#I don't actually know a single thing about penguins

[artemismoorea03]

DP x DC Prompt: IT'S LIKE YOU DON'T LISTEN

(Inspired by the song: Don't Listen (Amanda The Adventurer Fan song)

So, we've all see Danny interacting with the Joker in fanfics (I love them so fuckin' much). He's just an absolute menace but I think we're missing on other interactions with the DC villains. (I've explored some of these in my fics but ignore that I just love this idea so much I use it a lot)

Scarecrows whole thing is making people see their biggest fear which as far as we know Danny's biggest fear is hurting those he cared about. Literally he's faced his biggest fear and because his powers prevent him from being affected by drugs he's going to really piss Scarecrow off. No matter what mixture, how dangerous, how deadly he makes it he can't get it to work on Danny and it's driving him crazy.

Killer Croc is a whole threat, but this 5'5" teen who hasn't slept in four days and just poured five-hour energy and monster into his coffee is ready to brawl and can catch his fist with a single hand all while cracking jokes or complaining about how he was hoping to take a nap. It's not just Croc either, Bane is having the same issue with the white haired kid who just showed up out of the blue one day and it's pissing them both off.

Penguin and Cat Woman will steal something just to get home and realize the damn thing is gone! But who the hell could have stolen it from them? AND HOW THE HELL IS IT BACK FROM WHERE THEY STOLE IT FROM?! It's becoming more and more difficult to be a hard working thief these days.

But then there's the Riddler. He sets up puzzle after puzzle, countless traps, countless counter traps. He's planned them out and made sure that there's no way he can lose. At least that's what he thinks until Phantom shows up and suddenly just deactivates all his shit without bothering with his riddles. Then the one time he gets him to actually do a riddle he doesn't seem to care that his life is in danger! Or that other lives are in danger - turns out a duplicate saved the hostages and he was literally just messing with the Riddler who just got a bit too invested in the fact that he finally caught Phantom.

Villains are getting more and more frustrated and they're starting to get desperate.

#dp x dc prompt #dc x dp prompt #my prompts #sorry if this doesn't make much sense #still sick #I'm sure having a super low tempature isn't bad tho #nothing hot cocoa and cuddles can't fix right?

[ceilidho]

Sorry to dump this here, but no one in my immediate and/or accessible circle reads as much as I do and this conversation came up at the right time.

I don't read a lot of romance and I started reading some popular ones last year to ease my way into it. I feel like such a snob to say this, but the plot and writing are never fully fleshed out nor are the characters. None of the romantic actions I see people swoon over are ever explained well enough for me to understand the hype. A scene in which there should be an emotional inner monologue is shorted to a paragraph and if the character is toxic (I understand a lot of people enjoy toxic/dark men, but romance books never write them well enough) and destroys the other character's life/says a relationship-ending lie/any other cliche, there is never enough explanation, justification, groveling, or any thought process behind the reconciliation.

It's always just one half-written and half-baked trope after the other.

Again, apologies for dumping it here, but I think there are such damning consequences for women (the main demographic of romance readers) who read things like this and don't give constructive criticism or thought when facing these problems.

no but you're 100% right. i mean, this is one annoying bitch's opinion (mine LMAO) but trad publishing is in the absolute pits right now. that's not to say that there aren't still some good books coming out because of course, every now and then you're going to get a gem. but i think the environment has become outwardly hostile to good writing.

i mean, i know this has been discussed a ton, but the "fast fashionization" of books has become a huge problem. every time there's a new microtrend or whatever, every author rushes to push out a book to meet the demand (see: the hockey romance trend). this, obviously, means that the editing time is severely compressed and you get books published by like harper collins and penguin with typos, grammar issues, and more.

i got some flack for this when i posted about it on twitter ahah but i honestly do not understand why the sequel to "fourth wing" came out so soon (not even getting into the messy qualities of the first book). sequels used to take a year or more to come out to allow for the book to go through several rounds of editing and fine tuning! what happened??!!

i think authors now feel compelled to get their books out as soon as possible out of fear that booktok/readers will simply move on after the initial hype and they'll lose their reader base. there's like an anxiety about being left behind in the current publishing world.

this is kind of in line with what i was talking about the other day with Bo actually - writing romance and smut is actually way harder than people think. you can't just use the same 5 recycled porn dialogue lines and call it a day. you have to care a little about the story you're trying to tell, not just churning it out to make a buck or to make people pay attention to you. i'm not saying belabour every single action and decision made by your main character or go crazy on description (i still think the sweet spot for a published book is between 250-300 pages, and maybe more if you're writing a genre specific book that involves a lot of worldbuilding), but as a writer you need to want to be writing that book in the first place.

no one who's legitimately excited about what they're writing is going to resort to cliches and overused tropes - they might lean on tropes they like, but there's inevitably going to be something original and exciting there.

also my lil controversial opinion about the state of trad publishing lately is that i think it's 100% influenced by this weird pervasive strain of purity culture that's on booktok where people feel like any enjoyment they get from reading a particular thing has a direct reflection on them as a person and their values. rather than it just being a book.

(by the way i actually completely agree with you that even dark romances are as bad as everything else we've been talking about - that's another conversation lol. i also kind of agree with the idea of more romance books coming with content warnings on the front page - this hasn't really caught on yet except with some dark romance authors but i think it's a really good idea)

i don't think there's anything wrong about people getting excited about books on tiktok and instagram and youtube btw. i think it's a fun way to share recommendations, commentary, and interests. what i think is the big problem is that the publishing industry has almost become beholden to trends and online perception because they've seen how much profit they can generate by catering to it, and i think that's why books now just feel bland and soulless. they're tapping into a FOMO on both the authors' and writers' side, of either being left behind and not being able to make a living, or missing out on what everyone else is reading and talking about.

#today is the day that i cannot stfu apparently

[nerdyvocals]

9 People to Know Better (except I'm not tagging 9 people)

I don't normally do tag games, but I got tagged in this twice (by @jealous-kippen and @remmixx, my beloveds <3) so here I am! (also as I'm writing this out I am realizing that while both posts were titled the same way, it looks like they had different question prompts??? So I'm just gonna combine the two)

Favorite Color: Purple! Any shade will have my heart but I am partial to more red-toned purples. (PV, if that means anything to anyone who sees this other than me, you know who you are)

Currently Reading: Three things! In terms of actual books, I've been slowly making my way through the Riordanverse since my university did The Lightning Thief in my second year (first school in my state to do it once the rights were released!) since I somehow never got into Percy Jackson as a kid, and I'm currently on Son of Neptune. I'm also one like my third or fourth re-read of Eurydice by Sara Ruhl, since that's the play I'm designing the costumes for for my senior project. And in terms of fanfic, I woke up to a notification about this yesterday and Actually Screeched.

Last Song: Dial Drunk by Noah Kahan (ft. Post Malone), which was a bit of an accident. I use siri to request music while I'm driving and I asked for Dial Drunk and was singing along until I got jumpscared by the slight difference before Post Malone's verse. Although if you look at my spotify, the ROTPL album has been on repeat for weeks.

Currently Watching (Series): I've been hyperfixated on ROTPL and have watched it over a dozen times at this point, which is probably not healthy, so I put on NCIS last night for background noise while I ate dinner and accidentally watched like six episodes.

Currently Watching (Movie): Saw the Barbie movie the night before the actual opening with my coworkers (We don't cross picket lines people! I was not asked nor invited by any company, and I paid full price for my ticket. There's a one-screen theatre in the town where I'm doing summer stock, this relic from the 50's, and they were able to get access to the film a day early and did a special first come first serve premiere.) and we all sobbed the entire way through.

Current Obsession: Rise of the Pink Ladies. Full stop. I'd seen clips of it when it first aired in April but I was iffy on it in spite of how good it looked. Like most, I'm a little tired of reboots and remakes, and while I did clock Cynthia as being queer within two seconds, (I believe my exact words were "That's either a very butch lesbian or the eggiest egg to ever egg.") I was Convinced it was a queerbait situation. Plus I was nearing finals and didn't have time to get into a new show. But then Crushing Me was trending on tiktok and I realized this was not queerbait, so I put it on to have something playing while I packed for summer stock and it's been the only thing I can think about since mid May. It got me writing fanfic again for the first time in years, if that tells you anything. Speaking of,

Currently Working On: A follow-up to my previous fic, Steady, Steady! I wanted to have it up this week, but it is a behemoth. I'm a little over halfway through my plot outline and I'm at 10,441 words. Fun fact, this will be my longest single-chapter fic so far. Not just in the fandom, not just on AO3, but ever (so far!)

No-Pressure Tagging: @merely-a-player, @penguin-writes-books, @el-fandom-birb, @marley-barnes112, @isweartheyregayyourhonor, and @look-at-those-niceass-rocks (since I've already dragged you back to tumblr kicking and screaming)

#tag game #this was fun #and also longer than I expected

[lesbiandanhowell]

Sam reacts to: This game ended our friendship - Bread and Fred

This might the most I have ever laughed at any video on the internet, it took me OUT!

- Phils phat ass is mentioned again, thank you Dan for never letting that die.

- Oh god the same keyboard is going to be chaos, but also this has chaotic energy same as Fire Boy and Water Girl.

- NOT THE MARRIED DISCUSSION I NEED YOU TO SHUP UP ACTUALLY. Like this has been too much of a tumblr thing for them to talk about if they Penguins are together and Dan saying twin beds means single or married... (as if we haven't talked about the bedrooms in the phouse like, they are in the walls aren't they.)

- I am crying 3 minutes in because Dan is just soooo done with Phil already and they haven't even started the game.

- "The top" DAN PLEASE SHUT UP

- Phil being so proud of Northern is actually very nice, like yeah you should be!

- Literally screaming with laughter, their chaos us too much.

- I NEVER laugh at videos online (this is actually a thing, like I find stuff funny but making me laugh out loud with anything online is tricky) but I had to pause this 9 minutes in because I was laughing so hard. I deadass had to sit and laugh for a minute because I couldn't keep focusing on them playing.

-Phil thinking about the gay penguins, like how many gay thoughts did they have to keep to themselves all those years if this is how his brain works??

-I see you Dan with the Air Up water bottle (such an unimportant detail but felt worth mentioning anyway somehow. Within 1 minute: Dan made Phil a penguin (idiot) sandwich, Phil was ready to give up, Fred just died, more grey sweatpants from Dan (uncensored), Phil got his controller (because he gets anything he asks for). Everything about that scene just took me out sooo hard.

- bro I can't with this video I am SOBBING

- Dan going "The P in Phivorce stands for penguin" I AM ACTUALLY DYING AT THIS VIDEO JESUS CHRIST

- Dan's little chuckle after "to end Dan and Phil"

I don't know how to recover from this, I am mentally unwell.

Check out #sam reacts for more of my unhinged thoughts and see you tomorrow!

#dan and phil #amazingphil #daniel howell #phan #gaymingmas #sam reacts #This game ended our friendship - Bread and Fred

[aceofspadille]

When Christmas is around the corner…

Character: Law x reader (and Heart Pirate members as guests starring)

Warnings: SFW, Xmas rituals routine

Christmas is your favorite time of the year, not only you, the whole crew! Maybe less a certain grumpy captain. Let's just say he does not hate it; he just doesn't like the noises of parties echoing all over the place. He is always against the idea of decorating the Polar Tang because they would have to take them off anyway, but somehow, you manage to convince him every single year. To repeat again, every single year, the effect you have on him is remarkable; how you manage to persuade him is beyond him. He always caught himself wondering the same question every damn time.

"Oh come on. It would be so much fun!" You spoke happily to Law. "Let's buy a big tree and put it in the kitchen again, yeah, Bepo?" You turned to Bepo and excitedly suggested.

Bepo, who never wants to upset Law, was shivering still. "Y/N, maybe a tiny tree on the desk this year would be better?" He spoke in a trembling voice, looking at Law fearfully. However, once he saw you rolling your eyes and showing your dissatisfied face, he quickly bowed his head and went for his usual speech. "Sorry."

"Law! Come on!" You turned to Law again, the said person still trying to act like he didn't want to do anything with it, nor did he approve it. "No…" As Law looked up to see your face, he already saw you making your signature puppy eyes, mouthing the word 'please' trying to convince him. “Y/N…”

As he was about to speak, you made a gesture about being super sad if they don't do any decoration this year and started to talk about how you all could be missing the most beautiful time of the year and how it could affect people's lives. Nothing makes sense in your speech, but somehow it got to Law. "Alright. Fine. We go shopping tomorrow."

Law was actually surprised with himself every single year, too; going shopping for the holidays was never his priority, much less decorating it. But your happy face has some magical power; it would just make him do whatever you want; as much as he wouldn't want to do something, as long as you want to do it, he would do it with you. "Oh, come on, Law!" He thought to himself and shook his head, silently regretting that he was giving in again.

The Polar Tang docked at a winter island, Penguin and Shachi went out to buy a big tree carrying it back to the ship. You and Ikkaku went out to buy all the ornaments and decorations needed. The crew was so excited to put all the ornaments on; everyone was lending a hand to make the ship colorful.

At times, Law would be in the office thinking about when they had to take off the decorations after Christmas. And then…

"You are so square, Law!" You spoke loudly with your hands on your hips from behind the door.

"What do you want?" Law frowned at you opening his door.

"I know what's in your mind." You winked at him laughing. "Go help out." You said while pulling his arm, Law rolled his eyes at your words, but then again, he gave in. Sometimes, he thought he pampered you too much. He shouldn't, he thought.

As the decoration finished, you and the crew were so happy. Jean Bart started to bring out all the den den mushi to play Christmas carols through the radios while Shachi and Ikkaku started dancing around, then Hakugan and Clione got on baking all the Christmas treats. You hummed some Christmas melodies and looked at Law smiling; Law couldn't help feeling peaceful whenever you and the crew were surrounding him, maybe that's why he agreed to all the silly things you all want to do; he smiled, which actually surprised you. As you made your way over to Law…

"Y/N, come! The first snow is here!" Penguin ran to you from the deck as fast as he could to inform you. He knows you always love to catch first snow.

"Really? Hey Law…?" Upon seeing him shake his head, you ignored the man and ran with Shachi and Bepo, following Penguin so fast that you forgot you only wore a tank top and shorts.

As you happily watched the snow, suddenly, a cold wind blew through, and before you wanted to run inside to grab a coat, a cloak was placed over you. You turned around and saw Law looking at you. "Don't get cold. I won't be able to sleep if you sneeze or cough next to me." He said, trying to act cool while blushing. He was not used to public affection at all.

You smiled brightly and pulled him down to kiss the tip of his nose, gaining admiration sound from everyone. "Thanks, babe." You whispered into his ear, which made him blush even more. Chuckled at his reaction, you pulled Law's hands to rub your face.

As Law stood with you, watching the snow and patting your head, you smiled happily, feeling thankful for him and everyone for another year of being together, and silently wished for many more years to come.

In the Polar Tang's kitchen, Christmas carols echo through the walls into everyone's hearts.

==

A/N: So Christmas is coming soon! This is my favorite period of the year because it's wholesome, so I'm planning to write a Christmas theme scenario for as many One Piece characters as I can.

Thank you for reading!

Aik.

#trafalgar law fluff #trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law scenarios #trafalgar law imagine #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law x y/n #law x reader #law x y/n #one piece imagine #one piece scenario #aik's journey #XmaswithOP #law fluff #one piece fluff #heart pirates #ikkaku one piece #penguin one piece #op bepo #shachi one piece

[tricoloured-cat]

what better way to procrastinate than to write random stuff

reviewing the works that the abilities were based on

Part 1: Armed Detective Agency

I just realized that I've finally read all the works attributed to the abilities of the author's BSD counterparts, at least for the ADA. I plan to do this for all organizations in the BSD universe so I can direct my reading and actually finish something HAHA

DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert on literature, let alone Japanese literature, and my short reviews are solely my opinion as a casual reader. These are all for fun so please don't take these so seriously!

Nakajima Atsushi Ability: Beast Beneath the Moonlight Original Work: Moon Over the Mountain

This short story has the vibes of a folktale but with existential dread sprinkled throughout. The prose is calm but the agony still reverberates. I liked this more than I though I would, perhaps because of how clean it felt. Honestly this would be one of the OG works I'd recommend to a BSD fan who wants to try classic Japanese literature.

Dazai Osamu Ability/Original Work: No Longer Human

This is probably the one novel/work most BSD fans would pick up first - and for a good reason. The themes are pretty universal albeit heavy, the tone of the narrator throughout the entire novel is gripping, the translation by Donald Keene is very readable, and it's just in the most general sense a summary of Dazai-sensei's own life. The last point must be taken with a grain of salt, however, as he's a master liar - something you'll find out if you dig more into his life and other works. If you'd like to see depression in book form, this is for you.

Kunikida Doppo Ability: Doppo Poet Original Work: Doppo Collection (probably)

Here's a case of "I can't really find the original work so I'll be reviewing something else instead"

Reviewing: Those Unforgettable People

I chose to talk about this one since it's the one found in the Penguin Anthology. It's an interesting mix of forms: technically, it's a short story. However, the elements of poetry and even of the essay are present - mostly the latter, tbh. Of course the whole "ideal" thing is such a Kunikida-sensei thing that it appears it almost every story he wrote, yet somehow in this one you'll have to squint a little bit more to see it. The point of this story-essay-poem thing is at the very end (the first half is quite dragging imo) is what gives it a little oomph, but honestly I much prefer his other works (specifically Old Gen and Death).

Tanizaki Jun'ichirou Ability/Original Work: Sasameyuki

You like a slow burn? You like pain? Familial drama? Maybe you'll like this. Maybe you won't. It's a mammoth of a book that feels like a series of extremely detailed telenovela episodes - not that it's necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed it despite the length because the way it ends, although hardly strong at all, ties the themes and messages of the novel cleanly into a single scene.

Miyazawa Kenji Ability/Original Work: Be Not Defeated by the Rain

It's a poem every Japanese elementary student would know. The message and style is so simple yet beautiful (I read Sulz's translation). It's joyful and so sunny... until I read the background on it. I cried over his work. Again. (Night on the Galactic Railroad PLS) Man I just love this author so much. But I'm not really a poem person to begin with, so take this review with a grain of salt HAHA

Yosano Akiko Ability/Original Work: Thou Shalt Not Die

The only complete translation I could find is written in painfully archaic English, so I won't comment on the style HAHA. But I do think the original was just as pointed in its words and message; its anti-war sentiments and middle finger to the Japanese emperor and military (at the time) so characteristically Yosano-sensei. It's sad she'd support WW2 later on - come on sensei WHY

Personally, however, I prefer her shorter poems, specifically the ones from River of Stars. But I'm not really a poem person to begin with, so take this review with a grain of salt HAHA

Izumi Kyouka Ability: Demon Snow Original Work: Demon Pond

It's been a while since I've read a play, and perhaps that's why I had a hard time getting through the first half - either that or it was quite lackluster as most of the actual story happens in the second half. Its influences from folktales and traditional Japanese theater (i.e. kabuki and noh) are very apparent - I wish I could have seen it instead of read it because of that. I think this is the first work of Kyouka's that I actually liked (I've read some of his short stories and one of his other plays) so I'll definitely recommend this one if you want to start with this author. There's also a movie adaptation of it that I haven't watched yet (but I do plan to). I think it could be much better than just reading it as is because of the visuals and mood setting, but a review on that soon. Maybe.

Fukuzawa Yukichi Ability: All Men Are Created Equal Original Work: An Encouragement of Learning (Sec. 1-2)

I couldn't be bothered to read the whole thing, but the essence of the ability only comes from the first two sections (which I'll be reviewing).

It's an essay that imo serves as a good introduction to Fukuzawa's philosophy. His views and arguments are built primarily on morality with logic acting mostly as a way to expound on his points. It's interesting, nothing really new for a contemporary reader, but at least it gives a nice background on the changing environment during the early years of Meiji-era Japan. Of course there are personal biases here (specifically the one with China - one of the greatest criticisms against Fukuzawa, even though he was supposedly progressive for his time) but imo that reflects some views of many Japanese at the time - not that they're right, of course.

But what about our special non-gifted boi?

I guess let's look at what one of the episodes was based on instead lol

Edogawa Ranpo Episode: The Murder on D. Street (S01E05) Original Work: The Case on D. Hill

I will tell you now: they have almost NO similarities whatsoever. Doesn't mean it's bad tho...

Okay ngl I was pretty disappointed HAHA. It's the same type of disappointment I had with Poe's Murders on the Rue Morgue (which was ironically referenced in the story) but it at least had some sense to it. I blame myself for not seeing it coming tho, given that this story is very typical of Edogawa-sensei. If you do plan to read it, however, be warned that there are implicit (?) themes that may be uncomfortable for some readers (this warning applies to most of Edogawa-sensei's work not made specifically for children HAHA).

#bsd #japanese literature #dazai osamu #nakajima atsushi #kunikida doppo #edogawa ranpo #yosano akiko #miyazawa kenji #fukuzawa yukichi #tanizaki junichirou #izumi kyouka

[pastamansta]

🔥 Tim Burton (him as a person or his aesthetic, your choice!)

"Beetlejuice" (1988) reminds me a lot of another film I watched recently; "Tombstone" (1993). Sold by an aesthetic and a FANTASTIC performance from a side character, audiences were conned into loving a mediocre film. I'm not Lindsey Ellis, so don't expect me to talk about the cartoon.

"Batman" (1989) and its sequel is proof that Burton will not be giving up his aesthetic for God or money. Gotham is heavily disconnected from both the film and its source material, with little reason other than its director. There's a reason no one calls these "Keaton's Batmans," they call them "Burton's Batmans." Jack Nicholson is great as The Joker, but that's no hot take. The hot take is that Devito is too horny as The Penguin, and it makes me uncomfortable for a film that's already so sexual.

"Edward Scissorhands" (1990) is a bitter, bitter film where artist finally meets muse. Not, like, in the plot, but in the production. Depp and Burton were made for eachother... or at least that's what I'm supposed to think. This movie's just too messy, however, and can't decide where its focal point lies and leaves me wishing I had just watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) instead.

"Sleepy Hollow" (1999) leaves me, a fan of the original text, I know that's probably a weird thing to say, miffed, even if understanding. Outside of some pacing issues, it's a bold reimagining that feels like Burton attempting to get out of his comfort zone... but I just didn't need this story to be turned into an homage to B-horror. Go watch that Disney short, eh?

"Big Fish" (2003) is his best film. I am hardly qualified to speak on it, and even if I did, I would cry. So, you know, just go watch that shit.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (2005) is destined to be compared to "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971), and why wouldn't it? In thirty-four years since the making of the original, not a single person worth listening to said "i need this done right," including Burton himself, which is why he tries to add so much, but no amount of additions changes the fact that he casted his muse instead of someone who could, you know, act like Wonka? So, you know, destined for failure and to be loved by everyone who won't watch movies made before 1987.

"Corpse Bride" (2005) is one of only two claymation films that Burton would actually direct, and he uses this time to steal a Jewish story and make it less Jewish. I don't like the ending or the songs and it feels like it could be cut in half and achieve the same effect.

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (2007) literally doesn't have the iconic opening number from the stage play??? Overall, there's rarely a pairing of source material and director that works as well as this one... If only I enjoyed the source material, eh? So dark, so bitter, so edgy, so... nothing. I never think about this movie. When I do, I think of Mrs. Lovett's dream sequence and remember the good old days of "Big Fish" (2003) when Burton liked to use color.

"Alice in Wonderland" (2010) is one of my guiltiest pleasures in all of film. It is the reason why every time Disney announces a live-action remake, my ears perk up. If all of them were as wild, unhinged, original, creative, and inspired as this one... Well, I think Disney might not be fucking bleeding money right now. No one ever even mentions that it's a sequel to the original animated film. A SEQUEL, not a remake. Sometime movie-goers surprise me with how little they think.

"Frankenweenie" (2012) blows. I don't care how unique it is, I do not like it.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" (2016) is one of the funniest remnants of the teen dystopia genre. Like, it hardly applies, but is trying SO HARD that it's unbelievable. Also, props to Mr. "Black People Aren't My Aesthetic" for casting Samuel L. Jackson as a dude who eats white babies. (I do not mean that.) Seriously, this is proof that Burton, as a modern director, should no longer be taken seriously.

"Dumbo" (2019) is AAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHA I FUCKING HATE THIS DUDE HOLY SHIT

If I didn't mention, I haven't seen it. Yes, I know I skipped some big ones. I may watch them one day, but I am in no rush.

[cebwrites]

What are your fave op ships?

good question! i don't think i have any canon/canon ships that i'm nearly as attached to as my oc/canon ones but hmmm off the top of my head in no particular order- (i definitely rambled too much omggg 🏃‍♂️💨💨)

ZoSan: my first introduction to OP through doujin of all things when I was younger lol, my feelings towards these characters have morphed and changed and complicated over the years (regards to Sanji in particular), I have a lot to say both good and some bad about them but at the end of the day I'll always have a soft spot for curly and marimo in this little heart of mine, they're my old reliable <3

PenShach: I'm a sucker for childhood friends to lovers lmao, they've been glued to each other's sides through hell or high water (literally, with the tsunami that killed their respective parents), having their backs when things got rough at home with Shachi's aunt and uncle, swearing their loyalty to this weird kid who both beat them up for bullying an innocent polar bear and saved their lives, stumbling ass backwards through their attractions to other people, each other, and Penguin's gender - it's a sweet idea 💕

KilKidd: similar to PenShach in that they grew up together and learned to get along when they had no one but each other to rely on but on top of that also the absolute devotion and unwavering trust a first mate can have in his captain, the resolve to stick by him til the bitter end 🥹

Frobin: two jaded, hurt people doomed by fate and circumstance who are ultimately bound to one another and decide to build their way out of a shitty situation together, stronger - the fact that they're a little "older" as well (even though early-mid 30s shouldn't be considered old at all) but still managing to experience all these giddy, happy feelings you'd only expect from adolescence is very important to me 🥺💕 (they're also t4t bi4bis)

UsoNami: kids drawn to the open sea by a dream and realizing immediately that they were WAY in over their heads but bond over being the 'weakest links' in their group despite holding immeasurable value to the SHs in their specialized skills and friendships, they've also just always had a cute kind of chemistry that I like - girlboss with the silly guy who makes her laugh (also bi4bis but aside from Usopp I think Nami would be disinterested in guys entirely)

I like SmoAce, AceSan, and DeuAce all for different reasons - smug punk getting on an older man's last nerve every single day and babygirling the hell out of him at the same time, the push and pull/taboos of a pirate x marine dynamic, how both of them are a little dissatisfied with their lot in life (constantly being on the run with no place to return to, having to answer to uncaring and at worst outright cruel higherups that cared none for what their so-called "Justice" actually meant) and find comfort in each other for what few, temporary chances they get - Sanji's bisexual awakening/the immediate angst in the wake of Marineford and what that means for the feelings he has no where to put now because Ace always said it for him (because he was too scared to on his own) - that sweet sweet first mate/captain dynamic I love 😩👌 + I kind of like the Spade pirates as they were before joining WB and all, I want to know more about the people Ace deliberately chose to surround himself with rather than the family he was adopted into

honorable mentions go to: SmoDra, BartoCav, DraKoby, DraZo, YamaAce, KilZo, whatever ship name Blue Gilly and Ideo have, IcePaulie, CrocoDaz, CoraBug, and Bege/Chiffon (literally married) no detailed reasons for why I like them, i just think they're cute for a one off thing/in general or have a good dynamic <33

additionally, i don't really like pairing law with anyone but my oc, sorryyy 〒▽〒

#cebask #one piece ships #one piece

[margridarnauds]

Hi,

So I finished the novel Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Freemantle and am now extremely angry need to decompress and filter out her garbage I'm shocked that Penguin House published this book and that it is getting made into a movie. To portray young Princess Elizabeth as willingly seeking Seymour out and seducing him is vile. Parr's bitchy handmaid Dot finds them in bed together. What on Earth? No evidence for that. Then Catherine Parr gets angry, blames Elizabeth and they don't reconcile after she leaves. Heartbreaking. Plus, the portrayal of Catherine Parr is horrid there is no evidence she or her stepdaughter Meg were raped during the Pilgrimage of Grace, a devout woman like Catherine wouldn't be contemplating killing either of her husbands, or rejoicing in the prospect of being damned to hell as she puts it after Henry VIII dies. (Maybe with Henry she would think about it but not actually go through with it). I got the impression that this author had an anti-Christian as well as anti-Elizabeth attitude. Tried Sisters of Treason another book of hers but it was also bad. I want to send her an angry letter now calling out her disgusting portrayal of young Elizabeth. Did you send in a review or a note to the author after you read it?

Don't forget Dot's final monologue about Why Elizabeth Is Such A Bitch -- It's Almost Understandable That She's Such a Bitch-Slut.

It's common with historical fiction, really, to not understand the way that religion historically worked. It's very easy to put our feelings on religion, whatever they might be, onto historical figures in an attempt to make them More Like Us, but the simple reality is that they were living in a totally different cultural context. Characters are either religious fanatics so extreme that they make Frollo think "Hm, maybe they're overdoing it a tiny bit", they're Secretly Atheists, or religion just doesn't cross their mind ever (unless, in Tudor media, it's to establish them as a Cool Modern Protestant.)

As for what I did...honestly, put the book aside and thought about every single decision in my life that had led to me both reading and finishing it. As you can see by the fact that I still remember it in vivid detail, it holds a special place in my Hall of Shame. (And it isn't even batshit insane enough to be FUNNY, unfortunately.)

But, my piece of totally unsolicited advice that you are perfectly free to discard at your earliest convenience? ...when you do medieval Irish stuff. Or medieval Celtic stuff in general. You will NEVER see your field faithfully or even sensitively portrayed on page. Every single depiction you get will be based on old stereotypes, colonialist tropes, and outdated information. I've read things about my faves, in particular, that would make most people's hair stand up on end. Things that are truly, deeply vile, that are on par with the depiction of Elizabeth here, or even worse. And it is easy to be angry, it's understandable to be angry, and God knows that my friends have heard me ranting in the DMs. And when I was younger, I was, regularly. And then I got exhausted, because anger is exhausting, especially when it's you and your anger versus a tidal wave of misinformation. I didn't stop getting angry, no. But I started to use it as a tool, not as an explosive -- I let it fuel me, I used it for my scholarship, putting all these different pieces of pop culture about my field in conversation with one another and noting common trends, as well as making comparisons to trends in other areas to figure out what, in our contemporary cultural landscape, is causing us, as a general group, at this point in time, to portray these things in a certain way, as well as how we have portrayed them over time. I have built my career, at least in part, on defending the undefendable, on studying the ink blotches of historiography to see where the historical or literary records meet the popular image, specifically looking at figures who are frequently portrayed as villainous and monstrous. I don't deal in happy endings, I can't when I step in after their final death scenes, after the point where even the possibility of their deaths meaning *something* is gone, because they don't even get the satisfaction of being well remembered. I never expect to see my faves well portrayed -- sometimes, I'm surprised, but it is truly, deeply, RARE.

You send a note to an author, no matter how well-intentioned, and it's easy to write off. The author submitted that work for publication, it's done. They're still getting royalties off of them, whatever that means in the current hellacious publishing landscape, in this case, she even has a movie. They might care, but honestly? They probably won't. They can dismiss you as a crazed, unhinged fan, regardless of how much thought and effort you've put into the critique. You've wasted all that high quality, undiluted anger for something that won't have any tangible effect. My advice, instead? Feel your anger, let the hate flow through you, especially when it reflects biases like sexism, racism, and homophobia, sharpen it, and then use it -- it doesn't have to be in conference presentations or journal articles or any of the trappings of academia, but use it.

Write reviews, absolutely, put it into conversations with other pieces of Tudor and Elizabethan fiction, especially about young Elizabeth (Hell, compare it to, say, Elizabeth R, Becoming Elizabeth, Young Bess, or Lady Bess (Toho 2014/2018), just for examples of the young Elizabeth's life off the top of my head that dramatize the life of Elizabeth), see what other people have said, in journal articles, sure, but also in blog articles or GoodReads reviews online, without necessarily even talking to them, but just to get a survey of what they think and why they think it, and see what you can do. Why do we want to portray Elizabeth this way? Is it a desire to "knock her off her throne?" Portray her as a nymphomaniac bitch slut to contrast with the "Gloriana" image? Is it that we're uncomfortable with the topic of CSA? Or we don't like to think of it as something that historically occurred? (Especially when you compare it to the ongoing bimboification of Katherine Howard, even in allegedly sympathetic biographies.) Is it that we still don't want to believe that it could have happened? That we're willing to give more sympathy to a man than to a child? Some combination of all of them? And are we seeing progressively more nuanced portrayals, or are we seeing more of the same across the board? (I feel like Seymour, at least, has gone from being a romantic hero in Young Bess to being portrayed as genuinely manipulative, even if the execution is still lacking.) On the reverse side, are people more willing to defend, say, Elizabeth I and Catherine Howard than other historical women, specifically because of what they represent and because of their high profile status? Is there a double-edged sword here? Let your anger fuel you.

#csa tw

[aingeal98]

hiii. while you're thinking about Al Ghouls do you have any comic book recommendations for them? I want to know more about Ra's and Talia without the post 9/11 narrative. Or more about the LoA in general.Tha k you!

Absolutely! I know there's a few reading guides out there for Talia that can probably give a better overview with a more filtered and streamlined guide. Such as this one here, which features Talia at her best:

Other than Son of the Demon, when I refer to LexCorp era Talia and her old character, these are usually what I'm referring to. This is who she was right before she got tortured into being evil. For a deeper dive into Talia's history, this reading list is really well put together:

If you're looking for something even longer, with the full history and context of Batman and the al Ghuls, here's pretty much everything I've read for the al Ghuls starting from the beginning. I'm not an expert by any means so I may have missed some relevant story or mixed up the order of a few different single issues, but there's enough here to offer a coherent timeline. If you can't afford to buy the comics, all of these should be available to read for free by typing them into a search engine and adding "read online" at the end.

Also please note that you don't have to read all of these. Some of these particularly in the 70s/80s contain repetitive story beats. Ra's has a scheme to make Batman his son in law, Talia helps him out. Batman opposes it, Talia helps Batman but doesn't fully abandon her father. That's the pattern writers fell into after the initial establishing of Ra's and Talia as characters. Some stories are better than others, and some break the mold entirely or put a fresh spin on it.

This is going to be LONG and I apologize in advance. I like to ramble about things. Tis a key part of this blog.

The 70s, aka the beginning of it all

Note: In all of these the al Ghuls feature in the main storyline, not the side stories such as Robin or Batgirl unless noted otherwise.

-Detective Comics 411: Into the Den of Death Dealers

Bruce and Talia's first meeting. Written by Denny O'Neil, Talia and Ra's creator. Batman fights a bull. It's very charming in the way only this era of Batman can be.

-Batman 232: Daughter of the Demon

Ra's and Bruce's first encounter, featuring Dick getting kidnapped, Bruce fighting a leopard, and Ra's attempting a ridiculously elaborate overprotective dad scheme.

-Batman 235: Swamp Sinister

-Batman 240: Vengeance for a Dead Man

The one where Batman and Ra's dynamic takes a turn for the worse, where Batman realizes that Ra's has a very different set of morals to him and can be ruthlessly evil.

-Batman 242-244

Introduction of the Lazarus Pits. Some racially insensitive moments that are on par for the 70s.

-Batman 257: Hail Emperor Penguin

-Detective Comics 444-445 and 447-448

Ra's framed Bruce for murder long before David Cain stole his idea. I think Cain did it better but this is still fun.

-Black Lightning 2: Merlyn Means Murder

A non Batman related Talia appearance.

-Batman: Where Were You on the Night Batman Was Killed?

4 part story where Batman's rogues thinks he's dead and come together to figure out who did it. Not massively important for the al Ghuls but Ra's being the judge in this trial is so funny to me.

-DC Special Series 15: I Now Pronounce You Batman and Wife!

The one where Ra's gets fed up of Batman refusing his son in law offerings so he just knocks him out and drags Batman to the wedding ceremony. Not my favourite by a long shot but the "marriage" is important for Damian's conception, since in Son of the Demon Batman hilariously enough doesn't want to sleep with Talia out of wedlock until she reminds him that they're technically married if you stretch the law by a whole lot. After that he's all for it.

-Detective Comics 485: The Vengeance Vow + Detective Comics 490: Requiem for a Martyr

Not a huge fan of this issue considering it fridges Kathy Kane and uses a brainwashed Bronze Tiger to do so. It's included a lot in reprints of the al Ghul storylines and does give us a look at the inner workings of the League of Assassins, but I could do without it. Also DC having two master martial art old men called Sensei who look very similar with one being good and the mentor of characters like Richard Dragon and Shiva, while the other is Ra's al Ghuls father and evil, is very confusing. You could tell how much they REALLY loved Kung-Fu based characters in this era of comics.

-The Brave and the Bold 159: The Crystal Armageddon

The 80s, aka seeds of Character Development and Plot!

-Batman 330-335

The start of Dick and Talia's dislike of each other. Also featuring the most terribly racist Fox family plotline I've read. It makes me glad Jace Fox gets to be Batman in the future even if I didn't like that comic either. He deserves to be Robin and Nightwing too as compensation for this storyline.

-Batman Annual Volume 1 Issue 8: The Messiah of the Crimson Sun

I enjoy this story because rather than have Talia working with Ra's and switching sides halfway, she's firmly opposed to her father from the start here. We start to see the beginning of character development compared to the regular pattern of the old comics.

-Detective Comics 526: All My Enemies Against Me!

We get Pre Crisis aka Earth One Jason Todd's origin while also getting Talia and Catwoman helping Bruce, Babs and Dick fight all the other rogues. I really, really love this issue and I can't fully explain why. It just ticks all the boxes for me.

-Batman 400: Resurrection Night!

Another comic I really enjoy, with Talia teaming up with Robin!Jason to help Batman and Catwoman foil Ra's latest scheme.

-Batman: Son of the Demon

Damian's origin. A must read. The tragedy of what could have been and how loved he was by both parents kills me every time.

The 90s aka we're getting darker and edgier now. Also featuring character regression and Bane for some reason.

-Batman: Bride of the Demon

Classic shenanigans but featuring Tim as Robin this time.

-Batman: Birth of the Demon

Ra's al Ghul origin story time! Trigger warning for sexual assault. Definitely not the tone a 70s era Ra's comic would have but not bad in my opinion.

-The Batman Adventures 13 + 17

Set in the Batman The Animated Series universe, it shows this universe's version of Talia and Ra's and is a pretty faithful adaption! Shocking I know.

-Azrael Issues 5-9 + 29-30

Azrael meets the al Ghuls and Ra's considers making Azrael his heir instead. Basically a classic Ra's Talia and Batman story with Azrael there instead of Batman. Not my favourite, it feels like it belongs in the 70s instead of being 90s al Ghuls.

-Batman: Brotherhood of the Bat + League of Batmen

A future elseworld story starting Tallant Wayne, son of Talia and Bruce. Clearly inspired by the baby in Son of the Demon, who would grow up to be Damian in main continuity.

-Batman: Legacy Volume 1 + 2

A sequel to Batman: Contagion, where a deadly virus spread through Gotham and even infected Tim. This time Ra's is in charge of the spread of the second round of the virus, Talia is back under his thumb and seems miserable about it. And also Ra's is considering making Bane his heir and Talia's husband, which probably contributes a fair bit to her misery. Character regression for Talia compared to how much she went against Ra's in the 80s, but one I personally find realistic. Main drawback is that a lot is written by Chuck Dixon and Talia is weirdly sexual at times. An understandable deal breaker for many, but it's the biggest 90s al Ghul story so I felt it important to mention.

-The Batman and Robin Adventures #10

Set in the comic version of the Batman The Animated Series universe, so if you're a fan of that cartoon you'll probably enjoy this.

-Batman Chronicles Volume 1 #8

Talia centred story that sums up her internal conflict between her father and Batman. Gets to the heart of why Ra's, despite his love for her, is not a good parent at all. Would recommend.

-Batman & Spider-Man: New Age Dawning

Crossover goodness for any Spiderman fans out there.

-Batman No Man's Land #0

The Talia cameo here is good imo. It shows layers to her and Bruce's dynamic that we haven't fully seen before. Plus we get to see Helena becoming the Bat of No man's land.

-Batman: The Chalice

One shot that doesn't fit in NML continuity despite being published at the time. I'm adding it anyway because I enjoy how it portrays Ra's and Talia. A nice break from their most toxic era so far (relationship wise).

The early 2000s aka The Brief and Glorious Talia Independence Era

-JLA: Tower of Babel

The tipping point. Ra's goes too far in messing with Batman, and Talia leaves him. It should have been her permanent break from Ra's and his cult, but if you ignore everything from Death and the Maidens onwards and live in denial like me, it still is!

(This comic also had the unfortunate consequence of giving the most insufferable "Batman solos fiction" fans more fodder. But tis a small price to pay for Talia finally freeing herself from Ra's suffocating grip on her life.)

-Batman Chronicles 22

You get good short stories for Shiva, Steph AND Talia in this issue, exploring more of their character without any of the usual entourage around to hog the spotlight

-Detective Comics 750

Talia is so delightfully done with both Ra's and Bruce. She's sick and tired of their shit and doesn't want to be dragged into it any more. If Tower of Babel was her gaining independence from Ra's, this is her gaining it from Bruce.

-Action Comics 772-773

The start of Talia's LexCorp era.

-JLA Secret Files and Origins 3

Flashback story giving more insight into Talia's POV during Tower of Babel.

-President Luthor Secret Files and Origins #1

-Batman Legends of the Dark Knight 142-145

Like the Birds of Prey storyline of this time, these issues make no attempt to stay in continuity with the rest of this era. It's more a generic 90s story than one that fits where the characters are timeline wise at the date it was published. Only reason I'm adding it to the list is because you get Talia shooting the Joker and leaving him for dead. Batman has to dip him in the Lazarus Pit to stop him from bleeding out.

-Superman Volume 2 Issue 170 (cameo)

-Batman: Our World's at War Issue 1

-Superboy Volume 4 #89

-Suicide Squad 2001 #2 (side role)

-Superman: The Man of Steel 120

Talia is trying to take down LexCorp from the inside meanwhile Superman is like "I stopped the evil stuff you were doing!" and she's like "Congrats you destroyed the evidence of LexCorp doing evil stuff in the process." He still doesn't realise she's on his side, which to be fair is part of her whole antihero deal at the minute.

-Adventures of Superman 600

-Superman: The Man of Steel 122-125

Plot starts in 122. Talia appears in 123 onwards.

-Superman Volume 2 Issue 190 + 194 + 198

Batman: Hush Issue 4. (brief appearance) and Issue 9.

Decent Talia characterisation to me, not so decent Lady Shiva appearance. Torn between amusement and disappointment that Talia manages to beat her by hitting her with a chair. (Yes, really.)

-Superman/Batman #6

Batman informs Lex that Talia has bankrupted him and sold the LexCorp building to Bruce Wayne. Sucks to suck, Lex.

After this, there was so much potential. You had a solid basis for Talia as an independent anti-hero, using her connections to team up with villains only to double cross them when the time is right and take them down from the inside. A master at espionage in the making. Instead Death and the Maidens happens. You might as well skip to Robin: Son of Batman and fill in the blanks however your imagination deems fit. It's probably better than what DC came up with.

#DC #Talia al Ghul #Ra's al Ghul #Batman #Bruce Wayne #batfam #dc rambles #brutalia #asks

[gohandinhand]

1, 7, 25

1. chipotle order? ugh okay not to spoil 26 but despite growing up on mexican food i have no spice tolerance, so i have a pretty basic order. either burrito or burrito bowl with extra black beans, brown rice, corn salsa, cheese, double lettuce, and guac.

7. what animal do you look forward to seeing when you visit an aquarium? finally my favorite question 🥰 i'm always thrilled to see cephalopods, especially octopus! any mammals they have tend to be quite interesting. but the biggest thing is anything special that aquarium has. i went to the scripps aquarium on my work trip a couple of months ago i lost my everloving mind about the little penguins - there are only 5 other aquariums in the country that have them and i've been following the new zealand national aquarium online for years because of their little penguin exhibit. thankfully by this point i'd long since ditched all my coworkers so when i finally tore myself away from the penguins after 40 minutes i immediately walked into the seadragon feeding and sat there entranced for another 25 minutes. unforch, seadragons live in low light conditions lmao

i also got to see a cookie cutter shark specimen which i was so surprised and excited abt and i did stick my hand in the cleaner shrimp touch tank because they get to opt into interacting so it was rly fun! i was also thrilled to see mola mola at the monterey bay aquarium, and the shark tunnel at the toronto ripley's aquarium had me truly & completely losing my shit with excitement, i insisted on going through multiple times. anyway sorry that turned into a recitation of cool shit i've seen, i genuinely am excited to see everything at the aquarium and i love to spend hours in there reading the placard on every single display, i'm very lucky that i get to visit so many aquariums when work is flying me around! i love them and i'm going to visit an aquarium on my birthday again this year! however i am surprisingly reserved about touch pools? i'm happy to look but idk... i know they swap the creatures out regularly so none of them get too stressed but it still doesn't feel right to me to go poke the urchin when i get plenty from looking at it. cause can't you stare at this shit for eons?

25. would you say you have good taste in music? idk about good but it's. hmmmm it's sure something. no one can figure out what it is. a couple of friends can now pretty consistently guess whether i'll like a particular song but god knows what the unifying thread is. my sister was visiting recently and i drove us around for a day trip and asked her to describe my music taste and she said 'irish folk' which is funny because i don't actually have a single irish folk song in my library? anyway angie labeled a lot of my music 'snoozers' so a lot of people probably think it's bad yeah

#asked #thanks em sorry i got high and very rambly talkative happy weekend! #i think there are pictures of my losing my shit in the shark tunnel already somewhere on tumblr but it was many years ago #still the best aquarium i've been to tho! #still salty work shipped me to tennessee but i was 5 hours from the ripley's aquarium there so i couldn't make it happen :( #but when they shipped me to chicago i went to shedd (they have a cool sea turtle with a buoyancy issue from injury named nickel) #but i also got covid from that trip so. trade offs.

[surprisingmarch]

Welcome to Patience: Stubborn, stubborn (Chapter 7)

Joseph Rainier x F!Human Reader x Harry Vanderspeigle Rating: 16+

Fandom: Resident Alien

Story Type: Fluff / Thriller / Romance / Drama

1,197 Words

-Y/N = Your name- -L/N = Last name-

Music I listened to as I wrote: - "Club Penguin - Music - Pizza Parlor - 10 Hours"

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After a brief stroll down the street you arrive at the police station, upon entering the doors you are immediately greeted by a loud guy named Mike who took it upon himself to take time out of his "busy schedule" to show you around the police station… you felt awful for his poor deputy, Liv. She seems so kind and exhausted by his antics, she sadly moped along behind him as he strutted through the station. Eventually, said "busy sheriff" did actually get a call as you fixed up your new space and quickly darted out the door without even a single goodbye, at least Liv gave a soft bye and a nod before she trotted out after him.

You blink a few times then you slowly sit down into your black swivel chair, you turn from side to side for a bit before you finally scoot into your desk. You listen to the quiet A/C run from the vent behind you and the clock tick faintly, you feel a sense of calm start to overtake you. The nice cool breeze finally reaching you from the vent and relaxes you even further. You frown slightly, you're disappointed that Joseph wasn't here to greet you when you arrived, but you're sure he'll pop in later. You hear the door swing open and gaze up from your desk to see who entered, Joseph! "Joseph!" You exclaim happily, you sit up straight and smile widely at him, he smiles back at you. "Hello dear." He greets. You watch him as he walks over to you, his hair is a mess, it seems he's been working on something for sure. Joseph examines your desk and you for a moment before he starts to walk deeper into the station. "I'll be right back.." He mumbles as he enters a room. After a few moments he comes out with his own black swivel chair with files sat neatly in the center, he rolls it all the way down to your desk. He takes the folders and plops them on your desk with a "Thud!" then he sits comfortably next to you. He gazes over at you and smiles widely as he sighs deeply. "Now we can work together!" He says enthusiastically. "Are you sure you're allowed to do this..?" You ask cautiously, it's cute that he did this, but you don't want him to get in trouble, or even worse, be fired. "Really? You're worried about that… here? It's absolutely fine, Y/N, like these goons are going to say anything about it." He reassure you confidently as he opens a folder and starts to review the file. You nod understandingly. "Okay.. I just wanted to make sure. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble over me." You say tenderly as you reach over and give him a giant kiss on the cheek, he turns to face you, grabs your chin and plants a giant kiss on your lips before letting you go and continuing to read the file. You giggle at him. "What a puppy man.." You think to yourself. "Watch it sister, you're pretty puppy like yourself." A male voice echos back in your mind, you giggle a bit harder. "Don't worry, love. I won't get in trouble because of you, he may not seem like it, but Mike is a sucker for a good love story." Joseph reassures. "Really?" You ask, surprised. Joseph nods, it takes a few moments for him to speak once more. "He loves mushy romantic comedies. Not to mention, he read Fifty Shades of Grey for the PLOT. No one reads that book for the plot." Joseph explains. "Huh... He didn't strike me as the type." You confess. Joseph chuckles at you. "You'd be surprised by the things people do in their spare time." Joseph comments. "I don't doubt it... but don't offer information to me, please... My drama side wants to know but don't tell me. It's wrong." You quickly blurt. "Mmmmkay." Joseph responds, not believing you'll last even an hour without asking questions and being nosy. If you snooped through his whole house, then he's absolutely sure you're going to snoop into people's mind through him too... Not that he minds, he just thinks it's cute, is all.

Four hours pass and they went by like five minutes to you two. You both just kept harassing each other and horsing around the whole time, this is one of the best jobs you've ever had. But.. before you know it it's time to call it a quits and go home. Joseph pulls out your chair and starts to pick up both your bag and his. "I can carry that." You swiftly offer, he shakes his head in response. "I'm stronger, it's fine, don't worry about it!" He says happily. You nod and continue to tidy up a few things before you finally stand, you stretch out big and wide before you start to walk towards the door with Joseph. He opens it for you and you slide right out with him following suit. Your walk was mostly silent before suddenly, Joseph reaches into your back pocket. "Joseph?-" You squeak out, but are quickly cut off but Joseph holding the money you gave to Harry in front of your face. You scowl and snatch the money from his hand. Joseph chuckles at you, you stare at the cash grumpily. "Did your talk with Harry not work?" Joseph asks, half teasingly. "Apparently not." You say sourly. You huff and open up your bag which is currently on Joseph's arm and get out your wallet, you shove the money in there then throw the wallet back into your bag. Joseph snickers at you. "His kind can be quite.. bullheaded, yes?" Joseph teases. "Yes. They can. A lot like your kind, I'm sure." You respond grumpily. Joseph chuckles sinisterly. "Oh, you have NO idea." He says ominously. Eventually you cool down some, you reach over and link your arm around Joseph's, he smiles widely and pulls you close to him. "Thank you for showing me that.. It would have probably taken me days to even notice it." You say softly. "No problem.. sweetheart." Joseph says coyly. "OH! By the way, I have to stop at the grocery store, I promised you both I would bake you a dessert of some kind for getting me a job and I happened to run into Harry in the din-" You get cut off by a rather annoyed Joseph. "I know." Joseph quickly interjects, his voice coarse and filled with annoyance. "What?-" You get cut off once more. "I was tailing you all day as I did my... "chores."" Joseph responds calmly, that dangerous tone lingers in his voice once more. "Oh.. well anyway, I need to bake him a blackberry pie, what kind of pie do you want.. my love?" You say soothingly as you rub his arm tenderly in an attempt to calm him. He sighs deeply and loosens up slightly. "Cherry pie please, my sweet love." He says softly. He seems slightly calmer, you smile at him. "Okay! Coming right up, baby cakes!" You say happily. Joseph smirks at you.

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Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

#resident alien #resident alien x reader #resident alien x yn #harry vanderspeigle #harry vanderspeigle x reader #female reader x harry vanderspeigle #harry vanderspeigle x yn #harry vanderspeigle x y/n #resident alien x y/n #reader #self insert #reader insert #alien x human #alien x reader #grey alien x reader #grey alien x human #Welcome to Patience #chapter story #female reader #y/n #female y/n #my stories #joseph rainier #joseph rainier x reader #joseph rainier x y/n #joseph rainier x yn #female reader x joseph rainier #female y/n x joseph rainier #harry vanderspeigle x female y/n #mike thompson

[eegasleega-will-change-this-l8r]

Ninten ninten ninten!!!

So this is my version of Ninten haha

God I literally cannot draw him 80% of the time so it's nice to actually have one turn out good (it's so hard to not accidentally make him look really stupid or really obnoxious ><)

He's pretty much entirely based off what I came up with in my head after playing the game and thinking about how I imagined the characters' personalities, so it's pretty different from the usual takes on him

Design details and a flood of headcanons below :D

So I wanted him to be very distinct from Ness!! There's similarities like the black hair and the clothing palettes, but otherwise nobody would look at my Ninten and Ness and confuse them for each other

Personality-wise holy fudge do I have a ton of stuff on him

He does have a hat but I only sometimes draw him with it (unlike Ness who refuses to go anywhere without it :3)

His overall shape is wayyy different to Ness's, very scrawny and straight while Ness is all round and squishy

Shirt's blue with a yellow collar, a single yellow stripe on the middle, and yellow edges to the sleeves

He looks a lot like his great grandmother ;)

and also pee-wee herman but that's not as profound

Ninten is a bright and relentlessly optimistic young boy from rural Eagleland

You can call him Pollyanna, say he's crazy as a loon, but he believes in silver linings and that's why he believes in you :)

So my main thing with how I imagine Ninten is that he's, like, almost the sole source of light in the story. How I see the rest of the world is super drab and bleak, pretty much everyone just perpetually down in the dumps (i'll get into this more when I make posts about the other characters!!) And then this kid shows up, and he's full of hope and compassion, and he makes everyone he meets start to realize "maybe everything isn't so bad after all…?" No wonder the final boss is literally the ultimate case of repressed feelings and angst lol

He started showing psychic abilities from a pretty early age, making friends with animals and moving small objects with his mind

He mostly gets his love of baseball from his Dad, but because he's forced to work away from home almost all the time, Ninten's Mom practices with him and takes him to games instead

He has two much younger sisters, Minnie and Mimmie (half-baked headcanon that her name's actually Mimi and she just doesn't know how to pronounce it XD) who cares about a lot, and he often ends up looking after them whenever their Mom's out

He's a pretty great babysitter because of this, takes a lot of babysitting jobs around town, and he's a huge mom friend to the party

Of course he loves penguins too :3

Mostly listens to cheesy upbeat pop songs and rock music, but there's not really any music he actively dislikes

Favorite video games? Uhhh he's more outdoorsy and physically active but he'd like casual retro stuff like the first Mario

He's not super popular at school, because he's the weird buck-toothed dweeby kid who never shuts up about hope and optimism and penguins, but he's not unpopular at least. The bullies learned pretty quick not to mess with him, and DEFINITELY not to mess with anyone else when he's around!!

He's super friendly and prefers to solve things peacefully but he will absolutely not hesitate to clobber a jerk upside the head with his bat

He owns his own tuxedo that he likes to wear at "formal events" (birthday parties and school picture days)

yeah he's a real goober

He never lets up in his hope but god did the Mountain and everything that happened after take their toll on him

I don't have anything on him during the events of Earthbound haha, as far as I'm concerned he was taking a well-deserved nap and that adventure was all Ness's

I also don't connect him at all to Ness, the only bridge between the stories in my mind is Giygas

And here's the sketch I based the digital art off of ^^

#earthbound #earthbound beginnings #mother 1 #mother series #ninten #emilyart #emilyramblings #yes he's a goofy dweeb and this design will appeal to exactly 0 people who aren't me but he's the light of my life <3 #sometimes i refer to him as douglas instead of ninten because i thought it really fit the vibes of my design haha #but doug from the adventure book is a jerk and no other aspects of him wormed their way into my boy >:T

[extremelyputridfishbreath]

hope you don't mind me asking, what's up with ncp?

bad writing quality, wasted my buddy @/selfawarecobalt's time by having him draw something for a party that (as of now) never got used and also didn't credit him for drawing the hydro hopper stampbook page, inaccurate mascots (but hey this was one of scrabble's direct influences so when you think about it it's actually Good /j), the flash client is extremely laggy and can be borderline unusable with how many ads it has, probably some other gripes im forgetting atm

buuut since i'm already complaining about ncp i might as well talk about cpl too in case anyone wants to know my deal with that, it's owner did not (at least by the time of this post i do not Know if it has happened since then) repay memorydatas/garianna, a former member of staff the 8 dollars and pizza he owed her, posturing themselves in a way that makes them look more official, ben worked on this game too and did Not get credited on the official site anywhere at any point while he worked on the game. also they have a habit of acting like they created features from the original game so...lol?

like this is from their latest post about their wayback (basically renamed anniversary party) and...bro. you didn't craft NOTHIN', every single wayback party room is not only official art but with waaaay worse quality for zero reason. like i cannot stress enough that the swfs are ON club penguin wiki for most parties, a lot of them didn't look so grainy and at the very least nothing from 2008-2009 looked this bad.

there's also the problem of pointless changes nobody asked for that don't suit the game and make things more difficult, and nothing is a better example than their new psa test. and like, hey. i fucking love the psa/epf, i always have loved the psa and epf even when i was playing the original game as a kid, almost every oc i post about (torrent, richter, rolly, gin, scrabble, blanche, sonata, etc) is either associated with the agencies as well, an agent or is their adversary because it's my favorite part of the game. i'm not against changing the quiz to keep it fresh. and if we got a entry exam like the epf's (before they replaced it with the new as3 HQ :( i really wish they made an actual new test for the epf after blackout, but whatever) that would've been really cool! or if they had more fun questions like say, "what would you do if a villain was in front of you RIGHT NOW!!!"

but like. let's look at the original quiz, taken from club penguin mountain's tutorial for it. as a refresher, your account needs to be 30 days old in order to become an agent on the original game and typically the average cpps that has the psa around sticks to that age restriction.

pretty straightforward because y'know, middle schoolers were the intended audience. maybe a little boring for new and old fans, but still understandable and pretty obvious what the answers are, regardless of if you remember them from playing as a kid or not. the only change is how you activate the quiz, because in the original game the ui was different (image below is from a walkthrough video from 2008)

meanwhile, with cpl... (as taken from cplcheats)

the original psa quiz was, like i said: straightforward. answer the questions correctly and boom: you're an agent! and if you get it wrong, that's okay- you can try again as many times as you want until you get it right.

the club penguin legacy psa quiz is going to alienate new and old players. it's not straight forward: you are presented with the code screen with no context as to why and no text prompt when it happens. you aren't going to puzzle this out without explicitly being told what to do: even if you found the boiler note by yourself, nobody is going to know to click the coffee stand note because it was never clickable in the original game. but activating the quiz at all all depends on you thinking to walk over to the changing booth...which players wouldnt typically do if theyre trying to become an agent. it's just a baffling choice. the code idea isn't bad, but it needs more context (ex: revamped quiz you do that gives you hints on where to find the paper slips before you enter the code).

#im not gonna talk about how using paige's expedition design and calling her a psa agent makes zero sense continuity wise #continuity errors that retroactively make nothing about the cpl psa storylines make logical sense. i will not talk about continuity errors #nobody but me cares about- #like yeah. club penguins (epf) timeline is kinda a mess but still.

[manonamora-if]

currently watching: Avatar - The Last Airbender, the ANIMATED ONE. Because I started the new live-action, and it's really bad... and then I saw Netflix had the animated version too, so I'm watching the obviously superior version. I can't even hate-watch the live-action remake, the changes make me so MAD. WHY IS AANG NOT BEHAVING LIKE A CHILD??? WHERE IS GOOFY UNCLE IROH??? WHY IS SOKKA NOT PROVIDING COMEDIC RELIEF??? Also they made Ozai less of a monster?!?!?! BOOOOO

Because they were too woke to allow "flawed characters" develop and grow a personality. "It's bad for the kids!"

I... don't think it has anything to do with wokeness, Anon. More like missing the point of why the original show hit right in the feels. A lot has to do with pacing and scene order issues imo... It's been a thing with a lot of Netflix adaptations.

Like you know that the Airbenders have been wiped out a while back, but it doesn't really hit until Aang goes to the temple, showing it off to Sokka and Katara, remembering all the good things... and BAM: he finds skeleton of his former mentor next to armours of the fire army. In the live-action show... you are being introduced to Aang and the Airbender first, seeing in the first 30min of the show the fight between the Air and Fire nation... So when Aang goes back to the Temple a century later, the "reveal" is not a reveal anymore.

OR the fact that the South Pole village is busy with life, with a bunch of teens and grown-ass men, an actual proper village (I guessed there were maybe 50+ people) and not... three tents and a dozen of toddlers being ordered around by one single teenager. The situation doesn't seem as dire in the remake...

Or Aang using the whole trip up north to just... be a kid and do fun activities. He doesn't realise how serious the situation is until a couple of episodes in, when he sees how his presence in a village/town can affect people's safety and homes. And even then, you'll still see him do childish things episodes later. In the remake, he's already serious from the start. Where's the penguin sliding? or riding the koi fish? Why he is playing the diplomat as soon as we see him?

Anyway, there are already a bunch of videos on Youtube going in depth to why the remake has flaws... If I write about further I'm going to be too angry to do things.

There was three things I liked: the score, the costuming, and the set. Gorgeous. So great. Thank you, budget.

#ask box #nonsense #Avatar was great for a lot of things - especially the animation. #for people who never watched it before--- i guess it a decent starting point? #it's not like it's the end of the series anyway #it was renewed for 2 more seasons to do the whole arc #wouldn't be surprising me if they did Korra afterwards

[philosopherking1887]

since you finished Gotham, the people must know... what did you think of sid's character in it

Much like his character on Game of Thrones: tragically, even criminally under-utilized. Siddig was in the credits for all of season 4, but he was only actually in half of the episodes, and many of those appearances were very brief, and/or in the form of other people's hallucinations rather than the actual character. I don't know that much about the Batman mythos, but my sense is that Ra's al Ghul is kind of a big deal? So it seems weird to introduce him and cast a really great (and hot) actor in the role and then keep him off-screen most of the time.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT (in case anyone out there might watch the show and cares about spoilers...)

They did this weird thing where he was in the last two episodes of season 3 (briefly) and then first few episodes of season 4, then he gets (apparently) killed in episode 5 and only appears in flashbacks or hallucinations a couple times, until his crazy followers bring him back to life in episode 19. At first he comes back as a creepy skeleton-zombie thing hidden under a hooded cloak, but fortunately he gets de-zombified partway through the episode (so we get to actually see Sid as well as hearing his voice). Then most of the remaining 3 episodes are taken up with thwarting the evil plans of the second proto-Joker character (there are twin brothers... it's pretty baroque). Sid isn't in episode 20 at all, pops up very briefly toward the end of 4.21 to ally himself with the Joker, then has a little more presence in 4.22 (the season finale), but gets definitively killed -- as in, crumbles into ash and disappears -- 2/3 of the way through the episode.

In all of seasons 2-4 -- which are the mature, complete seasons; in season 1 they were still figuring out the format, and season 5 was a half-season with only 12 episodes -- Gotham almost always has multiple storylines and major antagonists. In fact, they started naming the story arcs in season 2, with each of seasons 2 and 3 divided into two distinct but semi-continuous arcs, each with a different main antagonist. Season 4 is named as a single arc ("A Dark Knight"), but there are a lot of separate strands, some of which aren't connected at all. Ra's al Ghul is one of the main antagonists at the beginning of season 4, but he's also kind of a spillover from the second half of season 3, when we find out that the Court of Owls (the sinister group that controls Gotham) is in turn controlled by the League of Shadows, led by Ra's al Ghul. His obsession with Bruce Wayne, who he thinks is his heir, carries over into early season 4, but then Bruce (apparently/temporarily) kills him 5 episodes in, which leads into a character arc where baby Bruce temporarily turns into the dissolute asshole playboy that he'll pretend to be as cover when he's an adult moonlighting as Batman.

This is happening at the same time that Jim Gordon has brought Carmine Falcone's daughter, Sofia, back to Gotham to try to wrest control of the criminal underworld away from Penguin. That storyline is the main one until it wraps up in 4.15, and has no intersection at all with the Ra's al Ghul stuff, or indeed with anything that Bruce is involved in, which includes some weird shit with Poison Ivy killing people with magic plants. It's unusual for two major, partly simultaneous storylines in a season to be so completely isolated from each other, and I think that's part of why season 4 feels so messy and all over the place -- it's trying to pack in too much stuff that doesn't fit together neatly, if at all, and doesn't quite keep track of it all or manage to wrap it all up in a satisfying way. If they had figured out a way to integrate the competing storylines, they might have been able to give Sid a more substantial role. I personally consider it a tragedy that he never really got to interact with Penguin, as played brilliantly by Robin Lord Taylor... though I suppose they do exist in two very different parts of the Batman world: Ra's al Ghul lives in the mystical, magical, unfortunately Orientalist world of secret ninja societies and Lazarus Water that resurrects people and makes them immortal; while Penguin lives in the largely mundane world of organized crime, inhabited by some oddball characters but generally non-magical.

Writing this (unnecessarily long) answer made me think more about the narrative structure of Gotham, and it occurred to me that Bruce almost never interacts with Penguin, which is kind of odd considering that Penguin is being established as one of Batman's future antagonists, as well as an occasional source of information. In season 1, Gordon and Oswald/Penguin are decidedly the show's deuteragonists, and Bruce is more of a side character, but in later seasons it can be envisioned as a triangle missing a side (like this symbol: ^ ), where Jim Gordon is the central 'hinge' character, whose storylines connect with both those of Bruce on one side and Oswald on the other, but their storylines are running on parallel tracks, linked only by Gordon and/or the current main antagonist.

#gotham tv #gotham meta #gotham show #ra's al ghul #alexander siddig #gotham spoilers #gotham season 4 spoilers #gotham season 4 #gotham