#plus my computer is like? actually super bad???

[problemcore]

ill get to yalls requests soon im just busyyyy ><

[copperbadge]

Every time, you guys. Every time I look into alternatives to Lulu.com for self-publishing I come up with “Wow Lulu really is the best of a bad set of options, huh?” 

Recently, Draft2Digital bought Smashwords in order to bring a print book company under their aegis; they’d formerly only done ebooks. I thought I might investigate them as an alternative to Lulu, which I’ve used for about twelve years now. For ebooks I would venture D2D is probably top of the line. For print books they are....not. 

I’m writing this out half so other folks can see it but half so that in the future I can look this up and remind myself of why I’m still with Lulu. 

TLDR: Not only does Draft2Digital want 60% of my print book royalties where Lulu takes 0%, and $30 for a proof that costs me $11 at Lulu, but I also appear to have solved the problem of why Lulu was making me price my books so goddamn artificially high. Which is like. Honestly the best anti-anxiety drug I’ve experienced this week. 

Basically there are a number of elements that go into self-publishing with a print-on-demand service. For some publishers, there’s a “setup fee” which doesn’t really set anything up, it’s just there to be a fee, everything is done by computer on the back end. Traditionally, Lulu has not charged a setup fee. Smashwords used to charge $50, but Draft2Digital currently waives it. I was heartened by that because the setup fee was keeping me from migrating, since I can afford $50 but I balk at knowing I’m paying them $50 for nothing. 

Next is the cost of printing -- what it costs the company in paper, ink, machinery, labor, etc, to just make a book with no profit. Lulu’s price calculus isn’t super clear and I’ve never bothered looking at what the breakdown is, because they’re pretty up-front -- they tell you in the process of setting the book up how much it’ll cost. In this case, a 140-page 6x9 trade paperback, no frills, which is how all my books are printed, is $5. Draft2Digital doesn’t tell you the flat price anywhere but they do offer the breakdown information; it costs $1.22 flat plus $0.0133 per page. So, for a 140 page book, the at-cost is $3.08. So far so good. 

Now, if you’re going to sell through Lulu, the “at cost” is the minimum price. You won’t make any money but you CAN charge just $5 for a $5 book. Any pricing above that is your cut. So -- let’s price this 140 page trade paperback at $13-$15. That’s a bit high to be honest but let’s just see. At Lulu, your take is roughly $6-$8 based on those prices, because you’re just dropping out the cost of printing from the retail price. 

At Draft2Digital, the same 140-page trade paperback, which remember is quoted as costing roughly $1.20 less to print than Lulu charges, gets you $2.75-$3.50 in royalties per book.

....wait, what? 

So now we need to sidetrack a little but I promise it’s for a reason. One of the motivations for looking into a change to Draft2Digital is that I didn’t like that Lulu was setting higher “minimum prices” than I was accustomed to -- they would tell me the book only cost $5 to print but require me to sell it for $12 or similar, and I couldn’t work out why. I’m an idiot but the penny did finally drop: it’s because when you distribute them outside of Lulu (say, on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or similar) your royalties drop like a stone. $7 in royalties purchased through Lulu comes out to like twenty-five cents purchased through Amazon. So Lulu forces you to price the book at a point where you even GET royalties and don’t end up weirdly owing Amazon money. The “global distribution” is what’s driving that minimum up. 

So in price-quoting a competitor I actually solved the problem with Lulu. 

Which is good, because the fun doesn’t stop there. If you want a proof copy of a book from Lulu, it’s the at-cost of the book, plus tax, plus postage. Buying a proof copy of this book from Lulu would cost me $11. Lulu makes you order a new proof copy every time you make a change, which is shady, but usually I only need to make 1-2 changes across the life of a book, so at most the cost will probably be $35 and for that I’ll get three copies of the book. Draft2Digital doesn’t give you an option. If you want a proof pre-publication, it’s $30 flat. If you want to publish and then buy a copy you can, but you can only make one change to the book every 90 days once it’s published. If you want to make more than one change, it’s $25 every time you upload a new version of the manuscript within that 90 day period.

So Draft2Digital’s books cost less to print but they take a massive cut of your royalties out of the retail cost of the book. If the book costs $3 to print, and I price it at $15, that’s $12 in profit on the book. Of that $12, however, I only receive $4. Draft2Digital literally wants 2/3 of my royalties per book. They want $20 more than Lulu to send me a proof copy. If I need to correct the proof, the correction is free, but I’m assuming the second proof will also cost me $30. Any changes after that, within 90 days, will cost $25 plus $30 for a new proof.

Which means my upfront costs at Lulu are about $35 per published book; to do the same thing at Draft2Digital is between $60 and $105 depending on whether I need to make changes after the second proof copy. And even after that, my royalties at Lulu are just about twice what they would be at Draft2Digital per purchase. 

So, well, Lulu it is. And the problem I was having with Lulu is solved if I decide to just retail through Lulu rather than selling globally. Which...selling globally has done two things that I’m aware of:

1. Fucked up my author page so badly on Amazon that one of my books is still attributed to Kathleen Starbuck, and one of her books is for sale on my author page. 

2. Raised the minimum price I’m allowed to set my books at by like, 40%. 

So I think probably what’s going to happen is going forward my books will be for sale only on Lulu. I can still assign them ISBNs and they still will ship worldwide, and the prices will fall significantly. My deepest apologies to those of you who have paid an artificially inflated price for the last few books; I’m going to fix that going forward, I’m going to go in and try to fix it retroactively in the books that are already on Lulu, and if it’s any consolation at least the cash came to me, and TWO THIRDS OF IT didn’t go to Lulu. 

It’s gonna take me a little time, untangling Lulu’s relationship to other retailers is tricky, but eventually the Shivadh Omnibus and Twelve Points should come down significantly in price, and there ought to be a dollar or two drop for the older books as well. 

This is why it always pays to do the math, even if like me you are dreadful at it. 

[lo-fi-charming]

so i've been keeping up with TMP as it's airing, which has been fun, it's actually really nice to experience this kind of story weekly since i came into TMA late and listened up to the s4 finale in like, a month or two. i've been enjoying the new characters and statements, and while i was worried i'd have trouble actively listening (my attention span/executive functioning can be really variable when it comes to podcasts), it's been surprisingly easy for me to actually listen to each new ep the day it drops publicly

all this to say im enjoying the show! but i've found myself feeling increasingly frustrated with a couple things i keep seeing when it comes to discussions of it

to me, it seems... there's been a pervasive reluctance to take TMP as what it is. and i do understand that. it'd be stupid to pretend TMP doesn't exist exclusively because of TMA and that show's success, that it's a successor that was pitched as being similar. it's a story being written by the same people (plus guests), in the same universe (roughly), going for about the same tone and maybe themes.

i just feel like it's a bit of a shame, though, that so many folks seem unwilling not to carry TMA with them when they're engaging with TMP

i don't know where or when it was said, but i swear there was a comment made by jonny and/or alex about how TMP will have some commonality with TMA in terms of world-building, but also, people who listened to TMA first may find themselves theorizing in the wrong direction because we're judging things based off what is no longer concrete, reliable information; things are going to work differently in the world of TMP, and since we have preconceived notions on what is relevant or how things work, that's going to influence how we engage with information presented in TMP if we let it. and that's not even considering the fact that they've been explicit in conveying the idea that TMP was written so you can experience it fully without having listened to any of TMA at all!

i'm very much someone who tries to engage with media on its own terms, largely taking things at face value until i'm given reason to suspect otherwise. that's something i'm trying my best to still do with TMP, even though obviously, i've also listened to TMA and am basing some of my thoughts and personal theories on what we know from that

but that's what i mean to say i guess, it's something you have to actively choose to do. and it feels like, just based on what i've been seeing in fandom spaces, that a lot of people are having a bit of an odd time with TMP because of a reluctance to do that?

i think the easiest way to explain what i mean is to point to a general acceptance, already on the level of fanon it seems, to interpret the computer voices as Our Jon and Martin (+ Jonah/Elias, maybe). now obviously we have the actual real world reason why their voices are present in TMP, because of course jonny and alex were going to come back as voices in the show in some way. and i 100% agree it's a perfectly logical conclusion to then interpret their inclusion as being related to Jon and Martin somehow. i'm personally very into the theory that it is in no way them - not in any way that matters - but specifically their voices that have been stolen (by the Web?) as a means to help spread fears in other realities. but that's really not how i've been seeing people play with the concept? it seems largely 1:1. and again, i totally understand where people are coming from with that - especially when you consider how it can be a super fun concept for horror and angst, or even just the fact that folks want an excuse to carry their favorite characters into this new show and still play around with them. i promise i don't mean to bring this up as a means of making anyone feel bad or like, chastised for interpreting things a certain way and playing in the space!

it's the biggest example of what i mean though, and was a huge point of frustration for me when we were first being presented with TMP. it's not just that i don't want the voices to be Jon and Martin proper (i am very into their Ambiguous End, i believe it's best to leave that as a space for fans to play in); in all honesty, i think it's kind of a shame and maybe even a bit boring (im sorry!) to be engaging with TMP this way

and it's not just stuff like that - i've been seeing a fair amount of people expressing frustration and feeling disappointed with how TMP is hitting, but i mean, i feel like that's inevitable when you're going into it expecting More TMA? i saw at least one person basically say "ive been waiting for it to make me feel the way TMA made me feel, and it hasn't yet", and i really just feel like that's setting yourself up to be dissatisfied! beyond the fact that we're only 5 episodes in and the story has barely gotten a chance to happen yet, a huge element of this new show is that it's being approached as a largely collaborative effort, it seems, with lots of guests coming in to help shape the story and more writing and plotting influence that isn't jonny

obviously it's fine to not be super into that! undoubtedly it's a question of taste. but you do have to acknowledge that that's the case and adjust your expectations accordingly, or else you're not going to have a great time

i really like TMA, i had a great time with it, but even if TMP is a sequel to its parent podcast, it's not the same thing - and personally, i don't want it to be! i do hope that's a sentiment that is able to be more widely felt by some fans as we gain more distance from TMA while TMP is airing. i just think more people would be able to enjoy it that way, and come up with more interesting theories and interpretations of things! but those are really just my own personal thoughts

[modelbus]

YOOOO MODDLEE

yeah I did it again.

(Help I have a problem of disappearing into thin air)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PART THREE OF CUT CHAOS SHEBSJNSUH

you said you would write 500 chapters.. but like obviously exaggerating..? (Kiddinggg)

tho a few more couldn’t hurt..

juuuust saying if you ever feel like it I will eventually see it and it will eventually make my week. <3333

BUT THATS NOT WHY WE ARE HERE! (I’m sorry my requests are always so long and dramatic bro I just brain like that)

Actual request:

ok so like I knowww cut chaos started from rumours but like rumours are an easy way to start plot lines k? (Also I use she pronouns out of habit but they is pog too)

the friends in question: Tommyinnit (duh), Wilbur (moosic boi), Ranboo (generation loss trauma guy), Possibly Slimecicle?? I know he’s not someone you do requests for normally buttt if you’re okay with it that would be POG, or if slime is a no, tubbo!

SO a few months ago Y/N started working on an SMP with some minimal custom mods, some fancy texture packs, maybe some data packs, and its like this BIGGG project, BUT its not public and its taking a lot of her time, so she can only really do a few streams and most of the time because her schedule is so full its hard to work out streams with friends so, she is alone. with the internet being the internet people started to think something was up, some annoyed viewers made a few rumours and people kept making things up and escalating things until people were saying she did all sorts of horrible things to “lose all her friends” but one of the most popular theories was that she was emotionally abusing them (??? Internet wildin ig) she ignored them while mostly finishing the stuff for the smp, but decided to address it in a very- y/n way. Getting four friends to come to her house and hide slightly off camera while she made a purposefully bad apology video only for them to jump out at the end and her to stand up and be like “YALL REALLY THOUGHT I WAS SOME MASTER MANIPULATOR?! I’M JUST A FUNKY LITTLE CHAOTIC MINECRAFT GOBLIN N’ I’VE BEEN WORKING ON AN SMP THIS WHOLE TIME!! ITS GONNA BE SUPER COOL AND THESE FOUR PLUS ALOOOOT MORE PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE THERE I’M POSTING THE CREATORS SOON AND ITS LAUNCHING IN A MONTH!, SO STOP ASSUMING I’M A BAD PERSON AND GET PUMPED BITCHES!” something along those lines, maybe at the end a little peek at what people are responding with. (Obviously no pressure, but like id be cool) (thanks for considering deity of the busses and models.)

HOW WE LIKING THE SILLIES?!?

P.S I’m not always an angst gremlin (just most of the time..) - ✨🌌🌙 Annon

I DO BE LIKING THE SILLIES (and thank you for elevating me to the level of deity, my ego has been inflated)

Pairing: Cc! Wilbur, Tommy, Ranboo, Charlie Slimecicle x Gn!Reader (platonic)

Roaring Rumors

Life was all about sacrifices.

Or, that’s what you keep telling yourself when you’re up at 1AM working on your server. Putting together an SMP is harder than it sounds; texture packs, data packs, comparability, world-building, even the (seemingly) simply act of contacting people to play on it. For the amount of time you spent on your computer, your hands might as well be part of your keyboard.

Sleep wasn’t the only thing you sacrificed. Streaming, even just fun ones with your friends, had quickly became rare. Although you loved to hop on a call while coding still, your online presence had severely receded.

You just keep telling yourself that sacrifices are necessary. That the payoff would be worth it.

And it really would be, but you just had to get there first. Which was proving harder than you had thought.

At the very least, you still had your friends. Wilbur sitting silently on call with you while you work, Tommy dragging you out of your room, Ranboo always willing to get excited over your progress. Every day you woke up with a text from your groupchat—typically Charlie—just filling you in on the latest internet trend by a meme.

Today, your news comes from Wilbur and Tommy.

“I think they’re canceling you.” Wilbur says casually while you’re in the midst of detailing the hunger bar for a texture pack.

“Ooh, you’re a wrong’un!” Tommy yells in the background of Wilbur’s side of the call.

The three of you had been idly chatting while each doing your own thing. Wilbur and Tommy were engaged in some Twitter competition, as far as you know.

“Canceling me for what?” You ask, deciding to ignore Tommy’s shouting.

“Existing, I think.” Wilbur answers.

“So the normal.”

“The normal.”

Although the conversation stops there, you can’t help yourself. Later, during one of the few hours you dedicate to getting sleep to stay alive, you pull open Twitter on your phone. Your last tweet was nearly two weeks ago, so it’s been a minute.

But you just want to make sure nothing horrible happened while you were busy. You’re a content creator, this is normal. Definitely. You definitely aren’t just justifying this so you can do it.

You swipe through tweets, heading to trending and searching your name. Tweets load, making your mouth run dry. Wilbur wasn’t joking.

All you can do is scroll, reading as the messages get wilder and wilder. From people saying they were missing you to theories on why nobody was streaming you. Each one seemed considerably more implausible, and before you know it you’re glaring at your screen like it’s to fault.

Some thought you had grown apart.

Some thought you had a falling out.

And, apparently, a lot thought you were emotionally abusing them. Or, depending on the tweet, manipulating them.

Quite honestly, you didn’t even know how they got the idea. The long threads of explanations did nothing but send you into a spiral, biting your bottom lip so hard that it bleeds.

You were so close to finishing the SMP. It needed just a few things, then you'd be able to start scheduling to get it up and running. You didn't have the time nor mental capacity to deal with whatever the fuck is going on right now.

Is it a good choice? Maybe not. But do you still ignore the accusations? Hell yes.

-

By the time you get even closer to finishing the preparations for your SMP, you've come up with the perfect plan to address the (quite stupid) rumors. It'll be a two-in-one; you address the rumors and announce the SMP at the same time.

"How long do I have to lay on this floor?" Tommy asks, stretched out behind your chair.

"Nobody asked you to lay on the floor." Wilbur points out, standing next to your computer. Charlie, on the other side, laughs.

"Yeah man, you wanted to be down there."

"Besides, I'm doing great down here!" Ranboo chimes in.

You roll your eyes, grinning. "I'm about to start stream, so it won't be for much longer. Just wait for my cue, yeah?"

Tommy grumbles, but shuts up. You take that as your chance to start the stream, switching it off your waiting screen and waving to the camera. Your chosen stream title has brought in a bit more than your usual casual steam view number, "Talking about some serious stuff," leading people to believe there will be drama. And if it's drama they want, it's drama you'll give.

"Hello, hello!" You smile, leaning back. "So I've decided to talk about some things. Namely, the Twitter shit. I am so sorry for everything, and I mean that. A lot. Sincerely. There's meaning in it."

Tommy snorts, and from the corner of your eye you catch Wilbur kick him to shut him up.

"What am I sorry about?" You ask rhetorically, acting like you read it off of chat. "Oh, you know. People have been saying all types of stuff. The things about me manipulating my friends?" There's a pause while you let that sink in. "So, I'm sorry."

It's a purposefully shitty apology, but you sigh and act like its heartfelt for a few moments, nodding towards chat. Their messages are mostly confused, especially because it isn't one emote-only.

"Sorry you guys are so gullible!" You shout, and Tommy practically tackles you.

Wilbur's the one to fix your chair, Ranboo and Charlie appearing next to you within moments.

"You guys really thought this one could manipulate me? The master?" Charlie asks the stream, pointing at you.

"Yeah!" Tommy shouts, way too energetic for someone who complained five minutes ago about being on the floor. "We're the master manipulators! Get fooled!"

"I, for one, haven't manipulated anyone-" Ranboo starts, but Tommy slaps a hand over his mouth and nods empathetically.

"Yeah, I don't know what you guys were thinking, but I've just been playing fucking Minecraft for the past few months nonstop." You laugh.

"Nonstop. It's a problem." Wilbur nods.

"It is not a problem!" Pause. "Anyways, I made an SMP! And that's where I've been! Not because I've been manipulating my friends or some shit, stop being dumbasses."

"It'll be super cool!" Ranboo adds in helpfully.

"These four-"

"That's us!" Charlie points around at himself, Wilbur, Tommy, and Ranboo.

"-will be on it, plus a lot more. It'll be posting those people soon! As in, check your Twitter obsessively guys! The SMP will be in about a month, too, so get fucking excited! I want to see some hype!"

"WOO!" Tommy screams, making everyone cringe at having their eardrums ruptured.

"So that's all I wanted to talk about I think. Anything to add, guys?" You glance around at the four surrounding you with a grin.

"One thing." Charlie nods, leaning in really close. "I have a secret. This SMP, it's actually-" He hits your end stream button mid-sentence. "And that's how you keep 'em interested."

-

Ycgmaenthusist NEW SMP NEW SMP NEW SMP NEW SMP

Mammalianeighingreflecenthusiest We are dumb as fuck aren’t we

Poabsenthusiest i will RIOT IN THE STREETS if any of yall be mean to MY STREAMER -> Cmwylenthusist FR I GOT TWO FISTS AND A CAUSE

[carlgrimesloverr]

sk8ergirl

aaron hotchner x fem!super star!reader

summary : when aaron and haley were young, they were on and off. during one off the ‘offs’ aaron met her. 10 years later, she’s famous, and he’s stuck unhappy in a marriage that was more out of convenience then love.

takes place during : season 1

warnings :  some of the songs / bands i bring up don’t exactly… exist in 2005, but i love them, i love hotch, and i love angst so it’s ok. 

word count : 931

“spence please come with me to this concert” jj pleaded with the brunette, who just shrugged.

“i’ve never heard of the artist- plus gideon and i are going to have a chess match soon. just invite elle, i’m sure she will go with you.” he responded, eyes not leaving the chess board in front of him.

“elle’s busy this weekend, so is morgan! i don’t want to have to ask hotch, not while haley is pregnant!” the blonde whined.

“ask hotch what?” aaron asked, appearing in the bullpen out from his office, staring down at jj with the same expression as always.

“oh! sir- hi, uh, i just have tickets to a concert this weekend but no one to go with..”

“what artist? it may be one haley likes if you’d like to go with her.”

“(y/n)! she’s actually from the same area you are maybe you kn-“

hotch froze. ignoring everything else jj said he quickly left to go to his office.

it didn’t take a fool to put the pieces together, and the question rang out in his head. were you a musician now? you followed your dreams after moving away.. you really did it.

he wanted to know more, he needed to know more. but he couldn’t call in penelope to learn more, if he asked penelope then he ran the risk of the team knowing.

despite jj’s mockery, hotch did know how to work a computer, and how to search up things online. as hotch researched you now, he realised you had an album named after him. well, maybe not him exactly, but ‘AHH.’ seemed a bit too close to the “aaron ‘hotch’ hotchner” you used to date.

scrolling through the list of 20 songs, he noticed it was a breakup album, full of hate and feelings of betrayal.

looking at the first song, hotch was shocked. “‘circles ft. pierce the veil’?” he asked out loud. pierce was a big band, he knew that much. he had heard jj talking of them to derek before. the lyrics felt more like a love song, yet hotch could read into the tone, how you always reffered to you and him as ‘running’, trying to escape something. escape haley.

the next track, ‘girlfriend ft. avril lavigne’. hotch didn’t even have to look at the lyrics to know what it was about- it was a diss to haley. once again, you were angry. you had every right to be angry, though hotch couldn’t even begin to understand why you blamed haley. hotch was the one who left you, haley never forced him. he was the bad guy, not haley.

as he kept reading the tracks, he realised more and more how he had hurt you. songs featuring eminem, paramore, my chemical romance, weezer, alanis morissette, the used, the offspring, and fall out boy. alanis morissette. you used to rave about her album ‘jagged little pill’ to him when you were laying in his bed, bodies as close as could be.

the main track, ‘sk8ergirl’, was what really did it for him. what story were you telling? you were happy with someone else? or was it from the point of view of 17 year old you? a boy and a girl, extremely obvious about how they were in love but never ended up together. the boy was a bitch, basically. and so the girl went on and fell in love with a rockstar. were you calling aaron a bitch, and boosting your own ego like that? or was it a swapped gender roles, to make it less obvious? aaron couldn’t tell.

no matter what the song was written about, aaron had hurt you. and you took it out in the only way you knew how; music. aaron joined theatre to gain haleys attention, you wrote songs about him to let off some steam; maybe even gain his attention. but no matter how much steam you let off, aaron was still with haley, and you were still alone, with that red and black fender squire stratocaster you had so proudly shown hotch when you were seniors, the one you put together yourself. the red grain pickguard was your favourite feature of the whole guitar, hotch remembering so clearly how you ranted on and on.

‘no no- most strats are one basic colour for this area here, the pickguard. this is a grain! it has a cool pattern!’ you had told him, smiling widely as you pointed out the features on your guitar. ‘i want to get a bass that’s the exact opposite! red grain body, black pickguard. wouldn’t that be so cool? you should learn bass, then we could play together! i’m writing up this song right now, think i’m gonna call it “i’m with you”, the bass part is pretty simple!’

‘i’m with you’. fourth track. a love song. you had kept it in the album? you had published a song so clearly written about aaron? he could still remember you softly humming the melody, still not fully having worked out the lyrics. it was about being alone - something like standing on a bridge, no one looking for you - when someone comes to your rescue and saves you from that darkness.

“you still released it, even though you’re alone.” hotch hummed to himself, continuing to search you up.

single.

never married.

no kids.

doesn’t party much.

still went out skating constantly.

said in an interview you were ‘still caught in the whirlwind romance of high school’.

caught in the ‘betrayal of it all’.

you really were the sk8ergirl, weren’t you?

[nykie-love-anime]

Day 1 ~ Coffee Shop Au

Aizawa owns a cat café and small coffee shop in the café. You never really talk to anyone when you’re there and it seems almost rude, but the cats all seem to love you. There is a big storm outside and yes, you were all warned, but now you have to start making this small café your own for the next couple of hours till the storm eases up.

The first time Shouta saw you he was enamoured by your beauty. The cats in the café see to feel the same type of way he did because no matter how busy you are they are always surrounding you. The second time he saw you, you were just sitting quietly in the corner drinking your coffee until the grumpiest cat Aizawa has ever known made you smile and he felt his heartbeat triple. Now that day is ingrained into his memories forever. He is going to try and make you the happiest he can when he finally get the will to talk to you.

The third time he was busy with other customers so he couldn’t serve you. So he went towards your table once the lines were cleared and his staff could handle the rest. Typing up a storm you did not seem to notice the man in front of you until you heard him clearing his throat. Some people might find it weird that you never speak to someone when you are here and some might find it just plain rude but for Aizawa Shouta he found it his ideal soulmate. Someone quiet just like him not wanting to disturb the people around you, slipping by without anyone noticing. Looking up you are met with a handsome face and a small plate with a brownie. “This one is on the house.”

Talking to you that day did wonders to boost his confidence that so he can actually to you no matter what next time. And all this leads to the fourth time he sees you. Working up a storm just like the one outside, typing away as if your life depended on it and in a matter it did being a writer and everything. You know that there was a warning to stay inside as this storm could get big you just needed to get out of the confinement of your home. And maybe it had to do with the cats you have played with now and then. Okay and maybe the owner is fricking gorgeous.

“You know there was a warning right?” he questions with an eyebrow raised comforting the cats as best as he could. “I know, I know. But if I didn’t get out of my house I would have cracked. Plus I missed the cats.” You started to ramble. “Plus you are here as well, when you know… about the storm which I get you have to comfort the cats as they don’t seem to like the rain very much and there isn’t any people to entertain them. Sorry here I am rambling your ear off. Sorry about that it’s just that I have been so busy with my book that I haven’t really had anyone to talk to in a while.” You said blushing as you realise you just word vomited to him again.

“Again I am sorry. I am usually not this talkative.” You shyly smiled at the handsome man and he just chuckled. “It is really no problem. My initial thoughts of you are a lot different from what you actually are.” He grinned. “Hopefully that is not a bad thing.” “No on the contrary, it is super good.” He smiled. “Oh okay that’s good I am Y/N Y/L/N by the way but you can call me Y/N.” you hold your hand out for him to shake. “It’s my pleasure.” He shakes your hand. “Shouta Aizawa, but you can call me yours.” At the cheesy pick up line you burst out laughing and he soon joined. “No but on a serious note you can call me Shouta.”

Just as you are about to say something thunder rumbled causing you to gasp. “No need to worry you are safe and sound here Y/N.” “Thanks, sorry I just don’t like the thunder very much.” You shyly grin. “You know you don’t have to apologise for everything you do right.” He smiled as the grumpy cat jumps on your lap. “I know my friends tell me it every time I profusely apologise for everything. I am working on it but I guess it comes back when I am embarrassed.” You looked down at the computer screen.

“Well you have nothing to be embarrassed about sweetheart. You are wonderful from what I can pick up and my cats all seem to love you, especially this big fella. He is in love with you I believe he won’t let a lot of people touch him never mind sit on them.” He chuckled as you aww ’ed. “Now do you want anything else before I close up the kitchen for today?” he asked looking at the watch on his wrist. ‘Oh gosh it is this late already. Wow time really does fly by when you are having fun.’  You think seeing that it was five. “Ahh no thanks. I believe I have to get home before this storm gets any heavier. And I have been here the whole day but it did not seem like it.”

You chuckled quickly putting all your stuff away. “How about I treat you to dinner?” Aizawa started with a shy grin. “I know this wonderful little hole in the wall down the street. It’s not much to look at but they make the most amazing food. I just know you will love it.” He concluded and you beamed with a nod. “Yeah that sounds wonderful. I would love to go to dinner.” You giggled as a ginger tabby jumped onto Shouta’s back clawing his way up. “Yams how many times have I told you I don’t like it when you do that.” Aizawa struggled for a while to get him off but to no avail he gave up.

“So cute.” You whispered smiling at the scene in front of you and Aizawa shot you a quick glare that turned into a grin. “I will have you know I am not cute; I am a very handsome man.” He teased. “Who says I was talking to you.” You teased right back. “Hey!” you laughed at the look on his face. “Okay mister handsome, let’s go while you have a chance.” “You my dear lady are going to get your socks blown off. This is going to be the best date you have ever been on.” He said taking your hand leading you to the door. “I can’t wait.”

Masterlist | Day 2

[reliquiaen]

i've slept on it. here's my alien romulus review

Alien Romulus

Starting with the callbacks and references to other movies, I have to say: I don’t tend to enjoy that, personally. It makes it feel like the movie wasn’t confident in itself enough to be able to stand on its own and the references often come across as a crutch. That said, the only reference in Romulus that felt gratuitous to me was when Andy saved Rain and said “stay away from her, you bitch”, but that moment was cool enough, and I liked Andy enough, that I just enjoyed it. Plus it’s a cool line and David Jonsson’s delivery was perfectly in character so it came off more fun than insecure.

The set design was very visually similar to Alien and Alien: Isolation and the opening scene with the ship coming online was, if not a shot-for-shot recreation, a clear reference to the opening of Alien. This could’ve felt like a bad way to start the movie – being too similar to something else runs the risk of failing to establish its own identity – but frankly, it was so nice to see the same chunky tech tying everything together, and it utilised the atmosphere super well to set up that creeping, slow terror, especially with the combination of close-up shots on the computer screen and the wide, empty shots of space – it perfectly juxtaposed the two scariest parts of the Alien franchise: the claustrophobic interiors where anything can be hiding, and the vast uncaring space outside. A lot of the shots inside the Romulus station were clearly inspired by the game Isolation, too, but not to the movie’s detriment. Isolation was fucking terrifying  and the movie capitalised on that nicely. There was a shot looking down an escalator that launched me back to playing Isolation and the fear of not knowing what was around the corner, or up the hallway, or in the next room and the movie used these hallway shots to the same effect.

Ian Holm’s cameo was fun. The special effects and CGI were not. Obviously they couldn’t get him back (rest in peace), and they wanted to use the same android model for effect, and it worked! But yeah, yikes, the CGI was bad, especially at first. You can say the slippery way his face looked like his skin was sliding around was an artistic choice to show how damaged the android’s body was but I don’t believe that for a second. What I will say is that they used this new android, Rook, really well. His explanation for what happened to the xenomorph they found (and I have no idea how that xenomorph was within the wreckage of the Nostromo when Ripley ejected it from the Narcissus pretty far away from the Nostromo and also after it had self-destructed but whatever) and, importantly, WHY THEY WANTED IT. Oh my god, the vague “they want it for the military uses” is super annoying and that was the only logic we’ve ever gotten about why Weyland-Yutani was so interested in the alien in like forty years. But the set-up and pay-off of this reveal was beautiful. We saw in the opening scenes of the movie that life on other worlds was hard and dangerous and thousands die and people are exploited and it’s horrible. And then giving Weyland-Yutani this “we actually want to help people adapt to harsher environments” as a perfectly noble goal that got twisted by capitalism, but this movie is set like… in the in-between. Before the capitalist dogs ruin the science. This movie is the beat before the fall and that’s… so great. So different.

This reveal did two things very nicely: it tied together the stupid and ridiculous genealogy crap from Prometheus and Covenant (I don’t like those movies and I won’t pretend to) with the other, better movies. If we disregard David’s attempts at playing god (and believe me, I do my best at this every day) then this whole ordeal with the alien was simply that they are highly adaptive due to the black goo (chemical [stupid designation here] – 15) and the company wants to use that to help humanity (be easier to exploit) survive in space. Makes sense! Alien mutations are a nasty by-product, unfortunately, just need to perfect the science.

The main thing that bothered me with this movie was the… white man alien at the end. It was very inspired by the Newborn in Resurrection which I also did not like. (I enjoyed the CONCEPT of the Newborn, but the visuals were just… not great to my mind, not even in the satisfying body horror kind of way, either, just… kind of ugh and meh and wtf did you do to his nose?) This was the same but reversed: a human gives birth to a part-xeno-part-human child and faces the consequences. (And why did Kay even inject herself anyway, she was going into cryo she didn’t need it, she’s just fucking stupid.) Given what happened to the rat in that box, I was expecting (and hoping) Kay would have some sort of horrendous lumpy mutation burst out of her skin and ruin her but leave her alive in this Scorn kind of way (trapped in a fleshy and dysfunctional body, aware but unable to do anything, knowing you did this to yourself and also that you have no way to revert it, perhaps even hurting those close to you and having to watch that happen, helpless to stop it). But no. Birthing an acidic vag-pod was… fun and distressing, obviously, but I didn’t find the slenderman looking white-boy very scary at all. It landed squarely in the uncanny valley, for sure, but idk the design just didn’t do it for me. And I understand the fun part of this: the horror of childbirth (Kay had a lot of that going on, after watching Navarro give birth from her chest and DIE, she was not having a very nice pre-childbirth experience), the visceral rejection she felt, the child eating the mother, that was all very nice, very intense, loved it. (I’m one of those weirdoes who thinks that the predalien turning that lady’s pregnancy into alien: quintuplets was extremely fun and I’ve always wanted to see that expanded upon.) But Kay herself didn’t seem to have any adverse reaction to being injected with the goo, only her baby. I wanted her to have a negative reaction, I wanted Rain to have to face her down, I wanted a little of that ‘Romulus killed his brother to found Rome’ energy here. (And it would’ve tied in nicely with what Rook said about humans having too many emotions and not wanting to believe the best choice is to kill someone. Make Rain face that herself!!)

Otherwise this movie was a fucking masterclass and I enjoyed every second. The visuals, the sound design, the practical effects, the – and I cannot stress this enough – the CAMERWORK. The slow rolls of the camera to mimic the zero gravity? The close-ups on the horribleness so we definitely don’t miss a second of what’s going on? Outstanding. The grungy, drippy, dampness of everything was 10/10, the alien having a vaginal-themed chrysalis (thank you, I’ve waited years for this moment), the cattle prod going into it and coming out melted? Yes, oh my god, yes. The tail spine emerging slowly? And piercing back? OH MY GOD, YES!

The inherent horror of watching your brother become a monster and having to save him from himself? Andy’s part in this movie was so fucking stellar I’m in love with it. David Jonsson absolutely stole the show for me. The symbolism of it all; if you drink from the capitalist wellspring, you become a monster who doesn’t care about anyone, not even those who you counted as family. The moment when he clapped his hand over his ear to stop Rain from removing the chip? How many people have to deal with family members who have drunk the Kool-Aid and won’t hear different? This was that on screen.

And I have to say, this was the best cast of characters an Alien movie has had in… idk a while. They actually felt like distinct people with some personality which was refreshing considering Covenant had a bland bunch of faceless people I couldn’t tell apart and didn’t care about anyway. This movie knocked that one out of the water, it’s really a night-and-day comparison. Even though none of the characters in Romulus had super-fleshed out backstories, they were all going through something and had distinct arcs: Rain and Andy struggling to get off-world and not end up like their parents, Kay’s pregnancy being a secret, Bjorn losing his mum to Android Logic™, Tyler feeling like he has the burden of keeping them all alive and together and failing. Navarro died first, she had the least characterisation, and I don’t mind that, but she at least had on-screen presence and was memorable for what happened. Her last words “don’t let me die” whispered in such a pitiful way because she knows she’s going to die but that’s not really what she’s asking, she doesn’t want to be forgotten. Like. That’s heartbreaking. And she WAS memorable because of it, not just as the pilot or the one who did the cool thing with the xray light.

The zero-grav scene where Rain shot all the xenos in the hallway was extremely fun and novel and NEW, having to navigate through a maze of acid blood wasn’t just a cool visual, it tied nicely into the themes: they were navigating the metaphorical acid maze that Weyland-Yutani left behind. And oh, the continual conflict of going back for someone versus saving yourself? That was good. Bjorn leaving everyone else behind to save Navarro, Tyler watching Kay get alien-napped and then going back for her later, Rain going back for Andy directly into the alien nest. Bravo.  

Overall, I had a blast with this movie, it was really good. Definitely the best Alien movie in a long time. I felt it missed a few opportunities, especially at the end, I appreciate the effect they were going for with the Offspring creature but it felt like a miss to me when they could’ve done something fun with turning Kay into a monster and continuing the thread about humans trying to save each other. Maybe the Offspring will grow on me with a rewatch, like how the Newborn did, but eh. Was a good movie regardless.

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Taxes, Tax, Taxes- Chapter 9

Fandom: Supergirl

Characters: Kara Danvers, Clark Kent, Samantha Arias, Lena Luthor, Lillian Luthor, Ruby Arias, Oliver Queen, John Stewart, Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, J'onn J'onnz, Alfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Cat Grant

Summary: What if superheroes had to pay a property damage tax every time they had a fight in the city?

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Lena stared at her computer screen baffled. She knew that the commercial she put out would gain attention, especially with the amount of money put towards it. However, she didn’t expect anything like this. She felt Kara and Sam’s eyes on her waiting for her response. They all agreed to gather four days after the commercial was released and go over the report the social media and marketing analysts had about the commercial. 

Lena turned to Sam hesitantly and asked, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

Sam let out a low whistle and said, “Yeah, I knew it would be high, but not this high.”

Kara smirked and said, “I remember saying it would go this way. You two need to pay up.”

Lena looked up at Kara. She was all bright-eyed and smiling. She found that Kara’s smile conflicted with that smugness of hers, but she definitely earned it. No one could have predicted this outcome not even the production team behind the commercial. Lena sighed and rolled her eyes. She went into her purse, took out $500, and handed it to Kara. 

“A bet is a bet,” muttered Lena. 

Sam went into her purse and grabbed a $20 which Lena balked at.

“I thought you betted more,” said Lena shocked and feeling a little bit betrayed. 

“Supergirl made a passionate speech at the end about the commercial doing well that it made me waver in my decision,” said Sam as she handed the $20 to Kara.

Kara chuckled and said, “I don’t get why you guys are so surprised. You have a video centered around two powerful women in their own respective fields helping sick children in a hospital. Why wouldn’t the video go viral?” The only way it would have been more successful is if we added cats to it.”

Sam quickly took out her notebook, started jotting down notes, and said, “Actually, that is not a bad idea.”

Lena sighed and said, “Don’t encourage her.”

Sam gave Lena a deadpan stare and said, “We need to milk this publicity for all its worth. Plus,  kittens are instantly viral. Why not?”

Lena shook her head. She wasn’t sure about the cat part, but Sam was right. The commercial took off in a bigger way than she had imagined. They originally started with the video to get an idea to see what people’s perception of Lena would be. Her marketing team initially suggested waiting two weeks to see how the video does with viewers. While they felt that Supergirl may be a draw, they were worried that Lena’s name still may be a distraction. They were cautiously optimistic that the video could get 100,000 views. Everyone did except Kara. She thought that they were all crazy for not being extremely excited about the venture and thinking that it wouldn’t spread like wildfire. She estimated that the video would have over 200 million views after two days and insisted that they met sooner to strategize their next moves. Lena initially humored her thoughts and agreed to meet four days after the video’s release to discuss the video’s prospects. But as she sat at the desk looking at the numbers, she wished she didn’t doubt the super as much.

Lena shook her head, turned to Kara, and said, “The video far exceeded your expectations. It is currently at 750 million views after four days.”

Kara smirked and said, “I told you that people would like SuperCorp.”

Lena muttered, “I still can’t believe that word is trending.”

“You have that reporter from Catco to thank about that. She has been promoting you two heavily on the company’s blog the last two days,” mused Sam.

“You mean Kara Danvers?” asked Lena. 

“Yeah, that is the one,” said Sam.

“I am kind of surprised that she promoted that so heavily. Didn’t she win a Pulitzer last year for her expose on the drug rings in National City?” asked Lena.

Kara shuffled nervously from side to side and said, “Maybe, she really believes in the work that we are trying to accomplish.”

Lena stared at the super warily. She always had a confident demeanor, but now she looks almost timid. 

Before Lena could say anything, Sam said, “That may be it, but regardless, we should capitalize on this viral sensation before it runs cold. I already ordered a bunch of team SuperCorp shirts with the first logo that Supergirl designed. Those should be ready in two days.”

“You did what!” exclaimed Lena. 

“I know that it is a little excessive, but people are already making their own SuperCorp shirts online and selling them on Red Bubble. Also, don’t be mad, but I also had shirts made with the phrases Hold Me Like That, I Want To Be The Girl With The Red Dress, Hot Kryptonian Coming Through, and Supercorp is Couple Goals.”

Lena started rubbing her head and asked, “I’m afraid to ask, but why those in particular?”

Sam smirked and said, “The most viewed parts of the video were when Supergirl held you close at the beginning of the dance, when Supergirl dipped you at the end of the dance, and when Supergirl came out of the pool wearing her bikini. Those three clips are also trending online with those phrases as well.”

“This video is supposed to be bringing awareness to children and to the facility,” muttered Lena.”

Kara came and patted Lena on the shoulder which caused her to blush. She looked up at the super who looked down at her smiling genuinely. 

“Before this video came out, there were only articles and videos on the potential dangers that the hospital could cause to the community. There were tons of conspiracy theories about the hospital being a front to abduct children and experiment on them. Now, the video is swaying people’s perspectives. I have read a ton of articles over the last four days that not only humanized you but made people want to actually visit the hospital and make their own opinions about the place,” said Kara. 

Read the rest on AO3

[tfdtreasurer]

i like to think eridan found out she was transfem through royale high

i just think its silly

Had to look up what royale high is but seems like a fun detail to the headcanon! Because it's a headcanon any silly reason is good as the rest, and that kind of dress up game isn't actually that far from my personal way she finds out.

It's hard for me to overstate how much I absolutely love pale EriKan. It is god's gift to me and me personally, I love it so much. Kanaya being Eridan's moirail would mean she absolutely gets used as a model for dresses. That modeling of femme presentations would be the core way that Eridan first feels a kind of gender euphoria, extremely important to a character that never smiles (in talksprites she only ever really sneers, it is a stretch to call those smiles). And from there, Kanaya would be able to notice the things that make her moirail genuinely happy and pacified and just generally at peace with herself which just ung so cute this is why I love you transfemme Eridan. In whatever alternate situation that allows Eridan to live for the meteor journey, it would allow Kanaya to fulfill her destiny of hatching an egg twofold, meaning both the matriorb, and ironically, Eridan.

Anyways, I figure Eridan to be more a typical grand strategy, 4X, RTS-RTT wargamer girlie. My headcanon for Kanaya is closer to Royale High, in that she would play more "casual" fashion/dress up games. Moreover, she'd play ones with competition mechanics but not very robust ones that she gets SUPER MAD about them not being robust or realistic. It's not like her lack of technological knowledge is a core part of her character, her needing Sollux's tech support is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but I do like to think it's because she's not really aware of the limitations of computers to understand fashion the way she does. But she gets really, jade-in-the-face, cursing-at-the-screen mad when her well thought out outfits are disliked by the digital judges.

If Eridan doesn't find out she's trans by playing Royale High, Kanaya is definitely liable to get her to play it with her after she finds out and starts wanting to define her own feminine fashion sense. Engaging with the premise a little more, having talked about Nepeta and roleplay recently, I also like to think Kanaya brings her along because the only other person that she's able to get to play with her is Nepeta and she's really only there for the RP part, and is very much "oversized trenchcoat" level of fashion. Kanaya introduces Eridan to the game only to discover that her fashion taste is just as bad when it's feminine as it is when it's masculine. But, she still likes that it makes Eridan happy, and does her best to translate Eridan's awful in game outfits to more fashionable ones outside the game. Plus, it aligns with roleplay being the way Eridan is able to shed the masculine legacy of the orphaner.

As a capstone to the whole thing, I think the Royale High idea is nice because headcanons are just more fun when they're in the spirit of Homestuck, and this trio playing it would be a fun little parallel to the battleship journey's Ghostbusters MMORPG.

That was a fun one, thanks anon!

[fluentmoviequoter]

Hanna, you're a fantastic writer just wanted to let you know 🤗 there's a SWAT idea I want to share with you, of course it's a reader x Deacon kind of thing.

Imagine reader is Luca's best friend and one evening she stands in front of his door, in tears in panic and totally distraught. Her asshole boyfriend (now ex) kicked her out as she told him that she's pregnant. Now alone and with nowhere to go she ended at Luca's doorstep. That evening also Deacon is over and they get to know each other. He instantly likes her. She has a difficult pregnancy often suffering from dizziness and nausea and actually she has to take it slow and reduce stress but the whole situation with her ex is stressing her out and not doing good in her pregnancy. Deacon and Luca taking care of her and Deacon is getting closer.... I like some protective best friend Luca vibes cause I think he has a heart of gold when something happens to one of his best friends. And Deacon as a caring and protective kind of guy showing her that not all men are bad and supporting her especially when she's feeling sick and when she's not able to look after herself. This trope could also be a bit different. Like she's not Luca's best friend but a new asset in SWAT, not an officer but maybe some kind of specialist for computer or something like that. She's pregnant her ex kicked her out and now all alone she can't reduce stress cause she usd to work. And the SWAT team is super supportive and always keeping an eye on her because of her risky pregnancy. With some hurt/whump and comfort aspects and Deacon who likes her really much.

Sorry for my poor English and my rambling, just wanted to share it with you. It's up to you if you like it.

🤍❤️🐿️

Thank you so much for the kind words!!🤍🫶🏼

I just posted it here: Love (Both of) You

I really love this idea! I did take some creative liberties, which I hope is okay, but the plot is very similar to your request! For example, I changed it to ex-husband because I wanted to incorporate Luca's care into the backstory for that (which should make more sense in context).

Your first idea of being Luca's best friend really caught my attention because Luca just seems like he'd be the most compassionate, caring, yet protective friend you could ever have (plus he seems like he'd be a generous hugger)!

I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

[broken-clover]

Digging more into Windy X Windam only leaves me with more questions. Hopefully some will be answered when I finally figure out how to get a working ROM (I’ve seen a couple, but I’ll admit I’m no emulator expert and I really don’t want to fuck up my computer by downloading something sketchy), but based on the couple of playthroughs I’ve found it hasn’t made much sense and that only endears it more to me. I’m a little bummed because I get the impression that there was at least a modicum of effort put in regarding the character concepts. I mean, basic as it is, the cover art style has a decently charming style to it

But everything else just fumbles the bag so hard it’s sorta cute.

That and I’m still amused at the GG bootlegs they got away with. I know no tropes are exclusive to one single game, but...come on. Nearly half the base roster is like this. Just look at them:

First, Big

AKA Not-Potemkin, also holder of the most creative name. You literally could have just called him ‘grappler’ and it would not have been more on-the-nose. I know I only found so much gameplay info but for what little I saw of him he has no personality. The most interesting thing about him is that in his stage there’s a sign with a scantily-clad woman on it, and the only reason it was noteworthy is because that’s the most un-Potemkin thing about him. I have confused his sprite for pre-Xrd Potemkin’s numerous times now. The color palette is literally the same minus the tiny hint of white

Jack

AKA Not-Slayer, also holder of an incredibly generic name, though I’ll admit I have a bit more fondness for this one (because he reminds me of Slayer. I choose to believe they’re related) The fact that he fights with his shapeshifting scarf does give off Millia vibes but tbh it’s just charming enough to where I actually sorta like him. He also throws lanterns as a weapon, and that plus the magic scarf and sunglasses gives him just enough unique quirks that I’m kinda bummed he’s not in a better game

And Stin

The not-Bridget. He’s basically the only character I’ve seen that has any kind of fan content and only one of two that I could find gameplay for (gee, I wonder why...) but concept (and lack of pants) aside, he does have a few interesting quirks. Instead of a mechanical teddy bear, he fights with the moving hands on his hat, which is a neat concept that predates Cerebella from Skullgirls by a couple of years. His brief storyline reminds me a lot of Taokaka, in the same genre of ‘I have no idea what I’m doing here and I don’t care about the (admittedly minimal) plot stakes bc I just wanna mess around.’ And, while I can’t say this for certain due to the limited info, I believe it’s implied that Stin is some sort of artificial human/robot thanks to his mechanical hat, super move that involves a rabbit mech suddenly appearing, and his final cutscene mentioning his ‘programming’ (which could also offer some explanation towards his name, as I have seen it translated both as ‘Stin’ and ‘Stein’) Curious...

The original character concepts and designs aren’t necessarily bad, but I think of the remaining roster Ashley and G are the only other ones that invoke any sort of reaction in me. It’s still a bummer I can only find so much info on the internet about the game in general

[miss-oranje-disco-dancer]

rant, anti-capitalist internet hot take

the worst thing about old games is that they are hard, but the best thing is that there are game guides online that are actually helpful and correct bc they were made before articles on the internet were all just for making profit :( i'm playing RE1 remake rn and i've looked up walkthroughs bc i keep getting confused and i just find lil guides on neoseeker and game faqs (also steam community, but that's newer i assume?), but i see stuff from 2002 posted on the internet and it's so cute to me and also "wow" bc we didn't have the internet at my house until maybe 2007? (I was born in 2000, so obviously i wasn't using the internet in 2002). it's like your friend's big brother or dad sitting on the couch with you and your friend and helping you beat a hard level of a game 🥹 like it's just some cool guys you know and look up to when you're a lil kid playing the gamecube and they help you out and idk shit like that gives me happy tears bc everything sucks these days!!!! (in my holden caulfield era, my therapist called it)

instead of big companies (ew capitalism) like ign and gamerant which consistently give 1. less information than what i needed and 2 wrong information - verifiably incorrect, like, i was looking at something about RE4 remake (mind you, i have 150-200 hours, and i'm working on getting 100%, so i know a lot about the gameplay at this point) and there was something blatantly wrong on one of those sites, plus, they have fucking endless ads, so if i'm on my phone (bc i don't wanna use my computer on the couch) loading it is impossible!!! (i have horrendous wifi bc i live in SC).

i hate that like every article on the front page of google is written for profit (and half of them by AI)!! i look up writing advice a lot and i almost never find anything useful. but once I found like the best page ever and i looked to see when it was published and it was clearly a super old webpage (tbh kinda hard to read) and it was someone's advice from their book published in 1999. back when we could have good advice.

also, people really discount fanfiction but all the romance related fanfiction that i've read is so much better than contemporary romance writers (colleen hoover et al.) and it's bc we don't get paid to do it! we're literally just getting excited about things we like and bonding (and even the people who do commissions and stuff are people who actually care, not like a big shitty corporation)

i should ask ign/gamerant for a job as a fact checker of some sort. i'll be like "please, ill literally do it for free bc it pisses me off so much". me emailing them: your articles are so bad i want to kms

also, fuck ign for giving until dawn a 7.5/10, that game was at least a 9 if not a 10 and i'm strict with my 10/10s!!!! reading that article i can truly say, wholeheartedly, that i rarely see worse opinions than that

basically, in conclusion, the industrial revolution and its consequences yadda yadda

[netripper]

Hello! I love your photoshoots very much. I am wondering what are your PC specs? I would like to mod C2077 at some point in the future, and would love to achieve results like yours. Thank you in advance (^^)d

aw this is really sweet!! hell ya i'll tell u my specs top to bottom lemme bring em up

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700 Eight-Core Processor GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 RAM: 32 GBs (two 16 GB sticks) motherboard: TUF B450-PLUS GAMING, ver. Rev X.0x, by ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.

honestly i'm at the point where i do really need to update my machine (and have been angsting about it for a hot minute) so it's great that my vp still holds up considering cyberpunk's specs! be warned, i've had all of this stuff since 2019, so it may just be struggling due to age -- but i do recommend looking for something a little more recent if ur in the market for PC parts. i have to play the actual game on low settings ESPECIALLY when driving, and i get a lot of stuttering nowadays.

anyway as for additional programs, i've finally capitulated to using ReShade, CyberLit, and OtisTools again; the vanilla photomode actually captures really well now, i think they might've done something to crank it up when you capture via spacebar, but if ur not worried about losing out on less chunky-looking modded hair (or if u can run the game super high to begin with) then i'd say yeah, reshade's pretty important. at least to me! i just can't with the vanilla DOF man it sucks so bad

idk what else to say so ya, i hope i could help!! def do ur research when shopping for new PC parts; i recommend GamersNexus because they've demonstrated integrity and reliability in their handling of the LTT debaucle, and they go pretty in-depth on all the things they review.

thanks for the ask!!

[writing-hat]

hi hat!

firstly sorry for going silent for a while - im doing something thats really keeping me busy and i haven’t had the time to do much. speaking of which, i wanted to ask you for some advice - how do you go about writing your fics? like, in specific, how do you come up with your plot and follow through with it? i’ve been working on a new project but the actual “creating the storyline” bit is digging me an early grave lol.

also i wanted to ask - do you have any recommendations for other ninjago aus? (they dont have to be fics) im just looking for some interesting new stuff to hyperfixate over and thought you might know

thanks!

-smiley anon :)

hi smiley anon! Sorry for taking so long to answer (I'm forgetful and a bit stupid sorry)

answer under !

Regarding the ask before this one, I'm super glad you have your AO3 account!! I hope you'll have lots of fun writing in the future ! :D You're definitely always going to be hard on yourself in the future, that's completely normal! But you'll be proud of yourself once you manage to get through it all and write that story down!

Don't worry for going silent, I think I am much, much worse ahaha.

As for writing for my fics, I usually have an idea first that I write down then the scenes kinda happen in my head, and I always have something to write them down (phone or notebook) if I'm not on my computer right away. My plots come from those ideas that form in my head? Idk how to explain that but uh yeah and it's rarely followed through tbh, I often change things along the way

One thing I do is like okay, this will happen now, how might it affect in the future if it's something important? I really have no idea how to explain all that I'm so sorry I hope it still sorta helps

A storyline right away can be kinda complicated to handle, it's what I'm trying to do with "everybody loves somebody sometimes" which is why it's taking so long to be written. But if that's what you wanna do, go ahead! But don't overwork yourself

I have no idea for other ninjago aus omg I read too little yet the fandom does such wonderful job at creating stories and I unfortunately forget to read stuff. hah. (sorry everyone)

I'm kinda obsessed with jay so I'll tell you what I have so far about it (i'm not tagging anyone to not bother anyone)

@/mondothebombo "when you think you're all alone" for more skybound definitely. it's such a good fic but there's like 90% chance you already read it jksgseh

I would suggest Cabinet Man by @/spinjitsuburst, I have been loving the story so far though nothing's written yet but what's already up is super good!

The AUs from @/taddymason !! She has a dad jay au that's UGH so good I'm addicted to that story and also the fic stormbound!!! really great stuff plus incredible art you should check it out!!

There's @/finn-m-corvex for all the stuff about jay his work is just mwah chief's kiss (lots of angst too (they have the fic Would You Like to Enter Prime Empire which is super good so far and am very excited to see more of!! definitely check it out))

I feel so so bad for forgetting so many people's stuff there's so much aaaaaa but you should find a ton of them on tumblr!! so many talented people in the ninjago fandom and so many good aus you'll have your fun by looking in it

i'll answer your second ask now aefhgseg

[ironunderstands]

tips for playing mercy (as someone who has played her way too much

some terminology:

first off I’m assuming that whoever is reading this plays on computer and has default controls, sorry consol players but that’s not my area of expertise (although I’m sure the general tips will still be useful)

I will be referring to guardian angle as GA (the ability that allows you to fly around; its shift on the keyboard), GA + spacebar as SS or slingshot, since it slingshots you in whatever direction you look in when you press space, and GA + crtl (or whatever your crouch button is) as SJ or super jump, because whenever you press ctrl after using GA you do, well a super jump. Valkyrie (Q ability the one that allows you to fly around like you are in creative mode in Minecraft) will just be referred to as Valk, and Ressurction (e ability that brings people back to life) will just be called Res, I will call mercies staff her staff and her gun her gun (or Barbie blaster if I am going to attempt to be funny)

onto the actual tips LMAO

-never stop moving, even if you think you are safe, you are not safe, you are never safe and unfortunately your enemies do have braincells and will notice where you stay, and will come after you

-that being said; you don’t have to use GA as soon as it comes off of cooldown, if you are in a safe position, stay there until it’s clear it will become unsafe, although move back and forth obviously (unless it’s one of those spots where you really can’t move, although I would recommend not staying there for long)

-high grounds are your best friend, mercy is one of the most mobile agents in the game, half of your enemies are going to seriously struggle to reach you

-with the height and position advantage, you can typically see more than your teammates do, I recommend calling out or at least pinging where enemies are if you think it’s important

-“use GA not as positioning but to position” -absolutely Queen of mercies Skeisti, as fun as spamming SJ is, it leaves you in the enemies line of sight and makes you easy to kill if they can aim, literally the only time I would recommend spamming SJs is if you are using them to glide on a roof out of the enemies sight, but even then treat the position as temporary

-DAMAGE BOOST, healing nothing is useless, if you can use blue beam, do use blue beam, and don’t wait for your beam target to be 100% on hp, if you are waiting to heal your team to full to damage boost, you will never damage boost, besides your other support is there for a reason

-HOWEVER, you can’t damage boost a corpse so if your beam target reaches critical health (they will have like a red plus sign on them and be yellow through walls) HEAL THEM especially if your other support is dead/unable to reach them and there are no health packs in the area, or methods of self healing are on cooldown/unreliable in the situation

-speaking of your other support, pay attention to their health bar, them being dead is bad for everyone so as soon as they hit critical you need to switch your attention to them, they can heal your other teammates in the meantime

-if your other support is getting dove, beam them; doesn’t matter if it’s one person, doesn’t matter if that person is almost dead, if your support dies from this their is a 90% chance the fight is lost

-stop trying to save teammates that are beyond saving, your Doomfist diving headfirst into a 1 v 5 with 100 hp and a dream a million miles away from you is a goner, unless you have Valk you have to accept that

-speaking of accepting things, accept when a fight is lost and run away, the only ones who tell you there is shame in running away are your enemies who want you dead

-memorize healthpack locations and GA/SS to them if you are in danger, trust me this has saved me so many times

-learn how to play other supports, even top 500 mercy OTPs can play other ones, if you are inflexible the enemies will break you

-you can move when you are Resing, don’t stand still

-try and res behind cover; learning how to Jump Res really helps with this and can let you pull off some reses you really couldn’t before

-if you are doubting you can do a Res than probably don’t do it, it’s better to stay alive then get yourself and your Res target killed again, it’s a 30 second cooldown after all

-you do have a substantial amount of time to res a dead person depending on their respawn timer, so if your enemies are distracted and you know your team is ok without you for a few seconds, going to res a soul in your enemies back line and flying back isn’t a bad idea

-don’t waste Valk, even in the highest ranks, killing a mercy who knows what they are doing in Valk is incredibly difficult, it’s your get out of jail free card and use it when you know you have to or at least when you know it will be beneficial

-in Valk you can see the enemies health bars so don’t be afraid to pistol someone if you know you can kill them

-however, try not to go for kills in Valk in comp, battle mercy is fun however it’s not very good, infinite ammo can’t save her low projectile speed and damage (it’s only 40 per headshot), and it’s incredibly hard to kill people from war away, and getting up in their face to aim easier puts you at risk, so don’t treat Valk like an Ilari ultimate, a support who’s ultimate is designed to do damage because Valk isn’t designed to do damage

-don’t be afraid to damage boost your tanks: a tank using their ultimate, roadhog and rein in close combat and/or roadhog using hook, Ramattra using his punches and a high power Zarya are just as good damage boost targets as your dps

-speaking of dps, some damage dealers are better to boost than others, typically I would pick the ones that don’t have to go in and dive, as diving puts you in danger

There’s way more I could say, however there’s better and smarter mercy mains on YouTube so I recommend watching their stuff (like the aforementioned Skeisti and Elyzhau). Have fun mercying, and I hope this was moderately helpful

[tenrousei-kuroi]

Well, I’m not surprised it’s Sirius/Regulus. I should’ve seen this coming🤣

I’ve asked about incest shipping because I see different reasons out there. Some people just like it for the forbidden love/taboo aspect, some have bad real life experiences, and it has always intrigued me how common it is to like stories that are “morally wrong” (dark romances are very popular, for example) and not see fiction tied to real life morality but drawing the line at this theme, not only for personal taste but also imputing a moral obligation to depict it as wrong. 

My first incest ship was accidental. It was Yuki/Kaname from a series called Vampire Knight. We only discover they’re siblings at certain point in the story, and even after people were condemning them together I just didn't care and still rooted for the author not to separate them (which was in vain 😅). Eventually I came across Siri/Reggie and from then on there was no going back. I think it particularly struck me because, specially for older works, there was this flowery and tragic aspect to many – if not most – stories shipping them, a fleeting happiness that frequently wouldn’t last long.

Similarly to what you said, I have a pretty normal and stable life and darker themes have always caught my attention. Strangely, I love sad and bittersweet endings, even if I’m attached to the character and actually feel bad for them – tragedy is just so much more intense than any portrait of happiness I’ve ever seen. I had access to pretty much anything I wanted to read or watch growing up. Mostly because I’m a naturally private person and the ‘smart, well-behaved daughter’, my parents never used to question me much, but to this day this aspect of my life is pretty much my dirty little secret (that I don’t even think it’s dirty, but I assume peoplesurrounding me wouldn't think the same).

Anyway, I wish I could personally thank Ann for getting you hooked on Sirius/Regulus and creating so much good content for the fandom (btw, could I get a link to Palimpsest? Sounds like it’s really good).

Oooo I remember Vampire Knight! It used to come serialized in ShojoBeat, a manga magazine I got back in middle school. I admit I didn't finish the series but I did get to the incest reveal. I have some pretty vivid memories of a hilarious "argument" my friend and I had in gym class over it (she's cool, she was just very easily embarrassed, so it was funny to tease her with her ship turning out to be incestuous).

I didn't have much of a reaction to the plot turn that they were siblings because I was too busy picturing Mr. Kaname getting it on with Zero ;)

Angel Sanctuary was another early incest story I came across. If it wasn't clear by my profile pictures literally everywhere online I've a bit of a fancy for Kaori Yuki's work.

A Cruel God Reigns by Moto Hagio is another good manga rec if you're looking for something a bit more...I dunno', classy? Award-worthy? "Serious"? Whatever you want to call it, if you haven't read it, you should check it out. It's scanlation only, though, unless you can read Japanese, because I don't think it was ever officially localized in the English market.

Here's a link to Palimpsest. I'd recommend downloading a copy quick now, because that's a web archive and who knows how long it'll be up. Actually all of the author's previous HP stuff is up on that archive page and it's all good.

(Can you tell I'm typing on my computer instead of my phone this time? Suddenly my punctuation and formatting are semi-competent.)

And speaking of everyone's favorite incestuous Black brothers, I've got to get myself in gear--I'm super behind. I've got like three fests I need to finish up! ...plus a whole lot of WIP's that I swear I am working on. They'll all be finished...one day.

Sirius/Regulus is so much more popular now than it was when I was a teen. Easier to find too. And James/Regulus has blown up in an almost unrecognizable way. I swear I don't even know who the characters are in half the Jegulus fics I read.

I wonder how long the inertia will last? I guess no matter what, I was there writing my pretentious nonsense long before that stuff got popular and I'll still be here long after everyone else gets bored and moves on <3

Ao3 could blow up tomorrow, and I'd probably just set up a Sirius/Regulus mailing list.