#i read the 2009 comic and got sick in the head

[zombie-vodka]

stayed up past my bedtime last night doing some studies

[homestuckreplay]

some times video games, DOES CAUSE violence: Who Is Dave Strider?

Character Deep Dive 3 - 7/7/2009

TG: im wearing them ironically TG: because theyre awesome TG: the fact that theyre ironic makes them awesome TG: and vice versa TG: are you taking notes on how to be cool?? jesus get a fucking pen (p.110)

With an ‘OH PSYCHE’ and a dramatic sword slash into the digital world, Dave Strider made his dramatic entrance into Homestuck on June 29, 2009. We’ve previously seen a few of his instant messenger chats with John, which establish him as a disaffected and irony-poisoned guy who values the idea of being ‘cool’ and dismisses his friend’s earnest interests. Actually seeing Dave as a point of view character gives a very different impression - he's emotionally dependent on the people around him, doesn't have a strong sense of self, and is scared to express an earnest thought. And he's not even the tiniest bit cool.

Below the cut is an analysis of what we learn about Dave in the first 350 pages of Homestuck, through the framework of his stated interests on p.315. It's about 4.4k words because much like Dave, I can’t shut up.

1 - You have a penchant for spinning out UNBELIEVABLY ILL JAMS with your TURNTABLES AND MIXING GEAR.

Dave’s computer (p.323) has two desktop files for his jams - ‘ILL BEATS’ and ‘DOPE RHYMES. SO DOPE’ which I can only assume are two separate musical genres that Dave understands the nuance of, even while his listeners do not. However, despite Homestuck regularly featuring music as part of the story, we don’t hear any of Dave’s sick mixtapes. Instead, we make them for him (p.338) - meaning Dave’s first stated interest is one that the audience has control over. This is like if on page 4, each reader got to enter a list of movies for John to love, and those movies were substituted into the later comic, giving every reader a unique experience of John’s taste. 

John is established as someone who has a very specific taste, staying firm while other characters and the narration criticize him. Dave is established as easily influenced by other people’s creative impulses and opinions on art. Whether the reader seriously creates something they enjoy, or layers all 16 or 20 beats at once in an unlistenable mess, the next page still reads ‘Those beats were so fresh they belong in the produce aisle’ (p.339). Dave thinking whatever the reader does is cool is similar to him thinking whatever his bro does is cool, which he mentions throughout his pesterlogs and narration in reference to diverse topics like the sylladex, video games, and puppets. 

He’s also easily influenced by John, perhaps even gullible, as John’s talk of a monster pissing in apple juice at the factory is enough to get inside Dave’s head and stop him from drinking the bottle he was excited about, and Dave switches instantly from parroting the GameBro review of Sburb to believing that Sburb can save Rose’s life, based only on what John says. A big question I’m interested in with Dave is what he actually likes, and where to draw the line between his own interests and opinions, and those of other people that he copies without exploring for himself.

Dave being a technology guy is the first thing we learn about him because of his username, turntechGodhead. We see Dave protective of his turntables, not wanting to spill anything on them (p.315) and we see him refer to his technology by the model name, suggesting that the specifics of the tech are important to him (p.337). Three of Dave’s six stated interests relate to music - unbelievably ill jams, bands no-one’s heard of, and phat rhymes. As music was notably absent from John and Rose’s interests, despite them being skilled instrumentalists, this over-focus on music is really notable. Dave’s musical interests explore the full spectrum of creating vs appreciating music, with Dave creating remixes as the exact middle point, a form of creation that is based on incorporating other artists’ work that Dave enjoys. This is kind of perfect for him as someone whose personality might just be a remix of his brother’s. 

We get no sense of Dave being religious, so the ‘godhead’ in his name apparently refers to how Dave presents himself and his creations. He talks as though his opinions are objectively correct, even in narration, and describes himself as being ‘worshipped’, with people prostrating themselves before him and kissing his shoes. However, music itself can be a religious experience. In Christianity, for example, songs of praise are a form of worship and a way to bring believers closer to God, and all major world religions have their own musical traditions. In secular culture, for many people, music intensifies emotions, creates community, and can create feelings of reverence and catharsis similar to those experienced in religious worship (see this article and this deviation for examples). I can easily imagine Dave feeling the same way, and music being his truest expression of emotion and therefore the thing that hits him most deeply and defines his life.

2 - You like to rave about BANDS NO ONE'S EVER HEARD OF BUT YOU.

We are taking this one on faith, because so far, we haven't seen Dave raving about any bands. He does own an extensive and colorful record collection which he keeps beneath his turntables, but he hasn't looked at any, or given the reader a chance to rifle through them the way we did with John's game collection. This interest parallels Rose's 'RATHER OBSCURE LITERATURE', and similarly, I don't think Dave's bands are genuinely underground - they're probably well regarded indie bands who aren't in the pop charts. If I’m headcanoning Dave’s favorite bands it’s Dirty Projectors, Porcupine Tree, The Streets, Animal Collective, Modest Mouse and LCD Soundsystem. The only real world media we know for sure Dave likes is Starsky & Hutch (2004), and Ben Stiller as an actor. Some of Ben Stiller’s work is definitely ironic comedy, but it’s still fairly mainstream.

It's also possible that Dave already got his only three friends to listen to his obscure bands, and now they have heard of them, meaning Dave can no longer act smug and superior about being the only one that knows them. This is a tragic and self defeating prophecy, and there's no direct textual evidence for it, but I came up with the idea while thinking about the Midnight Crew comic. Dave has a poster and bedspread of this comic but '[hasn't] looked at it in a while' (p.327), so he's less of a fan than he used to be. John also reads Midnight Crew and its predecessor (p.112), so I wonder if Dave got John into mspaintadventures and it then lost its magic of being something cool to Dave. There is a real loneliness in not being able to share your interests with somebody for fear that it will ruin them somehow, or that other people won't understand them the same way - Dave also mentions that it's hard to explain the 'subtleties' of his ironic appreciation (p.318). John likes everything so earnestly in a way that seems uncomfortable for Dave.

3 - You collect WEIRD DEAD THINGS PRESERVED IN VARIOUS WAYS.

Much like the record collection, we can see evidence of Dave's weird dead things in his room, but it's not an interest he's explored in the comic. Page 337 gives us a good view of his specimens, which appear to include an embryo in a jar of liquid, an assortment of scorpions, centipedes and beetles encased in solid material, a fish encased in a different solid, and various rocks, fossils and bones just chilling on the shelf. We don't learn whether Dave collects and preserves the specimens himself or buys them like this, but I found guides online for preserving specimens as a hobby using commercially available supplies, and those sunglasses are kind of like safety goggles (or at least better than nothing). Either way, this interest sticks out - all the others are very typical for a selfconsciously cool indie guy, but even if it's ironic, this is some confirmed nerd shit.

I do think Weird Science will become important to Homestuck. John's interested in ectoBiology and paranormal lore, Rose lives next door to a mysterious laboratory and has the ethos of a mad scientist, and now Dave displays biological specimens on a shelf. I'm always thinking about how the comic is setting itself up to explore some fascinating dichotomies (spectrums?) like physical vs digital and technology vs religion, and I'm now adding art vs science to that list.

I also think we can interpret this interest non-literally, and think about what other things Dave might like to preserve. Vinyl was thought of as a dead medium for decades, until a recent indie resurgence that Dave is helping with. Photography, Dave's next interest, is a way of preserving a moment in time that can't be relived. And one popular argument for why the Internet is good is that while physical items like a paper book will degrade over time, digital data like a website can be preserved forever. Maybe part of the reason Dave feels a lot of responsibility towards his websites is because he knows that people could still be reading them decades or even centuries from now, when he himself is a weird dead thing. In a story where Sburb represents the near-limitless potential for creation and destruction, it is very interesting that Dave, the biggest Sburb hater, is associated with preservation.

4 - You are an AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER and operate your own MAKESHIFT DARKROOM.

Again, Dave hasn't discussed his photography, but his pictures are strung up around his room. This is fascinating because it implies that the makeshift darkroom is also Dave's actual room, not the bathroom or a spare room or closet. This might suggest that like John, Dave doesn't have much control over the rest of the house. His brother has puppets strung up in the hallway and bathroom, but Dave either isn't allowed to hang his photos there, or he's not comfortable hanging them where the rest of his family might see. It also suggests that Dave simply draws the blinds, switches off the lights and screens, and exists in his room in darkness, navigating by touch and memory alone. This might tie into how half his hobbies are related to sound, not sight - and Dave wearing sunglasses indoors could be a way of practicing finding his way around with reduced sight, or an effect of regularly doing so, if Dave spends enough time in darkness that he now struggles with bright lights.

Three of Dave's four visible photos are selfies of him in different poses, despite a host of interesting things to photograph in his room. I'm thinking of a line from House of Leaves where a character, famous for her smile, is described as practicing it every night in front of the mirror when she was fourteen. Dave is the same to me. He's regularly associated with muting and masking his emotions - for example, saying 'Nah.' to retrieving his arms from cinderblocks (p.313), where John and Rose had far stronger emotional reactions to similar commands (p.5, p.218). Dave photographing himself in the perfect expression or pose surgically designed to look effortless, then studying those photographs and iterating from there, is so easy to imagine.

Conversely, for someone who is so dedicated to concealing emotion to the point of wearing sunglasses and hiding his eyes even while alone, making art (like photography and music) is probably the only way Dave knows how to process his feelings. Sadly we are in a post-cassette tape world, but Dave is such a 'make a mixtape for his crush' type of guy that I can imagine him finding a bunch of limewire rips, compressing them into a zip file and emailing them to John, who replies like 'I don't know how to open this'.

5 - You maintain a number of IRONICALLY HUMOROUS BLOGS, WEBSITES, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING PROFILES.

We are treated to two of Dave's ironically humorous websites - sweet bro’s hella blog, a blogspot page, and SWEET BRO AND HELLA JEFF, a dot com that really exists (and redirects to the SBAHJ comic on mspaintadventures). This explains everything. A blogspot is one thing but owning a dot com makes you a Guy Who Owns Web Domains, which feels extremely cool despite being ultimately meaningless. These sites also establish how much Dave has to say - we see this in pesterlogs too, where Dave will message John every few minutes asking for updates on the Sburb beta (p. 26, 35, 110) or send twenty messages in a row even after John has said he’s leaving the chat (p.204). 

On sweet bro’s hella blog (p.325), Dave’s just yelling into the void with no real goal in mind, just an idea he thought would be funny. I do think his March review is pretty funny, but I also think Dave likes GameBro for real. He respects their opinions - ‘did you see how it got slammed in game bro????’ (p.26) - and changes the subject when John criticizes it. He’s also adopted the lexicon, as the GameBro review of Sburb (p.42) is written similarly to how Dave types. But mostly I’m interested in Dave’s blog’s followers. He has at least twelve, and maybe more. The Ghostbusters icon is almost certainly John, but none of the icons jump out as Rose or GG. They could be real people - or they could be more of Dave’s accounts, with him creating an extensive social network of characters who interact with each other’s posts ‘ironically’. If Dave is someone who craves social interaction, this could be a way he copes with loneliness.

In SWEET BRO AND HELLA JEFF (p.326), Dave is creating something. He’s a webcomic artist! He might even have been inspired by the Midnight Crew. He’s only made four comics so far, which I’ll call ‘stairs’, ‘HE HE HE’, ‘jelly’, and ‘BARACK’. These all feature two characters, who are presumably Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff, but it’s not defined which is which, so I’ll call them Red and Blue. Red’s mom makes an appearance in HE HE HE, and there’s a squirrel in BARACK, but these are side characters. The dynamic seems to be Red getting into situations, and Blue expositing/commentating on them. They are both gamers, might also be stoners, and Blue is possibly transmasc. BARACK suggests that the two characters might represent the American political parties, which makes sense, because the recent 2008 election is probably the first political moment Dave’s been old enough to have real knowledge and opinions on. 

SBAHJ is clearly intended to be near impossible to parse, filled with nonsensical dialog and plot points and horrific jpeg compression, so it’s extremely hard to analyze right now. I think this might be on purpose, and that part of Dave’s layers of irony are him not wanting people to learn too much about him through his art. The line between irony and sincerity is something really fascinating to me, because these concepts are so embedded into internet culture. Dave tells himself he’s making something that’s bad on purpose, and that he’s doing it ironically. But he actually believes that what he’s making is good. He thinks it’s good because of the irony, but he’s still making art that he’s proud of, he’s still showing vulnerability by posting it on the internet and getting people’s honest reactions, no matter how many layers he tries to cloak that in. 

Dave does think of his blog as a responsibility - ‘ive got a lot of shit on my plate, i am sort of a big deal ok?’ (p.333) - and I think that’s a really common feeling. Having any kind of following, even if it’s just John, his bro, and a couple of strangers on the internet, can easily turn into feeling like there’s an obligation to create content for them. If Dave’s cool bro has promoted Dave’s work, that becomes even more pressure, since those are people Dave probably wants to impress. So when he says he doesn’t have time to read Midnight Crew (p.332) or play Sburb with Rose (p.333), I don’t think he’s lying, or making himself out to be busier than he is.

Much like Dave’s sick beats (p.338), SBAHJ is the first time a Homestuck character has created something that also exists in our world. I think it’s very interesting that John, Rose and Dave all have meta roles to play in the story, but they are all different flavors of meta. John’s meta role is explicitly that of a character, but one that the reader, player, and narrator are all able to control at times through the various layers of the narrative (p.90, p.253, etc). Rose’s meta role is that of a player, able to control John’s environment in godlike ways and be immune to the commands of the Vagabond, another player (p.139, p.277, etc). Now, Dave’s meta role is that of the narrator, as he infodumps and exposits even when nobody is around, posts commentary, and creates an entirely separate narrative on his own website.

6 - And if the inspiration strikes, you won't hesitate to drop some PHAT RHYMES on a mofo and REPRESENT.

The phatness of rhymes can’t be quantified scientifically, but I did my best. I tried reading both of Dave’s raps aloud, doing my best to put them to a beat. The first four lines (p.287) went well, and it all fell apart from there. 

This didn’t feel like a fair test as I’d never usually read rap lyrics before listening to the song - so I read the lyrics to Lil Wayne’s 2008 song A Milli, and Kendrick Lamar’s 2009 remix of the same song, which I hadn’t listened to before. These were both much easier to read in rhythm, and when I listened to the songs afterwards, they were decently close to what I’d imagined. To further control the variables, I read Andrew Hussie’s 2005 comic And It Don’t Stop, which centers around rap battles. Here, too, the rhymes and rhythms are crisp - so this is a Dave issue, and not an author issue.

Dave is trying to use the word ‘McConaughey’ in a rap. He is probably inspired by far more experienced rappers who might be able to pull that off, but Dave definitely can’t. I think he’s skipping steps and trying to make something complex before he has the basics nailed down. His raps also highlight how self centered he is, much like his infinite recursion of ironic websites. John reveals that his life was in danger, and Dave’s instant reaction is: ‘how can I make this about my art?��� 

However, I’m concerned about the cultural implications of Dave’s raps. We don’t know Dave’s race and he definitely could be black, but there’s no specific indication of that. He’s represented in #ffffff, which is closer to a white skin tone than any other - many black and white comics use shading to denote a dark skinned character. Due to the nature of white privilege, white is culturally seen as the ‘default’ or ‘unraced’ option. In books, race or skin tone will be described for characters of color but not mentioned for white characters, and both Lego and The Simpsons use yellow skin for the majority of their characters as an ostensibly universal option, but still depict characters of color with brown skin tones, implying that the default yellow actually means white. 

Written by a white author, it’s likely that Homestuck has the same problem - and two factors make this even more concerning. The first is And It Don’t Stop, which was co-created by Black artist Tauhid Bondia, but was entirely written by white artist Andrew Hussie. The comic includes multiple instances of the n-word as well as a couple other race related jokes. The second is Dave’s raps themselves, one of which is an irreverent analysis of black presidents in movies at the start of the Obama era. Real life black people have incredibly varied opinions on race and politics, but Dave is a fictional character, and even if he is intended to be textually black, it’s uncomfortable for a white author to write him rapping about living in a post-racism world. 

I think it’s likely that the author - and by extension, Dave himself - are justifying their racism by claiming that it’s ironic and doesn’t represent their actual beliefs, failing to see that the effects of their words are exactly the same. I can give Dave the benefit of the doubt because he is 13 years old and doesn’t exist, but I think the very real 29 year old creator of this work should do better.

7 - The Absence of Gaming

John and Rose shared one common interest, which was video games. We know that Dave reads GameBro, owns the Sburb beta, and has played Problem Sleuth and And It Don’t Stop with John (or at least enjoys the art of these games). And yet, he doesn’t cite gaming as an interest, which I've been puzzling and theorizing over in my mind.

Dave likes gaming unironically and loves playing games with John. He reads GameBro to find out what the Correct Contrarian Takes are that’ll be socially acceptable in Cool Guy Circles. He does this to keep up with his bro, who he has a ‘campaign of one-upmanship’ with (p.314) not dissimilar from the Prankster’s Gambit between John and his dad, and who plays a very important role in his life. The magazine is called GameBro, Dave’s comic features Sweet Bro, and Dave effusively compliments his brother in both pesterlogs and narration, such as ‘my bro taught me a few tricks he basically knows everything and is awesome’ (p.35). 

Dave tells John to brush up on his data structures and allocate his strife specibus, but never actually demonstrates his own knowledge of data structures, and doesn’t know the specific procedure for allocating the specibus (p.35). Dave’s not an expert himself, he’s just parroting the sylladex tricks his bro taught to him. Dave never states a reason for his disinterest in Sburb beyond ‘it sounds so HELLS of boring’ (p.110), and we know that Dave’s bro also doesn’t plan on playing Sburb (p.314). Dave also implies that he’s a little bit scared of his brother with the mildly threatening ‘hes not gonna be happy about [my taking his Sburb discs]’ (p.294).

It’s highly possible that Dave’s love of irony also comes directly from imitating his bro, who is probably a 16 year old high schooler involved in a weird theater kid subculture, based on typical sibling age gaps and the puppets strung around the house. To Dave at 13, of course an older, alternative teen is going to be the absolute height of cool, even while it all looks silly to an outsider. I think that John’s stack modus is actually a very standard option for a sylladex, and that Dave and his bro are the weird ones insisting that hash map is usable - I can imagine them being like ‘why is everyone always using “plates” and “bowls”? I eat all of my meals out of aluminum foil folded into the right shapes.’ 

Dave’s post-ironic hipsterism isn’t exclusive to men, of course, but it is a very specific type of masculinity - ironic sexism is a known phenomenon. Dave, who confines his emotions to an expressionless nod, solves the minor problem of someone getting his name wrong by making a violent sword attack, and makes gay jokes but gets defensive the second someone suggests that he might be gay, is definitely falling into some toxic masculinity. 

Gender roles (both male and female) are unachievable ideals for even the most cisgender and perisex of people, but I think there’s a reading of Dave as a transgender man who came out when he was young and passes well, but always has to put in more work than the other men around him, because he has to work against biology and other people’s perception of his gender. Whether Dave is trans or cis, I think his ninja sword could be a metaphor for masculinity - it’s allocated to his strife specibus, but his actual strife portfolio is empty, and the sword is displayed on the wall. To me this says that Dave is a man, but he’s more concerned with the outward performance of masculinity than actually buying into those gender roles.

Final Thoughts

Just like Rose, Dave has meticulously crafted the personality he wants to have, but there are plenty of cracks in his facade. All three of our main characters so far are easy to understand and easy to relate to - right from their early appearances, we can see the clear disconnects between characters’ words, thoughts and actions, and effortlessly synthesize them into a coherent character. The author is simply gifted at characterization. The patterns of character introductions are very cool too, making readers both want and expect to see certain things, such as the characters allocating their strife specibus or playing a haunting tune (personally I’m most excited to explore Rose and Dave’s houses further like we have John’s). Establishing these patterns means I have a better sense of where the story is, and don’t have as many questions, though of course some mysteries remain, such as:

Just what is Dave’s cool brother’s deal, really? 

Will Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff (the characters) eventually cross the boundary into the Homestuck universe? Will we ever find out which one is which? 

Are the characters’ interests intended to be things they’re bad at (when they’re skills)? Could this be why music isn’t featured in John and Rose’s lists of interests, but is in Dave’s? Could this mean that Dave kicks ass at video games? 

To what extent are the images in Homestuck literal and to what extent are they representational? Or, in other words, do Dave’s sunglasses really gleam when we get his name right?

Dave’s message to John about apple juice (p.324) is almost identically worded to the preceding narration (p.320). Is the narration a perfect representation of character thoughts for everyone all the time, or is this only true for Dave because he’s positioned closer to the narrator?

[redrikki]

2019 In Review

In 2019, I wrote 30 stories in 13 fandoms. Here's a breakdown by month. January Parting Strands She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Looking out for each other had been their thing, but Adora's starting to suspect that's over. Her thoughts during that scene in "Promise." (Adora, Catra) February Second Wind Star Wars Ahsoka takes the wrong exit from the world between worlds and ends up with a second chance to save her master. (Ahsoka Tano, Shmi Skywalker) A Modest Proposal Agent Carter The mess with Vernon Masters has left Daniel's office short staffed, but he has some replacements in mind. (Daniel Sousa/Peggy Carter, Edwin Jervis) Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree Agent Carter Three people who thought Peggy Carter and Edwin Jervis were having an affair and one who knew better (Peggy Carter, Edwin Jervis/Ana Jervis, Angie Martinelli, Jack Thompson, Daniel Sousa) For Amidala Star Wars Her handmaidens had all poured so much of themselves into Amidala, it was like they were part of her now. Padmé didn't know if she had the strength to let one go. (Padmé Amidala/Naboo handmaidens) Comic Book Life Black Lightning (TV) Comic book Thunder's boyfriend knew what his woman did, so why couldn't Anissa tell her girlfriend? (Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi) After the Funeral Star Wars Han offers Luke some unexpected support after the funeral of the guy who tortured him. (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo) March Bursts of Stardust III Star Wars A collection of seven short stories from tumblr. (Anakin Skywalker/Padmé Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Sheev Palpatine, Jedi) April Peanut Butter and Marshmallows Umbrella Academy (TV) Stuck in the apocalypse, Five reads about Vanya leaving him sandwiches. (Five Hargreeves, Dolores) May Heroes for Ghosts Umbrella Academy (TV) Eudora waits for Diego and things go very differently. (Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves, Eudora Patch, Hazel, Cha-Cha, Various ghosts) June Good Housekeeping Misfits (TV 2009) It’s been months since his mum kicked him out, but at least Nathan hasn’t sunk to sleeping under the flyover. He's got a good thing going at the community center and means to keep it. (Nathan Young) The Beast You Made of Me DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV) The Waverider's resident shapeshifters compare notes. (Mona Wu, Charlie) July Truth Will Out Black Lightning (TV) Three times Anissa thought about telling Grace and one time she did. (Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi, Lynn Stewart, Jennifer Pierce) Iconic Umbrella Academy (TV) When Vanya learns Klaus is gay from an article in a teen magazine, she's upset for more than a few reasons. (Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves) The One You'll Know By Batman (Comics) After losing his memory, Bruce asked Alfred not to tell him about his vigilante life, but he's beginning to think his butler left a few other things out. Like, say, his kids. (Bruce Wayne, Lucius Fox, Duke Thomas, Alfred Pennyworth, Damian Wayne) August Feed Your Head Umbrella Academy (TV) Three shitty things young Klaus did for drugs and one thing they did for him. (Klaus Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves, Grace Hargreeves) September One Last Kiss (The Final Storm Remix) Agent Carter (TV) You never forget your first kiss with your nemesis. Dottie won't forget her last either. At Howard Stark's funeral, she puts a few things in the ground. (Dottie Underwood/Peggy Carter) Playing With Fire (The Dubiously Consensual Remix) Avatar: The Last Airbender People don't tell Azula no. (Azula/Ty Lee) Neither Should You (The Real People Remix) DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV) Rescuing her clones was the right thing to do. They deserved the right to live their lives and make their own choices. Ava just wished they’d stop sleeping with Gary. (Ava Sharpe/Sara Lance, Ava clones/Gray Green) October It Lingers Stranger Things (TV) The Mind Flayer is gone, but El can still feel it clawing underneath her skin. (Eleven, Joyce Byers, Will Byers, Jonathan Byers) When Evil Rains Umbrella Academy (TV) A hostage situation goes sideways. (Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves) The Good Soldier She-Ra and the Princesses of Power On the sliding scale between perfect soldier Adora and useless malcontent Catra, Lonnie was closer to the Adora end of the spectrum. How the hell had Catra made Force Captain before her? Catra was just going crash and burn and Lonnie? Lonnie would let her. (Lonnie, Catra, Kyle, Rogelio, Scorpia) Seismic Shift The Broken Earth Series - N.K. Jemisin Schaffa tells himself he will stop if Eitz says no. This one will be allowed to say no. The boy says nothing at all. (Schaffa/Eitz) Trigger Warning: child sex abuse Date Night Stranger Things (TV) Everyone and her mother seems to think they're together and Robin's getting pretty sick of it. (Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington, The Party) Intrepid Reporter Miraculous Ladybug Alya won't let a little thing like danger stop her from reporting the truth. (Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Ladybug) Better Than Ice Cream Miraculous Ladybug Orange, mint, and raspberry could be a tasty combination. The solution to every love triangle should be polyamory, but sometimes it's just not that simple. Spoilers for Love-Eater. (Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Kagami Tsurugi) November St. Athanase Day Miraculous Ladybug Adrien and Marinette's beret the second time around. She always forgets the card, but she still signs her work. (Adrien Agreste, Plagg) December No Sleep Til Hawkmoth Miraculous Ladybug An overly caffeinated epiphany helps narrow down Alya's search for Hawkmoth. (Alya Césaire, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Chloé Bourgeois, Nino Lahiffe) One Last Leap Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse Telling his parents he's Spider-Man is a leap of faith Miles can't bring himself to take. (Miles Morales, Rio Morales, Jefferson Davis, May Parker) The (Non)Haunting of Nathan Young Misfits (TV) And to think he’d scoffed when Simon had tried to warn him. Everyone you love will die. What a laugh, right? Christ, he’s been such an idiot. (Nathan Young/Kelly Bailey)

[ancientbooshartifacts]

It's Not a Dirty Word

Author: Glitter_Slut_X

Year: 2009

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Howince

Thump! Thump!

Howard sat up, disoriented and glanced over at the clock. It read 3:47am. He stilled his breathing for a moment as silence prevailed, then it happened again.

Thump! Thump!

Little squealing noises were coming from the room next to him. Vince's room, he realised, fully adjusted to the dim light after being so rudely jerked out of a deep sleep.

“Ohhh! Yeaaaah, harder harder, oh God!”

Even though nobody was in the room with him, Howard felt his whole face burning with embarrassment. He didn't doubt what was going on in the room next to him. Hell, he'd heard Vince having sex plenty of times before, he'd think he'd be used to it by now, but there was something unsettling about this particular time. Usually it was the girls Vince brought home that would scream and moan their way through the night, the distinct feminine and high-pitched voices would give it away, but this time, the noises that were being elicited from the room across were unmistakably from... a man. And this man was Vince.

Which meant he was the one being fucked.

Which, in turn, meant that the person who was fucking him was another man.

Another throaty groan filled the air, and loud, hard slaps followed a split second after. Howard put a pillow around his head, and over his ears in an effort to drown out the sound. But no avail. Vince was very loud. Howard sighed.

10 minutes later, Vince and his staminate companion were still at it, and by this time, Howard was quickly losing patience. He was so tired, he felt sick and he just knew he would fall asleep in a split second only if those two weren't thumping away next door. It was kinda wrong, but he knew if he wanted to get any sleep, he would have to give them a bit of a talking to.

* *

Okay, so the “talking to” didn't quite go as planned. In fact, if “standing outside Vince's room and listening in” meant giving a “talking to,” which it doesn't, then Howard was doing exactly that. He knew deep down that he felt like the biggest pervert in the world, but he tried dissipate this theory by convincing himself that he was just “waiting for the right opportunity” to tell Vince to keep it down. He pressed his ear harder against the wooden door... all in the name of catching the right opportunity, of course.

“Hold on, swap positions.” He heard Vince's darkened voice say, followed by some rustling and wet, sucking sounds.

“Eh yeahh... just... just a bit harder... can-can you... touch me... no, not there... in my... yeah... now crook your fingers a bit and OH FUCK, I'M COMING!!”

Howard's eyes widened as he heard the filthiest, most perverse words and sounds spill from Vince's mouth, and before he knew it, a cheerful, bobbing erection was jutting out from his pyjama pants. He didn't know if he should be shocked or disgusted by the fact, but before he could stop himself, he had slowly turned the doorknob and peeked through the tiny gap (see, there are some advantages of having small eyes), just in time to see a thin stranger slide his turgid cock inside Vince. The first thrust made Vince pant, the second made him cry out, and on the third, he threw his head back, giving Howard a clear view of his expression; his raven locks glistening with perspiration, red mouth wide open, sultry eyes squeezed shut as he rocked back and forth against the man's penis.

This was wrong.

This was so incredibly wrong.

Here he was, Howard watching his best friend having sex uninvited, and he was getting turned on by it. Yes, he was fucking getting off on it, Vince being fucked hard and thrown around the bed by some faceless stranger. Howard eyes flickered down to Vince's angry-looking, leaking erection and watched in captivation as he jerked himself in tandem with the strangers thrusts.

“Fuck me! I'm not fragile, come on, I love it rough!”

Howard couldn't imagine how Vince could be physically capable of taking it any harder. He'd explored his own lower anatomy before and found one finger up there excruciatingly painful. He couldn't imagine having a 7-8 inch cock up there, let alone it being pleasurable by any means.

Howard's cock was leaking through his pyjama pants now, and he itched to touch himself. He watched as Vince wanked himself frantically, whispering “s'close, s'close.”

Howard was touching himself now, a cool hand down his pyjama pants, wrapping around his hard, aching cock. He resisted the urge to groan in pleasure, so he bit his lip, stifling any sounds.

If Naboo or Bollo were to walk past right now, Howard would have a hell of a lot of explaining to do. And considering the close proximity of their rooms to Vince's, it was a likely scenario.

Oh well, fuck it.

Howard was practically thrusting into his palm now, unconsciously in time with Vince's jerks. He was so close, he could feel the heat spread in waves through his body, rushing toward his groin. Vince came with a silent cry, blue, glistening eyes shooting wide open as a stream of milky cum spurted from his cock and splattered onto his hand and sheets below. Howard clenched his teeth, praying to Mary-mother-of-fucking-God not to make a sound as his balls tightened, and the heat boiled over in his crotch, spurting all over his hand and probably the carpet beneath. As Vince collapsed onto the strangers chest, Howard hurried back to his room and climbed into bed, fighting the urge to cry with shame as Vince's soft snores filled his synapses.

He didn't get back to sleep that night.

* *

Howard's eyes followed the blonde stranger as he leant down and pecked Vince on the lips before striding out of the front door. He made a face as Vince strutted back to the kitchen with the biggest I-got-laid-last-night-and-it-was-fucking-fantastic look on his face, humming along as he buttered a warm croissant.

This was awkward.

Even though Vince was acting like Howard was merely an inanimate object in his presence, Howard still felt embarrassed. His mind whirled with paranoid thoughts. Maybe Vince was deliberately ignoring him because he saw Howard spying on him last night? Nah, he realised after a moment. If Vince did catch him out, he would definitely know about it, and so would the rest of the world.

Vince plonked himself down opposite Howard and started gnawing on his croissant.

“Ma Gooe 'oward, oo 'ould've seen mphfff, mpphhff-”

“For fuck sake, don't speak with your mouth full!”

Vince looked taken back, staring at Howard in shock with his cheeks comically puffed and cream smeared around his mouth. In fact, Howard was a bit taken back aswell. He had no idea where that outburst came from. Vince swallowed, still staring stupidly. Howard wished he wouldn't do that. Vince's outrageously large eyes made him extremely nervous.

“I-I'm sorry, shouldn't of snapped like that. I'm just a bit tired, is all...” Howard apologised, grimacing. Don't look at me like that, just please, don't.

“Oh, so you did hear me and that spunk rat going at it?” Vince was smiling now, not in a good way though. It was the kind of smile that sent shivers down Howard's spine.

“What-no.” Howard denied. “I was just-I had too much coffee, I wasn't listening-I didn't even-”

“'S okay, we were pretty loud. If it makes you feel be'er I'm tired as all hell, and my ass kills. Imagine that?”

He laughed, and took another bite of his croissant. Howard felt something tingly and warm spread throughout his body as he watched Vince lick the cream off his lips slowly, and then put his fingertip into the streaming pastry, bringing another dollop of cream to his lips, sucking it off his finger tauntingly.

“How the fuck can that feel good!?” Howard blurted out. Vince glanced up, looking perplexed.

“Huh?”

“You know, having something up there...”

Vince cocked his head.

“Oh, bumming, sodomy, buggery, having a penis in your anus for Christ sake!” Howard exclaimed, feeling his cheeks heat up. Vince's expression went from perplexed to amused.

“Why? D'ya wanna find out?” Vince said huskily, leaning toward Howard.

“What!? Certainly not!” Howard cried, screwing his face up in disgust. What? He didn't actually want to- did he?

“So you DID listen in last night. Did you like the way I moaned? Did you touch yourself while thinking of me, doing it, getting fucked hard and so good?”

“Well, I-” Howard's mind was swimming, and Vince grinning victoriously wasn't helping. He knew it was over, that this was the pinnacle of his shame, that Vince was going to tell everyone that he was a closet gay virgin who perved on his best friend.

“Do you want me to show you how good it can be? Do you want me to fuck you?”

There it was. Vince was practically touching lips to his right now. He could feel his erection poke through his jeans, wanting attention.

“Know you want it, you dirty bitch.” Oh Lordy, now Vince was grabbing at his crotch, massaging it firmly, sending waves of pleasure throughout his body.

“V-Vince, you can't just touch somebody on their penis without asking and oh-” Howard's eyes rolled back into their sockets as Vince unpopped the buttons of his beige pants and dipped a cool hand beneath, fingertips dancing over the turgid flesh inside.

“Mmm, that alright?” Vince whispered, panting as he stroked Howard's impression erection.

“Mm, good, I-I mean, don't you think th-this a bit forward, at least let me t-take you out to dinner fir-”

“Oh shut-it Howard. Want to fuck you. Get those clothes off now.”

Howard nodded dumbly and practically ripped his vest and trousers off. He blushed as Vince eyed up and down his naked body, licking his glossed lips.

“You're well equipped, ain't you Moon?”

Howard felt his chest swell with pride at these words, but this was soon forgotten when Vince slinked forward and wrapped a hand around the base of his cock. An unmanly noise left Howard's mouth as Vince wet his lips and took the tip into his mouth, sucking lightly.

“C-Christy!” Howard blurted out, bucking upwards into Vince's hot mouth. He felt Vince laugh around his penis and suck harder. After a few delicious moments, Vince withdrew, much to Howard's distress, and peered up, smiling cheekily.

“Mmm, you taste good.” He purred, licking his lips. “Now, I'm gonna do something now, but you can't get freaked out okay?”

Christ Vince, you can do anything you bloody well want, just, for all things sacred and holy, don't stop doing that thing you were doing with your mouth! Howard had the urge to scream this, but instead resorted to merely nodding. Looking satisfied, Vince took two fingers to his mouth and sucked on them gently before bringing them to Howard's virgin entrance.

“P-please be gentle.” Howard whimpered as Vince's slick fingers traced over his entrance. The smaller man dipped his head up and gave Howard a soft kiss on the lips.

“It'll hurt a little at first, k. But it'll be so worth it, I promise.”

Howard shuddered as Vince massaged his hole teasingly before easing a fingertip inside. His immediate reaction was to clench up at the intrusion, but relaxed a little when Vince started kissing down his chest, taking a detour to lick and suck on a nipple.

“Ohh...” Now Vince was wriggling and twisting his finger about, trying to get in further.

“Christ Howard, you're so tight.” Vince whispered, frowning. “We're gonna need something... hold on.”

The dull pain was suddenly gone, and Howard heard trotting of boots, then a loud, “FUCK!” Vince returned to the room with an empty tube and a crestfallen look on his face.

“Out.” He said simply, tossing the tube to the side. “I don't usually do this, but I'm gonna do it anyway, cos I'm so not getting cooking oil all over my dick... that's well disgusting. Come 'ere.”

Before Howard had a chance to ask for an explanation, Vince had dragged him over to the sofa and pushed him down into an awkward sitting position, with his legs up slightly.

“Vince, what are you d-”

“Gonna rim you 'Oward.” Vince muttered, seating himself between Howard's legs.

“You're gonna WHAT me- ohh, OH!”

Suddenly, the most incredible, but filthy sensation washed over Howard, and he whimpered, driving his hips down against Vince's wet, probing tongue.

“Ohh, G-god Vince.” Howard didn't dare to look down. Just the sight of Vince tongue-fucking him, making him dirty and open and so good, would be enough to make him come. Vince pushed in again, breaching the tight ring of muscle, feeling Howard open up for him more and more. By the end of it, Howard was a trembling mess begging to be fucked, sucked, anything, Oh Lordy, just anything to make him fucking come.

“Alright, gonna fuck you now 'Oward.” Vince panted, practically tearing off his skinnies and shirt infront of the older man. Howard's cock jumped. There was something so primal and forbidden about his best friend standing infront of him, leaking cock inches away from his lips, wearing nothing but red cowboy boots. Impulsively, Howard's tongue flicked out, tasting Vince for the first time. After a few coy licks, Howard hesitantly closed his mouth around Vince's length and tried to repeat what Vince did to him in the kitchen. Despite the fact he had never done anything like this before, Vince seemed satisfied with his performance, moaning and clutching at Howard's hair, guiding him to go faster or slower, softer or harder.

“Christ, not bad for a virgin.” Vince observed as Howard withdrew and looked up, licking his swollen lips. “How d'ya wanna do this? Cos I figure if it's your first time, you should at least choose the position, although, I personally would go for doggy... easy to wank in. You do know what that is, right?” He added cautiously.

Howard's expression went blank.

“Vince, I may be a virgin, but I'm not a complete fucking moron.” He stated. Vince shrugged.

“Just askin'... on your hands and knees Moon.”

Hesitantly, Howard shifted his body around on the couch and got into position. He twisted his head shyly, looking at Vince.

“Christ Howard, d'ya know how fuckin' hot you look right now?” Vince was running his fingertips over the older mans butt cheeks, stopping to slap the pink flesh. “Your ass is well sexy. Sexiest I've ever seen, apart from mine of course.” Howard took that as a definite compliment; he didn't doubt that Vince had seen a lot of asses in his lifetime.

Vince spat onto his hand and briefly coated his cock before lining himself up to Howard's asshole. He rubbed Howard's back soothingly as he pushed in slowly, feeling the tight ring of muscle cease up then relax, allowing his cock-head to slide in. He could hear Howard swear into a cushion, and Vince mentally kicked himself for using up all the lube on that twink last night. If lube was involved, he'd be fucking Howard hard and fast by now.

“Y'okay?” Howard nodded shakily, focusing his attention on relaxing his body. He felt Vince ease out and then push back in. The burn wasn't as bad this time. Vince did this a few more times until Howard could feel hair tickling his rim.

“Fucking hell, Howard.” Vince groaned from behind, starting to thrust properly now. “You feel s'good, so tight and hot... I could come right now.”

“Oh, please don't.” Howard whimpered in response. That'd be a tragedy, Vince blowing his load before him. Afterall, Howard was supposed to be the virgin here.

After a few experimental thrusts to get Howard used to it, Vince leant down to Howard's ear.

“I'm gonna show you something.” Vince panted, before angling his hips downwards.

“OH!” Howard's eyes shot wide open as the most incredible sensation erupted somewhere in his body. “Christ, do that again!”

Vince did more than that. He grabbed Howard's turgid cock and pumped him hard, in tandem with his thrusts.

“Oh Jesus!” Howard panted, his mind going fuzzy from the sheer deliciousness of Vince's cock banging against his prostate. After three more thrusts, he could feel a tingling sensation building up in his spine.

“Fuck Vince, I'm gonna come!”

“Me too!” Vince panted. “Come with me.”

Vince pumped Howard harder, his thrusts getting more frantic and desperate. He dug his nails into the older man's thigh, seconds away from the edge.

“Now Howard!”

Howard came with a high-pitched shout, his cum splattering all over Naboo's purple couch. Vince gasped as Howard's asshole tightened around him, engulfing him, milking him. He exploded with a wail, and rocked Howard back and forth over his penis, riding his orgasm out. He collapsed beside the older man, chest falling up and down.

“What the fuck was that?” Howard asked after a while.

“That, Howard,” Vince said, grinning, “was the beginning of many years of great, mind-blowing sex.” Howard turned, facing the younger man.

“Oh... OH.” He said in realisation. “Does this mean we're gonna, y'know, do this again then?”

“Course!” Vince laughed, stroking Howard's chest. “Was hoping we could make this a regular thing. D'ya have any idea how long I've wanted to bum you? For ages, Howard.”

Howard nodded in understanding and stroked Vince's hair. Amazingly, Vince didn't scream at him something rotten for this.

“Okay, as long as I get to be on top next time.” He said moments later, smiling as last nights' memories of a sweaty, dishevelled Vince being fucked played in his mind.

The End.

[darkjanet]

How Cyberbullies ruined my life.

My name is Jasmine Smith and I need your help with this. This is my cyberbullying story since 2011 and that happened to me in my entire life. So now I’m writing this whole story rest of my thoughts and depend on it. Back in 2005 ever since when I was 15, I searched the website called DeviantArt. It had anime, cartoon, space, nature, and yaoi. Yes, I love yaoi. Everyone had drawn so many things, I was astounded. I hadn’t joined the DeviantArt yet because I had MSN TV 2, so I looked at this site; I like anime were Full Metal Alchemist, Beyblades, Digimon, Tenchi Muyo, Sailor Moon, Ah! My Goddess and Naruto. (Fuck, yeah. Naruto is the best.) I wish I could join the DeviantArt and asked them how did they do that. I knew I was an artist when I was young and I also wrote a story. I remember I wrote a letter to Warner Bros. that I wanted to be on the movie. Yes, it was my dream is to become an entertainer. In 2009, I joined the DA after graduated high school and began reading comics to get my mind off the evil teacher named Ms.Baker. One night, I was reading Naruto comic. Nekoni never owned Naruto, it belonged to the creator. Once I finished Naruto comic, I asked Nekoni how he was doing his comic and artwork. And he told me he had Cintiq 21ux and Photoshop. I think it was my first time to join this DA and I realized I didn't have a drawing tablet. So I thanked him for the info and went to the job site. After I finished the job site, I went back to the DA and reading some more comics before I went to sleep. I had read Naruto, Sailor Moon, FMA and more. I was looking for a last comic before I had to go to sleep, in a few seconds later, it caught my attention. I obtained this strange-looking page like it was a real anime. It was PPGD which I hadn't seen or heard of this before. So I took a look and read that. It made me wonder who made it. They said it was Bleedman who created PPGD, Grim Tales and Sugar Bits. I told them I've never even heard of that. And they said those comics were created in 2004. That was 5 years ago. In September, I was packing my stuff and be ready to go to college starting as a freshman. I bid my farewell to my family and drove my car. I had arrived the college and entered my dorm. I had a new Japanese friend named Takari and she gave me Manga, trading cards, video game, and stuff. I was stoked. I asked her to play a game together. This evening I was doing studying my algebra and listened to music from my iPod. I was done studying and went to my laptop, I first visited my DA account and I got a message. So I opened it, it was an icon that that Boomer from RRB eating pies and username BeeAre. I asked him, "Do I know you?" He said he was a writer of PPGD. I was feeling suspicious about this guy. Could this be...? Nah. I went to YouTube to watch some show or something. In March of 2011, I was at the library doing computer (which means my laptop had been broken down), I was looking for a job online to get a new laptop and a drawing tablet. I had applied Pizza Hut, 7-11, Starbucks, and McDonald's. After my applications were submitted, I knew I had plenty of time before going to Physics class. So I went to DA and started collecting Legend of Zelda, BloodRayne, Blade, Naruto, Spawn and more. I was getting bored a little. So I asked Seiryuga when did the 3 boys come in the comic. I was about to log out my DA account, and then the message had instantly sent. It's a message from the girl and she asked me what was with me and the RRB (Rowdyruff Boys). I replied to her they came to the recuse. And then I logged her and to physics class. The next day, I finished the art class and went to the cafeteria meeting with my dear friend Takari. We were eating our lunches and doing conversation. I fished my pocket for my phone, I surfed the internet and went on DA. I got a message from yesterday. I opened it up and read this. However, it was a rude and offensive letter and she said that was just sick. I thought, "WTF?" Takari asked, "What's wrong?" I said, "Something's not right. I didn't say anything like this. What time is it?" She looked at her watch, "12:55." It was five minutes before going to the history class, I had to pick up my stuff and told her I would be right behind her and rushed to the library real quick. As I got in the library, I quickly logged on my DA account and replied to her what the hell was she talking about. And I pressed the submit button, but suddenly there was access denied on the screen. "Huh? Access denied? That can't be right, I just sent the guy a message." I said quietly. I tried to type it and replied again and again but to no avail. I then discovered Seiryuga's profile and to my shock, I was blocked by this guy! I had never been blocked by someone before! I was shocked when this happened. He might have wireless on the go during his vacation when I wasn't around yesterday. And the bell rang jarred my nerves, it was time for me to go to history class. I cursed under my breath, I logged off, quickly grabbed my stuff and ran to the history class. Takari was sitting there and waiting for me. As I got in the class on time. I sat beside her and hung my head and cursed breathlessly. Takari asked me what happened. I told her I got blocked by Seiryuga. How could this happened? On April of 2011, I had decided to go to Snafu-Comics.com and created an account. Now there would be no problem. But suddenly I got attacked by cyberbullies for calling me twifag, troll, slut, retarded, and they said my arts suck. And Seiryuga said he didn't remember me and cursed at me with terrible foul language. I was shocked and hurt that he would NEVER cursed at me in the first place! And BeeAre just asked some fucking stupid questions if I had ADD and OCD. I cannot believe this man that he asked me for my information. That bastard! I'm a fucking college student! I hate BeeAre. In 2012, I had to investigate Snafu-Comics and talked to the moderator to get rid of those cyberbullies. But he didn't believe me and banned my account. I was so frustrated! Shit! This can't be happening... So on February 3, 2015, I went to the police department by myself while my mom and my sister were off to work (I am unemployed, I have to find a job). As I arrived at the police station, I talked to her and tried to report on cyberbullies, unfortunately, the police lady said there was nothing we do. How can this be? They just cyberbullied me on the internet! I was beyond frustrated because no one has ever helped me. I have no job and I can't even move on from my Mom's house. And now I can't become an entertainer and create my own anime. I was very desperate about this. I hate BeeAre and Seiryuga in my entire life. So now I made this petition to stop the cyberbullying. It's my only hope that people will sign this. I've always prayed that let this cyberbullying end. I spread the word to everyone, my family, my aunties and uncles, my cousins, my friends, my idols, my old high school teachers, and even YouTubers. I want everyone to need my support. And also, I mailed them to NBC and CBS about my cyberbullying problem. But I've got to move on from my Mom's house as quick as possible. That's all I'm saying. Sincerely, Jasmine.

[xmagicxpenguinx]

Crowns and Champagne

HEYY!! i wrote a thing! i  cant think of a creative title so this will do. please validate me by telling me this is good. also i might do a face reveal tomorrow maybe idk. no hate  please

warnings: drinking/alcohol/in a state of drunkness, phan  fluff words: 1572

Phil had spent the day editing the video he filmed 3 days ago and had just uploaded it to his channel. He looked across the room at his boyfriend Dan, who was curled up on the other end of the couch reading something on his phone. He was wearing nothing but a pair of Phil’s underwear and socks and his NASA cat shirt. He looked at the time, noticing that it was 9:40 and they hadn’t eaten dinner yet.

“Dan, what do you want to eat?” Dan looked up from his phone, relieved that he had Phil’s attention again. “I don’t mind, whatever you want.” Phil stood up and walked the short distance to the kitchen. He opened the pantry and started assessing the contents of the cupboard in front of him. He took note of the green curry sauce and the noodles, deciding on which he preferred. While he was having his mental battle with himself, he felt a pair of arms snake around his waist and Dan’s head rest on his shoulder. He smiled and leaned his head down to peck Dan on the lips.

“You are a clingy little shit, you know that don’t you?” Phil said fondly. “Yeah, but you love me.” Dan replied. Phil laughed softly. “That I do. Do you want curry or noodles? And don’t say ‘it doesn’t matter’ because I know you and it matters a damn lot to you.”

Dan leaned up and kissed Phil’s cheek softly. “Curry, but I want to make it. You made dinner three nights in a row, its my turn now. Go have a bath or something.” Even after 8 years, Phil melted at Dan’s caring nature towards him.

He eased himself out of Dan’s grasp and pulled him in for a hug, kissing him meaningfully for a few seconds. “Who’s the clingy one now?” Dan asked giggling with a blush spreding across his cheeks. Even after 8 years, the simple things he did with Phil, small kisses, hugs, compliments, staying up late and talking, resting their heads on the other’s shoulder, cuddling on the couch under blankets while watching Netflix and the adorable dates Phil would plan every once in a while, just because he knows it makes him feel like a king, made Dan fall more in love with Phil, to the point where he wandered if it wasn’t just a fantasy from 2009.

Phil kissed Dan on the forehead and walked downstairs to his and Dan’s moon room. He grabbed a clean pair of boxer shorts and an oversized t-shirt, (they have both made a silent agreement that wearing trousers around the house wasn’t necessary anymore, and they both of them have slight obsessions with the other person’s thighs.)  And a pair of socks before walking down the hall to the bathroom.

He put the plug in the bath and turned on the tap of the bath and waited for it to fill up. While he was waiting he lit some candles and placed them around the tub. When it was half-full he threw in 2 bath bombs he ordered from Lush, a vanilla one and a cherry one, and then poured in some bubble bath mixture. It didn’t take long to fill up, which is good because Phil liked long baths.  He peeled off his clothes and sank down into the pink and bubbly water. He opened his Buffy comic and began to read. He had read this one multiple times before, but he didn’t complain because he loved it so much. He could read it 50 more times and every read would be more intriguing than the previous.  In many ways, he felt the same about Dan; he never got sick of him, even after all this time.

Before he knew it, the water was cold.  He quickly washed his torso with Dan’s scented soap after realising that he had just spent the whole time reading and jumped out of the bath. He pulled out the plug and reached for the nearest towel sitting on the sink, folded neatly. It was warm. Phil realised after picking it up, that Dan must have put it in the dryer for him. Just when Phil thought, he couldn’t love Dan more, Dan would always go and prove him wrong. He threw on his clothes in a hurry, realising just how hungry he really was.

He walked upstairs to find Dan sitting on the couch, reading something on his laptop. Probably self-insert with Luke Hemmings or some other strange fanfiction. Dan looked up at him and closed the lid of his laptop. “You took your time.” He observed. “I was reading Buffy. And thanks for the warm towel.” Dan smiled at him. “You’re welcome.” Phil sat down next to him and kissed him gently. “Although next time, can you bring me 3 towels?” Dan rolled his eyes. “You needy little shit, be grateful I still do nice things for you even after 8 years.” Phil laughed. “Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t left me yet.” Dan scoffed. “Like I would do that. You are way to gorgeous to let someone else take you away from me. I wouldn’t give you up for the world.”

Phil could feel his heart swell at these words, and a blush spread across his cheeks. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.” Dan complained. “Yeah, why did you wait for me?” Phil asked. “Because I am a good boyfriend.” Dan stood up and put their food in the microwave, it had gone cold while Dan was waiting for Phil. “Don’t stand too close to the microwave.” Phil called out. “The radiation-” “Is not good for me yes, I know Phil. You have only reminded me 4000 times.” They were both silent until the microwave beeped.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Dan asked. “Yeah some champagne would be nice.” Phil responded. “Oh, I meant like a hot chocolate or Ribena or something but ok. I think we have some.” He searched the fridge and found an unopened bottle. “I think we got this at New Years and never opened it.” Dan replied. “That will do.” Dan gave Phil his food and champagne and walked back to get  his serve.

“Are you not drinking?” Phil asked. Dan shook his head. “I am waking up early tomorrow because it is the only time I could get with my trainer and I am such a lightweight and don’t want a hangover.” Phil nodded. “Understandable.”  They made small talk about their day as they ate; Phil almost literally inhaled his, and gulped down a lot of the bubbly alcohol, drinking it much faster than he should.

Dan shook his head in exasperation and took the alcohol off him. “That’s enough, Phil.”  Phil went to complain and protest but just ended up laying his head on Dan’s chest. “I love you, Dan.” He mumbled. “I love you too.”

They are now halfway though an episode of Black Mirror when Phil fell asleep on Dan’s chest. Dan ran  his fingers through Phil’s messy hair grabbed  the TV remote. He turned off the episode and scrolled through the menu on Netflix. He had seen almost everything on here that he thought  would be interesting, and now he has just stumbled across a show called The Crown. He read the description of the show, why not give it a try? It can’t hurt him… right? And so the binge began.

It turns out that Dan was more into historical fiction than he gave himself credit for. In the middle of episode two, Phil woke up and murmured “What are you watching?” Dan paused the episode to explain what had happened so far. When  he had finished, Phil had another sip of champagne. Dan unpaused it and they kept watching in silence.

“The monarchy is  so unfair.” Phil said out of the blue. “In which way?” Dan replied. “Because I can think of many reasons why it is unfair and slightly-” “Because the throne doesn’t have a choice.” Phil said, cutting Dan off. “What?” Dan simply replied. “Well, the chair probably doesn’t want all these different butts sitting on them. They probably hate it. People should really ask for the chair’s consent.” Dan looked at Phil in bewilderment. “You are so drunk.” he replied, laughing as hard as he possibly could. “NOO! I am not drunk. Give me back the champagne!” he said, as Dan took it from his grip. “You are drunk. Now shush I want to watch it.” Phil was quiet for a minute before saying, “Wow, they are so British!” At this point Dan was so done with Phil, so he turned off the TV and pushed Phil off him. “Come on Phil, lets go to bed. It’s 12:30 and I am getting up in 6 hours.”

“Nooooo!” Phil whined. Dan stood up and took Phil by the hand. “Come on, you are tired, I am tired, we need sleep.” Phil just nodded and followed Dan to the moon room.

Dan pulled back the blankets and Phil slid in, putting his glasses on the side table. Dan turned off the lights and got in next to him. “Goodnight Phil.” Dan said, sliding his arms around Phil’s top half, and reaching over to kiss his neck. “Goodnight Dan.” Phil slightly slurred, reaching over to kiss Dan deeply and passionately. “I love you.” He said. “I love you too.” Phil replied softly.

[obsidianarchives]

Regine Sawyer

Regine L Sawyer is the Owner/Writer at Lockett Down Productions; a small press comic book company that publishes cutting edge Sci-Fi and Horror Comics such as The Rippers, Ice Witch, and Eating Vampires. She is also the Coordinator and Founder of the Women in Comics Collective International; an organization that focuses on the merit and craft work of Women and Non-binary people working in the comic book industry. They host events across the country such as Art Shows, Workshops, Panel Discussions and their own convention, Women in Comics Con. In addition, she has written several articles on Race and Gender in Comics for Graphic Policy, The Freelancer's Union, Comic Book Resources, and Time Magazine. Currently, Regine is a Creator-in-Residence at Kickstarter, working on campaigns that will be coming out later this year.

Black Girls Create: What do you create?

I create comic books, safe spaces for women and marginalized people in the comic book industry. I started out creating comics 13 years ago. I created a couple of different series, first was The Rippers, then came Ice Witch and Eating Vampires, and I've been working on those books ever since.

Seven years ago, I started the Women in Comics Collective International. We started as eight people who were on a panel for Women in Comics. I was asked to moderate. Not only were we really engaging as panelists, but the audience also found it intriguing that we were all women of color. Some of us hadn’t met too many women in the industry. Not because there aren't any, but because we artists sometimes live in a bubble. You're just writing and shit and not really thinking about connecting with anybody. Especially as women, particularly women of color, you kinda want to just keep your head down and get a check. And you sometimes don't realize you need community because of all the crazy nonsense happens in this industry. So after that, we were asked to do more events. We did panel discussions at first. Then I was asked to do art shows. I'd never curated an art show and I just said yes. I really want people to know, it's so important to say yes. A year or two later, someone asked if I did workshops. I just said yes. Never taught a workshop, but I said I'd figure it out. That all culminated in Women in Comics Con. We still do workshops across the country. It began with eight members and now we have over 150 members across the world. It's still evolving and changing, as am I, as is Lockett Down Productions.

BGC: Tell me about Lockett Down Productions. Where did the name come from?

Lockett is my middle name, my grandmother’s maiden name. I didn't think of it as a cute locket, but like "lock the door." I wanted to change my name for a while, but eventually I said, I ain't changing shit! So when the time came for me to put a company together, I said I have to call it Lockett Down.

I started working with an independent company as a managing editor. This was after deciding I wanted to pursue comics on a regular basis. I always collected comics, since I was 8 or 9 years old. It was always my jam. I lived, breathed, rolled around in X-Men. I collected all the books, all the comic book cards. I was all in. But I got to a certain age and I didn't know what any of this was going to do, so I said let me get a real job. I had written all my life. In high school, I wrote stories to get into college. I got scholarships through my writing. I was also selected for the National Book Foundation residency for their grant writing camp right here in NY. But I got a degree in hospitality to be a chef. I worked for a corporate food manager for about 13 years. But two years in, I was like you only live once, I have to do more than this. I always wanted to publish comics, I'm going to do it. I was telling a friend in a local comic book shop and someone overheard me. He said show me what you have and I did and he offered to publish my work.

I ended up learning all the things not to do in comics, which was a good lesson. I taught myself how to edit comic books, how to reviews submissions, what to ask for, how to put together ads, and how to find artists for work. After about a year, I said I can do this for myself. In 2007, I created Lockett Down Productions. I haven't looked back since.

BGC: Did you quit your hospitality job at the time?

Absolutely not. I wasn't crazy! Are you kidding me?

When I created Lockett Down, I had been laid off from my job. While I was in transition of getting a new job, I was trying to get my druthers together, like I'm going to do this comic book shit, I’m going to figure it. This was before Kickstarter. I am the one who paid for all of those books, out of pocket. I was determined to have something. I started with a lot of preview books. I did them by hand; I had a book stapler. I taught myself how to make an ashcan and made mini-books. I was selling for a good two years, then I started getting them professionally published. In 2009, I published the first Rippers book. Within two and a half years of initially meeting that gentleman, I had my first full book. I wasn't going to end my dream. The stories are in me, let’s make this happen.

BGC: Why do you create?

I can’t not create. Whatever it is. If you see any of my social media pages, I'm making something. I’m making a hat, I'm putting some kind of event together. Or learning how to create — I’m a Kickstarter resident right now. When I'm binge-watching stuff, I'm crocheting or I might be typing up a little story or something. I can’t not create something, that’s just who I am. I'm laying in my bed half the time doing it. It’s up to you to figure out what you want to do and what you want to put out there and how you want to do it. So I choose to do it from my bed. With one little thumb.

BGC: Who is your audience?

My audience is Black women and women of color. And people who identify with being women. It’s about us. I want people to enjoy my work. I want them to get lost in the work because you just need that escapism. I think that’s highly important. In this day and age, you need some realism and some escapism and you need something in the center. Women in Comics was initially for women of color. Yeah, I want everyone to read my stories, but I did have our community in mind. You can do this, too. This is not out of your touch or the realm of possibility. I want it to be accessible to everyone who wants to be part of a comic book community. My people come first and anyone who wants to come through can come through, too. I like to be specific in how things are for everyone. If you want to learn, be embraced, embrace others, if you wanted to give up yourself, this is for you.

BGC: Who or what inspired you to do what you do? Who or what continues to inspire you?

To start, my family. My brother. He's ridden through all this with me. Just as someone who bought my first comic books. We would go into the shops and he'd buy me stacks. I used to compete in video games, when I was like 11, in Street Fighter and Donkey Kong. My brother enrolled me in Blockbuster — I'm dating myself, I don't give a shit — they had an annual competition and they would scout who the biggest winners were. That year was Donkey Kong. My brother would drill me. He was so encouraging. I remember, this boy made his sister cheat by jumping in front of my screen while I was doing it — I did not miss a beat! And my brother was like if that girl would have messed up your game he would have gone to the manager, like 'you reset the game!' He’ll support me on Twitter, he'll tag celebs. He’s always my cheerleader. I give him a lot of that credit.

The Women in Comics members are also my inspiration. They are caring and loving and strong and they’re steadfast and tenacious and they roll with whatever is coming into my head. We are a family. Sometimes, I throw them into the water. And other times, they will step up for me, time and time again. At conventions, there are not a lot of us in the mainstream spaces. But we roll together like a clique. "We got you because you got us."

And my friend Robert Garrett, of XMoor Studios, who just passed away. He's my inspiration. I met him when I started in the industry. He was one of the few men who wasn’t looking for nothin’. He just wanted to be friends. He liked people who were on their grind and about something. From that first moment, we were the best of friends. He was always dedicated to his work and promotion and putting together good solid ideas. He was very prolific, he wrote every day, even while he was sick. He was sick for the past year, but was always writing and creating. It was something he couldn't help, it was just in him. That's also my inspiration, that you gotta keep going and pushing. Time really waits for no man.

BGC: Why is it important as a black person to create?

We create the best stuff! We can’t help it. We are such a creative people. We make something out of nothing. And that’s a lot of marginalized people of color in general. We figure it out. We’ll make something with bottle caps and string. (And the mainstream will steal it and it'll be on some shelf at Target.)

We are a people that are constantly creating and bringing things to the mainstream (to either steal or buy). Also, it’s important so that our community knows that we're capable of creating different things. Because even though we are such creative people, we downplay it. It’s a protective measure, it’s generational. Our parents were like will this kid be able to pay for anything? You don’t want to be a doctor or lawyer? That stays in our psyche, like can this be monetized? It’s important because 1. we’re creative people, and 2. it’s important that as we’re creating that somebody cares about it. When that happens, our families finally pay attention. Sometimes they didn’t realize until the person was gone. That’s why we have to create and be encouraging to each other. We create so much, it should be out to the masses. People should see us in different capacities. So our communities know we are capable of all the things, not just 1, 2, or 3. We can do it all.

BGC: How do you balance creating with the rest of your life?

I have to do more for myself. My mother would always say, "treat yourself good, honey." I need to treat myself better. But what I have been doing is going on Groupon and getting me a spa day. I love Groupon and Living Social. I try to go to a spa once a month on Groupon. Do something affordable, but I also need to do more. Just to have some self-care happening. I meditate, pray. My fitness class. There’s more to do, I do too much. I'm trying to figure it out because I need a big ass break. But at least trying to get the spa visits in, that’s helped.

BGC: Any advice for young creators/ones just starting?

Do research about your craft. Write every day if you can. If you draw, draw every day. Keep yourself in practice. Meet other people. It's easy to sit in a corner and draw or write. But it’s important to meet people who do what you do. It's validating. You can get advice and referrals. Go to conventions. Nothing that costs a bunch of money, maybe get a portfolio review. Talk to people, talk to vendors — don't just talk to the vendors, buy their stuff, especially the indie vendors — but talk to the professionals to find out what they do on a paid basis. Collect phone numbers and email addresses. Keep in contact with people. Broaden your horizons and your mind. And expand your circle. Especially if you want to be and this industry like this.

BGC: Any future projects?

Women in Comics Con is June 30th at the Queens Museum in New York City. I did a short story for The Dead Beats Anthology from a Wave Blue World. The crypt keeper is a cute, brown, delicious girl — she got dreadlocs and shit — and she’s in a music store and has haunted items. So it's stories based on these haunted items. I'm launching a Kickstarter possibly in July. I also have events coming up: Drink, Draw Pole. On June 30th, some WINC members are participating in an event called She Did Comic Books. It's a series where every other month this organization has people talk about different things women have done that people don't really know about. Two of our members, Shameka Mitchell and Tara Nakashima-Donahue will be speaking. I'll be at the ALA Conference in DC in the 3rd week of June. Schaumburg Library is having a Literary Festival on the 29th of June. I may be at BrooklynComicCon, on the 15th and 16th of June, I'll be on a panel and tabling. Then SDCC and BlerdCity in July.

[beyondthetemples-ooc]

“Fanfic writer asks”: Skipping the “asks” and doing the answers!

I just saw this and I’m too excited to wait for someone to see this, decide what to ask, and I wanted to answer all of them, anyways.

Some of these are fill-in-the-blanks for askers, so I can’t answer them. But if anyone wants elaboration, or wants to know a specific something in regards to a particular story, or character: Absolutely, feel free to send me some!

Questions taken from here: http://criminal-minds-fanfiction.tumblr.com/post/172926526725

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1) How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction? Oh geez, we practically need a time machine for that. I was only 11 or 12! I started "writing" fanfics with my action figures (guest-starring other childhood toys) as far back as I can remember. Literally, from the time I was 5-8 and obsessed with Pokemon and Yoshi's Story and Powerpuff Girls, I was playing out stories and adventures, from beginning to end, imagining backstories for why they're there, what they were doing, what motivated them. They even came with continuity (from one play-session to the next)!

As for actually writing it down, though... That also started Very Early. I think I must've been 11 or 12? The earliest one I ever dated was 2005, anyway. They were descriptive, illustrating actions to display emotions, and characterization was... well, it Sure Existed (even if it varied from "So Wrong", to Definitely the Right Remark).

But ever since the moment I touched a pen to my first fanfic notebook, it was about my OCs (and Raven, because, surprise surprise, she was my favorite to write about). I've had plot since I first took those Crayola twistables to paper to illustrate the story in my head, the first story I ever Had a Solid Plot For (that is, Mystery Sickness-- which is being rewritten with Actual Explanations, re: Why Dove Made Her Feel So Shitty in the first place): that was also in 2005. (Fun fact: it was originally in Poorly-Drawn Comic Form). The actual "novelization" went through to 2007.

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one? As my fanfiction.net profile will tell you: "Author has written 32 stories for Teen Titans, Pokémon, and Ruby Gloom." - The Ruby Gloom fanfic was abandoned, unfortunately. (It was a direct and shameless self-insert, that got abandoned because, quite frankly, I had no idea what to do with it. Maybe I should put it up for adoption at this point...) - A Work of Magic (my Pokemon fanfic, with related bios/etc) gets written for very rarely, because the inspiration to do so is rare and sporadic, and more tied to a Specific Scene I want to write, than where I left off in the story. @w@;; - A Steven Universe fanfic is in the works, though I'm struggling to flesh it out.. due to the Aforementioned Preoccupation with The FAVE MOMENTS, moreso than the backstory and movement through those moments. @D;;

And then, you have the Teen Titans stories. You know, the ones with Dove, and Kary, and Srentha, and Leyla will eventually be there. My most precious, dearly beloved, absolutely irreplaceable OCs. My TT story folder has about 100 files, which belong to about 30 full-length stories. (And that's not counting the oneshots, like Heart to Heart, which is still one of the best things I've ever written.) There are also a few poems here and there, particularly Dove's Prophecy (of self-fulfillment, really), and stories illustrating Dove's childhood, her mother/grandmother's past, Srentha's childhood... There's just Quite A Lot! I've been doing this, writing them, for 12+ years.~ And my fandomatic obsession for Teen Titans has never dulled, quieted, or been forgotten. So yes, I definitely do have a "particular" favorite. I may prefer exploring their world through my OCs, but damn, is it more FUN than any other world to explore!

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer. Ah, you can probably tell it's OCs by now. At least, MY OC's. Someone else's OCs, well, I tried that once, they were going to commission me. But I never got it finished. (I just didn't have quite the same connection. And I didn't know the canon; that can't have helped.) But character I *do* get to know, like my girlfriend's OCs in our collaborations (or characters I got to know so well through playing together that I just totally shamelessly adopted, specifically: Kary), I do enjoy writing for~ There's just something so incredibly special in knowing that you, solely, are responsible for their growth, their development, and their well-being. It's a bit like having kids, without the screaming. (At least, without them screaming in your ear. Dove and Kary have both done their fair share of screaming, come to think of it...)

( (( Although, to be fair: I've never tried writing a writer insert. I doubt anyone would actually WANT to endure the stories I put my characters through... ;P )) )

4) What is your favourite genre to write for? Fantasy? Action/Adventure? It's hard to say, because I actually write for a HUGE variety of Genres. But I guess my favorite, if I can encompass all of them under this one umbrella, would have to be Hurt/Comfort.

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi chaptered stories, which would it be and why? DAMN IT, DON'T DO THIS TO ME.

Gods, that's hard! Basically ALL of my stories are multi-chaptered... Well, it's definitely one of my Teen Titans stories. DDD has definitely been the most challenging to write, the most fulfilling to finish chapters on, and the most pivotal point in Dove's life, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Writing for Azar in "The Final Journey" and Dove taking her first unintended steps into heroism has been so personally touching for me, and it does so much good for Dove, and especially her relationship with the team, that it's just so, so special to watch. Something Special About Srentha is probably my most epic multi-faceted story, and the narrative timeline (handling two very distinct and separate struggles in totally separate places) is really challenging me to grow as a writer. "Continuum Wars" is going to be the grandest scale of struggle and magic, so I'm really especially excited to start figuring it out. It is just so, so HARD to decide on ONE; they're all so special, and I love watching my style evolve with each story, and more than anything, watching my characters come out of these situations alive. lD;;

6) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why? you mean the Teen Titans and Pokemon crossover where Dove brings home a Misdreavus? been there, done that. Honestly though, every single one of my stories has its place in my characters' lives, and is important for continuity. And personal growth. And I've honestly never been ashamed of something I've written.

(If you travel far back enough in my fanfic archive, you WILL find a really old character bio for Dove, which I completely revamped, because I didn't learn until later how to frame her without comparing her to Raven, even though she's always been a very different and independently-extant character. Also, the bits I learned about Being Kept A Secret and her grandmother's exile were Nearly Learned around 2010, 2012...)

7) When is your preferred time to write? Whenever the inspiration bug bites! ASAP!! But as for general adding and editing, it's fairly late at night, usually~ Sometimes afternoons. Usually an hour or more after eating, and especially when it's cool and quiet in the room.

8) Where do you take your inspiration from? Canon, personal experience (my personal struggles, my search for my identity, and my struggle to define myself), and sometimes even my own spirituality. (Wild shit goes down when you get into astral exploration, let me TELL you!)

9) In your xxx fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote? Can I just... use my personal favorite? (If you have any questions about a particular fic, or universe, or point in a character's life that didn't happen in the fics, let me know and I'll gladly answer!)

- Holy GOD, the climax scene of Dove's Dark Discovery! It takes place entirely in Dove's mindscape, while Dove's power is maxed out, and you've got a very powerful telepath and a TREMENDOUSLY power empath battling within a mindscape that has been slowly devastated over the past few months, and it's just this absolute EPIC culmination of their powers and, to a degree, even the connection they'd been forging since Dove came. Dove seriously oversteps some boundaries, Raven nearly kills Dove by accident, it's seriously crazy stuff.

Bonus: Way back in, like, probably 2008 or 2009, when titansgo.net was still around: I had asked my all-time favorite fanfic author for critique on the climax. His advice, to make it "three times as long and nine times the punch", absolutely inspired me to reach WAY higher with their fight, and once I realized what kind of mind-bending maelstrom shenanigans can go down in a MINDSCAPE, the scene fairly EXPLODED with potential!

And I especially like the fact that, including the revisions after his (entirely justified) advice: This scene has gone through like nine different incarnations. And my favorite part: It was originally inspired by a battle in the Teen Titans videogame! I think my little sister was playing White Raven (who my mind always read as Being Dove, because White Cape and Magic Powers), I was playing Raven, and the battle took place in "Nevermore", Raven's mindscape. It was actually a good fight. And I was fucking AMPED... But also emotionally RAVAGED, because "holy shit, Raven fighting Dove... in a mindscape......" And the scene happened like two days later. (In middle school. Honors Spanish class. As a note in the margins of my assignment notebook!)

Gods, guys. That scene is just so incredibly important, and it has come oh, so very far~

10) In your xxx fic, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternative ending in mind? I'm gonna answer one that I really like the ending of, but feel free to ask for others. Like, maybe one I've actually published, that you've actually read? 8F But honestly: Spellbound pt. II. I haven't published it yet... but it ends in absolute tragedy. The reason is twofold: First off, I knew Dove and Srentha were end-game, so although Dove was falling pretty deep into love, I couldn't have him hanging around... 8F But also because I wanted to illustrate the strength of sacrificial redemption. (I don't want to give too much away, because... well, that's the ENDING. But it's heart-wrenching and I can only hope I've done it justice.)

Other faves include: Srentha having heart-issues at the end of Something Special (because it's the Very First Symptom that something is going to be Dreadfully Wrong with him in the sequel), DDD ending with Dove absolutely traumatized and seriously hurt (because the following story is going to be all about her learning to Take Action on her pain, instead of hiding herself away), and A Work of Magic ending with everyone thinking Mistress had died trying to save her family... but the ending is, and the epicness kind of speaks for itself in this: "You can't kill a ghost."

11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it? You mean like the way I completely rewrote Dove's character bio 6 years later, in response to all the accusations of her being a Mary Sue? Despite literally nothing (but more specific illustration) changing in the way I wrote her? 8F Other than that, absolutely not! I mean, if someone made a valid point I would. But nobody can tell me how to write my OCs, you know?

12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why? My OCs. But you probably mean canon characters... and that easily comes down to Raven. She's just so layered, working with very inward, introspective mechanics, before she takes her action, usually in a very well-thought out direction, or sometimes an INSANELY emotional outburst, and either way, it tends to be Very Important, Poignant, and Make a Difference in the scene. I relate to her; I idolized her for the longest time; I know exactly how to write the struggle between not being able to express your emotions, and being true to yourself, because I've lived it. I'm an empath, so writing her empathic powers is always sort of therapeutic, because outside of my mirrorbook, I'd never gotten to EXPLORE that aspect of myself before. Her wit is hard to capture sometimes, I'll admit, but, I mean, I was making the nurses at the hospital laugh all the way up to my procedure, armed with nothing but my dry remarks. I think I'm up to the challenge.

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why? Beast... Boy...... I'm sorry, I really am. I've just never been able to relate to him, or understand how his mind works (if it even works at all?), or write him into any of the plots-- outside of, like, trying to cheer Dove up, which is iconic and appreciated on Dove's end. But otherwise? What do I even DO with him? His sense of humor is just... so lowkey annoying that I sincerely cannot fathom why it's So Funny, let alone make it up for him. (Thankfully, at least the comics come in handy for exploring Why he's Like That, which has honestly helped a lot more than anything the show ever did. All but ONE of his episodes, were... pretty crack-tastic. And that just doesn't mesh well with my stories that are Trying to Deal with a Serious Issue Here.)

14) How did you come up with the title for the xxx? - You can ask about multiple stories. Mostly, they're descriptive of the Most Iconic Thing, or Most Pivotal Plot Point, in the story! "Something Special About Srentha". "Dove's Dark Discovery". "Growing Up Demon: Leyla's Story". "Mystery Sickness", being renamed "Soul Sickness" for poetic value, but still keeping that iconic "Sickness" thing, while also making it More Relevant to Raven Specifically. The exception is probably "Unforeseen and Unforesaken". Yes, it's misspelled, I did that on purpose for visual balance in the title. It's weird. I know. But it's Intentional. (Still highly important things though, because it illustrates both Dove's arrival, and what happens once she's there, being unforeseen. And Dove absolutely hardcore valuing the team because they don't Forsake her.)

15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names? Bold of you to assume I have this kind of CONTROL over them. Seriously, the way my writing works isn't so much "I get to decide what they do", and more like "huh, this Resonates. That must be a Thing... Let's try to seek out all the relevant details on why it happened, how they reacted, and how it ends!" It's like detective work. And this is absolutely best illustrated by trying to find Srentha's name. Because holy frick. What kinda name is that. (Turns out, it's literally in another language. 8F It means "flight", by the way! Onomatopoeia for the sound wings make.) Anyways, I literally found out one day that, "Dove tried to keep her pregnancy hidden... That must mean she had a kid. With someone." And thus began the Classic RHS Storytelling Search for "who's the guy?" And immediately I knew his name began with an "S". So I tried a bunch of names. I figured it was feminine-sounding, for some reason, thus I realized it ended in "-a". I knew it had two beats. Finding the "-ntha" was the easy part, it was figuring out how the heck to parse "Sren" into the right sounds and number of beats that was the REAL challenge. It wasn't until I remembered "Sri Lanka" exists that I figured out his entire name. (It's pronounced without the English "sh", though - it's just "Sren". As he says, "like Wren, with a Sss.")

16) How did you come up with the idea for xxx? Mostly, they came to me when I was thinking about my characters' lives. Except The Final Journey, that one was based on "the crystals" my girlfriend illustrated Dove having in her room, and I kinda just took that entire concept and made it Azarathean and RAN with it!~ (If you're curious about any particular story, let me know!)

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on. "I killed six people. Do I deserve to die?" hello, this is your daily reminder that DDD absolutely Destroys Dove's self-image. But because it's So IMPORTANT and uhh, it was too Dark for me to leave that there, I also want to quote Raven's responses, which include "We all have our dark days," and "I do know that pain, that guilt. I know it better than anyone...[but] Solitary confinement won't cure it...[and] we don't want to see you leave." And also, "You won't be able to help anyone if you destroy yourself first."

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them? Oh, stars. Let's see... The first "wip" I abandoned was a character I named "gayla", not knowing "gay" was actually a word, first of all, but her concept turned out to actually be part of Srentha's story, and honestly I should've figured out that "heh, same name as Raven's nursemaid" wasn't a thing. {lD (Whose name was actually Galya, by the way. I didn't realize that mistake for like, five years.)

I only so very RARELY abandon an actual story, though. I know there have been a couple of Moment Concepts I've lost, due to not writing them down; that honestly hurts much worse. ;; But there's the aforementioned Pokemon+TT crossover, where Dove brings home a Misdreavus by accident. That was purely self-indulgent, and it just didn't fit with the timeline, so I decided to stop writing that AU. It was really more that I wanted to focus on The Other Stories, and only had 3 short chapters planned. (The one where the little ghost gets herself stuck in Raven's mind had so much potential! But I didn't know how to write Raven's emoticlones in without Raven becoming aware of it. And now that I think about it, that could've been what got Dove to send her back.. But, eh, I've long lost the story file for it, and long LONG lost interest.)

If anyone tells you "A Work of Magic" is abandoned, they're wRONG, I'm just really, really caught up in Dove's struggle with DDD and Srentha and Steven Universe (even if I'm not really writing that fic most of the time), so my inspiration to write that story with As Much Lighthearted Fun Silliness as it deserves is seriously impaired. =w=;;

Oh, but I did kind of abandon the story from Sieara's point of view, because honestly, I'd rather just explore her through Dove. (That little bird gets plenty of epic spotlight moments; she even channels Azar's spirit at one point. Or two. ;P ) But mostly, I abandoned it because I didn't want to write about a bird being too old to reproduce, getting close to death, and then dying, anymore? (It was going to be about her noticing Dove spending more time with Srentha, Srentha's bird dying, and Sieara meeting Dove's daughter, and dying shortly after. But I... don't know, I didn't want to write that Angst without a Resolution.) I wrote that story for Exactly 1 Day, and then decided to stick to writing about her through Dove.

19) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to? I fully intend to do sequels to all of them, thank you very much.~ (At least for the TT fics, all of them are connected in some way. A Work of Magic has both a sequel and a prequel planned. And the Steven Universe fic is really only planned for One Conflict, I really don't want to explore it much beyond that singular unit of Canon Divergence.)

20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently? That would be akin to lying, with the way my stories and my characters go.

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire? thechroniclerjon, holy stars and envy batman. This is one writer who knows how to build a conflict, write magic in a way that's both Believable, and Relatable, and Awesome, and interweaves different plot threads into one rather EPIC confrontation. Obviously I couldn't take the element of religion into my stories, being so totally personally disconnected from it. (spirituality? ABSOLUTELY. Let me explore aLL the Azarathean feels!) But like. Those descriptions. The conversations. The build-up. The plot-twists. The raw emotion. I aspire, very much, to someday, in my own way, find a style that translates as much Excitement and Tension and Delight as his stories manage to convey.

Also, the author of Learning to Breathe Underwater, because that story had amazingly spot-on characterization, included so many canon elements (despite being Canon Divergent) while still having its own (very well escalated, incredibly well-executed!) plot! I write for the Teen Titans universe far more than Steven Universe, but I really admire their way of including basically every single character, giving them plenty of attention and growth, and giving a lot of them development in the process. I don't know if I could do that, but someday, I'd like to try.

22) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it? The old Mystery Sickness. Like, the first version. It was, ah... originally what I now call an "emvent", and if you know what that is, great; if not, I don't want to go into details, but it's a story that helps me process my phobia? Which, geez, poor Raven okay, but what's really "cringe" about it is the way I narrated it in first-person. XD Weird metaphors, she had a Detective Noir tone for some reason, and let's just say there's a reason I never shared any of the panels. (I kept it secret because of the phobia. Equally as horrifying, I kept it in words because of the pictures.)

23) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence? Silence, but I prefer gentle background noises I'm used to. (Like birds fluttering around, gentle aquarium filters and the water rippling, wind in the trees, etc. It's an ADD thing; lowkey background noise, if kept at a distance, helps me focus.)

24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes? Eh. I have the Occasional Mood for it... like, once a year. 8P But generally, I'm just Not Interested. Sure, Dove and Srentha have... done some things that would entertain fans of the genre. And actually, some things that get borderline supernatural. But mostly, I'd just really rather be writing other things.

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story? Oh, stars. Yes... Yes. Dove's Dark Discovery. (I drew on... an awful lot of personal experiences, and none of them were good.) Plus, her guilt and self-flagellating... let's just say it's a major Depression Mood. Also noteworthy: I cried writing the Death Sequence and farewell letter in Spellbound pt. II. I've cried for Dove's loss of Azarath, and her mother. I've cried for the things Dove and Srentha tell Leyla when she's really struggling (because, dear gods, if only I'd heard those words when I was a kid)... It doesn't happen often. But sometimes, it just... gets overwhelming.

26) Which part of your xxx fic was the hardest to write? ASK ABOUT ANY OF THEm, because DEAR GODS, there are PLENTY. But the hardest of all was DDD. I struggled with describing how/why an Extremely Gentle, Timid Pacifist was suddenly Losing Herself to Internal Evil, and doing Terrible Things. I struggled to capture the IMMENSITY of the mindscape battle, both in how these two Incredibly Powerful Demi-demons were unleashing their powers, and also in how much of a personal toll it takes on BOTH of them afterwards. And now, I'm struggling to find the words for Dove in the aftermath, because... Gods, there's just so much turmoil and emotion. It echoes an awful lot of Seriously Dangerous Depression Thoughts, right down to suicide ideation and lashing out at the people she loves because she doesn't think she deserves them, and aren't they all fools for loving her. All I can say is thank god Raven's such a realistic beacon of hope, because (much like she did for me, come to think of it) she's able to help Dove battle those thoughts with reminders, wisdom, and hope.

27) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow? This one depends entirely on the story. Generally, it's really quite sporadic and incidental. I write out the scenes as they come to me (usually WAY out of order), and then figure out how they all fit together. Sometimes I don't even realize two scenes are in the same story at first! Or how they're related. I tend to write the beginning, several scenes from When Things Are Very Serious, then go back to fill in the blanks. A lot of times the climax happens either before I know how to start the story, before I know what led up to it, or before I know how it ends. (DDD began with the climax scene. Heart to Heart began with realizing Srentha had a heart attack as a child.)

And then other times, it begins with a vague concept, and I start writing right at the beginning. (Something Special was first written at the beginning, with Srentha performing a spell. I didn't know what it was going to do, just that it was Relevant. A Work of Magic started with me in the Pokemon world wanting a Misdreavus, and developed into a full-team adventure from there. Unforeseen and Unforesaken, or rather "Unforeseen Surprises" in its original form, starting with the very moment Dove showed up, was written as I went along, knowing which points I wanted to hit before the story was over, but writing the scenes as they came to me.)

A Work of Magic has a lot of travel scenes, and moments that take place in specific areas, with Specific Species, so I had to plan out a timeline from region to region, to make sure they weren't in Sinnoh one day, then encountering a Unova legendary, and battling a psychic type in a Kanto forest the very next day, you know? Then there's DDD, which is such a gradually PROGRESSING story that I definitely had to outline some of the chapters, too. Making sure Dove's gradually growing powers were highlighted, and she wasn't going from Total Telekinetic Failure to Suddenly Really Strong and Breaking The Entire Gym Room in the next scene. That sort of thing.

Either way, it's usually As I'm Writing that I notice the connections, the causes rooted in previous stories or scenes, and the Effects These Incidents Have as I'm writing it out. I always start with An Incident and A Concept, because I wouldn't have a story to write without it. But where it becomes Actual Scenes, and what order I write them, depends entirely on the order I discover them.

28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction? What a Mary Sue was supposed to be, and that Dove isn't what they claimed. That criticism that so many reviewers threw onto her bio wasn't at all helpful, I didn't know what that meant, let alone how to fix it, and I didn't know how to demonstrate that Dove wasn't, in fact, "entirely like Raven", because she had her own powerset, her own history, and her own personality. To be fair, a lot of the Highlights on Their Differences happen in later stories, and it's the initial shock of "why the frick is wearing those clothes and using that mantra", so of course on first impression, it's like. "Raven? similarities???" But... I don't know, it's just so very OBVIOUS to me that, unless we're talking about Timid!Raven (the emoticlone), their differences are so VAST. And I spent a lot of time, WASTED a lot of time, trying to kill the assumption. It really wasn't worth it.

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like? DOVE'S! DARK! DISCOVERY!!! I nearly BROKE myself (both of time AND emotion) writing this thing! I understand that Some Friends can't Do Sadism, but like. This story is 250k words long, I've dumped a GREAT DEAL of my heart and soul into it, and Dove's plight seriously needs to be recognized to understand her growth moving forward. But! There! Are! So! Few! People! READING IT. The story has like 20 reviews on fanfic.net, BUT THE CLIMAX HASn'T GOTTEN ANY yet? ???? Please recognize the metaphorical blood, literal sweat, and literal tears I put into this. Gods. Yes I wish it got WAY more love.

30) In contrast to 29 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at? That poem from middle school, "The Raven and the Dove"? It's a neat poem, sure. Kind, of, a unique concept? But it's not very well explored, it just goes "here are their differences. They're opposites. But they get along." No explanation of how or why. (That's all in the fanfics.) It's not nearly as rhythmic as Dove's Prophecy, it's not clever, it's not plot-twisty, and as far as poetic cred goes, I don't think it's anything special. ? ?? I mean, somebody found it online, and contacted me via email, and it nearly got PUBLISHED. (But I would've had to pay them to include it in their book, which I wasn't down with.) I just don't understand, literally at all, why so many people really LIKE it.

31) Send me a fic recommendation and I’ll post it for my followers to see! (The asker is to send the rec not the answerer) SEND ME FICS, I WILL READ.

32) Are any of your characters based on real people? Nah, they're all based on themselves.

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten? My favorite fanfic author read, and then complimented, the (second or third version of?) the climax scene in DDD.~

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten? Mostly just comments on Dove's first bio that went, "She's such a Mary Sue, burn it and scrap her entirely to start fresh"? (Thank *all* the gods that I didn't take that advice, because she's incredible and deserves to exist in her own right.)

35) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest? Honestly? The first thing I do is WRITE about it. Unless I'm prompted to, or rambling about something that has me Inordinately Emotional, I don't really share them.

36) Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s? Don't worry, outside of Azarath's canonical demise, I only ever write somebody ACTUALLY dying once. But she comes back, because that's what she does, apparently.

37) What’s the funniest story you’ve written? Bold of you to assume I write comedy! But seriously, probably Srentha's debut story. When he discovers pizza, he assumes pepperoni isn't edible (a fair assumption, really, but he's vegetarian anyways). When he tries the cheese, his reaction is just so DELIGHTFUL and warm; he laughs so hard he's literally crying. The things he says and does when he's sugar-high are hysterical. He's just so exuberant and energetic, absolutely positive, he really brings a load of smiles to the table, and both I and Dove irrevocably love him for it.

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name it. I don't know if I have an answer for this. I don't really read a lot of Tumblr fanfics. I've already collaborated with Pix in RPs, my girlfriend and I have already collaborated on stories for both Kary and Pokemon, and the author of The Chronicler Saga implemented one of my scenes into his stories. What more can I really ask for?

I mean, if anyone WANTs to collaborate, just let me know, and I'd love to work something out.

39) Do you prefer first, second or third person? Third person, multiple, and preferably omniscient (or damn close to it)! Exploring everyone's inner workings is Exactly My Style. (And just more fun for me to write.)

40) Do people know you write fanfiction? Well, I only talk about it, like, once every three hours or so. (/sarcasm)

41) What’s you favourite minor character you’ve written? Sieara? Alerina? As for actual Canon Characters, I'm having a righteously wonderful time characterizing Azar. Lapis is fun and interesting to work with, but she's so full of emotional "tides" that it's really hard for me to write for her.

42) Song fic - What made you decide to use the song xxx for xxx. (I have only ever done songfics on papers, and wound up not needing the songs after all. They were all Evanescence, of course.)

43) Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it? Not that I know of! Someone once guessed Dove was Raven's cousin, on Unforeseen+Unforesaken, and I haven't written the climax (when Raven realizes Dove is Trigon's child) yet. That's about the closest anyone has come.

44) What is the last line you wrote? Oh, stars, let me check. (This is where Tracking Changes comes in handy. ;P ) In Nothing Good Lasts Forever, the story that's (possibly going to be renamed "Even in Death", when Raven takes Dove back to Azarath for closure): This may or may not be polished before publishing. But this takes place immediately after Raven pulls Dove from a flashback.

"There's a lot you have to deal with. Your mind has been seriously damaged by what you've been through. I wonder..." And she trailed off there, hesitating, considering the concept before she dared give it voice.

Dove kept looking up at her, confused and seeming entirely absorbed in her analysis. It was so true. Tearing her apart, every time she remembered... The nightmares and flashbacks wouldn't let her forget it.

45) What spurs you on during the writing process? My own excitement, curiosity, and even desperation to learn what happens next! And a general sense of lowkey affectionate "tribute", like I'm the only person with these peoples' stories in my head, and they deserve to have their stories told. And also the hope that, maybe, someone, somewhere, will read the story, and if just ONE person feels their heart soothed or their struggle validated by my writings, then I've done a good thing, and that's all I really want.

46) I really loved your xxx fic. If you were ever to do a sequel, what do you think might happen in it? (Someone ask me, because EVERYTHING has sequels, and if you want to know about it, just Ask!)

47) Here’s a fic title - insert a made up title. What would this story be about? DO IT??

48) What’s your favourite trope to write? I'm... not sure, entirely, but probably "bullshit [insert genre here] magic".

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about? I remember one OF the first fics I ever read, because for about 7, 8 years, I was SCOURING fanfiction.net to find it again. It was about Raven having terrible visions, Azarath being destroyed, and Robin feeling her pain through their connection, but thinking it was heartburn. And then a group of people dropped in, took Raven away (on a spaceships? Though hyperspace???). And they were going to rebuild Azarath. And I think Robin had just discovered Raven was gone, before the story ended. Oh, and they spelled Azarath like "Azerath". That's all I can remember, but I really do wish I'd known what happened, because that story had me absolutely HOOKED. (But alas, I didn't have an account at the time, and I was reading it at the computer lab.)

50) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? Ohh, this one's hard. I'd drop smut like it's hot (haha, get it?). But seriously, I'm a 99%-sex-repulsed aroace, and I've only ever written like 5 half-done smut scenes. Imagined a Fair Few more, but they don't keep my interest for the long multi-hour process of editing that comprises my writing process.

This probably means "romantic fluff" though, right? I mean, I HAVE to write angst (because let's be real, without Angst I wouldn't have much of a story, since all of my stories are Driven By Characters Issues, WAY moreso than external events). But I really think the REAL beauty of my characters is how they go through that angst, and COME OUT with each others' support. I don't know how to write angst without someone being supported (i.e. "Hurt/Comfort", really), and I don't know how to write fluff without something Heavy bringing it on.

Secretshipping (Dove+Srentha) is equal parts angst and fluff, because honestly Angst is in Dove's Job Description, and Srentha is so light-hearted and goofy and silly that he balances it out (and Dove has some goof in her, and Srentha has some rare moments of angst, and it's how they interact and balance out and HELP each other through it that really brings them to LIFE together). Kary's whole characterization is because The Angst seriously fucked up her psyche, but scenes between her and Dove (and Yo-yo!), even her future husband, can get seriously silly and fluffy. Leyla's real growth and development comes from Realizing that the World is Not Like her Sheltered Life. (And how she doesn't want to expose her parents to Her Angst.) But it's also the fluffy deep softness and sincerity she and her parents share that gets her through these realizations. So like... Angst and fluff go hand-in-hand for me? I wouldn't be able to write one without the other.

[viralhottopics]

CNN 10 – March 14, 2017

March 14, 2017

More than 20 million people are facing the threat of famine and starvation, according to the United Nations. Today, we’re explaining why and what the U.N. wants to do about it. Afterward, we’re examining whether the ISIS terrorist group could be completely eradicated, and we’re looking at a wintery forecast for the U.S. Northeast. Other subjects include a meeting of heroes and a dog that stole an agility show by making mistakes.

TRANSCRIPT

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi. I’m Carl Azuz.

An urgent warning from the United Nations leads off today’s show.

The organization’s humanitarian coordinator says more than 20 million people are threatened by famine and starvation. They’re concentrated at four countries, the African nations of Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan, and the Middle Eastern nation of Yemen. The U.N. says this constitutes the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis since 1945, when the U.N. was founded.

What are these countries have in common? Conflict.

In Nigeria, it’s the fighting against the Boko Haram terrorist group, combined with potential famine that has devastated parts of the country.

In South Sudan, fighting between government troops and armed groups, combined with a famine, have left more than 40 percent of the population in need of food, farming help and nutrition.

In Somalia, attacks by the Islamic militant group al Shabaab, plus a worsening drought are taking their tool and in Yemen, a two year old civil war has left roads blocked, reduced imports, left markets damaged and left millions hungry.

So, what can be done about this?

The United Nations wants funding, $4.4 billion by this summer that would go toward fighting hunger and disease in these countries.

Used of war have also destroyed parts of Iraq and Syria, and helped give rise to the ISIS terrorist group. ISIS, an acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. That’s what the terrorists wanted, based on their severe interpretation of Islam.

But their two major strongholds in those two countries are now the targets of international efforts to destroy ISIS. A battle is looming over Raqqa, ISIS’s self-declared capital in Syria, and the terrorists are losing their hold on the Iraqi city of Mosul after months of fighting there.

But will all these rid the world of ISIS? What would that take?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It began slowly from the ruins of two groups of wars in Iraq and Syria, but when will ISIS truly began?

SUBTITLE: Can ISIS ever be eradicated?

WALSH: As U.S. and allied firepower honed on their final strongholds, they may almost fall as fast as they rose, when they emerged in 2014 and declared their leader, Abu Bakr al Qaeda, head of their caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

Their territory grew in Iraq, exploiting the suffering of the Sunni minority and in Syria, offering a savage sense of order among the indiscriminate murder of the civil war. Their brutality became ubiquitous, yet also appealed to warped minds globally.

In Libya, a franchise on the coast, in Afghanistan, in the east, in Egypt, around Africa, even southern Russia, pledges of allegiance were made because to be part of ISIS, all you have to do was make a video or a phone call during an attack, and you were part of the global branded enterprise of horror. Paris, Brussels, Orlando, Nice, Istanbul, the lists have to be a lot longer to include all those who claimed to act on their sick name.

As they wane in Iraq and Syria, and lose their Libyan stronghold altogether, they’re not over yet. Their idea lives on. The virus of their perverted version of Islam now contagious perhaps forever for anyone on the Internet.

The challenge going forward: how do you make ISIS lose its appeal to those drawn to something so deliberately vile?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:

Which of those words describe a time when day and night are about the same length?

Solstice, Allegro, Equinox or Invicta?

A vernal and autumnal equinoxes or spring and fall equinoxes are when day and night are all equal all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: The spring equinox is on March 20th this year, less than a week away. It’s the first official day of spring in the northern hemisphere and it feels like it in many parts of the U.S. From Washington, D.C. to Massachusetts, blizzard warnings are in effect, with up to 18 inches of snow in the forecast for Boston and New York City.

Schools were closed. Thousands of flights were cancelled for airports in the path of the late winter storm, it’s already slammed the Midwest and this system could bring the Northeast its heaviest snowfall of the whole winter.

Residents stocked up on food and supplies. State governments stockpiled sandbags, pumps and generators, in case there’s flooding or the power goes out. Meteorologists say this was all caused when two low pressure weather systems came together, forming a potentially potent nor’easter.

In cold weather in general is affecting a large part of the U.S. population, almost a third of all Americans are under some sort of winter weather alert this week. Many of them live near a lake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Let’s talk about lake-effect snow. As a boy growing up in Buffalo, New York, I knew it as a day off of school. My dad knew it as a day he may not get home from work as it was just snowing too hard.

SUBTITLE: Lake-effect snow.

MYERS: But how does it work? Well, first of all, you need a lake, because it’s called lake-effect snow. And the lake needs to be unfrozen, 35, 40, 45 degrees is great. And then the air that blows across it from the north or from the west can be 10 degrees.

All of a sudden, the moisture from the lake mixes in with the cold air from the north, and you get big clouds and you can get big snow. When it goes on land and goes uphill, all of a sudden, you get significant lake-effect snow. It can be two to three inches per hour.

And depending on where you are, if you’re just south of it or north of this lake-effect band, it can look like a wall of snow was coming down. And so, that’s why you can be anywhere from a two to three-inch snow fall in one county, and just a few miles south, you can get 30 inches in one day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Nominations are open for the 2017 CNN Heroes. These are everyday people. You may know a potential hero, who’s making an incredible impact on a community. The 2016 Hero of the Year, Jeison Aristizabal, was born with cerebral palsy and he’s helped give a brighter future to more than a thousand Colombian children with disabilities.

After accepting his award from CNN, he visited another Colombian hero who’s made it his life’s work to help others.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUBTITLE: In December, he was honored as a Top 10 CNN Hero — but that’s not all.

KELLY RIPA, HOST: The 2016 CNN Hero of the Year is Jeison Aristizabal.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Jeison Aristizabal.

(APPLAUSE)

SUBTITLE: While in New York, Jeison visited fellow Colombian and 2009 Top 10 CNN Hero Jorge Munoz.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

SUBTITLE: Every single night, Jorge brings free meals to hungry people in Queens, NY.

Jeison helped Jorge prepare meals to be distributed that very night.

JEISON ARISTIZABAL, CNN 2016 HERO OF THE YEAR (translated): I’m very inspired by how Jorge fights. His manner, his tenacity, the enthusiasm that he brings.

The food multiplies here.

JORGE MUNOZ, 2009 TOP 10 CNN HERO (translated: Yes, it’s really nice.

ARISTIZABAL: It inspires me do something for others every day.

SUBTITLE: They also got the chance to swap stories.

MUNOZ: I mean, it was very special, I felt very proud of being Colombian when I saw you there.

ARISTIZABAL: What a joy to be part of this CNN family! I’m very pleased, very proud, very happy.

CROWD: Jeison! Jeison! Jeison! Jeison!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Agility events test the dog’s athleticism, its training, its connection with its owner, charging over A-frames, hurdles, through tunnels and between weave poles makes for good TV. But when an animal isn’t particularly skilled at these things but competes anyway, that makes for great TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at this. Ooh, what a nose dive and he couldn’t care less.

SUBTITLE: This dog might be the worst competitor ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go! That’s one of the best shots I’ve seen in a long time.

SUBTITLE: But when it comes to pure hilarity, he’s a big winner. Olly the Jack Russell terrier has become a viral star — thanks to a comically-bad obstacle course run at the 2017 Crufts Dog Show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, he’s a little bit confused. Some people think he sould have — oh!

Little Jack Russell here Olly with Karen from the Blue Cross, closes out the group, this last of the small (INAUDIBLE)

He’s all over he place and so he should be. Olly and Karen here, Olly was from (INAUDIBLE)

SUBTITLE: His hilarious performance is trending on YouTube.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people think he should have stayed as lucky (INAUDIBLE). Olly is totally crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: So, maybe he’s not on course on the concourse, more energetic than synergetic and more vigorous than rigorous. But agility is not beyond his abilities. He’s still more agile than fragile, more boss than draws, and he’s super. He’s able to Olly over A-frames in a single hound.

I’m Carl Azuz.

Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript.

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from CNN 10 – March 14, 2017

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From Groundhog Day to Raging Bull? films to inspire and uplift

Supposedly inspirational films tend to leave our critic reaching for the sick bag. He finds defeated boxers, desperate weathermen and boozy, cantankerous widowers far more uplifting

Can films be inspirational? Well, the good ones all are. And, in a broader sense, going to the cinema is a narcotic, luxurious experience that makes you feel inspired, uplifted and stimulated. But when people talk about inspirational films underdogs achieving spectacular sporting success, charismatic teachers winning over pupils, people overcoming disabilities I am sometimes a bit agnostic. An inspirational film often feels soupy and syrupy, schematic and cliched, faintly coercive and reactionary. Inspirational means aspirational, no arguments and it brings out my ironic, grumpy Brit. When Im asked for my favourite inspirational scene, I nominate Tom Courtenays final, miserable act of defiance in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.

One movie that was lauded as inspirational, The Blind Side, features Sandra Bullock in an Oscar-winning performance as a well-to-do Christian Republican mom in the Sarah Palin mould. She takes in a troubled African American teen and helps mould him into a top football player. This was a huge hit in 2009, with great swathes of America undoubtedly deeming it to be inspirational (perhaps the inspirational movie is itself an American genre). Personally, I felt it unwise to leave the sick bag beyond arms length. The same goes, incidentally, for Clint Eastwoods terrible Invictus, about the South African Springboks earnest battle for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, under the kindly eye of Nelson Mandela.

Keep the sick bag handy The Blind Side. Photograph: Allstar/Warner/Sportsphoto

I like Rocky as much as anyone, but Im quite sure Raging Bull, with its dark, mysterious poetry of defeat and survival, is in a different weight class. And there is something inspiring in the final audacious quotation from the Gospel of St John: All I know is this: once I was blind and now I can see.

Yet sometimes films are genuinely inspirational, specifically because they dont indulge irony or nuance (it could be that inspirational, like comedy or romcom, is a genre that isnt critically acceptable). I have a soft spot for that fierce heartwarmer, The Pursuit of Happyness, directed by the Italian master of dolce, Gabriele Muccino, and starring Will Smith. It is a true story about a guy called Chris Gardner who once faced poverty as a jobless single dad, got an unpaid internship at a prestigious firm, and had to keep up appearances alongside the pampered yuppies competing for a permanent job, while he and his son slept in hostels or even subway toilets.

Yes, its treacly and unashamedly premised on the idea of material success, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But its forthright and well made. It doesnt exactly inspire you, but it is touching and successful in its sentimental-euphoric inspirational mode. In this vein, I have to give credit to a sweet and good-natured movie based on a true story: October Sky, with Jake Gyllenhaal as a grim-faced coalminers son who is inspired by Russias Sputnik to go into rocket science when he leaves school.

The King of Inspirational Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. Photograph: Moviestore/Rex Shutterstock

As for the inspirational-teacher films such as Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society, again I am agnostic. They garnered a lot of awards-season euphoria, but I am not sure they have aged well. They certainly show that Robin Williams was the King of Inspirational, in the same way you might call Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly the King of Song and Dance. Something in his hyperactive funniness vulnerable, secretly wounded, dripping with empathy, morally strong made him the incarnation of inspirational: the teacher figure who wasnt distant or fierce, but often a kind of rocket-fuelled version of the class clown who was on the kids side. Williams did this so well that he was never quite convincing in the darker roles he tried at the end of his career.

Laurent Cantets Entre Les Murs (The Class) is a French film about a tough inner-city school. Maybe its too tough to count as inspirational, although its seriousness is inspiring in a way as is the final, enigmatically moving shot of the empty classroom. And a mention should go to Goodbye, Mr Chips, the 1939 version, with Robert Donat as the much-loved public schoolmaster who teaches generations of boys right in the decades leading up to the first world war; despite his own poignantly short and childless marriage, he thinks of all these boys as his children. Goodbye, Mr Chips is an example of how the inspirational movie is a cousin to the weepie.

Where inspirational triangulates with the weepie and the Christmas film James Stewart in Its a Wonderful Life

Its a Wonderful Life deserves a kind of peripheral inclusion here, for being where inspirational triangulates with the weepie and the Christmas film. Part of the agenda of the sentimental Christmas movie is to inspire characters and audience to lead better lives. That is very much the point of Frank Capras celebrated work, in which George Bailey is shown a vision (not dissimilar to those vouchsafed to Scrooge) of what his hometown would have been like if he had not sacrificed his own ambitions to help the community.

Just as inspirational and brilliant is Harold Ramiss Groundhog Day. Bill Murrays misanthropic weatherman is trapped in a repeating day, made to go through it again and again, and inspect his own life in all the detail he had arrogantly ignored, with an infinite amount of time to acquaint himself with every square millimetre of the hokey small town he had presumed to despise. He becomes a better person, but the films own comic miracle is that it doesnt labour this point, despite Murrays hilariously laborious ordeal, or even make it explicit. And I think that is inspirational.

Self-fulfilment We Are The Best!

But for me, the one genre I find really and truly inspirational without having to claim it as a guilty pleasure is any film about people forming bands at school. Movies such as John Carneys Sing Street and Lukas Moodysons We Are the Best! are genuinely inspirational because they are about self-betterment and self-fulfilment, in their way, but no one is telling the pupil musicians they have to do it to get good grades or be a more responsible person.

In fact, the grownup world is usually frowning at the whole idea of being in something as disreputable as a pop group. So there is something entrepreneurial, creative and rebellious about it. Under this heading, I would also include Good Vibrations, an excellent film about Terri Hooley, the record shop owner who nurtured Belfasts punk scene and brought the Undertones to the world.

Isolating a moment of inspiration in a film is an interesting challenge. Alexander Paynes About Schmidt is a relentlessly dark film on the painful theme of family dysfunction. Jack Nicholsons performance is dyspeptic and despairing: his face (like Paul Giamattis in Sideways or Bruce Derns in Nebraska) is on the point of becoming an immobile mask of disappointment or despair. Yet every time I see him burst into tears at his letter from the little African boy, I find the moment euphoric and, yes, sort of inspirational. There is something irresistible in the possibility of Schmidts redemption, even in its broad implausibility. So maybe About Schmidt is my favourite motivational film.

More uplifting culture for 2017

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/01/from-groundhog-day-to-raging-bull-films-to-inspire-and-uplift

The post From Groundhog Day to Raging Bull? films to inspire and uplift appeared first on The Indie Music Hub.

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From Groundhog Day to Raging Bull? films to inspire and uplift

Supposedly inspirational films tend to leave our critic reaching for the sick bag. He finds defeated boxers, desperate weathermen and boozy, cantankerous widowers far more uplifting

Can films be inspirational? Well, the good ones all are. And, in a broader sense, going to the cinema is a narcotic, luxurious experience that makes you feel inspired, uplifted and stimulated. But when people talk about inspirational films underdogs achieving spectacular sporting success, charismatic teachers winning over pupils, people overcoming disabilities I am sometimes a bit agnostic. An inspirational film often feels soupy and syrupy, schematic and cliched, faintly coercive and reactionary. Inspirational means aspirational, no arguments and it brings out my ironic, grumpy Brit. When Im asked for my favourite inspirational scene, I nominate Tom Courtenays final, miserable act of defiance in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.

One movie that was lauded as inspirational, The Blind Side, features Sandra Bullock in an Oscar-winning performance as a well-to-do Christian Republican mom in the Sarah Palin mould. She takes in a troubled African American teen and helps mould him into a top football player. This was a huge hit in 2009, with great swathes of America undoubtedly deeming it to be inspirational (perhaps the inspirational movie is itself an American genre). Personally, I felt it unwise to leave the sick bag beyond arms length. The same goes, incidentally, for Clint Eastwoods terrible Invictus, about the South African Springboks earnest battle for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, under the kindly eye of Nelson Mandela.

Keep the sick bag handy The Blind Side. Photograph: Allstar/Warner/Sportsphoto

I like Rocky as much as anyone, but Im quite sure Raging Bull, with its dark, mysterious poetry of defeat and survival, is in a different weight class. And there is something inspiring in the final audacious quotation from the Gospel of St John: All I know is this: once I was blind and now I can see.

Yet sometimes films are genuinely inspirational, specifically because they dont indulge irony or nuance (it could be that inspirational, like comedy or romcom, is a genre that isnt critically acceptable). I have a soft spot for that fierce heartwarmer, The Pursuit of Happyness, directed by the Italian master of dolce, Gabriele Muccino, and starring Will Smith. It is a true story about a guy called Chris Gardner who once faced poverty as a jobless single dad, got an unpaid internship at a prestigious firm, and had to keep up appearances alongside the pampered yuppies competing for a permanent job, while he and his son slept in hostels or even subway toilets.

Yes, its treacly and unashamedly premised on the idea of material success, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But its forthright and well made. It doesnt exactly inspire you, but it is touching and successful in its sentimental-euphoric inspirational mode. In this vein, I have to give credit to a sweet and good-natured movie based on a true story: October Sky, with Jake Gyllenhaal as a grim-faced coalminers son who is inspired by Russias Sputnik to go into rocket science when he leaves school.

The King of Inspirational Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. Photograph: Moviestore/Rex Shutterstock

As for the inspirational-teacher films such as Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society, again I am agnostic. They garnered a lot of awards-season euphoria, but I am not sure they have aged well. They certainly show that Robin Williams was the King of Inspirational, in the same way you might call Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly the King of Song and Dance. Something in his hyperactive funniness vulnerable, secretly wounded, dripping with empathy, morally strong made him the incarnation of inspirational: the teacher figure who wasnt distant or fierce, but often a kind of rocket-fuelled version of the class clown who was on the kids side. Williams did this so well that he was never quite convincing in the darker roles he tried at the end of his career.

Laurent Cantets Entre Les Murs (The Class) is a French film about a tough inner-city school. Maybe its too tough to count as inspirational, although its seriousness is inspiring in a way as is the final, enigmatically moving shot of the empty classroom. And a mention should go to Goodbye, Mr Chips, the 1939 version, with Robert Donat as the much-loved public schoolmaster who teaches generations of boys right in the decades leading up to the first world war; despite his own poignantly short and childless marriage, he thinks of all these boys as his children. Goodbye, Mr Chips is an example of how the inspirational movie is a cousin to the weepie.

Where inspirational triangulates with the weepie and the Christmas film James Stewart in Its a Wonderful Life

Its a Wonderful Life deserves a kind of peripheral inclusion here, for being where inspirational triangulates with the weepie and the Christmas film. Part of the agenda of the sentimental Christmas movie is to inspire characters and audience to lead better lives. That is very much the point of Frank Capras celebrated work, in which George Bailey is shown a vision (not dissimilar to those vouchsafed to Scrooge) of what his hometown would have been like if he had not sacrificed his own ambitions to help the community.

Just as inspirational and brilliant is Harold Ramiss Groundhog Day. Bill Murrays misanthropic weatherman is trapped in a repeating day, made to go through it again and again, and inspect his own life in all the detail he had arrogantly ignored, with an infinite amount of time to acquaint himself with every square millimetre of the hokey small town he had presumed to despise. He becomes a better person, but the films own comic miracle is that it doesnt labour this point, despite Murrays hilariously laborious ordeal, or even make it explicit. And I think that is inspirational.

Self-fulfilment We Are The Best!

But for me, the one genre I find really and truly inspirational without having to claim it as a guilty pleasure is any film about people forming bands at school. Movies such as John Carneys Sing Street and Lukas Moodysons We Are the Best! are genuinely inspirational because they are about self-betterment and self-fulfilment, in their way, but no one is telling the pupil musicians they have to do it to get good grades or be a more responsible person.

In fact, the grownup world is usually frowning at the whole idea of being in something as disreputable as a pop group. So there is something entrepreneurial, creative and rebellious about it. Under this heading, I would also include Good Vibrations, an excellent film about Terri Hooley, the record shop owner who nurtured Belfasts punk scene and brought the Undertones to the world.

Isolating a moment of inspiration in a film is an interesting challenge. Alexander Paynes About Schmidt is a relentlessly dark film on the painful theme of family dysfunction. Jack Nicholsons performance is dyspeptic and despairing: his face (like Paul Giamattis in Sideways or Bruce Derns in Nebraska) is on the point of becoming an immobile mask of disappointment or despair. Yet every time I see him burst into tears at his letter from the little African boy, I find the moment euphoric and, yes, sort of inspirational. There is something irresistible in the possibility of Schmidts redemption, even in its broad implausibility. So maybe About Schmidt is my favourite motivational film.

More uplifting culture for 2017

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/01/from-groundhog-day-to-raging-bull-films-to-inspire-and-uplift

The post From Groundhog Day to Raging Bull? films to inspire and uplift appeared first on The Indie Music Hub.