#& then proved to subvert that by being deeply fucked up?

[sydmarch]

there's definitely a venn diagram to be made here

#like mommy issues? taken in & manipulated by an extremely powerful older woman? used by her to do completely awful things? #initially set up to be one thing that you would generally expect (popular mean girl trope/'vanilla'(im pretty sure thats literally #exactly how either portia or sam described her)/normal girl foil to elliot) #& then proved to subvert that by being deeply fucked up? #texticles #gen v #cate dunlap #mr robot #angela moss

[trikis-turntables]

Out of morbid curiosity i went to look at the new story in Dislyte with Sachiko and holy shit. Which fucken hack wrote this? I'm not spoiler tagging this cause really, it's not worth the effort.

I kind of???????Man.

It felt like someone read the original story and wrote a petty rewrite that blatantly shows their biases for and against certain characters.

Like the biggest issue was defo the Gaius plot twist he got actually done dirty?? Idk i feel like its a problem with the isekai/transmigration genre as a whole but you don't innovate by subverting subversions. You just end up going back to stereotypes. OG!Gaius was a subversion of the whole "Stoic Highly Decorated Man in Position of Power that doesn't look like he belongs" and then he proves time and time again that he's approachable and loves and cares for people so deeply that he'd maintain an image of himself (his display of medals--that garners negative comments about his character being prideful, mind you) just on the rare occasion that it could provide some comfort to the people he's helping. He lives eVERYDAY, trying to live up to Hannah's memory. This is a man that misses burnt peach pie because his wife made it for him. In the new storyline..he's just a transcendent obsessed, power hungry bastard. None of the character nuance.

And then Abigail and Alexa. I hate that they're not allowed to just be morally grey characters. New update makes them "acceptably" morally grey which IMO just flattens their characters. "Yes, a female character can be morally grey if they are your allies." Like fuck right off lmao. What's that??? The central intrigue of Abigail's personality is her ruthlessness contrasted with her softness for the few (few) people she actually cares about. It's literally her song. Roses in the snow.

And ugh. I hate the new "human"-ist moral of the Unknown Story. The fun part of the original Dislyte story was that people *dont know* what to think about Esper powers. Like Miracles are Dangerous, that's been established. Miramons are unknown beings that tend to cause mayhem and destruction. But on the espers' side? We run the gamut of characters seeing their powers as a source of good-- that because they gained powers they can better help and protect others (Tang Xuan, Li Ling, Ahmed, Bardon etc); to characters that hate their transformation because it turned them into monsters or changed their appearance in such a way to cause them great discomfort and body dysphoria (Nu Xi, Brewster, Heng Yue) and so many more that are ambivalent or have other things to worry about. And the central interest of their humanity *was* that contrast of perspectives. Shadow Decree was interesting as a unit because their mission statement was "Esper Acceptance" and that can mean both "we should understand how espers works so we should research it" to "live and let live" to "Esper Supremacy". Like remember when the story used to show the dichotomy of the glitz and glam of the Esper Union against the backdrop that many common folk and non powerful espers discriminated against Espers? That's the subversion. To flatten the message to "we must save the humans!!" and "esperification unilaterally corrupts and makes people go power hungry" is a 12 year old's idea of writing and nuance because it /ignores/ that people can have different perspectives over the same thing.

And haaaah. Like if anything that dislyte is good at, its in making characters that at least a few people will care about even if theyre mentioned shortly. That's just how strong the personalities are in this game. But it's kind of telling that I've seen no fanart or writing of Sachiko at all. Berenice, for how much I did not vibe with her or care about her in the story is beloved by even more people than I can count. (Also just petty sidenote: when a 'soft' female character gets 'corrupted' by power, and also the trope of female character having to be "saved" by ...getting mcfucken murdered by the masc main character)

But I think it's just sad that they cared so little for the new story that they couldn't even come up with a name for the Miracle. Unknown Miracle? You didn't even want to know your own story, man.

#dislyte #im an honors server player #ive been here since the start.

[gunslinginnhogtyin]

🍰🎂🍪!!!

ODD OC ASKS

🍰: What's something your OC counts as unforgivable?

Hmmm…. It takes a lot for Butch to truly despise someone. They could do something fucked up and he may let it slide if they make amends in a way he approves of. Consider the Darlene situation; she essentially ruined his life and robbed him of his mortality but if she were still alive today and happened to apologize to him for that, he would welcome her back with open arms though that is admittedly a special case.

Overall, Butch values loyalty over everything. Being betrayed is a sure fire way to find yourself on his shit list unless you’re Darlene apparently.

🎂: Has your OC have any contradictory interests or traits to the first preception people have of them? How do they surprise people?

Upon first impressions, people may get the idea that he’s just a riley jackass without a care in the world…and he is to an extent. It’s easier to pretend not to care when you’re busy trying to ignore your troubles by distracting yourself with fun adventures! And wrestling! And starting bar fights! Sometimes he’s even a bit callous depending on the situation and can be ignorant to feelings around him but at his core, he cares… sometimes a bit too much.

People also tend to judge him based on his size but what he doesn’t have in height he makes up for in strength and personality. Too often has he subverted a strangers expectations by doing exactly what they’ve said he couldn’t, whether it be strength related or otherwise. Telling this man he can’t do something is a sure fire way to get him to do it! And prove you wrong in the process.

🍪: What is something that's sentimental to your OC?

Butch has many sentimental things thanks to his ex partner in crime, Darlene. The cowboy was never really a sentimental person growing up honestly, not feeling as though material objects held much significance… but after meeting her and Darlene going out of her way to physically make him some things, his opinion on that changed—if only because of her.

His boots and his outfit are all handmade by Darlene herself, as well the golden letter plates on the side of his guns with the letter of his first name. He also carries around a flask to stay hydrated that she embroidered the outside of; originally it belonged to her but he treasures it deeply.

#hxzelwallflower #about the muse //ask games #(thankyou!! i love these!! hehe)

[hageny]

Succession Thoughts: Gerri x Roman

AN: Points two and three in this post were requested by @thinkingfixatingobsessing​, who wanted me to dissect those moments. Thanks goes to her for the ideas. 

1. Brother Against Brother.

Roman’s introduction in Succession sees him coming back from California to congratulate Kendall on what his siblings--at this point--believe is his new position as next CEO of Waystar. We find out in this scene that Roman was once working alongside Kendall--in a position Roman only refers to as “not as high” as Kendall’s--before he was shipped off to CA for being, in his own words, “a bad fit”. The further we get into the series however, the more hindsight helps in analyzing this first scene, and we realize two important things. Firstly, when Roman claims he was not right for the company, we can almost hear Logan’s voice in the shadow of Roman’s words, saying that he was a bad fit: too incompetent, too unreliable, not enough of a shark. The more we see of their dynamic, the more we realize Logan is the one who doesn’t believe in Roman and Roman more or less parrots to others what he has been told his whole life. We can also safely assume that Roman would have remained this way--directionless, unmotivated--had he not been taken by Gerri under her wing. I’ve mentioned in other posts how her belief in him is vital to his change in direction, so I needn’t go into great detail here, but Roman--depicted as un-invested in Waystar from the get-go--is invested enough to push Gerri as CEO only one episode later, which is interesting to say the least. Secondly, we see in this scene a foundation for what will later become Roman’s motivation to betray his own family and oust them and secure power for himself. We know from later episodes that Kendall is repeatedly given passes for bad behavior and privileges his siblings don’t get, Roman in particular. This however, is a pattern that precedes the show, as we see Kendall only three years after his cocaine spiral set to take over the company in spite of a history of poor decisions while Roman is depicted as simply ‘too stupid’ to run Waystar when he doesn’t engage in the same risk-taking that his peers do, drugs included. The bitterness Roman needs to accomplish his goals has a core located in his upbringing, and grows larger as he gets batted around in lower-level jobs in the company while watching his brother sail past him to take the reigns. 

2. Blank slate.

In Prague, we see Roman and Tom at Tom’s bachelor party scoping out the women and seeing if there are any that catch their eyes--particularly Tom, who is interested in exploring the opening given him by Shiv to ‘engage himself’ with other women for the evening. This marks Tabitha’s first appearance in the show, as she catches Tom’s eye, who quickly points her out to Roman, waffling whether or not to approach her. Roman attempts to make a sexual/salacious remark to describe what he might do to her, but is unable to properly express anything, saying, “Fuck yeah, I’d be all over that. I’d like...I’d fucking...arggh, fuck!”. We see here a moment that ties into Roman’s sexual hang-ups, first touched on by his first girlfriend earlier in the season, and explored in greater detail in his relationship with Tabitha. What’s key in his inability to express himself here is that Tabitha, from the beginning, before the start of her relationship with Roman, is unable to strike enough of a nerve with him for him to even be able to express how he might engage with her sexually, which is interesting given his ability to make sexually charged remarks in other settings. It also stands in stark contrast to his ability to come on to Gerri during their first moments on camera. Where he fails to find words to even say what he might do to Tabitha, even something as simple as “I’d fuck her hard”, he tells Gerri expressly that he likes to “lube up and fuck”, and while he does not necessarily mean it literally, he can still look her in the eye and flirt with her without hesitation, and proceeds to do so throughout that scene. He is later able to have phone sex with her--another scene where the show purposefully parallels his relationship with Tabitha, who he hangs up on--and tells her at that moment he wants for her to hear him masturbate to the sound of her voice--again expressly telling her sexually what he wants to do and then following through. In Hunting, he waits for her to come close to him and begin buttoning his shirt before telling her, “You know, if I were capable of any sudden movement I would totally pounce on you right now.” All of these moments spiral out of this first moment with Tabitha, where the show begins, even then, to showcase Romans’ inability to sexually engage with her while being able to do so with Gerri from the beginning. The reasons Roman is wired this way can be tied to his trauma as a child--his need for humiliation to get off with Gerri--but it can also be seen as possibly hinting that Roman and Gerri’s relationship goes back farther than we know, spelled out in his ability to flirt easily with her and engage with her in ways he cannot with younger women, and in Gerri’s ability to understand him deeply enough that she is able to please him without even sleeping with him.

3. Roman’s Wife. 

The scene where Roman proposes to Gerri can probably be dissected a million ways--as can really any of the show, to be fair--but I will touch on one interesting facet of this scene. There is--as there are many times over the show--a parallelism at play here between Tabitha and Gerri. In Pre-Nuptial, Roman proposes to Tabitha by asking her, “What if I was prepared to marry you?”. When Tabitha balks at the suggestion, he elaborates that because his siblings are married, or have been, that he should be too, insinuating the decision is made more-so to follow suit. It’s not that he doesn’t like Tabitha--he precedes his proposal with a list of her best qualities, after all. It’s more-so that this scene makes it obvious that his desire to marry her doesn’t come from a desire for her as a person, merely his desire to be on-par with his siblings with regard to lifestyle choices. That proposal culminates with Tabitha asking Roman, “Do you think this is the way to get someone to stay?” to which Roman doesn’t respond, but the audience already knows the answer. Roman’s desire not to be alone precedes his actual interest in her, and Tabitha is smart enough to suss out that she is not the one for him, merely the one he is with right now. When Roman proposes to Gerri, he takes a much different approach. Roman’s proposal is something of a surprise, but yet it also is another step in a relationship wherein the players are already entrenched in a sexual affair with one another. Roman throws out the question as casually as he can and then when Gerri reacts with surprise, Roman quickly subverts the seriousness of the moment by jokingly telling her that if not marriage than simply abducting her will suffice. He also adds on that their eating one another--again, not literally, although he makes reference to Germany’s famous Armin Meiwes--suits his fancy, implying that being ‘one’ with her even in oneness’ most brutal, animalistic way is enough for him. Where he loses his patience with Tabitha when she rejects him, finally snapping, “Do you want to get married or not?”, when Gerri reacts with shock he merely plays it cool and offers her alternatives, finally slipping out of the room and leaving the ball in her court. Roman would most certainly like Gerri to stay, but he doesn’t use marrying her as a ploy to get her to do so merely so he isn’t alone--a narcissistic reason for marrying someone that satisfies only his own ends. He is comfortable enough in his relationship with Gerri to allow her to roam independently and decide for herself what she wants. He doesn’t force any aspect of their togetherness, merely presents her with different opportunities to see how she will react and if she can keep up with him. Gerri proves time and again that she is capable and Roman ups the ante in response to her prowess. His desire to marry her is based in what we know from the “Rockstar and the Molewoman” scene as his ability to see them as a team. To him, Gerri is an equal, not a belonging or a means to evade unpleasant emotions. She fulfills him in a way Tabitha and others cannot, and so when he asks her to marry him, he is also showcasing to the audience his view of her as an equal, and a prime candidate for the role of wife. 

#gerri/roman #gerri x roman #gerri kellman #roman roy #succession #succession hbo #hbo succession #succession thoughts

[t0bey]

plum drop the essay on fuyu/peko and mondo/taka paralelles !!!! i am curious

ask and u shall recieve (inserting my first ever page break because holy FUCK this got long) 

oke! I guess I’ll start off with Peko’s initial conception as a character, which was the main initial comparison danganronpa intended between Peko and Kiyotaka.

I’ve noticed danganronpa has a tendency to re-use character tropes or roles after each game, tho their fates end up differently. For example, Chihiro was the smart, cute, and sweet character who ended up dying early on and had little significance outside of alter ego afterwards. Chiaki is the same, except if Danganronpa took Chihiro’s character and made her one of the main protagonists that has much more significance in the game. 

The staff of SDR2 confirmed that they based Peko off of Kiyotaka, from their intense red eyes (which was intentional) + predominately b&w colorscheme, they both have swords, and their characters are tied to justice, though in different ways. Not to mention both are meant to be extremely disciplined, but ultimately struggle at socializing due to their rough backstories. But that’s where Peko’s ties to Taka as an initial concept end there, because the parallels between Peko/Taka and Fuyuhiko/Mondo are a whole ‘nother ballpark.

Before bringing that up though, we should note that while their designs are significantly different, Mondo and Fuyuhiko are extremely similar in terms of their backstory and personality (down to their ability to curse like a sailor). Both struggle with an inferiority complex (Fuyuhiko w/ how he isn’t taken seriously because of his babyface, Mondo w/ how his self esteem is really fragile and gets jealous of others when he acknowledges them to be stronger than him). Both act like tough, aggressive lone-wolfs (well, Mondo pre-sauna anyways), but have been stated to have a soft side, to the point they doubt their capabilities of being a tough leader because of it. They both even have a sibling they both believe would be a better leader than them (Daiya and Natsumi). BASICALLY fuyuhiko and mondo are the same role, being the intimidating gang leader that no one should fuck with, but in actuality has a lot of insecurities behind that facade. 

Ok, ok, time to the ACTUAL relationship parallel analysis. We now know why Peko/Taka are meant to be parallels, and we can definintely make a solid claim for Fuyuhiko and Mondo. This isn’t new for Danganronpa, in their tendency to use patterns but give them a different twist depending on the game. Which is exactly what happened in  regards to chapter 2 of THH and SDR2, respectively.

The games’ chapter 1s are simple: meant to introduce the characters/game/stakes. Leon and Sayaka’s deaths were tragic, but the emotional impact of them wasn’t the main priority by the writers. Only to show that this was, indeed, a Killing Game where anyone’s possible to die. But chapter 2 of danganronpa is intended to be the chapter where you’re introduced to just how emotional and tragic the games can actually be, meant for maximum heartbreak (for both the characters and the player).

Chapter 2 of THH was where the different students’s relationships between each other became more solid. Sakura and Aoi were good friends. Toko’s obsession for Byakuya first solidified. Hifumi being Celeste’s servant, etc. Taka and Mondo’s fast developed friendship is no different. After the sauna, the two clicked so much that they believed calling each other just a friend wasn’t really accurate, and settled on calling each other brother instead. While they don’t have memories of their close friendship during Hope’s Peak at this time, it’s heavily implied that their closeness during that time made them subconsciously gravitate towards each other so fast, which could also be seen with Sakura and Aoi, and how Chihiro was able to find Makoto familiar during their introduction. 

Peko and Fuyuhiko’s relationship could be considered to be just as close. The two grew up together, quite literally since they were kids. Like Taka and Mondo’s relationship pre-sauna, Fuyuhiko and Peko’s relationship was somewhat strained, though it’s more deeply rooted than two extremely contrasting guys clashing over their perceptions of each other. Fuyuhiko is extremely insecure in his place as the Kuzuruyuu clan’s head, and sees Peko’s desire to protect him and carry out his commands as an unwanted crutch that challenges his desire to be independent, as well as extremely worrying considering how because of this, Peko devalues her own life and worth as a person. Fuyuhiko very much loves Peko as a person, and as such tried to distance himself from her during their time on Jabberwock Island. Though unfortunately, Peko took this as him loathing her in general, further cementing her desire to be his “tool” because if he couldn’t stand being around her, she might as well make herself useful to him.  

Now. Finally to get into the explicit parallels between the relationships of Kiyotaka/Mondo, and Peko/Fuyuhiko. Peko and Taka’s perspective on their relationships is a great starting point. 

Each game’s chapter 2 shows just how willing both Taka and Peko are willing to go in order to protect Mondo and Fuyuhiko. Peko’s motive for killing Mahiru wasn’t to escape, but to in her eyes save Fuyuhiko from the Killing Game, by using herself as his tool to carry out muder, and have everyone incorrectly vote for her so Fuyuhiko could get away. She was his bodyguard in the truest sense of the word. Now in THH’s chapter 2, instead of fighting against Mondo in proving his guilt, you’re fighting Kiyotaka. He refuses any evidence you throw at him, arguing relentlessly to prove Mondo’s innocence, to the point the only reason he stopped was because Mondo told him to. And you later find out, in chapter 3, that Kiyotaka felt so determined to prove Mondo’s innocence was because he felt like it was his responsibility to, as he cared for Mondo so much. 

So, in a way, Taka considers himself Mondo’s bodyguard. Just without the years worth of reinforcement that you’re nothing but a tool to be used which makes you devalue your own worth as a person. (Not that his self esteem and willpower wasn’t ultimately crushed by Mondo’s execution, but that’s only because the circumstances he lost him was undenyingly brutal considering the Killing Game). While the circumstances of Peko’s desire to protect Fuyuhiko are really murky and problematic considering how she was raised, Danganronpa confirmed that she protected him so much because of her care for him, to the point she was willing to sacrifice her own life to assure that Fuyuhiko is safe. And Kiyotaka was willing to go to the exact same drastic measures, by voting for himself. 

It’s also worth noting that in the stage play, he willingly accepted to be punished alongside him by doing this to make sure Mondo doesn’t die alone. 

So from my own understanding, Super Danganronpa 2 took the tragedy of Mondo and Taka’s relationship, and flipped it so that while it still follows its signature use of repetitive patterns, they made the circumstances different, but just as heartbreaking. And how? Because they took the Taka of the relationship, and made Peko the culprit. It’s not the Mondo this time, which is who you’re supposed to expect to be the culprit, because of your expectation from THH’s trial 2. 

Peko tried her best to protect Fuyuhiko, much like Kiyotaka tried to after he recognized the fact Mondo was the blackened. Both were, at the expense of their classmate’s and their own lives, were willing to protect them both, no matter what. Peko took a more active role in trying to do this however, which is what Kiyotaka severely regretted not doing, as stated in chapter 3. 

And Fuyuhiko is what would have happened if Mondo was forced to face the consequences of his actions (in Fuyu’s case, being partially responsible for Mahiru’s death, in Mondo’s case, Chihiro’s). Instead of Taka arguing to prove Mondo’s innocence, it’s Fuyuhiko who’s doing that for Peko. A deliberate use of subverting the pattern given to us by THH’s chapter 2.  

That’s the main takeaway, but I suppose I should also address the romantic parallels while I’m at it. I personally don’t like Kuzupeko as a romantic relationship, mainly because of how Peko’s self worth and personal value of herself as a person was as a direct result from being considered Fuyuhiko’s “tool” and their professional relationship as yakuza leader/henchman. Fuyuhiko does love her as a person, but that doesn’t negate the years of psychological degradation Peko endured to consider herself as a tool. Though in typical Danganronpa fashion, they choose to gloss over the problematic aspects of their relationship while heavily implying romantic subtext between them. So while I can’t say I’m a fan, I know the game/DR3 anime says otherwise. 

And as for Ishimondo, I know some will disagree with me, but I definitely feel that their relationship is heavily lined with romantic subtext as well. Not much is really explicit in the game outside of Ishida and Hifumi’s romantic rivalry for alter ego (who Taka considers Mondo), but the mangas and posters definitely show their relationship that most would consider normal for couples.

But at the end of the day? Both Peko and Taka love Fuyuhiko and Mondo, whether or not you consider both, one, or none of their relationship to be romantic. They wouldn’t have put their own lives on the line if it was anything else. And it’s that emotional connection between Kiyotaka and Mondo, and Peko and Fuyuhiko that’s meant to give you an emotional punch in the gut for THH and SDR2’S chapter 2’s, because of how far the two were willing to protect them.

#ask #spaceymedicgamer #kiyotaka ishimaru #peko pekoyama #cw kuzupeko #ishimondo #danganronpa #super danganronpa 2 #DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

[levyfiles]

Last week the @skepticbeliever-bookclub prompted us to post a selection of our favourite shyan fics so there’d be a nice little way to highlight all the hidden gems of favourites we might already recognise and love while sharing a few we might never have found otherwise. Last December I posted a little list of some of my favourites so I figured I’d dust off that list with a few new additions of particular favourites I treasure. 

Be All My Sins Remembered by spoopyy

Summary:  In every lifetime, they find each other.

Review: This fic manages to take you on a long journey through what feels like a series of AUs and they all weave in and out of the wealth of their relationship with some vivid descriptions of the historical settings their journey takes them through. As someone who grew up reading Anne Rice’s epics through historical events, this fic is right up my alley. A vampire Shane passing through the wave of human society’s climb searching for a reincarnated Ryan again and again, trying to hold on to him and keep him through great tragedies and timeframes that just don’t let them be together. This was one of the first fics I read when I was only a lurker and to be quite honest, I need to give this one a nice re-read, maybe for the book club which would be loads of fun. Either way, 10/10. Would be Hurt in the heart again.

Perfect Fit by @beaniegara

Summary:  There’s a legend that says anyone able to take all of statue Shane’s cock will summon the god to the mortal realm. Given the statue’s excessive size, no one has ever succeeded to prove or disprove the story. Until Ryan that is.

Review: Listen. You wanna talk actual fandom legends. This fic is one of them and it pulls out all the stops on being delicious and evocative. Also features one of my favourite incarnations of size queen bergara. Good stuff and you’re really rooting for Ryan in this lol.

a prize for rotten judgement  by sarcasticfishes

Summary: “You’d drive each other crazy. You sit together at your office all day, and then you’d be commuting home together, eating dinner together, watching TV together, going to bed — well, not together, but you get it, right?”

It doesn’t sound so awful to Shane. There are worse people he could be spending all his hours with than Ryan Bergara.

Review: The moment I happened to glance at the notes of this and saw that Fie’s secondary title for this would have been Ryan and Shane move to the Suburbs, I about lost it with excitement. Primarily because the show this references is one of my favourite comedies and that is one of my all-time favourite episodes. Let me tell you though, even if the reference is lost on you, this story is so much gold rolled into a heart-gripping tale of two best friends who spend every waking moment together taking the plunge to share a home and they were roommates oh my god they were roommates. Shane is pining and you’ll pine right along with him as you’ll yell and holler for him to stop being so damn real and full of doubt. It really is worth every gasp of pain and all the more for the execution but the delivery will leave you in delight. Certainly had me yelling at the author. This fic is gonna be one of my timeless favourites; I knew it the moment I began.

Everything’s Weird and We’re Always in Danger by beethechange

Summary: Ryan perches on the edge of the bed, an indistinct shape that Shane can only just make out in the dark, so he turns the lamp back on. He wants to see Ryan’s face, wants to know that he is alright. Ryan’s cheeks are damp, his hands fisted in the hideous flowered duvet.

“It won’t go away,” Ryan says miserably. “I’ve been like this since we got here, basically, and it won’t fucking—”

“Ah,” Shane says. “Well, you know, sometimes fear…adrenaline…they can affect people. Physically.” He waves his hands indistinctly crotchward. “It’s a, a scientifically known phenomenon.” Shane feels a little better staying in the realm of scientifically known phenomena.

Review: Word of advice. You see a fic is authored by beethechange, run don’t walk because you’re absolutely always going to be treated to the best of banter, the best of prose, chemistry, organic execution and feels right up the bottom end of your heart. This fic, this changed everything I thought I knew I wanted out of a bed-sharing fic. It’s got a little bit of two treats here. You got a sex-pollen-esque situation mixed with bed-sharing and holy fucking damn that is more than you think you deserve, but read this because you do deserve the best of the best. The build up, the dialogue, the surprisingly hilarity of it, the hotness woah, and The Aftermath. When you think you know what you’re in for, you’re wrong and you’re most pleasantly surprised. Get this fic in your life and honestly? while you’re at it, you could do a clean sweep of every fic in her list of works and while my less than adequate reading time management may still be short on some of her most well-recommended pieces, I have an adamant faith that Bee doesn’t disappoint. Go get y’all juice.

Maelstrom by thewindupbird

Summary:  Here’s the thing about driving halfway across the country to see someone. You can’t really deny, after that, that you’re pretty much head over heels for them.

Review: Listen. One morning on a day off, I just laid in bed and read this– all 40k+ words– while lying there clutching my pillows, hurting and loving every moment of it. The descriptions of Americana, the slow steady metronome rhythm of Ryan’s feelings as frightened and helpless as they feel when you’re relating deeply to them juxtaposed with the deep-seated struggle of understanding what it is to be with someone you love so much but your mental health is burning quiet holes in your ability to express it in a way that can be understand. Ryan’s fierce determination, breaking through the silence of their non communication is really Everything to me in this fic. i think I really left my heart in the scene in Shane’s parents kitchen. That finished me. Read this fic and understand the deep relief you get when you’ve finished a fight with someone you fiercely care about and they understand you and you understand them and it’s OK; it’s gonna be all right. Augh.

5 times Shane had to overrule Ryan’s “No Homo” + 1 time he didn’t have to by ghoulboyboos

Summary: There was only one thing that would truly drive him up the wall with Ryan, much more than any debate about ghosts ever could: Ryan’s consistent twitches of “no homo” when any sort of physical contract between them happened.

Review: I have such a soft special spot in my heart for this fic particularly because Lud manages to examine a trope I tend to avoid in such a sweet and honest way I couldn’t not love this fic. The story takes a painstaking and very real look at the “no homo” issue as it weaved through the journey that was early days Ryan and Shane. Shane’s reaction to in this and how he communicates with Ryan has such a very heartfelt and once again, real quality to it. I get in my feelings all over again about how far they’ve come and what it meant for Ryan to have Shane there. Lud really nails this piece and it’s a classic in my eyes.

A Burial on Box Hill by InkStainsOnMyHands

Summary: The Celtics believed that the yew flower symbolized both immortality and death. Meanwhile, for centuries, the buxus flower was seen as a symbol for safe passage into the afterlife.

Or,Shane and Ryan were never the same after investigating the Black Forest of Germany alone.

Review: Let me just quote my bookmark comment here. Usually I flee from tragedy like a cat spotting a cucumber but the brevity and the prose dragged me in and now I’m a functioning mess. Bless this fic. Oh my god it’s short and reads like one of those quick horror stories you’ll read to your friends just as the scary stories are transitioning from the urban legends to the ones that feel real. Big warning for main character death but still read it if you appreciate a good story told.

Body Farming by shiphitsthefan

Summary: Failed suppressants and a surprise heat: the worst of cliches, and here Ryan stands, living the trope on location with the alpha he’s hopelessly in love with. Even worse, they’re spending the night in the famous Bell Witch Cave, completely alone and with no way to contact the outside world.

Ryan knows he can survive and keep his preheat a secret, as long as Shane will stop being so protective and concerned. After all, it’s not like Shane wants to bond with him.

Right?

Review: Now judging from the reactions of many people I’ve spoken to, big heavy ABO kink is not popular here but guys, GUYS. This one. Let this one in I promise it is not what you think it is. The dynamic is organic and the worst side of the trope is subverted in all the best ways and lord help us, the smut is hot, like swelteringly smoking. It’ll stay with you.

Believer by cellard00rs

Summary:  Some demons and otherworldly creatures love climbing up the power ladder. Shane is not one of these. He likes where he is (thank you very much) and has no interest in moving up. All he wants is to give his friend Ryan a nice birthday gift. So, naturally, everything goes to hell.

Review: This fic is another fandom legend. When I think demon!Shane. It’s this and one other one that always pops right into my mind. This was my first exposure to the bureaucracy meets the supernatural!Shane trope and I was sold from the get-go. The Shane in this fic is everything I imagine a demon!Shane is and his ginger care for Ryan, the concept of their bond and how even though Shane is a demon and responsible for keeping the supernatural a firm secret from Ryan and the rest of the world, his skepticism is relayed through his status as a demon. I want to talk more about it but I think so much of the enjoyment comes from the surprises as the plot unfurls.

hey boy, take a look at me by weakspots

Summary: Ryan is 27, for Christ’s sake, and he’s not exactly hideous, so there’s really no reason to spend his money on a dude — a dude — whose face he’ll never see but whose livestreams he’s been jerking off to for roughly 4 months now. He should be going out and partying and fucking random chicks. Or a guy, whatever, just to get it out of his system and confirm to himself that he really is 100% straight.

Because he is. This is morbid curiosity, if anything.

Review: I’ve been a long-time fan of this universe and it was a universe I didn’t know I needed until this author gave it to us. We or rather me, a desperate audience, just devoured this with every update. Not only is it hot, but it has the delicious intrigue of secret identity, anonymous stuff and a LOT of blush-worthy prose therein. This version of Shane makes me thrive but the titillating nature of straight-identifying!Ryan being bowled over by the turn of events that leads him to his world tilting into the gravity of a camboy just--you Have to read this one!

Heartbeat by quackers

Summary:  So the guy Ryan sits next to at work is a vampire. That’s no big deal, right?

Review: I could talk your literal ear off about this fic. Vampires, man. I love the trope; you don’t know me as a person if you don’t know this at least. And this fic kept me fed all damn year. It was a readable garden. If there is one thing I can guarantee about quackers’ work, it’s that their world-building is a festival of detail. The realms and alternate universes they work with while still managing to keep Shane and Ryan’s voices so familiar and real is a talent not attributed to your everyday author. This fic propelled me into wanting to write more and more because quackers makes stories so much fun! Reading their work is, to me, not unlike the feeling I got when I was younger and finding series that speak to my need to escape this crummy existence, made me want to believe in fun spicy things like a vampire that lived through centuries, cynical but still searching, navigating a world where people are still people, adjusting to differences and prejudices, finding comfort in a guy that understands that and more. I’ve talked about this fic in more than a few different posts so I’d just be reiterating a lot of things I loved about the more historical aspects of Shane’s journey, the way Ryan is so firmly curious and inventive in ways to connect with Shane. Look, even if vampires aren’t your thing, I can promise that if you visit quackers list of work, you will find something for your supernatural-lovin’ palate that speaks to a gentler side of your own curiosity about monsters and the jocks that love them. lol.

I’ll Crawl Home by carrieonfighting

Summary:  “Shane was almost unnerved by how quickly he’d settled into this body, this name, this life - his friendship with Ryan was the most time he’d spent with any human before, and yet the man fascinated him.”

Review: This is the second fic I think of when someone says the words ‘demon!Shane’ to me because ohhhh my word, this fic is a masterpiece. I really am hard-pressed to find anything better than the feeling I get when I think of demon!Shane headcanons interwoven with the irl Buzzfeed reality and the idea of the Ryan as we know him being protected and watched and loved so deeply by a demon that found him so long ago and wanted nothing but to protect him. I feel an almost vicious glee reliving that moment when Ryan and Shane are on goatman’s bridge and man, I just really love canonical fic mixed with a slight twist. The writing in this makes it work so well with lines that still haunt my heart and soul like “Ryan liked popcorn. So did the demon. Genuinely, not just out of a desire to please the human – he liked the way it crunched between his vessel’s teeth. There were some aspects of taking a corporeal form that were… nice; laughing, coffee, feeling warm. Ryan made him laugh.” FUCK! The beautiful agony of it, watching the demon fall in love with Ryan through the eyes of his vessel. Just stark with pain and unspoken, well-written angst and pain with a perfect ending, I wouldn’t change for anything. I love this for us as a fandom and will always love that author crafted this piece and shared it with us. (Also every time I hear Work Song by Hozier, I think of this fic again and sigh).

#shyan fic #shyan #shyanbookclub #otp: we took an oath

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

The thing I love about Otto, he is the guy who...Peter Parker is supposed to be the everyman, and in a lot of ways he is, but he is always dating the most beautiful women in the world...supermodels, Gwen Stacy...And Otto was the guy, I am not a big fan of the late-90s as an era of Spider-Man. There was a character called Stunner who came along and was this big Amazonian woman with super-strength, who was Otto's partner and love-interest and the big reveal was that she was a virtual reality simulation and the real person was an overweight woman in a virtual reality machine. But when Otto finds out he says, I didn't love you for what you looked like, I loved you for your mind...I can’t remember if she [Aunt May]  saw Betty [Brant] as a bit of a Jezebel because she was older

We er...we really need to unpack this. I already did a post where I cited the above as part of why Christos Gage should never have been allowed to write Spider-Man.

But lets dive deeper into the idiocy of this. 

First of all if nothing else the above quote and panels really do prove beyond doubt that Marvel knew what they were doing when they paired Slott and Gage...well sorta. Gage and Slott’s approaches to Spider-Man fundamentally come from the same place of fundamental misunderstanding and regressive beliefs thus they were perfect to work together. It’s just that Gage is a comparatively more competent writer than Slott and therefore Slott should’ve been HIS understudy and fill-in guy not the other way around.

So let’s dive into the less awful bits first. Like Slott Gage doesn’t know his continuity and is too lazy to even google it.

Let’s put aside how Stan Lee himself  stated Betty Brant is younger  than Peter NOT older, the age difference would’ve been insignificant enough (Peter was a senior in high school when he was dating Betty, that’s stated in the issues) so what is this ‘Jezebel’ crap? The fact his mind would go to that rather than just Aunt May thinking MJ would be a better match is at best eyebrow raising.

Moving on, the crux of his assessment of Otto and Stunner’s relationship is way off the mark. Ignoring the fact that Stunner and the reveals made about her occurred in 1994-1995 (so literally not the LATE 1990s at all), he’s totally distorted the story as it unfolded. As such let me show you some of the relevant pages.

Gage’s assessment of Otto and Stunner’s relationship hinges upon two interconnected ideas.

a) Otto was unaware that her stunning appearance was a facade and

b) That he didn’t care upon finding out

As you can see that is a distortion of what the actual stories conveyed.

Otto was always  aware Stunner’s appearance was a facade because he invented the technology that made it possible in the first place!

Otto also began dating her BEFORE she became Stunner. This does indeed support the idea that for him outer beauty is not that relevant. 

For myself I find this idea debatable for a few reasons. Not only in the above images does he directly refer to Stunner as beautiful and the love of such a beautiful woman makes him happy but in the classic Spec #75 Bill Mantlo implies Otto took a fancy to Felicia due to her being attractive.

I grant you it’s far from impossible to interpret that Otto in fact was referring to Stunner’s personality as beautiful and took a shining to Felicia for reasons beyond her looks. In fact I find that interpretation interesting. But both examples hurt the narrative of Otto being a man who doesn’t care about outer beauty, even before you get to the fact that in Superior he was oggling and actively trying to fucking rape Mary Jane! What exactly about her  ‘inner beauty’ led to him doing this?

Then of course you have his relationship with Aunt May which has been treated as genuinely romantic when it’s very unlikely to be that.

The truth is Doc Ock has been inconsistently written over the decades so pinning down that he’s a man who doesn’t care about a woman’s outer beauty in regards to his feelings for them is extremely iffy.

His dynamic with Stunner and Gage’s assessment is even iffier as the pages detailing his ‘courting’ of her prior to her becoming empowered can definitely be interpreted as him actively manipulating her for his own ends. He needed a test subject for his technology, a technology he was hoping could essentially ensure he’d live beyond the demise of his mortal body and mind (which obviously happened in Superior). Angela was that test subject, he either came across or scouted her out with the explicit intention of having her use his machine. 

Because we only get brief flashes of their relationship it’s unclear if he was 100% decieving and manipulating her (as he was to Anna Maria and Mary Jane) or if he was sincere in his affections, at least on some level. Maybe he even started out manipulating her but grew to genuinely care for her before or after her transformation into Stunner.

My point is it’s not this grand moral victory for Otto that he cared for Angela even though she was overweight.

Which brings me to the most damning thing about Gage’s comments.

According to him Otto is better than Peter because Otto didn’t date supermodels or sexy cat burglars.

Much like all his work with Otto before and during his Superior run, Gage practically wanks off the character.

You see Otto is ‘different. He’s not like ‘those other guys’, or more specifically ‘that Peter Parker guy’. HE doesn’t date supermodels or sexy cat burglars. 

He just keeps the sexy cat burglars as his ‘guests’ that he won’t let leave his lair, will date by deception and attempt to rape the supermodels and will probably manipulate vulnerable overweight women for his own selfish scientific pursuits and date them sincerely once they’ve transformed into wrestling divas.

Of course in reality, romantic and sexual attraction is something none of us can help and we are going to feel about whoever however we’re going to feel, and the harsh truth is a lot (but not all) of the time outer appearences do matter, or at least they do when it comes to initial attractions. Often in healthy relationships they matter less as time goes by, but are rarely totally irrelevant. Nobody, of any sex, gender or sexuality, is shallow for on some level taking looks into account for how they feel about a romantic or sexual partner, at least on some level.

In Peter’s case Gage’s assessment (which synchs up with Slott’s) of him as shallow is so asinine because he clearly doesn’t just care about looks. In fact semi-famously in the classic Romita stories his initial attraction for Mary Jane fades after he (incorrectly, and unfairly) starts to view her as shallow and little more than her looks.

No doubt about it that chicks’s as pretty as a pumpkin seed...and just about as shallow.

ASM #45*

Peter late of course dumps  Black Cat in part because she doesn’t love him for who he is, and only cares about him as Spider-Man. He wants someone who will share a life with him, whom he can connect with. If he was only interested in her because she was sexy why would he do that?

And of course this is to say nothing of the absolute denigration Gage’s comments pay to both MJ and her relationship with Peter.

I’ve felt this way for awhile now but to be blunt, if a writer ever just sums up MJ as a ‘supermodel’ I’m going to presume they either don’t understand her character and/or hold some messed up opinions. Putting aside how MJ hasn’t a model (super or otherwise) for most of her history it’s just messed up that everything else about her is dismissed in favour of pushing that profession and treating it as a summation of who she is as a character.** 

Because whenever creators or characters sum up MJ as a supermodel what they really mean is ‘she’s just a shallow, pretty face’.  Which is so facepalm worthy ironic because the crux of Mary Jane’s entire character since The Death of Gwen Stacy in 1973  has been that people THINK she is just a shallow pretty face but she in fact absolutely isn’t!

And aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the stuff that is relevant to why she isn’t is literally the reason Spider-Man fell in love with her in the first place. All the guilt, regret, insecurities, bravery, sense of responsibility and inner strength that subverted what we thought we knew about her, that’s the shit that her and Spider-Man’s romance is built upon. 

How the fuck does anyone miss that! It’s not even like you need to read deeply to see it, just read a Wikipedia entry!

It isn’t the crux of Felicia’s character, but the same applies to her. What jackass in this day and age (or indeed since the 1980s) honestly thinks Black Cat is nothing but sex appeal? There is an entire goddam Black Cat ongoing series demonstrating she is more than that! Gage is a goddam relic at this point!

On the flipside of course is poor Anna Maria.

Once upon a time Anna Maria was the best character in Spider-Man. Back in the dark days of 2013 and 2014 when Superior was going strong, MJ was out of the picture and the best Spider-Man books on the stand were about a kid replacing a dead AU Peter Parker and Peter Parker’s clone, Anna Maria was a stand out.

A new character with a personality, likable, a new love interest for ‘Spider-Man’ that on paper made a certain amount of sense even though the circumstances were disgusting. And on top of that she provided a dash of representation that was handled in an appropriate way.

As time went by she gradually devolved as a character and went way off the rails to the point where now she’s being a misogynistic asshole to other women by judging them for their looks. It’s so fucked up because she herself has been judged for her looks, just in a very different way whilst the likes of those ‘shallow’ women she cites have never said a bad word to her or to my knowledge anyone else on the basis of how they were born. 

Good job Gage, this is probably the last time we’re going to see Anna Maria and you’ve fully transitioned me from a guy who kind of wanted her to stick around in some capacity as a regular supporting player for Peter into a guy who would be delighted for her to forgotten and never appear again. 

Fuck Gage.

Fuck Superior

Fuck the entire asinine, mishandled, clusterfuck of an era that outstayed it’s welcome circa December 2012!

*In fairness he does bring up he might just be thinking ill of MJ because he’s upset about other things. See, THAT is a more even handed and on point depiction of Peter Parker being flawed. But Stan Lee being a better writer than Gage or Slott shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

**Not to mention ‘supermodel’ shouldn’t even be used as shorthand for ‘shallow person’ in the first place. Are supermodels not people too? Are they incapable of being intelligent or having worth outside of their looks? I mean FFS we live in a world where this (starting at 3:37) really happened:

#Christos Gage #Spider-Man #Superior Spider-Man #Anna Maria Marconi #otto octavius #Doc Ock #Dan Slott #Doctor Octopus #mjwatsonedit #Mary Jane Watson #Mary Jane Watson Parker #Black Cat #Peter Parker #Felicia Hardy

[fbdo1986]

SLOANE FOR THE CHARACTER THING!!!!!!!!!

omg sathana!!! you’re the best hehe

favorite thing about them: sloane’s so cool, but she’s also really caring! i love sloane because she acts like nothing really gets her down, she’s so chill and nonchalant, but actually she feels things really deeply! sure, she shows a lot of just sheer enjoyment of adventure like ferris does, but from how she interacts with both ferris and cameron and how she reacts in distress, you can tell she’d do anything for them both. i feel like sloane cares a Lot about stuff, but puts up a facade that she doesn’t for just about everyone except ferris and cameron.

least favorite thing about them: this is honestly on john hughes because i just!! i want more To sloane!!! i’m sincerely peeved that she wasn’t explored more. however i’ve always had a disdain for her being a cheerleader (it never felt in character to me?) so probably that if we’re talking sloane’s specific traits.

favorite line: aGH she has so many good ones! although i have one and you’ve probably heard me talk about it! it’s “i thought you were catatonic.” !! i LOVE how she delivers it, and i’m pretty sure she does a playful eyebrow raise at cam while saying it, it never hesitates to make me react.

brOTP: fjskdj we literally don’t see sloane interact w anyone except ferris and cameron but! is it cheating if i say jeanie again? as a fellow cool girl herself, i think jeanie has a hell of a lot of respect for sloane. not that she gets her choice in boyfriends, but she kinda considers sloane as part of the family.

OTP: the ot3 again, of course!!!! cam and ferris have major feelings for her obviously and there’s no way sloane doesn’t feel the exact same.

nOTP: i dont have one for this! sloane isn’t shipped with anyone except ferris and cameron so! although again if you’re ignoring sloane and cameron’s stupidly obvious pining i don’t know how you can live with that

random headcanon: gd i love miss sloane this is so much fun! i think that sloane has a secret want to be independent from her family (her parents). i think sloane comes from a wealthy family and hasn’t really had to do anything to keep her parents happy (they’re willing to do just about anything for her) but despite this she wants to make them proud. i think sloane will go out of her way in college moving into her 20s to really try and make a successful life for herself, simply to show to her parents that she can, but also cause she wants to. she wants to prove it to herself. she wants her mom and dad to acknowledge her accomplishments and not focus on any material gain she gets.

unpopular opinion: do i have any unpopular sloane thoughts? i don’t think so? i just love her a lot and i think her characteristics are doing a lot to subvert her stereotypes/tropes but i also don’t think that’s enough! i just. i want all the information about sloane mr hughes you should’ve developed her more. sloane is SO much more than the protagonist girlfriend trope and i’d kill to learn more about her backstory.

song i associate with them: unsurprisingly, i also have a sloane playlist! but from that playlist... i think when the lights go out by naked eyes! or my best friend’s girl by the cars :-)

favorite picture of them: AWWW THIS’LL BE FUN! AGH STOP SHES SO CUTE

yknow what fuck it. all of these three are tied. look at her. what a babe!!!!!

#I LOVE SLOANE SO MUCH THIS WAS LOVELY :-(((

[fairycosmos]

i was in a relationship a year ago that really impacted me negatively and fucked me up and i still think about them a lot. we don't talk anymore and thankfully they're not a part of my life but they're still like, part of me, and i hate it. i'm not sure if i'm just stupid, and am not moving on? or if i have like trauma from it all. I'm not even sure of what counts as trauma and what doesn't. i just want them to stop still hurting me even though they're not a part of my life anymore

hi love. im so sorry to hear that, i can't imagine how hard it must be :( you're absolutely not stupid though. your mind is just blaming you because that's the only way it knows how to try to make sense of it all. but you don't live in some vaccum with no emotional response to the things that have happened to you, and that's okay. i once heard trauma described as 'going through something outside the range of normal human events.' and when you google it, it says 'a deeply disturbing or distressing experience.' an unhealthy relationship can definitely fall into those two categories, especially if it occurred during your young or formative years. so you see, you don't need to justify this pain to anyone, least of all yourself. it's ok that it still hurts. it doesn't mean you're not getting over it - like when a wound is healing, but remains tender to the touch. these things are often simultaneous, at least that's how it seems to me. i mean, i can definitely understand why you're frustrated. your present being dictated by your past, especially when you just want to forget it, is a very upsetting part of reality. makes us believe there's no point in trying, fuels our self loathing etc. but i think it's entirely possible that you're making progress your brain won't allow even you to comprehend in this moment. you don't have to be conquering the world in order to be moving on. it sounds dumb but honestly, every day that you survive as a whole person on your own proves that you're so much more resilient than you'll ever truly realize. every time you prioritize yourself, or identity/subvert an unhealthy mind set or coping mechanism, you're learning how to make it manageable. n that's where all the growth is. look, you were not treated the way you deserve to be treated. and yeah, that does have lasting effects. but that doesn't mean you're damaged or beyond hope, and it doesn't mean you don't belong to yourself anymore. it just means you have to begin to accept that what happened was fucked up, that maybe it'll take more time and energy to confront than you originally thought. and that's alright because there's truly no linear time frame for something like this. it is no indication of your worth as a human being, or your potential for future happiness. anyway, sorry this got long. i just hope you know you're genuinely not alone. i would suggest considering discussing this with your doctor to see if they can refer you to a mental health professional, who will enable you to see your situation from multiple perspectives. i know that seems scary, but it's just an idea n you don't have to write it off. there's nothing wrong with talking about it, saying it out loud. it's better to be prepared for the bad days by taking a professionals advice, anyway. but if that's too formal, there are hotlines and support groups to utilize, even just online to begin with. point is, you have options. and im super proud of you for making it to this point, seriously. take it one day at a time, or one hour at a time, even a minute at a time is good enough. if you need a friend or someone to talk to, feel free to hmu. sending love 💌

#hope this makes sense #anon

[chasingshhadows]

I probably shouldn’t jump in on this but it’s bugging me so I’m just gonna say this and then be done with it.

There’s a lot of talk in the Roswell fandom right now about biphobia, specifically around characters (Michael) being made to “prove” their bisexuality, and perpetuating negative stereotypes (promiscuity).

And I really, really don’t want to invalidate anyone’s feelings because if that’s what you’re seeing in this show, that’s valid and it’s hurtful and I’m sorry you’re hurting. I’m not writing this post as a way to brush your feelings under the rug and say your experiences and trauma are negligible- I’m writing this because I’m seeing a lot of people that I’ve come to care about hurting and maybe, just maybe, I can show a perspective that doesn’t hurt.

(and also before I say any of this - I am an unrepentant Michael stan and an endgame, soulmates, nothing-will-ever-compare Malex shipper, so, context is key.)

Because I just... don’t agree that what we’re seeing is hurtful to the bisexual community. 

The first part, regarding characters needing to “prove” their bisexuality in order to be seen as “true” bisexuals is in fact a massive problem in the bisexual community - every day, we’re told we’re not really bisexual unless we’ve “done both” - the moment we end up in a relationship where our partner is the same gender as our most recent partner, we’re suddenly “no longer” bisexual, because we’ve finally “picked one.” If we don’t literally keep a 1:1 ratio and jump back and forth like hopscotch, our identity is erased.

I’ve experienced this and it’s damaging. My father literally told me that I needed to sleep with multiple people of both genders for him to see me as valid - I was 18. He also told me once I “settled” (read: married) - I would either be lesbian or straight depending on the gender of my partner. My best friend, who is gay, told me “hmm I just feel like you’re gonna end up with a guy, in the end.” And that’s just the beginning. So when I say what I say next, I hope you know that I do it from a place of experience and solidarity.

Michael sleeping with, and catching feelings for, two people of differing genders on the show is not the show making him prove his bisexuality - it’s the show letting him express it. Your best friend telling you she won’t believe you’re bi until you’ve slept with “both” and a show portraying a character that sleeps with people from different genders are two very different things. 

I have watched a lot of queer television. There’s a queer character on a show? especially a bisexual one? Holy shit I am so there. It is the one and sole reason I started watching Roswell. I chase representation, hard. There is nothing more enticing in a new show than the idea that I might get to see myself in it.

That said, it is still incredibly rare to see bisexual characters on television, especially bisexual men. And I’m not talking about in the last 5 years, because in just five years I have witnessed a rapid shift in television to include more queer characters. 

But I didn’t grow up in the last 5 years, I grew up in the last 20. So I can count on one hand the number of bisexual characters I have ever seen that have been with (romantically or sexually) people of differing genders in any meaningful way, and I don’t know, probably never that those people weren’t just side characters.

So this is new, for us. Having a character canonically attracted to multiple people, regardless of gender, is a new thing we’re getting to see on television. And of course Michael shouldn’t have to sleep with people of different genders for people to believe that he’s bi, but no one whose opinion mattered ever doubted that he was bi when he said he was bi. So for me, this representation of him being with different people is representation of me. And I am Here For It.

More than that, there’s this idea that if a bisexual character enters a differing-gender relationship after leaving a same-gender one, that a show is abandoning queer representation because that relationship is “basically het.” 

I’m not het. I’m not straight, none of my experiences are straight. I am queer (of the bisexual variety) and any relationship I enter into will by default not be straight because I’m not straight. There is more to the queer experience than the way that people look at you on the street and there is abso-fucking-lutely more to the bisexual experience than the way you’re treated when you’re in a same-gender relationship. 

No this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a difference in experience (and oppression) between same-gender and differing-gender relationships from the perspective of the bi person - there absolutely is. But in both cases, a bisexual person will always always always feel unseen. So that difference is one of content, not quantity. 

So - I don’t think that Michael dating/sleeping with/whatever he’s doing with Maria is invalidating to the bisexual experience. I think it’s a chance for us to finally see the bisexual experience. Finally see that it can just be that easy, to find a connection with anyone and see that gender just doesn’t really come into play at all because it’s not relevant to bisexual people - at least, not to me. 

Now, the second part, the part where people are feeling... insulted, I think, that Michael sleeping with Maria after sleeping with Alex is perpetuating this very damaging stereotype of promiscuous, incapable-of-committing bisexuals.

I’m gonna take those one at a time (promiscuous/commitment issues) because I think they’re two different things.

I think a character, bisexual or not, being portrayed as promiscuous (by definition:  having or characterized by many transient sexual relationships) is 100% a non-issue. 

The real issue is that promiscuity is seen as a negative stereotype at all. The real issue is that being sexually expressive or sexually active is seen as morally reprehensible, as something that damages their character as a person.

And unfortunately this is a two-sided coin, the other side being that asexual, sexually shy, or sexually non-expressive is also seen as negative, but while I deeply feel it’s important enough to mention, it’s not the issue on Roswell right now.

The argument here is that the show is portraying Michael as promiscuous, which feeds into this stereotype that bisexual people can’t make up their minds and just go around sleeping with anyone and everyone without reservation or caring about anyone’s feelings and that not only is that the norm, it’s basically expected (see: my father). 

And if Michael were the only character on the show displaying these behaviors, I could understand why people thought that the show were actively trying to push said stereotype - even if I don’t see that stereotype as a bad thing anyway. 

But he’s not - not even close. Max and Cameron and Liz and Kyle - all of them have engaged in casual sex and both Max and Liz have hopped beds during this season. Casual sex (while again, not a universal experience by any means, nor should it be) is normal for adults of this age, and the show is portraying it as normal.

And by normal I don’t mean that like, it’s not messy - of course it’s messy and people get hurt and people do and say shitty things because they’re human. But the fact of engaging in casual sex, or sex with multiple partners within a short(ish) time frame, is not in and of itself problematic. 

Now, to the part about the commitment issues - there’s this notion that the show is trying to portray Michael as having abandoned his feelings for Alex to hop on Maria... and here I’m kinda just.....confused. 

“Where I stand, nothing’s changed.” “I never look away, not really.” 

The show has made clear, intentional, explicit attempts to show that Michael is ass over teakettle in love with Alex and has been since he was a kid. But they’ve also made it clear that Michael hasn’t been celibate since Alex left - casual sex is a part of his life, he said it episode one.  

And Michael tried with Alex - and Alex turned him down (honestly, for good fucking reasons, even if they break my heart). He tried and gave Alex everything he had and Alex walked away. 

And Michael ... has no choice but to try and move on. And he doesn’t even do it right away, it’s not like it’s the next day or even the next week. His bed has been cold for weeks, months, before he even looks at Maria like that. And him looking at Maria like that? Caring about her and finding her attractive and wanting to touch her and be touched? Does not in any way negate the way he feels about Alex even if he’s trying to make everyone, including himself, believe that it does. 

Is sleeping with his ex’s friend a shitty thing to do? Sure. I personally have very nuanced feelings about that whole thing and its place in media, but I won’t deny that what they’re doing is not just hurtful to Alex, it’s knowingly hurtful - Michael knows that what they’re doing will hurt him and he does it anyway.

But them making choices that are hurtful doesn’t make Michael a poor representation of bisexuality - not every underrepresented character needs to be a paragon of the moral high ground for them to be subversive to their stereotypes. In fact, I really believe that forcing underrepresented identities to always be perfect and do the right thing and make no mistakes and subvert every stereotype is far more problematic because it makes a statement that that identity is only worthy of respect and love when they behave.

So - let Michael misbehave. Let him sleep around. Let him try to drown his heartache in another person. Why should he have to be perfect when everyone else gets to be flawed?

No one is harder on queer representation and queer media than queer people - and I get it. We’ve had so much bad representation and we’re sick of it and that’s understandable. But it’s turned into this thing where every slice of representation has to be Perfect or it’s Garbage, and it’s leading creators to not want to try because they’re so harshly run off every time they do. And when they don’t try, they don’t learn, and when they don’t learn, they don’t do better.

And even if the show decides to ignore literally every precedent they’ve set thus far (would not be a first, believe me) and call it quits on Malex for good, Malex isn’t theirs anymore anyway. The instant the first fanfic posted to AO3, the millisecond that first AU gifset hit Tumblr - Malex became ours. We have enough on screen and off screen content to play around in for years to come and I really hope to see all of you on that journey with me. 

If even after reading this, you still feel hurt and misrepresented and insulted by Michael’s relationship with Maria, come pop into my chat or my inbox and let me weave you tales of how that never happened, let me erase that reality from your whiteboard and replace it with something you love. Canon is just a craft store of materials - if you don’t want to use the red beads, then don’t. There’s a whole aisle of blue ones just down the way.

#malex #roswell new mexico #rnm #roswell nm #michael guerin #i just have a lot of feelings #i am absolutely more than happy to explain or extrapolate or clarify anything people don't understand #so long as you express that nicely #:) #michael guerin meta #rnm meta #chasing's biphobia meta

[rhiannonroot]

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Topaz’ by Beverly Jenkins

Content warning: Gun violence, threats, violence, death

I’m a little conflicted about “Topaz” by Beverly Jenkins. On the one hand, there were so many things I liked and deeply appreciated about this classic romance novel. On the other, well, there were things that made me go “WAIT WHAT?!” that made it difficult for me to fully connect with the story.

Our story begins with intrepid reporter Katherine Love breaking a few laws to prove that a man is swindling people out of their money. The opening chapter, with the exception of one sentence, by the way, is a masterclass in writing and storytelling. IT IS SO GOOD. (We’ll talk about that sentence in a minute.)

Unfortunately, for Katherine she’s caught. Doubly unfortunate is that the man she’s trying to bust is her fiancé. Background info: She’s been undercover and dude got smitten. She never liked the guy. But he’s still going to marry her…and then kill her.

MEANWHILE, Katherine’s dad is busted for rustling cattle from Dixon Wildhorse, a Black Seminole marshal who is definitely not a man to be trifled with. Bart (Katherine’s dad) decides to bargain with Dix by saying he’ll give him Katherine’s hand in marriage if he forgives the theft.

Dix and Bart go after Katherine, unaware that she’s in trouble. Katherine is doing her darndest to escape the wedding, but well, our villain Rupert is well, a formidable opponent.

Until Dix shows up and busts the wedding! Yay!

Obviously, Katherine is pissed with her dad for the arrangement, but because Dix is so handsome, well, she agrees. The chemistry is instant, and I can’t say I blame her.

And this is where the story lost me…instead of going after Rupert who has clearly broken some laws and is doing harm…they go west back to his place in Indian Territory. And there’s a long-ass sequence and it drags on and on.

Even though the villain does get his comeuppance, it just…takes too long.

Meanwhile, Katherine suffers some media-related shenanigans that felt a little too real. (Seriously, I work in media and I got chills when a bad thing happened in the story. I wanted to shout, “Nothing ever changes! AHHHH!”)

Katherine and Dix like each other a lot, but it takes them both a long time to admit it to themselves and each other, even though it’s so fucking obvious to everyone else that they have to say it. Dix goes back to work. Katherine gets into good trouble, which is to say she helps organize protests against a newspaper, a bank and a store for their sexist practices. She and the other Dewies also protest against saloons at the border. (YEP. That’s a modern problem. Read about Whiteclay, Nebraska.) This causes some major friction with Dix and it’s a lot of fun. A lot of this story is an ode to causing some good trouble and righting wrongs.

There’s so much I liked about “Topaz” and so much that’s good. But…like I said there’s an issue with this book and well, logic and pacing. Not to mention the whole “lady journalist gets romantically involved with someone she shouldn’t” trope… arguably it’s subverted here , but it hits too close to home for my taste. (And again, depending on who you are, that might not bother you as much.) The other big problem is that undercover thing in this storyline. My college adviser was so against it in all instances that it’s hard for me to even enjoy a story without me thinking, “this feels unethical and couldn’t she have done this another way?”

And about that sentence at the beginning…it’s worth mentioning that this book is a reprint of the original 1997 version…and it’s still here.

Katherine’s inner monologue compares one of the henchmen to a zoo animal…it’s on page 7. I’m not going to repeat it here because it’s umm…icky. It’s also worth mentioning that every single character is black in this scene.

If internalized racism had been a part of Katherine’s character and she had an arc addressing it, this wouldn’t bother me as a reader. But this sentence is just kinda there and it’s jarring. And it should have been handled in the editing process.

That being said, so much of “Topaz” is solid and I get why it’s one of Jenkins’ best works. I get why fans love it and think it’s awesome. Jenkins has this fantastic way of infusing lesser-known history and making it a rich part of the worlds she builds. Her characters feel like real people and there are consequences for their actions.

I really liked this book, but I couldn’t quite get into it for all the reasons I listed above.

#book review #topaz #beverly jenkins #romance novels

[violetsystems]

#personal

I stayed home last night and accepted delivery of a new skin care regimen.  It makes it sound like I spent the entire evening in front of a mirror peeling off a mask and training my abs.  I think American Psycho is particularly interesting insight into the struggle of the male identity.  Particularly how he struggles to maintain power and privilege in a society hellbent on his downfall.  I obviously don’t listen to Huey Lewis or murder people.  I’m kind to animals particularly the feral ones that hang out in my living room for free food.  I did book and pay for the rest of my trip back to New York in April.  I didn’t print any business cards.  I had wandered into the World Trade Center from Chinatown.  I sat down at a three person counter next to a probate lawyer doing an interview.  My tattoos were exposed as was my taste in coffee.  I’ve been thinking about how fucked up my life is lately.  None of it has anything to do with me.  I felt sitting at ground zero completely normal.  I never got to see the twin towers or at least never cared enough to.  It’s kind of hard to forget everything including the policies overseas that led up to such a disaster.  In some ways sitting at the World Trade Center by myself felt like the safest place in America to be.  Other than inside my apartment or a hotel room.  I’ve got the trip monetized to a point where it’s not particularly invasive financially.  It’s part of my larger plan for myself.  I was sitting with friends over coffee Friday night in New York on my birthday talking about proximity.  How New York has some sort of unspoken respect for distance when everything is up in your face.  The speed of that city is in my blood.  When I come back home things sometimes move too slow.  There’s an advantage to that as well.  Finding where I belong at this point of my life has always been kind of a struggle.  I see stray reminders in the the streets coming back to Chicago that people have been left behind.  It’s only been here on tumblr that I’ve felt anybody following along with what goes on with who I am.  I’ve been growing for the last two years.  Peeling away a mask of dirt and grime to reveal my true face.  Facing awkwardness upfront and working on how I present myself.  Reconfiguring the male identity maybe.  Maybe just finding my own outside of all the baggage.  I do travel really light when I hit the ground at LGA.  Someone made fun of me in the elevator because I made it sound like I took the Ashland bus to La Guardia.  So what if I did?  How psycho would that be to actively promote public transportation?

The truth is nobody told me how to get here.  There’s been validation for sure.  Nobody has ever really given me the impression they care enough about me for me to trust them with details.  I hint at a lot of things going on in my life.  Lately it hints back.  And lately the hints point to the same old recurring cycle.  Fake people boosting the signal to noise ratio.  I spent a lot of time watching those Numbers stations videos.  People decrypt messages and broadcast for reasons unknown.  But there is a considerable care to how people go about keeping communication trusted and secret.  There’s also no shortage of people who think it’s their business to know.  Brands get hijacked.  Movements get infiltrated.  For myself, it’s been very harrowing to know that people get targeted.  And people use these things to their advantage to propel any number of hidden agendas.  I’ve always kept to myself for hope people would understand my motives.  That I operate under a fierce aura of accountability for myself and a dense fog of war at the same time.  I know about as much as any when it comes to why all the weird stuff in the world happens.  Just like I know in the last two days I’ve been heavily manipulated in my own backyard by people who always want to cause trouble.  Just like I know the real psychos aren’t the Batmans of this world researching skin care online.  The truth is I’m lost just like everybody else floating on a rock in space alone wishing the girl I like wasn’t so far away conceptually or otherwise.  I know that doesn’t seem that way anymore.  I spent a lot of time to prove that distance doesn’t really matter.  Because the distance in the streets is a literal fucking void that follows me like a dark cloud.  I put the past behind me over and over again and it continues to haunt me like a zombie.  Never communicating what it wants.  It just assumes it knows the rules of engagement with me without ever asking how I feel.  Nobody really acknowledged my birthday.  It wasn’t like I cared.  I went to Dover Street Market and copped an overpriced sweatshirt and wandered around Manhattan.  If people cared all that much around here they’ve never shown it for years.  And to be honest I’m better off without the fake sentiments working on my beauty sleep.  That’s what the bed frame was for.

Nobody is telling me what to do these days.  I do get ideas from what I see online.  I’ve been doing yoga in the Nike training app.  I feel longer.  I can feel where I’ve been holding stress.  I ran around the park yesterday.  It was peaceful for the most part.  I think the atmosphere for me here in Chicago is unsafe.  I think it might get worse if I push it too much.  I am really insulted lately by everything I’ve been put through.  I wouldn’t say everything.  But this is how the world is now.  You accept this sort of transparent and genuine outlook for yourself and you are bound to be disappointed by other people.  I don’t buy into it.  I’m not trying to maintain my abs because I need to compete with the herd.  I’m trying to stay alive after being ignored, under appreciated and actively subverted for years.  I don’t need to revive a music career to improve my self confidence.  I get on a plane by myself on my birthday at the end of New York fashion with no plan and listen to what my heart tells me.  That the past is officially done.  That the future might look fractured with me phasing in between time zones.  That’s always been the future for me the last five years.  Nobody cared.  Worse people had their opinions.  Everybody’s emotions about what I was trying to do were projected.  It drowned out my voice until I stopped talking.  I only communicated in some sub vocal way out of necessity.  I found a way to connect with intelligent people who thought like me.  I did that on here for years.  It bled into real life.  I fell in love with that a long time ago.  Nobody knew how deeply I cared for those secrets.  And now they think they have the right to know.  The right to pry into my privacy when they’ve been doing it for years.  One amateur hour prank after another.  Some people are going to jail for that kind of thing these days.  Passports revoked.  All over money.  I have job.  I manage my finances in peace.  I apply moisturizer to my face on Friday nights and listen to public radio in my office.  I’m in love with somebody and have been for awhile.  It’s been two years of constant inspiration and maybe nine months of education.  I found myself in that love.  That’s the secret.  That I have a lot more to become than what the past has limited me to.  I’m bigger than that.  My love for you is bigger too.  Bigger than the Big Apple for sure.  I’m going to keep it safe in my apartment for the time being just to be sure.  <3 Tim

[nyxelestia]

I don't know if this helps your view of 6A, but I never thought while watching the season that Lydia was upset simply because of Stiles. For three months she knows something is true and everyone around her, even the fabric of reality tells her she wrong, she's crazy, she unbalanced. Her story was about a girl who was essentially gaslighted by the entire universe, fighting against that manipulation, finding clues and eventually proving to herself and others she was right.

That's an interesting perspective, and I do get where you're coming from. "Gaslighted by the universe" is an extremely apt description of how the Ghost Riders/the Wild Hunt works.

The thing is, though, she's been through psychological trauma, brainwashing, and even gaslighting before, and yes, she's broken down crying before - but those were always mere moments, in the process of her continuing to be herself and dominate her surroundings.

In Season 2, she had a mental breakdown and was publicly humiliated (due to her naked, 3-day run in the woods), but strode into school with her head held high. In Season 3, someone strangled her and she refused to hide the bruises. In Season 4, with her grandmother's house going up for sale and her powers wreaking havoc with her perception of reality, she never became this melodramatic. In Season 5, when she was catatonic and trapped in her own mind, we also see her fighting her circumstances, learning how to utilize her powers, and it was Malia being in danger that brought her out of her catatonia.

Season 6 undermines a lot of that. She talks about Stiles to the other banshee, who has no reason to know who he is, and at a point where bringing him up in the conversation was almost nonsensical and definitely unnecessary. Contrasted with the fact Malia and Scott were drowning in the basement, it was particularly jarring - and this was the episode in which we saw the least melodrama from Lydia. Ranging from a truly, unnecessarily excessive number of crying scenes, to the way her voice seems to always crack when she's talking about Stiles as if she's about to cry, the entire Stydia arc in Season 6A was extremely melodramatic - which is frustrating, given that snarky banter "normal"/human/non-superpowered badassery has always been among the defining hallmarks of their relationship.

I suppose complaining about her "turning into a crying wreck" is a bit of a simplification, because it's not actually her crying scenes (alone) that bother me. It's her overall conduct and the way she's handling herself/the way her character is being handled this season. It's like all she cares about is Stiles, even in the face of other problems.

I really hate this for two reasons:

1.) Again, the melodrama. I've mentioned this before, but what ticked me off the most about the memory montage episode wasn't the fact that it was Stydia, but that instead of all of the moments that defined Stiles and Lydia's friendship/relationship, it was only the ship-teasing, "romantic" moments. Trying to bring up that 3A kiss as being "the moment when everything changed" was particularly grating, given that nothing between them really changed with that kiss (and both of them went on to have relationships with someone else as if that kiss never happened, anyway). And why did there have to be so many of those long, soulful gazes? Why not show the two of them in matching outfits on their way to investigate the Dread Doctors, or Stiles yelling at Brunski to try and keep Lydia from having to listen to her grandmother's death? How about instead of the awkward, ship-teasing hug between them after Stiles got Lydia out of the animal trap, we see Lydia encouraging Stiles as he gets her out it?

Why is it that instead of a memory montage about Lydia and Stiles - two characters who started out as being almost stereotypical tropes and then subverting them - we got a memory montage of a Standard White Female Damsel and White Male Love Interest?

2.) The Stydia narrative also really threw Stiles' other relationships under the bus to prop it up. I was furious when Scott and Malia both went on about Stiles having some kind of Special Connection to Lydia. I would've understood if her memory montage broke Stiles out because she's the banshee, or because it needed to be ALL of them remembering. But not only did they imply that Lydia's relationship with Stiles was somehow more special than Stiles' relationships with Malia or Scott, but the next episode, when we see Stiles approaching the rift, it's only Lydia's voice we hear - and it's about them kissing, despite (again) how irrelevant that kiss had been. If it had just been Lydia calling for Stiles in general, I would've understood it - she's the banshee, and it makes sense that she would have a special capability to pull him back into their world. But the emphasis on their romantic relationship is what really ticked me off.

And while I'm generally irritated by the fact this entire season has basically been a love letter to Stiles that sidelined all the other characters, and made Scott into a side-character on his own fucking show, I feel like a lot of this was very specifically tied to Stydia. Like, it would've been one thing if Scott and Malia had said, "we have to focus on the Ghost Riders/immediate danger/bigger problem" right now. But the script instead having them start to doubt Stiles' existence was purely to leave Lydia as the last 'believer', and put Stydia up on an unnecessary pedestal. I would've happily cut out 2/3 of those scenes of Lydia crying, if it'd meant some decent attention on Malia's relationship with Stiles. They went through all the trouble of showing that Stiles was still Malia's anchor...and yet we never got a reunion scene between them, and never even saw them together until the very last moment when Stiles is lampshading the anticlimactic ending of the season/school year.

Not all of it is Stydia related - i.e. I love Stilinski Family Feels as much as the next person, but I would've much preferred the entire Claudia arc had never happened, and that instead seeing more of the other families (Lydia and Scott with their moms, Malia and her real dad Henry, etc.), and that the Sheriff's need for Stiles were demonstrated in him falling apart without his son there, rather than him nonsensically conjuring up a famiscile of his wife (with absolutely no explanation given as to why only he did that, or how he did it when he isn't a banshee like the lady in Canaan, or basically any kind of explanation at all).

A lot of my frustration with Stydia is tied into my frustration with the fact Teen Wolf basically became the Stiles Show in 6A. (It makes me deeply and darkly amused that most of the Sterek fans have long since stopped watching - I feel like they would've loved this season, for how Stiles-centric it is.) While the excessive Stiles-centrism isn't limited to Stydia, it's primarily a corollary of Stydia.

I'm not saying it was all bad - Lydia did get some awesome moments this season, and most of my frustrations with this seasons weren't really evident in the final episode, including Lydia. But overall, throughout the season, the bad (irritating, annoying, or even downright infuriating) Stydia moments far outweigh the good ones.

And after the fact the excessive Stiles and Stydia centrism meant sidelining most of the other characters, the other tremendously annoying byproduct of the Stydia arc is the fact this season seemed to really undo a lot of Lydia's character development, in the name of remaking her back into a stereotypical female love interest for Stiles.

#anti stydia #stydia #anti teen wolf #lydia martin #teen wolf meta #teen wolf season 6 #teen wolf spoilers #nyxie answers #Anonymous

[bigfatdogblog]

Why I can’t get enough of Killing Stalking

I don’t know if this fandom has become inundated with long-winded critiques yet, but allow me to begin. (cw for discussion of torture and abuse)

I think it’s safe to say that Killing Stalking has made a huge wave through the BL/yaoi community. I’ve seen more than a few posts of people professing that they love it because it’s “so fucked up,” but that doesn’t do the story much justice. “Fucked up” doesn’t even scratch the surface of how directly and ruthlessly this comic targets the most vulnerable emotional cravings we seek to fulfill through yaoi and other love stories. It doesn’t do anything to describe how deftly the story uses horror to subvert the tropes of sexual taboo, physical desire, and emotional attachment that are all too familiar to the BL genre. Once more, allow me.

First of all, Killing Stalking is not fucked up in quite the way that you might expect. At first glance, maybe even second or third, this comic probably seems exploitative. But look closer and you’ll see that it is truly indifferent to elements that other stories would sensationalize. It presents Yoon Bum’s mental illness not as a “disturbing” or “edgy” character trait, but as a simply stated formal diagnosis, leaving the audience to discern how it may or may not influence his behavior. Furthermore, it doesn’t anchor Songwoo’s vicious actions to any sort of mental condition; he’s given a typically tragic backstory, sure, but the comic still emphasizes that he is highly functional and even supremely popular among his peers. Even while this story contains scenes of psychological torture and gruesome violence, it doesn’t bear them lightly. Unlike the dime-a-dozen male-on-male rape and/or torture fantasies to come before in BL, it doesn’t let the audience walk away from the gut wrenching trauma of emotional abuse; it simply uses visceral illustrations of injury and carnage to drive the pain in as deeply as it can. This story does not rejoice in the suffering of its protagonist; it channels his perspective to lock on to the existential dread that comes with recognizing how deeply we can be hurt by those we love and then smothers us with it. Make no mistake: Killing Stalking may tell the story of a sadistic villain, but it is purely masochistic to its core.

This comic also proves impressive in its portrayal of sex. As they would in any story about a hostage situation, the sex scenes in Killing Stalking tread a fine line above tastelessness; it’s hard to grant this story credit for not being sleazy. What’s truly impressive is that this comic turns an exhausting BL trope on its head, drawing horror out of sex not by sensationalizing or perverting it, but by taking it out of the vacuum and placing it into a purely horrifying context. In Killing Stalking, sex does not serve the purpose of a money shot; it’s a lifeline. Yoon Bum doesn’t become the ever-beleaguered victim of some atrocious assault, but instead a confident seductor who knowingly wields his sexuality as an ultimate power over his captor, and that power proves likely to be the only thing keeping him alive. Whatever pleasure may possibly be found in these sexual encounters is quickly chased away by the overwhelming terror of the bigger picture. The sexual themes are deeply unsettling without being outright nasty, a feat that is seldom accomplished by horror stories.

Killing Stalking is, without a doubt, not for everybody, but it’s still quite a work to behold. What makes the comic so great is not that it’s merely shocking; it’s devastating. It tells a story of intimate abuse and codependency with surprising emotional nuance, even as it does so through a plot of jarring extremes. It subverts all of our expectations to a bleakly jaw-dropping effect. It gives a hammering pulse and gnashing fangs to the sort of emotional damages that BL manga tends to downplay or write off entirely. It takes scores of the fantasies fostered by yaoi fangirls and twists them all backwards into a tear-stained nightmare. It is poignantly painful and distressing, and it’s absolutely one of the most daring comics I’ve read in a long, long time.

#killing stalking #reviews? #i dunno #long post

[levyfiles]

helloooo!!!! since you are my fave blog about shyan content, i must ask: what are your favorite fics???

AHhh! I–OK well, Lately I’ve been finding more and more fics that fill my heart right up with every gorgeous headcanon there is, but If we’re talking all-time favourites, I have finally compiled a List from the moment I started reading shyan fic in 2018 of fics that have ruined my life; all of them here in no particular order.

Be All My Sins Remembered by spoopyy

Summary: In every lifetime, they find each other.

Review: This fic manages to take you on a long journey through what feels like a series of AUs and they all weave in and out of the wealth of their relationship with some vivid descriptions of the historical settings their journey takes them through. As someone who grew up reading Anne Rice’s epics through historical events, this fic is right up my alley. A vampire Shane passing through the wave of human society’s climb searching for a reincarnated Ryan again and again, trying to hold on to him and keep him through great tragedies and timeframes that just don’t let them be together. This was one of the first fics I read when I was only a lurker and to be quite honest, I need to give this one a nice re-read, maybe for the book club which would be loads of fun. Either way, 10/10. Would be Hurt in the heart again.

Perfect Fit by @beaniegara

Summary: There’s a legend that says anyone able to take all of statue Shane’s cock will summon the god to the mortal realm. Given the statue’s excessive size, no one has ever succeeded to prove or disprove the story.Until Ryan that is.

Review: Listen. You wanna talk actual fandom legends. This fic is one of them and it pulls out all the stops on being delicious and evocative. Also features one of my favourite incarnations of size queen bergara. Good stuff and you’re really rooting for Ryan in this lol. 

Everything’s Weird and We’re Always in Danger by the beethechange

Summary: Ryan perches on the edge of the bed, an indistinct shape that Shane can only just make out in the dark, so he turns the lamp back on. He wants to see Ryan’s face, wants to know that he is alright. Ryan’s cheeks are damp, his hands fisted in the hideous flowered duvet.

“It won’t go away,” Ryan says miserably. “I’ve been like this since we got here, basically, and it won’t fucking—”

“Ah,” Shane says. “Well, you know, sometimes fear…adrenaline…they can affect people. Physically.” He waves his hands indistinctly crotchward. “It’s a, a scientifically known phenomenon.” Shane feels a little better staying in the realm of scientifically known phenomena.

Review: Word of advice. You see a fic is authored by beethechange, run don’t walk because you’re absolutely always going to be treated to the best of banter, the best of prose, chemistry, organic execution and feels right up the bottom end of your heart. This fic, this changed everything I thought I knew I wanted out of a bed-sharing fic. It’s got a little bit of two treats here. You got a sex-pollen-esque situation mixed with bed-sharing and holy fucking damn that is more than you think you deserve, but read this because you do deserve the best of the best. The build up, the dialogue, the surprisingly hilarity of it, the hotness woah, and The Aftermath. When you think you know what you’re in for, you’re wrong and you’re most pleasantly surprised. Get this fic in your life and honestly? while you’re at it, you could do a clean sweep of every fic in her list of works and while my less than adequate reading time management may still be short on some of her most well-recommended pieces, I have an adamant faith that Bee doesn’t disappoint. Go get y’all juice.

Maelstrom by thewindupbird

Summary: Here’s the thing about driving halfway across the country to see someone. You can’t really deny, after that, that you’re pretty much head over heels for them.

Review: Listen. One morning on a day off, I just laid in bed and read this– all 40k+ words– while lying there clutching my pillows, hurting and loving every moment of it. The descriptions of Americana, the slow steady metronome rhythm of Ryan’s feelings as frightened and helpless as they feel when you’re relating deeply to them juxtaposed with the deep-seated struggle of understanding what it is to be with someone you love so much but your mental health is burning quiet holes in your ability to express it in a way that can be understand. Ryan’s fierce determination, breaking through the silence of their non communication is really Everything to me in this fic. i think I really left my heart in the scene in Shane’s parents kitchen. That finished me. Read this fic and understand the deep relief you get when you’ve finished a fight with someone you fiercely care about and they understand you and you understand them and it’s OK; it’s gonna be all right. Augh. 

A Burial on Box Hill by InkStainsOnMyHands

Summary: The Celtics believed that the yew flower symbolized both immortality and death. Meanwhile, for centuries, the buxus flower was seen as a symbol for safe passage into the afterlife.

Or,Shane and Ryan were never the same after investigating the Black Forest of Germany alone.

Review: Let me just quote my bookmark comment here. Usually I flee from tragedy like a cat spotting a cucumber but the brevity and the prose dragged me in and now I’m a functioning mess. Bless this fic. Oh my god it’s short and reads like one of those quick horror stories you’ll read to your friends just as the scary stories are transitioning from the urban legends to the ones that feel real. Big warning for main character death but still read it if you appreciate a good story told.

Body Farming by shiphitsthefan

Summary: Failed suppressants and a surprise heat: the worst of cliches, and here Ryan stands, living the trope on location with the alpha he’s hopelessly in love with. Even worse, they’re spending the night in the famous Bell Witch Cave, completely alone and with no way to contact the outside world.

Ryan knows he can survive and keep his preheat a secret, as long as Shane will stop being so protective and concerned. After all, it’s not like Shane wants to bond with him.

Right?

Review: Now judging from the reactions of many people I’ve spoken to, big heavy ABO kink is not popular here but guys, GUYS. This one. Let this one in I promise it is not what you think it is. The dynamic is organic and the worst side of the trope is subverted in all the best ways and lord help us, the smut is hot, like swelteringly smoking. It’ll stay with you. 

Believer by cellard00rs

Summary: Some demons and otherworldly creatures love climbing up the power ladder. Shane is not one of these. He likes where he is (thank you very much) and has no interest in moving up. All he wants is to give his friend Ryan a nice birthday gift. So, naturally, everything goes to hell.

Review: This fic is another fandom legend. When I think demon!Shane. It’s this and one other one that always pops right into my mind. This was my first exposure to the bureaucracy meets the supernatural!Shane trope and I was sold from the get-go. The Shane in this fic is everything I imagine a demon!Shane is and his ginger care for Ryan, the concept of their bond and how even though Shane is a demon and responsible for keeping the supernatural a firm secret from Ryan and the rest of the world, his skepticism is relayed through his status as a demon. I want to talk more about it but I think so much of the enjoyment comes from the surprises as the plot unfurls. 

Heartbeat by quackers

Summary: So the guy Ryan sits next to at work is a vampire. That’s no big deal, right?

Review: I could talk your literal ear off about this fic. Vampires, man. I love the trope; you don’t know me as a person if you don’t know this at least. And this fic kept me fed all damn year. It was a readable garden. If there is one thing I can guarantee about quackers��� work, it’s that their world-building is a festival of detail. The realms and alternate universes they work with while still managing to keep Shane and Ryan’s voices so familiar and real is a talent not attributed to your everyday author. This fic propelled me into wanting to write more and more because quackers makes stories so much fun! Reading their work is, to me, not unlike the feeling I got when I was younger and finding series that speak to my need to escape this crummy existence, made me want to believe in fun spicy things like a vampire that lived through centuries, cynical but still searching, navigating a world where people are still people, adjusting to differences and prejudices, finding comfort in a guy that understands that and more. I’ve talked about this fic in more than a few different posts so I’d just be reiterating a lot of things I loved about the more historical aspects of Shane’s journey, the way Ryan is so firmly curious and inventive in ways to connect with Shane. Look, even if vampires aren’t your thing, I can promise that if you visit quackers list of work, you will find something for your supernatural-lovin’ palate that speaks to a gentler side of your own curiosity about monsters and the jocks that love them. lol.

I’ll Crawl Home by carrieonfighting

Summary: “Shane was almost unnerved by how quickly he’d settled into this body, this name, this life - his friendship with Ryan was the most time he’d spent with any human before, and yet the man fascinated him.”

Review: This is the second fic I think of when someone says the words ‘demon!Shane’ to me because ohhhh my word, this fic is a masterpiece. I really am hard pressed to find anything better than the feeling I get when I think of demon!Shane headcanons interwoven with the irl Buzzfeed reality and the idea of the Ryan as we know him being protected and watched and loved so deeply by a demon that found him so long ago and wanted nothing but to protect him. I feel an almost vicious glee reliving that moment when Ryan and Shane are on goatman’s bridge and man, I just really love canonical fic mixed with a slight twist. The writing in this makes it work so well with lines that still haunt my heart and soul like “Ryan liked popcorn. So did the demon. Genuinely, not just out of a desire to please the human – he liked the way it crunched between his vessel’s teeth. There were some aspects of taking a corporeal form that were…nice; laughing, coffee, feeling warm. Ryan made him laugh.” FUCK! The beautiful agony of it, watching the demon fall in love with Ryan through the eyes of his vessel. Just stark with pain and unspoken, well-written angst and pain with a perfect ending, I wouldn’t change for anything. I love this for us as a fandom and will always love that author crafted this piece and shared it with us. (Also every time I hear Work Song by Hozier, I think of this fic again and sigh).

Like I said at the beginning, thanks to @skepticbeliever-bookclub I’ve been discovering and re-discovering some fics I hadn’t had the chance to read and or have never even heard of before and my bookmarks list is growing with each new week. So if you get through this list and need more in your life, here you go. Every fic in my bookmarks deserves the community’s attention. If I can just make one special request of you guys? If you do happen to click any of these and enjoy what you read, please take the time and tell the author what you loved about it. It really changes the game out here for fanworks and fan-creators like you wouldn’t even believe and the people who shared these works with us worked hard to make the stories what they are and put a great deal of emotional investment in sharing it. Share more than your silence in return. 

Hope you find something you like here, nonnybabe.. 

#shyan fic #shyan #skeptic believer #recs #love tag #Anonybae

[clubofinfo]

Expert: Something quite extraordinary has been happening on Twitter. Corporate journalists have gone into meltdown after two British media analysts – known as Media Lens – tweeted some friendly advice to idealistic youngsters contemplating a career in journalism. Twitter is a social media forum much loved by corporate journalists – probably because media training hones their skills at pithy aphorisms and putdowns, especially of those who criticise them, that work well in Twitter’s confined format. In a battle of tweetbites, the corporate journalist is king. But the outpouring of indignation from these journalists at a little bit of advice from Media Lens must be unprecedented. What’s most notable is that until now tweets from Media Lens, or their much longer and more complex alerts on their website, have rarely attracted interest or acknowledgment from the chief targets of their analysis – big-name journalists working for the media corporations. There is good reason. Media Lens promote the Propaganda Model, developed by the late Ed Herman and Noam Chomsky in their book Manufacturing Consent. In short, Media Lens argue that the corporate media – and the journalists who work for it – are enforcers of a narrow spectrum of ideological orthodoxy that promotes the interests of corporate wealth and power. It may look as if there is a wide range of views in the western media – it does look that way to the corporate journalists themselves – but, in fact, serious and profound critiques of western society and its dominant ideology are almost entirely absent. Nowadays, debates in the corporate media are limited to how best to manage the excesses of a turbo-charged neoliberalism at home and a brutal neoconservatism dressed up as humanitarian intervention abroad. Questioning the fundamentals of how western societies are organised – suggesting that they are inherently self-destructive (climate breakdown); non-viable (endless economic growth on a planet with finite resources); and deeply sick (an explosion of chronic mental and physical ill-health) – is to place oneself outside the bounds of legitimate discourse in the so-called “mainstream”. Champions of the downtrodden? None of this, of course, is likely to endear Media Lens to your average corporate journalist, especially the ones who work for supposedly liberal outlets like the BBC and the Guardian, who fancifully see themselves as champions of the downtrodden and upholders of unvarnished truth. Media Lens have earned the especial enmity of George Monbiot and Owen Jones, the only two writers at the Guardian who have any claim to being on the reasonably radical wing of the left. They hate Media Lens’ observations that the paper they work for – and idealise – has repeatedly promoted illegal regime-change operations and cold-war rhetoric, maintained its love affair with war criminal Tony Blair, and sought to subvert two of the most hope-inspiring and progressive popular causes on the left, Wikileaks and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Nowadays, few journalists acknowledge the existence of Media Lens, much less address the content of their arguments. Until, that is, this week when Media Lens tweeted the following: Forget it. Don’t write for the ‘mainstream’. Don’t write for money. Don’t write for prestige. Just ‘follow your bliss’ by writing what you absolutely love to write to inspire and enlighten other people. Write what seems interesting, important and true, and give it away for free. They were suggesting – as they always have – that there is no honest way for idealistic young people to work for the corporate media. They are there to provide legitimacy for a corporate agenda; the corporate media is not there to provide a platform for their ideals, especially if those ideals are likely to damage the corporations’ bottom line. Even if a journalist manages to carve out a small space as a token leftie on the margins of a “liberal” outlet like the Guardian – as Jones and Monbiot have done – he or she cannot shift the publication’s ideological centre of gravity. They simply provide cover for the false claim that the corporate media is pluralistic and inclusive. They deter or delay readers from awakening to the reality that 99.9% of everything they read and see in the corporate media is enforcing an extremely narrow – and dangerous – ideological horizon. Volcanic eruption In short, Media Lens are telling followers to abandon the corporate media model. Not to write as a slave bound to a corporation, to peddle its destructive agenda and promote its toxic brand. Not to make a Faustian pact in the hope of acquiring an easy authority and fame that derive from the large and visible platform of the corporate media. Media Lens are advising their followers to be true to themselves and their values. So how to explain the volcanic explosion of outrage in response? Take, for example, this from Emma Kennedy, a writer and TV presenter whose 127,000 Twitter followers were subjected to this short rant: This is total bollocks. If you want to be a writer know this: you have a value and you ALWAYS deserve to be paid. Go fuck yourself Media Lens. Or even the more temperate response from James Ball. He engineered a career for himself at the Guardian by – how I can put this … oh, I’m not writing this for any employer so let me follow my bliss – stabbing Wikileaks and Julian Assange in the back as regularly as the corporate pay checks dictated. This week Ball used a column at the “liberal” New Statesman magazine to dismiss the Media Lens project. Ball sidestepped Media Lens’ repeated critique, airing instead a much-favoured argument that only big corporations can finance the journalism needed to carry out investigations into the rich and powerful. Such stories take time and a lot of money, and also a lot of professional expertise: any fool can join a few dots and suggest there “may be something going on here”. Trying to prove it, make the story compelling, and do so without breaching libel laws, takes professionals. “Bliss” only gets you so far: eventually you need cash, too. Few Woodwards or Bernsteins First, let’s remember before corporate journalists like Ball get into full Woodward-and-Bernstein mode that only a minuscule number of journalists actually do anything resembling investigative work. The vast majority, including at the Guardian, do glorified rewriting of press releases, lifestyle journalism or commentary. Second, much of the investigative work most prized by journalists actually came about because the rich and powerful allowed the information to surface, usually because of feuding and rivalries within the ruling and Deep State elites (mention the Deep State, of course, and those corporate journalists are already starting to bristle on behalf of their employers). Watergate is a prime example. Woodward and Bernstein’s source Deep Throat – the only reason we ever found out about Watergate – was Mark Felt, the associate director of the FBI. He used the pages of the Washington Post to settle personal and institutional scores with the Nixon administration. Something much harder to quantify are how many investigations never get on to the media’s drawing board, or off it, because these same elites are united enough to stop the information leaking out. A reasonable suspicion ought to be that in the west we get to see only the tip of the iceberg of crimes and misdemeanours that have been committed at home and abroad in our names. Either knowledge of these crimes never moves beyond a tiny elite, or, if fragments do, they are conveniently dismissed by political and media elites as “conspiracy theories”. Down the memory hole Some conspiracy theories are speculative or evidence-free, but plenty are grounded in some evidence. If that evidence is incomplete, or barely known by the public, it is precisely because the corporate media prefers to ignore it rather than investigate and bring it to their readers’ attention. Major parts of western history have been either disappeared down the memory hole or exiled to the margins of the internet. Just try googling CIA Operations Mockingbird, Ajax or Gladio. No one is suggesting that holding the powerful to account is not necessary. The issue is how it is done, who finances it and how much the current financing model by corporations influences what is investigated, who is targeted, and what information comes to light. These are all questions no one in the corporate media even thinks about, much less addresses. Further, lots of investigative work happens not primarily because of journalists but because of the work of brave whistleblowers and new whistleblowing platforms like Wikileaks, which have been made possible by the digital revolution. The corporate media’s supposed commitment to no-holds-barred investigative journalism can be gauged by their uniform hostility to Wikileaks. (The irony of Ball extolling the importance of investigative journalism after he was at the forefront of the Guardian’s campaign to hobble Wikileaks should not need underscoring.) We are in a time of transition. New technologies offer new ways to carry out both investigations and journalism, and to finance it through crowdfunding and micro-payments. Media Lens are simply among those pushing to speed up change: to have journalists financed by readers rather than mega-corporations. No one who has a little idealism left should be against that. The best investigations conducted by the corporate media might have been much better, with a much broader scope, and have pulled their punches far less had they been written by journalists not constrained by corporate interests. Journalist Chain Gangs Finally, Ball, like Kennedy and many others, including Owen Jones, has suggested that there is something “anti-socialist” about telling journalists to work unpaid. There is only one problem: that wasn’t what Media Lens said in their tweet. Not writing for money and prestige is not the same as writing for free. One concerns motivation; the other concerns outcome. Write for money and prestige, and one is forced into a market place where skills are bought and owned by the highest bidder. This is the journalist as a channel, a vessel, for the rich and powerful to promote their values. Renounce money and prestige as a motivation and write from “bliss” – a place of honesty, awareness and deep values unconnected to reward – and what one writes will be far more significant, insightful and truthful. And if it is any good, it will inspire people to make donations. Is such a way of life more difficult than becoming a hired gun? Of course, it is. Will it be less well-paid? Almost certainly. Is it for everyone? Probably not. But that is not the issue Media Lens was addressing. They were not telling idealistic journalists how they could get rich quick, how they could work within corporate parameters or how they could win easy adoration and followers on Twitter. They were answering the question: how can I write and remain true to myself? There was nothing “anti-socialist” about their response. The sad fact is that corporate journalists are so captive to the agendas of their employers, that even the most liberal of them cannot imagine how other journalists might not be able to see a place for themselves in that corporate world, or may not see how they could get anything published that they believe would be of value. Chomsky once famously told a non-plussed Andrew Marr of the BBC: I’m sure you believe everything you’re saying. But what I’m saying is, if you believed something different you wouldn’t be sitting where you’re sitting. Journalists and writers like Kennedy, Jones and Ball are not being “socialist” or principled in defending corporate chain gangs for journalists, even if they themselves cannot see the heavy corporate leg-irons they wear. No one paid me to write this piece, or any of the articles on my blog. If you appreciated it, or any of the others, please consider hitting the donate button to the right. http://clubof.info/