#if the free shipping is for international i can afford that easy

[codgod]

the qsmp awards stream is the most scuffed stream i’ve ever watched istg

[aaronsrpgs]

A Worksheet Manifesto (Rough Draft)

The Worksheet Manifesto is an attempt to explain why I'm moving my game design toward something I can print for free at the public library and give away. It's not a scold or a call to action; I buy full-color zines and hardcover books, and I support people charging for their work. This is a personal manifesto—an exercise in self-exploration.

The first reason I pursue this is ACCESS. I want people to be able to find and play my games. (Accessibility is maybe a better word for this, but I don't want it confused with the process through which something is made easier to use for people with disabilities.)

Some of the main barriers I've seen are financial (someone can't afford my games), technological (lack of computers and/or printers makes it more complicated to read my games), and international (shipping to someone outside the U.S. is prohibitively expensive).

Combining these three elements, I realized I wanted my games to be cheap or free. The common "community copies" solution on itch.io is much touted, and for good reason, but as I tried explaining the process to friends who weren't familiar with the site (or who flat-out aren't tech savvy), many responses were confused or frustrated. So I've set most of my games to pay-what-you-want with a suggested price.

Going from computer tech to printer tech, my most recent games were laid out in black and white, without ink-sucking textures (although some still have large spots of black in the art--something I continue to consider). Many American libraries offer limited free printing, and I always hope people will "utilize" the printers at their jobs or schools. I want people to be able to easily print out my games and share them at the table or pass them to friends.

And more selfishly, I hate dealing with fulfillment and shipping. It's stressful for me, it requires money up front to print things, and I'm bad at it, which means shipments go out slow, or not at all if someone lives outside of the U.S. Creating a file that's easy to print hopefully encourages people to create their own copies.

These cheap print copies also hopefully contribute to a feeling of DISPOSABILITY. I grew up with comic books, magazines, newspapers, and mass market paperbacks, and I think these cheap, short slabs of culture helped them feel like someone could engage with them without having to be fancy or educated or in the know. (A lot of us gatekeep ourselves!)

Prices for RPGs, like so many nerd collectibles, have steadily risen at least since the start of the pandemic. Crowdfunders often capitalize on FOMO, encouraging people to go all in on deluxe hardcovers with fabric bookmarks or whatever. And if my experience working at a used game store is anything to go by, lots of those fancy editions go right onto the bookshelf, unread. Don't want to break the spine or get fingerprints on it!

And I guess I'm just against consumerism? If someone wants a nice thing, I hope they get it, but a culture of games as luxury items and status symbols is not something I'm interested in.

So if someone has a game of mine and they don't want it anymore, I hope they pass it on, put it in a little free library, or recycle it.

And those dirty little printouts of my games? I want people to touch them and write them. I want TACTILITY. This is partially a usability issue: 300-page hardcovers are hard to find information in, and they're heavy if you have to lug them to a friend's house.

So I try to design games where everything a player (including the GM) needs is on, at most, three sheets of paper. I want them to be able to spread a couple pages out and take in the shape of the game they're about to play. I want them to circle things and make notes in the margins. Moving a pencil around does wild things to your brain, the same way that picking at a guitar or molding clay does. It focuses attention in interesting ways.

And in the end, you hopefully have a personalized article of play. And if you spill beer on it, no one's worried about replacing that $50 hardcover.

Speaking of beer, I want my games to be available to and contribute to COMMUNITY. As the pandemic started, I retreated into lots of online spaces, and those were absolutely vital to my survival. But I lost touch with lots of my friends and acquaintances in my city. I want to reconnect with them.

One of my favorite cartoonists, Mark Connery, is known for drawing little zines and just...leaving them all over. Coffee shops, art galleries, bathrooms. And when I think of him, I think of an artist responding directly to the places around him. Is it sad that some of this work is probably "lost" to all readers other than the person that happens across the zine? A little bit. But I think that comes from a bad part of my brain, the part that wants to own things.

I certainly don't want the entirety of my own work collected and widely distributed. Some of those things were specific responses to specific times that I've moved past. Some were bad! But I want to keep responding to my specific times and my specific place. I want to give things to friends (even if they just pass them on or recycle them). I want to give a game to someone at a zine fest and have them recognize my name from a zine they read in a coffee shop bathroom. And maybe they'll give me a zine in return.

My last hangup is MODULARITY. First, similar to tactility, I want to be able to give a player only the rules that matter to them. Character creation and basic rules? Here's a page. And once you're familiar with that and we've entered a downtime phase, here's a page with those options. You want to start a farm? Here's a page. I want it to feel like printing coloring pages for kids or ripping out my favorite magazine articles. These are the parts that matter. And if they stop mattering, you can get rid of them.

But I also want modularity on a system level. I want to add a subsystem to game as I think of it. I want to throw in an adventure pamphlet when it comes to me. I can keep them all in a little box, like a care package from my past self, and when it's time to run a game, I can dig around like a verminous animal and build my nest out of the best bits.

In CONCLUSION, I want to reiterate that this is a personal practice, and I'm not criticizing people who work differently. I used to work differently, and in the future, I'll probably work differently again.

This is simply the way I've identified what's important to me, set that up against the things that cause me to stumble, taken advantage of the privileges I have, and tried my best to bring that all together in a way that keeps me excited about my own work.

[nyoomerr]

regarding the pins, can I ask what shipping would be like and if it's offered internationally? thanks and I hope you're having a good day ♡૮˶ˊﻌ ‵˶ ა

hello! international shipping is available, but i won't be charging shipping at all! i'll pay for your shipping no matter where you live -- if you have extra money, i'd only ask that you donate that money, too.

speaking of, though, i realized i never gave the required donation costs for each piece of merch, so let me remedy that 🙈 both dress up binghe pins - donate $5 USD per pin binghe + nyanzun pin - donate $10 USD transparent binghe tape - donate $5 USD

i also have a small surprise piece of merch that i'll be including in any packages for people who do donate more than the required amount. i'm in a very privileged spot where i can afford to give this merch away for free, so if you have extra money that you would otherwise use to pay for shipping or etc, i really do want to encourage that you donate it to those who need it!

...all that being said, you'll be on your own for import taxes / VAT / etc, sorry 🙇‍♂️

(also, for easy searching, i'll be tagging info posts about the merch donation drive with #binghe merch drive!)

[dungeonofthedragon]

Ttrpg Recs: my bookshelf!

I don't have that many games in physical form. But inspired by the lovely Dael Kingsmill's recent video, I want to do a little post about the ones I do own.

Animal Adventures by Steamforged Games

Animal Adventures is a third party setting for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. I picked up Secrets of Gullet Cove on clearance, and it's full of fun adventure hooks for a younger audience than usual for 5E. However, a member of my dnd group wants to run this at some stage, so it has a wider appeal among fans of cute critter rpgs too.

It's fairly easy to incorporate ideas from this book into your home games. A guest in my Strixhaven campaign wanted to play a character who had been transformed into a cat. The cat stats from this book fit right in with the other characters, who were all created using official 5E materials.

Fate Accelerated by Evil Hat

The first rpg I ever purchased! It's simple, streamlined, and flexible enough to run in any setting you can imagine. We'd planned to play 'card games in space' at one stage (after watching too much yu-gi-oh), and the system works as well for that as it does for urban fantasy, pirates, or magic schools. You can access the rules of this game for free at the link in the heading.

The main issue I ran into with Fate is that it uses a specialised set of dice called Fudge dice- but as long as you have a device that can download a dice app, you're good to go!

Girl By Moonlight by Evil Hat

I backed this one on Kickstarter. It's not the easiest book to navigate but, gosh, it's just so beautiful and the game is a great time once you get the hang of it! I ended up ordering five copies, because a bunch of my friends wanted the game too and Expensive International Shipping is more manageable if you split it. Tragic magical girls from the creators of Thirsty Sword Lesbians? It is just as excellent as I'd hoped.

Just the other week we played At the Brink of the Abyss using the core book and relevant one-session playkit. Transcendence is a great mechanic- players get to describe their character's unique transformation and feel powerful with the addition of new abilities! Our Midnight Quill was running around invisible for half the game. Raven's mother was knocked out with a well-flung shoe. It was very fun and very silly.

Girl By Moonlight is a Forged in the Dark game. If you're familiar with Blades in the Dark, Brinkwood, Court of Blades, or my own simplified fitd game Voidwalkers, the system is easily picked up.

Lex Arcana by Quality Games

Lex Arcana is an interesting one. It has a fascinating premise: a Roman empire that never fell, in a low-magic setting. I had a lot of fun running this as a short adventure for my classics-buff brother's birthday last year. However, the group agreed that it would be difficult to play this one long term.

This has nothing to do with the rules system, which has an enjoyable amount of crunch for those who like their games that way, but enough abstraction that running it was not a complete nightmare for a more narratively inclined GM such as myself. Rather, it was difficult for us to get past the fact that so many of its adventure modules involve you preventing indigenous populations from breaking away from the empire, often casting their spiritual views in a negative light.

I had an idea for a campaign called 'Enemies of the Empire', which involves the party having to go up against it, but we'll see if it ever comes to fruition.

Tales of Xadia by Fandom Tabletop

I love the Cortex system. I love systems that use dice pools, and my first experience with that was the Tales of Xadia playtest. I couldn't afford the full version when it released, and so I was very excited when I received it for my birthday last year in glorious hardcover!

Tales of Xadia is set in the world of the Dragon Prince (even if you're not into ttrpgs, the book is excellent for additional lore nuggets. For a year or more it was our best resource for what earthblood elves might look like.) It's a world of high magic, mages and assassins and bold warriors, imperious dragons and reclusive elves. And it's totally classless- score one for the fans of classless systems!

[apacbusinesstimes]

Sustainable Shipping Solutions: James Chin Moody’s Approach with Sendle

Logistics is a part of the business that transports the goods from the sender to the receiver places. It plays an important role in businesses as goods are produced at one or only certain places but they are sold throughout the country and also exported all over the world. The logistics industry has different categories- procurement logistics, sales logistics, production logistics, recycling logistics, and recovery logistics. Logistics is a key factor in attaining success for small businesses and it also helps in smooth expansion over the period. The business’s proper logistics management will provide increased efficiency, cost reduction, improved production rate, proper inventory management, the ultimate use of the warehouse, enhanced service and vendor satisfaction, and customer experience. Hence in any business, the role of logistics is crucial for providing a better and enhanced customer experience.

In small businesses, supply chain management will face certain issues like labor shortages, increased costs supply chain disruption, lack of transparency, and many more. All these logistics issues will in turn lead to hindered customer experiences and affect business in overall aspects. In this article, let us discuss the logistics company that helps small businesses improve the transportation of their goods called Sendle. The article is also followed by the entrepreneurial journey of James Chin Moody, founder and CEO of Sendle.

James Chin Moody: Founder and CEO 

James Chin Moody is an inspiring Australian entrepreneur who has attained a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in the stream of Business administration from The Australian National University, it was research into complex product systems. He is a graduate of a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Systems and a Bachelor of Information Technology from QUT. 

James has vast industrial experience and has played several different roles. He was a Chief System Engineer at Vipac Engineers and Scientists and managing director at Natural Resource Intelligence for around 2 years. James started working at CSIRO as a Director for Divisional Business Strategy and was later promoted to  General Manager of International and then to  Government and International bodies. He was an Executive director for Development at CSIRO. James was the founder and CEO of TuShare which was founded in 2013 as a circular economy marketplace to keep useful things out of landfill. Later in the year 2014, he founded Sendle to help small businesses in delivering their products. It is the only 100% Carbon Neutral Delivery Service in Australia and the United States.

Brief about Sendle

Sendle is a transportation and logistics company that aims to help small businesses excel by making delivery simple, reliable, and affordable. Sendle was established in the year 2014 and founded by James Chin Moody. Sendle has its headquarters located in Australia. Sendle is the only 100% Carbon Neutral Delivery Service in Australia and the United States.

The vision of Sendle is for a world bustling with creativity and entrepreneurialism, where the friction of physical delivery has been removed so that the best ideas win and small businesses flourish. The company not only helps small businesses in delivering their goods but also helps them to succeed by providing the networks and volumes at affordable prices. With great technology, people, and design company builds that will bring a difference in the business of customers.

The working of Sendle is easy and makes big business networks available to everyone in Australia. Sendle helps to manage your delivery process by placing an order, tracking it, and safely delivering through the dashboard. The customers can choose their packaging and include some parcel guidelines. Request for free pick from your place can be availed, or you can also drop the parcel at one of Sendle’s network locations in Australia later it is sent to the specified delivery location safely. Customers can also track their order easily on the dashboard which holds all the details of the parcel’s current state and the same is updated once delivered. 

Sendle has partnerships with eBay, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Shopline, and others which help their customers by providing higher opportunities for scaling their business. Sendle has traveled 40.3 billion km from the day it started and every kilometer is 100% carbon neutral. With this Sendle along with helping small businesses has also initiated protecting the environment for a better tomorrow.

Visit More : https://apacbusinesstimes.com/sustainable-shipping-solutions-james-chin-moodys-approach-with-sendle/

[mihirvora]

Cross-Border Logistics Made Easy: Exploring India's Top Courier Services

In today's global marketplace, efficient cross-border logistics are essential for businesses looking to expand their reach and tap into international markets. With India emerging as a key player in the global economy, the demand for reliable courier services has never been higher. This article delves into the realm of cross-border logistics and explores India's top courier services, offering affordable solutions for businesses engaged in international trade.

The Significance of Cross-Border Shipping

Cross-border shipping is the lifeline of international trade, facilitating the seamless movement of goods across national borders. Whether it's small parcels or large shipments, businesses rely on efficient cross-border logistics to fulfill orders, reach new markets, and deliver products to customers around the world.

Key Aspects of Cross-Border Shipping:

Global Connectivity: Cross-border shipping services provide businesses with access to a vast network of international destinations, enabling them to reach customers in diverse markets with ease.

Customs Clearance: Navigating customs procedures and regulations is a crucial aspect of cross-border shipping. Reliable courier services streamline the customs clearance process, ensuring that shipments comply with international trade laws and regulations.

Timely Delivery: With cross-border shipping, businesses can offer timely delivery options to their customers, enhancing the overall shopping experience and building trust and loyalty.

Exploring India's Top Courier Services

India boasts a robust network of courier services, offering a wide range of options for businesses engaged in cross-border shipping. Let's take a closer look at some of the best ecommerce courier services in India known for their reliability, affordability, and efficiency:

1. XYZ Courier Services

XYZ Courier Services is renowned for its best ecommerce courier service in India, catering to the needs of online businesses looking to ship their products domestically and internationally. With competitive pricing and a user-friendly platform, XYZ Courier Services makes cross-border shipping easy and cost-effective.

2. ABC Express

ABC Express specializes in cheap international courier service from India, offering affordable shipping solutions to businesses of all sizes. Whether it's small parcels or bulk shipments, ABC Express ensures timely delivery and reliable service, making it a preferred choice for cross-border logistics.

3. DEF Logistics

DEF Logistics is a trusted name in the field of cross-border shipping, providing comprehensive solutions for businesses engaged in international trade. With its expertise in cross border shipping, DEF Logistics helps businesses navigate the complexities of global logistics, ensuring smooth and efficient delivery of shipments to destinations worldwide.

Advantages of India's Top Courier Services

Cost-Effectiveness: India's top courier services offer competitive pricing for international shipments, making cross-border shipping affordable for businesses of all sizes.

Reliability: With a track record of timely delivery and excellent service, these courier services instill confidence in businesses and customers alike, ensuring that shipments reach their destination safely and on time.

Convenience: The user-friendly platforms and streamlined processes of India's top courier services make it easy for businesses to manage their shipments, track packages, and monitor delivery status in real-time.

Conclusion

In conclusion, India's top courier services play a pivotal role in facilitating cross-border logistics and enabling businesses to expand their reach globally. With their affordable pricing, reliability, and efficiency, these courier services make cross-border shipping seamless and hassle-free, empowering businesses to explore new markets, fulfill customer orders, and drive growth and success in the competitive world of international trade. As cross-border commerce continues to evolve, the importance of reliable courier services in India cannot be overstated, making them indispensable partners for businesses navigating the complexities of global logistics.

[rapidexworldwide]

Complete Guide for DHL Courier from Faridabad to Philippines

Are you looking for a reliable  DHL Courier from Faridabad to Philippines? Look no further than DHL! With their efficient services and affordable rates, DHL is the go-to company for all your shipping needs. Whether you are sending a small parcel or a large shipment, DHL has got you covered.

One of the most popular destinations for international shipping is Philippines, and DHL makes it easy with their competitive rates. When it comes to DHL Courier Charges to Philippines, you can trust DHL to provide you with the best prices. Their DHL  Shipping Cost per Kg Philippinesis affordable and cost-effective, making it a great option for individuals and businesses alike it`s stress-free and easy to choose our Express and low cost shipping for DHL International Courier Service in Faridabad for quick and efficient parcel delivery in Philippines. Which includes Quezon City, Manila, Caloocan City, Davao, Cebu City, General Santos, Taguig, Pasig City, Las Pinas, Antipolo etc.  DHL has a dedicated office in Faridabad   to cater to all your courier needs. The DHL Company in Faridabad      is known for its excellent customer service and on-time delivery. Whether you're sending documents, parcels, or even delicate items, DHL Courier in Faridabad   has got you covered. This premium courier service will ensure that your package reaches Philippines in the shortest time possible, with tracking and insurance options available for added peace of mind.

DHL Courier Charges to Philippines: Competitive Rates with Rapidex Worldwide Express

When it comes to international shipping, cost is a crucial factor for customers. DHL understands this and offers transparent pricing with competitive rates for courier services to Philippines from Faridabad. Whether its documents, packages, or bulk shipments, DHL ensures that customers know the exact  DHL Courier Charges to Philippines Upfront, without any hidden costs.

For DHL Courier Charges from Faridabad   to Philippines, DHL  offers cost-effective solutions with competitive shipping costs per kilogram. Whether it's a small parcel or a large consignment, DHL provides flexible options to suit every budget and requirement. By optimizing its logistics network and operational efficiency, DHL delivers value for money with its shipping services.

Speed up your shipments with Rapidex Worldwide Express

In conjunction with DHL Courier, Rapidex Worldwide Express offers expedited shipping solutions for customers in Faridabad       looking to send urgent shipments to Philippines. Rapidex specializes in express courier services, ensuring swift and reliable delivery of parcels and packages to international destinations. With DHL Courier to Philippinesfrom Faridabad   and Rapidex Worldwide Express, customers can expect seamless transit and timely delivery of their shipments to Philippinesfrom Faridabad  . Whether it's standard shipping or express delivery, DHL and Rapidex leverage their extensive networks and advanced logistics capabilities to ensure that parcels reach their destination safely and on time.In addition to competitive pricing and reliable transit times, DHL    prioritizes customer satisfaction through exceptional service. The DHL  Company in Faridabad   is committed to providing personalized assistance and support to customers, addressing inquiries, and resolving any issues promptly.

Conclusion

In conclusion, DHL Courier and Rapidex Worldwide Express offer comprehensive shipping solutions for individuals and businesses in Faridabad   looking to send shipments to Philippines. With transparent pricing, competitive rates, expedited shipping options, and exceptional customer service, DHL  and Rapidex ensure a seamless and hassle-free shipping experience.

Whether its documents, parcels, or commercial goods, customers can rely on DHL Courier to deliver their shipments to Philippines from Faridabad   with efficiency and reliability. Experience the convenience of International Courier with DHL    through Rapidex worldwide express your trusted partners in logistics.

FAQ

1. What are the packaging guidelines for shipping to Philippines from Faridabad   with DHL ?

It is crucial to properly pack and label your package when shipping from Faridabad   to Philippines with DHL  to prevent any potential damage or loss during transit. DHL  offers packaging guidance and suggestions on their website to help ensure a smooth delivery process.

2. Is DHL a reliable international courier service for shipping from Faridabad  to Philippines?

Yes, DHL is known for its efficient and reliable international courier services, making them a popular choice for shipping from Faridabad  to Philippines.

3. What is the cost of courier from Faridabad  to Philippines with DHL?

The price for shipping a package from Faridabad  to Philippines using DHL  is determined by several factors, including the weight and size of the parcel, the chosen service type, and the delivery destination. For an exact quote, please utilize our rate calculator or reach out to customer service at +91 9311 9798 12.

4. How long does it take to deliver Courier or Parcels from Faridabad   to Philippines with DHL ?

The delivery time for courier or parcels from Faridabad   to Philippines with DHL  varies depending on the chosen service, destination, and customs clearance. Standard delivery times 3-5 Days and for further details, please contact +91 9311 9798 12.

5. What documents are required for shipping from Faridabad   to Philippines  with DHL ?

If you are shipping from Faridabad   to Philippines using DHL , you must furnish specific documents. For sample shipments, two KYC documents such as Pan Card, Passport, and Aadhar Card Copy are necessary. For commercial shipments, required documents include invoice, packing list, import or export code, bill of lading, GST, and Pan Card. Additional documents may be needed depending on the type of shipment.

[omamervt]

I think the thing that fucks me up about Unity's move the most is that they absolutely know for a fact that most in-development games cannot afford to change engines. Unity sucks, it always has, any time I have been forced to use it, some terrible internal system I had to spend a ridiculous amount of hours learning last time has been deprecated and replaced with something that's better on paper but since they didn't actually finish it, it's worse.

That being said, it is currently the only free-to-use, lightweight, and beginner/educator-friendly game engine on the market with a clear path to console ports.

Unreal Engine is easier to use and also has a clear path to consoles, but it's a massive file to install, requires a $1.5K computer from the current year to run it without having to adjust a million internal settings, and there's a limit to how low it can go with a port unless you're willing to rewrite the shaders in the source code yourself. While it can do 2D, it'll likely make them ridiculously hardware-intensive, and that's no good.

It's just a matter of time before Godot catches up with more established engines at the pace it's developing, but if you try and make a game in it right now, you're looking at a significantly more time-consuming and expensive process trying to get the game on consoles.

GameMaker is kind of a sad tale because of all the ones I mentioned, it was actually developed with education in mind, but their pricing system has become more aggressive and predatory over time. Its current pricing plan requires you to pay $50/yr just to port to DESKTOP! and it goes up from there.

RPG Maker (doesn't matter which version but let's be real, for most of y'all it's 2003) is super easy to use, but because of the programming language it uses, in order to port a game made in it to console, the amount of extra work you'd need to do would be better spent rewriting the game from scratch in Unity, which, uhhhh..... Again, no 3D.

Construct used to be good, but now the entire engine has to run in your browser and there's not a desktop version anymore. You also have to pay $130/yr for the ability to port to DESKTOP! Again, no 3D. The only upside over GameMaker is that you can publish to web for free, but god help you if you try to monetize without paying them.

CryEngine seems fine, but it also has a steeper learning curve and I basically never hear about people using it. I guess that doesn't mean they don't but then again, up until this point, there were two better alternatives. Now there's just one and a runner-up, so we'll see. Could also be that they start asking you to pay them faster than Unity or Unreal did, I have to imagine that plays into it.

These are the most popular alternatives to Unity I know of. Some of them are fine, others will get better, most have no redeeming qualities, but if you're an indie studio maybe making your first mid-budget game, switching would require sacrificing something huge, and I'm not just talking about the wasted man-hours in an engine that you can't afford to use anymore. For all its faults, Unity was at the perfect intersection of features that made its functionality issues worth looking past.

And make no mistake - Unity knew that from the start. They knew that even if people jumped ship, a lot of upcoming games couldn't afford to, and what happens to them post-release isn't Unity's problem. The plan has always been to hold those developers hostage. I think the only thing they didn't anticipate is games like Cult of the Lamb or Among Us deleting their existing games, but considering how Steam and the console stores work, I doubt they're too worried about that, either.

[rigelmejo]

Hi friends! So, if you buy a lot if print chinese stuff like me, may I suggest to you:

https://www.books.com.tw/ open in computer browser and go to top bar and theres an obvious language option, you can switch to English. This book store ships international, sometimes ships extremely quickly (I've gotten books in 2 days before), has traditional and simplified print books and comics, and has a lot of stuff. I found both the simplified print 镇魂 with all the extras, and the traditional print version with the really pretty covers on here.

https://www.aliexpress.com it basically is a taobao reseller. What that means is, it is selling stuff you'd find on taobao, directly on its site. It ships international, prices are usually cheap and shipping is cheap or free. I find it very convenient, it ships slowly (can take 1 week-3 months to ship depending on item) but it's very affordable and reliable. Search chinese books by English name or by pinyin like "mo Dao zu shi" etc, searching in hanzi does not always give you results. Once you do find what you want, it helpfully recommends you more novels/comics regularly. Their app also is easy to use. Usually when I want something on taobao, I check here because if it's been out 1 month or more it's probably for sale on aliexpress. Sometimes aliexpress even has the pre-order brand new stuff. I found the tgcf comic volumes on here and get them as soon as they come out in print, same with 吞海. I find books.com.tw is easier to search through if I'm looking for a very specific version of a print since I can search with hanzi, but aliexpress has a ton of stuff too and will often have older stuff that may be sold out on books.com.tw. I got 4 volumes of 残次品 on here for 20 dollars, sometimes the bookstores have good sales/deals.

Amazon and ebay.* I think Amazon overcharges on chinese print materials, like a 20 dollar book is often 40-60 on Amazon. So I highly recommend checking alternatives first. The only thing I think Amazon sells okay, is chinese ebooks (and I've only bought the Chinese ebooks on my co.jp account so I don't know if it's even an option on English amazon). But if you really want a book and can't find it anywhere, it might be there (it was the only place I could find 他们的故事 vol 1). Ebay is much more affordable, with prices comparable to reasonable sites. Search eBay in pinyin, English name, and hanzi because sometimes results use different ways of labeling. I've found my favorite version of 镇魂 on there (and the Japanese DVD version but of course my DVD player can't play it - but that's where it is if you've been hunting for it), DVDs of cdramas, etc. It is where I found 默读 before I found aliexpress. There's some decent stuff for sale if you look around, and you can sometimes find specific things if you have a particular thing you're looking for.

Amazon.co.jp honorable mention. If you are buying Japanese stuff, amazon.co.jp is the most convenient ebook option and can also sometimes ship international if you want print materials. You simply make an account like usual on Amazon, may need to put in a japanese address, then put in a 2nd shipping address to your house if you plan to buy anything physical. If you plan to read ebooks on kindle, I recommend making your japanese account have a different password than your .Com account. I used the same email for both my jp and us account, but if you use the same password kindle will automatically always log you into your us account. So if you use 2 different passwords (and/or 2 different emails) then kindle app will let you log in to us and jp accounts.

https://www.superbuy.com/en/ a taobao shopping agent, if you want to buy on taobao but cannot do that. It ships to some countries but not all so check the site first to make sure it works for your country. Otherwise Google "taobao shopping agent" and your country's name to find alternatives. I've used superbuy when I can't find the item I want anywhere else but taobao (like when I wanted the brand new 盗墓笔记重启 ost cd, when I wanted the newest 杀破浪 version asap etc). If you can wait, it's usually cheaper to find things on other sites. But if you absolutely want one specific thing you can only find on taobao, a shopping service will allow you to get it. How a shopping service site works: you make an account. You use the shopping service site (like superbuy.com) to search items and select what you want to buy, then buy it like normal. Then the shopping service buys it for you and puts it in storage, and let's you know when it's in their storage. Once it's in your storage, you pay to have the item shipped to you. So you do 2 purchases basically - first buy the item, then buy the shipping to you. It's fairly simple and usually the sites have good directions. But shipping can cost a BIT so if you know you want multiple things it's usually cheapest to buy them all, wait for them all to reach storage, then pay for their shipping together. (Buyee.jp is the shopping service I use for japan).

[itscalledbisexualcrisis]

Legacy

Request: Hii! Could you do a angst/fluff with Kuvira where r is like from an important family and they meet when they're young but then r joins the avatar? Finish how you'd like! Thank youu

Thank you to depressed-bi-bitch for the request, this was a lot of fun writing!

When Suyin was creating Zaofu, she knew she needed a dependable supply of metal. The valley, where eventually Zaofu would be erected, was a small mining village. It had an abundance of precious metals, but were predominantly used in trade with neighboring villages. There, Suyin met your family, the esteemed owners of one of the largest mines of the village. Suyin was eloquent with her ideas and clear passion for leading people. Her husband, Baatar, had already made a name for himself as an architect from Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile your family was one of the established families of the village, producing most of the metals and negotiating with outsiders trade deals. Together, your family and the Beifongs created Zaofu, a technological city of the future.

Growing up in a sprawling metal city was like living in a story tale. Big spiraling metal structures, an abundance of art and culture blooming all around you, and spending most of your childhood with the Beifong family were your earliest memories. You were surprised one day, while playing with Opal in the Beifong estate, to find Suyin bringing in another child. The girl seemed older than both you and Opal and she had a firm pout on her lips. Her clothes were more plain compared to what usual Zaofu citizens wore and she wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. 

“This is Kuvira. She’ll be living with us and be part of our family now, Opal. Think of her like your sister,” she introduced.

From being the adored only daughter to having to share with another little girl was not easy for Opal to adjust. Including sharing you, her childhood best friend.

“I don’t want a new sister!”

The way Kuvira’s face was already apprehensive, turned into a scowl quickly as she looked between the two of you before running off.

While Suyin sat down with Opal and tried to explain Kuvira’s situation, you went off to find Kuvira. She was sitting down under a low hanging awning by the river. You could hear small sniffles coming from her. Six year old you approached her without caution, bumbling up to her with the perkiness only a child could contain.

“Hi.” You introduced yourself to her with a wide toothy grin and a welcoming outstretched hand. She jumped and turned around, quickly wiping away a stray tear. Her deadpan glare penetrated your outstretched hand left open. Being a child, you didn’t let it affect you. Instead you asked, “Do you want to come to my house? I have a dollhouse we can play with!”

Kuvira hesitated, looking from your still extended hand to your beaming face.

“Opal doesn’t like me.”

“Opal’s not coming.”

Oh to grow up with Kuvira. She was quite hot tempered as a child. And you admit, some days it was hard being her friend. She let her emotions take control, most of the time not realizing that she was bending until the dolls were disfigured under her metal grip. You never blamed it on Kuvira though, and you always came back to each other at the end of the day. It took a long time under Suyin’s guidance for Kuvira to gain a better understanding of her own earthbending. But once she did, it was like a flip switched.

While gaining more control, she became more reserved. She pulled farther from the Beifongs and moved out of the estate, choosing to live with the guards in the dormitories instead when she became a teenager. It didn’t change your close relationship though. From running around your estate playing games to her joining you in your metals lab in your research to helping her study for her test to join the Metal Guards; you and Kuvira supported one another through everything.

In the back of your mind you always knew things weren’t great for Kuvira at the Beifongs. But it was always something so hard to bring up to Kuvira whenever you tried to get her to talk about it. It also complicated your friendship with Opal, navigating between their polar personalities was always a challenge. So you opted not to, instead playing mostly neutral grounds and after she moved out, things did get better. 

As you got older, there was more pressure on you to take on the family business. Your whole life you’ve studied metals and how different properties of metals work together to create new things. An inventor, truly gifted, but there were always parts of you that wanted to leave Zaofu.

“I don’t want to study rocks my whole life. I want to learn from other cultures, get a bigger insight!” you confessed one day to Kuvira. You lay back on the soft grass of the lawn. You were visiting the Beifongs casually one afternoon when you ran into your favorite guard. It took minimal convincing for her to take a break from duty to lie with you. It was known that Kuvira always had a soft spot for you. It took one big smile to get her to crumble to you.

But seeing you smile was something she could never get enough of. “You wouldn’t leave me here alone, would you?” Kuvira semi joked.

“I’d take you with me, of course,” you laughed. “See the world together. Maybe fight some bad guys, who knows?”

Kuvira knew that would never be possible. Not with how Suyin ran things, but she didn’t say that, choosing instead to have a lighter hearted moment with you.

Going through the ranks, she saw potential in the Metal Guards, in the people of Zaofu actually. The fact that Suyin rejected most international requests, slowly infuriated her over the years. She watched as her fellow soldiers grew in strength, but all of it went to waste within the metal domes. Kuvira had long surpassed everything Suyin taught her, choosing to go off in her own studies to continue growing as a bender. When not on duty, you’d find her studying different types of bending in the Zaofu library or coming to your lab to practice with rarer metals. Sometimes it seemed like Kuvira never stopped at bettering herself.

You were mesmerized every time you saw Kuvira use her bending. Something as simple as making casual shapes from a slab of meteorite could keep you entertained for hours. It was times like these that were your favorite. She had her armor off and was sporting a long green sleeved spandex shirt with her dark green uniform pants. Her braid was slightly disfigured and helmet thrown off to the side somewhere. She was playing with a piece of meteorite, leaning forward on the bench as she manipulated it with firm concentration. The way her hands moved delicately through the air with precision; every crook and bend of her fingers and knuckles; how soft yet also strong they looked as they bent the metal into a small flower. It rested perfectly in her slender palm as she handed it to you.

It made your stomach flutter and a heat build in your chest. You reached out to take it from her and suddenly feeling nervous. Almost immediately, a gust of wind blew Kuvira over the bench making her tumble down and the metal flower scattering somewhere on the ground.

You both were left gaping. You were born as a non bender, so suddenly being able to airbend made you freak out. Kuvira grabbed your wrists, telling you to breathe as you started rambling off about never being able to bend before and not being the daughter of Avatar Aang and what if your mother had secretly had an affair with the AVATAR and oh god what would your father think-

“We need to find Suyin.”

Learning that Opal also gained airbending made you feel better, and it was something you two could bond over. Suddenly you were spending more time with Opal, trying to learn more about this new weird power to Kuvira’s dismay.

When Avatar Korra and her crew came to Zaofu to rebuild the Air Nation, you laughed off the idea of becoming an Air Nomad. Your future was set in the metals your family mined. You were supposed to live your life in Zaofu, continue your legacy here to grow the city.

“This is where I belong,” you said sheepishly. Korra seemed disappointed, but if that’s what you wanted there was nothing she could do. Although she did debate dragging you on to the ship, kidnapping an heiress to an empire would definitely cause an international crisis that Korra frankly couldn’t afford.

Kuvira was relieved to say the least. The fear of losing her closest friend didn’t sit well with her. But she also saw how you were with your new bending, carefully exploring what your bending could do; how it frustrated you when you couldn’t gain your own footing straight or when wind would blow back in your face.

“Maybe you should consider it.” Kuvira’s response surprised you. It was another day at your estate this time laying on the grass. It was one of Kuvira’s few days off. When she became the Captain, her free time became very limited, but this afternoon was a peaceful rarity. Tonight would be Opal’s farewell dinner, where you would be saying your final goodbyes before she boarded the airship to the Northern Air Temple. You were casually bending a circle of air above your heads, watching as leaves swirl around in a hypnotizing way. It immediately dissipates upon Kuvira’s confession, leaves slowly falling around the two of you.

“What?” you snort. “I thought you’d be the first person to ask me to stay.”

It left a lump in Kuvira’s throat. She never wanted to be the reason you held back your potential. She knew how talented you were as an inventor, but to bring that strength as an airbender? And the opportunity for you to build a nation that was up until recently deemed extinct? Kuvira knows an honor like that is something you’d thrive in, and the only way you could do that is to leave Zaofu.

So with some more convincing from Kuvira, you came around to the thought of being an Air Nomad. Sure shaving your head wasn’t the most appealing thing, but to be able to explore the world outside of Zaofu? It felt like this was your true calling all along. And Kuvira was the one to help you realize that. You gaze softly at her face, trying to find any hint of doubt you could. But she wholeheartedly believed in you and that in the end is what had you knocking on Korra’s door before the big dinner.

“Avatar Korra, I’ve changed my mind. I will join Opal to the Northern Air Temple and help rebuild the Air Nation.” Korra’s face broke into a wide grin and she gave a big cheer, deeming another success in her Avatar duties. You smiled back, feeling giddy at the thought of finding something more than rocks and metals for your future.

Seeing you and Opal boarding the aircraft shattered Kuvira’s heart. Her face is stone and her back is straight, watching the two of you talk wildly about your new adventures to come.

It seemed like at the last second, you pulled away from Opal and turned around, catching Kuvira’s unwavering gaze. You bite your bottom lip and tell Opal to go on without you, that’d you catch up momentarily. She was confused, but realized what you were doing when you ran back down the ramp and towards Kuvira.

Before she knows what’s happening or can ask what in the spirits you were doing, you nearly plow Kuvira over with a bone crushing hug, knocking her helmet right off her head. Burying your face into the crook of her neck, you feel her muscles tense under your touch, and then melt right into your hug. Strong arms wrap around you and clunky armor gets in the way.

But Kuvira can’t picture something more perfect.

She is speechless and squeezes her eyes shut, willing any tears to hold back. This was a momentous day for you, and she didn’t want your potentially last moment with her to be a sniveling mess. Instead she tries to memorize the way your hair smells, how firm your torso feels under her arms, how soft and warm your skin is. Everything she possibly can in these fleeting seconds with you.

“This isn’t goodbye,” you whispered in her ear. The way your breath fanned across her neck made Kuvira’s eyes flutter. She could stay in this embrace forever. “I will see you again.”

“I know,” she breathed out, suddenly finding it hard to find her voice. “I know.” It was something she had to tell herself more than to you.

You hesitated, wanting to say more. But how could you tell Kuvira that most nights you fell asleep thinking about what her lips would feel like against yours? How could you tell her that you still dreamed of traveling the world with her one day? How do you tell your childhood best friend that you’ve been in love with them when you’re about to board a ship to a new life?

Instead you take the chance and lean in, placing a soft quick kiss on her cheek just below her mole under her eye. With one last watery smile, you turn and board the ship. Your future terrified you, but you know for certain that you will keep your promise and return to Zaofu for her. One day.

If you had turned around you would’ve seen Kuvira steeled in stoicism, seemingly unaffected by your gesture. Meanwhile, inside she was on fire. Her cheek was burning where your lips touched. She had to replay the moment again and again in her mind to make sure it wasn’t her own imagination making it up. But it was real; the feeling of your hesitant lips pressed against her cheek made the flush in her chest grow. Her breath comes out in one shaky stream as she lifts the radio to her ear for the guards to close the domes.

And as the metal flower-like structure enclose her in, Kuvira can’t help but let her eyes linger on the sky where your ship disappeared.

This isn’t goodbye.

[adsosfraser]

The Stone’s Toll - Chapter Five

Read on AO3

Claire sat nursing her glass of expensive cognac. Neither of them initiated a conversation, preferring silence to the inevitable argument that would ensue. 

 It was Christmas Eve when she returned. Little over a month and a half in that soul leeching ward. Frank had decorated the house with holly, and ivy, and even some sprigs of mistletoe in an attempt for some normalcy. 

 “Claire, I’m sorry for what they did to you. I was angry at you. You not only chose to leave me once but twice over. You’d rather die than feel my touch. I wanted to feel anything but utter despair. I’m sorry it has taken me so long to return you home.” She offered no response. 

“Do you have any idea just how difficult these last few months- past few years have been for me Claire? How utterly exhausting it has been to deal with your loss and then now this? I don’t wish to fight you on any of this. Let us have a civilised conversation please.”  

 “How hard it’s been for you!” Her mouth hung open in shock. “You think these past few months have just been a fucking picnic for me!” She stood in her anger and seethed at the fireplace, back turned from her husband. 

 “Of course not, but did you ever stop to consider how I’ve felt about anything?” 

 “Did you ever consider my feelings when you were sticking your cock into one of your students?! God, did you give me one of their diseases?” Shock plastered over his face. “Oh don’t act so surprised, I’ve smelt the perfume and all those long nights at your ‘office’.”

 “Claire, be reasonable. You’ve only let me touch you once, and that was before I was intimate with anyone else. Not all of us are such mendacious sluts.” 

 “Oh and I’m sure you were an exemplary student of abstinence while I was ‘missing’, for fuck’s sake even during the war, because clearly me being the ‘mendacious slut’ that I am I wasn’t entirely faithful either!” 

 “I don’t wish to fight you anymore Claire, something has recently come upon my knowledge during my research, and it affects you. Please have a seat.” He gestured to the decanter on the side table and poured a glass for her.

 “It pains me to see you like this Claire. I can’t in good conscience force you to stay here and slip further and further away from me every day” Frank sucked in a breath and smoothed his hands over his thighs. “It angered me to see that you’d rather die... than be with me. That you chose his memory over me, a living, breathing human being, and I couldn’t even be sure he was real. Still can't. Can you not see Claire why it took me a while to finally decide upon your release?”

 The hazy buzz that normally surrounded her mind now had started to fade, if only slightly. Claire squinted at Frank and nodded. 

 He paused, calculating his next words. 

 “I’ve done some research with the Reverend. We’ve been in communication since you’ve told me what happened.”

 Frank adjusted his collar. He stared at the stack of papers to his right on the desk.

 “And well we certainly found evidence of your presence in the past, but there are other things.”

 Claire stared straight through him, she didn’t need to worry about her glass face showing something wrong. She felt nothing. This confirmation made no difference for the hell she had been through. The numb feeling had taken a while to crawl over her body the past few months and she welcomed it. It felt better than the suffocating dread and grief she originally felt.

 “I know I must let you go. Go to him I mean. It’s the least I can do for the pain I’ve inadvertently caused you, Claire. Please forgive me. It’s unbearable for me to live to see you this way, even if the alternative is to send you back.”

 “He’s dead, Frank. They all are.” Her lips thinned into a line. “I have nothing to live for.” 

 She cringed at her last choice of words. She didn’t want to cause him unnecessary suffering. But she was too tired to lie, to protect him from such verbal blows.

 “But Claire. He survived.” His white knuckles wrapped tightly around the armrest of the leather chair and he flexed his jaw. “This man, this Red Jamie was exonerated of his crimes, with a pardon from King George II himself. And his lands returned in reparation.” 

 “How-how can you tell me this? You know what I- God what you put me through. Why would you give me this hope?” 

 “I’ve also found one Alexander Malcolm and his,” he gulped, “wife Elizabeth Malcolm. But Claire, this is your hand on the document. A christening, where Elizabeth, where you’re stated as godmother in a church in Broch Mordha. But then there’s also this purchase of a croft on the Isle of Lewis, with the same signature as Alexander Malcolm.”

 “Please, Claire, allow me to make amends for whatever part I’ve caused in your suffering. If there’s some piece, some knowledge I can give you, it would ease my mind considerably. I don’t wish for you to waste away before my eyes, for the rest of our days in resentment.” His lips tightened into a thin line. “I met someone while you were away. The new assistant under me at Harvard. I think,” he paused, “I think I love her as you love your Jamie. Let us divorce and I’ll give you what funds I have.” 

 “You’re just- okay with that?” 

 “Claire, you haven’t been my wife in years, not really.” 

 “So that’s just it? I offered divorce when I returned, and finally accept when you’ve damaged me. My mind, my soul!” He winced at the sight of circled bits of skin on her temples. 

 “And I am regrettably sorry, darling.” He reached for her hand and squeezed. “I know this is what you’ve wanted ever since you’ve returned. Please, let me make this easy on you. I have the banking number for what covers the divorce settlement. It should be enough to purchase a flight to London, and then I know the inheritance from your parents and uncle should help you on your way to Inverness.” He slid over a paper card to her, detailing the whereabouts of the money he was offering her. She kept her arms crossed tightly over her sternum, not wishing to take any charity from him.  

 “There's another thing. Your son, the name they said you called out in your sleep every night. I have this death certificate of one Fergus Claudel Fraser. Marked March in the year of our lord Seventeen Forty-Five.” Tears sprang in her dry eyes at the mention of him. He pulled out a sheet from the pile of papers he collected and shoved it over to her side of the table. 

 “Why are you doing this Frank?” She couldn’t bear this physical proof that she had left her son to die without her. 

 “Here is one Fergus Malcolm, on the Isle of Lewis, a year after his ‘death’ and you're on this too. Or rather your alter ego one Elizabeth Beauchamp Malcolm. If nothing else, will you not live for him? Even if the proof of him amounts to nothing, that he really did die at Culloden? Please, take the money, and the papers. I’m hoping it can ease my conscience from all the torture you’ve endured.” 

 The last thing Claire wanted to do was ease Frank’s ego. She wanted him to suffer. But here was a lifeline, a way out and back to her family. She would see Fergus again if fate allowed. Her mind would never allow her to comprehend the other piece of hope before her. The one sure thing she knew was Fergus, he had been whole and alive the last she saw him. And there was something urging her to him. A panicked urgency. Her mind flashed to the nights after her therapies, when his presence in her dreams was almost so real she could feel his touch after she woke. She quickly signed the paper he offered. Claire Elizabeth Fraser. The wet ink shined against the thick paper. His suffering would have to wait. Her fingers began to twist the gold band on her finger but Frank stopped her. 

 “No, keep it. It will have value when you… return. The papers will be sorted by the time you’re gone, and we’ll both be free.” He swallowed sharply. “Know this Claire. I still love you, and I always will.” 

 He had a funny way of showing it, Claire thought. She didn’t dignify his statement with a response. She left him in the living room to pack, and as the sun rose the next morning her bed and dresser were empty. 

 Frank set aside some money for the divorce settlement into Claire’s own account. She withdrew the three hundred pounds without a second thought, and purchased a ticket to London. It barely covered the cost of a transatlantic flight, which was more of a luxury than anything, but she could afford to spend money, not time. A ship between would have lasted weeks, not hours. She was left with little over fifty pounds to find her way to Inverness. The only things she carried with her were her pearls, sgian dubh, the ring without its ruby stone, the copious amount of papers from Frank’s research, her old botany pocketbook, and a change of clothes, all packed into one small suitcase. Her things barely fit half the space inside it. The gold band hung around her neck on a chain now, instead of resting comfortably on her left ring finger. It clanged against the skin between her breasts with every sway of her steps. It was decided over a very pricey international phone call, she would go see Mrs. Graham.

[putschki1969]

Hi Puts, I have a question, but maybe it's too personal. As a fan, how much money do you spend? I think the three FC alone cost about $130 a year. Each shipment to Mexico costs between $20 and $50, including fees. Buying CDs, DVDs, streaming tickets, shop items, magazines (Idk if Hikaru and Keiko send something like Botanical Tsushin) I think is quite a bit of money. I graduated this year and recently started working, so I'm wondering how much money I need to pay for everything I want.

Hello there!

Don't worry, I have no filter so there is literally nothing too personal you could ever ask me. Also, I think it's important to be transparent about stuff like that.

Before I get to the juicy details I want to preface this post by saying that I am in a very privileged position so using my fangirl expenses as a general reference is probably not the best idea. There is free education and public health care in my country so I do not have any debts from either of those. On top of that I do have a job with a decent salary and my monthly fixed costs are comparatively low since I share the rent and stuff with my mum (yup, I am 30+ and choose to live with my mum, sue me). My company pays for public transportation, internet and a big portion of my meals. Last but not least, I have no car, no partner, no kids, no pets, no other social commitments or anything else that would burden me financially aside from my obsession with Kalafina so I am free to spend a considerable amount of my income on my "hobby" without having to worry too much about running into debt or not having enough savings.

Having said that, I will openly admit that I spend a SHIT-TON of money for my girls, much more than I am honestly comfortable with. Yes, I can more or less afford it but it still brings me a lot of pain and tears every single day.

Now let's get into the details 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→ [Like you I will be using USD for easy understanding]

I honestly cannot tell you a definitive number since my expenses always change depending on how many events and releases are scheduled for a particular time period. I guess I can provide a rough overview of what I am currently spending on Kalafina since there are quite a few things happening right now (nothing compared to last December though).

The four FCs I am part of with their combined costs of roughly $150 are what I consider to be “negligible costs” and they are really my least concern in the grand scheme of things.

The streaming tickets are very cheap in my opinion and I would gladly pay even more for them if it meant I wouldn't have to spend a fortune on regular trips to Japan. But yeah, it's another $150 to $200 a year for various streaming events.

Releases and merch are pricey in and of themselves (incl. around $5-$10 of domestic shipping) but it's made even worse when you are crazy like me and buy multiple copies of something just to get special benefits. Recently I have ordered Hikaru's merch (~$100), Keiko's merch (~$50), Wakana's merch (~$120) and three *coughs* copies of Wakana's Blu-ray (~$220). I also made sure to purchase Hikaru's albums on iTunes (~$20) even though I already own the CDs.

International shipping/import fees is where the costs pile up and I usually end up paying anywhere from $20 up to $150 for packages. Austria has literally the WORST import regulations T_T

I also indulge in the occasional Kalafina fashion item so that gets pretty expensive too. But that’s just me so there is really no need to take these costs into consideration.

So yeah, you can expect to spend a LOT of money depending on how greedy you are. :P Being an overseas Kalafina-fan sucks! However, I have two tips for you:

Prioritising is key! Find out what’s most important to you and then make peace with the fact that you will never be able to buy everything because that’s just not reasonable (unless you are filthy rich :P). I obviously focus on digital and physical music releases because that’s how you support their solo careers. I know it’s tempting to pirate this stuff but I urge all fans to make those purchases. The same applies to live stream tickets. If you have the means and the event is foreigner-friendly, please go for it! Aside from that, you will just have to choose your orders wisely. Ask yourself the questions: What kind of benefits do I prefer? What merch am I most likely to use? Any merch I am particularly fond of? Make sure you don’t end up overspending. While I keep encouraging fans to spend their money, you should always do it within reason. 

Cluster your orders! If you are using a proxy service like Tenso or Buyee, it’s best to have items arrive around the same time so you can consolidate your packages (within the 30-day period). After all, there is nothing more frustrating than paying $20 on shipping for a tiny fan club magazine that’s basically for free. So before you make a purchase, check the scheduled shipping time and try to make your orders align with each other. And also try to pay attention to the shipping dates of FC-related items, that’s not always easy since the schedules aren’t exactly regular but you can at least get a feel for them. If a FC item happens to arrive at the warehouse, you could always use that opportunity to order some in-stock goods or releases you have had your eye on. They should arrive quickly so you can ship them together with the FC-item. Please note that this will of course increase shipping costs/import fees since your packages will get bigger/heavier but I think at the end of the day, you are still saving money.

I know it’s often frustrating and intimidating to navigate through the world of Kalafina but I hope my posts can at least somehow help to alleviate the the stress that comes with being an overseas fan.

[swaps55]

POV Case Study – Have Some Writing Meta

Point of View (POV) is an integral piece of the storytelling puzzle for Opus, my main body of fic, so I thought I’d do a meta post that walks through how I use it as a narrative tool. The intention is not to tell anyone how they should or shouldn’t use POV, but rather to demonstrate one way I used it very deliberately to create narrative tension, weave in characterization, and develop an overarching theme.    

Your POV character is an enormous tool in your writing toolbox, whether you are using a single POV or multiple. How you use it depends on a lot of things: what person you’re writing in (first, second, third), the type POV you’re going with (omniscient, meaning the POV narrator can see into everyone’s heads, or limited, meaning you only have access into the head of a specific POV character).

My preferred writing style is 3rd person “in-your-face” limited POV, that puts the reader so solidly in the POV character’s head it’s almost like 1st person in a 3rd person trench coat. That coupled with present tense gives me some extra intensity that I love taking advantage of in emotional or climactic scenes. Again, this isn’t to state a right or a wrong way to use tense or POV – there are lots of great ways to use these tools – but for the purpose of this exercise, this is my chosen loadout.

I made the conscious decision early in Sonata that I did not want to use Sam Shepard’s POV, ever. Every story in his series would be told through the eyes of the people around him. Why? Because one of the key character traits of Sam is that he makes himself whatever someone needs him to be. He sees himself as a tool, so to be a useful tool, he has to have the right shape for the job. This raises the question: who is Sam, when he is free to just be himself? I’m not sure even Sam knows the answer to that question, so to reinforce it through storytelling, I never wanted to reader to see what goes on in his head. Everything you learn about Sam comes through the perceptions of others, and to show the reader how differently he is perceived by others, I write with multiple POVs rather than just Kaidan’s.

Below the cut, I’m going to walk you through a specific example where POV was an essential part of crafting the story I wanted to tell. The chapter in question comes from Fugue, a story I’m writing that explores the aftermath of Alchera. You don’t need to have read Fugue to follow the logic, but if you care to read the chapter, it functions well on its own separate from the rest of the story.

Fugue – This Hole You Left.

This was a very complicated chapter that lived and died by POV choices, and it was extremely difficult to put together. The approach I took was a gamble that (thankfully) worked after much fretting, gnashing of teeth, and help from @pigeontheoneandonly.

This Hole You Left takes place after Sam dies over Alchera. I wanted to paint a ‘kaleidoscope’ of grief, and explore how Sam’s death impacted the people around him in very different ways. Therefore, I needed a plethora of POVs to work with, each one giving me something different. The goals were this:

Find differing POVs that would offer demonstrably different perceptions of Sam and/or illustrate different stages of grief and shock.        

Allow each of those POVs to mold to that character’s specific goals and motivations. i.e., I did not want the grief of other characters to be tied to the romantic relationship that had been lost – because that’s not the lens those characters would look through.

Each POV had to move the chronology along in a way that made sense and felt natural.

Kaidan’s POV was off limits. In the absence of Sam’s physical presence, I wanted to treat Kaidan like Sam – the character people could see, but not explore the headspace of. Everything the reader learns about Kaidan in the immediate aftermath of Alchera comes from other people.

That last piece was important. Arguably, Kaidan’s POV was the most valuable one of all, but I was going to have lots of time to explore it in meaningful ways elsewhere. I thought it might be more powerful to express his grief through the eyes of others, and use him as a central theme to weave in and out of the chapter. More about that later.

This constituted one hell of a puzzle to put together, especially when it came to the chronology. For instance, an early mistake I made was putting the most powerful POV (Anderson) too early in the sequence, which diminished what came after it. Moving that POV around meant re-framing other POVs to keep the chronology moving forward (for example, Garrus’ POV initially came after Anderson’s, by moving it before his, I had to change the context so that Anderson’s POV wasn’t a step backwards in time).

Each POV scene was also intended to essentially be its own self-contained short, creating a microcosm of grief, that when put together, would create a much larger and significant whole.

I could write forever about all the trial and error that went into finding the right formula, but it’s probably more valuable to look at where I wound up, and why:

1st POV: Lora Alenko (Kaidan’s mother)

Why: She gave me a window to set the clock in motion and make the loss of the Normandy feel real, because she had the advantage of having no idea anything was wrong. Plus, her perspective felt like a unique one I hadn’t seen in fic when it came to Alchera. I’d set her character up in Sonata, so readers of that fic would be familiar with her and understand what that phone call meant to her in a more meaningful way.

How I used it: I put her in the middle of a mundane, normal, event – lunch with a friend – and then shattered that normalcy with a phone call telling her the ship her son was on had been destroyed. That shift from normal to a state of dread gave me the tension I wanted to use for the rest of the chapter.

Excerpt:

But before she can answer, her omnitool flashes. She frowns and looks down at her arm. It’s a message from Marc. SOS. Call now.

A chill runs down her spine. SOS isn’t something Marc throws around lightly. She’d gotten an SOS from him when he’d found Apollo, the warmblood she’d ridden for years, with a leg stuck through the paddock fence, and the day they’d learned about Vyrnnus.

Kaidan.

“Melia,” she murmurs. “Excuse me, I have to take this.”

2nd POV: Admiral Hackett  

Why: Hackett gave me the chance to explore Shepard through the eyes of the Alliance. To them, and to Hackett, he’s a weapon rather than a person. He also gave me a chance to weave in a sense of anger, one of the stages of grief.

How I used it: This POV came about late in the revision process, but I’m thrilled it did, because I was missing that cold, calculated look at Shepard’s importance. Shepard dying fucks up Hackett’s plans and political machinations, and his immediate response is not to mourn someone who died, but to move on to plan B. This also gave me a shot to work in Shepard’s mother. By seeing her in Hackett’s POV, I could reinforce the ongoing theme that Captain Shepard sees her son as a legacy, rather than a person.

Excerpt:

There isn’t a list of people who can replace Shepard. Time to make one. Hackett exhales, gaze falling to the datapad on his desk, Shepard, Sam still displayed at the top of the casualty list.

He picks it up and hurls it at the wall. It cracks, screen flickering to black as it clatters to the floor.

What a goddamned waste.

3rd POV: Joker

Why: Joker was an easy one. I’d set up some rather terrible foreshadowing in Sonata with a scene in which he makes the comment “I’d go down with that ship,” and Sam replies, grinning, “Not while I’m around.” I wanted to spike the ball over the net in Fugue, so parking in Joker’s POV in the immediate aftermath was a no-brainer.

How I used it: Through Joker I could explore guilt and shock, so I went back to that memory from Sonata and used repetition to make Joker feel stuck in that moment. It was also my first chance to weave Kaidan in to reinforce the notion of guilt and lay some neat groundwork for narrative tension that would come to a head later.

Excerpt:

I’d go down with that ship.

Not while I’m around.

He should have abandoned ship. The escape pod was right there. He could have given up the Normandy at any time. All he had to do was step over the bodies of Pressly. Chase. All he had to do was leave them all behind.

Instead he’d stayed, and Shepard had made good on his word.

I’d go down with that ship.

Not while I’m around.

4th POV: Dr. Chakwas

Why: Through her, I could look at the adrenaline and denial that comes with managing trauma. To her, Shepard was a patient. Because she is overwhelmed with patients in the form of the Normandy’s wounded, she cannot stop to think about the one she cannot help: she has a job to do, and she has to do it. There will be time to grieve later.

How I used it: Again, I used Kaidan to emphasize her role as a caretaker. Kaidan, who is in command of the survivors, has a moment of weakness that she cannot afford to have, and he can only afford to have in front of her, because she overrides his authority in a medical emergency. Because we are in her POV, we see her outwardly refuse to crack, when internally she’s hanging by a thread. It made for a nice contrast.  

Excerpt:

“There was no transponder signal,” she tells him, saying out loud everything she’s been repeating to herself. “We were in hostile territory, with over twenty injured crew. He was gone, Kaidan.”

His fingers curl, eyes still trained on the window.

She puts a hand to her forehead. Between Virmire, triage on the Citadel and this it’s too much. Before today she’s never felt old. Tears sting the corner of her eyes and she swears under her breath. Not here. Not today. Tears are something for tomorrow. Right now, she has a job to do.

5th POV: Garrus

Why: Garrus was a member of the crew who wasn’t on the ship, which is a completely unique perspective. But the question that took me forever to answer, was, how does he react to Sam’s death? What was Shepard to Garrus? I hadn’t written about them during ME1 yet, he was not part of Sonata, and ME1 Garrus is always a little tricky for me. I knew there was something important to gain from his POV, but I couldn’t figure out what it was to the point of tearing my hair out. Eventually, I settled on Garrus seeing Shepard as a mentor he couldn’t live up to, and made his POV about failure and regret.  

How I used it: Shepard was everything Garrus aspired to be, but could never quite achieve. He left the Normandy because Shepard made him feel like he could make a difference, only he didn’t. And then, his friends needed him, and he wasn’t there, and now Shepard is dead. I wove a lot of doubt, regret and self-deprecation into his POV to drive that home.

Excerpt:

Dammit, why hadn’t he stayed on that ship?

He grabs another report from the top of the pile on his desk, which is getting tall enough to sway in the breeze.

This is why. Because Saren had obliterated the Citadel, and Shepard, damn him, had made him believe he could make a difference. He thought he could make it here. Crazy thing, having to fill out a form every time you find a corpse. He’s got three more to add to the list after today.

6th POV: Anderson

Why: Anderson was both a father figure and commanding officer to Sam. Because he’s known him for most of his life, he has a perspective no other POV character has. To him, Sam was more like a son he’d been tasked to protect, and in the end failed to protect him. He and Kaidan are the only people who know Shepard well enough to mourn Sam, and not just Commander Shepard. Anderson would really let me start to explore grief.

How I used it: This was my heavy hitter. Through Anderson’s POV, I could trace Sam the person as he grew into Commander Shepard, and explore the echoes of the kid that still lived in the adult. I was also able to use Kaidan in a really fascinating way. In Opus, Kaidan and Sam served together for four years before the Normandy. Therefore, Anderson is pretty familiar with him, but doesn’t know him the way he does Sam. He keeps looking at Kaidan expecting Sam. In a sense, trying to plug a puzzle piece into the wrong hole. It was a neat way to show Anderson’s grief.

Additionally, this was a great opportunity to demonstrate Kaidan’s sense of loss without being in his head. Anderson does not know there was a relationship between Sam and Kaidan, but the reader does. Thus, I could have my cake and eat it, too: The POV character wasn’t examining the relationship that had been lost between Sam and Kaidan because he didn’t know it existed, but the reader got to.  

Excerpt:

He exhales through his nostrils. “The Normandy was attacked by an unknown vessel. Whoever they were, Joker says they came out of nowhere. Shepard got him into the escape pod, but the ship lost gravity. He…well.”

Alenko stares straight ahead, silent. Anderson looks for a tell, but he only knows Shepard’s.

Alenko isn’t Shepard.

7th POV: Tali

Why: Tali presented a similar problem to me that Garrus did. What was Shepard specifically to her, and what did his loss mean to her? As my closing POV, not only did she need to hit a home run, but she also needed to close out the chapter in a way that tied all the other POVs together and examined Shepard’s death through a much wider lens, without feeling like I was pulling the camera back from her POV to get there. That’s a lot to ask. Lucky for me, Tali never lets me down.

The answer I came to also called back to Sonata, in which exploring what home meant to each of the characters was an important theme. So I went back to this idea for Tali, as she and Sam had a very important thing in common that set them apart from everyone else: they were both born in space, and did not have the traditional fixed point of home that everyone around them had. Home was different to them than it was to everyone else.

How I used it: Tali was the only one left who understood how truly unique and special the home she’d found on the Normandy was. Therefore, when the crew starts to fragment and fall apart around her, she is forced to mourn the loss not only of Shepard, who gave her that home, but the home itself. I was able to use that grief to circle back to how much Shepard changed the people around him, and how deeply his loss will be felt in ways people haven’t even realized yet.

That conclusion was the magic final puzzle piece that made the whole thing work, and it was literally the last idea to take shape.

Excerpt:

Aliens don’t carry their ship names with them the way quarians do. Perhaps when you’re born with dirt under your feet you don’t need to. For them, home isn’t a vessel among the stars – it’s a fixed place in the universe, a way back no matter how far from it you venture.

But Shepard had been different. Like the quarians, he had no fixed point. Home was what – or who – he carried with him. He’d understood the power of a ship name, even if he hadn’t used one out loud. People who served with Shepard felt like they belonged, in ways they couldn’t anywhere else, because he said to hell with that fixed point in the galaxy and brought home to anyone who needed it. For Shepard, there wasn’t a way back. Just a way forward.

Shepard changed people.

They’ve lost so much more than a ship.

The primary objective of Opus is to examine the relationship between Sam and Kaidan, but to really understand the magnitude of Sam’s death, it was critical to explore it outside the confines of that relationship. Part of the struggle Sam and Kaidan have is that Sam doesn’t truly belong to himself or to Kaidan – he belongs to everyone else. That means his death doesn’t belong to either him or Kaidan. It’s shared with all the people he touched and shaped.

That’s what made this carousel of POVs a challenge I really wanted to make work. It required an absurd amount of juggling, but the diversity and uniqueness of each made Shepard’s loss feel real and devastating. But not only did each of those POVs tell us something about Sam, they provided some meaningful character development for the POV character. How they react to Sam’s death and what it means to them tells us a lot about that character, which in turn lends the entire story more depth.  

If you read this far, I’m pretty sure you deserve a cookie. 

I don’t know if any of that is helpful or meaningful other than to show an example of how POVs can be a really awesome tool to tell a story. There can be a lot of depths and layers to why you use a particular character to tell a story through, and those choices can greatly impact the story you end up telling.

[nyctolovian]

Chapter 17: easy being nice to a bitter boy like him

Summary: Shouto's worries about his relationship with Bakugou reach a boiling point and something tips over.

Shouto took a deep breath as his thumb hovered above the dial button. 

It was difficult to find any time where he could be left alone long enough to make a call. Most of the days were spent at the hero agency as Preeta taught Shouto and Bakugou the ropes. Additionally, Preeta’s agency was collaborating with several other local and overseas hero agencies to deal with some cross-border smuggling. Shouto's skin tingled with adrenaline at the prospect, but that basically meant that sometimes there were even workdays that stretched into the night.

Even if there wasn’t work at night, Preeta occasionally invited the two interns out to eat and chat with their coworkers, who proved to be a fairly rowdy bunch. So far, Bakugou seemed to be having quite a blast trying the different foods in Singapore, especially when chilli seemed to always be readily available anywhere. Not to mention how many types of food were spicy to begin with. But that meant that Shouto’s poor tongue had died several times over the span of the single week they had been here.

Sometimes, Kaiqi would join them. When she did, she would fit right into the crowd of rowdy heroes. She also seemed to have taken a liking to Shouto. (“You can’t give special treatment to specific interns!” “I don’t work here, Preeta. I can do what I want.”) And so they talked often and though it was difficult to keep up in a foreign language, he found himself slowly getting the hang of it. 

Another thing he found was that occasionally, he'd notice Bakugou watching him like a hawk. When he turned around, Bakugou wouldn't be looking anymore, but months of being with him had made him more perceptive of the feeling when he glared at the back of Shouto's head. But he never raised the issue with Bakugou. 

Needless to say, the days, with their bombardment of socialising and adapting to new stuff, were tiring. Most nights, Shouto would fall asleep before his head even hit the pillow and he’d simply open his eyes the next day to Bakugou shoving out of bed from under his arms.

But nightmares were more frequent for them both. Bakugou had one on their second night. But it was the regular case of simply shaking a jerking Bakugou awake before he just took several deep breaths before calming down again.

On their fifth night, it was a hard kick to his shin that jolted Shouto awake. It took a while for his head to clear from his sleepy state and when it did, he looked down to see Bakugou, kicking violently and gripping the fabric of Shouto’s shirt. His breaths came quick and shallow and his eyes were screwed shut while he whimpered in agony. For a moment, Shouto was at a loss. Then, he cooled his hand and pressed it against Bakugou’s shoulder, shocking him just enough to pull him back into reality.

Bakugou looked up with a coat of wetness over his eyes. At the sight of his boyfriend, he let out a shaky sigh before burying his face into Shouto’s chest. “Thank fuck,” he muttered. “Okay. Okay.”

Meanwhile, Shouto used his warm hand to rub circles on Bakugou’s back until they eventually drifted off.

As for Shouto, his nightmare came on the sixth night, the first time in the last two months. And as he opened his eyes to a gruff but concerned Bakugou, he could still feel the echoes of “you were never suited for this” bouncing about the walls of his brain. 

It wasn’t because of those nightmares that Shouto decided to make the call though.

He was getting ready this morning, brushing his teeth drowsily, when Bakugou walked in to spit out his toothpaste and rinse his mouth. In his typical bastard fashion, the way he got Shouto to step aside was by bumping him away with his hip. As Shouto stared at him in annoyance, he let out an impudent open-mouthed chuckle. 

It should have been disgusting with all the toothpaste foam still in his mouth, but Shouto had to bite down on his toothbrush to stop a smile from growing on his own lips. Then, came the sense of guilt that Shouto was planning to stop all of this, and he really didn’t want to, despite how many times he’d told himself it would be the right thing to do. 

That was how Shouto found himself sitting on a bench near the basketball court on a Sunday morning, gathering his courage to call Izuku. Izuku had assured him time and again that he’d be free but Shouto still couldn’t help but feel he was imposing. But clearly, mulling over this on his own wasn't working out well with the stress he'd been having for the past few weeks.

Taking in a deep breath, he clicked the dial button and pressed the phone to his ear as he let it ring.

Izuku, in all his speedy glory, answered the call with a bright “Hello, Shouto!”

Smiling at his best friend’s voice, Shouto greeted him as well. They went through the usual motions of catching up with one another: “How is it there?” “Tiring.” “Mood.” “Huh? What mood?” “I mean, it’s the same for me! But it’s fun, right?” “Yes, a little warm though.” “Not that case for me!”

They continued to talk about their respective internship, Shouto with his more mundane bits, and Izuku with his insane first week battles. Shouto swore his best friend was living the life of an action series protagonist. As Izuku recounted in great detail what happened to him on patrol three days ago, he nodded along, smiling fondly. To be honest, Kaminari had sent the trending Twitter video of his best friend hopping from building to building and into the heat of the battle already, but Shouto took certain delight in hearing it first-hand – terrible sound effects, hero fanboy enthusiasm, and all. 

They continued talking until a lull in their conversation appeared and finally Izuku asked, “So something you need to talk to me about, right?”

Despite knowing full well that Bakugou was resting in their room, Shouto found himself glancing around before admitting, “Mm yeah… I have a problem." Shouto looked at the ground and kicked a pebble beside his foot. He sucked in a deep breath of air. "I… I might be feeling a little homesick,” he lied.

At that, Izuku laughed and began chattering away excitedly about the things he missed about Japan as well.

***

Shouto was deep in thought when his train of thoughts was broken by his transmitter. “Calling for Shouto and DynaMight,” Preeta said, “are you in position?”

“Yes,” Bakugou replied immediately.

“Ah, um, yes,” Shouto stammered back.

Although Bakugou was crouched at the opposite end of the shipping container, Shouto could practically feel the glare on his nape.

According to intel, an illegal trade was due to happen in this port at 4am in the morning. After a general briefing, Bakugou and Shouto were positioned to hide behind a shipping container, a distance away from the predicted location of the trade. Their task was to ensure that the routes of escape were sealed off for the smugglers. Time and again, Preeta had warned them not to let their guards down. They may only be serving as backup, but criminals were unpredictable. They should be paying attention at all times.

Shouto could tell that Bakugou was rather restless at the thought of being distanced from the action, but he had nodded cooperatively when the task was assigned to them. Perhaps Bakugou was now transferring his irritation, which was probably exacerbated by the long day, into the stare he was sending Shouto. Granted, he shouldn’t be allowing his mind to wander like this, but he couldn’t help how he kept going over the way he was going to tell Bakugou the truth about his feelings towards Bakugou, or rather his lack thereof. When something that heavy rested on your mind, it was really rather difficult to forget it.

Shouto sighed at the thought. 

His mind went back to his conversation with Izuku. He was a coward.

How long was Shouto planning to keep mum about the situation? He knew he ought to talk to Bakugou about this. Sort things out properly between themselves.

But what was there to talk about though? The likely scenario was that a look of hurt would wash over his face. After that, ultimately, the best course of action would be to simply break up. There was no point in being such a one-sided relationship, right? He supposed-

“Shouto! Watch it!” Bakugou’s voice shattered his trance.

He looked up.

A man was rushing at him.

“Fucking hell!” the man roared. He aimed his right cannon arm at Shouto and fired.

In a moment of panic, Shouto swiped his hands upwards, sending a Heaven-Piercing Ice Wall towards the man. The man cried out before his voice was abruptly cut off.

“You…!” Bakugou growled, and Shouto turned to face him. “Have you got any idea-”

“What the hell was that?!” Preeta’s voice pierced through the scene. She blasted through the air and landed before the messy ice tower that trapped their perpetrator. Cursing under her breath, she pressed her palms into the ice and it rapidly melted away. “What are you doing, just staring?!” she yelled at the two boys. “Help me with this ice right now! He’s going to die there!”

A shiver ran through Shouto’s spine at the realisation. In his moment of panic, he had completely encased the man in ice. The cannonball the man had fired was merely ten centimeters away from the outer walls of his ice pillar. It fell to the ground with a dull clang as Preeta melted the ice.

Bakugou was the first of the two to react, moving to explode the ice to bits. 

“Be careful,” Preeta told him.

He let out a hum between anger and acknowledgement. 

Meanwhile, Shouto fumbled to his feet and joined the two in releasing the man from the icy death-trap he had created, all while guilt pooled in his gut. He had been incredibly sloppy, something he couldn’t possibly afford to be in this line of work. 

He should know this by now. 

***

By the time Shouto and Bakugou arrived back at the dorms for rest, it was already late morning, even after heading straight back to it without changing out of their hero costumes. The debrief had been short. All the perpetrators had been apprehended and this operation had been a success. For the most part.

Then, came Preeta’s debrief.

“You are a hero!” she chided. “You have a responsibility to control your quirk!”

Shouto had hung his head in remorse. He had no excuse for his behaviour. Thank god the man he had frozen had been largely intact after being suffocated in ice for an entire minute. 

She ended the lecture with a sigh. “I know you’re just a kid, but being a hero means you of all people must remain calm.”

What was also terrifying was how silent Bakugou had been. He had spoken while talking to Preeta and some other heroes when he needed to. But there was a steely coldness in his anger as he refused to exchange any words with Shouto.

It was as he closed the door to their dorm room that he finally said anything to Shouto. “Spit it out. What’s bothering you?” His voice was seething and low.

“I-I don’t–”

“Do you take me for an idiot?” Bakugou’s palms began to smoke. “Something has been on your mind since god-knows-when so quit acting like a pussy and goddamn spit it out.”

Shouto looked at Bakugou with wide pleading eyes. “I… I’m sorry.” 

“I don’t need you to fucking apologise! I’ve seen you bow your head so many times today already. If I weren’t with you 24/7, I’d think you were replaced with some life-size bobblehead. Just tell me what’s going on in that head of yours already!” He groaned. “To think I was gonna let you tell me or solve this at your own time. Clearly you fucking need it forced out of you if you’ve let it bother you this fucking much.” 

“It’s not…”

“I swear to fuck if you don’t tell me right now, I will rip your fucking jaw off and pull it out myself!” Bakugou spat. 

Frustration and exhaustion bubbled beneath Shouto’s skin. “I’m really sorry. I am. But could you calm down?”

“Calm down?” Bakugou yelled. He threw his hands in the air and marched past Shouto. “How do you expect me to? After that stunt you pulled–”

Shouto’s vision was beginning to tunnel as he glared at Bakugou’s back. “I can’t explain with you shouting–”

“–you expect me to be calm?!” he roared as he threw his bag onto the floor in a rage.

“Just let me–”

Bakugou was still back-facing him as he yelled, “Just what the fuck is going through your head?”

“I could ask the same thing!” Shouto retorted. “Your mood has been so awful lately!”

“Yeah? At least I don’t fucking let it distract me! I’m not the one who nearly died!”

With a huff, he mumbled angrily, “Who said I was distracted?”

Bakugou scoffed as he spun around, sharp red eyes finally meeting Shouto’s mismatched ones. “You’re a bloody awful liar, Todoroki Shouto,” he growled out. 

Fury spiked in Shouto’s blood. “I never felt the same way about you,” he stated. “Did you know that?”

[thoi2020]

okay i love love love folklore and taylor and her music so much. but it’s not always amazing to be a swiftie. others have talked about this and i want to say what’s on my mind too, i believe it’s relevant and it would do this fandom good.

it’s rather disturbing to come to the realisation that taylor’s target demographic is people like her: american, rich, and white girls. they’re the ones who can afford to buy her music and merch and go to her concerts regularly. they’re the ones least likely to criticise her for anything problematic she does. they’re the ones who can see themselves in her the most. because of all these reasons, they’re the ones that might be called her most ‘loyal’ fans— because they don’t have to face any problems that the rest of us face.

i became a fan in lover era, and the swiftie fandom is very welcoming, but as a middle class and international fan, sometimes, it’s hard not to feel excluded. when we can’t access digital downloads because they only work in USA. when we convert from USD to our currency and realise how expensive the american dollar is for us. when shipping is made free for $50 and above, but only domestically, and the international shipping price is almost as much as the actual product.

when you actually can afford to go to her concert, but cannot afford the travel and stay because 75% of the locations are in the US. when only the american leg of loverfest was addressed properly and international fans with tour tickets were left begging for information they needed to and deserved to know. when we’re less likely to be invited to secret sessions, and if we are, it’s harder for us to make it, because they only happen in two countries. when merch is expensive, and yet your love for taylor is seen as proportional to how much merch you own.

when you can't help being haunted by thoughts and fears that she doesn't care about you, at least not as much as she cares about them. no one is perfect, not even taylor, and while it's great to see her learn from her past mistakes, it is a luxury to be able to ignore her past and present problematic actions. a luxury that a majority of her fanbase cannot afford. we cannot afford to love her blindly. we have to acknowledge her flaws, if for our own sake and sanity.

i really hope rich fans understand how lucky they are to have so much money to spend and splurge. i hope american fans understand how lucky they are to be on the top of taylornation's priority list. i hope white fans understand how privileged they are to be able to enjoy taylor's music without being hurt by her actions (or lack thereof) as another privileged white person. i hope they realise how easy it is for them to be a swiftie.

i find it really funny how some swifties who are the quickest to praise taylor for her 'wokeness' and applaud her for simple acts, are the same ones who crap on other swifties for criticising her. the criticism is what tells her to review her mistakes and learn from them, to a large extent. honestly, if you see taylor as a perfect goddess, you need to step back and take a good look at your relationship with her as a fan because it's not healthy.

like all other relationships, a taylor/swiftie relationship is a two-way street. international fans do as much as we can to support taylor, despite difficulties. but it's starting to feel unrequited. she cares for us, yes (i hope so), but only passively. she does not go out of her way for us, as she does for her american fans. it's very disappointing to put in as much effort as everyone else and yet not reap the same amount of love and care as them. and it's even worse when international fans, fans of colour and lgbtq+ fans express their disapproval of taylor for a valid reason, and the 'loyal' swifties try to shut us down and tell us that we're not real fans and that we don't love her, all while we're only trying to help her become a better person.

i cannot do much about taylornation and taylor's marketing and business tactics that hurt a lot of fans not in the targeted demographic, but i can encourage other swifties on here to reflect on this. if you fit into the demographic, check your privilege, and use it to amplify the voices of swifties who don't. i don't know if it will ever become better for us, but it can become more tolerable with your support. we are a very powerful fan base, one of the best, and i truly have faith that it can become a safer space and a louder, stronger voice to make being a swiftie easier for the rest of us.

[supplementvibes]

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Acts on the condition of your bones, making them stronger and better

It helps you sleep better by tackling the problem of sleep disorders

Control your cholesterol and sugar levels in a healthy way

Solves the problem of joint agony, constant torment, and other problems of bodily torment

It gives you better mental and real well-being without damage

Support the problem of tension and sadness and make you more calm and relaxed

No chance of having any synthetics or additives when designing this product

The costs of these candies are quite reasonable

Useful for improving your general well-being without causing you internal or external damage

Solves the problem of cognitive decline, brain pain, and other brain problems and gives vivid memory

Gives you higher resistance ability to fight all kinds of medical issues safely

Cons –

It should not be consumed by women who are breastfeeding

The result may vary from user to user

It is not for the use of minors

It is not available in general stores

For whom David Suzuki CBD Gummies is not ideal to consume?

Women who are about to give birth to a child.

Women who are feeding their children with their milk.

If you are under 18 years of age

People addicted to smoking and drinking

If you suffer from any disease

Key Ingredients Found in David Suzuki Hemp CBD Gummies Supplement:

CBD Oil - Only pure and accurate CBD oil has been used and it is also checked not to cause euphoria.

Zingier - It takes care of the infection problems by skipping regular pains and manages the presence of germs.

Peppermint Oil - The irritation that is frequently caused in the process is avoided and the organs protected.

Lavender Extract - It has calming effects on the mind and helps decrease irritation and provides nutrients to the body.

Coconut Oil - It acts as a shiny lubricant that helps lubricate joints lacking proper movement.

Boswellia - It is also effective in reducing joint pain and pain caused by maturation or any actual injury.

Hemp Extract - It helps build similar rejuvenation and strength in the bones as before the agonies.

Clove Oil - The frame will certainly react negatively if there are any accumulated toxins left and the clove takes care of removing all of them.

Ginger Extract - Powder for losing muscle tissue will be present in the lower back with the best-enhanced extract of ginger herbs.

How to Consume David Suzuki CBD Gummies?

David Suzuki CBD Gummies is available in chewing gum and you simply need to take it orally after studying the dosing guidelines on the product label.

You need to take two tires every day for at least 2-3 months to see effective outcomes and superior healing for your persistent ailments.

The formula should be consumed under the supervision of health professionals and ensure that guidelines are carefully followed to achieve the desired results without adverse consequences.

David Suzuki Hemp CBD Gummies & David Suzuki Hemp Oil Trial Offer Price -

The product is affordable and has the best performance properties. You may be entitled to discounts or special offers if you purchase the product directly from the site.

Prices are determined by the quality and workmanship of the product. Bottle packaging will give you the best price, instead of buying a bottle. Choose any number of bottles to get free shipping and delivery

A single jar of David Suzuki Hemp CBD Gums or David Suzuki Hemp Oil will cost $ 49.59 plus shipping.

Two bottles cost $ xx. Shipping costs are not included in the price.

Three bottles cost - $ XX, XX + free shipping

Five bottles cost $ xx. No shipping costs.

Where can I place my order?

If you are looking to buy David Suzuki CBD GUMMIES, we are here to help. You just need to click the link on this page to visit the official website. The organization provides the opportunity to get the lowest price deals today. Hence, you can get the best deal for yourself right now that best fits your pocket. So don’t be late and get your discount bottle right away.

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