#the world would riot but literally who the fuck will do anything about it.

[sleevebuscemii]

someone said statistically motaz is the number one influencer in the world right now as he’s amassed over a billion views in a month and its just like. that is so unbelievably terrifying for him. it is so unbelievably terrifying to imagine how much israel wants that influence gone.

#a part of me is like ‘they wouldn’t. he’s too well known.’ but they killed shireen abu akleh so. #also literally what the fuck do they care actually lmao. what the fuck do they care. who’s gonna stop them. #the world would riot but literally who the fuck will do anything about it. #ya allah protect him ya allah protect them all ya allah protect who’s left ya allah please #palestine #m

[akajustmerry]

couldn’t find anything about the murdochs suppressing press freedom would you mind sharing links please

ooooooft okay. i do forget that not everyone is aware of these things. but!! if you wanna know why dominant news media in the global north sucks / wanna be more aware of media influence on politics / wanna appreciate succession more - here is a 'fuck the murdochs' reading list

a recent article on the current court case between Fox News (founded by Rupert Murdoch) and Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion is claiming defamation after Fox News pushed the lie the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, which led to the Jan 6 riots.

Opinion piece by former Aus PM Malcolm Turnball on why he's leading a campaign requesting a Royal Commission into Murdoch's monopoly over Australia's press and Murdoch's unjust influence on Australian politics

here is a podcast breaking down how Lachlan Murdoch (irl Kendall) is suing an independent paper here in Aus for connecting the Jan 6 insurrection to fearmongering of Murdoch press in the States. like, he is literally suing journalists for accurate reporting. that *is* suppressing freedom of the press by definition.

The Murdochs: Empire of Influence (2022). 6 part documentary featuring historians, journalists, ex-employees etc. covers everything there is to know about the family's role in press and politics from world war 1 up to 2022.

Book: Breaking News: Sex, Lies and the Murdoch Succession by veteran anti-Murdoch journalist Paul Barry. The book is from 2013, but is a thoroughly accessible analysis of on the family's rise

Vanity Fair also recently published this hugeeeeee investigation: Inside Rupert Murdoch's Succession Drama

The official Succession podcast is free and discusses the show's influences pretty openly. it doesn't go super in-depth (probably because they don't want to be sued) but it makes mention and discussion of real events and people that influence the show.

just for good measure: here is a list of every news outlet and publisher and media outlet the Murdoch family own across the US, UK, Europe and Asia. handy for when you do your own research, which you should so you're not reading from *their* sources. The whole reason you have trouble finding this kind of information on them is because they suppress it, or make it hard to find.

like... i know a lot of people don't know this, but Succession is a political satire and is about a very specific group of people who are actively shaping the world for the worst so they can become rich and never live with the consequences. the majority of Jesse Armstrong's work is about how internal dynamics between people in powerful institutions literally shape society. if you don't understand that's what Succession is then you're actually missing a huge part of it. so i hope you, and anyone else who needs it, take a gander at these resources because you won't only understand Succession more, but the state of your local politics and media too.

#anon #succession #current events #/

[pommunist]

This is mostly gonna be just a rant but it just baffles me how everything Qstudios has done since the beginning of the admins situation is a terrible pr move. So yeah this is just gonna talk how, even if you forget the immoral and potential illegal stuff that went on, I don’t think their strategy is doing any good for the studio’s image.

-Going radio silent publicly and privately : Kinda the original sin of all this mess tbh. This obviously just leaves the space for the ex admins to share their stories, even more so since they have been ignored privately beforehand when they tried to handle things internally. This also allowed for the union to publicly intervene and more ccs talking about it, and actual news article being made on it.

-Leaving the server open : Tbh I get wanting to leave it open, maybe to allow minecraft centered ccs to still make content or maybe because it’d be weird to close it right after new people got in but also I think it would have be better to close it temporarily while they focus on the changes they promised rather than having it getting deserted little by little until it feels like a ghost town. This + also not a good look to have so many npcs online when Q said there would be none until things get better (The current npcs are likely non volunteers, once again not a bad or illegal thing per say but not a good look). Closing it would also have made it so that the reopening would have been a big and probably positive event.

-Welcoming new ccs/new languages : This might just be because of scheduling necessities or whatever and something they couldn’t do later but it still made the community go :/// to get new people while on the flip side you had parts of the fandom leaving because of what was happening. Also not great for the new arrivals to start in such a weird climate, without admins help and with few people online on the server.

-Releasing merch at the worst time possible : This might have been something they couldn’t change, just like the arrival of the Koreans/Hugo, but it still isn’t a good look for them to release egg merch after it came out that some of the egg admins were poorly treated, especially when they haven’t stated clearly that benefits from the merch would go towards paying staff. It’s also not a good look for them to release new discounts every day, barely ten days after release. (Also the Qstudios Twt account retweeting every egg figures announcement except for Pomme will never not make me laugh)

-Making the twitter updates accounts active again : Yes it may just be that they’re using a bot or that it’s the people who are in charge of the Qstudios twitter account posting on it, both of which are not wrong per say. But of course people are gonna wonder if it’s new people being hired, of course speculation will happen when there’s a lack of transparency, of course ex admins are gonna be upset when it seems like things are continuing as if nothing happened, when they were fired without a warning, a thanks or even a sorry.

And now we have the two points that are kinda in a « you fucked up so bad it’s almost funny and I almost feel bad for you guys » category

-« Hey guys out of all the people we exploited and treated poorly you know which ones we’re gonna make eat dirt the most ? Hell yeah the ones that are from a part of the world who literally have a whole cliche about them complaining and rioting for anything and everything. Also happen to be the same ones whose community we alienated for months by sidelining them. Also happen to be a community who, during this time, has grown quite close to our most active community (who are themselves quite mad at us by now) to the point that they are making memes about the two of them being in love with each other. Yeah surely this can only go well »

-« Oh no, people actually really care » : QSMP Fans in general just loved and appreciated all the work the admins did, whether they were twitter admins, builders, actors, writers… This is even more true since the situation also revealed that some admins things people have been most critical on (lore being weirdly interrupted, french being ignored…) were not these admins fault. And of course, you have the eggs admins case. How do you make viewers and ccs alike get SO attached to these kid characters, as if it was their children, while mistreating the people playing them and not expect this to blow up in your face at some point. It’s like you managed to catch lightning in a bottle and then left it to rot thinking this wouldn’t end up badly. Weirdly this one makes me kinda hopeful bc Qstudios kinda HAVE to fix it or else they lose on of their main selling points.

#qsmp crit #qadmins situation #like i’m sorry i don’t think any hater of the project could hurt it as much as qstudios themselves rn

[comradekatara]

what genres of music do you think the gaang would listen to? what about some of their favorite artists? i think katara would be a big olivia rodrigo fan and that aang would listen to a lot of taylor swift lol

aw come on now be nice to aang. he would have better taste than THAT. i think he would listen to a lot of disco, like donna summer. he would like upbeat funky music that you can dance to. and he’d have a pretty eclectic and varied music taste. like i see him also loving joanna newsom (and not just because divers is about his life). and maaayyybe he’d listen to taylor swift, like one or two songs perhaps, but his ass would NOT be a swiftie.

that said, katara would feel very passionately about her, although whether positively or negatively i do not know. but there is no way she is simply swift-neutral. she would care way too much about pop culture as a phenomenon. i think that even if she really did love taylor swift she’d always preface her name with “famous climate criminal…”

and look, i respect olivia rodrigo, i think she’s a talented performer and makes great songs for amvs (ty lee all american bitch kendall roy brutal nanami vampire, to name a few highlights), but if anything, katara would listen to actual 90s riot grrrl and female singer songwriters, because olivia is simply not as good as her inspirations.

katara would also listen to any music that has a subversive political message or is sung by a woman with eminently powerful vocals. so a combination of punk, folk, some gospel, some heavy metal, and a lot of r&b. also i think she’d listen to very specific shwotunes and defend those musicals with her life.

sokka doesn’t have a music “taste” he has one song that he plays on repeat for weeks until he gets sick of it. sometimes that song is a symphony by beethoven, and sometimes that song is “fireworks” by mitski (okay, it’s often “firework” by mitski). but his one constant is kate bush. he’s fucking obsessed with kate bush.

toph grew up a piano prodigy so she has a lot of opinions on classical music and that’s most of what she listens to for the first decade or so of her life. then she gets introduced to like, tracy chapman and fiona apple through katara and sokka, and realizes that classifying all music with lyrics as “trash” may have been a bit reductive. and when she gets a bit older she gets really into indie rock and begs sokka to take her to concerts. and he doesn’t even really care for the concerts. he just takes her because he knows how much she loves it.

zuko is a mitskigirl thru and thru. i know that ppl say he’d be emo and listen to mcr but that music is too coarse and unpolished for his sensitive ears. he likes music with a beautiful melancholy quality that makes him feel sad yet gorgeous. he also listens to jbrekkie and jay som and other musical equivalents to ocean vuong. he’s literally gaysian what do u want from him.

suki is by far the most into music of anyone in their friendgroup. music is one of her favorite things in the entire world, and if she couldn’t play and listen to music she wouldn’t even want to exist. she’s in an indie folk rock band with her friends called the kyoshi warriors, and they have a lot of followers on bandcamp. she has an incredibly varied and extensive music taste, which is why she’s basically always designated the aux cord. sometimes she’s playing the cranberries and sometimes she’s playing googoosh and sometimes she’s playing otyken. and her taste never misses.

ty lee is one of those freaks who doesn’t really listen to music by choice. instead, she listens to: true crime podcasts, audiobooks (eg, of lacanian psychoanalysis), or sometimes simply has her earbuds in with nothing actually playing so as to seem as if she isn’t eavesdropping on the conversations taking place in her vicinity. but when people ask her what kind of music she likes she just says, “oh, you know…. pop.”

mai is also a mitskigirl she’s even more of a mitskigirl than zuko is (so she claims, although zuko would contest this). she’s very active on spotify because she loves making various playlists for different moods, different vibes, different blorbos from her shows. she likes all different genres, and takes suki’s recommendations very seriously above all.

azula’s two favorite artists are, unfortunately, rachmaninoff and kanye, and that’s all you really need to know about her.

#sapphikatara #asks #modern au #the gaang and #atlamusic #gee katara how come you get THREE bullet points

[daisychains111]

live "tweet" books with me (via the Goodreads progress bar) pt.3 Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Live tweeting as I read...back by popular demand (literally 1 person on Tumblr (@dumpsters-little-matchbook) asked me to do it again and I was already planning to)

stay strong Vi....just bc he's hot doesn't mean he's redeemed himself for his (understandably) traitorous ways

"she's worth a dozen of me" Xanden you shut up right now I'm mad at you

I'm glad Brennen's alive but I do not trust him at all...pretending to be dead for 6 years is fishy as fuck

hashtag: Andarna protection club...if anything ever happens to that dragon I'll burn the world

violet "I know more than you" sorrengail back in action

lol Brennen making fun of her love life

petition for violet and sgaeyl mother-daughter bonding

awww andarna, all growed up

moody teenage angst Andarna is the comedic relief we all didn't know we needed...nothing is as iconic as her growling at Violet for calling her my dearest

idk if Tairn signed up to be the sole father figure to two teenage girls but Violet and Andarna are about to give him a run for his money

he deserves not to trust Dain bc Dain is the scum of the earth

RIDOC AND RHIONNAN ARE SAFE AND ALIVE EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT IN THE WORLD

call his lying ass out Violet as you should

slay violets mom with the redeeming qualities...glad she actually cared if Violet was alive and isn't completely a heartless bitch

fuck dain but also FUCK HIS DAD

the fact that it's him who officially outs them makes me smile hehe

I agree Nadine...that was hot

Xaden being an absolute tease flirt bc she's mad at him is iconic

YAY SQUAD LEADER RHI!!!

the joke was funny, your friends ate just lame (jk I love them but still)

THE PRINCE???

awwww Liam's sister you better make it across istfg

noooo I wanted to be friends with Sloane

violet in her older sister era

gotta love the "is everyone I care about alive? yes? slay" moment

the fact that even tairn is warry of the orange dragon freaks me out

tairn reporting for fatherly duties will never not be my favorite...violet may be annoying but she's his annoying

I'm all for the Violet and Imogen friendship but they better not be mean to Rhiannan

also if Rhiannan gets annoying and jealous about them I'll be really sad

nooo I liked Nadine...who tf just snaps people's necks like that tf

Xaden warding her room so he's the only person who can come in COMEDY

SIMP

hehehe he wrote her a letterrr

violet lying to everyone about her feelings about Xaden except Tairn is so funny...like who's the dragon gonna tell

Xaden is winning every award ever rn bc 1. he's hot as hell, but 2. he's like I wanna sleep with you so bad, but I won't bc it's for the wrong reasons....honorable mf

literally FUCK VARRISH

Sloane needs to get her shit together and Violet needs to stop avoiding her friends

I'm like 80% sure they just got drugged but slay ig

called it...they were totally drugged

tairn comforting Violet about missing Xaden even though Tairn is the one with the bonded mate thing isn't being talked about enough

I would really love to know what those letters say...just saying, sharing is caring

I want to trust jesinia...I really do but it gives me a bad feeling

you let my babies see each other istg...violet is actively moving towards miserable without him

Imogen is slowly becoming the biggest violet/Xander fangirl and I love that for her

give it up Imogen...yall are friends

girlie just wants to be back in a library fr

period Rhiannan...don't put up with Xaden's shit....you threaten him like a bestie should

If Rhi and Violet don't stay friends I'll riot

ooooo don't mess with Tairn's kids...he'll bring that dad defensive

I'm so glad Violet is letting Rhiannan in..be besties again pls

HAHA "SHOWING OFF (MAKING OUT)" IN FRONT OF MIRA....ICONIC

"omg your falling for him" No matter how many times I hear that I'm media I will always be a sucker for it

"you're my only sibling" REALLY MAKING VIOLET SEEM LIKE A TERRIBLE PERSON FOR NOT TELLING MIRA ABOUT BRENNEN....UNCALLED FOR

tik tok says she finally just fucking forgives him in chapter 27... we're on 20, kick into gear people

at her core, Violet is really just like me fr.... 21-year-old girlie pop vibes for the win

 damn the disdain for Dian is STRONG

Rhiannan wins the bestie of the year award....being the best even tho Violet is being a fuckass about not telling her things

DAIN FIGHTING ISNT GONNA DO MUCH BC YOU DONT DESERVE HER AND NOW EVERYONE GETS TO WATCH AS SHE BEATS YOUR ASS

see, I knew her mom was a bitch

Rhiannan and violets friendship rn makes me so sad

This aaric dude better keep his mouth SHUT

really looking forward to Xaden beating the shit out of Dain for the shit he just pulled

besties having beef in private...which honestly I feel like will be a good thing

"that isn't a secret" I love ridoc....also Violet why tf would you think that's a valid secret

them getting graded for withstanding torture is WILD

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BRING DAIN INTO THIS VARRISH YOU BITCH

VARRISH YOU ABSOLUTE MOTHERFUCKER...I DESPISE YOUR SOUL

I hate dain to but I love him for that...thank you for being a rule-following asshat

two things: tairn constantly being like "duh your fine, I make great choices" is so sweet but absolutely hilarious....and Rhiannan being a slay icon is my favorite thing

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN JACK IS BACK FROM THE ACTUAL DEAD....SHUT UP RIGHT NOW

I'm so ready to watch the Fab 4 (I've decided that I'm calling ridoc, rhi, sawyer, and Violet this bc they are so slay) kill jack again bc wtf

YES CHAPTER 27 I'VE HEARD GOOD THINGS ABOUT YOU

watch Mira walk in on them right now...that'd be so freaking funny

tairn and Violet's father-daughter bonding is my fave

tairn is a grade-A overprotective father... it's adorable

no literally....tairn is so over her 21 bullshit...I love them

I have no recollection of who Kaori is...but him standing up to varrish makes him my favorite

YES YES YES LET FAB 3/4 KNOW ALL THE SECRETS

ridoc having the vibes to give violet a hard time while his world was just flipped on its head is why I love him

also shout out to Imogen and Quinn bc yall are slay too

why did Jack save her life...go back to being an ass, not sucky jack is frightening

"argue with you about books? I only pick fights I can win" Xaden clearly knows his place

literally just sobbing at the Liam cameo

why does Varrish keep responding to Liam...is Violet talking out loud or like did he pull a jack

damn dain is just...redeeming himself...didn't have that on my 2024 bingo card

her mom redeeming herself too? damn we're on a redemption roll

very serious war book until someone says something like "show off" during an important meeting (cough garrick cough) and you remember that these bitches are in their 20s

Brennan, Xaden, and tairn: violet protection squad

ANDARNAS BACK YYYAAAYYY

YUH SLAY FOURTH WING

flame section is the iron section? One might say they're the iron flame....wink wink

patiently waiting for a sorrengail sibling reunion...pls bring Mira into the loop

YES MIRA BEAT HIS ASS

Mira beating the shit out of Brennan, Violet yelling at them to grow tf up, and ultimately Mira and Brennen rebonding over the ickiness of xaden/violet pda...the best sibling reunion EVER

"I have control" girl be so for real rn...the only time you use your power is when you're mid-orgasm, you're not controlling shit

Mira and Xaden being "let's overprotect violet" partners in crime...straight vibes

Andarna: The Hungry One (trademark)

oooooooo violets in trooouubbblleeee

jealous Violet storyline is about to be just as stupid as I'm keeping my friends safe by distancing myself Violet storyline

oh God not talking in 3rd person

"I wasn't in love with you then," *jim halpert camera stare* stfu xaden

DAMMMMNNNNN he's def being annoying but saying he's acting like dain is looooooowwwww

yeah cat just stfu...violet is better than you don't be a bitch

YOU WEAR YOUR HAIR DOWN VIOLET...TORTURE HIM BUT ISTG IF YOU LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THAT BS....

YESSS Liam mentions make me so happy...also I'm so ready for Violet and Sloane to bond

dain just bc you saved her doesn't mean you're not on extremely thin ice...stfu

HA, a length joke...I like Maren

IF YOU KILL RIDOC RIGHT NOW REBECCA, I WILL HAUNT YOU

HES SAFE....fab 4 lives another day

cat's a bitch...that's all

Cat's a bitch...but you know who isn't? Rhiannan. gave her bestie the best fighting skills

well that's one way to combat jealousy

he really said "You were annoying and emotional last year, this year it's my turn" Live laugh love healthy relationships

fab 4 are my favorite group of fantasy besties ever....icons..every single one of them

I'm very very excited for the Sawyer and Jesinia subplot...also I don't think I'm opposed to a Dain redemption arch, he just needs to learn his place

"I might even be in love with him after that declaration" HA game recognizes game dain, love that for you

ROLL CREDITS

Garrick doesn't get enough credit for being just as awesome as Rhi....slay besties

girlie pop bickering with a side of danger mission and dragon obedience school...my favorite

HAH grammar jokes

 "I get the feeling that this '2nd signet' thing is gonna be a BIG issue...like the plot twist that ends the book BIG

tbh I feel like I don't know him either so I get why she's mad at him

BRUUUUHHH he redeems himself with the "less than a minute" comment

tairn is girl dad...yelling at Violet and Andarna for their shit, yelling at Xaden for talking to Violet...girl dad icon

"Mom and Dad are fighting" See tairn and Sgaeyl are Mom and Dad

poor mama sorrengail...that's not the best way to break that news brennen you bitch

I'm really hoping Violet gets iron squad to go help bc them leaving the others to die is bullshit

they mentioned that the venin had runes, but they were confused as to how. cat is the best at them, and I really really really don't like how sus that is

everyone is so over Violet and her friends bc they're the only ones saying true things

YUH IRON SQUAD...my favorite squad of besties

FUCKING JACK

that was the most stressful thing ever read in my life...if Rhiannan dies I will never recover

I thought Sawyer was going to die and I started crying

YES ANDARNA BE SPECIAL AND SLAY

The fact the andarna hatched just for Violet is so sweet

you better not fucking sacrifice yourself right now violet unknownmiddlename sorrengail

DUMBASS

rip mama sorrengail...this was the redemption arch you deserved

violet breaking down to Rhi is EVERYTHING

FAB 4 LIVES TO SEE ANOTHER DAY (along with Imogen, Quinn, Sloane, Jesinia, Aaric, Maren, and Cat because yall bitches grew on me)

yay xaden's safe, was worried for a bit

IM SORRY WHAT NOW

I'M SORRY WHAT NOW

saying that xaden cant feel sgaeyl better be a fucking joke rn

FUCKING JACK

#violet sorrengail #fourth wing #xaden riorson #rhiannon matthias #iron flame #sawyer fourth wing #imogen fourth wing #mira sorrengail #brennan sorrengail #violet and tairn #tairn and andarna #tairn and sgaeyl #goodreads #live tweeting #quinn fourth wing #liam and sloane

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

i’ve seen some debate about andreas’ actions at the end of act ii and now that i’ve actually finished the game the more i’m convinced that what he did makes sense for his character, irrespective of his background. i definitely saw confusion over how a rapscallion or a hedonist andreas would have ran back into the library to save, of all things, books. and andreas himself doesn’t let on what was going through his head when he made the decision to go back in—if you took him at face value, it looks like a really strange, almost stupid, maybe even selfish way to go. the peasants are dying, andreas, and you’re thinking about books?

but this isn’t act i andreas, with a nebulous wife and a job waiting for him in nuremberg. this is act ii andreas, a parent who’s suffered one of the worst losses imaginable, who has built his mental defenses up to the point where it will insulate him from the harsh realities of life, the dreams of youth that didn’t survive the brightness of day. act ii andreas, who has found out that the world values him not for what he sees, but what they can make him see with their money—how best they can be portrayed by his hand. act ii andreas, who showed up to this town he kind of fucked up seven years ago by trying to enact justice, or his idea of it, in trying to save his mentor. act ii andreas, who by his actions and choices irrevocably changed the lives of the people of tassing, and now has a riot on his hands. a situation gone to absolute shit, the people who’ve housed and fed him facing near-certain slaughter at the hands of the soldiers for what they have taken too far.

everything is literally out of your control. the torch has already been set to ancient paper, the knowledge of people before is being destroyed. maybe the handiwork, the legacy of those andreas directly worked with—guy, maybe. aedoc. piero. about to be lost. whatever background you choose, it doesn’t mean shit in this moment. if there’s one good thing andreas can do in this moment, when everything has gone to shit and there is no discernible way forward, it’s to save whatever he can. he can’t stop the duke’s men anymore. but he has to save something, if he can’t make anything worth living for.

andreas apologizes to a father he didn’t console and the daughter he’ll have to bring up alone. andreas apologizes to the world, flinging as many books as he can into the scriptorium until he can’t anymore. andreas runs back into the burning library, and it makes sense.

#pentiment #i will literally never ever forget this story. ever.

[autisticlancemcclain]

yo Jackie, what's one trope or situation type shit that u wish people would write more fics about. like we all know ur a brown-eyed lance truther, so am I so don't snipe me down babes, but like what else would u wish the fandom would agree on more. like u wish there was more lance and pidge sibling type fics, or more modern fics, or like more dating in secret fics for keith and lance? I'm interested

thank you for asking i have several. full disclosure i am kind of a hater in some of these. did not realize how much i had locked and loaded.

1. doesn’t need to be said but i’m saying it anyway. brown-eyed lance. if i don’t get that tag within a year i am rioting.

2. i LOOOOOOOVE modern aus. they are my bread and butter. i will read a thousand of them. i will WRITE a thousand of them. i love seeing a world built around the essence of these characters, and i love building them more. where would lance be, if he wasn’t in voltron? which of the characters are friends before the whole group finally connects? how do coran and allura fit? where do they work? where do they live? i love it. every decision is a confession.

3. i think everyone needs to have more fun with shiro and allura’s characters. for whatever reason (racism), people like to write them as the villains?? or as boring assholes who are incapable of fun and/or emotions?? anyways it’s the worst. let allura and shiro be stuoid and young and fun 2k23.

4. my favourite thing to write is weird, half analytical backstories/prequels for all the characters, and i love reading them too. what are their families like? what pets if their childhood shaped the way we see them now? who did they learn their habits from? i need to know everything. i have a specific hunk & lance fic i’m thinking about that was never finished, but that changed my entire perception of both of their characters forever. i am so nosy and people in this fandom who create these entire intricate backstories for these characters we already love are so important to me

5. keith’s fanon character in general lowkey pisses me off. i feel like people are OBSESSED with writing him very one dimensional??? like either this kind of mean emo or like tsundere blushing schoolgirl??? anyways it’s weird. keith loves his friends SO much. he cares about everyone everywhere all the time, he’s literally always thinking about what he can do to help people (or he’s being a dorky dumbass lol), he cares so much so often and so deeply. he tries his hardest and puts his all into everything. he loves hugs even though he’s awkward with it. he cries frequently. he wants a mom and at the same time he doesn’t. he loves his brother and his teammates. like??? please please PLEASE i’m begging y’all don’t do keith dirty okay

6. okay you know what’s crazy?? somehow whipped keith and whipped lance ARENT tags. insane to me. like obviously both of them are stupid wicked down bad disgustingly whipped. to me these tags are like. obvious. anyways i wish there were more works under those tags

7. instead of going on a tangent on how each individual character has been done dirty in several ways by fanon, i’m just going to beg everyone in the fandom: please please PLEASE stop making them cruel to each other. okay? they’re young. they’re struggling. they’re constantly under stress literally all the time. they don’t know how to work properly with each other yet. but they LOVE each other, okay?? so much. they would do anything to protect each other. like yes, they mess up, and sometimes they say mean things, and sometimes they just say the WRONG things, and sometimes they’re just awkward with each other!! but they aren’t fucking cruel. not a single member of that team is a cruel person. remember that they want each other to be happy and safe, okay? please. if i read one more fic where the biggest conflict is born by hatred rather than miscommunication or something i am going to lose my mind

8. however there is one specific beef i have with one character’s portrayal in our fandom: HUNK IS NOT A SMOL UWU CINNAMON ROLL. i have no idea why people pretend that he’s this guy who is just constantly smiles and sunshine and who is nice to everyone. let’s not forget that hunk is lowkey a bitch. y’all remember how he acted with nyma and rolo? he is a Judgey Person, yall. he is very dry and quick. remember that he has a little tiny smidge of a superiority complex. do y’all realize how fun it is to have someone who can just constantly cut through anyone’s shit?? who is very kind but is not, necessarily, nice??? it’s AMAZING. peak comedy. also reminder that there is a fine line with making hunk an awesome amazing talented chef and making him, the only fat character, food obsessed. please do not do that to my boy.

9. i love weirdo aus. like aus that are entirely unique and one and their own. aus for movies that have never been au’ed before. brings me so much joy

10. okay this used to be a big thing for me and i don’t write it much anymore (largely bc i don’t feel i’m very qualified too) but genderqueer lance is very important to me. genderqueer all of the team, honestly, i think we should fuck around with all of their shit, not just pidge! i read this one author who would make literally all of the teams trans & nb and it was awesome. nb hunk was something i never knew i needed but something that was so obviously true. i don’t write it too often bc i tend to make everyone very feminine (i love being a girl i love being a girl so so much it blows my mind that not everyone doesn’t want to be a girl all the time it’s AMAZING and thank you trans women for teaching me that), and i know it’s a genuine problem with over-feminization of queer characters in fanon so i don’t do it to often. but there are some amazing trans authors out there who fuck with the team’s gender beautifully and it’s a pleasure to read every single time!!

11. lol and as my username suggests, i’m a big fan of autistic lance!!! i’m also huge on adhd keith, which i know very few other people have in their fics, but i wrote an essay on it a while back and i do very much agree that autistic lance and adhd keith are canon and i would LOVE to see more people write it!!

12. you said it and i one hundred percent agree — secret dating fics my LOVE. i don’t write them much either bc a lot of my fics are very team-focused but they’re so so fun to read anyway honestly

13. EDIT BECAUSE I FORGOT TO ADD. i love writing lance’s full name as Leandro Agustín Nuñez Carmen Esposita-McClain — or, shortened, Lance McClain

i have so many things honestly. so many tags that are everything to me and also thank you so SO much for the ask i love having a reason to ramble

#idk how to tag this #vld #ask #that should suffice. #also #longpost #changed my mind. #vld headcanons #headcanons #lance #lance mcclain #keith #keith kogane #hunk #hunk garrett #allura #princess allura #shiro #takashi shirogane #team as family #klance #brown-eyed lance #autistic lance #adhd keith #whipped klance

[bnha-more-like-bnh-gay]

Could I trouble you for some thoughts/headcanons on KiriDeku? KiriDeku is my #1 fave Izuku rarepair, and there is just not enough content out there for them!

Like, those two sunshine boys together would be EVERYTHING! The way they both love to build others up...they would be such a power couple! Plus, Kirishima is very physically affectionate, so he would just SMOTHER Izuku in loving touches. Meanwhile Izuku has an entire doctoral thesis on all the ways Kirishima is an amazing person and an incredible hero on standby, ready to present and defend at any time.

😊🥰

JDICNWKDNISJF BRO, YOU’RE SO RIGHT😭 KIRIDEKU HAS MY SOUL! NO TROUBLE AT ALL, I LOVE THE WAY YOU THINK💙😭💙😭💙😭

Okay, I personally think that before AU, izuku was majorly touch starved. When kiri realizes this, he make it his mission to smother his adorable, incredible, manly boyfriend in all his affections

Kiri is having some insecurities about his quirk? Izuku completely and wholly understands that! He also has a 400 paged PowerPoint presentation on how incredible kirishima is and why he deserves the world

As you said, they are the TOTAL power couple. They can and will bench press each other. Kiri gets so hyped up, he’s just so proud! Izuku is also proud, but he’s also blushing so hard. Izuku, please breathe. No. No, izuku, deep breath in. Izuku, please, your boyfriend is worried-

Dude, they’re both just so supportive I’m going to cry

Like,,, they’ve both been bullied before and they’re just so. Nejcnwjcnwicjwif. They’re so strong, and they lift each other up

But one day, they run into some of kiri’s old bullies :( he tries to play it cool and izuku gets that, but he will also not let people talk shit about anyone he cares about

They’re both full time simps, but kiri is more blatant about it. Izuku just has such low self esteem :(((( so excuse him if he wants to remind his boyfriend that, holy shit, he’s so strong and cute and smart and kind and heroic and manly as hell

He’s so loud about it. He will profess his love for izuku to anyone who will listen. And most people who won’t listen too, honestly. A villain was being an asshole one time? Now he knows how izuku organizes his research and likes his katsudon.

The villain retired

Izuku’s simping is more quiet but no less chaotic. Again, 400 page PowerPoint that he has on a flash drive carried on him at all times “just in case”

In case of what, izuku? Uraraka wants to know. She’s seen it three times and she’s so tired

Kiri finds izuku’s ao3 account and follows so fast. Izuku is shook because 1. He’s embarrassed. And 2. He doesn’t think he’s that good

Kiri knows that he is indeed, “that good” he’s really good. No, he’s not just saying that because he loves the green demon, but because it’s absolutely 10000% true!

The pining before the two got together was. Horrible. Everyone can attest to this

There were betting pools. So many.

Uraraka, Nezu, Sato, momo, and mic were the only ones who won anything (aside from izuku and kiri, who won a boyfriend)

Trans kiri/nonbinary izuku

Thoughts????

Izuku helps kiri dye his roots every couple of weeks! Mina used to do it, but one day she fell asleep before and kiri felt bad waking her up. Izuku found him kind of panicking, so he offered to help! Now, mina and izuku both help!

Literally though. Mic dubbed them the sunshine boys two days into classes and said that they’d be together by the end of the year.

He was correct.

Kiri let’s izuku ramble on as long as he wants to! He doesn’t always understand some of what izuku is talking about, but his passion and drive are just so manly and his excitement is contagious!

Izuku loves listening to kiri talk about crimson riot too! He shows kiri his crimson riot analysis and dude. If kiri wasn’t smitten before, be sure as hell is now

He was smitten before. But still

Kiri helps patch izuku up whenever he gets injured, which we all know is too fucking often, kiri is a concerned boyfriend to the max. He know izuku is strong and that he can handle himself, but he needs to learn how to actually take care of himself too. I.e. not fucking off on his own to become a vigilante and try to take down the worlds most notorious super villain with little to no help and almost never stop for food, water, or rest when you’re 16 and have had your incredibly powerful and still evolving quirk for just around a year

But Kirishima digresses

No, he doesn’t. He’s going to cuddle izuku for hours after that. Izuku will not move. Izuku, let your boyfriend and all your friends and parents smother you in the affection you deserve

Kiri and izuku are both loyal to a fault. And that often comes back to bite people, but it never does between these two. They are both just so caring. They see each other hurt or upset and immediately go into mom mode

They made playlists for each other 🥺

It happened before they got together actually. Jirou overheard izuku muttering in his room about it for hours one night before she texted him a few song recommendations and that he should go to bed. He was mortified but very grateful

Honestly, I feel like Shouto would pick up on the fact that the two liked each other really quickly. It’d just make sense to him. Like. He’s blunt as shit and also is a little shit, and he makes it his business to be all up in their business.

He becomes great friends with Mina, because he just assumes that they’re together. And once told that they aren’t yet, he’s just confused.

“Why not? You like each other.”

“It’s not that simple, Shouto-kun!”

“…”

“Why not? Does all might not approve? I assumed he would. But yes, having your father’s approval might matter yo kirishima-“

“It’s not that! All might isn’t my dad-“

“Aizawa then? Or yamada?”

Mina says that Kirishima should be scared of all the shovel talks he’s going to get, but honestly? He’s not scared in any way! He would never hurt izuku and he’s really happy that izuku has so many people who care about him like he should be cared about!

Kiri 1000% watches Say Yes To The Dress, and izuku watches it with him sometimes. It’s great, because neither of them know anything about fashion. Kiri started watching it with Mina and now he loves it

Speaking of their fashion? Worst dressed couple on campus /affectionate

Aoyama and Mina insist on helping them get ready for their first several dates

Honestly, everyone knows that it doesn’t matter what they wear because if kiri fell for izuku and his “t-shirt” shirt (which I loved, by the way) and izuku fell for kiri in his crocs (which I don’t love, by the way), the pair could wear almost anything and the other would still swoon. It’s sickening. But also really sweet, you cannot deny no matter how many times Aoyama has tried to spruce up their wardrobes

Izuku one day gives kirishima a jar that’s half full with little scraps of paper and tells him to pick one out when he’s sad. On the pieces of paper, are all different reasons why izuku thinks kiri is amazing and why/how much he loves him. He adds to it every day

Kirishima is #EMOTIONALEHCIJSIXNSKC GUYS, HIS BOYFRIEND IS LITERALLY THE SWEETEST WHAT THE HELL

Aizawa genuinely doesn’t know if it’s cute or absolutely disgusting. He tries not to think about it too hard really

Kiri finds out that izuku is really good at art and helps him get confident enough to offer commissioned works! He also commissions him all the time without telling izuku. One day, izuku finds all the pieces kiri commissioned from him and cries because, guys, HIS BOYFRIEND IS SO SWEET, HE DIDN’T HAVE TO PAY FOR THOSE, HE’D MAKE KIRI ART FOR FREE ANY DAY

BUT IZU, THAT’S WHY HE DID IT SECRETLY, BECAUSE YOUR ART IS SO MANLY AND WORTH MILLIONS OF YEN

They’re absolute menaces and I love them with my entire soul, thank you so much for this 💙😭💙😭💙😭💙😭 but I hope you liked itttt!!!! Kirideku is genuinely such a compatible pairing dude, they deserve more. Just. More. Better.

#trans kiri #look at this healthy relationship #it’s something I cling to and cherish thank you #bnha #mha #kirideku #kiridecrew #Mina Shouto friendship? yes #Jirou izuku friendship? yes #mha headcanons #midoirya izuku #izuku problem child midoriya #kirishima ejiro #uraraka ochako #present mic #mina ashido #todoroki shouto #todoroki shoto

[animentality]

Can we all agree that Twitter was the worst social media even before Muskrat bought it?

It's always been demonic. Tumblr and Reddit and Facebook and Instagram might be fucking cringy and harmful in their own special ways, but Twitter is literally where people go to harass celebrities and organize riots.

Twitter's like system is bullshit, its algorithm is random. Even people who are saying something so fucking far removed from the general populace's opinion and morality can blow up and become Twitter famous.

It's so fucking stupid that your entire feed is just fed to you by an algorithm. You could be the most liberal person in the world and still get fucking conservative politicians all over your feed.

At least Reddit is subdivided into subreddits so if you really want to avoid stupid shit, you just don't use r/all. At least Reddit lets you DOWNVOTE people and let them know their opinion is considered shit.

At least on Tumblr you just follow who you want to follow and never have to be subjected to anything you would really hate (for the most part). The chronological algorithm is one of the most freeing things about this place.

Plus you can get your ass obliterated by Tumblr, even though we don't have downvotes.

The reblogging system lets you obliterate the OP's bad opinion in a way that quote retweets never could.

And sure, Tumblr chased off John Green and xkitguy. Tumblr has definitely been the Bad Place before, harassing small artists and creatives and starting truly awful discourses.

But it's NOTHING compared to Twitter harassment like where do you even fucking start?

There are so many celebrities who have gotten harassed on Twitter, to the point where they just had to delete their Twitter or stopped responding to any comments.

There are literally too many to name, I'm not even going to bother. I might argue that every single celebrity has been harassed at least a few times for something dumb!!

Celebrities don't have to name themselves here!

Celebrities are less likely to be harassed on Reddit too.

Twitter is where all the fucking branding and marketing people go because it's like a fucking lottery system, where you never know what'll go viral, but when it does, it goes big.

But the negative side of that is the fact that the WORST FUCKING PEOPLE go viral and extremists become the norm.

And you have yourself a gas echo chamber, where everyone is being poisoned by each other's bad faith discourse.

It is the fucking worst.

Not to mention that their bot problem is worse than any fucking where else.

Russian bots were here too, but more people use Twitter, so the bots there are much more influential.

Also think of this bullshit right?

Twitter is swarming with narcissists. Celebrities, pseudo celebrities, streamers, stock traders, nft bros.

All kinds of people who have to hock their products.

I myself joined Twitter so I could promote my books and try to reach out to literary agents. But there are so many people doing the same shit that you get lost in the white noise of desperate, begging people, who are all trying to make themselves something.

It's fucking sad and depressing.

People on Reddit don't care about being followed. Tumblr hides your follower count from your followers.

I don't know about Facebook because I haven't had one since 2013, but I assume you still have to friend people.

But Twitter is just this out of control mess of narcissists and echo chambers and no matter how rancid your opinion, people will still like it if it goes viral, and no amount of counter points or ratios matter, because in the end, you went viral.

and it's honestly only fucking fitting that Elon Musk bought that vipers' nest.

He's so fuckng egotistical and narcisstic that they go together like peanut butter and jelly.

#twitter #elon musk

[8o8o8o8o8]

Doing some Thinking™ about saith the serpent worldbuilding and I realized that the lust city-state really is the one place where no one judges him for anything

Clueless about modern inventions? So is like, all the citizens who died before the 19th century. He's not the first one asking people what's a printer

Weird about the church? Welcome to the club

Temperamental and fucking angry? Literally a major part of queer history is riots, heartbreaks, drama, ect. Come scream about the world with us

Nearly killed an innocent man? Okay people will hate him for that but really, would there be a single person in lust who hasn't seen a larval gay say and do the stupidest thing because they haven't figured out rules are bullshit yet?

Like. He would be so happy here. What the fuck.

#fic: saith the serpent #unauthorized cooking

[lord-squiggletits]

Also another reason I think Coptimus > archivist/librarian/etc Orion Pax is because the latter is so fucking boring and passive. Every story with that kind of OP feels so privileged, like yeah I was just some paper pusher ignorant of the outside world content with my life until I looked outside and noticed people are rioting, aren't I so enlightened for deciding to step outside my tower and talk to some gladiator guy? Or like that fucking Orion Pax toy that said he studied history and the works of great intellectuals, like okay then if he's such an academic then why is Megatron the only social writer between them? Why isn't archivist-librarian-historian Orion Pax super enlightened and able to have discussions on equal ground? It COULD be interesting but as far as Hasbro is concerned (and most of the fandom tbh), making Orion Pax a librarian is basically just giving him the most inoffensive job possible that makes him a good guy (he reads books! he's smart! he's an intellectual!) without actually committing to making him involved in society or having any culpability whatsoever for what's going on.

It's not like IDW OP is immune to being ignorant of social issues, but at least he like, is actually out in the city seeing how bad things are, telling Ratchet to open a free clinic in the Dead End, listening to Megatron and Shockwave and so on, foiling attempted terrorist attacks, the works. The idea of an agent of the state questioning the system he's a part of has so much more dramatic potential and gives him a lot more initiative from a storytelling/conflict perspective. If "conflict = story" and the conflict established is "there's a lot of political unrest" then why would you have one of your flagship characters (Orion/Optimus) be some librarian that does nothing but read books and talk to his friend(s) without actually doing anything about it?

Like fuck at least Coptimus actually DID THINGS before the war and wasn't just "yeah I'm a librarian I sort books and have a gladiator friend then one day some Council made me Prime aren't I a good morally flawless definitely not passive or ignorant good guy?" At least being part of the system and thus culpable for some of the pre-war oppression makes Coptimus more involved in the social fabric of the society he lives in. And it makes characters have impressions/opinions of him immediately upon meeting him due to the social weight of being a cop, which is a hell of a lot more interesting than just "everyone respects and listens to Optimus because he's just that good of a leader." A significant part of the Autocracy trilogy is occupied exactly by that, people questioning OP's leadership and saying that they think he won't do anything because he was literally Zeta's right hand man. That's so much more fucking interesting how many times can I say the same thing over and over again. A character who's flawlessly good is boring (and improbable in a world so rife with conflict and suffering), a character who's done bad things and has to deal with the consequences of that is so much more interesting. IF YOU MAKE OPTIMUS UNPROBLEMATIC YOU JUST MAKE HIM BORING BECAUSE IT MEANS HE HAS NO AGENCY BECAUSE NOTHING IS EVER HIS FAULT.

#squiggposting #idw op love

[sharkneto]

pretending for a second that theoretical TUA S4 is going to be real, any predictions you wanna share about it whether its stuff you want or stuff you just think is gonna happen?

This feels like the perfect time to finally get around to answering this, with our now non-hypothetical S4 on the way!

I haven't thought too much about S4, just sort of rotating things in my head, microwaving them. The two thoughts I've really had are:

I want Abigail to be terrible. I want her to be even worse than Reggie. We can have a twist where she's kind and we think she's good with the Umbrellas but then BAM! she's been manipulating them the whole time. None of this "Oh, Reggie used to be such a good person before he was twisted by his grief to get his dead wife back", "oh, Abigail is Good and if only she hadn't been trapped in a box the Umbrellas would have had such a better life". No! I need her to be fucking evil. Please.

I'm really open to whatever the Umbrellas are doing with their New Normal Lives. They're bumbling along, they're figuring it out. I hope they're in contact with one another. What I want that to be for Five is a nice montage of him having no fucking clue what to do. Bouncing between siblings, trying hobbies, trying to figure out how he fits in the world as a 58-year-old-13-year-old, and failing badly at it. Around this, he's drinking. His liver may not see 14, it's a real problem. But like, how does a man that's lived the life Five has had just... Stop? Klaus said it S1, he's "addicted to the apocalypse", and I think it's more Five doesn't know how to live without the apocalypse, as much as he'd rather otherwise. Where I think this settles is eventually him finding a new purpose in investigating the monopoly Reggie seems to have over every industry in the world - he needs something and he doesn't trust Reggie.

A tangent of the above, the thing that Cannot Happen is Five in high school. I'm sorry to those of you who like those fics, that concept, you do you but I fucking hate it. It makes me so uncomfortable. I will riot if they do a "haha! he's a kid so he's in school!". He is a 58-year-old man, just give him his GED and be done with it. I'll beg, if that will help make this not happen. The flip side of this that I dislike but don't viscerally hate is Five doing some normal, adult job and no one is blinking an eye that he's a kid. Let there be an actual consequence to the fact he's a kid, because that is genuinely a very traumatizing thing to have have happened to him and it deserves at least some acknowledgement for how much that would fucking suck.

Adding an unplanned part four, in that I think it would be interesting if Allison is the only one still with her powers (until they do some whatever to get their powers back because there's no way they go an entire season with no powers). She's going to have a redemption, reunite with the siblings. I think there's going to be some Realizations on her end that she is not in the perfect life she thought she was when she got Ray and Claire - she's changed both their contexts and lives, there is going to be things that aren't Quite Right to the versions of them she knows. She loves them, they're real, but they are Different.

We're in uncharted territory with S4, no comic book we can read for the season to be very loosely based off of. It could be literally anything. But neat you wanted the few thoughts I've had about it :)

#thank you for the ask! #i feel like i need to rewatch s3 again to get a better handle on where everyone is in relation so one another for further thoughts about s4 #and to write that post s3 fic i keep poking at with five and allison #tua #ask response #shark's tua thoughts

[andromedaexists]

One Month Later (give or take 17 days)

I told y'all I would do an update to my full disclosure post once we hit one month of Δάιος being in the world, and this is me fulfilling that promise!!

It may or may not be seventeen days late though.... life's been a bit tough lately and this was the earliest I could to get to it 😅

ANYWAYS let's talk about what's happened in the last month and a half in regards to self publishing my debut novel: ΔΆΙΟΣ!

As I mentioned in the last update, Δάιος was initially published in eBook, paperback, and hard cover format through both KDP (Amazon's printing house) and IngramSparks. These are still the main was that I am selling my novel, but I have also expanded to include my own website as a store front with Ko-Fi possibly soon to come!

IngramSparks is still a bitch, but I have not run into any more issues with them. If anything, they've kinda come back with a redemption gift! There is a new beta program that I am a part of where I can create links and QR codes that lead customers to buying my book directly from IngramSparks.

This is amazing! That means that I can send people directly to my preferred printing house to buy a copy instead of having them go through a middle man and then wait for weeks for the middle man to get the copy and send it their way! PLUS I get a higher royalty this way! I'm really excited for this feature and what it could possibly do for indie authors in the future!!

KDP is also still a bitch but unfortunately amazon is my best selling platform so I'm stuck with it for the moment! I still can't get any author copies in my hands from them (I ordered 10 paperback copies back in October and they still have not printed and shipped. In this same amount of time I've gotten two orders of author copies from IS and honestly could have gotten more but I'm not selling that many just yet)

My website functioning as a shop is something I've wanted to do since I set up my website. I will say that I am looking at integrating the IngramSparks direct sell interface onto my site or possibly switch over to Ko-Fi, because good lord is sales tax wild. I have owned a business before (I think I still own the LLC too, even though I haven't been in business for a few years), so sales tax is not new to me and is something that I thought I was prepared for. What I wasn't prepared for was how fucked tax code is surrounding books. I genuinely cannot process it and most companies have a whole team dedicated to just US tax code, so selling through a company that will do those taxes for me is what I'm gonna have to do.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk numbers!

Since release day, I have received 47 orders through KDP

As you can see, there was a spike the first two days as preorders were processed and sent! Since then, I have had quite a few lulls. Most of these were due to the fact that I have not promoted my book like at all since publication.

Sure, I've made a few posts here and there (most of which are shitposts), but I have spent this past month and a half dedicating my time to my health, my schooling, and supporting my Palestinian siblings in any way that I can. That includes a complete (or near complete, as I have started to post once again as of late) silence on social media in order to amplify their voices.

Also it feels really icky to me to promote an anti-establishment book that hinges on a traumatized man overthrowing his government using riots when there is a literal genocide happening thanks to the backing of our government.

For these reasons, I have not been pushing my book as much as I should have as a debut indie author. Even still, I have received 47 orders on KDP. I am beyond grateful for each and every person who supported my chaos queers.

Of those 47 orders:

34 were eBooks

12 were paperbacks

1 was a hard cover

But don't forget: I've gone wide!

So, how many orders have I received through IngramSparks?

6!! 🎉🎉

Of these, 3 have been eBooks and 3 have been hard cover!! (no IS paperbacks yet...)

I am fairly certain that the eBooks are through foreign retail services like Kobo, since I have a decent group of Canadian and UK readers that would likely prefer that to Amazon!

The hard covers, well, I don't want to be too hopeful... but I think those were orders to bookstores! I applied to a couple in my area, and I really hope they love the book! Can you just imagine walking into a physical indie book shop and seeing your debut novel on their shelves?? That would be a dream come true!

One last place to look at numbers, and that is my website!

Since our last update, I have has two more orders! That means I have sold:

1 eBook

3 paperback

3 hard cover

1 sticker pack

Not too shabby! Especially given the circumstances at the moment!! I am looking at switching this over to Ko-Fi, but that will have to wait until after the holiday season when I can think again!

That brings my totals to:

It is very clear to me that Amazon eBooks are my bread and butter at the moment. Hopefully, I'll be able to sway it to IngramSparks direct or my own website, but hey! We're at a 60 sale milestone!! I'll take it!!

Now that we've gone through the numbers, let's talk earnings. Last time we talked, I told y'all that I spent $2,920.16 on the creation of Δάιος. That number has since gone up, since I've ordered more author copies. We are now sitting at $3,013.55 spent!

So, how much of that have I made back so far?

KDP: According to my calculations $105.82, but KDP is telling me that I actually made $118.77 (I think this is due to sales happening in other countries, I think the royalty rates are ever so slightly different in each country) IS: ??? Theoretically, $13.17 but I have no way of seeing that in my dashboard and probably won't see it until I hit like a $100 threshold with them Website: According to my calculations $117.93, but in actuality $122.93. There is no reason for this one to be off I need to figure that out (edit from future me: YOU DUMBASS IT'S THE $5 STICKER PACK)

That means I've made a ~$236.92 dent in the cost of my book!!! That's so exciting!!

I want to once again say that I know I am incredibly privileged to have a credit card I can put my expenses on as I slowly pay them off, and I do not regret anything I have done in the creation of my book. Even if it makes me cry a little bit at how much I spent.

On to the next thing! Here are some positives and negatives that I have not already mentioned.

Positive first:

My book is still a book!

My GoodReads rating has gone up a little bit thanks to another 5 star review! Icky baby is sitting at a comfy 4.8 right now!

The copyright has come in the mail! I need to frame it, but I fully own the copyright to Δάιος and the content within it!

People have already started asking for a book two 😭😭

Art commissions are starting to come in!

The placeholder chapter title has been fixed and no one noticed except for me! (and if they did, they didn't mention it to me)

And some negatives:

I figured out how to get creme paper for the hard cover editions, but I will have to completely re-do every step for IngramSparks using a new ISBN number and I just... don't wanna (maybe I'll do that right before the release of book two 👀👀)

People are asking for book two already 😭😭

I am mentally and physically at rock bottom right now and all my attention and willpower has been forcibly relocated to school. I need to graduate, I am only twoish weeks away. But that means I have not been able to do anything for this book and it hurts to see Icky baby stagnate like this when his story is meant to be shared

I was accidentally exposed to a two star review thanks to StoryGraph being too good of an app and not refreshing to the home page when I opened it to add a book to my tbr. This was... not a fun time

Now that we've made it through my incredibly long-winded post...

Thank yous for joining me back at the one month(ish) mark!! My next full disclosure update will be at the six (6) month mark. If y'all wanna keep updated with more shenaniganery that I get up to, make sure to check out my nifty newsletter or hand around here on tumblr (I promise I'll actually be back once I graduate. I just gotta. Get my degree.)

#andi talks #publishing costs #publishing numbers #indie publishing #self publishing #call me icarus #writeblr #once again posting this at like 10 at night because i'm real good at this life thing

[theageofsims]

Man... The Sims community...

I wasn't going to make a post because I seriously thought it was me so I literally took the time to find the overall point in constant arguments and rage... And then I slapped myself across the face and was like bitch trust your gut like you always do -- it ain't you! 😂

I'm an OG simmer so I've known the community to be one hell of a mean and snarky place. That has clearly changed in modern times (apparently?), but I'm literally too old to even care because I just learned to settle with the reality that you can't ask other simmers for shit and your best bet is to just search for things yourself -- but I'm also old enough to notice the actual change.

But my God...

I remember telling a friend who doesn't even play the any games at all, how I loved the Sims. Randomly I just went on about it one day last year at some point and she suggested maybe I should start a YouTube Channel. I thought. Nah... But then I gave it a try, thought it was time consuming, but then after my dad died I thought let me try again.

Since I post mostly speed builds or build videos, and because the majority of my Sims content I take in on YouTube is a couple of Speed build channels and mod overviews (and some Let's Plays when one of my nieces is around), I remember seeing how Twitter would be a good place to post your build video news and so forth and I thought God, not another social media platform.

Well -- I did it anyway. I actually had a Twitter for my Sims stuff during the height of COVID or something like that, but forgot I had it and then deleted the email I have tied to it so I guess it'll be there forever because I can't get in. Anyway, I started up a new one as I said -- I did it, and all was going well. I had to learn my way around and then little by little... The shit started hitting the fan and left me like...

I can't even understand how some people find time in their day to debate and argue over real world issues that are many literally have no power to change besides voting and -- like that's literally it. So imagine me seeing people having debates and arguing over a damn video game. Mind... Blown. 👀

So clearly -- I fucked up. 😂😂😂 I took the advice of a friend and ended up seeing the Sims community beyond Sims 4 CC on Tumblr and God, I wanna bleach my eyeballs. My blog here has been a sideblog since 2017 -- when I started blogging the Sims 4 and I purposely did that because I didn't want to see the same content flooding my dash because I'm one of those people with a lot of interests/hobbies so I like controlling what I see when I see it, and really -- my first time on Tumblr was in 2011 and I strictly came here for Harrison Ford and Cary Grant content. Y'all know how it is with my movie watching 🎥🍿 -- and forums and message boards had already started to disappear years prior and I was like where on earth are fans supposed to go? Tumblr was that place.

So... Again -- I fucked up. 😂

Yeah, totally fucked up.

So yeah -- I mean, definitely can see now all I've been missing. 😂 It's been a shit show that I happily hadn't seen... Until I saw it.

I don't know. I think losing my dad also made me realize that there's more to life than dwelling and being angry every single minute of every single day. It made me realize how short life is and just that there are far more important things in life than rioting over a video game. Not that I was an angry person before he passed, but I'm just saying that losing him so suddenly is something that made me think and realize things... Then to see people arguing over nonsense and constant entitlement or expectations it's like -- seriously? In what world do you go to bed and wake up in where you think we all have to bend to your every cue? I'm too grown for this shit and the real world doesn't work like this -- it never has.

I'm not disappointed or anything though because I never blogged the Sims to find a community or to find friends. I appreciate everyone that has interacted with me out of the blue and also all the help that is provided when I ask a random question (because back in them Sims 1 and 2 days, man.... 😂 You might as well had put a helmet on before you went out into the internets and asked the most basic question)... But out of all the practicality that constantly cruises through my body, there's a chaotic side that thinks they liked the meanness of the community back in the day than what's out now. 😂 Like I rather people be standoffish and cold rather than policing every damn thing and literally only existing within a community to be negative. It's like they're just sitting and waiting for news or tidbits so they can rant and rave about problems that honestly do not truly exist. So they can tag their posse and they can all gang up on somebody who isn't playing the game the way they feel is right or they have different opinions that must be changed... Like excuse me, boundaries. 😂 Like pick your ass right up outta my spot... and go back home. Have some tea.

It blows my mind too because so much more is being given from The Sims creators. We're getting far more packs than is required even though when we started out with Base Game we didn't even like pools? 😂 Was it pools? I dunno, but Sims 4's introduction was weak as hell -- like the weakest I had ever known The Sims to be. So to have all that we do or the ability to have all that we do and for there to still be a problem? Something's rotten in Mayberry. (Mayberry is a fictional town in The Andy Griffith show and was suspected of rotten-ness by Fox Mulder in Season 4 of "The X-Files"... I really can't stop with these movie / TV show references, can I? 🤦🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️)

Also, the Base Game is free. A current Sims game... That is still being updated and having packs released has their base game... For free. When Sims 4 came out, wasn't it like 70-75 dollars? I was like oh hell...no. I waited for it to go down in price, but I still paid for it.

I don't understand this need for things to be Free -- but I know I missed that wagon due to my age because ain't nothing in life free except for food where you work when they have random events -- if they have random events -- and even then you still have to go in and do the work until it's time to get that free food. So I repeat -- ain't nothing in life free. 😂

Like love and a helping hand you can give free and get for free, but no way is a video game company or any company actually, going to give things away for free.

I'm also not saying things come without errors, but at least they come -- you know what I mean? Like, ain't nothing in life perfect either. Perfection is modifiable and sometimes you get to a point like me where you're like listen I'm just taking what I can get at this point. 😂🤷🏽‍♀️ Again -- I started with The Sims 1... Every single installment of this franchise has been an upgrade since Sims 1 (but also, low key... Been a downgrade in some areas of Sims 4 from let's say Sims 2 because of the lack of gameplay, -- but there just very low-key because the Sims 4 is still living to tell its tale and we have gotten so much more stuff I don't even know exists yet because I haven't found the time to do much exploring since literally the release of Discover University)... So what have I got to complain about? The Sims have personalities and moods and traits and can multitask and they look FAR more than they did in Sims 1 -- if I left them on Free Will they would hardly burn to their deaths because they'd probably be smart enough to extinguish themselves which is FAR MORE than I can say for Sims 1. You left your Sims to themselves on that game and the entire family would go up in a blaze of glory. 😂 You didn't fuck around with Sims 1 -- they were out for blood!

... And let's be honest. Some of us couldn't wait to see them turn to ashes...

But lemme stop because now I'm talking far too much... And I'm running out of gifs... (Credit, all gifs were made by me except the top one 😂)

So the take away? It shouldn't be this serious. It shouldn't be this aggravating. It shouldn't be this angry. It shouldn't be this disheartening, toxic (as people are obsessed with using that word), or just honestly flat out stupid. With all the time that people are spending complaining about things and just being trapped in negativity... They've got to take time to step away and to realize or to figure out where exactly all of this is coming from. And I swear they'll probably realize that a lot of it has nothing to do with the Sims at all -- they're just venting or really, taking it out on something that either can't hurt them or they can take some kind of control over. I get it -- I've been there, we all have. It's called being human. We all start lashing out at things when we are under stress and so forth, but we all also have to be aware and have accountability for ourselves as well as knowing when to step away or when to find an outlet... Or something as easy as stepping outside for a breath of fresh air. There is still a lot of truth to not saying anything if you haven't got anything nice to say as well. Sure -- it's old fashioned, but it's also still able to be applied to modern times with modern conditions and modern people. Freedom of speech also is still a thing and probably very much so, but there is also a nicer or better way for things to be said.

We're truly all not meant to get along. I know that might sound shocking to a lot of people but it's the actual truth. I don't know anyone in my real life or in my life in general who honestly gets along with every single person they know. And I know the most immediate thing for so many people to do these days is to just cut people right out of their lives and pretend like they never existed at all... But there's also a whole group of people who tolerate people for a number of reasons. May they be family, friends acquaintances, coworkers, or whoever -- or maybe all of the above. Again, myself very much included.

Anyway, ya girl's tired of all the nonsense. 😂 I'm not sure if I'll continue to use Twitter because that place needs Jesus or a damn exorcist, not sure which one really -- now I know why my former president couldn't stop himself from tweeting in the wee hours of the morning 😂🤦🏽‍♀️, but clearly I never left Tumblr because it's just a different vibe here and when I wanna shut off anything Sims related, it's Easy Like Sunday Morning...

If you don't know that's a song, you can check it out here. 🎶🎙️♥️...😂

Sing it Lionel ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

#good lord #I vote a happy meal for everybody so they can get happy 😂😂😂 #blurb #didn't expect Lionel to make it in this post but it's fine #I be on Lionel all the time anyway 🎶♥️ #Youtube

[justmybookthots]

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

4/5 stars

I finally found it! A book with a portrayal of fae that I liked almost as much as Holly Black’s!

Of course, that’s because Heather Fawcett’s depiction of fae is strikingly redolent of Holly’s. I could even dub them to be in the same universe and they would fit somehow. It is clear by now I only like a specific kind of fae (this is my personal preference)—the fairytale-esque / folklore version. I hate Gild or ACoTAR’s portrayal of fae; I do not see fae EVER as... macho men. The mere thought makes me gag. I will take Cardan’s goat tail over big, manly ‘alpha’ men that are also so-called 'fae', tyvm.

Sorry, I digress. But not entirely, because well, this book I’m reviewing, if the title isn’t obvious enough, is about fae. The way fae is categorised goes like this (I’m writing this down so that when the next book arrives next year, I still fucking remember):

Human-sized / big fae are called The Tall Ones or Courtly Fae. Tiny ones are called the Common Fae, further sub-categorised into Brownies (they strike bargains with mortals often) or Trooping Fae (they travel in troops and keep to themselves). 

One of my standout (if not my favourite) characters is Poe, who is a Brownie. OMG, he is so adorable with his sharp needle-fingers and his love for cooking. Also, that little thing makes fucking delicious bread, which is my absolute favourite thing to eat in the world. My heart broke for him when his tree got burnt, but yay that Wendell Bambleby fixed it for him!!! 

How is Poe not adorable? I heard from the reviews (LUCKY ASSES WHO GOT ARCS) that the next book will feature him again (and his lady), and I am so excited to read it.

Moving on from Poe, I’ll address a character much more important to the story: Wendell. I have to say that because everyone was saying the romance subplot is very small, I took it to mean that I would not see Wendell much, but I was wrong. Wendell is in the story most of the time. And while I can’t say I’m in love with him (the romance was too sudden IMO), I do love him very much. He’s hilarious. An absolute riot. I mean, just look at this part in his POV (do be mindful of spoilers in this snippet):

This man is clinically insane, lmao.

Random side-note: him having blonde hair is delicious. I just love blonde male characters. He is, quite literally, a ray of sunshine compared to Emily’s grumpiness. I usually absolutely despise the grumpy/sunshine trope because the man is almost always the fucking grump. But when it’s reversed? Utterly delightful. How can I not love a male character who is actually emotionally intelligent? Who on earth wrote into the romance fiction codex that an attractive male lead must have the emotional intelligence of a toothpick (Coughs at Love Hypothesis, coughs at Love on the Brain, cough cough cough)? Who???

Anyways.

This book surprised me in many ways, not just with Wendell. It’s dubbed as ‘cosy fantasy’ and many people complain that nothing really happens, so I was kind of bracing myself for a snoozefest.

Um, I was wrong.

I'm confused that this is what we consider cosy fantasy (I truthfully know next to nothing of this genre)? But… There is so much adventure and action that happens here. If anything, the stakes in this story feel higher / more engaging than in An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, which I strongly disliked (even though I enjoyed some of its portrayal of fae). While the beginning was a bit rough, I was utterly hooked about a third into Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia. 

I was also A FOOL, because I read this thinking the next book was already out. T_T But no, it only comes out NEXT YEAR. Why are all the books I’m desperate for coming out next year? Okay, just two books including this, but whatever. 

One more thing to add before I close this entry: why do some people dislike Emily??? She was reserved, yes, but her kind heart really shone through her actions, especially in comparison to Wendell's indifference. She’s one of the many characters I adored in this book. In fact, I loved almost everyone in the cast; I was prepared to dislike Auds, the village headswoman, but I loved her in the end. It was lovely how the villagers rallied to support Emily later on, and also—I can't forget dear old Shadow!! Bless that baby.

Suffice to say, I will be sitting here, waiting for the next book very, very patiently.

- 11 Aug 2023

#booktok #book review #Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries #fantasy books #heather fawcett

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without Context

Ravenloft Edition, Fundertainment Land Arc part 2

Gunder: “Don't you know I'm dead inside?” Vesh: “Yes, that's the problem, we want you dead on the outside too.” Poom: "And all the other sides, too. Just to be safe.” Marshal: ”Management wants to make a show of my suffering. Of course we'd be going through their outdated knockoff Darklords.” Marshal: ”Count Strahdical (pronounced St-radical) was the leader here, back in the day.” Gorbash: “How insufferable was he compared to the real one?” Jonni: “Real one gave us goulash, so I’m guessing lots.” "Hunky Harkon, Adamazing, and... I always forget what the mummy was saddled with.” "They literally could not come up with anything dumber than Ankhtepot.” Marshal: ”By all rights, I should offer you all a chance to be in the union, but I served with each of you as Lord Soth-cool, and I know you all to be a bunch of knobs.” Strahdical points at you. "No. NO. IT IS YOU WHO IS THE KNOB!” "Time to cut the count up; 1, 1 blade strikes, 2, 2 blade strikes.” "You always thought you were SOOOO much better than us.” “I mean… he is…” "You never wanted to hang out with us and eat kids after hours.” Edmund is thinking. ”Hunktepot, Ankh I’m a little teapot, Ank the Poo…." GM OOC: You guys are basically getting your asses kicked by the Groovie Ghoulies. Azathoth: "Since when was this game a 90s Saturday cartoon?” Nyx: "Since about our first adventure where we dealt with a haunted house.” Strahdical: ”We call THAT the bite of 87. Fucking RECOGNIZE.” Nyarlathotep: "That you're a relic? O-kay.” Somewhere Vesh is suddenly filled with an urge to burn down an overpriced pizza parlor. OOC: No, that's what they want you to do. For the insurance money. "Gnarlytepot... Ankredibepot…." He stands there for a second. seemingly fine. "HA! YOUR PATHETIC ATTACKS ARE USELESS AGAINST ME!” Then his top half falls off. “SHIT!" It is just now that Poom arrives. "Sorry, I had to burn down the toilets to make them sanitary.........And you guys did fine without me.” “That’s great. I am bleeding very badly.” Poom: "So do we just set each one on fire till we find the mimics?” Jonni sighs. “Nyx, you’ve got the best hand eye coordination. Give it one shot before I become Death, destroyer of claw machines.” "I do NOT have a gambling habit!” “Is that why Strahd knows what you look like naked?” “You're right... YOU HAVE A GAMBLING PROBLEM!” Nyx: *rolls nat 20* Marshal: ”I did see that right? She just noclipped through the glass and grabbed the ticket?” Even though you are pretty sure the claw tries to deliberately drop it at some point, and when it drops it to your hand you swear the claw flips you off somehow. When the flash clears, where Marshal was standing now stands a four foot tall teddy bear in adorable armor. "Darn, if it is a curse it the weirdest curse I've ever seen. Into a statue or plant, sure. But a stuffed toy, never.” “You mean… other than last week when that happened to all of us?” "That felt more like genie magic, not a curse.” "Um what the fuck happened to Marshal?” "Revenge of the Claw Machine.” "I've only known Bitey for five seconds and if anything happened to them I would burn this world to cinders and piss on the remains.” Nyx carries Marshal teddy bear. Gorbash: “One or both of them are going to murder the rest of us in our sleep.” Poom: "That's why I sleep with both eyes open.” Vesh: ”Well I think I saw him reading a bellhop the riot act a little while ago.” Gorbash: “…The Fuck? I'm fairly sure I diced him into pieces…” Jonni: “Did he at least have robot parts?” Gorbash: “Wait... THAT MEANS I CAN KILL HIM ALL OVER AGAIN! There are positives to this situation.” ”SHAZAM!” fluffy marshal says, before with a thunderclap, flash of light and a cheap smoke bomb effect, he's returned to his proper form. Gorbash: “Could you do that this whole time?” Marshal: "I bore the price of my hubris, for as long as I tolerated it." Gorbash: “You forgot you could do it, didn't you.” Marshal: “…Yes.” Yog-sothoth: "Hey, Poom: we cheated and gave you Intellect Fortress. Get casting.” Poom: "So apparently now I can do Jonni's thing.” "Can I have a salad please? Thank you.” "Sure, you want Macaroni, Taco or Tuna?” “I could shit a better Turkey Leg. I should go back there and show them how to season huge chunks of meats.” "They always make these chairs sized for big people, I have to stand on it to see into the arena.” “I mean… you want the high chair or the kiddie stool? Those both seem bad options to me, but it’s your dignity.” Gorbash: “Marshal I think you've managed to piss off both of our old tormentors in one shot. Keep up the good work.” Jonni: “How bad could it be?……..It’s cool, I said it ironically.” Gorbash: “... Really?” "Good news. It doesn’t infect creatures... It eats the tadpoles. Bad news? It eats everything else too.” Gorbash: “It's a killing machine with mind powers. This is going to suck.” OOC: Behold my Champions levels of dice! Fear me! GM: The arena fills with scorched worm flesh, which smells slightly better than the turkey legs. OOC: Bad news… I can only do that once more. Good news, I did that from 60 feet away. Edmund murmured, clasping his holy symbol and bringing out a reliquary as it is filled with golden light and summons forth a figure garbed in blue. <"Peace be upon you, seekers of knowledge! I-- HOLY FUCK!”> Jonni: “I only understood those last two words, but it’s generally bad when the being of pure angelic knowledge thinks this shit is messed up.” "Incoming dragon steamroller!” Azathoth: "FINISH HIM!" Yog-sothoth: "Wrong part of the fight.” Poom puts her fingers to her head, a third eye opens up, and a wave motion beam comes out. Gunder sighs, and waves his hands, and several servers in peasents begin setting up a stand around the Neothelid and then begin carving it up to sell shanks on a stick for 10 GP a hock. Gorbash: “Damn it, now I have to waste 10 gold if I want a taste without licking the gore off my armor.” “You one a those angels can be a lady on command?” "I can be a lot of things.” "I am the angel TriVia, of where the three roads meet." Vesh comes up to Trivia "Welcome to the group. We just adopted you. No you don't get a say. Here's your introductory pamphlet.” Marshal wisely switches out Nyx's stein of Ruminating Jolt for something less likely to make her hyper. "Nooo, my Jolt! I haven't felt like I had this much energy since I was 5. Wheee!" Nyx goes running around with her arms out. Vesh takes it from you. "YOU DON'T NEED IT. YOU'RE ALL THE WOMAN YOU NEED TO BE.” Marshal: ”That, and I'm reasonably sure Danzi has it spiked with actual ruminating drugs.” “Okay, food is shit, entertainment tried to eat us. I say we cast sleep on Nyx and sleep this off.” So you guys all get as good a nights rest as you can (and consequently Gorebash spends half the night infllicting menacing attacks on the toilet). Poom (as she stare-sleeps from her armchair): "That's what you get for trying to buy all the neothelid.” GM OOC: Also does Gorebash have the beard yet? Gorbash OOC: Let me roll. Okay it's a 50/50 chance so 1 is beard 2 is no beard. *rolls a 1* Gorbash has become a beard dragon. OOC: I’m presuming that's a fryer, with what looks like bacon and potatoes in it? OOC2: I’m not sure, I think it’s the “American “ hot pot from a Japanese show. Hamburger and fries cooked in a pot of cola. OOC:…that hurts my brain, teeth and stomach all at the same time. OOC: Now I got the Winnie the Pooh song stuck in my head, imagining him wrapped up like a mummy… OOC2: I have the same problem every time I think about China.

#dungeons and dragons #dnd 5e #quotes without context #ravenloft