#i think they like the idea of buying the books and especially the popular ones but that’s it and it strikes me as so consumerist

[first-ex-wife]

people on booktok scare me like how do you have hundreds of unread books? how are their literally more books you HAVEN’T read and own than you have read? stay away from me ✝️☪️✡️☸️🪯☯️☮️

[feelinmatcha]

❛ 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐎𝐊𝐀𝐘, 𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 ❜

description: your boyfriend tends to remind you that you're so easy to love. characters: alhaitham + scaramouche (wanderer) a/n: had this idea brewing in my drafts and decided to finish it off ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ

"no, i'm not buying a book from a genre i don't even like."

that's okay, alhaitham will.

actually, the idea of giving you your own bookshelf would already be on his mind as soon as you've successfully moved in with him and kaveh. the only catch? kaveh insists that he builds it himself as a gift.

alhaitham subtly asks you of your favorite wood one evening in the kitchen over a heavy discussion of zaytun peaches that kaveh was supposed to buy earlier that morning. trust me, he already knows which wood you'd absolutely adore, but he took the precaution of asking once again just in case as he'd be quite perturbed that his plan didn't work out in the end like he intended. he wanted it to cater to you, not anyone else.

the topic drifted from zaytun peaches to the week's trending romance novel that you had finished reading a few days ago.

"haitham, you should put this on your to-be-read list!"

"really? what's the appeal, love?"

listen guys and girls, he wants to know why you'd recommend it to him!!!

give him every little detail on why!! you want him!!! out of all people!! to read it!!!

he really just wants to hear you talk about what you find interesting.

contrary to popular belief, he doesn't hate the romance genre. he just finds it... meaningless to read? the last time he gave it a try, there was no actual knowledge in it. just fictional love between fictional characters.

but of course, he would consider it if you were to suggest something. especially if the book has you running laps around the bedroom.

so he sets out on to the nearest bookstore when he's on his 'break' and purchases the same copy you had.

you're DISCOMBOBULATED. BAFFLED.

that night you two would be in bed, settling down for the night, and he whips it out-- his fingers spreads the pages near the ending of the book and he begins reading.

"babe... why are you reading my book?"

"no, it's my book. i bought my own so you wouldn't complain about me creasing the spine."

"but why'd you buy one?"

he side-eyes you, "you suggested the book."

"but i didn't think you'd actually... you didn't have to. i know you aren't fond of--"

"i'm fond of you, and that's enough."

"no, i don't want you starting a commotion here in public."

that's okay, scaramouche will.

he loves you with his entire heart, body, and soul.

if someone stares at you weirdly? they're already being glared down by him. if a salesperson says anything about your attire, your hair (or the absense of it), or your skin-- he's throwing himself across the stall and grabbing their shirt to bring them closer to you.

he makes them apologize.

a woman, a man, an elder, a kid-- doesn't matter. as long as they got a mouth that can yap, he's gonna shut it.

your friends would let what people say to you slide, but he won't.

it's bad enough that he feels as if he doesn't deserve you so when you start thinking of yourself as someone whose less than even the dirt and cement beneath your feet, he's angry at everyone else for letting it get this far.

"what are you talking about? they insulted you and you stood there and took it!"

you don't want to feel like a burden, like someone whose always in need of being protected.

"i'm not your friend, i'm your partner," he grits. "it's what i'm supposed to do, you idiot."

really, it's just the ideal of protecting you that's instilled within his puppet body.

poor baby does not know an ounce of romance yet he said that line so effortlessly and in a way that had you choking on your next words.

as you cling to his bicep on the dirt road, you thank him. profusely. he finds it a bit annoying.

"you need to get better friends." is all he says.

he knew what loyalty was. he practically would get on his knees for it, too. he constantly looked for that in a partner, and you had answered.

he knew loyalty was needed in friendships, as well as relationships. especially relationships.

so it unsettled him when he heard that your so-called friends brushed off the verbal assaults directed to you and had the audacity to then say: "just smile and don't let it get to you"

it wouldn't be the first he's done this and it certainly won't be the last, and that's okay.

he wants to enjoy the smiles, laughs, and jokes you end up sharing with him all in an attempt to calm him down but he's already been calm. he's always found himself significantly calm around you, whether he admits it or not.

"come on, let's go home."

© 2024 feelinmatcha

[christinesficrecs]

Also, these gems are still on tumblr for your enjoyment. 🧡💙🧡 here, here, here, and especially this one. Oooh, this one too.

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[anim-ttrpgs]

Hey just wanted to say that the work you do is really inspiring. I think the TTRPG community has needed an urban fantasy noir sort of thing for a little while and I really like the direction you're taking it in. Looking forward to stuff in the future!!

Thank you! Basically all our projects come from a place of need, each one being something that we wanted to play ourselves, but either it just didn’t exist, or the people who did do it didn’t do it to our satisfaction.

Since it’s our blog we can toot our own horn a bit, and yeah, the TTRPG community did need Eureka. The whole idea originally came out of our dissatisfaction with investigation and mystery-solving gameplay in most of the other more well-known TTRPGs that attempt to tackle this genre, such as Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, and Gumshoe. They either make it too easy for bad dice rolls to get the party hopelessly stuck by relying too heavily of the PC’s skills, or make things difficult on the player by not giving the PC’s skills quite enough input, which can make efficient mystery solving very difficult across sessions with a whole week or more of real time in between them. (And it’s barely even worth mentioning that the most popular TTRPGs such as D&D5e and Pathfinder just plain cannot do investigative gameplay to any respectable degree at all.)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy’s Investigation Point and Eureka! Point system, whereby each skill check to investigate something fills a bar on the character sheet until the investigator gets a “Eureka!”, which can be spent to retroactively gain information from an investigation skill check that they previously failed, as well as many other specific rules that are too nuanced to go into here but that you can read about in the free version of the rulebook, are part of our answer to that. As you are putting the pieces together in your own mind, so is your character, and this system acts as a failsafe, but not a crutch, to prevent a single bad dice roll from leaving the party totally twisting in the wind.

And I personally have always been really autistic about folklore, which is where Eureka’s unique approach to playable monsters comes in. No RPG had ever really done certain monsters to my satisfaction, particularly vampires. Folkloric vampires have a great deal of quirks and weaknesses that usually get cut from any sort of vampire media because they’re too “silly,” but I disagree. I want them all, and so when a monster is playable in Eureka, it’s its own unique experience, unlike playing anything else in any other game or even within Eureka. (I am very, very proud to say that a number of V:TM veterans have said that Eureka does vampires much better than V:TM itself.)

Not every playable monster in Eureka is 100% strictly folkloric, which was a bit of a struggle for me, but ultimately the small exceptions that were made make the RPG better, so I can’t complain, especially because we managed to weave some pretty cool themes into all of them, which I will touch on more when I finally get finished writing that big huge post about, well, Eureka’s themes.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[candyfloss-kittens]

22 years….

I've known of the trio for… as long as I can remember, given my dad would watch them way back when they were still on Top Gear. I don't know when Top Gear first aired on TV in New Zealand, I guess when the show first started to get popular world wide? I don't know…. Though, I do have some very vague recollections of seeing news reports about Hammond's big crash back in 2006 when I was 8, but I really don't know. I might've just heard of it back then, not necessarily seen anything about it.

Now, while I had watched bits of Top Gear over the years, and back in primary school, I'd tend to hang more around boys at school rather than girls (I do recall at one point with the desk layouts I was the only girl in one group alongside five other boys), and if I recall correctly, a lot of them would talk about Top Gear. I think I might've even watched some of Top Gear with one of my closest childhood friends many years ago, we might've even watched the Botswana special together when it first aired in NZ, though I genuinely can't remember if that actually happened or not (my memory is… not great). But given me and him did do a lot of things together, and we were both interested in most of the same things, it's possible (I've not seen that old friend in years now, though. Last I heard, he's got three kids…).

I do remember back in 2015 hearing about Jeremy essentially being fired from the BBC, and James and Richard leaving alongside him. Though, I cannot remember what my thoughts on that while situation was, given I at the time I didn't care about them.

It wasn't until late 2021 that I actually started getting into Clarkson, Hammond, and May. I think right as the Grand Tour's Carnage A Trois released. Pretty sure it was a result of some YouTube compilation of the trio popping up on my YouTube feed. At like 1:30am in the morning after i had gotten home from working night shift at my previous job at a mussel factory (that has unfortunately, and frustratingly, now closed down). How, when I've never been interested in cars at all, I have no idea. Then I started mostly just watching YouTube compilation videos of them after work before getting to bed. Then, I had ended up finding a copy of one of the sampler DVDs that came with the Top Gear magazines, the Supercars one, at one of the op shops near me for $2. I kind of just… fell head first into the trio after that. Buying every book and DVD of theirs that I could find, which was a lot easier than I had thought. Found many of my TG books and DVDs at the op shops near me (still had to get a few online, though, because some weren't easy to find, like May's Cars of the People).

Then at one point, I got curious about if there was fanfic written about them. I'm no stranger to rpf fanfic, so while I was surprised to find that there is, I sort of expected there to be? Because if it exists, there's bound to be fanfic for it. What was a surprise though, is just how into writing fanfic of the trio I got. Especially considering at the time I was trying to move away from writing rpf. So, thanks for that, guys.

I still find myself curious whether or not the guys know that there's fanfic about them, and what their thoughts are on it, though. I'd like to think that they just don't give a fuck, because surely if they had a problem with it (if they're aware of it), then they would've said something about it by now.

So… yeah. Known of them since forever, but never really cared much for them until late 2021 at 23. And now in 2024, at 26, I'm still very much into them, despite not really caring about cars (with the exception of collecting die-cast cars, and putting together model kit cars). I don't even have my driver's license.

While I definitely got into the fandom late, it's been very fun. And in terms of my Ao3 fics for the trio, I still have many more ideas to come, so even though the Grand Tour has now ended, I'm not going to be stopping writing fic for them anytime soon. And definitely won't stop me from finishing off my collection of all their books and DVDs they've released over the years.

[crystalitecloudie]

part two to this post!! Everything is gender neutral btw

EDIT: I MESSED UP SOME PARTS ARENT GENDER NEUTRAL I FIXED THEM PLS LEMME KNOW WHEN I MESS UP K THANKS❗️❗️❗️

Imagine...

Continuing from the whole "Cocolia doesn't convict you because she has discovered you are the creator and you must be treated as such" idea...

I believe that in this scenario, Cocolia would actually figure out you are the creator because the stellaron in her head told her so.

As we know, the stellaron has already corrupted her mind long ago. But I think that even the stellaron would be able to recognize the presence of the creator.

And so, the stellaron's plan (that cocolia follows) is to paint the Astral Express crew as criminals, while putting the creator in good graces, and to become their most loyal acolyte. This way, the creator wouldn't want to remove the stellaron.

Bonus idea as well -- imagine that the stellaron mistakes the creator for the creator's child instead. Evidence for this would be the previously mentioned speech patterns in part one, and her weakened presence from being in a human vessel for so long. This would also probably lead both the stellaron and cocolia to think you are less competent than you actually are, to the point of taking her side.

And that is how we ended up here, with you locked in a room that looks like it came straight from a children's play center. Sure, all of the toys and trains and children's books are fascinating... but you want a REAL book. Like... quantum physics or some shit.

While in Cocolia's palace, your actual identity is very much publicized. Soon, you are praised and worshipped all throughout belobog, and you are treated as royalty throughout the palace. Personal attendants, butlers...

You already rapidly recognize that this is going downhill. To make things worse, you are being watched at all times.

And even though the palace staff try to please you, they refuse to give you anything you actually want. So, while locked in your room, you spend time working on your powers.

Now, this next part I think can go one of two ways. One, you realize how to give blessings, and so you bribe the guards protecting you to let you escape out the window, and in return, you gift them with control over an element of their choosing.

You would then sneak out, and escape to the underworld to follow Bronya and the Astral Express crew.

The other way this could go is similar to the first way, but before you could actually bribe the guards, cocolia personally comes to visit you, and tells you all about the stellaron, and the Astral Express crew's evils. From here, you would realize that if you play into cocolia's side and gain her trust, you can escape.

So you would agree with her, lying through your teeth without a hint of your actual dishonesty. You would then admit that through your "divine power", you knew where bronya was, and that you personally needed to save her. I think cocolia would be hesitant at first, but after you explain to her how long you survived the eternal freeze, she reluctantly lets you go.

In the mean time, because your presence had been so publicized, Cocolia did not tell the public of you leaving for the underworld.

It is important to note that in the underworld, the citizens there do not recognize you as the creator. From here, you would follow around the trailblazers and Seele throughout their underworld journeys, however, you probably joined their journey around the time when Stelle, Bronya, and Seele had to go to Rivet Town.

Once you are down in the underworld, I also think that you would probably explain to the party what was happening on the surface. You would paint yourself as "just a normal person", and "not related to the creator in any way". And of course, the party buys it.

... Except Sampo. While in the underground, you would probably become especially close with Sampo. As someone who has snuck up to the surface before, he is well aware of what is happening above. And, if going by the popular theory that he is a part of the Masked Fools, I believe the Masked Fools would be the creator's number 1 followers.

(PS -- I have a post in my drafts right now talking about Sampo in SAHSRAU. I don't know when I'll post that, but I'll link it here when I do)

As such, this organization probably has access to plenty of ancient texts with signs of the creator's return. And as a follower of the Aeon of Elation (who is one of your most devout and open followers), he recognizes pretty much all of the signs in you. Heck, he probably even saw you injure yourself on accident, by a brief scrape on some rocks or something, and blood the color of diamonds and glass came out of the cut.

Even if he is never open about his worshipping of the creator, or his affiliation with the Masked Fools.

I think that after the Svarog incident (in which you were probably working with him on the sidelines, taking a more support role), he would pull you aside and confront you about all of this. Most of it, anyway. Specifically, he would mention the signs, and his awareness of what was happening in the overworld.

And then finally, the big lore drop -- that he believes you are the real creator. Not their child, not a nobody completely unrelated, not an eminator, but the creator themselves.

By this point, I think it's all a game for you. And Sampo is your first winner.

Because of this, I think he'd be the first person you told the real truth to. What Honkai Star Rail was like on earth, and how you are slowly beginning to regain your powers.

From here, I'm not sure what Sampo would do with this information. You can ask him to keep it a secret, but I don't know if he would.

When the group heads back to the surface, you return to the palace with Bronya. I believe that in the case of sucking up to her mother, you probably informed Bronya of everything Cocolia told you before arriving. In this case, you would have to play along with Cocolia in front of her, and Bronya would know its an act.

In the case of bribing guards to escape, you can openly side with Bronya. In both instances, Cocolia locks you in your room again, and takes Bronya to see the stellaron.

Insert Eggman from the snap cube dub saying "*mumble singing noises-* IM BACK IN THE FUCKING BUILDINF AGAIN?!?!?!!"

... I digress.

You wouldn't be released until after the boss fight, when Bronya sets you free and apologizes. She, like the rest of the party, believes you are a normal human, who happened to lose her memories due to fragmented corrosion. That second part was her hypothesis, at least, that seems to become widely accepted.

However, she is now in a sticky situation. She wants to frame Cocolia as a good person, but how will she explain to the people that you are not actually divine? (Even though you are lmao)

She eventually compromises with the "they will still see you as the creator's child, but you will be set free to do as you wish" idea. Of course, you want to go onto the Astral Express, and so, your adventure in belobog ends.

After all, you want a personal view of the upcoming events in store for the trailblazers. :)

The last alternative to all of this would have been to be trapped in cocolia's palace for the majority of the story (so not being released until after the boss fight with cocolia), but that would be boring.

That and cocolia choosing to keep your identity a secret, but that doesn't really make sense to me, because you're a divine being?? Living in what is essentially her home?? Why would you ever shut up about that

A/N: I might write a oneshot with this, detailing the scene where Bronya lets the creator go. I dunno yet though

[aibloomie]

them as love interests (aot + jjk | modern au)

✧ ft :: itadori yuuji, armin arlert, eren jaeger, jean kirstein x gn!reader

→ these were so fun to write omg </3 I can't help being a fluff enthusiast MY HEARTSTRINGS

→ ITADORI YUUJI

━ he's the sweetheart who's actually kind of popular but it isn't really known. people talk about him within their friend groups and he's constantly getting invited to events, but he'd rather hang out with his really close friends or people he notices are usually left out or alone.

━ he has his way of making people feel special, especially you. he'll notice any changes you make to your appearances or possessions, and every morning he goes over to your desk and points it out with a comforting smile or if you haven't changed anything then he still compliments you. it always makes your heart jump because it shows he's attentive and he always sounds so excited

↳ "hey! is that a new sweatshirt? it looks awesome!"   "I've never seen you wear this jewelry, it looks great! maybe I should go buy some and we can match." “the design on your keys is so cool! mine are just plain- ah! where did you get them done?”

━ the guy who sees you from afar and he always stops what he's doing to go talk to you and see what you're up too <33 the type of person who can easily slide into a casual conversation and before you know it, the two of you have spent the last three hours hanging out even if it wasn't intended

━ the gentleman who was raised with manners and will always leave you stunned because wow, the bars and standards are low these days. and whenever he sees you coming over to him he unknowingly starts readjusting himself and fixing his hair because he wants to look presentable just for you <3 because he adores you 

━ the guy who is oblivious to how much his physical affection flusters you. the two of you could be walking in a crowded area and he'll immediately wrap an arm around you and pull you close so you don't get lost or to comfort you if he knows you get anxious in crowded places. and he's so close that you can smell him <33 and it's intoxicating. and he won't notice the way you smile extra hard when he hugs you every morning and after school as he says goodbye

━ his friends will always encourage him to ask you out, but he ends up deep in thought because even though he does have a crush on you, he's oblivious and can't tell the difference between platonic and romantic feelings. LIKE PLEASE NO liking him is so infuriating because even when you flirt with him he just cannot take the hint. but oh boy, once he finally realizes he gets so nervous around you. he's suddenly aware of how hard his heart is pounding and the way he stays up at night thinking of you, he's down bad

→ ARMIN ARLERT

━ he’s your best friend !! who has no idea how to tell you how nervous you make him. because, it hasn’t always been like this. when the two of you were younger he had no problem composing himself when you would lean closer to him and whisper a secret into his ear. he didn’t get intimidated by the way you would look at him in the eye, and wouldn’t feel his heart pound when he saw you in the halls

━ it was different now. the two of you had always shared things, and now he’d find his jaw dropping, eyes widening, and cheeks flushing whenever you reached for his drink and drank from the same straw as him. you’d question him with a raised eyebrow and wave a hand near his face, “armin? you okay dude?” and he’d hesitantly nod, which of course gave you the answer, no, he wasn’t okay

━ he's constantly texting eren and calling him at night whenever he can't get you off his mind <3 eren will get very annoyed but who is he to deny one of his closest friends the ability to dreamily sigh and talk about the person he's utterly infatuated with?

━ the type to recommend romance themed books to you as a form of hoping you'd finally take the hint and notice that he likes you as more than a friend. and yes, whenever he himself reads them he always makes scenarios with you and he gets so lost in them

→ EREN JEAGER

━ he's that one guy in your class who has a pretty tight friend group consisting of only a few people, so it kind of makes him intimidating. he's sweet and considerate, but also has a short temper so he gets into trouble often– both with his peers and the school faculty. not a day goes by where you don't hear a teacher say "eren stop bickering with jean or I'll send you out again!", to which eren replies with "yeah? well I'd rather get detention than be stuck in this room with that guy for another thirty minutes"

━ the guy who's clumsy and it makes everyone in the room laugh, well kind of. eren searches the room with flushed cheeks out of the embarrassment, but he always notices that you smile fondly at him whenever he trips in front of the class or drops his papers while doing a presentation. it's the smile that makes him feel calm and regain his composure

━ teachers call him out for not paying attention in class, and that's because he's too busy staring at the back of your head. too busy planning out ways to impress you, whether it be by him excelling at a sport or academically. or maybe winning at a fight against jean, just a backup plan !!

━ honestly, eren gets embarrassed but he doesn't really have any shame. hey, you may have seen him literally faceplant into the grass, or fall back in his chair but at least he got your attention right? at least he made you smile and look at him with those beautiful eyes of yours, right?

→ JEAN KIRSTEIN

━ he'd be the guy who hangs out with the wrong crowd to gain popularity – and therefore, have it easier when it came to social interactions. the guy who would get easily influenced to do mean things to others by his friends. but he has morals, and in his head there's always a voice telling him it isn't right. he walks home alone everyday with a guilty conscious

━ as expected, once he takes notice of you and starts developing feelings, it'll spark him with the goal to change and improve himself. he'll be standing in the hallway during passing period with the douchebag guys he calls friends, and whenever you pass by, his eyes will immediately follow you until you leave his sight of vision. he'll come back to reality and hear his friends planning mean pranks and he'll feel a pit in his stomach, he'll walk away and hear some shouts of, "is it too much for you to handle jean?"

━ the guy that's so insecure due to his shitty decisions that whenever you initiate a conversation with him, he's in bliss because wow you're talking to him! but he also ends it as soon as possible because he doesn't think he's good enough to be with you

━ but once he grows more used to you always being the one striking up conversations, waving at him in the halls with that lovely smile of yours, and making plans to hang out – he'll eventually start doing the same. and before he knows it, he's hanging out with you everyday instead of his previous group of "friends"

━ and yes, he's that one annoying guy who will take your phone and hold it up above just to see you struggle. the one that will throw playful insults at you just to see you roll your eyes and think of a comeback. the guy who will come to class late just to get your attention and have you wondering where he's at. and of course, the guy that tries to make his voice deeper when talking to you but he fails and his voice rises higher because he gets embarrassed 

━ but of course, jean is also very sweet <33 he'll try extra hard to impress your parents when he comes over because he wants them to approve of him. he'll knock on the door holding a bouquet of flowers and with some fancy clothes. the guy who blushes so hard when you so much as hold eye contact with him and he has to look the other way and scratch his neck awkwardly. whenever you trip or are clumsy, he won't laugh but instead he'll be worried and scold you lightly because he's scared you'll get hurt. he takes all your advice because he wants to improve himself, all for you because he adores you.

[saintship]

could I request a florist!könig x reader?? I don't even know how this would go, but I like the idea of him being absolutely enthralled in plants and bugs as a kid. lil dude would know anything and everything about flowers, because he'd bring back random assortments of wildflowers and foliage back to his grandmother after a day of wandering around the woods and playing pretend, and she'd buy him a big book about flowers one day because she thought it was adorable.

was thinking reader could be a regular, because she likes having fresh bouquets around her workplace/at home/to give as gifts? she knows quite a bit about flowers and their meanings (though, it pales in comparison to what könig knows- i don't think anyone could ever compete), and she's just head over heels for whatever whack ass/gorgeous assortment he comes up with for her.

who knows, maybe our lil köni finally musters up some courage one day and throws in a free bouquet for her? 👀

Ancient draft. Cobwebs. Please forgive me this request is magical

*Some real places are mentioned but the floral shop is fictional ALSO if my German is bad feel free to correct me and I can make the edit, thank you!

Daffodils - König x reader

Salzburg wasn’t the city you were born in, but it might as well have been. You’d found a peace there; the summer rain, snowy winters, and captivating architecture being just a few wonders of the city.

Hotel Altstadt was where you made a living, tucked inside a busy plaza where the young children could never seem to sit still. A dozen or so steps across from the hotel was a small floral and plant nursery.

Königs Blumen un Pflanzengärtnerei, a shop that had grown popular since it opened its doors for travelers and tourists. The shop was beautiful, inside and out, with creeping vines and a wonderful twinkling filling the room each time the door opened. The brass bell responsible was entwined with a long sprig of lavender, which carried its smell to greet newcomers. Shelves of live, flowering plants lined the walls, some of which you couldn’t name, while in the center, a calm fountain bubbled around several ferns and tall lilies. The piece would block the register entirely if it weren’t for the owner’s height—he had to be more than 6’5’’, with generous muscle accompanying his stature and a head of auburn waves that brushed his ears before tapering off. He always wore a black fabric mask with floral detailing. Beautiful, but you always wondered why he did so.

The reason you were lucky enough to familiarize with him was the honeymoon couples of the hotel—you were often tasked with picking up entryway bouquets and treated rose petals for the bedspreads, and protected that position with your life. Today was the day you gathered enough courage to strike up a non-professional conversation with the man you’d been admiring for some time.

A breeze slanted through the alleys and roadways, providing some relief from the warm weather. You made your way across the plaza with your delivery cart as usual, thanking a young girl who held open the shop door for you. You walked inside, glancing into the fountain where coins glittered below the wavering surface.

“Good morning, König.” You sidled up to the counter, offering him a smile.

“Morgen! Here for the roses again?” He replied brightly, leaning down to reach for the package of white and red roses used for romantic suites.

“Yes, thank you..” your heart pounded as you received the first package, not missing how your fingers grazed his hand.

“I’m sure you grow a lot of these, huh?”

You managed to spit it out; a simple invitation to a real conversation.

“Yes..but it is not often I’m bored.” König remarked, handing over another package. “I enjoy the white ones especially.”

You gazed at the flower he’d pointed out, nearly getting distracted before quickly stowing it away and reaching for the next.

“Eternal love, right?”

König looked up, blinking.

“The meaning, I mean. Of-of white roses?”

Oh my god, kill me.

“Oh, yes! I have heard that perspective..though I always thought the classic meaning was most accurate; youthfulness.” He paused, holding onto the third package to study it. “So—young love, then.” He looked up, and you felt as though the earth fell around you. You took the last box, setting it down carefully.

“What other meanings do you know?” It didn’t matter that you knew many already, you just couldn’t drag yourself away from him.

“Quite a few..” he looked off a bit, thinking. “What’s your favorite flower?”

You felt a twinge of warmth at your cheeks. “Daffodils.. daffodils are my favorite. I like adorning flowers too, like baby’s breath and lily of the valley.”

He blinked, pleasant surprise flashing over his gaze. “Are you a florist?”

“I make arrangements for my friends sometimes—so, freelance?”

He laughed a bit. “Keep it down, I need business.”

You smiled in return. “Every good business has a partner, no?”

You don’t know where this banter was coming from, but decided to seize the confidence while it was there.

“I suppose you’re right.” König conceded, then studied you for a moment. “You already know what daffodils represent, don’t you?”

You don’t reply for a moment, seemingly forgetting how to form a sentence, before your phone goes off.

“Sorry..hello?” You turn, holding the phone to your ear. “Right..okay. Be right there.” You click to end the call, grasping your cart. “I’ve got to go. Nice talking to you..”

You steer back into the plaza, letting a deep breath free itself from your chest. Your hammering heart only frustrated you further, shaking your head and getting back to to work.

It was a notable stretch of time before your job drove you back to König's shop; lord knows you weren't going to wander in there on your own volition. The thought of him started to make your heart flip over, and it was close to nauseating. When you did, you saw something near the door that caught your eye. Abandoning your cart, you approached the small display table arranged to the side. You usually had trouble with written German as opposed to spoken, but the label was straightforward. "Blume des Monats". Flower of the month. It was an arrangement nestled in a small ceramic vase, the dominating flower being--the daffodils.

"You inspired me."

König's voice behind you made you turn, nearly spraining your neck from surprise. "I did?"

He was wearing a button down today, the sleeves hiding his hyacinth tattoo.

"You did. The adorning pieces, too. I find yellow and white fit nicely together for a light summer arrangement, both their looks and etymology."

You turn back, confirming the appearance of the baby's breath that framed the yellow flowers. "I agree."

König stepped up so he was standing beside you, looking at the arrangement as well. "I have to tell you, uh.. while I was arranging this, I wasn't imagining it to be displayed."

You look up at him, blinking. "No?"

He seemed to avoid your eyes. "No." he shifted his weight, glancing at the floor. The sight of a relatively intimidating man shifting on his feet was, admittedly, endearing. Still, the warmth in the tips of your ears irritated you to no end.

"I was going to uh..give it to you. Because I thought you'd like it. And then I was going to ask you on a date."

You smile to yourself, looking at your shoes. "I wish you would have."

You felt his eyes on you. "Truly?"

You nod, meeting his eyes. Suddenly, your nervous energy melted ever so slightly into a comfortable sort of understanding.

"Well, uh.." König took the arrangement by the stems, the water dripping as he held it in front of him. You couldn't help but laugh gently at his tenacity.

"Your floors-"

"Could I take you on a date sometime?"

"I--yes, just, oh your shoes.." you take the hand he holds the flowers with, setting them gently back in their place. You can only see his eyes, but they seem to be smiling.

"Wonderful. I'll have another when I pick you up."

"Oh, that's not-"

"With orchids."

You blink, his proximity suddenly clouding your awareness.

"Oh."

His eyes seem to tilt with another smile.

"I think you know their meaning."

[not-poignant]

Just saw your post about Ghibli + elements of grotesque with the Nausicaa gifset and how you wrote an essay comparing it to Shinto philosophy and I had to ask - you didn't happen to write that for an IB film class did you?? Cause that would be a WILD coincidence if so, bc I'm doing IB film rn and one of our extended essay examples was literally exactly that; an analysis/comparison of Ghibli movies and Shinto philosophy/religion and it was really really good.

Even if not, that's so cool!! I adore Ghibli and totally agree with the points you left in the tags of that post. Ghibli is about confronting the uncomfortable and ugly and grotesque and scary and acknowledging it as a valid and necessary part of life. Everything in balance!! Sure there are some more cutesy kiddy films which I feel have become more mainstream but especially films like Nausicaa have very real and important messages that often get overlooked :( I was really scared of Nausicaa when I was a child and now it's one of my favourite films!!

Anyway, you're awesome, I agree with your takes and Ghibli rocks 💪

Hi anon!

So this is going to be a wild journey, strap in.

I don't know what IB Film is. I did my thesis in a final year university unit specifically where we all developed our own thesis subject, had a supervisor, and it was basically a test run to do first class Honours (which lets you bypass a Masters degree and go straight to the PhD, which I then intended to do). It was a limited class that only had about 10 people in it, I believe. My supervisor was the head of the film department.

Now, this was back in about 2004. Shit I'm old. Ghibli wasn't a household name. It wasn't streaming anywhere. You couldn't get DVDs easily, and if you wanted them you had to make sure you had a region unlocked DVD player to deal with the DRM and then buy them from overseas. Most people were only getting exposed to these films if they were regular cinema-goers, or if they were an aggressive pirate via downloading torrents (which I was). The only place you could get Ghibli merch pretty much was Japan. It absolutely did not have the kind of traction it has now, no one could do a class on it outside of Japan because the majority of students would have no idea what you were talking about.

I think Disney/Lasseter had picked up the option to do dubs, but for the most part, if we were seeing these at the cinema, they were subbed.

So that's the context! That was in an era where I was the one directly getting all of my friends on Livejournal and in person, into Studio Ghibli. I went to the Ghibli film festival back before Spirited Away came out, and that got me hooked years previous.

In 2004 I did my thesis. At the time I was the only person in the English speaking world to do a thesis specifically on my thesis subject. It had been covered briefly in sentences like 'Miyazaki practices Shinto' etc. and there was one other unpublished thesis I was able to find that talked about concepts of Shinto and some of Miyazaki's films which helped me a lot with my thesis.

I went on a deep dive into Shinto. Because it was a thesis, I had to research a lot into the difference between folk and shrine Shinto (Ghibli films lean very 'folk' but there are moments of shrine Shinto), and ended up with a pretty baller reference list. But many, many, many more resources online and off have come out since. I'd find the thesis very easy to do if I was doing it now.

Because I was the first to kind of present my findings in a thesis like this, the thesis ended up getting published in a book on animism and then journeyed further on because it was of interest to people who are interested in representations of animism in mass media, especially popular mass media.

The specific focus of my thesis statement was the difference between the black and white puritanical morality of Disney, the most popular animation studio for children and adults at the time, versus Miyazaki's mixed morality and more nuanced explorations of good and evil, villains, heroes and antiheroes in Ghibli animations, and how that was at least partly founded in the difference between a more Christianised versus Shinto mindset in relation to nature and intersections with humanity.

Idk, something like that.

The thesis did well! I got my high distinction, got my invitation into first class Honours, and then was too sick to go on and get the PhD and teach about these things, which was what I fully intended to do!

My thesis got some traction over the years, published in a few places both online and in at least two books (one that I own, the other I forget because it's been oh my god like 20 years), so the idea got around!

Anon, there is actually a chance - a small chance - that the only reason you're getting this essay subject in a more standardised curriculum is because my thesis made its way into the public eye 20 years ago and got quite popular. It was never peer reviewed or anything, it wasn't a PhD thesis and didn't need to be, it was mostly just a very well-researched (if I do say so myself) collation of thoughts on the subject as someone is also a practicing animist. In retrospect I really wish I'd incorporated more of Zipe's teachings but he was in a completely different field to media studies and my supervisor didn't know about him to suggest him.

Discussions of Ghibli, Miyazaki and Shinto became a lot more popularised as Ghibli got more popular and people in the western world discovered that there were already a published essay (at the time people could read it without paying for it as I'd put it up online for folks to access) that linked to other sources and the unpublished essay I'd found. So...

Um, yeah, that's wild, because I know that this wasn't a thing in universities 20 years ago, because I was so desperate for resources I was emailing around and asking universities so I didn't have to figure so much out myself. 😅

[literaticat]

Hi! If your client has a bunch of MG books that stand alone but can be considered in the same vein, would you pitch it as having series potential? At what point would you mention the other books?

"Series" can mean different things. But basically, sure, if it has series potential, I'd pitch it as such. And if they were interested, I'd show them a series proposal / pitches for other books in the series. At what point, depends on what kind of series we are talking.

EPISODIC SERIES. Usually following one hero or group of friends or whatever, all set in the same world, with the same general format/style for every book, but with a different issue every book. Each book can be read on its own in any order; the characters don't age much (or they do so very slowly!) These types of series could be literally endless. (Like Nancy Drew, or The Babysitters Club. Or on the TV side, Scooby Doo, the Simpsons, or Law & Order... any sitcom or "monster of the week" type show, really!)

These often ARE conceived as series from the jump, especially for chapter books, so they can all be branded as a series together from book 1. If that's the case, I'd go out with the first book and a series proposal (aka ideas for several further potential books), they might be sold in a multi-book deal. This happens ALWAYS with chapter books (I'd never go out with a totally stand-alone chapter book, publishers buy them in multi-book deals all the time) -- and sometimes but less often with MG books.

ANTHOLOGY SERIES. This is like an off-shoot of the Episodic style series. In this type, the series as a whole has a theme, and every book has the same kind of tone and length, but every book theoretically stands alone and is sometimes vaguely associated with the others, but doesn't have to be. Examples: Goosebumps - usually different kids/different monster in every book though sometimes popular ones make a reappearance, I'm lookin at you SLAPPY! I Survived - different disaster every book. On the TV side, Twilight Zone is a good example -- the only thing REALLY tying those stories together is the tone/style and narrator, each episode is its own thing.

This would likely be conceived as a series from the jump, as above, and if that's the case, again, I'd go out with the first book and the series proposal from the start.

PROGRESSIVE SERIES: Usually following one hero or group of friends or whatever, all set in the same world, and with different issues every book, BUT, there is a "Big Bad" or mystery or something that the overarching series is trying to solve, a story told the whole series long, time passes during the series, you DO sort of have to read them in order to get the full effect, and there is a conclusion. Like Harry Potter, or on the TV side, any "Limited Series" type show. White Lotus, say.

IF book one CAN stand alone -- like, the story of the book concludes, BUT there is obviously more story to be told / a larger thing happening -- I'd probably go out with it as a stand-alone but mention that there are more potential books, that it could be a series, and I'd have a series proposal that sketches that out, etc, and if they liked it they might want to know what future books would look like, so I'd show that to them at that point..

COMPANION BOOKS. These books completely stand alone, BUT they are set in the same world. So maybe each book is about different members of the same family, or a group of best friends -- each one has a story that is totally discrete, the series aren't numbered on the spine, you can read them in any order. (MANY MANY Romance novels are this way -- think Bridgerton, where each Bridgerton sibling gets their own book with their own romance, and yes, the other characters make cameos, but you don't need to have read their book to understand what is happening at all! On the kid's side, the Casson Family book by Hilary Mckay is an example.)

This, I'd likely go out with whatever book as a stand-alone, but mention in the pitch that there are ideas for other books set in the same world, each following a different sibling / friend / whatever. And if they were interested, talk to them about that or show them brief pitches of other potential stories. But this would probably sell as a stand-alone, and if it did well, they might add more books.

[unhetalia]

dreaming about historical model Alfred…..

This is purely self-indulgent

In a nations-are-known scenario: yk those videos that are like “hair through the decades” where they do the most popular hairstyles from 1890-2010 on one model. Like that but times a billion. I want magazine style fashion history. I want Georgian era clothes to 1950s retro to armor.

Realistically I think sightings of AFJ would be much more akin to Adam Sandler but in my heart he’s a model. & I also think (again, in my heart,) he has at least close to the ideal male proportions. Maybe not perfect but like… perfectly average while still being considered unique. Just enough wiggle room in the measurements to be uniquely pretty while still conforming to the ideal. Does any of this make sense. What I mean is he’s a good dress up doll and I want to play dress up with him.

Hi, I love this! I have no idea about Adam Sandler (is he not sighted regularly? Is that why he was brought up? Or do you mean he dresses terribly when he's out and about?) but here are my AFJ thoughts in a public AU (which, great timing, I have a fic I'm writing that features that so my brain is SUPER thinking about this).

In terms of public appearances — AFJ is seen out and about a lot. Probably the only one seen around more is Arthur, who is a diplomat and knighted and just a very prolific member of the British government. AFJ, unlike Arthur, is a private citizen, and in fact, his right to criticize the government is literally in the constitution (I want to get more into this at some point but not now), so not only is AFJ seen out and about a lot, he's chatty.

But in terms of his wardrobe — well, my thing has always been that AFJ doesn't give a shit, alas, but also he's... ethereal, and so despite not being fashionable in the traditional way he's a bit of a trendsetter. People will ask him where he got his shurt and his answer will either be the 1800s or an op shop, but he makes it WORK. There's a whole series of coffee table books that's just his wardrobe over the years.

I've mentioned before how in-universe I firmly believe Alfred's considered the most attractive, even among the Nations. I think his face is just... pretty. He looks youthful, with long eyelashes and large, doe eyes. Just androgynous enough to make him look unique, but not teetering towards looking feminine.

Body wise, I actually adore how Hima drew him here —

in that I LOVE the softness of his body even while he looks obviously fit. He doesn't have abs, you can see some softness around his tummy but you can also see that slight hint of muscle there, too, then it curves to his breedable hips. I think this is Al at a 'healthy weight'. In my head, Alfred sometimes loses weight because of disordered eating, both because he's the type of person who doesn't eat when working (canon) and also because he DOES have body image issues that causes him to diet (also canon). Due to the fact Hima has NEVER shown AFJ actually looking overweight while showing him despairing at weighing scales, it really built in my head this idea that Al has some body dysmorphia.

Shit? That got dark? ESPECIALLY because I think this is something the public would notice.

Back to lighter topics - there's an "eco friendly fashion" movement inspired by Alfred's ability to look stylish while also only buying secondhand/keeping clothes for a long time. It's actually very neat! People also acknowledge that Alfred's fashion only work on him because he's so beautiful anything he wears seem chic, but also people do some really cool stuff with secondhand stuff or even like. Making their own clothes. In order to encourage people to do this, they do competitions on best outfits and whoever gets the most votes actually has their outfit worn by Alfred aka LITERAL DRESSING AL LIKE A BARBIE JUST FOR YOU, ANON.

[thatwasthenightthingschanged]

eras tour city guide: Munich

(Gelsenkirchen | Hamburg)

are you're traveling to see the eras tour in Munich and are looking for things to do in the city or just need advice for good food/drinks spots? Or are you looking for some insider information about the venue? I got you! here are some ideas for you (I will continuously update this post!):

THINGS TO DO

Englischer Garten: one of the most well-known nature spots in Munich (it's not my personal fave but the list would be missing something if it wasn't on there). huge park right in the middle of Munich. in it, there's also the famous Eisbachwelle where surfers surf on the Isar! however, it's always very packed in the summer

castle Nymphenburg: very pretty castle! it also has a huge park around it that is way less touristy so you have a chance to spend some time more by yourself!

Marienplatz & Karlsplatz/Stachus: if you're looking for shopping opportunities, this is the main place to be in Munich. extremely packed on the weekends however. at Marienplatz, you will also find the city hall whose chimes ring (including figurines coming out of the tower) each day at 11am, 12pm and 5pm!

Auer Mühlbach: nice spot for a walk along the Isar that is less crowded!

museums: many museums only demand an entrance fee of 1€ on Sundays! so if you're into museums I'd take advantage of that :) popular museums in Munich are the Pinakotheken or the Deutsches Museum.

lakes: you can reach many pretty lakes very easily and very quickly by train! (for example Starnberger See where the train tracks go right by the train so driving there has studio ghibli feels imo! Eibsee & Walchensee are also very nice but do require a car)

Glockenbachviertel: this is the area for queer history and the queer scene in Munich! Freddy Mercury for example used to frequent it! It's also right next to Viktualienmarkt (a place with many different food stands) and it's not as crowded as the Marienplatz/Stachus area. it also has very cute traffic lights!

take a walk by the Isar (for example the Flaucher)

FOOD & DRINKS

Gans Woanders: lovely little restaurant very close to the Isar! they built a little wooden house right in the middle of the city and it has a very cozy vibe. they sell home-made (vegetarian) pizza and fries! (I personally think their pizza is one of the best pizzas ever) and if you go there on a weekday at lunch time, they have even cheaper prices!

Katzentempel: located in the Univiertel! if you have ever wanted to get a coffee or some nice vegan food while petting very cute cats, this is the place to be for you! but: make sure to reserve a table because it tends to be fully booked especially on weekends!

Om Nom Nom: very tasty vegan food and they also sell a bunch of vegan snacks

Pure Burrito: on the note of non-expensive stuff, if you like burritos I can very much recommend this food chain! their small burrito is honestly so filling it's a whole lunch and it's only about 5-6€ for one!

Der verrückte Eismacher: ice cream parlour that sells experimental sorts of ice cream! it's probably one of Munich's most famous ice cream parlours. but: slightly more on the expensive side - you need to buy at least two scoops of ice cream and those cost ~3€. they also give you a free small spoon of an ice cream you want to try on top.

general advice: if you're looking for cheaper meals & drinks you should head to the Univiertel (subway stations "university"/"Giselastraße"/"Münchner Freiheit") - especially the food and drinks right in the city center are veeeery expensive (even the bakeries which is just insane to me but that's just Germany's most expensive city for you). it's also right next to the Englischer Garten!

GENERAL INFORMATION & ADVICE ABOUT THE VENUE

I will make a separate post about the eras tour concert dates at the venue once they will release information specifically about those two concerts, but for Harry Styles at least we were allowed to bring a 0.5l clear water bottle with us into the stadium!

bring a jacket! yes, even if it's 30 degrees celsius outside. it is always very windy in the stadium no matter the temperature outside!

there are tons of food stands in the area of the Olympiapark but also within the stadium (besides your usual drinks stands). at the last concert I went to there they sold Bratwurst in the pit lol

if you only have a ticket to one of the shows but are still/already in town for the other show, be sure to catch the concert from Olympiaberg! you can enjoy a nice sunset and do a picknick there and might (depending on where you find a spot) see the screen! but: I've been there for concerts a few times and the hill fills up fast, and I assume it will fill up even faster for Taylor! I would advise you to get there at 6pm at the latest if you want a (good) spot!

[runawaymun]

Have you ever just stared at an idea and couldn't write it? You want to buy it's so you tailored that no one will read it, in fact your scared that people who ship the rare pair might be disappointed with it.

If so how do you deal with it because I am struggling. I lost a lot of my creative drive because I feel like no one wants to hear my stories. Has that ever happened to you?

Sorry to come in and like have a big sad in you inbox but I love your work and I always wonder if other people with such amazing work feel this way too.

Ah, nonnie, you sent this in a little while ago and I was laid flat, so I'm so sorry that it has taken me this long to reply!

But yes, this has happened to me! I think it's very natural. The only way you can get past it is by saying fuck it tbh. Write what you want to write; write what makes you happy!

I thought Stars was going to be way too hyperspecific to me. I hadn't really seen anything like it, and platonic OC & Canon Character fics as a whole rarely see any popularity, but I wrote it with my whole chest and surprisingly it resonated with a lot of people. That happened with Brimbrond (there were like, I think three people who shipped it at the time I started writing Partake), and now with my Zhongli x Baizhu fics, Genshin is such a large fandom and it is such a rarepair. Zhongli is attached to one of the most popular fics in the fandom and Baizhu is simply rarely ever written about. But I love them. And I feel that way about Dehya and Baizhu, too, and plan on writing stuff for them and making art.

Truly the only way to get past this is to write what you love. You don't even have to post it. Write what you want to read. It helps if you can find even one other person who ships the ship and likes your work, and the two of you can scream about it together. I know it really sucks when it feels like no one's reading your work. I've had flop fics myself, and it happens especially with art since people just don't reblog as much as they used to. It can be really discouraging. But you have to do it for you.

If it's really bothering you, then maybe take a step back and just don't post anything. You don't have to post it at all. Write it without posting. Let it be Bad, even. Put your whole chest into it, write whatever tropes you want, skip around. If you're bored then don't write it. If you aren't having fun, don't write it. Skip all the uninteresting parts and just write the shippy nonsense you want to read.

I guess what I keep wanting to say and keep repeating ad nauseam is that you really, really cannot be writing for others. Again, believe me, I know it's disheartening when something flops and you feel like no one wants to read your work, but that's where you have to decide that you're going to write for you.

And if you're burnt out and absolutely nothing is fun, then take a step back and just read. Like, fanfic sure, but I mean a physical book. It'll exfoliate your brain. Read for fun. If you aren't enjoying the book then don't be afraid to DNF it. Play a good story-based video game if that's your thing. Watch a show or a movie and really pay attention to it. When I'm lacking inspiration and everything Feels Bad sometimes I just need to get some input. As it was described to me years ago: your writing brain is like a well. You have to pour good stuff into it. Nothing is written in a vacuum, and if you're struggling to make anything come out it may be because your well is empty, and you just need to top it up a bit.

Anyway, yeah. Enjoy some good fiction. Kill the critic inside your head. Write for you. I am pretty much terrified 100% of the time when I am writing and posting that it won't be good, it'll flop, no one will like it, etc. etc. But you absolutely cannot let that paralyze you into not creating. Don't let the critic in your head win. Tell yourself it doesn't have to be good. Repeat that over and over. It's okay if it's bad. It's okay if it's bad. No one even has to see it.

Plus, when it comes to rough drafts --- accept that it is going to be bad. You are just shoveling sand into a box to build castles with later.

If you want to post, please try to remember that it is a gift to the community. It is a privilege that we get to read other people's work. For FREE. For FUN. And make friends doing it! You do not owe anyone anything. At risk of sounding like a broken record: please, please, please write for you and no one else. If you choose to share it that is up to you, and the rest of us say fucking thank you. The inner critic never goes away. That fear never goes away. I'm so serious. But it's fake. It's so fake. It doesn't matter. Imagine it in a silly, stupid little voice (mine sounds like a whiny kylo ren or sometimes like Donald Trump, and then it's easy to dispel). Tell it to shut up. If it's like 'this is awful' then say 'that's okay. I'm having fun', and if it's like 'no one will read it,' then say 'that's okay, i'm writing it for me,' and then write what you want to write, because you like it and want to read it. Fuck it you ball.

[usedpidemo]

What if there was a K-pop based game? Not a Just Dance K-pop edition, but an actual game? What would the gameplay be like? Would you play or buy it? And who should be the first cover idol?

This honestly shouldn't be something I put so much thought into, and it's only scratching the surface, but there's so much material and concepts you could do with a K-pop based game. Other suggestions have already been tackled and explained tactfully, such as gameplay and Career/Story Mode, so here's a list of things and ideas I would like to see in a hypothetical game:

Cover idol:

I think if it’s not BTS or Blackpink, especially for the first game, you’d cause a huge riot. They are far and away the two most popular and recognized K-pop groups of all time, and are basically most Westerners’ gateway to the genre. It makes sense why not them, they’re currently inactive (esp. since BTS are in the military), but I’d argue that you should easily make two cover versions of the game—one with BTS, the other Blackpink. If it has to be one active idol, you could go with many options: Wonyoung, Karina, An Yujin, Yeji, Chaewon, Winter, Seulgi, Sana, Miyeon. It would be cool to have a foreign idol, but it has to be a Korean first, and I’d personally go with Wonyoung. For the Legacy/Legend Editions, I’d pick IU.

MyGM:

You could go three ways with a MyGM mode. Group based, company based, and music show based. All three will have similar gameplay elements, but have different ways and strategies to go about managing a successful group, company or music show. 

MyIdol could be you as a singular group’s manager, scheduling comebacks, concerts, days-off, and so on during a calendar year. There’s a stamina/morale system to balance between working them for profit/popularity and resting them so that none of the members get disgruntled and leave or be sidelined. You’d also have to make decisions for the members’ solo opportunities, line distribution, and more.

MyCompany is larger in scale—you now run an entire company or sublabel (good luck if you’re running Cube or SM lmao). You have to manage every artist’s comebacks and schedules, or else they leave or demand a contract termination. An addition from MyIdol is the ability to sign other idols/artists/trainees on the free agent market and you can add them to existing groups or create new groups with your current roster. 

MyMusicShow would basically be WWE 2K’s MyGM. You’re in charge of a music show/Korean TV station like KBS’ Music Bank or SBS’ Inkigayo and you have to compete with other networks for the best ratings of the week throughout a calendar year. You can negotiate exclusive contracts with other agencies so that their groups can only appear on your programs, as well as managing set designs/TV booking (who wins on your show)/screentime for the artists on your show. 

Universe Mode:

What it says on the tin: you have control over the entire industry and decide who are the top dogs, create special collaborations, send groups on international stages, etc.

Showcase Mode:

Depends on who’s the cover idol: you basically replay some of their most iconic/legendary stages throughout their career. If it were someone like Wonyoung for example, it would include her Very Very Very performance from PD48, that one Love Dive baseball stage, K-Pop Flex 2022, her 2022 Melon Music Awards performance, and so on. You could also do one for whoever’s on the Legend/Legacy Edition cover.

Roster:

Depending on which companies are down for it, I expect all the current 4th/5th gen guys to be available from the start, while 3rd/2nd gen groups are labeled as Legends/Legacy and require some grinding to unlock (with few exceptions). Newer groups would probably be DLC or groups from prominent eras/releases (like 2018 TWICE or 2010 SNSD for example). TheLibrarian’s suggestion of having boy group/girl group only versions is also a possible option, but c’mon, if the NBA and WWE 2K games can include both their men and women’s rosters, I see no reason for the K-pop game not to do the same.

I put so much unnecessary thought into it for some reason, I even tried making concept covers of my own using my ideas and others (they're kinda bad XD). Sorry you had to read through all that.

[eobarried]

ok let’s talk about miguel o’hara because it needs to be done. i want to clarify that this is not a hate post or anti-miguel in any sense, but it is a critical analysis of his character and role in the spiderverse. if you don’t feel like you can read this right now, i suggest you like it/save it for later and read it when you feel like you can with an open mind

especially for anyone who’s a miguel enjoyer (i consider myself one as well) because if you really love his character, it’s important to understand why his character was created and what a great narrative tool it is! anyway-

miguel o’hara is, allegorically, a bigot. 

now - let’s unpack and clarify that. miguel is allegorically a bigot - his character is used to represent a certain, specific type of bigotry we see in real life. notice how i’m saying “bigot” and not “racist” - because despite the memes, i don’t think miguel’s hatred of miles is rooted in antiblackness. i think it’s rooted in something a little more complicated, which is why i’m using the term bigotry. but this can be a little confusing, so let’s start from the beginning. or, at least, the most important part.

the canon.

i want you to really think about the word used here - canon. hearing that word should break the fourth wall for you, just like hearing “he’s got hammerspace!” should have earlier in the movie - or discussions different characters have surrounding their distinct art styles. it’s meant to break the fourth wall and draw attention to itself. specifically, the use of the word canon here is meant for us to take a step back from the in-universe events (treating the characters as “real” people and looking at events logically) and instead think of the spiderman story and mythos.

spiderman, as a story, has been told over and over again. we, as an audience, are deeply familiar with this story, as we’ve seen it as a live-action blockbuster in no less than three separate franchises. that’s not even mentioning all the cartoon adaptations, and of course the comic runs. adhering to a specific formula surrounding the story makes sense. when someone walks into a spiderman movie, they have certain... expectations. that no matter what version of spiderman this is, that they follow certain story beats and adhere to certain rules as they follow along in their journey. miguel, when explaining this to miles, focuses on said story beats (which i’ll get to in a second), but there’s something that’s way more important than specific plot points that we need to address here.

and that’s theme. 

theme (if you’re not an english literature person), is basically something you take away from the story. it’s usually a moral, idea, or concept that can be applied to the world around you, and helps you learn more about yourself, society, culture, or history. all stories have themes - usually they have multiple. so let’s get into it.

the original spiderman comic was notable in several ways. the thing that made spiderman so popular and successful is that he was the first (notable) teenage superhero that wasn’t a part of a greater team. spiderman wasn’t a sidekick that was written in to appeal to an audience of children. he was a teenager himself - but he was no less competent or strong than the (mostly adult) villains he fought. 

and not only was spiderman a kid - he was the kid. he was a nerd. he was an older white teen, yes - but he represented the type of person who would go out and buy a comic book more than any other hero at the time. before he became spiderman, peter parker was just kind of a geek. at the time (the 60s) this still identified him as an outcast. peter was socially awkward, not good with girls, he didn’t have many friends, and he was bullied consistently. the only thing he was good at was science, basically. we can connect peter’s original portrayal to many legitimately marginalized groups - specifically those that might be autistic and impacted by ableism. to those kids reading that comic, they saw a hero that represented them.

and how does peter represent them? what does spiderman teach these children by reading these comics? the original spiderman is the story of a man who, by chance, was granted the opportunity for greatness - to become an integral part of his community. spiderman uses his skills (both those granted to him by the spider, but also those that he inherently has, such as his skills with science and engineering), in order to prove his worth and merit. it’s lonely, the road he has to walk - he can’t tell his friends and family who he is, lest they become victims like uncle ben - or lest they betray him. he can only rely on himself and his own knowledge in order to protect his community. the themes we draw from spiderman are this: luck can strike at any time, but you need to use your own strength and intelligence to pull yourself up afterwards, no matter how hard things get. no matter how many people you lose.

that’s what miguel believes spiderman is about. this original spiderman story is that of the american dream. of a youth who is ostracized by society (for whatever reason), but is still able to use their own merit to overcome the obstacles placed in front of them and the grief and pain they face on their path to greatness. it’s a hard and lonely path, but miguel values anyone who has the bravery to face it.

so why does he hate miles?

because he didn’t do it alone. because miles doesn’t believe in the traditional american dream.

if you want to read more about that, check out my analysis comparing spider-society and visions academy over here (it’s not as in-depth as i would like it to be, but it gets the job done) but basically: miles believes that every person deserves greatness. he states it very clearly when talking to his dad about how he won the lottery to go to visions: he just got lucky. he feels as if he took an opportunity away from someone else. why is it just given to him, when anyone else at brooklyn middle is just as deserving of an amazing education? when these resources should be put to use to uplift his whole community, not just miles alone?

miles brings that same energy as a spider-person. he’s not just an anomaly because his spider was from a different dimension. he’s an anomaly because he had a mentor. not only a mentor - he had a whole clan of spider-people there for him. while peter b parker and the crew weren’t always very good allies for miles, they still wanted him to succeed. each spider-person was an outcast - not in the same way as miles, but they were eager to describe what miles needed to master in order to keep himself safe as a crime-fighter. although they weren’t always supportive, it wasn’t because they were “gatekeeping” - it’s because they were worried miles might hurt himself. to them, he hadn’t put in the work on his own, and because he hadn’t proven himself as a spider-person in isolation, they thought there was no way he could be successful as a spider-person during a very high-risk mission.

however, miles proves them wrong. it’s true that miles has to pull upon his own inner strength, but he also pulls on wisdom from those that mentored him - his father, his uncle aaron, peter parker, and peter b parker. as well as love and support from his community. miles became spiderman - but not in isolation. he had help, and support, and love - always - that helped him succeed.

because spiderman - in all universes - represents success in america. in the original comics, spiderman is able to overcome his status as an outcast in order to help his city. he now has great power - a potential allegory related to wealth and social or political status. he uses that power in order to protect the community he loves (nyc) as they can’t all protect themselves.

now let’s bring it back. miguel. right.

miguel has already made his mark as a spiderman. although we know he broke canon, it wasn’t related to him becoming spiderman. we can assume that miguel still went through serious struggle and trauma to get to where he’s at. and now, through thematic analysis, we know that becoming spiderman represents success in america.

so, miguel’s dislike of miles, thematically, connects to how older generations may believe that younger generations “have it too easy” or “don’t put in the same effort.” it’s the (mainly capitalistic) ideal that in order to succeed, it has to be in isolation, without outside help. we can infer that miguel is not only upset that miles didn’t do things “canonically” - but that he is afforded success that miguel doesn’t think he deserves. miguel believes that in order to succeed in america, one needs to do it on their own, and suffer in order to succeed. no “hand-outs,” no support, no community outreach. it’s a very rigid capitalistic standard - which is why i called it “bigoted.” miguel is still a marginalized figure - and it’s important that miguel is the one stating the viewpoint, not a white spiderman. because this isn’t a white vs black storyline. miguel’s dislike of miles is specifically a sort of generational, inter-community bigotry.

for someone who hasn’t experienced it - think of it like hazing. you join a new sports team. the senior players say “you carry the equipment out and clean everything after the game.” you ask “why? can’t we all just do it together? aren’t we supposed to be a team?” and they say “no. you’re the new guys. hard work builds character. deal with it.”

alright. so we took a look at canon through a meta-story lens. now let’s pull it back even further.

so, miguel’s ideology. he adheres firmly to canon, a series of events that cannot (or, should not), change. if we apply that to our lives, that sounds a lot like predestination. destiny. fate. let’s call it predestination for now - you’ll see why in a minute.

now, a belief in predestination makes sense. it can bring a lot of people comfort, thinking that horrible events are out of their hands, and often times it can be harmless to believe in predestination in these instances. for example: someone who blames themselves for not being able to say goodbye to a loved one who died suddenly. if this person believes in predestination, it might ease some of their pain and guilt to know that there was nothing they could do - that it was the will of some higher power that their loved one is gone, and that there was nothing they could do to prevent it. some individuals might find comfort in knowing that they are not to blame for the work of the universe.

however, predestination can also be malicious. thinking that things are the will of the universe, or the will of god... that’s been used for some pretty fucked up stuff in the past. in a more moderate (and topical) example - royalty. many kings used the concept of predestination to explain why they deserved the crown. their bloodline was chosen by god himself - that’s why they’re powerful (compare to spider-people and their success. if they are also predestined for their spider-bite, doesn’t that make them akin to monarchs?)

in more nefarious examples, predestination can be used to subjugate and oppress others. predestination was used in ancient indian society in order to justify the caste system - utilizing the hindu concept of karma to justify why certain members of society were mistreated and oppressed. in a more american sense, predestination was often used as a way to justify both slavery and segregation. originally, slavers tried to justify that god wanted black individuals to serve as slaves because it was his will. later, when divine intervention fell out of fashion, they attempted to use eugenics to justify that black individuals were simply born inferior - that it was just science, and that there was nothing they could do about it.

that’s the other reason it’s called canon. the original usage of the word was to refer to the books of the bible that the church recognized as legitimate. it ties back to faith and religion. 

now, religion, faith, and even the belief in fate itself - are not inherently bad. miguel’s belief in predestination doesn’t make him a bad or bigoted person inherently. however, the way he forces other to believe and adhere to it is. it’s very likely that miguel became so attached to the canon in order to justify why his wife and daughter died - in order to remove his own accountability for their passing and instead place the blame on some higher power. this belief snowballed out of control, however - and now influences his jealousy and distaste for miles and his way of life.

because forcing a canon - a story - on miles, is wrong. when miguel tells miles that his father must die, that he has to adhere to canon - that’s a horrible thing to say to a young black boy. to tell him that in order to be successful as a marginalized individual (to be spiderman) that he has to lose the last black male role model he has? it’s heinous! it’s akin to telling miles that in order to succeed, he has to cut ties with part of his culture. which does happen to young marginalized people in america. they are told that in order to be successful, they have to leave their culture, community, and support system behind.

it’s especially sinister when looking at it from the point of view of storytelling. when looking at it from that angle, miguel is basically telling miles that in order for his story - the story of a young black boy - to be profitable, he has to go through even more trauma and loss. it’s similar to what his guidance counselor mentions when discussing how miles should write his college entrance essay - that he should lie, and emphasize that he struggles while growing up, and that his support system was unstable. it’s the traditional story of a struggling black boy - which i discuss more here when talking about earth 42 miles and his inclusion in the spiderverse.

miguel’s bigotry is centrally tried to his idea of what american society expects of marginalized individuals who were able to achieve their dreams despite it all. a story of pain and struggle. one where they were able to - only through their own strength and intelligence, and maybe with a little bit of luck - pull themselves up, and quietly work towards their own success.

miguel’s belief in the american dream and predestination not only influences his treatment of miles, but also his creation of spider-society. now, let me be frank: miguel, in this franchise, is not supposed to represent someone who created systematic oppression. he’s simply one of the people who believed in bigoted ideals and allowed those ideals to influence his decisions. because when miguel created spider-society, it basically became an elitist isolation chamber. spider-society is located in a huge tower on miguela’s earth. the tower is so tall and imposing on the utopian landscape, there’s no way that miguel is able to properly support his own community as spiderman - he’s not worried about what happens to his own community. especially once we learn that a good portion of them live underground, where miguel can’t even see them. even if he wasn’t occupied with anomalies at all times, there’s no way he could even connect with nueva york around him.

the same can be said of all the spider-people in headquarters. they’re not even in their home dimensions. how can they possibly support their communities when they have isolated themselves as far away as they could literally be? it parallels how successful individuals often treat their communities in reality - what do wealthy people usually do at the first sign of their wealth? they build a huge mansion to get away from it all. many times in our capitalist society, wealthy and successful people abandon the communities they should be supporting. 

miguel represents that. he is a successful, powerful person, who decided to focus only on other successful, powerful people like him. marginalized people who achieved the american dream on their own. people who, instead of uplifting others, instead tear down those who don’t fit into their “mold.” who are successful in their own right, but don’t hold the same ideals and values that they do. who aren’t the model example of marginalized success in the eyes of the (white) american “audience.” 

miguel is a product of a great problem within society. while he partakes and perpetuates bigotry, that doesn’t mean that he’s irredeemable. the narrative shows that miguel is a broken man. if we think about to the end credits scene from itsv, where he calls his dimensional travel bracelet a “goober” - he wasn’t always so hateful. he wasn’t always like this. he can un-learn his bigotry and he isn’t completely lost. the way that he discusses his ideas - it’s clear that he knows that there are flaws in them, just as other spider-people consistently point out. he can be changed and improved - just like our real leaders and role models can be changed and improved. miguel is not without saving - but it’s important to remember that he does need to be saved. 

[ballsballsbowls]

I had intended to only screencap one of these comments but respond to them all, more or less, until I remembered that the worst thing I can do on the Piss On The Poor website is decontextualize a conversation like this. That will cause problems for both you AND me.

So, if you had asked me even 6ish years ago if there was a market for a romance novel with these sorts of elements, I'd not have a good answer for you. I was still reading dead-tree books exclusively at the time (though they weren't all tradpub), and only what I could scrounge up secondhand, so I was reading a lot of decent-to-mid stuff that did not exactly have its finger on the pulse of romance publishing. It certainly wasn't like anything I was reading at the time, so you might have gotten a resounding "...maybe?"

But I'm willing to put myself out there as an object of ridicule and say this: I don't particularly like booktok or bookstagram and don't have a presence in either space, but they are not universally evil in terms of their effects on the industry over the past few years. In fact, one of the net goods they have had on the industry is there has been a lot of topics/subgenres crop up that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago.

But right now, in 2024? There is definitely a market for stories like this. I'm confident people would pay for them and enjoy them (I mean that level of whump has been crazy popular in fanfiction for decades, right? People ARE reading this). But do I have the slightest idea what the correct current subgenre is for this exact type of story? Offhand, no.

Especially because I will also loudly tell anyone that will listen that Dark Romance, the most reviled of all relatively new subgenres (and what people would probably recommend for you), is actually a bunch of people accidentally reinventing 90s alpha male clinch cover romance without reading 90s alpha male clinch cover romance. Like, you replace the 90s racism with a new racism and the 90s edgy sex scenes with edgy 2020s sex scenes and they're contemporary instead of historicals, down to the exact uses of sexual violence that you describe in your comments (it's one of several reasons Dark Romance doesn't do much for me either, honestly).

But I think there has to be someone out here already doing this, probably with less writing skill than you, and getting paid for it. I suspect just like when you were getting into selling fetish pics, the right answer is to find out which marketplace is the least likely to have an issue with what you are writing on a TOS basis and start from there.

That is, unfortunately, also something I'm not especially knowledgeable about and I've stuck to Amazon and Smashwords for buying stuff, pretty much. Maybe someone else would know would have some idea where to sell from, at least? I know it can get a little dicey once you start exchanging money for things like this, but surely there are more-tolerant and less-tolerant storefronts in terms of what is permitted.