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pixievi · 2 years

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Hi! How are you? Can I ask any NSFW headcanons or one dirty shot for Vi’s first time with reader. If you don't mind, no tribbing. I will be glad if you write thigh riding or her abs. Please…

This woman is so hot and I'm so weak😩😩

Thanks. I hope my request is not inconvenient!

I'm grand thank you! Ofc you can, we all love firsts with Vi in this house 💕 I hope this is okay!!

Vi's first time with Reader Headcanons

MDNI OR I’LL STEAL YOUR DOG

warnings : dirty talk, thigh riding, RIDING VI’S ABS, i think that’s it?, oh wait no there’s usage of : bun, bunny, princess, whore (once), virgin vi, reader and vi are both switches, suggestive ending

( side note : do yourselves a favour and turn this photo ^^ to the side because fuc-)

I think we can all agree that Vi, is all bark and no bite. At least when it comes to intimacy. When it really comes down to it, she’s a mess. A lesbian disaster, if you will. Freezing like a deer in headlights, blushing, stuttering…. all when you decide to return the same energy.

Vi had always been teasing and flirting with you even before you guys started dating, because she loved how cute you looked when you got all bashful and blushy. But the moment you retaliated, you were surprised when she started tripping over her words and blushing. You just melted at the sight.

Physical affection with Vi was constant. Holding hands? yes. Hugging? YES. Kissing? FUCK YEAH. Sex? [nervous chuckles]

It’s not that Vi wasn’t interested in being intimate with you. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She was vERY very interested. If her casual perverted stares and flirty remarks were anything to go by. It was just all very new to her, a whole new type of vulnerable.

On top of that, she was worried she’d do something wrong. That she’d hurt you, how she would do things, what if you left her because maybe that’s the only reason you were with her…all these sort of thoughts plagued her. Vi being Vi, the leader and protector, it never even crossed her mind that you would be the one commanding things for the first time. She thought she would have to do it. That it was her job.

BOY was she wrong

It was a few months into the relationship before Vi was prompted to actually do something about her fantasies that left her tummy fluttering and brain floaty. The prompt being in the form of your ‘lady’ novels. Or in other words, erotic graphic novels/books.

Vi was bored at home while you were at work, and so decided to see what all the fuss was about, because you were always reading them.

Shock was an understatement. Her cheeks had never been more warm and pink in her life. But she got through it, devouring all of them in fact before you got home.

She was not left unaffected though. She was soaked. And the fact you could read all that without even a blush? It made her little issue worse.

Fast forward to you getting home before she could take care of the problem and now here she sat in your lap after you pounced on her, showering her in kisses. Completely unaware that your gf was a dripping mess above you.

This was not helping the situation

The sweet kisses turning into a passionate make out also did not help

Vi was doing her best to control herself as your hands roamed across her body innocently. Until you squeezed her ass playfully, and she moaned into the kiss.

You both froze.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fu-

Vi could not stop the embarrassed blush painting her cheeks. You were both pulled away from each other now and staring at each other silently.

While Vi was freaking out on the inside, you however, wanted to hear more. A lot more.

There was just something about hearing this tatted, hardened brawler make such sweet and delicate noises of pleasure that made you grip her tighter

“There something you wanna tell me, bun?”

Cue Vi trying to turn it back on you, stuttering of course. But determined. Until you notice a faint, but consistent pulsing on your thigh where Vi sat. You smile, knowingly.

“I was just about to pull away and say how much I missed you but you grabbed me an-“

“I can feel your heartbeat. On my thigh”

After coaxing it out of her, you both agreed that it was time.

Vi did her absolute best to mimic all the touches she saw from the novels, after she got over the sight of your now exposed chest and bra. Which took longer than she’d like to admit.

However, while her touches were eager and the feel of her calloused fingers exploring your upper half set you ablaze, you noticed there was a certain ‘unsureness’

You checked in, making sure she was alright. To which she insisted that she is. Which you believed, but there was still something.

“I got it babe, don’t worry about it. Jus’ gonna take care of you”

To find out she was a virgin, was quite the shock. Because look at her? The first time you met and spoke to her your knees almost gave up. And that was just from appearance and voice alone. Her personality and confident front was a whole other level. You just naturally assumed she would always have a girl in her bed. You almost didn’t believe her.

But the nerves swimming in her eyes said different.

So you took the lead. Vi wasn’t complaining, but also was. She wanted to take care of you. She had to, that was her job…right? But, on the other hand, the thought of you giving her orders and bossing her around was hot. So there wasn’t much protest really.

You decided to take it easy, of course. And had her grind on your thigh.

She hovered at first, not wanting to hurt you. But there’s absolutely none of that, not on this couch. You plopped her hips down, catching her biting back a gasp as her aching core, now bare, met the warm flesh of your thigh.

You gently guided her hips, mesmerised by her slick coating your thigh. You slowed her thrusts at first, letting Vi get used to her position and the feeling. Until after a little while, you asked her what made her so needy.

The images of the pages flashed through her mind and her hips jerked forward, head thrown back.

In between gasps and deliciously sweet moans, she described what she saw. You smiled wickedly.

“Now imagine all that, but with us, yeah?”

You nipped at her ear and began to cover her in bites and love marks.

Your praise, the fantasies you imbedded in her already floaty mind and your guidance urged her hips quicker, chasing that warm and fluttering feeling rising inside her quickly. She was a lot more vocal than she thought she’d be, Vi realised. A little embarrassed. But you assured her, after seeing the multiple attempts to keep quiet, that you loved all the pretty noises she made. That you preferred it.

Vi came all over your thigh with breathy moans. She slacked on top of you, catching her breath while resting her head on your shoulder.

You praised her endlessly. Calling her a good girl, YOUR good girl. Which made her shy away into your chest.

“Your turn Princess”

You did something you always wanted to do. Worship the muscles that rippled through Vi’s body. Specifically her abs.

Vi was confused at first, the thought of her abs being seen that way never crossed her mind. But seeing you bare and sitting above her stomach made her realise she wasn’t against it.

Especially when you dragged your pulsing clit over her defined mounds, messing her stomach with your essence.

She gripped your hips and encouraged you to move faster, wanting to see you fall apart just from her abs.

By this point, Vi felt a lot more confident. Which meant, her colourful way with words started to spill from her lips as she brought you closer to your peak. And by colourful, I mean pure filth

“That’s it, Bunny, fuck yourself on my stomach like the pretty lil’ whore you are”

Her words left you whining pathetically

Vi, was quite smug with herself

She gripped your ass harshly and roughly made you grind against her faster

Your essence was all over her stomach now, even slightly dripping onto Vi’s hips. Which made it much easier for you to slide more quickly along the shine of her abs.

The grip Vi had on your jaw forced you to stare into her eyes as you shattered and gushed against her, cursing.

Vi pulled you in for a loving kiss

You pulled away with the thought of giving her other lips a well deserved kiss ;)

#vi x reader #vi smut #arcane women #vi arcane #arcane headcanon #arcane x reader #vi imagine #vi x female reader #vi headcanon #vi fluff

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reimenaashelyee · 1 year

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This is maybe not so important to announce but it's going to affect my online activity/webcomic updates, so here it is:

I am going back to school and pursuing a Masters in Arts Management until 2025

If you recall, I have spoken several times in my blog about my past life in academia, the quarter-life crisis that resulted from it (not the full story), and the occasional spasm of desiring institutional recognition.

I am willingly! voluntarily! going back through the gates of the ivory tower.

For the past few years now, I’ve been slowly crabwalking towards an administrative, organisational, educational/resource-providing, leadership-type role in my areas of work (comics, writing, illustration, commercial art).

I hinted about somewhat being sick of the physical and emotional investment of comics-making trapping me to the same four-walls. The 2-ish years of hard commitment that each graphic novel demands is something that I don’t mind doing, especially for a story I truly believe in. However, I cannot keep doing this consecutively. For two years, I keep having visions of myself in my late-fifties asking me, now, if this is all worth it: to devote all this time to make comics that people like, but to not have a life lived? I am thinking of those mangaka who spend all their time breathing eating knowing only comics, and then suddenly, dying with not much to show except their impressive body of work. Did they see enough of the world? Did they eat enough good food? Have they discovered all their non-comics passions? I certainly don’t want my ghost to ask the same questions when she sees my body.

In a way I’ve sort of outgrown that shine of comics as a full-time job: ironically, in my success at producing audience/market-friendly work in exchange for financial support, I do not have time at all to pursue experimental, personal play and art that truly speaks to me. I’m also facing the reality that, as much as I enjoy working in traditional publishing, I am running out of ideas. I only have 2 to 3 more stories left in me for young adult/middle grade graphic novels. After that? I don’t know…

(Unless the new graphic novel imprints are suddenly hungry for adult work. Because, boy, do I have ten billion ideas.)

Anyway, the situation is that the majority of the graphic novel space in traditional publishing is still cashing in on the boom for middle-grade/young adult stories, with no long-sighted consideration for catering to those readers who will eventually, definitely grow up into adults. Meanwhile, I am running out of kids stories and am desperate to make bloody, complicated work (the kind of stuff I was already making pre-success and am still making), and to disentangle the actual act of creating from income-making. Not in the sense that I don’t want money at all from my comics; just that I don’t want comics to be my primary source of income anymore. And personally… I just want more time to live and be offline.

So this is the emotional aspect that’s been motivating my crabwalking. Still, if that was not a factor, this was always going to be the natural progression of my career anyway.

Like, considering that I began my career as co-founder of a regional comics network and my life-long practice of creating resources, it’s not that surprising. Even when I formally officialised my career in 2018 as a Traditionally Published, Professional Comics Creator in the Mid-list, I was also engaging in the administrative with my dayjob at Hiveworks, in addition to the aforementioned regional comics network UNNAMED, and now, the Cartoonist Cooperative. I continually make resources and facilitate them. The dayjob is expanding to include even larger responsibilities (it’s not really company-related, just a consulting thing we’re doing with a giant entity).

Clearly, the horizontal pivoting has gotten to the point where that aspect is becoming the majority of my practice, into something that I actually want to form the bulk of my career and the foundation of my 30s era. It’s happening at the same time as my desire to withdraw from the cycle of commercial production to focus on what I call studio/residency work aka sketching and making my webcomics.

So yeah, I’ve decided to formalise the other half of what I am already doing, since in this universe one can’t get a job in corporate/NGO/NPO art administration without a degree – despite years of experience and evidence of extremely specialised skills that don’t exist in a university course but are valuable on the ground (do they teach comics crowdfunding and webcomics marketing/production in tertiary?). And I do intend to go somewhat corporate, even if it’s as someone who runs a literary festival or artist residency. Because I actually find pleasure in doing all that admin juggling. I like helping artists pursue their practice. It engages a side of my brain that is understimulated since I stopped academia.

I went to the Orientation session on Thursday. It had been exactly 8 years since I last did an Orientation for school; I am no longer a wide-eyed doe so the entire time I was barrelling through the throngs of baby undergraduates and sitting through the talks with laser-focused practicality (putting aside the nice-sounding speeches for the actual hard facts of where stuff is and who to contact; though the speeches were quite thoughtful).

Anyway,

anyway…

This is a long-winded post to break the Jinx and say I am officially pursuing my Masters in Arts Management. Two years of this. Who knows what may happen?

Hopefully I will come out with better experiences this round, since this would be the first time that I chose a course not out of anxiety for the unknown, but because I very much know what I want based on experience actually working in industry.

#long post #yeah the inevitable has happened #I am studying...again

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badsongpetey · 6 days

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The Water Guardian (aka Cryptid Keith AU) Part 8

And so Lance falls into an easy pattern with his new cryptid friend. Every week he brings books to an eagerly awaiting Keith, and steadily the conversations between them become less and less strained. Lance has discovered that he and Keith share similar tastes. Keith loves graphic novels, and in addition to adventure and fantasy stories, has a penchant for horror. The scary monster in the haunted waterfall loves horror, go figure.

Lance would be lying if he hadn’t hoped to get Keith to open up more about his mysterious past, because what’s the fun of having a supernatural friend without learning his cosmic secrets, right? But as the weeks turn to months, Keith remains as reluctant as ever to broach the subject. And strangely, Lance finds himself minding less and less.

Keith, contrary to first impressions, is actually funny. Okay, his sense of humor is definitely an acquired taste, but it’s there, and he frequently has Lance laughing out loud. And stranger still, Keith is just fun to hang out with. He’s smart, and creative, and passionate about the things he cares for. Sure, he’s still stubborn and annoying and almost ridiculously oblivious at times, but in a ways that challenge Lance to be better instead of frustrating him.

Introducing Keith to more modern stories has also opened up a world of questions for the dragon. Every week he hounds Lance for answers: What’s the internet? What’s a TV show? And why do people binge eat them on streams? These are tough to answer as the area where Keith lives is the deadest of dead zones, a fact Lance attributes more to Keith himself than any feature of technology or geography.

In return for Lance’s knowledge, Keith shows him his world. Lance learns secrets of the forest; meets a host of wild animals — some friendlier than others, stupid chipmunks; and is dazzled with dragon magic tricks.

They swim, and hike, and make up stupid challenges to see who can best the other. He even hatches a scheme to camp out and surprise Keith with his first ever movie night. Keith’s face, transfixed as he watches some of Lance’s favorite flicks on his laptop, is something Lance finds far more compelling than the movies themselves. Somewhere along the line, without being fully aware of it, Lance realizes that Keith has gone from being a friend in name only, to one of his best friends.

And speaking of best friends, it crosses his mind more than once that he’s never invited them to come visit Keith. Hunk really should get to meet the dragon he thought was going to eat them, he knows Hunk and Keith would be good friends. And Pidge would be maniacal with glee over the discovery of a whole new species. On second thought, maybe keeping Pidge away is for the best. Keith might actually be forced to eat them in self defense.

Lance tells himself that he’ll introduce them when the time is right, but truth is, he likes having Keith’s friendship to himself. And he tries his best to ignore the weird little flutter thing that his heart does when Keith comes bounding out of the woods like an excited puppy to greet him. Who wouldn’t be excited to have a magical being for a secret friend, right? Of course right, there’s no other explanation.

“Are there any other dragons?” Lance asks one afternoon as they lay sunning themselves on the warm rocks after a swim.

When he’s met with silence, he looks over at Keith unmoving on the rocks beside to him.

“I was just thinking, you know, there must be more dragons out there, besides you and your parents. Maybe, you’ve run into them?” Lance elaborates.

Keith is still quiet, and Lance is about to chalk this one up to things they don’t talk about when…

“I don’t know. I’ve never left my waters.”

Lance sits up. “You’ve never left?” He asks incredulously. “Not once in a century? You’ve just been here all alone?”

Keith is sitting now too, and his brow furrows in response.

“Look,” Lance sighs, “I know there are things you don’t want to discuss, but… I dunno, I worry about you, here all alone.”

“I’m not alone, I have you.”

“And I’m incredible, I know. I mean, you’re not gonna find better than me, human or dragon, that’s a given.” Lance replies over the soft sound of Keith’s scoffs. “But I’m still just one guy, and, well, aren’t you curious? At all?”

Keith frowns and looks away, his established way of shutting down a conversation.

Lance huffs in frustration. “Keith, part of being friends is talking about stuff. Friends talk. They care about each other and help each other, and trust each other. I’m just hoping that maybe you trust me.”

Lance stares at the back of Keith’s head and wonders if he just ruined a friendship and not merely a perfectly nice afternoon. But he’s reached a point with Keith where he wants more. He can’t keep walking on eggshells whenever the subject of Keith’s past comes up, and he’s at a loss about what else he can do.

“My mom, before she… passed… she made me promise to never leave here. To never look for any others. She said it was too dangerous. And it’s been hard, but it was the only thing she asked of me.” Keith’s voice quavers as he replies.

“Keith, I… I’m so sorry, but she couldn’t have wanted you to be all alone for so long…”

“You don’t understand!” Keith snaps, turning around, eyes filling with tears, cutting Lance off mid-sentence.

“Dragons don’t just take care of a body of water, we’re bound to it. A water dragon cannot be, cannot exist, without this bond. My mom came here when she was still pregnant with me. She never told me where she’d come from, only that she came here to protect me. Her magic was strong and she was able to sever her old bond and forge a new one here.”

Lance sits slack-jawed and stunned as the story comes pouring out of Keith.

“Normally, when a young dragon comes of age they find their own place, their own bond. But, I couldn’t go…” Keith hiccups out a sob, “I couldn’t leave, and she couldn’t leave, and… and… she gave her bond to me. She gave it up so I could live. And she… she…”

Keith’s voice breaks as he cries and Lance is moving before he even decides to. He wraps himself around his friend and Keith just collapses in his arms, releasing a grief held for longer than Lance can imagine.

“I’m here now.” He whispers into Keith’s hair. “I’m here and I won’t let you be alone ever again.” He promises. And Lance never breaks a promise.

#klance #voltron #keith kogane #lance mcclain #vld #water guardian au #dragon keith #klance au

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evelhak · 4 months

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🔹2023 Wrap Up🔹

I've never really done an end of the year type of post, but I got inspired somehow. Maybe because this year has been in many ways slower and filled with rest more than any other year in my life so far (which is a good thing), but I started looking back, wondering if I'd really done "anything" this year, and I can see there's still a decent amount of things I've accomplished that are meaningful to me. So, this is almost diary type self-reflection. But I'll post it because I would like to see other people do this type of thing too. ✨

This is mostly work and hobbies related.

Original writing published

Rummuttaja (Drummer)

My third published novel and the first book in my first fantasy series. I'll talk about it more in its own post but it's about an island where people can control earthquakes with music, and musically gifted children are brought up as heroes to be. I spent about half of 2023 editing this book and I'm probably more proud of it than anything else I've published.

Sydäntekniikkaa (Heart Techniques)

A short story, or a novella, with a spin on the innocent girl meets heartless boy trope. Discusses politics, environment, prejudice, ignorance and disability in a fantastical setting. It was published in a steampunk anthology Rautasilmä ja muita steampunk-kertomuksia (Iron eye and other steampunk stories) with three other stories. Here's a drawing of my main character.

A book review I wrote on Sankareita ja shakkinappuloita (Heroes and chess pieces) by Heidi Torn, appeared in a Finnish SFF magazine Kosmoskynä. I very rarely make time to help with this magazine I've subscribed to for many years, so I'm glad I did. The book was about Greek gods in modern day Finland, so as a Percy Jackson fan I was obviously intrigued.

Original works written

2023 wasn't the most active writing year since I spent so much time editing, but I managed to write

about a half of a fantastical murder mystery in a ballet school told from the perspective of seven students with very different views on the school and the people in it

a short story about a magical doll maker student attempting to manipulate another guy to be less full of himself

Editing work

I've just started as one of three editors for a magic school story anthology. It is my first time so I'm learning from the other two who are more experienced and actually have their university degrees in Finnish language which I don't. I was asked along as more of the magic school expert since most of my published work so far is set in them. We are only just starting to go through the submissions since the deadline was the end of the year, so I haven't done much yet but I really love helping other people make the most of their writing, so I'm very excited. ✨

Fan fiction

Words published: 225 239

Words written: 263 315

Not including a few 100 word drabbles, and fake chats which are actually from past fics anyway just in visual form.

My fics were mostly KagaKuro, as they usually are, but I also wrote one AoMomo. My plans for 2024 have more diverse focus characters, though!

Illustration/Graphic design

I got more work for cover design than before this year. I'm still such a newbie on this, but I'm fairly happy with many of them, and I've discovered such passion for this art. Only writing books is more satisfying than getting to be the one to bring out the book's core in a visual form. And some of the authors have really loved the covers and felt like I got them, which of course feels amazing. I always wanted to do my own covers but now that I get to do other people's too I just want to do it more and more.

Drawings/Paintings

This was definitely a KnB heavy year! Which I enjoyed a lot. I didn't do that many original things but I was really happy to get back to traditional art after several years now that I think my digital art skills have improved to pretty much the same level.

Comics

I didn't really complete anything but in June I got about half way through this KagaKuro comic (with female Kuroko) based on my own fic Kuroko's Fairytale.

This is definitely one of the things I want to finish the most in 2024! I felt so high drawing it. It was such a strange experience because female Kuroko was not supposed to be a thing for me... (it was supposed to be just one funky fic that happens in a dream, never to be revisited again, because my brain is so much work it beats itself up about even the most minuscule changes I might like to make on existing characters, like, my brain just has no chill about fiction, everything is death serious, it's fucking annoying even to me) But. BUT. B U T. When I was drawing this comic. Oh. My. God. I have no words for how good it felt. Like, I obviously knew you can experience love on behalf of fictional characters (hello, shipping) but I had never before experienced gender euphoria on behalf of a fictional character. There's no other way to describe it, girl Kuroko absolutely destroyed me in the best of ways. So she's here to stay, I can't push her back anymore.

Anyway, have a sneak peek. I still struggle a lot with consistent anatomy as I have my whole life, but there are a few frames I love already, my favourite probably being the one which is also my icon.

Not that I'm not also in love with stupid prince Kagami, but I was never fighting that so it's a little different.

Books read

Not an especially good reading year in quantity. In quality it was, though. I don't think there was one book that I disliked. My problem these days is that every time I try to take time to read a book, about a half an hour into it my brain goes like... You know what? You could be working on your own writing. But it's also very important for a writer to read, so I have to retrain my brain to stop feeling like it's wasting time when I read.

Total: 29 (or 35 if you count KnB as two volumes each since it's double edition)

New books: 17

Rereads: 12(/18)

Several of these are books I did covers for, and I started a KnB reread to check for ideas I haven't covered in my fics yet, so if you take these "business" reads out of the equation, I didn't read that much for just pleasure. That's something I want to improve in 2024.

The most memorable book was probably The Song of Achilles (a damn difficult read since I saw so many of my own relationships patterns in Patroclus to a painful detail, ugh. And yeah Achilles definitely reminded me of some specific people too. Kind of destroyed all my blissful surrealist separation with this story and made me disillusioned with it, but in the end it might have been good for me).

Fics read

Ok, this is downright shameful to me. I read so little. But go give some love to these fics I've read which were obviously made with love.

Reap What You Sow (one-sided (??) AoMomo) by @vespersposts

summer drabble (Kagami) by cempasuchil_03

Noodle Kiss (KagaKuro) by @myndless88

The Art of Self-Pillage (Haizaki, OC) by @lylakoi

Let's Have a War (Kise, Kasamatsu, OC) by @lylakoi

Tastes of Cinnamon (KagaKuro) by @lilypheria

Nail art

A new hobby for me! I hadn't even owned nail polish before. And couldn't stand long nails either. I have no clue what inspired this, to be honest. I'm very new to it, but here are my favourites.

The text print on blue nails was definitely the most me, but I think I particularly enjoy prints in general. I made the star ones for Christmas.

I bet I've forgotten something obvious but this post is pretty long already and it looks like a pretty good summary. Definitely helped me sort out my thoughts on what I want to do in 2024 and what priorities I should have.

Good luck to everyone on all your future plans. ✨💙

#end of year wrap up #writing #art #knb #books #fics #personal

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prismatoxic · 5 months

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i know the original mgs1 graphic novel has been around for almost 20 years. i'm sure it’s been analyzed to death by people smarter than me, with more innate knowledge of the series than i have, but serzh and i watched the digital one (with all the voices and animations), and i've been thinking about it ever since.

mgs1 is my favorite. in comparison to the rest of the series that followed, it's far more subdued; the voice acting is more sincere, the setting is less fantastical, the enemies more human... when things like psycho mantis's manipulation or vulcan raven's ~mystic native powers~ (ugh) come into play, the juxtaposition of those events with the more grounded rest of the narrative makes them feel more severe.

is mgs1 perfect? god, no. maybe raven's portrayal can be somewhat forgiven from a game from 1998, but a lot of the issues it has come down to technical limitations and plot discrepancies, imo. i have a lot of thoughts about how stilted snake and meryl's relationship is, too, but i kind of want to give the game a point for that one since they fell apart after the fact anyway. i just don't know if that was intended from the start. if not, they wrote an unsalted cracker of a relationship story for no real reason, and that's sad.

but my thoughts don’t end there, nor do my thoughts on twin snakes and, later, the graphic novel, which was eventually billed as a way for players to get the story of mgs1 without having to play it. i feel like that framing makes things far more egregious than they already were. regardless, if you’re interested, my thoughts on all this will be under the cut. i’d love to hear other fans’ thoughts, too. fair warning, though: a lot of this will be centered on the dynamic between snake and otacon, and their individual characterizations, bc those things interest me most and also made me the angriest when changed.

so let’s get twin snakes out of the way first. twin snakes is a bastardized version of the story that i love, which somehow manages to mangle the narrative while also changing none of the dialogue. i’ve heard the story of david hayter personally paying all the other returning VAs to get them to come back, but you can tell they don’t really have a lot of passion for re-recording things they already said years ago. david himself, while not so disenfranchised, has fully switched to the later snake portrayals here, and while i do think he’s a very talented VA and the only snake i’ll ever agree with, the direction he was nudged in from then onwards makes snake so... over-the-top, and hammy. it’s embarrassing at times, and in twin snakes it’s at its worst.

then there’s the characterization. ignoring the voices, for a moment, you will also run into situations where the characters’ actions and movements paint a picture of them that contradicts the characterization they had originally. snake is... over-the-top, like his voice, and then you have otacon. i am still mad about otacon. i am so mad about otacon. without changing a single goddamn one of christopher randolph’s lines, they butchered his character, turning him into a joke: he’s constantly falling down in silly slapstick ways, even during the wolf death scene. one of the most powerful scenes in the entire first game, if not THE most powerful one, and they turned it into a fucking JOKE. (and had an actual wolf carry her body away at the end??? what????)

...but this has absolutely been talked about by people smarter than me. here’s an article by the english translator for mgs1 about his work and experience with the game, and here's a video by youtuber jackdonsurfer about the differences between mgs1 and twin snakes, and why twin snakes is a bad remake. i highly recommend both of these, they’re very good.

so moving on from twin snakes, we have... the graphic novel for mgs1, the bastard son of the two games combined with a bunch of its own ideas as well, for better or worse. i’ll be referencing the digital version, but anything that isn’t related to the voice acting will still hold true for my thoughts on the actual book.

the graphic novel uses the same voice direction as twin snakes, but toned down, more befitting the tone of mgs2 or 3, which did seem to learn from that particular mistake. the actors also seem to have regained their passion for the project, and for the most part, give it their all. gray fox is voiced here by rob paulsen, as well, and that’s a decision i understand, same as in twin snakes; greg eagles voiced donald anderson along with gray fox, and the similarities between his anderson and gray fox voices were inescapable once you recognized them. i do think greg eagles did things a lot more passionately, and his version of gray fox is very different from rob paulsen’s, but at the same time, the more mechanical read of gray fox’s lines—up until the tail end of the fight in the lab, or the REX fight, where he gets more intense—does lend an interesting interpretation to his character. so, in the end, while i think i overall prefer greg eagles’ version, i don’t think rob paulsen’s is bad.

so everyone is doing their best, and the writing isn’t as godawful as it was in twin snakes... however, several things jeremy blaustein discussed specifically changing in his english translation of mgs1 in the polygon article i linked are instead lifted from the twin snakes version of the script, or based largely on it. so it’s not great. better, but not as good as it could be.

so with that out of the way, and with me having a subzero interest in talking in depth about the art (it’s really stylized, but there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s perfectly serviceable), it’s time to talk about the story.

there are some things the graphic novel does alright, or even really well. i like the added scenes between FOXHOUND members and other main characters; i like otacon’s justification for wanting his own codename; and i love the psycho mantis section. absolutely fucking flawless concept, wish they’d done that in the game instead of making the controller vibrate. ah well.

the rest, though. god.

i mean, a lot of it is fine, i suppose. slightly more dramatic spins on the original narrative, cutting out parts that only made sense in-game, shifting some events around, and otherwise just sort of doing things the same. but i have some very specific grievances about some of the portrayed relationships.

so, if this post gets out farther than i expect, like some of my other mgs posts have, here’s some background: i’m an otasune shipper. i don’t think that affects my biases too much, as the story and characters are really important to me as-is (in the original, obviously), but i am particularly invested in snake and otacon’s relationship, even in a strictly canon sense. otacon is my favorite mgs character, too. so let’s discuss some of this while also knowing those things about me, for transparency’s sake.

onto the point, i think snake and otacon’s relationship in the original game is massively important to the narrative. the video i linked by jackdonsurfer discusses this, and is one of the reasons i originally started fully considering it, but to be more precise: snake and otacon are very explicitly narrative foils.

snake is a military veteran, a mercenary, a soldier by birth and by trade. he kills people for a living, and he does it well. he’s gruff and aggressive and with rare exceptions, looks out for himself first and foremost. he’s rough around the edges, sharp, pushing away meaningful connections and never letting anyone get too close.

otacon is a scientist, as well as an anime fanboy, two of the first things we learn about him. we also quickly learn that he’s a pacifist—upon accepting that he’s responsible for a nuclear weapon and not a defensive machine, he immediately vows to fix it, refusing to cause any more deaths than he surely already has. he’s soft and kind and passionate, and he wants to help people, whether it be the whole world or just snake. he wears his emotions on his sleeve, and even when snake is holding him at arm’s length, otacon is trying in earnest to connect with him.

they tend to bounce off of each other like polarized magnets, but in moments like the “love blooming on a battlefield” scene or wolf’s death, they come together, finding common enough ground to understand each other while remaining distinctly different. you can feel snake warming up to otacon before the end, even without taking into account the otacon ending (which is noncanon anyway, but its exploration into their relationship in that situation is still very sweet). otacon is willing to sacrifice himself to ensure snake and meryl’s survival in the canon ending, and snake makes especially sure to request otacon’s extraction when the bombs don’t fall.

this all segues nicely into their dynamic come mgs2, but even taken only by itself, it tells a very concise story. even though they both have romantic interests in mgs1, their relationship with each other is important, a key factor in both of their character arcs.

why am i bringing all of this up? well, uh, because the graphic novel tries to downplay it in favor of the romances.

look, i don’t ship either of the “canon” ships in mgs1 (if we can even call otacon/wolf such), but i don’t think they’re done poorly, either. as i said earlier, i felt like snake and meryl’s stilted, almost forced romance lends well to the timeline between mgs1 and 2, because the idea that she’d eventually realize he was exactly who he said he was—thereby seeing the real him, and not this idea of him she had in her head—and subsequently realize she didn’t want that and wind up leaving, is really good. it’s an interesting story, and adds to the overall narrative. as for wolf and otacon, i always got the sense that otacon was in over his head about someone who’d shown him the barest hint of mercy, and wolf was mostly neutral on him in turn. the moment when she reaches out, and snake asks what she wants, and she says her gun? with otacon visibly in frame behind the gun? that’s powerful. he’s inconsequential, meaningless; yet to him, she’s everything, this symbol of “love blooming on the battlefield”. it’s an interesting story.

the graphic novel giving us more scenes between snake and meryl/otacon and wolf isn’t something i mind, especially the latter. i want to see more of that! i want to know why otacon feels the way he does. the first time he runs into wolf in this story, she wants to kill him. (never mind that she “doesn’t kill for sport” in the game, huh.) the second time, she uh. decides she likes him a lot? i’m willing to accept her being at least somewhat fond of him (he does have her handkerchief, after all), but her sudden pivot to openly liking him is... odd. and then the third time, he bursts onto the snowfield to stop snake and wolf from killing each other (this is good, i like this idea), and she can’t bring herself to shoot him to lure snake like she did with meryl (which feels... not like a problem a trained killer like her would have, especially given that she discusses shooting him in non-vital but crippling ways, specifically). her death scene is similarly impacted by this increased focus on her and otacon, stripping away the mood of the original in ways i really wasn’t fond of.

now, snake and meryl i have less to actively say about because we genuinely skipped a lot of it. it was painful to watch. i like meryl—i think her being an inexperienced wannabe soldier who is desperate to prove herself is a great story. she idolizes “heroes” like snake, who were never heroes at all, throwing herself into the war machine to live up to this ideal that will never exist. (mgs4 handled this well too.) i guess i don’t have much to say on how the graphic novel handled her because of the skipping, but i can say that there was ample focus on her and snake, and in a way, i feel like parts of otacon and snake’s story were surgically removed to make more space for it.

remember the “love blooming on a battlefield” scene? of course you do. it’s one of the most iconic scenes in the entire game—maybe the whole series. how does the graphic novel handle it? it, uh. doesn’t. it’s gone.

and at that point, i can’t help but wonder if part of the entire point of this was to make the story seem less gay. maybe that’s just a tinfoil hat thing. but why would you remove one of the most powerful, character-driven conversations in the game? it doesn’t sit right with me. were they worried snake and otacon would eclipse the oh-so-important romances if they were allowed to be proper foils?

some of the stuff towards the ending is pretty good. i like some of gray fox’s changes, and i like snake being forced to fire the stinger because fox begs him to, though the original version where snake can’t bring himself to is still good. i like that snake cuts off liquid’s arm, setting up ocelot’s arc later on. i like that the patriots are mentioned; of course they weren’t originally, bc they hadn’t been conceived of yet, but it’s a good addition now that they’re part of the series.

i don’t like how otacon is stripped of the chance to demonstrate his conviction and loyalty, because he’s already safely out and hacked the security doors in advance. i don’t like how he mocks snake’s real name instead of making a 2001: a space odyssey joke. i don’t like how him escaping with snake and meryl has made for some very confusing fanfics where writers think he was at the cabin at the same time as meryl because that’s the only version of the story they know.

and that, right there, is the worst part of it all, isn’t it?

this version of events, with all its changes, has been presented multiple times as a stand-in for the actual game. it’s not the only one in this series, but it is the only one i’ve seen, and it veers so wildly from established canon that it actively changes several dynamics and story beats—and people without access to mgs1, or who don’t like the look of it, or can’t quite get into it, or aren’t able to play video games in the first place, are given this story as a way to bypass having to play it at all. it has been presented as being just as good as playing the game to see its story. it’s officially sanctioned konami content.

i genuinely hate it.

i liked a lot of things, like i said. some changes were good. psycho mantis was great. several of the VAs did a stellar job (though there was one part when otacon meets wolf and her dogs where the voice christopher randolph uses for him is exactly huey’s, so much so that it makes a genuine statement sound manipulative with that context, but this was recorded before peacewalker/mgs5 so it absolutely wasn’t intentional). a lot of it was a really interesting take on a familiar story, but some of the parts they changed just... were really bad. i was kind of fine with it when we finished it, but the more i thought about it, the angrier i got.

i don’t know what the point of this is. i mostly just wanted to get out my thoughts, i suppose. it drives me insane that this is billed the way it is, like a canon thing and not some fanciful retelling by a fan. i wish it was better, but i’m at least comfortable with the fact that a lot of people in this fandom don’t seem to have any open feelings about it, if they’ve seen it at all. mgs1 hasn’t been lost to history even a little bit, and i love that.

if we hadn’t skipped a lot of it, i’d probably have more to say, but also, i never want to see it again, so this is what you get. thanks for reading; i’m gonna write otasune fic now probably.

#metal gear solid #mgs #sorry for thinking so hard about otacon all of the time #tox.txt

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cemetery-slvt · 3 months

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hades!! hello! i missed you! i woke up about an hour ago, and im now watching a movie to combat the sad (someones being. mean to me) but i saw you posted and responded and got excited

im very glad you got home safe! its unfortunate that a lot of people faint on planes, but at least you're not the only one

i got into greek mythology because a sibling of mine introduced me to a graphic novel series about them. i really liked knowing about all of them! aphrodite used to be my favorite, still probably is actually. sigh, shes special. hades is also so wonderful though

i forgot what was next... ummm. well, i did try taking melatonin for a bit, but taking too much regularly isn't good for your brain because then it'll stop naturally producing it and rely on the vitamins or pills or whatnot. i might ask the doctor the next time i see him though!

im drawn to puppets because they're... to be manipulated, i guess. its soothing to think of such an object that's not meant to have its own mind, it can just exist on its dainty strings, gently or roughly drawn to where it's supposed to be, doing as it's meant to. very comforting to me

fnaf is one of my special interests, actually! i have played some of the first game and ultimate custom night, but usually i just watch my dearest markimoo (markiplier) play!!

i really love begonias, actually. and of course roses <3 so lovely, though they might be cliché. my first personal plant was a begonia though, and i was the first she ever bloomed for. i also love fruit trees! sunflowers and daisies are some of my favorites as well. really everything, and ill fall in love with it

anyhow! i hope i got everything! again im really happy to talk to you again :D

-🎭

hello, my dear! how did you sleep, hm? who’s being mean to you? i just want to talk :)

i missed you too, sweetheart! i quite like your company. you’re very interesting and i genuinely enjoy our conversations. i think it’s very cute that you got so excited.

ooo, i love graphic novels! what was it called? maybe i can read it for you! i think aphrodite is very cool — hades as well, of course. do you have any greek gods/demigods/heroes you don’t like?

yes! i also heard that too. i think every once in a while is fine, so long as it isn’t consistent, but i definitely recommend a psychiatrist or a med manager! they know better than i do after all. you know…. with having a degree and shit.

i think your pull towards puppets is very interesting, my dear. also, you’re a fellow mark connoisseur, hm? i’ll have to watch him play fnaf so we can talk about it more in depth.

begonias are so beautiful, and so are roses! i think it’s super cool that you had begonias bloom for you!! and sunflowers are my favorite as well! as for fruit trees, do you like eating fruit? do you have a favorite fruit to eat? also, daises are gorgeous. i adore your passion for plant life. it’s very admirable, my dear.

#⟢ 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐱 #⟢ 🎭 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 #i’m happy to see you back <33 #i saw the other ask you sent in while i was typing this.#i believe that was you.#we shall see once i post this :3

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nananarc · 1 year

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Sharing some vague plans for the future (long rant)

I have some long-term projects in mind that i want to be able to work on for the few years at least. Hopefully i can successfully monetize them and be able to make a living for myself doing what i actually love instead of having to take on a corporate job in a shitty company drawing fucking awful shits for awful people.

- a sporadic comic of the daily life of two women living in Hanoi. It's just gonna be a cutesy lovey story. And it's gonna depict the beauty of an ordinary life in my home country. I plan to release lineart version for free, while colored version with extras will be paid. This will allow me to work on the story faster bt dividing it into 2 phase (lineart and then color later), and also allows everyone to have access to my stories.

- nsfw comics: one shots or short series of sexual stories. I have a lot of stories in mind that i want to work on in the future. Stories of angst and fluff alike, but there's gonna be a lot of kinky boinking. I really like telling sexual stories and drawing sensual arts as you can see, so hopefully in the future i can properly share with yall what i have in mind. This is probably gonna be all paid, unfortunately. Nsfw comics are much harder and riskier to work with, so i need to make a living more out of it accordingly.

- some other slice of life comics from waaaay before: i honestly don't know how they are going to play out, but let's just put them here as a self reminder that they still exist lel.

- in the far future, a fantasy epic graphic novel with my sister: thus is more of a passion project at the moment, and it relies on my sister a lot so I can't really say much about it.

- "a complete dummy's guide to drawing" book that covers everything in the process of making art. I strive to cover all the fundamentals and self learn resources for beginners to start drawing. My goal is to provide a framework of thinking so that anyone can self study for art, especially beginner, making art more accessible to everyone. This is a very long term project and I'm only in the very early stage of skeletoning for it. It will be available for free on a pay-what-you-want basis. There are probably something like this already exist, but from my experience, the knowledge and content is very scattered and illogical. I want to give people a more scientific, logical and easier to follow approach to art. So there will be a lot of textbook formatting and havard citing xD well i came from a business background and i found scientific research methods are really convenient in self study. I have not think of a way to make this more profitable tho, especially when it's such an ambitious and long term project. Maybe I'll put it off for another few years before working on it more seriously, when I'm more financially stable. I'll still be writing notes on it on and off as i have been doing for the past couple of years tho.

- zines of artworks and sketchbooks: i plan on compiling more sketches and wips of the past and future into zines to earn some living money out of it. There will also be themed nsfw arts zines that are exclusive, but this is still a very vague idea that i have not hashed out yet.

- paid content will be either available through one time purchase zines, or subscription. Zines are simple to work out, suitable for oneshots, sketchbooks and tutorials. But subscription requires additional maintenance that frankly I'm reluctant to take on. I'm very much not a social person or social media person, and having to consistently giving creations and engaging with people sounds dreadful to me. It's also gonna be tricky to incorporate nsfw and sfw contents in the same subscription so I'll have to work that out in the future if i want to go this route.

- zines and subscription will probably be priced relatively cheap, as I'll mostly be making profits through volume, at least until i figure out a better fitted business model. Something like 5-15$, with nsfw priced higher.

- experimental art project, for a lack of better word: i have some ideas for some experimental shits, some are mixed media with original music and stuff. It will explore old ideas in a new lense, and also explore Vietnamese traditional values as well. I hope to be able to bring the full experience to both offline and online audience, but that's obviously not possible, so I'll try to tweak it so it will still be fun despite on how you experience it. There might be a way to make some money out of it, will figure it out later as i actually work on it. It's gonna be exciting and weird.

- in a far future, I'll open some sort of art mentorship that is based on subscription. I'll be coaching individual over online meetings and personal mentoring, and this is probably gonna be only 1-2 at a time. This is a far future tho.

- I think I'm gonna have a hard time making a living wage for myself considering how niche i am. All the the above are niche at least to a level. So maybe doing commission as active income is still gonna be main income. Even then my audiences are still pretty niche lmaoo but i digress. For the near future, maybe I'll only work for individual clients instead of company due to creative freedom. Not like there will be a line of company begging for me to work for them tho lel it's the opposite.

- i have always been interested in furry arts but never got to really explore this. You'll be seeing more experiment of my art on this in the future. Furries seems to be able to make money more easily too so that's a good thing.

All in all these are just some points I'm telling myself to work on in the future. It's truly hard to find a career here since no one i know irl walk in the same path, so all i do is just fumbling in the dark as i find a way. Tonight i managed to string a few coherent thoughts together so might as well put them down for future reference.

Sorry if i make it all sounds so money and business, but the hard truth is we are living in capitalism and I'm not born into a rich family. I need to be able to live alongside of actually learning how to enjoy living.

Please tell me if you have any comments or suggestions on this, because i really do need the help ahahahahhaa *crying uncontrollably

#cryptic na posting

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shipsgaysfordays · 2 years

Text

Collection

Another fic that takes a little while to get to the prompt word, it’s a bit sadder than my last fic but not too depressing. Also, it’s an AU where everyone lives and Remus is teaching at Hogwarts as a young adult. Sirius has they/them pronouns again.

Prompts from @wolfstarmicrofic

A meeting scheduled with Dumbledor, given all the mistakes Remus had made in his teaching and all the things that had happened, he knew this couldn’t end well. Towing the line between too tame and too dangerous was difficult when teaching defense against the dark arts, students could easily get harmed. Not to mention that Remus being there as a teacher at all was already a risk given his…condition.

He’d really thought things had been going well, outside of Snape's constant glaring. The students seemed to enjoy his classes, and he’d found that he actually had quite a passion for teaching, helping his students to become more knowledgeable and well prepared for their futures (even if some of them weren’t the best at defense, there were still other lessons to be taught, even life lessons).

But, he was still a danger, and he knew he could get fired if he slipped up too much. It seemed this time he had. Remus was a bit disappointed as he got out the old worn boxes and placed them around his desk, preparing for his likely eventual departure. This was the first stable job he’d had in so long, the first job he’d truly enjoyed, but all things must come to an end. A sooner end if you’re a werewolf.

Lupin began collecting the books he owned from the shelves and placing the collection into what seemed to be the sturdiest box of his. Then began doing the same with some of his smaller things, some photos of his friends and family, little things that he’d held onto throughout the years.

Sounds of loud heeled boot footsteps filled the hall, the door creaked open and Remus stopped his pacing and looked up to see his partner, Sirius.

“Don’t tell me you’re starting to get into that minimalism trend now too, I’ve seen it all over magazines and it looks horrendous to me,” Sirius spoke as they strode over to Remus.

They sensed the tension in the room as they looked at Remus’ sorrowful face and briefly turned their attention over to the boxes, picking up a photo, “No, no, no, you CAN’T get rid of this photo of Prongs. I need to have as many copies as possible for blackmail Moons. We can never forget the night that he–”

“I’m not getting rid of them love, I’m not getting rid of them. I just…” Remus left the words hanging, unsure how to explain to Sirius that he would again be without a job and would again not be paying his fair share for their home. He looked down at the boxes again, concern visible in his face.

“You just? Do you want to talk about it? Or we could just sit here and I’ll hold your hand, or help you pack, or we could go out on a walk and get some fresh air…or you could just eat this chocolate that I came here to give you?”

Remus looked up, his eyes (stained slightly red) met Sirius’, “Can you sit with me?...and I’ll take you up on the chocolate and hand holding.” His mouth gave a slight smile. Sirius moved one of the chairs so they could sit next to each other. Their hand held tight onto Remus’, feeling his fast pulse from all the pacing and panic, they brought his hand up to their lips and kissed it as Remus bit into the sweet taste of chocolate.

“I love you,” he spoke.

Sirius grinned back, “Are you talking about me or the chocolate?”

Lupin smiled, “You…or maybe both of you, but mainly you Padfoot.”

They sat in mostly silence for a while, other than the sounds of a candy wrapper and Remus eating. He wanted to avoid speaking about everything for a while, not think about it as much, Sirius was here and that’s what mattered.

“How was your day?” Remus questioned.

“Pretty nice. I worked some more on the moving pictures graphic novel project, and I got to see Prongslet for a little while. The kid is getting too big, one of these days he’s gonna be taller than you, I fear for the world when that happens,” Sirius shook their head, grinning.

“I don’t know about that, being Lily’s kid I don’t think he’s going to be that tall, maybe some magic will happen and he will be though. More importantly, has he gotten any closer to saying your name?”

“No, sadly the child is a bit more normal than we thought–strange, I know–so he knows how to say Mommy now, maybe he’ll say Moony soon.”

“I don’t know about that, I haven’t been around the kid all that much for a while, being busy with all of this…maybe there’s a bright side to this whole situation. I’ll get to see the kid more,” Remus looked away as he spoke.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sirius asked once more.

There was another stretch of silence as Remus tried to figure out how to form the words, “I have a meeting with Dumbledor today, I think I’m getting fired…again. I’m sorry Padfoot, I really, I…” Tears began to well in his eyes.

Sirius got out of their seat and brought their arms around Remus, “You have nothing to be sorry for Moony, nothing to be sorry for. We’re just fine on money, you know that. I don’t care if you have a job or not, I just want you to be happy. If Dumbledor can’t see what an amazing teacher he’s got right in front of him then that’s his loss. You don’t need him. We could make our own school, we could make a better school. Without Snivellus being a creep, without Dumbledor judging you for shit you can’t control, without all this seperationist policies and bigotry and hate. You can do something so much better my love.”

#wolfstar #wolfstar fic #wolfstar fanfiction

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dreamboundedstar · 2 years

Text

Bob's Burgers Question and Adult Belcher Kids and Friends Job Headcanons

I recently got into Bob's Burgers and felt like drawing the Belcher Kids, Jimmy Jr., and Zeke as adults (9 years later). I do need some help with design suggestions though. I see Zeke as a tattoo around both upper arms guy (and maybe some in the back) but I'm stumped on ideas. As a ZekexTina shipper the only idea I have is one of his upper arms having one gardenia with weeds wrapping around the upper arm. I don't want Zeke's tattoos to only be about my preferred ship. So any suggestions for Zeke's tattoos will be appreciated. Now onto my headcanons.

Tina - Online (very) graphic novel artist. She makes her money off of making trashy romance novels but her true passion is her webcomic because it's not tied down by any editors and she can create it how she pleases.

Gene - Social media influencer. He started out with Linda trying to help his family advertise Bob's Burgers on the web. He transitioned by making money off of his Youtube channel (or whatever you call it in the Bob's Burgers universe) by doing whatever creative thing he thinks of such as wacky covers of popular songs or food reviews. His channel is whatever he wants it to be and you never know what he plans to do next.

Louise - At 18 she hasn't matured enough to take over her dad's restaurant. She mostly finds a way to cause chaos while still somehow keeping her job on the wharf. Once she grows a bit more, she decides she still wants to run the family business as she did when she was nine.

Jimmy Jr. - Tried to make it in the dancing industry only to see how corrupt it actually was and didn't want any of that. He teaches dancing instead and tries to be the parent figure his father never was.

Zeke - After getting rejected from joining the military (probably from ADHD but you decide), he finds himself going back to train under Bob Belcher to become a chef because Bob was one of the only people that didn't make him feel like a screw-up and he loved how much he felt at home in the Belcher family. He also does self-defense classes as well that Jimmy Jr. and Louise sometimes volunteer to help out (not that much of Louise though because she makes the environment too chaotic and nothing ever gets done)

#Bob's Burgers #Tina Belcher #Louise Belcher #Gene Belcher #Jimmy Jr. Pesto #Zeke #Headcanons

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literaticat · 2 years

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Would you please rank the following categories in order from easiest to hardest to sell in today's marketplace? Board books, fiction picture books, nonfiction picture books, early readers, chapter books, graphic novels, middle grade, young adult. Thanks!

No :-)

***

I was going to leave it at that, but I can't resist keeping on typing I guess, so here's WHY: It depends! On the book! A board book that is absolutely phenomenal is obviously a heck of a lot easier to sell than a sucky graphic novel! A killer YA book is easier to sell than a just-OK picture book! A middle grade that exactly hits an editor's wish-list on the head and makes them stay up all night reading is easier to sell than a middle grade that is terrific but doesn't fit in with what they need for their list! And so on, and so forth.

There is always a market for Awesome!

ALL BOOKS ARE HARD TO SELL. It's about how much promise that particular editor feels that individual ms has + timing + luck, honestly.

And there are editors who specialize in every kind of book -- so for me, I just don't think about it in terms of categories; To me, it's about matching WHATEVER that ms is with the editor who both publishes that kind of ms and who I think/hope will love it, and hoping that sparks fly.

My point is -- I would never tell ANYONE categorically NOT to write something they were passionate about. Just because some other people didn't sell their [whatever-kind-of-book] doesn't automatically mean YOURS won't sell, if yours is awesome, it gets in front of the right editors, and the timing + luck are there.

So fine, I'll do your cursed "ranked list" -- but just so you know -- again -- though ALL of these things are hard to sell actually (enough so that I could think of reasons why ALL the categories should be in the bottom)... also, ALL of these things are selling, when the book + editor + timing + luck is right. Just look at Publishers Marketplace or PW deals. They are happening in every category every week. I myself have sold in all these categories this year, last year, and every year, and I know for a fact that lots of other agents have, too, because books in all these categories keep coming out, so SOMEBODY is buying them!

Anyway.

PB = A great PB is really hard to write. REALLY HARD. Even seasoned authors stumble trying. So, do I sell a lot of PB? Yes. Do authors write A HELL OF A LOT MORE than I could possibly sell? Yep. Additionally, this is what our inboxes are absolutely bursting with - there is a lot of competition out there.

Graphic Novels = they are certainly having a moment, but ALSO, there are *A LOT* coming out in the next couple of years. Like, a LOT a lot. So the pipeline is pretty full.

MG = MG is selling, but editors inboxes are also flooded with them, so. . . getting them actually READ is a problem, and editors are (of course) super picky.

Chapter Books = It has to be a series, and it has to be breaking some kind of new ground and/or super-high-concept hooky and/or just IRRESISTIBLY FUN, both as an individual first book AND as a series concept.

Nonfiction PB = I mean, if it is phenomenal, about something totally fascinating, and there aren't already 50 books about it. Maybe! Unless it's a PB bio, in which case may editors will dismiss out of hand, they are way over-acquired. Unless it's something they NEED to have.

YA = the market is soft. But if it is simply *irresistible* with just like a killer premise and great writing, sure.

Early Readers & Board Books = These are kinda tough because the P&L is wonky, because they have to be priced very inexpensively to sell in bookstores (and board books / novelty books are QUITE expensive to produce) -- so they have to sell A LOT of copies to make money. Editors are therefore quite choosy about taking them on, for obvious reasons, and the advances are typically lower than for other kinds of books.

(That being said -- as long as you know these facts, you won't be surprised. And NONE of that information means you won't be able to sell yours.)

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klainesheilen · 1 year

Text

07.03.2023

this was mostly my day: finishing firekeeper's daughter by Angeline Boulley. And yes, I was able to finish the last 140 pages. It's an 3.75 star for me. I really enjoyed the mystery (lets ignore the fact that it took me like 70 pages or so to realize that this isn't a fantasy book, but a mystery), but the writing lacked so much in the second part of the book. It got repetitive and I often had the feeling that Boulley started an issue on which we focus for two chapters and then drop it just to start another one after some mystery chapters. Most of them are closed in the fourth part, which felt rushed, so the second part was a little annoying to read because, as already said, the most of it was there to stretch this book out to nearly 500 pages. That's why I can't give this book a four star rating. (Also pls let me know what you think about the love interest, because I can't see there any chemistry. No. Zero. Nada.)

This being the biggest part of my day, I was also able to study a little. A little, because I wasn't able to finish taking notes on the second lecture (While I'm writing this a voice in my head is like "Bestie, girl, you have a semester break and you study for an exam which you will have at the end of next semester. You are doing more than "a little" already") out of planned three, because my head was way to done with all the theoretical info. A walk and fresh air couln't really help, but it was still nice that I took one. Yea, mentally it dragged me down because my thoughts wandered into worst case scenarios, but fresh air and movement between all the sitting and mostly starring down still does something to the body.

All about day, but what else is new? I'll start therapy again in two weeks. Yay me. I'm scared about it, since my doctor told me that I will end up on medication again. And also if this will actually stay consistent for the long term. My new therapist will be at my hometown which is an 1.5 train ride hour away. Maybe online sessions are possible? I hope so, but at the same time I live in Germany and I have the feeling that there will be a law about privacy which won't make it possible for me. But lets see and fingers crossed for only the best.

Other news are: I'm looking for a new apartment. Ok, actually a shared flat, so I have flatmates. I'm feeling a little lonely, ok? But this isn't the main issue I have with my current living situation. The city changed the bus connection, therefore it's absolutely shitty for me to ride to university (if lectures start again, I will be late like ten minutes) or to or from work. Two places rejected me and tomorrow I have another meet up, so once again fingers crossed.

Besides looking for a shared flat I plan my first graphic novel. I can't believe it. It started out with my boyfriend and me on a walk and he giving me this idea and now here I'm watching youtube videos about anatomy, story writing, creating a graphic novel etc. And you know shit gets serious when I create a notion page for it. It's weird, because it feels like the first time since a decade that I feel passionate about something. Passion, motivation and happines.

#klainesheilen #journal #diary #online diary #books #bookblr #firekeepers daughter #angeline boulley #book review #review #thoughts

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ayybtch · 3 years

Text

Psychotic

Bucky Barnes x f!Reader

Summary: You really love animals, Bucky not so much. A random TikTok brings to light exactly what Bucky thinks of you.

Word Count: 1,776

Warnings: Being told no to getting animals, a couple swear words here and there, blink and you miss it suggestiveness, and a very strange TikTok

A/N: Happy Valentines Day everyone! I watched this TikTok months ago and absolutely lost it when I saw it, so definitely give it a watch! Dividers made by the lovely @firefly-graphics

A Mutual Weirdness Masterlist

Days off were a rare occurrence for Bucky. Rarer still were days off that coincided with yours, and it practically required cosmic intervention for both of you to be off on a weekend. This was the first Saturday Bucky had off in almost two months and he planned on spending it doing absolutely nothing.

He made a point to sleep in and stay in bed as long as he possibly could. Once the grumbling of his stomach finally won out, the day would start off with a giant breakfast followed by a long, hot shower. The remainder of the day would involve him sitting on his ass while enjoying a good book or watching TV. He’d stay where he was until he needed to eat and that’s the way he liked it.

Today, he wanted to make some progress on the strange Romanian murder-mystery novel Wanda had recommended. She swore up and down that it was one of the best she’s ever read, but so far Bucky was not impressed. The pacing was too slow, the characters were too dull, and the murder itself was not all that intriguing. He would have stopped already if it hadn’t been for Wanda pestering him about it.

He had been laying on the couch completely immersed for almost an hour trying to solve the case before the lead detective when you came rushing into the room. You climbed into his lap and sat there staring at him, eyes unsettlingly wide. Bucky peered back at you over the top of his book, suspicious as to what could possibly be running through your head. A small smile started to appear on your face, but you remained silent.

“Can I help you?” Bucky asked after a few minutes without any change to your expression, which was growing more and more manic-looking by the second.

Your eyes seemed to snap back in focus as he spoke and the rest of your face became serious. “So I had an idea…” you said cautiously, suddenly far more serious than he had ever seen you look before. “What if we got chickens? Not too many, just like three. I think three is a good number.”

Bucky stared at you in disbelief. “We live in an apartment. Of course you can’t have chickens,” he said flatly. You rolled your eyes at his response.

“Obviously not right now, but in the future when we’re not living in an apartment. You know, after you and I get hitched and find a house we like.”

All of the confusion and concerns Bucky had were thrown out the window as he processed what you said. You want to buy a house with him? You want to marry him? The thought of being with you forever made his heart skip a beat and filled him with an overwhelming urge to kiss you. He realized you were still watching him expectantly, waiting for an answer. “S-Sure, I guess. I never really liked chickens though -”

He wasn’t even able to finish his sentence before your lips were pressed against his.

“You are the best! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” you yelled, kissing him all over his face between thank you’s.

When you broke apart, an excited squeal left you that had his ears ringing. You laid down fully on his chest and started rambling about how nice it would be to have some land so you could have a nice big garden filled with every fruit and vegetable imaginable, a decent sized back patio or porch for friends to come over, and plenty of space for the chickens to have a giant coop. You even started listing out possible names for the chickens. Your seemingly endless ramble ended unexpectedly as you trailed off mid-sentence, gasping slightly after a moment. You picked your head up just enough off his chest to look him in the eyes.

“If we have enough room, can we also have goats?”

Bucky groaned, “Don’t push it, Doll. I’ve barely agreed to the chickens.” He pulled you back down onto his chest and placed a gentle kiss on the top of your head before he continued reading.

It was almost a week later before Bucky had his next day off. He decided to plan a long-overdue date night. It was nothing fancy, just a casual dinner at a restaurant you liked followed up with dessert. After you left the restaurant, the two of you made your way through a stretch of Central Park. He had intended for it to be a romantic walk, full of hand-holding and kissing that maybe could lead to something else once you were back at the apartment. Instead, it quickly turned into one of the worst decisions of his life.

Everything was going according to plan until you spotted the raccoon family of three hanging out in the tree not far off the path. Bucky didn’t even need to look at you to know you were staring at them with the same heart eyes you always stare at animals with.

The raccoons were in a relatively low tree branch, each snacking on some food they had scavenged from a nearby trash can. You pulled Bucky off the sidewalk and into the grass. Your excitement grew with each step you took towards the tree.

“Bucky look at their little hands! How cute are they?” You whisper yelled, practically jumping up and down with excitement. You were so focused on them that it gave Bucky the chance to watch and appreciate how enamored you were. While it drove him nuts sometimes how many animals you wanted, it never stopped being adorable to him how passionate you were about them. Bucky had no doubt you’d manage to sweet-talk him into more than he’d care to admit, but if it meant seeing you smile like this every day then it’ll be worth it. He was so lost in his thoughts of what your future may hold that he hardly heard what you were saying to the raccoons. It wasn’t until you finally turned to look at him that he tuned back into what you were saying.

“Do you think raccoons would make good pets?”

Without a word, he picked you up and slung you over his shoulder before turning to walk away, shaking his head as he did.

“Oh my god, babe! Look at this baby cow!” you gushed, bursting out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where Bucky was making breakfast. “It’s so fucking fluffy, I need it.” The emphasis on need left Bucky scoffing as you shoved the phone into his hand. You stood there and stared at him, grinning ear to ear as you continued to ramble about the baby cow.

He eventually had to cut you off, “Doll, we’ve been over this a dozen times. You don’t actually want a cow, you just want a cow you can hang out with. Now sit down and eat your eggs before they get cold.” He scooped out some scrambled eggs onto a plate before placing it at your usual spot at the counter.

You grumbled slightly before sitting down on the barstool, stabbing your eggs harder than necessary with your fork. “You didn’t even acknowledge how cute it is.”

“It’s very cute. But I’ve already agreed to quite the menagerie so I have to put my foot down somewhere. I’ve already said yes to the chickens and it’s at least maybe on goats, and possibly a pig if we have enough room.”

“I’ve already said yes to the chickens and maybe on goats and pigs,” you said mockingly. “What difference does a cow make if we’ve already got all of those?” you asked, mouth full of food.

Bucky stared at you, shaking his head and sighing. “You’re lucky I love you, woman.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead and sat down to join you for breakfast.

It was almost a month later before the two of you finally were able to have a quiet night together. The evening had been spent cooking dinner, making a mess in the kitchen as you did, followed by making a different kind of mess in the living room not long after. Now, the two of you were laying in bed together winding down for the night. Bucky was reading while you laid there scrolling mindlessly on your phone. You giggled from time to time, pausing to show him a funny meme here and there, but for the most part, the room was quiet.

It wasn’t until you were in full-on giggles that Bucky leaned his book against his chest and stared at you waiting for an explanation.

Once the giggles died down, you rolled slightly to be closer to him. “You have to watch this wack ass video.” Your laughter started up again before you even hit play.

Bucky watched as the guy in the video kept pulling out stranger and stranger animals. He chuckled throughout the video, but it wasn’t until a thought struck him at the end that he really burst out laughing.

“That’s going to be you in five years if I haven’t already married you and kept your psychotic ass from getting an unreasonable amount of animals.”

Your laughter died and you stared at him reproachfully. “Bucky, baby...do you think I’m psychotic?” Somehow you managed to sound unconcerned by the possibility of being psychotic. If anything, you seemed almost amused.

“Honestly? I think you’re on the brink of snapping sometimes,” he said with a slight shrug.

You stared back at him, not fully sure if he was joking or not. The serious look on his face confirmed he wasn’t joking and you couldn’t help but laugh. “Good to know you think I’m one mental breakdown away from snuggling with a possum, you jerk,” you teased, placing a quick peck on his cheek.

Bucky turned to fully face you, looking you dead in the eyes. “Be honest with me, if the possum was replaced by one of those raccoons we saw a couple weeks ago, how unreasonable would that seem to you?”

Your face felt hot and you stuttered for a moment before going quiet. “I guess that’s fair,” you mumbled, eyes rolling slightly. “But raccoons are cuter, you can’t blame me for wanting to snuggle one.”

“I know, you fucking weirdo. Now come here,” Bucky said, grabbing you and pulling you into his chest. He pressed a kiss to the top of your head and a comfortable silence fell over you. A few minutes later, Bucky spoke again.

“For the record though, possums and raccoons are both firmly on the ‘no’ list.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fanfiction #a mutual weirdness

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the-second-tonks · 3 years

Note

Hey!! could I play the game with Harry Potter? Could I have the characters from the golden era: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Draco, Fred and George and also from the marauders: James, Remus, Sirius, Lilly. If one era counts as one fandom, then just the golden era for now please 🤗

I’m am a female, with the nationality French/British, and I go by she/her pronouns, I'm 173, I have short brown curly hair, with brown almond shaped eyes and fair-ish skin and big chest, with the curves. I'm an INFJ and my enneagram is 9, I am a leo and a slytherin. I am quite shy and soft spoken, and incredibly introverted with social anxiety but once I know, trust and love a person you can't quite get me to shut up. I’d say I’m quite sarcastic and witty naturally and being socially anxious doesn’t stop me from making offhanded comments sometimes. I’m also a hot head, I get angry really quickly and I usually keep it contained, I do burst sometimes and can get rather aggressive, it’s not the best but I’m working on it. So I’d say I feel emotions deeply and pick up on others emotions too. I’ve been called sensitive but I hate it, I think just because I cry when I feel intense emotions doesn’t mean I’m sensitive.

My style is quite bright with funky patterns and I like colour with my makeup(on the eyes). My favourite colours are red and yellow. I love to do art specifically painting and doodles, I’ve done a couple of pieces that I would like to get tattooed on me, I also love reading - my apartment is running out of space for my books, I like all kinds of genres, I gravitate towards more non-fiction but also graphic novels, I’m love Deadly Class and currently reading Watchmen.

I love to bake, everything really from cakes to breads, I love a challenge. I also enjoy hiking and cycling, I love to cycle to clear the mind. And I really enjoy scouring second hand shops and sites, I (probably like others) love being able to find things for cheaper even when i could get them new, I’ll spend ages on Marktplaats which is like the Dutch eBay I guess. I am passionate about the sex industry and the rights for women (men) and children within it and power role within the industry and society. I am also a hopeless romantic, I love all love and love to be loved, love and see it around me.

Hello buddy ! Yep sure ! Nah , all the eras are considered under Harry Potter fandom ! Aww dear , it's okay if you're not sensitive or hate being called that even if you aren't but just remember that being sensitive doesn't mean being weak , infact many sensitive people are the strongest ones you'll ever meet ! Being sensitive is a gift of god , do not forget to embrace it if you have it :)

This game is closed

Harry Potter

His thoughts about you

Are you both twins ? Cause that's what he thinks too . I think if you would've participated in the Harry Potter life game , I would've definitely made you his twin . Ohmy god ! How can you both be so similar . Harry always checks on your mistakes to prevent his , ya know . You both are super strong , brave and introverted together and no one understands Harry like you do , and he's grateful for that . Though you both clash a lot , he still is happy to have someone like you by his side . Harry never liked being called as weak , and you don't like being called sensitive (or maybe weak ?) So , you both get each other's back when someone calls you so .

Your relationship

Bestiesss , but I see this either turning into bro-sis or bestiess . I don't know , but I can't imagine you both being lovers lol . You both are too similar to ya know , love each other in that way , that's what I feel .

First impressions

He's gonna like your sarcasm from the beginning heheh , especially because you sass Malfoy out ryt in front of him 😂and the trio (even Hermione) couldn't hold back their laughter.

Hermione Granger

Her thoughts about you

She's fine with you until you don't talk her ear off while she's trying to study . She'll love how you're always there for Harry and Ron , but she might not like how you loose your cool often . She'll also scold you a lot , but it's upon you if you care hahhaa . She's not going to approve your hopeless romantic side , but she'll not mind it either . She'll be glad to find someone who's more towards non-fiction hehehe . She's gonna like you , but don't expect her to not scold you hehehe .

Your relationship

Friends ! I mean close friends too .

First impressions

As said , she really liked how you boldly sass Malfoy , but she wouldn't like it if you did that to a professor hahaha .

Ronald Weasely

His thoughts about you

He worries about you a lot . That's because he really loves you as a friend . He would never want to see you hurt and he'll often stand up for you . He knows the best ways to reassure you and handle your aggressiveness . You can often then more pick up on his feelings too, which makes it easier for him . Atleast he doesn't have to convey them and be all dramatic .

Your relationship

Bestiess . ... But has more potential .. like you both could date , not sure if It would work out .

First impressions

He was like - "she's bloody brilliant, Harry !" He was impressed by you in the first go . And he really wanted to be friends with you . Yeah in the beginning it was tough , but later , it wasn't with anyone else that you got along so good with (except Harry sometimes hehe)

Neville Longbottom

His thoughts about you

I can't help but see how you get along with everyone in this fandom hahaha . He loves how he can share his anxiety problems with you . He's super shy too , so he'll find comfort in you . Your sarcasm might take him off guard sometimes , but mostly , he'll be super fun with you . He'll be himself , he'll be free and he'll have no pressure of proving himself . He'll love how you make him feel , but we all know Neville's a fighter at the end of the day . Even though he finds solace in your company , he'll not stay there long enough .

Your relationship

Really close and strong bonded friendship

First impressions

He really thought of you as someone who's just like him . But when you opened up , he realised you weren't.

Seamus Finnigan

His thoughts about you

He might not be that friendly with you first , and that's what he regrets a lot . Because on seeing your fun side , he's in kinda love with you . OOO. You got an admirer hahah . He'll definitely ask you out in the fourth year ! He thinks your shyness , which is hiding such a vibrant personality is a perfect example of why someone shouldn't judge a book by it's cover . Your sarcasm is gonna make him laugh always.

Your relationship

Hehe it's upon you if you wanna date him, i feel it has a lot chances to work.

First impressions

As said earlier , he didn't talk a lot with you . Inshort he didn't care much , until he saw you with Dean , being super fun and it intrigued him to know you .

Draco Malfoy

His thoughts about you

Hmm...he hates you when you know what he feels . He just calls you sensitive to get under your skin (successfully) but he secretly knows how strong you are . And he admires that sometimes . Even though he has no hate to give you , he'll not be good with you . Super Meany , but super blushy when you catch his feelings (like if he really wants to be mean or is just doing it for his image) . He'll not like when you sass him , and he'll not spare you until you literally get all agressive .

Your relationship

Could be enemies to lovers . I wouldn't recommend you dating him though , because I don't think he'll be able to handle your agressive-ness and you won't be able to handle his coward nature . Seamus is better .

First impressions

Oh please , I can't even measure the amount of underestimation . He literally thought he could pick up on you ...

Fred and George Weasley

Their thoughts about you

Hmmm.. they're okay with you . They like how you're fun and stuff but they'll not prank you because they've seen your agressive and bursting out side .

Your relationship

They're your bestfriend's(maybe even boyfriend's) siblings hahah .

First impressions

Oh they thought you're innocent little lost Princess hahaha . But they were about to prank you .. and maybe they did too , but seeing your anger , they thought of teasing you more but Molly scolded them the following vacation and surprisingly they agreed on not troubling you . Because maybe they had better reactive people (sorry Fred and George are meanies)

James Potter

His thoughts about you

While in lightning era , if he were alive , he'd love you and you'd strongly remind him of Harry , always . Because I feel like Harry might have a few fights with James , when you'll comfort James... In the marauder's era , he'll like you and you both might even be really close , but he has his own temper so I think you both might get into pretty ugly fights with each other .

Your relationship

He's your (can-be-called) family in lightning era . But in marauder's , he's your friend .

First impressions

He underestimated you , kinda because you were shy and stuff and James is exact opposite of shy , that is bold . He didn't think you both could get along , considering the fact that you're Slytherin .

Lily Potter (neè Evans)

Her thoughts about you

Hmm.. she'll love your shy as well as fun side . She'll also love how feisty your sarcasm is lol . She'll help you open up when you're being super shy and anxiety is hitting you . In lightning era , if she were alive , she'd appreciate your presence with Harry , but she would scold all three of you for your hot-headedness

Your relationship

Friends ! She's your (can-be-called) family in lightning era

First impressions

She was in a class with you , so you both were working on a project together lol . She saw how you were actually interested in non -fiction and you both had loads of discussion on different things !

Sirius Black

His thoughts about you

Hmmmmm...in lightning era , he's actually fine with you and you and Harry are super similar to him . He's always gonna be confusing to you though ... One time he'll listen to you , one time he won't . So buckle up to deal with him lol . In marauder's era , he might consider you really innocent and kinda angel types , so he might flirt with you a lot to fluster you while you're being shy , but I'm sure you'll shock him with your fun side and he might fall for you then hehehhe. He'll also find your hopeless romantic thingy duper cute but I think he'll not admit that easily hhehe .

Your relationship

I might ship you with him in marauder's era . In lightning era , he's your bestfriend's godfather lol.

First impressions

He thought of you as someone who has nothing to do with playboy's , but he was also in love with your sarcasm . Absolutely had no innocent thoughts about you .

Remus Lupin

His thoughts about you

Yeah he was fine with you . Okay let's face the truth that you got along super well . He'll always be there to comfort you and handle your anger , while you'll be there with him for his werewolf issues . In lightning era , he'll be super helpful to you as a professor .

Your relationship

Maybe bestiess in marauder's era ofc . You both always would have a really close and deep bond even without meeting each other everyday

First impressions

Ahh , he was the only one who threw you a comforting and forgiving smile when you literally bursted out and needed space . So yeah he was kind with you from the beginning and that's how you bonded .

Don't forget to interact (i.e like or reblog) with this post .

Thank you for the immense motivation you gave me !

#harry potter ships #harry potter x you #james potter x you #sirius black #sirius being sirius #seamus finnigan #draco lucius malfoy #harry ron hermione #lily evans #remus x you #urgingforyou

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fantasysamsclub · 4 years

Text

so the adventure zone was recently picked up for an animated series.

hooray! good for the mcelroys. i’m glad they’re getting more mainstream. i’m glad they’re able to financially support themselves and their family with this fame. i’m glad taz has a chance to get new fans! i’m glad fans get to see some of the most iconic balance moments animated!

i also think it’s a monstrously bad idea.

(this is long and this may seem pretty mean and radical, but please read before fighting me on any of this. also this isn’t an attack on anyone that’s excited for any of this adaptation stuff! it’s good to be excited for this success. but also there are some things to consider.)

okay! so, up front: i think the taz animated series is a bad idea. i also think, retrospectively, the graphic novel was a bad idea. also i think the vox machina origins comic and animated series are bad ideas.

okay so this is going to get. a little long and rambly. but i’ll try to keep it organized.

1. TAZ Graphic Novel

now, when the first book was announced, i was excited! i’m still excited for the next one. aside from the blue/green elves thing, which i won’t ever forgive, carey’s doing a great job adapting this piece. i’ve met her before and she generally does know what she’s talking about, comics-wise, so i do think she was a very good choice to pick up the graphic novel

there are still problems! oh, are there problems. for example, i think everyone in the novel is characterized in a wildly different way than the original podcast. i can also get into this later if people want to hear about it, but! people have picked at that one before.

out of all the adaptations i’m going to talk about, this one is the best!

2. Vox Machina Origins

alright. context. i don’t know if i’ve said this on this platform before, but i’m a comic book artist (my big project is coming out this year, i’ll announce it on here, that’s not the point of this rant). and i bought the comic on a whim! it was a christmas present to me.

now, i know a lot of people read it and enjoyed it! and that’s great. i’m happy you got joy out of the book, really. i think every piece of art means something to someone, no matter its popularity or quality. and it did well, as far as i know! so that’s very good for CR and its fans. also i think pike is hot.

all that aside, the comic does suck very much.

i could go into a deep analysis of it (i CAN, if enough people actually want to see that?) but tldr: it’s rushed, both in production and story pacing. the character art is good! but you can see the shortcuts. the lettering is. awful. (that’s mostly a problem of modern comics in general though)

and i’m not blaming anyone at CR for these problems! really, if dark horse wants to pick up an adaptation, any writers from the original project should be heavily coached on how to write for a new medium. i’m not blaming matthew for that one! i know from firsthand experience that comic writing is different from anything else you will ever write, and is so difficult to get correct. as far as i knew, matt had never written for comics before! it would be really nice if he had some more resources to get this done right.

but that would cost money.

and that brings me to--

3. The Vox Machina Animated Series

wow! look at all that money everyone raised for this animated series. this animated series that the creators said they were raising money for so they could do it independently. hope they don’t go pitch it to a bigger company to do m--

and, it was sold to Amazon.

like, it didn’t even take them a month.

and in the current climate of how animation is bought and sold, i understand the need to sell it to a streaming service! you need a platform to let people view it, and youtube is in the shitter with its copyright stuff lately, so it makes sense to go private to keep your show safe. and then, you can maybe make more episodes after you run out of kickstarter money. i don’t hate that idea!

but amazon...hm.

it’s probably fine, right?

3.5. Wendy’s

haha remember when CR got sponsored by wendy’s and played their shitty rpg that wasn’t even balanced properly and then people called them out for it and then they donated all the money to a cause wendy’s hated to make up for it (good on them!) and then deleted the VOD off youtube? gosh, good times.

money makes people do strange things.

4. TAZ Animated Series

so, peacock has taz. sure! that works. it’s not the best company to pick this up, but it’s also not the worst. i’ll take that. i looked up the guy that’s slated to direct this and i don’t think he’s ever directed an animated show? which isn’t great, but that’s not what i’m worried about.

you know what i am worried about?

these big corporations don’t care if these adaptations are any good. they just want to cram as many iconic moments from your quirky, small-owned d&d podcasts to get you to give them money. for the mcelroys and the CR crew, it’s a passion project. to amazon and dark horse and NBC, it’s an investment.

you’re going to buy the book to see vax and vex bicker!

you’re going to tune in to watch magic brian!

you’re going to want to read pike meeting scanlan, of course!

you want to see “phantasmal and resplendent” animated!

here’s the other thing. when i see people talking about the animated series, this is exactly what they’re looking for.

“i want to watch merle dirty talk the plants on screen!”

“i want to see the taakitz date!”

“i want to see magnus do the julia scene...”

now, this mindset isn’t bad! no, if you’ve been thinking this, that’s okay! it’s really not my personal thought (i think adaptations are best when they DO change things in the story to better fit the new medium they’re going on) but it’s fine.

we might get tom arnold!

but you know what we’re not going to get?

we’re not going to get apologies and revisions when something goes wrong. we’re not going to get cute extra scenes because that would require more writing. we’re not going to get the same respect for the LGBTQ+ characters on screen. the people working on this show will not get paid what they’re worth.

we’re probably not going to get a trans actress for lup.

we’re probably going to see less of carey and killain.

we’re probably going to see even fewer black and brown characters than we already have.

why’s that?

because it’s a money project. they’re doing it for money. and they want to reach as wide of an audience as possible, right? “really, we need to cut back on this gay stuff so that straight people aren’t uncomfortable. we need to stay more moderate on this project so that more people will watch it!”

(that was sarcasm)

now, NBC has had some good shows! but that’s really the responsibility of their individual writers, and it’s usually in spite of the companies they work for, and not because of them.

once an author or an artist sells their project to a company for adaptation, they often lose all rights to input from it. i don’t know what the mcelroy’s or CR’s contracts are, but unless they have better lawyers than NBC or amazon.....they probably got shafted somehow.

it’s not a mcelroy product. it’s not a CR product. don’t pretend like it is.

you can enjoy it, but please be cautious. this is just a pile of money in a cheap taako costume. don’t trust it as much as you would the podcast.

tldr: individual creators are always going to make more genuine content than corporations that buy those creations for larger adaptations. it’s okay to enjoy these adaptations, but please be aware that it’s not going to have the same spirit or heart as the boys talking about masturbation on a filler show they did quickly so justin could go support his wife in labor.

#taz #the adventure zone #taz balance #taz animated

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