#{it feels good to read this again though}

[deoidesign]

For my birthday... read my webcomic! It's literally free! (Unless you want books. Those are not free)

It's beautiful, it's gentle, it's funny, they're canonically t4t and gay... And it's about time traveling vampires solving supernatural mysteries!

I've spent thousands of hours writing and drawing it, and it's really good! I'm not biased!

It's on hiatus right now and coming back in 2 months, so it's the perfect time to get caught up

[buttercupshands]

thought about this thing for a while

it was extremely interesting to just analyze myself and get like a tier list in my head

[alderaan-babe]

ST:TOS S1E23: Space Seed - Dinner with the Tactician

I saw this post the other day discussing "10 Traits That Make a Character Secretly Dangerous" and immediately thought of Jim from Star Trek, because so many of these listed traits and mannerisms are exact plays out of his playbook throughout TOS. Now, a more thorough fan than I could probably cite so many different episodes as examples expounding upon each trait, but what I instantly thought of is one of my all-time favorite James T. Kirk scenes - the dinner with Khan in Space Seed.

I am surprised that for all my searching for both new and old TOS posts to reblog, I have never seen any discussing this scene in great detail (if there are any posts like that, please send them my way bc I'd love to read them!) even though I feel it is superb for its tension, acting, and character dynamics. I dare say it is one of the best scenes in the show! I fear this may get rather long, so I'll continue below the cut and spare the more casual fans from my ramblings.

When I first watched this scene, I was captivated. Khan, even when acting casual and conversing in a relaxed fashion in an effort to ingratiate himself to the crew, still emanates an undeniable power, a barely-restrained energy. And Jim is no fool. He knew immediately that Khan was a dangerous man from the moment he woke up and never dropped his guard around him. As the scene here starts, we see the positioning of Khan in relation to Jim and Spock. Jim is, naturally, at the head of the table, while Spock and Khan face each other on either side of Jim.

As the scene starts, Spock is the one addressing Khan, and in turn Khan is forced to glance between the two, while Jim has free reign to simply observe without interruption. The frequency of his glances towards Jim, who thus far has not made any comment or expressed any emotion, reveals more than he probably meant to. He cannot help but assess Jim just as Jim is assessing him in turn, both attempting to determine the true threat level of the man before them. Khan, in his arrogance, is slower to ascertain the true danger Jim represented, which will ultimately be to his detriment here.

As for Jim, there is a stark, single-minded intensity to his observation of Khan. Note how he does not even touch his drink in an effort to appear casual, or glance towards Spock as he speaks. He is not relaxed or even pretending to be - he is alert, eyes sharp, and there can be no confusing the object of his focus. Spock begins with an opening salvo that is clearly meant to agitate, to spark some sort of reaction from Khan when he says "like a team of animals under one whip." Khan looks to Jim almost in entreaty (faked, of course), yet he is greeted with nothing more than a neutral stare and an ever so slightly quirked eyebrow. This gives Khan only momentary pause before he goes on to spout more bullshit, trying to sell his tale of "great dreams and great aspirations." Spock counters and again we see Khan respond to Spock, but he continues to flick his eyes back to Jim repeatedly, trying to gauge his reaction, yet being met with only more silence. He is quickly cottoning on that something is afoot.

The camera goes back and forth between Khan and Jim as they really look at each other, neither fooled by the other. Khan does one more rapid eye movement between Spock and Jim where he looks momentarily confused, then we see the instant he realizes the veiled tactics at work against him. Spock once more counters, but Khan, now savvy to the tactics being employed, ignores Spock and directly addresses Jim, unwilling to play along even one moment longer. He compliments Jim, for like recognizes like, on his tactical approach. "You are an excellent tactician, Captain. You let your second in command attack, while you sit and watch for weakness." He seems genuinely impressed, yet like a frog in a pot of water, still too ignorant in his arrogance to feel the burn of the water slowly coming to a boil around him.

Jim finally responds by pointing out that for all Khan's feigned civility, he speaks in aggressive military terms, even while at a dinner party. He betrays himself in his inability to separate his war lust from everyday life and activities. (Side note: the quick close-ups of Spock we see after Khan calls Jim out and through the end of the scene are so interesting to me, because at times he almost seems nervous. I personally think he and Jim agreed upon this strategy beforehand because they both knew Khan was bad news, and now that the gig is almost up, he's frantically running numbers in his head on how fast he could react if Khan dropped his facade and attacked Jim. But I digress.) Khan verbally parries by making an excuse and justifying his way of speaking with a line straight out of a 19th century novel, but he's on the defensive now in a way he wasn't when speaking with Spock. His hackles are rising. Jim cut from a more discreet angle, one that Khan wasn't prepared for, and it has him off balance.

Jim doesn't give him any time to breathe or regroup, instead immediately jumping down Khan's throat in an effort to anger him by asking if he was afraid, a question that could offend many a man, and certainly a man like Khan, so self-assured in his superiority that the mere suggestion of fear could be tantamount to a grievous insult. Khan scoffs, showing he isn't as unaffected as he wants to portray, and dismissively claims he has "never been afraid." Jim counters this claim, and here we see Khan finally fall into Jim's carefully cultivated trap. He becomes emotional and gives away the game, stating "we offered the world order!" And now Jim has the confirmation he has been patiently maneuvering towards, and Khan knows it. Even he cannot help but admit how masterfully Jim has manipulated him, uttering a quiet, "excellent, excellent" as he stares at Jim, so quietly it almost feels as though it wasn't meant for anyone but Jim.

This is where I believe Khan finally understood that Jim was not a man to be played with, and that his only course of action would be to eliminate him entirely. (We once again see Spock's nervous eye movements here as he assesses the threat level of Khan towards Jim.) He knows he cannot fool Jim, yet he still keeps the charade going by respectfully asking Jim if he may take his leave. Jim stands and they look each other in the eye one last time before he departs.

This was such a long breakdown, but I really felt it was worth it. For all of the complaints about Shatner's hammy, over the top acting (which I only agree with occasionally anyway, because I think he's a genuinely good actor most of the time), this scene was a masterclass in subtlety and tension building. The deliberate, blink-and-you-miss-it head and eye movements of both Shatner and Ricardo were perfect and established so much about both characters within a two minute scene, and their dialogue was just perfect. Jim's honed intelligence and ability to out-maneuver his enemies are on full display. He is calm and composed, with every silence and word executed with deliberate precision. Simply brilliant.

God, I just can't praise this scene enough, but I've been analyzing this clip and writing for a couple hours now, so it's time to go to bed haha. I do want to shout out to @redrobin-detective for supporting my Star Trek hyperfixation all this time and for encouraging me to make my own post. I'm nervous since I have not written anything for Star Trek yet besides ranting in tags, but I hey, I did it!

I also want to thank @anghraine. Your posts are really what gave me the desire to write my own. I am always so excited to see what new thoughts you have about Star Trek, and I hope that you enjoy reading my analysis. You set a really high bar!

[sysig]

If it’s not you, what’s the point! (Patreon)

[twilight-deviant]

How DDBA 1x09 starts even if it doesn't:

[Man Without Fear (2019) #4]

[coconut530]

WEIGHT IN GOLD

[fictionadventurer]

I love Chesterton best when I dive into a piece of his writing and the words just dance. He's playing with sounds and words and sentences, so it's poetry and music and also just a guy saying whatever pops into his head, and it doesn't even matter if it makes sense because it's so much fun to read. There's pure joy in words and ideas and arguments that underlies everything, such an overflowing sense of humor, so you feel that it doesn't matter if you disagree because what he loves is the conversation. Pure delight. There's just nothing else like it in literature.

[appystruda]

Small ramble about my art

[aroaessidhe]

2025 reads / storygraph

Kiss Me, Maybe

contemporary romance

an ace lesbian has an accidental thirst trap go viral and uses the attention to talk about her experiences - which ends up developing into a silly idea to do a scavenger hunt where the winner gets to be her first kiss

she starts to plan it, with the bartender she’s had a crush on for years, and realises she’s starting to fall for said bartender - and as their relationship develops so does her understanding of her identity & connection towards her community

grey-ace lesbian MC

arc, out may 6!

[butterfirefly]

If someone died while working at the morgue, would it be considered ironic?

Yoojin has never had reason to wonder, but walking through the hallways of his new workplace—a hospital where a technician had dropped dead of a heart attack a week ago—he imagines the convenience of it all, how it must've greatly expedited the process of getting the dead ready for their final resting place, and leans more towards fortuitous.

He puts his belongings in his new locker and shucks off his clothes, changing into his brand new scrubs whose creases have stubbornly remained despite his valiant attempts to iron them away.

Once his own clothes are neatly put away, he fingers his stud earrings, debating on whether or not he could get away with wearing them. It's a hospital morgue in a sprawling modern city after all, so maybe he could break a dress code or two.

Then again… he thinks with a sigh.

He recalls his first meeting with his new boss when he came in for his final interview a few days ago: an imposing woman whose sharp voice and militaristic demeanor more than made up for her lack of height.

Bemoaning his luck at being saddled with her instead of the other medical examiner—a sweet, kindly old man who one would guess to be a pediatrician, or perhaps an elementary school teacher—he takes his earrings off and glumly shoves them in his pockets.

He'll just have to be extra careful not to touch anything he shouldn't.

Yoojin gives his reflection in the full-length mirror at the end of the room a final check, making sure nothing's amiss, and heads out to face the day.

He gets the body washed and prepped in record time, but when he rolls it into his new boss's office, he still gets greeted with a scowl.

"It's ready, doctor," he announces needlessly, locking the gurney in place next to the examining table and getting to work sliding the body onto it.

Dr. Seo grunts in acknowledgment, then begins to shift her weight from one foot to the other when Yoojin dares to take more than three seconds maneuvering the literal dead weight off the gurney.

With a final tug, the body finally slides to the middle of the table. An arm almost rolls off to the edge, but Yoojin is quick enough to catch it before it can. Resting it neatly onto the side, he backs up towards the door and hovers there till he's shooed away with an impatient wave of a hand.

"You're dismissed."

And after giving a respectful bow that goes unseen, Yoojin hurries back to the mortuary refrigerators, and gets to work for real.

He chitchats with the other technician there, exchanging introductions and earning a promise to a free lunch at the hospital cafeteria as a welcoming present, then waits a minute after their footsteps have well and truly receded before turning back to the silent occupants of the room.

"All right-y," he calls out with a clap of his hands. "Which one of you wants to go first?"

He consults the sheaf of files resting on the desk and looks for possible homicide victims, narrowing it down to three, and picks one arbitrarily. He checks the number on the file, finds the corresponding chamber, and swings it open, trying and failing not to feel refreshed at the burst of freezing air that hits his face, then pulls the body tray out.

His latex glove gives an audible snap as it slides off his right hand. Yoojin stuffs it in his left pocket, mindful of his earrings in his other one, and folds the sheet partway down to expose the corpse's face, the fold resting just below the chin to preserve the dead woman's decency. He takes a bracing breath, then cups his bare hand against her forehead.

Twin spots of crimson light reflect off of the metal surface of the mortuary chambers as Yoojin's eyes begin to glow, and soon the frigidness under his palm is replaced by a pleasant warmth.

"Hello, ma'am," he chirps down as the body comes to life with a gasp, raising the hand from her forehead and giving her a little wave. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

The woman rolls away from him with a yelp and lands in a heap on the floor, clutching the sheet against her chest protectively. "Wh—wha—what's going on? Who are you? Where am I?"

"My name is Han Yoojin, and I'll explain everything to you later, ma'am, I promise," he soothes, taking a few careful steps back in an attempt to calm her down. She doesn't seem to have noticed him moving at all, however, or even heard a word he's said, too busy looking around for an escape—more than fair, given her current predicament, but patience and fairness aren't exactly what he's known for these days.

Shrugging internally, Yoojin lets his eyes glow red again, just to help things along, and it works as well as he expected—her mind takes in the spots of light past the haze of panic, and she freezes, her gaze jumping to his eyes.

"Like I said, my name is Han Yoojin," he says, his words spoken no less cheerfully than before. "And I'll answer any questions you might have. Before that, though, I have to ask." He pauses, then starts to slowly make his way around the body tray.

The woman stares at him in dawning horror, rapidly losing the newly regained color in her cheeks as realization sets in.

His name.

His words from earlier.

His horrible, gleaming red eyes.

Yoojin stops and crouches just a foot away from her, and lets his voice drop to a near whisper.

"What are you willing to do to stay alive?"

[arc852]

I DID IT! IT'S DONE! Oh my gosh that chapter gave me so much trouble and also it's freAKIN' OVER 6000 WORDS.

Why did I do this to myself? Why?

Anyway, I still have to edit it, but that shouldn't take too long. Hopefully. No, it shouldn't. So, I'm gonna go ahead and say it will be posted sometime tomorrow! Probably later in the evening!

[flying-cat]

my writing is like theseus' paradox. i edit it so many times, is it even the same writing anymore when i'm done with it?

[anxiety-ridden-paranoia]

Finished Lord of the Mysteries!! Many feelings!!!

[lucentstarss]

Sometimes I get hope for unraveled but then I remember how much of an ick I got from keefe when reading unlocked and get sad again

[kwamiwayzz]

This is how it feels reading Inscriptions by Kayleen

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Outdrawn

f/f contemporary romance

two cartoonist who’ve been rivals since uni, and now have competing webcomics online, have to work together on the relaunch of a cult classic at the comic press they both work at

they both struggle with art-related physical and mental health issues, and complicated families