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jacksgreysays · 19 hours

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Extremely late, completely unnecessary opinion of the Watcher situation, (2024-04-24)

So this is a relatively belated post — several days after the initial “Goodbye Youtube” and one day after the “An Update” videos — and surely by this point there are more interesting/insightful op-eds (both in written form and video form, especially penguinz0’s fairly objective POV as, essentially, a YouTube expert) but there is something about the Watcher situation that made my brain itch. Thus, I wanted to write about it in order to make sense of it all as well as get into a philosophy that seems to be haunting me in recent years and which I think applies greatly here.

This may seem completely out of left field considering 1) definitely not fanfiction and 2) about Watcher Entertainment, a YouTube channel which—as far as this tumblr is concerned—I’ve not engaged with whatsoever, but I don’t know where else I would put this, and weirdly enough I think the general tumblr response to this whole predicament is maybe the… if not objective… then at least, most thoughtful?—or, perhaps, least immediately reactive?—amongst the various social media platforms, that I think some people might appreciate this anyway.

In terms of my relevant background: I majored in Management Science (which is just a fancy way of saying Economics + Business + Accounting because they are, weirdly enough, separate things) and minored in Film Studies in school, I am currently working in the stage techn industry (which, I know, is obviously different from film/video industry), and I like to think I am a fan/consumer of a wide variety of independent creators, some of whom I am lucky enough to be able to afford being a patron/subscriber. I won’t go into all of them—because it is a lot—but there are four in particular whose business models I want to analyze in comparison to Watcher’s admitted blunder:

A) RocketJump (known for Video Game High School and Anime Crimes Division; the core group which turned into the podcast Story Break, then became Dungeons and Daddies) B) Dropout (formerly College Humor, we’ll get into their discography later) C) Drawfee (previously an offshoot of College Humor, now fully independent) D) Corridor Digital (used to be mostly behind the scenes of how VFX studios work, have since become a mostly original content creator)

I will say, right off the bat, I am a patron of Drawfee as well as Dungeons and Daddies, and I am a subscriber to Dropout. I am not subscribed to Corridor Digital’s streamer, which I will get into why later. I understand that being able to sustain those two patronages and one subscription is a luxury that not everyone can afford and so my point of view is already skewed by being such a person who could theoretically afford another streaming service if I so chose. I also acknowledge that many fans of Watcher are not in similarly financially secure places as I am and that regardless of the business model, any monetization that comes from fans would have been a rough ask. However, I wanted to go into this essay in a way that accepts Watcher’s statement—that they needed more funding—in relatively good faith rather than assuming the worst (although that is another point I’ll get into later, largely related to the philosophy I brought up earlier.)

All four of the above listed content creators started or, at least, hit their stride on YouTube:

RocketJump and College Humor were, if not household names, then the digital equivalent of it in the “early days of YouTube.” They were part of the wave of content creators that made YouTube seem less like a bunch of eccentrics with cameras making videos on the side and more like a viable way to support yourself/your team with the art you create.

RocketJump’s Video Game High School went from short (less than 10 minutes) minimal location episodes in season one, to 30 minute plus episodes with full on fight scenes and car explosions by season three thanks to a Monster Energy brand deal. They also had two seasons of Anime Crimes Division, a literal TV quality show, thanks to a Crunchy Roll sponsorship. Unfortunately, RocketJump shut down not long after (their videos are still up on YouTube but they obviously don’t add anything new) but the core creative team behind that have been involved in several projects outside of YouTube (Dimension 404 on Hulu being one of the biggest ones so far) including the podcast Story Break (part of the Maximum Fun network) and now the independent podcast Dungeons and Daddies, the episodes of the main campaigns which are free with ads or, for patrons, ad-less along with additional mini-campaigns and other benefits.

I will say, during RocketJump’s decline, they did try their best to keep going. The partnerships with Monster Energy and Crunchy Roll were the big swings to get the funding to make those TV quality shows they wanted. I believe they lucked out with those brands in particular, or, at least, those brands didn’t seem to inhibit the creative process or ask too much of them that it felt like “selling out” but I also don’t have insight into why they didn’t pursue this model of, essentially, very weird but interesting season long commercials. Maybe they just couldn't find the right brands or maybe they did feel like it was too stifling. Regardless, before they shut down completely, they did also downsize—moving out of the actual city of Los Angeles over to Buena Park. Which is in Los Angeles county, and basically counts as LA still, but is way cheaper than literal Hollywood real estate. (I should have added to my relevant background that I’m born and raised LA county, do have relatives and friends in the film/movie industry, so trust me when I say literal Hollywood/city of Los Angeles is so overrated and unnecessarily expensive. There is a reason why LA traffic is the worst and it’s because EVERYONE is commuting into the city. Respectfully and with affection, no one should live there. No one’s start up should be located there.) Obviously the downsizing didn’t necessarily work for RocketJump, but they also didn’t have multiple successful revenue streams the way that Watcher currently does.

In contrast, College Humor was acquired by InterActiveCorp and was turned into CH Media which was three pronged: College Humor, Drawfee, and Dorkly. In 2018 they made Dropout, which had exclusive content separate from their YouTube videos which involved all three prongs. Then some financial shenanigans happened early 2020—IAC withdrew their funding—and there were a bunch of layoffs right before the pandemic which extremely sucked. It has been stated by multiple people involved that it was basically a miracle that Dropout survived through all of that, but there were definitely some sacrifices along the way to make that happen. Currently, Dropout seems to be thriving with mostly exclusive content with the occasional “first episode of a season” posted to YouTube, OR if Dimension 20 is doing a “sequel season” in an already established campaign they will put the entirety of the previous season on YouTube.

IAC withdrawing their funding did put CH Media in a bind. They had to layoff a lot of people right before pandemic and, understandably, a lot of trauma was had. There were also weird issues with who controlled certain IPs/brands/digital assets (I mostly come at this from a Drawfee POV, it took several years for them to own the Drawga series and be allowed to host all of the episodes on their YouTube, and there was also something about the sound file for their opening animation?) but mainly the difference is what kind of content they generate. Originally Dropout had multiple scripted shows with high budgets and pretty cool effects/animations/stunts (Troopers, Kingpin Katie, Gods of Food, Ultramechatron Team Go!, Cartoon Hell, and WTF 101) whereas now almost all of their shows are variations of improv comedians being put into different scenarios or given different prompts. I’m not just talking about Game Changer and Make Some Noise, because Dimension 20 and Um, Actually also technically fall under that description as well. Which is not to say that these shows are worse than the scripted shows—I subscribe to Dropout, so clearly I’m a fan of their current shows—and the budgets for them have since increased to resemble, if not match, those early shows, but it is a noticeable shift in their content creation strategy as a response to the lack of IAC funding. And I will say: Dropout releases at least three videos a week if not more and at least two of those are long form at 30 minutes plus (Dimension 20 being the longest, of course.)

So, these first two business models are not really the most applicable to Watcher Entertainment considering their origin was to get away from Buzzfeed—they’re probably not keen to be partnered with or purchased by a larger company—but there are some aspects to both that I believe are valuable in at least showing the strategy in how these former YouTube creators could successfully extract themselves from YouTube or how they still utilize YouTube even if it is not their main hosting platform or revenue stream.

Then there is Drawfee and Corridor Digital, both of whom are currently—if not primarily—on YouTube, whose situations are more comparable to what I believe are Watcher’s goals.

Drawfee had to rebuild themselves like a phoenix from the ashes of the CH Media layoff during the beginning/worst of the pandemic. Side note: I’m happy that Nathan (one of the four main artists of the current Drawfee team) at least has forgiven(? or let bygones be bygones) Dropout enough to be on an episode of Game Changer (although I will say that this happened after Drawga was “returned” to Drawfee, and after Dropout officially split from College Humor as a brand.) All that being said, Drawfee was a team of four artists plus their editor who wanted to stick together but basically had all of their support system taken away from them. They took a bit of a break to assess their goals and options, announced a patreon with several tiers with great perks, and stuck to their upload schedule. In addition to two videos a week, they also stream on Twitch weekly, have a patron only stream once a month, and a draw class (for one of the higher tiers) once month. After asking their patrons on the relevant tiers if they were okay with it, they began releasing the patron only stream and the draw class to the general public for free after a month. The patreon perks also include things like merch discount codes, high quality PNGs of the final rendered art, access to the draw class with live interaction/critique, and a commission from the artist of your choice. The only “ads” they run are for their own patreon and merch store and, even then, they’re usually at the end of the videos with a credit scroll of the patron names during their exit banter.

Admittedly, they only have MAYBE eight employees—that’s including their video editor(s?) and their discord mod(s?)—with the main four artists doubling/tripling up duties as additional video editors, CFO, and marketing/merch leads. It’s a very streamlined crew and their production costs are not very high since it’s mostly screen recording of their drawings with their audio recording overlayed onto that footage. Although the video editors do sometimes have clever cuts to relevant images depending on their vamping. Sometimes they will have a guest artist but, again, since it’s screen and audio recordings, there’s no travel/housing costs. So, very minimal expenses due to low production costs and small crew but, again, their only revenue source is the patreon/merch, they don’t do outside ads and they very rarely do live shows.

Corridor Digital is, I think, the most applicable to what Watcher would ideally do, which I suppose is somewhat ironic for this essay in particular considering they’re the only one of the four that I don’t financially support. They have two YouTube channels: their main one being where they show the “final product” videos, but I believe their Corridor Crew channel which started primarily as behind the scenes type of videos is where most of their views come from. Especially their React series (VFX artists, Stuntmen, and Animators React etc.) On Corridor Crew they usually upload two videos a week — one which is a React and the other which goes into fun projects/challenges (involving VFX or not) or using VFX to explain scientific concepts — as well as the first episodes of their exclusive content on their streamer. Also behind that paywall are longer and ad-less versions of the videos on YouTube. They also have merch. All of them have merch, I don’t know why I’m stating that. They don’t have a patreon as far as I know, but I also don’t know if their subscription to their website comes with similar perks like discounted merch or something similar.

Anyway, their studio seems to be about 15 to 20 people — not all of them are VFX artists, of course. I believe they have higher equipment costs than Watcher since, understandably, Corridor has to be on the cutting edge of video editing technology. They do occasionally travel for shoots, but it doesn’t require big teams, and that’s only when the local locations available to them don’t match the requirements for the “final product” videos. Otherwise most of their videos are set in the studio or in the alleyway outside their studio in Los Angeles (the city itself, not just the greater county, though they are in a rougher and thus probably cheaper part of Los Angeles). I personally don’t subscribe to their website primarily because their exclusive shows don’t appeal to me—either they’re too technical or a little too dry; to be fair, most of them are VFX artists first before they are performers—and I don’t particularly feel the need to see the extended cuts of the videos uploaded on YouTube. Also I sometimes get a little bummed out by their lack of diversity.

All of this to say, from these four different business models, a bespoke Frankenstein business model for Watcher could be cobbled together. But also, even with that bespoke Frankenstein, there are some changes that Watcher would have to make: primarily their upload schedule. As of right now, I think they do MAYBE one video a week if not, perhaps, one video every TWO weeks. If they want a monthly subscription model, their rate of content generation would ideally be higher to double/quadruple their current upload rate. Obviously they want to create videos with higher production value, but at that rate of generation, something’s got to give: supplement their TV quality shows with either a behind the scenes type series or an increase of “we get four episodes out of Shane and Ryan get increasingly drunk in someone’s backyard” or something similar. Leaning into shows like Worth A Shot (the first season in which Ricky Wang makes cocktails based on a random ingredient, the second season threw in some competitive aspects which I didn’t really find necessary) or the Beatdown which has relatively low production costs (no travel, one location, maybe two cameras at most therefore smaller crew requirements) but a higher polished look. Otherwise, for a separate streaming subscription service, 2-4 videos a month is not going to cut it.

As of right now they probably can’t back out of the separate streaming subscription service because those set ups usually require some level of contract/paying for servers for the website and whatever is hosting their videos for a set amount of time. However, what really strikes me is that I literally didn’t know they had a patreon until I scrolled through the comments of the first Goodbye Youtube video. Maybe it’s been linked "tactfully" in the descriptions of videos, but considering they claim to be lacking in funds, the fact that they weren’t plugging their patreon at the end of every video is not just strange, but also irresponsible considering they do have 25 employees that they don’t want to layoff. Additionally, I understand artists needing to be in a space that promotes creativity, but there are cheaper places that must be comparable that aren’t in literal Hollywood. It’s an unnecessary expense. On top of that, other people have already brought up that it was fairly crass to introduce this paywall, attributing it to the increased production costs, when the next planned “new series” is a reboot of an old Buzzfeed series in which people travel and eat expensive food. I’m not even talking about the personal expenses of Steven, Shane, and Ryan; what kind of car they drive or the cost of their wedding venue doesn’t matter on a business model basis.

But getting back to the patreon: again, I literally didn’t know they had one. I’m looking over their tiers— they have $5, $10, $25, and $100 — and for the most part they seem okay, although I think they have more to offer that wouldn’t necessarily cost them more. Ie, something that has baffled me for a while: the fact they don’t sell the mp3s of the Puppet History songs; they already exist and it doesn’t cost them anything additional because they don’t need to put it on physical media. Or maybe they do and they’re not marketing it similarly to how they weren’t overtly marketing their patreon?

And, okay, maybe they didn’t want to seem desperate — in the early days of Dropout and independent Drawfee, they both were very blatant in getting people to subscribe/join their patreon. As they should be. Desperation maybe doesn’t look cool and sexy, but it is earnest in a way that conveys equal effort that fans who can afford it would want to see. The fact that we weren’t getting rotating ten second clips of Steven, Shane, and Ryan asking people to join the patreon at the end of every video — even if its the same clip every three videos — is wild. And yes, the $25 tier includes a shoutout every 3 months on Watcher Weekly+ (which I don't quite understand what that is,) but the fact that they weren’t doing a quick post movie credits scroll of all the patreon names is, again, wild. Once you have that initial list, it’s not too difficult to add any new names that join and put that title overlay on top of, again, those nonexistent ten second clips of the three.

As others have already stated, it seems like an extreme mismanagement of their existing successful revenue streams, if they are actually struggling to pay all of their employees. Which goes into the philosophy part of this essay: don’t assume malice when it might just be incompetence. It’s something that I have to remind myself of often because I do get paranoid about people’s intentions sometimes and I have to check myself. Am I being overly suspicious of what might be just an honest mistake? Am I assigning ill will to an action just because it inconvenienced me?

Yes, of course, a lot of this situation could be misconstrued as straight up greed. But, also, Watcher is a relatively young company, helmed by three people who certainly don’t have experience running their own company:

They like to travel. They like to bring a full crew around with them. They’re renting out a shiny office in the heart of Hollywood where everyone knows is where real show biz happens. They’re adding more employees to the team because surely more people means better. And they want better productions values because the prettier the videos the more people will like them right?

It’s naive. It’s a level of inexperience combined with giving responsibility to officers whose main priority is to entertain. And if that means entertaining themselves and their staff, then they might not know the difference. It’s the kind of mistake that first time managers make—trying to prioritize fun over getting the job done. Prioritizing making friends with their employees rather than making sure the work the employees put in is equal to (or greater than) what you spend on them whether that is in paycheck or bringing them to cool locations for fun shoots. It’s a mistake anyone can make, it's just unfortunate that they made this mistake in front of millions of people. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s solely a greed induced cash grab.

But then comes the catch-22 of the philosophy—is it worse to assume incompetence than it is to assume malice? Or, in this case, greed. Especially for the heads of a company that holds the livelihoods of 25 employees in their hands. At what point does it not matter if it’s incompetence or greed if the end result is the same?

Is it better to think that Watcher knew about the various other business models of independent creators and just ignored the efforts put into achieving those successes or is it better to think that they didn’t know and just stumbled into one of the worst moves they could have done. Again, other people have mentioned that Great Mythical Morning—which Watcher has had multiple collaborations with—has managed to make the YouTube subscription/tier system work to the point that they can sustain themselves as well as spinoff channels. Is it incompetence or greed that led to Watcher thinking they could bypass that completely in less time and with less videos?

I’ve been at this mess of an essay for several hours when I should have been asleep. Ultimately I want to say, regardless of incompetence or greed… yes, Steven is CEO and yes he is ultimately the one who makes the final call but it is disheartening to see the pointed vitriol at Steven specifically and the infantilizing of Shane and Ryan in comparison. Either they’re all silly uwu boys who are messing around not knowing how to run a company, or they’re all complicit in a crass cash grab in an extremely busted economy.

I think what’s most frustrating to me in all this is that there were so many other channels and creators who have literally walked this path before them and, again, whether through incompetence or greed or arrogance, for them to just ignore it… It’s not betrayal because I don’t know them and so there’s no relationship to betray, it’s just so inefficient and convoluted that I don’t understand. Or, no, even if it was greed, it’s an incompetent greed because at least pure greed would have been pushing that patreon every second they could. Their ratio of YouTube subscribers to patreon members is less than 1% and I bet that’s because a lot of their audience, like me, literally didn’t know they had a patreon. I probably would have become a patreon member of theirs had I known earlier, ESPECIALLY if it included access to those Puppet History songs. Drawfee has half as many YouTube subscribers and nearly double the patreon members as Watcher. I’m just baffled, is all, and maybe by this point sleep deprived.

Anyway. That’s my, extremely late, completely unnecessary opinion of this situation.

Edit (several hours later after some sleep): I forgot to mention, because they did walk this back almost immediately, even before their "An Update" video, but I believe the original plan was to put EVERYTHING behind that paywall and pull their content from YouTube entirely. Which is, again, extremely baffling, because if ALL of their content is behind a paywall, how would they possibly gain new fans? Even if all of their current fans were able and willing to pay for their separate subscription streaming service, how would a brand new person even stumble on their content enough to want to subscribe if there wasn't a significant amount of "proof of value" free content on YouTube? Again, extremely baffling, and a level of incompetence that overshadows a "cunning" greed. But, like I said earlier, they did walk this decision back almost immediately. If I've misunderstood this and that was never their plan, please let me know, I don't want to be spreading misinformation in a situation that is already so convoluted.

#jacksgreyson #writing #nonfiction #essay #watcher #op-ed #youtube #drawfee #corridor digital #dropout #rocketjump #dungeons and daddies

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stayinhellevator · 3 days

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Parallels

"I love you but not in that way"

Synopsis: Love had found its way into Seokmin's heart, yet a different kind of love, unrequited and unspoken, lingered in yours.

Pairing: DK x fem!Reader

Genre: Soulmate AU/Angst/Unrequited Love

Word Count: 1890

Warnings: none (I think?!)

Playlist: Not In That Way ~ Sam Smith

"You may now kiss the bride."

A thousand times you had imagined this scenario; a thousand times you had planned your wedding with Seokmin; a thousand times you had wanted to be the bride that he was now holding in his arms and kissing so gently as if even a little pressure would break her; an uncountable times you had wished to be his soulmate. And you had spent almost half your life thinking about all the possibilities, all the outcomes and all the calculations of 'what ifs'.

Yet nothing could've prepared you for this moment; the final showdown. There were cheers of congratulations around you as the newly weds bowed in gratitude; everyone was happy; heck, even your parents were applauding in happiness but you couldn't.

God knows you couldn't. You didn't even know how you were able to conjure up the energy to go through the wedding when there was a bile building up in your throat. The weight of an invisible stone on your heart was dragging you at a rapidly growing rate and all you wanted to do was run away and hide in your room but right at that moment, your infuriatingly gorgeous and oblivious childhood best friend, Seokmin waved his hand in your direction, giving you his infamous bright smile that held your heart in a chokehold ever since you began to understand the concept of love and soulmates. A hand that you noticed was entwined with his soulmate's; nevertheless you did what you had managed to perfect around him and ignored the pang in your chest, smiling back at him.

As you watched him exchange pleasantries with the guests, alongside his wife, a tear finally managed to escape the confines of your eyes. This felt like an unfavorable ending of your favourite book; the one that you desperately wanted to change. Alas! Destiny, the author, wouldn't even let you appeal your case for you were never meant to be the main character of this story.

You had known this when your soulmark appeared on your tenth birthday and it seemed different from Seokmin's. You remembered crying in your mother's arms for, to the ten year old you, it didn't make sense that Seokmin and you weren't soulmates because of course you were; after all you were attached to the hip ever since you were born and you both loved each other, didn't you?

Turns out, you were the only rider of that romance train for Seokmin was happy that you two received your soulmarks and that there were people out there waiting for the two of you. He didn't seem to be upset that you didn't have identical marks; he never was. And that's when he first broke your heart.

But God were you unable to stop loving him when his very essence brightened up even the darkest corners of your mind. Even now, you weren't able to move your eyes off his figure, as he practically buzzed with joy, an energy you'd never seen in him; his eyes brimming with adoration towards his wife; his smile brighter than all of the chandeliers in the venue; his steps light and bouncy as if he was the wind itself.

Later in the night, in the safety of your room, when you're empty after pouring your heart out, you'd be disgusted at yourself for wishfully staring at a man who belonged with someone else, a married man, someone's soulmate but right now, you can't stop. You want to paint his picture forever in the back of your mind, for one last time. Then, never again.

Your heart constricted with all the love you had for this man, your best friend, the love of your life who had already put his heart in someone else's hands. How were you ever going to forget about him and move on?

"You alright?"

A hand placed itself on your shoulder and without even turning back, you knew Hansol's otherwise indifferent face was twisted with concern for you because he knew; had always known how down bad you were for Seokmin, even though he joined your duo years later. He always expressed his surprise as to how Seokmin could not know about your feelings; he was even convinced that Seokmin was aware but chose not to acknowledge it but who knows? You were never curious for the answers after all. It was embarrassing enough that even a stranger could detect your feelings for him but he couldn't.

"Do I look okay?"

An exhausted sigh was your reply as if he understood and matched your desolation and quietly stood beside you to watch the newly weds have their first dance. A constant throbbing in your head made you want to smash your head against a wall and knock yourself out but you stood quietly, fisting your palm, as if trying to ground yourself.

"Why does fate gotta be so cruel? It's even hurrying the time against us. It must really hate us huh?"

A nonchalant chuckle escaped him as he tried to sound unaffected but you knew him as well as he knew you, if not more and you turned to face him, a tick in his jaw as he tried to stay stoic.

"I've had all the time in this world with Seokmin, at least as much as I could've had, until I couldn't cheat the fate anymore but you have one last night. So, go on, don't waste it on me. I'll still be there in your life but she won't."

His head snapped towards you as his eyes suddenly watered, making you smile at him with all the empathy in your heart for the third of your trio. Who knew better than you how much he was hurting? He gulped his emotions down before nodding at you in something that would always remain between the two of you and you watched him escape the hall with his lover on his toes.

At least, one of you was having a good night.

"Did you really think you could escape the dance with the man of the hour? I'm really hurt."

Oh if only he knew what hurt was.

You could only follow him as he held you and guided you towards the dance floor, both of your movements as naturally flowing as they could because everything was easy with him. You two worked like two peas in a pod, like bread and butter.

"The man of the hour was too busy tonight and I didn't want to gatekeep him."

You swallowed the lump in your throat before replying to him, not wanting to ruin the happiest day of his life. His playful eyes shone with mirth, before twirling you and bringing you back around.

"I could never be too busy for my best friend, you should know that."

Ah! Of course, you should know that, shouldn't you?

Blinking back the building moisture in your eyes, you nodded in agreement before pressing your lips in what you could only, a smile.

"Are you happy Minnie? Was it everything you ever dreamt of?"

You asked gently, wanting a confirmation to appease your broken heart, though you knew, his answer would be futile, because his shining eyes already gave you the answers you were looking for. And just like that, his face broke out in a breathtaking smile that used to be your home, your refuge.

"I'm on top of the world, like I don't even have words to tell you how I'm feeling right now. If I went on to describe how happy I am today, it'll probably take years for me to accurately put my feelings into words."

His eyes moved from yours to his soulmate, as if unable to detach from hers as yours to his face, a cruel magnet truly; and his voice softened with so much love that you had desperately wanted for yourself all these years.

"She's so pretty, so divine, that I feel unworthy of her. I can't believe I get to love her as my soulmate. I can't imagine a life without her. How have I ever lived a life without her in it?"

The tears that you were holding back ultimately started flowing down your cheeks as you heard him. If only you could have half of this devotion, you'd be delirious. He loved her so much. God, how were you ever going to recover from his words that were permanently going to scar your memories.

"I don't even wanna find out. I have her and that's more than enough for me. She's everything that I've ever dreamt of and more."

He shook his head, as if bringing himself out of a trance and faced you, only to be concerned on seeing you crying. He cupped your face, wiping your cheeks, a small frown on his face and you immediately hit yourself in your head. How could you be so selfish and worry him on his wedding? Your feelings are yours alone and not his concern.

You broke your heart loving a man destined to love someone else and it was your burden to bear not his.

"Hey! What happened? Why are you crying?"

You shook your head trying to both shake off his concerns and mustering up some courage to answer him without breaking down in his arms.

"It's nothing I'm just so happy for you. I got emotional seeing you all grown up and married and so in love. I'm so happy that you're happy Minnie."

His eyes softened at your words and he immediately pulled you into a hug, still softly swaying to the music.

"I hope you find your happiness too. I'll be right there when you find your soulmate and get married and have lots and lots of kids with them."

"I hope so too."

You really did, it was wishful thinking but you really hoped for his words to come true. You pressed your face on his shoulders, hiding your cries and you tightened the hug just a little before taking a deep breath and patting on his back and stepping back from his hold.

"I've taken a lot of your time. Now go back to your wife."

You watched how his frowning face smoothened before he gave a small pat on your head and walked towards his wife and pulled her into a kiss.

You found comfort in the fact that even though Seokmin was not meant to be yours, he'd never truly be away from you. He might not love you but a part of you would always love him and your love for him was enough for you.

You took a shaky breath as you realised you were about to close a big chapter of your life and put a lock on it, only to never open it again.

Seokmin and you might not be soulmates but you were platonic soulmates and it was the one thing no one could snatch from you.

You gave a half hearted smile to your mother, who looked at you with a knowing look on her face, before walking out of the hall, content with the bittersweet truth of your life.

You could always love him from afar and that's a privilege no one could ever take from you. It was your burden to bear alone after all.

©stayinhellevator: Please don't repost, translate or copy my work on any platform.

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mimisempai · 1 day

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Not the same goodbye anymore

Summary

Aziraphale and Crowley have said goodbye many times in the past, but today, as he watches the Bentley drive away, the angel realises that now every goodbye will be different.

Notes

50 Types of Kisses - Writing Prompts

Kiss #46: A lingering kiss before a (long) trip apart.

On Ao3

Rating G - 902 words

Crowley glanced at his watch and sighed. There was no point in putting it off, it was time for him to go.

He said quietly, "Angel..."

Aziraphale nodded and replied, "Say no more, it's time for you to go, isn't it?"

They stood up at the same time and walked side by side to the door of the bookshop.

The demon turned to the angel and, taking her face between his hands, said softly, "The longer I delay, the harder it will be. Don't be sad, it's only a few days, you won't even have time to miss me".

Aziraphale replied in a slightly wry tone, "I know, you're only leaving for three days and yet it feels like a trip around the world."

Crowley stroked the angel's cheek with his thumb and replied softly, "I know, Angel, believe me, I know. I feel like I'm going away for a long time too."

Aziraphale had done his best not to show the melancholy he had felt at the thought of the demon's absence. He had told himself that he should be happy that Crowley was so passionate about his work at the planetarium.

It was just for some days.

They'd been apart for much longer, with no certainty of seeing each other again, which was not the case now.

But despite all this good reasoning, now that Crowley was about to leave in a few seconds, the angel found it hard to put up a front.

He wanted to put his hand over his mouth to stop the words coming out, but Crowley still held his face in his hands and the Angel's mouth was running faster than his brain so he couldn't help but blurt out, "Will you miss me?"

The demon gave a small smile and replied in a low voice, "I miss you already, Angel.

Then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the angel's in a tender kiss.

When he tried to pull away a fraction of a second later, he could not because Aziraphale's hands had caught his face and were pressing against him to make the kiss last. The demon didn't struggle, of course, and the kiss lasted a few more seconds.

When they finally broke apart, Crowley ran his thumb over the Angel's lips and said sheepishly, "I really have to go now, Angel.

Aziraphale, his throat tightening, nodded and walked out with the demon to accompany him to the car.

Once in front of the Bentley, Crowley planted a light kiss on the Angel's temple before getting behind the wheel.

Aziraphale waved at him through the window and, seeing his sad little smile, the demon couldn't resist and rolled down the window.

Poking his head out, he said to the angel with a half-smile on his lips, "One last one for the road?”

Smiling, Aziraphale leaned over and, after one last kiss on the demon's lips, said softly, "Have a good time, my love."

They looked at each other in silence for a few moments before the Bentley decided to take matters into its own hands and sped away.

Aziraphale, chuckling slightly, followed the car with his eyes until it disappeared around the corner.

"Hard to let him go, isn't it?"

The angel, who didn't really have the heart to deflect, replied softly to Nina, who had just arrived beside him, "You have no idea."

Nina nudged him with her shoulder and replied, "Oh, I think I have a little idea, you know, when Maggie decides to go on one of her trips in search of rare records. I may know she'll be back, I may know it'll only be for a short time, this little place she's got here..."

Nina tapped her chest before continuing, "remains empty, and the emptiness is felt until she's back. So, knowing your story, I can imagine... how it is for you."

Aziraphale nodded without answering, for Nina couldn't have described what he was feeling more accurately.

But at the same time, today was different from all the times he'd watched Crowley leave, not knowing when or if he'd see him again, not being able to say how he felt, never knowing how the demon felt.

Everything was different.

Crowley loved him and he loved Crowley.

They both knew it.

He knew that Crowley would be back in three days.

He knew the demon would miss him, just as he had made no secret of the fact that he would miss the demon.

So, sure, that little void Nina was talking about was there, in his chest, but it was bearable because he knew Crowley would be back soon to fill it again.

So instead of focusing on that void, he decided to focus on the perspective of the demon's return.

He turned to Nina and asked with a smile on his face, "So, Nina, what sweet treats are you serving at the cafe today?"

Nina threw on that little smile she always had when she understood a situation, put her arm around Aziraphale and led him to the coffee shop, giving him a detailed list of the day's pastries.

Three days later, when she saw the Bentley parked outside the bookshop, she thought that it was unlikely that the bookseller would be coming in for a pastry today, as he probably didn't need any comfort food.

His beloved was back.

The emptiness would be filled again.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story 🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Ineffable kisses series : here

Ineffable Husbands masterlist : here

Ineffable Growing Love - Series post S2

Part 1 Story 1-99

Part 2 Story 100-?

#good omens #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #ineffable boyfriends #aziraphale #crowley #good omens fanfiction #aziraphale x crowley #crowley x aziraphale #50 kisses

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ewanmitchelll · 1 day

Text

Imagine Arctic Monkeys’s songs (II): Fluorescent Adolescent.

Imagine you are Aegon’s ex who goes to his wedding… next to his brother, Aemond. What will result of this charming meeting (not to stay a different story)?

Warnings: (loosely?) based on this movie with Keanu Reeves and Wynona Rider.

Warnings 2: light reading, modern world, rom-com vibes.

***

• You used to get it in your fishnets. Now you only get it in your night dress. Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness. Landed in a very common crisis…

As you wait to fly to Dragonstone from King’s Landing airport, you still wonder why you are doing this to yourself. To accept Aegon’s invitation to his marriage to Miss Rhaella Velaryon, his cousin, feels like a complete exhibition of some lack of self esteem.

You think you’ve gotten over him, that you overcame the wounds of this relationship, but this doesn’t sound accurate, no. What you did in practice was stopping getting yourself drunk and going to parties where you felt like a sidekick character just to please him. Part of you admits that his breaking up with you did some good to you. You quit alcohol and started to lead a healthier lifestyle.

But now here you are. Waiting for the moment where you’ll hear a voice in the airport to call the passengers of the flight 321 (how original, you think) to get to their seats. And soon you will fly to see your ex-boyfriend marrying someone else.

As you wonder whether Aegon was really a good boyfriend, you don’t spot a taller, serious, cranky-faced man coming to your side. He is wearing a dark leather jacket and simple clothes, very appropriate for a two hours flight. The man is chewing a gun and is also in a nonchalant posture that annoys you for no reason.

“Would you please stop doing that?”

The silver haired man looks at you, somewhat puzzled by what you tell him.

“Excuse me, what?”

“You know. That.”

“What’s “that”?”

“The arrogant attitude as if you are standing there, contemplating many ways to bother people with your handsomeness.”

He could not help but laugh at your disastrous attempt of flirting. As you realize what you said, you get annoyed at yourself for your lack of social skills.

“If that is your way to compliment me, I appreciate it”, he chuckles. “But I don’t think this is the right way to get to someone.”

“Oh please.”

It comes out wrong, so wrong but you haven’t done this business for ages. Now that it occurs you as you contemplate the amusement behind this stranger man’s smirk, you notice he possesses lilac eyes.

A trait that only a certain family has.

Oh shit.

“You are a Targaryen”, you remark.

He looks rather bored at your observation.

“Indeed it looks so.”

“This means… you are going to the same flight as I? To Dragonstone?”

It then occurs you both an awkward perception.

“You are his brother, Aemond.”

“You cannot be…”, Aemond looks shocked. “Who…?”

“Y/N”, you sigh awkwardly. “His ex girlfriend.”

“Fuck”, is all he can say.

Thankfully the call for the flight interrupts this situation, but it appears that you are not meant to stay away of each for so long.

***

Aemond wishes he is somewhere else, but here he is, next to his brother’s ex girlfriend. You’ve got to be kidding me…

He watches as you struggle to open the bottle of water, wondering whether he should interfere since you haven’t asked for help.

Then, opting to ignore this awkwardness between you and him, he says:

“Need some assistance there?”

You shoot him a disdainful look, but what for? A few seconds later, you say:

“…Maybe.”

He chuckles, taking it and easily opening it before giving it to you. After a while, Aemond, too involved to let go of his curiosity, asks you:

“Why are you going to his marriage?”

Accepting that these two hours may be longer than planned, you sink in your seat, but take the thread offered.

“I need to put a closure in this.”

“He’s going to marry someone else who isn’t you. Shouldn’t this be a closure enough?”

You blush at his complete reasonable remark, unable to convince yourself otherwise.

“He invited me out of politeness and by the same reason I accepted it.”

“When someone does so out of politeness, my dear, it’s because it’s expected that you don’t take it.”

You tilt your head and Aemond seems to notice how nice is your y/c hair. He can certainly see how Aegon fell for you, though he’s not going to admit it.

“Oh please. What would you know about matters of etiquette being that arrogant, Mr Know-It-All?”

“Little wonder why Aegon broke up with you. This is a title far more appropriate to you, smart ass.”

And there you have it. For another hour and half you and him do not speak.

***

• Everything's in order in a black hole. Nothing seems as pretty as the past, though. That Bloody Mary's lacking a Tabasco. Remember when you used to be a rascal?

To you and Aemond’s dismay, your hotel room is next to his. Which means he’s going to be your room neighbor.

“Your heavy sigh is enough to let your distaste known, thank you very much”, you grumble, trying to avoid that unwelcoming sentiment of being unwanted.

“I did not say a word, barely so I sighed”, Aemond protests. “Goodness me, woman, not everything is about you.”

That being said, he walks impatiently through the door and you do likewise. But destiny is not over with you yet.

Aemond wishes you’d dress badly, to the point where your supposed beauty is omitted and he could have a reason to mock you. But his eyes linger at the dark, short dress you wear, noticing your well shaped curves… though stopping himself to lust after you even if your y/c hair is loose in cascade and your make up highlights the color of your eyes.

“Do I look weird?”, you ask, forgetting to disguise your broken pride.

“No, not at all”, Aemond answers you, surprised by what he is inquired. “Why’d you think so?”

“Because you are staring.”

Tonight, your former brother-in-law is looking rather attractive to you. He had got ridden of his long hair, having it cut short; he is wearing a nice polo white shirt and jeans that make him look fancy.

And you could not help yourself a surprising naughty thought at what would be like to ride him.

A thought you promptly dismiss, of course.

“Am I?”, he clears his throat. “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to. You are actually…”

Before he can say “beautiful”, to your disappointment he’s distracted by the presence of Aemond’s nephews. Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon, brothers of the bride.

“Nice to see you, Aemond”, so greets Jacaerys, and you swear you detect some irony behind his gallant words.

“The same, nephew. Looking strong I see”, Aemond smirks, wiping out the smug of the other’s face.

“I think”, you decide to intrude before this could end unwell for both parties, “that you should follow me in pursuing wine, Aemond. Good evening boys.”

As you lead the way out of trouble, Aemond raises his eyebrows at you.

“Really now, Y/N?”

“Yup. Aegon may be a rascal, but you have no reason to be either.”

Easily convinced by you, he pours some wine in his glass before taking a distant seat at the restaurant. Aegon is busy entertaining guests, and it’s when you spot Alicent arm-in-arm with a dark haired woman.

“That is her girlfriend”, you hear Aemond say when seeing where your curious eyes are wandering to. “My mother’s a lesbian. She had a huge crush on her stepdaughter and former childhood friend, Rhaenyra, my sister. But they never made it because Rhaenyra likes men.”

“Oh”, you blink. “I didn’t know that.”

“Aegon didn’t tell you the gossips of the family?”, Aemond muses sarcastically, placing a hand on his heart, feigning to be offended.

“I’m afraid he was too busy partying”, you say rather uncomfortable, taking the wine to your lips as you savor the sour taste of it. “This wine isn’t Dornish.”

“It’s not”, he agrees.

• Oh the boy's a slag. The best you ever had is just a memory and those dreams weren't as daft as they seem, my love when you dream them up.…..

Again silence hangs in between the two of you before Aemond gives you a look, studying you for a moment.

“He wasn’t a good boyfriend to you, was he?”, so he inquires after a while.

“No, he wasn’t. But I give him credit for trying.”

Aemond chuckles quietly.

“Kudos for doing the least.”

You smile at him. Perhaps Aemond isn’t as dull nor arrogant as you formerly judged.

“It appears I must engage in socially acceptable behavior”, says Aemond then. “To greet my brother and new sister-in-law and repeat expected speeches.”

“Expected only because you correspond to these expectations”, you nudge his sides.

“And do I have another choice on the matter?”, he scoffs.

“No one forced you to come, so don’t get at me for it.”

Somehow it surprises you both that these teasings do not end up in a clash of words. Aemond actually chuckles before conceding reason to you.

“That is very true. But I am a dutiful man, Y/N.”

Saying so, he moves away to greet his brother at last. You watch him go, already missing his company and the warmth of his presence.

The funny part about all of this is that, when looking at Aegon, you don’t actually miss him. And when looking at his bride, you feel rather oddly comfortable in getting at them to congratulate for the merry occasion.

Past is past, after all, and the aching of this ugly truth doesn’t seem to ache any longer.

***

• Flicking through a little book of sex tips, remember when the boys were all electric? Now when she's told she's gonna get it, I'm guessing that she'd rather just forget it. Clinging 'til I'm getting sentimental, said she wasn't going but she went still likes her gentlemen to not be gentle…

Aemond watches as you meet your former boyfriend with his now bride-to-be. Judging by your face and your body language, all goes well. However, there is still that expected discomfort as you greet them.

So attentive is he that he doesn’t see Helaena coming. She leans by his side, amused by what is going on right under her nose.

“She said she wasn’t going, but she went still.”

Aemond turns his eyes to his favourite sibling.

“How’d you know that?”

“We remained friends, Aem. Y/N is a really good person, Egg didn’t deserve her.”

“When does he deserve any relationship he’s in?”, Aemond snorts, partly playful, partly meaningful.

Helaena smirks.

“Don’t be mean, Aem. They look genuinely happy now, which is good. I never thought I’d see him settling down one day.”

Her brother doesn’t answer, eyes still glued in the odd trio. Miss Rhaella is very comfortable in her shoes. But of course she is, she has captured his heart. At what cost, though?

“How come they broke up?”

Helaena scoffs at him.

“Oh please. Don’t tell me you don’t know the reason why they are not together for some years.” And then she adds, after poking his sides. “Do I detect an interest in you, Aemond Targaryen?”

“Laena, darling. Often the wise in our family, don’t play the dumb now.” Aemond rolls his eyes. “I could never nurture any interest of the kind in my brother’s ex. Y/N is particularly irritating.”

And that is the last part you hear.

***

He doesn’t know why, but this prince who takes pride in never falling in love with anyone, nor ever chasing after a woman, is going after you.

You too cannot conceive the reason his words hurt you, but it takes little to comprehend that you’ve been vulnerable with this odd circumstance you spontaneously dragged yourself into.

“Y/N”, he holds you by your elbow, forcing you to look at him. “Didn’t mean to say what I said.”

You shrug your shoulders off.

“In the end you have a point, though. What kind of ex goes willingly to a wedding where she was only invited out of politeness? Besides, have you seen the embarrassed look in your mother’s face? She wasn’t expecting me there”, you scoff.

Aemond smiles at you, and you don’t like how it makes you feel—as if there’s hope in the horizon.

“I don’t think this is the case. She was probably expecting a scene. Not from you, of course, but most likely that Rhaella would be unnecessarily loud. Or even Aegon. Who knows? But definitely not you.”

That being said, walls are knocked down. It all settles for now.

“Well, you know what? I think I need some wine.”

“I take it”, so says Aemond. “It’s been a while.”

“Indeed it has”.

And you smile at each other.

***

The next day both of you are found in the same bed, except nothing really happened in the night before. You realize how nice it was to just cuddle him, that his scent was much fitter to yours… than Aegon’s. Such thought embarrasses you when you get back at your senses.

You panic internally and try to disassociate of his arms, albeit unwillingly. It’s when he opens his eyes.

Aemond too is shocked when promptly observing how one got tangled with the other… without necessarily having the need of taking each other’s clothes off. This perception sort of annoys him, though.

“Where do you think you’re going?”, he asks in a voice that gives you shivers. “It’s fucking early.”

“I best find my way back to my room”, you say, hoping not to sound too awkward.

“Mm”, but of course he cannot take it for himself. “Last night was good, wasn’t it?”

“It was”, you give him a soft smile, but something about your eyes makes Aemond smile at himself. “I just don’t think prudent if we are caught. People can talk.”

“Let them talk”, he gently pulls you back and you effortlessly fall into his arms again. “I think we could go for a horseback riding today before lunch.”

You smile at yourself. Aemond spots it and he smiles too.

“We could. Though I’m afraid I don’t do horseback riding.”

“I could teach you.”

“Do I detect malice in your speech, Aemond Targaryen?”

For the first time in many moons, this bad boy is genuinely brought to laughters.

“It really didn’t occur me at all, but if you’re up to it…”

You punch his arm playfully. But for a while you two just stay like this, lying in bed, sharing laughters as if you have been the best of friends.

***

“I hate how I feel like an adolescent again. I thought I’ve done this already. Countless times”, you remark.

It’s nine in the morning and you two are dressed like going to a picnic, not a fancy breakfast to celebrate the union of the families Targaryen & Velaryon. Maybe it’s not of either interest to participate it. Besides, the landscape is far more inviting than dealing with posh relatives.

The hotel is surrounded by nature. Large trees are spotted above a green hill, surrounded by lakes and some wild animals that every now and then stop by. Not far from it, is this large, crimson white house rent by the Targaryens to celebrate the marriage of Aegon and Rhaella. The said event will happen only the next day since the couple are very fond of celebration.

Uninterested in these endless festivities, you and Aemond are heading to the top of the hill carrying with nothing other than wine and bread, perhaps some fruits too.

"And here we are", says Aemond, surprisingly in a good mood.

You two sit on the grass and its your former brother-in-law who opens the wine bottle. You two share it as it is, with no need to use glasses for the purpose of savouring the red, warm liquid.

"It is a shame we haven't been acquainted properly", you muse after a while. From where you two are, you could still spot Mrs Hightower and her lover receiving the guests alongside Mrs Velaryon, who, you seem to notice, is accompanied by a dark, curled haired man who doesn't strike you as Mr Velaryon.

"Eh, I was a little busy when you were with my brother", and when following your curious gaze, Aemond smirks and adds: "That is Mr. Strong, by the way."

"Busy? With whom?", you tilt your head, eyes now locked with his purple ones. "I feel as if I'm missing something here."

Aemond cackles before lying on the grass. As he's on his elbows, you hate how your eyes scan his frame, taking notice of his body, his part-opened legs under an old pair of jeans and a random comfortable shirt that shows some of his well build muscles.

Fuck.

You lean to grasp a few grapes before suddenly finding interest in the cloudless skies.

"Well, that is Harwin Strong", says Aemond, ignoring the first part of the question you asked him. "He is my sister's lover."

"Oh."

"Oh, indeed. Where were you when our family messed up?"

"I have no idea, maybe we were busy breaking up", you shrug your shoulders.

Now you miss the long gaze Aemond casts at you. He notices your shapely legs, well reinforced by your blue velvet shorts. A mischievous thought occurs him at the thought of removing these shorts. Containing a sigh, but not holding back such sinful thoughts, he notices you have nice, firm breasts just by the stare he gives your blouse.

Desire seems unbearable. Useless to fight against, but he stops the urge. He must. For his sake.

"You deserve someone better."

And your gaze meets his.

"My brother was unworthy of you", and he, a careful, wayward man, is drawn to you.

You, likewise, are inclined to get closer to him. Is it too early to get drunk and do things you might regret? Where is conscience when you need it?

"And who is worthy of me? You?"

Aemond side smirks at you. You two are so close to bound in deeper waters.... when someone else comes in to ruin all, of course.

It's Alys Rivers, his ex-girlfriend.

***

•You’re falling about. You took a left off Last Laugh Lane. You were just sounding it out. No you're not coming back again.

You are quick to leave the scene. Tired to be someone else’s sidekick character, you know it’s the time to part and be the protagonist of your own.

It’s been too much humiliation. First to put a closure with a man who is marrying someone else. Second… to be able to fall for his brother in a matter of, what, a day and HALF?

You realize no one is missing you anyway. So you are leaving before ceremony even begins.

As for Aemond, it’s all going worse than planned. He wishes you’d have more time to spend together. But, in honesty, he doesn’t blame you for parting like this.

He never mentioned that he and Alys were not entirely… what word could capitalize it? Untogether? Does this word even exist?

Regardless. He’s taken by a strange urge of going after you.

“…you’re not even listening to me!”, the protestations of his now ex girlfriend are annoying him.

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”, he responds rather coolly. “You’ve left me in balance for a while and now you think you can take me back? I don’t think so. Farewell, darling Alys.”

Saying so, he’s not wasting his time. These are crazy days, one might judge, where long relationships end unexpectedly and short ones may begin out of the blue.

Or perhaps not so out of the blue…

***

You are about to get in the cab when Aemond gets to you.

“Hey”, and once again he holds your wrist, thus making you looking at him. “Don’t go.”

“I can’t stay here”, you sigh dramatically. “You have unfinished business with Alys. I mean, been there, done that. Not really in the mood to rerun this movie.”

“No, this is untrue. Fuck, you are the most interesting girl I’ve met and look at me playing the fool here. Always the indecisive and vindictive, I want something new.”

Aemond doesn’t know where this urge comes from, but, unlike his brother, he is not willingly to let go of you so easily.

“And when this new goes away”, you counter argue him. “What then?”

“I am not leaving you. I am not Aegon”, he says rather anxiously. “Allow me to get to know you better, Y/N. We are going through this shit together.”

You tilt your head, but as if to shush any remaining doubts, like the adolescent he never was, Aemond pulls you against him and finally kisses your red lips.

***

It’s the wedding day. You are elegantly dressed in a pink gown that reinforces your curves and shows some collarbone. Your y/c hair is tied in a braid Helaena’d done it and you are wearing a pair of emeralds over your skin.

But you lose your breath when you see him, elegantly dressed in a black suit with a green tie. His hair purposely messed, he’s every inch the sobriquet he proudly wears.

Bad boy prince.

When his gaze meets yours, both of you know this day will be no good to either of you.

“Ready to be my partner?”

When your hands intertwine with his, so is your destiny for once and all locked with Aemond’s. One smile, one kiss. And what is meant to be a funeral is turned into something more beautiful for this unexpected couple.

#ewan mitchell #aemond targaryen #house of the dragon #aemond targaryen x female reader #aemond targaryen x y/n #house targaryen #Aemond Targaryen x you #Arctic Monkeys #Fluorescent Adolescent #rom-com fic #rom com fic

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chiscribbs · 1 day

Note

Asking some writers/artists I follow:

Is there anything in your fic/comic that you as the author know about, but won't end up in the actual story?

Hmmmm... I have a lot of little moments from the Grown Apart cast's individual upbringings that are kinda floating around in my head, but I have no idea yet if they'll make it into the comics. So, I'm not sure if those count. There are a few little canon details that I haven't figured out how to include in the comics just yet, though. Such as:

Donnie speaking in a posh English accent...but only some of the time - mostly when he's not with his family or if he's trying to impress someone. Reason being: Donnie doesn't naturally talk like Big Mama (though he may have adopted a tinge of her inflection with certain words or vowels), it's mostly something he puts on intentionally to sound more...closely related to her? It's become a habit, and he doesn't always realize when he's doing it anymore, unless the others point it out. But it disappears the moment he gets too worked-up/excited about something.

Because Mikey spent so much time looking for ways to occupy himself while Leo was off causing mischief with his friends, he has a wide range of obscure talents & skills, many of which I'll probably never end up showing in canon because they're not particularly relevant to the plot. For example: - Guitar playing - Card stacking - Cup stacking - Solving a rubix cube in under 3 minutes - Painting/writing with his toes - Ballet (beginner level, but he's working on it) - Making music with water glasses - Yo-yo tricks - Acrobatics - Silk flying - The ancient art of the Japanese tea ceremony - Crochet - Playing Chopsticks on his shell (with chopsticks)

That's all I've got off the top of my head right now. Unless you're referring to things like "ideas that were originally going to be part of the canon, but got scrapped somewhere along the way." There's a LOT of those, lol. Some of which I might still end up sharing at some point, because I illustrated a few of them early on when I was doing story beats, and I like the illustrations despite them not being accurate anymore.

Others, I don't necessarily want to expose just yet, because they might still end up getting used somewhere? Maybe in this story or maybe in a different one entirely, who knows. I like to keep "scrapped" ideas in my back pocket just in case I decide to come back to them later down the line.

#You have no idea how badly I've been wanting to make that thing about Donnie's accent known but could NOT figure out how for the life of me #Like - it's a detail that I personally love but how do I show it in comic format without the dialogue sounding clunky??? Asdfghj #grown apart au (rottmnt)#rottmnt #rottmnt au #asked and answered #friendlyneighborhoodterrapin #artistnotes #donatello hamato #rottmnt donnie #michelangelo hamato #rottmnt mikey

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jujumin-translates · 2 days

Text

★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 4 - Newborn Fleur Award

Chairman: “We would like to now begin the New Fleur Award Board of Directors press conference. Thank you for taking the time to join us.”

Chairman: “To start, board members Yukio Tachibana and Reni Kamkizaka will talk about the policies of the New Fleur Award.”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Sakuya: What kind of policies do you think they’re gonna announce?

Izumi: I didn’t look into any of the details, so I have no idea.

Sakyo: Maybe something regarding the selection process will be different from the Fleur Award in the past.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Yukio: “New Fleur Award Board of Directors board member, Yukio Tachibana. Thank you for your time.”

Yukio: “I would like to explain to you more about the New Fleur Award.”

Yukio: “First, one major change to the New Fleur Award’s selection process will be the introduction of a ranking system.”

Yukio: “The current method of selecting nominees via the choice of the Board of Directors will be abolished, and all theater companies that enter will be able to participate.”

Yukio: “The ranking positions will go up and down in accordance with the accumulation of two different types of points.”

Yukio: “Theater Votes, which will be cast by audience members who go to see plays in person at a theater, and SNS Votes, which will be cast by audience members who watch via live stream.”

Yukio: “For the sake of fairness, Theater Votes will be worth more points than SNS Votes, which are easier to count.”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Izumi: WHAT!?

Sakyo: A ranking system, huh… audience ratings will be more important than ever now.

Homare: In addition to that, it will require audience members to vote.

Tenma: So whoever’s got the crazier fans has an advantage, huh?

Banri: And it ain’t just about the SNS Votes either, right?

Itaru: If you’ve got good social networking skills, you could get trending and snag all the votes in one go.

Juza: So what you’re sayin’ is that we’re gonna have to fight for ‘em like we’ve never fought before…

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Yukio: “It will be held once every two years.”

Yukio: “The first year will be divided into four periods, or quarters. The rankings will be tabulated every quarter in order to determine the top ten theater troupes.”

Yukio: “In the second year, the top ten troupes will compete in the finals and the winner will be awarded the New Fleur Award.”

Yukio: “The bonus prize is still ten million yen, as it always has been.”

Yukio: “The venue will be a brand new theater that is currently under construction. More of the details will be announced at a later date.”

Yukio: “Full transparency was of the utmost importance regarding this change.”

Yukio: “The winner of the New Fleur Award will not be selected by some random board members, but will be voted on by a larger audience.”

Yukio: “Each and every theater company will have a fair and equal chance to win the Fleur Award.”

Yukio: “The purpose of this is to bring life to the entirety of the world of theater by putting both old and new theater companies on a level playing field, and by encouraging a larger audience to participate.”

Yukio: “By introducing a ranking system, a wide variety of people will be involved in the selection process for the New Fleur Award.”

Yukio: “While we’ve increased our transparency, there may be some forms of unfairness that we’ve never encountered before.”

Yukio: “As the Board of Directors, we intend to take each of these instances seriously if they are to arise.”

Yukio: “While being exposed to criticism and the public opinion may make you feel anxious, and you may fail…”

Yukio: “We want to create a whole new Fleur Award with all of the people involved in theater.”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Izumi: Dad really has changed…

Sakyo: In a way, it’s the Yukio-san thing to do. He’s demolished the entire Fleur Award system and rebuilt it from the ground up.

Tasuku: Up until now, each theater company has been ranked based on how long they’ve been active and how recognizable their name is, but that’s finally changing.

Chikage: With past Fleur Awards, we all sort of had some idea of what theater companies were likely to win, but from now on, it’ll be much more unpredictable.

Itaru: Plus any number of new theater companies can join the fight.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Reni: “To continue, I will now present the detailed schedule.”

Reni: “Entries for the Fleur Cup, which will determine who will be in the running for the New Fleur Award, will open at the end of the press conference being held today.”

Reni: “There will also be a pre-voting period to allow people to get an understanding of the Fleur Cup system.”

Reni: “The pre-voting period will begin tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. Only SNS Votes will be accepted during this time, and the rankings will be announced a week later.”

Reni: “Now, please note that this pre-voting period is only a trial period to allow everyone to become acquainted with the process of the Fleur Cup.”

Reni: “The ranking results from this will have no effect on the final selection of the Fleur Cup in any capacity.”

Reni: “The final selection will begin at 7:00 a.m. on the day following the end of the pre-voting period. From that point on, the two types of votes will be available: Theater Votes and SNS Votes.”

Reni: “Thereafter, the rankings will be announced every three months. After a year has passed, the top ten troupes will be selected to participate in the finals.”

Reni: “More details regarding the finals will be announced at a later date--.”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Manager: W-W-W-What are we going to do!? We need to enter as soon as possible…!

Manager: Where’s the entry form? I’ll have to line up outside the Board of Directors’ office first thing in the morning…

Itaru: Who even accepts written applications anymore?

Chikage: They just announced the Fleur Cup website. It seems like entries will be sent there after filling out the required information.

Sakuya: And then the rankings will be announced a week later…?

Tsuzuru: So the current place of the troupe will be announced outright, huh…

Banri: It’s interestin’, ain’t it? I’m lookin’ forward to seein’ where the other troupes place.

Sakyo: The press conference as a whole seems to be getting a lot of attention. The voting turnout itself could be significant.

Citron: There is no need to worry! Our fans will surely vote for us!

Yuki: Letting just any theater company participate me~ans that people who created a theater company on nothing but a whim can participate too.

Tasuku: So there’s no question of activity or personal history, got it.

Kazunari: Maybe if we can get some attention, we can get to the top of the rankings.

Tsumugi: But this pre-ranking won’t affect the final selection, and even if it did, it would probably only be temporary, right?

Homare: However, when it comes to rankings, people are going to be made uneasy, no matter the outcome.

Izumi: We’re never going to know what the results are if we don’t enter, so let’s just start with that!

Omi: Right. The rice is just about done, so why don’t we have dinner now?

Kumon: Yeah~!

*Doorbell rings*

Izumi: ?

Manager: Yes, ye~s. Who is it~?

*Door opens*

Izumi: Who could it be at this hour?

*Door slams*

Manager: Awahwahwah! Everyone, we’ve got some very important guests…!

Izumi: Huh?

Yukio: Good evening.

Reni: Sorry to bother you at this hour. We’ll be on our way soon.

Izumi: Dad and Kamikizaka-san!?

Misumi: It’s like you came outta the TV~.

Yukio: The press conference was being held at a venue nearby, so we thought we’d drop by.

Yukio: After all, I won’t be able to show my face around here so easily in a short while.

Izumi: Huh?

Reni: In addition to this being his own former theater company, his daughter is now the one in charge of it. You’d likely be suspected of collusion.

Izumi: I see…

Sakyo: You really are serious about changing both the Fleur Award and its Board of Directors, huh?

Yukio: I am. With this, no one should have to grieve anymore. I want the future of the theater world to be brighter.

Itaru: Well, but it’s still getting darker in other ways.

Muku: Rankings… will it really be okay… what if we suddenly start getting backlash and get canceled on social media and no one votes for us…

Kumon: Or like, what if there’s a system error and only MANKAI Company’s votes are deemed invalid…!

Juza: All we can do is shut our mouths and wait to be sentenced.

Azuma: Fufu, you’re saying we’re going to be sentenced as if we’re criminals.

Tenma: You’re all overthinking, nothing’s set in stone yet. Jeez.

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

#a3!#a3! translation #sakuya sakuma #tenma sumeragi #banri settsu #reni kamikizaka #yukio tachibana #sakyo furuichi

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simsi45 · 3 days

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The Sims 4 Amber House Pack - EARLY ACCESS RELEASE!

youtube

Oh...my...GOD!!! I can't believe this is actually happening....

After 3 years of hard work, I am here to welcome everyone to:

The Sims 4 Amber House Pack!

It's time to create your own mission style dream house, with this collection of 345 brand new and hella cool build/buy mode items, inspired by Dontnod's "Life is Strange: Before the Storm" game.

EARLY ACCESS: You can get the pack right now, on my PATREON on the 3-5$ tiers, or wait for the 12th of May for the public release!

Please read EVERYTHING included in the post as it contains useful information about the pack!

DISCLAIMER: Simsi45 or The Sims 4 Amber House Pack is NOT affiliated or associated with Electronic Arts, Square Enix, Deck Nine or Dontnod in ANY way. This is a purely fanmade pack made by me, a fan of both games that wanted to get the best of both worlds.

FEATURES:

345 new items (including sofas, tables, decor, windows, doors and much much more!)

Search for "amberhouse", "lis", "simsi45" to find most of the items in the build/buy catalog.

Custom original names and descriptions. (the best I could come up with :P)

Tons of custom recolors (based on original textures) to mix and match items more easily.

Heavy modification on original meshes and textures, including english text turned into simlish.

Everything has been playtested thoroughly.

Included are a couple of easter egg items from The Sims 2 that I thought fit the theme well.

New lot I made showcased in the trailer and pics (found in the gallery under my tag @simsi45_mods) a recreation of Rachel Amber's house.

ABOUT THE LOT:

The lot will be eventually uploaded in the gallery once it passes its finishing stages. You will be able to find it in the gallery under my EA id: @simsi45_mods. I will update you all once it becomes available.

NOTES:

~ The pack is in an EARLY-ACCESS STATE! I have dedicated a lot of time to test everything but I'm a team of just a single person. If you find any issues please let me know so I can take a look.

~ Because of the amount of items the size of the pack is quite big. I tried my best to make everything as compact as possible with the final size being 1.5 GB of required free space.

~ The majority of the meshes and textures of these items are ripped straight from the LIS: Before the Storm game, and then each individual item (both mesh and textures) has been heavily modified and edited to fit and function properly within the Sims 4 game's engine. That's why some items will look identical to the original game, some look somewhat different, and some are brand new meshes I made using the original items.

~ Some of the original ripped meshes' poly counts were WAY too high so I had to lower the polygons so The Sims 4 wouldn't explode when filling a lot with them. I lowered the polygons and edited most of the items as much as possible without compromising their original look too much. In other words I tried to find the best balance between looks and performance and after lots of testing on my moderate PC system, I can confirm the game runs super smoothly on my end.

BACKSTORY ABOUT THE PACK (no spoilers):

This pack started with an idea I got back in 2017 when I first played Life Is Strange Before The Storm. When visiting the Amber house, I immediately fell in love with it as I am huge fan of the craftsman architectural style, it's literally all I'd want my dream house to be. The art team has done an incredible job on it, and as I personally find the art style of the Life is Strange series and The Sims 4 to fit very well with each other, I wanted to make these assets available for The Sims 4. Of course back then this all seemed impossible, however a few years later in 2020 during quarantine I revisited the idea as it had been stuck on my wishlist ever since.

To make a long story short, this project has been in the works for about 3 years now, and after a lot of hard work, head scratching and quite a few sleepless nights I managed to overcome all the obstacles I came across (which were a lot mind you) and I'm honestly hoping you'll be as pleased with the results as I am. Seriously this exceeded my expectations as it started as a small little pack for my personal use, to what I'd consider an expansion pack's (or even more) worth of build/buy content.

INSTALLATION:

Due to the size of the pack I had to split it up into multiple parts. You will need a .RAR extractor unpack it. More specifically:

1 -> Download ALL 6 parts of the pack and put them ALL in the same folder. 2 -> Right click the 1st part .RAR file named "Simsi45 - The Sims 4 Amber House Pack.part1" and click "Extract Here" 3 -> Once that's finished a package file will appear, this is the entire pack and you can now move that into The Sims 4/Mods. Simple as that!

CREDITS & THANKS:

~Dontnod, Square Enix, Deck Nine for the original meshes & textures ripped from Life is Strange: Before the Storm that were used to create most of the items.

~EA for some meshes & textures used to convert some items from The Sims 2.

Special thank you to all the patreon members that stuck with me throughout me developing the pack. Although not many I really appreciate every single one of you for the support you've given me and for sticking around!

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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 9 months

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Ask and you shall receive (a sneak peak of what's to come)

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #mdzs au #homestuck #I genuinely do have troll designs for the major characters of mdzs adn thoughts pertaining to their hemospectrum #I honestly thought ppl would start throwing holy salt at me at the mention of homestuck but the enthusiasm is super motivating!#With that said; Thank you all so much for the support with the hollow knight crossover #Even people who have never heard of hollow knight have been so kind (go buy and play hollow knight; the aesthetic and story are amazing)#More bug doodles and comic are ahead! I'll try and space them out between comic updates.#More thoughts will come later but for now...allow me to leave you with this:#Non-homestucks may see the blue and red and go 'aw blue-red ship how cute' while those who know might realize exactly what im putting down #namely that this version of wwx is *very* interested and persistent about getting lwj to spend time with him.#Lwj lives in a very insular indigo colony and isn't fully aware of the differences in life span between hemocasts (yet).#But wwx is. So he's driven to live life to the fullest! This would also drive him to be way more self-sacrificing.#Since his life is so small compared to everyone else he loves anyways. That purple isn't just aesthetic either.

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thetardisisnotourdivision · 9 months

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I can't fucking believe that I procrastinated my gender for like. A good three years.

#Like in fairness I was in an incredibly abusive environment already #Questioning my gender was the last fuckin thing I needed so I was just like “that's a problem for later”#Butttttttttt... Now I've got no idea what I'm doing #Like I've cut my hair??? I like looking like a boy????#But I also know that a few months ago I was straight up wearing floor length skirts on the daily and braiding my hair with flowers??????#and my definition of “boy” and “man” is so inherently fucked up bc of the abuse that I'm unwilling to actually use those words???#And I chose the name I use for a reason as a promise (long story) but it's really feminine????#And it'd be nice if people would be ok with using two different names for me if it turns out I am genderfluid but?????#They almost certainly won't??????#Like most of them refuse to use my chosen name anyway and I'm just. To polite to correct them.#no I'm not canadien I'm british #Anyway help?#Bc I realised all this the other day LITERALLY AN HOUR before I went on stage and almost had a complete breakdown??????#good news is there's this trans boy in my performing arts group and he was so nice and supportive that I didn't cry in the end #much anyway but still?????? I procrastinated my fucking gender????????? And now I'm fuckin confused???????#Also I can now cosplay one of my OCs #So that's cool #Remember the name Becky Roberts guys #Like if I am trans for genderfluid or whatever it'll help next year with The Plan (which I may elaborate on if asked)#but also???? My parents still refuse to accept that I'm a lesbian if I tell them “yo I periodically become a boy”#They'll probably yell at me at BEST #“that's not a real thing!!!” NEITHER IS YOUR FAÇADE OF A HAPPY FAMILY BUT YOU BELIEVE IN THAT #*ahem* anyway yeah I'm struggling if anyone has any advice pls help #Oh and I've only told like one person I've cut my hair and I'm meeting up with a load of friends on Sunday #Bwhahahhahahahhah #help me #tw abuse mention #queer community

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aph-japan · 1 year

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{J.P.N Fan-Made Horror roleplaying (rpg) Game} Hetalia Fox Tales ~ QUOTES + "PERSONIFICATIONS" vs. "HUMANS" + "DEATH" vs. "Disappearance"

"SO, I was thinking, {to BRING 'Gilbert' back...} - SPAIN

(Note: "Rufus" is a 'secret' spoiler character that shows up mid-game. Jia Long = H.K. {Yes others also Cameo if not have scenes}; others are human charas, other main charas etc.)

{Netherlands}

"The 'PERSONIFICATION' does not have to be 'KIKU HONDA' either."

(I'm coming back to this comment, but continue on...)

While the "lore" (and handling of H.W.S's) isn't perfect, all I'm saying here IS, if you like pondering the lore of what "personifications" means along with horror r.p.gs involving time-loops and mythological stuff and which basically acts as a (un-official - these are un-related fan-series) parallel to "HetaOni" except somewhat in reverse; (And Yet Not Completely!)

You all will probably be interested in watching "Hetalia Fox Tales", which is now fully and completely 'subbed'!

(And yes, the game itself, from 2k16, is 'completed'!)

Caps by @aph-japan Credit to DinoSlayer235 who Edited + Subbed from C.N. script {DO NOT re-post / claim as your own without Permission} (Please ASK to Use!) {The play-list is linked below - follow to direct link!}

Warning: It is still a HORROR R.P.G. There will be lots of eventual blood-splatters imagery; "Sound" of blood can also be heard often in later parts, notably well within even the first few parts.

Basic {Starting} Summary: The Nations are all visting (or planning to arrive at) {Kiku}'s location; {Not the 'main house', but Kiku's 'hosting'} Kiku seems to have also "invited" them for something. After a night of telling "scary stories", strange events begin happening. They all (+Kiku) tried retiring to their rooms, but... It would appear the "mansion" of ""Kiku""'s contains the "Spirit" that Kiku talked about from within Kiku's "Tale". Moreover, not much later on, "Romano" suddenly appears. He joins the group inside the mansion, after managing to find the way inside. "Antonio", who was trapped outside trying to join them as well, can't immediately get inside the mansion... (It uses graphics + a turn based battle system very similar to HetaOni. {Down to almost exact same 'attack names' in many cases} Thus, it might look a little outdated there; Please remember this is from around 2k16.)

youtube

(Check comments to see if I link to further references!)

#historical hetalia #hetalia fox tales #honda kiku #hetalia rpgs #hetalia lore #hetalia timeline #hws ensemble #(Tentative 'no rb' post for now but I may lift it if it looks like there's interest in this)#(I'm not tagging main tag in this and I can't tag Everyone)#(There's actually a lot more context the story goes into on this with buildup from different charas involved but I might cap more later)#(maybe I'll let the caps here also speak for themselves)#(I didn't expect to see this come up in Y.T algorithms when it did but negl I'm pretty surprised to see a completed fan r.p.g)#(A bunch of side charas have smaller supporting roles in later parts!)#(There is not much ship stuff just to note but I would say it leans heaviest towards)#implied fruk #(even 'FrUK' is based in mainly their 'canon' scenes and it makes an effort to acknowledge the dynamic)#hetalia fox tails spoilers

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charaunofficial · 1 year

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Mod is this Dessmods december? Or your own version of her

(Nope! Dessmod is super cool but very obviously has an idea for what she's up to in their universe. This is my own :)

Honestly I think the only blog that, of those I've talked to, could be considered a part of this blog's canon would be Memo (and we have talked about it a bit) but iirc they still haven't made a solid decision on it and honestly I respect that! So for now, I am the one and only blog for this continuity, and it'll likely stay that way. I'm a bit finicky about that just because I do have a whole story in mind, and sorting out the lore and everything with someone I don't know that well is just a hassle I don't want to deal with right now, mostly because I don't have a ton of spare time.)

#ooc #i may be a bit more open to others wanting to be a part of the same continuity later but it really does require me to know you more than #just like. asking‚ yknow? I'm a bit of a prude in a lot of ways and that'd come into play as well #so. for now it's just me!#and I mean to be fair there was a bit where I talked with avem about linking our continuities toward the beginning of this blog #but ultimately we decided that it'd probably be best if we were separate partially because of differences we'd already created in our voids #and also a bit because even though we all do talk to each other. that'd be a lot of people working out one world's lore fjdnbfksjfk #like. it would've been me‚ avem‚ biscia (Sans mod)‚ papyrus mod‚ AND Toriel mod #and also emrys (Asgore mod) and I think Emerson (Mettaton mod)?#like. that's so many people yall #and I'd be fine with it but also. so many people #and we're all adults and have our own schedules and lives and timing things together with that would be #yeah. anyway okay rambling over! long story short I am my own continuity and that is very unlikely to change. Memo is the one exception.#clear? cool!

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deus-ex-mona · 2 years

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MAKE A HOLIDAY: Epilogue

well... this marks the end of the fruity thtottle adventure~?

previous part (chapter 7)

MEGU: Okay, here’s a skip! Skipping YUI, it’s now RIO’s turn!

YUI: Oi, hold it! I was just about to throw four cards down!

DAI: Huuh~? Does a rule that allows you to put a few cards down at the same time even exist in this card game?

YUI: It does! Wait, huh? Maybe it’s a local rule? Either way, aren’t you being way too cruel by skipping my turn?!

DAI: Idiooot. Games are more fun when we’re merciless to each other.

RIO: Reverse.

DAI: Whaaat?! But it’s my turn!

RIO: But it’s more fun when we’re merciless to each other, right?

YUI: Nice one, RIO! It’s my turn again… Wait, I can’t put any cards down… I’ll pass.

MEGU: Yup, yuuup! I’m putting a card down~.

MEGU: …Y’know, doesn’t it feel like it’s been a really long time since we last did something like this~?

YUI: Right? I can’t remember when the last time we had time off in the evenings was.

DAI: The choreography of my dance solo needs to be checked later, so I’ll leave the checking to you, IV.

MEGU: Ah, that sounds nice. I wanna do it too! Can I, IV?

IV: Of course.

RIO: IV, you said that you wanted to spend some time with everyone, but… are you really fine with spending it like this?

IV: Yeah, this is perfect.

RIO: That’s good, then. Though, I have something to check with you regarding the live…

DAI: Same here. I’ve drawn rough sketches of the costumes for our next live.

IV: You work really fast, don’t you? Let me see them later, okay?

YUI: Come to think of it, I wanted to try writing lyrics, so I’ve written some down.

MEGU: Ehh. I reallyyy wanna see them!

YUI: Not now! I’m not done with them yet.

IV: How interesting. As for the song… what do you think about co-writing it with RIO?

RIO: That’s not a bad idea.

MEGU: Ehh, that sounds niceee. I wanna do something like that tooooo!

DAI: But you’re already in charge of the choreography.

MEGU: But I wanna try something new toooooo! Ah, how ‘bout this! I wannaaaa do an MC corner or something!

YUI: Lemme join in on that kinda thing too, yeah?

IV: Then, let’s talk about the live once this game ends, okay?

MEGU: Somehow, this kinda reminds me of when we were fooling around in IV’s hospital ward.

DAI: You’re talking about the times when all of us would visit him to check in, yeah?

YUI: But those were less of check ins, and more of visits to play around, right?

DAI: You’re the only one who thinks that way, though?

MEGU: Exaaactly, you’re the one who aaalways brought in a microphone to sing.

MEGU: What a turn-off.

YUI: Huuh?! But you’re the one who was always yelling in the ward?!

DAI: You guys were the ones who always got us scolded each and every time, weren’t you?

RIO: Well, you all were going against the visitor rules of the hospital…

MEGU: But there’s no doubt in my mind that I was visiting him because I was worried about him.

IV: Haha, you didn’t seem to be worried, though.

RIO: In the end, regardless of the scolding we received, we ended up fooling around again immediately after, right?

YUI: Nothing can stop us when we’re all together, yeah?

DAI: What’s with that? How lame.

YUI: Oi!

IV: (They haven’t changed a bit from how they were back then…)

MEGU: I don’t wanna get scolded anymore, so please don’t get hospitalised again, okay~?

IV: Got it.

Every time all of them laughed together, IV found himself thinking that, as long as he was together with those members, they would be able to create history in the future…

That thought still had not changed a bit. Therefore, he could not afford to stop yet.

#the ftiv ft. iv ivent #fedora translations4 #just honeypre things #man i spent like 10 min trying to piece together the last sentence h e l p ಥ‿ಥ #i'm gonna queue the masterpost for a few hours later to avoid spam lmaoooo #well that marks the end of the text-based fruity thlottle4 content for now? see y'alls again for the rio event!!!#i'm planning to speedrun the event story in the first 3-4 days (so that i can focus on kazuki's birthday instead lmaoo)#rio and iv pls have mercy on my soul ಥ‿ಥ pls don't speak in funny phrases like this event ok #though speaking of fruity thlottle4... go ahead and use my tls for ft4 for anything and whatever if you want~?#spread the fruity thlottle4 agenda!!!! (and make more dai content while y'all are at it-)#and hey if you're still reading the tags... thank you very much for following the tl (if you did)!!!!#feel free to lmk if you see any mistakes though okay~? the fruits like to speak in funny phrases sometimes so things may get lost in tling!#(special thanks to my vbs playlist for keeping me mildly sane throughout the tling of this chapter lmfaooooooo)#FML I FORGOT THAT I HAD 2 DIFFERENT POSSIBLE TL LINES FOR ONE OF DAI'S LINES YOU GUYS DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING OK (ʘ‿ʘ)

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viir-tanadhal · 2 years

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pet shop boys versus america is still just a really cool tour book name. it already says so much

#while psb literally may have more 1 to 1 conversations #vs america has chris heath grappling with either injecting himself into the story or remaining the present but outsider perspective #with the tonight show incident #like that whole section alone. the foreshadowing.... the build up.... the tension and behind the scenes drama after chris walked off #now thats journalism #because it is interestinf reading him struggle over whether to reason with chris or just document it #pete was on chris' side either way #but i do think chris heath was in the right to talk with neil and explain WHY chris walked off #and it wasnt just some move to slight him or purposeful to put him in an awkward situation #i will defend chris' reasoning for walking off #also its interesting seeing them think over what would eventually become very 2 years later and the foreshadowing there #of wanting to do something different #its just a good book

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burntoutdaydreamer · 6 months

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Things That May Be Causing Your Writer's Block- and How to Beat Them

I don't like the term 'Writer's Block' - not because it isn't real, but because the term is so vague that it's useless. Hundreds of issues all get lumped together under this one umbrella, making writer's block seem like this all-powerful boogeyman that's impossible to beat. Worse yet, it leaves people giving and receiving advice that is completely ineffective because people often don't realize they're talking about entirely different issues.

In my experience, the key to beating writer's block is figuring out what the block even is, so I put together a list of Actual Reasons why you may be struggling to write:

(note that any case of writer's block is usually a mix of two or more)

Perfectionism (most common)

What it looks like:

You write one sentence and spend the next hour googling "synonyms for ___"

Write. Erase. Write. Rewrite. Erase.

Should I even start writing this scene when I haven't figured out this one specific detail yet?

I hate everything I write

Cringing while writing

My first draft must be perfect, or else I'm a terrible writer

Things that can help:

Give yourself permission to suck

Keep in mind that nothing you write is going to be perfect, especially your first draft

Think of writing your first/early drafts not as writing, but sketching out a loose foundation to build upon later

People write multiple drafts for a reason: write now, edit later

Stop googling synonyms and save that for editing

Write with a pen to reduce temptation to erase

Embrace leaving blank spaces in your writing when you can't think of the right word, name, or detail

It's okay if your writing sucks. We all suck at some point. Embrace the growth mindset, and focus on getting words on a page

Lack of inspiration (easiest to fix)

What it looks like:

Head empty, no ideas

What do I even write about???

I don't have a plot, I just have an image

Want to write but no story to write

Things that can help:

Google writing prompts

If writing prompts aren't your thing, instead try thinking about what kind of tropes/genres/story elements you would like to try out

Instead of thinking about the story you would like to write, think about the story you would like to read, and write that

It's okay if you don't have a fully fleshed out story idea. Even if it's just an image or a line of dialogue, it's okay to write that. A story may or may not come out of it, but at least you got the creative juices flowing

Stop writing. Step away from your desk and let yourself naturally get inspired. Go for a walk, read a book, travel, play video games, research history, etc. Don't force ideas, but do open up your mind to them

If you're like me, world-building may come more naturally than plotting. Design the world first and let the story come later

Boredom/Understimulation (lost the flow)

What it looks like:

I know I should be writing but uugggghhhh I just can'tttttt

Writing words feels like pulling teeth

I started writing, but then I got bored/distracted

I enjoy the idea of writing, but the actual process makes me want to throw my laptop out the window

Things that can help:

Introduce stimulation: snacks, beverages, gum, music such as lo-fi, blankets, decorate your writing space, get a clickity-clackity keyboard, etc.

Add variety: write in a new location, try a new idea/different story for a day or so, switch up how you write (pen and paper vs. computer) or try voice recording or speech-to-text

Gamify writing: create an arbitrary challenge, such as trying to see how many words you can write in a set time and try to beat your high score

Find a writing buddy or join a writer's group

Give yourself a reward for every writing milestone, even if it's just writing a paragraph

Ask yourself whether this project you're working on is something you really want to be doing, and be honest with your answer

Intimidation/Procrastination (often related to perfectionism, but not always)

What it looks like:

I was feeling really motivated to write, but then I opened my laptop

I don't even know where to start

I love writing, but I can never seem to get started

I'll write tomorrow. I mean next week. Next month? Next month, I swear (doesn't write next month)

Can't find the time or energy

Unreasonable expectations (I should be able to write 10,000 words a day, right????)

Feeling discouraged and wondering why I'm even trying

Things that can help:

Follow the 2 min rule (or the 1 paragraph rule, which works better for me): whenever you sit down to write, tell yourself that you are only going to write for 2 minutes. If you feel like continuing once the 2 mins are up, go for it! Otherwise, stop. Force yourself to start but DO NOT force yourself to continue unless you feel like it. The more often you do this, the easier it will be to get started

Make getting started as easy as possible (i.e. minimize barriers: if getting up to get a notebook is stopping you from getting started, then write in the notes app of your phone)

Commit to a routine that will work for you. Baby steps are important here. Go with something that feels reasonable: every day, every other day, once a week, twice a week, and use cues to help you remember to start. If you chose a set time to write, just make sure that it's a time that feels natural to you- i.e. don't force yourself to writing at 9am every morning if you're not a morning person

Find a friend or a writing buddy you can trust and talk it out or share a piece of work you're proud of. Sometimes we just get a bit bogged down by criticism- either internal or external- and need a few words of encouragement

The Problem's Not You, It's Your Story (or Outline (or Process))

What it looks like:

I have no problems writing other scenes, it's just this scene

I started writing, but now I have no idea where I'm going

I don't think I'm doing this right

What's an outline?

Drowning in documents

This. Doesn't. Make. Sense. How do I get from this plot point to this one?!?!?! (this ColeyDoesThings quote lives in my head rent free cause BOY have I been there)

Things That Can Help:

Go back to the drawing board. Really try to get at the root of why a scene or story isn't working

A part of growing as a writer is learning when to kill your darlings. Sometimes you're trying to force an idea or scene that just doesn't work and you need to let it go

If you don't have an outline, write one

If you have an outline and it isn't working, rewrite it, or look up different ways to structure it

You may be trying to write as a pantser when you're really a plotter or vice versa. Experiment with different writing processes and see what feels most natural

Study story structures, starting with the three act structure. Even if you don't use them, you should know them

Check out Ellen Brock on YouTube. She's a professional novel editor who has a lot of advice on writing strategies for different types of writers

Also check out Savage Books on YouTube (another professional story editor) for advice on story structure and dialogue. Seriously, I cannot recommend this guy enough

Executive Dysfunction, Usually From ADHD/Autism

What it looks like:

Everything in boredom/understimulation

Everything in intimidation/procrastination

You have been diagnosed with and/or have symptoms of ADHD/Autism

Things that can help:

If you haven't already, seek a diagnosis or professional treatment

Hire an ADHD coach or other specialist that can help you work with your brain (I use Shimmer; feel free to DM me for a referral)

Seek out neurodiverse communities for advice and support

Try body doubling! There's lot's of free online body doubling websites out there for you to try. If social anxiety is a barrier, start out with writing streams such as katecavanaughwrites on Twitch

Be aware of any sensory barriers that may be getting in the way of you writing (such as an uncomfortable desk chair, harsh lighting, bad sounds)

And Lastly, Burnout, Depression, or Other Mental Illness

What it looks like:

You have symptoms of burnout or depression

Struggling with all things, not just writing

It's more than a lack of inspiration- the spark is just dead

Things that can help:

Forget writing for now. Focus on healing first.

Seek professional help

If you feel like it, use writing as a way to explore your feelings. It can take the form of journaling, poetry, an abstract reflection of your thoughts, narrative essays, or exploring what you're feeling through your fictional characters. The last two helped me rediscover my love of writing after I thought years of depression had killed it for good. Just don't force yourself to do so, and stop if it takes you to a darker place instead of feeling cathartic

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