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#but I’ve been making A BUNCH of stuff on there and neglecting my tumblr

aprilsadviceaskblog · 1 month

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I'll try not to dump too much, also I hope you are doing well!! You help so many people, I hope you know how much good you've done :)

Sorry if this is too much or if it isn't something you want to answer. No pressure. Also could you tag this with "nightingale anon"? Thanks for your time and any advice :)

I grew up in foster care and there was a lot of shit that happened ranging from neglect to murder attempts and a bunch of stuff, and my adoptive mother I'm pretty sure is schizophrenic? And may or may not run a cult (it's complicated).

I have a friend that I've been getting closer with because we became roommates and she opened up about stuff and I did too, but after living together (2 other roommates too) for a few months she finally told me she doesn't like if I mention anything about my past and that she finds my life disturbing and extremely uncomfortable.

This happened after a series of miscommunication where I thought she wanted me to elaborate and she just would stare at me?? And she said that staring apparently is concern?? She also greatly misunderstood me coming out as ace (she talks a ton about her sexuality. She has little filter) and ended up comparing me to Jeffrey Dahmer because of it -_-

We've come to an "agreement" where I just w6ont mention anything personal or my life but she still overshare a ton. I know my experiences are pretty extreme compared to a life without trauma, but it sucks to have confirmation that I just.. can't talk to anyone about anything in my life because it's too disturbing or sad. So many things talk about having a support network but I literally cannot have one because even a tiny bit of stuff is too much and if I think I'm close to someone and try to talk (asking if they're okay with it first) they end up distancing from me because of it.

Is it bad that it kinda hurts? Like I guess sometimes it sucks being reminded that I'll never have actual friends (not acquaintances) or family or anything that other people seem to have. I know I should just accept that because of who I am and my life circumstances I'll never have a support network of any kind or even long lasting friends, but sometimes I'm not very good at accepting that.

I know ""everyone deserves family"" but with my life my experiences are so vastly different that i struggle to relate with anyone and no one has ever related to me, or wants to.

I also can't afford a therapist or anything. My job is online and because I graduated early (all online) there's no easy way of making friends either. I feel like I squandered any chance at making friends growing up because I focused too much on surviving.

Hi anon,

This sounds complicated and I’m sad for you.

First of all, you’re absolutely allowed to feel hurt. And if I can just be blunt, your roommate is being shitty. While it’s valid to have boundaries, I’m not a fan of when people make things unequal to that extreme.

It’s complicated because people are allowed to have boundaries, but try and be mindful that these don’t end up leaving the relationship “unfair”.

My friend and I were talking about this the other day where she knew someone who had hard boundaries and always looked out for herself and wouldn’t inconvenience herself for anyone. Not romantic partners, best friends or anyone. Which is super valid and her choice but the problem is she expected everyone else to go above and beyond for her. I think at that point, things become unfair. And that’s a similar impression to what I get here.

I struggle with making friends. I always have. Both my last two relationships were people I met online. (On Tumblr actually). And my friend of 12 years I just met for the first time in person last week (I met her on FanFiction.net originally and she got me into tumblr). What I’m trying to say is that I’ve been able to have fulfilling friendships online and found it easier to find people with similar interests. Before I met my friend of 12 years, I still found our friendship fulfilling and something I loved about my life. I also have a couple other online friends that I enjoy having relationships with. We send dog pics, and offer support.

It’s not easy, and some people end up disappointing, but I do think it’s possible to make friends.

It is allowed to hurt. And you are allowed to grieve for what you don’t have. You’re allowed to feel these things. These feelings are so valid. And I’m definitely not trying to tell you what to do but I don’t think it’s hopeless.

Could you try finding a support group online? Or even just a space to talk about your interests to meet other like minded people?

#nightingale anon #i'm sorry #this was in my drafts #apparently i was second guessing my response #april answers #tw cult #tw murder mention #tw foster care

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creeps-and-pasta · 2 years

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Hi! Came across your blog while looking into creepypasta stuff and was wondering if youd know some key info on the main characters and the various versions of them? Ive seen lots of different versions of the creeps and lots of varying ages for them, it seems cool but also a little confusing. Like ive seen several ages for Jeff Woods: 13, 15 or even in his 20s. Im pretty curious about him and some others like Jane, Ben, and Nina!

Thank you for taking the time to send me these asks! I love explaining and going over creepypasta history. Also, thank you for your patience, I’m busy moving into a new apartment, so I’ve been neglecting this blog for a while.

I haven’t yet found one place to find a bunch of creepypasta history in one place, which I’ve been trying to fix. I’m planning on making either a google docs or neocities page one day that will put a bunch of creepypasta info in one place, but that will be a while. The info I’m pulling from is TV Tropes and the creepypasta fandom wikia.

The creepypasta fandom is different from most fandoms, because it lacks a true canon. Jeff the Killer is a huge example of this, it’s really hard to tell who first came up with him, or which version is the original.

Essentially, the famous Jeff the Killer image has been around since 2005, and in 2008 a user on Encyclopaedia Dramatica named Sesseur created a video about Jeff the killer and Liu, which I will link here. (WARNING for images of spiders and the original Jeff the killer image). My favorite line from the video is “he’ll fucking gut you” lol.

So anyway Sesseur is credited as the creator of Jeff the Killer and Liu, though it’s unknown if he created the og image or not. It’s notable that Jeff is an adult in the story. This version is Jeff C. Hodek.

The classic Jeff the Killer story, where Jeff is a kid that gets bullied and set on fire, was created by GameFuelTV on deviantart. This was in 2011. This is Jeffery Alan Woods. Jeff is like, 13?

A rewrite was made in 2015, by K. Banning Kellum, who I believe has a tumblr account, so be nice to him. This is the Jeff that has half his face burnt off, I think Kellum possibly did this to mimic TwoFace from the Batman comics, rather than the Joker homage that Jeff has had for years. I believe this Jeff is still named Jeffery Alan Woods.

There’s also Mr.Betty Kreuger’s version that I may as well mention. He’s a voice actor that did a whole lot of creepypasta impressions back in the day, and has a terribly written creepypasta series on his youtube channel. I…do not like MBK, but admittedly his hallway of nightmares video is sick af. He has a really good LJ voice. ANYWAY. His version of Jeff is called Jeff Keaton.

I could go into so much more depth with this, and I will probably make another post soon detailing the many Bens in this fandom, along with Jane and Nina. This is just…a lot of work to write about lol. I used to have notes about this somewhere, but I can’t find them atm.

I guess the key word here is “interpretation”. There is no One True Jeff, or one way for a person to write him. It’s all up to your personal interpretation of who Jeff is, what he is like, and which last name you prefer him having.

#asks #let me know if the links don't work #i hope the formatting isn't shit i copy pasted from google docs #creepypasta #my posts

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rothjuje · 2 years

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Justin is so civilized, he picked up Crumbl cookies last night and didn’t devour half the box on the way home like I do. He didn’t even sneak one bite. When we became parents, he never opened up snacks in the grocery store before paying or let kids eat in the car. Now he knows the magic of the grocery store bribe and the joy of silence car snacks bring, he’s come so far. He still washes all the dishes before eating meals though, I wonder if it’s the only child left in him. I feel like the bigger the family, the more chaos/more relaxed rules.

The twins’ half birthday was Monday. I still go by their adjusted age though and it drives people crazy. It’s more so for George because the older the kid is, the higher the expectations people place on them. I feel like Genna has become the typical ‘neglected’ middle child. I mean on Tumblr of course because anyone who knows me irl knows she gets all the attention she demands haha. She has a flair for drama and is still the smartest little nugget I’ve ever met. George has started singing and counting. He is starting to say more words and phrases now but still isn’t building onto what he knows. I know it will come in time and that gestalt processing still results in meaningful speech/communication.

Alyssa loves creating song lyrics and she made one up the other day about going out on a Saturday night...where does this stuff come from?! I haven’t been out on a Saturday night in...longer than I can remember. The lyrics: “Let’s get ready it’s Saturday night, let’s get ready it’s Saturday night, let’s get ready it’s Saturday night/ let’s get pretty it’s Saturday night, let’s wear glitter it’s Saturday night, let’s wear a pretty dress it’s SATURDAY NIGHT. Let’s go climb a treeee it’s Saturday night!”

A long time ago I posted my Instagram username and got a bunch of follows and meant to message people to see which person went to which Tumblr account but life happened. Now it’s been so long I’m too embarrassed to ask “who are you??” So if you follow me there and I don’t follow you back that’s why. Just message me and let me know who you are 🙃

Justin booked our hotel for MA. We’ll be staying in Burlington which I think is south of most places we’re looking at. Our MA realtor called today and wanted to talk details and it made me nervous. Not bad nervous, just ‘this is real’ excited/nervous. I am so excited to stay in a hotel without children. I feel guilty about it but I am definitely not taking our mini trip for granted. We will eat at restaurants with no children. We will drive in a car and actually be able to have conversations. No one will scream at stop lights. Btw, if I ever sound like I’m complaining about my children who I love more than life itself, I just want to make it clear that my autistic child (or is it child with autism, I’ve read conflicting things) is not the source of my overwhelm. I relate a lot to George’s need for strict routine and constant desire for music and snacks. We have a lot in common.

Coincidentally my friend who is also moving ended up on the same exact timeline as us and now we need the same realtor the same weekend. I think she’s going to try to come a day before or after us. Someone gave me another realtor rec on here too, thanks! She decided to move to a town in NH that’s close to the border. And I’m so (so) excited to have another person I’ll know up there.

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rosiehunterwolf · 3 years

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There's Sand Everywhere!

(quick shoutout to @fires-of-ninjago for the title idea and inspiration for this- you remember that ask game where people suggested titles for fics and you had to come up with a story to go along with it? Well, he sent in this title, and I came up with this, and liked it so much that I screenshotted it and- here we are!)

Prompts: Summer and Heist

Word Count: 7,922

Characters: The whole gang (including Pixal) :)

Timeline: Between seasons 12 and 13

Trigger Warnings: none (holy shit that's never happened before-)

Summary: It was just supposed to be a day off. A simple beach day. But when your family consists of six ninja and a samurai, including a nindroid convinced he’s a detective, his reluctant sidekick, an aquaphobe, a girl who can command the sea, an unassuming teen who seems to attract every animal he crosses paths with, and a bunch of argumentative idiots, nothing is ever that easy.

Read on FFN.net

Read on Ao3

Tumblr work under the cut

“We,” Kai proclaimed, surveying the room, “Need a day off.”

Lloyd shrieked at the fire ninja’s sudden outburst, falling out of his chair. Jay broke into snickers, and Lloyd shot him a glare.

“Kai,” Zane sighed, “get off the table.”

Kai stuck his tongue out at the nindroid, but hopped down, anyway. “Look at you guys!” Kai waved his hands at the group for emphasis. Papers fluttered to the ground where Lloyd had knocked them in his fall, Jay and Nya were sitting on the ground, surrounded by stacks of books tall enough to be mistaken for some kind of fort, Pixal was gathering some of the papers that had gone everywhere, while Cole and Zane had only just paused in their task of boxing up and carrying crates to the far side of the room. “Filing documents and organizing? Boooring.”

“Tasks which you’ve been a big help with, by the way,” Lloyd grumbled, as Cole offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet. He turned back to the desk, shuffling papers off of the keyboard of his laptop, the screen filled with lines of script and dozens of files that made Kai's brain hurt just to look at.

Nya pushed her reading glasses up her nose. “Jay and I technically aren’t working. We chose to do this of our own free will.”

Kai rolled his eyes at her. “What kind of psychopaths read for fun?”

Jay kicked his leg out, aiming for Kai’s ankle, but Cole quickly stepped between them, stopping the conflict before it could escalate into anything worse.

“We’re not reading them, we’re sorting them in order from most potentially useful to least so. They’re mechanics and engineering books. You never know when they might come in handy in a pinch.”

“Oh, because that’s so much more interesting. If you guys wanna spend all your free time geeking out, fine, what do I care. But what about the rest of you? C’mon, Lloydster. You don’t really wanna spend your entire day doing this,” he gestured at the laptop and paper-strewn desk- “do you?”

“It’s not about whether or not I want to. This stuff is important, Kai.”

“Lloyd’s right,” Zane agreed. “With all the crazy missions we’ve been on lately, we’ve neglected all our paperwork, and taking care of the Monastery.”

“It’s because we’ve been gone so long that we need a break!” Kai argued. “We just got done saving the entire city from an evil video game AI! If that’s not worth celebrating, I don’t know what is.”

“Technically,” Nya remarked, not even glancing up from the book she was skimming, “That was Jay who did that.”

Kai spluttered, ignoring the smug look on Jay’s face. “Okay, yeah, but we helped! And what about Aspheera? Or the Never Realm? That was all of us. And we didn’t have time to properly recuperate from that before we got launched right into Prime Empire!”

Pixal’s brow furrowed. “Y’know, he has a point…”

A frown flitted across Zane’s face. “I suppose we have been working for a long time…”

“That’s what I’ve been saying! Come on, let’s do something fun.”

“Not video games,” Cole groaned. “Jay and I spent the last three days playing a Lava Zombies tournament, and I’m all gamed-out.”

“No, let’s actually go somewhere. Like the-”

“The library!” Jay pitched.

“Or the museum!” Zane suggested.

“No!” Kai snapped. “Man, you guys are so lame. I meant somewhere fun. We should go to-”

“The beach!” Nya cried suddenly, standing up so quickly that she sent a pile of books toppling over. “Brilliant idea, Kai!”

“Wait, no,” he yelped. “That’s not what I was going to-”

But no one heard him. They were already scrambling to their feet, murmuring excitedly to one another.

“Guys, wait!” he cried. “Why would you want to go to the beach? It’s all sandy, and wet, and-”

“Don’t worry, Kai,” Nya giggled, “we won’t let the ocean hurt you.”

“That’s not-” he felt himself turning red as the others laughed. “That’s not what I meant! I just thought… wouldn’t laser tag or something be a lot more fun?”

The others glanced at each other, uncertain. Zane stepped forward. “Let’s take a vote. All in favor of laser tag, raise your hands.”

Kai lifted his hand, but no one else did. He scowled at them.

“And all in favor of the beach?”

Six hands went up.

“Seems like we have a clear winner. Let’s get going, shall we?”

---

“Do you have the towels?”

“All here!”

“What about the sunscreen?”

“Hold on- Jay, did you grab the sunscreen?”

“What?”

Lloyd cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling louder. “Did you grab the sunscreen?”

“Oh yeah, it’s here! Wait, do you have my-”

“Your what?” Lloyd called, walking over to him, passing Pixal and Zane as they came out of the kitchen. The female nindroid sighed.

“Can’t anything get done around here without everyone making such a racket?”

“Nope,” Nya elbowed her playfully. “When you’ve been with these idiots as long as I have, you get used to it.”

Pixal’s eyes widened. “I can’t imagine ever being used to all this.”

Nya smiled. “Did I mention I’m slightly deaf?”

“We finished making the picnic,” Zane told her, holding out the basket he was carrying. “Is everyone ready to go?”

Nya eyed the guys, who were running around the Monastery, barely avoiding tripping over one another. “‘Ready’ is an overstatement.”

“Hold your horses, we’re almost done,” Cole grunted, heaving the large beach bag over to them. “Have a little faith in us, Nya.”

Nya put her hand on her hip, waiting- and a second later, there was a crashing sound followed by an angry chorus of yells from Kai, Lloyd, and Jay.

Cole grimaced, rubbing the back of his head. “Okay, maybe you’re right to not have any faith in us.”

---

After an intense, fifteen-minute argument about what mode of transportation they would take, they ended up deciding on the city bus, and finally, finally got out the door. The bus ride went off without a hitch, for once, (except for a brief panic about not having the proper change for the bus fare, but luckily Zane had a few extra dollars on him), and before Nya knew it, they were staking out an area on Ninjago City beach. She was beginning to think this could actually work out.

Maybe.

“Check out my abs, dude.”

“They’re the same as last time.”

“Are not! I’m way more shredded than last time we went swimming.”

“Okay, that’s just a straight-up lie. I saw you sneak that extra piece of pie last night.”

“You better not be disrespecting my muscles, Flat Stanley.”

“Hey! I’m way more muscly than I used to be.”

“Are you kidding? We call you ‘green bean’ for a reason, and it’s not just because you’re the green ninja. You’re a twig!”

“I’m a twig? Have you seen Jay?”

“Hey, don’t rope me into this, green machine, and, for your information, I weigh a whole fifteen pounds more than you!”

“Yeah, well, you’re also two years older than me!”

“I think the lesson we need to learn here is that neither of you have abs anywhere near as pronounced as mine-”

Zane sighed, rolling his eyes. “Here, guys,” he held out a pouch to the group, “this is a waterproof pouch, you can store all your valuables in here.”

They quickly filled the pouch with phones, watches, and wallets. However, as Lloyd pulled back, he tripped over Jay’s foot, and half the guys collapsed into a pile, groaning.

“Jay! Get your foot out of my face!”

“Right after you get your elbow out of my ribs!”

Nya turned away from them, shaking her head. Glancing at Pixal, she asked, “Wanna help me get set up?”

The nindroid nodded, and they pulled the large picnic blanket out of the bag, unfolding it to lay it across the sand.

“Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon,” Kai cried, “You get back here right this instant!”

Nya looked up from the blanket to see Kai running through the sand after Lloyd, his feet sinking into the sand with each step, making it difficult for him to retain his balance. He waved a bottle of sunscreen at the green ninja. “It’s sunny out today! And you know how easily you burn!”

“No way!” Lloyd whined. “You always make me stay out of the water for at least twenty minutes to let it set, and it’s way too hot for me to wait that long! I wanna go swimming now.”

Kai lunged for him, and Lloyd yelped, barely dodging out of the way.

“Over here, Lloyd!” Jay cried, already wading into the shallows of the ocean. “He won’t follow you into the water!”

Lloyd hurried after him, splashing up water as he went, accidentally splattering Kai and causing the red ninja to flinch back with a yelp. Sure enough, he froze at the water’s edge, glaring at Jay and Lloyd, where they stood, only about ten feet away, laughing at him.

Zane rubbed a hand over his face, sighing. “They’re both going to get skin cancer, aren’t they?”

“At the very least, they’re going to be bright red tomatoes,” Cole laughed. “Oh, it’s going to be a blast when they take showers.”

Zane stared at him, horrified. “Please don’t let Jay do that again. He had the worst blisters, last time-”

Cole held up his hands. “It was a joke, Zane! A joke!”

Zane narrowed his eyes and didn’t reply.

Nya laughed, grabbing Pixal’s hand. “Come on. Wanna go bodyboarding with me?”

Pixal glanced at her. “I don’t know how.”

“That’s fine.” Nya stepped on the board, flipping it up into her hand and handing it to Pixal, before grabbing a second one for herself. “I can teach you!”

“Thanks, Nya.”

As they walked down towards the shore, they passed Kai and Cole, who had finally managed to get Jay and Lloyd out of the water. Cole had his arms locked around Jay, preventing him from running away as Kai slathered sunscreen across his face. Lloyd was sitting in the sand beside him, pouting, his face already smeared in white.

Nya grinned at him. “Can you guys handle yourselves for twenty minutes if Pix and I go out bodyboarding?”

Lloyd stuck his tongue out at her, and Kai rolled his eyes. “We’ll be fine, Nya. I think you’re forgetting we save the city on a regular basis? We’re perfectly capable.”

Nya put a hand near Pixal’s ear, whispering loudly into it. “Betcha anything the beach will be on fire by the time we get back.”

The two ran off, giggling at the sight of Kai’s smoldering glare, before he could set them on fire.

---

To Kai’s credit, he did not set the beach on fire, or anything, for that matter, but when Nya and Pixal returned, they found him and Cole shoveling sand onto Zane, who was chest-deep by this point.

“Zane!” Pixal exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

“When Kai told me he had something fun to show me, this wasn’t quite what I had imagined.”

“Aww, come on Zane!” Kai grinned. “I’m having a great time.”

Pixal shook her head, and stepped forward, grabbing Zane’s hand and pulling him up, sending sand cascading down everywhere. Cole and Kai groaned.

“Aww, come on, Pix, that took forever!” Cole muttered.

“Yeah, we were gonna shape it into a mermaid tail. Don’t you know how funny that would’ve been?”

“Humor is subjective.” Zane rubbed at his wrists. “Augh, now I’m going to have sand in my gears for weeks.” Shooting a glare at Kai, he added, “I’ll remember this the next time you ditch your swimming lessons.”

“Hey!” Kai yelped. “That’s totally different! Sand is warm, and solid, and most importantly, not dangerous!”

“You could suffocate,” Zane pointed out.

Kai scowled. “You’re a nindroid, you wouldn’t have suffocated.”

“You’re related to an elemental master of water. You won’t drown.”

“Being related to a master of water and being a master of water are two very different things! I control fire, not water, I can’t do anything to protect myself.”

Cole rolled his eyes. “You’re so lame. Remind me again why we brought our friend with aquaphobia to the beach?”

“Technically,” Zane said, raising a finger, “the word you’re looking for is thalassophobia. Kai doesn’t fear water in general, only large bodies, such as-”

“It was his idea,” Nya interrupted. “If it weren’t for him, we’d still be at the Monastery, filing papers.”

“I never suggested the beach!” Kai snapped. “That was your idea!”

“Yeah, well, your suggestions were lame. The beach was the obvious choice.”

“Hey,” Pixal interjected, suddenly realizing they were missing a couple of people. “Where are Jay and Lloyd?”

Cole sighed, pointing up towards their stuff, where Jay and Lloyd were struggling with a large, yellow duck inflatable that was very much not inflated at the moment. Jay had his lips around the mouthpiece, his face red.

“Blow harder, Jay,” Lloyd insisted, hovering by his side. “You’re hardly doing anything!”

Jay pulled his head back, breathing out heavily as the redness faded from his cheeks. “I’d like to see you do better! You’d probably pass out after a minute.”

“Would not!” Lloyd snatched the floaty away from him, blowing hard into the mouthpiece, putting even less air into the floaty than Jay had. His face reddened as he huffed desperately, although he still wasn’t making much progress. After a few moments, Jay pulled it away from him.

“Okay, that’s enough. I don’t want you to actually pass out.”

Lloyd glared at him, panting. “I wasn’t… going to… pass out.”

Jay sighed, grabbing the inflatable and staring at what looked to be the eyes and a very flat, crumpled-looking beak. “At this rate, we’re never going to get Mr. Quackington blown up.”

Lloyd’s nose wrinkled. “Mr. Quackington?”

Jay blinked at him. “Yeah, that’s his name.”

“No, it’s not! His name is Mr. Waddles!”

“Mr. Waddles? What kind of juvenile name is that?”

“Oh, like Mr. Quackington is any better!”

“It is! It’s loads better!”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Is so!”

“It’s not!” Lloyd snapped, green energy sparking between his fingers. Jay glanced down at them thoughtfully. “Hey, what if…”

Lloyd was evidently catching on to Jay’s train of thought, his eyes lighting up. “We can use my powers to inflate Mr. Waddles!”

Jay narrowed his eyes. “Quackington.”

Lloyd bared his teeth, the small fangs glinting. “Waddles.”

Jay sighed. “Okay, whatever. We can use your powers to inflate Mr. Waddles.”

Lloyd grinned widely, whether about the promise of getting his inflated duck or having won the name debate with Jay, Pixal couldn’t tell. He held up a hand and formed a basketball-sized sphere of green energy. Jay’s eyes widened, and he held the mouthpiece up to the energy. Lloyd channeled it inside, watching with glee as the duck puffed up, the yellow plastic slowly tinging green, making the duck look like he was about to be sick.

Zane took a step forward, holding his hand out. “Lloyd, wait-”

There was a sharp snapping noise as the floaty popped, and Lloyd and Jay cried out in horror as the yellow pieces of plastic fluttered to the ground. Lloyd fell to his knees, gripping the busted plastic and wailing, and Jay landed next to him, crying, “No! Mr. Waddles, you were so young!”

“I can’t believe he’s really gone,” Lloyd sniffed. “He was my best friend in the whole world.”

Kai threw up his hands. “Great. You spend the last several years of your life looking out for him only to get replaced by his inflatable plastic duck.”

“Oookay,” Nya said, walking over to Jay and Lloyd and ushering them towards the picnic blanket. “Someone’s obviously been out in the sun too long. Go sit under the umbrella and let’s have something to eat.”

“Good idea,” Zane agreed. “I’m sure we’re all getting hungry. Jay, could you grab the picnic basket? It’s right behind you.”

The lightning ninja grabbed the basket, peering inside briefly as he carried it towards them. “I hope you brought the Pringles. I could really go for some of those right now- augh!”

Before anyone could stop him, Jay was falling to the ground, the basket flying out of his hands and landing sideways in the sand.

“Jay!” Kai cried. “Look what you’ve done to our picnic!”

“Hey! That was totally your fault! Why did you leave your shoes right in the middle of the sand, perfectly positioned for someone to trip over?”

“Why were you clumsy enough to get in the way of my shoes?”

“Guys, guys, it’s okay,” Zane assured. Walking over, he carefully lifted the basket out of the sand. “I’m sure it’s still salvageable.”

“Yeah, but now all our food is going to taste like sand,” Lloyd moaned.

“Lloyd, the food barely touched the sand,” Nya pointed out.

“Doesn’t matter. Every time you go to the beach, if the food gets even remotely close to the sand, it always gets sand in it. Every time. It’s one of the great mysteries of the universe.”

“Well, I think you’ll survive,” she said, passing Lloyd a sandwich and a bag of pretzels. Lloyd took them, but narrowed his eyes.

“Brings a whole new meaning to the word ‘sandwich.’”

“Just eat your food, mister.”

Lloyd shot her a glare, but grudgingly obliged. As Pixal bit into her own sandwich, she realized Lloyd was right, she could feel granules of sand between her teeth as she chewed.

“Hey… at least it adds a little crunch, right?” Cole grinned.

Kai grimaced. “Next time, I elect we don’t let Jay anywhere near the picnic basket.”

Jay chucked a grape at him, but Kai turned at the last second, catching it in his mouth. “Ha!” His gleeful expression faded as he caught sight of something behind Jay. “Um, Lloyd, you have someone you wanna introduce us to?”

The group turned to see a seagull had approached them, tilting its head where it stood only a couple feet away from Lloyd. The green ninja was staring at the bird with wide eyes, an awed expression on his face.

“Lloyd,” Nya sighed, “please don’t tell me you fed it.”

“He’s not an it,” Lloyd snapped. “His name is Scully.”

“Great.” Nya rubbed her hands over her face. “We’re already into name territory.”

“Scully?” Kai’s nose wrinkled. “Isn’t that the name of the seagull from The Little Mermaid?”

“No, that’s Scuttle,” Lloyd sniffed. “They’re completely different.”

“Lloyd,” Pixal scolded, reaching for Lloyd’s wrist just as he tossed another chunk of his sandwich at the seagull, “Feeding wildlife is not a good idea, it can be dangerous-”

Lloyd shrieked suddenly as the bird launched itself at Lloyd’s face. He scrambled to his feet, screaming, and Kai lunged forward, pushing the others out of the way. “Move, move!”

“Get it off me, get it off me!” Lloyd shrieked as the bird’s wings flapped in his face, sending feathers everywhere.

“Blast it with your powers!” Kai called, looking worried but keeping a respectable distance.

“I can’t! He’s on my face!”

“Well, I can’t do it, I’ll set you on fire! Nya, you do it!”

“I’m trying, I’m trying,” the water ninja spat through gritted teeth, globes of water already forming in her hands. “I just need to get a clear shot! For the love of… Lloyd, stop moving so much!”

Lloyd hardly seemed to hear her. “He’s going to claw my eyes out,” he wailed, batting weakly at the creature.

“Nya!”

Nya quickly thrust her hands forward, sending a large ball of water at Lloyd’s head, drenching him and the seagull. The bird squawked angrily, falling to the ground.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Nya and Kai darted over to him, Nya taking his face in her hands as Kai peered over her shoulder. A small red scratch stretched across his left cheek, but apart from that, he appeared unharmed, just frazzled.

“Dude!” Kai cried. “You just got attacked. By a seagull!”

“It owned you!”

Lloyd shot Jay a glare. “Did not.”

“You should have seen your face!” Jay laughed. “Oh wait, you couldn’t- there was a bird in the way!”

Lloyd crossed his arms. “I’d like to remind you how you reacted that time when my uncle set that berserk chicken on us.”

“The chicken had lightning powers. Hardly comparable to a simple seafowl, bud.”

“Ugh, I hope this doesn’t get infected,” Nya muttered, running her finger along the scratch. “We should probably get you checked for rabies when we get home.”

“Nya, I’m fine,” Lloyd groaned, pushing her off. “A seagull isn’t going to give me rabies.”

Nya shrugged. “With your luck, I can never be sure.”

“This is why you don’t give food to wild animals, Lloyd, it makes them bolder-”

“Watch out, Lloyd!” Jay shrieked suddenly, and they whipped around to see the seagull had caught its second wind, squawking as it charged at Lloyd.

Lloyd shrieked, taking off down the beach with the seagull in pursuit. Nya sighed, putting a hand on her head. Kai grinned, walking over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Do you think he’ll learn his lesson?”

“No,” Nya said without hesitation. “Absolutely not. That’s the sad part.”

“Hey,” Cole said, pointing a finger down the beach. “The volleyball court’s just opened up. You guys wanna play?”

“Sure. Tell Lloyd he can join us when he gets that seagull taken care of.”

Nya glanced towards the green ninja, who was currently lobbing balls of energy at the bird and missing by an embarrassingly wide berth. “Looks like it could be a while.”

---

“Great job, team!” Nya cheered, high-fiving Pixal and shooting a grin at Cole. “Although, if I’m being honest, the rest of you didn’t put up much of a competition.”

“Hey, don’t look at me!” Kai snapped. “I was carrying the team! Jay, Lloyd, were you planning on helping me anytime soon?”

“I was trying!” Jay insisted. “But you kept getting in my way!”

“Because every time I let you get the ball, you dropped it!”

“Hey! I never said I was good at volleyball, okay? Why are you attacking me, Lloyd sucked too!”

“It’s not like I ever had time to fit in volleyball practice between all my green ninja training! It wasn’t exactly a top priority!” “Are you telling me you’ve never played before?” Kai spluttered.

“I’ve played!” Lloyd insisted. “Uh… once or twice.”

Kai facepalmed. “Why did I let you come on my team?”

Lloyd grinned widely. “‘Cause you love me.”

Cole elbowed him. “It’s because he lost the coin toss and Nya got to pick first.”

“Hey!” Jay yelped. “Are you telling me you would have picked me last?”

“After I saw you play, yeah,” Cole snorted.

“I’m still not convinced on some of those calls, Zane,” Kai said, walking over to the nindriod. “I don’t think that one play near the third point was a foul.”

“Hey, the ref’s call is law,” Nya smirked. “Stop trying to cheat your way to victory, Kai.”

“I’m not cheating! Zane’s girlfriend is on your team! He’s obviously biased!”

“I’m a nindriod, Kai. I cannot be biased.”

“Stop being a sore loser, Kai.” Behind her, a wave swelled up. She raised her hand- then pointed it forward at Kai.

Her brother shrieked as the seawater drenched him.

“Nya! What’d you do that for?”

“You deserved it, with all the whining you were doing. Besides, you looked hot. I was just doing you a favor.”

“It’s alright,” Lloyd laughed. “You can share my towel, don’t worry.” As he handed Kai the towel, the fire ninja eyed it shrewdly.

“It’s got ducks on it. Of course it does.”

“Hey, you want the towel or not?”

“No, I’m taking the towel.” Kai wrapped the towel around himself, shivering, unfurling the ducks for all to see. Cole snickered, and Kai shot him a glare.

“Should we pack up, then?”

Zane nodded. “If we want to be back in time for dinner, probably.”

The team trudged back to their blanket, wet and sandy, but chatting amiably. They had nearly packed up all their things when Lloyd cried out suddenly.

“Where’s my wallet?”

Zane frowned. “Didn’t you put it in the valuables pouch?”

“I thought I did, but…” he paused. “Oh, wait. I tripped over Jay. I must’ve forgotten to put it in after that.”

“Well, then, it’s gotta be around here somewhere. What color is it, Lloyd?”

“What do you think? Green.”

They spent a good ten minutes searching through their entire bag and the surrounding sand, to no avail. It quickly became clear that if Lloyd’s wallet had ever fallen around here in the first place, it wasn’t here now.

Kai shrugged. “Oh well. It’s not that big of a deal. You don’t have any cards, and I don’t think you were carrying any of the cash. We can get you a new one.”

“No, but I had the things in there!”

Cole frowned. “The things?”

“You know.” Lloyd lowered his voice. “The things. That the mayor gave us?”

“What?!” Jay yelped. “Those were in there?” “You lost them?” Kai cried. “Lloyd, how could you?”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose!” Kai groaned, rubbing his face. “We should’ve never trusted you with them. Or at least split them up, so they weren’t all together.”

“I still do not understand.” Pixal frowned. “What are these things that are so important?”

“They’re a top-secret gift from the mayor,” Jay whispered. “We’re not supposed to tell anyone we have them. Not that telling anyone now would matter anyway, because we don’t have them anymore.”

“It’s not my fault!” Lloyd insisted. “It’s that stupid seagull’s, he’s the one who distracted me-” Lloyd paused, his eyes widening. “That’s it! The seagull must’ve swiped my wallet when it was chasing me!”

“Looks like we have a lead,” Kai growled.

“Wait a minute, does anyone else hear that mysterious music-”

“Oh no,” Pixal muttered, putting a hand on her forehead. “Zane, please don’t tell me you’re going to do this again.”

“It seemed that, after only a few weeks, it was time for me to crack yet another case.” The odd, deep voice rang out, and they turned to see Zane slipping on a fedora.

“Where did that even come from,” Pixal despaired. “I’m positive you didn’t bring that with you. Positive.”

“Again, I was to be accompanied by my trusty assistant, but this time, my highly trained ninja associates would also be coming along, all determined to reclaim what someone had stolen in the heist.”

Jay glanced between Pixal and Zane. “What is happening right now? Am I supposed to know what’s happening?”

Pixal shook her head. “It’s a long story. Just go with it.”

Zane tipped his hat down. “Already, we were off with a very promising lead. I suspected the culprit to be the feathered fiend that had been spotted lurking around at the scene of the crime only an hour prior.”

Kai snorted, placing a hand on Jay’s shoulder. “Oh, this is gold! Did you mess with his voice again, Jay?”

“No, I didn’t touch him! Pixal, you didn’t…”

She shook her head. “Believe me, I wouldn’t do this if you paid me. It was all him.”

Jay grinned. “What do we do next… detective Zane?” He and Kai simultaneously burst into laughter, leaning against each other for support.

Zane side-eyed them. “The primary suspect was as clear as a black bear in a snowstorm, yet the whereabouts of the creature were still unknown. It had vanished into thin air, without leaving so much as a trace in its stead.”

“Hey,” Lloyd said suddenly, leaning down to pick something up off of the sand, “What about this?”

“It appeared to be part of the plumage of a species of avian native to these shores. Could it belong to the specimen we were looking for?”

Kai plucked the feather from Lloyd’s fingers, examining it. “The feather was white with a dark tip, definitely having originated from a seagull- although the spiked, disturbed edges implied that this was from no ordinary gull- it was from one who had recently been in a fight.”

Jay grinned. “It seemed like we had hit the jackpot. Already, we were one step closer to tracking down this culprit.”

Pixal groaned. “Don’t you two start, too. It was bad enough with just Zane.”

Nya grimaced. “Yeah, this is already getting annoying.”

“How is a feather going to tell us where the seagull is now?” Cole asked.

“I could sense the wind was blowing in from the northwest,” Zane narrated. “If we wanted to find the culprit of the caper, we would have to walk upwind, hopefully leading us to the source of the feather.”

“Alright,” Pixal sighed, “let’s get this over with.”

“And so,” Zane grinned, “The Great Gull Caper began.”

The team trudged up the beach for about twenty minutes, to no avail. They passed many other beachgoers, pointing and staring as the ninja passed, but no seagulls were in sight.

“Are you sure about this, Zane?” Pixal asked.

“The feathered suspect had gained an hour’s head start in its escape from the scene, meaning we would have to hasten our pace if we ever hoped to catch up.”

“Oh, I am not walking an hour just to find this thing. Are we sure it’s that important?”

“Yes!” the guys yelped in unison.

“It’s a very important gift from the mayor! It would be rude to lose it,” Jay said. “We have to get it back!”

“Couldn’t you just ask for another… whatever they are?”

“No! They’re one of a kind!” “Well, can we at least hurry this up? Frankly, I’m getting quite tired of Zane’s shenanigans.”

Zane grinned at her. “Although she voiced her disapproval, my assistant knew the efficiency of my methods, as they had gotten us out of a pinch the last time things had been amok.”

“First of all, I was the one who successfully found Dyer last time. You just ended up getting caught.”

“Perhaps, but you used my techniques.”

Pixal huffed. “Second, I don’t appreciate that you keep calling me your assistant. If anything, we’re partners!”

Zane adjusted his fedora. “So it was a promotion she was after, eh? Well, if my assistant could prove her worth by properly complying with my techniques in this case, she may find herself with a loftier position in the future.”

Pixal sighed. “Whatever. Let’s just find the stupid bird, and go.”

The group trekked after Zane again, and Pixal wondered how long they would be here, when Zane suddenly stopped, causing half of the gang to crash into him.

“What?” Jay yelped. “What’s wrong? Why’d we stop?”

Zane pointed near his feet. “It seemed like the culprit had been careless enough to leave behind tracks in the sand.”

Pixal peered over his shoulder. Sure enough, the tracks of some avian species left a trail in the sand- and after consulting her database, it appeared to match the foot of a seagull.

“We’re getting closer!” Cole said. “It has to be around here somewhere.”

Nya’s eyes went wide, and she pointed towards something in the distance. “Look!”

Down the beach, a large group of seagulls was flocking around a half-eaten pretzel, flapping their wings and squawking as they tried to push past each other.

“It could be any of them,” Lloyd despaired. “How are we going to know which one was the one who stole my wallet?”

Jay smirked. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Lloyd eyed him nervously. “How?”

“One seagull, in particular, has come to associate you with food. One seagull has been known to chase you down.”

“Oh,” Lloyd paled, taking a step back and waving his hands. “Oh, no, I do not like where this is heading…”

“Come on, Lloyd, do it for the team,” Cole pleaded.

“You are the one who lost them in the first place,” Kai agreed. “It’s only fair.”

Lloyd groaned. “Why do I let you bully me into these things?”

“Go on,” Nya gave him a gentle shove. “We don’t have all day!”

Sticking his tongue out at her, Lloyd stepped forward, towards the seagulls. Several of them looked his way, a few flapping their wings anxiously and squawking in warning. Lloyd stopped, swallowing.

“Um. Hey. I don’t suppose any of you have seen a green wallet around here?”

Jay rolled his eyes. “They can’t understand you. Get closer!”

“Okay! I’m going, jeez-” he broke off with a yelp as a seagull darted in front of him, nearly tripping him as he stepped on its tail.

The seagull shrieked, and, in a flurry of feathers, the flock broke into a frenzied panic. Lloyd’s eyes widened, and he cried out, running away and frantically ducking swooping seagulls.

He darted behind Kai as a last nervy seagull hopped after him. Kai held up a fist, which burst into flame, scaring the bird off. Kai glanced back at Lloyd, amusement sparkling in his dark eyes. “You okay, bud?”

Lloyd glared. “Don’t look at me like that. These birds are vicious!”

“Look!” Pixal pointed at a gull that had remained behind. With the others out of the way, she could see the small, green wallet between its beak.

“That’s the one!” Cole cried. “After it!”

For ninja, the group was embarrassingly unstealthy as they clamored after the bird, shooting elemental powers at it and screaming as they narrowly avoided each other’s blasts, so that by the time the seagull reached the water, the beach was a mess of crystalized sand, crevices in the ground, and various burn marks from fire, lightning, and energy.

“It’s a seagull!” Nya cried. “We’ve faced giant snakes, lords of darkness, elemental masters, Oni, more criminals and gangsters than I can count, and an evil video game AI, yet we can’t catch one measly seagull? It shouldn’t be this hard, you guys!”

“It’s getting away,” Jay cried, pointing at the bird, who had finally taken flight and was heading out over the ocean.

“No!” Lloyd moaned. “Now we’re never going to get it back!”

“Not on my watch,” Nya growled, racing past them towards the docks. “Come on!” “Oh no,” Kai groaned. “Nya Smith, whatever you are thinking, stop it right now, because I’m not doing it.” “Come on, Kai,” Lloyd insisted, grabbing his wrist and yanking him along. “We have to hurry!”

They raced after Nya, who was running down the dock towards a man who was examining the boats. Kai followed them more slowly, taking careful steps.

“Sir, we need to use a boat, right away! We’ll pay for it, we promise!”

The man shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am, but these are all private boats. The only one we have is that one,” he pointed to a small, worn-looking fishing boat, “and the motor’s broken, so it’s of no use to anyone.”

“It doesn’t matter, I can take care of that. Everyone, get in!”

“W-wait,” the man stuttered, looking flustered.

“We’ll bring it right back, I promise! Now, come on, we don’t have much time!”

“No!” Kai insisted, as everyone else piled in. “Nuh-uh. No way. Not in a million years. You are not bringing me out into the middle of the ocean in a tiny, crowded boat with a busted engine!”

“You don’t need an engine when you’ve got me!” Nya raised her hand, and the water swirled under the boat, rocking it slightly. “Now, come on, we don’t have time for this!” “Y’know what.” Kai took a couple of steps back from the boat. “I’m good. I’ll stay here. You guys have fun finding the wallet. I’ll cheer you on from the beach. The dry, dry beach.”

“Nope.” Cole reached forward, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him in. “This is your gift we’re saving, too. If you want to get part of it, you’re coming with.”

“Finally!” Nya huffed. The water rippled beneath them, and suddenly, it was propelling their boat, and they were off.

“Where’s the bird?” Nya asked. “Does anyone see it?” “Over there!” Cole pointed slightly towards their left, where the seagull was gliding away with surprising speed. Getting into the boat had slowed them down, and it had gotten a large head start.

Nya gritted her teeth. “Hold on.”

“Don’t go faster!” Kai yelped from where he huddled near the middle of the boat, protectively sandwiched between Lloyd and Cole. “If you tip this boat, I will never forgive you.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Nya growled, although the boat slowed slightly as they continued.

“Our team continued to chase the thief, determined to put an end to the Great Gull Caper and put the culprit to justice. Even when our path took us across the raging waters of the ocean, with nothing but a rusty, broken old boat, and deep, swirling waters around us, filled with the dark abyss and the creatures that lurked there…”

“You mean like sharks?” Lloyd perked, peering over the edge. “Did you see any? I wanna see one!”

“Nope,” Kai yelped, pulling himself into a ball as he sat down on the floor of the boat. “Nopety nope nope nope. I’m done. I’m outta here.”

“The prospect of sharks was a dire one, but one we were willing to take. We would get that wallet back, no matter the cost- even if it meant competition from this fierce predator of the sea.”

Kai screamed into his hands. “Just end me now!”

“What Zane means to say,” Pixal said, elbowing Zane sharply, “is that sharks are actually very off-put by the taste of human flesh, and do not go after humans on purpose.”

Kai stared at her. “Oh joy, now a shark can devour my flesh by accident, what a relief.”

“Do not worry, Kai,” she told him. “There is only one estimated death by shark per year in the greater Ninjago City area.”

“Knowing my luck,” Kai grumbled, “I’ll be that one.”

“Did anyone bring their phone with?” Lloyd asked. “I wanna get a good picture when the sharks come for Kai.”

“I call dibs on his katana,” Jay exclaimed. “Y’know, the super flashy one with the flaming dragon carved into the handle?”

Lloyd wrinkled his nose at him. “Why would you want a fire dragon on your katana? You’re the lightning ninja!”

“Hey, just because my element is lightning, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a super dope fire design when I see one-”

“Guys,” Cole sighed, pushing his way between the two arguing boys. “No one is getting eaten. We’re perfectly safe here, on this boat.”

“Cole’s right,” Pixal agreed. “The sharks around this area are smaller, reef dwellers, and won’t come after us. They may, however, come after our seagull friend if he gets too close to the water.”

Kai made a noise in the back of his throat, and Cole scowled at her. “Thanks for the help, Pix.”

“Nya,” Jay whined, “the seagull’s getting further away! We have to go faster!”

“Don’t!” Pixal cried. “This boat has not been manufactured to withstand a lot of weight. With seven people, especially when two of them are titanium, going too fast would be sure to capsize us.”

“I told you I should’ve stayed behind on the shore,” Kai wailed.

Lloyd leaned further over the edge, raising a hand to his forehead to keep the glare off of his face as he peered intently into the water. “Is… is that a shark?”

Kai stared at him. “Shut up. You’re just baiting.”

Lloyd shook his head, his eyes lighting up in a way that was not reassuring in the slightest. “I’m not! It’s a shark! It’s a real, live shark! I’ve never seen one this close before! Except at like, an aquarium!”

Kai closed his eyes, rocking himself gently. “You’re lying. You stupid liar, I hate you.”

Cole peered over, following Lloyd’s gaze, and promptly bit his lip. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“This is a dumb prank, you guys!” Kai was half-yelling by this point.

“Stop being so loud,” Lloyd hissed. “You’ll scare it!”

Kai blinked at him. “I’ll scare it?”

Lloyd crossed his arms. “A scared shark is an aggressive shark.”

Kai’s mouth snapped shut.

“I can’t believe this,” Cole muttered. “Did we really not bring any weapons?”

“No!” Lloyd yelped. “Cole, you wouldn’t!”

“I would if it kept us from being eaten.”

“For the last time, sharks don’t eat humans!”

Cole ignored him. “Well? Did we?”

Nya snorted. “Why would we bring weapons to the beach?”

“Hey, with how often this city gets attacked, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Nya rolled her eyes. “It was supposed to be our day off.”

“It’s fine,” Pixal reported, keeping a careful eye on the shark. “It’s swimming away now. As long as we leave it alone, we’re safe.”

Kai frowned. “Looks like the gull isn’t so convinced, though.”

Pixal glanced up. Sure enough, the seagull was eyeing the shark nervously, pumping its wings as it flew higher and higher above the surface of the water.

“Do something!” Jay shrieked. “If we don’t stop it now, it’s going to get away for good!”

“Lloyd!” Nya cried. “Is your wallet waterproof?”

“What?”

“Just answer the question!” “Yes! Yes, it is!”

Nya gritted her teeth. “Hold on, everyone!”

Suddenly, a vast wave rose out of the water, looming over the seagull.

Kai’s eyes widened. “Nya, be careful, you’ll hit us too-”

But it was already too late, the wave crashing down, downing the seagull, and soaking them in saltwater. The team cried out, and Kai screamed, throwing his arms over his head in a futile attempt to protect himself. As they all tried to lurch away from the spray, the boat rocked precariously, and, for a horrifying moment, they were suspended there, on the point between balance and capsize.

And then that moment was over, and they were all falling into the ocean.

Pixal’s world immediately dimmed as she plunged into the water, quietness enveloping her like a blanket. For a moment, she was too shocked to do anything, until a foot thrashed past her face, snapping her out of her trance as she swam towards the surface.

A couple of feet before she reached it, a metal hand snatched her wrist and pulled her the rest of the way up.

“Pixal!” Zane cried, his detective voice dropped. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. What about everyone else? Are we all here?”

Zane nodded his head behind her, and she turned to see the others all within a couple of feet. Cole had his hands on the now upside-down boat, trying to use his strength to push it over, but it was hard for him to get a good grip and stay afloat at the same time. Just behind him, Jay was spitting out a mouthful of seawater, sending ripples across the surface of the ocean as he treaded water. Lloyd was doing the same a couple of feet away, only the green ninja was struggling a lot more because of the arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Don’t let me go, Lloyd!” Kai yelped, although the feat would’ve been impossible even if Lloyd had wanted to- the fire ninja was clinging to him like a barnacle. “I can’t swim!”

Lloyd sighed. “I know that, Kai. It’s the only reason I’m letting you hold on to me like this.”

“I can’t believe this happened,” Kai cried. “We’re going to die out here. This is the worst day off ever.”

“Hey!” Lloyd snapped. “It’s not my fault this happened!”

Nya shot them all a sharp glare from where she was drifting alongside the boat. She didn’t even bother to tread water like the rest of them, instead using her powers to keep herself afloat. “It was going to work until you guys made such a big fuss about getting a little wet and tipped the boat.”

Cole sighed. “We’re not going to die. As soon as I get this right side up again, we’ll climb up and get out of here. Can you give me a hand, Zane?”

As the nindriod moved to help him, Kai suddenly went rigid.

“Lloyd,” he whispered.

“What, Kai?”

“Something just bumped my foot.”

“It’s probably just seaweed, Kai,” Lloyd sighed, looking down- and promptly froze.

“No one. Move.”

Jay squeezed his eyes shut. “Oh no, oh gosh, don’t tell me that’s what I think it is, this is not happening-”

“Jay, shut up,” Nya whispered, her face pale as she watched the dark shape lurking below them in the water.

“Everyone, stay calm,” Pixal murmured. “Don’t make any sudden movements and try to look it in the eyes.”

“Please, the last thing I’m gonna do is look at it,” Kai breathed, burying his face in Lloyd’s hair.

After a moment, the shark slowly swam past, losing interest.

“It doesn’t care about us,” Zane realized. “It wants the seagull.”

Several yards away, the gull was floating on the water, still trying to shake off the moisture from Nya’s wave. Suddenly realizing the danger it was in, the bird raised its wings- and launched itself into the air, just as fierce jaws snapped against empty air where the seagull had been less than a second ago.

Kai’s fingers dug tighter into Lloyd’s shoulders, and Pixal caught Jay biting his lip as he swallowed back a scream, but, its prey lost, the shark was already swimming away.

“Gotcha,” Nya murmured, reaching a hand out and snatching up the wallet, which the seagull had dropped in all the commotion, before it could sink to the bottom of the ocean.

“Okay. That’s great. We got it. Now can we get out of here?” Kai pleaded.

After a minute, they finally got the boat flipped over, and Cole hauled himself aboard before helping to lift the others. Ten minutes later, they were all safely out of the water and on their way back to the dock, and Pixal had never felt more relieved by the fact.

“So,” Jay asked, as the boat glided through the water, leaning closer to Nya. “Did they survive all that?”

“Let’s see,” Nya murmured, opening up Lloyd’s wallet. Pixal leaned forward, anxious to see what all the fuss had been about.

“Yes!�� Jay cried, pulling out seven slips of paper. “They’re all here!”

“Wait.” Pixal snatched one from his hand, quickly scanning it. “A summer pass for free all-you-can-eat ice cream from the Dairy Dragon?”

“Yup,” Jay smiled, passing them out to the others. “The mayor gave them to us as a gift after we saved the city from Prime Empire. That’s what we were going to do today, after the beach, actually.”

“You’re telling me,” Pixal deadpanned. “That we just risked our lives. For free ice cream.”

“Free ice cream is free ice cream, Pix.”

“You’ll understand once you’ve tried their butter pecan,” Nya told her. “It’s to die for.”

“Butter pecan?” Jay spluttered. “No way, the Ninjapolitan is best.”

“You heathen, chocolate fudge is obviously the best flavor-”

“What are you guys talking about, mint chocolate chip is superior!”

“You just like it because it’s green.”

“Do not!”

“Do so!” Nya sighed, putting her head in her hands. “Here we go again.”

“Calm down, all of you,” Pixal said. “You can get whatever flavor of ice cream you want. Just do me a favor and try not to end up capsizing us in the middle of the ocean this time.”

Jay hummed. “No promises.”

#ninjago #ninbingo #my fic #rosie writes #ninjago kai #ninjago pixal #ninjago nya #ninjago zane #ninjago lloyd #ninjago jay #ninjago cole #i cant believe i actually wrote something that is 100% fluff #that's never happened before #it feels... weird #but it was a lot of fun #and yes Lloyd loves sharks and I will die on that hill #thanks for reading!#reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!

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duhragonball · 2 years

Text

What I’ve been up to

I feel like I’ve been neglecting this blog for a while, and to some extent that was intentional. All that fanfic writing I did from November to January took a toll on me, and I told myself I needed to rest up in February, but I found myself writing blog posts instead, which wasn’t exactly helping. My wrists were bothering me, but that seems to have cleared up a few weeks ago. The funny thing is that writing stuff at work never seemed to bother me much, so I probably need to take a hard look at my ergonomic situation at home.

Anyway, I’ve been using the time to binge-read old Fantastic Four comics. In 2008, I lost a bunch of my comic book collection in a flood, and I bought a DVD-ROM Marvel had published that contained .pdf scans of every issue of Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer. Really, I only bought the thing to replace my Surfer comics, but I always meant to go back and read FF, and so I started in on that a couple of years ago. It was slow going for a while, mainly because the 1970′s FF comics were so dull. I mean, the one where they fought a glowing yellow space gorilla obviously holds a special place in my heart, but the story isn’t nearly as awesome as it looks. “You’ll GASP at the startling SECRET of Gorr!!” No you won’t: He’s a talking gorilla sent by the High Evolutionary to enlist the Fantastic Four’s help in protecting Counter-Earth from Galactus. I mean, even that sounds pretty epic, but somehow they found a way to make it... not. I mean, I’m just a hobbyist when it comes to writing cool shit involving giant golden space gorillas, but I’ve been at it for a while, and I feel like Marvel kind of dropped the ball with this arc. There’s a reason everyone always points to the John Byrne run when they talk about the FF, and that’s because they were just phoning it in all through the decade before he showed up. I’ve got some gripes with John Byrne’s work, but I can’t deny that I burned through his era a lot quicker and with more enthusiasm. He should have brought Gorr back and gave him a cooler origin, though.

Speaking of giant golden space gorillas, I need to get back on the horse posting my damn wienerfic. For those of you who aren’t in the know, I’ve been writing a giant-ass story featuring a Super Saiyan OC of mine. I felt kind of burned out on the whole thing after January 30, but now I’m tanned and rested, and finishing up the Steve Engelhart run on Fantastic Four has recharged me batt’ries. So my new objective is to update the fic on AO3 and get the tumblr crossposts caught up to the same point. I don’t know that anyone’s following the fic via tumblr anymore-- frankly it’s a lot easier to navigate via AO3, but I’ve always published it this way and I feel weird breaking the tradition. I have to get all this updating done by March 31, because I’m going back to the salt mines in April to try to crank out another 30,000 words.

And yeah, that seems to be my only agenda for the year: Luffa and Fantastic Four. I was going to try to play Final Fantasy V last month, but I never got going and honestly I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I feel like I should be doing more with my time, but lately, I just haven’t felt any pressing need. Maybe that’ll change, maybe not.

But I’m still around, in case anyone was wondering. And I’ll probably be a little more active in the next couple of weeks.

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cotccotc · 4 years

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┈┈ 𝟐:𝟐𝟔 𝐚𝐦 ⭒ “𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒆?” 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢 𝐛𝐞𝐨𝐦𝐠𝐲𝐮

☆ summary: beomgyu has a confession to make... ♡

☆ genre/s: angst > fluff, subtle college au, friends to lovers, beomgyu x gender neutral!reader, feat. mentions of senior!yeonjun

☆ warnings: none!

☆ one-shot, 1k words

☆ a/n: i want to start writing more for bts and txt now that i’ve been getting a bunch of skz requests! if you have any requests for either group don’t hesitate to submit an ask or dm. lastly, stream “can’t you see me” by txt please & thank u :’))) enjoy!

»»—— ⭒ ——««

“y/n, we need to talk,” said the handsome boy standing across from you in the doorway of your apartment. his stark black hair was strewn across his forehead, although you could tell he didn’t care. it seemed as if he had ran to your apartment building by the way he was breathing. the look on his face was serious, his big brown eyes as wide as ever and his soft coral lips parted slightly. he wore what were presumably his pajamas: a light brown sweater over a black t-shirt, a pair of black and red plaid pants, and brown slippers.

“gyu, it’s 2 in the morning,” you responded, your hand still gripping onto the doorknob. you were still shocked from when you opened the door.

“i know… i’m sorry. but i have something to say,” he said, his confidence wavering for a moment but then returning. “can i come in? i’ll only be a few minutes.”

“sure,” you replied, gesturing for him to enter the room. he does so with a subtle close-lipped smile. you shut the door and turned around. “you can sit on the couch if you want,” you suggested, motioning to the couch.

“thanks.” he sits down on the far left side of the black couch in your main room. you sat down on the other side, sensing beomgyu’s nerves. his posture was extremely straight and his hands were nervously rubbing up and down the outsides of his thighs. he wasn’t looking at you, but rather staring blankly at your beige wooden coffee table, on which sat three polaroids of you and yeonjun from that day’s activities. you had gone out with him as friends, but beomgyu didn’t know that. you had a mini photoshoot with your polaroid camera, but you just dropped the photos on the table once you got home and hadn’t moved them since.

“what’s up?” you asked, putting your feet up to sit cross-legged and shifting to face him.

“you went out with him today?” beomgyu asked, still staring intensely at the pictures.

looking down at the table and then back at him, you replied, “yeah… gyu, look at me. what’s wrong?” you were really concerned about him. it was so bizarre of him to just show up like this and you were afraid you did something to upset him.

he followed your direction, looking up into your eyes. “do you like him?” he squinted a bit, bracing for your answer.

“as a friend, yes. he’s fun to hang out with… why?”

after a bit of a pause, he took a deep breath and blurted out, “y/n, i like you.”

your lips parted a bit. you were in shock. your heart began to swell, as this was exactly what you’d always wanted to hear from him. the both of you were just incredibly shy, which is why you never confessed to him yourself. that’s also why it was so easy to hang out with yeonjun; he was so extraverted in comparison to you and had the power to take you out of your comfort zone.

however, beomgyu was your comfort zone. and you didn’t even realize you’d been neglecting him.

beomgyu continued, “i know yeonjun is a senior... and he’s nice, and brave, and stuff. but i can’t help but feel… jealous.”

all you could think to say was, “oh,” as a twinge of warmth crept up the sides of your face. you were definitely ecstatic, but your shyness kept you from expressing it immediately.

“i understand if you don’t like me back… but i just wanted to come clean. i hope this doesn’t change how you see me.” he still seemed a bit distant, his words coming across a bit monotone so as to hide his feelings.

“no, no, of course not,” you reassured him, thoughts coming back into your mind. “beomgyu, you are the nicest and bravest guy i know. you had to have so much courage to come over and tell me.”

he laughed and shook his head, a bit flustered. “no i’m not.”

“yes you are!” you countered. “the truth is… i like you too.”

“really!?” his eyes snap open and his eyebrows raise. a faint blush arose on his cheeks. he looked flabbergasted.

and adorable.

“yes,” you affirmed with a giggle.

for the rest of the night (well… morning), the two of you talked about the situation you had both been in for so long. he told you stories about his jealousy and you recalled similar ones about wishing you could confess to him. who would’ve thought you both made each other just as nervous all the time? everything was lighthearted and fun, as you both felt so much more comfortable with each other. you laughed about your previous struggles, so relieved that you could finally share these things.

it was getting pretty late. the sun had already started to rise, peeking slightly through your blinds. so, you mutually decided to call it a night. beomgyu stood up from his seat close beside you on the couch, but before you got the chance to do the same, he asked you, “y/n… do you want to go on a date with me tomorrow?”

“don’t you mean today?”

he closed his eyes and scrunched his nose. correcting his mistake, he repeated, “y/n, do you want to go on a date with me… later?”

“of course, gyu.” you stood up and looked him in the eyes. a bit of an awkward silence followed, until you both started softly laughing out of nerves. you then placed your hand on his shoulder, leaning to the side and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. he was astonished again.

instead of reacting with a gesture, he stated, “text me as soon as you wake up. i want to spend the whole day with you. let’s make up for lost time.”

you wholeheartedly agreed. once beomgyu left your apartment, you had a bit of a solo dance party.

he saw you the same way you viewed him, and what a relief it was!

»»—— ⭒ ——««

#*fics #choi beomgyu #beomgyu #txt #tomorrow x together #tomorrow x together imagines #txt imagines #beomgyu imagines #beomgyu fluff #txt fluff #tomorrow x together fluff

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overtrolled-liveblog · 3 years

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GAMZEE: ThEsE rEdEmPtiVe FuCkIn EuReKa ThUnDeRcLaPs AlL bAnGiNg At My ThInK pAn... GAMZEE: GeTtInG mE tO gO aLl LiKe, BoO hOo, I’m BaD, i’M bAd! GAMZEE: WhAt I’m SaYiNg AbOuT iS tHe RaW sHiT i DiD gOt SoMe ExPlAnAtIoNs To MaKe YoU sEe ThE tRuTh. GAMZEE: ThE tRuTh ThAt My GnArLiNeSs HaD a MoThErFuCkIn TeNtFuL oF *rOoT cAuSeS* yA gOtTa InDuLgE mE aT. GAMZEE: lIsTeN uP bOyS aNd HoEs, CaUsE hErE cOmEs A bUnCh Of NoIsE tHaT’s MoRaLlY fUcKiN mItIgAtInG aS sHiT. GAMZEE: hOoOoOoNk. JOHN: (oh jesus.) ROXY: (shh!) GAMZEE: I bEeN aLl LiKe. AbUsEd AnD sTuFf, HoMiEs. GAMZEE: As A cHiLd, I gOt MoThErFuCkIn NeGlEcTeD oN bY a StErN oLd FaThErLy GoAt. GAMZEE: I wAs A dIsApPoInTmEnT oN hIm, AnD cAn’T sAyS i BlAmE hIm FoR aBaNdOnInG tHe ShIt OuT oF hIs UsElEsS kId. GAMZEE: I wOuLdA mOtHeRfUcKiN dOnE tHe SaMe ShIt At Me If I wAs A bIg CrUeL gOaT. GAMZEE: sO ThAt ExPlAiNs LiKe, PrEtTy SuRe MoSt Of My CrImEs In A wAy ThAt MaKeS a MoThErFuCkEr WaNnA tAkE hIs FoRgIvEnEsS oUt FoR a FuCkInG sPiN. GAMZEE: tHeRe’S oThEr ReAsOnS tO cOnSiDeR, LiKe... GAMZEE: ShIt ThAt MaKeS tHiS rEdEmPtIoN aRc FuCkIn TiGhT lIkE aN uNcRaCkEd ElIxIr. GAMZEE: LiKe, HoWs My PuRpLe BlOoD mEaNt I gOt ThE cUlTuRe PrEsSuReS pUt On Me To Be A SaLtY dAmN jEsTeR fOr LiFe. GAMZEE: WhAt aBoUt ThAt HaNd ThE mEsSiAhS dEaLt Me, My BiTcHeS. GAMZEE: a MoThErFuCkEr’S gOnNa EnVy ThAt LiKe A wIcKeD cOd RaSh. GAMZEE: So HoW cAn I fUlL aNd TrUlY fUcKiN gEt BlAmEd On FoR, wHeN iT cOmEs To A lITtLe BiT oF sUbJuGgLaTiOn I gOt CuLtUrAlLy HoRnSwOgGlEd Up To DoInG, aNd AlSo TrAgIcAlLy GoAt AbUsEd WhIcH nEeDs To MaKe YoU sHeD a TeAr FoR tHiS mOtHeRfUcKeR, lEsT yOu WaNnA bE aS aTrOcIoUs As Me.

These are all points I’ve seen people use to explain Gamzee’s character on Tumblr dot com. Hearing someone give the fan explanation for their behavior is quite jarring. It feels insincere on a story level, since it is basically what fans say to reduce his responsibility, and on a meta level it almost feels like the writers are making fun of these fans. Very weird.

#hse candy #hse liveblog

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jamilslut · 3 years

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Welcome Back

It’s been a while, huh! Thanks for sticking around, and thanks for the likes over the (many) months I’ve been neglecting this blog. I’ve got some updates, a few little changes, and most importantly. A bunch of posts dropping after this one.

Welcome to the Read More Section

First things first, did you know I have a Twitter? Likely not, it’s been separate from this blog since I didn’t really start this with the intention of actually making much content on here. However I found I actually really enjoyed sharing stuff here as opposed to Twitter, and while I was making the decision to split my Twitter in two to separate my art from my more personal account, I realized. Oh hey. My tumblr’s still there, and I’m still on “ahhh I’ll get back to it”, but isn’t now the perfect chance to well, get back to it???

So here we are!

I still enjoy the short but humorous edits in the past, and I have no intentions of stopping them completely (gazes fearfully at all the birthdays i missed) I will also be posting all my art here! While I’ve shared my works such as the Hot Food Vil Comic, and a piece for Jamil’s birthday, I’ve since drawn quite a bit more in that time. Almost all Twst related to boot!

With that in mind, I will be posting those in a small queue over today and perhaps tomorrow, since well, dive-bombing people’s feeds or the search function can get quite tiresome. I’ll be uploading however almost all of my art pieces at once at my new twitter, which I so lovingly named after this blog. Check it out if you want the deets early!

I’ll be shaking up my layout to make things more appeasing in the meantime, along with getting around to slapping together a nice little loving gift for Ruggie’s birthday.... it’s still close enough right? Right.

Thank y’all for sticking around and reading, I love all of y’all immensely.

#Janon Spitballing

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avengerscompound · 4 years

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Redoing my Taglist (again)...

If you want to be tagged in my fics, please read under the cut:

The why of it:

Like many writers and creators on Tumblr, I've been experiencing a lack of interaction on this site. While I understand the engagement on the site, in general, is changing and has been since the great porn ban. I have also been noticing a drift away from the fandom in general.

Knowing this doesn't change the fact it is discouraging. It is changing how I personally want to create content. In the past, I would be encouraged to write more for you. I would write more requests. I’d answer asks for headcanons. Write more neglected characters and rare-pairs. I'd make sure I'd have a W|W fic every week. I'd write things that maybe weren't exactly to my taste but I knew it would be well received.

The lack of engagement has changed how I feel about that. I have already stopped taking requests. Where I was signing up for a lot of challenges I'm now not. I’m now going to be writing for me. I'll still write the looked over characters and rare-pairs and W|W but when I have a story I want to tell. There will be fewer one-shots and more series.

So what does that mean?

I recently redid my taglist because I felt like I was tagging a bunch of people who didn't want to be tagged. While the number of people did drop on it; it wasn't nearly as much as I expected given the lack of engagement, and since I did it that engagement has dropped even more. I have fics I post right now that are getting fewer notes than the number of people I tag and that includes the reblogs I personally make.

The only conclusion I can make is I'm writing things you don't want to read. Which is fine. I'm generally enjoying the content I'm making these days. But tagging people in it who don't want to be tagged is a waste of both my time and yours. Tagging is annoying and time-consuming and I don't want to be doing it unless the people actually genuinely want me to do it.

I've been wracking my brain lately trying to work out what to do about it. I considered being like many other writers here who just stopped tagging all together but I honestly don't want to be that person. I know personally if I don't get tagged by the authors I love I often miss the fic completely, even if they do have a side blog for their writing. I considered having an I'm only tagging if you comment rule. But a) that's more time consuming than just tagging you and forgetting about it. And b) I don’t want to be the person who threatens you to love me. I am fine with tagging people who don't interact if they genuinely want me to and are reading even if they don't comment.

Then I had an idea. Because I'm going to be focusing more on story arcs over one-shots I'm going to change my whole system of tagging. I am getting rid of all the sections. There will now be PERMANENT and SERIES TITLES. That's it. If you go on my permanent tag list you will get tagged in every one-shot I write plus the first chapter of any series I start. Yes, this will mean if you only like reading Steve you're gonna get tagged in stuff you don't want but it won't happen often and honestly the difference between my everything list and the people on my other lists is insignificant anyway. After the first chapter of a series, you will have to tell me if you wish to continue being tagged in the series. I don't care how you tell me. Send an ask. DM me. Comment on the fic. Go to the doc and add yourself in. If you don't tell me I won't continue tagging you. That way no one's time is wasted. You can still keep getting tagged in the content you want. I don't have to spend ages tagging people in things they have no interest in.

What to do. READ CAREFULLY:

Add your name to the permanent list and/or the series you wish to be tagged in. If you aren't on the series list you won't be tagged in it. LINK HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uoXUNd74dtap11CuDDsQWVBc-Ur_I5H17588yyl-PKk/edit?usp=sharing

When you are tagged in the first chapter of a series ignore it if you have no interest. If you do want to read it contact me or add yourself to the list for that fic. If you don't you will no longer be tagged in the fic. (I'll put a Reminder when I tag you)

Remember I do have a side blog where I reblog all my fics. @avengerslibrary. If this system doesn't work for you for whatever reason just follow that and turn on notifications.

Currently, the tag list looks like this. If you can't get into the doc now send me an ask or DM (COMMENTS WILL BE IGNORED AS I LOSE THEM IN THE NOISE OF THE BLOG) with what you want to be tagged in:

Permanent:

The Tower (a long-running fic written with @fanficwriter013 about an OC named Elly in a polyamorous relationship with all the Avengers):

Bartoned (Clint Barton X Reader fic about a reader who gets pregnant to Clint on a one night stand and how they go from lovers - to friends - to parents, to being married when neither is really the relationship type):

The remainder of my Bruce Banner bingo fics (there aren't many left, most will be Bruce/Reader. Some not):

Running to a Standstill (Stucky X Reader fic about a single mother trying to keep her enhanced child safe from an organization hunting them and a couple of supersoldiers who are determined to protect her):

The Hamptons House (Tony Stark X Reader fic about Tony and a reader meeting at Tony’s 18th birthday party and spending the week together. They then agree to meet once every three years to relive the feeling they got from their first encounter):

What not to do:

Don't add yourself if you don't actually want to read the fics.

Don't ask to be added via a comment on this post (asks and DMS only or preferably if you can go to the doc and add yourself in)

Don't add yourself in without reading what to do ( @mumbles411 I'm looking at you)

Don't add yourself because you consider me your friend and you think if you don't I'll be offended when you actually have no intention to read things or you think you might maybe read one or two but then you never actually do. I promise I still like you. My liking you has nothing to do with whether or not you read my fics.

Don't add yourself if you've changed fandom and you think maybe one day you might come back to this fandom and read stuff. Add yourself when you are reading things or go follow my side blog @avengerslibrary. Also, I have a Masterlist you can look over anytime you’re feeling nostalgic.

I will switch over to the new list on the 1st of May

#this post is long #sorry about that #taglist #blog stuff

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coplins · 3 years

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(1/3) Thanks for responding. I totally see the queerbaiting/kill your gays criticism - it's clear from Misha's comments after the fact that he really thought he was doing something supportive and didn't get how it was the opposite. I wasn't upset with ignoring Eileen because that whole plot was so badly written, and I didn't mind blurry wife because that was a story they'd never have time to tell, so leaving it to be your choice of wife/co-parent (Jared's words) worked for me.

(2/3) I don't see Dean's lack of reciprocation as a problem because Jensen and the showrunners have continuously said that is not their intent in writing/acting that character, so anything folks read into it is subtext. Again, Misha thought it would be better rep than it was. It was a bad call. John isn't canonically a child abuser, just a lousy parent. Both Dean and Sam have done so many crappy things as well that honestly, they shouldn't be there by that metric either. 3/4) But I don't think the finale (awkwardly written as it was) cancels out their character development at all. They are different people - back at the starting point, but not the men they were when they started. Dean is emotionally open; he's dropped acting tough and can talk about his emotions. He can be alone and be okay. Sam is no longer afraid of his blood or turning into John; he can be a good dad. I wish we'd seen Jack and Cas, or heard them at least wish them well, even just a prayer. (4/4) But even though that was crappy to leave out, I don't think it negates the show or the characters. 19 added Cas and Jack's names to the table, and I can be happy with that as the final episode. I was prepared to pretend it didn't exist before it even aired. I AM really glad you're anti-harassment. The shit that even folks like Kripke have been getting on their pages has made me so sad. Dabb posted something about baboons and folks even thought it was about them, not his new show! (Also, sorry to dump like a huge text thing in your inbox. It's totally fine that we disagree on things. I've just seen so many crazy things like people blaming Jared and saying the episode was an ad for Walker and to boycott Walker - a ton of Jared hate in general, really. Or saying Jensen "Destiel Isn't Real" Ackles is secretly a heller who's been viciously silenced by the powers that be for years. And now Misha's getting dogpiled for trying to interact and understand how he fucked up.)

It's fine, Nonnie. :)

Okay, so, just to make one thing clear. If you enjoyed the finale, then I think it's great. For everyone who didn't get their joy sucked out of them, that's awesome! I got to see the Wincest side of my Tumblr dash go apeshit from happiness and I'm happy for them. I've since had to unfollow some of those blogs when they turned bitter and hateful towards those of us who didn't like the ending. I curate my Tumblr (internet in general) experience to avoid seeing hate thrown at ships, actors, characters, fans, or people in general. I unfollow people if they post too much toxic stuff no matter if they're Destiel shippers, angel fans, or whatever part of fandom they're in.

I try not to reblog too much angry/bitter crap either. There are a lot of posts on my dash that I wholeheartedly agree with but don't belong on my blog. And I've written my share of wank and rants over the years but seldom hit post because I don't want to ruin someone else's positivity. When I do hit post I tag it "spn wank" so it can be avoided. If I need to angry-rant I do so in chat. Sometimes I mess up. There are undoubtedly some less than nice posts in the Buckleming wank category on my blog.

Generally speaking, my M.O. is disengaging and/or vote with my wallet. I will never condone cyberbullying. No matter how famous the person, or how nasty they are, harassment isn't okay. Actions have consequences and I try to think of what they are before I act. If I vent hurtful opinions about an actor, it'll be kept in chat, with someone who understands that particular frustration. (Not related to the current situation.)

When it comes to canon, it doesn't matter what showrunners or actors tell us about how it's meant to be interpreted or how they meant to act it. Canon is what's shown on screen, period. As curious as I am about what the actors have to say about things, it isn't important regarding canon at all. I'll stan my boys no matter what their characters get up to on-screen. <3

Yeah, I've seen the theories and the dogpiling. Luckily, I've avoided seeing the Jared hate but I knew it would be there because the internet is a cesspool of people lashing out aimlessly or misdirecting their anger. Even IF they wrote the finale in a way that they thought would put a spotlight on Jared's upcoming series, HE was nowhere near a position of power to make that decision and should be left out of it. I just figured, if it was true that that's what they thought, then the Wincest bunch was their target audience for the new show. *shrug*

Interesting to hear your take on the finale. If I follow people who have your take, they're not vocal about it, or I'm simply missing it because I don't stalk Tumblr. All it takes for me to stop scrolling and go back to my writing is 3 unknown anime posts in a row or one reader-insert fic and I'm nope-ing the hell out of here. X)

I'm not going to argue against any of your points. It's great that you saw it that way. Fuck, I wish I did too.

I kinda feel like I need to address the child abuse comment I made, though. Some separate neglect and abuse like those aren't the same, some only count physical abuse, others include verbal abuse. Too many of my loved ones (both close friends and family) have experienced all three of those categories and the one who was left alone to care for her little sister as a child, definitely has a lot of mental scarring from it, so I'm counting neglect as abuse. That said, I fucking love John Winchester. So it might be Jeffrey Dean Morgan's charisma, so sue me. But John canonically neglected the hell out of his sons. We got proof of that even in this season when John drops his son off for days in a town where kids have gone missing recently. So, yeah... But, on the other hand, of course both he and Mary should end up in Heaven. Like, that wasn't even a question.

I think my strong reaction against it was how every part of the found family the Winchesters had gathered over the years was erased from the narrative as soon as Dean died. The only one who is shown as important is Bobby, a found-family member that initially was connected with John, not someone the brothers had found and connected with on their own. Bobby is also the only non-Winchester in the photos Sam has over his bed when he's dying. I don't know, man, "Everyone's here," simply doesn't do it for me.

"Family ends with blood" like the finale implied, only works if the greatest monsters in life haven't been family members, and my best friends (twins) growing up, just like my mother, were abused, mentally, physically, and sexually, by parents. I've seen the aftermath of those hellfires, how long it takes to assemble the fractures of your being and become, if not whole, at least functional and happy. For them, it was the friends they made along the way, those who loved them when they couldn't, who really mattered.

And that was one thing I really loved about SPN (and still do). Team Free Will. Wayward Sisters. All the people that they met along the way and connected with. I've loved to see Sam and Dean develop their bond by taking it from unhealthy, destructive co-dependency to step by step with several setbacks become their own individuals with lives outside of each other, yet still having the strong bond full of brotherly feels where the love they had for each other was rooted in respect for each other's differences and not who they "were supposed to be for each other". And unlike you, I can't see anything but regression in how the finale played out.

Okay, I gotta stop talking now. ^^ I have one scene my betas told me I need to rewrite in my next chapter, and another chapter half done, and I'm itching to post so I need to get on with it.

I hope I didn't put too much of a dampener on your enjoyment of the finale. My opinions don't matter. We all come from different life experiences and therefore find different things compelling and important. I don't begrudge anyone their happiness. <3

*Hugs*

#anonymous #spn finale #supernatural

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simtrospective · 4 years

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congratulations on your follower mile stone! I only recently started following your blog but I love that you share your thought process behind your sims and your posts. I really enjoy reading them! can I hear more about your inspiration to do a historical-vintage blog? what are your favorite time periods to recreate with the sims and why?

Thank you so much @wirefiish!

First, a little tangent: I started playing this series 20 years ago. There have been some gap years since then: my computer couldn’t handle TS3 when it came out so I only notched a few hours of total play time before sticking with TS2; I’d heard bad things about TS4 and myself wasn’t wowed by the base game so I put it aside for a long while. I’ve never had a simblr before this year (I started one in March, almost immediately deleted it, and then resurrected this account in May after someone on reddit asked me for a download + CC list of a sim I’d shared there; I needed somewhere to put all that info and so…). I never had any account for simming no matter which platform was popular: no Livejournal account, nor a Dreamwidth account, nor a GoS account, nor an MTS account, on and on and on. I only ever lurked the community though I felt like I knew everyone in it! But this year, I wanted to keep track of other simmers on tumblr who I liked, and I needed a quarantine distraction from work + panic, and so here I am. Operating this account has been an exercise, too, in managing myself and self-esteem: not letting myself fall into some of my kneejerk behaviors like trying to please others, apologizing (for nothing; for “me”), putting myself down, comparing myself to other people who I imagine are all perfect and talented and objectively better. My inclination, when I write wordy posts or give “too much information” about my sims is to delete and keep it simple, and that certainly gets me more notes, but… this is who I am. Not that it’s that deep! But it’s good to have perspective and behave accordingly: it’s just a blog with pictures of sims. It’s just a game. I felt like writing, it’s my little blog, who cares? I’m not doing it for notes or likes or whatever. What do I have to apologize for? What do I have to fix?

All this to say thank you that you are enjoying reading about my process. I enjoy writing about my process, whether mundane or not. I enjoy treating this blog like a blog when I feel called to do so.

Now, to your questions!

Can I hear more about your inspiration to do a historical-vintage blog?

Sure!

If you’d like to read more about my save and my plans for it, I have a link to that featured in my navigation menu. It is HERE for any and all who are interested and includes references and pictures I’m hoping to use as inspiration for world-building and character creation.

Basically, why I’m doing this is very simple: I like old stuff. I like vintage stuff. I like retro stuff. I love old photographs, old furniture, old music, old clothes, old movies. I love references and inspirations and art. I hate the internet. I hate my sims taking out their phones every two seconds and stuntin’ for the ‘gram and whatever else. I am forced to use too much internet and social media at work but in real life I have this blog and a neglected Pinterest account and a neglected reddit account and that is it and that has always been it, with the tumblr and reddit accounts only begun this calendar year. I’m not a luddite; I mindlessly scroll more than I should and I have favorite Vines (RIP) just like the other girls and how else can I stuff my game with CC if not over WiFi, but really, there’s so much of the *NOW* in TS4 that takes me out of and away from what I love about this series because it’s so invasive. This is where I could go on another tangent about how--through what EA, et al purports is endless gameplay possibilities--TS4 actually gives us less choice when it comes to overall gameplay but that is not the question I’m answering.

Beyond wanting to return my sims to a simpler time in terms of technology and their personal interactions, I’m totally doing it for the aesthetic. If I had my way, if I could choose the world’s aesthetic, the world’s advances in terms of, again, the technology in our pockets, it would span between 1920 and, like, 1995 and how exciting that I actually can build a little world that does just that. I can dress my little dolls exactly how I want and make some of them use the washboard! I can’t curate planet earth but I can make damn sure that all the teenage girls in Brindleton Bay wear circle skirts to the diner.

Also, related to doing whatever I want, I get to have the things I love, the world and gameplay I love but apply more progressive values to it. Yes, all the teenage girls in Brindleton Bay wear circle skirts to the diner but the teenage girl who prefers to wear a mechanic’s jumpsuit isn’t going to be looked at askance or be isolated or teased or made to conform or beat up or, best case scenario, need to shoulder the burden of trailblazer or need to shoulder the burden of being The Girl Who Wears A Mechanic’s Jumpsuit even if everyone thinks it’s cool, she’s just… herself. And yes, the world looks like 1955 but it isn’t 1955, or, it’s a parallel 1955. This girl wears a jumpsuit but her girlfriend wears a circle skirt and none of my sims bat an eye.

I also love, love, love looking at other simmers’ historical stories and gameplay. They’re consistently so clever with both CC and in-game content that it’s impossible not to be inspired, and that got my wheels turning.

And, lastly, I’m a CC addict. Limiting my aesthetic and applying rules to my save goes a long way to cull my collection and to keep me from going on a tear that might make my computer explode. It’s much easier for me to delete a bunch of dresses that aren’t appropriate for the parameters of my game than to delete a bunch of dresses because I “should,” because I have “too much stuff.”

What are your favorite time periods to recreate with the sims and why?

I’m partial to the 1950s because it is the easiest. It seems that so many creators make a lot of content that--even if it’s only described as “vintage”--is from the 50s. I mentioned circle skirts above. How many times have I done a broad search for vintage or retro and got circle skirts back? The 1950s isn’t my favorite time period, though; again, it’s just so easy to recreate. Lately I’ve enjoyed making a range of 70s sims and hope I can find a home for them all. I like, too, trying to fit content that I don’t usually use or which I think I don’t like into my version of a particular decade’s or era’s look because it often changes my opinion of the content (especially non-CC) so that I see it with new eyes/better appreciate it, and this practice helps me to hone my abilities and increase my comfort and familiarity with whatever time period I’m working with.

In real life, although I had a long art deco phase, my absolute favorite design aesthetic is mid-century modern. I’ve always loved it, and that love intensified and deepened a few years ago when I started writing my novel--not to sound like a jerk, but it’s true!--which is set in the mid-to-late 1960s. I started doing research and putting together inspiration boards which included, in part, house plans and interior design and for my tastes, I’m sorry, mcm just cannot be beat. I cannot get enough! TS4’s art style is so complementary to the mcm aesthetic that it’s impossible not to fall in love with how it looks in the game, whether it’s CC or not, so that’s my favorite in-game decorative period.

When it comes to clothing and fashion, I have a little bit that I like from every era, really, but if we’re speaking generally and I’m being forced to choose, I (think I) like best male/masculine looks and styling from the 1950s to about… 1963? 1965?, although I prefer a slimmer cut to the suits and pants; and feminine/female looks and styling from the 1930s and 1970s. I perceive a similar combined sensuality, ease, and sportiness in the 30s and 70s silhouettes as well as the prevailing attitudes and approach to fashion that speaks to me. I just love it--but I need more of it for my sims, so I can’t say it’s necessarily my favorite to try and recreate. Yet, anyway.

Thank you again for this question and thank you to all who read this entire answer!

#sims 4 #ts4 #200+ followers #ask #user: wirefiish

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violetosprey · 4 years

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Is possible to even have a healthy relationship with a yandere? 🩸 🔪

Hey there. I’m going to go ahead and assume this is a question regarding fictional yanderes because that’s what this blog focuses on.

Now people who’ve read a little into this tumblr before know I tend to lean more towards the “romance turned horror” kinds of yandere stories where the yandere in question is definitely the antagonist. In those, yeah those won’t be healthy relationships being shown (I don’t call it horror for nothing).

Despite this, the answer to your question I’d actually say is: Yes.

Remember, you said “healthy,” not “normal.” There IS a difference. While yandere behavior can get a little strange and excessive, that behavior itself might not ALWAYS negatively impact the overall relationship. And yes, while there are plenty of yandere who definitely don’t exhibit healthy boundaries a relationship needs, it’s not impossible to adjust a yandere so that the relationship between them and their S/O is not only enjoyable, but also functional.

What is a healthy relationship first of all? Well it’s kind of odd for me to be answering this since most of my important relationships are more familial or platonic. But the same rules should apply here I think.

The participants in a relationship should:

- Have good communication

- Be there for each other

- Give healthy space when necessary

- Stand on equal footing (respect wise definitely)

- Be able to compromise

- Not harm one another mentally/physically intentionally

Some of those ideas kind of blend together but I think you get the idea. Now already just from that you can spot why yanderes can potentially be a bad suitor. We’ve seen yanderes who stalk, ignore/fight back against rejection, kidnap and straight up murder for their cause. Doesn’t really scream “dream boyfriend/girlfriend” in the most realistic sense.

The big thing to remember though is not all of the extremely negative behavior of a yandere CAN have is mutually exclusive to yanderes. Meaning, you don’t have to have a yandere character whose knife crazy or even all that threatening honestly.

One obvious thing to do is just tone down a yandere character. You can keep a lot of crazy lovesick stuff they do: take secret photos of their S/O, have a big shrine, talk endlessly or almost exclusively about their S/O, glare at the opposition (there is a BIG difference also between a character who has threatening thoughts vs. one that ACTS upon said threats), etc. Again, this certainly would make the relationship seem weird from the outside due to how enthralled the yandere is. But as long as the behavior there is not really too disruptive for either the S/O OR the yandere in their daily lives, it doesn’t necessarily make it bad.

If the behavior exhibited by the yandere doesn’t cause the S/O extreme mental stress or disrupt their daily routine (like school, work or even pastimes), then no harm no foul.

This may be because the S/O is unperturbed by the behavior, or actually is very into it. Of course, for a healthy relationship the S/O needs to reciprocate the yandere’s feelings. That’s super obvious to state I know, but I need to emphasize that because one of the biggest reasons a yandere can end up as the antagonist of a story is because the S/O doesn’t WANT to be with the yandere. There can be many reasons for that, but a rejected yandere can take a “no” very badly.

I should also mention that a receptive S/O ALONE is not enough to declare the relationship automatically healthy. There are people for instance who stay in a relationship with…well someone who they obviously shouldn’t. Hence why toning down some of the yandere’s behavior so they’re not outright dangerous for the S/O to be with is still a huge factor here.

Oh! I know it’s always common to first and foremost consider the S/O’s safety when we’re talking about yanderes. But just for fun I should also state it TECHNICALLY is possible for a yandere’s relationship with an S/O to be unhealthy more-so for the yandere rather than the S/O. Most people probably don’t even consider this (I don’t). But if for instance the yandere is the type of character that is just so incredibly focused on the needs and happiness of the S/O, their behavior may become self-destructive. For instance, they quit their job to follow the S/O around all day. They get extreme anxiety they can’t overcome whenever they’re apart from the S/O. Or they won’t EAT or SLEEP because they’re too lovesick to literally think about their own needs. Fun fact, that last one came to mind because I was watching a bunch of random episodes of “Archie’s Weird Mysteries” that I used to watch when I was younger. That’s probably the strangest reference I ever made, but that show is the only reason I even know what the heck Riverdale is supposed to be about. But yeah, there was an episode where one of the girls wanted to get Archie to love her more and it makes him so lovesick he literally starts neglecting his own health.

So yeah, not a topic tackled often, but a healthy relationship for a yandere and an S/O should be for both ends. If they’re well written characters, they should be able to stand a bit on their own when apart from the S/O.

In the event anyone was curious if you could have a healthy yandere relationship WITHOUT toning down the yandere…well I think that really depends on how an author writes the story and characters as a whole. With fiction, you can get pretty creative with the scenarios. Not just with the yandere, the S/O could be a rather “unique” character themselves. I don’t really have any good examples off the top of my head, but the relationship could be something where any other normal character wouldn’t work with the yandere, but something about the S/O makes them a perfect match. This may be due to their personality, backstory or even special abilities they have.

You can also set up outside conflicts that make the relationship with the yandere seem a lot more endearing than it normally would. Bringing up Future Diary (again), remember Yuki thought Yuno was initially cute but was rather unsettled by some of her behavior. If it was kept in the normal school life setting, he probably would have kept running away from her. But the main plot of Future Diary was a survival game that he was not ready for initially. Yuno’s dedication to him while there are other characters out for blood suddenly made Yuno GOOD for his health. It was safer for him to be with her, and then this gave the two an opportunity to actually bond overtime under these unusual circumstances.

It’s never a bad idea to give some time for the bond to grow. In a fictional story, the audience will have an easier time warming up to the characters as a couple if they’ve been able to see who they develop together.

Otherwise, you could start right off with the characters already in a relationship. I know I’ve seen some comedies where this is the case, and it’s always fun to see how the two characters interact in a daily routine.

That’s all I got for now. Hope that works!

#yandere #male yandere #analysis #storytelling #answer

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script-a-world · 4 years

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Pylon Bios (An Update, with New Pylons)

Hello, lovely followers of script-a-world!

Please allow us to introduce ourselves! We haven’t had any sort of about-the-bloggers page available before, and now that we’ve added more to the team, we’re seeking to remedy that!

First of all, we call ourselves Pylons. What the heck is a pylon? Well, outside of this blog, it’s an upright structure for holding up something, usually a cable or conduit. When this blog was started more than a year ago (whoa), the group chose the word Pylon to describe ourselves collectively, as a fun little nickname. Whee!

Without further ado, meet the Pylons (and Mods)! (in alphabetical order)

Brainstormed: Hey there, call me Brainstormed, and you can find me at @thunderin-brainstorm. Any pronouns will do. I'm a student, illustrator, and world traveler. My home is in America, but I'm rarely there for more than a month at a time, so feel free to ask where in the world I happen to be! Worldbuilding has been my hobby for quite a long time and I'd love to give you some tips and tricks that I've learned, or take your idea and turn it on its head to perhaps show you a new perspective. The many projects I've developed have been lifesavers for me, as they allowed me to harness my Maladaptive Daydreaming Disorder and use it as a positive tool for creativity. Aside from drawing and daydreaming, I spend a lot of time biking, hunting for cool rocks and bones, binge reading any scholarly article that catches my eye, and memorising completely useless random facts that I spout at any given moment in lieu of remembering actual important information.

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Constablewrites: My name is Brittany, and I'm a California girl living in the Midwest. I use she/her pronouns. I've always loved stories with rich and detailed worlds, whether in movies, books, games, or something else entirely. I'm the kind of writer who will spend hours researching to confirm a minor detail. Naturally, I not only write SFF, but my recent projects have all required worldbuilding on more than one axis (like multiple types of magic, or time travel on top of historical) because i am apparently something of a masochist. I'm a walking TV Tropes index and a whiz at digging up random useful knowledge, both of which come in handy as a Pylon. Other random facts: I'm a trained actress and singer, I used to work at Disneyland on the Jungle Cruise (among other attractions), and a laptop held together with duct tape is responsible for my day job in tech support. I blog about writing as @constablewrites and about random things that amuse me as @operahousebookworm.

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Delta: Hi! I’m Delta and I can be found @dreaming-in-circles or @thedeclineofapollo (writeblr), and I love sci-fi. Like, a lot lol. I work in NEPA compliance for a civil engineering firm in the USA, and have a lot of experience with infrastructure, bureaucracies, biology, and space (for unrelated reasons). I spend a lot of time haunting the astrophysics wikipedia pages, and my current all-consuming project is a novel that is angling to be about 150,000 words (at current projections). Can’t wait to hear your questions!

Ebonwing: Hi, I’m Ebonwing. I’m currently studying IT in university. I’m a writer and worldbuilder, and sometimes a worldbuilding writer or a writing worldbuilder. I gravitate towards fantasy, though I’m not going to say no to the occasional stint in scifi, and as I’m also a giant language nerd, I enjoy making conlangs for my creations. Other than that, I’m also an artist and indulge in any number of other crafting hobbies, and if I’m not doing any of those things, I can probably be found playing video games.

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Feral: Hi! I'm Feral, and you can find me @theferalcollection (if you enjoy feminism, socialism, or over-analyzed fiction) or on my writing blog theferalcollection.wordpress.com. I'm a Southern girl who likes fancy dresses, mint juleps, big hats, and using being-underestimated to my advantage. I work in the interior design industry and am currently in school for industrial design. I have previously earned degrees in comparative literature and theatre & drama. I'm a big nerd who really likes school. I've been world-building since before I knew it was a thing and writing almost as long. I’ve written mostly fantasy but the past couple projects have been science fiction. I'm ridiculously in love with the idea of being an astrophysicist but don't feel like learning calculus, so I just read about science a lot. My hobbies include martial arts, drinking too much coffee, and tabletop games.

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Lockea: Hello! I’m Lockea. You can find me all over the internet as @lockea or LockeaStone. I’m a leaf on the wind who currently enjoys the SoCal sunshine in Los Angeles where I work as an engineer and data scientist. I love street fashion (especially Lolita) and making jewelry. I have two kitties, Theodore and Cecelia, and I volunteer at the local animal shelter as a cat handler and adoption counselor. I know way too much about cat behavior, honestly, and will yap your ear off if you let me.

Worldbuilding wise, I have a deep affection for science fiction and I’ve consulted professional science fiction writers on developing technology and worlds through the explanation of science and engineering. My engineering specialization is extra-terrestrial robotics, so if it has to do with space, planetary science, or robotics -- I got you. I’m also a fan of politics and really like developing political and socio-economic systems in fantasy and sci-fi worlds.

Miri: Miri here, with my main tumblr @asylos and my writing tumblr @mirintala. I am a Canadian Pharmacy Technician by day and a small time ePublisher and gamer of many types by night. Mostly wandering around the Internet helping to organize events in the FFVII tumblr fandom (modding at @ff7central and @ffviifandomcalendar), and stumbling around within the Borderlands of Pandora. I use she/her pronouns.

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Symphony: Hey, I’m Symphony! Use whatever pronouns you feel like, any work. I’m currently living in Michigan with my fiance, and in-between jobs but I want to go to nursing school ASAP. My favorite genres in fiction are horror, sci-fi, and really anything that holds my interest. In my own worldbuilding I've always felt myself most interested in developing societies on the macro level (politics, diet, customs, stuff like that), and the more esoteric, strange parts of my world. I like to make a place feel lived in, with secrets that may never be found and people who seek them out.

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Synth: I’m @chameleonsynthesis on Tumblr, but that’s a mouthful, so just call me Synth. Any pronouns work. Born and raised in Canada, but living in Norway as of autumn 2007. Looking back, I’ve been worldbuilding since at least the age of four (in my early thirties now, so yeah), with a predominantly science-fantasy bent. I’m of the artsy creative type, with way too many projects on the go at any given time, and enjoy long walks through Wikipedia and getting caught in TV Tropes. The best thing is when I stumble across some strange factoid that can justify aspects of my many weird alien species. Stupid Synth facts: I have dual Canadian and Norwegian citizenship. My legal name contains a letter that does not exist in the English alphabet. I can curl my tongue into a cloverleaf shape, and wiggle my ears. My day job is musical instrument repair. I play French horn in a concert band, trombone in a jazz band, and don’t practice my flute or piccolo near as much as I should. Outside of band rehearsals and my job, I volunteer at the local cat shelter, work out at a gym, and attend events at my city’s newly established makerspace.

Tex: I'm Tex, and you can find me on tumblr @texasdreamer01. Most of my hobbies are centered around fandom and worldbuilding for it, though I also like cooking and reading up on fiction and non-fiction whenever I have the time. I'm currently studying biochemical engineering, with a slant in nanotechnology and its medical applications, so I need to know a bunch about the different types of sciences, as well as projecting for the development of future fields.

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Utuabzu: Hi, I’m Utuabzu, I previously was part of ScriptMyth (RIP) where I tended to take the lead on Mesopotamia and Egypt related asks. I’m most of the way through a Bachelor of Linguistics, e parlo italiano und ein bisschen Deutsch. I have a deep and enduring interest in the history of the ancient world, particularly the ancient Near East, and I’m also a bit of a nerd for politics, which is helpful when it comes to worldbuilding. My random 2am research binges have resulted in my knowing a lot of odd things. I enjoy travelling and experiencing other cultures, however as I am Australian this unfortunately requires flying, which I hate a great deal. I expect to one day be crushed beneath a pile of my books. It is a demise I am ok with.

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Wootzel: Hi, I’m Wootzel, or @wootzel-dragon! I use she/her pronouns. I’m a recent college grad trying to figure life out. My favorite thing about worldbuilding is making things as realistic or pseudo-realistic as possible, and finding a justification for everything. Sometimes, this is also my least favorite thing about myself, because it can make things very hard! But, it can also be really rewarding when I get things to work out in a way that I enjoy.

My other hobbies include reading lots of fanfic while neglecting physical books, starting ambitious sewing projects on a whim, and wondering where all my time goes on a daily basis. I have changed major a few times, and I am still unsure about what I want to do with my life, except that it’ll always have writing in it somewhere.

#pylon bios

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nvzblgrrl · 4 years

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Part 1 Heyo man, I'm absolutely ecstatic that you have this whole One Piece Big Fic project in the works. I'm honestly p paranoid about interacting with words, but your works have been something I've continuously enjoyed going back to and rereading over all these years. And while you've grown and your earlier stuff feels cringe, there's a charm that Witt and Witticism and all of your earlier works have that is longlasting. And I, and apparently others, can't help but love.

Part 2 I've probably reread your fics a good thousand times by now. Like seriously I've got a good bunch of the fics you posted on AO3 saved as PDFs for my own personal reading when I feel the urge. Namely Luck of The Draw, Ultimate Symbiote, and a portion of your Chain Adventures. I've been here quietly reading for a long time and I'm gonna make sure to properly give feedback this time. Good luck in your absolutely bonkers endeavor!

Yeah, absolute mood on the ‘cringe’ part. I think the only excuse I can make for the really early stuff is that -

(this is gonna get loooong and reference child abuse + the 2000′s-2010′s meme culture, so pre-emptive apologies)

1. I had a really messed up upbringing. Not as bad as some people’s situations but still on the deeper end of bad by the ‘White American’ standard and still (albeit barely) within the bounds of Funny Sitcom Abuse Antics (at least for mid-2000′s and older stuff) most of the time. Most of it was neglect and social isolation - I pretty much left the property to go to school, church, and to visit relatives because of court-mandated visitation, the last of which probably kept me from going insane, and that was it aside from events where my dad needed an accessory to compliment his public mask - but there were some other shit mixed in that relied on the Trunchbull Rule (it has to sound too weird to be real so nobody believes it/takes it seriously) to happen.

So besides like, the PTSD from that (which has a habit of bleeding into all of my works, which you’ve probably noticed by now, lmao), I had like, zero experience on healthy relationships, social skills (well outside of a few variations on ‘messed up friendships’ and what I picked up from books, movies, and TV), and basic life skills outside of stuff like ‘boil water and follow the box directions’).

2. I got into the internet really late compared to my generation and everyone after. This was mostly because we had literally no semi-reliable internet access until I was about 11-13 and that was either the school internet or the dial-up at home (which of course was time-limited with the time shared with my brother and done on the family computer with observation in effect). Most of that was spent on like flash games or webcomics, many of which I have tried to reread only to find them gouging my soul because god what the hell was happening in 2007 - wait. Yeah.

It got better by the time we hit high school because by then we had our own computers (not scanners though, I had to pass art and passwords over to a friend of mine to get them on the internet for a couple years before we got one at home), a better internet connection, and high levels of parental disengagement as we proved to be disappointments despite our previous ‘potential’ (my dad was hoping for me to become a life-long cash cow for him, IDK what was going on with my brother and his mom), which meant I could spend more time on the internet... which at the time, meant DeviantArt and FF.net (tumblr came way, waaay at the end of my time in high school).

Yes, that’s where I started out. That should explain a good 90% of why the early stuff was Like That.

Also don’t look for my DeviantArt because I deleted the whole thing years ago, for cringe reasons - namely, a really, really stupid minor war over something I can’t even remember but it ran a lot like those old ‘Potterheads Get Your Wands’ posts, though the fact that 80% of my output towards the end were extremely banal and/or fucking insane One Piece (and occasionally Soul Eater) Demotivator Posters didn’t help.

Pictured: proof of my crimes against humanity (with some minor repeats - every single one of those demovitators are something I did and that’s not even all of them) despite my attempts to destroy the evidence, because the internet (and pinterest) never forget and often reposts without permission.

[Image description: a series of drawn images of a man. the first panel is of him looking at a computer with the subtitle ‘recognition’, the second is a close-up of him with sweat and a look of surprise on his face along with two exclamation points subtitled ‘realization’, the third and final image is an extreme close up of his intensely stressed expression subtitled ‘fear’.]

[Image description, but funny: me accidentally coming across one of those reposts a couple years ago.]

I personally can’t forget because I know my style at the time (it had a few variations, but all of them have been seared into my soul) and how inane/insane some of them read. My favorite was one that ended up turning into a word vomit about how cool Gol D. Roger was that ran so far that it didn’t fit inside the format anymore and ended up running off of the page repeatedly.

...and yes, I did make one edit that was ‘Dead or Alive? is that a trick question?’ for Brook. That one’s still circulating too.

3. While that covers a certain amount of the problems with the early work, Witt and Witticism stands out as a pinnacle because I was both using a reaction heavy style (I was pretty much doing a live-blog of my One Piece anime rewatch in fanfic form, using Witt as a mouth piece - a similar style was used with Ultimate Symbiote but fortified with a few original stories and actual non-canon stuff happening!) and going through the tail end an extreme manic period brought on by escaping (read: getting kicked out of because they were no longer socially or legally obligated to care for me anymore) my abusive childhood home + having money (from my dead mom’s social security).

Seriously, that year was bonkers. I got to go to Disneyworld, got a new cat, published an insane fic, and blew through so much money on some dumb fucking shit when my dad wasn’t stealing it because I didn’t realize he had access to my then-bank account.

Also I’m pretty sure that you can detect when my sanity/depression started reasserting itself in the last few chapters of Witt because he starts experiencing consequences, though I’m not saying you should reread it to try to locate that moment because I’m having to re-read it repeatedly for reference purposes and I don’t think anyone should have to suffer this unless they’re into that (which admittedly, might be the result of that ‘charm’ you mentioned, because I can’t otherwise account for how that fic got over a quarter of a million hits otherwise).

Not to say that all of my early stuff was bad (some of it was actually shockingly good once I found it again, even though it was flawed) but the most easily accessible stuff is... not great!

And thanks for the well-wishes. I’m gonna need that luck if I want to get through it. I look forward to the feedback!

#asks #the big fat one piece fic project #Anonymous

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apple-grass-and-smiles · 4 years

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Okay, guys. So, I've been tagged in a bunch of stuff and I’ve decided to kill three birds (I think I’m only three tags behind...) with one stone and just do them all here. If you want to know more about me, then click the read more and enjoy more information than you ever probably wanted to know about me.

Describe My Blog Tag

Icon: Peggy Carter against a teal background looking amazing

Content: Literally whatever comes to mind. Right now it’s Star Wars with a sprinkling of Gotham and other things. Quite a few random funny posts that I throw under the ‘other’ tag.

Letter color: White with a dark aquamarine for links

URL: apple-grass-and-smiles; a reference to Doctor Who 2x02 where the Doctor mentions apple grass. It was the first episode I watched because watching things in order is not something I do and I fell in love with Rose and the Doctor at that exact moment. When I joined Tumblr it was to scream about Doctor Who and I’ve just never changed my URL.

Header: A white imagine with “I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you” from Taylor Swift’s “Long Live”.

Blog title: When in Doubt Fangirl; my FFN username is whenindoubtsmile, so that’s what it’s based on

Quarantine Tips/Discoveries Tag

What are you listening to?

Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa, various covers of songs, 5 Second’s of Summer’s CALM, and SO much Halsey.

What are you reading?

The Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, Caraval by Stephanie Garber, Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis, and Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare.

What have you been watching?

Fringe and various police shows with my family. Clone Wars or Buzzfeed Unsolved (True Crime, not really Supernatural) when it’s just me. My family also made our group definitive ranking of all the Star Wars films (math was involved and my brother and I got WAY too into it) and we’re starting with the worst ones and moving our way up.

Food you’ve been craving?

Sweets, good Mexican food, cookies from a place called Crumbl, and a burger.

Other activities you’ve been doing?

Napping, working from home and doing school, doing those coloring page games on my phone.

Any quarantine tips?

It’s okay to find yourself doing a lot of mindless activities. You don’t have to be “on” 24/7. Now is the time to truly delve into memes to the point where only your siblings understand what you’re saying, leaving your parents completely lost as you and your brother argue for all of dinner about if “freesh avacado” is funny or not.

Quarantine Survey Tag

Where are you isolated right now?

At home with my family!

What are you currently reading/watching right now?

See above.

If you can go outside, what do you like to do during this time?

Drive to Chicago and go to Nando’s and then Ghirardelli.

Any fascinating concept you’re studying?

I’m taking a class on addiction starting next week and just finished up writing my third school paper on the connection between childhood neglect and future violent crime.

What kind of acts of creativity/forms of art are you currently doing?

I’ve written way more than I have been recently, which is fun. Doing some actual coloring, not on my phone. We’re nearing the point where I’ll probably start playing piano (that’s when you know I’ve been home too long).

A song that resonates with your state of mind at the moment?

Halsey’s “3AM” is pretty much always a mood for me.

Favorite impulsive/’bad’ coping techniques

Eating things and rewatching enormous amounts of TV.

Favorite healthy/’good’ coping techniques?

Playing with my dogs and making sure I get some meaningful conversations in with at least one person not in my home a day.

[+ bonus] What kinds of things have you bought during quarantine?

More magnetic bookmarks and the sequel to Beth Revis’ Give the Dark My Love.

Firstly, I am so sorry for how freaking long that was. Secondly, I’m tagging the same people I always tag because my friend group is awesome. Some of you may have already been tagged for these particular things and done them and if that is the case, I’m sorry and I love you. I’m tagging: @the-wingway, @marthaskane, @claraaoswald, @ironwingblog, @gothamstreetcat, and @brvceselina.

#em does stuff (shocker)#what's not shocking is that I tried to do it all at once #instead of pacing it out like I should have #silence emily

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