#I first made the ship in 2016 <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[stepswowdsen]

【KHR AU】 Nguyễn Selena 💜🌙🪷

Figured it's been a long time since I posted about my wife, Selena~

Nguyễn Selena is my KHR OC who is a Vietnamese non-binary assassin. Her Vietnamese name is Nguyễn Nguyệt Vân Liên.

Her name, Selena, means "moon" 🌙

Her Vietnamese name, Liên, means "lotus flower" in Sino Viet 🪷

In my KHR AU, she joins the Varia as one of their members and lives at their headquarters with the rest of the core Varia members. My wife has NB flag colours~ 💜🖤🤍💛

I mainly ship Selena with Xanxus.

In KHR, Xanxus is the leader of the Varia, an independent assassination squad under the Vongola mafia family. He was initially one of KHR's major antagonists.

You can read more under the cut!

Context

I added context for my mutuals who don’t know much about KHR, but would still like to tune into my KHR AUs and KHR OC stuff. Feel free to read only if you want!

Vongola Family = The KHR protagonist, Tsuna, is currently training to become the 10th generation boss of the Vongola family. Tsuna and co. are the Vongola family’s 10th generation guardians.

Varia = The Vongola family’s elite independent assassination squad. Their leader is Xanxus.

Source: (X)

Nguyễn Selena: Relationship Chart 💜

(Snippets from the KHR fan-wiki that I figured were relevant)

Source:

Sorry but I don't want to retype all this again so I'm just copy pasting from my Notion doc

Selena's info sheet and character relationship chart was inspired by FGO Materials' character profile formats where it lists a chara's general info, usage of pronouns, quotes, relationships with other charas, etc.

I still need to revamp the quotes with Selena's relationships with the other Varia members so I just posted Xanxus' part for now

I also included my rambles with friends!

Selena is the type who's calm and gentle but likes to keep to herself regarding matters that don't concern her. She's more aloof when she doesn't know the person well, but eventually opens up to the other Varia members.

I imagine Selena speaks in a really polite and formal way to Xanxus out of respect for him.

Xanxus and Hibari are my no. 1 fave KHR characters (tied) 🥰

Also used Glaze on my art as protections against A/I fart

Also I'm just thinking of the recent FGO: Summer 7 event with Douman growing cursed morning glories (vampiric shikigami), flowers that suck blood.

I NEED THIS FOR SELENA

DOUMAN BASED

Selena's man eating plants 🥰💞

Selena is very soft and gentle, but she can be a little unhinged, as a treat!

Selena is a gardener and florist (flower enjoyer and enthusiast)

[cheswirls]

how is iye(lme) almost five years old...... insaneeeee

i say that but the first acsb fic i put on ao3 is almost SIX years old!!! six yrs of (published) acesabo fic. wow

[vldunchartedregions]

Voltron Season 8 Meta Introduction

Hi! Welcome to "Uncharted Regions."

Now that it's been several years since Voltron Season 8 came out, the news of Netflix's removal of the series on December 14th, 2024 shook the fandom and pop culture as a whole.

You may be wondering... 1) Huh?! 2) Why?! It's a Netflix Original! 3) I loved this show, I don't understand! I was the same, too. We were all a little confused. However, licensing rights were ending to Netflix and Netflix doesn't want to renew. Fair play.

As someone who worked in a corporate company who also provides live streaming services + has a degree in television production, I have a better understanding of the executive decisions at play that comes down to it. It was not too hard to decipher why when you know what went on in the trenches of the Voltron fandom from 2016-2018.

The bottom line is that Netflix marketing did not match the source material provided, and there was intensive discourse across multiple facets of the fandom. You can imagine Netflix were not fans of the outcome of the series, and may not have even been told by Dreamworks the outcome of the series when Season 8 dropped; especially when Netflix's global social media accounts openly admitted to shipping Klance on Twitter.

Regardless, we're not looking at who's to blame, but you do have to wonder how such a large international miscommunication between Netflix, Dreamworks, and Voltron's IP holders went down the corporate funnel.

...I digress, let's move on.

As many people did from the news of it's removal (which also surprised the official Voltron accounts), I got back into the Voltron fandom really quickly and tried to rewatch as much as I could before it's inevitable removal from Netflix.

I haven't touched this show in years, friends. Not since 2020. The rewatch showed me one thing: that this show is breathtaking, stunning, and at it's core - it represented change. It's truly one of it's kind. To have the crew from Avatar: the Last Airbender, and Legend of Korra working on it on such a high level? Hell, there was an MFE pilot spin off in the works.

There was a lot of promising stories to tell with new outcomes and twists with a classic IP such as Voltron. It was promising a new future and fresh takes with comics, games, and so much more.

Now, alike to most viewers, I was there when Season 8 dropped. Hell, I was at the NYCC 2018 panel where they gave out these posters (which will be VERY relevant to this meta, I assure you):

The hype of Voltron Season 8 lead to a FULL panel that got closed off mid-way in the line. Many fans flew from across the globe (including myself) to get a glimpse of the showrunners, cast & crew, and a unique slice of the pie into Voltron Season 8's trailer.

The excitement was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before in a fandom. It was extremely thrilling, the trailer was outstanding, and Season 8 wasn't too far away.

First shown at New York City Comic Con 2018, get a look at the #Voltron production team's take on the upcoming final season of Voltron Legendary Defender, streaming on @Netflix tomorrow!

Then Season 8 dropped on Netflix... December 14th, 2018.

It was jarring. There were plot points that made no sense, obvious edits to scenes, censorships like a One Piece 4Kids dub, characters cut and pasted into scenes, and storylines were slapped together like a messy sandwich. And it was incredibly obvious too.

The fandom noticed and reacted accordingly - asking questions and demanding answers left, right, and centre. The showrunners responded through podcasts and statements on various levels.

The answer was clear... their vision wasn't the only vision going into the show:

"You know, as we sort of got through the process of premise, script, it went all the way down the line. It got storyboarded. And then at some point, you know, we received pushback from the studio and you know, we were sort of a little confused, like, “hey, how did it go, like, so far down the line before we received pushback?” And you know, this is not like a, like, a vilifying of DreamWorks or anything, like, every exec that we ever interacted with was, it was like, “hey, we understand why you want to tell this story. We understand where you’re coming from. It’s a little bit bigger than that. You know, there’s-there’s other, sort of, controlling parties with Voltron which makes it unique. It’s not just a DreamWorks-owned property.” And it just–I think logistically it just got really, really weird."

Joaquim Dos Santos - Afterbuzz TV interview. Source: https://dragonofyang.tumblr.com/post/183820127648/abtv-mar-4-transcript

---

Fans promptly started a petition two days later to release the original Season 8. THAT'S how obvious the editing was and how obvious the deterred, original vision had become.

As a disappointed fan and someone who studied media analysis intrinsically for university, I did try to rewatch back then, and it was painful to watch. What happened? There were layers of context on the cutting room floor and scenes didn't make sense. Hell, each episode title always has a double layered meaning, and even those layers were stripped from the core of the episodes for the most part. This left fans to say, "Whaaaaat is going ON?" The entire fandom was hurt by what had occurred.

The cast & crew that were also unaware of these story changes were also quite hurt, too. To make it more apparent, the showrunners were pretty open on speaking about leaving the project as well on the Buzzfeed Aftershow Podcast, but they simply couldn't:

LM: It’s not-it’s not just like, “Oh I can’t afford my mortgage!” You know, we have a crew that we care about we brought onto this show. If we abandoned them, we-we don’t know what’s in store for them. We don’t know, do they get to stay on? Do they get to keep their jobs? Does someone else come on and then they’re working under someone else that they didn’t sign up for? Or–

JDS: Or they’re working under someone else that’s just gonna be like, “Alright, we’re just gonna finish the show and not really do right by the rest of it.”

Lauren Montgomery & Joaquim Dos Santos - Afterbuzz TV interview. Source: https://dragonofyang.tumblr.com/post/183820127648/abtv-mar-4-transcript

---

We all wanted answers, and sure, some members of the team did speak up - but it didn't provide clear answers on what was the go with Season 8 being edited so far into post-production.

Now, this blog isn't dedicated to restoring Season 8 to it's original format (that would be lovely, but we have to be realistic - it has been 7 years and no google drives of the original season 8 have dropped so far). No, no.

That might happen (I've got a positive mindset on it - someone has to have a back up copy on some hard drive somewhere), or maybe it will be released... in a green sock reality.

Rather, this blog is dedicated to all the fans (new & old) whom want a sense of closure to as to why their favourite show on Netflix from 2016-2018 dropped the ball so hard for Season 8.

Not thinking much of it, I had posted a twitter thread detailing how the ending with all the lions flying off looked a little odd.

...And so, I received an anonymous inbox on New Years Day, 2025

This DM... was the start to an unravelling of webs and a rewatch that crumbled immediately. The cracks were all there.

I rewatched Season 8 with this information at hand with a few of my closest online friends, and we were shocked at how much there was to uncover. We were absolutely FLOORED by what was found, including incredible pieces of evidence from the fandom itself.

Now... Why does this matter? It's been YEARS and I'm sure we're not the first to uncover some pieces of information (See the #FreeVLDS8 movement - so, so many good finds there as a foundational point of reference).

Some of what we've uncovered in these Uncharted Regions has NOT been covered by the fandom before, nor does it scratch the surface of what's been found as of yet.

Welcome to the Uncharted Regions of Voltron Season 8.

Our aim for this meta is to acknowledge the following with detailed evidentiary support: 1. The editing of multiple episodes & scenes.

From there, we will look at the alleged changes: 2. Plot points & scenes that may or may not have had cuts. 3. Providing official-style edited shots comparisons to portray how some scenes should've looked in the original Season 8. 4. Piecing each episode / episode orders together (as best as we can) 5. The original ending.

Cheers to the beginning of a new meta, a new hope, and a new perspective on what truly happened to Voltron Season 8.

(Allegedly; for entertainment purposes only)

The one thing I humbly request is PLEASE... No hate towards the showrunners, cast, crew, or the official Voltron IP holders. There's a lot that has changed culturally and intrinsically within the industry over the years and this outcome was not something they could simply control. Let's be adults, look at this open conversation with empathy and love, and respectfully, let's indulge in this topic with grace - your feelings, however, are incredibly valid when it comes to this meta and what we uncover, as there's many alleged finds that may shock the fandom.

Let the journey commence.

Check out my Twitter page for any and all updates in regards to this insanely detailed meta; including teasers and screenshots! Please and thank you.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

This 2016 nautical themed mansion in Boca Raton, FL is off the chain. I have never seen anything like this. 12bds, 11ba, 12,709 sq ft, $25m. Even if it doesn't come with all the furnishings, it's still gonna be insane.

As soon as you enter the front, you can tell something "special" is going on here. Look at the floor.

Impressive stairs in the main hall. So, even without the furniture, you'd still be left w/the floors, stairs, murals, walls, and plenty of decor.

I don't even know where we are. I think it's still the hall.

Have you ever seen a dining room like this? Where do you even look first?

The huge kitchen has a Viking ship table. The murals on the ceiling and walls, the tiles, this place is crazy.

It has 3 different seating options. Look at the color of the marble counters, the floor, and cabinetry.

Look at the turquoise stove. It's gigantic and must've been custom made.

A pantry with painted cabinets leads to the family room.

Giant family/game room has a bar and a kitchenette.

Look at the tiles and sinks, not to mention the cabinets.

Behind that TV wall there's a sun room.

Found the living room.

Check out the half bath.

Clearly, the owner is an artist and made a lot of the stuff for the house- here's only one part of the craft room, with the kiln and ovens.

Another sitting room.

The stairs in the rear of the house are like a tree.

Okay, I gotta have this house.

You can get lost in this place. Look at this bedroom.

There are so many halls.

Looks like another craft room.

One of the baths.

This actually looks like the dog's room.

Bedroom and bath. Wow.

Aerial view of the fish-shaped pool. You have to look at the listing, b/c this home is so big, there are over 200 photos, and every room is different. The waterfront lot is .53 acre. Dock the boats along the edge, there's plenty of room.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/1201-Marble-Way-Boca-Raton,-FL-33432_rb/87660584_zpid/

[seancurry1]

Remember, Thou Art Barnacle

A serenity prayer for election day.

Originally posted on my website.

The Ann Selzer Iowa poll, regarded as the gold standard in all of political polling, shows Harris is up +3 in a state that Trump won by +8 in 2016 and by +9 in 2020. 

And you are a barnacle. 

The election better markets have Trump up by +19 (as of noon EST, 11/5/24), and bettors don’t care if people are ashamed to admit who they’re voting for—they’re in it for the money and only the money.

And you are a barnacle. 

Mainstream pollsters have admitted to weighting their polls heavily in favor of Trump, to ensure they don’t end up with egg on their face like they did in 2016 and 2020 again. International whales are taking out huge bets in favor of Trump, swinging the markets, and right wing think tanks are flooding the zone with bullshit polls to artificially inflate Trump’s odds in the aggregate. And even if the popular vote is overwhelmingly for Harris, Trump’s team is already laying the narrative groundwork to support a Stop the Steal campaign that, by the time you read this, will likely already have started. 

All of that is true. 

And you are still a barnacle. 

You are not piloting the ship. You are not the captain of the ship. You are not laying out the potential courses the ship could take, you are not deciding which course the ship will take, you are not scouting ahead. 

You aren’t even a paying, ticket-holding passenger on the ship. You are a barnacle on the hull, deep underwater, and unfortunately, there isn’t really anything you can individually do to affect where this ship goes. Sorry! 

This isn’t an invitation to check out, or become apathetic, or (heaven forbid) embrace doomerism. Quite the opposite: this is a reminder of who you actually are in this entire scenario, of the power you do not have, and of the power you definitely do. 

After the 2016 election, some small part of myself was convinced I could change the outcome if I just posted hard enough. If I fought enough of my friends on Facebook, texted angrily, and tweeted from enough protests and rallies, somehow Trump would no longer be President-elect. 

All it did was, literally, give me a rash. I got so angry for so long that my skin started to break out in hives. A doctor friend more-than-half seriously prescribed that I “get the fuck off Facebook” until my skin returned to normal. Trump was still President-elect, the next 8 years happened the way they did, and here we are today. 

You’re going to hear a lot today: polls are tightening! Votes still aren’t in from this critical precinct! If these trends hold, then we can expect to know something by such-and-such a time! The race is as tight as can be! White supremacists are threatening violence to avenge a dead squirrel! 

(The squirrel thing is 100% real, and my god, I really wish I was joking.) 

Remember, through all of it, that you are not the captain of the ship. You are a barnacle on its hull, and there is very little you can personally do to change it at this point. You’ve already done all you can do—or maybe you haven’t, but even then, you’ve already done all you’re going to do. 

And as you stress, and consider how inebriated you’re going to get, and decide on which web pages you’ll be refreshing every thirty seconds, and stress out some more, remember too that Donald Trump hasn’t ever won the popular vote in his entire miserable life. He only won the electoral college, a racist system explicitly designed to empower slaveholders in southern states, one time, and ever since then, he has lost every election he’s declared for. 

More people did vote for the woman candidate the last time one ran for President, and more people have voted for the candidate of color than their opponent every single time a person of color has run for President on a major party ticket. 

And women have already made up a larger share of early voting than men in this, the first general election post-Dobbs, than ever before in American history. (53% women to 44% men.) 

So as you stress and consider your inebriates and say to yourself, “How can it possibly be this close?!” for the umpteenth time today, remember too that Donald Trump is a fascistic, deeply unpopular person (let alone President) backed by an even more deeply weird party, and that almost the entirety of your experience of this election is being filtered through the lens of a national, for-profit media that doesn’t care who wins, so long as you keep watching. 

Remember, you are not the captain of the ship, you are not the helmsman, you are not the map-maker. 

You are a barnacle. 

Vote for Harris, vote Democrat in your local and state races, and trust your other barnacles.

If you like this, consider signing up for my newsletter to get more writing from me right in your inbox the second it posts: sean-curry.com/signup

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Chondrichthyes - Rhinopristiformes

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our third order of batoids (rays) are the Rhinopristiformes. This order contains the families Trygonorrhinidae (“fiddler rays” or “banjo rays”), Rhinobatidae (“guitarfish”), Rhinidae (“wedgefishes”), Glaucostegidae (“giant guitarfishes”), and Pristidae (“sawfish”).

Rhinopristiformes are characterized by a somewhat shark-like appearance, with flattened disc-like or diamond-shaped bodies, relatively small pectoral fins fused to the disc, and a long tail with two dorsal fins. Their finned tail helps the ray with propulsion and they swim in a more shark-like manner, rather than with their pectoral fins like stingrays and skates. However, as rays, rhinopristiform eyes and spiracles are on the dorsal side of their body while their gill slits, nostrils, and mouth are on the ventral side.

Rhinopristiformes give live birth, with embryos gaining nutrients via a yolk sac within the mother until they are born. Litter sizes are usually small. Most species exhibit slow growth, late maturity, and low fecundity. These features cause these animals to be susceptible to extinction.

Rhinopristiformes date back to the Late Jurassic.

Propaganda under the cut:

The large fins of Rhinopristiformes are considered a delicacy and are highly sought after, often the only parts of the animal kept and brought to market. High demand and overfishing has caused rapid declines in rhinopristiform populations worldwide, and most species are endangered.

Recent studies suggest that the Eastern Shovelnose Ray (Aptychotrema rostrata) may have trichromatic colour vision, like humans, due to the discovery of three spectrally distinct cone visual pigments in the retinae.

The oldest recorded Banded Guitarfish (Zapteryx exasperata) was estimated to be 22 years old.

The Guna people of the Caribbean coast of Panama and Colombia consider sawfish as protectors of mankind, who rescue drowning people and help fight off dangerous sea creatures.

In 1573, it was described how a ship almost sank during a storm in Italy. The sailors prayed that they would be saved and made it safely ashore. Once ashore, they discovered a sawfish that had "plugged" a hole in the ship with its saw, essentially sacrificing itself. A sawfish rostrum said to be from this miraculous event is kept in the sanctuary of Carmine Maggiore in Naples.

The Brazilian Guitarfish (Pseudobatos horkelii) is one of the most critically endangered Rhinopristiformes, and when it is caught as bycatch from trawling, beach seine, and gillnet fishing, is is usually pregnant females. It is estimated that this species may become extinct within about ten years.

One of the largest Rhinopristiformes is the Longcomb Sawfish (Pristis zijsron), which can reach up to 7.3 m (24 ft), but rarely more than 6 m (20 ft) today.

The 2.7 m (8.9 ft) long Bowmouth Guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma) (see gif above) is known to be preyed on by the Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). But the ray is not completely helpless, and may protect itself by ramming potential threats with the thorns on its head and back.

In 2007, the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky initiated the world's first captive breeding program for the Bowmouth Guitarfish. In January 2014 one female, Sweet Pea, gave birth to seven pups. Unfortunately, all seven pups passed away by February. In January 2016 Sweet Pea gave birth again, this time to nine pups. Five of them thrived and begin eating on their own and were eventually moved to the aquarium’s coral reef exhibit. A historic achievement for these critically endangered rays, which can be hard to breed due to a lack of observational data in the wild, and one that contributed valuable data to future conservation efforts. Sweet Pea was also the first Bowmouth Guitarfish in the world to have been target trained, allowing her to participate in voluntary vet check-ups. She passed away at the ripe old age of 19 in December 2023.

The Giant Guitarfish (Rhynchobatus djiddensis) is a known predator of stingrays. One specimen was found with more than 20 stingray barbs stuck in its jaw, apparently unaffected by the stingray's venom.

Told by the Anindilyakwa people of Groote Eylandt, Australia, the ancestral sawfish Yugwurrirrindangwa led a school of many different stingrays through Groote Eylandt, carving a river through the land with his saw, thus creating Angurugu River and a place for all the rays who followed him to live.

Around the Volta Estuary in eastern Ghana, the Ewe people revered sawfishes as spiritually powerful entities, classed as tro, of a divinity between humans and God. The Ewe had formal sawfish propitiation rites to dispel the danger presented when a sawfish became entangled in a fishing net. The powerful spirit was appeased with offerings of corn meal, alcohol, and palm oil. If this ceremony was not performed, fishermen who caught sawfishes were believed to have bad luck: illness might strike them or one of their family members, or they might be involved in accidents.

Even where sawfish are protected, people are still caught illegally trying to sell sawfish parts, especially the rostrum (“saw”). In 2020, a Florida fisherman used first a hacksaw, then a power saw to remove a live, critically endangered Smalltooth Sawfish’s (Pristis pectinata) rostrum and then released the maimed ray to die. He received a $2,000 fine, 80 hours of community service, and 2 years of probation.

In an attempt to increase the knowledge of their plight, the first "Sawfish Day" was held on October 17, 2017.

In addition to the living Anoxypristis cuspidata (Narrow Sawfish), the genus Anoxypristis also includes a few extinct species that are only known from fossil remains.

[devine-fem]

i am BEGGING you to make that jondami ship guide. not because i need anything to make me ship them more than i already do but because they deserve to have their good moments highlighted

Jondami/Damijon shipping guide.

A collective guide to any cute moment between Jon and Damian in DC comics or motion pictures. Any moment that could make a reader like them more as a ship will be put all here in one Tumblr post.

• Superman (2016) Issues #10-#11

This is the first time they meet each other and they immediately knock heads. Jon’s lighter than life personality clashes with Damian’s cold personality and they don’t seem to get along but you can tell there’s something growing behind the eye rolling and tongue clicking… a friendship?

• Superman (2016) Issue #20, #21, #25, #26 (mentioned), and #43.

• Super Sons (2017)

This is the first of the Super Sons series, the series is really short but gold nonetheless. No Super Sons comic that I don’t like but this one is my favorite. They still are knocking heads and refuse to call each other partners but they grow and learn to be heroes together.

• Adventures of the Super Sons (2018)

They slowly start to get used to each other and this comic shows that Damian isn’t just straight up mean but is starting to somewhat ‘like’ Jon.

• Challenge of the Super Sons (2020)

The last main Super Sons comics. This one is fine but I love the others so much. These comics are essential to know Jon and Damian period, it’s the main comics of each others story and in a way they are important to each others development.

• Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons (2022)

Now after all that reading treat yourself to a movie because Jon and Damian got their own movie. This is what started Jon and Damian for a lot of people and this is probably where a lot of you are from. This movie is great and fun. They made Damian wayyy nicer than in the comics and their friendship easier.

• DC Rebirth Holiday Special (2016)

Please find and read this. It’s so cute. I love it so much.

• Dark Nights: Metal issue #3 (2017 -2018)

They make a rock band in the beginning, its so cute.

• DCeased (2019)

• DCeased: The Unkillables (2020)

• DCeased: Hope at World’s End (2020)

• DCeased: Dead Planet (2020)

• DCeased: War of the Undead Gods (2022)

This is such a good series, and story in general please read it. DC peaked with this one and its so angsty. I don’t care what comphet was happening, Jon was there for Damian like no one else. I think Damian ends up with Cassie which is weird to me because Damian has never shown interest in anyone before but I excuse it since it’s not really gonna happen again since they were in a relationship just for the story to be more high stakes and sad. Jon and Damian’s relationship was at the forefront and for comic book readers DCeased made people see the potential in Jondami.

• DC’s Terror Through Time (2022)

This is so cute, please read this. It’s a halloween special and they switch uniforms <3!!

• DC Saved by the Belle Reve (2022)

They help a nonbinary person navigate school and it’s so damn cute.

• The age up incident.

(Disclaimer: You can pretend this never happens and I wouldn’t blame you for doing that.) A writer named Brain Micheal Bendis comes into the writers room for DC and ages up Jon in short. The story is that Superman goes missing (He travels to War World and gets stuck there) and Jor-El comes back to meet Jon and he takes him on a trip to explore space, then they get trapped in a wormhole, Jon gets stuck on Earth-3 and has to fight Ultraman. He’s stuck in a volcano for five or six years and becomes seventeen (we think) when he comes back. This was sad to me because it took away all the potential interactions for Jon and our ability to see him grow up, it was rushed and purposely so. Jon takes up the title of Superman somehow and starts to date some guy named “Jay Nakamura.”

• Superman: Son of Kal-El (2021) Issues: #1, #6, #14, and #15.

He does get a boyfriend here and I think it’s amazing the fact he simply gets a boyfriend but no one really likes his bf so… and the are real reasons why Jay as a character is problematic BUT if you just don't want to see him with someone else than every time you see a pink haired twink, quickly skip.

• Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent

• Super Sons (2017) Special

This is them reuniting after the age up and it shows how Damian reacts to it. I can’t actually find this and if anyone can please let me know where it is. I can only find bits and pieces of it scattered across the internet. All you need to know is that he doesn’t like the age up anymore than us since he says “I miss my friend.” which is really sad to me because the age up ultimately really hurts what people like about their dynamic as well as tarnish Jon’s character almost completely.

UPDATE: found it, it got attached to

• Dark Crisis (2022) till Issue #5

This is fine, after issue four Jon and Damian are not there anymore and if you read half the story just for jon and damian you might as well finish it.

• Green Lantern: Blackstars (2019) issue #2

They hug here. You’re welcome.

• Action Comics (2016) issue #1030

This is the best thing to come from the age up. This is so cute of them.

• Teen Titans (2016) Issue #43, #45, and #46

i didnt really like this, im not gonna lie but it has some damian and jon interaction worth noting with jon being protective over damian.

• Flash (2016) Issue #797

jon defending damian. this is such a cute moment for them. jon talks damian up and says how hes the strongest person he knows and how hes misunderstood.

• Legion of Super Heroes (2019) Issue #2 & #3

dont read this. its rlly bad but this is full of jon being the number one damian apologist, quality jondsmi moments over quantity. worth mentioning • Trinity Special: World’s Finest literally them raising a child together but their ages are a bit wonkey, i still dont personally know what age either of them are supposed to be there...

DC MEETS HANNA-BARBERA - Super Sons x Dynomutt

I’d say they aren’t exactly written right, well over all they are but their personalities are more relaxed and they care about each other a lot and will go out of their way to make sure the other is okay and protect them from danger, make them laugh etc, theres nothing wrong with this, its really cute but you can tell its not the typical jon and damian writers is all. I like it.

• Dark Crisis: The Dark Academy (2023)

• Wonder Woman (2016) Issue #800

- Fandom

Artist that draw Jon and Damian:

(I don’t know any of these accounts intimately so if they’re problematic in any way than I am sorry in advance)

Sheiya Vlad

Pechaghtlecha

Corinthianrm0

Hobiiiebrown

spider-jaysart

arunneronthird

Twitter

Hokke

Gozer

@_1209E

YouTube

Justice Lords Animation

Japanese Animation

Super Sons Meme Animation

- Fanfics

Trust fall by Ididloveyou_once

Those Who Wait by InsaneTrollLogic

moving in stereo by TheResurrectionist

Reasons to Not Fall in Love by nanami

Growing Pains

These are fics I read and liked, I don’t have much. I don’t read a lot of Jondami fan fiction so I insist that you recommend your own fanfiction in the comments. (Don’t hate me for the self promo)

- Music (A silly lil playlist I made for them)

END

[defjux]

Here's a 12x12 of some of my favorite albums that aren't rap albums. I did one of those recently as well, which you can find here. I think some years back I also made a similar list of the albums that were most influential for me, but this is more of an inclusive list of the stuff I generally just enjoy listening to the most these days. One album per artist, and only the first two rows are in order. I might do another one these in the future with all of the albums I love that didn't make the cut this time around, but for now i'm happy with how this turned out Chart with album titles included Maybe I could add as many of these albums as possible to a spotify playlist - is that something any of you would be interested in? What albums are your favorite, do we have any in common? If you've got any kind of list of your own i’d love to see it. Peace.

 1. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command  2. Björk - Vespertine 3. Portishead - Third 4. Gospel - The Moon Is a Dead World 5. Stereolab - Dots and Loops 6. Glassjaw - Worship and Tribute 7. Cocteau Twins - Treasure 8. Sade - Love Deluxe 9. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works 10. Sun Ra - Lanquidity 11. J Dilla - Donuts 12. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill 13. John Coltrane - Sun Ship 14. Converge - You Fail Me 15. The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium 16. Slowdive - Souvlaki 17. Jeromes Dream - Seeing Means More Than Safety 18. Max Roach - Members, Don't Git Weary 19. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi 20. Joni Mitchell - Hejira 21. Isis - Wavering Radiant 22. Broadcast - Tender Buttons 23. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights 24. Charles Mingus - Let My Children Hear Music

25. Q and Not U - No Kill No Beep Beep 26. Fugazi - Red Medicine 27. Orchid - Orchid 28. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless 29. Tim Hecker - Harmony In Ultraviolet 30. Candy Claws - Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time 31. Natural Snow Buildings - The Dance of the Moon and the Sun 32. toe - For Long Tomorrow 33. maudlin of the Well - Leaving Your Body Map 34. Ichiko Aoba - マホロボシヤ (Mahoroboshiya) 35. United Nations - The Next Four Years 36. Miles Davis - In A Silent Way 37. Nujabes - Modal Soul 38. Unwound - Repetition 39. Aphex Twin - Drukqs 40. Ornette Coleman - Science Fiction 41. Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain 42. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Tinderbo 43. Yves Tumor - Heaven to a Tortured Mind 44. Boris - Flood 45. Massive Attack - Mezzanine 46. Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun 47. Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill 2 48. Paddy McAloon - I Trawl The Megahertz 49. Panopticon - Autumn Eternal 50. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love 51. Krallice - Years Past Matter 52. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty 53. Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye 54. The Blood Brothers - ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn 55. Pavement - Brighten the Corners 56. slauson malone - A Quiet Farwell, 2016-2018 57. Sonny Sharrock - Ask The Ages 58. Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime 59. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma 60. Sonic Youth - EVOL 61. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime 62. The Cure - Disintegration 63. Madlib - Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6 A Tribute To... 64. Autechre - LP5 65. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On 66. Yusef Lateef - Eastern Sounds 67. The Chariot - Long Live 68. tricot - T H E 69. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain 70. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Moanin' 71. Prince - Sign "☮︎" the Times 72. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯A♯∞ [1995–1997] 73. The Avalanches - Since I Left You 74. Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels to Be Something On 75. NoMeansNo - Wrong 76. David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust 77. Oh No - Oh No Vs. Now-Again 78. Alcest - Écailles de lune 79. Electric Masada - At the Mountains of Madness 80. Grant Green - Idle Moments 81. Julia Holter - Loud City Song 82. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats 83. Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda 84. Protomartyr - Relatives In Descent 85. Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade 86. Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss 87. Tatsuro Yamashita - For You 88. Bruno Pernadas - Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles... 89. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear 90. Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless 91. The Fall of Troy - Doppelgänger 92. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues 93. Death - Symbolic 94. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica 95. King Crimson - Red 96. Junko Yagami - Communication 97. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I 98. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil 99. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters 100. Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come 101. Fishmans - Uchu Nippon Setagaya 102. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing..... 103. Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant 104. Pharoah Sanders - Karma 105. Brutus - Nest 106. fleshwater - We're Not Here to Be Loved 107. Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain 108. Burial - Untrue 109. NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM - Éons 110. Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising 111. Standing On The Corner - Red Burns 112. Taeko Onuki - SUNSHOWER 113. Pg.99 - Document #8 114. Alvvays - Blue Rev 115. Genesis Owusu - Smiling with No Teeth 116. Cibo Matto - Stereotype A 117. D'Angelo - Voodoo 118. Gouge Away - Burnt Sugar 119. Opeth - Ghost Reveries 120. The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Worse Than Alone

121. Ahmad Jamal Trio - The Awakening 122. Bill Evans - Symbiosis 123. Deftones - Koi No Yokan 124. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge 125. Newfound Interest In Connecticut - Tell Me About the... 126. City of Caterpillar - City of Caterpillar 127. Minnie Riperton - Come To My Garden 128. Lil Ugly Mane - THIRD SIDE OF THE TAPE 129. mewithoutYou - Catch For Us The Foxes 130. Love Spirals Downwards - Flux 131. Ohbliv - Retrospective 132. Liv.e - Couldn't Wait To tell You... 133. Shinsei Kamattechan - tsumanne 134. Herbie Hancock - Sextant 135. Beach House - Bloom 136. Wormrot - Hiss 137. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters 138. Anri - Timely!! 139. Cloud Rat - Threshold 140. Polaris - Home 141. Yes - Close to the Edge 142. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm  143. Coaltar of the Deepers - Submerge 144. Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

[ssr-archives]

We Know Her Value

Celebrating Ten Years of Agent Carter

In January 2015, Peggy Carter did something no other female Marvel characters have done at the time: headlining her own show. She strutted onto our screens, knocked out some bad guys with a stapler, and told us to call her “agent”.

In the years since, Peggy, her friends, and the fandom have gone through a lot. We’ve seen the show get cancelled, and Peggy returning, Jarvis returning, Daniel Sousa returning. We tried to #SaveAgentCarter, we held fic exchanges, we cosplayed and Disneybounded, and we created zines. Despite the show’s premature end, these characters stayed in our hearts, and we made sure no one could forget them.

Agent Carter will turn 10 in January 2025. To mark this milestone, I am super excited to collaborate with @peggynet to launch We Know Her Value: Celebrating Ten Years of Agent Carter. Starting from 6th January 2025, the anniversary of the show’s premiere, we will be hosting ten themed days to celebrate ten years of our favourite show. You can join by picking a theme, making a post on that theme, and post it on the theme day. Tag me (@ssrarchives) or @peggynet, and add the tag #AgentCarterTurns10. Your works can be as simple or as elaborate as you like!

I can’t wait to celebrate this momentous anniversary with all of you! Under ‘Read More’, you will find the themes for the ten different days. Hope to see you all then! And if you have any questions, just drop me a line in the ask box or the DMs. 

Day 1: Favourite Character

The show has presented us with a whole host of amazing characters, from Peggy to lab rats and background agents. So…who is your favourite?

Day 2: Favourite Episode

Agent Carter packed a lot into 18 episodes: fights, spy shenanigans, musical numbers, engagements, kisses. Which episode is your favourite? 

Day 3: Favourite Ship

We cannot talk about Agent Carter without talking about the ships, especially not when the cast happily fanned our fandom flames. Whether you are headcanoning any two or three to be passionately involved, or you have the one true friendship that does it for you, what is your favourite relationship on the show? 

Day 4: Favourite Scene/Arc

From Peggy threatening a fellow diner with a fork, to Daniel flopping his five-episode relationship, Agent Carter packed many interesting scenes and arcs into the overall spy shenanigans. Do any of these scenes or arcs stand out to you? 

Day 5: Favourite Cast/Crew Moment

Time to look behind the scenes! Once the episodes were over, the cast and crew kept the party going, from the Stark Jar to on-set pranks to the legendary Dubsmash War. Do you have a favourite cast/crew moment? 

Day 6: Into the Multiverse

Even though the show was cancelled in 2016, that was not the last we saw of Peggy and her team. Peggy herself returned over and over again, eventually becoming one of the few mortals privy to the knowledge of Loki and the Sacred Timeline tree. Jarvis returned in Avengers: Endgame, becoming the first Marvel character to debut on TV and move on to a movie appearance. Even Daniel made a return in Agents of SHIELD Season 7. Which of these cameos were your favourite? Who do you want to see in future MCU projects?

Day 7: Containment Breach

There is a life for everyone outside of murder gases and space goop. Since the end of Agent Carter, the cast and crew continue to entertain us with excellent projects. From Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning to Resident Alien to The Merry Gentlemen, we have definitely not seen the last of our favourite agents. Have you watched any of these? Do you have a favourite? Do they inspire any AUs? 

Day 8: Favourite Fanfic

What is Agent Carter without its fandom? From SSR Confidential to Agent Carter Zine, from fandom-defining multi-chapter behemoths to short and sweet ficlets, the fic writers have not been resting at all. This is your chance to shout out your favourite fics!

Day 9: Favourite Fanart

Artists we haven’t forgotten you! The Agent Carter fandom is home to many talented artists who have graced our dashboards with everything from sketches to whole comics. Let’s share our appreciation by naming our favourite fanart/artist! (Please do not repost artwork unless you have consent from the artists. Otherwise, please reblog or link to the original artwork. Let’s make sure that the artists get the notes and credits they deserve.)

Day 10: Free Day

There is way more going on in the Agent Carter show and fandom for us to cover in one week, so like the title says, take this day to highlight whatever you want! The show’s costume and makeup? Meta writers? Peggy cosplays and Disneybounds? As long as it is Agent Carter-related, you can post about it!

[motogp-museum]

Top 5 Motogp ships on ao3 during the last decade

I filtered each year from Jan 1st to December 31st. No other fics are included in each year's rank, only the ones posted during that calendar year.

'New' means that they were either new to any year's top 10 on ao3, or new to this list. If I included the plus minus, that means it was not new to the top ten, it just hadn't made the top 5 yet.

2014

P1- Marc Marquez/ Dani Pedrosa

P2- Marc Marquez/ Valentino Rossi

P3- Alex Marquez/ Dani Pedrosa

P4- Jorge Lorenzo/ Original Female Character

P5- Dani Pedrosa/ Valentino Rossi

2015

P1- Marc Marquez/ Dani Pedrosa (=)

P2- Jorge Lorenzo/ Alex Marquez (New)

P3- Alex Marquez/ Original Female Character (New)

P4- Marc Marquez/ Valentino Rossi (-2)

P5- Dani Pedrosa/ Valentino Rossi (=)

2016

P1- Marc Marquez/ Dani Pedrosa (=)

P2- Daniil Kvyat/ Marc Marquez (New)

P3- Jorge Lorenzo/ Dani Pedrosa (+6)

P4- Jorge Lorenzo/ Marc Marquez (New +5)

P5- Jorge Lorenzo/ Valentino Rossi (New +3)

(Rosquez down 3 places to P7)

2017

P1- Marc Marquez/Dani Pedrosa (=)

P2- Luca Marini/Alex Marquez (New)

P3- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (=)

P4- Jorge Lorenzo/Marc Marquez (=)

P5- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (+2)

2018

P1- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (+4)

P2- Marc Marquez/Dani Pedrosa (-1)

P3- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (=)

P4- Luca Marini/Alex Marquez (-2)

P5- Jorge Lorenzo/Marc Marquez (-1)

2019

P1- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (=)

P2- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (+1)

P3- Luca Marini/Alex Marquez (+1)

P4- Jorge Lorenzo/Valentino Rossi (New +5)

P5- Marc Marquez/Dani Pedrosa (-3)

2020

P1- Fabio Quartararo/Maverick Viñales (New +6)

P2- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (-1)

P3- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (-1)

P4- Luca Marini/Alex Marquez (-1)

P5- Marc Marquez/Dani Pedrosa (=)

2021

P1- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (+1)

P2- Fabio Quartararo/Maverick Viñales (-1)

P3- Marc Marquez/Dani Pedrosa (+2)

P4- Marc Marquez/Fabio Quartararo (New )

P5- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (-2)

2022

P1- Marc Marquez/Fabio Quartararo (+3)

P2- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (-1)

P3- Jorge Martin/Fabio Quartararo (New)

P4- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (+1)

P5- Luca Marini/Alex Marquez (+1)

2023

P1- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (+1)

P2- Marc Marquez/Fabio Quartararo (-1)

P3- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (+1)

P4- Luca Marini/Alex Marquez (+1)

P5- Marco Bezzecchi/Celestino Vietti (New)

2024

P1- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (=)

P2- Marco Bezzecchi/Celestino Vietti (+4)

P3- Francesco Bagnaia/Marc Marquez (New)

P4- Marco Bezzecchi/Marc Marquez (New)

P5- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (-2)

Top 5 of all-time and their ao3 debut date

P1- Marc Marquez/Valentino Rossi (17 June 2014)

P2- Marc Marquez/Dani Pedrosa (26 December 2013)

P3- Jorge Lorenzo/Dani Pedrosa (21 July 2014)

P4- Luca Marini/Alex Marquez (15 February 2016)

P5- Fabio Quartararo/Maverick Viñales (13 November 2019)

Discussion:

Since there were so little motogp fics in the first few years, some of the ships in the top 5 were there because of a single writer. So it does not always reflect the fandom's opinions of the ships. For example, all of the Alex/Dani and Alex/Jorge fics were written by the same person (at the time. There are new ones).

It also shows how a ship being popular for a short time can have lasting effects on the all-time rank. Maverick/Fabio being an example of this as they are still in the top 5 overall, despite only being in the top 5 of the yearly rank twice.

[respectthepetty]

Pride Petty Watch (SOTUS) 3/5

I'm making my way through the blacklisted shows I was supposed to watch during Pride. I already watched Love in the Air but paused The Untamed so I could deal with my sworn enemy, SOTUS. I'm watching it in five parts (first, second), so now I'm starting on episode seven and have decided 1) Kongpob x M are the perfect ghost ship, 2) this show feels much older than 2016 due to the language and style, and 3) this is a story of a masochistic dom looking for a sado sub.

Since I can't remember anything about this show, I'm actually excited to see all the ways Kong seeks out punishment warmth from P'Oon in the second half of this series.

Prem and Wad aren't going to be a couple, are they? I want them to be because Prem going instantly soft after they fought another faculty together and now being worried about Wad's wounds is the whole purpose for men to fight! Punch each other, then kiss the bruises!

I have no Photoshop skills, so I would never criticize someone else's work, but there are times when I see that this show was made with a budget consisting of two pennies rubbed together, and this is one of those moments because who added those people into the scene?! And why are they layered ON TOP of each other?!

For the people who hated Tae and Mee in The Trainee and the sports day episode in The On1y One, those people would be pissed watching episode seven of SOTUS because it's focused on the hets, capturing the flag, and nothing else. Someone could've at least passed out on that field, so this could be entertaining for me and the juniors, damn.

The man who played Deer has only acted in one other show, and I'm mad about it. The fact that a senior has to be on that field to answer these ridiculous questions from the freshmen is nonsense, but at least I get to see this man with his gorgeous hair.

Arthit says everything to Kong in the gayest way possible in front of all his homies and God without any sense of irony.

And Kong matches that energy every damn time! I'm already sick of them.

Forming a circle around Arthit to say thanks is kinda creepy to me, which is why it makes perfect sense that this was Kong's idea since these two continue to declare their love for each other indirectly while making everyone within two miles witness.

But this moment reminded me of Lisa's "Rockstar" music video, so Thailand stays consistent.

Kong is begging to be punished! Asking Arthit if anyone else knows he cries and likes pink milk is not small talk, and I know Kong just wants to feel like the most special boy for knowing all of this, but I also fully believe he wants Arthit to slap him.

M came on this trip so he could make heart eyes at Kong, and I will not be convinced otherwise. If I forget May exists, my ship is untouchable. M loves Kong, and it's canon to me.

Arthit is a Ken! He made all the boys go out to the water, so he could make the girls listen to him play a song on the beach. Someone needs to ask Greta Gerwig if she has watched SOTUS. Greta, if you're in the room with us right now, blink twice.

"If I tell you to die, will you do it?" YES! What the hell do you think this kid has been trying to tell you?! He wants you to choke him? He wants you to slap him? He has been instigating a fight with you since the first day because he wants your hands on him in the most violent ways. Baby is a masochist and needs to be kept!

I stand by the claim I made in an earlier post that the crew doesn't seem to like Krist because these title cards in-between parts of the episode do him sooooo dirty. There is no need for this to be the image, but here we are. This is rude.

I could never hate M. He is so kind and so dumb. I love those qualities in men.

And I love these qualities in women! (Sidenote: Let Jan kiss more homies, GMMTV!)

GMMTV's 2024 Outing, is that you player?

Since Love Sick and Addicted Heroin have been remade, when SOTUS is remade, M and Kong should be the main couple, and May should ship them while also trying to date Prae. Friends-to-Lovers, fifteen episodes, and make New and Singto play the characters again.

This is the biggest "hell nah" from me because I would not have that many people WALKING ON ME barefoot as some form of initiation. Walking on people is reserved for sex stuff! Just walking on people to walk on people is not normal, and should stop immediately!

I can see the wheels spinning in Arthit's head, but the pieces are not connecting for him. Your man likes when you yell at him. Kong likes when you get upset at him. The kid likes pushing your buttons because then he gets all your attention. Now say it with me, "Kong is a masochist"

Kong is practically begging to be slapped, and if Arthit doesn't do it soon, I will.

This scene hit me so hard I had to pause because it woke me up like I was sleeper agent. I NOW REMEMBER THIS SHOW! Nine episodes in and I finally remember this damn show!

I am white-knuckling my way though this show now because Kong is dressed for a date, Arthit is late and looking like a mess, and Kong is telling Arthit he will do whatever Arthit wants him to, he will like anything Arthit wants him to like, and he will be anything Arthit wants him to be. I do not know how Arthit is experiencing all that Kong is throwing at him, and not realizing that Kong wants to be his pet.

"Call Me by My Name Number: A Boy's Journey to Become a Pet" Where's Mame when you need her?

And now Kong is eating a meal he didn't want, AGAIN, simply because Arthit told him to eat it! I'm not even joking anymore; this shit is kinky, and in this exact moment, I don't hate this show solely because of this reason.

Fuck going to sleep! I'm staying up and watching episode ten, NOW!

[olderthannetfic]

Sending this to you specifically because I feel like you're the only normal brained person about this series.

I read Captive Prince a couple of years ago and liked it fine, as someone who doesn't have a strong preference for or against m/m and therefore isn't well-versed enough in its clichés to notice whether it reads like something full of cliché fanfic tropes. I really liked the use of language, some of the historical/political stuff, some of the ways that the characters are made complicated or unreliable.

The problem is, I've since coincidentally read most of the books that were Pacat's inspiration and. Well. Like 80-90% of the stuff in there has direct parallels in one of those. I'm not sure if there are more than three original thoughts in there.

I am not joking, if you read 1. The Lymond Chronicles and House of Niccolò by Dorothy Dunnett; 2. The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling and 3. The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, you will find that some of the scenes were ripped off beat for beat, many jokes were taken and just lazily reworded, a lot of the character beats and arcs are at best a mashup of 2 or maximum 3 things from those books with the serial numbers filed off really poorly. There's a scene where some characters discover a suicide victim whose structure and descriptions are completely ripped off from another series, except Pacat fails to see what made the original scene so impactful. A lot of the pretty use of language is also directly copied from those, including some really really specific descriptors. It's so blatant!

And I don't see how people are okay with this! I know people who are fans of several of these works and they're totally cool with it! And honestly if it were some rando's unpublished original project I'd be cool with it too, but as a published beloved worldwide phenomenon with rabid fans? C'mon.

And another thing is, all of the other series mentioned above are balls to the wall insane. She just... she just made it bland. She took off most of the edge and reshuffled the elements into a fairly straightforward MLM love story with some light kink thrown in. It's not a BAD series, but I feel like I'm disappointed that someone read all my favourite books and THAT was their takeaway?

--

I started reading, got to the name of the series and burst out laughing.

And, wow, you brought up something totally new that I hadn't thought about! I'm impressed. Genuinely. Usually, I rant about all the reasons I hate the series while debunking the standard anti talking points.

--

I've read the Vampire Chronicles, but that was in the 90s and I read Captive Prince in like 2016 or after. I had zero recollection of common points. I haven't read The Lymond Chronicles despite years of hurt/comfort fans bugging me to do so, and I think I got like a chapter into the Nightrunner series before getting distracted...

The reason I found Captive Prince annoying and derivative is that it also reads exactly like the original m/m that was available when it was first being written, most notably the work of P.L. Nunn who was extremely famous for horny fan art but who also wrote some original m/m fantasy novels. The scene where they finally bone reminds me heavily of the one from... uh... what's the P.L. Nunn one where the prince creeps on that archer dude and he gets raped because of course and then the prince has to be ~patient~ and it's peak boring 2000s rape recovery tropes?

The rape backstory is not only lifted from Fushigi Yuugi (the author's fandom at the time) but is shared with basically 100% of original m/m from that era. It's sometimes the uncle, sometimes the stepfather. One single time that I can think of, it was the foster brother, but mostly it's that "funny uncle" type. Unless it's gang rape from a bad Gundam Wing fic. That was also everywhere.

Once somebody told me the author had previously shipped Tamahome/Nakago, I realized that they'd taken what would be a kind of unusual anime ship and made it a thousand times more boring by dumbing down the scary, tall general with the tragic backstory into an uke-appropriate waif.

So I guess what I'm saying is that there may be some inspiration you aren't familiar with, but it's the same story as what you said above: this is the blander remix.

--

As for why people are okay with this... honestly, most of the people who really adore the series whom I've talked to point to how it encapsulates the exact tropes and tone they loved in anime fic circa 2000.

As a fellow weeb, I loathed the tone of said anime fic circa 2000 and could not wait for tastes to change, so Captive Prince is a hideous blast from an unlamented past for me.

I think most people who love the series aren't familiar with its inspirations. Those that are may have consumed them quite a while ago and don't realize quite how direct the parallels are. Or, for the inspirations that aren't overtly canon m/m, the lure of it being Exactly Right may overshadow other things.

(They also mostly haven't read 90s fantasy doorstops that actually contain political intrigue, tactics and strategy. Captive Prince is a piss poor entry into this genre and should be recced for m/m, not this other stuff people constantly think is in there. None of these characters can reason their way out of a paper bag.)

More than any of that, there's a lot of love left over from when the series was a serialized original story on Livejournal in an era when we had vanishingly few original m/m works, especially long ones in a fantasy alternate world.

I think that is what gets it a pass when a new m/m novel presented as "m/m romance" or posted on one of the webnovel sites would be mocked for unoriginality. Many Captive Prince fans aren't (or weren't when they read it) all that familiar with the smorgasbord of original m/m available today. Many are unfamiliar with anime fanfic circa 2000, so this feels adjacent to the fic they've read but a little fresher... instead of like the week-old sardine tin I found it to be.

[mew-ya]

can we see Marens OG Design?

MAREN HISTORY LESSON!!!

this was the very first drawing I did of him from 2016! his OG design! at the time, he was just like, a genderbent self-insert because my friend wanted me to make a one piece OC sibling. he was always intended to be older and part of the whitebeard pirates! he wasn't part fishman yet. he also got allergies a lot (like me!) so i would draw him with a runny nose. i have since removed this feature from him lol. he honestly looks pretty similar to his current design though except that he used to be super twinky to match my body type.

here are the only other drawings I have of that old design (along with my friend's oc)

his next iteration didn't come til way later! in 2022 or so? basically i had no interest in any canon/canon katakuri ships at the time and realllly wanted to draw him with a "good future". so i took my old op oc and made him fit katakuri a bit better--i wanted him to have sharp teeth so i decided to make him a fishman, but keep him looking fairly similar to the old design. so he was only half. it was also important for me to have a partner who was katakuri's size because i think he deserves to be held <3 so that's where the idea for a porcupinefish/pufferfish came in!

I got a bit better at drawing chubby bodies and made this reference, which is the closest to a current ref i have. back then, i had this thought that he'd only look chubby when he "inflated" since it makes more logical sense that way.

but i later felt that having a character who was "optionally fat" was just insulting in a way (and also bordering on fetishes that i wasn't particularly interested in my work being part of). so now i just draw him fat at any size, at varying levels. if i could change this reference, he'd be chubbier on the left.

here's a fun redraw I did to show how they've both changed!

and here's the latest most "reference" appropriate art I've done of him. I love this because I tried to make it fit the OP anime style as much as possible so it's really fun to see how people translate this into their own style.

[toffeebrews]

Blinks @ you you know stuff on ZephyrTop? 🥺

I've only briefly read the FAQ on it so if you know anything extra 👀👉👈

Mweheheh do I know about zephyrtop? Why yes, I do *cackles*

Zephyrtop has a masterpost that you can access here, which talks about the lore for Undertop and Zephyrtale Gaster! Ink is mentioned as well, of course.

"ohh, I don't understand what this is about, about Zephrtop, what's this?"

For some reason, the links for the introduction are broken. So here's each part individually

[PT. 1 ][Pt. 2] [Pt.3]

There's also of course the iconic post with ink and his dead af dad and the continuation where he's fine?

and a possible after math (?): "[Wouldn’t want to mess with the script now, would we Big Top?]" [Pt 2???]

Misc stuff

"mmmm.. if you miss doodling them.. maybe a sketchy/doodly (doodely?) Zephyrtop comic? because i love ship fluff with plot."

"Does Aster like ASTERroids"

"Happy First Birthday to Zephyrtop"

Happy 4th Anniversary

"What about a Zephrtop clothes swap?"

bro idk what this post is

"OHMIGOD ARE YOUR GASTERS ACTUALLY MARRIED NOW~!?"

"OMG! The Gasters got married?! Congratulations on the newly weds!"

"DONT BLAME ME FOR LIKING ZEPHYRTOP TOO MUCH BECAUSE INK LIKES IT JUST AS MUCH OK"

ink, idk man, fuck you but keep saving lives too

"Ink is the biggest shipper xD. I could almost imagine him watching other aus like ' C'moncmoncmoncmonyES THEY KISSED'"

why IS gaster so gay (not lore relevant just made me chuckle)

"Zephyrtop is so adorable @_@ are they your biggest otp??"

"ZEPHYRTOP! ZEPHYRTOP! ZEPHYRTOP! ZEPHYRTOP! ZEPHYRTOP! ZEPHYRTOP! FLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUF!"

"*chanting* ZEPHERTOP! ZEPHERTOP! ZEPHERTOP! ZEPHERTOP!"

"Oh? Is Aster going to show up? Come to think of it, did Undertop Sans and Papyrus ever meet Aster?"

"Undertop!Gaster has creational like magic, right? I remember he made and gave a little planet to Aster once. I’m curious, does what he make have the ability to stay? Or does it disappear after a while? His magic is so interesting!"

Heights

"How does undertop gaster and aster sound like?"

"Just a question. Did Aster and gaster ever had fights? If so, why?"

"The Gaster and Aster dancing in the tent but with no one around :3? Please and thank you"

"What kind of tricks can gaster do?"

These 2016 doodles

Also, on the @undertop account accompanying Coymet made during #ztweek, @/stylincheetah made some drabbles!! Again, I'm not sure if they're "canon," but it's a good read regardless!! Just in general, check out the tag #ztweek. All the art is very cute!! Here are the original prompts btw. These posts are:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday (this one is canon btw)

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Ink being ink at the Zephyrtop wedding.

[sunsets12]

Follow up to the other ask cause I really would like to know.

How long do you think Rick has been using a ghost writer for? What made you have this theory?

A friend of mine mentioned thinking Trials of Apollo was ghostwritten (I've only read the first book, not the whole series), and it made me pause and be like... wait a minute.

I think he used them for sections of the Heroes of Olympus, but not all of it. The Last Hero and the Son of Neptune do seem like his writing style, but after that it just seems to almost sound like an impersonator. Plus if I'm looking at it from a cynical view, his release schedule of books was crazy:

The Lost Hero: October 12, 2010. ~127,859 words The Red Pyramid: May 4, 2010 ~124,305 words The Son of Neptune: 2011 ~117,675 words The Throne of Fire: May 3, 2011 ~113,038 words The Mark of Athena: 2012 ~132,818 words The Serpent’s Shadow: 2012 ~116,000 (approximate) words The House of Hades: 2013 ~129,725 words The Blood of Olympus: October 7, 2014. ~111,748 words The Sword of Summer: October 6, 2015 ~118,701 words The Hidden Oracle: May 3, 2016 ~89,000 words The Hammer of Thor: October 4, 2016 ~111,544 words The Dark Prophecy: May 2, 2017 ~93,559 words The Ship of the Dead: October 3, 2017 ~101,274 words The Burning Maze: May 1, 2018 ~97,644 words The Tyrant's Tomb: September 24, 2019 ~101177 words The Tower of Nero: October 6, 2020 ~95272 words

Like, I know I've written a lot for TSIYW in less than a year, but I'm not editing it multiple times like RR had to do for his published books. It's honestly likely he had to get a ghostwritter to write some of it just to make his deadlines.

With that being said, from what I remember of The Hidden Oracle (it's been years since I read it) it didn't seem ghostwritten the way some of HoO did. And regarding Chalice of the Gods, it's 100% ghostwritten, and ghostwritten poorly at that (just look at the chapter titles for it vs. the lightening thief: "I Get Flushed" vs. "I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom", "I Take a Himbo for Smoothies" vs. "A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers", "I Meet the Man Bun of Doom" vs. "My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting".) I haven't read wrath of the triple goddess and don't plan to.

[mondstalgia]

BL ships that I will never forget:

In a few weeks it's gonna be 14 years of obsessing over queer media, especially BL, so here are the ships always on my mind in no particular order.

Arata & Shingyouji (Takumi-kun Series 4: Pure, 2010): Listen the Takumi-kun Series from 2007 to like 2011 was my life as a (pre-)teen. In hindsight really sketchy but anyway haha. Those two really caught my eye back then though (especially their racy kisses) and I was happy they got their own bigger part in one of the movies.

Evan & Isak (Skam Season 3, 2016): Was there a queer European teen that wasn't obsessed with this season of Skam? I remember re-watching it so many times I could recite their text without speaking Norwegian. Plenty of beautiful Skam universe parallel couples out there but these two will remain the iconic blueprint.

ChenAi (Kiseki: Dear to me, 2023): Almost unfair to put them on here but seeing how I haven't been able to think about any other ship every single day for the last 3 months, I feel like it's justified. They just have everything I want and need to get hyperfixated on.

Seiryo & Yuzuru (Seven Days, 2015): Oh my, the way I loved this silly concept and how funny it was yet they managed to get me all emotionally involved in the span of two movies? Insane chemistry and just..everything I needed back then. Especially since it was then one of the very few BL's I saw without a sad ending.

KornKnock (Bad Romance 2016, Together With Me 2017 - 2018): Listen, plot wise Manner of Death is the absolute height to me but when it comes to MaxTul I will never forget them as Korn and Knock in these series. Forever grateful to all the fanvids that led me to finding my BL fathers. Chemistry forever out of this world. Also shout out to Yiwha, best female character in any BL and my wife.

WinTeam (Until We Meet Again 2019, Between Us 2023): The couple that made me aware of what second lead syndrome was because I waited so long for more of them, it felt eternal. I don't think I will ever get tired of these two.

VegasPete (KinnPorsche, 2022): Who said I couldn't like a toxic ship? These two took me by surprise, I didnt even know they were going to be a ship in the series. Definitely acknowledging how fucked up they are yet at the same time it's the forst toxic ship that really got me. I love them, in my own weird way.

HaoGu (HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count, 2019): I mourned them like I have mourned no other couple. I should have known from the title but they really lead me astray. My beautiful boys, the star crossed lovers. They still get me emotional now, I might go cry now.

Hira & Kiyoi (Utsukushii Kare, 2021 - 2023): Before ChenAi there were Hira and Kiyoi who absolutely owned my heart. I love how misunderstood by BL fans they were who claimed their toxicity. Meanwhile I simply love how weird their relationship is and getting to see a real Tsundere in action. I'm obsessed with them.

Honourable Mention: Kim Jae Wook as Min Sun Woo in Antique Bakery, 2008. The very first gay character I saw in Korean media. Forever iconic, forever in my heart.