#it's the fake identities for me your honour

[vashtijoy]

To add to my previous ask:

Yaldabaoth says "welcome to my Velvet Room" in the English version, as opposed to Igor's "welcome to the Velvet Room." Is that a thing that happens in the Japanese version, too?

Hi, thanks for your ask, which I am brushing the dust off! This is a very widely noticed detail, and you won't be surprised to hear there's a little more going on in Japanese.

In short: in the Japanese original, both Fake Igor and Igor say "welcome to my Velvet Room". However, the way they say it differs—as the whole way the two of them speak differs.

igors, what the heck

The place most people notice this is in this cinematic, where we first meet Fake Igor.

Igor [Yaldabaoth] ようこそ、私のベルベットルウムへ。 youkoso... watakushi no berubetto ruumu e Welcome to my Velvet Room.

First of all, in case you know kanji, yes, that's the more decrepit and more formal-sounding watakushi that Yaldygor is using, not the everyday watashi which is written the same way—the same pronoun Igor used in earlier games.

For comparison, in P3P:

Igor ようこそ、ベルベットルームへ。 youkoso, berubetto ruumu e Welcome to the Velvet Room.

... while P4G Igor welcomes you that first time simply with youkoso.

a comparison: yaldabaoth vs igor

greetings in cutscenes

Yaldy and Igor both have cutscenes where you walk in and they greet you. Yaldy's is at the start of Kamoshida's Palace; Igor's is when (if you aren't on NG+) Lavenza tells you that you can no longer summon Satanael. And these two lines are identical:

Igor [Yaldabaoth] ようこそ、ベルベットルームへ。 youkoso, berubetto ruumu e Welcome to the Velvet Room. Igor ようこそ、ベルベットルームへ。 youkoso, berubetto ruumu e Welcome to the Velvet Room.

Short and sweet: "welcome to the Velvet Room". No possessives. In fact, they're both identical to that initial greeting from P3P that we looked at.

igor's additional greeting

But True Igor has a second one of these, when you arrive to find your cell door open:

Igor ようこそ、我がベルベットルームへ。 youkoso, waga berubetto ruumu e Welcome to the Velvet Room. Welcome to my Velvet Room.

waga is a possessive. This is True Igor saying "my Velvet Room"! Per Wiktionary, waga is "a fossilized phrase... that carries old-fashioned connotations, and suggests a favorable view of the following noun". Wikipedia further calls it "faux-archaic" and points out that it retains its grammar from Old Japanese, with ga serving as a possessive in wa-ga. Let's keep looking.

when you walk in

Now, both Fake Igor and True Igor have a default line that they use when you walk in. And these lines are profoundly different:

Igor [Yaldabaoth] ようこそ…私のベルベットルームへ。今日は、何をして欲しいのだ? youkoso… watakushi no berubetto ruumu e. kyou wa, nani o shite hoshii no da? Welcome to my Velvet Room… What do you need today? [lit. welcome to my Velvet Room. what is it you want me to do today?] Igor ようこそ…我がベルベットルームへ。ご用件をお聞き致しましょう… youkoso… waga berubetto ruumu e. go-youken o o-kiki itashimashou… Welcome to the Velvet Room. Let me hear your business. [lit. welcome to my Velvet Room. I will humbly listen to your honourable business.]

In Japanese, the difference between them is screamingly obvious. True Igor is using humble language (kenjougo, a form of keigo) to talk about his own actions, with that o-kiki itashimasu ("I will humbly listen") and that beautified go-youken ("your honourable business"). Even his possessive, waga, honours its object to a degree—"my/our honoured Velvet Room". Again, P3 and P4 Igor spoke in just this way—humble and formalised.

But Fake Igor, the God of Control? Well... he's not using any form of keigo. In fact, he's not even using polite forms. He asks you what you want with no da!—which, on a question, is an interrogative construct that demands an answer! "Why are you even here?" "What do you want this time?"

True Igor sounds like an old retainer on a dusty estate somewhere: you are the guest, the customer, and he is the servant. Fake Igor addresses you as if he's your superior. In fact, the way he's addressing you is rude. Like he's the important one here. Like a guard with a prisoner.

And, if you were used to the ritualised humility P3 and P4 Igor spoke with, Fake Igor's blunt language style must have come as quite a shock.

pronouns generally

While Real Igor also uses watakushi as his pronoun, Fake Igor also sometimes uses that honorific, formalised waga possessive:

Igor [Yaldabaoth] 我が試みは水泡に帰し…全ては終わったのだ。 waga kokoromi wa suihou ni kishi... subete wa owatta no da My experiment has come to naught… Everything is over. [lit. know that my efforts have been in vain... that it has all ended.] Igor 私の名は、イゴール。 watakushi no na wa, igooru My name is Igor.

True Igor uses waga to honour the Velvet Room. But Yaldygor reserves waga for his own grand plan—"my efforts", or "my game", as he says in that same scene—and uses watakushi no as his possessive at all other times.

Note that the word for a scientific experiment is not kokoromi, but 実験 jikken—which makes Fake Igor's statement something more like "all my efforts have been in vain". That suihou ni kisuru is literally something like "ended in foam"—we might say "melted before my eyes", or "like foam on the ocean".

conclusion

So what can we learn from all this? Well, given that English lacks a formalised honorific system such as Japanese has, English Yaldygor's "my Velvet Room" is a good way of conveying something unsavoury about the character.

But it also means the characters are slightly different. English Yaldygor is marked by that possessiveness over the Velvet Room itself—the position and place that he stole from Igor. Japanese Yaldygor, on the other hand, is marked by how he treats you, the protagonist. He talks down to you, which True Igor never does. He disrespects you. He clearly believes that he is the centre of the Velvet Room, the important part of it—not its guest, as Igor does.

And sure, that leads to a feeling of ownership of the Room, but that's not all it is—or even the most important thing, because True Igor also expresses possession of the Room. Japanese Yaldygor talks, in every way, like someone who would lock you in a prison cell in chains and torture you. Like someone who thinks he's a bigshot, and you are dirt.

And that's the difference between them—which their language so clearly conveys.

revision history

click here for the latest version.

v1.2 (2024/05/21)—clarified true igor's use of waga.

v1.1 (2024/05/21)—clarified an unclear mention of fake igor.

v1.0 (2024/05/21)—first posted.

[faithinchances]

Hit me with more of Roy conned Jamie into being nice and City is mad about it. I remember the concept and am face pressed against glass!

The basics of the original concept from @jamiesfootball are that Roy accidentally puts Jamie on a niceness points system so they can be friends, wherein Jamie gets to be a dick once for every four times he does something nice, with plenty of shenanigans along the way and everything is fun and hilarious until Jamie gets sent back to City which is when I get to make it sad and dramatic (ie, Jamie spends his nice points on his teammates/Pep/everyone else at City, and his dick points on Sr with the predicted results)

Jamie is an asshole at Richmond, in a way which is pretty well on par with the people around him, except that the narrative frames them well and Jamie poorly. Isaac and Colin do the brunt of the on-screen bullying but we're supposed to blame Jamie because he laughs at it. Roy humiliates Jamie by framing his embarassment as the funniest thing Roy has ever seen except that it's okay because Jamie is an asshole. Ted yells at Jamie for being hurt and unable to train, which is cool because Jamie is "obviously" faking an injury to get back at Ted for benching him.

Basically everything and everyone kind of sucked.

Take him out of that and put him in a functional dressing room with a good coach and lower pressure overall, and I don't think Jamie would behave that way. I don't think he ever behaved that way at City.

So Jamie goes back to City, a place where he never was much of a prick to begin with (except to the opposition team, because that is part of the sport), and has a casual identity crisis in the back of every shot.

He is touch-starved, being very very good, and blatantly and obviously anxiety-ridden, and all of this in ways which he hadn't been the year before.

Someone: *gets tackled kind of rough by someone on the other team* Jamie: Pep put me on put me on I will break his ankles and restore our honour Pep: ... no... ... Jamie are you doing okay? Jamie: Yes Pep all is well and good, I am just using a nice point. Pep: I'm going to think about what that means some other time. Jamie on the inside: oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

Meanwhile, Jamie is gradually racking up bruises, injuries, and sore spots because he is constantly pushing Sr's buttons so he can pretend that he's still 20% an asshole, and City desperately want to know what Richmond did to their previously nice, normal teammate for him to come back as this clicker-trained attack chihuahua.

(sidenote, I headcanon Jamie as struggling with statistics and numbers games. That he doesn't play FIFA because he worries about how wanting to maximize his ingame stats could negatively affect how he plays in real life. That the only person he's willing to take statistics from are the tactical scouts (a position at a club where you study the upcoming opponent to learn their strategies and tendencies to better prepare the players to face them) because he doesn't want to wind up maximizing his pass completion percentage by no longer taking good risks on through balls or crosses. He's a numbers guy in a way which is sometimes a problem, and is definitely a problem here.)

(a different sidenote, Roy's poor opinion of Jamie was probably a torpedo to his self-confidence. He probably always struggled with both, in some part due to Sr's abuse, but he worshipped Roy. And Roy hated him.)

Hence: an intervention.

Someone, either the captain group (football teams will have ~4 captains with an internal hierarchy, since there has to be a captain on the pitch but no one can actually play every minute of a season) or Pep, sits Jamie down for a chat about how concerned they all are about him and Jamie what is a nice point, what is a prick point, Jamie you were already nice. We already liked you. But right now you're scaring us. You're hurt. Jamie who are you using your prick points on. Jamie? Jamie?

[waytooinvested]

i must say your take on Non Nocere was genius thank you so much for it!

It truly makes so much more sense for the characters! I would love to hear some more of your ideas!

What would be another part of the story that you would change if given the opportunity?

HI! This is my first Supergirl ask, I am honoured and excited :D (apparently a little TOO excited because this got kind of long and rambly, but I'm going to post it all anyway because you've started me off now. I am however resisting the urge to add yet more 'and another things', which I absolutely could).

Thank you so much! I feel like there were so many ways they could have taken Lena’s post-reveal arc that would have made more sense than Non Nocere. I think it would also have been interesting to have something with more genuine moral ambiguity than ‘brainwash the entire world’ which, while framed in a way that had clearly good intentions is still… brainwashing the entire world. Lena just seems too much in favour of personal autonomy/individual rights to make that decision for the entire planet (and frankly too smart not to see the glaring flaws with that plan?). I *could* see her inventing a device that does what Non Nocere does, but on an individual scale. Ie you can put this thing on and be freed from your worst impulses.

Her fear of her own darkness and her struggle not to be like the rest of her family would tie in well, and could even help justify the decision to work with Lex again if he claimed to want to wear one when it was done. It would be a way for her to (think she could) have her family back but to get it RIGHT this time, and Lena craves affection so desperately, whatever she claims, Lex would be able to feed her the spin she needed to believe it (but unbeknownst to Lena would find a way to make a fake that gave off an apparently genuine reading but doesn’t do anything, so he could use it to manipulate her into believing his intentions were genuinely good and get her to help him with something that turned out to be Extremely Nefarious). The wearing of the device would be like a badge of trustworthiness to let her mark out people she could get close to without fear of betrayal.

She’d make them a requirement for her staff. Her friends. Anyone who wanted to be in her life. It’s something that could be horribly abused and no doubt would be in all sorts of ways that would make Supergirl & friends oppose it, but that would bring in the conflict, and the resulting fight would make more sense to me.

You could even have a scene where Lena goes to Kara all tentatively excited and hopeful and says that she has found a way to forgive her and they can be friends again! She just has to wear this, because then Lena will know she can trust her. And Kara refuses. Of course she has good reason to refuse – Supergirl can hardly wear something that won’t allow her to lie or hurt anyone when she has a secret identity and her whole thing is beating up villains… but Lena takes it as an admission that their whole friendship really was a lie and spirals further into heartbreak/anger/despair/Lex’s clutches (because HE wore one for her. Her murderous, Superman obsessed, apparently irredeemable brother did this for her and yet her paragon of hope shining example of integrity and goodness supposed best friend refused. And now Lena is questioning everything she thought she knew about who is really on her side).

ANYWAY you asked what other part of the story I would change and I just gave you a really long splurge of a DIFFERENT change for the SAME part of the story. Sorry!!

Honestly there are so many bits I would change...

The very first one that comes to mind is Kara’s big identity reveal at the end, because what WAS that? After they repeatedly hammered home how dangerous it would be and how it would inevitably lead to everyone she loved being targeted, suddenly all of that is just… fine? No need to address it at all? Even though there is now a small child involved who just got kidnapped and used against them REALLY recently?

I would have loved to see her embracing her Kryptonian heritage and living much more authentically with the people who are important to her instead of making a big public announcement. Like actually talking about where she came from and teaching her friends/family her language and culture so she can participate in things that are important to her with people she cares about, which feels far more genuinely meaningful than having strangers recognise her as Supergirl in the street (for example, trying to replicate food she misses from home - food is Kara's love language, this is something that could be such a wonderful way for her to reconnect with her past and have fun introducing her new family to it. Teaching them Kryptonian songs and getting them all to try them out at karaoke night! Hilarity and mispronunciations and a blending of all the things that have come to make her who she is ensue. Telling Esme bedtime stories and teaching her games she remembers from her own childhood, so she feels less like those family traditions are lost, because they don’t HAVE to be. And also Lena being super interested in learning about Kryptonian courtship rituals for... no particular reason...)

I could even see her coming out more generally as an alien, but she could do that without coming out *as Supergirl*. If nothing else, I feel like she would really struggle with having that much fame in her day to day life, because rather than letting her just live freely as her authentic self, announcing herself as Supergirl would put her under a microscope. Every single aspect of her life would be open for public scrutiny and judgement, and she’d find herself with far less freedom than she has as just Kara Danvers. It would be devastating to her life. It would put her and her loved ones in danger. It would be a really, really bad idea.

(also the fact that Cat made her editor in chief when before that she was probably one of the least experienced reporters who was hardly ever even at work because she was constantly nipping off to save the city, citing herself as a source etc… but that’s a whole other issue and is at least something she could have got to in time, after actually doing the work).

This is getting long now, so… probably enough for now? Thank you so much for the ask!!

[chayscribbles]

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ february 2024

yes, i know, february has an extra day this year, but i'm posting this today bc i won't have time tomorrow lol

☆ STATISTICS.

projects worked on: The Gemini Heist

proudest accomplishment: i... wrote?... i guess??? *can't remember a single thing i did this month for some reason*

books read: Witch King by Martha Wells. i'm ngl, i was lost like 80% of the time, but that might just be a skill issue on my part (it's the kind of book that throws you into the thick of it without holding your hand and listening to the audiobook with the attention span that i have was... probably not the wisest idea lol)

(alhough funnily enough, it's while having this audiobook on in the background that i came up with a lot of my plot thoughts for gemini heist LMAO. either that or while playing zelda.)

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

although i did get writing done this month, this update's gonna be short. i don't really have much to say lol

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: THE GEMINI HEIST (draft 0.5)

it's very weird to not be using word count to track my progress anymore. freeing, but weird. i have no concept of how much i've actually done for this wip this month.

i do know i've figured out a bit more stuff about the heist and the lore. i had a big plot brainstorming session and untangled a few scenes. while i know what direction i want the story to head, i still don't know how any of this gets resolved, tho.

and i wrote out a few important scenes. that's progress, right?

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

i've been writing so chaotically out of order based on whatever scene i feel most inspired for in the moment that i,,, honestly can't remember what i've written this month vs what i had already written before 🥲 here's a scene that i THINK i wrote in february. Leo and Illiana might be my new favourite dynamic. (for context, Illiana is posing as her identical twin at a party, and Leo is posing as a guest. they came in separately.)

With the bodyguards tailing her the entire way, Illiana slowly made her way towards [Leo]. She tolerated a few brief exchanges with other guests she crossed paths with to appear natural, then, once she was close enough, she slipped the extra comm out of the pocket concealed in her skirt. She made a show of bending down to pick up something, then strode towards Leo. “Excuse me,” she said as she approached. “I believe you dropped your earring.” Leo turned to her, smile strained underneath her veil. “Oh, thank you,” she said, holding out her hand. Illiana placed the comm into her palm, taking care to hide it from the guards. As Leo angled her head away to slip it into her ear, she added, “I must say, your Holiness, this is quite a lovely party.” “Why, thank you, Miss…” She faltered, realizing she didn’t know Leo’s alias. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I’m familiar with you.” “I’m a business leader from Tharekkan,” Leo said, pressing her palms together and giving Illiana a slight bow with her head. “It’s an honour to be here.” Illiana was surprised that Leo, with all her meticulous planning, didn’t have a fake name ready, and now she was curious. “How may I address you?” Leo’s already tense smile tightened even more. “‘Miss’ is fine,” she replied, practically through clenched teeth.  “No, I meant, your na—” “I’ve been told much about how lovely Fiolsby is, right before the winter,” Leo cut off, an unnatural segue back to the script they had practiced. “But I haven’t had the time to properly see the city.” Now Illiana just had to pry Leo's fake name out of her. “Really? That’s a shame. You know, the gardens offer a wonderful view of the city. Would you like to see, Miss…?” She let her sentence trail off, watching Leo expectantly. “If it’s not too much trouble, I would love that,” Leo replied, to Illiana’s annoyance.

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to any of them.

general taglist:

@dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @onomatopiya @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore @innocentlymacabre @subtlefires

gemini heist taglist:

@florraisons @akindofmagictoo @cream-and-tea @memento-morri-writes @antique-symbolism @rose-bookblood @afoolandathief @pepperdee @avi-why @zonnemaagd @chazzawrites @analogued @enchanted-lightning-aes @innocentlymacabre @kahvilahuhut @celestepens @cilly-the-writer @extra-magichours @onomatopiya @outpost51 @planets-and-prose

[codename-adler]

In honour of this Pride, here’s a stupid little lesson I’ve come to learn on my own, that might help anyone of you out there struggling with questioning your sexuality or gender like me, and perhaps shaking some sense into some of y’all questioning the legitimacy of some letters in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

If a certain sexuality baffles you, as in you understand what it’s suppose to mean but you just don’t get how someone could experience attraction that way…

…it just means it’s not your sexuality. That’s it.

It enrages, appalls, dumbfounds you that someone might feel this or that way sexually because you just can’t fathom it? Not your sexuality. Therefore not your problem. Let it go, bud. Read the label and put it back on the shelf. It’s that easy. If you cannot comprehend and accept that someone might exist like this, then how is your opinion of any relevance? Newsflash, it’s not. We’re not asking you to love it, to live that way, to fight for us. We’re just telling you to get out of the way. And it’s nobody’s job to make themself palatable to you. It’s no one’s duty to justify their validity to you. It’s not a philosophy class. It’s not a math problem. It’s somebody’s existence. It is non-negotiable.

Now.

For those of you for which sexuality boggles you, like me, in a way that has nothing to do with hate and discrimination, let me elaborate with an example.

I, 24F, cis, have come a long way on my journey to understand myself. Sexually, I’ve been consciously questioning myself since I was 14. Subconsciously? Who knows how long. I’ve made peace with certain aspects, am at war with others. Lots of clarity has been reached in the recent years. The journey is still not over in that regard. Here is what I’ve come to understand in the process.

I could never get how someone identifying as pansexual could experience attraction for anyone regardless of gender. It just didn’t seem possible. Because gender matters to me when it comes to how I experience attraction. Because I was not, therefore, pansexual. So I can cross that off my list. That’s all it means.

I could never get how someone, identifying like I do gender-wise, could experience attraction only for men, and not women. It just seemed impossible. Because I could never experience attraction only for men, and never not experience attraction for women. Because I was not, therefore, heterosexual. That’s it. Cross it off the list.

I could never get how one-night-stands work for some people. How some people could genuinely find someone sexually attractive and feel horny for them without knowing them. It sounded so fake, like a lie, like something out of a movie. Because I do not work that way. Because I was not, therefore, allosexual. Cross it off, cross it off, cross it off.

If you don’t get it, you’re probably not it. That is all it means, all it should mean. And there is nothing wrong with you. If the label makes no sense to you, put it down and try another until you feel some sort of enlightenment. Something that settles in your skin just right, something that feels like a home that’s been waiting for you. I promise it exists. The search is a mess, it is confusing af, there are more trials and errors than wins. But just because those labels feel alien doesn’t mean they can’t help you. You have just begun scratching the surface. Give yourself time, and tools. Engage. Talk. Read. The same goes for your gender identity.

If something feels too foreign in a way that doesn’t sit right within you, don’t cling to it and try to make yourself less comfortable for it. Thank it, put it back out there, and move on. Don’t be sad and ashamed to let go of an old label when it doesn’t fit you anymore. Don’t be scared and closed-off if a new label seems to call for you. Don’t feel weird and wrong if labels are not something that help you. Don’t feel weird and wrong if labels are something you need. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. Look it in the eye and see it for what it is: progress.

I speak from my own experience, because it is something I wish I could have known so much earlier, especially in terms of asexuality and its spectrum. There were and always will be waves of knowledge that come and go, and I guess I just wanted to put my little piece of mind out there, in case it helps someone avoid the confusion and hurt I went through. This might be very obvious and stupid to many. It wasn’t to me. Maybe this is only for me, to evaluate my progress and see my journey in its whole. Hope it helps, though.

Happy pride everybody and take care.

[proosh]

"Averse to all forms of cowardice?" I'm actually convinced you have no idea who you're talking about. One of France's defining character traits is that he's a coward. You sound like a fake fan.

Anon, and anyone else who's reading this, look. I'm really sorry for the tone the rest of this reply is about to take. You see, I'm someone who's very much about curating one's personal internet experience, and an advocate for mutual respect and sensibility in regards to fandom matters. I'm all about encouraging differing interpretations and analyses of characters, even if I don't necessarily agree or understand it's all a matter of perspective and if I'm not a fan of something? I ignore it, simple. I likewise expect the same sort of understanding from other participants in fandom: If I am posting things that is not to someone's taste, they can simply ignore me or block me to curate their personal online experience. You know, like civil people within a public forum.

However, you've decided to come to my inbox, on this wretched day after I have just been subjected to two and a half hours of the worst Napoleonic cinema experience the human mind can possibly conjure, to tell me that I am a "fake fan" over a silly little shitpost? Are you on crack? Is it crack you're smoking? Because, my good bitch, you will find it is you who is the fake fan.

For example, we've got literal direct canonical evidence of France being, like, incredibly and unfathomably enthusiastic about the idea of getting to go to war with the English again, specifically saying that being at peace feels like he's been "crammed into a fake version" of himself. I'm sorry, it really doesn't get more explicit than that. Look, it's not a headcanon I believe in, but that's okay. You do you! I'm happy for whatever interpretation you have! I will not be the one sending pissy little anons about it, I promise! You're welcome to block me if this is something that is incompatible with your fandom experience! Go for it! Please!

But, sure, maybe direct canon depiction isn't enough to defend the thought process as to my personal interpretation. I'll put this under the cut since I'm invariably getting long-winded, but let's have a quick fun lightning-round overview of French history and culture in regards to their collective bloodthirst and warmongering that doesn't really lend itself to an interpretation of 'cowardice' as a concept that's strongly represented within the French national identity (at least in my opinion);

The French have, for about a thousand-odd years, been heavily associated with an unusually bellicose, honour-bound, chivalric, warmongering ideal, to the point their ongoing national anthem is quite literally about murdering people and watering the fields with blood!

Historian Niall Ferguson argues that France is the most belligerent military power in history!

Literally over a million men were fed into the meat grinder of World War One! Literally an entire generation! Approaching 5% of the entire population!

One of the last bayonet charges in history was performed by the French! In 1995!

Their ongoing nuclear doctrine is one of the pants-shitteningly insane ones on the planet, and scared the piss out of the Soviets - Which is to say, they will happily drop a nuclear weapon on an enemy city as a warning shot! And they'll do it, too, because they keep refusing to sign nuclear arms treaties!

Their population is entirely and consistently prepared and ready to implode their own country and governance at the first sign of any infringement upon perceived civil and social liberties!

If you've read this far, anon, congratulations! I hope you can better understand the reason why I interpret France the way I do! If you disagree with me, you're welcome to come off anon and meet me at the Champs-Élysées at dawn so we can duel to the death over our incompatible opinions like true respectable gentlepeople of honour and class. Or you can just block me and not bother me again.

It's totally up to you, buddy!

[butcharium]

hi im gonna call myself R for the sake of being anon!

and so, i’m R. i’m 16. and i realized really recently im a butch (or baby butch, if thats the right term??) ive been finding comfort in many butches blogs and ive been able to see myself in so many of these posts, but you and cowboyjen68 have especially stood out to me. you both have created such immensely safe spaces for people of all ages and identities within the lesbian community and i just want to say im really grateful. i know not all your reposts and content is geared towards minors necessarily so i try to avoid the stuff that isnt for my agegroup, but with all the butch positivity and posts about finding love for yourself as a butch and just. being who you are. its so beautiful. im so appreciative for people like you. thank you for doing what you do and thank you for being so open about being butch.

- R. he/him.

this is an incredibly sweet message to recieve thank you so much and i am so happy you're on a journey of self descovery and that you're finding some spaces which speaks to you and it is such an honour to be one of them and also to be mentioned in the same breath as @cowboyjen68!

Especially since you're just 16 I want to say that even though finding yourself in the term butch (or other) can be really helpful, it is still not a stand in for things like self acceptance, self confidence, and the likes. Identity is a life long project, and "finding your ture self" is a concept too abstract and theoretical to properly engage with I find. If you focus on being grounded in yourself, becoming properly comfortable in your own skin, building self confidence (but be careful with "fake it till you make it"), being genuine in your being and interests and traits. All of these will help you immensealy, both with your own hapiness and satisfaction, and with how you move through the world, especially as a butch. Your skin won't necessarily become thicker by it, but it will become more repellant, and the opinions of others matter less when you stand grounded in yourself. I have myself also found that when people can sense that I am confident and grounded in my masculinity they give me less shit for it also.

Also while this is a personal blog it is in the end a very curated one. I made it after lurking around butch blogs on here, where i saw a lot of explicit sexual content or similar, which is good and okay but not necessarily what I was looking for or found most interesting. Sometimes you have to make yourself what you want to see, and I don't think I put things on my blog which is more mature than what you can see in galleries or museums, or what at least I myself was exposed to by school. I cannot speak for the ops of all the posts I reblog of course, but even if it isn't specifically geared towards minors per se I am not uncomfortable with you following or interacting with this blog.

I want to finish off by saying that when I was young and less confident and less happy with my masculinity and non conformity (and homosexuality but that one sat deep to realise) one of the things which kept me going was the knowledge that if I endured and kept honest and visible and open with who and how I am, this difficult path might be just a bit easier for the next to follow (and somewhere along the road I found my confidence!)

[jennagrinsoverml]

⛽️👶🏻🥰🍭✏️

⛽️ Name a fic that you got energy from after reading.

I’m not entirely sure what this means, tbh. Maybe a funny fic like œuf ouch owie since I tend to get energy from laughing?

👶🏻 First fic you remember reading?

Answered here.

🥰 Your comfort fics that you can re-read several times and still love them?

Oh gosh. So many. I download all of my favourite fics as epub files onto my ipad and, especially when I'm tired and don't have the energy for something new, I'll just go through and read the same fics over and over and over again.

By no means an exhaustive list, but all of the fics off my Must Reads rec list, A Secret Worth Keeping, The Prescription and Super Fan by @gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights, Operation: Bisou and most of @ghostlyhamburger's smutty one-shots, i think it’s time i told you (i’m a fan of your universe), tell me what you want so we can do just what you like and the Hey there, hot stuff~ series by @clairelutra, Bad Week by @ominousunflower, Banter series, Stars series, A Cat of Their Own, Bet, Jealousy, Enthusiasm and The Open Line by @sariahsue, A Nice Matching Set by @bridgetinerabbit, The Pole Kit and Kaboodle by @chatonne-rousse,  rumour has it by @settledownsummer, twists and turns and your lips are meant to be kissed by @zimtlein, (Emergency) Boyfriend by @nomolosk, Maintaining a Professional Distance and Off the Mark by @buggachat, pretty lady, look at how he's smiling, our hands would not be taught to hold another's (literally just reread this Thursday night for the umptieth time) and Me, My Best Friend, and Her Cat by @ladyofthenoodle, and of course after reading that last one I have to read the sequel, A Miraculous Reveal: Locked in a Closet by you (and of course all your reveals but I linked those already in the Must Reads post) and The Five Minute Adventures of Snake Noir.

Also my own stuff because it's all written exactly to my tastes lol

Favorite fic trope?

M U T U A L P I N I N G ! ! !

I go absolutely wild for two people being absolutely stupid in love with each other and thinking their feelings are unrequited and pining away. Far and away my favourite trope! (Honourable mentions go to fake dating and identity reveals.)

✏️ Ever gotten inspired to write your own fic after reading someone elses?

Experimental Kisses by @komorebirei. Basically Ladybug agrees to kiss Chat because it's not fair that he doesn't remember his first kiss. She sets some ground rules including that it doesn't change anything or mean anything. Except that after she experiences "what it feels like to be kissed by someone who loves you with all of their being" well....it affects her.

There's some fantastic flirting and banter, and then Ladybug leaves and the fic ends. And it's wonderful! But I'm obsessed with what happens next.

In my head, that kiss keeps her up at night for weeks until she finally caves and asks for more. I just love her not being able to stop thinking about it. And it driving her absolutely crazy. Because she wants to kiss him again.

But she can't, obviously. Of COURSE she's not going to kiss Chat again. But she wants to.

It's all she can think about. She's distracted in class, distracted out with her friends (she was so distracted she even missed Adrien greeting her once! Alya thought she was sick)

But the worst is when there's an akuma attack or they have patrol because Chat is RIGHT THERE and she knows how easy it would be to kiss him again and she wonders if it would be as good as she remembers or if she's built it up to something bigger than it was in her mind

And then one night she lets something slip, maybe asks Chat if he's kissed a lot of girls before or something like that. And he catches on right away: "you're still thinking about it!" Excited. Hopeful.

And she tells him to shut up but her cheeks are on fire.

And then he's like "we could kiss again, you know. If you want."

And she should say no, right? This is a terrible idea. She never should have said yes the first time.

But.... she can't stop thinking about it. Maybe one more kiss will help her finally put this out of her head.

She agrees.

And he kisses her again, gently but insistently like before, but this time SHE KISSES HIM BACK.

And it's EVEN BETTER.

And then I'm imagining like weeks of ladynoir makeouts...and that was as far as I got!

I've also got a partially written fic playing in @buggachat's Bakery Enemies AU, but giving Adrien's POV.

(For the Fic Readers Ask Game)

[envythemouse]

All-time Sam/Gabriel recs

Five Times Sam Gave Gabriel the Kiss of Death (and One Time he Didn't) by ScrollingKingfisher

Summary: Everybody Sam kisses dies, right? That's his curse. So he figures that if it works on his lovers, it should damn well work on his enemies, too.

Only this is Sam Winchester's life, and nothing is ever easy like that.

Envy’s notes: Not placing these fics in a particular order but this one deserves to be first because of the amount of times I go back to it. Sam thinks the people he kisses are cursed and so at Mystery Spot decides to kiss Gabriel when he thinks he’s the enemy. He does it again in Changing Channels and eventually falls in love with Gabriel, now Sam is scared Gabriel’s gonna die because he kissed him.

A Time To Cast Away Stones by TheRiverScribe

Summary: The healing Gadreel had begun during his unwelcome tenure in Sam’s body had slowly unraveled in the weeks since the angel’s forced ejection. Castiel’s own borrowed grace dwindled in strength with each passing day. And Dean? Dean had the Mark of Cain, which seemed to lend the bearer power at the cost of their humanity.

They were all running out of time.

Envy's notes: Had to edit this post because somehow I forgot to put this one on here even though it's in my top 3. Cas helps Sam to time-travel back to the mystery spot era. Sam knocks out his younger self right before confronting the trickster after Dean permanently dies, he then hugs Gabriel who is disguised as Bobby and confronts him. I love any fic where Sam time-travels and confuses the fuck out of Gabriel by being affectionate.

Hoo-Doo Yoo-Doo by Violet Hyena

Summary: Sam's secret is that he's a drag queen. Gabriel meets his alter ego, Doe Adeer, and they hit it off very well. Sam is nervous about telling Gabriel who he is, but Gabriel might figure it out himself first.

Envy’s notes: Very lighthearted and sweet, NoHunting!AU, secret identities.

In Memory Of... by MonPetitTresor

Summary: "Over the years, Sam had become quite intimate with the concept of loss and he'd developed a few different coping mechanisms to help him deal with it. He learned to honor the memory of those he'd lost and he made sure to never forget them. Remembering them gave him the strength to keep going on. To keep fighting."

Only, for the first time, someone that he lost - someone other than his brother - comes back, and Sam's forced to confront just how much that being actually meant to him.

Envy’s notes: Sam gets a tattoo in honour of Gabriel after he dies, Gabriel luckily does not stay dead and eventually finds out about the tattoo when healing an injured Sam.

The French Mistake 2.0; or, Gabriel Being A Dick by LPCollins

Summary: "Hey baby, I got you flowers." "CAS?!" "Ahh yes, because that never gets old, Jared. Anyway, how was your day, baby?" "Me? ... Dude, I married fake Cas." "Actually it's Misha, you know, just in case you didn't read the marriage license when you signed."

Envy’s notes: Sam and Dean get thrown back into our world. Except that Misha and Jensen are married, so are Jared and Richard. Sam and Dean have to try getting back to their universe without disrupting this one.

Spoiler: Jared and Richard are having marriage struggles, Sam slept with Gabriel without knowing this

"But why would Rich want to? He knows they're fighting," Misha argued.

Sam's eyes grew big at the realization that Misha was right. "That doesn't make any sense."

My theory is that Richard is secretly Gabriel and has lived in our universe since Gabriel’s “death”. This fic is still ongoing and has 21k words right now, very excited for it to update (I have hope that it will).

Highway of Love (Or: How Sam Winchester Learned to Stop Worrying and Relax Already) by Jassy

Summary: AU. Sam noticed a few things weren't quite right after they killed the Trickster. After going back to check things out, his life will never be the same.

Envy’s notes: Sam realises the trickster did not die and returns to the lecture hall to look for him. Gabriel has the ability to stop time and takes Sam on a bunch of dates. A very romantic and sweet fic.

Spoiler: Gabriel saves Sam from the reaper when he gets stabbed by Jake, that’s also when Dean finds out about their relationship.

Last Words by Miniatures

Summary: He feels Dean’s eyes on him, but he can’t bring himself to meet his brother’s gaze. His mouth is cotton, his chest scraped raw. He draws back his sleeve and stares, breathing ragged, at the sharp black lettering along his forearm—the last words he’ll ever hear his soulmate say.

"And this is me lying down."

Envy’s notes: The last words your soulmate say to you are written upon your skin. Happy ending.

Beep beep Sammy by ObsessedAngel

Summary: Day 10 Spooptacular!

We’re at an amusement park and I swear to god that clown is following me. (Sam and Gabe, Dean and Cas are there but wandered off. Sam is scared. )

Envy’s notes: Gabriel protects Sam from a clown. Literally.

Sam Winchester, The Heat-Seeker by orphan_account

Summary: Sam gets cold in the bunker, wakes up, and goes to grab some coffee. On his way back, he ends up finding a really warm room. Is there anywhere better for him to sleep?

Envy’s notes: Sleepy and cold Sam goes to Gabriel’s room to steal all his warmth with a cuddle. Comfort!fic.

Thunk by badgerempress

Summary: Sam's had enough and decides to give Dean a taste of his own medicine.

Envy’s notes: Cas and Dean are loud. Sam gets back at them with Gabriel’s help.

Genres of Seduction (or 5 Times the Archangel Gabriel tried to seduce Sam Winchester using Television and 1 Time He Didn’t [but totally did]) by waffleawful

Summary: Angels loved television.

In which Gabriel uses the rules of television to court Sam Winchester.

This fic exists in kind of a nebulous universe where Gabriel left the Elysian Fields hotel and joined the boys in their fight to stop the apocalypse.

Envy’s notes: Fun and lighthearted. What better way to seduce Sam than to put him in a dating game with only you in it?

Morning, Sunshine by misbegotten

Summary: Gabriel likes time loops.

Envy’s notes: You know that scene where they have sex in ‘About Time’? Imagine that but it’s Sabriel and Sam remembers.

Shipmaster Sam by iscatterthemintimeandspace

Summary: Inspired by the Following Tumblr post from sabriel-OTP:

Anon: "What if Sam looks up Destiel fanfictions after this and discovers Sabriel that way?"

Envy’s notes: Sam finds out about Sabriel and enjoys it.

Vanilla In Lace by VioletHyena

Summary: Gabriel wants to spice up the bedroom but Sam is against the idea, at least until he learns he's vanilla. Sam, as a last resort, summons Balthazar to help him because he's not very knowledgeable on lady garments. He then he proves to Gabriel he's not that vanilla.

Envy’s notes: Sam wants to prove he isn’t vanilla and tries crossdressing as a surprise for Gabriel.

Trustfall by DawnOfTheRoses

Summary: Next thing Sam knows, Gabriel’s fingers gently tug at Sam’s wrist and pull his arm over his head, closer to the cuff at the top left corner of the bed. Sam peeks at his arm curiously, and if Gabriel minds him looking, he doesn’t tell him off for it.

“I’m going to tie you up now, Sam. It’s important that you’re honest with me about your colours in the next few minutes, do you understand?” Sam nods, not trusting his voice, but Gabriel is not satisfied. “Use your words, Sam.”

“I understand, sir.”

OR Sam and Gabriel scene for the first time.

Envy’s notes: Very underrated, Gabriel is a soft dom in this and comforts Sam throughout their scene.

Gotta go back in time by pansexualgabriel

Summary: A witch sends Sam back in time & he meets someone he thought he'd never see again.

Envy’s notes: Sam time travels back to S2E15 Tall Tales and hugs Gabriel when he sees him.

Omni gladio ancipiti by lifevolutionary

Summary: The archangel Gabriel had never chosen a Bearer for his sword. Until now.

Envy’s notes: Sam wields archangel Gabriel’s flaming sword.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi Steph! I hope you're well! This is my main blog - I'm @allthelovelybitsandpieces (LoloLolly on AO3). Since you've been so helpful in the past helping me get the word out (as a relatively new Sherlock writer, though not quite as new anymore!) I thought I'd let you know that I posted a new fic!.It's a oneshot and my first time writing (just a weeee bit) of smut, haha, so I'm a little nervous.

It's "The Waning of Withdrawal" (works/43413474); it picks up during the infamous TLD hug and is my attempt to sort of... make peace with it all. Assuming there's no magical S5 that tells S4 it was all fake, that is. (8,253 words). No need to post this at all - it's certainly not your responsibility, and I have a good number of followers now, in part thanks to you! - but I hope you might enjoy it regardless! Have a wonderful rest of your Sunday (or Monday, depending on your timezone!) 💜

The Waning of Withdrawal by LoloLolly (E, 8,248 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TLD Fix-It, First Kiss, First Time, Mentions of Abuse, Mentions of Alcoholism, Mentions of Drug Addiction, Sexual Identity, Panic Attacks, PTSD, Sherlock's Scars, Bed Sharing, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Grief, Guilt) – Sherlock holds a weeping John in his arms and… does something that will forever change things between them. For better or worse. He fears the latter.

-----

Hi Lovely!

AHHH I'm honoured that you wished to share your new story with me, and I am more than happy to promote it for you! It means the world to me to know that I've helped some of y'all in a small way, and I'm so happy you're doing well!

ALWAYS share your fics with me, writers, because I love helping you guys!

[foaming-sea]

Good morning (afternoon?) my beloved fake girlfriend

I just want to make it clear that the reason why i sent you that first ask is that i thought the idea of fake dating through anon asks was fun. And you are always so nice with everyone, so when you asked for a fake partner i volunteered. I didn't think everyone in the server would be so interested in discovering my identity and itd turn into this chaotic game that we have going on now. My intention wasn't to be this omnipresent entity (me be pretentious again,) i just wanted to chat with you a little and plan fun fake dates, but it kinda went off hand

Im having fun giving them clues, but i also like this fake relationship, so lets keep working on that too

Tell me a little about the things you like. Food, movies, books, places, people...

-🍒

Good morning love. I'm so honoured you wanted to be my fake partner. I like this fake relationship too <3

My favourite food is probably pizza and burgers

My favourite movies are "Little women", before sunrise, and mission impossible movies.

I haven't read many books in this life, but I like Great Gatsby, and Leigh Burdugo's king of scars fantasy series.

My favourite place used to be this little street I used to live in. I moved 2 years ago, but still had to pass it to go to my school and I also graduated last year. Now I don't go there much. Sometimes when I'm feeling down I walk there its like 10 mins away from I live now. It's Purley a sentimental thing. Lots of memories their.

My favourite people would be my mom and my best friend

Who are your favourite people and what's your favourite place?

[johnconstantinejld]

Gotham Tales Two-Face

It’s not 50/50. I realise that now. A coin flip isn’t 50% chance of heads or tails. It’s 51-49%. I’m expecting a guest. It’s not the law. Here’s the only law.

The law of averages. The law of chance. And it’s unequal. Society is unequal. What’s the great equaliser? The law of law of where the ball lands. Harvey is here, of course, but so is he. One of us will take control of this body.

I know those footsteps.

Bruce.

Always was there for me. Always did care about me.

Another pair of footsteps with him. Female. I know her voice.

Barbara. I’ve known her for years.

Some of the crazies in here say he’s Batman. Well, if Bruce Wayne is Batman, then I’m the Japanese shogun.

The coin flips.

It has more chance landing on the side it went up on.

This thought is haunting and terrifying me.

‘He’s just woken up.’

Bruce thinks. About what I dreamt last night? In my mind, Bruce, I’m stable, I’ve got the one face when I dream.

‘Harvey?’

Big Bad Harv is gone. Renee…I dreamt about her last night. That’s the only place I can see her, since we…don't cross paths anymore. You failed me, Batman. I beat up your little Robins, as well.

‘Bruce…I’m here because the law failed.’

‘I’ve been talking to the doctors. You’re improving. You will be up for parole soon.’

I look away. Barbara is looking at my books. Jekyll and Hyde, The Count of Monte Cristo, Zorro. Books about people with twin identities. Bruce halts her. I don’t like my possessions being touched.

‘It’s because I agreed to improve.’ I say, flipping the coin again. ‘Honoured the agreement. I honour things about you.’

He nods. I know his secret.

‘Glinda…’

‘She’s waiting for you.’ He says, looking me in the eye.

No…don’t lie…she hates me.

‘If someone lays a hand on her, Harvey leaves, you know.’

‘Jim Gordon has her under 24 hour protection.’ Barbara explains. ‘Nobody will harm her.’

We talk a bit more and then they leave. I hear them disappear. Will he fly over the Asylum tonight?

The coin flips. Yes.

Who will it be tonight? Penguin? He has one personality. Joker? One personality. Riddler? One personality. Harley, even…she’s good at faking things. She learnt that from Joker. She can turn off the insane.

I can’t let that happen. I can’t them offend.

The coin flips. But it comes up No. I won’t kill those villans.

What are you doing tonight, Bruce? Fighting them? And then what? Dream well? Barbara? What will you dream? Pleasant dreams? Bad dreams? A mixture of both? I guess it’s true. We all wear two faces, sometimes. We put on masks. We all have two faces.

[complaintreviews]

I light-heartedly gave a list of names which, for all I knew, I might hear: Hugh Murray Constantin Petrie Peter SmallSignor Beniamino BariThe Honourable Alex O'Brannigan, Bart. Kurt FreundMr John P. de Salis, M.A.Dr Solway GarrBonaparte GosworthLegs O'Hagan

The story of how Dylan Fazel drifted into academic-publishing scams and from there into conference fraud would make for a fascinating interview, if any journalist or documentary film-maker in Minnesota is at a loose end. It is unclear whether the emphasis on biomedical fields in his operation is motivated by a thwarted childhood medic-manqué ambition, or simply that that's where the money is...

I am sorry. I seem to have committed the classic dramaturgical blunder of starting the story at the beginning, rather than in media res as tradition demands. Let me start again.

It only takes a few minutes with the Goofle Sir Chengine to paper the screen with tweets from people wondering how to get off the A. Siozos (M.D.) mailing list, or wondering whether invitations to his prestigious congresses are legit. **** SPOILER ALERT **** no they're not.

So you should look at this discussion of parasitical publishers and mockademic scamferences, in which the participants share their experiences with the unrelenting blizzard of spam from Dr Siozos (putative editor of the Archives of Applied Medicine), pimping his "Annual Conference on Genetics 2019" scamference in Vienna and his "2019 Global Conf. on Neuroscience and Neurology"…

NO WAIT, you can't, because ResearchGate zorched 200 contributions after receiving a legal-thuggery nastygram, and saw no benefit to themselves in replying to the bumptious censorious asshat with a richly-deserved invitation to "sniff my taint"[Popehat].

Bruno Chrcanovic reply

RG claimed that "[they] received a Notice of Claimed Defamation from Archives of Applied Medicine, asserting that they have a good faith belief that certain portions of the content constitute defamation to them." This serves as a reminder that academic social-networking sites like ResearchGate and Academia.com do not exist for your benefit, and any services they provide will evaporate faster than a Trump promise in the event of anything interfering with their monetising of your work.

As of now a replacement discussion thread exists, not yet cancelled by complaints from the botmaster behind the fake 'Siozos' identity that his commercial freedom to defraud people is constrained by attempts to warn them. Not to forget the equally fake identities "P. Jimenez, Ph.D." and "L. Smith M.D.", for the grifter has creativity to burn in the naming of spambots. In that thread we learn (inter alia) that the keynote speakers listed in the brochure had no intention of attending the Annual Genetics Conference and had no idea of the honour bestowed upon them… which is to say, the entire Prospectus was an unabashed fraud.

Two other aspects of that brochure are of interest (for sufficiently broad values of 'interest'). First, the promise of a special issue of AoAM containing the Conference Proceedings.

In fact the AoAM archives are a ghost-town where nothing but tumbleweed has moved since June 2019 and the only sounds are crickets and the mournful howls of far-off coyotes; the journal is moribund, as the aggressiveness of its spamming is not matched in the actual management of a criminal enterprise.

The second aspect was the name 'KEI' as part of the machinery of shearing:

Here 'KEI' is 'Knowledge Enterprises Incorporated': parasitical publisher of 'Medical Research Archives' and 'Internal Medicine Review' and a few others that are frozen in stasis. So it is not entirely by coincidence that KEI and AoAM use the same office forwarding mailbox to drape themselves in the respectability-mantle of a physical address, 340 S Lemon Ave #7750; Walnut CA 91789.

Physical cheques and letters to IMR are for historical reasons (TRADITION) funneled through a different mail-drop at 712 H St NE Washington DC 20002, with a cheque-cashing service conveniently located upstairs.

Despite these cut-outs, KEI is a departure from the norm in parasitical publishing, being an entirely US operation with no Hyderabad involvement. In fact the man behind KEI's campaign of global spam harassment documented himself thoroughly in his company ownership, and in Wikipedia revision logs, and in a blog dating back to the founding of Medical Research Archives where he claimed the title of "Interim Editor-in-Chief"; and in the registration of domains; and even by signing spam and correspondence with clients (before discovering the pleasures of spurious personae), as Dylan Fazel of Anoka, Minnesota.

Now pressure-to-publish-exploiting spam has evolved towards ever more aggravating persistence, stalking potential victims and boiling their bunnies, and it is only a matter of time before your mailbox deafens you with Feckle-Freezer-related screaming.

Dylan was a pioneer in this evolution, bombarding his targets with follow-ups and reminders… often skipping the original invitation and moving straight on to the reminders, in the hope of instilling the recipients with a sense of guilt and indebtedness. His special innovation, though, was an "ingratiating back-story" literary genre, in which the pressure to provide him with manuscripts and moneys is buttressed by cc:ing a correspondence among multiple non-existent identities, giving the reader an insider glimpse of an entire slice-of-life virtual world. Examples abound at "Flaky Journals", and at "Flaky Journals" again, and at ScholarlyOA, and even here at Riddled.

For a while these spurious personae used the names of actual Ukrainian translators, Venezuelan anaesthesiologists and Bulgarian casino-management freelancers, who were at least sometimes aware that their names were being made synonymous with 'con-job co-conspirator'. The shift to entirely fabricated identities like 'A Siozos' is new.

Dylan's gateway into the exciting world of virtual publishing (which is hard for one to leave, just as the elephant-poop-sweeper in the joke is loath to quit show-biz) was the Astronomical Review - an academic Salon des Refusés, providing autodidact would-be cosmologists with a convenient outlet for their original and challenging theories about the origin of the universe, without the hassle of cyclostyling those theories onto densely-written A4 pages and sellotaping them to the walls of bus-shelters.

Dylan recruited an Editorial Board of world-renowned luminaries from theoretical and experimental physics for this journal, including Roger Penrose and Jean-Pierre Luminet and Francis Everitt and NASA's Planetary Defense Officer, all content to follow his guidance as E.-in-C… or so he claimed, though one must bear in mind his fabulatory tendencies. This is all moot because in 2014 he sold the journal to Taylor & Francis, leaving him with time to found KEI and program his spam-bots. So now you know the back-story. The moral is that pimping out one's journals with wholly fictitious claims can be profitable.

T&F hiked the Article Publishing Fee from $25/page to a flat charge of $750 / £469 / €625 and imposed some standards on what they would accept. Bereft of submissions from Intergalactic Cracked Pots (and of the prestigious Editorial Board), Astronomical Reviewclosed its doors in 2018 after a less-than-glorious history. Someone with Whackyweedia privileges might want to reverse Dylan's self-promotional vandalism of the Wiki entries for Richard Penrose and Jean-Pierre Luminet, from October 12, 2012.

Anyway, I will give Dylan credit for opportunism timeliness. In light of current events, the latest Siozos spam -- urging me to travel to his next scamference in Athens -- has been updated, and now it highlights the potential to present about the effects of travel in spreading COVID-19.

[hella1975]

Wait--you have other ATLA WIP. What about? *puppy dog eyes*

i have three (3) current atla wips separate to taob lmao

1) A yueki one shot. post-war setting. Yue was a waterbender and had her bending taken from her instead of her life that day, but it has left her feeling vulnerable as well as leaving her extremely coddled by her now paranoid dad after she came so close to death. His solution? To call in a group of warriors renowned throughout the four nations and with Fire Lord Iroh’s personal recommendation on their belts. Dark academia sapphics - lots of poetry and midnight kisses in the back of the library. Should be 10k-20k words when finished 

2) The To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before zukka AU. Modern setting. Follows the plot of the movie but the set up is very different (zukka’s reasons for fake dating being the main divergence). Next to no angst in this one. My current comfort fic that i write whenever taob is being itself. Multi-chap. Should be 60k-80k words when finished

3) Current title: The Kids Who Imagined Infernos. As someone who usually titles at the very last minute, it’s weird that i’ve already got a title even if it just does wind up being a placeholder. This little explanation is gonna be longer than the others because the set up is weird for this one, so just bare with me and trust it won’t be as clunky in the actual fic (i hope):

Ursa takes Azula and Zuko with her on the night she kills Azulon, and they live their life on the run, leaving fake identities and lies in their wake and causing some very niche trauma in the process. To cope, Zuko tells Azula stories, specifically of the past Avatars. She becomes an Avatar Nerd in the same way Zuko is a Theatre Nerd, so together, they’re insufferable. Zuko winds up getting caught by Ozai’s men a few years later and their paths diverge. Zuko has to lie through his teeth and - inspired by the stories he told Azula - tells Ozai that there is rumour that the Avatar has returned, and that if Ozai lets him go, he’ll bring him to him. The Avatar is a far better prize than Ursa and Azula, after all. And hey, if Iroh goes with Zuko to supervise because he’s spent these past few years fooling Ozai into thinking he’s loyal, leading to season 1 of canon fitting in with this AU in regards to Zuko’s Avatar hunting shenanigans, then that’s my business. And if Azula becomes hellbent on finding the Avatar because she’s grown to hero-worship him and if the Avatar can’t reunite her with her brother then no one can, and if it leads to her joining the gaang and them all meeting up in a very corrupt Ba Sing Se, then that’s still my business. Sokka goes out and, angered by the corruption of the Ba Sing Se government, accidentally on purpose starts a riot. Zuko goes out and accidentally (no really this time) makes himself into a vigilante symbol. And hey, Sokka has been stuck with the younger kids this whole time. The closest he’s come to someone his age is the stories Azula tells him of her super-cool big brother who Sokka is itching to meet. So when he bumps into the mysterious, scarred boy his age while they both run from the Dai Li, can you blame him if he initiates a tentative friendship? Can you blame Zuko if, after years of being a nameless ghost, an ever-changing identity, he craves to finally be known? Includes Blue Spirit Zuko, bad public speaker Sokka keeps putting himself in positions of public speaking, Ursa being an average parent (at least she’s trying this time?), Ozai needing to honestly choke, andddddddd idiots to vigilantes to lovers. Multi-chap. Should be around 100k+ words.

[lasagnaflavoredgrapes2]

From the au where Billy somehow manage to get taken in by Alfred as the new Wayne butler's apprentice, things went smoothly until Alfred decided to introduce Bruce to Billy.

Bruce and Billy (being co-workers who knows each others secret identity,) looks at each other with the 'tf u doing here?' face.

Now they both must work together to hide the fact that Billy is CM, while trying (and failing) to not act suspicious infront of the rest of the fam.

It doesn't help that Bruce's plan to help Billy involves the classic batman style of faking your own death. ( Billy looks at Bruce disappointingly)

Gifts

As a sort of 'thank you' gift or an ' I'm sorry you have to deal with my children's shit ' gift, being the generous person that he is, Bruce decided to give Billy a loyalty present... In the form of a car.

Bruce: ...

Billy: ...

Bruce: ...

Billy: ... For me? Oh wow! Gee, thx mister Bruce! This is the best gift ever.. and a totally normal gift for a ten year old. ╭( ･ㅂ･)d

Bruce totally not understanding why Billy feel the need to be snarky, knowing that if it was Damian, Damian would probably be ecstatic: Billy, we both know you could get much older if you wanted too.

Dick: B! You can't force someone to just suddenly grow older!?

Billy: Yeah! And older me can fly so...

Dick, trying to ease the tension, thinking that Billy is just being sarcastic. : You can fly??

Billy looking vry guilty: (◎_◎;)!

Billy *looks at Bruce for assistance.

Bruce mouthing 'Don't worry' while pointing at a picture of a coffin.

Dick thinking that Bruce is treathening someone into liking Bruce's gift (again) : Omg, Bruce we talked about this-

Late night snack

Sometimes after patrol, batman and robin (Damian) would come upstairs to eat the light snack Alfred had prepared beforehand. Usually at times like this Alfred would remind Bruce and Damian to change outside of their costume first, but today in particular, the patroling took way longer than expected and Alfred had decided to clock in. This wouldn't be a problem persay, if Bruce and Damian had not been to tired to change out of their gear, and with no Alfred to tell them its a bad idea, they march upstairs.

Billy: Ah! Mister Bruce and Master Damian, Alfred told me that you would want a-

Bruce and Damian in their full costume.

Bruce: ...

Damian: sighs * takes out sword.

Damian: William, understand that your sacrifice is a great honour and out of necessity.

Billy panicked : Oh wow, I didn't know you are a Batman fan!

Damian: A batman fan?

Billy quickly: Yeah! It looked very convincing, did you guys go trick or treating together? Oh, what a lovely normal family, you must be hungry! I'm just ganna go ahead to the kitchen! Nothing to see here.

Bruce who is too tired to deal with this: *thumbs up

[lfc21]

School clothes

You and kostas had become partial to accepting the fact that your little princess would be going into school. Since the day she was born you both had become completely and utterly obsessed with her. She had the most identical look off you and a perfect mix of both of your personalities. Kostas was nothing but protective, he was constantly holding her hand and would never let her walk near any roads or dangers, he was obsessed with keeping her safe. It used to be just you that kostas was protecting but now it was his two girls he promised to love and honour no matter the case. The day you held her in your arms was the day you realised nothing in this world could ever separate you, but school had to get in the way. She was a tiny 4 year old with nothing but a hopeful mind and a giddy laugh - she was still so young.

-

"Daddy why do I have to go to school?" Your daughter softly asked kostas as she stood hand in hand with you both in the long queue. You had decided to buy her clothes as soon as possible but you didn't think every other set of parents in Liverpool would have the same idea.

"Because you have to learn things to get a good job and then lots of money" kostas explained as he looked down at the small girl. Your lips turned into a smile at the many questions she asked in which she actually wondered and thought where helpful. She was a curious child and wanted to see the world and explore everything she could.

"Ohhhh" she said with a giggle as she played with her dad's fingers. She was constantly attatched to either of you, her days where comforted by you both with nothing but love.

"Are you excited to go to school?" You asked with a smile as you all moved up in the long queue. Her face jumped in joy at your question. It shouldn't off but it hurt to see her little face so excited to be taking on the big wide world, you didn't want her to leave you both.

"Yeah!" She said with excitement as her face styled nothing but a bright grin and glowing eyes. Kostas looked at you with a tight smile as he knew how hard it was going to be. You didn't know if this was just you and kostas being dramatic but whatever it was didn't seem nice.

"Are you not going to miss us?" Kostas asked with a fake sulk plastered on his face. He wasn't all being dramatic, he did want to know whether his little baby was going to miss him even just the slightest amount. You knew the answer, she constantly wanted her dad back whenever he left for away games so going to school was going to be the same.

"Maybe" she smugly said with a cheeky grin. You looked down at the small girl that stayed close to your side.

"What about me? Will you miss me more than daddy?" You asked with a bright smile as you watched kostas's face fall unimpressed. He knew you where being cheeky, you where the parents that loved to annoy each other in every given moment. In your eyes you and kostas where funny but you knew when your children grew up you would both just be embarrassing.

"Yeah!" She excitedly said as she jumped up with a smile. You laughed to yourself as you picked the little girl up onto your hip.

"That's mean baby" kostas said as he kissed her small cheek with a small grin.

"Nooooo" your daughter said as she pulled out all of the letters in her word. She grabbed her dad's hand and squeezed his fingers 3 times as best as she could. Since the day you and kostas met each other you would squeeze each others hands 3 times to say I love you and that was something your little girl learned very quickly.

"That's better" he replied softly as he pretended to bite her small fingers. He was the king of playing with her in any moment he possibly could. Her little giggles where rolling out of her mouth as if on que.

As soon as you got to the front of the queue kostas was already ready to leave. He couldn't understand why it took so long considering they where tiny peoples clothes.

"Would you prefer a skirt or a dress?" You asked her as she looked up at you with joyful eyes. You could see in her face her mind was running around trying to work out what she would prefer.

"Erm a dress" she excitedly said when her mind finally made a decision. Kostas threw his dead back in a lack of effort as he realised how long he would be here for.

"My back hurts" kostas said with a laugh as he crouched his legs down to sit closer to the ground. Y/D/N ran over to her dad with a booming smile as you went over to ask for her size. Her small smile was captivated by his as they both sat hand in hand on the floor.

"Babe come here you need try your cardigan on" you ordered with a smile as she ran over to you as giddy as possible. Her small arms ran through the arms of the material until sitting neatly on her perfectly framed shoulders. Your eyes fell on her in her cute cardigan and it all seemed very real.

"Does that fit ok?" You asked her with a smile as you helped her pull her arm from it. Kostas smiled from behind her as he saw how perfect of a mother you where. His smile was huge as he walked over to the two of you.

"Daddy that's mine" y/d/n excitedly said as she pointed to the small material in your arms.

"I know, it's very nice" kostas said in fake excitement as the idea of a cardigan didn't really thrill him. You laughed to yourself at the dramatics kostas was able to pull off. "What's funny" kostas asked knowing full well you where laughing at him.

"Nothing baby dont worry" you said with another laugh escaping your mouth. You went and payed for the abundance of things for the little princess who had now found real excitement in her dad carrying her to the car. She would forever be the little girl who was constantly treated like nothing but royalty for the rest of her life.

I really hope you enjoyed reading this! Please leave feedback or requests as they are greatly appreciated. The champions league tomorrow 😄 have a good day 🙏🏻 @prettylittletrent @cornertakenquicklyyyy @trentsko @trentalexanderarnold @robbo38 @robbothegoat @kostasstsimikass @chelseamount @chloereddy @tsimikasfamily @avenirdelight @blueathens @jordanhendersunshine @mrs-henderson @thatonesexycancerian @hendersons1truelover @nyctophilic0vitnir @peekapeaches @tsimikxs @tsimikostas @trentalexarnofan @leddows @moneymasnn @superkittywonderland @virgilvansike @virgilvandickmedown @hopefulromantic1