#[ dude i have no idea which verse to put this in ]

[paintbrushnebula]

Random Spider-Verse Headcanons for funnsicles?? OKAY

✨ 🪩 🏄

(emojis are funnee)

When Gwen found out she was assigned to visit E-1610 to catch the Spot, in the days leading up to the mission, she would go up to Miguel with a list of prepared phrases and sentences to ask him how to say them in Spanish. Her excuse was that they were quips for her to say in an upcoming fight with a Rhino variant that spoke Spanish. Miguel had no idea who Gwen was actually planning on saying them to, but he was pretty sure it wasn't to a villain, since they were all for seemingly friendly conversation. But he complied and taught her the phrases in Spanish. When she went to 1610 as seen in ATSV, Gwen never ended up saying any to Miles because was too embarrassed or scared that she'd get the pronunciation wrong. She left 1610 regretting not using them.

Both Miles 1610 and Miles 42 are very good cooks. They learned from their moms because it was a fun bonding activity to talk about their day and open up about their feelings. They haven't done much cooking with mom since they were 13; that was when 1610 was bitten and 42 began training to be the Prowler. Both Mileses are good, but 42 is the better cook because he usually tries to help his mom by making dinner when Rio has a long night shift.

Sometimes Peni will just walk up to Gwen and stretch her arms out, to signal that she wants Gwen to deadlift carry her by her pits like she's a cat. When Gwen does it, Peni just lets her head hang back and her body go limp like she's dead or smth. Gwen just holds her out like that and goes about her day like normal for half an hour.

Gwen ends up moving out at 18. She rents an apartment in SoHo, Manhattan along with Glory and Betty as her roommates. Gwen and Betty are absolute WILD CRATS when they have the house to themselves. Betty is the instigator and Gwen just shrugs and decides to be complicit in her shenanigans. I'm talking All-Star playing at full blast on the speakers, Betty pulling out the Guitar Hero 10 minutes in, and then they switch ALL the furniture and wallpapers and belongings of each other's rooms around just to mess with Glory. So it's like, the interior design of the room is identical to what it was before, but it's now in an entirely different room of the apartment. What's worse is they'll try to gaslight Glory into thinking that their rooms were always like that. It never works obviously, but Glory is that mature mom friend who just puts up with her friends' antics. So Glory just settles for that being her room now. But then Gwen and Betty do the switch-around AGAIN only once Glory is finally used to her new room. The whole experience is loads of fun but like...dude. Glory can't leave them alone for 2 hours. They all love when E Jay comes over, sure, but Em Jay has a habit of visiting unannounced to present day plans or activities without taking their schedules into account. (I haven't read the Spider-Gwen comics in full so this headcanon is just what I interpret from Spiderverse).

Miles somehow thinks he's 6 feet tall. He doesn't have a specific number, just that he's at least over 6 ft. This is coming from how he drew himself after his growth spurt in ATSV's opening to be almost as tall as Peter B and a head taller than Gwen which is clearly not the case XD. So he basically assumes that everyone else he knows is just really really tall, because all the adults as well as Hobie are like a head taller than him at LEAST.

Gwen pirates/uses emulators for all her video games

there's this thing that keeps happening where whenever someone unfamiliar with the Spider-Band learns that Gwen is dating someone within the group, they never guess that it's Miles. They assume it's Hobie first, then Pav, then they'll just keep guessing everyone. They will think it's Spider-Ham before they think it's Miles. It's not that they think lowly of Miles or anything. It's just that no one ever thinks that he'd be Gwen's type because well, he's just so...*gestures to all of Miles* normal. Like people just assume that Gwen would date someone equally as wild and out-of-this-world as her, like...well, everyone else in the Spider-band. Of course, no one realizes that Miles' normalcy relative to everyone else in Gwen's life is partly why he's Gwen's type.

Back in her dimension, Gwen did this thing where she'd go on long drawling walks through suburban neighborhoods at dusk, staring at the populated houses and the golden windows lit warmly by the life happening inside. Sometimes she'd say aloud to herself, "that'd be nice."

Jess gifts Gwen her motorcycle for her 18th birthday.

Gwen has a green thumb. Miles gifts Gwen plants and they'll come up with names for them together. They take naming their plants very seriously.

One of Hobie's favorite couple nicknames for Miles and Gwen is Bonnie and Clyde, respectively.

Gwen had a BIG Y/N phase when she was a preteen. She had long since left it behind, but In between the events of ITSV and ATSV, while George was out on a late night shift, Gwen for whatever reason followed a strong sudden urge and wrote a new Y/N in one sitting. She immediately deleted it when she was done before George came home, but what she hadn't realized was that she wrote it in his account instead of hers. One day George was clearing out his Recently Deleted, he noticed that draft that he knew wasn't his. He opened it, and what he read was literally just the plot of Baby Driver with Gwen inserted as the main character. He was completely lost on that street artist character Gwen had replaced the waitress with until he met Miles.

Betty is obsessed with legos. That's it.

There's also this running gag where someone will show up with a very specific problem or be in need of something that they highly doubt anyone there can help with. Betty will be in the corner and just chirp that she possesses the exact skill to solve the problem, but she'll go completely unnoticed every time. And like it's not that people are being condescending to her or mean, everyone's just. completely oblivious to the fact that Betty's a polymath

Betty keeps a collection of fortune cookie papers. Every morning when she wakes up, she chooses a different one from the collection and keeps it in her left shoe.

EDIT: that last Betty one is cringe idk what was I doing I'm sorry

[daonedaonlyskh]

Sk vengeance saga thoughts

SK HAS A THOUGHT (well, multiple) OCUR FOR ONCE

my thoughts on the vengeance saga broken down by song!

be warned that this is long as hell and please don’t get mad at me if you disagree these are just my opinions <3

tw for I’m not sorry for loving you I briefly touch on rape/sa and suicide

I’m not sorry for loving you - Honestly this song is a masterwork. The music, the vocals (wangui i love you), everything. I think it portrays calypso in a very interesting light. I don’t think it makes the listener sympathetic towards her —or it doesn’t for me— but it makes you almost pity her. I know Jorge doesn’t go into detail about what happened in the seven years on the island like it does in the original odyssey (ahem calypso raping and sa’ing him), but I feel like we can assume from what we saw in “love in paradise” that ody ain’t doin so hot. I personally think this had to have something to do with Calypso’s behavior at least somewhat, and I say this because of how in the entire rest of the musical, ody has had so much hope for getting back home to the point where he will not allow himself to give up hope because of how desperately he wants/needs to be home. However, in the end of “love in paradise” we can see that Ody has basically given up all hope, and is literally about to jump off the cliff. Coming back to “I’m not sorry for loving you” now, this song to me definitely comes off as very manipulative. Calypso doesn’t really apologize for her actions towards ody, and just kinda names a few vague ideas and says that she admits that it was wrong, before basically saying that it’s his fault because of the line “then I am sorry that my love is too much for you” practically putting the blame of ody’s despair on ody, that the reason he’s upset his only his own fault, which to me is like saying “why are you so depressed? Just be happy.” On the flip I understand why calypso might have done this, she hasn’t had anyone in her life in so long, and that she feels like this is her only opportunity, so she must cling on to it. On the slip side, Ody has way more self control than me, “but not in the way that you want me to” dude I would not be that calm lmao. In conclusion though, I strongly dislike calypso but that doesn’t mean I don’t think that’s she’s a very complex character that deserves the opportunity to be studied under a microscope.

Dangerous - This song starts out sad af. The way there’s a pause after “cause I had one goal in mind” where the crew used to be singing? I’m sobbing. As we continue on, it gets better (Hermes my beloved). I feel like in this song though, Hermes’s laugh sounds way more forced than it did in “wouldn’t you like.” From this alone we can tell that Hermes knows how much tension there is in this situation, and how much is riding on this. And then he proceeds to sing one of the most catchy choruses & verses ever. His voice sounds a lot less lighthearted in this song though —not that it’s not lighthearted and kinda silly, but just in comparison to “wouldn’t you like” I feel like it sounds a lot more serious. Hermes singing Aeolus’s melody when giving him the wind bag is a really worthwhile touch in my opinion. I also noticed in ody’s little verse he rhymes “dangerous my friend” with “danger is my friend.” And ody saying he’s going to use ruthlessness? Subtle foreshadowing (wink wink). And then Hermes hinting at “god games” to end it off? Chef’s kiss.

Charybdis - I feel stupid for saying this, but the song reminds me of “Storm” from the Ocean saga. I think I draw similarities in the melody and the way the word “Storm”the phrase “Oh o bring it on!” And the last “Ohohohohoh!” In the song. And maybe in the bass and drums a bit too. I haven’t seen anyone else mention this though, but my irl winion friends agreed with me so I’m not sure. I like ody explaining his thoughts is still very melodic. And the end of this song, I like how much softer Ody’s voice gets when seeing the coast of Ithaca and thinking about how close he is to Penelope and Telemachus, only for him to get brutally interrupted by Poseidon. I really like this song, and I honestly wish it was a little longer. Also, my dad has been a music professor for the past 20 years and he has a song he composed named Charybdis so I’m automatically attached to this song.

Get in the Water - STEVEN RODRIGUEZ WELCOME BACK TO THE STAGE! This song was so anticipated by me, and it did not disappoint. The musical entrance of this song feels very powerful to me, especially with how it stops when Poseidon first starts to speak, before starting up again. I really like how the first “get in the water” (after the “now get in the water” but before the “or I’ll raise the tide so high-“) is sung, it hits my brain just the right way were I can so clearly envision Poseidon smugly gesturing for Ody to get in the water. The chorus of voices kicking in in the second chorus just keeps the tensions rising. The little verse about Ody asking Poseidon to leave him alone and just go home and then telling him he could learn to forgive was extremely unexpected to me for some reason, but I think it sets up six hundred strike really well because Ody did try to talk it out first and then moved to ruthlessness after that didnt work. TYEN POSEIDON’S SHATTER THE OCEAN MOVE OR WHATEVER JAY CALLED IT?!? WHAT. I - I CANT EVEN DESCRIBE HOW INCREDIBLE. WORDS SIMPLY CANNOT DESCRIBE. and then when ody’s underwater? polites is haunting the narrative again? and eury? and his mom? aND THEN THE WHOLE CREW? AND THEN THEY ALL SING THE “WAITING”??? MY HEART. MY HEART CANNOT TAKE IT. ITS SO BEAUTIFUL YET SO HEARTBREAKING.

Six Hundred Strike - The idea of having Ody use the wind bag as a jetpack is so fucking goofy in my opinion —don’t get me wrong, I love it, it’s just silly as hell. The whole speech to Poseidon about how he will get back to his son and he will get back to his wife? Mhm yes, good soup. However, i don’t really know how a lot of other people took this, but what I thought is that after that speech the spirits of the fallen men were doing most of the work to kick Poseidon’s ass, especially after Ody says “six hundred strike!!!!!” but maybe I’m stupid. Although, I think it works better that way, since I honestly don’t really like the idea of Ody being able to so single-handily defeat Poseidon. Which brings me to the stabbing. I was audibly gasping when this first happened during the stream ngl, and my eyes probably looked like they were about to roll out of my head. I saw someone in the comments after the stream ended saying that they headcanoned that the reason why Poseidon’s shouts of pain sounded so melodic is because they were music to Ody’s ears, and now I’m stealing that. But when Poseidon called him a monster? If it wasn’t for the fact that everyone else in my house was asleep during the stream I would have been SCREAMING. Also the line “next to my wife” left me in absolute disrepair. However, I disagree with the idea of Ody being able to defeat Poseidon so easily. I since have decided to subscribe to the theory of Ares helping Ody out, since Athena could not. I like this idea because 1, I feel like it makes more sense as to why ody was able to defeat Poseidon (divine intervention wink wink) and 2, idk I just like the idea that Ares was helping his sister out for once, but not to her knowledge (bc he still wants to be kinda a dick to her). And yes, I know that this heavily, heavily, HEAVILY diverges from the odyssey, and a lot of people were hoping for something a little more by the book in this s saga, but honestly? There are lots of other things already in epic’s entirety that differ from the Odyssey, so I personally don’t really see the problem there, nor do I agree with the people I’ve seen saying that Jorge needs to “actually read the classics” because it’s pretty damn obvious (at least to me) that he has. On a completely different note, I love how many motifs and callbacks there are in this song. I especially like the “different beast” motif playing right before Ody gets more violent, foreshadowing right before the moment that he is no longer in danger; he is the danger.

anyways yeah those are my thoughts! Feel free to disagree with me though and lmk what you think :)

[lias-writings]

Be my MJ??

pairing: spider-man!bella x reader

tw: kissing, mentions of food, fluff, established relationship, flirting (?)

a/n: hey!! so few days ago bella reposted the photo of them like a spider man ^ and i had this idea, there are few changes, like bella’s taller than reader, they are not famous obviously, and they are still british, but live in queens, so does reader but reader’s ethnicity isn’t mentioned.

also!! this is an au! you can imagine it as one of the spider-verse if you wish to (that’s how im imagining it) but it’s up to you <33

summary: you found out your partner is the spider-man everyone is interested about and not just a regular teenager as you thought.

you always thought that you had a pretty average life, and you did. you were going to local high school/college, you went to house parties with your friends and you had a partner, who you loved and who loved you.

and there you were laying on your bed scrolling thru your instagram looking at all the posts updating about the local superhero spider-man.

no one really knew who it was, no one knew if it was even a man but no one would guess it a teenager from queens.

as i mentioned before, you were doing basically nothing when you heard a knock on your window.

you almost jumped from your bed in shock but when you looked to the window’s direction, outside you saw nothing but dark night and noisy New York City.

you would go back to your previous action if you didn’t heard that sound again. this time you were sure it wasn’t just in you head so you grabbed the nearest thing- a hair brush, and put it in front of your face in a protective way.

you expect anything, a confused bird, witch on a broomstick, kidnapper or even a fucking alien but not this. not the superhero in a red costume, named after an animal you feared the most.

THE spider-man was outside of your window. at that moment you thought nothing could surprise you more, but hell you were so wrong.

the person just pulled their mask down, and at that moment your heart stopped. it’s not a middle aged man, it’s not another rich dude who became a superhero, it’s your partner bella.

you were staring at the window for good minute while bella was waving at you and signalising that they want you to open the window.

when you kind of pulled yourself together you slowly opened the window, still taken away a bit.

“hi.” they said with a little apologising smile.

“hi.”

“i-i can explain, all of this”

“i’m listening” you weren’t as confused as you were moments ago, now you felt more angry because they’ve been lying to you.

“okay, so- i kind of was bit by a spider- radioactive spider and since then i can do this” they started explaining and then shot a web right from there wrist at the direction of your door - “and this” they continued as they sticked their hand to the ceiling and crawled around a little.

“how long have you been this spider-person?” you asked knowing that spider-“man” has been around for few moths at least, but you wanted to hear it, you wanted to know why they didn’t trusted to enough to tell you sooner.

“a year” they almost whispered with a guilty face.

“a year?!” you almost screamed but luckily realised, that your parents are downstairs, soon enough.

“i’m sorry i didn’t tell you, i know i should have, but-”

“but what? am i not trustworthy?” you cut them before they could finish their sentence.

“no! of you course you are, i-“ and as they were speaking they slowly walked closer to you.

“if you knew, it would put a target on your back, which is the last thing i want, i love you and i’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you.” now your waist were completely hugged by two arms of theirs and they were resting their forehead on yours.

“even now it’s dangerous for you to know but i’m gonna do everything i can to protect you.” they finished as they gently kissed your lips, while stroking your waist.

the kiss made you completely forget what were you mad about so you dived more into it.

moments after you both pulled away in the need of oxygen but still kept your faces close.

“so you’re a spider-man, huh?”

“yeah, most girls would kill to be at your place” they smirked.

you let out a sarcastic gasp and pulled out of the ‘hug’, so you could touch the place where your heart is.

“oh really? just so you know i’m still mad at you for lying to me.” you made a fake insulted face at them as they chuckled.

“guess you don’t want this then.” they said as they leaned out of the window to grab a plastic bag that was there the whole time. you leaned your body closer to them in a curiosity and your eyes brightened when they pulled out your favorite food/sweets.

“so this is the biggest advantage to date spider-man?”

“no you haven’t seen the best yet.” they winked at you as they handed you the meal.

[pisspope]

rei and zeke bday hcs cause like,,, why not (but also bc its what the ppl voted for)

tw: implied sex, references to canon typical violence

zeke

- its not that his parents didn’t celebrate his birthday at all its just,,, it was usually a small affair with influential PTA members and their kids. in other words, no one zeke got along with. very much a “seen not heard” while the grown ups sip mimosas type deal

- and of course zeke does everything in service of disappointing his parents so!!! its party time

- honestly u could try to throw a surprise party but good fucking luck this man is snoopy as all hell. every time ur out just a little too long with pieck or porco (they’re bickering over how early to buy balloons) he’s got u on the horn like “i know ur planning something”. would never accuse u of cheating bc he fully believes his own hype and knows u wouldnt DARE cheat on Adonis Himself (Narcissus more like but w/e)

- so yeah he’s probably at least a little involved in the planning of it all, wants to backseat drive because hes “not a loser who plans his own birthday party”. sending u screenshots from his notes app with his favorite colors, songs, what cake he wants, etc. lowkey insufferable

- day comes and you’ve rented out the kid’s bday party section of a bowling alley/arcade and filled it with every friend you can think of that isn’t vaguely shitty or hasn’t been burned by zeke in some way. so like… maybe 10 people, gabi and the kids included so they have a believable cover story if the staff asks who the party’s for. not that they’d care but zeke loves to play like he’s so sNeAkY and sHiFty by telling everyone it’s a party for udo or something.

- that man can BOWL and he’s an ass about it. the sorest winner in the world. in every universe he will knock down 10 or more little dudes with a rock and cheer and whoop and holler like an idiot. jeering at porco when he gets a gutter ball and you see reiner pull him aside like “just let him have it today. its his big day.” as if it is not ALSO reiner’s big day

- played with the idea of him getting a devil’s food cake and reiner getting an angel’s food cake for the lolz but he’s not sharing a party on his life so. coffee cake 100%, both because he likes it and because the kids don’t, which means more to take home. schemer that he is

- does ask for gifts but is pretty insistent about it being under 20 dollars (so he can see who overspent and ACTUALLY loves him. male manipulator). falco gets him an officially licensed sock monkey and he cries (pussy). whispering to u after that if his parents ever die horribly he’ll adopt him

- heading to the connected arcade after and, second verse same as the first, he kills at skee ball. breaks the record on each machine one after the other just to show off, gets all smirky holding the wad of tickets, talking about how he “does it all for uuuuu” and gives u the wettest sloppiest kiss on the cheek just to embarrass u

- does actually give u all his winnings tho. the high score, the posterity, the want to be remembered,,, the ego boost is enough, u can have the 2100 ticket pikachu plush <3 (u will never hear the end of this. i pity u)

- def gets home with his leftover dessert in hand and gifts in bags on his wrist, smile more genuine than usual. opening the door and letting u in, gifts and food quickly forgotten in lieu of giving you a proper thank you for helping put all this together

- 100% squeezing ur ass and asking if there’s any leftover cake for him, knowing it’ll make u roll your eyes but that you’ll relent bc the cheese is part of the charm (and boy when he gets that treat he asked for? he EATS)

reiner

- something something something same birthday complete opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of how they celebrate it

- wants his bday to be a nice quiet affair with the people he loves most, his little found family and maybe karina if hes feeling generous that year

- if u plan a party in any capacity hes gotta be part of the action! wants to hang streamers, balloons, any little things you decide on to spruce up your place for the event (please don’t call it an event he can’t handle the pressure)

- also u can’t have a cookout bday bc he will insist on working the grill the whole time. shark coded, will drown if he isn’t doing something 

- the party itself is extremely laidback, feels more like a big hangout. ordering 3 of his favorite type of pizza, bringing out beanbags and comfy chairs from other parts of the house so everyone can sit in the living room together. gabi and falco take the tv hostage to play video games and colt and bertholdt somehow get roped into it. it’s raucous, but comfortable.

- u and gabi collab on a homemade cake, but reiner is the baker in the family and gabi just likes the excuse to make a mess. end up making some easy cookies and buying a walmart sheet cake, and its a good thing, too, because just the sight of his name is enough to make him tear up. “you didn’t have to do all this” what, make a phone call to get ur name on a cake? the bar is on the floor unfortunately

- no presents because he can’t handle the pressure, but there’s a couple cards and his lip trembles over each one. zeke gets him a card that’s obviously for kids with stickers inside but he tears up at that one too because “it even comes with a little gift… so thoughtful…”

- rest of the party is spent doing more of the same, a couple beers are thrown back, maybe tosses a football around or something. very classic suburban white picket fence dream party. it brings reiner a quiet joy, one that he keeps close to his chest, a memory that he’ll look back on over and over.

- the guests start to filter out one by one until its just u and him, picking up paper plates, putting away leftovers. its all very domestic, it might actually be reiner’s favorite part. to just be with u in companionable silence, scooting around and putting the house in order. domesticity is something sacred that he never thought he’d have, and its a joy to share it with u.

- he INSISTS on sitting on the couch with u after, gives u those big eyes that he only gets when he wants u to pet his hair, falls asleep to one of his favorite comfort films with your hands on his head, totally content

- wakes up in the wee hours and carries u to bed like the big bear of a man that he is, not expecting anything of you, just wanting u to be comfortable. tucks u in and gives u a kiss like it’s your birthday or something

- and it’s not a gift bc reiner specifically requested no gifts, but if he wakes up to u wearing something special the next morning, something that leaves nothing to the imagination, i mean… maybe the party doesn’t have to be over quite yet

[barrenclan]

ok so for the next music post, two things:

1. i was thinking of “moon song” by phoebe bridgers for unrelated reasons & the very last lyric of the song jumped out at me for rainhaze. the rest of the song isn’t very fitting for him but the last two lines are so fucking perfect:

when you saw the dead little bird, you started crying

but you know the killer doesn’t understand

2. so this next song is actually by a friend of mine! she’s a local musician & the other night i got to see her perform at my favorite bar for the last time before she moves to another state. this is my favorite song off of her debut album that came out last year (which she did perform at the show; i had chills the whole time), & i started thinking about it after the latest issue (& after going back & rereading the whole story just for funsies) & lowkey wanting to make an animatic about defiance with it:

https://youtu.be/I882BJu2bTo?si=W94BMnB6SjMM2sSK

Honestly, I could kind of see the rest of the lyrics of "Moon Song" for Rainhaze too, of him talking about his one-sided relationship to Ranger. Though I still don't really see his feeling as romantic rather than just trusting.

And, it's so sweet to recommend a song your friend made! I really like it. If you ever made an animatic, I'd be thrilled to see it.

Oh, yeah, I like the line "heartbreak was never so loud" for representing the weight of Slugpelt's revelation.

Everything, waiting, shaking as it drops I tried for you and I, for too hard, for too long Gave it all and everything for more time, but I lost

… Ooh, I'm breaking down Whispers would deafen me now You don't make a sound Heartbreak was never so loud

Defiance is always great for screamy, angry song about bones and blood and stuff.

I think it could fit for Rainhaze's early days and induction in Defiance, coping with this new environment.

Look at this poor boy All dressed up in white Now how can he smile With a face of all eyes?

These creatures are vampires They're killing by the night They're falling from the dead trees To silhouette your life

It doesn't seem like anyone has! I like the lines about him traveling past reason, because he did move past any real ideology into just fear and desperation.

I will travel far beyond the path of reason Take me back to Eden, take me back to Eden

I guess it goes to show, does it not? That we've no idea what we've got until we lose it And no amount of love will keep it around If we don't choose it And I don't know what's got its teeth in me But I'm about to bite back in anger No amount of self-sought fury Will bring back the glory of innocence <- shit yeah dude that's him

I like all songs that talk about the Devil as a smooth-talking, friendly charismatic guy because they all remind me of Deepdark.

Turn on the television Don't gotta think for nothing I pay the cable bill monthly, so they can do it for me

They say the Devil looks like you I hear the Devil's an American They say, they say he's a real smooth talker Real put together

I LOVE this song! Super good with him.

You're no good, you're no good You could kill me and you should I'm an idiot for thinking This was anything but blood

On the wall, on the couch On the corner of my mouth You must like being the victim You've done nothing to get out Of this pattern of pain Washed away by the rain You'll forgive me if I promise And do nothing but the same <- like this is just the first verse

Oh I think I have been suggested this one before! I still like it.

Gritty underground rock bands are great for this comic.

No rest for the sinner Hypnos refused me my sleep This was the last night of my life With wine, I pondered on my deeds

Ring brother, ring for me Ring the bells of hope and faith Ring for my damnation I am at the gallow's end

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s3 episode 18 thoughts

was thinking about my evening scullynmulder time all day… and here we are <3

to be honest, i'm not sure how i feel about this episode. it was just kind of okay for me. nothing to make me loathe it (well- one thing that made me angry, but it was small, and i'll talk about it), but nothing too compelling for me plot-wise. that being said, sometimes hearing an alternate viewpoint can change my mind, or i'll put together pieces later that didn't connect right away while watching, and the light in which i view an episode can change. so no hard and fast rulings here.

i’m reading the episode description, and it seems to be about archaeological digs, and sacred items being transported where they shouldn’t be!! this is actually something i feel really strongly about!!!

(in fact, i had to cut a LOT of this episode recap down because i kept going on about anthropological ethics... then i straight up realized i needed to stfu <3)

we begin!

we are in ecuador, at a dig site. oh, a pot! and pottery shards. how exciting! someone is yelling about something they found, and everyone comes to look. i do not speak spanish but i think they are saying that this thing is a bad sign? shoutout to cognates and closed captions, two of my bestest friends

it has since started snowing since they found this thing, which dr. roosevelt proclaims to be an amaru, which is a bold sign. there is a skull in there.

anyway, the archaeologists are saying that the body of a female shaman is sacred, and that it cannot be disturbed. and i would say, yes of course! but dr. roosevelt is not chill like me, and says they aren’t disturbing her, but saving her. okay, so this is the sort of thing that has sadly been incredibly common in real life, disregard for Indigenous opinions on the treatment of their ancestors by so-called academics claiming to fight for history. he orders the archaeologists to pack it up despite their insistence that it isn’t a good idea.

a shaman appears on the mountains in the snow... which is not an auspicious sign, i would imagine.

so this dr. roosevelt is listening to his classical music while the archaeologists from the dig are conducting a ceremony with the mountain shaman. they are sipping from a spoon and passing it around. ah, it is a hallucinogen. things get all green vision-y.

something is coming… A BIG CAT!!! HAS EATEN DR. ROOSEVELT!!!!!! JAGUAR BE UPON YE!!!!!!!

deserved.

intro time. how i have come to love this pair and their blurry lil spooky scenes…. <3 

so now we are at the boston museum of natural history. a guard is about with a flashlight in the dark and i think he sees some blood?? YES LOTS OF BLOOD. literally so much blood omfg. and then behind all the blood is the amaru!!!

is it agents time? is it agents time? YAAAAAS AGENTS TIME!!!! they are investigating. and someone scully is talking to thinks that the murder victim- craig- was killed because of the project he was working on. 

OH! scully has a letter in her hands from the Secona demanding the return of their artifacts. yes yes! i hope the museum does the right thing at this urging (even though i know deep down they will not)

“it was among the antiquities we rescued last month”, says someone from the museum <- ohhhh you're going to jail for that self-righteous language. scully catches onto the “rescued” description. they claim that the area was going to undergo construction. um so i would ask why reburying it in a place slightly to the left where it wasn't going to get smashed by a pipeline wasn't considered as an option, and why we jumped straight to giving it to some dudes in boston.

mulder asks about the curse, which he is apparently well-versed in. the jaguar spirit will attack those who disturb the bones of the woman shaman. but this guy says he will NOT return the remains. a stubborn fool... 

a phd candidate helps them look at the urn, and mulder rightfully points out that if someone messed with his bones, he would also want a curse to be placed upon them. which is tea.

the phd candidate's name is mona, and she agrees that this should have been left in the ground, that craig didn’t know about the danger he was in, and she is aware of SEVERAL letters of protest. she reveals that Dr. Bilac, who was the liaison to the tribe, either resigned or was forced out by the head of the project, depending on who you ask, because he believed that “the Secona have the right to determine the fate of their ancestral remains” AS HE SHOULD!!

going to this guy’s house. he was at the dig. and frankly, i do think he is very attractive. but he seems a bit... out of it, to put it nicely. 

his house is full of artifacts and images of artifacts. he’s asking scully "who told you i was involved", and scully says mona. okay... i think it wasn’t really secret knowledge??? no need to be so defensive!

he clarifies that he objected when he felt dr. roosevelt went too far. and he says “you don’t want to know what i think happened” so mulder sits RIGHT NEXT TO HIM and clarifies that yes, yes they really would. i was sensing some undertones there.

dr. bilac says "i think whatever happened is going to keep happening until the bones are returned" <- a reasonable deduction.

he says their investigation is a waste of time. scully seems to think he is “the suspect”, suggesting that he would kill for his cause. she describes his politics as radical but... they really aren’t.

(and this was the part i mentioned objecting to in the beginning, her referring to "his politics" like that. however, i am reminded that some scientists, historians, and anthropologists genuinely take this position- that ancestral remains ought to be studied, wishes of their communities be damned- and therefore it is not entirely out of character for her to think like that, but it is something we'd get in a heated fight about)

and mulder does that thing where he puts his hand on her back. don’t think i missed that!!!!

they’re bickering about what really happened and i'm thinking, well no one knows yet, maybe it WAS a jaguar spirit.

OH! mona is on the phone saying someone is lying. and someone else is listening in. it’s dr. lewton who is eavesdropping. mona was on the phone with dr. bilac!!! so what was he lying to the agents about?!?

so lewton is saying that they have a responsibility to history and that they were doing the right thing and to ignore “the politics”... again with the politics comment. this is real-world rhetoric here that some people actually believe, but isn’t there something despicable about asking for respect for people's ancestors being called “politics”?

OH! dr. lewton is threatening mona's career…… oh! okay so he might be evil.

NO, THE DOOR CREAKS OPEN. MONA NO!! 

oh it’s just a dog :) his name is sugar :) yay i was scared for nothing :) hiii sugar ur really cute!

dr. lewton in the car. car isn’t starting!!!! that’s suspicious…. that’s weird…. he lifts up the hood. and we hear a heavy breathing and see stuff from a blurry green point of view....

the hood is full of BLOOD??? which he touches btw... NASTY! but what is even nastier is the dragging and screaming and ripping we hear now going on to him... and thus is the end of dr. lewton

(hmm are they gonna say bilac is transforming into the jaguar? and that’s why we heard a man breathing?? <- no they will not, past me, but it was a compelling guess)

scully plucks a dead rat from inside the car. “label that”, she says to a police officer, placing it in a bag. “as what?” “partial rat body part” <- i don’t know why this is making me cry laughing 

mona is being questioned. she lies and says lewton didn’t mention dr. bilac last night. LIAR. anyway! scully gives her her card and says to give her a call if anything comes to mind

mulder in the woods with the police. and the green vision-y thing sees him!!! from in a tree!!!

but then scully comes in bearing news of rats in the museum and in his car. she thinks mona knows something and is trying to protect bilac. which is also what i am thinking. perhaps scully's entrance saved mulder from the green visioned being pouncing upon him.

GASP! a drop of blood falls upon mulder’s face whilst still in the woods, and he thinks it’s rain. she wipes it off and looks up to find… ENTRAILS IN A TREE!!!!!! icky.

and is there tenderness in wiping a strange blood from an unknown source off of your partner's face while they kneel in the woods? yes.

mona is at dr. bilac’s place. he isn’t answering. oh, she calls him “lonnie”... so are they chill or something? anyway, he doesn’t seem to be in there.

EXCEPT HE IS! he was in the dark and yelled at her for trying to touch the windows. behaving like a vampire.

he has no reaction to learning that dr. lewton is dead, but he sure is sweaty and gaunt. he said he told mona not to come. aggressively.

OH! he has the stuff on the floor he had taken with the tribe with the shared spoon at the start of the episode. which he calls “vine of the soul”. she knows what that means- yaje- and does NOT like that. she grabs it and tells him he is sick and needs help. but he yells at her to get out :( and she is crying :( why are you hurting her....

AUTOPSY TIME ft. doctor scully!!! it’s a human intestine. LMAOOOO she found sunflower seeds in it and mulder says he is “a man of taste” 

oh! she says it looks like rats did the biting. love when she says unsettling stuff like that.

phone call time now. it’s mona calling scully. she’s crying at the museum, and the dog is barking as she says she feels she isn’t alone. scully deploys mulder to the scene.

there is a box that says teso dos bichos which is the name of the episode. google says it translates to "i have two bugs" but i don't fully believe that. anyway, as she goes to touch the urn the dog keeps barking. it’s a very very cute dog. 

she hears something going wild in the bathroom. like an earthquake in the toilets. and the toilets are full of RATS who are climbing OUT AT HER AND SHE SCREAMS AND YES ME TOO I AM ALSO SCREAMING????

scully at dr. bilac���s house. very tense music is playing and his door is wide open!!! she finds the bowls of the stuff while mulder is at the museum looking for mona or any sort of clues. 

mulder bumps onto the security guard, who tries to take him to mona. pls don't hurt my girl i'm rooting for her to get that phd.

scully is reading from dr. bilac’s journal, which describes a jaguar climbing from the trees, and mulder thinks well maybe that is how the intestines got up there, but she says he’s been tripping. two things can be true!! 

she says he has been invoking the curse. but as she says this, mulder rounds a corner and sees a LOT of blood. he enters the bathroom with a flourish of his gun. and finds dr. bilac! who only says “she’s dead” 

they bring him in for questioning- very suspicious for him to be in the bloody bathroom- but he claims he doesn’t know where mona is. 

oh, very very tense exchange. “i did not kill her” “then why do you have blood on your clothes?” scully is NOT messing around

he claims he was afraid for mona and tried to keep her away from this. she says point blank that he did it, but he is like no, you are dealing with a spirit. and he doesn’t know where her body is. 

mulder is troubled. he notices that all the toilets overflowed. oh! the rats were still in there. “rats. in every toilet” <- very serious show we are dealing with 

NO!!! mona's dog died :( the dog ate a cat that ate a rat that ate poison. mulder thinks this is suspicious. she says a lot of old buildings have rats. again, two things can be true!

he thinks the rats were trying to escape. and SOMEHOW bilac is gone. mulder seems to think that perhaps bilac animorphed into a rat? or he was dragged down into some old tunnels. because they did find blood!!!

tunnel time tunnel time! he tries the ladies first card but it does not work. oooh spooky dark tunnel. 

there is a creature down here!!!! with the green vision!!! a cat hisses. i mean if there are a lot of rats this is a banger place to be a cat but i’m still suspicious.

they follow a rat deeper into the tunnels and find a door. scully goes in the door but mulder went the other way. WHY DID HE DO THAT!!! NEVER SEPARATE IN THE TUNNELS.

mulder is looking at a rat. cute little dude. then calls for scully. HE HAS FOUND ALL OF THE BODIES!!! AND THEY HAVE BEEN GNAWED EEEW 

and the green vision thing sees them! oh! it is a cat. but just a little one. not a big scary one. 

OH!! a LOT OF CATS!!

NO!!! they are GETTING HER!!! LIKE SO MANY CATS!!!! and there is blood pouring from her face. despite this she finds bilac who is very dead. 

a large army of cats is trying to break in while they try to get out. he pulls her up and guides her out. 

aww her face is all scratched up :( pls test her for rabies this is soooo evil!!!

oh! the ecuadorian ambassador is coming to collect the urn. so success but at what cost.

mulder wraps up the episode. the archaeologists are reburying the urn. we see the shaman’s eyes go all green like the cats did!!!

so it was her doing the stuff!!! well. she needed to be returned home.

collecting my thoughts on the matter. 

well, first off, an ecuadorian jaguar spirit turning into a mass of wild rats and cats in boston is so funny so let’s establish that. 

second of all. i’m always hesitant to comment upon episodes that use indigenous people and beliefs as a plot point/scary thing of the week. so i’m going to have to admit i don’t know enough to comment on that. 

what i can comment upon is the very real trafficking of antiquities, destruction of archaeological sites, and above all, blatant insensitivity of academics historically thinking they are “saving” what they are plundering. it is a very real thing. and i talked about it a LOT more in the original draft of this but realized i ought to spare you. dm for reading recs tho

overall, i thought the episode was okay. i wasn’t really sure what they were doing with bilac, but i guess he was summoning the curse? but it kept going after he died. so i’m a little unclear on the rules of the curse here tbh. 

honestly not enough scully and mulder time for me, which is why it wasn't really a stand out to me, even if i thought the concept was fascinating.

but sometimes my opinions change and i'm open to hearing thoughts on the matter slash things i missed! like i'm still not fully getting the episode title so pls feel free to explain that.

[piinkipie]

Bad days.—(Miguel O’hara x Blk!Fem!Reader Fluff🧸)

“Fucking hell.” You said as you entered work. You really didn’t wanna go since you weren’t too fond of the idea of being Miguel O’Hara’s “right hand man.” You didn’t even get that much sleep last night, but you’re 2 year into this. You should’ve thought about that instead of fiending over a hot, muscular vampire dude. You get to your destination and sit down in the chair next to the one and only, Miguel O’Hara.

“You’re late.” He said with a stern voice. You rolled your eyes, you were wayyy too tired to deal with his sassy ass attitude.

“What an immaculate observation.” You hissed, sarcastically. He thinks because he’s older than you he can act all tough and boss you around. Like you’d let that happen. You started typing on the computer in front of you as Miguel sighed in frustration.

“Your life you be way easier if you didn’t always talk back.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. You furrowed your eyebrows, putting on a stank face when he said that. Who the hell did he think he was talking to?

“Don’t even start that. You talk back more than everybody in the spider-verse combined, yo sassy ass.” You crossed your arms, leaning back in your chair. You watched as he turned his head towards you, that familiar nonchalant face meeting your irritated one. He hated your attitude, you hated his, it was a neutral feeling.

“How many times do I have to remind you to set your alarm, Y/n?” He sighed, his voice sounding a bit passive-aggressive. You can confirm you forgot to set your alarm, but you were pretty busy yesterday.

“I was busy, Miguel.” You snapped back. “I just had things to do before I went to sleep, you know my family always needs me to do somethin’” He raised an eyebrow, his face taking a curious expression.

“Like?” He questioned as he turned his attention to you. You knew he was gonna say that. You yawned, stretching your arms out.

“Girl, let me tell you.” He scoffed with a small smirk at your choice of words. “My uncle’s car broke down, so I had to go get him. And, guess what?!” You ranted. This was very amusing to Miguel, making his smile grow and for his to turn all his attention to you, and only you.

“What?” He said smugly. He rested his chin on his hand, which was propped up by his elbow. You were definitely enjoying the attention from the fine man in front of you, but you were still fixated on the story.

“That crackhead was all the way in CANADA. I had to drive an entire hour just to get to that old man!” You complained, rolling your eyes for what felt like the 6th time this morning. “I love that man with all my life, but I really wish someone else did that.” You huffed, fiddling with your frizzy braids. You really gotta take those bitches out. Miguel, on the other hand, was definitely enjoying himself. He looked you up & down as he listened to your story.

“Wow, such an eventful day.” He said with a snarky tone. You acted offended, putting a hand on your chest.

“That’s not the only thing that happened!” You huffed, still in a jokingly manner. He leaned in closer, crossing his arms and leaning forward so they were on his knees.

“Then tell me, Amor.” Those words sent a shiver up your spine, making your face feel warm and heart race. Your knees were almost touching his making him mighty close to you. Damn, that’s hot.

“Well.. I also had to babysit my 3 cousins, which was a nightmare.” You giggled a bit at the thought of you having to run after a 5 year old while carrying a 1 year old. You think Miguel felt your energy since his smile widened a bit. “I have a BUNCH of stories from yesterday. Just some family things.” You sighed. He put his hand on yours and looked up at you, locking eyes. All you’re seeing right now is space and opportunity. His face was closer than it should be. He wasn’t smiling anymore, but his face was still as mesmerizing as always. You swear you could almost feel his breath brush against your lips.

“You should really talk to me more, Y/n. It might not seem like it, but I enjoy your company. Though, your attitude is more than annoying, you’re a great partner in crime.” That was unexpected, but it made your heart bounce off walls like a toddler after trick-or-treating. You thought you were just like a sidekick type of thing to him, but hearing him call you his partner-in-crime, awakened an entirely different understanding. You were good at hiding facial expression, but your actions, not so much. You squeezed your thighs together and fiddled with one of the braids that always got in your face. You felt so captivated that it was nerve-racking.

“I- I really appreciate that.. Thank you, Miguel.” You smiled. You felt so delusional at that moment. You wanted to lean in, just close enough for him the hearts in your eyes. You were just about to start beating yourself up for it until you felt his cold hand on your cheek. He had that small smile that always crossed your mind 24/7. Maybe working with Miguel won’t be so bad.

[rubykgrant]

Imagine RvB characters with superpowers. But just one each, like in RWBY or My Hero Academia. Could totally see Sarge being an unstoppable force, or Tucker being the center of attention, or Caboose being able to make things not work properly. Church splitting off parts of his psyche as clones. Maine having permanent copies of powers. Wash making a memory fog. Kimball having a speed buff for herself & others. Jax making videos of his memory. Just so many possibilities!

There are a handful of RVB Super Power AUs out there that are all very interesting (the two I'm more familiar with are the "Villain AU" by @smilysstuff , and "We Didn't Even Kiss Until Issue 26" by @cinaed . I've also seen some cool Spider-Man/Spider-Verse concepts from @leonardalphachurch and @donut-entendre ~)

You've got some cool super power ideas for them too! The characters are all so weird, it is easy to take the various talents or certain personality traits and turn them into super abilities, either ones that fit easily with them, or perhaps ones that seem like the "opposite" of what is typical.

If I was going to put them into a Super Hero setting, but maybe try to make it a little different from some of the others I've seen... I might put them in a Batman scenario! Except it doesn't totally follow the same formula... because NONE of these dudes are a billionaire playboy who is also a scientist and expert martial artist. So instead...

"Blood Gulch" is actually the name for a small area of the city (basically, Crime Alley), and through some random (or perhaps connected) events, a lot of people have had an unpleasant experience there... Church woke up with no memory besides his name and a few vague bits of info of his life. Tucker was attacked, and his child was kid-napped. Caboose lost his penny (everybody thinks this is stupid, but you don't understand; it was the GIANT penny!). Donut got nailed with a grenade. Grif got ran-over by a tank (followed by Simmons agreeing to give up some organs to try and save his life at a hospital, but when doctors insisted Grif wouldn't survive the surgery, Simmons followed a very shady tip that somebody from that area could help them both... and so Simmons got a back-alley operation, then woke up a Cyborg. Grif is OK). Sarge got shot in the head. Tex "died" for the first time, and discovered she doesn't STAY dead. A strange villainous voice seems to "haunt" the area, but is only ever heard when Doc is around. Nothing bad happened to Kai, but she got busted for throwing a rave in an old warehouse there once.

Not all of this happened on the same day or anything, but it sure is a COINCIDENCE that all these people hurt somehow in this general area, isn't it!? Anyway, Church meets Tucker after Junior got kidnapped, and despite seeming so unfriendly, he's the only guy that listens to Tucker's weird story (because the group that took Junior didn't seem... human). The cops won't help, and Tucker doesn't want to leave the city unless he has a lead, so... Church takes him to where he's been crashing.

Which turns out to be a HUGE mansion, that has sat abandoned for years. Church may be a hobo, but he's a hobo with standards (also, he seems to know all the combinations for the locks. wonder why). Eventually, they run into Caboose out on the streets, sobbing over his penny. He follows them around all night, and Church finally agrees to let him com back to their mansion. Once inside, Caboose's clumsiness and nonsensical luck allows them to discover SECRET PASSAGEWAYS! There is a whole underground lair below the mansion! With some very interesting (and suspicious) technology. Oh, and it seems to be OCCUPIED as well?

So, while all that was going on, Sarge has been running around Blood Gulch at night, being a weird vigilante about it (he still has his own shotgun, but after it got damaged, the thing doesn't actually fire anymore. instead, he carries it around for the AESTHETIC, and a lot of people in the city start rumors about a guy who has a gun he doesn't shoot for some "metaphorical" reasons, but it really isn't that deep; it broke, he doesn't want to throw it away, he can't afford to get it fixed, and he's too stubborn to just get a new one. on the plus side, various bad guys have gotten the idea that if they don't use guns, the vigilante won't shoot them, so everybody has gotten less lethal in general). Sarge also collects weirdos who have gone through their own odd incidents...

He likes the idea of having a cyborg on his team, and Grif seems to be good at... not dying? That comes in handy. Donut just kinda invited himself and stuck around. Sarge finds an abandoned robot one night, so now they have a robot! His speech functions are stuck on Spanish, but Lopez is very capable at just about any task (he will still complain the whole time). Sarge decides to call their group... The Red Hood Gang! He still wears the red hoodie he had on when he got shot when doing vigilante stuff (plus a mask, and other gear). They move into what they THOUGHT was an old cave system outside the city... and find it has LOTS of interesting tech inside!

When Church's group finds out the Reds are basically living in their basement and hoarding all the cool junk, and the Reds realize these guys have an upstairs with actual bathrooms and a kitchen, they proceed to have a whole war over who gets to keep everything. As they fight and claim certain things for themselves, one of the big computers comes online... and a strange, high-pitched voice who introduces himself as Vic starts giving them info and "advice" on how to find the people that have caused their problems. Begrudgingly, the two groups decide to work together (Church's team calls themselves Blue Birds, since the gear they get is blue, and themed after birds; also, they get a cool vehicle! Sheila is their Batmobile~).

So, now the Reds and Blues are all doing vigilante stuff. They still bicker with each other, but no longer enemies. Other people in the city do not know how to deal with these chaotic weirdos. They eventually meet up with Tex, and Grif's sister figures out what her brother is up to. Doc has a brief time being "kid-napped" by the :evil voice" as O'Malley tries to be a full-on villain like the Joker, but eventually he settles down, accepts that he's really part of Doc, and they other accept Doc is part of their group too. Tucker even gets Junior back, and Caboose finds his GIANT PENNY! Things seem to being well... but THEN-

A corrupt police force doesn't like all these vigilantes exposing their own criminal activity, and hire outside help of a special agent; Washington. He initially tries to very seriously solve some of the problems in the city, and when he gets framed for even BIGGER problems, he just has his own villain-moment, taking it out on the Reds and Blues... but they win him over. New vigilante hero! He moves into the mansion with the rest of them, but one night when they return, the place has a new guest; Carolina, who informs them that this is HER FAMILY'S HOME. She's been away, doing all kinds of cool secret martial arts training around the world (that's right, she's the REAL Batman~), and comes back to to find a whole circus moved in while she was gone?

She also explained that the underground caves were where he father once had a whole secret project going on, with people being part of several experiments that claimed to make them "super heroes", but those running the show had ulterior motives (some of them were selling tech to other groups, thus creating lots of criminals with a huge advantage). Wash had been part of this program, but like the Reds, he never knew about the mansion above ground or the connection to Carolina's family. Tex was part of it too, but she kind of forgot some of it. Church... well, it seems that one the plans of Carolina's father was to try and bring her mother back to life, and one attempt involved a sample from a supernatural pool of energy, which he tested on himself first. The result was Church (this is a bit like all the R'as al Ghul/Jason Todd stuff).

More Batman-tastic shenanigans ensue... meanwhile, over in Metropolis, all the Chorus problems are happening! Instead of a surviving child of Krypton coming to Earth, a ship containing the collective history and technology landed on the planet. In secret, a group has been slowly using the advanced tech for personal gain, and some people are also stealing it for themselves. Two sides of a "war" break out, each being manipulated into fighting because once they're all gone, nothing will stop a certain rich business man from taking everything for himself (Hargrove is basically Lex Luthor. Felix and Locus use lots of Krypton tech, and also have access to the temporary Super Serum that gives them small doses of powers).

Sorry, that was a LOT for a basic "Batman/Superman" AU haha

[trashlama]

Ok hear me out Yandere redson and Mei poly /team up hcs please 🙏who both fallen for macaque female apprentice ~

Mei fights her seeing as macaque fighting monkey king , which leads to MK fighting her future darling it was only when reader makes shadow clones to trap MK , that’s when Mei gets involved. 

It would have been fine if the reader didn’t have such a flirty attitude, who likes to praise Mei even when Mei sword was near her throat. 

Before Mei could do anything , reader disappeared into the shadow realm 

For Red son , I can see him teaming up with her since MK is there enemy , with his brain and her brawn , MK and his friends will be finished in no time . (Reader teamed up with his , for sine reason her mentor disappeared and she thinking rid of MK and his friends will make him praise her ) 

He did not expect reader to be so smooth and honestly praises his inventions even saying he’s amazing . 

There were so close yet MK still won , Red son thought she was gonna leave him only for her to teleport him and her to her hideout to heal his wounds before sending him back home ,not before giving him a flirty remark . 

After that an obsession grow for Red son 

While Mei she gains a guilty crush that got worse when reader decide to keep her company since MK been busy Lately, She knows she should hate it but she been feeling lonely and when reader not being flirty she can be nice even winning Mei a dragon plushie at a fair . 

What made her snap was realising Red son fallen for her darling , but seeing how there got along greatly if there difference aside , there decided to team up to make reader theirs . 

My dude —deep inhale of air— would it be alright if I made this into like a two possibly three shot series?

I love the idea and I've been brainstorming tons of ideas for this one and in each scenario I'm like damn this idea is so good. I really want to do it justice so I need to have multiple chapters. Ya know? To build the tension and really get a feel of the mindsets and what not.

However—

(SORRY THIS TURNS INTO A LITTLE AUTHOR'S NOTE)

As you guys are aware I have to seriously start working on this future Yan Raph fic of mine... . It's Ironic but, I reeaally want to start writing the future yan Mikey part. Mostly because I basically have that one planned out in my head. Meanwhile I got like five different possible scenarios for the Raph fic that I can't decide on. Though a few months ago I had said I was gonna do the Raph one first so to keep my word I plan to do so.

However SOMEBODY (an anon) had requested a future Yan Michelangelo fic and I'm like brooooo were you reading my thoughts? Cause they were somewhat close to what I had in mind but not quite. But the point is I need to write the Raph fic soooonn!!!

Gotta appease the masses~✨

Though guys I'm a bad Trashlama. I keep brainstorming all these awesome plots that I totally want to write— which ironically were formulated when I was brainstorming for the Raph fic.

Soooo I'm gonna do a poll so I can force my procrastinating/ADHD ass to write at least some of these.

And guys btw I'm sorry again for taking so long. I've been caught up recently with finishing a lot of other things I had been procrastinating. -Cough- Hogwarts Legacy -Cough- Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse -Cough- Adult responsibilities -Cough- -Cough-!!!

Anyways thank you guys again for sticking around to the end. I'll have that poll out soon(probably today).

HERE'S THE POLL

In the mean time here's some memes!

Sorry this is long↓ I don't own these memes. I've never claimed to do so. I just come across them on Pinterest when I'm on break at work and think they're funny so I like to share them. If I mistakenly put one on here that I shouldn't have please let me know! I like to respect people's wishes. And if you could add the creator names too that would be great so the same mistake isn't made twice. Sorry for the inconvenience that my sharing may cause. I hope you have a good day.

[garfeildfanpage]

Ok so this may just be a personal pet peeve I have but I can’t STAND when fanfics n such include characters listening to music that makes no sense for them to listen to

To each his own, I know everyone has their own understanding of characters; and self-projection is fun! But it’s just so exhausted and I want something that isn’t just the author using their own taste in music for once

Yes OBVIOUSLY a fictional character listening to mitski in a fan fiction doesn’t matter and I’m upset at nothing but when it’s in every single one, it can really strain the immersion

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some mitski! But variety is important, and can give a character more personality, even in fan works!

So, basically, here are my personal two cents on what I think the tbhk cast would listen to.

(If I come off as a hypocrite I give you the permission to shoot me)

Keep in mind I am not Japanese, nor anything close. My understanding of Japanese music stops at idol-game music and everything after that eludes my little brain. these are just vague ideas, to then be added to by someone more well versed than I, so do as you will. Doesn’t necessarily have to be Japanese music either, music is for everyone! Let teru listen to Rihanna! Have akane listen to one direction! Aoi listens to Belgian death metal! So yeah just take everything I say with a nice, handful of salt.

Yashiro: As shown in a volume extra (I think) Nene plays idol games! So it’s safe to assume that she enjoys J-idol music as well, which makes sense! J-pop fucks. ALSO mentioned in a volume extra, she enjoys jaded-lover-type music, which could encompass music akin to some 90’s J-Rock!

I would put suggestions here! But I am bad at listing artists - SUPER☆GIRLS is like the only J-idol group I listen to don’t hit me. ( 7/10 on the mitski meter: she could, and probably would listen to her, but only lush, only lush.)

Kou: Yeah not gonna lie if someone said he’d listen to weezer I wouldn’t have any reason to disagree, he’s very loser-rock and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Though to me he seems much more like a “I-listen-to-mainstream-rock-because-it-sound-good” type guy, keep in mind tbhk takes place in like 2014-2015 (I think) so whatever band were popular then, he probably listened to just that. Anime openings…fucking….Naruto…also, nightcore….anime openings… live that 2010’s life Kou you deserve it…be cringe…be free. (3/10 on the mitski meter: he wouldn’t, just cause he wouldn’t really encounter her in the wild. Maybe if he was recommended her…but not on his own.)

Hanako: ok look idk what the hell supernatural music sounds like so I’m just going to go off of the time period to which he was alive. Orchestras and Jazz were popular around the 1950s in Japan (along with other more western styles of music) so, that, probably, i don’t know. With Amane’s connection to music (at least vaguely) plays, musicals, and other type performances could’ve been an interest; though for Hanako, I don’t really know if he’d even have any interest in music specifically. So considering that he’d probably just listen to whatever people play around him. (5/10 on the mitski meter: totally possible, but not believable.)

Akane: m starting to blank gimmie a moment. Instrumental. That’s really all I can say. He listens to music when studying, cleaning, or performing any task where he has to focus, so anything rhythmic and calm, something to take up the brain space that isn’t doing the task at hand so he doesn’t get distracted by something else. Video game soundtracks (like Mario or some ambient bullshit), soft pop. He also seems like the kinda guy to just listen to whatever his parents play, so yes most definitely some old shit. Recommendations from Aoi or Nene. Basically just noise, a nice distraction from the horrible horrible world, yknow? (5/10 on the mitski meter: anything goes I s’pose)

Teru: Classical?? I guess?? Dude does not listen to dick, nothing, absolutely fuck all. Old classic, a nice orchestra or quartet. western or eastern it don’t matter, as long as it’s nice, repetitive, and peaceful it’ll do the job just fine. (2/10 on the mitski meter: probably too much for him to handle, man’s constantly on the edge of a mental break mitski’d kill him, maybe if he handled his underlying issues first, but until then no mitski)

Aoi: last one cause I am clocking out. Similar taste to akane, undefined and flexible. probably listens to the same stuff as Nene, though I think she probably enjoys older j-pop, just cause she seems like that, Yknow? Movie soundtracks, Anime soundtracks (shoujou, probably. Precure n such just cause Aoi seems like someone who deserves to heal her inner child, same goes for Akane as well) Similar to Teru she probably also likes the more calmer and downbeat stuff. (8/10 on the mitski meter: totally possible, I’d believe it, but she wouldn’t tell anyone, it’s her special secret.)

Anyway see you next week for more awesome pubg 360 no-scope compilations ninja out

[autisticempathydaemon]

Hi hiii!! :DDD Doing this bad boy to see what happens. >:333

What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why? Rule 34 and Dinner and Diatribes. I don't know. Something about the just barely masked tension in both those songs, the way they both fit so well with characters/ships/dynamics I adore, and their general energy and instrumentation SINGS to me. <3 <3 <3. I may not listen to them as often as others but they are my entire brain constantly. Favourite lines from both are: "You look so good There on your knees Such a good girl knows how to please Look at me look me in the eyes Forget yourself, surrender your mind" - Rule 34 (Mostly for the visuals and the change of voice) And "I knew it from the first look of The look of mischief in your eyes" - Dinner and Diatribes (This line sets the tone of the entire song so well, the visual is so interesting and the way it's sung is so intimate in a way I cannot describe. Literally so good.)

What is your Enneagram type? 4w5 :3.

Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why? I fucking love them so bad <3. I think currently the Lightlark and Nightbane ones by KrimsonRogue are really good. Just... so much content, and also writing advice, and also dying inside listening to a review of a cringe book. Literally sustains my life.

Tell me about your childhood imaginary friend. I didn't really have them in the traditional sense, but the closest things I had was imagining chatting with or interacting with characters I liked from shows, especially once I found visual novels XD. And that evolved into characters running around in my brain and now I am a writer. :P So. These bitches clawed their way into my head at age 10 and never left.

What is your go-to way to fall asleep? Rain sounds. Storm sounds. Wind sounds. Especially if they just come from outside but I also do just put them on on my computer and turn off the screen often, letting them play on the stereo. :P

If you had to change your name, what would it be, and why? (In tandem, if you have changed your name, why did you pick that one?) Names are fucking weird man. I am currently in the process of reconsidering mine, and I am starting to like the idea of something more wacky, and star themed, or snow themed. :P I don't know if I'd like it long term but Redacted and DnD have very much warmed me up to names like that lol.

What is your favorite of Redacted’s audios, and why? Why must I chose one? You're so mean. Uuuuum... Deferred Judgment methinks. It shows a lot of Vega's softness and even some selflessness, while also a bit of the risk that his mission entails and MAN- THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT WHEN IT CAME OUT WAS SO MUCH. I hated it way back when but damn... it was really good. Still is. Cannot wait to see him again. Miss him real bad.

What Redacted boy holds no appeal to you, and why? Like, not the one you hate but the one who you don’t get the hype for. (I won’t judge, I promise.) Um... Guy, Ollie, NICK. OH GODS NOT NICK. And most of the fooliverse boys besides Milo. I am not exactly the type for sweet boys. I like some of them but their chaos or overt sweetness is... too much.

Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to. Can't say I have gotten that obsessed with media like that sadly. I am more of a Podcast/ASMR/Audioplay/Music person buuuut... hm... I mean- does a book I'm writing count??? I have quite a bit of the words of that thing up in the noggin often. It's not done yet but :P.

Which Redacted boy are you platonically attracted to? Like- forget dating, which dude do you want to be your best friend? Oh man. Damien. He is super similar to me in his passion and his love of learning and his general personality (minus the anger, that I am less prone to.) And the other boys up on top of my list I am more queerplatonic about so. :P

Do you have a go-to thing you ramble about when you’re tired, and if so, what is it? (For example, my boyfriend knows I’m ready to sleep when I start talking about space.) Oh no I will ramble about anything at any time. <3 <3 <3. I am not well ever <3.

Tell me your go-to gas station and drink combo. Spicy or Soup chips (Salt and Vineger, Chili/Cheese, etc), often Doritos or Cheetos (or Hickery Sticks if they have them), and either mineral water or an orange Soda/Slushy. And if it's cold I often go chips, sour candy and hot cocoa <3.

Tell me about your favorite playlist at the moment.  Hozier's Unheard and Wasteland Baby. Both have songs I utterly adore.

What’s your guilty pleasure media, and why? None. I feel guilty about nothing that I consume <3 <3 <3.

And whatever else you think tells me about who you are! I am a lover of art and the arts, and am actually studying art currently for my major. I would consider myself very much Vampiric in some ways (My disconnect in the way I write/speak from a specific time period or place, humanity is familiar but also fucking weird, the sun burns, I'm dramatic and want the fashion to prove it, blood good (no I won't explain) etc.), and I am a weird philosophical bastard who likes to make characters out of vague concepts, and then explore them to their most painful depth. Also varied morality and/or moral quandaries are very important to me. Morality is a weird soup and I like to play with it. (Ironic since my own morals are so strict and fixed, and yet I love writing characters who have different ones.) Aka Evil Bitches Good. And also I am one of them (if only as a writer. Love writing cruel angst to hurt my friends and characters with <3 <3 <3.) Anyhow that's all for me for now. <3 <3 <3 (Hope this is not too obscenely long.)

Pssssst- .3. Hellooo- I submmited a matchup thing but I think I did an oopsie XD. I'm an Enneagram 5w4 but I think I flipped them. So- just saying that. If it changes anything lol- My baddd- I just noticed when thinking on it. :P

Hmm, this enneagram type is characterized as creative, intelligent, and stubborn, with something to prove to the world- which tracks as you relate to Damien. With that in mind, who else could I pair you with but Huxley?

Huxley is a kind, patient, go with the flow kind of guy but not too silly which you said you don’t vibe with. You give me the impression of an insular, cerebral person, someone with a lot of ideas and thoughts that need to be finalized and put on paper, and Huxley seems like a good partner to help with that, to be your rock (ha) and help you keep those trains of thought on track while also being vocally supportive and hyping up your work the whole time. He’s sweet to you but not so sweet he doesn’t love you and your love of villains and their fucked-up deeds.

And it’s a wonderful love Huxley gives you every day, with the sturdy support and cool shade of a great tree. When you’re studying or doing schoolwork, he’s always there bringing you water or food, massaging your shoulders if you’ve been slouching. He listens to your rambles with rapt attention and affection, retaining every detail. He is your beta reader and biggest fan. He drives you to and from school with a thermos of homemade hot chocolate because his leagues is better than the store-bought stuff, and he won’t let you forget it.

Song:

And I remember being younger and my mother told me the truth/ Find someone who grows flowers in the darkest parts of you/ Take heed when things get hard and don't you ever turn around/ You'll find someone, someday, somewhere that grows you to the clouds

I feel like this song choice needs no explanation. One, the vibes are kind of just right if you’re a Hozier fan; the folk-y, country-like longing is just what the matchmaker prescribed (the matchmaker being me). Two, it’s delightfully charming and ironic given your dislike of the sun and the pet name of Sunflower I will soon have him give you.

Runner-ups:

Cam is a fun runner-up for you because I think he, as a therapist, would have a lot to contribute to your writing and dissection of villains along with the empathy to see the depth and dimension you want to give them. Lasko is another runner-up I like given how much you relate to Damien, because Damien/Lasko has always struck me as a darling pair, two sides of the same coin.

Bonus: (For you, my one hundredth match-up~)

“Sunflower…”

“Fifteen more minutes, Hux; I’ve almost figured this out.”

“You said that forty-five minutes ago, baby,” Huxley says with a soft, warm laugh and big, warmer hands on your shoulders, gently turning your chair around. “It’s time for bed.”

“But my chapter-“ you say with a tone you won’t admit has a hint of a whine.

“Will be there tomorrow,” he interrupts, taking your hand and gently tugging you out of your chair against your weak protests. “And you’ll be able to write and edit it even better once you’ve slept.” You fall into the bed with a fwump, a deep sigh, and a muttered stream of thought falling out your lips like the air out of a balloon. The earth elemental can pick out odd, familiar words in the ramble like “heart”, “stars”, and “Vega” and chuckles as the stream peters off into slow breaths and soft snores. Huxley queues up a familiar YouTube video on the tv, a ten hour loop of light rain showers, and places a blanket over your sprawled, sleeping body.

“Good night, Sunflower,” he says softly, pressing a light kiss on the top of your head before climbing into bed beside you, turning off the light with a fond, content smile.

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

[anuncalledbridge]

Summary: you didn't expect you'd be pulled into a verse where there is no Avenger, no Peter, and no Ned.

Pairing: Miles Morales x (half filo) Stark!reader

Warning: cursing in Tagalog, xreader, black hole

Author's note: I love the idea of the reader being Filipino sooo, I just felt like making her a Stark because Tony bangs everyone he wants and also this is gonna be a series.

Part two

You and Ned walked together while Peter walk ahead the both of you. Peter was rambling something about the star wars lore and sometimes inserted MJ throughout his rambling. You didn't listen, you were looking above the clouds, however, Ned listened intensely.

Peter abruptly stopped, making you and Ned bummed into his back "What the hell dude-" your eyes landed on MJ in front of Peter, which made you smirk as you avert your eyes at Ned.

"You know what I'm thinking?"

Ned looked skeptical for a moment "Uhh, you're about to steal Mr. Starks credit card and then you'll buy me a whole set of lego?" You stifle a laugh "No, idiot but yes I'll think about that" Ned made a fist bump in the air followed by a loud whisper of yes.

You cleared your throat loudly, catching Mj's attention "Peter! Weren't you talking about how gorgeous, magnificent, creative, and may I add, Beautiful, M-" You were cut off when Peter jab you on the side making you curl up into a ball.

"Shut up!" He whispered in a panicked tone. "Ned help me.." you said in a dramatic strained way while Peter strangled you like there is no tomorrow.

Mj who was on her way to work, contemplated whether to just walk straight away and pretend nothing happened or to help her suffocating friend. She chose the latter.

"Peter, I would much appreciate it if you let go of the dog you're choking" Peter immediately let go of you, and you made another loud exaggerated gasp, which Ned found Funny because it sounds like Peter when he found out you were Tony Starks daughter.

"Potangina-"(son of a bitch) Peter nudge you again this time gently, you glared at him and then looked at Mj with a huge grin "Hey there, babygurl!" Mj sigh at the nickname but said nothing about it.

You put both of your hands on Peter's shoulder pushing him towards Mj until there is little to no space "Pete here, wanted to accompany you to your, humble work thing, Right Peter?" Before Peter gets to protest Mj interjected.

"Yeah sure, how bout you and Ned?"

"Oh, we're just about..to..." You looked around for an excuse "We're helping Ned's Lola! Right, Ned?"

"We are?" You nudge him on his arm making him hiss "Play along" you whispered yell "O-oh yes actually! Her back is hurting lately s-so.." without a word you grabbed Ned's arms and sprung away.

You cheekily did a fistbump together "I'm so getting you that Lego set" you laughed while Ned gushed like a teenager in love.

You felt your phone buzz in your pocket so you check who it was, it was your dad calling. You groaned in annoyance, halting on your steps as Ned did the same waiting for you.

"What does he want now.." you muttered before answering "Hello Pa?" You heard your dad hum "You don't sound so happy hearing your dad, sweetpie"

You rolled your eyes "What do you want, Dad?" Tony once again hummed "No 'I love you Dad' first?"

"Dad-"

"say it."

You whined, you covered your phone, and looked at Ned "Ned go wait for me at the store-" You were cut off by your dad's piercing voice. "No, let Ned hear it"

"I'll just go.." Ned tried to interject "stay." Your dad once again said. Ned went still like a brick.

"Fine....I love you, Dad...ano? masaya kana?" (what? Are you happy now?) Ned quietly but failed, laughed at your suffering you gave him a hard glare. "Very much, dear" your dad chuckled in satisfaction.

"What is it that you want, anyways?" You impatiently asked, "Calm down, the wizard man needs help, I'm too lazy, so go and help him for me, alright dear?" He said over the phone, you grumbled "But dad, I have things to do-"

Your dad hummed seemingly not caring "Uh-huh, and I don't care. Now go, love you sweetchecks bye" he ended the call before you even got the chance to reply.

"So you need to be elsewhere?" Ned asked, as both of you continued walking "I'm so sorry Ned" you apologize sincerely. You felt guilty, Ned and you had been friends for a long time, he's the only one who understood you when you moved to New York, since him being Filipino and you being half, he could relate to a certain extent.

It's not like you couldn't speak English, you were quite decent and it improved throughout the year, and you didn't fit in so when Peter and Ned came into the picture, you felt at ease they felt like home.

"It's alright, but the next weekend, y/n. You can't miss it" he seriously said. You laughed "Of course Ned, I wouldn't miss it for the world" You bid your farewells, you took the train which was quite ironic when you can technically just swing from building to building.

__

"Hey, there wizard queen" Stephen sigh knowing who that annoying voice belongs to "Your dad sent you instead of him, classic." His monotone voice echoed through each corner of the room which always amused you because everywhere this man goes, there is always an echo. As you inch your way towards him he stopped you.

"What?" You looked at him weirdly "There's this thing bugging the quantum realm, I think someone interfering with it." You raised a brow "How is that possible, Mr. Ozzie?" The nicknames always tick him off every time you say it.

"The nickname you're giving doesn't even make sense" he quizzically said.

"Yes, it does" you defended your stan. He looked at you expectedly, waiting for an answer "It's the Wizard of Oz"

It was quiet for a moment.

"you know what? I'm not gonna argue with your stupid nicknames, stop it with this wizard shit. I'm a sorcerer, there's a deference" You were about to argue but he sounds agitated "Besides, we got some serious pressing matter..." He trailed off, focusing on a book that just automatically flips on its own. It always amazes you how magic could work.

"What is wrong, exactly?" You finally asked. "Someone is trying to make some sort of passage through every multiverse, and it's not just a normal passage, it's a black hole and if created it can potentially-"

"Collapse the space-time continuum.." you pieced out everything, while looking around, not meeting Stephen's eyes. You didn't know what to feel at that moment. Nothing felt right since you woke this morning, maybe that was the reason why.

"We need Dad for this" You picked up your phone from your pocket and dialed your dad's number, it was ringing when suddenly you felt the ground shaking.

"Mr. Strange, what's going on?" Your looked at him wide-eyed, while he tried to do some kind of spell to stop the shaking but it didn't.

You heard your dad's voice on the phone, making you snap out of your focused state "Can't talk right now, sweetheart. I'm currently at the.." your dad's voice became muffled as your eyes landed on a black spot that was currently forming on the ceiling and it was glitching.

Stephen tried to conceal it but to no avail, it only sucked his magic in "Y/n! Get away from here!" He shouted across the room.

"But what about you!?"

"It's not trying to get me, it's trying to get you!" He shouted but this time it was much louder, Tony heard this "Sweetheart what's going on?" He asked worriedly, he could hear the wind blowing loudly on the phone so everything was just muffled.

"dad...I think this is the last time I'm ever gonna be able to talk to you" you finally said after a few beats of silence. Stephen desperately tried to conceal the portal as best as he could to give you the time to run, but even if you could run, it will still suck you up nonetheless.

"What are you talking about?" Tony's voice grew shaky, as he started to put on his suit. "Dad, what I'm seeing right now is stranger than Dr. Strange's name" you chuckled.

Tony paid no mind to his daughter's questionable humor and started to flee from whatever meeting he was in.

"I love you, Dad." He heard Stephen scream your name and then the line ended. Tony's breathing stopped he was utterly blank, if his suit wasn't in control he would have crashed right there and then.

You felt like you'd been tossed around like a ragged doll, with all the blinding colors coming your way. Your stomach churned feeling all your food coming back to your throat.

You screamed for what felt like ages; using your weebs to shoot everywhere, trying to find a wall or anything to stick your weebs with, but found absolutely nothing.

Suddenly you hit the ground rather harshly. You groaned, looking up, the city's blinding lights disturbed your peripheral vision. You had a gut-splitting headache making you wince when you sat up immediately.

"Anak ng- where am I?" (son of a-) You looked around once you adjusted to the familiar yet unfamiliar city. This was New York but not your New York.

You started to panic and started to rephrase the previous events "o-okay, so I got sucked into a black hole- wait aren't I supposed to be dead?" You asked yourself, and then you groaned in embarrassment "I said 'I love you' to Dad, thinking I'm gonna be pulled to shred, god this is so embarrassing!"

"Manhattan! I need to go to Manhattan...maybe the Avenger's Tower is still there." Judging by the place it looked like Brooklyn, you prayed to god that the tower is still there, that your dad is waiting for you to come home.

Before you even got time to swing another portal opened at the other building making you squint your eyes. You saw a silhouette drop gracefully making you feel stupid from earlier.

You swing to that said building but as you came nearer you felt your spidey senses act up. You halted as the person in front of you looked wide-eyed in your direction.

"Who are you?" Her voice was above a whisper, you scrunch your nose.

"what? Speak up, babe"

"I said, who are you?" Her voice became louder, and she sat up from her previous awesome posture and started walking towards you "I'm Gwen Stacy" she said.

"Oh, Y/n Stark" Gwen had her mask on while you didn't "So you're spider woman? I thought I was the only one"

"Me neither" she replied with an airy sigh, looking around her with a sense of familiarity "This is not New York" She looked at you for answers but you were just as confused as she is.

"It is, but different from where you came from" it was silence for a while "What do we do?" She asked.

"We get married and just live here" you proposed as a growing smirk started to form on your lips.

"Give me a better option" she replied almost immediately. You gaped at her "anyone would be so lucky to marry me"

"Unlucky" she corrected "but you barely know me! How could you know" you argued back. "exactly."

She got you with that one. The pair of you started to swing building to building "Where are we-" you dodge a pose "going?" Gwen sighed, she seemed distant but that didn't stop you "I'm going to this academy thing, because that's what my spidey senses want" she shouted through the air so you could hear.

"Your tingly thing? I had one too!" Gwen raised a brow, not replying to the comment as she continued to swing every building.

"You know it's dangerous going around, not wearing a mask, you know that right?" Gwen did a flip through mid-air making you do the same cause you built like that.

"Who needs em? When they got me as their gorgeous sight!" the pair of you continued along your journey to find this so-called academy, although you don't know how both of you can enter but you just left that problem to Gwen.

___

😨

[pterobat]

I want to talk about some of the tie-in stuff featuring Lance Bishop that I took in recently.

“Broken” by Rachel Caine, in the anthology Bug Hunt.

The idea that a previously-established character has to be special—bothers me a bit, and I can’t say why. I do know that I felt, after years of pushing back against the mechanistic/deterministic view of the Zentradi in Robotech and Macross fandom, it was time to accept that a character might lack something in the way of “free will” and might not be one of a kind—but still be sympathetic

However, Bishop didn’t put that egg on the Sulaco, Your Mom did, and he asked to be euthanized for firmly "human" reasons, not utilitarian ones.

Anyway, “Broken”, states that Bishop having a stronger altruistic drive than the AP norm, which very briefly leads to the possibility of him being scrapped, and then later lets him disobey orders and save some people in his non-actiony way.

It’s still mostly satisfying, except for two things: Bishop has “brothers” named after other chess pieces (except "Queen" because of cowardice), and while that’s cute, it’s at the expense of the Frankenstein-ish story in the novel below, where he shares the name with his "Father".

Secondly there’s the groaner when the last scene of the story leads right into Bishop meeting Apone’s unit after being repaired by Hudson and the Knife Trick getting brought up already.

William Gibson’s Alien 3 (Novel and Comic Version):

To steal from Dostoevsky, all versions of Alien 3 are stupid in their own way. It’s hard to think of where to go from Aliens, though it’s not my job to do so, right?

At least there’s no chance of Gibson’s version being lionized as a course-correction or a bold strike against some imagined saccharine future. Instead we get something that’s readable and likeable enough, but pretty bland. Kind of like Hicks as the main, really—nothing against the dude, but there’s just not much going on with him.

Part of it’s not the fault of Gibson: he had to write out Ripley, but man, you don’t have to give it a gold star just for otherwise trying. I can also see how the Xenomorphs as a Thing-esque virus would occur to writers, but it just doesn’t feel right.a

Also, for what’s supposed to be a riff on the Cold War and MAD, the Union of Progressive Peoples are cartoonishly silly, constantly thinking about “capitalism” while capitalism doesn't think of them, while the narrative makes a point of how run-down and crappy their tech is.

Even Bishop notices that without any spite, while the UPP are harsh towards him out of an understandable vision of worker’s rights, but in a Dolyist sense is only there to make them more unsympathetic and caricatured.

As for Bishop, he’s fun to follow because I like reading about him just being totally chill about everything, still without coming across as heartless. But he doesn’t have much of his sense of weirdness or of that awkward kindliness that makes his character more interesting than the average friendly AP.

Two more things: I was first harsh on the idea that an ovomorph would grow from Bishop’s exposed guts, but I came around when I realized it was an example of a slightly-more grounded Xenomorph evolution/adaptation than the virus, just putting more of the mechanical in bio-mechanical—plus it was the only example of gender fuckery to be found for miles.

Secondly, I liked his quiet little monolgue at the end that humanity ought to destroy Xenomorphs for their own good. It’s the usual trope of having a heroic character fascinated by monsters, who must prove they are still heroic by killing or opposing them.

Aliens: Bishop by T.R. Napper

It’s funny that this book came out last December, like it was waiting for me to start thinking about the character again.

Sadly, the original characters were not so entertaining, which is often but not always the curse of tie-in fiction. It’s another reason why it’s hard for me to be fannish about the larger Alien-a-verse besides not much of it sounding interesting.

It doesn’t help that the story starts out with a USC Marine mission lead by an Apone, with a male corporate stooge on board, and our new MC gets the nickname “Cornbread” within a few pages—come on with this. Otherwise, she’s like Hicks in the sense of readable and serviceable.

To go back to Alien 3 for a second, and franchising in general—they repeat themes and motifs because that makes the selling easy, and you can make a keen case for “The Real Enemy is Man” being a theme of the Alien universe.

Because of that, having Michael Bishop be who/what he said he was makes the most sense if you want not only a thematic through-line but the Frankenstein-ish subtext of the book which is like catnip to me.

Normally resurrection is thematically cheap in fiction, but given that Alien 3 comes off as cheap (lazy) to begin with, and we’re dealing with an AP, and the results are interesting, it doesn’t take much to win me over.

I don’t know how much research the author did, or if it’s just serendipty, but Henriksen said he played Bishop as an abused child, as a being who knew he was disposable but consoled himself by knowing he’d outlive those who could hold that over him. And even though they look the same age, the abusive-father subtext is all over this. Michael is nice enough until he doesn’t get what he wants after being “patient” and “giving”.

And speaking of franchises and theming, something about creator/creation in the Alien series no longer feels out of place in post-Prometheus world, even if the execution in those movies was a letdown.

Transhumanism also comes into the picture, and while it first seemed Michael would steal Bishop’s new body, instead Michael wants to transfer his body digitally and succeeds. It also feels out of place in the larger franchise, but I might check out a sequel.

I also wish the book were more creative about trying to do something with the Xenomorphs. Michael pretends it’s about something different as part of his manipulation, but alas it’s the same old militarization.

It’s kind of funny that Bishop meets the captured Morse who quirkily tells him a few things about how humans don’t value other humans. It helps Bishop get rid of the last vestiges of attachment to his Shitty Dad, and Bishop otherwise returns to the same place he was before, just with a new unit.

I was waiting for some other shoe to drop, but the Apone #2 unit appeared to have no ulterior motivations when it came to finding Bishop. Returning to a quiet status quo does suit him in a way, since Bishop is so chill about everything.

The book also establishes that Bishop asked to be euthanized because of grief. I didn't want a purely utilitarian reason like reaching a damage threshold that cheapie W-Y labelled unsalvageable--that doesn't work narratively/tonally/emotionally--but it was enough to think poor Bishop decided on death because he couldn’t ever reach adequate quality of life.

So a lot of fun here, even what with the brief moments where Bishop is emotionally demonstrative or fights physically and it’s cringe-inducing rather than an extrapolation of the character.

[todayisyourturntolose]

Share pdude hcs??? 😈

ok soooo. idk if you mean one pdude in particular sooo imma do the basic ones! (p1,p2,p3,p4)

good lord it has been forever since ive been able to write down my hcs for these sillies, and i have a whole bunch so i'll put it under le cut :)

p1

-well versed in ASL, uses it in overwhelming situations

-sunglasses double as prescription lenses (i give this hc to basically all of the other dudes, but i think p1 would need glasses more than any of them)

-probably the smartest of the other dudes. essentially a polymath. if you ask him a question about almost anything, he'd probably give you a reasonable answer

-surprisingly good at drawing. does better with drawing portraits rather than full body. has a very scratchy and rough looking art style

-(technically canon bcuz of like, the war journal) writes in a journal (essentially a diary, but he'd rather die than call it that), mainly writes about his emotions and internal struggles, but sometimes writes about the other dudes and his experiences with them

-cannot go to sleep in silence. he's gotta have music on or some sort of background noise or else his mind starts to wander

p2

-physically can't stay in one place without moving. whether it be rocking in place, tapping his foot, or shifting his weight from one foot to the other, he's always making some sort of movement.

-actually pretty friendly to those around him. he just has a pretty short temper, getting easily agitated by things (or people) around him

-besides p1, probably the skinniest of all the dudes. mans is all bones compared to say p4 or p3

-champ is his emotional support animal. he's been through a lot, and champ is basically his only refresher from the hell he lives in

-strangely flexible...can slip through fairly small cracks and corners easily

-has a LOT of vocal stims. this mf meows whenever he sees a cat. he makes random noises to himself. he repeats things that he hears others say

p3

-got a surprisingly good amount of muscle on him. goes to the gym pretty often. definitely flexes whenever he gets the chance

-slight southern accent. very noticeable when he gets angry or when he talks fast. if you point it out to him, he'd probably get really embarrassed

-average r&b enjoyer. out of the blue, p1 once asked who luther vandross was, to which p3 gave an almost hour long lecture about the importance of r&b and why it's one of the best genres to date, why old r&b is miles better than new r&b, quizzing p1 on different artists, etc

-also an unironic country music enjoyer. he begs and pleads the other dudes to let him play just a little bit of johnny cash whenever he's offered the aux cord. maybe a bit of dolly parton. hell, probably some shania twain, if he's feeling bold.

-a fairly good singer. he's no freddie mercury, but to say he's horrible would be an overstatement. knows what songs are in his range, and which ones aren't. isn't really one to sing out loud in front of a lot of people, though. (one time, he sang to p1 in an attempt to calm him down during one of his moments. it worked, surprisingly :0)

p4

-one of the happiest dudes. at this point in his life, he's not nearly as violent as the others (he still has his moments, of course, but he's not one to just spontaneously go ham) and just sorta accepts things as they are

-a genre GOD. this man listens to pretty much everything. his favorite genres are funk, nu-metal (or metal in general), pop, and r&b (he and p3 bond over their fav artists)

-while champ is basically an emotional support animal to p2, to p4, champ is more of a service dog. he's getting older, which means he isn't able to do things as easily as he used to, so champ is there to fetch things for him and in general, just help him with daily tasks

-very confident with who he is. he isn't embarrassed by the things he does. he takes pride in being different.

-doesn't give himself labels when it comes to sexuality or gender. it's not that he's against it, he just prefers the idea of being unlabeled. (though, i personally hc him as being pansexual and transmasc. you go grandpa.)

-DAD BOD. a fair bita muscle, though. he's pretty strong compared to the other dudes.

-has an array of random talents. one day he'll just start juggling randomly and be like "oh, this? yeah, i picked it up a few years ago. nothing to write home about, to be honest."

--

aaaaand that's all! sorry if it's a lot, i just rlly have a lot to say abt these goobers (and even more to say abt the dudes i didn't include!)

[puckish-rogue-archive-deux]

Lore Dump: Current State of Affairs

Note: The following is a discussion on this blog's main verse and what one could expect when doing crossover threads. As the original SR series is effectively dead in the ground, and as someone who wasn't the biggest fan of how it ended, I am basing this entirely off of my own ideas regarding canon, and my revised version of the third game. Please note that at this point in time, I do not have a post that details just what exactly I've done to rework the events of the third game. So until such a post is made, feel free to send me questions regarding just about anything; from plot points, characters, the setting, and so on. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy what's spoken about here.

Something that I've always been fascinated by were the long-lasting consequences of what the Saints had done during the gang war in Steelport. Because let's be real here; the fact that a street gang was able to completely wipe out a large scale criminal organization, whose power and connections were on a global scale, and win against a paramilitary task force that was under the control and supervision of the US government, which was more than likely really fucking embarrassing for them, is monumental.

And when I say monumental, I mean do you know how fucking insane that is? Like, do you know how that's going to affect the world? I would not put it past any kind of governing body to get a wee bit paranoid over this shit. "Well, if the Saints were able to hold their own against the fucking US military, what does that tell every other criminal organization across the globe?". That's horrifying for people in high positions of power! It sets an example. Plants an idea.

So, I can see them trying to deal with this in a number of ways; either they start dumping all their money into law enforcement in order to counteract organized crime, stay vigilant and play by ear, hire outside forces (I like to consider the Masako and STAG as the catalyst for PMC's becoming much more prevalent in this world). Or, special bonus crime answer, you work with OTHER criminal organizations in order to take out what you consider a huge threat. No matter what choice is made, the end result is all of them coming off as if they're panicking like crazy.

Something to consider as well is the public's perception towards what transpired in Steelport, and the way everything was handled. While the Saints' general popularity may have waned somewhat, there's definitely people out there coming to their defense. Or, at the very least, arguing in their favor. They could be seen as arguably better than a lot of the gangs they've gone up against (something that is hinted at in NPC dialogue during the second game), and they did prevent an entire city from being demolished because the US left a dude in charge who would do absolutely anything in his power to get the job done. So, like, hmm, maybe funny purple gang is a necessary evil?

But on the contrary we have the obvious. "How can you defend a bunch of criminals? Maybe things wouldn't have escalated this badly if they weren't around. These people are scumbags! Worst of the worst! And their leader is a godforsaken psychopath (sociopath, maniac, nutcase, whatever you feel like blurting out that day)". None of it is particularly surprising. Most folk don't really like the idea of letting a gang exist, no matter what sort of perceived "good" they might have done for the community. These are also the same kind of people who may even support whatever kind of law or program may be used in order to strike back against organized crime, regardless of how it may impede upon their life or the lives of other people.

"And what about the criminal underworld? Wouldn't this affect them too? Oh, please tell me more, Andre! You're very smart and creative." Ha ha! Why thank you, Hypothetical Person. But, yes, the criminal underworld will absolutely be affected. I mean, put yourself in the position of a gang leader; how would you personally feel seeing the Saints accomplish such an incredible feat? Either you're gonna try gunning for their leader's head, find yourself inspired enough to try and be just a little bit bolder, recognize the potential threat they are to your empire, or be a real stupid motherfucker and continue to underestimate them. It's highly dependent on the gang itself and the kind of person leading them.

The Saints are in a very interesting position currently. They have cemented themselves as a criminal organization to keep an eye on. A gang that has the potential to put themselves in the history books depending on what choices they make. And knowing how ruthlessly ambitious The Boss happens to be, it is almost guaranteed that the Saints will be doing whatever possible in order to expand this empire of theirs, no matter who might stand in their way.

It is the dawn of a new era within this world, and the 3rd Street Saints are carving their path to greatness.

[coffeedrgn87]

Hai. I just wanted to say that LPK has ruined me for almost every other BDSM story. Now when I read any, I'm like "Where's the enthusiastic consent? Where are the loving and frequent check-ins with your sub? Where is the scene where you discuss whether this is something both of you want?" And I'm including original stories in the list too. There are very few stories that can satisfy me now. Even when the sex scenes are hot, the lack of a connection between the Dom and sub puts me off. There's a Sterek BDSM fic that kind of lives up to LPK, but that's the only one I've found. You have completely ruined me. I hope you're happy, you ridiculously talented author.

Hi! 💜

Funny you should say this, because this is, in part, how LPK came to life. I wanted kinky reading that really emphasised consent, communication, and negotiation.

And sure, there are some relatively good works out there (now at least) but they generally feature a) a hetero relationship and b) some rich dude who happens to be a Dominant and a submissive gal who wants to try out kink or is in the community (to some degree) but falls head over heels in love with the Dominant which changes the whole dynamic and leads to much unnecessary drama (my personal opinion, also mainly reference original works here…fan works very often do have queer representation).

While there’s nothing wrong with that trope, it doesn’t represent me in any way. I want queerness with my kink, I want munches and shibari and tough conversations, and trust. I want things to reflect reality with a scene going well and emotions changing the dynamic midway.

There are many reasons why LPK is so dear to me, and you mentioned some, the enthusiastic consent, the conversations, but also life getting in the way and finding ways around that, growing together, etc.

I grew a lot with the writing of the story which I absolutely expected I would (or at least hoped for). Never in a million years did I think so many people would read it, comment on it, favourite it, etc. I’m not in any community where people might talk about different works so I don’t see it happening…which is why I, for the most part, still have imposter syndrome about it all, but I think that can be said for all my other writing too, not that any of it comes close to where LPK went.

I have this recurring dream of wanting to turn it into an original work, but I’m daunted by my own word count thus far and the amount of rework required so I keep thinking that the perfect idea will eventually come along.

I honestly cannot thank you enough for you very enthusiastic support and your kind message. It means the world to me, and I know I say this to everybody who takes the time to tell me what LPK means to them, but it’s not some spiel, I truly mean it. The verse has done something special to me, even though I don’t want to believe it. I fear believing it may lead to me getting a big head about it all, even though I’m certain that I could never…ugh, look at this, not only do I digress but I’m also rambling.

I won’t lie, there’ve been many times I’ve wanted to take the verse down, and not just it but all my works, as I don’t especially feel connected to the fandom world, but then I remember that I primarily write for myself and anyone who would like to come along for the ride is more than welcome. As for the rest, I try my best not to care and if I do, I run to yell at my therapist.

Okay, this response is getting out of hand. And it’s also starting to sound a lot like a journal entry rather than a response to a very lovely and sweet ask. Let me close with this: I hope to have an update for book 3 soon. I’ve a lovely idea floating about my head…