#like i don’t lose my mind over the niche stuff but this is like.. so fucking easy to google

[undedkat]

A character catching an arrow in midair kills my immersion so much. That shit is going somewhere between 200 and 250 meters per second. Unless magic is involved they absolutely are not catching that shit.

[mothmanssweetsucculentass]

Nina The Killer Headcanons

Psycho Barbie’s turn in the spotlight!!!!

I’ve always thought Nina in concept was so fucking cool, like, an obsessed fangirl becoming a copycat killer always scratched a good niche in my brain, so I never hated her like most of the fandom did when I was younger, I just never really interacted with anything about her cause. The fandom hated her, lmao.

Expect canon typical violence/topics beyond this point pookies <3

TGIRL SWAG!!!!!!!!! Nina is trans I’m making it canon right now and you can’t do shit about it

Roughly about 25, two years younger than Jeff

Ann ain’t the only zombie adjacent character in the mansion

Nina actually has zero fucking clue why she keeps coming back every time Jeff murders her, but she’s having fun with it so ig it’s fine right?

Some of the more supernaturally intelligent members of the mansion also have no fucking idea what her deal is. By all accounts she should be dead and rotting a thousand times over

Eyeless Jack has done four vivisections on her and all yielded the same result, human

Except humans don’t bounce back after having their heart cut out????

Seconds after losing organs they just???? Reappear??? Inside her body???? What the fuck????

Out of everyone she’s a massive enigma. No one can figure it out but everyone loves using her as a guinea pig for murder purposes

Ya girl is such a masochist she actually gets disappointed when people don’t like testing new stabbing methods on her

She’s so unapologetically a freak, she’s cringe, but she’s free

Out of everyone in the mansion she’s the easiest to get along with

Sometimes to her detriment, her hyper extroverted personality off puts some of the more quiet and reserved inhabitants

No one truly hates her, you can’t exactly hate someone who doesn’t have a combative bone against you in their body, but not everyone likes to stick around her

It bothers her only a little bit when she’s noticed she’s pushed people away with her intense personality (it bothers her A LOT-)

She loves collecting and gifting trinkets and jewelry to people. The amount of Kandi bracelets she’s made Jeff and Ben, good lord-

The most persistent determined bitch in the world. You would have to nuke her entire existence to get her to stop focusing/going after something

Of course it ends up making her stubborn

Buuuuuuut she’s also an honorary favorite dog of Slenderman

The household often has monthly contests to see who can have the highest body count. You’ll never guess who’s almost always in the top 3

So she’s out on missions a lot. She comes back and gossips talks about what’s happened when she comes back two days later

Surprisingly doesn’t have a sweet tooth? You’d think with how manic she acts she injects sugar and caffeine into her bloodstream, but nope, she doesn’t. She hates fruit candies and can only stomach dark chocolate

Always comes back from hits and supply runs with tons of candy anyways to share with everyone

Is a SLUT for spicy foods

Ann had to cut her tongue off one time because she fucked it up so bad eating stuff that was borderline radioactive with how spicy it was

Everyone is convinced she would eat actual nuclear waste if given the chance just to feel the burn

The biggest foodie in general too. She’s not the best at cooking but everyone loves her pancakes

Ben made a joke one time about her putting crack in the batter. Two weeks later she had to apologize to mansion parents Masky and Hoody about why half the house was suffering withdrawal symptoms. Someone has to monitor her while she cooks now. Bummer.

She’s a total junkie but she is responsible about it at least dammit!

Like yeah she gets stoned out of her goddamn mind with Ben every other weekend, but that shit doesn’t leave her or his room

She has to set a good example for Sally!!!!!

The kid fucking adores Nina like a big sister

Nina is always bringing her goodies and toys

In return Sally does her makeup for the day

Does it look like a 5 year old scribbled all over her face? Yes and she doesn’t care!!!! She wears that shit with pride

Helen made fun of it once and he has since learned not to piss off the hyperactive pink glitter mayhem lady who knows how to wield a chainsaw

Oh yeah fuck knives. Nina got tired of knives pretty quick. Ya girl USES A CHAINSAW

It’s totally not the same kind of chainsaw Jeff used when he was a scare actor in college shut up no way

She’s really good with the thing too. It’s so heavy and she totes it around like it weighs nothing

She’s got such a sleeper build it’s insane. She’s 5”2 and 160 pounds of pure whoop ass

AND SHE DOES IT ALL IN PLATFORMS AND ACRYLIC NAILS??????

She’s just constantly full of energy and needs to be doing something at every second or she thinks she’ll explode

Besides her signature chainsaw covered in stickers and glitter, she’s also pretty handy with handguns, axes, and baseball bats

She’s got a small collection of weapons under her bed

Three guns (all customized with stickers and paint), a large axe (with a heart in the middle of the blade), and two baseball bats (one covered in nails)

Her room is a fucking mess but she knows where anything and everything is

Girl can’t even see her floor and she’s somehow able to find what she needs in there

Bead curtains, a disco ball, leopard print carpet on the ceiling, lava lamps, it looks like scene mixed with the 70’s threw up in there

Not exactly the most fashionable but has the biggest wardrobe and most flashy way of dressing

Like. I don’t even think she owns anything solid. Definitely not solid black

Has given herself many tattoos and piercings

To the point she’s so good at it that the others start coming to her asking for her to do the same to them

Her hair never stays one color for long, but often goes between red and purple

Is best friends/close with: Ben, Kagekao, Jason, LJ, Sally, the Puppeteer, Clockwork, and Jane

Has a tolerable relationship/is neutral about: Masky, Hoody, Liu, Eyeless Jack, Ann, Helen, and Slenderman

Hates no one

Has a… questionable relationship with Jeff

When first starting off he fucking hated her, but she was so goddamn persistent and just kept getting back up despite the multiple times he was certain he’d killed her, to the point she’s grown on him like a parasite

She sees him as her ultimate best friend, her ride or die, and he’s flattered…but he definitely doesn’t feel intensely as she does

Like he obviously doesn’t hate her anymore and actually quite enjoys her company. But she also annoys the shit out of him and he often finds himself needing a break from her constant state of “on”. Girl has no off switch

The two of them are often found lounging together and talking random shit, or sparring

She believes that somehow the first time he killed her, it gave her her weird zombie regeneration abilities

And of course she thinks that’s cool as fuck and nearly worshipped the ground he walks on because of it

The more time has passed the more she’s grown to stop feeling like she needs him to function

She went from making herself Jeff’s biggest fan her whole personality to becoming an actual decent person outside of her unhealthy obsession with him

Surprisingly never had any romantic feelings for the man

Like yeah she was obsessed but not like that

She just thinks he’s waaaaay cooler than other people see him as

Jane and Clockwork are her girl solidarity bffs

Jane was practically the girl’s mentor in how to be girl 101 when Nina was beginning to realize she was trans

Whereas Clockwork was her combat mentor who taught Nina everything she knows about kicking someone’s ass

They went from her cool lesbian moms to her cool lesbian besties

She’s one of the only few who can tolerate LJ’s nonsense

And by nonsense I mean his usual mad hatter ramblings and personality. Nina thinks it’s hilarious and loves that he’s just as down to clown (SORRY) as she is

Her, him, and Sally are the prank trio

The two would do anything to hear that little girl erupt into giggles

Her and Ben bond over scene fashion and old internet stuff

Ben is also her weed dealer. He’s everyone’s weed dealer but she gets special treatment and doesn’t have to pay him shit cause they’re besties

She’s a pretty positive person overall but cannot fucking stand/HATES anyone outside the mansion

She views everyone there like family

The outside world not so much. Bullying has really left her bitter

Hates blackmail but definitely holds grudges!!! It’s hard to get on her bad side though, so no one’s worried about it

Loves breakcore, kpop, jpop, any kind of hyper and electronic music, extra points if it’s pop

[rottenbrainstuff]

Don't you guys love it when I unearth the most random unrelated niche bullshit and then ramble about it incoherently for you all to read?

The latest thing giving me the dopamine hit atm is a silly otome game called Love & Deepspace, details of which mercifully hidden for you below the cut:

A friend of a friend recommended this game to me and it's turning out to be surprisingly fun. I'm impressed by how little content is paywalled or monetized. Like, I wouldn't mind dropping a little money on the game cause I'm enjoying it, and I HAVE spent a couple bucks here and there on items, but it doesn't really give you a huge advantage in the long term over someone who is playing it for free and that’s kind of surprising. (My god though this game is fucking chonky. If it keeps needing to download stuff I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to play….)

Unlike some other otome games where you have very clear relationship paths with the focus on one single person, here you develop relationships with everyone sort of all at once. I know some people like that, but I personally don't prefer it - it seems even in video games I am too monogamous to have multiple boyfriends at once. I started out focusing on Zayne, cause the older and more serious kuudere character is the one I tend to like in the silly games like this, but then Sylus popped up and now I have abandoned Zayne, I'm so sorry babe, it’s not you, it’s me.

Sylus is very much giving me vibes that the devs all had a design meeting and said "oh the girlies really fucking like Astarion from BG3 right now, why don't we make a copy of that, we could make him the tsundere criminal antagonist character or something?" One of the audio stories has the MC teasing him about looking/acting like a vampire and that's so funny, the devs absolutely knew what they were doing. Hilariously, one of the Sylus-specific custom titles you can win is a nickname I used to have back in the dinosaur days when I was in college, and I find that endlessly amusing. I like how he complains you're in the way if you get too close to enemies in combat - I will choose to interpret this as protectiveness, and it suits me just fine anyways cause I can't fucking dodge properly, and prefer to shoot shit from a distance.

Sorrrrry but I find the english audio way too cringe (particularly Sylus' VA?... sorry) so I have been playing it with the japanese audio. (because I understand a little japanese, and perhaps because I want to shame myself for not practicing at all in the last couple years) I'm sure the japanese audio is no less cringey to native japanese speakers, but the point is that *I* cannot tell. And you see, it increases my vocabulary of useless words I will never need to use - for instance this week I learned the word for "gun". I also like to note the translation choices where the audio and the subtitles don't match up, I find it interesting, like little easter eggs. In this case my understanding is the game was released in Chinese first, so instead of comparing a translation to an original, I am comparing one translation to another translation, but I still find it amusing. (Pie the fox is called “six dumplings” in Japanese)

I enjoy the little details... Sylus is very good at the card game and I can almost never win, Zayne is ridiculously easy to bully into swapping cards and I almost never lose. Sylus sucks at the crane game to the point where it's ridiculous (or maybe I just have bad luck???) but Zayne cheats and uses ice and wins a lot - myeh I dunno. It's cute, I'm easy to please, it's making my brain happy.

The fine details of the story are a bit incomprehensible and the interface takes a little getting used to. I do appreciate all the moving parts here, the story and the collectible content and the combat and everything, but it's a little bit humorous how all the bits don't overlap tidily, for instance I am getting event-related texts that are giving away spoilers for things I haven't learned in the main story yet. And Sylus' separate chapters popped up I think after I finished the ... second main story chapter? And it begins with mentions of a serious disaster that happens in the main story that I hadn't read about yet. It's funny though, just funny. I just got access to protocores and now everything is a million times more complicated. I have no idea why dumb shit like this releases the dopamine in my brain but whatevs. I dunno. If you found this post through a tag search feel free to jabber at me about this game, these little niche things I find, I have so few people I can talk about them with. Every once in a while I will holler my thoughts out into the void here. Blah blah blah. Etc.

[call-me-tk]

Beetlejuice the Musical - an Analysis/My Favorite Parts

Prologue: Invisible

“Grown-ups wanna fix things. When they can't it only fills them with shame, so they just look away." 

The Whole “Being Dead" Thing

TRUMPETS

“Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein”

"How you doin'? Oh, not good! *scats*"

“If you die while listening to this album, it’s still gonna keep playing”

“Blah blah Bible Jesus Magic”

DIES IRAE

Ready Set, Not Yet

THE FAST BITS

When Adam waits a beat after his fast bit before saying “ready set” because he’s not as confident as Barbara ahhhhhhhh

When Barbara sings the word "terror" like "terra" 

“Hiding away so you don’t have to face being a bad mom” whoever wrote these lyrics is so mean

“Oh… NO”

The Whole "Being Dead" Thing: Reprise

The pause after “Hi!”

“Jesus I can’t spell”

“Eh, worth a try”

“I’m the bio-exorcist, giving houses enemas”

Dead Mom

“Daddy’s moving forward, daddy didn’t lose a mom”

“A plague of mice, a lightning strike, or drop a nuclear bomb”

Fright of their Lives

“Drop your panties”

“No. What fills you with RAGE”

“Being mean to a pet” MOOD BARBARA

BJ’s soliloquy, he’s so over it, so DRAMATIC

“WHY GOD SLASH SATAN”

“Uch, these dopes are both hopeless”

Ready, Set (Reprise)

You can just SEE the shoulder bump with “I’m sure we can haunt our own halls”

“I gotta get right outside my comfort zone” 😬

No Reason

“What’s happening, GURL”

“Buy more crystals”

The windchime during “put a little alright in the world”

“Where good people die” “NO”

“Cuz you’re bored” FLUTE SOLO

“Meaninglessness and alone” “NONONONONOOOOOOoooooo~” the talent it takes to pull off that vocal riff is ridiculous

“Is this still about me?”

The harmonies in the last note

Invisible (Reprise)/On the Roof

“Somebody’s on the roof” always has me cackling

“I, Lydia Deetz” *BIG SIGH* “will be gone”

“I’M GONNA HAVE A NEW BEST FRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEND”

Say My Name

The musical style?!?!?!?

This is my favorite song in the entire show. And it was not an easy choice.

“What?” “Nothing”

Nice Moana reference

“Beetlejuice?” she says, like “what a dumb fuckin name”

LYDIA’S WHOLE SECTION LET’S GOOOOOO

Including the music change

BJ being like WHAT and SO frustrated every time she psychs him out

In the production I saw Lydia said “I just metcha” and I like that better

“I may be suicidal but Beetlejuice it’s not as if I’ve lost my mind” OOF

“That was possession” lol he’s so proud of himself

Love love love the rhyme: “Pretty much, any ghost’ll do, sure” “Then Beetlejuice, what do I need you for?” and the subsequent WOAH WOAH WOAH

The instrumental hit right after she sings “Yeah I got game” is my favorite 

This whole song just slaps idk what else to tell you

Day-O

“I’d have to… check my pay stubs”

“Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy” as he pops up out of the table he had to hide in the whole scene

Dad finally saying Lydia’s name as he’s swept away

“It’s our house now, kid”

Girl Scout

“Ooh~!”

The piano during “my heart is defective” A+ score writing

“Still”

*dramatic music* JAMBOREES

“Whee!”

*nervous laughter after meeting Lydia*

“By selling cookies *BIG BREATH* four dollars a box”

Also. FOUR DOLLARS A BOX?!??!?!?! Jealous.

“Pedophiles” 😇

That Beautiful Sound

“He is so weird”

Love the smooth jazzy style

“Time for a few OH MY GOD”

“How many… people… live here?”

Lydia’s laugh after “nice moves Lydia” is so pure

“Pfah, holy moly, lotta people come to this house”

“Yes, I hear that sooooooooooound” he’s so happy

“No more condescending adults hanging around”

“Daddy’s leaving me the hell alone”

Barbara 2.0

“It’s the stuff of our lives, and all of it’s shit.”

“Okay, that wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.”

“Buhreak it”

“The new Adam is wiserrrrrrr”

Harmonieeeeees

What I Know Now

“I went to parties a lot…” *sniff* “You know?”

“Niche was right, you know? To live is to suffer, bro”

“Life is short but death is super long”

I really like this song because if you ruminate on it long enough it’s a good song to talk you into living life to its fullest even if things suck.

Home

I love that this is a reprise but also the whole theme of Lydia’s character - that her mom is home. But then she finds out that she can have a home with a (very dysfunctional) family and not forget her mom either.

Her little laugh when she says Delia’s name

Creepy Old Guy

“I’m a creepy old guy!!” 

“Girls may seem disgusted, but we’re actually just shy”

Shoobedowop

In the show I saw, Lydia goes: “Even on the inside, he- he’s disgusting” which I liked better than the recording

“A dance break on an album? Amazing.”

“L’chaim” is pronounced correctly, thank you Alex

“God be glorified” in a fucked up key

The whole company going “I can’t believe some cultures think this kind of thing’s alright” in unison

Jump in the Line/Dead Mom - Reprise

A perfect song to end a perfect show.

“I adore huh”

“Mama if you’re listening, doesn’t this just blow your mind?”

Shake shake shake senora in the background UGH MY HEART

DAYLIGHT COME AND ME WAN GO HOME

She’s home (I’m not crying you’re crying)

Overall thoughts:

Alex doing the Beetlejuice voice throughout THE WHOLE SHOW

The rhyming throughout the whole musical is just. A+

Lydia’s songsssssss

Honestly all the vocal parts are real hard

And so is the book for the pit

There’s like 8 different genres of music throughout the show and it just WORKS

I had no idea this show existed until the start of this year and now it’s in my top 3 favorite musicals. 10/10 amazing incredible perfect

[deceitfuldevil]

1k Follower Sleepover Celebration!

Some may argue that 1,000 is not that large of a number, but I implore you to look up what 1,000 people in a room look like; and you’ll be as dumbfounded as me. I cannot believe that now over 1,000 real people follow me. I will not lie, I have always thought very little of myself and my writing. So hitting 1,000 followers is a milestone like no other to me, and I can’t begin to think of the right words to say to express how grateful and happy I am for each and every one of you for supporting me. Me and my weird, strange, obscure, and niche work. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you all.

Now for what everyone actually wants to read, no more sentimental blubbering for now.

I basically want to put out as many fics, drabbles, and headcanons as possible. So here are 100 different prompts for requesting! 33 smut, 33 fluff, and 33 angst. (1 extra for creating your own prompt to request!) The sleepover begins today, 2/16/23 (12:00pmCST) and ends 2/23/23 (11:59pmCST). 

Smut:

“Never tease me like that again”

“Touch me and you lose”

“You don't have to be so shy around me, you know?”

“You don’t have to be gentle with me, I don’t break easily.”

“You keep acting like a little brat and I’ll take you over my knee right here, I don’t care how many people are watching.”

“I’m not going to touch you unless you beg.”

“You can't tease me like that and expect not to be punished.”

“You look a bit tied up, want me to come back later?”

"You can give me another one, can't you baby? for me, please?"

“You better shut that pretty little mouth before I put it to work, love.”

"Cry all you want… I'm starting to think you're enjoying this."

“Don’t give me that look”

“The only way you’re getting off is on my thigh”

“Why don’t we film it?”

“I'm going to ruin you.”

“Do you think of me when you touch yourself?”

"What's the matter, love? you get nervous when i look at you like this?"

“I thought you said you were going to be good for me?”

“It hurts!” . . . “Good.”

"I know you're mad and all, but I just wanna bend you over the desk right now."

“Aw baby why didn’t you tell me, I could’ve helped you”  

 “Gonna fuck you until the only word you remember is my name.”

“Don’t tell me you’re feeling short of breath now”

“No, I’m the one that’s supposed to be making you feel good.”

“Yeah? you like being treated as a doll, don't you?”

“You aren't the innocent little angel everyone thinks you are, are you?”

“I'll stuff you so full you'll be leaking my cum for days.”

“Show me where you want me.”

“I wanna rip that dress off you.” . . . “Only if you buy me a new one.” . . . “Deal.”

“You want to come?” . . . “Y-yes, I— please—” . . . “Hm, but do you really deserve to?” 

“Stop fucking teasing me and get to it already.” 

“Th-There are people outside this door—” . . . “Well, this isn’t about them, is it?” 

“I don’t like people touching what’s mine.”

Fluff:

“Just to clarify: me holding your hand doesn’t, like, mean anything, by the way. not in that way, at least. unless you want it to mean something. I don't mind. That's cool.”

“Come taste! Tell me if I need to add anything.”

“Why can’t we stay here forever?”

“My lipgloss is all over your lips.”

“That's the first time I've ever seen you smile.”

“You canceled plans for me?”

“Quick, kiss me!”

“That's the sixth time you’ve complimented me today.”

“How mad would you be if I kissed you?”

“It’s hard to sit here and be close to you and not kiss you.”

“My heart is so full of you I can hardly call it my own.”

"I heard what you said...no one's ever talked about me that way before.."

“Here's a spare key so you don’t have to keep coming in through the window.”

“As much as I’d like to stay in bed with you, I have breakfast to make for the two of us.” 

“Not that I'm not enjoying being used as your pillow, but I think we’d be more comfortable in bed.”

“It’s always been you, and it will always be you. Please never forget that.” 

 “Aw, sweetheart you know you don’t have to ask...come here.”

“Your cheeks are really soft.” . . . “Stop squishing them!” 

“How much lipstick is smeared on my lips right now?”

“Wherever you want to go, I promise I'll be with you every step of the way.”

“Is it the alcohol or are your eyes always this pretty”

“Never pegged you for a horny drunk”

“Can you wash my hair for me?” 

“You sent me inappropriate pictures. . . when I was out in public” 

“Can I sit on your lap?” 

“I had a nightmare…”

“Should we make it official?” (I’m thinking Vegas?)

"Should I stop talking?" . . . "Don't, your voice is very soothing"

"Do you want me to carry you?"

"Thank you" . . . "For what?" . . . "For coming into my life"

"C-can you... hold me for a while?" "Of course."

“Is that... my shirt that you're wearing?”

“gods, you're such an idiot.” . . . “and yet, you still love me that way.”

Angst:

"It would be better if you stayed away from me."

"Do you really want me? Or is this just your way of trying to solve your daddy issues?"

"I am here to tell you that I cannot meet you anymore."

“You always push people away. i just thought you’d never do it to me”

“I know I have a heart because I can feel it breaking”

“I hate the way that I don't hate you.”

“I didn't realize it was such an inconvenience.”

“How many times am I supposed to forgive you?”

“All my friends told me you’d break my heart.”

“How could you let them say that about me?”

“You look happier” . . . “I’m not.”

“You still live in the silence between my thoughts.”

“I am in love with a moment we never had.”

“You didn’t just break promises, you broke me.”

"Don't go on that date." . . . "Why?" . . . "You know why." . . . "Say it."

“I don't even remember why we used to fight so much.”

“Why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance?” 

 “Please, for the love of god, shut up for once.” . . . “Why don’t you come over here and make me?”

“I don't like you. I can barely even tolerate you.” . . . “Then why do you keep coming back?”

“You’re annoying, you know that?”

“I don’t need your permission to do anything.”

“Why is it that whenever we see each other, you’re always covered in blood?”

“Don’t pretend to care about me.”

“Us? There never was an ‘us’.”

“What do you want? Because I could care less.”

“Why are you suddenly coming back into my life after I just started to do better?”

“Do me a favor and never cross my path again.”

“You can’t save everyone you know.”

“Take another step towards me and see what happens.”

“I don’t have the energy to fight you anymore.”

“I’m allowed to move on.”

“You can’t save me and then must walk out!”

“I needed you, I fucking needed you and you weren’t there!”

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

ASK TYPES:

🪐 Ask about the author! Ask me anything you want to know about my writing, my personal life, even my favorite (x,y,z)! (these are what I’ll answer stoned) ((see below))

📝 Send in any sort of request from any of the prompt lists at the top, with characters I’ve write for! (Peter Parker, Pietro Maximoff, Baron Helmut Zemo, Druig the Eternal, Matt Murdock, and Valkyrie!) 

🗣 Send me your name and I’ll tell you what I associate with it!

🏹 Ask about one of my WIPs or up-and-coming story ideas and I’ll post a snippet!

+ anything you want to see in this sleepover, just ask!

It’s a good thing tumblr has polls now because now I can ask this: tumblr is a relatively faceless app. . . but would you all care for a face reveal to mark this milestone?

Regardless of the results of the poll, I want to share more about myself with all of you! So what better way to get the most truthful and vulnerable answers than answering asks while stoned? All of 2/22 will be devoted to answering personal asked while high as balls <3

Once again thank you all so much for 1,000 followers, and don't forget to reblog this so my sleepover isn't a total flop lmaooo

Much Love, 

—Skyler

Mutual tags: @mactavishwritings @wannabemurdock @grippingbeskar @galaxysgal @toastybuggy @peterman-spideyparker @yourbucky084

Mutual tags: @mactavishwritings @wannabemurdock @toastybuggy @peterman-spideyparker @yourbucky084 @galaxysgal

Mutual tags:

—Skyler

Mutual tags: @wannabemurdock @peterman-spideyparker @yourbucky084 @mactavishwritings

[gallagherwitt]

NaNoWriMo and Publication.

NaNoWriMo is almost upon us, and with it comes another annual tradition: Newbie writers looking into publication options. There's nothing wrong with this! If you have stars in your eyes about being a published author and about kicking off your career with this year's NaNo, but in the back of your mind you're thinking "it's just a pipe dream," I've got news for you: it's quite possible! NaNoWriMo 2008 pretty much kicked off my writing career, so... yeah. You can absolutely do it! There are a bajillion books and articles out there about the craft, about the work that goes into going from dream to publication, etc. There's plenty of stuff about how you need to actually finish and edit your book before publication enters the equation. I'm not going to rehash all that here. Instead, let's talk about things you should really, really know before you move toward publication. Because y'all... this industry is a fickle one, and it can be a brutal one. I want to share some things I've learned over the course of 14 years so that perhaps you can avoid some of the heartache and headache that I went through. In other words, here's an incomplete list of stuff I learned the hard way so you don't have to. 1. THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO PUBLISH.  Getting an agent and going the Big 5 route is valid. Self-publishing is valid. Small publishers are valid. I've done all three. Don't let anyone tell you that you MUST go (or avoid) a specific route, or that one "doesn't count.". By the same token, don't let anyone tell you that all publishers are created equal or that what works for one style/genre will work for another. More on that later. 2. READ AND UNDERSTAND YOUR CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN IT. Ask questions if you don't understand. If a publisher gets testy because you ask for clarification, that is an enormous red flag. If they get testy when you ask them to modify the contract to be clearer, that is also an enormous red flag. If they are willing to (or threaten to) yank your contract because you won't sign it immediately or because you want it modified for clarity, that's a whole field of red flags. If they tell you the contract cannot be changed at all -- not just terms, but adjusting wording so both parties are satisfied that everything is clear -- there isn't enough fabric in the world to make a red flag that big. You get the idea. Many authors (myself included) recommend hiring a lawyer familiar with publishing to review your contract before you sign it. You can also approach a literary agent with a contract in hand, and they can handle negotiations for you. Don't get so excited over receiving a contract that you sign away the rights to your firstborn. Ask, ask, ask. 3. PUBLISHING YOUR BOOK IS A BUSINESS TRANSACTION, NOT "GIVING YOU A CHANCE." They are publishing your book so they make money. Yes, it feels great, and you should absolutely be proud of it, but don't lose sight of the reality of the relationship, which is a company packaging and selling your product for profit. Protect your intellectual property. Negotiate the contract so it's fair to both of you. Don't let your happiness over being published lure you into entering a business agreement that will screw you. 4. MONEY FLOWS FROM PUBLISHER TO AUTHOR. If you have to pay the publisher to publish your book, it's a vanity press, which is  a nice way of saying it's a predatory scam that takes advantage of people who don't understand publishing but want to see their book in print. Publishers purchase your publishing rights from you, and then they pay to edit/cover/market/package the book, and take a cut of the royalties before paying you. If they're asking you to pay for these things AND they're taking a cut of royalties, you're quite likely getting scammed out of both your IP and your money. There are exceptions to this -- usually for very small projects, niche subjects, etc. -- but these are quite rare.  Err on the side of assuming that pay-to-play is a scam. 5. SELF-PUBLISHING IS NOT THE SAME AS VANITY PUBLISHING. Self-publishers hire editors, cover artists, etc., but we a) retain ALL rights to our books and b) don't actually pay someone upfront to publish. Places like Amazon and Draft2Digital do take a cut of royalties in exchange for distribution, but we don't pay a fee like you would with a vanity project. 6. YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN MAKE MONEY (INCLUDING EARNING A LIVING) FROM WRITING. The reason I say this is not to encourage you to quit your day job or to paint some picture that all writers are swimming in money. Quite simply, it's because I see SO MANY young authors fall victim to the mentality of "I'm not going to make money off it anyway, so I'm not going to worry about this publisher's crappy royalties, trash marketing, upfront fees, etc." No. NO. *spritz spritz* BAD AUTHOR! NO!  It's okay if you're writing for fun and if money isn't your priority. Just don't get into the mindset that because you don't care about the money, you ALSO don't care if a shady publisher screws you. There is nothing greedy about protecting yourself and your interests. Even if your book only ever earns one dollar, that's YOUR dollar. 7. IT IS BETTER TO BE UNPUBLISHED THAN BADLY PUBLISHED. Publishers are not created equal. There are plenty out there with terrible editing and worse accounting, and I promise you, signing with them is a Faustian bargain: it might seem fabulous in the beginning, but the Devil will eventually come to collect, and it'll suck. Ask me how I know. 8. TALK TO AUTHORS BEFORE SIGNING WITH THEIR PUBLISHER. No one knows a publisher like its authors. And don't just talk to the newest authors -- the honeymoon phase is real, and when those rose-colored glasses come off, it can be ugly. Also, publishers can and do change over time, often not for the better. I've given rave reviews about publishers who eventually prompted me to retain a lawyer. Talk to their older authors, including both those who published maybe one or two books early on and those who've done ongoing work for the same house.  Most of us are eager to share industry professionals we're happy to work with, and are equally eager to warn others away when necessary. 9. JUDGE A PUBLISHER BY ITS BOOK COVERS. Book covers are marketing devices, and they are critically important. Look at what a publisher puts on their books, and decide if it's up to snuff. How does it compare to similar genres? How attractive is it? How easy is it to read the title? Is the quality consistent throughout the publisher's catalogue? Would you be happy with that style and quality on your book?  If the answer is no, move along. Because it's seriously heartbreaking to have a cover you don't like, especially when it's also a cover that READERS don't like. I have two books that had numerous reviews with "ignore the hideous cover and buy the book!" Cover art makes a BIG difference. Count on it. 10. SELF-PUBLISHING IS VALID. There are myriad reasons why people choose to go different routes, and I won't go into them all here, but many people like to turn up their noses at self-publishing as if it's on par with vanity presses. There was a time when that was true, but these days, many authors are going indie to retain control of their rights, to avoid getting financially screwed, etc. It's a perfectly valid way to publish your book. 11. IF YOUR BOOK DOESN'T GET PUBLISHED OR DOESN'T SELL WELL, YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE. Revise it and try again. Write another one. Many of us wrote multiple books before we were published, and it's often even more books after that before something takes off. If your first published book doesn't sell well, you will not vanish into obscurity, doomed to never see another word in print. In fact, if your fifth book takes off, you'll have a nice backlist already there for your new fans to find. Don't give up. 12. IF YOU DO GET SCREWED BY A PUBLISHER, YOUR WRITING DREAMS ARE RUINED. Nah, you're good, fam. It's a hard thing to go through, and it's discouraging as all hell, but unless there's some clause in your contract forbidding you from writing or publishing anywhere else ever again (and even the shadiest of shady publishers of shadiness won't usually try that), you can dust yourself off and do it again. You wrote something. You stubborned your way from a blinking cursor to a finished book, and you saw that book all the way to print. You can absolutely do it again. Don't give up. (Also don't sign a contract that prevents you from writing/publishing elsewhere.) 13. SERIOUSLY, DON'T GIVE UP. Persistence -- hell, straight up stubbornness -- is a virtue in this business. Rejection is a thing. Bad reviews are a thing. Perfectly good publishers turning stupid is a thing. Publishers close, books fail, trends die. It's not an easy business, but it's worth it. Don't give up. You'll get there. 14. OTHER AUTHORS ARE YOUR COMMUNITY, NOT YOUR COMPETITION.  Yes, we compete to a degree, but we're really all on the same team. A rising tide lifts all boats and all that. Join groups. Ask questions. Doesn't matter if you're published yet. Every veteran author was unpublished once, and many of us have been through things we would be THRILLED to help you avoid. Plus, I mean, we're writers. Someone else who wants to talk about writing? PULL UP A CHAIR, YO. 15. YOU'VE GOT THIS. Writing and publishing are tough, but don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it. Those of us who are published don't have some special X factor or magic ability that you lack. The only thing that separates us from you is that you're not here YET. We had unfinished manuscripts once too. We were unpublished. "But I'm not Stephen King!" And there was a time when no one knew who Stephen King was. He had to put in the work. I had to put in the work. You have to put in the work. There's no guarantee of degrees of success, but if your goal is to write and publish a book... put in the work. We did this, and so will you. Put your butt in the chair. Put your fingers on the keyboard. Put your words on the page. And when you're ready to break into publishing, there's a whole community of us who will happily help guide you. GO FORTH AND NANO!

[and-i-said-fewer]

HI THERE I SAW YOUR TAGS FREAKING OUT ABOUT ELBOW ON MY GERASKIER PLAYLISTS AND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

little fictions is the only album I know by heart cover to cover, but I certainly enjoy the others!

SERIOUSLY THOUGH

WHENEVER I SEND ANYONE AN ELBOW SONG REC IN THE CONTEXT OF A CHARACTER THEY ALWAYS SAY THEYD NEVER CONSIDERED IT BEFORE AND I HONESTLY THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME HAVING A NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS MOMENT

you’ve made my day

holyyyyyy shittt im so sorry i didn’t see this before but it’s only *checks watch* well over a month late !! (sorry.) but yEA my mancunian friend introduced lil american me to elbow and theyve topped my spotify wrapped (yes even above tad) the past two years lol their stuff means a lot to me and is also So Good

but fs like. again i would Not ever insinuate that elbow is Niche or Unpopular—literally played the olympics etc etc—but i do think that they aren’t necessarily in The Minds Of Fandom™️ very much. but MAN they have such a great discography and sm good songs it’s like *makes aggressive grabby claws at the air* so much potential!!!! overlooked!! unseen!! (yes i’m being dramatic. not sorry)

anyways if anyone who sees this listens to elbow PLEASE hmu i love talking abt elbow songs

aaaaannndd uuuhhhhh 👉🏽👈🏽 hopefully not beign too pushy but uhhh. if anyone here wants some fandom related recs……. i’ll just throw out a couple so i’m not being Too Much but:

hotel istanbul [listed as a non-album track under the seldom seen kid (bonus tracks version) album on spotify] - oh my god if anyone listens to One [1] song i write here PLEASE let it be this one. every time i scroll through geraskier playlists and don’t see this song i feel Robbed. to me it feels sooooo them but no one else knows about it and i lose my mind. idk if musically it fits everyone’s vibe check but Lyrically. holy fuck holy shit. like to my understanding it’s abt a guy who’s havin a shite day but this other person’s presence makes them feel better or smthn??? anyways it’s fuckinnnn haaghhh i’m- it literally goes “damn your eyes / so blue” LIKE????? i lose my mind over this song in geraskier context every time someone Please listen to it and tell me if i’m going insane or not

puncture repair [under leaders of the free world album] - man i love this lil guy sm. diff energy from hotel istanbul but i see this one as the quieter geraskier moments, the travelling together for 20 years. it’s so quiet, it’s so routine, it’s motions that are muscle memory, it’s care etched in creases, it’s thoughts traced through nerves for the thousandth time. also works from either pov i think

bones of you [under the seldom seen kid album] - i think?? this could be a yennefer song??? either abt istredd or just like her past life. also sonically i rlly like the vibe for her, dunno if anyone else’d agree w that tho

audience with the pope [under the seldom seen kid album] - ok honestly i dont know if this one’s very accurate since i wouldnt call myself an arbiter of quality yen&geralt vibes, but i do think of them when i listen to this song so,,? do with that what u will

anyway i have oodles and oodles of these but these ones that r like, supported lyrically the best ig??? sorta?? maybe not but yea ive got elbow-witcher song thoughts for Days but the other ones are maybe more vibes-based so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but if anyone’s intrigued…… i mean hmu

[theshadowrealmitself]

Trying to be asleep rn because I have to be up hella early in the morning, but not only is my brain not shutting off, when I was at my sleepiest it decided to hit me with a wave of sadness

So I’m gonna type out non-sad thoughts here and see if that helps:

Personally, I don’t agree with the whole “work spouse” thing when one or everyone involved has an actual spouse, like if it’s just a “oh we’re just really good friends, it’s not cheating in the slightest” then why are you using specifically romantic terminology? Why not just use the term “work bestie”? It feels emotionally unfaithful and I think Vulcans would agree with me, tbh

I’m still upset that I have to produce my own niche content 😭 please, sometimes I don’t mind but it really sucks when I’m like “I want fun alien courtship rituals” and my brain is just like “ask again later”

I have a fucking time loop story that can easily work as a small manageable writing project (as I’d only need to do a few loops), but I keep not sitting down and writing it 😭

Still working on my dino plushie, my sis just visited for a week and I had to do mandatory school stuff so it’s been a bit on the back burner but I should hopefully have time tomorrow (I have to keep an ear out for a delivery so please hope for me that the delivery comes in the morning so I can spend the rest of the day knitting and listening to horror stories pls 🙏)

I wonder if I’ll be able to do any knitting when I’m taking the buses for school? On one hand there’d be time, but on the other hand, the bus is shaky so I might end up dropping stitches, and I’d be terrified of missing my stop the entire time, hmm if I do knit it’ll probably be the really simple projects

I really wanna get into the Godzilla fandom because I remember being really terrified of one of the movies when I saw it as a kid and who doesn’t love large lizards? but tbh I have no idea how to get into it 😭 gives me comic book vibes trying to find a place to start

Actually speaking of, does anyone know if there was a Godzilla movie where she was rampaging and there was like,, scientists holding her eggs hostage but they were starting to crack because the babies were emerging? That’s probably not what the actual plot was but that’s what little me thought was happening, it was definitely a Godzilla movie tho

I wish I was faster at knitting

Oh!! Btw!! Technically the university I go to now (not revealing the name for privacy reasons) gives us actual healthcare, and I think I’m finally able to set up appointments (trauma’s been preventing me, don’t ask pls), which means I can finally get my hands checked on to see if there’s anything they can do to help, and then maybe see what’s up with the heart stuff!!! (and maybe lungs, I feel like I’ve been losing breath over every little thing lately, kinda concerning)

Hair has been fading fast, thinking about doing purple this time

Normally I feel like I think up a good amount of platonic plus romantic scenarios, but lately I feel like it’s been way more romantic stuff, I wonder why? Tbh I actually feel the most consistently okay with being single than I have ever, like the thought of 0 relationships so I can focus on university and hopefully getting a job (god the job market sucks rn) doesn’t phase me in the slightest

I miss those candies that were like,, wax coke cans and you’d bite off the top and then get to drink the small amount of liquid in it? (and then I’d chew the wax bottle, not sure if that was common)

[icinch]

To Succeed Online, Reverse Your Strategy

New Post has been published on https://www.cinchhomebiz.com/to-succeed-online-reverse-your-strategy/

To Succeed Online, Reverse Your Strategy

Here’s how a typical Internet business works – you pick a niche, create a product and then find the audience to sell that product to. If it doesn’t sell, you do it all over again. If it does sell, you make more products to sell to those same people. Sounds logical, right?…

Maybe not. Suppose – just suppose – you decide to sell NOTHING for the first two to three months of your business. Not a gosh darn thing.

Instead, what you do is focus on building and nurturing your audience. Once they know you and are confident you know what you’re talking about, then and only then do you sell them something.

“But I need to make money NOW!”

Okay, what if you had started the entire process 3 months ago? They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. So bear with me for a moment while we plant a tree in your mind right now…

Let’s say you’ve taken up a new hobby. Maybe it’s golf. You’re cruising the Internet when you find this offer for a free golf book for newbies, “10 Ways to Take 10 Points Off Your Game Today.” You enter your email address and get the book.

And next thing you know, this author is sending you golfing offers on a daily basis. “BUY THIS!” “BUY THAT!” And on and on. What do you do? Maybe you buy something, maybe you don’t. But do you lose faith and trust in the person? Yes. This is just some guy who used a bait and switch on you. “Get my free book!” turns out to really mean “Let me sell you a whole lot of stuff so I can make money!”

This is how Internet marketing typically works, and the days of it being a magic bullet are long gone. Sure, the money is in the list, but if you are continually going for the sales before you even establish the relationship, you’re doing it backwards.

I say it’s time to adjust.

Second scenario: You sign up to get the free ebook, and here’s an email introducing the author. The next day, s/he sends you a great golfing tip. And the next day, and the next. Maybe the author throws in some personal golfing stories, a few golfing jokes, some golf news, etc.

Now this author feels more like your email golfing buddy and golf expert than a sales person. In fact, in 2 whole months s/he hasn’t tried to sell you a single thing. But maybe they have sent you a few videos with cool tips, so you can get to ‘know’ and like them even better. In fact, you trust this person and feel they have your best interests at heart.

They’ve built a REAL relationship with you.

Now then, what do you think is going to happen when this author starts sending you the occasional offer? Odds are you’re going to take a very serious look at buying it, because your new golfing friend/expert is recommending it. And if they’re recommending it, you know it must be really GOOD!

And as long as this author continues to send you only the best advice and best offers, you’re likely to continue buying, too.

So is it worth it to invest 2-3 months to build relationships that create super high conversions and subscribers that are loyal to you for a long, long time? Is it worth it to build such a tight bond, they never unsubscribe? Do you want to be their go-to person, the one they know and trust for advice, tips and recommendations? Or do you want to be just another sales person pitching the latest product until your subscribers flee your list?

“But 2-3 months before I make a sale??!”

Yes. I know. It takes a real commitment and investment of your time.

But let’s try putting it into perspective: Let’s say you want to open a business in your town. You scout a location, make the deal to rent the building, get your business licenses, get the equipment you need, order the inventory, hire staff, get insurance, etc. How long would it take? And how much would it cost? And how much would you clear after all of your expenses?

What I’m talking about here is a viable way to build a six figure business in less than 12 months, with almost no out of pocket expense. To begin with, all you need is a good autoresponder. You don’t even have to put up your blog right away, because in the beginning you can do everything via email.

This is a business model you can start today. It helps if you have expertise in your subject – if not, you’ll want to start reading and learning immediately. Your topic should be one you’ve got a measure of passion for, because you’ll be writing and talking about it a great deal. You’ll need 10 or more hours a week to devote to this.

And you’ve got to be ready to sacrifice a small amount of short term income for an abundance of long term income. Long term beginning in about 2-3 months, and the potential to grow fairly large around the 6-8 month mark.

This is all about your audience. It’s all about what they want. And here’s the kicker – you know how experts tell you to research what people want before you create a product? In this case, you’re going to be so in touch with your audience, you will know exactly what they want before you ever offer it.

You’ll have people standing in line to buy your products before you even produce them. Think about that – you’ll know IN ADVANCE that your products will sell and sell well, because your audience trusts you enough to tell you what they want. Maybe it’s not in so many words, like, “Could you sell me a product about this or that,” but rather, “How do I _____?” When you keep getting the same questions, you know there is a market for a product that solves that need.

To sum up – old school method: Spend weeks creating a product nobody buys. Then do it again. Or build a list and then fry it to death.

New school method: Spend 2-3 months building an audience that LOVES you and trusts you, then create products and make recommendations based upon what they want.

Times have changed. If we, as marketers, don’t change with the times, our customers are going to leave us behind.

[novasdarling]

Losing Your Virginity

TW: Sexual acts, acts of losing readers virginity, sorta noncon, female reader.

Dabi, Shigaraki, Aizawa

Dabi

Oh, what a good little thing you were. Saving yourself for him. No worry, he would teach you how everything works. What feels the best, what position gets the deepest, what it feels like to cum on a man.

He likes both experienced and inexperienced people. But people like you, sweet little things that haven’t been touched by perverted men like him, make him weak. His corruption kink is showing. Dabi might wait till your ready, at least if it doesn't take too long. You can’t expect a man like him to wait when he’s got a good looking thing like you walking around his apartment.

Dabi enjoys working you up, slowly getting you ready. Stealing an orgasm from you in the process. Placing his mouth and hands all over you. He needs to feel every inch of you. Shhh, just lay back and let him relax.

Being gentle isn’t Dabi’s thing, but he can try it for you. Just this once so you better not get used to him while he’s being all sweet and soft.

Will pin you down and do all the work. Don’t worry he’ll take care of you. Just be quiet and relax.

Dabi loves talking you through everything. He’ll remind you how good you’re doing and what he plans to do to you in the future. “That’s it babydoll. Just like that." "It feels so good. Fuck you’re so tight.” “I can’t stop. You’re just too good.” “Let me finish. I promise you’ll like it in a bit.” “The pain will go away soon. Come on, be the good little doll that I know you are.”

Once he gets started, you’re in for a night of him fucking into you till you can’t walk anymore, and Dabi can’t move.

Shigaraki

He’s probably a virgin too, making him as inexperienced as you.

Both of you guys being virgins eases his mind and yours. You’re both learning at the same time so don’t worry.

However, he will probably use your non-experience as a way to manipulate you. “Yes, it’s supposed to feel like that. People say it hurts like that the first time.” “Come on, you’re supposed to do what I want. Sex is mainly for the guy anyway so just please do this.” He’ll somehow make what he wants a normal thing that everyone else does even if it’s very niche. He loves to manipulate you.

His dirty talk is mainly a mix of degeneration and him not believing his actually having sex. “You’re such a fucking slut. Loving my cock so deep in you.” “So fucking cute. So perfect. I-I can’t believe, fuck, I’m in you.” “I-I’m gonna breed you. I’m g-gonna cum in you since you’re such a slut.” “I wanna keep fucking you, please, please let me.”

His aftercare is so-so. He tries, but he may get horny again before he finishes cleaning you up. Disregarding the aftercare to continue fucking you.

Now if he wasn’t a virgin a lot of the stuff would be the same, but he’d be more eager to get you into bed and ruin you. Likes the idea that he gets to mould you into what he wants.

His dirty talk is more centred about breeding you, even if he doesn’t actually want to, and calling you his pretty little slut.

Aizawa

Aizawa is defiantly on the side of not caring, it means nothing to him if you are or not. Just means more training he has to do. But he’s a teacher so he’s good at helping people learn new things. “Don’t be nervous, I’ll teach you everything, my dear.”

He may belittle you for your lack of experience, or baby you. Thinking how cute it is you don’t know what to do. How easy it would be to take advantage of you.

Loves to teach you how to touch yourself, even if you have before he’ll insist you haven’t done it right. He’ll watch you play with yourself until you cum. Then he’ll grab your hand and force you to continue. “It feels good baby doesn’t it.” “Shh, I know it’s sensitive now. Just wait, it’ll be good again soon.”

Being tired is Aizawa’s thing. He may be more active in the bedroom, but he still likes to watch you sink yourself down on his dick while he lays back and smiles. But of course, he'll guide you since it's your first time.

Usually, towards his end, he takes control. Being pretty silent before, he completely lets loose. “Oh fuck. That’s it, baby. Take all of me.” “So pretty when I’m fucking you.” “Yeah that’s right baby, scream my name. I’m the only one who will ever make you feel like this.” “So fucking noisy. I love it."

As much as he wants to cum in you, he’ll probably try to avoid it. Though he isn’t the fastest at leaving what’s making him feel so good. Some will probably get in you.

After he’s done, he’ll make sure you get off one more time. Though first, he’ll just lay on or under you, fighting sleep.

Clean up is an iffy thing. He does it the first couple of times, but after he begins to fall asleep right after leaving you to take care of it.

[bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky]

Knockin' Boots | Bucky Barnes x Reader

Hi, friends! I know that this is a very niche topic, but I went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last night with my ride or die @mandersshow and we decided that Bucky needed to go too!

If you like what you read, please reblog so that others can find my writing 🥰

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Bucky stood out like a sore thumb. Clad in his trusty leather jacket, worn motorcycle boots, and the same tight black tshirt and jeans combo he wore everyday- he didn’t quite fit in. But seeing you smile as you walked him through the flood of people gathering at the stadium made the awkward feeling in his stomach worth it. “Whaddya think so far, Barnes?” you stared up at him, taking inventory of his expression, “not quite what you’re used to, huh?”

Bucky scanned the rodeo crowd and thought he may have somehow ended up on a different planet. Thousands of people in cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and all sorts of Texas-themed apparel surrounded him on all sides. “Definitely a new experience for me…” he wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you into his body, “but I’m happy to be here with you”. He marveled at the large carnival set up in the parking lot and the countless food stands selling things he’d never even heard of.

“Fried Oreos? Fried cheesecake? Fried rattlesnake? Why is at all fried- and why are people eating rattlesnake?”

Bucky’s questions sent you into a fit of laughter that almost made you double over. “Because! It’s Texas…I don’t know, we fry stuff! It’s all really good- I promise.” With a gentle tug you tried to lead Bucky in the direction of one of the booths, but he grew distracted by the loud dinging of a bell and a man’s voice shouting “winner!” He pulled you away from the food and made a beeline for one of the silly carnival games awarding people with oversized stuffed animals. “I wanna win you something, sweets. Just tell me what you want and it’s yours”.He pressed a kiss to your cheek and handed the man in the booth a ticket, waiting for you to make up your mind.

“Buck, these things are rigged- barely anyone ever wins”. He recoiled with a faux-offended gasp, shocked that you’d assume he’d lose. “Wow, sweetheart. I thought you had faith in me! That hurts”. Your body met his in a playful shove, but Bucky’s muscle-laden body didn’t move an inch. “Okay, okay, fine! See that stuffed cat? The red one? I want that! And I’m gonna name it Natasha- win me a Natasha!” Bucky rolled his eyes and laughed his deep, rich laugh, muttering about how 'Nat is just gonna love that'.

Bucky grabbed the three baseballs granted to him and sized up the stack of glass bottles that sat just a few feet away. In the twenty-something years that you’d been attending the Houston rodeo with your family, never had you been able to win anything from this booth- but you should’ve known that Bucky would break your losing streak. With a smug smile, he handed you your red cat, Natasha, after throwing only one ball. “What did you say, doll? About how no one ever wins? Cause I beg to differ…” He laughed again as you flung your arms around his neck and dotted kisses all over his reddened cheeks. "You're amazing! I mean, I know you're a superhero, but this? THIS is incredible."

“What’s next, sweetheart? Cause I think we could get you any prize in this place…” he sized up the other games and eyed the prizes he wanted to win for his best girl. Bucky was probably right, and you were tempted to return to the compound the following week with an army of stuffed animals named after everyone on the team- but you had a better idea. “Follow me!" you tugged Bucky in the direction of your favorite food stand and ordered your rodeo usual- a fried cinnamon roll topped with vanilla ice cream. Bucky’s eyes widened at the sheer size and heft of the treat, “wow- okay, so when they say ‘everything’s bigger in Texas’- they mean it…” With a confident nod, you took Bucky by the hand and led him to a table.

“That might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten…jesus christ” Bucky swiped a napkin across his lips, banishing a few remaining crumbs, “I think I’ll need to get another one for the road before we leave”. A satisfied smile stretched across your face and made your cheeks ache, but you didn’t mind. Bringing Bucky home for the first time made you a little worried, seeing as people tended to react poorly to his past- but Bucky was just happy to meet your family. And when they offered you their rodeo tickets so you could “show Bucky some Texas culture”, you couldn’t resist.

As the sun began to set, you and Bucky found your way inside the stadium and planted yourselves in your seats. Bucky marveled at the rodeo events, sitting on the edge of his seat as he watched cowboys wrestle steer and compete in barrel races. “Hey, you think I could do that?” Bucky pointed at the man holding on for dear life as his horse bucked beneath him.

“Um, could you? Yeah, for sure, Buck. But should you? Absolutely not.”

“Why?”

“Buck-”

“We both know I’d be awesome at it!”

“I mean…true. But I don’t see you having much time to practice your rough ridin’- you kinda have a full time job as one of earth’s mightiest heroes”.

Bucky slumped in his seat, a dramatic frown pulled his features downward, “Ugh. Fiiiiiiiiiiine- you’re right. I guess I’ll keep saving the world”.

You leaned over and peppered his cheek with kisses, thanking him for keeping the world safe long enough for you to bring him to the rodeo. He blushed and wrapped an arm around you, telling you that everything he did was for you- and he meant it.

The two of you watched the calf scramble and the mutton bustin’, Bucky laughing the entire time. He couldn’t believe that these types of events really happened outside of the wild west, but he loved every second of it. So much so that, when the lights began to dim for the concert, he was almost disappointed.

The loud music and bright lights were accompanied by the smooth voice of a singer Bucky had never heard of. He watched you sing along to the one country singer you liked, the singular holdover from your southern upbringing. Even though he had no idea who Luke Bryan was, Bucky couldn’t help but smile as you sang the lyrics to “Knockin’ Boots” to him. And when the song ended, he leaned over, attempting to talk to you over the roar of the crowd. “What does ‘knockin boots’ mean?” he practically shouted, pulling a loud laugh from you.

“It means sex! You and me- we knock boots!” you yelled back before enveloping Bucky’s lips with yours, “I love knockin’ boots with you!” Even in the darkened arena, you could see Bucky’s cheeks turn a slight shade of pink.

And when the concert ended, Bucky led you safely through the crowd of people, making sure that no wandering hands ever touched you- and you did the same for your new stuffed animal. “Okay- on a scale of one to ten, what did you think?” you looked up at Bucky as the two of you stood in line for yet another fried cinnamon roll, “be honest! My feelings won’t be hurt…that much”. Bucky rolled his eyes when you shot him a wink, and pretended to hem and haw over his rating. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d like it…I knew I’d have fun because I was gonna be with you, but, I wasn’t so sure about all this”. He looked around, taking in the bright lights from the carnival and the seemingly endless food stands.

“But I had a great time, sweets. Honestly. I think I wanna come back next year”. Bucky’s heart melted when your eyes lit up, the promise of another visit home with the love of your life on the horizon. “I mean, I have to come back, right? I didn’t even get to try the fried rattlesnake”. With a playful shove, you nudged your body into Bucky’s. His arms encircled your waist, holding you close and refusing to let you go. He leaned down so that his lips ghosted along the outside of your ear, “And if this second fried cinnamon roll doesn't kill me, maybe we can even knock boots later?”

————————————

Tag list: @beefybuckrrito @shadytalementality @everything-burns-down @rainbow-unicorn-pony @mandersshow @breakablebarnes @psychoticmason @glxwingrxse @deepsketchsupernaturalcowboy @mrsdrysdale18 @lonewolf471 @dreamerglassesgirl @the-gods-gloted-but-they-burned @cwbucky @duchessoftheheart @seitmai @itvy5601 @hisxsoulmate @dailyreverie @navs-bhat @eviesaurusrex @themorningsunshine @masteroflightningz @evangeliamerryll 💜

[emjee]

MG has read...a lot of TOG fanfic this autumn: a rec list

Hey y’all, @morallygreywaren asked if I’ve done a fic rec list yet, and I think I’ve done bits and pieces but not a full list. Fortunately, I just put one together for a friend who watched the film for the first time on Sunday, so I’ve got something close at hand! I’m keeping the category divisions I used for my friend, because I like them. I’m gonna star the E rated stuff for your avoidance/exact opposite of avoidance needs. Off we go!

Joe and Nicky (historical)

Ars Poetica by superblackmarket. Actually read everything by superblackmarket, they’re amazing. (*)

The Other Matter by survivah. Sometimes I lie awake at night staring at the ceiling thinking about this fic. If you like your Joe/Nicky get-together stories with a tall glass of pining/idiots to lovers, run don’t walk.

Salt and Harvest by @hollybennett123. Joe and Nicky + bread through the ages. Literally what more could you want.

for all hearts torn by stonecarved (figure8) (@lgbtmazight on tumblr). Joe and Nicky + pilgrimage. Len is one of the greatest gifts this fandom has.

The Gold of Your Body by @azephirin. This contains the tag “Catholicism as a gateway drug to BDSM” and it is. Incredible. (*)

The Subtle Approach by survivah. The great thing about this fandom is that your Regency AU doesn’t actually need to be an AU.

The Profession of my Fingers by mellyflori (@werebearbearbar on tumblr). 5+1, Nicky’s Hands In Joe’s Curls Throughout The Centuries (*)

Joe and Nicky (modern)

My heart as green as weeds by KatStratford (@katrinastratford on tumblr). In which they have to peace out to Scandinavia for Lying Low purposes and Joe Does Not Vibe with how cold it is. It’s a huge quarantine mood. (*)

While we’re young by hyb (@h-yb on tumblr). *pinches bridge of nose* listen they are IN LOVE

Stop, listen, feel, believe by Tam_Cranver. This is my favorite fic set almost immediately post-film. Hot as hell. Emotional intelligence off the FUCKING charts. (*)

Joe and Nicky + Nile + being immortal family

Three Immortals and a Puppy Walk Into a Bar by survivah. What it says on the tin, a fucking delight

A nice story and The art of remembrance by @sixth-light. Joe, Nicky, Nile, and discussions of war crimes.

Straight up Joe/Nicky smut, you are WELCOME (these are all E)

Taking instruction by @sixth-light. feat. light dom/sub, in a really sweet way.

Literally everything @bakedapplesauce has ever written, special shoutouts to:

The present is nothing but an interruption of the past 

Hora somni

There is no “I” in “team” (but there is one in “vibrator”) 

You want some Joe/Nicky AUs? I got you

Explaining is Losing by @sixth-light. Academic nemeses to lovers. I have read this fic an EMBARASSING number of times.

Good Enough to be True by @sixth-light. Modern AU, super soft fluff/healing where Joe’s gotten out of a terrible relationship and Nicky’s the first guy he’s dated since

sine qua non by mellyflori (@werebearbearbar). Modern AU friends to lovers with all the trimmings. (*)

Extremely niche genre of Nicky Bitches About The New English Mass Translation:

third for a word and the song keeps going by Macremae

INAIED gets its own heading

If Never Again, If Every Day by @gallifreyburning and @takiki16 is the light of my Thursdays. 2021 Nicky ends up back in 1099, 1099 Nicolo ends up in 2021, we all lose our minds over the emotions that ensue. Someone once described the 1099 plot of this fic as “Yusuf: I truly hate this and I’m annoyed that killing you doesn’t work. Nicky: You want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid.” I think about that description every fucking day.

Book of Nile (I know one of the rules of this ship is that you have to say you hate it here and were forced to ship it against your will but LISTEN these fics are so good that I can’t bring myself to hate it here at all)

The Last Man on Earth by survivah. Five times Booker and Nile find themselves in a romance novel trope. Delicious.

son rêve d’opaline by stonecarved (figure8) (@lgbtmazight​). Sleepy. Sexy. I’m obsessed. (*)

everywhere on earth you go (you’re gonna have me)  by nondz (pinkjook). There is a swing dancing scene in this one that I lost my fucking mind over. (*)

This is by no means comprehensive, and I encourage you to check out all the fics of all the authors mentioned here. I’m having a great time reading in this fandom.

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Pawn: Two

Bucky flipped through the pages of the prenup and felt his eyes glaze over. You had quite the list of riders that you wanted to be included and, so far as Bucky was concerned, you were overestimating your value. “No infidelity clause?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at the man sitting across from him. 

Tony shrugged, “Said she figures you’re smart enough to know that for this to work you’re gonna have to fuck around discreetly.”

That made Bucky take notice. It was something he didn’t expect. For you to not demand he stay faithful. He figured that you’d want… More. Not that Bucky was complaining. There was something to be said for the fact that you wanted some control over yourself, the house you were going to live in, things you wanted to not be prevented from doing. It said a lot about where your head was. 

Reading between the lines told him that the material things you wanted were there to snow him. To not make him expect any affection from you. And even if he didn’t want you either, he’d be lying if he said that that didn’t sting a little. Sure. He didn’t expect to sweep you off your feet. But he wasn’t a monster. Or bad looking. He was used to women falling all over themselves. 

“So she doesn’t want me to not sleep with other people but she wants to redecorate my house?” Bucky couldn’t help but not feel a little incredulous. And Tony’s smirk as he looked around the office made Bucky itch to pop him in the mouth. 

“You could do worse,” he said looking meaningfully towards the outdated faux vintage sideboard that served as a bar cart. “She’s got good taste… Even if it is expensive.” Tony didn’t bother to explain that he was glad you had expensive taste. That you deserved everything you were asking for and more. He didn’t want to tip his hand and short sell you. Hell, he thought you were selling yourself short. And his stomach was turning at the thought of the Punk reading to contract being responsible for your wellbeing. 

Sure. Tony had done his homework. He knew that Barnes wasn’t a woman beater. He knew that his only vice was a sweet tooth, really. And he knew that he’d probably do okay as a family man. But that didn’t make him feel any better about trading your future, your chances at being loved properly for security.  He watched Bucky roll his eyes and turn back to the contract. He’d added some addendums of his own. Some things that he added not just to protect your body but to protect your heart. Something he never in a million years he would have thought to do before Pepper had dropped into his life like a bomb and brought you with her. 

He’d never wanted kids. Least of all daughters. But now that he had them, he wanted them cared for. Properly. And he spent absurd amounts of time wanting to go back and punch his younger self in the face… But that was an issue for another day. Tony took a sip of his drink and smirked a little when Bucky looked up at his scowling. 

“Stark-”

“The ball’s in her court,” Tony said shrugging. ‘And I want to make sure you’re gonna take care of my kid.”

“But-”

“Sign it or don’t Barnes… But just know. I won’t let her take any counteroffer. She’s going to get everything, ANYTHING she wants.”

Bucky watched Tony, feeling like he was in the middle of a western. Like he was playing Chicken. The first one to flinch was going to lose. And he could tell that that person wasn’t going to be Tony. Even if it was a pain in his ass, he was grateful. There was someone fighting for you. You weren’t being forced into this… Not like he thought Tony would do that. But there was some comfort in the fact that Tony was willing to play hardball for you. It made him feel less sick about doing all this. 

He set the contract on the table and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll have my people look it over,” he said looking up. 

Tony inspected his nails for a second and nodded, “She’s a good kid, Barnes,” Tony said quietly. And Bucky heard the underlying things he didn’t say. That Tony didn’t like this but he understood it. That you deserved better but “better” wasn’t an option right now. Not with the threat growing. The thunder growling in the distance. All Bucky could do was nod. Standing and offering Tony a hand. 

“I might have a few things to add,” Bucky warned. 

“And if she refuses them?” he countered, taking the hand that was offered as he stood. 

Bucky smiled a little, “She’s got me by the short hairs,” he snorted, “And she knows it, doesn’t she?”

“Without a doubt,” Tony said smirking. “I might have got a late start with her but, she’s a fast learner.”

_____________

“I can’t believe you’re going along with this,” Pepper said, glaring at you over her coffee mug. 

“What would you have me do, mom?” you sigh, “Tell him no? Let Rumlow murder us all in our beds?”

Pepper set the cup down but didn’t stop glaring at you, “They’re big boys.”

“And your Manolo pumps don’t pay for themselves,” you say smiling a little.

“But-”

“Mom,” you say gently, “It’s not like Papa is holding a gun to my head and telling me to do it or he’ll kill me. It’s not like I’m already dating someone and I have to break up with him. I don’t have to give up all my charities and stuff… I’ll still have a life. A contractually obligated one, sure. But, not too terribly much is going to change.”

“That’s not-”

“I know that’s not what you wanted. But it could be worse.”

Pepper sighed and patted your hand, “At least Morgan is excited to be a flower girl.”

“Someone is going to have a good day,” you say smiling a little. Morgan had already told you that she wanted a pink dress. The subtlety of your colors not involving pink was lost on her. Or, more likely, she was appalled that there was no pink and decided to add some. 

Pepper watched you out of the corner of her eye for a moment. She could see the gears turning as you stared at the book shelf in front of you. She could see you planning how you were going to pack. How you were going to decorate. How you were going to make yourself comfortable in whatever little niche you could make for yourself.

“What are you going to do about kids?” Pepper asked softly. 

“You mean the kids we don’t have yet? And don’t really need?”

“Y/N,” Pepper scolded, “What’s going to happen if he wants a legacy?”

“He’s got money. He can build a library… make sure no other kids are illiterate because he clearly didn’t read the contract.”

Pepper quirked an eyebrow and you smile a little. “I put a clause that I can’t be compelled to just start popping out kids. And that if that happens I reserve the right to get my tubes tied.”

“What about if you want kids?”

“I don’t so-”

“Y/N,” she scolded. 

“You know I don’t. And if you tell me I’m going to change my mind I’m going to get my tubes tied out of spite.”

Pepper leaned back and folded her arms. “Sometimes when you open your mouth Tony comes out, you know that?”

And all you can do is smile a little, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “It’ll be okay, mom,” you tell her. “It’s not like I had any other plans.”

[ettawritesnstudies]

braindumping here because @raevenlywrites​ WBW ask got my wheels turning and gave me a cool new idea for why Runaways should exist within the same universe as all my other WIPs and also conveniently fix several small plot holes at the same time.

So grabbing this concept of each planet having a different magical ID, I was wondering what’s the makeup of each of my main WIP planets and why would that explain why the magic is Like That on each world? Yes its influenced in a large part by the people and plants and animals who live there, but the life there also only exists because the planet existed in that place and time with that magical core in the first place. SO WHAT DO WE HAVE?

Laoche: this world has extremely potent magical fields - it’s in the air, it’s in the water, it’s in the rocks, they have anti-gravity metal, the stuff is everywhere. Every person on that planet has the potential to be super-powered by being born in the right place at the right time and having certain events occur as a child before their own magic settles into it’s niche. Luca’s basically a nuclear bomb waiting to explode. He does explode. They have charms that act like radioactive isotopes. Acheran is a charm maker which is this world’s equivalent of making jewelry out of lithium ion batteries.

Runaways: Our world but SLANT. There are fae hiding in pockets of the forest, mermaids chilling in the deep ocean, and ghosts hanging around abandoned farmhouses. Did I have any explanation for this before? nope. Something vaguely about convenient allegory. Now??? Their world is a lot like Earth in how it formed, but the core of the earth includes some pretty serious nullification properties. It’s made of iron. It creates a magnetic field that serves the same purpose as a magic field but effectively cancels it out in the process. Why are fae allergic to iron??? boom, here’s the answer.

Now this anti-magic field isn’t perfectly uniform and there are some patches in the earth’s crust that have the opposite effect and let the magic seep through by amplifying the signal. These magic zones are where the magic creatures live/evolve/immigrate to, and became tinier to better use the limited space they have. The illusions are a natural side effect of the magical/nonmagical barrier butting up against each other. S Faerie realms become kind of like pocket dimensions and other-worlds on their own planet - parts of the map that you don’t even notice are blank.

And because magic is so scarce and spells only work on the magic-side, if they want to influence anything outside of their realms, fae need to have very powerful magic to overcome the planet’s own field. What’s a stronger magic than taking control of a person’s own magical identity? What’s a stronger magic than taking a true name? This isn’t even something that occurs to people on Laoche because they can huck fireballs at you, “power” in magic takes on a very different idea. And when it does happen, Madelyn is a rare rare rare case that’s not well understood and traumatized by the experience because magic is so innate. But fae can strip you of your name and your powers at the same time and most humans wouldn’t notice what they lost, which is horrifying and perfect.

(runaways spoilers ahead)

Why does Cecelia lose her ability to do normal fae magic when she becomes a changeling? The switching spell gives her not-cecelia’s name and not-cecelia’s mundane powers. She’s only able to shapeshift once she returns to the Seelie court!

Why does the Taken only attack Hannah once she steps inside the faerie ring? She doesn’t have any power outside the faerie ring! They had to lure her to it first before they could strike! Why doesn’t the piper mind control Hannah during their first meeting? His power is weakened in the forest! He’s still close enough to fae he has some control but not enough to completely take over.

Why can the Seelie only protect Cecelia if she stayed in faerie? Their power literally doesn’t extend outside of faerie, it’s not even a political thing, they cannot do anything for her as soon as she steps outside again. But Hannah can, because she’s not tied to the faerie world in the first place.

Why do the Unseelie and the Seelie fight in the first place? Competition for survival! A population grows big enough and there’s not enough space for all of them in the magic zones so they start trying to exert their influence over humans too.

Why does Tess finding her name have so much power? How does she know that Tess her her true name? Her lost magic resonates when she first hears it! She doesn’t know why but she knows it fits. Taking it back from the Piper destroys his powers over her because they’re her powers again.

[sanstropfremir]

I’d love your thoughts on BTS and their current image and music if you have them and aren’t afraid of the mindless internet hoards.

Personally, I liked a lot of their older stuff, but haven’t liked anything since I think the Fake Love promotions 3+ years ago. They’d started losing their personality and soul before that album cycle, but it feels like the sanitization of their image and artistry really kicked into hyperdrive after that. Now most of what they do seems like a sterile money grab driven by the Hybe hive mind which is a shame.

ok alrighty (cracks knuckles) let's get into it.

now that i've fully given myself a headache watching the majority of the bts videography, here are three points i'm going to cover:

performative character and the lack thereof

interesting aesthetics and the lack thereof, and

the inevitable cracking of perfection

ready, set, let's begin.

1.

idol music is very clearly definited by spectacle based aesthetics. and it's had that structure for its entire existence. so i gotta hand it to hybe for this one, because they managed to revolutionize being utterly fucking average. the triumph of bts is that they're just some guys and they look like just some guys. hybe found a niche in the system and then gamed that system to the tune of one of the largest musical acts in the world. they're not marketing bts as a romantic parasocial relationship, they're marketing them as your friends. and that is just as insidious to lonely kids as a run of the mill romantic fantasy. but that's not what i'm here to talk about today.

there's a pattern i find very interesting with bts mvs and that is that i don't remember anything about them. specifically, i don't remember the stuff that's happening IN the video; not the styling, not the setpieces, if i didn't know the members i doubt i would remember them either. what i DO remember, is how expensive the production is, and specific shots. i couldn't tell you what a single member was wearing, but i sure as hell remember that first upward angle shot of jungkook and the rusted park ride in spring day. or every single time they do that birdseye shot of jin in like every video. honestly as far as i'm aware jin has only ever worn a loose fitting beige longsleeve shirt.

it took bts a long time to establish any kind of consistent visual character. and the character they did establish.... i don't know if you can call a family-friendly-style clean aesthetic 'character'. they debuted as a hip hop group to little (comparative) success, and then made a switch to doing an early version of where they're currently at right now. if you've seen any of the mvs, you know that this is a pretty significant visual change. i don't think it is inherently a bad change, since the visual branding for hiphop based groups always tips over into iffy terrritory, but it is dramatic enough and early enough that it doesn't strike me as a natural evolution. concept switch ups are common, but they usually work because the members have established a bit of character for themselves, used their performance abilities and presence to fit into a niche in the group. the idol mould is perfect for showcasing the performers; that's its function. the groups that are the most fun to watch are the ones with stage presence, the ones who know how to perform, who can act all the parts they need to play. and bts? 4/7 actual performers on a good day. in my personal opinion it's 2/7.

i'm gonna expand on what i said about jimin here (this is technically the first part of this series), because it does apply to the rest of the group on the whole:

and i think here is where we see the main crux of the difference between taemin and jimin as performers: taemin has both an artistic and an idol persona. we know and understand him to do solo work that has a separate artistic meaning to just him being an idol. even though this performance was pre-move, i would still say this applies, because he's hot off press your number, where he's acting in a story based mv. jimin on the other hand just has his idol persona. he's not known for creating the same kind of storytelling that taemin is.

bts has been very insistent on the image of the group as a single unit. despite having the size of fanbase and the revenue that would make any official solo debut a massive success, none of them have done any substantial solo work. this isn't artistically a problem, and i think it's very admirable of them to be so dedicated to the image and the legacy of the group, when that can be an uncommon trait in the industry. i do however, think it starts to become an issue when we want to discuss what the artistic visions and images of groups are. shinee taemin and solo taemin have two distinct artistic representations, and taemin himself will attest to that. it's the same with all the shinee members that have solo careers, and the same with other groups. jackson, bambam, yugyeom, and jaebeom's solo work is all very different from got7. yixing's solo work is very different from exo's. even the subunits within exo all have their own character (cbx and sc). kpop groups all ostensibly are trained under the same system, so why the disparity with bts? mostly, it's their brand of "authenticity." it's impossible to perform authentically, by the nature of performance as a medium it is unnatural, and tragically, not everyone is naturally interesting, or suited to performing: that's why the performing arts even exist in the first place. it required painstaking training to be good at performing; it is a complex set of skills and those skills are not learnt by "being authentic." being an idol is not just the singing, dancing, rapping; that's only half the work. you need to be able to act to be a compelling performer. pulling your true self and emotions out on stage every night is a fast track to burnout and psychological issues, there's plenty of evidence. the only member of bts of whom i can say for some certainty has a persona and a stage presence is jhope/hoseok, a) because he's kept up a very specific brand in the solo work that he has done, and b) he has actual dance training, not just kpop dance training. the rest of them may have the kpop dance and the kpop vocal training, but what they do not have is the ability to market themselves as compelling performers on stage. taehyung is the only other member i would hesitantly give a semblance of persona and ability to, but i think he stumbled onto that mostly by accident. and if all the pieces don't each have a distinctive colour, how can the whole machine be visually interesting?

2.

bts may never have been able to establish an aesthetic brand, but what they did establish is an intellectual one. if you talk to a fan, the schtick they give is that "it's about the lyrics." as noble as having an intellectual or cerebral message is, what does that look like? how do you portray intellectual on stage, on film? what about intellectual is interesting to watch? cerebral, by it's literal nature as a descriptor, is very difficult to communicate in visual language because it is internal. to successfully communicate cerebrality and intellect in a short form medium like music videos requires a deft hand with metaphor that can elude even an experienced designer. and honestly? i don't know whether to applaud hybe's visual team for being the most successful subtle contemporary designers i've every seen, or to decry them as worst kpop designers i've ever seen. maybe both. regardless, i don't think they're able to cross the gap.

there are exactly four mvs where i actually remember the content of the mv and not the frame it sits in, and those are dna, idol, the singularity comeback trailer with taehyung, and war of hormone. and of an eight year career......that's not very many. these four mvs have at least an inkling of interesting spectacle and character, but even then, it's still a stretch. there is absolutely nothing to write home about in the styling for dna, other than it's well colour matched. I don't even know if I should include singularity because it involves none of the other members. idol is probably their most interesting mv because it actually has alternative styling and varies (at least a little bit) from the standard hybe boom crane shot-that-shows-off-how-we-can-afford-big-studio-spaces-and-locations. the company and the group would be loathe to admit it, but war of hormone is a well designed and interesting mv for the time it was made, with a well crafted gimmick and some actual showing of character from the members. it was the start of a potential that they squashed quite quickly because it wasn't picking up in the hiphop-group-saturated market of 2014. but the rest of their mvs? remarkably uninspired styling. like it's truly impressive how boring the styling is. and like i've said, that is the triumph in their aesthetics: they all look like normal dudes (if you had professional skin + makeup techs looking after them for the last 8 years).

all of this is a carefully crafted image that's tailored to hooking an audience, especially an international one. the mvs are boring in the relative scale of kpop, but they're just different enough from a western pop mv to catch attention. and once you do sink a hook, there's a direct clickfunnel of content that bills itself on these men being "authentic" and "self-producing," which is a huge draw to international fans, because people are racist and believe that the kpop industry is a factory that produces idols like clones, where none of them know how to do anything other than sing and dance and all the music is just handed to them by companies. and they have SO much content that there's no way a new fan can get to it all in a timely manner, so they'll never have to engage with any other kpop artists' work if they don't actively seek it out. but that's another essay for another time.

3.

that brings us to current day, in which at least the last five bts releases have been in the same aesthetic vein of positive, sanitized, and pristine. i said it in one of my txt responses and i will say it again here: money scrubs the humanity from the aesthetic of living. minimalism is for rich white people. hybe and bts may have pivoted their style and brand directly into the lane of mass appeal, but when you pair that with the amount of money funding them, there's a cognitive dissonance between the message and the aesthetics in which it's portrayed. some people do like the clean cut looks, and i won't say that they don't work, but as you've likely gleaned from this response, it isn't my style and if you've been around and reading my writing for longer you'll know that my tastes runs much closer to the messy and the weird, so very little about any of bts' visuals have appeal to me. i do find the contradiction of applying the appeal of radical relatability with the aesthetics of expansive (and expensive) minimalism interesting; it's an extremely fine line that hybe is walking and eventually they are going to tip over, the porcelain mask will not hold forever. maintaining the all ages aesthetic is going to be difficult now that all of them are grown ass men. with other groups of this member age and generation there's very obviously been a shift to a more adult tone, and not necessarily explicitly. got7, mx, nu'est, btob, shinee, 2pm, and groups that have older members like a.c.e and sf9 have all made slow shifts in tone that are undeniably aimed at a maturing audience: they know their core fanbases are aging with them and they (the fans) are not as interested in the 'boy' in boy group. and most of them have telltale visual styles, enough so that i can distinguish a specific group's mv. the last year and change of mx mvs have a very distinctive character; got7 too, since easily as far back as if you do. i can always tell an a.c.e mv by its impeccable fashion and formic styling, and although shinee has always had a more experimental aesthetic edge, their sound and voices are unmistakable.

honestly, i can't predict what bts is going to do in the future, but i personally don't believe they can keep up their clean aesthetic indefinitely without some fallout. part of the fun of following bands is watching them grow musically, and the last couple of years of bts haven't felt like growth. there are fans that have already started realizing it, and there's likely to be more soon.

---

the third part is here, which is a short followup about some of bts' industry influence.

[thenovelartist]

Burned Beginnings, Chapter 3

<<Previous  Next>>

7. Homemade Gifts

Marinette prided herself in not caring about the looks of others. After all, beauty meant nothing if their heart was trash. They’d always just be a pig in lipstick.

Unfortunately, if they did have a good heart, Marinette discovered that she did care for their looks a little more than she would have cared to admit. Particularly when it came to a former model turned baker.

Which was why, much to her chagrin, she’d ended up losing the bet.

It was just a pair of glasses. A simple, functional accessory. However, with the frame he had, ones that held a dark green hue that accented his eyes and were square in form—somehow, a perfect match for his angular face—she couldn’t help but to have stared a bit.

By the time she caught herself, Adrien was already grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

She hoped beyond all hope her cheeks hadn’t colored, or at the very least, Adrien hadn’t caught it.

And now, she was having to bite the bullet and watch an anime of his choosing. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad loss.

Hopefully.

Depending on what he chose…

Oh, please don’t be anything stupid.

Marinette finished her work, then clocked out, hurrying to go shower quickly before Adrien came over. Not that Adrien hadn’t seen her covered in flour and looking like a hot mess already, but she’d rather be clean and comfy if she was going to have to suffer through her punishment for losing the bet. They had planned to meet at her house for the viewing. Adrien would bring over his computer and cables to hook it up to their tv so that he could easily access his anime accounts. He said it would be a piece of cake.

She threw on a comfy t-shirt and lounge pants, then she dried her hair. Once that was done, she went downstairs to begin preparing the dinner she’d prepped earlier that day.

Halfway through, a knock sounded on the door, signaling Adrien’s arrival. She answered, only for her gaze to fall to the box in his hands. “What’s that?”

One of his hands reached up to rub the back of his neck. “I wanted to bring some homemade food since I knew you’d be working all day. And I need to practice my cooking skills, anyway.”

She smiled, taking the offered gift. “Thanks, but I actually started making something thinking that it was the least I could do since you were bringing everything over.”

Adrien looked surprised for a moment before he chuckled. “We should have planned that better.”

“Oh well. Left overs for days, right?” she said with a shrug, stepping aside to let him in.

“That’s one way to look at it.”

 8. Commissions

“Can I ask a question?”

“I don’t know? Can you?”

Adrien looked up from his computer screen to shoot a grinning Marinette a flat look. This was the fourth time he’d come over so they could continue the anime he’d chosen. He had known from Mr. Dupain that he and his daughter both loved video games, and henceforth, he’d chosen accordingly in hopes to get Marinette hooked.

He knew he’d succeeded when they binged the first four episodes the first day. He’d then hung it over her head that “why would he come back again? He’d won the bet, and she’d paid her price, so for what reason did he have to come over again?”

He had had fun teasing her, because her huffy, unamused expression was too darn endearing.

“Look,” she’d said. “I just need to know what happens to Princess Bitch.”

He’d snorted, trying and failing to withhold his laugh. “You don’t get to call her that yet.”

“Why not? You don’t get to pull that level of manipulative bullshit, ruining the other person’s life like that, and not be dubbed with the title ‘Princess Bitch’.”

“So…” he drawled out, teasingly. “Are you saying you care about this anime?”

She’d fallen silent, and he couldn’t help but to laugh once more.

In the end, after more teasing on his part, he’d caved and said he’d come over again so they could finish it out.

Hence why he was here now.

“Haha, funny,” Adrien deadpanned, turning back to his screen.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be nice,” she said a little too sweetly, placing two plates of food on the coffee table before plopping down on the couch. “What’s on your mind?”

He took a second to log into his account before turning back to her. “I don’t know if this is overstepping, but… are you happy working at your parents’ bakery?”

Marinette froze, and for a moment, Adrien grew worried.

Thankfully, she seemed to take it well, although it was clear she was confused. “What brought that on?”

Adrien shrugged, looking at his screen again to select their anime of choice. “I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I feel like we’re close enough to be friends. Right?”

Marinette didn’t hesitate to nod. “Yeah, I would consider you one.”

Adrien pushed aside the very happy feeling that blossomed in his chest. “I guess I’m just… curious… about you… as a friend, of course.”

“No, I get it,” she assured. “Now that you mention it, I guess I could say the same for you.”

Adrien felt extra warm now. “So, do I get an answer to my question?”

Marinette paused, her expression falling as she bit her lip. “Only if you promise to keep it secret from my parents.”

“Yeah, totally,” he promised, smile falling from his face. “Cat’s honor.”

Marinette sighed. “I… I am happy,” she said. “Really. It’s not an issue of me being happy here. But running my parents’ bakery wasn’t my dream, you know?”

With the episode loading, Adrien decided to take a seat next to Marinette. “What was your dream?”

“I wanted to be a fashion designer.”

That came as a surprise to Adrien. “Really? What stopped you?”

“Chloe.”

Somehow… that answer shouldn’t have surprised him. “Chloe?”

“She got her mom to block me from going to any fashion or design school.”

“She what?!”

“Shhh!” Marinette shushed, finger over his lips. “Not so loud.”

Adrien felt his face heat at her touch. “Er…sorry.”

She then took her finger away, and Adrien tried not to think about why he was disappointed. “Chloe did that?” he asked, his voice just above a whisper. “How? And how’d you know?”

“Um…” She suddenly turned sheepish, and that spitfire edge he’d come to love diminished a bit. It made her look younger and sweeter. He didn’t mind that change. “Well, due to the methods used to acquire such information, I must refrain from answering that. Just know I trust my source and the information that was found.”

Adrien sighed. Honestly, even if he wanted to come to Chloe’s defense, he couldn’t. She ran in a pretty elite crowd and had some powerful connections. If she wanted to block someone from entering a fashion school, she could. And since Adrien knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t be above such tricks, Adrien accepted Marinette’s word as truth.

Besides, he knew Marinette well enough by now to know she hated liars. He doubted she’d lie about this.

“So, have you thought about applying outside the country?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “I just… didn’t. It felt too overwhelming.”

“So, what about skipping the education entirely? Find a niche and start your own business taking commissions or what not?”

Marinette paused, her eyes glazing over a moment as she thought. “I… it’s an idea that’s come up before.”

“So, what’s stopping you?” Adrien asked. “Even if you got an education later, you’d at least have a reputation you’re building up now.”

Again, Marinette was silent. “You know…” she began, her tone softer and more earnest than he’d ever heard before. It felt raw. Open. And that did something to his heart.

Protect her. The words popped up in his head, and his heart clenched onto them before he could even realize it. But all he could do at the moment was listen. So he would.

“I decided I’d step back and do a lot of thinking.”

“About?”

She sighed. “It’s easy to say ‘I love fashion so I want to be a designer’. It’s easy to have those dreams. It’s easy to think that your hobby can become your profession. But the easy stuff isn’t all the fashion world consists of. It’s a competitive world filled with both nice people and people like Audrey Bourgeois. It’s filled with more than fashion, and when faced with the reality that I’d been barred from fashion college because one person in the industry had that much power, I had to do some reflecting. If I accept fashion as my career, I get to set foot into that world. And I had to face the question of ‘am I ready and willing to accept that?’”

When Marinette came to a pause, Adrien stopped to think of his response. “Honestly, as someone who comes from that world, I completely understand your feelings. I’ve seen the good, and I’ve seen the bad. I’ve watched people succeed and climb the ladder, and I’ve watched people crash and burn. And I think there’s such a fine line between the two.”

“See, that just feels validating,” Marinette said, small smile on her face. “I understand that that is basically every job field. I understand some are better than others. But with what I’ve seen from the fashion world… I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m as adamant about it as I was when I was in high school.”

Adrien sighed. “I don’t understand what it’s like to have a passion,” he admitted. “I’ve never had one, so this might not mean anything coming from me, but I think… it would be better to keep your passion a hobby… if the profession will burn you out. Because then you’re not just loosing your profession, but the hobby meant to bring you joy.”

Marinette was silent for a minute, and Adrien thought he’d said something wrong. But that tension in his chest eased hen a small smile crept up on her lips. “That’s good advice,” she finally said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Adrien reached out to pat her shoulder, surprising her a moment. When she turned to him, eyes wide and clear once again, he gave her a smile. “I’ll be rooting for you. And if there’s anything I can help you with, I’d be happy to assist.”

Slowly, her small smile grew. “Thanks,” she said, her voice surprisingly sweet. But she soon turned away, and Adrien pulled his hand back. “So, um… fair’s fair,” she started up again. “Are you happy working here?”

Adrien didn’t hesitate to nod. “Honestly, it’s hard work, but it’s something that I chose, for once. This is something I myself am doing. I don’t want to say the novelty of doing this hasn’t worn off yet, but it feels… worthwhile.”

Marinette nodded. “Have you considered other paths or what you want to do for the future? Or do you see this being long term?”

Adrien shrugged. “I don’t know, yet,” he said. “Honestly, this whole ‘I’m my own person and on my own’ thing still hasn’t fully caught up to me yet. I feel like I’m still playing pretend. It’s… weird.” He turned back to her, forcing a smile. “Hazard of growing up super sheltered, I guess.”

Marinette hummed. “Well, I think you know Papa will love having you around as long as you plan to stay.”

He smiled, a genuine grin this time. “Yeah, I know. And you?”

“What about me?”

“Do you mind having Asshole Agreste around?”

Her expression changed from shock to irritation. “Are you really gonna dredge up that old nickname? No, wait!” Her brow furrowed in a mix of anger and confusion. “Where did you even hear that? I never called you that here!”

He grinned a little wider than he’d thought he would. “Chloe.”

Marinette growled.

He couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know I don’t think of you like that anymore, right?”

He couldn’t help teasing her a bit more. “I don’t know. Do I?”

Marinette glowered at him, and he burst into laughter again.

With a growl, she turned away, crossing her arms with a huff. “Just turn on the anime again. I need to see Princess Bitch get her comeuppance.”

Adrien laughed. “We’re only on episode fourteen. You still don’t get to call her that yet.”

“Why?” she cried. “What’s gonna happen in the next few episodes that changes? Does she get worse? And if so, how? She’s already about as low as she can go. Like, almost past Chloe-level.”

He shook his head. “Nevermind. Just wait and see.”

 9. Baking Lessons

Marinette felt like she was up to her ears in information.

After her talk with Adrien, she decided that she should do her research on the fashion industry as much as she could. But she also knew to take everything with a grain of salt. Only once she felt prepared enough would she make a decision on her future.

On one hand, it was satisfying to pick up her dreams again, dust them off, and put plans to them. On the other, it was overwhelming, and more did once did Adrien’s warning of “don’t burn out your passion” cross her mind.

It was well into the afternoon that she realized a break might be in order and food would be beneficial.

She headed down into kitchen, only to startle at the unfamiliar face there.

“Um… what are you doing in my house?”

Adrien glanced over his shoulder to look at her, then shot her a smile. “Your parents asked me to. They each had their break and said you hadn’t been down all day. So now it’s my turn for a break, and they asked if I’d take a minute to make sure you ate.”

Marinette looked at the sandwich on the plate he extended towards her. After staring at it a moment, she realized she should take it. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Busy?”

“Yeah. I… kinda forgot the last time I was so engrossed in something that I forgot to eat like this.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Um… I decided to dig into researching the fashion industry.”

Adrien turned back around, glancing at her with surprise. “Oh? How’s it going?”

Marinette’s lips pursed in thought. “Up and down. Every other article seems to pull me the opposite direction.”

“Fair,” he said with a nod. “Which way are you leaning now?”

“The ‘This is bullshit. Why do I want to be in this hellish industry?’ direction.”

A lopsided grin flashed across Adrien’s face. “I feel that on a personal level.”

“I’m sure you do,” she muttered, walking over to the table to have a seat. “But enough of me griping. You? Have you thought of your future at all since our talk?”

He grabbed a paper bag on the counter, pulling out a tupperware container with a sandwich of his own inside. “Not really.”

“Not really?” she probed, pointing at the seat directly across from her.

He took the hint and took a seat. “I haven’t given much thought to anything beyond the baking lessons your father has been giving me. I mean, maybe one day I’ll go to school for something, but I’ve really decided to give myself a full year of this before committing to anything. Let me learn how to be an adult on my own first before I move forward, you know? It’s easier to start running when your feet are solidly under you.”

“Understandable,” Marinette said. “But just so you know, I’m going to hold you to that, now.”

“Oh?”

“Yup. I’d like you to know you have six months, three weeks, and five days remaining before you have to make a decision.”

Adrien froze, sandwich halfway to his mouth.

Marinette couldn’t help but giggle.

“Is that a legit number or one you just threw out.”

“I don’t know. What do you think?”

“I think that when it comes to you, I don’t always know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.”

She giggled, feeling a little too giddy for her liking. She played it off with a wink. “Got to keep you on your toes somehow.”

Adrien scoffed. “Don’t worry about that,” he dismissed with a charming smile that she hated to admit could knock her off her feet if she were standing. “You already do.”