#look i really don't like to write politics and current events shit

[aelloposchrysopterus]

HEY DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ASSASSINATION OF A PROMINENT SIKH LEADER IN CANADA AND WHY THIS MATTERS?

I generally don't like to write current events-y stuff here, but since I'm not seeing any people talking about this in my corner of this hellsite, I figured I might as well.

DISCLAIMER: For the record, I'm part Punjabi, raised culturally Sikh in the United States, I don't actively practice Sikhism, and I'm writing this assuming a non-Sikh, non-Desi audience that knows little to nothing about Indian politics. I am trying to be as factually accurate as possible but if certain information is incorrect, I will correct this post because a) this is an ongoing issue so the information I have right now may not turn out to be correct and b) my memory is fallible and while I did try to fact-check the background information I remembered, many of these historical events have accounts that differ drastically from each other, so it is difficult to establish a definite truth. This post was written and last updated 25 September 2023.

So, the basic facts of what happened:

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed on 18 June 2023. He was a proponent of the Khalistan movement. In the past week or so, Canadian government officials have accused India of orchestrating his assassination.

Khalistan? What's That and Why Does It Matter?

Like quite a few things in Desi politics, the idea of Khalistan can be traced back to the Partition. At the heart of the Partition, the idea was that Pakistan is for the Muslims and India is for the Hindus.

However, India is not exclusively populated by Hindus, no matter how hard Modi and the BJP* try to make it a Hindu-only nation through their Hindu nationalist policies. Among other religious minority groups, many Sikhs had to made the new India their home, because of the religious persecution they would face in Pakistan. The Radcliffe Line (the line of partition) runs right through Punjab, the ancestral homeland of, among others, most Sikhs. In Punjab, during the Partition, Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims carried out sectarian violence against each other.

What this means is that a lot of Sikhs were displace from their homeland and subjected to discrimination and violence based on their religion in both Pakistan and India. As a result, some members of the Sikh community started calling for a new nation to be carved out of the Punjab regions in Pakistan and India. This new nation was to be a Sikh nation, much like Pakistan for the Muslims and India for the Hindus, and it was to be called Khalistan.

(Little bit of anecdotal trivia: apparently identifying as Punjabi first and Indian second when describing ethnic background is more common among Punjabi Sikhs, due to Sikh efforts to show their connection to Punjabi in an attempt to make Khalistan a Sikh nation in the Punjabi region.)

Needless to say, the Indian government did not and does not like the idea of a Sikh nation and sees the idea of it as a terrorist threat.

*Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist party currently ruling over most of India.

Operation Blue Star and Indira Gandhi

As part of this rising call for a Sikh nation, Sikh militant groups sprung up. Indira Gandhi's government wanted to arrest one of the most prominent leaders of a Sikh militant movement. However, he and his supporters were holed up in the holiest site in Sikhism, the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

On one of the holiest days in Sikhism, the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev, the Indian military began their attack on the Golden Temple, known as Operation Blue Star. Long story short, Sikh pilgrims were killed during both the fighting and in extrajudicial killings by the military afterwards.

In anger at how Gandhi's government had carried out Operation Blue Star, two of her Sikh bodyguards assassinated her. Anti-Sikh pogroms then occurred, with independent estimates of the number of Sikhs killed ranging from 8,000 to 17,000.

This only made tensions between the Sikh community and the Indian government worse; I see this as a defining moment in how the government of India responds to the Khalistan movement and both Sikh extremist violence and peaceful support.

Oh and did I mention yet that the Indian government has outlawed the Khalistan movement?

The law that does this dates back to 1967, by the way.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar

And so now we come to the story of the recently-assassinated Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Due to Khalistani activism being outlawed in India, many Khalistani activists have settled abroad. This includes Nijjar, who became a Canadian citizen in 2007 and had first come to Canada to apply for asylum after having been arrested by the Indian police in connection with his pro-Khalistan stance. He continued his Sikh and Khalistani activism in Canada until he was killed in the parking lot of the gurdwara he belonged to by two masked gunmen.

The Canadian government recently alleged that the Indian government war involved in the killing of Nijjar, but has not yet provided firm evidence.

Why Does This Matter?

Obviously, as a culturally Sikh person, it matters to me because this assassination is part of a legacy of violence targeting my community due to perceived associations with terrorism. (Yes, there are some Sikh extremists and terrorists, but the overwhelming majority of Sikhs are neither extremists nor terrorists.)

But this has ramifications that everyone should care about.

Canada and India have recently done tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions due to the Canadian government's allegations

The US may also get dragged into this because Canada alleged that American intelligence gave them some information necessary to prove the involvement of the India government

The UK may also get dragged into this because they, too, have a sizeable Punjabi Sikh community that includes multiple MPs and the government has historically had strong relationships with both Canada and India

Despite the BJP's involvement in anti-Muslim violence, Modi and his government still enjoy a cozy relationship with many Western nations; this may start to change, although change is unlikely as Western governments see being allied with India as key to countering Chinese influence

If India is proven to be behind the assassination, this could be bad for other Khalistani activists in the Sikh diaspora because it means the Indian government could potentially target and kill them, too

This is important. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and this isn't an isolated incident. I know I probably didn't do a great job explaining this, but it's hard to summarize about 550 years of oppression and violence and politics and culture and how that has manifested over the past 80 years, leading to the murder of a prominent leader in the Sikh diaspora.

For further reading on this, I'd suggest this BBC article, which includes information on some other Khalistani activists recently killed.

Anyhow, I'll keep trying to follow the news on this and update this post as needed, likely through reblogs.

[o-pandora-o]

Dating Beleth Headcanons (SFW and NSFW)

Note: This is NOT SPOILER FREE. After playing the event and have unlocked few of info via intimacy, I am currently hungry of Beleth content. Please be advised that this is not spoiler free and will connect a few info from the event or intimacy info. Writing this before I completed 100% of his intimacy info (currently at 27%). Writing in gender neutral pronouns.

How is it like dating the de facto King (in terms of what he does) - Right hand of Belphegor - Beleth?

🚬 One of the loyal green flags in Hell, once he picks someone to be his partner, don't expect him to entertain others. He might have the charisma to get along with others; however, he will definitely not entertain others who flirt with him when he's taken. He'd politely say "Hahaha. Sorry to break it to you pretty boy/girl, I'm already taken", bonus points if they flirt in front of you, he'd hold your waist and pull you close to him, no questions asked.

‌🚬He would definitely call you cute pet names such as "kitten", "kitty", "baby", and "babe". He like cute things, so he'll call you something cute too wink wonk.

🚬He isn't picky when it comes to his partner, he mostly looks at what's inside rather than what's outside. He doesn't care of your gender, nor your physical appearance. Whether your thin, chubby, plus-sized, or small. He'll love you, since he chose you to be his partner out of the many people he slept with.

🚬His love language is Act of Service, similar to Valefor, he'd do anything because you deserve everything. He may look like a bad boy, but he's a good guy at heart. He'd hold the door for you. He'd take your bag whenever you go out. Honestly, he's quite used to this because he takes care of his king - Belphegor.

🚬‌If you're feeling sick he'd take a leave from the palace and take care of you. He'd cook your comfort foods, provide comfort and warmth. Even if you're not sick, he'd cook for you if he wakes up before you.

🚬‌He's also keen on things you once said. He might bring home some desserts or food if you mentioned something that you wanna try it. Or plan a date on a newly opened cafe because you once mentioned it.

🚬He always likes it whenever he does something for you, especially if you request something. He'd do anything just to make you happy. ‌His secondary love language is physical touch. He is purely consensual and will ask you if it will be okay to touch you (hold hands, hugs, kisses) especially if you're not the type of person that is fond of physical touch.

🚬He loves LOVES being the big spoon! He's pretty tall and loves seeing you all small in his embrace. He also likes to pat your head whenever you look so cute. Bonus if you pout, he'd laugh heartily.

🚬He's pretty neutral when it comes to PDA. He respects your personal space but if he needs to display his affection, he might do so. For example if one demon decides to flirt with you, not knowing Beleth is your s/o. "It seems you really are famous with the demons, no?" Beleth said to you "Sorry my friend, it seems they're already taken, Hahaha." He wraps his arms around you and pulls you close and kisses your forehead

🚬‌Doesn't get jealous easily. He trust you so much to the point that he doesn't get jealous when other demons talk to you. However, it will be another issue if he notices something fishy with the other party. He'd be more protective rather than jealous.

🚬‌He's fond of cute animals especially baby ones. He feeds stray cats and dogs, one some rare occasions he might bring home one. "Hi baby I hope you don't mind I brought home a small kitty. I was watching him for a few days now, he's all alone. I hope you don't mind haha." He cradles the small kitty like his baby, while making that sweet smile "But Beleth… that's the 10th cat this month…"

🚬‌He does not belittle anything or anyone, even his opponents or you. When he heard someone talking shit about you and your abilities he'd butt in and politely negate their comments. "Hahaha. I wouldn't be too sure of that, my baby can pack a punch you know".

🚬He's practically the son of the Black cat x golden retriever trope. He's so cool, chill, and he practically gets along with everybody. His aura screams bad boy but to you he's like a dog (or in his case, a cat) waiting for your orders and affection.

🚬‌He once thought that you might be scared of his demon cat form, but you proved him wrong. "Are you sure you wanna see it, y/n?" "Yes! Please!!" "You know I don't show this normally right? I just show this whenever I'm mad. Haha" A cold sweat drops from his forehead "Yes! Bathin told me that too! Even Harumon!! May I see it pretty please?" "Promise me you won't change how you look at me, mkay?" "I promise!!!" "Alright, a promise is a promise, okay?" He hesitantly transforms into a gigantic demon cat "…" You stared at him "Y/n…?" He meowed " YOU'RE SO FLUFFY AND CUTE SORRY I LIED I CHANGE HOW I LOOK AT YOU NOW OMG YOU'RE SO FLUFFY!!!" You run a hand into his fur and hug him He was happy and shocked that you enjoyed looking at his demon cat form

🚬‌He enjoys it if you run your hand into his fur, it makes him purr if you scratch certain places. He will sometimes wrap his body around you and it will be okay for him if you sleep on his soft fur.

🚬‌He gets a bit upset or sad if he can't see you in the days that he's busy with Belphegor's orders or errands. Honestly your competitor is his Majesty Belphegor himself in your time with Beleth. I wouldn't say Beleth is too busy like Bael, but he may be busy occasionally due to fights or troublesome issues. He might request Harumon to bring you something if he can't come home.

🚬He sometimes fight for fun, kinda similar to training. Hottest time is when he fights without a top on, when sweat trickles down his chest and abs. "Y/n please close your mouth and don't drool" Gusion said as he was requested to supervise so you wouldn't get hurt. He'd also enjoy it if you bring him a towel. "Hmm? Do you wanna wipe my swear, lil one? Just kidding haha" He likes to tease you

🚬The only time he'd lose his chill is if you're in danger and if the angels did something to you. "What did you do to them?!" "Oh ex-brother Beleth! I just removed the temptation from you! You were sinning and that person is-" The angel's head was cut off "Oh Beleth? Why are you here?" "Huh but I thought-" He saw you bought cat food and Bathin was behind you "Was guarding them like you asked" Bathin said as he saw the angel's head in the floor "Oh."

🚬‌He likes lighting up cigarettes(this is alr obvious because of his philia), bonus if you like it too. But if you don't like cigarettes (even the smell), he'd maintain distance to respect your preference (also so you won't smell it too strongly). However if you try to smoke (or if you already do) he'd really get turn on (again this is because of his philia).

🚬‌He always likes it if you dress up like a soft boy/soft girl or lolita. He always encourages you to dress up and not be shy of your preferences, since you dress up for yourself after all.

🚬Firmly believes that Beleth only have sex with people because of the NEED to sleep. But after you're with him, man he WANTS to sleep everyday. He's so comfortable with you that he wants to sleep (literally, wholesome) with you but his insomnia is stopping him. But hey you can help him sleep tho 👀

🚬‌He's pretty naughty sometimes. He'd slap your ass jokingly if you're cooking or doing something standing up, and he won't apologize but makes the most flirtatious smirk. He would often tease you especially if it makes you pout and he'd laugh about it. He would also engage in dirty talks if he seems a bit bored.

🚬His member is pretty big, and I'd say BIG, it's probably bigger than Beel's and it's girthy. Good thing Nilfheim has good pants (fuck those pants) you can't see his bulge or whenever he's having a boner when he see you all flushed up and squirming from his dirty talks or even if you lit up a cigarette for him.

🚬‌He'd like it whenever you sit on his lap (he doesn't care if you're heavy, he's a demon with demon strength anyw). However, he will like it even more if you decide to cockwarm him. He likes seeing you squirming on his lap, begging to move. He'd grip your thighs and whisper dirty things in your ear. He'd even bite or lick your earlobe. "Mmmm Beleth please can I m-move?" "Lil oneee, you said cockwarming right? Be a good girl/boy and sit still mkay? I'll reward you later" His one hand hold your thighs, while the other wraps around your waist and he nibbles on your ear 🚬‌He's a dominant top however, if you're feeling frisky, he's willing to be submissive for you.

🚬He'd praise you and pat your head in bed. "Mmmm you're doing great little one. Hm you're so tight for me now are you, baby? That's a good girl/boy" *He pats your head and he also whispers "Do you want me to touch you, baby? Mmm you're so good for me today" ‌Prolly has size kink in addition to his philia, he likes seeing his towering figure above your small figure whenever you take him. He's favorite positions being Missionary and Side windher.

🚬‌He LOVES marking you. He's not really possessive but he always laughs and feels proud whenever someone asks you or looks at your love marks and you always become flustered to answer.

🚬After sex, he always looks at your disheveled look, like some masterpiece he made and he was the painter (i mean if cum was paint then he is). He always enjoyed looking at your cum filled holes (and body) and his marks in your body. ‌He's fond of aftercare. He'll help you clean up and take a bath or shower. You in front of him while he cleans you. He'd also prepare some comfy towels and a bathrobe before falling asleep together with you. He'd sleep hugging you with a smile in his face.

A contribution to the WHB Server that I'm in! Hungry for Beleth for this past few days. Special thanks to my friend K for being hungry with me and reviewing some similarities we thought of Beleth. Will probably update this once i got a hold of his 100% intimacy information and voice.

Masterlist

[recklesssturniolo]

Not Just Friends - C.S

As per the earlier request for Chris x reader being friends w benefits but confess their feelings for each other (here!) No smut

A/N: I hope y’all like this if it’s shit I’m sorry this is somewhat my first time writing something like this

Chris and I had been friends with benefits for about 4 months now. Us meeting through Nick, as him and I became good friends after meeting at an event. When we first started, we set a rule that if either one of us caught feelings, we'd stop immediately. I had been breaking that rule for over a month now. I knew I saw Chris as more than just a fuck-buddy. How could I not? He'd let me spend the night, cuddle with me, and in general just act like he was my boyfriend - until of course we were in public.

Currently at a party with him and his brothers, I watched as he stood across the room from me flirting with a random girl. I hadn't told anyone that I had actual feelings for Chris and really didn't plan to, but I knew I had to end things before I fell for him any harder.

"You aren't very good at hiding how you feel you know that right?" Matt says from beside me, causing me to jump slightly as I wasn't expecting him to just pop up.

"What are you talking about?" I question, seriously hoping he was not about to bring up Chris.

"How you feel about Chris, I mean you're standing here gloomy because he's flirting with another girl" He replies.

"I am not 'gloomy' Matt. Just annoyed I guess" I mumble back.

"Oh come on, I can see the way you look at him Y/N. Nick too, he's brought it up to me a couple times. You and I both know this is deeper than just sex" He sighs.

"Doesn't really matter if it is or isn't deeper than sex as for Chris it's simply sex and that's it" I say.

He scoffs before responding, "No way you actually think that"

"Why wouldn't I? I mean he's literally proving my point right now" I say, nodding my head in Chris' direction.

"Y/N, he looks at you the exact same way you look at him. He'd never let a girl stay the night before you. Jesus he's never actually cared about a girl like this before. You should see the way he reacts when he see's you're out with another guy. Never seen someone get jealous that quick" He says.

I sigh before telling Matt I was going to the washroom, not knowing how to continue the conversation and also not wanting to watch Chris hit on girls any longer. Walking to the bathroom I'm stopped by a guy.

"Hey, you're gorgeous" He smiles.

"Oh um thank you" I smile back.

Surprised the guy was actually being respectful, we continued talking for a few minutes before exchanging numbers and parting ways. I use the washroom, and decide to go out on the porch for some air.

"What the fuck was that?" I hear, already aware just by the voice that it was Chris.

"Pardon?" I question.

"Don't play stupid. You and that guy, what was that about?" He replies.

"He complimented me and we had a small conversation before we exchanged numbers? Why does it matter?" I ask.

"Just not sure why you'd even give him your number, or for that matter even talk to him. He obviously just wants in your pants" He says.

"Real bold coming from you, someone who actually fucks me then spends the night flirting with every girl possible" I scoff back.

"Seriously? That's what you care about? We agreed we're nothing more than fuck buddies - or friends whatever" He responds, raising his voice slightly.

"Okay then why the fuck do you care about who I talk to?" I reply, my voice getting louder too.

"I don't, was just letting you know all he wants is to fuck. He doesn't actually care to have polite conversation" He shrugs.

I scoff before turning around to go back inside, but Chris grabs my arm, "What that hurt your feelings or some shit?”

"You realize that's the exact same as you right? Only difference being you actually fuck me and he doesn't" I question.

"That's bullshit and you know it” He replies.

“Is it? Pretty sure you’re fucking other girls by the way you act anyways. We mine as well call it off right now” I say, regardless of my heart slightly hurting at the thought of not seeing him anymore - not the sex but just him.

“And if I am seeing other girls what’s it to you?” He says back, now angrier.

“Forget it Chris, this is done. I’m not doing this with you” I huff.

“No tell me, what’s it to you if I’m seeing other girls?” He repeats.

“What’s it to you if I was to start seeing that guy then?” I question back - purposely avoiding his question.

“For fuck sakes I don’t want to share you” He yells.

“But I have to share you?” I respond.

“You seriously fucking think I have other girls? You think I’m letting other girls stay the night? Making them breakfast? You think there’s even one other girl who I’d feel comforted by?” He again yells. Now struggling to make eye contact.

I rub my face with my hands, “How would I know Chris? Look how you act at parties”

“Are you blind?” He asks, taking me by surprise.

“Sorry what?” I question.

“I only fucking do that to get under your skin. I don’t want anyone else, do I have to fucking spell it out for you? I don’t want you with anyone but me” He says, his voice softening.

My mind turns as Matt’s words from earlier replay in my head. Was Matt actually right?

“Okay” I respond. Knowing it was a shit reply but not being able to come up with anything better.

“That’s all you have to say?” He questions.

“What Chris, what are you expecting me to say? Are you wanting me to just come right out and tell you I’m in love with you? Because there you go" I yell before my eyes widen after what I just said actually hits me.

I look at Chris as he stands there. Not a single word leaving his mouth, no emotion present on his face. My heart breaking more with every second that passes.

Going to walk away for the second time, Chris once again grabs my arm to stop me. Except this time once I'm facing him, he pulls my face in and kisses me before he pulls away just slightly, saying "You have no idea how long I have been waiting to hear that" before connecting our lips again.

TAGLIST: @sturnphilia @thatonekid536 @cupidisworld @cupidsword @loveesiren @daddyslilchickenfingers @christinarowie332 @ilovemattsturn @mattenthusiast @its-jennarose @lxvlysworld @lovingsturniolo @iwantmattsobad @secret-sturniolo

[lightningarmour]

Absolute comics first thoughts

For the first time since the end of DOOMSDAY CLOCK I've been persuaded into paying money for a DC comic, and two, no less.

I've been 100% checked out of the DC sphere for about 5 years, only occasionally seeing some news here or there about the latest crossover event or fave character or what have you, and I regard those with the passing interest one might have in seeing a hot air balloon. Nothing has drawn me back partly because I'm old now and don't have the time or inclination to try catching up on years of crossover event, status quo altering storylines and yadda yadda.

I had heard about the new ABSOLUTE line of titles, but from the initial teasers and previews, not the least of which was the character design for Absolute Batman with his giant stupid fat bat symbol, I just wrote it off as them doing yet more edgy elseworlds stories, and thought no more on it until maybe three weeks ago. I saw a little roundup of details about Absolute Superman from an interview with Jason Aaron and it caught my attention.

I've gone on at length in the past about how I think that any earnest attempt at writing Superman for modern audiences that keeps true to the "idea" of Superman without making a cynical edgelord version of the character would need to depict Superman as a politically engaged, class conscious individual at least, and a full on Leninist at best. Now obviously I do not expect DC comics to publish a comic about communist superman without it being a laughable piece of propaganda like RED SON, but nonetheless, hearing that Absolute Superman is about a superman who is fighting a mining corporation to protect a community of abused labourers, and re-imagining Krypton as a caste-based society that was destroyed by reckless exploitation of the environment, I was certainly interested.

I resolved to check it out at least. I'd seen some of the details about Absolute Batman, that he's not a billionaire and whatever and still wasn't too interested, but realized I'd heard basically nothing about Absolute Wonder Woman. "She didn't grow up on Themyscira" okay what does that mean?

At this point both Batman and Wonder Woman were out so I looked it up and found some pages from Absolute Wonder Woman #1 and was pretty much instantly hooked because the art was tremendous, and Wonder Woman is flying on a skeleton pegasus with a huge Guts sword and like, that just fucking rocks ass, come on. So I was now sold on two Absolute series, I decided eh, what the hell I'll check out Absolute Batman #1, maybe I could be convinced.

So now that I've read all three first issues of the new ABSOLUTE Universe, I have some thoughts.

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #1 is a confused mess. I think that Batman, being easily the most popular DC character, with the broadest demographic appeal, has too much baggage. You'd kind of think that with a character like this where everyone knows his whole basic backstory, you could gloss over the details a bit more, but this issue is so concerned with establishing and referencing as many iconic Batman characters as possible, it's so bloated.

in this one(1) issue they set up or directly show you: Alfred Pennyworth, Jim Gordon, Barbara Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Killer Croc, Penguin, Riddler, Cat Woman, Two-Face, Black Mask, Ras Al Ghul, and of course we cannot go even one single issue without giving you The Joinker. It's too much. Ease off. We're not going to encounter probably two thirds of these people for ages. And, frankly establishing that half of Batman's presumptive rogue's gallery just so happened to be Bruce Wayne's childhood friends is dumb as shit. The dynamic between all of them is going to follow the exact same "gasp, could it be that my old friend is now a criminal?!" dynamic like 5 times in a row.

This is easily the most edgy of the current Absolute series and is basically exactly what I assumed the whole imprint was going to be, but it really feels in places like Scott Snyder wanted this to be a Batman that was darker and more violent but then DC editorial was like "no, Batman can't kill people" so he adjusted the script as little as possible to reassure the audience that he's rolling non-lethal damage as he stabs the shit out of people with his ear-knives and chops their hands off.

Despite all the parts I don't like about how they portray Batman, the thing that pisses me off is I really like the way they are doing Bruce Wayne.

Typically Bruce Wayne, the billionaire is kind of a hard character for me to like because of how much he serves this kind of great man power fantasy(yes, I know, superhero comics are inherently fascist) He has a vendetta against the concept of crime because his parents were killed by a criminal, so he takes it upon himself to "protect" Gotham, but in many depictions of Batman it's kind of like, what exactly is his connection to the city other than he lives there and presumably is the HQ of Wayne Enterprises. he views it the way a rich person would, dirty and too full of undesirable people who must be punished so that he, a wealthy socialite can enjoy the place without having to see the underclasses.

Making Bruce a working class urbanist is such a more interesting way of exploring the character. He loves the city because he grew up in it's streets, played in it's parks, attended it's schools, rode it's busses. Adding the layer on that that he became a civil engineer and worked with the municipal government does for the first time I've ever seen something interesting with Gotham by kind of interrogating the notion of what makes a city what it is. Is it the infrastructure, the people, the civil servants? It's the most interesting Bruce Wayne has ever been.

But then as Batman he's just fucking mutilating people and blowing them up with bombs and whatever. Yawn. I think that the Batman aspect also annoys me because it so blatantly disregards the central premise of the Absolute line. What if Batman wasn't a billionaire? Well then he wouldn't have access to tons of money and resources to do his Batman shit! So they like, half-ass that by giving him the kind of stripped-down arsenal. No gadgets and gizmos, just knives and a hunk of bat shaped metal used as a battle axe. But then oh yeah he also has some kind of miracle fabric that he can use as like tendrils or whatever and it's completely bullet-proof and so on and so forth. Like, Batman really really does not feel in any meaningful way like he is working at a disadvantage in this version of the story, and that just makes the whole thing so damn boring.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #1 fucking kicks ass. This was by kind of a wide margin the best issue of the three series debut issues. I think that unlike Batman and Superman who both have quite a lot of baggage tied into their backstories and supporting cast and so forth, Wonder Woman has never quite achieved the level of iconography as they have so there's almost more freedom to do something new without hitting a bunch of prescribed plot points. In fact she might be the one of the trinity who has had the most attempts to re-imagine her and spruce her up to get people interested. I recall back in 2010 they did a big shake up that was not too dissimilar to this new take on the character. What if she never grew up on Themyscira? What if she didn't have the favour of the gods, etc. And I really liked that one, so I guess it's no surprise I'd be fond of this new version as well.

I think the number one thing that hooked me on this issue is the artwork, tbh. It's my favourite style so far of the Absolute comics, and everything just looks so cool and big and epic and awesome. That's it. It's just cool as hell.

The next most important thing is it has much better pacing than the other issues. You get a very simple, very effective set-up. The Amazons have been punished by the gods so this baby is being raised in hell by a witch. That's it. Good, effective time lapse of her growing up interspersed within the action scenes of her fighting monsters. It's simple and to the point but still leaves me invested int he mystery and wanting to know more. And again, it did not feel the need to shoe-horn a bunch of characters in so you can do the soyjack point at the issue. They could have easily shoved Steve Trevor in there as one of the soldiers responding to the freaky monster pyramid but that would have just been lame. It's confident enough in itself to not have to try and get you with low hanging fruit.

I don't really have much else to say, it's just cool and good and I'm unequivocally excited for more.

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #1 is a solid start. Now I'll admit I'm way more of a Superman-head than I am for Batman or Wonder Woman. This was the series that made me interested in the Absolute experiment in the first place, so I'm probably way more willing to be lenient towards a Superman title than say Batman.

That being said, this one also has like Batman, aspects I really like, and others I'm a bit iffy on, though not in as wide a gulf as Absolute Batman. As I said before, I've spent probably too much time trying to think of how to reinvent Superman in a modern context and, specifically, from a politically left-wing perspective, and I'll say that so far I think they're doing a decent job.

It's obviously nothing new to look at Superman as an immigrant story. Going all the way back to Siegel & Shuster, who were children of Jewish immigrants, the whole idea was what if this guy came from somewhere else. I think that the way that Jason Aaron has interpreted that concept for a modern context is actually quite brilliant. It's almost less of what if Superman was an immigrant than what if Superman was a refugee? Rather than unable to return to his homeland, but finding a new home with loving foster parents we are given the suggestion that he's never had a stable home since arriving on Earth. Moving from one place to another, nowhere to go home to, hiding among the economically exploited peoples of the global south.

It's such a riveting set up, I'm really excited to see how this version of the Character is informed by his history.

I also like the use of Krypton as kind of a heavy-handed double metaphor for stratified class society and the dangers of climate change. Like, it is presumably already dead and gone and unable to like, textually affect the story so who cares if it's allegorical nature is too on the nose. I also really like the notion of Kal El having like, living memory of Krypton, rather than only knowing about it from recordings on an alien flash drive or whatever.

I think the use of this "Lazarus" corporation as a kind of stand-in blanket evil corporation that does every kind of exploitative, extractive, broadly seen as morally wrong kinds of industries a bit hokey but hey it's a comic. I love the use of the Peacemakers as the like, corporate PMC security force though, that's fun. I am pretty curious if Lazarus is going to be a kind of fake-out Lexcorp. Like Luthor is the head of it but they called it by a different name so as not to ruin the surprise of his introduction. That or maybe it's related to Ras Al Ghul? Who knows, but I'm interested in what their whole deal is. They not only operate diamond mines and factory farms but also like, hunt down alien technology to reverse engineer?? And employ a Brainiac. curious as to what the deal is with the screaming jars. Does being shrunk down just like, really hurt? Seems like almost going overboard with the concept. Like not only does he shrink down cities and put them in jars but he also tortures the shrunken people? Like why, what's he getting out of it?

Some of the iffy parts for me include the suit AI thing he's got because I'm frankly sick of that trope by now. Ever since Iron man it's like every fucking character in comics has to have some kind of tech suit with a quirky robot voice. I'm willing to give it a chance on the grounds that it's like alien technology so sure whatever. I kind of like that he has to fucking charge the suit with a solar panel. I am curious about what exactly the breakdown is with the suit. He uses his x-ray and laser eyes so presumably it's still Kal himself who has super powers and they're not like, imbued by the suit. The suit seems like it is regulating his powers in some way. Like without it he couldn't control them and would cause havoc, but the fact that he has to like charge the suit's battery is kind of funny. Like, is the suit solar powered and his powers are just inherent no matter what, or does he still derive his power from sunlight as well? Fuzzy on the rules.

I also don't like the Lois reveal. It's just dull. Who care. The little teaser of Kent Farm is interesting to me. Feels like several different ways they could pivot:

Kal El's rocket lands and blows a hole in their barn, they find him and are frightened of him so they call the authorities/Lazarus and Kal flees.

Similar to above but they care for him like usual before Lazarus shows up looking for the alien craft and kill the Kents to remove any witnesses

Altogether it does enough things I'm interested in to keep me going with it despite the few quibbles I have. So far it's 2/3 on the Absolute universe and with the "phase 2" or whatever announced I'm 100% guaranteed also picking up Absolute Flash because it's my boy Wally and Jeff Lemire writing, like come the fuck on, how could I resist that.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hi hi! I love how in depth and detailed you are when making/creating characters, or even when talking about other characters.

but I was curious, I wanted to be more inclusive/have more representation of PoC with my art works. But I do not know where to begin, or how to properly do research especially with how to research history and find accurate articles or so on.

Which I was curious on if you have any tips or pointers on how to do this/do my homework correctly?

THANKS!! OOOOhhhh I love research! And for a recent Spidersona, I had to do something like this. So here's the process I use to say things that kinda sorta make sense sometimes

How to Learn Any Topic RIGHT NOW- (kinda)

[A slightly LONG length post where I talk about my biggest resource and my number one tactic for sounding like you know your shit in an hour or less. Plus a list of educational Youtubers]

In High School, I mastered an art. The Art of 'Skyrim Speech 100'. The way to sound like you know what you're talking about, and form a pretty solid foundation of information in one sitting.

I am DEADASS CONVINCED that I have it boiled down to a very specific scientific formula. I got this I okay. I gotchu I swear I'm bout to have you like this im so deadass -

For me personally, the best resource is YouTube. One Website - Three Videos. And you're GOOD.

I have ADHD so - huge attention issues, so videos are a go to for me.

But I also really appreciate seeing the person explaining things to me. Finding good websites can be HARD, especially nowadays where a lot of websites might not even be written by humans, just clobbered together by AI.

For me, YouTube lets me see the person behind the channel, and it's a lot easier for me to vet the information if it's coming from one person who is open about their identity/certifications.

If their whole channel is dedicated to one thing, you can usually tell when they're very dedicated/educated on a topic, and I feel a lot more comfortable listening to them. Rather than reading random websites with writers I don't know/can't see.

Longform Youtube can be SO GOOD.

I'm gonna list some at the bottom - but you can find channels on everything. From architecture, to historical dress, to subway systems, entire cultures, etc.

In recent years Youtube has made a big push for longform content - so I recommend checking out videos that are 15 minutes OR MORE.

Not only is that enough time to go in depth, but because it's a video - the information is fed to you in a linear fashion. It's a lot more conversational and visual than reading a website.

If you hear something and need to remember, you can always go back. It can be hard to go back to a webpage and find the exact line, but videos are a bit easier.

Tips:

Try for find Youtubers that focus on ONE topic - or creators who go in depth about a wide array of interesting things (like Tom Scott or Anthony Padilla). Look for Doctors and Professors - A lot of educational professionals have youtube channels now. And they'll usually be upfront about it, searching things like 'History Professor explains X' or 'Doctor explains Y'. TEDTalks are good for this too. Look for people who are, or have the thing you're representing - If you're writing for a disability, it's always good to watch a video about the day in the life of someone with it - mental illnesses too. And there are a lot of great youtubers that easily break down things like cultural practices - or the issues they face because of their identity. Look for news channels. Watch current events. Vice, BBC, Channel 4, and have a lot of good current news, and they're posting videos every day. These videos show real life conditions while explaining it all, and they're really helpful for knowing about current political/cultural topics. DOCUMENTARIES!!!! - There is a documentary on anything. You can quote them in academics, and unlike movies, people post them on YouTube ALL the time, and people make them all the time. If you need to know about something, DOCUMENTARY.

I love using videos for everything, and below is how I use them:

I have a method that usually helps me sound like I'm super knowledgeable - By casting a very wide and very specific net over any topic. By narrowing any topic down to three parts, you can learn about 40% of a topic, but sound like you know 80%.

How to Teach Yourself Any Topic (in an hour and some change)

Three step method.

Watch three longform videos (15+ mins) about the topic. Each video about something slightly different.

The first video is about The History. This teaches us about the background of the topic. The second video is about The Expert Opinion. This teaches us about the reality of the topic. The third video is about a Random Topic inside of the main topic. This is to make us sound smart (in school)/add details or inspiration (while making characters).

Watch a fifteen minute video about each of these things, and in less than an hour, you'll have a pretty solid foundation of what it is, where it came from, and random (but surprisingly useful) details.

And when I say random I MEAN RANDOM. Can be anything - the niche, the better.

I'll give an example below with real search results and videos.

[I also give tips on how to search by topic (culture, religion, time period, etc) - as well as a list of educational BUT FUN Youtubers]

Example: I wanna make a Victorian Era Spider-woman.

The History Video - I watch a video about the general era, or what it was like being a woman in that time. I searched: Women in Victorian Era I found a real video titled: The Daily Life of a Victorian Lady

The Expert Opinion - I wanted to design her outfit accurately, so I looked for a Dress Historian's opinion on 1880's outfits I searched: Victorian Era Fashion I found a real channel: Bernadetta Banner (a channel all about recreating historical dresses - by a Broadway costume designer.)

The Random Topic - I don't know much about the Victorian Era..but I know theres two topics people always relate to the era - Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. I chose Sherlock. Sooooo, I watched a video about whether BBC sherlock was better than Downy Sherlock. Why? Because in 15 minutes it tells me about the show, the movie, AND the book - ALSO while teaching about the time period. I searched: BBC Sherlock vs Book I found a real video titled: Sherlock vs Sherlock - Which Iteration is Superior.

So after three 15-20 minute videos I know the history, the facts, and some random niche details of a topic.

Do I know everything about it? Not at all! But doing that, usually you can probably get through a conversation without freaking out too much.

By doing all that - I now know enough about the Victorian Era. From those videos I can accurately write an average Victorian woman, design her outfit accurate to the era, and also infuse some Victorian literature influence into her story.

All in an hour.

It works for other people character's too. Watching a video on the 70's, a video on the Punk Movement, and then a video of lets say a video about the band Ramones

Methods:

Some ideas for different topics:

If you want to show a character from a different time period -

If you're trying to write a character like Hobie, first watch a video about the history of the period - to understand when they were living. Then watch a video on their style/subculture - like the Punk movement. Then pick a specific band/media from the era and watch a video on it.

Sidebar: This is actually how I made Diane! I have little to no idea about the 70's outside of Punk. So searched up the history of 70's Disco, a video by Glamour about 1970's fashion, and I only knew one or two Disco singers (Donna Summer & Diana Ross) - so I chose Diana Ross. Diana is the direct inspiration for Diane's name and big hair. I never reference Diana, but it helps Diane fit the Disco theme, by emulating one of THE disco queens.

If you want to show a character from a different country -

Like India for example, a good place to start is watching a video about the history of India, then watching a vlog from someone in India (in the area you're thinking of), then watch a video about Indian fashion, or indian street food, or indian family traditions - so you can sprinkle those details into the story or conversation. Then you can build from there. Big tip: If they're from the city watch a video about the city's transit/subway system if they have one. It's a VERY fast way to learn the city, and make it sound like they actually live there, even if you're just name dropping stations and town squares.

If you want to show a character with a mental illness, disability or condition -

Start off by searching the background of the condition. Have a doctor break down what it is, how it effects the body, the mind, or both. Then watch a video of an average person with the condition, and their experience day to day. Then try and find a specific advocate, celebrity, or influence who goes into depth about it and how they empower themselves.

If you want to show someone from a different religion -

Watch a video about the beliefs of the religion, then the history of the religion, then a video of someone who practices the religion.

ETC-

Now disclaimer, this won't make you actually know everything about the topic - but at the very least, you'll probably be using the terms and words right. And you might be able to think up your own thought from there.

I used this ALL THROUGH High School.

If I know next class is about Marie Antoinette - yeah sure lemme go run and learn about her life history, her fashion taste, and the architecture of the Palace of Versailles in an hour.

Now I can talk about her childhood, personality, and where she lived.

The Great Gatsby? Never read it and I never will. The movie? NEVER SEEN IT. I searched up the history/inspiration of the author, watched a video on the book's plot and symbolism, then watched a video on the book vs the movie.

From there I kinda understood what the book was about, why the author might have written it, the symbolic ho-ha, and the extra details as if I watched the movie too.

And from there I could formulate whether I think the symbolism matters to our modern day society and why the director changed small details from the book, and etc, etc.

It was enough for me to bullshit and say words and usually people are like 'yeah you seem to be making sense' lol

HELL throw in ANOTHER video about the lives of women in the 1920's and I could probably bullshit an argument on how the Great Gatsby reflects gender roles in the Flapper Era. Like gun to my head I could probably come up with something im so deadass

HEY IM NOT SAYING SLACK OFF IN SCHOOL OKAY - DO NOT THIS IS JUST MY TESTIMONIAL - USE THIS TO LEARN TOPICS NOT BOOKS ITS A GREAT TOOL

Also disclaimer: use this for good don't be walking around like you Know Know Shit cause someone might check you and then i cant help you this is just a way to understand the basis of topics and be able to form thoughts and hold conversations about them or use them in your art and writing.

Plus it's a great way to gather strong resources for your art and writing.

It's a lot easier to show characters in a natural accurate way when you've curated a very rounded understanding of the topic or era - not just in an educational historical sense.

For the purposes of character creation, essays, sounding like you know anything in conversations - this does help. And you do start absorbing stuff. It's just about breaking the topic down, and learning about it in blocks.

If you understand the history, you can understand the now, and if you understand the now, you can understand the nuance. Like that.

I hope this helped! And because tis customary here, take this photo of Hobart Brown and go forth

And because I cannot send you off into the wild with no place to start here are some of my favorite youtubers that are actually FUN - here's a list.

Bye.

Youtube Channels

Bernadette Banner - Historical Clothing Expert specializing in Edwardian - Victorian

RMTransit - Videos about subway systems, buses, and public transit across the world. VERY quick way to realistically learn about a city

Anthony Padilla - Has lots of 'I Spent a Day With-' videos, where he sits down with people. Has videos ranging on things from Dipolar Disorder and ADHD to things like Asexuality and Ex-Mormons. Good for getting multiple honest experiences of people.

ReligionForBreakfast - Simple approachable videos about religions, their histories and beliefs. Made by a doctor of Religious Studies

Cognito - VERY good historical, cultural, and geographical videos, all cutely animated

Tasting History with Max Miller - Historically accurate cooking videos with really cool stories and histories to match

Vice News - Very good, very vetted Left-leaning news source. Vice and Vice News are two different things. Vice News is really good for current events videos on things like conflicts in countries.

Johnny Haris - slightly longer explainer videos about countries, geography, history, and weird quirks

Vox - Short detailed explainers about....anything really.

Weird History - .....It's history that's weird

Absolute History - Longer Documentaries about History, mainly the 1900's

CrowsEyeProductions - Really good Historical Fashion videos of 1400-2000's

Morgon Donner - ANOTHER Historical Fashion channel (they're really interesting yall) that focuses more on Medieval era

J.J McCullough - REALLY good videos about culture in general, as well as geography videos full of full interesting facts (did you know Nepal is the only country with a flag not four sided?) He also has some spicy takes on Canadian and Quebec politics that are interesting to me as an American but ????

Kati Moron - A therapist who makes videos about the experiences of mental illnesses and their treatment

Dr. Tracey Marks - A Doctor who makes short videos explaining the symptoms and experiences of neurodivergences and mental illnesses

[the-phantom-author]

I just found your account, and as a Hasan enjoyer, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE your writing and stories 🥹💜

For the request, hear me out on this!!!

Pre-relationship: you’re a gaming streamer who’s streamed with Pokimane/Ludwig/Sykkuno etc (not super familiar with who Hasan games with since I’ve mostly watched his politics/true crime stuff). You mostly stream cozy games, but have been known to pop off on Valorant, Among Us, and Dead by Daylight when invited to play.

Since you’re a gaming channel, you don’t talk about much outside of that, but you’re actually super knowledgeable on politics/leftism/current events/history and other more serious topics Hasan covers. Very few members of your audience have picked up on it, and your streaming friends never go in depth on it since they usually get caught up in gameplay/don’t know as much about it (nothing malicious ofc!!!)

One day, Lugwig decides to host another Among Us stream and he invites you and Hasan to join. You and Hasan haven’t officially met at this point. Sure, you’re mutuals on social media and have common friends, but you have never talked to each other and aren’t really familiar with the content the other makes.

During the game, Hasan makes a comment on an ongoing political problem (“This is worse than the don’t say gay bill! How dare you betray me!” or something similar). You add onto the joke in a way where he just KNOWS you know a lot about the topic. The rest of the stream has both you and Hasan making similar jokes, to the point Lugwig jokingly bans you both from making them.

After that, you and Hasan start talking wayyy more. You guys start texting each other, watch the other’s content, and pop in to the other’s stream from time to time. One day, Hasan invites you to react to a right-wing grifter and everyone gets a whole new look into your knowledge on subjects Hasan covers. Not only that, but the chemistry between you and Hasan shines through; keeping up with his points, same type of humor, etc etc.

From there, just a slow burn friends to lovers where everyone can see you both just fit together well and AHHHHHHHH CUTE SHIT 🥹🥹🥹

Thank you for reading this, i am brain rotted by Hasan 😤✨

NONNY!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!

This is the cutest. The slow burn strangers to friends to lovers.

The way I know Hasan would love to show you off. Like he knows that you don't think that your stream is the best place to do political commentary, but his is so he loves having you on his.

[mask131]

Given a lot of people are playing around the whole "Jews should shut up" card, I need to tell you a little story about why you should be on the watch for antisemitic discourse, whether you are Jew or not, and why also some of you need to start looking at things in their entirety, not just through one specific angle.

(I want to go back to making my dumb little Ségurant posts but this story kept hanging over my head so I just need to get it out of my chest, maybe as a way for people to open their eyes about this)

If you were here some times ago you will recall I made a post about the recent boom of antisemitic behavior, posts and speeches on Tumblr after the attack of the Hamas on Israel (an attack some people claim never existed and was completely made up, just like 9/11, but that's another trash pile to get rid of later). My post wasn't even about the Israel-Hamas situation, but about simply "Wow, there's a LOT of antisemitism on this website, and many people use the Israel-Palestine situation as an excuse to say the dumbest shit". Which is no surprise because Tumblr always had a massive trend towards the worst side of what, using the French political spectrum, I'd refer to as "the left" - and one of the worst of the extreme-left is of course antisemitism (which is precisely what proves that extreme-left and extreme-right are basically the same thing, but that's yet again another subject)

So I made this post pointing out "Wow, there's a lot of antisemitism here". And it got quite popular - of course because of all the current events, etc, etc... And somebody came to me directly to react to my post. And this person said, basically, "You know, it is not because you had some negative experiences about yourself that you should blow things out of proportions. It is not because you dislike what you see people write about your kind that it means there's antisemitism on this website. Stop making a mountain out of a mouse."

Which is when I realized I got the person in blatant antisemitic behavior. Because there's one easy trick to get antisemitic people, and that you don't even need to "activate" consciously - let them believe you're Jewish, or let them assume you are Jewish, and see what they say. Because surprise surprise... I'm not Jewish. I just happened to see a lot of antisemitic stuff, and say I was really shocked by this. And this random person came in and assumed I was Jew... Aka they played the archetype of "The Whiney Jew". Because I complained about antisemitism, they assumed I must be Jew because in their mind only Jewish people will complain about antisemitism, because all-non Jewish MUST certainly see the "truth" of how Jewish folks are just self-victimizing. (And down this line, the person did not say this, but I know some who did, we get down the path of stuff such as "Oh yeah, the holocaust did not exist, everybody knows the Jews made it all up").

Anyway this person thought I was Jewish, and so tried to gaslight me. By assuming I had some personal antisemitic attacks, and by making me believe I was projecting my personal experience onto a whole website, and that I was just victimizing myself. Having been gaslit for a very long time on other subjects, I immediately recognized the move - and it was even easier to see what they were doing since I never had any personal antisemitic experience in my life since I am NOT JEWISH.

I easily cut off their deal by pointing out I was not Jewish. And what the person did (I later learned they were very into Orthodox Christianity, even making their whole blog about it) was what we in French call "noyer le poisson" - drown the fish. Take a side-subject or a detail in my speech, and make the discussion all about it to try to smother the thing that made them look bad. In this case they accused me of lying about not being into devil-worship (because if you notice I have a Black Butler icon, and a Goya painting on my blog). For them it was proof that I was either a "witch" or into "devil-worship" and when I said no they insisted I was lying... But if I had defended myself about this, it would have completely derailed the conversation and THAT is what they wanted. Because they wanted me to stop talking about how, when they believed I was Jew, they tried to gaslight me into believing the antisemitic boom of Tumblr was all in my head.

I did not gave them this pleasure. But this little story of me and this person actually completely encapsulates so many other interactions I had or posts I saw or discussions I "heard" on this website. People who just come in to either try to pretend antisemitism does not exist, either start changing the topic of a talk every time antisemitism is brought up.

Everybody knows that the antisemitic depiction of the Jew is the "greedy, hooked-nose, manipulator who secretly controls the media and politics", right? But everybody seems to forget that there are many, many vicious and vile caricatures of Jewish people made by the hydra of antisemitism, an hydra that keeps changing head depending on the era, the country or the political leaning. And so there are many, even contradictory, antisemitic depictions of the Jews. The "whiney, complaining, victimizing" Jew is another antisemitic cliche that people claiming things such as "The Holocaust did not happen" or "The attack of Hamas did not happen" are gleefully using.

I already was disgusted by what I had seen on Tumblr before (I even considered quitting the website) - but having this person try to target me simply woke up by natural bitterness and misanthropy and desire to burn down all those nasty perverse brutes. So this is why I will be very active and vocal about every time I see antisemitic behavior.

So again, if you have antisemitic beliefs, please get the fuck off my blog. If you believe Jewish people have no right being in your country - whatever country it is - go fuck yourself and leave. If you support the Hamas while turning a blind eye to their openly antisemitic and genocidal agenda, go fuck yourself. If you support the Hamas while KNOWING their openly antisemitic and genocidal agenda, I won't say what I think should happen to you. If you support those dangerous organizations that want to "Give back France to French people" - and thus hunt down anyone that is not a White Catholic, go fuck yourself. If you are one of those neo-Nazis who think the Holocaust should continue, go fuck yourself. If you are one of those negationists who claim the Holocaust never happened, go fuck yourself. If you are one of those extreme-leftists who believe the Jews are like the Asians an "elite" or one of the "privileged" minorities, so priviliged they do not deserve to be ranked among other victims of oppression, go fuck yourself.

And you see how long and varied this "go fuck yourself" list is? That's the point I want to make. Antisemitism isn't about "Good people against antisemitism" versus "Antisemitic people". It is about "We have to face tons of various forms and types of antisemitism coming from all sides at once". Antisemitism lies in the extremes, but in the extremes of what? Of everything. Of Christianity, of Islam, of the left, of the right, of many nationalisms... A few years ago, "Everybody wants to kill the Jews" was a comedy-line, a joke referencing the historical persecution of the Jewish people - but now? Now that's literaly the news. It is happening on social media, in Europe, in America, in the Arabian world. And even though I'm not Jew I can't even escape it myself - it is everywhere on the news, be it TV or newspaper ; it is everywhere on the Internet (I do not even check the tags that could bring out the most antisemitic part of this website because I am not ready to quit Tumblr yet) ; it is even IN THE GRAFFITIES INSIDE THE TOILETS OF MY UNIVERSITY! I can't take a fucking piss without having antisemitic words pop up, written with scissors or markers on the wooden door of the toilets...

[thefirstknife]

I don’t understand people who are upset we don’t have all the answers about the Veil right now because quite frankly I thought that was the point? Like if we had all the answers then we get to the issue (that a lot of these same people had) where the seasons feel disconnected and like little actually matter until the last one before the expansion. They didn’t give us everything probably because we’re supposed to discover the answers as the year goes on before we chase the Witness through whatever portal it made. Bungie is doing what they wanted and yet people still complain

Yep, pretty much. They also did explicitly say in the latest TWAB that yes, the story will continue throughout the year. Some people took that as Bungie "having to tell us that there's more story because of how shit their writing is" but what I saw was community managers trying to politely explain to tens of thousands of raging players that the story isn't over. It felt almost passive aggressive to me given that this is exactly what players wanted:

We know there are still plenty of questions left unanswered at the end of Lightfall’s Campaign that you’re all eagerly awaiting answers to. As the events of Season of Defiance get into full swing this week, know that this is just the beginning of the next year of storytelling that will connect the events of Lightfall and The Final Shape. We can’t wait for the community to learn more about The Witness’s origins, its objective, and the ways we can thwart it and its disciples throughout Season of the Deep, as well as Seasons 22 and 23 later this year.

You made a great point about that. People asked that seasons become more meaningful. I remember that initially seasons were kinda all over the place and not really connected into a full story. Like, there were very few connecting points between Undying-Dawn-Worthy-Arrivals. Nothing that couldn't be summarised in 2 sentences. Even less if you look at Black Armory-Drifter-Opulence seasons from Y2.

On one hand, it meant that you could skip any and not lose much. But on the other hand, those that weren't skipping complained that the seasons aren't very well connected between each other and the main campaign of the year. This was a serious enough complaint that it became the reason for more connected seasons and also a reason to let seasons last the whole year, as detailed in a TWAB from April 2020:

We have been making progress carrying the overarching narrative Season over Season in Destiny 2. Saint-14 and Osiris led to the Warmind which leads to… [REDACTED]

It’s not perfect yet. The bridges between Seasons can definitely be improved, and we could do a better job of recognizing prior Seasons’ narrative threads in the active Season. 

In Year 4, we are going to build a better interconnected narrative and, more importantly, let players be a part of that narrative no matter when they enter the current year.

I'm putting this here because people have notoriously bad memory, but we have tangible proof of people asking Bungie for seasons that have more meaningful and interconnected narrative. Bungie listened, but that also meant that skipping a season became harder if you wanted to stay in the loop. Obviously you can watch a playthrough online, but you know. But clearly the majority wanted seasons to be meaningful and were happy when Bungie listened.

And now suddenly we don't want the story to continue during the year? I understand the FOMO complaints and monetary complaints. If you buy an expansion, you want to NOT feel forced into buying all seasons for it in order to experience the full story. It's just strange to me that we are dropping that issue at Lightfall when BL and WQ were the same. A lot will say that they liked it before, but now just got tired of the same thing over and over, but what exactly is that thing? A good and connected narrative that links expansions and seasons? Do we now want a break year where seasonal stories are irrelevant and nothing meaningful happens?

Obviously, connected seasons benefit Bungie. I am aware that connecting the narrative like this means more people will feel compelled to buy the seasons. But if they're already making contect they want us to buy, then people want their purchase to mean something instead of getting content they easily could've skipped. It's kind of an impossible conundrum? We want the seasons to be good and narrative rich and meaningful, but we also want the seasons to be easy to skip and not necessary to play. That's kinda contradictory.

I genuinely don't know what is the solution and I welcome discussion about it. I just find most of the discussions about this kind of stuff to be very strange. Like, in most cases it just boils down to a contradiction of wanting the story to feel worth investing yourself into, but also easy to sit out. Those two things just can't both be true at once.

[i-can-even-burn-salad]

WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @winterandwords to uh... talk about a WIP I guess? :D

I'll pass on this tag toooo... @starlit-hopes-and-dreams (as always <3) but I'm not sure who else, so if you feel like talking about a WIP, consider this an open tag.

Oh boy, which to pick. There are currently only 2 projects where the P in WIP actually stands for "progress" (for the others it stands for "procrastination".)

I think I'm gonna pick Till Death. It is the one I am currently obsessed with, and the only one I am writing, not editing.

Here's the blurb:

Finnian is a wandering healer down on his luck. When one of his patients dies, the village turns against him, beating him half to death and leaving him for thirst and scavengers to finish what they started.

Eilis lives deep in the forest, hiding from the world. When she finds him, impaled on a tree and barely alive, she can‘t leave him to his fate, even if it means upending the peaceful life she has built for herself.

As Finnian slowly recovers, days filled with quiet companionship make the prospect of him staying less daunting than either of them had expected. But he carries too many scars, and Eilis too many secrets, threatening to destroy their fragile relationship as the shadows of the past draw closer. When everything falls apart, will they save each other, or will the price be too high?

You see, in April I finished the last chapter of all my ongoing stories, which left me in a very weird mood. For 1,5 years I always had something to work on, and suddenly, there was nothing started. Sure, I had a few outlines, but nothing really called to me, with the added problem that for those, I have to figure out bullshit like politics. I needed something new. New chars I didn't know yet, a fresh story - and 🌟violence🌟 :)

I've been talking about wanting more gore with happy end, but sadly, existing OCs are so fragile, I can't even break all their bones without them dying 🙄 So it was time to fuck up another healer.

For a few weeks, I threw concepts against a wall like cooked spaghetti, grabbed whatever stuck, and then I just started. It's the first time in a year that I actually write a story without posting as I go. I can leave a little note "this sounds weird, fix later" or remember "shit, I forgot this injury" or change a name halfway in. I know. That's how a draft is supposed to work 😅

I'm at over 60k words, and it's looking good. There's a few 'first times' for me, a lot of things I love and a lot of things I am excited about. I have a rough outline of events still to happen that leaves me enough freedom to go wild. And wild I go; half of the scenes are gratuitous pain and suffering, and there will be more - but it's also a story of love and finding a place to belong. Which brings me to the next point:

I'm tired. Tired of feeling like I don't belong anywhere. Of having no genre and being "just whump" because it fits nowhere else. Of being "not enough whump" while still finding myself on every squick list.

So this one's written for a target audience of some very close friends - a target audience for which I don't have to write CWs at the top of each chapter, a target audience who doesn't grow bored at the first calm moment, a target audience who will call me a bitch while asking for more pain.

I love you, pocket friends 💜

Here's the start of the book (unedited, rip):

Finnian hated dealing with sick people.

Considering the fact that he earned his money with healing, that was rather unfortunate. If he didn’t want to starve to death, he had to grit his teeth and ignore the stench of sweat and blood while taking care of coughs and aches and fever.

Sometimes, he wished he had learned something else after it had become clear that this wasn’t the right profession for him. Then he wouldn’t be sitting here, explaining to a grown ass woman that when he had told her to keep the wound clean, that included keeping the bandages away from dirty water. And that yes, it fucking hurt, because now it was infected, and if she didn’t plan on losing a finger or two, she’d better keep her hand dry and clean this time. And that perhaps, just perhaps, that was a bit more important than cleaning the windows.

Unfortunately, he had not learned anything else, so he left the house half an hour later with barely enough coins in his pocket to make up for the supplies he had used. Most roots and herbs he could gather himself, but bandages and tinctures didn’t grow on trees.

[caparrucia]

17 and/or 18 for the writing ask meme, please?

Under a cut, because spoilers for the Regis/Aulea/Titus fic and a LONG ramble about the puppyverse.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Right now I'm wrapping up a +20K one-shot revolving around the formation of the Regis/Aulea/Titus triad in the puppyverse, which is like. The conclusion of a solid ~20 years of pining and slowburning from Titus and Regis and a closer look at who Aulea is, as a character.

This is a story that I, regretfully, knew I had to cut out from the main story of the puppyverse. For those who don't know, the puppyverse is my fanfic equivalent of "hold my beer and watch me" story that's 100% self-indulgent and written primarily for my own amusement. It's a collection of disparate AU prompts floating around the XV fandom over the years and my sincerest attempts at writing them all at once coherently.

It's also fundamentally a story about people figuring out their own definition of humanity and personhood. Through love, yes, in some cases, not not necessarily romantically or sexually. The story revolves around the five main "inhuman" co-protagonists, with the main plot broken up in two clear arcs: Arc 1 introduces the setting and the first few AU premises, which sort of stack on each other. It's primarily driven by the CorNyx (non)relationship (it's complicated) and takes advantage of the fact both of them are outsiders in their own way: Cor has extensive knowledge of the past and the things that have caused the current state of the world, having played a (very traumatic) role in the events that precipitate the setting: ie, Mors yeeting the Scourge and the Astrals into the shadow realm. Nyx is a foreigner who views everything and everyone with a layer of cynicism that only really gets challenged by Cor's shameless sincerity about everything. There's other POVs in the story, particularly to setup things that neither Cor nor Nyx would have been privy to, but arc 1 is mostly about THEM and the war and what they've become, throughout the course of it. Act 2 is when the plot itself picks up and things start actively changing, as a result of all the setups from act 1 and the backstory. The dominos are in place and now we get to tip them off and watch the pretty patterns they make, so to speak.

So as much as I love the Regis/Aulea/Titus story and their character development and the nuances of their interactions, it very clearly did not fit within the framework of the main fic. I've written tidbits here and there, about them, to scratch the itch, but I genuinely love this ship. They're a fantastic power triad and I really wanted to tell their stories, so I decided I was going to, for my birthday. Which I missed, but it doesn't matter, it's getting done now.

This is a story about politically savvy adults who are also stubborn and set in their ways, forced into a situation that forces them to be sincere about their feelings. And boy, they have A LOT of feelings. It's a get-together story where things are simultaneously too fast and too easy and too hard and too slow. They're keenly aware of the consequences of their actions and the weight of their decisions and the fact the world doesn't really CARE about them, as individuals.

It's also a story I stubbornly chose to write from Titus' POV. Because Titus is disabled and he's good at masking, and because he's mostly seen from the outside, people don't really get the weight of Titus being disabled, to what extent and what it means, for himself and his relationships. This is a Titus that isn't a traitor for the very simple reason that Mors removed the reason he would have had to be a traitor: there was no scourge to destroy his home and leave him bitter and furious at the kingdom that did nothing to protect his people. He's still a bitter, snarky, snarly shit whose primary running gag is serving as Regis' moral measuring stick and threaten treason if Regis proves to be inept as a ruler. But Regis is not a bad ruler. He is in fact a very competent ruler that Titus personally admires (and more, but he's not an idiot, he refuses to acknowledge any of those feelings because they would be inappropriate, and Regis is not emotionally available for any of that, so what's the point, cough, cough, this is why they've been dancing around each other for over a decade). Titus is crippled when he's poisoned, and this is mentioned in passing in the main story: the reality of it is far more significant than what the many unreliable narrators of the puppyverse might notice. Titus is poisoned and only saved because Cor intervenes, but while they manage to save his life, the poison has left him with chronic, degenerative nerve damage. He goes from a General that fights in the frontlines, carrying out Regis' defensive war with the Empire in the open, to not being able to stand unassisted more than half an hour, maybe an hour and a half with a cane. And because Titus has compartmentalized what happened to him as being part of the war, he sees what happened to him as being on the same level to what happens to soldiers that get crippled in action. He's not bitter about it! (He is absolutely bitter and frustrated about it.) He's so busy not being bitter about it that he doesn't really bring attention to the fact Regis lost his fucking mind about it.

See, one of the most sobering moments in the puppyverse is the purge that Clarus Amicitia leads in the wake of discovering it was Regis' cousin who was sabotaging the war efforts because she'd bartered with the Empire to let them put her son in charge once Regis was out of the picture. It's a very gut-wrenching moment, because it shatters the idea that "Lucians = Good" that the story had been peddling until then, and kinda shifts it more towards "War=Bad", which is a recurrent theme. But the incident is very colored by Cor's traumatic response to it, and the fact Ignis is caught up on it and being treated as a traitor for his associations with his mentor, Regis' cousin.

Here's the thing that none of these characters mention, in the corresponding chapter of the puppyverse: The reason Clarus did this? The reason they figured out it was Sylvia who'd betrayed them? The reason Clarus freaked out and ordered wholesale slaughter of people?

Clarus was trying to swiftly resolve the issue to try and keep Regis from going on a murderous rampage, because Regis was very much pissed when he found out Titus had been poisoned. See, Clarus is the one person who knows: a), how fucking ridiculously magically powerful Regis is, and b), how very FUCKED the entire continent would be, if Regis decided to go on a murderous rampage. How do you even begin to stop someone who commands that amount of magic? You don't, really. You can only appeal to his better nature. To his reason. The purge is Clarus hoping he can keep Regis from going full on rage monster by assuring him that while, yes, Titus got caught in the crossfire, it has been taken care of. Thoroughly. No loose ends left for Regis to gnaw on like that. Because yes, Clarus is a competent Shield and a good friend, he is 100% aware that Regis is despondently in love with Titus and refusing to act on it, because he's also, at the time, mourning for his wife. (Remember, until Aulea crashlands the party, as far as Regis and Clarus knew, she was dead. And Regis has been mourning accordingly ever since.) Regis lost his shit so badly at Titus being poisoned, that he ordered Titus to be treated in the Royal Quarters, by his own royal medic team. He also might have threatened to kill them all if Titus didn't survive it. It's not a subtle thing, is my point.

But it's also not the kind of thing Cor or Nyx or the kids would know about or notice, because the people involved are politically savvy enough to keep their feelings to themselves.

And yes, Interregnum brings up the fact the triad got together, but it didn't really go into the details, again focusing on the outside perspective (Noctis: He's fucking my parents.) and the consequences that ripple off from it, without directly acknowledging the inner workings of that relationship.

And it's a fucking fun relationship. Fullstop. They're silly and principled and fucking insane, in their own way, but they balance each other out so well! Like cogs falling into place. I'm excited to show it to you, guys.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

From the one-shot in question:

“Is that how you say hello?” Titus asked dryly, darkly amused by the way Regis’ face flushed with equal amounts rage and embarrassment.

“Knocking, Titus, have you heard of it?” Regis said, and then shattered Titus’ smirk in one swipe: “You have to know better than to sneak on someone under constant death threats. You’re not this stupid.”

“What death threats?” Titus asked, eyes narrowed, and reached out a hand to hold Regis’ throat so he could tilt his head up and force him to look at him in the eye.

That was a thing he’d just so very recently discovered: Regis lost his ability to lie convincingly, if forced to hold eye contact like that. It did a number on his ability to enunciate words with more than three syllables, too, but Titus was okay with getting the small words version of this.

“Two fifths of my court and a solid three fourths of all known foreign governments right now,” Regis replied, trying for blithe but barely scratching the surface of morose instead. He scoffed, but didn’t pull away from Titus’ hold. “You know better than most how many would rejoice if I dropped dead tomorrow. You used to threaten to join them twice a day if I annoyed you enough.”

Titus considered tightening his grip until he heard cartilage snap under his fingers and instead tugged Regis forward so he could kiss him. Was that wise? There, in the Citadel? In plain view of at least one camera? Probably not. But he felt like it, and given the fact Regis immediately kissed back, hands reaching out to claw at Titus’ clothes, it wasn’t unwanted. Untoward.

“I came to give you good news,” Titus said, not quite pulling away, basking in that moment when they were breathing the same air. “Now all I want is to discipline your Saboteur Corp.”

“Would I still have a Saboteur Corp. after you’re done?” Regis asked, and grinned when Titus bit him for the cheek of it. “Tell me the good news, I could use them today.”

This is a very interesting moment, because there's a gap in Titus' narrative. He's a very meandering narrator. He goes on tangents, thinks about details, puts them in context. He's well read and he's got a flair for the poetic. He's got a ton of very eloquent tangents and even more witticisms to deliver. He's devastatingly well spoken, and utterly ruthless about it. And yet, between them "getting together" as it where, and then dealing with the fallout of it, there's a distinct gap in Titus' POV. He laughs at himself and mocks his own sentimentality, he's very mean-spirited to himself, in places, but he doesn't SHOW us, his thought process about this relationship. About letting himself fall head first into a sort of relationship that's not just (definitely) sexual - they've had sex a few times by now - but also... romantic? Emotional? It's hard to pin it down.

There's just... this very sharp change, before and after, in the level of physicality that he allows himself, with them. It goes unexplored and that in itself highlights it. Or at least that's the intent. Clarus makes a comment, in a scene prior to this, but after Titus falls in bed with them, that amounts to mocking Titus for fucking a dragon and not realizing the implications of it. That Regis and Aulea have staked a claim on him, and Titus is a fool if he thinks he can make them forsake that easily.

The thing is, Titus has staked a claim of his own, but because he's the narrator and he's a very unreliable narrator, like all narrators in the puppyverse, he doesn't see fit to examine that claim in depth. It's a fun scene, both for what they discuss and what it means for their relationship, but also... because it represents the new status quo. The fact that Titus isn't going to dance around this and be cautious about it. He likes to pretend he's the sensible one, but he's the one fucking the literal fucking ruling royalty. So who's the sensible one, really?

(None of them. The answer is none of them. It's great.)

[lorz-ix]

Time for another "I was bored this summer so I binged an entire horror series" post

As with the Saw one, I'll keep my thoughts on each entry as brief as possible, since these tend to take a while to write. Also trying to avoid spoiling stuff as much as I can, since that would ruin the point of making recommendations.

The Purge (2013)

When discussing this series, this is pretty much the only one people broadly tolerate. The premise is very easy to understand: the very conservative US government has instituted a "yearly national holiday" during which all crime, with a few extreme exceptions, is made legal for 12 hours. The subtext isn't subtle at all, it's obvious that the government is using this event as a scapegoat to avoid addressing broader social issues. Violent crime is supposedly kept under control because people "relieve their violent feelings" once a year, they don't have to care about poor people and welfare since they're massacred during every purge, as the primary targets of the violence.

It's a very clear satire of how conservatives turn a blind eye to these issues in real life, how they justify violence when it benefits them and the gun lobby, how they're classist as hell, how this classism manifests as racism since it disproportionately affects minorities. You might think the messaging isn't that smart, but I think it's neat, and it's used as pretty cool background for a decent thriller here.

The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

Extremely simple. Do you think you would enjoy some worldbuilding after watching the previous movie? Do you care about the plot of the movie itself, "lore" aside, being super generic? Do you want the political messaging to get even more explicit? Then you might enjoy this.

I really mean it, it's a very nothing movie unless you're the kind of fan who cares about questions being answered rather than following an interesting story.

A nugget of worldbuilding I really like though? The government knows most people don't want to go out there and kill each other or commit crimes for fun, so they manufacture violent incidents to make it look like the purge works. Really makes you think...

The Purge: Election Year (2016)

Hmmmmmm I wonder if the year this came out and that subtitle are related...

A slightly more interesting affair than Anarchy, they at least have some strong stakes in this story. We mainly follow an opposition candidate to the presidency who's rising in popularity and wants to get rid of the purge. We understand that the holiday, despite everything, is very unpopular, but the current government will enlist the help of neo-nazis to get rid of the opposition. The satire is reaching new levels of unsubtlety and I honestly kinda love it.

What I don't love is the implication that winning an election is all it takes to get rid of the problem, along with other milquetoast soy latte liberal takes. Black liberation groups are generally painted in a positive light in the series, but it feels somewhat dishonest when the savior is a white girlboss. Truly a very 2016 movie.

The First Purge (2018)

That first teaser poster was somehow even more 2016 than the previous flick, holy Jesus Christ this is very funny.

I feel pretty much the same as I did with Anarchy. Generic flick, focuses a lot on disadvantaged, african american communities, makes very similar points to the ones we saw before. If again, the "lore" is your thing, this prequel might be of interest, otherwise you can skip it.

The Forever Purge (2021)

Shit, finally something interesting, I thought. This story starts off in a previously unseen setting, a southern town. We get to see the prejudiced relationships between mexican immigrants and wealthy white americans. The premise said "the purgers want to keep the massacre going after it's over", so I thought it meant "banning the purge didn't work", which is the point I wanted to see. But no, we learn very early on that the original party simply won the elections and re-instated the holiday, which is a way more underwhelming way of getting there. The purgers simply don't want the holiday to be over after 12 hours, and somehow things devolve into an uncontrollable nation-wide riot.

Is it more interesting and a bit scarier than most previous entries? Yeah, a bit. Does it bring new possibilities to the table? Yes, sure. Are the added analogies for immigration in this franchise's universe kinda neat? I guess. Does that make for a good movie? Not really. It's, once again, rather generic and forgettable once the actual conflict fully explodes. I really do like these for what they try to say and how explicitly they do so. I wish more movies had these levels of ridiculous, yet more or less adequate political satire.

The Purge (TV series, season 1, 2018)

10 episodes, lads. They're 1 hour long each. Watching this thing would take you longer than all of the movies combined, and let me tell ya, it's not worth it.

Starts off promising enough, it shows us more insight into the religious cults that grew around the purge for example, and that's properly disturbing, but after a while the story stops being intriguing. You quickly realize you're watching another generic bunch of characters go through a mostly forgettable series of perils. Yet again, an interesting world did not make for an interesting story in the slightest. These things aren't even that awful, they're just painfully bland.

The Purge (TV series, season 2, 2019)

Just like S1, it's 10 episodes and they're all one hour long. But thank god, finally this time they had a set of ideas that felt worth watching.

For the first and only time, the story focuses on what happens after the purge is over. How people get traumatized by the violent events. How pro-purge nutjobs eat up and spread propaganda all year round. What happens if shocking acts of violence do happen outside of those 12 hours? What happens if someone tries to kill you during the purge and they fail? How do you cope with the idea that someone wants you dead and no one would do a thing about it because it would have been legal and normal to kill you?

I think that focus on trauma and how the purge affects the psychology of every single person makes for some actually compelling characters for once. Finally, we get a story where we're not completely sure of what will happen next. It's probably not that great in the grand scheme of things, but god dammit, they finally made something remotely worthwhile with this franchise.

[keroseneinhalers]

ok well you being sorry is stupid considering I was literally the one who initiated, and therefore am at fault. frankly, the way you responded to this was extremely patient and polite and therefore fairy law [my desire for social cohesion with the other kittens] says I can't be mad at you anymore. So I'll lay out my grievances, which are mostly just petty in the following long af thing under the cut, and you can feel free to take or not take whatever you want from that, and boom, hatchet buried., have a nice day/week/year/life.

this is pretty shit & says basically nothing but whatever. all of this is also an issue with the broader hermitcraft and life series fandoms so like. not really a you specific issue.

body horror & disability (or; the lack of)

When I'm picture growing new limbs overnight, my immediate thought is bones stabbing through your current skin trying to try get out, constant intense growing pains, not being able to walk properly because you're not used to having to balance these new limbs, suddenly needing to figure out how to accommodate all your clothes, etc.

So this is probably a skill issue on my behalf, but the idea that type of debilitating painful change is constantly happening for 0 apparent reason, and isn't being acknowledged at all in it's suffering is kinda upsetting to me.

Like sorry for grians trauma being triggered or whatever, but I'm a little more immediately concerned about the way cleo potentially can't pick up any objects unless she's willing to potentially risk her stitches ripping open and shredding the skin they're attached to, and her trying to somehow sew it back up with only one arm to work with.

2. I don't want to be Sid from Toy Story

can't be bothered to write this paragraph. I feel like the heading says it pretty clearly.

3. Nitpick 1: Other people also have lives

Grian Jimmy and Zedaph are the only characters allowed to have complex interesting lives, they have events happen to them, they get to have opinions & ideas about the transformations happening, and there's a mental aspect that isn't explored for the other hermits, who serve as transition sentences, and in Cleo's case as a chance to sneak in an extra paragraph about Grian.

4. Nitpick 2: Worldbuilding

what is the point of having the world be dependent on us as an audience. Like, how does it add anything narratively that We cause these changes. Every time someone draws or proposes some random thing does that completely change the character? Why are these design changes also able to change their mental state/abilities (see; jimmy & zed). Why do we have an effect on this? What is our theological relationship to this proposed minecraft world? Rhetorical questions meant to highlight that I find it lacking in a lot of areas.

5. Nitpick 3: Headcanons affecting Headcanons

What is "fanon" affecting here? "how minecraft people look" except you're not talking about the actual minecraft skins or anything. You're talking about the fandom interpretation of the skins & characters. So the "fanon" is affecting how people look. In fanon. Like. It's redundant.

Love the idea that in universe fanon changes the way the Minecraft people look. Doc wakes up in crocs one day, nods, smiles, and carries on. He's a little less reserved when he wakes up a quadruped, but it's kind of cool.

Jimmy, meanwhile, wakes up with fledgling wings after Last life. They take a while to fledge, and he thinks the colour might change. The whims of the universe are odd, after all. No. He wakes after Double life with the bright yellow feathers that had grown in throughout the sessions, and cries for the soulmate he lost. No longer does he hear whispers across worlds. No, now he can tell before someone dies. Never enough to prevent it, only enough for it to hurt. He sees Tango again and tastes death on his soul fire hair.

Some people change by their dream. Gem, for instance, is equally comfortable with horns and hooves or with butterfly wings.

Grian sobs as his wings, once a relief, brightly coloured and so, so different to the monochrome of the downside up, give way once more to purples. Tears fall from a thousand eyes forced open, watching.

Joe is delighted when, for a brief month, he sees through rainbow eyes. They fade, but turn up on Tuesdays and Rain days.

Cleo sighs the first time her arm falls off, and searches for Grian for sewing advice, remembering a disconcerting era of plastic eyes and floppy bodies.

Some folk barely notice. What's the difference between being something that looks like a normal guy but isn't, and being a normal guy? Aesthetically, not much. Sometimes, they can't tell until they smile and people flinch, until they take their helmet off and choke, until the disguise they painted for themself refuses to come off.

Zedaph, comfortably a sheep, wakes up in bed disoriented after a particularly surprising shrieker stack. The potential consequence of a shock to prey animals hadn't occured to him before... It would make a great Zedvancement.

[love-amihan]

| ʜᴏᴍᴇ | ᴊᴊᴋ | ᴀᴏᴛ | ʜǫ | ꜰɪʟᴏ | ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛs | ᴍɪᴍɪ |

CRUSH // INUMAKI TOGE

amihan's note: oh god this is so embarrassing, some of this may or may have not how i acted towards my crush, out here exposing myself- bear with my humiliations i bought upon myself, happy reading!

summary: modern au wherein you have this crush on inumaki toge and you cannot function right whenever he's around. what can i say? he just takes away your words with his mere existence 🥴✋

crush!toge x gn!reader

the first time you noticed him was when he accidentally bumped to you yes it's cliche i know shhh

your friend happen to know him! would you look at that, luck's on your side

but it was a mistake asking your friend, yuta

he won't stop teasing you whenever toge's around

saw him passing by? yuta pokes your side and starts calling for toge, "toge c'mere!" then off you go to 'meet' your teacher to talk about that non-existent project you were gonna have.

your actions didn't go unnoticed by toge

he even joins yuta for the fun of it

oh you're having a good day? let's ruin that and make you humiliate yourself:

you inform your friends that you're having a great time so far, currently munching on your food happily.

all the stress gone along with the projects and homework that was piled up. until yuta thought it would be fun to ruin your streak.

he apparently just so happen to tell toge, out of all people, that it's alright to have lunch on your table.

surprise, surprise, the only available seat was beside you. "you little shit" you glare at yuta sitting across you who have the biggest smile on his face.

you gulp nervously as toge takes the seat beside you, "hey, i hope you don't mind" his soft voice making you feel fuzzy inside, oh that dreamy voice of his.

yuta gets all giddy, he chuckles at your state. he really thinks this will be the good time to introduce you, like c'mon you haven't even got time to fix yourself properly!

you're still recovering from the all-nighters you pulled. "i'm sure y/n is more than okay to have you here~"

yuta gestures to you, "l/n y/n, inumaki toge" toge turns to you smiling sweetly, "nice to meet you" he holds out a hand.

your throat becomes dry, looking back at him, trying not to look away because goddamn he looks good, who gave him the right?!

you snap out of your daze when you hear yuta's snickers, you feel heat rushing up your cheeks.

subtly rubbing your sweaty palm on your uniform before shaking his hand, "y-yeah, nice to meet you."

you mentally slap yourself for stuttering, quickly letting go of his hand and going back to your food. doing your best to pretend your crush is not beside you also eating his lunch.

after that faithful day, toge never fails to tease you with your little crush on him

oh did i forget to mention he's your classmate?

on top of that, you didn't even know how it ended up with having him as your seatmate

you can't help but give him side glances whenever the lesson starts

he will always catch your eyes on him making him smirk a little

one time, he straight up turns to face you staring right into your eyes small smile on his face, you squeak turning your head to the side quickly. you hear him chuckle at this before going back to writing down his notes.

if you're wearing glasses;

he playfully flirts with you if the teacher gives you a little break. he will nonchalantly pull your glasses off your face and try it on.

"woah, kinda high but not so far from mine" he said while scrunching his nose cutely. let's just say he wears contacts

he cocks a brow at you still wearing your glasses, "you think i suit this frame?" you nod your head hesitantly, looking away, face feeling hot.

"need my glasses please," you manage to mumble out. he chuckles nevertheless giving your glasses back.

there's this event on your school wherein toge was pulled from the sea of students

making him the center of attention, it was the usual event that the school hold every year wherein they teach you about relationships and such.

"what about you, young man?" the host points at toge's direction after giving a heartfelt speech about relationships.

"come and join me," your eyes zeroes on toge as he stands beside the host hands on his back, looking all polite and kind.

"anyone you fancy in these school?" the host puts his mic in front of toge gesturing at the crowd, toge smiles after getting the question.

"yes," a simple answer that have you a little disappointed because damn you're wishing that's you.

the host's smile gets wider, "oh we have a lucky one, such a fine handsome young man they would have."

the host continues the event letting toge go back to his seat after the little interview.

'indeed, lucky them' you thought to youself.

however, before toge could sit down. his eyes locks with yours, your breath hitch and busy yourself with your id looking at it like it's the first time you've seen it. yuta laughs at your crisis and shakes his head "you're hopeless."

yuta most likely forced you to have the courage to hit that follow button

you know what happened next? only a few seconds passed, he already accepts your follow request

of course, you come and check his profile right after

there's also that day when you encourage yuta to send a message to his crush

but yuta got an idea of making this fair for the both of you

he really likes the idea of you and toge working out

this is a great opportunity to push you towards him

he tells you to send a message to toge, so that it would be equal for you two

how stupid of you to agree with this boy

as soon as you hit send, you toss your phone to yuta wanting the floor to open up and just fall down on the bottomless pit

yuta gasp loudly seeing the response

he smacks your stomach which was closest in his reach and shoves your phone to your face, laughing loudly.

you: hey, i just wanna tell you that you're really smart and i can't help but also admire your pretty handwriting :>>

inumaki.mp3: oh thank you, thought you would compliment my face considering you stare more to it ;DD

your mouth hangs open looking back to yuta who's still laughing

to say that you're embarrassed and not wanting to exist right at this moment would be an understatement

last embarrassment for this headcanon

yuta just loves messing with you

there's this sports event in school wherein lots of students gets a chance to have an excuse to take picture with their crush if u're from philippines u know the feels

yuta takes this chance to get you one, of course he's that great of a friend like that

a little context for this, there's this kind of like a party for the students to enjoy after the long sports week that happened. with deejay and all plus the loud music blasting! -well our school provides one i dunno bout urs-

toge's sweating slightly after getting out of the crowd, still laughing from the little showdown they had in the center of the little crowd his friends gathered.

this day of the sports week is definitely his favorite part, his friends pats his back as they shout to each other over the loud music.

staying back where it's more calm and less people compare up in front where the students are jumping up and down restless.

yuta happen to pull you out just in time of finding toge with his friends chatting. he grins at you, you look back at him scared not knowing what's going on.

he drags you to where toge's group are standing, once you arrive you bite your bottom lip eyes widening after seeing toge.

you begin to turn on your heel and just straight up ditch yuta, however, luck's not on your side today. "togeee~!" yuta shouted patting his shoulder.

toge turns and sees yuta, smile still on his face. his eyes widens in recognition, "oh yuta!" he nod at him.

he moves his gaze to your back seeing you're about to flee the scene. yuta pulls you back making you face toge, "you remember them right?" toge nods giving you a smile.

you quickly look away, palms already sweating. your mind working on how to kill yuta in so many possible ways, "they wanna take picture with you, if that's alright?" yuta asked waving his phone, your plan scratching to killing him right now.

before toge could reply, his group of friends notices the little interaction and teases him.

"oh what do we have here?" nobara looks at the scene with a knowing smile, yuta pushes you to stand beside toge readying his camera.

yuji whistles seeing you two together, "c'mon~ put your arm around them!" yuji ushers, as toge's friend cheers in the background.

toge looks at you, his smile comforting you before wrapping an arm around your shoulder. you inhale deeply from your nose, trying to calm down yourself.

"smile for the camera!" yuta shouted having fun with this as he clicks away on his phone capturing every moment. yep, you're definitely gonna kill him later.

copyright © 2021 by love-amihan all rights reserved. do not repost in other platforms. reblogs are welcome and highly appreciated! <33

[whaleofatjme1920]

Could I get a TF2 Matchup? Romance and NSFW. I came from the 1k follower celebration

I am a Bisexual and Demisexual female (Leaning more on the men side though) and a Leo (I dont know much about the rising and stuff like that). I have short hair and I like to wear comfortable clothes like oversized hoodies, sweaters and shorts. I am also a 5'5 and a half who lives in Asia. Philippines to be exact. So get ready for a woman to chase after you with a slipper.

I am usually a quiet person and quite standoffish against people. Though once you are in my inner circle, which isnt that hard, your cool. I can and will become your personal therapist. I care about your mental health.

People describe me as a piece of shit (In a funny way), smug and sarcastic asshole. Doesnt go well with my therapy-sessions Ill give you, huh? I can also throw your ass off with words and facts if someone started shit-talking about people close to me, but it does not mean I win every round, I will be feral though. Im quite overprotective.

I have a knack of learning about weapons. Again, Ill be bat-shit if you insult people close to me. I dont care what you call me. Under all this tough skin though? Pretty wholesome. Loves wholesome people which doesnt help that I have a resting bitch face.

Bribe me with food. Ill be happy.

I will show-off my partner, they deserve all the love.

NSFW under:

I kinda have something with soft-doms. I am definitely a switch. Edging and over-stimulation is kinda my jam, on both positions. I am on-board with toys and blindfold. Also consent is sexy as fuck.

Your matchup is... Medic!

[Disclaimer, if you're coming from the tags, this is part of a special event I am holding from November 17th to the 21st where I am accepting matchups from all fandoms I currently write for. Feel free to check out my 1K celebration masterlist here for rules during the window this event is open! If it's past the 21st midnight USA central time, do NOT send me a matchup. I will have to politely turn you down. Sorry </3]

NSFW below

In General

This was another one that had me going ??? I think Medic works,,,,, I think it was the weapons that did it??? Yeah. ANYWAYS

What He Likes About You

I think he really likes your short hair, and that your sense of style is pretty relaxed. It makes him feel relaxed. He likes that you care about his mental health as well, because lord knows he can't keep track of himself. Smug, sarcastic, he likes people he can banter with. You strike me as a kinda cutthroat, blunt person?? I think he'd really enjoy that. It's different than what he normally looks for, and Ludwig finds that hot. Ludwig knows a thing or two about weapons and likes that you're knowledgeable in that sphere. Makes conversations easier. Don't know if you've ever seen Mr and Mrs Smith? Feel like that's the two of you.

You Two as a Couple & NSFW

Alrighty, while Ludwig isn't going to dump all his problems on you, it's unediable that he finds a certain safety in you that makes it easer for him to actually talk about what's going on in his head. I think Ludwig likes that you're super wholesome under all that tough exterior. He's got some fronts up as well, and well, he gets it. Ludwig has a knack for cooking, German dishes being his specialty but he's always trying new things. He will cook for you <3 And PLEASE SHOW HIM OFF. Ludwig loves attention. Makes him feel so loved omfg. The two of you absolutely get into sarcastic verbal battles that end in the two of you giggling. He might,,, gift you weapons from time to time?? It just feels like a Ludwig thing to do. He doesn't really wear hoodies, but gives you his coats and stuff. I find that sweet.

Ludwig is.... He's a kinky mf. Please dom him from time to time. He likes losing control after a fight. Also, he's really, really good at edging. Like, will have you begging for him. Edge him and he becomes a bit of a whiny bitch but like it's hot so it's okay. He loves consent too, wants to talk about everything before hand and know what you're okay with and what your limits are. he never wants to cross any boundaries with you. Can absolutely soft dom you. He's like, really good at being a condescending dom??? So, y'know, have fun with him.

Closing Thoughts/Other Things

Hi love bug, here's your matchup!! Hope you enjoyed <3

[dirhwangdaseul-archived]

One thing that the latest stuff has proven to me re: MCU!Spider-man is that they just have no idea what to do with him. The MCU's entire M.O. goes entirely against creating a working class hero like Peter's supposed to be, so they reduced him to being Stark's sidekick, and now that he's gone, they're just left flailing. They can't tell an accurate Spider-man story, so not only do they just continue to rip off Miles, but they also bring back stuff from the previous series' because those were more memorable than the MCU could ever hope to be. But the MCU doesn't care about creating actual stories, it just wants to make money, and it's managed to cultivate such a 'don't think, just consume' mentality in its audience that they just go along with it.

this like this is what i've been saying this shit isn't not just it, it's demonic on how devoid of any actual substance it is and like my gripe with this shit is that we have gone from some sort of neutrality although thinly veiled about the identity of the heroes to overt propaganda (just look up on what they're doing to kamala khan 😭)

like i truly believe the mcu didn't believe race was real till recently and it's appalling cause it tells you that the "marketing" behind the current storytelling and direction of the mcu has been skewed towards getting to know mostly white audiences or idek maybe the goddamn filters keep giving back that results and then you add the actual agenda of the executives of the actual company gutting the final product regardless of w/e conversation already had happened between marketing and the product the director (who was profiled and clearly put in line) first turned up and regardless they can now fucking shoot entire sequences in post that neither actors or directors know about and just fucking add them whenever and wherever

it's soul it's rancid like i hate how little mcu fans also respect the sources that's what hurts the most that even tho marvel for all things and purposes as any other comic house has, has had an editor in chief and with marvel they have had like just about anything in terms of scandals at least you could point at the asshole and well fight the bitch fair and square, like im saying the work of the writer and the artists and even yeah editors managed to create every now and then things that have preserved the legacy laid by many more decades of narratives that have touched other people like there used to be some heart through the mask, with comics it's fucked up to see this kind of gutting when the components of individual identity and community and entertainment and clear politics are all things that birth new meaning, that's not there with the mcu and like even as i type i do feel like marvel comics has been affected by all this a little bit since 2013 when it became clear they wanted to lay a path for marvel movies just look at peter quill and co. and nowadays i really just touch the titles that aren't steeped in that kind of intent even this x men revival reeks of marketing, cause some of that shit has been even more overt like the nazi event or the new mutants new issues, pathetic truly, and it means it's also about laying a path for the mcu and the writersmarketing team to write them new stories like i can't touch marvel comics or even dc or any of them churning out movies like willfully cause it's a gambit sometimes on how much some things are just nothing but a corporate long printed add

[chanelpirate]

19, 20, 25 please!!

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

Aged/immortal/ageless/eldritch/etc aristocrat schemes/fails at scheming while struggling between duty/objectives and Their Feelings/Ignoring Said Feelings while slinking about their domain/palace/etc in sad/horny/yet always stylish dishevelment. From this conflict a story (or ‘story’) arises. Never gets old. Much like said protagonist. (=which, I will remind, doesn’t mean ‘goodie’!)

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

—insert obscure image from Ancient Greek plays! —insert obscure reference to Shakespeare! —insert obscure reference to obscure historical event! —have I yelled about German Expressionism lately? —insert obscure reference to modernist poetry! —Insert obscure reference to 16th century Holy Roman Empire realpolitik that I read in a primary source once and thought, damn that was shady, wonder if that was in reference to—my entire fic Renaissance is this. Literally the whole thing. I’d thought about updating it with another chapter just deconstructing all the early 17th century shit-talking, because I really didn’t give the reader much. (it being an ‘outsider glimpse’ sort of situation) It might be good to do, early 17th shit-talking was marvellous, it was a ridiculous time politically. Not that I was ever there! Haha. Imagine!

Anyway, I’m not super in touch with what I have/haven’t written/actually published as fic, but a couple of mainstays do come to mind: every time I make some wry insinuation at how Alexander got all that shit funded, I am absolutely insinuating that Frederick the Great was Alexander’s sugardaddy. That absolutely would have happened were Alexander a real person, oh my god. But Chanel! I hear you declaim! He’s a real ancestor of real people who are really alive today! Oh babes, look up who they’ve supported historically and what parties current members of that family have hitched their horses to. (The 'friendliest' 20th century name I can comfortably put here is Franco. Yeah.) I don’t give a good goddamn if insinuating an 18th century member of that dynasty (who incidentally, was probably the most progressive of that lot since, and he lived 250 years ago) shagged a fictional disaster eldritch monstrosity in a way that was maybe a bit transactional is ‘disrespectful’. You know what’s really disrespectful? Supporting the fash and far-right n*tionalist movements xoxo

I would say I have a fic for this but it’s been stuck at 80% done for about 18 months and my fic to-do list is the real eldritch horror

Also, I can’t even think about the alchemist ménage à trois (Alexander/Agrippa/Weyer) without my brain screaming ‘John the Baptist! Salomé! Strauss! Siri play Dance of the Seven Veils! Alexander snog a decapitated head!'

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

The attention hahaha fml

That moment when the coin drops and the tiny thing that makes a story make internal sense clicks into place. This can take longer than one might expect. After that, everything becomes a gleeful race to the finish where I constantly go ahaha! but you know what would be REALLY fucked up!! ohohoho, but you know what would be even FUNNIER!

I don't know, I just like that whatever I write that doesn't have to have commercial considerations can come from a place of unhinged joy, even (especially?) when the subject matter is dark.