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jikookuntold · 4 months

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The Untold Truth of "Letter"

Back in 2021, 2022, or even early 2023, if someone had told me about the possibility of JK having vocal credits in Jimin's solo album, I would have called it wishful thinking at best. But it happened, and we got the song "Letter" (AKA Dear Army) as a hidden track in Jimin's first solo album, FACE, with back vocals by JK, and his name written invisibly in the album book.

The perfectly matching vocals of Jikook, with the heartfelt lyrics and soft instruments, undoubtedly made one of the most beautiful songs of the year, which could break many records for Jimin and his album if it was released in the streaming and buying services. The release of Letter as a hidden track in Jimin's solo album raised many questions and debates among Jikookers, and as someone who barely scrolls in the Tumblr app, I know I'm a bit late for the party, but I may or may not have some notes to add to the already made discussions. FYI, these are my analytic views and speculations, I am fully aware that this song has been named "Dear Army", and Jimin called it a "Fan song" on different occasions. So, I do not intend to ignore that and diminish Jimin's expression of love for his fans.

What's a Hidden Track?

Before getting into "Letter", we need to understand what a hidden track is. Well, the definition is pretty clear; When a song is not listed in the official track-list of a music album, but it exists in (some versions of) the physical printed CD, cassette, or LP, it's called a "hidden track".

Hidden Tracks of BTS

There are several techniques and reasons to "hide" a track in an album, but in the case of BTS discography, the hidden tracks exist for a specific reason, and I'm going to explain it with the only examples we have. The debut album (2013) and Love Yourself: Her (2017), are the only BTS albums including hidden tracks, and if we ignore the skits in each album, "Path" and "Sea" are the only hidden songs BTS ever released. So, these two songs must have something(s) in common and different from the other BTS tracks that caused them to end up as a hidden track. To find that common factor, we need to check their lyrics first:

Path

[Intro: RM] Yeah, wassup? You know, time flows like stars (Check it, check, check, check, check it out) [Verse 1: RM] I started from imitating Eminem, Garion, Epik High To writing my own raps Now I see that I’m already at Hongdae My lyrics back then were all (****) Bossy But we dunno, we dunno When I dreamed without anyone to stop me Reality tied me down and trapped me inside Oh, my youth trapped me My hot heart lost to my cold mind (Damn) As I blindly told myself my decision was right I don’t know whether it’s an angel or a devil, but it says to me "Do you really have any plans to rap properly?" (Yes or no?) I didn’t have more time to hesitate and didn’t want to be stupid So I came here and three years passed by Some say art is long, life is short But for now, art is life Life is sports, just do it, uh [Chorus] If I had chosen a different path, would have I been any different? If I stopped and looked back (Oh hey ya, hey ya) What will I see at the end of this road? Where you should’ve been standing? (Oh hey ya, hey ya) [Verse 2: Suga, Suga & Jungkook] A long time passed and by 2013, I was a trainee for three years I was a high school student who grew overnight (I became a child) White hair grew from my desires and one by one my many friends (Parted ways with me) I spent my time in Seoul alone without a family (That was my third spring) I thought my worries would disappear with my debut ahead of me I closed my eyes to the present that had nothing to change But the reality was different, even as my family and friends tried to stop me I walked into the tunnels that shed no light on my own I thought I would be alone (Why?) As it turns out, there weren’t seven bare feet but we were wearing the shoe named Bangtan We’ll have to go forward, take one more step, become newer And that’s how I spent my fourth spring in Seoul (Whoa) [Chorus] If I had chosen a different path, would have I been any different? (Hey) If I stopped and looked back (Hey) Oh hey ya, hey ya What will I see at the end of this road? Where you should’ve been standing? (Oh hey ya, hey ya) [Verse 3: J-Hope] 2010, the year I walked towards Seoul! I just loved to dance, and now I’m standing on top of the stage Until then, I overcame many pains and scars to prepare myself I survived with my belief to bend, not break, and ran for three years Let the stars inside my heart shine! Now shine on me differently Write “Bangtan” on the paper world I walk my future with more lights on Give a smile to that far future (Ha, ha)

As you can see, the lyrics are simple and self-explanatory, so I guess we don't need any lyrics analysis, and the description section of the Genius translation I used here, says it all:

“길 (Road/Path) follows the member’s decisions to become idols in the Korean music industry. They recall their different upbringings from listening to hip hop in school to the hard years of being trainees under BigHit Entertainment. BTS pose the questions of how their lives would be different if they made a different decision, and they ask themselves what the future entails. A very introspective track about their career for a debut album, BTS display their thought processes as they enter the music scene.”

Sea

[Intro: Jungkook] Oh, ah, yeah [Verse 1: Rap Monster] I just started walking and ended up at the sea I'm looking at the coast from here There's endless sand and the rough wind I'm still looking at a desert I wanted to have the sea so I swallowed you up But I'm even thirstier than before Is what I know really the ocean? Or a blue desert? [Refrain: J-Hope] I don't know, I don't know If I'm feeling the waves right now, yeah I don't know, I don't know If I'm being chased by the sand wind, yeah I don't know, I don't know Is this the sea or the desert? Is this hope or despair? Is this real or fake? Shit [Pre-Chorus: J-Hope] I know, I know, my hardship right now I know, I know, I'll overcome I know, I know, open me up It's the place I can rely on Think positive, I'm swallowing my dry spit Even if I'm nervous, even if I'm in a desert I'm in the beautiful Namib Desert [Chorus: Jimin, Jin] Where there is hope, there is always trial (4) [Hook: V, Jungkook] Where there is hope You know, you know You know, yeah yeah (2) [Verse 2: Suga] I thought this was the ocean but it's a desert A medium-sized, ordinary idol was my second name Countless people get cut from broadcast But someone's empty spot is our dream They say some of these kids can't make it cuz their agency is too small I know, I know, I know too Times when the seven of us had to sleep in one room With foolish hope that tomorrow will be different before we fell asleep We saw the mirage in the desert but we couldn't grasp it Praying that we'll remain in this desert till the end Praying that this isn't truly our reality [Verse 3: Suga] In the end, we reached the mirage and it became our reality The scary desert became the ocean with our blood, sweat and tears But why is there this fear in between the happiness? Because we know too well that this place is really a desert [Refrain 2: Suga] I don't wanna cry I don't wanna rest No, who cares if we rest a little? No no no I don't wanna lose It's always a desert I told you everything Then I'll just be more depressed [Chorus: Jungkook, V] Where there is hope, there is always trial (2) [Hook: Jimin, Jin] Where there is hope You know, you know You know, yeah yeah (2) [Bridge: Rap Monster] Ocean, desert, the world Everything, the same thing Different name I see ocean, l see desert I see the world Everything's, the same thing With a different name It's life again [Hook: V, Jungkook] Where there is hope You know you know you know yeah (2) [Chorus] Where there is hope, there is always trial

Compared to “Path”, we have more innuendos and metaphors in “Sea” because of Namjoon’s lyricism (it was supposed to be in his mixtape at first), but as the description says:

"It discusses the hardships BTS has experienced since debut, particularly struggling to compete with groups from other, larger agencies. In this song, BTS reflects on these hardships, fearing that their global fame and success could leave as suddenly as it arrived."

Common Denominator

These two lyrics have one big thing in common, and it's the topic they are discussing. They talk about the members' struggles, fears, hopes, and dreams career-wise. I was thinking maybe these issues are something they can only share with their longtime fans, not the general public, therefore, they decided to release them as hidden tracks in the physical album for their real fans who buy them, something like the difference between Weverse and Instagram, I guess? Then I realized that’s something Namjoon has mentioned himself to Billboard Magazine, in LYS: Her interview:

And if fans are so lucky to own the physical album, they’ll hear two hidden tracks at the very. Why keep them secretive?

"I think they’re hidden because you have to be a real fan of BTS to understand them. Otherwise, you won’t. Otherwise, you’d like to be, “Why are they feeling so confused about things? They’re good?!? They’re No. 1 somewhere, they have so much stuff, why are they worried?” People always talk about that. But if you are a true fan of BTS and you buy the album and you listen to the hidden track — if you are an Army and we spent time together from 2013, 2014 — they could understand. It’s kind of more special, more closer, to our true hearts"

What about "Letter"?

In conclusion, hidden tracks for BTS, are something between them and their real fans who know about the path they have wended, therefore they can open up to them through lyrics and talk about their fears and struggles and ambitions without being judged or misunderstood. Also, we have to debunk some of the misconceptions going around (especially after the release of FACE) about hidden tracks. For example, some claimed that Letter is made for fans because hidden tracks are always supposed to be “gifts” for fans. This claim obviously can’t be true when you are able to listen to a hidden track legally, only by purchasing the physical album. Gifts are supposed to be free of charge, like Promise, Still with You, Christmas Love, My You, and so on.

Then what about “Letter”? Why this song is a hidden track in Jimin’s first solo album? Did Jimin want to say something by hiding this track in FACE? To answer this questions, we need to pay attention to the lyrics and how the song was made:

[Verse 1] What should I say? And how should I convey it? I'm really not getting my words right I know it sounds so clichéd So that it's not taken lightly Let me say it to you properly [Chorus] I say oh-oh, I hope you can be happier You, who stretched your hand out to me whenever I fell I say oh-oh, I'll hold it now (I'll hold it) So when you feel like crying, you won’t fall [Verse 2] After all this time has passed Will we still be the same? Just like we were when we first met, hmm-mmm If we are together, even the desert could turn to a sеa Just like how we were then, oh-hoo-ooh [Chorus] I say oh-oh, I really hope that it’ll last forever You, who felt like a warm spring to me in a cold winter I say oh-oh, I'll always cherish it All those moments between you and I [Refrain] Baby, don't leave Just stay by my side, yeah To you, who see me bigger than what my little self is (to you) So that I can give as much as I’ve received (oh-oh) So that I can keep my word (oh-oh) Don't worry, just stay by my side, yeah (Yeah) We don’t know what the future holds (holds, yeah) And that’s scary and makes us afraid (oh-oh) But don’t forget that we’re always together (don't forget) [Outro] I know it sounds so clichéd So that it's not taken lightly Let me say it to you properly

The Feelings

If you compare these lyrics to "Path" and "Sea" you can clearly see the differences, and except a mention of "sea and desert" there's nothing in common between them. Letter is not a monologue about career issues, it's a romantic song. These lyrics are expressing the feelings and addresses them to an audience and appreciates them. But how was this song made?

According to Jimin, at first, SMF Pt2 was supposed to be the last track of his solo album, but in their YTC promotion and recording era when they announced that they have planned to put their group activities on rest, Jimin decided to express his feelings of the moment through a letter, and turned that letter to song lyrics. Producers liked the song so much and decided to add it in his album and that’s how “Letter” was born. Although Jimin didn’t explain much about those “feelings” and left the conclusion to us like a true artist, we all know that this song is totally different from the other tracks in his album.

All the tracks of FACE are dark and sad. Jimin’s first album is all about himself, and he talks about the painful emotions he had as an artist and a person in the past few year, but with “Letter” there is a different story. Recording Academy admitted this and wrote:

“Though the EP is technically only six songs, the physical version has an additional “hidden” track called “Letter”. The song provides an intimacy that stands out from the other FACE tracks, capturing Jimin in his best form. The lyrics are poignant and vulnerable as Jimin pleads for someone to stay (“Baby, don't leave Just stay by my side, yeah”) The biggest surprise though? Fellow BTS member Jungkook contributes vocals to harmonize with Jimin.”

A Fan Song?

“Letter” being a “Fan Song” is a stated fact by Park Jimin himself, and there can’t be any arguments about it, but that fact doesn’t mean Jimin made this song with the thought of fans in his head and all about them. In one of my old posts, I said that a faceless crowd can’t be the muse for a romantic song, especially when that song has a "standing-out intimacy".

Another reason for calling "Letter" a fan song, is the fact that it starts at 6:13 of the album, the numbers that remind us of the debut date of BTS. We can't call this a coincidence because we know how thoughtful and punctual Jimin is. But don’t forget that 6.13 is more of BTS time than ARMY time. So, as much as you call this track a song for fans, it can be called a song for his fellow BTS members.

Why JK?

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room. Why JK was a part of this song? Did it mean something for Jimin, or did he have no other options? Jimin said that FACE is an album about himself, and he didn’t feel right about featuring other artists in it, that’s why he decided to record SMF Pt2 all alone and do all the rap parts by himself instead of featuring Yoongi in it. He collaborated with several producers and songwriters (including Namjoon), but there was no featured artist in the whole album.

About the background vocals of the album, he did most parts by himself, and for the other parts, he worked with artists who already had credits in his album, such as BLVSH, Sumin, and James Keys. But JK didn’t have anything to do with Jimin’s album. Jimin was fully capable of doing the background vocals of Letter by himself, as he did for the first parts of the song. Jimin never really explained why he decided to have JK in the song, other than saying their voices match. This known fact doesn’t give us much information, but we can have our speculations.

Closer Than This?

Another thing that questions the idea of “Letter" being inspired by fans, is the existence of “Closer Than This”. The newest release of Jimin is the exact definition of a fan song, the lyrics are straightforward and directly address the fans and leave no place for speculation. If CTT is the result of Jimin getting inspired by his fans, then “Letter” must be inspired by something different because these two songs are not comparable.

The difference becomes more obvious when we look at the initial version of the Letter lyrics in Jimin’s drafts. I wonder what the Grammy journalist who called the final lyrics of “Letter” intimate would have said if they read this:

You hugged me tightly Only you who protected me Hold my hand, hold my hand tightly You who reached out my hand You held out your hand to me

We don’t know what was going on in Jimin’s mind when he wrote these, but we can see that the initial lyrics have been moderated, and the intimate parts, which clearly refer to a person, didn’t end up in the final lyrics. FYI, I’m doing a lyric analysis here, and this is not a complaint or conspiracy theory because Jimin said that he liked the way the final version came out, and it's all that matters.

For Fans, Not About Fans

So far we made it clear that "hidden tracks" are not about fans, they are for fans like any other BTS song, but the hidden tracks are a secret between the artist and the fan, something that only the true and dedicated fan can understand, and this applies to Jimin's "Letter".

Jimin gave up on many records for streaming and buying by releasing this song as a hidden track in his album. So, there must be an important message in this song that he wanted to convey to the true fans. He did his share of being thankful to fans by CTT, and I don't think he needed to do it twice in a year.

Maybe you prefer to think Jimin just made this song for ARMY and hid it in the album as a surprise or because it didn’t match with the whole concept of FACE, and you might not be wrong about any of that. But, don’t forget that he didn’t explain anything about this, and we both are just making assumtions.

Yes, maybe Jimin didn't acknowledge JK being a part of Letter in his promotion era, but JK did everything he could for his share. A few hours before the release of FACE, he started a live and played a part of it with his guitar, and months later, he watched Jimin's live performance for Festa while harmonizing with it and reminding us that he knows the lyrics very well. In Jimin's documentary he was very supportive and even teased for a live performance with him in future.

Why Just Jikook?

Jimin and Jungkook are not the only members of BTS. But I don't know why everytime Jimin or JK do something with romantic undertones, the fans (OT7 ARMYs, to be more specific) immediately try to label it as "About ARMY". I usually don't see this energy with the other five members. I'm perfectly sure they are also very grateful for ARMY, they have released several songs about them, and they would have loved to collaborate in a fan song with Jimin, too.

Then why Jimin only included JK in Letter? Why he wanted to sing for "ARMY" with him? Unless we assume Jimin's gratitude towards ARMY has connections with JK, and I don’t even want to bring up 2019 "I am army" jokes. But "Letter" is the song the most optimistic Jikookers didn't expect to exist. You may try to ignore and normalize it, but you can't deny the fact that Letter proved Jikook's unbreakable connection as two harmonic colleages, long time friends, and inseparable souls.

#jikook #jimin #jungkook #letter jimin

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britcision · 11 months

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I’m pretty sure the people bitching about not giving money to tumblr are the same ones who complain when AO3 or wikipedia ask for donations, so I’m just gonna clarify something

Running a website is not free

Even if they made no changes and did only maintenance, they still need to pay for server costs, expert programmers for when something goes wrong, storage (although frankly storage is cheap as chips these days which is nice)

They need to keep up with the capabilities of new tech like improvements to web browsers, never mind their own apps keeping pace with old and new tech developments

Backwards compatibility (being able to run the updated app on old tech) is a massive problem for apps on a regular basis, because there are people out here using an iPod and refusing to update software

There’s a reason every few years apps like Animal Crossing will issue an update that breaks backwards compatibility and you can only play if your phone is running more recent software

This shit costs money even before you look into the costs of human moderation, which I’m not exactly convinced is a big part of their current budget but fucking should be if we want an actual fix for their issues with unscreened ads and reporting bigots

Ignoring that it’s apparently illegal for companies not to actively chase profits, running Tumblr is expensive

And advertisers know we fucking hate them here

They’re still running ads, which we know because they’re all over the damn place, but half the ads are for Tumblr and its store

Other ad companies know we are not a good market, so they’re not willing to put the money in

Tumblr runs at a $30 million deficit, every year, because hosting a site is expensive

They are trying to take money making ideas from other social medias because they’re not a charity; they need to make enough money to keep the site going

If you want tumblr to keep existing, never mind fixing its many issues that require human people to be paid to do jobs like moderation, they will need money

Crabs cost $3

One crab day a year can fix the deficit and hammer home for Tumblr that:

A) we do want to be here and want the site to keep going

And B) they do not need to do the normal social media money making strategies we all hate

They need a way to make money if you want the hellsite to exist, because we live in a capitalist hellscape and cannot all be AO3

If they think they can make enough to keep running without pulling all the tricks we hate, they have no reason to pull said tricks

But they need money

And a way to make money

And if we can show them we can do that, there is a significantly higher chance they will listen to us, the user base they need money from, than if we don’t

Tumblr isn’t perfect, or anywhere close. They need someone to actually screen the paid ads they put through, they need to take the transphobia, antisemitism, and bigotry seriously

These Are Jobs That Will Cost Money

People Need To Be Fucking Paid For Their Work

Tumblr Is Not Run By Volunteers For Free And Nor Should It Be

Paying People Is Good Actually

So if you wanna get all high and mighty over $3/year, by all means, go spend that hard earned cash elsewhere

Good luck finding a perfect and morally pure business to give it to though

Being a whiny negative asshole isn’t more appealing just because you’ve put yourself on a moral soapbox, it just means the asshole is a little higher up

For all the whining about “all the new updates are terrible this site is unusable”…. It’s one fuck of a lot more usable than it was in 2017, 2018, 2020

And yeah, it’s going back down and most of the newer ones have been fucking annoying and I would also like them to stop

But it got up somehow and that means it could do that again

Hope is more fun than edgy nihilism

August 1st is a good and exciting day to summon a crab army

#tumblr #crab day #fuck if i know what a profitable plan for tumblr as is will look like #since half the user base are entitled assholes who think they shouldn’t pay for less than perfection #and tumblr themselves are entitled assholes who think $5/month is a good base proce #motherfuckers would have so many more people if it was $2-3 #totally not paying $5/month for this shit #but $3/year? yeah that’s okay

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ganondoodle · 2 months

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Hello 👋

Swallowing my nerves at last to send you an ask! I was just wondering, what inspires your designs? Are their inspirations in stuff like movies or games? Or just things you come up with yourself?

i .. honestly its kinda hard to tell, sometimes i just randomly think of something, like some detail, or color combination and try to incorporate that into a design somehow; it can come from anywhere, like the color scheme of a pithaya/dragonfruit is something i have been wanting to make a design with for ages but havent come up with anything good in all those years ;O;

im a very easily fascinated by color, espeically in nature, like sometimes i just stop and stare at something like i froze in time bc i just woooooooooooooah color! i probably look like a weirdo doing that though

its really hard to pinpoint anything specifically, the most is probably .. other artists? i guess? which always makes me nervous bc my memory is shit in most areas of life and i worry myself to pieces whether i unintentionally "stole" an idea and just dont remember and think it was my own, it goes further that sometimes i see something that makes me want to draw a similar concept but dont bc i dont want to 'steal' even if that couldnt be further from my intention (have been accused of that before ..)

that said for my ocs specifically .. most are rather old and have just kinda evolved out of their awkward first iterations (shargons first iteration was a hauro-howl- copy that was really just some human covered in feathers .. another oc was once a hellboy copy but in green- havent drawn nor redeisgn them in ages lol), the biggest inspirations for them is a mix of animals, bonus if you dont see them often- im a big shark, whale and sea creatures in general nerd so i tend to take from them as a priority but always trying to be less directly animal and mostly just .. features that work together

Eadrya is one of the newer OCs- i started to write but then looked at my folders and oh they are from 2017 .., i even made a design timeline for them how much they, and my art, have changed back in 2020, so thats also way outdated now lol (they apparently started as a whale .. thing? its like a pokemon evolution lol)

this is them now (i like this sketch still, though shargons design is now also outdated lmao)

this ones from early 2023 so also outdated now but you get the point

for demons i try to be a bit more wild on shapes and colors while still adhering to the rules of how they work (humanoid form, demon form, animalistic, one element each and more or less made to fit that, 4 arms is very common, look to be bost scary and wild but also something that would make you stop in tracks and stare in awe and fear if you crossed paths)

often times designs just kinda .. happen, i have maybe the idea ok i wanna make something with a white and red pattern also moose or those big horned cows are cool and kinda scary so maybe sth akin to that (though this one is technically a redesign too- its also pretty much entirely different)

for non demons but still non human i go for a much more restrained design, mainly inspired directly by an animal and giving the color scheme a good spin, plus adding unconventional body shapes, like ki'ita is also a good example, her old idea was just orca anthro pirate and just by making the white green instead in her most recent redesign already adds that little spin to it

that can have its pitfalls though, as i often fall into the big arm small head small legs scheme over and over xD

alot of it is trial and error, deciding on the colors can take me hours bc im always searching for my little rule of having one contrast color that shows up in very few places to draw attention to it (like with Eadrya its those bright yellow eyes and thingy at their tail)

and that is all about myy own ocs, when its fandom stuff it works kinda similar though, either in the connections i wanna draw or just thinking it further- like how deities in destiny work also just kinda .. happened like an ever derailing train

like for demise i was at first really just im gonna give him horns bc horns are cool and he got those on the starting mural in the game- so how his hair work? well maybe it isnt hair actually and just unbound energy, im making him a deity too and fit hylias design to his so, yeah, then so how does it work, ok he gotta have a skeleton still, but what if his entire actual body is made up of pure magical energy with its core in the ribcage? with the core in the ribcage >:3c and the scales you see are just like cooled down lava as an armor bc his thing is fire and earth !! the normal blood? is a thin layer of skin imiated from mortals to keep the scales together and flexible so if he ACTUALLY gets hurt hed bleed magic that looks more like lava and any normal blood you see is just the armor- so why does he have a skeleton still instead of being just energy? maybe its gotta be bound to something OH and what if all of the deities started as mortals like a mirror to the trio later on and the gods cannot have direct influence to the worlds so they needed a right hand that is neither god nor mortal but both by killing a mortal by whatever their element will be (demise burned, hylia drowned etc) and their skeleton and spirit is kept but put into a body of magic- OH what if their spirit core is like almost piloting their bodies like a mech in a way bc if youd look close youd see that every strand of magic is actual a hand of their spirit so it makes it more weird and other bc hed be able to reach out with thousands of burning claws of all shapes and sizes like the beheaded forest god at the end of mononoke- SO if hed lose and arm or something all those strands would untangle and rearrange his bones back together-OH MY GOD the whole armor idea works so well for ghirahims dark armor so what if demise had two swords once and lost one and since has forged an armor similar to his own for ghirahim out fo fear of losing him t---

and that all is a process that happens over several weeks and months not rarely while i am drawing something mindlessly and suddendly *have a thought* and omg that makes so much sense-

so "what" inspires my designs? an ever derailing train of thought about making cool thick monsters that arent the evil thing to get rid of for once? cool color schemes? idk it just kinda happens??

#ganondoodles answers #dont think this was the point of the ask #maybe i shouldnt actually try to answer any questions bc im inherently bad at ... having an answer #i havent even gotten into the anatomy of demons in my oc stuff #yes they ... they got organs #i dont know why id need to think about how and what and their arrangmeent #but i ssure did #I DIDNT EVEN GET INTO HOW DEMONS WORK-#wasnt the ask #my brain is an unstoppable train that never lets me rest #writing soem stuff out like that really makes me realize just how MUCH THERE IS #no wonder i got not space left for any actually important information #like i couldnt tell you my phone number i have had for years but i sure could draw an anatomical study of a demon oc lol #this took me an hour to write.#why am i like this

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lizzybeth1986 · 6 months

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A Brief History of Alternative Romances in Choices

Series - TRR's Alternative LIs: The "Romances" that Didn't Happen

TW: Mentions of OH2's handling of Rafael (though not in detail), racism.

To be clear, this introductory essay isn't directly related to the rest of this series. TRR operated very differently to the other Choices series' when it came to alternative LIs, so a lot of what I'll discuss here won't actually apply to its specific romance mechanics.

Still, it is important to explore what it means to give an LI an alternative romance in PB, and for that we need to look at what the approach to such romances were. Both in the past, and after TRR became popular. Looking into this gives us a general idea of which specific LIs got an alternative romance, why just them and not others, and what such developments said about the way the writing team viewed a particular character.

The Choices App was introduced in 2016, with three stories that were likely meant to cater to different audiences. Out of the three, the crime drama Most Wanted was the only series that focused on a single romantic pairing.

The other two - The Freshman and The Crown and the Flame - presented players with multiple romance options for their main character(s). TCaTF split its narrative between two main characters - Kenna Rys and Dominic Hunter - exploring both Kenna's fight to gain back and then expand her kingdom, and Dom's discovery of his heritage as a member of the Fire Tribes. Even though Kenna and Dom could be paired romantically, they had other potential LIs. Notably, Kenna had 6 (Dom, Tevan, Raydan, Annelyse, Val and Diavolos) and Dom only 2 serious contenders (Kenna, Rose, Sei, Will Jackson all had romances with him. Of these four, Rose was eliminated early on in the series, and Will was a last-minute addition at the end of TCaTF3). TCaTF didn't seem to focus much on the love lives of these LIs outside of Kenna and Dom, until Book 3 in 2017 - and of the cast only Raydan and Tevan seemed to get hints at other potential romances (with Aurynn and Zenobia, respectively).

Unlike MW and TCaTF, The Freshman's focus zeroed in on just one character. It was the first series to feature a customizable MC, whose experiences and choices alone would move the story forward. The original three-book series featured romances with three LIs - Chris Powell, James Ashton and Kaitlyn Liao. By the third book, two more were added to the roster - Zig Ortega and Becca Davenport.

You could choose a boy/girlfriend by the end of Book 1, and change partners in Book 3 if you weren't happy with your first LI and/or wanted one of the newer ones. The first three books didn't really have any alternative romances for the LIs themselves, but all that was about to change (for two LIs) in The Sophomore (released in 2017).

(Screenshots from the UnruleLee Gaming Youtube Channel)

In TS, the MC had the opportunity to pair James and Kaitlyn up with other side characters if she wasn't dating them. Kaitlyn begins to show an interest in Annisa, the new keyboardist in her punk band. Similarly for James and Reyna, a member of the editorial staff of Hartfeld's student-run newspaper. Both pairings only resulted in long-term relationships if the MC encouraged them enough, and she had both free and paywalled opportunities to do so.

What is noticeable at this point is that there are three LIs that are not given romantic alternatives - Chris, Zig and Becca. Though members of the fandom did headcanon certain pairings that had some potential in canon (such as Zig with his roommate Aaron and Becca with Madison), the narrative itself never indicated any romances for these characters, preferring perhaps to focus on their romance with the MC.

A possible reason for this could have been popularity. At the time, some in the fandom theorized that Chris was the most popular of the OG LIs, and that Zig and Becca garnered popularity quite quickly when they emerged as options in TF3. So there would be a lot more investment from the teams in charge of the book to focus their writing on their MC-centric routes.

James and Kaitlyn received criticism and sometimes outright hate from fans - some of whom complained ad nauseum whenever options to help them with their professional lives or personal development came up, while being largely accepting of the more popular LIs' conflicts. So it is possible that the writing focused on giving these two LIs other romantic options, in a way they didn't need to for the other three.

However, giving James and Kaitlyn other love interests didn't affect their overall writing. The Freshman series handled the balance between all five LIs with a deft hand, ensuring that every LI had adequate growth, development and attention within the narrative. Whether they were single or paired with the MC, all of them had unique stories that allowed the characters to make mistakes and learn from them, to confront their fears and conquer them, to deal with their problems in a realistic way.

James' story wasn't simply stuck on Reyna - he spent most of TS honing his writing skills and developing a novel, and later co-writing a play with the MC. Kaitlyn's story wasn't simply about romancing Annisa - it was about dealing with her insecurities, building her band from scratch, getting over her fears of Natasha sabotaging her again, being comfortable in her own identity. Their romances with Reyna and Annisa felt like bonus side stories that we could get if we were interested enough...not the be-all and end-all of their stories.

Alternative romances for LIs didn't happen in all books. Many didn't bother with one, especially those that wound up being one-book stories. Some books that ended with an elaborate wedding for an MC and their LI also seemed to do away with this too, mostly by eliminating other love interests or making their presence scarce (for instance, in RoE, the other two LIs for "Katie" virtually disappear when she make her choice, only featuring in brief cameos and mentions). Alternative LIs often featured in series' that were successful enough to get three books, so more often than not, two-book series' like #LoveHacks would barely even have the time to develop new characters to date any LI.

The books that did end up following this route often lasted long enough for at least three books (with PM and ATV standing as exceptions), and likely had more than 3 LIs. In certain books the pairing was paywalled, and in others you could choose a number of free options to encourage the romance.

After a while a pattern seemed to emerge in who got such romances. Sometimes the alternative LI was given only to the "forgotten fourth/fifth" of a series (the extra LI who would get the least attention) - sometimes the "lucky" LI would be a character that was NOT a late addition to the roster of LIs, but an OG LI that just got so little attention and buildup it became obvious that they were given an alternative because the writers couldn't be bothered to imagine what their romance with the MC would look like. One can confidently say this because very often the "alternative romance" was written with more thought than the romance with the LI or any of that character's individual problems, and it started becoming very obvious that the writers felt more comfortable imagining the playthroughs where such LIs could only be friends with the MC.

Once the Choices app found its "core demographic" and started churning out more books, there were more and more cases of the writers indicating who their favourites were, early on (through providing a higher frequency and quality of diamond scenes for certain LIs, and through their interviews before the book releases). Which resulted in those characters getting more popular and others less so. And it was this "popularity" that often impacted writing choices and treatment.

Such a system of storytelling results in a vicious cycle, where a team will either assume already that one particular character will rake in more money, and give them a head start over others...or where a writer - through intentional or unintentional bias - could push forward a "favourite" front-and-center to the detriment of other LIs.

Here's a list of books that wrote alternative romances for certain LIs (except for OH, but I will get to that one in a minute). See if you can figure a pattern in at least most of these books:

High School Story 3 (2018) - Caleb Mitchell (Jade Ali), Emma Hawkins (Luis Marino), Aiden Zhou (Cameron Levy)

High School Story: Class Act 3 (2019-20) - Skye Crandall (Lilith Vidal)

Desire and Decorum 3 (2018-19) - Luke Harper (Cordelia Parsons)

Perfect Match 2 (2018) - Sloane Washington (Khaan Mousavi)

Across the Void (2018-19) - Zekei Sentry becomes a love interest both to the MC as well as their sibling Eos Elara.

Endless Summer 3 (2017-18) - Quinn Kelly (Kele), Sean Gayle (Michelle Nguyen). (Technically, almost every LI does get some potential in terms of alternative romance...but Estela and Jake's pairings feature mostly in the AUs shown by The Endless (Sean x Michelle, Estela x Zahra, Jake × Yvonne are all shown - among other AU romances). Quinn and Sean's romances, however, are solidified in the MC's handfasting ceremony with their LI, where the couples could share a romantic look and Michelle even leans on Sean's shoulder.)

In theory, the alternative romance could sound tempting. It allows the MC to demonstrate care and concern for an LI regardless of their romantic interest, or lack thereof. It may potentially give the reader the surface comfort of seeing an LI they rejected lead a happy life with someone they can love. It seems like a win-win situation for everyone.

But it becomes apparent when you comb through both the romantic and friendly versions of these characters' stories, that something is not quite right. I will take two LIs here as an example.

(Screenshots from Abhirio's YouTube Channel (D&D3) and Danni Stone's YouTube Channel (PM1))

Sloane Washington's major character points in Book 1 involve her love for coding and astronomy, as well as her strong bond with her mother. Book 2 (2018) does very minimal work on either of these; once Khaan enters the picture, almost every diamond scene she gets focuses solely on the possibility of a romance with him. The narrative doesn't even focus the reunion with her mother Kim on her!

Likewise, many, many complaints emerged during D&D3 (2019) about the way Luke's wedding was handled. His mother - who is supposedly very close to him - only features in letters and one memory about his brother Ezra's gambling addiction, doesn't have a name, is given a used sprite that isn't even dressed in period-appropriate clothing, and never even attends his wedding. On the other hand, his alternative romance with Cordelia was explored in excruciating detail, to the point where the two are given a wedding and the promise of a future child. It is almost as if the writers couldn't bear to envision him marrying their precious MC.

There are two major things that become apparent the more you observe the above list of LIs who got alternative romances.

One, the LIs that don't get "alternative LIs" are often white and male (Chris in TF, Micheal in HSS, Ernest in D&D, Meridien in AtV) with a couple exceptions. The writing takes care to weave their issues and conflicts into the MC's larger narrative and try their best to ensure that we become invested in whatever they have going on in their stories. A good example of this are Ernest's larger storylines about his stepson Percival and his destroyed house in Book 3. On certain rare occasions (especially when there is no default white man in the LI cast), an ambiguously brown man who can be easily exoticized fits into this role of "Creator's Pet" just as well. The writers spend enough time on perfecting their romances with the MC that there is literally no time for anything (or anyone) else.

Two, in all but two of these books, the LI that gets their 'alternative romance' most often...is a black love interest. On the rare occasion a white character is included in such a list, it is often a canonically queer white woman (only if she is an LI tho, because white female side characters have attention and love practically showered upon them) who ends up in such a position (Emma and Skye from the HSS series'). But besides that, it is usually the black LI - who btw is often one of the first people we interact with and written as the most approachable - that bears the brunt of a narrative that makes it clear that it isn't interested in exploring their story on their terms.

That is why Luke's mother never gets a name or his younger brother is hardly seen. That is why Sloane is sidelined in her own reunion scene with her mother. That is why most of the romantic playthroughs featuring these characters feel so scarce on the details or the nuances, while their white male (or ambiguous brown male) counterparts chew scenery in their own and everyone else's playthroughs.

In narratives like these, the "alternative LI" is no longer the sweet, sensitive, "they deserve happiness" route that it pretends to be...but more a sign that the writers are uncomfortable with writing said LI in a romance with the main character, and the audience they most want to cater to is uncomfortable reading it.

When the intent behind such a supposedly-nice gesture becomes so rife with bad faith, what is the end result? What happens when an 'alternative LI' - a route that seemed to promise happier futures for certain LIs - becomes more of a tool to punish them for lack of popularity? What happens when the company that created this system stops pretending to value the diversity they claimed to pride themselves in??

What happens - is that you get a story like Open Heart 2.

A lot of the stories I mentioned above were written within the space of 2017-2019. In fact, most of the books in the list came out in 2018. During these years Choices was gaining popularity in the choice-based storytelling business, and romance stories were on the rise. Many Choices Books at this point had at least 3 LIs - 2 male and 1 female - and some had more. And most of the writing teams managed to get away with treating their LIs of colour (specifically their black male and female LIs) badly without significant backlash.

At the time of OH2's release (2020), the book had four LIs in its lineup. Ethan Ramsey - like most white male LIs - was meant from the start to chew scenery. Comparatively the other LIs: Jackie Varma, Bryce Lahela and Rafael Aveiro were at a disadvantage and often it felt like the team seemed to work more on writing them out rather than incorporating their stories organically into the narrative. Rafael particularly seemed to suffer from this in the first book, and by this time making one LI the "forgotten fourth" became accepted as the norm. So when OH2's cover showed every single LI except for Rafael, there was a sense of mild alarm.

It soon became clearer, however, that something more insidious was afoot. The book itself began with a funeral, and Rafael was missing in the first chapter. When Rafael stans finally did get to see him, in Ch 2, they would be hit with a nasty surprise - the LI who was utterly devoted to their MC and introduced them to his beloved Vovó, would be shown dating a childhood sweetheart without any explanation or warning.

(Screenshots from Gabbieschoices YouTube Channel)

When asked about the sudden shift, PB's response was cryptic...but also ominous to a fandom who had already seen all kinds of unfair, horrible treatment meted out to a wide range of black characters by then:

For all intents and purposes, the relationship between the MC and Rafael appeared to be over, with very little by way of closure. Even the few diamond scenes they would get later would show friends-only options. As the book went on, it became frighteningly clear that the narrative was planning to do away with Rafael. At one point, Rafael even spoke of leaving the city altogether, and there were hints towards a far, far worse manner of departure in later chapters.

(Most people who were playing at the time remember PB's plans for OH2 Ch11-12, and the backlash, response and hiatus that followed. If you weren't there at the time, PB's Statement following the backlash - "Representation at Pixelberry" - briefly alludes to the issues that people in the fandom had with the writing decisions OH2 took at the time)

As most of us know by now, this ended with significant changes in the existing story - ensuring that Rafael lived, reinstating him as an LI and having Sora break up with him so they could disappear from the book altogether. Post 2020, no further attempts have been made the "alternative LI" route for LIs.

Part of this could be attributed to the change in format. With the introduction of VIP-access and single-LI books, the need to prepare an alternative romance for an LI has reduced greatly. Other factors too could have contributed: the extra romances becoming too much work, possible fatigue among fandom towards such pairings leading to less revenue from diamond options featuring them, certain books having only one or at most two LIs.

No one in PB has spoken of Rafael's treatment or the inclusion of Sora in OH directly...but since OH2 featured the last ever alternative romance till date, it would be safe to say that perhaps even PB recognised that the Sora story crossed a significant line. In any case, this practice hasn't been adopted in recent books in a while.

At the outset, one could argue that the Rafael and Sora situation is extremely different from the "alternative romances" I have listed so far. Unlike all the others, the intent behind introducing Sora was to deny the player a Rafael romance altogether, rather than present Rafael himself with an option. Whatever the problems with the other LIs, at least they got a romance with the MC!

However, I do think the Sora story was rooted in what the alternative LI route had become over time. It may have started with good intentions - with the idea that perhaps if the numbers showed certain LIs being ignored, it may be kinder to give them happy futures with other people who would love them. As long as the alternative romance was just a part of the character's larger story (as is the case with James and Kaitlyn), it felt less harmful and more sweet.

But when the ability to rake in finances becomes a marker of a character's worth, when the writing itself rigs the game from the start of a series, when both PB and fandom find themselves incapable of examining their own biases with regards to said characters...the purpose of such romances becomes warped.

At such points, it becomes more about establishing that this character's romance with the MC is not worth exploring. About delivering the message that it's okay to drop this LI - that as a player, you had more chance of getting your money's worth if you did drop them.

To be more clear, the Sora story is a culmination of what happens when a certain type of LI is set up to fail from the start. There are less opportunities for them to win the reader over, less time, less options to bring in money. In such an environment, the "alternative romance" becomes about considering certain types of LIs "less worthy", and spending far less time developing their MC-route - because as far as the "data", "money" and "finances" are concerned, they hardly have one!

The culmination of such a system, is that the worth of an LI can be brought down so much that the writers become comfortable with killing a non-main and non-white LI. Sora, as an alternative LI, was a way to write Rafael himself out as a romantic option, not a route meant to move his own story ahead. Sora is what happens when PB pushes forward favouritism and racism to the point where the writing is emboldened to take such steps for LIs of colour (particularly black LIs) they deem unpopular.

Which is why - in the present climate - the elimination of such a system is a marginally better prospect. If we cannot trust such a seemingly "nice" process, what's the use of having it around?

This essay series isn't about all of PB's stories, however. It is about TRR. Still - it is essential to explore and understand the original intent behind using these romance routes, and the history of how such storylines developed over time. Considering that TRR released from 2017-2018, analysing the significant patterns of that time places the writing of TRR's alternate romances into context.

TRR's approach to the alternative LI route has been different from other books, in very specific ways. One of the most prominent ways was that the narrative featured romantic options for the three OG LIs, and briefly attempted one for a fourth (the closest parallel to this in another book would be Endless Summer). Even popular love interests were presented with romantic routes, in case the MC wasn't going to marry them.

Does this mean that TRR managed to avoid falling into the same rabbit hole of bias and favouritism, that the other books did? Not by a long shot. The same problems just manifested in very different ways - and in this essay series, I will discuss those problems, romance route by romance route.

Next - Liam and Olivia: When You Prefer the Side Character to the Main

#essay series: trr's alternative lis #intro essay #playchoices

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the-thursday · 3 months

Text

Hello everyone, this post was long overdue, and finally, prompted by our beloved Howls also leaving, it's time for me to rip off the bandaid as well.

I would also like to announce a sort of departure from Ranger's apprentice fandom.

I do not know how many from RA fandom era from few years back are still here but I assume mostly newer blogs keep up with this account.

Take a lil history walk with me, if you will. I joined this fandom around 2017-18. I was very active around here, posting all kinds of stuff, fics, takes, incorrect quotes, art and whatnot. I made many friends with whom I had a great time and I am happy and honoured that I am friends with some of them till this day. Fandom became the second home to me as things hadn't been exactly easy irl and maybe I fixated on it too much, but gods know I loved this place so much. And I wish for everyone to experience this happiness and just as I made friends who became a significant part of my life, I wish that for you as well. Being surrounded by amazing and wonderful people and sharing similar interests is one of the most pure joyous feelings in this world.

As 2020-2021 rolled around, some of you know that things in my life picked up a harsh pace and I started to drift away. In 2021 I left the fandom because of that and unpleasant things with one of the people here. It was one of the most gut wrenching decisions I had made.

In 2022, I started gradually getting worse, but also had the courage to come back at the end of the year. I felt happy and welcomed and I am so grateful to everyone who made it happen, who supported me and gave me another breath. My mental health kept getting worse but I wasn't alone and that has been everything to me.

Now it's about a little more than a year since I've been back and again, I've met wonderful amazing people who I am happy and honoured to call friends. I don't regret coming back and I am happy I did, however I think it's time for me to go again. And below, I hope to explain why.

Like I said, I've been getting worse. Last autumn and this winter have been very difficult for me and I had to rethink some priorities, as life is going on the time left for me to invest in fandoms is getting thinner and thinner. Unfortunately, among them, isn't keeping up with this fandom. With my next words I hope not to insult anyone. The truth is, I don't find enjoyment in the fandom and content itself anymore, or more like, as much as I used to. I don't exactly vibe with posts for roughly the past half a year and I don't mean this in negative way, I just think it's for me to move on. All of the new people that I've seen have wonderful content and while I don't exactly vibe like I used to, I can see that you're having fun and that's important! People come and go and I do wish all the newcomers and seniors who are still here to have a great time, but I don't think I have energy, capacity and vibes to be part of it anymore. As you know, my blog has been very much inactive for a long time, aside from dumping my dumb sketches or reblogging something here and there. And rather than letting it rot, I'd like to cleanly move on. Anyhow, on self deprecating note, since really it's not like I've been someone prominent I don't think this is a loss to the fandom and this makes it easier for me.

So to summarise, my leaving is about personal things, my life moving and the fact I don't have the mental capacity or motivation to actively keep up.

So what does this mean? I won't be posting RA related stuff on this blog anymore. This blog will turn into a neutral main blog and I'll create one side blog for art that I hope to continue to make and maybe one blog dedicated to the work of Brandon Sanderson.

However, it doesn't mean that I am not up to goof around about RA anymore, however this will be done in DMs. If I sometimes get to draw and post RA related art, it shall be posted on my new art blog with RA tag. However, I don't think there's a high probability of public RA art from me anymore, because 1) need to move on and 2) I have a very strong and maybe confrontational opinion about art in this fandom that has given me a bad taste and discouraged me from enjoying making it and posting it. I won't go into details because I don't want to sour this post for myself and for y'all with it.

I want to thank this fandom for everything it has been for me and for everyone and I wish y'all some happy fandoming!

Yours only,

The Ranger Thursday 11

#rangers apprentice #final goodbye

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sundropstories · 8 months

Text

Not a Secret

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Summary: The team witnesses you and Bucky kiss for the first time and you start to realize they don't all know you guys are married. Or even in a relationship.

a/n: This takes place kinda after civil war. Timeline will make more sense in the little story <3

˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧˖⁺‧₊ ˖⁺‧₊

Bucky has been away on a mission for a bit now with most of the team. I've stayed behind with Peter, Kate, and some of our newer younger avengers. To just kinda hangout and keep them on track with training.

"Y/n, Mr.Stark just let me know they're on their way back now."

"Thanks Peter!" I say, a smile spreading on my face.

I miss Bucky so much! This is the longest we've been apart...since we've been together.

—

The elevator door opens and I practically jump off the couch to see my husband.

"Oh my god I missed you guys!" I say rushing to give everyone hugs.

This might seem like I'm crazy but, they've been on this mission for about two months. I guess some guy was making the serum..you know the serum. So they all went to figure that all out. So I've been hanging out with a bunch of teenagers for a couple months of course I miss my adult friends!

—

I'm speaking to Natasha about the mission when my favorite super soldier finally walks in.

"Yay your back!" I yell jumping into his arms to kiss him. The whole room falls silent and the energy shifts.

"Well she didn't miss the rest of us that much." I barely hear Tony say. Too focused on the handsome man looking back at me.

We pull away arms still holding each other. "You guys want me to give you all welcome back kisses?" I raise my eyebrow questioning them and let out a small laugh.

"You will not be doing that. You're only allowed to kiss your husband." Bucky says from behind me. It was then I started to notice the confused faces turn into surprised faces.

Then Sam speaks up "Excuse me, you guys are married?!"

I look back at Bucky, who still has an arm around my waist. "Are they fucking with us right now" I whisper. He just furrows his eyebrows in response.

I turn back to the team and lift my left hand showing my ring and he does the same. "Yeah..." I say to the team.

"When did you guys get married?" Natasha joins in on questioning us.

"2017..but, no one was talking so we just had a small reception." Bucky finally answers.

"So why'd you guys keep it a secret?" Sam questions.

"What?" I start laughing "It's not a secret. Steve, Wanda, and Vision we're at the wedding. And we couldn't get a hold of the rest of you."

"Also some of you refused to talk to some of us at the time so we just...forgot to tell you. But, we thought you'd have figured it out after we all moved into the compound together..." Bucky adds.

This is so weird. I mean we're not exactly the most flashy couple but damn. For super hero's and spy's they're not very observant.

" I don't understand how we never noticed. Probably because You guys live in separate rooms." Tony says.

"No." I say. "Bucky and I share Bucky's old room, I've never used that spare room before."

It was weird at the time when he gave me that room but I just thought it was like an extra or something I don't know...

"I just thought you guys were like besties or something. I never thought Bucky to be the relationship type he's just so.. you know." Sam says letting out a small laugh.

—

After that really weird conversation Bucky and I went up to our room to finally just be together.

I missed this.

"It's so nice to finally have you back this bed feels so empty when you're gone." I say plopping myself onto the bed.

"I missed you so much doll." Bucky says laying next to me.

I shift to be laying in his arms, and look up so our faces are only inches apart.

"I love you Bucky."

"I love you too y/n."

#james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky fic #bucky barns imagine #bucky x reader #bucky barns x reader #bucky fanfic #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes #bucky barns fanfiction #bucky x you

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sineala · 4 days

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Hi there. I just got interested in 616 Steve and Clint dynamic recently, and I wonder if you can recommend some titles highliting their relationship? Thank you. 🥰

Steve & Clint's friendship is seriously one of my favorite things about Avengers comics. We start out with Clint annoying the fuck out of Steve, and over a period of years we evolve to Clint continuing to annoy the fuck out of Steve except they care deeply about each other now. Clint learned how to be a leader from Steve, is extremely, extremely loyal, and will defend Steve in basically any circumstance. This is not to say that they don't disagree, because man do they ever disagree. But they're good friends. I think Steve likes having friends who aren't afraid to disagree with him.

(I didn't know until I read Young Avengers v1 for the first time last week that Kate became Hawkeye while Clint was dead, because Steve gave her the name, because he was impressed by how she stood up to him. You might have thought Clint would have given her the name after he came back to life, but no. Whoever annoys Steve the most gets to be Hawkeye. Apparently that's the rule. What's really funny is that Steve also does this again to someone else in the current miniseries Avengers Twilight, for the same reason. Who gives him the most shit? You're Hawkeye now! It's great.)

So! A list of Fun Comics About Steve And Clint!

The obvious starting place is the Kooky Quartet era of the Avengers. This begins in Avengers #16 when Clint joins the team. For those of you who don't have this issue memorized, in Avengers #16 Steve is off fighting villains by himself in another country, when the rest of the founding Avengers decide they need a break. So Steve finds out when he gets back that they're all leaving, that he's the new leader, and that his new teammates are Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye, none of whom he knows, all of whom are former criminals and/or villains. I don't know when the Kooky Quartet era officially ends, but I can tell you that the team mostly contains Pietro and Wanda until #47, so I suppose that's the end of the Quartet. I read up to #35 relatively recently so I can tell you there's good Steve & Clint stuff up to at least that far, and probably farther. You get to see their relationship evolve into them deciding that maybe they actually like each other.

There are also a lot of retellings of early canon (and newer stories set in the past) that will give you glimpses of the Kooky Quartet era with a more modern sensibility. The thing I'm thinking of here is Avengers #1.1 to #4.1 by Mark Waid, which was a miniseries released in 2017 as part of Mark Waid's Avengers v7. I think the wiki lists it under v7; it was released in trade with the title Avengers Four, which isn't confusing at all. Anyway, it's all Kooky Quartet and it's great. You know how Waid's Man Out of Time series kind of rewrites and expands Avengers #4 to tell a new story? This is like that but for Avengers #16.

You might also consider series that are entirely early-canon retellings like Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (the miniseries, not the cartoon); I know that definitely goes up to the Quartet and beyond. There are two volumes of this series.

I unfortunately can't tell you what happens in most of v1 off the top of my head, but I can give you a list of Avengers v1 issues in which both Steve and Clint are on the team, because I have a big list of team rosters. After Avengers #62, Clint changes his codename to Goliath for a bit, but he's still there until #111 (mostly with Steve also on the team), then #142-147, then #172-177, then #181-182, then #221-232. This takes you up to the mid-1980s. After that, except for a few scattered issues, Clint and Steve aren't both on the Avengers again until volume 3, in 1998. (You will note that this is also true of Steve and Tony, and in fact it's for the exact same reason -- both Clint and Tony are on the West Coast Avengers, in California, for pretty much the rest of v1. Clint's other Avengers v1 appearances are #305, #309, #313, #397-401. So it's not a lot there.)

But, don't worry, Clint also has several cameo appearances in Captain America v1. Unlike Avengers, I don't have a handy list of these, so you can probably just go through Clint's appearances list on the Marvel wiki and see which ones are in Cap comics. I can tell you the three that stick with me, though! Two of them are Cap #316 and #317, where Clint and Bobbi come back to New York for a visit, and Steve and Bernie break up so that Bernie can go to law school in Wisconsin, and Bernie throws a party on her last night there that Steve is supposed to attend, except Steve fucks off to go superheroing with Clint. They talk about their love lives and Clint gets to use Steve's shield and Steve gets to use Clint's bow. Steve gets back to find out that he has entirely missed the party and Bernie has finally left him. Can't imagine why.

My other pick is Cap #401, which if you are a Steve/Tony fan you will know is the issue after Operation Galactic Storm where Tony finds Steve in a bar to apologize for everything he's ever done. But the reason Steve is in the bar in the first place is that Clint got sick of Steve sulking and came and jumped on his bed until Steve gave in and went out for a drink with Clint.

Clint does then of course make him talk about his feelings. It's a very sweet interlude of Clint cheering Steve up in his own unique way.

Volume 3 is the next time Steve and Clint are together on the Avengers since Clint left for the West Coast -- and, I mean, it's a good read anyway. This is when I set the one Steve/Clint fic I actually wrote, so here we see my biases. Clint starts out on the team right in Avengers v3 #1, and he stays there until #10, which is when he leaves to lead the Thunderbolts. (Note to self: read Thunderbolts.) You'd think at this point that Clint wouldn't be back with Avengers for a while, but he immediately comes back in #12 and brings his new Thunderbolts and gets into a fight with Steve about whether the T-Bolts can be trusted. Clint later pays the team another visit in the Avengers/Thunderbolts crossover "The Nefaria Protocols" (Avengers v3 #32-34, Thunderbolts v1 #43-44 -- but, you know, in more of an interspersed order) which is a lot of fun and I'm not just saying that because I have a 160,000-word Steve/Tony WIP that is set during it. Anyway. Kurt Busiek started out writing both Avengers and Thunderbolts in this era of canon, but by the time this crossover happened, Fabian Nicieza had taken over Thunderbolts.

There is also a second Avengers/Thunderbolts crossover during this timeframe, the 2004 miniseries Avengers/Thunderbolts #1-6, by Busiek and Nicieza. I haven't actually read it because I wanted to read more Thunderbolts first, but I can tell you it does have both Clint and Steve in it, although it's set after Clint has stopped leading the T-Bolts and has returned to the Avengers.

Yes, Clint does actually rejoin the Avengers proper toward the end of v3 -- he's there from #75 right up to #503 (it renumbered to #500 after #84), although I suspect that that's when he actually dies, because that's Avengers Disassembled. The only Steve & Clint interaction in that time period that really sticks in my mind is Avengers v3 #77, in which Clint takes it upon himself to give Steve some romantic advice that Steve definitely isn't asking for.

(If you've seen any of this issue at all, it's probably an out-of-context panel of Steve telling Clint he didn't say he wanted a woman.)

Once again, Clint also makes some cameos in Steve's comics, in Captain America v3. The one that's memorable to me is in the Capmania arc of Cap v3, which is the very first arc, #1-7. The TPB version of this appears to be called To Serve and Protect. Mostly I remember Clint giving Steve shit about Captain America's new, massive popularity (which turns out to be an evil Skrull plan).

So after Avengers Disassembled, Clint is dead until after Civil War, at which point Steve is also dead, so they're, uh, not interacting much. However, even though Steve is dead, you probably want to read Fallen Son (specifically #3), which is the issue where Tony learns that Clint is alive again and then immediately tries to get him to be Captain America because Tony only has the best and healthiest coping mechanisms when Steve is dead. Clint tries out the shield and uniform and then basically tells Tony to go fuck himself. So that's a no from him. While he's running around dressed as Captain America is also when he meets Kate for the first time and finds out that she's Hawkeye. Everyone is very angsty about everything because that's just what Civil War comics are like.

(I guess I should have known after reading this comic how Kate got her name, but, as I said. I hadn't read Young Avengers until last week, so everything the Young Avengers did in this comic didn't really register.)

The next time Steve and Clint are both alive at the same time is Avengers v4. Clint is on the team for the whole run (#1-34). Technically Steve is Commander Rogers of the Secret Avengers up until after Fear Itself, so he doesn't actually rejoin the team until #18, but he spends a lot of the first half of the run hanging around the Avengers anyway for some reason (it's because he's deeply weird about Tony). So you might as well start from the beginning because Steve's there a lot despite technically not being on the team. I can't say that Steve and Clint have any memorable moments in v4 that are coming to mind right now, but they are both there and it's a reasonably fun run.

Speaking of the Secret Avengers, Steve runs the Secret Avengers until #21. Clint runs them from #22 onward (Steve stays for the first couple issues of Clint's tenure, #22 and #23). Don't ask me how Clint can lead the Secret Avengers and be on the regular Avengers at the same time when Steve apparently can't do this, but this seems to be a thing Clint can do. It's probably because Clint's not weird about Tony. Anyway, the issue you actually want to read is Secret Avengers #21.1, where Steve actually hands the Secret Avengers over to Clint and they do some superheroing together, just like old times.

Clint was on the Avengers during Hickman's run, as was Steve, because pretty much everyone was on Hickman's Avengers at some point (seriously, have you seen those team rosters?) but I don't know that Clint and Steve had any really good moments. There was that bit in one of the Original Sin tie-ins (#30) where Future Clint told Steve he should kill Tony but I don't think that was a very good moment. I'm not sure that Steve and Clint have been on a team together since then because I honestly don't think Clint's been on the main team since then, though they've both shown up in events and so on. I guess you could read Avengers Millennium. That had both of them and it had some fun moments for them, by which I mean that one panel where Clint watches Steve punch out a lion.

In terms of Clint's cameo appearances in Cap comics of this era, I know Clint's been in Brubaker's run, although the only moment with Steve I can honestly remember is when he gets mad at Steve for not telling him Bucky was the Winter Soldier, in the Trial arc. And -- not by Brubaker but at the same approximate time -- there's a Captain America & Hawkeye series (#629-632).

It's part of the same series of Cap team-ups that includes One Night In Madripoor (Captain America & Iron Man #633-635), and in fact these are the issues that are right before One Night in Madripoor.

It's fun. Steve gets turned into a dinosaur.

So you might wonder at this point whether Steve appears in any of Clint's solo comics, and sadly I can't really answer that because I haven't read a lot of Clint's solo comics and the ones I did read didn't have a whole lot of Steve that I remember. Mostly I've read Fraction and some of the really early Hawkeye minis. @blossomsinthemist recommends the miniseries Hawkeye: Blindspot (2011), which I have not read but which does have Clint and Steve on the cover, which seems promising in terms of its potential to contain both Steve and Clint.

I looked at the beginning and it appears to be set in early Avengers v4. You see what I mean about Steve just hanging around the team. This is apparently following on from the events of the 2011 miniseries Widowmaker, and it's about Clint going blind. All the angst.

There are probably more Hawkeye solo comics that feature Steve but I don't know what they are.

To recap, in list form, vaguely ordered by Avengers comics in an era and then Cap comics in the same era:

Kooky Quartet: Avengers v1 #16-47

Avengers Four (Avengers v7 #1.1-4.1)

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes v1 & v2

Avengers v1 #48-111, #142-147, #172-177, #181-182, #221-232, #305, #309, #313, #397-401

Captain America v1 #316-317

Captain America v1 #401

Avengers v3 #1-10, #12

The Nefaria Protocols: Avengers v3 #32-34, Thunderbolts v1 #43-44

Avengers/Thunderbolts (2004) #1-6

Avengers v3 #75-503 (esp. #77)

Captain America v3 #1-7

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #3

Avengers v4 #18-34

Secret Avengers v1 #21.1 (and #22 and #23 if you want)

Avengers: Millennium #1-6

Captain America & Hawkeye #629-632

Hawkeye: Blindspot #1-4

I hope that gives you someplace to get started!

#replies #alice1939

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philsmeatylegss · 7 months

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Hiii I just saw a post Abt the v day video and how it's fucked up and such and I was just wondering why? I found it a few years ago but it was just kinda cute tbh what's wrong with it? Lmao I'm definitely a newer phan, I only started really following their stuff in like 2017 so I don't know too much about early dnp lol

Oh fuck I’m old

I think it’s safe enough to finally talk publicly about it.

Basically the vday video was a video Phil made for Dan for Valentine’s Day. He uploaded it privately onto his YouTube channel which Dan had the password to so Dan could see it. At this time, Dan was on vacation (pretty sure in India) and he wouldn’t have been able to see a video of that quality just through text or email. Shitty luck, the same time he privately uploaded it, infamous YouTube glitch happened where all private videos became public. And one of the videos that went public was the v day video.

There’s a lot of jokes about Dan in 2012, but it’s actually really depressing. Dan wasn’t out yet and he had a fuck ton of trauma surrounding his sexuality. 2012 is when dnp started blowing up enough to where they became part of popular early YouTube so people saved the v day video when it was uploaded.

They’ve only addressed it a few times in which they said it was an April Fool’s prank, which obviously doesn’t make sense, but what were they supposed to say? According to legend, people would keep reuploading the video and Phil would spend hours taking them down one by one and it would say “AmazingPhil took down this video for copyrite.”

It was a catalyst to just a really shitty period for dnp. All aggressively heterosexual clips from Dan’s liveshows are my 2012. “FYI I like vagina” is 2012. People were contacting his 14 year old brother to ask about him and Phil. That alone is both fucked up to drag a kid into this, but remember that Dan still wasn’t out to his family. It was probably so fucking terrifying when his YouTube life, especially regarding his sexuality and relationship, clashed with his family life for the first time.

There’s a noticeable difference between their relationship in videos from 2009-2011 and 2012-2015. And it is most likely because dnp blew up pretty big in 2012 and started going from making YouTube videos for fun to doing it as a job with the added pressure of millions watching. And the catalyst, or at least metaphorical catalyst, from the switch between being openly touchy feely giggles to strict, five feet apart mates is considered to be the vday vid.

It was a big problem in the phandom since it was leaked to around 2017ish. A lot of people were circulating it and word was that they were still being taken down years later, implying that Phil was still searching for the video years later.

The phandom used to be primarily 12-16 year olds. And when you’re that age, speaking from experience, you don’t understand the complexities of the situation and just kinda thought “teeheehee phan is real XD.” When in reality, it was a very sensitive and serious thing that wasn’t meant to ever be seen by the public. It’s literally where the cherry lube and kissing at the Manchester Eye reference is from.

Rightfully so, the video became more and more taboo to mention and most people caught on that it was a shitty thing to upload or share it. It used to be really taboo and affectionately was often referred to as “the video that shall not be named.”

It honestly has a backstory that is so story-like that it seems unreal. So much had to happen for it to be leaked and the impact it had on them was so large it’s like a black hole in phandom history.

It’s possible not all of this is accurate, this is just the basic lore of it. So while I don’t think the internet police will drag you to prison for saying you watched the vday video, this is the context behind it. Do with it what you will.

Spending your entire preteen, teen, and now 20s as a phannie will fry your brain in unimaginable ways. I knew this off the top of my head😭

#I truly don’t realize how much of my life I’ve dedicated to these fucks until I have to recite their lore #this reads like a history textbook #it’s not right #maybe it was the first sign I was destined to be a history teacher #has enough time passed where I can explain the vday vid or will I have to delete this?#asks #dan and phil

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doshmanziari · 5 months

Text

Without a doubt, and by far, the most marginalizing development I've seen within media analysis over the past decade is a shift towards the production of long, flashy videos which tend to require the same for a dialogue to occur. Literally nothing which has been written about Elden Ring, for example, since its release has enjoyed even a fraction of the visibility as a one-hour-and-forty-minutes video by Joseph Smith, or another of similar length by NeverKnowsBest. I don't know when exactly the shift started to happen most obviously -- maybe 2016 or 2017 -- but, today, circumstances are such that pretty much the only way to get real discursive traction on your thoughts about a piece of media is to make a colossus of a video.

Although worried and worrying discourse has complemented the unveiling of newer public A.I. technologies, we've already done a perfectly fine job of out-dating other forms of media communication by way of the aforementioned analytic format; just as, of course, earlier methods of industrial production rendered a whole variety of professions or emphases as outmoded. If you don't have the relevant editing tools at your disposal and/or don't want to spend hundreds of hours cropping footage and making it fit with music and your own narration, well -- too bad! And even then, of course, there's no guarantee that your video will reach your desired scale of an audience. I've found dozens of such videos on YT channels with only a few thousand views, if that; and on each channel it's clear that the people finally gave up after the monumental task of assembling these videos had no equivalent payoff.

Personally, I do still believe in the primacy of the text (or the spoken word, with no competing stimuli); in text as the primary form of critical engagement. More than that -- if I'm going to read a non-fiction work, I want the paged book, and not a digital version. Now, this preference is just that: a preference. And it surely is a preference a good number of people share. I find that a paged book lends itself better to my own retention of the material; and I really enjoy making my notes on the book's paper with a pen. But I don't believe that the construction of multimedia behemoths should be a baseline requirement for discourse.

I wonder if we will, in the near future, start to see some resurgence of the valuation of unembellished textual analysis complementing a more general fatigue with Internet-derived overstimulation. I've already run across numerous channels with fairly sizable communities where there is an appreciation for the "simplicity" of the formats: a person in a room just talking to the camera. I think a lot of people like engaging analysis where the only barrier of significance is devising a good script. To be sure, this is a formidable barrier in itself. I find writing long-form pieces to be the most difficult of any of my creative practices (which include drawing, painting, and music composition). But if writing on media were my main passion or goal in life, I'd feel fairly crushed to know that these projects now required me to put in perhaps quadruple the amount of time to make a blip on the radar of engagement.

EDIT: Thinking on this -- I wonder if there's a parallel to be found in the realm of supplementing one's work with excess-entertainment via social media engagement; e.g., daily Instagram videos. "Excess-entertainment" refers to material that's being made not because everyone who's making it wants to make it, but because each person is now beholden to an abstractly instituted algorithm of engagement -- an algorithm reinforced by audiences who, also under algorithmic influence, will wonder what's going on if a week goes by without something from a Content Creator.

Most artists who I've talked to regarding their Instagram videos say they would be only too happy if they never had to do another upload showing them adding paint or linework to a work-in-progress with lo-fi beats. Similarly, I wonder how many people making these mega-videos actually want to make them, and if we're not rather seeing the production of this material under a mutual, and mutually untrue, assumption of necessity, and the demands of a largely imaginary audience; and how long they'll be able to keep the act up, given the certainly enormous time investments they require (while noting that I am sure the more successful people hire others to do most of the editing for them).

#multimedia #media criticism #technology #communications technology

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anamoon63 · 4 months

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Your TS3 gameplay really does inspire me to give that game another shot. Are there specific mods you use to make sure the game runs smoothly/is stable? What mods/cc are the best to use so the sims look good?

Hi, Marci! 😊

First of all, thank you very much for your ask. Knowing that my sims and/or my gameplay can inspire other simmers to play means a lot to me cause The Sims 3 is my favorite game in the whole Sims series. Plus, I love my sims, so this makes me twice as happy. 🤗💖

That said, it is my duty to warn you that The Sims 3 is not an easy game to maintain, it requires a lot of care and patience, even from the moment of its installation. You ask me what it takes to make it run smoothly and make it stable, well I'm no expert, but what helped me with that is all contained in this Steam post. I believe these tips you can follow even if you don't have your game on Steam. I followed all these steps when I reinstalled my game back in 2017-18, and I have never had a problem like lag or crashes since then.

It's thanks to the amazing person who wrote that post and to talented modders like @lazyduchess and Twallan (Nraas Mods), whose mods I consider indispensable, that I have been able to play The Sims 3 without problems for years now. I may have had a couple of crashes due to some wrong or corrupt cc, but that's on me because I download a lot of stuff. In those cases, it's a matter of locating the bad cc, taking it out, and that's it. The game runs great, even with a ton of mods installed. (I have a 9 GB mods folder, and I've had more than that at times, lol, but I try to keep in less than 10 GB always).

As for what mods and cc's to use to make the sims look good, well, that would depend on your taste, or as they say now, on the aesthetics of your game or your sims.

For what it's worth, I have always used Ephemera's E-WEAK skin as default. I also use some other Ephemera's like E-Skin Natural MIX, Asia and Fresh. I use some by Kurasoberina too.

I think Ephemera's site doesn't exist anymore, but the E-WEAK skins I use can be downloaded on MTS here. Kurasoberina TS3 skins you can find them here along with more of their fabulous content.

I'm sure there are other skins much newer, and super nice too, but these are the ones I use, cause they give my sims the look they are known for. 😊

Also I use Tifa N38 default eyes, as well as Buhudain's You Are Real body and face maps replacements to give some realism to my sims' skins/bodies. Neither Tifa's nor Buhudain's sites exist anymore, unfortunately, but you can still find Buhudain's archives on this SFS page. And those of Tifa in this other one in Mega. (I hope I am not doing wrong by sharing them, otherwise I will remove them).

There's also this stunning version of Buhudain's You are Real by @nectar-cellar named You are Hyperreal. :)

As for the rest, if I start listing all the other content I use such as hair, clothes and makeup I would never finish, I'd gladly share my whole mods folder, but I don't want to piss off the creators, or blow-up other players' computers, lol. I'm WCIF friendly, though, so feel free to ask for any specific content, of any type, CAS or Buy/Build, I got my custom content well documented, so I'll provide you with links to any of them.

For the time being, here is this link to my custom Content List on my Blogger. I have kept this list for many years, and I still use most of that content; it may be a little outdated of course, cause I have a lot of new stuff now, so my intention is to update the page soon when/if I have the time. Also, some of the links may not work anymore, if so just let me know and I'll fix them for you if I'm able.

I hope this answer has helped you. Sorry for taking so long to reply, but I wanted to make this post as detailed as possible. If you have any other questions about The Sims 3, I'll be here whenever you need me. Good luck and happy simming! 😉💗

#the sims 3 #ask me anything #sims 3 simblr #simblr ask #the sims 3 cc #ts3 cc

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callmewrinkles3 · 10 months

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What about 31 💕

We already answered this one but then Alex had an idea and, well…oops.

April 2023

When Dan came in from some of the farm chores he stretched, muscles glad of the exercise. It’s not that he’d gotten lazy since he’d lost his seat - far from it - but throwing bales of hay around and fixing a fence used different muscles than a workout. Yeah he hired people to do it, but while he and Em were there before they went on their honeymoon and he had to do more sim work in Milton Keynes he wanted to get involved.

Michael was standing by one of the bookshelves, looking at the framed photos Em had put on them. They were from when she’d started travelling with them all, photos of the four of them together. The only McLaren one was after the win in Monza, Em in the champagne soaked first place hat while she held the trophy, Dan’s arms wrapped around her as they grinned. There were newer ones too - Em and Charlie when they had a girls night with Chloe the week before the wedding, Charlie and Blake on a double date with Em and Dan. The one he loved the most of Em with Isaac and Isabella, three bright grins from Christmas. He loved every single one of them.

“Charlie sure fit in neatly with the three of you.” His tone was poison and Dan did a double take at it. “I’m surprised she wasn’t Em’s bridesmaid.”

“Em wanted her to be. But Charlie knew that we were only doing one person each, and Blake didn’t want to be a groomsman as well as walk Emmy down the aisle. It was her family’s farm that we had the wedding on.”

“Oh.” Dan took a slow breath, waiting for the next question. “How well do you know her?”

“Pretty well. She’s a good friend, her and Blake are good together. She makes him happy. Speaking of partners, where’s your girlfriend? Is she back up at the hotel?” It was weird for him that Michael chose to stay in Perth rather than on the farm, but his girlfriend didn’t seem to enjoy how rural it was, so it made sense.

“Yeah, she’s sightseeing. Where’s Em?”

“Charlie’s folks with Charlie and Blake. She needed to pick up the decorations and what’s left of our wedding cake. Apparently we need to freeze it and eat it on our first anniversary.”

“That won’t fit in the race diet plan.”

“I’ll make it fit.”

It never used to be this weird between them. Michael was the one person who he trusted since he was a kid and whispered “I’m gonna drive in Formula One one day.” when they had a sleepover. As soon as he’d finished his personal training course it was a no brainer that he wanted to get Michael to England. It was the four of them. Em had been part of his racing life longer than Michael had, really. But now there was a gap that he didn’t know how to bridge for them.

“I’m just gonna ask this out. Why do you trust Charlie? You never trust anyone, but you just let her into your home? Be your friend? Why?”

“Cause she’s Charlie. It’s like…it’s hard to explain but she and Blake are solid. Her family live another couple of miles up the road and are great. Her little brother is racing mad but he treats me like a normal person. Plus she’s normal. She works with kids in foster care, she makes the world better.”

“She sounds too good to be true.”

“You said that about Em once.” Dan still remembered where they were when he said it. Sitting in this same room at Christmas 2017, he’d just sent Em a photo of the setting sun and she’d replied with a bundled up couch selfie. He’d mentioned how he met Em and Michael had said those exact words.

“I just don’t want Blake being taken advantage of.”

“He lives with his girlfriend who has a PhD and won’t let him pay rent because he’s not there all the time. He’s fine. They’re fine. Why are you like this?” The question hung in the air for a moment.

“I don’t trust her. She looks exactly the same as Em, magically appears in your life the same way Em did, and I’m expected to think it’s an accident? Lightning doesn’t strike twice. You got lucky with Em.”

“Got lucky? How?”

“You don’t want me to answer that. But you just said, Charlie has a PhD. What is she expecting Blake to pay off her student loans? I thought he was smarter than that to fall for a gold digger.”

“So my wife is one?” The mood in the room was venomous. Dan was aware this wasn’t going to end well. It couldn’t end well. But he couldn’t stop.

“We know Em. She’s not.”

“I paid off her student loans in 2019. It was her birthday present. So if I paid off her loans when we hadn’t even said I love you, that means my wife is one. Right?”

“I did-“

“And for the record, Charlie’s the one who offered to sign an NDA. To keep mine and Em’s privacy. The same way Em offered to. But you…answer this, ok? One question.”

They were on opposite sides of the room and Dan wanted to move Michael away from the photos. Away from his family. This wasn’t a feeling he’d ever had about his best friend before. It was wrong.

“What is it?”

“When did you start having feelings for my wife?” It was like Michael had been physically hit, stepping back at Dan’s words. “I had an idea from your reaction in China but I ignored it. Because god she picked me. We were together. But the way you’re ignoring the double standards? How you acted after you found her? Even your reaction when we told you we were engaged. When did you fall in love with her?”

“Nothing happened, mate. Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

“But it does! You’re her brother. She loves you so much as a brother. You’re my brother and I ignored how you acted cause I didn’t want to admit it. And then you point out how Blake and Charlie are moving quickly and say this shit about Charlie and you don’t even recognise that it was exactly the same for me and Em. After my birthday I spent every night I was in London with her unless there was a really good reason. It’s two faced and for once Blake is happy can’t you let him be? Cause right now it’s coming across that you’re jealous and bitter and that’s not you.”

“She’s too good to be true! He doesn’t date and all of a sudden they’re together? He’s gonna get hurt and she’s gonna fleece him and run off. I watched you ignore Em in public and she left. She wasn’t gonna come back until we made her. And now there’s the new woman who looks like Em who claims she’s fallen in love with Blake. You did your fucking wedding at her parents place. She’s using him!”

“Who’s using who?” Dan hadn’t noticed the back door open, Blake walking in. “Em and Charlie are saddling up the horses, Em said they need to be exercised and Charlie hasn’t gone riding in a couple of weeks cause of work. What’s happening?”

“Of course she fucking rides too.”

“Huh?” Blake’s confusion was clear and Dan had to step in.

“Mike was worried, he was saying some stuff. It’s fine.”

“No, I meant what I said. I don’t know what she’s doing but I don’t trust her and I think you’re an idiot if you do. She’s gonna use you and you won’t make it and she’ll break your heart.”

“Get out.” Dan didn’t even realise what he was saying until the words were out. “Get the fuck out of my house. We supported you through everything. All of it. We invited your girlfriend to our wedding. I ignored how you act around Em, how you’ve always acted around her. I put it aside because she adores you. But you met Charlie once. God she…you weren’t here. You didn’t see how Em and I were after Christmas. We were broken. And Charlie was there and she helped us get our shit together. She helped organise our wedding and you called her a gold digger and think she’s gonna hurt Blake? So no. Get out until you can realise how wrong you are.”

“That’s my girlfriend. I’m gonna marry her. It’s ridiculous and insane but how. You didn’t say this to me.” The upset in Blake’s voice was clear.

“You wouldn’t listen. The same way when I was telling Dan he shouldn’t be focusing on Em and should have focused on his career he didn’t.”

“Just go. And for the record, we will make it. I believe in her.”

Dan watched one of his oldest friends leave his home, staring at Michael’s broad back as he walked away. He was gone. And even with the sadness there was still relief.

#call it what you want fic #ciwyw drabble

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villiedoom · 3 months

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Hello! I have recently started following your artistic creations, and I really like them!I ask you a question: How did you come up with these creatures? And how long have they been around? Thanks for earlier :3♥

Hello! I'm glad that you like my art, thank you! <3

Oh, it depends on what creatures you mean! :') Most of them came to me in my dreams, visions and fantasies, so it will be difficult for me to answer “how I came up with them”, since they were born very intuitively and unconsciously. I never planned to come up with them, they just came to my mind, and I continue to work with them, looking for different ideas and ways of depicting them. Also, I've been drawing my own fantasy creatures since childhood, and some ideas that I had as a child influenced my current beings.

My most known creatures, Vaerafes, came to me in ~2013-2014, although I recognized them as completely separate species in 2017, when I found their more or less stable image and got to know some of them personally.

There are also Koties, very similar but smaller and more cat-like; they came to me in 2012, but I gave up on them in 2019. They were frequent guests in my art in 2015-2017, and now I'm thinking about returning them, so they can appear in my newer art. I consider them and Vaerafes two types of the same species, they were born and grew up together side by side.

I started posting them online mostly in 2015-2016.

Varlafs are perhaps the newest, but they are also heavily based on Koties, Vaerafes, and older creatures from my childhood, so they are more of an alternate version from another world/story than completely new creatures.

#messages

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spectralarchers · 1 year

Photo

Biker AU x CoDMWII:

John “Soap” Mactavish rides a Yamaha YZF R6 from 2018. It has 600 cc, 123 BHP, 0 to 60 mph in 3,4 seconds.

Simon “Ghost” Riley rides a Honda CBR1000 from 2020. It has 1000 cc, 214,6 BHP, 0 to 60 mph in 2,6 seconds.

Kim “Horangi” Hong-Jin rides a Suzuki GSX-R750 from 2017. It has 750 cc, 150 BHP, 0 to 60 mph in 2,9 seconds.

König rides a Ducati Streetfighter V4 S from 2021. It has 1100 cc, 208 BHP, 0 to 60 in 3,2 seconds.

Kyle “Gaz” Garrick rides a Kawasaki Ninja H2 from 2015. It has 998 cc, 228 BHP, 0 to 60 mph in 2,6 seconds.

König has the biggest bike when it comes to size, but technically, Gaz has the highest brute horse-power. All of them own flip up numbers plates, Soap is the more aggressive driver of the gang (not because he has the "smallest" bike, not at all), whereas König is the more reckless driver (something about speed and anxiety).

Ghost usually chills around, but when riding in formation, he'll be in the front. Ghost is actually the one with most experience - Gaz is the newer member in the bike gang. Gaz learned first how to do the kickstand turn and taught the others.

Horangi knows how to both wheelie and breakie, Soap is an expert wheelier, Gaz has never attempted a wheelie, and König just cruises along on the rides.

#cod biker au #cod mwii #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #horangi #könig x you #kyle gaz garrick #modern warfare 2 #the grip this franchise has on me is UNREAL

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bewareofthenewphannie · 6 months

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Now that you’ve had some more time to become a phannie I’m curious about how your journey is going and I have some questions I’d love for you to answer if you have the time.

What is it about dnp that has made you love them so quickly?

Do you have a favorite video? Or videos?

Have you been able to catch up on some of their older content? What’s your favorite older video?

And do you enjoy their solo content? Do you have favorite solo videos for each of them?

And, finally, what has been your favorite moment as a phannie so far?

Hello there, thank you so much for the ask! But be warned, this is going to be a long one (I fully blame it on you because you asked some great questions).

What is it about dnp that has made you love them so quickly?

If we're talking about what made me love them so quickly it honestly boils down to one very simple thing: their chemistry. Because Dan is right, it is fucking unmatched.

One thing you need to know about me is that I've always been very drawn to duos with dynamics adjacent to DnP's.

(One could argue I always wanted those previous duos to have the kind of chemistry DnP have but they never were quite there. I think that's a conversation for another time though.)

Okay, but what is it about their chemistry that's so captivating?

For me it's the familiarity between them. The teasing, the fondness, them bringing out the best and worst in each other (let's be honest, it's mostly the worst), their stupid jokes and humor. The way they know and trust each other. Human connection is always something beautiful to witness and to see two people who have so clearly found each other just makes my heart sing (out pure but loving jealousy) (yes, they're making my aroace ass crave having a connection like theirs with someone).

Some other factors that made me fall so quickly were that I had been missing the excitement of being in an active fandom with new content and also, I just really needed a distraction from life (don't worry, I'm fine, just regular first semester uni things (first exam in a week, pray for me)).

So when they came waltzing along with their stupid hijinks and their pure, infectious queer joy they quite simply made me happy. And so I stayed.

Do you have a favorite video? Or videos?

I wouldn't say I have one favourite but there are some videos I keep coming back to again and again for the vibes.

In this line up we have this year's halloween baking, the mukbang, giving the people what they want...

Actually, pretty much all of their "collabs" (this word doesn't seem right for them but you know what I mean) during the hiatus are very dear to me. There's something so special about them, probably because they were setteling into their new uncensored dynamic? Or because these videos mostly felt so chill and domestic, like they were just kind of hanging out? (parasocialness warning activated!) (Is this the right place to mention how much I love the stereo shows?)

The gamingmas videos are still too fresh and too much for me to pass judgement, but I think my current favourites are the pinof reaction vid (purely for the chaos) and it takes two (because it was so damn good).

Oh, and then there's big. But we'll get to that later.

Have you been able to catch up on some of their older content? What’s your favorite older video?

I have been watching their older content quite regularly but it still feels like I've barely scratched the surface honestly.

Sure, I've covered a good chunk of the most iconic and important ones but I'm nowhere near a point where I would say I am genuinely caught up. Which definitely has its upsides because I can allow myself to be picky about what to watch.

Generally speaking I do feel myself gravitating much more towards the "newer" old content, starting in like 2017-ish. There are obviously some very good videos before that as well but so often it just feels something is off...or missing.

Some of my favourites I can think of right now are keep talking, dream daddy, honestly all of the baking vids and the impossible quiz. And the pinofs, obviously.

And do you enjoy their solo content? Do you have favorite solo videos for each of them?

Yes, i do! However I do have a very different relationship to each of their solo contents.

Phil's (newer) videos just feels like a nice warm hug. I really enjoy watching it more casually. They're so very Phil every single time and I love this man, so it's a perfect deal honestly. I'm almost guaranteed to leave them with a smile on my face.

My favourite kind of his videos are probably the ones where he tells stories because he is amazingly (badum tss) good at it. Whether it's draw my life or some random anecdotes of whatever Weird Thing happened to him this time, Phil will find a way to make it interesting and entertaining.

Also, probably a quite random and niche video I really liked was the stereo one with Seth (whom I've known for quite a while). Phil brought out such a cool side of Seth, it was so nice to watch??

Okay, now on to Dan. I fear I'm about to out myself as a dannie because Jesus fucking Christ, he made this personal.

He makes me cry. No, literally, i have cried (ugly) on multiple occasions when watching his videos.

He makes me care. Yes, about him and his happiness, whatever.

He makes me relate a bit too much. You know, something about being queer and existential fear.

He also makes me feel like maybe, maybe it will be okay.

Look, I like his less serious content that he still puts so much thought into. I thoroughly enjoyed what he did with dystopia daily because apparently I am susceptible to whatever this kind of humor he has going on is. But none of that compares to big. And I think at some point that warrants a whole sappy post on its own because I really need to slow myself down here and it's almost 2 am.

And, finally, what has been your favorite moment as a phannie so far?

For some reason the first thing that comes to mind is the goddamn catboy thing. Starting with nora predicting the merch, the merch itself, the email, and finally the pictures...it's hysterical and surreal and I hate that I can't think of anything better right now. It's probably the pure shock and disbelief of opening the notif and seeing those pictures that has overwritten everything else. Also, the discourse here on that day was amazingly unhinged (let's just forget about the Twitter aftermath).

Catboy incident aside, gamingmas as a whole has been intense but also genuinely so much fun. I just love being able to come here every single day and scream with everyone about the most pointless little things that mean the world (to us). We really do have a nice thing going on here, in our little, not-so-obscure corner of tumblr.

And gods, we're not even halfway through. I am soso excited for what they have planned because it sure as fuck won't be any more tame than what they had going on so far.

THE END

(finally. if you came this far, have a cookie 🍪)

#I think our main takeaway from this is that you shouldn't ask me questions #(I'm lying you should)#(actually please do)#and now goodnight everyone see you tomorrow #dan and phil #misty says things #answered ask

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