#and this goes for both fans and the writers

[zenniaphoenix]

In universe, I really like Zoe. Even if she has a lot of similarities with other characters, I think her vibe is fun. From a Doylist perspective, though, I think introducing Zoe was a poor narrative choice. I think the slides above are a good explanation of how she compares to other characters, but you’re missing a crucial part of the fandom history that explains how we got here.

Zoe was brought into the story as a replacement for the role that was originally written for Chloe, before Astruc decided not to give Chloe her planned redemption arc. (From what I’ve heard, Astruc basically didn’t like the number of fans that were excited about Chloe’s anticipated redemption arc, or how they talked about it, and decided to scrap it because of that. I’m not searching out the tweets where Astruc said as much right now, but I do remember seeing and probably reblogging them). That’s part of why there are so many sets of dolls with the core four and Chloe as queen bee, even though she didn’t spend a lot of time with the bee miraculous. You can also see that in earlier drafts of the story, like the PV, the character Chloe was based off of was meant to be part of the main group as a friend and a hero. It seems like the plan for Miraculous Ladybug was to give Chloe a redemption arc somewhere around seasons 2-4.

So like… yeah of course Chloe and Zoe have a ton in common. In terms of their role in the overall story, they’re functionally two different versions of the same character. I never particularly cared about Chloe as a character, and I like Zoe better, but the mess this show has made of using Zoe as a replacement for Chloe rather than the sort of person Chloe could grow into with time is disappointing. Practically, Zoe is Chloe, a few steps closer to healing.

They both love fashion. Chloe seeks out prestige in what she wears, and Zoe enjoys decorating herself with art pieces that express who she is and what she cares about.

They both want to have acting roles. Chloe butts into every single audition in the show insisting on being the lead. She feels strongly enough about it that if she doesn’t get her way, she sometimes shuts the whole show down. Zoe has opened up about the fact that she wants to be an actress, and taken steps towards that goal, but she tries not to hurt people in the process.

They’re both wanted their mom’s approval. Chloe will do anything to get it, and has been shown a few times that that doesn’t work, but didn’t learn from that. Zoe’s decided that she’s not going to get it, and she might as well look somewhere else for emotional support.

They both seek out Marinette and Ladybug’s approval. Chloe goes to unreasonable lengths to make it look like she’s a hero like Ladybug, even going as far has putting people in danger so she can save them. She doesn’t usually get Ladybug’s approval, and throws a lot of tantrums about it. She’s still done the right thing sometimes anyways, but not when Ladybug happened to be watching. (Marinette doesn’t owe her forgiveness, but that doesn’t stop a lot of heroes from giving forgiveness. I kinda like the subversion here, but Chloe could have still have a redemption arc without earning Marinette’s approval or friendship, which would be equally subversive of the trope and honestly more interesting). Zoe just gets Ladybug’s approval as a baseline. She almost looses a bit of it, but gains it back within the episode.

Zoe gets a crush on Marinette, a girl who was nice to her when she didn’t have to be. And frankly, a lot of Chloe’s early bullying of Marinette looks like a childish, hair pulling to get attention kind of crush.

Zoe has a strong sense of justice, that’s a little bit more attuned to things that hurt her personally, but she’s learning to recognize things that hurt other people. Chloe has a stubborn sense that things shouldn’t be unfair to her, but doesn’t notice or care when other people are hurt. She has the potential to grow towards stubbornly standing up for her sense of justice if that changes.

Chloe puts up walls to keep her ego from being hurt. And those walls have hurt a lot of people. Zoe is learning to stop hiding who she is, but still occasionally does it by default. She’s still trying to move past the guilt of having been a mean girl before, and figure out who she can be when she’s nice to other people and herself.

Zoe is Chloe’s redemption arc, but the writers skipped the hard bits, where they have to convince the audience she’s really changing.

It feels like Zoe’s crowding the (former) mean girl space because… she is. She’s the foil to Lila that Chloe was supposed to be (as an actress, as someone who struggles to show up authentically), and having just the two characters in that space would have made a lot more sense in the story. And ironically, by having Zoe show up late and take up the space of a main cast member without earning it, a lot of people didn’t react well to her, and thought she fell flat, which was the same concern they probably had about a Chloe redemption arc.

For example: the scene where Andre tells Zoe he wanted to be a director would have hit very different if it was with Chloe, slightly after her lowest point, when she’s just starting to figure out how to be nice to people. For her to have an opportunity to see her dad as a person and understand why he isn’t happy as mayor, and force Chloe to weigh that against all of the privilege that having the mayor as her dad has given her, and decide whether she wants to support her dad being happier or her life being easier. Could she give up being the mayor’s daughter, a core part of her identity and the main weapon she uses against the people who she feels have wronged her, for her father’s sake? That scene would have been a much more impactful one than “oh hey step?-dad, nice to meet you on the roof, it’s neat that we have similar hobbies. I see you regret not following your dreams so I’m going to follow mine.” Even if Chloe botched that one opportunity to be a kinder person, it would have been interesting to watch her try. To fit well with Miraculous’s episode format they’d probably have her realize she was wrong over the course of an akuma fight against her dad, so they could write Chloe messing up and show her learning from it. Which is a thing characters on this show get to do every single episode, but not Chloe. Chloe never gets to learn, and introducing Zoe as a replacement for a Chloe redemption arc really cemented that decision. Having characters who can never be redeemed in canon is okay, but seems a bit mixed up to decide a kid can never improve in a kid’s show about learning to manage your emotions better.

[oifaaa]

True Batman fans understand that Batman can beat all the rogues because they follow clear patterns of behavior that align with their chosen theme in plots that have twelves steps but he can and DOES get beat up by randos In back alleys because numbers mean more than skill in a fight and also one of my favorite parts of Arkham knight was where if you fought a crowd on the ground there was a very good chance someone in a car would try to run you over and they would often succeed if I didn’t nope out of there

Don't get me wrong I still think Bruce is a really good fighter and strategist but people really do forget that just bc hes dc favourite furry doesn't mean he's not still very much just a human at the end of the day and yes can in fact be defeated by a car running him over (<- also got run over alot while playing Arkham knight)

[rosefulmadness]

"brucie wayne is the persona and batman is the real him" you're not wrong but you need to remember that batman is ALSO a character that he made just like brucie but for different purposes.

brucie is the airhead rich playboy personality for the public. batman is the dark knight and protector persona for the rogues/bad guys. just like any good character, there are pieces of the real him in both. 2 sides of the same coin. bruce wayne is the real him.

bruce, father, on the spectrum, emotionally constipated but trying and a bit of a dumbass at heart, wayne.

[orions-shiny-belt]

Anyone else think about what it means that the world in svsss is still largely controlled by an overarching narrative and narrative logic even after the og plot got so off the rails we aren’t sure there’s even a train anymore. Like, Binghe is still recognized as the protagonist of that world so

[heywriters]

Details That Convey Intimacy

Developing fictional relationships that feel authentic takes more than dialogue and grand gestures. Every detail below can be used to show platonic, familial, agape, or romantic love depending on context.

cooking a meal for someone, bringing them food, or spontaneously sharing a snack

sharing body heat/warming someone with outerwear like jackets and scarves

fanning them with something if overheated

getting a cold/hot drink for them

offering to carry something, whether it's heavy or just a jacket, to lighten someone's load or free up their hands

more below the click!

changing the subject of a group conversation that will be personally discomforting to someone in the group

making sure to include someone in a group conversation, especially if it's a topic they have special knowledge of

waiting for someone to catch up when the rest of the group has walked ahead

remembering preferences/allergies ahead of time when preparing/ordering food

planning trips, whether in a pair or as a group, that provide something positive for every individual to enjoy

procuring personal healthcare items like sunscreen, moisturizer, lip balm, pain relievers, or a snack and keeping them on hand for that friend who frequently needs them

making room for someone in a crowded vehicle or on public transit

making room for someone under an awning or in another limited space to help them avoid bad weather

warning or wordlessly covering for someone with a wardrobe/cosmetic malfunction

remembering a small luxury someone mentioned they enjoy, and getting it for them the next time it's convenient

running an errand for someone to make their day easier ('importance of errand : depth of relationship' ratio should be explored)

escorting someone to safety in a sudden unsettling event

escorting someone who is drunk, sick, infirm, injured, or emotionally compromised

asking if light, noise, or other sensory factors are bothering someone and taking steps to make them more comfortable

getting gag gifts for someone to show you reciprocate their sense of humor or quirky self-expression (not everyone does this, not everyone appreciates it, and some people predominantly express love through humor and gag gifts; works well with some characters more than others)

holding someone's hand or arm as reassurance, especially when they are afraid*

using their body to block someone from wind, rain, or heat

picking up a dropped item, or carrying a train or other dragging garment for someone else

returning a recognizable possession to someone who may have lost it

This is an inexhaustible list as humans have many ways of showing love for each other. If you are writing spec fic with non-human characters, you can play with variations on these by remembering three core values the "lover" has to consider:

physical comfort of others

emotional comfort of others

social reputation of others

I'd add "sensory comfort" though I think it's tied to physical and emotional comfort.

Please do not try and force any of these into the mold of the misogyny-based "Love Language" trend. Human emotions and expressions of love are diverse and endless.

*While hand holding can be construed as romantic, in reality it varies. Some cultures do not see this as romantic, and some individuals only mean it as a sign of support or compassion. Same goes for long embraces and kissing, both can be done platonically and of course naturally between close family members or friends.

---

HEY! Writers' Links

Tip Jar! If you enjoy my blog and advice, support me on Ko-fi!🤗

Follow me on AO3 for fanfiction

Visit my Pinterest & Unsplash for visual inspiration

[jadenvargen]

free online james baldwin stories, essays, videos, and other resources

**edit

James baldwin online archive with his articles and photo archives.

---NOVELS---

Giovanni's room"When David meets the sensual Giovanni in a bohemian bar, he is swept into a passionate love affair. But his girlfriend's return to Paris destroys everything. Unable to admit to the truth, David pretends the liaison never happened - while Giovanni's life descends into tragedy. This book introduces love's fascinating possibilities and extremities."

Go Tell It On The Mountain"(...)Baldwin's first major work, a semi-autobiographical novel that has established itself as an American classic. With lyrical precision, psychological directness, resonating symbolic power, and a rage that is at once unrelenting and compassionate, Baldwin chronicles a fourteen-year-old boy's discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Baldwin's rendering of his protagonist's spiritual, sexual, and moral struggle of self-invention opened new possibilities in the American language and in the way Americans understand themselves."

+bonus: film adaptation on youtube. (if you’re a giancarlo esposito fan, you’ll be delighted to see him in an early preacher role)

Another Country and Going to Meet the Man Another country: "James Baldwin's masterly story of desire, hatred and violence opens with the unforgettable character of Rufus Scott, a scavenging Harlem jazz musician adrift in New York. Self-destructive, bad and brilliant, he draws us into a Bohemian underworld pulsing with heat, music and sex, where desperate and dangerous characters betray, love and test each other to the limit." Going to meet the Man: " collection of eight short stories by American writer James Baldwin. The book, dedicated "for Beauford Delaney", covers many topics related to anti-Black racism in American society, as well as African-American–Jewish relations, childhood, the creative process, criminal justice, drug addiction, family relationships, jazz, lynching, sexuality, and white supremacy."

Just Above My Head"Here, in a monumental saga of love and rage, Baldwin goes back to Harlem, to the church of his groundbreaking novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, to the homosexual passion of Giovanni's Room, and to the political fire that enflames his nonfiction work. Here, too, the story of gospel singer Arthur Hall and his family becomes both a journey into another country of the soul and senses--and a living contemporary history of black struggle in this land."

If Beale Street Could Talk"Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin's story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions-affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche."

also has a film adaptation by moonlight's barry jenkins

Tell Me How Long the Train's been gone At the height of his theatrical career, the actor Leo Proudhammer is nearly felled by a heart attack. As he hovers between life and death, Baldwin shows the choices that have made him enviably famous and terrifyingly vulnerable. For between Leo's childhood on the streets of Harlem and his arrival into the intoxicating world of the theater lies a wilderness of desire and loss, shame and rage. An adored older brother vanishes into prison. There are love affairs with a white woman and a younger black man, each of whom will make irresistible claims on Leo's loyalty. 

---ESSAYS---

Baldwin essay collection. Including most famously: notes of a native son, nobody knows my name, the fire next time, no name in the street, the devil finds work- baldwin on film

--DOCUMENTARIES--

Take this hammer, a tour of san Francisco.

Meeting the man

--DEBATES:--

Debate with Malcolm x, 1963 ( on integration, the nation of islam, and other topics. )

Debate with William Buckley, 1965. ( historic debate in america. )

Heavily moderated debate with Malcolm x, Charles Eric Lincoln, and Samuel Schyle 1961. (Primarily Malcolm X's debate on behalf of the nation of islam, with Baldwin giving occassional inputs.)

----

apart from themes obvious in the book's descriptions, a general heads up for themes of incest and sexual assault throughout his works.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

Deadpool and Wolverine might actually be the best love letter to Marvel that I’ve seen.

On a meta level, the movie feels like it was written in response to people dismissing the Marvel properties that aren’t the MCU. The MCU is the “Sacred Timeline” while everyone else gets thrown into the trash aka the Void. Wade even tried to become an Avenger because he feels that his life doesn’t matter. Then, Wade gets a chance to join the MCU. Of course, he’s thrilled, but is then told that the rest of his universe is getting destroyed since they lost its “anchor” (aka it lost its relevance). So, Wade decides to fight for his universe.

On a surface level, you can read this movie as a criticism of the MCU in that it’s treating the only stories worth a damn as the ones coming from that universe. But I don’t think that’s the case. I mean, first off, this was made by Marvel Studios. Feige and Co had to sign off on this and a great deal of the plot stems from the Loki show. Second, the movie felt more like it was trying to say that ALL Marvel stories matter. It’s not really criticizing the MCU, it’s criticizing how audiences view the Marvel movies/shows that aren’t the MCU. The “why should I care about this movie if it doesn’t lead to the next Avengers movie” attitude.

That’s why I say this was the best love letter to Marvel I’ve seen. It’s a celebration of the company’s works, both MCU and non-MCU. You can see that from the Easter eggs, the cameos, the nods to the fandom, and the emphasis on forgotten characters getting a chance at redemption. Even the jabs at the company and fanbase feel like they come from a place of love.

But what really sold me on this movie being a love letter to Marvel was the ending. Instead of a tease to a potential De4dpool movie, it was a montage of the development of the Fox Marvel movies (I can’t say X-Men since clips of the Fantastic Four were there). On one side, it’s a touching send-off to the Fox X-Men franchise. On the other side, it felt like a reminder of why people love Marvel to begin with. It’s these people - actors, writers, directors, producers - coming together to make these entertaining stories for us, to bring the comics to life on the big screen. It’s like Ryan Reynolds was telling us to take a step back from all the conspiracy theorizing, nitpicking, and fanbase drama for a couple of hours, that we should just enjoy this Marvel movie as it is.

And it worked. It was genuinely just a fun, awesome movie to watch. If we’re using the MCU-as-a-TV-show-analogy that people love using, Deadpool and Wolverine is the 100th episode that is made dedicated to the fans and celebrating the show as a whole. It’s a fanservice movie done right, one that goes beyond just references and cameos.

[disorganizedkitten]

I know I reblogged this like four hours ago but actually I'm back because I wrote three or four essays about this in Highschool and College and I have feelings. Getting into fandom areas, especially for newbies, can be terrifying - but I promise you that you don't need to be so scared.

Half apology to everyone about the be tagged but not actually because I love you guys too much to leave you faceless.

So. Let's see. My introduction to fandom was @imthepunchlord's account, (hello, sorry for the tag) and the first time I saw them active in a discord server I did freeze up a bit. I don't know that we had any really meaningful conversations - I was 13? 14? and didn't really have much to say - but they weren't nearly as scary once I calmed down for a few days. Then I could participate, and it was great.

I'm not still in any of those servers, I have no clue if punchlord is, things change, you know?

But I enjoyed being there, and I enjoyed talking to people. And everyone was older and cooler but none of were unhappy to have me bouncing around the channels talking about their fics, or fandom theories. Might've gotten a little annoyed at some of my takes, because I'll be the first to say I sure had some OpinionsTM that current me would sit me down over - but no one was ever rude about it.

The first writing server I joined was @hari-writes' server, which I am still in, and again, got me in with some really cool writers like @/remasa and @lilaflyy and @/lady_bryght and @/Yilena even @perditaalottachocolate-blog; everyone in that server was and is a big name, either to everyone or to me, and none of them are scary. Lila hangs fairylights around her room. Hari sends cat pics like, nine times a week. Bryght not only beta'd one of my published works but brings it up at random and lets me blather about it. They're all very sweet.

@secretagentspydetectiveninja wrote a fic that had me crying at 3am because suddenly there were words for the way I felt about romance and people and not only was I not alone but there were enough people that it was known. And a couple months later I joined the ml brotp server and got to gossip with them personally. It was great.

@soupinboots I don't even remember how I met but she helped me do my first ever FAFSA. I used to think she was so cool - and I think she's even cooler now. Genuinely a large part of why I passed junior year. Again, someone I know because I dared to step into a place with people I thought too cool to put up with me, and it turned out everyone there was just like me. And I have a thousand more stories like this - @boldlyanxious and @starry-bi-sky and literally so many people that I think are cool enough for medals and I get to talk to them whenever I want, because I took a leap of faith and pressed a button.

The girl I'm roommates with right now - I've known her since Google+ was a thing, and when we were kids, she was one of the people in the groupchat who everyone adored because she only rarely joined conversations and she always had something so cool to say... and now I'm living with her and she's admitted that she actually thought the rest of us were too cool and intimidating to talk to.

We all thought that. We all thought we were too much of a disaster and our friends were just putting up with us, but we adored everyone else. Once we got past that point, it was a lot more fun to hang out. I'm with her right now, actually, I can literally kick her from where I'm typing. She's still one of the coolest people I know.

When @/AnonymousMagpie opened the Hoard, it took me months to join because I was dead sure that I would be too awkward, too excitable, that everyone there would hate me. Instead, @sammialex thought the first Neville-centric thing I wrote was cool and I lived off that praise for months. Everyone was really friendly and I'm a moderator, now. I have so many friends in that server. I get to run events and people participate because they think anything I run will be fun.

How wild is that?

Every writer I know wants someone to talk to; either about their works or just to have a friend. We're still people, I promise.

Like the second poster said; maybe there are some fanfic authors who want to be left alone, who want to write into a void and never talk to another person - but there are five times that number who are just like you. Who think maybe they're a little awkward or a little too much and I promise, I promise that telling them you think they're cool and you like what they make isn't going to make them think you're pathetic.

It's gonna make them happy, actually.

Try it.

nothing scarier than being a fan of a fic and then becoming mutuals with the author. like hi shakespeare. big fan of your fake dating au

[cameforstuff]

Hate Mail

Stan had gotten used to reading and replying to piles of mail in a day, slowed by carefully deciphering the messy crayon so he could give the best response. It would usually take him several minutes to think of the perfect doodle to slip in with it. Sometimes he would scrap it several times before he was happy with the result.

His last letter was from a little girl from California asking if it could rain soda she poured it into the ocean. He’d written a polite answer explaining that it would be bad for the sea animals, and a simple experiment she could do with evaporation instead. After a bit of thought he drew Dr. Pine sitting a a table chatting with a sea turtle in purple crayon at the bottom. He was almost glad he had not improved his drawing skills since he was twelve. 

The next letter shocked him a bit. He almost set it aside when he saw it, thinking a bill had been slipped with the fan letters. Yet there on the front, in almost obnoxious cursive, was the typical address to Dr. Pine. There was no return address.

Another odd thing about the letter was just how carefully it had been put together. The wording straight and the envelope closed seemingly perfectly. Yet the bottom corner was scrunched like the writer had been holding it like their life depended on it. Stan opened the letter, to his surprise there was two. 

The first was like any letter from a kid, slightly messy handwriting gushing about their favorite part of the last episode. The ‘Tate Mcgucket’ seemed to really enjoy them discussing the lake’s food web and listed a few of his favorite fish. 

The second letter however was not as kind. It listed 12 inaccuracies in the episode. Each going in lengthy detail. He could only skim it as the text shrunk to save room. The explanations were familiar in a way. Kind of like how he tried to explain things, but laced with passive aggressive remarks. Hate mail was a thing he had gotten from angsty teenagers and upset parents on occasion, but this letter felt different. It was addressed by a ‘Mr. Mystery PhD, A real one unlike yours.’ He stared at the letter for several minutes unsure of what to do with it. 

He moved back to the first letter, replying to it like any other. Drawing a Dr. Pine riding a large bass. He quickly popped open a book for references, this kid seemed like the type to appreciate the effort. Then he looked back at the other letter. A bit of annoyance now when he remembered the letter had no return address. He pinned both to a the corkboard above his desk and moved on to replying to other letters.

He decided he was going to get his reply to Tate, not only because he was determined to reply to every letter, but also to spite this ‘Mr Mystery.’ He may be right that Stan is not a real doctor, but he was a man to stubborn for his own good

______

And thus a saga of mail exchanges begins. Where? Uh I lost it in shipping, you know how mail goes.

Forgot to link the post that this is based on.

[literalgrill]

Do NOT Support Hard Drive On Patreon

You might see friends today suggesting you support Hard Drive on Patreon today. You know, the funny video games version of The Onion? As a journalist, I will firmly tell you DO NOT GIVE THEM A DIME.

The CEO has pushed out all former staff that have built the site up to its current greatness and has been pushing the use of AI. The staff begged to have a Patreon before basically all being pushed out, but the idea was refused until now, when it will only line the pockets of a single person instead of hard working writers.

I know they might have provided laughs before, but Hard Drive is a shell of what it was once. Let it die and support the people who actually made those moments of joy possible. Don't believe me? Check out what former employees are saying below:

Kevin Podas: Okay you know what, I would feel bad saying nothing about this, so here goes:🚨SAVE YOUR MONEY🚨

We passionately advocated for a Patreon at Hard Drive & were aggressively shot down. The talent & people who built the site were pushed out. To see this now is beyond upsetting. For the past few years or so I put a lot of myself into this website. I pitched a ton of jokes, got over 120 articles published, & met a lot of great people. I'm sure if you've been following me for some time you could easily see this.

However, there is a lot of misinformation. I was eventually promoted to Managing Editor of the site & was ecstatic. Grateful for the opportunity. Felt like all of my hard work in the comedy mines was finally paying off. But things took a turn for the worst, & each day there were new surprises that affected our livelihoods. These were all very avoidable surprises, mind you.

A patreon was going to be our hail mary, but alas, for some reason, the power that be did not want it. Causing us to leave a dream job behind. "At least we did all we could," we consoled ourselves afterwards. I put a lot of myself into this project. I pitched all sorts of ideas that could have helped-- we all did. Merch collaborations, Patreon-integrated YouTube content, so much more. And most of them were shot down out of sheer stubbornness and nothing more. To see lie after lie spread, and multiple big publications and YouTubers that I am a fan of promote this Patreon under these pretenses is incredibly upsetting. There are so many receipts.

Please share this and consider pulling out if you've already put money into this. On Hard Drive using AI, also from Kevin Podas: I can't personally confirm that part aside from some of the recent header images for articles on both Hard Drive and Hard Times are being made with AI. As far as writing, it's been mentioned in the past, but I personally do not know. Maybe others do, maybe not. MORE From Kevin Podas suggesting the owner denying a Patreon being set up earlier cost an artist a job that was replaced by AI: We had a social media person who was awesome! He made the images until this AI implementation. He had to leave because ad revenue was low and a Patreon was aggressively refused.

Luca Fisher: at the risk of burning some bridges, i have to back up kevin here. i've only been part-time, in-and-out of hard drive since i got in last year, but i can corroborate that management doubled and tripled down about not hosting a patreon/crowdfunding and that many other suggestions and ideas, including mine (and ones much smarter than mine!), were shot down in really long, apocalyptic threads of everyone left on deck desperately trying to come up with ways to keep the lights on. managerially it has been messy and sad

i've written for multiple publications that have long since died, ones that were in the process of dying, and ones that, in this case, are soon to be put in the ground. it is sad and sucks every time. i don't know what could have been done differently, but i do know that a lot of great writers and content creators were left shorthanded and unhappy by the way things have gone. and it is sort of puzzling to see the sudden championing of patreon after we were all told plenty of times that it couldn't work and we should move on also, just to add my own personal two cents here, i was really disappointed by the shuttering of many different article sections on the site over the past 6-8 months. i understand cutting corners in a deficit, and i know it had to be done. that said…

all in all, i'm really sad to see this all happen. i don't fault anyone, if only because i don't really know enough about how this all can happen to make sense of it. games journalism is in a sad, sorry state, and will likely no longer be a thing in the next decade

VideoSealMan: I'm gonna say this because I think I deserve to. For months, MONTHS on end I was bugging Hard Drive management about a Patreon. Often I got ignored for a week+, but when I actually got a response I was encouraged to - of all things, write up a Google Doc pitching the concept I did it regardless. I wasn't the only one trying to sway management on a Patreon, but so fiercely was I fighting for it that last night, I was accused of making this comment directly by the CEO! With no evidence whatsoever! After I'd been gone for over a month.

I vouched so hard for Patreon because I wanted all the writers and creatives working with Hard Drive including myself to get paid better. When I actually got a response, the idea was often shut down. Eventually due to the state of my company, my pay was cut for a second time I confronted management alongside a couple other important figureheads at the org and told them that if we couldn't do a Patreon - I could no longer financially justify staying there. The answer was still no, so I left. Baffled at the decision, but whatever.

It is unendingly frustrating to know that myself and many other people who put their soul into Hard Drive LEFT because of management's absolute refusal to compromise on a Patreon, to then see them launch one anyway a month later and get over 1000 people pledging money. I'm seeing a lot of things float around about greed and people being fired. No one was fired. Everyone who left, left because they were sick of management's decision-making. And honestly, management is a lot of things but I would not call them greedy. (From my experience.) They did genuinely make an effort to pay people as much as possible. I found the pay very fair for a while. I am not disputing that I was paid what I was owed - yet management frequently feels the need to remind critics of that. Lmao, yes. I was paid what I was owed. No one is disputing payment. You did the bare minimum a business owner should do and paid everyone their due, very well done. I make no allegations of greed, cheating or foul play. I make allegations of poor management and incompetence that has fucked over other people.

Basically the only people left at Hard Drive have been there for about 2 months. They will reap the rewards of this successful Patreon I and so many others passionately fought for for so long. We will not see a dime.

I do not know the new people at Hard Drive, But I feel bad for them. They were haphazardly thrust into Hard Drive's workplace with little to no explanation on how anything works, or given any context on the state of the place. Even now managements feeds them half-truths and misinformation about other people's grievances. I am broke and have been for a while. I had to move out of my flat in Reading and back with my family because of how little money I was making. This has basically doomed my flatmate to moving back in with abusive parents, which is something I feel guilty about every day. If we had gone with the Patreon I worked myself hoarse over back then, this could have been avoided. Some of my other good pals could also not have been fucked over.

It was a bad judgment call, but it's not a crime. It's just management getting it wrong.

So should you give to the Hard Drive Patreon? I don't know! I don't think any of the new people working there to patch up the holes left by the recent mass exodus have any bad intentions. Maybe they deserve it! But it is not the same site you knew a year ago, or even a month ago. Myself and many people who were there far longer than me and did far more for it than I did are all gone now because we could not deal with management's terrible decision-making and dogass communication any longer. That's what you should know, imo

I had an agreement in place with management that I would receive the next 8 months of revenue from the Hard Drive YT channel from my leaving in November. This was a deal I appreciated, and thought was very fair on management's behalf. So far, the deal has been honoured for 2 months. However as of last night I was removed from the Hard Drive Slack without warning, and as an editor for the YouTube channel. This means I no longer have any way of verifying how much I am owed, I just have to take their word for it. I'm sure management will make their own statements full of half-truths and weird language on the many cases being brought against them - I'd take everything they say with a pinch of salt if some of the screenshots I've seen of them talking about me are any indication lol

To management; I do not want to talk to you. I want you to DM me a screenshot of how much I'm owed every month and then send me the money per our agreement until June, then we can go our separate ways. Do that and admit to your mistakes, and maybe you can recover your reputation! That's it from me, lol. If they pull out of the deal and fuck me over I'll have more to say, but most of what I know is other people's stories of incompetence and poor decision-making, lol. I genuinely get no pleasure out of doing this; I do not think management is evil - I just think they're really bad at what they do and it's cost other, more talented people, lol. You should believe the writers imo

One last thing I wanna say btw, management did often stress that no one should try to make Hard Drive a full time thing. They were transparent about that, and that is fair. I was working on it because at a few points, I was lead to believe we actually were doing a Patreon. Many other ppl have similar stories of being strung along by management changing their minds and stop-starting shit every 2 weeks. We all made the fatal mistake of overestimating our manager - who would tell you one thing one day and something totally opposite the next week lol

Hunter R. Thompson:

I'm not your dad, but speaking as a Hard Drive writer, I don't know that funding Hard Drive on Patreon is worth it

The driving talent on the back end—behind the kickass site I joined in 2019—have peaced out over the years as the site's been (in our view) increasingly mismanaged. Mismanagement like, not setting up crowdfunding before the ship sank and all its best crew failed; or publishing a screenshot of Andy Ngo pedojacketing a trans writer, complete with her deadname; or a disgruntled ex-writer getting falsely accused of shit-talk, by actual staff. I'm grateful for the writing I've gotten to produce for HD (and will forever be kicking myself for not writing even more, in the four years I've had to do it!! i'm a dumbass!!!) but it is very much no longer the site I signed up for.

I don't want to resign as a contributor altogether, because I'm open to the idea of the site recovering and bad practices being retired as finances level out-- it would just be dishonest for potential backers to not be Aware Of The Circumstances, I think.

Jeremy Kaplowitz: i truly don't want to start shit, but feel compelled to say: i want to see Hard Drive succeed w/o resorting to throwing former writers & editors, myself included, under the bus. surely there's a way to save the site without building it over the corpses of those who left. my $0.02 i don't blame anyone who wants to sign up for the HD patreon and i support the website, but that includes those who worked on it for years, have complaints, and don't deserve to be treated like bitter assholes like this kind of stuff is just objectively true, meanwhile there's these new writers who joined the site after i left (meaning, in the last ~3 months) claiming people are liars. decide for yourself if you care, but this is what happened! [Quotes this Tweet]

Seth Finkelstein: Writing for Hard Drive has been a privilege the past few years, and it makes me so angry to see people I looked up to get jerked around behind the scenes. The amount of grenades the editors jumped on our behalf is immense, and I don't think the way they're being treated is right.

Other Bits On AI: We do know for sure however that AI art has been used by the site. Its fucking owner confirms it here:https://twitter.com/MattSaincome/status/1743040541603123622. Seems the owner pushed AI written articles as well! TayFabe: My vaguetweet is making the rounds & these made me apoplectic. - owner regularly lobbied using ai. Once he tested it & said ai was writing better satire than 25% of the HT/HD writers. - ai images were used on the site & socials w/o consulting the team or disclosing it publicly I found the ai bit relevant to include bc 1) it illuminates a stark change in HD's current direction & leadership, 2) ai images have previously been used on the site and (since deleted) ig posts, 3) ai content fucking sucks, and repeatedly pushing to use it is a telling quality The "handful of writers who chose to leave" includes 2 editors-in-chief (both cofounders who wrote a combined total of >1,000 articles & defined the voice of HD), & at least 3 other editors. These guys put in WORK since 2017, so cool to be corrected by ppl who joined in Nov 2023 [Link to mentioned vague tweet from post.] More from TayFabe: owner continuously lobbied for using ai in every possible way. No one else wanted to do it, but he kept on, saying ai was writing better satire than 25% of the HT/HD writers. Also, ai images were used on the site & socials without public disclosure or consulting the team.

The owner has responded now multiple times in a private discord... Thank you for people sharing screenshots! First Screenshot:

Kevin's Response: He banned me from the server for speaking out, so no, I didn't see it. And he gave no indication of a timeline, it was just "we'll do one when *I* say so" and gave every inclination he was totally against it. It bred an environment that pushed our hands to have to leave. Screenshot Round Two:

Kevin's Response: "Starting one in 3 months" is an absolute lie. He denied it, I have screenshots and others who can confirm. No timeline was given. Just "this is what it is now" and like, I couldn't live off of that. I wanted to do more but he was allergic to good ideas from others around him.

Matt, owner of Hard Drive, responds publicly on Twitter.

Matt: Kevin, the patreon launch was delayed because I didn't think it would work. Everyone is happy that it did work. Everyone who left the site because we didn't have money to pay for creative content which didn't revenue is welcome to return home. But unclear why the hostility.

Hard Drive paid out literally every dollar it had, then a bunch more, to creative people who worked on the site. When we ran out of money, we couldn't pay anymore. We did our best.

Kevin: Right, and my point of this thread was that it was completely and totally avoidable. This is reasonable to be upset about. How could I have been any more clear?

Matt: If we knew with 100% certainly that the community would have supported us via patreon, we would have done that. We didn't know. We had tried 4 years ago and got no support. We were wrong this time. We did our best to figure it out. We paid all the money we could.

Kevin: So you knew with 100% certainty this time? Or you took a leap of faith?

Matt: It was a last gasp panic effort after ad rates got cut in half on january 1st due to seasonal spending changes. We didn't know it would work. We were embarrassed to ask for support. We wanted to figure it out.

Kevin: Every site has a Patreon. Every YouTuber, comedy group, etc. But you insisted that nobody cared about Hard Drive. Which is wildly untrue. I know you see that now, but again, I think you can see why I and many others are pretty upset. A last ditch panic effort was long overdue. A couple more things from Matt:

It was about the size of the hole we needed plugged budget wise, the time I had left of personal resources, and the past data I had about us trying a patreon (which turned out to be a bad indicator). I didn't think the Patreon would help us fast enough. I made a bad estimation

aka "if we make $1000 more dollars a month via patreon, which would be 10x what we got last time, we will not solve any of our problems. If instead we try to plow down path B, we might make it out in time." That was the thinking. I chose the wrong path, but didn't mean to Kevin also retweeted this comment from the user Matt was responding to: So you're saying that you're bad at running the business, didn't listen to any of your employees until after they were forced to leave their jobs, and now you're going to get more of the money from the Patreon that was their idea in the first place? Matt's Response: Respectfully, I made a mistake delaying the patreon decision. But keeping a comedy site alive for 9 years is not easy, there are lots of potential ideas, and think overall we've done a good and honorable job. Will leave this thread in peace now to allow people their space.

Sorry for linking to Elon's hellsite (derogatory), but sources need links so...

[ang3ltine]

𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 + 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐜 𐙚🧸ྀི

ft. No eul (guard 11) + Se mi (player 380) separately

warnings: suggestive themes but overall fluff

author's notes: thank you guys for the support!! I'm not even a good writer, but I'm glad you guys enjoy my work ♡

𝐍𝐨 𝐞𝐮𝐥 ִֶָ࣪☾.

{Sfw}

𐙚 No eul was hesitant to date you at first, not that there was anything wrong with you specifically. She just didn't want to disappoint you as she has trouble expressing herself. But you reassured her that it was ok to open up to you. It took a while but she eventually did and you two couldn't be happier.

𐙚 You guys obviously met at the amusement park that she used worked at duh. At the time you worked as a kinder garden teacher , bringing the kids to watch the parade. You had lost one of the kids and No eul had found him for you, he was a crying mess but safe nonetheless. Wanting to repay her you suggested to take her out to lunch the next day. She refused at first but soon agreed after you kept on insisting.

𐙚 No eul is pretty protective over you, not that you need it but she feels content on keeping you by her side. Always looking out for you ,if any creepy guy tried flirting with you she'd give them a stern glare and tell them to f off. If they still persisted, que No eul dragging his ass to a dark alleyway to beat him up.

" You didn't have to go that far," you say as you frantically looked around to see if there were any witnesses. "I know , but he deserved it," she simply stated while she headed towards the direction of your shared apartment to blow off some steam.

𐙚 pda isn't really her thing unless she's really pissed at someone flirting with you that she loses her cool and would dead ass look the person in the eyes while kissing you. Other than that she likes holding your hand and giving you small pecks on your cheek/forehead throughout the day.

𐙚 Dating spots/ideas: libraries, your apartment rooftop, cute cafes or sometimes you guys would travel to the countryside.

{Nsfw}

𐙚 oh boy, she's rough and assertive during intimacy. This is mostly due to her personality but she also likes your cute reactions whenever she goes down at you. She's open to anything as long as your OK with it. Lots of bandage and maybe gunplay if she has one. But if you just wanted to go slow and gentle then she will do so.

𝐒𝐞 𝐦𝐢 ﾒ𝟶ﾒ𝟶

{Sfw}

𐙚 Let's be honest , you fell for her first, but she fell for you harder. Se mi's the one who asked you out first cause she found you cute and endearing, something that she's needs in her dull life.

𐙚 A group of gangsters who tried stealing from you which Se mi had noticed when she went by with her motorbike (yes she owns one its canon yall). She stepped in to save you and they ended up in a dumpster. That day was the day you felt a small spark between you both and Se mi felt it too.

𐙚 Omg you guys would definitely go to the nearest animal shelter and adopt a black female kitty. Her name would be Noir cause why not, also she reminds you so much of Se mi. The way the both act and look so similar baffled you but you didn't complain.

𐙚 Se mi would occasionally bring you bouquets of your favourite flowers and would gift you small presents/trinkets that remind her of you. One time she bought you her perfume that she wears so you would smell of her while she was away. Or you'd just steal her clothes (she smells of cherries/smoke).

𐙚 Big fan of pda, she'd have her hands all over you. Whether it was holding your waist/hand or resting her arm over your shoulder, bringing you into her chest. Totally would be smug about it whenever she'd see how flustered you were. If you didn't like pda then she would respect your opinion and stick with just holding your hand.

Dating spots/ideas: motorbike rides. I repeat motorbike ridess. Y'all would deffo be freaky on the bike but you didn't hear that from me. Beach dates, music festivals/concerts, funfairs and rides around the city. If Se mi wasn't broke then she'd take you to fancy restaurants, because you deserve all her love.

{Nsfw}

𐙚 Lordd, she's amazing in bed. Literally knows how to make you come undone with just her tongue and fingers. Would definitely lock eyes with you the whole time she's eating you out. She'd make you have eye contact with hers the whole time otherwise she won't let you cum. Has all sorts of toys to test on you and a special black dildo just for you. Shes never really gotten to this point with other partners so consider yourself lucky. Omg the piercing would just turn you on even more like hello?? She'd use it to her advantage.

"You slut, look at me not the ceiling" she'd drawled, making you whine and forced yourself to look back down at her. She had that damn smirk on her lips while she trusted her fingers into you hitting the right spot , making you squirt all over her face.

Ps. Let me if you guys want more hc's and send more requests if you like my work <3 also like, reblog or follow if you like my content ♡

[sapphic-agent]

This is plot manipulation if I've ever seen it.

Let me be clear, making Stella abusive is not the issue. The issue is the pandering the narrative does to Stolas here. Stolas is shown to us as a bright-eyed, sensitive kid. Stella, as a child as young as Stolas and in the same position as him, is shown to us as a violent and malicious heathen. It goes out of its way to establish, before they've even met, that Stella is the abuser and Stolas is the poor victim.

Viv says she was inspired by Bojack Horseman. As a HUGE fan of BH, I think her and the other writers really missed the mark. For reference, let's look at Bojack and his abusive mother Beatrice, both as children.

Do you see the difference? Do you see the way it's emphasized that they both started out as just children in shitty situations?

And they still maintain that Beatrice was a monster. They humanize her without excusing her behavior. They humanize Bojack without excusing his behavior. No one starts off as a bad person, but the fact that the HB writers try to hammer in that Stella from the start was an irredeemable monster while Stolas is the sole victim throughout his entire life doesn't sit well with me

[rubydubydoo122]

Something I was Batman fans to Understand is that Jason ACTS Angry when he's Scared. It's a trauma response from the streets. If he showed he was scared he would've been dead.

When Jason is Angry though. If he's truly angry, and we see this throughout UTRH and Lost Days, If he's angry, he steeps in it.

Come closer.

He's not a Bull when he's angry, he's calculated when he's angry. He's a Bull when he's scared. He's Angry when he's Scared.

Obviously some comics aren't going to show that, because of how many writers there've been and favorite characters and such, but 'Death in the Family' and the last pannel of 'The Diplomat's son' is a good representation of Angry when Scared. 'Lost Days' is AMAZING with the angry when scared because when Talia shows him that he's been replaced, he's apathetic, and then goes to another room and starts crying. When he learns the Joker's still alive he starts trashing the room

Under the Red Hood is Jason's prime example of calculating while Angry, BECAUSE THAT ENTIRE PLAN!!! It was very well thought out and very well executed up until the final confrontation.

Robin!Jason not letting Alfred or Bruce see how upset he was that His father died is a perfect mix of both, because grief is a fickle thing.

ALSO! LETS SAY THIS TOGETHER PIT MADNESS IS NOT REAL

there are a lot of comics tho where I think the writers either hated Jason or didn't know what to do with him, so don't bring those up.

[chzdavmpr]

I'm a huge Ben 10 fan but honestly even in it's prime era it made some small decisions that I very much do not care for. Like let me explain one that sticks out in my mind.

So Kevin was trying to work up the courage to ask Gwen out to a dance. While they clearly are both into each other (to the point that gwen basically tells him he should ask her out) this is still a big deal to him. It's the first real romantic gesture in their relationship, so even though he's normally a very calm person he can't help but be nervous. So he goes to Ben.

Now the writers could have easily made Ben disapprove of Kevin being with Gwen, after all at this point it's only been like a few weeks since Ben and Kevin were enemies. But Ben trusts Gwen's judgement, and in a short time Kevin has proved himself enough to where Ben not only approves, but sees Kevin as a friend, so he gives him some advice. Some Advice and a suit.

Ben explains that the suit was given to him by grandpa max, and as the audience you already know that's a big deal. Max is perhaps the most important person in Ben's life, and at this point Ben thinks Max is dead, so Ben even though the suit was too big for Ben to fit in it, him choosing to give it away is a gesture of amazing weight.

It's honestly one of my favourite scenes of the entire show.

And then by the end of the episode the writers go "Ben was pregnant. Alien Ghost Pregnant. He was only acting that way cause hormones. Any scenes with him this episode don't count. Also he took bites out of the suit."

[monolotus]

Main story vs Close friends

“She never posts her man, says ‘he’s just lowkey’ Girl- blink twice if he’s imaginary” only if they knew…

more under the cut!

The replies to your storys are so funny. You post the most romantic view of Seoul, showing a man by your side and the people go wild.

The thing is, though, it´s so annoying trying to be an it couple with the most offline millenial of them all.

"Babe, did you see this trend? I´ve seen so many couples doing it, can we also do it?" Meanwhile he hasn´t been on tiktok for the last four days.

Everybody has an addiction to their phones. Except Joshua.

He goes on tiktok to see the videos you sent him, and only going on his finsta to comment on dino´s latest post.

And let´s not even talk about the online jokes you may tell him, and how he looks at you like a lost puppy (because he is)

You ended up being his social media manager, telling him what is trending and what carat may want to see.

Is not like you care too much- you get to soft launch your boyfriend on your instagram without worries of his fans finding your account.

And, even if they did, what was there to cry about? The matching beaded bracelets? The guitar pick you carry on your phone case?

So, the actual hard launch of the relationship was... hard.

It slipped, he wasn´t supposed to talk about you. But Na pd is so funny, and his team so welcoming, it was just so easy to end up having conversations with the staff.

He was proudly showing to one of the writers his new beaded bracelet- a soft pink with little pearls, and one bead of different color, in the middle of the bracelet.

And he was caught off guard, when the girl asked "does the other bracelet have a different color? or it matches?"

"Yeah, it´s the same color. My girlfriend wanted the energy gemstone set, but it was out of stock... so until i can buy it for her, this will do!"

And as the conversation went on and on, and the alcohol on his blood (and brain) runs out, he realized what he had done- nobody outside of his close friend group knew about you.

And, apparently, the mic picked up his conversation, even if it wasn´t supposed to (as Na pd´s team had told his company) so, he had to have the talk with you.

It wasn´t such a big deal for you, though, already curating the perfect photo dump and a romantic, silly caption.

His post was on weverse, a long explanation about how the two of you met, and how he was the happiest when he was around you and carat, both giving him energy to go trought the day.

Your post? Perfectly curated, radiating boyfriend energy. A picture of your boyfriend playing the guitar, a video of him and you on a date and a screenshot of a random conversation "this is so us" you had sent, with the picture of two cats cuddling. but first? a silly story.

[twizzie-lairs]

My Darling, My Honey

Alastor X Fem!Reader (Part 1)

Quick Notes:

This is when both reader/you and Alastor are both alive. (... we'll probably end up in hell later on btw...)

Reader is an artist/painter.

*disclaimer: i'm not a great writer, nor am I good at writing characters*

Part 1:

On a cold, dreary night, you take solace in a speakeasy to escape your dreadful home life.

You, the reader, are stuck in what feels like a hopeless, loveless, and potentially abusive marriage that was arranged by you and your husband's parents as more of a political/business move.

So you find yourself sneaking out to the next town over at night whenever your "husband" is away. On nights like those, you left the ring at home. It was only a reminder of your hellish life, you wouldn't let anything reminiscent of your husband come with you to your little escape/happy place.

During your occasional outings, you befriended the speakeasy's owner/proprietress, Mimzy, who becomes your most trusted confidant because you didn't have any "friends" or family you could trust- they were the ones who put you in your living hell after all.

Mimzy also became your biggest fan and patron once she found out you're an artist/painter. Many of your paintings became centerpieces at the bar and your art became synonymous with this prestigious speakeasy of hers.

You pocketed all this money and didn't even have to hide the fact that you were painting. He hated art, so as long as it didn't stay in the house, he didn't care where it went. It was the one good thing you had going for you.

After a particularly prolonged period of time of your husband being home and having to endure so much of his bullshit, you find yourself seated at Mimzy's bar with a drink in hand.

A while into the night, but while the night was still young, you hear Mimzy's voice talking to a voice you've never heard before. You were a regular, so you knew all of the other regulars (you were more of an irregular regular, due to your visits being erratic because it all depended on when your husband was out of town).

But this voice caught your attention immediately. When Mimzy and this unknown man round the corner, your head whipped around, just to lock eyes with this new visitor to the bar.

Upon meeting your gaze, you are met with an unexpectedly warm smile, which makes you gasp and make you debate if the man or the alcohol was the culprit of the blush on your face.

Mimzy walked over with the man and introduced him and you to each other. You extended your hand towards him, and much to your surprise, he laid a gentle kiss upon the top of your hand and told you his name. "Alastor."

After witnessing this exchange, Mimzy giggles and runs along and goes to chat with the other patrons, leaving you and Alastor to chat on your own.

Oh and chat you do, yes indeed. You lose track of time and before you knew it, it was time to head home.

Not once in your life had you lost track of time talking to someone before. Never had you felt the butterflies in your stomach like that. The kindness and genuine interest this man showed you, being attentive to your every word, you felt alive. You don't know the last time you felt like this, if you ever have.

-> Part 2