#which is the worst thing an artist can do

[giggggi-088]

doing this for my pjo dr <3 1 - i'd say the vibe of my dr is very nostalgic, 'vintage' in a way. like how it was back when everything was simpler. early 2000s vibes, bridge to Terabithia, percy jackson movie, any feel-good movie from that era. but also that own, almost intangible modern mythological kind of vibe you get by reading the books. 2 - any of my magic items, i have this thing of perfume that creates this rlly dense, thick pink sparkly perfume mist which is very helpful when anyone needs to get away or slow something down. it is overwhelmingly sickly sweet and perfumey like the scent when you spray wayyyy too much, which is great cause monsters hate the smell of it. and lowkey.. my PURSE!! 3 - probably whatever is offered up to me at the time. if we're talking about my mortal school, i'll probably just carpool or ride with my dad but for quests i'll take whatever i can get😭 pegasi are very helpful too, literally a live saver cause i have a very close bond with my pegasus and i just love them in general 4 - oh boyy do i have songs.. there are a lot that remind me of this dr, but i think the songs that best captures the vibe i'm talking about is welcome and goodbye by dream,ivory. for me this is the one i'd put at the top of the list, just because it embodies literally everything to a t?!! like seriously. the lyrics, the nostalgic & comforting yet bittersweet energy, the voice. i'm also adding hit me with your best shot by pat benetar, for.. 🤭 reasons.. i will not disclose.. IDKK idk what it is but this song is sooo me and my s/o coded

Like i can FEEL the training montage and also anything with a pop-punky kind of vibe, songs like all the small things, american idiot, my own worst enemy, LIGHT EM UP etc etc 5 - honestly i wouldnt say there's drama drama i mean at camp i feel like there are more important things to focus on 😭 there are RIVALRIES sure but its usually just stuff like 'ohhh my godly parent is better than yours' 'i heard you were talking smack about me/my skills'. there's definitely some romance drama though, nothing too serious but cmon. its a camp full of teenagers theres bound to be some crazy relationships and love triangles. as for me i like to think i get along with a lot of people except maybe drew or most the ares kids/clarisse 6 - my bed is near the back of cabin 10, and i have a window beside it with lace curtains. from my cabin i get a view of part of the canoe lake. 7 - i smell like sweet vanilla/vanilla cupcakes, and apples. the air at camp smells of a million different things that go together so well, though. fresh, and of grass fields, nature and barbeque and fresh strawberries. the smell of being out miles away, i've always been a country girl and i love the countryside so i love that naturey aspect of my dr even if we're in new york

8- i honestly don't know LOL. probably 'percy jackson and the olympians' in that movie trailer voiceover, im still mourning the fact we never got a 3rd movie 😞

9 - honestly i'm extremely similar to how i am here. i think people in my dr would describe me as friendly, kind, very stylish, kinda reserved at first but sociable, positive, poised, caring and a little soft spoken but sweet. i have a funny/upbeat side too but that doesn't really show until i'm comfortable with you or i trust you, so most the time i'm pretty chill and mellow, laid back. i believe others would describe me as a happy and agreeable person.

10 - a lotttt of pop & rnb but also some rock too. i'd say my favorite artists are cyndi lauper, brandy norwood, mariah carey, britney spears, alanis morenette, beyonce, sade and i cannot forget MS PAT BENETAR!!

11 - unexpected, adventurous, cozy, nostalgic, dangerous

12 - any of my friends/siblings tbh, hazel, reyna, piper, and ofc annabeth. tbh anyone but my dr starts in the lightning thief so i have to say chiron. am i the only one who thinks he has such a comforting father figure vibe?? 😭

13 - i have an adorable weiner dog/dachshund named prada. he's a boy and he's like my purse puppy, i carry him around everywhere. i'm an animal lover lol i have a fancy pink canopied dog bed for him. i also have a pegasus named sasha, she's a diva i love her. i bedazzle her hoofs and paint them different colors, i spend a lot of my time in the stables taking care of her and giving her sugar cubes and ribbons for her mane.

some photos if ur interested :)

14 - i honestly try to avoid it as much as possible, i'm not the type to take risks but i will stand up for myself when needed. if its just petty drama i rlly couldnt bring myself to care, a fight against a monster or enemy is a whole different story though and im willing to face that head on even if im not rlly that good a fighter and kinda 'weak' by demigod standards WE GOT THIS

live footage of me at camp half blood providing moral support during needlessly violent war games, circa 2007

hope you enjoyed reading this and i hope the questions give you inspo/motivation for ur dr too! 🙂

-ˋˏ QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU DEVELOP ANY DR ˎˊ-

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ᰋ-what is the overall vibe of this dr? (whimsical, cozy, etc)

ᰋ-what do you always have on you? (a phone, a lighter, etc)

ᰋ-how do you get around in this dr? (by bus, walking, riding a horse, etc)

ᰋ-is there a song that reminds you of this dr? (could be the lyrics, vibe or even voice)

ᰋ-is there any drama going on in this dr? are you involved?

ᰋ-whats the view from your window like?

ᰋ-what do you smell like? what does the air smell like?

ᰋ-if this dr was a movie, what would its title be?

ᰋ-how do other people from this dr describe you as?

ᰋ-what kind of music does your dr self listen to?

ᰋ-if you had to describe your dr in 3-5 random words, what would they be?

ᰋ-who from this dr would you most likely trust with a deep secret?

ᰋ-does your dr self have any pets?

ᰋ-how does your dr self handle conflict?

[jewish-jonathansims]

I strongly believe that the fan culture surrounding artists nowadays is wild, I have seen so many people acting like not liking every single song by an artist is a crime or something when it's completely normal. I am not going to make myself listen to songs I don't like because I want to support the artist.

That dose not mean that I am going to say that I miss the old them, because that's rude and as an artist (not a musician but still) I 100% understand that your art grows with you but that doesn't mean I need to love this new direction.

An album can be not my taste and that doesn't make it bad but it also doesn't take away from my enjoyment or love for their old stuff.

Something I can hate the direction an artist is taking, and sometimes I just think their new stuff are just weaker and that's okay.

I don't like anything zac brown band made after 2016, but I still really love their old albums and they are very nostalgic for me (I do not agree with a lot of the opinions stated by some people in the bend)

I still believe that 16/04/16 is cavetown best album and I think his last few albums are just okay

I don't like Melanie Martinez re-brend

I still like a lot of their old stuff and me not liking their newer stuff doesn't take away from that

[queer-froggit]

me when the Dreamtale rewrite has religious trauma and imagery

[poisonousquinzel]

Oh! And don't take my comments at the end regarding the kiss edit / homina comment as disregarding Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti's role in this. I think both things can be true at the same time, DC can have not allowed Harlivy to be monogamous and AC & JP can have been completely okay with that choice.

Cause I do not have the slightest trust in either of their abilities to handle LGBT topics, considering Jimmy's in part behind this disgusting ass comic where this interaction somehow isn't even close to being the worst thing to have occurred in regards to the writing of / surrounding the Sirens in it.

But also considering the countless instances throughout the 2014/2016 comics where it's either grossly sexualized harassment, transphobia, racism, having a sapphic woman star as the bad guy in the Harley and Her Gang Of Harley's comic or something who's prev girlfriend is shown in graphic detail overdosing, or how that woman is grossly written being sexually predatory with Harley thoughout, the complete and utter tone deaf writing in just about every possible serious situation, and this linked post covers just the parts that randomly came to mind.

I have no doubt I could beat or rival the length of my Janet rant currently (12k+) if I went through everything these two tainted with their fucked writing for Harley in their time being her primary creators for so so damned many years. And honestly I likely will one day when I reach that point on the archive blog skdjsksks

Ha, oh, or how they opened their run off sexualizing Harley committing suicide in "humorous" fashions and held an art contest where people's prompt was her being suicidal.

In September 2013, DC Comics announced an art contest entitled "Break into comics with Harley Quinn!", in which contestants were to draw Harley in one of four different suicide scenarios. This contest drew controversy not only because it was announced close to National Suicide Prevention Week, but also because of the sexualized portrayal of Harley Quinn in the fourth scenario, in which the character attempts suicide while naked in her bathtub, which was highly criticised. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Psychiatric Association, and National Alliance on Mental Illness all responded to the controversy in an emailed group statement to the Huffington Post: "We are disappointed that DC Comics has decided to host a contest looking for artists to develop ways to depict suicide attempts by one of its main villains – Harley Quinn". After seeing the reactions to the contest, DC Comics apologized, saying they should have made it clear it was a dream sequence that was not supposed to be taken seriously. In the final version, the bathtub scene was cut and replaced with Harley Quinn sitting on a rocket while flying in space.

[Wiki]

And now I know, I know, Harley's canonical suicide ideations that had occured multiple times before this contest (the Detective Comics & Batman: Harley Quinn parts linked above) weren't and aren't exactly commonly talked about parts of her lore, but it was also rarely (if ever) acknowledged when giving criticism of this contest.

Which I think is an oversight tbf, they weren't just requesting fans draw and submit panels sexualizing one of their female villains in emotional distress attempting suicide, they were doing it to a female character with a history of suicidal thoughts and having her trauma and emotional distress shoved aside for the sake of being sexualized humourous eye candy aimed largely at a male audience. Her popping out of a pudding pie and making an innuendo towards Joker is a more known Moment of hers than the abuse that directly follows it legitimately seconds later.

This was no different, and this was a pattern Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti happily continued by sexualizing sa, sexual harassment, esc throughout their chapters and comics with Harley going forward.

DC may have apologized, but not only was this contest still something that was conceptualized, allowed, approved and greenlit, it is also something they didn't feel so bad about considering ig just everyone involved in the publishing of the director's cut #0 thought publishing this was actually still appropriate to present to the public !

Jimmy: This page got us a lot of press for all the wrong reasons. It was made into a contest to try out some new artists. The winner would get their page published. As you can see, Jeremy Roberts was picked after we saw hundreds of the tryout pages. When I wrote the descriptions of the panels, I was keeping them as simple as possible and left off the dialogue to add later. The theme and spirit of the page was to test the artist's storytelling ability and interaction within a scene. As well, we were placing Harley in ridiculous situations so we would get to see some variety in the facial reactions.

Long story short, because I described Harley "naked" in a bathtub with appliances about to drop into the tub, people jumped on the fact that I was somehow trying to sensationalize suicide. What I didn't want was Harley wearing her suit, so I used shorthand to explain this. My mistake.

like yeah, if you say "draw her naked in a bathtub" people are going to draw her uh naked in the tub where you get naked before getting in??? Idk if I'd say it was sensationalizing suicide, but it was making light of it and undermining the severity of the situations they prompted people to draw her in.

These weren't "ridiculous situations", they were tone deaf scenarios making light of people who are at such a low point that they would be willing to go to extreme lengths to die.

Having her trying to bait crocodiles to eat her alive isn't funny, that's horrifying. Its horrific to imagine the low mental state someone would have to be in to want death so badly that they try to bait violent wild animals to eat them alive. Like ??????? that's not some funny ridiculous situation what's wrong with them.

[Still Jimmy] That the tryout Harley Quinn page went out without an overall description of tone and dialogue is all my fault. I should have put it clearly in the description that it was supposed to be a dream sequence with Amanda and me talking to Harley and giving her a hard time. I should have also mentioned we were thinking a MAD magazine/Looney Tunes approach was what we're looking for. We thought it was obvious with the whale and chicken suit, and so on, but learned it was not. I am sorry for those who took offense, our intentions were always to make this a fun and silly book that broke the fourth wall, and head into issue 1 with an ongoing story/adventure that is a lot like the past POWER GIRL series we did. I hope all the people thinking the worst of us can now understand that insulting or making fun of any kind was never our intention.

Amanda: Under the circumstances, Jeremy did a fantastic job on the page. I hope he had fun on it 'cause it sure looks like he did. I love how on the third panel, it looks like Moby Dick is floating around New York Harbor.

As far as the controversy goes, Harley was part of a team called the "Suicide Squad," and it was supposed to be a play on words about that. The page description that went out was really brief and bare-boned. When I saw that it was getting across the wrong message, I went into more detail with the description, but by then, it was too late. The fecal matter has already collided with the revolving atmospheric circulation device. I thought the ridiculousness of the second and third panels would get across the nonsensical feel of the page, but not so much.

It definitely was not intended to be as lascivious as many people thought. The following is an example of what I had hoped for in my head:

[Small picture of Harley, nude and sitting up in the bathtub with her knees visible, covering her chest from view. The bath is full of bubbles, a rubber duck resting on her right knee. Her hair is up in space buns. She's holding an oversized pair of scissors that are about the size of her body. Six separate appliances hang above her, we can see 2 of the plugs hanging in the air. The scissors are open and about to clip the cord that's tied to one of the tub stands.]

Harley Quinn is a chaotic and unpredictable woman, her attempting to commit suicide in nonsensical fashions is not as jarring and clearly a made up over exaggerated ridiculous situations because she is a character that could be written in character doing similar things.

If that makes sense?

"our intentions were always to make this a fun and silly book", then why the fuck would you include suicidal scenarios? why even go there?? that's not a light tone that can be easily projected humorously.

And, why even be like "What I didn't want was Harley wearing her suit, so I used shorthand to explain this. My mistake." when the art Amanda had put in here as an example under "what I had hoped for in my head" features her just naked. Visibly fully naked, bare skinned.

So, the intention...was for her to be naked?

and oh no, they didn't end it there! To top it all off, after going through the rest of the covers and whatnot, they just go ahead and include all the finalists! ya know, the ones that included the panel of her attempting suicide in a bathtub?

The ones Amanda and Jimmy said above just needed better elaborated context of it being a dream sequence where they're talking to Harley and she wasn't supposed to be naked naked?

well, lucky us here's all 6 finalists without the goddamn boxes! just plain old panels! isn't that so nice and great and appropriate!

and from what I can find looking up each name and connecting them to artists in the industry, every single one of these finalists who drew these prompts that DC decided to publish are all men. I'll repeat what I said above, Harley is a female character with a history of suicidal thoughts and having her trauma and emotional distress shoved aside for the sake of being sexualized humourous eye candy aimed largely at a male audience.

sorry if I'm not really getting the humor from any of these, getting a lot of Leg and Cleave, and A Bunch Of Depression Vibes

but no humor. dialogue bubbles doesn't change the feel these panels have. A dialogue box would not make context surrounding these panels funny because suicide isn't fucking funny and shouldn't be used as a punchline. this isn't even dark humor you can't excuse it with that.

and they didn't even include the dialogue! this is just the actual no context idea they said people were mistaking it as and DC turned around and just published, officially published, 6 separate back to back pages featuring textless panels drawn by men of Harley Quinn, a canonical victim of IPV at the hands of her boyfriend who has shown suicidal ideation in two separate comics written by Paul Dini, "humorously" trying to end her own life or have animals eat her to end her own life.

wow, how fucking funny.

This is in no way a damned play on words, Amanda, because what the fuck do these prompts have to do with the Squad she was forced to participate in at threat of a bomb detonating in her neck, where she got tortured and sent off on SUICIDE MISSIONS, that she did not excitedly volunteer to go on because she just loves chaotic death and suicide??????

my main issue with Harlivy not being monogamous is that the idea exists solely because DC is homophobic. I think, in some worlds, they could have a healthy poly relationship, obviously I love harliva (Gotham City Sirens), I stand by that this would be a wonderful dynamic if ya know written by competent and skilled writers who actually understand all their characters.

And frankly I dont feel like Harley is one who typically would be okay with sharing the person she's in love with. she's just not. maybe in a case where she and the person she's in love with / dating are both also in love with another, who's equally into the both of them.

But

That's not what's happening in Harley & Ivy's comics right now. That's not what's ever happened with this "open relationship".

I think Mason was healthy and sweet for Harley, from what I remember, but Ivy didn't love him and he didn't love Ivy. It's understandable to a degree, Ivy's reasonings and such, and in a different world with better writers I think that aspect could have been explored and developed.

Because Ivy does, truly, deeply, love Harley, and the idea she would be okay with Harley having hookups, etc, could be explained in a way that would make sense. Particularly during the part of Harley's arc that the 2014/2016 comics were, well, were supposed to be, dealing with.

She's freshly broken up with Joker, not really fully into a healing phase either, and isn't in the right mindset to be like settling down and thinking of Forever again. Harlivy's relationship is strong and built on friendship, so even in the beginning there while their relationship isn't Platonic, it's not "Officially Dating", Ivy knows how deeply Harley also cares about her. She also knows Harley isn't in a good place, and neither was she.

So her being okay, or outright happy for Harley, being loved by other people would make some sense because all Ivy's tried to do their whole friendship is prove that she deserved better, that she deserved to be loved and cherished. And as long as whoever is the pick of the month for Harley is someone who makes her feel happy and loved, then Ivy wouldn't feel jealous over it because damn, good for her being so happy messing around with someone who isn't as nasty and cruel as Joker. And it wouldn't take away from the real underlying feelings the two women have for one another.

But, again, that's not what this is. And it is now a "dynamic" that's bled into both Poison Ivy (2022) and Harley Quinn (2021), and has ultimately (due to the sheer lack of shown conversations or anything) devolved to borderline cheating.

In all honestly, this isn't a thing that'd exist if she was still with Joker and him alone. 1000%.

She would be with him and him only and would be depressed, insecure and jealous if he had a "friend" like Janet who he'd fucked before and continued to keep around.

This concept was only introduced because DC wouldn't allow for Harlivy to be openly in a monogamous relationship in 2014/2016. This is the company that in 2013 lost both the artist and writer for the Batwoman comic (artist: JH Williams III and writer: W. Haden Blackman) due to the company refusing to allow them to show Kate get married. It's not ooc for them to have refused to let them be monogamous, especially since Harlivy wasn't even allowed to be shown kissing on the lips at the time.

cause forbid sapphic women are allowed to be shown being outright loving and romantic with each other and doing something as ridiculously simple and mundane as a lip kiss, but having Ivy grab her ass in front of two dudes is totally okay cause it's hot.

it's so hot in fact that they needed to add in Tool dude, a fucking loser ass creep, saying "homina" in response to getting to see these two hot ladies like this. It seems like this is supposed to be a version of "Hummina"

Wiktionary: used to express that one has a strong reaction that cannot be expressed in words, especially when expressing embarrassment or sexual attraction.

Urban Dictionary: gibberish used to convey excitement or immediate sexual attraction to someone that takes your breath away.

Or the definitions for "Homina" itself

Urban Dictionary: A word, normally repeated three times, to express shock, befuddlement, or general speechlessness. Often when looking at a particularly attractive member of the speaker's favored sex

-

A sound you make when you see someone very attractive and beautiful. Similar to "hubba-hubba" or "a-woo-gah a-woo-gah" or "rwaaaarrr!"

[AND! I think the dynamics with her relationships with Joker and Ivy during the Mad Love arc is ridiculously complex and cannot be boiled down to "she cheats on him with Ivy so its in character for them to not be monogamous" because it takes away all context of both relationships and the mental state she'd have been in during that arc that was directly caused by him.

Her hooking up with Ivy while still being on / off again with Joker, a man who had broken her mind, her bones and her self esteem, is not at all similar or equatable to the pointless, ooc strange plot threads that've been published recently that frankly are just starting to feel like it's playing into biphobic stereotypes]

anyyyhoo, those are my thoughts<3 I have to finish cleaning my room now I sporadically wrote this on a short break SKDJSJKSKSKS

[sp4ceboo]

ai rant in tags bc im so fucking tired

[hsslilly-blog]

source

[coridallasmultipass]

Personal vent post, how I tag things, apologies for this probably showing up in search results because I'm not censoring words (do not have the spoons rn)

-

So I'm getting really frustrated (at the situation, not at individual people! Sorry to vague right after getting a request, I was gonna make this post like a week ago) that multiple people have asked me not to tag Bro/Cal reblogs as Stridercest.

Stridercest does not mean incest, it means Strider/Strider relationship. I'm tagging it for followers who don't want to see Strider/Strider at all (or for those who do, too, I guess). On MY blog, it has NO bearing on whether or not something is incest. Lil Cal has been a Strider since Day 1 to me, way before any of the events after Act 6, as a pure vanilla puppet. A Strider by marriage, in my opinion. But I'm not opposed to calculating the amount of Strider that got put in Lil Cal, as I've done before. You also have Dirk/Hal which is also Stridercest, but not incest (at least in canon, sometimes it is incest in fan depictions). Or Guardiancest, which I don't think counts as incest in canon either (but usually always is in fan depictions). Even selfcest between one Strider (beta!Dave/beta!Dave in a time travel situation, for example) is still gonna be Stridercest to me.

The ONLY Stridercest I add the specific ship tag for is Bro/Cal, because that's otp5eva for me, separate from any other Strider stuff (Stridercest probably doesn't even make top 3 HS ships for me). Everything else only gets the blanket Stridercest in reblogs, because I already tag a lot, I don't have the energy to add nuanced tags for weird Strider situations, and whether or not that constitutes incest, or which version of a character it is, especially when the artist/authors don't usually make the difference explicitly stated in their own caption/tags, and sometimes it's vague on purpose! (I'm currently writing a fic where Bro and Dirk are the same person! I'm not gonna make the distinction a big deal.)

It's mostly frustrating because then I have to decide if untagging the relationship as Stridercest is going to make someone else following me uncomfortable who will then see it untagged.

Going forth, I am going to delete whatever reblog I made if I get this request from someone else again. I'm trying to remember names, so I don't reblog any future content that would conflict with their requests, but this has already happened with three people in like the past two weeks. Had to block one person for telling me to die because I tagged "Stridercest" on the post preventatively, as usual, because I care about tagging for my followers. (I literally checked their blog like 3 times to make sure they didn't have a DNI pinned, and I still got told to die for my efforts lmao.)

Literally, please just DM me privately (thank you to the other people who did, sorry for the trouble!), and I will either delete the reblog, or block you if you request that. I'm not TRYING to make people uncomfortable, which is the whole reason why I tag it to begin with.

So, I'm not un-tagging shit anymore, it's delete only from now on. I'm not going against my own blog rules I set both to try and accommodate my followers, and to make searching my blog easier for myself. (Used to not tag anything from like 2011-2016 or later, and I'm still in the process of back-tagging everything, since it's been so frustrating to find old fandom posts.)

[icicleteeth]

I tell my most embarrassing things I don’t have the balls to post on twitter sorry guys... But (purely because I love watching all food and drink and cooking videos) I watch a LOT of alcohol related videos for someone who does not and will never drink 🙈

[scarletfasinera]

Worst thing a writer of a book can make me deal with is talk to me like I'm an idiot who can't understand books while I'm actively reading the book they wrote

[x-rds]

[Lio] the way I’m like this 👌 close at all times to coming out as plural online

[four-to-dawn]

This is my boy

[fortunately-bi]

...... If I went on a hiatus for who knows how long again would y'all hate me....... 👉👈

[porcupine-girl]

Can we please get one thing straight?

Nobody should be giving Mao Zedong any ups. None whatsoever.

This is a man who accidentally killed tens of millions of his own citizens (look up Great Leap Forward) and then killed or brutalized millions more on purpose while also decimating his country’s intellectual and artistic landscape in ways that took decades to recover from (look up the Cultural Revolution - and if you could stomach that Neil Gaiman article, you may be able to stomach firsthand accounts from survivors of it).

I LOVE what’s happening on 小红书 right now! I am SO EXCITED for more Americans to realize the lies they’ve been sold about modern China and to discover this rich cultural, historical, and linguistic landscape that many of us in Chinese fandoms have become obsessed with.

But do not romanticize Mao or the devastation he wrought. The only reason he’s still venerated there is that the CCP felt like admitting he was wrong would undermine people’s trust in The Party and so after his death they managed to blame most of the worst of his shit on his wife Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four.

There are other issues, obviously - it will be interesting to see what happens when TikTok refugees run up against CCP censorship, which tends to be harder to get around than just saying “unalive” - but this is one that I’m truly worried about. Don’t forget that capitalism and communism are economic systems, not systems of government, and they can both be paired with many types of government - yes, we’ve got a guy who wants to be a capitalist dictator, but that doesn’t make Mao less of a communist dictator.

[thedevotionaltour]

in terms of art alone im sorry. im a jrjr defender to my last breath you be fucking nice to him. i dont wanna hear shit❗️❗️❗️

[arkangelo-7]

Okay, but, Bruce gentle parenting the fuck out of the Justice League is literally such a funny concept. Like, the only reason it works so well is because of the overwhelming amount JL Daddy Issues; they’re all secretly desperate for some parental affection and Bruce is so naturally a Dad that he can’t help himself.

That gold star thing he used to do with Dick? Where he gave him a little star every time he kept himself safe during a patrol? Same thing works perfectly for Clark. He’s literally indestructible (but Bruce worries) so whenever he comes out unscathed from a battle (which is most of the time) he’ll hand Clark a little golden star sticker. Clark collects those things like they’re priceless artifacts and sticks them on his laptop.

The anger management therapy he did with Jason? Where he’d run through katas (a series of choreographed martial arts movements) whilst doing breathing exercises? Works like a charm on Diana and Dinah. They’re both super powered, so anything Bruce puts in front of her they’ll destroy, so going through a good old fashioned kata before a big mission will help them both focus without risking the destruction of the Watchtower.

The mindful meditation he did with Tim? When they’d sit in silence until Tim’s brain finally trained itself to know rest? It’s the perfect thing for Barry. He’s a speedster so his brain moves at about the same pace as Bruce and Tim’s (though maybe not quite as analytically); the post-mission meditation sessions are the perfect thing to help him calm down.

The art therapy he did with Damian? Where they’d paint memories that brought them pain/loneliness/loss/sadness because talking about it was too hard? Surprisingly, both John and Hal are into it. (Must be a Lantern thing.) Neither of them are great artists, but John paints about his time in the army and Hal about his time in the Air Force. They’ve both lost friends and comrades, have seen the worst of humanity up close, and just can’t always verbalize that feelingly of powerlessness even though their the galaxy’s greatest warriors—but they can paint it.

The silent chess games he’d play with Cassandra? Where’d they’d sit there and pick each others brains without having to say a word, could communicate an immense amount of emotion with the slide of a pawn? Great for Jon. He can’t talk into Bruce’s mind (not without considerable effort) and he can’t really talk to Bruce about everything that happened to him on Mars, but they can sit and play chess until they both have a mutual understanding of one another’s trauma.

All the crocheting he’s done with Steph? Where they’d sit in front of a fireplace in Wayne Manor and discuss their similarly complex relationships with their parents? Loved to do this with Arthur, of all people. They have to get waterproof Atlantean yarn, but the efforts worth the creations they make during Monitor duty, and it’s one of those rare time when Arthur can really vent about all of his troubles leading a life above and below sea, being a king, his love life—anything. Bruce will always listen.

And then, all of the soccer that he’s played with Duke? Where they’d let loose and just be competitive? Cyborg similarly appreciates this, but prefers football, naturally. Now, Bruce is too old to tackle a Mother-Box-Enhanced human, but that doesn’t stop him from covertly setting up pick-up football games on the front lawn of the Hall of Justice every other week.

So yeah. Bruce and his gentle parenting.

[honeyedfate]

i'll be here when you're back | 이희승

pairing. lee heeseung x gf!reader

ever since his room was revealed to the world on mbc world, heeseung has not known peace—whether it be from engenes or his very own girlfriend

genre. fluff (they're making out? it's cute)

a/n. it's been months but heeseung's room still gives me the giggles. the title doesn't have anything to do with the fic except that it's the song i was listening to while writing it lol it fits the vibes? (don't ask me what the lyrics are) enjoy x

"what's so funny?" you look up to heeseung turning in his gaming chair, glancing over his shoulder at you with a curious smile, his headphones resting around his neck.

you wave him off, still giggling. "you wouldn't like it."

he cocks his head, standing up. "what do you mean? i always find the stuff you show me funny. we share the same brain cell."

"this is different," you say, scooching over so heeseung can join you on the floor with his back against his bedframe. "no, wait—"

heeseung has your phone in his hands before you can stop him. he swiftly leans back, holding out his arm to keep you away while typing in your password. the phone unlocks to a paused tiktok video of what he immediately recognises as his room.

"why are you watching this?" he glances at you with a sideways grin as you make to grab for your phone again only for him to lean back more and hold his phone above his head. "babe, you're in my room, you don't need to—wait, were you reading the comments again?"

"don't close the app," you plead at his narrowed eyes, practically lying on top of him now that he's fully horizontal. "i don't want to lose my spot in the comments."

heeseung scoffs and shuts off your phone. "it's not that funny, you know."

"oh, but it is."

he lets out a mock gasp. "people making fun of your boyfriend's interior design choices is funny to you? wow, my girlfriend hates me. i knew it."

you snort in his face. "hee, what choices? i saw the video. that singular shoe is not an artistic choice. we both know you've been looking for the other one since march."

he looks to his left, staring at the shoe that's still very much sitting on top of the box it came with. "i wonder if it's having fun and eating well wherever it is in the world," he mumbles wistfully.

you poke his cheek. "can i have my phone back?"

"so you can laugh at me with people on the internet? absolutely not. i'd rather you just make fun of me the old fashioned way—throw tomatoes in my face, pin a note on my back, shove me into a corner and point a finger at me. at least that'll make me feel like i have some dignity left."

you break into laughter. "i would love to, honestly, but the only thing you guys have in the kitchen is ramen. i don't want to break your pretty face with hard noodles, plus it'll probably echo so loud in here, the neighbours will think there's a shooting."

"oh, so you're a comedian now," heeseung says in a mockingly sweet tone before his hands attack your sides without warning. you're squirming as uncontrollable giggles take over, leaving you gasping helplessly while begging for him to stop.

finally, he pulls back when you manage to grab his wrists, holding them in place as you catch your breath. his grin softens. "truce?" he asks, voice low and teasing.

you nod, deflating on his chest while he tightens his arm around your waist to keep you close. "you're the worst," you say into the fabric of his sweater.

heeseung chuckles. "says the one giggling for ten minutes straight over comments teasing her boyfriend."

"i wasn't laughing that hard."

"right," he says with a drawling lilt in his voice. "when i heard you through my headphones, i thought, 'which dude is making you laugh like that under my roof?' only to find out it's engenes. it's an even crueler fate, if you ask me."

you shrug one shoulder, looking away nonchalantly when his gaze drops to your lips. "you'd agree if you read them. someone said, 'this gotta be solitary confinement.' you have to admit, that's funny! i have the right to laugh at their brilliance."

he stares at you blankly. "how is this solitary confinement when you're on top of me?"

"i'm not always here," you reply, raising an eyebrow. "someone else said you're evacuation ready. all you have to do is pick up those keyboards over there and walk out."

the slightest twitch in the corner of his lips spurs you on to keep going. "there was another comment saying you put the room in bedroom."

"okay, get off," heeseung says flatly while making no move to push you off. "that one's not even funny."

"maybe not." you glance at all the free space next to you. "but you could get a rug, babe."

he groans, tipping his head back and exposing the smooth stretch of his throat to you. of course, you lean up and press a brief kiss on his adam's apple. he looks down at you, smiling almost shyly before he shakes his head. "you're cute. but we're not having that conversation again."

pouting, you gesture around you. "you always say you don't spend enough time in your room to bother putting anything in it, but admit it—you were happy when we got that bin from daiso."

heeseung snorts and bobs your nose. "yes, i'm the happiest man alive. every day i wake up and i thank god that i have a girlfriend and a rubbish bin."

"see!" you ignore the amused look on his face and lay your head on his chest. the tension in your shoulders melts the moment you hear the familiar beat of his heart against your ear. "think about how much happier you would be when your room no longer looks like belift uses it for enhypen's dance practices."

he chuckles softly while running his fingers through your hair. "i've seen that one. someone commented that my room could fit the backup dancers, too."

you laugh. "it could."

comfortable silence wraps around you like a warm blanket, neither feeling the need to speak. you eventually lift your head to glance at him, lips curving into a smile when you see that his eyes are closed. you lean down and place a delicate kiss on his lips, light and fleeting, but enough to leave him grinning.

you repeat your action, your lips brushing his in the faintest touch only to feel him kiss you back, so gently it seems like a secret. you pull back when you heeseung's tongue traces your lower lip. his eyes flutter open, a silent question mark reflected in his dark eyes when you don't kiss him again. you tilt your head, mischief glinting in your gaze.

"hee?" you say quietly and he blinks up at you with large, doe-like eyes.

"hm?" he looks ridiculously soft and vulnerable lying underneath you like that. it almost has you changing your mind, but you love a good set-up.

"did you know engenes call you bitchless?"

you let out a surprised laugh when he flips you over. in the blink of an eye, he has you pinned beneath him and his lips are on you, peppering your face with tiny pecks, leaving behind a trail of laughter from you.

you try to push him away by the chest, but heeseung is relentless, placing kiss after kiss on your cheeks, the corner of your lips, your forehead, your jaw. you can feel him smile against your skin and you can't help but giggle deliriously. "what are you doing?"

"proving them wrong," he says while nibbling on the sensitive spot behind your ear, working his way down to the curve where your neck and collarbone meet. "obviously."

"obviously," you mumble back, selfishly enjoying the feeling of his lips on you. heeseung slowly lifts you up, somehow moving you onto the bed and laying your head on his pillow. his warm hand slips under your shirt, happy to roam your skin aimlessly while he kisses you dumb. there's nothing but heeseung on your mind, just him and the muffled groans leaving his lips when you pull on his hair while his knee rests between your legs.

then, the door falls open with a bang and you nearly push him off the bed.

"oh my god, sorry!"

heeseung flails, comically wide-eyed, and whips around to yell at whoever's at the door. you look past him to see riki standing with his back to the room, spewing incoherent apologies while his neck flushes bright red.

you pat your boyfriend's shoulder to catch his attention, silently shooting him a look when he frowns at you, lips pulled in a pout. smiling, you peck them one last time before pushing him aside to lie beside you. "riki, you can turn around."

the younger boy does, looking incredibly sheepish. "sorry for barging in. i didn't know y/n was here."

"it's fine," you say reassuringly. "don't worry about it."

"knock next time," heeseung grumbles before he pulls you up to sit beside him with a sigh. "what's up?"

riki rubs the back of his neck. "i'm going to the department store to get some stuff for my room, just wanted to see if you wanted to come along." in a quieter tone he adds, "the others are busy."

"so was i," heeseung mumbles and you smack him upside the head. gently, of course.

"he's going," you say to riki. "can i come with?"

"yeah, of course!" his face brightens up instantly. "i'll order the taxi, meet me downstairs in five!"

"wait, ni-ki—" heeseung hastily jumps up, but the boy has already left and closed the door behind him, leaving him to stare at it like he's just been bereft of every shred of joy and peace he's ever known. he turns to you with an exasperated look on his face. "seriously? to get things for his room? you planned this."

you shake your head, rising to your knees to be more at his eye level while doing a horrible job at suppressing your giggles. "i wish i did, but the joke wrote itself. now go put on some pants. he said downstairs in five."