#(consistent speed?? idk her)

[heymeowmao]

一念关山 | A Journey to Love ° (๑•́ ⌓ •́)૭ ◟(•̀ ᴖ •́◟ )

[venndaai]

just talked to my 91 year old friend (lifelong Republican voter, surrounded her whole life by lifelong Republican voters) who said "I can't believe I'm not voting this year because there's no one I can bring myself to vote for... but I'm sure I'm not alone" and I said "yup you sure aren't"

[sovksluv]

seven minutes in hell

𖤐 . pairing - fratboy!Luke Castellan x fem!reader

𖤐 . summary - a stupid game of spin the bottle/seven minutes in heaven gone… wrong?

𖤐 . content includes - smut MDNI🔞, bad interpretations of frat parties/boys

𖤐 . word count - 1014

𖤐 . taglist - @perseus-jackass @niktwazny303 @st4rzl7

𖤐 . a/n - i randomly got this idea and was very motivated idk why. anyways, hope you enjoy !!

“you are so. mph~ infuriating,” you struggled out.

he chuckled, speeding up his erratic movements, forcefully slamming your body into the wall with each thrust.

“yeah, keep saying that like my dick- fuuck~ like my fuckin’ dick isn’t in ya’ right now,” Luke teased, slowing his movements to add to the annoyance, protruding a half whimper-groan from you.

he scoffed, a dumb smirk on his face as his hips resumed their work, thrusting his fat cock into you even faster — desperate to finish you both off before the timer finished.

his sudden pounding forced a choked moan from you, panic flooding your eyes. Luke’s smirk widened, he motioned to one of your hands with his head.

you took the sign, gratefully covering your mouth the second his calloused fingertips met your clit, which erupted yet another squeak from you.

he practically had you bent in half against the closet wall, the tight space not leaving much room for the two of you.

you were at some stupid frat party — which you did not want to go to. your friend Silena insisted you needed some time out, and just about dragged you to said party.

with a few drinks in, you were grumbling as she dragged you to a cliché game of seven minutes in heaven, consisting of a circle of other students all drunk or high or both.

despite your tipsy state, you recognized a few people;

Charles Beckendorf — aka Silena’s never-ending crush that is too sweet for his own good.

Clarisse La Rue — aka the girl that typically wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere near a frat house, yet here she was.

Chris Rodriguez — aka the lame douchebag with hopeful heart eyes towards our dear Clarisse, and who also happens to be best friends with the boy that’s pounding your pussy into oblivion.

of course, the second it’s your turn to spin the bottle, it lands on probably the worst person in the group — Luke Castellan.

thank the Gods that the blaring lights of the party hid the blush on your cheeks, with a little help from the annoyed groan that left your mouth.

Silena giggled into her red solo cup, pushing you to stand up next to Luke, who was already standing, a smirk on his stupid face.

and that’s how you got here — folded in half against the closet wall, knees by your face and calves hanging over his shoulders, desperately screaming into your hand as Luke drilled his cock into you.

the fact that you got in this position during a seven minute game should’ve been on your mind, but the feeling of his cock head poking around your cunt had your eyes rolling back, head empty.

you wrapped your other arm around his neck, bringing him closer to you. uncovering your mouth and wrapping your other arm around him, your lips were close — but not touching.

you moaned into his mouth, feeling his warm breath as he pounded you, his own groans only fueling your arousal.

your eye trailed up, left hand coming up to knock away his stupid backwards cap, fingers immediately running through his curls, pulling and scratching at them.

he almost whimpered, lips trailing around your collarbone, moving up with kisses and leaving marks in his path.

“w-why do you we-ar that stupid c-cap?” you stuttered out, moaning breathlessly as his lips ceased their attack.

he chuckled again at you, hips stuttering and eyes fluttering. “will you shut up? m’ trying to fuck you.”

you moaned out, head falling back against the wall, his cock and fingers together draw you closer to the edge.

warmth spills and spreads through your bodies, feeling the effect of both your orgasms hitting at the same time.

you forced Luke’s head to yours, shoving your lips on his as you moaned in each other's mouths, sloppy and wet kisses following his slowing thrusts.

Luke carefully let you down, a hand on your waist to keep you up right. he hastily pulled up his jeans, putting himself away as he helped you redress.

you kept your arms around his neck as he pulled your panties up, fixing your dress and your hair.

face flushed, you watch as he bent down to get his cap, instead placing it backwards on your head, laughing at your annoyance.

moving to take it off, he gently grabbed your wrist.

“keep it.”

you raised your eyebrows but listened, lowering your hand. you went to speak again but were interrupted by a knock at the closet door.

in frantic movements, Luke had you shoved against the wall, breathing heavily as his head was turned towards the door, his tall frame blocking you from being seen if it were to open.

“seven minutes are up!” shouted Chris through the door, rustling could be heard from the other side as he moved away the chair that locked it. “you guys can come out now!”

Luke turned towards you, using his finger tips to tilt your chin up. with his fingers still touching you, he slightly bent down to capture your lips again in a searing kiss.

when he pulled away you were left almost breathless as he took your hand, opening the door and leading the two of you out.

whistling was heard from the game circle as you guys exited the smaller space. instead of going back to your spot next to Silena, Luke pulled your sore body down with him, sitting you right on his lap.

you made eye contact with Silena, who raised her eyebrows with a knowing smirk on her face.

everyone in the group knew what you had done in the closet, the stumbling of your walk, flushed face, and Luke’s stupid cap on your head hinted at it.

also the fact that you were sitting on his lap, head on his shoulder with his arms around your middle and his hickeys littered on your neck.

no one said anything though, they all just smirked into their own cups, continuing to play the game.

you still hated frat parties though. just maybe not this one.

© sovksluv 2024, please do not repost or translate my work!

[storm-angel989]

Please please please can I order a Val's daughter where she asks Vel for condoms, and Vel gave her them and gave her the brief how to use them talk. And was like "if you need or have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me hun". They went on and Vel accidentally mentioned it mid convo to Val and Vox a few weeks later, and Vox and Val were freaking out like "she asked for what?", "you gave them to her?" And Vels like "would you rather her not use them and get pregnant". Vox and Val are just straight panicking like "she's to young for that" and Val's like "she didn't even come to me she went to Vel I literally own the biggest porn industry in hell why wouldn't she come to me?" And yes I was in a coffee shop when I first came up with it that's why I said can I order idk that seem self explanatory or maybe not what ever have a amazing day loves ♡

Ah!! Yes, another fun one! Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Velvette stood in the mess of fabric, threads, models and chaos. Around her, the smell of fabric softener, tobacco and perfume, all blended together to make a head splitting scent. From across the studio, she watched reader slowly make her way across the studio. Her Aunt senses kicked in and she shooed her models away as reader walked towards her. 

“Hey sweetheart, how are you?” she asked with her hands on her hops. “You look like you’ve had a rough go of it.”

“Auntie Vel? You know how you said I can always talk to you? Can we talk?” She asked quietly. 

“Of course, of course. Come, come. To my office.” Velvette pushed through the crowd, barked an order and her employees dispersed. Once inside, reader settled on the couch and Velvette closed the door.

“Spit it out sweetheart, you look miserable. What’s wrong?” She asked. 

“Aunt Vel, do you know what a condom is? And can I have one?” Reader’s cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. 

Velvette didn’t blink at the request. “Sure. Go into my room, bedside drawer. I have a whole bunch you can choose from. Flavored ones, too.” 

Velvette didn’t think her niece's face could get any redder. 

“Flavored ones? What would I need those for?” She asked in confusion. “Don’t they just…go on my…”

The headache multiplied. Surly, she couldn’t have made it this far being Valentino’s daughter without knowing the basics of safe sex? Or not- after all, Valentino could be accused of being teeny bit overprotective of his baby princessa.

“No, no. Sweetheart, has your Daddy taught you how to use a condom? Or even what they’re for?” Velvette asked as he bit back her frustration. 

Reader flushed a deeper shade of crimson and shook her head as she gazed down. “No, but there is a guy at my school and I really like him and I just…”

Velvette held up her hand and made a mental note to yell at Valentino later. “You don’t need to tell me why you need them. I just want to make sure you know how to use them properly.” She stood up and cross the room at record speed. “You wait here. Don’t move.” 

One banana, a bright pink practice dildo and a detailed explanation later, Velvette watched her niece skip off with confidence and reassurance. While she was demonstrating, reader spilled all the details about her upcoming date that night. She wasn’t sure if they would sleep together, she admitted, but she wanted to be prepared just in case. Velvette was proud of her for making that decision, and reassured her that if she needed more or had questions she could always come to her- no questions asked. 

On the flip side, she was livid. Her father was Valentino- the overlord of sex, drugs and depravity; and the resident demon of the night. How could he have possibly kept his daughter so in the dark that she had to learn about this shit from her friends at school? She bit back her frustration as she dove back into work. She needed to have a conversation with them at some point. And her mother too, at that. 

Unfortunately for Velvette, with the ever growing schedule at her fingertips that opportunity to slip into conversation consistently vanished. On the other hand, her sweet niece made it a point to drop by her Auntie Vevelttes whenever she needed a refill- or simply to fill her in on her dating life. Which only reassured Velvttee she had made the correct decision. 

Her chance came a month or so later, as the three of them sat around the dinner table at one of their favorite restaurants. 

“So, baby girl is out on another date?” Vox asked. “She gets more and more like her father every day.”

Valentino snorted. “As if my niñita would be anything like me. My sweet bebita doesn’t even know what sex is. She’s kissing and giggling and holding hands at the movies. It’s cute, honestly.” He took a sip of his wine. 

Velvette choked on her drink. “Valentino, are you for real?”

Both boys turned to look at her. 

“What do you mean, Vel?” Valentino asked sharply. 

She snorted, “Val, she asked me for condoms weeks ago. I gave her a lesson, a handful, and sent her on her way.”

Valentino dropped his glass, red liquid and shards scattered all over the floor. He pushed away the demon waiter who rushed over.

. “She asked you for what now?” He squeaked. “You did what?” 

Vox looked at her in a mix of horror and disgust. “You gave them to her!?” 

“Why would you do that without consulting me first?” Valentino snarled as he stood up and slammed his hands on the table. “She’s too young for that shit! What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Yeah, Vel. She’s just a baby, how could you?” Vox demanded. “You’re corrupting her!” 

Velvette rolled her eyes. “Me?! She’s sixteen! She learned about them at school, thanks to your fucking delusions and refusal to acknowlege she’s growing up!” She leaned back and ignored the look of fury on their faces. “Tell me, would you rather she be safe, or not use them and end up pregnant?”

That seemed to resonate with both the boys. Slowly, Valentino lowered himself back down and Vox took a deep drink from his glass. 

“I need to have the talk with her, don’t I?” Valentino asked quietly as he put his head in his hands. An insulted look flitted across his face and he sat up straight, “god damn it, I own the biggest porn industry in hell! Why would she go to you and not me?” 

“Because the words ‘Porn’ and ‘Daddy’ only go together when you’re not related,” Velvette replied sarcastically, “As for the talk, I’d prefer it if you didn’t, I got it covered, Val- and she’s not only been coming to me for condoms, she’s been telling me about all the dates she’s been going on. Now tell me, do you really think if you go to her now she’s going to keep telling me shit? I think the fuck not.” Velvette stood up and wagged  her finger at them both. “So no, Valentino. And you too, Vox. Stay out of it unless she comes to you first. Understood?” She took another drink of her wine and sat back down. “Don’t fuck this up. I’m a goddamn good Aunt.”

“That I don’t disagree with,” Valentino sighed as the waiter pressed a fresh glass into his hand. “But promise me you’ll keep her safe?”

“Is that not what I’m doing now? Don’t fucking push it, Valentino. I’m still pissed you waited this long,” Velvette shot back as she glanced down at her menu. “Now shut up,  hurry up, and order. I want to beat Reader home in case she needs a little Auntie time.”

There were not many beings in this universe that could shut up Vox and Valentino, but Velvette was definitely one of them.

[zoomzooml]

Redesign concepts of Webmaster and Feathers

After a year

WEBMASTER

My biggest problem with the Webmaster design is how cluttered it seems; there's just a lot going on here. So I tried to calm it down a bit; I took away one pair of legs to make him less cluttered but keep (more or less) original body lenght. And I know that in his episode Jun says “if something has eight legs, she doesn't like it,” refering to spiders, but I think eight limbs works too.

I also played around a bit with his colors and markings. As well as body structure and proportions, noting this dragon's show-off skill - spinning webs.

When he puffs up his “cheeks” just before he spits, you can hear a sticky, mushy sound - you know that something is going on inside. The muscles are moving and pushing something with a sticky, gluey consistency. I would like it to be somewhat repulsive.

When he spits silk in attack it does not come out as big ball of burning web. It's more like net in "V" shape, in form of many separate threads of silk shooted at the same time. Similar to actual spiders, but on the bigger scale. His webs also don't burn; I feel like it's an overkill.

I changed the arrangement of his forelegs slightly. I know it's not quite in line with the style of HTTYD (see Speed Spingers' front limbs) but in his case I think arranging his hands in a similar way to therizinosaurus gives him a more menacing look.

Deadly Spinners are dragons that give a very unpleasant first impression. They are not the most beautiful dragons around (at least not by the standard) and their behavior can be repulsive to some. The type of dragon that people are willing to pin an unfriendly, sometimes unfair patch on more easily than on other dragons - as many people do with spiders or snakes and other similiar animals.

Deadly Spinners don't live in large groups - either small groups or solo. But when they are in a group they have very close bonds and spend a lot of time socializing among themselves.

FEATHERS

She is a challenge to me, not gonna lie. She definitely is the most changed among my redesigns so far. She just seems very basic to me.

The most bothering thing to me about her are those "feathers". Because, Alex in s1ep3 calls these "feathers", as well as Olivia in s5ep2, wiki calls these "feathers-like scales", but they can move and are thick what implies they are more like Furies'/Night Light's head numbs? I absolutely can pass the crowns as feathers, but Queen's horns and holes in her meaty tail were here the last straw to not to

And yes, I made a shitty video because I'm really confused and wanted that confusion express lmao. I hope Tumblr won't take it down.

So idk, I wanted to clarify what the frick those things are and go from there. I had two main ideas - either give her actual feathers or quills similiar to those of Bewilderbeast. When drawning I wasn't sure about either idea but finally decided for the latter one. Feels more HTTYD-like I think? And very flammable feathers don't seem like the best survival choice when almost every other animal around can spit fire.

I reimagine Featherhides as way more nervous and skittish dragons. Changewings were mysterious but usually seemed calm and strategical. Featherhides' nature is more in type of "flee" than "fight" (tho they can get so smoke when needed, they are not defensless or smth). They are very easy to spook and sometimes will flee in panic from something very trival just to return seconds later when they realise there was no danger at all, or are curious of whatever scared them. They often make rapid little movements, much like birds - especially if something catches their eye and they are not sure what it is.

Featherhides also live in large flocks without a complex hierarchy. If they can - they run, if any of them can't - at least some of them also stay behind.

Once Feathers bonds with Alex she would be very protective of her little human.

When Featherhides mimic sounds they do not do weird things with their faces like in the show. It looks much more like like some birds do that. But that's just a sidenote.

[billzoned]

dream praising female reader while fucking her? 👀

tysm for the request <3 and im SOSO SORRY FOR THE WAIT, i literally got this request SO long ago but i couldnt bring myself to write it. also sorry if the format's wonky, its my first time writing fully on pc...

ps. sorry it's so short, i couldnt think of much to write for it and idk why. no aftercare written, but im js imagining him running a bath for her afterwards and telling her how good she was for him:((

NOT BETA READ ! NSFW UNDER CUT

it was a longshot; he didn't know if you would be fully into it at first- but it just slipped out, and it went farther than he would have expected.

"god, you're such a good girl f'me. taking my cock so well." he muttered whilst biting your shoulder as an attempt to keep himself grounded as he fucks into you from behind, hearing your moans and mewls. he groans as he feels your cunt flutter around him, an obvious reaction to the way he started praising you all of the sudden.

he was almost surprised, but he took advantage of the new knowledge. "you like it when i call you a good girl, yeah? praising you like the good little slut you are?" he teases. "yes- yes! i do- i- do!! fuuck-!" you manage to make out the response shakily; you were practically fucked dumb in dream's arms.

as dream was consistently praising and degrading you, it felt like hours had gone by; you could barely even make a sound other than moans anymore. it wasn't until dream reached his free hand down to rub your clit that you were brought back to reality. the small bundle of nerves had a dull ache from how many times you've come, but it didn't stop him from making you release over and over. you moan at the unexpected friction coming from dream's fingers, as you feel the oh so familiar feeling of your abdomen tightening, begging for release.

"please- fuck- pleasepleaseplease-! c-can i cum, please i need'a cum.." you beg, your voice getting higher pitched as you get closer and closer to impending release. dream slows his fingers on your clit for a moment, almost contemplating if he should let you cum, or make you wait. but, he decided to be nice this time as he speeds up his fingers once again. "you wanna cum, yeah? then cum, now. cum on my cock like a good girl." all you saw was white as the coil in your stomach snapped abruptly, just mere moments after he finished his sentence. he finished as soon as he felt your walls tighten around him, filling you with his own cum.

ty for reading!! and again, i apologize for how long it took me to get this out. requests are officially, fully open!!

[oopwoop]

Barbie Movie W/ The Spider-verse Kids

pairings: e!42! & e!1610! Miles Morales, Hobie Brown, Pavitr Prabhakar, Gwen Stacy

warnings: none that i can think of??

BIRTHDAY POST! I saw the Barbie movie for my bday today and had to post something.. it’s been a bit since I have so sorry about that.. enjoy!

e!1610 Miles Morales

more than willing to go see it with you. was downright excited when you asked him to see it with you. when he was younger he definitely played with Barbies with his mom. and in the comics he eventually has a little sister so he totally plays with her too.

pays for everything. uses the money he’s saved up to take you on dates. he wants you to have a good time

definitely cries. doesn’t have to go through the struggles the movie represents but still sympathizes. we love him 🫶

wears pink without you even asking. it’s a movie about Barbie, of course you need to wear pink!

fav song from the movie is Journey To The Real World by Tame Impala

e!42! Miles Morales

very reluctant to see it. claims it’ll just be a movie for little kids. little did he know…

now that you convinced him to go, don’t expect him to wear pink for it. you must be pulling his leg if you think he’s going to wear any sort of pink. yeah.. you got him to wear pink.

you bet your ass he paid for every single thing though. the theatre had cute Barbie cups? he’s getting you one. omg, they have cookies? getting you as many as you want. all of it. you want it, it’s yours.

definitely teared up but refused to admit it. you ask and he’s making up a lie on the spot. yet you know he did

Barbie World by Nicki & Ice Spice ft. Aqua is his song (no one is telling me otherwise)

Pavitr Prabhakar

more excited than you fr. he’s been waiting for this moment since the movie was announced. literally bouncing off walls just waiting

came all decked on in a Barbie themed outfit, it’s not even funny. he’s totally rocking it though

making this the best date of your life fr. you both are super excited, him even more so, so he’s gonna do whatever he can to have a good time.

cried like a baby fs. not ashamed of it either. tears were streaming down his face when the movie ended, face puffy and red. no lie about it.

vibes with Speed Drive by Charli XCX (fav song from the movie)

Gwen Stacy

wanted to see Oppenheimer over Barbie. but she’s willing to see Barbie and then go see Oppenheimer. she’s excited for it, yeah, but not jumping out of her seat for it or anything.

definitely making it a barbieheimer date. she’s gonna wear a pink shirt with a leather jacket, no doubt.

i feel like she’d tear up a bit but no tears would fall. if you ask she wouldn’t deny it but would be very nonchalant about it.

idk why but i just see her much more excited and wanting to see Oppenheimer

i feel like she like Billie Eilish so probably enjoyed What Was I Made For? she teared up when it came on (honestly me too)

Hobie Brown

surprisingly but not surprisingly is the one who said y’all should go. was definitely more excited for Barbie than Oppenheimer. refuses to step foot into a showing of that.

will definitely wear pink. it may not match his whole punk ‘aesthetic’ but he doesn’t believe in consistency. “but pink is a girl color”, nope! he doesn’t listen to that load of bull. colors are just colors, plus he’s always changing colors so what’s it matter to him. he himself turns pink sometimes.

begrudgingly pays for tickets but will not pay for snacks. sneaks them in fs.

doesn’t really cry but does sympathize with what the movie portrays.

doesn’t really have a favorite, though he enjoys most of the songs. he finds I’m Just Ken by Ryan Gosling funny though.

[unma]

I'm not going to be able to write my typical long rambles for a bit (need to catch up on important work), but here's a short list of things I wanna talk about with the latest canto.

Spoilers, of course.

The entire Canto taking place after the ending of Don Quixote (the first Don, I will not call him the Actual Don because our Don is as much Don Quixote as he is) is not something I expected, but makes so much sense and made for a wonderful story. There are themes of identity, struggling to live under a broken system and GOD THE FAMILIAL TIES. THE FIGHT AGAINST THE TWO MIDBOSSES + THE PRIEST HAD SUCH MAGNIFICENT STORY BUILD UP. AND THE PRIEST'S ENTIRE MOVESET. UGGGH I WANNA TALK ABOTU IT

Hey. Outis. What did you mean by that. We all know what I'm talking about, right? This is the first time I know of that she's actually given even a smidge of info about herself somewhat directly. Somewhat. Everything else is just in how she knows things and acts. Here she is asking a very specific question and god, I need to know more about her now.

Good job Sinclair. And everyone else. But good job Sinclair.

Vergilius with Sanson's face/mask is cursed.

I continue to feel so so bad for the Bloodfiends. They did the best they could in a world that gave them only two horrible options. I couldn't help but compare La Manchaland to the Tokyo Ghoul:RE ending, because the hemobars reminded me of the artificial meat, except in TG:RE it worked and here, well. We saw how that went. I think it's a great idea to start with the after of their solution; this isn't a situation with a possible solution, they tried that and failed. Who knows if there is one that works? Does it matter now that they're all dead?

I'm going to be very weird about Camille once this is all said and done, but I do want to note that the pretty boy being turned into a flower and having a name very clearly gotten from Carmilla the flower (and maybe the book? Haven't read it yet so idk if he's taken from there) is very cheeky. I still wish I could've besting him up myself. This isn't me critiquing the writing, this is me being weird.

The QTE in the ending cutscene of the boss fight was cool and really added to the feeling of fighting against and overcoming a clearly superior foe.

I wanna hug Don Quixote the First. He's such a ray of sunshine and deserved better. Even if he was somewhat delusional, at least he genuinely cared for his family.

What happened to Hong Lu's sister? Did she just vanish? I didn't notice until later on, so I'll probably need to go back and check myself.

Bari is the Librarian of Death (edit: Nameless Bookhunter, thanks for the correction AE)? Idfk and idc for now. If Bari ends up showing up again or a moot of mine decides they wanna talk about it, maybe I'll look into it.

The familial themes here are most certainly also going to be related to Hong Lu's story, which once more is a reason I really should get to reading all the books for this game.

Ryoshu accepting death from the possibility of fighting Don Qui the second was really funny.

The abno fights here are really good, and I love how Limbus is making unbreakable coins the standard from now on. Makes it so you can't just blaze through fights taking no damage, and these battles genuinely feel difficult. That's good. Their designs and mechanics are also pretty easy to understand and match with their ego gifts pretty well. God I wish we had more Rupture ids that could stack as much count as the Lasso abno.

Sancho fight was cool as hell. The clashable 10 speed skill was so good and made it feel like a massive improvement on the Cassetti fight. So good. On use coin power did mess me up a little given it doesn't show up in the clash numbers, but that was on me for not reading tbh.

Fun fact: final boss can be Meatlantern soloed really easily. So easy in fact that that's how I cleared it. Doing it with a full team didn't end well for me. The solo's also really consistent, which is nice.

Mili song is really good. As usual. I need to go listen to it again. I need an in-game mix. I need it. The childishness of Sancho's side of the tune compared with the seriousness of first Don's side is lovely.

Also. Please, in the final clash where you use Don's base ego. I hope you looked at the name of the ego and the name of Don the First's attack. Please. It's such a good detail. And it's so much better when you remember that Sancho was always the one making weapons for Don. He calls Sancho's lances much more graceful than his. It's so lovely. You can tell these two genuinely love each other. It's so good.

Also the fact that basically every fixer we went in with got wiped out by weakened Bloodfiends really shows just how powerful these bloodfiends are. Camille had to resort to using ego gear to survive. Sheesh.

That'll be all for now. Expect a long ramble on any of these points when I'm more free, aka never.

[bluedandylyon]

I think I took for granted how good She-Ra is. Like it is a MIRACLE that a show like this exists, you know?

Idk, watching the Arcane finale and seeing it fumble the things it set up for itself in season 1, ditching complex and complete set-ups and pay-offs for cheap parallels that don’t always make sense; it made me realize how fucking lucky we got with spop.

There are a lot of incredible things about the show, about how pretty much every character in the show is queer, how trauma is represented, complex themes interweaved beautifully in a TV-7 rating show.

BUT

I feel like we as a ~ society don’t talk enough about the set-ups and pay-offs in the show. The fact that nothing in the show comes out of left field and how every piece of dialogue serves a function and sets the characters up. The characters in spop will never act out of character for a line, or to further the plot. Their consistency is incredible.

Let’s take Jinx and Catra for example. Jinx has complex mental health issues that were at the center of everything in szn 1, so she had a lot of symptoms and she was able to be messy and frustrating and realistic in her disorder. Then szn 2 came around and somehow her symptoms are mostly cured - which ok, we can chalk that up to Isha’s presence in her life, which yeah, her hallucinatory symptoms partly come back when Isha goes missing. Although, this would mean that they’re setting up that if Isha is not in Jinx’s life, then her symptoms would come back full force no?

Isha dies and there is absolutely nothing that pays off in terms of this little set up they did. Jinx becomes suicidal, but her other, more complex, more “able to ruin plot plans” symptoms disappear in its entirety. This is a character whose complexity is determined by what the plot needs to do.

Catra also has complex mental issues, and those NEVER go away for the sake of plot expediency, in fact, the plot baked Adora and Catra’s conflict in the center of it all from the very beginning. This means that Catra gets to act realistically all throughout the show and that furthers the plot. Catra doesn’t get rescued and all of a sudden her trauma goes away for the sake of redeeming her faster. Catra has not been healed at the end of the show, she is beginning to heal. She is allowed to explore the depths of her trauma and symptoms and instead of speeding through it, the show says - here, go down to rock bottom, get rescued and be unable to say thank you, get re-triggered by your abuser and run away at the very end of the show. And also, here are some characters that will call you out on your behavior, here is an emotional support animal, here, the person you love and have pushed away from, never hated you!! Her healing always feels like it’s a deliberate choice from Catra bc of what tools the show is giving her, not bc the plot needs to move forward now.

And in terms of set-ups and pay-offs. I mean…. It’s actually nuts. Characters’ dialogues literally bake themselves into other characters. Shadow Weaver tells Adora “Catra distracts you, confuses you” and Adora later tells Bow and Glimmer (after calling SW out btw) “I am distracted and confused and I cant be any of those things if this is going to work” which creates the final moments of the show.

Angella tells Adora “take care of each other” and Adora internalizes it as “I have to take care of Glimmer” bc of her trauma, and that leads her to be very controlling with Glimmer, which creates conflict in their relationship, which creates the heart of Etheria situation, which creates the Horde Prime situation.

SW tells Catra that she abused her bc Catra reminded her of herself. In that same episode, where SW’s past is explored, they both say “it doesn’t matter what I do, my authority figure doesn’t trust me”, we can see how Catra begins to emulate SW’s authority style throughout the show.

The show starts with SW telling Adora “isn’t this what you’ve wanted since you were old enough to want anything?” and it ends with Catra asking her “what do you want, Adora?” which sets up the conclusion of Adora’s entire arc.

Even little things, like Entrapta telling Wrong Hordak it’s ok to make facial expressions and Wrong Hordak being animated copying character’s facial expressions for practice after that.

ITS JUST SO GOOD THE WRITING IN THIS SHOW IS RIDICULOUS.

[spectersgirl]

Hey everyone! This wasn't anything anyone asked for yet again, and idk what made me decide to write this but I just wanted to put a hugeeeee disclaimer and TW for SA. If you are sensitive to this topic, it's the entire basis for this fic (a situation is described but not in detail) so I suggest you skip this one and take care of yourself.

*incredibly personal anecdote* Admittedly, this was incredibly cathartic to write, as I directly based this on something I experienced and still work through every single day, with a lot of details changed. If you are also a victim of SA, I'm sorry. It was not your fault, and you couldn't have known they would do what they did to you, no matter the relationship you shared prior. All of that being said, if you do choose to read this, I hope you get something out of it.

Darkness

Harvey Specter x Reader

The way you felt when you walked into the lobby of Pearson Specter Litt only to be greeted by sight of the man directly responsible for the greatest source of trauma in your life, Dylan, felt nearly as horrific as when it all happened. You froze in place, unable to move or speak as you watched him shake hands with someone you didn’t recognize. It felt like the earth was moving in slow motion as you stood there, unable to move or breathe or think. You watched him walk with the other man he was talking to, totally oblivious to your presence a mere 15 feet away. You stared blankly ahead, your heart rate rising and jumped when a hand touched your shoulder gently.

"Hey woah, Y/N are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost?"

You looked up at the source of the voice and the hand on your shoulder. It was Mike Ross, who was undoubtedly there to retrieve you so you could sign some final paperwork in regards to the lawsuit your company had just won thanks to Mike's hard work. You owned a small clothing company based in Brooklyn and one of your designs had been completely ripped off by a larger brand, but the suit was far from on your mind at that moment.

"I- I need a minute" You said hurriedly, rushing to the nearest bathroom.

You stood in the mirror, clammy hands and white knuckles shakily gripping the edge of the counter as you attempted to collect yourself. Your breathing was ragged and the room was spinning. You closed your eyes, doing everything you could to make the panic stop. You felt a little angry at yourself for the way your body reacted to seeing him, but you’d deal with that later. Finally, your breathing started to return to normal, heart rate slowing to a more reasonable speed.

You knew you'd have to explain what had happened to at least Mike, and probably anyone else that saw you run. You had never kept secrets from each other, but this was something you were too ashamed of to tell even Mike. You knew logically that you had nothing to be ashamed of, you knew it wasn't your fault that this happened to you, but that little voice of doubt in the back of your head screamed that you should've turned around and left.

Mike and you had been friends since childhood, keeping in touch consistently even through the busyness of life. He was one of your closest friends. You'd been to the PSL offices many times, becoming close with all of Mike's colleagues, and even custom-designing some dresses for Donna and suits for Harvey, the two people you'd grown the closest to in the time Mike had worked at PSL. Donna had become one of your best friends in the city since moving to Manhattan only a couple of years back, and you and Harvey had recently crossed the threshold of more-than-friends and were now in the stage where you pretty much spent every night together at either your apartment or his condo. Mike knew about your budding relationship with Harvey and although he pouted for a while, he eventually got over it, stating that as long as nobody got hurt, he was fine with it.

The bathroom door opening jolted you from your thoughts, and you looked up with petrified eyes at Donna. Her face had concern written all over it as she walked cautiously to you, saying nothing as she held her arms out. You accepted the gesture graciously and hugged her as if your life depended on it. She had no idea what you had been through either, nobody but you and the man from earlier did, but she knew that something was terribly wrong.

"What happened, Y/N?" She asked as she sat down with you on the small ottoman that sat in the corner of the room. "Mike told me you freaked out and ran in here, he wanted to help but..." She trailed off, gesturing at the women's restroom.

You sighed, looking down at the floor and attempting to ignore the sick feeling in your stomach.

"I've never told anyone this..." You started quietly, looking up at Donna finally. She nodded encouragingly, placing a hand on your back.

"When I was 19 and in college, I met this guy. We hit it off and became friends, we had a couple of classes together and studied together and eventually, I grew to sort of like him. One night, he and his roommate had a party that I went to, and I started drinking like everyone else. He just kept filling my cup for me and before I knew it, I was hammered. I didn't know it then but he was pretty much sober. He told me he wanted to talk somewhere quietly and he took me to his bedroom, and I was so drunk that I didn't realize what was happening before he took my top off and... he had me doing things I never would've done if I was sober. Not yet with him, at least. It ruined me for a really long time. I still think about it, wondering if I should’ve done things differently. I had liked him so much before, that I didn't understand that everything that happened was assault. He got me wasted so he could take advantage of me. He never talked to me again and avoided me in classes the rest of our time at that school, and I haven't seen him in years until just now when I saw him in the lobby. I had a panic attack. I used to get them a lot after it happened but they don’t really happen anymore. I just really hope they don’t start coming up again, that darkness is something I never want to feel again.”

By the end of your story, there were tears pouring down your cheeks. Donna handed you a tissue which you took gratefully. When you finally looked back up from your lap, there were tears in Donna's eyes. She wasn’t able to find the words for how horrible she felt for you, and how angry she was at this guy for doing something like that.

“Y/N I… I am so sorry you went through that. Is there anything I can do to help you feel better right now?”

You thought for a moment, feeling a weight come off your shoulders as you realized how good it felt to unload the burden of this memory for the first time. You shook your head.

“No, but we can leave the bathroom. I think I’m feeling a little better” You responded, hearing the tiredness in your voice.

Donna smiled sadly, standing and holding a hand out to help you up.

She walked with you back to her desk, and your head stayed on a swivel, watching for any sign of him.

Donna clicked around on her computer screen once you reached her desk, and looked back up at you after a moment.

“Harvey won’t be back from his meeting for another hour or so and I know you’re exhausted from all of that so if you want, you can take a little power nap on his couch, I'm sure he won't mind. You don’t have to but, I just want you feeling better.”

You could’ve cried at how much she truly cared. You nodded weakly.

“That would be really nice, thank you Donna.”

“Of course honey, go right in.”

It took you all of about 20 seconds to fall into a deep sleep once you laid down.

Harvey returned to the office, stopping at Donna's desk when he noticed you passed out on his couch.

"Uh, what's up with Y/N?" He asked the redhead, who stood and walked to an empty conference room, waving him in with her. She closed the door and spoke quietly, not wanting anyone to hear.

"Something happened and I'm sure she would want to tell this story herself, but it's something you should know." Donna started, bracing herself to tell the abridged version of what you'd told her only an hour ago.

By the time she finished telling Harvey what she knew, the anger was emanating off of his being. His fists were clenched and his jaw sat in a tight line.

"Who's the guy and who was he meeting with? I'm gonna go pay him a visit."

"Harvey you can't just go talk to him, he doesn't even know she's here-"

"Talk to him?! Please, I'm gonna fucking lay him out!"

"Please, just let her talk to you and if that's what she wants, then do that. I know you care about her and I know you want to protect her, but do that how she wants you to. Don't make this worse for her."

Harvey sighed, frustrated that he couldn't go throw the dude through the window right then and there, but he begrudgingly understood what Donna was saying. As much as he wanted to put this guy in the dirt, this wasn't his fight to fight unless you asked him to, and he would do anything you asked.

He quietly entered his office, busying himself with paperwork and anything else that he could find to be both productive and quiet as he periodically looked up, watching you peacefully sleep.

You woke eventually, you had no idea how long he let you sleep but you were certain it was longer than the hour you were expecting.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Harvey greeted with a smile, but you could see the fear in his eyes. He could fool others with his poker face, but not you.

You said nothing but held your arms out, beckoning him to you. You knew he had to have asked Donna what happened, based on the look on his face. He stood and walked to the couch to join you. He wrapped his arms around you, hugging you in a way that felt like your pieces were fusing back together. His warm hands rubbed up and down your back, softly kissing the top of your head before pulling back and speaking.

"Y/N, Donna told me what happened, I know you probably would've wanted to tell me yourself but she thought I needed to know. I am so angry that something like that ever could've happened to you, especially when you were so young. I want you to know that if there's anything you want me to do to this guy, I'm gonna find a way to do it."

Tears fell from your eyes yet again, and Harvey wiped them away gently with his thumbs.

"Thank you. You don't have to do anything, just being here with me is more than I could've asked. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it, about him, it just felt... embarrassing. I didn't want to burden you. I don't want you to have to constantly look over your shoulder just because of me."

Harvey took a deep breath before he took your hands in his, looking into your eyes with passion pooling in his own before he spoke again.

"Y/N, you could never be a burden to me, okay? I would go to the ends of the earth and back to make sure you’re safe. The idea that I couldn't protect you from everything you've gone through because of that asshole makes me weak in the knees, it makes me feel sick. From here on out, if someone’s making you uncomfortable, if you feel unsafe, anything... You can always call me. You can come to me. I will never let you feel that way again, that’s a promise.”

Tears flowed from your eyes both from the mental toll the last few hours had taken on you and at Harvey's words. He's never spoken so passionately, so candidly with you before.

You felt your hands trembling even as he held them tightly, despite him trying his best to soothe you. You took a shaky breath and closed your eyes for a moment, trying to collect yourself.

"For not being the guy who comforts people, you sure are good at it." you said with a slight grin. "Thank you. For everything."

Harvey smiled, glad that you were feeling okay enough in that moment to make a joke. He opened his mouth to say something, but got interrupted by a tapping on the glass door of his office.

"Y/N, hey! I came to find you earlier but you were asleep. Are you okay? What happened? Donna wouldn't tell me anything, she just said you should tell me?" Mike asked frantically, clearly still worried about you.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Donna was right, this is something I should tell you myself. I should've told you a long time ago." You started, waving him inside so you could tell him everything.

Mike and Harvey listened intently, and you saw both of them physically stiffen and get angrier the more you told them, despite Harvey having already heard from Donna. Harvey had poured himself a drink, and by the looks of it, a very strong one. He paced the floor as he listened, presumably to expel some of his energy on something other than finding the guy and putting his fist through his face.

"God, I wish you would've told me back then, I would've beat the shit out of him. But I understand why you didn't. I'm so sorry, Y/N. I hate that he did that to you, but I'm so proud of you for being so strong all this time. I just wish you didn't do it alone."

"Thanks Mike. I was just felt so much shame, that I didn't tell anyone. I couldn't."

"I know. It's okay, I'm glad you told me. I'm sure Harvey already offered but if there's anything I can do..."

You nodded, telling him you'd let him know.

"Ok, I'm gonna head out but call if you need anything?"

"I will, thank you Mike. You're a good friend."

He smiled before giving you a hug and leaving, giving a firm nod to Harvey on his way out, the two men's silent way of communicating their mutual agreement to watch out for you.

Harvey decided to take the rest of the afternoon off to be with you, despite your insistence that he had a shit ton of work to do and that you were feeling better.

"Honey, you are the most important thing to me right now. This'll all still be here in the morning.”

You smiled softly at the nickname.

“Right now, if you want to that is, I'm going to take you back to my place and we can sit by the fireplace with a glass of wine and talk for a while, and I'll run you a hot bath and you can just relax while I cook us dinner."

You took his face in your hands and kissed him softly.

“That sounds perfect.”

[ivoryand-gold]

Epic The Musical Reaction: Thunder Saga ⛈️⚡️⛈️⚡️⛈️⚡️

SO many thoughts and feelings after the Troy & Cyclops Sagas (Jorge’s Version) and THUNDER SAGA. this is a LONG one, but i’ve put what i can put into words, so here my initial 24 hour-post release reaction! Spoilers galore ahead!

TROY

THE HORSE AND THE INFANT

the ensemble is *chef’s kiss*

i love how gentle Jay’s voice is when he’s singing “penelope” and “telemachus”

the battle clashing is so good!!

overall Luke’s voice is a little softer and feels less thunderous than og so i wonder if that was to contrast thunder bringer? not a complaint just an interesting choice!

don’t love the change to “i don’t think you’re ready” but the rest of zeus’ part is gorgeous

he sounds like a kid pleading, making thunder bringer even sadder when he does it again later 😭😭😭

JUST A MAN

instrumental has a chokehold on me and Jay’s vocals are so smooth

“the view” drop is a lovely choice

😭😭😭 “who’s fighting for his life” 😭😭😭

THE STRINGSSSSSS

od’s first “im just a man” being so soft and now in comparison to eurylochus’ version is devastating

FULL SPEED AHEAD

i like how Jay’s voice starts soft and builds power as he’s shaking the guilt of the infant in order to lead his men again

Armando is just so solid. truly the most consistent and solid vocals, which is perfect for the purpose his character serves in the first act of the story

i love every once in a while Jorge makes a surprising pronunciation choice that just tickles me

there were a few specific lines i was worried would lose their magic but “you and i’ll go ahead” still sounds perfect

again, ensemble is eatinggg

OPEN ARMS

Steven stuck out so much to me for some reason. more so when i listened on my tv, but still a bit on my phone as well. the mixing on him feels a little off compared to everyone else to my ear, which is odd compared to the bell-like perfect clarity the stolen version has. this isn’t a diss to Steven, he has a beautiful voice and is the perfect polites which may be why this production difference sticks out more than any one else’s. idk maybe i’m tripping but it feels like he lost some of the innocence in his voice as a result 🥺

i wonder if the lotus eaters sound a little deeper to distinguish them from the winions

i love the “nom nom nom,” “scary cave,” and “that way” 😂😂😂

WARRIOR OF THE MIND

Teagan is so solid it’s unreal, athena songs can’t help but be bops and aside from the “villain god songs” are my favs

thought it was “you lied to me,” not “enlighten me” until yesterday 😅

CYCLOPS

POLYPHEMUS

ik after the ts master’s heist that re-recorded masters have to be distinguishable for legal reasons, but it’s so interesting what and how choices were made here, such as polyphemus’ voice change

“watch out” and the mixing leading into Survive is perfection

SURVIVE

the fighting is excellent

OKAY GUITAR???

the harmonizing is stunning

the deaths are even more brutal 😭😭

ik he squished polites but polyphemus is so pitiful and they are in his house, you could never make me hate him in this version 🥺 (in hades 2 yeah fuck that guy lolol)

REMEMBER THEM

eurylochus screaming is very good

Jay’s vocals are DELICIOUS!! this song might be the biggest improvement for him.

the crew sounds more reverential and mournful while od grows in anger throughout which i like how that builds into the name reveal

GAH od’s no and athena’s no are both more terrifying now that they exchanged energy

background vocals during the build to his name reveal seem much more pronounced, which is interesting but i love it

“hey cyclops” really feels like the culmination of all the anger in this songs and then we get hit with the new “odysseus”

MY GOODBYE

platonic breakup song of my dreams 😩😩😩

oooh that growl on “waste” is everything

her disappointment is a little sadder in this one

nailed it, kept the magic, i have nothing but love for this song

RE-RECORDINGS OVERALL

Jorge’s vocals are so much clearer throughout and his acting is so much more nuanced! I didn’t have any criticism for the original version before, but having them to compare now makes me really appreciate his growth and depth of understanding of the character arc Ody’s on in the new ones.

the mixing is so smooth and I LOVE the new vocals for the ensemble

STRINGSSS

such a glow up on the cover art!!!

every song was either an improvement or just as good, but i need more time with open arms to decipher my full feelings on that one

i’m really glad Jorge did this.

⭐️ REMINDER: STREAM NEW VERSIONS ONLY FROM NOW ON SO MR JALAPEÑO CAN BE HELLA PAID YO ⭐️

now…

THUNDER

SUFFERING

i didn’t consider Jorge had lied about the sirens not being included until the end, so at first i thought it was a dream or something, but realized the heavy production meant some god/monster fuckery + the repeated trying to get him in the water + use of Penelope’s voice it became apparent to me just in time for the turn.

this song is so cute and ridiculous

the tonal dissonance was jarring but then on additional passes it’s so perfect to express how out of place what’s happening is. it’s confusing because it’s wrong

Anna’s delivery of “of course” and “oh no” are so playful, i love that he found an creative way to include more penelope

shy my ass lolol that was around when it clicked

also since they’re sirens, this is what he wants to hear most which is sad to think about if this is how he desires their marriage to be when he returns 😓. no matter of love or support can fix all the pain and guilt he’ll carry the rest of his life, but that hope is all he has

DIFFERENT BEAST

i love that “my real wife knows” is gonna probably mirror penelope saying something like “my real husband would know” in the ithaca saga

the layering of voices in the chorus

12 years or so is SO funny

i’d be scared so shitless

“nah you wouldn’t have spared me” and “let them drown” delivery

the crew’s turn from “we” to “he” then od singing “kill them all” before the following 3 songs is UNHINGED

SCYLLA

i was most excited for this song going in and was NOT disappointed!

scylla vocals in the backdrop to eurylochus’ confession feels reminiscent of puppeteer after his attempted confession with circe layered over. this time odysseus makes a different choice 😭

not much to say > i’ve got a secret > i opened the windbag > *silence* > light up 6 torches no words just ????????

DROWN - CHOKE - BLEED is so crunchy i want to mix it into my granola

the monstrous scylla belting is EVERYTHING and left me wanting so much more, so i guess i just have to repeat this song forever (but if Jay wants to release a Scylla extended cut i would be the #1 supporter)

“we are the same you and i” after his transformation into the monster is the stuff music is made for

MUTINY

luck runs out reprisal with the strings is gonna be the end of me

“crazy and mad”

he said gaslight me PLSSSS

eurylochus losing his mind with the loss of his faith in od will leave me in shambles for the foreseeable future

“SAY SOMETHING”

“I CANT” 😬😬😬

electric guitar is guitarringggg

there is no price he won’t pay- the moment of clarity for the crew

yeah od why did you think they’d still trust you lol

im still not over the fact that burr and hamilton switching it up at the end is what sealed their fates and i imagine the same will remain true of ody and eury repeating that devastating irony

i wasn’t sure who would win the duel or if they’d keep the cows in, so as soon as i heard that cow i was like it’s over they’re so cooked they can’t conceive of how bad this is gonna be. helios don’t play about those cows (even though i’m inclined to think Jorge is switching it to be apollo for the sake of simplicity for epic which would also explain why apollo’s part of god games is still unknown even though his part is first)

wind god/sun god is so special to me

eurylochus isn’t himself anymore, odysseus was his hope

“please don’t tell me you’re about to do what i think you’ll do”

“ODY-“ brb screaming crying throwing up

“im just a man” 😭

he didn’t even get to enjoy a final meal, they died for nothing and it’s so damn sad

the acting in this may be the best in the entire musical

“captain?” 🥺😭 his hunger is so great and his spirit is so broken

“WHO DO YOU THINK HE’LL SEND???” is so desperate and well delivered

⚡️⚡️⚡️THUNDER BRINGER⚡️⚡️⚡️

the thunder and chanting and electric guitar and percussion and LUKE’S VOICE and-

the lyrical implications are so appropriately horrible but the beat is seductive and his voice is so powerful and it slides and shoots like lightning strikes or thunder rumbling might- culminating into a banger that captures the king of the gods’ essence perfectly. he is divine judgment and i would say that he abuses that but he doesn’t even see it that way. you implicitly can’t refuse his power, you never had the option and it’s terrifying and so damn zeus.

i truly have no notes that aren’t appreciation and awe. i won’t declare so definitively out of awareness that recency bias is in play, but this may best ruthlessness as my favorite.

odysseus will hate rain and the ocean for the rest of his life, they mean one of the big 3 is coming to fuck up his whole life 😅😅😅

“tell me” and “enlighten me” have me so giddy, he’s enjoying himself so much lol

so many GORGEOUS line deliveries in this whole song. this entire song is GORGEOUS line deliveries. one of my favs is how “choose” and “you or your crew” is said like a gentle interlude for the showier singing but is the most devastating part. the climax is in the quiet for this song

“please don’t make me do this” callback is lethal. odysseus never would’ve made another choice but the way they respectively play out and how he feels about them are brutal.

“let me take the suffering from you” he’s drawing from the siren’s version of penelope to convince himself he can live with the guilt. he uses her as an excuse time and time again to do the worst things, so much so that that’s how he sees her now. he’s desperate for her to be that because how else can he face himself? the one time he looked inward he saw a monster, no wonder he always has to look to/for her.

“captain?”

“i have to see her”

“but we’ll die”

“i know”

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

they sound like scared children and i’m NOT OKAY. eurylochus gave everything for 12 years and odysseus told him he would do ANYTHING to save eury specifically when he risked his life for the pig-ified crew and not only was that not true, he ultimately chose to let him and 35 other men die in a final betrayal after withering his hope, faith, and mind. odysseus is devastated and racked with guilt but it was never a choice. he merely sees himself more honestly now, not the hero he saw in the mirror at the start of the journey, or even back on aeaea.

ik it’s the chorus but also it’s just like zeus to make it about himself again as he decimates these men. his all-powerful divine judgement is his right and stands as his thesis, as ruthlessness for mercy of self does for poseidon.

it sounds like a lullaby at the end like it does in THATI and Just a Man. innocence has died for the final time, there’s nothing good in him left to sacrifice. all he has is the hope that what’s left can still be loved and accepted by penelope because his love of self is gone. yet all that remains is selfishness. he’s calcified into himself, and this makes me hungry to re-read his character study in Circe by Madeline Miller because they do the same thing: Epic reveals this truth through his own perception of himself while Circe does it through the memories of those who loved him and most desperately wanted to the lies he believed about himself to be true.

FINAL THOUGHTS

i will NEVER hate eurylochus. he was top 3 before, but after this saga he is definitively my favorite character. were there devastating consequences to his actions? i mean yeah but also odysseus expected unconditional faith after making the original decision that put them in danger in the first place. his grief and/or pride (depending on how you interpret epic’s depiction of od) and ignoring eury/athena is what put them all in poseidon’s sights. he was clever, yes, but what did that ultimately amount to? it makes all the sense in the world that eurylochus lost faith in his cleverness when he saw the consequences and then just when od earned back his trust, he sacrificed 6 of their men without even trying to be clever. it’s all tragic and if you’re withholding criticism for od but can’t hold nuance for eury then we are having very different experiences, idk what to tell you lol.

danger motifffff

i hope the crew haunts od’s ass so we can hear them again, but either way what an expertly executed ending for those characters and that chapter of odysseus’ life. brava.

this may be the best saga. again- recency bias- but it’s certainly going to be one of the best when all is said and done. THANK YOU JAY. THANK YOU ARMANDO. THANK YOU ANNA. THANK YOU LUKE. THANK YOU KJ.

so far my ranking is reverse track order

i hope we get the wisdom saga sooner than later because i’m greedy for good art lol but i’d wait however long Jay needs for another saga as well executed as this one

10/10 acting, 10/10 singing, 10/10 production. so much heart, skill, and talent has been put into this project and i’m really happy to be on this journey of appreciating and analyzing it with y’all in real time ☺️

i’m most looking forward to calypso and penelope as characters, but god games, get in the water, and hold them down as songs in each of the remaining sagas. (also my boy hephaestus)

if you made it this far, holy shit thank you. if you have money to spare please sponsor a family on Operation Olive Branch, also stream songs with proceeds being raised for liberation (such as Revolutin’ by Amira Unplugged), and Free Palestine, Congo, Sudan, Tigray, West Papúa, Haití, Hawaii, Armenia, Uyghur, and Turtle Island til it’s backwards! None of us are free until we’re all free.

[greattigerssimp]

Punch Out x Pokemon crossover headcannons!

Gift for my bestie @vampirtulpe , lover of both Punch Out and Pokemon. In this crossover AU, all the boxers are actually trainers who all go to the same stadium to battle, train, and raise pokemon. Each trainer fights with 4 pokemon, unless your Mr. Sandman (aka the champion in this AU)

Little Mac 🇺🇲🥊🟢

- Traveling trainer (ash ketchum wannabe) from Unova

- Strict, but not as strict as Mr. Sandman when training his pokemon

- Team consists of Hitmonchan, Raichu, Cinderace, and a Riolu he hatched thnx to Doc. The ultimate main character team

- Doc travels with him and basically acts like Brock

Glass Joe 🇫🇷 🥐

- Kalos (aka best region!!! No I don't take criticism :33) inhabitant

- Very soft when it comes to training pokemon... dude will spoil his pokemon rotten and wonder why they aren't powerhouses

- Team consists of Dachsbun, Slurpuff, Glaceon, Magikarp, and a baby Goomy he never let's fight.

- Very close to the Dachsbun... his uncle, Gabby Jay owned it as a Fidough, and Joe adopted it when Gabby died (he didn't die to Nick in this AU, but rather of a heart attack-)

- Squimish about seeing cute pokemon fight; would much rather be a pokemon performer

Von Kaiser 🇩🇪🔩

- Owns his own pokemon gym that specializes in steel types. It's only accessible to younger trainers

- Used to be a good trainer in his youth, but slowly got outclassed

- Originated in uhhhh Sinnoh (game freak German region when???)

- Team consists of Klinklang, Ambipom, Chingling, and Probopass.

- Caught Chingling very recently, mistakenly thinking it was a steel type. He keeps it for emotional support

Disco Kid 🇺🇲 🕺

- Travelling trainer from Unova, but he lacks the main character energy

- Invented "pokecise," a trainer-pokemon type of exercise that's supposed to strengthen a bond... or whatever lol.

- Sometimes does double battles with Heike Kagero, and overall prefers double battles.

- Speed specialist

- Team consists of all four Oricorio forms... and a Mime Jr. he doesn't battle with

- He uses the Mime Jr. to use Teeter Dance on random people for shits and giggles.

King Hippo 🏝 🦛

- Rumored to be from Alola

- May or may not he a mutated pokemon... if you throw a poke ball at him, he'll go inside of it.

- Team consists of Alolan Exeguttor, Ludicolo, Slowking, and of course, Hippowdon.

- Doesn't grunt or growl in this AU. Rather, he says the word "Hippo" over and over again.

Piston Hondo 🇯🇵🥊

- Classic Kanto boy

- He IS that guy from the Saffron dojo who gifts you either a Hitmonchan or a Hitmonlee

- Is constantly pushing the other trainers (boxers), especially Joe, to train harder every single day.

- His team consists of Ninetails, Farfetch'd, Curly Tatsugiri, and Scizor

- Traded Joe the eevee that would evolve into his Glaceon for an unhappy scyther Joe couldn't train

Bear Hugger 🇨🇦 🐻

- Uhhh Johto native (NO CANADA REGION GRRR)

- Adores pokemon, especially baby pokemon. He's got a knack for breeding

- Spends all day training in the woods and on routes

- Scares unsuspecting travelling trainers at night

- Team consists of Greedant, Stantler, Obamba snow :], and Ursaring

- Had a pachirisu at some point, but it got poached and died by an evil pokemon team

- Bonus: if Lomasi (me OC) was in this AU, her team would consist of Staraptor, Sunflora, Beautifly, and Xatu.

Great Tiger 🇮🇳 🐅

- No India region sooooo idk maybe Alola trainer

- Wants to be a psychic trainer very badly

- Has yet to be indoctrinated into the psychic trainer mental circle

- Hates medicham with a burning passion (I'm projecting ehehe-)

- Team consists of Espeon, Persian, Delcatty, and Incineroar

- Rivalry with Hondo

- Yeah he loves cat pokemon... sadly that takes priority over catching psychic pokemon

Don Flamenco 🇪🇸 🥀

- Wants to be a dancing, agile-type trainer like Disco Kid, and ended up being better than him

- Adores pokemon contests

- From Paldea, and has basically traveled all over the region

- Team consists of Roserade, Bellosom, Luvdisc, and Quaquaval.

- Caught a Greavard during his emo phase

- Bonus, since vamp ✨️ adores ✨️ my version of Carmen... her team consists of Sylveon, Lopunny, Bruxish, and Arbok... if yall know, yall know.

Aran Ryan 🇮🇪 😈

- Rumored to have been a Team Yell member

- Has fought pokemon with his bare hands before, and he'll do it again

- From Northern Galar

- No real ambition, just likes terrorizing people with his pokemon

- Team consists of Zoroark, Obstagoon, Scrafty, Skuntank, and a family Wooloo he inherited and doesn't let fight

- That Wooloo is just as fearsome as the rest of his team

Soda Popinski 🇷🇺 🍾

- (NO RUSSIA REGION REEE) He's from Sinnoh, specifically snowpoint

- Has beaten the snowpoint gym leader multiple times, but he was gatekept from becoming an ice gym leader because of his intimidating height drinking issues

- Stupidly tall, but baby pokemon are naturally attracted to him

- Was almost bribed into d0ping his pokemon... thankfully in this AU, he doesn't do that.

- Team consists of Polteageist, Walrein, Spinda, and Beartic

- He captured the Spinda and the Sinistea when he was drunk one time

Bald Bull 🇹🇷 🐂

- From Paldea, specifically Alfornada city

- Definitely likes pokemon more than people

- Doesn't necessarily like battling super hard because it triggers his anger

- Once killed an evil team member

- Team consists of Blaze Breed Paldean Tauros, Boufalant, Darmanitan, and Primeape

- That primeape doesn't take well after Bull...

Super Macho Man 🇺🇸 🌊

- Native Alolan resident (he's not white in this AU)

- Ex-water gym leader of Alola; got fired after a certain tantrum he had as an actor

- Well known poke-actor

- ALWAYS trains his pokemon by the beach

- Team consists of Palafin, Poliwrath, Alolan Raichu, and Mantine

- He owns a LOT more water pokemon than what I listed lol

Mr. Sandman 💤 🟢

- Champion of the WVBA league

- Undeafeated

- Is also the manager of said league... he bosses over the other trainers and what they do

- Is the paul-trainer (Pokemon are objects to make me win) type

- As a champion, he's allowed to have 6 pokemon

- Only WVBA trainer that does hyper training

- Team consists of Machamp, Musharna, Sandaconda, Dusknoir, Pyroar, and Annihilape.

- First pokemon he got was Machop... that's the pokemon he's closest too.

Bonus! Here's Dragon Chan (bc I said so) 🇨🇳🐉

- Traveling dragon master

- Not a permanent member of the WVBA trainers, but he visits often

- Very hyper active, tall dude... his pokemon share his hyper active-ness

- Adores challenging random people to battles

- His goal is to become a professional dragon pokemon tamer

- Team consists of Hydrapple, Hitmonlee, Blaziken, and a timid Dragonair

- Also carries around an egg containing a Bagon

Yw vampir, Ily bestie !!!! Thnx for being an awesome rp partner <3

[aihoshiino]

Hey! I’ve been hearing a debate pretty recently about Kana’s character, especially after 151. Some are saying that Aka is weakening her character…ignoring her past development..reducing her to a love interest…etc, stuff along those lines, by making her dream be just being Aqua’s idol. What’s your take on this?

Saying this with the full awareness that i am Asking For It by phrasing it like this but. this honestly just feels like a bad faith read by people who already don't like aqukana/kana in particular LOL. Like... idk, I can get being frustrated by the sudden swing over to all the romcom stuff again when we have A Potential Serial Killer just kind of vibing in the background, but Kana -> Aqua is something that's been part of the series for over a hundred and thirty chapters. It was going to need resolving before the series ended regardless of whether they actually hook up or not and it's baffling to me that people are throwing this accusation at Kana's arc when like... sorry, but Ruby is right there, lol

Like, if we're going to talk about 'ignoring past development' and 'reducing her to a love interest' whose dreams revolve around a romance with Aqua... is that not just describing Ruby since 123? Everything to do with Sarina's trauma of abandonment and emotional abuse at Marina's hands and the way it continues to affect Ruby, Ruby being triggered and retraumatized by having to engage with material depicting Ai's abuse at Ayumi's hands, the way she mistreated and took Kana & Mem for granted while she was clout chasing and how that caused fan backlash against those two while they did their best to keep B-Komachi afloat for her - all that shit goes out the window at mach speed once she finds out Aqua is Gorou and she spends the majority of her screentime after that gushing over her oniichansensei and having her narrative recentered around her obsession with Gorou. Never mind how bizarrely she'd flanderized and dumbed down she is in relation to it all.

(Note in advance: shout out to this thread by KizzityKaito on Twitter that I stumbled on while I was chewing on this ask that helped me to articulate some of the stuff re: Kana that I was kind of struggling to put to words - I don't agree w/the whole thread but I think the Kana analysis here & 'reincarnation as child acting' is fascinating and really in line with what OnK seems to be going for.)

By contrast with Kana... this feels consistent to me! This feels like additive characterization building on top of and not contradicting what came before. I've seen people frothing and screaming about her talk vis-a-vis being an actress not being her 'dream' but like... that just kind of checked out to me?? Kana is an actress. If that's her 'dream', she's already achieved it, as she says. Everything else has been her fighting and clawing to hold onto it. That's what she means when she says she didn't have any dreams; for Kana, becoming a nationally recognize actress again isn't a dream because it's just a return to the status quo.

Not only that, but like... being an actress wasn't even necessarily Kana's dream in the first place! She herself outright says it - it was enforced onto her by her abusive mom so she could live vicariously through her.

That's not to say Kana hasn't found her own spark for acting and that she isn't deeply passionate about it in her own way. But again, this is something Kana already has. A 'dream' is something you want to achieve - it's something you, well, dream about. And if you read between the lines, Kana's dream has never really been about acting.

It's about love. It's about Kana feeling secure in her relationships with the people she loves.

I think a lot of people are taking Kana's words in 151 entirely at face value and just... totally failing to read the subtext because they've been ignoring her all this time and now her arc is actually coming to a climax they don't know what the conclusion is building off of lol. Kana's 'dream' right now is something pitifully simple - to have the boy she loves not even return her feelings necessarily, but just to say that in his eyes, she shines brighter than anyone else.

[nqueso-emergency]

''Eddie leans on Buck because he's not going to give it to him blunt like the others need to.''

This!! I could never fully place my finger on how or why I felt like eddie like needed (thats not the right word but its the only one that comes to mind) buck but buck never seemed to need him back in the same capacity if that makes sense?

I'm a relatively new viewer! like bucktommy new lol I hope you dont hate that 🙏 but watching all the seasons SOOO CLOSE together rrly allowed me to ig see how their relationship progressed in a really clear light and consistently throughout the seasons buck goes to other ppl confides in other ppl seeks comfort and advice from other ppl he has sooooo many different interactions his cup is full yk? well rounded eg his main advice person? bobby! his comfort person (most of the time) maddie! u get me but for eddie its always been buck? for everything advice comfort etc its never sat right with me bc

I rmbr being young and like 15-16 maybe? and legit relaying on one friend for everything but like this is gonna make me sound like a bitch bc ofc everyone has a best friend! and is different etc but i realised I could not go to her for everything like she was shit at comforting she did not do a good job but shes the absolute best advice giver ik - and anyway I got so off track here what I'm trying to say is that eddie needs to expand his circle and i really really hope w/ buck spending more time with tommy he does! I did initially start watching the show for them but i srsly fell in love w all the characters and i rrly want eddie to hv an arc abt making some friends! and anyway im so off topic the thing I wanted to say is you hit the nail on the head of how I felt abt their friendship- buck is too kind and soft (idk the right words those dont fit) but hes too loving? to tell eddie how it is blunt as fuck as he should bc i swear to u sometimes while watching I just wish someone would hit eddie with like ALL OF IT!!! the man needs to hear it sometimes 😭

i start yelling at the tv 'wheres frank! someone get frank!' tbh frank needs to be like on speed dial anyway! i got so off course ty for listening to my rant u dont hv to respond i went WAYYYY off course 😭 sending u lots of love and less anon hate in ur box always darling 🫶

Is this Lou?? Lmao!! You're good, anon!!!

But yes. Buck sugarcoats shit for Eddie. Eddie doesn't need that right now.

[powdermelonkeg]

Ask anything? I gotchu Pookie.

In Skyward Sword, in the part where Link is fighting Demise in that water mirror dimension (Idk what its called, if someone knows do tell me) do you think that time passes by slower in there? While out in the past and feature it speeds up?

Like, take Voltron for example, the fight with the prince in that dimension that left the gang away for (4-8 years was it?)

Do you think that if Link were to fight Demise, and finally end him (Being cursed, blah blah blah) but when he leaves he ends up in the past with no one there, the portal had closed but opened up (or something idk yet) and when he goes though, he's still the same age ‘n shit but everyone else is like- adults? And he's not sure how to take this, everyone else is not sure how to take this yet wants to constantly be around their follow friend (Teenager friend) who might not even wanna be around them bc of the situation he's in?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this idea.

I think time definitely passes slower in there, actually.

The stakes are high at the end of Skyward Sword, with Demise digesting Hylia's soul to regain his full might. Impa actually tells Groose about it.

This implies that there's a timer. You save her, now, or you lose her forever. Yet Demise seems completely unbothered when he gives you his ultimatum.

How long is a few moments?

As long as you need it to be. Theoretically, enough to upgrade all your gear, complete every sidequest, and stock up on as many potions as possible. No matter what you do, though, Demise doesn't even seem bored when you come to see him. There's no impatience in him, and Zelda's still not forfeit.

So yeah. Time definitely passes slower in the storm puddle dimension.

This whole 5-minute fight might have taken days. I think we can rule out anything longer, though, or else Zel would have died of starvation in the meantime and/or Groose would have been more freaked out and exhausted.

(Side note, though, how does Demise know he's been waiting for eons? In THIS part of the timeline, he's been waiting for like...a week. This is right after Hylia sent the humans to the sky. Skyward Sword does NOT care about its time travel consistency.)

[justablah56]

*looking back at you with my big autism eyes* You should tell me about rwd. After your sleep. Eepy time, Aether

HIHIHIHIHIU OK YAY OK . ok . im all sleeped up and I'm going to be so insane at you ok . gonna put it under a read more though because . I'm about to be so insane .

SO ! rolling with difficulty , as you can probably tell from the title , is a dnd podcast . mechanics wise , it's on like . the complete opposite side of the spectrum from dndads lmao- they're still very story driven , but they're a lot more crunchy , very following the rules as written but like finding loopholes in them because for funsies . they do little 20 minute bonuses each time the crew levels up so you know exactly what each character is getting and all their new stuff , I actually really like those . the episodes are 3-5 hours long , but each season is only like 10 episodes . and it's not split up into each season is a campaign and it gets very confusing sometimes sbnxjsnxnd like the first campaign (the one I'm autism about) is the first 5 seasons , and they only just finished season 1 od their second campaign . anyways ! most of this stuff is why idk how many dndads listeners will be willing to listen to this but that's ok 👍

NOW !!! as for what its actually about !!! (at least campaign one I'm probably not gonna talk a lot about campaign two) it's about a crew of four silly guys on a space plane ship ! it uses the planescape dnd setting , basically like all the planes of existence in dnd canon exist on different planes that can be traveled between through portals or like the plane shift spell , or , in the cast of our beloved crew , you have a spell jammer , which is a ship that can cast plane shift and you can sail between planes and it's very cool . anyways , the crew consists of kyana - a human monk , finbar - a firbolg (giant kin fae thing) druid/ranger multi-class , VR-LA (pronounced veer-la) - a mechanite/warforged (robot) wizard , and Dani - a fire genasi artificer . the four of them basically live on their ship , the Per Aspera , which is owned by Dani's "Uncle" Otto , who sends them on little jobs and stuff and he's also kind of an asshole but I like him . they also take jobs from other people sometimes and then they forget to go back to Otto who gets pissed at them about it and it's silly . anyways . usually though , the seasons focus on an adventure relevant to one of the characters with other little jobs filling their spare time .

gonna very briefly talk about kyana and finbar just so you know those two before I go on a ridiculous rant about VR LA and Dani ok . so Finbar is just a middle aged firbolg (everyone else is like 20 except VR LA who's only been awake for a year ish) , hes a part of a chef's guild and makes it his responsibility to make sure these idiots don't get themselves killed either by y'know monsters , or just being stupid and forgetting to eat . and he's like 8 feet tall . he's a big guy . Kyana is just a little guy who ran away from her (evil) monk monastery and got found by the crew just . swimming . in the astral sea . which is the void between planes that spell jammers can sail on . insane . anyways . she has no idea what's going on because she's never been anywhere and she is precious and loves the world and loves these people who are nothing like how she was raised and isn't that wonderful ? I love her . and she's like 5'0 . shes literally a little guy <3

now I'm just gonna talk about VR LA bcs he's my little guy and I am spinning him around at record speeds inside my brain <3 his whole thing is basically that his previous crew on the per aspera got Got by a crew of space pirates , and he was the only one left . but then smthin happened and he lost all his memories and couldn't keep the ship like . flying . and eventually he shut down on that ship and was woken up by Dani , who had found the ship and made fixing it up her personal pet project bcs she's a little mechanic who saw a flying wreck and said I can fix her . and she did . and then she also saw the shut down robot on the ship and said I can fix him . and she did . this is how the ship belongs to Otto instead of VR LA , bcs he's like ohhhh Dani fixed it up and she's my employee and you don't even remember anything . anyways . Dani and VR LA are literally siblings to me . icy they're so important to me . the high int low wis siblings . that post I made a bit ago about how dndads doesn't have any characters who are like . little autistic brainiac smartasses . that's these two . both of them . and that is probably most of the reason why I'm so attached to them rn . like I need you to know that I did not recently listen to this podcast . I listened to this pretty soon after catching up on dndads two ish years ago and have just been like . passively into it this whole time . and now I'm like ok no I'm into this for real now . whoopsies . time to relisten and be autistic about this . and that's what ive been doing . anyways . back to the actual show <3

so Dani !!! she was found off the streets by Otto , who owns a little dnd fantasy mechanics shop , and he taught her how to be an artificer . shes incredibly smart , both like . street smarts . and literally anything mechanical . this comes with her being the biggest smartass known to man <3 she's very blunt but also very bad at expressing anything and is the least perceptive person ever (she has a passive perception of 9) she's a bitch and I love her so much <3 she's very snappy and abrasive and aggressive but also the ship is the single most important thing to her and it's not the ship without her crew and that is all she cares about <3 she doesn't give a shit about anything except for the ship she singlehandedly put back together and the people who live in it with her , and she would do anything for them . man . I love her icy .

now I'm gonna talk more about VR LA again bcs I'm not done with him <3 he's so abxnwjncjqnxjqmdn icy I love him . he just like me fr fr . he's also very smart , but he has . zero street smarts . ask him about anything and he probably knows something about it but ask him to talk to a person and he cannot . he does not know this . he continues trying to talk to people and like . persuade people and shit but he's so bad at it . icy he's so fucking bad at it . I love him so much . anyways , the other people on the per aspera are literally the only people he has and the only thing that could come close to them in terms of importance is his old crew , and yet he still picks Kyana and Finbar and Dani over them . man . icy this is a whole thing that I am very extremely ABJDJSNCHSBXHJA about . VR LA is a guy who has no memory of his old life but he knows it happened and he knows he used to have a crew of people he cared about but he can't even remember their names . (at the start) there aren't a lot of things that vr la actually cares about . he's very passive and like I'm staying with this ship because it's all I have even if it's not even legally mine anymore , and I'm staying with Dani because she's the only person I've ever really known . icy they're so siblings to me . ohuufhfggg . however !!! the one other thing he really *wants* is to know about his old life . he wants to know who was important to him before and he wants to know if they're okay even if he doesn't know them . it makes me ill . but he has his crew , and while those people might have been important to the old VR LA , Kyana and Finbar and Dani are important to *now* VR LA . so if it happens that along the way he can find out who he was , hed do anything to find them . but he has his people , and their safety and happiness is the single most important thing to him . if he will not lose a second crew . if hed have to hurt his current crew to find his first , then he's not going to find them . man . icy I could go on about this alone for hours . but I will not . anyways . silly little robot <3 I am so completely normal about him <3

also there's another silly robot named Maxim who you meet in s1 ep7 and I think him and VR LA should kiss . I'm not going to talk a ton about them beyond that but uhhh yeah . extremely repressed adhd sorcerer robot x extremely blunt autism wizard robot <3 Maxim hermit who is extremely emotionally intelligent but is very purposefully stomping out all the emotions because this is a purely professional relationship and we are here to professionally exchange mutually beneficial information and nothing else . VR LA adventurer who has never heard of romantic interest in his year of remembering being alive and just knows that he greatly enjoys Maxims company and he will tell him so despite having only just recently reconnected with him. and their compliments to each other are purely out of professional admiration . anyways .

and there you go ! and I didn't even really spoil anything past like the first few episodes <3 as you can see I am extremely normal about this podcast and it's characters <3 I went on for a lot longer than I thought I was going to but hey that's what happens when new hyperfixation <3