#some of the takes people have (and are entitled to! literally do whatever you want) are just so disconnected from the reality of what d20 is

[punkbarbarian]

siobhan saying “if you don’t want us at our goofiest, you don’t get us at our crying” has never resonated more to me

[thebibliosphere]

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm one of those people who priates books. But only because I've bought so many books that disappointed me! I need to flip through a bit of it before buying.

Sometimes, if the author has kofi or patreon or something, I like to just give them the full price of the book. That way they get it all. But I also know that this isn't the perfect answer because it messes with stats and actual readership and therefore advertising and the platform they are selling on promoting it....

It's complicated. Maybe I should buy the book normally and tip the author what the publishers/printers/distributors take? But that can get really pricey fast. Ugh.

Books are often a luxury when you have no money. I’m very familiar with that. I've saved up for several months sometimes because I wanted a $5.99 ebook and didn't want to steal from the author. That’s just what being poor is. Wanting something doesn't entitle me to it.

That said, most books these days have a reading sample on purchasing sites so you can see if you like the style. Most sites also offer refunds, at least on digital books, before you reach a certain point. (please be sparing with refunds if you can. The refund is taken from the author/publisher, not Amazon. Same with audible. My audible funds are often close to zero or negative because people just return and reuse their monthly credit.)

You can also check and see if the books are available at your library, and if not, request them. Honestly, library sales are so, so, so good for authors. Libraries pay higher lending license rates to authors, and also, depending on the country, every time someone checks out my book via Libby or the local equivalent, I get a little tiny amount of money (we’re talking literal pennies, but it can add up), and it increases the library’s likelihood of re-purchasing the library lending license the following year.

You can alsp sign up to be an ARC (advanced reader copy) reader through places like NetGalley or by checking if the author offers ARCs as well. In a world of algorithms, books live and die by reviews. Some of us are quite happy to give out ARCs for new and upcoming titles.

Failing that and you have absolutely no other option... Yeah. Ko-fi or whatever is an option. Even if I wish they didn't do it because it fucks my sales metrics, I still appreciate when I get a little ding on ko-fi for the exact amount of the book. It's always telling. I even sometimes get little anon messages going “sorry for pirating your book it was really good.”

Like thank you. Please buy the next one properly, lol.

[swarovskiseraph]

SOME* OF YA'LL ARE NEVER GOING TO GET YOUR DESIRES, AND YOU'LL HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELVES

*WARNING: TOUGH LOVE RANT. also, like everything in life, take what resonates with you and leave the rest. if you're not doing anything i mention in this post, then this post doesn't apply to you.

before anyone comes for me, MOST of us are going through (or have gone through) hard circumstances. many of us have come from abusive households, abusive relationships, poverty, homelessness, & just overall bad circumstances.

but you know why the bloggers & anons who succeed in manifesting their desires/desired lives ACTUALLY SUCCEED?

because they took accountability for their current state and their limiting patterns.

because they were disciplined & determined enough to claim their desire(s), apply the law, & persist regardless of EVERYTHING.

because they knew that this practice would actually change their lives forever and allowed NOTHING to stand in their way.

AND GUESS WHAT? NOW THEY HAVE THEIR DESIRES/DESIRED LIFE!

if you were to be 100% honest and tell me why after months/years of being in this community you STILL haven't manifested your desires/desired life yet, what would be the answer?

overconsumption? procrastination? laziness? lack of persistence?

whatever the case may be, what i do know for a FACT is that it has been no one's fault but YOURS.

many of you guys come running on this platform; asking the same repetitive questions, complaining about not seeing results, whining about how sad your life is and how hard your circumstances are, or just straight up hating on some of these bloggers that are helping you FOR FREE, when they could be using that time to enjoy their desires/the life that they manifested for themselves.

LIKE...DO YOU REALIZE HOW PATHETIC & ENTITLED SOME OF YOU GUYS ARE?

"can you pleaseee manifest/tap into the void for me?" 🥺

"im so lazyyy, i can't be bothered to persist..." 🥱

"loa is FAKE! you guys are a bunch of lying b***hes..." 🤬

"my life is sooo hard, i have such a horrible life...*continues to trauma dump*" 😭

OHHH MYYY F*CKINGGG GODDD!

there are MILLIONS of people in the world who are in unfavorable/horrible circumstances that have NO IDEA what the law of assumption is, and have NO WAY to access this type of information!

you guys literally have the knowledge and awareness to make the most beautiful life possible for yourselves with JUST YOUR IMAGINATION, and yet, A LOT of you guys are the most ungrateful, lazy, irresolute, undisciplined whiners, who don't want to do even the BARE MINIMUM to change your entire lives!!

TRUST ME, everyone on this platform (including myself) understands that there will be setbacks. we all know that they are going to be bad days. we all understand that everyone has their own personal/mental issues. we get that life has obstacles and that not every day will be a win.

BUT, you guys NEED to put in the effort & not give up! you guys NEED to STOP letting your ego win! you guys NEED to get tf off of social media and stop overconsuming information. you guys NEED to claim your desires/desired life, stay consistent & persist until your desires/desired life has materialized.

because guess what, a day turns into a year pretty quickly, and you'll have gone another year of NOT having your desires/desired life, and it's going to be no one's fault but yourself...

do you REALLY want another year of watching everyone else get what they want besides you? do you REALLY want another year of not having your desired appearance, your sp, or financial freedom?

REALLY?

i hope the answer is no...because that's a HUGE waste of time that could be used to actually have the things & life you want.

everyone deserves to live the life they want...but at the end of the day, no one & nothing has the power to manifest the life you want but YOU.

[cc1010fox]

Rex: That number is your kill count? Fox: Roughly. Cody: I wasn't...expecting that to be honest... Wolffe: He's lying. Look, he wrote a number above it first, then crossed it out. That's the truth. Fox: No, that's the literal kill count. Cody: ... Rex: ... Wolffe: ... Fox: They were alive before we crossed paths. Rex: Oh...Most of our kills are-- Cody: Droids... Wolffe: I don't--How!? Fox: ...Why do you think I have so many awards? Wolffe: You...work hard? Fox: Doing what? Wolffe: Whatever the chancellor tells you to do. Fox: ... Cody: You protect the Senate. Fox: Coruscant. Rex: What? Fox: My duties extend beyond the Senate. I protect Coruscant. Wolffe: Ok, you protect Coruscant. Fox: ...From? Wolffe: Seppies? Fox: That's...part of it. Rex: ... Cody: ... Fox, popping his tongue against the roof of his mouth: Let me lay it out for you three. Fox: While you're out there sniping heads off of comedic relief training dummies, I have to deal with living, breathing, thinking beings. The living and breathing should make them easier to take down, but the thinking makes them unpredictable. I have to account for their individual beliefs, their morals...their sense of honor...all of which throw logic out of the window. It's not easy to land a droid army on Coruscant, so I don't get the pleasure of predictability too often. Rex: ... Fox: Instead, I have to deal with the citizens of this planet, too many of which don't want us here. They shout at us, abuse us, and have even started a market for us. You know...the skin and organ market. Yes and no. Yes, they have actually harvested our skin. No, I don't mean literal skin when I say skin market. Think collars and chains. How many times have you stood between a threat and the people you're duty bound to protect knowing at least one of those people have spat on your men, attacked them, used them like toys, or captured and sold them? My only comfort is knowing I can turn on them the second they're labeled a traitor to the Republic. And I can pick the worst of them off when there are no witnesses. Cody: ...That's-- Fox: On top of that, I have encountered creatures of nightmares because they just dwell in the bowels of this rotting planet or some pieces of garbage brought them here to sell. If you thought I was protected against watching my men get eaten by a wampa, you are sorely mistaken. Although it was the nexu that kept me up at night. For weeks. Who buys those things? Seriously...At least I put some of them down, but who knows how many they sold? Wolffe: ... Fox: The worst creatures are the ones I can't add to my kill count, though. The absolute worst is Chancellor Palpatine. He doesn't know what my job is and assigns me to literally every job in the Coruscant Guard. I have to do it personally. I'm the boss of the people who are supposed to do those jobs. He is the sole reason I will only sleep when I am dead. Fox: The second worst is 99% of the senators. Entitled, egotistical pricks. I would rather be distributed to desperate families looking for organs than catch the eye of any senator. Thire has to remember which ones show a little too much interest in the clones because we are at their mercy. He can't allow a shiny anywhere near them. If a Coruscanti attacks a clone, it's considered damaging government property, making them a criminal. If a senator attacks a clone, it's considered You better do what is best for the Republic and shut your kriffing mouth. Because treating a clone like a complimentary gift isn't betraying the Republic. Risking one of the Republic's delicate alliances is. Cody: Force, Fox... Fox: I deal with all of that while maintaining an impressive record of mission successes. That is why I have so many awards. Wolffe: ...You have awards, but do you want a hug? Fox: Desperately. All day. Every day.

[marypsue]

There’ve been a few responses to/reblogs with tags on my post about DIY clothing embellishments that basically boil down to ‘I’d love to do this but I’m scared it’ll turn out bad/I’m not a good enough artist’. And I get it, I really do! I also want my art things to turn out nicely. But also...making it badly is sort of the point of punk DIY. 

Listen. We live in a world that would dearly love to charge you a subscription fee for breathing. The bastards are doing everything they possibly can to figure out how to turn art - stories, visual art, music, textile/fibre art, sculpture, crafts and creations of every kind - into a neat, discrete, packageable commodity, a product they can chop up into little pieces and stick behind a paywall so they can charge you for every drop of it you want to have in your life. 

The whole sneering idea that ‘everybody wants to be some kind of creator now’ and anything less than absolute mastery right out the gate is somehow shameful and embarrassing is a tool those bastards are using. It’s a way to reinforce the idea that only a set group of people can create and control art, and everybody else has to buy it. 

But art isn’t a product. Art is a fundamental human impulse. Nobody is entitled to a specific piece of art (which is where this message gets skewed into pitting people who love art against the artists who make it, while the bastards screw us all and run away with the money). But making art belongs to everybody. We make up songs and dances and stories, and paint things, and make clothes, and embellish them, and carve flowers into our furniture and our lintels and our doorframes, and make windows out of tiny pieces of coloured glass, and decorate our homes and our bodies and our lives with things we make and make up, simply for the love of beauty and of the act of creation. Grave goods from tens of thousands of years ago show that ancient hominids gave their dead wreaths of ceramic flowers, tattooed their bodies, beaded their shoes. Making things for the sake of beauty and enjoyment is one of the most ancient and human things we can do. 

The idea that we can’t, that we have to buy shit instead, because art is a product and you have to have the bestest prettiest most perfect product, is the enemy of joy. It’s the death of culture. And it means that, instead of whatever it is that you cherish and enjoy and value, you get whatever inoffensive (and to whom is it inoffensive?) bland meaningless samey-samey crap that the bastards want you to be allowed to have. What are you missing and what are you missing out on, if you don’t make or modify or decorate anything for yourself, if you don’t think you can because the product at the end won’t be polished or perfect or marketable enough? What do you lose? What do we lose? 

It is a desperately vital and necessary thing for you to make shit. For you to know that you can make shit, that you don’t have to just lie back and take whatever pablum the bastards want to force-feed you (and charge you through the nose for). That the bastards need you more than you need them. 

Become ungovernable. Be your own weirdly-endearing punk little freak. Paint on a t-shirt. Sing off-key in the shower or at karaoke night or at open mic night. Make up a story where you get to meet your favourite fictional character and you guys hug or fuck or punch each other in the face. Make art. Do it badly. Do it frequently. Do it enthusiastically. Do it for love and joy and creativity and fun and the spiteful joy of thumbing your nose at some smug motherfucker with a Swiss bank account who wants to track your heartbeat and location for the rest of your life in order to automatically pump AI-generated beats matched to your mood into your earbuds for a small monthly subscription fee of $24.99/month. It is literally the only way we are ever going to have even a chance to save art and our own lives from the bastards. 

So. Paint that t-shirt. 

(Also support artists where you can, and buy your music from Bandcamp.)

[yumeka-sxf]

I try to stay away from negative topics, but after hearing talk on social media yesterday and seeing this post from @such-a-downer, I just had to give my two cents about the complaints regarding yesterday's chapter being "another short mission" and that Endo is somehow being "lazy" or whatever.

I honestly don't understand this mentality of criticizing manga-ka, or any artists really, because they aren't delivering by whatever standards you personally think are appropriate. To me, it just seems like entitlement because Endo has no obligation to cater to any specific fan's wants. This is his story to tell the way he wants, and his characters to develop at the pace he deems fit. This isn't a business contract where we're paying him to deliver content we want every two weeks without fail. If I'm consuming the fruits of someone's creative labor for free, I certainly feel no right to complain if sometimes their content isn't what I wanted or expected. I'm fine with that because 1) I know it's what they (the creator) wanted/needed at the time, and 2) even if a particular chapter wasn't my cup of tea, I know other fellow fans out there somewhere are enjoying the heck out of it, and that's cool!

We also have to remember that SxF is basically a one-man show. If Endo is busy or sick or whatever, it's not like he can have someone fill in for him to write and draw the series. That's what a hiatus is for, that's what making a short chapter instead of a longer one is for...that's how artists should be treated so they don't get burned out and stressed. Plus, art shouldn't be rushed. Any artist knows that there are times when you have trouble coming up with ideas and maybe need a little extra time to develop a more complex section of the story. To immediately jump to conclusions that he's lazy or doesn't know what he's doing is ridiculous. Maybe he didn't feel good for a few days, maybe he's been busy with other SxF events, maybe he just needed more time to get a particular future arc developed, or maybe he just has basic IRL obligations to take care of like we all do...you don't know what's going on in his life, so don't make assumptions.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it's literally impossible to please every fan. One of the comments I read for example, someone was ready to drop the series because we haven't seen much of Yor in "a while." All I could think of was "didn't she just have a pretty big role only four chapters ago when they went to the ski resort?" Plus she was the star of chapter 91, which was less than ten chapters ago. So according to this person's standards, four chapters without seeing a particular character is "too long"? What if it was only three chapters, would that be acceptable? It's not right to push our own personal standards of a series' pacing as the "correct" way: some people want to see more of character X while someone else wants to see more of subplot Y, so should both complain that the manga-ka isn't doing right whenever they focus on something else? I'm not saying you shouldn't make criticisms of a manga-ka's work, but the criticisms should come from within the narrative itself, not superficial things like chapters focusing on subplots/characters you don't want to see or not having enough "plot-advancing" content when it's not a plot-focused series.

People who have read SxF up to this point should know the general flow of the chapters: mostly slice-of-life episodic, with more plot-heavy, intense arcs once in a while, like the cruise arc and bus arc. It's an ensemble series that spends most of its chapters focused on at least one of the Forgers, but occasionally other characters here and there. That's how the series has been for years and will likely continue to be. So if you keep complaining because you only like the dramatic story arcs and not the "nothing happens" episodic chapters, then maybe the series just isn't for you. It's totally fine if that's the case, but don't act like Endo is doing something wrong because he's not providing the particular thing you want in his story.

To summarize, Endo has no obligation to cater to particular fans' standards, just as we have no obligation to keep reading his work if we don't like it. But being a fan to me means respecting the creator's pace and vision even if it's not always what I personally want. I can find something to enjoy in every chapter because I'm a fan of SxF, not a fan of one particular aspect of it. But I also will not complain every time my tastes aren't being catered to and will simply occupy myself with other things while I wait. What's the big hurry, after all? I'm in no rush for SxF to wrap up its plot and I'm glad Endo isn't rushing either.

And that's all I'm gonna say about this topic, lol. On a happier note, I'm going to finally see Code White on Thursday! 😁 More to come later~

[proximasc0rner]

Hatchetverse theory/headcanon: the lords in black are monsters of our own creation.

So. In a previous post, I mentioned that the LiB might have ages in that they're born of some kind of evil, with Wiggly being the oldest "sin" for lack of a better word. And I think I like that idea the more I think about it! So, just for fun, I'm making a list of them from oldest to youngest:

Wiggly - Wrath. I- I think this one is kinda self explanatory I mean his name is LITERALLY Wiggog Y'Wrath what else do you want from me here- but in all seriousness, I think it fits. The oldest evils humans have known have existed because of wrath. The desire to hurt others due to a sense of justice or entitlement, or even just because one was having a bad day and needed to take it out on someone. Tale as old as time.

Nibbly - Nibbly. Where to start with you. I don't want to go with the basic-ass "gluttony" thing, sooooo... I think with Nibbly, it's more abstract than that. Humans don't just hunger for food-- they hunger for power. Power over themselves, power over some others, or, god forbid, power over entire groups and nations. Hunger for the prize. Hunger for fulfillment. I think we see this demonstrated really nicely in Honey Queen! But yeah, I think this abstract "hunger" is also something primal, like wrath. I wouldn't be surprised if Nibbly and Wiggly came into existence at the same time, but Wiggly just kinda took over.

Tinky - Sadism. YES I AM ONCE AGAIN GOING FOR THE EASY CHOICE SUE ME. Anyhoo, I personally think that Tinky came into existence with the first real atrocity. Not murder over an argument. Not an act of desperation. Just an act of cruelty for cruelty's sake. Sometimes I wonder why I like him so much. WHATEVER I BELIEVE IN BASTARD OF TIME AND SPACE SUPREMACY.

Blinky - This one was tough, but I think I got a semi-satisfying answer (for me anyway): I think Blinky represents the evil that is being a bystander. Like, someone commits a great evil and destroys someone's life in front of a crowd, and all the people just... watch it happen. They don't step in or intervene. They simply allow this evil individual to keep being evil, thereby becoming accomplices in that way. Again, wouldn't be surprised if Tinky and Blinky were twins, because I think atrocities and bystanders unfortunately go hand in hand.

Pokey - Exhibitionism! No wonder he's the youngest-- while vanity and desperately trying to gain the approval of others has been a thing for a very long time, I think that once better forms of communication and presenting yourself to the world (cough cough the internet cough cough) is when things really would've taken off. Everyone wants their voice to be the loudest. Everyone wants to be a star. So everyone puts on a show for everyone else as they desperately try to claw their way to the top.

But yeah. That's my idea of it. The lords in black are a threat, and we've got nobody but ourselves to blame.

[bobby-r2d2-floyd]

The Nanny part 2

note: here's part two to the nanny! i'm hopefully going to try and start to get longer pieces out soon, i'm still trying to get back into the swing of writing fics again.

warnings: mentioned of parental death

trigger warning: one sentence in the fourth paragraph that talks about school shooting, but no violence actually occurs.

word count: 1.6k (sorry it's short, between yesterday and today i've had a headache that wouldn't go away :( )

no beta again, we die like men

inspired by: @roosterforme

previous part | next part

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You just moved to California, wanting a change from the cold Vermont air and where better to stay than with your aunt, Penny Benjamin. Penny was your mom’s sister, an unfortunate accident in 1999 took your mother and your father, you were 10 years old. Penny was more than willing to take in her only niece, even if it meant having you relocate to Virginia with her. 

Years had passed and Penny had done all but adopt you, she called you her daughter when people asked, made all your appointments for you until you were old enough to make your own, she helped you with boys, and then girls, when you came out to her. She held you while you cried over your first real heartbreak, she taught you all about your period and safe sex. She made you feel comfortable, like you could go to her with any problem that you had, and she would fix it for you.

Maybe it also helped that your grandfather was an admiral in the United States Navy, but that’s beside the point, Penny Benjamin took care of you when you had no one once, and she was more than happy to do it again. 

Being a teacher, especially in today’s world, is hard. You had to worry about whether or not your school was going to fall victim to the next mass shooting, if you could keep your kids safe in an environment where the legislators didn’t care. It was a hard choice to make, leaving the school system, because you knew that they were already understaffed, and that there were no qualified substitute teachers available to take over your position… but between the abuse from your principal, the students, and the entitled parents? You were done.

You at least waited until the end of the school year before packing it all up and moving west. It was a sad goodbye with all the students you had loved but for your sanity, it was what you needed to do.

Penny had an open bedroom, and Amelia was thrilled to be living with you again, mainly so you can help her on her homework, and of course you were happy to see Penny and Pete back together. You always loved having him around when you were a kid, and it really did feel like your relationship with him never waivered, even though you only texted each other for holidays and birthdays after the last time he and Penny “broke up”. 

You were laying on the couch scrolling through your phone, not paying attention to whatever it was Amelia had put on the tv when Penny walked in after her short shift at the bar; it was a slow weekend and Jimmy had it plenty under control.

“Hey, so I might have told one of the guys Pete works with that you’d be willing to nanny for him.” Penny says as soon as she walks in.

“Are you talking to me?” Amelia asks, not looking away from the tv and Penny laughs.

“No, your sister.” 

That catches your attention and you groan.

“I don’t want to nanny some old admiral’s bratty kids.” you say as you sit up and Penny sits next to you.

“He isn’t an old admiral with bratty kids, he’s 35, the same age as Bradley, and he literally just had an infant dropped off on his front porch today.” she tells you and you look over at her. “He needs a lot of help, and you would be perfect for the job. Aside from working at the bar you’re never doing anything.” she shrugs and steals some of the popcorn that was on the table and you look at her with your mouth open.

“Okay, first off. Rude. Secondly, I do plenty of stuff!”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Uh, I help Amelia with her homework.”

“And you can help her while also helping Jake out with his daughter.” Penny says and you sigh.

“Fine.” you grumble and head into the kitchen, “do you eat yet, Pen?”

“Yeah, Pete brought me food to the bar.”

“Don’t you… serve food at the bar too?” 

“Not sushi.” 

You spend the next three weeks waiting to meet this Jake guy. Sure you knew of him, but you didn’t want to be persuaded by the ‘Hangman’ persona that he had before becoming a dad. Sure people don’t just change overnight, so you’re sure he still has quite the mouth and attitude, especially if this baby is keeping him up at night. 

You opened the bar early and the members of the Dagger Squad slowly filtered in. Bob was sitting at the bar with you while you were getting bottles ready, he was telling you a story from when he was a kid on his family’s farm and he was chasing down pigs and slipped and fell in the mud when the bell above the door rang. 

Looking over, you see a man you don’t recognize carrying a little baby in the cutest little dress you’ve ever seen, a diaper bag slung over his other shoulder. You shoot him a smile as he walks up to the bar.

“Hi! I’m Y/N Benjamin, but you can call me Saturn.” you say as you wipe a rag over the bar top, cleaning up some of the iced tea that Bob spilled. “You must be Jake?” 

This new man smiles at you and nods, “Yes ma’am.” he says, setting the diaper bag on a barstool. 

You watch his muscles flex as he shifts his daughter from one side to the other to give his arm a break and he catches you staring at her. “This is Avery.” he turns so you can see the little girl’s face and you let out a gentle little coo.

“Oh look at you! Aren’t you just the cutest little girl.” you say, talking in a voice that has her laughing and reaching out for you. You take her from Jake without even hesitating and she plays with the fingerprint pendants of your parents that you have hanging around your neck. 

Since the bar is still technically closed for another hour and a half, you make your way out from behind the bar and take a seat on the stool next to Bob who smiles at the little girl, pulling away as she tries to reach for his glasses but isn’t quick enough as she rubs her chubby fingers over his lenses. 

You and Jake just laugh at her antics and at poor Bob who is left with baby drool covered glasses for the time being, but even he can’t stay mad at little Avery. She looks up at you, blue-green eyes bright as she smiles her little gummy smile and laughs along with the two of you. 

Jake can’t believe how comfortable Avery already is with you, it took days for her to warm up to anyone aside from Penny; she still doesn’t like Rooster but Jake believes it's a hundred percent because of his mustache. Normally he’s nervous when she’s around strangers of any kind, even her own doctor when she first saw the woman, but with you he’s oddly… comfortable. 

Begrudgingly you hand Avery back to Jake, you have to open the bar in 20 minutes and you’re already way behind but thankfully Bradley volunteers to help you get ready. You’re standing next to him slicing limes as he cuts up some oranges.

“You know, she’s never taken to someone that fast before.” he says, making sure the slices are relatively uniform.

“It’s because I’m a woman.” you tease and he rolls his eyes.

“No, seriously. Penny was a given because she’s just the best, but Phoenix? Bob? She only just started to get along with them, and those two are the best people in this entire squad. It even took her a bit to warm up to Hangman and he’s her dad.” Rooster says, stealing an orange slice that he cut too thin before taking a beer from the fridge under the counter and walking away.” 

“You have to pay for that!” 

“Put it on my tab, Rings!” he calls out, throwing a wink over his shoulder and you roll your eyes, opening a tab for him before going over to the window and flipping the ‘open’ sign on.

You’re about halfway through your shift when Jake walks up to you, Avery sleeping against him despite the volume of the bar. 

“Hey, headed home?” you ask, taking the top off of a few beers before handing them to the patron that was waiting. 

“Yeah, figured she would prefer to sleep in her bed tonight than on the pool table.” he jokes and you give a gentle laugh.

“Yeah, probably.”

“I wanted to ask if you wanted to go out this weekend? Talk about what Pen offered? If-if you still think you can help me out?” he chews his lip a little, nervous for you to say you’re not interested.

“Yeah! Definitely, uh… here,” you grab a napkin and write your number down with a little cartoon drawing of a circle with a ring around it, how you always signed your nickname. “I’m off on Saturday and Penny isn’t opening on Sunday since it’s going to be such a hot night, she wants us to be off so I’ll be free whenever on both days.” you tell him and he tucks the napkin in his pocket with his phone.

“I’ll text you on Saturday? I can pick you up? Or I mean-” you cut him off with a laugh.

“You can pick me up, I assume you know where Penny lives?” he nods and smiles.

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

“Great, see you on Saturday, Dad-man.” you give him a wink before turning away to go help Jimmy out with the patrons that have gathered around the bar. Jake laughs and turns around to head out, Dad-man?

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taglist: message me if you would like to be added! if your name is struck through, i wasn't able to tag you.

@mandylove1000 @zbeez-outlet @emma8895eb @buxkybarnez @classyunknownlover @caidi-paris @classycolorpeach @eugene-emt-roe @emorychase @missemrose @fighterpilothoe @crystal-lily-1011 @pookie-cleary @max-dalton @hisredheadedgoddess28 @elijahmikaelsonbitch @thegoddessc @yourfaveaquarius92 @blueoorchid @archaeologydigit

[the-s1lly-corner]

Random Caine x reader hcs!

too tired to really work on requests + idk if its from people being weird or people just being.. eh... but im kind of not motivated to answer them. idk if im being sensitive or dumb but some people really be in here just jumping into it like?? no hello? nothing? like i know im not entitled to pleasantries but damn!! it feels like im being talked at, you know? anyways theres my random thing uhuhuhuh going to bang this out then go right back to treat making

i still absolutely adore the idea that hes just gently presses his teeth to your cheek/lips/forehead/hands/ect whenever he wants to kiss you. thats just a little thing for characters with no lips/proper mouths that i like.... almost prefer it than actual proper kisses.. shrugs

oh i just know he would take your hand in his before dipping down and pressing a kiss to the back of your hand. he seems the type...

endearing names are a given, i mean he calls new circus members names, youre definitely going to be called "dear/darling" and will likely get your own set of unique names that are only used for you

cant help but make IHA with you in mind, like with something that you enjoy and avoiding what you hate, stuff like that

he would never say it because he doesnt want you to feel trapped, but he would love it if you stayed with him, should there actually be an exit for the digital world, since hes.. well confined to the digital circus

like yeah sure we could be silly and offer an au/timeline/whatever where you take him with you and hes confined to your phone or other device, but its just not the same of being there with him... shrugs

back onto other stuff, he absolutely spoils you. before you can even finish making a request for something hes already getting it, even better because he can just snap his fingers and boom! its there! will get you nearly everything you want whenever you want!

your room gets a sudden upgrade when you guys get together it totally isnt because youre his favorite or anything shhh hush hush what do you mean reader?

gushes about you to everyone who will listen, does get annoying with it

goes overboard when you have a problem, hes going to be doing everything he can to fix it and make you happy

if youre small enough, hes going to pick you up and carry you around while he flies! youll likely be taller than him regardless, but if he can comfortably scoop you up hes going to carry you!

sometimes even sets himself on the ground (something he never does!) to get down and hold your hand, walking with you

elaborate dates for you, since he can kind of do whatever he wants; also very open to doing whatever you want to do

hes literally wrapped around your finger and hangs onto your every word, absolutely down bad for you

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 民国奇探/My Roommate is a Detective.

My Roommate is a Detective is a 2020 drama about the Jazz Age shenanigans of a terrible OT3: a useless noodle boy, a spoiled journalist girl, and a handsome thug-turned-cop, who together solve Agatha Christie mysteries in 1920s Shanghai.

I mean, seriously, have you ever wondered what Hercule Poirot would be like if he were a 6'2" Chinese rubber man? If he had a long-suffering sugar daddy from the wrong side of the tracks and a spunky sugar mommy who owned their shared apartment? The answer is, it would be a laugh-out-loud-funny series about a ridiculous and charming assortment of weirdos solving only slightly believable murder mysteries in charming period clothing.

This is another one of those shows where I'm kind of shocked at how not well-known it is, except I'm not, because I can see exactly the problems that keep fandom from descending on it like horny little vultures. Nonetheless, I think it's a good time that more people would enjoy if they gave it the chance. Here's five reasons why you should:

1. Equal parts smart as heck and dumb as butts

On the one hand, especially given its tone and tenor, this show has many surprisingly clever turns and thoughtful moments, carried along by some talented actors. On the other hand, [.gif of a guinea pig in a rollerskate being pushed merrily down a hallway]

This show is not a complicated intellectual exercise. It's an action comedy about a goofy sleuth, a rich-girl reporter, and the cop who should be the straight man in this trio, except he's as much of a goober as the other two are. If the promotional tableaus are giving you real "cover of a Clue box" vibes, you've understood the kind of pastiche it's pulling off.

The mysteries are preposterous. They're all the kind of thing that exemplify the Doyle line about how, when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever's left has got to be the answer, no matter how ding-dang improbable it may be. You know the type: tons of overly elaborate setups, unbelievably perfect timing, coincidental long-lost relatives, people hallucinating right and left. They're also very short -- most full cases take only 2-3 episodes to introduce, investigate, and resolve, even when interspersed with the larger goings-on in these weirdos' lives. The DramaWiki page for the show lists 23 separate arcs over 36 episodes, so you do the math.

And yet, it's way more thoughtful and clever than its doofy little setup would indicate. Its attention to detail surprised me on more than one occasion. Add to that a bunch of solid performances from an ensemble of real characters, and what you get is definitely more substantive than a junk-food waste of time. You can't turn your brain off while watching it, but you sure can turn it down, and that's great.

It also doesn't hurt that everyone is super attractive and wearing great outfits. The whole show's worth it for the wardrobes.

2. THE GIRL

Fuck the haters, fuck everyone, I am going to climb right up on my little soapbox and tell you all why Bai Youning is awesome.

She is insane. She's a troll. She's a clever little monster. Every other character's response to her is, oh my god, you are literally the worst. And she is! She has been spoiled beyond belief by her incredibly rich Crime Dad, and she has learned to leverage her uwu just a widdle girl status to get her whatever the hell she wants. She simply cannot hear it when someone says the word "no." She will look her future sister-in-law in the eye and point a loaded gun at her own head without blinking. Every ball she has is made of brass.

She's hardly perfect. During the course of the show, there are some times where her entitlement runs face-first into the brick wall of reality. She's not nearly as good at her chosen career path as she's been told (mostly by the people who get paid to tell her she's good). She's rarely prepared to deal with the consequences of her actions, especially when she can't just throw money at the problem.

So she learns, and grows, and changes. She's always going to be a stubborn bitch, but she can become a stubborn bitch with a more accurate conception of her relationship to the world around her.

She's actually a really good romantic foil for Lu Yao, who is equally stubborn and spoiled and obnoxious as hell. It is a pure brat4brat relationship, where each one thrives on comically enraging the other. What this means, though, is that when they actually start showing one another some vulnerability, it's really sweet.

Now: I'm pretty sure that you could not have made a female character in her position that everyone did not hate, no matter how cool you made her, because that is the fate of all girls who theoretically keep the two boys from kissing. (More on that next point.) If she were less outgoing and friendly, she would've been hated for being too cold. If she were less headstrong, she would've been hated for being a pushover. If she weren't as into the boy, she would've been hated for being frigid. I know the "god forbid a woman do anything" meme is a joke, but ... man, god forbid this girl do anything. She gets a level of hate entirely disproportionate to what she's actually like. As I said with Eom Dada, it's not always sexism, but sometimes, yeah, it's sexism.

(Real talk: Her character is also fighting both how she's definitely not written as well as the boys are and how the plot sometimes needs her to be artificially stupid and jealous for Straightness Drama Reasons, so that's a legit problem on a structural level. Also, she's dubbed by someone else and the boys aren't, which gives her voice an annoying not-quite-there quality that's hard to ignore. The deck is stacked against her real hard even before she steps onscreen.)

So here's my advice: Go into this show wanting to like her. Embrace her terribleness as a positive, intentional quality. Don't be mad at her for straightening up an endgame that was never going to be gay, even without her. Welcome her contributions to the chaos. Realize that she is exactly as entertainingly irritating as her boys are.

Truly, this is a story of three terrible people in love. They're all just awful, and you wouldn't want to be in a room with any of them for longer than you had to. Left to right up there, Bai Youning is spoiled and self-absorbed, Lu Yao is arrogant and lazy, and Qiao Chusheng is suuuuuch a fucking cop. If you're into the kind of dynamic that can only be described OT3: You All Deserve One Another, then this one's perfect for you.

3. Do you really miss '00s queerbaiting?

Like, really? Are you just super-nostalgic for being able to see the showrunners go, ha ha, girls, we know you're watching and we know you want these cute boys to kiss, which they never will -- but what if we pretended for just this one scene??? Do you just carnally ache for that with every fiber of your being?

Yep.

Now, why am I calling the occasional really gay moments between these two gentlemen "queerbaiting" and not "bromance"? Because these moments are a) obviously intentional, b) completely sporadic, and c) never spoken of again.

For example: There's a scene (which you can see a gifset of here) where the two of them are at a restaurant frequented by the cop, who brings a lot of ladies there on dates. When the waiter points this out, useless noodle boy says, I'm his date. The waiter looks mildly surprised by this, the cop says not to listen to his bullshit, and that's the end of it. The scene moves on. There is no further discussion of this comment. It does not affect their relationship.

That's the essence of queerbaiting: that little on-purpose nod to the homoerotic tension between the two, in a way that isn't a joke but also isn't not a joke, and either way is never going to happen. (In fact, the show is going to go out of its way to make sure that ship gets sunk, so, uh, get your fanfiction lifeboats ready for that.)

A true queerbaiting move is something that should make a difference in a relationship, but doesn't. It should make a difference that our cop is so comfortable in the noodle boy's personal space that he invades it at will. It doesn't. It should make a difference that noodle boy keeps getting real weird every time the cop has a date with a girl. It doesn't. Those are some real romantic moves the two of them keep pulling, and then nothing comes of them.

I had this show sold to me as being incredibly shippy, to the point of being even more so than its censored-BL contemporaries. And ... well, it is and it isn't. It has textually gayer individual moments, but it is much less pervasively gay. It's clear from the start that it's going to throw all its actual relationship points into its canon het romance. When it comes to these boys, the show is toying with you. It knows you want to see those boys smooch, just as much as it knows (and it knows you know) they're never gonna.

How you feel about this is entirely up to you -- and indeed, it may be a dealbreaker on the whole drama for you. If you are inclined to pitch a fit when your ship does not become canon, you'll be happier somewhere else. If, however, you see this as a delightful opportunity to do whatever the hell you want with the situation as it is presented, all the while enjoying little moments of startlingly blatant homoeroticism between two handsome dudes, well, here you are!

(I mean, if you want my take on it, what needs to happen is that the cop and the girl need to fuck while the useless noodle boy watches with asexual bisexual interest, and then they all need to snuggle with the noodle boy in the middle so they can both annoy him appropriately, but your mileage may vary.)

4. The multicultural extravaganza!

1920s Shanghai had a lot going on in terms of cultures and languages, and this show actually does a fair job of representing that.

By now, I've seen a number of shows set during this era, and they all at least acknowledge the international nature of the city -- usually by mentioning the French Concession and having a handful of evil Japanese characters. However, this is the first time I've seen a show go to such lengths to actually show so many non-Chinese characters onscreen, even to the point of making one a recurring character supporting the main squad.

Salim is the best. Whatever he is being paid, it's not enough. He's Qiao Chusheng's right-hand man, which means he is also the dude who most often has to put up the main trio's bullshit. (The actor himself is also a dude with a pretty cool backstory, which is another great layer.) He's sharp, he's loyal, he's patient, and he looks great with his shirt off. He's got it all!

Other non-Chinese characters include a white Jewish art collector (I'd issue a warning for period-typical antisemitism, except … honestly, it's mostly just confused), a sadistic priest who maybe is supposed to be Italian, a completely different priest who [last episode spoiler], and three whole sinister white dudes behind it all.

It's not just the world coming to China, though! A large number of the Chinese characters are said to have spent significant time outside of China, whether for business or for schooling. Near the end, when some characters are discussing moving away from Shanghai, they consider a number of foreign cities as potential destinations.

Here's a delightful detail: When Lu Yao and his sister speak English, they're dubbed by actors with posh British accents who sound like native (or near-native) English-speakers. This makes perfect sense, because both of the siblings did a lot of their schooling in the UK. When Bai Youning speaks English, she's dubbed by someone who speaks English very well but also has a noticeable Chinese accent, which makes perfect sense for her character's background. And Qiao Chusheng never speaks English at all, because he's a street tough who has no reason to know more than three words.

...This is also kind of weird to say about something literally made in China, but go with me on it: Everything's kind of got that Art Deco Orientalist vibe to it. It looks like China's idea of what Britain's idea of China during that period would have looked like. The result comes across less like what 1920s Shanghai would actually have looked like, and more what an ad for 1920s Shanghai would have looked like. It's a fascinating aesthetic, and more so for how it's mostly pretty subtle. The show isn't some visual extravaganza, but it's always very nice to look at, and I appreciate that in a show.

5. A wonderful horrible protagonist

A lot of mystery-themed prestige television involves an asshole genius detective who gets away with being a dick to everyone because he's sooooo smart, while all his long-suffering friends and colleagues spend a lot of time doing damage control for him because, sigh, he's an asshole but we need him, genius excuses all dickhead behavior, we'll always make exceptions for him because he's just ever so special. (Watch histrionic sage hbomberguy's video on Sherlock if you're unfamiliar with the trope.)

Lu Yao is an asshole genius detective, but one who winds up spending most of his time being an asshole to a) people who deserve it, or b) his horrible friends who will be assholes right back at him. When he is awful to the people who don't deserve it, the show smacks him pretty hard on the nose for it and makes him apologize.

This is a show where you'll figure out pretty quckly if you'll love it or hate it, because if you love Lu Yao, you'll love it, and vice versa. He carries most of the show himself, with his goofy charm and his incredibly bendy slenderman body and his ability to make the one competent person he knows both protect him and give him money.

Like so.

For my own part, I find him intensely charming, and I think a lot of this has to do with Hu Yitian's ability to play him as an affectionately bullyable weenie who needs to get shoved in a locker for his own good. He's the worst, and it's comically endearing instead of offputting because at the end of the day, he really does have a good heart. He's just also lazy as heck and disinclined to do anything that he does not want to be doing, and really, aren't we all?

As I alluded to in point 3, he comes across as real asexual. He's just not that interested in sex, and he is in fact pretty uncomfortable in situations where he finds himself the subject of someone else's sexual desires. He's perfectly capable of romantic feelings! I mean, not only does he get Bai Youning as a love interest, we actually meet one of his ex-girlfriends. He's just not partciularly horny about them -- which is even more noticeable as a sharp contrast to how extremely horny Qiao Chusheng is for just about everyone, but this exasperating little dork in particular.

(Like seriously, 90% of the time, Chusheng is about to explode with sexual frustration at Lu Yao's skinny oblivious ass.)

This isn't to say you couldn't get Lu Yao into bed, because you absolutely could, and he'd probably have a good time. You'd just have to remove all distractions from the room, lest his ADHD ass wind up running off to solve a crime mid-coitus.

Twiggy little nightmare man. Garbage-animal boy. Love him.

sidebar: A word about the ending

I'm going to be vague and talk about general vibes instead of specific events, but you should still skip this section if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Jump to the picture of Chusheng holding the sledgehammer.

Okay, so, a lot of people do not like the ending, and I'm including myself in that number. I honestly don't know if they got rushed and had to wrap everything pretty last-minute, or if they thought they might get a second season out of it and were leaving things open-ended accordingly. Either way, it's incredibly unsatisfying.

I think there's a clue that the show didn't actually want to end this way, and it's not actually in the text of the show itself. Every episode, between the last scene and the start of the credits, you get to see a couple still frames from the episode (usually some of the queerbaity ones). After the very final shot of the series, you get two images: the boys hugging goodbye, and Chusheng's upset face. That's not a resolution! That is at best a "to be continued..." ending!

But no, that's it. That's all, folks.

It's not quite an ending so bad it ruins the rest of the show, mostly because it doesn't feel finished, so it's less like you're watching a car being deliberately driven into a wall because someone thought that was the best route to take, and more like you're watching someone leave a car on the railroad tracks because they figured they'd have time to move it later.

As far as I know, there has been no noise made about a second season. These 36 episodes are the entirety of the narrative. It had the distinct misfortune to start airing in March 2020, which wasn't exactly prime time for planning sequels, and that seems to have been that. (There is a 2022 show called Checkmate that stars the two main guys in extremely similar roles, also adapting Agatha Christie stories, but it's apparently pretty meh? Somebody else who's actually seen it, go ahead and weigh in here.)

I'll say that if you turn off the episode right after Lu Yao gets out the handcuffs, you'll save yourself the worst of it the awkward and unsatisfying moments (though I'm impressed at your willpower to stop watching something five minutes from the end). That's not all of it, though. Structurally, there are several situations rushed to a resolution and loose threads left flapping untied in the breeze. I guess stopping before the last five minutes simply saves you the hope that it'll pull a good ending out of the fire, because it won't.

And let's be real: The more you hate Bai Youning and her romance with Lu Yao, the more you'll hate the ending. (Not that liking those elements will necessarily make you like the ending, of course, because I'm a fan of hers and I still think the ending is butts.) The ending is already like a pair of uncomfortable shoes; if the het romance especially makes you grind your teeth, the ending becomes a pair of uncomfortable shoes that also have a rock in them. A lot of the comments online indicate plenty of people dropped the show when they learned the het romance would be endgame. It's a pretty common dealbreaker.

Oh well. Bring on the fanfic, I say! Those of us who are used to taking a sledgehammer to canon are unafraid.

Smash it, baby.

Still want to see some of these mysteries?

Both iQiyi and Viki have the answer to your sleuthing!

It's not a perfect show -- as evidenced by my digression about the ending -- but it's a lot of fun. If you can handle the occasional foible and some eyebrow-raising moments, you're in for a good time with some attractive people that occasionally tastes very gay.

Every roommate crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man

[thv-jk97]

Sharing my thoughts about the negative take from that H*BE stylist about LWA because I need to put them somewhere, so forgive me for this post. For context, the stylist said that the MV is using disabilities and those who face discrimination as inspirational material and that they’re “romanticizing disabilities”, and while I can genuinely understand what they were trying to advocate for, their take also completely ignores massive elements of the MV as a whole, whilst also making grand assumptions about the artists (Tae and IU) that they cannot possibly know.

Listen, everyone has the right to interpret any piece of content how they see it and they’re also entitled to feel how they feel and share their opinions, but it becomes problematic when they start making baseless assumptions along with the point they’re trying to make. Claiming that IU and Tae are rich cishets with no disabilities(implying that they are privileged and not discriminated against) is such a WILD assumption to make (let’s not forget that IU does actually have a hearing impairment).

I do think that there should be conversations about who should be able to tell what stories or portray what character, especially in huge projects in mainstream media, but there has to be room for flexibility. Are we going to require people to reveal everything single thing about themselves in order to prove that they can represent a specific demographic fairly? That’s a completely unreasonable expectation, and in some circumstances, it could literally be unsafe. And their assumptions do not contribute to a constructive dialogue about this topic at all.

Not only that, but their critique sort of implies that the MV equates having disabilities to being a victim, but that isn’t what I personally got from the MV. Their characters literally fight until the very end, in their blind and deaf/mute states, and are never actually shown as weak. And it’s just another assumption that the “love filter” takes away their disabilities, when in reality, IU still uses sign language even when Tae is looking at her through the camcorder – what is shown is a world where they don’t have their injuries anymore (injuries that were sustained in this dystopian world) and their lives are more than just fear and running. The concept of “love wins all” is that they made it to the very end of the world together and are ultimately taken out by the shittiness of this world that they’re living in – not by their disabilities.

The stylist also goes on to imply that the ambiguity of the MV is an issue because they end up wearing traditional hetero outfits (since when is sexuality linked to pieces of clothing?), and if it were meant to mean something to the queer community, they wouldn’t have included that. Which makes no sense because that’s the beauty of art – it’s meant to be interpreted however the viewer sees it, and so many people in the queer community did actually take comfort in the symbolism they interpreted from the MV.

To be honest, I can’t help but question the motive of their rant, because from where I’m standing, this person works for a billion dollar company that literally capitalizes on using the queer community for good sales (fanservice, etc)(mind you, this is only one of H*BE’s many offenses) so their issues with this metaphorical MV seem to be a bit selective (aka taking issue with things that don’t affect their livelihood). Also gonna add that they literally have posts supporting Zionists (who raised money specifically for the IDF), so it really seems like selective activism atp.

Tae and IU have both consistently shown that they are massive advocates of inclusivity and equality, so to be accused of exploiting minorities and their struggles is actually so upsetting. People can label it whatever they want, but IU’s decision to change the title of the song was not about “saving face”, it was showing empathy for a minority when she learned that they were bothered by the original title. And for this person to insinuate that Tae and IU are tone deaf and clueless to the strife of those who have been discriminated against is just plain disrespectful and such a projection based on their own personal interpretation and assumptions.

Anyway, sorry for this long-winded post. There’s never a day of peace and I am siiiiick of it.

[goldenwoods]

I don't want to beat the dead horse of 'Harry Potter's depiction of enslaved house elves is disgusting' but...I simply can't help myself. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I made this account to rant, after all.

So, I knew that Harry Potter never solved systemic slavery, nor even condemned it as a system. Treating house elves badly was a big no, but enslaving them in general? Debatable to say the least, says the narrative. But a recent conversation with a friend made me remember some details about just how bad it was.

First of all, though the freeing of elves via socks is a repeated element, information regarding how house elves are enslaved (or indeed, how they are born) are never shown. It's some nebulous 'bound by magic' thing and George said they come with old manors (huh?). The narrative deliberately presents all of them in an already enslaved state. Enslavement is, in the Harry Potter universe, the natural state of elves while freedom on the other hand is something that requires an external 'act', something unnatural. Elves are not shown to naturally possess autonomy which is thereafter systematically deprived, rather, they are born as part of a wizard family's property. This is pretty disturbing and sets the foundation for the narrative's whole "slavery is okay because house elves like it!' thing.

The second problem is Harry Potter himself. Harry is infuriatingly passive in front of disgusting acts of slavery. And it's not because he's a shy or apathetic character. Harry will stand up for people, is quite rash about it in fact, and even at his calmest will issue an appropriately scathing remark. But when Winky, someone who's whole kind has been enslaved and abused for who knows how long, sprouts of stuff she's been conditioned to believe like 'we're not paid, and Dobby wanting to be is unbecoming', or 'we're not supposed to have fun' or 'we do what we're told', Harry doesn't tell her 'No? You are entitled to individual autonomy, enslaving you is wrong.' but he's just like 'eh.....Dobby's cool, let him live his life.' and when Hermione complained about their oppression, the book states, literally, "Harry shook his head and applied himself to his scrambled eggs." and "True, both [Harry and Ron] had paid two Sickles for a S.P.E.W. badge, but they had only done it to keep her quiet." and regarding a professor using house elves to test for poison, Harry simply thought 'welp, guess Hermione's gonna be pissed about that, better not mention it'. (???) What the hell is going on with the good guys here, Rowling? Is this the approved attitude towards slavery?

Thirdly, of course, is the whole 'house elves love being enslaved' thing. Which...silly me for thinking Rowling was trying to critique systemic oppression...and not trying to shove it under the rug after using one poor oppressed elf to characterise bad guy Lucius. I mean, Hagrid's reasoning as to why we shouldn't free elves is absurd, he explains that it's 'in their nature to look after humans, that's what they like', they'd be unhappy to have their work taken away, and they'd be insulted if they got paid. Which is, first of all, a demonstrably untrue statement, because Dobby loved being paid. ('in their nature' generalisations proven to be inaccurate? What a shock!) But even putting that aside, how does this translate to slavery? You could...I don't know, free them and let them voluntarily be cooks, cleaners, servants, whatever, instead of keeping them under a 'magical bound' that makes coerced self-harm possible. They can...take care of you and be your servants if they really want to without being your property. What the hell.

Last but not least is how the only time the narrative made Ron Weasley ('good guy' who's exasperated by Hermione's house elves movement) openly consider the well-beings of house elves is when they wanted to set up Ron and Hermione's big romantic kiss. There's something so gross about Rowling trying to finalise her haphazardly-written romance with her poorly-written slaves, a group that she had, in the last few books, already mercilessly exploited for "comedy" via Hermione's unsuccessful activism. And it's...not even that significant. Ron: 'Hey, don't you think we shouldn't trap enslaved elves in a sieged castle that's about to become a death pit?' Hermione, and the narrative by extension: 'You're amazing, Ron! For showing them basic decency!' *aggressive kissing ensues*

And then Rowling made a whole crowd of house elves (along with a bunch of other systemically oppressed races that she couldn't bother writing properly) rush into battle on Harry/Hogwarts' behalf because wow, isn't he benevolent towards the enslaved? They love him! Like...no, Rowling, you didn't earn the 'all races unite' moment, rather you screwed it over so badly that your feel-good climax presents a picture of slaves rushing to defend their masters, who, I might add, just kind of forgot about them and decided that establishing nuclear families with a bunch of kids and no evil baddie anymore means 'all is well', systemic issues be damned.

[kateisprettyodd]

Discussing Watcher again lmao

Okay, now that a couple of days have passed and emotions aren't running high anymore - I wanna talk about the situation, the backlash, their potential response and everything else once again (with somewhat of a refreshed POV lmao).

I haven't changed my mind about this move whatsoever since the moment I heard about it. I'm an international fan, and through the very kind Tumblr user who is organizing a subscription match-up between fans through Email - I think it was @prettyghoul- someone was thankfully willing to reach out to me and share their account. So the money issue isn't a problem for me, sure, but WAIT - the website isn't international, I don't know if it's gonna be made available in my 'insignificant' Eastern European country (lmao), so a whole slew of issues arise that aren't money related (but of course, someone else would be paying, so I can't really speak on that issue on that person's behalf).

Secondly, people who are defending Watcher on here and on other social media - I understand you, I get you, but to be perfectly honest some of you are cherry-picking the information you present and are somehow blind to their intentions, either on purpose or genuinely. I don't understand how people can't see that making this move is so incredibly selfish. That's the best and frankly only way to describe it. And no, it's not because creatives don't deserve to be paid for the work that they do, and it's not because we are ENTITLED to receiving free content on YouTube (which is the main narrative being pushed by defenders on here) - but it's because their ambitions do not line up with the audience-based shows they have been creating. They have incredible creative abilities and true passion for creating shows which are "much higher-quality than other YouTube shows" (simply not true but I digress), but nothing will ever change the fact that they started on YouTube, that their main audience was cultivated on YouTube, the place they have come to despise because of the limitations to THEIR creative work, such as appealing to advertisers and whatever else they mentioned in the video. This I can understand, YouTube's algorithm sucks and advertisers are also horrible, as well as the fact that 'unappealing' yet passionate shows don't do well - this can all take a hit on their creativity and their passion for YouTube. I understand. But they have to weigh these cons against the pros, and they clearly did a horrible job of that. YouTube allows them to increase their relatability and their marketability if you play by the rules, YouTube allows them to connect with other creators WHICH SOME OF THEIR SHOWS LITERALLY depend on, YouTube allows them things like the discover page and the trending page where new audiences can find your stuff once you expand your reach to appeal to different demographics and interest groups, YouTube Membership is a thing if you need income, whatever. I understand that they don't want to play by the rules, but if your audience is gone then who are you making these shows for??? When your main venture is paid, even if it is 'only' 5.99 a month (lmao again), other options where they can make revenue immediately close up, since they can't really justify them. Why does their Patreon still exist??? What was the purpose of PodWatcher??? How are shows like Are You Scared? and Too Many Spirits going to survive on a streamer, shows which are based on that exact YouTube vibe of low-production two dudes chilling and laughing. Why are they considering their shows TV-caliber? Puppet History and Mystery Files are certainly NOT TV-quality and they are the second- and third-most popular.

Which is what brings me to my next point - how this all seems Ghost Files and Travel Season centered. No one can convince me that most of their expenses are not going to these two shows right now. Ryan said it himself, a season of Ghost Files takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to make, which is fine and I commend him for that effort. I don't even have to tell you why Travel Season also may have cost them a lot of money - which is also fine and I understand the appeal of it. But why not try a different approach? A season of Ghost Files doesn't necessarily have to come out every year, they could space out their budget, spend time churning out Too Many Spirits and Are You Scared (also shows that perform quite well), update their Patreon to look more Mythical Society-esque, do a merch drop (I have seen so many people asking for box-sets of their shows, and I can guarantee people would have paid A LOT of money to get a Puppet History karaoke thing on Patreon or WHEREVER)... Just generally diversify their income??? And space out these GIANT, extremely expensive shows, generally pace themselves and take it easy?

Now, they won't be able to expand their reach EVEN IF they bring new personalities onto the streamer. No one new will hear about them, and if they do, why would they pay for something they've never heard of before? There is no algorithm to cater to the masses which recommends their videos to new people. People who were here from the BFU days are disilluisoned and probably won't pay. They legitimately sacrificed their audience for money to fuel their creative ambitions, but their creative ambitions don't have an outlet anymore.

TO BE CONTINUED as this is too long already

[skyeeuphixia]

𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 // 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚎

lip gallagher x northside OC (Daisy) summary: in which lip could never see himself falling for a girl from the northside 

part one of ?

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warnings: swearing, smoking word count: 3098

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Lip had no idea why a girl from the northside attended a shitty public school in the southside. And quite frankly, he couldn't care less. He had enough shit going on in his life, he didn't need to add thinking about some entitled priss onto that list.  She smiled constantly, and never seemed to get upset or let the intimidating southside area scare her. She was a privileged girl, anyone would assume so, and for that reason, Lip decided that he didn't like her. 

After all, "All northsiders are the same"

Lip had gone freshman and sophomore year without interacting with the girl once and so far, in junior year, he had maintained it. It wasn't like he was actively trying to ignore her. But he wasn't exactly displeased their paths had never met. All he knew of the girl was that she was from the northside and her name. Daisy. 

And he planned to keep it that way. Lip didn't care for people, his friends at school consisted of his brother Ian and Mandy Milkovich. He was too good for all the other incompetent assholes in their school, so not knowing the northside priss didn't drastically affect him and his day. 

That was until his plan got screwed over. 

⋆ ★

It wasn't a secret that Ian and Lip shared everything with each other, but there was one thing Ian didn't feel the need to mention. He and Daisy were friends. They don't know how it happened, but they were both late to their respective classes and had, quite literally, bumped into each other in the hall, which somehow resulted in a friendship. 

However, although they had been friends for quite some time now, Ian didn't actually know that much about her, she was quite a private person. 

Ian, Mandy and Lip were doing what they usually did at lunch, smoking in the boy's bathroom, laughing and spending the 30 minutes of learning free time they get together by chatting and not taking life seriously. 

"Hey Lip, do you think you could do me a favour?" Ian asks, after the laughter that occurred after a joke that Lip had cracked died down. 

"Depends what it is," The older boy replies, taking a long drag from his joint. 

"I have this friend in your year, she needs help with chemistry,"

"What does she need?"

"An A, she's got a C at the moment."

"Who is it?"

"Daisy Bennett," Ian replied almost hesitantly, he wasn't ignorant to the rumours and opinions people held of his friend, and he didn't know Mandy's or Lip's view on the girl, all he had heard was Mandy mention she liked the girl's pristine black combat boots, Mandy's being a size too small and covered in scuffs and mud. 

"Wait, Little Miss Priss? Why would you be friends with her?"

"Did she bribe you with her daddy's money?" Mandy piped in, smirking at the younger boy.

"No," Ian snapped back at them, "We just bumped into each other once and, I don't know we clicked, listen she's a nice girl and she needs some help with something, if you don't do it for her do it for me,"

Lip looked at his younger brother for a few moments, Ian never had that many friends, he got on with people, but he wouldn't call anyone, other than Lip and Mandy, his friends, so who knew what was so special about this girl. He was protective of his brother, and part of him just wanted to meet her so that he could make sure she wasn't going to hurt him. 

"Fine whatever, tell her to be at ours at 6, also whatever I normally charge, she pays double,"

"What why?" 

"She's from the northside Ian! I'm sure she could spare a few bucks to give to some southside lowlifes!"

Once Lip finishes speaking, the dull sound of the bell goes off, evident in its sound that it hasn't been fixed in years. The trio are quick to dispose of the evidence of them smoking before gathering their stuff and making their way out the bathroom, Ian helping Mandy down from the window still she was sitting on. Lip looked towards his brother one last time as he and Mandy walked away from the bathroom towards their respective classrooms, one thought on his mind.

What the hell am I getting myself into?

⋆ ★

After a long and gruelling day, where the same old boring teachers, taught the same boring shit for yet another year, it was nearly time for Daisy to be at the Gallaghers. One thing that Daisy's dad was keen to get into her at a young age was being punctual, she regularly arrived early for things, and was never more than 3 minutes late. So here she was, walking up the steps to the Gallagher steps at 5:59. 

Daisy was nervous about this study session, not just because she would be tutored by someone she had never met before, she had seen Lip around, but never actually spoken to him, she was also nervous because she had been told stories by Ian about his family and how crazy they can be. She both knew exactly and had no idea what to expect. 

She hesitated a moment before knocking on the door, rocking back and forth on her heels slightly, holding her laptop, textbook and notebook close to her chest.  

A few moments later, the door swings open, revealing a young, redheaded girl, who looked up at the older girl curiously. 

This must be Debbie

"Who are you?" She asked, looking at the girl almost matching the older girl's stance.

"Uh hey, I'm Daisy," Daisy replies, smiling at the shorter girl, "Is Lip in?"

"Yeah, why?" 

"Oh, he's helping me study," 

"Debbie who's at the door?" An older voice asks, coming up and standing behind the young Gallagher, this woman was a lot taller than her younger sister, she had on a grey striped top and had long brown hair that looked somewhere between half brushed and neatly put together. 

Fiona

"Who are you?" Fiona asked, her tone changing slightly, looking Daisy up and down taking in her appearance. Daisy clearly stuck out like a sore thumb in this neighbourhood, her clothes were neat and put together, with a preppy, private school uniform feel around them. Daisy could tell that Fiona was judging her, she really wanted to be wanted by the Gallaghers, especially the matriarch Fiona, because without her approval, she'd never be allowed near her friend Ian again.

"Hey, I'm Daisy,  Lip's helping me with Chemistry." 

"You're Ian's friend right?" Fiona said suspiciously, having heard the name Daisy thrown around by Ian occasionally, not remember much from what she heard, only that she was from the northside, but Fiona could guess that already. 

"Yeah, I am, is he in?" Daisy answered, watching as Fiona gently pushed Debbie back into the house.

"No, he's at ROTC, so you're close huh?" 

"Well- I guess, we don't have any classes together and he spends a lot of time with Lip and, oh what's her name," Dasiy takes a few seconds to think, "ah! Mandy Milkovich, but we do homework together in the library after school sometimes." 

"Too good for Lip and Mandy then?" Fiona accused, she wasn't intentionally trying to make the girl uncomfortable, but she, like most Southsiders, didn't take kindly to northsiders showing up around their area, to anyone else, a northsider befriending a Southsider might be considered 'Charity work', and if this preppy priss thought that Ian was going to be charity work, she had another thing coming. 

"Oh no, not at all, they actually seem pretty cool, I just assume I won't be welcome, people at school tend to not want me around," Daisy answered honestly, not even letting her smile falter.

At that moment, Fiona felt bad for the girl in front of her, in their short interaction, she seemed nice enough, Fiona had nothing to judge her for other than she was from the northside, and that wasn't a lot to go off of. But clearly, the others at school believed that was reason enough to completely isolate the girl. 

"Ok, ok," Fiona muttered, turning her body so she was facing the inside of the house, "Lip! Your friend's here to study!" She yelled into the house, surely making everyone in the house jump.  

After a few moments pass, the two girls hear the sound of heavy footsteps trudging down the stairs and towards them. Lip rounded the corner towards them, not looking particularly impressed, muttering something along the lines of 'she's not my friend' to Fiona. 

He inhaled slightly before acknowledging Daisy, "Hey, come on in." He sighs, not even giving her a moment to reply before making his way into the house ahead of her as if he was trying to get away from her and get her off his tail as quickly as possible.

Fiona stepped aside, allowing Daisy to step out from the cold Chicago air to the slightly less cold Gallagher house, clearly, the heating was either broken or they had it down really low because of the bills. 

Daisy quickly followed after Lip, who was already halfway up the stairs, not having time to acknowledge the others who were sitting on the living room couch. Daisy just managed to slip into the boy's bedroom after Lip, which was lucky on her part, because if she hadn't caught up as quickly as she did, Lip probably would have slammed the door in her face. 

Lip knocked a few stuff off his desk, making room for the two of them as Daisy stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, still hugging her stuff close to her body, as she took in her surrounding. Their room wasn't small by any means, if one kid was living in it, then this room would actually be quite big, the thing is by the number of beds, there were clearly three people living in this room, who Daisy assumed was Lip, Ian and their little brother Carl, giving off the illusion that the room was much smaller than it actually was. 

The room was messy as well, all the blankets were randomly bunched up on the beds, clothes were on the floor, and random papers were all over the desk under the cabin bed (which Dasiy assumed must be Lips due to the assortment of space posters and the generally 'smart kid' vibe said corner of the room gave off) but Lip was just carelessly shoving them into the already full drawer at the side of the desk. 

There was another thing that Daisy's dad had drilled into her at a young age, neatness, especially if there was a guest, even if the guest wasn't even going to see her room! It still had to be spotless with not even a hair band on the floor. She had also been told how to be a polite guest and a polite host, but all it had really taught her was she was supposed to respect others as a given, whereas any respect for her had to be earned. 

"Yo, just gonna stand there forever or do you actually wanna get shit done?" Lip asks, breaking Daisy's train of thought, making her realize that he was now sitting down at a 'clean' desk, staring at her expectantly. 

"Yeah, sorry," she apologised, taking a seat next to him and putting her stuff down in a neat pile on the desk.

Lip grabs her notebook and starts flicking through it, Daisy honestly couldn't tell if he was even paying attention to anything in there, "So what's the quiz on?"

"Uh Section C of the textbook," 

"When's the quiz?"

"Two days"

"What don't you get?" Lip asks boredly, now flicking through her textbook to section C, seeing what he considered pretty easy content. 

"Um, any of it?" Daisy says hesitantly, scratching the back of her neck slightly, dropping her gaze to the textbook when she notices the unimpressed look on Lip's face. 

"Seriously? This shit is so simple!" Lip almost laughed.

"Yeah well not all subjects come naturally, I'm sure I can get there if maybe it was explained a different way, but Mr Gilbert refuses to explain it any other way because 'if you can't do it my way, maybe you're just destined to fail'," Daisy defends. She wasn't a dumb student at all, she excelled in subjects like English Literature and History. But there were some subjects like maths and science that she just couldn't do naturally and needed extra help with, luckily her maths teacher offered that, Mr Gilbert, however, did not.

"Whatever let's just go from the beginning and work our way through." Lip sighs, picking up two pens, handing one to her, before reading out the first paragraph of the textbook. 

⋆ ★

The two sixteen-year-olds had been studying for about an hour, Lip giving Daisy a few practice questions and using the time to get his old, tattered maths textbook out to do some work himself. Turns out, doing work with someone else in the room, who was also focused was actually a good study method. 

"So," Lip said, deciding to spark a conversation with the other, his curiosity getting the better of him, "Daddy couldn't hire you your own private chemistry teacher?"

Daisy huffed in slight amusement, tapping her pen against her notebook as she tried to both focus on a conversation and figure out a particularly hard question that Lip had written, "Nope, he doesn't even know I'm failing,"

"Last time I check a C wasn't a fail, for someone who isn't good at chemistry naturally, it's decent" 

"Not good enough for him," Daisy sighed, "Anything below an A is a failure in his eyes," 

"Shitty dad huh?" Lip asks, finally looking over at her.

"I guess yeah, he just wants me to do well" She replied shortly not giving Lip much more to go off of. Lip was normally good at reading people, but Daisy was difficult. He could now tell that her politeness was genuine, which surprised him, and also that she wasn't just using this study session as a way to sleep with him. This also surprised him, because he had had offers from other girls to study who would happen to have 'left their wallet at home' but repay him with a hummer.  Daisy wanted to study, despite clearly not enjoying the subject.

"How come you go to a shitty southside school then?" Lip asks after a few moments. 

"Well my dad wanted me to go to some private school somewhere, didn't matter where he just wanted me to get the highest quality education, my grandma didn't want me too far away though, so she wanted me to go to a school in walking distance to her house, our school was the only one that was a 10-minute walk," Daisy answered. 

"Your grandma lives in the southside?"

"For someone who doesn't like northside people, you seem to ask a lot of questions," Daisy says, looking up and smiling, finding herself looking right into his eyes. They were very pretty, she couldn't deny that.  She wouldn't deny that "It's getting late, I should go." She sighed gathering her stuff.

"Yeah, uhh, tell me how the test goes." Lip says, standing up and walking out of the room with her, unintentionally walking her to the door.

"Oh, so you care how I do?" Daisy teased, smiling at him with a smile that made a strange feeling happen in Lip's chest, one he didn't quite understand. 

"I care, that my tutoring works, I could use the ego boost," Lip smirks. 

"Ahh of course." Daisy shakes her head, reaching the door with him, "Oh um here!" She says, reaching into the pocket of her jacket, and pulling out a fifty-dollar bill.

"Oh no it's fine," Lip brushes off without even thinking about it, "I only charge thirty anyway, that's way too much"

"I know, Ian told me you'd charge me extra, wasn't expecting you to deny the money though, but I'm serious take it,"

"Listen maybe I'd take the thirty but fifty is too much." 

Daisy rolled her eyes, and forced the note into his hand, "Thirty for the help, and twenty for a new maths textbook, yours looks like it will fall apart any moment," Daisy smiles, before rushing out of the house. Leaving Lip no room to argue.

⋆ ★

Lip didn't know when in the day Daisy's test was, but it was now lunch and he was yet to see her, not that he wanted to. He just wanted to know if he wasted an hour of his evening for nothing or not. 

He, Ian and Mandy were walking to their last classes of the day, all of their classes being in the same general direction, when Daisy appears from nowhere, tackling Lip into a giant bear hug, winding him for a split second. Ian and Mandy look at the pair wide-eyed, the girl's strange act also getting the attention of a few passing students. 

In complete shock, Lip didn't have the time to process what she was doing before she spoke, "You are amazing!" She celebrates, pulling away from and smiling brightly at Lip as he desperately tries to ignore the pounding in his chest. 

"I'm assuming this means you got a good score?" Lip asks, the trace of a smile on his face, trying not to give the wrong impression to Mandy and Ian, who were watching the interaction almost eagerly.

"I got a 91/100! Just scraped it! Honestly, Lip thank you so much!" Daisy said breathlessly, her bright smile refusing to leave her face. 

"Yeah uh, no problem," Lip chuckled slightly, the dull tone of the bell going off, indicating that class was about to start, "Um, I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, definitely," Daisy blushes, offering Lip one last thank you before turning away and walking towards her class, a slight bounce in her step.

Lip was so in his own thoughts, that he didn't notice he was watching fondly after her, thinking about the strange girl that, he had to admit, piqued his interest. 

"She's not too bad huh?" Ian smirked at his brother, breaking the older boy from his thoughts.

"Shut up," Lip scoffed, punching his brother as the trio started to walk to their classes again, not answering Ian out loud, but he couldn't even deny his own thoughts anymore; 

Not bad at all Ian, she really is something... something good

⋆ ★ (fin)

[catmansquad]

Special (2)

An irritating Spider-woman leaves you on edge, fortunately, the man you love can make you feel all better...

(Miguel O'Hara x M!Reader) (Pokes M!Reader tag. "C'mon... Do something...")

‘What’s up Spider-fans! It’s Spider-Selene here once again! There’s a whole lot of you who’ve been sliding into my DMs about seeing Across the Spider-Verse. Well, guess who’s gotten her own special invite? That’s right; I’m in Spider Society!’

She held up her phone, still recording as her other hand held up the silver-white bracelet that swirled with a soft neon blue light. ‘For those who don’t know me-? Seriously, how can you not? Well, let’s take it from the top; I was bitten by some radioactive guy in a spider costume- some sort of Halloween party at a power plant gone wrong-, and since then I’ve been the one and only Spider-Selene; half-spider, half-witch, and full on badass! Fighting crime and saving the world with kickass acrobatics, pure love, and white light magic! Well, I’m already in good; got some tight-knit friends… Uh… Like Ben! Hey, Ben! How’re you doing big guy? Just telling all my fans about how I’m-!’ ‘… Friends…?’ Ben hung his head, face vanishing beneath his messy dyed locks, voice low. ‘… My life truly can spiral into darker depths.’ Spider-Selene blinked, a little nervous laugh escaped her before she swiftly turned on her heels, panning her phone away from him. ‘Yeah, he’s just being himself- we’re really actually good friends, like… Uh… Like me, Jess and Peter! Heyy!’ She waved them down, watching the two in particular pause in their conversation and look to her. ‘Hey! I’m just telling all my fans about us, want to tell them about-‘ ‘Actually, Peter, I really need to get back home… We’ll catch up later, yeah?’ Jessica gave him a soft, fond smile, that Peter matched and quickly strode off. As soon as Spider-Selene’s masked face snapped to Peter, he shrugged with an apologetic smile. ‘Yeah… Sorry, I’d love to stick about and chat, but I promised I’d look after Mayday tonight; MJ’s having a girl’s night out. See you later!’ With a “thwip” of webbing he was off, leaving Spider-Selene staring at the empty space they had once been.

‘So, you know the difference between the movie and the actual Spider-Society? Well, the bracelets are different, for one… But the really bad thing is… Well…’ She panned the camera, over to where two figures lurked by a futuristic water cooler; tall and powerfully built, a man clad in the venom green suit of a scorpion with his tail lazily curled on the floor, and a man in green and purple carrying a fishbowl helmet under one arm. ‘… Last world I explored? Literally built in the skies; farmlands, windmills, quaint little towns. Local population had wings.’ Mysterio gestured calmly the glint of a fond smile on his face. ‘Why do you get lucky? Mine was a swamp where the trees would try to strangle you with their roots.’ She returned the camera back to herself. ‘See? Literal. Villains. Just walking about with travel bracelets on. In Spider. Society. I… I mean, Mysterio’s kinda hot though, but the point still stands! It’s for Spider-People!’ ‘What did she say?’ She froze up, slowly looking back to where the pair stared at her. Scorpion’s expression narrowed further, his tail lifting from the floor. ‘M-Mac, don’t get carried away now.’ ‘Listen, you entitled little s-‘ ‘Mac.’ Mysterio’s hand on his shoulder seemed to calm whatever rage was building. ‘Look.. Spider-whatever… This place is for all of us to explore and chart the dazzling expanse of the multiverse. Perhaps no-one explained it to you- perhaps you just didn’t want to listen- but me and Mac? In our worlds, we’re the heroes. Don’t take Mac too harshly, he’s had it rough; his local Spider-woman is a terrible villain.’ A look of concern crossed his charming features as he glanced over her shoulder. ‘Perhaps it’s not any particular heroes or villains you should be worried about….’

She turned on her heels, and hurriedly tried to shove her phone back into its pocket. In a sleek black suit, you approached, peering from behind neon blue glasses, the scroll of data running across the lenses. ‘You.’ You paused before her, hands behind your back. ‘Spider-Selene.’ She corrected you, and you shook your head. ‘Lyla, pull her profile, please.’ The scroll of data stopped as you surveyed what had been brought up. ‘Hanna, please come to my office at your earliest convenience; you and I are going to have a little talk.’ She cringed softly at the mention of her name, like a scolded child who knew she had been caught out by a teacher. Finally, she hung her head, all confidence fled. ‘Yes, sir…’

You relaxed back into the chair of your office; its soft cream walls, shelves lined with tokens from other worlds, and the sleek desk with its hardlight screen scrolling the data that passed through the building. Sighing you, pulled the glasses from your eyes and set them aside, blinking at the world as it truly was.  It was fascinating, just how easily you had slipped into this life, this job, in another world and time altogether. Your eyes glanced at the bracelet on your left wrist, the silver-white sparkling in the light, the engraving of a many-branching tree visible upon its surface. Gabriel had a wonderful sense of style for designing their aesthetics. How different your life had become solely because of one extraordinary, wonderful man… The soft knock on the door, the door with that bore your nameplate and title beside it; “Head of HR”. Lyla’s hologram flitted into being on your desk. ‘Got Spider-Selene, here for your chewing out.’ You sighed and sat up straight, feet flat on the floor and pulled the chair closer to the desk, trying to look professional. ‘Let her in, please.’

She slinked across the threshold as the door slid open, hands clasped nervously as she waited for your judgement. ‘Sit down.’ The chair opposite creaked as she did as ordered. You waited for a time before clearing your throat softly. ‘Since it’s nearly lunchtime, I’ll make this brief as I’m sure we’re both hungry…’ You closed down the screen and leaned on your elbows across the desk, no barriers between your eyes. ‘Hanna, I’ve been receiving some...  complaints about you, recently. I know you’ve only been here a month and you might need time to settle in, but the frequency has quickly become… worrying. I deal with Spider-People relatively frequently, some are worse joke tellers than others…’ Realising you were beginning to drift off-topic you cleared your throat softly. ‘These complaints state that you have been… Irritating, unprofessional, and intrusive. Invading private conversations, recording and photographing without permission, and conducting yourself inappropriately in a manner that could be construed as sexual harassment.’ You watched the eyes of her mask grow wide, and you resisted the urge to grit your teeth at the last one. Needless to say, that Miguel certainly didn’t appreciate having his ass groped by yet another Spider-woman who thought he was the hottest thing since fire. ‘N-no! I’m not intrusive! I’m a superhero! I’m a good person!’ ‘We’ve also had complaints about… junk being left around the premises by you.’ ‘No! No, those are crystals and blessing bags! They’re to promote good energy and fill the space with white light… Y’know… cause I’m half-witch.’ ‘Riiight…’ You rolled the word, tone dry, you wished you had a drink beside you, something to stretch out the awkward silence.

‘I don’t know why we have villains just roaming the premises, I mean, surely for Spider-Society they should be sent back to their own worlds, it might damage the Ca-‘ You slammed a hand onto your desk stopping her babbling before she could utter that last, cursed word. ‘No.’ You closed your eyes, exhaling as fingers curled tight into your palm. You blinked your eyes back open, looking up. ‘We are not The Society. We do not wish to be their exclusive club, and we do not respect their views on the theoretical nature of the multiverse. Anyone can be an explorer of the Tree of Infinity. Now, Hanna, I want you to consider this a warning; we expect your behaviour to improve. You are still on probation, and if it does not improve, we may have to say goodbye to you. I will be discussing this matter with Miguel.’ She seemed to sink deeper into her seat at the mention of his name. ‘P-please, can you put in a good word for him with me? Let him know that I think he’s handsome? I-I mean, I don’t mean to brag, but I feel like we’ve got a real connection- we were bitten by the same spider after al-‘ ‘Really? What spider?’ You feigned interest with a gentle smile, knowing she had blabbed herself straight into a corner. ‘U-uh…’ ‘What spider, Hanna?’ ‘Uhh…. Black widow?’ You closed your eyes, chuckling softly as you nodded, and when you opened your eyes again, you could almost make out her relieved smile from beneath her mask. It was time to drop the hammer twice over. ‘Hanna? Miguel wasn’t bitten by a spider. Also, please stop flirting with him. He doesn’t like it, and his boyfriend doesn’t appreciate it. Mm?’ You watched her eyes slowly widen in realisation and drank it in before waving softly, triumphant. ‘You can go now, get some lunch.’

The gloomy room was Miguel’s office in the highest reaches of the tower, illuminated faintly by the sprawling, rotating image of a white tree with many branches. You knew its layout well enough to move through it without falling over anything, as long as Miguel hadn’t moved things around too much. As luck would have it, he had indeed. Your feet became tangled in a mass of cabling that had not been present on your last visit and you felt yourself stumble and begin to fall. You never hit the ground before familiar strong arms caught you and bore you close against his warm chest wrapped in soft clothing. ‘Heh… You’re getting clumsy.’ His deep voice was rich with amusement, right by your ear as he lifted you off your feet with effortless ease. You wrapped your arms around him, squeezing him in a hug with all your might, and his body didn’t yield in the slightest, only a faintly amused huff escaped him for your efforts. ‘You’re the one booby trapping your office to trip me up, Miggy.’ He laughed again and placed a fond kiss to your cheek. ‘Damn, you’ve figured me out… Lyla tells me you’ve been busy. Want to tell me what it’s about?’ ‘Well-‘ ‘Actually, hold that thought. Let’s get comfortable.’

He supported your entire weight with one arm as his other reached out, the “thwip” of the white, organic webbing from his wrist as he launched both you and him up into the upper reaches of his office, to where a hammock of webbing had been constructed. He laid you down on the soft, silken threads and relaxed beside you, the glint of his crimson eyes visible in the faint light. He began to rock the hammock gently with one foot against the wall and you felt utterly safe with one of his arms over your waist. ‘Well… Uh, the crazy witch has been told off. She won’t be groping you anymore. So your ass is safe… Until the next Spider-woman tries….’ ‘Ay dios mio… You think it’s pheromones? You think I produce pheromones that drive them crazy?’ You snuggled closer into him, nuzzling into his neck and sniffing to inhale his wonderful earthen scent. ‘You always smell great to me, Miggy…’ Another little chuckle escaped him, and he kissed the top of your head with a pleased rumble. ‘Uh-huh…? Well, Lyla’s made sure we won’t be disturbed… So, maybe your ass won’t be so safe from me, my love. If you want to do more than just snuggle…’ You snuggled even closer against him, feeling his arm around you tighten with strength that was just shy of hurting- you knew he still held back the lion’s share of his might, he could snap you like a twig if he wanted. ‘I… Think I just want to be with my Spider-Man, right now…’ ‘Heh… Te amo, mi vida…’ He purred as he placed another kiss to your head, still rocking you quietly. ‘I am yours…’

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I designed Spider-Selene to be an incredibly shallow, irritating version of some of the Spidersonas I used to see around Tumblr. Also I love the fact that she just got chomped by a drunk guy in a costume and the world went "Ehh, techncially that counts". Probably doesn't even have any powers (which would explain why ATSV Miguel had no interest in recruiting her)

[joyswonderland1108]

Solos suck ass.

I can't believe a day came where i had to click uninterested on posts about Jimin or Jungkook.

The algorithm works this way the more you interact with something the more posts about the same thing/person will show up more. You all know i'm a Jungkook and Jimin stan so naturally my algorithm picks up that i'm interested in posts about them individually or together, which also means the algorithm suggests shitty posts the same as the ones i've seen earlier.

There's this one post i've seen and i'm not gonna share it cause really both parties are disgusting but this made me think.. This is why you should be mindful of what you say because later it can backfire, and the only one receiving hate from all that is the members.

Jimin and Jungkook solos are in this constant war getting back at each other and they're both setting up Jimin and Jungkook for hate. If you're a solo congratulations do you want me to give you a cookie for that? You go be a solo in your own bubble and talk about your fav all you want, but don't forget that you're a solo so keep other members names out of your mouth, don't go thinking that by dragging other members your fav will be happy with you. Thank you for all the efforts you do for the member you are solo'ing but that's all, that's literally all there is to thank you for.

Another thing i wanted to mention since some people felt the need to bitch about it. And i'm with @kkhluvsbts in this one, you are entitled to your own opinion about something as long as you stay respectful, if you feel a bit disappointed that you can't see JK being credited on any song in GOLDEN, fine whatever those are your feelings and no one can invalidate them, but going the extra mile to diss him about that?

A gentle reminder that Euphoria was not written by JK yet no one was barking about how it doesn't associate with him or how it doesn't represent him or how it doesn't mean anything to him, and to begin with as per Namjoon's words it was supposed to be a Jimin and Jungkook subunit but they decided to go for Jungkook only.

Jungkook didn't write Seven either but because he felt a connection to it he chose that one song, it's also the way he interprets each lyrics those are personal to him. When he was interviewed about Seven he made a slight distinction between the MV and the lyrics and this to me at least showed me how Jungkook sees the lyrics for himself, not how YOU perceive them or how YOU understand them.

Should i also remind you of the poems you google when you're an X mood and you post them because it defines how you feel at the moment? Should we invalidate your state at the moment because it wasn't written by you? Should we just pretend you are lying about your feelings at the moment cause you chose to post words written by someone else?

Also since y'all are being smartasses you do realize that Jungkook didn't start working on his album very early right? I do hope y'all weren't just hypocrites pretending to care about him when you don't even realize this. Writing your own songs can take a lot and i mean A LOT some people have been writing the same song for YEARS not just weeks or months, do you think JK would be happy to give us something he didn't have enough time to write properly?

I just want to understand what's so wrong with connecting with words that you yourself didn't write? When Jungkook chose "There for you" or "Best of Me" for his GCFs he didn't sing any of those yet he felt a connection with them and felt like they were the most fitting for what he was trying to show us.

I don't know just how long this fandom will keep on being dominated by immature brains. I come here everyday hoping i'd get inspired to write something cute about my biases but end up being disappointed with the shit happening. Y'all need to get a life istg.