#its a very easy thing to mock not just as a game series but the major gimmick of it makes that even more so.

[tweltchy]

Hot take, maybe? I think someone's reaction to the existence of Kingdom Hearts can be a good litmus test for whether or not they actually really believe that cringe culture is dead, imo.

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression: Vol.23 - Watching Hanshin vs. Orix in the Japan series.

·Kaoru explaining Hanshin's progress so far, imagining himself doing the ceremonial first pitch, and learning English through the window of the Hanshin Tigers.

J: Ah this is an important moment...whats his name? Dongu?

T: Not Dongu, TONGU.

J: Oh, Tongu! This must be the most important moment of the game so far.

T: Ah, it's exciting!

J: This must be the most important moment so far....go on, go on!

K, J, T: Aghhhh!

J: Eh?! Was that a walk?

K: No, no.

J: Its three balls, one strike??

K: Yes

J: The batter chose not to swing there, right?

K: Yeah

J: Or he just couldn't manage it?

K: Well, it could be either.

J: Come on, come on, come on!

T: Oh, a strike!

J: A strike?! Ohh, interesting from Tongu.

K: Haha, you just wanna say that!

T: Hang on, hang on! The broadcast started!

J: No way! We are on air already?? Leader, do the greeting!

K: Im Tongu.

J: Tongu! And im Hikomaro!

K: No, not Hikomaro, he isn't even there!

J: No, but there is that one who looks like him though, right?

K: Ah, Mune! Are you trying to mock him??

J: No no, the Orix players are...

J, K, T: Ahhhhhhh!

J: Yeahhh, lets go!!

K: This is what I like.

J: Crisis averted, right?

K: Yeah.

J: Easy going from now.

K: Ahh, we're off! At last.

T: Yeah, haha, at last.

J: Yep, and we can finally get started with Niconama too.

T: Oh, we're on niconama today?

J: Yes, we are! Look at all the comments!

T: Thanks for all the comments!

K: But we are also on Youtube too.

J: Yep, so today we are watching the 4th game of the Nihon series on the channel...what is it? Hulu?

K: Yes, Hulu.

J: Yes, so we are watching it on Hulu. We can't show you our screen, so if you have a spare screen, get it on at home too.

*Kaoru reaches behind to update the score on the white board, and writes a big 0 for Orix*

T: Ah, yes. This is Kaoru's job today.

J: What a big zero!

K: Yeah, I wanna fill all the rest like this too! haha

J: Haha, yeah. By the way, today's broadcast is titled 'Go go Tigers! Aiming for Japan no.1 special!!'

*applause*

J: So we are gonna have a drink while watching the game! We will do a toast soon, so everyone at home please have a drink ready too. Ok, Leader, its the 4th game, right? So, could you please explain what that means for people who know nothing about it (myself included), and tell us what has happened in the Nihon series so far.

K: Well, for the Nihon series, the first team to get 4 wins is Japan champion. Today is the 4th game, Hanshin won the first game, Orix won the 2nd game, and Orix won the 3rd game. We'll have to see what happens in the 4th game today.

J: So at this point, Hanshin have won 1 and lost 2?

K: Yeah

J: How did they score in that first game?

K: 8 - 0

J: Yeahhhh!

T: And Kaoru, did you say you were there for that game??

K: Yes, I went to Kyocera Dome to watch it.

J: Ohhhh! Where are our souvenirs??

K: I forgot, haha

J: You forgot to bring us souvenirs??! Thats the most important thing!

K: I left them at the studio, we've just been rehearsing for the tour. I did buy some Hanshin manju type things, but I left them all in the studio for everyone. I didn't bring any here.

J: Ahh, it would have been great to eat those now while supporting the team! Anyway, how was it at the game??

K: It was good, it was my first time to watch baseball at Kyocera dome, so it was quite refreshing.

J: Ahh, were there fewer Hanshin fans there?

K: Hmm, no, about half and half.

J: And it was a thrashing victory with 8-0.

K: Hm, is thrashing the right word? haha

J: Yes, of course it is! I bet you enjoyed it..How did you feel?

K: Oh, I felt great.

T: Haha, I've never seen Kaoru this happy.

J: You can see how happy he is with the way he just leaned back slightly then! haha. We don't see this very often. Look, that comment says 'I'm gad they won when you went'.

K: Yeah, absolutely. Because the next day, the score totally flipped, we lost 8-0.

J: Ahh, that badly? Leader, your presence is good luck for the team.

K: Yeah right?? I need to go to all the games.

J: Thats right! So what happened in the 3rd game?

K: That was yesterday at Koshien. We lost 5-4. We started to catch up towards the end, but couldn't make it in the end. Hanshin have a bit of a self destructive image when they lose. They tend to make a lot of errors and stuff. But they are not like that today...Anyway, in the 2nd and 3rd games, Orix gained the upper hand.

J: Hm, yeah. Hanshin couldn't take it back. And today is the 4th game...what innings are they in now?

K: The third innings.

J: And Hanshin are in attack.

K: Yes...Oyama, he just hasn't got the hang of it yet today.

J: Who is Oyama, what does he do?

K: He is a baseball player.

J: Yes, but what number/position etc?

K: He is number 3, and in first.

J: And despite this, he isn't hitting??

K: I'm not sure whether 'despite this' applies here, haha.

T: He just isn't hitting today.

J: Ah, he is not in good form today?

T: Yeah

J: But Hanshin are in the lead, right? How did they manage that?

T: Oh look, its Neuse!!

K: Ah, yes, good good.

J: Who was that?

K: Neuse.

T: Neuse is in good form.

K: Yeah, he is.

J: So now...

T: What?

J: Hm? Hang on?...Neuse leaves base, bottom of the third innings, Hanshin in attack, 2 out, Neuse hits, passes first base. Won't they score points from here on?

K: Yeah, I think so.

J: Ah, so its still ok.

K: Can't we have a drink yet?

J: Oh, ok.

K: Haha

J: Let me just explain the show quickly! Even if you don't like baseball, you can still enjoy this show. And we are always taking your messages, you all know this, right? Any, thoughts, comments, questions, please send them in. X (formerly Twitter) users can use the tag TFOE. The first part of the show is free for anyone to watch, but the second part is for channel members only, so you need to be a member if you want to watch to the end. If you join, you can watch this broadcast in the archives for 1 year, and there are also members only videos too, so please join using the link at the top of the screen. Also, in the second part of the show today we will be asking Kaoru all about the European tour scheduled for next year.

T: Loads of variety!

J: Thats right. You can't miss it!! Ok, Leader, its time for a toast! Everyone at home, join us too. Just a sec, Leader...ok ready now.

K: Joe, you can do it.

J: No no, you have to.

T: *raises hand* Ok, I'll do it.

K: *raises hand* No, I'll do it. (※This is a reference to a tv comedy skit by ダチョウ倶楽部/Ostrich Club, where the third guy is tricked into raising his hand to volunteer for something after seeing the other two raise theirs first)

J: Eh?! Who? Ok, Leader, you do it.

T: Agghh, haha

K: Agghh, of course, he doesn't watch tv so he doesn't get it!

J: Eh?! What?!

K: Nothing, nothing.

J: Ahh, Im sorry I ruined the joke!...Oh, it was that Ostrich method??

K: Of course, it was.

J: I just saw someone write it in the comments, haha.

K: Anyway, lets have a drink and enjoy watching the Nihon Series...Kanpai!

J, T: Kanpai!

J: So, Leader, they won when you went to the stadium, so we should support them as if we were there in the stadium today.

K: Of course!

J: That way it will help. If we half-heartedly support them, our support won't reach them.

K: Ahh, yes, thats right.

J: We've really got to be out of the ordinary.

K: Haha, you are so excited.

T: Joe, you know the least about baseball of all of us, yet you are the most excited.

J: No, but we've really got to imagine ourselves at Koshien! Is that where this is?

K: Yes...We have to?

J: Absolutely.

T: There is a comment saying Kaoru's hat is cute! Its unusual, right?

J: Was this a specially made item?

K: No, these are regular merch. It comes in different colours, even blue etc. You wouldn't be able to tell it was Hanshin merch just at a glance.

J: No, you wouldn't.

T: Isn't this one an unusual colour though?

K: I bought this years ago.

J, T: Ehh?

J: Ahh, yes, there is all sorts of Hanshin merch. You know, I wanted to wear that Hanshin happi to support the team today, but the staff forgot to bring it.

T: Haha, you should prepare that yourself.

J: I was thinking about wearing that pink happi, so I wore like totally room wear to go under it.

K: Haha, room wear? That doesn't matter.

J: Haha, well, whatever I'm wearing I'm at Koshien in spirit.

K: Yeah. Ah, I'll just update the scoreboard.

J: Oh, yeah. So, last time we had Morikawa Toshiyuki on the show, right? That was fun. What did you think, Leader?

K: Oh, I'm so grateful to him...Coming on a show like this.

J: Yeah, and he supports the Baystars.

K: Yeah, I felt sorry.

J: Yeah, cause they didn't do well, right?

T: Haha, he even came in here singing Rokkou Oroshi.

K: I'm really grateful to him.

T: There are not many people who know as much about professional baseball as he does.

J: He is such a great guy, we had a lot of fun. Yeah, we laughed a lot. If you are a channel member you can rewatch it in the archives. There are comments coming in saying it was incredible, and that Morikawa san was perfect at singing Rokkou Oroshi!

T: It would be good if we could do that kind of thing again sometime.

J: Yeah, last time was perfect though, with those talk topics and Morikawa san's personality. Anyway, today we are watching the Hanshin vs. Orix game, and I'm sure things will get exciting whenever the game heats up, but in the meantime the staff have prepared various fun things for us to talk about. So lets sandwich some of these in while we watch the game. The first topic is 'Dream ceremonial pitch'!

*applause*

J: Don't hold back, everyone! We gotta show our support! Ok, loads of different people have done the ceremonial pitch before, right? So I'm gonna ask both Kaoru and Tasai, if you were to do the ceremonial pitch, how would you do it? What music would you enter to, what would you wear, how would you throw etc, etc. Its a brilliant topic to talk about!

K: Who did the ceremonial pitch today? That rugby guy? The one who never smiles.

T: Was it Inagaki....?

J: Inagaki Goro? (*member of SMAP.....Kaoru is actually referring to rugby player Inagaki Keita*)

K: Not Inagaki Goro! haha

J: Haha, I don't know. Ah! Is it that half Japanese guy who looks like Inagaki Goro??

T: Haha, no no. Ah, *reading comments* it seems like his name is Inagaki though.

J: We just can't remember his given name.

K: Well, anyway, he did the ceremonial pitch today.

J: How do they actually choose who does it?

K: We should have asked Morikawa san this last time!

J: Right! He has done it before, hasn't he?!

T: I guess the team just choose someone.

J: Kaoru, have you ever been asked to do it?

K: Haha, no.

J: Oh, but to have a world famous musician like you sypporting them so much...!

K: No no.

T: What are they thinking by not asking you?!

J: Right?!

K: Guys, stop talking like this! They'll never ask me now, hahaha.

T: Hanshin players, please consider it!!

J: Look, there are comments saying they want you to do the ceremonial pitch! Anyway, Leader, if you did do it, how would you like it to be?

K: Hmm, well, I don't really like it when people try to make it all about them...

J: Ahh, some people are like that when they do this, right? I mean, I havnt really seen many people doing it though.

T: Yeah, it is often like that.

K: So, I would probably just go out, greet the crowd, and simply throw the ball.

T: Yeah, Joe, did you know, celebrities and such who do the ceremonial pitch often get booed if they try to appeal to the crowd to much. Its like, "Just get on with it!"

K: Yeah, cause no-one is there to see that.

J: Its unnecessary, right?

T: Yeah, sometimes that happens. But when Yanagisawa Shingo did it, they crowd was pretty happy....You know who that is, right?

J: Ah, yes, that comedian right?

T: Yeah

K: Well, if its someone very famous who everyone knows, it works.

J: Ah, its tough, it only works with big names. What does that comment say?

T: 'Degawa(Testurō) took his trousers off'...

K: Ah, someone like Degawa san is fun, you'd wanna see that, right?

J: Yeah! But Kaoru, you would just keep it very simple?

K: Yeah.

J: What about you, Tasai? How would you do it? Gyōza themed?

T: Im not all about gyōza, you know!

J: A gyōza shaped glove or something? Oh, what just happened in the game? He is out?

K: Yeh, at second base.

T: I mean, I'd probably want to do something UFO or kappa related. I'd do it with determination.

J: Well, Tokyo Sports are big enough misfits for that to work.

T: Haha, someone wrote 'throw a gyōza'

K: Throw a gyōza??

J: They wouldn't expect that!

T: They'd be asking me to leave! haha

J: Leader, someone just asked in the comments 'Would you do it if you were asked?'

K: Well, yeah, I wanna do it.

T: Hanshin, please consider it!

J: Ahh, so you wouldn't hesitate if you were asked. But, hey, its quite a long throw, right?

K: Yeah, I don't know if my throw would reach far enough. But remember, Morikawa san warned against practicing too much, or you'll be unable to throw on the day.

J: Yeah, but its a bit embarrassing if your throw doesn't reach.

K: Yeah, it might not.

J: What would you do then?

K: Well, yeah, cause most people have never thrown a ball from that kinda raised mound before, right? You have to throw it from above.

J: How high is that mound?

T: Quite high, but it depends on the stadium.

J: Really? So the pitchers have to maintain their accuracy even at different heights in each stadium?

T: Well, pitchers do have preferences about which mounds are easier or harder for them. And teams will even alter the mounds in their stadium to try to put the opposition to a disadvantage.

J: Ahh, to make it harder for them? This is such a grown ups' game!

T: Haha.

J: It all depends on so many factors, even with the top players.

K: Well, I guess because they are only active for a short time.

T: Kaoru, if you did the ceremonial first pitch, would you walk out to a DIR song? Like in that movie 'Major Leage'?

K: No no no, whatever the team preapres in advance is fine with me.

J: No, but I think the team would ask you about the music, since you are a musician.

K: No, I'd be fine with just a normal introduction, then just getting on with it. Playing a song of ours deliberatly, then walking in is really cringe!

J: Haha

K: I'd feel like apologizing!

T: Haha, I see.

J: Ah, whats going on with the game?? Do we need to check it?

T: *reading comments* 'Kaoru can throw towels to the 2nd floor'. Have you done that before??

K: Yeah, I think so.

T: Ehhh?! Do they reach that far?

K: If you drench them in water they do. And you have to throw underarm. Throwing overarm wouldn't work.

T: You are really good at underarm throwing. You throw all those picks too, right?

J: Yeah, and you squirt water out from your water bottle. I like that, its kinda kinky.

T: Haha, really??

K: Yeah, cause thats the only way Joe sees the world.

J: Its true!

K: Haha

J: I'm embarrassingly pervy about everything. Do you have a problem wth that? haha. Anyway, I'm going all out today, remember.

T: Ah yes, right. 'Joe always brings up dirty topics'.

J: Anyway, lets just check on the game.

T: Hirooka is doing well.

J: What doea Hirooka do?

T: He is a baseball player.

J: No, I mean his order and position etc.

T: He is number 8, but...hm, Im not sure.

*K eats cheese and ham snack*

J: This is no time to be eating ham.

K: But I'm hungry.

*J and T discuss the game for a few secs while K concentrates on eating snacks*

K: Mm, this tastes good.

J: Yeah, ham and cheese. I complained that the snacks were too cheap looking before, so now they are a bit more luxurious.

K: Ahh, ham, cheese, and crackers gives off more of a distinguished air, right?

J: Yeah. If people donate to us, we might get even better snacks.

K: Nah, I dont mind..You're the one who makes the most noise about this. Its you who got our bentos changed to curry.

J: Ah, yes! I really love that curry, but there is a yakiniku restaurant on the first floor of this building, right? And before now we've had yakiniku bentos, so today I avoided meat all day in anticipation, I was kinda disappointed we got curry again.

K: You're the one who made them give us curry!!

J: No, but this is the time and place for yakiniku! When are we gonna get yakiniku bentos again??

K: Haha

T: Joe, you are so noisy about food! You were eating more curry than us today!

J: Because I'd been saving myself all day! I was so hungry! You know that nice cafe nearby here? Its closed on wednesdays, so I couldn't go there. But I figured it would be ok if I was having yakiniku later. And then I almost got myself a steamed bun from the convenience store, but I decided not to in the end. And then I got here, and it was curry!! But actually, curry is more like Hanshin colours, so its for the best!

K: Hahaha, what a fuss.

T: You know, that curry comes with potatoes too? He was like, 'Ahh, maybe I shouldn't eat the potatoes..' But then he covered them in butter and ate them anyway.

J: Yes! And that led onto an interesting debate about whether this curry was made in Europe, remember?! Or was it a European style curry made in Japan??

K: Where are you going with this?? haha

T: Deflection, deflection.

J: If Hanshin win today, Kaoru, you should buy us yakiniku.

K: Oh, okay. Who knows what will happen, but thats ok with me.

J: Good, I can't stop thinking about yakiniku today.

T: You never shut up about food, haha.

J: I'm going all out today, remember?

T: Joe, the staff are trying to tell you something.

J: Huh? Ah, ok. Move onto the next topic about the Hanshin dictionary....thats enough about curry, haha.

K: We'll be getting complaints.

J: *reading comments* 'If Hanshin win, please sing Rokkou Oroshi'. Ah, yeah. Ok, so the next topic is about the 'Genius Japanese-English Hanshin dictionary' where many of the example sentences are Hanshin themed. I didn't realise something like this existed!

K: Yeah, I was surprised.

J: There are over 60 Hanshin related sentences. I think a lot of the editors are from Kansai, so thats why they made this version.

K: Oh, I see.

J: Yeah, so lets have a look at some of the examples. Are we gonna show them? No? I just read them out? Ok. For example the word 'atsui'. In English you'd say 'excited' - to be excited about something', right? So, the example is 'kare ha Tigers no koto to naru to, sugu atsukunaru'. Tasai, could you read that out in English?

K: Haha

T: 'He gets excited at any mention of the Tigers'.

J: Thats it! 'Tigers' at the end there, its great! The next one is 'uchimakuru' (hit a volley). I feel like thats not the type of word you'd usually need to look up though.

K: Right.

J: The example is 'Sakuya Tigers ha Giants aite ni hitto wo uchimakutta'

K: You never need to say that though.

T: In English, 'The Tigers got a lot of hits against the Giants last night'

J: Yeah, but with 'uchimakuru' the potential is there to use it. And you can use 'atsui' for people like me getting excited about sports. But the problem comes next, with 'oeru'...'to end something'. There is no reason to use this word about Hanshin, right?

K: Yeah

T: Haha

K: Yeah, its not a good meaning.

J: Yeah, because with hits and things, they still have that potential.

K: 'to end' is difficult to use.

J: The editors have thought hard about this one! The example sentence is, 'Kare ha Hanshin Tigers no guraundo seibiin toshite sono shōgai wo oeta.

K: It can be done! hahaha. But this sentence would probably never be used outside Hanshin fans.

J: No

T: Everyone, please check out this dictionary.

J: Yeah. Tasai could you read out the translation of that last one?

T: 'He ended his days as a groundskeeper for the Hanshin Tigers.'

J: Isn't this show great?! You can study English while you watch!

K: This one is good too.

J: Which one? Leader, which one do you like??

K: 'Tigers no roku senshu ga ponpon to home run'

J: haha

T: 'Six different players cracked....' haha

K: What does that even mean? Do we ever say 'ponpon to home run'??

J: You wouldn't have much need to say that to a foreigner.

K: But!! Today we will need to use it! Hahaha

J: Yehhhy, hahaha. And when that happens, you can say it in English, Leader!!

K: This one too, 'machigainai' (no doubt)

J: What does it say?

K: 'Tigers ga shiai ni katsu koto ha machigainai' (There is no doubt that the Tigers will win the game)

J: Ohhh, yeah. That, and ponpon are good. Leader, you will have to shout 'Ponpon!!' in English later.

T: How do you say it in English?.....'cracked'. It says 'machigainai' is 'on ice'....'The Tigers have the game on ice'

K: Shouldn't it be 'nice'? Or is it supposed to be 'ice'?

J: It might be an English idiom. They use idioms, like for heavy rain, there is an idiom about 'cats and something'

T: Oh, really?

J: Yeh, there is. How about this one.... 'ryūnin'. 'Fan no ōku ga Okada kantoku no ryūnin wo nozondeiru' (Many fans want Manager Okada to stay in office)

K: Well, there's no reason to make him quit.

J: Yeah. Ah, someone commented, 'Kaoru, make an example sentence'.... in Japanese.

K: A Tigers sentence?

J: Yes, and then the staff will use Chat GP and put it into English.

T: Thats a good idea.

K: Hmm..

J: Something that you wouldn't usually expect to see in a JP-EN dictionary. Anything is ok.

K: Hmmm.....uhhhh......'Jama'! (obstruction)

J: Jama?? Hanshin related?　Uhhh...ok.....jama.....uhh, ok.... go ahead...

T:...Uh..

J: Ah, ok, Leader then...

K: .Hm?...What are you asking for?

T: Right? haha

J: I've been talking too much, I'm too tired now, haha.

K: You want me to say the sentence, right?

J: Haha, yeh, I'm exhausted now, I'm just zoning out.

K: He's tired himself out after all that.

J: Haha, I'm 55, leave me alone! Haha, someone wrote 'Its mystery hour'. I don't know what I'm doing any more, haha.

T: Haha, you were so energetic at the start, and now you are totally burned out!

J: Yeah, ahhh, I'm tired. Ok, Leader, say your sentence.

K: Ok, so at their stadium, Koshien stadium....'kousokudōro ga jama de mienai'. (The highway obstructs the view of the stadium)

J, T: Ahhh

J: Really?

K: Yeah, its really close. From here to that wall is the same distance between the wall of the stadium and the highway.

T: Yeah

K: So you can't see the big 'Koshien Stadium' written on the stadium wall. (※TN: But you can if you drive on the highway past the stadium! 😁)

J: Ahhh, ok, well the staff will translate that for us. I think we should send this to the editors at Genius.

T: Someone wrote, 'Joe Yokomizo is the 'jama' haha.....ok, the English is 'Koshien stadium cannot be seen because the highway is in the way'. *laughs/snorts*

J: Ah, 'in the way'... you just snorted.

T: Haha, sorry. Put, 'Joe Yokomizo is noisy' into the translator!

J: Haha, the staff will put Kaoru's sentence and translation in the comments later. So thats how you can support Hanshin and study English.

T: Ah, Kaoru, you forgot to write the score. More 0s.

J: Oh, thats good.

K: Is it the 5th innings already?

J: Is the game running at a fast pace?

T: It is, yeah. Its still the first half of the game, right?

K: Yeah.

J: Mm, this ham is really good.

K: Haha, you've eaten loads.

J: Yeah, it tastes really good. So, for now they haven't changed the pitcher...

K: No, but we are in the lead.

J: There is a one point lead at the moment, but another two or three points wouldn't be bad.

K: Yeah yeah

J: Yeah, another point would be good. Which innings do you think they will really start moving in?

K: Oh, any time now. They are hitting a lot.

J: 86 throws so far, is that a lot for the 5th innings?

K: Hm, yeah well, the fifth innings might decide the game.

T: Just as long as they win.

J: Ah, yeah. Those Orix players are all really good-looking though, right? Like that Hikomaro guy before...

K: Remember who we talked about before though....Chikamoto.

J: Ah, Chikamoto, yes!

T: Hey, but its about time for the first part of the show to end, isn't it?

J: *talking with mouth ful of food' Yeah, so in the second part, we will go all out supporting, and we'll be talking about Dir en grey's...

K: He has no enthusiasm left!

J: *empties mouth* ...and be talking about Dir en grey's upcoming European tour, so please make sure you are a channel member. If you become a member, you can watch this broadcast in the archives for a year, and there will also be members only videos, where we try out lots of different things, so please check those out. Ok, here's how to join. There should be a blue link at the top of your screens now. Leader, please point to it. Please click this link to become a member. After you click it, you wil get a page asking you to choose your preferred payment type. Choose your method, click proceed, then enter your details. If you haven't joined yet, please do so to continue supporting Hanshin with us, and to hear Kaoru talking about the European tour. Ok, Leader, do you have any announcements?

K: The tour starts next week. I was just rehearsing today. It'll be fun!

T: I'm looking forward to it.

J: Kaoru, you said that with confidence.

K: Did I? Well, it will be. haha. Kawasaki is first, with the fanclub lives, I think Nagoya is after that.

T: Someone wrote they are going to Kawasaki, Haneda, Yokohama, and Omiya. Wow, thanks!

J: The merch info is out now too, yeah. Someone says they are going to all the dates!

K: Wow. You know, this really is the end of Phalaris. So please enjoy it.

J: People saying they are going to Wakayama, Niigata, some are joining in December. A question asks who designed the merch?

K: We all did.

J: They are looking forward to Wakayama.

T: Is it your first time playing in Wakayama?

K: Yeah.

J: Someone said its their birthday at Nagoya....Vol.3?

K: Yeah, Vol.3 is the final.

J: What merch do you recommend?

K: Recommend? Hm, the limited tshirt.

J: Is it limited to sale at the venues?

K: Yeah, but saying limited tshirt sounds a bit negative, so just look forward to it anyway.

J: Yeah, please look forward to the merch.

T:*looking at game* Oh no, Tongu.

J: Tongu...like thong sandals?

K: No, its 鈍宮, the kanji for don(鈍) and miya (宮).

J: It sounds like a summery name..

T: Anyway, should we finish here?

J: Yes, lets have a quick break here. The screen will change for a moment, but we will be back shortly with the second part, so please wait there.

T: People watching on youtube, please register on niconama too.

J: We'll be talking about the European tour too, it'll be fun! Ok, bye bye for now.

K: Yep, see you soon!

[sl33py-g4m3r]

I’m trying to get past my anxiety and have fun with a really hard game franchise cause the music, story, and demons are cool… I didn’t intend on complaining and sorry if it comes off that way.

I hate anxiety when it comes so playing new games. I’ve posted about this before and should probably just jump in and have fun with it~~~ regardless of failure…

RNG is part of the fun and appeal of the franchise.

And the franchise is hard; but tells a good story, and you can fuse your partners into newer, more powerful ones, or just with different skills.

You can even learn those skills in some games~~!!

Negotiation and them joining you is just like battling in Pokemon and the negotiation is like a pokeball throw, with you giving macca, life stones, and whatever else. It’s all rng~~

Part of the fun is the difficulty~~

I wish anxiety would shut it so I can have fun with shin megami tensei

I’d really hate for it to not be a franchise for me cause I love the music, themes, and demons to death. The morality system is neat too~~~ also demon fusion ~~

Anxiety please go get mazio so I can have fun~~

The series is hard and rng heavy I’m aware of that~~ cool music and everything else outweighs that

Unless dungeon crawlers aren’t for me….

Now I’m sad if that’s the case…

It’s a new thing~~~ play it and have fun with it~~ getting upset over stuff not working is the antithesis of getting good at something ~~

We’re all crap at one point ~~ we all have to learn together ~~ we’ll get through it and have fun along the way hopefully. (Beginners I mean)

Yes this is about trying to get my anxiety to shut up so I can jump into shin megami tensei iv again.

Tries to recruit mokoi, doesn’t work, centaur gets killed cause zio (i think), i get killed by mokoi, hello Charon, out of life stones, need to grind more for life stones… stop playing for a while.

Also easy mode after dying a bit seems nice but also like the game is just mocking you like ‘normal difficulty is too hard? Here~~’ or maybe it’s just me.

Music and stuff is awesome~~~ and I love the franchise to death~~ why am I like this?

I’d hate for the franchise to be something not for me cause I love it dearly~~~

Trying to get my anxiety to shut up so I can have fun ~~ sorry if it sounds like I’m complaining about it ~~

Sadness ~~~ how’d you all get used to demon negotiation going south? I’m assuming just try again with another demon and this is a me problem.

Why am I like this~~?

like is it passion for video games in general why I get upset if things don't work out? or is it just anxiety trying to ruin my fun in general?

I wanna game and have fun~~~ wish anxiety would chill...... just play games as I was a kid again and not care if I die or was bad cause it's gonna be that way. just play to have fun and not feel like you should be good immediately....

idk how that mindset got ingrained in me that "you got to be good or its not for you, give up" cause that won't get me anywhere. we're all beginners at something a lot in life~~~ how did i get this way?

post was about smt iv but bullet hell shooters are very hard as well.

[soundofseclusion]

13. Harold Halibut

Release: 2024, PC/PS5/Xbox Series Beaten: May 1st, Xbox Series S (Game Pass) Playtime: 13h 20m

This'll be a long one.

As I write this, I last played Harold Halibut three days ago. I'm still finding my mind wandering to the game's beautiful set design, poignant scenes, and unique characters. The game advertises itself with a slogan to the effect of "a hand-crafted adventure," and I think that does come across by how meticulously put-together everything is. Clear consideration was put into just about every element, which I say even while believing that some beats fell flat, that it didn't always follow through with its own messages, and that the game is not always very well-constructed from a technical standpoint. Still, I think that they made something they were wholly proud of.

The game itself is slow. It's dull. But I never felt like dropping it. Sometimes I found myself wondering why Harold was being forced to move at walking speed across an environment, following a character with zero dialogue to accompany the trek. But usually I found myself not minding the fact that there isn't much to it. You're not really solving puzzles, well, ever. You're doing a lot of back and forth around a station which will sometimes make you do two warps just to get to a place that could have taken one. In between menial tasks, I found myself often navigating to areas to see if there were new interactions, and about half the time I was rewarded for that curiosity, which made the other half the time more frustrating. But, again, I didn't feel discouraged. I didn't feel, necessarily, like my time was being wasted.

And I believe there's a definite reason for that. In my opinion, it makes narrative sense that everything is so slow. It makes sense that you're tasked with doing simple things and plodding from one area to the next. Harold Halibut (the game) wants to push the fact that Harold Halibut (the character) doesn't do things for himself. He lives in service of others, following orders or just making it aimlessly through the day. And when he interacts with people, it's an effort. An effort often in vain, one that might result in him being mocked or made a fool. But also an effort that often uplifts both parties, that changes someone's direction, that provides purpose to a group of people who feel mostly aimless.

So when Harold Halibut (the guy) does something for himself, when he expresses philosophical thought or makes genuine connection with others, when he gets sad or angry or fucks up immeasurably and feels remorse, it means so much more. Because you've been Harold. You've seen his aimlessness and his passiveness and you've seen the abuse he suffers just for being a bit odd. You've experienced the exasperating nature of just putting yourself out there, and you've been rewarded and punished for it in kind. You've done exactly what you thought you were supposed to and still screwed it up.

This is a story about finding your way. About connecting against all odds. About love, but not really, and about humanity, but not really that either. About living a life primarily in service of others, feeling like you never reach your potential, if you even have any idea what your "potential" might be. And about coming to terms with that life and accepting it. Or maybe even about finding what it is you are meant for, and accepting that despite how fucking hard it is, and how much wasted effort you'll have to cope with once you've found it, and how nothing will ever be the same or ever feel easy again.

It's about living in the moments of aimlessness, knowing that there will eventually be moments of purpose. And about being okay with both.

[catras-breakup-song]

i believe you are talking about this post regarding the ask you sent to me @thestargayzingetherian, but if not then feel free to correct me!

the only discourse that i hate more than abuse claims (which at least has somewhat of a debatable basis even though the nuance & messaging gets sucked right out) is the sisters bullshit they spout because it comes from a place of being intentionally obtuse, and i think this is one of those things where you can honestly & reasonably accuse these people of lesbophobia since not only does this rhetoric exist solely to denounce lesbian representation, but it's also historically a notorious method of erasure both in fiction & real life to dismiss women as sisters, besties, or as the saying of the meme seems to originate, "roommates" (which... catradora technically were, given the setting, if you wanna be slick 👀).

i'll also add this link since it directly tackles the book with quotes from nate himself, as well as this one regarding a take from an author, even though you're also the individual who shared it with me, for the sake of archival. from another reblog of the former, i also debunked how shadow weaver's relationship to catradora does not automatically mean sisterhood.

another thing that really pisses me off is a few times in the past now, i've seen some serious bullies in anti spaces mock us with sentiments such as "it's funny how only catradora stans are always upset about comparing queer shows/creators because they know they lost at the bottom of the list" (paraphrasing) ─ ah yeah, how dare a fandom that never wanted to participate in an unnecessary (even harmful to all parties involved!) competition they were forced into take issue with getting dragged online for the sake of entertaining your game?! if you think the writing is so problematic then why are you taking it out on average consumers of the media just as much when we never mentioned you negatively first?

i've noticed the perpetrators of that are usually lumity stans (i'm one too and it's my main blog's theme so don't attack me 'cause apparently multifandom enjoyers are foreign these days), whom i'd imagine weren't around back when korrasami was relevant & significant; of course neither was i, though i figure that doesn't matter if the difference is i can at least respect my predecessors, but i digress. that being said, if they were then it's even worse since they should already be familiar with an influential sapphic pairing that existed significantly before becoming canonized halfway through the show with explicit affection could be allowed.

as far as i'm aware (i have not watched it so i could be wrong but i've picked up on many things over time), TLOK just got 4 seasons* and the confirmation only came after a brief moment of intimately holding hands in the finale, not mentioning the extra source material that followed after in the form of graphic novels external to the series. it would be just as easy to deny romantic feelings and, if you really want to sound more obviously ridiculous (as is the case to catradora shippers now as we speak), suggest their bickering over who should have mako as endgame was clearly "sisterly"** and teaching someone how to drive is normally a sibling's job, so that's a fair interpretation!

*to be fair, this is about the length of time SPOP runs for if you count the shortened S2 + S3 together as one.

**a great example of this actually happening is between angelica & elizabeth schuyler from the hamilton broadway musical... and they were very much officially sisters.

the other suspects currently seem to overlap with caitvi stans, which also have their own form of abuse & power imbalance discourse as of late last year. i don't really want to get into it with too much detail since i have my own unrelated reserved criticisms for arcane & its writers, but i will say that community is active and still trashing on nate stevenson unprovoked. as you already stated, amanda overton is quite questionable in several instances, but anyone would have to be hard-pressed to find those of us who reject the idea that caitvi's award-winning intimacy scene has set a precedent for animated lesbians/sapphics everywhere. plus, both executives were/are lesbians and must have put up a tough fight to portray anything on screen that way at all.

from experience on here it seems to me like critics of all levels, from apathetic to passionate, are still eternally grateful for their contribution to the chain of progress over the past decade (i.e. the commonly-agreed order of: korrasami -> rupphire -> bubbline -> catradora -> lumity -> caitvi, etc.), unlike many who believe catradora never should've become canon after somehow making up that they did more harm than good, despite the fact that only discoursers have (hardly, might i add!) had an impact on the mainstream audience's perception overall despite being obnoxiously loud and no one who watched she-ra came out swinging with motivation to abuse their partners/sisters... so far, right? 🙄

if there's one thing WLW across social media tend to love, it's definitely infighting, and i'm tired of not only defending against that but being accused of upholding it by feeling pressured to do so against my best wishes. it's more exhausting than you think!

Once more, for the people in the back:

CATRA AND ADORA ARE NOT SISTERS.

Not "Adopted" or "related by blood", they were NEVER sisters, Period. They grew-up together as best friends in a military-school/orphanage. Plus, Shadow Weaver was their mentor, NOT their "mother".

"Oh but that page from the show bible-"

-Was made before the show ever went into production and was written either by Dreamworks or Netflix higher-ups, without ND Stevenson's consent. So it makes perfect sense that Stevenson fought long and hard, with all of his strength, against these ideas being forced upon the story so that Catra and Adora could fully consummate their love for each other and make cartoon history. Sadly, these bad-faith actors are so desperate to turn Stevenson into this disgusting "incest-abuse fetishist", not because they care about "wanting good writing" or "better representation" but because they want less competition. It's what they tried to do with Rebecca Sugar and others, lie about a genuine, honest-to-goodness LGBTQ+ creator fighting for diversity being the most depraved, most vile monster imaginable just so they can chase them out of the industry and take their place as "the better creator".

Because they believe the animation industry works like some high-school popularity contest where the only way upwards is to tear others down.

[lilyandthegenshinbrainrot]

I think it's really cool how the different nations are all so loyal to their archons in different ways

Mondstadt is frequently mocked for their supposed weakness and negligent archon, and yet the people of Mondstadt are strong believers. I think the western fandom especially is so uncomfortable with the church and their faith bc it's so familiar for irl christianity, but in game there's no evidence for the things that many fics portray. I think the way that Mondstadt specifically treats Barbatos is almost like a role model of a god, where he's not their divine judge but he's the divine example. Their god who took down Decarabian for them, their god who fought out Durin, their god who returned when they needed him. Mondstadt believes in Barbatos very personable and honorably. He is something for them to live up to, and in this way, it's very easy to see him in a parental light. You could almost say the most dedicated believers are akin to children wearing their father's shoes, such as Barbara and the NPC Michelle, who cares for the windmills. I'll continue this thought process later

Liyue is so interesting bc their faith seems to be directly correlated to success and well-being, which isn't something that I'm directly familiar with, but it makes sense for both what I have heard of its irl counterpart and for the titles that Rex Lapis has. During the Liyue archon quests, we listen to these merchants who all speak of circumstances that allowed their business to flourish and how it brought them fulfillment. Just as Rex Lapis had wished for them, peace and prosperity. Unlike Mondstadt, Liyue does not believe their god to be "one of them," He is an Archon first, holy and celestial. A god of war and stone next, powerful and reliable second. Lastly, he is an adeptus, the Prime Adeptus, enlightened and divine. He is so far above their level of mortality, that to imagine him as a human is laughable. It comes across as something entirely unthinkable, and yet there is also Rex Lapis Undercover, a book series that is referenced frequently. This doesn't change anyone's perspective on Rex Lapis' holiness, but it simply goes to show him as a compassionate god.

Inazuma brings the first real complicated relationship with religion to the game, despite Keqing's best efforts. This nation is undoubtably loyal to the Raiden Shogun, and yet its the same shogun who led them to war and starvation. The relationship is complicated as a result, but not to everyone involved. As players, we placed emphasis on the Vision Hunt Decree, but what really hurt the general population of Inazuma was the closing of their borders. It negatively affected more families and the well-being of the country because it cut out the external resources Inazuma needed to live. How do you worship a god who brings harm like this? Well, Inazuma was around for many years and overcame many troubles, perhaps the average citizen simply hoped this would be another of their great accomplishments. We see the people here regard the Raiden Shogun as a "perfect, just king" so to speak. Now I use the word "perfect" in a philosophical way to emphasis that ultimately, the general population did not really think the Shogun herself was doing anything wrong. She was doing the ultimately best thing she could possibly do for the country, thereby being a perfect ruler (as see by the shogunate warriors in present time but also in Ei's second story quest). Most NPCs blamed the troubles they faced on the Tri-Commission or the Resistance in Watatsumi, not Raiden Ei.

Sumeru continues this theme of complicated relationships with religion, almost reminiscent of Watatsumi. They celebrated dead gods, Rukkhadevata and King Deshret. They were the foundation of the Sumeru's culture and belief system, to the point where many simply believed in gods loosely enough for them to be more of a symbol of their modern life instead of something genuinely divine. I think this is curious because this is not the take I would expect from Sumeru. I mean, the people of Mond are reassured by the wind in their city, people of Liyue are reassured by the mora and success they make, people of Inazuma recognize the Shogun in the storms around them never striking home. Sumeru is surrounded by gorgeous landscapes and unlimited knowledge, and yet if not for Rukkhadevata or Deshret, they would be a rather agnostic nation. Until, of course, Kusanali and her archon quest. I don't really. know how to describe the current Sumeru faith base rn bc of the changes made to Irminsul and unstable environment of the nation.

[stillhavetodothat]

Replaying Nancy Drew without cheating - Part 2: Message in a Haunted Mansion

I am done with this game faster than you can say “Hasta la pasta.” I don’t remember this game being so easy, but maybe it’s because I have played it at least a dozen times. It’s amazing the things that can stay in my brain for 20 years, when my boss can explain something to me now and I will forget it by tomorrow morning. But ANYWAYS...

This game was fun for nostalgic reasons, but I think it is probably one of the least challenging games of the series. It took me less than 2 hours to get through the entire thing. All of the puzzles were quick, the timeline is pretty linear, and I was not tempted to cheat even ONCE. That’s when you know it is super easy, because I am the laziest person I know. If I am stuck for more than 30 seconds, I am generally about ready to throw in the towel.

What can I say about this game?

1. It is a classic. It will always be a classic. It embodies what Nancy Drew PC games are really all about. There’s a slide puzzle, mysterious “accidents”, several really creepy moments (the whispering voices that you hear in the hall still gives me goosebumps. The ghostly laugh and the basement door swinging closed on its own used to make me scream in terror as a child). I think a lot of people played this as their first Nancy Drew game, so that will always make it special.

2. Unfortunately, with the exception of Abby “Do You Dare Mock the Supernatural” Sideris, the characters are all boring as HELLL. In fact, this game in general is kind of boring. I hate to even say it, but I think it might be true. There just are not a lot of places to explore, and the culprit is the dullest person alive. This makes me very sad because I think this could be a case of me having played this through too many times, and so maybe the magic has worn off for me just a bit.

3. Are Rose and Abby secret lesbian lovers? For some reason this is my head canon, although apparently Rose had some romantic entanglement with Louis in the book, so I have no idea where I got this from.

4. Consistent with being the most boring culprit to ever exist, Louis comes up with this extremely low-effort threat on a piece of very boring brown paper. If a threatening note were a person, this threatening note is Louis Chandler. The thought of him slipping this under the door and then sprinting down the hall in his boring tie and his boring button down is hilarious to me.

5. Nancy calls this a “cybermystery” in the very beginning. A cybermystery. I don’t even have the words.

6. Charlie tells Nancy that he doesn’t know how to do the work on the house but learns quickly, and then 2 seconds later tells her he couldn’t be behind the accidents because he knows how to do the work. Pick a lane, you filthy Ned knockoff.

7. If there is one thing I got out of this play-through, it’s that it is the first play-through where I noticed THAT MOVING SWAN TABLE THING. Iykyk. Abby can fake-haunt the mansion all she wants with her amateur seance and her stupid tapes. If I actually saw this shit you would never see me again.

I don’t dislike this game. I am very fond of it. It’s charming. It’s spooky. It holds a special place in my heart. It just doesn’t grab me the way it used to. 

I’m sure a healthy dose of Professor Hotchkiss will be the perfect remedy.

[marvelcriminalhoe]

Paper Rings

Aaron Hotchner x Female Reader

Chapter 11

Strangers

i.e. Season 10 Episode 1

TW: typical criminal minds case jargon

AN: Season 10 here we are! yay! Seasons 10 and 11 are my favorite so I enjoy like writing for these episodes. This is more of a laid-back chapter so I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading :))

Word Count: 1,637

Series Masterlist

You knock on Aaron’s door but don't wait for an answer, instead just opening it. You recognize the brunette sitting in front of him from one of the times the team has hung out after a case at a bar, Agent Kate Callahan. You send her a friendly smile before focusing your attention on Aaron, “Sorry for the interruption.”

Aaron waves you off with a smile of his own, introducing the woman again, “This is Agent Kate Callahan. She’ll be joining the team”

“Hi, nice to see you again. Garcia will be very happy to already know you're nice.” You give a small laugh, before going back to business, “He’s at it again in Bakersfield.”

Aaron nods, “I’ll be right there.”

You walk to the conferences room, both agents following behind you. You take a seat as Aaron introduces Kate to the team, before he takes his seat next to yours, listening to Garcia give the details to the case.

“The M.E. thinks the victims were alive for 48 hours while he disarticulates.” Reid scrunches his eyebrows as he looks over the file.

“So, that means the unsub’s sexual gratification comes from cutting.” Kate theorizes.

You nod, “He wouldn't go to these extremes id he were merely discarding the limbs.”

“Exactly.” Reid agrees with you, “He obviously enjoys the ritual. It’s some kind of torture.”

“So if it isn't about easy disposal, the limbs could be his trophies.” Derek theorizes.

“He’ll need preserving agents and isolation.” Aaron says, looking up from his file, “Garcia, come up with a list of suppliers in southern California. We’ll cross that with a geographical profile when we have it.”

You look over to her, “Keywords Sodium Dioxide and Silicate.”

Garcia smiles at you, “You are the best. Thank you.”

Reid sends you a mock glare, you just smiling at him. It’s become a sort of game between the two of you to see who can do more “brainiac” (Dereck’s words) things on a case, you obviously getting a jump start for this one. It’s fun and keeps the both of you on your toes.

Everyone gathers their things and leaves the room, heading to the jet.

You and Rossi are driving to one of the houses where they have preserving agents, making small talk as you go.

“So,” Rossi’s voice changes, which is never a good sign, “When are you and Aaron going to come clean about your relationship?”

You stay silent, not really having an answer for him. It doesn't bother you that he asked, and it wouldn't bother you if the team found out, but it is nice to not have them teasing you, which they will do the second something is confirmed. You and Aaron kept it quite at first, wanting to see where this was truly going, but its been about 7 months now, and you don’t see it ending anytime soon. You know Aaron feels the same way.

“Don’t know what you mean.” You stay looking down at your phone.

“Uh-uh.” Rossi shakes his finger at you, “You can’t pull that crap on me, I know relationships. Hell, I know work relationships. Aaron also can’t lie to me.”

That draws a laugh, making you look at the man, “Guess that makes two of us.”

“So?” He questions again.

You sigh, resting your head on back on the seat, “You’re all profilers. I’m surprised no ones said anything yet.”

“They have their suspicions.” Rossi confirms.

“Really?” You look over at him.

Rossi nods, “Especially after the Texas case. Aaron didn't leave you side after you went down.”

“Yeah.” You chuckle, “Guess thats pretty obvious.”

The rides quite for a few minutes, until Rossi speaks up again, “You’re good for him. Everyone can see that.”

“Mmm.” You hum, “He’s good for me too.”

No one says anything else as you pull into the drive way, the both of you getting out to knock on the door. A middle aged man answers, immediately, you don’t like his vibe, “What can I do for you, officers?”

“Agents.” You tell him, both of you holding up your badges, “FBI.”

“Oh.” He looks at your badge before looking at you, “My apologies. You must have worked extra hard to get that badge.”

“We all did.” You tell him, sharing a look with Rossi.

Yeah, don’t like this guy.

“You buy large quantities of preservatives.” Rossi states.

The man stumbles, “Um.. Is that a question?”

Rossi shakes his head once, “May we take a look at your supply?”

“Uh,uh, Why?” The man asks, nervously, “Is uh… Is there something that’s tainted.”

“No sir.”

“Is it a threat to me or my family?”

“No.”

“Well, then I'm sorry, but that is my private property and for you to come into my home, you're gonna need a search warrant.” He looks between both of you.

You study him, “Shoot.” shaking your head, “Knew we forgot something.”

“Well, I have to help my son with his homework.”

“Afternoon.” He tell him as he closes the door. You turn to Rossi, both of you with an eyebrow raised, “When we arrest that guy do you mind if I do the honors?”

“We might have to have to flip for it.”

A few hours later you and the rest of the team are staking out where one of the limbs were found. You see a car pull up and recognize that is was that same man.

The team quietly closes in, you making the move for contact, tapping on the window with your gun, “You’re on private property, so we have probable cause to search your vehicle.”

“Get out of the car.” Aaron orders him.

Kate, who is beside you, looks down at the passenger seat, “Oh. We got one.”

“Let’s pop the trunk.”

Aaron restrains him as you, Kate, and JJ look in the trunk, where you find two more legs.

Knew this guy was a creep.

You're laying on Aaron’s hotel bed as he does his night time routine in the bathroom, listening to you complain about Frank, the man you arrested.

“You should have heard him Aaron.” You scoff, putting on a fake voice to mimic the man, “You must have worked extra hard for that badge. Why? Because I’m a woman? Or because I’m young? Maybe it’s both. Maybe it’s because of how I look.” You sigh has Aaron makes his way into the room, shutting off the bathroom light, “I hate being undermined, but I hate it when it comes from creeps like him, more.”

Aaron chuckles softly, crawling into bed beside you and pulling you to lay on his chest, “I know. You shouldn't have to prove to anyone that you're a good agent.”

You look up at him, chin resting on his chest, “Rossi asked about us today.”

“Did he?” Aaron raises a brow, “Doesn’t surprise me. He’s been making comments about me and you before we even started dating.”

You shrug, “Well, I would say he’s not good at his job if he didn’t pick up on something.” You sigh again, resting your head back on his chest and cuddling into him more.

“Whats wrong?” He asks you, his hand soothing up and down your back.

“It’s just— is that what everyone is going to think of me? When they find out about us? Are they just going to think I got my job—“

“Stop.” Aaron commands you softly, cutting you off, “You, are a good agent. That’s how you have gotten to where you are. Nothing else.”

“I know that.” You look back up to his face, “But strangers don't know that.”

Aaron scrunches his eyebrows together, “Are you worried about what strangers think of you?”

You shrug, “Not unless they say something.”

Aaron chuckles, shaking his head at you, “If they say something, I’ll deal with them.”

“How very noble of you.” You close your eyes, ready to sleep away the agitation of the day. You feel Aaron lean over to turn off the beside lap, lean down to kiss the top of your head, and then mumble to you, “Goodnight love.”

You send Kate a tired, but friendly smile as she passes you in the hallway headed out of Aaron’s office. You knock on the open door, watching him look up at the folder on his desk to you.

“You headed out?” He questions.

You nod your head, walking into his office but not sitting down, “Yeah. Dropped off my report with Garcia so she can finalize the media outlet portion, she said shed give it to you tomorrow.”

“Alright.” He sends a soft smile, “I’m almost done here, just finishing up. Do you want to come to mine tonight?”

“You should have a night alone with Jack.” You smile.

“Okay.” He says, looking at you softy. He sends you a confused look when you don't move to leave.

“You should follow your own advice.” You gesture with your head to the file he has open, having overheard what he told Kate.

Aaron sighs, “Easier said than done.”

You nod your head a few times, studying him. You look behind you briefly to make sure no one was coming around, before leaning down to kiss his cheek, stepping towards the door to leave. You turn to him when you're at the door, “Call me later tonight when you cant sleep, okay? We’ll look over the file together.”

He sends you the soft look again, a more lively smile coming onto his face, one full of genuine thankfulness, “Thank you. Drive safe.”

You nod once more, tapping the door paneling twice, before walking out of the office.

The case might be closed on paper, but you know what Aaron and Kate are both thinking. Something doesn't feel right, and this case feels far from over.

*******

taglist: @buckyswintersoldiermask @ssahotchnerxx @bestillmystuckyheart @eternal-silvertongued-prince @honeyofthegods @pitchblackstars @averyhotchner @hotched @mintphoenix @natasharomanoff1984-blog @avatarkanemi @elliee1497 @delievia @angelmather1

[300iqprower]

@jakfeaster So, the TLDR of the Anthony Burch thing is that the gamergate mob (correctly) saw him as an easy target. He's a self proclaimed progressive and feminist despite having lots of phobic writing in his works, and was terminally on twitter leading up to the hate-campaign sharing lots of details about his personal life that someone well adjusted would not share.

The irreverence thing is how BL as a series but especially BL2, really wants you to think it's funny and subversive. I'd argue it at least somewhat succeeds in BL1 and Pre Sequel, not at all in BL2 and 3. Anthony Burch didn't have anything to do with BL1 but from 2 onwards has been heavily involved with the series (even if he left between TPS and BL3's release) which is mainly evident from 2 being when it started having "Well THAT just happened" style dialogue. Ya know, the usual thing a certain critic once wonderfully described as "A Whedonesque misunderstanding of wit."

And lastly and mainly, the mean-spirited thing is how despite clearly thinking it's progressive and charming, Borderlands 2 is an extremely reductive and sadistically written game. Without being in any way comprehensive, here are some examples:

There is an entire character that very obviously thinks it's "empowering" fat people but the character in question is very obviously meant to mock fat people, with their outward independence being treated as an unspoken punchline.

"Virtue signaling" is a very rarely correctly used term, but it absolutely applies to borderlands 2, a game that touts feminism and progressive views of sexual/gender identity, while also having a quest that explicitly shames a lady for not sleeping with a hillbilly Nice-Guy, and uses physical disability as a punchline near-constantly.

The game on several occasions gives a pretty depressing, no-one-wins sort of backstory to a character/location, the best example of this being the mines. The "comedy" game will then have a character remark on how depressing it is as a sort of non-punchline. Rather than make it multi-layered though, it just makes the tone of the game wildly inconsistent at best and at worst seems to think the cruelty itself is a punchline.

Claptrap's annoying nature is a joke explicitly at the player's expense.

The game goes out of its way to portray all the characters from Borderlands 1 (Aka the ones Anthony Burch did not come up with) as washed up has-beens and idiots who, despite the last game ending with the playable characters fighting an ancient eldritch horror and winning unscathed, are utterly helpless without your plot armored help. The game can't go five minutes without talking about how powerful you the player are and how "you are the only one who can defeat Jack". The most egregious of this is obviously Wilhelm's whole deal (which itself is a walking plothole).

Continuing from what i mean by that, the game's main use of npcs from BL1 is to tell you how Handsome Jack killed and/or tortured them prior to BL2, and every playable character from the first game has about 100 times more dialogue yet somehow an even shallower personality.

Lilith has gone from a sadistic take-no-shit fatale to a plot device drugged up jerkass.

Brick is no longer a violently unstable mad max style bandit king with a moral code, just an random background idiot with no impulse control.

Mordecai, like Lilith, still gets to be a competent fighter but is now also a drunk whose best friend is killed because he is now also an idiot, and also his girlfriend left him for the main villain (which is incidentally an admitted fetish for Anthony Burch).

Roland is not some disgruntled ex-soldier turned stoic mercenary, but a naive, oblivious, incompetent rag tag leader who can't handle common bandits.

There's a series of echo logs that shows Lilith and Roland's relationship is built on toxic passive-aggression and this is treated as a "gotcha"/ explicitly good thing.

Again, this isn't remotely comprehensive.

It's kinda incredible how, despite trying so hard to be irreverant, Borderlands 2 is one of the most bitter and mean spirited games i've ever played.

Mind you, this isn't even the one where you're supposed to be playing as insane will-be villains. And yet.

[mochegato]

Even the Losers

Chapter 16

Chapter 1     Chapter 15

Marinette blinked as the room around her slowly came into focus.  She tried to bring her hand up to rub her head to help alleviate her pulsing headache but her hands weren’t responding.  It felt like there was a weight on them.  Or like they were being held down, bound.  Marinette’s eyes flew open and her heart started pounding as she searched the room for the akuma.  She looked at her hands and silently cursed to herself.  Not only were her arms bound to the arms of a wooden chair, she saw her own naked hands instead of her distinct red suit.  

She groaned and looked around for any clues to where she was being held and what the akuma might be.  If she could figure out their powers, she might be able to figure out how to get out of this.  She stopped when she saw a man in a green suit making his way toward her.  She blinked a few more times taking in his suit and hat.  “Is that… are those question marks?  Are you a question akuma?” she muttered out in French.

The man tilted his head at her.  “You’ll find English is necessary if you want to get out of this one alive, young Wayne.”

Marinette stared at the man a few more seconds, letting his words settle in her head as things started to click in her mind.  She wasn’t in Paris.  This wasn’t an akuma, because there weren’t akumas anymore. She and Adrien had defeated his father. She was in Gotham.  She had been on her way home after a disastrous dinner at the Wayne’s. This was a Gotham villain, not a Parisian one.  This was the Riddler.

Marinette breathed out a sigh of relief before her face scrunched in frustration.  “Are you kidding me?  Are you kidding me right now?  You had to do this right now?”

“Oh, I never kid about riddles.  Now, is not the time to panic, Little Lady,” he taunted.

“Oh, you have no fucking clue.  Now is most definitely NOT the time, but you made it the time,” she hissed at him.  “Do you have ANY idea how bad my week is going?  My night?  Do you? Do you have any idea of the trauma and nightmares I’m going to have to deal with already?  And that was before you forced me to witness your suit in person. And can you comprehend the mental and emotional cataclysm I’m already going to have to endure?  And you’re pulling this shit?  Now?”

“I’m just going to ask a few questions and then it’ll all be over and then you can have your little mental breakdown,” he jeered condescendingly.

She narrowed her eyes at him and tried to lunge at him, but her chest was tied to the chair, holding her back, and she’d never hated rope more than she did in that moment.  She growled and glared at him.  “Oh thank you for the permission.  And for the record, it won’t be little.  It’s going to be a monufuckingmental breakdown.  Thank you very much.  Granted it isn’t everything on Earth is destroyed but me and one other person, who caused it in the first place, level of bad.  But I think I’m justified in needing to take a fucking second to think and process. A second I’m not going to fucking get now am I?  Because of you.”  She turned her head to the side in frustration but her eyes got caught on a small red light.  Her mouth dropped open.  “Are you recording this?” she yelled at him.  That complicated things considerably.  Now she needed to watch her words.  Now she needed to make sure she didn’t expose anything.  Well that just sucked even more.

“Well, it wouldn’t be much of a game show without an audience, now would it,” he purred.

She scowled at him.  “By all means, record this to watch later.  Most people aren’t looking to get bitch slapped as hard as you’re going to get so publicly, but to each their own, I guess.  But, consent is a thing and next time, keep me out of it.”

She strained against the ropes holding her hands to the chair arms.  She glowered at him when they proved too tight for her to move her wrists.  “Also, it’s already not much of a game show.  If you have to knock out people and tie them down just to get them to play, either your show sucks or your host does.  Or in this case, both.”

“Now, now,” he snarled, his smile considerably more strained than it had been before.  “We’re just testing the newest Wayne to see how you’re going to fit in.”

“I could have told you that without all this,” she glowered.  “But you wanted to be a big man and ask a question.  So ask your little question.  Be a big man putting a bound, petite, non-native English speaking woman, in her place.  Although if that’s what it takes to make you feel like a man, that’s one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever heard.”

Riddler seethed at her, attempting to keep his face neutral, but failing spectacularly.  One of the Waynes should be afraid of him.  He had been hoping the new one would finally give him a Wayne that cowered in fear.  Instead, he got yet another feral child.  He gripped his question mark staff tightly, fighting the urge to hit her with it.  It was too early to start.  She’d get her punishment soon enough.  He looked up with a grin.  Very soon.

He looked back at her with a sadistic smirk. “Fine.  I’d hate to keep a lady waiting.  Perhaps first I should start with the stakes.”  He moved closer to smile in her face.  “Think well on your answer young Wayne, because for every question you get wrong,” he pointed up with his staff, “a knife falls.”

Marinette let out a deep, annoyed sigh and looked up to see a series of knives tied to the ceiling right above her seat.  She sighed and gave him a flat look. “Really?  That’s the best you could do?  You realize what I’ve been faced with before, right? Or did you not do your research?”  She narrowed her eyes at him.  “You look like a man who never does his research.”

Riddler sidled up to her in a step, his face a few centimeters from her own.  “We can start by testing out the knives if you’d prefer.”

Marinette leaned her head back.  Even if she couldn’t talk him out of making one drop, it wasn’t going to get her.  They would miraculously get diverted just enough to miss her.  Luck could be a bitch when it was against you and he’d left too much up to chance.  “Already changing the rules of the game?  What were you saying about a good game show?  Guess you really don’t care.”

“Fine!” Riddler screamed.  He walked away a few steps and turned back to her with a malicious glint in his eyes.  “Let’s start slow, shall we?  Starting in 1881, this hall brightened Paris’ nights while darkening its satire.  What is the name of this baby of Salis?”

Marinette stared at him blankly for a few seconds. Her face went slack.

Riddler leered down at her, his face breaking into a creepy grin at her apparent inability to answer his question.  “Oh, how sad.”  He gave her a mock pout.  “Looks like the new Wayne isn’t so smart after all.  What do they see in you anyway?  Can’t even answer a simple, easy question.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”  Marinette finally burst out.

Riddler frowned at her.  Instead of the fear he expected, her voice was incredulous and angry. “That’s the question, if you can’t answer…”

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?  That’s not a… You’re the Riddler.  That’s not a riddle!  That’s a… are you okay?  Like, seriously.  Are you okay?  Because I think… You know what?”  She took a deep steadying breath.  She opened her eyes to give him a serious look, completely devoid of fear, leaning more towards concerned.  

“I think you need a break.  I think you need to take a bit of time to reassess, refocus, and recenter yourself.  Then you can come back and be the Riddler I know you can be.  Because this,” she tried to motion toward him, “this is not it. That is... that isn't a riddle!  That's trivia!  You inaccurately named, evil Alex Trebek!  This would be a perfect opportunity to say I’m in Jeopardy, clueless asshole. So disappointed right now.”  She shook her head in disappointment, refusing to even look at him.

Riddler seethed at her, his face turning red with anger.  “Look either answer the question or…”

“THAT’S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!” she screamed at him. “It’s a question, not a riddle.  And you missed a golden opportunity to ask a follow up question and saying it’s Double Jeopardy.  You missed the obvious pun!  This is why I say you need to take a break.  This isn’t you.  You’re better than this, I know you are.  I’m just… I’m worried about your mental health.”  She gave him a concerned look.

“If you can’t answer…” he snapped at her.  He gripped and regripped his question staff menacingly, leaning toward her with a snarl.

Marinette rolled her eyes at the attempt at intimidation. “Of course I can answer.  I’m from Paris and you’re asking about Le Chat Noir? Of course I know the answer.  Let me guess, your next question is about a ladybug,” she chirped, widening her eyes with false excitement.

Her face dropped the false sweetness and turned back into an aggravated frown.  “That’s not the fucking point.  My point is you interrupted my fucking abomination of a night for this bullshit and you’re not even on top of your game.  So I not only get shoved into the spotlight, against my will, by people violating my and my parents’ privacy, forcing Mon… my father to ramp up plans for my introduction.  Making sure my family and I knew we weren’t safe and exposing me to this bullshit along with the other attempts on me since it happened.”

Her frown turned into a disgusted sneer.  “And I was actually afraid for a moment because I thought you were an akuma, but you’re really just an underprepared asshole. It’s insulting frankly.”

Riddler swung his question mark staff at her catching her across her cheek.  He grinned at the blood trickling down her cheek.  Marinette glared up at him but refused to let a grunt of pain pass her lips. “Next question, hopefully this one is more to your liking.”  His eyes took on a malevolent glint.

Marinette’s eyes flicked behind him.  He smirked at her inability to make eye contact any longer. “No,” she interrupted, a smirk forming on her own lips.  “It’s my turn.  I have one for you.  It’s actually in the form of a riddle, if you think you can handle that.”  The Riddler growled at her and moved closer to tower over her threateningly.  “What lights up the day with black against yellow yet lights up the night with yellow against black.  It brings hope to those who see it yet marks your demise.  What is it?”

Riddler narrowed his eyes at her and backed away to get some space while he thought.  He looked down for a second, searching the ground as though it might hold the answer for him.  He suddenly looked up, his eyes bright with realization.  “A signal!” he exclaimed, jumping with excitement.  His face suddenly fell realizing the words that passed his lips.  

He spun around just in time for Signal to punch him in the jaw.  Riddler stumbled back falling backward on his ass.  Signal stalked toward him, eskrima sticks out and ready.  He kept his eyes on Riddler but raised his voice so Marinette could hear him.  “You alright, Ma’am?”

“I’m fine.  Just pissed,” she grunted.  She focused on her bindings, trying to figure out a way to loosen them enough to get out.

Signal smirked and gave a short nod.  “Preying on young women again?  Not a good look for you.”

“Penguin and Scarecrow both tried and couldn’t get to her.  I did,” he said defiantly, his chest puffing out even as he was slumped on the floor. “Penguin got to the museum too early. Scarecrow got to the hotel too late. But me?  I plan better.”

“And got a verbal bitch slap the likes of which Gotham has never seen for your trouble.”  Signal shook his head in mock sympathy and regripped his sticks. “Publicly.”

Riddler sneered at Signal.  “It won’t happen again.”

“You’re damn right it won’t,” Marinette called from her seat.  She pointed at him threateningly with her now miraculously freed right hand.  “Next time I’ll do it physically too.”

Signal grinned proudly and snorted at her comment. Riddler growled before looking back up at Signal with an angry scowl.  “Looks like this show has come to an end.  But we’ll be back after a short break.”  He hit his staff hard on the ground and a gas started emitting from it, obscuring Signal’s view.  Signal backed away and rushed over to Marinette, uncertain if the gas was dangerous.

He pulled out a knife and quickly sliced through the remaining ropes and helped her get free.  “Can you walk?”

Marinette started sprinting toward the exit.  “I can do better than that,” she called over her shoulder.  “You just going to stand there and let the gas get you?”  Signal smirked and followed her out.

She grunted as her shoulder rammed into the doorframe when she miscalculated the distance.  She silently cursed how long it was taking her brain to recover from having been knocked out.  Now out of the room she stopped running and rubbed her head as if willing it to kick back into gear.

“You sure you’re okay?” Signal asked catching up to her.

Marinette couldn’t see his eyes under his mask but the bottom half of his face seemed to be contorted in concern.  She grumbled noncommittally in response and rubbed her shoulder.  She looked around them quickly.  “You sure this is a safe way out?  He has to have had help.  I don’t see him doing his own dirty work.”

Signal nodded.  “He did have help.  But, so do I.”  He nodded behind him.

Marinette craned her neck around him to look behind him. She cringed as she saw Red Hood kneeing someone in the face.  The goon fell limply to the ground, unconscious before he hit.  Red Hood looked up and ran over to them as soon as he spotted her.  “Pi… uh… pretty impressive mouth,” he stuttered.  He looked over her closely as he could without touching her.  His eyes zeroed in on her cheek.

Marinette stared at him for a few seconds missing the incredulous look Signal tried to give him.  “Um… thanks… I think.”  She blinked a few more times before frowning.  “Yeah, can we not talk about my mouth, please?”

Red Hood choked on nothing and shook his head, leaning away, as if trying to get away from the idea.  “I meant your att…” he shook his head again and looked back at her. “Not a problem.  Let’s never talk about it again.  Are you okay?  Did he hurt you anywhere else?”  His eyes scanned her again and stopped at her wrists.

Marinette rubbed her wrists self-consciously. “No…” she started.  “I mean!  No he didn’t hurt me anywhere else.  But I am okay,” she rushed out when she saw him tense up at her words.

“Where is he?” Red Hood growled, still staring at her wrists.

“Got away,” Signal answered.

Red hood rounded on him, his entire body tensed for a fight.  “What do you mean he got away?”

Marinette stepped between them and pushed Red Hood back gently.  “He released some kind of gas.  He got me out of there before we found out what it did.  Seems like a good move considering how he got me in the first place.”

Red Hood looked down at her for a second before looking up to Signal with a nod.  He remembered seeing the gas dissipating when they finally caught up to where she was taken.  It had looked like there was enough to knock out an entire city block.  Definitely overkill, but spoke to Riddler’s desperation to be the first to kidnap her.  “Idea which direction he went?”

Signal sighed a heavy sigh.  “I didn’t see which way he went but it had to be out the west side of the room, but that’s all I got.”

Red Hood nodded and touched his com.  “You got that?”  He paused for a moment listening to whatever was being said over his com.  “Yes, she’s fine.  A few rope burns and a cut on her cheek, but seems okay other than that.”

Signal nodded and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Do you have family we can call?”

Marinette shook her head absentmindedly, the strain of the night starting to hit.  “No, I can call my brother.  He’s probably terrified about me.”

Red Hood seemed to freeze.  “Just… the one brother?  You… aren’t you one of the Waynes?”

Marinette’s eyes widened and her face paled.  She plastered a smile on her face. “Right.  Yes.  Of course. I… I meant my one brother was with me at the time.  Yes. Yeah.  The Waynes are my family.  I’m a… I’m… Yeah, I’m a… Wayne,” she barely managed to get the word out of her mouth.  It felt wrong and foreign on her tongue.  She smiled wider at them.  “But you don’t… you don’t have to bother them.  They’re all busy.”

“Yeah, looking for you,” Red Hood answered back sharply.  “They’re the ones that called us.  They’re terrified right now.”

“I think they’d want to know,” Signal urged gently, his voice heartfelt and slightly pained.

She let out a bitter scoff before she could stop herself.  She squeezed her eyes shut and mentally berated her still drugged mind for letting that slip out.  “I meant,” she started loudly, “I’ll inform someone.  They’d want to… hear it from me,” she finished quietly.

Red Hood took a breath and moved closer to her, gently resting his hands on her shoulders.  “I promise you, they’re worried about you and they would want to know. They’d want to make sure you’re okay. They’d want to make sure you feel safe. They would want to protect you. In fact, I’d expect to see a lot more of them over the next few days.”

Marinette opened her mouth to answer but got interrupted by the police breaking into the room.  Marinette pursed her lips and seemed to let a calm come over her.  Red Hood looked harder at her change as the police led her off to take her statement.  No, it wasn’t calm.  It was a numbness, an absence of any feelings.  His face contorted into a scowl.  Exactly what Adrien had described.  “You get that,” Red Hood snapped into his com.  He waited a few seconds before shaking his head.  

“That’s a fool’s bet,” Signal scoffed.  “Of course she’s not going to.  She might send a text.  And even then I bet it won’t be much.”

Red Hood listened for a few more seconds before he shook his head again.  “I’m not taking that bet either.”  He watched as Adrien just stopped himself from tackling Marinette in his excitement to see her again.  After what looked like a worried conversation, he saw Adrien pull her into a tight hug and Marinette melt into it.  “We need to fix this and quick before B does anything else to completely destroy any chance we have,” Red Hood snarled.  He turned and started grappling away.  “I’m going rogue hunting.”

Chapter 17

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[yesimwriting]

Searing Starlight (chapter one)

SERIES SUMMARY: the most powerful inferni alive, raised to see herself as a god-in-the-making, the bastard of the barrel and his team, and a shadow summoner with a common goal. What could go wrong? The giant mass of darkness known as the shadow fold and y/n’s sense of humor. 

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Y/n is sent to hustle the Crow Club. Technically it’s not cheating, but Kaz Brekker isn’t the type to let people off on technicalities alone. Especially when the one that committed the offense could help him earn 1 million kruge. 

a/n just a little something based on the show bc IM OBSESSED :)) --I’m planning on making this a series so if you want to be tagged let me know :)

The candles flicker as Kenya's palm makes contact with my face. I used to cry after he hit me; I used to run to Anya’s room for comfort and my energy would became so irritated I snuffed out all the candles in the church. Now, I just stand there. You get punished worse for showing fear. Gods fear nothing, and that’s what he wants from us--to turn into Gods so that the heavens will owe him. 

“You risk us again and again!” 

The yelling is worse than the stinging of the slap. I make a point of keeping my palms flat; the candles of the room flicker as if feeling my restraint. “Watch yourself or the tidemaker you’re so fond of will feel my wrath instead of you. At least when I bruise his face it doesn’t cost me a night of revenue.” 

I want to point out that the men I trick in the pleasure district don’t care about bruises, but the reminder of Jace has me frozen in place. Jace is good. He doesn’t deserve this treatment. “It won’t happen again, Father Kenya.” 

He nods once, unsatisfied but growing bored. “Disappear from my sight before my flesh wins and I forget to show you mercy.” Kenya turns sharply, watching Anya’s stoic expression. “Anya--we’re in need of funding, take these coins and triple it by morning.” 

Anya’s lips part; I shake my head once, a subtle plea for her silence. “Father Kenya, y/n’s the most talented card player we have--if she comes with us we can bring five times what you’re going to give us.” 

The promise Anya makes is that of a fool, but I know I’m capable of it. People are easy to read when they’re drunk, they’re easy to trick and lie to. And drunk people exude the clearest energy, something about their bluffing is as tangible as fog to me. 

Kenya squeezes the drawstring bag between his violent fingers. He loathes me more than the others. He expects more from me. He’d lock me in the cellar if he could afford to. But he can’t--he knows what I’m capable of. 

“Go somewhere in the Barrel--somewhere that doesn’t ask questions if the money is good.” Kenya looks at me, the bruises on my arms and cheeks. “Clean yourself up beforehand.” 

I nod once, stomach rolling at the thought of going out and knotting at the thought of staying here. I keep my steps even as I approach Anya, grateful for the excuse to disappear behind the chapel’s doors. 

----

This club is louder than most, boisterous men drinking constantly, slurring their words and leaning over bars. I only smile when someone’s looking, tugging on the dress Anya picked for me subconsciously. 

“Relax, y/n,” Anya hums, “Men don’t understand they’re being hustled when someone pretty is the one swindling them, and you look hot.” 

A particularly drunk man walks by slowly, eyes reflecting no shame as he blatantly rakes his gaze down my form. I shift uneasily. “That might be the problem.” 

She tilts her head back, gaze focusing on the crow marking etched into the back wall of the club. A very strange and consistent crow theme in here. “Maybe you should keep the dress on until you run into Jace.” 

The mention of Jace in that context leaves my face warm. “Wha--what?” Great. I’m sputtering. “Shut up!” 

She laughs easily, “I’m only teasing--he’d probably ta--” 

“Anya!” 

Again, her laugh is loud and bright. “Kidding!” Before I can scorch her, she nods her head towards a gambling table. “An open seat--go, you know Kenya’ll have our heads if we don’t multiply this,” she tosses me the drawstring bag, I catch it awkwardly, “By five.” 

There are a lot of things I’ve ruined--but I never mess up when it comes to gambling. We’re all entitled to our talents and mine are destruction and trickery. “I’ll have six times this amount before midnight.” 

A little cocky, but it’s well deserved. I stroll up to the table easily, comforted by the fact that Anya’s only a few feet away. 

“You’re playing this round?” 

I smile politely, used to this kind of hesitance. “I think I’d like to try it.” The mock-hesitance in my voice burns coming up, but the dumber I seem the faster I make up my money. The rest of the participants snicker. Expected. I’m going to enjoy taking their money. “I can pay if that’s the issue.”

The sound of me fishing through the small bag of golden coins silences the men at a table. The man closest to me, the one with smooth brown skin and a smile I imagine has convinced many people to play into sins for him, leans forward slightly. I let him peek at the coins, the more they want my money the more they’ll believe my lies. 

“How much to enter?” 

A tall man snorts. I fight back the urge to glare. 

“Three of those coins should do.” The boy next to me is decent enough to answer. I’ll steal from him least. “I’m Jesper.” 

I’ve been to enough clubs to know when a man is attempting to find company for the night. I hope the playful niceness I see in him is real. “Kamil.” My sister’s name is salt water on my tongue. 

The first game is easy enough to throw. The second, I have to work at a little more--their smugness is killing me. I pretend to be ready to step away from the table.

“Where are you going?” 

I shrug at the stranger. “I shouldn’t lose any more money, my father won’t be happy with me as it is.” 

The stranger leans forward, glancing at his chips. “We don’t want a girl like you in trouble at home--why don’t we up the stakes? You win this next hand, and you’ll win double what I did.” He pauses, eyeing my drawstring bag, “Of course--you’ll have to be willing to risk a matching sum.” 

Awful odds. “Deep odds,” Jesper mumbles, “Consider cutting your losses.”

Jesper is a better person than the other men here. I almost feel bad he’s going to be losing any money. “One more game won’t kill me,” I smile as politely as I can manage, “Besides--my luck could be about to change and I’d never know.” 

I hand the coins over to the dealer. I watch as the money is shuffled onto the center of the table, suppressing the grin of someone about to release her killshot. Ten minutes later, I’ve doubled what I’ve lost. The man who upped the bet is gaping, Jesper’s expression has shifted entirely, and everyone’s staring at me like I’ve shifted into another person entirely. 

“Wow--luck really does change quickly here.” I’ve hooked them. They’ll want to play again, to prove that my victory was a fluke. “Do you guys want to play again? It only seems fair I give you a chance to win back everything you just lost since you did the same for me.” 

Everyone’s quick to agree, but I’m quicker to win the second round. Some men look murderous, some look ready to play again, their egos incapable of handling defeat at my hands. 

“You came in with a surprising amount of coins,” Jesper muses, reaching over to pick up a piece of gold that rolled towards him, “I hate to accuse you of counterfeiting, but one has to wonder.” 

Typical. “I swear my money’s real.” 

“Real money can take a bullet…” Is he going to shoot it...in doors? Jesper tosses the coin easily, letting it flip in the air before taking out a pistol and shooting it dead center in a movement so casually fluid and deadly I’m taken back. 

The coin clatters onto the table, the bullet embedded into the precious metal. I eye it cautiously, beyond relieved that Kenya at least doesn’t lie. “T-told you.” 

His eyebrows narrow as he reholsters his pistol. “About that, I guess you did.” 

Jesper’s skepticism is a red flag. I need to get out of here before my winnings are taken from me and Kenya kills me or Jace for my failure. “I didn’t take you for such a sore loser.” 

Before Jesper can respond, something black raps against the table once. “What did I tell you about loud noises at the table?” 

Jesper’s gaze leaves mine immediately. “Sorry boss, just checking a swindler.” 

He--he knows. I blink twice, forcing surprise to color my features. “Swindler?” I look between him and the man he called his boss. “N--no, it was just--luck. I played a hand, I lost some money, I played again and I won some money. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?” 

“You only started winning after the stakes were raised--I’ve seen that tactic before and it’s not appreciated here.” 

I swallow once, a pinch of dread making its way through my stomach. He had shot that coin with no hesitation--I didn’t even see him click off the safety. How dangerous is the man at my table? How dangerous is his boss? Everyone seemed to straighten at the sight of the stranger with the cane. 

“There was no tactic--it was a game.” 

The man I don’t know tears his gaze away from Jesper. “Someone like you shouldn’t even be here.” 

He has a point--my demeanor doesn’t exactly scream someone who frequents establishments at the Barrel during the night. “I’m only here to keep my friend out of trouble.” A fair enough response. “And I played a game and someone can’t handle a loss.”

“You should have seen her bluff, I’ve met professional thieves that lie less fluently than her.” 

At Jesper’s words, the stranger’s grip around his cane tightens. I imagine that beneath his gloves, the color of marred souls, his knuckles are white. “Who do you work for? Who sent a girl to invade my business?” 

Who do I work for? No one that has any business with him. “What?” How self absorbed can one man be? 

“If playing the fool didn’t get you through a card game--don’t think it will get you through this.” 

What? Before I can question him, Anya grabs my shoulder, pulling me so that there’s a safer distance between me and the man. 

“You’re an idiot,” her whisper is pointed, directed solely at me. “Of course you’d find trouble with Dirtyhands.” Did I hear that correctly? Dirtyhands--as in the Dirtyhands? I stare at her, eyes wide. How had I been so stupid? I should have recognized him from his gloves alone. Anya turns her head towards them. “We don’t want any trouble--forgive my friend, she’s not a spy she’s just an oblivious idiot.” 

“Rude.” 

She throws me a glare. “But she did win.” The money isn’t worth the trouble we’ll find trying to keep it but Kenya’s words follow us wherever we go. “We’ll take what we earned and never come back.” 

“I don’t concede often.” 

I reach for Anya’s arm, brushing her forearm in hopes of telling her things will be okay. Kaz Brekker may be feared, but we’re gods in the making. “Neither do we.”

He seems to want to play at an odd, power-filled standstill, but Anya and I are more desperate than him. Anya leans forward, ready to take the money from the table, but the unidentified man who upped the stakes earlier is quick to grab her forearm. 

“I don’t take losses, little girl.”

Anya. I can only imagine the horror she feels when a strange man touches her. Screw precaution. “Is that money worth burning for?” 

“Y/n.” Anya’s warning comes out low; Jesper raises an eyebrow. I guess being Kamil was short lived. 

“Excuse me?” 

The man will not intimidate me. Fear is a crutch men use to keep women in check. “You heard my question.” I hold up my hand, releasing enough energy to develop a flame in my palm. “And if your answer is ‘no’, I suggest you release my friend before your body is nothing more than a pile of ash your own mother wouldn’t even be able to identify.” 

The stranger blinks, touches the gun on his hip, and then releases Anya’s arm. 

“You can’t come into my club, hustle money away from my men, and walk away unscathed because you’re a grisha.” 

Words cannot express how badly I do not want to speak to Kaz Brekker at any point in my life. His grip on his cane is a silent warning--a threat. But what is a man’s threat to a girl that’s meant to be a god? “You can kill me but I’ll use my dying breath to burn this entire building.” I’ve publicly backed him into a corner--I’m insane. 

Dirtyhands opens his mouth to reply, anyone within earshot holding on for his next words. Anya yanks me back as the sound of something explosive interrupts the room. A bullet flies past directly where I was standing and strikes the wall behind me. Anya just saved my life. Someone just shot at me. 

“Y/n, do you think it’s--” 

“No.” It can’t be. There’s no way a soldier found me again. “It can’t be--we were--we’ve been careful--and Kenya said they wouldn’t look for me--that he purchased me fully.” 

A man is moving through the crowd. A blue kefta. No. No. 

Not here. Not now.

And why are they shooting at me? “Anya,” I breathe out as cautiously as possible, “Run and no matter what don’t turn around.” 

“I’m not leaving you.” 

Anya. Always the older sister. “They don’t want you--they want me.” 

“You’re not a real Sun Summoner--it’s suicide for you.” 

I don’t have the heart to tell Anya I don’t particularly care about my life. It’s never truly been mine anyway. “I’ll make it out.” 

“You’re an inferni, not a miracle worker.” 

My lips pull into an odd sort of grimace. The gentle kind one hopes is mistaken for a smile. “I thought we were meant to be gods.” 

“A god can’t do what they want from you.” She mumbles. “So you’re capable of producing more fire than most--it’s not the same as creating light. It doesn’t matter how many drugs they pump into you it’s--” 

I shake my head once, “Anya--go.” 

“They want you to play Sun Summoner.” Dirtyhand’s tone is too smooth to trust. I know when someone’s trying to sell dreams that don’t exist. “The way they’ll have you do it will cost you, but the way I’ll have you do it will be practically painless.”

Is he always this confusing? “What?” 

The question is an irritation, that’s apparent in the cold tint that takes over his practically blank expression. “I need a Sun Summoner for a business deal--and lucky for you I’m out of time.” 

“You don’t want to work with me.” 

“No,” his voice is dismissive, he didn’t understand I meant that as a warning, “But I need to have some form of mass light before sunrise.” 

“The man I’m indentured to will never go for it.” Proposing such an idea would leave me with a broken rib again. 

Dirtyhands nods once, a vague acknowledgement. “That’s not your problem.” I keep my jaw set, scanning at the crowd for a flash of that blue kefta. “After all, it wasn’t his problem when he hurt you.” 

I had been careful to hide the bruises. The reminders of my humanity. My weaknesses, my failures, written onto my skin in purple and blue ink. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“I didn’t until I got that reaction.” I’ve never so quickly felt the need to loathe someone. “It was easy enough to assume--young girl, desperate for money, a grisha powerful enough to be hunted down.” 

Is that supposed to be some sort of consolation? “My freedom would never come so easily.” 

“It wouldn’t be freedom--you’d owe me more than you already do for the kruge scam.” 

I swallow before I can make the mistake of telling him I’d consider any escape from Kenya freedom. “Close enough.” 

The grisha’s closer now, the light blue kefta so easy to spot amongst a sea of darkness. “You’re running out of time.” 

“Can you get my friend out?” 

“Y/n.” She can be mad for the rest of her life if she wants. 

He nods his head once. “She’ll be out the back before anyone knows she was even here.” 

“And she can take the money I won.” Maybe the income will be enough to spare her from Kenya’s wrath. “That’s a dealbreaker.” 

Kaz Brekker hesitates. It’s such a normal pause I almost think it’s a trap. “If she takes it there will be no way out for you--you will do what I ask even if it endangers your life.” 

“Y/n, it’s not worth it.” 

I don’t look at Anya. “You have my word.” 

“Y/n, I’m not taking anything and I’m not leaving you.” 

I finally turn. “Don’t be a self-sacrificing idiot--it’s not in your nature and frankly it doesn’t suit you.” Acts of goodness towards me have always left me feeling raw. Too raw. Like I’m bleeding out. “Sorry, I just…” Anya’s eyes are soft. She knows. She always knows. “I’ll get through whatever it is he’s planning and I’ll come back.” I swallow once, nerve draining from my body slowly. “Take the money--Kenya will be angry enough as is.” 

Anya drops her gaze as she collects from the table. It takes me a moment longer than it should to recognize this is shameful for her. I consider telling her that she’s doing the right thing, but that would burn her heart more. 

“You’re my sister,” Anya’s voice is lower than it’s ever been, “I should have stopped him.” 

Her guilt hurts more than the bruises. “You were as hurt as me--you have nothing to feel guilty about.” 

This is already more emotion than we’re used to expressing when alone let alone around others. Anya stretches out an arm, squeezes my shoulder once, and then takes a step back. “I’ll see you again.” 

“Yes,” I nod once.

“Jesper, take the girl out the back.” Turning forward blankly, Kaz begins to speak to me, “Hide behind the bar--my wraith will find you and take you somewhere else.” 

“Y--you have a wraith?” And I thought Kenya was weird. He lets out a sigh. “Sorry. Not the time.” 

“Desperation leads to bad decisions.” 

Dramatic. “I agree.” 

His gaze falls on me, taking in my narrow-eyed glare. There’s a moment in which I think the left corner of his mouth twitches upwards, but then he turns his head again. A trick of the light. “Go before you’re found and I’m out the money I let your friend take.” 

Yes. I’m not exactly safe right now, but Kaz Brekker needs me for something. That means I will not be leaving this building. By force or willingly. 

Silently, I turn, melting into those in the crowd that are either oblivious or don’t care enough to react to the cat and mouse game I’m currently in. When I reach the bar, I’m quick to duck behind it, pressing my back against shelves of alcohol. 

[ceterisparibus116]

From the Daredevil Ask Game, "Tell us one of your favorite headcanons!"

MATT AND FOGGY DID MOCK TRIAL IN LAW SCHOOL.

So although other parts of law school were more meaningful to me in terms of, like, actually making a difference in the world etc., my mock trial career was by far the most fun, and it was incredibly meaningful in its own way, and I refuse to consider the possibility that Matt and Foggy weren’t on mock trial (sometimes called trial team, NOT to be confused with moot court, which is appellate advocacy rather than trial advocacy) during their three years of law school.

So here’s how I imagine it. Matt and Foggy obviously got along well from the very beginning, so no need to an enemies-to-friends(-to-lovers, perhaps) mock trial experience (although a canon-divergent AU could totally play with that). As soon as they find out about Columbia’s mock trial tryout, they latch onto each other to sign up. Of course, they need two more people. I assume they grab Marci (which would add all sorts of spice to the mix), and the fourth person is Jennifer Walters.

Matt and Foggy insist on being attorney-witness pairs for each side. So let’s say it’s a criminal case and Matt really wants to be a defense attorney (he’d see that as good practice for real life), meaning that Foggy plays his defense witness whereas when they switch to prosecution, Foggy plays prosecutor while Matt plays his witness. Let’s say Marci stakes a claim on Foggy as co-counsel (making Marci another prosecutor, which let’s face it she’d be fantastic at), while Jennifer becomes Matt’s co-counsel by default. (And don’t tell me there wouldn’t be sparks of attraction across the co-counsel front here either.)

Matt, of course, is that Annoying Guy who never shuts up about mock trial. He’s drilling the rules of evidence between classes and throwing practice questions at Foggy when Foggy’s trying to eat and demanding that Foggy practice examining him when he’s trying to sleep. (In other words, Matt was me.) Foggy doesn’t bother practicing quite as relentlessly as Matt, but that’s okay because he’s still quick on his feet and charming enough that even if he makes mistakes or forgets something, it’s easy to forgive. Marci doesn’t practice 24/7 willingly, but she finds that she has to in order to compete with Matt. I’m not sure about Jennifer’s style (may have to return to this Ask after She-Hulk), but for now, I’d say she already knows most of the rules of evidence because she picked up thrifted Rules of Evidence in a Nutshell book and read the whole thing before the first day of class, so all she really needs to study now are the facts of their specific case and some stylistic courtroom stuff.

The day of the 1L competition draws near. All they know is that the two winning teams will get to join the school’s official trial team to travel and compete against other schools, but to win, they have to beat all other teams but one in a series of “rounds,” each of which could last 3-4 hours, in which they essentially put on a condensed trial in front of judges who are, in some cases, real judges(and in other cases are real trial lawyers which is also intimidating). Tensions run high. And someone at the school spied on one of Matt, Foggy, Marci, and Jennifer’s practice sessions, so word’s gotten out that this team is not to be messed with.

Proceed to the competition itself. I’d like to think they blow through the competition, including Marci and Jennifer getting some satisfying moments against sexist law school frat boys. The final round is a nail-biter, but Matt does something that seals the trial in their defense. Though it could be a fun sensory thing (that he’d then have to awkwardly try to explain to his teammates, which would be hilarious), I’d actually prefer it to just be Matt’s hard work paying off. They not only make it on the school’s team, but Matt wins the Best Student Advocate award (looks very flashy on a résumé). The only thing that makes the moment bittersweet is his awareness of how much Jack would’ve wanted to see this.

(I also have plans for a fic where Matt takes his mock trial experience and volunteers to be a coach at a local high school, which is actually Peter Parker’s high school where he got roped into doing mock trial in an effort to be closer to MJ, who thinks she never has enough extracurricular activities to get into college.)

Anyway, that’s my fave headcanon.

Others are:

Matt’s favorite season is fall. He always liked school, and fall represents the beginning of school. Also, the crackling of fallen leaves and their sharp scent when they break lets him enjoy some of the distinct elements of the season despite not being able to see the colors. The cooler weather makes the city smell less awful, but it’s not so cold that he’s worried about ice when out in the mask.

Matt listens to Spanish hip-hop and rap when he’s boxing, except when he’s boxing out of actual anger.

Matt’s favorite Disney move is Rapunzel. I saw a post about his favorite Disney movie as The Little Mermaid, and I see that, but I think he’d relate more to Rapunzel’s isolation from normal life (without the privilege of being treated as a princess) and her struggle to disbelief gaslighting. Plus, Flynn (I mean, Eugene) is just fantastic.

Foggy was a boy scout or did some equivalent thing that gives him a ton of survival skills, which he’s quick to point out when the firm discusses how they’d survive a zombie apocalypse.

Karen may have started wearing fewer swishy-frilly dresses and skirts to better accommodate her PI work, but she still loves a maximizing feminine styles when she dresses—partly because she genuinely enjoys it, and partly because she knows Matt likes the sound of fabric fluttering, and partly because she likes shocking people with ruthlessness after they assumed she was just sweet and innocent.

Matt, Foggy, and Karen have made up a bunch of extra holidays that only they celebrate, commemorating random things that are meaningful to them. Matt appreciates the continual reminders that their friendship is intact.

Thank you so much for the fun ask, and thank you @etherealwiitch for creating the awesome Daredevil Ask Game!

[testingcheats0n]

Massive Dream SMP Fic Rec!!

Hey- Hi, I just feel like there are a ton of fanfiction that's really underrated in this fandom- so I'm going to dump it on your dash!!! Most of it is going to be Tommy-centric or SBI-centric, but they are very good!

Source: Me

Finished Fanfics:

Multi-chaptered Fanfics:

that's, like, a hundred miles by No_one_you_know

Dream would kill him. Dream was going to kill him- he was going to- no, he wouldn’t. Dream was his friend- friends don’t hit each other- Dream was supposed to take care of him- Dream /was/ taking care of him.

It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think. He couldn’t clear his thoughts as he stumbled to the family computer, pulling up a tab on google and frantically typing the name into the search bar.

The words Technoblade Watson stared back at him, the little black bar at the end of the letters blinking slowly, mocking him.

Why, of all people, did it have to be Technoblade?

in short: the one where dream sucks as a parental figure, tommy runs away, and visits his least favorite family member technoblade

Hard-hitting, but has a happy ending, though I recommend reading the prequel (in the same series) first, otherwise, it's lowkey depressing.

MORE RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW THE CUT!!

you’ll rise above (crowned by an overture bold and beyond) by azvremoon

Tommy is not sixteen. He has faced too many open wounds, dripping ichor onto blood-stained warzones, to be just a child. He is Blood and War and needless Death, an all-in-one special of everything that can ruin reality.

(Tommy is the blood god. No one should know, but this server can't stop pushing him over the edge.)

+2 more Works that were Inspired by this one

Tommy is a BAMF and Dream, Technblade, and Phil get fucked it is what it is.

Responsible Forever by SilverWing15

“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” /////

“So,” Techoblade says, slow and deliberate, his face shows clearly just how unbelievable he finds all of this, “you saw a boy last night, in the middle of the night, living with raccoons and eating our garbage?”

“I know how insane it sounds,” Phil says, “but I know what I saw. We need to help him, who knows how long he’s been out here?”

“Okay,” Wilbur interrupts, “let’s say that raccoon-boy is real. What is it you want us to do? We can’t go searching the woods for specific bunch of raccoons, I don’t know if you’ve noticed Phil but there are a lot of them out there.”

“Going out and hunting him isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Techno says, “we have to let the raccoon-boy come to us. He’s already come once, you know how tenacious raccoons are. If they came to the garbage pit once, they’ll come again. We just have to set a trap.”

“Those raccoons aren’t gonna know what fucking hit them,” Wilbur mutters.

Or: RaccoonInnit taken well beyond its logical conclusion

Tommyinnit is a Raccoon boi that lives with other Raccoons

Protecting the Traumatised Youth by spookyserpent

Sam blinks. “What?”

Even behind the mask, Sam has the distinct impression that Dream is grinning at him. “A week and he was begging for my attention, even after I stole and burnt his armour, even after the beatings. He couldn’t stand me leaving him because I was the only one to show up, to pay him attention. It was hilarious.”

Sam is going to be sick.

Or, Sam decides to ask Dream about his intentions and ends up becoming a big brother to Tommy and Tubbo. All the while, Dream and George fight, Niki and Jack plan child murder and Ranboo is slowly getting adopted into the SBI.

Awesamdad written back when it was possible... ahhh

Chaos In a Bottle by Lovetribable

After a realization, Tommy leaves the pillar, but instead of going to Techno. He just disappears, leaving everyone to think he's gone.

It takes a war to bring him back.

+2 Sequels and an Alternative Ending

Dadinnit!! + A Sympathetic Dream

Absolutely Anything For Them by Numanum

“There’s a lot you don’t understand, Tubbo,” Dream sighs, meeting his eyes cooly. Tubbo, back against a tree, shudders at his tone, at the look on his face.

The sword at his neck skims across his skin as Dream shifts his grip on it, and he flinches back into the rough bark behind him. Dream smiles at his reaction, seeming pleased- like the cat that’s been toying with a mouse that always tries to run no matter how many times it’s caught. And, despite this being his first encounter alone with the man, he thinks that the comparison is fairly accurate; Tubbo has never felt smaller than he does now. There’s supposed to be a buddy system to prevent things like this- he shouldn’t be alone here, stuck in this situation.

Or: Tubbo becomes a traitor to save everyone and has to struggle with his choices

Traitor Tubbo, but it has the happiest ending possible since it follows the rest of the story.

Where Did You Come From, Kit? by KadeAK (zacixn)

Hybrids are an ancient species of humans crossed with animals, blessed with the favour of nature. They used to live in peace on the SMP’s land, but ever since the dawn of humanity’s modern culture, they have become ostracised and hunted by their once-brethren. Now, the once-thriving subspecies of hybrids have been reduced to ashes, the majority of their peoples struggling to survive in a city capital that can't stand their presence.

To the members of L’Manburg, General Wilbur Soot is just another mildly prejudiced human being, stuck with a hybrid fox kit for an adopted child. However, that assumption could not be farther from the truth. As it turns out, there's a reason why he is the man he is today.

This fic is entirely pre-L’Manburg.

Part of a series, very good.

Take It Easy by sweet_magnolias

Five times Techno scared Michael, one time Michael scared him, and the resolution of those fears.

AKA - Techno learns how to be an uncle.

Technoblade's POV, so expect some Tubbo bashing on the margins of all that Michael fluff.

I suppose it’s never my time to die, is it? by Birb_Whale

The first time it happens, he barely remembers. The second time is when he realized. The third... Twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern

“It’s not your time to die yet, Tommy”

Messed up, but not unrealistic. Purely for the Hurt/Comfort lovers.

This Wasn't Planned, But It'll Work Out by Anonymous

Dream isn't sure what to think when he finds a kid on his doorstep, but he can't just leave him there, now can he?

(He doesn't know what he's getting into, or what he's gotten the kid into, either)

Long, and angsty, with a bittersweet ending Imo.

let's play a game by Aria_Cinabun

Tommy was once a slave. That's gone now - shoved in his past with the memories of blood and gore and death. He wants to forget who he was; what he has to do to survive. Of course, the Elementalists will always come back to haunt him. They aren't the ones who killed his mother, but they're close enough. And now he and his brother have been dragged into the mess, as Elementalists with their own, separate covens, to find the Pit - the place where he'd lived and killed and hurt for the first twelve years of his life. His coven can't know. Can't know who he really is, what he can really do. Can't know anything about his past. He doesn't want a coven full of Elementalists who don't trust him; one of whom he's pretty sure despises him. He doesn't want that life. He wants the life of a pickpocket, on the streets, because nobody questions street kids, and nobody comes asking about his past and pushes him to tell his secrets that he holds closest inside. Tubbo tries to tell him to trust people. But trust is how you die.

Good fantasy AU, has SBI, and is thus fluffy.

Turn of the Tide by SilverWing15

Tommy’s fins twitch at the mention of Dream’s ancestors. Dream talks about them a lot, how they made their fortune hunting down mer pods, how they were cruel and greedy. Nothing like Dream is. They’ve both overcome their roots he says.

Tommy is nothing like the wild mer out in the ocean, who spend their lives scraping by just to survive, who kicked him out of the pod when he was a baby because he was too small. He’s also better than the pit mer, who can’t overcome their wild instincts and know nothing but fighting.

He’s different from them, he’s better than them. He’s Dream’s. //// OR: Change is like the tide, when it comes, you can only sink or swim. You would think that a mer would be better at keeping afloat.

Mermaid AU Pooog. Part of a series.

One-Shots:

Snapped by AmberRunnel

“You don’t know what I went through in that prison cell.”

Jack burst out laughing, blinded with rage and the overwhelming urge to hurt Tommy, to give him everything he deserved. “Oh, is the poor child traumatized? You want pity now?” He twisted his blade, and Tommy’s axe was sent clattering to the ground.

“If the prison was so awful, why don’t I send you back there?”

-|-

Jack doesn't handle Tommy's revival well. There's a simple solution, though. Kill Tommy, and Dream revives him right back into that cell. Problem solved, kid dealt with.

It takes a few confrontations for Jack to realize he's an asshole.

It's fucked up, but god does it hurt in a good way.

the sky is coming down blue by salinesolution

An imagining of New Milo's perspective throughout the Skyblock Randomizer adventure. What did he think of the world he found himself in, and how did Wilbur's feelings and actions change things for him? Here's my way of answering those questions.

He made the fish think, funniest shit I've seen.

You told me to be a hero (so let me die like one) by spiromachia

"You told me to die like a hero," the blond interrupted, spinning on his heel to face the others, holding his arms wide open, "So why not fulfil the ending that was always meant to be."

Across the battle field, through the chaos and destruction, a tree burned.

Even the sound of explosions and cries and bloodshed felt distant enough for the world to become silent for a few moments, each individual slowly coming to the same conclusion, each of their bodies tensing.

Tommy's face broke out into a grin as he lowered his head, glowering at the people around him, and Philza's face flashed with recognition.

"Kill me."

Or... In the middle of Doomsday, Tommy decides to ask Technoblade to be the Lycomedes to his Theseus.

Heavy and dark, but at least Dream gets it.

tomorrow night by meridies

Tommy is desperately searching for his missing brother. Techno is the reluctant psychic who unfortunately got dragged along.

or, two people, more alike than different, learn what it is to have a family at their side.

It's cute what can I say :]

maple syrup by itisjosh

"We could run," Tubbo stares at the sun. "We've got everything we've ever wanted right here. We could run."

"Yeah," Tommy agrees, feeling his head swim. "We could."

(or, tommy and tubbo run away together)

Children get away from toxic adults :)

Why’d it have to be so sunny? (The sun shouldn’t shine without you.) by AToZRainToBe

‘A realisation hits Phil in the face like a truck. “Wi- Ghostbur,” Phil says, turning to his grey-scale, translucent, actually-dead son. “You definitely told Tubbo that Tommy’s alive, right?”’

To get away from Dream, Tommy agrees to fake his death, going with the cover story that he jumped from the pillar in Logstedshire. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Tubbo.

Misunderstandings are one of my favorite tropes.

sugar and ice by princedemeter for Aenqa

“He is my son,” Philza says. “Mortal or not, I would see him grow strong.”

Technoblade looks down on earth, at the tiny, angry bundle of cloth and pinking, wrinkled skin. This mortal child, he thinks, lungs filled with breath from the king of gods himself, will not grow strong.

It's mostly centered around Technoblade and Wilbur with Phil being a shitty dad. Pog Gods AU.

a matter of time by meridies

Tommy is twelve years old when his wings first appear, and he is twelve years old when Phil tells him, "All it takes is time and patience, Tommy, and soon you'll be flying even better than me."

or, Tommy grows up feeling like a failure, and it takes him a while to figure out where he's happiest.

Tommy is just finding his place in the world. Powers AU.

That Time a Baby Decided to Raise a Baby by Scitrust

Tubbo wasn't good at making excuses, so when Schlatt asked him why he was leaving in the night, he made something up on the spot. That had been months ago.

At least he sort of had an alibi for that, now.

Or, in which Tubbo finds a baby in the woods on his way to see Tommy, and promptly adopts it.

Part of a collection!! Read it all.

spider lily by blue000jay

Wilbur has a body.

The freckle on the base of his left pinky finger (shared with Techno). The scar on his chin from when he was twelve and over ambitious, diving into too-shallow water. The scar on his throat from the final control room, and the puckered skin on his shoulder from the poisoned arrow that killed him next. Various other nicks and things that litter his skin from years of rebellion and living wild, a kid thrown into a vicious world with too little self-preservation.

(Resurrection AU, for when/if Wilbur comes back.)

The author knows how it's like to live with chronic pain, and it shows :(

Hands tied loose by rabiddog

"Let's run away, Tubbo." Tommy breathed; a wide grin split across his face as his hope grew. "Let's get out of here – far away. We can go anywhere, can't we? Let's just go, you and me right here, right now."

-

Tommy needs to leave. He has to get out of L'Manburg, he has to leave the Dream SMP for his own sanity, and he wants Tubbo to come with him.

But Tubbo has a family now, a better life - something that he can't give up... not even for his best friend.

Unhappy ending :(

The serpent underneath by rabiddog

Tommy and Techno sit at the memory-filled bench and talk. Technoblade reminisces, he talks, he admits his pent-up feelings, he cries. And Tommy? Tommy listens. (That's all he can do.)

-

“I’m sorry for everything, you know? For all of it. I’m so sorry about... about the first war, about the withers and the fighting, about...” Technoblade's fingers began to curl around Tommy’s blonde locks. “About Wilbur and everything after. I'm so, so sorry.”

:((((((((

Damning choices by rabiddog

Ranboo would have never expected to find himself in a horrifying situation such as that one - quite literally sandwiched between a rock and a hard place, with three lives dangling over his head and the answer on the tip of his tongue.

Tubbo, Michael, Tommy.

It's his choice. He chooses who lives, and who dies. His new family, or his first friend. But Ranboo... Ranboo already knows.

-

"Ranboo," He hissed out, voice cracking and somewhat staticky, "It's not your fault. It's not. You had no other choice; I know that, okay? I- I know that- I know- I know..."

:(((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Jealousy is a disease by rabiddog

Tommyinnit isn't new to the idea of jealousy. He understands it completely. He understands the way it runs rampage through his body each time he catches even a glimpse of Tubbo and Ranboo's new relationship, he understands that the emotion makes his heart clench uncomfortably from time to time. He sees it, feels it, and yet he doesn't care.

He doesn't care at all.

-

"You took Tubbo away from me. You took him away. You took my best friend, and now he's- now he's not my best friend anymore, and I-!"

:)

Word of Honour by rabiddog

Tommy could only stand and stare as Technoblade agreed to hand him over to Dream - as his brother traded him off like he was nothing. Like Tommy wasn't important.

-

Technoblade was a man of honour. He was a man of pride and sticking to his word. He knew that he owed Dream a favour, and no matter what that favour might be, he'd be compliant with it. Nothing would change his mind. (Not even Tommy.)

Almost canon. F.

Sweet Repentance by rabiddog

Perhaps Tommy should have told Phil about his arguably life-threatening injury the minute his father had opened the door. But of course, Tommy being Tommy, did not.

Dying seemed like a nice enough option as long as he was with his family.

-

Tommy just wanted acceptance, forgiveness, and peace. He wanted to close his eyes for the last time and finally be able to let go.

Tommy dies painfully.

A White Tulip by astervoid

He picked the white tulip from the bottom of the stem, standing up carefully as he held it pinched between his fingers. It would die now, inevitably, but Tommy relented and held the flower to his chest. What a silly, stupid thing to ground him. He almost hated that it made his breaths come easier and his steps feel lighter. Almost.

Tommy & Ranbooo chill on the bench.

lying to the authorities (again) by touchgrass

"Please tell me that my right-hand-man, my soon-to-be vice president, one of the people I trust the most on this godforsaken server, did not lie straight to my face and tell me he was twenty-fucking-years-old.”

Tommy opened his mouth to protest, but then closes it shut at the furious look on Wilbur's face. Oops.

~

It is the day of the elections and Wilbur Soot could not have chosen a worser time to realize that half his staff is underage.

The ONLY fic with this premise I've seen on Ao3.

Dear Theseus by rabiddog

Tommy had thought that they'd won - thought that they'd finally beaten Dream, and that everything would be okay. As it turns out, however, apparently Dream had called in that favour from Technoblade after all.

-

“Please,” Tommy whispered after a beat, quivering hands edged upwards to hesitantly press against the tip of the sword striking through his chest. Why, why, why? Why him? Why now?

Tommy almost wins.

A Shifting World by AplusIsRoman

How was Wilbur supposed to know it would end like this?

The smoke hung in the air and soot clung to his skin. His brother - adopted, but older by two minutes - stood back-to-back with him. The chilling cries of people and the calls of the withers rang through the air above the chasm that was once his home.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

How could he have known this would happen?

-

Sequel to A Child's World

Age-swap AU. Has a prequel.

heart of the sea by RyDyKG

Here is the secret that he barely thinks about, a secret that he shoves deep and far down in himself:

Wilbur Soot is a siren, and he’s not exactly proud of that fact.

Wilbur-centric. Urban Fantasy AU.

He knows, ok? by Ralli

By some means, Techno has given his raccoon younger brother some cotton candy. It doesn’t end as well as either of them would like.

Very, very cute :)

that's it, it's split (it won't recover) by Jk_Kat

Tommy has always been the fighter.

He has never been the fought for, and he knows it, with every whisper Tubbo directs at Ranboo, with every glance thrown his way- Tommy knows, the way he wishes he didn't, that they think he's dead.

If they're so convinced he's still dead, maybe the one good thing left he can do for them is die.

---

Or, Tommy gets addicted to being dead and thinks that nobody cares about him. The people who very much do try to pull him back from the brink before Dream can't resurrect him anymore.

Messed up, but with a happy ending.

Hugs 'n PTSD by rabiddog

Ranboo knew from the start that the recovery process would be hard - that moving on from quite literally being beat to death would be something hugely difficult to step away from, and that's if Tommy could even manage it at all.

He knew that it would be stressful and arduous, demanding and tough... he just hadn't expected to be holding Tommy through a PTSD-induced panic attack only days after his release from Pandora's Vault.

-

Ranboo isn't typically an overbearingly protective person. But for Tommy? He just might be.

I love this author if you can't tell.

Big Men don't cry by Shiny22Snivy

The room is small and warm, almost stifling compared to the cool openness of the ravine. It’s cosy and candlelit, and a chest sits open in the corner, full of what looks to be burnt rags of a former smart suit. And sitting in rumpled blankets on a bed, cradling a mug of something steaming, sits Tubbo.

At first, Tommy forgets all about Niki’s vague warning. He’s just so happy to see his best friend again, alive and well and all in one piece. Tubbo’s okay. Tubbo’s okay, and in front of him, and suddenly everything bad in the world is gone, if only for just a moment.

“Tommy?”

And then Tubbo turns to look at him.

Clingyduo fluff.

sins of the father (i broke all my bones that day i found you) by ryter

The thing that hurt Wilbur most was when he saw Fundy tear down the walls of L'Manburg. After all, those walls had gone up to protect his son. But in this world, Fundy trusts his father just a little bit more, and it ruins him.

Or: there's only one way Wilbur never becomes the villain. It's unclear whether this was the better path.

SOME VIOLENCE WARNINGS/BLOOD MENTION. CHARACTER DEATH. SO MUCH ANGST.

Sad, but cathartic.

REVIVED TOMMY HEADCANNONS AHAHAHAHA by racooninnit

i’m dropping ALL the fucking revived tommy headcannons on you guys today get ready for some ANGST

this is different from what i usually post but it was fun

i don’t think there’s a lot i need to put warnings for, obviously there are mentions of the way tommy died and the aftermath of that (i.e. injuries and trauma), but if there’s anything that needs a warning please tell me!

What it says on the tin- not really a fic.

Unfinished Stories:

Ongoing (Less than a month since the last update):

Over the River Styx by CorpseArt

I feel like we should name him.

There’s a scuffle at the back of his mind as he rolls up, curling tight with a shiver despite the heat of the flames licking up his back.

I mean, he’s like – us, but like a worse version clearly because oh man, this is just weirdness. There’s a flare of a tangle of emotions, complicated and fearful, resentful and livid with anger. I can’t believe this is what I’ve been reduced to, stuck in the mind of this- this child.

He’s like your age, Tommy. Are you calling yourself a child?

I mean, I am one so fucking duh. Child murderer.

-

Or: trauma bonding in the most unconventional of senses.

Just- Read it. Show the writer your support, it's unique, it's amazing and there needs to be more of it.

If history is dead and gone by iregretallmydecisions

“Don’t come any fucking closer,” Tommy shouted, startling Phil into stepping back. Tommy was still looking around wildly, like a trapped animal “Don’t fucking do it.” ---- In which Tommy finds himself faced with his splintered family, while it was still mostly whole. The past is not an easy place to be when the future was not kind. His family is forced to deal with the fall out.

It's better than Rewind, but you didn't hear that from me.

Wilbur Soot's Redemption (OR Ghostbur's Retry) by luckykitty0523

Wilbur had many regrets in his life, being lost in his madness and the urge for revenge drowned leaving a shell of who he once was. It was only in his dying moments that he regained himself but it was already too late for him leaving him drowning in wishes and regrets. However waking up in another different universe where wilbur was never born and family soulmates exist, so when wilbur said he wanted to fix the mistakes he never expected this turn of events.

OR

In one world wilbur dies and he would return as a ghost missing his memory and trying to fix what he did in life but in this one wilbur dies and wakes up in another world where soulmates exist and the wilbur of that world was never born so wilbur/ghostbur takes his place and tries to make up his mistakes to the other version of his friends.

Wilbur adopts SBI + Fundy + Dream.

A Talk Long Overdue by penink

Tommy has his first therapy session with Puffy.

Tommy gets therapy.

Into the Night by Interjection

“Don’t touch me,” Tommy hisses, leaning against the railing. “I will - I will-”

They’re a hundred stories up. Wind lashes against Phil’s face. Next to him, Sam makes choked noise.

“But why?”

Tommy looks up to meet Phil’s eyes, terror struck so deep in those pale blue irises Phil thinks they must hold all the world’s fears within them.

“You’ll die,” he whispers. “And then I’ll die. But I’ll come back.”

“And I don’t want to come back.”

Others have the freedom to live. Tommy doesn’t even have the freedom to die.

But maybe they can teach him that living doesn’t have to be so bad.

---

(Superpowers AU where whenever someone touches Tommy, they both die. But Tommy will always come back to life eventually. He just wants it to end - but instead, he’s on the run, terrified of how his power will be exploited if he’s caught.

A few people reluctantly team up to save him.)

Funky SBI dynamics + a Sam that cares. Also a lot of angst.

[taki118]

Go Watch the Venture Brothers

So just heard the complete and utter Bullshit news that Adult Swim has cancelled one of (if not the best shows) they have the Venture Bros. This series is one of those shows that for WHATEVER reason never got to the level of fandom Rick and Morty has even though they’ve been at the genre parody game longer and in my opinion better. 

The series is about Rusty Venture former boy adventurer and failing super scientist who in an attempt to keep his head above water in debt goes around with his two boys Hank and Dean, and bodyguard Brock on misadventues while various legal archnemisis go after him, such as the Monarch. 

So if you never watched or never heard of this 7 season series let me give you a break down on why you should, 

1) Art Style & Animation

Venture bros is one of those rare Adult aimed animated series that that really truly tries to utilize their medium to the best of their abilities. Season 1 had like such a small budget and corners had to be cut so it can be a little hard to watch at times. 

But with each passing season they get a little better, a little more fluid, go just a little harder and it truly feels rewarding to watch. Like seeing an artist you follow online improve over the years. Like they COULD have stayed with the choppy and stiff animation from season 1 it fit right in with its fellow adult animated shows but it didn’t. They strove for quality to have something that matched the story they were telling.

2) The Writing 

Venture Bros has some of the tightest and consistently great writing of ANY serialized show I’ve seen, adult, animated or other wise. Wanna know why? Cause it’s all done by TWO people (save for like one ep each season where one other person is allowed to touch their baby). Yeah TWO people and they work their asses off every season to interject, humor, refrences, parody, plot and character development in equal measure. 

3) Character Development

Um yes in case you were wondering that’s right an adult animated show has CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT  that holds as the series goes on. Not to give spoilers but characters will go through changes in alignment, relationships will develop and change, some characters will go through negative arcs where they are straight up unbareable for a season before coming out the other side even better than they were before. There is no end of epsiode or even end of season reset. Characters, settings, and dynamics all change over the course of the show and it feels just so god damn good.

4) Story Development 

Just like the characters the story of the Venture Bros grows and changes each season. Things that are set up even as early as season one are paid off as the series goes on. Like not to be that bitch but you know how RIck and Morty teases an overarching plot ALL THE TIME but like will often just spit in the face of fans hoping for more than like one episode a season addressing it? Yeahhhhhhh that doesnt happen here, fans are consistently rewarded for putting the time in to rewatch and really think about what happened in the series. Characters that are seen in the background or are just referenced by other characters will be brought in to be recurring characters, things that start off as a small detail or gag will be given larger relevance and each time they do this you get that “OH I remember that from last season! So thats what it was!” The writers WANT you to rewatch, they WANT you to analyze and they WANT you to theorize, and they give you a show that gives back the time you put in.

5) Parody & Reference 

This series does a great thing with parody. They make real characters  who are just as enjoyable as the characters they parody, they make story lines that both poke fun at the absurdity of the media but shows the writers love for it. So often parody and references are just used to mock the thing but with Venture Bros you feel the love and care so when you know the thing being parodied you can laugh but feel good about laughing cause they are never laughing at a thing maybe you cared for in your youth but rather laughing with it.

And it’s never just one thing. When they parody a thing its often layered with other things to make it even more unique. Scooby-Doo is overlayed with famous criminals, Laura Croft is mixed Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, GI Joe is given the look of the Village People and so on. They never go for the easy joke or reference. Hell theres an episode that starts with them reciting the lyrics to David Bowies Space Oddity for really no reason other than they could. They weave these things in naturally with their setting and characters so nothing feels out of place. Like if you dont catch a reference or parody you dont feel like “I think this isa reference to something?” like a LOT of things do not just adult animated shows. You arent taken out of the moment cause it all feels so natural. 

6) The Characters 

God damn these characters, I could go on for hours about these characters. From main to one off these are some of the most likeable characters you can find. I mean it when I say I can’t think of a single character I wish they had cut cause they are all so well created. Even the ones I hate i have fun hating cause they were made to be that way. I’ll be good though I’ll only talk about my absolute top faves.

- The Monarchs

You ever sit and wish villain couples could have functional  healthy relationships? Well look no further than Malcom Fitzcarraldo aka The Monarch and Dr. Shelia Girlfriend (yes that is her last name). The Monarch is a high strung impulsive saturday morning cartoon villain whos tendency to over react is only matched by his unspecified hatred of Dr. Venture. And Dr. G is his nonsense partner in crime who will cut a bitch if they don’t play by their admittedly weird rules. Both characters are great on their own but are better together. Though that doesnt mean they always get along. Like a real couple they have their ups and downs they fight, break up, make-up and grow stronger in their relationship with each season. 

- Shore Leave

Ok ok so I want you to imagine James Bond, mixed with GI Joe simmering in a cocktail of the most flamboyant gay men you have ever seen and you have one of my favorite gay characters/characters in general. Shore Leave is a member of OSI (the shows SHEILD/GI Joe parody organization) he’s loud, brash, flippant, sassy and highly competent at his job loving every second of getting to beat bad guys down within an inch of their life. I love seeing him play off the stoic Brock and the two have this great brotherly dynamic that’s never called into question. He also gets to have a very cute romance with Al the Alchemist (who is also great). I could talk about this man all day.

- Dr. Rusty Venture

They did such a good job with this man. He’s a self serving, sexist, perverted, whinny, self important asshole and yet you feel pity and genuine sympathy for him and want him to succeed. You can see how Dr. V was given a raw deal by his father who seemed to care more about his adventures than his sons well being and how this molded him into the bitter man he is today, but on the flip side you can see where he chose to use that as a crutch for his worst behaviors and impulses. Seeing him slowly grow and change and be an actual good father to his boys while all the while still be a giant dick is actually really great. 

- Dr. Byron Orpheus 

Ahhhhh Dr. Orpheus part Dr. Strange Parody part busybody stay at home dad, he’s just such a delight. Dr. Orpheus is a divorcee, with an unfulfilling job of maintaining order to the cosmos (which isnt as hard as one might think), and uses his magical ablities in ways most of us would (ie menial tasks and home chores). Overly dramatic and affectionate Dr. O is a delight whenever he appears, but he’s at his best around his daughter and old friends The Order of the Triad. 

Again I can go on but all these characters ranging from main to recurring are crafted with the utmost care for you to want to see them succeed or fail, to see them again even if you know it’ll never happen, and want them to cross paths with other characters. 

The Venture Bros is one of those series that I will ALWAYS recommend even to the pickiest of humor tastes. But if you don’t believe its as good as I said or don’t think the concept is to your tastes I’ll recommend a few eps that I think best show off the base idea of the series without giving much away. In terms of plot and spoilers, though somethings wont make a lot of sense. 

- S1 ep10 "Tag Sale – You're It!" - Dr. V is having a yard sale so of course all manner of costumed weirdos show up.  - S2 ep5 "Twenty Years to Midnight" - basically a fetch quest around the world to save the planet with daddy issues - S3 ep2 "The Doctor Is Sin" - Again daddy issues but with one of the best recurring characters and a great showcase of the series deeper emotional plots - S4 ep6 "Self-Medication" - Really embraces the parody as Rusty goes to a former boy adventurer support group.  Anyway the show is 7 seasons with 80 episodes, please go watch it. I will never forgive @adultswim​ for cancelling what was to be their final season. And in closing GO TEAM VENTURE!

[norealgoodbyes]

Been trying to think about the news today and it still really doesn’t feel real. Or at least the meaning hasn’t really hit me yet. I’m not sure if or when it will. If I were an artist maybe I get some of what I’m feeling out of my system that way, but I’m not. I’m not much of a writer either, but I’ve seen a few people talk about what Yu-Gi-Oh! meant to them personally and I figure maybe I could try that.

One of the clearest memories of my childhood is of watching the precipice duel- I’d think I’d been casually watching the show for a while up till then, but that’s when it totally changed to me. My parents had routinely been getting me into various sports and extracurriculars that I did not want to be in and that Saturday morning I had a softball game to get to. My dad basically had to drag me out of the house to get me there and I missed the last half of the episode. I remember seeing the rotting BEWD melt around Mokuba in Kaiba’s hallucination and it stuck with me through the entire drizzly game. It had to have been the first time I think I really cared about characters in a piece of media to that extent. And I didn’t have anyone to talk about it with. 

I had friends as a kid, but kids can be cruel. I’d learned a few years prior that Pokemon was no longer a safe thing to talk about at school if I wanted to enjoy my recess. It was clear from the get go that Yu-Gi-Oh would fall into the same category. It’s not like I was getting beaten up, but I was a dumb, sensitive kid who was painfully honest. Kindof an easy target. I didn’t have the kinds of friends who would stick up for me for liking something “uncool”. I wished I had Yuugi and his friends. Instead I learned to lie about my interests at school and hoard manga and cards in a cabinet in my room. I’m not sure it was a happy time, but I wouldn’t have given up on Yu-Gi-Oh for the world. It meant so much to me. I loved the characters, the drama, the card game, the lore, the mystery of the millennium items. All of it. 

I remember when I started getting access to the internet and learning about how different the show I’d been watching was from its Japanese counterpart. It was so exciting! It was like ‘here’s this thing that I already love, but there’s an entirely different version out there with swears, violence,’ -blackjack, and hookers, you get the idea. It was absolutely tantalizing to a slightly edgy tween. I remember there was a fansite that hosted episode summaries and a forum; I think it also had scans of the GX manga, which had just started coming out in Japan? If anyone knows what it was called, please let me know. I don’t remember the name, just that it had a white, sortof silvery layout. It also had a modest little fanfiction section which I poured over religiously. I hadn’t written any myself, but I had so many ideas. Something about a sprawling mess of a story involving magic and other worlds I think? I don’t remember the details, but it kept my mind occupied through a lot of middle school.

I managed to push my love for the series away for a long time after that. Bits and pieces of it would filter over into my life from time to time and I’d pretend it was meaningless, or ridicule it as that ‘dumb card game show’. I’d push it down and try to forget. It wasn’t till I was at a con back in 2016 walking around with my best friend that I confessed that I’d earnestly loved it. I knew he wouldn’t mock me for it, but god. His quiet affirmation that that was ok, cool even, almost brought me to tears while walking through the dealers hall. I don’t talk with that friend very much these days for complicated reasons, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget that. 

I started this blog the following year, in 2017. Since then, it has been an absolutely incredible time to see the amazing outpouring of fanart, comics, fanfiction, meta essays, and love for a series that I had thought I was years late to joining. Even if I’d only vaguely known that there were other people out there who were as deeply affected by this series as I was, I would’ve been happy. To experience what I have since starting this tumblr goes way beyond that. Every day I get to see someone else who's fallen in love with some aspect of the series that I’d never considered, a character examined from a new angle, a piece of art capturing something new about it. It’s so beautiful to me and makes me love the series even more. And it’s so wonderful to not feel alone in that. There is such an incredible community here that I am so glad to be a part of it, even in my own small way.. 

I’ve since gotten better about being more transparent in my love for the series in real life too and the support I’ve gotten from my friends still takes my breath away. I’ve gotten bold enough to hang a print in my room! My boyfriend got me Pot of Greed earrings for my birthday! I don’t feel like I’m hiding my love in cabinets anymore and I’m not wishing I had some else’s friends. A lot of that has to do with who I am and how I’ve grown up, but I think a lot has to do with you all too- and of course, Kazuki Takashi. I’m so glad to be here with you and I know I wouldn’t have any of that if it weren’t for him. 

Thank you so much, Takahashi-sensei, for the gift you have given us and the friends we’ve made through it.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Unpopular Writing Opinions, Part III

I asked for your unpopular writing opinions, and you answered! Here's the third and final batch (paraphrased because you all had some THOUGHTS!) along with my responses. Feel free to jump in on the conversation in the comments or in reblogs! ♥

1. The trend of openly mocking badly written books can both lift and destroy another writer's confidence. I've personally experienced both a confidence boost when reminded of my earlier work (and how much my writing has improved), as well as the imposter syndrome of seeing someone else mocked for using a trope or character dynamic I've used or like. I can't help wondering how authors feel when their work is mocked.

This one got me, because I've also both enjoyed and cringed the lampooning of published books. There's such a "mean kid" mob mentality to enjoying the evisceration of someone else's hard work, and that's the part that makes me cringe. In a world that is in truly desperate need of more humanity and kindness, it's not a very nice thing to do.

On the other hand, it's also such a fantastic way to open your mind to what works and what doesn't. The comedy and wit often employed in these lampoons makes it easy to understand and internalize why something is a problem. As for the authors, the sad reality of being published--whether you're traditionally published or self-published--is that you have to be prepared for people to hate your book, because they will. Even the most popular and beloved books of all time have 1-star devastating reviews, and many of the books you'll see lampooned actually did very well. In fact, the first book I saw lampooned in this manner was Twilight, and people can say what they want about that series, but it has sold over 160 million copies, earned 44,000 5-star ratings on Amazon, has been translated into 49 languages, and spun-off a film franchise that made $3.4 billion at the box office. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2. It's better to have a plain, solid book cover with text than a bad cover. Especially one with poorly hand drawn people. I don't care how popular a book is. If the cover is crap, I skip it.

Agree and disagree. I agree that it's better to have a plain cover than a bad art cover, and I do think having a good cover is super important. But, as a reader, I try not to put a lot of weight into a bad cover. I've read a lot of amazing books (both traditionally published and self-published) with awful covers.

3. There are too many slow burn romances. People act like they're something new, but its been a thing forever. Slow burns have pretty much been the norm in nearly everything. It's just not as satisfying as having the couple get together faster.

I actually love slow burn romances, but they can definitely be drawn out too long. I think that's when they get frustrating--when the obstacles keeping the couple apart seem forced and ridiculous. It's better to let the couple get together at the natural point rather than forcing a slow burn for drama's sake.

4. I don't think every aspiring or two-book author should be selling writing courses, workshops, writing advice books, and editing services. Like, leave that stuff to the really experienced authors who have been in the game more than a few years.

SUPER AGREE! But, also, this one is kind of prickly. Here's the thing: there's not a lot of money in being a published author, whether you're traditionally published or self-published. The median income for traditionally published authors is hard to pin down, but the average traditionally published author makes less than $25k per year (USD) on their books alone. For the average self-published author, it's significantly less than that. Which is why many authors look for other ways to supplement their income, whether that's selling online writing courses, holding workshops, publishing writing advice books, or offering other writing-related products and services. Unfortunately, I do think a lot of authors and aspiring authors are too quick to put these products and services out there. I tend not to judge by how many books the author has--number of published books doesn't necessarily correlate with experience--but I cringe a little when I see admittedly newbie writers offering these things.

5. Enemies written without the intent of romance tend to have more chemistry than those who are. I would rather watch two dudes be enemies and know they'll never get together than some half-baked attempt because they're going to be endgame.

I feel like this is the weird reality of shipping in general--there's so often more chemistry between characters who the writer/s never intended to be romantically interested in one another. I can think of so many examples from TV shows and movies, and several from books as well. I suspect this has something to do with interpretation, the fact that friendship is such a lovely base for romance, and we sometimes see interactions as romantic or having romantic or sexual tension when they don't, and the knowledge that they probably won't ever get together (or the deep hope that somehow, against all odds, they will) drives that chemistry up even more for us.

That's all for now! We may do this again at some point because it was so much fun. Feel free to send them in any time and I will save them for next time! ♥