#but your opinion does not change how math works

[getvalentined]

This is going to sound unnecessarily mean, but I feel like I need to make something clear.

I am done trying to explain anything lore-related to people who seem to genuinely believe that An/ge/al is a 100% good person who never did anything wrong and was forced into anything he did that seemed to be wrong, because that opinion makes it excessively clear to me that they have absolutely no capacity for even the most basic of media literacy, and every time I try they prove it by insisting that contradictory meta is "more canon" than the actual canon from which that meta is supposed to derive.

Also!

Hope this helps!

[slxsherr]

So Melodramatic But It Turns Me On

pairing: ethan landry x bimbo!fem!reader

summary: you make sure ethan won't die a virgin.

wc: 1294

warnings: fem!reader, cursing/swearing, unprotected sex (p in v), loss of virginity, briefly mentioned cum eating, oral sex (f!receiving)

“Does that mean I’ll die a virgin?” Ethan asks, stunning the group with his overshare. 

The group moves on quickly after that, Mindy continues her lecture but you can’t stop thinking about what Ethan said. You don’t understand how Ethan can still be a virgin, he’s cute, a bit awkward but in a funny way, and smart, girls should be throwing themselves at him. Ethan thinks the same, but that’s something he’d only ever admit to the thousands of other men with the same opinion on the forums he visits online. 

You know if you talk about it to your friends they’ll tell you it’s a bad idea. Even before the Ghostface attacks, Mindy didn’t think it’d be a good idea for you to go after Ethan, but now that he’s at the top of her suspect list, you doubt she’s changed her mind. After Anika and Quinn’s murder, you expect they’ll suspect you too since you weren’t with them, and for a moment they do, but quickly change their minds when they remember you genuinely believed all cats were girls and all dogs were boys. 

It’s not fair that they ruled you out for being dumb, despite not having an alibi, but still suspect Ethan even though he was at econ. It’s your sympathetic nature that invites him to your apartment for the night, even though Mindy told you not to be alone with him. But your roommate will come home from work before midnight, so you don’t worry about it too much. 

“Are you really a virgin, E?” You ask, watching him look over your worksheet, having insisted on helping you with your math assignments. 

“Yeah,” he answers nervously, ears turning red and face flushing from embarrassment. 

“But you’re so cute!” You say, moving closer to him on your bed, your papers falling off from the movement.

“You think I’m cute?” He asks, staring at you wide-eyed.

“Totally,” you answer, reaching out to play with a curl just behind his ear, arm resting on his shoulder. “You know, I can be your first, if you want.”

“Really?” Ethan asks, already getting hard from your offer. 

“Mhm,” you answer with a hum, throwing the assignments in his lap to the side.

You straddle his thighs, sitting in his lap and leaning forward to kiss him. His lips are chapped, but you don’t mind. He whines when you nip at his bottom lip, moaning when he feels your tongue slip into his mouth. Your arms rest on his shoulders, hands gently holding his face as the kiss deepens.

His hands squeeze your hips, attempting to slow your movements as you grind in his lap. You can feel him getting hard beneath you, his own hips moving up to meet yours in search of more friction. When you pull away, he whines, but is quickly silenced when you pull off your tight crop top. He stares at your bare chest in awe, letting you pull off his shirt as his mind catches up to what’s happening. 

“Can I touch you?” He asks before you can take off his jeans, his thumbs nervously rubbing over the fat of your hips.

“Sure,” you answer, your wide eyes showing you weren’t expecting the request. 

Ethan’s hands travel from your hips up your sides, his warm touch leaving goosebumps in his path. Gently, he cups your breasts, fondling the soft mounds and eliciting quiet sounds from you. His thumbs ghost over your nipples, and they pebble from his barely there touch. The whole time, your hips haven’t stopped moving, now moving faster in his lap. Spurred on by your sounds and growing neediness, one of his hands dipping past the waistband of your short shorts and underwear. 

“Is this okay?” Ethan asks, fingers moving through your slick folds.

“Yes,” you moan breathlessly, hips stuttering when he brushes over your clit.

It’s maddening, the way he touches you, amateur but just skilled enough to rile you up. His hand and your panties are soaked, your hole achingly empty, you decide he can skip the rest of the foreplay. It’s supposed to be about him, anyway, you tell yourself, pulling away from him to take your shorts off, and he quickly copies your actions. His dick is pretty, trimmed curls neatly trailing from his lower stomach to the base, thick, long, and you hope you get the chance to taste him, maybe in the morning. 

“Fuck,” he groans, feeling your tight walls envelop him as you lower yourself on his cock. 

“E, look at me, baby,” you say, a hand in his hair and the other holding his face, encouraging him to open his eyes. 

He whimpers when you start moving, shallowly bouncing in his lap, glossy eyes watching you take him. Your stomach twists in pleasure, his tip kissing that spongey spot deep inside you every time your ass meets his thighs, clenching around him when you hear him whine after your grip on his curls tightens. Ethan feels like he’s going to melt into the bed, watching a creamy ring form at the base of his dick as you ride him. You look so hot, tits bouncing as you move, and you feel so good, he’s embarrassed when he tells you he’s going to cum. 

“Shh, it’s okay, go ahead and cum,” you reassure him, not stopping your movements as he begins to babble incoherently to announce his release.

His arms wrap around your waist, holding you to his chest as he finishes inside you. The air is warm, only the sounds of your heavy breathing can be heard as he recovers from his orgasm. As his mind clears up, Ethan begins to panic, realizing you didn’t get to cum. 

“I’m so sorry, you didn’t–” he begins to say, but you interrupt him. 

“It’s okay, this was about you,” you tell him, but he won’t have it. 

“Just please, let me?” He asks, moving you to lay you on your back, moving down the bed in between your thighs.

“Okay,” you say, letting him spread your legs to slot himself between them. 

He licks a broad stripe through your folds, and if he wasn’t eating you so messily you’d maybe be a little grossed out by him essentially eating his cum out of you. Despite his lack of experience, he’s enthusiastic, and your hand quickly flies to grip his mop of brown curls as you begin to buck your hips against his face. You’d feel bad for how tightly you hold his hair, but the noises he lets out against your pussy tells you he actually enjoys it.

“Ethan!” You squeal his name, feeling his tongue explore your hole, and your thighs nearly closing around his head.

Your legs are shaking on either side of his head, and he thinks you’re getting close. He holds your hips down, keeping you from grinding against his face, allowing him to roughly circle your clit with his thumb. Your hips jerk against his hold, seeking pleasure as the knot in your stomach begins to unwind. So lost in your building orgasm, you don’t realize you’re practically suffocating Ethan between your thighs, not that he minds. He would gladly accept death if it meant he’d die with your thighs wrapped around his head, listening to your muffled cries of pleasure. 

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” You ask once you come down from your high, moving away from him to out from between your legs.

“I’m fine! Would it be okay if we did that again?” He asks, and with a quick look at his lap you realize he’d gotten hard again while eating you out. 

“Of course,” you answer, a smile stretching across your lips as you push him onto his back.

[s7toru]

“spider! babe, there’s a spider in the house!”

your toast clatters on the plate as you drop everything and fling yourself onto the couch, four limbs scrambling to get off the floor. wide eyes seek out your boyfriend in the moment of chaos, and find him crouched on the tv stand, arms wrapped around the tv to hold him still. 

“where?” you ask him, eyes dropping to the ground. he doesn’t need to reply because you spot the creepy crawly darting cluelessly about on the carpet, eight legs crawling about in frantic panic. “oh my god, gojo! do something about it!” 

“are you kidding? you’re out of your mind if you think i’m getting anywhere near that thing!”

your mind blanks at his refusal. “you won’t have to get anywhere near it, dummy. just turn on your infinity and smack it or something!” 

gojo remains wrapped around the tv, already shaking his head even before the last of your sentence leaves your mouth. “that’s not how it works.” 

“really. then, please, remind me why you can’t just use your infinity to kill the spider.” 

“listen, even if it’s on i’ll still be aware that i’m squishing the bug. all its bug juice will splatter out all over me!”

“over your infinity.” you correct him. 

“you didn’t listen.” 

you narrow your eyes at him. “i didn’t want to get rid of the wasp nest outside our house the other day either but i still had to do it. and i don’t even have something to keep them away from me!”

“you lost the rock paper scissors, i had no hand in that.”

“well.” you say. “technically you did. you had a hand, it was a rock.” 

gojo rolls his eyes. “don’t be dramatic, i was supporting you.”

“from inside the house.” you recall his face beaming at you through the window, hand flashing a thumbs up as you were armed with only a rake and your willpower, and your frown deepens.

“and yet, i was still supporting you.” gojo pauses, considering. “you did well, by the way. i’ve never seen anyone smack a wasp mid air like that.” 

the compliment lifts some anger off your shoulders and you grin. “thanks! i was proud of that too!” reality slaps you across the face, readjusting your expression. “wait, don’t think you can change the topic just by complimenting me.” 

he shrugs. “it was worth a try.” 

you pause. “does that mean you didn’t mean it?”

“no! you were actually cool.”

you smile again. “okay, thanks.” 

“the sound it made was really satisfying.” he adds.

“right? like pow.” you gesture an explosion with your hands and watch as gojo gives you a skeptical look.

“really? i thought it was more like thwack.” his voice turns all dramatic at the last syllable and you scoff at his attempt.

“if this was a marvel comic the sound effect that would show up would be pow. in all red too, with crazy fonts.” 

“this is like you saying math is red—”

“it is.” you cut in, matter-of-factly.

“you’re so wrong it hurts. english is red, math is blue.” 

“why would math be blue?”

“because i feel sad doing math.”

“okay fair. but english is green.”

“none of them is green.” 

you furrow your brows. not because of his horrid opinion, but because your eyes had found its way back on the ground. you notice a lack of legs, a lack of a small, black creature terrorising the carpet. "wait, where did the spider go?"

the complain on gojo's tongue dies, and he looks around, too.

your biggest fear becomes reality, and when you look back up at gojo to express your concern, it's there.

something was crawling up gojo’s arm. it fumbles up the fabric of his shirt, swimming through the folds. your mouth falls open but before you can scream out to warn him, gojo's eyes had already followed your gaze. “it’s on me!”

“flick it off!” you cry out in panic, weight shifting as you edge further away from him, though you were nowhere close.

gojo reaches up, prepping his fingers for an attack when you realise the trajectory was aimed towards you. 

“wait, babe! flick it away from us!”

“then we’re going to lose sight of it!” the skin of his finger was turning white at the strength building up behind the flick. if the impact wasn't enough to kill it, the speed in which it hits the surface would send it to the afterlife. “no time to think!” 

he releases his index finger from his thumb and the force smacks the spider head on. it’s a blur really, as the spider flies through the air. you gape at it horrified, watching as if in slow motion as it soars in a beautiful arc, and lands directly on the very top of your head. 

you wonder if your scream could shatter glass. considering that your house still had its windows, you realise it couldn’t. though, you’re sure if you were tested again that it wouldn’t end as cleanly.

“gojo!” you scream. “i don’t ask for much but can you please get it off me, i’m begging you!”

gojo steps down from the tv stand, relief on his face. “thank god it’s off the floor.”

“gojo!” 

“yes, yes.” he makes his way, slowly, painfully, over to you as you crouch frozen on the couch. something in his smile told you he was very pleased at the sight. was that a cramp creeping up your thigh? oh, how you were going to make him pay. “where did it go?” he asks, joyfully, dancing around you.

“don’t even joke.” you hiss at him, and he laughs, reaching over to let the spider walk on his finger. specifically, he lets the spider walk over his finger on his infinity. 

he holds it out to you with a proud smile. “there! we’re all safe and sound now.” 

you glare at him. “what happened to being deathly scared of the spider?” 

he shrugs. 

you reach over and flick the spider onto his face.

a/n: brainrot save me, save me brainrot

[lushrue]

i’ve been seeing a lot of business/ceo aus with the 141, but i’ve been bingewatching “suits” lately so…law firm au?

The 141 Law Group is one of the most prestigious in London. they take on clients that nobody else will, lots of high profile people and large businesses. they have a great reputation for discreteness, getting things done quickly and quietly and mostly above board. 141 handpicks their associates from the top law schools in the UK and it’s an honor to be chosen by them.

jonathan price is managing partner. at the end of the day, it’s him who makes the decisions of what clients to take on, what expenses are necessary and which ones aren’t, and how to handle the difficult cases. he runs the show, and what he says goes. usually mills around in the associate spaces, making sure the firm’s making good investments in the rookies. his background is in criminal law, but getting him in the courtroom is tough these days. he can be tempted out of his cushy corner office on occasion, though.

simon riley is a senior partner, price’s right hand. he was one of the founding partners of the firm, but chose to keep his name off the official paperwork. he has more interest in being a lawyer than a manager, though he likes to throw his weight around from time to time. expert in business law, does a really good job at giving government oversight the finger and finding workarounds for his clients. he has his limits though, won’t help his clients take action that will harm consumers. most people think he’s sleazy and dirty, but there’s a heart of gold underneath that prada suit.

john mactavish is the firm’s numbers guy. we already know he’s good with math, he has to be not to blow himself to bits. he keeps the ledgers balanced and the firm consistently in the green. has a few clients of his own that he advises on strictly financial matters. price brings him on every new client lunch because of his charm and wit, swears they’ve gotten a couple of clients because of johnny’s sense of humor alone. likes the water cooler talk, especially with lawyers in different specializations. this man knows so many random bits and pieces of international law, business law, entertainment law all because of the people he strikes up conversation with.

kyle garrick is the freshest face, hired for a permanent position after being chosen as an associate. aspiring senior partner, would love to co-manage the firm with price someday. he works primarily with international clients, loves the late nights reading up on the laws that govern other countries. he’s great at finding loopholes, just like simon. he’s aggressive in the courtroom when he does get to go, oftentimes as co-counsel with simon or johnny. he’s scribbling notes in every meeting he’s in, soaking in all the information. despite the multiple offers he’s gotten from other firms, his loyalty lies with john.

and then there’s you, their new secretary. simon was hesitant when john announced your hiring at the partners’ meeting, didn’t really think they needed someone fielding calls and making copies when that was what the associates were for. john had purely personal motivations for hiring you, though. poached you from the rival firm, Shadow Company, LLC. while you’d been content enough in your position, phillip graves was a bit of a sleazeball, in your opinion. when price came in with his sweet talk and promise of a signing bonus, you were hooked. nevermind that it took a whole week of morning coffees and tickets to the ballet for johnny to agree to the extra expense. they change their mind when you show up to work in your tight skirt and high heels, eyes bright and ready to start. 

the second you bent over your desk and they caught a glimpse of your lacy thong, it was all over.

[oh-no-its-dragons]

Baby Names

And then @suebswrites also prompted me for "naming children after the war" which actually dovetailed nicely with a conversation @sarcasticmothwrites and I had the other day. 600 words of Riorgail fluff.

"Twins, Violence? You never cease to amaze me."

"You say that like I did it all by myself," she laughed. "Okay so... names."

"Do we need to have this conversation now? I expect we have some time."

"And I expect *everyone* will have their own opinions so we might want to get ahead of them."

Xaden laughed. "And brilliant too, of course. Very well. I have one name in mind immediately. Did Andarna tell you which sorts of names we should be picking?"

"She's pretty sure they're a boy and a girl. And I have one name in mind too, but... well."

"It's probably the same one, is that what you're thinking? I don't have to read your mind to guess that one. Liam."

"Yes, that's the easy one. I've got no idea what to name a girl, though."

"What would sound good with Liam?"

"Not Lilith," Violet shuddered. "That'd be too complicated even if she'd just been my mother."

"I appreciate you taking that out of my hands," Xaden nodded. "Was that the one you're worried about other people having opinions about?"

"One of them. But if Mira thinks a child should be named after Mom, she can have one of her own. Besides, if I was naming someone in honor of a parent, it'd be my father."

"Maybe the next one," Xaden kissed the top of her head.

She laughed. "Don't get ahead of yourself, I'm not sure how well my body's going to handle *one* pregnancy, let alone more than that."

Xaden stilled. "Are you..."

"Oh, I want this. It'll hurt, but I did the math and I think the calculus works out that it'll be worth it in the end."

"So we're back to names," he changed the subject. He'd gotten used to the way Violet talked about her pain, but still struggled with accepting that it was a problem he couldn't solve for her. "Is there anyone else...?"

They both paused, thinking about those they'd lost in the war. A few suggestions tossed back and forth, but there weren't any clear answers like Liam had been, and Violet felt oddly superstitious about naming one after someone living when the other was named in honor of someone dead.

"Maybe we need to think about an entirely different angle. You're named for a flower, what about something like Lily? That would sound good with Liam," Xaden suggested.

"No flowers," Violet grumbled. "I got enough of that before I entered the Quadrant, people assuming I liked the flower as if I'd names myself after it. It's one thing when it comes from someone who means it, but too many people don't."

"No flowers," Xaden liked the flustered anger in her eyes about it, though, and he kissed her again. "Maybe this can wait a few days, at least. We don't have to tell anyone until your ready. The right name will come to us."

Violet leaned into him as his hands reached down to cup her ass, then shook her head. "No good. I'm still thinking about it."

Xaden managed to make a sound half way between a groan and a laugh.

"Does your family have any naming traditions," she prompted. "I know your mom is... Did you have a grandmother you were close to or anything?"

"Bodhi's mother was the only figure I really had and considering he's talking about starting his own family I wouldn't want to without asking him."

"Oh absolutely." Violet sighed. "If only there was someone who was as obvious a choice as Liam."

"I'm fairly certain the only person you spent as much time thinking about was Lyra of Morraine, and that was because you spent so long in her journal," Xaden said, and then Violet looked at him.

"Lyra and Liam?"

"You don't think it's too much, do you?"

"No, I think it's perfect."

"Excellent," Xaden agreed, picking her up to kiss her again. "Now then, is your mind clear enough to celebrate...?"

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

NERD!MIGUEL IS SO REAL I LUV HIM <3333

NERD!MIGUEL IS THERE I KNOW IT

Like...You saw what he said to Gwen when she called it a watch (which IT IS).

[omg she's so tiny small next to him]

He's a NERD. He thinks this stuff is COOL. He's WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK.

Like I imagine he's used to it by now - people's eyes glazing over when he begins to explain something technical or program-y, like Lyla's algorithms or the Multiverse Anti-Glitch feature of the watches.

He's put SO much work into all of this, the whole facility and the tech.

He made Lyla himself, but he knows that most people aren't really interested in that. So he's learned to simplify things.

If you ask a question, like how he made Lyla - he'll answer it basic and to the point.

_-_ 'She's an AI. She's my assistant and the notification system within your watch.'

He probably won't even look up from his work, thinking it's just the routine questions everyone asks before moving on to the next thing.

BUT IF YOU ASK FURTHER - Miguel's like

Because it's not often someone actually like...does that.

It's probably very rare that someone shows interest in his technological, engineering, or physics studies - all of which he's INCREDIBLY talented at and actively working on

You ask him how long it took him to make her, he says a year or two.

You tell him how impressive that is and BOOM NERD!Miguel.

He's telling you how her voice detection took the longest, and how her multiverse-monitoring probability algorithm was something he had to tweak twenty thousand times.

You compliment him about the design of the watch, he's like

_-_ 'I still have the protypes.' And he's ready to show you different ones, different shapes and materials he considered using, but eventually ruled out through experiments and tests

AND DON'T GET HIM STARTED ON THEORIES OH GODDDD

You mention the words 'String Theory' or 'Time Dilation' around him and you will NEVER hear the end of it.

He has so many opinions on it he's never had the chance to share.

Ideas and theories about things like fourth dimensions, worm holes, black holes, and dozens of other theoretical scientific concepts.

I mean, he MADE time travel. He is an EXPERT in that stuff.

I would KILL to have a Time Travel Movie Marathon with Miguel.

Sitting on the couch and watching things like Back to the Future, and he describes what they got right, what would be impossible, how it could work in theory.

He probably talks through the whole movie, and picks each one apart. You watch Doctor Who and he WILL NOT SHUT UP.

He's probably AMAZIINNGG at math.

Like math IS science. It's the answer for science. So he's probably a natural master.

You can be like 'Miguel, What's 34% of 12,967?' - Without blinking he'd be like

_-_'...I'm guessing 4408, or something? I don't know, am I right? Ask Lyla, don't ask me.'

But you don't need to ask Lyla cause HE'S RIGHT

HISTORY TOO!

I mean... the man time-travels. I think he'd have at least a good grasp on history, and time periods. Thinks like ancient roman historians and how their thoughts effect modern science, and how certain events effected the flow of time throughout history.

I imagine he finds it so fascinating, seeing the vast differences that can span in universes, just from one small change. Maybe he even finds comfort in it, seeing how histories and stories have a natural flow in a way fiction can only hope to imitate.

I love me some Nerd!Miguel.

I wanna get in bed with Miguel and by that I mean I want to sit next to him as he sits in bed reading a book on the Theory of Relativity with reading spectacles and a mug of sleepytime tea okay

A Miguel who runs up to his partner like 'Read this,' and he's all proud as he hands you a notepad full of numbers. But to him it's a formula he's been working WEEKS on, one that'll make Lyla run smoother, and everything much easier and he wants you to think he's cool for it

A Miguel who spends date nights watching NatGeo documentaries for fun

NERDY NERD MIGUEL DORKY MILD NERDY MIGUEL

[acronym49]

Obey Me! Characters react to mc being a dragon

(trying my hand at writing headcanons, let me know what you think! Other brothers + dateables are a work in progress)

__Lucifer__

He's not optimistic. His brothers are hard enough as it is, but adding in a new large creature? It'd be better to just keep you down with Cerberus. Maybe he'd enjoy the new playmate.The annoyance turns to intrigue when he learns you have the mind of any other demon (or person, if you will). And you can speak? Strange. This wont make him like you by any means, of anything he will be very distrusting. As you live there, though, he starts getting used to you. He even enjoys your odd antics, and especially the way you can rally in any ensuing chaos (despite how often you cause it).On one or two rare occasions, he'd absently try to pet you on the head when he was in that 'dead tired from paperwork' state. Depending on your reaction, he might do it more. When/if he does end up falling for you, expect to be near him a lot (obviously). There's not so many head-pats, but he likes to have you sit next to him while he's working or reading, sometimes absently stroking you neck or asking your opinion on whatever he's working with. There'll definitely be some teasing as to how catlike you are at times, but he means it lovingly. *he might put a collar on you if you ask-*He wouldn't ever be the type to outright ask to ride on your back, but I have the feeling he'd make subtle hints to it.'Ah, darn, the ride canceled last second. How can we get there now?' Ykyk. He'll turn you down the first time when you ask if he wants to fly with you, but that's just the pride talking for him. He'd love nothing more. After all, one of the most powerful lords of hell swooping in upon a dragon? You two would be an awe-inspiring duo, that's for sure.

__Mammon__

Ugh, he's gotta watch the new student? Lame! Humans are so- what the fuck is that?He dosen't know how to react at first. This is the thing he's looking after? It'll be awkward for the first few days, but as we know, he falls for MC fast. Awkward silence changes to him griping about how you always have to follow him. After the pact, though, he realizes you're not so bad. You tease him a little bit, sure, but he notices how you praise him, too. Just simple compliments, like how he looks good in his shades, how he's so good at math, how he's super fun to be around. It makes him feel better, y'know? Other demons also seem to be a bit less inclined to make fun of him when you're around, especially when you growl at them for being so openly mean. After a little bit of time, you two are basically glued at the hip. Depending on the kind of MC you are, you two could be the ultimate partners in crime or the closest confidants (or both!). There'll never be a boring moment with you two.It wont take him too long to ask to fly on you (probably be one of the first things he asks you tbh- it's like a joy-ride squared)He'd be respectful but mopey if you say no, but if you say yes? That's a happy demon on your hands right there. Be sure to set some boundaries, though, he might not wanna go by car anymore (like when you give a hognose snake a toad and they refuse to go back to pinkies lmfao). He'll try and get you to learn some aerial maneuvers, maybe how to spin or go upside-down (it's harder than it looks). When you two aren't flying or causing chaos together, you're both just hanging out. When he's relaxed, he likes to trace his hand over your smooth skin/scales/feathers/fur. He can't help it, the texture's just so soothing. Don't point it out, though, he'll go BRIGHT red. He likes it when you two watch movies together, or when you browse Devilgram with him over his shoulder. Feel free to nuzzle him and cuddle up, this man loves it. Sometimes he returns the favor, using you as his own sort of couch while he talks with you, sometimes giving you a peck here and there.

__Leviathan__

Oh this man is hyped from the start. A whole-ass dragon? LIVING with him and his brothers? What could be cooler? He has an internal war between wanting to get a good look at you and being really nervous to get too close. That nervousnes amps up when he realizes you can talk. You might think he's a hallucination at first with how fast he darts out of sight the moment you try and look at him. Fortunately, Mammon's debt to him is what spurs your first interaction. After, he's a little bit more ok with being percieved. He plays it cool at first, not wanting to seem too pushy, but he can't help but barrage you with questions when he gets the chance. It's actually quite a fun time, especially if you love infodumping as much as he (and I) does. You ask your own share of questions as well, about the Devildom, about him, about the games and figures he loves. As you two get more relaxed with one another, you both love to sit and chat about each other's hyperfixations. You can't exactly game with him due to your talons (not comfortably, anyways), but he lets you watch over his shoulder while he games. It makes his victories that much sweeter, and any losses a tad more bearable. Sometimes he lets you go on the mic to startle or taunt the other players, just for fun. It's hard to tell exactly when the relationship begins and the friendship ends, it's a smooth transition that neither of you really notice until you're literally cuddled up together, watching Assasination Classroom on his phone at 2am. It takes a surprising while for him to ask to fly with you. You may have to be the one to bring it up, actually. Nervous the whole time, 100%. He may decline, but upon numerous reassurances he'll agree. I think it's like... that test drive scene from httyd. It's so unfamiliar at first, being high up, with the wind blowing so fiercely. After a while, though, something clicks with him. He'll gain that confidence, guiding you (with your permission) where he wants to go. Something about that wild, windswept sensation of being a mile up in the air melts his nerves. It's just you two and the sky. The others are def gonna be jealous about how well you fly together.

(Feel free to tag with your dragon ocs! Sorry for any spelling errors lmao my eyes tend to skip over words sometimes)

[read-watch-sleep]

what are some of your favorite wammy boy headcanons?

Oh, Hello! This is a very exciting ask, so thank you! I have many of these so I’ll try to work off of ones I haven’t seen as much of before rather than just ones I like (this is also because I like them all.) 

Near: This is the most important and self-indulgent ‘headcanon’ I have but I’m a firm believer in citing the films/drama, and so: Near is Thai. He was born in Thailand and speaks/reads Thai as his first language. He was an orphan that was adopted after assisting in an international case in Bangnum, probably at a younger age than most of the Wammy’s kids, per L: Change the WorLd. 

The incidence rate for albinism rises to 1 in 500 in some areas in South Pacific (as opposed to closer to 1 in 10,000 elsewhere),  so it’s not even that much of a stretch to keep his original Manga appearance. This adds significantly to how much he stands out to everyone, because he’s too pale to looks like most other Southeast Asians, but has distinct facial features, and a generally smaller stature, which make him stand out amongst most of the European Wammy’s students.

Mello: Despite taking the most drastic measures out of most of the successors, I think Mello actually has the strongest moral compass out of the Wammy’s kids (including L). His attachment to catholic imagery, emphasis on how hard he works, and the circumstances leading up to his death suggest to me that he has a strong ethical viewpoint, probably established by organised religion, that Wammy’s was never able to teach out of him. Note how he allows Takada modesty, and does not mistreat the people he kidnaps, whereas L… did not grant Misa the same mercy in his custody. 

This doesn't make him a good person, however. Mello is more than willing to kill to get what he wants. It just means he has a stronger sense of righteous ‘good’ than most of his peers. 

Matt: I mention this in one of my fics, but Matt’s first crush was 100% Riku from Kingdom Hearts. I have never played a KH game in my life, but I’m absolutely certain of this. The highly competitive rival who pushes himself too far in order to stay relevant, only to recover to the ‘good’ side with the power of his heart? Cool and collected but with a jealous streak? Plus, have you seen what he looks like? That’s just Near and Mello wrapped into one pixelated Gameboy package. Matt’s first wet dream.

Beyond: I think Beyond, despite not really being able to attach to anyone, harbours a protective fondness over the other successors, especially those close to the top. I imagine he was able to figure out they were next early on, if they ever met, as Near was barely 10 years old when Beyond was arrested. He probably has their lifespans memorized. Wammy’s staff probably saw a lot of Beyond’s behaviour in Mello, as well– I think he was brash, impulsive, manipulative, and violently insecure. 

Unlike Mello, however, he wouldn’t care much about the opinions of other children, not even his rival for first place. 

A: I don’t have a lot of concrete thoughts about them, although I’ve seen many headcannons that I like. Generally, since A is largely a ‘fridged’ character, I change them to suit what would best work for a fic they might be mentioned in. 

I do think, however, that they were the most like Light, rather than L, than any of the other successors. Popular, handsome, talented, and with a complete disdain for the human race. 

Linda (honorary Wammy’s boy): Linda was given ‘artistry’ as a talent which has always felt a little sexist to me. While I think she is an accomplished artist, she’s actually much better with applied mathematics than any of the boys– Near things largely in terms of statistics, but Linda follows more complex modelling systems as well. Given that she was able to recreate Near and Mello’s faces almost perfectly, I attribute much of her success at Wammy’s, and also talents with maths, to an eidetic memory. Because her recall is so strong, she has an incredible knack for patterns, rivalled only by Near’s autistic tendency to process things by patterned details. Their shared talents with numbers and probably made them rather close, although I don’t think Near was all that interested in her. 

L: I don’t want to say that L is textbook Manic/Depressive, but I always figured that L had intermittent episodes of manic physical energy/activity that would contrast his usual “sitting in a weird position for 17 hours straight.” Basically, I think L, especially when he was younger, got the zoomies. Wammy’s probably tried to redirect the energy with sparring and sports, which is why he’s so good with tennis (although tennis is largely an intellectual sport) and martial arts. They probably found L on rooftops and such quite a lot– I can imagine him running up 11 flights of stairs at 2 in the morning. 

I also have thoughts about K and F from the films/drama, but I figure you weren't asking about those.

[rist-ix]

I have a question for you what do you think of the quote unquote age gap between Bloom and Valtor?

I had to do alot of research to understand Bloom age when I started to like this ship better than Mr cheater. So here's a brief information dump:

Bloom is 16 in the first episode and its confirm her bday is December 10 (we don't know the the exact year when each girl was born only the fact Stella is the oldest by that logic Bloom is the second youngest out of the group) when we get to season 3 it is confirmed that the girls is in their 3rd semester so that makes Bloom 19 at point. Valtor's age we do not know however I'm going to say at most early 20s from what we know Valtor working with a younger Griffin before he got Popsicled.

Here comes the tricky part. In s4 the girls just finished their semester and graduated making them 20-21. Up until s5 where Nicklodeon had to reboot their age making them 16 again. Flashforward to s8 and that makes Bloom age 19 if you are following the reboot or 23 if you do not follow the reboot. Since we don't know how long Valtor been frozen his mental age is up for debate.

For me personally I don't see Sparxshipping as an Edward and Bella situation as Edward was aging naturally during his years while Valtor was frozen and couldn't age naturally but only mentally.

Okay okay first of all! Your Bloom math checks out and I just realized that I for some reason always thought Bloom is 18 in s3. Which is still possible, I think, I just dont know why I assumed that. Actually no, it works, if she is 16 in s1 she is 17 in s2 and 18 in s3, but we dont know a lot about how the school years work in Magix so I'm gonna jot her down as 18-19 for the remainder of this post.

Still dont know how I passed math btw.

Anyway. Valtor's age is where the real mystery is at. We've got two possibilities in my opinion.

1. He's pulling the ageless immortal card.

My personal go-to for fics and discussions. Love me some 300 year old mommy issues. He has too much practice being a messy bitch, there's no fixing this man folks.

Evidence: There's a flashback showing him with Griffin as a tween: she looks MUCH younger, he looks exactly the same. Unless he also stole the secret magic of the world's most potent anti aging cream, or Griffin's proximity to Faragonda just aged her by three more decades, he does not age.

2. He is the age he looks.

Which, in my humble opinion, would not put him anywhere near twenty. That is a grown man. He's not college age, unless you count college professors under that word. Even if I were good at guessing ages the very stylized art style would throw me for a loop, but im gonna say 40s, give or take. Look at Avalon, look at Codatorta, look at King Radius if u must. That is the age range we're looking at.

Evidence: I dont have any. We're ballin'. I guess it's never explicitly stated he's immortal, which you'd think would be big enough of a deal to mention. If u got something feel free to let me know.

That being said, the Winx Club Wiki page for the canon timeline (ha, good one) puts the time of Valtor's creation in a rough time frame from "Over 17 years before season 1" to "Under 100 years before season 6". So he could technically be anywhere from 17-97, though I'm not sure the upper limit is as reliable as the lower one, given the check-list format of the website. So make of that what you will.

Now that we've got the question of age out of the way, lets get to the age gap. I have no idea what the situation in twilight was to be honest, so I cant compare that.

Realistically, there's at least a decade between Bloom and Valtor. Possibly two decades and change. And that is just from visible age, we can add a few centuries on top of that if we're sticking with the immortal bit. I'm gonna be gonest, I dont think being frozen for 17 years will make a whole lot of difference here.

If you find that icky, which is fair, you can always change that for fics tho! Either turn him into a twenty year old or put Bloom in her milf-era, the options are endless. Personally, I think the age difference is half the fun though, and also the least of their issues. When you're off making out with the objectively worst person in history, wether he's too old for her isnt gonna rank very high on people's list of concerns.

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 15

good job Ally... couldn't be me :,)

Alec that's incredibly dangerous you're going to CHOP OFF YOUR HAND--

oh, the sinking feeling in my chest when (approximately) this was revealed to be the thumbnail. i figured that, if Riya changed her mind and decided that she actually liked Alec, that would have been a spoiler to conceal, so this was going to be manipulation of some sort. before anyone comments on it, i just want to say that i don't think this was assault on Riya's part-- it was a shitty thing to do to both Connor and Alec, but i don't think Alec was necessarily non-consenting. still, i have a hard time seeing how Alec and Riya are supposed to cut it as a non-toxic canon ship after this. RIP Connor.

are people who are fans of ~characters who haunt the narrative~ fans of Yul?

i'm sorry Ally; i didn't know better!!! you really did have no personality in s2!!!!

... do we need to be nicer to ONC or something?

if you want to continue working with Riya and Alec why would you say this to their faces? well, i guess keeping her honest opinions to herself has never been Grett's strong suit :) (/aff)

if i'm not allowed to be a whiny bitch, YOU AREN'T EITHER! Connor and Jake's dynamic is really fun; it makes me like both of them more.

props to Jake's VA, the slight country accent here was so funny to me

very bold! even if she then decided to violate that trust...

what the fuck are you talking about

my 1 social media manager. and yes, she smokes weed.

i'm so curious to know where this is going. don't do anything stupid, Trevor. like Kristal putting the firing of Emily on national TV was a terrible thing to do, but don't go back to jail over this (or Derek).

i want to believe that Derek was super overacting here to impress Kristal and prop up how good and dramatic her challenge idea was. he's a dork when it comes down to it.

HELP

this was literally the funniest way to have Jake win this challenge. it's accurate, too.

dude did you not see when Ally literally said she was in love with Hunter like a week after meeting him

sharing a comment that @venus-is-thinking had: given that Alec answered the question about loving his son thinking that the answer was "yes" but the helmet could tell that the answer was really "no," it seems like these helmets are more about determining the truth rather than sharing what the wearer thinks is the truth. Riya even fails to fake the machine later, implying that her acting is NOT good enough to fool the helmets. thus, Riya may have actually wanted to befriend Ally for real, and is lying to herself about how she feels. food for thought!

so they DID actually go on dates after s2 ended. does Riya's answer to this question suggest that conriya(?) is back on? i really don't know if that's good for either of them.

... idk what this says about my Hunter lifting math ',:/ also, this means that each bag weighs 30 lbs, as Grett was holding 4 bags at the time. people were lifting a lot!

i think Jake is contractually obligated to pull out the shiny eyes at least once per episode at this point. also, Ally, you fool-- these questions themselves ARE Jake's opportunity to trauma dump on people for profit!

... well that was fruity!

WHO TAUGHT HIM???

Riya expanding her catalogue to push even the straights off of things... unless?

Alec really has become such a failwife in these past few episodes.

Connor winner edit jumpscare

this is kind of a slay alliance ngl. i love Grett's villainous tendencies so much. (well, at least when it comes to strategizing-- not bullying Gabby)

so, as i've been alluding to throughout these thoughts, this doesn't... super make sense to me? like, after Grett directly told Alec that she doesn't trust him or Riya anymore, and extended the idol to Connor and Jake as a sign of trust, she decides to backstab the heroes anyway and continue working with Alec and Riya? Venus explained to me that if Grett joined the villains alliance with Aiden still in the game she just would've been on the bottom of that alliance (and thus locked out of f3 probably), and that she'll be in enough of a power position that it doesn't matter if others are bitter towards her now, but idk. given that Connor has the idol and she knows it, i feel like i'd be afraid that everyone would just unite against me next episode. anyways, goodbye Aiden-- finally voted out after, what, 27 episodes played? a true all star, but one who pretty clearly wasn't going to last forever.

Aiden was so funny for this. i love their friendship of continuously roasting each other. it's what we wanted and deserved.

overall, this was a GREAT episode for Grett's winner cut.

i definitely enjoyed this episode much more than i did the last. we had a really good challenge this time around! i love challenges that also give us information as to how the contestants feel about each other. i'm also glad that we've officially dissolved the heroes and villains thing, simply having three pairs of Alec/Riya, Jake/Connor, and Ally/Grett. i'm sure that'll make for a spicy elimination next episode, especially with an idol in play. we're really at 50% finalist now... i can't wait to see who makes it!

[mcofthemansion]

Hihi! Hugs! Currently a little bit obsessed with pokemon since the dlc for indigo disk comes out soon (4 days as of now when I'm posting this) so apologies if I'm not posting some pretty lovely otome guy/girl stuff for a little while...I just can't help but live and breathe pokemon until I have terapagos securely in my party! Little baby turtle must cuddle forever and ever!

So for now, I offer you random pokemon teams that remind me of my/your men for no particular reason : (Ikevamp) -> (Tears of Themis)

Arthur (Ikevamp) :

• Popplio -> Primarina line (Because Vic! Ok? I think I'm referring to one of my first posts)

• Applin -> Flapple (Because of that thing when you give someone an Applin you confess your feelings and ensure a happy future together, reminds me of the red ribbon thing ok!!! ><)

• Lillipup -> Stoutland (Remember in Alola how it helped you find stuff like a dowsing machine would in previous gens? It can be a detective-y pokemon! Yay! Also again...dog...Vic...yeah...still this one represents his detective skills)

• Happiny -> Blissey (Arthur's doctor skills and how much he cares! I can see him having a Blissey!)

• Mimikyu (His interest in the occult and its cute)

• Shiny Milcery -> shiny Alcremie (Reminds me of his love of fudge! It just does! Not much of an explanation but yeah, also the blue decorations!)

Isaac (Ikevamp) :

• Porygon-[2-Z] (It's a super math-y pokemon ok! Well at least the most math-y in my opinion, plus it levitates which I think Newt would find cool)

• Magnemite -> Magnezone (Idk it's a pokemon for really smart people and it's a super science-y and professor-y pokemon...so yeah...don't expect me to try and give a physics answer, my brain is fried)

• Applin -> Appletun (Enough said, just has to happen, it's a big cuddly sweet apple pie, Newt...apples...yeah...this one is sweet ok, also the romantic thing about Applin)

• Sandshrew -> Sandslash (Kanto to be exact! Because Harry, need I say more?)

• Hatenna -> Hatterene (Newt is super calm...so I can see a Hatenna sticking around him! It might cutely fall asleep at his desk with him)

• Togepi -> Togekiss (Newt had a thing with Theology, don't quiz me I'm tired, anyways in Sheild the dex entry is "Known as a bringer of blessings, it's been depicted on good-luck charms since ancient times" and I was like...awww Newt might like that...kind of a sweet angelic pokemon)

Napoleon (Ikevamp) :

• Rufflet -> Hisuian Braviary (Jupiter! Because, because, because)

• Honedge -> Aegislash (Have you seen his rapier? Enough said, the man can fight)

• Sewaddle -> Leavanny (Idk this always feels like a nurturing pokemon that I could see in a school as an assistant or smth so it would help out at L'École de Napoleon or smth like that)

• Riolu -> Lucario (It's a smart and just fighter, it fits! Plus it doubles Leon's coolness factor XD)

• Bagon -> Salamence (Bagon wanted a change so bad it happened! The whole flying thing...Leon gets it! He wanted to bring about some change pretty badly so they just kinda connect...plus it's a cool dragon!)

• Komala (Cute napping Koala to cuddle with...need I say more? Even more of a reason to sleep in)

Faust (Ikevamp) :

• Shroodle -> Grafaiai (Mephie! It's a poison type! Yay experiments!)

• Beldum -> Metagross (It's a smart person science-y pokemon that floats!)

• Elgyem -> Beheeyem (It loves experimenting with humans and thier memory so Faust would probably get a kick out of it!)

• Zorua -> Zoroark (He would be fascinated by the shape-shifting and it brings the coolness factor, sorta somewhat matches his vibes)

• Nacli -> Garganacl (It can hurt and heal with its salt powers which might get rather useful for Faust)

• Spiritomb (guy works as a priest...I'm assuming he's had experiences with funerals and stuff and I can see this as his ghost type pokemon)

That's about all for ikevamp for now!

Vyn (ToT)

• Deerling -> Winter Sawsbuck (Svart's animal is a deer...and Vyn's hair is white ok!)

• Petilil -> Liligant (His love of gardening and elegant things...it just kinda works)

• Ralts -> Gardevoir (seems like a pretty good psych nurse pokemon to help him out with the feelings stuff and all)

•Rowlet -> Decidueye (His love of Archery)

• Fidough -> Dachsbun (His love of sweet things! And pastries)

• Sinistea -> Polteagiest (Authentic! Just because that's the Vyn-est thing he could get in pokemon!)

Marius (ToT)

• Gimmighoul -> Gholdengo (He's a rich fun loving CEO...explain to me why excitable money made surfing ghost isn't up his alley!)

• Smeargle (Artist...yeah...enough said)

• Ekans -> Arbok (His symbol is a purple snake...I couldn't not do this!)

• Luvdisc (Our Marius is sort of a flirt!)

• Pikachu (It's fluffy and as in the public eye as he is...probably felt a lot in common)

• Rotom (I associate Pax with tech so...yeah...idk...it just fits in my mind)

Anyways! Thanks for letting me ramble! Should I do this with other guys?

[my-my-my]

hello! How do you think Aizen would be if he ever went to high school? What subjects would be his favourites, how implicated he'd be? How would he be with his classmates and teachers?

Oh I love these kinds of asks!!

I'll break this down by the questions in your ask. As forewarning, I'm Canadian, worked as a tutor for high school students, and have a very limited understanding of the Japanese school system, so that's the context I'll be working off of.

TW: None!

What subjects would be his favourites?

I think Aizen would be very drawn to History (not just of Japan, but even of other countries) as well as World Issues. But he's also fascinated by the basic sciences (Biology, Chemistry and Physics).

Depending on the literature that's being taught, I can also see him into Language studies (Japanese/English/French etc. whatever is being provided at his school). He's a big reader, but he also has Opinions. Whatever novel/play/poem is being studied, he's either going to dissect it, or pretend to care to get him that 90-95%.

If there's an introductory Computer Science class, Aizen will ace that class - if anything, he's learning how to code in multiple languages in his downtime.

That being said, he doesn't care for math. Like everything he does, he's excellent at it, but it doesn't stimulate him like other subjects (until he gets to university and takes Proofs).

How implicated would he be?

I'm going to take this as if in this high school AU, how corrupt would Aizen be, and I don't think he'd be completely treasonous by this point. BUT his high school years will be formative (as it is with many people!). I think he will learn and begin to understand the larger injustices in the world, and how, as a student and as a teenager, he has very little power, if any, to change. I think it will be the start of his radicalization.

He begins to understand that he fundamentally needs to acquire power, and maybe that starts off small in the form of being a class rep in his student council, and maybe by the end of high school, student council president. He is the person who will plan his life out, and is very strategic about what he does. Everything is calculated.

How would he be with his classmates?

I would like to imagine he's quite polite with them, but he's distant. You know that "student prince" archetype that is shown in shojou works? I can see Aizen getting that on him, but he's quite humble and doesn't like the fawning and flattery that comes with it. It isolates him further.

I think Aizen would rank in the top 5 of having the highest grades in his classes. Personally, I think Aizen is ok with not being the smartest - it bugs him sometimes though if it is Urahara who's beating him (and he always beats him in the sciences).

Like I can see grades for the basic sciences going like: 1. Urahara

2. Aizen

3. Senjumaru

4. Mayuri (for those who don't know, Mayuri LOATHES Senjumaru - in one of the databooks he wants to kill and dissect her. His hatred for her is second to Urahara. And so it pisses Mayuri off that not only is Senjumaru getting a higher grade than him, but Urahara is getting the HIGHEST lmao).

That being said, he won't tutor any of his classmates UNLESS his teachers "force" him to do so. I also don't see him as the type to ask for extra credit assignments, nor snitch on the class that there was an assignment due that the teacher forgot to collect. I can see people asking him if they can copy his homework, but he politely refuses.

I don't see him joining many clubs, but he would participate in student council and possibly a book club? And if his school has a newspaper, I can see him writing small pieces for that. I can see one of his language teachers asking him to publish some of his poetry though (Aizen refuses).

As for sports? I can see him joining maybe one sports club, but he doesn't really "push" himself on the team. He's just a benchwarmer lol. If they had archery or kendo, I can see him excelling in that, but he purposely sabotages himself so he never reaches nationals in his early years, until his final year.

How would he be with his teachers?

His teachers would think he's incredibly studious, polite and well-mannered. Some of them might wish they had a class filled with students just like him, but others would want him to interact with the class more. He doesn't give them problems, and he does enough to get praised, but he's not out here getting 100% on every assignment/test/project he does. He wants to still remain under the radar after all.

But his teachers will definitely be more than happy to provide reference letters when he applies for university.

Thanks for the ask!! I love this kind of stuff lol.

[hunxi-after-hours]

danmei reading challenge 1.0

I had so much fun coming up with these discussion questions in this post that I thought I’d make a more streamlined post for folks to make it easier to track! it is however a very long post so I shall throw the discussion questions under the cut. here are the challenges:

read works by three (or more!) danmei authors

read two different danmei novels by the same author (if you can wrangle it, try to read novels in different genres)

read a danmei novel that is not wuxia, xianxia, or xuanhuan

read a danmei novel set in modern day China

read a webnovel that was not serialized on JJWXC

read a webnovel by a danmei author that is not danmei (e.g. 言情 / heterosexual romance, 无CP / no romance)

read a danmei novel with 2+ adaptations into other forms of media (e.g. audiodrama, donghua, manhua, live action)

read a danmei novel with no adaptations in other forms of media

read a traditionally published work of Chinese speculative fiction

read a novel written by a Chinese diaspora author

(also I did some math and if you read for maximum overlap you can do this challenge in just seven books ;)

read works by three (or more!) danmei authors

what recurring themes, character traits, narrative tropes, or cultural aspects to you observe across works by different authors? what differences do you notice? do you think these similarities/differences are hallmarks of the genre, coincidental stylistic choices, authorial interests, or wider cultural trends? how do different authors address certain issues, or avoid them altogether? how do these choices affect the content and style of the text, as well as your perception of and/or response to these texts?

read two different danmei novels by the same author (if you can wrangle it, try to read novels in different genres)

what recurring themes, character traits, narrative tropes, or thematic commonalities do you observe across an author’s works? how do the different narrative or genre contexts of each novel affect characters and themes in each work? do you observe changes in an author’s perspective, views, or opinions on common themes and/or social issues from novel to novel?

read a danmei novel that is not wuxia, xianxia, or xuanhuan

how do aspects of worldbuilding differ across genres? what new aspects of culture, character, or language do you observe in a different genre setting? how much character or worldbuilding do you think is attributable to genre convention, and how much isn’t? what do you think readers find attractive about wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan settings? what do you think readers find attractive about other genres?

read a danmei novel set in modern day China

how do the emotional and narrative stakes of novels change depending on time period? what were you surprised by? what similarities or resonances did you recognize between the text and your own life? how does the fabric of the setting in this novel differ from novels set in other time periods and settings? in what ways do class and power factor into character conflicts and relationships? how do these differ from the way class and power are addressed in historical novels? what is the role of tradition and history in this novel? do you find the text more realistic because it’s set in modern day? why or why not? how important do you think “realism” is to the text and the readers? why might this be? how important is “realism” to your reading experience? why might this be?

read a webnovel that was not serialized on JJWXC

there are many other Chinese internet literature platforms, such as 长佩文学 and 奇点文学网. explore one (or more!) of these literature platforms and note any observations about differences, similarities, or things you’re surprised by. how does this inform your understanding of the larger scope of Chinese web literature? in what ways are literature and genre organized differently from what you’re familiar with? compare and contrast your experience reading a non-JJWXC novel with a JJWXC novel. what was the same? what was different? do you think these similarities/differences are influenced by the different audiences of these websites or larger societal trends in media and culture, or something else entirely?

read a webnovel by a danmei author that is not danmei (e.g. 言情 / heterosexual romance, 无CP / no romance)

what similarities do you observe between this novel and a danmei novel written by the same author? what differences do you observe? how do narrative reflections of gender and character dynamics differ? what other themes, issues, or narrative aspects do you notice coming to the forefront when the focus has shifted away from male/male romance? what were you surprised by? what weren’t you surprised by? has your perception of the author’s views on gender/gender dynamics changed? if so, how? if not, why do you think this is?

read a danmei novel with 2+ adaptations into other forms of media (e.g. audiodrama, donghua, manhua, live action)

what do you think about this novel generates wider media attention and interest? how do the characters and narrative change from text to adaptation? why do you think this happened? how did the popularization via adaptation affect the original text, if at all? how did you come to discover this text, and how many platforms did it have to jump to get to you? why do you think this text received attention on the platform you first heard of it? in what ways beyond the content of the text itself did this novel draw wider attention?

read a danmei novel with no adaptations in other forms of media

why do you think this novel hasn’t been chosen for adaptation yet? in what ways would this novel be challenging to adapt? what medium do you think this novel would be best suited for? how would an adaptation of this novel change your perspective and experience of this text? what would you hope to see in an adaptation of this novel?

read a traditionally published work of Chinese speculative fiction

how does a traditionally published work of Chinese fiction differ  stylistically and narratively from the web literature you’ve read? what  does the wider field of Chinese speculative fiction look like? how do  the imaginations and concerns of Chinese authors manifest in their  worldbuilding, setting, characters, themes, and conflicts? how do  subgenres of Chinese speculative fiction resemble and differ from genres  you’re more familiar with? what did you like about this work? what puts  you off about this work? did this work raise any questions or themes  that you haven’t thought about before? what aspects of the novel seem  rooted in contemporary Chinese society, and which themes seem more  universal? if reading in translation, did you identify any moments where  context was lost between languages? were there footnotes in the  translation, and if so, how did they affect your reading experience? if  not, did you ever wish there were footnotes? what kind of additional  context did you wish you had? how do you think the translation  influenced your reading experience? how high-profile is this work of  Chinese speculative fiction, and why do you think this is?

read a novel written by a Chinese diaspora author

how do characters, themes, settings, and worldbuilding differ from the perspective of a diaspora writer? what aspects feel the same? how does translation on linguistic, cultural, or metafictional levels factor into the text? what is the role of tradition and reception in the narrative? what other influences can you spot in the text? what Chinese work would you put this text in conversation with, and why? how are different cultures portrayed in diaspora works vs. non-diaspora works? based on this text, have cultural values shifted in diasporic reception? what is the relationship presented in the text between identity and nationhood, tradition and ownership?

[netherworldpost]

To give you a nicer message in your inbox:

Thank you for posting about all of the things that you do! Your enthusiasm is infectious! I can't think of another blog that could both

A) inspire me to work on little personal zine projects as part of my burnout recovery

and

B) inspire me to research and open a high interest savings account instead of being tepidly satisfied with the interest rates on the timed CD at my credit union

You have the range!

And I am eternally delighted that you share so many pieces of your joy with the world!

Ah you are very kind :) You needn't worry about ol' atty, I remain unphased by tantrums.

I have a big, flowery, open personality that is unfortunately seen as a vulnerability by the emotionally unavailable.

Unfortunately for them, I have both a block button and a big, flowery, open personality not rooted in seeking resolution with those whom disapprove of me.

Onwards!

A) This is very exciting! I hope your zine project helps tremendously. The low cost of entry (both in terms of financial price as well as structural making a zine) make them amazing things.

Start small as can be, scale up literally as big and vivid as you want. I hope you have a magnificent time.

Expand, grow, shrink, cut up, redo.

Go go go!

B) Fantastic re: high yield savings!!

CDs can be great, the increase of interest rate adds up, and if you're not going to use the money for something else (and have buffers in place), it's a great way to take advantage of the increase in funds.

In a very deeply underlined "this is not financial advice" sort of way, the main advantage (in my opinion, not advice, again stated) you can pull from them is watching the interest rate in the coming year or so.

The highest rate I can quickly find is 5.4% with a minimum of $1000, so we'll use that as a base.

5.4% after 12 months on $1000 is $1054 (+$54)

Let's say you lock that in tomorrow.

Some folks are trying to tell the feds "hey your interest rate... it's too high."

For the sake of discussion not a prediction in any way, shape, or form say the feds agree and lower the interest rate, by 0.25%, twice

CD rates in this extremely linear simplified absolutely goddamn hypothetical example reduce by 0.25% and then 0.25% again -- for new customers, but not you, because your rate is locked.

5.4% - 0.25% - 0.25 = 4.9% on new customers, not you, you're locked in, on $1000 is $1049 after their CD matures.

You made $5 more than them because you locked in your rate in a higher interest rate environment.

Conversely if the interest rate goes up, you don't get the new premium, because you're locked in. Thems the risks. I have no idea what the feds are going to do -- and neither does anyone else, including the feds better data is available.

My main vigilance on CDs is the increased return is... very small.

5.4% interest rate on a 12 month CD, $1000 base: $54 return.

4.4% interest rate on 12 months in a savings account, $1000 base: $44 return. (This can probably be beaten but it's good for easy math)

A $10/year difference... or $0.8333... ($10/12) per month.

You acquire an additional $0.83 - $0.84, per month, per $1000, by locking up your funds for a year.

Is this a good deal?

As always, depends entirely on your situation now and how likely it is to change in the timeframe (this example: 1 year) discussed.

I'm not anti any financial product, unless it takes advantage of someone. I am very "understand risk/reward and assess to your financial situation. Maximize your return, minimize your risk."

On both art, and money, I refuse to tolerate bullies who gate keep knowledge because it makes it easier to be a predator or to be a snob.

They are both complex subjects with deeply rooted moving parts and I'll never attempt to undercut the work needed to take the most advantage possible of either.

And.

A very basic, general, elementary understanding of either covers somewhere between 90 - 95% of the entire landscape.

I firmly believe that the more accessible knowledge of art and finances are, the more common benefit can be found.

[scramble-crossing]

no please tell us your joshua thoughts i insist

You’ve hit me at a crucial moment of procrastination and utter dread. ON HIS BIRTHDAY.  Ideal circumstance to talk about Joshua.

Right off the bat though I’ve gotta say that a lot of this is probably not the most canon-adherent stuff and also only Josh-adjacent in some cases since I tend to focus on how he relates to other characters + the series’ worldbuilding over his actual self-contained character. I like him and all I just have the most fun using him as a narrative tool for the characters I like a little more ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

First of all, I usually put Joshua as having died and become Composer sometime between 1900-1920 following a near-and-dear headcanon that Kariya became a Reaper during the cultural shift of the 1920s with the advent of the salaryman lifestyle-if you’re going to sell your soul for guaranteed work it might as well come with the perk of being able to spend most of your existence lazing around the city instead of being boxed up in some itty-bitty cubical.

However this is mostly based on the assumption that Joshua predates all of the Shibuya Reapers. Otherwise they would recognize him, right? In opposition to this I really really love the headcanon that all trace of a person’s existence is erased from both the RG and UG upon becoming Composer (or any position higher than Conductor). In that case I think it’d be fun if Joshua came shortly after Kariya. They knew each other at some point.

^When Kariya confronted him and Neku in W2 Josh had a brief moment of “Holy shit does he remember me?” before Kari said he was alive and he got the biggest, shit-eatingest grin on his face. Yippiiiiie!!! Oily Josh has wriggled his way out of consequences once again!!!!

(Kariya is aware that there was a change in Composer sometime during his run as a Reaper. He sensed the city shift with it. The way it sings now, it’s almost…familiar? He doesn’t think about it too deeply, it saddens him a bit if he does)

Speaking of Josh & Friends, @starocide has a ton of very very fun ideas about Joshua and Coco being partners during their Reaper’s Game and it being the connection mentioned in That One Interview. That’s gonna be a whole separate essay one day, suffice to say for now that the Joshua from A New Day was reminiscent of the person he used to be, but twisted by Coco into a mocking caricature of himself.

(Coco doesn’t remember him, but she knows who he is. Joshua remembers her perfectly, but it doesn’t matter anymore.)

The Toxic Shithead Squad continues with Minamimoto. I have a LOT of thoughts about Joshua and Minamimoto.

By far the most interesting thing about W2 for me is just how much Joshua talks about Mina. Not just talks about, describes. He’s a math fetishist (rude) he’s an attention-seeker (rude…but fair) he’s the magic word I’ve been thinking about for the past two years: lonely. I think it’s incredibly interesting how many judgments of character Joshua makes about this guy despite the fact that we’re given no inclination to treat him as some sort of cat-whisperer or someone who’s in a position to understand Minamimoto at all. For the pure intrigue of it I like to see a lot of these calls as being accurate (idc if it’s cliche or corny, imply to me that Sho, somewhere in his heart of hearts, craves companionship and I will eat that shit up) but I also think that it’s equally interesting to question why Josh’s making these calls in the first place. Where's this stuff coming from? Why does he keep acting like he knows exactly what he's thinking?

I think Joshua sees a lot of himself in Minamimoto. Here’s a kid who’s deeply dissatisfied with the world around him, someone who thinks so little of other people that he, in his arrogance, is willing to reject every different thought, opinion, and action, shunning the people around him, treating them as little more than bugs he’s willing to step on in his all-consuming quest for the power to make something better than before: the world as it ends with him. Minamimoto isn’t just pursuing Joshua, he’s following his every footstep. Joshua sees this, recognizes it (though maybe not consciously) so that when he erases him he isn’t ridding himself of a potential threat or batting away this annoying little gnat that keeps interfering with his plans, symbolically he’s destroying himself. And if anything, isn’t that an act of mercy? Wouldn’t it be better to be dead than to waste away on his throne, watching a world he no longer recognizes slowly pass him by? Isn’t that what he wanted all along?

I think Joshua's story ended perfectly with twewy. I don't think there was anything left unresolved about it, and frankly I'm glad he barely had anything to do with the plot of neo. He made his choice. Was it the wrong one? Was there ever another option? Did he ever have a chance? Who knows! He's a walking worst-case-scenario and I love seeing how detached and apathetic he's become in neo, how he never let himself connect with Neku even though he gave him the chance (which was so, so much more than Joshua could ever have asked for), how Neku doesn't even seem to trust him anymore, how he's become little more than an anecdote in his life and the lives of is friends, a passing comment, a joke, a distant, sour memory. It's fantastic. I love Hachiko gang. I love fan content where they're all friends and Josh is this cryptic little sillyguy who has fun pushing all their buttons but is deeply unequivocally loved at the end of it all, but I hope that never happens in canon. I hope he stays a tragedy.

Happy birthday you little freak <3

[ihopethisendswell]

This is gonna be so left field y'all, I just needed to rant about this stupid book hgvhvgvgvcg

Months ago I got a random book from BG's ( very big supermarket essentially), not knowing it was the second book in a series. I decide to read it anyway, bc I already spent money on it. Only now I'm like. Actively chipping away at the book, and like. I already knew I wouldn't be sold on a romance between two characters missing a shit ton of context, but so far I just. Don't care. Hgvhvgvgvcg. Truthfully I care more about the fem protag bc I think she's interesting, and I do feel for her, but her love interest is. Alright. I guess. I don't particularly like this guy. The main conflict in between the two so far is that the main love interest hides a big ass secret that is directly tied to the mc, and this is focusing on the after math of that. The MC is, rightfully, upset and doesn't trust the guy. The mli,to his credit, wants to make it up to her, earn her trust back, and pursue a relationship. In his eyes, they are the end game. And honestly, that's all fine and dandy if he would actually fucking tell her the truth. Something about asking the questions she wants. And like??? Bro????? Just tell her?????? She's asking you to be honest with her, you both know that you love each other, so why?????? Still hide????? It's so weird bc he genuinely says some sweet stuff and is considerate towards her but also! Just! Doesn't seem to take her distrust seriously. Or maybe he does, but he's shit at showing it, god damn.

Like. I fully get that I am missing a whole nooks worth of content here. I fucking get it. And!! I'm not even half way done with this thing. I'm only now getting invested bc I actually am having fun with this thing. Maybe down the line my opinion will change but. Just. The romance is not appealing to me right now lol. Actually I just think it's not appealing when the main love interest is there. Cause when the mc was talking to her friend about it, or anyone, it's more entertaining.

Like no amount of saying your devotion and wanting to make things work is gonna matter if you don't actually. Say anything, ya know? And I get there's like. A shit ton of reasons why, right? The stakes are high and the mc needs to learn how to mentally protect herself, but also her life has been uprooted, everything she knew was a lie, the least she can count on is her boy toy that she genuinely loves to be honest with her. Which. I guess you can say he is, but not in the way that she wants.

I dunno man. Maybe I don't Get It, but it's not clicking with me.