#aka: keep your twitter bullshit away from me

[lucky-clover-gazette]

hi i would like to clarify that i am deeply uninterested in engaging with discourse drama about internet man dream, beyond what i say in this post. please stop sending me anonymous asks about it, thanks

[the-bi-fangirl-biatch]

go bestie expose your feelings about the ending😔✌️

before i say anything, these are my OWN opinions! no one take them as me speaking for everyone. you can either respectfully discuss in the reblogs/replies or make your own post if you disagree that much, thank you!!

everything else is under the cut bc oh gosh this is actually pretty long lmao (dw, I have a TL;DR at the end)

let me start with the LOWS of the episode and work my way to a more positive light :)))

first off, we had no resolution to the fob watch/timeless child arc. I can still understand this bit because it's part of the mystery, but it feels like there's so much plot whose ends they still haven't tied together. did she just drop the fob watch containing ALL HER PAST MEMORIES inside the TARDIS and ignore it?? did the doctor really not tell yaz about the memories? did she do that offscreen? like- what? they set up so many plots and didn't even end up continuing them like they deserve

next is how they handled sapphic ships, specifically lesbian ships. I don't know much about the classic companions but from what i've seen, tegan and nyssa are supposed to be together and ace is lesbian-coded, but what we got was retconned tyssa and ace flirting with graham?? and I also disliked how they implied that tegan's life was so dull after being left by the doctor.

they also didnt resolve thasmin at all like?? they gave yaz SO MUCH character development and it looked like her relationship with 13 was gonna have a better resolution because of how they added more of it in EOTD and LOTSD but no?? what happened to "I want to tell you everything" and "if it was gonna be anyone it would've been you"? they just ended it with a nod and walking away silently? now here, I can understand that they both don't want to say goodbye (the doctor bc she hates goodbyes and yaz bc she's holding out hope that they may see each other again) BUT we deserve more than just that. (maybe this is bc I was imagining a killing eve s3 finale-esque goodbye wherein both yaz and the doctor stop in their tracks and turn around for a final goobye kiss, but that's on me lmao)

in addition to that, why is it that the first sapphic doctor is the only one who didn't get a kiss in her entire run, when she had so much chances to kiss yaz? and please don't say "we know it's confirmed to be romantic so we don't need the kiss" bc we have had enough shipping based on subtext and post-show confirmations. i agree that physical touch doesn't define a relationship but can't we have it this once? would it be so hard to give us this on their final day?

finally, imo they hardly gave enough time for jodie to say goodbye to her role properly. it would still have been ok if the episode was only filled to the brim with classic who nostalgia, but then they made her regenerate to 10. instead of giving her (the first female doctor) or ncuti (the first black doctor) the spotlight, they decide to bring back the most popular (and most used) doctor, david tennant. don't get me wrong i LOVE david as a person, but there's a difference between bringing someone back for a cameo and overusing them. with all honesty, I'm tired of him and ten 🤷.

and not only that, they took their most popular (white male cishet) doctor, aka the one that most if not all NMDs compare jodie to, and put him at the end as a cliffhanger? like he was the one they should have been waiting for? they must know that they're diverting people's attention away from appreciating jodie's ending and ncuti's beginning. I keep seeing stuff on twitter like "finally, the good doctor who! they're gonna restore doctor who back to its formal glory! this will prove that the female doctor was a mistake!" which is UTTER BULLSHIT

now here are the HIGHS of the episode because there were a lot of them too:

I LOVED how this episode gave closure to some of the classic companions, aka tegan and ace. I squealed when ace called the doctor "professor" and I'm glad they didn't shy away from showing that a previous companion was (rightfully) upset with the doctor. and all the callbacks! the nitro 9, ace's jacket, and her bat, too. don't even get me STARTED on the "support group for former companions" because that was amazing. IAN WAS THERE?!?!? and it gives such a good open end to them, not only for future projects but also for fanfiction lmao.

the plot of this episode was impressive and fun. its length contributed significantly because it defo wouldn't have worked if it wasn't as long. I really wasnt expecting it to make as much sense as it did because it was a great undertaking, but I'm glad it did. it showed the best parts of chibnall's take on doctor who (utilizing iconic classic who elements well and his own take on history).

THE CHARACTERS!!! gahdamn I loved how they gave the characters their own jobs that only they can handle, like kate and tegan with the cybermen (bc of their history with them), ace with the daleks (same reason, her history) and yaz saving the doctor (bg their PARALLELS here I wanna bawl).

I was also obsessed with the master in this episode!! Sacha played him as such an unhinged little pathetic brat man (affectionate) but he also proved that he was more than capable of delivering powerful scenes. compare the humour of the rasputin dance sequence vs the master so desperately wanting to be the doctor because he feels lonely. he's one of the consistently great things about this episode. i will be hearing RA RA RASPUTIN on repeat in my head for the foreseeable future (as well as thirteen's theme 😭😭😭).

Yaz taking charge!!! my little badass who's grown from being unsure about facing a potential threat in s11 to kicking (the master's) ass, saving ace, flying the tardis like it was nothing, and reversing a regeneration?!?! and not to mention Mandip's acting. she's proven that she has the range of badass action, deep emotion, hilarious comedy, and just raw heart. she's amazing, showstopping, phenomenal. and out of my favourite companions, yaz is the one I connect to the most, both with her struggles (in her mental health, in growing as a person, and in learning she's queer) and her strengths (hopefully her heart, her love for friends, her courage), so to see her grow at the same time as I have is so special to me.

finally, people may disagree with me on this, but I love thirteen's regeneration speech, due to the fact that she did not do it on her own, she didnt just talk to herself on that cliffside (that was just the last bit). most of her speech was to YAZ, her companion, her friend, the one who's supposed to be the viewer's stand-in. her entire message of "goodbyes only hurt because what came before was so special, and it's been so special. no body else got to be us, no body else got to live our days, no body. and my hearts are so full of love for all of you" was not just the doctor to yaz, but jodie and mandip to us. and idc if yall don't like her last words, "Tag, you're it" is SO THIRTEEN and is instantly iconic.

TL;DR I disliked: the abandoned fob watch plot, how they handled sapphic/lesbian characters, the way they hinted at thasmin but never properly resolved them, nostalgia overtaking Jodie's time to say goodbye, and yet another doctor played by david tennant, who I think is overused I LOVED: the closure this gave to tegan and ace, both of them and kate being given unique spotlight, the Former Companion Support Group™️, Sacha Dhawan as the Master, Mandip GIll as Yaz, seeing how much yaz has grown, Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor, aaand 13's regeneration speech (which was directed to yaz and to us, not just to herself)

[theichabbieclub]

Slashers (or something) reacting to their s/o singing a song from Positions (Ariana Grande)

TW: Implied smut, slight NSFW

Michael Myers (six-thirty)

You were washing the dishes as you started to sing.

"I know I be on some bullshit. Know I be driving you crazy."

Was the first thing Michael heard. Well, he thought this song was accurate af. He loves you. You did drive him crazy a lot.

He didn't let his presence be known until he heard you sing

" So come here and give me so kisses. You know I'm very delicious."

He was all over you instantly, grabbing you and throwing you over his shoulder, heading directly to the bedroom.

Michael could careless about the soapy suds and water splashing into the floor.

Jason Voorhees (west side)

You basked in the warmth that cascaded from the fireplace. You sat on the soft rug in the living, right in front of the fireplace.

It was cold outside, snowing hard as Jason prepared lunch for the two of you.

Chicken noodle soup. You could almost taste it. The warm broth and the seasoned chicken.

You smiled as you began to sing softly, your fingers brushed lightly against the smooth but soft frabic of the rug.

"I don't wanna think too much. I just wanna feel. You know that it ain't no rush. Let me keep it real."

You sat with Jason in the living room, with a folding table in front of you. You allowed the soup to bring warmth to your body.

You sang as you laid your head on his chest.

He really enjoyed your voice. You stopped to eat a few bites but didn't continue afterwards.

Jason tapped your throat with his index finger ever so gently.

You got the indication that he liked your voice. A smirk spread across your lips and you started singing again.

"Just let me be in your life, like that. In your life like that. I'll bring the life right back. I'll bring the life right back."

Candyman (pov)

You sat in your car, your hands feeling the heat that flowed from the vents. Your eyes looked at the golden sky. It looked so pretty.

You started off a humming and that slowly turned into singing you heart.

You sat back as you sung.

Your window was down slightly and you didn't even notice Daniel.

"You know me better than I do. Can't seem to keep nothing from you. How you touch my soul from the outside? Permeate my ego and my pride."

He smiled but decided not disrupt you, not yet anyway.

Daniel sighed silently in content, listening to your heavenly voice.

"I wanna love me. The way that you love me. For all of my pretty and all of my ugly too. I'd love to see me from your point of view."

He walked around your car and you finally noticed him, smiling as he appeared in your passenger side of your car.

You wrapped your arm around his arm and laid your head on his shoulder, snuggling close to him as the two of you took in the sight of a stunning sunset.

Thomas Hewitt (nasty) (implied smut) (female reader in this one, sorry)

He had been in a mood all fucking day and night. Thomas had went into the basement to blow off stream and you had gotten increasingly horny

You had decided to record and send a cover of a song to Thomas.

Maybe that would get him out of that rut.

"Got me all up in my feels. In all kinds of ways. I be tryna wait but lately I just wanna keep it real." You sang, biting your lip as you made eye contact with the camera.

"No more playin' safe. Let's take it all the way. I'm just saying I just wanna make time for you. Swear it's just right for you. Like this pus*y designed for you." You arched your back as you continued to sing.

You finished the song and stopped recording before sending it to Thomas' phone.

You heard fast and hurried footsteps getting louder and louder. You mentally prepared yourself for him.

Hannibal Lecter (TV) (just like magic)

This was the first time that Hannibal had heard you sing.

"Heard it's tricky at the top. Gotta keep slim ego for a thick wallet. Losing friends left and right. But I just send them love and light."

Your voice was so heavenly as you wrote in your notebook, your pen gliding effortlessly across the page.

Hannibal knew that you were a bit self conscious about your singing.

Sooner or later, he was going to help you be more comfortable about your singing.

But for right now, he just stayed out of sight, sighing as your smooth but soft voice.

"Good karma, my aesthetic. Keep my conscience clear. That's why I'm so magnetic. Manifest it. I finesse it. Take my pen and write some love letters to heaven."

Dracula (aka: @thecount-dracula ) (positions)

Whenever you think he's not around, he is. Yeah good luck being alone.

You had started on a recipe for some bread an hour ago and now you were covered in flour, flecks of it on your skin.

You sighed at the flour covering every surface in your kitchen. This is going to be a bitch to clean but you didn't really care. You had the week off.

You sang quietly to yourself as you cooked.

"Heaven, sent you to me."

You stopped singing and jumped slightly as you heard Dracula's voice.

"Heaven? Are you certain about that, Y/N?"

You choked on a laugh as you continued to prepare your bread.

Bubba Sawyer (reader has long hair, just a warning) (my hair)

You were cuddling with Bubba, the soft sound of the fan filled the vicinity of the room. There was currently a thunderstorm happening outside and the two of you had finished your share of chores earlier in the day before the storm.

You pulled away and slightly pulled at the the ponytail that your long locks were in and soon enough your hair had fell down your back.

You noticed Bubba eyeing your hair and you smiled.

"I'mma give you some instructions that you can't be scared to try. I want you to touch it softly like the way you do my mind." You sang softly.

Bubba glanced at your hair, his eyes diverting to you. Confusion flashed in his expressive eyes.

"It got body and it's smooth to touch. The same way as my skin. Don't you be scared.. to run your hands through my hair."

His fingers ran slowly and gently through your hair as he pulled you closer to him.

Bo Sinclair (obvious) (1st time writing for Bo. You've been warned)

You had your headphones in as you sang, scrolling down your twitter as you were extremely bored.

Everything was fucking spotless.

Bo smirked when he had came home from work, and heard your voice.

"Ooh. Hard to think when I'm under you. Tell you all of my dirty truths..."

He was in the room in 0.6 seconds flat. Had you not had your headphones in, he would've scared the shit out of you.

"This what you sing when I'm away, doll?" He came into your line of vision as you laid on your bed.

Your cheeks became warm with embarrassment.

God, this was going to be a long night.

Brahms Heelshire (love language)

You danced around, in just your underwear and an oversized sweatshirt.

Brahms heard you singing some quite provocative lyrics and he was rushing to get to you.

"Been a minute since I had something so sweeeeet."

You smiled as the song continued. It was so catchy.

"If you're gon' keep speaking my love language, you can talk your shit all night."

Brahms finally made it to you and he instantly pulled your body to his chest. You squealed slightly.

"That's the- B-Brahms." You moaned out as he attacked your skin with soft but quick kisses.

It wasn't long before he was leading you to the bedroom.

Damn, you didn't even get to finish your dance party.

[khunvegas]

Buddie Fanfic Rec Part 2

Sharing more amazing fics from some amazing writers. if you see someone that you know, please, tag them so they know they are loved too

A Calendar, $100 and a Bad Idea by @evandiaz-buckley

“Let me get this straight,” Eddie said slowly, “you bet Hen $100 you’d make this year’s fire fighter calendar but you failed to read the entry form which states the theme is fire fighter couples?”

or

Eddie agrees to be Buck's fake boyfriend despite knowing he is hopelessly in love with his best friend and it's a terrible idea.

a touch too close by @theleftboobgrabber

Eddie was always in his space, and Buck was always in his. Piled up on couches; pressed close at the diner table, forearms touching, glued from thigh to ankle; hugging hello and goodbyes; shoving at each other after a shower; always a hand on each other back, shoulder, waist; always touching.

And it had been fine. Great. Until it turned too much.

A Truth About Eddie by @tabbytabbytabby

After two and a half years of being friends with Eddie, Buck discovers a startling truth about him.  

Blush by @halloucinogens1 @infinityonmilehigh

Evan Buckley, though? He was Eddie’s kryptonite. His weakness. One look at that innocent face and those puppy eyes and the words would just tumble out of Eddie’s mouth like he had no control of it, like he’d been temporarily possessed by a very flirty demon who liked tall, blonde, pretty guys named Evan.

Lately, Eddie can't seem to get his mouth to stop betraying him.

Closer than I've ever been by suyari

“I love you, Buck.”

Buck smiles softly. “I love you too, Eddie.”

Frustration rallies and Eddie shifts, pushing himself up until they’re level with one another again. “No,” he says firmly. “You don’t understand. I said I love you, Buck.”

Buck’s smile widens, his eyes going soft and fond. “Eddie…” he says, warmth filling his voice. “I know.”

devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes by buddiebuddie (positivelystisaac)

"This candidate. Evan Buckley. He, uh, needs someone to reign him in.” “What do you mean?” Eddie asked. “Oh, you’ll see.” And see, Eddie did.

Nearly two years before Buck is elected to the presidency, Eddie is assigned to lead his Secret Service detail. Like, love, hate, and mutual annoyance ensue, though not necessarily in that order.

Fineline by @buttercupstrand

Eddie knows he has feelings for Buck, and he'd be crazy to miss the signs that Buck felt that way about him too. He doesn't miss the flirting, the quick glances. He knows they always make bullshit excuses to be together. always standing a little too close for just friends, always holding on to each other longer than just friends should.

But he knows there's a fine line between feeling something and then acting on it and that's a line Eddie thinks he'd never be able to cross.

I might have to tell you by @ingu

“Maddie, I made Chris a promise and I can’t finish this list. There’s no way I’m going to get away with all of this.”

“Really though?” Maddie said, and Buck could almost see her playfully doubtful expression. “You don’t think you might be over-exaggerating just a little?”

“Maddie, the list says to kiss Eddie.”

(the one where Christopher gives Buck a list of how to cheer Eddie up while he's gone, and Buck accepts without reading the terms and conditions first)

It Will Last Longer by @matan4il

Eddie wasn’t supposed to see those pictures, he’s completely aware of that. He’s suitably embarrassed of having stumbled across them, but look, it’s not his fault. Lockdown does weird things, accidents happen and, by chance, he came across his best friend’s thirst trap pictures.

Or

Shameless porn that I just had to write the other day when Oliver posted those life ruining pictures on Twitter.

Liminal places by @theleftboobgrabber

After the train and Abby, Eddie cannot let Buck go.

“You’re impossible,” Eddie growls. He is. “And we’re not done talking about that stun you pulled on the train. What am I supposed to do if you freaking die on me?”

This is the heart of the problem. Eddie… Eddie would be heartbroken if Buck was to date someone, but he could take it. But losing Buck completely? No. just… no.

Buck swallows around the bit of omelet he was chewing on without enthusiasm. Again, he throws Eddie completely off. “The English teacher, obviously.” He says it like it’s a done thing really, already pissed off by it.

And that- that enrages Eddie to no end. “Fuck you.”

Pulse Points and Imperfect Words @mansikkaomenabanaani

Eddie decides to do something about his feelings for Buck.      

say the word and i'm yours by quietuniverse

Buck falls victim to Eddie and Chimney's latest prank, which for whatever reason happens to be swapping out his phone background for a photo of Eddie that makes his mouth go dry.

And it's fine, really. Not weird to take a second to appreciate a nice photo of your handsome best friend. Nothing to see here, carry on.

It's fine until everyone starts noticing Buck's reluctance to change the photo.

take a breath, hold it in by @ta1k-less

 “Are you an idiot?” 

That’s the first thing Buck hears as he’s hauled back over the side of the pier, soaking wet and shivering so hard he might bite his tongue off. Eddie is glaring daggers at him, hissing curses in Spanish so quick that Buck, who’s currently trying to suppress the sound of a tsunami siren going off in his head, has no hope of translating. 

“Y-yes?”

Talk About It by @lardominyardo

You want to send me your dickpic?

Just to see if it looks okay.

Buck starts sending Eddie his dick pics before he sends them to other people.

Eddie doesn't know why he decided this was a good idea.

The Jealous Kind by @buttercupstrand

“Alright, it your turn” Buck smiles at TK before sparing a glance at Eddie and Carlos “Okay, they’re looking should I come over there and put my hands around your waist or something, lean in really close and stuff”

“yeah, pretty much”

aka the one where TK and Buck fake flirt to see if Eddie does anything.

the weekly bet (but the forever kind) by @theleftboobgrabber

 When the squad bets on how long it will take for Buck and Abby to get back together when she comes back to LA, Eddie is forced to reconsider keeping his feelings for Buck a secret.

“Thanks,” Eddie mumbles, hiding his face deep in his pillow, even if Buck can’t see him in the dark.

“What for?”

Leave it to Buck to be confused about something so obvious.

“Being you, idiot.”

“And again with the name calling,” he answers, content and sleepy.

Nights like this, Eddie feels like asking for a miracle.

But to the team, it wasn’t a matter of 

if 

Abby would take him back, but 

when. A matter of days.

Time Makes You Bolder (Children Get Older) by SevenSoulmates

There’s a new resident moving into the suite across from Buck’s.

“What’s his name?” Buck asks.

“Eddie Diaz,” Nurse Corra tells him. “Hey, you know Eddie is also a retired firefighter."

Eddie Diaz, new recruit, a voice echoes in his mind.

“Huh.” Buck says. "Never heard of him."

We Fell In Love Dancing Kizomba by @imyourbuddie

After tragedy strikes close to home, firefighter Eddie Diaz moves him and his son, Christopher, to LA where they can start fresh. Single fatherhood, new job, and a new town stretch Eddie thin, and his biological Dominant needs are barely met. But the fear of repeating the same mistakes keeps him strung tight and unable to let loose.

Evan "Buck" Buckley loves cooking and teaching children in his cooking class. He's a Submissive, this is what he's supposed to do, what his biology is made to do, and he's good at it. But Buck's always had a dream that's so farfetched for a sub that he never dares to even voice it.

When Christopher asks to take a cooking class for children, the two men's worlds collide. Eddie needs to learn to let go, and Buck needs to learn that there's more to life than just tradition and expectations. And maybe, just maybe, they can find happiness along the way.

weak in the knees @realchemistry

Buck simply asked the happy couple a question.

He really should've kept his mouth shut.      

When it comes to an end (I will want you to plea) @winters-blue-children

 After the lawsuit, Buck and Eddie are casually sleeping together. Eddie tells himself it doesn't mean anything more than that. An unexpected incident at work brings up something Buck thought he'd long buried behind him and makes Eddie re-evaluate his feelings for his best friend.    

When morning breaks by adamngoodbatch (sibbed)

Because, for all the love that Buck has for his job, 24-hour shifts still suck. And a sandwich of four 24-hours shifts on a row sucks even more.

It just sucks.

Buck thinks they suck even if they get a whole week free afterward. Even if he gets to go home and rest right after it. It just sucks. He knows how he gets after a 24-hour shift.

Buddie Fanfic Rec Part 1

And I believe in putting yourself out there, so these are mine 

[sinagrace]

As Pride Month comes to a close, it’s time I spoke candidly about my experience at Marvel Comics.

To date, I’ve always been honest about the joy of writing Iceman’s journey as an out gay superhero, but I’ve skirted around the challenges that came along with it. This is partially because I prefer to give off an upbeat vibe, and there’s also a fear that my truth will affect my career. With more corporations patting themselves on the back for profit-led partnerships wherein celebrities take selfies in rainbow apparel, and with buzz that Marvel Studios is preparing to debut their first gay character in the upcoming Eternals movie, there is an urgency to discuss the realities of creating queer pop culture in a hostile or ambivalent environment. Hopefully, my takeaways will serve as a guide for people in positions of power to consider when advocating for more nuanced and rich representation. In an ideal world, embracing our stories and empowering us to tell them will yield far more profitable (and way less messy) results than what I encountered while writing Iceman.

Stand by your people

It’s no surprise that I got the attention of trolls and irate fans for taking on this job. There was already backlash around the manner in which Bobby Drake aka Iceman came out, and Marvel needed to smooth that landing and put a “so what” to the decision. After a point, I could almost laugh off people making light of my death, saying they have "cancerous AIDS" from my book, or insinuating I’m capable of sexual assault… almost. Between Iceman’s cancellation and its subsequent revival, Marvel reached out and said they noticed threatening behavior on my Twitter account (only after asking me to send proof of all the nasty shit popping up online). An editor called, these conversations always happen over the phone, offering to provide “tips and tricks” to deal with the cyber bullying. I cut him off. All he was going to do was tell me how to fend for myself. I needed Marvel to stand by me with more work opportunities to show the trolls that I was more than a diversity hire. “We’ll keep you in mind.” I got so tired of that sentence. 

Even after a year of the new editor-in-chief saying I was talented and needed to be on a book that wasn’t “the gay character,” the only assignment I got outside of Iceman was six pages along, about a version of Wolverine where he had diamond claws. Fabulous, yes. Heterosexual, yes. Still kind of the gay character, though.

We as creators are strongly encouraged to build a platform on social media and use it to promote work-for-hire projects owned by massive corporations… but when the going gets tough, these dudes get going real quick. 

Believe in the work

You may be asking if my Iceman book was any good, or if I’m just being sour grapes over a bad work experience. Believe me, I asked that, too. From the get-go, my first editor asserted that Iceman would be DOA if it were “too gay,” while also telling me to prepare for a cancellation anyway, given that most solo X-Men titles don’t last beyond a year. Never mind that my work on Iceman had gotten positive press in the New York Times (in-print), or that in spite of (since-deleted) critical sandbagging, the series nets glowing reviews on Amazon… Marvel still treated me as someone to be contained, and the book as something to be nervous about. Do you know how hard it is to not argue with a publicist when he’s explaining the value of announcing Iceman’s revival via the Marvel homepage? Sis, that’s a burial. Instead of clapping back, I just went and got myself more press from the New York Times. From there, they tightened my leash. I had to get all opportunities pre-approved, and all interviews pre-reviewed. This would be fine if it was the standard, but I assure you: none of my straight male colleagues seek permission to go on podcasts promoting their books. 

What Marvel should have done is assign me a special projects editor. They should have worked with a specialty PR firm, rather than repeat a tiresome cycle of treating the book like a square peg, and getting confused when it’s a hit. 

Give us a real seat at the table

There was a moment before Iceman was cancelled where I wrote then-editor-in-chief Axel Alonso an email, pleading for a Hail Mary arc. I explained that Iceman was landing with a newer generation of readers who focused more on binge-reading than month-to-month periodicals. The series needed time in the book market before its true strength could be assessed. To Axel’s credit, he was warm to the idea and even gave me an extra month, but when he left Marvel that idea got brushed away. Of course I was right. The first two volumes sold like gangbusters thanks to word-of-mouth, librarian love, and support from retailers big and small. 

When the series returned, no one at Marvel asked me: “What do you think landed with readers?” Nor did they ask the question that Axel did: “What matters to your community?” So when I wrote what I thought the fans would be into, a story about a man learning to be a better ally in the war against hate, editorial totally missed its value.

Seat at the table pt II: The Shade of it all

All of the weird drama I put up with crystallized when I created a drag queen mutant, first called Shade, now called Darkveil. I told my editor that Shade would be a big deal for X-Fans, and asked how we should promote her. He said: “leave it up to the reader’s interpretation.” Everyone at Marvel shrugged off two years of goodwill and acted like I’d coordinated behind their backs on an announcement that made headlines. Beyond mentioning on Instagram the queens who inspired the character, I didn’t coordinate shit. Of course, their head publicist can’t admit that my quotes were pre-approved from an unreleased interview. At this point, I stopped believing that there’d be any more work for me. There were so many shady moves on their end that I’m still having trouble putting into language, but it all aligned with an experience I had in retail where a corrupt manager kept lying and moving the goal posts in order to keep me selling in a department I didn’t want to work in. I offered to give Darkveil a proper character bio, and I walked away.  

I recognize that some of my complaints can be filed under “this is freelance life.” I am aware that it was not a queer person of color who joked to me that “it’s not a matter of if Marvel fucks you over, it’s a matter of when.” That came from a cis white male. The same-day turn-arounds without warning, the work emails on Christmas week… that’s the freelance bullshit. Truly, I don’t even think of this as discrimination, I call it general ineptness. It is my belief that if we are telling stories about heroes doing the right thing in the face of adversity, wouldn’t the hope be to embody those ideals as individuals? Instead of feeling like I worked with some of the most inspiring and brave people in comics, I was surrounded by cowards. 

Truly, I hate writing this. In keeping with Pride Month, I am proud of the work I did on Iceman... I love the book! It sucks that I may be tarnishing its legacy going public about how the cookies were made. That said, the time for self-congratulating is over, and folks should be earnestly listening when they ask: what could we have done better? 

[clumsyclifford]

1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11 for airport malum?? I'm going far back but that is the first fic that came to mind so i'm sticking with it - taylor <3

ooh that is pretty far back all the way back to sam's 23rd birthday and now she's almost at her 24th not to stress you out or anything sam besides i love that fic every time i reread it i'm like damn. this one hits

anyway spoilers ahead for airport malum fic

changing flights so you'd stay with me (aka airport malum)

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way? easy answer! i took sam's responses from when i asked her what stuff she liked in fic, and then i just...did that.

i'm not sure where the 5+1 came from but i tend to drift towards that format in spite of myself because i really like the satisfaction of a narrative thread that keeps cropping up and then gets flipped on its head like that. i fucking love 5+1s. and i think i did it by month because i wanted a realistic amount of time to pass between each interaction so that the reader could assume (1) that michael and calum had been communicating and growing their relationship offscreen and (2) that the point at which they got together or whatever was a realistic amount of time away from when they first met. also that (3) calum isn't just constantly flying around for his job. i think it made sense

2: What scene did you first put down? the first one, think? i should check the doc history for this but i believe this fic was written at least mostly in order. yeah the first scene was written first

3: What’s your favorite line of narration? there are so many. i'm really fond of the first paragraph tbh

They say that you sleep for a third of your life. Calum is pretty confident he’s going to have spent another third of his life in one terminal or another, at the exact same airport, drinking the exact same coffee from the exact same Dunkin Donuts, and all he’ll have is thirty-three measly years to accomplish everything else he wants to do. Which really isn’t that many, considering he’s already used up twenty-four of them. What can anyone accomplish in nine years? Not a lot. And that’s assuming that Calum is going to live a grand total of ninety-nine years, which is highly unrealistic. The average lifespan for human beings these days is really closer to seventy-five years, which actually means that Calum’s life is going to end in one year. One year.

it's the most bullshit logic ever written. i fucking love it i feel like it establishes calum as such a specific character right from the start

also though

Michael beams and falls into a backwards walk. “I’ve got you,” he promises. “Text me when you land?”

“I will,” Calum says, wondering when he became the type of person to have someone to text when he lands, and when that someone became Michael.

WHEN HE BECAME THE TYPE OF PERSON TO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANYWAY

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue? coughs significantly

“It’s fuckin’ August, man,” Calum says. “Summers in D.C. are horrible.”

okay that's not my favorite line of dialogue but it's definitely the most fucking accurate. i scrolled through the whole fic and honestly could not narrow it down to just one so here are a couple of my favorite dialogue moments

“Hello?”

“I said I’d call,” says Michael from the other end. He sounds like he’s smiling. “So I’m calling.”

“This is so obviously not what I meant,” Calum says, rolling his eyes, but he’s grinning despite himself.

and

“That’s such pop star bullshit,” Calum returns. “I need to know what the promo is for, Mike. My Twitter followers are dying to find out.”

“Mhm,” Michael says, rolling his eyes over a grin. “You and your twenty-seven Twitter followers. On your private Twitter account.”

“For all you know I have a second, secret account, where I moonlight as a teenage girl who swoons at the indescribably hot Michael Clifford and his sexy sexy guitar skills,” Calum says, and then wrinkles his nose. “That makes me seem super creepy and gross. I don’t — I don’t do that. That’d be really weird.”

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story? once again i point you in the direction of miss samantha tirednotflirting!

oh the times they are a-changin.

11: What do you like best about this fic? the PRANKS!!!!! THE FUCKING PRANKS!!!! calum talking about all the fucking pranks he and his coworkers do on each other!!!! most of these pranks are ones my dad (also a lawyer) has done to his coworkers or has had done to him and i think it's hilarious i fucking love the dynamic of a group of colleagues who prank the shit out of each other and i just love how the pranks keep sneaking into the story for their lil moments of stardom. good for them

fic asks

[deltastorm101]

So, I tried to calculate Control...

... and its Epic Games deal, with the help of my certified smooth brain™ and probably incorrect sources. I started this last night hella tired and with a headache, I have finished it up today hella tired and with a headache, and this is what I produced: bullshit! :D But hey, at least double checked bullshit that’s open for discussion and contribution and expansion. Also, I probably won’t list the sources because a) I’m lazy and b) I didn’t have to dig thaaat deep down to find all this so if you really wanna know you could probably hit google with it as well. Anyhow here we go lol So, the initial thought which got all of this rolling was the 2020-wrap-up-post Remedy linked on their twitter, and Epic’s linked publishing announcement in it: studios Remedy, Playdead and GenDesign will release their next next-gen games with Epic. Now, we all know Remedy are working on some sort of Alan Wake-ish thing as we speak (right? right?? god I hope so), which meanssss our boy will most likely be an Epic exclusive. Which makes me kinda sad because, well. I’m deep in Steam’s ass. Hell, I waited for Control for a full year before I played it because they can pry the Steam version from my cold dead hands. So I asked myself... was it worth it for them? How much money did they throw at Remedy (and 505 Games) to have them play along? Would they have reached more people from the get-go if they had released it on Steam right away? Did the individual programmer, designer, writer, artist, person behind it profit from this at all? (Also, like, about the rights and copyright thing,,,,, you’d think they could have learned from Alan Wake and its IP belonging to Microsoft and so not really being able to do anything more with it because they don’t ‘own’ it and shit) buuut anyway that’s not the point of this post, now it’s time to do some MATH BABEY

Ok, let’s start with some things we know. Facts. Figures. Data. Turns out my initial question, how much money was involved, could be answered by doing one (1) google search: according to Wikipedia, Epic gave Remedy and 505 Games €9.49mio. The total budget for the game was €26.9mio over the course of 3 years of development. We know that as of December 2020, over 2mio copies of the game were sold, with November 2020 being the best-selling month ever since its initial release in August 2019. This is where question 1) comes into play: how many of those 2 million copies were sold in 2019 and how many in 2020? Stay tuned, I think I found out.

We know that Remedy gets to keep 45% of the revenue, which, I assumed, means that 505 keeps the remaining 55% (probably a lot more going on there but shhh). We know that Control’s sales cooked up €17.84mio in 2019 (so months September – December), €17.7mio of those in the first month alone (O.O). Side note: because it came out at the very end of August, I’ll ignore that month and declare September the first sales month.

We know that 60% of sales in 2019 were digital ones (aka Epic Store, mostly), 40% physical ones (consoles PS4 and XB1), while in 2020, only 10% of sales were physical and a whopping 90% digital; which is people on Epic who wanted to get their hands on the first DLC and – you guessed it – the Steam release of the Ultimate Edition in August 2020.

Which begs question 2): what’s bigger, 60% of 2019 sales because ‘ooh shiny new game’, or 90% of 2020 sales because ‘yay steam release’? The answer may look obvious, but you have to take into account the dropping price, which I also researched for your pleasure and enjoyment.

For this I used a German website called idealo.de, which focuses on looking for the best deals for basically anything you can buy on the internet, and it also gives you diagrams that describe at which point in time the product was at which exact price. This is what it gave me: - release price: €60 - December 2019: €41 (PS4)/€44 (XB1) - mid-2020: €30 - Ultimate Edition release: €30 - December 2020: €14 (PS4)/€18 (XB1)/€30 (Ultimate Editions) At this point I was like “lol hold on i need chocolate for this cuz i’ll be here for some time *sweating*”

To continue this mess™, I see more questions: 3) How many employees does Remedy have, which positions do they work in and what are their salaries? 4) How many employees does 505 have, which positions and salaries do they have? 5) What’s the total revenue that Control has generated so far?

And also some more stuff like, are my numbers accurate, am I even grasping these concepts correctly, are there even more people involved or am I just trying to explain complete crap (yes) but let’s just ignore all of that shall we. At that point I went “oh shit what have i gotten myself into, this screen does not get my point across, i need pen and paper” and you know shit is gonna go DOWN when I do math on paper.

My paper math birthed the following calculation:

Following this up, we can calculate the end-of-2019 sales, if we set the price for September and October to €60, for November and December to approx. €45:

Now, you might notice that one of those numbers is big and the other is HUGE. Why might that be? Well...

- Covid19: everyone stayed at home and needed video games to play - More sale months of the year, naturally - dropping price: why get it for €60 when you can get it for 20 - Ultimate Edition: why buy it in June when you get more content in August aaaand... - it comes out on Steam.

With this in mind, let’s see what questions we can answer: 1) 661,110 copies in 2019; 1,338,889 copies in 2020 2) 60% digital sales in 2019 means 396,666 Epic copies; 90% digital sales in 2020 means 1,205,000 copies – most of it from Steam? Some of it? A good chunk? The bigger chunk? There’s no way of really knowing for sure but... you could read this into it. I definitely am. 3) Google told me Remedy had a little over 250 employees at the end of 2019... 4) ... and 505 has less than 100. I found no good sources for this, I think linkedin said 37, someone else said 50. I’ll just use the 50 figure, idk. No idea man. and for 5) I’ll contradict my point that the Steam release is what knocked the sales out of the park and assume that the number of sold copies stayed the same across all 12 months of 2020, which gives us this:

Ok and now we’re getting into the most dangerous of danger zones because I have no idea how companies or capitalism work, so for educated people™, the remaining calculations might read like a toddler wrote them; I apologize profusely and hereby present last night’s brain vomit:

As stated earlier, development took 3 years, but everyone wanted to get paid in 2020 as well so let’s use 4 years to find out the salaries, which is 48 months. Let’s assume the utopian idea that every employee on the line here gets the exact same amount of money (LOL ikr but shhhh, let’s live out our dirtiest equality fantasies for a second ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)). Which would mean...

And now without the Epic Deal™:

Quod erat demonstrandum. Remedy has been selling their souls to Epic for €350 a month since 2017. (I don’t mean this as maliciously as I’m making it sound, don’t worry xD)

OKAY SO, O B V I O U S L Y, I have not the slightest idea what on earth I’m talking about so read this like you’d read a good fanfiction. We don’t know the different salaries across the different positions (and genders HAH), we don’t know if other parties were involved, I’ve completely ignored the sum that Epic themselves get, I have ignored taxes, I don’t know if my numbers are accurate (they’re definitely not I mean 505 must have more employees than 50), if I made mistakes (yes), and also somewhere along the way I forgot to use the €26.9mio budget figure because, uuh, I have no idea where to use it, what it means, where did it come from, where did it go, cotton eye joe - but oh well, I’m not starting over, take it or leave it.

So... I can now officially say I have written hot steamy economics fic xD Man I put waaay too much time into this but damn was it fun. Good three-hour-deep-dive (two of them spent munching on chocolate half-asleep listening to psytrance to keep my brain twitchy). Real-life-theorizing. Fuck capitalism. Don’t do drugs. Pet a cat. Wear your mask. Call your grandparents.

If there’s typos in this I’m sorry but also I’m not, I can’t be bothered to proofread again lol. Goodnight imma catch up on the sleep I lost. Gotta love full moons

[sanderssideswriting]

Youtuber Life chapter 3

Ships: familial sleepxiety and eventual Prinxiety

Words:???

first  last  next

Summary: Remy Sanders is a famous beauty vlogger and just moved to LA with his teenage son Virgil after their location was leaked by fans. Remy AKA CoffeeAddiction has several million subscribers. Virgil also has a secret Drama channel, where he doesn’t show his face and uses a voice modifier. He just hit a million subs and grows more everyday because of the level of production his videos have, the mystery around who he is and the fact that he ALWAYS has the latest information regarding youtube drama.

“INTERN!” Remy called.

Virgil looked up from his laptop where he was currently editing his next video. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to take some of those ‘what youtuber am I’ quizzes who do you think I’ll get?”

“I’d say James Charles but ultimately Cristine from Simplynailogical.”

“Why her? She’s a wonderful youtuber, maybe someday I’ll get the privilege of doing a collab with her.”

“Because I personally relate to Ben on  a spiritual level.”

Remy laughed “because you get me coffee?”

“Of fucking course it’s because I get you coffee.” Virgil said with a smirk. He was happy he was off camera.

“Do you think we’ll see her at the next streamy awards? Or Vidcon?”

Virgil shrugged “probably.”

Remy turned to the camera “Cristine if you see this I’d fucking love to do some sort of colab.”

The video continued as normal with little input for Virgil apart from laughing whenever Remy got James Charles to his dismay.

Remy called Virgil while he was hanging out with Logan, Roman and Patton getting lunch off campus.

“Intern! Where did you put the pallet! That pallet you used on Halloween.”

“I used like 3 different ones, which are you talking about?”

“The one with that really nice purple color you like.”

“In the closet.”

“Stop being a smartass, what shelf?”

“Uhhhhh, back wall middle shelf where it’s supposed to go.”

“No it’s supposed to go on the left wall.”

“I was the one who did most of the fucking organizing! I know where I put it.”

“No it’s no- oh wait never mind I found it. Also pick up some coffee for me.”

“We have an espresso machine! Also no! I’m with friends.” Virgil hung up with a sigh.

“Who was that, your mom?” Logan asked.

“No my dad, he wanted to know where I put something and also wants me to get him coffee later, even though we have an espresso machine,” Virgil said rolling his eyes.

When he came home his dad was still filming.

“What are you doing?” Virgil asked halfway down the stairs.

“Motherfucking James Charles made a challenge and I HAVE to do it. Mostly because he fucking said that only the best could. And gurl, I am the best motherfucker!”

“Oh my god we get it your gay for James Charles.”

Remy turned around “What is this slander? In my house? I am not gay for James Charles, I’m trying to out gay him. There’s a difference babe.”

“Sure Jan.” Virgil said going back up the stairs to his room.

Raccoon: Conspiracy theory: My dad is gay for James Charles hiss hiss motherfucker: oh fuck not this again Dukey: Why not? hiss hiss motherfucker: Didn’t they have a huge feud awhile ago because of you? Raccoon: LOL you can’t prove that hiss hiss motherfucker: I have screenshots of you telling us that you did it. Raccoon: Ok so I MAY have done that. but I DID tell my dad, he wanted an excuse to challenge James Charles to something anyway hiss hiss motherfuker: I take it back, your dad might be gay for James Charles Raccoon: Remus is in this chat hiss hiss motherfucker: yeah, you know that Virg Raccoon: he could start a rumor hiss hiss motherfucker: is it that big of a deal though? Raccoon: you’re right, besides your both sworn to secrecy hiss hiss motherfucker: more like a lifetime of middle school blackmail you could release at anytime Raccoon: What? I make sure to keep my bases cover Raccoon: I’m basically SpiderMan Raccoon: but with less morals hiss hiss motherfucker: so Batman Raccoon: no, SpiderMan hiss hiss motherfucker: we get it, you haave a rush on Tom Holland Raccoon: ...

Princey: Hey, want to go see a movie with me, Patton and Logan? Emo Nightmare: What movie? Princey: Knives Out Emo Nightmare: I love that movie, sure

While waiting in line Jack Paul was walking around along with some friends and walked right up to Virgil and the others.

“Got any movie recommendations?” he asked Virgil shoving the camera in his face.

“Parasite. If your not a pussy about having to read subtitles that is. Also blur out fucking faces the four of us are minors,” He said without missing a beat.

Jake was clearly not expecting to hear what Virgil had said and neither had anyone else around them.

Jake walked away with his friends looking shocked, clearly trying to play it off as he left.

“What? It’s a good movie. Also I consider LA youtubers and vloggers to be an invasive species and parasites. I doubt any of us want to be caught dead in a Jake Paul vlog anyway.” Virgil said shrugging it off.

The movie went fine and they all liked it, for different reasons.

Virgil got home and while scrolling through twitter saw it. He’d become a meme once again.

“JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!” He shouted.

He opened the basement door. “SOMEONE FUCKING MADE ME INTO A MEME AGAIN. WHAT. THE FUCK!”

Remy started laughing “what was it this time?”

“I basically told Jake Paul to fuck off and called him a parasite.”

“GURL! NO. FUCKING. WAY! I have to see it now!”

“He didn’t even blur our faces. Which is fucking bullshit since I told him to because we’re minors,” Virgil said.

He still had Twitter open but missed the comment.

That kinda sounded like CoffeeAddict’s intern.

Taglist:

@athenashipsthings 

[dracjoonie]

{Dither} Yoongi / Producer!Reader {Chap.1:Ctrl+z}

⥂��̲𝚊̲𝚐̲𝚜͢ : Idol!Yoongi x Producer!Reader, fluff, mild angst, eventual smut, slow burn, reluctant friends to lovers. ⥂𝚂̲𝚞̲𝚖̲𝚖̲𝚊̲𝚛̲𝚢͢  : You’re an independent producer working to make your big breakthrough whilst trying to keep your creative integrity when you become acquainted with someone you never thought you could work with.  ⥂𝙰̲/̲𝙽͢ : Once again I’m incapable of writing an OC that isn’t tsundere af, good thing they have something in common~  ⥂𝚆̲/̲𝙲͢  : 3399

 You had a feeling the day would be eventful, but not like this. You thought maybe you would get a few killer tracks finished, maybe pop out of the house for some much needed air, and that would be it. But now you were sat at your desk, cellphone in hand, debating on how to reply to the message you had been spacing out over for the past ten minutes. 

 “There’s this big event happening tonight. I’m not sure who’s hosting the party, but a bunch of A list celebrities in the music scene are gonna be there. It would be a great networking opportunity for you, I think you should go. I know a few people who are going that are dying to work with you, and you seriously need to get out more..” 

  A message from a colleague of yours; Aida, who’s probably right. But that didn't make the thought of venturing out into such a crippling social climate any more tempting. So your options were: stay home and continue working and hope you hit another breakthrough and make a lot of money. Or, go out and find other artists to potentially work with and inevitably make even more money... Decisions.. You weren’t going to make that much as just a producer if you didn’t aim higher and work with bigger artists, but your quaint life now was nothing to complain about either.

 Rather than stare at your now black phone screen for any longer, you opted for tossing it aside to continue working for another ten minutes before you would decide. But your plans were thwarted when you saw your phone screen flashing with another message. You tisked before picking it up, needing to know what she said next despite your tendency to not actually reply back.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Another text.

“”Why go out when I could just not?” But I’m serious. Your name is already out there in the music scene, they know your work. You just need to go out there and meet people. Your work is unique, you need to stop squandering your potential by being such a shut in.” 

“Well damn.” You typed the words quickly into your messenger before hitting send, leaning back in your desk chair to watch the little dots that signaled she was typing something back.

“So, will you go?” 

“I guess. Since now you’ve wounded my pride and all.” You hit send and continued typing.

“When and where” 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll pick you up at 9, ok? Just wear something cool and I’ll handle the rest.”

 You sighed before tossing your phone down where you had previously. It was only 5pm so at least you had time for your original plans for the day. It wasn’t like you weren’t grateful to her for dragging you out all the time, the results were always in your favor. You just found it bothersome how little notice she would grant you. But it was probably just her knowing that giving you more time would just mean more time for you to slither your way out. 

 You loved the work you did, you just wished that working on bigger songs that reached more people didn’t require actually talking to them.. An email would suffice, a phone call maybe. Only meeting in the studio for recordings or to finalize the finished product, but again that could be done just as smoothly with the big wall that is your desktop separating you from whoever it was you were working with. You just wanted to work, not have small talk, not get coffee and ramble on about whatever topics had nothing to do with the actual music you were working on. You just wanted to socialize enough to solidify a concept; build a track to represent it, record it, and wrap it up with a fresh new bow to be released to the public. Simple, or so you thought.

 It might be important and beneficial to get to know who you were working with for other people, but for you it just cramped your creativity. Its harder to think when you have someone leaning over you and giving input; good input sure, but input on a track you weren’t anywhere finished with wasn’t helping. It was like backseat driving, ‘yeah I’ll switch lanes when I’m ready, just gimmy a sec, jeez’. 

 You shook it off as another inevitable occurrence, trying to think only of the positives. If what Aida was telling you was true; and A list musicians were actually going to be there, this could be huge for you. So far you had worked mostly with the more underground hip-hop and rnb scene, helping with a few breakthrough tracks here and there. That was enough for you, and by now you didn’t need to; or more so didn’t have time, to work on your own solo music. It was just for fun anyway, and you didn’t expect your own music to gain that much traction. You wouldn’t describe it as “palatable” to the average listener, it was all experimental. A commenter once described it as “ambient electronic wailing with a slow hip-hop beat”, and you liked that description well enough.

 You clicked the spacebar on your computer and let the track you were working on replay through your speakers. But just like before, you saw your phone flashing.

“You better be getting ready.” 

You grumbled before typing your reply.

“I have hours Aida, I’m working rn..”

You waited on her this time, not wanting to get interrupted again.

“And how long has it been since you’ve actually left the house? You must be tripping over your leg hairs by now. Get to weed wacking, you need to look fresh like your music. THIS IS A BIG DEAL.”

“It’s not that long, damn. Who is it I’m trying to impress anyway?” 

“The word on the street is that BTS is going.”

“Bullshit.”

“I’m serious! Idols y/n!”

“*Gasp* Oh my gOSh for reaLz?.. I’m not shaving for some rumored “ Idol party”. That’s not my gig anyway.”

“It could be if you’d actually try. And you already said yes so you’re going.”

“If this is true at all, how the hell are you getting us in?”

“I told you I would handle it. I was thinking you should wear that black tunic top you have.. The asymmetrical one with the hood?  And leather pants! Gotta be leather.. I think heels might be trying too hard though..”

“You taking up styling now?”

“So you’ll go?”

“Sounds like I don’t have a choice anyway.”

“You don’t. See you at 7.”

𝟷̲𝟶̲:̲𝟸̲𝟹̲𝚙̲𝚖͢

 Aida had her whole frame stretched across the middle console of the taxi she insisted on calling. Pointing frantically and shouting for the driver to turn in whatever wild directions she had to wherever it was she was taking you. You sat to the left of her, behind the driver's seat. Just watching the streetlights pass by. A palm drumming on your thighs to the beat in your head. Her loud voice was easy enough to ignore, but you were beginning to regret leaving with her. You had this bubbling anxiety growing in your chest; nothing too crippling, but you could feel it and it was growing more annoying the closer you got. 

“Oh! There it is! It’s just up here on the left! You can drop us off out back, -let me find my wallet..” 

You turned to where she pointed, not really having noticed what part of town you were in until now. 

“A hotel..? Are you sure this is the right place..?” 

“Yes! Its a 5 star hotel and it’s full of ballrooms they rent out for events like this. This is the real deal y/n, not some shoddy bar like you’re use to.” 

You scoffed. “Well whatever, let’s just get this over with..”

 “Stop being like that- Here you go, keep the change~” She started to scurry her way out of the backseat, fiddling around to get her wallet back into her purse. You followed, sliding across the seats towards the open car door. 

 You stepped out, gravel crunching under your boots. Aida was already booking it towards the back entrance. Her long curls tussling about behind her and bouncing with every step. You sped up,closing the distance from behind her. 

“So what’s the plan? Just waltz in? There’s a bouncer.”

 She hushed you before walking right up to the guy. He wasn’t anything intimidating, just tall.. Very tall, towering over her with zero effort.

“I’m sorry miss, if you’re here for a reservation with the hotel you’ll need to go through the front entrance. We have an event going on tonight.” 

You took a step next to her, taking notice of the way the bouncers eyes lingered on you.

“I’m aware.” She giggled. “The event is what I-we’re here for.” 

“U-hum-” He began, chuckling and looking down at her as if he was speaking to a confused little girl. “This is invite only, do you have an invite?” 

“Nope. But I have her~” She chimed, leaning into you and tipping you to the side with her cheery smile and batted eyelashes. ‘This was your plan..?’

The guard merely cleared his throat and turned to you. “And do you have an invite?”

“Nope. Sorry to waste your time, we’ll be on our way now.” Your latched an arm around Aida to drag her away but she stopped you. Typical.

“Hey! Y/n! -This is Y/N Y/L/N. Aka. CenøByte.” 

He glowered. Staring at Aida with dead eyes and towering doubt.

“That producer?.. Well that’s a new one, no one's pretended to be her before..” 

“HaHA!-” She jumped up, clinging onto your shoulder with her pointy nails and shaking you back and forth. “I told you people know your name!” 

“I know a lot of names. It’s part of the job, but I’m guessing you can’t prove this as your actual identity.” 

You huffed a ‘correct’ before turning back around to leave. 

“Y/N Don’t you dare! Show him your twitter or something.” You rolled your eyes making it very obvious that your irritation was directed to her and her alone, but continued to dig your phone out of your back pocket despite it all. 

“Hold on... “ You opened the app and flipped it to your account page with your username and blue check clearly there.  “Here.. I’m legit. -But this still isn’t an invite so I’ll gladly leave.” 

He reached for your phone, squinting at the screen to verify.

“We’ll I’ll be damned. Hey, that one song you did with ___ was pretty dope. You know what?-” He handed your phone back and wrapped his long arms around to pull something out of his pocket. “I’m not supposed to do this, but I don’t see a real issue-” He leaned over you entirely now, pushing Aida out of the picture as he held a tiny black notepad in front of you.

“You sign this, and I’ll slip you an invitation.”

“Wait, for real..?” You deadpanned. Aida was already jumping for joy. “YES!! I KNEW THIS WOULD WORK!” 

“Yeah. I’ve bounced a lot of parties by now, and I have a lot of autographs. But you? You’re so elusive I doubt anyone even knows what you look like. And you never show up to these things, The boss has even tried to invite you to a couple but no one knows your address-”

“I prefer emails...”

“- Right.. Anyway, an autograph from you’s probably pretty coveted.. Deal?”   

You turned to Aida for input but she was practically screaming at you through telepathy. Her voice in your head already -’You better sign that before I beat you within an inch of your life.’

“Deal..” You stuttered out, grabbing the tiny notepad and pen from his hands and scribbling down your stage name. Something you had never been asked to do before. 

“Well, here you go I guess..” 

He hummed as he looked down at your scribbled writing.

“A little sloppy, you should work on that. Was this your first autograph?”

You reached up and grasped the back of your neck sheepishly before replying.

“Yeah, that obvious?” 

“Yeah. But that’s ok-” His eyes crinkled as he smiled down at you. “-Just makes this more special. You two can head inside, just don’t forget you’re old pal here when you’re on magazine covers, ok?” 

You gave him a weak smile. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

He stepped aside and bowed just slightly to signal you inside. You pushed the door open; holding it and nodding for Aida to go in ahead of you. She did, a smug smile pulling at her features. 

“Told you I had a plan.” She said matter of fact, swaying her long curls back and forth as she walked ahead of you down the corridor. 

“You’re insane.. But what else is new.”

𝟷̲𝟶̲:̲𝟹̲𝟾̲𝚙̲𝚖͢

 It was dark inside, barely lit by the ornate chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. A wide open space with several couches and a full bar that sat at the back side of the ballroom. It was filled with people, many of which you recognized from tabloids and music shows.

“Oh shit, you weren’t kidding.” You whispered, nudging Aida awkwardly. 

She gasped dramatically, eyes glued on a man across the room. 

“I think I found my future husband, gotta dash.” She took several steps away from you before you could react to her sudden outburst.

“Hey! Are you leaving me!?” She scoffed but turned back regardless.

“You’ll be fine, go be productive or something.” 

 You glowered as she made her way across the room, leaving you alone in the middle of so many strangers you didn’t want to have to deal with. 

‘Should have guessed this would happen.’ You sighed, trying to ignore all the eyes you were now all too aware of. Alone and an intruder at such a high profile party, this wasn’t what you signed up for. You tried to ignore the way your chest began to tighten while making a B-line for the bar. If you had to deal with this situation you at least wanted to be happily intoxicated.

 You took a seat at one of the open bar stools, closest to the wall, and tapped your nails against the counter as you waited for the bartender to acknowledge your presence. He was busy with several other guests and that was understandable, you nodded in appreciation when he signaled to you that he would be over when he was free. You tried your best to relax, swiveling your seat around so that you could lean against the wall and observe the room. You could see Aida already flirting shamelessly with the man she had spotted earlier. He looked familiar; real handsome and tall, but you couldn’t place where you had seen him before. You could almost hear her girlish giggle from over the music and you had to fight the urge to roll your eyes. You moved on, glancing about the many faces around the room. It was such a versatile mix. Idols, singers, a few actors you even knew. You spotted a couple of men you thought you recognized from Got7 but weren’t involved enough to know for sure, much less their names. No BTS though, they would be hard to miss with how many billboards and TV appearances you had seen them on. But you could gloat to Aida about how wrong she was on that later. 

You sighed again. 

 This really wasn’t your scene. What was she expecting you to do here anyway? Find an artist you were compatible with and work together? Was anything ever that simplistic? You didn’t know these people and they sure as hell didn’t know you, and starting conversations with strangers wasn’t exactly your strong suit.  You had half a mind to just up and leave when someone grabbed your attention. A man slumped into the stool next to yours, waving the bartender over immediately. That already gave you a twinge of frustration. There were plenty of seats not next to you, and you were clearly waiting first.  

“Never seen you before.” 

You hummed in reply.

“Who are you?” His tone was so dry it gave you the urge to just ignore him and move on. Instead you bit back your annoyance; this wasn’t the place to be such a hot fuse.

“Does it matter?” 

“Ya. Kinda. Should you even be here?” 

“Probably not.” He lifted a brow at you before taking a slow sip of his whisky. 

“Then how the hell did you get in?” 

“I signed an autograph.” You spoke plainly, not wanting to elaborate.

 He raised a skeptical brow. 

“Who’s?” 

“My own?” 

He hummed and nodded before taking another slow sip. 

“Are you really not going to tell me your name?”

“Its CenøByte. Doesn’t change much, does it?’

“ CenøByte ?”

You tilted your head down in a nod. 

“Are you.. That producer?” 

“Well yeah. What, is there someone else with that name? Dang, and I thought I was original.”

He scoffed at you just as the bartender was coming back around.

“We’ll I’d sure hope not. You really need an upgrade.” 

You caught yourself mid eye roll as you moved to give your order. The bartender gave you a bright customer service smile before leaning in.

“-Sorry hun, what’ll you have.” You cringed at the name. 

“Just a whisky.” His face fell.

“Oh, I’m sorry! No can do -I just poured the last of it. Is there anything else I can get you?” Of course. ‘What kind of idol party isn’t fully stocked anyway..’ 

You sighed. “A bourbon then.”

“You’ve got it!” He smiled again before dipping away to make your last resort option. You glanced back at the man next to you, him eyeing you knowingly. Glass of whisky in hand.

“Sorry- “

“-Don’t. And what is your stage name anyway, since you think mine is so outdated.” You quipped, drumming your fingers against the counter impatiently as you waited.  

There was a look in his dark eyes that you couldn’t quite read. 

“You crash a high profile party and you don’t even know the guests? Cute. So whatever could you be here for then, hm?” 

 If he wasn’t already getting on your last nerve, he certainly was now. But you played the game anyway. After all, Aida did want you to socialize. No one said you need to be nice about it. 

“The whisky of course, but we know how that went.” 

There was something familiar about his smile, sly but sweetened by his soft features. Something about his hair too, the way he had the underneath shaved but his long bangs swept just along his brow. You were sure you'd seen him on tv before but you couldn’t place where or with who. Not that it matter to you anyway, he stole your whisky so therefore he was irrelevant.

“Then I guess you’ll be leaving soon.”

“Oh gosh, am I bothering you? I heard all you Idol types were assholes behind the scenes but this is truly something.” The words came out before you could stop yourself. Thankfully the bartender came with your drink and a little straw you didn’t much need. He set the glass down in front of you, giving you a smile and a wink before he rushed back over to his other guests. 

“If you don’t know my stage name, how do you know I’m an idol?” You met his playful gaze with laxed irritation. 

“You’re right.-” Your smirked, stirring your bourbon before looking him dead in the eye to continue. “You’re too scrawny to be an idol.” The way his jaw dropped in shock made your night, him nodding as he took another sip. 

“Ok bitch, damn. Maybe that should be your stage name.” His tone was playful despite his words, and it managed to make you smile for the first time in a long while. There was a glint in his eyes when he regarded you. His name was right on the tip of your tongue..

You downed the rest of your bourbon before speaking again.

“Bitch, huh? Soo creative. You must be a producer.”

“I am.. Among other things.” Another sip. 

His name had to be something short. Something catchy. Something with an A in it? Maybe a D?

“And my stage name is Suga, for the record.”

Yikes.

⥂𝙰̲/̲𝙽̲-̲𝟸͢: Hope this was somewhat enjoyable ^.^ , I’ve had ideas for this fic for a long time now so I figured now was a good time to start posting it. And any feedback/interaction would be much appreciated <3

[sanikori]

So, i forced myself to watch Leaving Neverland...

And i swear, i've never hated some stangers in my life to the point where i want them dead. I felt my oxygen leave me and i was choking on my fucking tears from all the lies. I felt so sick, that i puked 5 times. But now i've recomposed myself so that i can expose these liars. I didn't want to go back in time and know how in feels to be a moonwalker in 1993. I wanted people to still talk about Michael, but not like this, never like this.

First things first, as Michael Williams, stated on Twitter, Michael has been investigated from the FBI for 13 fucking years.

Here we see 72 officers and 50 FBI agents in the Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara. They searched every angle and interviewed everyone to find evidence and guess what? They found nothing. 

He's been proved innocent at not 1 but 2 trials. To this day, there's still no valid proof that Michael did any of those things.

Even Michael’s fucking bodyguard stepped in to defended him and expose Wade.

Here's some of the bullshit they said in that documentary, Let's start with James Safetruck: James: "I've spent Thanksgiving in 1987 with him at his home" Wrong, Michael was in Australia as a part of the Bad Tour in November 24 1987 James: "Michael didn't want us spending any time with women and cut contact with me after puberty"

Really James? then how come we see you AFTER puberty holding an umbrella for Michael while Michael's ex wife, Lisa Marie Presley, was there with the both of you. James: "I was abused by Michael in New York in 1989 after he performed at the Grammys" Fake. The Grammys were in Los Angeles and Michael didn't perform at the Grammys in 1989. Now let's go with Wade Robson Wade: "I was molested by Michael between ages 7 and 14" Wade is now 36 so it happened from 1989 till 1996. So you're telling me that these "rapes" happend DURING the Chandler investigation and DURING Michael's marriage to Lisa Marie Presley as well? and the FBI found nothing? really? bitch please.

Here comes my favourite lie Then there's the MANIPOLATED footage of Michael begin honoured at the Regent Hotel and he apparently recorded a message for Wade "on his birthday" where Michael "says" "Hello Wade, today is your birthday"

The video at the Regent Hotel was recorded on the 20th February in 1990 while Wade's birthday in on the 7th of September and the original video was meant for Elizabeth Taylor.

Also Wade and James didn't even really grew up with Michael, they didn't even know Michael that well... they BEGGED to have Michael's attention and since Michael is an angel, they got it. Also i'd like to tell you that it’s the same Wade that DEFENDED Michael not only once, but 3 mother fucking times.

If you two are saying that Michael raped you both, then how come that Macaulay Culkin (the kid from the "Home Alone" movie) the one who literally grew up with Michael by his side, who basically lived at Neverland and was a child like the both of you, said that nothing happened between him and Michael and is still defending him to this day?

They change their stories every fucking second too. Wade has changed his story 4 times and James 2 times. Wade's first version of the story: Michael threatened and manipulated him that they'll go to jail if he says anything Wade's second version of the story: He didn't "realize" he's been abused Wade's third version of the story: He felt shame Wade's fourth version of the story: He ALWAYS knew what Michael did but he didn't realize it was bad (because who doesn't have anal sex with kids, right?) Then there's James: James's first version of the story: Michael and his people were threatening him to keep quiet and James refused to testify but he and his mom knew he had been abused James's second version of the story: He didn't realize he was abused till 2014. They're so worthless that they don't even know how to lie. If you gotta lie about a dead man to earn money, do it properly. It's also funny how they don't mention that Michael was around little girls as well and not only boys, whenever it was on the streets or in Neverland. Meanwhile Oprah just said "Fuck you" to 3 generations of Jacksons by backstabbing the man who welcomed her in his house by siding with these little shits. Not only Oprah knew, but she provited the “victims”. Also the reason why Oprah promoted "Leaving Neverland" is because at the Sundance, it was also a documentary about Harvey Weinstein, who is an actual pedophile and has been found guilty. But since he's Oprah’s best friend (yes, you heard that right) they just diverted the attention in media to Michael instead of Weinstein But Wade is the one i hate the most because not only he is a liar but he's also the REAL pedophile... his reputation was so bad that kids at jumpdance called him "Uncle Perv" and the mothers wanted them to stay away from him. Like, there's literally a photo of him side hugging a girl and his left hand is close to her breast while he has his right hand on his fucking dick. 

He cheated on Michael's niece, Brandi Jackson (the two have been in a relationship for 8 years) with Britney Spears which resulted in Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" song and he did hard drugs. Not to mention that he made out with his SISTER ON STAGE! and this bastard has a son which i really feel sorry for... but most of all, he's a crazy ass bitch. Paris Jackson (Michael's daughter) and Taj Jackson (Michael's nephew) are both REAL victims of sexual abuse, stop to think how these two feel about this. Also Taj found texts with Wade in 2009 where Wade is thanking Taj for letting him go to Michael's memorial 

Also Taj recently stated in an inteview that Michael's third son, Bigi (Blanket) Jackson is not talking anymore. And the teachers are worried about him. He literally won't speak, at all.

In conclusion: Michael Jackson is innocent. He’s the real victim.

Please, tell what would lead him to do such a thing? 

You're just gonna forget all the money he gave to charity? the many lives he saved? how he considered his fans as part of his family?

I've been a fan of him since i was 4 and i'll love and defend him till i die. This man saved me with his music in my darkest times, i feel protected whenever i see or hear anything related to him, he's my inspiration, my everything and if i could make a dead celebrity come back to life, it would be him... i was meant to go to his "This Is It" concert in July, meeting him for the first time but... it never happened... because he left... i've been called a pedophile supporter just for defending him... do you know how much this hurts? I've seen "moonwalkers" turning their back on Michael like it was nothing... i've been told that i need to accept the fact that my hero is in reality a bad guy, that i'm protecting him just cause i'm a fan.

They made you belive that he bleached his skin when in reality he suffered from Vitiligo and wasn't confident enough to show it to the entire world.

They made you belive that he changed because he had too much plastic surgery when in reality he suffered from Lupus. But even if the did have too much plastic surgery, why should it matter since half of the celebrities have plastic surgery?

They made you belive that he was gay when in reality he has been married to Debbie Rowe, who gifted him with Prince and Paris, and Lisa Marie Presley, he crushed on Diana Ross and Brooke Shields, was kissed on stage by Taitana Thumbtzen aka the girl in TWYMMF (The Way You Make Me Feel) and how to forget his infamous In The Closet song with Naomi Campbell? but even if he was, he’s still Michael.

They made you belive that he was a Junkie when in reality he had many medical illnesses that needed medication and a lot of painkillers.

But most of all, they made you belive that he was a pedophile when in reality he wanted to create the childhood he never had in his adulthood and there's nothing wrong with that, he couldn’t trust adults because instead of seeing him as a human with emotions, they saw him as a cash machine. If it wasn't for the kids, he would have already killed himself, he wouldn’t care to live and he said that he would rather slit his wrists instead of hurting a child.

It's not about defending my idol just cause i'm one of his countless fans, it's about giving a voice to a man who's no longer here to defend himself.

How am i going to belive them since they're accusing Michael Joseph Jackson, the same Michael that didn't want to step on a bug and called his bodyguard to take it while saying "Don't kill it!" while he was performing on stage? the same Michael that would have died for a squirrel?

This man is dead 

Attacking a dead man isn't brave.

James Gunn is still alive and he signed with a major studio

Where in everyone in the media?

They are a bunch of pathetic cowards.

So guys please, don't watch this so called documentary cause they are calling:

His ex wives liars

His friends liars

The people who worked for him for over 20 years liars

His fans liars

His FAMILY liars

But they want you to just belive the word of two proven liars.

It’s been almost 10 years since we lost him. 

Wake the fuck up.

Can’t belive we’re in 2019 and you decide now that he’s guilty for something he never did. Evan Chandler forced his son, Jordan Chandler, to accuse Michael for money. Then when Michael died, Evan regretted it so much that he hanged himself. I'm waiting for Wade, James, Oprah, Martin, Connrad and everyone who belives them to do the same thing since they're all nothing but a waste of air. But don't you worry cause Taj is making a TRUE documentary that proves Michael's innocence and once it's released, they will watch their lifes crumble into tiny pieces with their own eyes and i will be there, smiling while eating pocorns. Anyone who’s a brain washed moron who don’t belive that Michael is innocent or even thinks of calling me a pedophile supporter needs to fuck off right fucking now because you will be attacked visciously, blocked and reported so DO NOT BOTHER ME

In case you didn’t understand, i’ll gladly repeat in a more vulgar way since it’s the only way you can all communicate with other people

DUMBASS BITCHES DO NOT INTERACT WITH ME! STAY THE FUCK BACK!

You guys don’t bother to do your research, you should hear both sides of the story to come to a conclusion instead of going along with everything they say. You all eat their plate of lies just like you eat your mother’s food at lunch time. You don’t ask yourself “Are they lying to me?” no, you just go along with every single fucking thing they say cause you’re dependent from the Media.

Face it, we are in the right and we’re going to win this battle. Also, these people without Michael in their lifes, would have been nothing. PS: Someone needs to tell Wade that fantazing about having Michael's dick in his mouth at age 11 in not normal.

Now i want you all to blast at all volume the songs Money, Tabloid Junkie, Morphine and Leave Me Alone in honour of these good for nothing liars as you read this post of them begin exposed from head to toe by me

[annakie]

An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Four

Wherein we make it to the Citadel, and do a lot of running around.

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

So right away, we meet Udina and the Council, way to throw us right into it.  

It’s a brief introduction and gives us an idea what Humanity is up against and who is representing us.  Basically, we’re supposed to get the idea that it’s a lot of bureaucratic bullshit, I guess.

This is also the first time we see Asari and Salarians, and they’re in reddish-brown and white, which really isn’t the best look.

Bioware continues to push the story forward.  We get enough to know that Udina is kind of an ass, and the Council isn’t going to just trust what some guy says even if he is the representative for billions of people.

And finally, after this, we’re set free.

The Citadel I think is one of the coolest locations in like almost any game I’ve ever played.  They do a great job of both making it feel huge, but also accessible.  Enough bridges to get across to places you need to get to, and after you walk somewhere once, Citadel Rapid Transit is great.  I still choose to take elevators about 80% of the time even when I can CRT somewhere, just because I like the squad conversations and news updates. There’s a shorter elevator rides mod that helps, too.

There’s so much to do and see, and having one of the main areas just be such an awesome combination of scifi futurism and lush greenery + water is both trippy and breathtaking.  I think, especially with the updated graphics mods/settings, the Presidium especially holds up fairly well.  I mean it definitely feels more populated and modern in ME3 but, I just consider this to be more of a residential / professional area of the Presidium and most of what we see in ME3 is a more retail section.

It’d be annoying to be a groundskeeper here, though.  Lots of green areas that you’d really need to climb to, or garden on a steep slant. :p

I always found it interesting that the natural first place to head to is into the ambassador’s office next door, where we find some friendly aliens, and one not-so-friendly one.  But honestly, this is a great place to find out the different ways other species view humanity, and how there’s apparently tiers of respect given to various species.

I always kind of hoped the Elcor would feature more prominently into the world in future games, but at least we got Hamlet.  I have SO MANY QUESTIONS about how Elcor like... do things?  We never see it but you have to assume that their hands have opposable thumbs and they’re able to stand on two legs, right?  I want to see what an Elcor ship looks like and Dakuna specifically.  Give us more elcor, Bioware!

BTW, the Mass Effect: Annihilation (aka the book that was supposed to be based on the Quarian Ark DLC that never happened in Andromeda) is totally worth reading just for the elcor character in it.  It’s also probably the best of the Mass Effect books, in my opinion.

Din Korlack’s got a point though, they not only have to share an office, but their view isn’t nearly as good as the human’s.  This is especially bullshit for the volus, who could stand on that railing and probably STILL wouldn’t have a view.

I love how Mass Effect 2 takes her from a completely forgettable character to making me think  “Sorry you’re gonna die in a few weeks, your mom’s really gonna miss you.” every time I see her.

PALIN DESERVED BETTER.

I don’t remember which ME3 mod it is, maybe the Spectre Expansion Mod or maybe EGM, but thank you whichever modder it was who made Palin’s story and death more clear in ME3.  Sorry Udina got you killed.

Also, it was good to get a dissenting opinion on Spectres from him.

Avina is such a good, optional way to get more loredump.  Yes, you can again ask them about Spectres if you want to hear about them again.  But I liked that each Avina terminal taught you a little more about whatever you were nearby, and the state of the galaxy in general and since they were programmed to be information dumps, it felt more natural to get information this way.

Don’t these people have jobs?

I love the Krogan statue, and the Avina terminal nearby telling you about it.  But now every time I see it, all I can picture is Grunt and his buddies climbing it.  So good.

Managed to get a clean shot of the crew without the UI in the elevator, thanks Flycam!  You have about a half a second to get this shot though, because the camera is stationary while the elevator is not.

Oh hell-lo Pailin, who is your charming-looking friend there?

This entire conversation needs to be longer. It’s a nice, quick introduction to Garrus, but, well, let’s spend a little more time with the main characters!!

I mean how can you not just not immediately love that?  Hey remember how bad Garrus’ face texture used to be?  Thanks, modders.

I just really love the Citadel tower.  Absolutely beautiful and atmospheric.

SO the thing is, if you can pretend that Saren isn’t, you know, already half Reaperized, 100% the Council is right to not just go throwing one of their longer-term agents in jail because Shepard had a bad dream and a random dockworker said the guy who killed Saren looked like this.

Honestly though, this and OH A GOOD CHUNK OF MASS EFFECT 2 would be so much easier if Shepard wore a bodycam. :p

Also, I wonder who took the dockworker’s testimony?  Did Kaidan run back real quick while Shepard was sleeping?

This was an embarrassment for humanity, and I agree with Udina that we needed more to go on before making demands of the council.  The council is right to not convict based off a bad dream Shepard had.  Go get some real proof!  Also, do a bunch of sidequests!

And scan some Keepers for this shady guy!

Which is actually good quest design, because you really have to go to every nook and cranny in the Citadel to find them all, though it would have been nice if they showed up on the minimap.   Really gets you to explore and get to know the area like the back of your hand.

This time around, I forgot to grab the one outside Dr. Michele’s office and had to hunt for it before heading up to grab the last one at the docks.

Thank you, though, Barla Von, for telling us all about the Shadow Broker and telling us about Wrex.  See u in ME3.

Bioware please give us diverse-suited volus in a remaster.  Maybe I’m reusing a pic of Din Korlack, you’ll never know! :p

Thanks, texture modders, for really highlighting what the end of the hanar’s noses look like. 

The hanar are another species I wish we got more of throughout the series.  They are probably the most alien of all the aliens we interact with.   I mean, at least we got Blasto.  I’d really love to visit Kahje someday.  I know it’s in the comics, but you know, in-game.

Annnd let’s go visit Sha'ira.

I have very mixed feelings about Sha'ira.  On one hand, she’s clearly very respected, is probably making bank, in control of her own destiny etc.  On the other hand, she’s probably the asari we have the second most interaction with in this game after Liara, and after just seeing Benezia’s boob-tastic clothing and then heading to Chora’s Den soon to see the dancing asari we’re getting a very slanted view of the species.  I think Bioware course corrects in later games but oof this is such a dude-fantasy alien species in ME1 it hurts.  Especially since Liara is almost a born-sexy-yesterday trope.

Also... don’t touch me if I don’t wanna be touched. =\

Noveria advertisements... that just say Noveria.  I guess this is effective marketing in 2148.

Look how great those shadows from the tree are... actual definition in shadow... wow.

Raise your hand if you’ve missed this conversation in a playthrough before and reloaded like an hour or more past to make sure you get it.

It’s one of those little moments that they didn’t have to put in.  Just a little conversation reflecting on humans and humanity, and our place in the world, and showcasing Ash’s wit and Kaidan’s adorkableness.  Also making sure you appreciate all the work that went into this particular view.  It’s a pause in the action and all the things you have going on, and it’s so great for characterization and making you feel a part of the world.  

Speaking of the view... I decided to flycam it.  Warning, I spoil some of the “magic” below.

Pretty quickly, you see that the arms are actual objects, untextured on the non-visible side.

I decided to head for the closest line of “cars” on the bottom center-left to see what those “cars” looked like.

Flycam feels pretty fast when you’re trying to frame a specific shot just right... but when you need to travel a great distance, it feels verrry slow.

It took me probably close to five minutes of traveling to make it all the way there.

What I discovered was... a few of the buildings are real, the rest are a very good painting.

This is how far away the citadel is from the rest of the map. That grid would be that entire view from outside Dr. Michele’s office all the way to the edge of the shops on the other side, plus some extra.

So both the building that those “cars” (the string of white lights) are coming from and going to are... on the painting.  Neither one are physical objects.

Made some gifs.

You can see the lights moving at a mostly-downward angle, while it looks like they’re just heading south when standing on the Citadel.  Also you can see other lights moving farther up the map.

And here you can see the lights “disappearing behind a building” but they’re really just hitting an invisible wall, the dark angle of that building is just a part of the wall painting.   

Looking up from the wall...

So that was a fun distraction.

Emily Wong deserved:

Better.

An entire shirt.

A mention in ME3 after she gave her life on social media defending Earth against the reapers while keeping her cool reporting on the invasion the day before ME3′s release.

That day before launch though... was amazing.  Bioware did such a great job on social media with the reaper invasion happening on twitter.  I loved that lots of fans got into it, too, posting photoshops and their own reaper invasion stories.  I remember being at work that day but not actually working very much.  A few friends and I had a google hangout going on to report in on anything we saw happening on social media and keep up with it and to be very hyped together online.  

We reblogged a bunch of it on fuckyeahbioware starting about here and working backwards through numbers.  

One of the ME3 mods, and again, sorry, don’t remember which, does give Emily a nice tribute through an email.  She deserves it.

Okay that’s enough for this post!  Will try to finish up the Citadel next time!

[laufire]

You don't have to do this at all but I'm intrigued by your "favourites" tags and I was wondering if you'd break them down?

No problem! I think I remembered them all (but since I keep adding new ones, then forgetting again about them, who knows lol).

favourites: a straight line

Okay, so this is kind of a hard one because it’s mostly a… ~vibe thing. It’s from a quote by Person of Interest –specifically, The Machine telling Shaw that Root loved her because “if we were shapes, you were an arrow, a straight line”, and I just… loved it. So it goes to character that had that sort of… clear-sighted, straightforward something, that cut through the bullshit.

favourites: birds of a feather

From the saying “birds of a feather flock together”. It’s basically used for my ships where the members reflect and parallel each other (especially when it’s a case where fandom convention classifies them as “opposites”).

favourites: cute married couples

Self-explanatory, I think, tho by virtue of the fandoms I frequent lately I haven’t used it much xD

favourites: fucked up families

Also self-explanatory. And much more used!

favourites: god save us from the queen

Named after the trope. Look, fandom. I know why it’s Problematique. But I just love Evol, Power Hungry Queens! (in modern ‘verses it can apply to women with political power in general –i.e., I would totally use this tag for Mellie Grant okay). And I’m not gonna deny a big part of it is the #aesthetics xDD

favourites: head witch in charge

Powerful witches/other magic-type users in general. Comes from the acronym Head Bitch in Charge.

favourites: i am the law

It comes from Buffy’s speech in s7. It goes from that type of characters that take all that “I am the ONLY one”/”if I don’t try to save the world who will” responsability (sometimes, in a frankly egocentric/self-important way lol, but I like that *shrugs*).

favourites: i can fix that

This one comes from Sam The Onion Man in Holes, though it’s morphed into something quite different in my tag system lol. It’s… somewhat tied to the previous one? In that I apply it to characters that have some sort of… control issues/that need to action/intervention in their enviroment. I guess the difference is that I associate this tag with characters that are in a precarious position? Idk.

favourites: i see you

Cato says this to Noah in Underground; I use it for somewhat-antagonistic dynamics where one character sees through the reputation/façade of the other one, basically (sometimes it’s with a ~shippier spirit than others lol).

favourites: immortal exes

Self-explanatory, and one of my fave shippy tropes in existence.

favourites: like father like daughter

For my favourite father/daughter dynamics.

favourites: living large

I love it when my faves like the finer things in live. There’s nothing wrong with liking nice things lol.

favourites: love at first bite

It’s the title of a film I have yet to watch (a comedy where Dracula has to move out of Transylvania). But the quote fits perfectly with my adored blood-sharing/vampire ships, so –tho this is one of the few I often forget to use lol.

favourites: love is the drug

Title taken from a song. For those ships that can’t stay away from each other, despite how ill-advised it might be.

favourites: machiavelli’s alumni

Tag for political savvy people/situations.

favourites: mamma who bore me

Song from the musical Spring Awakening. It’s become short of a catch-them-all for mother characters, but the song/main intent was about controlling/overprotective ones lol.

favourites: mirror mirror on the wall

This is one of my newest ones and I’ve barely used it/edited old posts with it yet. It’s for my very narrow type of fave femslash dynamics lol: aka older/younger women (though there’s ships without the age difference that I’ll likely use it with) ships with lots of parallels motifs that have probably tried to kill each other at least once.

favourites: monster women

Because I love them, and the stories about them.

favourites: my foe beheld it shine

From William Blake’s A Poison Tree, a super dramatic poem about enemies lol. Perfect for enemy ships.

ETA - favourites: persephone’s revenge

One of them is Hades; one of them is Persephone and they’re at Hades’ mercy. I want Persephone to get even xD

favourites: pinocchio stories

Named after the trope; tag for all my artificial intelligence/robots feelings (no, I do not care to explore why the hell I almost always relate to robot characters, leave me alone xDD).

favourites: rags to riches

I will always root for social climbers and gold diggers on principle and this is the tag for that :P

favourites: romantic tragedies

For when what I love about a ship is their angst lol.

ETA - favourites: samson and delilah

One of the members is setting out to destroying and manipulating the other

favourites: smash the system

Inspired by that Hulk “SMASH THE PATRIARCHY” twitter. For characters/stories that seek to tear down the status quo.

favourites: soul siblings

For my fave siblings relationships.

ETA - favourites: sun and shadow

Great for light vs. dark dichotomies, especially in characters. Think Lizzie and (dark!)Josie, Buffy and Faith, Chuck and Amara.

favourites: that fucker

For my Problematic Faves, cold MOFOs, villains and the like.

favourites: the hashtag blessed crowd

My faves are being self-obsessed.

favourites: the masquerade

Another brand new one. It’s inspired by the trope “The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life”, and it’s for my ships with Identity Porn Shenanigans.

favourites: the powah of lurve

For ships that overpower everything hehe.

favourites: the walking dead

Because I love resurrection/comes back wrong/ghosts stories.

ETA - favourites: the wordsmith

Tag I inaugurated for those characters that can get out of anything and create everything out of nothing with only their words.

favourites: the world is my canvas

For characters that mark the rules of a ‘verse and control narratives, and the world around them (aka: one of the main power fantasy tags xD).

favourites: three’s company

For OT3s (potentially OT+ in general).

favourites: to die like this; with a last kiss

From Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Face to Face (aka, the Batman Returns BatCat song). I wanted a tag that err… expressed how sometimes I’m into how the members of my ships try (and even succeed!) to kill each other?… it’s majorly fucked-up, foh sure, but I do believe shit like that ~enhances the shipping experience even when it troubles us shippers (and often, because it troubles us shippers, sooo).

favourites: to fall another moment into your gravity

From Sara Bareilles’s Gravity. I love it when my OTPs have broken up and are bitter af about it, yet can’t help but feel drawn to each other, and it’s the perfect song/quote for it.

favourites: vultures in lurve

I knew I had to have heard that expression before because I think vultures are Good™ lmao, and it’s apparently the title of some book. Either way, I kind of like how it sounds, and it’s my tag for when assholes are OTT in love with each other and enjoy being assholes together (pausing for moments where they’re super tender ofc), a la Unholy Matrimony trope.

favourites: you raise sons

Another brand new, barely used one. It comes from the quote “You don’t raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they’ll turn out to be heroes, even if it’s just in your own eyes.”. For father-son type relationships.

favourites: you’ve got the love

From the Florence + the Machine song. For those amazing, fulfilling ships where the characters bring the most and the best from each other *-*.

And though this is technically not one of those tags, I have to add #you WISH your faves could ever, which is basically my “this unpopular OTP is magnificent and fandom is jealous about it because their faves suck in comparison” tag xDD (btw, it’s curious how almost invariably, those ships include a WoC presented as The One…).

[daughterofposeidon25]

DaughterOfPoseidon Favorites #3

My hero academia-Kiribaku

🔴 = NSFW

Please read at your own risk. Carefully read tags and enjoy!

When The GC Blows Up by PurplePersnickety

Katsuki squinted at his phone.

CONVERSATION WITH RED RIOT

[6:25pm] Red Riot hey

-> You have been invited to the groupchat 'Pinkamina's Party' by Red Riot. Join?

[6:25pm] Red Riot Baaaaakuuuuugoooouuuuuu ☝️☝️☝️

And We're On Fire by TimetotheTimeless

Twin flames aren't just soulmates; they're a soul split into two bodies. Some people get lucky enough to meet theirs and the connection in undeniable. Bakugou and Kirishima get to find out first hand what it's like to be set ablaze by each other.

To Sound For Another by HarteofPierce  🔴

Kirishima Eijirou learns that his boyfriend has a kink he didn’t know about. He isn’t certain it’s a kink for him too but he’ll try anything for the man he loves. Even when it sounds unreal.

Guillotine by milkofthepoppy

As UA’s classes start learning how to finely control their secondary gender in their third year, a lovestruck Kirishima starts to suspect Bakugou is hiding far more than he's letting on. And Midoriya knows his secrets.

“Holy shit,” Kaminari breathed, and then gave a sharp laugh. “Could you imagine the damage if Bakugou was an Omega?!”

Take a Chance on Me by Fanficismything 🔴

In a world where Omegas can't be heroes, Bakugo calls bullshit and finds his own way to help people, joining other omegas in becoming vigilantes.

Enter Chemical X.

Being a popular hero is Kirishima's dream but it means nothing when you're in love with the illegal vigilante you have to stop.

Enter Red Riot.

Flighting turns to flirting and flirting turns to action. Sooner or later, people are going to find out...

(Love is) An Open Door by EnchantedEmmeline

Bakugou Katsuki had no intention of ever introducing himself to his neighbours. But he also never intended on breaking into their flat either. There was no one to blame but himself, but that wouldn't stop Bakugou from trying to take everyone else down with him.

Part 1 of No one writes songs about the one's that come easy

Here Comes The Bride by Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism 🔴

Kirishima is a vampire. Bakugou is a human bartender. Shenanigans ensue.

Tiny Truths by Quirk Archivist (OneHitWondersAnonymous) for Maplefudge

“The wedding,” Bakugou repeats, though it sounds like he’s annoyed. “Everybody knows you get married when you make a hero agency, stupid. Why else would you get married?”

-

Bakugou gets hit with a de-aging quirk which shrinks him down to a four year old. Class 1A panics, but Kirishima steps up to the plate to help his best friend (and secret crush) feel safe in a scary situation. Rated T only for language; this is pure fluff through and through!

An Alpha Elite by Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism 🔴

WANNA MAKE SOME QUICK CASH?!

ARE YOU AN UNMATED OMEGA OR AN ALPHA?

HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO PURSUE A CAREER IN FILM?

Kirishima and Bakugou agree to do a porn together and fall in love along the way.

In Which Kirishima is Manly by TheBrokaryotes

Kirishima is a living contradiction. He walks around spouting how much he wants to be manly, but he spends about 80% of his free time with his endless amount of sisters (when he’s not dragging Bakugo around places), is perfectly comfortable talking to the girls in Class 1-A, and doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body. Bakugo is beginning to wonder what exactly Kirishima thinks “manliness” is.

AKA a 5+1 fic… 5 kirishima-centric instances and +1 bakushima kiss ;)

the color of warmth, the scent of smoke by arxaris

Bakugou really needs some WiFi.

He finds it in a coffee shop with a fireplace and a name that feels like an inside joke, just for him. Only problem is, he ends up finding more than he’s looking for, and he doesn’t just mean the snow falling outside or the abomination that is whipped cream on top of hot cider.

Love.

It makes him want to do crazy things. Like kissing. Like trying to get better instead of just running away.

SnapBackChat by arxaris, Mslead 🔴

It wasn’t that Kirishima was some giant creep who sent unsolicited dick pics to his crush, okay. Well - only the first time, but he’d been drunk and had just thought he was being funny. But after that - after that Bakugou had technically been asking for them.

Not directly, of course. Bakugou would never. No, every time Kirishima did this, Bakugou would respond with curses and insults and (thus far baseless) threats, ranging from him ending their friendship to blocking his number to straight up calling the cops.

But regardless of his extreme reactions, Kirishima knew Bakugou wanted the pictures, knew Bakugou wanted him.

Because Bakugou - his best friend, favorite nerd, and probably future husband once Kirishima decided to settle down - knew a lot of things, the smart fucker, but how to work Snapchat wasn’t one of them.

Kirishima’s phone lit up.

Bakugou Katsuki took a screenshot.

-

Or, Kirishima's a frat boy who likes to play with his food before he eats it.

ghosts beneath ink wash stars by cityboys

Eijirou's evolution from Bakugou's delivery boy to kind of, possibly, someone to come home to.

dusk and dawn by bigstupidjellyfish for SybLaTortue 🔴

sex pollen, again, yea

Wild by lore_shark for arxaris, queenkatsuki, Diesel2311 🔴

Eijirou was fucking radiant, framed in helicopter spotlights and swirling clouds of cement dust, skin sharp, nearing unbreakable, as he wrangled a fourth irate villain onto his shoulder. A shot of liquid heat lanced through Katsuki’s gut as Riot turned and sauntered off towards the waiting police; the planes of his back were damned unfair, all shimmery with sweat and soot and raw power. He knew firsthand what those muscles felt like, shifting and flexing beneath hot palms, the barely restrained ferocity leaking through. His neck flushed with a burn wholly unrelated to the adrenaline and excitement of hero work.

Broken, but Still Good by deviance

“He’s just too combative. I know he was recovered from an illegal Alpha fighting ring and we can’t do much for that, but he’s not receptive to any of our attempts to help. He instantly starts fights with any Alphas that try to reach out to him, even if they aren’t posturing, and if we try to send in an Omega to keep him calm he somehow manages to freak out even more.”

“All we can do it be patient and provide him a safe environment to heal. We don’t know how long he was held captive nor what sort of things he’s had to do to survive.”

“But if no one can get close to him, how are we supposed to help?”

“Have we tried sending in a Beta? If we have one that would be capable of withstanding his quirk, it may be the best middle ground.”

“Red Riot, one of my previous students might be able to. Kirishima’s quirk is hardening and should be strong enough to withstand the Alpha’s explosions. Plus his personality tends to let him make friends with just about everyone. He was on the infiltration team too, so he’s at least minimally aware of the situation. He’d have to be briefed on the specifications, of course.”

“He sounds like the best chance we’ve got."

“Can’t hurt to try, I guess."

Sweetness by MissPlacemat 🔴

“Hey, it’s okay! This kind of thing just happens to people our age, it’s not like we can control what our bodies do when we’re asleep, you know?”

“Dumbass,” Bakugou groaned.

“I know, I know, but it’s -”

“This happened after I woke up,” he stated firmly, finally looking Eijirou in the eye. “Okay?”

-

In which a night of Twilight Zone reruns turns into a morning of kisses, cuddles and confessions.

No Shirt, No Problem by let_me_wander 🔴

Since Kirishima is a dragon, he's able to regulate his temperature using his own fire when it gets cold.

Since Bakugou is a human, he just shivers and gets goosebumps. And his nipples get hard.

Kirishima notices. Misunderstandings ensue.

Spice, Not Sugar by KTG  🔴

Bakugou was fired from his last job for having a "poor fucking attitude".

What the fuck ever.

Unfortunately, he needs money to eat, and to get money, he needs a job, /stat/.

After getting hired at RIOT, the agency own and run by the number-twelve pro hero Red Riot, Bakugou quickly learns that his boss isn't an average hero--or an average sugar daddy.

Twitter link to finished fic: https://twitter.com/KtgWrites/status/1125866205338726400?s=19&fbclid=IwAR0HIsWreGOBclLJVtfmJAYIPawdOwu3gA8X6sUcLV8d3CZCWSu-cXbXmwg

The Mountain Spirit 🔴

https://twitter.com/lore_shark/status/1197657487513665538

The price for murder was death. They’d chanted it at him for hours, “Death, death, kill him!”, “Die!”,“Child killer!”,“Murderer!”,“Burn him!”. Katsuki bit his tongue and stared resolutely forward.

Especially You, Kirishima by pisceskeith 🔴

Bakugou Katsuki hasn't seen his best friend in about two years, but a certain member of the Bakusquad thought it would be a good idea to host a reunion for Christmas Break. Katsuki thought he could control himself, but something about that shitty-haired idiot made his vision red.

GroundRiot's Biggest Fan by FoolishFortuna for Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism, Emikumaa 🔴

The first time he’d stumbled across a fanfic had been a complete accident. Katsuki could barely even remember what he’d typed in, but he’d been looking for a break down of one of his and Kirishima’s more spectacular villain take-downs, to go through the moves they used and see how they could improve.

The damned thing had even started like a news report! And he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t impressed with how it was written. Maybe the details should have tipped him off, but by the time he was half way through, he’d already been invested...

Rattling Chests by chezka

Kirishima had been draped on one of the couches in the common room and laughing at Kaminari’s exaggerated recounting of his Christmas dinner with his family, Bakugou’s heat pressing blissfully all along his side and easily grounding in him the feeling of truly being back in his second home, when Ashido had taken a long breath in, tilted her head back, and sneezed loud and violent.

[...]He was just about to offer making her a warm cup of tea, when he noticed the impossible stillness Bakugou’s body had adopted by his side.

Quietly by chezka

“We’ve been taking the same way to and from school for weeks,” Kirishima grinned, and then when Bakugou frowned at him he put on an affected pout, tilted his head so that he was looking at him through his thick, long lashes, “you never noticed? Am I that easy to miss?”

He could barely finish the sentence before a laugh escaped his lips, and Bakugou rolled his eyes, hit him with a shoulder a little more violently than necessary.

“You stick out like a sore thumb, broom-head,” he grumbled, promptly ignoring Kirishima's whining about his hairstyle when it started coming, “I didn’t notice ‘cause I didn’t care.”

“And now you do?”

Practical Talks by JustAVerySmolPotato (SouthernVices)

“What’s holding you back then?” Kaminari smiled, trying for encouragement, “What happened to being manly about things? Taking a chance on the one you love sounds like one of the manliest things you could do!”

To his credit, the comment caused Kirishima to give a little smile.

“Point taken,” the redhead said quietly, “But there’s more to it than that. I think part of it, for me at least, is all the lectures we’ve been getting lately.”

Oh.

Now it makes sense.

When a practical crafted by Aizawa-sensei forces Kirishima and Bakugou to face a terrible reality, it’s made obvious it’s time for a talk.

The fact that they destroyed the kitchen in the process is just par for the course.

Eijiro Is the Best Medicine by quirkle

Katsuki had only gotten a faded reflection in a train window to see how bad he looked, and that had only given so much insight, but he knew for a fact that he was shivering, teeth chattering, and him and his costume sopping wet and producing a puddle of muddy rain water on the wooden floors. He didn’t exactly blame Eijiro for being worried.

Friends With Dragons by ForbiddenRapture

The young boy reached the massive head of the dragon, which was twice the size of a draft horse's head. He grimaced when he realized the dragon's golden amber eyes were wide open, glazed over and staring off into the forest. Katsuki would have thought it was looking for something, with the way its neck was angled and eye ridge was drawn up.

He reached forward to pat the dragon's jaw, then followed it's dead gaze passed his shoulder with his own crimson eyes. His brow furrowed when he snapped his attention back on the dragon.

"Don't worry. I'll find it for you."

Seized Embers by Emers_Writes

“Look at you, chained and gemmed, like some sort of fucking prize to be won. I’m going to get you out, I promise.” he croaks, voice failing to mask his heartache.

or

Kirishima gets captured and is being chained up and held captive. Bakugou has to go save his boyfriend, and gets help to do so.

Series

Part 1 of *✩ King & King ✩*

These Words Are Ours by deviance  🔴

Your Words were meant to be something special, something you didn't see coming, a pleasant surprise that brought you the realization that you'd met your soulmate.

Bakugou had facepalmed the day he met Kirishima Eijirou. He wasn't really sure how or when, but if ever there was an idiot in this world who was going to say his Words, it would be this one.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. You weren't supposed to know who would say your Words. It was all supposed to be organic, a surprise.

But if there was another idiot in the world who would dare utter the absolute embarrassment of a babble Kirishima was apparently destined to say to him, Bakugou would eat the redhead's wretched crocs. The only reason he hadn't made an effort to scold him for even having such a thought, let alone voicing it, was because apparently the atrocious phrase is supposed to be what made Bakugou fall head over heels for the guy.

Rip Tide by Emers_Writes

“You i-idiot, you can’t just do a flip off the board. You’ll end up with face scars like Kiri!” Ashio attempts to yell, but it's interrupted by her fits of laughter. Sero’s no better, clutching his stomach as he paddles out to the next wave off balance.

“Hey! I’ll have you know my scars look cool! They’re little lightning bolts!” Denki, ungracefully, crawls onto his surfboard during his remark. He lifts up a leg and points adamantly, showing off his well known box jelly scars.

“How about you guys stop bitching and surf.” Katsuki calls.

or

Bakusquad enters a local surf competition and feelings get messy along the way.

No, I Don’t Come Here Often. In Fact, I’m Never Coming Here Again. by itswritteninblood

Katsuki had been against this shit from the beginning, and now, sitting across from sunshine himself, he knew why.

Speed dating. What could go wrong?

(Un)Tangled by itswritteninblood for quirkless_loser

"This is the story of my goddamn demise."

Eijirou has dreamt of leaving his tower and breaking his curse since the day his parents exiled him, but only an explosive intruder has what it takes to finally get him out the door.

Remedy by arxaris

DJ Ground Zero’s fame was soaring higher than ever. Bakugou himself, though, was falling, struggling to stay afloat.

The darkness of the year was interrupted by a single light, though. A blinding red one, dancing and laughing in the front row of every Osaka show. The city became his anchor, that smile his lifeline. He was a ray of hope, a promise that things could get better. One day.

Maybe Bakugou was going crazy.

Maybe he was falling in love.

At times, it felt like both.

Bakugou is a Big Softie and Loves His Students: An Essay by minaashidoismywife

Bakugou stares at the door in front of him, nostalgia filling his mind. He can still remember how it felt to stand in front of this very door for the first time 26 years ago. It’s a strange feeling, knowing Aizawa won’t be standing at the desk when he walks through the door. Knowing that desk now belongs to him.

Biting Down by deviance 🔴

Bakugou grinned, curling his hand around the base of Kirishima's tail, digging his nails into the hard scales and watching Kirishima's eyes flare with delight.

"After we eat," Bakugou rumbled lowly, leaning closer, "you're going to fuck me until I can't walk. Got it?"

When you need me by sunflowerstorm

Rule 72A was for ensuring that pro heroes didn’t suffer from the occasionally extreme mental load of their work by allowing emergency responders to assign a 24hour watch over heroes they believed ‘at risk’.

When this rule is applied to Bakugo after a run in with a villain with a Nightmare quirk, he is not at all pleased, all he wanted was to go home by himself and try and forget everything that'd happened. But turns out when that rule means having Kirishima with him, it is exactly what he needs.

Rumors (Keep My Name Out Your Mouth) by deviance

Rumors are rarely true and even rarer are they kind. Still, all it takes is a hint of credibility, just a moment of belief, for a rumor to spread like wildfire, destroying friendships and leaving those hurt left behind to try and make something of the ashes.

astrum by popcap

If his soulmate doesn’t like him, they can get fucked. He doesn’t need to find his other half. He’s enough on his own. Sometimes he’s too much on his own.

Life goes on. Katsuki doesn’t talk to his mother about soulmates anymore.

Hell’s Kitchen by arxaris for Diesel2311 🔴

Apparently bad things really did come in threes, Bakugou thought wryly, as the firefighter closed the distance between them.

Tall, tan, and jacked as hell, he was a strong contender for the single hottest person Bakugou had ever seen in his life. He was covered in soot and sweat that contoured his ridiculous muscles, making them look even more defined, and his clinging black tank top didn’t do much to hide the rest of him, either. His strong cheekbones and jaw had smears of black on them too, and Bakugou had the absurd thought that he wanted to lick them clean.

Bakugou didn’t think it was possible, but he felt himself turning even redder. He would barely have been able to talk to someone as attractive as him on a good day, and he was about to have to explain to him that he’d tried to burn down his fucking house because he was being petty on Twitter.

Super.

Just a Parting Kiss by cherryredriots for lemxnbitxh

Eijirou and Katsuki's first kiss isn't something either of them were prepared for.

Insight by cherryredriots

While taking down a big-time gang, Katsuki faces a villain with a quirk that allows him to look at a person and see the one thing they love most in the world. For Katsuki, that's Eijirou.

Our Lips Set the Sun by Sacramental_Wine 🔴

When he would look at the little mark on the underside of his left arm at night, he would know that somewhere out there someone else had the exact same shape in the exact same place on their body. But he didn’t try to imagine them. He didn’t imagine a face or a name or a personality. When his friends would talk about it he wouldn’t contribute.

Because in his heart he had a feeling that his soulmate would outclass every expectation he could possibly have.

Northwest of Babylon by Sacramental_Wine 🔴

Bakugou didn’t know what compelled him to start working in fucking marble but here he was, staring at the big chunk of rock in his studio with a scowl. Sure, there had been a deal on the material but he never fucking worked in it before. He was more the type to make statues in wood or softer materials.

But here he fucking was, staring at this damned chunk of rock.

Like a Paperback Novel by let_me_wander 🔴

To be clear, Bakugou was a writer. He was a writer of cheap, trashy, paperback romance novels filled with too many heaving bosoms and windswept hair, with whimpering, doe-eyed omegas just waiting for a strong, dashing alpha to sweep them off their feet. When he had set out to pursue his dream of becoming an writer, this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. In fact, this was basically the complete opposite of what he’d had in mind.

AKA Bakugou reluctantly needs some inspiration.

It Started with a Prank by KTG for SpaceRanger88  🔴

WHAP!

The slap on his arm was followed by a giggle, and Katsuki shoved the person away. “The fuck is wrong with you?”

Teniki Michi laughed as he stumbled backward, arms crossed over his gut. He was a tall, lanky man with short black hair and brilliant green eyes. His quirk was pretty unusual: He could swap people’s genders temporarily. The swap usually resulted in the affected person’s quirk changing slightly, too, which made it harder for villains to escape, since they didn’t have time to adjust to the changes.

“S-sorry, boss! I had to, though! Chargebolt dared me!”

“He fucking what?” he snarled.

“Dared me to change the gender of the first person who walked in!”

Katsuki was about two seconds from blowing the idiot up when his words sank in and he realized he was shorter than he used to be. He lifted his hand. The fingers were slim and feminine, still covered in callouses and a little knotted from the hard work he’d put into training, but they were smaller than usual.

He was smaller than usual.

He was a goddamn girl!

My First One And Only by BlackBarBooks, Quirkless-One (BlackBarBooks) 🔴

When Kirishima accidentally confesses to Bakugo, they are both faced with the fact that they have NO idea how to date.

An Explosive Tale of Love and Ships by JustThatObsession

Legends say that the king once kept a powerful weapon locked away in a tower. Bakugou Katsuki wants that weapon, except, once he gets it he soon realizes that sometimes you don't always get exactly what you bargained for.

Just A Touch (Too Much) by Grimmseye 🔴

Prompt from the Kink Meme: Kirishima gets oversensitive after using his quirk too much, and somebody (Bakugou) fucks him until he's so overstimulated that he cries

They Brought us Together by aheartbeatlikehurricanes  🔴

Bakugou was suffering. Like the entire ocean would never be able to quench his thirst suffering and he hated himself, Kirishima, and the entire God damn planet for putting him through it all.

A Dragon's Wants by Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism   🔴

Kirishima wants nothing more to have babies with his strong mate. But as much as he tries, nothing is working.

Is it him? Is he... not right for Katsuki?

Or is there something else at play?

How Goth Am I? by Obsessed_As_A_Coping_Mechanism 🔴

Kirishima is a good guy. He's the star athlete at school, helps out the elderly, and always buys his mom's flowers for their birthday.

He does have one secret though.

He's obsessed with the goth boy that catcalls him in the cemetery on his nightly runs.

In the Dark of the Night by arxaris for queenkatsuki 🔴

Chanting sounded through the Colosseum. “Red Riot! Red Riot! Red Riot!”

Red Riot?

“Sero,” Bakugou snapped at the Head of his Council, seated a few meters to his right in the Emperor’s box. “What the fuck is a Red Riot?”

Sero nodded his head to the pit and Bakugou followed his gaze, watching as another gladiator walked out of the gate and towards the center. “New gladiator prodigy. He’s only eighteen, but he hasn’t even come close to losing a fight since he started a couple months ago.” Then, Sero smirked. “I think you’re gonna like him.”

-

Or, all's fair in love and war.

What just fucking happened? by Dadzawa for ThatFunkyOpossum 🔴

Baku patches up Kiri and there's hella gay feels

Overworked & Underfucked by Kumikirin 🔴

“It’s just not manly to leave your bro like this, after knowing he can’t do anything about it, you know?” Kirishima blabbers some kind of bullshit excuse, and the worst part is that it looks like he’s totally convinced of it. “It’s just a— handjob,” he stumbles over the word, the weight of what he’s proposing hitting him all at once, but he doesn’t stop. “—but if you're not into it we can pretend I didn't just say that.”

Bakugou has to restrain himself from saying that he’s very much into it. Like, a lot, really.

a.k.a Kirishima learns the reason behind Bakugou's grumpiest days, and he offers to help because that's what best bros do.

King of Cooking by IronicVeghead

Bakugou Katsuki here, also known as Pro-Hero Ground Zero. I'm writing this blog to get my so-called friends off my back about my recipes. Read them and fuck off. [Blog posts from King of Cooking: Recipe Blog written by Bakugou Katsuki, with edits and additions by his roommate Kirishima Eijirou. Each chapter will be a blog post.]

cold in the hands that you left me by poetic_leopard

Bakugou forces his gaze level with Kirishima’s eyes—and he’s never been looked at so softly. Bakugou is not soft. If anything, he’s blood spat on concrete.

[or: it's been a month since bakugou's kidnapping & consecutive rescue, but he's still having nightmares. a series of 5 anxiety-peppered, surreal nights where kirishima's the only thing bakugou can allow himself to hold onto].

Achromatopsia by PurplePersnickety

They lifted Bakugou up, Eijirou’s breath sliced into his lungs for a moment, and colour splashed across his vision. But the cavalry battle was about to begin. There was no time to consider it, or laugh, or talk, or do anything but meet Bakugou’s red eyes, red framed by yellow-gold-pale hair, and bare his teeth in readiness.

____

Until you meet your soulmate, you only see one colour. When you touch your soulmate for the first time, the true colours of the world appear.

Unless, perhaps, you're colour-blind.

4 in the morning by efemerald

The memory of the underground raid, despite having been over a month ago, was still painfully fresh in Bakugou's mind: Eijirou, head-to-toe in bandages, barely able to move.

Now, with the same moron heading out on a second mission so soon, Bakugou can't help the rising paranoia that this could be their last meeting. And if it's their last meeting, it means it's his last chance to tell Kirishima how he feels, however he possibly can.

Friendly Reminder by arxaris for queenkatsuki 🔴

“So, let me get this straight,” Uraraka said, looking at Bakugou like he was crazy. “You keep a stockpile of nudes on your phone, and you send them to Kirishima when you get jealous?”

“Correct,” Bakugou said through clenched teeth.

“Even when you’re together, like, out in public and stuff?” He nodded, and Uraraka’s eyes grew impossibly wider. “That’s your ‘system’ to deal with you being overly-possessive? Sexting?”

“It’s not sexting!” Bakugou hissed, blushing harder. “They’re just… reminders,” he mumbled the last word.

“Reminders of what, exactly? That you’re insane?”

‘No,' Bakugou thought. 'That I’m the only one he should be fucking looking at.’

risk & reward by Dreaming_of_Fairys for Koboni 🔴

Kirishima wakes Bakugou up in the middle of the night to end a week long drought of no sex despite the risk of being caught.

oh shit, i'm the grown up. by antheiabelle

Looking back, Bakugou’s life as a hero was nothing like he’d ever imagined it to be.

And yet, he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Be Gentle by deviance

"So listen. I've never--" Bakugou cut himself off, grinding his teeth and groaning, face reddening, "had a friend like you," he finally finished, obviously stressed by that much admission. "So whatever, I'm not the greatest at social stuff. Not a surprise. Like I fucking care. I say what I want and do what I want."

Kirishima had to fight to keep from whispering 'So manly' in reaction to Bakugou's honesty, despite everything.

"So I might not be the best at, like, reading signs or whatever," Bakugou waved off. "I'm the best at everything else so it's fine."

Kirishima blinked. "What are you trying to say, man?"

"I mean," he growled, "that I didn't realize you were into me like that. And that I'm not fucking against it. But I don't know shit about dating."

It took Kirishima an embarrassingly long amount of time to process that.

"So...are you saying you like me like that too?" He finally asked.

All I Ask of You by Hejter for ThatFunkyOpossum

Bakugou is scared of thunder, Kirishima sings him a tune from one of the musicals they watch together to help him calm down. Fluff abound.

safe & sound by Authoress

“I don’t need a friendly face,” Bakugou says, purposefully sitting in the seat furthest from Kirishima.

“Okay, maybe not,” Kirishima says. He smiles. “But I made tea.”

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Homo by SummerBummin

The shirtless man passed the stick from hand to hand, then spun it around his abdomen so it was back in front of him. He lifted the stick up, one end pointed directly at his mouth, and swallowed the flame.

“Holy shit.” Katsuki whispered. Then the man opened his mouth wide, and blew out fire like a fucking dragon. Katsuki’s jaw hit the floor as he watched the flames billow out, red, orange, gold, and a hint of electric blue.

Katsuki unconsciously took a step forwards, through the leaf cover and into the clearing. “Motherfucker, that’s badass! How the hell did you do that?!”

The shirtless man shrieked and fumbled the burning stick in his giant hands. The stick slipped through his thick fingers and landed right on his bare foot. He jumped up again, hopping on one foot and swearing up a storm. Katsuki had to slap a hand over his mouth to keep his laughter in.

-

The Bakugous go on a summer vacation to a gorgeous island and drag their son, Katsuki with them. Bakugou Katsuki is determined that he will not have any fun on this god awful trip... that is until he runs into fire dancer Kirishima, who is very hot— because of the fire of course!

Studded by KTG 🔴

Katsuki's second gender pisses him off. He's just presented as an omega, and if he doesn't get studded--turned into an alpha--before the end of his first heat, he's gonna be an omega for-fucking-ever. Problem is, he needs a willing omega to stud him, and his best friend, Kirishima Eijirou, presented as an alpha.

Or, at least, he smells like one.

All Katsuki knows is that he needs to get studded, and fucking soon.

a tenderness you can't let go by punchmonk

When Katsuki is fifteen, Kirishima Eijirou hands him an orange with a bright smile and zero expectations. It is all downhill from there.

help me get out of my head by popcap

“Don’t let go." "Deal."

Burning by mr_todoroki

Bakugou Katsuki was sent on a mission to eliminate a dragon threatening the citizens in the kingdom. Instead he meets Kirishima Eijirou, an obnoxiously useless traveller who has something he's hiding.

Out of Control by arxaris 🔴

The story of how Bakugou Katsuki accidentally got a new quirk and a new boyfriend in exchange for his favorite sex toy and the security deposit on his apartment.

Sonder by Maplefudge

A collection of snippets surrounding Bakugou and Kirishima's "totally platonic" relationship from the perspective of Class 1-A.

If you want to... by Treeclimbr 🔴

Bakugou interrupts Kirishima's "alone time" in the showers. Things get awkward, Kirishima is oblivious, and our boys dance around each other a little while they figure things out.

take your time with me by Shadow_sensei 🔴

And then Katsuki steps away, breaking away from Eijirou’s body, as if he’s been shocked, because it’s so much, all at once, and it’s overwhelming and his mind is drifting and it’s almost terrifying, to be so fast to lose his composure, just from a simple touch. Is it a sign of weakness, that he can be pulled into Eijirou’s control so quickly?

No, thinks Katsuki. It’s a sign of trust.

oh, the places you'll go by a box of rocks (abundleoftwigs)

Bakugou Katsuki is hopelessly, helplessly, and obviously in love with Kirishima Eijirou.

Too bad the only person who hasn't figured that out yet seems to be Bakugou himself.

(A retrospective on Bakugou and Kirishima's relationship as seen through the eyes of a childhood friend)

Series

Part 1 of oh, the places you'll go

How to Make Bakugou Katsuki a Decent Human Being by drifloon

A how-to by Kirishima Eijirou.

(Kirishima decides to make Bakugou the guy Kirishima knows he can be. Everything else snowballs from there.)

Slow to Start (But Quick to Burn) by mousapelli 🔴

Bakugou is loud, abrasive, and way too strong to be a "good" omega, and he doesn't give half a damn if that's what everybody else thinks. The good news is that Kirishima is 100% into him just the way he is. The bad news is he might be 150% into Kirishima.

Partners by disastergays

In a small village protected from the outside world exists a sort of sanctuary for humans and monsters alike. It has always been said that to every human, there is a monster that shared their soul. Two halves of the same whole. Finding one's other half was a sort of coming of age ceremony, and as children were encouraged to seek out their other half.

Bakugou was the only one that couldn't form a bond with any monster, no matter how hard he tried. Rage boiled beneath the surface as Bakugou shunned not only the village, but the monsters and humans that had come to call it home; running away from the protection of the mountains.

10 years passed since then, and the world-renowned hunter, The King of Beasts, was called to a farming village to deal with a dangerous Riot Dragon.

The meeting soon to follow would change his life forever.

Blood Stains Red by SummerBummin

Kirishima was hunched over the sink, his back to Bakugou. Water ran in a steady stream from the faucet, the silver metal flecked with blotches of red. Kirishima looked up at the sound of the door opening. His eyes locked with Bakugou's through the mirror in front of him and his mouth fell open. It was full of blood.

"Kirishima?" Bakugou's headphones were shoved off his ears and his book bag slipped off his shoulder, falling onto the bathroom floor with a thump.

"Oh, hi Bakugou." Kirishima turned to greet him over his shoulder, a wavering, dumbass smile on his dumb fucking face, his bloody fucking face.

His lips were red and shiny as a cherry, lines of red ran down his chin like a tiger's stripes, and his teeth, god his teeth. They were coated in blood and clumps of who the fuck knows what.

Kirishima's trademark had always been the color red. The bright hue of his hair was something Bakugou sought out everyday, but he never imagined seeing Kirishima red like this, never like this.

-

Aka Kirishima’s teeth are weird and Bakugou rushes to conclusions (he’s protective, okay?)

Trigger warning for blood description.

Boys Are Stupid by deviance

“Sorry, bro, I'm not going to make it to our study session tonight."

“Why?”

“Ah,” Kirishima grinned almost shyly, “I've got a date.”

Bakugou froze, chest feeling like he'd just been pierced with a lance.

“A...date,” Bakugou repeated, admittedly dumbstruck.

Kirishima smiled. “Yeah, so I'll see you later,” Kirishima said, waving before leaving the room.

So this is what heartbreak felt like. He hated it.

Perfect Fit by deviance

Kirishima had broken up with him with just about every cliche in the book. It wasn't him, it was Kirishima. He wanted them to still be friends. Blah blah blah. Filler, really, as far as Bakugou was concerned. And sure, Kirishima probably meant all those things, but Bakugou hadn't wanted to hear it, considering he'd been too focused on the sound of his heart breaking.

This was why he didn't let people in

Be Patient by deviance

Kaminari groaned. “Why are you two like this?” He demanded, pointing at where Bakugou was stretched out over the couch with his feet in Kirishima's lap. “Why don't you just date already?”

Kirishima sighed. “One day, guys. We will one day.”

Under the stars by popinjayuploads 🔴

Bakugou is obviously stressed out, but refuses to talk about it. Kirishima decides that a weekend camping trip is the perfect thing to relax him. So he tosses a mattress in the bed of his truck and they head out.

Kirishima soon finds out Bakugou needs more than a hike to work out his stress. Luckily, he's more than willing to help out.

Fucking Feelings by Equinurmae

Bakugou isn't great with feelings. Midoriya is slightly better, but the two of them have always had an unusual relationship - even more so when Bakugou bursts into Midoriya's room one night with something important to say. (Hint: he's gay.)

Six Page Spread by indigonow

They're 22 and Bakugou's finally gotten control over his public image. Think more..."bad boy" and less "explosive asshole".

Kirishima is weak (though he always has been).

domestic life was never quite my style by Slumber

Five times Bakugou cooked for Kirishima, and one time Kirishima cooked for Bakugou, as told by their classmates.

it's pouring out here by shizuumi151

With phone, money, and keys in his pocket, Kirishima wandered around the city for an age. With his legs on auto-pilot his mind wandered too. To the new movie that peppered the streets in posters and trailers, a new move he wanted to practise for another basketball play, wondering about how the current arcs for his favourite manga would turn out in the next issue of Jump.

And, of course, he thought about how many of those things he could see and do with Bakugou.

An Obvious Patch by SweetScentences for ComparedFever

In which Kirishima is hurt, Bakugo is stressed, and everything is going to be okay.

Series

Part 1 of Adventures of the Almost Agency

cotton candy hands by chonideno for gabzillaz, Siij

Studying to become a hero requires knowing how to take care of yourself. Sometimes you might need help on the way so if your crush offers to do your hair for you or to give you a well-deserved back rub, it'd be stupid to say no.

A series of soft vignettes in which a love-struck Kirishima and a touch-starved Bakugou care for each other and it's definitely not making their hearts jump through hoops, they’re never this close to kissing, no, they're totally best friends bro

You Have a New Admirer! by Esselle for Ellessey 🔴

'His profile states that his name is Bakugou Katsuki, he's twenty-two and still in college. He likes hiking in the mountains, old cars, and advanced trigonometry. His first date would ideally involve little to no small talk, and very spicy food.

For some reason there is one person, apparently, who admires all that about him.'

--

When Katsuki is convinced (read: bribed) to try out a friend's glitchy dating app, he's expecting the whole experience to be a resounding failure. Instead he ends up meeting Kirishima, who turns out to be the perfect combination of sexy, sweet, and way too freakin' earnest, all rolled into one easy-to-fall-for package.

one to ten by crunchrapsupreme

Kirishima attempts to climb the ladder of success and weasel his way into Bakugou Katsuki's explosive little heart.

Step one? He has to get to level ten.

Talk Too Much by QuirklessWonder (SouthernSmartAss)

“You talk too fucking much - I’ve also been your best fucking friend for years, chill the fuck out,” Bakugou said. He grabbed another piece of bread, glancing at Kirishima from under his eyelashes. “Also, I fucking agreed to this didn’t I? Clearly I like you too, you dumbass.”

Kirishima managed to swallow down the bread, and then he grinned widely at Bakugou. “You like me?”

“God, you are a dumbass,” Bakugou said, snorting again. “Fucking obviously I like you.”

cultivating something so divine by redriotinggg

"The only people that get to work here are those who can keep up with me. And you’re going to have to prove that you’re one of those people. You understand me?”

Kirishima nods and finds that he can’t stop the smirk that comes on his face. He was never good at backing down to a challenge. It’s terrifying and exciting all at once. “Yes, sir.”

(Bakugou's a world famous vet and Kirishima is his humble, gay new employee.)

parted, and never parted by Authoress

Before going into battle, it’s only proper to make an offering to the god of war. But Kirishima’s run out of things to give.

Kitsune's Pride by kytrin, Mslead 🔴

Bakugo didn't believe in fairy tales, magic or love. All they did was tell stories to entertain those willing to listen to the lies promising a happy ending. His life was one unending disaster of one failed relationship after another, so he didn't put much stock in magic, or in love. Not until a strange oni comes spilling out of his receipe box with a dark secret and an even darker past.

[99stark]

another starker highschool au drabble based on a prompt

(also because y’all know i’m a slut for highschool aus)

“We’re frenemies and you just got played and cheated on by your (now ex) significant other and are looking to me for help and by the way you’re beautiful.” AU

- (@daisyygolden)

this is actually so cliche it physically hurTs you are warned

----

Sure, one would say Peter’s a cry baby. In fact, most of Peter’s close friends would definitely describe him as a cry baby; although, in reality, Peter rarely ever cries in public and it’s definitely much rarer to see him crying whilst still on school grounds. 

“As much as I love to see you cry Parker, who do I owe the pleasure of putting you in such distress? I mean, come on, you only ever cry when I go a little too far.” an awfully familiar voice said in a teasing manner at the other side of Peter’s locker door (which Peter uses to hide himself while he cried)

Peter knew it was none other than Tony Stark. He’s a devilishly handsome senior school heartthrob who’s good at everything (aka the stereotypical popular bad boy who has a soft spot for the timid nerd) aka Peter’s competition when it comes to academics. Peter amuses Tony since Peter’s the only person who matches his smarts and the only person who had balls to call him out on his bullshit. Since then, Tony started teasing and passively bullying Peter. Overall making Peter’s life a living hell.

“Leave me alone.” Peter muffled through his sleeves. “I’m not really in the mood to deal with assholes.”

“Ah, ah, but isn’t the real asshole right now is the one who made you cry?” Tony said voice still dripping with tease. “I betcha 50 bucks, it’s you’re dickface of a boyfriend Flash.”

“Ex,” Peter corrected. “Why do you even care?” He sniffed, clearing his voice and wiping away his tears as he shut his locker closed, his eyes were instantly met by Tony’s. Tony was right. He was crying because Flash cheated on him with Betty Brant who dumped him soon after for Ned.

“Oh– don’t get me wrong. I don’t really care”

“Then what?”

“I’m just bored,” Tony smirked, eyes darkened, he seemed almost borderline angry which makes him look quite frightening. “And also, you’re pretty when you cry so I guess I’ll do you a favor.”

“Wh-What?” Peter flushed. Tony never compliments him. This must be some kind of another sick joke. “What the fuck are you tryi–”

“I’ll even do all the work for you.” Tony gave him an even more malicious smirk. “C’ mon Parker, let’s get you home.” He tugged on Peter’s wrist dragging him to his car.

“I swear to god Tony, stay out of this. Its none of your business.” Peter tried to free his wrist from Tony’s tight grip but it was useless.

“Oh honey, it became my business the moment he made your precious little ass cry,” Tony said as he pushed Peter into his convertible car. Peter was too stunned and confused to say anything anymore. They stayed silent during the whole trip. Only the car’s engine, Tony’s restless semi-aggressive tapping with his fingers while holding the wheel could be heard. If you listen close enough, you could also hear Peter’s loud thoughts to why Tony was acting weirdly today. The only reason why Peter stayed silent and didn’t pry to why Tony’s acting very out of character is because the older boy looked immensely pissed.

As Peter stepped out of the car, Tony simply said, “Keep your phone close, I’ll text you.” then drove off. Peter was left in front of his house, standing in the middle of the pavement. He stayed there for at least 5 minutes. Peter was so baffled that he couldn’t even bother to move. First, he was complimented by the Tony Stark, then the Tony Stark drove him home, then he was told that the Tony Stark would text him? 

“How the fuck did he even get my number?!” Peter thought and what the fuck happened to the self-conceited asshole he knew?

The loud ring of his phone ended his trance. He nervously fumbled with his bag and took out his phone. He was tagged by the Midtown School of Science and Technology News’ twitter account. Peter's eyes widened as he read the tweet:

MidtownH NEWS @MidtownHighNews

[BREAKING] @OfficialTonyStark and @PeterParkour are DATING? Tony Stark revealed it himself?! See Tony Stark’s official statement here: http:///www.tiny.url/tony-peter-couple –Betty (@BettyBrant)

“WHAT THE FU–”

[lastsonlost]

I needed Marvel to stand by me with more work opportunities to show the trolls that I was more than a diversity hire. “

Sina Grace on Writing Iceman at Marvel: “I Was Surrounded by Cowards”

Posted by Jude Terror June 28, 2019 48 Comments

As has been documented in various Bleeding Cool articles throughout the course of the book’s two series, one of my personal favorite X-Men comics of the past few years was Iceman, written by Sina Grace, and drawn it its first volume by Alessandro Vitti and Robert Gill and in its second and concluding one-shot by Nathan Stockman. The book breathed new life into a character who it could be argued hadn’t really received significant character development since his days in X-Factor in the 1980s. It’s true that it was “The Great One” Brian Bendis who wrote Iceman outed by Jean Grey’s invasive telepathy, but it was Grace who wrote adult Iceman coming to grips with this and learning to be himself and love himself, alongside, of course, lots of mutant action and drama. The book ended too soon, when it was really just getting going, IMHO.

With all of that in mind, it’s sad but not surprising to read Sina Grace’s comments, posted to his Tumblr, about his time at Marvel writing the book and what he says was a lack of support from Marvel while he dealt with online bullying as well as a lack of support and promotion for Iceman itself.

Grace writes:

As Pride Month comes to a close, it’s time I spoke candidly about my experience at Marvel Comics.

To date, I’ve always been honest about the joy of writing Iceman’s journey as an out gay superhero, but I’ve skirted around the challenges that came along with it. This is partially because I prefer to give off an upbeat vibe, and there’s also a fear that my truth will affect my career. With more corporations patting themselves on the back for profit-led partnerships wherein celebrities take selfies in rainbow apparel, and with buzz that Marvel Studios is preparing to debut their first gay character in the upcoming Eternals movie, there is an urgency to discuss the realities of creating queer pop culture in a hostile or ambivalent environment. Hopefully, my takeaways will serve as a guide for people in positions of power to consider when advocating for more nuanced and rich representation. In an ideal world, embracing our stories and empowering us to tell them will yield far more profitable (and way less messy) results than what I encountered while writing Iceman.

Stand by your people

It’s no surprise that I got the attention of trolls and irate fans for taking on this job. There was already backlash around the manner in which Bobby Drake aka Iceman came out, and Marvel needed to smooth that landing and put a “so what” to the decision. After a point, I could almost laugh off people making light of my death, saying they have “cancerous AIDS” from my book, or insinuating I’m capable of sexual assault… almost. Between Iceman’s cancellation and its subsequent revival, Marvel reached out and said they noticed threatening behavior on my Twitter account (only after asking me to send proof of all the nasty shit popping up online). An editor called, these conversations always happen over the phone, offering to provide “tips and tricks” to deal with the cyber bullying. I cut him off. All he was going to do was tell me how to fend for myself. 

I needed Marvel to stand by me with more work opportunities to show the trolls that I was more than a diversity hire. 

“We’ll keep you in mind.”

I got so tired of that sentence.

Even after a year of the new editor-in-chief saying I was talented and needed to be on a book that wasn’t “the gay character,” the only assignment I got outside of Iceman was six pages along, about a version of Wolverine where he had diamond claws. Fabulous, yes. Heterosexual, yes. Still kind of the gay character, though.

We as creators are strongly encouraged to build a platform on social media and use it to promote work-for-hire projects owned by massive corporations… but when the going gets tough, these dudes get going real quick.

Believe in the work

You may be asking if my Iceman book was any good, or if I’m just being sour grapes over a bad work experience. Believe me, I asked that, too. From the get-go, my first editor asserted that Iceman would be DOA if it were “too gay,” while also telling me to prepare for a cancellation anyway, given that most solo X-Men titles don’t last beyond a year. Never mind that my work on Iceman had gotten positive press in the New York Times (in-print), or that in spite of (since-deleted) critical sandbagging, the series nets glowing reviews on Amazon… Marvel still treated me as someone to be contained, and the book as something to be nervous about. Do you know how hard it is to not argue with a publicist when he’s explaining the value of announcing Iceman’s revival via the Marvel homepage? Sis, that’s a burial. Instead of clapping back, I just went and got myself more press from the New York Times. From there, they tightened my leash. I had to get all opportunities pre-approved, and all interviews pre-reviewed. This would be fine if it was the standard, but I assure you: none of my straight male colleagues seek permission to go on podcasts promoting their books.

What Marvel should have done is assign me a special projects editor. They should have worked with a specialty PR firm, rather than repeat a tiresome cycle of treating the book like a square peg, and getting confused when it’s a hit.

Give us a real seat at the table

There was a moment before Iceman was cancelled where I wrote then-editor-in-chief Axel Alonso an email, pleading for a Hail Mary arc. I explained that Icemanwas landing with a newer generation of readers who focused more on binge-reading than month-to-month periodicals. The series needed time in the book market before its true strength could be assessed. To Axel’s credit, he was warm to the idea and even gave me an extra month, but when he left Marvel that idea got brushed away. Of course I was right. The first two volumes sold like gangbusters thanks to word-of-mouth, librarian love, and support from retailers big and small.

When the series returned, no one at Marvel asked me: “What do you think landed with readers?” Nor did they ask the question that Axel did: “What matters to your community?” So when I wrote what I thought the fans would be into, a story about a man learning to be a better ally in the war against hate, editorial totally missed its value.

Seat at the table pt II: The Shade of it all

All of the weird drama I put up with crystallized when I created a drag queen mutant, first called Shade, now called Darkveil. I told my editor that Shade would be a big deal for X-Fans, and asked how we should promote her. He said: “leave it up to the reader’s interpretation.” Everyone at Marvel shrugged off two years of goodwill and acted like I’d coordinated behind their backs on an announcement that made headlines. Beyond mentioning on Instagram the queens who inspired the character, I didn’t coordinate shit. Of course, their head publicist can’t admit that my quotes were pre-approved from an unreleased interview. At this point, I stopped believing that there’d be any more work for me. There were so many shady moves on their end that I’m still having trouble putting into language, but it all aligned with an experience I had in retail where a corrupt manager kept lying and moving the goal posts in order to keep me selling in a department I didn’t want to work in. I offered to give Darkveil a proper character bio, and I walked away.  

I recognize that some of my complaints can be filed under “this is freelance life.” I am aware that it was not a queer person of color who joked to me that “it’s not a matter of if Marvel fucks you over, it’s a matter of when.” That came from a cis white male. The same-day turn-arounds without warning, the work emails on Christmas week… that’s the freelance bullshit. Truly, I don’t even think of this as discrimination, I call it general ineptness. It is my belief that if we are telling stories about heroes doing the right thing in the face of adversity, wouldn’t the hope be to embody those ideals as individuals? Instead of feeling like I worked with some of the most inspiring and brave people in comics, I was surrounded by cowards.

Truly, I hate writing this. In keeping with Pride Month, I am proud of the work I did on Iceman… I love the book! It sucks that I may be tarnishing its legacy going public about how the cookies were made. That said, the time for self-congratulating is over, and folks should be earnestly listening when they ask: what could we have done better?

so what’s my take.....

Personally I think the kid got used, plain and simple. Also this should not have come as a shock to anyone.

Look at how badly they treat their customers that pay them money,                  OF COURSE THEY’RE GOING TO FUCK THEIR EMPLOYEES EVERY CHANCE THEY GET. A box full of scorpions would have had more loyalty.

@thespectacularspider-girl

______________________________

little history lesson for you kids: tokyopop did practically the same thing with the rising stars of manga. They snatched up young Talent, use them, and drop them.

[surflove808]

On “social justice warriors” in the SPN fandom, knee jerk reactions and why they’re harmful to everyone.

I keep seeing people trolling Jensen after the (insert sarcasm font) terrible, horrible, remark he made during a roundtable discussion at SDCC2018.  When asked about the challenges of speaking another language as a new character, he said, and I quote:  "It was Arabic and it was an actual verse from the Quran and so, um, you don't wanna mess that up. (laughter from around the table) (Said with nervous laughter) I mean is ISIS gonna come after me if I'm saying the wrong thing?"  (More laughter from around the table).  

In another interview he talked about the importance of speaking and enunciating the language correctly especially because it was a holy verse from the Quran. Respect for the language, respect for the verse and respect for the religion was the name of the game, thematically speaking.  However... we have our usual peanut gallery making a mountain out of a molehill, so here I am to be an equal, but just as obnoxious voice on the matter.  

Even though my brother-in-law and his family are from Iraq and have been a part of my family, and ours theirs, for many years....even though my sister and a handful of friends (Palestinians and Iraqis predominantly) are practicing Muslims, I'm not arrogant enough to speak on behalf of the Muslim majority based on my small association.  Unlike a lot of commenters I’ve been seeing.

I'm not of the Muslim faith.  What I'm about to tell you guys is based on my knowledge and opinion alone.  But I can tell you, my brother-in-law thinks the uproar over this is ridiculous with a capital R.  AKA:  "Majnun"

Islam is complex and misunderstood, to say the least.  But for those of you who care to educate yourselves or others on the basics, read this:  https://www.islamreligion.com/articles/10256/core-values-of-islam/  But really, read more.  Much, much more.

The core values of ISIS are similar to the core values of Islam, but the way they practice is fundamentally opposed to the Muslim faith at large.  That's why they're considered an extremist group.  They're responsible for countless human rights violations, genocide and acts of terrorism not only against Westerners, but fellow (and especially) Muslim people who don't bow to their attempts at suppression.

Jensen stated that it was important to him to get the Arabic language and enunciation right because he was reciting holy verse from the Quran (which in and of itself, is a dangerous thing to do as a public figure on a t.v. show as far as ISIS is concerned) and he's pretty fucking on the mark about being concerned about flubbing the verse and dialect as far as ISIS is concerned.  I guarantee you that this is a conversation that took place on set that day.  This is a real thing, people.

What he did NOT do at any point in time, was equate fear of retribution with Islam or Muslims.  He equated fear of retribution with ISIS.  A splinter group of jihadists.  It's a pretty valid concern, even said jokingly.  Because these people do NOT have a sense of humor.

The only people I see generalizing around here and on his instagram/twitter are the people insisting he apologize and going off on him for his remark.  They are literally assuming that ISIS=Muslim, and that’s beyond ignorant.  They can assume all they want, but his statement does not reflect what they are accusing him of.  Bottom line.

Reactionary children are equating his comment with anti-Muslim sentiment when it's simply not.    ISIS is a relevant, dangerous and very real group of individuals who seek to terrorize their own countrymen into submission and the world-at-large, if possible.  Stop conflating the two, people.  You're only making matters worse with your fake "wokeness".

Some misguided people and their dire need to be social justice warriors could very well turn this into a very real, and very dangerous issue.  You think I'm kidding?  Remember Charlie Hebdo??  Try reading a bit, learning a bit...before you go off on social media.  For fucks sake, people.  If you don’t know about the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, google it.

I see some comments on Instagram saying "Well, I've spoken with MANY Muslims and they're ALL offended...."  I'm sure you took a poll in the past 4 hours in order to compile your results.  That must have been very challenging...I'm just kidding, you're full of shit.

It's always easier to go after a random celebrity when you're arrogant enough to think you can influence their lives, their decisions.  Makes you feel powerful knowing that maybe something YOU said helped them see the light and change their ways.  Right?  Gives you some sense of control over the object of your adoration.  

In some instances, I could see the logic in public shaming.  Holding a public figure accountable for actions that are genuinely harmful.  I get it.  But (and I hate to say this.  Because it sucks) this is the SPN fandom we’re talking about.  Rife with ship wars, trolls and anti’s.  After everything I’ve seen around here, it’s becoming difficult for me to trust attempts at calling one of these guys out on the basis of “social justice”.  It feels dirty, because most of the time - it is. 

If you want to change the world.... there are much more effective ways than misguidedly harassing an actor on a t.v. show.  I've stated a variation on this theme a few times in past posts.  And I'm not thrilled that I felt compelled to write and post this, but when I see and have seen the destructive power of the gloriously anonymous comment sections on social media and the ripple effect that can come from a few determined Boneheads On A Mission.... it sets me off on the fucking broke down, held-together-by-duct tape rantmobile that I call my conscience.

I'm not active on Twitter and don't do Instagram or FB because I generally feel social media does more harm than good.  I'm not gonna repeat myself here, there or anywhere.  I just needed to get this out of my system and hope that maybe someone reads this long ass essay and comes away with another perspective.  Because.... common sense?  

These issues are far more complex than a soundbite and the ensuing knee-jerk reactions.  This is an important discussion that transcends the “He said/She said” nature of this conversation and it merits real, thoughtful exploration.  And it deserves to be held with accountability and respect for one another and a degree of seriousness that you’re just not gonna achieve with your bullshit back and forth on an actors social media account.

My question for you is:  Are you more concerned about shaming someone, getting their attention even if for negative reasons, and bending them to your will... or do you want to make the effort, do the research and have an intelligent discussion with your friends, family, professors, the world at large?  Because I guarantee if you guided your attentions to positively provoking discussion and being receptive to other peoples experience, opinions and knowledge, you’d be a helluva lot more productive.