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choicesficwriterscreations · 1 year

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CFWC Writer of the Month: Jamespotterthefirst

Each month CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers, and this month’s writer of the month is @jamespotterthefirst! We hope you will enjoy learning more about her and her work below! The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog: Jamespotterthefirst Blog Masterlist

1- When did you start playing Choices? What's the first book you played?

I started playing back in 2018. I kept seeing this thing called “playchoices” trending as number 1 on Tumblr (lol remember those days?). This would happen, without fail, almost every week! When I clicked on it, the posts were all about the finale of a royal story (The Royal Romance!). People made the most hilarious posts, complete with memes. I had no idea what it was, but I gathered it was an app. I downloaded it, and the rest is history.

The first book I played was Desire and Decorum. It was absolute torture because it wasn’t completed yet. So I binged the available chapters. Yes, I spent real money on keys and diamonds, telling myself at least I wasn't spending that money on drugs. It was so much fun waiting for a new chapter every week, even if I’m an impatient mess.

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I joined the fandom almost immediately after downloading the app.

As I sat in my living room, tapping my foot and waiting for the new D&D chapter to drop, I went back into the playchoices tag for content. It felt good to find other people who loved the story as much as I did. There were other users out there who were also waiting impatiently for the new chapter, writing fics and discussing theories in the meantime. There were also some of the funniest memes I have ever seen in my life. At first, I would quietly read and reblog. Then, I slowly started posting my own thoughts and theories (which were not very good lol but hey, this is tumblr after all).

3- How did you pick your url name?

My life is one hyperfixation after another… The one before Choices was Harry Potter. More specifically, the Marauders era. I used to write for the pairing called “Jily”, composed of Harry Potter’s (dead) parents. Kelsey (@takeharryandgo) is a witness of just how much I love James Potter, Harry’s (dead) dad. In fact, our shared love for the pairing and character is one of the things that brought us together.

In short, this URL is a reference to James Potter the first, Harry’s (dead) dad. Not James Sirius Potter the second, Harry Potter’s (living?) son.

I saved it as a sideblog, meant only for writing resources for me to use at a later time. One day, I decided I didn’t want the followers on my main page to see all the Choices spam I was posting, so I resurrected the JP blog.

4- Go back to your archive and tell us about the first post on your Choices blog.

My first Choices post was a shitty theory about Desire & Decorum:

5- How long have you been writing fanfiction?

I’ve been writing fanfiction since I was a literal child. I used to write in a notebook and my friends would read during recess. It was awful but they were into it. One day, I used up the whole notebook and my friend was desperate for the next part of the story. I told her I needed to wait until my mom took me to the store (literal child) to get a new one. My friend got me a new one by the end of the day lol.

TL;DR that puts me at about 20+ years of writing.

6- What is your favorite Choices book to write about?

Without a doubt, Open Heart!

7- Share the first fanfic you wrote with us. Do you still like it or would you change anything about it?

Oh god, the first fanfic I wrote was Lily Evans and James Potter from the Harry Potter universe. I forgot the exact title, but it was named after an Avril Lavigne lyric. Again, I was a child, don’t judge me lol. It’s handwritten in a notebook I still have somewhere, but I will never open it again lest I die of cringe.

My first Choices fic, on the other hand, was a Desire and Decorum fic called “A Wedding Gift” that only like 5 people read at the time.

8- What is your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Oof. This answer changes depending on the day you ask me. I always overthink it and end up saying picking a favorite fic is like picking a favorite child. To avoid being here all day, however, I’m going to say: Fake Husband, She Walks in Beauty, and Lovely.

9- Do you have a fic that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to be but could use a little more love?

Definitely, the fic I didn’t expect to do well at all if my first Open Heart fic: Lovely.

I was so naive back then, knowing nothing about the Open Heart writing fandom. I had no idea what format or tags to use when posting. I was afraid there would be no readers out there who wanted to read a silly little story about my MC posting a thirst trap. All I knew was that the latest chapter of Open Heart Year 2 inspired an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it.

I posted it and I was so incredibly lucky to receive so much support. Words cannot explain how special that was. To this day, I cannot verbalize how grateful I am for that.

There isn’t really a fic I can think of that could use more love. It always amazes me that anyone gives my fics their time. So any feedback my fics get will always be valued and treasured by me.

10- If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Oh no.

If forced to choose, I’d say fluff.

11- Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

Absolutely! While I try to make every MC different, I often pull from experience when I write. My Open Heart MC and I have a lot of things in common (heritage, hometown, astrological sign, etc.) But I also wanted her to be her own character with life choices that are different from mine. Since I'm very boring, it definitely makes for better fiction that way.

12- What element of writing do you struggle with most?

It depends on the day. Some days I struggle the most with dialogue. Others, my biggest struggle is descriptions. It's rare when I feel confident in both when I write.

13- Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

*laughs nervously in unfinished series*

There are a few series I have yet to finish. Once again, I apologize for leaving them untouched for so long! I plan to get my shit together soon!

14- If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

No!

I don't think I could look anyone in the eye if they read some of the stuff I've written, especially for Choices.

15 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing?

I strongly believe that one of the best ways to learn as a writer is reading. As such, I believe I've learned from most pieces I've read, particularly published rom com novels. In the fanfiction world, I admire my lovely friend @takeharryandgo. I've had the absolute joy of following her writing for over a decade. And with every work, I am still amazed by her masterful way with words! And her characterization is always spot-on. I simply love to read her spellbinding work and learn from the master!

Other writers/creators I admire are:

@heauxplesslydevoted- one of the first OH writers I've ever read! Her smut is top-tier!

@jerzwriter - her stories, dialogue, and characterization are a delight to read. Her angst is painful. Her smut is sizzling hot!

@liaromancewriter - a true master at romance! Her writing style is magical and synonymous with the best of rom-coms!

@genevievemd - I bow down because the amount of love and care she puts into every piece truly makes her work special!

@lucy-268 - I have always respected the amount of research she puts into every piece. She pours so much care into it so that the narrative flows seamlessly!

@a-crepusculo - her writing is so vivid and immersive. Reading her work is like listening to the most beautiful of symphonies!

@writer-ish - she is such a master at the craft! Her characterization is so vivid that the reader will fall in love no matter the format. Her text edits are legendary!

@bex-la-get - such a talented and dedicated writer! She also pours hours of research into her work, ensuring every detail makes sense!

@potionsprefect - she's such a creative and talented writer. She develops writing ideas like no one else I've ever seen!

@headoverheelsforramsey- I love her storytelling and characterization! She's created a beautiful, inspiring, and intelligent MC for all of us to adore!

@gryffindordaughterofathena - her writing style is one of the most original I've ever seen. Reading her work feels like reading the loveliest of poetry!

@coffeeheartaddict2- the dedication she puts into her work blows me away! She's daring when exploring themes in her writing, and she's not afraid to pull from personal experience.

@lsvdw-blog - the person I'm sending my therapy bill to. Just kidding! Her writing is beautiful, even when it's the most painful angst.

@trappedinfanfiction - she is such a lovely writer. The amount of detail she's given both of her MC's back stories has my absolute respect!

@quixoticdreamer16 - I adore her MC and the wholesome, beautiful background she's given her!

@mysticalgalaxysstuff - Another MC that has stolen my heart. I am so happy she started writing this past year because she's a real talent!

@peonierose - love her beautiful MC and the beautiful love story she built for her with Bryce!

@cariantha - a brilliant writer with talent for days!

16- Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series?

I would love to see She Walks in Beauty along with its series (1800s AU) in live action. Imagine Ana de Armas and David Gandy in period costumes? That alone would be worth it!

17- Do you write original stories?

I've crafted and outlined original stories before but I've never actually written them. One of my biggest goals for the new year is to finally start. Wish me luck!

18 - What other hobbies do you have?

I love reading, hiking, and dancing!

Yes, I picked the most “impressive” of my hobbies to seem cool. On most days, you'll catch me cuddling with my dog or bf watching YouTube/TikTok/Hell's Kitchen reruns lol.

19 - What’s your favorite emoji?

I used the orange 🧡 and purple 💜 hearts a lot because they're my favorite colors!

20: BONUS - tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

For the record, I am also contractually obligated to read anything Kelsey writes 😘

Thank you so much to every single reader who has given my work a chance these past three years!

Thank you to the wonderful mods of CFWC for all you do to support writers in the Fandom!

#choices fic writers creations #writer of the month #cfwc writer of the month #jamespotterthefirst #open heart choices #open heart

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unholyplumpprincess · 3 years

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Read before you interact or follow

~ Hi I'm Peach!!! I'm 24, autistic, a writer, and have a huge thing for big monsters and characters in masks! ~

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

• !!!THIS IS AN 18+ BLOG, HAVE YOUR AGE IN BIO OR PINNED POST OR YOU WILL BE BLOCKED INSTANTLY!!!! Putting "18+" or "Adult" does not count. Have your AGE or birth year or put smth like "Mun is over 18" or "I am in my 20s" if you want anonymity still!!! I just want clarity :D

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

• Too shy to reblog? Too shy to leave a comment or tags on it? You can also find all the fics I write on ao3 and leave an anonymous comment OR send me an anonymous comment through my inbox :D

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

• Spam REBLOGS are appreciated and I will make out with you on sight! Big love!!! Esp with nice tags! I love u sm!!!!!

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

• Tldr: Age in ur bio, Too shy to rb/interact, go to ao3 or my inbox and leave an anonymous, nice comment :D

More details under the cut! Plz read!

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

• REBLOGS > LIKES. REBLOGS ARE IMPORTANT! REBLOG THE CONTENT (WRITING + ART) THAT YOU HIT LIKE/HEART ON. (Tutorial on making a side blog: HERE)

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

• Requests OPEN for: IMAGINES OR HEADCANONS (Rules found HERE)

• Requests CLOSED for: MATCHUPS (Rules HERE)

• Requests OPEN for: FULL FICS (Rules here)

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

Other blogs + sites

• Sfw blog: @plumppeachprincess

• Nsft images, gifs, and art (and stuff THIS blog would probs get flagged for) can be found here: @plumppeachydoll

• Twitter: PlumpPeachyGirl

• 18+ Cohost: UnholyPlumpPrincess

• Sfw Cohost: PlumpPeachPrincess

• Links:

MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST (GOOGLE DOCS VERS)

OC MASTERLIST

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

~ Faq ~

• Why reblog over Like/Heart? I Write for me and because I love creating! I Post for praise much like a dog bringing you a ball and hoping for a "Omg good job!!!"

I don't so much hate Liking/Hearting so much as I hate not having Anything to go on. Tags or comments Keeps me posting for all of you to see! :D

It's also v rare writers get the same love as artists bc most people "admire quietly" but now more than ever it's SUPER important to tell ur fav writers u love em! Esp with how dire the world acts when ao3 goes down but then no one shows love to the fics they care about :(

Too many people who create, artists and writers alike, have quit their hobby altogether from it. So let's keep people creating by spreading their craft!

• I'm not comfortable putting my age in my bio. Can I just DM you? No. I do a sweep once a month to make sure no minors are following me and I'll forget you told me. I have ways around it up above where you can still have anonymity. But I'm an adult blog. You wouldn't go to a club without your ID bc it shows ur of age, and I won't let you on here without an age indicator.

Just like going to a club; No ID no entrance. No age indicator, no entrance.

• Commissions? Nah! I live for nice comments, tags, nice asks, and reblogs instead! Those make me happiest so please support me that way :D

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

• Wanna make my day? Reblog prior works you loved and leaving nice tags, comments, or any nice anons sent my way. 💕💕 Worried cause you're a sfw blog? Tutorial on how to make side blogs HERE

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

• DNI/DO NOT FOLLOW:

The usuals (Racists, terfs, exclusionists, transmeds, etc), and minors!

#pinned post #princess talks

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wri0thesley · 3 years

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a lot more ppl sent me very lovely messages and i don’t want to spam dashes OR ignore them so i’m replying to them in a batch below the read more!:

jellyluchi said: idk what those anons are on but I'm really glad you're writing for a different media I don't see a lot of jjk content so seeing it on my dash is great! plus it's your blog so you should be able to able to write whatever you want! you're not betraying anyone for writing stuff you like

tysm sid!!! i love jojo and i will probably not be abandoning it but people forget i’ve been here for FOUR YEARS (!) and i’m one of very few blogs still around. like. people don’t even remember the blogs that were popular when i was still writing :(. i’m just excited to have a new interest!!! <3

Anonymous said: Nat: la squadra posts 24/7 Anon: you're basically abandoning the jojo fandom relinquish your card No but seriously, people are allowed to focus on other types of media, especially if the current fandom is waning. Not saying more people are leaving the JoJo fandom than staying, but that it's had to make do with the available content. I'd say more people (inside and outside the fandom) are more familiar with the anime, and Golden Wind ended 1-2 years ago. I'm sure once Stone Ocean comes out, the fandom will go wild again. Either way, I don't mind what you post, I just like seeing you talk so passionately

gosh it’s been so long since VA, huh? i’m still here, still working on stuff - my inspiration for jojo has just waned a little! i still love talking to you all about my husbands and your husbands. a lot of my friends are into jjk now too which means that i have people to bounce ideas off in a way i don’t as much for jojo! i’m sure when SO starts i’ll come crawling back but for now let me have a little fun! <3 also i really do still not shut up about la squadra dfbvnkjdfgn. i’ve been saying to myself i’ll publish one jojo thing and one jjk thing a day and it’s been going really well so far!

mix-senpai said: I like to assume that the anons who say that stupid shit to you is always the same little gremlin who apparently has nothing better to do. I know you don't want people to openly riot over these anons, but honestly? You're one of the sweetest, and most friendly and accepting person I personally have ever met, so color me baffled to find that clowns like that anon would have the nerve to give you such a nasty attitude and be so rude for no reason. Like, hello? They're not the boss around here- it's not their blog it's yours to post whatever you please, they have zero say on the matter and they just have to deal with it. Keep doing you. Keep being your lovely self. And just keep doing whatever makes you happy, okay?

i block them as much as i can but i dont think it works very well fgnkjbng. as a whole i delete a lot of mean messages but honestly i’ve been expecting this one for a while which is why i bothered replying to it! tysm friend! <3

Anonymous said: 1. you still enjoy and write for jojo, you didn’t “abandon” anyone. and even if you did lose interest in jojo, that isn’t really your fault. people lose interest in things. 2. it’s YOUR blog. youre allowed to post, write, and simp over whoever you please from whatever fandom. i like jojo and jujutsu kaisen, but i also stay because i just generally like reading what you say and post because i like you, not just because i like what you can provide for me. you deserve to have followers that feel the same way, aka not that anon

the use of words like ABANDON and BETRAYAL is so funny to me honestly, this is just a thirstposting blog it’s not that deep fgbnkjgfn. thank you so much friend!! i’m glad so many people at least seem to like both, it makes me feel less bad! <3

Anonymous said: are you seriously getting shit on just because you have interests other than jjba??? lmao how the fuck does that anon survive on tumblr 😂😂😂 one of the blogs i followed for, like, gravity falls content or something several years ago, who has since shifted their focus to posting content from numerous other fandoms, ended up putting monsterfucker content on my dash the other day because that’s just what they’re interested in right now apparently! and you know what i said about it? abso-fucking-lutely nothing because it is not my business to dictate the content they post on their blog, and if they ever start posting stuff that’s a dealbreaker for me, then i’ll just leave quietly and leave them to their business. a content creator that you followed for a certain type of content deciding to change what fandom they produce content for is not a “betrayal” or whatever, it’s just them being a human fucking person on the other side of the screen! anyway, i just wanna tell you that your writing slaps, i hope people continue to recognize that your writing slaps no matter WHAT fandom you write for, and i hope you have a fantastic time writing your funky lil heart out for jjk 💓

honestly some anons in my inboxes have WILD takes. i follow so many ppl who arent into jojo anymore but i consider them MY FRIENDS AND I LOVE THEM. i just want them to be happy! and if ppl arent happy with my content there is an unfollow button RIGHT THERE!!

Anonymous said: That anon saying they feel betrayed either copy and pasted their message or something because a few other blogs that used to be JJBA only, then branched out to multi fandom stuff, got the same if not similar messages.

yes! like i said earlier, i’ve been expecting this message for a while bc i’ve seen a lot of my mutual writer friends get it. as a whole, i delete a lot of mean messages instead of replying, but i felt like this one might come up again so i wanted to nip in the bud so to speak! <3

Anonymous said: honestly, nat after over a year of being stuck inside and not being able to see my friends or do very much, it honestly just feels NICE to be excited about something with other people! i will ALWAYS love jojo but thank you so much for turning me on to jjk!! my partner and i were also in kind of an anime rut and hadn't watched a new series together in months but we are both enjoying it immensely 💖

AHH i hope you are the same anon who messaged me about it before because i am so happy that you are enjoying it!!! i convinced haz to watch jjk too and now we’re both having a very good time (she just got up to date with the manga!). it’s so nice sharing things you care about with people!

#nat.txt #drama for ts

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incarnateirony · 5 years

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An apology, but a story.

Okay guys, sorry for uh, talking so much about Pillowfort lately. I do mean it when I say I’m still here to stay until Tumblr totally dies, and I know I’ve been posting a LOT of PF content, but I’m also trying to help tailor an environment over there where this fandom can thrive. Add in momma’s heart attack and coma and my dash has been a hot mess and bare bones of my usual content, and I apologize.

But at the same time I’d like to sort of tell a bit of a flashback story of social media, fandom, and why I really do hope the best for Pillowfort. Some people are too young to remember the slow death of Livejournal, and I’m having like, flashbacks from that. I wasn’t in SPN fandom itself at the time but I was on LJ, so if you’re

worried about your friends leaving

intent on sticking to tumblr hell or high water

kind of upset at some friends trying to manage both

Let me give a little bit of history to explain what people are doing right now and why.

Long long ago, in a digital world far away when the internet still screamed at you when you connected to it, fandom wasn’t really globalized like it is. Twitter didn’t exist. Eventually Facebook was a hot new commodity not everybody adopted immediately. Tumblr wasn’t a sparkle in anybody’s eye.

Fandom was mostly relegated to php forums and places like Livejournal. Livejournal proved to be -- at the time -- one of the best methods to engage in fandom. You could have your own journal, but you could also join communities with your account and comment on long discussions.

There were weaknesses of this to be sure. Notifications were pretty raw to nonexistent compared to how we know of them modernly. You had to basically manually check the comm to stay on top of things, and what was said in that comm was choked to that comm. Now, that had its strengths: you could control the community and posts, ergo minimizing flame wars, but it made fandom a bunch of pigeonhole wings and, to be honest, echo chambers. Lots of things got missed, overlooked, and what have you. And god help you if you pissed off a big name fan in your wing that owned one or most of the communities you went to. Replies and the ilk were pretty limited on what you could do, too. But it was something. It was more than just a standard forum. You could still try to cross-engage.

Then came the LJ Purge, which... is pretty much identical to the Tumblr purge. New rules banishing NSFW to the depths of the internet, some out of control censorship, targeting all LGBT content no matter how pure as NSFW and explicit -- you name it. They didn’t really have wildly out of control filterbots, that’s a new modern invention just to shit in our bin a little better, but you get the idea. What happened -- and is still, more quietly, now that the shock has passed -- to Tumblr is what happened to LJ. People lost mountains of work.

Now, LJ didn’t die overnight. It died over the course of a few years. Some people left fairly quickly, others tried to stay aboard. For example, Destiel fandom was fairly young at the point the LJ Purge kicked off, and were already sort of outsiders among the fandom newsletters that were more Gen or Wincest doused at that point because -- well, duh -- they had a several year running start on that platform. The communities, as above, were really regulated. There just wasn’t room to breathe. Sure, they had their own comms, but once material started vanishing, they were much more eager to, en masse, migrate to a new platform. And yes, some stayed behind longer, because people, even in shipland, aren’t a borg.

Other communities, like gen or Wincest, stayed behind longer. They had years of built up work and huge communities they were attached to there and it was a lot harder for them to let that all go. But it didn’t get better. More quietly, once the hysteria ended, people just lost their will to continue to use livejournal and they more dribbled across.

Some went to Dreamwidth back then. Some went to tumblr. Long term, tumblr worked for everybody until now. Dreamwidth was pretty much Livejournal, minus censorship, plus a few bells and whistles but it worked for a few people, but let’s face it -- that’s not where central fandom ended up.

Now, people are talking alternatives. Some are saying to go back to Dreamwidth. I refuse.

Because there’s a reason it wasn’t the most successful platform in the past and we’ll go back to completely segregated fandom like before and

because certain aspects of fandom that DID go to Dreamwidth and stay there, have still been there, and are a huge thorn in the side to almost anyone with their head screwed on straight, Destiel fandom or not. J2 tinhats are the eternal asscramps of the fandom and they’ve squatted on dreamwidth for their crazy ass tinhat page for years, god knows they probably went to adjacent communities, god knows how ingrained they are into it, and I am NOT willing to deal with that level of horse shit again.

Pornhub tried a grab, that didn’t work, as it shouldn’t, for a list of reasons as long as my arm; Mastodon was suggested, but has a huge issue in some of its other channels that people don’t want to float in the vicinity of.

And then there’s Pillowfort.

So look, Pillowfort is young, it is a smolbabe. In a few months it went from 4K users to 25K users and is growing innumerably by the day. Its servers are struggling. That turns some people off. I get that. But that isn’t permanent.

So first of all, early pioneers are what make migrations work. Just like LJ had its initial members, and then tumblr had its early migrators, places like Pillowfort can be the same. Dreamwidth already has its foundations. That’s redundant, and foundations I’m not even going to touch, much less the regressive, divisive form of communities that will segregate all of us again. It’s fine if you aren’t one of the first people to take up the platform. The people ahead of you will start laying down content and communities and, if it works out, you can join in when you’re ready.

So what makes Pillowfort so fucking special?

Okay, so check it out. On tumblr, we’re used to reblogging shit into the bowels of the internet. As Pillowfort grows it, too, has that capability with some differences.

The boldest difference is that when you reblog, your opinion doesn’t get attached to the end of the post. It just reblogs the base post. Some people initially complained and thought that was the loss of a feature but came to realize it’s a blessing.

You see, that means someone can’t kidnap your post with a shitty opinion to reblog it to their friends with a shitty opinion that all attach their heckling shitty opinions. Like, let’s say it’s someone that’s Destiel fandom reading this. Ever had an anti shit reblog your post and it run wild? Well, now, if they try to reblog it, all they reblog is... your Destiel post. Thanks for that.

So how do we actually say what we need to?

Well, fam, it incorporated elements from LJ/DW, in having threaded replies. Multiple threads if so needed. The threaded replies are capable of housing just about anything an OP has. So a blog post has, alongside Like/Reblog notifications, comments. Open the post, read the comments, start an actual conversation with some merit. Did some douchebag come to spam your comments since they can’t reblog? No problem, delete their shitty comments and block them, problem solved.

But it doesn’t end there.

See, like LJ, PF has communities. While your post can reblog just about anywhere just like on tumblr, you can blog or reblog them into the communities you follow. Anyone following that community, whether they follow you directly or not, gets that turning up in their feed, maximizing your spread. So sure, it’s a young platform and you only have 20 followers or whatever, but if you make a general Supernatural style post and blog it to the SPN com, 300 people (at current) see it. If you post something to the Destiel comm, over 200 people see it. It’s a way to even find new accounts and friends.

If you don’t like something that’s turning up in a community, you can blacklist shit. And/or find a more appropriate community if it gets out of hand to you.

When you make your own communities you can have internal discussions or blog in/out posts, you can set rules, promote moderators, remove or ban problem users, and generally control the flow of your community to keep out shitlords. But, if for example, you subscribed to a community that turns out to be secretly run BY a shitlord because, IDK, maybe they don’t like that you think Sam is bi or something, most of these communities are large and blog in/out/engageable enough that you won’t lose your contacts, you WILL find your people over time, and you won’t be completely choked off to a singular abyss.

So the base beat is

PF treats every single post like any root post on an LJ/DW comm, but is able to be reblogged from/to communities or your own blog page as freely as tumblr. PF takes the best concepts of current and previous fandom platforms in its base application and lays a groundwork that literally all of us can prosper on if it survives and continues.

But that’s the catch.

And it’s cool if you aren’t ready to completely take that leap yet. I get that.

“I kinda like PF but it doesn’t have X feature-”

Okay look, PF is a smolbabe, like I said. It’s in beta. The thing is, they’re adding things every day. They have a dev list like 2 pages long for goals and things are getting crossed off and added like, biweekly. It might already be on their list to add. And if it’s not, guess what?

The staff actually give a shit and react to questions and concerns. There’s entire beta groups to talk about features with bugs, and/or features that should be added or adjusted. There’s a comm to talk directly to the staff about things.

A small, young platform needs people willing to be out there saying what would improve the experience. So if you go there, you’re not just fandom pioneers, you’re social media pioneers if you so choose to be. It’s not mandatory. You can just fan in your space how you want. Or you can go to the beta groups and staff groups and tell them what you think would improve the experience.

And again, it’s okay if you aren’t willing to move right now.

I’m not moving entirely. I’m double blogging, and will return to my regularly scheduled blogging on tumblr here soon, now that my life is calming down and I got most of my PF heavy lifting out of the way. But I want to make a nest in case this does pan out to be the next forward horizon, rather than taking a step back to something like Dreamwidth that segregates us all again. I want to help them build that platform.

But I’ll still be here with you guys.

But if you’ve felt like friends are abandoning you

Please try to understand the history, please understand what they’re doing and why they’re doing it, and just try to encourage them to cross blog where you can/will engage. And if you’re feeling daring one day? Try to poke your head into PF.

I have one remaining key that I’m willing to give a really good fandom creator. I gave one to a meta-mind and I’d like this to go to a heavy, inclusive gif creator, because that’s still a sparse art on PF. You’d be the belle of the ball just for crossposting your work, in a place that DOESN’T have a threat of it getting deleted when tumblr throws a hissyfit. Just post on both. Tada. Suddenly you’re the popular kid.

If you’re interested, if you poke your head in, check my recent post listing communities that are growing rapidly and the ilk to know where to get your feet wet. Or send me a DM. I’ll help.

We good? Cool.

#supernatural #fandom #fandom history #pillowfort #tumblr exodus #livejournal apocalypse

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honeypressed · 5 years

Text

SKZ Superhero AU based on @vampire-channie‘s au that you guys should check out!!! it’s amazing and i needed to write this so this is for you bub!! i hope you like it sakdjd also if you wanna rb please rb with the cut~ i dont wanna spam your blogs with a long post <3

No matter how many times they see Woojin shapeshift, it still feels weird and oddly intimate, like they’re watching Woojin bare his soul to everyone. A wolf, silver fur the exact shade of moonlight halts in front of them and curls in on itself, eyes glow a vivid purple, the light emanating until it glares too bright for one moment and then Woojin’s standing in front of them in human form, looking slightly weary and sporting several cuts and bruises. Hyunjin advances towards him, hands already glowing a pulsing shade of pink as he makes Woojin sit down and moves his palms over the wounds.

“They’re already at the edge,” Chan says before Woojin can even start talking. He looks tense, his eyes ringed in light blue as he surveys the patch of dark forest where they’re located.

“Read my mind,” Woojin says, with a little laughter, though his throat sounds extremely dry, “Yes, they’re at the edge of the district. The barriers around us is keeping them out for now since Jisung slammed a fuckton of electricity in there… But I don’t think it’ll keep them out for long.”

“So we fight now,” Changbin says calmly, standing up straighter, “We fight to protect what’s ours, what we love, don’t we?” He surveys the rest of them with a fierce gaze, “We protect our district.”

There’s one moment of silence then - all hell breaks loose.

A loud screech rings through their ears and the earth beneath their feet runs jagged cracks of dark blue as the electricity Jisung deployed before returns to him in a rush, and Jisung glows dark blue for a few moments, battling to control his powers. Around them, the earth starts to shake and dark clouds draw close above them, and Minho does not take well to this. At all.

“No fucking elementist is controlling our district,” Minho snarls, starting to emit a green glow as he throws his hands up into the sky and pulls them apart, letting the clouds disperse and the rough onyx sky emerges again, too fast, too sudden. Abandoning the sky for a moment, Minho slams his palm down on the earth and at once, the earth stabilises and in several lines, shoots begin to grow out, extending from his palm, and they continue to grow, now moving in erratic lines out of the forest they’re in.

“Leads to our enemies,” Chan forestalls Minho, eyes still shining bright blue, “And only we know what they are… If we’re lost, they’ll lead us back to each other.” He takes a hard look at all of them, the eight people that now mean so much to him, shrouded in darkness, and tries not to think that this could be the last time he sees all of them. “Fight well,” He says quietly, “Stay safe.”

Changbin is off before Chan even finishes his words, tracing one of the lines blooming with tiger lilies, figure sprinting alongside the rapidly glowing blossoms.

Felix takes Jeongin’s hand and they melt into the background, Jeongin’s invisibility powerful enough to shroud both himself and Felix. They follow a trail of sunflowers, bright yellow to cover Felix’s yellow trail as he speeds them ahead. The colour seems like hope in the dark, a flicker of something better in the grim today.

“I’ll take the south side,” Seungmin says, then he makes his way alongside blood-red poppies that dot the floor, like blood scattered in his wake, and a loud crash tells the rest of them Seungmin’s just toppled a tree and caught someone in it.

They barely have time to breathe before a strand of blue geraniums curl around Jisung protectively and the shoots harden, steel-like as a huge rock drops down on him. The shoots break off, but Jisung is unharmed - and furious.

“Come fight me properly, you scumbag,” Jisung hisses, hands crackling with electricity and eyes flashing a light blue akin to the most dangerous summer storms.

“Get out,” Minho says, edging him away, “I’ll deal with this person. You need to help Chan-hyung.” Another huge rock materialises and drops out of nowhere and Minho barely brings his hands up in time for a tree to block the blow. “Jisung, please, go!”

“I’ll stay with him,” Hyunjin adds, moving in with Minho and taking his back, “Jisung, go!” He swipes his hand at a wall of incoming spears and they fall to the ground harmlessly, faint pink smoke rising from them.

“Hyung,” Jisung says, running beside Chan, following the zig-zag trail of white tulips that are already stained with dirt and what looks like blood, “Hyung, do you know where everyone is?”

“Just about,” Chan replies, sounding like he’s a thousand miles away, and Jisung knows he’s keeping tabs on where everyone is. The line they’re taking splits away, and dark purple orchids sprout thickly, leading deeper into the forest, and Woojin stops, looking at them.

“I’m going here,” Woojin says, and before either of them can stop him, he’s shifted into a wolf, taking the path of the dark orchids, fur changing to blend in with the dark forest, and all they can do is trust that he’ll come back.

“We’re heading for the heart,” Chan says quietly, then switches to telepathy. We take down the heart, and we greatly reduce the power they have, and it’ll be easier for the rest to take them down.

We need to distract the heart, Jisung thinks, narrowly avoiding a stray arrow from the depths of the forest, aim for the weak spot and we can destroy them from within.

I’ll distract, Chan replies immediately, you stay hidden and attack when you spot a chance, okay?

Jisung doesn’t feel comfortable about Chan being bait, but Chan outright refuses for him to be bait, so he goes along with Chan’s plan, albeit somewhat unwillingly. The fear for the rest of his team increases tenfold when he spots Changbin facing up against a team of Ghuis, but Changbin decimates two of them in one blow, gaze burning ember-orange, and turns for his next target, a walking body of destruction.

He’ll be okay, Jisung thinks, holding on to that thought with all his heart, he’ll be okay.

I’m going now, Chan says suddenly, and Jisung has to restrain himself from standing up, trying not to give his position away. From his perch in a tree, he watches as Chan approaches the unmoving group of troops in the middle of their district, their land.

“I’m here to offer you an exchange,” Chan says, loud and clear, his voice ringing through the unnatural silence even as battle roars outside their little circle of terrifying tranquility.

“Speak,” A voice sounds, disembodied and from what Jisung can see, nestled in the centre of a circle of Milesminia. He resists the urge to swear. Milesminia, hyung! He says, somewhat panicked, the dishonoured soldiers! I need Seungmin with me to face them off, I can’t take them all out with my electricity alone.

You can, is the last thing Chan says to him before he feels Chan cut off telepathy with him.

“I offer you me, in return for you leaving my district forever,” Chan says calmly, walking towards the immobile troops, but as he inches closer, the outside flanks point their swords, dripping with fire and blood at him. Chan stops, smiles slowly at the heart of them, head high and proud, “Come, make a deal with the devil, why don’t you? We’re already in hell, you can sink no further.”

Chan stares straight ahead, eyes blown with blue, the colour threatening to take over his whole eye, and he’s pushing himself to find a mind, find a conscious that’s the only living one in the mess of these unliving troops.

The silence stretches long, too long, too long, and Chan is in danger but then -

Go back, he shouts, screams, finding the conscious he’s been searching for, this is not your district, leave us alone! For one moment, the troops all falter, and the Milesminia around the heart falter, revealing an orb projecting a spectre so gruesome, unlike anything Chan has ever seen - faded and patched, a Gyeolguk, something Chan never thought would be real - and everything dies away from one second then before it ends Jisung leaps in.

“Eat shit,” Jisung snarls, flying in from the air and punching straight through the orb, whole body crackling with electricity, eyes ringed with blue so dark the ocean could be in his eyes, and the same screech resounds through the air, hanging for seconds, minutes, decades, a forever and the orb pulses once, twice -

Explodes.

A dark light ripples from the center, obliterating everything inside their small circle of quiet, and everywhere, inside their district, the creatures falter, their source of magic destroyed. Between the rest of the team, the sense that Chan’s telepathy is always there, that they can feel it under their skin, is gone, and it’s terribly unsettling.

Felix stops, his sunshine-yellow trail lighting up the darkness and making him particularly visible in the night, and he squints up at the sky, wondering if it’s become darker. “Jeongin, let’s go,” He says after Jeongin manages to trick one of the Ghouls into slamming into a tree and destroying itself. Taking Jeongin’s hand once again, they speed through the forest, following the sunflowers that are starting to wilt, a mark of Minho’s strength wavering, and Felix’s heartbeat notches up as he catches sight of Hyunjin’s pink glow in the dark fog.

“Hyunjinnie?” Felix asks, and the pink glow falters for a moment.

“Lixie?” Hyunjin asks, “Oh - thank Kore - you guys aren’t too badly hurt… Minho-hyung really spent himself out, used all his elements in one attack and his magic drained everywhere, plus he’s sustaining these lines and trying to protect all the animals by cornering them together -”

“Stop healing me,” Minho says through gritted teeth, even though he looks like he’s in a lot of pain, “We need to find the others, quick. I’m going to lose my shoots if we lie here anymore so -”

“Guys!” A voice bursts out, and just as the last tiger lily dies and rots away, Changbin emerges, eyes still smoking orange faintly, and he looks shaky. “You guys are okay - I - we need to go find the rest and find Chan-hyung and Jisung, please, I was around that area when the blast happened and -”

“What blast,” Woojin demands, emerging from the northern forests, a mess of orchid petals stuck in his hair, “I made sure all the animals are fine, Minho, you can let go of them. What blast? I heard the screaming, but a blast?”

“Everyone!” Seungmin cries, bursting in, sounding distressed, “Please - come, quick - it’s Chan-hyung and Jisung - I managed to lift it off them but -” He cuts himself off, rambling now, and they get up, Hyunjin and Woojin helping Minho to stand as the elementist was on the verge of passing out.

They follow Seungmin through the forest, the last of the red poppies dotting the way to the rest of them. There’s an air of finality as they make their way through the forest and into the open of the centre, bathed in moonlight, and they see what Seungmin had meant.

Chan’s body, strewn in the middle, no visible wound but unmoving, and beside him, Jisung, cold and motionless, a sword bleeding gold lying to his left.

“I found the sword about to stab - stab him,” Seungmin says, breaking the horrified silence first, “When I was following the poppies. And - And I forced the sword off him, but it took so long, like it was sentient, and then the sword fell to the ground and started - leaking gold.”

Hyunjin’s already taken steps towards them, sliding towards them and his knees are grazed but he doesn’t care - his hands are glowing pink over Chan’s chest and shaking with a kind of deadly desperation, doesn’t really know what he’s healing, just hopes that Chan will wake up, and his mind is a steady stream of please please please Chan-hyung come back, please, we need you, please -

What?

The first wisps of consciousness comes back to Chan, and the familiar feeling of his telepathy washes under their skin, and everyone releases half a breath. Chan stirs slightly, opening his eyes, tinged with blue, and he stares straight up at Hyunjin.

“Hyun… Jin? I - oh - we were fighting, and I told the Gyeolguk to fuck off and - and Jisung!” Chan says, sitting up so fast he nearly knocks into Hyunjin, “Jisung punched the Gyeolguk’s energy source, he might be infected, I -”

“Don’t worry,” Minho says, panting slightly and on the brink of exhaustion, “I saw his hand start to bleed gold as well so I earthed him and he’s okay, he’s not infected. I think - Hyunjin just needs to see him.” He sways alarmingly and his knees buckle, though he waves away help and says he’s just tired, withdrawing all his shoots back.

“Jisung,” Hyunjin murmurs, now pressing his glowing hands into Jisung’s chest, exhaustion prickling at his skin and making his head swoon, “Jisung, come back, please.” He hardly knows what he’s doing, just knows he needs to expel the gold out of Jisung, make him come back to them, make him wake up, make him realise he’s protected their district and it won’t be their district without him.

It’s slow. Slow like how the night has elapsed and the sun is rising with slow determination. The light breaks over them slowly, gradually, and as it does, Jisung starts to stir, eyelids fluttering and and waking up. Hyunjin pushes on, pink light glowing even more ferociously as he works to clean Jisung, because though Minho earthed him and the gold won’t come in anymore, there’s still traces left in him that could mean Jisung never wakes up again.

But Jisung does. He opens his eyes as the first rays of proper sunshine dawns over them, casting a fiery red glow over the darkness and chasing the remains of the battle away, his eyes dazzling with the force of a thousand stars.

“What - What happened?”

They have a thousand days and more to tell him what happened. For now, they’re safe, and so is their district. Sadness and pain can wait for another day.

#stray kids fanfiction #writing #stray kids drabbles #drabbles #skz superhero au #for: vampire-channie #a h i crammed this in like 4 hours i hope its okay sdkojalsjaf #sorry i couldnt quite expand on everyones power but id love to in the future omg #i hope you like this!!!!!!!!#also i apologise for any typos #its nearly 11pm and i need to shower lmao #sorry its 2.5 hours i counted lmao #its a new record im shattering myself

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scriptura-adrepticius · 6 years

Text

Kalon - Zhu Xingjie

I’m... kinda back? I hope you enjoy this (and I hope people read it, though tbh I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t).

Sorry for being gone so long. Can’t guarantee my postings will be consistent mainly because of school, but I think I’ve found some inspo again and I really hope it stays :) Love you all! Thanks for staying with this blog!

Pairing: Zhu Xingjie x OC/reader

Series: Types of People

six-string boy and fawn girl

credits to @trans-bean-but-spooky and @la-petitefille

Genre: fluff, domestic!au

Word Count: 2.6k

Kalon: a beauty that is more than skin deep

Sometimes Xingjie wonders about you and you wonder about him. It usually leads to you or him falling deeper in love with the other.

Masterlist | Types of People

imagine you were yanchen actually don’t, i think your heart will combust

Some days you look at Xingjie and wonder how a man with such goodness and innate beauty can exist.

It started in college when you first met him. You were tutoring Linkai in math, and one day Xingjie came to drop him off at the library. One look at him and you were blushing.

You were never particularly adept around the opposite sex.

Many people say it’s the eyes that drew them in, that made them start, that made them fall in love. But with Xingjie… it wasn’t his eyes. It was the way he spoke.

His beautiful voice, sweet and rich, drew you in like a fish to a hook but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. You’d been taught not to make judgements immediately, but with Xingjie, you couldn’t help it. A man with such a sweet voice had to be just as sweet a person.

Thankfully, you were right. Xingjie proved your judgements correct and more, and when you finally plucked up the courage to ask him out and he accepted, you were more than overjoyed. It was the first time you’d done something so forward, and you were amazed that it’d turned out so well.

Maybe that’s the thing about Xingjie, you wonder. He always manages to bring out the best in you, the parts of you that are hidden to the world, to yourself. He always seems to know you better than you do yourself, and though that should freak you out, it really doesn’t.

How can such a man exist? you wonder. Handsome, talented, sweet, kind… the list goes on and on. Every day you see him, you feel like you discover something new about him, something that only enhances the soft aura he seems to emanate wherever he goes. You bring this up to him one day and he simply laughs.

“It’s because you bring out the best in me,” he says, lacing his hand with yours.

“And you, me,” you reply, squeezing his hand slightly.

Xingjie’s smile isn’t blindingly bright. It’s soft, full of joy, but calm like the moon. He shows that smile now and you relish in its soft glow. “Isn’t that what a significant other is for?”

It’s impossible for you not to smile in response. “Of course.”

. . . . .

Some days Xingjie looks at you and wonders if you realize your own beauty.

It’s small things that make him wonder. The way your eyes brighten at the sight of something beautiful. The way you drift around the apartment, moving like a wisp of the wind. The way your cheeks redden when he places a soft kiss to your nose.

Sometimes you’re huddled in a corner of the couch, a blanket over your legs, reading a book as he works on some music. Sometimes you’re sitting next to him on the grass, back against a tree, watching a butterfly flit amongst the bushes as he writes lyrics. Sometimes you’re sleeping at the table, a cold plate of food by your side, having tried to stay up until he got home.

Quiet beauty, quiet grace. You’re like a fawn - quiet, sweet, innocent.

More often than not, you catch him staring and you send him a questioning look, silently asking why. At restaurants you brush the corner of your lips, wondering if food is on your face. At home, you pat your cheek, wondering if marks are imprinted there after falling asleep on a book. At his studio, you rub your face, wondering if there’s a pen mark there.

And more often than not, Xingjie smiles and shakes his head, taking your hand in his. And more often than not, he whispers, “Do you know how beautiful you are?”

And more often than not, you smile shyly and blush.

And more often than not, Xingjie presses a kiss to your lips.

. . . . .

Some days you look at Xingjie and wonder how a man so perfect would ever choose you.

There was a time when you thought no one would ever love you. Your father died when you were young, and he understood you better than your extroverted mother ever would. She could never comprehend why it was so hard for you to approach strangers, to get up in front of crowds, to speak louder than your usual whisper. Your stepfather was much the same - though perhaps they both loved you, they never understood you.

It took a long time for you to come out of your shell. It took a long time for you to let people in. You had few friends, but your friendships lasted a long time, and your current friends swear that the long process of breaking through your walls was worth it. Every time they say that, your heart flutters a little and you smile.

But it was a long time before you had such friends, and as you grew older, you wondered if you would ever find a perfect love, like the kind you read about in books. Bliss. Unconditional acceptance. Sweet smile and soft kisses. Unrealistic love.

You’ve never been particularly outspoken. You’ve never been particularly attractive. So why would Xingjie ever choose little old you?

He’s sitting nearby, scribbling something on a piece of paper as you make a pot of tea. You sit in front of him, idly watching him write in silence, resting your cheek on your hand as you wait for the tea to boil. When it’s done, you stand up quietly and pour it into two mugs, taking one for yourself and setting the other in front of him.

Xingjie looks up, startled, and smiles. “Thanks, Jingyi,” he says, and even though you’ve dated him for more than two years, his voice still never fails to make your heart warm.

“You’re welcome,” you reply sweetly, leaning over slightly. “What’s that you’re writing?”

“Lyrics,” he says shortly, hiding the words from your sight. You make a face, sipping from your mug, and it makes him laugh. “You’ll get to listen to the song first,” he promises.

“I’ll hold you to that,” you reply, reaching over to take his hand in yours.

And he keeps his promise. He calls you one day at three in the morning, nearly falling asleep over the phone, and asks you to come to the studio. It’s a ten minute walk in the bitter morning cold, but you persist.

After all, it’s for him.

He greets you sleepily, dark eyes dull with exhaustion, but he eagerly leads you to the computer and forces you to sit on his lap. Just before you put the headphones over your ears, though, he stops you.

“Remember when you asked me why I chose you?” he whispers. “A few weeks ago?”

You nod.

“Well, here are the reasons why.” He tugs the headphones down for you, hits a button, and then music begins to fill your ears.

It’s your smile

It’s your laugh

It’s the way your eyes shine

It’s your sweetness

It’s your joy

It’s the way you look at me, baby

I live to make you happy, to see the smile on your face

Because that smile, that laugh, that sweetness in your voice

It’s beautiful

And if I had to choose again, I’d choose you, my girl…

Maybe your eyes are tearing up at the end of the song. Maybe you’re smiling so widely that your face is beginning to hurt. Maybe you’re about to start full-on sobbing into Xingjie’s shoulder.

But it’s okay.

Later that morning, he makes you swear that you won’t doubt your own worth anymore. You swear that you won’t, and then you begin bawling into his shoulder again.

Fuck, you’re a mess.

But as long as Xingjie’s there to smile at you, kiss you, and whisper “I love you” in your ear, then you think you’ll be fine.

. . . . .

Some days Xingjie looks at you and wonders why you chose him.

Most of the time it’s you who’s insecure about dating him and he feels stupid when it’s him. He’s always the one to comfort you, and it’s strange to have it be the opposite.

But obviously there are blue days, there are gray days, when Xingjie is uninspired and sad and grumpy and everyone tiptoes around him, trying to leave him alone. Except you.

“Go away,” Xingjie snaps when he hears the knock on his door. He’s got headphones on but nothing’s playing, and though his computer is open and displaying all the music software he’s got, he’s not using it. Just staring at it.

“Hell no,” he hears you say, and then the door is pushed open and you stand in the doorway, arching an eyebrow.

Xingjie blushes out of embarrassment. “Fuck, sorry, Jingyi.” He tries for a smile. “I thought you were Linkai.”

“Linkai?” You wrinkle your brow, settling onto Xingjie’s bed. “He isn’t even here.”

“He’s been spamming me with texts and I figured he was going to come here and bother me some more,” Xingjie groans, finally taking the headphones off. “It was a mistake to give him that key.”

You shrug. “Maybe. But anyway, what’s got you so grumpy now?”

Immediately the black mood settles over him again. His eyebrows furrow, his eyes darken, his mouth thins into a line. “Deadline,” he mumbles.

“When?”

“Sunday.”

“Three days, then,” you hum, looking thoughtful. “You can spare one.”

“What?” Xingjie sputters. “No, I can’t!”

“Yeah, you can,” you retort, an uncharacteristic twinkle in your eye. “Change your clothes. Those look like they haven’t been washed for days. We’re going out.”

Despite his protests, you somehow force him out the door. He knows you have no plan which would on a normal day be strange since you’re always so organized. But he doesn’t mind.

As you drag him around the city, making his feet ache and his throat turn dry from too much laughter, as you hold his hand tight and look at him with such love and care in your eyes, Xingjie wonders just what he did in his past life to deserve you.

“Had a better day?” you ask finally as you slip your shoes off in the doorway, looking up at him with your sparkling eyes.

“I did,” Xingjie laughs, cupping your cheek in his hand. He presses a kiss to your lips. “Thank you.”

You give him a peck on his nose, stretching up on your toes, and smile. “You’re welcome.”

. . . . .

Some days you look at Xingjie and you fall in love with him all over again.

Autumn is your favorite season. The leaves turn orange, the wind turns crisp, and all around you is the excitement of the upcoming holidays, of times to spend with family and friends. The smells of warm coffee and hot chocolate pervade the air, bringing a smile to your lips.

You only mention your love for piano in passing, mostly because it’s just… too intimate an activity to call just a hobby. Piano used to be your life before you discovered science, and it was always an escape for you when the world became too much.

For the first few weeks you and Xingjie dated, he never knew you played any instruments. Whenever he invited you to his studio, it was always him who played, never you. Somewhere along the way you let it slip that you could play and since then, never has a trip to his studio gone by where he doesn’t request for you to play something on the old grand piano in the studio down the hall.

The keys, yellowed with age, are always smooth to the touch with just enough grip that you don’t have to worry much about your fingers slipping. You love that grand piano almost more than the one at home, and it’s only second because of the memories associated with your old upright.

It’s your birthday, and Xingjie, as always, has taken into consideration your unease with large crowds in planning a small party. The celebration is still rowdy, however, mostly because Linkai and Justin are both there to liven things up. You laugh, though - their antics don’t bother you anymore.

It isn’t until later that night when everyone’s left that Xingjie’s able to drag you away to the studio. Your curiosity is piqued - he’s already given you a gift, the treble clef pendant you now wear around your neck. You wonder silently what this is about.

Once inside the building, he turns away from his own studio in favor of the one with the piano. Your eyebrows furrow but you don’t question him, not even when he sits down at the bench, motioning for you to sit beside him.

“What’s this about?” you finally ask, sitting down. You lean your head on his shoulder, relishing in the warmth and stability that he seems to emanate.

“Your second birthday present. Just listen,” he whispers, then sets his hands on the keys and begins to play.

It’s a medley. Eight of your favorite pieces connected into a seamless ten-minute performance, culminating with your song. The song that you two danced to on the night of your first kiss. The song that you’ve jokingly deemed your theme song.

As he plays, your heart swells, and you think you’ve fallen in love with him again. Tears in your eyes, you tell him as much when he finishes.

“What made you fall out of love with me?” he teases gently, brushing a strand of hair away from your cheek. His touch makes you shiver.

“Absolutely nothing,” you reply, eyes shining. “I just fell a little deeper.”

. . . . .

Some days Xingjie looks at you and wonders if you’re real.

Xingjie can never find the words to describe you. Your peace. Your tranquility. The way you get startled easily, the way your eyes widen when you do. How you hum softly to the melodies he’s working on.

He wonders if that’s because you’re not from this planet. For the only word that even hints at what you are is perhaps otherworldly, and even that only touches upon the slightest essence of your being.

Until one day, when he finds the perfect word as he absentmindedly browses the internet.

The moon is bright, shining through the small window, illuminating your face with ghostly light. Your eyes are closed, your breath fanning his face as you slowly drift into the arms of sleep. Xingjie watches you doze off, his own eyes becoming heavy as well.

Linkai deems this kind of interaction awkward, but Xingjie thinks it’s just right. He cherishes these quiet moments, where he can enjoy your beauty in peace.

“You know,” he whispers sleepily, pulling you a little closer beneath the blankets, “I found the perfect word to describe you today.”

You open your eyes slowly. “What is it?” you ask, curiosity piqued. Xingjie’s heart leaps a little, hearing your tired, sweet voice.

“Kalon,” Xingjie enunciates, his tongue tripping slightly over the unfamiliar word. “A beauty that is more than skin deep.”

Even in the dark, your blush is unmistakable. Xingjie relishes in your surprise, in the way your eyes widen the tiniest bit, the way your cheeks pink slightly, the way you gaze at him with so much love in your eyes.

“Then, Xingjie,” you whisper, “I think it’s the perfect word to describe you too.”

Neither of you need the faint moonlight to know that the other is smiling.

Nor do you need the faint moonlight to press a kiss to the other’s lips either.

#idolproducernet #idol producer #idol producer zhu xingjie #zhu xingjie #idol producer scenarios #fluff #domestic!au #zhu xingjie scenarios #gramarie entertainment #types of people #kalon #scriptura-adrepticius

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hoodiehan · 6 years

Text

Just Friends Pt.2 - Hwang Hyunjin Imagine

Synopsis: You have to read Part 1 in order to understand this lolol. Part 1 is here! (On Kris's blog aka @hey-hey-chan :D)

Genre: Fluff, angst

Word Count: 3.4k

A/N: O o o o o I collaborated with @hey-hey-chan on this project for @straycuties' birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASTRELLA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY TODAY. GO GET DRUNK AND GO TO A STRIP CLUB YEET YEET YEET

Slamming the door shut behind me, I threw myself onto the bed and let out a scream of frustration into my pillows and bed sheets.

The nerve of that boy, Hwang Hyunjin. The only person who I thought that I could count on in this world had left me dry and hanging on a day that he knew was important for me. He left me for what? Some girl? Mind him, a girl who already has a boyfriend and clearly has no intention of dating him. Hyunjin can go find someone else to comfort him when he's in tears when he finally comes to his senses that she won’t date him. I'm obviously not important to him compared to other things; or should I say other girls.

It was a restless night as I kept tossing and turning in my bed. I was happy that I could finally feel myself being free of Hyunjin and all his dramatics, but at the same time, I had also cried so many times during the night. I didn't want to be done with Hyunjin, but at the same time, it's obvious where his priorities lay. And I was most definitely not one of them.

Waking up the next morning, I took one look in the mirror and let out a dejected sigh. The eye bags under my eyes had gotten darker and bigger because I had stayed up all night, my hair was a mess, and my face was puffy due to my multiple crying sessions.

Scratching the back of my neck, I walked towards the bathroom and attempted to make myself look presentable for the day. Now that I declared Hyunjin to be out of my life, I wouldn't need to get all dressed up for someone. As I got ready, I checked my phone for any notifications.

"Hey, what was that??" A text from Hyunjin from last night.

"Are you okay?" Another text from him.

"It's 1 AM and I know that you're awake because you never sleep. Why aren't you responding?"

"Are you ignoring me?"

"Alright it's now 2 AM and I can see your bedroom light is on. What's up?"

"I just got a notification. Are you rabbitting without me?"

The rest of my notifications consisted of updates from Instagram or Snapchat, or they were full of Hyunjin spamming my phone. It's not like I meant to ignore him last night, but that's exactly what I had intended to do. In the midst of one of my many crying sessions, I got fed up with his spamming and turned off my phone so that I could cry in peace.

I hated feeling like this. Sad, then mad, then relieved, then sad all over again. It was a never ending cycle of emotions, and I just wanted it all to go away. I just wanted Hyunjin to go away and to leave my thoughts forever. Unfortunately, I couldn't even do that, though when the boy who I wanted to never remember again lived right next door to me, and the fact that I had to see him every day.

"Y/N!" Hyunjin called from his house the second that I had stepped foot onto my front porch. Groaning, I turned around and slowly faced him.

"What?" I snapped unhappily.

"Whoa," Hyunjin said holding up two hands to put a distance between us. "What's with the tone?"

"There's no tone," I said coldly. The irony to the sentence, though. "Do you need something?"

Hyunjin tilted his head, confused and looked at me. "Did I do something wrong?"

I almost snorted at the way that he seemed so confused. It was ironic how he didn't know, when everything he had done was wrong in all ways possible. "I don't know, Hyunjin. I'm just not feeling it today. Maybe I'll just talk to you later, yeah?" I said letting out a long sigh. I was in no mood to fight, but I wasn’t in the mood to play nice either. It was better if I just walked away now.

"Um, yeah, okay. That's fine. I'll text you later then?" Hyunjin asked, but I had already turned around and walked in the other direction.

"Yeah sure," I mumbled, but he was already too far away to hear.

----

I was sitting in a booth of a cafe sipping on a strawberry smoothie. Every few seconds, I let out a small sigh as I stared out the window of the little shop. I would always come here with Hyunjin and it felt wrong to be here by myself.

I was nearing the end of my milkshake, when I heard someone come up to the table. Thinking that it was Hyunjin, I quickly looked over only to see that it was the waiter.

"Hey, can I get you a refill or something?" The boy asked shyly, wringing his hands in front of his body. He had a bashful smile on his face; one that made his dimples show, and one that would surely melt any girl's heart.

"Oh, uh, no that's alright," I peered down at his name tag. "Chan," I said finishing my sentence. "I'm almost done anyways.”

Chan nodded in response before looking back up at me and smiling once more. "You're usually here with that boy. What happened today? Decided to take a break from one another?" Chan joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, we actually did decide to give each other some air," I shrugged my shoulders, looking at my drink and swirling the straw around my cup.

"I'm so sorry, do you want to talk about it?" Chan asked sliding into the booth seat across from mine. Narrowing my eyes at his boldness, I quirked my head at him.

"Don't you have tables to wait or plates to clean?"

"Look around," Chan held a hand out to the cafe to prove his point. "There's no one else here. Just you and I. Now, tell me what happened."

The rest of the afternoon was spent with me rambling on and on about my problem regarding Hyunjin (although I left out the part about how I felt about him) and Chan listening intently. He never once interrupted me, or said anything. He simply listened, nodded, and added in his own opinions and advice in between pauses. It was nice to finally let out all that I had been holding in.

By the time that I was done talking with Chan, the sun was beginning to set, and closing time for the cafe was fast approaching.

"Hey, you want to get out of here?" Chan asked.

"Yeah, that would actually be really nice," I nodded. One of the sides of Chan's mouth quirked upwards in a lopsided smile that almost made me want to melt again.

"Where do you want to go?" Chan asked once he had finished up locking the cafe. Pondering for a bit, I stood still before turning back to face him.

"Have you ever gotten a tattoo before?" When the words left my lips, I almost felt too stunned to even comprehend it. A tattoo? Why would I say that?

Chan furrowed his eyebrows, surprised at my question. "No... But I guess that I've always wanted to get one."

I smiled cheekily at the boy and shrugged. “So, like, how would you feel about getting one?”

The boy raised a brow and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Are you sure?”

I nodded, feeling the adrenaline rush get to me. I had never spent this much time away from Hyunjin and I was feeling the independence surge to me, making me bolder than I was before.

“Positive.”

---

The next few days consisted of minimal conversations and texts between Hyunjin and I. We didn't talk much anymore, which I suppose was fine for the most part. It felt alright to distance myself away from Hyunjin a little bit. But word got around that I had gone out with Chan to get a tattoo, and it was clear in Hyunjin's texts that he wasn't happy with any of it.

I guess it wasn’t a good move to ask Hyunjin’s cousin to do my tattoo.

"You got a tattoo?! Without me?!?!?" Was the first text that I had gotten from Hyunjin in the morning.

"Who is this Chan guy??? Why am I hearing that you went out with him??" The second text that I received from him.

"Why aren't you replying? Why are you just reading my texts?" One of the texts that I skimmed over in his spamming.

"That's it, I'm coming over."

That text was not one that I had seen, as I had been too busy ignoring Hyunjin.

"Can you please stop seeing him?" Were the first words that came out of Hyunjin's mouth when I opened my front door only to see him standing in place of it.

"Seeing who?" I asked innocently, pretending not to know what Hyunjin was going on about.

"You know who! Chan! Stop seeing him!" Hyunjin said raising his voice to be near a shout.

"What's so bad about Chan?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips in a defensive position. I was deeply confused as to why he was so mad at me all of a sudden, it’s not like he liked me.

"Everything is bad about Chan! He's not right for you."

"Oh, that's rich coming from you," I snapped back at Hyunjin. I felt my heart drop at his rude comments about Chan. Even though I wasn’t romantically involved with Chan, he was the only one there for me to spill my feelings to. He had been the one who picked me up from a hard time and I wished Hyunjin would respect that.

"You know I'm right. Chan isn't good for you. He goes around playing with girls, and you're just one of them too!"

I glared at Hyunjin, and began to fume. "How dare you say such a thing to me? You don't even know, Chan! And do you not hear the words that are coming from your mouth? Do you not understand that, that is the same thing that I told you not too long ago about her?"

"Hey, she's a great girl!" Hyunjin exclaimed narrowing his eyes.

"Yeah, I beg to differ."

"What's so bad about her?"

"Everything. Everything about her is wrong. She plays with your heart even though she has a boyfriend!"

"But why are you so mad about me liking-"

"Ah," I said holding a finger up. "Do not speak that devil's name. You'll only worsen the situation."

"Okay, so then why are you so mad about me liking her?"

"Because I like you, you idiot!" The words bursted out of my mouth before I could process them. But by the time I had realized what I had said, the damage was already done.

"You...you what?" Hyunjin quietly asked, his mouth gaping.

Sighing, I looked past Hyunjin, not daring to look him in the eyes as I began to let out the confession that I had been holding in for such a long time. “All these years, I've comforted you when you were hurt. I stood back and watched you chase after someone, and I supported you in doing so. I did everything to help you because I am your best friend. But do you know how much that hurts? To watch someone you love, fall in love with someone else? Someone who doesn't even deserve your love? It freaking sucks, Hyunjin."

Hyunjin stood back in silence. All this time, he had been moping around and pining for someone else, when in reality, here you were pining for him.

"Y/N, I'm so sorry. I just-"

"Don't," I said cutting him off. "Just leave me alone." Slamming the door in Hyunjin's face, I turned around and leaned my back against the door. Pressing a hand against my face, I finally let out all of the sobs and emotions that I had been holding in.

----

It had been almost two weeks since I had last spoken to Hyunjin. Ever since our fight, it was if the both of us went out of our ways to avoid each other in any way possible. I would make sure that Hyunjin wasn't leaving his house the same time that I was. But it sometimes occurred that we would run into each other without thinking. When that happened, then Hyunjin would rush away in the opposite direction. It hurt to see him avoiding me like that, but it was better than seeing him and having to speak with him about whatever happened. Yet, every time I clicked on my phone, I expected to find a text or some sort of notification from Hyunjin. But as always, there was nothing. Just my lock screen that displayed the date and time.

Sighing, I turned off my phone and entered the record store shop that I usually went to when I was feeling down. And in the past few days, I had especially been feeling sad and heartbroken.

I was browsing through the newest selection of records that the store had just received, when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Or should I say someone.

Pretending not to have seen them, I continued to look flick through the record albums when I felt his presence come up from behind me.

“I’m sorry,” Hyunjin said coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Are you now?”

“Yes, yes I am so very sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have been so blind. I just like, she-who shall-not-be-named, a lot, and I was hoping that she would give me a chance, somehow.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little when he said “she-who-shall-not-be-named.” After all this time, Hyunjin wouldn’t say her name around me.

“Yes, well, I am always right,” I said letting out a puff of air as I continued to look through the stacks of record labels. Hyunjin rested his head on top of my shoulder and it took everything in me not to freeze up.

I didn’t like skin ship that much, but something about the way that Hyunjin was just holding onto me felt right. I hated it, but at the same time, I just wanted to hold onto him and never let go. I was supposed to be mad at Hyunjin, but talking with him again just felt...right. The longest that we had ever gone without speaking with one another was just a day, and that was because Hyunjin had gone overnight camping. Maybe it was time to reconcile with him. No, I can’t be that weak.

“Yes, you are most definitely always right,” Hyunjin mumbled nodding his head against my shoulder. “What can I do to make you forgive me? Take you out for some ice cream? Pay for your shopping spree? Make you a lavish meal?” He gave me a sheepish smile, but I wasn’t up for it at the moment.

“Well, first of all, you’re too broke to take me shopping. Second of all, I don’t want you anywhere near a kitchen because you’ll most likely burn it down.” I spat.

I could feel Hyunjin’s laughter vibrate throughout my body, and when he stepped away to look at me with the biggest eye smile ever, I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“I really am sorry, though, Y/N. I know that I keep saying this, but you’re right. I shouldn’t keep chasing after someone who already has a boyfriend, and already said that they have no interest in me.”

I nodded slowly as I listened Hyunjin’s apology.

“And I am most definitely sorry,” Hyunjin looked down and took my hand in his and holding onto it. “For not realizing that there was a beautiful girl right in front of me who was chasing after me all this time. I should have opened my eyes and seen that it was you all this time. There’s no one else in the world except for you.”

My mouth fell open a little bit as I took in Hyunjin’s confession. I didn’t want to assume anything and get my hopes up, but his next words confirmed all of my thoughts, hopes and dreams.

“I love you, Y/N,” Hyunjin said looking right at me.

At that moment, I felt my whole world stop. I could barely understand what was happening as the words were so foreign to me. All these years, I had pined over him restlessly and watched him get with other girls; I had never imagined the same situation for me. “And before you get angry or upset or in denial, let me explain. I know that I’ve been going out with girls and pining over this girl for a year now, yet I can spend weeks without hanging out with her in person. But that one night that you stopped texting me, I felt my whole world collapsing. And when we were not talking to each other, I felt so alone like I had no one.” I saw a tear drop fall to his cheek and I resisted the urge to wipe it.

“You’re just saying that because you’ve never been without me-”

“Hah, I knew you were going to say that. But it’s true, I’d never spent so much time without you and I realized that I can’t. Whenever I see something funny, I immediately want to send it to you, but I couldn’t. When I felt antsy in my house or saw a cool event online, I couldn’t hang out with you. I know this is going to sound cheesy, but it felt like a part of me was missing and I couldn’t function without you. And trust me y/n, no one has ever made me feel this way. I’ve never fallen apart so badly.”

Suddenly, he grabbed my hands and pulled them tightly to his chest. “This heart it only beats for you now, I promise. It’s yours to break or to use or to trash, I don’t care, but it’s yours and it’s always been yours.” I felt tears rush down my cheeks as his voice cracked on the last words.

I know that I said that I was done with Hyunjin, but in that moment, I didn’t care about anything else. I had spent too many years with this boy to just drop him all of a sudden, and no matter what, I would always love him; he is, and will forever be, my best friend.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I dropped Hyunjin’s hands, stood up on my tippy toes, and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Dammit, Hyunjin, I love you too,” I breathed in his ear, smiling as I felt him wrap his arms around my waist to lift me off the ground and spin me around. Hyunjin’s own happy giggle was the only thing I heard in my ear as we rejoiced in the aisle of the record shop.

“How did you know that I would be here?” I asked Hyunjin once he had set me down on the floor again.

“This is the record shop. You always come here when you’re angry and need to look for some sad song to listen to,” Hyunjin shrugged scratching the back of his neck.

“I never told you that I come here every time I’m mad though,” I said raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, well, every time you’re angry or mad, you always ask me to take you here,” Hyunjin smiled and rubbed his nose. “But I don’t think that you’re angry or mad anymore, so let’s go!” Hyunjin grabbed my hand and led us out of the store and onto the street. I rubbed my face to hide the tears and snot from other people. It would look terrible if I walked around looking like a snot-filled mess with a boy.

“Where are we going?” I asked rushing to keep up with his pace. The boy had long legs and I could only do so much to keep up.

“Hmm, let’s go get some ice cream.”

“Ice cream? I’m lactose intolerant though,” I stated frowning a little bit at the suggestion.

“Yeah, I know you are. But half of the world is lactose intolerant too, though. That won’t stop them from indulging in a banana split every once in a while.”

“You’re an idiot.” I rolled my eyes and shoved him slightly, my strength toppling him over.

“Hey, but I’m an idiot you love.”

“Don’t push it.”

“Ok.”

321 notes · View notes

vyragosa · 6 years

Text

vyra, i was so inspired & encouraged by you posting ur fanfiction! i loved it so much! i had written this a week or so ago, but i didn’t have the courage to figure out how to send it.

i dont know i want to put my name to it because i dont think tonbokiri and sengo are fully in character (though i would like to grow as a writer until i can write them well), and i also dont want to spam ur blog with it, but i did write it as a kind of “thank you” for streaming mihotose the other week, and i thought that, if you have the courage to post yours, then i want to have the courage to send you this gift, even if mine isn’t all that good.

because of its length, don’t feel pressured to post it onto your blog if you don’t want to! i don’t mind either way. it’s entirely up to you, because as far as i’m concerned, it’s your gift for you to do with what you like. you don’t have to comment on it if you don’t want to, or you can choose to; you don’t have to post it unless you want to; etc. im not sure if this is the best way to send you this, because im still not 100% on how the “submit” feature works, but i hope this is readable;

(put the rest of the message under the cut with the fic v )

(ok so first of all i couldn’t wait to be home and read during a break in the freezing cold and i literally could not stop crying involuntarily, literally unable to stop still) your grasp on them, i just, how raw

the way you wrote their fears and tears? tonbo being so excessive to the point of being incredibly self-destructive, thinking that his words are never appropriate when each time, they are? disregarding his own self for others, for him

sengo being so, so self-contained to the point of facade completely shattering from a single world (which reminds of his face almost choking back tears in mihotose being told he isn’t alone i’m NOT ok) wanting to take care of him instead, to make him realize no one should go that far for him, and especially not tonbokiri

thank you so much for taking the time to write all of this? i’m a bit at loss of words i’m afraid i can’t praise it as much as i think of it but i genuinely cherish it with all my heart, and please don’t downplay yourself like this in the future you don’t give yourself enough credit that i can’t put in words

“Did you sleep better, back then?”

Sengo’s face has turned back to the window, not fully, but so all Tonbokiri can see is the apple of his grinning cheek tremble.

“I would take those unpleasant memories from you, if I could,” Tonbokiri says. He says it quietly, because if he spoke any louder then his voice would crack with its own weight. “Sometimes I wish I could, if it would ease your suffering.”

Sengo laughs wetly. "And then we’d never have met.” “I’d find you still.”

i have another ao3 account invite arriving hopefully soon, so if you want this to be more clean, i could post it there maybe if that would be better. & i have never written for anyone before, and i don’t think anyone has seen anything i’ve written in a few years, so please don’t think too harshly on my characterisations, writing, dialogue, pacing, etc. because i’ve never had anyone to critique my mistakes.

(i also think i started writing this with the intention of it being an au where they had been human but very much like that spies or assassins, like i saw on your blog, so if anything seems strange, it’s because of that! i didn’t mention anything explicitly, but i wanted to give myself some room because i’m not fully familiarised with the canon yet, so that’s why some things may not be in line with canon, even though they may call themselves “spear/sword.“ i wanted to write something in between the phases of them being very traumatised by their life experiences and starting the road to recovery; between them still considering themselves weapons lacking autonomy and them starting to think of themselves as people who can make their own decisions.) as i said, i know there are places where it definitely feels even to me that tonbokiri and sengo are ooc, but i hope you’ll forgive those moments while i begin figuring out how to write them properly. even if you don’t enjoy this so much, hopefully you can use this at least as something to give you different ideas.

~ Tonbokiri is woken by Sengo.

He knows this even before his eyes are open. If he could not tell by the thin fingers brushing back his hair; or the sound of his sleep-husked voice, unusually quiet, unusually tremulous, calling his name; or even the faint smell of cherry blossoms still sticking to Sengo’s skin after they’d taken Monoyoshi to see around the city and the nearest park just the day before … if he could not tell by any of that, then Tonbokiri would know just from habit.

It is in the nature of things like them to awaken fighting; to burst into consciousness at the slightest sounds; to feign sleep while reaching for their knife under their pillow, or to listen to the sounds of the building adjusting to the new weight with wailing creaks and then to launch at their attacker. That is in their training. It had taken some time - though, not nearly as much as either of them had expected - for Tonbokiri and Sengo to adjust to each other’s presence, but now that they have, if he is woken in any manner and his body allows the haze of semi-consciousness to fog his mind, then Sengo must be near, keeping him peaceful.

He is woken by Sengo most nights in some way or another, though not usually for long. A leg thrown over his waist might catch his attention, their hips budging as they shift might stir him, fine hair in his face and tickling his nose will wake him with a sneeze, or the blankets being pulled further to one side than the other might cause him to wake just enough to pull them back. To all of these, Tonbokiri will smile, ensure that nothing in the room is out of place and disturbing him, and drift back to sleep. On less pleasant nights, he is woken by Sengo’s fitful dreaming. Not his nightmares, or at least not the fully-fledged ones - while he knows Sengo has periods where his dreams give him pain, he too often wakes himself first, quiet enough or still enough to never wake Tonbokiri, and instead lets him rest unknowing; and so Tonbokiri only ever catches the after-images of these nightmares: the restless attempt to fall back asleep again, tear tracks on Sengo’s otherwise dormant face, smiles the next day that are a little too wide … all signs of something that Sengo endured right beside him that Tonbokiri missed. Sengo brings them up occasionally, but never seriously, only to tell him something particularly gruesome that he thinks might scare Tonbokiri away, or with a wink and a fluttering hand as if he’s trying to convince them both that he’s telling a particularly overblown ghost story rather than his own memories.

They haunt him like ghosts, certainly, but they’re no less real.

Tonight, Sengo had woken him, but he’s already awake himself, face scrunched into something just a little more serious than his usual pout.

“Muramasa … ?” he murmurs. This is strange to him, and his body is reacting frustratingly slowly. Lovingly slowly; it - he - trusts Sengo implicitly; he can almost imagine his resting muscles asking what such a rush is for, if Sengo is here.

A light is already on in their room, a dim amber glow in the corner from a lamp. Just hazy enough to leave deep shadows in haloed curves around the furniture, but just bright enough to leave a pleasant highlight on Sengo’s face.

“Ah, you’re awake.“ His fingernails scratch pleasantly at Tonbokiri’s scalp, brushing through his hair. Sengo is sitting with Tonbokiri’s head in his lap; he is surprised none of the movement woke him sooner.

“Of course,” he repeats, forcing his eyelids to remain fully open despite his comfort. “Of course,” he repeats, “didn’t you call me?" He thinks he remembers Sengo’s voice, whispering his name. "Is something wrong?”

“Don’t you remember? You were having a nightmare.”

The fatigue seeps from him in an instant, leaving him cold and awake. The cold centres in his chest like ice, but Sengo’s hands near his head are still warm. So it was me who woke him first … It’s troubling to think of how he may have disturbed what little peaceful sleep Sengo had earned just with his own bothersome thoughts. “Oh,” he eventually manages. “Yes, I don’t remember at all. Thank you for waking me from it so quickly.”

Before he can apologise for waking Sengo himself, Sengo’s pout changes shape, and his warm hands travel to Tonbokiri’s chest, thawing that frozen feeling. “But your heart is racing, can’t you feel that?”

“Ah, that,” he says. He notices now that it’s been pointed out. But he smiles up at Sengo rather than think about it. “My heart always races when I look at you.”

Sengo splutters slightly in surprise, face turning a soft pink, glowing in the dusky orange lamplight, framed by highlights of long, feathery hair. Tonbokiri could stare at him for so long …

I wonder if it just got faster. He puts a hand over Sengo’s, both of them over his heart.

The flush doesn’t fade, but Sengo adopts a wry, amused smile, wrinkling his nose mischeviously, eyes twinkling. “Pardon the intrusion, then, if I’ve interrupted a dream in which I’m undressing.”

“It’s no interruption, if you’re the one who wakes me." How could even the most pleasant dream he conjure compare to the real thing? Ah, embarrassing, even the thought makes his cheek heat. "And, I am sorry,” he manages, next, before he blurts out something even more sentimental.

Sengo’s smile doesn’t vanish, but his eyes go wide and study him carefully, scrutinising.

“For waking you,” Tonbokiri explains. “I–”

He is distracted by a flash of deep red slashed across the palm of Sengo’s hand, made noticeable as he moves it from Tonbokiri’s chest to his own lap.

He shoots upwards, almost knocking Sengo backwards with his speed and size. In the light, with the movement, the red shimmers. Tonbokiri forces himself to think rationally despite his hammering heart, to come into a sitting position beside Sengo and move slower; Sengo’s muscles have clenched, shoulders tightened, and his gaze is scanning the room for whatever threat he thinks must have made its presence announced.

Tonbokiri scolds himself internally. He knows what they both are, and he was foolish to react in a way that has left Sengo waiting for an attack, and after Sengo woke him up so gently. His breathing slows purposefully, steadily, and he outstretches his hands to take Sengo’s. Slowly, so that if Sengo wanted to knock his hands away, he could.

But Sengo offers the hand faster than Tonbokiri asks, eyebrows high on his head, offering a faint, “What’s the matter?” into the open air.

Tonbokiri’s thumb presses into the heel of Sengo’s hand as he turns it to examine it closer. A thread of his own hair, dark red, had caught itself on Sengo’s ring finger. His hands had been so gentle that Tonbokiri hadn’t even felt the roots tug in his scalp, even as the strands were drawn with the movement.

His exhale is a heavy huff of relieved air. His thumbs trace the lines of Sengo’s blessedly unblemished palm. “I thought I’d cut you." The red like a river of blood deep in Sengo’s skin … all just a strand of his hair. It had just shone oddly in the light, is all. It had looked like something it wasn’t, and his mind had jumped to its own conclusions.

"You didn’t,” says Sengo, flexing his hand to better see it himself. Then, thoughtfully, almost like a challenge. “You couldn’t.”

Tonbokiri almost traitorously thinks, I have, remembers the dragonfly, then silences that weakness. No matter what his body is capable of, has done, he won’t let it harm Sengo.

“Huhuhu, even without saying any words, the things you think are so loud,” says Sengo, tapping Tonbokiri’s temple with his unhurt hand. “You didn’t, and so what would it matter if you had? I thought you told me you didn’t remember you’d had a nightmare.”

“I can’t remember it,” begins Tonbokiri. “And it would matter, if I’d hurt you.”

Sengo flicks his wrist to dismiss that thought. They’re sitting so close together, and yet Sengo’s face has turned at an angle impossible to read. “But you seem so alert, after waking." With an insincere edge, "Would it make you more at ease if I undressed right now?”

He frowns. “If I can’t remember it, I’d say it hasn’t bothered me so much,” he says. “But … you worry me. Are you alright?”

“You’re such a worrywart. Aren’t you the one with bad dreams?”

“We both have bad dreams." Tonbokiri leans closer now, and Sengo gives him reluctant eye contact. "Did it trouble you when I woke up?”

Now Sengo smiles. It’s tight on his face; a mixture of the false, teasing grins he wears for the others, and the pained, bittersweet twist that sometimes unwillingly slips onto his face. “You didn’t.”

“Trouble you?" Then he realises. He lowers his gaze. "Wake you.”

It isn’t a question, but Sengo still confirms it with a half-shrug, doing his best not to look bothered about it.

“I’m glad, then,” Tonbokiri decides. “That I had that dream and you woke me. No one of us should be awake alone at this hour.”

Sengo shrugs again, more haphazard this time, rising to cross the room to their window and look out over the night. “It’s not so bad. I used to stay up and stare at the stars, before. I would wonder which unlucky one I must have been born under." He flashes a playful grin over his shoulder, one that Tonbokiri can’t return.

Before. Before he was Mihotose. Tonbokiri himself hardly feels as if he’s been here long, although he feels so at peace with the team. But he had spent so long as the spear belonging to just one man before this; Sengo has had many handlers. Does it feel so differently for him? Does time pass differently? There are times when Tonbokiri worries that Sengo feels isolated for being the last of them to join.

"Did you sleep better, back then?”

Sengo’s face has turned back to the window, not fully, but so all Tonbokiri can see is the apple of his grinning cheek tremble.

Sengo crosses back, but so quickly Tonbokiri barely catches a glimpse of his face. His hands grasp Tonbokiri’s shoulders, and his purple head rests above red. “How peaceful … but then I’d have almost no memories whatsoever.”

“Then I’d wish for you to have a different life. A normal one. A human one." Speaking as if they aren’t humans. But, some days, it would be almost more impossible to believe they are.

Sengo laughs wetly. "And then we’d never have met.”

“I’d find you still.”

A drop lands squarely on Tonbokiri’s head. He pretends that it could be possible for it to rain inside their room, rather than feel the deep sorrow in his chest knowing that Sengo is crying.

“I am Sengo Muramasa,” Sengo declares. Bold, but sad. “And not that stranger who lived some normal, human life. If this Tonbokiri … if he has regrets,” he speaks softly, with no judgement, “then I’m sure that that other Muramasa is out there … instead of inside this room, where you’re trapped with the demon.”

“How can I have any regrets in this life that took me to you?" His voice is heavy and wet.

"In this life that’s given you nightmares … you have no regrets? You wouldn’t change it?”

“No.”

“You’d take all those lives again? Walk down this path that you’ve walked down?”

“If you were waiting for me on it, yes.”

A smile curves against his temple. “Liar." Two more raindrops fall from the shadow of a violet cloud above. Tonbokiri is held so closely that he can only see Sengo’s collarbone, from how tightly he is held. "Merciful Tonbokiri”–here, Sengo traces the Siddham on his chest–“he would never shed all that blood for anyone less than his old master. Let alone for something like me.”

Merciful Tonbokiri. He wants to be, he aspires to be, but. He can’t remember what his nightmare was, but he can imagine. His past has given a lot for his dreams to work with. “If there is a price to pay to keep our lives together, to be paid in blood, at the cost of all I’ve shed and all you’ve shed, I would gladly give it all, straight from my own heart." He guides Sengo’s finger from the Siddham to his heart beside it. "If you’d have me.”

Sengo makes a choked noise. His hand curls, his knuckles brush and must surely feel Tonbokiri’s pulse. “So desperate to keep your own misfortunate life, and to make me change mine?”

“Only if it’d make you happy.”

“But how could I possibly be happy if we were living different lives?”

“I’d pay it all the same, if it’d make you happy in this one.”

“Huhuhu, sometimes, you can be a little slow, Tonbokiri." Sengo pulls back so they can see each other, face-to-face. There are tears rolling down so quickly they fall into his smile. "I already am.”

Tonbokiri leans carefully up to place his mouth on Sengo’s. Sengo freezes, one hand still on Tonbokiri’s shoulder, and the other helplessly pressed against his heart. They are still so new at this, and Tonbokiri’s face turns as red as his hair and Sengo starts in surprise almost every time they’ve tried, between failed attempts where they bump noses and turn away, too flushed, before they’ve even gotten close enough.

They part reluctantly, but still so close. Tonbokiri can taste tears on his lips, and he leans his forehead forward against Sengo’s. Sengo’s lips are still parted, upturned.

“Sometimes …" He frowns at himself, for breaking the silence–the ease. For doing it so clumsily, instead of sharply and neatly like the spear he is should be able to do. "Sometimes, it feels as if you aren’t.”

“As if I’m not …?”

“Happy.”

“Sometimes it feels as if you aren’t, either.”

“There is nothing to be concerned about." But, at Sengo’s deadpan stare, he admits, "I … am. More often than not. Being here has helped.”

“That’s not fair, then; you’ve been here longer than I have,” Sengo accuses, biting his tongue playfully at Tonbokiri. “Perhaps even this demon sword could learn to live a happy life if it stays here long enough.”

“Demon sword?” asks Tonbokiri with a laugh. “I don’t think I know of that stranger. I don’t think such a thing lives here, even. The last person to come live with us was, hm, definitely a man, not a demon. One of the kindest and gentlest I’ve ever met.”

“‘Kind and gentle’? Are you certain that you and I are thinking of the same thing?”

“Well, I have met, and talked to, and experienced, and … loved Sengo Muramasa. And I think that both he and I know who he is far better than any of those strangers who spread rumours of demons. Even better than those voices who live in his head and try to convince him those lies are true.”

“'Loved,’” repeats Sengo quietly, in a strange, hoarse voice.

“Yes. I haven’t much experience with it, but I think that’s it.”

“One shouldn’t tease, you know,” Sengo rushes to say, “or play jokes. Not on this demon who is just learning to become a man. That would be cruel even to a Muramasa.”

“I would never. Isn’t it you who says I don’t understand humour very well?”

“And so what you say …”

“… I am always honest with you, Muramasa.”

Sengo laughs, a happy outburst. There are still tears on his face. Tonbokiri kisses him again, before he can think better of it. Sengo’s hands cup his cheeks, and Tonbokiri wonders if he can feel his grin.

They are still so close, chest-to-chest, that when they pull away, Sengo murmurs again, “Your heart … it’s still so fast.”

“I told you; so long as I can see you, my heart races.”

“Then it would be best for me to turn off the light, or you’ll never get back to sleep.”

“That’s alright,” says Tonbokiri. He looks to the window. It’s still so dark outside. But the shadows are hardly daunting when it is so bright in here with both of them. “I think it would be okay for us to stay up just a little longer.”

#submission #unbelievable #unbelievable how raw and emotional

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pixel-sylveon · 6 years

Text

im going through my notes for all the characters in rising tides and im just

I need this creativity back

here read these they’re hilarious

Sun & Moon

Siblings – twins

Just moved from Kanto with their mom half way through the school year so January I guess b/c Canadian system lol

“sun acts like the sun and moon acts like the moon”

Moon:

Reserved

Art kid

Also loves archery tho

Tunes everyone out with music when they first move

A huge closet nerd

If she has to talk to people she’s really polite though??

Once she opens up she’s all memes

“one day she sees someone running stupidly and she just whispers quietly to no one ‘is that kid naruto running’ and someone hears and THE CATS OUTTA THE BAG”

“Hau just starts droppin really weird and obscure refs to shit and whenever moon reacts he knows”

Has a group of online friends that are basically some of the other protags from different regions all going to schools

Gremlin

Sarcastic

Into r/nosleep

Generally likes creepy shit n horror games n anime

ESPECIALLY HITORI KAKURENBO

She Wants to Believe

Space aesthetic

Sun:

Outgoing

Kinda athletic but basically a Dork

Becomes buddies with Hau like Right Away

And basically the rest of the gang

Drags Moon everywhere at first because “she needs to socialize”

Moon helps him with homework a lot

Really likes baking and cleaning??

Always outside regardless of weather

But also loves video games (shares this w/ Moon)

Started calling Gladion “Red Eyes Black Dragon” and it stuck

Gives everyone really cute nicknames

Does part-time jobs because he can

Gladion:

RED EYES BLACK DRAGON

Edgelord

Is honestly really smart??

Can generally be found in the library studying during lunch

Wears a barrette and glasses when studying/reading/doing anything productive really

Closet memester

Or at least he’s quiet about it

Hiding Null from the popo

Everyone’s Pokémon Loves Him

Ends up running off at one point and finds his dad

Gets a part time job maybe

Does everything he can to protect Lillie from Lusamine until it becomes too much

No one can really do anything for them since Lusamine is such a huge influence

She’s like the gross mom at PTA meetings

Sewing protégé

Likes tea more than coffee

Endless supply of poke beans

Is so used to anxiety attacks he just shrugs them off tbh

Strong Boi

Doting older brother

Was forced to take music lessons with Lillie, so he kind of knows how to play piano. However, he’s really good at singing and fucking hates this.

Vents his frustrations via punk rawk

Is in a lot of research-oriented classes (he wants to take aether from lusameanie after all)

DOES NOT HAVE A SWEARING BONE IN HIS BODY

He completely falters whenever Lillie swears (super rare) and has a mini heart attack

Will chastise people if they swear too much and tell them to go read a dictionary

Lillie:

Blessed sweetheart

Blue Eyes White Dragon

Absolutely Pure

Mom Friend (besides Mallow)

Diligent Student

Really loves Shiron b/c Shiron

Loves slice of life anime

Phone games

Lives on twitter tbh

Good at hiding her internet presence

Embraces girly things

I can see her being musically inclined

Ephemeral by Akira Kosemura sounds like music that sounds like her at first tbh

Yeah. She’s the Music Kid. It has been decided

Got Gladion into Love Live lbr here

Going for walks and exploring nature is one of her past times;; when she can

Hau:

SUNSHINE BOMB EX

Loves malasadas and cute things

Has an aesthetic blog

Cares more about graduating to take the trial challenge then to actually learn anything

Yolo

C r y p t I d s I g h t I n g s

Will gladly go shopping for clothes any day

Plays with everyone’s hair

Worries too much about everyone

Will bring ten lunches with him so that everyone is fed

The third mom dad friend

“Hi ___ I’m Dad”

Horrible puns

Him and Sun equal T r o u b l e

Ilima:

Shy bi and ready to cry

Is another art kid

But he’s more into sculpting than painting

Probably has a youtube account with 150k subscribers or smth

Vlogs for days

Really likes doing shit with editing programs, be it movies, music or art

Went to Kalos for a year and misses their cafes

Doesn’t necessarily hit on everyone, but he does love to flirt

Upstanding Gentleman

Appeals more to emotion than logic

Is super good at pairing people off

Always wins cards against humanity

Always has deeply invested conversations about aesthetic with Lillie and Hau

Jams out to Cascada unironically

Mallow:

Will put your best cookies to shame

Girls Are Cute

Life Goals or Wife Goals?

Always Chipper Until You Piss Her Off

Snide remarks up the wazoo

Probably knows how to play the chocobo theme on otamatone

Is actually a really picky eater

Loves grass types so much she has a garden for them to play and plant stuff in

Teasing people is her favourite pastime

The original mom friend

Goes running every morning

Knows some of the dances to love live songs and does them with Lillie

Kiawe:

Everyone loves him

I’m not even joking he’s the most popular person in school

And he’s such a sweetheart

MOST ATHLETIC

Knows ALL THE DANCE TYPES

Or most of them anyway

Refuses to put on a shirt until the school installs air conditioning

Morning bird since he lives on a farm

SECRETLY A HUGE NERD but only Sumo group knows this

Like, Huge

Knows Cruel Angel’s Thesis off by heart

Loves shoujo anime

Always excited to help people train their pokemon!!!

Always keeps up with current events

Really. Don’t read the newspaper just go to Kiawe and he’ll tell you the exact time and date something happened

Has sang I’m Gonna Be with Sun

Maybe almost accidentally set the school on fire while he was practicing his fire dancing

Lana:

Biggest Legend of Zelda fan in existence

Favourite temple is the water temple always

Swimming and fishing forever and always

Soft spoken but loves to cause trouble and sass shit up with Mallow

Does super intense nail art

Sophocles:

The smart kid that puts in no effort and fucks off all class and still gets straight As

Just let him make stuff its f i n e

Super into robotics

No one knows why he doesn’t just go to an acclaimed university to challenge himself

It might be the malasadas

Also his family

Spams the chats with pepe frog memes

Mina:

Art Hoe Aesthetic

Will stop, drop and roll at any point in the day if inspiration hits her

Lives off iced coffee tbh

Loves to paint landscapes

Loves indie video games

And shows with eccentric art styles (pmmm)

Once she gets in the zone ilima tends to leave her food and coffee because she tends to not move for like three or four hours

Takes Alolan legends v seriously

Respects a lot of important stuff even if it seems like she cares about her art more than anything

Has no music taste so she requests someone to play their music and gets inspiration from that

Acerola:

Spoopy child

Love creepy vocaloid music

BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION

And psychological/horror anime/games/shows/movies

Can talk animatedly about r/nosleep with moon for hours prolly

Cryptid sightings part two: electric boogaloo

Constantly calls Gladion a chuunibyou

Mimikyu follows her everywhere even though its not really her pokemon

Will sometimes be seen with a drifloon with arms tried around her wrist

#text #rising tides #rising tides notes #long post

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sheminecrafts · 6 years

Text

Twitter company email addresses why it’s #BreakingMyTwitter

It’s hard to be a fan of Twitter right now. The company is sticking up for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, when nearly all other platforms have given him the boot, it’s overrun with bots, and now it’s breaking users’ favorite third-party Twitter clients like Tweetbot and Twitterific by shutting off APIs these apps relied on. Worse still, is that Twitter isn’t taking full responsibility for its decisions.

In a company email it shared today, Twitter cited “technical and business constraints” that it can no longer ignore as being the reason behind the APIs’ shutdown.

It said the clients relied on “legacy technology” that was still in a “beta state” after more than 9 years, and had to be killed “out of operational necessity.”

This reads like passing the buck. Big time.

It’s not as if there’s some other mysterious force that maintains Twitter’s API platform, and now poor ol’ Twitter is forced to shut down old technology because there’s simply no other recourse. No.

Twitter, in fact, is the one responsible for its User Streams and Site Streams APIs – the APIs that serve the core functions of these now deprecated third-party Twitter clients. Twitter is the reason these APIs have been stuck in a beta state for nearly a decade. Twitter is the one that decided not to invest in supporting those legacy APIs, or shift them over to its new API platform.

And Twitter is the one that decided to give up on some of its oldest and most avid fans – the power users and the developer community that met their needs – in hopes of shifting everyone over to its own first-party clients instead.

The problem isn’t that the API is old and buggy (which it was), the problem is that the replacement API is unavailable.

— Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) August 16, 2018

The company even dismissed how important these users and developers have been to its community over the years, by citing the fact that the APIs it’s terminating – the ones that power Tweetbot, Twitterrific, Tweetings and Talon – are only used by “less than 1%” of Twitter developers. Burn!

Way to kick a guy when he’s already down, Twitter.

But just because a community is small in numbers, does not mean its voice is not powerful or its influence is not felt.

Hence, the #BreakingMyTwitter hashtag, which Twitter claims to be watching “quite often.”

The one where users are reminding Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey about that time he apologized to Twitter developers for not listening to them, and acknowledged the fact they made Twitter what it is today. The time when he promised to do better.

This is…not better:

When I built our push notification server, I added the ability to send a message to every device in case of emergency. Today is the first time I’ve used it. pic.twitter.com/edgkver2Nh

— Craig Hockenberry (@chockenberry) August 15, 2018

The company’s email also says it hopes to eventually learn “why people hire 3rd party clients over our own apps.”

Its own apps?

Oh, you mean like TweetDeck, the app Twitter acquired then shut down on Android, iPhone and Windows? The one it generally acted like it forgot it owned? Or maybe you mean Twitter for Mac (previously Tweetie, before its acquisition), the app it shut down this year, telling Mac users to just use the web instead? Or maybe you mean the nearly full slate of TV apps that Twitter decided no longer needed to exist?

And Twitter wonders why users don’t want to use its own clients?

Perhaps, users want a consistent experience – one that doesn’t involve a million inconsequential product changes like turning stars to hearts or changing the character counter to a circle. Maybe they appreciate the fact that the third parties seem to understand what Twitter is better than Twitter itself does: Twitter has always been about a real-time stream of information. It’s not meant to be another Facebook-style algorithmic News Feed. The third-party clients respect that. Twitter does not.

Yesterday, the makers of Twitterific spoke to the API changes, noting that its app would no longer be able to stream tweets, send native push notifications, or be able to update its Today view, and that new tweets and DMs will be delayed.

It recommended users download Twitter’s official mobile app for notifications going forward.

In other words, while Twitterific will hang around in its broken state, its customers will now have to run two Twitter apps on their device – the official one to get their notifications, and the other because they prefer the experience.

A guide to using Twitter’s app for notifications, from Iconfactory

“We understand why Twitter feels the need to update its API endpoints,” explains Iconfactory co-founder Ged Maheux, whose company makes Twitterrific. “The spread of bots, spam and trolls by bad actors that exploit their systems is bad for the entire Twitterverse, we just wish they had offered an affordable way forward for the developers of smaller, third party apps like ours.”

“Apps like the Iconfactory’s Twitterrific helped build Twitter’s brand, feature sets and even its terminology into what it is today. Our contributions were small to be sure, but real nonetheless. To be priced out of the future of Twitter after all of our history together is a tough pill to swallow for all of us,” he added.

The question many users are now facing is what to do next?

Continue to use now broken third-party apps? Move to an open platform like Mastodon? Switch to Twitter’s own clients, as it wants, where it plans to “experiment with showing alternative viewpoints” to pop people’s echo chambers…on a service that refuses to kick out people like Alex Jones?

Or maybe it’s time to admit the open forum for everything that Twitter – and social media, really – has promised is failing? Maybe it’s time to close the apps – third-party and otherwise. Maybe it’s time to go dark. Get off the feeds. Take a break. Move on.

The full email from Twitter is below:

Hi team,

Today, we’re publishing a blog post about our priorities for where we’re investing today in Twitter client experiences. I wanted to share some more with you about how we reached these decisions, and how we’re thinking about 3rd party clients specifically.

First, some history:

3rd party clients have had a notable impact on the Twitter service and the products we build. Independent developers built the first Twitter client for Mac and the first native app for iPhone. These clients pioneered product features we all know and love about Twitter, like mute, the pull-to-refresh gesture, and more.

We love that developers build experiences on our APIs to push our service, technology, and the public conversation forward. We deeply respect the time, energy, and passion they’ve put into building amazing things using Twitter.

But we haven’t always done a good job of being straightforward with developers about the decisions we make regarding 3rd party clients. In 2011, we told developers (in an email) not to build apps that mimic the core Twitter experience. In 2012, we announced changes to our developer policies intended to make these limitations clearer by capping the number of users allowed for a 3rd party client. And, in the years following those announcements, we’ve told developers repeatedly that our roadmap for our APIs does not prioritize client use cases — even as we’ve continued to maintain a couple specific APIs used heavily by these clients and quietly granted user cap exceptions to the clients that needed them.

It is now time to make the hard decision to end support for these legacy APIs — acknowledging that some aspects of these apps would be degraded as a result. Today, we are facing technical and business constraints we can’t ignore. The User Streams and Site Streams APIs that serve core functions of many of these clients have been in a “beta” state for more than 9 years, and are built on a technology stack we no longer support. We’re not changing our rules, or setting out to “kill” 3rd party clients; but we are killing, out of operational necessity, some of the legacy APIs that power some features of those clients. And it has not been a realistic option for us today to invest in building a totally new service to replace these APIs, which are used by less than 1% of Twitter developers.

We’ve heard the feedback from our customers about the pain this causes. We check out #BreakingMyTwitter quite often and have spoken with many of the developers of major 3rd party clients to understand their needs and concerns. We’re committed to understanding why people hire 3rd party clients over our own apps. And we’re going to try to do better with communicating these changes honestly and clearly to developers. We have a lot of work to do. This change is a hard, but important step, towards doing it. Thank you for working with us to get there.

Thanks,

Rob

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2Bhu8mu via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

0 notes

theinvinciblenoob · 6 years

Link

In a company email it shared today, Twitter cited “technical and business constraints” that it can no longer ignore as being the reason behind the APIs’ shutdown.

It said the clients relied on “legacy technology” that was still in a “beta state” after more than 9 years, and had to be killed “out of operational necessity.”

This reads like passing the buck. Big time.

The problem isn’t that the API is old and buggy (which it was), the problem is that the replacement API is unavailable.

— Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) August 16, 2018

The company even refused to acknowledge how important these users and developers have been to its community over the years, by citing the fact that the APIs it’s terminating – the ones that power Tweetbot, Twitterrific, Tweetings and Talon – are only used by “less than 1%” of Twitter developers. Burn!

Way to kick a guy when he’s already down, Twitter.

But just because a community is small in numbers, does not mean its voice is not powerful or its influence is not felt.

Hence, the #BreakingMyTwitter hashtag, which Twitter claims to be watching “quite often.”

This is…not better:

When I built our push notification server, I added the ability to send a message to every device in case of emergency. Today is the first time I’ve used it. pic.twitter.com/edgkver2Nh

— Craig Hockenberry (@chockenberry) August 15, 2018

The company’s email also says it hopes to eventually learn “why people hire 3rd party clients over our own apps.”

Its own apps?

Oh, you mean like TweetDeck, the app Twitter acquired then shut down on Android, iPhone and Windows? The one it generally acted like it forgot it owned? Or maybe you mean Twitter for Mac (previously Tweetie, before its acquisition), the app it shut down this year, telling Mac users to just use the web instead? Or nearly maybe you mean the nearly full slate of TV apps that Twitter decided no longer needed to exist?

And Twitter wonders why users don’t want to use its own clients?

Or perhaps, users want a consistent experience – one that doesn’t involve a million inconsequential product changes like turning stars to hearts or changing the character counter to a circle. Maybe they appreciate the fact that the third parties seem to understand what Twitter is better than Twitter itself does: Twitter has always been about a real-time stream of information. It’s not meant to be another Facebook-style algorithmic News Feed. The third-party clients respect that. Twitter does not.

It recommended users download Twitter’s official mobile app for notifications going forward.

A guide to using Twitter’s app for notifications, from Iconfactory

The question many users are now facing is what to do next?

The full email from Twitter is below:

Hi team,

First, some history:

Thanks,

Rob

via TechCrunch

#IFTTT #TechCrunch

0 notes

matherinmalaysia-blog · 7 years

Text

Becoming an FFT Fellow

April 5th, 2016. A Tuesday. 3rd period. I was teaching my senior class and sat down to take attendance when the email came through. “You have not been selected as 2016 fellow.” Heart fell to the floor. The next period my fellowship applicant partner, Kevin, opened my classroom door as I was going over the bell ringer problem with my Advanced Algebra class, gave me one of “those” looks, and I immediately teared up. I asked him to watch my class for a few minutes as I went to the restroom to have a good, quick cry. I returned shortly and told myself, “Okay. You’re going to do this again next year and you’re going to revisit your proposal to make it better. And if it doesn’t happen, you’re going to work again and apply over and over until you get it. You shall not waver.” Fast forward to the present...

After a long day of parent-teacher conferences back in November, I felt a little giddy because I spent some down time between parent chats looking over the Fund For Teachers application and I was super pumped for another chance to submit a proposal. I wanted to narrow in on a specific population of students; our immigrant and refugee students. I oversee our advisory program here at Mather, which is like a weekly class period where all students engage in activities and discussion over life skills such as goal setting, time management, and healthy relationships. These “lessons” are aimed primarily at teens who have grown up in the local school system, but attention seemed to be lacking to the specific needs of our other students.

A group of teachers went out after work to relax and grab a bite (those days are long). It was soon after the election and I recall my emotions still being a little out of whack. After having some in depth conversations over the recent events, I was drained. I also all found out that Kevin was leaving Mather and while I was happy for his next venture, I could not help but think I was going to have to find a new partner to work on our Fund For Teachers application, especially since it was already on my mind. I was getting ready to leave when I started chatting with Bryan, my colleague and fellow “fellow.” He shared with me how he was contributing about his teaching experience to a blog. Bryan, an English teacher, mainly focuses on students who are learning English, our English Language Learners (ELLs), who mainly are refugees and immigrants. He also just so happens to be on the advisory team with me and works to oversee the implementation and schedule of advisory lessons. It was like a spark went off. Boom. He HAD to be my partner! I talked to Bryan the week after and our partnership was born.

From that moment on, we excitedly generated ideas whenever we could. Exchanges over email, text, and in person provided us ample opportunity to discuss common observations and goals. We eventually set aside time after winter break to get together to read, educate ourselves, inquire, research, and brainstorm. After determining our goal - to develop a relevant, meaningful social emotional learning curriculum for this group of students (who sit in homeroom every Friday listening to others talk about college applications or healthy relationships, and heck, most are in their first year or two at an American school), we were able to channel our passion into words. The majority of these students have been observed to sit in homeroom quietly, not saying a word, because they may feel isolated, lost, and confused. There are also a number of religious and cultural considerations since the majority of our ELL students follow Islam. We selected Malaysia as our destination for our proposal due to it being a moderate Muslim country. We were overwhelmed with possibilities a fellowship in Malaysia could allow us to create for these students.

After meeting and working for 6-7 hours every weekend in January, we were ready to submit our work. Anticipating Wednesday, April 5th was quite fun, and a tad stressful. That was the date of notification (yes, again it was April 5th). We were either going to get it or not. I mean it had to go one way or the other, right? Ha! This was the day of the SAT at school. I was proctoring and Bryan was on hallway duty. I did not have access to my phone or computer during testing, so I anxiously awaited a smiling Bryan or a sad Bryan coming to my door to alert me to the news. But, it never came! We chatted after work and both felt a deep sense of dread since we had not heard any news. After parting with some words of encouragement for one another, I was off to treat myself to a pedicure before my family spring break vacation.

As I was sitting with my feet in the warm water, I decided I would peruse the FFT website. Something had to be going on if we hadn’t heard yet. I found a link to the 2017 fellows and I opened it dismissively. We could not possibly be recipients if we had not heard any news yet. I immediately accepted our fate and already decided that we would just try again next year. After the PDF downloaded I scrolled down the list in alphabetical order. Elllison...Elsaharty...OMG. OMG. OMG. Scrolled more...Peters, Bryan. OMG!!!!!!! I screamed, scared the nail technician, and then immediately called Bryan. I left a shaky voicemail to have him call me back, and he did shortly, and I revealed the great news. After taking the afternoon to call our family members to share the excitement, I read a little blurb that said that the notices may have gone to our spam folder. And sure enough...there was the congratulatory email...sent at 12:30 pm...sitting patiently in our junk folder! Ha! Either way, it felt AMAZING.

Over the next week, we received emails and forms to complete. It was still surreal as everything began to be pieced together. Then in mid-May, we had our orientation and met with our cohort. It was awesome to hear the details of everyone’s fellowship. We heard about research from New York to Japan and Bolivia. To sit in this room with fellow educators and listen to all the different planned journeys was such a great experience. And, I had the opportunity to Thank Sarah, the woman whose feedback was integral in developing the formal proposal into the one that ultimately was selected.

I am so excited for this experience and the initial rejection almost makes this that much sweeter. It’s evidence of the lesson that we are always trying to teach our students - to persevere. I cannot wait to learn, grown, and serve our students after this fellowship experience and cannot wait to do this alongside a colleague/friend who was willing to take such a chance in working with me.

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sheminecrafts · 6 years

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Twitter company email addresses why it’s #BreakingMyTwitter

In a company email it shared today, Twitter cited “technical and business constraints” that it can no longer ignore as being the reason behind the APIs’ shutdown.

It said the clients relied on “legacy technology” that was still in a “beta state” after more than 9 years, and had to be killed “out of operational necessity.”

This reads like passing the buck. Big time.

The problem isn’t that the API is old and buggy (which it was), the problem is that the replacement API is unavailable.

— Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) August 16, 2018

Way to kick a guy when he’s already down, Twitter.

But just because a community is small in numbers, does not mean its voice is not powerful or its influence is not felt.

Hence, the #BreakingMyTwitter hashtag, which Twitter claims to be watching “quite often.”

This is…not better:

When I built our push notification server, I added the ability to send a message to every device in case of emergency. Today is the first time I’ve used it. pic.twitter.com/edgkver2Nh

— Craig Hockenberry (@chockenberry) August 15, 2018

The company’s email also says it hopes to eventually learn “why people hire 3rd party clients over our own apps.”

Its own apps?

And Twitter wonders why users don’t want to use its own clients?

It recommended users download Twitter’s official mobile app for notifications going forward.

A guide to using Twitter’s app for notifications, from Iconfactory

The question many users are now facing is what to do next?

The full email from Twitter is below:

Hi team,

First, some history:

Thanks,

Rob

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2Bhu8mu via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

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