#and the latest issues used to have two original stories

[letoscrawls]

One thing I will always be grateful for is growing up during the W.i.t.c.h comics run between 2001 and 2012 because i got to read one of the most visually stunning comics ever for a reasonable small price and it had a massive impact on my style. like it's crazy we had such mini masterpieces available every month, i'm going through some of the issues i have and i haven't opened them in years and i'm still as much in awe as i was when i was a kid, if not more.

It's a shame disney never realized the treasure they had from the start and fucked up the success of this franchise :/ i miss W.i.t.c.h everyday

[horizon-verizon]

On this here day, GRRM wrote an entry clarifying several things about the dragon lore in his novels, and it vindicates so many Dany stans/Daenerys as the Azor Ahai:

Saying dragon "mysteries", in-world, will be revealed in the last two books AND Septon Barth got a lot right. I'm taking that to mean that dragons change sex (Viserion, here you come, baby!), like two particular Twitter mutes I have (danylanzhou and Branwynwitch). It also seems like he's confirming that dragons and the first 40 Valyrian families (which include the Targs, then and now) mixed dragon blood with their own in some long past ancient event AND that only these families, therefore, can bond with dragons to rides them safely or befriend them.

Which means Nettles is definitely of Valyrian/Targ-descent, which really should have been obvious. One of my mutuals also asserted that this makes the idea of Nettles-Sheepstealer/Rhaena-Morning being interchangeable for their supposed HotD merging GRRM-disapproved bc he makes a point to say that dragons don't tend to move far from their lairs that are usually very high up in mountains and volcanos. Sheepstealer can't be going to the Vale while having a lair in Dragonstone:

As for the thought of Sunfyre flying miles to get to Dragonstone...this is where he/they were born and where the real magic that sustains dragons is coalesced from hundred of years. It makes sense for him/them to fly to this castle even if Aegon weren't there after he had been bodied by Meleys/Meleys & Vhagar, looking for recovery. This is where the Targs get most of their eggs/dragons and it is near where most dragons in Westeros make their lairs.

Note that he says, in the very last paragraph, how:

Fantasy needs to be grounded.  It is not simply a license to do anything you like. Smaug and Toothless may both be dragons, but they should never be confused. Ignore canon, and the world you’ve created comes apart like tissue paper.

It appears he is VERY not happy about something to do with dragons in the show's second season, how they bond in the show, how a certain dragon is "explained" to have traveled a too-long distance for a certain pale-locked young girl who has been trying to hatch her own dragon for years...I see you GRRM, fighting for Nettles AND Rhaena I see.

Oh, and just bc he said he liked epi 2, doesn't mean that he cannot critique anything about HotD ever again...he is the writer and creator of this universe that they are capitalizing on. As long as a writer of any genre stays logically consistent and relatively undiscriminatory in their original writing, they definitely can tell any of us readers what is real and not real or possible in their own creations! That this is even up for debate is a travesty to logic.

Mind you, this is the same man who said the show and the book are two separate canons AND that adaptations "nowadays" tend to fail bc the adapters think they can make the story "better" and ignore critical lore details. And in his latest commentary on HotD's S2 first two episodes, he says, and I quote:

“Rhaenyra the Cruel” has been getting great reviews, for the most part.   A lot of the fans are proclaiming it the best episode of HotD, and some are even ranking it higher than the best episodes of GAME OF THRONES.   I can hardly be objective about these things, but I would certainly say it deserves to be in contention.   The only part of the show that is drawing criticism is the conclusion of the Blood and Cheese storyline.   Which ending was powerful, I thought… a gut punch, especially for viewers who had never read FIRE & BLOOD.   For those who had read the book, however… Well, there’s  a lot of be said about that, but this is not the place for me to say it.   The issues are too complicated.   Somewhere down the line, I will do a separate post about all the issues raised by Blood and Cheese… and Maelor the Missing.  There’s a lot to say.

Note that the latest post was about epi4 and this one I just linked is only abt epi 1 &2....so where are his thoughts for the hated/comedic epi3?! (we see each other, George). (BTW, I gave my thoughts on his thoughts about 1 & 2, HERE.)

I'll say it once again: though GRRM praised the portrayal of grief, defended Cheese being lost, and loved the dog (the last I don't fault anyone for, I also loved them) in the Blood & Cheese episode, he also expressly talks AROUND how Blood & Cheese and Helaena actually interacted and comments on the Maelor-lessness (therefore the lack of Sophie's Choice) that many people--inclu myself--have been saying was a huge problem.

Now we have two different sources that seem to support the ideas of:

GRRM both not being as "involved" with the actual writing of this show for a bit AND not approving of a lot of critical changes

HotD's writers cannot create anything truly "canon" or "real/true" for this universe, it only can make any sort of "sense" if it also retrieves information from the original tale, which is not really just F&B but THE ENTIRE SET OF AVAILABLE BOOKS!

[comicgeekery]

Sherlock and Co.

So I just listened to the latest episode, the conclusion of A Case of Identity. I have to say, it was deeply disappointing. For the most part I've been really enjoying Sherlock and Co. It's been fun and engaging. The actors are great. It's a solid new take on "Sherlock Holmes but in the 21st century". I love that they're going through all the stories of the original canon and giving them modern updates. So many Sherlock Holmes adaptations seem to have the basic trappings of the characters and premise without any interest in the original mysteries. This show is clearly being made with love and deep attention to detail. Also, on a personal note, my heart melts every time it explicitly (and even casually!) confirms that Sherlock is autistic and that that is a DISABILITY for him. He gets overstimulated. It gives him an often restricted diet. He hurts people's feelings from not picking up social cues and feels bad about it! There's also a lot of hints that Sherlock used to struggle to interact with others FAR worse than he currently does, to the point where he has never graduated from any school he attended. And John is kind and supportive, understanding the situation as a friend and a doctor, while also having his own understandable limitations. He gets annoyed with Sherlock sometimes and they need to hash things out. It's not perfect between them, but I can see how they're growing closer as they come to understand each other. John Watson is also handled very interestingly in this podcast. He's clearly got some issues of his own he's going through. There's some obvious PTSD from his time in Afghanistan, but also more mundane issues. He feels unappreciated by his mother and still grieves the father that died when he was ten. He's clearly massively insecure, as he constantly expresses jealousy of other people's wealth, good looks, and success. He seems to perk up every time he hears of an idea that could, in theory, make him rich or successful. He constantly second-guesses himself in any social situation because he's so afraid of looking foolish. I even think the reason that he himself decided to call their detective/podcasting business Sherlock and Co. (rather than Sherlock and Watson or something more evenly balanced) is because of his profound insecurity. He doesn't think anyone would care about the role he plays in the business. Clearly Sherlock is the only interesting person there.

But for all of that, I think this is the most competent, helpful, and good Watson I've ever seen. (ACD's Watson is excellent, but the stories almost always really downplayed his role in the crime-solving.) He is shown, again and again, to be an excellent doctor and more than that, one who is very calm and capable under extreme pressure. (Which makes perfect sense with his history as an army doctor.) If someone gets shot at your wedding, Dr. John Watson is the one who will have the skill and the presence of mind to use an expired condom as a tool to save their life. And he's also a good co-detective. He regularly helps Sherlock see connections that Sherlock might have missed. Things relating to pop culture, to social norms, to anything medical, not to mention all the support and encouragement John offers. And Sherlock genuinely appreciates it! These two are an actual, real team! It's excellent! (I have a soft spot in my heart for Nigel Bruce's Watson, but I can't deny that he inspired a real line of idiotic, totally a sidekick, why-are-you-even-here Watson portrayals. Granted, we've gotten away from that in most modern portrayals; Liu, Freeman, and Law were also very capable, though I think Liu was easily the smartest. It's just refreshing to have a Watson I can respect.) But all of that is a pretty roundabout way of getting to my point of what disappointed me with A Case of Identity. So, in the original Case of Identity story, a woman comes to Sherlock and Watson saying that her fiancee has disappeared. The eventual solution is that everything about this fiancee was a lie. He was actually her evil stepfather in disguise "wooing" her with the intention of disappearing mysteriously and leaving her too heartbroken and loyal to think of marrying anyone else (and thus depriving her stepfather of her fortune). The Sherlock and Co. adaptation has a solid update to the story. It's now about a rich, though insecure, man who's being cat-fished. He loves "Angel", even wants to marry her, and has given her tons of money for two years now. He's only going to Sherlock at all because he has a friend who thinks the situation is sketchy. In a parallel to the original story, it turns out that "Angel" is actually Des, the client's stepfather. It started off as a scheme from Des and the mother, Clara, to keep Miles from dating women they didn't approve of. Then Des went behind Clara's back to keep the charade going and get more and more money, consequently getting more and more intimate with his stepson the whole time. I was already a bit nervous at that point, because Des was coming dangerously close to playing out a transphobic stereotype. Being a man who pretended to be a woman for personal gain, and willing to completely betray and deceive the people closest to him. It also didn't help that John had made a point of saying that there was nothing wrong with being a Tory mere minutes before. (Which to me read as more of his insecurity and need to not alienate the in-universe listeners but certainly wasn't interrogated.) But I tried to be optimistic and kept listening. Unfortunately...it was even worse than I'd feared. Des turned out to not only being grifting his stepson through a semi-incestuous cat-fishing scheme, but he had a split personality. Angel had become real through Des having a mental health crisis. And she could spontaneously take over, which she did in order to grab Clara and hold a knife to her throat when the truth came out. Finally, Angel/Des tries to kill themself, which is something the show has the audacity to make a joke about before the audience knows if Des lived or died.

Sooooo, yeah. That's incredibly offensive on so many levels. Angel, while not quite a trans character (I think?) plays into transphobic rhetoric beat-for-beat. It's also an incredibly cliche representation of split personality disorder that plays into extremely tired representations of people with mental illnesses being violent dangers to society. And that's especially disappointing because of the attention Sherlock and Co. usually pays to portraying mental health issues with sensitivity. What the fuck, Sherlock and Co.? Did you get a new writer for this one? Did they time travel directly from the 1950s? This is cheap drama that hurts. It hurts trans women. It hurts people with mental illnesses. And it hurts the wider queer and disabled communities. Which, if you're trying to get popular with the most vocal Sherlock Holmes fans today, are largely the exact people you most want to like you.

Cards on the table, I've been really hoping this show would finally be the adaptation where John and Sherlock would become an actual, explicit couple. It's something fans have longed for for literal generations and now that all of Sherlock Holmes is in the public domain it can finally definitely happen. I felt like Sherlock and John had good chemistry and were maybe even flirting in previous episodes, but I'll save those theories for now. My point is that this is a show where I believed that could happen. I trusted Sherlock and Co. to be respectful and thoughtful. And I'm not saying that all my goodwill is gone now. But it has taken a hit. Sherlock and Co. has been overwhelmingly clever and interesting, finding creative ways to recast the classic stories while still keeping their hearts. I love the acting, I love the action and mysteries, and I haven't even come close to expressing how much thought I've put into what overarching plot threads might be getting established in each episode.

But I won't be able to continue to enjoy those parts if I come to spend my time listening more concerned about if a plot twist is going to leave me feeling attacked. I don't know who writes for this show and I don't know if you read any reviews on Tumblr, but I hope you do. And I hope you do better in the future. An apology and some good trans representation in the future would be nice. Please, I really want to be able to obsess about your show peacefully!

[books]

Writer Spotlight: Elise Hu

We recently met with Elise Hu (@elisegoeseast) to discuss her illuminating title, Flawless—Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital. Elise is a journalist, podcaster, and media start-up founder. She’s the host of TED Talks Daily and host-at-large at NPR, where she spent nearly a decade as a reporter. As an international correspondent, she has reported stories from more than a dozen countries and opened NPR’s first-ever Seoul bureau in 2015. Previously, Elise helped found The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit digital start-up, after stops at many stations as a television news reporter. Her journalism work has won the national Edward R. Murrow and duPont Columbia awards, among others. An honors graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, she lives in Los Angeles.

Can you begin by telling us a little bit about how Flawless came to be and what made you want to write about K-beauty?

It’s my unfinished business from my time in Seoul. Especially in the last year I spent living in Korea, I was constantly chasing the latest geopolitical headlines (namely, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s big moves that year). It meant I didn’t get to delve into my nagging frustrations of feeling second-class as an Asian woman in Korea and the under-reported experiences of South Korean women at the time. They were staging record-setting women’s rights rallies during my time abroad in response to a stark gender divide in Korea. It is one of the world’s most influential countries (and the 10th largest economy) and ranks shockingly low on gender equality metrics. That imbalance really shows up in what’s expected of how women should look and behave. Flawless explores the intersection of gender politics and beauty standards.

Flawless punctuates reportage with life writing, anchoring the research within your subjective context as someone who lived in the middle of it but also had an outside eye on it. Was this a conscious decision before you began writing? 

I planned to have fewer of my personal stories in the book, actually. Originally, I wanted to be embedded with South Korean women and girls who would illustrate the social issues I was investigating, but I wound up being the narrative thread because of the pandemic. The lockdowns and two years of long, mandatory quarantines in South Korea meant that traveling there and staying for a while to report and build on-the-ground relationships was nearly impossible. I also have three small children in LA, so the embedding plan was scuttled real fast.

One of the central questions the book asks of globalized society at large, corporations, and various communities is, “What is beauty for?” How has your response to this question changed while producing Flawless? 

I think I’ve gotten simultaneously more optimistic and cynical about it. More cynical in that the more I researched beauty, the more I understood physical beauty as a class performance—humans have long used it to get into rooms—more power in relationships, social communities, economically, or all of the above at once. And, as a class performance, those with the most resources usually have the most access to doing the work it takes (spending the money) to look the part, which is marginalizing for everyone else and keeps lower classes in a cycle of wanting and reaching. On the flip side, I’m more optimistic about what beauty is for, in that I have learned to separate beauty from appearance: I think of beauty in the way I think about love or truth, these universal—and largely spiritual—ideas that we all seek, that feed our souls. And that’s a way to frame beauty that isn’t tied in with overt consumerism or having to modify ourselves at all. 

This is your first book—has anything surprised you in the publishing or publicity process for Flawless?

I was most surprised by how much I enjoyed recording my own audiobook! I felt most in flow and joyful doing that more than anything else. Each sentence I read aloud was exactly the way I heard it in my head when I wrote it, which is such a privilege to have been able to do as an author.

Do you have a favorite reaction from a reader? 

I don’t know if it’s the favorite, but recency bias is a factor—I just got a DM this week from a woman writing about how the book helped put into words so much of what she felt and experienced, despite the fact she is not ethnically Korean, or in Korea, which is the setting of most of the book. It means a lot to me that reporting or art can connect us and illuminate shared experiences…in this case, learning to be more embodied and okay with however we look. 

As a writer, journalist, and mother—how did you practice self-care when juggling work commitments, social life, and the creative processes of writing and editing?

I juggled by relying on my loved ones. I don’t think self-care can exist without caring for one another, and that means asking people in our circles for help. A lot of boba dates, long walks, laughter-filled phone calls, and random weekend trips really got me through the arduous project of book writing (more painful than childbirth, emotionally speaking). 

What is your writing routine like, and how did the process differ from your other reporting work? Did you pick up any habits that you’ve held on to? 

My book writing routine was very meandering, whereas my broadcast reporting and writing are quite linear. I have tight deadlines for news, so it’s wham, bam, and the piece is out. With the book, I had two years to turn in a manuscript. I spent the year of lockdowns in “incubation mode,” where I consumed a lot of books, white papers, articles, and some films and podcasts, just taking in a lot of ideas to see where they might collide with each other and raise questions worth reporting on, letting them swim around in the swamp of my brain. When I was ready to write, I had a freelance editor, the indefatigable Carrie Frye, break my book outline into chunks so I could focus on smaller objectives and specific deadlines. Chunking the book so it didn’t seem like such a massive undertaking helped a lot. As for the writing, I never got to do a writer’s retreat or some idyllic cabin getaway to write. I wrote in the in-between moments—a one or two hour window when I had a break from the TED conference (which I attend every year as a TED host) or in those moments after the kids’ bedtime and before my own. One good habit I got into was getting away from my computer at midday. I’m really good about making lunch dates or going for a run to break up the monotony of staring at my screen all day long.

What’s good advice you’ve received about journalism that you would pass on to anyone just starting out?

All good reporting comes from great questions. Start with a clear question you seek to answer in your story, project, or book, and stay true to it and your quest to answer it. Once you are clear on what the thing is about, you won’t risk wandering too far from your focal point.

Thanks to Elise for answering our questions! You can follow her over at @elisegoeseast and check out her book Flawless here!

[yourqueenb]

No one:

PB writing their Inside Choices blogs:

It’s getting hot in the writer’s room… And it’s all because of our upcoming VIP release — Smut By Another Name! So book team, what can you tell us about this steamy new story?

Berry: You have just moved into a new town to start your new job. Hard-working and eager to please, you hope things go smoothly so that you can prove yourself. But what will happen when your brooding boss makes you a sexy offer you can’t refuse?

Ooooh, how interesting! I wonder what that offer could be. 🤔 Speaking of, who is this brooding boss of ours?

Jane Doe: A billionaire with an attitude, Dixon Balzac always gets what they want and has no issues with breaking a rule or two. As the CEO, they know their way around the boardroom. But as God’s gift to women, they also know their way around the bedroom. *wink wink*

Joe Schmoe: Dixon loves to throw their weight and their wallet around, which becomes very clear after they set their sights on you. But I think players will be surprised to find that there’s more to them than meets the eye. What secrets do they have? And will you be brave enough to get down and dirty in order to find out?

Wow, we’re swooning already! Are there any other characters we should be excited about or on the lookout for?

Tom: Honestly, you should absolutely get excited about your character! Don’t let her innocence and inexperience fool you! MC might need a moment to find her footing. But once she does, she’s a headstrong woman who isn’t afraid of responding with a little sass when the situation calls for it.

Dick: Be on the lookout for your new project manager! As a perfectionist and Dixon’s wife, there’s no telling when she’ll pop up with 10 pages worth of notes on your latest assignment or nosy questions about the nature of you and Dixon’s budding relationship.

Berry: I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m super excited for players to meet our crazy quirky cast of supporting characters, especially one uber prepared best friend! Dressia is always there for you whether you need relationship advice or a hot new outfit to impress a special someone.

Hot new outfits you say? What can we expect from the closet in this book? Give us the scoop!

Jane Doe: Since this book puts the “sin” in “business”, you can expect some very risqué office wear. Low-cut blouses, rising hemlines, lacy thigh highs, oh my! If Dixon Balzac were my boss, I’d definitely stock my real life closet with these outfits.

We can barely contain our excitement! Okay, last question: What did the writing team use as inspiration for this titillating title?

Berry: The team had so much fun perusing classics, modern bestsellers, and popular Wattpad stories alike! We found a little bit of inspiration in every single one, which has allowed us to create a totally original, not at all carbon copied new book for our catalogue. So we hope you enjoy it!

And there you have it, folks! Keep your eyes peeled for Smut By Another Name, releasing next Friday! 🍓

[blu3-j]

Jewelry & Puppy Eyes

Jewelry Wearing! Reader x Wally

Tw: none

(Alright, side note, I’m making it so Barnaby occasionally calls you teacup in any fanfics he’s in now. Yes, they are a breed of dog. So tiny. So adorable. Just like you!)

Oooh, Wally likes you~! And during one of your walks with your best friend, you drop a ring! Wally reaches down for it and attempts to hand it to you—but what’s this? Julie and Sally notice?! Oh, my! What hijinks are going to occur next?

It was another sunny, peaceful day. Originally, you had planned to stay at home all day and work on your latest hobby. However, soon after Eddie popped by early in the morning with your mail in hand, Wally appeared knocking at your door with a picnic basket in hand. He was such an early bird on some days, and today seemed to be one of them.

“Good morning, Y/N!” Wally chirped in his monotone voice. You were embarrassed, to say the least, that Wally was seeing you in such a state. You weren’t much of a morning person, only having woken up about 10 minutes ago to answer Eddie’s knock. Your hair was tangled, clothes disheveled, and the ghost line of drool that had dribbled down your chin while you were asleep had yet to be wiped off yet. Wally observed your appearance for a moment, looking up and down, before he continued. “Oh, did I come too early?” Blush dusted your cheeks, and you chuckled, mumbling a sheepish “yeah.” He held the basket in front of him. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Y/N. I got a bit too excited to see you.” His robotic laughter filled the morning. “I wanted to give you this.” He handed you the basket excitedly. Upon peeking inside, there were a few flowers, and a small painting of a flower field. “I saw that flower field, and the flowers reminded me of you!” His posture straightened a little as his smile widened. “Oh, I wanted to ask you if you’ll accompany me later on a walk. Would you like to?”

A small rush of energy flowed through you, and you eagerly nodded. You had to guess you’ll find time later to work on your hobbies. At least you didn’t have to worry about bills in this new world. Or taxes. Or worry about paying for groceries at the store with anything except gossip, stories, crafts, and jokes. Money was no issue, it wasn’t even really a concept in this neighborhood.

The little yellow puppet rolled on his feet as he stared up at you. You watched as his pupils grew a small moment. It was something that happened often, especially when he was around you. The two of you had grown close over the time you’ve been here, and although it took a while, you eventually began to get used to his little quirks. Eating with his eyes, his pupils able to grow and shrink, his staring, and even his strange ability to completely shroud his face in darkness except for his eyes no matter what lighting he was in. You barely even took notice of how monotone his voice and laughter are anymore. They were all normal to you by now. Some of it was even considered a bit endearing, in a strange way. You still remember what Barnaby had taught you what some of it meant.

“Barnaby?” The large dog looked down to you before pulling his pipe out of his mouth.

“What’s up, teacup?”

“I’ve noticed Wally’s eyes sometimes grow. What does that mean?”

His mouth curled up a smidge. “Well, that could mean many things,” he started. “It could mean that he’s eaten something, it could mean that he’s happy, or sometimes it could mean that whoever he’s looking at with ‘em is someone he really adores.” His belly rumbled with soft laughter as he looked to you in the corner of his eye. “Maybe my little buddy has someone he really likes.” He shrugged, looking away and putting his pipe back to his mouth and puffing. “Or maybe he just really likes food. I don’t blame the little guy.” He hummed, putting a paw to his chin. “A hot dog sounds really good right now. What do ya say, teacup? Wanna go get a hot dog? My treat!”

“Great!” Wally responded. You two took a minute to find a time, eventually settling on a few hours from now to let you wake up and get ready. He walked off blowing you an air kiss goodbye, and you found yourself blowing one back. Air kisses were something he had begun doing weeks ago, and he used it for many things. Excitement, adoration, hellos, goodbyes, and everything in between. After a few days, you decided to begin doing it back, knowing he was just excited to know something new and didn’t mean anything more to it. Even after he found out through some of the others that it was only reserved for special people and situations, he still kept doing it to you, and you to him. It was like your secret handshake.

The door clicked closed and you decided to take the time to get ready to face the day. Breakfast was quickly made, a shower was taken, and a colorful outfit was put on. A few of the others had all gotten together soon after you arrived to make you some colorful and unique clothing pieces as a “Welcome home” gift. Finally, you reached over to a shelf in your closet with your jewelry. Some rainbow clip-on earrings, your friendship bracelets Sally, Julie, Frank, and Eddie made you, and a ring. Frank was the most hesitant to give you his friendship bracelet he made for you, saying it was Julie’s idea, but you could tell through his eyes he loved seeing you wear it as much as the others did with theirs.

Right on time, a knock rapped through the door. Walking down the stairs, you saw through the window in your living room it was Wally. He glanced through the window and made eye contact with you as you walked down and waved. With a smile, you opened the door to him.

“Hello, again!” He piped. Then he held out his hand for you to take. You greeted him back and took his hand, leaving the house and closing the door after you. Wally liked holding people’s hands, but held his best friends’ hands the most.

The walk was calming and filled with joyous energy. The birds chirped song off in the distant woods, the other neighbors cheerfully went about their daily activities, occasionally greeting the two of you as they passed by, and the sky was clear and blue as day. Even the barely noticeable music—which was something extremely unexpected but normal here—was laid back and casual. The two of you occasionally struck conversation as you walked, with mainly you doing most of the talking while Wally gladly stared and listened.

Then you felt something slip from your finger. Oh no! Your ring! Wally was quick to notice, and let go of your hand to crouch down. He gingerly picked it up and held it up to you. You couldn’t help but smile and reach out for it when—

GASP!

Julie and Sally’s gasps were made obvious to you. Glancing over, the two girls had dropped all of the stage props they had been carrying and were staring with wide eyes at the scene in front of them. Oh, no. Julie held her face with her hands and Sally held closed fists towards the front of her face while their smiles grew and eyes began to sparkle. The quiet squeals from the two was what finally caught Wally’s attention. He looked to them, then back at you, to them, and finally settled on you. A small wrinkle appeared on his forehead, and he held up the ring to you once more.

“Oh my gosh! Wally are you proposing to Y/N?!” Sally exclaimed.

“Y/N, are you going to say yes?!” Julie continued.

“Are you two going to get married??!!” The two finished in unison.

You stammered back a step as your face flashed hot. “W-what?! No!” You looked down to Wally in desperation. But he only stared back at you. “I’m not going to marry you!” A chuckle escaped your lips as you continued, holding a hand to your face in exasperation. “We haven’t even gone on a single date, and I require a romantic relationship to last at least a few years before I even consider saying yes to that question! Wally’s not going to be my husband, you two.” You put your hands to your hips and glanced at the pair before noticing something in the corner of your eye. Wally’s pupils grew.

You spoke before you could even think of an answer. “Wally,” you deadpanned. “I’m not going to marry you.” His pupils continued to grow a tiny smidge and he widened his eyes so they shined in the sunlight, a small additional blush forming on his cheeks. Finally, he tilted his head cutely to the side. His puppy dog face. The same exact one Barnaby had taught him a while back—and a face you could almost never say no to. You tried everything you could. You tried to look away, you tried to ignore him, you even tried to wait it out until he gave up. But in the end, you couldn’t resist those adorable eyes.

You sighed. “Alright,” you slowly began. You thought for a moment to carefully decide your next words. “I’ll call you my husband on one of two conditions. One, you take me on a date. If it goes well, and we become a couple, wait a few years, and then you can ask and I may say yes. Two, we stay as friends, and I’ll call you my platonic husband.” His pupils grew even more, and he finally stood from his previous crouching position.

The girls watched in anticipation.

Romantic Option:

He stood up and gently grabbed your hand, putting the ring in your palm. But he didn’t let go of your hand.

“Okay!” He chirped. “Y/N…” For the first time, he looked away while he was talking to you. Only for a moment, though. “Will…” He hesitated. “Will you allow me to accompany you on a date?”

You sharply inhaled, and your face felt as if it was on fire. It most probably looked like you had been sunburned by now, you figured. Suddenly, it all made sense. The air kisses, the hand holding, the pupil growing, even the occasional gifts. Some he did with only you, or he did the most only when you were around. Even Barnaby hinted at it! Does that mean the others knew, too? Or was it just speculation? How did you never notice? How did you never put all the puzzle pieces together?

Wally continued to stare with anticipation, and tilted his head. You ignored the girls to the side as you stared back into his eyes.

He’s fun to be around, he’s patient, kind, compassionate, and while he may not always have thoughts behind those eyes of his, he’s always doing his best to understand and learn. And if you said no, then he most likely wouldn’t mind, and he wouldn’t push you on the matter any further.

What’s the harm in saying yes?

Time skip forward a few years, and there the two of you were. Happy and in love. You eventually moved in with Wally, and Home welcomed you with open doors. The two of you had done many things together. Painting, going on lovely picnic dates or dinner dates with romantic candles, hiking into the woods to look for a new wonder, slow-danced to love songs late into the evening, and cuddled close during movies and plays. It almost felt like a dream. Sure, the two of you had arguments like any other couple, and it wasn’t always rainbows and clear skies for the two of you, but you were happy, caring for each other, and still in love by the end.

The hill was steep, but it was no match to the two of you. You had walked up worse. Right at the top, Wally laid down a blanket and you set the basket to the side. The two of you talked away as you laid on the ground and gazed up at the clouds for hours. Finally, you noticed the orange and pink streaks in the sky. The day was already ending. As you looked back to Wally, he was no longer in the spot next to you. You got up and looked around, deciding to look behind the tree the two of you had set up your picnic next to. But he wasn’t there.

Then you turned around.

And there he was; on one knee, holding a small colorful box in his hands. You could see the streaks in the sky in his eyes. Your vision began to blur. Things were quiet. Nothing needed to be said. No fancy words, no extra loving gestures, just you and him on this quiet peaceful evening. Just like the first date he took you on. With the same look he gave you on the first day you met. The day he first asked you on a date.

“Will you?”

A hiccup escaped your breath. “Yes.”

Platonic Option:

He stood up and gently grabbed your hand, putting the ring in your palm. But he didn’t let go of your hand.

“That sounds nice.” His eyes closed halfway back to their normal half-lidded state. “Platonic husband. What is that?” His free hand reached for his chin.

“Uh, well,” you stammered out. “It’s basically where we’re still friends, but we have a special title for each other now. Kind of like a nickname. But it’s important that platonic is mentioned in the name. At least, until everyone knows what we mean by it. Platonic means that we’re friends, and nothing more.”

Wally hummed and nodded. “Can I be your platonic husband?”

“Sure, Wally.” A fond smile rested on your face.

Then you remembered the girls. Or more like they finally spoke up from being so silent. “Oh, oh! We should put together a platonic marriage!” Julie exclaimed. Before you could get another word in, Sally agreed and the two of them were dragging you and Wally off to plan the silly ceremony.

In the end, it was as dramatic and fancy as it could possibly get. Sally of course was the wedding officiant, with Julie being the flower girl. Barnaby was the best man, and Julie was also the maid of honor. It was nothing more than platonic, and everyone knew it, but it didn’t mean that it wasn’t yours and Wally’s special day. The setup looked as if it was out of a fairytale, and your outfits fit the setting. The ceremony went by quick, and you two even got to do typical wedding ceremony activities. You two ran down the aisle as everyone threw petals and confetti, you tossed a bouquet Julie had made just for you, you got to cut the first slice of cake, and you had an eventful after-party that lasted until sundown; filled with games, dancing, comedy acts, and more. You all ended it off with a sleepover at Julie’s house.

Photos of the event were kept dear to each of the neighbors, but especially for you and Wally. A photo of the two of you hung on a wall framed in both your homes. Truly, a day to never forget.

[rashomonss]

A HUMANS WRATH

Part VI

previous part

taglist: @miridiums-writing, @zerchlia, @aeongiies, @xmoogx, @coffeeandtealol, @shizunxie, @food-lover9000, @exactlydeafeningmusic, @l0diluvs, @vichsy, @valeriele3, @entolomaeden, @acaribeau, @sillybeanzo, @jessiegerl, @capricorn-anon, @crescentworld, @g-l-1-t-c-h-3-r, @chumbinhoeba, @chaos-n-kindness

a/n: I’m quite glad because I finally have this story almost done! As of now I’m estimating 5 to 7 more chapters left so that’s exciting! anyway let’s get on with the story! (Also for those wondering yes I’m also working on requests from my latest post)

a shift back to the original perspective

“I can’t deal with this any longer Lucifer it’s like torture!” Asmo cried, as he leaned onto his older brother’s shoulder.

“Asmodeus get off of me and pull yourself together” Lucifer sighed.

“But-“

“Enough” the eldest said, raising his voice.

Asmo was taken back a bit at his brother's harsh tone but nonetheless went back to moping. He couldn’t really blame Lucifer because everyone was on edge due to Mc’s harsh behavior. Well everyone except the residents in Purgatory Hall. They were constantly visited by Mc which caused inevitable tension between them and the brothers.

However what no one could figure out was how this drastic change in personality came to be. After all Mc was perfectly fine at the beginning of the week, everything was fine at the beginning of the week.

Well everyone guessed the old saying was true, you don’t know what you have until you lose it. And they sure as hell were upset about losing your personality.

It started off with them believing you had a bad dream of sorts, however when you returned after your stay at Purgatory Hall still upset at them, the brothers racked their brains trying to figure out what they did to make you so upset.

However when they confronted you about the issue you laughed in their faces. Saying something along the lines of “If you seriously don’t know what’s wrong then why waste your breath taking to me, go make yourself useful and bother someone else”

The reaction they got was unexpected to say the least and you hadn’t planned on opening up anytime soon so the brothers went to their last resort. They all had asked Solomon to do a bit of investigating for them as a favor of sorts; of course they would have asked the prince or his butler but as of late you wanted nothing to do with them.

Diavolo felt hurt by this fact because you were his exchange student and at the end of the day it was his job to make sure you were comfortable down here. And if he couldn’t even do that then what was the purpose of this program. So he too went to Solomon asking for a favor, even for a second Simeon had crossed his mind too, but he decided against it.

So with everything set in motion the angels and sorcerer decided to invite you over to try a new batch of tea Simeon received from the Celestial Realm after classes had finished. They were also able to get Luke a private lesson with Barbatos to ensure he didn’t get caught up in drama. The younger angel knew something was up with you however he humored the other two because he wanted you to get back to normal, plus it gave him time to perfect a new recipe.

______

You and Solomon had finished up your last minute studying for the day and were currently on your way to Purgatory Hall to meet Simeon for tea.

As small talk was made you decided to bring up a question that had been plaguing you for a few days.

“Solomon, I have a question to ask,” you said, facing the sorcerer in question.

“What is it?” He replied, curious to know what you would bring up.

“How many demons do I have a pact with?”

The question took Solomon by surprise and he gave you a concerned look. After all he hardly remembered each of his 72 pacts, but for you to ask such a question when you only had seven was a bit well…concerning.

“You have 7 Mc, one with each of the brothers. Why do you ask?”

“Hmm oh no reason” you responded.

It’s as you thought, this was either the future, a dream, or something else entirely different. After all the current you wouldn’t have a bunch of pictures of those demons on your wall. And last time you checked there were two extra pact marks that weren’t previously there, both bearing different symbols you weren’t familiar with. So it had to belong to Lucifer and Belphegor.

It was a bit odd really, because you had known the brothers to be clingy but now they were just going overboard with their affection and concerns. But in all honesty it was hilarious to you that they didn’t understand why you were mad at them, since you remembered to remind them everyday. No matter though it wouldn’t be long before you blew up on them anyway.

“Are you okay Mc?” Solomon asked, nudging you a bit with his arm.

“Huh? Oh yeah sorry I guess I just spaced out a bit”

“Well it’s fine, since we’re already here”

“Oh I guess you’re right,” you laughed.

“Hey you two! The tea just finished so why don’t you have a seat, I’ll grab some cookies too” Simeon said, opening the door to greet you both.

You and Solomon smiled and headed towards the couch in the middle of the living room. Once the two of you got settled Simeon joined you with the tea and refreshments he promised.

So far everything was going well, the two thought. You were always comfortable around them so they never really struggled to get you to talk or open up about any problems. You were currently talking about your day when you had made a snarky comment about one of the brothers then continued on with your story.

Solomon thought now would be a good time to question you since you were the one to bring up the demons. He looked towards Simeon for a reassuring answer and the latter nodded in agreement.

“So Mc what’s the deal with you and the brothers lately? Well actually what did those demons do to upset you this much” Solomon asked, laughing just a bit.

You cocked your eyebrow at his statement and narrowed your eyes the slightest before responding. “I’m still upset for the same reason I’ve always been, nothing has changed except for the fact they refuse to leave me alone now”

“The same reason? What have they done previously” Simeon asked, now curious about your answer.

“I’ve told both of you why I’m upset with them countless times?” You questioned “ Or did you both just forget”

“I’m sorry Mc but I can’t remember you complaining about the brothers in a way like that” Solomon replied.

“Yes he’s right, if anything the brothers are nothing but nice to you? Well there are those few times where they drag you into their schemes, but overall they love and dote on you very much Mc” Simeon added.

“Oh yeah because they all loved and doted on me when Belphegor killed me” you responded rolling your eyes.

Both men went silent and shared a shocked expression wondering if the other heard what had come out of your mouth correctly.

“Belphegor did what to you..?” Solomon asked.

You glanced over him and responded cautiously. “He killed me. I’ve told you both this before why are you making those faces”

“We’ve never heard of anything like this before Mc..” Simeon responded horrified.

“Well if you must know, then I’ll explain it again”

And you did just that. You gave them every single detail of that day to the two sitting right in front of you; and like a good audience they listened.

They listened to how you explained the sensation of dying, as well as the way it felt to be betrayed when you were only trying to help. They listened to every word that left your mouth good and bad, waiting, hoping, even praying that this wasn’t true.

It couldn’t be. There was absolutely no way the brothers would do that to you, they loved you. After all there was no way Diavolo or Lucifer could let you die, it was their job to keep you safe.

Is what they thought until you explained to them the conditions Diavolo and Barbatos gave you when you returned back in time. In a sense Diavolo could even be at fault for your death.

The more they listened the worse their heads felt, there wasn’t any way this could be real, yet the way you describe each detail with such emotion they couldn’t believe anything otherwise.

After you finished they each took turns asking an occasional question waiting for your response. However one thing was for certain, you were to stay away from those demons at all costs and they would have a word with them tomorrow.

______

The doors to the RAD student council room opened to reveal one human and angel considerably angry.

“What’s up with you two?” Mammon asked, confused.

“Did the talk with Mc go well?” Diavolo questioned, a bit concerned by their reaction.

“It went considerably well actually” Solomon responded crossing his arms

“That’s great! What did you three talk about?” Asmo exclaimed.

“Oh you know the usual, Mc’s day, the tea I prepared, classes and such too.” Simeon started. “But one thing each of you failed to mention was the fact that Belphegor here killed Mc”

Each demon in the room tensed at the mention of that day. No one knew what to say, after all it was just agreed collectively to never be brought up again. So why now? Why was this issue arising again? Why was Mc still talking about it? Hadn’t they forgiven Belphie?

“Where did you hear that from?” Lucifer was the first to break the silence.

“From Mc themselves, after all they relayed each detail to us yesterday” Solomon responded.

“But Mc never brings up stuff like that! So why now?” Mammon added.

“I actually might have a theory about that.” Barbatos said, clearing his throat.

“Oh, well please enlighten us,” Simeon replied.

“If my Lord wishes so then I will” Barbatos commented.

“Go ahead” Diavolo responded, eager to hear what his butler was talking about.

“I believe the Mc we are currently interacting with is not our own”

“What do ya mean by that?” Mammon asked, shooting out of his chair.

“I mean that this Mc is from a different timeline, and ours is in another one. In simple terms our Mc switched with the one we are currently interacting with, due to a certain curse”

“A curse?” Satan asked.

“Yes a curse, however I am still unsure of the true nature of this curse so I cannot estimate when our Mc will return”

“If that’s the case then what’s the difference between the two Mc’s?” Levi asked, now confused.

“Well it appears that this Mc still hasn’t forgiven you for killing them?” Solomon added.

“If they have experienced the same things our Mc has then that brings a question to wonder. Just how many timelines are there where Mc has been killed?” Simeon questioned looking toward the youngest demon brother.

Belphie hid in his pillow as his twin came up beside him for comfort. “Stop picking on Belphie, he already feels bad about the whole situation” Beel added.

“Well that’s to be expected, however Mc is mad at all of you not just Belphegor. So has it ever occurred to you to apologize to them for everything they went through? After all, I believe there were numerous accounts in the beginning of the year where each of you tried to separately endanger their life” the angel added, with the slightest bit of venom to his tone.

Each brother stared at the next waiting for one to speak up for them, however none did. Not even Lucifer.

Maybe Simeon was right, had they really never apologized to their Mc about the whole situation.

Well it was too late for that now, because no one knew when they were going to see their beloved Mc again.

Next part

[ohpheeb]

WIP Intro & Call for Beta Readers!

Premise:

When the sole survivor of a small town serial killer swears his ghost has come back to haunt her, she tracks down the detective who originally caught him to uncover the secrets behind the killer and put him down for good.

genre: contemporary fiction/lit fic (and paranormal + suspense elements)

themes: overcoming fear, identity/being able to change

tropes: unreliable narrator, revenge, emotional hurt/comfort

cw: explicit depictions of trauma/violence/panic attacks, mental health issues (some suicidal ideation), paranormal hauntings and stalking

length: ~49k

beta period: starting around mid-June, ending in mid-July (4-6 week beta period, specific dates TBD). I'll choose betas by May 30 at the very latest.

No beta experience required - I want genuine feedback from people interested in the story!

Sign up to be a beta here!

beta signups are now closed!

Signal boosting would be super appreciated! :'-)

↓ Excerpts and more story details under the cut ↓

Marissa is a survivor fueled on paranoia and spite. When she realizes she's being haunted, she's determined to do whatever it takes to get rid of the killer's ghost - even if that means uncovering the secrets of the case and returning to a town more haunted than she is.

"Marissa takes a step forward and the man’s eyes dart around, panicked. It feels good to be the cause of it, to have some semblance of control for once. She takes another step."

//

Cary is a dedicated son and friend, fiercely loyal and totally out of his depth. He's back in town eager to connect with his mother and bring her out of the darkness she's wallowed in for so many years.

"Cary moves around the kitchen quietly. It’s different from the way Talia moves and different from Marissa too... Cary is quiet because he loves his mother."

//

Talia is a former detective stuck in the past, resigned to spend the rest of her life rotting away in her home. She wants to help Marissa but it's clear she's not the woman she used to be — although maybe that's for the best.

"Talia Hayworth moves around her kitchen like she barely lives in it; she reopens the same three cabinets twice before she finds two mugs hidden behind a stack of plates."

☆ wip tag / pinterest / song insp / photo credit

[theaudientvoid]

So, since both DC and Marvel are currently launching initiatives to created "simplified" continuities in a bid to attract new readers, I should probably do a periodic reminder about why efforts to "simplify" continuity almost never work, and even if they did, I don't think that simplified continuity is nearly as laudable goal as many people seem to thing.

In practice, attempts to simplify continuity almost always end up making continuity more complicated. Let's take the Marvel's current attempt, relaunching the Ultimate Universe. This is meant to be a new universe that readers can pick up of the rack without having to worry about decades of continuity baggage. So far, so good. The problem is that this is the second time that Marvel has done this trick using this exact name. So now, any time a prospective new reader hears about Ultimate Spider-Man, well which one are they hearing about. The old one from the 2000s who was a teenager, or the new one that's, like, 35?

The fate of the original Ultimate Universe is instructive. It went on for over a decade, and by the end had built up its own convoluted continuity, such that Marvel eventually decided to just pull the plug and merge it over into the main universe.

Now, keep in mind, the "New" Ultimate Universe is selling like hot cakes. Ultimate Spider-Man is currently out selling the main Spider-Man book. But how much of that is from "simplified" continuity, and how much of that is because Marvel editorial is committed to maintaining a status quo for the character in the main universe that many readers find uninteresting? (They still haven't undone One More Day.)

It's also instructive that Marvel chose to reuse the "Ultimate" name. If they really wanted to excise continuity baggage, presumably they'd pick an entirely new name, to prevent any threat of namespace collision. But that's not what they did. Presumably, they were hoping to capitalize on any residual good will associated with the Ultimate brand left over from the original Ultimate universe. Which new readers, who supposedly hate continuity, won't have.

All that being said, though, is "simplifying" continuity even all that worthy a goal in the first place? I'm not convinced it is. So, like, the thing to keep in mind is that Marvel and DC's business model is oriented around selling single issues to a small pool of collectors at exorbitant prices. Once a issues initial print run(s) end, it becomes an afterthought from the standpoint of the decision makers at the big two.

So, from the perspective of convincing randoms off the street to buy the latest issue of Batman, that decades of continuity baggage probably is an impediment. But, I would argue, it's not nearly as big an impediment that as the fact that single issues are a) expensive as fuck, and b) only sold in specialized stores. If you want to grow the population of comic readers, the biggest things you need to do are lower the price, and sell them in places that normies actually go to.

DC recently, with relatively little fanfare, started an initiative to sell collected additions of a handful of classic stories from their back catalog in regular book stores. Importantly, however, these special collections all collect 12 issues, and cost only $10. For comparison, ordinary trade paperbacks collect 6 issues and cost $17. Single issues run you $4 or $5. This is an okay start, but not nearly enough. If I was in charge of DC or Marvel, I would start by aggressively marketing our back catalog to non-comic readers at significantly reduced prices. Note that this would still allow us to continue selling single issues to super fans at full price, while also having a realistic prospect of growing the market. Because the idea that Marvel or DC can get people into comics by convincing them to walk into a comic shop off the street and pay $5 per issue for the latest crossover event is just absurd.

[lacktastrophe]

Seeing the beginning of the latest chapter made me think of something regarding Confrontation. So far, only Lucy has suffered from recurring PTSD from that chapter while Daisy recalled enough to understand that Augustus was linked to Alejandro in some way. As far as what I can recall from memory, the trauma from Confrontation carried on in two characters. (1/2)

This one came in a few weeks ago and I hadn't really been on Tumblr in a while, sorry Anon. Between a bad headspace and distracted it's been hard to concentrate on BCB these last few weeks.

I feel like so far; it's just Lucy, so far. Daisy has been through some traumatic events through chapter's like "Love my Way" and "Confrontation" but I'm not ready to accept that it was ptsd back when she figured Augustus out, she dealt with that like a champ without appearing like there was negative consequence. But with the way appearances have been in this comic recently, she utterly could have some sort of behaviour pattern we're just thinking is part of her character. It's really hard right now to nail down if particular behaviour traits link back to Confrontation. I feel the only real way to tell for sure is to have the story hold a magnifying glass like in the current chapter.

But I think that's something we might see in future chapters, because if it could appear like the kids could get over an evening like Confrontation without much issue (as we saw at the end of that chapter), only for Lucy to find a trigger point years later, it really is a question if they too have similar trigger points that they have stepped on/will step on, or whether they have and it's become part of their character, because we've seen some interesting decisions from them from time to time.

But yeah, I really can't say for certain, i can only really speculate that maybe we had been? But there's very little hard evidence.

But I've wonderrred~

I honestly have been wondering if the characters have been dealing with some form of ptsd from that evening all this time, but it's not at all obvious and it's been going on unnoticed as if it's been part of their character, or even reinforcing particular traits we've already seen. With the way the story's written it's pretty hard to nail down something unless there's a point where there is a magnifying glass over it, some frames and actions might carry multiple meanings, or at least a deceptive one. We've needed to wait until Lucy had properly come back to really learn there had been consequences, so now if it's true for the others, it's time to link up behaviours.

But regarding deception, kind of like these frames! I had originally read this thinking the marks in Lucy's palms were a ptsd response from an earlier point where she had remembered being involved in a car crash when Sam, her older brother, drove her one time. But that doesn't make sense when you think about it, because ptsd happens when there's something there that elicits it -- they're far from his car and they've just been walking -- the ptsd response is originating from Paulo's presence.

I'm starting to wonder if Daisy's sudden exit from the events in Date Night might've have been something similar, that subtle behavioural pattern we are looking for. In all likelihood this page just exists that to show yet again Daisy was unable to find the means to confess or keep Paulo's attention. The last couple of chapters have been making a few running gags about how she has managed to become a bit of the third wheel between Paulo and David (or I guess the 5th wheel when they all stumbled upon James and Mike). But Daisy's sudden exit and the last page of that chapters makes me wonder if there might be something more going on.

C'mon Daisy, you used to be EVERYWHERE when you were pining over Mike, but you can't do the same for Paulo C'MON....

It's a pretty big stretch -- and we're alllllll very much aware of Daisy's self-esteem, self-confidence issues and her struggles when it comes to admitting her interest in Paulo when he's gone after so many other women. Having her dip in moments like these is something different. It's like the energy she usually exerts just...disappears, it's weird she can't exist in the same capacity she did to Mike like in the very early parts of the story too. Is it still there or did that just disappear into the wind? Because there is this sense of powerlessness in Daisy these days? Does it go back to that same night where she was similarly way out of her own league and unable to do anything?

And (and this is a fucking huuuuuge streeeeetch) but I keep thinking back to Double Down and wondering whether maybe Paulo making a second ditch attempt to try and appeal to Lucy made me wonder if something from Confrontation could be involved with his constant need to chase Lucy.

Paulo x Lucy died on 7/7/17 in everyone's favourite chapter After You where Paulo had finally been able to ask Lucy the question, and she pretty much destroyed him by telling him there was no love, she used him and frankly he never had a chance. After that chapter and in Double Down we thought they were very much done. We thought Paulo had moved on.

.....Christ, Paulo really doesn't know how much he's fucking up already. No wonder Lucy dug her claws into her palms.

A little later in the same chapter, we see a vain attempt by Paulo's to try and assure Lucy to get her to open up again, kind of like how he became a shoulder in...well, Another shoulder. This is made under the guise of hoping that Lucy will return to the lunch table and resume being a friend, but in later pages, while it's possible it was honest, when the question of relationships comes up, or at least the status, we start seeing a change.

What happens after is Paulo suddenly turning extremely petty and aggressively competitive.

It's not uncommon to see Paulo resorting to some childish shit like he would in an early chapter of BCB, but such flippant moment like this one where one moment Paulo appears grounded -- ready to move mountains in accommodating her and getting her to open up more like she did years ago -- only to suddenly shift into what feels like similar behaviour from middleschool -- where things are almost a game in getting the attraction and attention of Lucy particularly when there's a rival, like Mike, or Augustus in this case.

And this moment could well just be another case of -- another day, another occasion of Paulo being a fucking idiot. We're all very much aware of his image and him always resorting to faking for his insecurities and how he tends to belittles others he doesn't like. We've seen this before recently too in chapter's like Time Out just to maintain this idea, where Paulo is admonished by his peers for acting immaturely towards Abbey, and then later losing his cool against him. Things are looking pretty normal here!

But I'm wondering if we should this time? Getting slapped in the face sure would suck, but Volume 1 (or do I just say early Omnibus these days?) Paulo lived for it -- He's a strange creature that sees getting struck in the face worth it because the attention is the payoff. But it doesn't happen this time; it slaps him out of whatever's currently going on and we see a tantrum mixed in with some actual remorse. The tantrum is understandable, it's further reinforcement he just does not have a chance with her. However Paulo admitting how badly he fucked up this time around makes you wonder if there's something more going on than just this jealousy we perceive, where Augustus has filled in what would've been his place had he not severely fucked things up with her trust back in back and forth.

Paulo blames his pride for storming off but is his pride really the issue like he claims?

I feel like similarly with Paulo's antics, we also feel like we might be familiar with his pride. But there had been moments where Paulo's pride had been tested, and it's...different from what you'd expect. There are moments where how we think he would react, he doesn't?

I'd think it would be a pretty normal response for you to be pissed off if you found you were used by the person you thought was reciprocating your feelings. It's demoralizing and degrading thing, but in Paulo's case, despite how his pride might be at the forefront, it takes a backseat here especially when it's obvious he becomes offended.

...But nevermind why won't you be my girlfriend?

What absolutely kills me is that Paulo just wants off the ride from that point but doesn't ask why she doesn't want to. It's possible he is just too upset and wants off the ride but he's also okay with just being bullied into going to Daisy's party, almost like she's calling a favour. Paulo chooses a weird time to be accommodating, like thanks for destroying my heart Lucy but yes I'll do what you say.

He should definitely go to the party though, so thanks Lucy.

Paulo might end up just being a simp who can't stop cute girls from bullying him like we see at the end of that chapter. We've come to agree with this over years of the comic, it's what we expect. But where's the real limit for Paulo's pride here when it comes to girls and when he's gone through enough pain and humiliation?

And then we get to one of the more recent pages, and despite EVERYTHING that has happened to this man from this woman, he's like this.

HE STILL THINKS HE HAS A CHANCE? SHE BROKE YOUR HEART TWICE AND YOU'RE BACK FOR A THIRD?

I get Paulo is not giving up and trying his best to be accomodating, but how much abuse can the man keep taking? How can you be like this despite being used?

I have faith in Veronica's storytelling. If she can just whip out Lucy's recurring nightmare in our faces so suddenly and that explains all of Lucy's behaviour between December to the recent chapter, then I feel like there has got to be something else that's planned going on here with Paulo. I am still absolutely preparred for the day where he really just is this pushover simp, but every part of me is screaming that there might be something else going on here, because jesus christ, this man...

That leaves the question of what, then? You do have to wonder whether he really did get off scott-free after that evening like what it initially appeared, it's very easy for Paulo to push things to the back of his mind and fake things out as we've seen with most times in the past. But did his pride let this slide as easy as it appeared? It doesn't take much for Paulo taking offense when being slighted by women, like Tess when she thought Paulo couldn't reach the level she wanted in a relationship despite everything he tried. Would it have been just as easy for Paulo to move on from being mostly incapacitated from a barkphobia and a beat down. He showed a lot of bravado that night but it didn't amount to much, so, you really have to wonder.

After that evening is Paulo doing some magic work with Daisy explaining that everyone has particular strengths. I'm pretty sure this was enough to help her get over that evening, but it's all things amazing coming from him despite the beatdown he received, but we do have to wonder if he was able to take his own advice because man there are fights he just isn't capable of winning, Lucy is just one of them. Did he really come out scott-free too?

So I wonder if that's it. Paulo might be not be giving up on Lucy, and appearing accommodating because he does care and hurt to hear she attempted suicide. But maybe Paulo's unable to let go for another reason, the chance for a relationship with Lucy is just not going away and he needs that, but why can't he just move on despite all the bad she's admitted?

Could we link it back to Confrontation? Could it be that Lucy trying to protect them (or at least just Mike) rubbed off on him some way given his mother walked out on him and the next best support he has is Daisy, maybe Lucy is a stronger rolemodel? So he's willing to forgive that so long as he has that assurance, perhaps?

Thrill of the chase used to mean something else, but that term's come up again, and while it meant Paulo treating her like an achievement, you have to wonder if there's a different meaning this time.

Well, we can only speculate. I'm thinking similar to Daisy, if there is something going on here, it's very subtle and likely already become part of their character. it's going to be as long running and likely as subtle and it's causing Paulo's to go back to chasing Lucy around like he used to, at least it feels that way.

Sue's a bit of an unknown given she doesn't have as much screentime. But I had always wondered if her continued insistence at being/trying to be a leader (Helloooooo Critical Hit) is just more than just something she does given it was in Confrontation where we saw her initiating attempts to find a way home and, well trying to mitigate Alejandro and try to defend Paulo throughout the end of that chapter. We haven't really ever seen Sue involved in a subservient role (I'm assuming she is definitely running their little MMO game) so I really wonder if there's something there in making up for not being as effective a leader and wrangling everyone to work together like she could in Confrontation.

At the same time I'm honestly embracing a wildcard surprise like Sue's mother likely enrolled her in therapy and it just....mitigated the issue.

But yeah, I have no answers.

[texasthoughtsaboutnothing]

The Stranger and my thoughts on where each LCB Sinner is at (Long)

Hey, I actually sat down and read L'etranger, Meursault's source novel. I've got some fucking feelings about it, especially relating it to Limbus Company and what it might mean for his Canto in like 2 years.

Firstly, you should read or listen to this book. It's short, surprisingly punchy, and easy to follow. I (probably) don't have autism but I can absolutely see a read of this where the character does or is neurodivergent in some other way; beyond his relationship and evaluation of social queues and norms he also seems to deal with sensory issues. There are better people than me who should talk about this and I'm probably not adding a lot to the conversation but keeping this reading in my head for the climax added an extra layer of discomfort (intentional discomfort for the benefit of the story's message, I should say) to the whole book. But It's worth experiencing even if you disagree with that reading or have a different one.

Limbus Brainrot/Spoiler stuff from here on in.

There's always the question of where exactly each Sinner is in their story as they're on the bus. Their stories have been reinterpreted and/or jumbled in ways that make it fun to guess, so to go over each Sinner and where they are based on what we know or my theories:

Yi Sang - I'm not gonna front, I don't really get The WIngs, but this seems like a Good End AU for him. He already escaped his "Wife's" control and the sunless room and is now flying again (metaphorically, or maybe literally? i dont know help me).

Faust - Likely in the middle of the part where she's using Mephistopheles' power to do good in the world and prior to her being damned to hell. Side note, she's last to get a Canto and I bet it's not a coincidence that (afaik) she and Dante are the only two with Hell in their stories directly. My long shot call is that Faust is also Beatrice and there will be so much DantexFaust ship art in 2026.

Don Quixote - The biggest enigma. La Sangre de Sancho has gripped the imagination of the fandom and I am no exception. She's next after Heathcliff so we'll get her some time in August at the latest and I can't wait. My best guess is she's currently gallivanting and will be forced home in her Canto, assuming Don is Sancho theory isn't true. Praying her Canto is called The Impossible.

Ryoshu - In Hell Screen, the reason the painter is obsessed with torture is that he can only paint what he has seen and is trying to paint the Buddhist Hell. In his quest for his art he destroys his life and those around him, and ends up committing suicide over it. But there is a villain in the form of the Lord who beyond driving the story by requesting the screen in the first place is guilty of SA and murder. I'm expecting we're post story; the Lord is related to the five fingers, the daughter might be recast as a friend or something, and the sword Ryoshu carries is likely the screen. Nothing revolutionary in my guesses here, but it's either going to be that straight-forward or insanely abstract, where she's the lord and the painter and the daughter and the screen and the sword is the monkey or some shit.

Hong Lu - I have not yet read Dream of a Red Chamber, it's next on the list. Forgive me!

Heathcliff - Oh boy. Like many, I expect he is post-spurning by Catherine and is on his journey for his fortune on the LCB. So, his Canto will be about coming home to a beloved who is with someone else. Yes, the beloved blorbo will suffer for my amusement. Let's go 3 hours Heathmael sex scene!

Ishmael - We now know her story already kinda happened, as many expected, making this a bizarre sequel to Moby Dick. I think it gave PM a lot of room to do whatever they wanted to while still sticking to the themes of the story. Already wrote about what I loved about this and the recontextualizing of Ahab as a whale unto herself (which I don't actually know if it's in the original novel, but it wouldn't surprise me).

Rodion - A weird one. Her inciting incident happened, the murdering of the landlord/pawnbroker, but the unintentional death of the innocent sister was shifted to the entire damn block. So if I had to guess she's in the period after her crime trying to avoid being caught, but no police officer allegory has really been introduced yet. I read Crime and Punishment years ago so I can't say for certain but it feels the most loosely adapted and suffers a tad for being part of the intro. Rodya's story is in no way finished so it's up in the air. Praying for a Petrovich just so people can meet the OG Columbo.

Sinclair - Still need to read Demian, but I have a rough understanding of the plot. Also unfinished in his story, Sinclair has a long way to go to his self-realization. This feels more intentional however, I remember someone made an observation of Cinqlair as representative of his drunken college years where he's popular but unfulfilled, and I think we can extend that to all of his IDs. He seems to have the most potential of all the Sinners, so much so that I wouldn't be surprised if there's a mirror world where he's a Color unto himself. I digress, the point is he's pre Frau Eva (who if she turn's out to be the Purple Tear I will lose my mind) who is also called Beatrice at some point so what's up with that PM?

Outis - Another big mystery, especially as she isn't Odysseus but Outis, a name referencing a particular part of the Odyssey with the Cyclops. I have to imagine she's on the Odyssey, journeying home after the Smoke War (which might have some parallels with the Trojan War beyond the obvious). It's interesting all the Greek myth named Abnormalities are Hospital themed, might be something there but nothing I can parse from my limited knowledge of Greek society and folklore. While she' might be a traitor, I'm thinking she's joined Limbus Company to hide while on her journey; she might be wanted dead by something and is concealing her identity after what happened in the war.

Greg - Again, a character post-story. He was locked in a room, he metamorphized, and... well he's alive? So we've diverged from the source novel, as it's taken the allegorical meanings and made them more literal, but Hermann is still around and a major player so who knows where this will go?

Meursault - I have so many thoughts. Meursault could be anywhere in his story, but I'm going to guess it's one of two places. First guess, we're completely pre story. His Canto opens with him getting a message that Maman died today, or maybe yesterday, he doesn't know. So the whole story plays out over the course of the Canto. But more likely, and my prediction, is that he's currently in "jail" awaiting his execution or acquittal. He has already murdered a man (or done some other crime) and instead of being tried for that, he has been tried and sentenced for his peculiarities of character. Bound in the chains of others, the multitudes have tightened their hold (I'm very clever and not cringe at all).

So I have to wonder what light blinded him, overwhelmed him so much that it led to his crime? The Bright Nights and Dark Days are an obvious choice, and I'm not the first to suggest it. Perhaps he distorted? Anyway, his story ends with him having given up on acquittal and instead hoping for a crowd of people hating him as he approaches the guillotine. I'm super interested in how this will play out in Limbus, especially as he must survive for gameplay purposes.

Also, Meursault is so horny. Like, oh my god. Half of his thoughts are of Marie, specifically of wanting her and all the connotations that contains. He spurns God in the face of a Chaplain, saying that He is worth nothing compared to a single hair on a woman's head. Meursault is not a romantic but not just some horndog either, his desire for sex and women and their bodies feels like an extension of his worldview centered on the immediacy of life and not just debauchery or hedonism. It's a part of the idea life is lived as today, yesterday, and tomorrow, and there is joy and happiness in that simplicity. I feel like this will get cut for Limbus but I hope it isn't, I want Meursault to casually admit he desires every Sinner on the bus carnally (yes the men and NB too, probably just a HC but I do believe that the City is a binormative society based on its already loose relationship to gender identity).

So uh, that's the thoughts so far. Merry Christmas, I guess.

[princesssarisa]

The latest series of stories I've read in Cinderella Tales From Around the World are from Eastern and Central Europe: Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

*In several Eastern European versions, the Virgin Mary is the girl's helper who gives her finery. She appears either from a well or from inside an oak tree or a fir tree.

*In most of these variants, the heroine goes to church. Only a very few have a ball instead.

*Several also have the stepmother give the heroine a task similar to the Grimms' lentils in the ashes – typically poppy or millet seeds to sort either from the ashes or from sand, or bushels of wheat to clean – and birds help her. Also recalling the Grimms' version (and many others, of course), the third time the heroine flees, the prince usually has the church or palace steps smeared with tar or wax, causing her to lose her shoe.

*In the one Ukrainian version, the heroine has a cow who magically finishes the impossible amount of spinning and weaving the stepmother demands she do every day. Of course the stepmother eventually has the cow killed, but in its entrails the girl finds a grain of corn, which she plants, and it grows into a willow tree. From then on, when she wants finery for church, the tree opens and ladies come out to dress her. In this version, she also loses both of her golden shoes rather than just one in the tar on the church steps.

*Two Hungarian versions, The Three Princesses and Popelusa, and one unnamed Polish version are all near-identical to Finette Cendron. Three daughters of a deposed king are abandoned in the forest, they find an ogre couple's castle, the youngest outwits the ogres and slays them, but then her ungrateful sisters treat her like a servant, etc. Since Madame d'Aulnoy's tale is a literary story, could this be a sign of French influence in Eastern and Central European culture?

*Another Polish version, The Princess with the Pigskin Cloak, combines Cinderella with themes from Snow White. A wicked queen has a magic mirror, which tells her that her stepdaughter is more beautiful than she is. So she orders her servants to kill the princess and bring back her heart, but they let her go and bring back a dog's heart instead. The princess dresses herself in pigskin and finds work as a swineherd, but she knows a certain hollow oak tree that's sacred to the Virgin Mary, and when she goes inside it, she finds a room where she receives finery for church. She finally loses a shoe, is found by the prince and marries him, and the queen dies of rage and grief when her magic mirror tells her the news.

*Several of these versions have the heroine run away from her stepfamily, but unlike most others that use this device, they don't have her work as a servant at the prince's palace, but just find farm work somewhere nearby, a la Perrault's Donkeyskin.

*This brings me to an issue that's appeared in many versions so far, but which I didn't bother to discuss until now. I suppose now is as good a time as any, because it's a theme that appears in many of these Eastern and Central European tales. In so many versions of Donkeyskin/All-Kinds-of-Fur, or any Cinderella story where the heroine leaves her home and finds work as a lowly servant at the royal palace or elsewhere, the prince tends to repeatedly meet her in her rags or animal skins, and he mistreats her. In the versions where she works at the palace, when she takes off his boots or brings him bath water, a towel, and a comb, he throws them at her. Or in versions where she works elsewhere, she meets him on the road, he drops things and she hands them back to him, but instead of thanking her, he hits her with them. Then at the ball or at church, when she's in her beautiful gowns and he's smitten with her, he asks her where she came from, and she replies with allusions to his earlier rudeness, which he fails to understand.

**This is obviously uncomfortable by modern standards. I suppose to the original audiences, it was funny, ironic social commentary: the prince pines over the "mystery princess" with no idea that she's really the scraggly kitchen maid he treats like dirt, and he's clueless when she alludes to her identity. But does it bode well for "happily ever after" when she marries a man who treated her badly? I think this goes to show that in traditional oral fairy tales, there tends to be less emphasis on finding "true love" than on simply escaping from bad situations and achieving safety, comfort, and preferably wealth and high status. It doesn't matter that the prince is a bit of a jerk, what matters is that he makes the girl a princess in the end. Still, when you want her to marry a worthy man and believe he'll make her happy, it's uncomfortable. Different adaptations obviously find different ways to handle it. For example, Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics' "The Coat of Many Colors" avoids all this and has the prince always be kind to Aleia, while "Sapsorrow" from Jim Henson's the Storyteller keeps his rudeness but gives him a small redemption arc, first by finally sharing a sympathetic conversation with "the Straggletag," then by agreeing to marry her when the slipper fits her before he learns her identity.

**Maybe this tradition partly explains why the prince in the classic movie Three Wishes for Cinderella is slightly bratty and rude at first. I know that @thealmightyemprex found that choice off-putting when he reviewed the movie, and I have mixed feelings about it too, but maybe it stems from the fact that in Europe's oral Cinderella stories, bratty princes are surprisingly common.

Speaking of which...

*This book includes the two Cinderella stories from the Czech-Austrian writer Božena Němcová's collection that inspired Three Wishes for Cinderella. One is called The Three Sisters, the other O Popelusce ("Of Cinderella").

**They both follow the same formula. The heroine's kind father (whom the movie replaces with a surrogate-father manservant) sets out on a journey, and his daughter asks him to bring her the first thing that knocks against his head. This turns out to be the branch of a nut tree, containing three nuts, which produce beautiful dresses and shoes that she wears to church three times.

*Each version is slightly different, though, and both are slightly different from the 1973 movie. In The Three Sisters, the heroine Anuska is abused by her own mother and sisters, while in O Popelusce she has a stepmother and stepsisters. Meanwhile, the movie uses a stepmother and just one stepsister. In both stories, the (step)mother cuts the sisters' feet to make the slipper fit, with the movie replaces with their stealing Cinderella's clothes to pass Dora off as her. As I said, both stories have the heroine go to church, while the movie draws on the Western European Cinderella tradition and has a ball, and unsurprisingly, neither the movie Cinderella's sassy tomboy personality nor her dressing as a boy to join a royal hunt can be found in Němcová's original tales.

*Still, it's clear that in some ways the movie draws strongly on Němcová's texts. In The Three Sisters, the second sister's name is Dorotka, which must explain why the one stepsister in the movie is named Dora. And Anuska's first church dress is rose colored with silver trim, just like the movie Cinderella's ball dress

**From now on, in Three Wishes for Cinderella, I think I'll imagine "Anuska" as Cinderella's real name, as it is in The Three Sisters. It's a Czech equivalent of "Annie," and she's definitely a spunky Little Orphan Annie type of character in the movie!

*There's also a Hungarian version that's almost identical to Němcová's, with three dress-producing walnuts. But it has a completely different ending. The heroine doesn't lose a shoe. Instead the prince's servant follows her as far as her house, then puts a golden rose on the gatepost to mark it. Meanwhile, her loving father can't bear to let her be abused anymore and takes her to live with a childless widow in the forest – she's still poor and still has to work, but she's better off than with her stepfamily. When the prince comes to the family's house to look for her, only her stepsisters are there, but then the golden rose magically rises up and floats through the air to the forest cottage, and there she is. But then, in a different (and sadly racist) twist on the common "false bride replaces Cinderella" plot line, a Romani woman pushes the heroine into a lake, steals her magic walnuts, and dresses in her clothes to trick the prince. But the heroine survives by turning into a golden duck, then resumes her true form and finds work as a servant near the palace. But one day, the prince brings his new bride out in public and urges her to tell everyone the story of her life. The Romani woman fabricates a story, but then the real Cinderella speaks up and reveals the truth, and the prince instantly recognizes his true bride. He has the Romani woman executed, the stepmother jailed, and the stepsisters' hair cut off, while the father marries the widow from the forest in a double wedding with his daughter and the prince.

@adarkrainbow, @ariel-seagull-wings, @themousefromfantasyland

[kalena-henden]

(Pandora's) Box provided sage guides in the form of love interests. As I mentioned previously, Hongjo was able to open the box by saying, "Please, can you come?", out loud while thinking about Jaekyung being there to help her. With all of the questioning he's done both to Hongjo and Shinyu regarding their relationship and the preview next week showing that he's been told about the love spell, I realized he is the guide for their relationship to make themselves ask the hard questions, reflect on what they truly feel and lead them to action towards each other. Jaekyung is there to help her just like she magically asked. After she first opened the box, Jaekyung rejected her love confession, even though we learn later that he does indeed like her but feels he's too cold and odd to be good for her. However, Jaekyung's rejection is the very thing that compels her to cast the first spell to begin her journey towards her fate that is entwined with Shinyu. Even in this, Jaekyung was unknowingly her guide to help her do exactly what she needed to do at the right time.

It may be a cruel fate for a sage guide to be a love interest (almost as cruel as it is to be a Second Male Lead) but people need a reason to care for and meddle in someone else's life. If you're not family, a longtime friend or co-worker, or a wise old person sought out for advice then love interest is most reasonable choice. But I did say sage guides, plural, because there is another one.

Kim Wook (forever Imoogi in our hearts) has unwittingly become a sage guide for Shinyu's parents. With the opening of (Pandora's) box, all hell has broken loose and whatever curse was put on their family is in flux. It appears the curse could be temporarily curbed if you truly fall in love as Shinyu's parents did since his mom was an actress and not the normal choice for a respectable rich wife. They noted at the beginning how his dad and grandfather were bucking the trend in not dying young. It was also interesting how his father met with Nayeon separately to convince her to stay by his son's side despite the fact that he broke up with her. I'm sure this was in an attempt to save his son's life by keeping Shinyu's love by his side to curb the curse. Though he doesn't know Shinyu and Nayeon have never truly loved each other.

Which brings us back to Shinyu's parents' marriage falling apart after the box was opened because their love is entwined with the family curse. It is likely that with Shinyu's mom's love wavering for her husband, his health will start to rapidly decline. His stomach being too upset to go stargazing with his wife might have been the start of it. While their fate is tied to the outcome of whether Shinyu and Hongjo's relationship is able to break the curse, they also have their own things to work through in parallel. And like Hongjo, Shinyu's mom called up her own sage guide to help with her issues in lawyer and potential love interest Kim Wook, whom she's now running into coincidentally as well.

The Villainess Trio. Our villains are now emerging. From the beginning we had the horrible Haum Construction CEO Lee Hyunseo, now back and making shady deals with Onju's corrupt mayor, who is also the father of Nayeon, Shinyu's two-faced, vain girlfriend who's in charge of the latest Onju city project they are all working on. Shinyu left his prestigious law firm to fight corporate corruption, especially against Haum. This will now pit him directly against his girlfriend and her father.

Which bring us to their past lives and the origin of the curse. It's safe to say that the past is repeating itself with a chance to change the outcome in the present since this is clearly a reincarnation story. This means many people from the past are together in the present, including the villains who won the first time around. Nayeon joked that she was a princess in a past life. With her father mayor in the present, it would not be shocking if her father was previously a king and his daughter a princess, desperate to get her way and marry a handsome nobleman, Shinyu in his past life. He wasn't interested in her so she had a shaman put a curse on him, that he needed to fall in love to survive. Only to be thwarted by Shinyu falling in love with a court lady, Hongjo in her past life. So Princess Nayeon had her father's loyal henchman, Haum CEO in his past life, kill Court Lady Hongjo, who died in the arms of her love, Nobleman Shinyu, reaching up to caress his cheek with her bloody hand to comfort him with her final breaths. But after Court Lady Hongjo died, he still refused Princess Nayeon and died young. Unfortunately, the curse didn't just apply to him but included his entire family line. Obviously this a speculation, but I've seen enough reincarnation stories to have a rough notion of how this plays out. Facts are that Shinyu has been dreaming about his past life, saw and chased a vision of Hongjo in a court lady hanbok through the Changdeokgung Palace, and has a comforting bloody hand of one whom he killed haunting him because of his family's death curse. The rest we'll find out soon enough.

[mariacallous]

Recently, I was using Google and stumbled upon an article that felt eerily familiar.

While searching for the latest information on Adobe’s artificial intelligence policies, I typed “adobe train ai content” into Google and switched over to the News tab. I had already seen WIRED’s coverage that appeared on the results page in the second position: “Adobe Says It Won’t Train AI Using Artists’ Work. Creatives Aren’t Convinced.” And although I didn’t recognize the name of the publication whose story sat at the very top of the results, Syrus #Blog, the headline on the article hit me with a wave of déjà vu: “When Adobe promised not to train AI on artists’ content, the creative community reacted with skepticism.”

Clicking on the top hyperlink, I found myself on a spammy website brimming with plagiarized articles that were repackaged, many of them using AI-generated illustrations at the top. In this spam article, the entire WIRED piece was copied with only slight changes to the phrasing. Even the original quotes were lifted. A single, lonely hyperlink at the bottom of the webpage, leading back to our version of the story, served as the only form of attribution.

The bot wasn’t just copying journalism in English—I found versions of this plagiarized content in 10 other languages, including many of the languages that WIRED produces content in, like Japanese and Spanish.

Articles that were originally published in outlets like Reuters and TechCrunch were also plagiarized on this blog in multiple languages and given similar AI images. During late June and early July, while I was researching this story, the website Syrus appeared to have gamed the News results for Google well enough to show up on the first page for multiple tech-related queries.

For example, I searched “competing visions google openai” and saw a TechCrunch piece at the top of Google News. Below it were articles from The Atlantic and Bloomberg comparing the rival companies’ approaches to AI development. But then, the fourth article to appear for that search, nestled right below these more reputable websites, was another Syrus #Blog piece that heavily copied the TechCrunch article in the first position.

As reported by 404 Media in January, AI-powered articles appeared multiple times for basic queries at the beginning of the year in Google News results. Two months later, Google announced significant changes to its algorithm and new spam policies, as an attempt to improve the search results. And by the end of April, Google shared that the major adjustments to remove unhelpful results from its search engine ranking system were finished. “As of April 19, we’ve completed the rollout of these changes. You’ll now see 45 percent less low-quality, unoriginal content in search results versus the 40 percent improvement we expected across this work,” wrote Elizabeth Tucker, a director of product management at Google, in a blog post.

Despite the changes, spammy content created with the help of AI remains an ongoing, prevalent issue for Google News.

“This is a really rampant problem on Google right now, and it's hard to answer specifically why it's happening,” says Lily Ray, senior director of search engine optimization at the marketing agency Amsive. “We've had some clients say, ‘Hey, they took our article and rehashed it with AI. It looks exactly like what we wrote in our original content but just kind of like a mumbo-jumbo, AI-rewritten version of it.’”

At first glance, it was clear to me that some of the images for Syrus’ blogs were AI generated based on the illustrations’ droopy eyes and other deformed physical features—telltale signs of AI trying to represent the human body.

Now, was the text of our article rewritten using AI? I reached out to the person behind the blog to learn more about how they made it and received confirmation via email that an Italian marketing agency created the blog. They claim to have used an AI tool as part of the writing process. “Regarding your concerns about plagiarism, we can assure you that our content creation process involves AI tools that analyze and synthesize information from various sources while always respecting intellectual property,” writes someone using the name Daniele Syrus over email.

They point to the single hyperlink at the bottom of the lifted article as sufficient attribution. While better than nothing, a link which doesn’t even mention the publication by name is not an adequate defense against plagiarism. The person also claims that the website’s goal is not to receive clicks from Google’s search engine but to test out AI algorithms in multiple languages.

When approached over email for a response, Google declined to comment about Syrus. “We don’t comment on specific websites, but our updated spam policies prohibit creating low-value, unoriginal content at scale for the purposes of ranking well on Google,” says Meghann Farnsworth, a spokesperson for Google. “We take action on sites globally that don’t follow our policies.” (Farnsworth is a former WIRED employee.)

Looking through Google’s spam policies, it appears that this blog does directly violate the company’s rules about online scraping. “Examples of abusive scraping include: … sites that copy content from other sites, modify it only slightly (for example, by substituting synonyms or using automated techniques), and republish it.” Farnsworth declined to confirm whether this blog was in violation of Google’s policies or if the company would de-rank it in Google News results based on this reporting.

What can the people who write original articles do to properly protect their work? It’s unclear. Though, after all of the conversations I’ve had with SEO experts, one major through line sticks out to me, and it’s an overarching sense of anxiety.

“Our industry suffers from some form of trauma, and I'm not even really joking about that,” says Andrew Boyd, a consultant at an online link-building service called Forte Analytica. “I think one of the main reasons for that is because there's no recourse if you're one of these publishers that's been affected. All of a sudden you wake up in the morning, and 50 percent of your traffic is gone.” According to Boyd, some websites lost a majority of their visitors during Google’s search algorithm updates over the years.

While many SEO experts are upset with the lack of transparency about Google’s biggest changes, not everyone I spoke with was critical of the prevalence of spam in search results. “Actually, Google doesn't get enough credit for this, but Google's biggest challenge is spam.” says Eli Schwartz, the author of the book Product-Led SEO. “So, despite all the complaints we have about Google’s quality now, you don’t do a search for hardware and then find adult sites. They’re doing a good enough job.” The company continues to release smaller search updates to fight against spam.

Yes, Google sometimes offers users a decent experience by protecting them from seeing sketchy pornography websites when searching unrelated, popular queries. But it remains reasonable to expect one of the most powerful companies in the world—that has considerable influence over how online content is created, distributed, and consumed—to do a better job of filtering out plagiarizing, unhelpful content from the News results.

“It's frustrating, because we see we're trying to do the right thing, and then we see so many examples of this low-quality, AI stuff outperforming us,” says Ray. “So I'm hopeful that it's temporary, but it's leading to a lot of tension and a lot of animosity in our industry, in ways that I've personally never seen before in 15 years.” Unless spammy sites with AI content are stricken from the search results, publishers will now have less incentive to produce high-quality content and, in turn, users will have less reason to trust the websites appearing at the top of Google News.

[delistravaganza]

I swear I relate to everything you have written about the enemies to lovers trope and lesbians.

it’s not even about lesbian representation, at least in fandom, of course that’s important but it’s not the point here, it’s about having wlw stories that are as...complex? Messed up? Intricated? as straight or even (in more recent years) mlm romantic storylines are allowed to be. I feel like I am constantly hungry of complicate stories with lesbian or bisexuals female characters involved in messy relationship. But almost every popolar ship that I meet on fandom or tv shows either is watered down, made all soft and sweet and not threatening and so not complicate enough to be appealing. (or in the fews that are not like that in the original media they get made in this way by the fandom- it’s so unnerving). it seems to me that’s it is either “tragic dead lesbian” or “soft sapphic story all is sweet uwu”. As someone who love stories with romance only when the romance is very complicated and not necessarily healthy and full of ambivalent feelings (don’t judge me as you said it’s just a matter of preference ashahaha) I sometimes read slash (mlm) fanfiction on ao3 that feature very complicate and not necessarily healthy dynamics and I go damn I wish that there was a fanfiction exactly like this but with two women instead of two men.

I get this 1000%. To be fair, I don't think it's just the wlw couples being UwUified in recent films and shows, this happens to all queer representation because of the pressure to create "good rep". To some extent, it's even happening with straight pairings because people are more aware now of sexism and what it really means to consent, though everyone still seems to be willing to let this knowledge fly off if teh guy iz HOT.

But there seems to be a particular issue with writing f/f interactions that are manipulative, dark or somehow more adult, not necessarily meaning sex but rather a more nuanced portrayal of the relationship. Whereas all the straight toxic romances went to specific (and thriving) genres such as "dark romance" (which at least seems to be more self-conscious as the Reylo fic I mentioned before), and we get glorious epics of m/m fanfiction stories (and books that feel like fanfiction), it sometimes seems like the women characters are treated as little girls.

Even in a dark, creepy, cannibalistic, adult-oriented show such as Yellowjackets, I found myself more interested in the hypothetical Jackie/Shauna pairing because oh boy that was complex! than in the actual lesbian pairings involving Tai, who is a great and somewhat nuanced character except when it comes to her (sanitized) relationships. Is it really just me favoring problematic and unhealthy dynamics or is there some truth to this? (It may be me.) Is Tai a bit tamed down because she's gay AND black?

Also, to be completely fair, I think that I have more expectations when it comes to wlw plots, maybe because I subconsciously think of them as more "me" than the others. I've read a lot about how women use slash to slip away from the narrative and write more freely, and the fact is - I've read a lot of trash when it comes to m/m. And I definitely don't remember it with the resentment I save for f/f media like First Kill ("you fucking set out to be everything I wanted and turned out to be a pile of dog shit!").

I have also read extremely interesting books featuring f/f dynamics on the latest years, which I could post here instead of whining à la Louis de Pointe du Lac, but the fact is that these books already set out to be a work of literary merit and weren't written to dwell on the romance or possible romance itself. I'm not even counting MBF here as I read it a while back for the first time, but it could be an example - I don't know, but it definitely wasn't written with UwUification in mind. I'm still thrilled at how much the marketing DID and DOES UwUify our girls and their relationship. Sometimes the marketing is like: Wouldn't you just love to have such a special friendship like these two? Uhhh what? No, thank you, I had my share of that shit?!?

Oh, and also - I'm not even sure it comes down to self-identification either. I said I identify with Catradora, but the fact is I don't necessarily identify with either Catra or Adora. I just identified with their feelings, and I felt empathy for them, and I worried and I suffered and I felt frustrated and I so, so, so hungered and feared for their fights and God, you should really check this one out because it's really on the edge between UwU and dark, and I think it's this mixture what made it work in today's world. It seemed to appeal to both parts of me - the one who lowkey wants the positive, young-and-healthy-oriented rep she didn't have as a teen, and the more prevalent one who prefers angst and twisted things. And yes, it's a cartoon. A cartoon did what many real, adult-oriented shows and books couldn't do with me.

But Catradora probably also worked because we, the audience, were purposefully kept in the dark about them, so we got to experience their story as it developed and without any clear expectation as what the end would be (compared to: here's your wlw romance of the day! Ship them! Hope they don't die!), something I'm sure you wouldn't be able to achieve now that all the info is out there.

Anyway, I'm rambling now and already taking too much time off work. But I find this topic fascinating. If anyone else wants to join in the conversation or point me somewhere that isn't Buffy/Faith or Catradora or Villanelle or Nicky/Lorna (YES I STILL SHIP THEM AND WILL ALWAYS DO) or our Neapolitan toxic friends, please do. And as always, nice talking to you. <3

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P.D.: Here's a long video analysis that I really liked that tackles why "good" LGBT representation is boring (not wlw representation exclusively).

[buffyfan145]

Hello! Could you make a post of all the saurondriel spoilers for season two? I tried looking for spoilers and could only find Sauron and Galadriel spoilers separately, but not shippy spoilers!

Sure!!! 😀 There has been a lot about each character separately but some that seem to indicate their stories are still interconnected. Curious if we'll get anything from FOF on Christmas Eve with their latest batch but this is up to date as of December 2023 including from both Morfydd and Charlie in their interviews too. Hopefully with the new year coming we'll be getting more as the s2 promotion finally starts.

Morfydd mentioned in an interview back in the spring when she got an award at the CannesSeries event that she did film more scenes with Charlie as well as the other villains (likely Adar, Ameila Kenworthy's character that's been confirmed as a villain, etc). She had been asked about season 1 and all her scenes with him and then teased that for season 2 as well as her learning her new powers due to her ring Nenya.

Which also leads us to wonder if they'll have scenes together in the dreamscapes since they are apart for most of the season. FOF was asked on their Discord server if Morfydd and Charlie filmed together but they don't know for sure. All they knew was that they didn't on the outdoor sets (which would be the outdoors of Eregion, Mordor, Numenor, etc.) But they have a lot of indoor sets and the show likely kept this much under wraps so it doesn't leak out if they share scenes together. Same thing happened for some scenes in season 1 too.

There are also flashbacks scenes filmed too. Charlie talked about this when season 1 ended and they had just started filming season 2 leading most of us to think the season premiere will have flashbacks to Sauron's past and lead up to how he took on the Halbrand form. If this is the case there likely will be scenes from season 1 shown from his POV and maybe even scenes we didn't see in season 1 which Galadriel is also in.

The elves do rescue Celeborn (Calam) at some point and he and Galadriel are reunited. Not sure yet when this happens or where Celeborn has been this whole time. Also there's rumors Amelia's character and Halbrand/Sauron had a past relationship and she might also be with Sam's version of Adar now too, so there's a chance there could be a love pentagon between these 5 characters. LOL Amelia had a chemistry test with both Charlie and Sam, and Calam had one with Morfydd. Chemistry tests are done for all sorts of relationships now but even just a decade ago it was only for romantic relationships so there's a chance it was for that. Morfydd and Charlie did for s1 and the Haladriel ship happened so could be similar here.

Sauron is away from Eregion most of the season, as he recruits the dwarves and men, but he will go back in what FOF is calling his "original form" but it will be played by another actor and is the show's version of Annatar (possibly with a new name as the show likely can't use it with rights issues) for about eps 6-8 of s2. Charlie's talked about this in interviews and says we "the audience" will know the whole time it's him and that "we're in on his plans" now too.

While in Eregion this Annatar actor did film scenes with Galadriel, Celeborn (as he was back by this point), Elrond, Celebrimbor, and other elf actors. FOF also revealed there's a big moment too between Annatar, Galadriel, and Celeborn during the Battle of Eregion which a lot are speculating it's the reveal he's Sauron and possibly switches back to Halbrand then and Celeborn realizes what happened between Haladriel (as so far from what Charlie and Morfydd and FOF has gotten Galadriel doesn't tell anyone that Halbrand is Sauron before this).

Then during the Battle of Eregion, which is in both episode 2.7 and 8/the season 2 finale, Galadriel gets taken captive by Adar and is injured. It seems like they're doing similar to what happens to her daughter in the 3rd Age and that she will be separated from Celeborn in a cliffhanger ending, and possibly taken by Halbrand/Sauron to Mordor. There's been rumors that Adar will get killed off in the finale so him injuring Galadriel might be part of it as Halbrand/Sauron might've ordered him to take her but not injure.

There's also been teasing from FOF that Halbrand/Sauron might make the One Ring in the finale too and if he takes Galadriel that she will be there to witness this happen and it sets up season 3. This would change a lot from the books so I'm not sure how some fans will take it (and of course the purists will be upset) but I like this idea and it further intertwines their characters. FOF is also teasing this might be one of their scoops on Christmas Eve so again I'll update if there's more.