bowser, but after the treaty, it turned into a general meeting about anything. Luigi is on the team too and nervous about Bowser joining. Maybe he’s just nervous because he likes him….? Nah.. that’d be silly right? Right? RIGHT!?

Luigi being apart of the Princess’ team of important figures, he was skeptical of the news of this upcoming Peace Treaty signing. Bowser? Having him stay in the Mushroom Kingdom!? AFTER EVERYTHING HE DID!?

He wouldn’t dare express his feelings about this to Peach, but he sure complained to Mario once they were home.

“T-this is ridiculous bro! How can you agree to this? He caused us, and the Princess so much pain.” Luigi exclaimed as he watched Mario rinse some dishes.

“Mio fratello, it’s-a going to be okay. I promise. You know I won’t let anything to happen to Peach, or you, or the toads, or the Kingdom! This treaty can be a chance for healing.” Mario said in a reassuring voice.

Luigi sighed and saw Mario’s expression. Luigi knew he was right but he couldn’t shake the feeling Bowser might do something bad.

The day of the signing came and everyone gathered in the meeting room. Peach, Bowser, Kamek, Bowser Jr., Mario, Luigi, Captain Toad, Toadette, Toadsworth and a few other important toads. After Peach and Bowser had signed it, with the help of Kamek reading the paper for Bowser, Kamek had sealed it with magic. Just to make sure if either Peach starts an attack or Bowser starts an attack the Mushroom Kingdom would fall under the same curse Bowser’s land had.

Peach and Bowser were both surprised by this, but Kamek explained if they both agree to turn over a new leaf, there shouldn’t be need for an attack. Which they agrees and Peach said Bowser is going to be apart of her team and must show up for any meetings. Which… set of Luigi again. Mario got an earful of some rational and some irrational complaining that night.

Monday came around, which is their meeting day once a week, unless someone important comes up, and Luigi was nervous but Mario reassured him again and got him to go. At the meeting, Peach discussed the situation with Bowser living here. She and Kamek had created a special home for Bowser and his kids nearby the castle, just like she did for the Mario Bros. when they first came here. Peach had turned to Luigi and asked him if he could show Bowser around the kingdom. Luigi actually spoke up asking why it had to be him. Peach explained everyone else has plans today. Luigi couldn’t get out of this one.

Bowser and Luigi stood together in the elevator heading down. Luigi’s heart raced and kept his eyes away.

“Greenie, you okay? I understand if.. you are still uncertain about me being here.” Bowser had said in a calm tone, though his voice was still deep and gruff.

“I.. yea.” Luigi replied weakly.

“Figured. I won’t put you through showing me around. I can do it myself. It’s not a big deal.” Bowser shrugged not really even wanting to be shown around the kingdom. He was already kind of familiar with the layout.

“N-no. I was given a job and even though it’s you.. I will show you around.” Luigi was determined to obey Peach. His respect for Peach was far greater than his dislike for Bowser.

“Hm. Alright. Whatever you want Greenie.” Bowser smirked.

“It’s Luigi.” Luigi huffed.

The elevator finally opened, letting Luigi feel comfortable again, after being stuck in the elevator with him for about a minute. Luigi spent the day showing Bowser around to key places around the kingdom before they stopped in the center of Toad Town.

“Well I think that’s it for everything important.” Luigi rubbed his chin, as he thought about what he’s missing.

“Thanks Greenie for showing me around. Where do you and Mario live?” Bowser asked, Luigi turned to him and saw him looking at him. His face was calm and his hair was even brushed too. He could see a scar on his snout. It wasn’t too noticeable but you can definitely tell there’s a scar there. Luigi wondered if it hurt him still.

Though this question, to Luigi, oddly personal. But he had to show him of course, Mario would probably have to do it, and he doesn’t want that.. So begrudgingly, Luigi went to show Bowser where he and Mario live. In a nice little cabin home surrounded by trees.

“Hm. Oh! This is your place?” Bowser said with a shocked tone.

“Erm, yeah. It’s kind of obvious. But yeah.” Luigi pointed to the ‘Mario’ sign on the front of their house.

“Ah. I didn’t know what it said honestly.” Bowser admitted.

Luigi scoffed a little, “You don’t know how to read?”

“Yeah. It ain’t funny Green Stache so don’t laugh at me.” Bowser said with a bit of anger in his voice.

“Oh no I wasn’t laughing. It just makes sense that you made Kamek read it out.” Luigi said rubbing the back of his head nervously.

Bowser chuckled but then he felt his cellular device ringing and picked it up, “I have to go, thanks for showing me around Luigi!”

Luigi waved weakly at Bowser as he quickly ran off, most likely to his castle. Luigi stood there with a look on his face.

‘Luigi.’ Bowser had never called him Luigi before. Luigi shook the feeling and went inside.

“Probably just a way to get me to trust him.” Luigi grumbled to himself before taking his hat off and hanging it up.

#gay ships #bowuigi #bowser and luigi #Luigi and bowser #gaystory #gay story

[sidewalkchemistry]

Don't Let the Packaging Get to You😭...

this is my follow-up on "2023 Is the Year to Become A Mindful Consumer"

We learn to buy things based on their packaging - the labels, the colors, graphics, etc. It gets both the logically minded and artistically minded alike. Looking beyond the packaging is not a matter of "not judging a book by its cover." It's important to outsmart the package's many ways of crying out "buy me!" Next thing you know, you've come home with a facial serum that breaks you out, a superfood powder that's 85% powdered rice grains, a drink you saw hyped up on TikTok, and a laundry detergent that claimed was "environmentally friendly" but the contents are just like the conventional brands. You might not even realize how many disappointing purchases you make like this. But if they fooled you, they've surely fooled others -- which fuels the company's marketing team to become more convincing & appealing.

First thing to address is your mentality when you enter a store or online shop. Realize that the point of the set-up is to get you to leave with as many products as possible, spending the most money possible, and leave with the thought of as many products as possible in your mind. If you struggle with sticking to just what you need, understand what is it about the store (its layout, employees, samples, etc) which cause you to be so easily convinced.

Next, understand what kind of customer you are. Place yourself in the shoes of a product marketer. What would you put on a package to sell it to yourself? How would you design that package? Who would you sponsor to convince you even further to buy that package? Look at the common denominators between the products you buy. Do you like going for the tried-and-true/popular brand, glam or sleek aesthetics, environmentally-friendly or ethical claims, more affordable option, latest trends, "doctor recommended" claims, or whatever else?

Also, understand what it means to make a purchase. Sure, everyone has heard that we vote with our dollars. But we don't always take full responsibility or power of our positions. Let's say that you like a product's contents except it's watered down with some waste product (like mineral oil), or you know that the company is deluding consumers with its claims & people are getting sick from it, or you learn that a shop aligns its aesthetics to look a lot like a small & mindful boutique but really it's just a normal sweatshop-run production. What can you do? The easiest thing you can do is not buy from that company (buy from a small business with great practices or make it yourself). You can leave reviews which share the truth. You can contact companies to see if they will consider different ingredients, materials, etc. You should talk about the company with others. You can even discreetly move products in a store so that their less noticeable to shoppers (as to decrease their sales. This isn't something petty, but to prevent funding dangerous or unethical items).

Finally, it's always good to have the habit of questioning, "Do I really need to buy this?" This is how mindless consumption really becomes mindful. It's better to find ways to make the product on your own. Normally, we look at the selection of products offered to us and consider, "What among this appeals to me?" Really, most of what we buy has either convinced us that we need it or it is the closest fit to a product which will serve our life. Creating an item which suits you exactly is better by far because it tends to eliminate more of the unnecessary evils and "unknowns" which come with our industrialized products.

Soon, you'll get in the habit of getting only what you need, being more resourceful & creative, seeing through the marketing tactics, learning about what goes into production processes, and finding fun in supporting true artistry & ingenious handmade creations. You'll begin to feel freer and less easily swayed. This is an important piece in taking control over what kind of lifestyle you live and the impact it has.

#txt #mindful consumption #unlearning #solarpunk #eco #mindful living #slow living #marketing #late stage capitalism #mindful consumerism #spiritual growth #leveling up #holistic leveling up #ethical consumption #intentional living #the medium is the message #conscious consumption #persuasion #awareness #advertising #mindfulness #third eye #sidewalkchemistry

[erzbethluna]

Six Sentences Sunday (except is an art process)

Well, hello there, beautiful creatures! :D thank you so much for the wonderful tags!!! they mean a lot for meeee!! I haven't posted in a bit, doing a master is a bit stressful. But! I'm always lurking around and seeing as much as I can the amazing things you all are creating!! As you might know, I'm right now doing lots of fan work for my amazing and beautiful friends @confused-bi-queer and @hushed-chorus, which stories are very close to my heart <3

This time, I would like to share my art process. It is a contrast between the traditional art, and the digital one. Each process is different with each person. When you want to represent something someone else created, it is important to get as many insights and feedback from them, and know the source material. Previous: The Talk ™ First and foremost, you need to talk with the author. Maybe if you are doing fanart, is not that needed. But when you are doing a collab, it is important to be in the same channel as the author, and have a brainstorming about the ideas, vision or insights they might have. Contrasting ideas, situations, deciding which illustrations are more viable, scheduling the releasing, etc. all those topics are important! Feel free to suggest creative adjustments, might or might not work for the author, but is worth the shot. A creative idea is never a wasted one ;) once you have decided, then is time for: 1. Sketching

The sketching part is very important! You layout your scene for the first time! start deciding where light and dark will be, the color palette, the feeling you want to evoke, and work with the expressions the characters will have. It doesn't need to be perfect to be a good sketch! It needs to evoke the idea! This stage is the same in both traditional and digital, at least for me. I always start on paper :) I show my sketches to the author, and we fangirl together ;) then (after maybe some adjustments, maybe a whole new sketch) they approve the idea! Is time for: 2. Lineart

Lineart is different for traditional and digital, but not really. For traditional, I first decide which kind of medium I will use. This will be crucial for the materials I will procure myself with. This time I went for watercolor with a bit of mixed media, so I needed a paper strong enough for the watercolor to behave. Then, I chose the liners, which are waterproof and light fast. I line with 0.5, 1.0, 4.0 and some edged broader pens meant for calligraphy. In digital, I work with a Wacom bamboo and Photoshop, and I use some hard brushes with pressure sensitiveness activated. You can customize your brushes, or use packs available on the internet. The wonders of digital are that you can make as many mistakes as you want, and you can always go back. I usually paint my lineart in the darkest shade I will use in the whole illustration, but never black. When you are happy with your lineart, then is time for:

3. Colours!!

The fun part! The one I enjoy (and suffer) the most!! Color. I love painting, but both traditional and digital can be as demanding as you wish! In traditional, you have to be more careful with the mediums. Watercolor is such a wonderful and nightmare way of expression, because you can't really control it. You have to be ok not being in that control, understand how it behaves, and work fast. I always end up adding acrylics for color enhancing, lights, and specific details I want to represent. Let your work rest, I can have a finished piece in two hours, or in three days. In digital, unhinge. Unhinge my child, have fun! You can correct, filter, move values and start again as much as you want!! There are so many brushes, so many filters, so many textures, the whole color palette light allows! Have fun! But two important things I always do: make a folder for each character. Don't be me some years ago, when I used to paint everything in a single layer, or not name any of them. Order is important when you want to correct things. Also, I encourage you to limit your color palette, this way the whole illustration makes sense. I always do something I call 'The ambience layer', where I put a layer over the lineart and everything, and I add lights, shadows, textures, etc. not specific of any object but of the whole scene. And I always add filters and color correction and tweak the values here and there. Great! Now you have a: 4. Finished piece

You have finally finished! Make sure you sign your pieces, and you give them digital treatment if you are going to publish them on the internet. Always work with RGB values, and export for web :) always send your advances to your authors, and send the finished piece via e-mail, so it doesn't lose quality. - - - - - - So yeah, this is basically the whole process :D soon I will share a different process with different versions of the art involved. Would you like me to create a guide with export values and formats and all that jazz? I hope you enjoy this! :D Please check the fics these pieces (and many more) were made for: The Rise and Fall of Us and What Remains After the Storm. I tag: @hushed-chorus @confused-bi-queer @kohatenz @artsyunderstudy @moodandmist @mostlymaudlin @palimpsessed @henreyettah @aristocratic-otter @cynopoe @bookish-bogwitch @cutestkilla @wellbelesbian @skeedelvee @cattocavo @krisrix @johnwgrey @asticou @takitalks @ionlydrinkhotwater @dragoneggos @ic3-que3n @castawaypitch @ileadacharmedlife @stitchyqueer @facewithoutheart @fatalfangirl @thehoneyedhufflepuff @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @bazzybelle @basiltonbutliketheherb @nausikaaa

#art #art process #six sentences sunday #fanart #fic fanart #snowbaz #simon snow #simon snow salisbury #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #basilton pitch #traditional art #digital illustration #art based on fic #carryon #carry on #carry on rainbow rowell #co/ws/awtwb

[animehouse-moe]

Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective Episode 7: The Case of The Observatory Murder (Part 1)

I think there's a lot of reasons that this case is interesting. Starting from the top, we've got a new boarder/episode director in Keizou Kusakawa (a longtime Diomeda staple), we get more information about BLUE, we get more about Ron's past, and we get more of an isolate Isshiki. There's really a lot to like, and a lot to talk about!

Starting off with Kusakawa, I'm very curious to see how they do. They've certainly got someof the Ibata style, but they really like keeping characters in frame with their work. Where Ibata enjoys focusing on details, Kusakawa is using the characters to explore those details. I don't think it's bad or anything, just a different approach, and can create some appealing layouts like this one.

They're just very aware of the characters, and it's very evident with character blocking that promotes a feeling of space more than anything. Just look at how the stage the group in these two moments in the episode. It's certainly very natural, but it also prioritizes a hierarchy and telegraphs the "direction", if you will, of the conversation and interaction.

It strikes out groups and relations very smoothly, while not forcing the smaller pieces into isolation to provide that separation. Also, I just like the first image because the group naturally stays close to the entrance of the observatory as more and more people funnel in. Might sound a little obvious, but placing them at that point in the observatory just works well for introducing the new characters, and for something else I'll explain in just a moment.

Anyways, let's break down this murder case first. Or well, let me explain how the episode breaks down this murder case. Because, I mean, they kind of put it right in front of us from the get go, what with showing off a smoking gun in the opening tour of the observatory and all.

Now, the question is whether or not that gun is the legitimate murder weapon used in the episode, or if it truly is a replica and a weapon from the outside was brought in to commit the act.

To explain, the possibility exists in my mind of this: there is a "replica" gun in the lobby of this observatory that is so well crafted that Ron comments on it. People are uncertain as to whether or not the gun is actually real. It's based on an actual gun, so what happens if someone prepared in advance by bringing a real gun to the island as well? That would mean that the murderer could safely use the murder weapon while leaving behind the replica, creating a false smoking gun.

Of course, this could very easily be debunked by checking if the gun had been discharged in any capacity, but we'll leave that as an assumption for later.

Next up is the possibility of the door. They really put our focus on it with the closeup as it's opened, and for only a few possible reasons I feel.

The one that immediately springs to mind is that the door can only be locked from the outside, and why would this make sense? Well, because the lock is on the outside. I don't know of any doors that have a double sided key lock in my experience. It's always a key lock on the outside, and a physical lock on the inside. Because of the act of opening this door, we know that the door is not kept locked at all times. One could presume that it's left 'unlocked' as the default, which begs the question of why Ron would ever need the key.

And let's keep the ball rolling! Onodera, the woman found dead, starts her interaction off by antagonizing Ron. It's very interesting behavior to have appear, which we'll see again later on in the episode. Though it's also important to note that the owner of the observatory tried to encourage Ron to learn about the mystery of the observatory as well. And then there's John Grizzly who appears as well. It's all... a little too convenient.

But the icing on the cake is the interaction with the star obsessed idol, who appears in the room.

This is a big one, a very big one, because it answers the question (sort of) of how someone could enter or leave the observatory if the door or dome was not an option. Orihime appears adjacent to the group in the observatory. She doesn't appear from behind them, and with the existence of the chef in the observatory it means that already being in there is impossible. And she doesn't enter the room through the front door as the guests would have spotted her. So how does she get into the room? A question for later on.

Anyways, let's get back to Onodera. During the dinner on the rooftop, she's consistently focused on Ron, even leaving the rooftop shortly after Ron does. Even going the distance as to make an interesting face as Ron leaves. There's a lot of setup for Onodera to have "reason" to be Ron's victim in this case, which just adds to the pile of curiosities.

And finally, we make it to the murder. Up on the rooftop at the time of the gunshot there is: the observatory director, Toto, weird haricut guy, and John. This rules these 4 out indefinitely from the murder of Onodera, as none have left the rooftop since Onodera has.

However, among the culprits alongside Ron there is also the chef, and Orihime. So, let's take a closer look.

Putting the facts together, Onodera is lying on their stomach, having suffered from a gunshot wound, while Ron is laying on his back, unscathed. The biggest thing here is that Onodera is wearing shoes, while Ron is not, and alongside that, the gun is not directly touching Ron.

This is a big one because it provides the possibility that Ron's prints are not on the weapon, and further speaks to his unprepared nature in carrying out this murder.

Look closely, they're lying on top of glass shards. This implies that the lights were shot out prior to the dome opening (at least in the areas that Onodera and Ron are laying in), meaning that the final shot was (most likely) the one that killed Onodera. Building backwards, it is then possible that Onodera was trying to get help before she was murdered. Or, that the murderer wanted to have Isshiki and John discover this scene before Ron could awake.

I think most important though is the dialogue that we got from John earlier on in the episode. When Ron "awoke" from his bout in the testing incident, John states that he was "in a haze". Ron was very much standing upright, with the weapon in his hand. Here though, he's unconscious and on the ground. The disparity in information regarding Ron's state leads me even further towards it being a set up.

Speaking further on John, did you notice he wasn't being a very good detective? I mean, what kind of ace detective turns their back on interaction at a dinner party? He's shown willingly isolated from the group, looking out over the night sky.

And then there's the whole break in scene with the observatory. John's pounding away on the door and making no headroom, but once Isshiki and the director step up, the trio breaks through in one go. Not saying that it's unlikely in any way, but just that it adds to the pile of interesting pieces. John doesn't ask for help breaking down the door, rather, it's the other two that step up.....

And then he keeps going. Stating that an autopsy needs to happen first to confirm the cause of death, but then saying that it's the gun, swiftly taking it into his own possession before Isshiki can examine the weapon.

And then this suspicious response. There's a few possibilities with it. John has discovered something and is hiding it, whatever it is. A false section of wall? A removable vent that exposes a traversable path? It's hard to say, because his detective work is very shallow.

If I were to try and strike up a guess though, it'd be that one of the buttons in the observatory has the ability to open or close some hidden path, as it would help connect why Ron was playing with the buttons in the observatory earlier.

And here's the proof of what I'd said earlier. The door has a physical lock on the interior, so why would Ron need the keys?

It's at this point though that you start to get a different idea from John, with things like this comment.

And then there's Isshiki's point that Ron's acting weird.

The pieces continue to pile up, endlessly high, giving viewers a mountain of information and ideas.

And where does it bring you to? To the point that BLUE, Ron, and John, are testing Isshiki.

I mean, the case of the murder in the most sensible way possible is that Orihime did it. Able to sneak into the observatory without alerting a single person, not present on the rooftop when the gunshots went off, they're the most likely culprit of the bunch. But I don't know if you could call them a culprit, if it's going down how I'm thinking.

Isshiki's not allowed to touch or pronounce Onodera dead, so that greatly increases the odds of it being a fake body of some sort, prepared in advance. The question is, how likely is it that Ron is in on this mystery? I mean, they bring a BLUE detective in that's an expert with locked rooms, and is someone that Ron looks up to. Considering the effort taken to get Ron to go to this observatory, I do wonder about direct involvement. Regardless, if he's not directly involved (so as to avoid giving Isshiki any hints), Orihime has that covered. It's an easy to miss thing, but she is shown holding a wooden club at one point, which would be used as a blunt weapon to knock Ron out.

But yeah, that's my grand theory as to what's going on: Isshiki's being tested by BLUE on this case, to see if they'll take him in. I'm really really excited to see where things go and how they're done, and am quite hopefully that Kusakawa will direct the entirety of this mystery, but that's all conversation for next week.

#ron kamonohashi #isshiki totomaru #totomaru isshiki #kamonohashi ron no kindan suiri #ron kamonohashi: deranged detective #ron kamonohashi's forbidden deductions #mystery anime #comedy anime #anime and manga #anime #anime reccs #anime recommendation #anime review

[greenlikethesea]

friendsgiving excerpt, fair ithilien verse

i realized that i completely misadvertised this one -- it is not a fun fic, very very angsty, and is the catalyst for eddie leaving indiana and going to live with jonathan and argyle in LA for a few months before heading to san fran. here's a piece of writing i did that i'm quite proud of:

“There are only two doors on this fucking house,” Eddie starts.

Confusion flashes across Steve’s face, alarm, but he masks it quickly. He’s mean first, and fucking good at it when he feels indignant. Eddie wishes he didn’t know Steve so well. “I think I know the layout of my own house, Eddie.” 

“If you know the layout of your own house, Steve, riddle me this,” Eddie spits. “Say I’m in the backyard, smoking a cigarette, because no one gets to decide I quit except for me – am I going to go all the way to the front door to get back inside? A door that might be locked for all I know?”

Eddie can see Steve softening a little, the steel in his glare subsiding just a bit. “I suppose not.”

“So it makes the most sense for me to go in the back door, which is already open, because you opened it, I watched you do it,” Eddie continues. “But you and your wife seem to be having a tense conversation. And I don’t want to interrupt, or make noise, or disturb it. So that’s why I stayed put until the coast was clear. No offense, Steve, but I have more pressing matters on my mind than whatever you and your wife talk about when you’re alone.”

“Eddie,” Steve breathes. It’s so kind, and Eddie hates it. “Please, Eddie, I –”

Eddie laughs bitterly. “I don’t blame you for locking your front door, of course. Nice neighborhood like this, wouldn’t want anyone unsavory coming in. Take the trash out the back, you know how it goes.”

It’s fucking mean, a snarl from a wounded animal. He feels a pang of regret as Steve’s face falls, that beautiful face twisting in regret, any anger there now fled. But Eddie’s eyes hurt from keeping them anywhere but those two fucking moles on Steve’s neck, tantalizing and inviting above his crew neck collar. The skin there is probably soft from whatever expensive body wash he uses, a gift from Megan, maybe. Steve doesn’t drown himself in cologne anymore, but there’s something lingering – new clothes smell, or the air freshener that’s plugged into the kitchen outlet by the toaster oven. He wants to fist his hands in that crimson cashmere, wreck the collar from how hard he tugs it down, just to get his mouth on those two moles. Maul him, make a mess of that expanse of skin, so no one knows there are moles there by the time he’s done.

“How are you, Eddie?” Steve says. It’s impossibly quiet.

“I’m fine, Steve,” Eddie says, automatic. “I told you that before.”

“No, Eddie,” Steve says. He steps into Eddie’s space. “How are you, really?”

Unlike a lot of people, Eddie actually knows what it feels like to be eaten alive. He knows what it feels like to have some malevolent force not even wait until your heart stops beating to tear into your flesh. But this glass barrier between himself and everyone else, the long, endless days he spends at the trailer, or on the road, or dodging people’s phone calls – this barrier that he himself created? He’ll take the demobats over this any day. At least with those things, he could immediately identify what was causing him harm. Razor sharp fangs, tail like a whip designed to strangle prey, rough scales where skin is supposed to be – no wonder I feel like I’m going to die! But the vice grip of loneliness is harder to qualify, a pain so big that to speak it into existence would make it real. Inescapable. 

What does Eddie say to Steve? He doesn’t know how to talk about this emptiness that permeates every part of his existence. It would be so easy to rebuff him, to head back into the dining room with everyone else, where they’ve all no doubt dismantled the dessert table. But Steve’s looking at him like it’ll kill him if Eddie doesn’t tell him what’s wrong. And Eddie wants to believe it’s a lie. He wants so badly to convince himself that Steve doesn’t care about him, that now that he has a wife, he doesn’t need anyone else. Doesn’t need Eddie. But Eddie can see that this isn’t true. That Steve’s just the same as he’s always been, caring to a fault, big enough to see when he’s miscalculated, and that just makes the pain worse. 

“I’m…” he starts, but the words get caught in his throat. For the first time this entire conversation, he looks away from Steve. It’s too hard, too close –

#fair ithilien verse

[adhdapp]

Hello! I already use this app and love it, but recommending it in case it could help someone else! It's called Daylio, it's for journaling and mood tracking. It's free to download and use, but there is a premium option, but I've only used the free version and never felt it was lacking. It has a daily streak incentive, mine is 1841, I've been using it since 2019, as well as some other accomplishments for various things. I find it easy to use and you can customize activities to be anything, like it comes with pre-set ones like "relax" and "friends", but you can add and change and delete them, so I also have ones like "Baking" and "excited...?". It's a nice way to look back at memories and a quick and easy place to record them. I write a lot in the notes section of the entry, but you don't have to, you can leave it blank, or add images or voice recordings (but I've never used those so I don't know how they work). And if I miss a day and break my streak, it's very easy to go and put one in for that day so my streak remains because I like it when the number goes up. As someone with memory issues, I find it a comforting habit to make a record of something everyday and these are my thoughts!! Have a great day :) !

Daylio: Mood Logging

This is actually another app I already have the premium version for, lol. I bought it before it became monthly (Really unfortunate that it became monthly)

Rating: Certified, If what you're looking for is a mood tracker and/or diary app

does feature a to-do list daily tasks options, but it's very much a secondary feature

cute, very customizable (especially with premium), easy to use

Celebrates milestones and gives you a lovely visual overview of things.

HOWEVER: While the achievements and the streak counter and the visuals are cute (especially because you can retroactively add things to keep your streak) this app works best if you're inclined to micromanagement and willing to update it at least once a day, and personally that's not something I can keep up too long

Red flags: none, no data shared with third parties, data safety all seems good, and the app itself comes with a pin-lock if you want to be extra cautious with your entries.

Dopamine hits: So the visuals of the emoji calendar are cute and fun and a nice layout, particularly if you've got the premium and have the extra emojis, and the ridiculously high streak counter and achievements are also nice, but personally this app doesn't give me enough from day to day to keep me going. You have to really enjoy the logging process or making the streak number go up to make this work. If you're the kind of person with a really long snapchat streak, this one's for you? otherwise, eh, it can be a bit touchy.

Features + Price

Major Events: Basically pretty milestones for you to record as big letters in your diary

Mood tracking: obviously the main focus, your moods are color coded so you can view sort of how you're doing mental health wise on a pie chart, which can be really handy if you struggle with a mood disorder or want to see how certain activities are correlating with other things in your mental health. Do you always feel like ass when you talk to your boyfriend? this app might be able to help you clock that trend

Visual calendar overview: pictured above

goals: the goals checkoff is actually a must faster process than logging your moods, which is a few screens of selecting one of your preset moods and then the activity you're doing and then maybe adjusting the time. It can be a little finicky.

so this is Freemium.

Premium: 4.99 a month or 35.99 a year (USD)

So i'll admit, I downloaded this app back before they Had important days and goals so I suppose there must be a limit on them for free users? I bought it so that I could add custom moods and track my migraines.

This app is fundamentally not really For to-do stuff. You can use it that way! But where I think i'd find this app has the most usefulness is if you're struggling with short-term mental health trends and you need something to keep track of how you're feeling and where your moods are coming from. As far as ADHD goes this is sometimes useful if you're struggling with RSD, or with sensory issues, or just not clocking which parts of your life are making you overstressed. That said, I could definitely see this working for someone who wants to keep a diary in a short simple easy way. However if you're just looking for text entries, this is also not necessarily the easiest way to do it, since it's focus is mood logging. which it is very good for! it does that job effectively! it's the other stuff it's a little eh about.

Roadmap: This app was updated at the start of this month to add easier searches, and has added a lot in the years since I opened it last, so I definitely believe they're committed to following through and keeping posted. I'm not so sure about the pricetag for premium, but if you're looking for a mood logger and the format works for you, by all means, keep on keepin on.

#adhd #diary app #mood logging #app review #review request #Ik you weren't really asking for a full review but it was on my list to do so I was like I can say words about this one

[dedalvs]

(website anon) it was that one yeah (dedalvs dot com)! i didn't know you had other websites! the layout is just really cozy and friendly, and it feels like something you can click around and discover things in.

(also i'd rather not share mine right now but i appreciate the interest!)

Totally all good on the site share, but this is an interesting factoid that web designers might be interested in. See, from my perspective, back in the 90s and early 00s, there were two options for designing a website: Do it yourself, or use web development software like DreamWeaver. The software that was available was garbage, though. A page that might have, like, 30 lines of code on it, for a simple webpage that says "Welcome to my site!", would have like 230 lines of code if you used this web development software, and then everything wouldn't even be lined up the way you wanted it to (everything would be center aligned until you hit an image, then suddenly everything was pushed to the left, you couldn't change how links looked, etc.). If you wanted a website that looked nice, you had to do it yourself.

And, of course, a lot of us were young, so we did things we thought looked cool (hence the colors). But beyond that, doing things like collapsing menus, frames, animations, etc., was soooooooo far beyond what the average teach-yourself web designer could do that it wasn't like it was a choice to have a navbar on the side: It was an achievement! Like, that was the best we could do! In fact, before I learned how to do includes, I copied and pasted the same navbar onto every single HTML page, and when I wanted to edit it, I edited it on every single page. Ugh.

Also, it was a lot simpler to design a webpage back then, because we knew who was going to be looking at it and how. Everyone had a computer (some people had laptops, but that was rarer), so you could expect a certain screen size, and could design your website to look a certain way on your screen and expect that it would look the same on almost everyone else's machine (unless they, you know, used Internet Explorer, where it was a guarantee your website would be screwed up, so you didn't bother taking it into consideration when designing). Nowadays, you have to design for the web, and for mobile, and, ideally, would have a way to dynamically switch depending on the browser.

Something that happened that I, personally, didn't expect between the early 2000s and now is that frontend web software got better. A LOT better. LIGHTYEARS better. It got so much better that, frankly, teaching yourself to design a website is pretty much a waste of time, unless it's your plan to become a web developer. Designing a website with WordPress or Squarespace is not only easier, but the results are absolutely gorgeous—even if you don't really know what you're doing. It automatically adjusts for mobile platforms, it has animations, it has collapsible menus to economize space, it can resize images and text dynamically... And if you want to, you can really get in there and customize it. I mean, this is the kind of flying car type thing they dreamed of in the 50s for web development, except the time period was 1992 to 2022, not 1901 to we still don't have freaking flying cars. You don't have to have navigation always present on the screen, so why would you?

I mean, I totally get where you're coming from, because, basically, the type of design you saw in the 90s is something you don't see anymore because you don't have to. It wasn't superior: It was just DIYers doing their darnedest. And by the way, the other side of the coin of having to design for desktop and mobile is that you really don't have to worry too much about a particular device screwing up your website. Sure, it still happens, but a website is going to look pretty much the same on Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc. The main web browsers are so good that if you try to introduce one that messes up websites routinely, no one will ever use it. That's nice. Because let me tell you... Search through the archives of the Conlang-L. There are so many messages where it's like, "Check out this thing I did on my website!", with responses like, "The page didn't load", or "I couldn't render it in my browser", or "The links don't work", etc.

One of the reasons I've not updated my website is I can do what I need to do elsewhere now, and I think it's a nice little historical record of conlanging back then. There are a few other sites like it that are still up (I still think Jan van Steenbergen's site is very well designed), and, yeah, that's what it was like in the 90s and 00s as a conlanger. We all had our sites and put up descriptions, and we all visited each others' sites. It was a fun time. :)

Anyway, thanks for the message! There were a couple a comments from others, and it's wild to think of the design of the site as "cozy". lol I built the first version on Tripod, then the second version on Free.fr (on domain space gifted by @christophoronomicon—the reason why you'll find a number of old conlang websites that end in free.fr), then moved it over to conlang.org, and then finally had my own web space, where it sits now. It took a lot of effort and self-teaching to get it to the state it's in now, and I still like it. :) I'm glad it's brought some joy to others.

#conlang #web design

[allthecastlesonclouds]

10, 17 & 32 for writer questions?

oooo thanks for the ask!! link to ask game

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

When I was. like. 8. i wrote this original story about five girls and a boy. it was, in short, very bad: none of the character traits were consistent, the plot moved along terribly, and scenes were messy. every chapter was in a different font and Oh Dear God was it unreadable.

and i fucking loved it. i was so proud of it. i still kind of am? 35 pages for an eight year old isn’t bad. but there are printed copies i still find around my house, and my mom still talks about it to this day, and every time i read it i wince.

i’m not sure if this is the definition of haunted, but it follows me around to this day. you maybe thought this was gonna be a fanfic, but this story. Oh God.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Gotta talk about fight or flight baybee!! okay so when i started this it was basically because i had many thoughts on the fact it was kristen’s siblings who convinced her to go during family in flames and not. her parents. and also the fact her parents names combined were McDonalds. that cracked me up. also actually i was talking to a lovely irl about this and they said “wait a character is Christian Applebees??” and i went ally beardsley how dare you. the google doc is titled ‘the mfing MacDonna Applebees’

i brainstormed a rudimentary layout for Mordred for this fic, as in i thought about the first floor and went ‘everything else doesn’t matter’. the chapel is canonically disconnected from the house but kristen also canonically has a secret passageway to tracker’s room, so i decided all the secret passageways link up and let people just. into the walls. kristen and riz are the only ones who have any semblance of confidence in there bc they sneak around so much. kristen uses the passageways mostly for tracker’s and bee’s rooms, but she knows how to get to the kitchen and about midway up the tower staircase.

bee is trans. i debated for a while whether her name was spelled Bee or Bea, but i decided on Bee bc i know a Bea and the vibes are. Different. kristen’s nickname for bricker is bricks, and bee calls him rick or ricks, and when they’re a bit older on their Fantasy Discord she Nicknames him Dick and kris doesn’t let Bricker change it back. bricker is bi; he kissed one of the luckstones under the bleachers and that’s what McDonalds was angry about. he’s also religious (bee goes i know the gods are real but i think i’m taking a step back please); he probably becomes a cleric of helio and does something similar to tracker in the sense he worships his own version of helio, not the widely accepted version.

they’re all two years apart: if kristen’s going into jr year, bee’s going into freshman, bricker’s going into seventh, and cork’s going into fifth. this means cork was seven or eight when kristen left, and you know, third graders are Little and have the object permanence of baboons, so. he’s fine. he’s not really in this fic sorry. when i listen to songs, i like to imagine animatics, and so fics are based around them often, and this one is no acception; the first line of the song is ‘i think it might rain today’ and a separate 3+1 line i was debating was ‘3 times kristen found her siblings in a storm and the one time she had them’.

also kristen needs therapy. she Will Not Get It.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

really any line from ‘For Everyone’ by Jason Reynolds. it’s such a good book. my boss at a camp i worked at gave it to me a couple years ago, and i cried reading it. if i had to pick a section: (id in alt text) (it hits different when formatted like it’s read aloud)

#ask game #ren <3 #god this book is. wonderful. i would recommend it immensely it’s short and sweet and so fucking emotional #questionnn! #no maintagging this one bc it’s all about my work and jason reynolds #seriously though that story. is a menace to society #i might redesign them at some point though!

[seakicker]

Miss Seakicker HI! 🦦 anon here, I just wanted to pop in and ask a question but before that;

How have you been? I’m loving the new theme and layout for your blog! I hope you’re drinking enough water and taking enough breaks. We can’t have Fertility archon Juju getting sick!

I started playing Tears of The Kingdom and there’s a place called Joju-u-u Shrine in the game (we almost had Juju Shrine!) I went bra shopping earlier (nothing spicy, just needed some new ones).

I’m not really sure how else to ask this but do you have any advice for when the insecurities about one’s body image start to get…loud? Like some days I’ll feel good in a pair of pants because i fill them out really well but then there’ll be bad days like the time i spent 2 hours on an online site buying a kazuha cosplay because I didn’t want to admit i was a size bigger. (I bought the bigger size in the end and that one fits like a glove)

Feel free to answer this whenever you like! - 🦦 anon

HELLOOOOOOO SWEETHEART GAH i’m very late in answering this because i’m just tryin to find the motivation to use tumblr consistently again, but i was thinking about this ask again today bc i’ve had it in drafts since you sent it to me. i’ve been working a ton but i’m alright; drinking water and working on eating healthier for myself 😊❤️ what kinds of things do you think we’d do at a juju shrine… 🤔👀

as far as the insecurity part goes, honestly i’ve found that staying off the internet entirely on days where you’re maybe feeling a little worse about yourself is extremely beneficial. with how prevalent bodychecking and diet culture BS are on tiktok and instagram in particular and with how advanced filters and photoshop have gotten (remember when people considered it impossible to use filters/edits on videos? good times), taking a bit of a detox and staving off of doomscrolling rlly go a long way on days where i may not be feeling the best about myself. like, i’ve seen people recommend eating an entire block of cream cheese under the guise of health because keto influencers love spinning nonsense and trying to make you genuinely believe that an entire brick of cream cheese is inherently better for you than a single piece of bread for toast, lol.

at any rate, i think it’s good to remind yourself that you are real and your body is real and not everything you see online is real— most people are able to (rightfully) internalize that they shouldn’t compare their bodies to digital art or anime characters, and i think that mentally should extend to just about any 3D picture you see online— while i’m not inherently anti-photoshop or anything like that, i DO think it’s harmful for these people who participate in photoshopping their pics or using filters to pass it off as (A) all natural genetics and/or (B) simple diet and exercise because no amount of genetics, diet, or exercise are gonna give you a 13 inch waist and 42 inch hips. even pictures of real life people can be twisted to the point where they might as well be fictitious, but your body is real when you look at it and real in anything and everything you wear, so why worry about how it stacks up compared to a picture that’s certainly edited?

i first read this on pinterest in like high school but it’s honestly sound advice and something that’s really stuck with me— we don’t get mad at our feet for being too small/too big/too wide/too narrow when shoes don’t fit, we just buy a different size— shouldn’t the same idea extend to all our clothes? our bodies aren’t made to fit clothes, clothes are made to fit our bodies— and buying a bigger cosplay to fit you better isn’t a fault of yours nor your body’s. you got this ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

#i love u i’m always happy to hear from you #chats #cw body image #🦦 anon