#super recc to anyone. anyways.

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

i don't WANNA go to school i don't WANNA work a 9-5 is it not enough for me to make semi-interesting analysis posts about the complex relationship between fictional characters in a problematic franchise.

[jesncin]

Evening! I'm a young chinese/indo american and plan on reading your comic soon, but beyond that I've frankly just been desperate for any decent rep in DC/Marvel - are y'all aware of any comics / comic characters / runs that handle an asian character's background well? I feel like I'm slugging through quagmires braving search results. All of them are just talking about racism but I want the good, and process of elimination feels like a bad strategy. Thank you

Hello fellow Chindo! Thank you for planning to read my book (which obviously I recommend for great Indonesian representation, heheh)! :) They're probably pretty mainstream choices, but regardless! I have a couple of recommendations:

New Super-man: Kong Kenan, written by Gene Luen Yang

This comic run has a bit of a typical start before jumping into some truly refreshing and fun wider worldbuilding! My biggest criticism to Superman legacy characters is that they should expand on his inherently political themes, and they mostly just stay stuck in science fiction silliness. But not Kong Kenan! His world, cast and even powers are steeped in politics and culture, just an absolute treat.

2. Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story written by Sarah Kuhn with art by Arielle Jovellanos

My all time favorite canon reimagining of Lois as Asian (she's specifically Japanese American in this version)! A perfect marriage of Lois' character as a hard working, career-focused, jaded girlie with the struggles of model minority as an Asian American woman. She stands out on her own here without Superman and has a fantastic cast system that builds her character wonderfully. I especially recommend this graphic novel if you were disappointed with the wasted potential of Asian Lois Lane in MAWS.

3. Superman Smashes the Klan written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Gurihiru

Need I say more? I will anyway. This is the best Superman story of all time, to the point it will actively ruin your enjoyment of other Superman stories for you. It seems so obvious to pair Superman's inherently immigrant allegory with that of actual immigrant struggles, especially with an Asian American family- who are perceived as the perpetual foreigner- and yet this is the first time that story really commits to that comparison. A fantastic reimagining of the original radio show arc that actually centers the Chinese American family being harassed by the Klan. My perpetual recommendation to anyone looking for their next favorite superhero story.

4. Shadow of the Batgirl written by Sarah Kuhn with art by Nicole Goux

Okay I haven't read this one yet, but I keep hearing good things about it! And It's written by Sarah Kuhn, who delivered for Girl Taking Over, so I don't doubt she did great here too. I do generally wish Cassandra will get to be written by a Chinese woman specifically since so far she's been written by Japanese writers. No shade to them of course, but I want cultural specifically. Cassandra tends to be in the vaguesian void and that's a disservice to her character.

The way this list is switching between Gene Yang and Sarah Kuhn is telling of the writers I trust haha.

I've got a heavy DC bias so I can't recommend much of Marvel, but I do remember enjoying Kamala Kahn's Ms. Marvel 2014 series under G. Willow Wilson's writing. Kamala is an endlessly charming character, and I don't think the MCU did her justice tbh!

Those are my reccs that I feel pretty confident recommending! I know there's other prominent Asian characters and writers in DC/Marvel, but they're a hit and miss for me.

[nugulover69]

Any recommendation of sentai with "bratty/asshole-ish red" type? I love bratty reds.... Gira's a special case because while he's not "bratty" I love his tears and sufferings haha

Extremely good ask Anon, I have a few reccs

Jan - Gekiranger

Feral cat boy (as in "literally raised by tigers" feral) SUPER BRATTY especially early on. he does become less bratty over the course of the show as part of his character arc (his domestication arc if you will) but its a really well done character arc. mega genki and utterly precious. also he has the speech pattern of a toddler. you'd think that would be annoying but it only adds to his kitty charm

Gekiranger also just a great show I'd recommend it to anyone

In fact here's more Jans to peer pressure you into watching it

Sosuke - Go-onger

Absolute menace to society. def in the "asshole" category of red, massive ego and braindead stupid. I mean all of the go-ons are stupid, that's their in-canon strength as a team, but he's like "undiagnosed CTE/chimpanzee on adderall" type stupid. and violent! utter bastard love him dearly

These last 2 reds aren't bratty or mean BUT they do suffer a lot and I wanna recommend these shows anyways

Red - Gaoranger

Yes his name is Red, the gaos refer to each other by their colors not their government names. moderately genki, a wee bit dumb and just plain strange. and hoooo boy does he get his shit rocked. all the gaos get their shit rocked, often out-of-suit and for several real world minutes at a time. several members die. they get better tho. I won't say which ones

Gaoranger is my personal favorite midtier sentai. barely a plot and zero character progression but its a fun brainless watch. even better to watch one handed wink wonk

Yamato - Zyuohger

Opposite of bratty and mean, he's super accommodating and nice almost to the point of being a pushover and his genki attitude is very obviously a mask, not helped by his teammates being a bunch of ornery animals (literal) plus a needy, emotionally volatile sixth. also mans got daddy issues. and mommy issues. and uncle issues. Yamato's suffering is just as mental as it is physical. and plenty of physical suffering is had

Zyuohger actual good show as well, even when not accounting for the plentiful ryona

Also I haven't watched dekaranger yet (I hear its just Fine) but I do know dekared is absolutely batshit. like dropkicking his teammates type batshit. if anyone wants to recommend more bratty/cunt reds from sentais I haven't seen yet to Anon, speak your truth x

[nebulaleaf]

Hi! I hope this is ok to ask, but I remember you mentioning you are in Canada, since you have a lot of experience w merch do you know if theres a way for Canadians to buy the new persona nuis? It seems like the worldshopping on thje atlus ebten site + amiami dont ship to us T_T

omg yes okay so. You're gonna need a proxy service. theres a couple that u can look into like buyee or dejapan but im just gonna shill and talk about the one i use since i know it best.

okay so make an account on Zenmarket. then hit the + button and drop the link to the nui that you want. itll take an hour or two (or less depending on when you do this) for staff to confirm whether they can buy this item, but once confirmed you just add funds to your zen acct and pay for your nuis!!! they DO add a 500 yen (basically 4cad) service fee but thats common across most proxies.

now for shipping. once the nui arrives you can pick your method, whether you want air, surface, express, fedex, etc. and then you pay for shipping at that moment. usually like 10 - 20 dollars if its not insanely heavy. which yeah is kinda pricy but likeeee. shipping from japan is just kinda like that. anyway i use zen all the time and like it lots. you can also use it to buy from japanese mercari or yahoo auctions! really handy. their shipping is super fast and customer service is solid (as far as ive dealt with them) highly recc to anyone looking for a simply but effective proxy

[ibitsunahaato]

Nimbus FUMBLE / Part 1

Tori: Ugh~ Sigh~ I can’t take this anymore… I’m gonna die…

I’m bored to death!!!

Yuzuru isn’t back from work yet. And I’m already done watching all the dramas and movies I had saved up…

And since there was nothing else to do, I watched every single one of the videos trending on this site. But this is it—I’m seriously bored by now~

I was super busy with work during the year-end and couldn’t catch a moment of break.

And then everyday, I’d wish for a day I could just relax, right? Yeah, I did but—

Now that you’re telling me that I actually don’t have to do anything, I’m bored out of my mind~!

But still, you know. It’s finally my day off after all, and simply idling around like this is…

I keep feeling like I’m wasting my time and I can’t stay still… As if my efforts are going to waste?

…Hm~

Yeah. I really can’t waste a holiday in this sloppy way! Lemme go out and try finding someone I can hang out with.

Tori: Tsk~ The theatre room is also empty…

My guess told me that someone’s here for sure and yet~!

Noone’s in the courtyard and bookroom either. So is everyone really busy with work at this time…

And if someone is around, they’re much likelier to be in the common room? Anyways, lemme go take a look.

Aira: …

Tori: (Ah! Isn’t that Shiratori sitting on that sofa over there?!)

(Yay ♪ I was searching around for anyone, but I found someone I’m close with—I’m so lucky!)

(Hm~ What’s he doing though? I can only see his back so I can’t really tell, but he’s not in the middle of work or something, right? Let me try calling out to him…♪)

Hey, Shiratori~ What’re you doing? Why don’t you hang out with—

Aira: …Waah… Sob…

Tori: HUH?! H-Hey! Shiratori, are you crying?! Did someone bully you?!

Aira: …Agh… Huh? Himemiya-senpai…?

Tori: —So… Basically, you were crying because you were moved to tears by a manga?!

Aira: That’s right.

Tori: What’s this~? You were crying so much that I got worried thinking about what might’ve happened~ Well, I’m glad it wasn’t because you were bullied by someone or something.

Aira: Ehehe. Sorry for making you worry.

Tori: And the manga you were reading—It’s this one? It’s the type to actually move you to tears?

Aira: ! Yeah, it is! It’s like a 4-koma manga that was first posted on socmed.

But the characters were so cute and a sequel was anticipated, so it kept growing.

As of now, the manga seems to have had an overnight success! My fans recommended that I read this one.

I asked for interesting manga suggestions online and lots of fans replied to me—

Ah! Wait, I gotta…! I need to post my reactions online while the feels are still strong!

Um…”I read the manga everyone’s talking about! I can’t say a lot cause I’ll end up spoiling it.”

“It was so tragic and painful that my chest hurt SO much! By the time I was done, I was a total mess covered in tears and snot. The classmate kid had me COMPLETELY hooked. Love~y ♪”

“Classmate for the win![1] Thanks for the recc!” —And, sent ☆

Tori: F-For the win…? Not “will win”? Sounds like a usage I’ve never heard.

Aira: Ah, “for the win” is like… It’s a popular thing to say right now? …It means something like “This is #1 and the best. Nothing can beat this.”

Like “My fave for the win!” is something often used.

Tori: Hm. Eichi-sama for the win! …Like that?

Aira: Yes, perfect ♪ That’s exactly how you use it, Himemiya-senpai.

Ah, but don’t say that in front of Fushimi-senpai, okay? If he finds out that I taught you weird language usages, I might get scolded~...

Tori: Huh~? I mean, there’s no way I’m gonna…No, wait, I might?

Aira: HUH?! I don’t like that?! Moreover, I don’t want Fushimi-senpai to hate me. Himemiya-senpai, please forget everything I just taught you~!

Tori: I was just messing with you. I mean, Yuzuru isn’t gonna get mad at something like this.

Aira: Agh… Are you sure? Then, I guess it’s fine…

Tori: Besides, Shiratori is super thorough, huh? You post things like detailed manga reactions on social media like this?

Aira: Even Himemiya-senpai shares lots of stuff, right? I always go through all of them ♪

Tori: Well, I don’t go as far as sharing manga reactions though.

…Ah, this is incredible. You’re getting tons of likes.

Aira: But even you get tons of likes, Himemiya-senpai. And I think you get likes at a much more incredible pace.

Tori: Hm~ You don’t really get it when it’s about yourself. But when you see someone else getting the likes, it feels really incredible, huh.

Aira: Well, even I get that feeling of others seeming much greater than yourself.

Ah, but now it’s like…

Tori: Hm? Did something happen?

Aira: It’s nothing at all, and I know that I shouldn’t be so hung up on it. There’s something I’m worried—No, it’s not that big of a deal…

Um, there’s something I’m a little pressed[2] about?

Tori: P-Pressed about?

Ugh~! Speak using words even I can understand~?!

Writer: Maiko Nishioka

story masterlist ✦ next →

Proofing: Maximum Cheese

Aira uses a Japanese internet slang term "しか勝ったん" here, which is often used to talk about your faves being the best, despite grammatically not making such sense.

Aira uses another Japanese internet slang "モニョる" here, which actually means to feel uneasy and troubled by something that you can't properly put into words. Slightly different nuance from "pressed" but it's a close enough English internet slang that worked.

[recoiloperated]

With a psa compelte upper and a KP15 complete lower (under appreciated tbh) you can get a respectable (and pretty damn light) ar for like 450-500 before shipping, another 350 for a PA 1-6 lpvo+aero mount (im in the opinion that magnification shouldn’t be optional).

All that with a streamlight protac for 1k so lets say 1.1k ish shipped, thats a very capable rifle for most of what anyone would “need”

I think any less $ invested and people are dipping their toes into garbage territory, budget talks are fun but we should keep actually function in mind (glad you shit on bca btw ❤️👌🏻)

I have a bear creek 10.5,

It's accurate, but it's so horribly overgassed.

And their bolts are trash. Not MPI, not HPT, not mil-spec staked.

You get weird issues, they leak a lot of gas, mistimed muzzle devices, Ect.

They do some neat-ish stuff, like they have a super cheap side charger. But they have some general quality issues that make it worth it to just go get a better upper for a little bit more. Because they're so over gassed you need to swap in an adjustable gas block (+$50) and a quality bolt ($70 minimum) so you'll need to pay an extra $120 anyways. So why not just get a PSA that meets mil-spec?

Or grab a forged upper and go ham hunting deals. I can find a contract overrun mil-spec barrel for sub $100 all day. Hanson ballistic advantage is a notable one. Keep an eye on Rosco too, they occasionally run super good deals on over run barrels.

Get an MPI bolt minimum. Ideally MPI/HPT. AO precision, toolcraft, Ect. You can end up with a mil-spec minimum upper in the $300 range complete.

That said- building your own upper really gets competitive when you get into the more premium realm. My RECCE/duty/minutes man rifle upper is trying to compete with BCM and Geissele uppers. Not PSA. So I paid $650 for my upper, a BCM equivalent is about $900, and a Geissele is $1200, Ect. So for $780, (adding a PSA mil-spec complete lower) you could have a rifle with 99% the function of a rifle with a price point double to triple it's cost, and honestly, the Gucci geissele rail I bought could have been a much cheaper rail and still be every bit as good. Tucking a supremely capable rifle in under $700 no optics or light.

So 1100ish fully completed

[swimmingleo]

Helllooo leooooo!! How’re you doing??? Was just going through your blog a bit cos I’ve always enjoyed your content and reblog sa lil bit more than anyone else I follow 😅 and I just wanted to ask if you have subtextually queer reccs for me. Music, film, TV, books, fics whatever

omg hi z!!! I've just seen this ask I wonder if you sent it during your shaded era lmao but here's the thing you're asking for subtext right? and I see subtext anywhere so maybe these are all not relevant. anyway detailed answer because happy valentine <33

most of my favourite subtextually queer movies are horror/thriller and I'm sorry about that but it's the best gay genre... The Haunting (1963) is a lesbo classic!! Jennifer's body, of course. Fried Green Tomatoes is originally a lesbian book but the movie went down the lowkey road. Between Two Women isn't technically subtext but is told with that sort of contextual taboo/secrecy so it checks out. Power of the dog is a nice recent one with cowboys. Beau Travail is super interesting for the cinematography. Reservoir Dogs and Mikey and Nicky are favs of mine because I love gangster films with heavy romantic tension lol. The Lost Boys is camp and fun and horny vampires. I think Carpenter did some cool queer subtext with The Thing (AIDS crisis lecture and fear of male intimacy) and Christine (repressed homosexuality and overcompensation). aaaand ParaNorman is a little darling of mine<33 TV show wise I'm just thinking of the Columbo episode ''Étude in Black'', it's a stand alone so you can watch it on its own and omg. the queer subtext is EXCELLENT.

and for music top of my head I'm thinking of Connie Converse's album How sad how lovely and Paul Simon's Me and Julio down by the schoolyard. maybe S.F. Sorrow? it was written with gay intentions but it's more of a feeling. Garden Shed by Tyler the Creator, classic. Backstreets by Bruce Springsteen. People are Strange is a very queer coded song and the Tiny Tim version has some added queerdo spice. Actually, anything Tiny Tim has ever written if you're feeling veeery cooky

[fayeandknight]

My Brain: Hey, here's some insight into why you were the way you were as a really young child.

Me: Thanks, I hate it.

Under the cut for TW: Vague mentions of CSA.

When I was really little, from around kindergarten up until about 2nd grade, I used to bite. A lot. It was my go to response any time someone was touching me in a way I disliked. My siblings were told to keep their hands to themselves (no hitting/punching). I was told to keep my teeth to myself (no biting).

It was even on one of my report cards. 'Spiffy excels in her studies and makes friends easily. However she needs frequent reminding that it is not acceptable to bite her classmates.' I have always written it off as me being a weirdo. But while I was driving home today it clicked, unwanted and unwelcome, but the light bulb went on anyway.

I bit as a result of two major factors in my life.

One, it had been proven to me that I was physically weak. I could not free myself from being under the hands/body of a certain adult male in my life. My arms and legs, my fists and feet - my body was too small and powerless to fend him off. I was too conditioned to be a polite young lady, even at that young age, that I dared not scream. And all my helpless mewling meant nothing in the face of his want. It was terrifying and infuriating. I did not want to be touched like that.

I tried to avoid him or at least being left alone with him. But we lived too close and he was a "trusted" adult. Crying about it just got me in trouble. I was told I was too clingy and dramatic, a crybaby who was too selfish to want to be separated from her parents.

Not long after starting school some of my male classmates came up with a game where they pulled girls' hair during recces and ran away to the teacher on duty as fast as they could to avoid retribution. My scalp is sensitive so it really hurt when they did this. I was also really small (short and thin) with long (to my butt) hair. That made me an easy target.

I loved unicorns and My Little Pony and soaked up everything about real horses I could convince anyone to teach me. I learned that horses bite.

One day I was fast enough to grab a boy's arm after he pulled my hair. I knew I didn't have much time before he pulled out of my feeble grip. So I brought his arm to my mouth and chomped down as hard as I could, imagining myself as a wild horse.

He screamed and cried and eventually pulled away. I didn't break skin but it was probably a near thing. I got in trouble. But for the next few days the boys didn't pull my hair.

The moment I bit that kid I gained power. Power that I had never had before and it made others wary of touching me. I ran full tilt with it. Pull my hair? I'll bite you. Shove me? I'll bite you. Get too close to me when I don't want you to? I'll fucking bite you.

Two, I found it very difficult to have people, of all ages, believe me about body sensitivities. As mentioned my scalp is super sensitive, some materials hurt to touch, and even some begin touching caused me discomfort But no one believed me. Looking back that was definitely some sensory processing stuff, likely exacerbated by trauma.

It was a glorious few years until it was squashed out of me because that's not what people do. But I loved biting people. It was clear communication when I struggled with words and naming my feelings. It was a strong statement when my body was weak.

And as much as the why makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry forever, I am not mad at little me for doing it.

[rinasred]

Night falls, I'm cast beneath her spell.

An hournite fic -

Summary: Rick has been engaging with a mystery girl online, he hopes that she reveals herself to be his long time crush beth... maybe he gets what he's hoping for. <3

read on AO3

---

Rick had always been good at keeping things to himself. He never understood how some people can go around telling others every aspect of their own lives. He was especially that way in school and on social media. His classmates knew absolutely nothing about him, if you asked them they'd probably just say he's the angry kid with the drunken dad (of course no one knew he’s actually his uncle). Or recently they'll mention how he hangs out with those weird girls all the time, meaning Beth, Yolanda and Courtney. But that's about all the knowledge Rick's peers have about him.

Sitting on his bed rick scrolls through his Instagram feed, where he keeps himself anonymous. A noise comes from his phone to show that he has a notification. It's a message, and there's only one person it can be from. He checks it to see that it's from a user by the name of BubblyGirl04. A grin comes across Rick's face as he reads the notification. Rick and this girl have been messaging non stop for the past months, they've been talking even before he found out about hourman and the JSA.

With a giant smile on his face Rick opens the message to see an image attached, it's a photo of delicious looking pasta. Under it the mystery girl wrote.

Bubblygirl04: So... What do you think? Do i just get better or what?

YellowMustang: It looks amazing, my mouth is actually watering up... And to answer your question, yes, you do in fact get better.

Bubblygirl04: Thanks!! You're too sweet for you own good!! <3

Rick looks up from his phone, his face heats up as his cheeks turn a reddish color. Luckily he was alone in his room, he would die if anyone caught him blushing the way he is now.

BubblyGirl04: So tell me, do you think that i should join the cooking class at our school? I don't want that to make it easier for you to figure me out.

YellowMustang: Join as you please, I don't think the cooking instructor will see you coming. She's probably gonna have to call up Gordon Ramsay to our school.

YellowMustang: Alsoooo... What's so scary about me figuring out who you are??

Bubblygirl04: Lmaoo Gordon Ramsay? No i definitely can't handle the pressure of him tasting my food, i would go into anxiety overload. And we talked about this, I don't think i'm ready to reveal who i am... Not quite yet anyway.. sorry :(

Just like that, he could feel his heart sink in his chest. Like blades being pulled out of it, he would always suggests that she tells him who she is, but she never seems to be ready. But Rick could understand, he wasn't sure if he was ready to reveal himself to her yet. He would never admit it but he was afraid she'd be disappointed. She's sweet, smart, talented and funny, he couldn't imagine losing her because he wasn't good enough.

Yellowmustang: Yeah ok, don't be sorry, i understand.. it's just.. sometimes i wish we could be something real.

Bubblygirl04: We are real?? Are we not??? We talk everyday, and we tell each other everything about our lives?

Yellowmustang: ... It's not real until i get to hold you... It's not real until i get to whisper in you ear that you're mine..

-read-

Rick's mind made up so many situations as to why she didn't reply, it's been forty minutes since he had sent the text and still, nothing. He lays down on his bed with both palms covering his face. He groans when the thought of his message comes across his mind. He wonders if he should get up and do something to distract himself, but honestly nothing can really take him mind of this girl.

A ping can be heard from his phone, Rick jumps up and sees the phone laying at the bottom of his bed. He chuckles with the hope that it's a text from the mystery girl. Leaning forward he grabs the phone and checks the notification. The banner across his phone reads "JSA GC". It was from the imessage group chat that him and the girls made a few weeks back. His excitement toned down when he realized it wasn't from the girl he had hoped.

Courtney: Rick!! WTF!?!??! You're like super late, where are you??!?!

Yolanda: Relax Court, i'm sure he's just held up... Rick we need you here, pat has a whole thing set up for us... You know how he is.

Rick: Sorry, i had something come up. But i'm on my way.

Rick sends the text and quickly gets up and puts on his shoes. He puts his hoodie on and rushes out the door. He knew that if he were any later, he would never hear the end of it from Courtney. He gets in his yellow mustang that belonged to his father, thanks to pat it's now a working engine. Driving to the Pit stop where the group is, Rick couldn't help but ponder on everything that happened with the mystery girl. But he knew he couldn't think about that at practice, he needed to have his full attention on practicing, the injustice society was still out there somewhere and they needed to be stopped.

Arriving at the pit stop entrance Rick is approached by Courtney immediately.

"What the hell rick? It took you long enough, doesn't taking down the ISA mean anything to you?" Courtney lectures.

"Yeah of course it does you know that, i just.. got caught up in something but it's fine now."

Yolanda walks towards Rick as she stands besides Courtney. "You okay rick?" Yolanda questions. She looks at Rick with a sincere concerned look, she could tell something had been bothering him.

Rick pretends not to notice her concern. "Yeah, i'm fine. Can we just get started already." He says while walking further into the pit stop. He notices Pat has dummies of the ISA up again, well at least they aren't as cheesy looking as the ones Courtney destroyed. There are around four cpr dummies on sticks decorated with makeup and costumes resembling the ISA members. Wow, is this what pat spends all his free time doing? Rick thought.

"Rick! Good to see you buddy. Alright now that we're all here, i'll tell you what we're going to be studying today." Pat stated to the four teens as they stand in front of the bleachers awaiting his instructions.

While Pat was rambling on about teamwork and it's important on the field, Rick zoned out after noticing Beth. Something was different, her hair wasn't down as it usually it, it was braided down into crown braids. Rick stared in awe as she shyly looked at Pat while paying close attention to what he was saying, she cared so much about these missions and never missed a single practice. Rick admired her efficiency, he admired her everything.

"Alright so today we're going to be focusing on how your abilities work together on the field. So we will start off with each of you being paired with one another and we'll see how you can use your powers to help each other out. Then we'll do one last practice with all four of you, got it?" Pat explained.

"Got it." The three girls say in unison.

"O-oh, yeah got it." Rick says shortly after them once he's focus is back on pat and off of beth.

Pat sets the dummy of icicle in the center of the room. "Alright first we need Courtney and Yolanda, let's see how stargirl and wildcat can work together to beat icicle." Pat states.

Courtney picks up the cosmic staff from beside her feet, she gets in a fighting stance. "Alright, i was born for this." She lets out eagerly.

"Uhh, Yeah me too!" Yolanda adds on.

"Okay let's go, and while we're practicing, Rick and Beth you guys can wait on the bleachers until it's your turn." Pat explains.

Beth goes to seat in the middle of the bleachers and sits down before taking out her phone and staring at it longingly. Rick's eyes follow her as he can't help but to gaze at her.

"Gee, i get lectured for being late only to be benched? Quite a team we have going here." Rick complains sarcastically before walking to sit next to beth, his legs began to rush because of his excitement of finally be able to be with her all day but he tries to slow down as to not seem too eager.

Booms and zaps can be heard as Courtney and Yolanda practice on the dummies. As always Courtney is complimenting herself after every success and Yolanda is just excited to put use of all the amazing things her cat suit can do. Rick watches them practice for a second before turning to Beth, she still had a sorrowful look on her face as she stared at her phone.

Rick notices she hasn't said a word to him all day, which was unusual of Beth, she's usually the first to initiate every conversation. She didn't ask anyone how their days were or talk about all the amazing things her and chuck talked about, nothing.

Taking a deep breath Rick tries to think of something to say to break the silence. "So... How are you beth?" He asks, sliding closer to her on the bench.

Beth looks up from her phone and towards Rick, their eyes meet. Rick heart begins to beat out of his chest as he glanced into her honey brown eyes.

"Oh hi rick.." Beth says looking up from her phone. "I'm fine... Super excited for practice.. How about you?" Beth says, not sounding like her normal chipper self.

Rick couldn't help but think back to the mystery girl, because for a while he had hoped beth would reveal that she was behind the account. It made sense, both beth and the mystery girl had so much in common. They both are have no siblings, they have distant parents and not to mention their talent for cooking and baking. But Rick thought he was just getting his hopes up, he felt as if he let his existing crush on beth cloud his judgement.

Even though Rick really liked this mystery girl, his heart belonged to beth since the first grade. Ever since she was the only one to remember his birthday (rick's asshat of an uncle was too drunk to bother remembering). She brought him in cupcakes that she made herself, they were chocolate and fudge, with vanilla frosting and the words "happy b day rick" written on top in green frosting. Him and Beth sat together at recces that day and at the cupcakes on the bench.

Rick was never the type to remember specific details, but he could easily go on about the gorgeous blue sundress beth wore that day, he remembered her telling him she wanted to wear something special for his big day. She sang him happy birthday in the most beautiful harmony. He never forgot how beautiful she sounded, even when the teachers couldn't bother to do something for his birthday, he knew he could always count on beth.

"I'm okay i guess." Rick responds fidgeting in his seat.

"Well thats good to hear." Beth says going to look back at her phone.

Rick notices how often she had been staring at her phone screen today, which was fairly unusual. Beth was never the type to use her phone during conversations. "You waiting on a text?" Rick suggests, hoping to get some type of explanation out of her.

Beth jumps and quickly puts her phone away upon hearing those words. "No, it's nothing i was just thinking about something a friend of mine sent me." She says vaguely, turning her vision to rick finally.

He could tell something was wrong, he knew her better than he knew himself. "Hey, how about we let wildcat and stargirl do their thing in here, and go get some fresh air while we wait for our turn." Rick suggests, hoping to get some alone time with beth for the first time today.

"Sure! I could use a breath of fresh air." Beth responds, getting up and walking towards the exist, rick follows behind her.

The summer sun rays touch Rick's skin, the heat was really starting to come in now that summer has officially started. He smiled and watched as beth took off her cardigan and tied it around her waist.

"So, umm beth... I think i have something that i want to ask you, i mean i have been wanting to ask you about this for some time, but i was a little too embarrassed in case you'd say no and it's well its a lot-" Rick rambled on, preparing himself for what he was about to ask, he couldn't believe he had finally gained the courage to do so.

Beth walk closer to rick, placing her hand gently on his arm to calm his nerves. "What is it rick? You know you can tell me anything!" She reassures him.

He did know, thats what made her so amazing. "Beth... I have feelings for you." Rick admits.

For a second it felt like time had stopped as rick glanced at beth's precious face to see her reaction to his words. She gapes her mouth and her eyes widen in shock. He soft hold on Rick's arm becomes a soft grip.

"You... have feelings for me?" Beth asks rhetorically. Rick nods his head in responds, he slightly pouts, afraid of what she might say next.

"Do you feel the same way?" He asks. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, his palms were dripping with sweat. He felt as if he could faint any second.

Beth eyes light up, her shocked expression turns into a grin. "Oh my god- RICK!?!? OF COURSE I LIKE YOU!" She shouts as she rushes in for a hug.

The warmth of Beth affection calms Rick down immanently, a grin as bright as the sun comes across rick's face as he sighs out of relief. They embrace each other for some time, not even realizing how much time had passed.

Once the hugs ends, beth lays her hands on rick's shoulders, as he grabs her waist slighting to bring her closer to his height. Rick's heart flutters as he stares into beth's eyes, he would always catch glances of her eyes when they hung out, but he was always to shut to look into them for too long. But not today, he felt like he could stare into her eyes forever, looking at her had always made him feel safe.

Rick couldn't even think about the mystery girl, whoever she was, if she wasn't beth, it didn't matter to him.

"Can i confess something to you Rick?" Beth questions, with a look of concern in her eyes.

"You can tell me anything, beth." Rick replies, he knew that she couldn't say anything that would dim his happiness. The girl of his dreams had just admitted to having feelings for him too, this moment was too special to be ruined.

"Well, i've kind of been having a thing with this guy-" Beth begins, those words sank Rick's heart. He never experienced such intense jealousy in his life, the euphoria he felt had slowly began to fade away as he listened to beth speak.

"And well we met online and never actually talked in person, in fact i'm not exactly sure who he is. And I don't know if i'm gonna keep talking to him, because... whenever i talk to him, i've always imagined you." Beth lets out.

Rick's joy comes rushing back upon hearing the end of beth's sentence. She imagined him, even when she talked to other guys, he always dreamed of being on her mind as much as she was on his. Then slowly, rick's logic comes into play when he ponders upon beth's situation with this guy.

He thought back to how he was in an exact similar situation but with a girl, could it be? After all this time imagining beth, could it actually be that Rick was right.

Before he could even think of the words to say in response to beth's confession, rick leans in his lips brushed her, delicately. The warmth from her lips caused rick to shiver as he cupped the back of her neck with his right hand.

After a while, when the kiss is over, rick dazedly stared into beth's eyes again. She stared back, her face surprised but pleased with Rick's response.

"Hey beth." He says.

"Yes?" She replies.

Rick leans into her ear and whispers, "You're mine." He could feel beth freeze up upon hearing him speak those words, just like that it clicked to her as well. "Now it's real." He says finally.

[theprodigypenguin]

9 and 19

9. Where do you usually go to write (bedroom, living room, etc.)?

My bedroom usually. I’m lazy so I usually lie in bed while I work, but I just got a desk so hopefully I can start getting into the habit of sitting in an actual chair. My back would thank me.

19. What is/are your favorite fandom author/authors?

One day I’ll be able to actually answer this question without fumbling. I don’t read that much for personal reasons, it’s hard to start new fics because I feel a LOT, and it makes me dizzy, and then I start feeling sick, it’s a problem. I think because of my anxiety. It does not mean the fics are bad, it just means I should probably be on some kind of medication! I have absolutely loved every single Jeddy fic I have ever read! I just haven’t read enough from one specific author to give me enough info to choose a favorite.

However, there are a few authors I always think of when I think of jeddy or the fandom in general (not necessarily exclusively Jeddy authors).

@scarshavestories (not just because she’s a friend, her jeddy fic from last year literally sold me, I still think about it sometimes, it’s one of my favorite fics). @glitterfox19 (I’ve only read a few of her familial oneshots but I really enjoyed them, and it’s easier to read oneshots anyway). @jilylicious, @andithiel writes good jeddy, uh.... yeah.

Like I said I don’t read much. I wish I did. I wish I had the energy to read everything I could get my hands on. I like leaving comments on fics especially, so I can only focus on one fic at a time, but the comments make the authors feel good about their work, and that’s really important (I think).

One of these days I’ll have finished enough fics to actually recc a few, oof. Until then plz be patient with me. And if anyone has a jeddy fic they read that they enjoyed feel free to recc it to me, I need an excuse to read something anyway. I’m not super picky, and for the most part I can ignore it if there’s background dr@**y. So many jeddy fics have them as a couple, I used to never read fics if they were a couple, but i’d have nothing else to read if I still did that. Usually I completely skip over parts with them being romantic. But don’t let that stop you from sending me fic recommendations, seriously. I’ve trained myself to blank out them as romantic in fics.

Send me questions~

[teatitty]

crying in the club more like sleeping in the library (also go off about your dude (diar,,,,mude? diarmood??? im sOrry i dont know who he is) i Wanna Know More)

It has different pronunciations! he’s from Irish mythology but the way I learned how to pronounce it was Dee-are-múd. Irish names are tricky cuz no matter how you pronounce it one dialect region is gonna get mad and say you got it wrong so like /big shrugs/ u know?

Also ur so valid sleeping in the library is a m o o d

So like err I mean I already spoiled that he dies in Fate/Zero and it happens in episode 16 and maybe I’m mad he didn’t live till near the end but ANYWAYS!

I want him to be summoned as an Alter (basically, like, a darker version of how a Servant already is) and given wolfish traits. When he dies he’s, to my memory, the only Servant to do so while crying blood

And then once he actually realizes what’s happened (I won’t spoil how it happened but look it up on youtube if you want to it makes me Emo) his eyes go like this:

Which, like, WOOF u know? He dies with rage in his soul and his heart. His eyes have never looked more like a wolf’s then they do right here, it even looks like they’re reflecting the moon to me. In Irish literature, the Fianna (which were the band of men Diarmuid was apart of in his mythos) were often associated with wolves, even being depicted with wolfish features and/or wild and dishevelled, wearing wolfskins even.

Some believed they could turn into wolves and that they would eat both human flesh and that of animals. That lovely beauty mark under his eye is a curse he got from a fae so that every woman who looks upon his face shall fall instantly in love with him (this causes his original death in the mythos actually but we’re not here to discuss that right now.)

Basically, I want an Alter that leans into the more animalistic interpretations. Of course I’m not going to say no to him having wolf ears and/or a tail but I’m more thinking about his eyes staying as they are when he dies here, and giving him a jaw that looks like it should belong on a wolf instead of a human. 

I want to see him in wolf furs, dual-wielding a spear and sword like in his mythos, and I’d write him as being far more growly when he speaks, sneering down at people and snarling when he fights. I’d also have him abuse the love spot he hates so much, using it to his advantage because it’s caused him endless grief so why shouldn’t he lean into it if he might die again anyway?

I’d also give him his two dogs back! Especially M’Akolly, his wolfhound, whom he would take when he was out hunting huge animals. Hell, his dogs could even operate as a special Noble Phantasm (basically a super god move depending on the Servant) that can only be summoned during a full moon. 

He’d still have his honour as a knight, refusing to fight someone who is defenceless, but he also won’t go out of his way to help anyone either unless his motives happen to line up with theirs. Rather then looking for a good, honest fight like he was in Zero with Arturia, Alter Diarmuid would instead go for the kill and try to end things as soon as possible. 

Drawn out battles would annoy him at first, but eventually get him excited, showing hints of his former self. 

Lastly, should he be summoned with Fionn, Alter Diarmuid would have a single-minded purpose of killing Fionn himself, thus leaving him blind to almost everyone else, making him vulnerable but also volatile. Because he wants to kill Fionn with his own hand, it’s very likely he’ll help Fionn fight back other Servants just to have that opportunity. 

To end this off! Thank you for letting me go on about him and Zero is one of my favourite series ever, I cannot recc it enough however I will admit it’s very heart-wrenching and there are some really disturbing scenes in it so I know it’s not for everyone. 

[entamewitchlulu]

so i did a reading challenge this year and i wanna talk about what i read

transcription under the cut

i did Popsugar 2019 and wanna talk about what i read:  Book Reccs and Anti-Reccs 

1.) Becoming a Movie in 2019: Umbrella Academy (vol 1) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

4/5. A fascinating take on superpowers, dysfunctional families, and the apocalypse. Can get pretty gory, confusing here and there and you have to pay close attention to panels for lore, but overall an entertaining romp.

2.) Makes you Feel Nostalgic: Circles in the Stream by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Middle grade novel about the magic of music, belief, and of course, friendship. Definitely written for kids, and has some unfortunately clumsy Native rep, but overall an absolute joy to dive into once again.

3.) Written by a Musician: Umbrella Academy (vol 2) by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba

4/5. Ramps up the confusion to ridiculous degrees with some absolutely bonkers, unexplained arcs, but still fun to watch this dysfunctional family do its dysfunctional thing.

4.) You Think Should be Turned into a movie: All That Glitters by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Continuation of Circles in the Stream, but with more unicorns, more rainbows, and more fae, which makes it automatically even better than the first.

5.) With At Least 1 Mil. Ratings on Goodreads: 1984 by George Orwell   

1/5. I understand why it's important and all but wasn't prepared for some of the more graphic scenes and the overall hopelessness of the message.  Would not recommend or read again.

6.) W/ a Plant in the title or cover: The secret of Dreadwillow carse by Brian farrey

5/5. A fantasy world where everyone is always happy, save for one girl and the princess, who set out to solve the mystery of their kingdom. Poignant and great for kids and adults.

7.) Reread of a favorite: Cry of the Wolf by Rachel Roberts

4/5. Yet another installment in the Avalon: Web of Magic series, which clearly I am obsessed with.  Please just read them.

8.) About a Hobby: Welcome to the Writer's Life by Paulette Perhach

5/5. A welcome kick in the pants, chock full of great advice told without condescension, and full of hope and inspiration for writers both new and old.

9.) Meant to read in 2018: The Poet x by Elizabeth Acevedo  

4/5. Absolutely beautiful coming of age novel told in verse.  Do yourself a favor and listen to the audiobook version.

10.) w/ "pop," "sugar," or "challenge" in the title: Black Sugar by Miguel Bonnefoy

2/5. I think maybe I just don't understand this genre.  Or maybe the translation was weird. I was confused.  

11.) w/ An Item of Clothing or Accessory on the cover: Our dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

4/5. It had a lot more slurs/homophobia than I was prepared for, but otherwise is a very touching, relatable collection of queer characters living in a heteronormative world.

12.) Inspired by Mythology or Folklore: Ravenous by MarcyKate Connolly

3/5. A girl goes on an impossible quest to save her brother from a child-eating witch. Really wanted to like it more because I loved the first one, Monstrous, but it dragged a little.

13.) Published Posthumously: The Islands of Chaldea by Diana Wynne Jones

3/5. I adore Diana Wynne Jones, but this one was missing some of the magic of her other books. Not sure if it was because it had to be finished by someone else, or if I just grew out of her stories.

14.) Set in Space: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

4/5. Powerfully written story of a girl straddling tradition and innovation, who wields power through mathematical magic, surviving on a spaceship alone with a dangerous alien occupation after everyone else has been killed.

15.) By 2 Female Authors: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

2/5. Ostensibly a story about a revenge pact in a small island town, but leaves far too many dangling threads to attempt alluring you to the sequel.

16.) W/ A Title containing "salty," "bitter," "Sweet," or "Spicy": The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith  

3/5. It's okay but I literally just never know what anyone means at any time. Are they being reticent on purpose or do i just not understand communication

17.) Set in scandinavia: Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura

2/5. Technically and historically accurate and well made, but the story itself is not my cup of tea.  Very gory.

18.) Takes Place in a Single Day: Long WAy Down by Jason Reynolds

4/5. A boy goes to avenge his murdered brother, but ghostly passengers join him on the elevator ride down. Stunning and powerful character-driven analysis.

19.) Debut Novel: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

4/5. Charming and then surprisingly heart-breaking comic about Nimona, a shapeshifter who wants to become a villain's minion. Really love the villain/hero dynamic going on in the background, along with the dysfunctional found family.

20.) Published in 2019: The Book of Pride by Mason Funk  

4/5. A collection of interviews with the movers, shakers, and pioneers of the queer and LGBTQ+ community.  An absolutely essential work for community members and allies alike.

21.) Featuring an extinct/imaginary creature: Phoebe and her Unicorn by Dana Simpson

4/5. Incredibly charming, Calvin and Hobbes-esque collection of comics featuring the adventures of Phoebe and her unicorn best friend.

22.) Recced by a celebrity you admire: The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen

2/5. Recced by my fave author Brandon Sanderson. An unfortunately disappointing anthology proving that any story can be made uninteresting by telling the wrong section of it.

23.) With "Love" in the Title: Book Love by Debbie Tung

4/5. One of those relatable webcomics, only this one I felt super hard almost the entire time.  Books are awesome and libraries rule.

24.) Featuring an amateur detective: Nancy Drew: Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson

4/5. REALLY love this modern take on Nancy Drew, coming back home to her roots to solve a brand new mystery. Diverse cast and lovely artwork, though definitely more adult.

25.) About a family: Amulet by Kabu Kibuishi

4/5. Excellent, top tier graphic novel about a sister and brother who have to go rescue their mother with a mysterious magic stone. LOVE that the mom gets to be involved in the adventure for once.

26.) by an author from asia, Africa, or s. America: Girls' Last tour by Tsukumizu

4/5. Somehow both light-hearted and melancholy. Two girls travel about an empty, post-apocalyptic world, and muse about life and their next meal.

27.) w/ a Zodiac or astrology term in title: Drawing down the moon by margot adler

3/5. A good starting place for anyone interested in the Neo Pagan movement, but didn't really give me what I was personally looking for.

28.) you see someone reading in a tv show or movie: The Promised NEverland by Kaiu Shirai

4/5. I don't watch TV or movies where people read books so i think reading an adaptation of a TV series after watching the series counts. Anyway it was good but beware racist caricatures

29.) A retelling of a classic: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero

5/5. We can stop the Little Women reboots and retellings now, this is the only one we need. In fact, we can toss out the original too, this is the only one necessary.

30.) w/ a question in the title: So I'm a spider, so what? by Asahiro Kakashi

4/5. Cute art despite the subject matter, and a surprisingly enthralling take on the isekai genre. Love the doubling down on the video game skills.

31.) Set in a college or university campus: Moonstruck (vol 2) by Grace Ellis

2/5. An incredibly cute, beautiful, and fascinating world of modern magic and creatures, but unfortunately falls apart at the plot and pacing.

32.) About someone with a superpower: Moonstruck (vol 1) by Grace Ellis

4/5. Though nearly as messy plot-wise as its sequel, the first volume is overwhelmingly charming in a way that overpowers the more confusing plot elements.

33.) told from multiple povs: The Long way to a Small, Angry Planet by becky Chambers

4/5. Told almost in a serial format, like watching a miniseries, a group of found-family spaceship crew members make the long journey to their biggest job ever.

34.) Includes a wedding: We Set the dark on fire by Tehlor kay mejia

4/5. Timely and poignant, a girl tumbles into both love and resistance after becoming one of two wives to one of the most powerful men in the country.

35.) by an author w/ alliterative name: The only harmless great Thing by brooke bolander

3/5. Much deeper than I can currently comprehend.  Beautifully written, but difficult to parse.

36.) A ghost story: Her body and other parties by Carmen Maria Machado

4/5.  It counts because one of the stories in it has ghosts. A sometimes difficult collection of surrealist, feminist, queer short stories.

37.) W/ a 2 word title: Good omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

4/5. Charming, touching, and comical, probably the best take on the apocalypse to date. Also excellent ruminations on religion and purpose.

38.) based on a true story: The faithful Spy by John Hendrix

4/5. Brilliantly crafted graphic biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and his assistance in fighting back against Nazi Germany.

39.) Revolving around a puzzle or game: the Crossover by Kwame alexander

4/5. The verse didn't always hit right with me, but the story is a sweet, melancholy one about family, loss, and moving on.

40.) previous popsugar prompt (animal in title): The last unicorn by peter s. Beagle

5/5. Absolutely one of my all-time favorite books, it manages to perfectly combine anachronism and comedy with lyricism, melancholy, and ethereal beauty.

41.) Cli-fi: Tokyo Mew Mew by Mia ikumi and Reiko Yoshida

4/5. Shut up it counts

42.) Choose-your-own-adventure: My Lady's choosing by Kitty curran

3/5. Cute in concept, a bit underwhelming in execution. Honestly, just play an otome.

43.) "Own Voices": Home by Nnedi Okorafor

3/5. The storytelling style was definitely not my style; while the first book was slow, too, it felt more purposeful. I found my attention wandering during this installment.

44.) During the season it's set in: Pumpkinheads by rainbow rowell

3/5. Cute art, but precious little substance.  The concept simply wasn't for me in the first place.

45.) LITRPG: My next life as a villainess: All routes lead to doom! by Hidaka nami

5/5. An absolute insta-fave! Charming art, endearing characters, an incredible premise, and so much sweet wholesome fluff it'll give you cavities.

46.) No chapters: The field guide to dumb birds of north america by matt kracht

3/5. It started out super strong, but the joke started to wear thin at a little past the halfway point.

47.) 2 books with the same title: Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roger

4/5. A brave and enduring personal story of growing up in and eventually leaving the Westboro Baptist Church. Really called to me to act with grace and kindness even more in the future.

48.) 2 books with the same title: unfollow by rob williams and michael dowling

1/5. How many times do you think we can make Battle Royale again before someone notices

49.) That has inspired a common phrase or idiom: THe Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

4/5. Definitely good and deserves it's praise as something that pretty much revolutionized and created an entire demographic of literature.

50.) Set in an abbey, cloister, Monastery, convent, or vicarage: Murder at the vicarage by agatha christie

3/5. I just cannot. physically keep up with all of these characters or find the energy to read between the lines.

ok that's all i got, what did y'all read and like this year?  (oh god it’s gonna be 2020)

[thefloatingstone]

ok! XD well that’s all the prompting I need!

I honestly can’t think of anything specific either, so I’m just gonna recommend some channels as long as I haven’t recommended them recently (so no Super Eyepatch Wolf this time because I recc him all the time) and I’m gonna recommend channels that are not “Let’s Play” channels. (which kinda pains me because I really want to recommend Matt McMuscles and Liam’s Let’s Play of Sonic 06 because it’s a gift)

But anyway! Some channels I’ve been watching a lot of recently!

I’ve sadly really really struggled with finding good history-focused youtube channels that aren’t just uploading garbage TV “documentary” shows from the History Channel or, if you’re lucky, the BBC. So I can only really recommend one which is an actual history focused channel.

The best history focused channel I’ve managed to find is “History Buffs”. History Buffs is a channel focusing on movies based on historical events, recounting the historical facts of the event covered, and then going over the movie and seeing how historically accurate the film is. Some movies that are covered turn out to be barely accurate at all, sometimes vastly missinterpreting historical facts for some kind of agenda the filmmaker has. Some movies are very good MOVIES but are not historically accurate, some movies are VERY historically accurate but aren’t very good movies, and some movies get it 90% right AND happen to great films as well.

History Buffs doesn’t upload videos often, only a small handful each year, but this is mainly because each video takes an incredible amount of research to do. But I highly recommend the channel both for how professional the videos themselves are, and for how deeply researched they are and the fact that the facts you learn in them, both in terms of movie making as well as just history, is fascinating.

I recommend the video on Apollo 13, but it’s almost an hour long and covers the whole of the space race, so it might not be the best place to start, so instead I’ll link one of my favourite of his which is easier to get into for a first time watch

The other channel which I COULD count as a history channel that I’ve found a is a channel that focuses on defunct and closed down theme parks called “Defunctland”. Of course a large number of the videos on this channel focus on Disney but there is also a wide coverage of other theme parks. Like I said, not exactly a historical channel as a focus, but because most of these theme parks and rides that have closed down were a product of their time, it’s interesting to see how entertainment has changed as time has gone on, but also how theme parks and their rides are a product of their time.

Defunctland is also great as a channel because they will do interviews with theme park imagineers as well as people who worked on children’s TV which also slightly overlap (like Legends of the Hidden Temple for instance)

Their video output is a little faster but they still only seem to do a video or two a month. However the interviews means there is a little more content you can go through. They’ve recently been focusing a lot on Jim Henson.

I decided to specifically link a video of theirs which does NOT focus on Disneyland specifically, just because Disneyland does pop up most frequently in one way or another, but I feel it’s important to show that’s not all they talk about

In the same vein, there is another youtube channel that ALSO focuses on theme parks and rides that are no longer functioning called Yesterworld. Essentially it covers similar or even the same topics as Defunctland, but I find the content and presentation different enough that I won’t say one is better than the other. I feel Defunctland has the better presentation, but I don’t think one has better information than the other does, and so would not want to just exclude Yesterworld JUST because I already mentioned Defunctland.

Although Yesterworld covers more than just Disney (even more than Defunctland), Yesterworld will talk about unfinished rides, missing and abandoned film props etc etc, I AM going to link a Disney video here just because it makes me good and angry, and it’s the kind of righteous indignation I want to spread to others.

A video game person who I watch every now and then is a channel called “Thor High Heels”. He does videos on video games but his approach is less “Let’s talk about THIS game and cover and review it!” as most other youtubers I’ve seen. Even though that is.... basically exactly what he does.

His video topics tend to focus on a broader subject matter which he will then use 2 or 3 games to explain what he’s talking about. Recently he did a video on how survival horror is ““““““back”“““““ Even though he argues it never really died to begin with, and instead has just really changed in how it functions, and how the survival horror games that try and emulate “classic” survival horror games of old timey times of the 90s are also shackled to the parts of the genre that have been changed in the ACTUAL Survival Horror genre scene.

Stuff like that. He also has a video series literally just called “So I’ve Been Playing...” and he’ll talk about other things like Japan only PS1 games, the meaning behind the game Chulips, and his opinion of the Silent Hill visual novel.

I’m linking a video of his I watched first just because I found it so interesting and it talked about something I had legit never even heard of, which was the Japan only computer console, the PC-98, and its indie gaming scene as virtually anyone could make video games for it and just... sell them. In a way far removed from Windows or Mac. And he talks about the machine’s incredibly high image quality and the very specific look and design video games for the PC-98 had.

I also find his voice very hypnotic to listen to

And lastly, (because tumblr will only let me embed 5 videos at a time) I will recommend an up and coming youtuber called “Oddheader”

He’s only been making videos for about a year now and you can see at first he was unsure what his focus should be. He clearly wants to talk about video games, but his earlier videos lack focus and he has a tendency to mumble in them.

But in his NEW videos, he’s finally found an excellent focus and has gotten incredibly good both in his presentation and his narration. And his focus is; video game easter eggs, mysteries, and unexplained happenings!

And honestly, it’s a LOT more interesting than that may sound! Rather than just talk about basic easter eggs we’ve all heard of a hundred times before, he goes out of his way to hear about, prove, and discuss not only video game easter eggs, but weird video game happenings and mysteries for which we have no answers. He has videos discussing weird glitches that became infamous (like the manimals in Red Dead Redemption) or developer notes that were accidentally left in the game only to be found by players later.... to some truly weird bizarre shit that not even the video game developers THEMSELVES can explain. (like the one game with an AI where you can have a conversation and end the game in a way the developers didn’t even program themselves??? And the developers have no answers for this???)

His videos have a very strange and borderline creepy vibe to them, without he himself having to TRY and make the videos and easter eggs creepy. He also goes through great pains to prove easter eggs and mysteries he hears about himself by playing the games and verifying easter eggs his audience tells him about, and does a LOT of research to make sure his information is correct.

He also actively encourages his audience to discuss easter eggs and video game mysteries with him, and asks that people chare things he may not have mentioned before.

He’s still growing, but I already recommend his videos on this topic as they’re fascinating and he genuinely puts a lot of effort and passion into his topics.

(also excuse the red circle in the thumbnail. I swear he’s not obnoxious)

[howtotrainyouragents]

Agent H’s Book Reactions

 Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier

The sudden appearance of two maps unlocks the mystery behind the disappearance of the princes of Del Mar

-It seems mean of me to rant about the bad things about this book because I know it’s not hugely known, from a smaller publisher/author, it’s #ownvoices, and I believe in giving books like this a fair, even generous, chance. But that being said...I have a lot to complain about.

-How- HOW- is it possible to take a book with a such a gripping premise, and make it the most boring book ever? 

-Maybe this is just me, but I believe that the story should have started by the time you’re 100 pages in.

-Okay, I think there’s at least one major reason it’s so boring: the worldbuilding gets in the way of the story. This book is a great example of detailed attention to the everyday lives and society of the characters, but there’s just. too. much. of. it. You drop the worldbuilding essentials in the beginning and then you get going with the plot, only stopping to fill in worldbuilding when it’s relevant or when you need to create breathing room. This book drops in worldbuilding factoids literally so often that I started a (nonalcoholic bc I’m responsible) drinking game from it. Like, cool backstory but none of this random shit matters?? Tell me about the maps and the princes, I don’t really care about the society that much when it’s so irrelevant to the plot.

-Oh my goodness, the fact that there’s an entire sequence where Elias almost gets the plague and then doesn’t and the entire thing is not even important to the plot really capture my frustrations with the lost potential of this book. Like, someone ring Chekov, I think I found his gun unused. 

-I am so grateful that there were the spirits of Javelin and the sea serpent because otherwise I would have straight up murdered this book for being so boring.

-Maybe this is just my pet peeve, but she switches between using non-contractions for her characters to sound formal, and using contractions to make them sound natural and it’s just really inconsistently done. Please pick one and stick to it; it’ll be less jarring

-I do wish that the book had alternating POV between Elias, Mercedes, and Ulises rather than 95/5/1 split between Elias, Mercedes, and Ulises respectively (which by the way, probably another pet peeve, but that’s a terrible way to split POV. Either keep it to one character or split evenly don’t just randomly jump for like a quarter-chapter and then come back to the main narrator). Like they all had skin in the game and it could have been really interesting to see how this journey is affecting all of them. Elias was not compelling enough to be the main POV. Mercedes definitely was (I wouldn’t have minded if it was from all her POV). Ulises maybe not but he could have if he’d gotten some attention.

-I’m not even sure where to start with Elias. We had one great intro scene of him, and then the next scene he’s literally throwing a temper tantrum to all his friends/mentors/leaders. That got me way off on the wrong foot with him. He’s supposed to be a kind of a rogue and a troublemaker, but his personality is honestly just kinda bland and a little depressing. He’s like top of the game, so there’s no rooting for him. And then he doesn’t do the obvious, right thing by taking Reyna on as his apprentice but hands her off to someone else after there was so much build up. And then like, I know this quest was personal for him, but I feel like Mercedes and Ulises had much more interesting and bigger stakes at hand; I would much rather see them struggle with the implications of this quest then see Elias dance around this and not really struggle with it.

-Look, I get that Mercedes is actually totally an appropriate name for the regional/historical setting, but it’s also an incredibly famous modern name, and this right here is a great example of the Tiffany Problem= the name Tiffany was actually a common Medieval name but it can’t be used in fantasy because it’s too modern looking and would seem unrealistic to the audience. I mean, Lucier, good for you for going for it anyway but it did throw me for a loop (and that’s on me, I knowww)

-Oh cool, so the war against Mondrago was completely unjustified. That’s shitty. They can rebuild the nation, but they’ll never admit the truth and give the people justice. That’s super shitty.

-There’s so many things about this book that made me angry, but the fact that it tried to make me feel sympathetic for Mercedes because one (1) old woman spat at her (and missed her, mind you) is like way at the top. I think Mercedes being half-Mondragan is fascinating (although it’s mitigated by the fact she’s  royalty so it’s not like she was ever in danger of discrimination), but we never see her facing the dangers of her ethnicity. The one (1) incident we see is that a woman spat her, and then Elias and Ulises are all up in arms and they all spend the rest of the book being angry about it. Like, I get it, if someone I loved was spat at, I’d feel the same way. But as a reader, you have to make me care. You have to show me the injustice she faces because of her identity (she’s in danger, she can’t get work, she’s not safe outside, take your pick, it doesn’t have to be gritty,). I’m not saying this from a “POC facing racism shows realism” perspective, I’m saying this as a reader, we need her to have real, serious stakes in the game in order for her and FOR US to be invested in her journey. There needs to be some struggle so that there’s satisfaction when the truth is revealed and the Mondragans are innocent (although, see above point). Otherwise. It’s. Just. Boring.

-You can tell the author really really liked Reyna (especially since the second book is about her??), but I really really did not care about her at all. Like I thought she was a sweet kid, but she really did not need to have the plot/emotional/character signficance that she did when 1) it’s super weird having this mature-for-her-age 9 year old amongst all these young adults/adults  and 2) more time spent with her meant less time spent with characters who actually mattered, i.e. Mercedes, Ulises, Lord Silva

-I wanted way more of Ulises, but I will conceded that that’s because of my ultimate weakness for royal men.

-Also this book feels the compelling need to spell everything out. Which is annoying but fine except for the one time that it doesn’t spell it out and it should have:

-The reveal of the villain made no sense?? I was sitting in the bookstore cafe and I think everyone was giving me weird looks because I kept throwing my hands up and cursing. IT MADE NO SENSE. Those were the most tenuous clues put together ever, and then Elias doesn’t tell anyone or even the audience. He just decides to ride night and day only to stop at the edge of a cliff and not his actual destination. That idiot. The reveal of the villain helper ALSO MADE NO SENSE, just for the record

-At least the reveal of Elias’ father was obvious and kinda cathartic

-The mystery of the disappearance was also pretty well done and I’ll give her that. It was sad and complicated and I at least kinda understand why the characters made those choices? BUT, there was one thing that I refuse to accept: They expect us to believe that FIVE soldiers took out TWENTY royal guards and kidnapped multiple people??? Like, I get it, the wine was supposed to take everyone out, but if I were planning this kidnapping, I would not take the risk. I’d bring thirty guys just in case. I’m not frightened for the characters with less than half a dozen attackers; bring me the squad and make it a double and then we’ll talk. 

-I didn’t hate the romance of the story, which is rare for me and YA, so that’s something

-Despite what this may look like, I didn’t hate this book. I’d recc it to the right person. But I’d spent a long time hoping to read this book, and I think I’m just a little disappointed by the lost potential and super frustrated by the dullness

-Why is it called Isle of Blood and Stone?? Why is the series Tower of Winds??Am I just dumb? Bitch, I might be

[neatcointricks]

Christmas Sucks

who the fuck expected this bitch to come back especially since dbh is fuckin dead

also this was requested uwu

Masterlist

Ko-Fi

Word Count: 1.3k

Connor RK 800 x Gender Neutral Reader

“I’m going to die because of feelings, wow, it really be like that.”

“Please get off the floor.”

“You’ll have to drag me, coward.”

You’re on the floor, specifically, the floor of your Police District’s Department, next to your table, your feet laying over the wheels of your rolly chair, one hand is laying over your eyes to block the fact that you are actually fucking crying right now-- And the other is doing some class act finger guns at Connor.

What a dumb robot, actually coming to your aid when you started to breathe irregularly and fell on the floor. 

“Are you alright, Detective? You should’ve gone home hours ago. You know there’s no pay in overtime this week.” He grabs your protruding arm, dragging you away from your table.

You keep your other hand still over your eyes, your lips twitching and you speak yet another intrusive thought into existence without thinking.

“I want to die.”

Your arm is instantly dropped to the floor, you choke on your spit realizing what you just said- Letting out a pitiful gurgling noise. For a second it’s quiet, not peaceful kind but eery kind. It doesn’t help that you’re still blind. Waiting for the response, the ‘typing’ speech bubble of real life. 

The android grabs your shoulders, pulling you up so fast your arm falls from your face and you get minor whiplash. 

“What. Is. Wrong?”

You look at his stern expression and try to mimic it to distract from your mental spiral, and maybe get him off your case thinking you’re just being a goof. “Grr.” The sound effects might seal it in. 

He keeps face and the more you stare the more the anxiety builds, and his choice of tension break doesn’t help. 

“You do realize you’re crying, right?” Connor squints, swiping a tear off your cheek with his index finger. 

You let out an exasperated sigh, sucking in as your eyes switch between his face and finger, you try to smile but with your turbulent emotions, it’s rather screwed. “Please don’t lick that.”

Connor tilts his head to the side, prodding you on, “Detective.”

“I want to help.”

Your screwed smile falters, twitching till the corners of your lips point right to the floor, you squint as your sight becomes too wobbly with all the tears to keep focused. 

“Christmas fucking sucks!” You slam a fist into the carpeted floor, gazing at the ground “Every fucking year-- I’m like ‘this year, no matter what, Christmas is going to be great!’ And guess what? It never is! It never fucking is! Everyone’s always got their own fucking prerogative and guess who’s left alone with nothing and no one? ME BITCH! I couldn’t even afford a fucking tree this year. I’m...”

You clench your fist together, holding it in your lap-- You want to hit something.

“I’m fucking pathetic.” You breathe in deep, unclenching your fist. 

“Of course, no one wants to hang out with me, of course, seasonal depression still hits like always, of course, I can’t afford anything nice for anyone or myself-- Not even a fucking tree. Of course, even at work, I manage to fall over just cause I see a Christmas photo on Facebook and that broke the camel’s back in half.”

You prod your cheek with your tongue, shaking your head chuckling, “There’s no fucking point in trying anymore. It’s always going to be horrible. So I might as well do what every movie I’ve ever seen has taught me--” You pat your legs, finally looking back up at Connor with a charming smile, holding your arms out comically. 

“Drown myself in my work on Christmas Eve and keep going until this nightmare is over.”

You stretch your legs out as you stand up, paying no mind to Connor’s distraught expression. You crack your hands behind your head and shake the numbness out of your legs, you look at Connor with a one-sided smile and do jazz hands. 

“Bah-Humbug.”

You plop back into your chair, rolling into your desk. 

After about 5 minutes of you silently working in pain and Connor sitting in the exact same position on the floor, he finally gets up and walks up to you-- Pretty expected as you two are the only ones working on Christmas Fucking Eve. 

“I’ve made plans.”

You keep typing but glance up at him for a moment, “Good for you, it’s good to get out of here for a bit.”

“They’re plans with you.”

You stop typing. You look up at him, giving your full attention, “Why?”

“You’re my priority.”

Despite the pang to your heart, you snort, getting back to your work. “Dude, I get what I said was troubling but I’m not gonna kill myself or anything- Don’t worry about me- I don’t need to be ‘priority’.”

“You’re my friend.”

You shut your eyes and stop typing once again, “Connor--”

“Humans make me tired.”

Connor, without a moment to waste, picks you out of your chair, throws you over his shoulder, and slams your laptop shut in only a few short moves. “Let’s go.”

“Crime never sleeps, Connor.”

“Neither do I.”

It’s a silent taxi ride on the way to wherever. You open the window and watch as snowflakes fall on your arm. 

“You’re going to get frostbite.”

You shrug.

“At least something will bite me.”

“You have reached your destination. Thank you for travelling with Detroit Taxis. We look forward to seeing you again soon.”

Once you get out, you’re met with a shockingly normal house. You side eye Connor as you walk up to the porch, “I didn’t expect you to live here.”

“What did you expect?” He asks, sliding a key into the front door. 

You pick at the paint on the porch beam, rubbing it off of your fingers, “Something more ‘2038′ I guess.”

He opens the door, his shoulders slug when he steps in, almost immediately leaving your side, “Hank!”

“You gave me like 20 fuckin’ minutes! What was I supposed to do?”

You smell fresh Pillsbury cookies and note the Christmas lights strewn across the ceiling. By your feet, a dog walks up, he’s wearing a Santa hat, it’s super festive. 

Hank on a ladder painting a white banner to say “CHRISTMAS SUPPORT GROU” is less festive.

Hank looks to you, dropping the paint bucket quite aggressively on the floor. 

“Full disclosure, I didn’t have a lot of time so your gift is from a suitcase I found in my attic.”

Connor comes back to you, handing you a Santa hat and offers you cookies in another hand. “Here is your festive hat, your festive cookies--” He looks down at the dog, “Festive Sumo--” He points to Hank with his plate of cookies, “Festive Hank--” He moves to point at the Christmas tree in the corner. “Festive tree-- That we can light on fire in respect of our support group.”

You squint, smiling but still confused, “I don’t quite understand.”

Hank comes down from his ladder, with the hat, he looks like a homeless Santa. “Christmas kinda sucks, for a lot of people.” He puts his hand on your shoulder in that dad type way, “But it shouldn’t suck alone.”

Connor pipes in, “I’ve curated the most classic Christmas movies to date and have a playlist ready to go-- Also an excellent hot chocolate recipe that I’m very sure we don’t have all the ingredients for.”

You grin, “Sounds good-- Sounds- Sounds like a good Christmas, for once.”

“Well, it’s my first Christmas, so I hope it gets better than this.”

--

uwu what’s this?

me writing a Christmas special based on my own experiences but with a happy ending? more likely than u think

For real though, Christmas is hard for me and MANY other people, likely a couple few reading this- And while I know an old man and his robot dog can’t come into your life and actually fix everything, I hope this made things less shitty. 

Hang in there champ, it’s almost 2019 and even if times a construct it’ll vaguely feel like we get a restart at least. 

also

saw spiderverse today and it’s mad my new favourite movie and ik Marvel is kinda tired but genuinely this movie made me feel the way watching Spiderman when I was 8 made me felt. I haven’t felt that kind of childlike wonder in a long fucking time, especially with a movie-- I highly RECC that cause it healed my sour mood today. 

i wonder if i still have my taglist sticky noted,,,,,?

i DO

but it’s SUPER ANNOYING CAUSE THE INTERNETS LAGGING SO F U C K IT

thanks 4 reading wow

also didn’t read this over there are probably agregious errors but leave comments to boost my confidence anyways

[papercats]

lgbt books i read, 2018 edition I guess. I didn’t include shit that everyone knows like Bechdel or Sarah Waters or even some more popular YA books because the list is long enough and those are already mentioned everywhere else. Or red sister because the first book didn't have enough gays to warrant inclusion and i haven't read the second one. 

No one ever does this but if you want content warnings for a specific book DM me or send an ask.

also again, more lesbians than anything else. 

2017

2016

All Good Children by Dayna Ingram: If you read a single book in this list let it be this. Unless you’re upset easily then maybe not because this book is surprisingly dark, though not gratuitous on page-violent it’s still pretty upsetting.  

anyway that said this book is great only one on this list i have a 5 stars to. The plot is really hard to explain without it sounding stupid so I won’t risk it. It’s a dark dystopian, you follow 3 pov characters and they’re all great and so well written. 2/3 are lesbians. Please read it. N ONE KNOWS THIS BOOK BUT ITS SO GOOD. ! I wanna reread it now instead of writing the rest of this post.

Assume Nothing by Leanne Franson: I’m including this because I literally never heard about it? It has less than 20 ratings on goodreads as of writing this. It’s a autobiographic graphic novel about a bi woman about stuff in her life from discovering her sexuality, to finding a strip of human skin in her apartment. It’s alright. 

(series) The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu: it’s a Chinese based epic fantasy with gay characters of varying importance. This is the second in the series which you could read first if you really wanted to as it’s set a large chunk of time after the first book. Also the first book is much more straight and barely has female characters. It’s still good though as far as those things go. I’m not a huge fan of the f/f relationship in the second book involving two main characters but it’s there. Also Zomi is great as are all the other female characters. 

Afterparty by Daryl Gregory: the main thing you need to know about this book is that it exists and has a lesbian main character. I didn’t believe  the latter until I read it since no one ever talks about it having a lesbian main character even though it’s a fairly well known book. Anyway, this is a book about uhhh drugs and religion. Listen I can’t do the plot justice it’s really weird but really good. 

(series) The Traitor Baru Cormorant  by Seth Dickinson: If you're a. into fantasy or b. into lesbian books you probably heard of this. You also probably heard it’s very tragic. You heard right. Anyway this is a high fantasy about economics which is also pretty tragic in itself when you think about it. 

Ice Massacre by Tiana Warner: Technically a series but I didn’t like the 2nd book so much and dropped it. I loved the first one enough that I still want to put it there though. Most people don’t seem to mind the rest of the series either so don’t let me stop you - especially if you like YA. This is a story about mermaid who kill humans and humans who kill mermaids, and also humans and mermaids who wanna do neither because they’re in love. yeah. Mostly it’s about some teens stuck on a ship having a really lousy time though. It’s great. 

Nevada by Imogen Binnie: This isn’t a book about uh. It’s about....Okay it’s a very flow of consciousness ... “story” about a trans woman's life as she....lives her life. She has a lot of thoughts about a lot of things and she’s smart and funny and mostly she’s depressed so if you are also depressed you go like yeah. And if you aren’t depressed you probably still go yeah because her opinions and observations are pretty good. You probably don’t think you’Ll like it which is fair because I didn’t think I would until I read it and did. 

Click by Sara Marx: I read this because I was looking at a list of indie lesbian books and I was like “my girlfriend is called Sarah and Marx was a pretty cool dude ill read her book”. It’s..uh. A drama? crime? story. It’s alright.  which is more than I can say for most other super indie lesbian books. 

Sabine by A. P.: this is fucking weird. Listen I’ll recc this only to people who really like weird gothic-y pretentious stuff that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s a boarding school story..with possibly lesbian vampires. It’s written in a way you’Ll either love or hate check the first page and you’ll understand immediately if this book is for you. 

(series) Criminal Gold by Ann Aptaker: this is a noir crime story with a butch lesbian protag. this sentence tells you everything you need to know about it. The writing was competent  and the characters believable and interesting (which is again, more than I can say about most indie lesbian stuff I read). It’s a series but it would work as standalone, I haven’t read the rest yet though I intend to.

INSEXTS by Marguerite Bennett: just read my review for the first volume it’s short  I don’t want to retype all that. Thanks. 

Theft by B.K. Loren this is literary fiction with a lesbian main character which i felt i was too young to appreciate. beautiful writing. Mostly about loss and growing up, if it sounds up your alley check it out. I think if it was more well known it’d win awards and shit it feels like that kind of book. I felt under equipped to appreciate it so I hope other people do. 

Silk by Caitlín R. Kiernan: Half of the cast is lgbt. They’re like...a bunch of goth and punk young adults..and there may or may not be angels. It’s...horror I suppose. Mostly it’s confusing. I don’t know if I recommend this book exactly but im including it in case anyone does read it so they can explain to me what the point was. 

Passing Strange by Ellen Klages This is a book about lesbians in 1940 new york. there is some magic and there is art. Also beautifully written. It’s just over 100 pages though so I won’t say anymore lest it get’s longer than the actual book.