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riahlynn101 · 5 months

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Just wanted to say how much i appreciate your art and works. You write really, really well, and I’m no expert on that, but yes I can surely say this even as an amateur. You’re able to characterize the ones you write just in point, it’s as if you know them in real life, as if they were your friends or something. Please, keep doing what you do, I’m pretty sure there are a plenty of other people that enjoy your writing as much as I do. It’s so rewarding when I go to bed after a hard day and have one of your one-shots to read, it’s like I’m in another reality. Sorry if that sounds weird, I’m afraid I might sound a little crazy but I really like to encourage people, especially when it’s art related. Your art does touch people! And forgive me for any grammar mistakes, as English isn’t my first language

By the way, if that’s possible and if you would want to, would you ever do an schmelly one-shot about an “only one bed” prompt? It’s my favorite, I’d really like to see how they’d act. I know you don’t write smut, and I don’t want it either, so as long as you’re comfortable writing it, I’d really appreciate it 🥹

(AWWW <33 THANK YOU :D!! I really do appreciate that. I know I say it in a lot of my author’s notes, but I am really, truly grateful for all your guys’ support!!)

Sometimes I worry that my writing is trash. The plot makes no sense, or there are too many grammar mistakes, or the characters are…well….not in character. So, hearing that you like my writing makes me super happy :))

And it’s super kind of you to support/lift up artists and writers. There are too many people in this world that like to tear others down, so kudos to you for continuing to be kind and supportive <33

(And just as a little extra note: I think your English might be better than mine, and I say that as a native English-speaker. I mean that positively :D!! And I 100% guarantee that you write/speak English better than I could write/speak in your language, so take pride in that :))!!)

As for your request……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Word count: 1,417

Trigger warnings: implied/referenced kidnapping, implied childhood trauma - but both of those things aren't the focal point of the story.

Summary: What do you get when you add a snowstorm, a (nearly) booked out hotel, and Mike and Vanessa needing a room?

Answer - a hotel room with only one bed!

Snow as far as the eye can see. It comes down in clusters and catches on the wind, blanketing the ground in white. This isn’t abnormal for this time of year, and usually Mike and his sister waited for the first snowstorm with great anticipation. Her because it means Christmas is right around the corner. And Mike because it reminds him of Christmas’ past.

This year, however, he’s stuck driving in it. A last-minute trip a few hours away and a surprise blizzard don’t really mix. Maybe if he would have checked the weather channel one more time this could have been avoided.

“We should stop for tonight,” Vanessa says, always the voice of reason (for the most part). “I think I saw a sign for a hotel just up the road.”

Mike squints his eyes, leaning forward. He’s going ten under the speed limit, and that’s the only reason his pile-of-junk car hasn’t slid into the ditch. “Okay, I think I see it.”

Somehow, they make it in one piece into the motel’s tiny parking lot. It’s crowded, and it takes him a solid five minutes to find a spot. Apparently they aren’t the first people to need a room for the night.

“Do you think they have any rooms available?” Mike asks, gripping the steering wheel. The thought of bearing the cold is already making him chilly.

Always optimistic, Vanessa smiles. “I’m positive they can squeeze us in somewhere.”

-x-x-x-

“You two are in luck,” the receptionist-the stereotypical midwestern soccer mom-says, looking at her computer screen, “we have one room left.”

Both of them sigh in relief. The idea of trekking back out into the cold was daunting, and the idea of finding a different hotel is downright scary.

“We’ll take it,” Vanessa pipes up.

“Okey-dokey then. I just need you to sign here and date there.”

As Vanessa signs the logbook, the receptionist passes over a key for the room. “Are you two married?” She asks, conversationally. Though, Mike knows growing up around these types, that she’s just being nosy.

Vanessa shakes her head. “Oh, uh…no. Just friends.”

The woman laughs. “That’s what they all say.”

Face turning red, Vanessa scurries away from the desk, keys clutched in her hand. Mike follows behind her, not trusting himself to not glare at the woman.

They step into the elevator. “You okay?” He asks.

Vanessa’s face is still red, but she seems otherwise calm. But he wouldn’t be a good friend if he didn’t at least try. She clears her throat, shrugging her shoulders.

“I’m fine.”

The elevator doors open.

“So, what’s our room number?”

Vanessa holds the key up. “Uh….says 204. And judging by the positioning of the light, the direction of the wind, and my knowledge of the polar vortex it’s down the hallway to the right.”

He stands there, dumbstruck. “Wow, you actually know our room number from all that?”

She stares at him for a solid minute, not saying anything. “Yep. I definitely didn’t listen to the lady downstairs, and didn’t read the sign right in front of our faces.”

Mike turns slightly, and sure enough there’s a sign directing people to their rooms on the wall. 200-220 to the right and 221-241 to the left.

“Huh,” he says. “Well, I never said I had good reading comprehension skills.”

Vanessa smiles at that, but quickly turns away. “C’mon, I’m really tired.”

Thankfully, the rest of the trip to their room is uneventful. The hotel is eerily quiet, which is weird given that it’s full tonight. But with their luck, the minute they try to get some sleep, everyone and their mother will be causing a ruckus.

“This is it,” Vanessa says, indicating to a number plate on one of the doors.

Mike sighs. “Thank god. It’s been a long day.”

The room is pleasantly warm and smells of mothballs. It’s kind of small, not that they were expecting much. A bathroom that lacks a shower or bath, a closet that’s full of cleaning supplies, and a TV stand that lacks an actual television.

But the thing that gives them pause is none of those things. Instead, it’s the bed in the center of the room. The single bed.

Single as in only one.

They stand there in complete silence. Standing and staring. And then, staring some more.

“Well…” Mike starts, “I can…take the floor.”

Vanessa shakes her head. “No, the floor’s probably filthy. I’ll take the chair over there, and you take the bed.”

He scoffs. “I’m sure I’ve slept in worse places. Besides, you paid for this room. So, you get to sleep in the bed.”

“But….you drove us all the way to Utah and back, so really I owe you.”

They face each other.

“But the reason we went to Utah was for me, so really I owe you.” Mike hates the idea of sleeping in the chair or the floor for that matter, his back has enough problems without adding to them. But he also has the advantage of being imbued with an unholy amount of stubbornness.

Unfortunately, his opponent is Vanessa.

“Well, I’m not sleeping in the bed,” she says, throwing her hands up. “So, if you don’t, then I guess it’ll just go to waste.”

“I guess so,” he shoots back.

Vanessa rounds the bed, presumably to go sleep in the chair. (Another thing that there’s only one of.)

“What if…” he pauses, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the idea. Vanessa looks at him. “What if we shared the bed?”

“Share the bed?”

“Like I sleep on this side.” He points to the side closest to him. “And you sleep on that side?”

“Would you be okay with that?” Vanessa asks.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says, waving off her concern. “I’m more worried about you.”

“I’m fine. It’s not a bad idea, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Mike shrugs. “I mean as long as you’re okay with it, I’ll be fine.” And he would be. A lot of his discomfort comes from sleeping somewhere unfamiliar. Sure, he’s slept in a lot of different places, but never this far from home. After Garrett was taken, he grew to fear being away from his parents (and later Abby) for long periods of time.

“Okay,” she says, slipping off her shoes and climbing under the covers. She looks up at Mike expectantly. “Well?”

He takes a deep breath. “I have to call the house. The babysitter is probably expecting me back soon, and Abby will be upset if I don’t say goodnight.”

She nods, snuggling deeper into the covers.

-x-x-x-

Mike slinks back into the room. Thankfully, both the babysitter and Abby understood his predicament. Abby told him goodnight - which was sweet. And then, she started teasing Mike about his apparent “crush” (like he’s in middle school or something), to which he hung up.

He loves his little sister, but sometimes she drives him up a wall.

He slips into the bed, curling up. The blankets are scratchy and the pillows are lumpy, but Mike would be lying if he said he wasn’t half-asleep by the time his head hit the bed.

Next to him, Vanessa giggles.

“What?” He mutters, eyelids drooping.

“Nothing. Goodnight, Mike.”

“Yeah….goodnight to….” Before he can finish his thought, Mike is fast asleep. And not long after, Vanessa follows suit.

For the first time in a long time, their dreams are pleasant.

-x-x-x-

Mike is used to waking up with someone hanging off him. It’s a natural part of being a big brother. First with Garrett-who he shared a room with-and then with Abby, who always preferred his company, even before mom died and dad left.

What he’s not used to is the other person being taller than him, and having their chin rest on his head.

He panics, jerking backwards. Sadly, the bed's not big enough for the amount of panicking his sleep-addled brain is doing, and Mike very nearly tumbles to the floor. At the last possible second, a pair of arms save him, pulling him back.

Vanessa looks at him. He turns on his side, staring at her.

Without another word, they go right back to snuggling. Sure, it might be awkward in the morning, but that would be the future-them’s problem.

They fall asleep, curled up right next to each other. If their fingers wind up intertwined, or they end up snuggling in their sleep, well then, that’s no one else’s business but theirs.

#mike x vanessa #schmelly #fnaf au #fnaf fanfic #request fulfilled #requests open #Thank you so much for your patience <3 #cross posted on ao3 #mike schmidt #vanessa shelly #one bed trope #fnaf fic

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theguardiansofredland · 2 years

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Do you love the color of the sky?

#hermitcraft #mcyt #light of lairyon #hermitblr #grian #grianmc #LoL is back! my friend and I have escaped mcyt burnout!#have a Grian!#wizard au #wizard grian #there will be a new chapter tonight!#and I’ll be accepting requests and junk #thank you so much for your patience <3

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natterghast · 1 year

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@escapedartgeek moving this thread to beta editor !

Zora knows when something unusual about them was spotted, identified by someone who seemed to have his own peculiarities. Nothing like an almost conspiratorial kind of look to keep things interesting. Those kaleidoscope hues being something maybe they’d sketch around later.

“Heh, touche about that. why not at least try to win.“ With that they start playing, letting their gaze focus on the machine and moving their fingers, quickly, sharply so that they can clear the screen, building a rhythm for themselves. “Yeah. Not this one. You’re right about that. I am out of place. I find myself.. out of place on the regular these days. What about it?“

he watches zora play in their practiced way; the distractions of the arcade meld into this singular focus. his eyes, alight with the machine, don't stray from what's on screen but his smile renews like a rose with thorns.

“just curious, no need to get touchy. it just seemed obvious.” zelman chuckles to himself as zora clears another level. “I like interesting people. what's the point otherwise ? you seem cool, i'm looking forward to beating you in galaga.”

#IN CHARACTER ; zalman #escapedartgeek #thank you so much for your patience <3

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cualquiere · 2 months

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Valentin by Cualquiere

Hey! Happy Valentine's Day.

For this special day I have decided to share with you Valentin, a sim I have created with care and love, to thank you all for all the years we have spent together on Simblr.

In the link below, you'll find a .zip file containing his .sim, skin and eyes .package files, as well as a CC list so that he can look right in your game. Please read the included .txt file before anything to make sure everything is in order!

DOWNLOAD

Feel free to edit the sim and the provided CC as you wish, I will just ask you to credit the creators involved if you decide to make downloadable CC from these. More info in the .txt file.

#the sims 3 #sims 3 #ts3 #simblr #s3cc #the sims #sims #sims3 #male sim #sim: valentin #cualquiere #also thank you for your help and your patience!!!#i wanted so much to share a sim with you and thought that feb 14 would be a good date to do so lol!#queued post

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carnivalcarriondiscarded · 5 months

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come get yer Laughin'stock! get it hot off the press! free Laughin'stock right here!

#biting and ripping and tearing and maiming and wailing and sobbing and flopping around like a dying fish #Thank You to this round of requesters! banger ideas the lot of you!#this lil 'excersize' made my night a lot better <3 #all of these were so much fun to do #the tango one and the winter one especially!#if you dont see yours here have Patience!#im not done!#scribble salad #laughingstock #barnaby x howdy #howdy x barnaby #ive actually thought soooo much about them getting married and how they'd go about it #and each time i come to the same conclusion #on the day of. like ten minutes before theyre supposed to walk down the aisle #howdy bursts into wherever barnaby is waiting and is like 'this is a hassle - lets skip this show'#and barnaby is all I Thought You'd Never Ask <3 #so they straight up run away from their own wedding. hand in hand and laughing like idiots #exchanging rings in the woods and sneaking things from the bodega for a picnic #in a more modern setting i imagine theyd just sign marriage paperwork at a courthouse #and then go to the nearest high-rated cheap diner #hard cut to everyone at the venue like 'where the fuck are they???'#finally frank notices that the ring pillow wally is holding is devoid of rings. where did they go. shrug #actually in a modern setting i think theyd skip the actual wedding altogether #too much money + too much effort #the store closes for a few days and then they show up on monday with rings nbd

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zu-is-here · 1 year

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Do Dream and Cross ever go out to family date night with Aim? It would be super cute.

[12/12] Happy birthday to the boi ♡

And thank you guys SO much for 12 000+!! (٭°̧̧̧ω°̧̧̧٭)˚✧₊⁎

#zu art #comic #post dark cream #aim!sans #dream!sans #cross!sans #undertale #undertale au #utmv #birthday #I planned to draw it a looong time ago (thanks to your asks <3)#but decided to make it a birthday gift >:D (it's not even winter but still xd)#as for the number—#I wanted to say so much but I'm literally speechless (//∇//) lots of thanks to each of you for being here and enjoying things together!! <3 #be back soon— thank you guys for patience!╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

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sneezypeasy · 2 years

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Original Script Analysis, Part 1: Kataang Is Better... And Also Worse.

I want to start this off by saying that when it comes to media analysis, I personally don’t tend to give authorial intent a significant amount of weight – at least, not by default. I understand why authorial intent is so often debated among media analysts, and why so many metas and critiques often hinge their arguments on paratextual information that serves to provide potential insight on what the authors were thinking or planning. But I myself tend to follow more of a “Death of the Author” framework. There are some exceptions, such as when I believe the author’s stated intent – or even details such as their background, life experiences, advocacy etc – has bled through their work so heavily that it becomes impossible to ignore its impact on the final product. (E.g., reading Fyodor Dostoyevsky compare murder to state-ordered execution, it is hard not to contextualise the passage with the knowledge that Dostoyevsky himself faced a firing squad and was given a pardon at the very last minute). Even then, I tend to treat paratextual information like – Understanding the context behind x scene or y narrative choice potentially adds a layer of meaning to it, particularly why some scenes may have been framed the way they were, or why the author chose to tell/expand/conclude the story like this instead of like that. I use paratextual information to deepen my understanding of the author’s reasonings behind their choices. I don’t use paratextual information to form my opinion on whether their choices were good.

(I prefer to form my own opinion on that, based on what I think of the text itself.)

That being said, like most of you readers I too had heard the many rumours surrounding the writing/production process behind ATLA, especially when it came to the ships. Which ship, if any, was planned for, when were the romance arcs finally decided, were there conflicts/disagreements between writers, were there script changes and animation edits to strengthen one pairing while weakening other, and so on and so on. I’d heard the rumour that The Southern Raiders went through multiple rewrites/changes, because it was originally “too shippy”. I’d heard the rumours that Aaron and Elizabeth were pro-Zutara, Bryan and Mike were pro-Kataang, and that their respective positions/opinions on these two pairings seep through their writing in an acutely perceptible way.

I’d also heard the counter-argument, the official narrative endorsed by the creators that any chemistry or subtext between Zuko and Katara was always intended to be platonic, and that readers who saw anything romantic between these two characters were simply setting themselves up for disappointment by projecting their own expectations or preferences onto the show, nothing more.

Over the past 15 years or so, these debates shaped much of the ATLA “shipping discourse”, sometimes even dominating discussion on the subject. I myself have gotten many a variant of “Zutara was never going to happen, get over it” – even when I’ve made a deliberate effort to omit any mention of authorial intent in my analyses, because, as I’ve said, I still don’t consider that kind of paratextual information relevant to my own opinions on why I think Zutara just works better. But given the intensity of the arguments surrounding behind-the-scenes shenanigans, their impact on the final product, and even their supposed significance in determining shipping validity, it was impossible not to wonder at the truth behind all these conflicting rumours.

So when I set foot in the WGF, it was admittedly difficult to contain my bubbling excitement and anticipation. Even still, I resolved to keep my expectations low. Rumours are rumours, after all. Secondary sources must always be taken with a healthy grain of salt, and some of the rumours weren’t even second-hand information at that. And I already knew that no matter what I found, my own opinion that Zutara is the best love story almost written, would not change.

All that said and done, let’s just say that I found the discovery... highly rewarding, and for those of you who have spent years refusing to accept that you were just “reading into things”, I hope my findings bring you some long-awaited vindication.

There are two other disclaimers I need to get through before we continue:

1) The Writers Guild Foundation is not a lending library. You may make an appointment to view the scripts in person, and you are allowed to take notes and manually copy as much as you like. But you will not find copies of their scripts online, and photos and screenshots are strictly prohibited. From what I understand it’s a copyright issue. Legally I’m fairly certain that embedding photos in this post and accompanying it with critique and analysis would/should count as “Fair Use”; however, I know that at some point I’d like to be able to return to the library, and I don’t want to risk being blacklisted for not following their rules.

As such, all the images embedded in this post are reproductions of snippets that I had to manually copy and type up, word for word. It was slow work, so as much as I’d love to be able to just plop the entire script of The Southern Raiders (or any ATLA episode) here for you to read, I had to narrow my focus a fair bit. I mainly noted down, in order of significance:

additions, omissions or changes in the original script compared to the show

bits where the writer’s notes/storyboard directions contained insights or descriptions that I found interesting, surprising, or just plain funny

scenes that weren’t really all that different or unexpected, but we love to see it in writing anyway (ahem Crossroads of Destiny *cough*)

I’m sure there’s a lot that I still managed to miss - even visiting over two days, I couldn’t read every episode. I highly encourage Zutarians living in or near LA to make an appointment and read the scripts for yourselves. You’ll be able to see more than what I’ve posted here, and you might even unearth some goodies that escaped my notice.

(Credit goes to @lady-of-bath for taking my boatload of notes and reformatting them to look like scripts again ❤)

(Also apologies that some passages are split across two images; that just means they were long enough that they spanned two pages and I couldn’t be bothered splicing them back together so I just embedded them here as separate image files. I promise I didn’t cut/remove anything; images not separated by a line of dashes should be read as one continuous snippet 😊).

2) The second thing I ought to clarify is that, from my understanding, the drafts I read were final drafts. These were scripts submitted to the guild just prior to storyboarding, voice acting, animating etc. As I read them, I noticed that the only changes to the script that I could tell were non-dialogue related - so things like, descriptions of the characters’ actions, movements, facial expressions/body language, what you can or can’t see in the shot, etc. Otherwise, voice lines have been essentially kept intact. This suggests to me that the changes made to the script after submission to the guild, were also made after lines had been recorded, possibly even after scenes had been storyboarded. It also suggests that the scripts the voice actors read were the same ones I read in that library. (There is one notable exception that I found, a very interesting exception in my opinion, which we’ll get to later.)

While I would have loved to have seen the earlier drafts, to be able to see how the script changed with each revision (including revisions made to the dialogue prior to voice recording), it’s my understanding that the guild rarely ever receives these scripts, and such was the case again this time. I did also have a look to see if they had the ATLA Series Bible, but unfortunately that hadn’t been submitted either. It is what it is. Still, I’m not mad about what I found. :)

And on that note - ONTO THE SCRIPTS!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m going to start off by defending Kataang a bit here. (I know, I know. Don’t worry, we’ll get to the juicy Zutara stuff in due course.) In my 2 hour long video analysis I talked about lack of development being one of the biggest structural problems with Kataang as a ship. Specifically, I showed how you can take the scenes that we know to be “Kataang scenes”, jumble them up so that they appear in a different order than they do in the show, and the end result still makes just as much narrative sense - or maybe even more sense than they did in the show.

Interestingly, the original scripts for these scenes do not fail this test - at least, I don’t think they do. Let’s start at the very beginning:

It’s love at first sight for Aang, which we all knew already. For Katara, it’s less “love” and more “wonder”. But it’s a powerful meeting for both of them. Honestly, this isn’t all that different from how I perceived this scene on television when I watched it.

Let’s continue with the Fortuneteller:

Okay, so again, roughly what we see on television. Katara realizes Aang could be who Aunt Wu was referring to, and is unsure what to make of this. Fair.

Next, the Cave of Two Lovers:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unlike in the show, Katara doesn’t blush in this script (I also checked the ending of the script where I remember her blushing again in the show, but the script doesn’t mention any blush, anywhere). However, Katara seems to be taking the possibility of Aang as a love interest a little bit more seriously here. In the show version, they hug, Aang seems a little awkward and is clearly hoping for some closure/confirmation of where they now stand, but Katara doesn’t seem to spare it a second thought - she just yeets it out of there. The slow parting and the “awkward look” these kids share in the script suggests, at least to me, that script!Katara is placing more weight on what just happened than show!Katara does, and she at least seems aware, maybe even nervous, of the fact that sharing a maybe-kiss in a secret love cave might do something to their dynamic that she’s not sure how she feels about yet.

The divergences get more interesting now. Enter The Earth King scene, where Aang attempts to confess his feelings to Katara:

“They both know what he's about to say.”

WELL. Not only did they cut out the “he looks her directly in the eyes” part, but they completely took out any shot that might have indicated a mutual understanding between them, as was written in the script. Instead, we get a deer-in-the-headlights look from Katara, then her head cocks to the side “What is it, Aang?” and then… nothing. Everything about her body language on screen is written to suggest she either has no idea what’s coming, or is doing a great job of playing coy about it.

The cheek-kiss is intact in both versions, however. Let’s keep going.

I didn’t take notes on the Headband. I probably should have, but I didn’t bother because there weren’t really any notable differences between the script version and the show version. What you see is basically what you get - Aang dances with On Ji, Katara is agitated but acts aloof, Aang invites her to dance, she hesitantly accepts, they dance and it’s all very cute. She says “that was some dance party, Aang” and gives him another cheek-kiss at the end. If there were any differences from script to screen, I didn’t spot them.

But there was a pretty big difference for Day of Black Sun:

(By the way, this confirms an earlier version of the rumour that had been based on alleged edits made fairly late in the storyboarding process. Credit to @lady-of-bath for procuring this receipt).

So, what I’m basically getting here is that, in the original script, up until the midpoint of Season 3, the writing was originally heading towards a Kataang conclusion. And actually - you may disagree with me here but you know what? I actually don’t hate this version of Kataang. (So far, anyway).

There were two main issues I had with Kataang - the structure/pacing of it was all over the place, and on a deeper level I felt that the conflict they set up regarding Aang’s character arc and “letting Katara go” were not properly resolved in the show, leading to a lack of cohesion in the storytelling.

Combing through these passages, script!Katara reads way more natural and realistic, to me, than show!Katara. Let’s look at the progression here, from Katara’s side:

She meets an “adorable” boy and forms an instant attachment to him

She sees their dynamic as platonic until a comment from Sokka makes her question whether it will always be so in the future. She doesn’t quite know what to make of this at the time.

She shares a maybe-kiss with him in a secret love cave, and seems to be aware/nervous that their dynamic may change as a result.

Some time later, he works up the courage to confess his feelings with her, and the script makes it clear that she understands what he’s trying to say and may even have been anticipating it.

They go to a party where Katara is moody seeing Aang dance with someone else. Then Aang asks Katara onto the floor, and they dance, and Katara seems genuinely pleased/delighted.

Finally, just before the eclipse, he kisses her. She may not have been expecting it, but her reaction (smiling after him as he flies away) shows she didn’t see it as unwelcome.

If Kataang were actually written like this, I think that would solve the structural problems of the ship that really bothered me, and I probably wouldn’t have stopped shipping them. It’s very clear to me that taking any of these scenes, as written, and jumbling them out of order, would completely mess up the steady (if subtle) progression of Katara 1) seeing Aang as a potential love interest, 2) understanding he sees her as one, and finally 3) realising she does actually return his feelings.

It also makes Katara feel much more like a real person, and less of an objective for Aang to try to reach in a “two steps forward, one step back” sort of situation.

I think, even then, I still would have shipped Zutara as well, because I don’t think the symbolism and depth to Zutara can be beat. But I’m pretty sure I would have kept a soft spot for Kataang, for the fluff. At least, I wouldn’t be strongly opposed to it. My position would likely be “eh, there’s flaws, and it probably could have been written better, and I think writing Zutara instead would have been more compelling and thematically satisfying but you know what, this is cute. I get it.”

Of course, that’s before we get to the second half of Season 3, where Kataang goes from oscillating in place to taking a nose-dive out of ... nowhere.

And in a way that seems to seriously contrast with how the ship had been written from Cave of Two Lovers to Day of Black Sun, the downward spiral of Kataang coinciding with a deepening friendship/connection for Zutara - seems to be exacerbated in the original script.

Remember how uncomfortable it was to watch Ember Island Players in the show?

...

It’s quite a bit worse here.

Aang comes off significantly less sympathetic in this version of the episode. Here he is, looking at Katara “accusingly”, and even “glaring” at her, because the actress playing her on stage is flirting with actor!Zuko. Why is he so angry, and at her? And meanwhile, she “pretends not to notice”? Ick.

I’ll be honest, I never had a strong opinion of Aang being “possessive” in this scene. I understand why other people did, and I totally see where they’re coming from with that. Personally though, I kind of gave him the benefit of the doubt and just perceived him as immature, not really getting it, and I always perceived his jealousy to be more hapless than disturbing. This is just my personal opinion, but I felt that their clash in this episode was more indicative of a lack of compatibility and understanding between them than anything else, and obviously I think the non-con kiss was wrong, but generally I didn’t think the kid had bad intentions - I just saw him as... too young, to be honest. He did get pushy and demanding, and either way Katara deserved better, but with Aang, I kind of understood it to be stemming from hope/desperation rather than anger/entitlement.

The writing here, however, does not leave room for me to be charitable. Aang hearing Actor!Zuko suggest that Katara was supposed to be “the Avatar’s girl”, and glaring at Katara as if to say “Yeah!” - I don’t know how to read this as anything other than possessiveness. Yikes on a cracker.

ALSO, did you notice that Zuko and Katara don’t scoot away from each other in this version? Read it again; the absence of that bit escaped me on my first read-through. (Credit to @zutarawasrobbed for spotting that difference!) Zuko and Katara are still sitting next to each other here (the earlier “I wanted to sit here/Just sit next to me, what’s the big deal?” scene is still intact), and all it says about Katara is that she’s pretending not to notice Aang simmering at her from two seats away. Wow.

The non-con kiss is kept intact and most of it is just dialogue so there isn’t much deeper insight to gain from the script, though again, Aang comes off more explicitly volatile/angry at the end of it:

Later, Aang rejoins the group in the theater, and sees Actress!Katara reach a goofy platonic understanding with Actress!Aang, and reacts to this with chagrin and embarrassment. There is no reference to Katara averting her gaze from the screen in a sad or awkward manner, as how she does in the show.

Overall, I find that Kataang looks worse here, a lot worse than in the show. The omission of Zuko and Katara’s “awkward scoot” is intriguing as well. To be honest, I never perceived “the scoot” to be explicit confirmation or denial of any potential attraction between them (that clip can genuinely be read two ways depending on what trope you’re trying to invoke; neither are inherently invalid), however, the fact that it wasn’t originally written but was added in later... that’s interesting.

Some of you might be forming some opinions by this point. I have some of my own as well, though I want to hold off on them for now. Let’s have a bit of a palate-cleanser with the snippet of Zuko sharing some vulnerability with Katara before we move on:

❤

Now I am going a bit out of order here - I know that EIP actually happens after The Boiling Rock/The Southern Raiders, but as I was already on the topic of the Kataang arc, I decided to continue with that before I delved into the other episodes. So now we’re going back a little bit, chronologically.

(Also, you know me, gotta save the best for last 😉)

Ultimately I had a very brief look through The Boiling Rock, and nothing really jumped out at me - except for this bit:

I can’t be the only one tickled at the idea that Zuko just yeets himself out of that prison cell and doesn’t seem to spare Mai a second thought 😂 (if you’ll recall, the show has the two of them share a glance through the cell window after Mai yells “Get off of me!”; Zuko looks apparently apologetic/sad while Mai just glares at him). I know people have pointed out how amusing it is that Zuko seems to forget about Mai completely after TBR, right up until their last scene together, but the way this scene is scripted here just makes it even funnier to me.

But I know which episode it is that you guys all want to read.

*record scratch*

Oh ho HO, what have we here Elizabeth Ehasz 😉

Next up - Part 2: The Southern Raiders, The Finale, and What I Think About it All

#atla #atla original scripts #zutara #kataang critical #writers guild foundation #part 1 of probably 3 parts #will try to get out part 2 asap #thank you so much for your wonderful patience #stay tuned!#text post #long post

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robobbin · 4 months

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Happy (slightly late) New Year's to @fic-and-art-for-ships!!

This is my gift for @utsecretsanta 2023, I love circus AUs and the Circus-swap AU is so cute! I adore Frisks design so much ♡ ～('▽^人)

#i really hope you like it!#also forgive me for the late arrival of your gift i had a huge incident with my shitty computer QWQ #but hey! I had as lot of fun redrawing it anyways haha! :D #my doodles #utss #utss 2023 #undertale secret santa #underswap #us sans #circuswap #frans #i adore frans when frisk is aged up to an appropriate age and this is just mwuah!#so adorable i mean just look at them QwQ <3 #their HAIR too augh i love it half up makes my brain go brrrr #this was genuinely so much fun thank you for your patience!!#underswap sans

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yuriyuruandyuraart · 7 months

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sunset

#art #illustration #my art #utmv #ink sans #ink!sans #ink #fem!ink #i may have a problem with drawing backgrounds that don't involve clouds but SHHHH the sky is too pretty not to drawww<3 #i missed drawing ink :'((( he was my very first introduction to the utmv fandom AND the first human and fem version i ever drew #idk his colors make me wanna scratch walls they're so warm and brown....i had to draw her at least ONCE this month as a small nod #cause i never once participated in an inktober sobbing crying ghghg october is SUCH a busy month for me :'D #if you think it looks similar to the cross painting i did a while ago it's actually kinda intentional!! this was the first sketch version #decided to remold it into something usable hhh i'm pretty proud of it ngl!!!#thank you all so much for your patience muah muah have an amazing day<3333

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awkwardtickleetoo · 25 days

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Ler!Sapnap Week Day 1 - Antsy

heyyyy……… in the midst of a we’re so over… came an indescribable… we’re so back…. (kinda)

so!! this is a fic for @sleepy--anon ‘s ler!sapnap week!!! woooo!!!! i know it’s a little bit late, but better late than never, right?? and i have two other ones for ler!sap week coming out as soon as i get them finished so it’ll basically be like its on time <3

this is for day 1’s prompt which is antsy!! make sure you check out the original post here, and make sure you show sleepy your love and support for putting this week together in the first place!!! thank you so much sleepy for working so hard to make this a thing, i am very excited to read what you and everyone else wrote, and for you to see what i have planned :D without further ado, let’s get into day 1!!

ler!sapnap, lee!dream, 1.3k words

enjoy!

“Dream?” Sapnap called out as he walked in the front door of their home, phone camera pointed at the floor.

“Yeah?” Dream’s voice called back to him distantly, a layer of nerves apparent in the word.

“Clay?” Sapnap called again, his tone more teasy and knowing as Dream stepped into the room, a wide smile and anxious expression on his face.

“Oh god…” He grumbled, fidgeting with his fingers and slowly stepping closer to Sapnap.

“He's here,” Sapnap confirmed Dream’s suspicions, making his smile grow wider as he groaned, throwing his hands over his face and bouncing on the balls of his feet. Sapnap chuckled at his reaction, smiling at his already flushed cheeks as he dropped his hands down by his sides and looked over at Sapnap with wide, anticipating eyes. “Are you excited?” He asked, adjusting the camera in his hands, still keeping it pointed at their shoes, not wanting to overwhelm Dream by shoving a camera in his face during such an intense moment, even though he was aware it was recording.

“I am… very nervous!” Dream said, voice high pitched and wavering, taking in a shaky breath and falling into nervous, fluttery laughter afterwards. Sapnap laughed fondly at his reaction again, his eyebrows furrowing at how excited and downright adorable his best friend was acting.

“Nervous and excited!” Sapnap supplied helpfully, reaching out to rub his palm over Dream’s forearm to comfort him, swinging his arm side to side to release some of the tension he held in his body. Dream laughed, light and breathy, the butterflies clearly bubbling up in his chest, showcased by his unsure voice and antsy movements, unable to stand still. He nodded at Sapnap’s words, tapping the toe of his shoe against the floor, then his heels, then hopping up and down a few times all together, his shoes squeaking against the floor with his anxieties.

“I’m nervous, but I’m excited, I’m– I’m doing… excited hops,” Dream explained, continuing his hopping in place, biting his lip to hold back his cheek-splitting smile. Between hops, he stayed on his toes, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, trying to loosen himself up and calm down his tense body. Sapnap cooed fondly at him, squeezing his arm where his hand still rested, unable to hold back the feeling of what could only be called cute aggression he was feeling for the other boy. How could Dream be this adorable? It was just unfair.

“You’re so fucking cute, Dream,” He said, unable to help himself, yanking Dream closer to him by his wrist and looping his arm around Dream’s waist. Dream squealed at his actions, letting Sapnap tuck himself into his side and rest his hand on his hip, breaking out into giggles.

“Shut up, you,” Dream replied, but he wrapped his arms around Sapnap’s shoulders, resting his cheek on Sapnap’s head. Despite everything, his body relaxed in Sapnap’s hold, the comforting hug being exactly what he needed at that time. He had never been more grateful to have someone like Sapnap in his life. He would be sure to tell him that once everything settled down more.

“I can’t! You just– you’re just like– I don’t know! You’re just being so cute, I hate you!” Sapnap expressed, tightening his arm around Dream and squeezing him tighter, giggling and looking up at Dream as he broke into soft giggles again. “Fuck, I just like– I wanna, like–“ Sapnap stammered, unable to find the right words to describe how he felt, instead deciding to progress with actions. Suddenly, he latched his hand onto the spot above Dream’s hip, squeezing the spot mercilessly and holding Dream close against him so he couldn’t push away. Dream gasped, his whole body tensing again, letting out a squeal as he flinched away from the feeling, but found himself going nowhere at all.

“AH– no! Nononono, noho!” Dream protested, pulling his arms back and pushing at Sapnap’s shoulders, leaning away from him to try and shove him off, but his arm was too firm around his waist. “Sapnahahap!”

“I can’t help it, you're just too adorable!”

“Stohohohop!” Dream shook his head at the feeling, loose curls falling over his face. Sapnap giggled at him, pushing his arm further around his waist, the tips of his fingers able to reach his lower tummy, scratching and wiggling just outside his belly button over his thin shirt, making him squeal. He tried to twist away, arching his back and sucking in his stomach as he pushed back into Sapnap, but Sapnap didn’t budge. Dream pushed at Sapnap’s arm, smacking his hand lightly as he tried to pry it off him, but his attempts were futile due to his weakened state, and all he could do was squirm in Sapnap’s arms as his little hops returned.

“Aw, where you goin’, cutie?” Sapnap pulled Dream closer, his side pressed into his chest now, and pressed the back of his other hand into Dream’s opposite hip to keep him in place, as much as he could without letting go of the phone he was still holding.

“Sahahap–! Thehehe– the vihideohoho!” He reminded, attempting to push the phone away instead, his laughter turning hiccupy when Sapnap pulled his hand back and turned Dream more, now able to grab onto his other side and squeeze above his hip there as well, keeping the phone out of his reach.

“Oh, I know, George is gonna love this,” Sapnap teased, pulling Dream backwards into him as he continued to tickle him to pieces.

“Nohohoho!” Dream protested, his legs growing shaky from having to lean due to the way Sapnap was holding him, and he stomped his foot on the ground to try to regain some stability. Sapnap decided to take pity on him, stopping the tickling and pushing forward to help Dream stand again, keeping his arm around his waist as Dream caught his breath.

“Okay, okay, I’m done. You were just being so cute I couldn’t help it. You understand,” He explained, going back to Dream’s side once he was stable again and hugging him properly, the way they’d started. Dream scoffed at his words, rolling his eyes, but he hugged Sapnap back tightly anyway. “Besides, you can’t say it didn’t loosen you up.”

“You’re so dumb,” Dream replied fondly, earning a soft hum of ‘mhmmm’ in return from Sapnap. He pressed a soft kiss to Sapnap’s head, and they stood in silence for a few moments, before Sapnap seemed to remember that he did, in fact, have a reason for coming inside, and they probably shouldn’t keep George waiting much longer.

“Alright,” Sapnap whispered as he pulled back from the hug, adjusting the sleeves of his hoodie and switching his phone to the opposite hand, making sure everything was still set up to continue recording for George. “C’mon, cutie, let’s go outside,” Sapnap said, reaching up and fixing a stray few pieces of hair that were out of place, slightly tousled from his movements.

“I need a minute! I need a minute, let– let me collect myself,” Dream said, his nerves coming back in full force, his eyes wide and unsure as he let out a soft breath to try and relax.

“That’s okay! Take your time! This is a big day. We’ll wait outside for you, as long as you need,” Sapnap reassured, rubbing up and down Dream’s arm as the other boy placed a hand on his stomach, seemingly trying to quell the butterflies that arose inside very quickly.

“Okay, okay…” Dream nodded, and Sapnap nodded as well, patting Dream’s arm before turning to walk towards the door. “Hey,” Dream said before Sapnap left, looking at him with a soft smile when he turned around. “Thank you. For everything,” He said quietly, and Sapnap smiled back at him just as fondly.

“Of course. I wouldn’t wanna do this with anyone else.” And with that, Sapnap made his way back through the front door and outside to wait with George, bringing the camera back up in front of him, ready to continue on with the beginning of the rest of their lives.

#ler!sapnap #lee!dream #cals writing #sleepy anon #sleepy’s ler!sapnap week #sleepy thank you again for your patience #i know your week kinda got ruined but i really appre you sticking through everything and letting me still add on even if im late to it #we really really appreciate you <3 and i hope you like this #i think it turned out really cute :(#i love dreamnap and i love meetup dteam so much #face reveal dream you are like a precious baby deer to me #just learning how to walk…..#i hope everyone enjoys this!!

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zackmartin · 28 days

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surprise gift for @ciara-knightly 🎁 (★☆★)

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skeletoninthemelonland · 10 months

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Just a small announcement. I’ll be mass deleting asks and restarting all over.

If you have asks related to Behind The Codes, please send them here.

I apologize for the delay!

#just a quick observation here #last time i mass deleted asks (a few months ago i think) someone thought i was trying to ignore them and continued to spam #i can be online but not check the inbox or DMs #I might reply to 2 or 3 asks on a day. then 5 next day. maybe do an art request #i'm not objectively trying to ignore anyone specificically.#Really. some people just don't want to be constantly available.#---#just checked it before deleting...#thank you for your patience and for your kind messages! I really appreciate the time your took to write them and-#-i'm sorry for not answering them on the day they were sent. still i thank you so much for sending them! <3 #starbstalks #announcement

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queenofbaws · 20 days

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Hacketteers but what if we threw them into dragon riding school? 👀

catch me catching up on some not-quite-six sentence sat(or)sunday!

The day had been overcast from the start, heavy grey clouds obscuring the sun, but as the creature's great wings beat at the air, even nature itself took notice. Thin shafts of light, almost angelic in their radiance, shot down from between the rifts torn in the gathering storm. The world seemed to shake - or maybe just shiver - as it landed on the rocky shore, a mountain made of oil slicks, its scales shining sometimes black, sometimes green, sometimes colors none of them had names for.

Slowly, tentatively, the first of the students held his hand out, feeling an instantaneous bond as the dragon's molten eyes met his. It was in that moment, as though through telepathy, he knew its name:

"Brandomere Asskickeous VII."

***

"Jacob, you said you were going to take this seriously."

Immediately on the defensive, his hands shot up. He cast quick, friendly glances around the picnic table, meeting the other counselors' exasperated eyes with a grin with maybe just a touch too much mischief to come across as earnest. "I am! I am taking this seriously! Look man, you said we got to make our own characters, right? And I wanted to make sure my dragon was the one with the coolest, strongest name - everyone knows that's how this make-it-up crap works."

"Your idea of the coolest, strongest name for a dragon was Brandon Asskickeous?" Dylan set his chin on his hand, narrowing his eyes as he watched Jacob from across the table. "You should be studied, man. In a lab. Like, with a microscope or something."

"First of all," he cut back in, pointing with his pointer finger like some kind of pointy poindexter before someone laughed a little too loud and he decided a different finger was in order. "It was Brandomere Asskickeous the seventh, he's part of a long line of incredibly strong, incredibly powerful dragon wizards - "

From where he'd put his head down on the table, his arms wrapped around himself, Ryan groaned, "That's not a thing."

" - and second of all, I'm not sitting here judging your dragon names, so maybe, uh, what's the word I'm looking for here...oh, right, shut the hell up."

Scooching down lower in her seat, Abi gave Ryan a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Um, I'm not saying this to rub it in or anything, but...we did sort of say something like this would happen."

"Hey, are we gonna keep going or not?" Nick asked, his character sheet already a mess of doodles, scribbles, and hash marks. "Don't get me wrong, it's gonna be hard to top Jacob's dragon, but...I think mine might just take the cake."

"It's not a competition!" Rising up from his defeated slouch, Ryan cast an exhausted look out at their little gathering. Why had he thought this was going to be a good idea? Of all the bonding activities he could've come up with, why had a tabletop game been the choice he'd gone with? Genuinely, he couldn't remember. "The point of the game is to, y'know. Explore new worlds. Interact with cool characters. Solve puzzles. No one's dragon gets to automatically be the strongest - no matter what its name is."

Already Jacob and Nick were opening their mouths, no doubt to pick up where they'd left off, but Emma beat them to the punch. "Well I for one can't wait for you guys to meet my dragon, Daisybelle, so all in favor of us getting back to Ryan's masterful storytelling, say aye!"

Much to Jacob's chagrin, the ayes had it.

***

The air filled with a thick, oppressive heat as another dragon joined the first, immediately causing the gathered students to fan themselves as they sweat. Everywhere they looked, there was only the wavering lines of heat mirage, and the warning sizzle of raindrops not allowed to reach the ground.

At first, no one moved - no one thought they could. Such a presence would burn them alive, char them to a crisp if they ventured too close. But then, cautious but determined, a girl stepped forward and the heat dissipated like fever breaking. She set her hand on the dragon's amber snout, and again, its name formed in her mind.

"Trogdor the Burninator."

***

"KAITLYN!" The table erupted into chaos as Ryan threw his arms into the air, and while there were decidedly more groans than laughs, it sure didn't feel like any of them were on his side.

"What?" she asked, assuming the same defensive posture Jacob had before, her hands raised, her shoulders high, her face slack with fake innocence. "I thought it was a solid choice!"

Covering her mouth and nose to hide some of her snort-laughing, Emma fell against Abi's side. "What kind of name is that?!"

"Hey now, I'll have you know Trogdor is pretty much the name when it comes to dragons, okay? It's basically historical."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, see, I can tell you guys aren't dragon experts like me and Jake, so I'll let you in on the secret." Kaitlyn folded her arms on the table, then leaned in closer, widening her eyes dramatically. "Trogdor was a man. Well, he was a dragon man. ...or you know what? Maybe he was just a dragon. But he was still - "

And then, not just to Ryan's surprise but everyone's, she and Jacob popped up from their seats, whipping out what might've been fairly impressive air-guitar solos had they not been accompanied by them both shouting "TROGDOOOR!" at the top of their lungs.

Ryan put his head back on the table. He tried desperately to continue his narration.

***

Then there came a rumbling from the sea, as though some kind of -

***

"This seems like a bad time to reveal that my whole thing was going to be, like, a super edgelord version of Barney, huh?"

"Dylan. Barney's a dinosaur."

"Uh, okay, Abigail, what do you think dragons are?"

"They're...they're not dinosaurs! I...wait, are they?"

Knowing this was a battle he'd already lost, Ryan propped his head up on his hands. "Anyone else have a super hilarious dragon idea they can't wait to share?"

There was a beat of silence, and then Nick smiled sheepishly. "Uh...Toothless? From...y'know...How to Train Your Dragon?"

After another beat, Abi pulled her sketchbook up from off her lap, turning it around to reveal a startlingly gorgeous sketch of a stylized...

Wait.

"Um...mine's also...Toothless. Actually."

Emma clasped her hands together, leaning that much farther into Abi. "Oh my gosssh, you guys are so in-sync! Imagine that. Huh. You're like, dragon soulmates or something."

***

Once every student had their dragon, it came time for them to take to the skies. Only some of them, they had been warned, would survive this trial, and -

***

"Hey, uh, pardon me for party pooping, but...what is it exactly that you kids are doing right now? In the middle of the night? Besides eating...all of the trail mix, that is?"

There was a chorus of "Hi Mr. H!"es (and more than a few muffled giggles) as Chris came out of his office to stand by their table, arms folded and expression perplexed. No one rushed to answer him, though, which...well, that just figured, didn't it?

"We're playing a game," Abi said quickly upon realizing no one else was stepping forward. "Sorry if we were being loud."

"Trying to," Ryan corrected her, "we were trying to play a game. A TTRPG."

"Uh. Huh. Well NGL that sounds like a BFG, but FYI and JSYK, you guys GTG. To bed. It's late, and the last thing I need is you guys being all groggy-eyed for the scavenger hunt tomorrow. So quit ROFLing and GTFO, you know?" Clearly proud of himself, Chris gave a little chuckle.

"Sorry Ryan," Abi said, tucking her sketchbook back into her bag. "Maybe we'll actually, um, get to the dragon riding part next time!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait, there are dragons in your game?" Chris asked. "You mean like Trogdor?"

"Yeahhh!" Kaitlyn and Jacob cheered, giving each other a victorious high-five before cutting Chris in on that action.

There was no sugarcoating it. Ryan was devastated. "There's no way Trogdor the Burninator is a thing. There's no way it's a real thing."

"Hey, bud," Chris said, still grinning, "IYKYK. Now seriously, everybody, bed. Now."

((incredibly desperate author's note from an elderly millenial: please tell me you whippersnappers out there know trogdor omg))

#jeyfeather1234 #six sentence weekend #the quarry #queenie writes supermassive #waaaaaghhhhh im sorry this took so long and BOY i think this is maybe a reference to fourth wing??? but i havent read it D:#so i hope this tickles your fancy despite my lack of dragon school knowledge hehehehehehe and thank you so much for your patience!!! <3

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