#this was specifically promoted by someone literally posting an artist’s work
Text
AI art gives me the same vibes as taking a beautifully built house from the gallery of the Sims 4, redecorating it a bit to suit my use, and then posting it back to the gallery to share the beautiful house I created. Yeah, I did some of the work, yeah it’s not exactly the same thing, but I didn’t do the brunt of the work, I didn’t spend hours creating it and only took maybe twenty minutes to alter it. It still doesn’t make it mine. It’s fine to use for your own personal use maybe, but you absolutely should not share it anywhere else, especially not without crediting the original creator (something that is almost impossible to do with AI art programs)
#seeing people defending this shit on Twitter and it bothers me so much#ai art#ai art discourse#this isn’t even a perfect analogy because at least the builders upload their content with the expectation that people will probably alter it#something that artists who share their work dont#this was specifically promoted by someone literally posting an artist’s work#and asking what to input into this ai generator to make a similar piece#not everyone has artistic talent#and not everyone has the funds to be able to commission or just purchase an art work#but unfortunately that is something you are just going to have to go without#these aren’t some big corporate billionaires you’re hurting by doing this#It’s mostly small creators who spend hours days weeks to perfect their work#only to have you take two seconds to take that hard work and pretend you made something
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Spider-Man 2 Post-Credit Spoilers
Time for some more signature Amageish overthinking!
Sooooooooooooo.
How about that Cindy Moon appearance, huh?
From this Gizmodo article, we do have a bit of insight into the decision to have her appear where they mention the challenge of making a Cindy unique to the GamerVerse specifically - though it's obvious they are keeping their cards close to their chest here as well.
io9: Along with giving Miles a promotion, you’ve introduced Cindy Moon, aka Silk, into your universe. Of all the Spider-heroes, I don’t think anyone was expecting her. What made her so appealing over someone like Eddie or Gwen Stacy?
Arfmann: Cindy’s always been a really compelling character in the comics who, similar to [SM1's] Martin Li, hasn’t really gotten a ton of exposure outside of the immediate fanbase. There’s something really exciting about taking a character who we love, who not everybody’s had a chance to meet, and exposing her to a wider audience.
Morris: I’m so excited to see what we do with Cindy.
Arfmann: Exactly. That was the real drive with her, and figuring out who Insomniac’s Cindy Moon is a really exciting challenge. And we also have this interesting complication that [Cindy’s dad] Albert is dating [Miles’ mom] Rio, and we’re thrilled to explore how that creates a new iteration of this character that folks already love.
So this confirms that they will be changing stuff too! This is going to be a unique take on her, but they are also self-aware that this will be plenty of people's introduction to the character.
The main question on my mind is a pretty basic one: Does Cindy Moon need to be shoved into a bunker for 7-10 years in order to be recognizably Cindy Moon? Her father is already in the game, so we know the "parents are missing" story is probably off the table, but does she need to still spend all that time in isolation to be Cindy?
In the comics, her time in the bunker is credited in-text with being a source of so many of her defining character traits.
It is something that separates her experiences from Peter and the other Spider-heroes.
It's something that fills her with a drive to prove herself and is the experience that made her such a talented martial artist.
It informs her understanding of modern technology and the level of pop culture awareness she has - the former of which helped her develop her uniquely positive relationship with J Jonah Jameson.
And, lastly, the time she had in isolation is credited with causing her to develop her anxiety disorder and communication challenges.
So, with all that in mind, it feels like Cindy does have to be put into a bunker, right? As it's such a core part of her backstory?
Well, no. Maybe this will be a hot take, but I honestly don't think she does.
While I do think everything I've listed here is a key aspect of Cindy Moon as a character, I don't think they need to lock her in a vault for 7-10 years in order to explain why a Korean-American woman in New York city has anxiety or practices martial arts or feels a need to work twice as hard to have her accomplishments recognized. These are all very relatable experiences that do not require a fantastical superhero origin story to justify them.
Honestly, with how emotion-forward the Insomniac Spider-Man games are already, I think her being a woman who has had a depressive episode recently which she describes as having felt like being trapped would work just as well as literally having had her be trapped by a supervillain. I would not be surprised if the ability to tell a story about anxiety and depression was a factor in them selecting Cindy as the next playable character as well - the potential for a Silk game that incorporates actual mindfulness and grounding techniques into the gameplay is really high IMHO.
I also think that the final scene kind of supports the idea too? Cindy has no lines, but she does have a silent awkward wave. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but her introduction makes me think she already has social anxiety - so unless she's already been in the bunker and we'll get a story about how she escaped, then I think she will probably jut be getting powers and moving forward from there.
Anyway, that's a lot of thoughts brought about by like 5 seconds of Cindy waving. I'm just really eager to see where things go from here and am hoping we'll get a DLC trailer or a Silk expandalone announced sometimes soon...
(PS: Having Peter already be in a committed relationship with MJ and Miles, who is also already in a relationship with Hailey, being in a psuedo-sibling relationship with Cindy is an excellent way of desexualizing the Cindy + Spider-Men relationship. I have no fears about Insomniac stumbling on that particular hurdle.)
(I do, however, have fears that I will be seeing unironic speculation about pheromones in reddit threads for the next 2 years until whenever Spider-Man: Miles Morales 2 or Silk: Cindy Moon is announced... but that probably cannot be changed, unfortunately.)
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
for what it’s worth it’s not just that “people are wrong on the internet”, or even “people have technical misconceptions about this specific thing I have moderate familiarity with”
my posting about the AI art thing is prompted by increasingly-many people being vicious toward artists who work with AI tools. more and more, people with underconsidered notions of Real Art are not just being a bit dumb and wrong, but are specifically sending hatemail to artists and leaving nasty (sometimes very graphic) replies on their postings, including but not confined to their artwork specifically
I’ve seen a huge growth in the amount of this hatemail being sent on twitter to AI Curio (reachartwork on here), an artist who not only creates their own art with AI tools, but also writes and shares programs that enable other people to create and experiment with AI models for free. they share their programs as public notebooks, which provide simple and friendly UIs, and which anyone can run for free through google colab. most recently released:
Looking Glass AI – simplifying ‘fine-tuning’ (actually making use of) RuDALL-E; image creation based on text and image inputs along with various knobs and dials for control over the process / things to experiment with
Chrysalis – generate a video that interpolates smoothly between any two text prompts using Stable Diffusion
Simple Stable – text-to-image with Stable Diffusion made idiotproof
(they also recently launched a project promoting a code of ethics for artists making use of AI tools)
their notebooks let normal people use AI models without requiring either (1) a programming background (which you’d otherwise need to make use of a file containing a trained model’s weights), or (2) money to spend on getting access to a pricey commercial service
I’ve posted on here before about experimenting with many of their notebooks—not even with the intention of creating Art, myself, but just taking joy in the experimentation—all with notebooks the creator freely shared, and has put a great deal of work into
so it annoys me seeing more and more dipshits whose concept of art is literally “art is when there’s a roman statue or someone paints a landscape” sending fever-pitch screeching about The Death Of Art to someone who not only makes artwork I admire, but also makes and freely shares art tools for others to enjoy
273 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi Storm! Welcome back from your vacay.
TKKrs going crazy lately because Tae has been including JK in his IG stories. They of course see it as a “sign”. I don’t know what Tae was thinking when he posted but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that. But I had a thought, maybe he was doing it as a way to hype up JK because JK’s collab with Charlie Puth is coming out this week. You know, like promoting JK as a solo artist. And then who does he post today, Hobi, the next member who has solo activities up. What do you think?
Thanks,
J
Hi J 🥰 starting this by saying my irritation is not with you, but everyone who I've seen over the past few months lose their minds over this. Lol so if that comes out in this post, please know its not directed at YOU specifically 🥰
I think this is an incredible beautiful photo of a beautiful man in front of a beautiful arch during an important memory for the 7 of them, taken by a talented photographer who has an eye for that sort of stuff. And i think people need to STOP microanalyzing every single thing these guys do. And to especially please stop being so hyper sensitive to taekook. Because my god, did the times when Tae posted mostly to weverse and his photos were a third himself and the members, a third Tannie and a third Jimin freak people out this bad? Or did everyone coo over vmin being cute. Because if this is making you lose your mind but the vmin weverse spam doesn't, that's an issue. I mean, it's an issue either way, but it's a big issue you need to work through about your issues with taekook specially if it's just them causing you issues. A few examples.
Not to mention he also just posted a VIDEO of Hobi on his Instagram Stories. And not a single mention from jikookers? Or anyone else? No one gives AF as long as its not JK on Taes insta? Literally WHY is that?
Or how he posted Hobi all over his stories when they went to Hawaii together on vacation a few months ago with their families. Including a photo of them in a pool in the middle of the night in the rain with the biggest smiles. And a sweet caption AND he tagged Hobi there too and himself lol
Or he also just posted Wooshik to his stories. And tagged him as well. No one notices that or cares about that? Or again. Only matters when it's JK? What's the difference between JKs photo and all these other ones. Someone please tell me. Because I'm not seeing one.
And it's not like Jimin is absent from Taes social media account either on Instagram. Tae took a cropped photo of vmin looking at each other from behind during the esquire shoot.
As for your question about if Tae is posting the members in order to promote them for their solo activities, who knows. I don't personally think so. I think he is just posting things as he wants to post them. I'd think if he was promoting JKs collab, it'd be more clear. Same with Hobi. Both posts had to do with things rhey did as BTS. Performing on stage most recently and their most recent MV filming. And I don't think he is posting with Wooshik to promote their ITS Wooga Squad episodes coming up either. I think he is just out with or recently went out with him and wanted to share. I REALLY don't see the need to over think these things and I really wish people would chill the heck out about it all and just appreciate the photos we are being given. Lol again though, who knows. I'm not Tae, I don't know his thought process. I'm just here for the ride and enjoying how often he is sharing pieces of his camera roll with us 😍😍
Thanks for the ask, sorry for the rant. Lol Hope you all have a good day 💜💜💜
#the ask that gave me the exucse to let my irritation out. lol sorry J#TH Instagram adventures#TH weverse adventures
106 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hi! Can I ask for Seduce me the otome, the boys with a singer reader? Like they’re really famous and how the boys feel about it? Specifically a female reader if you don’t mind. Thank you so much! I love your work!
Of course! Thank you so much for your request! I’m going to try to do a different artists for each of the boys, for someone that I think would fit they’re personality. Enjoy!
Navigation
James: ( Artist inspiration by Sade )
Your voice is so soothing and he loves it
Your genre is a mix between Jazz and Pop music as well as R&B, and James likes the combination
He enjoys hearing your voice, and your songs are always on
He likes sitting with you during the song writing process, and likes to help come up with ideas and feelings for songs
Furthermore, he also likes finding the deep meanings to your songs, and he loves how everything, especially your lyrics, make his heart feel
He enjoys watching you sing live, your voice is soft and delicate but powerful as well and James is in love with it ; and you of course ;)
His favorite song for you to sing would be Pearls :)
Erik: ( artist inspired by Ella Mai )
He hears your voice AND IT IS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT FOR THIS MAN !!
Save his heart he was going to pass out he thinks your beautiful
He loves and gushes over the way you sing, and will preform with you sometimes, usually playing an instrument ( the piano )
He feels so honored to just be with you and know you personally, he’s absolutely infatuated with you
He likes watching you work, he loves the way your mind works and loves the way you make and handle your music, the raw emotion you put into it makes his heart sing to yours~
His favorite song for you to sing would be Naked :)
Sam: ( Inspired by Amy Lee/ Evanescence )
His. Jaw. Dropped. When he heard you sing for the first time.
His face like a mix of ‘Wtf’ and ‘This is amazing.’
could not put his emotions into words, like at all. He was asking a hundred-and-one questions
Like who taught you to sing like that? How long have you been singing? What’s your band like? What’s the hardest song you’ve ever had to sing? He goes full in with interest
He hears you sing and will literally block out the rest of the world, he can literally only focus on you when you sing, like vision is just YOU and your voice.
Sometimes you’ll sing to him and he’ll nervously laugh about it but he starts to hide his face because he just thinks your so fucking angelic ITS INSANE.
His favorite song for you to sing would be Call me when your sober or My immortal but he always tears during it so don’t sing that in public he will seriously cry
Matthew: ( Artist inspired by Sza )
He will have your songs on repeat 25/8
He’s like your biggest promotion and it’s not even an exaggeration he will seriously talk about you all. The. Time.
He makes Damien learn your entire album and will sing your songs with you, or just becomes your backup dancer
He will learn your dance routines, trust, and he will dance with you when you want to practice at home
He also loves going with you to photoshoots, he takes all the BTS pictures and sends them to you to post, with his credit due of course, your fans love Matthew to pieces
Matthew will often be a question brought up in interviews, like when you went on SNL to promote your new album, and you were asked about Matthew and how he affected the making of the album
“ He’s truly one of my biggest inspirations. You know? He just gets me so much and he’s my biggest supporter. I don’t know where I would be without him. He’s made such a big difference in my life and my view on the world I think he deserves just as much.”
yes he cried when hearing your answer and no we do not talk about it
his favorite song to hear you sing is Hit Different :)
Damien: ( Inspired by H.E.R )
You two write songs together, I can already see it
He enjoys listening to you find a rhythm for the lyrics, he also really enjoys when you play the guitar
Sometimes he’ll ask you to sing to him, your voice relaxes him and he can’t thank you enough for it
He loves the energy you bring with your music and how you’re voice just flows like the sweetest thing he’s ever heard
He likes going over tracks with you, he sits in the studio with you on nights where you get really stuck there finish up songs, with food and water snacks and blankets to make you comfortable as you work
He’s always the first one to hear songs and he has all the unreleased songs on his phone, listening to them whenever he misses you or just wants to hear them
His favorite song to hear you sing would be Comfortable :)
#seduce me x reader#seduce me the otome#damien seduce me#matthew seduce me#seduce me erik#seduce me sam#seduce me james#seduce me damien x reader#seduce me matthew x reader#seduce me erik x reader#seduce me sam x reader#seduce me james x reader#seduce me
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
Accommodation Or Abuse: The False Choice Managers Have With #Neurospicy Employees
Preface: You may notice that I do not name the prior employer or manager in this post. That is intentional, and for legal reasons. If you know (or guess) whom I'm speaking about, that's your conclusion, not mine. And if you think I'm talking about you... well, first, go read my Artistic License, and then... well, if the shoe fits, lace that right on up.
This video on TikTok pretty much sums up my experiences at a prior employer:
https://www.tiktok.com/@tamaravsthevoid/video/7279281953520585985
At that prior employer, there was literally no part of every day activities that did not involve something I had improved, reworked, or simply created from the ground up. Some of that work has gone on to be used in facilities on several continents.
From the step-by-step instructions on doing complex procedures, to the Excel spreadsheet used to schedule customers, to the literal computer programs used to complete procedures, I "plugged a lot of holes in the bottom of the ship."
I was also seen as insubordinate for a number of reasons. I suggested improvements. I pointed out that perhaps the Windows XP systems we were using in 2020 (yes, you read that correctly) should be patched for software vulnerabilities. I questioned vendors who claimed we had to upgrade Windows to replace a power supply... on a system that ran Linux. I noted the absolutely true fact that when you have three surveys returned, the statistics are utterly meaningless. I presented facts and logic, even when they were inconvenient. And, too often, I did not hide that I knew more about some topics than my "superiors".
You would think that improving accuracy and performance would be the most important thing -- particularly in healthcare.
That was not my experience. Not with that manager, or even with some of my co-workers.
This eventually ended up badly for me. Even though I wasn't particularly interested in "recognition" or "promotion" or taking anyone's job -- just making my own job easier and more efficient -- the results for me were sadly typical for neurospicy individuals, as I suddenly had to find new employment right at the end of the pandemic.
As I've learned more about my own neurospicy brain, I've realized that my experiences are common for people with my neurotype. And, sadly, so is the retaliation from allistics. {1}
Even now, years out from not having anything to do with that employer, I recently had to block an old manager from snooping on my socials... and then saw where several of their subordinates (or subordinates of their spouse) started creeping on them as well.
Which is kind of creepy and disturbing. Please stop; I know someone will show this to you.
The irony of all of this is that none of it was necessary -- and is not necessary for other businesses, either. Neurospicy individuals can be a huge asset to a business. Providing accommodations for neurospicy folx is beneficial for all parties. Repeatedly, we see that autism doesn't hold people back at work -- discrimination does. And it's not actually that hard to manage and work with us. Hell, there's even easy to find tip sheets on the first page of any search engine (but here's a direct link to one).
In the meantime, Applied Behavioral Analysis and "Autism Speaks" serve up an alternative world where neurodivergent individuals are browbeaten into simple conformity. They actively work to silence neurodivergent voices when they are inconvenient.
At one staff meeting, my manager at the time dismissed concerns about customer feedback surveys by saying, "It isn't like we have anyone here who is an expert on surveys and statistics." Everyone looked at me. It was publicly known that I was also an adjunct teaching a research methods course -- specifically covering surveys and statistics -- at a local university at the time.
That manager -- for not the first (or last) time -- demonstrated their pettiness and lack of leadership with that comment.
So I offer this challenge to all of you who are -- or may be -- in leadership positions: Do you want to be a leader or manager who actually works with your neurodivergent employees? Do you want to have them in your corner supporting you, improving the workplace, and being an asset to the organization? Or do you want to be like my old manager, creating a hostile, toxic, and inefficient work environment because of the fragility of your ego?
{1} I am not getting into the Americans With Disabilities Act for a lot of reasons, not least being the obstacles in getting an "official" diagnosis as well as the very limited "benefits" that such will get you.
Featured Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Read the full article
1 note
·
View note
Note
Sorry I dont understand what the fuss is about that twitter account.or why they made it.they could have done pap pics or invite some fans there so i dont see the purpose of this.and you all seem to be annoyed by it but i dont understand why,its not a big deal imo
Hi anon.
This is publicity and they need to have control over the situation, it's business. What Harry is doing there is being a walking billboard, he's promoting three different products and needed to be seen using those (for whatever reason). Paparazzis work just fine for that, but they're not the same as they were 10-20 years ago, people know they're not hanging around abbey road waiting for someone to show up, they are called by the artists and it's not something as *organic* as used to be. Social media is much more relevant nowadays. And they're definitely going for organic here... being seen by a fan and the picture being organically spread all over twitter is probably the perfect publicity now because it's as organic as it gets...sounds natural, relatable.
However, if they use real fans for that, they would have no control over the situation. Like, it could have been a shitty photo, the fan could decide not to post it. There are so many scenarios and uncertainties to rely on that. And I mean, he's promoting three massive brands here and the picture needed to be out there in a specific way, with his phone facing the camera, the brands very visible, and exactly when they needed that out as well. God knows when this picture was actually taken, all we can be sure of is that it needed to be on twitter today and that's how it was done. So it's not whether it's a big deal or not, but it's a strategy very easy to pick up when we're so used to seeing the same stuff over and over, that happens with stunts literally all the time. It's just lazy publicity, you know.
In reference to this.
100 notes
·
View notes
Note
hii, i love your writing so i was wondering if you could do something where the reader is a celebrity and she receives a package from a promotion brand and they send her lingerie and Tom is all excited :)
thank you babes!! i made this fluffy cuz yeah
being a well known face in hollywood, you’re asked to do a lot of red carpets and photoshoots for high end companies. things sell when they have your name on them. you also get to enjoy the perks of it, your house filled with free swag from each event. you’ve filmed makeup commercials, louboutin ads, anything you can think of except for lingerie.
it’s not that you didn’t want to. you’ve just been waiting for one specific brand to reach out, one that your fellow actresses and favorite artists are all ambassadors for. savage x fenty, of course. besides the fact that you’d be working with rihanna, you love the message of inclusivity she pushes. getting to be one of the beautiful women who represents that would mean everything to you.
plus, the stuff is really cute. tom was practically foaming at the mouth when you told him you got added to the promo list. he’d been a little offended at first that rihanna didn’t choose him after his tribute in lip sync battle. really though, he was over the moon for you. himself as well, to be honest.
they’re sending you a box today, this way you can try on their newest items and post yourself in them. as the supportive boyfriend he is, tom offered to take the pictures for your instagram. he’s so obvious.
“babe, it’s here!” you shout from the front door, your package held tight in both hands. “coming!” tom calls back. his footsteps are loud and fast as he makes his way to you in literal seconds. the eagerness of it makes you laugh to yourself. “you’re more excited than i am,” you joke, tom pressing a kiss to your lips in response. he’s out of breath, so it doesn’t last long.
“open it up, let’s see,” tom pants out with a goofy smile. you drum your fingers over the box, smirking wickedly at him. “upstairs.” “god, you’re gonna be the death of me one day,” he groans, you leading the way and him following behind. once you’re both sat on the bed, you put the package in your lap so both of you can see.
“time for the big reveal. you ready?” you smile at tom over your shoulder. “more than,” he hums, brushing your hair to the side and peppering the back of your neck in tickling kisses. while he does that and you try not to let it distract you, you pull open the pink parcel. your eyes go wide at what’s inside, holding it up to get a better look.
it’s a long sleeve slip made entirely of see-through lace, in a deep shade of purple with a cutout near the middle. there’s another set under the dress, but you’ll save that one just for tom. you want to surprise him with it later.
“fuck.” tom’s voice is a whisper, his arms tightening around your waist. “fucking hell.” he’s bought you lingerie on a few occasions, some for your every day wear, others for the bedroom. none have been like this. it’s so grand, so different from anything else that’s out there. you knew you made the right choice promoting fenty.
“do you like it?” you ask lowly and lean your head back on his shoulder. you’re both gazing at the material, tom giving your waist a gentle squeeze. “i’ll answer that when it’s on you,” he hums, a lopsided grin crossing his features. “what about you, hm?” “yeah, it’s really pretty. i love the color,” you smile back at him. “i’m gonna go try it on.”
tom takes his phone out of his pocket and waves it around. “let me set up for the shoot, then.” “you do that,” you laugh, pecking his cheek before you get up from the bed. his hand grabbing yours stops you. “y/n/n?” you turn around again. “yeah?” “i’m proud of you. know you’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” he speaks softly while playing with your fingers.
“‘s not easy to put yourself out there, either. all the young girls that look up to you, they’re lucky to have someone so strong.” hearing tom’s words of encouragement, you could seriously cry. he makes you feel so conifident in everything you do, and you’re eternally grateful for it and him. “thank you so much, baby. you really think i’m, like, a role model?” you wonder with a hopeful smile. “i’ve always tried to be.”
“you are, and there’s millions of people who would agree with me,” tom assures you and holds your intertwined hands to his chest. you’re so moved by him, you can hardly think of what to say. “i love you,” you settle on, using your free hand to cup his cheek. “i love you too, sweetheart. here,” he hands you the slip dress, biting back another smile.
while you change into your lingerie, tom messes with his camera settings, taking a few test pictures. he snaps one of the wall you’re doing your makeshift photoshoot in front of. the next one he gets, you’re suddenly in the frame, a blur of purple and big grins. tom puts down his phone so he can see you in real time. his tongue runs across his lower lip as he gives you a once over, eyes twinkling in admiration.
“wow,” he breathes out, you doing a little strut over to him. he’s still on the bed with you now in front of him. “i guess you do like it,” you tease and spin around so he can have a three-sixty view. nodding, he sets his hands on your hips, the thin material barely separating his warm palms from your skin. “i love it.” tom uses his index finger to trace the outline of the cutout.
“angel, you’re so gorgeous,” he murmurs, an arm wrapping around your almost bare back. “wrong brand,” you joke in reference to victoria’s secret. his hands run up and down your sides carefully, like you’re a work of art only he gets to touch. you are a work of art in his eyes. “i mean it, you look so beautiful in this.” he’s licking his lips again. “and, all the time.”
“thanks, tommy. you’re a really good hype-man, you know,” you beam at him, putting your hands on top of his. “i’ve been told.” tom dips his head down and leaves a kiss on your exposed belly button. it makes you giggle, your nose scrunching up. “my pretty girl. my gorgeous girl,” he mumbles as he kisses your hip, then your other one. you take his face in both your hands.
“shouldn’t we save this for after the pictures?” you suggest, thumb brushing over his cheekbone. you’ll never get them done if you don’t stop tom while he’s ahead. “mm, i guess so,” he concurs and nudges your stomach with his nose. “we’ll do those, then i wanna do... a few other things.”
#tom holland#tom holland fluff#tom holland smut#tom holland x y/n#tom holland x you#tom holland imagine#tom holland x reader#tom holland fic#tom holland fanfiction#tom holland request#peter parker fluff#peter parker smut
585 notes
·
View notes
Text
PLUS ONE
》 A TRESE TWOSHOT 《
[Maliksi x Reader]
📝 Summary: In which your beloved best friend snatches you from your apartment at dawn asking you to be his plus one for his cousin's wedding. Unbeknownst to the clueless you, everything is just going according to Maliksi's ultimate masterplan. With the help of friends and family, the Prince of the Tikbalang finally gets the girl he's been longing for. And oh, Señor Armanaz gets his dream daughter-in-law and the promise of grandchildren within the year.
📌 Warning: May contain some slight NSFW for spicy suggestiveness and cussing. No smut or anything super SPG—this girl can't write that for her life—but just be prepared. It's Maliksi we're talking about. We've got friends-to-lovers, obliviousness, pining, fluff, and a tikbalang simp. Figure it out. 😃
(word count: 7,454) ♥︎ Part Two: ?
》 AUTHOR'S NOTE 《
Not an Inday spinoff, but a lengthy oneshot in celebration of this blog getting 90 followers. Just ten more to 100, yay! Thank you so much for the love and support, everyone. I also promised that I'll be making this brainrot that @binibiningbabaylan and I have fangirled over a few days ago (find the original post here) when I finished the latest chapter of Inday. Here it is! 🥰
Before I forget, I was also inspired by the cute fic made by @crispybasil titled "Sunshowers" and the "Trese Boys As Things My Guy Friends Do" made by the amazing @smolla-than-a-bug (I bow down to your wonderful works in the Trese fandom). I definitely see Maliksi to be the type to go on spontaneous roadtrips and be the boyfriend to drive you around eveeeerywhere (while also driving you crazy). 🚘
There are also some songs mentioned throughout this work. You should probably listen to them while reading for the full experience. Ending was somewhat rushed but eh, I'm too exhausted and I've rewritten it too many times. Also, if someone makes some actual tikbalang smut, tag me please. Anyways, enjoy! 💕
The way it all started was hilarious. Absolutely fucking hilarious. It happened like a blur. Literally. One second, you were snoozing in your bed. The next? You had a seatbelt on in the shotgun seat of a sophisticated-looking car. Your brain didn't even get to process it yet.
"... So let me get this straight," you grumbled, still half-asleep from your sleep marathon. You just finished a hugely successful project at work yesterday, got promoted, and wanted to make up for the restless nights you spent overtime in the office. Of course you were irritated from being disturbed. You were on vacation leave for two entire weeks, originally planning to go into temporary isolation by deactivating your social media accounts and reserving a beach cabana for yourself in Batangas.
Well, turns out, you weren't going to Batangas anytime soon. All because your unreasonably spontaneous bestfriend of ten hectic years stole you from your apartment at 2AM. Was this considered kidnapping? Was this him just being more in touch with his tikbalang side, taking unsuspecting women in their sleep and leading them to their inevitable death? (He was going over the speed limit, so it was a valid thought.) Will wearing your shirt inside-out save you today? Lord, masyado ka pang pagod para mag-isip ngayon.
"Go on."
"You abducted picked me up in the middle of the night because you want me to be your plus one at your cousin's wedding in Tagaytay?"
"Yup. And technically, the venue is right on the outskirts of Cavite going to Tagaytay," he corrected you as a matter-of-factly.
"Same thing, whatever," you huffed tiredly. "Your cousin's wedding is at 6AM today. In a few hours. In four hours."
"Uh-huh."
You groaned exasperatedly, "Mal naman, eh! You didn't even let me bring anything. Could've at least given me a heads-up a few hours ago. I'm practically emptyhanded right now save for my phone! Sinungaling ka, you said this was just a normal midnight drive—not a freaking wedding!"
The Prinsipe ng Mga Tikbalang, son of the Great Stallion, heir to the Armanaz herd, and the Top Drag Racer of C-5 Expressway—if that was even one of his Game of Thrones-like titles—grinned as he continued driving beside you. He let you continue ranting in the passenger seat while he mulled over his ultimate masterplan that would change his entire life later on. He was a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy, so all this wasn't his thing. But for you? He'll make plans, alright.
"Wala man lang akong dinalang masusuot o kahit konting makeup para maging presentable sa harapan ng buong pamilya mo," you exclaimed, in absolute despair. "Do you know how out of my league you are? Your rich-ass family might judge me—hell, your dad might see me as a hampaslupa if I show up there in my pambahay and tsinelas!"
"Psh, I'm not out of your league," Maliksi waved it off, smoothly turning a corner. "And calm down. We've known each other for a decade! My dad practically loves you as his own daughter. Heck, the entire family knows you and keeps telling me they want you adopted in already. Lolo Andres and Lola Perlita said they'd have the paperwork settled. You just need to sign them."
It would be even better (and easier) if you married into the family. To him, specifically (as if he'd let anyone else have you). God, he was already being so obvious in his advances, but you were just so damn oblivious whenever it came to romance. None of this needed to happen if you just got it through your thick skull that he was madly in love with you.
"That's not the point, idiot!" you slumped back into your seat, hopeless. "Do you think the bride and the groom will get offended? Shit, baka masumpaan ako kung magagalit sila, Mal. Mukha akong patay galing sa South Cemetery."
The long-haired tikbalang rolled his eyes, "Huwag kang mag-alala. Nothing's going to go wrong. Chill ka lang diyan. I've got everything under control, babe."
Babe. Yes, he even called you babe but you thought it was him being a himbo and a massive flirt. Now, it was his common term of endearment for you, but you still assumed it was him just being irksome to you and that you couldn't stop the man from saying it anymore. Thus, you let it be (the most obvious hint of his attraction to you, bestie).
"... Ugh, why didn't you ask Hannah or Amie to go with you?"
He just smiled knowingly, shrugging and making up an excuse, "Nagmamadali ako, eh. Hannah and Amie are also coming, but they already have the other tikbalang as dates."
"'Luh, ako pala ang backup choice mo?"
"Heh. Whatever you want to think."
Little did you know that you were always his first choice. Always. Even when he pursued Alexandra Trese many years ago, trying to convince himself you were just his best friend, it was always you. How did he come to that realization? Well, an international band he was a fan of released a song a couple years ago and he heard it being played in a club in BGC. The song title?
It Was Always You by Maroon 5.
Needless to say, after hearing the song and being unable to get it—get you—out of his mind at night, he stopped courting Alexandra. Unfortunately for him, that time, you'd started dating other men. Therefore, he was left on the sidelines... until your latest and most painful breakup, at least. That was five years ago. You still hadn't dated anyone since then, kind of traumatized from getting into another failed relationship like that.
In the present day, as if the fates were playing on you two, one of your favorite artists played on the radio. A very ironic song given the situation you two were in.
Best Friend by Rex Orange County.
Maliksi knew it was a favorite of yours. He knew it by the way your eyes lit up like a star brightening the twinkling night sky. Like the sun first rising in the morning at Apolaki's command. Like the moon extending its gentle rays from the magic of Mayari herself. If there was anything he wanted to ask of the old gods, it was you—everything else be damned.
"I wanna be the one that makes your day, the one you think about as you lie awake," you half-sang and half-screamed happily, somewhat out-of-tune. "I can't wait to be your number oooooone! I'll be your biggest fan and you'll be mine—"
Maliksi glanced at you, not minding that his eardrums were probably getting microscopic ruptures from your aggressive singing. As much as he wanted to stare at you all day, he had to keep his eyes on the road. But the lyrics you were singing were wrong; the Prince of the Tikbalang was already yours from day one.
"Babe, McDo drive-through tayo for breakfast. Let me make it up to you. Gusto mo ng caramel sundae for your promotion gift? Sige. Ako bahala. Chicken nuggets din? Mabubusog ka ba niyan? I don't think they serve those this early..."
》》》
"Sandali lang!" you shouted out from inside an empty room. You'd just arrived at the venue—the Alta Veranda de Tibig in Silang, Cavite (practically the gateway to Tagaytay)—an hour or so ago. The hired makeup artist just left so that you could privately change into the outfit that had been bought specifically for you. Curse Mal and his ability to buy anything (perhaps anyone) he wanted. "Bwiset, Mal, you didn't tell me we'd be part of the damn entourage. We have to be walking the aisle in thirty minutes, simbako! You just love rushing me, don't you!?"
If only you were the one walking down the aisle today towards him.
When you exited the room, Maliksi couldn't help but let his jaw drop as he skimmed your figure, clad in the luxurious, silky satin blush midi dress he bought in one of those fancy stores in Makati yesterday. He imagined that it would look great on you, but now, seeing it on you in person... you looked divine (and frankly, he wanted to see it off your body to see what was underneath—but don't get too ahead of yourself, Mal). It was a whole 'nother level from his imagination. The deep cowl neckline and thin spaghetti straps showed your lovely collarbones... as well as a peek of your cleavage. His favorite and the best part of it all? It was backless, allowing him to gaze at the tempting curve of your spine.
He hadn't realized he had grown silent until you smiled and closed his mouth, tapping his chin.
"Lalangawin ang bibig mo, Mal," you laughed softly. Never had you seen him so speechless. You then flicked your hair back, ridiculously posing for him like you were on the cover of Vogue magazine (haba ng hair mo, gurl!). "Do I look that good? Char lang."
"... You look absolutely ravishing—I mean, uh, stunning. Hot. Yeah." That was all he could say. He mentally punched himself for not showering you with more suave compliments.
Still, your face brightened up, not knowing that the man in front of you just fell for you a thousand times harder, "Wow! Really? Damn. Ang galing talaga ng MUA na kinuha mo, ginawa akong artista. Give me their contact number later! May work event pa naman ako in two months. I'm shocked, it's like they made me rise from the dead! Even my eyebags are gone, Mal! How'd they do that?" Heck yeah, your confidence was boosted. He offered his arm to you like a gentleman, making you half-heartedly roll your eyes (you took it anyway). From holding it alone, you could tell that your best friend was a sinewy man (well, you knew that already after seeing his tikbalang form before—the little shit didn't even wear a loincloth like all his clanmates; your poor eyes were eternally scarred).
You looked him up and down. You wouldn't lie—Maliksi is and always has been an attractive man. Now? With his hair in a ponytail (pun not intended), definitely one of the hunkiest men you've ever known. "You're not looking too bad yourself, horsey."
"Ako pa!" He puffed his chest out in pride. You chuckled at his reaction.
"By the way, how do you even know my dress size and my shoe size?"
"Babe, I've known you too long. You know almost everything about me, I know everything about you."
You snorted at his confident tone, "'Di nga? You don't know every single thing about me, Mal. Assuming ka masyado."
"Alam ko nga anong cup size mo. Wala lang 'yang shoe and dress size."
You slapped his shoulder, cheeks quickly flushing red, "Huy, umayos ka! Walang hiyang tikbalang na 'to." With this guy as your best friend? You heard dirty jokes at least once a day. "Don't be inappropriate here!"
"What? It's only fair I know!" He looked down on you suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. "You already know I always go commando, so of course I know that your bra is a size—"
"Shhh! Baka marinig ka, 'nyeta."
"So? Let them hear. My best friend has a nice set of melons!" he shouted. You were grateful there was no one around. Hopefully.
"Oh my God..."
Your best friend chortled at how flustered you'd become. He led you to where some of his family was waiting, with a couple of his relatives already greeting you. You instantly and quite easily mingled with them, your worries of them not accepting you far from even true (they all knew how much their prince loved the innocent you).
"Kayo na talaga, pare?" one of his older tikbalang clanmates asked while you went away to be fawned over by his aunts.
Maliksi chuckled, crossing his arms as he watched you from afar, "Heh. Hindi pa."
Another one of his clanmates—a younger one—laughed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder, "Talaga? That's cap, bro. You two are like a married couple already and you guys still aren't a thing?"
"Ilang taon na ba kayong magkakaibigan?" the older one asked him.
"Almost ten years," Maliksi responded, a smile unconsciously pulling his lips up as he remembered your moments together. He watched you converse with his female relatives (who adored you the moment Maliksi brought you to a family event many moons ago).
The two tikbalang snickered as they saw the look on the Great Stallion's heir.
"You're down bad," the younger one said, snapping a photo of his lovestruck kuya. "You've got it so bad for her, dudeparechong!"
"Balak mong ligawan anytime soon?" the older tikbalang inquired.
"Heh. Balak ko na ngang pakasalan. Kung pwede, ngayon."
They looked at Maliksi as if he was crazy. He was very much serious, though, even if there was a huge, lopsided smile on his face. The Prince of the Tikbalang raised a brow at them.
"What? Don't give me that look. Our ten years of being best friends is practically the courting and the dating stage already."
"Eh... you're right. Don't waste anymore time. Go and marry her today, dude. Suporta kami sa'yo, basta groomsmen kami sa kasal niyo, ha!"
"Ge. Without question."
Meanwhile, on your end with the ladies of the family, they started pestering you on your love life (like all typical Filipino aunties). Chismis everywhere.
"O, iha, single ka pa ba?"
"Kailan ka magpapakasal? Malapit ka nang pumasok sa thirties mo."
"Do you want kids? How many?"
"Are you and Maliksi a couple? You look good together! Kayo na, 'di ba?"
"Will you be getting married next? Are you engaged? When's the wedding? Invite niyo kami!"
Before you could get overwhelmed by their questions, Maliksi swept you off your feet to lead you to the entourage that was lining up outside the chapel area. Again, it happened like a blur. He laughed at the partially nauseated look on your face.
"You okay there?" he asked, grinning.
"Your family thinks we're together," you muttered quietly, not meeting his eyes. You weren't sure why you felt... tingly about their statements.
He tilted his head at you curiously, gently setting you down on your feet and helping you stand.
"Do you hate the idea?" It hurt him to ask you the question, but he wanted your thoughts on it. Perhaps doing this was a bad idea. Maliksi was competitive in many things, including wanting you to be his, but if you were so opposed to it, he would never force you into something you didn't want. He let go of your hand; you didn't even notice he'd been holding it until he let go. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"
Your wide-eyed gaze snapped back to look up at him, "No! No, it's not that! And... it's not bad." Your hand felt strangely empty now that his was gone. Biting your lip, you disclosed, "You're not making me uncomfortable, Mal. Don't ever think that."
With that, you shyly interlocked your arm with his, tearing your eyes from his to mask the growing warmth you felt spreading in your veins. You two didn't say anything else when the ushers let you walk down the beautiful, petal-covered aisle together.
The man beside you was starstruck. Hopeful. Maybe both of you did have a chance. Maybe somewhere in the depths of your soul, his feelings for you were being reciprocated. For the rest of the sacred ceremony in the gorgeous main pavilion, both of you relished in short, comfortable, and low conversations. He even cracked jokes every once in a while—really funny ones that made it challenging for you to you stifle your laughter.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride."
Maliksi fervently prayed to Bathala that he'd experience the same opportunity he was seeing with you someday. One day.
Even while the sun was brightly out, the sky began showering down light rain onto the land. You were in awe as you looked out the window.
"Hala, totoo nga pala! Tignan mo!" you laughed, tugging Maliksi's suit sleeve, pointing at the window.
"Na ano?" he curiously inquired, not understanding what you were referring to.
"Na kapag may tikbalang na kinakasal, umuulan habang may araw pa," you replied, eyes filled with childlike mirth and wonder. A rainbow had even begun to form by the clouds. "Look, it's magical! Ang ganda pala ng view dito kasama ang old Spanish architecture. Timeless na timeless. It's so pretty, 'no? Picture tayo 'maya, Mal."
Unlike you, it wasn't the sky outside that the prince was looking at. Amidst the loud cheers for the newlywed couple and the bubbles the guests were blowing, his vision could only focus on how magnificent you looked while being amazed. You were his best view. (Ed from 90-Day Fiancé, kabahan ka na, may katapat ka sa pickup line mo.)
》》》
"Smile for the picture!"
You giggled as Maliksi was dragged into a photo-op with the bridesmaids and the important older wedding sponsors a few feet away (funnily, he looked a little constipated around them). All of a sudden, when he was heading back to your direction, you were roughly pushed into the said man's arms. When you turned around, there was nothing (except maybe a gust of wind that came out of nowhere).
"Ooh, gotcha. Careful," the tikbalang steadied you, strong hands holding your biceps. "Natapilok ka?"
"... Huh, hindi naman," you wondered suspiciously, looking around. "I think someone pushed me? Parang tinulak ako... but wala namang tao."
"Weird. Maybe it was just the wind."
It actually was. Really. Maliksi knew for a fact that it was those two taong hangin who were spying on you from the corner, trying to pair you up. He gave them a thumbs-up while your back was turned in the opposite direction. Hannah and Amie returned the thumbs-up before vanishing. Suddenly, the two wedding photographers had moved on from the bridesmaids and were right beside you.
"What a lovely couple you two are!" she praised. Before you could correct her, she held up the black contraption she held towards you two. "Pose for the camera, lovelies!"
And so you did, the photographer guiding you two on what to do. Maliksi wrapped his arm around your waist and you leaned on his side, looking sidewards to the camera with one leg cocked in front of the other. Her assistant, who was holding a polaroid camera, printed out two photos for you.
"Thank you," you told him, taking the photos from his hands then flicking them rapidly to make the images develop. You and Mal were about to walk to the reception area when the photographer stopped you, handing the male beside you a business card.
"If you two need a photographer or a videographer for your wedding, call me," she signaled to both of you before running to another guest, bringing her assistant with her.
You gawked, "Mal, did you just hear what she said?"
"Loud and clear." A grin was on his face. He seemed very pleased at what he heard.
"... How can she even tell if someone is married or not?"
Maliksi's free hand took your left hand, tapping the ring finger, "Nothing here."
"Ooooooh. I get it now." Your brows creased. "Huh. This is like the fifth time today the people here have mistaken us for a couple."
Maliksi shrugged, teasing you, "Who knows? Baka may potential tayo, babe."
Before you could ask him what he meant, he was hurriedly towing you to the reception venue. While he was doing that, you stared at the now-developed polaroid photos you were holding. Huh. Maybe you two did look like a couple.
"Come on, they're serving some snacks at the welcome reception area. Peach pie and mango float-flavored. Paborito mo, babe."
》》》
The rest of the night went by without a hitch. You were actually enjoying the event—the host was great, the food was great, the music was great. Everything was great... that was, until the games.
"Alright! Now that the bride's garter has been removed, let's have the bouquet and garter toss... starting with the females!" the host announced. "Dear bride, please stay here in front. And all single ladies—and by single I mean ready to mingle and are not married—please rise and stand here on the dance floor. Let's play matchmaker tonight, everyone!"
"Uy, single ladies daw," Maliksi nudged your side. "Sign mo na 'yan." You snorted like a pig.
"Nope, ayokong madamay sa bouquet toss," you whisper-yelled at your best friend. "Do you know how embarrassing that is?! Besides, they won't notice if I don't join! Special tactic ko 'yan sa weddings: pretending I'm not single. Katabi naman kita."
More women came to the front, making you feel assured that you didn't need to participate. The host was about to say something, when the bride interrupted to whisper something into his ear.
"Hala, halaaa! Sabi ko all single ladies, pero may isang single lady na nagtatago pa!" he announced, making you freeze. Please don't let it be you. "What's her name, beloved bride?"
"Y/N L/N." You nearly spat out your champagne. You? Did they just call out your name? How did they know?
"Oh fuck," you cursed quietly.
"'Di ka makakatakas dito, babe," Maliksi jabbed, making you stand up. "Tinatawag ka na."
"Baka may ibang Y/N L/N dito," you resisted, attempting to sit back down. "I can't do this, Mal."
"'Sus, ikaw pa. And it's just a symbolic ceremony!" he encouraged, as if he didn't have any underlying intentions. "I doubt the bouquet will go to you anyway."
Sheesh, what a big fat liar you are, tikbalang prince.
You expressed your dissatisfaction with the situation, "Bwiset, fine. I'll just... dodge it. Or evade it. God, I swear..." You calmed down, confident. "I'm not going to worry. I've never caught the bouquet at my own friends' weddings anyway."
When you were at the dance floor, Maliksi snickered, seeing the bride—his cousin—wink at him. After all, he had thoroughly bribed her earlier.
《《《
"It's about time you settled down with someone, Mal," the bride commented while he slipped her the newest Hermés designer bag filled with a bunch of jewelry (plus some bills) two hours ago, right before the reception began and while you were in the restroom freshening up. "Hehehe, this is why you're my favorite cousin."
"Do we have a deal?"
"Of course. I'll make sure she participates. I'll also try to throw it in her direction."
"Good. Thanks."
"You better invite me to your beach wedding. I can tell how much you love her."
"Not a problem. I'll even make you a sponsor."
The bride stared at her bouquet, already practicing how she was going to throw it, "Tito's going to thank me so much for ensuring that he's going to get grandkids soon, hihi."
》》》
Back to the present, on the other end of the room, Maliksi saw a familiar duo give him a sign that they were ready. Bingo. Time to execute the most important part of his plan.
《《《
"I don't care how you do it," he told the two wind elementals after he bribed the bride. "I've already instructed the bride on what she should do, pero siguraduhin niyo lang talagang lumipad sa kanya ang bouquet."
"Mmhmm," Amie flipped her hair, a hand on her cocked hip. "And what do we get in return, oh great Señorito Armanaz?"
"Sagot ko bar-hopping niyo for one month."
The two girls pretended to think about it, making Maliksi roll his eyes. He had to pull out the big guns, huh?
"Fine. Magbibigay ako ng cash deposit plus pwede niyong gamitin ang black card ko for a one-week shopping spree in Ortigas." There. Bullseye. That's what they liked.
"Deal!" they exclaimed excitedly.
Hannah let a cool gust of wind enter one of the nearby windows, testing out how they're going to do this. "Ano pa bang pinaplano mo for Y/N mamaya?"
Maliksi hummed, "Basta."
》》》
You tried your best to hide within the densest part of the group of women. The bride seemed to have her eyes on you, weirdly enough, and she looked almost feral wanting to throw her flowers into someone's face.
That someone being you. Most likely.
"Target locked on," you saw her mouth move. She positioned herself like she was about to throw a football at someone (ahem, you). Holy shit, was she talking to you? Miss ma'am, it was a bouquet toss not a bouquet throw. The bride seemed to notice this, and once more regained her elegant composure.
"3, 2, 1," the host counted down. "Go!"
Surprisingly, the bouquet flew very high into the air (it was a wonder it didn't get tangled in the ceiling decor), but quite a distance away from you. You grinned, knowing it was too far to even touch you. Squeezing through the crowd of women eagerly awaiting the bouquet, you went to return to your assigned table.
Ah, what a wonderful evening.
Sike!
Something painfully landed right into your face, leaves and flowers getting into your hair and mouth.
... Wait, leaves and flowers?
Before you could comprehend it, the bouquet dropped right into your arms. What kind of ungodly, inhuman force allowed this to even happen?
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our lucky girl for the night!" Everyone clapped, with some—those guests you knew—even cheering your name unbelievably loud. The host approached you, a glint in his eye which you couldn't understand. "Miss Y/N, kindly sit here while we await the lucky guy who catches the garter from the groom."
What just happened?
"All single gentlemen, please proceed to the dance floor. Remember, the man who gets the garter gets to slip it onto the lucky lady's leg later!"
Oh, God. You pinched the bridge of your nose. What you'd give to be back at home or to be in that resort in Batangas you'd planned on going to for a solo vacation.
"To make this even more exciting," the host stated, handing you a black blindfold. "Our lucky lady has to keep her eyes closed until her lucky man for the night captures the bride's garter! When the music plays, only then can she uncover her eyes."
See? Humiliating, just as you expected. Still, you wrapped the blindfold around your head (albeit hesitantly). You attempted to guess who it might be, thinking of all the tikbalang friends Maliksi had introduced to you back then whenever he invited you to his clan reunions.
"Groom, are you ready?" the host asked, microphone loud and clear.
"Ready na ready!"
"Single gentlemen, are you ready?!"
"Ready na ready! Awoo, awoo!" they loudly chorused, exactly mimicking Spartans about to engage in battle. You sweatdropped in the seat you were in. This was actually kind of scary. Maybe you felt a bit objectified.
"3, 2, 1, go!"
There was a brief moment of silence, which made you concerned. Ba't ang tahimik? Then, everyone erupted into roars and bravoes much louder than when you caught the bouquet—perhaps even louder by tenfold. What the heck was happening?!
The music played. Very raunchy, spicy, babymaking music. You expected it to be the typical Careless Whisper by George Michael or Pony by Ginuwine (corny songs which you could probably laugh at, at least), but no. Nuh-uh, this was probably worse. The DJ must be pretty young, the song of their choosing being a slowed, bass-boosted, sexier remix of Earned It by the Weeknd.
Ano 'to, bold? Fifty Shades of Grey? The hell was this?
Alright. This was embarrassing. Thank the heavens there were no children at this party. From the music alone and its implications, this was strictly for adults.
You removed your blindfold (that was okay now, right?) as the guests whistled playfully. You peeked one eye open reluctantly, then inwardly groaned. Oh, no. You should've expected it to be him of all people from how loud the reactions were. And all those yells from the crowd were from his family.
Son of a—
"Well, this has proven to be a very interesting arrangement!" the host proclaimed. "Our lucky man for tonight is none other than our great clan leader's heir, Maliksi Armanaz! Congratulations, sir! You get to slip the lacey little garter on Miss Y/N!"
The said very smug tikbalang stood a few feet away from the chair you were sitting on, smirking at you. His hair was no longer in that mesmerizing ponytail—instead, he'd tied it into a more sinfully attractive man-bun, loose strands framing his face and accentuating that sharp, angled jaw of his (say yes and thank you to Manny Jacinto's jawline, besties).
"Let's cheer him on in his new mission, everybody!" the host pushed. Was this that glint in his eye earlier? And was that a one thousand peso bill sticking out of his pocket?
The groomsmen, Mal's cousins and uncles whom you've met before, hollered words of encouragement to the tall man (who was, oddly enough, not one bit fazed). In fact, Maliksi seemed like he was famished as he stared you down.
You swallowed, feeling like you were going to get eaten (heh, say that again). Maliksi had shrugged off his dark suit blazer to the beat of the song (holy fuck, he also unclasped the suspenders attached to his pants right before your eyes—asdfghjkl). Were you prepared for this? No. Will you ever be prepared? No!
"Mr. Armanaz, before you begin," the host interrupted. "We have an additional challenge for you in this mission. Kaya mo ba? It was a request of the newlywed couple."
"What is it?"
"Use your teeth!" the bride and the groom cheerfully shouted, clapping with the other guests. Whatdidtheysaaaaay???
The cocky bastard didn't even hesitate, his smirk at you growing wider; those pearly whites of his on full display. Was it just you or were his canines a little sharper than usual?
"Anything for the newlyweds. Challenge accepted," he dashingly replied, winking at you. You sputtered indignantly. Pisteng yawa. Putangina. Putek. Pakshet. You swore you thought of every swear word in the book at that moment. What did that YouTube parody song about Filipino mythological creatures say again? About the tikbalang? Ah, yes. Half-macho dancer and half-stallion. Maybe the joke was true, especially when you saw what Maliksi did next.
He bit the shred of lace, loosening his necktie (bestie, you good there?), unbuttoning some top buttons, and rolling up the sleeves of his collared white undershirt up to his elbows (consequently showing off his toned, veiny forearms—those lucky bridesmaids behind him nearly fainted). Honestly, you felt like you were about to lose your mind from embarrassment. With how tantalizing your guy best friend was being? Let our response be: San Pedro, kunin mo na ako. Was he doing all this to tease you? To rile you up?
Because damn it all, it was working. In your ten years of knowing Maliksi Armanaz, withstanding all his daily dirty jokes and flirtatious attempts, never had you seen him like this. So... wolfish. Ravenous. Like he was a man that hadn't been fed in years.
He stalked closer towards you, falling to his knees in front of your legs. Your gown had a long slit that extended up to an inch or two below where your left leg began—your best friend was eyeing his target already, knowing where to place the garter. Normally, you would never even wear something as revealing as this gown. It just wasn't your type, but Maliksi was the one who bought this for you for this specific occasion, so you had no choice. It was this or your pantulog he stole you in just hours ago. At first, you were confident in the gown. Now? You felt too... naked.
Somehow, in the heat of it all, you'd muted out the noise of the venue. Maliksi teasingly lifted your foot up, fingertips slyly grazing the thin shoe straps around your left foot—his calculated touch leaving fire in its trail. Once the garter had been successfuly inserted past your high-heeled stilettos, the man kneeling in front of you kept his hands to himself. Despite the fact that now there was absolutely zero skin-to-skin contact between you and this man, your body felt hotter than it ever was before as he expertly slid the lacy bit of cloth up your ankle at an agonizingly slow pace.
Maliksi's warm eyes had turned dark, his pupils blown, a tinge of red in them—of his true beast—while he maintained striking eye contact with you, pulling the garter up your calf with his teeth. Smoothly tugging... tugging... tugging. Tangina, it was like he was undressing you with his eyes alone; like he was telepathically telling you to keep your eyes open.
To keep your eyes on him, where he was knelt inbetween your legs, his hands intentionally locked on his back. Did you ever imagine this? Him between your legs? Maybe. Once or twice. But you never thought about it seriously; Maliksi dated girls left and right in the past.
His lips... his lips were so close... so close to your leg that you could feel the heat of his breath along with the lace. Were you about to die? Perhaps you already did. Maybe you were in heaven. Up... up... up... snap!
Suddenly, he stopped, grinning up at you mischievously and letting the elastic bounce back to the skin of your left knee.
"I'm not going any further, don't worry, babe," he whispered, noting that your eyes had become misty and glazed over. Internally, he grew worried. "That's enough." Did he think it was from discomfort? From you being uncomfortable? Bitch, no. It was the exact opposite. You had never been this turned on in your entire life.
You felt like your soul had left your body at that moment. Did you just have a heart attack? Was your blood pressure okay? Before you or Maliksi could stand, however, someone bellowed from the wedding sponsor tables.
"Higher! That's an order!"
Fucking hell, it was Maliksi's father who shouted. He wasn't in the huge tikbalang form you'd normally meet him in, but he was still very intimidating in his humanoid form, commanding attention and subservience wherever he went. You could tell where Maliksi got it from.
Instantly, the other guests—already half-drunk and wanting the spirit of partying to continue on—joined in.
"Higher! Higher!"
The host cheered, "You heard Señor Armanaz! Higher!"
Maliksi gave you a questioning look. Even if it was his father who spoke up, he still wouldn't do anything you didn't want. Well, you two made it this far; there was no point in getting embarrassed now. You bit the inside of your cheek, nodding. You probably couldn't erase the redness on your skin with how much you'd blushed from this night. It was as if the heat was tattooed onto your skin.
"Go on, Mal," you whispered to him, bending your torso down closer to his face, eyes half-lidded from want. "Finish what you started, babe."
With those sultry bedroom eyes he'd never once seen you show him before—plus you turning the tables with that familiar term of endearment, how could he refuse? Like a switch had been flipped inside him, he immediately complied, taking the frilly scrap of stretchy lace between his teeth once more, moving it further up to your thighs until where your high slit ended—centimeters below the warming juncture between your legs.
Your legs felt wobbly... boneless, as you stood up from the chair, the fabric of your gown cascading over where the lace sat securely on your upper left thigh. The party was still going strong even after you two finished the garter wearing tradition.
"'Atta boy! That's my son!" Señor Armanaz blazoned, standing up and raising his glass for a toast. "Cheers to the newlywed couple! May they last forever!"
You guys weren't the newlyweds, but it did sure feel like it. If the clan leader was hyped up, everyone was hyped up. Heck, the groom and the bride didn't mind one bit what had just transpired on their dance floor. In all the chaos, Maliksi took you out of the reception area and somewhere quieter. More private.
You would need to have a serious, urgent talk with your boy best friend.
》》》
You two silently sat on a stone bench in a gazebo somewhere in the reserved venue for the wedding, trying to cool down and get yourselves back together (at this point, you needed ice from that steamy, half-scandalous event you just went through). Here, there was no one else except for the chirping of crickets, the lush trees surrounding the area, and the golden fairy lights strewn all over the roof. Awkwardness was something you'd expected after what just happened, but somehow, you still felt comfort in this man's presence. For the past thirty minutes, both of you just stayed still, lost in your thoughts and reflecting.
"Mal?" you finally spoke up.
"... Hmm?"
"Ano tayo?"
"Whatever you want us to be."
Your fingers instinctively reached out for his, just like they always did when you were anxious. Sensing this, he grasped your hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Soothingly. He massaged the skin of your fingers, distracting you from your nervousness. It seemed like both nothing and everything changed between both of you. The gesture was the same, but so different at the same time.
"Mahal mo ako." It was not a question. It was a statement. A truth—one that you'd been too blind to see before. One that you only discovered while you stared into each other's eyes in that party not as best friends. You realized with a jolt in your heart what he really felt for you, and now, what you really felt for him. In those thirty minutes of silence, you knew. You just knew.
"Yes. I do."
"... Just as a best friend?" you probed.
"..."
Finally, you gazed into his eyes, previously so dark and full of hunger. Now? Just reluctant. Vulnerable. Open. Unsure of what to do next.
Seems like you had to be the one to take initiative tonight. Taking out your phone, you opened your music app and pressed play on a certain song. Ikaw at Ako by Johnoy Danao. You removed your heels (which were starting to blister your ankles and toes), then pulled him up to stand.
"Dance with me," you murmured, grabbing his arms to wrap them around your waist. He was stiff. Tense. What was he to do when the woman he's been pining after for so long let him hold her? All his gallantry and ability to romance disappeared out the window the moment you let him touch you so intimately.
You two weren't even waltzing. Just swaying. Slowly, you leaned your head on his broad chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart.
"... I love you," Maliksi admitted in the middle of it all, feeling like he was dreaming. Your head on his chest kept him grounded to reality, however. "More than anything in the universe. I fell for you ever since you patched me up when you were nineteen and I was a reckless drag racer who didn't have a purpose in life. 'Nung dinala mo ako pabalik sa Armanaz Tower on the verge of death. Simula noon, ikaw lang."
"I realized that," you smiled, reminiscing the old memory. You were just a broke college student that time, coming back to your dorm from making your group thesis at a classmate's house. Imagine your panic when you found a half-man, half-horse bleeding out by some bushes on the way home at night. Despite your fear and your little money (only enough to feed you for the week), you went out of your way to buy a first-aid kit at the nearest 7/11. It was scary, but you managed to mend the creature's wounds by the side of the road. When he was finally able to speak, turning fully human (which you admit, freaked you out initially), you arduously carried him back to his address—to his father and his clan, even if you had classes the very next morning. Because of your heroic deed of saving their precious heir, the tikbalang clan had become indebted to you: a teenage girl on the verge of a mental academic breakdown, just making her way through the cruel adult world. How old of a memory that was, you thought, yet you still recalled it in perfect detail. "Just a while ago."
"Ah." He swayed you gently.
"Lahat ng ito, plano mo?"
"... Yes," Maliksi fessed up. "Except for this part where we're here dancing in this belvedere. Wala sa plano ko. Gusto ko sanang magconfess doon sa may fountain para sweet, pero..."
You lifted your head off his chest, smiling at him with one brow raised, "You know, between both of us, you're supposed to be the spontaneous one. Planning isn't usually your thing."
"I know. It's a failure, huh?" Maliksi sighed.
"Nah." You shook your head, then suddenly locked lips with him. It was so fast and surprising he didn't even get the chance to return your first kiss. For once, you caught him off guard. You pecked him on the lips again. "It's not a failure."
"Wha—"
"I'm sorry for making you wait, Maliksi. Ten years. We're twenty-nine now, and only tonight do I realize how blind I've been. We've been going around in circles, wasting so much time. Ayoko nang mag-aksaya ng oras," you whispered guiltily against his lips. How could you have been so blind? Andaming nasayang na taon. Making up your mind, you told him, "Yes. Sige, I accept. I'll be your plus one."
The tikbalang was flustered and baffled from the kiss, as well as your revelation, "... But, you already are?"
"No, silly. I meant that I'll be your plus one for life. For as long as you'll have me," you laughed, now processing that you were currently dancing barefoot with your boy best friend and had just kissed him in a wedding you didn't even plan on going to. The universe had a mysterious way of doing things. "Guess I'm the spontaneous one now, huh?"
Maliksi was tongue-tied. "Seryoso ka ba? Is... Is this a marriage proposal?"
"Whatever you want it to be," you echoed his words back to him. "Best friend, plus one, girlfriend, wife—mmpf!"
He kissed you so hard your lips bruised. After an impromptu makeout session which was definitely more in character for Maliksi, you both pulled away, panting heavily in search for air, still desperate for passion. He cupped your cheeks, giving you a sweet, featherlight Eskimo kiss.
"You're missing one more title."
"Hm? What do you mean, Mal?"
"Love of my life." He kissed you again, this time lifting you off your feet and spinning you around (his sneaky right hand was resting on your bum, too, giving it a tight squeeze). You know in the Princess Diaries where the main character's foot just... pops whenever the prince charming kissed her? Yeah, that happened to you on that humid summer night. This was right. You two were meant to be together. Everything was falling into place.
The bungalow you reserved for your Batangas vacation leave ended up being the site of your very eventful honeymoon with the Prince of the Tikbalang (with his libido, it wasn't that difficult to continue where you'd left off in the garter toss; that scrap of lace came off your leg the same way it went on). Actually, nauna pa ang honeymoon sa actual wedding (it was definitely spontaneous). Right after your confession in that alcove, you two went to Maliksi's father to ask for his blessing (which he gladly gave, cackling and saying that it took you long enough) before you guys went driving off to Batangas that night. You and Mal indeed had lots and lots of fun in that resort (I'll let you imagine the rest). More beautiful memories were made from that point on—this time, not just as best friends.
All that and your small, intimate wedding occurred in early April. Just when you thought that it'd be impossible to fulfill Maliksi's life goal of having a baby within the year (nine months of pregnancy meant that the earliest you'd give birth would be January next year), the impossible happened.
Exactly thirty-two weeks later, on New Year's Eve, the Armanaz herd welcomed one prince and two new princesses into the world. Triplets who were instantly adored by everyone in the clan.
Señor Armanaz had never been happier, and so were you and your husband. Your best friend. The love of your life. Your forever plus one.
Maybe being spontaneous wasn't so bad after all.
Taglist: @belladaises @binibiningbabaylan @4kodzuk3n @sparklingmallow @severuslovebot @holyshxtangel @marinac15 @space-flamingo @pippethealien @kashasenpai @disappointmentpastry @hornehlittleweeblet2 @seijohoe @monimiin @ibelievein2dmensupremacy @tinybonksharkcop @methehipster @banisuoh @genshin-idiot @lemonnie-kimmie
#trese#trese 2021#trese netflix#maliksi#maliksi x reader#tikbalang#trese fic#x reader#trese x reader#thera.writes
380 notes
·
View notes
Text
Obligatory Friday Night Funkin’ fighting game AU post (part 2 of idk how many)
Even though I’m a lazy fuck I know there’s people out there who wanna read this so let’s just get it over with
-AGOTI: Trapped in the Void like in his own mod’s continuity, has tentacle-based powers that allow him to raise pillars from underneath the ground like he did in the Void. Usually freestyles and is pretty damn good at it. Chaotic neutral, hangs out with Tabi and Ayana when not busy.
-Aldryx: AGOTI’s older brother, they’re mostly the same but he is more composed and responsible...even if you can barely notice it. Has been scouting for AGOTI ever since he disappeared in the Void under the “orders” of Solazar. They have the same powers, but Aldryx prefers a more aggressive rock beat in comparison to his brother’s freestyling.
-Solazar: Solazar is a unique type of fighter, a Composer. They’re exceptionally well-versed in most types of music and have their own unique fighting style that can’t be easily imitated. Most of the times Composers are figures of great wisdom and/or power. DD is also secretly a Composer but rarely uses all of his powers. Sol is to this day one of the few other people who is actively fighting off DD’s rise to power and is trying to push his adopted screen demon sons to cooperate with GF and BF’s efforts to stop DD (despite the fact that one of them is friends with Tabi, who still has beef with GF).
-Nikusa: Not doing anything for her until her part of the FNF Entity mod drops but she exists in this universe.
-Tabi: Before Funkin Fightin’ was a thing, GF was in love with Tabi but nonetheless used him to try and conquer her father’s empire. When he turned music into a form of fighting, Tabi didn’t know how to hurt a fly, and so GF ditched him to DD, who turned him into what he is today. He is now out to personally get GF, DD and anyone who might get in his way for revenge. Uses a fight style similiar to BF’s but isn’t afraid to play dirty against someone who he feels has wronged him. After the restaurant incident he’s a tournament member who is wanted by the authority.
-Ayana: Before Pico, BF dated her, and while she still clearly loves him, it’s clear for her that he moved on. Still, she knows GF’s up to no good and is repeatedly trying to warn BF about it. She and Dalia have Tabi hidden in their house. Has a fighting style similiar to that of Mommy Mearest, although unlike her she actually fights fair and doesn’t try to seduce her opponents.
-Dalia: EDM has been less and less mainstream as time went on, but Dalia still isn’t afraid of spewing out good tracks. EDM artists are known for being glass cannons in the Funkin Fightin’ business, and she’s no exception, she’s the second strongest EDM artist on the block. Is in a relationship with Ayana. She is also prone to stopping her sets to help her friends back at Apollo against demons.
-Miku: In-universe she’s BF’s older sister, and due to her working specifically in the Vocaloid industry, GF’s parents can’t lay a single hand on her. More often than not she insists on protecting her brother as if he was still little. Has Camellia as musical backup during her Funkin Fightin’ fights due to her being mostly a martial pacifist.
-Sarvente: Nuns shouldn’t fight, am I right? Sarvente is one of the few people who is in DD’s tournament to promote her church. Still she knows in the moment she’s going to go full power she’s going to scare away literally everyone in the arenas. Has been costantly receiving funds by a mysterious sponsor alongside Ruv.
-Ruv: As a former hitman, he knows exactly how to fight. He just needs to learn to do it to the rhythm of the typical Russian ballads he listens to in his free time. Has refused to fight Sarvente even in her demon form. Is also in the tournament for the church, but also to avoid other hitmen sent to kill him for his retirement. Also has been receving funds by a sponsor.
-Selever: The mysterious sponsor. Has found a way to enter this universe (and is doing money with cryptocurrency), but if he interacts directly with Ruv or Sarv, or if he gets found and defeated by a being of higher power like Composers, Updike or Auditor, he’s sleeping with the fishes. Annoying as ever, half of the tournament opponents have beef with him due to him behaving like an annoying asshole. Also calls for Rasazy’s backup with some attacks and plays dirty like hell. His goal is to defeat DD so he can live with his parents in peace.
-Shaggy: In this continuity the entirety of Mystery Incorporated is alive and well and not dead of old age. Not even Shaggy knows how he has his powers, but he isn’t really complaining, as long as his friends are left in peace by the supernatural. Is fascinated by Funkin Fightin’ and is choosing a musical style on which to base his rhythm.
-Matt: Originally trained other people in various sports, but after his loss with BF he became obsessed with trying to defeat him in Funkin Fightin’. Trains under Shaggy to achieve this goal. Still, he has a code of honor and wants a fair fight by any opponent. Doesn’t have a specific musical style yet and is not willing to use Wii Sports music like one would expect from him.
-Zardy: Isn’t partecipating in the tournament and interacts with nobody. There is only one rule: don’t enter his maze for absolutely no reason. He’s going to wreck you with Halloween songs and by swinging around his farming tools. The only ones allowed in are Tricky, Monster and Starecrown for the Friday night poker game, where he is prone to winning at least against Tricky; Starecrown and Monster are just too 300 IQ for him to face head-on.
-Camellia: Remember when I said Dalia’s the second strongest EDM artist on the scene? Guess who’s first. His techniques as a Composer are known for breaking many body parts, so Masaya Oya only ever works as backup for BF’s sister Miku. But if you actually manage to bring him to a Funkin Fightin’ fight on his own you’ll regret it deeply. Dude is as strong as Shaggy and Matt COMBINED.
-Sky: BF’s number one fangirl and leader of his two-member fanclub, her beef is mainly with GF, but to beat her she has to go through BF first. Behaves a lot like Knives Chau from the Scott Pilgrim franchise. Writes fanfics. Has a very...weird fighting style, and does it to the beat of anime openings apparently.
-Starecrown: The, erm...OTHER member of BF’s fanclub. Is unironically best friends with Sky due to their shared interest in BF and usually carries her around as if he was her pet. Is very polite and tries not to come off as scary with his stares, but it’s beyond his power. Nobody ever even understands his fighting techniques, only the musical screeches he emits when he does it to the rhythm.
NEXT TIME: Hopefully everyone related to Bob, Undertale/Underverse characters, Eddsworld cast, CJ & Ruby, ENA, Nonsense, if possible even more
#friday night funkin#fighting game au#fighting game#fighting#fnf entity#fnf agoti#fnf aldryx#fnf solazar#fnf nikusa#fnf tabi#fnf ayana#fnf dalia#fnf miku#fnf sarvente#fnf ruv#fnf selever#fnf rasazy#fnf shaggy#fnf matt#fnf zardy#camellia#fnf sky#fnf starecrown
65 notes
·
View notes
Text
Lesley-Ann Jones Is Untrustworthy
So I’ve seen some people in the fandom reading and citing Lesley-Ann Jones’ biography The Search For John Lennon recently and to be honest it’s concerning to me. Lesley Ann Jones has proved in the past to be an extremely untrustworthy source for info about the people she writes about. I understand that it’s exciting to have a book about John that’s not written by the typical “Lennon biographer” type (aka an ageing straight man) and for said book to also promise to shed light and focus on his bisexuality but, if we’re going to analyse John respectfully and accurately, it’s important to identify sources that are biased and untrustworthy, even if they’re technically within our favour. Especially when it relates to his queerness. And seeing as LAJ doesn’t have the best record when it comes to writing about rockstars’ sexualities in a respectful manner, it’s best to treat her words with caution.
Info about exactly how she’s a bad source is under the cut
Firstly, it's key to talk about LAJ's journalistic background when discussing what sort of writer she is: she's worked for papers such as The Sun, The Daily Mail, and The Mail On Sunday. Essentially, the bulk of her work has been for tabloids and traditionally the writing style for those kinds of publications place an emphasis on sensationalism and gossip. Now obviously that doesn’t discredit her work immediately, authors are usually able to write in more than one style so it doesn’t necessarily mean the tabloid style is going to carry over to her biographies; but it’s good to keep in mind when discussing and analysing the legitimacy of the narratives she creates and the stories she recounts in her work.
LAJ has received criticism in the past, particularly from the queen fandom of often overexaggerating, or just straight presenting false information in her bios about Freddie Mercury. She is the champion of the claim that Freddie was bisexual and not gay. Her evidence for this is over-exaggerating and (seemingly intentionally) misinterpreting the nature of the relationship between Freddie and his friend, Barbara Valentin. LAJ claimed that the two had a relationship and even lived together:
“Barbara was very open with me about the sexual relationship she had with Freddie.”
(x)
(x)
However, no-one in Freddie’s life has ever corroborated that Freddie and Barbara were anything but friends. As for the claim they lived together, according to Peter Freestone, an extremely close friend of Freddie’s:
In the event, Freddie never actually lived there although Barbara fulfilled a huge role in Freddie’s life at that time... Freddie became very disillusioned when with more and more frequency articles were appearing in the German press’s gossip columns... about the relationship between him and Barbara... After one article claiming to have knowledge of him and Barbara getting married, Freddie... concluded that it could only be Barbara who was providing the information.
(x)
This exaggeration of their relationship and the insistence LAJ has on presenting Freddie as bi because of it has attracted criticism from queen fans for obvious reasons. For one, it’s borderline homophobic to essentially lie about a gay man having a relationship with a woman while downplaying his relationships with men. No, she’s not portraying him as a straight man, however it’s still erasure of the specific struggles Freddie would’ve faced being a gay man in his time, therefore those who want to analyse him would be missing some of the picture when trying to understand him and his life
LAJ’s research methods are also... questionable. This is a post from Crystal Taylor (one of Roger Taylor’s roadies) about her methods for her David Bowie bio which, if to be believed is particularly concerning.
(x)
LAJ is also known to greatly exaggerate her own relationships with her subjects. She often claims to have been friends with the people she writes bios about (coincidently the people she does this with are dead.) Back in the day she would meet with artists while on tour so the idea is convincing enough. However besides her word there’s nothing to suggest that she had close friendships with Freddie or Bowie, two people she claimed to be good friends with. There’s also this comment from Brian May which actually goes against the idea that she was close with Freddie:
(x)
So with all of this in mind, let’s look at the quote from The Search For John Lennon that’s been circulating around Beatles tumblr:
That Bowie worshipped Lennon is no secret. He'd banged on about it often enough. The ex-Beatle had gone to his hedonism. They'd met in Los Angeles, during John's Lost Weekend. I lunched from time to time with David in New York while working there as a music journalist, before he married Iman. He lent me his house in Mustique, to write the first draft of my first biography on Freddie Mercury.
The crazy pair went out to play, according to David, when John was on yet another break from May and far away from Yoko. They genderbender-ed about, John indulging again that 'inner fag' of his. What larks.
They later 'hooked up': 'There was a whore in the middle, and it wasn't either of us,' David smirked. 'At some point in proceedings, she left. I think it was a she. Not that we minded.' By the time they made it back to New York, the ambisextrous pair were 'lifelong friends'.
I’m suspicious of this story for several reasons but first I want to make it clear that none of them have to do with John having sex with men or being bisexual. I’m a very firm believer of John’s bisexuality (my username is literally queerlennon lmao) but once again I think it’s good to examine the legitimacy of sources, even when they favour our position.
Firstly, LAJ’s source for this story is the claim that David told her, which considering I can’t find any info about them being friends besides her word, combined with the fact that she’s lied about having close relationships in the past raises a lot of flags.
But even if we assume LAJ isn’t lying and did know Bowie, the quote is still suspect, particularly the line “John was on yet another break from May and far away from Yoko.” According to May in her book Loving John, her and John had only one break from their relationship (the phrase “yet another break” implies multiple) that lasted a week, and for the entirety of that week, John was with Yoko. (x)
Finally, the language LAJ uses to describe John and David’s sexualities not only puts me on edge but very much makes me question her intention. Phrases like “the genderbender-ed about,” “indulged his ‘inner fag,’” and “ambisextrous,” all come across to me as fetishisation. Bisexuality is already very highly fetishised and sexualised and LAJ is most definitely not concerned with deviating from that representation. That phrasing combined with the way she also discusses Freddie’s sexuality, where she’s alleged highly sexualised claims about him having threesomes:
And quite often that involved other people as well. Other men, other women. There would be a number of them in the bedroom at any given time. In fact they were raided by the police once and the police stormed in and they found more people than they were expecting to find in the bed that morning.
(x)
— leads me to believe that LAJ is an author less concerned with exploring John’s sexuality as apart of his life, something that made him who he was, and more concerned with including details about “bisexual threesomes” as shock value, as a sensational point she can use to to promote her book in press tours and interviews. Like a tabloid writer. And this sort disrespect representation of John’s queerness, imo isn’t that much better than the biographers who dismiss or underplay it. I totally understand that for a lot of us, finding out new info about John’s queer identity is exciting, especially for those of us who are queer and identify with a lot with John for that reason, myself included. But we shouldn’t be giving credence and legitimacy to someone who firstly, isn’t trustworthy and secondly who’s reason for talking about it is gross and exploitative at best and biphobic at worst.
tl;dr, LAJ is an incredibly untrustworthy source of info and in her own over exaggerations, treats discussions of queerness in an extremely problematic and exploitive way so please take anything you read from her with a massive grain of salt.
#john lennon#the beatles#freddie mercury#queen#david bowie#beatles analysis#lesley ann jones#shut up fable#classic rock#biographies/memoirs#fable’s analysis
124 notes
·
View notes
Text
I have some slightly controversial take about Sam Wilson fandom here, so maybe don’t reblog this post... Comment if you want, but I really don’t want to start arguing with anyone. I just need to vent and will probably delete the whole rant later.
So...
I know that Sam’s fans complain a lot about the treatment he gets in the fandom... I still do that from time to time and I probably will continue doing it in the future. But I’m starting to feel very, very tired with the people who act like their love for Sam can only be expressed through:
1) criticizing other people’s content,
2) hatered/dislike for Bucky or Sambucky,
3) complaining about other people in the fandom.
It’s so weird. We criticize the people who make Bucky-centric content with barely any mention of Sam and tag it with his name, because it’s annoying, but at the same time there is quite a big number of fans, whose posts in Sam Wilson tag are basically:
“omg he never gets recognition”, “MCU fandom hates Sam”, “Everything is about Bucky, where is Sam?!” “some of you only like sam when he’s with bucky :/”
And... sure. There’s a lot of truth to these statements. But saying that over and over again won’t fix the problem, especially if you yourself don’t do ANYTHING to remedy the situation. You’re flooding the tag too... Just in a different way. A few months ago I had this habit that I liked to follow people who wrote posts like these. Because I had this assumption that: if you complain about Sam being treated badly you probably love him a lot, so we should get along. I love him too!
But I realized that a lot of those people literally complain for the sake of complaining and than don’t even try to post Sam-centric content on their own. Why not??? You don’t have to be an amazing creator to make a good post. It’s not just about realistic fanart and 30k words fanfic with a complicated plot. You might write some weird HCs about Sam instead. Or a joke. Incorrect quotes. Ideas for fics you’ll never finish, but might inspire other people. Doodles that took 2 minutes of drawing. Edited photos. Favourite screenshots. Prompts. Learn to make poor-quality gifs of Sam’s cool fightigh style. Write a short scene analysis. Or ask other people how they analyse some scenes to start a discussion. Link some edits from YouTube.
And if you cannot think of a single thing to make on your own? Well. You can always promote art made by other people. Go through the tag and reblog things you loved. Find a good blog and search throught their archives to find older content. You can compile a post with fic recommendations so other people read what you enjoyed and see how good the content about Sam might be. Or recommend your favourite creators in general. Send encouraging asks to artists who you love so they feel motivated.
--- ----- ---
But these people do none of that. I can scroll throught their blog for 10 minutes and everything about Sam Wilson I see is complaining that people like Bucky more. Or that Sambucky is popular. (As if all the best Sambucky stories aren’t just fans expressing their love towards Sam through Bucky’s eyes...) I’m not trying to say that you have to be a creator to criticize the fandom, but it’s weird when you only yell at others for not posting enough about Sam when you didn’t post anything about him either unless it’s complaining. Kind of ironic...
Also! If you don’t promote other people’s content they get discoraged from posting. It’s a fact. I have probably over 80 different half-made and finished drawings with Sam Wilson on my tablet, but I have zero incentive to post any of them, because every attempt in the past ended with these posts getting 4 notes. Or 10 at best. So why bother? I can look at them alone. And I don’t remember these people who complained about the lack of Sam content supporting my Sam-centric art with nice comments.
You cannot expect the fandom to mass-produce content for you if you don’t encourage it. I got no feedback, so now I just sort of... write or draw for myself, because I enjoy it and have no incentive to publish any of that when no one’s interested. Instead I just make writing prompts or analysis of tfatws, because there’s a bigger chance I’ll have an interesting disussion with other fans in the comments or I’ll inspire other creators to make more art by posting that. I enjoy both of those things very much, but one evokes a reaction I want and the other just... doesn’t. (It’s not even about validation... even if it’s nice to get compliments. It’s just: “when other people are clearly not interested, why make the art public at all?”.)
--- ----- ---
Like I said. I’m not going to call out any specific person here. But there were a few people who harshly criticized me in asks or in private messages for “pretending to love Sam” just because I like Sambucky too. But if you scroll through my blog you’ll find that at least 95% of the posts are about Sam. And if you scroll through theirs it’s 3 posts - all of them about fandom not loving Sam enough. (I just checked.)
But I guess I’m a “disgrace to the fandom”, because I acknowledge that Sam might have a love interest while you said you hate Bucky, so... Apparently your love for Sam Wilson is more real if you despise more popular characters he interacts with. ...Be honest with yourselves. Some of you just like to whine and complain, but prefer to disguise it behind love for Sam, so it sounds justified.
And yes. There should be more content that is only about Sam. Or about Sam’s non-romantic relationships. Sure. But if my two choices are: “get a Sambucky fic about Bucky loving Sam very much” or “get a post where someone cries about Sam not being loved enough for the 10th time”... then pardon me for preferring the first option.
If any of you spent half the energy you waste on complaining on making a single post about your supposed love for Sam the tag would be much more full of good content. But it seems like making actual content requires more effort and talent, so you just stay there whining that other people don’t provide you with what you want and demand. And give zero encouragement and promotion to those who do the work.
So continue doing that if you wish. But I won’t waste all my energy on making my weekly “this fandom fucking sucks” post. I prefer promoting cool art other users made (now or years ago) and creating my own posts that might not be always 100% about only Sam... but are still focused on him. Because I like this fictional little guy. I’m not going to let this weird purity tests ruin my enjoyment. If the pretty drawing of Sam has Bucky on the other side of the canvas I still have a cool drawing of Sam to admire. So it’s a win for me.
--- ----- ---
[Reminder: please don’t reblog this. I really just need to vent. Comments are okay, I can discuss this. I just don’t want some peope to see that and go yell at me all over again. I was already harassed for allowing Bucky or Steve on my mostly Sam-Wilson-centric blog...]
[Also... if you think this is hypocritical of me to complain about complaining... Maybe. I don’t think it’s comparable here, but whatever.]
22 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello. I’d like to ask you how to know if a singer or a band sing live? I was so surprised when I thought a group was singing alive they really sounded how live. Do all the groups sing with lipsync? Is it only because they have dances? I know it must be normal in the industry but why not to make dance easier and let them sing as they are singers. I noticed that some also just use back recording(?) not sure how to name. Thank you.
Disclaimer: The following post is informed by my experience working in the music industry. It is not speculation.
Hi Anons!
First, I want to begin with a note of clarification, to make sure we are on the same page.
1. Lip synching is when artists sing over a pre-recorded backing track (industry term: “playback.”) At no point are they ever actively singing. You see this most in music videos and TV station promotional performances.
2. Singing over playback - This is when an artist sings live over a pre-recorded track that includes vocal harmonies and also sometimes the main vocal line. This adds dimension and texture to live music, and is a technique that many, many, many, many, many artists use! It is not the same as lip synching - there is a difference.
Artists who lip synch - and only lip synch - and then pretend to pass off their lip synching performance as a live performance are definitely very much looked down upon. A good example of this is Milli Vanilli, who were hugely successful prior to their lip synch act being exposed live on stage.
OK, so now that we know what we’re talking about let’s get into the nitty gritty.
IS LIP SYNCHING OK?
From a fan’s perspective, it is never good for artists to 100% lip synch - especially at a concert or live performance. Roomie actually does a pretty good video that shows a few major artists and their lip synch fails.
youtube
However, from an industry perspective, we all know that sometimes artists do partially lip synch, and this is a generally accepted/understood industry practice. To someone outside the industry though, it can be a bit of a shocker.
If artists lip synch, it can be due to any number of reasons such as:
1.) Dancing
Sometimes, it is very difficult to do extremely difficult dancing and sing at the same time. While some artists are capable of doing some level of singing and dancing, not even the most talented artists in the world can sing perfectly if dancing at a very high speed/to extremely complicated choreo. This would honestly require superhuman skills that don’t exist in reality. (Though some groups are good at dancing and singing simultaneously, don’t expect them to sing perfectly without issue while high speed dancing.)
2.) Illness
A little more rare, but artists who are sometimes very sick and go out to perform may sing over playback and lip synch when they have to sing the higher register because they aren’t able to actually hit those notes without the help of playback.
3.) Ease of performance
Refer to reason 2, but instead of there being a reason such as “illness,” it’s literally just because it’s easier for performers sometimes to hit those high notes. Especially touring performers who might have to perform night after night - it can be extremely taxing on the vocal cords.
4.) Technical failure cover up
This happened to XZ on NYE with Dragon TV. If artists are singing over playback and they experience a technical failure, such not being able to hear themselves, they can actually lip synch until the audio production team fixes the issue.
5.) Pure laziness
This is way more rare. But it happens.
HOW TO FIGURE OUT IF SOMEONE IS LIP SYNCHING OR NOT
1. Do they have their in-ear monitors in? (Or at least one?) If not, are floor wedge monitors on the stage? If the answer to both of these questions is “no,” then most likely, the artist is lip synching, unless the venue is really tiny.
2. Does it sound too much like the actual recording? Is the voice a little too perfect? While some artists use auto-tune live, there are limits to what auto-tune can do.
3. Can you hear the artist taking breaths at the appropriate intervals? What about when they’re moving around?
4. Is there a volume difference between the artist’s voice and the playback in the background? Usually, the artist’s voice will be just a little bit louder. A good example of this is XZ’s most recent performance of “Yu Nian.”
youtube
You can hear pretty clearly that his vocals are live/real because of the fact that his live vocal track volume is just slightly louder than the playback mix. If you listen carefully, you can hear the vocal harmony start at 0:47. So this is a case of where you can say with certainty, “The artist is singing live!”
Pretty much, most pop artists use playback, and at some point in their career, most pop artists will inevitably have to lip sync for any number of reasons that I listed above.
Most of the time, it’s completely understandable and forgivable from an industry perspective - even expected, simply because:
1. Artists are only human
2. Touring is EXHAUSTING
3. The point is to put on a good show. As long as the fans enjoyed the show and the artist did sing live for most of it, that’s all that matters. So long as the artist doesn’t only lip synch the entire time - even if it’s just a small segment of a specific song - it’s actually totally fine and acceptable!
61 notes
·
View notes
Note
This is an Andy appreciation post. I’m re-listening to Vale because I never understood.
It has much religious imagery but it’s *more* than just metaphors and analogies.
There’s four views I’ve understood finally and maybe more.
I will not mention anything of the specifics BVB is fighting against in Vale because like I said, this is an appreciation post and I don’t want to bring up anything negative if I don’t have to make it a point. If anyone wants me to go further into detail about what specifically I feel is going on, just ask because my gut has a keen reception on lyrics and events.
1. Religious persecution:
To the unawakened folks or the ones that progressively sin in the name of God.
Fighting for equality that when people fuck up, it isn’t the death of them. Just the death of an ego and awakening into more self compassion.
2. Talking to the fans that are blind to reality
In many songs off Vale, Andy always talks about preaching but never fully being heard from the blind and innocent. He’s tired but he will keep fighting, because he wants to make an active change to the community in a way he can but feels weak from time to time, yet never giving up!
3. Ashley
When Ashley was outed publicly, Andy never dedicated this song to him but posted the lyrics with no caption when Ashley was accused. Throw the first stone.
4. Letter to self: acknowledging this is an end of a cycle. Hint: the album name and song lyrics.
Our Destiny is a big one. It’s not just a rock love song about trying to save a destiny between two people. It’s saving himself from his past “sins” “fuckups” and saying it’s not too late to heal, which it’s never too hate to heal from the past and present. I feel like it’s “hey, I’m going into ashes now but I’ve already made amends with it and I’ll rise again and again, however many times to make it out of mental and physical surroundings.” Also, I feel it was referencing Lost it All in a way, like most of his songs do, it’s a personal and universal message that there’s so much shit in life that will knock you down and you will heal while STILL in a hurt place physically. I really want to appreciate that truth that there’s a lot of healing that still is in the midst of pain. (Props to you, Andy!) Many abusive childhoods can resonate with that as well as being stuck in relationships/friendships/or generational curses including being in debt. (Which he mentions a lot in interviews) I really do think he’s gonna get out because he’s such a wise soul and nobody gives him props to healing, and being such a mature wise man even though he’s not at his highest or best surroundings. I mean, I don’t know any other artist that’s stuck in a shitty situation and is still uplifting, real, and promotes healing and is why so many BVB army members resonate with the music. I really respect he says that people heal themselves but use his music as a resonating device to heal, when fans say he’s their hero.
Andy has overcome addictions, has had to protect his life many times, has written so much uplifting and real wisdom from a dark place of mind or just straight up otherworldly strength and vulnerability which I admire because it’s beautiful and real, doesn’t have many real helpful people around him, has been a real role model by himself, is overcoming shame and lies & generation healing, he’s really had to rely on himself and I’m glad his band members really allow him to take control of the lyrics in such an inspiring way. Even though he’s still dealing and people pleasing to toxic people, remember everyone, people in abusive relationships and are trapped have to people please in order to stay alive and not get harmed. Many don’t understand that if they’ve never been abused. (They don’t need to understand, Andy! We see it) His perseverance is real and don’t judge someone for figuring out their own life. Sometimes freedom comes from music (even though other aspects from the rock industry contradict it). Let’s be supportive of him right now because he’s branching off into a new territory and finding out what’s working for him SAFELY. Yes, I don’t agree with a lot of what he says in his insecure moments in interviews and lies in his book/irl (gotta remember that’s a trauma brain response), but his music speaks in a way that is truth and can help many people going through many things and express it in a healthy way. Also I believe many fans live in denial about his life due to the fact that they’re probably living through it in their own life and can’t recognize it in another person. Or are attracted to his light but want nothing to do to help keep it alive as in tearing him down (secret haters). Anyways, I respect him for going above and beyond and it’s really admirable because like I said, nobody in the industry has ever done what he’s done. His art is perseverance.
5. He’s been a role model for so many hurting depressed people because they resonate to his own story and his strength is a catalyst for their own strength. I dislike when people deny he’s been living in trauma and overcoming many times in his life because that’s literally what this band was formed into. There’s so much evidence in his life and in the music. He’s had to take on a role for his (hurt & healing) self and it naturally became a safe space for BVB army to interact and resonate with him. He had to do that at 18/19 and if anyone’s that age or older, you know that age is just a child. I applaud him for being that young while having no parental guidance while creating something beautiful and divine, though I do empathize for his inner child. His albums are art that are darker, not evil, and is a place where children/adults who were rejected in any form can find solace in their own mind and thus can create healing. His words are moving and you have to applaud the man for keeping it together when people of all directions were hating on his every move and it was because he has such a big heart and everyone around him wants to keep him caged out of selfishness. Even when he had meltdowns and (not saying he couldn’t also be toxic because everyone has the capacity but meltdowns get overlooked because it’s a spur of the moment thing and everyone thinks it’s a violent episode but it’s due to triggers as well as not being sober) still wanted to show up for everyone including his own self that he knows himself to be, that he didn’t want to let rot. He’s really a strong soul and it gets overlooked a lot. He’s striving for betterment of himself for more than a decade (with so much persecution even in his own circle) and people keep wishing that “I hope he gets out” and this is how he’s helping himself for the moment until he can actually get out. So again, props to him. We’re proud of you, Andy! Keep going! We believe in you. Keep taking care of your overall being. Thanks for believing in us all of these years. Some of us even made it out of the hurt place we were in and are living happy, peaceful, healthy lives after trauma.
^^i literally almost teared up reading this. this is exactly why i love him so much (& what made me fall in love with him/BVB in the first place) you said everything perfectly. i honestly wish i could pin posts on here bc i really want this to be the first thing people read on the blog. as much as people think this blog is supposed to be outright hateful, (although it contradicts the name of the blog lol) i can assure you it's not. as fans we want the best for our favorite artists and when an artist has helped/continued to help you and so many other people out of dark places it sucks to see that through that they can't help themselves. i just want the best for him and for him to be 100% happy again. that's the purpose of this blog.
10 notes
·
View notes
Photo
---------------------------------
I'm going to start by clarifying that these are messages I got in response to my post here /// LINK /// After this, I'm not replying to messages about this kinda thing in a long time. Talking about sexualization and such other topics is important but I'm not in a state to be made the center of it. Please, don't come to my inbox asking for discourse, go and create your own posts if you want to raise awareness or vent.
And now to answer to these new asks:
FIRST OF ALL: while I love the way Murata draws men, robotic stuff, monsters... I actually HATE the way he draws ladies! I prefer their proportions in the OPM anime and games. Murata is literally SO BAD at drawing women compared to the level of expertise he has drawing men, and it's all ‘cos he keeps drawing ladies "the h0rny way". We all know this, let's move on.
"He's drawing all the monster girls sexualized" Did the fact that Manako's genre reveal deconstructs the trope "the default is male" totally go over your head? That Psykos's reveal as a woman running the whole MA was a big deal for this same reason as well? There are a bunch of female monsters… you just assume they're all male unless you see big b00bs and then complain about that very fact. They literally made a whole point about this specifically!
"He changed Mizuki's shorts to p4nties to please fanboys" I liked the shorts better too (just because I find her whole character design a bit more balanced that way) so that change bothered me as well, but the "p4nties" are actually standard athletic wear for competition. Shorts are not. Technically, she’s drawn more accurately now.
"Sports Bras don't work that way he just wants to draw b00bs" neither do the shirts and bodysuits the guys are wearing. You can see all their muscles and manb00bs and cr0tch lines, just as much as with Fubuki and Tatsu's hero outfits and Mizuki's top.
"But when the boys are drawn that way, it's not to please the ladies, it's male power fantasy" THERE IS NO HETEROSEXUAL MALE POWER FANTASY BULLSHIT THAT CAN POSSIBLY EXPLAIN THE WAY MURATA DRAWS GAROU, FLASH, SONIC, STINGER AND SOME OF THE OTHER GUYS. The fact is that the way he draws eye candy of them appeals to other collectives other than the cis het men and he knows exactly what he's doing. Period.
"He constantly draws sexualized art of Mizuki to please the fanboys" Why exaggerate so much? This is simply not true. She's a woman in athlete wear, most of the time she's either standing up talking or fighting, no weird angles or anything. There is like 1 sexy cover of her, the back cover with all the girls in bikinis and then that infamous watermelon sequence. That's all the sexualization you are talking about.
"Mizuki only gets so much screen time because of how much p0rn of her there is" oh yeah Mizuki got a grand total of, like, *drum roll* 1 chapter and a half dedicated to her! Wow! Which is NOTHING taking into consideration how dense Garou's arc is and the fact that they will need at least 2 seasons of the anime to finish it.
But think about this: OPM desperately needed more female presence, in special with the prospect of finishing Garou's arc in the anime. Making anime is hard and COSTLY. Most of the people who is going to watch the anime haven't read the manga and they'll be like "what the heck there are no female characters in this anime for like 3 seasons?" and there is no team that's going to risk it working with such prospects. We know why.
Of all the expansion that Garou's arc got in the manga adaptation (and later in the anime), one of the most sensible and balanced decisions was to add more ladies. They put all those monster ladies for season 2, and then for season 3 we get Manako and Mizuki having some strong presence, Shadow and Kamaitachi there a bit in the back too. It benefits the pace and balance of both the manga and the future season 3 so immensely because Fubuki, Tatsumaki and Psykos take a LOOONG while to be relevant during Garou's Arc… in special with all the filler the manga put in between (but all that filler is of the S-Class boys getting development and a reality check which is kinda important too lol).
Point is: the screentime Mizuki got was VERY necessary to balance things in between of all the relentless Garou fights and the boys being boys. Sure Mizuki is beautiful and sexy and all, but really EVERYONE was waiting for a new female character that was relevant, likeable, fun… and on top of everything, it's so rare to see a strong 2m tall girl in fiction in general, not even just anime. Everyone got instantly excited about her because she's exactly what we needed AND MORE. And sure, people draw p0rn of her like they do with most other popular characters, what did you expect.
"The ladies are always more sexualized-" YES, in the OPM manga, the ladies are a little more sexualized than the men –but not by much AND not during plot stuff. By that I mean that most of the so called "sexualizing the girls" happens in the covers, back covers and promotional art very exclusively, and not during the story itself. HOWEVER, a lot of the sexy men bits do happen during the story, curiously.
In the anime though, there is almost zero ladies fanservice (which makes sense since there is almost no female presence in the first 2 seasons anyway). Yet it's full of naked dudes, sometimes for a good reason, but mostly just so we can look at them being sexy and silly.
I personally don't care if the man candy and ladies fanservice is not perfectly even in Murata's manga adaptation, because there is enough of both in his work, as well as other official OPM stuff like the anime and games to bring a very nice balance in the s3xy department.
"The way the women are dressed-" Most of the background ladies are wearing skirt uniforms and shit, but all the relevant ladies primarily dress in nothing you can call "sexualized" except for maybe Tatsumaki with her strong leg game. To recall:
Lilly wears the same as the men of the Blizzard Group; Twin Tail just dresses like a jester; Mizuki is the first to show so much skin, but she's still wearing real standard competition wear for athletes. All the other sportwomen (Hornet and Swim) and martial artists (Shadow, Suiko, Lin Lin) wear standard clothes for their respective professions too. Sure we've seen Shadow wearing some, uh, ninja bikini thing under her ACTUAL work clothes, but for actual fights she's fully dressed and surprisingly not stuffed in a tiny nylon bodysuit that rips like stocking, like all the ninja men in the series do lmao.
Fubuki and Tatsumaki are, like, the only ones wearing dresses and they can because they use psychic powers anyway. Fubuki doesn't even show ANY skin, ever! She just happens to have big b00bs! Kamaitachi is the other one wearing a "skirt" but it's similar to what Japanese martial artists would wear, too.
So, again… all this sexualization we are talking about is not even happening anywhere except in Murata's covers and some promotional art. ONE is famous for treating ladies very fairly, even if Murata tries very hard to exploit the sexy out of every single of the ladies ONE creates. All these ladies have their own agenda and personality that have nothing to do with being pretty or f*ckable. In fact, in-universe, no one ever mentions if the heroines are beautiful or sexy and no one ever talks about liking them for those reasons (except for Lilly and Erika who are gay for Fubuki and Tatsumaki respectively, amazingly enough no hetero characters mention it). I think the first time we've ever seen a relevant character talking about dating another relevant character is when Suiryu told Saitama and Suiko to date (but Suiryu is the resident h0rny fuckboy of the series, if someone was going to say something so stupid for all the wrong reasons, it was going to be him).
For being an adult series, a seinen that parodies shonen tropes and all, OPM is seriously very tame in the sexy ladies department. For this series, the sexy is just a luxurious accessory, just one more little thing. It's always pretty weird when people get so angry and disappointed about a new sexy girl cover or a couple of compromising panels, like they don't know what to expect.
"He only draws that way to please the h0rny fanboys" Murata IS a h0rny fanboy himself and draws shit that appeals to him as much as he feels he’s allowed to insert in the series. Please remember he's the insane fanboy that reached up to ONE to beg him to continue One Punch Man and offered to make a manga adaptation to promote OPM.
From the moment Murata started drawing OPM, the tone of the manga was set and never changed: lots of blood and guts, comical and non-comical nudity, irreverence, sexy angles, Genos ripping his shirts off, ninjas in body suits that rip like they are nylons… people in shirts, tanktops and dresses so tight you can see all their muscles, boobs and even belly buttons whether they are men or women or otherwise… h0rny chapter covers, stupidly h0rny monsters…
Just reading the manga to the point where Genos and Mosquito Girl first appear, you know what you are in for with OPM. I don't know what some fans are expecting to see in OPM next, but I'm going to take a wild guess here and say: you should expect more of the same.
At the end of the day, the manga is Murata's work with ONE, and if he likes drawing h0rny ladies more than boys, that's how things are! This is just 2 guys with their passion project. I don't expect of them the same as if there was a bigger team with a big budget behind the series, like it happens with many games and shows. In this last case, I would be a lot stricter about all this, because with more resources you're expected to do better things.
#one punch man#captain mizuki#tornado of terror#blizzard of hell#psykos#manako opm#fubuki#tatsumaki#opm#manako#lunamaria on the phone
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
Mod: Some of these suggestions could be considered harassment, spam emails and mass reporting in particular. The main thing we can do to stop recasters is stop buying recasts. I went ahead and bolded the lines I think deserve extra attention since this is a long one. I think anon sent this one in with good intentions/love, so please be productive/kind in the replies.
Probably Extreme But I Don't Care
I’m going to be completely pragmatic here.
Does anyone know like, specifically, where Luo’s factory is? Because if so, it would only take one person being willing to take one for the team to (Mod: redacted) it to the ground. They will probably face jail time, or worse, which is unfortunate, but at this stage of things I can’t think of any other way to put a nail in the coffin for recasts.
Legal battles have gotten nowhere even for big companies like V0lks. Educating people hasn’t worked because for the majority of collectors, they only care about their own bottom line of getting the thing they want, even at the cost of destroying people’s livelihoods, and there’s no way to fix someone who’s already that broken and devoid of empathy. You can’t make someone care about human lives when they just fundamentally don’t agree that artists deserve to be compensated for their skills and time. The majority of them are as much of a lost cause as the average Qanon believer, so I no longer see value in trying to educate people. It makes no difference.
And when legal channels fail, and so do other polite means of solving a problem, what other choice is there but to riot? It is so, so clear that despite people’s energy and time, things have only gotten worse for creators, and better for bootleggers.
So it’s time to stop being nice. I’m not saying go out and attack someone with counterfeit dolls- everyone makes mistakes and even I was once given a shitty knockoff by someone well-meaning who doesn’t know the hobby well and got swindled. But the people who continue to purchase counterfeit products, who actively promote them and share them on social media? They don’t deserve to have a community. They don’t deserve to be out and ‘proud’ about hurting people. File DMCA claims on their youtube pages (one at a time, if you file multiple at once it all counts as one strike.) Report their websites to their domain registrar for promoting sale of counterfeit goods to get them taken down. Join their discord and telegram and amino communities and report them, too. Don’t be abusive and send death threats, don’t interact with them at all. Go above the problem and directly to the people who’ve platformed them and report them for promotion of illegal or counterfeit products. Send their information to the original creators, if you are able to get it, so they might pursue legal action on their own terms, especially for smaller artist dolls. When being nice fails, when education fails, when the government turns a blind eye and the law doesn’t care enough to enforce intellectual property rights, then it’s time for direct action. And if you’re one of the people actively collecting fraudulent knock-offs, then I’m sorry, but you don’t deserve to have a comfortable time in the hobby. You’re the human equivalent of a tick with even less value to the environment, and it’s time someone broke out the DEET.
If the factory is untouchable, then the only recourse is to make owning them so miserable for the people buying them that they either stop buying them, or stop posting online. Either one is fine. If they don’t have a community to talk about and share things with, if the flow of information is cut off, eventually the sales will flag. It’s unfortunate that unfucking the search results for BJDs will be a nightmare and so will taking down their hosting sites, but if enough people complain – especially those fluent in the language – eventually progress will be made on that front, and that will be the key to making these as hard to get as possible. I also recommend, for those who are familiar doing so, ordering large numbers of dolls with falsified information so that they get produced and go unsold, to hurt the company in the only place it matters. I also recommend finding their customer service information and signing them up to autodialers and spam email. Each individual can do something, and a collective effort will do even more. I don’t think we can ever fully get rid of counterfeits, but if people stop tolerating the abuse of creators and work to promote the proper information (maybe education still has a place in tandem with aggressive excommunication) it’s certainly possible to reduce the influence the counterfeiters have.
Does this sound ~extreme~? Does this sound ~harassing~? Does this sound ~abusive~? Maybe so. But answer me this, what’s more hurtful? Someone telling you that they can’t be your friend because you bought a bunch of counterfeit goods? Or an artist not being able to buy food because you bought a bunch of counterfeits of their creations? Feelings are important, but in this instance, your feelings don’t matter as much as the real damage you’re doing to other human people. They’re all “just dolls” until you stop for even one second to think about the fact that they’re made by actual human beings, and buying counterfeits 1) deprives them of the income they should get for the sale of their hand-crafted work, and 2) encourages human rights violations by exposing the employees at the bootlegger factory to all manner of nasty shit. You saw the photos, certainly, right? No one painting, sealing, or sanding had any kind of respiratory equipment. Maybe you don’t care about hurting people’s income, but do you care about fucking up someone’s lungs?
Probably not. I’d love to be proven wrong, but counterfeit collectors entrenched in that fraudulent community have already proven how they feel.
I don’t think anyone’s actually going to (Mod: redacted) down Luo’s factory, as nice as that would be. But I think this hobby has been too tolerant for too long of people who do real harm to creators, and I’m tired of seeing it. You’ll see what sparked this soon enough, probably… I lost a good friend and their shit getting recasted might’ve been the last goddamn straw. Go ahead and call me a fake baiting troll or whatever, I literally don’t care anymore. I’m just sick of this shit and I just want the people fucking up the lives of artists while claiming to Love and Support the hobby to face some fucking consequences for once instead of all the bad shit happening to the people who actually take the time to create. Fuck.
~Anonymous
13 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
mai-giusta
Ad Maiora Semper.
hauntedtotem
Ethereal Cryptid
shoesmall111
shoesmall1
patterns-of-thought
Patterns Of Thought
popniche
Pop Niche