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magpiefngrl · 3 years

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LGBTQ+ Book Recs for Pride Month

To celebrate Pride Month, here's a list of novels I enjoyed with queer themes, characters and relationships. There's a wealth of diverse stories out there now, often written by members of the LGBTQ+ community. Buying a book or requesting one from the library (if you're in the US) is a great way to support an author and to ensure there's more demand for inclusive stories.

Some of these are fairly popular already, but I hope you find something new to you that you'll enjoy.

(I've starred my personal favourites)

*Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (YA contemporary)

Read this if you are looking for a tender coming-of-age and falling-in-love story between two boys of Mexican descent.

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (YA urban fantasy)

Read this if you are looking for strong friendships, a dreamy mood, lyrical prose, and some of the best characters I've encountered in YA ever.

When We Were Ghosts by E. J. Philips (f/f relationship, urban fantasy)

Read this if you are looking for a profound, dreamy story about grief and home, featuring a road trip along the Australian coast, fascinating magic and ghosts. Disclaimer that I helped dev edit this novel.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (historical with magic)

OK so haven't finished this one, so it's not quite a rec, but so far it is very enjoyable. The MC is a bi disaster and I love him. The prose is wonderful; the story flows; the love interest is a sweetheart. I'm hoping it continues being fun.

SFF

Shades of Magic trilogy by V. E. Schwab (Fantasy, not YA but er...it felt a lot like YA to me)

Read this if you are looking for a fantasy adventure in a world with three different Londons and interesting magic. Queer secondary characters that become main characters in Book 2. Disclaimer that I haven't read the last book of the trilogy yet.

*The Space Between the Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (f/f relationship, sci-fi with alternate universes)

Read this if you are looking for an amazing story with a bisexual POC woman falling for her female coworker while travelling to alternate universes. This is one of the best novels I read last year READ IT

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mochtar and Max Gladstone (f/f relationship, sci-fi, literary)

Read this if you are looking for gorgeous prose, creative worldbuilding and two agents of opposing factions in the time war writing letters to each other and falling in love.

*Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (novella, historical fantasy)

Read this if you are looking for a heartfelt fokloric story in lovely prose with a very sweet main couple.

The Terracota Bride by Zen Cho (novella, f/f relationship, fantasy)

Read this if you are looking for a Chinese-inspired story set in the afterworld.

*Captive Prince by C. S. Pacat (fantasy)

Read this if you are looking for unbearable UST and the best enemies-to-lovers story ever created.

Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (f/f relationship, historical fantasy)

Er... haven't finished this one either, but so far it has: strong writing, feminist themes, magic, and lesbians, so it's a safe bet to say that it'll be a decent read.

Literary

What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell

Read this if you are looking for a literary novel about a USian man in Bulgaria and his relationship with a rentboy.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (short stories, most f/f)

Read this if you are looking for experimental, feminist, weird fiction that might veer towards the absurd.

*On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Read this if you're looking for truly phenomenal prose and a story that feels raw and autobiographical.

Romance

*Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox (m/m, historical with hints of magic)

Read this if you are looking for an absorbing story set in the North England during the Viking invasions, with a wonderful couple, gorgeous prose, and magical realism elements. This is a novel that reads more as historical fiction than romance.

*Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall (m/m contemporary)

Read this is you're looking for a fake dating story between a gay disaster and a dignified gay with lots of humour, Britishness, and an array of (a tad exaggerated but written with love) quirky secondary characters.

Mended with Gold by Lee Welch (novella, m/m contemporary)

Read this if you are looking for a sweet romance between two men with PTSD, set in a small NZ village.

*Anything by KJ Charles. Historical queer fantasy, often with magic. Personal favourites are The Magpie Lord trilogy, Jackdaw and Spectred Isle, all with magic, but I also love Think of England (gave me Captive Prince vibes) and Band Sinister (fluffy and heart-warming with a poly relationship). The author has a list of content warnings for her novels here.

It Takes Two To Tumble by Cat Sebastian (m/m historical)

Read this if you are looking for a low-angst love story with a bunch of wild kids that I utterly adored (I'm not one for kidfic normally, but I loved those rascals).

A Taste of Blue by Camden Moore (m/m, erotic romance, contemporary)

Read this if you are looking for a hot, HOT story between a disgraced Marine and the son of a prominent Republican with strong supporting characters and amazing sex scenes (honestly, you'll die), written by our own @ruinsplume.

Comics

Fence by CS Pacat and Johanna the Mad

Read this if you like sports anime type stories and electric relationships between boys.

*The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen

Read this if you are looking for a bonkers story about gods reincarnated and rock/pop stars, featuring absolutely stunning design and a variety of queer characters and identities. Warning for lots of death and blood.

*Εσμέ (Esme) by Steve Stivaktis

Read this if you are looking for a Greek folklore fantasy featuring queer characters and created by a trans artist. It's been translated in English too.

#books #book recs #reading #lgbtq+#queer #queer books #gay #lesbian #long post #also I'd highly rec danmei #and especially mxtx's novels #but be prepared for angst

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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 4 years

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for the celestial ball asks: 3, 4, 10, 17, & 18.

Oh thank you so much for asking! Let’s get this party started!

3: How did your MC get asked to the Ball {or} How did they ask someone to the Ball (even just as friends or as a group)

In the canon Celestial Ball, I’m definitely going with Ben for Gail because it’s the one time he’s actually an available option and he’s the person that she’s closest to - but it’s probably just as friends. Gail will bide her time until Badeea is available. As for Luca, I may just go with Merula for every quest across the board, or I might go with Tulip for as long as she’s available first. We all know how the Asking plays out for the Celestial Ball, but I figure Gail would be the one to do the asking, Luca would probably get asked because they’re shy. Though I can genuinely see something like...I dunno, Luca trying to write Merula a song. It would be absolute trash. But a sweet effort. I can see Gail not even asking Ben and more like, telling him. She can be a tad controlling, but she means well.

For the Yule Ball/Circle of Khanna class reunion idea, I figure it would go something like this. Luca and Penny meet up with Ismelda and they all go to visit Beatrice as she’s getting out of Potions class or something. (You’ve seen enough of my posts to know where this is going.) Cue Luca and Bea awkwardly trying to catch each other’s eye because they’ve been writing to each other for a while but probably haven’t seen each other for several months. Beatrice off-handedly mentions that no one asked her to the Celestial Ball. Penny catches on and makes an excuse to drag Ismelda away. There’s no official asking because I feel like these two have a lot of non-verbal communication, but before leaving Beatrice gets frustrated and says something to the effect of “Just promise that I can depend on you for a dance or two.” Luca takes the hint and offers, “Maybe more than that?”

4: Did your Jacob ask anyone or get asked to the Ball (even just as friends)? If so, how?

Assuming some kind of dance happened pre-HPHM for this one. I am, and I have always been, a major fan of Duncan/Jacob. In my head-canons, these two are constantly competing and trying to one-up each other, but also trusting one another with their lives. Jacob is the one Fawley that I can see Beating, and I think Duncan would have too. They’d try to outdo each other constantly - but also defend each other from outside threats with no hesitation. There’s only one brain cell on site and Olivia is the one to hold it. I figure she would push both of them into acting on their feelings. Try to encourage them to rise to the “challenge” of making their feelings known. Beating the other to the punch in asking them to the dance. Essentially, I interpret this dynamic as being like a blend between MC’s bond with Rowan, and their bond with Merula.

Jacob and Duncan both launch into convoluted plans to try and lead the other into a “trap” where they can be asked out and they’ll say yes. It comes to a head when they argue about all the previous tricks they’ve pulled on each other and Olivia, ever the Harry to this Romione romance, bursts into the room and yells “Oh my god, you two fancy each other! Duncan, you’re taking Jacob to the Ball and that’s final!” Or something to that effect. At which point the two boys start to stammer and be all flustered and shy around each other for the next few days. It’s great. Of course, once they actually get to the Ball, all bets are off and they try to out-dance each other, because that’s just what they do. It’s like Fred and Angelina but even more intense.

10: Do your MC and Jacob have a “routine”? (Aka song and/or dance they perform together?)

I’m gonna be real with you. Luca adores Jacob. Gail cannot stand him. Oh sure, she loves her brother, of course she does. But Luca would say that Jacob is their favorite person in the world. Gail would say “He shares my blood so I’m obligated to hang out with him, even though he’s infuriating.” All that being said, Luca is exceptionally shy and doesn’t know how to dance, but I feel like Gail would actually really like dancing even if she’s low-key about it and never really mentions it. And then there’s Jacob. He would be the child that jams out when music is playing in the house and starts a concert every time. I’ve said before that my Jacob has more in common with the fanon version of young Sirius Black than anyone else, and...yeah, it would take a lot of coaxing but he would convince Luca to rock out with him in some kind of duet. Maybe Gail would go first, just to help Luca feel less shy. Only to tell Jacob afterward “Yeah, this never happened.” And push Luca onto the dance floor. Course, once they actually start dancing, they forget their social anxiety because Jacob always makes them feel better.

As to what the songs would be? Well, we only know like, a handful of songs that wizards actually listen to because Celestina Warbeck and the Weird Sisters are the only two artists we really know of. But there are several invented musical artists that I’ve heard of “Stupify’d” is one, as well as the “Bent-Winged Snitches” seriously, that one makes me crack up. The Fawleys all grow up listening to Wizarding Wireless Network. But there are also the songs that the Frog Choir uses, and because the Fawleys all adore Professor Flitwick and I’m such a stan for the Prisoner of Azkaban film, I feel like a perfect song for any two of the three Fawleys to duet a dance to, would be “Double Trouble.” Seriously, Jacob and their Sibling dancing to that song. Tell me it’s not perfect.

17: If your MC had an Entrance/Walkout song (that played when they walked into a room, such as entering the Ball, or the Great Hall after break, or onto the Quidditch pitch if they play - guess this could also be considered a “theme” song) what would it be?

I feel like this is getting a bit more meta, and would have less to do with songs that actually play in-universe. But for cinematic moments, there’s always an awesome background music, right? If you think I haven’t widely considered the various background themes for the Fawleys in various situations, you are quite mistaken my friend! So let’s get to it!

First of all, Luca’s overall theme. It wouldn’t really work for the faster paced, more exciting moments...but this is the song of their soul. I found it fitting because “emotion” is the name of the game with Luca. Their greatest strength is the freedom of their emotions and the kindness they express. Gail’s overall theme is likewise pretty emotional, but quieter, and a bit more sinister because she tends to flirt with the dark side a little more, but she’s one of those characters who doesn’t believe that she’s done anything wrong. Ironically, I used the theme of a character who I’ve compared to Jacob in the past.

As for more victorious, happy moments...like Quidditch games or special events like the Ball, it’s a bit more difficult to say, but I know what Luca’s theme would be. Seriously, I can imagine this playing during a Quidditch game where they’re a chaser. It’s just perfect. Exciting but light hearted. Gail’s theme is still a bit up in the air, because she’s so much more ambiguous. Actually, I think I know just the song. This captures the erratic turmoil in her heart, that she always hides under calm elegance. Rakepick taught her well, after all.

18: If your Jacob had an Entrance/Walkout song, what would it be?

Speaking of ambiguity, I know what Jacob’s overall theme would be. This is the song that I can hear playing in all of the moments where Luca and/or Gail investigate his disappearance and learn about all the shady activities he was getting up to. Imagine this song playing when MC reads the note from R to Jacob, or his notebook where he talks about Rakepick. Meanwhile, I do have a song in mind for his more exciting scenes as well, like where he’s dancing, making an entrance, or flying in to a Quidditch game. You’re probably going to think I’m silly if you know this song, and even if you don’t - but it matches what a badass Jacob is, what a broken hero he’s always been. The ultimate renegade. This song signals that Duncan is dead and R has made a serious mistake. They’ve made an enemy of Jacob Fawley. He’s coming for them. The one they fear.

#Fandom Asks #Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery #HPHM Jacob's Sibling #HPHM Jacob #Hogwarts Mystery OC #Luca Fawley #Gail Fawley #The Fawley Twins

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johannesviii · 5 years

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Top 12 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2012

We’ve now entered the first year in a trio of fantastic years for hit songs, so yeah, it’s a top 12.

You won’t like some entries on this particular list.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

Still working in Paris in 2012. Getting rapidly fed up with that. In constant stress to pay the rent because the landlord is bad and refuses to pay for stuff he should actually be responsible for in the flat. Other than that? Life was pretty good. “Having Money(tm)” meant being able to actually eat decent food and my health started to improve. Also I adopted a cat. That’s also the year I discovered the French branch of the SCP Foundation and started to contribute a lot to it. I also made this Tumblr blog!

I subscribed to a magazine called Elegy which always came with a music sample, which was great to discover new and vaguely obscure stuff.

Quite a lot of notable albums that year: Some Nights by fun., Night Visions by Imagine Dragons, Monkey Me by Mylène Farmer, Living Things by Linkin Park (with poorly chosen singles unfortunately imho), Revelations by mind.in.a.box., Babel by Mumford & Sons, Neverworld’s End by Xandria, and most importantly, the dreamy and emotional Valtari by Sigur Ros and the dark and excellent Hide & Seek by The Birthday Massacre (even though my year was mostly ruled by Automatic (VNV Nation) that came out the previous year in 2011). Actually having money meant I could finally own the albums I had wanted for years, and you can bet the fact that I owned zero The Birthday Massacre albums even though I had loved their stuff since 2008 was quickly rectified.

Nothing too annoying as far as non-elligible songs go this time, apart from the fact that more stuff from Mylo Xyloto (Coldplay) should have charted higher, and that I kinda regret the absence of La Vie Est Belle by MC Solaar. Not even sure I would have put it on the list, but still, great song.

Honorable mentions first!

Dusty Men (Saule) - Nothing to say about this. Pretty cool.

Young And Wild And Free (Snoop Dog) - That is a super chill and nice song.

Happy (C2C) - At the time, my brother was part-time DJ and opened a gig for these guys, and I was so proud of him! And I was also really glad to see some of their songs become hits. Very good stuff.

Midnight City (M82) - Borderline annoying or very good, depending on my mood.

Burn It Down (Linkin Park) - As I said, my opinion is that the singles from that album were poorly chosen, and Castle of Glass should have been the first one because let’s face it, that song is fantastic. Burn it Down isn’t bad at all, though.

Glad You Came (The Wanted) - I love how this song is written and it’s a lot of fun to hear every sentence starting with the end of the previous one.

I Cry (Flo Rida) - A ton of energy, very propulsive song.

Domino (Jessie J) - There’s a shit ton of weird metaphors in there but it’s still a very solid song.

Princess of China (Coldplay ft Rihanna) - I know I keep going on and on about Mylo Xyloto and how weird it was that the biggest hits from the album weren’t at all its best songs, but still, that’s really good stuff.

Ho Hey (The Lumineers) - The last cut from the list. This song is adorable and always puts me in a good mood. It’s so cute it almost feels mean to leave it out of this top. It’s also elligible for 2013 but I had even less room on that list, so...

And now, a top 12.

12 - Diamonds (Rihanna)

US: #94 / FR: #5

Was considering leaving it out of the list, decided there was no way I could leave it out, realised there was no room left, and added a slot. Welcome to a top 12 instead of 10. But yeah, love that song even if it’s no longer on my playlist nowadays.

11 - Bangarang (Skrillex)

US: Not on the list / FR: #92

Yes.

The other reason this list was turned into a top 12 was to put Skrillex on it.

I’m not even remotely sorry.

Make fun of dubstep all you like, that track is an explosion of sharp colors and edges, like an audio version of edgy street art. It’s almost impossible for me to listen to it without miming the shapes of the sound with energetic gestures and some hand-flapping. Perfect stim music.

10 - Die Young (Kesha)

US: #85 / FR: #78

This is no Take It Off but it’s the next best thing available, and it’s catchy and has a lot of fun little details (like the dirty socks line), and also, unlike the previous two, it’s still on my mp3 player, so yeah, 10th spot is fair. I love a party song with some sort of apocalyptic mindset.

9 - Skyfall (Adele)

US: Not on the list / FR: #2

I usually don’t give a damn about James Bond movies but I sincerely loved that one, with its stakes becoming smaller and smaller and more personal as the story progressed, and most importantly, it had some visually striking colors near the end, and this wonderful, wonderful song. As I already said about the previous Adele song, I only like slow, emotional songs when there’s some energy behind them or at least some sort of dramatic atmosphere, and boy that’s some quality Drama(tm) right there.

8 - A l’Ombre (Mylène Farmer)

US: Not on the list / FR: #86

If C’est Une Belle Journée was the “last great Mylène Farmer song”, A l’Ombre might just be her best single released post 2003, at least imho. It’s only #8 because the general quality of hit songs in 2012 was insanely high, otherwise it would be way higher.

It’s about losing your identity and as you might already know I’m a sucker for that theme ; also the music video features Olivier de Sagazan, an artist who puts layers of clay, paint and mud on his own head and body to sculpt new faces, and it’s disturbing in all the best ways (obvious body horror tw for the link even if it’s clay and very abstract. Also there’s wolves. I’m just saying because I have one friend who’s scared of them).

7 - Thrift Shop (Macklemore)

US: Not on the list (#1 the very next year obviously) / FR: #7

Finally, a song about my favorite type of clothes: the cheap, comfy, unfashionable ones. With a great beat! And really fun lyrics! And a great music video! And a couple of actually insightful lines! Can’t even imagine how happy I would have been if this had dropped 3 years earlier back in university when I was still called “the hobo”.

I was still wearing that same old black coat from 2006 in 2012, mind you.

6 - Lights (Ellie Goulding)

US: #5 / FR: Not on the list

This song looks fantastic and, just like Fireflies by Owl City which to me looks exactly like fireflies flying in the night, it’s incredibly satisfying to hear a song titled “Lights” which looks like a series of pulsing semi-distant lights in the dark.

5 - We Are Young (fun.)

US: #3 / FR: #21

As far as favorite bands go, the 2000s charts gave me Linkin Park, Placebo, The Killers and My Chemical Romance. The 2010s charts were a bit less generous and only gave me fun., who’s own arrogance killed them right when they were at the top of their game and that’s nothing short of a tragedy considering how f█cking good their few hit songs were.

I guess your band either dies a hero, or it lives long enough to see itself become Imagine Dragons.

Oh well. At least we had some of the best songs (if not the best) of the 2010s while they were there.

4 - Turn Me On (David Guetta ft Nicki Minaj)

US: #35 / FR: #57

Ooooooh I bet some of you are furious this is placed 5 slots above Adele.

Listen. You know I love dance music, especially when it’s aggressive or with a darker edge. And yeah, that sounded like a lost Benassi Bros track, and it had a great (but way too short) rap bridge. You also know how literal-minded I am. So when I first heard Nicki Minaj’s voice with a ton of electronic distorsion saying “Make me come alive, come on and turn me on”, I didn’t picture anything sexy, but a robot. I’d rather pretend songs are about interesting things instead of generic supposedly sexy club anthems.

PLOT TWIST! As it turns out, the music video, instead of featuring some generic club stuff, featured everything I wanted and more: a weird, steampunk world of robots in which an inventor just created an android that looks way more alive than all the previous ones, and they all become jealous, and break his door down. With an axe.

Framing is everything. I absolutely love it. What a gift.

3 - It’s Time (Imagine Dragons)

US: #91 / FR: Not on the list

Believe it or not, I used to love Imagine Dragons. I still love the album Night Visions, which, apart from a couple of duds (like Demons, which is dreadful), is damn good. I don’t know what happened after that. I really don’t. Everything became slow, and heavy, and kind of boring. It worked fine for Radioactive, because that was a post-apocalyptic song, but when you try to apply the same formula to motivational songs, it simply doesn’t work.

Oh well. At least, for now, there was It’s Time. The music video, with people walking through a wasteland, is the perfect imagery for that song. Rebuild something new, but don’t change who you are. Things might get broken, but we’ll make art with them. We’ll plant trees over the graves of people who burnt them. Positive pessimism only, lads.

2 - Good Time (Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen)

US: #38 / FR: #40

The most innocent song about parties ever written. It IS always a good time when you listen to it. It reminded me of the parties at the campus at my job training the previous year, where we’d make dumb contests like “best disguise but if you buy anything you’re disqualified” and I made Freddy Krueger claws in papercraft and a friend won with his “emperor Nero” disguise which was basically a toga made with his bed sheets, a crown made with ivy he found outside, and him looking incredibly punchable on purpose.

It’s an incredibly cute song, it never outstays its welcome, always puts me in a good mood AND gives me some much needed energy. You already know I loved Owl City to begin with, even if I wanted him to have way more hit songs, and Carly Rae Jepsen was going to end on my playlist eventually, with several fantastic future songs. I’m glad this was a hit. They both deserved it.

1 - Some Nights (fun.)

US: #14 / FR: Not on the list (why. how. f█ck off)

There’s drums! There’s ‘woho-woho’s! There’s guitars! It’s a perfect pop-rock earworm that never ever gets annoying! There’s a goddamn solo made with an autotuned version of the singer yelling “aaaaaaa”!! What more can you possibly want from a hit song?

I’m saying this right now: this is my favorite elligible hit song of the entire decade. Spoilers, I know. The #1s for 2013 and 2014 both come really close, but they aren’t as anthemic as this one. What did we do to deserve something this f█cking good in that day and age? I have no clue, but clearly, we didn’t deserve more of that, because these guys split up very quickly.

Anyone know some kind of magic spell to bring them back for an encore?

Next up: The Year When Just About Everyone Dropped An Excellent Album

#Johannes’ bad not good pretty terrible music lists #music #long post

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comicteaparty · 5 years

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March 14th-March 20th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from March 14th, 2020 to March 20th, 2020. The chat focused on the following question:

How do you react to readers predicting your plot twists?

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Depends when they do. A page or two before it happens? Both of us get to feel clever. Yay! Months ahead? Well, obviously the thing I thought a a big twist ain't it, so I get to decide what other thing to focus on. I usually don't change the plot on reader predictions, but I can always change how a twist is presented from "Big surprise! Bet you didn't expect that" to "Well, ain't it neat to FINALLY have confirmation about that thing?"

Funnily, the best plottwist I ever wrote was in my now defunct comic. I thought it was obvious, but my few readers went "WOAH, didn't see THAT coming." So these days I try to just write the story and let the twists fall where they may.

Pistashi

ASDFPHIaewpf a friend of mine was reading my comic and he was making a lot of theories, a bunch of them was way off but he managed to be 100% accurate about one of his theories and I just started laughing nervously when he talked to me about it before it happened in the comic. This was years ago and the thing already happened and it's not a big deal anymore, but at the time I felt proud to write something that was obscure enough to not be on the reader's face but at the same time having someone figure it out after connecting the dots

I have little twists that happen in a more funny way, and it's usually used for comedy, and my readers seem to like it

but that's probably because of the expectations in humor coming from my writing style

which is usually bad puns and character reactions to absurd situations

and I agree witch chalcara, sometimes we can feel like we failed a plot twist when people see it from miles away

which is true, but sometimes even when they figure it out it's best to leave it as it is

I've seen a lot of writers fucking up their stories by changing plot twists that were stablished just because "people found out too early", and retconing a lot of the story in result

like, making a plot twist consists in creating some kind of foreshadowing

to make the twist not seem too forced and taken from nowhere

also to make it rewarding for those who searched deep for those clues

idk I love these little foreshadowing/clues we can leave for our readers

to make the twists even more powerful and meaningful

RebelVampire

I want to second a lot of the above. A plot twist should not be completely unguessable. Because if nobody guesses it, it means to most readers it's gonna feel like it makes no sense and came out of nowhere. The goal of a true twist is to have as few people as possible guess it but then when it's revealed, the reader smacks their head going "how could I miss all these clues."

Pistashi

exactly

Deo101 [Millennium]

Readers predicting things usually makes me lead with "oh no, I'm predictable!!!" And then makes me thing "wait, no, it means they're picking up on the hints I've left behind." Though sometimes it's predictable, like if someone guesses the actions of the next few pages, that's less of the readers picking up on hints and more just guessing right. But guessing big plot things, j think, is a reflection that I'm making things as clear as I need to, and I'm rather fond of it

Tantz Aerine (Without Moonlight)

99% of the times I am delighted if they guess the plot twist. I like it when I feel like my readers are on the same page as me (pun ...maybe not intended?) and see where things are going. Since my stuff is character driven, it tells me they can read the characters and their personalities well enough. However there was this one time when I had intentionally depicted something that was not going to be the historical norm (namely the p-51 mustangs' coats of paint on a cruiser in the opening scene of my WWII webcomic Brave Resistance). A war history buff called me out on it IMMEDIATELY saying "wait, these aren't how they're supposed to be!" and nearly spoiled the entire plot on page 2! I had to DM him to tell him to tone it down, and explain to him why the planes where the way they were. He apologized and stopped, but I'd wanted to throttle him for a while there

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I agree with Rebel re: the purpose of a plot twist. In that sense, though, I don't think my story even has plot twists. There is no moment anywhere in the story where I want the readers to go "how could I have missed all the clues!!!" ... On the spectrum of brainy vs hearty, my story is very close to the extreme end of hearty. Like, think of stories like The Little Prince or My Sweet Orange Tree. Even when unexpected things happen, it's never about the brilliant reveal. The most shocking thing in My Sweet Orange Tree comes out of nowhere, and it works for that book. Heart of Keol is a lot like those two in this regard. Not exactly the same, but pretty dang similar!

So back to the question, honestly? I want people to be able to guess. The usual bane of my existence is the opposite problem: people not knowing wtf is going on. My story isn't supposed to draw its strength from its surprises, so guess away (edited)

eli [a winged tale]

I love it when the reader guesses the gist of the plot twist a few pages just before the reveal. I sort of follow the novel structure idea that the reader should see what’s coming next right before it hits them, hence rewarding their investment in the story. Wild speculations without the clues I’ve planted are interesting. It does make me wonder if I relied too much on tropes or left too big of the crumbs. That being said, I’m not too fussed by readers predicting the general directions of the plot because it’s all about the character reactions. Could they predict that too? Maybe, to a degree. But there are a lot of subtext I try to write in my characters that give some nuances that I feel may entertain even those who guess correctly how the story would go. TL;DR: guess away. Love reading theories. The story is set so I won’t be changing anything big but perhaps layer the reveal with subtleties.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I've actually never had readers guess what's coming next. I mean, unless you count obvious, broad stuff (such as "the MCs get together"). I mean, it IS a romance. But in regards to big plot events, no one has gotten remotely close with their predictions (which kind of surprises me, because I drop clues everywhere). To be fair, I'm only a chapter in, so I guess it makes sense. But I am excited for the day when people finally guess

eli [a winged tale]

Same Cronaj! The predictions I’m speaking of are from my betas reading the entire script I love it when then go—- “omg this [plot point] must mean [reveal!]” .... right before the reveal

Feather J. Fern

If anyone does pick out certian plot twists I will be like "Yesssss people do think like me, I am not crazy" XD because most of my twists are all shown from the start through hidden background things so if people found them I am excited they took time and effort to figure out twists

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I love it. I haven’t been disappointed about it yet, and I don’t think I will be. It doesn’t make me change the twists at all - in fact, I’ve even shifted some story elements around to give the readers even more confirmation that they’re right, earlier on in the plot. I want to reward them with a treat, and now they can revel in their cleverness a bit longer Hee hee.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I love it too, but I don't change things to make readers more right like LadyLazuli does. Sometimes I'm tempted to, though! My readers have good ideas!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I like plot twists so I like to set a hint of them off early tbh (edited)

but I try not to make it too obivous :3c

tho for those who like to guess, I welcome it. I like hearing folks and their interpretations even if it's not what I'm going for too lol

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Admittedly, a lot of it is due to the nature of the medium. I know that webcomics take ages to get to major reveals or spoilers - I can wait to totally-confirm things, but I can't wait to... almost-confirm things? I don't want people to get tired or frustrated. I know I've gotten angry at anime shows that take 20 episodes to confirm something we guessed at episode 1, so I like when these things are all but confirmed early on. It can be really fun to know a secret that, maybe, the heroes don't know. It gives an extra layer of STOP, NO, DON'T GO IN THERE! in times of danger

But given my propensity to practically s c r e a m my spoilers to people who I can trust with the plot... a lot of it is just me bursting at the seams wanting to say YES YOU'RE CORRECT.

Patience and restraint. Essential things in webcomics

eli [a winged tale]

Indeed! So much patience needed I do love some excellent plot twists executed just chefs kiss

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Yes! I just want to tell readers, "Oh God, you're right! Good job!" But instead I usually respond with a ":)" or "I like this analysis!" Which I think is basically just confirming it. But if it's a real life friend? I cannot resist from telling them everything. I've even spilled spoilers in this chat before, trusting that most people here haven't read my comic. Kind of backfired when I reached a major plot point and someone commented, "She's been waiting to bust out this plot point for so long." Oops, guess someone did read my forum posts. But even if I did spoil things in the comments, is it really that big of a deal? I'm the kind of person where spoilers don't detract from my experience of things and sometimes even adds to it. But some people care about spoilers, so.(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

Haha yeah it’s honestly so freeing to just tell someone about the spoilers

Here’s what I have planned that will wreak the readers muahaha

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Past me could super relate to that! But these days I don't really want to TELL people? I'm not sure if that's because I've changed as a person, or if it's because this story is different from my previous ones. That being said, my patience is not infinite. I am itching to SHOW people. Can't wait to get to those Big Scenes

"Big" is a weird adjective here because they're very small scenes in some ways. Very intimate/personal

But... you guys know what I mean. The scenes that every longform webcomicker is dying to get to

Mei

Oh gosh, I agree that plot twists shouldn't be entirely out of the blue, since it's nice to have the hints that give people the crumbs to follow a trail. But like, since I write a lot of these chapters way in advance, and if I had the chance I'd love for them to be readable in one go as opposed to a page per week, I fear that I'm boring people with a predictable punchline? That being said, I get so many comments that predict the end of the chapter or the punchline or the joke. And I'm always like "haha maybe????" but inside i'm like "oh my god, they got me, THEY GOT ME"

Ohh yeah keii I get what you mean

the scenes you're like, checking your watch, checking your current pagecount, and thinking "soon I'll get to draw it, and it will be marvellous"

eli [a winged tale]

Oh gosh those scenes for me are at the finale

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

TBH last time I got to one of those scenes (which was very recent), my anxiety skyrocketed because I was expecting someone to say something harsh. Because it happened in all of the previous ones. But this time it went well, so hopefully the future ones will, too?

eli [a winged tale]

Yay!

Deo101 [Millennium]

I think for me, I worry more than anything that it will ruin things for other readers, rather than me worrying so much about someone guessing right or me sharing spoilers.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Someone DID say something harsh, but it was right before the actual scene and not about the scene and a lot of people got fed up with their attitude so I felt like it wasn't my fault, lol

eli [a winged tale]

Ruin things for other readers? Oh like someone predicting correctly in the comments?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Also yay! I always get anxiety about those kinds of scenes

Yes, someone predicting Something

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Well thought-out predictions are a lot of fun to read though, as a reader going through the comment section

eli [a winged tale]

I guess I stopped minding it and now embrace it they could be wrong or right and who knows until we get there~

Oh totally!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Oh I don't mind so much, but that doesn't mean I don't worry a bit too!

J like reading them for me, but I still think "I wonder if this will ruin it for someone else"

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Occasionally there are problems with Korean webcomics that were originally webnovels? Because people who've read the novel version sometimes spoil things in the comic comment section, and that's not cool. They're not even theorizing, they're straight up spoiling.

Deo101 [Millennium]

eli [a winged tale]

Oh no that’s bad

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

But if people are theorizing, and the theories turn out to be right, that's all very fun IMO!

Mei

ugh when people spoil things it irritates me to no end. Let people enjooy it for what it is!

and yes!! that's one of my fave things too

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, every reader is different though. I have some people who explicitly have asked me not to share spoilers, and others who kinda beg for them! So I worry if some people don't like to see predictions (I know my dad doesn't like when I guess things in a movie)

Mei

theorising, discussing with other fans, just chatting about what you think may or may not happen

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Sometimes you even see comments like "Hurry up, Konans! I'm too tired to think, so post some good interpretations/theories!" lol (Konan as in the detective... in Korea, it's a term for hardcore theorizers in webcomic comment sections)

Oh, I think movies are different

I don't want any form of verbal remarks while I'm watching a movie

Or like, if I'm marathonning a show with my bro, we're entirely silent except between episodes.

But comment section is like, you have to actually go there.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Some people might be like that for comics, too. Idk. I'm not trying to say i don't like to see theories I'm just trying to think of everything that makes me worry about them is all.

And for me, the biggest worry would be that someone seeing a prediction would make them enjoy my comic less. It doesn't mean I necessarily think it's all that common, but I refuse to say it won't happen I think

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Personally, I think that's not an issue unless you confirm the commenter's theories

like I've seen theories for things online where my first reaction is "that's dumb, that would never happen" and then it happens

some people will latch onto another person's theory, others will reject it, but i don't think people will take it as a spoiler in advance

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yeah, theories are just theories

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I mean I know some people don't even want to hear other readers' theories, but if they are that extreme, they need to avoid the comment section on their own IMO?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

like... cool, I respect your preferences, but you can't hold me responsible, pal!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Again I'm not trying to say I don't like theories or I don't want them I'm just trying to think of all potential issues with them

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Granted, I'm one of those people who will scroll through the comments and read theories because I like to see all the smart people reveal the clues to dumb people like me

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I can relate to that

@Deo101 [Millennium] Understandable! Just don't be too hard on yourself for things that you can't control

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Those geniuses that remember details from 30 chapters ago and somehow manage to connect the dots

Mei

Exactly! The comment section is there, but it's their choice to read it, and also like it's not your fault either? like they're not YOUR comments

haha in our RPG games sometimes people drop character plot hints way at the start of the campaign, and my friend will turn up, 7 months later, " remember when Character A said this? I remember"

and everyone's like "what the heck?!" some people are just detectives

they can see it, they see the matrix

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Anyway, I love when my readers theorize! I don't believe any reader has guessed any of the major plot twists in the first two books, despite there being enough evidence beforehand to make a guess (closest was "whatever zebugu's doing, it's not evil this time" but not the specifics of what he was doing). Though, if they had, I wouldn't mind, since that's max two years they gotta wait before the reveal (and that's assuming they guess it on the cover page lol). Book 3 is a different beast - strictly speaking, there's enough evidence for someone to predict both twists at the end of the book, right now. And... that may be an issue, given that this book will take over three years to reach those twists. So... we'll see if anyone guesses them. What's weirdest is when people guess things almost correctly with absolutely NO hints. And it's some super specific and minor thing like "Mizuki is secretly the reincarnation of a thousand-year-old dragon". Like... there haven't even been dragons mentioned in the comic up to this point. Nor any events from a thousand years ago. And like, that's not exactly the truth, but how do you get THAT close???(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

They see E V E R Y T H I N G

eli [a winged tale]

Sometimes it’s a trope thing? But yeah wild speculations can be so wild but so spot on

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

but there aren't any fantasy creatures in the comic, at all!

except a squid with feet!

eli [a winged tale]

Lol whaaaat then yea not sure where the dragon part came from then

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Sherlock Holmes readers lol

eli [a winged tale]

Yeah detective Conan lol

Deo101 [Millennium]

Joke gone awry

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

basically

Feather J. Fern

Well I mean I have crack theories about random people being random things too so...

I can see where they come from XD

sagaholmgaard

tbh I think my comic is fairly easy to predict as it has a pretty straightforward narrative xD but I don't have that many readers yet so maybe in the future! I would have fun reading people's guesses and predictions :D

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

AAA my readers right now are so accurate. They're so smart. They make me want to post my entire buffer right now and prove them right.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I wonder if anyone would be able to predict the next things happening in joe is dead

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I at least have no idea what's going to happen next but am looking forward to it anyways(edited)

🌈ERROR404 🌈

i know that it's only because TH is still quite new, and I haven't gotten to the meat of the story yet, but i like reading some of the really out there predictions and worries i get in some of the comments lol

AntiBunny

I will never tell someone if their guess is right or wrong, but if they do guess it, it probably means I'm foreshadowing well.

Then again I also find myself writing by the seat of my pants, so plans are subject to change.

kayotics

The original question mentions “plot twists” but I’m never trying to make a plot twist personally. I may intentionally obfuscate things, but I don’t ever try to do wild twists and turns. So when a reader predicts what will happen, I actually don’t mind, and I’m pretty happy that it’s following a logical chain of events. On the other hand, when readers are totally off base, I think that’s REALLY fun.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Most of my readers feel that my comics are twisty and surprising, but I often get at least one reader who correctly guesses what will happen, even if sometimes they’re joking or think their theory is wild and out there. Honestly it feels pretty awesome to have a reader shrewd enough to puzzle out the clues, because that means they’re really paying attention. I don’t have a very big audience and most of the time they’re silent, so anytime someone leaves a comment that is carefully thought out, it makes me really happy. As for the times readers joke or wildly speculate but inadvertently hit the nail right on the head, I find those very amusing. I really love stories with well done twists and turns, and so I try very hard to execute good plot twists that have enough foreshadowing to be ‘Aha!’ moments rather than ‘Where did that even come from?’ moments. So I love when readers are both properly misdirected AND when they pick up on the clues and deduce the twist.(edited)

DanitheCarutor

Does my comic have plot twists? I don't really think about it. People have correctly guessed things that will happen in a chapter, someone even guessed correctly on the climax when a character named Daniel was introduced... well, it was more like "I hope things don't turn out like -blank-!". I don't mind, just because they guessed something correctly doesn't mean they know how the story will go for sure, it just means that they're theorizing and that is something I always encourage. I don't think that means the story is boring or predictable either, some people are just really good at that stuff. Even though I don't think my comic is very mysterious/unpredictable it's still impressive when someone pays attention to all the little visual and dialogue details, then guessing correctly about a future event based on them. Nothing more flattering than someone enjoying your comic enough to analyze it.

Lmao! I can't tell you how many movies I've ruined for people because I guessed a plot twist correctly.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Haha, honestly same. I’m not allowed to make predictions during movies or TV shows anymore bc I almost always get it right. XD Webcomics I find a bit more unpredictable, though, because most of them aren’t nearly as formulaic as mainstream film.

DanitheCarutor

Yeah! Even if it's not obvious most of the time movies go by a pattern or set of traits, once you learn how they go a film or TV show becomes a lot more easy to figure out right away. The only time I'm stumped is when the movie is really surreal or absolutely awful. That's the nice thing about webcomics in a way. I assume a lot of creators haven't had professional training, and we want to tell a story more than be entertaining to the masses, so stories are less predictable. They don't always go by a formula, which can be refreshing.

Capitania do Azar

Aw man I would love to have some theories, but for the time unfortunately I don't I'm always super curious about how readers interpret things given they don't have an inside view of things

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #comic tea party #ctp #creator interview #comic creator interview #creator babble

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convenientalias · 6 years

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Bi Visibility Day Book Recs

@fucktheg0ds has inspired me to make a book rec post for Bi Visibility Day. So here are my top book recs with bi protagonists.

Short Version: Rulebreaker by Cathy Pegau, On the Rocks by Cynthia Dane and Hildred Billings, Big Man by Matthew J. Metzger, Off Limits by Vanessa North, The Song of Sir Chaucey by Katy Williams, and The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine.

Long version beneath the cut.

Rulebreaker by Cathy Pegau

This was the first f/f romance I ever loved. It’s a sci-fi spy romp, with a thief seducing an important woman in a futuristic corporation in order to get at her secrets. (Actually, I might be talking about it more for Dark Femslash Week because the dynamic is certainly interesting...) I loved it for the secrets and the angst and maybe a little bit the sexiness...it’s a Harlequin book so you know what you’re in for.

The POV character is bi. In fact, I think she tends to be more interested in guys than girls, but she’s still into her target...a little more than she should be lols. I like FMCs who like guys a bit more than girls, actually, because that’s pretty much where I fall on the Kinsey scale. So, relatable.

On the Rocks by Cynthia Dane and Hildred Billings

(Secret secret: Cynthia Dane and Hildred Billings are two pennames for the same author. And she’s amazing.)

If Rulebreaker was the first f/f romance I ever loved, On the Rocks is perhaps my favorite f/f romance to this day. It’s also fuckign long, clocking in at 528 pages, which I suspect is one reason I like it actually...the longer I spend with characters the more time I have to bond. Anyways it’s a contemporary novel about a billionaire businesswoman and her gold-digger girlfriend. It starts with the two in an established relationship and goes on to show the bumps along the way as their relationship goes from “rich woman and sugar baby” to something more serious. It also shows the businesswoman coming out of the closet and into a political spotlight because of her social status. Also there’s a lot of sex.

Why do I love this book so much? I don’t know. Maybe because the businesswoman MC is such a badass jerk, frustrated at dealing with her girlfriend’s feelings, angry at having to deal with the press and with the complications of coming out of the closet, and often casually insensitive or rude when it suits her. She’s a total alpha female, and I love those, especially when they’re the main character and given POV time instead of being relegated to love interest. But I’ve read other Billings books since this one with less alpha in them, and I’ve loved those too, so it might also just be Billings’ writing style.

Both MCs in this book are bi, and our businesswoman MC is in her first f/f relationship, which causes her a good deal of angst.

Big Man by Matthew J. Metzger

This one is, surprisingly, YA. It’s also m/m. I have less of a rant prepared since I read it fairly recently and have simpler feelings, but basically it’s a book about a cis boy who starts learning Muay Thai to fight off bullies and falls for a trans boy he meets at the gym. This also brings him to the realization that he’s bi. I know, it sounds problematic, but it’s handled really well, and the author is trans himself so just trust him.

I thought the relationship blooming between the two MCs was very sweet. It involves sexual exploration but in a way appropriate for a YA book, and I like the way Metzger describes attraction, and the complexity of attraction when you’re not yet sure whether you’re straight or gay or bi or what. Oh, and for extra bi points, the MC’s mom is also bi.

Off Limits by Vanessa North

This book actually came out today (September 24) but I was lucky enough to get an ARC and read it ahead of time. It’s a fairly simple romance. One MC works at a fancy club as the concierge but also has a secret night job in a raunchy band, and the other MC is a member of the club who sees her performing and falls in...lust? and then they almost hook up, but the concierge MC is like “oh wait you’re a client of the place I work at, that would probably be bad. we can’t hook up and also please never tell anyone I sing in a raunchy band k thanks bye.” BUT THEYRE STILL INTO EACH OTHER. How long can the concierge/singer’s double life go on?

I don’t remember whether it’s directly stated that the MCs are bi, but they’re both women, and we know the concierge has hooked up with men in the past and that the rich client MC is briefly unsure of the concierge’s gender and still is completely dtf. So I think they’re both bi. I’m gonna go with it.

The Song of Sir Chaucey by Katy Williams

This book!! It’s a novella and so underhyped! Like, not surprising bc it’s a small press piece about a genderfluid individual and it’s novella length but! My most underhyped fave! So basically our MC, Chaucey, is a knight who would be generally called biologically female, but his mom wants him to be a son for inheritance reasons and so raises him as a man. Chaucey isn’t sure whether he identifies as a man or a woman or both or neither and explores this for much of the book, which is a mix of romance and adventure.

Oh and Chaucey is bi. He has two love interests in the book, one male and one female.

The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine

And this, my final book, is the opposite of underhyped. But it’s not overhyped bc can you hype queer books enough I think not. It’s a fantasy YA novel about a girl who all her life has been told she’s destined to wield powerful magic and be the queen of her country, but turns out to be unable to wield said magic and is forced to flee for her life! And in the wildnerness, she discovers her abilities lie in a somewhat different area. Also she joins a rebellion, as you do.

Our MC is bi. She starts off the book crushing on a girl who spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler eventually dies. By the end of the book she’s kind of together with a guy? That might change tho, this is the first book of a series and I still haven’t read the sequel, which I hear has a different MC but is also queer.

This book is pretty well known and pretty just...around...so I bet you could get it at the library.

THOSE ARE MY BI BOOK RECS. GO FORTH AND READ.

#queer books

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samurailovewriter · 7 years

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Ieyasu’s MBTI Analysis P2

On request with @yuyuisakura (I have no idea why I can’t tag her, help). Once again, I’ve gone and listed some common strengths and weaknesses of INTJs to give a broad idea of what it is - taken from 16personalities. Since these are longer (MUCH longer), I will write when requested!

Strengths: quick, imaginative, strategic mind, high self-confidence, independent and decisive, hardworking and determined, open-minded, jack-of-all-trades

Weaknesses: Arrogant, judgmental, overly analytical, loathe highly structured envirnoments, clueless in romance.

Romance with an INTJ Ieyasu

Just in case everyone missed it: CLUELESS IN ROMANCE!!!!!

Yup. INTJs, considered one of THE smartest and THE sneakiest of the MBTIs, absolutely SUCKS when it comes to romantic relationships. Oh, don’t get me wrong. Ieyasu’s great when it comes to the necessary relationships: forging quick friendships, holding submissive positions, getting something short and sweet in regards to attraction for a brief amount of time - but DEEP, DEVELOPED romance? Not his strong point. Not. At. ALL.

The reason why is INTJs are so incredibly logical. Even the ones that aren’t too high on logic. Empathy does not come easy to them whatsoever, and in case anyone is curious - their right side of the brain AKA the emotional side NEVER gets fully developed, which is why they can be so bad at picking up emotional cues. They’re so based in logic, and that inability to connect with their own emotional side is exactly why they struggle so much with romances.

I think this is obvious enough to how it applies to Ieyasu in almost every single story he shows up in. I also noticed many of you took grief in the fact that Ieyasu’s words can be extremely hurtful and at times borderline or straight on abusive. However, though I do agree in certain areas when Ieyasu goes too far, other times that people have taken fault to - I didn’t find as big of a deal. Why? Because INTJs are NOTORIOUSLY known to say some of the cruelest things without batting an eye. When they get angry, they stick a sword right through your heart and your weak points because their logic catches your weaknesses so easily and know exactly what to say to “win” the fight. I say this because I know several INTJs as well as have a close relationship to one. When MC said “good thing I have a tough skin”, you really do have to around them. They don’t say these mean things to even be malicious: they say it b/c it’s FACT and LOGIC.

Case in point of what my own father said to me once: You were never meant to be in science. You’re too illogical and stupid to do it.

Before you guys jump in defense of me - relax. He said it in jest, and he wasn’t wrong either. I very much am not meant to be in science and would’ve been miserable if I did end up choosing that as my subject. These are the things that one MUST expect from INTJs, and it’s completely based on preference. One of my friends thought that was the meanest thing a parent could ever say , another thought it was HILARIOUS. Case in point, relationships with INTJs are not meant for the sensitive heart and soul.

So yes, it takes TIME. Lots and LOTS of time to develop a relationship that deeply. INTJs are extremely suspicious of the people around them, especially the ones with bad backgrounds. Their motto in life is that everyone is trying to do something for their own self-gain. True altruism doesn’t exist. And when you approach them, you can bet they think you’re here for self-gain as well. Which is why Ieyasu is so convinced, even now, that if he loses that title of Lord Tokugawa, his relationship with the MC is good as gone. It’s a long, arduous journey...but it’s worth it in the end.

One: you never have to worry about infidelity. Once they’ve locked in on someone, it’s locked as locked could be. Sure, they’ll make crude comments in a while of oh, this girl looks prettier or oh, you look so pathetic, but you can bet their eyes will never turn towards another person. Because to reach that point in their minds, you had to basically climb through distrust and logic and finally attachment.

Pay special attention to MC. She is an incredibly self-confident person, and even if the things he says beat her down, she literally climbs right back up. Sometimes, she knocks on Ieyasu’s door basically thinking to herself how she’s a dead woman, but she does it anyway because she simply knows what to do to get to the bottom of the conflict. Ieyasu’s not one to apologize in a fight neither will he ever go first. He’s too proud, and that pride is too important to him, so she caves and apologizes. That’s NOT weakness. Being able to make that first move in an argument is strength on its own. Remember that it takes two hands to clap - though where the fault lies might be more tipped to one side than the other, it doesn’t change the fact that she sometimes bites the bait.

And having someone to argue with is honestly a good thing. Ieyasu and INTJs as a whole have a lot of respect secretly for people who stand their ground while still flexible enough to see others’ point of views.

Positives about being in a relationship with Ieyasu and INTJs as a whole: they’re INCREDIBLY adorable on how bad they fumble to the romantic things. They’re not ones to look at you in the eye and be like “I love you” but they definitely try to show it in the most awkward ways possible. They’re also incredibly resourceful, always ready to learn and study on whatever new knowledge is necessary to keep up with the pace of the world (Ieyasu: weaponry, history, medicines, poisons, you name it). INTJs know the little tricks to life, bypassing lines, and will teach you to help you through it as well. And finally, they will definitely make your life more colorful, taking you to see new things before anyone else gets a chance to steal that away. I am willing to bet that if Ieyasu is in the modern world, he’s out there to get the newest technology just to not fall behind.

Ieyasu’s preferences: ENTP, ENFP

Based on MC, Ieyasu definitely needs someone who won’t buckle under his thorn pricked words, which immediately assigns an N girl. At the same time, because he’s so incredibly stubborn and J, MC is clearly much more flexible and doesn’t mind following his plans, which makes her a P. She’s also ready to be around him whenever he feels the need for human contact, never feeling tired or feeling discouraged, which makes her an E.

MC also has a PRETTY strong logical side! I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but every single time she turns the tables on him, she uses logic to get there. Ex: You don’t mind when I talk to the maids, right? Toramatsu’s just a page, so why should it matter if I talk to him? As a result, I listed ENTP before ENFP.

#samurai love ballad party #slbp #slbp ieyasu #slbp mbti

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bolt8826 · 7 years

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The Bidders and Karaoke: headcannon

Ah, here I am shit posting once more. Great. But I couldn’t get this out of my head.

Tagging the squad: @2bedroom-baddestbidderlove @catchthespade @maidofstars

Eisuke:

Songs: We all know he’s gonna sing some extra ass shit, I’m talking Celine Dion, Cher, Mariah Carey, and Christina Aguilera. And yes, he does the vocal riffs and nails them. Asshole

Performance: Its like he’s trying to seduce the crowd. Definitely some suggestive eyebrow action, and some hip swiveling happening (Shakira, Shakira indeed.) The Bidders and Mc are definitely uncomf.

Soryu Oh:

Songs: When Baba manages to push Soryu on stage he has no idea what any of the songs are. He’s a mobster, do you expect him to take time of of his busy schedule and listen to the songs on billboard 100? No, he’s got a criminal syndicate to expand goddamnit! So he just picks a random song and hopes for the best.

Performance: Unlike Eisuke, theres no hip swiveling, He actually has a nice baritone voice and is nice to listen to, or he would be, If he could get any of the lyrics right. Buddy, they’re right there. How?? But it’s okay, Mc comforts him by patting him on the back later. Bless.

Mitsunari Baba:

Songs: Ever the showman, Baba chooses songs he can perform to. The songs he picks range from oldies and classics, to contemporary stuff from any country, as he’s been exposed to that stuff through his work. He does love any song from Lady Gaga, Bad Romance being a favorite.

Performance: Baba has *tasteful* hip swiveling excuse you. His karaoke performances are on par with Gaga herself, albeit not as extravagant. But come on, you gotta give him a break, he got kicked out of the last karaoke bar for trying to sneak in strobe lights and a fog machine. And we aren’t even going to talk about the other bars. This is the last one he’s allowed to show his face in. At least the energy is there.

Ota Kisaki:

Songs: “Who let the dogs out?” ‘nuff said.

Performance: The bidders and Mc now know what hell sounds like. The angelic artist isn’t so angelic after all, much to the delight to the Mc. She records it and constantly spams the group chats with audio files. To sum in up in two words: Ear blood.

Mamoru Kishi:

Songs: He chooses a lot of J-pop, and K-pop songs. He has them all memorized because whenever he and his partner are out in the cop car his partner always plays these songs, so he just knows them really well. Great tunes to catch crooks to amirite? Hell yeah.

Performance: He just sort of awkwardly sways. Not necessarily in time to the music, but hey, at least he tries.

Shuichi Hishikura:

Songs: NATIONAL ANTHEMS ONLY. EVEN THE ONES THAT DON’T HAVE WORDS. HE JUST SORTA HUMS ALONG TO IT OR SINGS NONSENSE SOUNDS.

Performance: He doesn’t move. At all. Its like he’s dead. But like, he’s singing?

Hikaru Aihara:

Songs: Anime intros. He likes to duet with Mc on the sailor moon intro.

Performances: He gets so into it. Mc is worried he’s gonna erupt into a a ball of flames smh. Doesn’t help that he’s drunk off his ass on whiskey. (They all are, but Hikaru is such a lightweight, thats how Baba managed to get them all there. Mc isn’t drunk though, she has to be the designated driver and den mother. RIP)

Luke Foster:

Songs: HE DUETS WITH SHUICHI WHEN HE PICKS THE BRITISH NATIONAL ANTHEM. AND YOU BET YOUR ASS HE’S SALUTING. Other than that, he’s a fan of more mellow and slow tempo songs. Big fan of ballads. He actually knows a lot of music. During med-school he would listen to music when he was studying and he wouldn’t get distracted, being a genius and all. And the habit stuck so he’s really up to date on music surprisingly.

Performance: Like Soryu he has a nice baritone, but unlike Soryu, he gets the lyrics right. (Sorry dude, at least Samejima, Inui, and Mc were cheering you on). Luke actually stunned the bidders, like damn, I didn’t know you had it in you doc. He asks Mc what they’re talking about and she just hugs him and says he’s amazing, so he’s happy. Confused, but happy. (Whats new though?)

Mc:

Songs: She picks what ever makes her happy. Or whatever songs she gets dragged on stage to sing a duet to. That poor sunshine child, bless.

Performance: Like Mamoru, she’s a swayer, but she’s in time to the music. She has a really clear and high voice. Like a bird song. Its beautiful, brings a tear to the crowd’s eyes. The Bidders are sobbing.

#Hi Im grace and im trash #Lmao im so done #what have I created #eisuke ichinomiya #mamoru kishi #Luke Foster #luke forster #Mitsunari Baba #Ota Kisaki #hikaru aihara #shuichi hishikura #Soryu Oh #koichi samejima #ryosuke inui #voltage inc #voltage otome #voltage headcanon

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beatmyaudio · 4 years

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Gone Song Lyrics – Kanye West

Gone Song Lyrics

Gone Song Lyrics From Popular Hollywood Artist Kanye West from Late Registration Album.

This song is sung by singer ” Kanye West ” in Year .

Lyrics of Gone :

Wished I had told Ooh was (the) only one But it’s too late, it’s too late He’s gone You sweat her, and I ain’t talkin ’bout a Coogi You a big L, and I ain’t talkin ’bout Cool J See me at the airport, at least 20 Louis Treat me like the Prince and this my sweet brother Numpsay BROTHER NUMPSAY! Groupies sound too choosy Take ’em to the show and talk all through the movies Says she want diamonds, I took her to Ruby Tuesdays If we up in Friday’s, I still have it my way Too late, we, gone – we strivin home Gone – we ride on chrome It’s too late Y’all don’t want no prob from me What you rappers could get is a job from me Maybe you could be my intern, and in turn I’ll show you how I cook up summer, in the win-turr Aaron love the raw dog, when will he learn Caught somethin on the Usher tour he had to “Let it Burn” Plus he already got three chil’run Arguin over babysitters like, “Bitch – it’s yo’ turn!” Damn ‘Ye, it’d be stupid to ditch you Even your superficial raps is super official R-R-R-Roc Pastelle with Gucci on With TV’s in the ride, throw a movie on Said he couldn’t rap now he at the top with doobie long Cause the dookie’s on any song that they threw me on, gone We strivin home, gone I ride on chrome…… We strivin home, gone Killa, I ride on chrome Knock knock, who’s there? Killa Cam, Killa who? Killa Cam, hustler, grinder, gorilla true Oh my chinchilla blue, blue you ever dealt with a dealer Well here’s the deal ma we goin to the dealer booth No concealin, no ceiling I don’t need a roof Act up, get out, I don’t need you poof Poof, be gone, damn tough luck dag Dag, niggaz still doin puff puff pass Pull the truck up fast and I tell ’em Hey, back in a touched up Jag, shit Y’all niggaz want Killa Cam, cerebellum An old man just gon’ tell ’em (too late, he, gone) Then I see how y’all gonna react when I’m (gone) My last girl want me back then I’m on Fine stay, you got the grind hey Came back, read what the sign say (too late, he, gone) Yes I know you wanna see my demise Yeah you church boy actin like a thief in disguise Ain’t leavin my side, see the greed in my eyes Ask Abby y’all hustle for a week to the Chi, shit And that ain’t leavin alive, please believe me Gave Weezy a piece of the pie, and You can ask George or Regina The whole Westside I explore with the Beemer now We strivin home, I ride on chrome Listen homeboy move on That’s your best bet, why’s that? Cause Uhh, uhh, yo, yo I been pourin out some liquor for the fact that my pal’s gone And tryin to help his momma with the fact that her child gone And since we used to bubble like a tub full of Calgon Guess it’s only right that I should help her from now on But since they got a foul on, what coulda gone wrong Now they askin Cons, how long has this gone on And maybe all this money mighta gone to my head Cause they got me thinkin money mighta gone to the feds So I ain’t goin to the dread, but he’ll go on up to bed And when I came the next mornin he was gone with my bread And with that bein said, I had gone on my instincts And gone to the spots where they go to get mixed drinks But lookin back now shoulda gone to the crib And rented “Gone With the Wind,” cause I’da gone about 10 But I had gone with my friend, and we had gone to the bar And heard a nigga talkin shit so I had gone to the car And now the judge is tellin me that I had gone too far And now we gone for 20 years, doin time behind bars And since I gone to a cell for some petty crimes I guess I gone to the well one too many times, cause I’m gone Uh-uh-uh Uh-uh-uh uh uh onnn, uh uh-uh onnn Uh-uh onnn, uh uh-uh I’mmmm Ah-head of my time, sometimes years out So the powers that be won’t let me get my ideas out And that make me wanna get my advance out And move to Oklahoma and just live at my Aunt’s house Yeah, I romance the thought of leavin it all behind Kanye step away from the lime- -light, like, when I was on the grind In the “One, Nine, Nine, Nine” Before, model chicks was bendin over or Dealerships asked me Benz or Rover, man If I could just get one beat on Hova We could get up off this cheap-ass sofa What the summer of the Chi got to offer an 18-year-old Sell drugs or get a job, you gotta play gyro My dawg worked at Taco Bell, hooked us up plural Fired a week later the manager count the churros Sometimes I can’t believe it when I look up in the mirrow How we out in Europe, spendin Euros They claim you never know what you got ’til it’s GONE I know I got it, I don’t know what y’all on I’ma open up a store for aspiring MC’s Won’t sell ’em no dream, but the inspiration is free But if they ever flip sides like Anakin You’ll sell everything includin the mannequin They got a new bitch now you Jennifer Aniston Hold on I’ll handle it, don’t start panickin, stay calm Shorty’s at the door cause they need more Inspiration for they life, they souls, and they songs They said sorry Mr West is gone!

Gone Song Lyrics

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theliterateape · 6 years

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Our Weekend with Michael Jackson and R. Kelly

By David Himmel

The first rule of moving into a new place is to set up, even in a temporary location, the stereo. Good music sets the beat for organizing your new digs and allows for mini-dance parties as you determine which cabinet the coffee mugs will call home. This is what I did when Katie and I moved into our first and current apartment together.

Katie came with a record player. I had planned on buying one for myself just about the time we got serious, so when we moved in together, hers became mine, and I was Don Hall-excited about it. I could finally dust off my vinyl collection and give the discs a spin. The first one I chose was my original pressing of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. At about the third track, the Paul McCartney duet “The Girl is Mine,” Katie asked, “Who is this?”

“Who is this!?” I responded, astounded and slightly confused. “It’s Michael Jackson. It’s Thriller — the second best-selling album of all time.”

“Oh, I don’t like Michael Jackson.”

I immediately questioned our entire relationship and my taste in women. “What!? How can you not like Michael Jackson?”

“He’s super creepy.”

“Okay. But what about his music? You like his music, right?”

“Eh. It’s okay.”

Once my wave of panic broke, I realized why Katie’s opinion was what it was. She’s six years younger than me. She was born in 1986, a year before Bad was released. By the time she was old enough to purposefully consume music, MJ was well past the mercurial and eccentric pop god the majority of the world adored. Balancing the art and the artist wasn’t an issue for Katie because she never experienced Michael at his best, before the cracks in his façade began to show.

She admitted that his influence in pop music was undeniable and that she didn’t dislike his music, so I happily let the rest of the album play. As it did, I age-splained what Michael Jackson was like before the pedophilia stories broke and he dangled his child over a balcony and his face and skin looked like Vincent Price’s nightmares and he painfully French kissed Lisa Marie Presley on TV. I told her how I, like millions of children and adults, copied his dance moves as best we could, and how I listened to my Bad tape so much that I eventually wore it out and had to have my parents buy me a new one. I told her how we — the fans — let slide the strangeness of carrying Emanuel Lewis like a baby at the 1984 AMAs because, well, geniuses do strange things. Michael Jackson fandom was completely lost on her. And it makes perfect sense as to why. She was, ironically, too young to have been pulled in by the magnificence of Michael’s magnetism.

✶

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was a huge fan of hip-hop, R&B, and rap music. I sought that music out and consumed it ferociously and almost exclusively.

Throughout my pre-teen and early teenage years, I was so into the music that my bedroom walls were plastered in magazine clipping photos of my favorite artists: Bell Biv DeVoe, Boyz II Men, Father MC, En Vogue, TLC, Tony Terry, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Mary J. Blige, Postive K, R. Kelly, New Edition, 2Pac, etc. My father, standing with me in my room, once asked me, “Are you gay?”

“No. Why”

“You have all these pictures of men hanging up.”

“I like their music.”

“Do you want to be black?”

“I’ve never thought of that.”

I would rush home from junior high school every day (when I didn’t have band or spring musical rehearsal, or Hebrew school) to watch BET’s half-hour music video show. It played a lot of my music and a lot of music that wasn’t being played on radio. It introduced me to artists that were under the radar compared to what the rest of my friends were listening to. I reveled in knowing about music they didn’t. One artist, early on in his career, was R. Kelly.

The video for “She’s Got That Vibe” wowed me. The song was New Jack Swing perfection. The video was early ’90s cool. I wanted that CD. I needed that CD. Since I was only twelve years old and there was no internet, I was at the mercy of my parents driving me to the mall and other record stores to find the CD. No place we knew of carried it. One desk clerk at the Lincoln mall Sam Goody almost laughed at me when I asked him if they had R. Kelly’s album.

“Never heard of it.”

Oh, you will, I thought.

Soon after, a mailer from Columbia House arrived in our mailbox. “12 CDs for a Penny!” it advertised. I flipped through the pamphlet to see what they were offering and there it was: R. Kelly and the Public Announcement’s Born Into the ‘90s. I was sold. I told my parents I wanted to do it.

“It’s a scam,” my parents told me. I didn’t care. I wanted that album, and eleven other albums Columbia House had available for my listening pleasure. After the twelve CDs for a penny, I’d be locked in to purchase another set number of CDs at their price within a certain time period. I don’t remember what that was exactly, but I told my parents that I’d assume all financial responsibility. They decided to let me go forward on it, and in what may well be my most successful moment of money management, I met my requirements with no problem. Babysitting, cutting grass and saving my allowance money afforded me the ability to score stacks of amazing CDs.

When Born Into the ’90s arrived, I devoured it. Every single track was incredible. I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved that R. Kelly was from Chicago. I loved that his voice sounded unique against everything else out there. I loved that his songs were all about girls because I was all about girls.

Not long after I memorized every lyric on the album, I discovered the first clue that R. Kelly was a little odd. It had been there, right in my ears the whole time. Toward the end of “She’s Got that Vibe,” R. Kelly starts listing all the girls who “got that vibe.”

“… Stephanie's got it And Sabrina's got it Rachelle has got it yeah Gladys got it Fontina's got it Little cute Aaliyah's got it Ooh Stacy's got it I tell ya Tita's got it I tell ya Rita's got it Oh Laurel's got it And Kim's got it, yeah”

“Little cute Aaliyah’s got it.” Harmless the first few hundred times I heard it, but once Aaliyah came onto the scene, I had to pause. Aaliyah was my age — five months older. She was a child. Why would he be singing about a child having that vibe? I knew it had to have been that Aaliyah because I knew R. Kelly wrote and produced her first hit, “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.” Weird, I thought. But that was the extent of it. Because what did I know? I was twelve.

When R. Kelly’s second album, 12 Play dropped, I bought it immediately. This time Sam Goody had it. The songs were a whole lot sexier. While still a great album, I didn’t really understand why he was so fixated on screwing. Where was the romance I thought I heard on Born Into the ’90s? By the time his third album, R. Kelly was released, I had lost interest. In part because I had discovered punk rock and also because I couldn’t relate to much of what he was singing about. I was fifteen years old and horny as hell, but I couldn’t understand why R. Kelly seemed to be so incredibly horny. It was extreme.

I moved on. But I still would go back to those first two albums and play them. When the accusations about more inappropriate sexual activity and molestation and predatory behavior came to the surface, I wasn’t surprised at all. R. Kelly was a dangerous pervert from the very beginning and he’d been telling us about it every step of the way.

✶

In January, Katie and I watched the Lifetime documentary Surviving R, Kelly. It was, of course, disturbing and disgusting but it was hardly shocking. Similar to her experience with Michael Jackson, Katie never got into R. Kelly’s music, and though I told her of my love for the guy in the early ’90s, I was not inclined to promote his impact on music or make any case for separating the art from the artist because, for one, R. Kelly’s art was chock-full of his disgusting behavior and two, because while some have called R. Kelly a genius, he’s not. R. Kelly is no Michael Jackson.

As more stories about Jackson’s alleged pedophilia came to surface, I never once denied that it was wrong. But I never thought he was a predator. I always figured — like so many of us — that he was a product of his wonky childhood and was a broken man who didn’t know appropriate social behavior. He was the proverbial man-child — a little, lonely boy stuck in the body of a grown man. I believed that he did some inappropriate things like sleeping in the same bed with his boy fans and playing odd, pervy little kid games that kids might play when they’re just figuring out what their penises are for. But I never thought he was a rapist, a pedophile, a predator. He was just a really, really weird dude. The whole thing struck me as sad, and yes, gross.

When we watched Leaving Neverland, I did so with ever-increasing discomfort as the indisputable stories of rape, manipulation, and the twisted workings of a predator unfolded. When it was over, Katie asked me, “What do you think about Michael Jackson now?”

“He’s a fucking monster,” I said.

✶

I’ll still go back to Born Into the ’90s and 12 Play because when I do, I’m brought back to where I was at the time when they were new music. At this point, I now I’ll enjoy them even more once the sonofabitch is in jail. Proper justice makes everything sweeter. But is there still enough salt in R. Kelly’s music when I think about the damage he caused all of those girls and their families? Damn right.

Michael’s music doesn’t gross me out as much. It’s too much a part of my DNA. It’s too much a part of the world’s DNA. The influence of 1980s Michael Jackson is a through line in almost every single pop song since and will likely continue to be. My son is almost a year old and Thriller gets him dancing every single time. (I haven’t played any R. Kelly for him yet, so I’m not sure how he’ll like that stuff.) And when he’s old enough, I’m sure I’ll have to have The Talk with him. I imagine it’ll go something like this:

“Harry, Michael Jackson’s music is incredible. Appreciate that. But know that Michael Jackson was a horrifying person. He hurt people while singing about healing the world. People are complicated. His music may inspire you, but please don’t let the man behind the music inspire you. Unless we’re talking about Quincy Jones. Because as far as we know, Quincy Jones is still a stand-up guy.

I loved Michael Jackson growing up. And I can’t forgive him for what he did. It’s not really my place to forgive him because he didn’t hurt me or my family, but I still feel slighted by his foul behavior. So keep on dancing, my son. Get up off the wall, shake your body down to the ground, moonwalk, if you can, but know that even the greatest artists, our heroes, can be hideous monsters.”

Like so many of us who are or were Michael Jackson fans, I’ve been pouring over my relationship with him and his music. I’m not ashamed that I wasn’t fully committed to thinking he was a pedophile rapist. I needed the facts laid out before me.

But I’ll tell you this: even at the height of my adoration for the King of Pop, I never thought Captain EO was anything but wretchedly uncomfortable. Worse than kissing Lisa Marie.

#Michael Jackson #R. Kelly #Leaving Neverland #Surviving R. Kelly

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