#mostly it bothers me because the concept is so good and really something that is missing

[bobmckenzie]

also sorry for 2 non-shipping-related posts in a row but i have to air out my pointless rant and let it be known that every time I see a Pepper Bra ad I lose 3 days off of my life 😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑😑

[angelbarelywrites]

♡ slashers scenarios | you’re almost a victim..

♡ fandoms; Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2006), Black Christmas, Dead by Daylight, slashers (general)

♡ characters; Micheal Myers, Thomas Hewitt, Billy Lenz

♡ reader; gender neutral

♡ cw; very suggestive content

♡ note; i wasn’t sure how to word the title/concept of this one?? but essentially you’re almost a victim, but you’re a little to okay with it/something they do and it throws them off?? idk just read ‘em

also only 3 little meow meows in this one, i wrote most of this on break at work uwu

•┈••✦ ❤ ✦••┈•

Micheal Myers

> he’s been stalking you for months

> in his mind you’re the perfect victim

> clueless to his presence, adorable and vulnerable

> he’s drawing it out as long as he can

> but he’s practically twitching the night you come out onto your porch in your tight pajama shorts, relaxing with some tea

> he’s got you pinned to the wall before you can even scream

> he wants to savor this, so he keeps his knife tucked away and has a massive hand around your throat

> he doesn’t miss your breath catching

> and he takes a moment to watch your chest heaving, your cheeks all flushed

> but he’s not that easily impressed. could be the lighting. maybe you’re quick to panic.

> “…you’ve been watching me.”

> you knew?

> you knew, and you still played his game

> interesting. very interesting.

Thomas Hewitt

> Tommy boy is already giving you special treatment

> something is different about you

> he’s not sure what, you’re pretty, but he kills plenty of pretty people

> maybe something about the way you look up at him through your lashes?

> and you’re terrified now, but you weren’t scared of the initial sight of him..

> he doesn’t put you on a meat hook, instead rigging you somewhat kindly, your hands chained above your head but your bound feet on the ground

> whatever he decides on, he knows that you’re special. you deserve to be honored.

> he takes extra care in examining you, feeling you shiver as he grazes your exposed stomach - a side affect of your position, but a welcome sight

> he roughly grabs your face and pushes it left and right, pausing to rub your cheek with his thumb

> you would be a pretty face to wear

> he shoves two fingers into your mouth as he’s mentally measuring

> and he practically startles at the noise you make

> he’s never heard a sound like come from a victim- especially not his victims

> when he pushes a bit and you whimper around his fingers it confirms his suspicions. you’d given a choked moan at the initial intrusion

> he stares down at you, breathing heavily through his mask

> oh you were very special

Billy Lenz

> you were renting a spare room in the sorority house

> while you were good friends with the girls, you valued your alone time

> you quickly became Billy’s favorite to watch, mostly because you were always home

> when he calls he always tries to time it so you pick up

> but usually the girls downstairs still answer- you’re never expecting calls so why bother?

> this evening however, he’s lucky- there’s an on campus event and you’re home completely alone

> you answer on the second ring and he’s delighted, immediately babbling profanities and filthy threats

> “gonna fuck that pretty piggy c—“

> to his surprise you giggle at him

> not a nervous sound, but genuine giggling

> before he can snap, or really even process you laughing at him, you stop him

> “yknow if you want phone sex, you can just ask nicely mister”

> he hangs up in a panic

> that was certainly the last thing he expected

> but now he’s beyond fixated on you

> he barely sleeps just to peep through your wall

> and it’s just about time he paid you a real visit

[transmutationisms]

i would love to hear more about your criticisms of the BITE model! for me it always feels.. unfalsifiable? it seems to do poorly at distinguishing a cult from any other community, if you squint at the definitions

yeah so first of all i'm not particularly keen on even trying to defend the category of "cult" in general. obviously abuse and control methods can and do happen in groups, but i don't think it's particularly useful to talk about this like there's a strict dichotomy between evil malicious groups and all the others. and i think generally, when people do try to sort groups into strict categories like that, what you actually see is that the differentiating factor is less to do with the degree of control exerted by the group and more to do with how much the person doing the sorting is bothered by the group's ideology or doctrinal commitments lol. like, this is sort of baby's first cult concept critique but yknow, a group setting where you're being extremely openly financially controlled is your job and yet most workplaces, however abusive and surveilled and controlling, are not typically designated a 'cult' unless they're also peddling some kind of heterodox religious or medical claims or something.

anyway in regards to BITE in particular, yeah i think it does a really poor job of distinguishing between a 'normal' level of social pressure to say/do certain things, and the kind of control that ostensibly characterises a cult. for example steven hassan has called both MAGA and online trans communities cults, and a lot of this comes down to his persistent and pretty open belief in the power of 'mind control' and hypnosis as mechanisms of cult control. ofc any group of any political persuasion could engage in abuse and high-control of its members! usually this occurs by financial means, social isolation, etc. but hassan's BITE model isn't really good at identifying these kinds of material factors despite paying lip service to them, because it's more motivated by his desire to root out these kinds of shadowy quasi-occult forces of mental reprogramming that he fears.

i just find the whole model to be pretty silly and used mostly as a way of justifying dislike of lots of different social, religious, and political groups---some of which are genuinely mistreating members, some of which are just saying things their critics disagree with---because it's perceived as a reliable social-scientific designation and therefore name-dropping it helps the speaker feel that they're making some kind of objective scientific observation rather than a judgment dependent, as are all judgments, upon their own perspective and values. i think instead of this kind of haggling over Which Groups Count As An Evild Shadowy Cult it would be infinitely more productive and helpful to vulnerable people to talk about how high-control groups operate, what sorts of methods specific groups are using to control and abuse their members, and what sorts of resources those members are dependent on the groups for and need access to from other sources: financial and material provisions, social support networks, etc.

[absolutebl]

10 BLs That Shook Me

@trribledelight asked for "BLs that made you think or learn smthg or shook you culturally? Eg the political considerations in Not Me..."

Let's get the rough ones out of the way first, shall we?

1 2gether

Green. One of the most egregious reps for punching down humor against femmes in BL (and there sure are a lot out there). Seriously GMMTV? Must you?

At the time we all watched this because there wasn't anything else to watch, and it's been a long time since I bothered with a rewatch, but Green is one of the reasons I just can't with this series.

I'm not knocking the actor, but the character and how the other characters behave around him, and the director with regard to this aspect of the plot and portrayal was rough going.

What shook me was how casually homophobic 2g was. It was just so odd to watch a gay romance gloss over and degrade queerness. I was like, wait, aren't they supposed to me on our side?

(Ah, the before times.)

2 Fish Upon the Sky

Shall we address the head wrap in the room? This BL has some of the most shockingly racist content I've seen in a long time. Also punching down humor. I fast forwarded through it and I still don't want to think about it. GMMTV should be throughly ashamed of themselves... Again. I was shook, but in a bad way.

Okay, now for the ones that shook me in a good way.

3 Until We Meet Again

I watched this early in my Thai BL journey (while it was airing) and I had no idea what to expect. Frankly, you could watch it now and still not know. It's just very unusual for a Thai BL.

The plot twist about how they each ended up reborn. Just so brilliant. I still can't get over it. So simple. SO CLEVER. So punishing for the families.

Fantastic!

4 Secret Crush On You

This one kinda shook me all along but that Daisy & Touch scene. It lives on in my head rent free forever. Just because it was so beautifully sweet and genuine and kindly towards a femme character.

I still don't like this BL.

But I love that scene in it.

5 My Beautiful Man

I went on a JOURNEY with this show. Mostly because I didn't think Japan had it in them to land something this complex. But they managed it beautifully by not shying away from the delicious messy ugliness of it all.

Possibly the greatest final episode in all BL.

And from Japan. Usually so bad at endings.

I remain gobsmacked.

6 Unknown

I shouldn't have been shooketh by this one but I really was.

The style of it while staying so down home and gritty.

How old school Chinese BL it felt yet it still managed to be very modern BL about it.

The execution and quality of the acting.

How it was aired (available in YouTube?! we NEVER get that from Taiwan!)

Also the pair branding. We haven't gotten this level of pair brand from the leads in a Taiwanese BL since SamYu.

I'm was absolutely riveted by everything about this show and its production.

I loved seeing it. I hope we get more BLs like this from Taiwan as a result.

But I ALSO hope they realize that a big factor in the popularity and the success of this show was in distribution.

It's what's for dinner.

Along with the stepbrother trope.

KOREA'S SUPRISES

I watch a lot of Kdramas as well as BL, and have done for a really long time. I'm riveted by Hallyu, from an entertainment industry perspective (what I wouldn't do to get my hands on some of their proprietary data). I also listen to a ton of Kpop.

Therefore, Korea dominates the P'ABL gets shooketh list because I had (and have) more expectations firmly in place around Korea's media product sfyle than anyone elses. Even before they started to make a big play into the BL scene.

My favorite BLs from Korea, like Semantic Error and Light on Me are EXACTLY what I expect from them, manufactured perfection. But I was also shook more times by Korea than other BL nations because I had such rigid expectations.

7 Color Rush

Yeah yeah. But it starred an idol. It started out pretty and stiff and everything I was expecting and then the concept hit me up side the head and I never recovered from the CLEVER of this show. I'm not used to my Kdramas or my BL being this high concept and SMART about their sanitized perfection.

8 Blueming

What with the 8th Sense and others since, Blueming seems to have been somewhat forgotten about. But at the time, I was shook by the down home grit of this show. By the actual pain from the characters. By the higher heat concept. By Korea actually going THERE.

And then these babies came along...

9 The 8th Sense

I just didn't think Korea had it in them. Yes, I realize now that it was a bit navel gazey, and we were weighted heavily towards the seme and his pain. I would have liked a better balance between the leads, but that's in retrospect.

At the time I couldn't believe it. A KBL dealing with mental health?

And can we talk about those sex scenes? How insanely comfortable the actors were with each other? How easy in each other's personal space? I've not seen anything else quite like that from Korea. It's super rare. I had assumed they, culturally, just didn't do casual intimacy, or if they did, it wasn't allowed on screen.

Of course now I know the CAN do it, I want more.

10 Love for Love's Sake

Okay, lots to unpack with this one. A genuine isakai BL, in the original sense of the term. The death twist didn't shake me up, but the execution, acting, open gayness, and a couple other things did. Enough to make me still think on this show with fond surprise and affection, despite its undercurrent of darkness.

I like to be shooketh.

(source)

[tomiyeee]

donnie had. SO. much concept art lol. i really enjoyed the whole design process though. his base design is very difficult to work with because of the battleshell, but it gave me a lot of chances to get creative and i'm happy with the results :)

(also as a disclaimer so i don't get asked about this: i don't have motivation to finish raph or the wish art for donnie, so i'm just posting what i've got)

i didn't annotate these as much since there'd be a lot to write, but i'll write out some of my thought processes and go into some detail about his final design below the cut if you're interested! (it's long. i'm talkative 😔)

1st row - first iteration; much more literal 1:1 translation of his design into a fantasy setting. very steampunk-y. ended up completely scrapping it because, simply put, he looked more like an npc than a playable character. obviously, several features did still carry over throughout the design process :3 also wanted to imagine his attack pattern cuz i thought it'd be fun to incorporate his spider arms.

this was actually the first design of any of them i'd come up with! i've definitely learned a lot about genshin's character design style since then and i think it shows 😂

2nd row - playing around with the idea of a floating battleshell (rather than a backpack-like one in the the show & first version), inspired by nahida's cape. also hard light constructs/attachments. was leaning too into the sci-fi and rectangular motifs with the design, but i liked the idea.

3rd/4rth rows - concepts for his final outfit and shell designs (the colored/more-detailed pics are the more finalized ones). took a lot of inspiration from sumeru this time around. it's a lot sharper, shinier, and less rectangular than his og aesthetic, but i think it's more in-line with genshin's design philosophies.

5th row - not entirely sure why i went through all the trouble of making a 3d model for this. i mostly just thought it'd be fun and good for reference. i was right, but i don't know what to do with it now lol. can't be bothered to be a perfectionist about it though, so don't look too closely at it 😭

6th row - incomplete thumbnails of his burst/wish art. not super sold on that "wing" design in particular, but i do like the idea of his shell splitting and deploying hard light weapons/rocket launchers/etc sort of like in canon.

battleshell/misc notes - i'm thinking his battleshell is controlled using the pink sensor on the back of his coat, possibly in combination with his headset. it floats behind him by default and is sturdy enough to protect his back, but he can also freely fly it around like a drone if he wants. the holes on the side are mainly for the spider arms and the banners(?) and handles(?) with the blue/pink gradient are made of hard light and only appear when the shell is in use.

i imagine like in the series, his tech here isn't necessarily very reliant on his vision/powers; much of it he likely made himself long before he received a vision and he just uses his vision to enhance it.

his burst is a barrage of missiles from his shell that lock onto an enemy and deal a large burst of electro damage in an AOE. not sure if i want his skill to be a deployable or some sort of electro-infusion/boost 🤔 maybe something that involves deploying his shell to boost his damage while leaving him vulnerable, like a glass canon? though i'm not sure he'd be that sort of risk-taker... 😅 dunno! his signature weapon would totally be his tech bo though.

that's about all i can think of. thanks for reading!

[hansensgirl]

summary. | Mr. Barber’s feelings for his cleaner are more than professional.

prompts. | Andy Barber + Yandere + “Think an old man like me can keep up?” + conditioning/grooming, requested by @baalsgurl1913!

pairing. | Dark/Yandere!Andy Barber x female!reader.

warnings. | NON/DUBCON (mostly dubious consent), abuse of power, stalking, yandere, obsession, spying, orgasm (f), large age gap (reader is legal), grooming/conditioning, gaslighting/manipulation, and more. 18+ MINORS DNI!

author’s note. | this is a part of my Dark Concepts (2023) request form. thank you for taking part in this event! please enjoy and don’t forget to reblog. MINORS DNI, 18+ ONLY! taglist: @hansensfics

You’ve always had a soft spot for Mr. Barber—and it seemed he had one for you, too. 

You would clean the Barbers’ house every now and then when Andy and Laurie’s jobs made them too busy, and their son couldn’t bother to learn how to help out. You didn’t mind it. They paid a good amount and were always so kind to you.

But that was before it happened. And now Mr. Barber hires you because he’s grief-stricken, and you’ve known him for so long.

It’s not hard to tidy up behind him. He has manners, and you can’t help but feel bad for him. Andy’s entire life fell apart, and everyone watched in amusement.

Everyone except for you. No, you would never. You’re a good girl; he knows it. So sweet with your patterned dresses and adorable sweaters. You tell him ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ for every little thing, giving him those eyes that make him want to wreck you on the spot.

It really isn’t his fault that he watches you outside your work hours. He has to keep you safe anyway—don’t you know there are dirty criminals on every corner? And, plus, you made him do this. You’re too pure, too wholesome—and all his. Even though you don’t know it yet.

“That’s it for today, sir. Is there anything else you need?” you hum, light jacket on your shoulders with your purse on the chair since you just polished the countertops. “Actually, there is something else you could do for me,” Andy says, grunting as he stands up from his spot on the couch. 

He stayed there the entire time, making sure you did your job well. You didn’t mind.

“Oh, what is it?” you ask, already shrugging your windbreaker off. “Have a drink with me?” he offers, walking to the fridge. He grabs a beer for himself and a coke for you, knowing that you wouldn’t want to drive home with alcohol in your system. But you don’t have to worry. Not anymore, at least.

“Er, thank you. You’re always so kind to me, sir,” you tell him, sitting down on the couch. He joins you, his thigh touching yours. You involuntarily try to make yourself smaller, nervously giggling at the contact. When you look up at the much older man, he looks different. Pained, almost, with dark eyes and a clenched jaw. Is he upset? Did you do something wrong? Worry gnaws at you.

Andy looks down at you and remembers when you first started working for him. It was a warmer day than usual, and he had come home early at Laurie’s request. She was worried a young thing like you—who had turned eighteen a few months prior—would steal something valuable from the house.

She didn’t know that the only priceless thing had become you, and the worth of their home would decrease drastically when you weren’t there.

You take a sip of your chilled drink, resisting the urge to chug it after all your hard work.  

Andy places a hand on your thigh, but you don’t think much of it. He’s done this before, especially when he feels you’ve been exceptionally good that day.

“Y’know, honey… I really appreciate you coming here so often,” he starts, patting your leg. You smile, slightly embarrassed by the attention. “Really. I mean, you’ve put up with me for so long—through everything…”

You nod sympathetically, knowing what he’s referring to. 

“I just feel like I owe you. More than a raise or a gift,” Andy admits, and you start shaking your head. “No sir, really. I’m fine—thank you for everything. I already have so much,” you say. He quirks an eyebrow.

“Do you?” he asks, puzzling you. You take a larger gulp of the Coke. “Yeah…” 

“Don’t lie, sweetie. I know you don’t. Going back to that little matchbox of yours? With your slob of a roommate waiting for you to clean her messes?” he scoffs, and your eyebrows furrow in confusion. “What do you mean, sir?” you question.

“You know what I mean. I’ve seen it all, honey. I can give you so much more—haven’t I already?” he reasons, and it’s only when you feel a chill of air that you realize that your dress has been lifted up, and he can see your underwear. Oddly, you don’t fight him. It’s Mr. Barber—kind, sweet Mr. Barber, who cracks dad jokes and isn’t afraid to order pizza nearly daily. He’s been touchy before, but you’ve never paid any mind to it. Maybe that’s how he shows love.

“And please, call me Andy. You’ll have to, eventually,” he says, inching his fingers closer to your core. Your breathing gets heavy from nerves and desire. “I– I just don’t get it, sir—I mean, Andy. I’m a little scared?…” you confess, and he coos at you.

“That’s alright, sweetie. I’m here for you. Don’t you know how much I love you? I would never hurt you.”

His words make you dizzy. You feel his large, warm hand dip into your panties, and you let out an exhale. You’ve got a vice-like grip on the glass bottle he gave you, but it nearly slips when Andy finds your clit with ease. 

“Now, I know you’re young and all…” he starts, rubbing slow circles on your nub. He can feel your wetness, and it takes all of him to not pounce on you right then. You gasp from the pressure, and your free hand reaches down to grab his wrist, but you don’t push him away. Instead, you keep him there as if he has threatened to pull his hand away and leave you a writhing mess on his couch. “Think an old man like me can keep up?” he asks, and your eyes flash to his face. He’s got mild wrinkles and a slew of greys peppered into his hair and beard. You’ve always admired the look, even though he was married. “It’s been a while, but I can go a few rounds. You get me so hard, honey.”

You quickly come undone on your boss’ fingers, and he drinks in the sight, even though it certainly isn’t the first time he’s seen you have an orgasm. And it will never be the last. 

[dduane]

Salutations and good wishes to you. I am an Indie Author seeking to go Pro. Some good advice and guidance might help minimise the mountain of my anxiety about doing this. I know you got your start with fanfiction, but did you find a publisher/agent through that door? [lots sneer at these days. Still] How many rejections did you suffer before you found your place in the literary world? Thanks for your time and sorry for bothering you <3

Hi there! And don't sweat it: this is no bother.

I have to apologize in advance, because my own career arc isn't likely to serve as much of a good example. In terms of how I got into this business, I'm a serious outlier.

Quickest and easiest to discuss: my agent and I got together after my first book was already bought and published. (Which back in the day was seen as a good enough way to go forward, and then still entirely possible.) He was recommended to me by one of my editors, as—like me—he was just getting started in the business: a likely-looking newcomer then scouting new talent. We met up and chatted, and it seemed to both of us that we'd be a good fit for each other. After forty-odd years of working together, we still are.

About the fanfic: (Adding a cut here so as not to carpet people's dashes with wall-to-wall text...)

What writing all that fic did for me—from about age sixteen onwards—was give me a whole lot of practice in getting the initial garbage associated with a story written and out of the way. Best to admit it here: we all have plenty of crap writing in us. And yeah, even long-term professional writers do. Whether you're at the beginning of your career or right in the middle of it, this is what "zero drafts" are for. You tell yourself the story, first time out... and routinely at this stage a lot of what proves to be unusable stuff emerges, and can be discarded in rewrite. (Of course crap writing can also emerge without warning in the later stages of a project, but there are many reasons for that, all beyond the scope of this discussion.) And you learn even more from reworking the material after you've gotten rid of the dross.

During the period when I was executing what might have been, oh, half a million words of fanfic—Trek originally, and then LoTR—and while reading a whole lot of everything, as I'd been doing since I was first allowed to go raid the town library by myself at age eight—I learned a fair amount about writing without realizing it. Some of it was simply about writing inside a set of rules. (Which I hadn't been doing previously: between eight and sixteen I was writing original fiction, mostly fairy tales.) Naturally in fanfic you have to obey the laws of whatever universe you're working in... or even if you wind up flouting them consciously, you do have to be conscious of them. But this work also led me to something that I hadn't really spent a lot of time thinking about: the concept that fiction writing as a whole had rules. I realized I'd better find out what those were.

The best stuff I found out during this period was what I picked up by direct example from other writers, whom I'd immediately start imitating and then sort of leave by the wayside when I found others I liked better; at which point I'd start imitating them. (This being a great way to learn and hone new skills, and to start getting a sense of what a writer's "voice" is and can come to mean. I think every writer does this, to some extent: because it's really, really tough to learn how to write without reading. And the more extensively the better.)

I have to emphasize here, BTW, that the fanfic that came out of me as I started slogging up this learning curve was all almost uniformly terrible. All of it, mercifully, along with my earliest original fiction, is gone now: long since burnt, shredded, composted under many layers of time. Trust me, it's just as well. Gah was it awful! Nobody else ever saw the stuff, for which I thank great Thoth every time I think about it. ...What's interesting, too, in its way, was that I didn't even know that what I was doing was fan fiction. I had as yet no contact with any kind of organized fandom, and it would be a long time yet before "online" was invented. I was working in utter isolation, unaware that anybody else might have been doing the same thing. (And it's difficult to describe the sense of astonishment and joy that hit me the first time I went to an SF convention, saw fanzines for the first time, and found out that I was not alone. All unsuspecting, I'd stumbled onto one of my tribes.)

But somewhere along the line, as the years went by—as I finished high school and went to college, and then from there to nursing school, and graduated and started working as a psychiatric nurse, and kept on writing—at some point, as I started writing original fiction again, as well as fanfic, the quality of the output began to improve. The combination of constant practice and voracious reading of better writers outside my chosen genre was slowly having an effect. Trusted friends who saw this later material started saying, "This isn't bad, you should try to get it published!" But since none of these folks were writers, I didn't pay too much attention to their opinions.

I did pay attention, though, when my good friend and mentor David Gerrold said something similar on reading my first novel in 1976. And when that was bought by the first publisher who read it, I had to admit he might have had something there.

This too, though, is unfortunately also a way I'm an outlier: I haven't had a lot of rejection. (Even in my TV work, where rejection is pretty much the rule rather than the exception.) Speaking very generally, just about anyone I've pitched something to in the prose market has bought it—or if they didn't like the idea I came in with, they've immediately said "But would you like to do this instead?" And often enough, what they've offered or suggested has been something that sounded like fun. That's how I wound up doing the Star Trek: Rihannsu books, for example: they were "instead of" a Romulan dictionary. Paramount essentially ringfenced an entire AU-area of Trek and gave it to me to play in, which struck me at the time as amazing. And continues to do so.

Now all this may make me sound almost unfairly lucky. But things do tend, slowly or quickly, to balance out. Over time the universe has made up for its relative kindness at the rejection end of things by making sure I knew plenty about the non-rejection forms of writer-career pain: projects from which I was not rejected but which went terribly wrong (wheels come off a huge deal just before signing, promised actors or directors fail to materialize...), projects where I did the work but didn’t get paid, or where I was brought on board and then got fired/ghosted unreasonably or for no reason at all, or sometimes (mortifyingly) for quite good reason. And let's not forget how, as what could seem a very pointed shot across my bow when my career-vessel was just pulling out of port, half the print run of that very-much-buzzed-about debut novel wound up being pulped in the warehouse because another, far better-established writer's new book needed the pallet space that mine had been taking up. (insert rueful smile here) Believe me, entropy is running, and will catch up with you one way or another. So make yourself as ready for it as you can.

I don't mean to increase your anxiety. Yet that said: you're preparing to enter a business in which, for a freelancer, at least some level of anxiety is more or less part of the basic ground of being. You are going to have to develop ways of dealing with the everyday forms of that to keep it from routinely derailing your work.

I find it helps a little if you can come to consider this as a modern form of Going On An Adventure. Good things will happen; bad things will happen; and all of these will be in service of building your career. Think of yourself as being on a quest.

Your job now becomes the business of suiting up with the best equipment and advice you can find (ideally not from outliers like me). The web is full of useful pages on subjects such as how to query and how to find an agent.

Here are links to some.

Compare these resources one against another to see how their different kinds of advice seem to stack up, and which ones are the most congenial for you.

Then use this data to start drawing your personal roadmap across the terrain. Get as clear as you can in your own mind about what you're trying to get out of being in this business: what kind of writing you want to do and what results you want to produce. Then set out, redrawing your road map as necessary as you keep moving forward through the new terrain.

And I wish you good fortune on the journey! (Because luck, as you can see from the above, can definitely be part of this... but fortune favors the prepared.)

Meanwhile, get out there and have a blast. :)

[sunflowerandstrawberryspice]

CARMEN SANDIEGO? In 2024? It's more likely thank you think! Please excuse the shit quality for some reason I wasn't allowed to upload the normal pdf and I had to upload a fucking screenshot???

So my friend convinced me to watch Carmen Sandiego and since he's watching ALL of Ninjago for me I thought it was the least I could do to watch four season of a show with a pretty decent concept but uh... yeesh, don't get me wrong the show is really fun but lord have mercy does it have problems especially the last two seasons which were just so wildly disappointing to me. It went from a show with an interesting look on morals to pure pro-cop and mostly black and white thinking so quick (that not mentioning the breaking up a found family full of people with abandonment issues) it was honestly just so disappointing so me and the friend who introduced it to me decided to rewrite it! (I will not be animating nor do I plan on doing more than MAYBE a comic or art piece here and there because my chronic pain ridden ass can not handle that much lol)

The main goals are to:

1) Flesh out characters that aren't Carmen and actually give them reactions based on their lived experiences and how they might realistically react instead of what the show needed to move the plot along

2) Having characters other than Carmen be actually relevant to the plot the main one being Chase Devineaux who we're gonna kind of have as a parallel to Carmen (trust me yall) as kind of a "What if Carmen didn't have her friends/family to ground her and fall back on" but for all the Chase fans out there (gods I hope there's some other than me) he will be getting a happy ending but bro is getting put through the RINGER first

3) Have both A.C.M.E (now standing for Administration for Containing and Monitoring Evil) and V.I.L.E be the bad guys. Also just as an extra bit of fun we're making VILE a full blown cult, they were very cult like in the show so we're just gonna make it one. Both are going to be very morally questionable and while it'll take a bit longer for ACME to show it's true colors don't you worry they definitely will ;)

4) We're doing canonical lgbtq+ rep, I know the show teased a lot of relationships and really only gave yall background gays not to say thats bad but we can do better than just a brief shot of a damn taco truck. I mean like come on in a story about a young woman going against the government for the greater good why not put some rep into it ya know!

5) We're making it light sci-fi, not like SUPER high tech but definitely beyond what we've got currently, as shown with Carmen's prosthetic, and don't worry I'm doing my research as a disabled person I know how it feels to be misrepresented or ignored so I want to make sure I'm being realistic

6) PLAYER ISN'T GOING TO BE A CHILD! I don't know if this bothered anybody else but to me it was really weird that this 16 year old's only friends were in their 20s!

Alright I think that's what I'm gonna say for now, I'd love it if yall tuned in for updates if your curious since this is a passion project for me and my friend and we're having a blast writing it!

As always I am still working on stuff for Ninjago cause I could never abandon my one true love, currently there's a Pixal drawing in progress (it's giving me hell T-T) something for Cole and Geo, and something of Sora MAYBE even Euphrasia if I'm feeling up to it.

Having said that I hope yall have a great day/night and PEACE OUT!

[annoyinglandmagazine]

I love the idea of Finweans being transported into Years of the Trees Valinor as much as the next person but you know what I think could be just hilarious for a crack concept? A Sinda being transported into Years of The Trees Valinor. Think Beleg, Mablung, Daeron or maybe even Thingol himself (preferably with no one knowing who they are) getting out of Mandos and into Valinor but they don’t realise immediately that this isn’t current Valinor.

Thingol sees Maglor Feanorian in the marketplace which is a shock already because why would he get out before him but he doesn’t even have the decency to offer apologies when he sees them, how dare he in fact wait a minute he’s waving at him? What’s going on here why is he being friendly, he shouldn’t be able to be that friendly after killing so many people? Does he feel no guilt?

Mostly though for Thingol’s world to get absolutely shattered at meeting Maitimo Nelyafinwe, who yes technically is Maedhros Feanorian but how?! He doesn’t recognise Thingol of course so when he notices he seems a bit shaken by something he’s all polite and considerate and guides him to a bench before clapping him on the shoulder reassuringly and fetching him some tea. With the two hands he now has somehow.

And he sits with him and tries to find out if he’s alright but Thingol’s too confused to run like his life depends on it (and since this is the infamous Lord of Himring it might) because what is he even wearing? That’s practically a gown, not one he’d want to see Luthien in either, he’s not even wearing armour or carrying a blade? And he’s still smiling and it doesn’t look even slightly forced and his hair is actually long, not normal long either it’s down to his thighs for goodness sake.

All hope of sanity disappears when someone who looks no older than 20, comes up to them and starts tugging on Maedhros’ sleeve impatiently, ‘Nelyo, Nelyo, I can’t reach the tools I need for a project.’ Why in all of Arda would a child be approaching Maedhros Feanorian for anything? Why would they not be running in terror and avoiding him at all costs?

Maedhros shot him a conspiratorial glance as if he’d enjoy being in on some joke with a kinslayer ‘That’s most likely a sign you shouldn’t be using them Curufinwë,’ Curufinwë as in Curufin, possibly worse than even Maedhros himself. Of course it was.

‘But Nelyo.’

He smiled apologetically and asked him if he was feeling well enough now. He assured him he was mostly to get him out of his sight long enough to process the interaction and Maedhros Feanorian beamed at him, ‘Alright then, just feel free to come to me if you need anything, I’m always happy to help and Uncle Ara is very good at giving advice if something’s bothering you if you’d prefer.’

Then he stood, making Thingol concerned enough about the loose swathes of material to look away as a precautionary measure (was this a seduction attempt? He’d never heard of the Lord of Himring employing such dishonourable tactics but did he really know anything anymore?) and swept the child who could not be Curufin into his arms spinning him around above his head until he was in fits of giggles, ‘Now how about we ask Ammë about your project and if she says no I can take you somewhere instead? There’s an exhibition on in the city you might like? Sound good to you?’

The person who has to have just stolen the face of the eldest son of Feanor walked off with the elfling balanced easily against his hip and chatting away. This must be a weird fever dream.

[yyuangss-main]

❝MOTHER LANGUAGES — SPIDERVERSE HCS

summary ; pavitr with a hispanic girlfriend who teaches him some spanish and he teaches her some hindi.

pairing ; pavitr prabhakar x hispanic fem!reader (no specific race stated)

note ; teehee i was so excited to show off the new layout 🤭 i literally have so much fun writing for pavitr. this concept was so cute, i started working on it immediately so thank you to the anon who requested it <3 mwah 🫶

• — pavitr prabhakar !

about three months into dating, pavitr started practicing some spanish on his own. went about his way to get a dictionary that took forever for him to find. he starts writing the words out and takes his time to pronounce them. he takes note that he’s extremely great at reading spanish just a little troubled on the way to say the words.

the very first phrase he ever told you in spanish, he had a slip of paper with the sentence written down. pavitr wanted to make it sweet and maybe tell you right after kissing you but poor boy forgot the phrase. so he had to squint and read off the torn paper.

“tu eres la chica de mis sueños.” (t: you are the girl of my dreams) the second he finished saying it you jumped on him, kissing all over his face, telling him how cute and adorable he is.

you told him that you were practicing hindi in secret to surprise him as well, but you were having a lot of trouble. it makes a big smile spread on his face to know you both had the same intentions.

it’s where he offers to teach you how to speak, read, and write hindi if you can do the same for him with spanish. you agree and then he goes, “hehe >:) and teach me the bad words too muhehehe” you’re just like “pavitr 😭”

pavitr really excited when you’re teaching him spanish. he’s listening intently and repeating each word after you. he doesn’t think it’s hard, but it’s definitely good to have a native speaker helping you out and giving tips.

keeps a separate notebook filled with words and phrases he wants to tell you. of course, they’re all him telling how much he loves you. you also have a separate notebook with hindi written in it and it’s mostly you practicing to write ‘i love you’ and memorize it.

he knows it might take you a while to fully understand hindi and he’s okay with that. you’re the making the effort and that’s what he loves the most about you. finds your confused face cute when he starts rambling in hindi.

you two practice by only having conversations in each others language. he finds it super helpful and you both will correct a word if needed. text messages will sometimes shift from spanish to hindi to spanish again.

his heart and feelings grow for you even more when he sees you talking to his aunt in hindi. she thinks it’s so sweet that the two of you are learning each others languages and don’t find the barrier to be a bother. she even starts to help you too in secret. she wants you to surprise pavitr with what you learned.

i cannot stress this enough. loves to introduce you as his girlfriend in spanish. “esta es mi novia, ella es mi novia”. mi novia this, mi novia that. he gets like a schoolboy when he says it. if he gives you gifts, pavitr always writes a little note that says “para mi querida novia” (t: for my dear girlfriend) or something along those lines.

whenever he meets someone who is either hispanic or speaks spanish too, he’ll speak to them in spanish just so they can ask where he learned. all because he can’t stop saying how his girlfriend taught him how to speak spanish.

he starts picking up on the expressions too. accidentally let “tch, no mames miguel!” slip out when he was getting sent on a new mission. miguel’s head whipped over so fast and just looked at him so shocked like, wtf did you say to me?

“no mames? no mames?! como que no mames miguel?! who taught you that huh?!”

“mi novia teehee :)”

[gabessquishytum]

Hi! Looong time lurker, first time asker <3! Want to tell you that I love your blog and how awesome concepts are born here, so I thought that I might try and share my own idea with you

Omegaverse Dreamling!

Hob is an alpha who has a successful career in academic and of course owns New Inn pub so he cannot complain, really. He feels a little bit lonely, but he doesn't specifically look for a mate. All his relationships kinda ended, it wasn't it. Hob have been going into his ruts alone for some time but he is fed up with it already. So he decides to go to a brothel and hire some omega prostitute to spend his rut with. He chooses kinda luxury Burgess' brothel.

Enter Omega!Dream. He hates his job and especially dealing with alphas' ruts so it's obvious that this bastard Burgess chose him to "assist" this new and green alpha in his first rut in a brothel. Dream is famous among the clients for his ethereal beauty but also for his snarky comments. That is why most alphas enjoy "taming" him. Dream supposes this one is not gonna be different. He couldn't be more wrong! Burgess warns him that he can't afford to lose this client, he seems rich and gullible, so Dream must behave because otherwise he is going to regret this! Dream doesn't need to be told twice, he knows very well that Burgess has a heavy hand.

When Hob enters the brothel he feels the first symptoms of a rut but when he is introduced to Dream he might as well go into full rut right now and then. What a beauty! Slender, dark-haired, with unblemished and pale skin and the most blue eyes Hob ever seen. Dream is used to being ogled but no one ever looked at him as if he hung the stars himself. He must admit the this Robert "call me Hob, please, nobody calls me Robert" isn't ugly. Quite otherwise if Dream may say so himself. And he smells so nice, even so close to his rut. He hopes that he isn't a demon in bed because he really isn't into rough sex tonight.

They go into the room, Hob is obviously the perfect gentleman and isn't treating Dream as a common whore so he is already alerted. Behind a closed doors Hob is still very polite and pleasent. He asks Dream if it is okay, if he really wants to do this, did he eat anything? maybe he would like to drink something or to talk? Dream is quite overwhelmed, nobody treated him like this ever.But he says he is okay, Hob goes to take a shower and they go into it. And...

Dream has never had since he had started working as a prostitute such pleasurable and overall good sex. Hob is gentle and caring and is treating Dream as if he was his longtime partner. Despite his rut Hob is controlling himself and is always careful to not hurt Dream. Dream might have orgasmed a few times... Fine, he orgasmed a lot, ok? But it isn't his fault Hob is so nice and skilled and has a such wonderful cock! While Hob knot goes down they cuddle and talk. Well, it is Hob mostly talking, because Dream is always withdrawn with his past, but for the first time that doesn't bothers Dream at all. Hob has such a nice voice, he could be listening to him for hours! Well, Dream is very fucked, literally and figuratively. People always told him that he falls fast and deep and this might have happened here. When Hob falls asleep he might even cry a little over himself, because there is no way that Hob would want to ever be with such an omega whore who smells of other alphas. Dream is gonna stay in that brothel as long as he is pretty and then... He fears to think, but it isn't a bright future.

Meanwhile Hob is freaking out because of course he fell head over heels in love with this gorgeous omega! Dream is perfect, in looks and in character and Hob will fight everyone who thinks otherwise.

Hob's rut ended and he went home heartbroken but he gave Dream goodbye kiss on cheek and asked if he would him to come here for his next rut. Dream of course said yes, not because Burgess was behind his back and he expected Dream to agree but because he came up with a plan! He is going to baby-trap Hob! He is now knowing when Hob's rut is going to come and he can stop taking his suppressants. It's a perfect plan!

So few months go by and when Dream sees Hob enter the brothel he immediately goes into heat. Fortunately, nobody notices and they share again a few wonderful days with Hob and surprise, Dream fallen even harder. When Hob again leaves him he only hopes that he knocked him up good. Of course it happens. But what Dream didn't expect is that he was gonna start showing so early. He hoped that he could keep it a secret till Hob will again visit him. Burgess is furious at first but then he starts selling Dream to the clients so they could imagine they knocked him up. Dream obviously said that he has no idea who knocked him up so he gained even worse reputation.

Time passes and Hob again goes into rut and to see Dream. Once inside he learns from Burgess that Dream is pregnant and if he still wants him. Hob cannot imagine his rut without Dream now, but he wanted to refuse, because he didn't want him to tire to much. But something irked him in a wrong way in this Burgess fella, maybe because he was talking shit about his Dream ( jesus, Gadling, pull yourself together) so he agreed to take Dream to the room. He wasn't planning anything sexual, he simply wanted to talk to Dream.

When they get into the room Hob starts telling Dream that he is happy for him and that he just wanted to spend some tome with him and they don't need to do anything sexual if Dream doesn't want to. And this is too much for hormone-ridden Dream. He burst into tears and starts wailing, because alpha of his pup is here and those few months were terrible, he was so sick all the time and he feels sore all over and lonely and overall terrible. But first and foremost he isn't whore! It's Hob's pup and he needs to believe him, he is sorry that he tried to baby-trap him but he loves him and Hob must now hate him, because he is a whore and he woulnd't want to be with someone so terrible like Dream!

Hob is quite light-headed after receiving such info-dumb but the most important news is still banging around in his head: he is a father! Of Dream's pup! Of course he believes Dream, he wouldn't lie to him, not while crying his eyes out, he knows that Dream is to prideful for that. So he kisses Dream partially to shut him up and partially because he loves him and he is so happy.

Dream can't believe what is happening but he isn't gonna complain! When they stop kissing Hob explains to Dream how happy he is and how much he loves him and please please please be his mate. Dream is in deep shock, but agrees, of course he agrees! So Hob takes Dream hand and commanders that they leave in this second. While leaving for good Hob punches Burgess in the face for trying to stop them.

Some time later Dream receives his so anticipated bitemark on the neck and the both of them couldn't be more happy!

Well, of course untill they go for Dream's check-up and learn he is pregnant with twins. Hob and Dream are both over the moon.

Ooops, it came out very long so so sorry for that and for any mistakes! Cheers

– AAA

Hello new friend!!! Thank you for sending this, it's so good and I love that it's a nice long one. Gosh, I feel for Dream so much!!!! The part about Burgess hiring him out to even more alphas while he's pregnant so they can fantasise about being the one who knocked him up gave me SO many ideas. Maybe one of the other alphas goes so far as to claim that the pup is actually theirs (either because they want Dream or because they just want to torture him) and Dream has to try and get out of that situation and explain how he knows that that isn't the right alpha, yes he's sure, he's not sure how he's sure he just is!! Anyhow, thank goodness Hob shows up when he does and rescues Dream from that terrible situation.

When Hob takes Dream home he puts him straight on bed-rest (after a nice long bath of course) and makes Dream promise to rest and recover. Hob will do EVERYTHING for him. Cooking, cleaning, bathing, he'll take care of his omega as much as possible. Its important for the twins but it's mostly important for Dream - he's been worked too hard and he still has so much to go through with pregnancy, labour, nursing. Hob wants to pamper him until he's at the peak of health. Dream has never been treated like this before. He keeps trying to sneak out of bed to help, and then Hob has to carry him back and cuddle him until he dozes off. Eventually Dream begins to get used to being spoiled. And resting is nice when his belly gets so big.

All in all Dream becomes a very happy omega, and his and Hob’s pups are the most loved and cherished in the whole world. Dream is so glad that he baby-trapper his alpha. And Hob is, too!

[synchodai]

Your last post has made me so curious about your opinion on Jace being viewed as a worthy heir to the Iron Throne. I do think that is a very fitting label for Jace but you say you disagree? Please elaborate.

[This is mostly tangential, but I don't really believe anyone is a "worthy" heir in a monarchy. Kingship isn't a prize for the good guys nor is it a right. It's an inherited office of concentrated (and often stolen) power. Nobody takes a test or campaigns to prove their "worth" to the throne, and there are only ever two ways to "earn" it in ASOIAF: conquest and familial relations. Fire and blood.

Disregarding the nebulous concept of a "worthy" king, let's look at Jace as a leader in general. Because that's how most people are really approaching this, right? They don't really want to bother with the oppressive systems of power that maintain a feudal monarchy and just think about who's "worthy" based on who they would personally vote for when having these kinds of discussions. Never mind that the point of monarchy is no one votes, but for the sake of answering the question, let's pretend.]

Some fans do talk about Jace as if he was showing such extraordinary potential and he would have been the heir that was promised were it not for his untimely death... and I have to disagree with that.

We DO have a character in the series whose narrative purpose was to be the dashing, promising, and perfect king-to-be who died before his time — and his name was Baelor Breakspear. So I think it would be a good idea to compare how the books handled and portrayed the two.

Like Jace, Baelor also didn't have the conventional Targaryen look and faced pushback because of it, but unlike Jace, Baelor was an experienced and studied man in his late 30s. He had proven himself as a ruler by administering his lands, fostering political ties, fighting in battles and tourneys, and raising a suitable issue.

In both the book and the show, Jace is an untested teenager. He was the Prince of Dragonstone in name but never in practice. He made key alliances for the blacks but they were never fulfilled, and every other decision he made (sending dragons instead of ravens, sending Aegon and Viserys to Pentos, and the dragonseeds) was in the interest of short-term gain with little thought given to their long-term consequences. I wrote a bit about it here.

Baelor's most famous piece of dialogue shows him being honorable before he tragically dies fighting in defense of righteous Dunk. (Book) Jace's most famous line of dialogue is calling Vhagar a "hoary, old bitch." Still iconic but narratively speaking, they just don't share the same archetype.

That's not to say that I think Jace would be a horrible leader. I imagine he would be as competent as a Jon Snow or Robb Stark, both of whom came to power at 15 during times of conflict. Like them, he'd be well-intentioned and have his share of wins, but he would have a difficult time earning the respect of his men and would be absolutely miserable throughout. All three young men definitely have the potential to grow into effective and good rulers in their own right, but because they are in such unstable positions, they don't get the privilege of learning from their mistakes. Jon and Robb's tenures were very short as they were both ultimately betrayed, and that's how I foresee how Jace's reign would end as well unless he does something drastic and truly unorthodox.

[miukki960]

Okay, so I just finished Love for Love's Sake and..... I have so many thoughts. I could wax poetic for hours about how much I loved the show, but right now what I really want to talk about is my theory on the ending and the whole concept of the "game."

Please bare with me as I don't make posts like this (or any at all for that matter) often. Please forgive me if it's incoherent, my thoughts tend to run faster than my fingers can type lol.

Here we go!

First, who is the author sunbae? I think he's the embodiment of death. When Myungha wished on the shooting star for 1. Someone to care for him and love him and 2. To disappear,he was wearing what I'm pretty sure is the same outfit as when we first see him in the bar back in episode 1. This leads me to believe Death heard his wish, so when Myungha decides to end his life and regrets his decision in the last moment, Death decides to give him a chance to change his fate.

So he creates the "game" based on a novel he supposedly wrote. I believe this is a false memory he gives to Myungha so he will willingly play the game and try to change his fate. Which leads me to my second point...

Myungha is the author. The show did a very good job at keeping this subtle at the beginning. We as an audience are led to believe he is simply transported into the videogmae world and is at the mercy of the dating sim, but they show us multiple times that that's not the case.

Once, when Myungha mentions that the missions are written in his handwriting, a second time when we get a flashback of him actually writing these missions in a notebook at the bar, and a final time when we see him pen the shows Ultimate Mission using the Author's Pen, "Please make Cha Yeowoon Happy."

I started to get the idea that Myungha was the author back in the first few episodes when we started to see the side missions. Every mission he got screamed to me "this mission is actually for you, not Yeowoon." What was the first thing he did when he was supposed to get Yeowoon more friends? He befriended Kyunghoon himself. Save 3,000,000 won? For himself. Get Yeowoon followers? Using HIS Instagram. Which leads to point number three....

The game Myungha is sent to is actually a reenactment of his senior year of high school. All the characters he meets are actual people in his earlier life, his grandma, Kyunghoon, Sangwon. But in his original "playthrough" he didn't bother to befriend or interact with them, so they went about their lives unaffected, and he forgot they existed. I say all this with the exception of Cha Yeowoon.

Cha Yeowoon is a mirrored reflection of Myungha created by Death and inserted into the game. Myungha said himself at the beginning that Yeowoon was his favorite character because he reminds him of himself. Later on, we learn that their backgrounds are almost identical too. Yeowoon lost his mother, has an absent runaway father, and was raised by his grandmother. Myungha has a dead father, absent runaway mother, and is being raised by his grandmother. So at the beginning when Death asks Myungha if he will change Yeowoon's fate and rewrite his story, he's really talking about Myungha.

Adding to this, I also noticed something rather spectacular narratively in the second half of the show. The whole show, we watched Myungha try and (mostly) succeed at making Yeowoon happy. But suddenly I realized, as we watched him get happier and happier, Myungha was falling deeper and deeper into a sadness rivaling how we saw Yeowoon in the beginning. We stopped seeing the calculations of Yeowoon's affection level, and instead saw error messages and system malfunctions, representing Myungha's emotional state.

Which begs the ultimate question on everyone's minds to be answered. If the whole point of sending Myungha back to his 19yo self and giving him Yeowoon was to get him to love himself and be happy, why were the system malfunctions so devastatingly awful and cruel? Answer: because Myungha is the author, and he's depressed and self-destructive.

He begins to feel happy with the changes he's made, he sees Yeowoon happier and he feels like he's succeeding, yet the countdown message to his death still appears. It's ominous and impending and a constant reminder that he's failing. So as the author, he tries to revert back to factory settings by getting rid of the major changes to his life, Yeowoon and his grandmother. The two people who love him most, and the two people he thinks he deserves the least.

Sangwon said it the best. Myungha's main issue is that he refuses to receive love, both from others and himself. Which is why he fails the game and dies a second time. He followed the missions for Yeowoon and refused to let them break down his own walls like they were ment to.

But Death does see the change in him through Yeowoon. Being Myungha's mirror, Yeowoon represents the change that was supposed to happen to Myungha. So when Myungha (the him he hates) deletes himself in order to make Yeowoon (the him he loves) happy ("please make Cha Yeowoon happy"), Yeowoon is able to go full-meta, breaking through the game and rewriting the mission to "Please make Tae Myungha happy."

Thus saving Myungha and allowing him a third chance at a happy life, where he receives just as much love as he gives.

Don't ask me about the "he comes back disjointed from Yeowoon's timeline" thing bc I don't understand it narratively but it sure does make for a visually pleasing ending.

[violent138]

Sorry just didn’t wanna assume, I always panic about being a bother.

How do you think everyone would react to Bruce being in a bad mood, Alfred tries to force him to take care of himself, they argue & Bruce throws out the “you’re not my dad/you’re not my real dad” in the heat of the moment/out of anger?

Hope this makes sense & have a good day/night ❤️

(Please don't worry, the only people that bother me are ones on my front porch selling something)

Honestly, I think this is a repeat occurrence and really only means anything the first time it happens per Batkid, and when things are really bad (like multiple crises/family tragedies hitting at once). Mostly Alfred can dismiss it, but there are those moments like with deaths/near deaths or other extreme stress where Alfred is so tempted to either ask how he isn't Bruce's dad/say something equally dismissive, but usually Alfred manages to keep a stiff upper lip and let Bruce deal with it before re-opening conversation.

Also the "real dad thing" I think would've been a massive blow for Dick, especially when he first joined, because from my reading of him, he always seems very insecure on some level about his place with Bruce, and I think this sort of sits in the back of mind, that Bruce can take away "family status" even from someone as established/constant as Alfred.

I think Jason when he first heard it, was grimly satisfied almost, because he's very conflicted about Bruce being his dad (doubts his place with Alfred and Bruce), and Jason himself uses the "you're not my dad" constantly, and it always hurts. I think this is why Bruce eventually ends up properly apologizing to Alfred for saying it.

This post will get real long if I break it down for every person (so let me know if you'd be interested in that), but I think it's always a little jarring, because "real dad"-ness is a bizarre concept in the Batfam, and antithetical to the non-nuclear weirdo family (fondly) they form in their better moments, so everyone is likely pissed or ignores it as typical Bruce nonsense), and definitely irritated/unsurprised that Bruce (who's insane, affectionately) would turn on someone that is his biggest enabler (for better or worse).

I hope my answer makes sense, and thank you for sending this! Good morning/night to you as well :)

[thisisallthehattersfault]

Technically, Sizhui could be anywhere in the Cloud Recesses. There are even a few places outside the Cloud Recesses -- in the woods, or down in Caiyi town -- where he might have gone. He’s quick even on foot, and while Jingyi doesn’t think Sizhui would go sprinting through the Cloud Recesses in the dead of night to get to wherever it is he’s been going, Sizhui is already breaking curfew and sneaking out, so. Who knows, really.

But Jingyi has been Sizhui’s best friend for as long as he can remember, and he thinks he has a pretty good idea of where to find him.

The rabbit hill is still and mostly empty this late at night, the little bunnies curled into their little burrows to sleep. There are a few rabbit friends out and about though, white puff balls converging around a much bigger white shape in the center. Jingyi mentally pats himself on the back. He may not know Sizhui well enough to figure out why he’s been so weird lately, but he knows where he goes when he’s upset.

He approaches on silent feet, less because he actually thinks he can sneak up on Sizhui and more because he doesn’t want to startle away any of the bunnies. Petting the little fluff balls is incredibly soothing when you’ve had a bad day, and Sizhui has been having a bad... uh, month? Jingyi noticed him being upset a couple weeks ago, but knowing Sizhui he was probably stewing for a while before he started to let it show, so... Jingyi is gonna tentatively go with “month,” and then adjust the timeline as new information is revealed.

Sizhui... doesn’t look up as Jingyi settles into the grass beside him. Concerning! Jingyi does not like that! He does nod his head in greeting though, so that’s something, at least. He -- oh.

It’s hard to tell, in the thin, silvery moonlight, but. His eyes look a little bit wet, not like he’s been crying but like he’s thinking he might start soon.

Oh, no. Jingyi should have followed him the same night he caught Sizhui sneaking out of their room. He should have forced Sizhui to tell him what was wrong weeks ago. Jingyi is the worst friend ever.

Well. He can fix this! He can. He can try to start fixing this, anyway. He doesn’t bother with any of the obvious questions, like are you okay (obviously not) or do you want to talk about it (if he did he would have already.)

Instead what he says, more to the rabbit burrowing into his lap than to Sizhui, because Sizhui kind of reminds him of a rabbit right now too and Jingyi feels like too much attention will make him startle away -- what he says is “Can I help?”

Sizhui takes a shaking, hitching little breath, shock and sorrow. He bows his head. They are, for one absolutely agonizing goddamn moment, completely silent.

They’re sitting in silence for so long that Jingyi starts to wonder if maybe Sizhui won’t talk to him after all. That would be... fine. That would be fine! Sizhui is allowed to have secrets, even if Jingyi is stung by the thought that Sizhui would keep secrets from him. But they’re grown up now and secrets and normal and that’s fine.

“Can I... tell you?” He’s so busy reassuring himself that he won’t be upset if Sizhui doesn’t say anything that he almost misses it when Sizhui finally does say something. Jingyi blinks, and sits up straight. (The bunny in his lap startles and hops away.)

“Of course! You know you can tell me anythi--” “Jingyi.” Oh. That’s. Sizhui has never looked at him like that before. Sizhui has always been the one reaching out for Jingyi, ever since they met, scolding the other kids for bullying him when he struggled in class and helping him study when the teachers moved on before he could understand a concept. Sizhui brought Jingyi to the Jingshi when Hanguang-Jun was still in seclusion because he thought Jingyi needed a grown-up, and Jingyi was welcomed to their table and into their house and into their lives.

Jingyi spent most of his childhood nights curling up to sleep in a-Yuan’s bed, listening to Hanguang-Jun play them both a lullaby, just because he didn’t like sleeping in the orphan’s house. He has always thought of Sizhui as safety, and stability, and home.

And now, Sizhui is looking at Jingyi like he’s a stranger. Sizhui is looking at him like he’s afraid.

“Jingyi,” he says again, so, so quietly. He’s turned now so they’re properly facing each other, and Jingyi can see that he isn’t empty-handed. He’s holding an old, fraying red ribbon in his lap, stroking it with careful fingers. “That -- that’s what I need. That’s how you can help. Jingyi, can I tell you?” His hands twitch, curl into fists. He clutches the ribbon to his stomach. “Can I trust you?”

And -- well. Fuck. Obviously there’s only answer to that!

Jingyi is slow and careful when he reaches out to put a hand on Sizhui’s, but is neither slow nor careful when he says “Yes,” with his whole chest behind it. “Whatever it is, Sizhui, you can trust me.”

It’s true. Jingyi is already wracking his brain for what big secret Sizhui could possibly be about to reveal. Did he kill someone? Sizhui wouldn’t do that without good reason, and Jingyi can’t imagine what that reason could be or when it could have happened but he’ll help cover for Sizhui, he’ll do it, he’ll hide a body and be an alibi if he has to. Oh, huh, but if the person is still a ghost they’re gonna have to deal with that. Eugh. Jingyi will do it, because he’s a cultivator and that’s his job, but--

“I’m a Wen,” Sizhui says, and the entire world promptly stops making any sense.

[gotinterest]

I Want To Watch Kamen Rider, Which Season Do I Pick?

I'm going to focus on Heisei Era shows because those are the easiest to access and the ones most fans have watched so it's easy to find people to talk to about them. Every season of Kamen Rider is a different story with a different cast and vibe, so determining which season you should start on is largely dependent upon your personal taste. This list is based mostly on the shows I have watched or know a lot about, so it's not exhaustive. Some shows will be listed under more than one category, just depending upon what might be most important to you. Guide is located under the read more!

DO NOT START HERE: Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider Zi-O, Kamen Rider Gaim. Decade and Zi-O are anniversary shows that lean HEAVILY upon Rider lore and referencing past seasons. You don't need to watch those seasons to understand the story, BUT you may get spoiled on key plot points from past seasons by watching them. Gaim is on here because it is almost universally hated and thought of as a terrible show.

WARNINGS FOR THE SHOWS RECOMMENDED HERE: Kamen Rider Blade is heavy in the flashing lights department and the opening in particular is known to bother photosensitive folks! All the seasons have flashing lights, but Blade is the one that people have straight up said they couldn't watch through because of how many flashing lights there are.

Kamen Rider Kuuga has a pretty gross transmisogynistic caricature in two of the episodes.

Kamen Rider OOO has a cafe that is nicknamed the "cultural appropriation cafe" by fans because the servers are frequently made to dress up in outfits from other cultures and it can be a bit offensive from time to time. It's not the worst I've seen in terms of "people dressing up as other cultures" and there isn't any black face or brown face but I still felt it worth mentioning since the cafe is a major part of the show.

Kamen Rider Faiz has a black character in it for a few episodes who is written in a way that gives "big dangerous strong black guy" stereotype. It's uncomfortable to watch.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

I don't really like kid's shows and I'd prefer something a little more mature: Kamen Rider Kuuga, Kamen Rider Ryuki, Kamen Rider Hibiki (eps. 1-29 only). If you are looking for a show that feels more mature, these are where you should start. The pacing of these shows is a bit slower and more thoughtful. Kuuga and Ryuki are both HIGHLY beloved. Kuuga is good if you really like monster of the week shows, Ryuki is more for you "overarching story driven" types. Ryuki is a bit more silly in places than Kuuga, but largely maintains a serious tone. Hibiki is very creative and experimental, but it doesn't really give you an accurate picture of what most Kamen Rider seasons are like because it is very different. BUT if you can't stand musicals do not watch Hibiki. ALSO stop watching Hibiki on ep. 29. After that there was a show runner change and the end of the show sucks. Ep.29 is largely considered a satisfying enough end to the show.

I like mature themes and concepts, but I'm fine with kids show silliness: Kamen Rider OOO, Kamen Rider Build, Kamen Rider W. If you constantly feel guilty for wanting things and taking up space, watch OOO. If you had a rough childhood and complicated feelings about your family watch W. If you want to watch a show about war, watch Build.

I love kid's shows give me silliness and fun!: Everything recommended in the second category + Kamen Rider Den-O, Kamen Rider Fourze. Den-O is a time travel story that is heavy on slapstick humor and has a lot of heart. You may have seen a a red horned guy named Momotaros dramatically swing his leg up to rest it on the bench of a booth- that's from this show. Fourze is a high school story about friendship and space!

I like to watch things that are bad but also good: Kamen Rider Blade. You can basically ignore almost the entire lore built up in the first half of the show. The writers certainly do. If you've seen people memeing on a guy named Tachibana... this is that show. This show is very easy to post about. Deeply funny but not on purpose in many places.

I want to watch one of the ones that are especially known for homoeroticism: Kamen Rider Kuuga, Kamen Rider Ryuki, Kamen Rider Blade, Kamen Rider OOO, Kamen Rider Build, Kamen Rider Faiz. Blade isn't initially very homoerotic until it very much is. Kuuga is for you if you want a more sweet and sincere vibe. OOO, Ryuki, and Build are more for if you like watching men bicker with each other homoerotically. Ryuki also contains a couple of side characters who read very much as a domestic couple (if you are big into the "loyal dog" type dynamic you will enjoy these two). Faiz is for you star-crossed lovers enjoyers that can also tolerate a stunning amount of heterosexual love drama (Blade is also a bit star-crossed). Watch Blade if you want to have a very personal grudge against a bench for the rest of your life. Kuuga and OOO are the most homoerotic.

I like weird shows where I don't know what the fuck is going on: Kamen Rider Kabuto, Kamen Rider Blade. If you watched Hannibal and were really into the way they talked and made a bunch of food, watch Kabuto.

I want something that leans more into horror: Kamen Rider Kuuga, Kamen Rider Agito. Kuuga can lean pretty hard into horror in places. Agito is a bit lighter, but still has more of a horror vibe to it.

I like mystery stories: Kamen Rider Kuuga, Kamen Rider Ryuki, Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Build, Kamen Rider W. There are other seasons with elements of mystery, but these are the ones where the mystery really takes more of a front seat. W in particular is actually a noir-inspired.

I want to watch the one with that blond curly haired Ankh guy that I keep seeing on my dash: Kamen Rider OOO

I want something that's a bit artsy and I also like or don't mind musical numbers: Kamen Rider Hibiki (eps. 1-29 only). The only Kamen Rider season where characters regularly break out into song. The sound track, editing style, and aesthetic of the show are so unique. Really strongly written. Do not watch past ep. 29 because of studio mandated changes ruining everything that made it worth watching.

I want to get a good intro to Kamen Rider: Kamen Rider W, Kamen Rider OOO, Kamen Rider Build, Kamen Rider Agito. Kamen Rider W and Kamen Rider OOO are considered great starter seasons. They give you a pretty good feel for Kamen Rider's formula while overall being pretty solid shows. Build gives you a good vibe for how Kamen Rider seasons with bigger casts feel while giving a good balance of serious and silly. It also gives you a bit of a better feel for what some more recent Kamen Rider seasons are like stylistically. Kamen Rider Agito is just a solid early Heisei show that gives you a feel for the tone of a lot of early Heisei shows WHILE also being a good starter show for you to dip your toes into the works of the infamous Toshiki Inoue. Inoue is a prolific writer of tokusatsu shows that most fans have a love/hate relationship with. He is the main writer for several Kamen Rider seasons, specials, and movies and has written several episodes even in shows that he wasn't the main writer for.

WHERE TO WATCH:

Legally: Ryuki and Kuuga (along with the original Kamen Rider from the 70's which is good cheesy fun) can be streamed on Tubi (at least in the US). If you understand Japanese and have a VPN (or are in Japan) I believe most of the seasons are on Hulu.

*I actually wouldn't recommend watching Kuuga FOR THE FIRST TIME on Tubi because the Grongi subtitles are baked in and you can't turn them off. I strongly believe that a key part of the first watch experience is not being able to understand the Grongi, as was the original intention of the show's creators. You can buy the blu-rays for Kuuga and toggle the Grongi subtitles if you really think its worth it to spend the money*

Alternative: You can watch them on most illegal streaming sites, lol. The only season I've seen where that has been an issue so far is Den-O, with the uploads being kinda wonky and partially missing.

There is... another source but I shan't link to it directly here (loose lips sink ships!) Please reach out to your nearest Kamen Rider blogger for the goods.