#it also takes 5 million years to get to the action. which is what the point of the comic should have been

[spearxwind]

Not sure if you have been asked before but are you going to continue your webcomic or is it on indefinite hiatus?

At the moment indefinite hiatus for sure. I've kinda lost interest in drawing the comic since I was not fully happy with how I wrote the story (it was patched together very poorly and I should have spent more time ironing out some mistakes) and it also took up a LOT of my free time (of which I had plenty due to having really bad mental health and very little social life)

Currently I dont think I could upkeep a comic. I thought about it, but I don't want to atm.

I really love all my characters dearly though, for extinction, and I think what I have been drawing really has not done them justice in the least and it pains me a lot, so in the future god be willing I would love to actually just reboot the whole thing with a different, and hopefully far better story

[colleendoran]

Great Big Good Omens Graphic Novel Update

AKA A Visit From Bildad the Shuhite.

The past year or so has been one long visit from this guy, whereupon he smiteth my goats and burneth my crops, woe unto the woeful cartoonist.

Gaze upon the horror of Bildad the Shuhite.

You kind of have to be a Good Omens fan to get this joke, but trust me, it's hilarious.

Anyway, as a long time Good Omens novel fan, you may imagine how thrilled I was to get picked to adapt the graphic novel.

 Go me!  

This is quite a task, I have to say, especially since I was originally going to just draw (and color) it, but I ended up writing the adaptation as well. Tricky to fit a 400 page novel into a 160-ish page graphic novel, especially when so much of the humor is dependent on the language, and not necessarily on the visuals.

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Anyway, I started out the gate like a herd of turtles, because  right away I got COVID which knocked me on my butt. 

And COVID brain fog? That's a thing. I already struggle with brain fog due to autoimmune disease, and COVID made it worse.

Not complainin' just sayin'.

This set a few of the assignments on my plate back, which pushed starting Good Omens back. 

But hey, big fat lead time! No worries!

Then my computer crawled toward the grave.

My trusty MAC Pro Tower was nearly 15 years old when its sturdy heart ground to a near-halt with daily crashes. I finally got around to doing some diagnostics; some of its little brain actions were at 5% functionality. I had no reliable backups.

There are so many issues with getting a new computer when you haven't had a new computer or peripherals in nearly fifteen years and all of your software, including your Photoshop program is fifteen years old.

At the time, I was still on rural internet...which means dial-up speed.

Whatever you have for internet in the city, roll that clock back to about 2001.

That's what I had. I not only had to replace almost all of my hardware but I had to load and update all programs at dial-up speed.

Welcome to my gigabyte hell.

The entire process of replacing the equipment and programs took weeks and then I had to relearn all the software.

All of this was super expensive in terms of money and time cost.

But I was not daunted! Nosirree!

I still had a huge lead time! I can do anything! I have an iron will!

And boy, howdy, I was going to need it.

At about the same time, a big fatcat quadrillionaire client who had hired me years ago to develop a big, major transmedia project for which I was paid almost entirely in stock, went bankrupt leaving everyone holding the bag, and taking a huge chunk of my future retirement fund with it.

I wrote a very snarky almost hilarious Patreon post about it, but am not entirely in a position to speak freely because I don't want to get sued. Even though I had to go to court over it, (and I had to do that over Zoom at dial-up speed,) I'm pretty sure I'll never get anything out of this drama, and neither will anyone else involved, except millionaire dude and his buddies who all walked away with huge multi-million dollar bonuses weeks before they declared bankruptcy, all the while claiming they would not declare bankruptcy.

Even the accountant got $250,000 a month to shut down the business, while creators got nothing.

That in itself was enough drama for the year, but we were only at February by that point, and with all those months left, 2023 had a lot more to throw at me.

Fresh from my return from my Society of Illustrators show, and a lovely time at MOCCA, it was time to face practical medical issues, health updates, screening, and the like. I did my adult duty and then went back to work hoping for no news, but still had a weird feeling there would be news.

I know everyone says that, but I mean it. I had a bad feeling.

Then there was news.

I was called back for tests and more tests. This took weeks. The ubiquitous biopsy looked, even to me staring at the screen in real time, like bad news. 

It also hurt like a mofo after the anesthesia wore off. I wasn't expecting that.

Then I got the official bad news.

Cancer which runs in my family finally got me. Frankly, I was surprised I didn't get it sooner.

Stage 0, and treatment would likely be fast and complication-free. Face the peril, get it over with, and get back to work. 

I requested surgery months in the future so I could finish Good Omens first, but my doc convinced me the risk of waiting was too great. Get it done now.

"You're really healthy," my doc said. Despite an auto-immune issue which plagues me, I am way healthier than the average schmoe of late middle age. She informed me I would not even need any chemo or radiation if I took care of this now.

So I canceled my appearance at San Diego Comic Con. I did not inform the Good Omens team of my issues right away, thinking this would not interfere with my work schedule, but I did contact my agent to inform her of the issue. I also contacted a lawyer to rewrite my will and make sure the team had access to my digital files in case there were complications.

Then I got back to work, and hoped for the best.

Eff this guy.

Before I could even plant my carcass on the surgery table, I got a massive case of ocular shingles.

I didn't even know there was such a thing. 

There I was, minding my own business. I go to bed one night with a scratchy eye, and by 4 PM the next day, I was in the emergency room being told if I didn't get immediate specialist treatment, I was in big trouble.

I got transferred to another hospital and got all the scary details, with the extra horrid news that I could not possibly have cancer surgery until I was free of shingles, and if I did not follow a rather brutal treatment procedure - which meant super-painful  eye drops every half hour, twenty-four hours a day and daily hospital treatment - I could lose the eye entirely, or be blinded, or best case scenario, get permanent eye damage.

What was even funnier (yeah, hilarity) is the drops are so toxic if you don't use the medication just right, you can go blind anyway.

Hi Ho.

Ulcer is on the right. That big green blob.

I had just finished telling my cancer surgeon I did not even really care about getting cancer, was happy it was just stage zero, had no issues with scarring, wanted no reconstruction, all I cared about was my work. 

Just cut it out and get me back to work.

And now I wondered if I was going to lose my ability to work anyway.

Shingles often accompanies cancer because of the stress on the immune system, and yeah, it's not pretty. This is me looking like all heck after I started to get better.

The first couple of weeks were pretty demoralizing as I expected a straight trajectory to wellness. But it was up and down all the way. 

Some days I could not see out of either eye at all. The swelling was so bad that I had to reach around to my good eye to prop the lid open. Light sensitivity made seeing out of either eye almost impossible. Outdoors, even with sunglasses, I had to be led around by the hand.

I had an amazing doctor. I meticulously followed his instructions, and I think he was surprised I did. The treatment is really difficult, and if you don't do it just right no matter how painful it gets, you will be sorry. 

To my amazement, after about a month, my doctor informed me I had no vision loss in the eye at all. "This never happens," he said.

I'd spent a couple of weeks there trying to learn to draw in the near-dark with one eye, and in the end, I got all my sight back.

I could no longer wear contact lenses (I don't really wear them anyway, unless I'm going to the movies,) would need hard core sun protection for awhile, and the neuralgia and sun sensitivity were likely to linger. But I could get back to work.

I have never been more grateful in my life.

Neuralgia sucks, by the way, I'm still dealing with it months later.

Anyway, I decided to finally go ahead and tell the Good Omens team what was going on, especially since this was all happening around the time the Kickstarter was gearing up.

Now that I was sure I'd passed the eye peril, and my surgery for Stage 0 was going to be no big deal, I figured all was a go. I was still pretty uncomfortable and weak, and my ideal deadline was blown, but with the book not coming out for more than a year, all would be OK. I quit a bunch of jobs I had lined up to start after Good Omens, since the project was going to run far longer than I'd planned.

Everybody on the team was super-nice, and I was pretty optimistic at this time. But work was going pretty slow during, as you may imagine.

But again...lots of lead time still left, go me.

Then I finally got my surgery.

Which was not as happy an experience as I had been hoping for.

My family said the doc came out of the operating room looking like she'd been pulled backwards through a pipe, She informed them the tumor which looked tiny on the scan was "...huge and her insides are a mess."

Which was super not fun news.

Eff this guy.

The tumor was hiding behind some dense tissue and cysts. After more tests, it was determined I'd need another surgery and was going to have to get further treatments after all.

The biopsy had been really painful, but the discomfort was gone after about a week, so no biggee. The second surgery was, weirdly, not as painful as the biopsy, but the fatigue was big time.

By then, the Good Omens Kickstarter had about run its course, and the record-breaker was both gratifying and a source of immense social pressure.

I'd already turned most of my social media over to an assistant, and I'm glad I did.

But the next surgery was what really kicked me on my keister.

All in all, they took out an area the size of a baseball. It was  hard to move and wiped me out for weeks and weeks. I could not take care of myself. I'd begun losing hair by this time anyway, and finally just lopped it off since it was too heavy for me to care for myself. The cut hides the bald spots pretty well.

After about a month, I got the go-ahead to travel to my show at the San Diego Comic Con Museum (which is running until the first week of April, BTW). I was very happy I had enough energy to do it. But as soon as I got back, I had to return to treatment.

Since I live way out in the country, going into the city to various hospitals and pharmacies was a real challenge. I made more than 100 trips last year, and a drive to the compounding pharmacy which produced the specialist eye medicine I could not get anywhere else was six hours alone.

Naturally, I wasn't getting anything done during this time.

But at least my main hospital is super swank.

The oncology treatment went smoothly, until it didn't. The feels don't hit you until the end. By then I was flattened.

So flattened that I was too weak to control myself, fell over, and smashed my face into some equipment.

Nearly tore off my damn nostril.

Eff this guy.

Anyway, it was a bad year.

Here's what went right.

I have a good health insurance policy. The final tally on my health care costs ended up being about $150,000. I paid about 18% of that, including insurance. I had a high deductible and some experimental medicine insurance didn't cover. I had savings,  enough to cover the months I wasn't working, and my Patreon is also very supportive. So you didn't see me running a Gofundme or anything.

Thanks to everyone who ever bought one of my books.

No, none of that money was Good Omens Kickstarter money. I won't get most of my pay on that for months, which is just as well because it kept my taxes lower last year when I needed a break.

So, yay.

My nose is nearly healed. I opted out of plastic surgery, and it just sealed up by itself. I'll never be ready for my closeup, but who the hell cares.

I got to ring the bell.

I had a very, VERY hard time getting back to work, especially with regard to focus and concentration. My work hours dropped by over 2/3. I was so fractured and weak, time kept slipping away while I sat in the studio like a zombie. Most of the last six months were a wash.

I assumed focus issues were due (in part) to stress, so sought counseling. This seemed like a good idea at first, but when the counselor asked me to detail my issues with anxiety, I spent two weeks doing just that and getting way more anxious, which was not helpful.

After that I went EFF THIS NOISE, I want practical tools, not touchy feelies (no judgment on people who need touchy-feelies, I need a pragmatic solution and I need it now,) so tried using the body doubling focus group technique for concentration and deep work.

Within two weeks, I returned to normal work hours.

I got rural broadband, jumping me from dial up speed to 1 GB per second.

It's a miracle.

Massive doses of Vitamin D3 and K2. Yay.

The new computer works great.

The Kickstarter did so well, we got to expand the graphic novel to 200 pages. Double yay.

I'm running late, but everyone on the Good Omens team is super supportive. I don't know if I am going to make the book late or not, but if I do, well, it surely wasn't on purpose, and it won't be super late anyway. I still have months of lead time left.

I used to be something of a social media addict, but now I hardly ever even look at it, haven't been directly on some sites in over a year, and no longer miss it. It used to seem important and now doesn't.

More time for real life.

While I think the last year aged me about twenty years, I actually like me better with short hair. I'm keeping it.

OK. Rough year. 

Not complainin', just sayin'.

Back to work on The Book.

And only a day left to vote for Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, and Sandman in the Comicscene Awards. Thanks. 

[pedroscurls]

HUGH JACKMAN MASTERLIST.

18+ only, mdni! you can find all of the pedro pascal characters i've written so far below the cut. please note that majority of the stories contain (or will eventually have) smut and all stories are fem!reader, no use of y/n.

🌶️ - smut ❤️‍🩹 - angst 🥰 - fluff

LOGAN HOWLETT

HUGH JACKMAN (real person fanfiction)

🌶️ ❤️‍🩹 🥰 training partners: you hire a new personal trainer to get you back on track, but you don't realize that she's also hugh jackman's trainer until you show up to the gym. ↳ pt 1. - pt 2. - pt. 3 - pt. 4 - pt. 5 - pt. 6 - pt. 7 - pt. 8 - pt. 9 - pt. 10 - pt. 11 - pt. 12

requests:

🌶️ ❤️‍🩹 secret crushes: you've known hugh for years, having not only a personal friendship with him, but also a professional one. then, ryan decides to play matchmaker unbeknownst to you or hugh. ↳ pt. 1 (can be read as a standalone) - pt. 2 (which includes blake and ryan with reader!)

🌶️ sneak away with me: you sneak away with hugh during a party.

🌶️ welcome to broadway: it's the anniversary of oklahoma! and with it being your first broadway show, hugh takes you under his wing to show you the ropes. along the way, you realize that you've developed feelings for him.

🌶️ 🥰 baby, stay in bed: head over heels in love with hugh, you spend the night for the first time... and realize that hugh feels the same way.

🌶️ save a horse, ride a cowboy: hugh takes you to go flower picking, but all you can think about is taking him back to his car and riding him.

🥰 let the world know: you and hugh have been keeping your relationship a secret... until hugh accidentally lets millions of his followers know exactly who he's been dating.

🥰 cooking with hugh: hugh gets to see you in action... and he reaps the benefits too.

🥰 the first date: hugh takes you out for your first date.

🥰 sunday nights: sunday nights with hugh are your favorite -- movie night, cuddling, and finally some alone time with him.

🌶️ 🥰 romantic getaway: hugh takes you to greece for a romantic getaway after rumors of your relationship with him start to circulate the media... but there's no hiding it anymore.

🥰 first impressions: hugh meets your kids for the first time.

🥰 bad influence: already running late for work, hugh convinces you to call in sick.

🥰 mesmerized from afar: despite your relationship with hugh being out in the open, you both still do your best to keep it professional in the public eye... until hugh makes it very obvious during a hollywood event.

🌶️ 🥰 our little secret: ryan and blake try to set you and hugh up, but little do they know, you've already been secretly seeing each other.

🌶️ you put a spell on me: hugh attends a masquerade-themed party and you capture his attention the moment you step into the building.

🥰 seasons changing: hugh and reader get ready for fall in new york.

🌶️ late to the party: possibly already late to ryan and blake's party, hugh becomes just slightly annoyed when you can't decide what to wear... and when he realizes that you're doing it on purpose, he only knows one way to make sure you don't do it again.

❤️‍🩹 better together: after filming finishes with deadpool & wolverine, your relationship with hugh progresses... until he breaks things off with you. it isn't until ryan invites you to the press tour that you see him again and finally have a serious conversation with him.

❤️‍🩹 🥰 in the shadows: hugh's excited to see you at his premiere, but when he sees the look on your face when he's posing with one of his co-stars, he's confused because you decide to leave without a word.

[villadiodatis]

Fantasy High Junior Year: level 10

As psyched as I am for the jokes and character moments we'll get with FHJY, I am a mechanics nerd at heart, so! Here is a preview of what awaits the Bad Kids when they hit Level 10. This assumes no one multiclasses into a new class.

Adaine

Adaine's level up is relatively simple: as a level 10 Divination wizard, she gets an ability called The Third Eye. Once per long rest, she can use her action to gain darkvision (not useful, since she already has it as an elf), see into the Ethereal Plane, read any language, or see invisible creatures/objects within 10 feet. This lasts until she is incapacitated or takes a short/long rest.

She will also learn an additional cantrip and get another 5th level spell slot, and she can add two new wizard spells of level 1-5 to her spellbook.

Fabian

Fabian could hit level 7 in fighter or level 4 in bard. At level 7, Battlemaster Fighters get an additional maneuver and superiority die, plus a feature called Know Your Enemy, which allows him to determine if other creatures he interacts with outside of combat are his equal, superior, or inferior in terms of ability scores, AC, level, and HP.

If he takes another level in bard (remember, he dances now!), he'll get a new cantrip, another 2nd-level spell slot, a new 1st or 2nd level spell, and an ability score improvement or feat. There are a million directions he could go with an ASI or feat, so I won't speculate here.

Fig

Fig will be either level 9 in bard or level 2 in warlock. As a 9th-level bard, she gets an additional 4th level spell slot, her Song of Rest goes from a d6 to a d8, and the big one: she gets a 5th-level spell slot. There are a few options here, but some that I think Emily could be absolutely devastating with are Dominate Person, Geas, Mislead, Scrying, Seeming, or one that I've seen make a lot of trouble in other actual plays, Modify Memory.

If she takes another level in warlock, she gets an additional warlock (1st-level) spell slot, another 1st-level warlock spell, and two Eldritch Invocations. There are also some that would be incredible for Fig--some that do things like strengthen her Eldritch Blast, but particularly Mask of Many Faces, which lets her cast Disguise Self without using a spell slot, or Misty Visions, which lets her cast Silent Image without using a spell slot. Fig may be getting more comfortable being herself, but she's still gonna find a way to cause trouble.

Gorgug

Gorgug could hit level 9 in barbarian or level 2 in artificer. If he goes with barbarian, he gains Brutal Critical, which means he gets to roll an extra damage die (d12 with his Heavy Metal Axe) whenever he scores a critical hit. Additionally, his Rage Damage bonus increases to +3.

If he goes with artificer, things get more complicated, and very fun. Level 2 artificers get Infuse Item--basically, he can create magic items. He'll be able to pick 4 infusions off of the table, and can have 2 infused items at a time. Some options that catch my eye: Enhanced Arcane Focus, Enhanced Defense or Weapon, Homunculus Servant, or Replicate Magic Item, which would let him make items like a bag of holding or rope of climbing.

Kristen

In addition to a second 5th level spell slot and a new cantrip, Kristen Applebees will get access to an incredibly exciting feature that I would bet money on Ally using in an insane, perfect story moment: Divine Intervention. By rolling a d100 and getting your cleric level or lower (so 1-10 for Kristen, a 10% chance) (D20 has done this as hitting a 19 or 20 on a d20), Kristen can ask Cassandra to intervene on her behalf in a way that Brennan decides. If you've seen The Seven, you may remember Ostentatia's successful Divine Intervention, when Logren shattered the aspect of fire, put a vein of mithral under Elmville, and ended Charity Blythe's Greater Invisibility. I am very eager to see what happens with it.

Riz

Riz's next level is very simple, but brings a lot of options. At level 10, rogues get an ability score improvement or feat. There are a lot of useful feats for rogues, and ASIs are always helpful, so frankly I won't even begin to speculate.

And of course, they may go in an entirely new direction, whether with homebrew, multiclass, or something I haven't thought of! I'm so excited to see where this goes, and I can't wait to see where the players bring these characters.

[lostcauses-noregrets]

By Rafael Motamayor, New York Times, Nov. 5, 2023

On Saturday, the final episode of the anime adaptation of Hajime Isayama’s “Attack on Titan” premiered on Crunchyroll and Hulu, ending an epic tale that started back in 2013.

Like the manga, which ran from 2009 to 2021, the anime was an instant hit, becoming one of the defining shows of the modern anime era, with spinoffs, live-action and video game adaptations, and even a comic book crossover with Marvel’s “Spider-Man” and “Avengers” titles.

Since the fourth and final season started airing in 2020, “Attack on Titan” has been one of the most popular shows on the internet — episodes have routinely trended on social media, streaming servers have occasionally crashed, the opening theme song became a rare anime song to hit the U.S. Billboard charts. Parrot Analytics said it was the most “in-demand” show in the world in 2021, a metric based on analysis of streaming, social media, search and other online behaviors. The manga has continued to be popular as well, selling over 120 million copies worldwide, and several of the published volumes have charted on the New York Times graphic novels and manga best-seller list.

What started as a thrilling yet relatively simple tale of a young boy seeking revenge against the giant humanoid monsters that ate his mother quickly evolved into a thought-provoking war epic. The tonal shift in “Attack on Titan” also came with one of the biggest heel-turns in modern anime, with the protagonist, Eren Jaeger, devolving into a radicalized monster threatening worldwide genocide.

Since the manga ended in 2021, there has been plenty of speculation and debate over Eren’s antagonistic turn and what the story’s ending means. Ahead of the release of the final episode, the manga creator Hajime Isayama, speaking through an interpreter, David Higbee, talks about the restrictive nature of writing and the story’s dark ending. These are edited excerpts from the interview.

The manga ended a couple of years ago, and the anime is just finishing now. How do you feel about the story coming to an end?

For this anime to be made and for that to go beyond the borders of Japan and to reach a worldwide audience is something that’s been a very happy occurrence for me. In a sense, “Attack on Titan” has connected me to the world, and that’s something that I’m very glad happened.

How much of the ending from the manga did you have in mind when you first began writing “Attack on Titan”? And how much did it change along the way?

That was pretty much there from the beginning, the story that starts with the victim who then goes through this story and becomes the aggressor. That is something I had in mind right from the get-go. Along the way, certain aspects of the story didn’t go as expected, and I adapted and fleshed out certain aspects. But I would say the ending of the story didn’t change much

There’s a much-talked-about scene where Armin, who is struggling with Eren’s turn into a mass murderer, seems to thank him for his actions. Can you talk about the meaning behind that conversation?

My thinking there wasn’t really that Armin was trying to push Eren away for the sake of justice or whatnot. It was more that he wanted to, in a sense, take joint responsibility. He wanted to become an accomplice. In order to become an accomplice, Armin had to make sure that he used very strong wording so that he could take those sins upon himself. And so that was the intent behind it.

You have a scene where Eren apologizes to a kid for the carnage he’s going to commit and says he was disappointed in the world he saw beyond the walls. What does that say about his motivation?

I think that refers to the fact that Eren was dreaming of going to this world outside of the walls where there was nobody and there was nothing. There was an excitement about this world that was just empty, a clean slate. I don’t really know whether that’s a good or a bad thing, and I don’t really know why that was the ideal that I set up for Eren as a part of this story. But what I can say is that, when he does get across the wall at that point, he says he sees that the world is really not that different from what’s within the walls in the world that he already knows. I believe that’s probably the disappointment that I’m referring to in that specific scene.

Eren says in the final episode of the anime that he had no choice but to follow the future that he saw, that he was powerless against the powers of the Founding Titan. Armin even asks if he’s really free. Was he telling the truth or do you see this as him telling an excuse?

So the truth is the situation with Eren actually overlaps in a certain sense with my own story with this manga. When I first started this series, I was worried that it would probably be canceled. It was a work that no one knew about. But I had already started the story with the ending in mind. And the story ended up being read and watched by an incredible number of people, and it led to me being given a huge power that I didn’t quite feel comfortable with.

It would have been nice if I could have changed the ending. Writing manga is supposed to be freeing. But if I was completely free, then I should have been able to change the ending. I could have changed it and said I wanted to go in a different direction. But the fact is that I was tied down to what I had originally envisioned when I was young. And so, manga became a very restrictive art form for me, similar to how the massive powers that Eren acquired ended up restricting him.

You have been involved in the anime production for a little while, supervising the adaptation’s storyboards, and have been known for asking for changes to the story in the adaptation. Did you personally ask for anything for the final episode?

Yes. Absolutely. I checked the script, but the main thing was the storyboards. There were different things I suggested. When it comes down to it, it’s really the role of the production to make those decisions. But I wanted to at least give my input so that they could take those into account when they were making the final decisions.

The manga ends with you showing the future of Paradis and sort of the cycle of war continuing. Is there no end to the conflict and the cycle you present in the story?

I guess there could have been an ending where it was a happy ending and the war ended and everything was fine and dandy. I guess that could have been possible. At the same time, the end of fighting and the end of contention itself kind of seems hokey. It kind of seems like it’s not even believable. It’s just not plausible in the world we’re living in right now. And so, sadly, I had to give up on that kind of happy ending.

[New York Times, 5 November 2023]

[card1gan]

Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s family as Zodiac Signs!! (PART 2)

Part 1

Disclaimer: This is just my option (actually just the voices in my head), feel free to disagree! I would love to hear other opinions (also this is just a fun post, nothing serious, also not taking in consideration their actual birth dates). I would also love to know which member of the family you are according to your zodiac sign.

References: The information is from Co-Star and the images are from Capricho. The references of the fanarts are next to the character’s names.

Leo - Viserra Targaryen (🎨: Riotarttherite)

“Exudes warmth and creativity; a little bit vain; really big personality; wants to stand out; interested in luxury”

This one I feel like it was obvious. Viserra was vain and wanted to become queen.

Virgo - King Jaehaerys I (🎨: Amok)

“Needs to feel useful, has a quick fix for everything; judgmental, but with good intentions; exceptional spatial awareness; a million ideas per second”

This is our King Jaehaerys. He was very smart when it came to ideas to fix and improve the realm, but he was a bit judgmental, specially with his daughters. Despite the good intentions, Jaehaerys ended up hurting many people with his actions.

Libra - Maegelle Targaryen (🎨: Riotarttherite)

“Hates being alone; really good aesthetics; conflict avoidant; sees every side; prone to fantasy; can't make decisions”

Okay, I’m wasn’t so sure about this one. I think Maegelle is very sure of her decisions, specially when it comes to the Faith. BUTTTT. Hear me out, I was searching more about libra and guess what: they’re great diplomats! And Maegelle was responsible for helping her parents resolve their problems, not taking sides, avoiding conflict and being a great diplomat.

Scorpio - Rhaena Targaryen (honourable mention!) (🎨: Hylora)

“Primary emotion is betrayal; looks cool in a leather jacket; OK with uncomfortable silence; can't be sure if they're serious or joking; eyes that look into your soul”

Left Rogar Baratheon scared. I would be too.

Sagittarius - Alyssa Targaryen (🎨: Fkaluis)

“No indoor voice; forms opinions off of pure emotion; obsessed with self-improvement; welds their truth like a blunt weapon; friendliest person at the party”

My girl Alyssa was decided to become a dragon rider younger than her brothers and went around taking about how much she loved riding (and not only her dragon). Miss girl was a Sagittarius through and through.

Capricorn - Aemon Targaryen (🎨: Riotarttherite)

“Full grown adult since age six; the responsible friend; motivated by duty; takes a while to warm up to people; represses any emotion that gets in the way of success”

I get strong Capricorn vibes from Aemon. I imagine that he felt like he was carrying the weight of the world in his shoulders, being the eldest child alive and the heir.

Aquarius - Vaegon Targaryen (🎨: Jaydeewis)

“Purposefully esoteric; no feelings, just concepts; actually believes in conspiracy theories; more in love with humanity as a whole than individuals; always feels like an outcast; fetishizes personal freedom”

I always had a very cold and distant impression from Vaegon. He was more happy away from his family in the Citadel and he definitely didn’t wanna marry his “stupid” sister Daella.

Pisces - Gael Targaryen (🎨: Riotarttherite)

“Somehow both 5 and 50 years old at once; thinks everything is a sign; can't remember if they dreamt it or it actually happened; excessively romantic; prone to fantasy; no boundaries”

Our Winter Child was seduced by a singer and even got pregnant. She had a terrible ending, worthy of a Greek tragedy. She’s a Pisces.

[kanonavi]

hello tumblr user kanonavi who is 1/3rd of the reason i started rereading tgcf. i have come to collect my personal apology for the emotional damages inflicted upon me for the past 5 days. and i have also come with THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS (mostly feelings)

- icb i put off this reread so long hualian are so romance. theyre jsut Romance......... absolutely floored by every throwaway bit of dialogue they had....... in shambles forever....,

- sqx arc was not as painful as the first few times i read it bc i now stand with my cancelled wife (he xuan) I STILL LOVE SQX AND THEY DESERVE EVERYTHING GOOD. BUT HX WAS REAL FOR ALL OF THAT. i love revenge

- i wanna know your thoughts on ling wen bc u mentioned having mixed feelings on her but i loved her so bad all the way to the end so im curious ljdkdjf

- i am not immune to backstory arc pt2. read it last last (?) night at like 3am and cried myself to sleep its just so gutting every timeeeeeee.... the hc plot that builds in that arc is ofc one of my favorites in the entire novel though :')

- the chapter w the cave of statues took me like 2+ hours to get through because i was feeling so insane abt it

i feel bad dropping this block of text in ur askbox sorry. will leave it there for now LOL

Omg hiiiii tumblr user stardust-make-a-wish welcome back from the yaoi cocaine pit :3 I know you're here to collect emotional damages, but I must make it known that I'm not even remotely sorry <3

Also you should feel bad for yourself instead of for me because I can only respond to huge blocks of text with even bigger blocks of text, so (TGCF Spoilers Ahead) and also I am so sorry lmaooooo

UGH you're so right that hualian is the most romance forever they are just so *clenches fists and sobs*....... They're always there for each other and they're so in love and they've been through so much and I just want them to be able to rest because it's what they deserve.

I will never once say that Hu Xuan wasn't justified in everything he did cuz like. Shi Wudu had it coming what a piece of shit. But at the same time Qingxuan is my wife and I will not tolerate my wife being harmed. So like revenge slay yes but also I am still cancelling He Xuan and spraying him with the water bottle (even though he is already very very damp).

Yesyesyes Ling Wen. So my thought about Ling Wen is that she kinda girlbossed a little too close to the sun, but at the same time you look at her circumstances both past and present and have to understand why she did all of that. It already would have been hard enough for her to gain any kind of recognition as a woman, much less in the Heavenly Court, so her ruthlessness is completely understandable. But at the same time, I don't really think the Brocade Immortal deserved what she did to him nor was taking Bai Wuxiang's side in the final conflict a real cool thing of her to do. I can't fully be a hater though because her own thoughts about everything are clearly so nuanced (See: The final convo she had with Xie Lian about the Brocade Immortal, which I am still thinking so incredibly hard about to this day).

I think that Ling Wen is interesting in the same way that I find other characters like Mu Qing, He Xuan, and Yin Yu interesting. It's in the sense that even if I don't really agree with all of the actions that they took, it's very easy to look at them and come to an understanding of why they did what they did. And I have varying degrees of like for all of the characters I just listed, but that doesn't change the fact that they're all Compelling. So it's almost like a begrudging respect that I feel for Ling Wen, if I were to boil it down into simple terms.

aaaaaaaaaa The Horrors(tm) :sob: Even though I could talk about Xie Lian's arc through that part of his backstory for a million years, you're so right that Hua Cheng's arc through it is also so interesting to watch. It really goes to prove that Hua Cheng is different from everyone else in Xie Lian's life up until this point, because yes there's the very obvious throughline of Hua Cheng wanting to protect Xie Lian (rather than expecting his protection), but even more importantly that feeling never changes even when Xie Lian has his mini corruption arc.

Like, Hua Cheng fell in love with the pure and virtuous Crown Prince of Xianle but not for that quality. Instead of being ashamed and looking at Xie Lian with scorn when he was like "What if I kill everyone actually" Hua Cheng is like "Then let me be your sword". There's the element of not wanting Xie Lian to dirty himself that Hua Cheng carries for the entire story but the point is in that he is not a voice who would tell Xie Lian to stop having those thoughts if it's truly what he wants (Unlike what his parents or Feng Xin and Mu Qing would probably say).

I'm going to write an essay about their character dynamic one day istg I am chewing through the drywall

The cave statues chapter......... *passes away*. Like on one hand that chapter is so funny because yes Hua Cheng is just an absolute certified freak (POV my roommate telling me earlier on in my reading that HC is a porn addict and me being like "pssht noooo" but then getting to this chapter several months later and being like "O h.") but on the other hand THE CONFESSION??????? Like. All I can do is gesture wildly at the storyboard animatic that someone made of that scene on YouTube while absolutely fucking sobbing. There is a reason why the cover of volume 6 felt somehow more intimate than the cover of volume 4 where they're literally making out.

Anyway I'm patting Hua Cheng on the head like It's okay buddy Xie Lian loves you because you're a certified freak, he's seen too much of this world to be weirded out even a little bit. Which is why those two are perfect for each other <3

I'm glad you had so much fun on your reread, have fun with the brainworms :3

[pocket-lin]

Hey!! 💕 for the fandom ask game, 5, 9 and 20? 🤩

hi!!! thank you for sending me this ask!! once again apologizing if the format for this is all janky, assume I have no clue what I'm doing 80-90% of the time!! also I found out so many of these writer's have tumblrs that I wasn't following so that was exciting!!

please note: this is all about the harry potter fandom so if you don't follow me for that, please look at my pinned post!! tldr is fuck jk and fuck terfs, I won't let her steal our joy!!

5. something I see a lot in fics and love

hmmmm... this is hard to narrow down!! so here's a few things I've been enjoying in hp fics I've read lately!

harry potter who is just so fucking earnestly in love. like, he's tripping over his feet so he can hold the door open for draco and looking at him with big heart eyes from across the pub. harry's got draco's order memorized from that takeout place he loves and he's been pining for draco for years in such an embarrassing way and all his friends are rolling their eyes and placing bets on when harry will finally make a fucking move.

adult ron weasley taking after his mother!! he makes delicious food and makes people scarves and shows his love through his actions!!

draco being absolutely rocked when he finds out that harry is queer! especially when harry is confident and completely unashamed of his sexuality. also throat goat harry

magic being tangible in some way!! like, a strong spell giving off the smell of ozone, being able to feel it in someone's hands, everyone's magic having a unique vibe.

harry as the ultimate dad. like, that dude 100% has so many complicated feelings about family and his kid(s) would be everything to him.

9. a ship that isn't your OTP but that you enjoy

I've been dipping into alllll kinds of ships lately. I love to just go look at individual ship tags on a03 and read the stuff with the highest kudos and then some of the most recent fics. I think you gotta do both to understand the ship!! here's some I've been vibing with lately (also realizing how many of these are drarry+someone else hahaha)

harry/draco is my otp BUT harry/ron and harry/ron/hermione are tied for second. that's harry's family!! they were his first friends and the first people to show him love and they literally went through war together. they know each other!! two favorite harry/ron fics of mine are Sun Kissed by @static-abyss and A tangled mess by @orange-peony! two harry/ron/hermione favorites are nineteen years later by wendydarlings and try to fix you by @maesterchill!

snarry - I was sooooo not into this in my early fandom days because so much of the ship stuff I saw was underage teacher/student stuff and that's very much not my thing. the first dip into this ship was actually through @writcraft's harry/draco/severus fic, A Life Worth Remembering, which is almost a complete subversion: Severus gets de-aged to 25 through a potions accident and has to stay with draco and harry, who are middle-aged and in an established relationship. its a gigantic change for everyone involved and the way their all find their way to each other is sooooooo good. from there I read all their snarry stuff. one of their other snarry fics I love is How We Were Warriors. I've actually been back into this ship the past few weeks and have loved On the Deficiencies of Translation Spells and old fires and phantom limbs by @liladiurne, as well as A Turn of the Page and Severus’s Story (or, A Hero’s Tale) by avioleta!

neville/harry and harry/draco/neville - I think about @kittycargo's Love to Give soooooo often. also absolutely love When it Returns by @academicdisasterfic and Touch Your Lips Just So I Know by @saxamophone!!

harry/draco/charlie - everyone go read Licurici by @lou-isfake and tell me you aren't a changed man!!!

ron/draco/harry. I can't even begin to talk about this one because we'd be here for a million years!!

20. your very first fandom!

I started doing irl fandom things for harry potter with my mom and sister when I was a little baby (I learned to read with the harry potter books!!) but my first solo (and almost exclusively online) fandom was the the teen titans!! I was obsessed with the marv wolfman and george perez comics from the 80s and completely lost my shit when they announced the teen titans animated series. that show cancellation still hurts 😭

[juiles]

My world in my arms

Summary: just a pure fluff shot with accidently (but happy) ScarLizzie in it. You finish set early while filming Black Widow with your mom and you go home to have a girls night.

Type: fluff, fluff and more fluff.

Age: 16

Triggers: a little mention of blood at first but other than that nothing.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Scarletts POV

I watched as y/n preformed the same stunt she had been doing for the last 5 years. I know she is golden at it but that can’t stop the nagging at my brain as she was raised on the platform. “Remember kid! Do the flip and land in Natasha’s pose then pull a Yelena and stand up shaking it off making a face.”

“Yeah I know Joe. I’ve only been doing this for the last 5 years.” She yelled out rolling her eyes shifting so only I could see her.

“Young lady!” I yelled out making her cover her mouth with a little smirk chuckling. The Russo brothers called out action and she did her normal flip however before she could land today, her hand slipped and got trapped against her harness so when she went to catch herself, she stumbled forward and smashed her face against a prop rock. Her body was shaking and she wasn’t moving which scared me, making both me and Lizzie (who had joined us on set today) ran over to her but before we could get very far, her head popped up and she was laughing.

“You little shit!” I called out plopping down beside her pulling her chin up to face me.

“Your nose is bleeding dumbass.” Lizzie said casually sitting on her other side. “Y/n are you ever going to not be clumsy?” She asked raising an eyebrow making me let out a bark of a laugh making both of them turn to face me. “What?”

“You can’t say shit about being clumsy Elizabeth Olsen.” I motioned to her before she blushed slightly and rolled her eyes. The medic sat down in front of y/n and did a quick check on her nose telling us she can clean off the blood and she’ll be fine.

“Hear that mom?” She smirked over at me as the medic handed me pack of wipes. “What! No! I can clean my own face! Mommy!!!!!!!” She whined crossing her arms with a pout.

“Clearly not.” I said motioning to her current position. “Also, you still got hurt and I’m still your mama. I will always clean you up when you get hurt.” That made Lizzie coo and my daughter blush under the wipe that I was currently using to clean up her blood.

“Mama….” She whined as I hit her nose softly by accident. “That hurt…”

“Almost done baby…” I cooed placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Once she’s cleaned and changed out of her costume I think you two should take the day off. We’ll get the suit drycleaned and ready for tomorrow morning to try that shot again.” Joe said crouching down in front of my 16 year old. “That trick has been done a million times kid. What got you today?”

“My hand caught on the wire… I guess I’m just tired…” She shrugged. “Finals are kicking me in the ass.”

“Language.” I said as I pulled away shoving all the wipes into a bag that an assistant had handed me.

“Alright Capsicle.” She said casually as she stood up from her position without missing a beat.

“You know what Romanoff?” I said with a smirk making her give me an identical smirk back.

Lizzie and Joe who were used to our antics merely rolled their eyes shaking their heads. “Alright mama. I’m gonna change then I’ll meet you at the car?” I nodded and she turned to run off before she stopped and turned to face us with a grin. “We get to see Rosie earlier than expected!!!! We can have a girls night!!!” She squealed before running off.

I laughed shaking my head before turning to talk to Joe about the last minute changes then turned to grab my purse from my seat. Lizzie walking beside me. “You joining us for a girls night?” I ask searching through my nag for my keys.

“You sure?” Lizzie asked hesitantly.

I just laughed shaking my head. “Duh. Rose would love to have her Lizzie there. Itll be a proper girls night.” I said making Lizzie’s face break into a giant grin and she nodded quickly. “I would love to!!”

We walked towards the car and before we even got to touch the door handle we hear a voice calling out. “Mama!!” My daughter called out skipping towards me. “Can Lizzie join us? And can we stop at Target and get snaaaaaaaaaaacks?? I have my wallet.” She pulled her wallet out of her pants pickets with a shit eating grin on her face. I laughed nodding.

“I already invited Lizzie, I figured you and Rose would want her there. Of course we can stop at the store bubba.” My kid flung the back door opened and climbed in before grabbing the aux cord and plugged her phone in. “Lets goo. Car ride with the best DJ!” She said dancing a little. I laughed getting in the drivers seat as Lizzie slid into the passenger seat. I started the car and backed out of the set. I drove on to the highway and made my way towards the exit that’s got the Target closest to our house and my kid started playing music.

She put on what she claims to be her “Feel Good Songs” playlist which contains a bunch of upbeat songs from the 2000’s and earlier. My kid has good music taste and I’m quite proud of her. As we pulled into target, we all got out putting baseball caps and sunglasses on before making our way towards the store and once inside, we made our way to the snack aisle and before I could say a word, y/n was already digging through a pile of candy bags before pulling out a bag and holding it up with a grin.

“I found them mama!” She declared, her green eyes seeming to shine. “I found the Mike and Ikes!” Can we get some M&M’s too?” She asked with the biggest pout on her face. I only laughed and shook my head before nodding.

“Yes bubs. Pick out your m&m’s.” I motioned to the chocolate section and she instantly turned around. Lizzie and I quickly grabbed what we wanted before the three of us moved to the aisle with the chips and the pop. We all grabbed what we wanted, y/n picking out Roses as well as the two would happily share the candy and chocolate.

We walked to the till but something caught y/n’s eye making her stop, turning to look at it making me stop and eye what it is. “Something you like there bubba?” She bit her lip before glancing down at the treats in her hand before she shook her head and looked up at me with a small smile.

 “I’m good mama. Shall we go get our treats and go have our girls night?” She said before walking towards the till again. I turned and my eyes landed on what she was looking at. A black marvel blanket, but this one was different, it had my symbol, but it also had the Scarlett Witch symbol and her characters. That was it, just the three of us, something that we never saw.

I grabbed it with a small smirk and made my way to the tills, we all scanned our items before I scanned the blanket, y/n’s eyes widening. “Wait. But it was like 80 bucks! I couldn’t ask for that! The treats are enough mama.” She said with a soft but sad smile.

“I’m buying it bub. I can see why you like it and its massive, we can all cuddle under it tonight before it moves to your room.” Her face lit up and she threw herself into my arms repeating thank you over and over again.

I laughed and placed a kiss on her forehead and paid the items before we all walked back towards the car, luckily we weren’t noticed at all so we we’re able to get in the car and head home. We pulled into the house, y/n ran inside after grabbing her bag, the bag with her and Rose’s treats and the blanket. I got inside after grabbing my belongings and locking the car. Liz grabbed her stuff and as we got inside I thanked the babysitter, paid her and made sure her car was safely out of the driveway.

I hadn’t been greeted by my youngest yet I knew she was okay because I heard her squeals in the living room along with my eldest and Lizzies. I walked in and plopped down next to my youngest who was staring at the blanket in awe. I coughed slightly making her turn to face me and squaled. “MAMA!!” She threw herself into my arms and I laughed hugging her tightly. “Y/n/n said we’re gonna have a girls night!” She said bouncing after pulling away.

I laughed and nodded with a grin. “Y/n/n got a little hurt on set so Joe let us go early so we decided to have a girls night!”

After that we all settled down beside each other, y/n sitting between me and Lizzie, Rose cuddled up onto her lap. I pulled out snacks and we all dug in after Lizzie pulled the new blanket over the four of us. Y/n turned on Disney+ and turned on The Little Mermaid, knowing it was Rose’s favourite making the younger girl squeal. I laughed and we all settled in for the night.

After plenty of junk and a few Disney movies I looked around and noticed all three of the girls around me asleep. I just smiled softly, placing soft kisses on all their heads and turned the tv off before settling in. Loving my world in my arms.

[ursae-minoris-world]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. (If you feel like it, no pressure.) Spread the self-love ❤️

Aww, thanks for the tag!

I'm answering a million years late because I was so busy with projects with deadlines that I didn't allow myself to take time for this until now...

This was surprisingly hard!! I feel like my fics fulfill different needs for me so it's hard to compare them.

I'm going to go with:

Carry me away (sheith)

I'm just generally happy with this story, it has action, Shiro whump, mutual protectiveness, Keith going a little bit feral, and a sweet ending.

Flowers and Blood (sheith)

I had lots of fun with playing with the hanahaki trope and the world building, and I just love the h/c in this one. Not just in a romantic sense, but I do love the scenes with Lance, Hunk and the bits with Allura as well.

While some count sheep (vld gen, Hunk-centric)

Had to include that one, it was my very first fic and I'm still very fond of it. And the list had to have at least one Hunk-centric story! I enjoy how it dives into Hunk's anxiety and his kindness to others. And I like how it both shows Hunk's relationships with the other members of the team in the early days of Voltron and explore everyone's struggles.

Breaking point (sheith)

Had to mention this one, as it's my most popular this far, and I do enjoy it a lot. I loved exploring s4 sheith with all the tension and find a way to make it work for me. Also had a blast with writing Kolivan and Keith's relationship! I want to explore that more!

I have your back (vld gen, Keith & Lance)

It was just genuinely nice to focus on Keith and Lance and have Lance apologize to Keith. I just always enjoyed their dynamic and the tension and I always thought they could be great friends. They have some good scenes but I always felt they weren't given the development they could have had, and I enjoyed writing what I wanted for them. I might also be a bit biased towards this fic because I've become slightly obsessed with the playlist that "team fluff" put together for it in the context of the event this story was written for.

And... that's it for 5 fav fic. It was hard to chose, as I said, and I'm still kind of surprised that Event horizon, Scars, A little mouse told me, weren't on it in the end, and there are others that aren't in the top 5 but that I am still super fond of.

(Little reminder that most of my fics are archive-locked so you need to be logged in to AO3 to access them.)

What do you think? Which are your fav fics I wrote? Is there any that you would have expected to see on this list?

I'm off to send this to 5 writers but feel free to steal this is you want!

[petitesmafia]

Genuinely what did Dazai do? Out of even anime characters in general, what is so bad and evil about him? In the same anime he’s from there’s a pedophile, why doesn’t he cause such visceral hatred from people? Most Dazai haters like characters like Light or Sasuke, are you telling me Dazai is worse than a genocidal maniac or a Dictator with a god complex? More specifically, his main competitor, Chuuya, why is he considered so kind and good just because he’s not “manipulative”? Why is Chuuya’s evil actions either ignored or justified constantly 24/7 but we have to be reminded of Dazai’s everytime? Why is there such hypocrisy? Why are all Dazai ships so hated? Why do people ship Soukoku or any other Dazai ship if they hate Dazai and think he shouldn’t be with anyone romantically? Why do you even think that way? Dazai also deserves love, what did he do so evil that even a pedophile and a misogynist gets so much more sympathy from him? What exactly did Dazai do to this fandom?

Why does Dazai only need to be in love with Chuuya in soukoku and not the other way around? Why do the shippers only enjoy this ship when it’s one sided and Dazai is constantly suffering? Why do Skk shippers not want Chuuya to like Dazai back? How is it exactly that Chuuya is the one who deserves better, when it’s Dazai who keeps saying Chuuya is a human but is told his own humanity is a “joke” by this same person Dazai is kind to? Why do shippers defend this? Apparently both Skk are not perfect people, so when it’s Dazai is accepted he did Chuuya wrong which is I don’t know what exactly, but when it’s Chuuya doing shitty things to Dazai, it’s not an issue, it needs to justified somehow? Why do Dazai “stans” like this people or this ship so much if they “love” Dazai, why are all Dazai “stans” even okay with this? Why do you stan him then? Why do you say you “love” Dazai if you think Chuuya is cooler?? Why can’t you just go and stan him?? What did Dazai do to skk shippers? What is so cool about Chuuya when he’s criminal who still actively harms people?

imagine how successful you'd be if you showed this level of tenacity in academics and life instead of being on my ass for liking Chuuya

genuinely why are you constantly sending me shit still when i haven't even done anything to you or said anything hateful about Dazai. it has been almost 4 YEARS. why are you still in this one-sided beef with Chuuya and with me. why do you feel the need to harass and send people death threats simply bc they like Chuuya more. why do you claim to dislike Chuuya and Chuuya stans yet you come searching for my account all the time and doing the absolute fucking most to circumvent my blocking. why is it so difficult for you to grasp that just bc some people like Chuuya more, it does not mean they hate or even dislike Dazai. why is it so hard for you to take a step back and realize that not everything is meant to be "anti-Dazai" just bc you have interpreted it as such. you have harassed people over obvious jokes, you have harassed people when they haven't even mentioned Dazai bc you always feel the need to insert him into the narrative and then attack the person. i could mention Chuuya and the Flags and here you come with 10 messages telling me i should kill myself and slit my wrists bc the Flags are "flop Buraiha". why are you making it seem like it's about you defending Dazai when reality is it's about you not liking Chuuya. why do you not spend your time talking about Dazai on your own account rather than searching up Chuuya on the daily and making 5 million burners on every social media platform possible to attack people for posts that aren't even remotely harmful or related to Dazai. do you actually give a fuck about Dazai, or do you just hate to see Chuuya get loved by the fandom?

majority of the people you have deemed "Dazai haters" (which, frankly, you have deluded yourself into thinking is everyone besides you) don't even hate Dazai. they'll make one harmless joke or a random post and suddenly they'll be branded by you as a "Dazai anti", bc you do not know how to consume media in a healthy way, and you feel the need to project and make your problem everyone else's. there are plenty of people who have spoken in Dazai's defense of his change after leaving port mafia, about his fight in the light, yet you don't see that bc you are too busy searching up Chuuya and getting mad at Chuuya stans for talking about Chuuya. you seek out certain content that you know you don't like, then nitpick and generalize the fandom as a whole when it is your problem to deal with. don't even come here with that bitchass whining about certain people not "loving" Dazai bc the minute someone you don't like says something about Dazai, even if it's positive, you'll be there telling them to shut up and not speak on him. i have already been through your questions with you in the past so there's no point in going over them again, considering all you'll do is spam me with insults and threats bc you have no actual intentions of having a civil conversation. byeee

[velvette3]

ATTATION PLEASE!!!

To all the utter fucking ASSHOLES, who think bullying is okay, fine, funny, etc:

What the FUCK are you thinking?!

Y’all seriously think that bullying people just because their brains are different, is okay? FUCK NO!

You think it’s FUNNY, that sometimes people act different than what is considered ‘normal’? The hell is wrong with you! Don’t you get it?

“more than 75,000,000 people, according to researched conducted by the CDC. 1 in every 100 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.”

SO WHAT THE FUCK.

“Approximately 6.8% (366.3 million) adults worldwide have symptomatic ADHD”

AND THATS JUST ADULTS DAMNIT^

“The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally 1 out of every 4 people will be impacted by mental illness at some point in their lives.”

ONE IN FOUR FUCKING PEOPLE

This shit needs to stop.

You bully others, because they think different?

Because they act, or maybe look different?

It’s hard enough for them to live in a world, where other people that aren’t like them, don’t, can’t, or choose not to understand how they feel, and who they are.

Some of these people, have shit households.

Some of them, may not have a home at all.

Some may not be able to find help or medication for it.

Some of them go ignored.

Un-diagnosed.

Left to rot.

Made fun of.

Pushed around.

Hit, around.

Hate crimes, even.

Don’t believe me?

“Disability hate crime is a form of hate crime involving the use of violence against people with disabilities. This is not only violence in a physical sense, but also includes other hostile acts, such as the repeated blocking of disabled access[1] and verbal abuse.[1] These hate crimes are associated with prejudice against a disability, or a denial of equal rights for disabled people (as this is a form of prejudice). It is viewed politically as an extreme form of ableism, or disablism.[2] This phenomenon can take many forms, from verbal abuse and intimidatory behaviour to vandalism, assault, or even murder. Although data are limited[3] studies appear to show that verbal abuse and harassment are the most common.[4] Disability hate crimes may take the form of one-off incidents, or may represent systematic abuse which continues over periods of weeks, months, or even years. Disabled parking places, wheelchair access areas and other facilities are frequently a locus for disability hate. Instead of seeing access areas as essential for equity, they are seen instead as 'special treatment', unjustifiable by status, and so a 'reason' for acting aggressively.[5] Denial of access thus demonstrates a prejudice against equal rights for disabled people; such actions risk actual bodily harm as well as limiting personal freedom.”

^it may be a long read. But damnit.

People suffer already, and this isn’t scraping the TOP of my anger towards it, the in-humanity of it all.

But then again, with how common this absolute SHIT is, who says ‘humanity’ even exists? No one lives up to it anymore! This is just a part of it!

I’m sick and tired of seeing the common mold others put these people through, and it’s not even acceptable.

Not something anyone should ignore.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jay Kuo at The Status Kuo:

In a letter to the Fox Network, Hunter Biden’s attorneys have put the company on notice that it’s about to get its pants sued off for defamation.  Again. Biden’s attorney, Mark Geragos, best known for his successful representation of celebrities, issued the following statement: 

[For the last five years, Fox News has relentlessly attacked Hunter Biden and made him a caricature in order to boost ratings and for its financial gain. The recent indictment of FBI informant Smirnov has exposed the conspiracy of disinformation that has been fueled by Fox, enabled by their paid agents and monetized by the Fox enterprise. We plan on holding them accountable.]

The letter specifically cited the network’s “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.” It also stated that Hunter Biden would be suing the network “imminently.” Supporters of the younger Biden cheered, glad to see he was finally taking the gloves off against purveyors of salacious, fake news. Fox is already reeling from other defamation lawsuits, including one it settled with Dominion Voting Systems for nearly $800 million and another by Smartmatic, a voting software company presently seeking $2.7 billion in damages. Not everyone is happy, though. Advisers to the president had been hoping his son would keep a low profile and not put himself back in the news during an election year. They worried that news stories about the lawsuit would resurface the allegations, even if false and defamatory, which would then suck the air out of the news cycle. Such media time might otherwise be focused on Donald Trump’s problems and Joe Biden’s many accomplishments.

[...]

The Burisma bribes lie

There are three main things Fox was fixated upon that have now opened it to possible massive liability. The first is what I call the fake “Burisma bribes.” Fox gleefully amplified the false claims of former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who had conveyed to his handler that he had information that both Joe and Hunter Biden had accepted $5 million in bribes from the Ukrainian company, Burisma, on whose board Hunter Biden once served. This false statement was dutifully recorded, as most statements by informants are no matter how wild, in a standard FBI informant form. This was left to gather dust for years until Rudy Giuliani and the FBI, at Bill Barr’s urging, resurfaced and weaponized it along with help from members of Congress.

For its part, Fox made sure that story went wide and was repeated ad nauseam. For months, host Sean Hannity ran nonstop coverage about the alleged bribe, poisoning viewers with actual Russian disinformation. Hannity’s show alone aired at least 85 segments that amplified these false Burisma bribery claims in 2023. Of those 85 segments, 28 were Hannity monologues.  After his indictment and arrest, Smirnov admitted that the story he received had come straight from Russian intelligence. By centering and repeating the fake story, Fox had become a willing Russian disinformation mule, along with many members of Congress. But it never retracted the story or apologized for its role. Instead, it continued to claim that the source, Smirnov, was “highly credible.”

[...]

Nude pics

We all have heard about, but hopefully not personally seen, intimate images of Hunter Biden at parties and in sexual acts with various partners. His lawyers claim that these images were “hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated” from his private accounts, and then aired by Fox in violation of his civil rights and copyright law. They also appeared during congressional hearings as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Q-MW) infamously used them as visual props. (She’s lucky to be shielded by the Speech and Debate clause of the Constitution, or she could be swept up in a suit as well.) The decision to go after those committing what amounts to “revenge porn” on Hunter Biden, including the Fox Network, is part of a larger legal counteroffensive that began last year, according to sources with NBC News.  As you may recall, the “Hunter Biden Laptop” story emerged as a kind of “October surprise” in 2020. The repair technician who leaked the contents of it to Rudy Giuliani later sued Biden and others for defaming him, claiming he had suffered damage to his reputation because they had claimed the laptop contents were part of a Russian disinformation campaign. 

[...]

The “Trial of Hunter Biden”

In fall of 2021, Fox aired a six-part series called “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which amounted to a mock trial of what his upcoming trial would look like if he were charged with being a foreign agent or with bribery, none of which has happened.  Biden’s lawyers claim in their demand letter that “the series intentionally manipulates the facts, distorts the truth, narrates happenings out of context, and invents dialogue intended to entertain. Thus, the viewer of the series cannot decipher what is fact and what is fiction,” and it should be removed entirely from all streaming services.

[...]

The reality is, Fox and other right wing media continue to give oxygen to Rep. James Comer, who has yet to end his evidence-free impeachment inquiry. At least now, Fox will be on notice that it could face ongoing liability for failing to retract its false reporting, even while pushing out more lies about Hunter Biden. The network will have to tread more carefully, and ultimately it will have to consider whether it doubles down or backs off. Then there is the actual trial of Hunter Biden which is set to begin this fall. Attention will be on the president’s son at that time anyway, but with this lawsuit, just as with his counterclaims and counteroffensives against those who violated his privacy, Hunter Biden will look like a fighter and not just a victim. With all that has been done and said about him, he has very little to lose but a very large ax to grind. And if the GOP overplays its hand, as it inevitably will, it could create voter sympathy for him, even though it had hoped to paint him as a criminal, drug addicted womanizer. Democrats are often accused of not having enough courage to go on the offensive, of being too reticent to push back against the onslaughts of numerous bad faith actors on the right. Then when they do, there’s a good deal of hand wringing about how this assertiveness might come across to the voters.

Glad to see Hunter Biden fight back against the right-wing smear machine by threatening to sue Fixed News for defaming him.

[cha-melodius]

2023 Fic Year in Review

I've been doing these for three years now, and they always grow each year as I get tagged in other year-end posts that make the rounds. Feel free you grab it if you want to do your own review! And I’d like to add a hearty thank you to each and every person who’s read my fics over the years, y'all continue to make this a joy!

2020 Review | 2021 Review | 2022 Review

AO3 Username: chamel  My Page: Link  Active Fandoms:  Red, White & Royal Blue: 20 works The Man from UNCLE (2015): 8 works Loki: 5 works New Fandoms: None thank GOD Total Number Of Completed Works/Word Count  This Year: 33 works, 278k words  All Time: 113 works, 1.27 million words

This year a little movie that came out in August absolutely destroyed these stats lmaoooo. Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): This Year: Always Where I Need To Be (RWRB, Alex/Henry, T, 5.5k) All Time: Class(room) Warfare (RWRB, Alex/Henry, T, 7.8k words)

Most Popular Completed Multi-Chapter (by kudos):  This Year & All Time: Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood  (RWRB, Alex/Henry, E, 20k words)

Events/Challenges: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gift Exchange 2023, The Brownstone Anniversary Fic Exchange, Halloween Huh?

More reflections, stats, and planned fics below the cut!

Additional Random AO3 Stats

By number of fics: 85% one shots, 15% multi-chaps

By word count: 52% mult-chaps, 48% one shots

Ratings by number of fics: 48% T-rated, 33% E-rated, 15% M-rated

Musical artists contributing highest number of titles: Jeff Tweedy (Tweedy/Wilco) & The New Pornographers, tied at 3 each

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?  Somehow I topped my word count from last year by 10k, which I was not expecting. That said, this year was right about average.

What’s your own favorite story of the year?  God this is a hard question this year because I wrote a lot of fics I really really love. For one single fic I'll go with Nova, Baby, because I love the story and I've got a lot of lovely feelings about it.

Did you complete your writing goals from last year?  The Goal: I want to complete a few large multichapter fics, which will probably mean my one-shot production goes down. I completed one long mulitchap, and then a few mid-length (~20k) multichaps. I think I wrote more of those than I have any other year. Surprisingly, my one-shot production wasn't super significantly decreased.

Do you have any writing goals for the New Year? Ok, I gotta come up with something. My goal is to have a similar mix of fics as least year, and also to write my first collaboration with @cricketnationrise, which will be a long multichap.

Did you take any writing risks this year? Wrote on a topic outside my wheelhouse (therapy 😬) and also posted a fic in a fandom where there weren't a lot of fics in similar genres (action/spies). Now that's no longer true, but at the time it was really freaking nerve-wracking.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Every fic I write in a fandom that's not RWRB? 😅 It's hard to complain too much, especially considering what happened to my numbers this year.

Most fun story to write: All the Old Showstoppers, Will You Brie Mine?, You're the Perfect Gift for Me. Silly RWRB boys being silly, basically.

Biggest disappointment: Again, I feel like it's hard to complain when I have a fic that's closing in on 4k kudos. The goalposts keep moving, don't they, though? I still live in fear of pouring my heart into a multichap and having what will count as "lukewarm" reception, when before this year I didn't have a single fic above 1k kudos.

Biggest surprise: Most definitely Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood. Like I figured it would do pretty well (I hoped, since I put so much into it), but holy shit?? I still can't really believe it's on page 2 of the tag by kudos? And honestly also Always Where I Need To Be, this little one-shot about David stealing glasses.

Coming soon/planned for 2024:

False Dichotomy (RWRB You've Got Mail AU)

Kissed Out (RWRB pro-pool players AU)

RWRB 1940s noir AU

RWRB conductor/piano soloist AU

RWRB hockey AU (with cricket)

A shitload of prompts from my fandom fest

Extremely delinquent MTH fics

TMFU art thief/gallery owner AU

Thank you for the tags on your end-of-the-year fic reviews @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @kiwiana-writes, @rmd-writes, @lizzie-bennetdarcy, @indestructibleheart, and @welcometololaland!

[lol-jackles]

https://twitter.com/CineGeekNews/status/1735028345794855200

Warner Bros Discovery currently has an over 60% Probability of Bankruptcy.

I honestly am not sure if this is good or bad for the SPN revival. On the one hand, WB is NOT going to want to spend money on such a niche IP (that will really mostly only draw ppl who were already fans) if they are in such dire straits financially. On the other hand, they could bring in money by selling the IP to another studio who would obviously then want to actually do something with it since they spent money on it. But that also depends on another studio or streaming service wanting to do something with it which will be tougher. Netflix would make sense since they currently have SPN for streaming, except they will be losing their streaming rights at the end of 2025. A revival wouldn't even be released until then so why would Netflix want to put money into a revival of show that will, at that time, be streaming on a competitor (most likely Max since it will revert back to WB). Amazon is a possibility since both Jensen and Kripke are there (especially if they want to bring Kripke on for it) and Kripke seems to have some sway over there. But again, unless they buy the rights to SPN to stream on their platform, why would they want to make a show that will inadvertently benefit their competitor?

Thoughts?

https://www.macroaxis.com/invest/ratio/WBD/Probability-Of-Bankruptcy#google_vignette

[full disclosure, I sent this same ask to someone else as well, I'm not trying to spam people with it, I just wanted both your opinions!]

I went cross eyed reading the article, it looks like it was written by an A.I, which is not out of the realm of possibility given how many "journalists" are fired and Sports Illustrated was busted for using AI to write articles.

It really does not take much to avoid bankruptcy. Usually when a company is going to go under, the signs of it are obvious inaction for a long time and it inevitably dooms the business.   The prime reason why WBD is not going broke is because they took immediate actions after the merger. What happens is the profitable parts of the business stays, while losses are either "turned around" or the business gets eliminated. Sometimes things like streaming subscribers will drop a quarter or two. Maybe a movie or two never gets released. But housecleaning is far more important than anything right now so that money is not wasted. The result is growing cash flow without losing much of the business.

Remember what I've said that cash flow is king? You can run a non-profitable company indefinitely with positive cash flow, but run a profitable company into the ground without cash flow. AT&T generated next to no cash flow. WBD exists for the very purpose of dismantling the legacy Time Warner conglomerate, that was the intention when AT&T sold it to Zaslav. It’s why they removed HBO from the name of Max. His job is to clean up its balance sheets, prepare its parts for sale, and pay himself handsomely in tune of $200 million last year. I begrudgingly admire Zaslav’s sticking with his controversial strategy, which saw other studios eventually following that same strategy.

By 2023, WBD paid off $12 billion in debt.  That was a demonstration of faith by management in the turnaround efforts or else they would have kept the cash "just in case."  The interest on the debt alone is eating $2 to $3 billion in free cash flow. Thats a lot of free growth in their bottom line when debt is paid down. Against all odds, WBD's streaming service HBO Max (and then just Max) is creating most of the cash flow improvement with $5 billion in cash flow. Advertising is growing in this segment at a robust pace. That said, the content decline for third-party licensing will have implications now that the strike is over and WBD has to start spending money on new contents on their prized IPs i.e. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, DC, etc.

For niche IPs like Supernatural, I see 50% chance of WBD still licensing it to Netflix because third-party licensing is the new king. WBD will also offload low-performing shows in the same bundle with higher-performing Supernatural because it will allow WBD to continue their 'creative accounting' to avoid paying residuals to low-tier actors. Then I can see Netflix doing what they did with Gilmore Girls and produce a revival limited series for Supernatural, which will increase viewership for the OG SPN and continue to help retain subscribers.

On the other hand, WBD is rebooting every niche IP under the sun and I'm pretty certain they will make the same attempt with Supernatural. The strike is over and WBD need to make new contents to attract back subscribers they lost over two quarters during the strike. When SPN goes back to Max in 2025, an announcement of a reboot/revival will mean free marketing from devoted fans and ensure continual interest and viewership of the OG SPN.

[mrs-monaghan]

He is indeed hyung of relationship lmao. Let's see some examples ?

1. JM : like JK decided I'm the maknae of the group

Why JK decided he is hyung while JM is the youngest ? When he is even so conservative about not dropping honorific with his rest hyungs.

2. JK : JM be thankful you are younger than me 😏😏😏

Or else ? What he gonna do 😭 as if you are not literally acting like his husband already

3. Also JK : Still I sometimes remind myself he's hyung

This was 🤡🤡🤡 You need a reminder JM is elder than you and your hyung and someone you should obey according to hierarchy??? Isn't it like second nature to Koreans? But you need a reminder for that ?

4. JM : grow like that and protect me (9918188 times over these years)

Which hyung is asking his 2 yr younger one to protect him ? In rest groups and pairs we see 'Hyung/Unnie projecting their maknae' while it's opposite for Jimin and Jungkook lol

5. Now how outsiders (native koreans) see them :

* "Elder one, who was tall and so handsome was taking care of younger one, who was so pretty and petite. He was blowing him his hot soup, rolling his meat and even feeding him"

* "JK is younger than Jimin but it's actually JK who takes care of Jimin more. And I feel like Jimin is getting all cute when he's with Jk"

🙂🙂

I have already spoken about this moment here on this post but I'm gonna bring it back because I feel like no one appreciates it enough.

Hyung JK in action. Bon voyage season 4 episode 6.

Btw this was a satellite Jimin moment. He was on the other side then went to sit between JK and Suga. Anyway. Members are done eating and are just hanging by the fire. They then start discussing where they will sleep. Jimin says while looking at JK:

The night before he slept in the RV. So this night he wanted to sleep in the tent. Get the experience. So he turns to JK and says that 👆🏽 JK replies:

But then Jimin is like; babe, I don't think you understand, I will be in that tent with Suga

But JK super unbothered and very casual is like; go ahead, its cool. Sounds good

Like I mentioned before, JK doesn't have an issue with all Yoonmin moments. And he had no problem with the sleeping in the tent together.

What gets me about this though is how Jimin is clearly asking for permission here. Because he knows how JK feels about Suga. If that wasn't the case he wouldn't have specified he would be sleeping in the tent with Suga. But he did not want to upset bae and so he wanted to make sure JK was okay with it before he did anything.

The power JK holds y'all. Yeah, Jimin is in charge always but there are moments where JK pulls his hyung card and I'm sorry but that is just so 🔥 to me. The power the Jungkonda JK holds.

However, something else happens later that made me go ❓❓❓❓❓❓

When Hopekook go to bed Jimin comes inside the RV and hovers.

Like dude just stands there doing nothing. Like go watch and see, he stands there for a while doing nothing as Jhope and JK settle in.

I didn't understand why he did this. Like it could be a million things. This season Jimin really takes care of JK, pays more attention to him than usual because JK had been through alot. So it could be he was ensuring JK was settled before he left? Could it be he wasn't convinced JK was okay with the tent situation? Or, option 3 given to me by a friend, could it be that he was making sure JK was indeed sleeping with Jhope and not V who likes to cuddle people in his sleep? (We all know what happened in BV Malta when Taekook were cuddling and Jhope found them and couldn't wait to tell Jimin) Or option 4 was he there to make sure Jhope too doesn't cuddle JK in his sleep? I mean this is how Hopekook slept after all

They could have been avoiding the sun though. But still... I was sus 🧐🧐🧐

Anyway, Jungkook oppa FTW 🙌🏽 thanks anon!