#also there's gonna be more members in this mentor-mentee group and all of them are gonna need bracelets

[fuck-i-like-too-much-stuff]

I feel like this isnt the last we've seen of Tawan

[rinisasaki]

What drew Rini and Sasori together at first? Is it the same thing that keeps them together now?

Okay okay…

Where to begin?

I guess I should start off by saying that Sasori and Rini are not officially a couple, not until Shippuden/war era. (And even this is not like with an expressed, ‘be my girlfriend’ type confession lol)

They’ve known one another for about 8 years since Shippuden era. They are a very slowburn type couple.

I dont believe most akatsuki members would waste time with something that could distract them from work, especially a girlfriend/boyfriend that they probably hardly see, even if they worked together, lol.

In Sasori’s case, it’s different since he hates humans in general, and the last thing he wants is to get close to people. He’s constantly doing/saying things to push people away and to make himself as mean and dislikable as possible. Even going as far as hiding his face from everyone.

Kabuto confirmed that he, one of his best and long-time spies, never saw Sasori’s real face. Even Zetsu, a member of the Akatsuki, never saw Sasori’s real face.

The only people who had seen Sasori’s face were, as expected, those who were partnered up with him. Orochimaru is the one who confirmed that Yamato was not Sasori, and expressed surprise that even Sasori’s best spy, Kabuto, never saw his face.

With Kabuto saying, “well he was a brooding guy who always stayed hidden away.”

This says a lot about Sasori as a character, and the kind of guy you’d be trying to woo. You’d see Hiruko, who is not attractive and hunched over, who is also violent and surly. A.K.A. A dislikable person (with sexist tendencies).

This is all in an attempt to hide his identity, and how can you truly know or get close to someone when theyre literally hiding in a shell all the time and constantly lashing out at you?

Probably not gonna happen. 😂

With that said, Rini is born to two Akatsuki members, and raised by her grandfather after her parents death, and is mentored and trained by both Konan and Obito as a tool for the Akatsuki from the beginning. (She is an Amegakure shinobi)

She is an apothecary who has a special interest in pharmaceuticals. She loves plants, toxins, and anything medicine related. Making her own drugs, creating poison, etcetc. Her grandfather and mother were medical shinobi, so its been something shes been raised to do.

Now, being that she technically has insider info on the Akatsuki, being Konan’s mentee, and Kenji (her grandfather) as always been associated with the group as her parents were, although she never met them as a kid; she had known of each new member who would join, her interest especially peaked by the new Sunagakure shinobi who was the best medical nin in that village, Sasori. She loves medicine and loves studying those who love medicine too incase she can learn something from them.

Kenji, keeping his own records for the group, supplies Rini with this info for when she does meet them, to keep her safe since many of them were dangerous rogue ninja. (These happen to have pictures and ofc Sasori is HELLA cute and a medical nin?! Score— and interestingly enough, not a rogue. Hes simply categorized as “MIA” to Sunagakure.)

Anyway, this initially peaks her interest in him, constantly asking Kenji for any updates on anything he may do or create, so she could study it when she has down time. Kenji does not have all this kind of info like Pein and Konan do, but he did catch wind of Sasori’s “un-curable” poison which had Rini REELING to find out more about it lol.

Upon meeting Sasori, even now being an adult, she’s crazy obsessed. He’s cool, mysterious, and basically her dream man. (Shes a little dramatic.)

Edit:: should mention that after Orochimaru betrayed the Akatsuki, Sasori and Rini were partnered up which is how they meet officially. :)

Now for Sasori’s POV, He is not interested in Rini in the same way she is to him. He is not blind, she is beautiful, sure. She makes a great prostitute but looks only get you so far. If shes not skilled in any other way, she will have little value and he’d rather her die than get in his way. 😂

He also finds her to be childish, non-serious, and all around simply naive; a good characteristic if you want to be taken advantage of and killed. How annoying. 🙄

But, he knows of Kenji Sasaki, the man who customized Hiruko’s akatsuki cloak for him. He supplied the Akatsuki with all sorts of resources, such as tools or weapons as necessary. Even their cloaks.

Kenji is a mysterious guy… He has a natural aura that many would assume is incredibly dangerous. It felt supernatural.

Even as un-intimidating as Rini was, she even had a similar air to her. Sasori was always sensitive to these kinds of things. Chiyo explained that he may have a natural affinity for the supernatural - how stupid does that sound? At this moment though, he knew his intuition might be on to something…

To make this already long ask, a bit shorter, The Sasaki clan, Rini’s clan, are Gods that created this worlds Yokai. You know, the Japanese myth stories you hear? The yokai behind it were Sasaki.

Sasori finds himself interested enough, being a power-seeker, to look into and try to find more history behind this mysterious clan. As time passes, Rini proves to have some of the most interesting abilities he’s seen to-date. She is literally like an apparition in flesh. Shes basically un-touchable. (Ill eventually link a list of her jutsu and abilities here!)

Anyway, this interest is not inherently romantic. As a matter of fact, he plans to eventually make Rini into his new favorite puppet. Unbeknownst to anyone. Love right?!🤩

So… yeah. Thats how they became interested in one another!

Both of them have interests in the other that are basically shallow, self-centered and selfish feelings.

So no, its not what keeps them together as a couple. But its something they eventually appreciate in that person whilst learning more about that person and learning to love them as individuals the deeper they grow and connect. 🩷 especially since Sasori realizes that maybe he doesnt want Rini to be a lifeless doll haha. Its a big step for him (oh I dont want to kill her and use her for my own selfish desires? Weird…)

Im sorry this is so long! I know Tumblr is the one place I can freely share this kind of stuff and it be appreciated. So thank you for your ask. 🥺🤲

[the-music-maniac]

You ever notice how similar Xie Wang and Han Ying’s stories and character arcs are?

A warning here that this contains spoilers for all of Word of Honor/Shan He Ling. Stop reading now, I reference a ton of shit.

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I was actually discussing a couple fic ideas with a friend a few weeks ago, and I got to wondering after thinking about those parallels I could see -

Does Han Ying x Xie Wang exist as a ship?? Is that a thing?? That exists?? Can it please exist??

It has so much potential. There's so many narrative parallels with these two characters.

They're two people who deserved better than their respective endings, who never got what they wanted, because of the manipulation of men who wanted power and would stop at nothing to get it (Jin Wang and Zhao Jing). The manipulation of those who saw them as less then what they were.

They also have similarities in their relationships with their "mentor figures" - Han Ying and Zhou Zishu, and Xie Wang and Zhao Jing. They have quite a lot of differences too, enough that their lives parallel each other instead of mirror, and I just think that their personal experiences could make for a very compelling storyline if these two were to interact. It would be an interesting road to a development of a potential relationship, and moreover an opportunity for both of them to learn from the other and heal.

And real talk? I just want the both of them to be happy tbh (and of course that obviously doesn't need to involve a romantic relationship - I just have no self control. I'd be just as ecstatic about a really good friendship though).

I also know they never interact in the drama - but then again these two are also literally dead in the drama. Reality is what you make it 🤣🤣. And considering how close the Scorpion was working with Tian Chuang - honestly I'm pretty sure you can't really say they haven't met either.

So anyways, I guess reasons why I think this would be a good ship dynamic:

First of all, their relations with their mentors and how it's similar to each other and also not. The resulting potential for mutual support:

Han Ying's dearest wish is to be a disciple of Zhou Zishu's, as he says plainly in that one episode.

The thing is, there could be quite a lot of subtext taken from that - I've read interpretations that he's in love with Zhou Zishu, or at least has romantic feelings for him - a strong crush possibly - which I can plausibly see (I can also see it just being platonic, which I will talk about later). But yeah, a romantic interpretation just because of how strong his devotion towards Zhou Zishu is. The wistful looks?????

In that kind of situation, IF the romantic feelings are two-sided instead of one-sided - which I would like to go on the record and say that with Han Ying and Zhou Zishu, I don't believe it is - and as a result actually becomes something, that type of relationship would not be the most healthy, because there's a very strong imbalance of power. Even if the mentor figure genuinely cares and actively minds the mentee's feelings - the mentee still undeniably has that level of hero worship - it won't ever be equal. We can see that already in Han Ying's case, Zhou Zishu repeatedly tells him to stop treating him with so much formality because he's not the leader anymore and yet Han Ying still remains deferential.

In that interpretation, if that were the case of it being two sided - Han Ying would have quite a lot of similarity of experience to Xie Wang's relation to Zhao Jing -

And here I can talk about how Xie Wang and Zhao Jing's relationship is uh. Kinda sus tbh. Like. That doesn't look like a healthy or platonic father-son relationship and it gives me the creeps. In Xie Wang and Zhao Jing's relationship, I'm more inclined to believe there's some semi-incestous yifu fucking going on than anything platonic, there's just so many sus moments - and if I'm not mistaken they dubbed over a line in the show where it was basically stated plainly that it's not a platonic relationship. Or at least - Xie Wang doesn't view Zhao Jing platonically (and I don't believe Zhao Jing discourages it at all, if anything he actively encourages and guides it to make Xie Wang dependent on him). So we got another setup where it's potentially one sided romantic feelings/hero worship. Or maybe two sided for them, who knows.

But the thing is, while I talked about unhealthy romantic relationships in my section about Han Ying, a fundamental difference between Xie Wang and Han Ying's relationships with their mentors is that Zhou Zishu's relationship with Han Ying would be a lot healthier. A LOT healthier. So much fucking healthier, I cannot emphasis that enough. And that's mostly because their relationship is not two-sided, and because he sees Han Ying as a person.

He cares about Han Ying a lot but not as anything beyond platonic - he views him as a student and a subordinate and protects him as such. Han Ying on the other hand could have romantic feelings for Zhou Zishu. Not in love per se, it feels to me like it could be a mix of a really strong crush with really strong hero worship. I don't think Han Ying truly knows Zhou Zishu's other aspects of personality (yet?? I guess because if we're gonna hypothetically bring both Han Ying and Xie Wang back to life he probably will eventually get to know Zhou Zishu properly), because I doubt he ever showed anything beyond his stern assassin leader type of persona to his subordinates. He was likely caring yes, but in a way that keeps people at a distance. So, a mentor-mentee type of relationship where Han Ying could be crushing quite hard on Zhou Zishu. But still a healthy one, as Zhou Zishu, one - doesn't intend to pursue a romantic relationship with Han Ying - and moreover, although might know about his feelings, or his devotion at least(tbh you'd have to be blind not to), he treats them, and him, with respect. He doesn't try and manipulate Han Ying, or use his emotions for his own purposes. He sees Han Ying as his own person. His affection and regards towards Han Ying remains unconditional, even if Han Ying messes up or doesn't follow instructions. Instructions that, btw, repeatedly try to keep Han Ying out of the line of fire, and makes it clear that Han Ying is to put himself first.

Everything Zhao Jing does however is solely to cripple Xie Wang and make him wholly dependent on him. He's been grooming Xie Wang from such a young age, and his positive regard and care is ALWAYS conditional. As soon as Xie Wang messes up, he takes it away as punishment, and because of how Zhao Jing's made himself the center of Xie Wang's world, that action is devastating to him. He subtly encourages and toys with Xie Wang's regard for him for his own purposes, he tries to make Xie Wang jealous so he works twice as hard to earn back Zhao Jing's attention. And as we see with his intention to eventually discard Xie Wang as soon as he is no longer useful - he doesn't view Xie Wang as a person. He's merely another tool in his arsenal.

The reason why I wrote such a long ass analysis about the similarities and differences between Xie Wang and Han Ying's relationships is because as I mentioned before, one reason I think this would be a pretty interesting ship and dynamic is how these two could help each other. At first, it might be more Han Ying helping Xie Wang.

Xie Wang hasn't ever experienced what a proper and healthy guardian type relationship is like, or even what it means for someone to choose him first. He's a victim of abuse, and should he manage to survive the avalanche at the end of the show, there is potential for him to start to undo all the damage that Zhao Jing has inflicted on him all those years, especially if the man is truly no longer around. And I think Han Ying would be in a very good position to offer him support in that journey. Moreover, if Han Ying has had an experience similar to that, it could be the reason he would want to offer support to Xie Wang. He's experienced a lot of what Xie Wang has experienced, but he's also seen what it is for someone to genuinely care about him, and as a result likely has a more healthy view on that type of relationship. They're similar enough for Xie Wang to potentially not want to push Han Ying away if he ever offers his help, but also dissimilar enough that Han Ying could offer new avenues of thought.

At the same time, if you just read Han Ying and Zhou Zishu's relationship as a really strong type of hero worship, this dynamic could make sense too. Han Ying clearly looks up to Zhou Zishu quite a lot, and on top of that, Zhou Zishu in a way represents everything Han Ying has wanted and couldn't have - aka a family and a mentor figure and a home to call his own. Regardless of if it's purely platonic or not, it's still an infinitely healthier relationship, a parallel to Xie Wang's experience, so the potential of the offer of support remains the same.

Second of all, similarity in origin and life experiences, which is a small thing tbh but still an important thing:

Han Ying is someone I don't know a lot of background on tbh - I presume he doesn't have a family anymore, and somehow ended up in the Window of Heaven. I've read fics where Zhou Zishu was the one to save him at some point and offer him a position in the assassin group, and I'm inclined to take that as a plausible head canon (unless it's actually canon, idk I haven't read tyk yet).

So, in bare bones, he's an orphan who is taken in by a mentor figure, and becomes a high ranking member of an assassin group.

Xie Wang is also someone who no longer has a family - we don't know that much about his background either, but I presume he was happened upon by Zhao Jing in some way - I'm not sure at what age tbh, is it assumed that he was raised by him?? Or maybe in teenage years??

Whatever it happens to be, Xie Wang was taken in, maybe even "saved" by (although if you ask me, he'd be better off without) Zhao Jing.

So in essence it is the same thing as Han Ying's experiences, an orphan who is taken in by a mentor figure, and becomes a high ranking (or the leader of) an assassin group.

And not only that, as I mentioned from the beginning, these two both realize and know, eventually, that they’re being used by men who are desperate for power (Jin Wang, Zhao Jing).

I mention this actually as just an extension of my first point, because while I mentioned that Han Ying very obviously can support Xie Wang in that particular “past grooming and abuse” aspect, there are probably still many hidden traumas and scars for these two from the lives they’ve both lead. Their similar experiences lead to similar choices which helped shape who they are, and as a result, I think these two could truly understand each other and where they’re coming from.

Their personalities would fit pretty well with each other. I think:

I don’t know if my interpretation on how these two are is accurate tbh, so feel free to let me know if you think it’s out of character.

To me, Han Ying seems like someone who would be pretty calm around the people he cares about; responsible, smart, eager to learn, with a steady sort of presence. He seems like someone who would wear their heart on their sleeve around people he trusts too, but not in any overtly obvious way. I think the reason why I get that impression is that, upon rewatch, I could plainly see his worry about Zhou Zishu in episode one, but when I first started the show, I somehow missed it entirely. Han Ying also didn’t show any qualms about admitting to Chengling that he wants to be Zhou Zishu’s disciple - which can be a very personal piece of info. The way he was around Zhou Zishu, and Wen Kexing also gave off an air of innocent eagerness to do well in his accomplishments and for approval. I’m not saying he’s always like this, because I’m rather certain he has a darker side too - as we see with all the characters, no one is without their traumas and no one is without artifice or without complexity. They’re all grey moral in a very human way, and Han Ying is no different. We’ve seen before too that once he’s got his game face on, the man is pretty competent and also ruthless (his conversation with Gao Chong for example) - I don’t think he could be any less if he’s that high up in the Tianchuang hierarchy. But at the same time I can also see him being a bit of a very subtle disaster (almost?? Slightly dorky??) in certain situations, and we can see that kind of peek through when Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing hijacked his kidnapping attempt and he was kind of like uhh. Okay so, I’m in a choke hold, I think that might be my former commander, so like. Let them go. It’s actually really funny cause while Wen Kexing was telling Gao Chong and Chengling to hurry up and leave, I swear you could see Han Ying contemplating his entire life.

The face of a man confuzzled.

Xie Wang on the other hand, is someone that’s more impulsive, liable to push or be mischievous, less of a steady personality and more like - for lack of better word - an absolute gremlin. A pretty murderous one. It’s a bit hard to tell all aspects of how Xie Wang is tbh, since he has many different mannerisms while talking to different people. With Zhao Jing he has a very subservient, almost dutiful, childlike and innocent air about him, and a sort of. Sa jiao (撒娇) type of demeanor. He craves approval from Zhao Jing, and is just generally very baby around him, and I’m really not sure how much of that is how he actually is and how much of that is him learning that this is the best way to get Zhao Jing’s attention. And tbh I don’t think all of that is grooming, I think Xie Wang probably does have the potential to be as soft or as innocently childlike and happy with others he cares about (just hopefully in a lot healthier way). I think we see his soft side a little with Qianqiao when he gives her the cure. Despite that though, we can still see other aspects of him surface. He makes suggestions and pushes when he thinks Zhao Jing’s refusals are unreasonable, he just goes and does his own thing sometimes (um usually murderous things. Like when he killed Song Huai Ren and told Zhao Jing he’s a traitor). He’s mischievous about some of his actions (after literally stabbing a man, ‘what? he said I should kill him if I have the ability’). He’s a lot more obviously gritty and aggressive and morally grey than Han Ying appears, which I think adds dimension to his character when added in with everything else. He’s also very smart, competent, ruthless - obviously since he runs the Scorpion, but he’s surprisingly fair and almost? Honourable? In certain aspects? And like Han Ying, he does somewhat wear his heart on his sleeve, retains that eagerness to do well and is somehow not as jaded as he could be, as he still finds the capacity to eventually care for a stranger (Liu Qianqiao). 

I may be oversimplifying how these two could be, but with their personality types I think they have a lot of potential both in a romantic relationship or as close friends. And in a way that at first glance would probably be puzzling - how in the hell did these two become friends/get together (lmao you’ll see Han Ying in his rather sensible disciple robes and then Xie Wang is just there in his braids, dramatic black outfits, winged eyeliner, etc. 🤣🤣😅😅) but on closer thought, makes sense. Han Ying could be a more steadying presence for Xie Wang, and Xie Wang in turn could help him loosen up a bit more. (That’s kind of oversimplifying it but it’s 5 am where I am rn and I’m too tired to elaborate) I also believe Xie Wang might push Han Ying to be more ambitious, be able to do things for himself more - because Xie Wang went through a process of, everything I do is for someone else, until I realized they were using me, and now I’m going to do it for myself. In that way they could potentially push each other to higher heights in what they do, and they are pretty similar in ideology and morals and previous actions. They both have blood on their hands, and they’re not afraid to be ruthless or do what’s necessary to get the job done. They have their traumas, their complexities and an understanding of what it’s like to put on masks for different people.

The potential for found family. All the found family. Gimme:

This one I feel like is more obvious and changes some things about canon, but the timeline I imagine for if Xie Wang x Han Ying would be a plausible ship is one where Han Ying survives the stealing of the fake glazed armour incident and becomes one of the disciples of Siji (second disciple of the sixth generation????). Everything else would likely proceed in a very similar way (although in this au in my mind Gu Xiang and Cao Weining are alive). And then during the avalanche incident, with WenZhou trapped in the armoury, Xie Wang ends up surviving and they end up finding him somehow.

Whether or not it’d be out of character for WenZhou to save him I think could be explored, but the bottom line is that eventually they would probably take him back to Siji. There, whether him meeting Han Ying goes smoothly or not is up to interpretation - I very much doubt it would be an amiable meeting tbh - in fact I fully imagine it to be antagonistic af at first, considering what opposing groups they used to be a part of and the knowledge of how deadly the other can be - trust would be hard to come by, which makes a slow development all the more interesting. And moreover them becoming friends or dating would likely help Xie Wang into the dynamic at Siji because now there’s a more tangible connection between him and the place, and I can see while he’s getting to know all the people of Siji, eventually thinking of them as family as well.  And Han Ying in turn gets another person who cares about him, and for him to care about.

I’ll be honest here and say that I don’t particularly care at this point how realistic or in character it all would be -  I need found family in my life I have no self control. Xie Wang and Han Ying my beloveds needs all the good things.

Another possible meeting is just Han Ying being sent to negotiate with the Scorpions instead of Duan Pengju (is that how it went? I’ll admit I’m a little fuzzy on plot points here) and meeting each other that way. There could be moments of understanding while working together, an inevitable kinda separation, and eventually seeing each other again at Siji, after all the shitshow is over. The development could continue from there.

The closer age gap:

I’d like to preface this part with a disclaimer that I’m not trying to bash any other ships that are out there, this is actually just entirely my personal preference.

I don’t really like big age gaps in my ships unless their both established adults - for example in their 30's 40's, even 50's. Even if one of them remains young in body, it’s just not a dynamic I generally like. The most popular ship that comes to mind here is Ye Baiyi x Xie Wang - and all the more power to you if you do ship it tbh, I can see it being really adorable and healing for the both of them, especially since Ye Baiyi never really gets a happy ending either (and he absolutely deserves one 😤😤😤) - but that as a ship dynamic is personally not for me, especially after Xie Wang’s kinda hinted relationship with another man that’s also older than him. Ye Baiyi obviously is ten million times the man Zhao Jing could ever be, and it would be an infinitely healthier relationship anyway, but yeah the age gap thing is just my personal bias.

So I don’t know, I appreciate that Han Ying and Xie Wang are both closer in age to each other. I know there aren’t confirmed ages (I think?) but if I had to take a guess, I’d say I think both of them are probably in their early to mid twenties.

Anyways, it’s literally 5:43 am now where I am, so I think I’m gonna end this way too long post and pass out. Honestly, I’m not even sure if this thing is coherent anymore, I’m half delirious with exhaustion while writing this. I might possibly write a fic or do something about this Xie Wang x Han Ying ship, I might not, but I just wanted to get it out there. It’s a cute idea.

Oh god my eyeballs are burning. Cheers, goodnight.

[drmazel]

Ok, secrets in return.. 6, 10, 15, 17...

ooh a lil secret exchange...... like little kids at a slumber party..... love this energy

6) how is your life different now from two years ago

hmm.... july 2018.... tbh not a whole lot has changed since, then, graduate school has a funny way of being all the same all the time. but i can think of a few... 

school/job-wise, i became a doctoral candidate in june 2018 which was just over 2 years ago and that was cool, and my research was finally published in december 2019 which kicked ass. actually the project that was published wasnt even finished until october 2018 so i guess that too. my mentor and i have developed a really great mentor/mentee relationship that i attribute a good amount of personal growth to, bc for like the first time in my life i have someone actively helping me quash a lot of self doubt.

personal life-wise, hmm... in october 2018 i had the plate in my knee removed bc it was severely impeding my recovery and making it hard to walk. i figured out how to sit down on the floor and get up from the floor and go up and down stairs one at a time with a railing, then without a railing, learned how to crouch about halfway to normal, built up my stamina to stay standing for about an hour with minimal discomfort whereas before i suffered if i stood for 10 minutes. the girl that almost killed me was finally arrested and convicted and put in jail which doesn’t fix or reverse anything but still felt like some kind of justice. 

and then personality wise i am just a little less afraid of getting things wrong. still terrified and still impacts my life, but i am able to give things a shot instead of dismissing them outright. led to me finding out i’m pretty good at some stuff i otherwise never would have tried. i’m also a little less afraid of asking for help or setting boundaries. therapy has that effect i guess. 

i’m also way more long-winded than before, i feel like, as presented here. oops. i also feel like i’m much more forgetful and scatterbrained than before. not sure if it’s from stress, or a natural progression of taking on more obligations and learning how to balance them, or a long term side effect of having who knows what pumped into me for a month straight three years ago. maybe all three?

10) do you believe in ghosts

nah. i don’t really have a wordy explanation as to why i don’t so you get a break from the wall of text from the previous question.

15) what is your favorite memory

questions like this are hard bc i have a pretty bad memory and favorite memories only come to me when i encounter something that reminds me of it? it’s really hard to call upon specific memories. but i’ll at least try to think of a nice one from recent memory, i’m sure it’ll be far from my favorite but that’s okay. 

hmm... oh actually my most recent birthday (abt 2.5 weeks ago) was really really nice? nothing super special happened; i got up, i went to work, i went home and bought myself an ice cream cake and video called my family. but throughout the day i had more people wishing me happy birthday than i ever had in my life. i’m a fairly active member of the rq official discord and i had no fewer than 2 dozen people immediately send happy birthday messages if they caught the implication from someone else (maybe more, that server is huge and it’s hard to keep track). and i’m in another, smaller server (you may be familiar uwu) where i’ve pretty fairly recently gotten to know a new group of people that seemed to pretty quickly welcome me into their friend group and i got some really nice birthday sentiments there too. and then at work i didn’t even really tell anyone it was my birthday, but i’m friends with one of my lab mates on facebook and he must have had birthday notifications on because he came by and wished me a happy birthday

obvs the last few months have been really isolating for just about everyone, but tbh it’s been especially hard for me bc i don’t really have many friends to begin with and definitely like no friends in my home town so my minimal social contact of like just small talk at the store and only having real conversations with coworkers being taken away has had me fairly down? but apparently over the past few months i have slowly been submitting myself to the mortifying ordeal of being known, even just a little bit, and reaping the rewards of being loved in return, no matter how small, felt really nice and made it a really special day uwuwuwuwu

17) what ‘small things’ things terrify you

i know i have some intangible existential fears that would definitely seem trivial to some people but see above point about having a really hard time calling upon specific memories, and also i’m in a good mood so i’m not gonna try too hard. but off the top of my head two silly weird fears i have are 1) heights and 2) having people around me start singing. 

1) i know heights are a very common fear/phobia but you don’t understand. i’m talking “i will literally freeze in place if i try to step onto this 4-inch stepstool, like seriously my conscious mind will not be able to lift my second foot onto the step, like it’s bolted to the ground” PETRIFIED of heights. i cannot stand on anything my brain perceives as not-solid-ground. this means i’m actually okay in airplanes and things like the st louis arch. i actually love that shit, i’ll look down at the ground and enjoy the view all day. but the second i have a single doubt about my ability to stay upright, fuck the fight/flight/freeze response. we are on 24/7 freeze/freeze/freeze response LOCKDOWN.

2) i’m talking flash mobs, i’m talking karaoke night, i’m talking people singing happy birthday to me. the idea of it puts me in “find an escape” mode, and being in it gives me the worst second-hand embarrassment ever, even if it’s all in good fun and there’s no reason for anyone involved to be embarrassed. this extends even to movie musical numbers (i actually skipped the scene in the tavern in disney’s tangled bc it gave me weird anxiety) and shit like hearing someone i know from another medium begin to sing (this is why it took me so long to check out the mechs and also why i cannot listen to recordings of friends singing as much as it would mean a lot to them for me to do so). idk if there’s a name for this phenomenon or if i’m the only person on the planet with this weird almost-or-maybe-complete phobia.

[bigskydreaming]

Whats Nightwing and Deathstroke's dynamic? Why does it make you wince? Im not very familiar with it.

Nightwing and Slade actually have a really interesting and compelling dynamic in a lot of ways, that can be really good when written well and really terrible when not. My biggest issue is it is that its not sexual in the comics (Slade is a good thirty years older than him) or in other adaptations that have a version of it, like the Teen Titans cartoon. But fandom being fandom, Dick/Slade is a bigger ship than like, half his actual canon ships, so any new take on it always comes with a big sigh at all the new Dick/Slade shipping that’s gonna crop up or have a resurgence cuz of it. And I’m annoyed enough with YJ right now that I’m not giving them the benefit of the doubt that they’ll do anything new or interesting with it that’s worth having to wade through pages of new Dick/Slade noncon in the months afterwards. Its a ship that generates a lot of non-con fic in particular, or at least my old favorite, ‘dubcon’, with the dubious part of the consent referring to the fact that it usually involves mind control or brainwashing, both tropes that show up a lot in their interactions anyway. (Not that there’s anything dubious about this NOT allowing for consensual anything, just that people love to call it dubcon because….fuck if I know).

But anyway….in the comics, Deathstroke is a mercenary who’s one of the Titans’ earliest and most iconic enemies. Though at various times and depending on who’s writing him, he’s sometimes an antihero and even a semi-trusted ally of the Titans (usually with Dick specifically), other times a villain but with his own personal code of honor that means he won’t help the Titans or other heroes but he’ll refuse to take jobs that would pit him against them, and other times he’s full on remorseless and sadistic villain who hates them all and wants them all dead.

He also had three kids, his son Grant (the first Ravager), his younger son Joseph (Jericho) and his youngest, their half-sister Rose (the second Ravager). Basically, the first time he interacted with the Titans was when the supervillain group HIVE put out a contract to have the Titans all killed. Slade turned them down cuz of his personal honor code and how young the Titans were, but his son Grant accepted the contract in exchange for HIVE giving him superpowers to help him fulfill it. The process didn’t work right though, and when fighting the Titans, Grant’s powers overloaded and killed him.

Slade blamed the Titans for this, and vowed to finish the contract and kill them as some twisted way of honoring Grant. He doesn’t do Logic so good, well no, its more like he doesn’t really do parenting so good, as in he tends to have fuck all to do with his kids 364 days of the year, but then something bad happens to one of them and suddenly he thinks he’s Dad of the Year and going 0 to Homicidal in six seconds flat is the way to make up for all the times he’s let them down or screwed them over, instead of just…not Doing That.

So Slade recruited a young meta named Tara Markov (yup, that one) and trained her as his apprentice specifically to help him get revenge on the Titans. At his prompting, she joined the Titans as a spy for him, feeding him intel and plotting against them in one of the best known comicbook storylines of all time, The Judas Contract. It was up there with some of the X-Men’s best known stories like the Dark Phoenix Saga and Days of Future Past. (In the 80s actually, the Titans comic book was almost as popular as Uncanny X-Men at the time. Like way more than the Justice League. They were DC’s big hitters, popularity wise - specifically the lineup that for the most part was centered around Dick, Donna, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven, with other members like the original Titans and later ones like Pantha and Wildebeest coming and going at various points in the 80s too).

Ultimately, Tara made her move and betrayed the Titans, enabling Slade to kidnap each of them one by one and turn them over to the HIVE….all except for Dick. In the meanwhile, he was approached by Slade’s ex-wife Adeline Kane - who has an equally all over the place dynamic with Slade, like sometimes she’s his worst enemy and other times she’s manipulating events behind the scenes to help him without him knowing, because she still loves him…it basically just depends on who’s writing her, same as with Slade. Also, Kane is Adeline’s maiden name, she’s distantly related to Kate Kane aka Batwoman in some extremely complicated manner I can never remember, but that’s mostly just trivia. I can’t remember a time its ever been relevant to a story, and it has nothing to do with Slade’s interactions with Dick.

ANYWAY. Point being, so Adeline, who blames and hates Slade at this time for their son Grant’s death, along with their other son Joey, seek out Dick and offer their help rescuing the Titans and defeating Slade. Joey is a metahuman as a result of Slade’s altered DNA (he has regenerative powers and is actually immortal, due to experiments the army did on him while he was a soldier). So Joey was born with powers although they didn’t activate until he was a young adult. His codename was Jericho and his power lets him possess peoples’ bodies. He’s also mute, and I’m half expecting him to show up in YJ fairly soon. If not this season then hinted at by the end of it. Also wouldn’t surprise me if they had plans to have him be gay in the YJ universe. He’s a character who was coded as gay practically from his debut. Joey/Dick is actually probably Dick’s oldest and most enduring slash ship, for the record.

So Joey works with Dick to rescue the Titans and defeat Slade, who’s captured and goes on trial for kidnapping the Titans. Joey ends up joining the Titans in the aftermath, and Adeline’s yay good, this was my Sekrit Plan all along, I did all this solely in the hopes that you would end up a superhero and have positive influences and not end up a murdering douchebag of flexible morality like your dad cuz fuck that guy, am I right Titans?

Did Adeline really just do all of that because she wanted her son to have more friends? Like…idk honestly it could go either way. Like….it IS the kind of thing she would do, tbh, so its as likely she was telling the truth as it is she just wanted to screw Slade one last time to avenge Grant and then was like hey if I take credit for my kid ending up a Titan now, I could probably play the “you owe me one” card later if I ever need to. Addy does like handing out “you owe me one” cards, just to be safe. Never know when you might need one.

The thing all this has to do with Dick is like, so it basically ended up being Dick versus Slade in the big finale, while Joey was rescuing the others and helping them face off against Tara. And for whatever reason - with multiple takes on this offered by multiple writers in the decades since - something about Dick just stuck with Slade and he’s had a kinda fascination with him ever since. Like he’s always talking about how much more he could teach Dick than what he already learned from Bruce, trying to convince him he’s got a killer instinct that Bruce just suppressed and its holding him back, blah blah, like saying he’s good, but Slade could make him great, so he surpasses both Bruce and Slade. TBH, he spends WAY more time obsessing about Dick and getting Dick to join him than he bothers paying attention to his own kids. 

It really isn’t inherently sexual though, its a weird kinda pseudo father/son, pseudo mentor/mentee type thing. And its not entirely one-sided, because Dick at various times IS…tempted? Kinda? Like whenever Dick’s having some kind of crisis of conscience, or he’s pissed at Bruce or is questioning the effectiveness of superheroes or why they do the things they do or what does it all matter blah blah blah like omg I love you Dick, I really do, but sometimes you are such a drama queen, my god, blast some My Chemical Romance, experiment with drugs and chill out already, its not that deep. (LOL I kid. Well mostly). But point being, every once in awhile something happens that puts Dick in a funk and makes him second guess himself, and he spends like….a month being convinced he should reinvent himself as the anti-Bruce, that’s the solution, and this usually sends him in search of Slade except he’s always like ‘OH FANCY MEETING YOU HERE, THIS IS TOTALLY RANDOM AND NOT ON PURPOSE’. 

And Slade likes to take any opportunity to try and convince him like BE A BAD GUY DICK, KILL PEOPLE FOR MONEY, ALL THE COOL KIDS ARE DOING IT. Except inevitably Slade does something that pisses Dick off and Dick snaps out of it and is like NO, IM A HERO AND THIS IS BAD, I REMEMBER NOW AND I’LL NEVER JOIN YOU, YOU’RE NOT MY REAL DAD I HATE YOU! And then they fight again, but with swords, not words, and then they’re like crap, we’re too well matched, this is going nowhere, you’re a worthy opponent, the only one I can truly respect, blah blah and then they call a breather and Slade’s like hey kid, wanna grab a beer and Dick’s like yeah but only if you promise not to kill anyone. And Slade’s like ugh fine.

And then Slade’s all, look kid, its been fun but its time you went home to your real family and your real life, this isn’t you, you’re a hero, I can’t try and turn you into something you’re not, its Wrong. And Dick’s like….umm yeah, I know, I literally JUST said that, how hard did I hit you? And Slade’s like NO SHHH, DONT TRY AND ARGUE, GO, YOU GO NOW, GO ON, LIVE YOUR LIFE, YOU DONT BELONG HERE IN THE DARK WITH ME, YOU’RE ONE OF THE GOOD ONES, GO BACK TO YOUR OWN KIND.

And Dick’s like no seriously dude, I already called my dad to come pick me up, what are you even on right now, are we having the same conversation?

Slade, sobbing paternally: I HAVE TO LET YOU GO, ALL I EVER DO IS HURT MY KIDS, I’M A TERRIBLE FATHER, ITS NO WONDER JOEY HATES ME.

And then Dick awkwardly slips out while Slade’s mid monologue, with his head thrown back yelling up at the sky and shaking his fists like WHY GOD WHY IS THIS THE WORLD WE LIVE IN WHY - because the thing about Slade is he’s actually even MORE of a drama queen than Dick, he just hides it better. Most of the time. But seriously tho.

Anyway yeah, this is like…a pattern with them basically. And Slade’s like, you’ve inspired me, I see in you the man I could’ve become, maybe even that I can still be, and he like doubles down on his personal honor code and becomes a Mercenary With A Heart for a couple years and even helps out the Titans every now and then (basically just whenever Dick’s in trouble and he goes on a killing spree, like NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO MURDER MY KIDS BUT ME - also by this point in time, Joey had died because Slade literally killed him, I forget why, it was a dumb story, but its okay Joey came back, its not like his name is Uncle Ben. But yeah, killing his kids is kinda a thing with Slade too, and he’s very proprietary about it).

And then he falls off the wagon and is like fuck, I forgot how much I like murder, ugh, you should have never tried to make me change, THIS IS WHO I AM, and Dick’s just like….I literally do not know where you’re getting these conversations from, like am I there when you think we’re having them, am I just blacking out…do I need to see a doctor??? And Slade’s like YOU WILL RUE THE DAY YOU EVER MET ME, GRAYSON, FROM NOW ON I AM THE TITANS’ MORTAL ENEMY and runs off all dramatically while Dick’s like…..wut, and all the other Titans are like srsly, dude, what is WITH you too, and Dick’s all I DON’T EVEN KNOW, HE’S JUST LIKE THAT.

In all seriousness though, ultimately my take on their dynamic is that for Slade, Dick’s a combination of seeing himself and Grant in Bruce and Dick’s dynamic, and its like….all about his regret and missed opportunities. Like, he tends to be super judgey of Bruce and critical of how he trains (and raises Dick) and passive aggressively like *I* would never do that and Dick just kinda lifts an eyebrow and is all, you’ve literally killed two of your three kids. 

But like, Slade kinda views himself as the anti-Batman and thus Dick is inadvertently cast as Grant, but its like Slade can never decide if he thinks Bruce is actually holding Dick back from his full potential and he wants to push Dick the way he thinks Bruce refuses to, or if like, he blames Bruce for getting Dick involved in this life, the same life that got Grant killed, and wants to protect Dick from Bruce and from the same thing happening to him. So its this weird mix of Slade manipulating Dick sometimes and pushing him way further than even Bruce ever does and saying its for his own good, but also randomly mixed in there are these bouts of extreme protectiveness, and there’s like zero rhyme or reason to which he is on any given day and there’s never any way to predict where Slade will land and so it always fucks with Dick’s head in a big way, he’s like…I’m getting whiplash.

And then on Dick’s end, like, the thing about Dick like I’ve mentioned before is he’s a huge people pleaser? Like he’s a very empathetic caretaker type personality who sinks a huge amount of his identity into being everything for everyone, to the extent that he tends to lose sight of himself in the process, sometimes. And he’s also a perfectionist who was raised with the most demanding father of all demanding fathers ever, and has a lot of abandonment issues and insecurities that Bruce’s mutant power is to trip over and set off in the worst possible ways.

And so I think the reason Dick keeps seeking Slade out every now and then is not because he ACTUALLY wants to ever take Slade up on his offer and genuinely become his apprentice or partner and like, turn his back on how he was raised. I think the point of it for Dick is the fact that each and every time he ends up affirming for himself no, wait, this ISN’T actually what I want, I just needed to be reminded of that, to remember that. That he always pulls himself back before going too far. And at the same time, I do think on some level he likes that Slade is this kinda constant in his life, that at the end of the day Slade is like…so fixated on his potential and his achievements and his worth as a fighter and a hero, because like….Dick Grayson is a person who craves validation but will never ask for it ever. 

And he’s one of those people who everyone is just so USED to liking without even thinking about it that it never occurs to them when talking amongst themselves about how great he is, that they forget to say this to his actual face? And so he never hears it? And never asks for it, because gasp, then people might think he’s needy, and that would be bad, so he mostly just goes and sulks in his apartment about how nobody likes him and he’s terribad. Except for Slade. Slade always compliments him on what a good fighter and what a good planner and what a good leader he is, so hmm wonder what he’s doing. He hasn’t committed any crimes in six months and I can’t find any reason to track him down and bring him in? Ugh, that asshole. Okay, ummm, I guess I could tell him I’m thinking of turning evil again, I haven’t done that in a couple years, he’d probably buy it.

And then later Bruce is pacing around the Batcave wrathfully shaking his fist, like “Damn that man and his sick hold over my son, if only I knew how he keeps getting his hooks into you!”

And Dick basically shrugs and plays games on his phone. “He mostly just tells me I’m special, and that’s nice to hear.”

Bruce, still pacing and ranting and fist shaking: “What kind of evil genius is he, how master a manipulator he must be to be able to get inside your head and upend your normal views of right and wrong, to make you entertain these ideas of working with him, learning from him…”

Dick: No its seriously just the saying nice things about me bit. I like that.

Bruce: If only I had a code word or phrase I could use to snap you out of whatever brainwashing he seems to be able to affect you with any time you come near him, perhaps some kind of alien tech….

Dick: You could try “I’m proud of you, son.” I mean if you’re taking suggestions.

Bruce: There’s also the possibility of a magical component to consider, blast, I hate working with magic so of course he WOULD do something like that, ugh I suppose I could ask Zatanna or Jason Blood for help there…

Dick: Cool cool, well this has been a fun and productive chat as always, so you keep doing…all that…and meanwhile I’m gonna go ponder my fixation on father figures who are 100% more committed to obsessing over their failures as a parent than like…actual parenting of their actual kids.

Bruce, ten minutes later: Dick? Where are you? DID SLADE GET TO YOU AGAIN? RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE? CURSE THAT MAN AND HIS UNNATURAL SKILLS, HOW DOES HE DO IT??!?

Anyway, that’s Slade and Dick. There’s also the whole Renegade thing, when Dick asked for Slade’s help in infiltrating the Society of Super Villains in his fake villain identity as Renegade, with you know, lots of Slade trying to corrupt him and also trying to murder any supervillains who looked as his not!son the wrong way. 

And then there was the time Slade brought his daughter Rose to Dick to train and said he couldn’t teach her himself because his track record with training his kids and them not ending up dead is like, not good, and he’s superstitious or something? Idk, I forget his logic, it was probably bad though.

And Slade was like, I only trust you to be a competent teacher for my daughter, I want you to teach her everything you know! Except for like, being a hero. None of that nonsense. I FORBID you from trying to make my daughter into a hero or the deal is off. (The deal being that if Dick did this, Slade would not do crime in Dick’s city for a year).

And Dick was like, you got a deal. I will train Rose but there will be NO trying to make her a hero, I swear. /he said while crossing his fingers behind his back because duh.

And Slade was like okay, fine, you got a deal, I will absolutely still do crime and be villainous but only in every place except for Bludhaven specifically. /he said while crossing his fingers behind his back because duh.

And then Dick tried to make Rose a hero and then Slade blew up Bludhaven and that was definitely a thing, so…yeah.

In summation, Slade and Dick are weird but also very interesting but also if we get another rehash of the Renegade/apprentice arc aka the Teen Titans cartoon adaptation of that story aka the single most popular Dick Grayson fic trope of all time, like….I swear I will probably get a brain bleed.

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

Okay, I loved your answers for the first lot so I’m back with more! Spider-Man (Marvel, again-duh), Sharpay Evans (HSM), Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls) and idk if this is cheating but maybe Coral? (my stories bc I’m a narcissist lmao) and another of your choosing, bc why not? 😆 Enjoy! Be as honest as you like!

This is so much fun! I’m loving this!

Spider-Man (Marvel)

First impression: My first impression would have to be of the Andrew Garfield version as that is the first one I ever saw. To be honest, I thought the nerdy, kind and all around cool Spider-Man was the best! I had a crush on him for the longest time.

Impression now: Tom Holland is freaking amazing as Spider-Man! He’s perfect for the role. Peter Parker is a sweetheart and his relationships with his friends, Aunt May, Happy and Tony Stark are so pure and realistic; I just can’t get enough!

Favorite moment:

Jk jk 😂 this one is 👇🏼

Idea for a story: I kinda would like to do a story where Pete’s school visits Stark Industries for a field trip and Flash is all like “time to prove you lied about your interview, Penis Parker” and Tony just comes in and proves Flash wrong in every way he can. Irondad and Spiderson is perfect in my opinion.

Unpopular opinion: I wish Peter didn’t have to grow up so fast. I know what it’s like to mature prematurely bc of family members dying or other circumstances outside of my control. I love the way Marvel handled it, but I still wish he didn’t have to.

Favorite relationship: Irondad (Tony Stark) and Spiderson (Peter Parker)

Favorite headcanon: *SPOLERS* Endgame fix-it. Where everyone is happy and healthy and fucking alive! I’m... still not okay. I’ll post how my Endgame experience went later...

Sharpay Evans (High School Musical)

First Impression: Not gonna lie, she reminded me of this freaking biatch from my school named Ashley. She ticked me off and I wanted so badly for someone to put her in her place. 😆

Impression now: Spoiled rich girl, but after rewatching HSM 3 I’ve realized she actually was getting better over time. Her solo movie was also amazing and added quite a bit to her character.

Favorite moment:

Idea for a story: If I were to make a story, it’d probably be a East High reunion or just a “where are they now” kinda thing.

Unpopular opinion: (not sure if this is unpopular, but it is among my friend group) If she had ended up with Zeke (I think that’s the one I’m thinking of) I would’ve loved it.

Favorite relationship: Her sibling relationship with Ryan is iconic

Favorite headcanon: Once again; if she ended up with Zeke.

Dipper Pines (Gravity Falls)

First impression: Boy version of me when I was 12. I was all about conspiracies, exploring my small town, theories and all of that, so I clicked with him immediately.

Impression now: I have adopted him as my own. I feel like Gravity Falls is a part of who I am now. I loved the show from the day the first episode aired. I have a couple of the GF books, including Journal 3 and I just love the parts about my lil Dippin’ Dots!

Favorite moment: The awkward siblings hugs!

Idea for a story: I actually have a load of story ideas! I have a few that include OCs, but I have at least 5 that are just about the characters in the show. My biggest one that I can’t wait to write, is where the twins get permission from their parents to stay in Gravity Falls with their Grunkles 😁

Unpopular opinion: If Dipper and Mabel had talked things out a bit better before the end of summer, Weirdmaggedon might not have happened the way it did. I don’t blame them for it in any way, but I just think it would’ve gone down differently if they had talked things out.

Favorite relationship: I love the familial bonds Dipper has with his Grunkles and Mabel! They are great! I like how he is with Wendy as well, but the family bonds in the show are just perfection!

Favorite headcanon: Dipper and Mabel go back to Gravity Falls through the years and end up taking mentor/mentee positions with Grunkles Ford and Grunkle Stan respectively.

Coral (Paper Flowers)

First Impression: Sweet, Classy, a little Smartassy. Loved her interactions with everyone! Her relationship with everyone made everything feel realistic to me.

Impression now: One of my favorite OCs to read. I can reread anything with her in it and love it all the same as I did the first time around. She’s amazingly well written and her progress over time has been incredible! I love what you’ve done with her!

Favorite moment: I can’t think of a moment that I didn’t like! I love in chapter 14 of Paper Flowers when she and Butchy danced to Can I Have This Dance, so, if I had to pick, I’d have to say that’s my all time favorite! 😊

Idea for a story: That freaking collab we’ve gotta do eventually, girlie!

Unpopular opinion: I don’t think I have any crazy opinions on her. She’s an amazing character and I love her!

Favorite relationship: Her interactions with everyone are amazing. Your writing is incredible and the relationships are all so well formed! I absolutely adore her relationship with Butchy, so that’s my top fave, but I really like the interactions between her and Tanner as well.

Favorite headcanon: I don’t really have one for Coral just yet.

For anyone who hasn’t read Paper Flowers and doesn’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a link to Paper Flowers and it’s sequel, Reality Check!

[startuplogy-blog]

8 tips to make an excellent team for your startup

Establishing a startup company without a team is mostly an incredibly difficult process, yet after taking the first steps, you’ll need a team to carry on; otherwise, your company will not grow larger. At the same time, It is essential that your selected team is a healthy, positive, motivated, and talented one, If not, It will be subject to failure. Making the team for your company is not that easy as u may think, It needs guidelines, knowledge, and experience to make the best out of it. To make that feasible, you can read the article below, which shows you 8 critical tips to make an excellent team for your startup: Leadership is not just having vision They share fantasy and leadership which other people wish to share and follow. The leadership vision extends beyond your written organizational mission statement, along with your vision statement. Leaders want to know, listen, and offer their own eyesight to accomplish something more substantial than just the state of affairs. They can listen to and inspire others as well as show compassion with an innate ability to connect with individuals, which can be critical if you want to be a fantastic leader. Being a leader for your team begins with the knowledge and direction that is fundamental to your company, but success ultimately depends upon the urge. You set the example for the rest of the company with your ideas, enthusiasm, vision, determination, and work ethic that will ultimately help you in getting you so much, and also to true success. In fact, people generally look to their leaders in the workplace, not for goals and intentions, but for tenor and temperament of this society, that, you've created in your business. Put the right people in right places The vision to your ultimate purpose might be independently yours, but you are going to want help to get there. In the end, it may take just one feeble manhood to bring down your whole business enterprise. The leading members of your group are the creators. A group with startup expertise has a considerable edge over its rivals. The startup world is difficult enough to navigate as soon as you realize the way it functions. Someone with no market experience is very likely to maintain back your team in some manner or another too. You could also have the ability to employ individuals on a part-time foundation that are excellent at what they're doing. It is safer than carrying the opportunity of a full-time worker who might not deliver. Having individuals as contractors in the start and then moving into full-time workers is the ideal way to leverage a complete set of abilities to your company. In earlier phases of this startup's lifecycle, every member's individual ability level is likely to create a massive impact. Search for the mentors you really need

You're able to acquire great general information, but finding a person in your business who will steer you through obstacles requires a great deal of time. A smart mentor could offer a playbook of sorts, a tried and tested methodology that if replicated, will probably yield similar outcomes. It's possible to prevent nearly all errors you'd have made your self and instead reach the end goal faster, more comfortable, and with much less anxiety. Your very best path to locating a mentor is to develop authentic relationships with individuals in your area who you honor. Be careful about participating with anybody who self-proclaims themselves like a mentor on LinkedIn or even Twitter. The best mentors are seasoned entrepreneurs or specialists with in-depth business knowledge. A prosperous mentor-mentee relationship brings advantages to both sides. Find a mentor that you respect and who are also searching for somebody to pass along their expertise. What you receive is an inspiration to consider risks, support through reverses, and goals caution from a mature and skilled person, frequently assisting you to understand the lessons from your mistakes. Your mentor can also be there to ask one of the difficult questions which you often push aside. Establish your culture as a fundamental column When there’s an empty space for direct guidance, the cultural spirit of a startup or company will overcome to make critical decisions and help the workforce of the startup. A startup’s cultural insight will not just represent the character of the company but also reflects the future face of the startup which aims to be. The culture of a company borns exactly when it has come to the mind of its founder(s). The essential fact, in this case, is to explain your greater values, inspirations, goals, and motivation with your team, in the very first days of the startup. The spirit of the company is like the main column of it. The whole team needs to learn the values and live with them so it will lead the company to the path it aims to be. Design a roadmap A team can not stick together for a long time, If it lacks a systematic or organized direction. The road map of the company is the covering layer of the startup’s core: Release plan and backlog. A roadmap begins with the primary strategy of the company, so the whole concept will be carried on it. The team will be directed in the right path using a clear, wisely created and motivating roadmap. Create relationships Creating relationships with proper people is as important as the effort you push for the concept of your company, in the path to success. To start a good relationship, you should always remember to give without expecting anything in return. This an essential key to finding a healthy relationship. The reactions of the other side will show you the values and their vision to the whole process. In fact, by doing this, you’ll show them what you can do for them. To level-up your insight and learn more about your goal, you need to search for people with positive and successful experiences. Look for innovative people and those who create not use. Get surrounded with supportive people One of the most important terms about your team and co-workers is to collect those who are supportive, caring, and motivated to get you forward. It is a result of having a powerful spirit in your company. People who are always complaining and try to make something look pointless are like cancer cells. You may not mention them that much, but the negativity ( the ignorant ones not the helping critics ) they put on you and your business can even lead the entire plan to a slow death. Don’t waste your time with them and select your people wisely.

Think before lay down with your co-workers Smart and wise people are sexy. However, not all of them are helping you. Before making any decisions, you have to be aware of the pangs of falling in love and the fact that your heart shall not lead your logic and wisdom. Being in a deep and lovely relationship must not affect your concentration. That’s the matter of being professional. Before taking any steps forward, you have to think about the consequences of “ What if it didn’t work out?”. You should consider the time and energy you’re gonna spend on both aspects of your path and you exactly know that you’re gonna use that effort to sort things up. Just imagine if would you take the risk to lose someone valuable in your company? Read the full article

[intosnarkness]

Dear Yuletide Letter

HI! You’re awesome! (And if you’re writing me a treat, which would be amazing, my name is saMaLander, not saLaMander - a few stories got misplaced a couples of years ago, and I don’t want to miss yours!)

I assume you’re here to find out what I like, so let’s cut the BS, huh?

General notes: I like relationships of all shapes and colors and sizes. Friendships, lovers, enemies, found families, weird combinations of the aforementioned lists. I want to see people interact, and how they fit their broken bits into the same space as everyone else’s.

This year I only requested the characters I HAD to have. Anyone else is welcome, but not mandatory.

My only hard squicks are incest and graphic torture. (I can do violence, just please don’t go peeling fingernails off or whatever.) Anything else, I’m gonna be just fine.

Tropes I enjoy: Friends to lovers, Found Family, Magical Realism, Bed Sharing, lost memory, hurt/comfort. I’m not opposed to porn, if the spirit moves you.

The Chronicles of Prydain

Taran of Caer Dallben

What is Taran like as king? What was Taran like as a young child? How does he die? What stories are told about him by the people who come after? Mostly I love Taran. Please feel free to use any other characters from the series that you like, but Taran-focused is the road to my heart.

I re-read The High King once a year or so, and I cry every. single. fucking. time. because I just love these characters so much. I only requested Taran because he’s the only one who in mandatory for my enjoyment of the story, so please feel free to pick and choose anyone else you want to put in.

If you go his Early Life route, I’d love to see the little scamp he was, and what his dads Dallben and Coll were like when he was still young enough to be cute. Or even his time with Hen Wen and what their adventures were?

If you go Late Life, I’d love to see the things he got to do-- did he finish the sea wall? Does he bring the Red Fallows back to life? Does he unite people? How? Or even just an evening meal where he meets with his advisers (and we all know who the Chief Adviser would be, right?) and goes over the things they have yet to do. Show me him as a competent adult, and the things he has to struggle to do and be.

The Good Place

Jianyu Li | Jason Mendoza

I love this sweet, dumb boy. I want to know so much about him-- what is his family like? Did he date people? What were they like? How did he grow up?

If you want to do something smutty or something with other characters form the tagset, I'd love a Jason/Eleanor story, either in the afterlife as soulmates or as a crazy friends-to-lovers (with platonic bed sharing??)  situation.

You can use any of season 3 in this, if you want to, I'm 100% up to date.

This fucking show you guys. It’s so smart and so dumb and so perfect. I love Jason; I love his sweetness and his kindness and that even though he isn’t the smartest or best educated, he is an integral part of the group. The fact that he’s the member of Team Cockroach that stuck with his improvement the longest is really telling and beautiful.

I’d love to see what his life was like as a kid, or growing up. Was he aware that he wasn’t “smart”? What did he excel at? What was his family like? What kind of people was he friends with? Hell, show me how he met Pillboi.

I can ship Jason with anyone on team cockroach, but I am partial to Eleanor or Chidi if you want to show me a reboot that had them as soulmates.

Hawkeye (Comic)

Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Kate Bishop (Hawkeye)

I can never have enough of these two. I love them as shitty best friends who are broken in all the same ways, and I love them as lovers who can't ever seem to make it work the way it should.

I don’t know what to say about my love for Clint and Kate. I love them in every configuration; mentor-mentee, best friends, family, lovers, you name it. I can be sold on anything.

This is a place where I’ll admit I am the most partial to porn (our of my fandoms, not out of the prompts I’m giving here.) I’d love to see Kate topping the fuck out of Clint in all the smutty filthy ways your mind can come up with-- pegging, BDSM, threesomes with just about anyone, breathplay, snowballing-- fuck it, just stay away from scat and watersports and you’ll make me happy. I’d also be 100% fine if Clint was her first and they were just somehow sweet to each other for those twenty minutes.

I’d love a wacky adventure or mission fic that featured Hawkbro, if you’re up to it. Can be a VotW with a McGuffin, I just want to see them fighting crime with silly arrows. AUs are fine, if the spirit moves you.

If you feel more inspired to do character work, I don’t mind the story being either more Clint- or Kate-centric. I would be happy with Fraction-era fallout fic where they confront what they’ve become to each other the fact that she fucking saved him by putting goddamn collar stays in his stupid shirt. Something that touches on either of their histories of violence or fucked-up family dynamics is great. 

Again, thank you for writing for me. Happy yuletide!

[startuplogy-blog]

8 tips to make an excellent team for your startup

Establishing a startup company without a team is mostly an incredibly difficult process, yet after taking the first steps, you’ll need a team to carry on; otherwise, your company will not grow larger. At the same time, It is essential that your selected team is a healthy, positive, motivated, and talented one, If not, It will be subject to failure. Making the team for your company is not that easy as u may think, It needs guidelines, knowledge, and experience to make the best out of it. To make that feasible, you can read the article below, which shows you 8 critical tips to make an excellent team for your startup: Leadership is not just having vision They share fantasy and leadership which other people wish to share and follow. The leadership vision extends beyond your written organizational mission statement, along with your vision statement. Leaders want to know, listen, and offer their own eyesight to accomplish something more substantial than just the state of affairs. They can listen to and inspire others as well as show compassion with an innate ability to connect with individuals, which can be critical if you want to be a fantastic leader. Being a leader for your team begins with the knowledge and direction that is fundamental to your company, but success ultimately depends upon the urge. You set the example for the rest of the company with your ideas, enthusiasm, vision, determination, and work ethic that will ultimately help you in getting you so much, and also to true success. In fact, people generally look to their leaders in the workplace, not for goals and intentions, but for tenor and temperament of this society, that, you've created in your business. Put the right people in right places The vision to your ultimate purpose might be independently yours, but you are going to want help to get there. In the end, it may take just one feeble manhood to bring down your whole business enterprise. The leading members of your group are the creators. A group with startup expertise has a considerable edge over its rivals. The startup world is difficult enough to navigate as soon as you realize the way it functions. Someone with no market experience is very likely to maintain back your team in some manner or another too. You could also have the ability to employ individuals on a part-time foundation that are excellent at what they're doing. It is safer than carrying the opportunity of a full-time worker who might not deliver. Having individuals as contractors in the start and then moving into full-time workers is the ideal way to leverage a complete set of abilities to your company. In earlier phases of this startup's lifecycle, every member's individual ability level is likely to create a massive impact. Search for the mentors you really need

You're able to acquire great general information, but finding a person in your business who will steer you through obstacles requires a great deal of time. A smart mentor could offer a playbook of sorts, a tried and tested methodology that if replicated, will probably yield similar outcomes. It's possible to prevent nearly all errors you'd have made your self and instead reach the end goal faster, more comfortable, and with much less anxiety. Your very best path to locating a mentor is to develop authentic relationships with individuals in your area who you honor. Be careful about participating with anybody who self-proclaims themselves like a mentor on LinkedIn or even Twitter. The best mentors are seasoned entrepreneurs or specialists with in-depth business knowledge. A prosperous mentor-mentee relationship brings advantages to both sides. Find a mentor that you respect and who are also searching for somebody to pass along their expertise. What you receive is an inspiration to consider risks, support through reverses, and goals caution from a mature and skilled person, frequently assisting you to understand the lessons from your mistakes. Your mentor can also be there to ask one of the difficult questions which you often push aside. Establish your culture as a fundamental column When there’s an empty space for direct guidance, the cultural spirit of a startup or company will overcome to make critical decisions and help the workforce of the startup. A startup’s cultural insight will not just represent the character of the company but also reflects the future face of the startup which aims to be. The culture of a company borns exactly when it has come to the mind of its founder(s). The essential fact, in this case, is to explain your greater values, inspirations, goals, and motivation with your team, in the very first days of the startup. The spirit of the company is like the main column of it. The whole team needs to learn the values and live with them so it will lead the company to the path it aims to be. Design a roadmap A team can not stick together for a long time, If it lacks a systematic or organized direction. The road map of the company is the covering layer of the startup’s core: Release plan and backlog. A roadmap begins with the primary strategy of the company, so the whole concept will be carried on it. The team will be directed in the right path using a clear, wisely created and motivating roadmap. Create relationships Creating relationships with proper people is as important as the effort you push for the concept of your company, in the path to success. To start a good relationship, you should always remember to give without expecting anything in return. This an essential key to finding a healthy relationship. The reactions of the other side will show you the values and their vision to the whole process. In fact, by doing this, you’ll show them what you can do for them. To level-up your insight and learn more about your goal, you need to search for people with positive and successful experiences. Look for innovative people and those who create not use. Get surrounded with supportive people One of the most important terms about your team and co-workers is to collect those who are supportive, caring, and motivated to get you forward. It is a result of having a powerful spirit in your company. People who are always complaining and try to make something look pointless are like cancer cells. You may not mention them that much, but the negativity ( the ignorant ones not the helping critics ) they put on you and your business can even lead the entire plan to a slow death. Don’t waste your time with them and select your people wisely.

Think before lay down with your co-workers Smart and wise people are sexy. However, not all of them are helping you. Before making any decisions, you have to be aware of the pangs of falling in love and the fact that your heart shall not lead your logic and wisdom. Being in a deep and lovely relationship must not affect your concentration. That’s the matter of being professional. Before taking any steps forward, you have to think about the consequences of “ What if it didn’t work out?”. You should consider the time and energy you’re gonna spend on both aspects of your path and you exactly know that you’re gonna use that effort to sort things up. Just imagine if would you take the risk to lose someone valuable in your company? Read the full article