#i wonder how people who have not heard of this game in a decade feel when they look up the tag out of curiosity and find gay art of these t

[scribz-ag24]

Who wouldn't like dusknoir, he's the most charming pathetic man you'll ever meet in your life

I like embarrased grovyle, as well

[rebeccathenaturalist]

What Superman Taught Me About Saving the Planet

Originally posted on my website at https://rebeccalexa.com/what-superman-taught-me-about-saving-the-planet/

Well, 2024 is just about wrapped up–and what a year it’s been! A lot of us find the holidays to be reflective as well as celebratory, and I think it would be fair to say that after this year a lot of us are just downright exhausted. That’s why it’s important for us to turn off the news and work emails and other serious things, and give ourselves some much-needed “brain breaks” as I like to call them. As I’ve been indulging in some time off during my winter break, it’s gotten me thinking about what attracts me to various fictional media and the characters within–and how I can never really escape the things that are most important to me.

Most of you all know me through my natural history work, but hang around me long enough and it becomes glaringly obvious that I’m a pretty big nerd, too. I play D&D and other tabletop roleplaying games a few times a month, my comfort movies include The Lord of the Rings trilogy and multiple Studio Ghibli movies, and I’ve enjoyed comic books since I was in my single digits. I started out with my sister’s old Archie comics and the compendium of Walt Kelly’s Pogo strips that I read near to falling apart every time we visited my paternal grandmother. I’ve since expanded to a variety of comics ranging from the past few decades of DC/Marvel superhero fodder to a hodgepodge of indie titles and even the occasional manga (lately I’ve been borrowing my best friend’s collection of Dungeon Meshi.)

What's all this have to do with nature and Superman and saving the planet? Click "keep reading" to find out!

Walt Kelly was also my introduction to political and social commentary, even if I didn’t understand a lot of it until I was older. (Image source here.)

As I’ve gotten older, I find myself revisiting characters I’ve been rather ho-hum about in the past, including the big three DC flagship heroes. Historically I’ve enjoyed the exploits of the Bat-Family (the Cataclysm/No Man’s Land arc will always be a favorite re-read), and Gail Simone’s fresh takes got me interested in Wonder Woman again. But Superman? The Big Blue Boy Scout? I hadn’t really paid much attention to him since Smallville was first on TV (though admittedly I did mock the ’90s mullet a few years prior). I haven’t gotten caught up on the Injustice years, in part because I heard secondhand how much the writers just absolutely slaughtered Superman’s characterization by turning him into an absolute totalitarian. And I haven’t been impressed by what I’ve seen of Zack Snyder’s edgy version of him, either.

To be very honest, I’m rather tired of the tendency to grimdark everything that started out as vaguely wholesome (*coughRiverdalecough*). I can appreciate that sort of subversion from an artistic perspective, but personally I’ve grown weary of tragedy, dystopia, and depressing endings. I guess I’ve spent so much time trying to keep myself buoyed up while working to make this world a better place that I can’t get into vicarious distress via media. Hence my leaning harder into Ghibli movies, re-reading Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting collections (my all-time favorite graphic novels!), and other stories that manage to avoid being saccharine while wrapping up with a happy ending.

So it’s no surprise that when this set of panels from Superman Red and Blue #5 first caught my attention a while back, I was intrigued. I feel that Daniel Warren Johnson–who wrote, drew, and lettered the story–really captured the heart of Superman as a character. In every thing he does, he repeats the words that Ma and Pa Kent raised him with from the first moment, no matter how difficult the situation. What people like Snyder often miss is that Supes isn’t just some overpowered, one-dimensional do-gooder in a black and white world. Sure, his earliest appearances in the likes of Action Comics had him beating up the bad guys, but his lore has been expanded since then.

He’s a being of two worlds; he’s had to balance his Kryptonian nature with his Earthly nurture. He came of age on a farm in rural Kansas, raised by two kind-hearted human beings who taught him compassion and responsibility, and helped him adjust to being one of a kind in a world that often punishes differences. He’s polite and kind, and more sensitive than he’s often given credit for. Like any superhero he finds himself having to make difficult decisions, and villains often use his compassion against him (like the classic “two helpless people are in peril–who will you choose to save?” trope, in which our hero manages to save them both). And he’s had to deal with morally gray areas, in which his desire to do what’s right comes up against the question of what “right” really is in that context.

I can relate to that conflict. When we’re kids, I think a lot of us buy into the black and white, good and evil, right and wrong dichotomy we’re fed not just because before a certain point our brains just have trouble parsing a certain level of complexity, but also because the adults in our lives want to protect us from life’s difficulties as long as possible, knowing what we all eventually have to wrestle with. The older we get, the more apparent it becomes that life doesn’t have a lot of easy answers, and situations are rarely simple. As a kid I was convinced all the loggers who wanted to cut down forests where the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caudia) nested were evil, Captain-Planetesque baddies who just wanted to see the world burn. As an adult, I still disagree with the push to log old-growth and otherwise structurally complex forests because I have an even greater understanding of the ecological implications thereof. But I also have more empathy for my fellow human beings who are afraid of losing their livelihood with no easy replacement, victims of the whims of the market and logging company C-suites. And I have the knowledge to understand that domestic sawmill closures are complex and aren’t solely due to the protection of older forests and their endangered denizens.

But I think what I loved the most about Johnson’s panels above is that they show that Superman, born as Kal-El and raised as Clark Kent, never lost his roots in love. His coming to Earth was a last desperate attempt of love by his biological parents, Lara and Jor-El, to save him from a dying planet. And he grew up enfolded in the love of Martha and Jonathan Kent, which he carries with him into every action he takes as Superman, whether he is saving someone from a burning building, visiting kids in a cancer ward, or sharing pizza with a group of homeless people. When he looks upon the populace of Metropolis, and then zooms out to space and looks back at our blue marble of a planet, all he can think to say in that overwhelming moment is “You are special. I love you. I’m so proud of you.”

I know that can be a hard thing to say to our species at this moment in time, as our actions have caused the extinction of so many other species, destroyed their habitats, caused a catastrophic shift in the planet’s many systems. But my psych training is rooted in humanistic psychology, and Carl Rogers’ idea of unconditional positive regard���the idea that even as we hold people accountable for their actions we always extend compassion to them, and hold space for them to do and become better. And I’m also reminded of deep ecologist Arne Naess’ concept of the ecological self, which includes the parameter “We certainly need to hear about our ethical shortcomings from time to time, but we change more easily through encouragement and a deepened perception of reality and our own self.”

And I see that final panel of Superman–Kal-El–Clark Kent–floating in space, beholding the entirety of the Earth and experiencing its beauty and fragility and sheer miraculous existence in what has been termed the Overview Effect. He is embodying the very best of who we can be, creatures so immersed in our love for our fellow living beings and our beautiful planet that it directs our every action. Even with all the ugliness and violence and sheer, unnecessary horrors he has seen people enact, he still holds and embodies immense hope for a better future for everyone, human and otherwise.

And that’s my Superman, who cynicism and malice bounce off of like bullets. Sure, if you look at the character as just a one-note musclebound power fantasy wrapped up in spandex, he’s boring after a while; you can only have so much “beat up the bad guys and save the day” before it becomes rote. But that’s never who he was in the first place. While, like other characters, he will always be influenced by whoever’s writing him this time around, one of Superman’s most enduring fundamental traits is his perennial hope and optimism that no matter how dark things get we will still rally to make the world a better place. And if not letting Superman down is what it takes to keep me trying in the face of insurmountable odds, well, here’s to truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes or hiring me for a guided nature tour, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[jammed-out]

Hypnovember Day 11 - Video Game

(CW: transformation, feline transformation, master driven transformation)

KAT - So the new immersion chamber by synthetic labs is out. I'm thinking about getting one.

MST - You definitely should. I know a few people who have and they love it. Says it makes the game really come to life. In fact let's both get one. We can play together, what's that game you like?

KAT - Fictional Fantasy League. I know you'd love it!

MST - Fine. We can both get it and play together. What do you say?

---

A week later Kay was finishing setting up the box in the corner of his room when he got a message from Mary. Sure they had never met in person, but after gaming together for the last decade they were as close as friends as you could get.

MST - Hurry up. I can't wait for you to get in here.

Kay rolled his eyes turning back to setting up the chamber. It was not what he expected, the big dark box that sat in the corner of his bedroom without any noticeable details to it. Just a big glossy door with a handle sticking out of it. He was kind of nervous. Some of the recent stories about people using it and coming out, different seemed kind of suspicious but they were just stories online of course. People lie all the time on line.

KAT - Almost set up. You get started. I'll be right there.

MST - Don't keep me waiting long! You know how impatient I get.

Kay rolled his eyes and plugged the last cord into his computer. The installation started automatically and all he had to do was wait for it to finish. The green ping popped up and he quickly launched the game, his favorite, Fictional Fantasy League. He could hear the panel behind him start and unlatch itself, inviting him in.

He quickly undressed and opened the door stepping in. It was weird that they recommended using it completely naked but it seemed safe enough. Probably for the immersion part of it, he assumed. He slowly closed the door behind him and heard it seal tightly with a suction click.

Nothing happened as he stood in the darkness, waiting. Slowly the room pulsed green as a web of lights rose from the floor scanning him.

Initializing baseline mental and physical state.

It rose higher before disappearing into the ceiling. He didn't feel anything different, just as if he was scanned, which was, weird.

Baseline locked. Loading game.

Suddenly the room exploded in light. Everything was glowing, pulsing in a rhythmic warm hue. Slowly the lighting changed as pillars of stone loaded in around him. He was standing on a stone floor, in a field, surrounded by pillars lit by candlelight. Overhead, trees rustled in the air. Grass blew by. It smelled like, a field. He could feel the stone beneath his feet. It was sightly damp to the touch. Everything felt so real.

A menu popped up in front of his face. A character customization screen. He knew this screen, he had used it dozens of times before to create a character for the game. But this time, the character was him. He slowly reached up to the screen and wondered what would happen if he just nudged something like hair length. There was a tingle in his head as his hair grew longer, now touching his shoulders. He stopped surprised, maybe the stories online were true.

A notification popped up surprising him before he could go any further.

MST - Hurry up and get in here! Just use the character preset I'm sending you. Don't overthink it like always.

A file appeared at the bottom of the popup. All it said was "CAT". Must've been a joke of course or a mistype. Kay grabbed it and dropped it onto their customization window. Imported character models weren't new for the game, but Kay wondered what had been prepped for him.

He gasped and doubled over as his body erupted in electricity. His chest doubled in size swelling growing larger by the second. He could feel himself shrinking, his hips flaring outward as his waist pinched inward. He tried to stand up, to reach the panel but immediately tumbled forward off balance, falling to his knees. He looked at his hands on the stone ground, small claws and fur erupting from them, covering his hands. It kept crawling up and something shot out of his back smacking him on the head. He looked trying to catch only to bite his tail. Yelping in pain he scratched his head.

He stood up looking at his character sheet. There were so many words on it. So many things to push. He wanted to poke them all. They seemed so shiny. So fun. Like a game. He loved games.

MST - you coming? Just accept my request already.

Something popped up on the screen. Something new. With a flashing button. Kay quickly poked it and suddenly everything changed. The world blurred as trees spun into a set of warm wooden walls. It was some sort of tavern. He was sure he had been here before but it was so silly now to try to remember. Everything was so new this time. So original.

“Wow. You came out great Kitten! I hope you don’t mind me calling you that. You always seemed more like a Kitten than a Kat.”

Kitten turned around eyes glistening. Cloaked in a large flowing red gown with a circlet above her head was Master. Kitten beamed brightly, excitedly and skipped over nuzzling against Master’s leg.

“Head up now Kitten. Let me see your eyes.” Kitten obeyed looking up straight into a glowing purple spell.

“Much better. You were right. This game is great. Especially since I can use magic to change reality and better yet, you. Do you like your new body?”

Kitten nodded running one of his new cat ears under Master’s hand. The lights twinkled twirling around his head, digging into his brain, changing his thoughts.

“I’ve been thinking Kitten. We should meet in the real world. Especially as soft and docile as you are now. It’s not safe for a Kitten to be all alone.”

Kitten twisted his head confused. A flash of the light however remedied that. It made sense. Kitten shouldn’t be alone. Kitten should obey commands.

“Good. Now what do you think Kitten. I only went for half elf, but I was thinking you’d enjoy something a bit larger in the future. But how about you show me that cute little butt of yours so we can see just how immersive this really is.”

Kitten did a little twirl, head still turned, facing the glowing spell. He bent down, raising his ass up in the air, giving his tail a swish. “Mrow.” He said with a little wink. His cock twitched eagerly as he rubbed his swollen breasts against the ground. Hopefully Master enjoyed using him.

[innuendostudios]

oh lookie another bite-sized Alt-Right Playbook. back me on Patreon plz.

transcript below the thingy.

Say, for the sake of argument, you’re twelve or thirteen, it’s the mid-90’s, you’re sitting across the table from your conservative aunt at a family reunion. (This aunt will, a decade from now, become a Tea Partier.) You have - you sweet, innocent child - brought up the subject of evolution, being too young to know it’s politicized, and your aunt has not taken well to it. She goes on one of her classic tirades, dismissing the very concept of evolution as patently ridiculous, dropping a quote that will stick with you for ages: “You can’t get snakes from chicken eggs.” And you do your best to explain, with your limited knowledge-base, that, yeah, you can only get a snake from a snake egg, but that snake is going to be a little different from its parents, and the next snake will be a little different from its parents, and you multiply that by a few million generations and you might have something very different from that original snake. Maybe something with legs, or that can breath underwater, or see better in the dark!

And your aunt stares you dead in the windows of your soul and repeats, “You Can’t Get Snakes From Chicken Eggs.”

This is an ego-saving maneuver in which a complex truth is rejected in favor of simplicity. Your aunt has a statement that is true, though non sequitur to the argument at hand. And, after your explanation of how genetics work on long timelines, she repeats her original statement to herself and it still feels true. It’s the belief that the truth is easily recognized, and that it’s always simple, because the world is simple, and, if you can’t explain it to me like I’m five, then you’re probably wrong or making things up.

This heuristic very hard to argue with. You’ve heard that same aunt claim the hole in the ozone layer is caused by sunspots. Now, we’ve talked about the memetic power of statements that are short, quippy, and wrong, and this is a fine example. You might feel the correct response is a statement that is short, quippy, and correct, but here’s the conundrum: the truth is “the hole in the ozone layer is caused by chlorofluorocarbons.” Not only is that a more complex sentence, it’s a more complex idea. If the ozone hole is caused by sunspots, then it’s probably been happening for billions of years, it’s not caused by humans, and we don’t have to do anything about it. It’s reassuring, and tells folks all they care to know without further questions. But the truth of how aerosols deplete ozone is more complex, not least because, even without knowing the science of it, it implies it’s a problem we should do something about.

Ultraviolet light makes CFCs release chlorine into the stratosphere, where it bonds with ozone, converting it into oxygen and chlorine monoxide, neither of which do what ozone does to protect us from the sun. There may be people who can explain that more simply than I just did, but there’s a floor to how simple the truth can be and still be the truth. Falsehoods don’t have that. There is no limit on how simple an idea can be when it doesn’t have to conform to reality.

You play the game of “who’s got the simplest argument,” liars win every time. You can’t get much simpler than “sunspots.” But if you can convince people that the world is complex, then simplistic explanations, across the board, become suspect. It might be too late to do that with your aunt, but maybe there’s still hope for your cousins.

If you’re wondering what they do when confronted with something they cannot deny is complicated: well, that’s your fault. You, or someone like you, took their simple world and overcomplicated it. All the conspiracy theories and fingerpointing and screenshots they’ve squiggled over in MS Paint, all of that is the story of how you overcomplicated the world; it fills in the gap between the simplicity of the world they believe in and the unambiguous complexity of the one in which we live. And, yes, that story is at least as complex as the truth you’re trying to tell them, and, no, it doesn’t make any sense, but that’s a detail. Because the moral of that story is incredibly simple: it is this way because some people made it this way, and all they have to do is take the power back from those people and things can be simple again. This is their version of “a wizard did it.”

[mymegrokosmos]

Jeonghan - Paradise

The way that you're dancing in the moonlight. I think I'm falling in love with all these big signs.

I really just have to make Jeonghan x Reader angsty and hurt myself. Anyway, happy ending? Background for this one - Mutual obsession, not sure it’s healthy but you both cope by using each other. At the end of the day you’re the only one who really understands. You call it love but you’re both still fucking around seeing other people on the side. Eventually it's time to sit down and make your relationship exclusive after agonizing for a while over whether it’s really real or just you both wanting the version of the other person that you think they should be.

Enjoy I guess?

You shouldn’t be here. You know this. He knows this. And yet, when Jeonghan’s name shows up on your phone screen you don’t ignore it like you know you should. You pick up. When he pleads for you to meet him at the beach, you don’t say no. So here you are, again, shivering as you make your way across the sand at some unholy hour to find the man standing under the moonlight staring out at the sea.

He looks beautiful like this. He always does. When he turns, and that smile that means he’s about to rip your heart out again without really meaning it, the light paints his profile in silver. You could swear he glows. If he was anyone else you’d swear he was an angel but Yoon Jeonghan, if there's anything angelic about him anymore, must have fallen from grace a long time ago.

The way he beckons has you shaking your head but when he steps out of his shoes, and then his pants, wading into the water in nothing but a pair of dark boxers, you follow without a word.

Once, you would have done anything he asked. Maybe you still would if he asked sweetly enough. He’s good at that. At asking ridiculous things in ways that make them feel so normal you don’t stop to think until you realize you’re too far in to back out. Until you get home and wonder where you went wrong, how you got here, but yet still agree to the next big scheme without learning your lesson.

He seems so perfect from the outside. Handsome. Polite. Sweet. A gentleman. A catch. A little sarcastic, with the cutest little laugh, and so effortlessly stylish models would be jealous. Your mother still asks when you’re going to make him her perfect son in law. Once, you thought he might deserve that title.

Until you took him off the pedestal he had been placed upon by the person you wanted him to be and reality hit instead. He’s far from perfect but then so are you. You watch him as you wade deeper, wondering once again why you would follow this man into the depths if he so much as suggested it. He must have been a siren in a former life because you think you would gladly drown just for the chance to glimpse upon Yoon Jeonghan up close like this.

The water is warmer than you expected, as you sink up to your chest, and you stop to watch the way he ducks under the surface for a minute. The droplets cling to his perfect skin as he pushes his hair back out of his flawless face. He might have been sculpted by heaven. You’d believe Michelangelo made this man.

“You always did look so pretty in the moonlight.”

You roll your eyes but can’t help the way the corner of your lips tilt up just slightly. “And you’re a flirt who probably tells every woman you’ve seen this week that same thing.”

He shakes his head, not denying that there have been others. There always are. It’s part of what keeps this cycle fucking with your head. You both keep coming back to each other but still straying. He’s been a constant since the first time you kissed at a party when you were sixteen, one game of spin the bottle setting off a decade of on and off flings and everything in-between with the man in front of you. You’re finally ready to admit that maybe you’ve had enough when he speaks again.

“You’re the only one I ever bring here. The only one who’s ever heard that line. Who ever will.”

You snort, arms crossing over your chest. “Nice try casanova, but I don’t believe that for a second.”

Something like hurt flashes in his eyes for just a second before he turns to look back at the beach behind you. “I deserve that.”

You shake your head, sinking a little deeper into the water. Maybe if your chest is covered you won’t feel so vulnerable. So naked under that gaze. Something about the way he looks at you, those brown eyes piercing through every layer of your soul, always seems to get through to the very core of you. He sees everything you try to hide. He knows you too well, knows every tick and tell. He sees parts of you that you don’t know how he found but he always seems to break right through every wall you put up without even trying. It’s part of why you keep coming back. All these years later and that hasn’t changed.

“You deserve worse than that. I should have blocked you a long time ago. I should turn around right now and leave you here alone and change my number. Move away. Do anything but listen.”

He blinks at you. “But you won’t.”

You sigh. “But I won’t.”

You stay in silence for a few minutes. It’s never felt more tense. Not with Jeonghan.

“I’m sorry.”

You don’t think you’ve ever heard him say those words before. Your eyes snap to him. He doesn’t look away, eyes meeting yours. You can read the sincerity in them. You don’t know what to say. So you say nothing.

“I should have said that a long time ago. I just didn’t know how. And then everything spiraled and I’d waited too long and it didn’t feel like enough anymore.”

You shrug. “Back then, it might not have been.”

“And now?”

You consider him. “How long has it been?”

His smile is sad, not the mischievous life filled entity that usually sends shivers down your spine, and that’s how you know he’s not lying. Not this time.

“Months.”

You stand. “Since when?”

“Your birthday. The bonfire here on the beach.”

“When I got drunk and kissed Cheol?”

He nods. You see the way he swallows, struggling with what he’s about to say next. You know this admission is going to cost him something. So you listen.

“I’ve never wanted to kill him, not really, except then. Only, I had no right to feel that way. You were free to do whatever you liked with whoever you liked. We’ve never been exclusive.”

“Maybe that was part of our problem.”

He smiles again, nodding as he leans back to look up at the moon. “Maybe it was. Can’t run away if there’s nowhere to go when you’re trying to hide from the inevitable.”

You smile this time. “You act like having feelings is some kind of curse.”

His face is serious as he meets your eyes this time. “If only you knew how rent free you’ve lived in my brain for ten years now.”

You take a deep breath, Decide it’s now or never. If you take this plunge and end up drowning maybe you’ll finally call it quits with him.

“Then show me.”

He doesn’t hesitate.

You wake up still cradled in blankets that smell like Jeonghan’s cologne, head pillowed on his arm. Back pressed to his chest, his breath in your ear, his hands tracing shapes on your waist. You shiver and lips you would know anywhere press softly to your shoulder.

“What does this mean?”

You take a minute, rub the sleep out of your eyes and roll onto your back to meet his eyes. “For us or in general?”

He reaches over to trace his thumb over your bottom lip. “Is there still an us left to fix?”

You smile softly. “I think that there might just be enough of us to salvage. If you’re serious this time.”

His expression is curious.

“If we try again, this is the last time. We’re all in. We’re monogamous. It’s just us. And we either really mean it or I’m finally done.”

You reach up to cup his jaw. “You sure?”

He nods. Takes a minute to study your face and nods again. “Okay.”

“Darling, I’ve tried everything I can think of for a decade. I can’t live without you. It sucks. So yeah.”

You want to believe him this time. So you do. You hold out your pinky. He grins, linking your fingers and pulling you up to rest against his chest. Long since dry, you slip back into your clothes with a little help and that’s when he brings out the bottle of soju from his jacket.

“You’re insane.”

“I think this deserves at least a little celebration.”

You shake your head but you’re smiling as he pops it open and offers you the first sip.

“Do you remember when we first met?”

“In Hansol’s basement during our first year of high school or that party Seungcheols parents still don’t know about?”

He laughs and it’s the most beautiful sound you think you’ve ever heard. No matter that it’s the billionth time you’ve heard it. Every sound he makes draws you further in, like a moth to a flame.

“Vernon’s basement.”

You just grin. He sighs and shakes his head.

You nod, head resting against his shoulder as you bury yourself deeper into the sweater that still smells of him weeks later. “You were such a loser back then.”

“Excuse me, you met me through your friends.”

“You were terrible at Mario Kart but you made Seungkwan laugh harder than anyone I’ve ever met besides Seokmin.”

You shake your head. “Why is that the first thing you remember?”

He shrugs. “You were cute, but that wouldn’t have mattered if my friends didn’t like you. You and Vernon were always glued at the hip, and I was curious why he stuck so close to you until you came over and even Minghao liked you right away.”

You shake your head. “He took a while to come around. So did Wonwoo. Jun and Jihoon were cautious for a while too.”

He shrugs. “It made me curious about you.”

You sit in silence for a minute, nursing the bottle while he plays with your fingers. The breeze blowing through his dark hair makes you smile, it’s so ruffled but still it suits him. 

“That’s dangerous.”

“Mm, tell me about it.”

“So, you and Seungcheol?”

You sigh. “You could ask him, you know.”

He scrunches his nose at you. “That feels like crossing a line.”

“When has that ever stopped you before?”

He blinks. You sigh.

“Nothing happened. He was a perfect gentleman. He took me home, tucked me into bed and slept on the couch to make sure I wasn’t too hung over in the morning.”

He hums softly, relaxing slightly. If he was anyone else you might not have noticed but you’re so tuned into every aspect of Jeonghan.

“Is it awful that I’m happy you two never worked out?”

You laugh softly. “No, he said the same thing. About him and me, not us.”

Jeonghan looks at you. “I feel less mean about it then.”

You smile at him, reaching up to brush your thumb over his cheek. “Cheol is like a brother to me, he’s a great friend but that’s all we are and all we’ve ever really been.”

“Good, because you’re mine. For real this time.”

“You’re still terrible at sharing.”

He frowns. “Hey, I share my friends with you.”

“Do I count?”

“Not really.”

You stretch, getting up and holding out a hand. He takes it, raising a brow at you when you reach for his phone. He lets you slip it out of his pocket. You open his playlist, finding the one he thinks you don’t know about. The one with no name, just a little heart, and press play. Your song starts. The one that had been playing when you left the room where all your friends sat, flushed from drinking and embarrassment, only to feel a hand take you by the wrist and lead you into the nearest bathroom.

You’d barely turned to face him as he locked the door behind you both before his lips were on yours. Jeonghan hadn’t left you alone since. Not really.

He grins, but you see the way the tips of his ears go red as he takes you by the waist and pulls you into a slow spin. You sway with him, head on his chest as you listen to the way his heart beats faster even while he pretends to act cool about it.

“If I’m yours, then you’re mine Hannie.”

He hums, pressing a kiss against the top of your head. “Planning to keep me this time?”

You nod.

“I think maybe I can live with that.”

“Maybe?”

“I’m still thinking about it.”

You can hear his smile as you narrow your eyes at your boyfriend. “You’re still on thin ice, mister.”

“I know how to skate.”

You snort. He grins.

“You’d better be sure.”

“I don’t know, you’re kind of annoying.”

“And you’re kind of an asshole.”

He pouts. “Well, yes, but we knew that. You like me anyway.”

You sigh. “You’re so lucky that I love you.”

You’re not sure you’ve ever seen his smile so bright. And just like that, you know. Despite everything it took to get here, answering his call tonight wasn’t a mistake. Not this time.

[makoredeyes]

Hey I have no clue how these ask things work, so I figured I just shoot my shot and see what happens.

So I've been rereading a bunch of old Destiny lore recently and I can't help but be a little saddened by all the amazing story elements that were added and then completely abandoned in game.

Dregen yor and the weapons of Sorrow (Honestly just rogue light bearers in general)

The Concordant Faction (Please Bunige I want a proper enemy human faction)

All the other cool alien races like Qugu, Sindu, and Clipse (Fighting the same four enemy types over and over again starts to get a bit repetitive)

Awesome locations like Old Chicago and Mumbai Push (I want to see more of what humanities golden age looked like)

ELIKSNI Guardians!!!!! (We’ve only wanted them in game for forever now)

And there’s still plenty more but these are just the ones off the top of my head. And after reviewing all these elements it makes what we currently have in game now feel a little underwhelming.

So if you had to choose something from destiny’s old lore to bring to the for front of the game now what would you pick?

And how do you feel about all these abandoned lore elements?

Well the first thing you gotta remember about 'forgotten' lore is Bungie LOVES to play the long game. We went YEARS without any answers about Nezarec, for example. And Lords Timur and Colovance went a decade without any mention at all only to make a lore cameo in Season of the Wish only a few months ago. I admit I wonder if they will keep this up with all the turnover that the company has had with writers etc. but it has been their strong modus operandi through the entirety of the franchise to circle back on seemingly long forgotten lore and characters. In fact this has been a running model of this expansion's Episode models, tbh. Hailing back to figures like Failsafe, Maya Sundaresh and Fikrul, not to mention freaking Skolas??!? Faces of the distant past, all of them. So when people say they are saddened by things being forgotten I take another lick of salt because I don't really believe in that. Furthermore, you've sent a rather peculiar checklist to make that point.

Osteo Striga is a literal brother to Thorn via synthesis of the Necrotic Grip exotic. Not to mention I would like to think Necrochasm probably counts as a Weapon of Sorrow as well and we got an update for it in Season of the Witch just last year.

The Concordat and Lysander have made a surprise return in the Allstar Vector lore in Season of the Wish

and the Qugu have an entire incredibly meaty lorebook Dynasty that was released with The Final Shape.

We've even seen a reference back to Old Chicago and the weirdness with it in the new Ice Breaker lore. *I don't think I've heard a thing from anyone about Lightbearer Eliksni before so I'd love to see what you've got on that.

What has definitely fallen by the wayside, yes, is the concept of Rogue Lightbearers, but as our understanding of Light and the use of Darkness has expanded, the notion of 'rogue' has kind of fallen away. "Dredgen" is certainly a thing of the past, and guys like Shin Malphur have gotten to fuck off into the sunset and retire. Am I satisfied with how that story ended? Not really. Would I be shocked if he bounced back into the story someday? Not at all. Because that's how Bungie plays stuff. And there are also still characters like the Warlock Jana-14 who studied the Necrotic Grips and later absconded with Osteo Striga who is still at large and unaccounted for, presumably running amok feeding her child so yanno. (fite me I love the lore on those lololol) Things aren't all sunshine and daisies. I will say, absolutely, the newer writing has lost some of its teeth. You look at some of the older stuff and how incredibly dark it truly is, and it's breathtaking. The Man With No Name is heartbreaking. The Last Days on Kraken Mare is chilling. I think that they're softening the story a little to appeal to a wider audience maybe. But not by a whole lot. I recall some extremely poorly camouflaged rape analogies with some of Osiris' descriptions of his imprisonment with Savathun and the way he was suppressed and overtaken. Saint's reaction, when he gets ahold of her and exacts revenge is incredibly dark. It's all very carefully metered. But this is all background lore. It is largely hidden in weapons and armor and equipment tabs. The Qugu got a wholeass book which is spectacular (and while there are only three 'chapters' they are HUGE much denser than usual pages in Destiny lore books). But you gotta read it. You gotta FIND it.

I don't think they've forgotten anything, but what I would change is how they present this stuff. Destiny tells some SPECTACULAR stories....but then it goes and hides it. The main stream episodic stories are shallow compared to the oceans of lore hidden in text, and usually much milder for more palatable consumption, but the best parts players and lore enjoyers have to know where to look to find, to the point where there's external third-party resources that have been built up like Ishtar Collective (bless them) and Destiny Lore Vault. That's not great.

And I can't help but look at like what Warhammer 40K does: all those INCREDIBLY GOOD books, and now there's games, and shorts, and so many incredible facets to tell their story, and they're all spectacular.

Bungie give us real books. Take these lorebooks and running threads you've sprinkled out through years and years... GOD give me O Hated Nezarec- his lore and his creepy ass acolytes and the horrible things that happen to his victims as a horror novel. Or the Drifter's story. Or ya'll know the one I'm crying for is the Iron Lords and the Dark Age. Give the frothing fannies a five part series following Crow around. They wanna make some money, get a good writer or six and crank those puppies out call them canon and cut them loose people will eat that shit up. Heaven forbid they do an animated series like Arcane or Castlevania. Can you imagine?? The world would end people would get so excited if it was actually GOOD. But they don't need to change the story. They just need to make it easier to get to. (and yeah, that includes how they're presenting the gameplay right now but that's a whole nother kettle of worms I don't want to touch)

[saintsenara]

Hi, if you're still doing the ask game, may I inquire about your opinion on the following ships ? : Tomarrinny, Bartymort, Quirrellmort, Petermort and Tom Sr/Cecilia/Merope. Also, thoughts on MoD!Voldemort or on how a meeting between Snape and Petunia would have gone ? Thanks !

thank you very much, @take-the-unknow-road-now for this wonderful selection of unhinged things for me to talk about. i am always ready for asks which inspire chaos:

tomarrinny

when she's eleven, harry's twelve, and tom is an immortal shard of soul? no.

when she's thirty, harry's thirty-one, and tom is back from the dead for some reason? absolutely.

after all, why shouldn't ginny be allowed two orphans, as a treat? and why shouldn't tom be allowed two people who are clearly less good-looking than him to pay him attention? plus, two quidditch players will definitely be willing to do all the work, allowing him to achieve his true form: undying pillow princess.

but - in reality - we all know which way the power dynamic actually lies: tom and ginny are both harry's subs.

let's hope that their ability to jointly write a poem has improved since the "his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad" days...

bartymort

canon.

there has never been a man with a more flagrant daddy kink than barty crouch jr., and we all know that he threw himself onto lord voldemort's lap the second he arrived in his first death eater meeting.

the dark lord advised him that he'd be physically chastised if this behaviour continued. unfortunately for him, that was exactly what barty wanted to happen.

the reason it burned out hard is because lord voldemort also has towering daddy issues. he is even forced to reveal what his real name and background is in an effort to make barty understand that sometimes he'd like to do something other than put on a double-breasted suit and pretend he's come home on time to attend a birthday party. [for example: "hello son, i've come to pick you up from the orphanage" role-play.)

barty literally couldn't give less of a fuck. lord voldemort isn't sorry when he gets turned into a soulless husk.

quirrellmort

lord voldemort - overcome with joy at being back in a human body after a decade - doesn't think through how awkward the aftermath of this will be, and spends the first night he's attached to quirrell's head directing him in a... let's just say... exploration of his anatomy.

quirrell is so pathetically suggestible that - from that point onwards - he can't get off unless the dark lord is talking dirty to him. but can you imagine how cringe trying to speak sexily to quirrell must be?

[hey baby, what are you wearing? a turban which smells of garlic?]

voldemort simply pretends not to have heard when quirrell brings this up. unfortunately, all this does is make quirrell want to talk about his feelings.

lord voldemort isn't sorry when harry kills him.

petermort

flopping. lord voldemort hates wormtail, because he betrayed a man to whom he would give his affections: james potter.

[seriously, he is a simp for james. there is no other explanation for why he insists that james fought him bravely when he turned up on halloween when we canonically know that what james actually did was run into the hall without his wand and then fall over.]

but don't worry. wormtail is getting some god-tier hate sex out of snape.

tom riddle sr./cecilia/merope gaunt

i'm going to answer this lightly, on the assumption that this triad is consensual.

tom sr. is getting thrown out of the bedroom within seconds. they're lesbians.

[he'll be fine. he goes for a little walk to sulk and ends up making out with frank bryce against a rose trellis. the four of them become bffs.]

and then our not-ship questions:

lord voldemort as the master of death

sounds like a lot of hard work, plus both of his parents keep appearing whenever he touches the resurrection stone to shout at him.

snape versus petunia

snape went round to speak to her about what a dick he thinks harry is [dumbledore told him to speak to her about the blood protection, he didn't want to].

they fucked.

[sweatandwoe]

bioware da:v stuff

Ohhhhhhh, I forgot about it being multiplayer originally urrrggHHGGG nightmare nightmare

EA/BIOWARE execs I hate your flaccid brains.

They do claim to "have a mastery of the frostbite engine now" but an RPG should never have to be forced into that FIFA engine! It looks so "bloomy" & waxy, the camera jerks around to be "immersive" when the character runs. It feels like they were told to keep adding post processing effects so some suit could say he punched it up.

I still hope the gameplay will be fun/wellmade but I have to admit I personally don't care about how heavily the story is going in on elves as the one important™️ race to the world setting.

I'm playing BG3 & DOS2, trying to tell myself I can't compare Bioware to Larian as they are very different styles of RPG studio but oogh more time passes & the more I enjoy the way Larian does it. As an ancient Bioware game fan, it stings.

BIOWARE CRITICAL (I ranted more than I thought)

Frostbite Engine is probably why we also got an art direction change, that feels closer to Fifa. It wouldn't surprise me if that's also where the hair physics comes in, as Fifa does have that. It doesn't look bad to me, however, I saw someone describe it as Pixar-lite and I can never unsee it. Also, the Megamind Qunari was certainly... a choice.

Also Frostbite used mostly for multiplayer games and the scrapped live service/multiplayer DA game, also got used here. From just a lot of elements that I don't wanna go into here (this post is already very long)

I think the combat actually looks fun but I've seen people call it CRPG still and no, it's an action RPG. I wouldn't expect anyone to go and expect BG3 combat (Or story elements). I do wonder if it'll get old quickly though, and also that the monster designs aren't scary at all and look really goofy. The Ui/hud stuff during fights is also pretty messy and I hope they have options to remove things from it at launch.

Putting the rest under a readmore, I went in depth lmao

Elves are taking certain front, but also it feels like in a weird direction. We're in Tevinter, Dwarves have strong relations with Tevinter but there isn't even a faction related to them? Also, we have a high focus on the elves, which is to be expected with the plot of the last game.

But also we're in Tevinter and I haven't seen, ya know, any mention of the slavery, which elves are a major portion of. Like none of the ads talk about it (which could make sense). No articles I see mention it. It feels... weird. Especially given we're seeing Solas' backstory in this game, and how he freed slaves was important to his character but yeah little to no mention of it

That being said I also have heard nothing about the story spoilers, besides what some people posted on Twitter, and it was scraps. A lot of people who just played the first 7 hours, are releasing their reviews and say the story is good, but won't go into details because of spoilers? Make a spoiler video, I'll watch it, but I wonder if Bioware/EA didn't allow the mention of any story elements to preserve "their surprise choices" (and any story elements hardcore fans would get pissed at)

FOLLOWING IS A SMALL SPOILER (TWO LINES) FOR VEILGUARD, I think it's important to see before you buy it but BE WARNED

God this line pisses me off so much

Solas should have negative traits, actually, and make huge mistakes, like he was known to do in the last DLC released, a decade ago. No matter how many plans he has, he usually fucks it up by going too big.

He literally was chumming it up with Mythal, "she was the best of them", yet here he is pointing at (probably) her and Elgar'nan as they become Gods. I think making him fully against the system from the start and not someone who once enjoyed some benefits of the system, even if he didn't engage in the slavery aspect of it, to become friends/rivalry with the Evanuris but as they grew in power, and eventually murdered the only one of them he considered actually good, the light bulb went off in his head, is like, really a big character retcon to me.

Despite how bad they were, Solas didn't want to lock them away. He despised and loved them. He never killed them, he couldn't, either do to his limited power or due to his friendship with them. He loved his People, that he would cast everything he loves, all away for their freedom.

And when he returns, he doesn't even see the Dalish as elves. He think he's failed them and wouldn't care if they all died, if he could bring back the power to restore his People, even if it means bringing back the Evanuris. And if they go "well he was going to break the veil without trying to actually awake/unlock them", that is dumb writing. He understands that they are the consequences that he will unleash onto the world at the end of DAI and that he thinks life with magic is better to bring back the People, even at the cost of the world itself or the People's freedom at that. The People who he doesn't even consider are modern elves. He doesn't give two shits about modern elves, only the ancient ones he's lost. He seems them as his failures and instead of, ya know, actually trying to help them regain their lost cultures and lands he jumps to "actually you all are horrifying, you can die while I regain my own world"

The Elf!Inquisitor is the only elf he truly sees as a person, the potential to be a member of the People in his eyes. Everyone else is a fool or a tool to him.

BG3 and DSO2 are such healing things for the RPG fantatic soul. They have their problems, but the quality is so much higher than I ever expected to see. The way choices actually matter and have direct consequences in the one game vs having to wait until the sequel to see if collecting ten bear asses for that one dwarf lady gets you a special dialogue option.

Larian has got my support always, they made DSO2 so good, that I pre-ordered BG3 all the way back in Oct 2020. I have no desire to ever pre-order another Bioware game, except maybe some remasters.

[td-tbbg-official]

Valentine’s Day - Short Story

“That will be $47.06. Will that be cash or card?”

“Oh my God, babe, like in your favorite video game! Isn’t that so cool?”

“You remembered?”

“Of course I did! How could I not?”

“Oh, I just… Thought that… Nevermind, I’m just kinda flattered.”

“And it’s a cute coincidence, isn’t it? You’re buying me gifts that round up to your favorite number—”

“Will that be cash or card?” Heather shouts, loud enough for the most annoying couple she’s seen today to snap out of making heart eyes at each other and look at her.

“Um, card,” the guy reluctantly says as he takes out his wallet.

“Fucking finally,” the cashier mumbles under her breath, thankfully quietly enough for the clients not to hear.

“I take it your day isn’t going well…” the girl chuckles.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Heather snarls.

Fuck this ‘customer service’ smiley face façade, she couldn’t care less. This is her fourth job this year anyways, and it’s only February. Maybe by Women’s Day, she’ll be at her eighth. That’d be a pathetic record, and she can’t believe she actually partly wants to reach it, just to feel something again.

“Oh, nothing, sorry,” the girl chuckles again. “Forget it. Have a lovely day! Happy Valentine’s!”

“Go die in a ditch,” Heather retorts, mostly to her computer, her tone hushed again in order to not get fired.

Stupid couples in this stupid store on this stupid holiday. It’s all a scam anyways. A holiday invented for the sole purpose of making single people feel lonely, aromantic people feel invalid, and benefiting off the money in those in relationships. Who the hell thought of this?

Her day could be much worse, she is well aware. She could be swarmed by TDI superfans looking to get her autograph. She could be swarmed by TDI superfans looking to cause her untimely demise. She doesn’t know which one is worse at this point. Lovey-dovey couples are the last of her worries, but she can’t help but roll her eyes at every single one.

Deep down, she knows why; but she refuses to admit it to herself. She tells herself she’s moved past him, that she’s grown as a person and, in turn, outgrown him.

But if she goes even deeper, she knows it’s not true. As mostly everything Heather Kasuga has told in her life, this, too, is a lie.

***

It’s when he drops his make-up brush for the umpteenth time that Alejandro breaks. Not into tears, no; he actually breaks his bathroom mirror. It’s only then that he bursts into tears, because he’s cut himself on the glass, and doesn’t have enough money to replace his mirror.

It’s not like it matters, anyways. He’s become hideous, and he knows this. He wonders why he even has this mirror in his apartment – it’s not like he still likes looking at himself, as he did many years ago… What has it been, a decade? And does it matter? Time stopped after Total Drama, and its importance faded away with it.

On this day, he tends to think back to that damned show, believe it or not. The bonds he’s made on it never leave his head, and one in particular stands out; it’s the one that haunts him most, the one that he wishes actually lasted.

Of course, it’s impossible. They’ve grown. She’s strong, and she’s surely gotten past him.

But he’s weak, and he hasn’t. And he knows this, but never will he admit it.

For Alejandro Burromuerto refuses to tell another lie. Whatever exists up there knows where that gets him.

***

END STORY

Ah, Valentine’s Day. The perfect day to show your partner just how much you love them by giving into the horrors of capitalism and buying them more chocolate than they could eat in a year! How wonderful.

I... seriously pity you if you were expecting something cutesy, haha! Oh my God, the look on your face must be priceless! Listen, when I said these two were going through it, I meant it!

Hey, if it’s any consolation, Chef and I are doing great. We’re watching the first few seasons back to back while laughing at every single painful moment, reminiscing of the screams we’ve heard while on set and ranking them. If that’s not true love, I don’t know what is...

coming soon to an AO3 near you.

questions, concerns, suggestions to be deposited in the ask box.

TD: TBBG is written by @canonically47. the blog is entirely run by the writer.

!!! reblogs > likes !!!

[castlebyersafterdark]

as a gay guy, can you understand the people who claim to be gay men who dislike byler, because its 'more realistic for will to have an unrequited crush'? not to mention the fact he already thinks he has for like 4 seasons haha, and it's not a crush its LOVE jfc

but, why is sexuality the hinge here? it's also realistic for straight people to have unrequited crushes and love. but that wouldnt stop you rooting for will if he was a girl.

i dont understand why the realism comes into play only as regards will's sexuality. is him and mike having SUCH a special yet platonic friendship realistic??? its even less likely for mike, if he turned out to be straight, to be able to be SO caring and understanding of will in the 80s and continue to be his close friend knowing will is not only gay but in love with him.

the 'other shippers' (as im now calling milevens lol) make sense to me - we know their game. but people, esp gay men, who also hate byler? i just dont get why you wouldn't root for will's happiness. cos maybe it's too much to ask to expect shallow viewers to understand mike yet. but why arent more people rooting for will? no wonder so many girls and women love gay ships (and get lambasted for it too), because they are more likely to love a soft character like will than your average man.

i expect better of people in general i think. woof. will is wonderful.

I would... love to understand it, but I definitely don't! I can't say that I've met anyone personally like this - meaning encountered online, too. Are these fans lingering on Reddit or those who make reaction YouTube videos? Because I don't go there so I have only heard via complaint about these gay men who dislike Byler. Could it just be the type of fan who doesn't really care about shipping in fandom culture in general so they say this to be dismissive?

I've seen the argument that unrequited love is more realistic, but not a specific demographic saying it. If it's actually gay men - well, that just makes me annoyed and sad? Monsters from another dimension and children with psychic powers are also not realistic for the 1980s soooo. And I don't like blaming the decade either - it erases real stories. The realism only coming into play for Will's sexuality is very irritating. I just wonder why some people watch the show - some only care about the "mystery and monsters" and some only care about "shipping" when the show is pretty evenly split on both? What does everyone talk about on screen - the supernatural situation and their personal lives. That's the gist.

"Oh, it should just be about Will coming out and being accepted by his best friend which is shocking enough because realistically his friend would call him a slur and abandon him, anything other than a hate crime he should be grateful for." And I'm like - even gay men - how old are they? Teenagers or young adults like myself? We all know that there were plenty of gay people in the 80s, right? And not every single story was a tragedy. We just haven't gotten very many of their stories told, let alone mainstream media. It's not unrealistic - its underrepresented. It almost reads like a defense mechanism. Perpetuating the prevalent mindset of low representation expectations.

And people in general not rooting for Will perplexes my brain entirely. He's such a likeable, sympathetic character! I don't understand! Other than surface level fans who only engage with bad, often repeated jokes and cliche. If you're involved deeper in the fandom - something went wrong. And I'm not even a "poor precious perfect baby Will with no flaws" Will stan, nahhhh that's boring, our boy has flaws - but human flaws, ones that are sympathetic. I feel like if there's gay men who don't like Will - maybe it's projection. His personality being that kind of man society judges, so there's internalized homophobia or something, idk. I'm not in their brains and frankly don't want to be...

[has-gilgamesh-doneanythingwrong]

Gilgamesh for ask meme!

Hi!!! Thank you for messaging me ☺ I really appreciate it! It's been a long time since I did askmeme on gilgablog so thank you for requesting him (i keep most fate thoughts private)! Sorry I will probably write a whole massive paragraph about him XD

My Gilgamesh opinions are very subjective here so they may not all be accurate, which is why I enjoy this ask a lot ^^

Sexuality Headcanon: I headcanon him as bi/pan, like yeah there's no denying he is also attracted to women, but his devotional relationship with Enkidu and kinky pleasure yuetsu time with Kirei is every bit as canon in my opinion!!!

Even his creepy obsession with Saber really hints to me personally that Gilgamesh may not discern his initial sense of attraction primarily by gender- I believe he may be attracted to people based off intangible traits that link to his personal sense of values as well; which cannot be as simply measured as gender.

So in my opinion GILGAMESH IS RATED E FOR EVERYONE!

Gender Headcanon: Though he is masc, man he/him I also feel as if Gilgamesh's gender is also just 'GILGAMESH'. Sometimes I wonder if Gilgamesh would see himself as beyond the convention of gender.

Also I heard from someone that gender can be very diverse in Ancient Mesopotamia so it would be really cool to see where Gilgamesh would slot his gender identity there... also can his pronouns be king of heroes/ king as well! I feel like he really defines himself by his role more than gender per se, and in one fate hanafuda game he says gender doesn't matter ☺👍

An OTP: ohh I love Gilgamesh ships so much 😊😊 Gilkidu is just so amazing in many ways I cannot even describe, Kotogil is incredible in their twisted dynamic .. and GilHaku is just so beautiful! And I love Gilgamesh x Merlin for the shenanigans... to be honest most Gilgamesh ships are my otp. I even really like Gilgamesh x reader/ oc fics and Ritsuka/ Guda ones depending on what the ocs are like! Oh I also like Gilgamesh x Cu as they can clash head on and go wild, as well as Gilgamesh x Ozymandias!

And a mutual introduced me to Achilles x Gilgamesh. I think it is a beautiful pairing as they have so much grief, love, power and arrogance in common.

A NOTP: I'm sorry Gilgamesh x Saber fans. I respect those who ship it but Gilgamesh is such a creep to Saber in my opinion, I like it when she doms him to smithereens and stomps on his pride though ☺🥳🥳🥳

BROTP: This is a hard one as I feel like his otps can be good otps, but seeing him hang out with Iskandar is always hilarious. Love how he actually listens to Taiga in the spin off games as well, so they could maybe enjoy a few drinks together. And Gilgamesh/Solomon/Merlin makes for great chaos.

Gilgamesh/Siduri/Enkidu is a powerful alliance and err what else... I feel like as long as they can entertain one another then Gilgamesh has the potential for many BROTPS.

Random Headcanon: He has golden nipple tassels that he unleashes whenever he has an urge to go full sexy, also I feel like though yes he does love pleasure and decadent desires the way he so tightly constrains and punishes himself sometimes makes me wonder if some of his hedonism is also used as a way to appear as an overwhelming figure to others.

I feel like Gilgamesh is definitely tyrannical and extremely powerful and charismatic... yet also has a side to him that is insecure as hell, his larger than life and genuine powerful and wise sides overcompensating for a side of him that is plagued with all sorts of self loathing and grief.

General opinion: I love this asshole!!!!!!!! Endless joy can be created from researching his character and reading, watching his materials, he is entertaining in such a wide variety of ways, and every side of him is a marvel to witness (though i wanna punch him sometimes too cuz holy crap is he horrendous at times).

He's a very complex and nuanced character that can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways so I am really irritated by how some people try to gatekeep Gilgamesh's character and throw him into a box, when Gilgamesh is such a versatile character! I hope that there will continue to be a space where people can enjoy Gilgamesh in as many different ways as possible, without there having to be some sort of 'fandom consensus' on which Gilgamesh opinions are most valid.

[borathae]

chapter 1

“Thank you good sir” i havent seen this in a serious manner in a long time, and laughed cuz it sounded like 1890s memes 😭 im sorry

pulls the door open with ease. NO WAY I PUSHED AN PULL DOOR BYE U DIDNT HAVE TO ATTACK SOME OF US LIKE THAT 😭 violence i will be meditating

ALSO IS IT TAE OR JIN AAH HOLD ON JOON IS TALL TOO maybe kook??

“I’ve been a student here for quite some time actually” this sits at the same table as "how long have you been 17? a while"

oh it was jooniebug WHY IS OUR PRESIDENT A DICK 😭😭

“At least I don’t look like a stoner from the seventies” JIN STOP, HOBI U LOOK AMAZING

funky what is funky why is funky when is funky where is funky how is funky who is funky

what is she studying to have history and human anatomy together?/srs. ooh literature with different stuff for minor

boi i havent heard the word coolio in a decade, the last time probably while reading ff in 2014

oh my god its the bad boy. is it yoongi? YES I WAS RIGHT

4 HOUR LECTURE ON ONE TOPIC?? BOI I WOULD HAVE DIED AND RESURRECTED IN THAT TIME. i have 2 hour lectures with 5 minute after an hour and its amazing

"No reason really”, *plays why u always lying meme

Hoseok agrees with a quirk of his perfectly styled eyebrow. YES HIS EYEBORWS ARE HOT AS FUCK

ofc kook is a sports major

rest of the Alpha dirt”, damn hoseok really got beef with them

status from royal blood? eww hoseok is slay for that *me acting like i wasnt being a thot while reading yoongi, tae, kook drabbles/oneshots

FUCK SOCIETY

“Dear lord, give me strength”, jin and joon with bangtan

JIMIN WTF U WERE SUPPOSED TO BE LIL FLUFF BEAN *bitch stop u knew how they were in the beninging(yes i misspelled for the meme) YES KICKING IN THE SHIN SUPREMACY

what is a hacky sack? i found out its a game? but what is he exactly studying lol?

also its the way she is making friends and talking to people LIKE SHE SPOKE WORDS YALL could never be me, sure i would have asked someone to help me to my classes but i wouldnt be talking after that, would have said im busy even though im not

if you would excuse me, but you’re quite weird, BYE IM LEAVING THE EARTH THIS IS THE 2ND TIME IM EMBARRASSED you can find me in 134340 business days, where i will be rotting under my blankie bye

“Perfect, now that everyone is welcomed accordingly. an example of when theater theaters in the most theater form

It leaves you wondering what he meant with that. u know what he meant by that, this is where you do the whole twilight thing

“I feel I just witnessed a man high on three different drugs theatre kids in a nutshell (apparently people on tumblr are either gay, english major or a theatre kid, and i sent the meme to my friends, guess what they said................... "looks like you fit all three category" our schools dont have it, but im apparently a theatre kid to them 😭)

WHY DOES THIS MAN WANT TO KILL ME SHUT UP I HATE YOU GO AWAY *gets closer again

How is he walking that quietly you walk with your entire feet, part by part, like in those "special" shoes ads, that helps in reducing sound. slow yet quick

“well, that is indeed a predicament.” oof so elegant, classy, AND RUDE (there 2seok, happy?)

your voice actually comes out squeaky. girl mine would have came quiet yet squeaky way before 😭

BABY CONNECT THE DOTS HOW DID THEY GET THAT FAST QUIETLY??

let’s get the 1860 one.” IS SHE THAT SPECIAL?? WHATS GOING ON AAAH

Seokjin actually answers him with a quiet “yeah!” OFC HE WOULD DO THAT

THEY GOT DEAD BODIES IN THE FREEZER

If you died here tonight EXACTLY U GONNA DIE BYE GIRL, YOU WILL (NOT) BE MISSED jk jk lol

ig kook is scared of girls *eww that was cringe bye Maybe he just needed to take a really urgent shit OH MY GOD PLS😭😭 this is going to stay in my mind forever, everytime i see him running im gonna think of this no doubt

“exactly, that is the reason. He is really shy.” aww such a shy lil bean OK BUT IK THATS NOT THE REASON *inserts suspicious hobi eyes

you must have the crispiest oxygen sounds like an indian water ad, that said "more of oxygen " Arrey yaar h2o water has not turned into h2o2 toxic hydrogen peroxide 😭

i love ur descriptions, they are very picturable and i love the vibes. it is soo good, i could smell the place? the seats, library, just the university smell, restaurant. it was great. i dont think my words do any justice lol

NO WAY I PUSHED AN PULL DOOR BYE U DIDNT HAVE TO ATTACK SOME OF US LIKE THAT 😭 violence i will be meditating

I think this is like a universal human experience to push a few pull doors lmaooa

ALSO IS IT TAE OR JIN AAH HOLD ON JOON IS TALL TOO maybe kook??

questions over question mhmhmmhm

oh it was jooniebug WHY IS OUR PRESIDENT A DICK 😭😭

QUESTIONS OVER QUESTIONS INDEED

what is she studying to have history and human anatomy together?/srs. ooh literature with different stuff for minor

honestly? i gotta be honest with you, don't think too deeply about the logistics of her studies. i chose her courses for the sake of plot and nothing else LMAOAO

boi i havent heard the word coolio in a decade, the last time probably while reading ff in 2014

coolio still slaps like 10/10 word (also you see how I made them using "outdated" words wink wink almost as if they were from a different time wink wink)

oh my god its the bad boy. is it yoongi? YES I WAS RIGHT

BADBOY YOONGI AWOO

Hoseok agrees with a quirk of his perfectly styled eyebrow. YES HIS EYEBORWS ARE HOT AS FUCK

THEY ARE THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT

ofc kook is a sports major

djjfja thinking back, it makes no sense for him to also study JFJDAFJ (you'll understand it later fasdjfj)

JIMIN WTF U WERE SUPPOSED TO BE LIL FLUFF BEAN *bitch stop u knew how they were in the beninging(yes i misspelled for the meme) YES KICKING IN THE SHIN SUPREMACY

HAHHHAHAH he may have tricked you fadjfjas

what is a hacky sack? i found out its a game? but what is he exactly studying lol?

yes it's a game fakdsfka in theory he studies dance PLEASE don't think too much about the logistic I literally just went with vibes

also its the way she is making friends and talking to people LIKE SHE SPOKE WORDS YALL could never be me, sure i would have asked someone to help me to my classes but i wouldnt be talking after that, would have said im busy even though im not

i get both sides like i would want to make friends but would be too scared that they would hate me FADJFJ if people like 2seok talked to me though? helloooooo :)

if you would excuse me, but you’re quite weird, BYE IM LEAVING THE EARTH THIS IS THE 2ND TIME IM EMBARRASSED you can find me in 134340 business days, where i will be rotting under my blankie bye

hahahahhaha this part is actually so embarassing bHAHAHHAHAHAH

“I feel I just witnessed a man high on three different drugs theatre kids in a nutshell (apparently people on tumblr are either gay, english major or a theatre kid, and i sent the meme to my friends, guess what they said................... "looks like you fit all three category" our schools dont have it, but im apparently a theatre kid to them 😭)

i don't get the hate on theater kids, all I see is people who don't fit into the "societal norm" and are therefore labelled as weird losers. we don't have stuff like "theater kid" or "sports kid" in Austria either becuse school is solely there to study not to offer clubs but I still never understood the weird hatered some clubs get in America jfdjfa

THEY GOT DEAD BODIES IN THE FREEZER

👀👀👀👀

ig kook is scared of girls *eww that was cringe bye Maybe he just needed to take a really urgent shit OH MY GOD PLS😭😭 this is going to stay in my mind forever, everytime i see him running im gonna think of this no doubt

as for now it seems like he is ooooh 👀

“exactly, that is the reason. He is really shy.” aww such a shy lil bean OK BUT IK THATS NOT THE REASON *inserts suspicious hobi eyes

SUSPICIOUS INDEED MHHHHM

i love ur descriptions, they are very picturable and i love the vibes. it is soo good, i could smell the place? the seats, library, just the university smell, restaurant. it was great. i dont think my words do any justice lol

OMGG THANK YOU!! gosh this is actually such a big compliment :( I'm so happy to know that I managed to really make you exprience the place gaaah thank you for this review heheh 💜💜

[look-i-love-u]

Music Tag Game

I got tagged by a bunch of wonderful people: @energievie, @guinguin1984, @juliakayyy, @francesrose3, @creepkinginc

Name: Vey

Nation of birth: Germany

Teen decade: 00s

Share a song that you once would have included on every playlist/mix cd/mix tape you made, but which hasn’t travelled with you into 2023.

I guess that'd be DIRRRTY by Christina Aguilera. I still knew her "Stripped" album by heart. That music video... awakened things in me. Her black haired super curvy look a while later totally sealed the bisexual deal.

Where did you first hear this song?: Probably saw the video on MTV or Viva

How old were you when you first heard it?: 14/15

Being who you are now, how do you feel about the song?: Love it. Still love the video. Ticking so many kinky boxes, also the song just makes me want to dance in the mud and shout to the heavens....

What is a song you love now that fills the same kind of vibe as this, but more befitting your current self?

Hengstin by Jennifer Rostock

Tagging: @suzy-queued, @ian-galagher, @vintagelacerosette, @shinygalaxyperson,

[dropintomanga]

At Least Let the Love Remain

I wonder. How many of you have met someone you loved due to your fandom and thought those were the best days of your life? What could be better, right? And then when life happens and suddenly that relationship ends for good, do you take your rage out on the interests that was supposed to bring you joy?

Reading about Akihiko Kaji and Ugetsu Murata's complicated relationship in Given reminds me of how we often don't have enough courage to end things when they should end and sometimes, the right person may not exactly be THE one. And it's going to be okay.

Akihiko wanted to quit music because of his shame over sticking with Ugetsu despite very glaring flaws. But he realized how dumb it was to think that way. It took his bandmate (and new lover), Haruki Nakayama, to slowly open up to a healthier perspective.

I'm always reminded of why people ignore red flags in relationships. We think we can fix people. We believe that people can change with the right amount or won't change despite whatever life brings.

While people can make you love things, they can make you hate things just as much. Hobbies can filled with drama due to various egos. But I feel that the scariest thing that leads to a disinterest in a hobby is when topics like competition, clout and money are brought into the picture. This is apparent when Akihiko notes how much he despised Ugetsu to a certain degree over his talent with the violin, an instrument he originally took seriously before his rock band career.

But Mafuyu Sato, who was ironically helped by Ugetsu, reached out to show how much music can be emotional in a good way with a powerful song during the band's live performance tryout for a festival that spoke volumes. When relationships eventually fall apart, music can still give you a reason to keep moving forward.

Music isn't supposed to be competitive and about hyper-consumerism; its innate purpose is to bring people together from all walks of life with song. I just read a study about a community-based effort to have people with disabilities learn to play music together. They had 3 different groups of people learn music and everyone came out better for it despite one group preferring art over music.

And the best part is that the music made people social and want to talk to one another.

Haruki was the social glue in Given as while he wasn't the most talented of the band, he knew how to motivate them enough to keep at it together. That's what made Akihiko really start to love him.

This year, I was like Akihiko and reminded how much I love music. Although I never played an instrument, I grew up with MTV in the 1990s' and lived through what many fans my era would say was a really good decade. There was so much experimentation. I got into big beat/electronica and wanted to be an electronica DJ when I was in my early '20s.

My interest in music was on and off as I got older. I showed little to no interest in mainstream music. My soundtracks were mostly video game music. And then all of a sudden, I got into K-Pop because of NewJeans' 2022 debut song, Attention. When I heard it, I felt such a strong sense of emotion like Akihiko felt when he heard Mafuyu's song. I was taken back to my adolescence listening to 1990s' music. I started to remember the days when it felt like everything was possible in a time when America was thriving.

Listening to that song slowly got me more interested in other K-Pop acts (mostly girl groups). The more I got into it, the more I remembered, "Oh yeah, this is why I REALLY love music. And I also want to move my body to it." Why did I forget? Maybe because society has beaten into me that I need to act my age in order to stay competitive.

Now, I just dance whenever I can to the K-Pop songs I really like. I think the mental lock I put on myself because of failed relationships took so much out of me. But slowly, that grief has dissipated.

If you're really into music (or anything that you're interested in), cherish it and remember what got you hooked in the first place. Dance, sing, jump, go to concerts, shout with fans, etc. That's what I want to say.

Like Given wants to tell its fans, let the love for music remain. Let the songs that resonate with our hearts be something that binds the strings of connection.

[minnieminss]

JEWELS WITHIN; a wolf story pt.4

Pairing - Kwon Soonyoung (Hoshi) x 6 year old!oc x fem!reader

Warnings - werewolf au, cold!soonyoung, cursing, hoshi using nicknames for his little sister (baby, honey, etc), painfully shy!reader, but also lowkey childish and adorable, angst, age gap, (4years). Bipolar!josh (he can get so soft and then be an ass but we all know he cares), not the best of writing but I try.. :)

Summary - After being rejected by his mother at birth and parents murdered by hunters, soonyoung is faced with the responsibility of raising his little sister alone… until he finds you.

Word count - ?

Hana’s pov

It’s been 2 hours since my brother left. I miss him so much! Who am I going to annoy now? Or…or play games with?

Today I’ve realized how boring it is without hoshi.

Speaking of games… the nice girl Aria offered to play games with me, but I didn’t like the idea of playing with someone else without my brother here. It made me feel bad.

So, I sat on the long rectangle like chair (that’s called a couch… I think.) and watched what they call a ‘show’ on a box called a tv!

The show wasn’t all that good to be honest, a bunch of puppets singing and I was already a bit bored by it.

Who am I kidding? This show is great!

I probably watched about 2 episodes of it until I heard people starting to talk due to someone coming in through the door.

“Josh! Your sisters here!” Said somebody.

The scary guy has a sister? I wonder if she’s my age!

No… maybe?

Joshua came downstairs the greet his sister the same time I turn my head to see who this mystery sister is.

She’s not my age. Should’ve known Hana!

“Y/n? What are you doing here?! How did you even get here?” The boy asked. “I… missed my brother?” The girl said quietly, chuckling nervously.

“Y/n…” he said. Sternly looking at the younger girl.

“Can we just talk about it later? Please.” The girl said looking away from the older boy. “Fine. I want you to meet someone, We have a guest.” Joshua said pointing to Hana.

“Hi! I’m Hana!” The girl said loudly making the girl flinch. “Hello..” the girl said with a small voice.

“I have a brother too! His name is Hoshi!” She said smiling. “How nice… how old are you Hana?” The girl asks. “I’m six years old! Yesterday was my birthday!” Hana says giggling.

“You’re very cute Hana, I can see us being friends..” the girl says looking at Joshua who smiles encouragingly.

“Me too! Wanna watch this show with me?” Hana says turning back to face the Tv with a bounce.

“Sure, sounds amazing”

—

Soonyoung

“Shifts are normally around 8 hours a day, 12 if you do an extra shift.” Aria says.

“I know you wanted to keep as little amount of time away from your sister as possible but this is the best it’s gonna be Soonyoung.” She continued.

“I’m definitely going to hate this but, I really need the money.” I sigh. “When’s the fastest I can start?”

“Well, I can see if I can get you an interview perhaps by Friday, which is in two days so it would be a tight fit but not impossible.” She breaths out. “How about you wait here and I’ll go find my boss so you can chat with him?” She begins walking away before I could answer.

I wonder what Hana’s doing right now… I sure do miss her

Despite the amount of hours I need to spend away from her, I don’t feel anything bad is to go with this chance,

Because I’ll be able to make enough money to get us a new home just for the two of us, raise her the correct way, the only same thing is I’ll keep her homeschooled, nobody will change my mind on that.

She deserves so many great things and life and I just know that I’ll be able to give it to her.

Although I do wish she could have some type of woman figure in her life but even if she doesn’t so what? So many people raise their kids alone, besides I’ve been doing it for 6 years, what’s decades more?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi everyone! I apologize for the delay in this series and also for a short chapter, writing isn’t my strong suit and I do so many other things out of this. Plus I really wanted to get something out as it’s been soooo long 😅. I plan to have a but of a dramatic time skip in one of the chapters but I won’t say when or which🤭…

Here’s some other things to look out for (hopefully)

New writing layouts

New master list

New one-shot (let’s hope hard on this one)

So thank you all for being patient!

[the-bi-space-ace]

for the Bad Batch ask game: 8, 24, 31, and 49! (or just a few of those if you’d prefer :D)

I AM GOING TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THESE!!

8. What song(s) do you associate with the Bad Batch?

I love this question bc I associate a really weird array of songs with The Bad Batch and I am beyond excited to list them.

I Got You by Devon Cole (tears 🥹)

Mr. Know-It-All by Young The Giant (mainly a Tech song for me)

The Less I Know The Better by Tame Impala

Brother by Kodaline

Don’t Leave Me Alone by David Guetta & Anne-Marie (acoustic)

Human by Jon Bellion

Burn The House Down by AJR

everything i wanted by Billie Eilish (mainly bc it gives me Calling Me Home series Echo vibes tbh oof)

This Was A Home Once by Bad Suns

Older by Alec Benjamin

Bonus Tracks:

Going Home by The Aces

Don’t Freak by The Aces (This one is a bonus bc in my head when I hear this song I have always imagined baby Fives and Echo going to 79s for the first time and Echo not being totally sure how he feels about it and Fives basically going ‘hey, don’t freak out. I’m here, you’re smart and capable. A bar is the easiest mission we’ve ever been on.’ idk I get so much inspiration from music tbh.)

^ The Aces are so feel good and endearing and give good fluff inspiration

24. Do you have any hot or controversial takes?

Oh yeah plenty of them tbh lol

My hottest take? Honestly? I’m super disappointed in how cruel people were to people with Tech Lives theories on this damn site. Not just in the way that I’m sad about *gestures to everything* but I have seen some really nasty takes and have blocked people over them even though they were never directed at me. It shows me who you are when you’re cruel to a stranger over simply *checking my notes* wanting their favorite character to be alive. Some people in the Star Wars fandom are mean as hell. Maybe it’s because I’m fandom old (mid 20s) so I’ve been around for over a decade in fandom spaces but I can say that Star Wars fans can be really really mean compared to other fandoms. That’s more of a problem on reddit (never again) but it happens on tumblr and twitter (which I don’t have any longer but have heard… stories.) My little corner is GREAT. No complaints about this little corner I’ve found myself in but every time I venture out I see some shiiiiiiiiit and it takes me a minute to remember that this fandom can be really volatile. This is supposed to be fun. I say my piece, I agree or disagree with other people’s piece. Then I move on. I won’t argue. It ain’t my style. I get really upset when I see people being downright nasty to each other over fandom stuff. Stop it.

Also. Listen. I started in the Teen Wolf and Merlin fandoms in high school. There’s a lot of great stuff to use from those shows but canon was rarely awesome. I got used to letting the fandom do the work, fans shipping everything under the sun, and making up wild plotlines that wouldn’t actually make sense because who even knows what’s going on in the actual show anymore. Fandoms are wild and I like different opinions and different content and everything coming together in a way that is both weird and wonderful. Sometimes people want the entire fandom to like exactly what they like and get really aggressive with other fans over it. That is not my vibe. If I see something I don’t like then it isn’t for me and I move on! Enough said.

Instead of moving on, blocking tags, or blocking users many fans straight up call people names! Start arguments! Post cruel things! It’s stupid! I’ll say it, it’s stupid as hell! Just block shit, man! You can’t control other people. Protect your peace and block stuff you don’t like. I promise it’ll feel better <3

(that was so long I’m so sorry I needed to get that off of my chest so bad lol)

31. What other Star Wars characters (regardless of the timeline) do you think would be BFFs with each Batcher?

(This’ll be fun bc I know very little of the greater Star Wars Universe so some of these are based just on ✨vibes✨)

Omega and Leia Organa! I loved the Kenobi show and I just think these two would get along SO DAMN WELL.

Hunter and…. I’m going to be honest I thought about this over night and I STILL can’t pick somebody. I need to watch more Star Wars

Tech and Luke Skywalker. Flying! Ships! Podracing! This is the only thing I know of Luke Skywalker! They’d bond over this and make ships go faster together so they’d be besties.

Crosshair and Merrin. In the way that I think he’d look at her like she hung the moon and the stars because she’s so cool and she’s scary and Crosshair appreciates intimidating people and would want to see all of the things she can do with her magic even though he’s kind of terrified of her. (I’m projecting, I love Merrin.)

Echo and Cal Kestis. This is an inspired choice, I feel. Cal has a really big connection to protecting people and Echo WOULD LOVE to work with him to protect people from the Empire (play Jedi: Fallen Order 👀)

Wrecker and Chewbacca. Wrecker really thrived in that episode with the wookiees and I think he’d have a great time with Chewbacca.

49. What has been your favorite part about being in the fandom?

All of my friends!!! I’ve made a lot of great friends in the past two years and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s not very easy for me to make friends, if I’m being honest, so having friends that I talk to about the clones and star wars and fic ideas means a lot to me. It is the ultimate draw for me. I love talking to people about things I love, hearing everyone’s opinions, seeing everyone write and create art and do deep dive analysis. I love seeing people run role play blogs and come up with ask games. I love love love the fun parts of fandom just existing. Seeing people get excited about ideas and share them with others and create gifs and have fun. That absolutely has my heart. We’re all just here trying to express ourselves and that is something I think gets overlooked sometimes. This is something we do in our free time. We’re here because we want to be, not because we have to be. It’s a beautiful thing, to find connection over a shared love of something, and I love that. It’s kind of the same thing I love about concerts. Concerts are a unique place where it’s acceptable to have big emotional reactions with other people over the shared love of the music being played for you. For one night you aren’t just a fan of a band standing in a room listening to some people sing at you. You’re a part of the crowd, experiencing a million different emotions all in the same moment but not one of you is feeling the exact same way as the person next to you. It’s a wonderful thing to experience. This fandom, my little corner of it at least, feels about the same. We’re all experiencing life differently, different day to day things, different upbringings, different opinions, likes, and dislikes. But we’re all here, watching the same thing, and coming away with different emotions and opinions.

I think that’s beautiful.

Link To The Ask <3