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happy74827 · 6 months

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Chaos Theory

[Mike Schmidt x Female!Reader]

Synopsis: When Mike's crazy schedule finally aligns with one of the so-called "parental meetings" at Abby's school, he decides to see what it's all about. Little did he know he'd come to seriously regret that.

WC: 2,590

Category: Slight Fluff

I failed an exam today, so I wrote this to cheer myself up. I still feel pretty crappy, but this was really fun to write lol.

Also if you see any grammar mistakes, no you didn’t.

『••✎••』

When it came to Abby’s school, Mike was at a disadvantage. He couldn’t go to any of the parental meetings, not because he didn’t want to, but because he was constantly doing something work-related during the time those meetings were scheduled.

It didn’t mean he wasn’t keeping an eye on her grades and school attendance. It just meant he couldn't be there for the day-to-day things. Abby was a good kid, though; she never gave him trouble about the things he missed, and she did a pretty good job of keeping her grades up and attending all her classes.

Her teacher, you, was also very understanding of his schedule and position. He wasn’t sure how many teachers would have been as patient with him as you were. It was part of the reason he had grown fond of you, though it had been a gradual process that happened mostly unbeknownst to him.

At the beginning of the year, he had only been concerned about getting Abby acclimated to her new school. She was a quiet kid, stuck to her drawings, and it was even hard for him to get her to open up sometimes. Runs in the family, apparently. But, somehow, you were able to break down the wall that had been erected around her. Abby still didn't talk all that much, but she would always come back from school with a smile on her face. So, Mike was happy.

Then, like all good things, it came crashing down like a house of cards when his work schedule finally aligned with one of the “upcoming” meetings. This one was apparently a very big deal, and it was strongly implied to show up.

He hated these things despite never going to any before, but he just knew it would be filled with nosey people asking questions about his life. His sister. His “wife.”

God, he was already annoyed. The only saving grace was that it was the last meeting before the holiday break, so once it was over, he would be free for a while. Free to do what, exactly? Work, most likely, but a guy can dream.

The bell rang, signifying the end of the school day and the start of his personal nightmare. The door to the classroom was opened by one of the school's assistants, who held a clipboard in hand and waited for the “parents” to enter the room. He had arrived earlier than the scheduled time so he could speak to the assistant and find out what the meeting would entail, and already he knew it was a bad idea coming in here.

The woman was a nosy old biddy that was all too eager to learn the details of his and Abby's life.

He kept his answers short and clipped, but it did nothing to dissuade the woman. It got worse when he entered the classroom and saw the number of other parents who had shown up. He felt like an animal in a zoo; all the eyes followed his movements as he went to sit closest to the wall and away from the rest of the people.

The surrounding parents looked as though they lived in the next town over. They were clean-cut, hair styled perfectly, and clothes ironed. It was like they were trying to be a picture-perfect family.

He looked down at his own attire. His work boots were scuffed and dusty. His pants had a few grass stains from a recent job. His flannel shirt was buttoned wrong, and the sleeves were pushed up. Even his hair was a mess; he had tried to style it but didn't have much success, so he eventually gave up. The only thing going for him was that he had taken a shower before he left, so at least he didn't smell like sweat and grime.

As the meeting began, Mike had to try his best not to fall asleep. It was the typical teacher stuff. How the kids were doing. What the curriculum was for the following year. What their goals were. Blah, blah, blah.

Mike didn't care. He trusted you, and he knew his little sister was smart. She didn't need someone holding her hand and telling her what she was doing right or wrong. He knew this because he did that, and she didn't need it.

What did interest him, though, was the fact you kept looking his way. You didn't look at the others, and when you spoke, it was usually aimed toward them, but he saw the way you would look at him from the corner of your eye. He figured you were probably in shock that he actually showed up this time.

The meeting dragged on, and he was ready to leave. There were a few moments he had caught himself nodding off as he needed sleep, and this wasn't helping him. But then, like everything else in his life, the universe decided it was his time to suffer.

There was one woman who had sat at the front of the classroom. She wore her hair pulled back tight in a bun, her shirt was pressed, and her face was set in a permanent frown. He hated that lady; she reminded him of his good-for-nothing aunt who only wanted to criticize every choice he made.

The lady was also the mother of the most spoiled, brattiest child in the whole class. That damned kid had made it her life mission to torment Abby. He had come home more than once with her complaining about it, and when Mike had brought it up with you, you had told him that you had spoken with the parent.

That, of course, had done nothing. The child was an annoying pest, and he hated the way she treated Abby, but his sister had learned early on to deal with the bullying on her own. It didn't stop him from wanting to throttle the little shit, though.

The woman, the one who had started all his problems, took the opportunity to start a round of questioning. The first few were innocuous until they weren't.

"You seem to be a very patient woman." The woman had spoken to you, but her eyes were locked on him. "Is it a skill that was learned?"

The question itself was innocent enough, but the inflection and tone she used were meant to cut. He wasn't stupid. He knew she was alluding to something. It was always something, but he had to force himself not to say anything; the woman was a viper, and if he said something, she would attack without hesitation.

"I think anyone can be patient," You had responded diplomatically. "It's just a matter of the situation."

The woman didn't look happy with your answer, but she didn't pursue the line of questioning.

"Well, I couldn’t help but notice a certain someone who decided to finally drop in."

There it was. That was the opening.

Mike could tell you didn’t like the turn of conversation, and you were clearly trying to divert it elsewhere. It was no use, though. Mike could see the glint in the woman's eye as she prepared for the kill. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were cold. "I was starting to think that Mr. Schmidt had abandoned his responsibilities. Wouldn’t be the first time someone in that family did such a thing."

He couldn’t help but have visions of his accidental mall incident from last year flash in his mind when he processed what the woman had said. He could easily hop over the desk and deck her right in the mouth. He had the muscle for it, and it was very tempting.

However, he would not.

If there was anything Mike had learned over the years, it was how to control his emotions, even if the situation was dire. The last time he had lost his cool, he ended up getting fired, but that was a long time ago… okay, not really, but the point was, he wouldn't make the same mistake again.

He wouldn't give the woman the satisfaction.

Mike leaned forward in his chair, arms crossed over his knees, and looked the woman straight in the eyes. "That's funny. I could say the same thing about your kid."

"Excuse me?!" She hissed, and she seemed offended. Good. He hoped she was offended.

"Okay, okay." You intervened, hands up as if to placate the two of them. "Let's keep this civil, okay? The last thing we want is to be kicked out of the school for brawling. That's not beneficial for any of us." You then looked back at the woman. "Let's not bring personal matters into this."

"Personal matters?" The woman was appalled at your statement, and her voice was so loud in the quiet room. He could tell many of the other parents were looking at them now, and he felt the weight of their gazes on him. It only made his anger spike. "That monkey of his tried to bully mine for three months now, and she's never done anything."

Monkey? Monkey?! Oh, he was going to kill her. It was one thing to talk shit about him; he was used to that, but Abby? No. Absolutely not. His little sister was the best damn thing to come into his life. He wouldn't have it.

But before he could say something, before he could even get out of the chair, you had done something he would never have thought you would. You got up and went to your desk, then you returned, holding a paper. You held it up for all the parents to see.

"This is a drawing my students did a few weeks ago," you started, and he was surprised at the level of calmness you were exuding. "The assignment was for them to draw the thing they loved the most."

Hearing those words, Mike had a feeling what was coming next, but he wasn't going to say anything. It would be like tempting fate. Still, he watched as you grabbed one of the papers, and then you turned it around so he could see it. Abby had done the drawing, and it was not only of him but of everyone else in her class as well. She had even drawn you standing near her with a kind smile. It was the picture she had brought home from that field trip months ago. It was a nice picture. Really nice. He liked it, and he knew Abby was proud of it.

"I made copies of every drawing so the parents could see them," You continued as you held out the picture for everyone to see. "So, tell me, would a bully do this?"

Your voice had a bite to it now, and he could finally see just how angry you were. He was surprised at how much control you were exerting. The other parents, however, were shocked at your sudden display of emotion. Even the woman, who had looked as though she was ready to take you on herself, looked like a deer caught in headlights. She didn't know what to say. No one said anything. Even he was shocked by your sudden outburst.

You were normally such a mellow person. Understanding, even. Always ready to listen, always ready to understand. You were the one who was there to help when something went wrong. You were the person who everyone turned to. You were… nice. You were a kind person. You were—you were just like Abby. That's all he saw in you now. You were just like his sister. You were just like her. You had that same determination and that same look of knowing something that others didn't, but there was also something else. You were a fighter, too. It was just something he hadn't noticed until this very moment.

You weren't the nice teacher everyone thought you were. No, you were more. You were the person he knew his sister was becoming.

"And to answer your question from before," you continued, ignoring the growing outrage from the other parent. "I'm a very patient woman because I understand that not everyone has the same opportunities. Some of us have a responsibility to provide the basic necessities for our family, which can often lead to not being able to attend these types of meetings.”

You looked directly at the woman when you spoke the last part, and you did not look happy. At all. In fact, he was pretty sure that was a little vein on the side of your head.

"Not everyone can be at their best every moment. Not everyone is at their best all the time. Not everyone has the privilege to complain about things not going their way. So, while I am a very patient woman, I will not have any of this derogatory about my students and their guardians." The calmness in your voice was gone, and your voice was rising, and you had started pacing back and forth behind your desk as you spoke. "Because if there is one thing that I cannot stand, it's someone who criticizes others just to make themselves feel better."

You went on to speak about your experience with the woman's daughter, explaining that a meeting needed to be called upon to address the issues with the child. You didn't stop there, though. No, you also spoke about how she should have addressed the situation when it was first brought up and how that, in turn, impacted the rest of your class. You had even pointed out some of the other parent's children who had done the same thing.

Suddenly, this meeting wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

It took a while, but once you finished your little speech, everyone had finally gotten over their shock and embarrassment. The meeting, as such, continued without incident, and by the time it was all said and done, Mike was ready to go home.

As he stood from his seat and made his way to the door, however, you stopped him. You had your bag in your hand and your coat on as well.

"I just wanted to—"

"You don't need to apologize," Mike cut you off. He didn't want an apology. He knew you weren't at fault here. In fact, he was surprised you took the time even to defend him. That didn't happen often. "I was expecting something like that to happen, but I appreciate you speaking up for Abby. She's got a good teacher."

He thought you would be embarrassed or even annoyed, but instead, your face lit up, and your cheeks turned red. "Oh, uh, well, it's my job. It was what I needed to do."

"Maybe, but you did it anyway. So, I appreciate it." He looked around the room and noticed everyone else had left. Even the nosy assistant had disappeared. He didn't know what to say, so he settled with saying the first thing that came to mind. "And hey, maybe next time you can tell them this is why I don't go to these meetings."

Your laugh was light, and you had a smile on your face. He liked the sound of it. He liked seeing it, too. He also liked the way it lit up your eyes. They had a beautiful color. So bright, so shiny. It was almost hypnotic.

"I'll consider it."

Mike wasn't sure how, but somehow, he knew you were telling the truth.

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jazzfordshire · 8 months

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PRACTICAL MAGIC AU?!?!?

ABSOLUTELY, I have had this one in the dome for AGES but only now do I have the brain space for it. I only have one scene fully hammered out and it’s probably going to end up being a multichapter, but here’s a sneak peek:

"Why would I ever fall in love? I've never seen it do anything but make people miserable," Lena says. "It killed my mother. It's the reason my stepmother hates me."

"None of that was caused by love," Sam argues. “Your mother got sick, and your stepmother hates you because she hates herself and needs to take it out on someone.” She fusses with Lena's hair, starting to make an idle braid in it while Lena scoffs.

"I beg to differ."

"I don't think you'll be able to stop yourself when it happens," Sam says. She finishes the messy braid, combing her fingers through it until it's untangled again. "You're only 11. What happens when you grow up?"

"And you’re only 13. I have magic," Lena shrugs.

"I don't think even magic can do that. You can't just hit an off-switch."

Lena's eyes narrow. She twists around to look at Sam, the cogs in her mind already turning.

"Actually, I think I can."

It's true that no spell exists to take feelings away. Once it's taken root, her mother's book says, love is a stubborn weed. It grows in all the cracks of the heart until it's taken over every inch of fertile ground. But what do exist are spells to give love shape – to mould it, direct it, make it brighter. To call for it to find you. Such spells are complicated, but Lena has always had a natural aptitude.

"So to keep yourself from falling in love, you're…casting a spell to…find love?" Sam says, her face twisted up in confusion as Lena wanders the garden gathering the herbs she needs. It's dark outside, and they're darting between shadows – the garden is here for the kitchen staff to pick fresh ingredients from, and the last time Lillian found her snipping rosemary she was confined to her room for two months.

"I'm calling for a true love," Lena clarifies. "Amas Veritas. I'm binding myself to a person that doesn't exist."

"How do you know they don't exist?"

"They can't. No person can fit all my criteria. And if they don't exist, I can never fall in love with them," Lena says, sifting through her pencil box full of herbs and flora. "I think that's everything I need. Come on."

It's too late for Lillian to be awake, but they tiptoe through the halls anyways until they reach Lena's room. The spell needs open air to work properly, so Lena sets up a circle of lit candles on the balcony, sitting on one side of it while Sam sits on the other playing with one of the lit wicks.

"So who is this impossible love you're calling for?" Sam says, hissing when she doesn't move her finger fast enough to keep from getting singed. "What’s Lena Luthor's soulmate like?"

Lena takes a deep breath, trying to summon the peace and concentration needed for such a complex spell.

"They need to be kind," Lena starts, setting one ingredient after another in the circle. They rustle in the breeze, but don't blow away. Oregano, chamomile, violet. "Marvelously kind. Loyal. And they need to hear my call from a mile away."

"A mile?" Sam says, leaving the candle alone to watch Lena work the spell. Lena has done magic in front of her before, but never anything involving this kind of ritual. "That's pretty demanding,"

"They'll whistle my favourite song," Lena says. A snipping of chamomile. Comfort.

"Which is?"

Lena doesn't answer.

"They're strong. Strong enough to lift…" Lena trails off, thinking. A car? A house? Lena doesn't care necessarily about measurements like that so much as what that strength could do. She wants someone strong enough to keep Lillian away. Strong enough to take her away from here.

"Strong enough to keep me safe," Lena finally decides, adding a clipping of lovage. "They know ten languages. They can hold their breath for 10 minutes. And they can make pancakes in funny shapes. Flip them in the air."

"Okay, that's at least reasonable," Sam says, munching on a few leaves of mint that Lena isn't using.

"They love my favourite pizza toppings."

"And that's asking too much," Sam finishes, tossing the stem over the balcony. "Olives and mushrooms? It's like you're not even a kid."

"They wear glasses," Lena decides in the moment, "but not because they need them to see. And they have blue eyes. The brightest blue eyes in the world."

"I'm more of a brown eyes person," Sam muses. Rather than distracting her, Lena finds that Sam's presence is actually helping her concentrate – keeping her mind happy, rather than dwelling on the anxiety that the idea of such a love brings her.

"And they need a great family," Lena says, her voice cracking a little as she lines up the last few herbs. "A mother who loves them." No, she thinks selfishly as she snaps off an extra piece of lilac – two mothers. Enough to love both of them. "They need to be indestructible. So strong that even a curse can’t take them away."

And finally, the one request that Lena knows will clinch it. She gathers a handful of rose petals, cupping them in her palm.

"Anything else?" Sam drawls.

"Yes," Lena says quietly. She looks up at the sky, the great big empty expanse she's dreamed about escaping to ever since the doors of the Luthor manor first closed behind her. Freedom. "They can touch the stars."

The magic starts to gather as soon as the last requirement is spoken. It swirls around her, lifting the spell's ingredients and floating them around her in a gentle spiral, making the candle flame flicker, before floating skyward. And to her alarm, as she sends the spell into the heavens, Lena feels a slight tug. Like a string tied to her ribcage has been pulled towards the sky, urging her somewhere else.

But it passes quickly. The string dissipates, her call to the sky fading, and Lena knows the spell didn’t work. Couldn’t have.

Perfect people don’t exist.

#practical magic au #I’m hoping posting some of it will KICK MY ASS INTO GEAR

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claymorexpunisher · 4 months

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Mercury (18+ AEW Oneshot)

Disclaimer: This is NSFW. If that's not your thing, keep scrolling. I try to tag my work appropriately, so if you choose to click on my work regardless, use your own discretion. Thank you for the love always and enjoy this cheesy porno! 🥂

Pairing(s): MJF/Fem. Reader

Summary: MJF and Reader hate each other. Naturally, smut ensues...

Tag(s): 18+, hatefucking, PIV, hairpulling, marking, dubious consent.

Word Count: 540

This was requested by @smallestsnarkestgirl I'm sorry this is so short. But I really hope you like it! :)

Mercury was clearly in retrograde.

That's the only reason I could think of as to why I had called Maxwell, invited him to my home and I found myself underneath him, writhing and moaning as he groped my body with erratic touches.

I hissed, making him smirk as he pinched my nipples before he resumed kneading my breasts, leaning down to take one into his mouth and then the other, biting down on the sensitive buds and sending electric currents all the way down to my toes.

Barely any coherent words were exchanged, except for a gruff 'Don't. Move." from Max as my body continued to writhe and my nails dug into his wrists, not knowing if I wanted him on or off me.

Our dynamic was... intense, to say the least.

When I first came to AEW, we felt an indifference, at the most, toward one another.

But the more we interacted, the more our mutual indifference grew into an obnoxious mixture between unfiltered lust and blinding hatred.

Just his presence alone began to grate on every fiber of my being, fueled by the fact that, yeah, Max was definitely an attractive guy.

But I didn't want to find Max attractive.

And he swore he didn't find me attractive.

But I wasn't stupid.

So, every chance I got I poked and teased Max, only to pull away at the last second, as soon as I knew that I had him where I wanted him.

Tonight, though, it was definitely the other way around.

He had me where he wanted me, but I wasn't going down without a fight.

I let out a growl, biting into his shoulder as I felt his hard cock enter my slick pussy.

I got some satisfaction as I heard him hiss in both pain and pleasure in response, but that satisfaction was quickly extinguished by his next words.

"That was easy... you sure you're not liking this, sweetheart?" Max breathed into my ear, his voice filling the walls of my bedroom after what feels like hours of just animalistic sounds.

I could hear the smirk in his voice and instead of answering him verbally, I retaliated by tightening up my pussy in a vicelike grip around his cock, chuckling as a drawn-out groan flew out of his mouth.

"Are you?" I finally shot back, hissing and biting at his bottom lip as he gripped a fistful of my hair and pulling my head back until my neck was accessible to him.

I let out a loud moan without meaning to and my body trembled as he bit and sucked on my neck like a hungry vampire.

For a moment, my body went pliant.

All of my senses seemed to short circuit until I remembered myself and began thrashing again, chest heaving as I scratched at his chest despite the way I moaned as his deep and thorough thrusting continued.

"Shut up." Max said in a clipped tone, muffling my angry growls and moans with his palm.

"That's better." He smirked as he watched my eyes involuntarily roll into the back of my head as his cock nudged a particularly sensitive spot inside of me and my brain short-circuited once more.

Fucking Mercury... that bitch.

#mjf #maxwell jacob friedman #mjf x reader #mjf female reader #maxwell jacob friedman x reader #mjf fanfic #mjf smut #mjf fan fiction #aew fan fiction #aew smut #wrestling smut #fan fiction #writing #my writing #gigi's fics

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sunsetkerr · 7 months

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10 THINGS Y/N L/N CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT | s.kerr

summary: british gq releases a video of you and the ten things you can't live without. [1k words]

pairing: singer!reader x sam kerr

notes: another singer!reader!!!!!

[STUDIO; BLUE BACKGROUND, Y/N SITTING AT A WHITE TABLE. TEN ITEMS SAT IN FRONT OF HER]

Y/N L/N: Hi GQ, I'm Y/N L/N and these are ten things that I can't live without.

[SHOTS OF VARIOUS ITEMS FLASH ONTO THE SCREEN; A LIP BALM, A PHONE, A VAN CLEEF CLOVER BRACELET, A VOCAL CORD STEAMER]

[CLIP OF AN IPHONE 13]

'1) PHONE'

Y/N L/N: So this is my phone, I don't go anywhere without it. I figured we could get the boring stuff out of the way first (LAUGHS). I know everyone comes and watches these and watches people pull their phones out and collectively groans. (WHISPERS) I'm sorry.

[Y/N CLICKS ON THE HOME SCREEN. A PICTURE OF SAM ON THE BEACH POPS UP WITH THE TIME OVERLAPPING IT]

Y/N L/N: Nothing special really until you see the home screen. It's a picture of Sam from the very first time we went to Fremantle together to meet her family. I had never been to Fremantle before, so it was very cool and I met all of her family, it was one of my favourite trips we had ever been on together. Very special.

[CLIP OF A MACBOOK AIR, THERE IS A NUMBER 20 STICKER SITTING IN THE BOTTOM CORNER]

'2) LAPTOP'

Y/N L/N: I don't ever go anywhere without my laptop. I like having it on me, I'm not sure why. I don't go on holidays without it, or stay at a friends place without it. I never know when I'll need it. She always comes in handy, and because it's a MacBook I can text and FaceTime on it if my phone dies.

[CLIP OF A VAN CLEEF BRACELET SAT ON Y/N'S WRIST]

'3) BRACELET'

Y/N L/N: Okay, so this bracelet is very special to me. Sam gave it to me on our first anniversary. It's a Van Cleef Alhambra bracelet and we both have one which I think is sweet. So if I'm not with Sam, I like to have it on so I can think of her... (PAUSES) That was a little lame, wasn't it?

[CLIP OF A GOLDEN RING, A CLOVER SHAPE]

'4) RING'

Y/N L/N: I feel like I'm just talking about Sam, and maybe I am, but I don't care. Anyway, this is my ring that Sam also got for me, it's also from Van Cleef.

[CLOSE UP OF THE RING; GOLD DETAILING IN THEN CENTRE OF THE CLOVER]

Y/N L/N: It matches my bracelet which is nice. I try to wear it on every red carpet or event that I go to, because usually I'm wearing clothes and jewellery that don't belong to me, so having this makes me feel like I've got a little piece of me on the night.

[CLIP OF A GREEN VOCAL STEAMER]

'5) STEAM INHALER'

Y/N L/N: Okay, so this is my steamer and I don't ever go anywhere without it if I'm working. This thing keeps me sane and sounding somewhat decent if I'm not feeling well. Lots of my friends in theatre had these growing up and I was always so jealous and wanted one, so I finally bought myself one online and I will never go back. After a show, I will shower and go back to the bus or the hotel and just sit with this for an hour.

[CLIP OF A PINK 'GO-TO' LIP BALM]

'6) LIPS!'

Y/N L/N: Caitlin Foord got me onto this skincare brand back home in Australia called 'go-to' and I am literally never ever going to put anything else on my face ever again.

[Y/N KISSES THE SIDE OF THE LIP BALM]

Y/N L/N: This is their 'lips!' lip balm and I take it everywhere with me. I hate having dry lips, or when I'm trying to sing and they crack at the sides. That *BEEP* kills me. (Y/N GASPS AND LOOKS INTO THE CAMERA WITH WIDE EYES) I am so so sorry.

[CLIP OF A WORN NOTEBOOK WITH SOME STICKERS ON THE FRONT THAT ARE BEGINNING TO CREASE]

'7) NOTEBOOK'

Y/N L/N: If you didn't know, I write songs..

[CAMERA ANGLE CUTS TO B-ROLL CAMERA, Y/N LOOKING DOWN THE LENSE]

Y/N L/N: (WHISPERS) Good ones

[CUTS BACK TO MAIN CAMERA]

Y/N L/N: And this is where I write them if I don't, for some reason, have my laptop with me. I don't love writing them down because I change my lyrics so much over time and I waste so much paper and room writing in an actual book, but I live with it.

[CLIP OF A GREEN AND YELLOW BEADED BRACELET WITH THE WORDS 'KERR 20' THREADED INTO IT]

'8) FRIENDSHIP BRACELET'

Y/N L/N: I go to lots of football games. I try to go to most of Sam's games if I can and I always wear this.

[Y/N TURNS THE BRACELET AROUND TO SHOW THE NAME ON THE BRACELET, THERE IS A SMALL WHITE BEAD WITH A RED HEART IN THE MIDDLE SEPARATING KERR AND 20]

Y/N L/N: Taylor Swift's Eras Tour has started a very big thing for friendship bracelets, which I'm loving. So when Sam was playing in the World Cup, a girl tapped me on the shoulder and gave me this which was really sweet. I didn't have a bracelet to trade with her, but I have made one and I'm taking it with me to the Olympic Qualifiers in October in hopes that I'll see her again and I can give it back to her. So if you see this, I have a bracelet for you!

[CLIP OF A MICROPHONE, A PALE BLUE BODY AND WITH A MATCHING RING AROUND THE TOP]

'9) MICROPHONE'

Y/N L/N: This is my mic, I have played every show for the last three years with this exact mic. I don't like not playing without it now, it's become almost a superstition. (CHUCKLES)

[PICTURE OF Y/N AND TAYLOR SWIFT SINGING TOGETHER ON STAGE POPS UP, Y/N IS USING HER BLUE MICROPHONE]

Y/N L/N: Sam took this picture of me and Taylor during sound check (Y/N HOLDS UP A PRINT OUT OF THE PICTURE). I love this picture a lot, we didn't have any fancy outfits or choreography, it was just us having fun before a show. Very special.

[BACKGROUND MUSIC STOPS; CLIP OF SAM WALKING ONTO SET AND SITTING ON Y/N'S LAP]

'10) GIRLFRIEND'

Y/N L/N: Self-explanatory

SAM KERR: I'm honoured (SAM LOOKS DOWN AT Y/N AND KISSES HER CHEEK A FEW TIMES)

Y/N L/N: (LAUGHS)

[BLACK SCREEN; GQ LOGO]

#one shots . * • .#sam kerr x reader #sam kerr imagine #sam kerr one shot #woso imagine #woso one shot #woso x reader

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genericpuff · 1 year

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Lore Olympus Art Analysis - Getting to the Bottom of It

For ages now it's been a common point of discussion - what's the process involved in Rachel's creation of Lore Olympus?

As a community, we've all discussed and speculated Rachel's process among herself and her assistants and how it seems to result in cheaper art each week. Same face syndrome, the overuse of the multiply tool, the dull backgrounds that often enter nightmare fuel territory, the lack of color vibrancy compared to Season 1, the repetitive poses and shots, the theories that different assistants are handling different aspects of individual panels, the clear lack of buffer, the list goes on and on.

But I think we've finally gotten to the bottom of what's going on. Or at least, deeper than we've gotten before and it feels like now we're closer to fully understanding Rachel's process than ever before.

Normally, I wouldn't care this much about dissecting the steps of creating a comic. Everyone's process is different, and when you're working with a team, that can introduce a whole new layer of understanding. I've worked with my own assistants in the past, trained to work in the animation industry which relies on coordination between people, and fully understand what's required to go into making a finalized piece of work put together by multiple people. All that's to say, having assistants doesn't necessarily mean you do less work.

When it comes to LO, though, I do feel this compulsion to tear into it more because Rachel seems to completely lack this understanding, and it shows in her work.

Before I continue, I want to throw in a quick disclaimer - when we criticize Rachel's art, it's not to throw any of her assistants under the bus. All of her assistants are incredibly skilled in their own right. When I criticize Rachel's art as a whole - regardless of who helped shape it into its final form - I'm criticizing not just the art itself, but her direction. Rachel is, essentially, a director of a team, and how she manages that team reflects how her work looks in the end after it's all been put together. I will be showing pieces of art from her assistants in this essay, none of this is to promote any shame or hate towards these people. This is purely an essay speculating on Rachel's directing capability and how she manages her team and is not meant to be taken as objective fact beyond what I am capable of proving as an outsider looking in. I consider her assistants people who are just being hired to do a job, I do not condone holding them responsible for the nosedive Lore Olympus has taken in quality over the past few years. These are simply points and speculations that myself and the ULO community came to after discussing it at length.

Alright, so, where to begin?

This essay started with me having a simple conversation with @loreolympusminoredits over on Instagram. They had pointed out a couple panels from a recent free episode where you could see the texturing wasn't being applied properly. You have to look really closely, but once you spot it, you can clearly see the outline of a square where the texturing block wasn't repeated.

It's VERY obvious in this last panel of Hades, look along the back of his shirt, you can clearly see the color warping from the texture block overlaid on top of him.

Now, I have a few theories for this on its own, it really depends on what drawing program these assistants are using. Some of them use Clip Studio. Others use Procreate. There is no consistent requirement in workstations or software among the team, which is Rachel's first mistake. There's a reason why the animation and film industry requires everyone to be using Adobe products whether they like it or not - because it keeps things consistent across the board. It doesn't matter how good you are at Clip Studio or how much you like Procreate, you need to be on the same software and hardware as everyone else to ensure that you can access the same tools, brushes, and workflow as the rest of the team. No one wants to have someone working primarily in Clip Studio who can't access the same brushes or files as the people working in Adobe. As much as I personally hate working in Photoshop, if I were to get an industry job, I would be expected to work in Photoshop, no questions asked. It's part of the job.

Moving on from that, this led me to wonder which assistant was doing these panels, because it's clear that this texturing problem is mostly at the end of Episode 242 during the Persephone / Hades conversation. There's also one stand-out feature that tells us it's the same person making these panels - the bobblehead necks.

Bobblehead necks have been a very noticeable feature in the comic's art decline over the past while. They typically happen when a character - especially a female one - is being drawn from the front. They're usually also defined with noticeable jugular and collarbone lines.

So, which assistant is it drawing the bobblehead necks?

Rachel's art team switches up a lot. Sometimes she has 3, sometimes she has as many as 8. Some assistants tag in, others are consistent.

So far the most noticeably consistent assistants in terms of participation since S2.2 (i.e. post-time skip S2) are Dnaeri, HardHeadedWoman, AmyKing89, and HeyItsJaki (as credited on their episodes). They're the usual team credited at the end of episodes, with the exception of maybe one artist not being present or an extra artist tagging in.

Upon checking their Instagrams, I am becoming way more certain of who does what and how Rachel does her process.

Let's start with HeyItsJaki:

Very thick lineart, distinguished collarbones, defined fingernails/fingers. Thick shading underneath the neck. Sometimes pouty lips if the expression calls for it.

Now let's look at HardHeadedWoman:

Very Disney/Warner Bros reminiscent art, with most notably, thick necks and distinguished jawline features on guys and hourglass figures/thin wrists/thin fingers on women.

And then we have Dnaeri:

It's harder to pin down her style because she seems to just draw whatever she's feeling like, but most notably are how she draws hands and collarbones, very similarly to Jaki, but with one noticeable difference - softer and rounder lines and shapes.

The irony is that Dnaeri and HeyItsJaki both have the same name - Jaki - so them having similar tells in their styles is just something I wanted to point out. Just a funny thought.

That said, Dnaeri DID post a drawing of Persephone once in her own style/interpretation, and there are definitely things to note here.

The collarbone distinction. The anatomy of the fingers and toes. The lighter lineart. The little 'dip' along the edge of the smile.

Moving on. Let's talk about the last assistant who I feel deserves a specific mention - AmyKim89.

You see, Amy is what I'm going to call the smoking gun. All thanks to this post:

Recognize that panel? That's the flat of Dream Persephone from Episode 204.

And this is what the final panel looked like.

Now, Webtoons cropping aside (don't mind the seam running through Persephone's chest) this confirms multiple things for us.

1. AmyKim89 was not the one to shade this panel.

2. The assistants are working purely off Rachel's sketches.

3. The assistants can be in charge of their own lining, which would explain the inconsistent lineart throughout each episode.

4. There are no backgrounds present meaning someone else is in charge of the backgrounds.

5. Flats can be changed and added to after the assistant has already done their job.

To talk about #5 first, notice the pantyhose that were added that make her legs disappear into her cloak. The baby's face changing. The added flower and necklace. Her eyes changing direction.

Regarding #1, look at how the shading makes the art so much more dull. The previous version of this panel with just the flats genuinely looks so much better than the finished piece.

This was, as I'm sure you can imagine, a pretty big find. While I'm sure Amy would probably not be happy to see me using her innocent post as proof for my hyperfocused ramblings tearing apart Rachel's process, I'm glad she posted it nonetheless because it finally shows us a smidge of what the process might be like during production.

Going back to the shading really quick - Amy was not the one who shaded that panel. But I did notice that out of every little inconsistent thing in LO, the shading is some of the most consistent, and it's consistently awful. Dull muddy tones, lack of consideration of space or lighting, clearly the multiply tool being used even when it really shouldn't be, placement of shading primarily under the eyes even when it makes the face look too dim to look good.

It's always being done with the same watercolor-like brush, with the same multiplied tones, and the same 'edges' along where the shading hits the light.

We also know that Rachel eyedrops her colors.

I don't think it's farfetched to believe that her assistants likely do too to a degree. Or they're working off color palettes from previous episodes they've done before which is resulting in this color dissonance where characters change colors, sometimes in between panels.

Considering the constant muddy shading, and the fact that the assistants may not be doing it, I believe it's Rachel doing the shading in the post-production. If you need more proof, here's a reel of her shading in Hades with the exact same techniques seen in finalized panels.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rachel Smythe (@usedbandaid)

instagram

Otherwise, if it's not Rachel doing the shading, it could very likely be Dnaeri, as they're one of the longest-running assistants on the team (they came on during S1).

Moving on from that, let's circle back to AmyKim89's drawing of Persephone. She specifies she did the flats and lines for that panel, working off Rachel's sketches. But one noticeable thing is that there's no background.

This lead a bunch of us in ULO to speculate that Rachel is also the one throwing in the background and throwing PNG's of the characters on top.

Proof? How about the fact that there are panels out there with crunchy characters and pristine backgrounds?

I already suspected that the character was zoomed in and the background wasn't, but Amy's post confirms more than that - that the assistants are essentially drawing PNG's which don't get backgrounds until Rachel - or another one of her assistants - adds them.

Here's another panel that I strongly suspect was done by Amy judging by the colors (but the lineart feels like it could be Jaki):

Look at how she's floating in empty space. This wasn't drawn background first and Hestia second, this was drawn with Hestia first and they slapped a background behind her.

It would also explain why we get panels of characters missing their bottom halves or their limbs - because the backgrounds ended up being larger than they were anticipating in the final shot.

There are a whole bunch of things we can speculate on here knowing what we know from past essays and what I've laid out here.

Rachel may only be involved in the beginning and end of these episodes. She does the roughs, hands the sketches out to her assistants, which they flat and line, and she puts in the shading, dialogue/speech bubbles, texturing, and last details after they're all handed in. This would also explain why there are so many typos - lack of time to edit/proofread - and why sometimes there will be characters speaking but their mouths won't be open.

Rachel hands out the sketches to her assistants individually who flat and line it and hand them back. Sometimes they're handed individual panels, other times they're handed entire pages with a few panels on them. This would explain why we can go an entire scene with a character looking one way and then looking completely different by the next.

Think back to all those previous essays. Everything we've learned so far - that Rachel's buffer is miniscule, that she's shading with the multiply tool, that she's clearly only contributing the roughs and few panels that she makes from random drawings she did on a whim and waits until she can find a chance to shoehorn it into the comic.

Rachel started off drawing this comic just on her own. When she took on assistants, there were only two - AmbitiousIcarus and Madd_Joey.

But eventually, she took on more and more. Two became three, three became five, and nowadays, she maintains a consistent art team of 4-6 people per episode, not including herself or the rotating artists who come and go every now and then.

This has been happening steadily since the Episode 50's range of S1.

The summer when Lore Olympus' licensing rights for animation were sold to the Jim Henson Company.

I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that the assistants were the downfall of LO. I think they're all amazing artists, each in their own right - but their art is clearly failing to shine through in the wake of Rachel's poor management and organization. Rather than delegating single people to single roles - lines, flats, shading, texturing, etc. - she's handing things out panel by panel as she sketches them out... and considering how poor her time management is as we've all seen, it's not hard to come to the conclusion that these assistants are all being put in positions where they have to rush out lower quality work. Rachel is haphazardly dividing up the work between more people all the while contributing less and less on her own end in pre-production, post-production, and quality checking as time goes on. The final episodes weren't immediately noticeably bad as soon as she started taking on more assistants, but it's clear Rachel's involvement in the comic and its quality control has been declining rapidly since the Jim Henson purchase.

Again, this isn't to point fingers or assume the worst of anyone, but it really is food for thought. I hope that this was, at the very least, informative for those of us who've wondered over the years what Rachel's process is like. It definitely seems messy from what we can tell on the surface and frankly, if I could be in the same room as Rachel, I'd be using all this as an example of why she needs to manage her team and her time better. But that's not my place to do so. All I can do is speculate on it and spend way too much time writing an essay about it LMAO None of what I've written here is 'proof' of anything, as I'm not in the position to be able to do such a thing - that's reserved solely for Rachel and her assistants - but it's becoming plainly obvious what the workflow looks like and why the comic looks shittier and shittier every week.

All that said, I don't feel like her assistants get nearly enough credit for the work they do for Rachel. She can't even be bothered to remember the name of the guy who edited the books for her (it's Edwin, by the way) and you never see her bring up her assistants when she talks on interviews about how hard she works or how difficult it is to make a webcomic. At this point, Rachel may as well be the Queen of England - all the pomp and reward and credit, with nothing to show for leadership or actual work ethic.

It's not your work we're seeing each week - it's the work of people who are rushing to meet your deadlines, win your awards, and do your homework.

You are the sum of the parts you utilize in your workflow. You are not here purely of your own efforts. It can barely be called 'your work' at this point. Lore Olympus has become the Ship of Theseus - barely recognizable for what it once was after being haphazardly pieced together by the efforts of others.

And that's all I'm gonna say on that.

#lore olympus critical #lo critical #antiloreolympus #anti lore olympus

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izvmimi · 1 year

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cw pregnancy, reader with body image issues

you’ve been in the bathroom long enough that Izuku, ever attentive, has come in to check on you.

he slips in quietly from behind, and for some reason, despite the fact that you’ve been poring over every inch of your face for the past hour, you feel compelled to hide from him once you realize he’s watching from the door. you startle, eyes wide as you look at him, your hand reflexively covering the lower half of your face.

“are you okay?” he asks. reflexively, his hand gently tugs at yours, to reveal your mouth and check.

you resist for a second, then let him, and give him a defeated smile. sensing the shame, he takes both of your wrists in his before leaning on the sink counter.

you haven’t answered his question, and he waits still.

“i’m fine!” you insist and he tilts his head slightly in disapproval. it’s a small thing you love and hate about him, the way he’s always observant and just a tiny bit patronizing. he knows you’re not fine, and he won’t leave until you admit it.

“you’re worrying about your face again.” he points out.

you frown.

“you would too if your nose suddenly doubled in size!” your voice comes out a bit whiny and you’re embarrassed, pulling your hands to your side and balling them into fists. there’s a million things you hate about yourself now that you’re this far into your pregnancy and you feel like a balloon. swollen belly, swollen feet... now your face barely looks like your former self and every day Izuku looks the same if not better.

and the constant cameras don’t do much to flatter your new figure; it’s as though the media is mocking you, juxtaposing your waddling gait with Izuku’s confident stride in every video clip. even if he is keeping you steady, always careful to hold your hand or support your back as you walk, you look less like his wife and more like a particularly well-dressed penguin.

Izuku sighs.

“you’re still beautiful.”

“you’re lying.”

now Izuku frowns, then pulls you closer to him. you try to pull away but you know he won’t let you, so instead you fall in, sinking into his warmth.

“i would never lie to you,” he reminds you, kissing your forehead.

“you’d lie if it made me feel better,” you murmur into his chest.

he pauses.

“i wouldn’t lie but i’d omit the truth. but that’s not what i’m doing now. you’re beautiful.”

“i don’t look like myself,” you insist.

“you look like the woman i love, carrying our baby,” he says, making sure to tilt your face towards him so that you can look in his eyes.

you pause, and your lips part slightly, wondering whether or not you should kiss him, then your lips pull into a sneer instead.

“corny.”

he shakes his head at you, then kisses your forehead.

“brat.”

“i can’t be the brat when i’m carrying one,” you quip. he snorts, but then he smiles, thankful that your spirits are lifted, and brings your face closer to his for a kiss.

#izuku x reader #izuku midoriya x reader #deku x reader #thoughts: izuku #daydreams: bnha #mimi's notes #cw body image #cw pregnancy #izuku imagine

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theconstitutionisgayculture · 8 months

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I think it's time for me to come clean with something I've never admitted to anybody before. And it's not something I've done or anything like that. It's not an action I've taken. It's an opinion I have that I know is something that would cause a lot of...let's say strife with most people if they knew I had it. It's not a controversial opinion I'm particularly proud of the way I'm proud of my opinion on John Lennon being a boring hack, or my opinions on YouTube content creators being, by default, talentless nobodies compared to literally any other professional creative, or my opinion that sport hunting journalists and politicians should be, if not actually legal, than at least one of those victimless crimes that never actually get prosecuted. This opinion I'm about to share is something that my own parents would never understand if I were to admit it to them, which, to be honest, does sting a bit when I let myself think about it too much.

I know most of you don't follow me for personal BS, and I respect that, so I'm going to put a cut before I state this opinion so people who don't really care to learn more about me as a person can easily give it a skip. For the rest of you, all I ask is that you try to keep an open mind, and understand that this is as hard for me to admit as it is for you to read.

George Carlin is a terrible fucking comedian.

I know. I know.

But hear me out.

I'm not saying he's not funny, because he can be. Certainly he was hilarious to 12 year old Little Me who would watch clips of his acts on Comedy Central long after my parents went to bed. But as I got older, I started to notice something. It wasn't that I was "growing out" of George Carlin. That's silly to say. That's like saying someone grew out of watching Eddie Murphy's Raw. You're not even supposed to be watching that stuff until you're grown.

No, the thing I noticed was that he isn't actually a comedian.

He's a blogger.

Again, he does tell jokes, but telling jokes does not a comedian make. Everyone tells jokes. What makes a comedian a comedian is that they are so funny that people will pay money to laugh at their jokes. And that's not George Carlin. That's not why people go to see George Carlin. They might think it is, but it's not. No, they go to see him for the same reason he stands up in front of them and speaks.

They want to hear their own opinions parroted back at them, and then they want to cheer. Just like George doesn't really want to make people laugh. He wants to give his opinions on social issues and politics, and then he wants everyone to clap and validate those opinions. The laughter is completely secondary. It's not even necessary past the point of telling just enough jokes to both get people in the door, and to allow those people the illusion that they're at a comedy show and not reading a blog.

And Carlin isn't the only blogger pretending to be a comedian. You probably know quite a few already. The Jon Stewarts, John Olivers, and Jimmy Kimmels of the world who just want to be cheered for stating their, often idiotic, opinions on things. I used to call this "Applause Comedy", and I've always hated it with a passion. But these days I just call it blogging, because that's what it is. And George Carlin is its grandfather. His entire career is based on "telling it like it is" instead of "telling jokes". And let's be fair, some of his opinions are right. Of course, these days the people he roasts are usually not on the same side of the political divide as the ones he was intending on roasting. He is another terminal victim of the 60s, so don't ever mistake him for being even remotely right wing.

(I wonder if, were he still alive, would he be one of those few boomerlibs that actually recognize how batshit insane the left has become? Or would he be one of the ones that now supports all the things they railed against 40+ years back because their identity as a leftist is more important than their supposed principals?

I could speculate, but I won't.)

But being able to comment intelligently or eloquently on political or social issues isn't a skill one should look for in a comedian. And getting cheered for stating an opinion isn't something a real comedian should look for in their audience. A comedian tells jokes. He makes people laugh. He tells stories and weaves tales and creates an atmosphere of joy. He allows us to keep the outside world at bay for an hour or so, and leaves us with a small shield against that world when his show is over in the form of fond memories and shared enjoyment.

You're more likely to come out of a George Carlin show more angry at the world than when you went in.

And that's not comedy.

That's not entertainment.

That's blogging.

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light-yaers · 11 months

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Take Care: Chapter Four TEASER

emphasis on TEASER. i just have no self control and need to give y'all at least something before i'm done with the next chapter. i'm close to it being done, but also want to get more written as a whole, so be prepared to wait another week or so for it! anyway, he's a tiny snippet because i love feeding you all delicious food and cannot stand keeping this all to myself. mwah. enjoy! <3

Now that you were up close, you saw more of what made Roy… well, Roy. There were clippings from newspapers, dating back as far as 2002, in a huge photo album on the bottom shelf of his dining room bookshelf. Awards and trophies adorned the other levels, alongside homemade cards, all addressed by someone called Phoebe.

Roy let you silently take it all in. You clutched your bag on your shoulder with white knuckles, overwhelmed by all that you were seeing. He cleared his throat from the kitchen, peering over at you. “Drink?”

“Oh,” you let out, startled. “Yes, please.” You turned back to the shelf, amazed. “Roy, this is— this is all—"

“It’s all crap,” Roy cut over you, opening the fridge. You turned around to see it full of green beer bottles. He hadn’t been wrong when he said fridge full of beers. He placed two on the kitchen counter and popped the tops off both.

“It’s not crap. They’re lovely memories,” you protested. “I mean, you displayed them here for a reason, didn’t you?”

Roy strolled over to where you stood and casually handed you a beer. You took it gratefully, taking a gulp, as the two of you scanned his full-to-bursting shelves together.

You pointed to the abundance of homemade cards. “Who’s Phoebe?”

“My niece,” Roy said.

“I didn’t know you had siblings,” you said.

Roy hummed. “Got a little sister.”

Somewhere within you, it all made sense. You were amongst the population that knew it was a green flag when a man had sisters, it was just plain true. Roy was no exception to that rule, and his behaviour slotted into place as a man who understood what it took to be an older brother to a sister.

“How old is Phoebe?”

Roy sent you a softened look. “She’s six.”

You hated to admit it, but your heart melted ever so slightly. You smiled at him genuinely. “How sweet.”

“She is sweet,” Roy said, with a distinct gentleness to his tone that you’d never heard before. “But, she’s also fucking insane. In the best way.”

“I bet she loves you,” you said, as the two of you took another gulp of beer together.

Roy let out a refreshing ahhh afterwards, to which he followed with “Yeah, she does. I don’t fucking get it.”

“I do,” you let out abruptly. When Roy caught your eye, you panicked. You sent him a hastily sweet smile, before you turned to the rest of the open-plan room.

CHAPTER FOUR COMING SOON WAAAAA

#roy kent x reader #roy kent x you #teaser #ted lasso #lightyaers #writeblr #fanfiction #ff #chapter teaser #update #brett goldstein #ao3 #take care fic

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laurzzz · 5 months

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FAQ

RULES FOR SENDING ASKS

No explicit NSFW. No heavy venting. No asking incredibly personal questions. I'm a "faceless" artist for a reason. No hate or rude comments towards myself as an artist and as a person as well as towards other people. I genuinely don't care if you think X is better than what I do, or what I do is better than X. It's not a compliment, don't bring other people down for the sake of wanting to say "nice things", please. Not going to mention way more extreme cases because they'd probably not be interacting with my blog if they read my DNIs list.

REPOSTS AND USAGE OF MY WORKS

NO REPOSTS but if you're using my art as pfp or a banner or something of the likes, ask me or not as long as there's proper credit then you're good! (Linking any of my active platforms in my carrd portfolio). You can also e-mail me (linked in my portfolio as well in pinned post) for other permissions you wish to ask for such as dubbing my works or adding them to compilations, etc.

ART REQUESTS

I don't do them UNLESS I feel like it AND make a post about asking for ideas on any art requests y'all may have that I can draw when I feel like it.

PROGRAMS

I use Clip Studio Paint EX to draw and sometimes animate on. My usual animation program is Toon Boom Harmony. And I write on Notion. I also edit with Capcut, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition. My usual editing program is Capcut though.

UNANSWERED ASKS AND DMS

DMs have been closed because of xxx-bots and because getting DMs overwhelms me. If I ended up not answering your ask, it's most likely either I thought I answered them in my brain but forgot to actually answer them physically or you didn't read the rules. Every time I forget to answer asks, I feel a bit embarrassed to go back on them when a couple of time has passed by so they end up staying unanswered for the most part... I'm sorry! Sometimes I just genuinely don't know what to answer so I end up not responding and/or I wanted to keep your ask in my ask box for saving purposes.

FANART

I don't understand why people always ask me permission to make fanart for me, genuinely. And I don't mean it in a mean way, I mean it in a "You're asking me... If you're allowed to not only express that you like my works through making a work of your own but also to put in the time and effort to do so... You're asking me if it's okay? When I should be the one worrying a bit about that because I would want to compensate for those fanart if I had all the money in the world." Short answer, fuck yes. And please tag me, I always want to see them so I can save them. Unless they're NSFW then uhhh, no, no thank you... Enjoy doing that I guess, but respectfully, don't ever show me lmao.

TIMEZONE

I'm always mostly online when people of Tumblr are asleep, vice versa, because my timezone is GMT+8. I'm Asian.

NSFW CONTENT

I only go as far as suggestive/spicy jokes, poses, touching, heavy swearing, and maybe gore every now and then. I don't do explicitly NSFW works, despite being an adult and having the freedom to do that.

YOUTUBE

Yes. Yes, I'm also on YouTube. Yes I'm aware that I have a decent amount of following there and would probably get side-eye comments if people from YouTube see my simpish shit here on Tumblr. Do I care? Nah. Cringe culture is dead to me, I do what I want. 👍

THANKS FOR READING, HAVE SOME FLOWERS! 💐

#i just. i think it'd be better to have this instead of clogging up pinned so much lol #i might add on to this in the future but for now im pretty content #important post #long post

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strawberryicemoon · 18 days

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Why I can't watch the Ducktales Finale

I'm not the kind of person who struggles to watch the last episode of something. I love to finish a show, and let it sit in my brain. I'm the kind of person who often enjoys spoilers because it adds to my understanding of the media. I love to view the media in their entirety just as much as I love a journey to get there.

But I can't get past the first few minutes of Ducktales 2017, The Last Adventure. And it's because of spoilers that I couldn't deal with. I don't like them, and even years later after I've had time to digest, and have seen so many finale clips, that I still can't just sit down and watch it. And I've made attempts. I've looked through the summary of the episode to prepare. But I can't.

And there's... a couple of things that rub me the wrong way about the Finale that keep me from being able to just watch it.

1. Webby is Scrooge's Clone Daughter

2. Webby is April, of April May and June

3. Donald and Daisy are going on vacation.

Now, I don't actually hate any of these... conceptually. And I'm well aware that Frank Angones has stated the Webby twist was planned from very early on. And usually I am completely down for whatever a finale is, as long as I can tell that this was something the creator really believed in.

I'm a fan of such "controversial" endings as, Amphibia and Digimon Adventure 02, because I know exactly why they ended like that. It's written in the themes. Even if it took me time to understand Adventure's ending, I've grown to understand it and love it once I learned more about the original Japanese version and the shows production (and also grew up myself). Amphibia ended exactly as I expected based on one of the very earliest things I heard about the show from Matt Braly: "an ode to past friendships". Even if I think there are things they messed up I GET IT. I wouldn't want them ending any other way.

So I understand WHY the decision is made. Conceptually it does make sense. Webby exists as a composite character of April May and June, and I believe shares the same name as April in one language. Webby being Scrooge's clone daughter is an effective way of full-circling her relationship with him. Strangers in each other's home to father and daughter. She's family not BECAUSE of Blood, but because of Love. She still loves her Granny, it's just the non blood relationship wasn't the one she thought it was. And Donald deserves a vacation, and to have the more down to earth life experiences he wanted, especially after raising his sisters kids alone for 10 years.

But they still twist me up inside.

And I think it comes down to three reasons: 1. Lack of Continuity between episodes 2. An over-focusing on Scrooge 3. Handling of Word of God

1. Lack of Continuity between episodes Part of what got me to fall in love with Ducktales was S1 and the continuity of the Spear of Selene subplot. We got hints at a semi-regular pace, but it successfully overhung the entire series. It was what separated Scrooge and Donald. It was why Della was gone. The subject matter was of course not something that needed to be overstated, as most of it was being kept hush hush. Sure it was a mystery, but not an urgent one. Dewey had never had his mom, so it wasn't like he couldn't focus on anything else for a while

But in S2 I started noticing that the show stopped explaining or foreshadowing things. Maybe it always did, I haven't re watched it properly. But I definitely noticed something off about the storytelling then. But it was definitely a problem throughout the show.

Webby never brought up Lena after her sacrifice until the relevant episode.

Lena living with the Sabrewings was something never brought up until episodes later we saw her with them.

We had Della talking about the boys with their "Uncles" setting up the pain of not knowing how things fell apart after her departure, only to get no payoff.

We didn't get ANYTHING about Webby's parentage until the final episode, and barely a hint in 1 season 3 episode.

Almost every finale episode changes the status quo in some way. The question is how much. Lots of final episodes kind of have things going back to the way they were before plot kicked off but better (like with new friends or a new government). Sometimes someone dies.

Webby being Scrooge's clone is paradigm shifting. And that kind of thing needs to be set up. You CANNOT catch your audience off guard with something like that.

In Digimon Adventure 02 the series ends with everyone on earth with a digimon partner which is controversial but at least built up throughout the series at hints of other digidestined until an arc near the end showcased many international digidestined. Hilda ends with the reveal that Hilda's mother is half-fairy, and despite not being present throughout the first two seasons, it was hinted at through the third season, and contextualized some of the few things we did know before about Johanna's childhood. The Hollow's first season ends with you finding out it was all a game, but it had been hinted at before with the video game nature of the world. Sure Avatar didn't hint at Aang getting the power to take away bending, but we knew he was a pacifist who didn't want to kill so was looking for a solution, getting the power to remove bending (ie power over others) works thematically, in the same way Anne using the power of the stones and getting brought back to life by a god like being worked. Sure, Scratch turning out to be a wraith at the end of The Ghost and Molly McGee was rather sudden, but people had been theorizing that Todd was Scratch's body for a long time, so it wasn't like there weren't any hints, and while the show was cut short and had to rush to end, the build up of Scratch's memories at least gave some sort of foreshadowing link to what was going on.

There's a reason people rarely throw in new characters at the very end of a show. It can absolutely work. Amphibia and The Owl House threw in "God" at the end, but that gets a pass for being the kind of figure they meet once and then move on with their lives. On the other side, you can sometimes have secret big bads that were pulling the strings the whole time too. I can't speak for the finale of Ducktales (because again, can't bring myself to watch it), but adding two new characters on top of changing the entire dynamic of how the family is set up at the very end of the show does not sit well with me. We won't get to see how this change in status quo effects the characters. We saw how learning about their mom affected the boys relationship with Scrooge, her return and having to build a relationship with her and her presence conflicting with Launchpad's. But we don't get that with Scrooge and Webby? Basically too many status quo shifts in the finale all at once.

All we got was Beakley was a spy, was overprotective of Webby, and a few episodes before the end it was revealed Beakley was lying to her. Webby didn't seem to care about her parents. And this was a girl who was very dedicated to unraveling the secrets of clan mcduck. Couldn't they have had one hint at some point in the show where it was unclear if it was the boys or Webby who were recognized as a McDuck? Some offhand mention where the boys ask her about HER parents, because she helped them with her mom?

You couldn't tell what was or was not going be important in the way they dropped. It's very hard to set your expectations when you had no clue what to expect. And while there is something to be said for unexpected surprises and twists in a story, an audience really needs to know what is or is important or they're going to go on wild goose chases and get disappointed when they build up hype for something the show then refuses to address.

In HINDSIGHT, I find it extremely odd that Huey and Louie, prior to finding out about Dewey's investigations, did not pry at ALL into the fact that hey: if Donald was an adventurer with Scrooge, then he had to know their mom. Like that’s weird right?

2. An over-focusing on Scrooge Scrooge is the Center of the Universe.

I'm not a Disney Ducks fan. Aside from 2017, and pop culture osmosis, I know very little. But the thing is I am someone whose first inclination once I become a fan of something is to check out the wiki pages for information. Find about what longstanding fan mysteries there are. I understand the importance of cross continuity callbacks. I'm a fan of other longstanding series and have rubbed elbows with several others. I get really long franchises with several iterations.

Which is to say that I, despite not having a horse in this race, understand how this works and how it should work.

Now a bit of this is the fact Ducktales is ABOUT Scrooge. But Scrooge isn't the center of the Duck universe. Something I find pretty interesting is the fact that Donald has reasonably fleshed out family trees on both sides of his family. That's cool. That's how real people work, a meeting point of the stories of those who came before. But Ducktales doesn't care, the only adult the show cares about is him. I get that to a certain extent it was the show execs insisting on focusing on the kids. And again, he's kind of the main character. But you brought back Donald, and Della. There are other characters here with rich lives, he doesn't need to take over everything.

It's especially egregious ANY time the McDuck clan gets involved. Could Matilda be the youngest child now? Sure. But that's a really arbitrary change, that they don't use for anything. And even if that was purposeful, the fact is that the first thing they established is Donald's mom is still Scrooge's sister, so Donald is the grandson of Fergus and Downy McDuck. Not nephew? Surely they could recognize him? But where is Hortense and Quackmore? They brought them up in the first episode, and then they never made any appearances aside from references. Why were Donald and Della staying with Scrooge for Christmas? Never clarified. Fans (reasonably) assumed they were dead. Scrooge called Donald his ward (admittedly when he also called him Fergus and Downy’s nephew rather than grandson). I mean where else would they be when their DAUGHTER DISAPPEARED. Would they not want to meet their grandchildren? But that was never clarified. And I've seen some fans alternatively interpret them as bad parents, which I think is just really unfair. Scrooge gets to be the good parent? It's once again Scrooge to the rescue. The CAPITALIST? I mean it's also a little bit just a family issue in general: It's Uncle Gladstone and Cousin Fethry when they are theoretically the same: technically cousins but old enough to be honorary uncles. It's fair enough. But really that brings us to the Duck family in general.

Grandma Duck? What about Gladstone and Fethry's parents? Gus Goose? Are they all dead? Does Fethry have any siblings? Do the boys not know or not care about the Duck side of the family? They know Gladstone but no one else? I mean Scrooge's parents, who should be dead, were magically kept alive but nothing for the duck family. Speaking of which, they constantly bring up how old Scrooge and occasionally refer to the causes of his supernatural age, but that does not explain how young Donald and Della are compared to him. Overall, we get nothing on the Duck family except for its existence at least, so even removed from the context of Disney Ducks legacy its weird to introduce a side of the family and just gloss over it.

The one episode about the Duck family legacy is a Webby episode. Which, fine, she's not a Duck, but she's part of the family. Except wait. She's Scrooge's daughter/clone, and you gave her the focus on the one episode about the Duck family not the McDuck's? You couldn't leave Scrooge out of anything?

So for Webby's great twist in the finale, was taking not just one, but two characters NOT related to Scrooge (April and Webby), and tying them to Scrooge. I think I could deal with Webby being April, and (HUGE MAYBE) Webby being Scrooge’s clone or April being Scrooge’s clone but not both. Not to mention April, May and June are DAISY's nieces... not random three girls who are her boyfriends uncles clone and and boyfriends uncles clones clone? It doesn't sit right with me that a character who I thought was supposed to be learning that he was sometimes in the wrong, and not the center of morality (see how he made Glomgold a villain through his own ego), continue to be made the center of the universe in ways he simply shouldn't be.

He's literally an old rich guy. Like there is historical context for why this character is like this, but why does the world revolve around him in this show.

3. Word of God Word of God is useful. As are interviews and statements made by the creator. It helps to provide insight into the themes. I love seeing the person behind the art.

But here's the thing. Word of God is clarification, insight into how you should look at the work to set expectations. It's supplementary. It doesn't replace text.

This is a little bit difficult to really talk about now that I'm several years removed from the experience, so grain of salt and all, but I really think the way Word of God was handled did the show a disservice.

Back to Lena becoming a Sabrewing, we didn't get that in show. Lena just dropped off the face of the earth, not until S3’s premier we got a clarification on that in show.

We never got Della's reaction to learning that Donald and Scrooge were estranged, she just suddenly stopped speaking under that assumption.

So Word of God became an essential part of understanding the text, because a lot of necessary information was left unexplained by the canon its a huge problem. And Word of God is often fluid. It can be changed later if during the writing process something changes. (We should probably cover this topic in show and want to do it a bit differently, I have a great Idea of what we can do to turn that error into foreshadowing, I was lying to the fans to keep a secret).

But when word of god is necessary, word of god becomes essential for tempering expectations about the show.

This is probably going to be less of an issue for people who come and watch the show later. Sure, things are still unexplained, but when you can binge the show Lena's unexplained absence is less obvious, you're so busy moving on to other things that Della's change in understanding about the situation is clearly unimportant and you can move on.

But what ended up happening is that Frank Angones struggled to balance clarifications, keeping show secrets, and a sometimes changing story. Which sometimes left characters completely sure on where the story was sitting, only for it to be ripped out from under them. Also, tying back to the first point, of plot points being dropped until the episode where they where they were relevant made it VERY difficult to tell what was or wasn’t going to be relevant, and what emotional beats to get emotionally invested in.

Prior to the finale there was a bit of a community of Webby/Triplet shippers. Personally, I see that as a complete dismissal of the themes of the show and a bit heteronormative. I avoided all such content. But at the same time, shipping doesn't hurt anyone. At the end of the day, the boys and Webby were not related by blood, and hadn't even met until age 10. There wasn't... really a reason you couldn't ship them. There are TONS of shows out there with 10 year old characters and love interests. Just off the top of my head: Any Ship with Ash Ketchum, Sprigivy, Phinabella, Kenyako, Sorato. Even if they don't get together at 10, (or at all) the fact of the matter is 10 year olds getting shipped is old news. I'm still attached to Pokeshipping and Takari to this day, even if I tend to see them more as platonic relationships these days. So I avoided all shipping with them, but I understood why people (particularly younger people) were shipping them. Until the finale hit, and the ships that people thought never going to be canon, but were safe, weren't. To a certain extent, that's the game you play with shipping clearly noncanonical ships. But I feel that the way questions about shipping were answered didn't help, because iirc he tended to say the show wouldn't focus on that more than he explicitly stated the kids were family. He called Webby/Triplet shipping highly unlikely for example, giving it more legitimacy than a no, which leant to it being taken as a solid fact prior to the finale that Webby was definitely not related to the boys, because a lot of what else was said was solid fact.

4. (Bonus): of course, I do also feel it kind of isn't enough to justify breaking the found family. So much of Webby's arc was being accepted into the family. Becoming the 4th triplet. So for her to have been blood all along is a little cheap. Sure it doesn't break the becoming family despite blood before. But, having meta-knowledge of Launchpad probably finding family with Gosalyn and Drake Mallard, it's just Beakley whose left as not blood related (and she's technically the help...). And yeah, there's the Granny/Grandaughter adopted relationship. But....

Webby is one of four kids. Again, she became one of the kids. So yeah. I'm happy that she became one of the kids. Able to call him uncle scrooge. But it feels weird to me that she, the kid who already lived in the manor with Scrooge even if they kept their distance, displaced the triplets as Scrooge's natural heirs. The uncle relationships in this show being parental/grandparental was already good. Not all families look the same, some people parent their siblings' kids for one reason or another. Scrooge's presumed "heirs' ' was his sister's descendants, not his, but he loved them like his own. That's good. So to not only break the "not blood related at all" to "actually daughter", kind of ALSO meant a "my niblings are my legacy" got overtaken with "my daughter is my legacy".

And maybe I'd feel less sour about it if we had more time after the show. But on a fundamental level it didn't just alter Webby's place in the family, but her grandmother's, and the Duck Twins and Triplets. Again, especially with the triplets. I wanted the four of them to become functional equals. The 4th triplet. But for her to have a secret Scrooge connection that overtakes the one she was jealous of the triplets of having doesn't sit right to say the least.

I feel I could get over this one, especially maybe if they gave us more time. But it just didn't make it worth it to me.

5. (Bonus Bonus): Now I don't use the term Mary Sue lightly. But what I do think of canon Mary Sueism is a tendency to make female characters on predominately male casts "special" in some way to justify their presence. They have to be the level headed smart ones and the ones with . They have to be likable so they're robbed of character. I wouldn't say Webby is a particularly bad example of this, and it's not like Ducktales lacks other flawed female characters (Della my beloved).

But the way Webby is treated reminds me of April from TMNT 2012, and Allura from Voltron Legendary Defender (and kinda Larmina from Voltron Force). All are 80s characters in shows that had a predominately male cast of characters, and who were both an outsider, and defined by being a girl. And then the reboot both doubled down on making them special, integrating them into the group more, but also making them generally tougher the boys in some way, and also sometimes more in the know about things. Webby is aged up to match the boys age rather than aged down to match the boys age like April but the effect is still the same.

The girl is now a peer to the boys, 4th triplet, rather than a little sister. Webby is more capable and well-read than any of the boys. And at the start of the series she's socially awkward enough it feels like it will work. And I'm not saying Webby isn't flawed, she is. But when it comes to the things the family finds important: adventuring, she doesn't have any obvious shortcomings. Louie quits easily and isn't as coordinated, Dewey is reckless and generally uneducated, and Huey isn't flexible. And Webby... used to be socially awkward???

It’s kinda trading 1 sexist trope for another. And yeah, all shows do have OTHER female characters who kind of avert this. But it doesn’t change the fact the leading lady is more “special” than the boys. Like being a girl has to be special.

In short, at the end of the day Webby being Scrooge's daughter doesn't help her character, her grandmothers, or the rest of the family. It kinda helps Scrooge’s character, but while I haven’t seen the episode myself, I’m not sure there would be enough time for it to be meaningful. And again, I think a lot of the characterization and worldbuilding of other characters were already sacrificed for Scrooge’s sake in the show already.

Oh and the Donald/Daisy thing.

The reason Daisy/Donald's trip doesn't sit right with me is we barely got any Donald and Della having to coparent. Get used to each other again. We barely got any of them and we're heading back into separation. It doesn’t feel cathartic when we still have unanswered questions from this stage in their life. And even if the trip is well, a trip. It feels weird.

It feels kind of unexpectedly "conventional family", even if it's still really unconventional. Donald is going to go be happy with his love interest, away from the boys he raised who aren't actually his sons (and yes, I know he takes May and June with him but still, knowing that May and June are by default Daisy's nieces kind of has "new kids with new wife" implications to me but that's neither here nor there). Adding this to "Webby being Scrooge's daughter is a good plot point for him" and it's just really weird, and kind of feels like the final nail in the nontraditional family dynamics coffin. If feel only way they could have buried it more is if Beakley died or something.

I was already kinda uncomfortable with the “Daisy being the only one to understand him” thing because like. That’s sweet. His soulmate is the only one who really hears him. But also that’s a fucking speech impediment Donald has. Are you telling me that no one in his family cared enough to effectively communicate with him despite his disability? Like if it is REALLY that much a problem he should have an effective communication method. Sign-language for example?

The triplets he raised don’t always understand him. His twin sister doesn’t always understand him? But this random woman does? I am all for Daisy and Donald being basically soulmates. But uh? This feels both ableist and allonormative in a show that really wasn’t those things before. (well okay it was kinda ableist about Donald but it felt less weird to me when there wasn’t one person who could magically understand Donald). And Daisy understanding him still could be a big thing? The first person who understood him without getting to know him first/wasn’t literally raising him/raised with/raised by him?

I want to like Daisy so much, but she just feels a bit like Webby does: a legacy female character they are trying to make too cool, who gets some of their coolness incidentally defined by a male character, rather than a full-fledged character on their own. (For instance if we saw Daisy with anyone other than Donald, her overbearing boss and… whatever Storkules is).

I feel some of these may have been resolved with more time. But some of these problems had their seeds planted as early as S1. That said I think if the quality of S1 was maintained they would have been fine. Overall, I think Ducktales is a good reboot, and a good show, but it really could have been better. Was so close to being better.

#ducktales 2017 #it's been years and I'm still thinking about this #for my part #I disregard the finale #Webby has dead parents that she knows about hence never needing to learn more #I disregard the family not understanding Donald #because Daisy being the first STRANGER who understands him right away is just as sweet #idk what I’m doing about Boyd or April May June yet though #I can do what I want its not like Ducktales was wholly original or anything #probably still better than vld's finale #but I started to have critiques in s3 #and all of s8 was a dumpster fire so I was emotionally checked out by the time it actually came to that point #again I haven't seen it so maybe I'd like it more if I did see it #but the fact that knowing this has put me so intensely off watching it really isn't a good thing either #and I have never had this issue with a show before even if it's bad #to be clear though I do overall like 2017 Webby and Daisy I just wish they were allowed to be a little MORE #to fuck up a little more #I really do want to finish my abandoned ducktales fics but also staring at the finale and trying to figure out what I should do with this #ah #ducktales

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tinytinybumblebee · 6 months

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ack thank youthankyou for being ok with getting these hcs!! It’s just a long ask is all and I didn’t wanna like. Destroy your inbox and I also don’t really wanna come off anon to do a submission because my softness for agere is something I’d rather keep to myself, people can be nasty about it :( but yeah here are some of my bby astarion hcs!!

• Regresses from 3 months to 2 years

favored nicknames include little star (since that’s what his name means and all), prince/little prince, starshine, starlight, and ofc the classic baby boy

teethes like a baby shark in that he must investigate everything with his mouth! If he’s feeling especially little as well he’s not good at asking his cg for much of anything so if he’s hungry he’s going to be nibbling at them and whining all the while. Pacifier very necessary with him, he definitely needs a clip so he never loses it

I play by the rules that vampires can better pass for living people the more well-fed on blood they are and having enough blood reactivates some body processes like warmth, a false heartbeat, breathing, and digestion for nonblood things so basically what I’m saying is if he has enough blood in his system he can have some normal baby treats. He likes bottles of milk with vanilla and honey, and all kinds of red berries mashed up for him to enjoy, like strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, etc. Those are his favorite treats:)

Some little ones encourage their cgs to discipline them but astarion is not one of those. No discipline, please, just give him a stern-talking to, he’ll get so upset at anything else

Because he’s astarion with his massive ego no matter how much he trusts someone he represses his tiny side a lot and is pretty embarrassed about it, but the right actions from his designated cg can make him drop like that.

Picks one designated cg and that’s it, no one else. Will pitch a fit if separated even for a moment

He likes to be held, cuddled, anything that has him close to his cg. Rocking him is an instant happy boy.

Some little ones never say anything about needing a diaper change and must be checked constantly. He is NOT one of those little ones. When he has an accident it will be known, he hates how yucky it feels and will immediately start whining and crying

He’s a big crybaby but he recovers fast. Usually it’s just when his cg pushes the right button then bam tears stop instantly.

Doesn’t really do toys, he doesn’t get them… he just wants dada/mama. The things he does like to play with are his blankie, his one special stuffy (a floppy white bunny) and puppets and rattles if his carer is waving them at him

Brush his hair, give him baths, button his clothes, dress him, change him, ultimate sign of trust because of his horrible background is when he lets his cg interact with his clothes, especially undressing him. But it takes time to get there, such as the first few times they had to give him a bath he shrieked like a banshee but was distracted with words of reassurance and kisses

Loves to be praised!! Call him a brave little boy or tell him how pretty he is or how happy he makes you, he will be such a happy boy

Giggles+wiggles!! When he’s happy he squirms and giggles and babbles, oh boy does he babble, little Astarion and big Astarion have one thing in common and it’s that they’re soooo chatty

Must be held at all times and NEVER to be left alone. Especially while sleeping, waking up without his carer in arm’s reach is a one way track to meltdown town for good reason

Must be the most precious, delicate and adorable thing in the room at all times. Will also never willingly share his carer.

Big Astarion hates being coddled but baby Astarion? coddle coddle coddle, must treat like he’s made of glass

When he’s big he will deny literally everything that happened when he was little but rest assured he treasures every last minute of it.

Grabby hands all the way! Grabby hands at everything he wants… most of the time that would be mama/dada

Doesn’t like reminders of his vampirism when little, just whatever is instinct to him but he doesn’t like thinking about much else

Loves aaaaaall the little gear. He is not the type to want to regress with whatever is lying around, he wants all the diapers and onesies and strollers and what have you, whatever keeps him as removed from his adult life as possible

That’s just some of what I have!! I’m so sorry for this absolute monster of an ask, your blog just inspires me so much I’m such a big fan <33

WAAAAAAA oh my goodness these are absolutely phenomenal aaaAAAAA 🥺💖💖💖💖 rotating these in my mind forever now!!!

Thank you so so much for sharing these😭💖 Bby Astarion deserves all the coddling and loving praise aaaaAAAAAAAAA

#agere #age regression #sfw #fandom agere #mailbox #bg3 #Astarion #ageredips

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1941-crowley-slut · 7 months

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[ Personal ]

I said it yesterday but I didn't fully realize that even though nothing has happened, no fights have broken out, I don't even know if this is fully about me or if there are other things in play, the reason my body has been into fight or flight mode for nearly a day now and the reason I feel so absolutely terrible is because this situation is eerily reminding of my coming out (to my parents) experience. Easily most traumatizing period of my life and more similar than I realized. The silent treatment, the no one in the house showing any interest in me or caring about me, the sneaking in and out of my room to eat and go to the bathroom when no one's roaming freely in the house because I don't want to face them, the not knowing when someone will erupt, not knowing what I'm allowed to do and not and also being unable to ask, trying to stay strong to my beliefs and choices but ending up feeling like a huge disappointment anyway and like it'd be better if I just offed myself, everyone would be better like this.

I hate the power they have over me by simply saying nothing. I hate how much they're hurting me. I hate how much they hate me being a person of my own. It's clear they can't stand watching their baby grow into an adult so they just keep clipping my wings. I wasn't going to fly away immediately, but I need to learn how to so it can eventually happen. You can't learn how to fly with broken wings.

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newhologram · 1 year

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"wow im sowwy i have such low spoons i couldn't possibly put an image ID in my post, can someone else do it for me uwu"

just admit you don't give two shits about people who use screen readers. you wrote up a whole ass text post with an image but your energy magically stops when it's time to be inclusive? lmao no. if you can't spare the energy to add an ID to that then don't post it at all you fucking cunt. and you don't get to act like it's a massive fucking burden on you that you have to shove off to someone else. actually vile behaviour from someone who's literally complaining about ableism. i hate this shit ass community

^ So this is actually ableism. ^ Lots of very nasty ableist projecting here which is disappointing but quite common on this site.

Chronic pain, fatigue, and brain fog are a thing. Limitations are a thing. My pain and meds wrecking my cognitive function, my symptoms demanding I take a break so I don’t go into the red and puke are a thing. My very nerve pain from using my hands is literally why I had to give up so many things, and why I can’t edit or type that much in a given day. It’s called disability for a reason.

(I queue most posts after chipping away at them. Only some posts are spontaneous.)

This is why we even use the concept of spoons. If I need to stop and save spoons to drive an hour to my doctor appt, or even just save them to cook a meal later, then I HAVE to do that. And I’d rather post something and ask for assistance from others who feel up to it than have a post keep sitting in my drafts for months and months. I have 2 year old posts I just can’t get my brain working for.

You’re so close with “energy magically disappeared”—so close. Bc that’s actually how disability and chronic illness is. Moment to moment we don’t know how we’re going to feel or when we’ll need to take a break.

It’s so funny bc the reason my backlog has gotten so much bigger over the past 3 years is bc I take so long to subtitle clips and write ID’s.

I’m not mad at you, but boundary-wise, it isn’t okay for you to take out your frustration with the community on me just bc I’m an easy and accessible target to anon rage at. I would recommend talking about this stuff in your journal or with a trusted friend or mental health professional before running off to say mean things you may later feel bad about.

Thank you to those who have always helped to ID things without judgment or projection. It seriously means so much bc I’ve got a lot on my plate with my health and home and job rn. I’m grateful for your kindness and for you seeing me as human and not just a content creation machine. I’m glad to be part of a community that understands that it’s okay to ask for help and to help each other. I’m glad we don’t have this unhealthy mindset of “I MUST do it myself or I’m a bad person.”

🙏🏻💙🥄♿️✨

#ableism #internalized ableism #disability #chronic illness #spoonie #ask #anonymous #competing access needs

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watermelonsloth · 6 months

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Boruto Shipping Opinions

I’m gonna put a brief aside here to say two quick things to keep in mind before reading:

I am not going to go into great detail or analysis here because I’m holding off on that until the manga wraps up.

I am caught up with the manga, I am not caught up with the anime. I have watched up until the arc the new team 7 infiltrate a prison, the second chunin exams, and whatever clips/moments I’ve stumbled upon being discussed. I am not an avid fan, I do not know all the ins and outs of character dynamics, and I don’t even keep up with that part of the fandom. I have no horse in this race.

BoruSara

I don’t like this ship, and I don’t know if that’s an unpopular opinion. I’ll try to avoid saying “they have sibling vibes” or “they’re just friends” because, coming from someone who has used that excuse in the past, it is very difficult to explain/defend argument. So much so that now it just comes across as cheap to me.

I will, however, say that I don’t like it for the same reason I don’t like NejiTen. It comes across as “he was a boy, she was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious?” It feels like it stems from the idea that boys and girls can’t just be friends. If the dynamic was introduced with an edge of romance (like how Naruto and Sakura’s dynamic was introduced with Naruto having a crush on her), maybe it would be a different story. But as of right now, it feels like the fandom reading into something that doesn‘t need to be read into.

KawaSara

I hate to say this, but I’m guessing this ship stemmed from SasuSaku fans reading them as “next gen SasuSaku”. Look, everyone can ship whatever they want or choose to refrain from shipping, but I’m sick of the fandom projecting old ships on new dynamics. I have seen BoruSara compared to SNS, NaruSaku, and SasuSaku (for some reason). I have seen BoruSumi compared to NaruHina. I have seen MitsuSara compared to SasuSaku and SuiKarin. I have seen KawaSara compared to SasuSaku. Every single time I thought to myself, “The manga starts with Boruto asserting that he’s not his dad and this isn’t his dad’s story.” I get that comparisons will naturally arise since it’s a sequel series, but these kids are not carbon copies of their parents and they don’t have the same dynamics their parents did.

Now that my rant is out of the way, I think a hypothetical child between them having black hair with pink highlights would be cute and that’s about it.

MitsuSara

I wish these two had more of a dynamic. Both characters have interactions with Boruto and clear dynamics with him, but they don’t really have much going on with each other. They both have recognizable personalities, but they mellow each other out whenever they interact and it makes them boring (I’m guessing Ikemoto isn’t interested in them together). They also only tend to talk to each other about Boruto (at least in the manga). Say what you want about them, but at least Sasuke and Sakura had a dynamic.

Anyways, funny ha ha, Orochimaru gets an Uchiha in the way they least expected.

MitsuBoru

Gayer than any of the Naruto dynamics and that is saying something. However, I struggle to like the ship because I’m just so confused.

First, why does Boruto have so many lancer/foil/rival characters. Kawaki, Sarada, and Mitsuki all act as lancers. I get that writing doesn’t have to be formulaic, but they aren’t even all lancers to each other, having dynamics that bounce off of each other, they’re just lancers to Boruto. At least for me, it’s already gotten really boring and ends in the three’s dynamics with each other falling flat.

Second, the sun and moon symbolism makes no sense to me as a writing decision. The obvious problem is that it’s redundant; it’s already been used for multiple Naruto dynamics. The less obvious problem is that it contradicts Mitsuki’s manga introduction. Mitsuki was introduced as the middle between Boruto and Sarada’s two extremes, taking up a role similar to Sakura’s in the og team 7. If he’s supposed to be the moon to Boruto’s sun, why is he introduced to us as the earth? The admittedly more minor problem that distracts me is that Orochimaru was the one that Mitsuki down this road. Why? Orochimaru wasn’t redeemed by Naruto and has never shown interest in him or this philosophy before now. My best guess is that they’re fascinated by Naruto’s affect on Sasuke, but that still leaves me with questions.

It makes me think that the writer didn’t have any ideas when they introduced these two.

BoruSumi

I don’t like how the fandom is making another love square, but I doubt there’s anything I can do to stop them.

This ship is boring because Sumire is boring. That one anime arc made her interesting, but it’s referenced and relevant so rarely that she goes back to being boring. I’d like this more if the story let Sumire be morally gray or treated her like a redeemed villain more. As of right now, I think the only leg the ship has to stand on is writing tropes and I do not care.

KawaSumi

This ship feels like the product of the same people who ship SasuHina/SasuIno/SasuKarin/KibaHina out of spite. My last post/reblog went into why this happens but the short of it is that it’s easier to ship something in peace if the biggest “threats” to it are paired together. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I have a feeling most KawaSumi shippers also ship BoruSara.

KawaHima

Please… just stop. If not for yourself, then for me. I’m already barely coping with how popular NejiHina is. Why have I seen this as much as I have??? This feels like a personal attack on my sanity. They’re siblings.

Other

This is the section for all the ships I have little/no opinions on. I think MitsuCho is too boring for how popular it is, I think ChoSara should be more popular, I’m disturbed by all of the Eida x next gen ships because she looks and acts like an adult (at least how adults are portrayed in Boruto), and I’m surprised Code x Eida isn’t more popular, but I also think that Code has gotten the Kabuto treatment and isn’t very popular in the fandom.

The ships I haven’t mentioned I either have so little fucks to give or so little information on that I have ZERO thoughts about.

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