#i have very little understanding of the stock market

[riddler-apologist]

just saw paul dano's bare ass😕😞

[loganwritesprobably]

First Meeting.. P4 (One Piece Edition)

Part one with Ace, Law and Sanji Part two with Zoro, Robin and Luffy Part three with Crocodile, Mihawk and Buggy

Here is the final three characters I planned on writing for this: Benn, Shanks and Smoker! If anyone is interested in seeing this with other characters, my requests are open. All readers are gender neutral, so everyone is welcome to enjoy. No Y/N is used!

Requests are open for x reader things! I will write basically ANY kind of reader - male, female, non-binary, gender neutral, trans, disabled, black, white, latino, asian, neurodivergent, etc

AO3 | Fanfic Masterlist | Request Rules | Fic Trades Guide | WIPs

Notes: For Smoker it's kind of a first re-meeting but.. that totally still counts

Generally, men that much older than you weren't your thing - but men that much older than you weren't usually that attractive. Like, this guy was hotter than 90% of the people you saw come into port. You had a rule though, you didn't flirt with people just passing through. It wasn't worth the trouble of maybe getting attached, just for them to leave again. You knew for sure that this guy would be leaving again fairly soon when you saw him interacting so casually with Emperor Red Hair Shanks. Not worth the trouble on any level.

A young woman approached your stall and struck up conversation with you, and you fell into what you knew how to do - shifting stock. An older man in town had hired you to run the market stall he owned selling animal produce, because he was getting too old to be spending so much time on his feet and in the sun. You took the job happily. A man then approached, asking about the various things you had, and you continued with what you knew best. You told him about the milks and cheeses, the furs and the meats, and he just nodded along with a list of things in hand. You told him about each product, but he just stood there looking at his list, a little clueless. "Do you want to give that list to me, and I'll get what you need?" You offered, and the man just handed the list to you with a sheepish expression. You laughed good-naturedly and took it, grabbing things quickly to set on the counter for the man to take.

You turned your back to the main window, getting a few other things listed, and when you turned back to the man once again, the hot older guy was stood there too. "Come on Yassop, you know better by now." The guy said with a sigh, but he looked fond. Both pirates then. You set the final things down and counted up the total, writing it down on the list that had been handed to you so they could keep that as a record of their expenses. "That is everything from your list." You said, pointedly speaking to the man that had been identified as Yassop rather than the handsome man. "Ouch, don't think I've ever seen you be ignored quite like that Benn." Yassop said, and sudden understanding dawned on you. Benn. Benn Beckman. You felt a little stupid for not realising sooner, not that you'd exactly spent much time thinking about pirates. You had bigger problems. "Hey, I have to leave some for the rest of you." Benn seamlessly joked back, and Yassop took the list back from you, which he passed to Benn for him to look at while you packaged everything they'd bought in paper and into bags.

Benn was the one to pay, and his fingers brushed yours as he handed over the berri for everything they'd bought. A little spark lit as you touched, which you tried very hard to ignore. You didn't care. Nobody that's visiting, you'd promised yourself. "You're damn gorgeous, by the way." Benn said, and you knew you were already fucked.

You were a pirate. You didn't like to call yourself or your crew nobodies.. but hey, sometimes things that hurt a little were true. Tiny bounties, very few fights on your records, and little to no concerns of being tracked down by marines or by bounty hunters. So you were living the pirate life on easy mode for the most part, which you weren't really complaining about, you couldn't imagine having to learn how to really be a pirate whilst being hunted. You and your crew were in a random bar on a random island, drinking them out of house and home - but you were paying them, at least.

Your crew were yelling and laughing together, and it made you smile. You'd been looking over some paperwork (and why did being a pirate involve paperwork?), with a drink in hand, letting them have their fun. Most of them were a little younger than you, and if not physically then certainly mentally. Your head shot up as the door swung open to reveal some older men whose faces you recognised. Lucky Roux, Yassop, Limejuice, Hongo, Benn Beckman. The Red Hair Pirate crew. You didn't think this was one of their islands, you'd have noticed you were sure of it, so there was nothing wrong with you being there.

You sat very still for a few minutes, just watching what they would do, and how your crew was reacting. They were mostly oblivious, which was fine, as long as they weren't running your mouth they'd probably be okay. The Red Hair pirates also didn't seem to pay your crew any mind, which you weren't exactly surprised by.

When the door opened again, letting more sunlight into the relatively dark venue, the more experienced pirates looked up and laughed and cheered. Enter Emperor Red Hair Shanks. He was a sight to behold. You could feel his strength radiating from him, and damn he was handsome. You wondered if the rumours of his flirtatious personality held any stock, because you certainly wouldn't mind being flirted with. The man looked around the room, and as if he could hear your thoughts, his eyes locked on you. You looked quickly back down at your paperwork, but couldn't see any of the words. He didn't approach immediately, but a few minutes later someone did sit at your table with you. You looked up to find Shanks, with a drink in hand. "Your drink looks pretty empty, can I get you a refill?"

Once upon a time, you'd been training to be a marine, alongside Smoker. Not anymore. You'd seen some of the things that the marines were willing to do to civilians first hand and you hadn't been able to reconcile that with what you wanted to do with your life. Rather, you became a pirate. Yes, both pirates and marines had the power to do both bad and good things, but pirates didn't answer to a higher power in the way that marines did. You could choose to do good every day, and you didn't have to ask permission - so that was what you did.

More than anything, you were a travelling doctor. Your crew didn't fight, and neither did you really. You were all more than capable, but it was a last resort, because you all intended to do good as much and as often as you could.

Smoker had continued onward into the marines, and you'd lost a valuable friend.

You were in Alabasta, aware that the warlord Sir Crocodile kept the citizens safe, but one of your crew members wanted to visit home, and it never hurt to check in. You found devastation. Most of your crew members at least knew basic first aid, and so you deployed in pairs or trios to different towns to try to treat those that you found still alive. They were dying en masse of dehydration, and those who weren't dying from dehydration were suffering sunstroke, or illnesses they already had were worsened. You came across many a drunk child, because a mother decided alcohol was better than total dehydration, and you appreciated that they were trying. You gave away the ship's entire stock of fresh water, and your shipwright showed everyone how to build water filtration systems, so that you could show that to the citizens too. Then, you were able to distribute salt water that could be filtered into drinking water.

You were there for weeks. Then the marines flew through.

"What are you-" A familiar voice called out, and you froze where you were patching up a child's leg wound from collapsing. You took a deep breath, and checked the wrap, then stood to face Smoker. "Hello, Smoker." You said, voice soft, and he couldn't seem to find a response.

[yippeecahier]

NGL, I come from a place of privilege, given that I am under 25 and have no debt.

I have about $30,000 in assets - just my savings, car, tech, jewelry, and all my worldly goods that could be resold put together, at their current value. If I lost that 30k, which is really just (one) medical emergency away from bankruptcy, I would have to strip everything for the cash. In just cash alone, I'm not even close enough for a downpayment on a starter home, a multi year endeavor.

By comparison, millionaires such as Lady Gaga (130 million) and Keanu Reeves (380 million) are far above me. To be on the same level, I would have to earn and retain in financial or asset form, $129,970,000 or $379,970,000 respectively. Anything I spent on rent, insurance, gas, food, medicine, and other consumables that can't be resold doesn't count towards that net worth total.

That's a lot. But this pales in comparison to billionaires such as Jeff Bezos (117 billion) and Elon Musk (191 billion). I would have to retain $116,999,970,000 and $190,999,970,000 respectively. At my current income of $50k, which is above the median income for people with my level of education, assuming I magically don't need to spend any money on consumables and can just bank it all:

It would take me 2,599 years and 146 days to obtain Lady Gaga's wealth, or almost 26 CENTURIES.

It would take me 7,599 years and 146 days to obtain Keanu Reeve's wealth, or almost 76 CENTURIES.

It would take me 2,339,999 years and 146 days to obtain Jeff Bezo's wealth, or almost 2,340 MILLENIA.

It would take me 3,899,999 years to obtain Elon Musk's wealth. It would take me nearly 3,900 MILLENIA.

Oh, this is after having paid off all my debt and with my existing assets, by the way. For even Lady Gaga, the least wealthy of this list, I would have to work tirelessly from before the Roman Empire was even founded.

But that's just me, a college-educated middle-class American citizen who is both debt and child-free.

It's much more fascinating to compare these to each other.

Lady Gaga makes $25 million a year.

Keanu Reeves makes $40 million a year.

So, if I deduct what these millionaires already have in assets and divide the total of the billionaire's assets by their income to find how many years of just banking money (no consumables):

Lady Gaga would have to bank another $116,870,000,000 to have Jeff Bezo's wealth. Assuming she stops spending on consumables like food or whatever and every penny of her $25 million income goes into future asset wealth, it would still take Lady Gaga 4,674 years and 293 days for her to obtain Bezo's wealth.

Keanu Reeves would have to bank another $190,620,000,000 to achieve Elon Musk's wealth. Again, in a fantasy world where Keanu doesn't have to feed and clothe himself, it would take him 4,765 years and 6 months to obtain Elon Musk's wealth.

The gap between the assets of famous multimillionaires like Lady Gaga and Keanu Reeves (who make MILLIONS every year) and that of famous multi-billionaires is a little less than HALF what it would take me to become as wealthy as Lady Gaga at my income level, which is, again, above the median. I could never achieve that wealth in my entire fucking lifetime, because, even if I assumed my income would go up and actually outpace inflation, I still need to eat and I can only use my body for labor until I'm 80, tops, which is only 56 years of work and nowhere near the thousands.

This sounds very conspiracy-brain, but sometimes I think the United States deliberately undermines math education and the corresponding understanding of how to problem-solve and comprehend magnitude of these kinds of numbers. Because if kids sat down and did the math, they just might realize that there is no way to become this rich on your own hard work.

Sure, you can invest in the stock market - but that's gambling. Most people might be able to hamper the effects of inflation on their asset values with stock investment.

The American dream is a lie.

The middle class is closer to becoming homeless than they are to becoming multimillionaires.

Even multimillionaires are closer to becoming middle class or even homeless than they are to becoming multi-billionaires.

Don't fucking tell me to budget and I'll become a millionaire. It's more likely I'll get hit by lightning or lose it all to medical bills.

If this doesn't radicalize you, I don't know what will.

[wereallydobevibing]

Oh, to Find Love in Russia | Konig x Reader

I used to post my stories on tiktok under the username @codlover but I figured since tiktok might get banned I should delete that account and post it here. Here’s one of the stories.

Feel free to use my work as a prompt/inspiration. Better yet, feel free to write your own ideal part 2 just MAKE SURE YOU CREDIT AND TAG ME.

WARNINGS: Mentions of injury, specifically written for my delulu girlies💕

The ice, cold air of a wintery Russia rushed through your body like death through Pompeii. With your lips an ungodly shade of purple and your fingers feeling so stupidly numb, you follow the public map displayed on the side of the nearest building to meet a short term comrade in a common tourist area.

It took you some time, having never been to Russia before, but you eventually find yourself walking alongside a very large man who names himself König. He leads you away from the tourist path and into a market area where you both enter a less than busy bar. You agree you’ll talk here, where it was warm and your shivering didn’t hinder your ability to speak.

The next two hours was a conversation of confirming your roles here and the goals that were set to be accomplished – you both were sent to gain intel, but König’s main focus was to serve as your armor, and gaining intel was especially assigned to you, dear reader.

You were not a special forces operator because you were big and strong, or because you had a particular set of skills pertaining to combat at all. Your task-force had elected you to become one of it’s soldiers because you were a holder of intelligence – you were the brain, and everyone else was the body.

Your skills lied in your ability to speak and understand a multitude of languages. Your looks and personality made you attractive to others both romantically or otherwise – people couldn’t help but make themselves known to you. You were good at making them feel so special that it hurt too much to not spill all their flavors into your cup.

Blackbird, they called you; a symbol of beauty and intelligence. You were your team’s little warbler – whatever they needed to know, you were sent to find out, and you always came back chirping your sweet song of intel.

König was quite taken by you from the very start – he’d never met a woman in his field that carried herself with such grace. Overtime, many women in special forces became much like their male colleagues; rough around the edges, heavily drinking and/or smoking, cursing like wounded sailors.

You? You were so clean. Not a single profanity fell from your glossed lips, your voice was smoother than the finest of silk velvets. Your eyes are still warm with the hope of a better world and twinkled with the gentle promise of eternal youth.

Granted, you were still rather fresh in age being in your early 20s. Still, you were special.

As you both got familiar with each other over the next few hours, König grew firmer in his belief that the radiance of your skin was actually your golden soul shining through your pores.

The safe house you’d both been given had been put together at the last minute. A fact that was clear by how it was a small cabin with only a couch in the living room and one bed in the bedroom, certainly not prepared for two. The kitchen was stocked with little snacks and such, but if either of you ever got the taste for a real meal, you’d have to eat out or go grocery shopping.

König was quick to offer you the only room, as you were a lady deserving of privacy.

Over the course of two weeks, you took turns cooking and choosing restaurants. But by week three, you’d become so focused on your task of manipulating a Captain in the Russian anti-group that you’d end up spending every free moment of your day at the desk, documenting the day’s occurrences and future strategies. König became responsible for making sure you both ate – it seemed that if he didn’t feed you, you’d simply forget to do it yourself and starve.

Week four was when the storm arrived, the great finale that signaled the nearing end of every mission – Blackbird had collected everything she needed and was ready to fly on home and feed her findings to her kin. Things were wrapping up and, naturally, that meant shit was going down.

The final day would end with König wounded – he fought well, your knight in shining armor. Of course he won, but he was losing blood from his abdomen and you knew he was in pain.

The jet that was assigned to pick you both up would not arrive until morning. Your due date was not until two days from now, but you’d finished early. Until then, you used what you had to stop the bleeding and make him comfortable.

You leave him on the bed that you’d been sleeping in for the last five weeks, flat on his back. If not for the pain of his stab wound, he might’ve enjoyed drowning in the lingering, feminine scent of shampoo and perfume stuck to the sheets and pillows you burrowed yourself in at night.

You bandage him with delicate fingers – such a stark difference compared to the medics back at the KorTac base. They were always so rough, like hornets pricking and prodding at his body.

He doesn’t notice how your focus was divided between his wound and his bare chest. Your impulsive thoughts, if you gave in to them, would’ve had you resting the palms of your hands flat on his muscles and grazing your fingertips over the ridges.

You tried to be respectful, the man was in pain – but you just couldn’t help your nature as it demanded to behold the glorious sculpture settled before you. Thousands of years ago, König might’ve been the model for ancient Greek statues. He was beautiful.

König sits up on the mattress when you finish, which now is stained with speckles of blood, clenching his jaw as he did. Your hands come up on his bare chest and you stop him.

“What are you doing?” You ask, bewildered, “You have to rest, König, you’re hurt.”

“This is your bed, schatz,” König grunted, “I will go to the couch.”

Now that the mission is over, you suddenly feel a wave of guilt come crashing down onto you. You’d been so busy thinking about what you needed to do, how you were going to get your hands on the information you’d been sent out to receive that you didn’t ever stop to think about König’s comfort. And here he was, spending every single day of the last five weeks watching your back, making sure you ate, and that you were comfortable. All he did was think about you.

As you stare at him, your heart begins pulsing erratically. Your face grows warm with the sudden realization that this big, brutal, soldier of a man was such a gentleman. He’d been so kind and considerate, looking over your shoulder for you like he was born to do it and not just because it was his job.

Your hands raise to cradle his masked face. You think about how this six-foot-ten beast had been sleeping on that tiny, poor excuse for a couch for nearly two months for the sake of your comfortability, and how he would do it even now when he was in pain.

Without a second thought, you go in and kiss him through the fabric of his mask – a little peck of admiration for his chivalry, a humble praise for being a rare man.

König stares at you when you pull back, he’s stunned. All these weeks of very subtly flirting with you … he thought you’d never notice, or even reciprocate his interest. König figured that you both would separate at the end of this story like Orpheus and Eurydice, he’d be damned to never know you again and you’d forget him as soon as he was gone.

With your hands still holding either side if his jaw, you tell him, “Lay down, König. Here.”

He brings up a large hand to meet one of yours, using the other to hold himself upright and stroking your wrist affectionately with his thumb, “You will not sleep on the couch, schatz.”

“No,” You agreed. “We will both stay here, on the bed, and that way if you need anything, I’m right here to help you.”

Still not believing what’s happening, he tries again to rise from the bed, only for you to guide him back down until his head rested on one of the pillows.

You ask, “That’s okay, isn’t it?”

König, beneath his mask, feels his lips curling upward as he laughs breathlessly.

He grins, “Okay?”

It was perfect.

[accio-victuuri]

excerpts for this interview about wang yibo and his character wei ruolai: Exclusive interview｜"Storm Chaser" director Yao Xiaofeng: Creating a period drama with a grainy and historical feel

The TV series "War of Faith" is on the air. This legendary story that cuts into the history of the Republic of China from a financial perspective has aroused the curiosity and follow-up of many viewers. It’s production level can also be regarded as the best work of 2024.

Director Yao Xiaofeng admits that he has always been interested in the history of the Republic of China. "This history is actually very heart-wrenching. During this history, the ups and downs of the country's destiny, what kind of experiences did the people who participated in it and those who followed the trend have? I find it particularly interesting.”

In addition to the visual presentation, the performances of many actors are also quite exciting. Yao Xiaofeng said confidently: "The actor in this drama will definitely be able to give one of the best performances in his career." He is a director who is very good at communicating with actors and bringing out their charm. Starring Wang Yibo is also in " Contributed a commendable performance in "War of Faith".

The first time he collaborated with Wang Yibo, Yao Xiaofeng recognized this "kid" very much. "I spent a lot of thought on Wang Yibo this time, and he was very involved and fully committed himself to me during the process. He also believed in me." He said, "There are no distracting thoughts in our cooperation. .”

The Paper: In the first episode, the male protagonist is dragged into the stock market by the landlady. On one side is the heroine's gunfire and on the other side is the male protagonist's stock market turmoil. This contrast is quite interesting.

Yao Xiaofeng: The male protagonist is an ordinary person. When an ordinary person is involved in chaos and bloodshed, he goes from being at a loss to being calm and making a choice. I think this is very interesting. An ordinary person's true reaction when faced with a world he cannot control may be the highlight of this drama. So for the first few scenes, I first created the atmosphere of his life and let the audience accept what kind of person he is. Talking about the relationship between an ordinary little person and the big era and the big world is my specialty.

The Paper: In previous interviews, I saw you expressing your appreciation for Wang Yibo. I would like to hear you talk about the cooperation process, including some observations of this young actor?

Yao Xiaofeng: When we met, I could feel Wang Yibo's sincerity, and I said I wanted to convey this sincerity to the audience. No matter what kind of scene you face, you don’t have to act, you just need to tell me your truest feelings on camera. The good thing about this kid is that he easily believed the scenarios I gave him.

I think this child is very good. He understands it very well. When he comes to the set, he is filming. He regards himself as an actor and leaves it completely to a director. As a director, I explained my ideas to him and let him develop them. I often say that actors and directors should trust and respect each other. From the moment we met, we only talked about the two creators’ understanding of the characters and the drama, so there were no distracting thoughts about our cooperation.

The actor in this drama will definitely give one of the best performances in his career. As a director, what I have to do is to amplify the charm of the actor and help him complete the role. I spent a lot of thought on Wang Yibo this time, and he was very involved, and he also trusted me in the process.

The Paper: How to build this trust?

Yao Xiaofeng: It’s equality. I don’t “pretend” to be a director, and he doesn’t “play” a star. We are just ordinary people. And then he was the younger guy and I was older than him and he certainly had a lot of respect for me. But at the beginning, when the two of us were not that familiar, I talked more about the script with him, without any pretensions to being a director, and communicated with him in a normal manner. After slowly breaking through the barriers between people little by little, the rest will not be a problem.

His smile was so lively that once I made him laugh. After laughing, I said you have such a cute smile, and we were both very happy. Later, he often smiled, and I think he probably smiled the most in my drama.

The Paper: The pavilion where the male protagonist lives on Qibao Street is also particularly rich in details.

Yao Xiaofeng: When Wei Ruo came to the room, I said it was not shabby enough. It was also a loft at the beginning. When the view of the loft was ready, I said as soon as I entered, you have no experience in living in a pavilion. It is too high, too big, and the room is not dilapidated enough. But the photography team is also worried that your space is too big. It’s hard to get small photography equipment in, so it’s not easy to take pictures. But when it comes to photography, I want it to be small and have enough space for people to hit their heads.

If the space is right, we will discuss every detail of the character's life, including what kind of lights to use at home, where to eat, and where to cook. The staff in the clothing team are relatively young now and have no idea about the "ragged" clothes of that era, so I asked them to make them as old and torn as possible.

When everything was ready, Wang Yibo put on a torn cotton-padded jacket, entered the pavilion where he would hit his head, and bent down. The small quilt on the bed could only cover his head but not his tail, so he could only shrink up. We filmed it in winter, and his most authentic reaction was aroused. By truly feeling in this real atmosphere and environment, you can bring the characters to life.

[indigosabyss]

not to go on another crossover brainrot. but consider. dr stone x jujutsu kaisen crossover, w the base premise of ryuusui and kento being cousins.

ikik nanami is a very common surname. but they also both have blond hair, brown(-ish) eyes, and pale skin. Nanami (Kento; sorry im more used to calling him Nanami 😭) also thinks a lot about money once he quits being a sorcerer. Which is obvs meant to talk about real world issues, but also would be in line with Nanami upbringing.

ok this got way longer than i thought, so read more for a major yap session.

Kento is also a really disciplined guy, which fits into the ideals of what the Nanami household wanted Ryuusui to be. Makes him fit perfectly into the Dr Stone world. (also we know ryuusui canonically has a bunch of cousins/siblings he doesn't talk about at all so there's precedent for the family connection too)

On the flipside, Ryuusui has learnt, through real world experience, that he can get anything he wants with enough hard work and money to pave the way. Except jujutsu sorcery. He'll never be capable of that, no matter how much he wants it.

In my mind, the two universes first intersect when Ryuusui sneaks into Jujutsu Tech to see Kento, some time in the guy's second year. Since both universes use the real world calendar, its easy to pinpoint Ryuusui as being eight years younger than Kento.

Nanami Conglomerate isn't a Jujutsu clan. They really are just a regular rich-ass family company, who had a sorcerer randomly. There's some discussion about that. A lot of "damn, nanami's loaded??? why tf can't he get a better hairstylist then" type of shenaniganry.

[Side plot: At that point, Ryuusui isn't the heir at all. (I think if you refuse to let your child into family photographs out of shame, then you are not leaving a trillion-yen company to him) so there's going to be some politicking about on Francois' end to make him heir, with the two cutting a deal for Francois to be his main assistant in everything if they get it done.]

Kento and Ryuusui's relationship is strained, bc Kento has been raised to keep his distance from the black sheep of the family - even tho all Ryuusui has done so far is mess around with the stock market a little bit, so Kento doesn't really get it and talks to him anyway sometimes.

To Ryuusui, however, Kento is like his third-favorite person. (First is Sai, second is Francois) bc his 7-3 ratio technique is very useful for model building and this boy has a talent for sniffing out gifts he can exploit.

So anyway, Sai is off being tutored in economics, moving up several grade levels above his age, and Ryuusui was stuck at the Naval Academy, so he sneaks out to get to Kento, who does not speak about his school and is understandably confused when Ryuusui sneaks in and is discovered by the students.

Gojo in particular is entertained bc at that age he hasn't interacted with many young children before, and he is considering adopting the Fushiguro kid, so he kinda wants to see what he's getting himself into.

Ryuusui is having the time of his life. Everyone treats him so nice! They listen to his stories about his regular life. And then have to take Nanami to the side and break it to him that the entire family was kind of purposefully neglecting these two kids. Which makes him rethink some things about his life and the structures he upholds.

Ryuusui really wants to be a sorcerer. But he can't. So of course he finds an S-tier scientist who may or may not be called Ishigami Senku to science out a solution for him.

Francois - even though I love them with my heart and soul - will also be non-sorcerer here. But armed with cursed tools to defend Ryuusui in case something goes bad on his adventures.

And on top of all that, in the horizon, there looms a Special Grade curse, almost primordial in its age and strength, capable of affecting the entire world in one fell swoop. The Medusa.

[cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut]

A Helping Hand to Hold You Down

A very merry Christmas to the wonderful @birdclowns! When I started writing this story, we were friends who had been talking every day since our very first DMs. I liked you a whole lot, thought you were pretty neat I guess. The more I worked through the story and its many earlier forms, our friendship turned into something else entirely, and now I get the joy and honour of calling you my boyfriend! What a happy way to end the year, with the realisation that my growing feelings were in fact mutual. Eep. Here's a little something I hope you enjoy. Undying gratitude to the magnificent @carlos-in-glasses for the beta read, and to the dom who reached out to help us with our questions on understanding the relevant kinks from a dom’s POV. Couldn’t have done it without you!

Rating: E

Word Count: 16.5k

Summary: As Christmas approaches, TK secures the perfect gift for Carlos on a sweet, solitary stroll through the market. He heads home, ready for a night of Netflix and wrapping-paper. When he arrives at the loft, however, he's struck by something obviously out of place. Things are not as they seem in the loft, and TK's evening will not unfold as he had planned…

TK wanders home that evening, thinking about his love for his husband, and about the perfect knives. He spotted them at the market last weekend, hand in hand with Carlos as they perused the Christmas stock. Sprawling rows of out of town vendors, and first time tradespeople all tucked among the more familiar stands – a veritable village of creators and sellers, all taking their chances on December’s steep demand. TK hadn’t had time to distract Carlos from the stand of sleek looking kitchen supplies before his husband had followed his gaze and strode past him with a gentle “ooh,” all but tugging TK along with him to the display. Handcrafted chopping boards, perfectly engraved coasters, sets of marbled wine glasses, and delicate condiment dishes sat atop slate dishes. 

And knives – the perfect set of kitchen knives, Carlos’s free hand going straight to the edge of the open box of the display batch. 

Continue on AO3 (heed the tags)

[shieldfoss]

Can You Shoot The Dog

NB: I stole this whole text, including title and tags, from https://cohost.org/mammonmachine/post/2322368-can-you-shoot-the-do

I don't want to shoot the dog, but I do want to shoot the idea of having a dog in the game to pet.

I know, I know, it's pretty mean of me to pull out a gun and unload a full clip into a completely adorable and wonderfully intentioned little trend even if it IS a little bit annoying, and it's certainly kind of an overreaction, but while I've got this gun out and you're listening would you mind if I made a particular hyperspecific point? I take issue with the idea of putting a dog in the game to pet because I think that's missing the point: if you have a dog in a game, you should be able to pet it.

Do you understand the distinction? The only reason for asking "Can You Pet The Dog?" is because the dog, when present, doesn't give the player any way to interact other than what the player normally has, usually gun. Gun is not the ideal way to interact with dog, and developers tend to forget pet but remember gun because petting a dog doesn't do anything. For player's that's exactly the whole point, that there is no point, and that's kind of mindblowing to me. Like, I spend all day every day trying to make a big digital stage and trick people into believing it's real, and they laugh at your antialiasing and say you need to upgrade your version of the Unreal Engine, and then they'll go on to ask why they can't pet a dog. Isn't that funny? They think they see all the fakeness and seams but at the end of the day the human brain is not immune to seeing a picture of a dog and going " doggie :)"

My best friend and streaming partner Fern loves Bloodborne and Souls games more than anything, and one of her favorite things about these games is the ability to wave and gesture at people. They put emotes in those games because of multiplayer, but you can do them whenever you want. Wave to the Silver Knight shooting arrows at the pillar right in front of you. Wave to the boss through the fog door. Wave to the fire keeper—wait she waved back!

You can't "pet the dog" in Bloodborne (dogs in these games are made of knives, unsafe to pet) but you can "pet the dog" (the doll giggles when you act goofy, like a teenager trying to get a girl to notice her). This fake, inanimate world responds back to the player's attempt to communicate with it, even when there is absolutely no mechanical reason to do, an act of communication between player and world that is delighting in and of itself.

This is the spirit, rather than letter, of petting the dog. It's not about a literal dog that you literally pet. You can find a way to put a dog in the game and you can figure out a way to pet it, but it's not very impressive. What I would like to see is identifying what in the game the player wishes they could interact with, simply for its own sake, just because they believe in the game, believe in it more than you who made it does, and want the game to speak back in a way that validates that belief. That is a much harder dog to pet. But isn't the whole point a lot of work for no real point?

Speaking of, while I've got this gun, I feel the exact same way about fishing minigames. A calming and idle pastime in the middle of a very different kind of game is a great idea, but I think you should pick one that suits what your game is about. Yes, Cruelty Squad does have fishing in it, but the real fishing in Cruelty Squad is the stock market. Think about that while I lower my gun and give you a chance to flee.

[genericpuff]

(about the bell post) i dont know anything about lore olympus but is there something inherently bad in using free stock images? like, thats what stock images are for right? i know that its probably lazy or whatever but is that the only problem? /genuine

Part of the issue with using stock photos is licensing. Like fonts, they're in abundance online and easy to snag for "free", but as soon as you enter commercial work, it becomes a legal minefield. Stock photos typically belong to either individuals or corporations that rely on people buying the rights to those photos to use them; if they don't, they could very well be sued for copyright infringement.

In that respect, emojis fall into a similar grey area. Some emojis are public domain/open source meaning they're free to use for everyone. But many are not. It's why different social media platforms and different phone providers use different emoji's - it's not purely for branding (though that is a factor as Facebook emojis have become distinguishable from Android emojis) but also for ownership.

So, in the legal sense, I do not know if the bell emoji that Rachel used in LO is legally hers to use, or if it's even subject to such laws (it could be an open source image meaning it's free-for-all). I'm hoping for her sake she's not breaking any sort of copyright ownership laws, but I'm also not a lawyer and wouldn't know how to get that information even if I wanted to lmao

Aside from the legal, it's also just... sigh I'm gonna get into more opinionated territory here, but even if something is open source, even if you're legally free to use a stock photo or other tool to create your comic, there's also the ethics/integrity of it. Lore Olympus is not a Canvas comic. It is not an indie hobbyist project. It's a commercial product with multiple people working on it behind the scenes, book deals, merch deals, a TV deal, and an upcoming feature at this year's SDCC, with Rachel headlining alongside Cassandra Claire (Mortal Instruments) and Jeff Smith (BONE). Webtoons is trying very hard to market LO as a 'flagship' series and convince the public that it can stand alongside other literature juggernauts.

What I'm trying to say here is, if Rachel did legally use it, it doesn't make it any less cheap. There's a lot of discussion in the art field over the usage of external tools and assets in art creation, especially here in the west. 3D models, AI shaders, gradient maps - there are tons of things that exist now that stand to benefit artists, but can be abused or used poorly, being used as less of a tool to benefit an artist with pre-existing skills and more as a cheap shortcut to circumvent actual skill/effort.

The bell emoji isn't the heart of the issue I pointed out in that post. If it were an isolated thing, if LO were an otherwise impeccable comic with high-effort art and just one little picture of a bell, it wouldn't be that big of an issue.

But LO isn't that comic. The recipe of its art development week after week has become very cheap and low-effort, and the bell is really just the cherry on top.

And just to make it clear, I do stand by artists being able to use tools that make their lives easier. None of this is to say it's wrong to use stock images, or 3D models, or gradient maps, or whatever have you. Those tools exist to help and can be used in fun and experimental ways to bring new perspectives and life to your work. And I'm not going to scrutinize whatever shortcuts are being used in a comic that's being made for free by a hobbyist or someone who's still learning.

But like all tools, there are still ways to use them to the detriment of your own work, either due to a lack of understanding as to how that tool works, or lack of effort to blend it into your work. It can make it glaringly obvious that third-party assets are being used, and can often distract from what you've drawn (the complete opposite of what most people are trying to achieve).

When I think of art shortcuts and tools being used poorly, I think of Let's Play and its stock photo background characters.

I think of Time Gate: [AFTERBIRTH]'s stiff default 3D models that result in lifeless poses and restricted body types, which I am VERY eager to move on from LMAO

I think of LO's 3D backgrounds with only 1-2 colors thrown in and the characters floating in front of them. Or sometimes no characters at all even when people are speaking.

And of course, I think of the emoji bell, which could have easily just been drawn as a door or an actual doorbell, and not some random grey bell copied and pasted from a Google search.

All that's to say, too much reliance on poorly-implemented assets can take a great piece of work down to a mediocre one. Of course, the assets definitely aren't the only issue with LO, but they are definitely a piece of the problem. There might not be anything 'wrong' with using assets, but they can still be used poorly or result in cheap-looking work and that's primarily what I'm calling out here.

[counting-hrt-in-posts]

How many hrt's are in this Wikipedia page?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle

Thanks for the ask, but lovingly I aint doing.... all that...

This is an 8500 word article of very big words and I am a human being, not a machine. That being said, I'm not outright denying this ask, but I'm not going to do 8500 words of tedious, painstaking work. This is a fun blog and my commitment to the bit is not worth weeks of work. Thanks for understanding <3

The first section, or summary of the article, has 60 counts of HRT

Plug-in electric vehicle

A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any road vehicle that can utilize an external source of electricity (such as a wall socket that connects to the power grid) to store electrical energy within its onboard rechargeable battery packs, to power an electric motor and help propelling the wheels. PEV is a subset of electric vehicles, and includes all-electric/battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).[5][6][7] Sales of the first series production plug-in electric vehicles began in December 2008 with the introduction of the plug-in hybrid BYD F3DM, and then with the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV in July 2009, but global retail sales only gained traction after the introduction of the mass production all-electric Nissan Leaf and the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt in December 2010.

HRT 11

Plug-in electric cars have several benefits compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. All-electric vehicles have lower operating and maintenance costs, and produce little or no air pollution when under all-electric mode, thus (depending on the electricity source) reducing societal dependence on fossil fuels and significantly decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, but recharging takes longer time than refueling and is heavily reliant on sufficient charging infrastructures to remain operationally practical. Plug-in hybrid vehicles are a good in-between option that provides most of electric cars' benefits when they are operating in electric mode, though typically having shorter all-electric ranges, but have the auxiliary option of driving as a conventional hybrid vehicle when the battery is low, using its internal combustion engine (usually a gasoline engine) to alleviate the range anxiety that accompanies current electric cars.

HRT 16

Cumulative global sales of highway-legal plug-in electric passenger cars and light utility vehicles achieved the 1 million unit mark in September 2015,[8] 5 million in December 2018.[9] and the 10 million unit milestone in 2020.[10] Despite the rapid growth experienced, however, the stock of plug-in electric cars represented just 1% of all passengers vehicles on the world's roads by the end of 2020, of which pure electrics constituted two thirds.[11]

HRT 7

As of December 2023, the Tesla Model Y ranked as the world's top selling highway-capable plug-in electric car in history.[1] The Tesla Model 3 was the first electric car to achieve global sales of more than 1,000,000 units.[12][13] The BYD Song DM SUV series is the world's all-time best selling plug-in hybrid, with global sales over 1,050,000 units through December 2023.[14][15][16][17][18][19]

HRT 11

As of December 2021, China had the world's largest stock of highway legal plug-in electric passenger cars with 7.84 million units, representing 46% of the world's stock of plug-in cars.[20] Europe ranked next with about 5.6 million light-duty plug-in cars and vans at the end of 2021, accounting for around 32% of the global stock.[21][22][23] The U.S. cumulative sales totaled about 2.32 million plug-in cars through December 2021.[24] As of July 2021, Germany is the leading European country with cumulative sales of 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road,[25] and also has led the continent plug-in sales since 2019.[22][26] Norway has the highest market penetration per capita in the world,[27] and also achieved in 2021 the world's largest annual plug-in market share ever registered, 86.2% of new car sales.[28]

HRT 15

[tomochilife]

"Stupid characters where they mature and solve serious problems"

Chapter 2 [1/2]

「AT THE HOSPITAL.」

Jeremy is remembering that incident, remembering his partner's words calling him a "liar."

Jeremy: Fritz! What's wrong?

Fritz: Apparently I have eaten something with lactose -is interrupted-

Jeremy: Lactose intolerant? Now?

Fritz: It seems it was because of what I ate at the cafe. This paper is diarr—.

Jeremy: OK OK. I UNDERSTAND.

Fritz: So... have you seen if Mike is fi—?

Jeremy: No. To be honest, no. I really don't want to see him even though it's been like 4 days... I didn't see him at home.

Fritz: Did you not call him or did he?...

Jeremy: I didn't feel like it because of everything he did to me...

Fritz: Well... yeah—

Jeremy: Maybe that's why he didn't come home... –starts to whimper– I just hope he's okay, or well, I don't know, I have a lot of doubts... He wasn't like that... –tries not to cry in silence–

Fritz: –whispering– Jeremy... –grabs his shoulder and he looks at him.–

Fritz: You're not fooling me, Jeremy...

Jeremy: –he feels Fritz's hands on his cheeks– Eh?!

Fritz: You and me know that something is wrong with Mike.

Jeremy: N-no! I-I don't d-don't know what you are talking! Stop touching me!

He moves his hands away from the opponent quickly and anxiously. He feels his sweaty hands from the minor.

Fritz: ehem! Anyway, don't you want to stay at my house? I think he hasn't come back because you're there. –begins to stutter and feel nervous when he sees Jeremy also nervous.– O-Of course, it's not your fault, maybe he feels bad for what he tried to do to you!!

Jeremy: –let out a big sigh– Maybe you are right.

They decide to leave the hospital, while they walk along a route to get out, they devise a plan for the night.

Fritz: –sees Jeremy checking his phone– Don't forget to send him a message! So he doesn't think wrong.

Jeremy looks at the messages he sent to his partner during those 4 days, seeing how his world disappears as do the voices around him. Where he asked her and begged her to respond to his messages, although it seems they were never sent.

Jeremy: (Thinking) (Will he really be okay?! I can't even tell that he is online, nothing new on his social networks...)

Jeremy hits a wall because he is distracted on his cell phone.

Fritz: I told you be careful!

「FRITZ'S HOUSE」

Jeremy: To be honest, I forgot how your house looked and...

Fritz: And? Tidy, right?

Jeremy: What are you saying?! It's the same as it was months ago!!

Jeremy: The clothes are still the same as the papers and books!

Fritz: Actually all this is from the beginning of this week...

Jeremy: You shou—.

Fritz: Yes Yes, I know! Get more organized and clean my house more often!!

Fritz grabs the trash can full of papers and opens a drawer in his nightstand where there is a black bag to put the trash in.

Jeremy: Do you think you have improved compared to months ago?

Fritz closes the bag but remains silent and still.

Jeremy: I didn't want to offend you or anything! It was a genuine que—!

Fritz: –turns his head– Didn't you say that my house still looks the same? —accommodate the bag by closing it more tightly.—

Jeremy: I know I say it!! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! I—!!

Gets a little push from the stock market.

Fritz: –Soft and deep voice– It's not so easy to get out of depression, especially knowing that I can't leave this world if my best friend is suffering.

Jeremy starts crying and hugs him very tightly.

Still crying and Fritz is confused... for some reason.

Jeremy: –broken voice– WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ANYTHING?!

Fritz: Aside from not wanting to burden you with more problems, I didn't want Mike to get—.

Jeremy: ... Mike...?! You better talk once and for all! what does he have to do with it?!

Part 2

[sirfrogsworth]

I think I might have a highly controversial answer to this.

And my answer is influenced by how highly regarded the movie is compared to my experience with it. And it may not be the worst movie as far as the quality of the filmmaking, but it was the most angry I have ever been after watching a movie.

*drumroll*

Or as I like to call it... "Math Homework: The Movie"

So many people have said this is one of the best time travel movies ever made. And I just don't get it. There is literally no person who understood this movie on the first viewing. I had to watch a YouTube explanation video that was nearly as long as the actual movie to kinda/sorta understand it.

There is that Einstein quote, "If you can't explain it to a six-year-old, you don't understand it yourself."

I'm not sure that is entirely true, but I think it should at least be true for a movie. Donnie Darko also made me angry for the same reason. I thought I was an idiot because I didn't know what was going on. But then I watched the director's commentary and he was like, "I'm not entirely sure what is going on." He didn't understand his own movie!

I know some people like puzzles and that is probably what they liked about Primer. It was a very detailed and well-thought-out time travel puzzle. They clearly thought a lot about how the time travel worked. It was something fun to figure out for people. This was a big point of pride for the director saying he didn't want to "dumb down his movie." But that isn't what he did. Making something incomprehensible is not the opposite of dumbing it down.

And if you are going to have a convoluted plot that people cannot understand on the first viewing, you can at least make the movie entertaining in other ways. But this movie had horrible visuals, some very stiff performances, and the non-puzzle parts of the plot were just not that interesting. "Hey, they played the stock markets! Let's watch some capitalism unfold!" And the whole white knight party scene just made me cringe. It was especially concerning considering the director was later found out to be abusive to his ex-girlfriend. Was he saving the girl in the movie from a version of himself? Very meta.

I didn't really understand Tenet, but at least it had explosions and backwards fight choreography. I will give Primer a little credit for shooting the movie for $7000. But I still think the visuals could have been much better. Even if it was just better composition and interesting camera angles. You can do a lot of creative things purely in how you frame your shots.

I am not personally interested in a movie where I have to take notes and draw diagrams to understand the plot. I just want to absorb it and be entertained.

That said, I have no problem if others liked that aspect. If you jumped for joy when assigned math homework, this movie was made for you

So I will say this was one of the worst films for *me* to watch, but not the worst film in general.

[gallierhouse]

re: armand could be a non traditional finance guy - maybe accounting!?! it's all about memorizing rules and organizational systems and spreadsheets and putting numbers in boxes. not a ton of lines going up and down (though there can be), more balancing numbers, comparing numbers, and knowing all the rules about organizing numbers. i find it to be very satisfying

I know absolutely nothing about accounting or finance so I will happily believe you. The reason I thought finance might appeal to Armand is because it’s a bit like a video game, if you buy stocks and shares or invest the value of them goes up and down, and then the little lines go up and down. I’m also under the impression that the stocks open and close, and most firms that specialize in trading therefore have multiple offices so that they can be active in multiple stock markets 24/7. I can imagine him getting absolutely no sleep and going on his iPad to watch all the little lines go up and down, and I can imagine him attempting to engineer increases and decreases in stock prices and crypto (e.g. the GameStop debacle, artificial inflation of crypto currencies by convincing people to invest in “meme” coins, and then creator siphoning the value out and essentially defrauding people of their money, etc.). It’s more about the gamification than it is about the money. But I do think he’d also enjoy the repetitive nature of spreadsheets. I think it’d be relaxing. He likes cataloguing things, anyway. But all of this is based on his hypothetical understanding of the economy, and I’m not sure if that’s something that’d happen.

[letsberealgenz]

productivity is fake

“Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re being productive honey.”

It’s sickening to think about how the young generation is shaping their life based on these unrealistic definition of productivity that is constantly being manipulated from time to time just to fit a certain regime of individuals fighting over statistics which reminds me of this.

“We are living in a world today where social media is the new stock market which everybody’s trying to get their hands onto and make the most out of it.”

I wouldn’t deny this. Yes, there’s a number of accounts out there spreading valuable productivity hacks but I’ve also realized there’s a missing puzzle in this equation that needs to be advocated more often than ever today.

Doing little is being productive too.

Sometimes doing nothing is being productive too.

Let that sink in for a bit. As someone whom has been through this personally, I can confidently affirm to the above statements. From the very young, I believe there’s this one seed that has been planted in all of our minds which is none other than:

“Keep going. Keep moving. Just do what you’re doing. Don’t stop. Do something rather than nothing.”

Honestly in certain situations this can really be helpful but the key here is sometimes being productive is literally doing nothing or doing very little. The fact that we make this sound like a crime is worrying. We teach the young's to keep moving but when are we going to let them know this (the truth)?

Stillness is what aims the archer’s arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections. It slows the ball down so that we might hit it. It generates a vision, helps us resist the passions of the mob, makes space for gratitude and wonder. Stillness allows us to persevere. To succeed. It is the key that unlocks the insights of genius, and allows us regular folks to understand them. — 

So the next time you catch yourself doing nothing or doing very little for the day, please don’t beat yourself up. Just know it is normal. In fact, it is supposed to be like this at times. That’s how you’re going to get closer towards achieving your goals.

By stopping or slowing down, it provides you a new perspective that guides you into reflecting the journey that you’ve been sailing on for quite some time. That’s how you’re going to realize what’s working for you. What’s not working for you. What needs to be eliminated. What needs to be improved. What action of yours need to be doubled.

It’s these little things that we don’t tend to notice when we are keeping ourselves busy all day along. It’s these little things that could be the missing puzzle to your success. It’s these little things that could be the breakthrough that you’ve been waiting for all this while. It’s these little things that makes the most difference at the end of the day only when you realized that the mainstream concept of productivity is fake. Do you know what’s real?

Create your own definition of productivity. Tailor it according to your goals. Shift it according to your schedule. Do you know why? Because what works for the other highly “successful” individual might not work well for you. We are all different and unique in our own way and that’s the beauty of being a human. You just have to find what works best for you. You just have to find your definition of being productive. You just have to discover the productivity hacks that works best for you. That’s it!

Don’t try to fit yourself into someone else’s definition of being productive. Because you never know that might leave you stranded in the desert longer than you expect it to be.

[ell-vellan]

You know what I miss?

(I'm gonna show my age here with this very specific and niche memory but bear with me. Or don't, whatever!)

Back when I was a kid, middle/high school ish, I frequented Gaia Online. I'm not even sure how to really describe that site (if you remember it, help me out here) but it was mainly an anime-esque forums where people could make different communities about a million different things, but it wasn't just forums. You had an anime avatar that followed you around the site, a currency you used to buy dress up items for your avatar, mini games and a a marketplace. Pretty sure there was some kind of stock market.

This was my online home for years.

I landed, somehow, on the Adoptables forums. Shops, technically, for people to "adopt" pets and then roleplay with them together. Some were original make believe worlds - one of the more popular I can remember was a world of wolf packs with their own lore and setting.

Specifically I remember being active on the Lion King RP forums called I think Shadows of Africa? The artists who ran them would sell colored lineart of lions in the style of the movie, with a little info card that displayed their name and the owner (you).

You couldn't roleplay with other people until you officially had a character through purchase, gift, or contest prize.

Each lion was unique and people gave them names from African languages (that was a rule). People formed entire prides and had special forums just for them, with rosters of who had what character, where you could "hang out" with others in your pride. Your lion would be able to age from cub to teen to adult after you had roleplayed a certain amount of time and applied for it with the artists. Your characters could find mates and breed and the artists would (for Gaia currency) remix the "DNA" of your two characters and you'd get a random number of cubs you could "give away" to friends or even hold contests for others who wanted to play.

I was just thinking about these communities and how much I loved everyone there. How much work these artists put into these communities, often without any real compensation except for pretend money. How elaborate they were. Giant games of pretend with strangers online. I did SO much writing on those RP forums, I actually feel in retrospect like it was a safe place to cut my teeth on writing and it was literally from the point of view from an OC Lion King character.

And there were so many shops like this.

I'm sure there was toxicity in some aspects of these communities, but I don't remember it, at least not to the level of toxicity the Internet gets to now. Maybe it's my rose colored glasses.

But every Christmas, these Adoptables shops would open up for people to Secret Santa gifts to your friends: a randomly colored gift, the .jpg or whatever sent to your inbox, that you could post in your profile or your journal. And on Christmas day, the artists would update all those images, and the wrapped gift would be replaced by a unique pet, randomly created for you by whatever colorists were working for the shop.

Like YES okay I understand how very childish it sounds now. Maybe even cringe.

But I've never found another sort of community like it. (Maybe discord, idk, I was too old and busy to get into discord when it came out.) So many artists doing so much work, just for others to play with pretend pets with their online friends and write silly stories about them together. These were people making dozens, hundreds of unique designs by hand, as far as I'm aware. Their workload had to be stressful. They were probably doing this in between studying or working real jobs.

But to this day, every Christmas, I think about those Secret Santa gifts. And every year I miss that excitement of logging in first thing to see all your gifts 'magically' hatch into adorable little creatures that were unique and yours.

This post doesn't have a point except I'm in my mid-30s and I still miss my online friends that I used to play pretend lions with in middle school. And nothing else has quite matched the very specific excitement of those secret Santa gifts becoming 'real' on Christmas.

And I'm so, so thankful to all the people - likely college students and adults - who did all this work just for fun. And I wanted to share this memory of some old communities that I still think back on fondly. I hope they're doing well in life, wherever they are.

[13eyond13]

Do you have any headcanons about L and Watari’s relationship? I always liked to imagine that he gave L a positive childhood, he just seems like a sweet old man haha

Haha I'm of two kinda minds about Watari, where I think he's funny and an enjoyable almost meme-like presence onscreen (how he just is ALWAYS full of surprises, like going from scooping ice cream to being an amazing sniper in a helicopter etc). BUT I also think the idea of Wammy's itself is a very shady and unethical and corrupt kinda thing to do, so I doubt that he actually really is just a super well-intentioned and altruistic sweet old man.

I basically take the one-shot about L's childhood as canon, where Watari sort of saw a lot of potential in this super difficult little prodigy child at one of his orphanages and adopted him because he started doing things like making Watari a lot of money in the stock market and so on. L showed the initial genuine interest in solving criminal cases himself at a young age, and then Watari encouraged and enabled him to do that 24/7 while protecting and sheltering him and taking care of the rest of his wants and his needs. I think Watari was almost seeing L like a plant he was watering and feeding with Miracle Gro and so on...his goal wasn't necessarily to raise a well-rounded and well-adjusted person to live a super long and happy life, but to maximize L's potential at being the best detective in the world, and to meanwhile keep L content by indulging him in his whims. Which isn't necessarily the kind of parenting I'd hope to do myself, but THAT BEING SAID I'm sure L and Watari probably had some good times together occasionally while L was growing up nonetheless.

I think Watari was pretty intuitive about how to best approach L's needs and his strong personality, which would be a relief for an eccentric person like L who is so often misunderstood by others. I think he likely talked to L much more like a peer at a younger age than most other adults would have, which L no doubt would have enjoyed as a very precocious and opinionated and driven child. L probably bounced his ideas off Watari quite often, and for the most part Watari listened patiently and agreed with him (which is maybe a big part of why L has such a hard time being disagreed with or working in a team as an adult, too).

I could see Watari taking L travelling A LOT as a kid and showing him all the most amazing cities and sights and cuisine and culture at every location they stop (though it's often a struggle for him to get L to even want to leave his hotel room when he's really caught up in trying to solve one of his cases on his laptop or something like that). In my mind L is a very curious and adventurous person who would be willing to try a lot of different things at least once. Especially if it has an element of exciting danger or novel challenge or mysterious unknown to it that he would like to better understand first-hand for himself. And Watari probably almost always supports L in these desires and makes it so much easier for L to try out all of those different things.

I think it would be nice if there was one specific niche hobby that the both of them really enjoyed and made plans to do together approximately once a year or so. Like maybe L introduces Watari to an extreme sport that he's never tried himself before, like skydiving, and the two of them do that together once a year in a new location every time. 😅