#[ so threads would be cool someday. ]

[deansbeer]

birthday boy ・ COWBOY!JENSEN ACKLES. ៸៸៸ 𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ! ♡ library

eighteen plus. minors do NOT interact.

୨୧ synopsis. jensen's birthday turned out perfect, but he wants more—stealing you away from the bonfire to claim you in the barn.

୨୧ warning(s). smut | oral (m!receiving) | unprotected sex (are we even surprised LMAO) | semi-public sex | barn sex | praise | mild dominance | dirty talk | slight roughness | orgasm control | birthday sex.

୨୧ word count. 1.1k

୨୧ kari notes. it felt necessary to do cowboy!jensen for the prettiest birthday boy ever !!!!!!! i miss him dearly and i know i've left him + the christmas series to collect dust (my bad 😔) i promise it was not intentional <3 i hope to get back to it someday and FINALLY wrap the series up. anyway! enjoy this somewhat of a revival of cowboy!jensen and happy birthday to jensen <3 my sugarplum pookie wookie princess butt 🤍 i love him so very much.

the fire crackles, casting a golden glow over the field, laughter ringing out as jensen's friends pass around beers and swap stories. the air smells like burning cedar and summer grass, the heat of the flames licking at the night breeze.

you've spent the entire day making sure his birthday is perfect.

his favorite breakfast in bed, a homemade cake, little surprises scattered throughout the day—things only you would know he'd love. but this? the bonfire, the laughter, the way his friends are all gathered around, celebrating him? this was the part he didn't expect.

and from the way he keeps looking at you—warm, lingering glances, like he can't decide if he wants to say thank you or take you apart—you know he appreciates every second of it.

he looks damn good tonight, too.

the sleeves of his tan flannel are rolled up to his elbows, the fabric unbuttoned revealing the white wife beater clinging to his chest. his old levi jeans sit low on his hips, worn in just right, and his brown cowboy boots are planted firm in the dirt, like he's the only thing keeping the earth steady.

but it's his eyes that get you the most. green, sharp, locked onto you every time you move. like he's waiting. like he's hungry.

so when he finally makes his move, it's not subtle.

a warm palm at the small of your back. a quiet, "come with me, sweetheart."

no one notices when he leads you away, his fingers curling around yours, guiding you past the parked trucks, past the wooden fences, into the barn where the scent of hay and leather lingers thick in the air. "been waitin' all damn night to get you alone," he mutters, voice low, gravelly, sending a shiver straight down your spine. "you spoil me too much, darlin'."

"only 'cause you deserve it," you tease, fingers tracing slow over his chest, feeling the heat of him through the fabric.

his lips twitch, eyes darkening. "yeah? think i deserve somethin' else too."

the way he says it—the weight behind those words—makes your stomach tighten, anticipation thrumming through your veins.

"yeah?" you murmur, letting your hands drift lower, teasing at his belt buckle. "what's that, cowboy?"

his breath hitches, just slightly. his hands flex at your waist.

"get on your knees, baby."

heat floods through you, pooling low in your belly, and you don't hesitate—not when he's looking at you like that.

the dirt is cool beneath your bare knees as you sink down, your hands sliding up his thighs, slow, deliberate.

you undo his belt, pop the button, drag the zipper down with aching precision, just to watch his breath stutter.

"teasin' me now?” he rasps, fingers threading into your hair, tilting your chin up.

"maybe."

but you don't tease for long.

you pull him free from his jeans, his cock already hard, thick and heavy in your palm.

"fuck, look at you, sweetheart," he mutters, thumb brushing over your cheek, voice rough. "prettiest damn thing i've ever seen."

you smirk, pressing a slow kiss to the tip, then licking a teasing stripe along the underside, feeling him twitch in your grasp.

"jesus," he mutters, his head falling back for just a second before his gaze snaps back down to you, dark and demanding. "c'mon, sweetheart. know you can take it."

so you do.

you take him into your mouth, slow at first, letting him feel every inch as your lips stretch around him, your tongue swirling just right.

his groan is deep, raw, his hips jerking slightly as his grip tightens in your hair.

"yeah, that's it, baby," he grits out, watching you, his chest rising and falling faster now. "too damn good f'me."

you hollow your cheeks, take him deeper, until he hits the back of your throat, your hands gripping his thighs for balance.

"love this mouth," he mutters, his voice thick with need. "gonna make me come if you keep that up."

you hum around him, the vibration making him curse under his breath, his hips stuttering forward.

but before he can get too close, he yanks you off him, his breathing ragged, his cock slick with your spit.

"as much as i'd love to finish like that," he says, voice uneven, "need to be inside you, darlin'."

before you can even respond, he hauls you up, spinning you around, pressing you up against one of the thick wooden beams.

his hands are everywhere—pushing up your dress, ripping your panties off, gripping your thighs, lifting you effortlessly as you wrap your legs around his waist.

"hold onto me," he orders, and you do, arms looping around his shoulders as he lines himself up, teasing you with the head of his cock, watching it drag through your slick folds.

"jensen—" you start, but the words die in your throat as he thrusts into you, stretching you open in one smooth, deep stroke.

"goddamn, baby," he groans, his forehead pressing against your shoulder for a moment, his breath hot against your skin.

"you feel so good."

you whimper, nails digging into his shoulders blades, your body already trembling from how deep he is, how perfectly he fills you.

"been watchin' ya' all night," he mutters, his voice rough as he picks up the pace, his grip on you tightening. "watching you in that little dress, smilin' at me like you knew exactly what you were doin'."

he drives into you harder, deeper, the friction sending sparks up your spine. the rough drag of his jeans against your thighs, the way his body presses firm against yours—it's too much, too good, setting your nerves on fire.

"wanted you to want me," you manage to whisper, and his responding growl sends a shiver straight through you.

"always want you," he rasps, his hands gripping tighter, his pace turning relentless, desperate, like he's making sure you feel it, like he's carving himself into you.

"fuck, baby, mm—"

his fingers slip between you, rubbing tight circles over your clit, the pleasure winding sharp and fast in your belly.

"do it f'me, sweetheart," he urges, his breath ragged, "wanna feel you—wanna feel you come all over me."

you shatter, your orgasm crashing over you, your walls clenching around him, making him curse, his rhythm stuttering.

"mmm, good girl," he groans, burying himself deep one last time before he follows, spilling inside you with a shaky moan, his body tensing before finally relaxing, both of you breathless, clinging to each other.

for a long moment, there's nothing but the sound of your heavy breathing, the distant sounds of the bonfire happening outside.

jensen chuckles, pressing a lazy kiss to your lips.

"best damn birthday ever, sweetheart."

៸៸៸ 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒. @titsout4jackles @daylighted @bluemerakis @honeyryewhiskey @figthoughts @dollyfiles @starzify @ultravi0lence14 @soldiersgirl @sunsbaby @abox-of-rocks @whisperingdaze @eepwtf @chris444evr @deanswidow @voidsuites @jasvtsc @cowboysandcigarettes @beausling @stereotypicalbarbie @bejeweledinterludes @jensenacklesballsack @h8aaz @sunsbaby @jjmbbg @freeluigihesbae @suckitands33 @ultravioletrayz @unfortunate-brat @a-lil-pr1ncess @notsocoqquete1 @deerlysacred @benscumgluzzer @chevroletdean @deanangel @bluestrd @rubyvhs @ohsc @deansw1fe

[bejeweledinterludes]

❝ are you in the mafia? ❞

❝ … am i in the what? ❞

「 pairing 」 : dean winchester x mafia ! reader

「 word count 」 : 1.3 k

「 content / warnings 」 : mob/mafia, incorrect mafia lore that i tweaked because i said it was okay to, canon-compliant violence, mentions of death, swearing

you have one ( 1 ) new message from the author ! ↓

HEYYY this was a request from @hpxmcusworld! i did end up making the reader gender neutral, i hope that’s okay— and that you enjoy, because this was really fun to write! thank you so so much for requesting and your kind words! <3

my masterlist

disclaimer: reminder that these are works of fiction. i do not support the real-life mafia / mob. read more here.

𖤐 ────────────────────────

this was so cool stupid.

that was the only thing going through dean winchester’s mind as he and sam knocked on the door of a very much too-big and not at all cool as shit house— because who in god’s name needed six garages with some fuckin’ awesome vintage cars? and a damn fountain in the driveway?

rich and pompous assholes.

that’s who.

“this ‘s so stupid,” dean echoes his half-thoughts out loud in a low mutter— throwing in an eyeroll before adjusting the tie of his fed threads.

sam squinted his eyes at his brother’s sheer reluctance to get through one single day without complaining— but before he could even say anything, a maid opened the door, looking between the both of them.

“can i help you gentlemen?” she asks, standing up a little straighter when she notices the suits.

“fbi, ma’am,” dean nods matter-of-factly as he flashes his badge, sam following suit. “need to speak to the owner of this house. it’s about the murder three days ago. it’s urgent.”

damn right, it was urgent. children were dropping like flies left and right in chicago— dying with no warning and decomposing almost immediately.

they needed answers.

so sam’s extensive research and cross-referencing police records had brought them to here— to the gigantic hand-carved wood front door of one of the families that currently ran the chicago mob.

(it also helped that one of the kids that died had been from this family, too— but sam enjoys click-clacking around on the computer.)

“oh, yes, of course,” the maid immediately recognized who they were talking about— why these definitely real fbi agents were here. “come in, please. i’ll notify of your presence.”

dean fights the urge to get excited roll his eyes.

again.

. • . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . 𖤐

“sorry to keep you waiting,” your voice rings out— one that sounded like you weren’t really sorry at all.

both dean and sam’s heads perk up to look at you, the supposed owner of the house entering what the maid called the ‘sitting room’.

which was actually pretty sick, because it totally felt like a mafia movie. you sat down in the matching lavish sofa across from them. you nodded once to the maid, who excused herself scurried off immediately. dean was reminded of a scene from goodfellas, one of his favorite movies that was similar.

which wasn’t cool at all.

“you look a little young to own a house this big,” dean bluntly remarks before thinking twice— and received a ‘dude’ look from sam.

they weren’t wrong. you appeared to be the same age as dean and sam, give or take a few years— and unmistakably attractive. though, you always thought the old architecture and style of the house made you look better.

“well, technically, it’s not exactly mine— yet,” you clarify, crossing a leg over the other as you eye the two men. “but it will be someday. i’m the next best thing right now. my father’s… handling business elsewhere.”

immediately you noticed the fact that they were not like any usual stick-up-the-ass dickwads that usually were oh so graciously in your presence— they seemed… pretty close to normal, actually.

“right,” sam interjects before dean could make some other comment that would end up with them back at square one. “anyways, we’re here because of—”

“my brother,” you interrupt sam, your eyes still flicking between them— and a slight smile on your face. “but, then again, you aren’t actually real agents, now are you?”

both dean and sam look at each other at that, a slight tremor of panic passing through each of them. dean speaks up this time—

“we—”

“are hunters,” you finish, titling your head a little as you look between them. “see, i do my research, too— or rather, my people do. you’re dean. that’s sam. you’re brothers, and you hunt monsters for a living.”

both dean and sam had whatever words they were going to say taken away from them when you dropped that bomb— they were used to having to tiptoe around that subject.

“well, it really is a good thing you’re here,” you continue without a beat, leaning back against the couch again, “i’m used to monsters being… y’know, people.”

dean and sam had finally relaxed a little after the initial shock wore off— and dean was starting to realize you weren’t what he expected. and maybe this wasn’t as stupid as he thought.

it was kinda like a godfather movie, if he was being honest.

and dean loved the godfather.

“you don’t seem like a complete…” dean trails off. in this line of work, it was rare to encounter someone with a good head on their shoulders, especially if they were filthy rich— but then again, he was glad he didn’t have to babysit.

“asshole?” you finish once again, raising your eyebrows, your smile ticking up higher. “yeah, it skips a generation. so, what’s the plan?”

“the plan?” sam echoes, both he and dean scoff a little, glancing between each other and you.

“yes, the plan,” you exaggerate the last word as sam did. “firstly, how many soldiers do you need?”

“soldiers?” both dean and sam echo you this time, their expressions mixed with shock and bewilderment.

“are you going to repeat everything i say?” you shake your head a little, uncrossing your legs and reaching to pour yourself a glass of whiskey with the crystal bottle. “yes, soldiers. i’m sure you’ve heard of la cosa nostra.”

oh, shit. la cosa nostra. dean’s heard the stories from the times he’s been through illinois— it was the ruthless mafia army composed soldiers from all 5 crime families that ran chicago. the mafia’s dean looked between you and his brother— and his eyes were a little less shocked. more… excited?

“you can— you have soldiers? that would help… us?” sam is the first to speak, considering dean was a little too… preoccupied about how cool this was actually was.

“well, they’ll do anything i say, so, yes,” you smoothly lean back against the couch again, re-crossing your legs. “they’ll be at your service, if you require it.”

“cool,” dean finally speaks, a slight smile turning on the corner of his mouth.

sam snaps his head to his brother, suppressing a slight eyeroll before talking to you again. “well, we don’t really know what we’re up against, but—”

“my resources will be yours,” you interrupt, placing your crystal glass of whiskey down. “anything you need, just ask.”

“really?” dean tilts his head, smile getting a little wider. “anything?”

“anything.” it was your turn to echo as you glance between them, talking a little quieter. “my brother didn’t… deserve to die the way he did. he was just a kid.”

“and we are sorry that happened,” sam attempts to revert the conversation back to the case, and not dean’s awestruck demeanor. “we can’t imagine.”

“we’re gonna figure out whatever this is, and make sure it never happens again,” dean snaps out of it for after a second— because he could imagine what it was like to lose a younger brother. he actually has before. “we’ll get the sonofabitch— y’know, make him swim with the fishes.”

that makes you smile— actually, genuinely smile. for the first time since your brother had died a week ago.

“i have no doubts,” you nod, uncrossing your legs once more, standing up and already starting deeper into the house as you talk. “now, let me show you the weapons hall. you boys might be able to use a couple things.”

“the weapons hall? dude,” dean almost jumps up from the couch, slapping sam on the shoulder— to which raises an eyebrow, shaking his head. the facade dean always put up when he was trying not to get excited was almost gone, if not completely. “c’mon, get movin’ sammy!”

okay, dean supposed, maybe working with the mafia would be cooler than he initially first thought. because this was kinda cool. you were kinda cool.

mostly the mafia part, though. not necessarily because he thought you were super awesome or anything.

at least, that’s what dean was telling himself.

───────────────────────── 𖤐

my master taglist (so far): @blossomingorchids @bluemerakis @ambiguous-avery @maddie0101 @titsout4jackles @deansbeer @sunsbaby @emeraldcrs @h8aaz @honeyryewhiskey @supernotnatural2005 @cowboysandcigarettes @soldiersgirl @figthoughts @mostlymarvelgirl @amaris444 @kaz-2y5-spn @littlesoulshine @starzify @velvetparkerx @eggggggggggggggggggggsblog @fuckedupfate @liiiilsss @angelblqde + i missed anyone OR if you want to be added/taken off, please just comment / send an ask! <3

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

new fight lines have trey asking sebek to "tell him more about his family", adding more ridiculous crumbs to "sebek's father is distantly related to trey's". makes me feel sure that sebek's home event will have trey as a guest even if just for the further comedic potential.

speaking of sebek's family too: i only recently realized the full implication of a fae marrying a human and having chilldren with them. it's obvious that they are to expect their lover to go first, but somehow it didn't cross my mind that mrs. zigvolt is also going to see her children die first too. as far as we know, sebek's aging just as a regular human; unless there is some lore revelation, his mother seems likely to outlive him (just as lilia's likely to outlive silver now). it's interesting to think about imo, because there is an active choice here to have a family which you know you are doomed to bury yourself instead of searching for someone within your fae species to avoid this. feels like it's saying something about love and grief which a hometown event could (hopefully) explore.

MysteryShopTLs has a post with all new voiced Trouble lines translated! Please check it out. I wanted to give them a shoutout + promo because I’ve unfortunately been seeing tons of people reposting these on Twitter, and even someone using their template, without credit… which they have explicitly said to NOT do 💦 Remember to credit fan translators, guys (preferably in the same post as the tls and not the 2nd/3rd post in a thread, otherwise people won’t actually see the credit).

Trey “I’m so normal about teeth I’m about to beat up and interrogate an underclassman to learn more about his dentist father” Clover 💀 djksbekeheehwi The “Trey is Sebek’s cousin/distantly related relative” thing is dbjsbwjxndlss such a funny crack theory to me 😭 At this point, I wonder if the devs are aware of it and try to throw that crowd (really subtle) bones…

It’d be cool to see Trey in a Sebek’s hometown event! (Preferably as SR and not yet another event R for the poor guy 💦) Trey’d be so hype meeting THE Mr. Zigvolt. I actually wrote a short thing about them meeting here; hopefully if this happens in canon, it’s just as silly.

I’d also really like to see Idia in Sebek’s hometown event. It would just be ironic, because both of them also show up in Harveston… with Idia complaining in front of Sebek that he’d NEVER want to visit a place like BV, which is lacking in wi-fi! Oh, how the tables would turn…

We have no official confirmation as to whether or not a human-fae mixed child would have an extended lifespan or not. I know many fan works like to depict Sebek outliving Silver or the other first years for the ✨ Angst ✨ of it all, but canon hasn’t stated anything of the sort! Personally, I believe that Sebek at least ages like a regular human, since he seems to match the rate at which Silver grows (in their childhood flashbacks). Fae are shown to have much more delayed developments, such as learning to walk at 30 years old rather than the typical 10-18 months that a human would take.

Mrs. Zigvolt really is so strong 😭 Her entire community seems to have been against the marriage but she did it anyway. Baur, too, disapproved and dissuaded her from pursuing this so much. Mrs. Zigvolt actively has to take every opportunity possible to normalize the family she chose for herself to her own father. Even knowing that she might have to bury her own husband and three children someday, she still fights for the life she has, because there’s no other life she wants. I wonder… Was part of the reason why Baur didn’t want his daughter to marry a human (you know, racism aside) because he didn’t want to see her suffer from that grief? Especially considering that Baur himself probably saw many of hid own allies fall in battle 😭 so maybe he wanted to spare his one and only child of that despair… But Mrs. Zigvolt thinks differently than him, she probably believes love is always worth having, even if the community scorns hers, and even if time threatens to steal her family away. We love a woman that knows what she wants 👊

While I’d love for a hometown event to explore this in more detail, I really doubt that they will dedicate tons of time to it 🙂‍↕️ It would be great to have Sebek coming to appreciate his dad more, or realizing the full depth of his mom’s love… Unfortunately, Twst hometowns don’t usually have these extensive narratives, they only lightly touch upon the SSR’s character development in a few scenes.

[bunnwich]

I just found out a Prince of Egypt Musical exists, and one of the addition songs— 'footprints on the sand'— really gives me Leona vibes

(Spotify link to the song)

https://open.spotify.com/track/40PqpFQdrylghRZgY36W8G?si=wATkespmQyar931PNnNc8A&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A7MOGTYjo3ifwHDBf0EBE71

(Genius lyrics)

https://genius.com/Original-west-end-cast-of-the-prince-of-egypt-footprints-on-the-sand-lyrics

So since you're— at least in my view— one of the Leona experts, I was wondering what your thoughts would be on it!

Not that it fits perfectly; no song ever really fits 100%, after all. But I think it has strong Leona vibes

Leona VS The Weight of Insignificance

(Ahhh sorry I am just getting around to this.;-; BTW DFGHJK I’m flattered that you consider me a Leona expert??)

So this is pretty cool because I didn't realize there was a Prince of Egypt Musical? I’m a big fan of the animated movie and of musicals so I’ll have to listen to the rest someday!

So, I think in general the theme of “Footprints in The Sand” is about the idea of “trying to leave a mark” in life, but feeling like it won't matter in the long run and also exploring the insignificance that we all feel as people.

That being said, I can see why this song made you think of Leona! It brought up some feelings about what being second-born in a royal lineage means and how that can make someone feel insignificant just in concept. The spare heir if you will. 

It's interesting because it also made me think about how Leona has such complicated feelings about his title too?

Like on the one hand, he feels like he's “forever in the shadow of Falena” but at the same time, I DO think a small part of him secretly enjoys the mobility of not having the reasonability of king and therefore the first few lines of the song before it fades into him sounding more melancholic made me think of this.

(AND ALSO since we’ve seen how he would handle being king in his Chapter 7 Dream OOF.) My thoughts on that: X

The second son– My father's wrong (THIS LINE TOO) It's got to be the easiest role on Earth Just play around Just play along Enjoy the bounty of my birth So what's today's amusement For this second son? Which one shall I choose from so many kinds of fun?

I think it leads back to the age-old conclusion about Leona’s character (that his dream really hammered home), is that being king is NOT what he truly wants and it more comes to feeling worthy as a person as if he has to “justify” his own existence of feeling useless. It’s more about the kind of attention he craves. To be useful, respected, adored. 

The song mentions the fear of not leaving behind a legacy and feeling the weight of your own insignificance as a person. I can see how both the characters of Moses and Leona both struggle with “finding their purpose” and not being able to see their own worth like others who care about them do. 

It made me think of the song (also in Prince of Egypt) “Through Heaven's Eyes” which I feel actually continues this theme. The idea that even if you can’t see your OWN value that everyone—has their own innate value as people—and that in itself is meaningful.

A single thread in a tapestry Though its color brightly shines Can never see its purpose In the pattern of the grand design And the stone that sits on the very top Of the mountains mighty face Does it think it's more important Than the stones that form the base?

For Leona—the people he acts as a mentor to like—Ruggie, Epel and Savanaclaw as a whole—have a pretty high opinion of him despite his flaws. And the fact that he can’t always see that and appreciate that value that he unconsciously and consciously brings to them reflects this. He has and will leave an impact even if it's not as “important” as a king. And he could do even more good if he actually tried to do so.

I think it’s a lesson we all struggle with TBH, the whole: seeing our inherent value as people and it’s def why I think Leona is a more relatable character than he first appears in twst. :3

Thank you for sharing with me though! I love finding stuff like this! I hope you have a wonderful day/night!💚

[littleprofits]

Get to know your mutuals!

I got tagged by @threefill (who is SUCH a good storyteller & cool human.)

What's the origin of your blog title?

Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson!

It little profits that an idle king,  By this still hearth, among these barren crags,  Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole  Unequal laws unto a savage race,  That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

It was my favorite poem for a looong time. go read it!

OTP(s) + shipname(s)

Dreamling. Nuff said.

Favourite colour

Dark green and burnt orange, especially together.

Song stuck in your head

Right now? Mariposa tecknicolor by Fito Paez. In general? A small handful of Child Ballads, all running into each other and getting tangled.

Weirdest habit/trait

I have the standard level of weirdness that most theatremakers have, but beyond that a profound hatred of socks (for sensory reasons but also acting and martial arts are better done barefoot). Also, I get genuinely stressed when I step on the black tiles of checkered floors. I should have gone into the clergy.

Hobbies

BG3 has consumed me whole. I also keep bees, love cooking, and am learning to knit.

If you work, what's your profession?

A small flotilla of survival jobs, none of which pay humanely, let alone well. Beneath these, I am a playwright and dramaturg, but I'm still working on getting my work out there.

If you could have any job you wish, what would it be?

Professor of theatre. And I would write plays on breaks and sabbaticals. And it would be lovely.

Something you're good at

I am a really good intertextual thinker. I love connecting ideas and disciplines together -- it's a thread I really enjoy pulling in my writing. I also have an encyclopedic knowledge of sea shanties.

Something you hate

TikTok and the social media instant gratification machine for the absolutely cataclysmic damage it has done and is doing to the youngest and most vulnerable minds of the world. And everyone else's too, including mine.

Something you collect

Books, which I really ought to start reading someday. Also antique maps! My favorite shows medieval French pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.

Something you forget

Fucking everything. Currently forgetting at least five things, I guarantee it. Including my glasses again -- fuck. Most frustratingly, I establish systems to avoid this bs and then I forget those too.

What's your love language?

French or acts of service.

Favourite movie/show

Pirates of the Caribbean, which I rewatch annually, and LoTR, which I rewatch hourly.

Favourite food

Eel! LOVE unagi don. Tried caldillo de congrio for the first time this year and nearly wept.

Favourite animal

Bees! Wrote a thesis on them once! Ask me about it!

What were you like as a child?

Whip-smart, but also super depressed. I sincerely believed I was a wizard until um. a very late age.

Favourite subject at school

French and English, and really anything presented narratively. I remember stories best.

Least favourite subject

PE for the bullshit rules -- wheelchair user in my class once got flunked for inappropriate footwear. Also geometry, but that was a teacher problem.

What's your best character trait?

I am deeply, powerfully curious, and love learning, and moving towards deeper and broader understandings. I'm also a damn good writer and a damn good friend.

What's your worst character trait?

I'm easily thwarted -- high-pressure situations make me shut down, and this 'weakness' sends me spiraling. So I really don't get very much done nowadays, to my infinite chagrin. And off of that, I'm very overeager to minimize my own accomplishments.

If you could change any detail of your life right now, what would it be?

Lots on the geopolitical level. But my life? I would get into grad school. Or out of debt. And write another play. Or -- wait -- I would choose to win lots and lots of money in the lottery so I could send all my friends to grad school on my dime and pay off all our loans. Then I'd buy us a manor in Provence.

Tagging, with NO pressure whatsoever, @cleverlittlekobold @gingersnaptaff @iiiphigenia :)

[dontdrive88]

Wore what I had so far for my cosplay out of the house today. Honestly surprised nobody seemed to notice what it was (I suspect the lack of red vest was the main culprit) but it definitely made me feel very cool!

Got a lot of stuff still to do - need to get some better sunglasses, re-stitch the 'pockets' (they're non-functional flaps of fabric anyway, but the jacket had inside pockets which I accidentally stitched shut, so I'll have to re-do that), line the sleeves, get a better guitar pin, get another red shirt (I had to put this one on backwards to hide the design) and buy a calculator watch of some sort... but it's coming together!

Will put some jacket process things under the cut:

What I used for the jacket: a plain grey jacket, blue fabric paint, a sewing machine (+ thread), buttons, masking tape

What I used for the pins: a badge (I have my own badge maker but you could probably order one), fimo clay + paint + plain brooch pin + glue (boomerang), lego guitar + paint + plain earring + glue (guitar pin)

(The backpack is just an old Eastpak backpack I had lying around - it's Apple Red instead of dark red and it only has one leather diamond shape on it, but it's good enough.)

I should clarify here: I'm not going for a perfect cosplay. I would love to make one someday, but I had about a week for this and I just wanted something recognisable that I could wear to a con. (Also, I wanted to see how far I could push this cheap jacket.)

With that out of the way...

THE JACKET

Most denim jackets today are trucker jackets, which I figure would be a nightmare to modify. They tend to have V-shaped pockets at chest height, with one button in the middle, along with tapered seams down the torso.

So, for weeks I scoured second-hand websites and physical second-hand shops in an attempt to find something BETTER that I could use as a base.

I finally found this one for a fiver at a charity shop. I saw the potential it had, mainly with the pockets - they were just squared(!) flaps of fabric with velcro (no buttons in the middle of them) and there was plenty of room to move them down the jacket.

I took off the red ribbon (nightmare), velcro (nightmare) and pocket flaps (less of a nightmare, but very hard to do). This left holes above the pockets, which then had to be stitched shut again:

But it did give me the fabric I needed for the pocket flaps, which I painted blue:

I then sewed them on upside-down and back-to-front, so I could flip them over and hide the seam:

I stitched over the sides (to make sure it would stay down) and then added the buttons (by hand).

The rest of the jacket was a fairly slow process of masking off different segments, waiting for them to dry, ironing them, and then carefully painting the next segment.

I definitely made a bunch of mistakes (it has some blue stains and even some red ones from old paint that was already on the mat I was using to protect the table), but it turned out great!

THE PINS

I actually managed to make these in an evening.

The badge: I just used a badge maker. I have no tips for you, sorry.

The boomerang: this is fimo clay, painted with acrylics. It's not very even, but it looks fine from a distance. I glued a brooch backing to it, which was a little wide (but it looks alright).

The guitar: this is actually a lego piece! I bought a few of them for a different project about 5 years ago, and it came in handy. I painted it and added a blank earring to the back of it (from an old DIY jewellery kit). It's hard to get through the fabric, so I'm gonna try to get an actual enamel pin at some point, but it'll do for now.

My tips for anyone else trying to do this:

Get a good starting jacket! This will take some searching, but it's definitely worth it. (Don't worry too much, though - Marty's jacket is so iconic that even though mine has extra pockets AND is made for women, it's very clearly still his jacket. The paint goes a long way!)

Remember, you'll probably have to buy things like denim needles, thread, buttons, etc... this isn't that cheap of a project, unfortunately.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE HOW LONG IT TAKES. I don't work very quickly at the best of times, and so every segment of jacket took over an hour to paint and the sewing took a long time as well. This was not a short project.

Don't accidentally sew your inner pockets shut!

Be very careful with the fabric paint. Make sure your tape is on tight (and is along EVERY edge) and clean your hands if you get ANY paint on them.

Also, remember to have a clean painting surface. (I use a plastic mat to protect the table, but it had old red paint on it, which reactivated itself when I wiped it down. I now have small red stains on the jacket. Don't do this.)

Consider stitching the existing pockets shut - I still need to do this for my jacket, but I don't like how they open when I bend down. (It also ruins the illusion of the pockets opening from the top.)

Have fun! There are a lot of inaccuracies in my jacket, but I enjoyed making it and it looks really cool! I love being able to show people what I made, and I feel like my hard work really paid off.

[batcrooks]

THE BATCROOKS AWARDS 2024

After keeping meticulous notes on every Media Property™ I consumed in 2024, here is my roundup of the BESTS!! It should probably be one thing per category but I couldn't decide so it's lots actually. And I broke down video games into so many categories because I play a lot of video games!!!

Best Movie I Watched for the First Time in 2024 (Live Action and Animated Categories)

What I wrote about them: Parasite - sooo good so tense and dark and funny? Isle of Dogs - what a DELIGHT. it was so fun to watch this film, i didn't want it to end. the animation was so good. the logistics behind the making of this movie are simply unbelievable. i can't believe this isn't a more beloved film.

Best TV Show I Watched in 2024 (Broadcast and Internet Categories)

What I wrote about them: Severance - SOO GOOD what a FUN SHOW. it has all the good tenseness of a thriller but it's also so funny in its absurdity. i must know more!! the work is mysterious and important Game Changer (season 6) - this season is very high concept. there have been some very funny ones and a couple eh. Sam Says 3 and the one where they had to find the buzzers were both top 5 episodes

Best Video Game (Multiplayer)

What I wrote about them: V Rising - VAMPIRES!! i loved this game for its tight and unwavering focus on being about vampires. you could build a house but it was always, always a vampire house. you can have a horse but it is a vampire horse. incredible. pretty cool combat and magical spells, some questionable level-up mechanics. mostly fun boss fights almost completely ruined by the final Dracula fight being so so overpowered. really enjoyed this one thanks Abiotic Factor - this has been a very cool survival crafting game, maybe one of the best. it reminds me of a lot of different games. mechanically it feels a bit like Raft, in that it has very unique setting and base building and a narrative thread and handcrafted things to explore. of course it has all the half life vibes but also way more SCP stuff than i would have expected and that's great because it is always fun. as of writing we are doing the reservoir section, which has been a lot more stressful than previous sections, but i think we'll probably get through it alright. with only a few exceptions (how long it took to unlock food recipes for example), the progression of craftables has been good. for the mostpart, resources haven't been very annoying to obtain (other than silver and carbon). the vibes are just so good throughout and so many things have been delightful. since it is early access, i'm not going to knock a star off for the Issues. it is an optimistic five stars. about 52 hours and we have completed all the early access. genuinely sad to stop playing it so i guess it was good!! the last chapter was a bit stressful but it was fun how many new gadgets we got to play with for a little while there. anyway it is now tied with v rising for best multiplayering of 2024

(have a lot to say about video games)

Best Video Game (Cat Plays) (Games I Played With an Audience) (Of Sourdeer)

What I wrote about them: The Roottrees are Dead - so good, better than Hand With Many Fingers. hope more games like this keep existing. the amount of info you got to trawl through was so fun. honestly considering replaying it when the steam remake comes out someday, which seems crazy for a mystery game but there was so much i doubt i'll remember everything. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes - a little heavy on the kind of arbitrary spookiness? I dunno how to explain it but it just often feels like games are spooky Just Because sometimes. The same as feeling like this and other games try to tackle high brow stuff Just Because. and the control scheme is WHACK lol. if it just had a "back out" button it would be fine tho. but this is another game that has made me feel so clever very often. it helps to play with multiple people contributing to the tricksy puzzles. It does seem to be a very meta video game which would be fine but it actually doesn't seem relevant to anything? The instruction booklet, the gameboy game of the maze, the ps1 games, the implication that the video game we are playing right now is also licensed in universe. It's INTERESTING but what does it have to do with the auteur filmmaker and the death of materialism and whatever they go on about all the time. But I'm really liking it so far. A good variety of puzzlers and lots to look into, have only felt stuck a few times. Comically long to-do list though. Could have maybe used more elegant level design? Only deal with one floor at a time maybe? Or at least less. But maybe having so many floating mysteries is part of the vibe actually. in the end i think it is firmly in the second tier of plays game, Very Good with a few flaws. most appreciated for being a rather long puzzle game. more of those please

Best Video Game (Sour Plays) (Games Sourdeer Played With an Audience) (Of me)

What I wrote about them: Hypnospace Outlaw - watched sour play. what a WEIRD THING!!! it was so finely crafted which is funny to say about something so absurd, but they really didn't skimp on anything in this. it really rewards exploring everything, and while i feel like it was maybe a little too loose i think there was just enough guidance with the cases to get you through the story that was happening. very chaotic The Rise of the Golden Idol - while i think overall it is not as good as the first one, i think that is mostly just because the first one was a brand new thing that shocked and awed us. the art style was a bit of a downgrade but still had the expected Vibes and the mysteries were just as satisfying to put together (if not as Cool thematically). i'm very glad to have future installments to look forward to. i can't even rate it a star lower because the gameplay is so good. i love golden idol. I.D.O.L.

Best Video Game (Singleplayer)

What I wrote about them: Dredge - really good!! addictive. 100%'d it Arco - i really liked it!! it was like a combo of West of Loathing and Chroma Squad gameplay-wise. it was really good stories and characters i liked them a lot. the pixels were so cute. i accidentally devoured the whole thing (about 13 hours) so fast but i think theres some replayability there sometime. make a few different choices and see what happens. Animal Well - a DELIGHT!! this game had moments where you felt soooo clever but it did also have some times that were a little hard or fiddly. i loved how it had no (very little) music but so much atmosphere. it was very pretty to look at. the backtracking could be annoying sometimes. but i like that it explained nothing and you could still figure out so much. i've gotten to the credits now as of writing (7.5 hours) but i know there's probably a lot hidden around i will try to find some. i see you smiley faces. i just have to remember how to get back to you. 10 hours later: i have gotten all the achievements which is 100%. to me. sourdeer had to help me get the last ten eggs but i think that overall it was a good difficulty throughout. if you dont try to do the rabbits and all the stuff sour is telling me about that is after even the second credits. so a Nice Game, Brent (Billy Basso)

Best Book I Read for the First Time in 2024

What I wrote about them: Children of Time - considering making this a top ten book. i really liked this one. (editor's note: there are diminishing returns on the sequels. The first one is so fun and innovative, but I don't recommend them past that. The second one is OK) Return of the Thief - yaay a satisfying ending :) it was really bold to introduce an entirely new character to be the POV for the last book in a series but it worked out really well i thought. a good character. everything all tied up in the end :) sad to finish, these were a lot of fun. it is sad that not a single one of these had a female POV. Eddis and Attolia were great but compared to the towering amount of male characters it doesn't seem great. but it is forgiveable. finally someone was gay in this one. so that's nice lol. (editor's note: i read this entire series for the first time this year and have chosen the final as the representative.) Assassin's Quest - Oh ok we are serious now!!! Actually fundamentally a bit less serious because there are dragons now but it made it work. Ended really bittersweet and if I didn't know the characters will return someday I would have been pretty thoroughly bummed out about it. Excellent fun book really elevated the other two. Fantasy books really get you drinking the divine right of kings koolaid. Will start on the next trilogy now, have no idea what to expect from it except that it isn't about any of these characters afaik but same world. It has been a real treat to stumble on to long completed series this year. (editors note: final book to a trilogy)

And that's it!! If you want to see every media I consumed this year and my star ratings and comments about them, here's a link to them! (It's a spreadsheet)

[cordate-chordata]

Hey this is a weird thing to ask but do you have relationship headcanons for knockout x soundwave

An unusual question to get, so it could be called weird, I suppose, but I'm happy to be asked this! My favourite kind of weird! :D I haven't drawn them in years, but it's still a ship I really like

Answer under the cut

I do have headcanons about them, I guess. They depend on the scenario they're in, though. Like, what their life is like. I most of all like assuming that Transformers Prime played out as it did canonically, and KO and SW then got together afterwards. The exact How and Why? That's more murky. There's multiple cool ways to go about it.

There's a narrative one could thread about KO helping SW get out of the shadowzone. Which is sweet and all. I prefer a narrative where SW gets out on his own. Which, honestly, makes it trickier to spin a narrative on how they ended up together. If Knock Out had helped him, that would have created a reason for why they were interacting already. Without that, something else needs to be the reason why they get in touch again.

Which brings me more into headcanon area and not just plot threading. One of my headcanons for KO is that he's not a particularly good fit for staying an autobot. I see him as someone who'd do good being a neutral faction.

Soundwave is a decepticon through and through, for multiple reasons - political ideals, sunk cost falacy of having lost his cassettes safe for Laserbeak, more of a fighter who sticks to his goals than KO, tunnel vision, etc. I headcanon him to be in a lot of emotional pain with the decepticons disbanding. I like the idea of him begrudgingly coming to Knock Out for help with something (i.e. the best option of a medic available to him), and as they get talking (one-sided talking (at first?)) Knock Out's disenchantment with any faction starts rubbing off on him, OR, starts disillusioning him from how highly he holds the decepticon cause in his mind. Soundwave seems stupid to me with how he keeps holding onto the war instead of noticing how it's never going to achieve his goal of equality between all Cybertronian castes. He's not seeing the full picture whatsoever. Well, "stupid"… mean to say when I believe his reasons are tied to being mentally unwell and traumatized from his losses. His judgement isn't sound; let's leave it at that.

So then they become a neutral duo. Yippie!!! Trio with Laserbeak.

I headcanon Soundwave to have a face under his mask, which is half broken. So it's funny KO has another partner with a broken eye, since I hc him to have been in a relationship with Breakdown. Also sharp-toothed Soundwave supremacy. Also on the broken side the fangs are always visible because his lips and cheek are gone there oops

Also I hc Soundwave to fully lay off his vow of silence, but still not talk much.

I hc Knock Out to be more into bulky mechs (Breakdown, Optimus), but he thinks Soundwave's sleek appearance is attractive in an entirely different way - assuming SW remains in his Prime form, WHICH I want him to because that's my fav Soundwave design, even if others are really good too. KO finds records of gladiator Soundwave someday, where he still looks bulky AF, and loses his marbles over it. Confronting Soundwave about it earns him the information that that look was due to still having had all his cassettes. That info is like a punch to Knock Out's face, making him feel like shit. It becomes a depressing moment lmao sorry

I hc Soundwave to be really old, one of the first Cybertronians to be sparked. Knock Out on the other hand is young in comparisson, having been forged not super long before the war broke out. I like to think he's only just finished with his medical studies and established himself a slight bit in the field up until that point. I don't hc this because of an age gap or smth. I just like viewing SW as this old entity who was still very raw in the way he came to be and took his shape. Since the birth mechanism of Cybertronians is very wishy washy in canon, I have my own headcanons about that: Early Cybertronian's sparks simply appeared randomly on Cybertron and gathered mass around them to form their bodies - Soundwave was one of those. This spontaneous creation became less and less, and when it did happen, it became harder for the sparks to find unused ressources to form a body. Existing Cybertronians started forging bodies for those sparks, and also (maybe; not sure if I'm satisfied with this idea) came up with mechanisms with which to channel new sparks, easing them onto the planet, as the perimeters for them to appear in "the wild" became worse over time. Knock Out's spark appears towards the end of a time where sparks could still be eased in and could be eased in semi-frequently, but not long after that they started to wane and stop appearing at all. So he's the result of a time where only a few Cybertronians were worried about too few new sparks, and then after he'd been alive for a bit, it became a big deal with less and less and then no sparks coming. He didn't care for it much because he was busy with other things and hadn't been around for long enough to see it as his issue. Also he's just not the sort of person to care about that. KO just... doesn't seem like someone who's been alive for ages, to me.

That's a lot of headcanons about their lives separate from each other. What about them together? I don't have many headcanons there, I suppose. I like to think they'd co-exist nicely together. Not a super duper over the top heart eyes for each other couple, but something more mellow, always there for each other but not broadcast as a huge deal. They become deeply tied to each other and do yearn for each other's company, but can exist just fine alone, y'know? Soundwave causes Knock Out to be a bit more serious and less vain sometimes, and Knock Out causes Soundwave to be more lighthearted and show his shitlord memer side more often, when they're around each other.

I can see Knock Out be very caring towards Laserbeak, even if, if pointed out, he'll deny any sort of motherly or fatherly energy he gives off when with the cassette. And yeah, I subscribe to Laserbeak being sentient. At some point I read that they're supposed to be a mindless add-on in Prime (or was it stated in the show?), but nuh-uh. That's a mute mini-bot with no humanoid form.

I think that's all I got! Thanks for asking!

[mirrorballpages]

This is one of my favorite chapters I've ever written. It's honestly just soft Azriel, and we all need some of that right now.

The morning was cool, but Elain’s presence was like the heat of summer, warming everything around her. Azriel swore the trees danced in her wake, their leaves whispering in celebration.

As they walked, he told her the history of the Four Squares: the Palace of Thread and Jewels, the Palace of Bone and Salt, the Palace of Hoof and Leaf, and the Palace of Light and Mist. Her smile never wavered, lighting her face like the sun breaking over a horizon.

But it was when they reached the Sidra that Azriel felt time itself pause.

They stopped at a bridge, and Elain walked to the edge, her steps light, as though she belonged to the air itself. She leaned on the railing, gazing out over the glittering river and the city beyond. Azriel followed her, unable to look anywhere else.

He wanted to remember this moment for the rest of his life.

The joy on her face. The wonder in her eyes. She looked so much like he must have when he first saw Velaris—awed and breathless.

“It doesn’t look real,” she murmured, her voice quiet, reverent. “I never could even dream of this…”

“I felt the same way when I first saw it,” he said, stepping closer, his wings shifting instinctively, hovering around her as if to protect her. “When Rhys brought Cassian and me here for the first time, even Cassian was too awestruck to speak. We’d grown up in such a desolate place in the mountains. Nothing like this ever seemed possible.”

Elain looked up at him then, her expression softening. “No wonder Feyre loves it,” she said. “She told Nesta and me about it, but… I don’t think we were ready to hear it. To see this place. I’m almost glad I waited to come. To see it with you.”

What Azriel would have given to freeze this moment. To commit her wonder, her words, her presence to memory forever. But he knew she wouldn’t want to be late. “We’re almost there,” he said, offering his arm once more.

She took it, her fingers light but steady, and they walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence. Elain took in everything—the vibrant colors, the soft murmur of the city waking around them. Azriel let her savor it, thinking of all the places he would show her someday. His favorite café. The small, tucked-away shops with their secret treasures. His favorite music hall. Perhaps, one day, even his apartment—the one no one else knew about.

But today wasn’t about him. Today was about her.

As they approached the Palace of Bone and Salt, Azriel saw an older fae woman with long, blonde hair waiting near the entrance. Her presence was serene, her gaze gentle yet wary as it flicked toward him. He wasn’t surprised—most fae hesitated when they saw him. The shadows that swirled so softly around Elain now often unsettled others.

“Elain!” the woman greeted warmly as she stepped forward.

“Eirith,” Elain said with a smile, her voice as light as the morning breeze. “Thank you for meeting me. This is Azriel.” She glanced up at him, her expression brighter than the sun.

Eirith inclined her head. “Pleasant to meet you, Spymaster.”

Azriel didn’t want to let go of Elain’s arm. But he had to. He had promised Clotho he’d visit the library, and Rhys and Cassian would be waiting soon after.

“I can walk you back after,” he said, his voice low, reluctant.

“Are you sure?” Elain asked, her brows lifting slightly in concern.

“Of course.”

Eirith smiled, her gaze knowing. “We’ll be back here around noon. I’ll take good care of her, Spymaster.”

Azriel hesitated, but nodded. His shadows curled faintly at his sides, reluctant to retreat as Elain turned to follow Eirith. Before she left, Elain glanced over her shoulder, her golden-brown hair cascading around her like a waterfall of light. “See you soon, Azriel,” she said with a smile.

He nodded, unable to look away.

As she disappeared through the square, his shadows murmured softly in his ear, their whispers carrying a single name.

“Elain…”

Azriel exhaled, dragging a hand through his hair. “I know,” he muttered.

His shadows curled tighter, their whispers teasing, taunting.

“We are utterly fucked.”

Read the rest on AO3

[ultravioart]

First bit: So why did Overwatch allow a mispronounced "Emre Sarioglu" in the comic reading. For a character that is important to Freja's lore you would think they would get Emre's full name right… :< or maybe it was the music being too loud? But Sarioglu was mispronounced as far as I can hear. Like... just take the few minutes to learn how to pronounce the name??? It's not hard.

My thoughts on Freja:

Her visual design doesn't fit her character with the nonsense fanservice genshin impact style outfit (her arteries and heart are shown… she is a bounty hunter from a frigid area? Where is her armor like Cass and Ana lol.), she should have had like… a circular blade copter jetpack to tie into her search-and-rescue past with a 'perch turkey hunter' twist, or at least have a batman style cape that acts like a hang glider to tie into her wind motif instead of a…. high-fantasy cape? Like it looks cool, but it isn't very 'overwatch' because there isn't enough of a tech focus. And if they wanted to go the magical route, at least give her a proper Freja mythos falcon feather veil (but techy, so like hard light or something)? I was surprised her necklace had nothing to do with her lore as it looks like a glowy rune AND both Freja and "GEFN" in Norse mythos have stories about Loki trying to steal her necklace. As of now, Freja is veering too close to Illari's silhouette for my liking (plus the 'woven' visual motif would have much better fit Solar threading for Illari imo), and her head features are not distinct enough to not look like a Widow or Ashe skin from afar. Her face is like a combo of Brigitte and Widow ig? They should have maybe given her an eyebrow scar or something to tie back to her history in the omnic crisis (would have been cool to have the blue symbol over a scared portion of her face). I am sure Freja will get a more so tactical skin that better fits her someday, but I think her base visual design was a miss. I DO like her hair and her distinct accent. I was worried she may sound too close to Brigitte (Freja's effort sounds sound similar) but the accent chosen works great and her tone fits the serious bounty hunter archetype. She looks better in more tactical gear as seen in the comic read out video. I did notice one thing, the belts on Lara Croft's design are the same areas that Freja has a boob window and thigh highs, so maybe it's a stylization? Freja does feel kind of like Overwatch's take on a "Lara Croft" archetype, and I honestly really like the idea of her being a bounty hunter instead of tomb raider.

Gameplay wise she's pretty… simple? And unless I was shown a guide on her skirting roof angles infinitely, I wouldn't have guessed that was her play style. She's like… mechanically Pharah movement but with a Tracer movement mindset, in that her movement is her "interaction" with the environment. I can't say it's really all that exciting beyond the cool cinematic moments of the slowed down scoped shot. She doesn't interact with her environment like widow (mine/grapple launch/team wall hacks) or Ashe (dynamite/coach gun boops you and others/BOB launch) or Hanzo (sonic arrow, wall climb, dragon) unless you get the Freja perk that slows enemies. She has a much simpler kit than Sojourn in that regard, but with more mobility skill ceiling. Even then, I think high mobility 'as the heroes interaction' focused characters work better when grounded horizontally (Tracer, Reaper, etc) OR you have to have some kind of interaction with the environment (Genji deflect and wall climb, even fliers like Pharah interact with the environment via boops, or Echo with sticky bombs and versatile ult). As of now, I honestly think double jump could have been Freja's dash key instead of shift. She doesn't really have any "wind" powers beyond her upward jump. Illari boops feels more "windy" than Freja's kit. I was expecting a wind gust cc ability or something? Her bolas ult also isn't really what I think of when I think of bolas (I would expect it to hit a target and slow a target over time, damaging those around the target into a final KER-KLUNK marble clackers burst damage to all in the AOE to match her scoped shot double hit, not be a tracer bomb with a hinder), but it's a decent ult. Her scoped fire is also what I would rework one shots into, a chunk of damage, then a burst damage or DOT. So idk… I feel they could have cooked a BIT more on her kit? bc her scoped shot is literally what I want Hanzo and Widow one shots to be as to meld better into teamplay.

Also whoever is saying "they want less visual clutter" is lying 100%. Freja launches a whole arrow in you that covers part of the screen. Her ult has a bunch of effects. Hazard also has visual clutter, so does Juno. Mei can definitely have a Frozone style perk, because both Venture and Ashe have to look down to use abilities. Saying visual clutter/not wanting players to look down is not a valid excuse.

Not to mention, I will not trust anyone that says they made the skin basic because they wanted to "preserve the silhouette" when Toxic Venture skin has NO jacket and NO goggles, yet the Avatar collab refused to change Venture's goggles and hair to better match Toph. Same with the OPM Kiriko skin… we had Kriko skins that changed the silhouette out already so. Just admit the budget wasn't there. It's not laziness by the devs, it's mismanagement forcing this, but don't tell obvious lies. People can see through it.

Story wise for Freja: idk why there is discourse, she's meant to be an anti-villain where she did good things for the wrong reasons (thrill of the hunt, to feel useful) and ended up just as corrupt as the "few bad people" she blamed for Overwatch's downfall. As an ex-overwatch agent she knows omnics are sapient yet she STILL chooses to be anti-omnic. The writing was done in such a way where the viewer can empathize with Freja and understand how she came to these incorrect conclusions (she was a child who was traumatized by the first omnic crisis and saw tons of death), without it feeling like Overwatch's narrative is actually endorsing Freja's viewpoint. Freja is a very biased narrator, painting herself as a good person that was abandoned by everyone just because a few bad people ruined it all ("just a few bad apples" is very copaganda-y), and I like that the writing respects the audience's ability to discern Freja is NOT a good person. I also like that Overwatch is exploring more of Overwatch's corruption. Like finally, an anti-villain with no excuses, she instead personally rationalizes away her responsibility with bs logic--THIS is why Overwatch fell. Not just the outright corrupt people, but the people that were complacent. Emre saw Overwatch's malpractice and left, but Freja stayed and kept her head down. (Most likely rationalizing the civilian deaths because her mom had to make hard decisions during the first omnic crisis. But this isn't the first crisis anymore, and Freja knows that.) Freja should not have stayed and kept quiet. She should have left, or whistle blown. But she didn't and she rationalizes this to make it out like she's the 'good guy' everyone turned on. As a viewer you SHOULD be uncomfortable and dislike Freja's outlook of things, that is the response the writing is intending. You are not meant to root for Freja, you should dislike her.

I am curious about where the story with Emre will go, as well as Freja's views on Genji considering that one hero trailer showed that she grouped Genji up with the omnics. Why does she dislike him? Is it because he was involved with blackwatch? or is it because he is a cyborg? What about Sojourn, they must have interacted right? What does she think about members that told the truth about overwatch like Sojourn, is she bitter about that? I want Moira to roast Freja for essentially becoming Widow without any brainwashing needed lol. And I would love to hear Ashe roast Freja for being anti-omnic. I also wonder if Freja will try to go after LifeWeaver because he has a bounty on him…

[mysteriouslyjovialcolor]

Abu Dhabi 2021

-🎶Last Race🎶

-Just in time for the 2025 season opener! Let’s go!

-Definitely speed ran the season (got lucky to have a few breaks from real life responsibilities), but I enjoyed every race and it’s a bittersweet feeling to be done

-Obviously will get into the 2022 season at some point (when life decides to bless me with yet another break)

-But anyway, until then, enough of me rambling, let’s watch Max Verstappen win his first championship title!!

-Max pole!!

-Kimi’s last race 😢

-“I’m very excited, nervous I am not” Speak for yourself man

-“For the last nine years the champion has been British or German. Kimi Raikkonen, the last non Brit or German to win the championship” I need to watch his championship run someday

-“It is a dream start for Lewis Hamilton”

-“Oh there! Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton almost coming together. Will he have to give that place back?”

-Ohmygod how the tables have turned!

-Valterri is not having a good few races is he?

-“No investigation necessary” Damn okay, the tables have righted themselves

-“So Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll having a race all by themselves” Hehe

-Of course Nico is here. Why wouldn’t we want to add more drama to an already dramatic discourse?

-Oh! Max pitting Lap 14

-Ohmygod I really thought Charles was going to crash there

-That tunnel under the track is crazy

-“Verstappen’s made his pit stop, he’s fourth. Hamilton’s made his pit stop, he’s second.” And the chase goes on

-“Let’s see if Perez can hold Lewis Hamilton up and for how long. I don’t think it’ll be too long personally” I’m sorry, did you not watch this whole season?? Checo has been very effective in holding back Lewis

-“So the regulations say the Formula 1 car must not be more than 2 meters. How wide can Sergio Perez make that Red Bull?”

-Ahh come on Checo! You’ve got this!

-“And that’s about as much as Perez can do” People need to stop underestimating Checo!!!

-“Perez playing the ultimate team game here for Max Verstappen” Yes yes yessss

-“You can see him in the background” What a sight! Max is back in the game!

-MV: “Ah Checo is a legend”

To MV: “Absolute animal”

-“Goodbye Kimi Raikkonen. Ferraris last world champion! Farewell.” I wish I’d seen him in his prime

-“He loves driving a Formula 1 car. He hates anything to do with being a Formula 1 driver” Haha, I love him

-“Look at these two, yet again, they’re 20s clear of the rest of the pack” 🎶Best of the best🎶

-Aww are you kidding? Why has Kimi got damage!

-Oh Kimi, Kimi it’s not going to end like this is it?” It is 😢 he’s pulled a Jenson Button

-George retiring too?

-Aww Kimi is wearing a replica helmet of his first ever karting helmet

-To VB: “Everything you’ve got”

-Valterri’s turn to play the team game now

-“Leclerc keeping Bottas at bay” Go Charles go!

-“By the way Red Bull have made 13 pit stops this season that are quicker than Mercedes quickest pit stop”

-To LH: “If we were to stop under safety car, would you prefer medium or hard?”

LH: “Both tires feel good. This one is good too”

-Woah the onboard view from Charles’ car looks so cool

-Oh no Giovinazzi retiring too?

-What’s up with the Alpha Romeo?

-Aii he’s stopped on track

-VSC

-Who’s pitting?

-Charles, Lando, Max

-Oh Checo too

-Mercedes to FIA: “Mikey please no safety car. It will mess the race up” I don’t think you can just ask for that dude

-Is Lewis going on those tires till the end?

-Also if they don’t want a safety car, why ask Lewis what tires he wants under one?

-Checo p3!

-“This is going to be a potential thrilling, speedy, maybe controversial end!” lol he clocked that

-“This is going to need a Michael Schumacher-esqe 20 qualifying laps”

-Haha Fernando stuck in an AlphaTauri sandwich

-I’m so glad I never watched this live cause I absolutely would’ve thrown up

-“This is going right down to the wire” Howww did people stay saneee??

-To LH: “We’ve got a group of four cars ahead who are battling”

-“Lewis needs to thread carefully because that’s a battle royal going on”

-(Aww Kimi’s leading DOD)

-10 more laps~

-“He (Max) needs some luck from the racing gods in these last 10 laps” 🙏🙏

-Oh puncture for Lando?

-“Whoever is champion, both drivers have put in a championship performance” And that is why there is nothing else like this season

-Okay they need to stop talking as if all is lost for Max already. I’m about to lose it

-(Yes I know how this ends, I’m still stressed okay??)

-Aaah Nicholas Latifi!! That Williams is smoking!

-Shit full safety car

-Max pitting?! For soft tires!

-Couldn’t Lewis have pit too? Never mind, track position

-Yuki, Daniel, Pierre, Lance pitting too

-Oh? Why is Checo retiring?

-“The lapped cars will not be allowed to overtake which means there are plenty of cars for Max Verstappen to go through”

-MV: “Yeah of course, difficult decision”

-Ahshsjnsbsgyshsdvshshgd

-“You only need one racing lap”

-Kill me kill me kill me

-What is happening??? I-

-Come on come on come on Maxxxx

-YESSS YES YES

-“They have shared a brilliant championship battle, but the championship can only be won by one, and it’s going Dutch in 2021!”

-To MV: “OH MY LORD MAX”

MV: “Yessss!! Yesss!! Whoo hoo hoo!!!!

-Aaaaah I’m going to cryyyy

-To MV: “Max Verstappen! You are the world champion! You are the world champion!”

-MV: “Oh my god guys, I love you so much”

-Fucking hell the emotionsssss

-MV: “This is unbelievable guys, can we do this for another 10-15 years together?”

-Hello? Carlos finished third??!

-Honestly I forgot about the rest of the guys

-Aww all the drivers congratulating Max (and consoling Lewis)

-Daniel! Lando! Carlos!

-“So one title for Max Verstappen, how many more to follow?”

[autumnbrambleagain]

love watching the progression of a morrowind character

initial inception: Marlfox, because i can't stop playing fucking marlfoxes even if the fucking fox mod for morrowind is like 20 years old and looks awful. but like. basic ass marlfox. some illusion magic. sneaky. axe. robe. has to live it hard on the road. eating, staying dry, an adventure.

as adventures go on you get a bit silly with it. i branched out from axes to spears and daggers too because the idea of juggling those weapons all mid-combat is erotic. up your spell game. collect the followers. you add an armor piece or two for the enchantments.

go from a roustabout to having a cool apartment. you start wearing a bunch of armor because it gives you more enchant slots. you decorate. you settle in. you start dating a cat and go on adventures with her too. you are becoming full of memories, as a character. you've lost the initial thread but you've become a tapestry.

eventually join house telvanni, because when the fuck don't i join house telvanni? look at this armor. that's the best fucking armor in the goddamned world. still living out of vivec but getting up to all kinds of high concept magic adventures now.

of course, i still keep up with my marlfox collection of magic axes

eventually you build tel uvirith. it's just the tower lower but it already feels like the adventure's over. it's actually just beginning.

sometimes you still marlfox it a bit

like always, eventually, someday, you have obligation to say goodbye to the sun

being alive was for losers anyway

and it turns out advancing in house telvanni is a lot easier when you're immortal

and we're back where we started, in a way. the robe and hood, although now we tend to float everywhere, rip things apart with our bare claws, and are largely immune to things like consequences. a full HALF of the images folder are in this fit. everything before it was a cherished adolescent phase on the road to this. but, of course, this is morrowind. you can always go up.

eventually you find a way to see the day again, and you, oh, i don't know, mod it so when you kill the other vampire ancients you use fucked up blood alchemy to steal their bloodlines and gain all the vampire bloodline bonuses all at once so you're basically the new temple-approved vampire god, and now pretty much the only things in existence that pose a sincere threat to you are other gods

what a wonderful journey honestly

this is the longest character ive ever played, even my favorites from Back In The Day would last a month or two; this one's still kinda going and it's been almost a year. how can i even play another character after this. how can i let this go.

[shaxxophone]

What to know about the newly published, fully revised version of TGCF

For starters, it’s exciting stuff, I’ll tell you that!!! While I go into detail, please keep in mind that the version I am describing is the censored Simplified Chinese version, the version that has been released in mainland China. There is an expectation that the uncensored version will be released someday, but there are no announcements about this, and any discussion on that front right now would be purely speculation. For now, this is all we have.

And it still seems really freaking cool!!!

Last year when we were learning about the audio drama, we heard that we would be getting an extra 100k words with the revised edition. MXTX confirms this in a afterword at the end of the newly published books

However, some people are saying what we have gotten is closer to an extra 140k+ words (source is a respected fan translator within the mxtx community, who translated the mdzs audio drama)

With the edits, along with new storylines and hualian content, there has been a character that was removed entirely— Lang Ying. I presume, the ghost Lang Ying. The reasoning is presumed that he is one of the things clipped out in order to streamline the book, as mentioned in the image above.

There is a new extra that has been written for this release— it is a common practice for censored publications, in order to make up for any removed content. This one is supposedly about 10,000 words long. (Source is the official english translator of TGCF. She typo’d in her first post but corrects it later in the thread.) I will not spoil what it is, but everyone’s agreed that it’s really good!!!

Last of all, due to the censorship, there has obviously been some changes in how hualian interact, but according to some readers, it still feels very hualian. From what I can tell, the kissing to exchange power has been changed into forehead kisses. So cute!!!

Alright folks, that’s all I got!! If anyone knows anything more, or has anything to correct me on, please feel free to do so!!! Lets share the hype for this together!! 😁

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Do you have any headcanons or anything of the sort regarding Precipice Moirai/PreMo? I'd like to hear what your thoughts are about them!

I don't think about Premo a ton (for people who are confused, this is Idia's favorite idol group), but here's how I personally picture them:

They're sisters.

They look youngish (or "ageless") but they're actually a bazillion years old. Don't ask them about how old they are or they'll give you that smile that doesn't fully reach their eyes.

Because they're so old, they've seen sooo much and are thus easily bored. They live for listening in on drama and scandals because those can get so absurd it provides some fleeting entertainment to them.

In interviews and talk shows, they drop very archaic, outdated jokes and have refined manners of speaking. It's an odd mix of how your grandma might talk combined with modern anachronisms (slang). It's very "how do you do, fellow kids" energy.

They get along in public, but they constantly bicker and act overly competitive in private (usually over borrowed items).

They came up with a really complicated and dark “anime-esque” backstory for how their group got together. No one knows if the backstory is really true or if it’s something their marketing team came up with as part of their “lore”.

In some interpretations, the Fates are specified as Clotho (who spins the threads of fate with her spindle), Lachesis (who measures the threads of fate using a measuring tape), and Atropos (who cuts the threads of fate using shears). In other interpretations, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos represent past, present, and future respectively.

I think of each girl as being representative of one place in time. For example, the Fate representative of the present may be a carefree party goer who wants to "live in the moment", without thinking much of the consequences (the future) or her previous mistakes (the past).

I see Premo banking on these themes as motifs or image items for the corresponding idol girl (so one represents the past with her spindle, one represents the present with her measuring tape, etc.). I also headcanon that the idols have their own merch and fandom hand signals which make reference to each Fate's respective task. For example, there may be scissors on a Premo T-shirt or a scissor-like hand shape or cutting motion made to signal that you stan "Atropos" of the Fates.

Eyes are a prominent motif and are more universally associated with the group as a whole rather than an individual member. (This is because the Fates were fighting over a single eyeball in Disney's Hercules.)

It’s implied that the girls wear black, but I headcanon that most of their outfits are monochromatic, save for like maybe a few colorful accessories.

It would be cool if they also incorporated elements of Japanese mythology into their group's theme. More specifically, I love the idea of the three girls wearing a red ribbon or some slash of red on their outfits each time they perform. This would be a reference to the "red thread of fate" which permeates many east Asian cultures. It is said that this "thread of fate" connects you to someone you are destined to meet someday, someone who will change your life in some significant way. Typically this means romantically (which would fit in the culture of Japan promoting idols as "pure" and "avaliable" to their fans), but it can also be interpreted platonically. I think this makes a lot of sense given that the Fates are marketed as "three girls bound by Fate".

They blend traditional dance and attire with modern practices. It's very important to them to retain their history and culture, as well as to share it with a new generation so that they are preserved for the future.

They partner up/collaborate with organizations and programs that seek to educate others about history, such as museums and restoration projects. Again, this is because Premo truly cares about preserving history and teaching it to others.

[kogameh]

"Angelic Lullaby", aka the supposedly recurring song in AGKokoro

Uh, I figured making a Twitter thread on this would be annoying (word limit/format-wise) so let's talk about it here instead.

You see this page from the first prologue? Yeah. Notice them singing and the music notes around them?

The speech bubbles were supposed to have proper lyrics, written by me. But long story short, I was REALLY under a time crunch and couldn't write one by the time I started the lettering process so I ended up resorting to the "gibberish" text as seen above.

You might also notice some music notes on these two pages---they're intended to play the same music as the page shown earlier.

But obviously, it's difficult to know that by mere texts and images (of course lol), so I'm mentioning it here.

The point is; yes there IS intended to be a recurring song in AGKokoro. You can't hear it. But I HAD plans on making you hear it.

How?

And now the long story:

The initial plan was not only to have the music and lyrics but to release a completely vocalized song with a Vocaloid and even a lyrical MV/PV to go with it, lol. (Yeah I do fuck around with Vocaloids [the software] too if you don't know)

I DID commission the music (since no way I can learn composing within that short of a deadline lol) but the lack of lyrics is the entire reason why I couldn't proceed with the rest of my initial plans.

Unfortunately as my deadline approached fast, all of these ideas had to be canceled and I didn't want to half-ass on any of these so o)-(

So yeah, I ended up laser-focusing on the comic and scrapped the rest haha.

I really meant it when I said my intention in doing the first prologue chapter was showing an amalgamation of EVERYTHING my "useless piece of shit" self could do. out of spite :')

So... yeah! That's how we end up here!

In the end, I still haven't written the intended lyrics for the song. I DO want to get back to it someday and WILL update the pages with the intended lyrics at the very least, haha.

The song is meant to be plot-relevant so I really don't want to half-ass it and prefer the lyrics to sound, well, good, y'know? The only problem is just finding the time for it orz

***

BONUS:

While drafting the pages, I imagined the songs to be something along the lines of Tsubasa wo Daite, Meru's song or Ashita Kuru Hi lol. The commissioned music piece ended up pretty different compared to all of these but it still sounds AMAZING!!

Here's a preview of it if you want to idk, listen with the pages or something.

(It's composed by Enokido-san, thank you for doing my comm!!)

Here's the original artwork intended for the MV/PV. I don't like this art anymore (the anatomy sucks and why is the hair drawn like that) so I really need to draw something new if I end up redoing the PV :3c

"What makes me mention this?"

Apparently Webtoon can put music in their comics and I'm jealous of that but its Webtoon Creators program only so like hell I'm giving the rights of my OCs to them :////

"WHY all of this matters, if at all?"

Because uh, it WILL be mentioned again and it WILL be an important thing to Kureha's character and his....uh. what was his "misfortunes" in the plot again? idk

"WHERE did the music come from anyway?"

Oh you've seen these pocket watches? They're actually music box-inside-pocket-watch kinda thing! Pretty cool, right?

Wow idk if you've read through that but, congrats if you do! Because this WON'T be my last long rambling post about OCs (idk why I haven't done more of it aside from the fact I'll be talking to a wall 99.9% of the time lol)

ANYWAYS YOU CAN READ THE FIRST TWO PROLOGUES OF AGKOKORO HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY

[ontherocks21]

Someday I'll Write It: (Interlude, Chapter 10 Sneak Peek)

Anakin Skywalker is no stranger to perilous situations. He’s been shot at, shot down, strung up, chased, captured – a few times on purpose, a few times not - and survived so many other calamities, that now Danger usually just winks at him and strolls right on by.

Usually being the key word there.

This time though?  No, this time Danger takes one long look at the handmaiden fastidiously watching their approach and immediately about-faces, pulls up a chair, and reaches for a freshly made bag of bang-corn.

To any other curious onlookers, nothing would seem amiss. Hands folded in the front of her gown, posture impeccably straight, Padmé’s handmaiden is the portrait of calm, cool, and collected.  But beneath the serene façade, Dormé fumes, her tranquil Force pool taut with unbearable surface tension.

Padmé recognizes her friend’s seething first, slowing at Anakin’s side just enough to snap his senses into high alert. Even had he not been trying to memorize – surreptitiously, of course – every detail of Padmé’s dazzling smile, it would have been impossible to miss the sudden shift.  One moment he’s basking in her scintillating blue current, still effervescent from their clandestine rendezvous; the next, he’s gasping and shaking from an abrupt plunge into her polar waters.  

Warily, Anakin’s gaze flicks between the two women squaring off outside Naboo’s offices, at once fascinated and terrified of their mirrored ability to transform into physical and ethereal blank slates.

“The Supreme Chancellor requests your immediate presence, milady,” Dormé says, only a subtle tremor threading through the words of her direct greeting.

“Did he say what for?” Padmé inquires just as evenly. 

“He did not,” Dormé replies. “Just that it was urgent.”

Like a cloud eclipsing the sun, Padmé stows the remaining radiance on her face behind Amidala’s aloof mask, vanishing into the Force without a trace despite her very real presence at his side.  The last time Padmé had disappeared from him like this, Anakin had found her barely breathing and sprawled unconscious on the floor of the Endeavor’s infirmaryfresher.  He almost shivers as the bleak memory drags its icy fingers along the back of his neck until an errant indigo flare zaps him out of his reverie.

He just manages to catch Dormé’s line of sight rove him from head-to-toe, the movement so quick he almost thinks he imagined it, but then an uneasy silence settles among their group.  Anakin knows Padmé’s handmaidens are virtuosos in the art of politics and subterfuge, but it takes him much longer than he cares to admit to recognize the inaudible conversation they are having right in front of him.

“Later,” Padmé murmurs.

In the Force, Dormé bristles a brief but brilliant teal, but she only nods, “Yes, milady.”  Motioning the Senator forward, Dormé returns to business, smoothing tangled curls and tugging gently at Padmé’s crown of braids until the woven strands appear purposefully disheveled.

“Thank you,” Padmé mouths, bestowing her loyal friend with a lingering grateful smile.  Then, not even checking to see if he’s following, Padmé tosses a curt “Let’s go” over her shoulder, her pace brisk.  Anakin throws Dormé an apologetic wince that earns him a sideways glare, and hurries after Naboo’s Senator.

In less than three strides, Anakin catches up with Padmé’s rapid yet much shorter steps.  Three more after that, and he’s drowning in her growing unease. He hadn’t been blind to the three words at the end of the short exchange carrying more weight than the entire looming summons from the Chancellor.  However quickly the bursts of color had been smothered, Anakin had sensed the rift shimmering in the Force between the two women.  All he can hope now is that his spectral insight might settle Padmé’s inner turmoil.

“I get the sense she was more frightened than angry,” he says, after a few more strides of strained silence.

Padmé shoots him a quizzical look, before Amidala directs her focus forward again.  “Even so, she has every right to be upset,” she mutters.  “We were gong too long.  That was reckless.”

Anakin flinches at the harshness in her voice. True, they had lost track of time and there would undoubtedly be hell to pay for it later, but he would be damned if Padmé got it into her head that their moment of heaven in the hallway had been anything but worth it.

With a quick glance around them, Anakin boldly bumps her hip with his. “Don’t mistake bravery for recklessness.”

Padmé’s determined pace falters ever so slightly, a soft smile tugging appreciatively at the thin, hard line of her lips.  He’s basking in the warmth returning slowly to her edges when she startles, realization suddenly freezing her mid-stride.

“Wait,” Padmé says, turning to him fully, her face confused.  “That’s not how the expression goes.”

Anakin’s brow scrunches. “Really?” 

She nods. He shrugs. 

“That’s the only way I’ve ever heard it.”

Tilting her head, Padmé searches his eyes, narrowing them when Anakin can’t feign his perplexity any longer, his mouth twisting into a perfectly stupid grin.  For a moment, her small hands raise as if to shove his shoulder, but she remembers their public playground just in time, and turns away, resuming their trek.

“Somehow I seriously doubt that,” she teases.

“You know, come to think of it…” Anakin says, hot on her heels. “There’s a good chance I have been hearing it backwards this whole time since…” He pauses on purpose, dangling the end of his thought like bait.  “Master Yoda is the one constantly saying it to me.”

Amusement dancing in her eyes, Padmé rolls her lips to keep her laughter contained.  They’ve arrived at the Chancellor’s receiving chambers, and it would be a bit uncouth to enter a professional setting doubled over in giggles.  A bit conspicuous too, in all the wrong ways.

Nevertheless, the warmth blooming in his chest continues to grow even as Padmé’s mirth sobers.  Surprising him given their current location, she takes a step closer, her voice dropping to a husky whisper. Despite the levity still simmering between them, fear slithers coldly down Anakin’s spine even as her proximity makes a dangerous heat lick upward.

“I need to say something before we walk in,” Padmé says softly, pausing when a colleague walks past and only pulling her serious brown gaze back to him when the diplomat travels beyond earshot.  “I’m going to do my best to completely ignore you.”

“Ignore me?” Anakin tries not to sound affronted, but admittedly he is.  “Why?”

“You’re supposed to be my security detail, nothing more.”  Padmé hesitates, and Anakin practically watches the words roll around in her mind before she bravely steals another quick surveillance of their surroundings.  “Apparently,” she explains through gritted teeth, “I’m incapable of not blushing when anyone so much as mentions you.”

And that was a story he intended to ask about at another time.  For now, Anakin winks devilishly, stepping back and gesturing gallantly to the chamber door.

“Activating invisible mode now, milady.”