#so obviously there has to be some romance

[undiagnosedcruelty]

“You Talk in Your Sleep”

Pairing: Bf!HanJisung x GenderNeutral!Reader

Summary: Jisung has always known you had weird habits, but nothing prepared him for the absolute nonsense you muttered in your sleep. Tonight, however, your sleepy confessions give him some unexpected entertainment.

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Genre: Fluff | Comedy | Slight Romance

Content warning: teasing, domestic, Jisung being a menace

Word Count: 781

A/N: I just knew that I needed to write something crack related to jisung🙏

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EVERYTHING WRITTEN IS PURELY FICTION───NOTHING DIRECTLY RELATES TO ANY REAL LIFE EVENTS.

Jisung never considered himself a light sleeper. If anything, he could pass out in the middle of an earthquake if he was tired enough.

But lately, you had been keeping him awake at night.

It wasn’t intentional, of course. It’s not like you were kicking him in your sleep (at least, not tonight), or stealing all the blankets (which, okay, was a recurring problem, but he’d long accepted his fate). No, the real issue?

You talked in your sleep.

The first time it happened, he thought he imagined it. He had been drifting off when you suddenly rolled over and muttered, “The ducks are planning something…” before nuzzling into his shoulder like you hadn’t just said the most suspicious thing ever.

Jisung, half-asleep, had blinked at the ceiling and whispered, “What.”

You didn’t respond, obviously, because you were asleep.

He had to physically hold himself back from shaking you awake and demanding an explanation.

After that, it became a pattern. Sometimes, it was just soft murmurs that he couldn’t quite catch, but other times, it was crystal clear nonsense.

“Why do giraffes have such judgmental eyes?”

“If I had a superpower, I’d want unlimited pancakes.”

“You ever think about how weird elbows are?”

Each time, Jisung desperately wanted to know what you were dreaming about. And each time, he resisted the urge to wake you—though it was really difficult.

But tonight? Tonight was different.

Tonight, he was casually scrolling through his phone in bed when he heard you shift beside him. He barely glanced up, used to your restless movements.

Then, clear as day, you sighed in your sleep and whispered:

“Han Jisung is so hot.”

Jisung’s phone slipped out of his hand and smacked him right in the face.

He froze. Blinked. Processed.

Did you just—?

He whipped his head toward you, but you were completely knocked out, breathing softly, oblivious to the earth-shattering revelation you had just bestowed upon him.

A slow, mischievous grin spread across his lips.

“Oh?” he whispered, voice dripping with amusement. “Is that so?”

He turned onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow. His gaze flickered to his phone, a brilliant idea forming.

Carefully—stealthily—he reached for it and opened the voice recorder. He hit record, holding it close to you.

“Go on, my love,” he murmured dramatically, fighting back laughter. “Tell me more about this incredibly handsome and talented Han Jisung.”

For a moment, you were silent. Jisung pouted. Maybe it was a one-time thing—maybe he wouldn’t get any more gold.

Then, in the softest voice, you mumbled:

“…ugh, I love him so much.”

Jisung’s soul left his body.

His heart combusted into a thousand tiny, happy pieces. His brain? Malfunctioning. His entire existence? Changed forever.

“Oh my god.” His voice came out in a hushed wheeze. “Did I win in life? Is this my reward for all my suffering?”

He grinned down at you like an idiot, barely able to contain himself. His heart felt so full, like it might actually burst.

But then—

“…but he’s kind of a loser.”

Jisung gasped, physically clutched his chest, and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling in pure betrayal.

“What the—EXCUSE ME?!” he whisper-shouted, shaking your shoulder lightly. “Wake up right now and explain yourself!”

You groaned in response, shifting slightly but not fully waking.

Jisung huffed dramatically. “No, no, no, you don’t get to just roast me in your sleep after confessing your love. That’s illegal.”

You cracked one eye open, squinting at him blearily. “Huh?”

Jisung wasted no time, shoving his phone in front of your face. “I have receipts.”

You blinked at the screen, still half-asleep. “What?”

“I caught you red-handed,” he said, waving the phone. “You called me hot, admitted you love me, and then immediately disrespected me.”

You frowned. “I… what?”

“I recorded it.” He tapped the screen. “So don’t even try to deny it.”

Your brain, still booting up, took a solid five seconds to process the situation. Then, realization dawned on your face, and your entire body tensed.

“…Oh my god.”

Jisung cackled. “Oh, now you’re awake.”

You groaned, flopping back onto your pillow and covering your face with your hands. “I hate myself.”

“Well, I love you,” Jisung said cheerfully, flopping down beside you and wrapping his arms around you. “Even if you slander me in your sleep.”

You peeked out at him through your fingers. “…Can I bribe you to delete that recording?”

He gasped dramatically. “Bribe? Do you think my love is for sale?”

“Yes.”

“…Okay, yeah, fair,” he admitted. “But! This is too valuable. I have to keep it.”

You groaned again, rolling onto your side to bury your face in his chest. “I regret everything.”

Jisung just laughed, holding you closer. “Nah, don’t regret it. You just confirmed what I already knew—deep down, you’re absolutely smitten with me.”

You sighed. “You’re still a loser, though.”

Jisung kissed the top of your head, grinning. “Yeah, but I’m your loser.”

And honestly? You wouldn’t have it any other way.

[jeanjauthor]

Ooh ooh, I can also answer some of the height & width thing!

First of all, there will always be slight differences of mere millimeters / tiny fractions of an inch, due to how the cutting machinery is set up, and whether or not anyone has measured it lately. But that one's obvious.

But if we're talking the difference between a regular size paperback and one that is a couple inches larger? The one that is the most common size is called a mass market paperback. This was determined long ago as a good portable size for producing in masses for the market.

The one that is larger by over an inch in height (3cm ish)? That is called a trade paperback.

Trade paperbacks tend to have slightly larger spacing for both between the lines (leading, as in literally the strips of lead inserted between the rows of letters on an old-fashioned printing press) and between the letters (kerning, don't ask me where this word comes from) themselves.

This makes trade paperbacks a little easier to read, especially for those who are getting up there in years. (They're sort of a halfway cheat to large print editions, which are easier for folks with vision problems to read). They're also a little heavier (obviously) but simultaneously a little easier to hold open. You can even lay it on a table and have an easier time holding the pages open. This makes them easier & gentler on hands that are slowly growing arthritic, or on hands that are young and thus not as strong as adult hands are.

Trade paperbacks are popular purchase choices when targetting both of these categories of readers. It's also literally (pun intended) why the Harry Potter books were trade paperback size, not mass market size. The spacing between the lines was easier for younger kids to read. And the books, though bigger and thus heavier, were easier to hold open and follow along without "breaking" the paperback's spine.

There is another reason why some books are published in trade first, and that's because trade paperback buyers tend to be more loyal, with fewer book returns. So some publishing houses will print a first run in trade paperback to see how the booksales go, and if the books get snatched up a lot, they will re-release in the mass market paperback size.

The reason why I know this is because I asked my editor why my first book was such a large size when I was expecting the mass market size. Romance readers who buy trade paperbacks tend to be much more accurate on what will sell well when tracking sales vs returns. (We talked about it a bit, and she added that the books are easier on the hands, etc.)

CAVEAT: This information does not apply in all cases! I first got published in 2007. Since then, the Berkley Group (handles romance & women's literature) has swapped to only printing physical books for their top 300-ish authors each year, while all other authors now get their debut or ongoing publications released first in electronic format. If those sell well, the publishing house will consider paperbacks, though I don't know which size they would be choosing in that instance.

Additionally, other circumstances can alter the choice of which size to use. Science Fiction genre tends to get released far more often (and indeed at Berkley's sister company, Ace/Roc, only) in mass market paperback format. Smaller, more independent publishers, may actually go with trade paperbacks exclusively. This is because while it's slightly more expensive in terms of amounts of paper & ink used, they're much easier for the printers to set up for small batch runs, and thus cheaper in terms of time & manpower, etc.

...There are, of course, many other reasons why a book gets released in such-and-such a size, but these are the ones I personally know on the differences between mass market & trade.

Happy Reading!

Hi, *insert childhood adoration here* just got home from work and don't really have access to true coherent thought. Um. Okay.

Do you know why sometimes, books in a series, from the same publisher, will be in two different sizes? My sister and I figured out that sometimes the exact same book from the same publisher will have two different thicknesses of paper and so one will be slightly thicker, but we can't work out the height and width thing. Same cover design type, like, same edition. Just. One of them is bigger. Do you know why?

Thanks for the wizard books that first made friends of my cousin and me.

First: you're very welcome. I'm glad to have been of service.

On the size question, though: This is one of the Great Imponderables that drives books' writers at least as far around the bend as their readers.

Now there are some explanations that make at least some kind of sense. Sometimes, for example, even within a single edition of a single book, there may be difference-in-thickness issues for some concrete reason: the challenge is discovering which reason (assuming the publisher hasn't themselves told you about it, which is likely to be the case about 99% of the time). ...A common problem is when, for some reason to do with ongoing geopolitical crap or national/international crises, the price of paper changes suddenly. This will cause publishers to try to reduce costs on a book by (the next time it goes back to press) changing the paper quality for something thinner. One of these changes might come between volumes of a series, which is why you might suddenly get a difference between the paper quality of book 5 and book 6 of what's otherwise supposed to be a unified set.

(There's also a similar weirdness in which going up a level of paper thickness will allow your publisher to shove a book of a given length into a slightly higher price point. So, whammo, it happens, and no one bothers consulting you about this detail.)

Or alternately: All of a sudden, somebody at your publisher decides that your series needs to be packaged in a slightly different format that—for reasons that possibly no one in the field even fully understands—is becoming associated with better sales at some other publisher (or some other imprint at your own publisher). So, bang, between one book of a series and the next, the next volume to come out is a quarter inch taller or half an inch wider. And/or 15% thicker (because the pulp of the paper involved has had more air pumped into it than previously). And your books will continue to look like that until some other fad or trend at the packaging end affects them.

(Or alternately, it doesn't affect them, because your publisher's focus has changed in some inexplicable way—or the in-house accountants have crunched their numbers in some new manner—and they've decided your books aren't worth spending the format-change money on.)

(sigh) Tl:dr; There's no damn telling. (It's vanishingly rare that anybody tells us, anyway.) And I wish I had a clearer answer for you than this. Apologies. :/

[2isted-chocol8-art]

question about time buddies cus im curious: 1) are they dating in the comics you make? they kiss and cuddle and be cute, but like are they together together? and 2) how did they get together, if so? like how did they confess? or did it just happen? basically im asking what are ur headcannons for how they start smooching? i lovelovelove all the time buds art youve made and the thought just came up that, well, theyve gotta start kissing somehow yknow?

Ohhh this is gonna be a very fun ask to answer where I'll pour a bunch of headcanons, so buckle up!!

I haven't yet settled on how I picture hearthian relationships, but I know that I want to make them kinda fluid. That is, relationships aren't strictly divided in platonic and romantic, it's normal and accepted to have crushes in friends, or to make out and sleep with people without romantic feelings involved. Each hearthian has their own preferences too, and since their population is quite small, there isn't a set standard. Some people choose to be exclusive, others don't. Some have many romantic experiences, others have none. For some, romance and sex are linked, while for others it is not. And since everyone is different in this regard there are not societal expectations on this, you can kinda go and try whatever works for you.

For hatchy, they are still figuring themself out and they were experimenting before the loop. They don't fully distinguish between romantic and platonic affection, the line is kinda blurred for them. Meanwhile, while Gabbro does make that distinction and they've have a few previous crushes, they're pretty open to making out with friends without the need for romantic feelings. Gabbro usually puts the focus on the other person's preferences, in that sense.

And so, are they dating? Honestly you can interpret them as you like, and I encourage people to see them as dating if they want, or not if they don't want to. You can even see them as strictly friends in some drawings and as dating in others, I don't really want you guys to follow my 'canon', in that sense.

For me personally though, I think that since they're in a time loop, they don't really bother with defining their relationship. They're the only conscious ones in the loop, they like to spend time together, they sometimes make out, but they arent technically dating, that label doesn't really make sense in the loop, right? From outside, I'd say it's close to a friends with benefits situation.

I also like to think that, in my post-loop comics, this relationship would start to get more defined with time, mostly because they're living back into a society and it kinda forces them to think about what they want regarding each other. I haven't thought much about the details, but I feel that although their dinamic doesn't change much compared to what they had in the loops, they do start having some 'dating' dynamics (they set limits regarding phisical affection with others, manage jelaousy situations, expect to spend more time together, etc,).

And in regards to your second question, how did they get together? I think that they become friends only after the loops starts (they never really hung out before) and they gradually become closer. Then, after the touch starvation and isolation starts becoming unbearable, they start smooching and making out mostly as a consequence of that absence, an attempt to search for that connection. This obviously makes it all the more intense and they end up kind of attached to the hip for a time (codependency my beloved). But again it's all kinda casual and very gradual, there is not a set moment where everything starts and they don't bother defining it either. It's mostly a matter of 'hey, this feels nice, let's keep doing it".

If I'm being honest I picture this starting as in "Next Time" or "Got Weird", thise fics perfectly capture the essence of how I think anything would start between these two in-loop sksksk.

And I think that's all? Thank you so much for this ask, it was a blast talking about all of this! I have a lot of headcanons for these two, and although I encourage you all to interpret my drawings as you like, I love talking about all of this!

[bloggingboutburgers]

Tumblr keeps showing me your comics for some reason recently and at first I didn't think much of them, just that it was cool to see an aro/ace person's perspective, but holy shit after seeing a bunch in a row it's clear that you really REALLY love to paint people who experience sexual attraction in a negative light. Especially when you mention how everyone who does has "ulterior motives" when making friends. You realize that's not the case at all right? That not everyone has a nefarious plan to fuck everyone they attempt to get to know? It comes off so nasty and only perpetuates negative stereotypes when the reality is that most people just generally just enjoy making human connections.

Hey! First off, sorry for the late reply, been traveling around so I haven't been the best at keeping up...

Second, uh, no, I don't "love" to paint people who experience sexual attraction in a negative light. If I did automatically, then I practically wouldn't have any friends. If that's how it came across then I've done my job of drawing my perspective badly, but no, that's not my position on things at all.

Obviously I know that not everyone has the ulterior motives of fucking a person they attempt to get to know. I know a lot of people just enjoy making human connections and that's great, that's all I ever look for in life myself really. What I do have beef with is when people push the implication that sex (or romance for that matter) are the only "human connections" worth having when there's so many kinds of them to go around, and when that idea is backed with kinda hurtful (from my perspective) vocabulary that are just part of common accepted lingo, like "friendzoning" or "more than friends" (like being friends is a bad thing or something automatically inferior). I know that they don't mean much to people who experience positive relationships of romantic or sexual nature, but when being friends is the best I know, it always has me squint to see stuff worded that way. So I nitpick. But on specific topics or approaches, not on everyone who experiences sexual attraction. That was never the message.

The one thing I'll concede is that my knee-jerk reaction of feeling a bit of heartbreak and betrayal when romantically confessed to, as shown here, is arguably a bit unfair, and projecting, but the unfairness and projection go both ways in such a situation. It's just the tragedy of incompatibility between certain people depending on their walks of life sometimes. It's no one's fault really, and I never meant for it to sound that way. All I want to do is, like you said, show an aro/ace person's perspective in a world widely dominated by allosexual and alloromantic views.

[katakaluptastrophy]

John either lacks or refuses to exercise the empathy to recognise the reality of Harrow's situation.

Many of the elite Housers likely do have lives where his comments would make sense: the Third talk about lavish childhood birthday parties and tennis, the Fourth teens are taking part in recognisable aspects of rebellious youth culture, the Fifth cook for fun and Abigail collects ferns (and had a childhood bedroom painted yellow with glow in the dark stars, where she played dolls), Dulcie reads romance novels, and even the Sixth's rather institutionalised childhood had treat rations and kid detective fiction. Even Judith, who joined the army at 11, attended Corona's birthdays and decorated her quarters with the flowers Corona sent.

But Harrow is so terribly obviously not from that world.

John was responsible for the circumstances that caused a grim tomb cult to arise on the dwarf planet he made thanergetic in a fit of millennial nostalgia, where Harrow was raised in lonely and bloodthirsty fundamentalism.

He also fully has the context to recognise that Harrow has not enjoyed the luxuries the nobility of many of his Houses have enjoyed. And that Harrow is evidently in a fairly extreme state of mental distress.

The problem is, John sees himself in Harrow. As we learn in NTN, John spent the last months before the end of the world sleepless, desperate, and hounded. Already becoming something terrible and poised on the brink of becoming something even worse. John knows that Harrow cannot possibly find any remedy in the things he suggests. But he also needs to let himself believe, on some tenuous level, that she could. Perhaps his friends in the cow dome tried, lacking any other options, to get him to sleep or read or help grill the beef - anything other than sitting in the dark with his corpse army fixating on vengeance. And Harrow's like him, right? The lifetime of suffering in his name isn't relevant here, right? And even if it is, it sure is useful...

Just saw a comic by ari-larsen (go check them out if you haven't) where John tells Harrow to "do something normal"before making some suggestions.

It just hit me then.

John's view of normal doesn't exist anymore in the Empire he created. Sure maybe on a Cosmopolitan world like the third or the fifth it does... But not on the Ninth.

Harrow doesn't read books for leisure, there are no other meals apart from cooking snowleeks, Harrow doesn't do relaxation or rest.

And it, much like everything in this twisted universe, is all John's fault.

[garlic-sauc3]

trixie is such a repressed lesbian. to me.

[bagheerita]

So I read A Stitch in Time and one result of that which I was certainly not expecting was that I feel so much sympathy for Enabran Tain. Garak's life is a tragedy, but Tain's is a fucking black comedy.

I mean, he's a terrible person and an absolute shitbag, but can you imagine? You have this kid. You go to all the trouble of arranging for him to be raised in a family situation where he won't be rejected from society for being your bastard. You get him into the nicest indoctrination school where he can hobnob with plenty of uppercrust kids. You get him a job in your Order and all the proper training. And he's actually, like, really good at it. But he has this fatal flaw of being completely incapable of not making stupid, short-sighted, emotional decisions.

A scene I imagine has to have happened just prior to Garak and Tain's confrontation at the end of part II:

Like goddamn. When Tain asked "what's your plan for getting rid of her husband?" and Garak's just like "plan what plan." Dude. I'M disappointed, I can only imagine the guy who's job it is to know and plan for everything isn't at least as disappointed.

I know he didn't actually, but do you think there was ever a time when Tain wanted to be like, You know what. Just go back to Tolan and become a gardener. Join that illegal hippie cult. It's fine.

[ask-the-lotl-sisters-again]

(After a bit, Lore, wearing a blue jacket, could be seen sitting by a tombstone, seemingly talking to herself. She was surrounded by various new looking bouquets, each looking slighter older than the last, but all pretty new. The grave was almost entirely covered in moss, and the only words that could be made out were "1994-1999." When they got slightly closer, they could hear what she was saying.)

..Yeah, so that happened... crazy, right? Hehe...

.....

You know, you would've loved 2000s and 2010s stuff. Romance novels, murder mysteries, newer movies... you would've loved that stuff...

...Do you ever wish I could trade my life for yours?

I mean, obviously not, you're DEAD, I am literally just talking to myself... but, well, I do.

You could've had such a good life... you were a super likable kid, I'm sure everyone would've loved being around you... more than me, anyways...

You never deserved what happened... It should've been me, I was the rowdy annoying one... and now I'm the pathetic axolotl who never leaves the house or talks to anyone... I've learned talking to new people is a bad idea for me. I mean, everybody has left me at one point, some came back, some didn't, but every single person I've met has. I'm sure they wouldn't do that to you...

....I obviously wouldn't kill my self, but if it could bring you back, I'd do it in a heartbeat! Heheh... ugh...

Most normal people with depression think the world would be a better place without them, but for me it's more like... the world would be a better place if YOU were here instead. But that could never happen now.... *Sigh*

...Well, I should get going... people are probably getting worried.

(She said the last part in a sarcastic tone, and immediately started laughing.)

Haha... imagine! Nobody probably even knows I left... I know it's pretty pathetic how nobody cares that I'm gone, but it's nice to fall under the radar sometimes... everybody is happier, and I can stay inside all day watching Moon Sailor or whatever. It's nice. ...Well, I'm gonna go.

Bye Axa.

(She started towards the exit, not seeing the two.)

(There was a knock on riggy and lucky's door)

Hello? Is anybody home?

@ask-the-lotl-sisters-again

Lucky yawned as he eventually answered the door, It wasn't early or anything, He was just genuinely Tired

"..Yeah? Who are You??" He rubbed his eyes and just looked at the person in Confusion.

[lyxchen]

Okay my hopes for Charley/Yuri are actually so fucking high because I just need them to be a thing!!! Something good, something sweet, something happy!! I feel like this could be a second chance for a willex type relationship and man (gn) for my own happiness I personally need them to be what Netflix took away from us with willex. I need them to kiss and I need them to be happy and I need them to have an unproblematic and beautiful relationship that's filled with so much love and care for each other <33

[rapidhighway]

one of my favorite things in teen titans is robin wearing his own mask underneath the red x mask

[romicat]

I understand where you're coming from and yeah it's unfortunate. But I think a lot of those issues is more an after thought of what Wilson was doing at first and then the common occurrence of different comic writers mis characterizing certain characters. It was clear that Wilson was pushing Bruno as Kamala's prime love interest (unfortunately the MCU did this too,) so Bruno is her confidant because this is a super hero comic.

Nakia is very opinionated and somewhat of a cynical (or well is more like she's instantly, rightfully, suspicious of people in authority and influence.) So she has some opinions about Ms Marvel the hero, and Kamala who is very self conscious and fears being judged and disliked by her friends and community (even when her friends joke call her a "traitor" for "abandoning" them for New York it ends up hurting her a lot.) So she doesn't tell Nakia for the same reasons she doesn't tell her parents, not because she doesn't trust her, but because she's afraid her friend will hate her because she's critical of Ms Marvel. And this is a superhero comic so that creates tension and friction. A "likes Clark Kent, thinks Superman is an asshole" situation that is resolved when Nakia obviously figures out Kamala is Ms Marvel.

Josh is, well Kamala just kind of keeps running into him, it's not like she seeks him out to help him or anything past that first src. Kamala was also initially partially responsible for ruining his life. She's not responsible for everything that came after, that was Josh going down the incel-fascist pipeline. But she does feel like it's somewhat her fault he ended up going that way.

We see something like this again with Qarin. . . Who tried to kill and replace Kamala and threatened her family at one point. But Kamala in that story obviously feels responsible for what happened.

Qarin calls her a murderer and Kamala doesn't reject this.

Sooraya is more from that writer not knowing what they were doing. I mean, he did. He just shouldn't have. X-Men writers have this thing that's pretty common with white people who write fantastical allegories for discrimination of like "what if the normie black guy is fantasy racist against elves". . . Which didn't even make sense in context of those characters because Kamala has shown to not have a problem with Mutants.

NYX is think is partially two things: The writers despite really liking Kamala can't really write that aspect of her. It might sound a little nick picky, but it's stuff like Kamala saying that Sophie is inherently a good person and "knows" she's not evil, or trying to get through to Julian by saying he used to be a hero (Kamala by now has met many heroes who are still assholes/wrong.) . . . The second is that it feels like they really want to push the Kamala Sophie ship, so the two only really care about the other. I don't think that it'll actually be canon for the same reasons I don't think that Kamala will end up dating Miles. She still has another main series on the way that's still in production and I don't think those writers are interested in either of those ships. That's mostly the Spider-Man/NYX writers self indulging.

But anyways, it's similar to how they wrote Rachel when they paired her off with Betsy. Where it's like all the sudden Rachel is just Betsy number one cheerleader and neither focuses on any other relationship outside of each other, platonic or otherwise. I continue to say this, but it is still hilarious how easy Sophie just instantly betrayed her sisters for Kamala.

So yeah, I understand where you're coming from but I don't read it that way, i think it's just a collection of individual narrative choices made by 4 different writers across multiple series that when you look at them all together have some unfortunate implications.

Semi related: But oh god thank you. I'm so tired of Bruno and I'm partially dreading the new solo because I'm afraid they'll pay off on that romance subplot. Canon wise Red Dagger is like the only ship I'm genuinely invested in.

So, Medusa might be the best heroic mentor Kamala's had? Like, she's kinda the only one that didn't disappoint her or tried to force anything on her, or was too stubborn to listen to her. Medusa's entire approach to inhumans outside of their city is to treat them like her subjects but doesn't expect them to treat her like their queen.

She opens Attilan's borders, allowing non-inhumans to live and work there if they want. She offers Kamala assistance when she needs it but never tries to push her towards her "side", and if anything during IvX listens to her and her friends.

When her powers started to literally melt her body it wasn't the X-Men who showed up to help, (actually it was kind of their fault that it happened in the first place) it was Medusa. And even though the chances of saving her aren't certain, she has such faith in Kamala's strength that she doesn't doubt that she'll pull through.

And I don't know, that's just kind of neat?

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Asunder

slow-paced high fantasy

a woman who has a contract with an eldritch entity allowing her to see the dead & survives by taking various jobs

when a job searching for stranded smugglers in a cave goes wrong, she ends up with the soul of a dying stranger bound to her shadow

along with a scholar and her old childhood friend, they travel to his home country to find a way to unbind him and save them both

dark fantasy world with gods, demonic entities, arcane magic, and semi-sentient beasts used as transport

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

If I could be arsed to learn how to edit videos and had some kind of mic, I would 110% make a two part video essay series on the politics of Jurassic World because MY GOD, there's so much to dissect.

The first part would be about how the park is the epitome of neoliberal futurism for techbros, including the way the park so easily falls apart though I doubt that aspect is purposeful. Everything is aesthetic first and function second, and we can't possibly use any of the reliable infrastructure we've already come up with because a train is not gonna get us to Mars, but a monorail might.

And the second would be about the buckwild terrible gender politics going on. The movie is deeply unsympathetic to Claire seemingly because she's a woman who prioritised her career as it's both centre to her character arc and also an inciting event of one of the plots. Not to mention the whole Zara thing or the Owen and Claire thing or the stupid "him, I meant him, line. The movie is rife with misogyny, but it feels like that specific misogyny was isekaied over from backlash to second wave feminism.

I could talk about it all for so long because in a way, it feels like a perfect time capsule for 2015. Back when people took Claire running in heels to be this feminist statement to be made fun of and not just a deeply misogynistic movie trying to sell you feminism. And back when Elon Musk managed to get away with his "I'm the real life Iron Man" shit, and people believed he was smart and all his plans would come to fruition. 2015 was a great time to be a tech bro in Silicon Valley with people just throwing money at all your fake promises.

Yeah. See. This is what I mean when I say I could talk about it forever.

[formal-frog-shoes]

Twiststuck stuff i just wanna get out

Im a huge Cater multi-shipper

Normally this wouldn't be a problem

BUT I CAN'T HAVE ALMOST EVERYONE IN THIS AU HAVE A FLUSH OR PALE CRUSH ON HIM THAT'S ABSURD!!!

[stevethehairington]

i am once again thinking of a good omens wicked au, but this time instead of the obvious crowley as elphaba and aziraphale and glinda, im thinking of the OPPOSITE.

im thinking of how AZIRAPHALE fits elphaba's character in that he is an outsider amongst his peers and he's a little bit awkward and he's got so much faith in the almighty/the wizard. he's got "parents" (read: god) who expect so much from him and siblings who are ashamed of him. and he's got dreams! he wants to do big things! he wants to work hand in hand with and make the almighty/the wizard proud!

and im thinking about how CROWLEY fits glindas character in the sense that he's suave and charming and people are drawn to him. he knows how to talk to them and how to get them to do what he wants, and he's the one that teaches aziraphale things about the world (a la popular, like tempting aziraphale into eating meat and drinking wine and all these very human things he never would have thought to do without crowleys influence).

im thinking of how the two of them start out absolutely loathing each other, as mortal enemies, one could say... but how over time and as they bond more and more, as they see different sides of one another, that loathing turns into something else. something just as strong, just as passionate, but softer. gentler. sweeter. it turns into love.

and of course everything gets shattered when upon meeting his idol, aziraphale learns that god isn't what he thought she was. it turns out god is just a pipe dream. all there is is a floating head, the metatron, posing as god. and not at all the great and powerful entity aziraphale believed. and the metatron CANT help aziraphale, can't fix him. and thus the downfall of aziraphale begins.

[the-knife-consumer]

Grah as someone who does sort of like zelink its just??? Disappointing? Disheartening? That people are SO hellbent on them being an explicitly romantic couple and getting mad at others for being like "oh i just see them as friends :)" and coming onto people's posts where they are portrayed as friends or just close with no romance and being like "uuuum actually theyre MARRIED theyre in a RELATIONSHIP! BC OBVIOUSLY you can NEVER share a house with someone without being married! Zelink canon 😏 cope seethe🔥" like do you understand how painfully annoying that is