#//I posted a MEME and it's spiraled into chaos

[twinuchiha]

Lowkey contemplating what I have caused right now jkdjskdjksjkdj

[sun-turner]

Made this like a year ago. Who knows why I always forget to post my no evil stuff until months or even years later.

[Image ID: a redraw of the Monopoly-themed draw the squad meme. All the characters are from Betsy Lee's No Evil, in their human forms. In the foreground, Paula holds a microphone with the black tezcatlipoca spiral design and points at the chaos behind her, animatedly yelling. Kitty has her hands clasped in prayer. In the background, Calamity has won the game, and is wearing sunglasses and clutching wads of money to her chest. Huey stands over her, also in sunglasses, making it rain more money. Icky stands behind them, hands over his face, bending over backwards dramatically. In a cardboard box off to one side, which is labelled "Jail" and has bars over a cut-out window, Wrip and Vinkle sit together looking unimpressed. Corn lies on the Monopoly board in the middle of all of them, eyes wide in shock. The art is by sun-turner. /End ID]

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 25/04/2024

Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: Now That's What I Call Quality! 2

Ripped by Half Pixel (@half-pixel)

Requested by Fezaki! (Request Form)

Been a while since I've covered something closer to a "meme medley", hasn't it? It's a bit of a conundrum really, the rips like Memey Hell, Rippin'! Mashin'! High Quality Grand Prix and A love letter to this wonderful community and my amazing friends are some of the most relistenable on the entire channel due to the sheer variety found within them, yet they're simultaneously very hard to write about for the purpose of this blog. I can approach these posts from a lot of different angles, be it the history of a ripper, history of a joke's presence on the channel, the unique sound of a game, a rip's relevance to the lore and goings-on of the channel at that time - all of which provide me with a lot to say, in contrast to simply saying that a rip is just a really good listen. But some of these meme medleys ARE just really good listens, ones that I recommend wholeheartedly of course, but ones that can be rather hard to turn into an interesting read. Still, Fezaki's enthusiasm for Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some in the request form is one I absolutely share, so I'll try my best to do it justice in my coverage. After all, Half Pixel made my darling Everybody's Special Course as far back as Season 1 - he's almost bound to knock it out of the park no matter what!

Then again, I suppose it is wrong of me to present this rip as if it's just like those other meme medleys, it's pretty apparent right from the start that there's something quite special about it. I mean for one, there's the track its arranging: Super Paper Mario is a game that wears its weirdness on its sleeve in every aspect including its music, to where even though Champion of Destruction is actually still playing in 4/4ths time signature, it still sounds incredibly uneasy and chaotic - a lot like The Ultimate Show as heard over in The Ultimate Whip and Nae Nae. Yet with both tracks, through the noise and chaos, a strong melody prevails throughout, which is where Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some makes its second distinction, in having the lead vocals of Childish Gambino's Bonfire be pitch-shifted to said melody. Bonfire is a classic in SiIva mashups, you can hear it as far back in Season 1 with the aforementioned Memey Hell, yet its rarely played with to the extent that it is in this rip. The song headlines the rip for about half of its playtime, with a few other rip sources complimenting it along the way: Space Jam's immediately identifiable drums, a quick Flintstones cue melodyswapped into the song's original backing instrumental, and so on, it's all incredibly seamless, yet all building up to the track's final ace up its sleeve. As the rip builds and builds, as Bonfire's vocals end and we're left with naught but the instrumental - you realize that The Ultimate Show has been playing about 20% slower than its supposed to.

Suddenly, things speed up: Chip tha Ripper's drums playing in the background start feeling louder, the vocals of Space Jam kick in for just a moment, bits of Gangnam Style and We Are Number One and MEGALOVANIA play one after another - It truly feels as if the rip begins spiraling, sort of like we saw back in my rip :) yet with far more buildup and cohesion present before things start to plummet. Yet there's a harmony to the back half's chaos althesame, much like the channel's other meme medleys - it IS an undisputed banger, just one that manages to hit far harder than it has any right to through an incredibly well done lead-in. I can't even call it a bait-and-switch, the transition between its two halves is so incredibly seamless and natural to where I cannot see the rip working nearly as well without the two parts together.

Being part of some of the first-ever rips we'd get to hear for Season 4 Episode 1, I have to wonder if the two-part structure of Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some was a move Half Pixel made deliberately for the premiere. I mean, he's no stranger to making incredibly dense rips for the channel, even helping kick off the currently-ongoing Season 8 with Nucleear Pomeranian - but given that Season 4's stated goal was to surprise the audience far more than usual, it almost feels as if Man, why does every Bleck actor gotta rap some was Half Pixel's way to lean into that philosophy. Intentional or not, the end result is amazing, it's the kind of rip that just oozes above-and-beyond personality from every corner, and acts as confident reassurance that Half Pixel has STILL got it.

[t1meslayer]

Busy with important family events over the next couple of days, and so I thought it would be good to get a day-and-date release for this Debrief on the latest entry in my Sapphic Valley series, "How You Get The Girl." Be sure to read the story before jumping in!

Did you do it? Did you read the story?

Alright, I'm trusting you. Go ahead and hit that 'Keep Reading' button you scamp.

It only seems appropriate to start this Debrief off by addressing the elephant in the room. I haven't posted anything in over a month, and "By Moonlight" came about a month after its predecessor, the conclusion to "Stone-Cold Lovers."

Work, naturally, has been a major factor.

You can see me talk about that almost two weeks ago in this Tumblr post I made about writing in a coffee shop, which came weeks after I actually started writing during a trip to a friend's house.

===

Side note:

Just wanted to take a moment and acknowledge my beautiful Haley and Emily keychains. My friend who's responsible for the affairs of one ghostly farmer named Jizzabelle (Gisabelle to the laymen) got them for me! Only appropriate after I commissioned some art of her and Abigail.

Emily was my first Stardew wife, and Haley currently holds the biggest place in my heart. They make a lovely duo!

And I'll avoid any sister-wife jokes

===

While I've had some other projects like Zine writing to take care of, work and life can't explain the full absence.

The best way I can think to explain things is that:

I had the general writer's block, and

Despite the best intentions and advice of my irl friends and online pals like @alchemicallymoon and @duelbraids, I couldn't force myself to "break" that block by just... Writing something else.

This is entirely the result of my own psychosis. I have a tendency to carefully plot things out and impose a timetable that really doesn't need to exist. When I feel the cause is righteous enough, it's hard to get around that. In this case, I knew I needed to get my poll-winning idea out after dawdling for holidays like Valentine's Day, and then I knew I only wanted to post one more story before jumping on a very special event for my upcoming 30th AO3 post.

Thus, here we are: arbitrarily forcing myself into a spiral of writer's block misery because of a silly promise on Tumblr and my own sense of ordered chaos.

At the very least, this meant it's coming out not long after my AO3 pal InsertACatchyPennameHere also emerged from the woodwork to tell me they're working on something INSPIRED by my four-person friend group farm adaptations.

Much love to them, wherever they may be.

I'll probably start writing more eclectically now that my shoulders are unweighed, but don't expect my next publication to hit until I'm finished working on teasing the big event. All you Pokemon fans better get hype!

And oh how sweet this publication feels. Between my great set of recent ceramics, the figure drawing class I've been attending, and creative writing, I've felt more fulfilled than ever.

You're here to talk about Stardew, though. So let us talk.

This idea began less with any one event as it did a desire to advance the Alexis/Haley relationship, and Haley's characterization in particular. It was always going to end with watercolor painting reference, but 2 Willow Lane was what I really wanted to dig into.

As I see it, a lot of what keeps people invested in Stardew when its comfy vibes becoming routine is the air of mystery in Eric Barone's worldbuilding. Haley and Emily's parents being some world-traveling duo who left their home in the siblings' care for who knows how long (and who knows how many times over their lifetime) really piqued my interest. So much so that the new writing challenge I set for myself in "How You Get The Girl" was crafting a particularly long set of descriptions that emphasize how overwhelming the parents' influence feels — without creating an impenetrable wall of text.

Hopefully I succeeded in that. Let me know!

I tried to include some vaguely real world-adjacent references into that description of the house, as happens with the magical-realism world of Stardew Valley. For example:

The computer sitting next to their bonsai tree is an iMac G3, the kind of old 'futuristic' tech that my dad loves!

A Speedwell refrigerator is based on even more vintage tech, the Mayflower fridge, but named after a different ship ridden by Pilgrims coming to America.

That city that the family visited in an old photograph with a "monument of arching, interlocking steel" is, of course, Paris — with the statue bookends referencing any number of statues in the Louvre.

Haley's FAD magazine could be referencing any number of publications, but Vogue is probably the closest analogue to what I imagine her reading.

Furthermore, I took some notes on describing the home's layout off of my sister's apartment building, and I asked my bestie @trybard for input on what kind of hanging plant should be used in the transitional hallway. Hanging pothos, philodendron, and spider plants were the three options provided, and my response was appropriate:

They know so much about plants.

Go bug them about it.

I drew on other friends' knowledge to help decorate the house. Specifically, I asked one of my witchiest friends what kinds of protective wards someone like Emily would leave around doorways and windows. She had... A lot of reference material.

I picked Hazel given it purportedly "protects against evil; encourages abundance and inspiration." I also picked Amethyst as one of Emily's loved gifts, one that purportedly "absorbs negative energy, promotes harmony."

My witchy friend is the same one who provided the TikTok that I referenced in my advertisement post:

Perhaps the most important thing about 2 Willow Lane was the recurring motif of Barbie's Dream House.

As a surface-level reference, I think the groundwork is clear. Blondie's love of fashion and general queen bee demeanor fits comparisons to Barbie well, and she lives in a big ol' house full of stuff. We all saw Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie last year. It's still in the cultural zeitgeist.

I'm hip with the kids.

Yet, early on I also tried to make it clear that if this is a "dream" house, it's neither Haley's nor Emily's dream. Haley is a Barbie in that stereotypical sense, but also there's much to be mined from the analogy of a sort of powerless doll in an immutable house, constrained by social obligation to her family rather than literal plastic and stickers.

The cold open of Jodi and Sam was meant to stand alone, but in execution I also think drawing Kent's absence into the conversation makes for a more thematically rich comparison to these sisters who appear to have themselves more put together.

My beta reader said this wound up being one of my stronger stories because of how all of that intertwined, which I appreciated given how down on myself I was following the whole writer's block thing.

But also.

Also.

Alexis gets to be horny. She's hitting on lonely MILFs and watching girls shake their asses to the tune of bad reality TV.

We love a buff dommy mommy farm girl in this house.

Haley is probably horny too, she just doesn't realize it yet. For now I think it's fun enough to play into her being coy about building excuses for Alexis to come over, and then getting incensed when Emily barges in on their private time meant to learn more about this farm girl she just can't get out of her head.

===

Fun fact:

Every story in this series is named after a Taylor Swift song, but I know next-to nothing about her discography. All of them are suggestions by my friend whose house I was at when starting this story — the same one who controls Gardenia on the farm.

While I went with "How You Get The Girl," her alternative suggestion was "The Man."

===

All that w|w talk aside, I also want to give Sam the loveable idiot a shoutout. Had to do a fair bit of research into how skateboards are constructed for his failed ollie, and I slipped in a reference to shitty old technology that's exclusively for my beta reader to enjoy.

I also tried doing some agricultural research to figure out how the folks at Kevin Farm could have grown cucumbers so there'd be a jar of legitimate pickles... But that was getting too in the weeds.

Insert laugh track here

Decided to just go with pickled artichoke hearts to save everyone a lot of trouble.

And where does "Kevin Farm" come from, you may be asking yourself. Or the fabulous "Kevin's Special" with its definitely not innuendo tagline.

That story will have to wait for another day, my friends.

[phatburd]

Title: The Marshal’s Court

Genre: Romantic Dramedy (In the style of Bridgerton)

Setting: The First French Empire, Napoleon’s Marshals as the central characters

Season 1, Episode 10: “The Price of Victory”

Episode Synopsis:

The season finale of The Marshal’s Court delivers on all the tension and stakes that have been building throughout the season. The battle against Prussia rages on, with personal conflicts between the Marshals playing out against the backdrop of war. Bessières faces a heart-wrenching decision between duty and his feelings for Murat. Junot’s mental collapse threatens the entire French campaign, and his fellow Marshals must decide whether to save him or leave him behind. Davout and Bernadotte’s rivalry reaches its climax, and Saint-Cyr, ever the introverted genius, calmly orchestrates a flawless military maneuver while playing his violin. Meanwhile, Eugène finally becomes useful—though no one seems to notice.

The episode concludes with a victorious but bittersweet post-battle celebration. Ney meets a mysterious woman named Ida St. Esme, a name that catches the attention of eagle-eyed fans. But the final moments are filled with tension as Bessières and Murat’s relationship hangs in painful ambiguity, and Junot faces an uncertain future. In a post-credits scene, Josephine introduces Napoleon to a man who will shake up the political landscape of Season 2.

Opening Scene: The Battle Rages On

The episode opens with the battlefield engulfed in chaos. Cannons thunder, cavalry charges sweep across the plains, and the Prussian and French forces clash violently. Napoleon stands in his command tent, observing the battle with his characteristic intensity. The tension is already high as the Marshals take their positions.

Junot, still teetering on the edge of madness, has led his troops in the wrong direction once again, threatening to leave the French flank exposed. His erratic behavior endangers the entire campaign, and Lannes, in a desperate move, charges after him.

“I’ll be right back!” Lannes yells at Napoleon, before spurring his horse forward with a small detachment. As Lannes catches up to Junot, he confronts him angrily. “What the hell are you doing? You’re going to get everyone killed!”

Junot, wild-eyed and disoriented, mumbles about duty and honor, but it’s clear he’s lost his grip on reality. Lannes, furious and heartbroken, grabs him by the collar. “You’re coming back with me, whether you like it or not.”

With a mix of force and persuasion, Lannes manages to rope Junot and his scattered troops back to the correct position. But it’s clear that Junot is a liability—and that something needs to be done.

Fan Reactions: Fans are devastated by Junot’s continued decline. The hashtag #SaveJunot trends again, with viewers expressing their sympathy for the once-great general. One popular meme shows Lannes dragging Junot back with the caption, “When your best friend is spiraling but you have a battle to win.” Fans are also bracing themselves for what they fear is the inevitable: Junot’s final breakdown.

Masséna and Augereau: The Peanut Gallery Steps In

While chaos unfolds on the battlefield, Masséna and Augereau, ever the commentators, watch from a nearby ridge. Their usual sarcastic banter is on full display as they assess the situation.

Masséna smirks as he watches Junot charge in the wrong direction, shaking his head. “That man is going to get us all killed.”

Augereau laughs. “I give it ten minutes before Lannes has him by the neck.”

They continue their running commentary on the chaos around them—Saint-Cyr playing his violin in the middle of a battle, Davout and Bernadotte nearly coming to blows, and Murat fighting off the Prussians on his own.

However, when Junot’s disastrous command leaves a hole in the French lines, the two old Marshals drop their snark and leap into action. With practiced ease, they take command of the situation and fill the gap, rallying the troops and turning the tide on that part of the battlefield.

Masséna, leading a charge, quips, “I suppose we can’t let them have all the fun.”

Augereau, cutting through Prussian soldiers like they’re nothing, adds, “Well, someone has to show these young fools how it’s done.”

Their swift and decisive action helps stabilize the French forces, showing that even though they’ve spent much of the season delivering snide commentary, Masséna and Augereau are still among the best of Napoleon’s Marshals.

Fan Reactions: Fans love seeing Masséna and Augereau back in action. Their quick banter, combined with their expert battlefield tactics, reminds viewers why they’re some of the oldest and most experienced Marshals. Memes of them cutting through the enemy with captions like “Snark and stab—Masséna and Augereau in action” flood social media. One fan tweets, “Just when you think they’re all talk, Masséna and Augereau come in and save the day.” Another meme shows them standing on the ridge, with the caption, “Masséna and Augereau: the peanut gallery with swords.”

Their ability to turn from sarcastic observers into battlefield heroes cements them as fan favorites for their wit, experience, and sheer skill in combat.

Saint-Cyr: The Violin Marshal

On another part of the battlefield, Saint-Cyr is completely in his own world. As the battle rages around him, he calmly plays his violin, seemingly oblivious to the chaos. His troops look to him for guidance, but Saint-Cyr remains focused on the music, as if conducting an orchestra rather than leading men into battle.

But when the moment arrives, Saint-Cyr snaps into action. He puts his violin aside and begins orchestrating a flawless military maneuver that traps the Prussian forces in a pincer movement. His troops, inspired by his calm leadership, execute the plan with precision, crushing the Prussian flank.

The scene is beautifully shot, with the sound of Saint-Cyr’s violin playing softly in the background as his troops carry out the perfect maneuver. It’s a moment that shows just how eccentric yet brilliant he truly is.

Fan Reactions: Fans are obsessed with Saint-Cyr’s cool, detached demeanor and his bizarre blend of artistry and military genius. Memes flood social media, with captions like, “Saint-Cyr: Plays violin, wins battles. The rest is irrelevant.” The hashtag #ViolinMarshal trends yet again, with fans praising his unique approach to warfare. One fan tweets, “Saint-Cyr just vibes while everyone else loses their minds. Iconic.”

Murat’s Fate: Bessières’ Decision

The camera cuts to Bessières, standing at the head of the Imperial Guard. His gaze is fixed on Murat, who is still surrounded by Prussian and Austrian cavalry, fighting desperately for his life. Bessières is visibly torn—his feelings for Murat clouding his judgment, but his sense of duty to Napoleon keeping him rooted in place.

Napoleon, ever watchful, approaches Bessières and observes him carefully. After a long, tense pause, Napoleon speaks. “You know, Caroline will kill me if I let Murat die. Slowly. Painfully. And Mother will find a way to kill me twice.”

The tension is drawn out as Bessières clenches his fists, clearly struggling with his emotions.

Finally, Napoleon gives the order: “Bessières, you’re up. Go get him.”

The grand cavalry charge of the Imperial Guard, led by Bessières, is one of the most visually stunning moments of the season. The Guard crashes into the enemy lines, surrounding Murat and his men, creating an opening for them to retreat. In a moment that makes Bessimu shippers scream, Murat and Bessières lock eyes across the battlefield. Murat salutes with his saber, and Bessières gives a silent nod before leading the retreat.

Fan Reactions: The Bessimu moment is everything fans hoped for and more. The hashtag #BessimuCharge trends within minutes of the episode airing, with fans dissecting every glance, every unspoken word between the two. One fan tweets, “That eye contact was EVERYTHING. Murat literally saluted his heart.” Another meme shows Murat saluting while Bessières coolly nods, captioned, “Bessières: I’m saving your life, but let’s not make a thing out of it.”

Davout vs. Bernadotte: The Final Showdown

On another part of the battlefield, the rivalry between Davout and Bernadotte finally comes to a head. As the Prussian forces close in, Bernadotte attempts to take control of a crucial flank without orders, directly undermining Davout’s authority.

“You’ve overstepped your bounds for the last time, Bernadotte,” Davout snarls, his voice icy.

Bernadotte smirks, unfazed. “You’re so obsessed with your rules and discipline. It’s going to get us all killed.”

The tension between the two Marshals threatens to boil over into violence, but before either can make a move, the Prussians launch a counterattack. In the chaos, Davout and Bernadotte are forced to put aside their feud and fight side by side. Though their rivalry remains unresolved, they manage to hold the line together, ensuring the French victory.

Fan Reactions: Fans have been eagerly awaiting the final showdown between Davout and Bernadotte, and the payoff does not disappoint. #DavoutvsBernadotte trends once again, with fans debating which Marshal truly came out on top. One fan posts, “Davout is cold as ice but Bernadotte plays the long game. This rivalry is FAR from over.” Another meme shows Davout and Bernadotte standing back-to-back in battle, captioned, “Enemies on the battlefield, frenemies in the office.”

Soult: Cooking Up Victory

While the rest of the Marshals are embroiled in the heat of battle, Soult is back at Napoleon’s command post, coordinating artillery and troop movements with his usual precision. However, Soult also has another responsibility that’s become part of his character—making sure the army is well-fed and morale stays high.

In the midst of issuing orders and overseeing battle formations, Soult also takes a moment to oversee the preparation of a makeshift feast for the troops. After all, as he famously said earlier in the season, “A well-fed army fights better.”

At one point, a young officer rushes into the command tent, breathless and panicking. “Marshal Soult, we’re running out of provisions for the men on the front lines!”

Soult raises an eyebrow but remains calm. “Don’t worry. I’ve anticipated this.” He orders a group of supply runners to distribute fresh bread and rations that he had strategically prepared the night before. Despite the chaos of war, Soult ensures the soldiers have enough food to keep their energy up, balancing logistics and military prowess with his surprising culinary foresight.

Later, as the French army begins to win the battle, Soult finally allows himself a small, satisfied smile. “Victory and a full stomach,” he mutters to himself, before turning back to his maps.

Eugène is Useful… For Once

Amid all the chaos, Eugène finally proves himself useful. While the other Marshals are preoccupied with the battle, Eugène takes charge of a logistical problem that no one else had noticed—an ammunition supply chain that had been cut off by the Prussians. Through quick thinking and decisive action, he manages to restore the flow of supplies just in time to prevent disaster.

The irony? No one in the cast seems to notice. Eugène quietly goes about his business, happy to have contributed, even if he doesn’t receive any recognition.

Fan Reactions: Fans are delighted by Eugène’s unexpected moment of competence, but they also can’t help but laugh at how none of the other characters acknowledge it. #EugèneDidSomething trends briefly, with memes poking fun at how oblivious the other Marshals are. One fan tweets, “Eugène finally proves he’s useful, and literally NO ONE notices? Classic.” Another meme shows Eugène looking proud of himself while the other Marshals continue fighting, captioned, “When you save the day but still get no respect.”

The Aftermath: The Price of Victory

The battle is won, but at great personal cost. Napoleon calls Junot to his tent, furious at the chaos he caused on the battlefield. “You’ve endangered this army, and you’ve embarrassed yourself,” Napoleon says coldly.

Junot, still disoriented but defiant, launches into a tirade. “I was your friend! I kept you fed when you had nothing! I gambled for our bread when you couldn’t afford a loaf! You would be nothing without me!”

The intensity of Junot’s rant leaves the audience—and some fans—speculating about the deeper nature of his relationship with Napoleon. The hashtag #Napjuno begins trending as fans ship the two characters, with theories about their past flooding social media. “Oh my god, they were roommates!” becomes a popular meme as fans read into Junot’s emotional outburst.

Despite Junot’s protest, Napoleon, at Lannes’ urging, puts him on indefinite leave. As Junot is led away, it’s clear that his downfall is complete, leaving fans wondering if he’ll ever return to his former glory.

Fan Reactions: Fans are devastated by Junot’s breakdown, but many are also intrigued by the unexpected tension between him and Napoleon. #Napjuno trends immediately, with fans posting theories about the possible romantic undertones of their friendship. One fan tweets, “Wait… was Junot in love with Napoleon this whole time?!” Another meme shows Junot yelling, “We were friends!” with Napoleon looking stunned, captioned, “Oh my god, they were roommates.”

Post-Battle Celebration: Murat and Bessières

At the post-battle celebration, Murat, ever the hopeless romantic, seeks out Bessières to thank him for saving his life. Murat’s admiration and affection are clear as he approaches, but Bessières, ever the man of duty, keeps his cool.

“I was following orders,” Bessières says, his voice emotionless. He turns and walks away, leaving Murat (and the audience) heartbroken and confused.

Fan Reactions: The Bessimu shippers are thrown into turmoil by this scene. Fans are torn between wanting Murat and Bessières to get together and respecting Bessières’ commitment to duty. The hashtag #BessièresWhatAreYouDoing trends as fans express their frustration with Bessières’ coldness. One fan tweets, “Murat is literally laying his heart out and Bessières just brushes him off like it’s nothing?!?” Another popular meme shows Murat watching Bessières walk away, captioned, “Bessières: I was following orders. Me: But what about your HEART?!”

Soult in the Aftermath

After the battle is won, Soult returns to the makeshift kitchen where soldiers are resting and recovering. There’s a post-battle feast underway, and though Soult’s primary role is as a Marshal, he can’t help but oversee the quality of the food being served. When he notices a young soldier looking down at his undercooked rations, Soult intervenes with a sharp but humorous quip.

“Don’t insult the troops with bad food,” Soult says, stepping in to correct the cook’s mistake. “The battle is over, but that doesn’t mean we stop caring about the details.”

Fan Reactions: Fans are delighted by Soult’s dual role as both a brilliant Marshal and the show’s culinary mastermind. Memes of Soult directing a battle on one side of the screen and overseeing a makeshift kitchen on the other flood social media, with captions like “Victory: 50% strategy, 50% bread” and “Soult: Fighting and feeding France, one battle at a time.” One fan tweets, “Soult is the only person who can win a battle AND cater the victory feast. #SoultBakes.”

The hashtag #SoultBakes trends again, with fans joking that he should have his own spinoff where he conquers both the battlefield and the kitchen.

Ney Meets Ida St. Esme

During the post-victory ball, Ney is introduced to a woman named Ida St. Esme, a name that catches the attention of certain fans. Ida is poised, confident, and clearly not intimidated by Ney’s reputation as one of Napoleon’s fiercest Marshals. The two share a brief but intriguing conversation, and fans with knowledge of Ida St. Esme from historical records perk up at the potential for a new romantic subplot.

Fan Reactions: The introduction of Ida St. Esme has certain parts of the fandom buzzing. Fans with knowledge of Ney’s historical romance immediately take to social media, with #IdaStEsme trending as viewers speculate about her role in Season 2. One fan posts, “Is this the Ida St. Esme? Ney might be getting some romance next season!”

Post-Credits Scene: Enter Talleyrand

Just when fans think the season is over, a post-credits scene introduces a game-changing new character. In a dimly lit room, Josephine stands beside Napoleon, who is pacing restlessly. A shadowy figure steps forward, and Josephine speaks. “May I introduce you to Talleyrand.”

The camera zooms in on Talleyrand, his expression unreadable, as he shakes Napoleon’s hand. The implication is clear—Talleyrand will be a major player in Season 2, and his reputation for cunning and manipulation promises a new level of intrigue.

Fan Reactions: The fandom explodes with excitement at the introduction of Talleyrand. #TalleyrandIsComing trends as fans speculate about his role as the potential antagonist of Season 2. Memes compare him to Game of Thrones’ Littlefinger, with captions like, “Talleyrand: The ultimate puppet master.” Fans are eager to see how he will disrupt the political landscape of Napoleon’s empire.

Final Fan Reactions:

The Season 1 finale leaves fans reeling. The emotional weight of Junot’s breakdown, the tension between Murat and Bessières, and the introduction of Talleyrand have viewers buzzing with anticipation for Season 2. Fan theories flood social media, with speculation about how the political and personal dynamics will shift in the next season. #Bessimu, #Napjuno, and #TalleyrandIsComing dominate the conversation as fans eagerly await the return of The Marshal’s Court.

And with that, Season 1 of The Marshal’s Court comes to a close—victory on the battlefield, but turmoil in the hearts of the Marshals. Fans are left with more questions than answers, and Season 2 promises even greater stakes, more intrigue, and deeper emotional conflict.

No teasers for the next episode, but the fandom is already theorizing wildly about what Season 2 will bring!

[ilyuu-archive]

hiatus.

(dw you didn’t read that wrong,,, can you tell this is me trying to lighten the mood before i dampen it?)

that’s right folks. in bold (and in a pretty rainbow imo), i’m going to take something of a hiatus, or, at the very least, a semi one.

meaning i’ll fade form the surface of the earth and never come back………….

alright, alright, i’m kidding. it’s mainly because i feel like my mind is spiraling down in a bad place every time i open this app, relying way too much on it to the point that it’s unhealthy. really. it’s almost ridiculous. those few past days when i did leave the app alone, a week or two ago, for the lack of a better word, felt relieving to me and i also felt bad for feeling that way - do you see the pattern here?

that and i feel bad every single time that another day goes by and i’ve yet to post something for all of you - a drabble, or one of those smau snippets - and i know i shouldn’t be, as i’m not obligated to, like writing on here is as much as a choice as anything else, but the feeling stays and it gets only worse from there on.

to the point that, many times, i was very, very tempted to delete this blog altogether and add another one to bite the dust.

there’s also the recent milestone that i’ve reached, all 10000000000000 of you here and, at first, i was very happy about it. it was the highlight of my day until it faded and i was left with the question of “what now?” i don’t feel like writing as much as i used to, and every thing i put out there seems mediocre compared to everything else i see. in a way, or maybe it’s exactly that, i have no reason to try and keep up on this anymore and felt a bit like a wanderer (no pun intended, hehe) with every day that passes.

all in all, i feel, and excuse me for the language, like shit. everything just feels wrong to me while feeling like i could’ve done more.

so, for an indefinite amount of time, i’ll take some time off for myself. i’ll be lurking around here and there though, answering some asks (because it’s still summer break for me and what the heck am i supposed to do for the next two weeks?) but just less.

and to all my moots, thank you - this almost sounds like a goodbye and, i promise you, it’s not. thank you for making me feel better every time i interact with any of you, doesn’t matter what, it makes me happy enough just to be talking to you, really. it makes me happy knowing that you’re feeling alright, it makes me happy knowing that you have a path ahead of you, it makes me happy seeing memes, drabbles, and a whole lot of others things in my inbox - it makes me happy waking up in the morning and seeing all the chaos you make on my dash, and that i was able to meet and talk to you all. i’m just sorry i wasn’t able to reciprocate it all as much as i could’ve.

and so, take care! i love you all so very much! <3

[sugareey-makes-stuff]

Hey Krissy! Love reading your answers,, how about 28 and 60 for the ask game please? Thank you!

Hi CBG! These are some really good ones you chose! Here ya are:

28: What’s your biggest “what if”? Okay, something I've been unlocking in my mental health journey has been pausing to take a look at the "what ifs" because these can easily turn into negative thoughts, which can lead to an anxiety spiral and a big ball of chaos. I think that's what we've had ingrained in us as humans, so definitely easier said than done to undo all of that negative and uncertain thinking (because there's peer pressure, Adulting, trying to be good at things, not letting others down, etc.). Anyway, it's a lot to put one's shoulders. So, if I'm going with how things are now, as in the "it is what it is" phase, and I'm coming from a positive PoV, my biggest " what if" would be: What if I can get my spooky and geeky passion projects relaunched/off the ground? I have a couple of Big Things I've been trying to work on for a few years, but the timing never worked out. One of the reasons being that I was so busy as a whole and never had the time to stop and pause. But even if RL has been terrible this year, I've had the chance to ask for help to request for more me time so I could make my passion projects part of my self care. It's now part of my routine as a non-negotiable to do something related to my personal art every day, because that's just how I roll. Art's a part of me, and I think pretty much anyone who knows or does meet me can see and feel those vibes. I'm currently working on getting my side art biz relaunched for next year, and I'm finally moving somewhere with it! I'm taking baby steps, and I don't have a hard deadline, but I think I can see the new vision for what I want to do. I'm actually trying to make new content to update my portofolio, and October has been a great motivator for that so far. I've also been wanting to launch an origami fortune cookie lettering/photo passion project for fun, filled with sarcastic and sweary lettering. I think if I can do the first thing above, I can also do this one. Who knows, it might open a new door!

60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? Yes, there is! I've got bits of art above my desk that have splashes of pinks, but also, I have hot pink post-its for reminders on hand. And I have 2 Ava's Demon (web comic) tarot card displays perched on a wall shelf that's all in pink (because Ava and her demon Wraithia know how to flaunt the pink with oranges and red).

Thanks for the asks!

__ Previously asked: 3, 9 and 42 and 78, 83 and 91 Want to know more about me? Send more q's my way from the Let's Get Personal ask meme!

[inaturalist-propaganda]

absolutely hilarious

They hid another one of my posts and I only discover this while copying text for the email I'm writing to CAOS!

Archived link.

= = =

May 30, 2023, 10:16pm 9

Astra_the_dragon said:

I will note that slow mode and temporary closing of threads is not a punishment – it is buying time and preventing a thread from spiraling into further chaos when people get heated. it’s the right thing to do, assuming that when the dust clears, decisive action is taken.

The problem is that the thread was only put into slow mode, and then later closed, after the tension had already ended and the conversation moved on. Both times, the “negativity” was already over.

The only reason it became “negative” once more is because yet another post came through misgendering me, with the staff liking that post rather than saying a simple, “Hey, you were asked to stop, so stop.”.

Putting the thread in slow mode and then closing it even after the conversation had moved on was punishing us for calling out bigotry, whether it was purposefully intended that way or not.

The last few posts before the thread was closed was talking about ways to try out pronouns. No one was being mean or getting heated.

And the fact that us calling out the bigotry in the most civil way possible for what we’re reacting to being treated as worse than the bigotry itself? Inexcusable.

Calling someone transmisic when they’re purposefully misgendering you is not name calling, and treating both sides as though we’re equally at fault and equally doing harm is just victim blaming.

[ID: The meme from the show Gravity Falls of Dipper looking at a piece of paper, which has now been edited to be blank, saying, “Woah.”. The paper has been edited to read, “In all cases, be respectful to every person here, whether LGBTQIA+ or ally.”.

Dipper then looks up at someone offscreen, and continues, “This is worthless!”.

His hat has been edited to now be in the colors of the trans and nonbinary solidarity flag, with stripes of purple, black, blue, pink, yellow, white, yellow, pink, blue, black, and purple.

End ID.]

It’s not enough to just say “if someone asks you to refer to them in a certain way, please respect that choice” while liking the post where someone continues to misgender me and defends doing so, without doing anything to remove these bigoted posts.

If you want to say the posts should be left up for posterity and as a learning opportunity, you can quote them in a new post that says saying things like that are not okay.

The fact that four normal users had to intervene and defend me while the staff did nothing but punish everyone after the conversation was already over is not okay. The fact that all the staff and mods who interacted here equated both sides and tone policed is not okay.

Respecting trans people’s pronouns is not difficult, and it is the absolute bare minimum required to be a trans ally.

With the reaction the staff/mods gave here, it honestly would have been better if you’d done nothing. Normal users had already stepped in to the correct the misgendering and defend me and other trans people, all the staff and mods did was tone police, victim blame, acting like responding with annoyance to purposeful misgendering is “too extreme” even though we were all being perfectly civil. Trust me, I could have been swearing up a storm and throwing around insults but I didn’t. Neither did anyone else.

It’s almost Pride month.

No one expects people to be perfect on the first try but you do have to listen when you’re told that what you’re doing is harmful. Everyone here is assumedly an adult, many of you probably older than I am, and you should know by now that “I don’t care who started it” just punishes the victim.

Next time something like this happens, the posts misgendering the other user (or even just a hypothetical person) need to be removed, and a post by a mod saying “Misgendering of any kind will not be tolerated”. It’s that simple. That’s all you had to do.

And if you’re going to shut the thread again now because we’re being “too negative” that’s just going to prove you don’t actually want to support trans people, you just say it for show. Supporting trans people means shutting down misgendering, not shutting down a thread when the conversation has already moved on and we’re helping eachother try out new pronouns :|

I would have enjoyed being featured on iNat for Pride month but until the staff/mods actually put in the effort to recognize bigotry when it’s staring them in the face and learn to respond accordingly rather than pretending all sides in every conflict are equally at fault and equally harmful, that’s not going to happen. I’ve already got my profile that anyone can read.

Letting iNat show me off to show how inclusive the site is when they won’t even stop someone from misgendering me is just…no. iNaturalist isn’t inclusive just because the userbase is diverse, not when someone misgenders me and the corrections to this misgendering are treated as worse than the misgendering in the first place.

If you want iNaturalist to actually be Inclusive™ and welcoming to Queer people, including trans people, including nonbinary people, including nonbinary people who use pronouns you don’t like or understand then an apology needs to be made, the situation has to be brought to more people’s attention isntead of swept under the rug (you don’t have to use our names, just say “one user” “a trans user” ect.), you (general you) need to explain why your response was wrong so you can show that you actually understand what you did wrong, then you have to do better.

It’s 2023. Anti-trans legislation is being passed in the USA that’s literally making being trans punishable by death. Removing two posts that misgender a trans user after multiple normal users who have zero power have spoken up in correction and defense is not asking anything but the bare minimum.

The iNaturalist staff need to decide whether they think purposeful misgendering is a simple “difference of opinion”, or hate speech. And if you decide it’s simply a matter of opinion, then you better make it clear that you don’t have trans users’ sides and the rainbow on the icon is just as shallow as any other corporate pridewashing for June.

Do not hide or remove these responses just because they’re “too negative”. If you aren’t willing to be told what you’re doing wrong, or admit that you’ve done wrong, you will never be able to do anything right.

Anyways I made free icons for allies to use anywhere you want. They’re public domain because I made them and I hate capitalism and I say so. You can download them here:

"https://archive.org/details/proud-ally-diagonal-flag-pins-and-icons"

and request more flags / specific labels to ally with by PMing me here or just commenting on the web archive page if you have an account. You can buy a pre-made pin from my Threadless shop too, they’ll appear here when I’m done uploading them (which will take half an hour probably)

= = =

Go ahead and explain to me what part of this post is more offensive, aggressive, or inappriate than purposefully misgendering trans people when you know it's wrong the week before Pride month.

[shoggoth-the-bitch]

Scavengers

I have 10 episodes left, have wasted my whole day, and have work in 7 hours. Let's do this.

Who is this? What's happin-

Oh? "Private contemplation" you say? You suddenly have my full attention. Hold on, I have to check something on Ao3...

I'm disappointed in this fandom. Oh well, let me just...

Alright, where was I?

"The tunnels do have a tendency to echo." Oh my god! How many times did it come up do you wonder?!

Wait! They said they have a cult or something? Is this them?

"First name basis with the profits..." I'm sorry, they're profits?! That's hilarious, actually! Also, Jon being a smartass here is actually really funny to me.

They can sleep here. That would make me so happy.

Wait? Okay, I've seen some stuff for TMAGP (spoilers) and I know Celia apparently comes back in that series and she's the girl who talked to Martin in episode 100. The one with the bad ghost story and who he gave money for coffee. I'm sure it will come up later in the episode but honestly an A+ choice on the writer's part.

Oh, maybe you shouldn't tell them this part?!

Oh? They know each other? From therapy? Can't imagine she has the best mental image of Jon then?

Yeah, was wondering when the- Oh god the tape recorders refuse to be told no today... Stop acting like this is Jon's fault!

I was gonna make a quip of "Only seven people, you didn't even get one from each fear?" but apparently they lost a bunch of people and that is very sad actually.

The implication that the tape recorders seem to like Martin is interesting. It reminds me of Jon saying that the Eye is fond of him a few episodes back. I can't help but wonder if that's because the Eye finds him particularly interesting or capable or if it more because Jon loves him and thus the Eye kind of loves him too?

I'm not sure why but the concept of something eldritch and vastly beyond human comprehension being fascinated and possibly in love with a human is actually kind of scary to me in a way. Like, I made a post forever ago about fan translation of Uzumaki, where the characters said something to the effect of "It's like the Spiral is in love with you." and that had fundamentally changed the story and it perspective for me at the time. Because something that thrives on fear and chaos simply can not express love in a way that's human or even really safe to interact with. Case in point, Jon is one of the Eye's favorite humans and look at everything it's put him through so far.

This is all to say, if that is the direction that the story is going and the Eye is actually in love with Martin to come extent then all I can really think is "Oh god no."

Anyway, unpause.

Yes, thank you! Stop being blaming Jon for this shit!

A convenient fear that's a never ending supermarket? What fear would that even be? Like, I've worked in customer service so I guess that would be a constant and unending nightmare for me to have to go back to but interesting that it might have been enough of an issue for it to have it's own place at the end of the world.

Wait, yeah, where is the Admiral! He's just hanging out in a Hunt domain, I thought those were just memes! I'm actually really sad about that!

More of the tape recorders following Martin then... Okay, Melanie, you don't gotta be mean... Melanie, you were always this way...

Your therapist thinks your the chosen one. Weird...

Ah, that's cute...

"One of the profits chosen to walk the end time unscathed," and "the anti-christ's plus one." Aren't you two just a pair?

Yes, fantastic question! How?!

A Spiral maze? Of course a therapist would fear madness.

Gosh, that's awful! So they just explained the fears to these people and they took it in a religious way. Oh, I hate the thought of that actually! Like, what happens if you start to worship after the fact? Can you become a chosen of the fears after they've already won, I wonder?

Melanie, you lied to them, I'm guessing? Damn, okay. I'm guessing it gave them at least a little hope? That's good I guess? Yeah, this doesn't seem great.

Oh, Melanie, you are tragically sweet. Martin, you are also tragically sweet. I wish you both the best.

Okay, this is a hard conversion... Daisy, I miss you still. Basira too!

"Careful of Helen." She says. You don't say hon? Yeah, don't worry about that actually.

Yeah, I liked her too... Okay, Martin you can't just drop "Jon killed her" like that on someone and give literally no warning. Pace yourself bud!

I would argue that- I am very curious who Aaron is?

Uh? This person sounded a lot like Helen for a second and I almost went "Oh god no!"

Fair enough...

Hello Aaron? I don't know if I like you but okay... Sorry, hon, no gods of hope.

"What do you know about poetry?" Well he is dating a poet... "Nightmare Strider." That's a fun title-

"I do not want a poem." Damn Jon. Why is everyone in this hellscape either tragic or just mean?

Jesus Jon, you're becoming way more of a dick?

There was a lot to take in from that episode. Like, wow. Melanie and Georgie are profits, Jon is a prickly disaster, me wondering if the Eye is overly obsessed with Martin or if I'm just interpreting the series wrong, I have another new fic to read, just wow...

[missggullet]

@among-the-embers How could I be a genius when you come up such a massive hilarious flex on me love, this is absolutely bonkers. I love it in every. possible. aspect. This deserve wholeheartedly its own post >:)

I'm sorry yall but the mere idea of Hecate being mistaken for a goddamn cryptid whilst minding her own business in the woods of Cackle's for means of a traditional ritual is extremely amusing but you know what roll me up to my grave even more? The Spell Science team, Algernon and Geraldine and Dardanelle stumbling upon Miss Hardbroom, channeling the wholesomeness of Steve Irwin patron saint of all fauna lovers and the disorderly, chaotic and hysterical Ghost Hunters headlong into a full-fledged investigation of the unknown. Going full Buzzfeed Unsolved but add some boomers into it. I mean witches aren't supposed to be believe in ghosts, spirits and the likes but please

You have Mr Algernon Rowan-Webb, an open-minded and knowledgeable man with a sharp humor and even sharper sass when times are dire in the wilderness. He's like a Fox Mulder he really wants to believe guys and he absolutely is in love with nature and all the strange and u discovered mysteries it could unfold to him. Dude covet the idea of mythical beasts and disembodied voices lingering. The man is the most cherishable of wizards! He loves some stroll in the woods as a treat. And some flies!

Mr Dardanelle Daisy, the ever so enthousiastic genius wizard with a streak of adorable and forgivable clumsiness. A vanguard of modern witching of his own time who transform into a sponge in the face of science, a lifetime of experimentations, inventions and love put into all of it! He's a major introvert but you can really lean on him. You bet he will be a true believer and Boogara once he will be we presented with solid evidences of magic existing beyond the Veil. He thinks spirit boxes and ovulus aren't so reliable so he will build BETTER!

Then you have Miss Gullet and she is your typical Shane Madej, a fuckweed skeptic set on cold hard logic, graceful dismissal and science-based facts who doesn't cower before any ghouls or spooky stuff at the exception of the local occult cryptid herself Miss Hardbroom the most. Employers are scary to her. She says she doesn't believe in the supernatural to appear tough. But she's more of a scaredy-cat and worrywart than everyone else. Satan himself avoid that woman because they dated in Eastenders... Algernon is the goat because he and Mr Daisy handed her the moniker “Miss Ghoulette” out of spite. And because bros will be bros! ;)

The three of them enjoyes enjoy adventures which end up in the certain evidence that the supernatural to be sought for, but not an half-assed lecture on professional conduct from Ada Cackle who find it all too amusing to put heart in it.

Okay, but Hecate in the woods doing a ritual and being mistaken for a cryptid? My favorite thing literally ever. Can you imagine the spell science team pulling a “Steve Irwin meets Ghost Hunters” type of investigation?

@missggullet, you are a genius, and I need this content immediately.

[rainbow-string-tied-me-to-you]

Masterlist of my haylor clownery

Note: PLEASE TAKE EVERYTHING YOU READ WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. These are all SPECULATIONS, lovelies. I'm just having fun so if you're just gonna send hate, get out. If you don't like haylor then don't read it. It's that simple. Hope you guys enjoy!!

Lyric Parallels:

Cruel Summer/Wonderland

This is me trying/Death by a thousand cuts

Half a world away/Multiple songs from folklore & 1989

This love/the 1

Stockholm syndrome/...Ready for it

Lights up/the 1

Tim McGraw/Adore you

Adore you/Don't blame me

I knew you were trouble intro/cardigan bridge

Hoax/Death by a thousand cuts

Death by a thousand cuts/The 1

Illicit Affairs/Death by a thousand cuts

False God/Wonderland

This is me trying/I don't wanna live forever

Afterglow/Exile/From the dining table

New Romantics/Fine Line

From the dining table/afterglow/fine line/'tis the damn season

'Tis the damn season/cardigan/this love

Evermore/Out of the woods

Sign of the times & happiness

What makes you beautiful/Begin Again

Sunflower Vol. 6/Gold rush parallels but it's an edit

Wildest dreams/Cruel summer

She/Wildest dreams

How you get the girl/Maroon

Not lyrics but still parallels: 1

Kinda (not really) in-depth analysis/theory of songs:

Daylight

Style & Cruel Summer are related

Illicit affairs & all you had to do was stay connections

Cruel Summer & Illicit affairs are a two-part story

My dumbass clowning over Me!

Style & Death by a thousand cuts

Don't blame me/Death by a thousand cuts

Clowning over Dorothea & 'Tis the damn season

Sign of the times & happiness

TTPD:

Guilty as Sin? is about Harry Styles

Down Bad has to be about HS

Parallels of Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus with multiple songs from Taylor and HS

Imaginations/Thoughts 'cause I'm sad and I'm a whore to emotional pain:

To be so lonely, illicit affairs, & falling

'Tis the damn season makes me feel things

Peter leaving Wendy

The 1 & I wish you would (Spiraling over haylor)

All you had to do was stay live performance & ...ready for it music video parallels

So it goes... & the haylor car

Bad edits, like really bad:

If I could fly

Exile with Harry's boobies

Evermore/I wish you would

Random crap/drama:

William Bowery (1)//(2)

Cardigan & Right where you left me meme

Ranting about ????

Haylor at Grammys

Right where you left me is such a banger that it made me want to bang my head against the wall for how much pain that song caused me

Sunflower Vol. 6/Gold rush parallels but it's an edit

That one picture where Woman was inspired from

Probably the most heartbreaking edit video I've seen

Me clowning on other people posts how some of Taylor's old music can be connected to haylor

Losing my mind over this edit lol

Bad Habits by Steve Lacey playing in the bg (Grammys 2023)

What I say to anti haylor trolls being stupid and lurking on the haylor tag (this is for the people who are antis and decided to lurk on my posts and decided to create chaos and sht) (1) (2) (3)

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Sunday, December 11

Buffy: What are you doing here? Willow: What are you doing here? Buffy: Well, I'm patrolling! Willow: Buffy, you're sick. Buffy: No, I feel fine. I mean, I'm... the world's spinning a little bit, but I like it, it's kinda like a ride. Cordelia: Half the school's out with this flu. It's a serious deal, Buffy. We're all concerned about how gross you look. Buffy: I'm touched. Really. But I have work to do. Willow: Buffy, come on, one night of rest is not gonna kill you. Buffy: No, but it might kill somebody else.

~~Killed by Death~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Proč by měla? (Czech langauge, NR) by Twinny

A Friendly Visit (Willow/Tara, G) by Bl4ckHunter

The Powers Convene (Faith, G) by dwtlc

Fringe (Buffy/Faith, E) by watcherless

You Make It Feel Like Christmas (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by mcgnagallsarmy

All I Want For Christmas (Buffy/Spike, G) by PaganRose

Lovers Wish (Buffy/Spike, R) by honeygirl51885

And You Don't Even Need to Wrap It. (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Slaymesoftly

Ties to the World (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

Christmas Through the Seasons (Buffy/Spike, PG) by Slaymesoftly

[Chaptered Fiction]

Faith Joan Winchester, Chapter 2 (Crossover with Supernatural, M) by dwtlc

50 Years Later, Chapter 2 (Crossover with Twilight, M) by dwtlc

Hell Is Just the Beginning, Chapter 6 (Crossover with Twilight, T) by dwtlc

Perchance to Dream a Memory, Chapter 2 (Crossover with Harry Potter, T) by dwtlc

Sleigh Fest 06, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Faith, T) by QuillBard

Untitled Alt Universe Spuffy Fic, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by isthisdystopia88

First Six Months of Love, Chapter 5 (Giles/Jenny, G) by calendiles

He Slays Monsters, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Faith, E) by BeatriceEveryTuesday

Keeping Up With the Scoobies, Chapter 18 (Buffy/Spike, T) by Takara Phoenix

Seph, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, R) by sweetprincipale

Damage Case, Chapter 24 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Axell

It's Easy Time, Until It's Not, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, AO) by hulettwyo

She came back wrong, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Desicat

Shaping Trust, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by Desicat

Hold My Hand Even Though I'm a Sinner!, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by CheekyKitten

Not Back to the Future Rules, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Lady Emma

Buffy Gets Shanshu-ed, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Desicat

The Squib, Chapter 3 (Crossover with Harry Potter, FR7) by Sharie

Echoes of Beljoxa, Chapter 21 (Spike/Buffy, 18+) by myrabeth

[Images, Audio & Video]

Fanvid: D̶a̶r̶k̶ Willow - Such Small Hands (A fanvideo exploring Willow downward spiral, and then healing following Tara's death) by sapphic-sunshine

Artwork:[season 1 poster] by Intelligeou

Fanvid: Spike - My Favourite Game by Double_Dutchess

Artwork:Buffy x Clary (Small package, whole lotta punch!) by lariablog

Meme: Buffy the Vampire Slayer as tumblr text posts 23/? by layer-of-slayers

Gifset:Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 6x03 - “After Life” by slayerdaily

Gifset:Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) by bangelgifs

Gifset:As daft a notion as “Soulful Spike the Killer” is... by spikedaily

Video: [Longplay] - Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Game Boy Color by phoenix1291

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Metal Cover 2022 by ProductionRJAllmusicsoundyoutube

Video: Lego Buffy - You Are The Chosen One - Blender Animation by Trevor Carlee

Video: Faith Lehane - High Infidelity (BtVS) by ERS Fan Videos

Video:Oh no - Buffy Summers by Luna05

Video:Angel, Wesley, & Cordelia - See You Again by SlayerVid

Video:We were lied to [Chaos Bleeds Let's Play] by Game Grumps

[Reviews & Recaps]

Slayer Sunday-Fear Itself by Jane Talks Reel

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER S3 EP14 (REACTION) - PREPARATION PREPARATION PREPARATION by CLC Reacts

Buffy The Vampire Slayer REACTION | Season 3, Episode 16: Doppelgangland by JayPeaKay

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Talk || s5e19 "Tough Love" by alley box.

GILESSSSS - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reaction - 6x04 - Flooded by ThatLexiCrowd

[Fandom Discussions]

[thoughts on 7x01] by wikiangela

[types of love] by gh-0-stcup

[gender in Life Serial] by summrsbuffy

[btvs headcanons] by enbiosaur and patchouli-dreams-forever

[Ethan Rayne in Band Candy] by neurodivergentdisaster

[Jenny Calendar ask] by we-pay-for-everything

BB's Top 50 Most Memorable Scenes in The Buffyverse - Redux (Week 11) by multiple authors

I've Got A Theory: The third prequel book'll be about Giles by JamesTheIceQueen

Top 10 episodes? by multiple authors

How did The Beast die exactly and was there a point to killing Lilah? by multiple authors

Jasmine's earth form by multiple authors

Seeing Connor and Kate differently on rewatches by multiple authors

Let’s be fair-s4/s5/s7 slight spoilers by multiple authors

Is this a plot hole? by multiple authors

Scenes you wished you'd seen? (See what I did there?) by multiple authors

Do you think Willow genuinely believed they saved Buffy from a hell dimension? by multiple authors

POLL: You either hate or love the musical episode which one are you by multiple authors

Just finished watching BtVS/AtS and have a few important questions by multiple authors

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

PUBLICATION: Blake Harrison: ‘Buffy is the best show ever made’ via The Times

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

[artist-in-space]

Memento Mori

I was here, when the channel started. I was sent an ask that was surprised at Ethan and Mark’s twitter bios, and when they showed the suits and spirals and the timer for one year. For the chant Unus Annus, for the community that banded together in shared hashtags and posts, memes and creations.

I fell out of some videos. They weren’t always my cup of tea. I obsessed over others, and talked about them a lot. I created, I drew. I made. I watched, I shared.  

And then, somewhere in the middle, I endured, because 2020 was a test of pain and healing. 

As November 14 neared, I realized I fell in love. In the routine, in the chaos, in washing dishes and laughing about the backlog of videos that I still needed to watch for Unus Annus. I was so in love with creating that I pushed myself to do so, despite being burnt out, that I made pieces that evolved my art to levels my 10 year old would have never realized I would ever do. 

I cried, earlier. Realizing the there was a time when I fell out of love, got disheartened at myself and the world, of what I created before that gap and what I could do now. I set aside a whole day for this goodbye, and I just never realized that the who I am today is vastly different from who I was, yet more understanding of myself. 

You don’t know how much it means to me, to see people look at Mark and Ethan stimming or being haphazard, and say you’re okay. To see Unus Annus make content everyday despite quarantine, no matter how random or bad or good or great, because it’s worth it. That every day is a new day. 

Mark, Ethan, Amy and the editors’ content of Unus Annus was inspiration to create, the aesthetic and theme a reminder, but the community made it alive. Even if the content will go away, you made me live in 2020. 

You don’t know how much that means to me.

[bluewinnerangel]

Fibonacci is a Larry. I dont make the rules.

I guess my twitter yelling yesterday serves as a pretty good summary of what I’m about to go into so here’s that:

But I want write this out using actual words. Because I’m having trouble processing this. And yes I’m once again going to meme the crap out of it because it’s the only way to cope with any of this. Some dumbed-down options what can be going on:

Coincidoink #2836996328

Louis was made aware of this phenomenon, thought “this is one hell of a larry” and went lol guys have fun spiraling with a fibonacci spiral

They both have been referring to the Golden Ratio and its symbolism for a while and its gone unnoticed

This is just scratching the surface, one of many ways they’re using symbolisms for, I don’t know what for, things infinitely looping? how there’s beauty in the structured chaos? Why don’t you guys throw in some more David Lynch fuckery, is olivia even a person, what even is a wall, wooshwoosh we’re only getting older baby and they’re driving me crazy.

So Louis put a Fibonacci spiral in his latest 369 merch:

IM PUTTING A CUT IN BECAUSE IM ANNOYING PEOPLE WITH LONG POSTS IM SORRY

Which, for those who don’t know, the Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers where a number is found by adding up the two numbers before it. Starting with 0 and 1, the sequence goes 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so forth.

While we’re here, it can also be tied in with the 369 code he’s been using, although nobody knows what it means to him or why he’s using it so much now, something very interesting happens when you create the fibonacci sequence starting with 3 instead: it infinitely loops around 3′s, 6′s, and 9′s (x)

Anyway, the numbers of a fibonacci sequence together create a spiral

And this keeps spiraling like that (JUST LIKE ME AND MY LARRYING), and applying maths (not even once) to that creates a ratio called φ, or phi, or The Golden Ratio, and to quote some random something on the internet: 

Over the centuries, a great deal of lore has built up around phi, such as the idea that it represents perfect beauty or is uniquely found throughout nature. 

And there’s one dipshit I can think of that sings about beautiful things being Golden (as I can think of a bunch more artists too, but eh)

Then we have its constant, which is 1.618, 16 and 18, you can’t make this shit up even if you tried.

Fibonacci numbers appear everywhere in nature. A very common and usually first in line to be used as an example being sunflowers, that have their seeds arranged in a Fibonacci spiral

And then of course why not there is this one 28-boop-dickhead going around singing about sunflowers. I unhinged about Sunflower Vol 6 the other day, among other things making the point that midway through the song there’s a new start, a new cycle if you will, consistent with loops and starting over and over again and how there’s beauty in it yadayadayada.

Then another really common fibonacci thing in nature is bees. Bees. Basically, if you follow the inheritance pattern of bees it follows the fibonacci sequence (here’s a cute presentation about that) So bzz bzz mfer.

But, fibonacci comes back everywhere in nature and beauty, relatively-easy-to-grasp examples being pine cones, flower pedals, pineapples, bananas and strawberries, and to divert from plants also nautilus shells, DNA, tornados, the god damn galaxy (I feel like I’m just naming random things now), and as a standard/measurement of beauty in humans, in artwork, in basically everything. It’s an order in nature. It’s a code of life in a way. Don’t ask me why they might be doing this, I got no clue, but you can easily interpret this as something positive and beautiful for sure. 

It would be fun to find more examples of this in their works, but for now have this meme again:

...it’s just 2 bro’s chilling in a hottub possibly referencing the same things over and over and over and over again.

[puppypeter]

These are all dark fics, READ THE TAGS before reading the fics. It is your responsibility to check whether what you are about to read is something that you can stomach. While most of these fics are based around trauma, recovery etc many feature triggering scenes or flashbacks as well as darker themes. Please be safe and don’t read them if they can be triggering for you! Proceed with caution! Most of them are Hydra Trash, but still not just the ugly bits as I like there to be a plot. Hiding them below the cut:

between scylla and charybdis | 21590 words

Sam Wilson has been witness to a lot of things he wishes he could unsee. Civilian families shot dead in their cars because of miscommunications at checkpoints. Riley’s body spiralling to the ground in a smoke-plumed plummet. His own face in his bathroom mirror after waking up hung-over as hell at two in the afternoon, the day after the anniversary of Riley’s death, year after year after year.

And now, in an abandoned bunker on the outskirts of Boston, a seemingly unremarkable manila folder at the bottom of a filing cabinet.

Berceuse | 10730 words

There are strange, new things Bucky needs from Steve.

Dreamers Often Lie | 11040 words

As far as Bucky remembers, sex is something that is painful and terrifying if you wake up while it's happening. As the Asset, sleeping through sex was a rare treat. When Steve lets Bucky know he's interested in a sexual relationship, what Steve doesn't know is that they have fundamentally different ideas of what that entails.

despite the threatening sky and the shuddering earth (they remained) | 71532 words

“They really didn’t want the mask to come off.” Hill thumbed through the scans, and pulled out a film that she then handed over to Sam, face mostly expressionless but for the flat line of her pursed lips.

Sam accepted the film and held it up to the light, angling so both he and Steve could see it, squinting at the outline of the Winter Soldier’s skull, and the blips of unnatural white that showed up, God, in his brain, not to mention about half his teeth, plus the mask, with its thin protrusions—

“Those are pins,” Steve realized. He looked over at Hill. “The mask—it’s nailed to his face.”

Hill’s face was as unmoved as ever. “Like I said. They really didn’t want it coming off.”

Fire And Water For Your Love | 77084 words

When the Avengers investigate an abandoned HYDRA base on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., they unexpectedly encounter a dark-haired man with a torn metal arm, who leads them to an even more shocking discovery deeper inside the base. The Avengers must reconcile what they have found with the lies S.H.I.E.L.D. has been telling for decades.

Give An Inch | 5070 words

The Captain has a warm smile and clear, open eyes. The Soldier knows these are tricks. He's fallen for them before and he won't do it again.

Humans As Gods | 4818 words

"HYDRA's scientists had been delighted to find their serum-reversal procedure had worked. Their jubilation was dampened by the discovery that Steve's smaller self might no longer be Captain America-sized but was still 100% Steve Rogers, and Steve Rogers was now mad enough to spit nails. A minor oversight in the design of the containment area meant that smaller-Steve had simply wriggled out of the now ridiculously-oversized restraints like an angry ferret escaping a paper bag, and punched the nearest technician in the nuts.

Chaos ensued."

HYDRA scientists successfully de-serum Captain America, only to discover that they are utterly unprepared for Steve Rogers. Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier follows his instructions to the letter. This works out just great.

The Only One That Needs To Know | 6571 words

Bucky can't control his body. He can only control what secrets he keeps.

I Was Wearing My Blue Coat | 11503 words

Following exposure of his past as the Winter Soldier, anonymous postings of explicit video footage, 63 charges of murder and the wrath of the Internet, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes finally steps into the limelight and tells his story to Zenat Patel of the New York Times.

Compliance Will Be Rewarded | 4767 words

Someone told him once: "Compliance will be rewarded," and he remembers pressing his head against a man’s leg in open supplication. He remembers hands in his hair, and a gentle grip on the back of his neck. He remembers a man telling him "so good, so good for me aren't you?" And he remembers nodding his head in a desperate attempt to be exactly as good as he was supposed to be.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bucky Barnes is physically free from Hydra, but the hold on his mind lingers still. All he wants is to go home, and he'll do anything he can to get there.

To Burn Your Kingdom Down | 12370 words

The Avengers go after a Hydra splinter cell with a nasty habit of brutalizing their prisoners. Steve has some ugly history with them, and when a rescue mission gone wrong leaves him and Sam in enemy hands, the situation gets uglier still.

Worth The Wound | 7709 words

The asset knows that maintenance is better than punishment. But with Steve, maintenance becomes more pleasant, soft and gentle and everything he could dream of. It was only natural that he decided to prolong that maintenance a little longer.

The Spaces In-Between | 6971 words | Part 1 of What We Tried So Hard To Hide Away

"Memories are like buckets of water: they weigh on the heart and the brain until the body fails. You're blessed to stay forgetful and young, Soldier."

Sometimes blessings feel like curses.

Illuminate The Scene | 7086 words | Part 2 of What We Tried So Hard To Hide Away

The doctors had wanted to keep the Soldier. Shock him and freeze him until he was fixed, or tear him to scrap if he couldn’t be repaired so that he wouldn’t be an entirely wasted investment. Steve is the only thing stopping them.

When the Soldier can't trust his own body, how can he trust anything?

All These Riots Of Broken Sound | 83790 words | Part 1 of Forever Is A Close And Honest Friend

When Steve and the team return to Avengers tower to find Bucky gone, they must venture into B.A.R.F. to figure out what triggered him to leave and hunt those who wronged him. Trapped in a simulation of Bucky's worst memories with rogue HYDRA agents waiting to strike, 100 years of secrets, lies, pain and love drive the team to their limit and push Steve towards a realisation that is a century in the making.

I Was Lost But Left A Trace | 3585 words | Part 2 of Forever Is A Close And Honest Friend

Disorientated, the Asset reached up to wipe at the moisture on its cheeks and was shocked to find it clear, instead of the crimson it has been expecting. It didn’t understand why this misidentification had caused uproarious laughter from the technicians.

“It is not blood,” the Asset told him, “but it is still a malfunction.”

This sobered the technician a little, and he nodded tightly.

“Yes. It is. But we will fix you.”

I’ll Always Be Blamed For The Sun Going Down | 9907 words | Part 3 of Forever Is A Close And Honest Friend

He knows he’s in the right place. He has heard the guys at the docks laugh and joke about the queers who come out after dark, looking to earn a little extra cash. He has seen the johns, when he’s been out late enough, skulking in the shadows like predators hunting for their next meal, looking for something in particular. Sometimes they look at him.

A small, rusty pen knife that his father had picked up in Europe during the Great War sits heavy in the breast pocket of his jacket. Just in case.

Book Of The Moon | 16019 words | Part 4 of Forever Is A Close And Honest Friend

In 1929, Bucky Barnes falls in love for the first time and resigns himself to never telling a soul, let alone Steve, the object of his affections. In 1943, half a world away from the man he can never have and fighting for his life and his sanity, something new begins to bloom.

Habeas Corpus | 18054 words

An unexpected incident in the field leaves Steve Rogers facing the infiltration of a Hydra base and retrieval of important intelligence, all while pretending to be the Winter Soldier. Unfortunately, there are important aspects of the Soldier's past that Bucky hasn't disclosed, and Steve has no idea what he's really walking into.

Bullies | 14979 words

Written for the MCU trash meme prompt:

I wanna see Steve being messed with by his secretly-HYDRA coworker buddies. I want them generally fucking with him, "accidentally" doing terrible things to him or getting Steve into awful situations, telling jokes that aren't really jokes, gaslighting, performing sexual-assault hazing under the guise that "that's what people do now," pressuring him into other sex shit, anything, just fuck Steve up.

Steve isn't failing to fully catch on because he's dumb or oblivious: it's just that he is Steve, so he wants to believe the best of everybody, and he doesn't want to believe that he could be working for/with bullies and that (as Natasha says) he essentially died for nothing.

Not Unwanted, Not Unloved | 50320 words

They'd resigned themselves to never becoming parents - until Bucky gets pregnant and drops off the grid without even a whisper to his mate about his condition. Steve will still raze the earth to find him, but that doesn't mean he likes what he finds.

The Tones That Tremble Down Your Spine | 13889 words

Tony tells him they’re planning a party for Steve’s birthday. He knows how parties are supposed to go.

Lacuna | 62875 words

The Winter Soldier doesn't remember Steve Rogers, but he needs Rogers' help.

OR: The one where Bucky doesn't remember Steve, but falls in love with him anyway.

Not A Perfect Soldier | 93354 words

In a world where HYDRA was wiped out in the '40s, Steve is found by the Army rather than SHIELD. General Thaddeus Ross wants a perfectly obedient super-soldier at his command, and to that end, he sets out to break Steve to his will. As Steve struggles to come to terms with all he has lost, his life in captivity is only made bearable by the presence of another prisoner-- another super-soldier known only as "Soldat". Then the Avengers strike a deal with Ross to "borrow" him for missions, and Steve is faced with a team who dislikes him, an organization he doesn't trust, and the question of what he's willing to do to escape Ross's clutches.

For Want Of Him | 103174 words

It's the twenty-first century, and Steve Rogers has never been more alone. Everything he knew, everyone he loved, is now gone, and a dark, bitter loneliness claws at him, raking bleeding gashes into his heart. And then there's Brock Rumlow. Rumlow is like salt in his wounds; vicious, and cruel. But his dark brown hair and teasing smirk reminds Steve of someone long dead, and his New York accent sounds like home...He's a soldier like him...he understands. And Steve makes the fatal mistake of trusting him.

The Same Measure | 4943 words

The Winter Soldier was never allowed to stop unless an injury was too grievous.

To Be Unmade | 5114 words | Part 1 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

For the asset, things only ever get worse. The external scars fade quickly enough. The internal ones dig deeper and deeper.

But the internal scars are called love, and doesn't that make them worth the hurt?

Do Not Put In The Icebox | 7143 words | Part 2 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

When the asset malfunctions on a mission, Rumlow and Rollins learn more than they ever wanted to know about Pierce's hobbies.

And then everyone has pancakes.

The Knowing Makes It Worse | 4130 words | Part 3 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

No is a bad word and invites punishment.

Or, Alexander Pierce is a very bad man who delights in manipulating and degrading the asset.

Love Is For Children | 5303 words | Part 4 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

Bucky understands how the game works. He can't understand why it makes Steve cry.

But Natasha and the other Avengers are there to help.

I Just Wanted To Be Sure Of You | 4461 words | Part 5 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

Bucky has Bucky Bear; it's only fair for Natasha to have something of her own.

Visiting a toy store wasn't strictly necessary, but if Tony wants to throw money around, no one's going to complain.

“Till The End Of The Line | 6069 words | Part 6 of Alexander Pierce Should Have Died Slower

It's hard to take a friendship right back up when so much has changed over seventy years.

Particularly when HYDRA's conditioning resurfaces.

*if you feel that any of these fics shouldn’t be in this list please just send me a message! :) I have read them all but over the past 1+ years so some of them I might not remember all the details of :)

[maxwell-grant]

i have been watching old (and sometimes new) gmod animations and i grew up watching enough ytps to know the general idea behind them, and i recently gained a sort of fascination for them. there's something special about them that i couldn't quite put into words, but i think you got it down perfectly in your post about grand guignol. basically, thanks a bunch for that.

Well thank you! And, yeah, I pretty much grew up watching GMOD and YTP constantly and even today I still come back to those a lot when I'm restless and taking a break from work, and I think there's genuinely a lot that can be learned or discussed from them as uniquely 21st Century art forms.

I've been rewatching a lot of Raxxo's content lately and I think it was his content in particular that kind of convinced me that the "GMOD/SFM - Grand Guignol" analogy wasn't nearly as much of deranged word salad as I assumed it was, because in all honestly, if you had to try and condense his videos into a genre or definition or something of the sort, what the hell else can you possibly call this that in any way comes close to describing what you experience?

Like, all of his videos are described as "GMOD animated in SFM", because SFM is usually associated with more straightforward dramatic content while GMOD has been cartoon madness from the start (and it's fascinating to watch just how tame even the early Rubberfruit videos are compared to the kind of stuff Eltorro64 or Dr Lalve are putting out), and Raxxo is the latter in the style of the former.

And his videos are not just a non-stop barrage of brain-breaking, because they have weirdly dramatic pauses, and moments of straightforward action, or simple sentence mixing, and there's continuity between his videos, and incredibly smooth and natural gestures following by the characters stretching and deforming like jello monsters on the next second as their screams warble to drown the soundtrack and then everything's back to normal, and then they start doing things that kinda even make some sense as a narrative, but you cannot even begin explaining properly why, and I've watched these so many times that I even kinda start to see what makes sense and what doesn't, even though literally no one other than Raxxo is ever going to guess why he made the choices he did, and god these jokes must have taken hours if not days to render, why does the scretching Soldier head saying "Sputnik!" shows up in everything he does, and oh did I mention he also makes up the soundtracks he uses himself and they don't match in the slightest most people's perception of his content?

And for the finale of the Soldier Dispenser saga he created maybe the most batshit collaborative animation effort on Youtube, which is about an hour's worth of 200 animators all creating their own little batshit mini-stories in reference to his own and, seriously, who the hell could have possibly predicted something like this existing back when computer game Team Fortress 2 was announced in 2007? Or when Youtube was created?

Who could have possibly predicted something like this existing at any point in human history? Where else could anyone possibly experience this much audiovisual chaos anywhere? I can't even bring myself to watch the video in full again, but that this exists at all, and that it's far from the only one of it's kind, and that Team Fortress 2 fan content has spiraled so hard past anything the creators could have possibly predicted that it has self-sustaining meme ecosystems (Remember when smexuals were a thing? Or the Freaks?), that it's still fucking going 15 years past the game's debut, is, it's kind of a lot, is what I'm saying.

Like, I'm speaking as someone who studies a lot of pop culture and combs through it's most obscure and weirdest recesses to find stuff to write about, I'm still just as baffled by how far these things have gotten as I was when experiencing it for the first time. And you can find a lot of stories like these digging through Youtube Poop and the specific styles of certain creators or certain developing memes for franchises that grow and grow and permutate.

Think about what has to have happened to make a video like iteachvader's What'll It Be? happen.

Long John Baldry, blues musician extraordinaire, voiced cartoon villain Dr Robotnik in a Sonic cartoon. Said Sonic cartoon and performance was lucky enough to survive through Youtube clips. People noticed one of said clips of his performance has him saying a word that sounds like penis in a funny way, so they start making jokes about it, and parodies, and then literally hundreds of parodies popularizing the concept as a source of comedy, some of which take the form of music. Said music is done by cutting, remixing and splicing audio from said performance over music beats, which can be a PAINSTAKINGLY LONG PROCESS as someone who's tried doing that several times now, all this to make something with "Poop" in it's name (which I guess isn't that different from pulp writers spending weeks and months breaking their fingers to put out a novel's worth of content every month, for newspapers and magazines that were literally going to be used as toilet paper later)

These parodies catch on a bit and die out for a bit, until iteachvader comes along, and he proceeds to build a career not just by making funny parodies of said cartoon, but also knocking out genuinely really, really good musical parodies, editing voice clips of said performance to make it sound like the villain's singing (and additionally, he also creates his own tunes, and he's shown that literally every sound he uses is taken from the show, which is just, absolutely mind-boggling effort). He's also created over the years a running joke of Tails being Dr Robotnik's son that people liked enough to ask for more, and then we come to the video above, which is a song about Dr Robotnik spoiling his son Tails asking him what he'll want, which is not at all in line with how the two characters are canonically. And said remixes would eventually get remixed even further, even with crossovers with other characters or musicians, and so forth.

And that is the story of how dozens of creators working separately, and with little intent other than goofing around, single-handedly revived a dead man's music career, as the voice of the fan reinterpretation of a animated adaptation of a videogame villain, popular to the billions if not dozens of billions of views over a decade in the making, on a broadcasting platform said man didn't even live to see being created.

I think sometimes we like to think of ourselves as advanced and jaded enough that nothing surprises us anymore, and if we went back in time and showed an iphone to our great-grandparents they'd start screaming in sheer confusion. And, maybe they would, yeah, but imagine if you were Long John Baldry at any point in his life, even after he finished recording his lines as Robotnik, and someone showed up to you and explained that all of this was going to happen to you, to your voice, to your performance. Imagine if you were one of Valve's lead developers working on Team Fortress 2 during the nine years it spent in development, and someone showed you Raxxo's work and Soldier's Dispenser Quest and just, everything that had happened to characters you hadn't even fully created yet.

I imagine Long John Baldry would have taken it well enough eventually, by all accounts he was a fun person who loved to try new things, and he was an openly gay British vocalist in the 1960s when it was literally illegal to be gay in Britain, so I imagine nothing could possibly rattle his cage that deep in the long run.

But can you honestly tell me you wouldn't freak out at least a little trying to understand just what exactly the future was showing you? Can you honestly tell me your cynicism and world-weariness would be worth anything in the face of all this knowledge about what the world was going to do with your creations and work?

Can you honestly tell me, just now, that you have any idea what the hell is your legacy or reputation as an artist, or even what your art is known for, going to look like in a decade or two from now? And that things aren't going to get weirder than they are now?

I find that fact both frightening and strangely assuring at points, and exciting above all.