#WHY ARE YOU THREE MAKING THINGS SO DIFFICULT

[dxrlingluv]

Ok another, this time quicker, idea! How about the brothers, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus(separately) headcanons or blurbs or whatever you feel like with a modern day human SO/reader. I'd love sassy reader who didn't think they were real and makes that point VERY clear but you can decide personality! -♒

Belive me, Belive me not

A/N : The Big Three is here! Zeus and Posiedon art is from Neil_illustrator.

WARNING : GN!Modern!Reader, Fem!Modern!Reader on Zeus part(but no gender was mentioned, the reader just had to wear a dress).

Word Count : 2.7k

Hades

The first time he told you he was Hades, Lord of the Underworld, you snorted so hard your artisanal coffee almost made a reappearance. You were sitting in your favourite, slightly pretentious café, the one with exposed brick and Edison bulbs, and he'd just dropped that bombshell like he was announcing the weather.

"Right," you'd said, wiping a stray drop of latte from your lip. "And I'm Tinkerbell, currently moonlighting as a barista. Did you get that off a 'Most Brooding Fictional Characters' list, or was it a dream you had after too much pizza?"

He'd just blinked, those unnervingly dark eyes fixed on you. His name, as far as you were concerned, was 'Hal' – a surprisingly normal name for someone who dressed exclusively in bespoke, dark clothing that probably cost more than your yearly rent and had an aura of perpetual, stoic gloom. You'd met him at a gallery opening (you were there for the free wine, he was... well, you weren't sure what he was doing there, probably judging the canapés).

"It is not a jest," Hal—no, Hades—had rumbled, his voice a low thrum that vibrated through the reclaimed wood of the table. "I am Hades, Ruler of the Asphodel Meadows, the Elysian Fields, and Tartarus. King of the Dead."

You'd leaned forward, a smirk playing on your lips. "Okay, 'Hal'. Look, I appreciate the commitment to the bit, really. It's very method. Are you an actor? Is this for a role? Because if so, kudos, you've got the 'tortured ancient deity' vibe down pat. But you're buying the next round of overpriced caffeine, because my disbelief is making me thirsty."

He sighed, a sound like wind whistling through a cavern. It was surprisingly endearing. "Why is it so difficult for you mortals to accept what is plainly before you?"

"Probably because 'plainly before us' is usually a guy named Kevin who forgot to take out the bins, not the literal Greek god of the underworld," you retorted, taking a pointed sip of your coffee. "And for the record, if you were Hades, wouldn't you be, I don't know, a bit more... skeletal? Or on fire? Or at least have a three-headed dog cramping your style at brunch?"

He actually looked thoughtful for a moment. "Cerberus is not fond of brunch establishments. Too many small, yapping dogs and not enough souls to... well, never mind. And the corporeal form I choose to adopt is my own business."

"Riiight. Your 'corporeal form'," you echoed, tapping your fingers on the table. "Look, Hal, it's cute. Mysterious, broody, with a flair for the dramatic. I like it. But the whole 'god of the dead' thing? I'm gonna need to see some serious, undeniable, world-shattering proof before I even begin to entertain that notion. And I mean serious. Like, make it rain frogs, turn my ex into a newt, or at the very least, get the barista to spell my name right on the cup for once. That would be a miracle."

Hades—or Hal, as you were determined to keep calling him in your head—actually managed a small, almost imperceptible smile. It was like watching a glacier crack. "Your skepticism is... persistent."

"I prefer the term 'aggressively rational'," you corrected. "Now, about that proof? Or are we just going to sit here while you try to convince me you vacation in Tartarus?"

He leaned back, a certain ancient weariness settling in his gaze, but there was something else too – a flicker of amusement, maybe even intrigue. "Perhaps, for now, you can simply entertain the possibility."

"Oh, I'm entertained, alright," you said, a grin spreading across your face. "This is the most interesting Tuesday I've had in ages. But just so we're clear, this whole 'Lord of the Underworld' claim? That's a hill I am perfectly prepared to die on. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Unless you're going to smite me for my insolence, O Mighty Hal."

He didn't smite you. He did, however, somehow manage to get the barista to not only spell your name correctly on your next coffee but also add a perfectly drawn, tiny crown above it.

You stared at the cup, then at him. He just raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"Okay," you conceded, narrowing your eyes. "That's... weirdly impressive. But I'm still calling you Hal."

He inclined his head. "As you wish. For now."

And as you walked out of the café, you couldn't shake the feeling that maybe, just maybe, your aggressively rational world had just gotten a whole lot more interesting. And that Hal, or whatever his actual, ridiculously mythological name was, was a surprisingly good sport about your absolute refusal to believe he was anything more than a very handsome, very strange man with a penchant for dramatic declarations. The hill of your disbelief was still standing firm, but you had a sneaking suspicion he was bringing some very persuasive, very ancient siege equipment.

Poseidon

You figured "Perry" was just really, really into surfing. And fishing. And boats. And honestly, anything remotely related to the ocean. You'd met him during that beach clean-up you'd reluctantly signed up for. He'd been surprisingly enthusiastic about hauling plastic bottles, his sun-kissed skin and sea-green eyes crinkling at the corners when he smiled, which was often. He had this wild, windswept look about him, like he'd just wrestled a kraken and won.

The "revelation" came a few weeks later, after a particularly spectacular surfing session you'd watched him dominate from the shore. He'd strode out of the waves, surfboard tucked under his arm, water sluicing off him like he was personally sponsored by the ocean itself.

"You know," he'd said, shaking his long, perpetually damp hair like a cheerful golden retriever, his voice booming over the crash of the waves, "this mortal form is quite enjoyable for catching a good swell. Though, commanding the waves directly does have its perks."

You'd raised an eyebrow, handing him a towel. "Mortal form? Commanding the waves? Perry, did you swallow a bit too much saltwater out there, or are you trying out material for a stand-up comedy routine? 'Local Surfer Dude Thinks He's Aquaman' – it's got potential."

He laughed, a hearty sound like waves breaking on a shore. "Aquaman? A charming, if somewhat limited, interpretation. I am Poseidon, Shaker of the Earth, Ruler of the Seas, Stormbringer!" He punctuated this with a grin so wide it could have swallowed a small fish.

You patted his arm. "That's nice, dear. And I'm the Ruler of England, just popping down to the coast for a bit of incognito wave-watching. Seriously, Perry, lay off the sun for a bit, it's clearly getting to you."

"It is no jest!" he boomed, though his eyes were sparkling with amusement rather than divine wrath. "The very tides answer to my call! The creatures of the deep are my subjects!"

"Okay, okay, 'Lord of the Atlantis Fan Club'," you said, starting to walk back towards the beach café. "If you're really Poseidon, prove it. Make that seagull trying to steal my fries burst into a rousing sea shanty. Or, better yet, part the sea so I don't have to get my ankles wet walking back. My pedicure was expensive."

Perry—no, Poseidon, apparently—stroked his stubbled chin, looking thoughtfully at the offending seagull, then at the stretch of water between you and the boardwalk. "A sea shanty might be beyond its vocal capabilities, and parting the sea for such a short distance feels a tad... dramatic, even for me. But perhaps a small demonstration?"

Before you could quip back, the moderately sized wave that was about to splash your sandals suddenly, and very deliberately, split in two, flowing neatly around your feet and leaving a perfectly dry path of sand for about ten feet in front of you. Then it reformed as if nothing had happened. The seagull, however, just squawked indignantly and flew off with a stolen chip.

You stopped dead. You blinked. You looked at your dry feet. You looked at the now perfectly normal looking sea. You looked at Perry, who was beaming at you, dripping seawater and radiating an aura of smug, god-like satisfaction.

"Huh," you managed. "Well, that's... a neat trick. Very sophisticated sprinkler system you've got rigged up there, Perry. Or did you bribe the ocean?"

He threw his head back and roared with laughter. "Bribe the ocean! I am the ocean, my sweet! Your refusal to believe is almost as vast and deep as my domain!"

"It's called healthy skepticism, buddy," you retorted, though your mind was doing frantic mental gymnastics trying to explain the suddenly very polite wave. "And until I see you summon a kraken to fetch me a towel or something equally irrefutable, you're still Perry, the charmingly eccentric surf instructor who might be having a mild heatstroke."

He slung an arm around your shoulders, his touch surprisingly warm and solid for someone who claimed to be an ancient deity made of seawater and divine power. "A kraken for a towel? My dear, you have a wonderfully practical imagination! Perhaps I shall consider it. But for now, how about I treat the Ruler of England to some fish and chips? My treat. I know the owner – he owes me a favor from that incident with the rogue tidal wave last spring."

You sighed, but a smile tugged at your lips. "Fine. But if a single tentacle comes near my fries, Perry, so help me, I'm reporting you to... well, I'm not sure who you'd report a misbehaving sea god to, but I'll find someone."

He just grinned, his sea-green eyes full of mischief and something ancient and powerful. "I look forward to the challenge."

Walking beside him, with the scent of salt and sunshine clinging to him, you had to admit, your healthy skepticism was facing a tidal wave of its own. And Perry, or Poseidon, or whoever the heck he was, seemed perfectly happy to just ride it out with you.

Zeus

You first encountered "Zane" at a ridiculously high-powered charity gala you'd only managed to snag a ticket to because your boss was unexpectedly ill, and you were the only one who could fit into her spare gown. Zane, with his impeccably tailored suit that probably cost more than your car, an air of effortless command, and eyes that seemed to crackle with an internal thunderstorm, was holding court amongst a gaggle of fawning socialites and business tycoons.

He'd broken away from his admirers, much to their collective pout, and approached you while you were trying to discreetly unhook your heel from a particularly vicious bit of rug fringe.

"Allow me," he'd said, his voice a resonant baritone that seemed to expect instant obedience. He'd knelt and freed your shoe with a surprisingly gentle touch.

"Thanks," you'd managed, flustered. "This rug is clearly a menace to society."

He'd smiled, a flash of brilliance like lightning on a summer night. "Some things are simply beneath our notice until they trip us up. I am Zane Olympus. And you are?"

"Permanently indebted to your shoe-rescuing skills," you'd replied. "And currently employed by someone who can afford these shindigs."

Your conversations over the next few weeks were... intense. Zane was charismatic, intelligent, and had an opinion on everything, delivered as if it were divine decree. The "big reveal" happened during a particularly heated debate about a new city ordinance while you were in your car when in a sudden, a violent thunderstorm emerged. Rain lashed against the windows, thunder boomed overhead, and the lights of the city flickered.

"This weather is certainly dramatic," you'd commented, peering out at the deluge.

Zane had looked out too, a strange, almost proprietary expression on his face. "It often reflects my moods. I find a good thunderstorm rather invigorating, don't you?" Then, with a casualness that was utterly jarring, he added, "It comes with the territory when one is Zeus, King of the Gods, Ruler of Olympus, God of Sky and Thunder."

You stared at him. The car lurched. A particularly loud clap of thunder rattled the windows, perfectly timed.

"I'm sorry," you said, slowly. "I think the thunder might have made me mishear you. Did you just say you're... Zeus? Like, golden-throne, eagle-on-his-arm, serial-swan-impersonator Zeus?"

He actually looked pleased. "The very same! Though the swan episode is rather overblown by poets, I assure you. Creative license, you understand."

You let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, I understand alright. Zane, you had me going there for a second. That's quite the character you've built. Are you workshopping a new persona for a self-help guru empire? 'Unleash Your Inner Sky God: Command Your Life with a Thunderous Attitude!' I can see the bestseller now."

His smile tightened almost imperceptibly. "This is not a persona, my dear. It is my very essence." As if to punctuate his sentence, a jagged fork of lightning illuminated the street, striking a lamppost a little too close for comfort, causing it to fizzle and die. The cab driver muttered something in another language and crossed himself.

"Okay, impressive timing with the special effects," you conceded, though your heart was doing a little tap dance against your ribs. "You got connections at the weather bureau? Or just a really good app? Because that was artistic."

"The elements are somewhat... responsive to my will," Zane—Zeus—said, his eyes glinting with a mixture of amusement and a hint of impatience. "Must I call down a personal lightning bolt to strike your skepticism?"

"Whoa there, sparky!" you said, holding up your hands. "Let's not get carried away with the pyrotechnics. Look, Zane, it's a great story. Really. Top-tier commitment. But you're a charming, if slightly egomaniacal, businessman who throws a mean fundraiser. You're not the dude who overthrew the Titans. Unless those Titans were, like, rival hedge fund managers." You paused. "And if you are Zeus, shouldn't you be a bit more... I don't know, toga-clad and surrounded by adoring nymphs, not stuck in Midtown traffic?"

He sighed, a sound like wind rushing through mountain peaks. "Mortals and your demand for outdated aesthetics. One adapts. As for adoring nymphs, quality has rather declined over the millennia. And one can only tolerate so much ambrosia before craving a decent mortal espresso."

"Right. Espresso cravings, the true mark of a deity," you deadpanned. "So, if you're Zeus, Mr. King-of-Everything, what's your next trick? Going to turn this car into a golden chariot? Because honestly, this traffic is a nightmare, and I wouldn't say no to an upgrade."

Zane—Zeus—actually looked consideringly at the worn upholstery of the cab. "A chariot might be a trifle conspicuous. But perhaps..." He glanced at you, a challenge in his electric blue eyes. "Tell me, what would it take to make you believe, even a little?"

You leaned back, a smirk playing on your lips. His sheer, unwavering arrogance was almost captivating, in a terrifying sort of way. "Honestly? At this point, you could probably make it snow in July and I'd still assume you'd just hired a really good effects team. You've got that 'man who can buy anything' vibe. But hey, impress me. The sky's the limit, right? Or, in your alleged case, your personal playground."

He chuckled, a low rumble that vibrated through the cab, and for a moment, you could almost believe the city lights outside dimmed and then flared brighter in response. "Your audacity is... refreshing. Most are too quick to cower or believe. You, however, wish for a command performance." He tapped a finger against his lips. "Very well. Consider the challenge accepted. But do be careful what you wish for when dealing with the King of the Gods. We have a rather dramatic flair for granting requests."

The car pulled up to your apartment. As you stepped out, the rain suddenly, inexplicably, stopped in a perfect circle right above you, while it continued to pour down just a few feet away. You looked up, bewildered, then back at Zane, who simply inclined his head with a regal, knowing smile before the he drove away.

"Okay," you muttered to the abruptly dry patch of sidewalk. "That was... weird." The hill of your disbelief was still very much intact, but you had a feeling Zane, or Zeus, or whatever he was, had just lobbed a fairly significant thunderbolt at its foundations. And you weren't entirely sure you didn't want to see what he'd throw next.

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fan fics in which Louis has a chronic illness as requested in this ask. I was only able to find H/L fics for this rec, so there are no rare pairs on it. If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers. You can find my other recs here. Happy reading!

- Louis / Harry -

🔹i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart) by thedeathchamber / @louehvolution

(E, 55k, angst) Harry thinks he has good reasons for avoiding relationships. Meeting Louis puts those reasons to the test.

🔹HL 80s NYC verse by superglass / @gaymoustache

(M, 51k, HIV) In the midst of the AIDS crisis, Harry meets Louis after coming home from a drag ball. 80s NYC au.

🔹Don't Let Go by bittersweetlou

(T, 32k, MCD) The one where Louis has Adolescent Alzheimer's and Harry doesn't want to let go.

🔹Hold me close, Keep me safe by Spigityspack

(G, 11k, ulcerative colitis) when he begins experiencing a flare and growing sicker and sicker, he has a difficult time talking with Harry, who just wants to take care of him and make him feel better.

🔹I Love None Better Than You by @sunflowerstyles

(E, 10k, cancer) Harry and Louis haven't had any alone time in three months since Louis had been admitted to the hospital. Harry is desperate to provide some privacy for the two of them and finally spend an uninterrupted evening with his boy at last.

🔹fight me breathless by sideofzemblanity

(M, 7k, asthma) Louis Tomlinson has no idea why he’s in a London hospital for asthma, but enter Harry Styles, his doctor, who he definitely doesn’t think is hot, and he’s left wondering if asthma is why he can’t seem to breathe properly with his doctor around.

🔹Sweven by @1diamondinthesun

(NR, 4k, Idiopathic Hypersomnia) "So this Harry,” Liam chuckled, reaching for the business card, “Harry Styles, witnessed you in a near nap state and gave you his card? And his personal number?”

🔹Silently Calling You Home by Spigityspack

(NR, 3k, established relationship) Harry is coming home from a trip and wants to take Louis out as a way to celebrate. Louis falls ill and feels awful for ruining Harry's plans.

🔹The lights are a little too bright by @sunflour28

(G, 2k, chronic dizziness) Louis' a little done with his situation. He's seen the same hospital room far too many times in his life. Maybe things will start looking up though- now that Harry's in the same waiting room as him.

🔹Weak by starryglow

(G, 1k, anemia) Louis had been feeling sick for weeks, but it wasn't a usual cold.

🔹Hold tight, you're slowly coming back to life by CoolCrying

(G, 1k, hurt/comfort) "Louis has these days sometimes when he's all pain, and when he's hurt, well, there's nothing Harry wouldn't do to make it better."

[nihongoseito]

*rubs together my terrible linguist hands* hahahaha yes!!! sorry to bother you both on this months-old post, but i have some things to add!!

in my opinion, burgeoning-ambitionさん is totally right when he says what we're interested in here is probably the distinction between phonemes in japanese. in phonetics we have a joke: are phonemes even real?? we say this bc once you start looking at the deep, nitty-gritty MATH of phonemes, the boundaries between them can really start to blur in fascinating yet panic-inducing ways (lol). in western linguistics, we represent phonemes with ipa symbols as a shorthand, because it's convenient and legible, but if we forget that the ipa is in fact a shorthand, we also forget that phonemes are not sounds but representations of groups of sounds.

vowels make a good example of this. have you heard how modern standard arabic "only has three vowels"? this is a common vowel inventory chart for arabic:

if you're not careful, it's really easy to look at this chart and say, damn, arabic has only got three phones (sounds) in its vowel inventory. but i think we can all be a little bit less credulous than that. what's really going on here is probably a big venn diagram-type situation whose outermost points end up getting called "phonemes". like this:

!! this is a great big simplification i made in 30 seconds !! i am not an arabic/semitic expert !!

if this is in fact what the vowel inventory looks like in msa, then probably, msa speakers have just as much vowel space as speakers of any other language. it's just that what acoustically counts as /i/ is way more lenient in msa than in many other languages. in broad terms: the acoustic boundaries of any given "phoneme" are (probably) language-specific.

at this point i hear you say: what does this have to do with japanese?? let's return to that!

first of all, i want to share my own observations and experiences. i have observed this: japanese speakers can produce both [r] and [l]. in regular speech, [r] tends to come out as a flap or tap, but if you get into singing and other registers of speech, [l] surfaces more frequently. so, as opさん asks, why is [l] not its own phoneme in japanese?

honestly, i can only speculate as to why, originally, /l/ did not enter the japanese inventory, but since rhotics are cross-linguistically extremely difficult to acquire (in your L1!), liquids as a bigger category might fit that trend. that is to say, /r/ and /l/ are literally just harder to produce, so some languages leave them out of the inventory.

however, what we can take a good guess at is the size/boundaries of japanese /r/. think about a typical "mistake" a japanese speaker might make in english: she might confuse [r] and [l], like not being able to hear or produce the difference between "right" vs. "light". this is not the same as not being able to produce "light" at all! why should someone confuse two phones in their L2 which, under the right circumstances, they can produce in their L1? because the phoneme boundaries are different. [l] exists in japanese; speakers just analyze it as a member of /r/. this is exactly what burgeoning-ambitionさん said!

[f] and [v] are trickier. i will mention another personal observation here: in my experience, japanese speakers do not actually produce ヴ with [v] and do not actually produce ファ, etc. with [f] or even [ɸ]. to my ear, the consonants in these new kana tend to come out much closer to [b] and [h], respectively. so i would hesitate to say [f] or [v] have entered the consonant inventory, even in loanwords, and i would also hesitate to say /ɸ/ has become phonemic in japanese. even if a speaker produces them, they're probably still firmly under the phonemes /b/ and /h/.

cross-linguistically, this is really interesting bc [f] and [v] are among the fricatives that tend to take over from even more difficult fricatives (like the interdentals), which is really stereotypically obvious in lots of dialects of british english for example ("bruv"). but in japanese, we can't even get that far! it might be that phones like [f] and [v] are much more accessible from above than below. in other words, if a language has "harder" sounds like the interdental fricatives, it probably has access to "easier" sounds like the bilabial fricatives. since japanese isn't at the level on the hierarchy where the bilabial fricatives are, it's really difficult to import them via loanwords, and the phones get naturalized. (btw does anyone remember which hierarchy this is?? i've been trying to think of the name of it for like five minutes and can't. message me if you know lol)

uhh anyways what did we learn?? possibly nothing lol, especially since burgeoning-ambitionさん covered a ton of this and the vast majority of it is just (well-informed) speculation. i guess i just thought i'd add some more details! let's all enjoy linguistics forever!!

source: wrote my master's thesis on japanese phonology! message me for actual sources/discussion if you want :)

Got a question for all those who studied or know the history of the Japanese language, how come they've never discovered or added the f, v or l sounds? It's not like they're difficult sounds to produce, they are pretty basic so I don't really understand how, especially "la" is so easy to create as a sound.

[hakusins]

cw // tattoos, piercings

why are they so loud about liking blondes .... i haven't slept in months pLEASE (<- not a blonde enjoyer)

even the version thats not in DOL universe likes blondes too 😭😭😭

slight cameo of whitney the faithful that belongs to moosen/jdolh !! (no tag cause its just smol cameo 😭)

[respectthepetty]

The Heart Killers' Colors? - Ep. 3

Three episodes in, and I'm positive that Bison is a Red Rascal and Fadel is a Black Brooder.

But I never had any doubts about my pretty emo boy.

He is emo, so his soul is black (and so is his underwear, AYEEE!)

He is also very pretty.

And Style knows just how pretty this sad emo is.

(which, hopefully, everybody else who is watching this show is as well because people have been sleeping on my boy Joong for too long while my ass has been here thirsting over him for years) *I need a moment to collect myself*

um . . . where was I? Oh yeah! I still don't fully believe Style is a (light) Blue Boy when he wears all these animal prints.

But I do know his presence annoyance is making Fadel lighter.

Perhaps it's because ever since Bison told him to go full throttle on Fadel, the kid hasn't let up on his mission to instigate a fight with Fadel solely so Fadel can choke him again.

Which was actually a solid plan.

But maybe Fadel is lighter because he likes big buns and he cannot lie.

Or maybe it's the lethal combination of Style's big brown eyes and suckable lips that finally caused Fadel to give in (because it would cause me to give in, like, weeks ago!)

But I think it's because Style actually sees Fadel for who he is since he already figured out that Fadel is hiding a killer secret.

We now know Fadel once had someone special who he was happy with, but even in the past, Fadel wasn't as light as he was with Style's constant pestering.

So I want to know what other buried secrets my pretty Black Brooder is hiding that makes him sooo dark.

Keen obviously knows.

And even though I want Pepper's character to cause a ruckus with Fadel the same way his character did in Star in My Mind, I have a feeling his character will do much worse here since I've only had him for two minutes yet don't trust his no-consistent-color behind!

Which brings me to this fine ass(hole).

He is supposed to be a (dark) Blue Boy, and even though both him and his buddy are wearing blue shorts, they switched the colors of the love interests!

Bison is a Red Rascal. He is a firecracker. He is a cherry bomb! So the fact that Kant is wearing blue (it's denim, but I'll take what I can get how I can get it!) won't let me forget that he wore Fadel's color at the pool instead of Bison's!

However, I did notice the red writing on the back of his shirt and another very interesting place considering this boy knows Bison is a killer who he needs to collect dirt on. The heart? Already, sir? Simp behavior if I've ever seen it.

But then again, this fine ass(hole) who is wearing yellow (WHAT IS THIS?!) is clearly not thinking rationally when it comes to his little angel demon.

Because this idiot poured the drug into a red drink!

Therefore, IT WAS ONLY GOING TO MAKE THE DEMON STRONGER!

Bison probably gets that trait from Mother because she seems like the real devil of this story since she showed me her true color immediately while looking amazing. Leave it up to a woman to get the job done right the first time.

I'm looking at you, Kant and Style.

Get your shit color together!

For my sanity!

I just need to see a little crumb or two.

Or else.

Joong is sooooooo freakin' fine

[reneesbooks]

9 lines 9 people

ok confession these games scare me bc tagging people still intimidates me but i'm being brave today here's some lines i wrote a while back from the dragons of kiltide. just fabin having a little teenage angst. also this is 9 (11 but shh the context!!) paragraphs bc i still don't know how to shut the fuck up. thank you @space-writes for the tag <3

the raedoran cycle

[Fabin] tilts his head, pressing his forehead to the window frame. “What are dreams like?” he asks quietly.

Emilia sits across from him, watching how his eyes stare through the window but see nothing. She thought he'd left that behind in the weeks and months after their parents were killed, thought the long silences were finally over. She tucks her arms against her sides. “They're...like memories. Only more vivid.”

His fingers close around the hilt of his sword. “What do you dream about?”

She rolls her shoulders. “Places I've never been. Things I've never seen.”

One of his hands presses against the glass. “Do you ever dream of...of humans?”

She studies him with a worried frown. “Is there something you want to talk about?”

He recoils, his expression twisting with anger before it closes off. “No. I'm fine. I don't have dreams.” He turns away from her. “Never mind.”

Emilia sighs. “I talked Muiris down. He doesn't want to kill you anymore.”

“Good for him.”

“You should apologize for breaking his foot.”

Fabin turns to face her again, his eyes wide. “I actually broke it?”

tagging @oh-no-another-idea @zmwrites @akindofmagictoo @writinglyra @k--havok @lyssa-ink @aether-wasteland-s @ink-flavored @avrablake to share 9 (or more or less or however many you feel like!) lines of writing <3

[thenegativitypit]

Me: Honestly just trying to get more fun and interesting fruits and veggies in my diet because they taste good, have vitamins and shit, and I've been uninspired with cooking lately

Food blogs: #Vegan #EatGuiltFree

Food blogs: Casual ableism ❤️

Food blogs: Let me sell you my religion

Food blogs: One serving - fewer calories than you'd feed to your toddler

Food blogs: One serving (smoothie bowl edition) - more food than you've eaten in one sitting in your entire life

Food blogs: #Healthy #Raw #Sugar-Free (contains large amounts of artificial sweeteners)

Food blogs: It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle.

😭

ETA BECAUSE I FORGOT IT AND RAN INTO IT INSTANTLY:

Food blogs: Nice Cream 😊 Because if you eat dairy you're not nice 😊

[fakeoutbf]

.

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Terribly upset that I am willing to put so much love and effort into a relationship and people aren't willing to put in slightly more than the bare minimum for me

[oozeandgoo-art]

everyone is sooo in love with vakori on account of le is so cool and smart and deeply pragmatic and is also completely batshit insane

[nomaishuttle]

i do fr need to work on differentiating between "actually middleclass" and "doesnt live paycheck to paycheck" lmao bc that is something i struggle with... obviously ik i have more in common with like. even somebody whos fr middleclass disney vacations every year. I know i have more in common with them than i do with bezos but god at least i dont have to see bezos being annoying in front of me every day KJANDJKLNLJD

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

Imagine doing so much hard work and persevering through law school to have your failed tests advertised on the internet news. The bar is really hard; he’s not “cringe fail.” I am jealous of his ability to even attend college without committing suicide. He did a good job. Leave my dude the fuck alone.

I don’t care if they’re elites. If they’re elites; then make fun of them solely for being rich nepotism babies. There are non-elites who have failed the bar (or any important test) once or twice as well who will see this and feel bad about themselves.

[topthreedetectives]

got a text from my mom for the first time in half a year just for it to be a miles edgeworth quote followed by complete radio silence

[shippingmyworld]

the worst part of having an office-like job is when you ask someone a questions and instead of answering you, they slap you with a 30 pages pdf and say "Please refer to the attached document."

like first off, if i understood the document i wouldn't have a question

second, you do realize that's basically the same as telling me to "fuck off and figure it out" in office speak, right?

[froliginal]

What the fuck

[genericpuff]

Tbh at this point you should just make your own webcomic app/website because it would probably be 100 times better than whatever going on with webtoon right now.

hahaha it wouldn't tho, sorry 💀

Here's the fundamental issue with webcomic platforms that a lot of people just don't realize (and why they're so difficult to run successfully):

Storage costs are incredibly expensive, it's why so many sites have limitations on file sizes / page sizes / etc. because all of those images and site info have to be stored somewhere, which costs $$$.

Maintenance costs are expensive and get more so as you grow, you need people who are capable of fixing bugs ASAP and managing the servers and site itself

Financially speaking, webcomics are in a state of high supply, low demand. Loads of artists are willing to create their passion projects, but getting people to read them and pay for them is a whole other issue. Demand is high in the general sense that once people get attached to a webtoon they'll demand more, but many people aren't actually willing to go looking for new stuff to read and depend more on what sites feed them (and what they already like). There are a lot of comics to go around and thus a lot of competition with a limited audience of people willing to actually pay for them.

Trying to build a new platform from the ground up is incredibly difficult and a majority of sites fail within their first year. Not only do you have to convince artists to take a chance on your platform, you have to convince readers to come. Readers won't come if there isn't work on the platform to read, but artists won't come if they don't think the site will be worth it due to low traffic numbers. This is why the artists with large followings who are willing to take chances on the smaller sites are crucial, but that's only if you can convince them to use the site in favor of (or alongside) whatever platform they're using already where the majority of their audience lies. For many creators it's just not worth the time, energy, or risk.

Even if you find short-term success, in the long-term there are always going to be profit margins to maintain. The more users you pull in, the more storage is used by incoming artists, the more you have to spend on storage and server maintenance costs, and that means either taking the risk at crowdfunding (ex. ComicFury) or having to resort to outsider investments (ex. Tapas). Look at SmackJeeves, it used to be a titan in the independent webcomic hosting community, until it folded over to a buyout by NHN and then was pretty much immediately shuttered due to NHN basically turning it into a manwha scanlation site and driving away its entire userbase. And if you don't get bought out and try your hand at crowdfunding, you may just wind up living on a lifeline that could cut out at any moment, like what happened to Inkblazers (fun fact, the death of Inkblazers was what kicked off the cultural shift in Tapas around 2015-16 when all of IB's users migrated over and brought their work with them which was more aimed towards the BL and romancee drama community, rather than the comedy / gag-a-day culture that Tapas had made itself known for... now you deadass can't tell Tapas apart from a lot of scanlation sites because it got bought out by Kakao and kept putting all of its eggs into the isekai/romance drama basket.)

Right now the mindset in which artists and readers are operating is that they're trying way, way too hard to find a "one size fits all" site. Readers want a place where they can find all their favorite webtoons without much effort, artists wants a place where they can post to an audience of thousands, and both sides want a community that will feel tight-knit. But the reality is that you can't really have all three of those things, not on one site. Something always winds up having to be sacrificed - if a site grows big enough, it'll have to start seeking more funding while also cutting costs which will result in features becoming paywall'd, intrusive ads, creators losing their freedom, and/or outsider support which often results in the platform losing its core identity and alienating its tight-knit community.

If I had to describe what I'm talking about in a "pick one" graphic, it would look something like this:

(*note: this is mostly based on my own observations from using all of these sites at some point or another, they're not necessarily entirely accurate to the statistical performance of each site, I can only glean so much from experience and traffic trackers LMAO that said I did ask some comic pals for input and they were very helpful in helping me adjust it with their own takes <3).

The homogenization of the Internet has really whipped people into submission for the "big sites" that offer "everything", but that's never been the Internet, it relies on being multi-faceted and offering different spaces for different purposes. And we're seeing that ideology falter through the enshittification of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. where users are at odds with the platforms because the platforms are gutting features in an attempt to satisfy shareholders whom without the platforms would not exist. Like, most of us aren't paying money to use social media sites / comic platform sites, so where else are they gonna make the necessary funds to keep these sites running? Selling ad space and locking features behind paywalls.

And this is especially true for a lot of budding sites that don't have the audience to support them via crowdfunding but also don't have the leverage to ask for investments - so unless they get really REALLY lucky in EITHER of those departments, they're gonna be operating at a loss, and even once they do achieve either of those things there are gonna be issues in the site's longevity, whether it be dying from lack of growing crowdfunding support or dying from shareholder meddling.

So what can we do?

We can learn how to take our independence back. We don't have to stop using these big platforms altogether as they do have things to offer in their own way, particularly their large audience sizes and dipping into other demographics that might not be reachable from certain sites - but we gotta learn that no single site is going to satisfy every wish we have and we have to be willing to learn the skills necessary to running our own spaces again. Pick up HTML/CSS, get to know other people who know HTML/CSS if you can't grasp it (it's me, I can't grasp it LOL), be willing to take a chance on those "smaller sites" and don't write them off entirely as spaces that can be beneficial to you just because they don't have large numbers or because they don't offer rewards programs. And if you have a really polished piece of work in your hands, look into agencies and publishing houses that specialize in indie comics / graphic novels, don't settle for the first Originals contract that gets sent your way.

For the last decade corporations have been convincing us that our worth is tied to the eyes we can bring to them. Instead of serving ourselves, we've begun serving the big guys, insisting that it has to be worth something eventually and that it'll "payoff" simply by the virtue of gambler's fallacy. Ask yourself what site is right for you and your work rather than asking yourself if your work is good enough for them. Most of us are broke trying to make it work on these sites anyways, may as well be broke and fulfilled by posting in places that actually suit us and our work if we can. Don't define your success by what sites like Webtoons are enforcing - that definition only benefits them, not you.