#And then grandpa forced us to keep lying

[theviolenttomboy]

I stand by that regardless of how much blame lies at Carmine's feet for Kieran being the way he is, she made the right call in lying to him that night. He absolutely would've gone straight to Ogerpon's cave, and, hot dang, running across that narrow path with no handrails in the dark?! In sandals?! He doesn't even have a Rotom Phone to catch him! Carmine wanted to spare his feelings and his life!

[colorfuldream]

Okay so I've seen it a few times now and there are people who genuinely believe the Squid Sisters have the least content out of every group. I mean, I get forgetting Deep Cuts but the Squid Sisters do have as much as Off The Hook. Sure, OTH is starting to look like favorites now but the SS aren't left behind. Here's an itemized list:

They're in every main story mode. They have three whole games about them. The concept of story mode revolves around them. Just because they aren't proactive in them doesn't make it not count. Their quips and banter are what made us care and learn about them. It did flesh them out. They don't have to actively help to be main characters and receive development. The only game you could argue that is Splatoon 3 but it has a writing problem in general. It did close their story, subtle but interesting and well-written (for what Splatoon is), across the three games.

A short story. They're the only ones who have that. That has insane development, providing a lot of details about them. Like, that's a MAJOR thing that's lore-dumping so many things.

They're in almost every concert. They're in all but two concerts. They're canon too. This gives them a lot of presence in the franchise.

Lots of illustrations. Makes sense. Of course they are with how long they've been around. Still an important sign that they're a major part of the franchise (obviously, the main story is about them). It's always nice to see them in different situations anyways. They also get some lore out of them, fleshes them out and whatever. Which brings me to my next point.

Different outfits. It's not only giving us a sense of how they dress, but it's telling a story. Said it before but, for example, we know Marie likes dressing up for Story Mode and be a mentor of some sort. If you pull that string, you can get that she's someone who puts on a façade depending on the occasion and likes teaching/guiding people, her idea of mature and cool is a traditional outfit from her hometown.

Special Fest variants. Yes, they all do. However, the thing that differentiates them is that this is outside their game and, even though they were mostly reskins, they did get fully new outfits and hairstyles which neither other groups did.

Technically, they got a DLC. Even if it's the old hub and basically promo for Side Order.

They're in Smash Bros. That's not nothing. They're not spirits, they're full-on assist trophies. They better be in it honestly, but it's still something they have over the other two groups. It solidifies their status in the franchise.

Many songs, including remixes. Obviously, but they're also on the Splatfest list which never happened before outside of special events. They started it in Splatoon 2's Final Fest and started it in Splatoon 3's regular Fests. They're trend setters! Which leads me to...

Boss Fight. Final Boss, even. Callie started it. Literally. She fought us. The fact that she was The Final Boss™ puts her above the others. They wish they were her.

Solos. They did it first. They've also got not one but two mash-ups of their solos so it gotta count. I would argue that theirs are special too as they're meant to be solo pieces while the Anarchy Poisons are always put together be it on the soundtrack or the concerts. They were made to, and it's lovely, as Deep Cut's continuing the trend OTH's set: a united group that values each other and their work over fame. Their music is made to be together. Anarchy Rainbow and its Poisons is just that, something that's all of them, always. They were also fused in every live version, and the in-game live version, unlike Tide Goes Out and Bomb Rush Blush. These were forcefully mashed up as each sang over the other, desperately trying to drown out their will and win this fight. It's only now, years later, that they get an unexpected mash-up, joyful and harmonious —which in a way is a part of their story, them reclaiming this song as they bring their solos together. The Squid Sisters are working for themselves, they now do whatever they want with their careers and what they sing, how they sing, when they sing is up to them and only them.

They're the end credits of every game. Special mention to Splatoon 3 that just sacrifices its own idol group for them. Unlike Splatoon 2, Deep Cut was involved in Story Mode and for all the 10 minutes they spent in it, the end credits should have been theirs as they sure as hell didn't get a DLC. Their equivalent was a last minute addition at that, unceremoniously added later on without much spotlight. Jeez, they could have had a second collab song instead or something!

They've got the final battle song for every game. Makes sense because it's their story and their games, it's the culmination of their work every single time. Unlike the credits, they at least shared the spotlight with Deep Cut... Hey, if Marie's their boss, doesn't that make her a part of their group or vice-versa? She better be, she's the one handling their paperwork after all (poor woman, it's a mess too and they're not spending wisely. Shouldn't have been talking about becoming a manager, Marie, you're getting roped up in too much silliness and Callie won't help).

Participation in 2 Final Fests. By that, I mean actually having a team and representing it. Otherwise, they're involved in every Final Fest.

Merch. I mean why wouldn't they have some?? But it had to be added. Special note for the concert CD and special edition. I guess I'd put there the interview bit Marie conducted in Splatoon 3's soundtrack bonuses. That's another bit of trivia/insight on her work. The Nintendo Magazine interviews also count as they're relevant to their characters.

Their song is a major part of their world and franchise. Calamari Inkantation has a special place in the lore and the franchise. It's THE song but also THEIR song.

4 amiibos. They might not give their outfits (which I kinda like because I'm not fond of how they did it for the others) but they give out gear related to their story, the game, and that we should have gotten. At least they're fixing that flaw I guess.

Storyline during the Splatfests. Not sure if it should be added but it did culminate into long lasting conflict between the two of them and started their storyline. Since it's missing in Splatoon 3, I think it should be noted. It fleshes them out and makes them feel a bit more alive, like they're affected by the results.

Most of these could apply to Off The Hook too. My point is that the Squid Sisters haven't been neglected, not from Nintendo's point of view. They're more than included, arguably the stars of Splatoon 1 and 3. The thing is that Off The Hook is the fan favorite right now so most of our attention is on them, not the others. The Squid Sisters have also been so ingrained in the franchise that we're used to it. We readily accepted they would be the stars of Splatoon 3 because they took over most of Splatoon 2 until Octo Expansion. We assumed the other two groups would get DLCs, or that Deep Cut would be involved in OTH's like in the Main Story, only to realize that Nintendo didn't give a damn and gave the spotlight to OTH alone in an attempt to replicate what Splatoon 2 did. Obviously, once we got over Side Order, we kinda realized this was unfair and that there was favoritism. It didn't help that OTH was featured in regular battles and that Splatoon 2 and 3 handled Splatfests differently, with special events and work done to the idols. We've come a long way since the first game, which itself had changed plenty during its time, so it feels unfair that the Squid Sisters didn't benefit from what the others got or for as long. That doesn't mean they didn't get a lot and weren't the favorites for a long time.

Now, I'm gonna address the thing that made me write this in the first place:

They do have a story and development. Just because it wasn't in your face doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Up until Splatoon 3, the story wasn't as obvious as it could be when it came to the idols. Marina's background is clear-cut, because you cannot be too subtle about it, but apart from some big lines, it wasn't directly stated, nor was her development in Octo Expansion (it's heavily linked to Agent 8 and the Octavian but the fact that she comes to be comfortable in what species she is and overcomes her fear of being found out and rejected should count as a story). She's fascinating and it's important to the world.

But that doesn't leave the Squid Sisters flat and boring. They had an arc! Them slowly resenting each other because of their time as Splatcast anchors, because they were always pit against each other, because of the way being an idol works, is a story in itself. It was bad enough to get Callie to free Octavio, who's a terrible, dangerous person as far as she knew then, and go to the Octarians, poor, underground enemies. The Hypno-Shades are more like heavily suggesting you to obey, we know that Callie had some sort of free will to put glitter, of all things, into their ink. She also was fully conscious of her actions when freeing Octavio, and we know this guy isn't a mastermind and world class manipulator. Marie wasn't doing much better, working a lot and being stressed. Fame drove them apart and broke Callie down to the point of going to people who wanted hers dead. She freed a war criminal. Once Marie saved her, mostly from her own despair, they decided to do their own thing. They didn't need fame or their careers. Family was more important. Tidal Rush was their solos crashing against each other, not listening and trying to sing over the opponent, until Marie blasted on a song that meant the world to them. The hymn of sea kind. The song that they won that fateful contest with when they were young, the reason why their dream came true. The song that they sang when safinf their dear grandpa, powerful enough to make Octolings give up everything and try to join the surface. A beautiful memory. Something that was theirs. And so they sang. Together. "I remember everything!" The innocent days they practiced for the contest, the terrifying ride to Inkopolis, the nervousness of their first Splatcast. But they were together. She wasn't alone. Marie had always been on her side. Neither of them wanted this. If it had been up to them, nobody would have compared them to each other. They wouldn't have been choices for their last Splatfest. It's a certain kind of cruel to ask which of the two teenage girls was the better one. Callie wasn't angry at Marie, she was angry at the system. She felt awkward, self-conscious, worthless because of her status as a celebrity, because she as a person didn't matter. Her comfort? Who cares. Take the photos, sing the songs, be careful to be perfect. She was overworked, isolated, and the only person she could count on was put in the same position and told she was a competitor.

Fresh Start is the two of them reconnecting away from show business. Going back to their roots. They stop being idols afterwards, they don't sing much anymore. They get their own careers. Callie slowly finds the strength to be in the spotlight after so long and goes back to acting, unlike Marie this seems to be more of her thing. Marie keeps on with her podcast, now using it to hype Callie up. Splatoon 3 even shows us that Callie is some sort of spokesperson, announcing that an Inkopolis stage will undergo reconstruction. She's rebuilding her career on her own and making it her own. The Squid Sisters, while some of the most people in the world, weren't recognized in the Splatlands. Sure, Shiver and Frye probably didn't give a damn about Inkopolis musicians but Big Man is a fan, he's even showed them their music, and he still didn't recognize them. They're known for their music, their names possibly for themselves. Splatoon 3 is the only game not to give them a story, even its details don't imply much. But the previous two games did.

It's a story of two girls who got famous too soon, too suddenly, and got eaten by showbusiness. It's two young women taking their power back and breaking free from the idol life. It's a family that managed to heal from the damage fame caused over the years.

I dunno but I think it's beautiful and I'm a sucker for stories that criticize being an idol and family coming together. The Squid Sisters' entire thing was being idols, that's their entire concept, especially identical ones which is dehumanizing enough. It's fitting and not something you'd expect out of Splatoon of all places but it's the kind of franchise that gets surprisingly deep and dark in its smallest details.

No, they're not neglected or underdeveloped. Their story is there, just not as flashy as you'd expect. Their presence is something we're so used to that we don't clock it anymore, moreso when the other group gets attention too. Splatoon 3 didn't handle the writing well, as fun and silly as it gets, and it shows in a lot of ways. It's easy to go "so what was the point of the Squid Sisters being there?" when the story didn't bother doing anything with them for once but they weren't the only one neglected nor did they not get content in other ways!

[mcbride]

Daryl Dixon Rewatch S1E06 - Coming Home

it's the first ep with an English title and the last of the season. overall, i wanna say i was actually surprised how much i did enjoy watching. the complete focus on Daryl without all the background noise/storylines/characters, the way he still means what he says, but he's actually using his words and lots of sass instead of the typical nodding and grunting. good job!

but i gotta confess that if i hadn't known beforehand that Carol was going to be a part of this show, i probably wouldn't have bothered 🤷‍♀️. the fact Carol's not only back on screen, but she is such a great part of the whole vibe of the show, was actually unexpected. this show is straight up showing us Carol is the driving force in Daryl's relentless journey to get back home.

whoever tries to convince you Daryl is conflicted about where he belongs and where he wants to be is lying to you (pointing at you, Z!!). he literally spends 6 whole episodes reminding everybody he's got a home, people who love him waiting, a promise to keep, and a need to get back asap.

it doesn't mean Daryl does not form connections while on that journey. because he does - the strongest with Laurent, obviously, however, none strong enough to hold him back from his ultimate goal, which is going home to keep his promise to CAROL!

anyways, let's get to the season 1 finale:

the super!walkers fighting scene in the arena is pretty epic: from Daryl's super cool kill with the French flag to that Daryl/Quinn team up! the cherry on top being Daryl throwing that walker head at Genet. Loved IT!

Quinn eventually does help Daryl escape, and later, unfortunately, almost kills Isa, who is once again totally helpless against any kind of threat (killer nun, my ass!). in a scene eerie similar to the one in Daryl's underwater premonition a couple of eps ago, Daryl prompts Laurent to kill walker!Quinn with a "God will forgive you."

Laurent says something that sounds like it will be the whole point of Caryl's French adventure. "Sometimes you have to do horrible things, and no matter how bad you feel, if there is no other choice, God will forgive you." this feels like the key to breaking out of the cycle Carol has been stuck to since she was banished by Rick. (i'll probably post my s2 spec and theories next week!)

next, we see Daryl watching lovebirds Sylvie and Emile saying goodbye, they have to separate (i see what you did there, Z!), and reassures Sylvie that Emile will be alright before she asks him if he's ever been in love. BOY, has he ever!! Daryl's non response is quite telling. he knows what it feels like to say goodbye to the one you love without knowing if you'll ever see them again. and he's not alright, he's all the way in a whole different continent, separated by the Atlantic ffs.

we get some new insight into Daryl's origins when he and Isa share stories about their fathers. Daryl believes that his grandpa never returning home from war ruined their family for future generations and worries the cycle might repeat itself. has Daryl been reading about generational trauma? sharing this with her will bite him in the ass, later!

Isa's confession of her lie about the drawing gets absolutely no reaction from Daryl because it had zero influence on what happened next. Daryl didn't stay cause he believed in a new Messiah, he stayed because the kid was about to get in trouble, when Codron attacked his home; he stayed because it was a way of finding help getting him closer to a radio or boat to actually get him home; he stayed so he could take the kid to a place where he would be safe, and Daryl could finally leave without feeling guilty.

the great Daryl and Isa exchange looks compilation is trying too hard to show us, yes, Daryl has made a connection to these people, and is fairly content at the Nest with Laurent and the most mundane activities like peeling potatoes. they are showing us Daryl could stay here, make this his new home. why not? HE MADE A PROMISE! no matter what he could never be happy here, this is not his HOME.

Losang gives him a way out, but also tries to convince him to stay. "Sometimes, when a person leaves home, he comes to find he belongs someplace else." and it's true, if Daryl didn't know where, with whom he belonged. and it's not with Laurent and Isa.

it's really embarrassing how Isa tries to manipulate and guilt trip Daryl into staying with them using Laurent and Daryl's history. it has been like 2 months tops, and they acting like Daryl himself gave birth to Laurent, and wants to abandon his kid. bitch please, he has kids he actually raised and a wife back home!!

Daryl resents his grandpa for abandoning the family to fight in someone else’s war, and that's exactly what he would be doing if he chose to stay in France. that's what Isa will never understand - he had a whole full life with people who looked up to him, relied on him, loved him, before he even met her and Laurent. he wasn't lost. the connection he found with the people there isn't new to him, he has Judith and RJ, he has Connie and Zeke. but most importantly, he has a HOME (Carol!!!).

there's this beautiful emotional moment of Daryl quietly saying goodbye to a sleeping Laurent, and it's clear this kid means a lot to him. however, not nearly enough to make him stay. he still chooses to LEAVE. so many people trying to convince him he belongs with them, and he is still 10000000% sure he has to go back. there truly is ZERO hesitation.

i lost count how many times Daryl actually tried to leave, but it was always the kid's safety that kept him around again and again. he is so close to getting on that boat, literally fiercely fighting walkers to get to the beach, to get closer to HOME, and the same happens AGAIN. biggest FML moment for Daryl. Laurent, who is surrounded by walkers, is calling his name! FUCK ME!

and finally, we get to the highlight of this finale, Carol's badass entry. the way she's so absolutely calm with a big dude pointing a gun at her, PLEASE. she knows he's fucked around and is about to find out. no one takes Daryl's belongings and gets away with it.

"if you're lying, i won't be back." and she rides off on Daryl's bike. ICONIC. LEGENDARY. EPIC.

21 days left until the premiere of THE BOOK OF CAROL!!!!!

[avatarrecom]

Sleeping positions

Pairing: Poly!recoms x reader

Word count: 1267

My headcanons of how the recoms hold you when you're asleep.

🌍 Recom Miles Quaritch Old grandpa vibes. Not often in the mood for cuddling, but you always wake up with his arm slung over your waist. If you’re awake before him and you try to get up, his grip on your waist will tighten and he refuses to let you go. Also, his tail will curl protectively around your leg. The first time his tail curled around your leg, you didn’t notice and got up after which you face planted. Your nose started bleeding. (you have threatened him that if he ever tells one of your other partners, you will skin him alive).

😈 Recom Lyle Wainfleet You’re the little spoon, he’s the big spoon. Cannot sleep without a hand on your titty. Also always presses his cock against your ass when he’s half awake, his tail is usually resting on your groin(he’s a horny little gremlin). He also moves a lot in his sleep, half of the time he kicks you awake or you end up on the floor. The other half you wake up on the edge of the bed with him sprawled out like a starfish. 

🍬 Recom Z-dog (Extremely cuddly) She never, and I mean NEVER sleeps without Walker. When you’re the one who joins them that night, they both spoon you. Z-dog spoons you with her front to yours. One of her arms is awkwardly wrapped under your body, with her fingers hooked in the waistband of Walker's shorts. The other hand rests on your thigh. Legs are a mess, sometimes one of Z-dogs leg ends up across yours and Walker's bodies, the heel of her foot pressed against Walker’s ass. Your tails are also always tangled together, usually with the three fluffy ends caressing one another.

🥽 Recom Walker She never sleeps without at least Z-dog. When you’re the one who joins them that night, they both spoon you. Walker spoons you with her front to your back, nose nuzzled in the nape of your neck. Both you and Z-dog use one of her arms as a pillow. Her other arm is slung over your waists, hand resting on Z-dogs lower back. Legs are a mess, it takes a while to untangle them in the morning. Your tails are also always tangled together, usually with the three fluffy ends caressing one another.

😎 Recom Mansk Classic spooning. Unlike Lyle, he’s more respectful and mostly manages to keep his hands to himself. He’s curled up around your back, one leg trapping your lower body. Both arms are wrapped around your waist, his arms are bent at the elbows, so his hands are closer to your face (he likes to caress your face when he can’t sleep). Loves it when you wrap your own hands around his and nuzzle them to your face or lay your cheek on them. Tail is always gently wrapped over your waist. You have to force him to take off his sunglasses because they poke in your neck. (Sometimes forgets to take them off and wakes up with imprints on his face)

🧯 Recom Prager I once read a Pransk (Prager x Mansk) story where Prager was an insomniac and he could only sleep with tsaheylu, where he became sleepy because of his partner's sleepiness. This man literally cannot sleep without tsaheylu. He sleeps on his back, with your head on his chest and his arm wrapped around you. Your queues are connected and resting on his stomach with his hand protectively covering the connected braids. This man's tail cannot stay still, even in his sleep. So he usually keeps it away from you, so he doesn’t accidentally wake you.

⚕️ Recom Ja Calmest sleeper out of all of them, but sleeps in the weirdest positions (also can fall asleep everywhere and he's proud of it (kinda like Michael Sheen episode 3, season 1, timestamp 11:00 of Staged iykyk)). Usually the last to go to bed. When you’re already in bed, it doesn’t matter what position you’re in, he flips you on your back and flops down to lay on top of you. So you’re laying on your back, with him crushing your body. His arms are either tucked under you, or laying at your sides. His legs are lying between yours, his tail wrapped around your thigh and his head is pillowed on your boobs. And god help you when you don’t wrap your arms around him. He’ll stare straight into your soul, so intense that you wake up from it. Then he’ll pout until you wrap your arms around him. Loves it when you thread your fingers through his hair until he falls asleep (I refuse to accept that he’s bald and I’ll continue to refuse to accept it, until James Cameron personally tells me otherwise)

⛓️ Recom Fike To me, Fike looks like an anxious boy. He overthinks way too much. Cuddling keeps him from overthinking, therefore he never sleeps alone. Usually sleeps with Brown (they’re really close and always getting into trouble together), sometimes with Quaritch if he’s extremely anxious. When you join the two of them, Fike cuddles at your back. One arm is wrapped around his own waist. The other is wrapped around you, his hand is bunched in either your or in Brown’s shirt. His legs are tightly wrapped around yours/Brown’s, holding you against him. His head is pressed tightly against the back of your neck. In an effort to comfort himself, his tail is always wrapped around one of his own body parts. Sometimes sneezes (and wakes the both of you up) because your hair tickles his nose.

🧢 Recom Brown Fike and Brown almost always sleep together, because of Fike’s anxiety. When you join the two of them, he’s lying flat on his back, one arm outstretched for you and Fike to use as a pillow (always complains about his arm tingling in the morning, secretly loves it). Your head is more on his shoulder, your nose in his neck, than on his arm. When possible, he wraps his lower arm around Fike’s shoulder. Most of the time he looks like a starfish. You always rest your hand on his chest, so he folds his hand over yours. Kinda has a tail with its own mind. You’ve woken up a lot with the fluffy end of his tail tickling your face.

📿 Recom Lopez I headcanon that he grew up with a lot of siblings and very little money. So growing up he had to share a bed with his younger brother. His brother trashed a lot in his sleep and he ended up slamming his head against Lopez’s face (and breaking his nose/knocking out his teeth) more often than not. He subconsciously started resting his fist on the pillow in front of his face with his thumb pressed to his forehead to protect his face from more harm. You two usually spoon with your fronts to each other. Even tho he doesn’t have to share his bed with his brother anymore, he never stopped resting his fist in front of his face (everyone thinks it’s extremely cute, he pouts when they tease him about it). You usually rest your head on his arm to still be close to him. His other arm is slung over your waist and even when he’s asleep, he’s still strong and holds you tightly against him, leaving you with very little wiggle room. His hand is resting on your ass under your shorts while his tail sneaks up under the pipe of your shorts (also a horny little gremlin).

[askfuzzycallie]

Welcome to askfuzzycallie!

This is a splatoon au ask blog! I'm your humble host, @possiblycringe! I hope you enjoy my silly little au :D This blog will have a overarching story told over time. Most asks will not progress the plot, but Callies behavior and the status quo will change, usually during the course of longer answers or non ask comics. If you are just arriving, I recommend reading through the asks in chronological order. <- Chrono Tag Also, this is a horror au, or at least an au that contains horror in it. There is going to be psychological horror, body horror, and other unpleasant stuff. These aspects will become more apparent later on in the story, though. Just be aware of that! ______________________________________________________________ Our cast! Captain 3 (Carp)

-The quiet captain of the NSS. She can face down a horde of enemy octarians but when faced with a slightly uncomfortable conversation she will bolt. -Carp is also partially Octarian -(SPOILERS) Carp has been on the sidelines this whole time, but with Callie feral will she step into action? She seems uncomfortable to even talk about it... -(SPOILERS) After everything, Carp was able to step in and save Callie, but in the process killed her mentor and the squid sisters grandpa, Craig Cuttlefish. Agent 3 (Peashooter) and Lil Buddy (Pod)

-The short-tempered, half-fuzzified kid who, for some reason, was recruited by Craig. He seems to not trust easily, but those who gain his trust, such as Craig and Pod, are people he will die for without question. Despite Pod eating the fuzzy ooze just before it transformed him, he doesn't remember anything about his old life, and wants to keep it that way. -(SPOILERS) It seems that Pea has reason not to want to remember his former life, as he had a past similar to the squid sisters...except he was forced into fame at a much younger age, leading to neglect and a belief that genuine joy is simply a facade that he is above -(SPOILERS) In the past, Pea, or as his name used to be, Crumb, had a collaboration with the squid sisters, where Callie comforted him after he tried to run away from set. This memory has inspired a new courage in Pea, who seems to have changed his view on the world just a little

-(SPOILERS) Pea successfully defeated Mr. Grizz, but now that Callie is in camp, he wants to avoid her like the plague. Agent 1 (Callie Cuttlefish)

-The cheery premier agent of the NSS and the former pop star, Callie has been enjoying life after her incident with the hypnoshades. Unfortunately, the fuzzy ooze might disrupt that...but she doesn’t seemed very bothered by the changes! -(SPOILERS) The symptoms have progressed. Callie is now hunting birds without Marie's knowledge -(SPOILERS) Callie has been convinced by Mr. Grizz to hide her worsening symptoms from Marie. This could be a bad sign -(SPOILERS) Callie has become aggressive towards Deep Cut, now attacking them without hesitation. Memories have also begun to degrade -(SPOILERS) Callie has attempted to kill and eat Big Man, and this whole time has been eating salmonoids, some of which used to be her friends. Has she fully lost herself? She has separated away from the NSS, permanently for now -(SPOILERS) Callie has been recovered, and the fooze was removed before it permanently corrupted her brain. However, the guilt and sudden shift in her worldview have left her moral compass, as well as her self confidence, broken. She just wants to be left to rot. Agent 2 (Marie Cuttlefish)

-The sassy half of the Squid Sisters and second agent of the NSS, Marie has one of the strongest wills in the Splatoon. She's wary of Callie's new quirks, but is trying not to let them drift apart again. -(SPOILERS) Marie's worst fears have been realized: Callie has been lying to her this entire time. Now she's who-knows-where. She will need to find the inner strength to keep going and rescue her cousin. Again. -(SPOILERS) Marie has successfully retrieved Callie, but at a huge cost. Now that her cousin is seemingly still feral, she isn't sure how to go forward...or is Callie really still feral? I have other agents and feel free to ask about them, but they will likely not make a huge impact on the story! ______________________________________________________________ General rules and guidelines: -No NSFW related asks, please -OOC asks are okay, if you want any clarification on the au! -You can clarify who you are asking or leave it up to me to decide who answers -No ships are planned for this, there are some I am considering but I might not include them as I am not the strongest with romance (Edit: There is one minor romantic subplot planned because I was enabled by a friend. Have fun with that!) -I'm pretty bad with fancy formatting, so I will probably not have that much fancy texts -M!Anons aren't allowed. I'm pretty new with askblogs so I want to wait a bit until I'm more comfortable to let M!Anons happen. EDIT: No M!A will be allowed until the main story is completed

-As established in this ask, the context for asks is that an ancient human AI was found in alterna. You are free to send asks to any character in alterna because of this, but please keep this lore in mind! -No interaction with other roleplay blogs, please. This is a self contained story and because of the reasoning given above, other roleplay blogs sending asks wouldn't make sense. Thank you for understanding! -Non-OOC Asks will generally be answered with 1-5 sketches, might add splashes of color if needed ______________________________________________________________

Tags: [Ask] - any asks, in character or not [OOC] - any OOC asks [Fuzzy Callie] - any in character asks or events relating to the overall story ______________________________________________________________ Ending things off, I have never run an ask blog before so please forgive me for any mistakes I make! Thank you :D

[jcs-singular-slut-strand]

sleepover weekend from me!!

-> would you rather go to a party with jin guangshan or do coke in a gas station bathroom with wen ruohan/joke (i missed this joke tbh i had to make it)

-> yunmeng jiang sect headcannons! c'mon heap them on me. thoughts on them making, dyeing and exporting silk? i love worldbuilding.

-> choose between chengxuan and chengsu! reasons if you wanna give?

-> tell me three good things that happened to you or around you since the start of may, and also tell me about any random ass thing that irritates so, so much.

-> rec me anything honestly, i'll take it. i know you've got tolkein stuff on your alt, but if have to start lotr/similliarion (did i get that correctly), where do i start?

-> tell me about your first crush (no pressure at all, feel free to skip this)

I would do coke with Wen Rouhan in the bathrooms at Annandale Waters Service Station. They have clean bathrooms and a Burger King, I feel as if Wen Rouhan would enjoy a Whopper

YMJ headcanons

Yunmeng Jiang has the strongest trade relations with Meishan Yu out of the four greatest sects for obvious reasons.

The people of Yunmeng 100% have songs about the amazing Sandu Shengshou, which the Jiang disciples would obviously then sing just to piss Jiang Cheng off (they taught them to Jin Ling when he was merging from babbling toddler to chatty 5 year old).

All new disciples (and the older ones if they're acting in a way Jiang Cheng deems irresponsible and hazardous) are required to sit a Water and Boat Saftey Course. There's a written and a practical at the end, obvs. If you fail well then tough shit, you're resitting the course along with the disciples who have been reckless. This headcanon is inspired by my 90 year old grandpa who has sat the British speeding awareness course 2-3 times

Chengxuan vs Chengsu is actually really hard. However, Chengsu is more realistic I feel, especially during the time skip and after it. I love childhood best friends AU for Chengxuan and also all that Sunshot Campaign Chengxuan and modern AU's. But Chengsu takes the win; a high profile affair, raising a child who isn't yours with someone who isn't your husband, saltiness and self pity over the people you love choosing a Lan over you. Incredible.

On Sunday, my dad felt bad about forcing me to help him put up 2 coat racks, so he bought me jolibee and bubble tea

I went to Jolibee again yesterday

I had pepsi max for breakfast this morning

There are many, many things that truly piss me off but I can't be bothered going into detail right now so to keep things plain and simple, im gonna stick to something that's pissed me off today. Snapchat has this filter where you and a friend put in a photo of yourself and then it uses AI to generate what your child looks like. Me and my best friend, one of my favourite people ever, make ugly children. And I hate that. Why was that little girl so fucking ugly what was the reason snapchat???

I'm not sure what you mean so I'm just gonna link some of my fave fanfiction but also explain how I feel is the best way to get into the Tolkien fandom

Inexplicably around each other by adasinon = I just think this is sweet. Zhancheng nation ig

The Bounty of Our Days by remiges = Yu Ziyuan x Zhao Zhuliu, God I love them. It's like a character study and a backstory, I think it's really nice and fleshes out the characters

Sappy song on the old radio by Morethancupcake = oh my lord. Chengxian, modern au, childhood something. Past wangxian, past jiang cheng x literally anyone that is remotely bad for him. Couples therapy except Jiang Cheng didn't want to be there and they're not a couple anymore/yet, angst, coming back to each other later in life. I've only read this once but it's just that memorable.

Love you to death by KayllanBreak = Jiang Cheng kills Yu Ziyuan but no one can work out why (police inspector song lan). Wei Wuxian and Jiang cheng rocky relationship, Jin Ling idolising Jiang Cheng (naturally), Jiang Yanli lying her ass off for him, Jin Zixuan being his lawyer. Jiang Fengmian bashing 💗💗💗💗. Lan wangji is barely in this but when he is he's an utter arsehole.

Keep making trouble (till you find what you love) by Silveryogus = I FUCKING LOCE THIS FIC!!!! CHENGXUAN!!! Modern AU road trip to Lanling after the Xuanyu cave. Jin Zixuan has a talent for shoplifting (Jiang Cheng sent him to get clothes and he came back with too small trousers, yellow shirts, and sunglasses). Oh yeah and Jin Zixuan gets shot in a corner shop. Fellas is it gay to get into a high speed police chase whilst the guy you're semi unwillingly travelling with leans out the window and tries to shoot out the police's tires? Especially when said guy mentions smoking once and you spend some of the limited money you have on cigarettes??? Apparently I've visited this 70 times

Stray Dogs Parable by natcat5 = Post burning of Lotus Pier, no golden core debacle, jiang cheng recognising that his parents leadership strategies won't work in his situation/are just plain ineffective, proving his worth as a Sect Leader and earning the loyalty of his incredibly small number of disciples (the ones who survived), also Jiang Cheng sucks poison out of someone's ankle

Anyways, if you're getting into the Tolkien fandom I would recommend watching the hobbit films first, even though they're not entirely book accurate it's still a good way to get a feel of the story and work out if it's something you'd like. Then I would read the book. Same process for Lord of the rings. The silmarillion... God i actually can't say anything, you've just gotta re read the first 3-4 chapters a couple of times and then you should be fine...

My first crush is a dickhead who has progressively gotten worse and worse looking as time has gone on. I genuinely have no idea what I ever saw in him except for the fact that he laughed at my jokes and used to give me the answers in class. It was very embarrassing for all parties involved, I feel 😭

[literaryfandomangel]

The Promise - Chapter Nine

As I walked downstairs, Mom was waiting for me. She was lying on a chaise lounge with a mug of tea in her hands. I knew what was coming - Mom was ready to interrogate me about the four guys who brought me home. It made a blush rise in my cheeks, but I sat across from her. 

Mom pushed a cup of tea and a large blueberry muffin into my periphery. I took a sharp intake of breath, mentally calculating how many calories were in that muffin. It was an instinct to ensure that I didn’t eat anything potentially fattening. Lord knows I needed to lose about another 10 pounds. I calculated about 370 calories. The smell of the pastry was mouth-watering, but I couldn’t bring myself to indulge. 

“Last night?” Mom raised an eyebrow as she sat upright to give me her full attention. The blush on my cheeks was more prominent, and Mom gave me that impish smile. “They seemed to be a lovely bunch of guys.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, breaking off a piece of the muffin. I rolled it between my fingers as I thought about what to say. Mom was open - but I didn’t think admitting that I liked all four of them was something Mom would appreciate. 

“Do you like them, honey?” Mom looked at me, worried for a moment. It took me a moment to realize that Mom had no idea if they were forcing me to keep them company. 

“I think so,” I smiled. It felt for a moment like nothing had ever happened. That we were still in Phoenix, chatting about boys and school before our world went to shit. 

Mom and I used to spend our Saturday mornings going to the mall and chatting about life. We were so close in Phoenix before Dad started having an affair and Justin became abusive. Even while I was inpatient, Mom came every Saturday to talk to me, even if I refused to speak to her. 

“That’s good,” Mom hummed, sipping at her tea. “They seem different, but I like them.”

“They are different,” I grinned, reaching down with my hand while Mom’s attention was captured by something outside. Nanook’s tongue licked the pieces of muffin away. “People seem scared of them, but they’ve been kind and gentle with me.”

“I’ve missed this,” Mom confessed, leaning across the table. She laid one of her petite hands over the top of mine. “I missed your voice. I hope that these guys help you find your voice. Please don’t disappear on me?”

I blinked at the pain Mom was expressing. It encapsulated her voice, her eyes, her face. I felt guilt at how much pain I was causing Mom, the pain I had caused her. I felt the dam holding back the floodgate of secrets weaken. I wanted to tell her about everything Justin had done to me - why I didn’t want to talk anymore. Instead, I pinched off another bite of the muffin, waiting until she stood up to take her mug into the kitchen. 

I fed Nanook about a third of the muffin, breaking and pulling pieces to litter the plate. When Mom returned with a new, steaming cup of tea, her eyebrows knitted together at the mess. I stood up, taking the plate into the kitchen. I dumped the desiccated remains of the muffin into the trash as Mom sighed. 

“Love you,” I whispered into Mom’s ear as I passed, kissing her shorn locks. The worried look disappeared as I said the words I had avoided for too long. I gave Mom a small smile before grabbing my messenger bag. 

As I walked outside, I noticed the faded yellow paint of my bike; it was leaning against the toolshed. I smiled, knowing that they kept their promise. I walked to the paddock, sitting inside the horse enclosure to write. 

I got lost in the world I was creating. Not even the horses coming over to investigate this human intruder made my focus waiver. It wasn’t until Grandpa’s voice carried on the wind that I tore my concentration from my journal. 

“ARIA!” I heard Grandpa call. I snapped out of my reverie, realizing my hand ached from writing for so long. I looked at the sky to gauge the time, only to startle. The sky was darkening, meaning I had sat out here for hours. Grandpa walked over to the paddock. “Do you want to help me feed them?”

I scrambled to my feet, slipping my journal into the waistband of my jeans. I hurried to the stables, not wanting to miss helping Grandpa. He showed me how to mix the feed and how much to give each horse. I enjoyed the work, mixing the feed together. Then Grandpa took two buckets, instructing me to give mine to the chestnut. 

The chestnut was excited, whinnying as he realized I had his food. I opened the stall, only to be headbutted by a large mammal. I laughed, pushing his muzzle away from the bucket. I hung it on the wall, watching for a beat as the chestnut strode over, muscles rippling in the light. He started to eat, enjoying the feed. 

Once we were finished, I left the stables, looking up at the darkening sky. I hurried into the house, rushing up the stairs. I washed my face in the bathroom, debating the need for makeup. I decided against makeup and wedge sandals, instead sliding my feet into my worn boots. 

I did, however, dab a small amount of perfume onto my neck. I loved this perfume because it smelled like cotton candy, vanilla beans, and oranges. Once I was done, I grabbed my messenger bag, trying to stuff Dwayne’s jacket inside. The jacket was too bulky and oversized. After a moment’s hesitation, I slipped the jacket on. 

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The jacket hung off my tiny, emaciated frame, making me appear like a child playing dress up with my father’s punk outfit. I shook my head as I tried to make my fingers appear through the sleeves. I buried my face into the collar again before putting my bag over my shoulder. 

I left the house, getting onto the bicycle Paul, David, Marko, or Dwayne had returned for me. I started pedaling, making my way toward the Boardwalk. The leather jacket was warm, protecting me against the biting wind coming from the ocean. I almost didn’t want to return it, but I knew this was a prized possession of the group. When I arrived at the entrance, I locked the Schwinn into the rack, disappearing inside. 

The sun hadn’t set entirely yet, the rays sinking below the horizon. The sky was a myriad of colors, an artist’s canvas. I looked at their usual place but haven’t seen their motorcycles yet. I decided they would arrive later and wandered around. I was looking at all the niche shops lining the Boardwalk and the games. 

I thought that maybe I could talk one of the guys into winning me a few prizes as I watched the people lining up to play games. I figured that was more of a date activity, and we weren’t dating. I didn’t even know if the guys thought of me in a romantic light; probably not, I mused. I wrapped my arms tighter around my body as I got lost in my self-deprecating thoughts of not being pretty or good enough. 

Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize that I was walking past a group of drunks. They catcalled and wolf-whistled when I walked past. I tried to ignore them now that I realized the situation. But they continued to heckle me until they noticed what I was wearing. 

“You’re with those freaks? Wearing their jacket, huh?” One of the drunk guys called out. I ignored their comments, continuing to walk on the Boardwalk, but another guy cut me off. He stood in front of me, not allowing me passage. I backed away as they kept coming closer. Finally, my back hit the railing of the Boardwalk. 

Chapter Ten

[meraki-yao]

Happy Friday!

a ficlet friday prompt for ya

A truth so loud you can't ignore (My Youth - Troy Sivan) for firstprince plz 💚

Once again made it longer than what a ficlet should be but have some movie Henry in communication lockdown!

Bea’s curled up on his bed with him, a tub of ice cream in her hands, a box of jaffa cakes in his. David snuggles in between him. It’s been 24 hours since his emails with Alex were leaked to the world, since the world learned his deepest secret before he was ready to come out, since all mediums of communication were confiscated. Philip, who was originally on an engagement with Martha in Scotland, is rushing back, and from the message sent by him and delivered by Shaan, he is absolutely livid. Grandpa hasn’t given any orders or messages other than the communication lockdown. And Mum was still in Botswana, detached as ever. She might not even know what has happened. Henry wishes Alex was here. Henry wishes Dad was here. But right now, it’s just his dog offering kissing and his little sister holding him, trying to cover his much larger frame, to shield him from the chaos and pain. “Can I ask you something about this situation?” Bea asks quietly, fingers running through his tangled locks, combing them out. “Yeah.” “Do you want to tell the truth?” Henry freezes, his hands on his sister’s waist tightening. “What?” “My guess on what Grandpa might do is well… deny the whole thing. Say they were fabricated or something, to either mess with the US election or us. If it comes to that, what would you want to say?” For all the time since he was outed, his treacherous mind has been worrying about what would happen: Alex’s Mum losing the election, the whole world knowing their deepest truths and secrets, him and Alex being forced apart. He never really stopped to think about what he wants to do now. He considers it. Really considers it. If you asked him in the summer, he would probably take up Grandpa’s offer to deny everything, treat them as a scheme by a malevolent third party. It would save the traditional royal image that Grandpa worked so hard- that he worked so hard to maintain, and it would save President Claremont’s election. It seems like it’d be the obvious choice for the bigger picture. Plus, back then, Henry didn’t think Alex loved him. But now? He thinks back to the fateful night where the love of his life marched into his house, drenched from the storm. The unrelenting determination in his eyes, the shake in his voice as his gives Henry an ultimatum. And how in the face of that ultimatum, Henry couldn’t let him go. How he took him to the V&A, his sanctuary, and let his heart truly examine this relationship without any burdens of titles. How Alex held him in his arms, his big hands on his waist, the warmth seeping through the fabric of his hoodie, and how Henry felt warm, not like a rampant blaze, but instead the comforting heat of hearth. How in that moment, Henry knew, with absolute clarity that this was his truth: so bright you can’t keep out, so loud you can’t ignore.   Alex Claremont-Diaz is the love of his life. And there’s no hiding this. There’s no denying, there’s no lying, not in the face in of something beating so loud in his heart. “I’m not going to deny anything.” “I love him, he loves him. That’s that.”

By the way, I love this song, and highly recommend the "kissgun/ throw a kiss fire a gun" remix, it's so good

Thank you so much for the prompt!

[eyes-inthe-dark]

Hi Hello I actually make things sometimes

I don't know if anyone who follows me is interested in this stuff bc I very rarely post things from my own life, but I decided to be a little more active on here besides reblogging funny shit regarding my current hyperfixation.

So, here is the (incomplete) crafting diary of a neurodivergent trans person surviving christmas with the family and the dark and dreadful times (winter) in general by making shit! with my hands!

First: fiber stuff

I picked up tablet weaving over the last few months of 2023 and made my first pair of somewhat mistake-free shoelaces over the holidays! Only got the pattern completely right on the second try with the red but both laces now get to add a fun little detail to my shoes.

Next I tried a more complicated pattern and experimented a lot, hence the irregular pattern and troubleshooting at the start of the band. I'm now repurposing it as a camera strap and I learned a lot from it tho.

My current setup is basic cardboard tablets (I had to make extra ones so I had enough for the last band with 30 cards), tying the warp to something sturdy like a bookshelf, and sitting down with a backstrap belt on the other side of the room. I used thin wool yarn for this, which stuck to itself quite a lot, but not too much to be unmanagable, and I really like how the finished product feels.

If anyone's interested, I could make a longer post on how I made the shoelaces, I think it's a very beginner friendly project.

I managed to get my hands on a drop spindle and gave that a try, but I ran out of wool after making a very small amount of very chunky yarn and am currently working out where to best get sth local. It was fun tho!

I also finally finished the knitted scarf that has been in my wip pile for... approximately three years? I started it when I was still in school, feels like an eternity ago. It's just a simple (although very long) red wool scarf, but it keeps me nice and warm in this cold, harsh- *checks weather* ...5°C and neverending rain.

Next up: woodworking!

Noodled around with my grandpa's old dremel that we still had lying around, which resulted in this truly terrifying weapon:

Behold! I named it Toothling. It's great for poking friends and family when they least expect it.

This was more of a test run to see if it all still works and to try out doing small scale work with wood, now I gotta think of something fun to make. (I say, as if I didn't already have 50 different ideas)

Before that fuckery, I made this magnetic dice box/rolling tray for my lovely partner's birthday.

Though I don't feel like I can take credit for working the CNC magic on this, I did all the hands-on work with the sanding, assembling the magnets, shellac coating, and whatnot. I'm pretty sure wood is some sort of fruit tree, since it smells strongly of what I suspect might be plum or cherry.

Last but sure as fuck not least: embroidery

This I actually get professional instruction for at uni. I've kinda lost patience for it atm, but mostly because I cannot resist making unnecessarily complicated pieces with tiny little stitches and then am forced to finish it because I do actually kinda need to pass this class. My lecturer keeps telling me not to go so detailed, yet I have proven resistant to her good advice. But, I figured if I have to make two full pieces of embroidery to be graded on and put hours of work into, I might as well choose designs that I can turn into patches for my jacket:

Catha and Ruidus! I love me some big moon little moon imagery. The prompt was to incorporate most of the techniques/stitches we've learned so far. Added the little gold chain stitch around ruidus for the arcane latticework. It came out a little wonky shape wise, but I love it nonetheless.

And my most recent wip, a stained glass window design with the Ninth House skull and Gideon's sword behind it, to feed my current Locked Tomb obsession.

And that's it!

[notsosilentsister]

The Wrath of Demeter

So Mike White said in an interview that the opening credits provide clues about the character’s trajectories. The actor playing Ethan is associated with the image of a man offering grain to a woman, who rejects the offering. The woman rejecting the offering is obviously Ceres/Demeter, goddess of agriculture, fertility and motherhood, mother of Proserpina/Persephone, whose cult had as particularly strong showing in Sicily, the site of her most ancient sanctuary.

Some implications are fairly straightforward. Since Ceres rejects Ethan, his union with Harper won’t be blessed with offspring. They talked about kids, but it’s clearly not happening, because Ethan doesn’t seem to be very keen on procreation. He hasn’t been too honest about this with Harper so far, because when the topic comes up with Daphne and Cameron, Ethan and Harper talk as if kids were still on the table. Ceres will gladly accept modest offerings, as long as they are pure. But Ethan’s offerings aren’t pure. He’s lying, stringing Harper along, pretending to maybe want a family with her, but not really putting his heart (and dick) in it. There is another interesting angle to Ceres: She is also the protector of plebeians. Plebeians could come to her temple and seek justice when they were mistreated by patricians. The dynamic between Ethan and Cameron is very much about status - Ethan is new money, Cameron is old money, Cameron likes to lord it over Ethan, Ethan still feels like the underdog. But here to, Ceres won’t protect Ethan. Ethan can no longer appeal to her, as he’s too keen on leaving behind his plebeian roots; he wants to finally lord it over Cameron in turn, yet still keeps acting the underdog. And that’s just another thing Ethan can’t admit (when Harper suggests that they’re just here so he can finally win that dick measuring contest, he denies it). Again, Ethan is lying. His offerings aren’t pure. Grain is not the only thing thing you could offer to Ceres. She’s also strongly associated with animal sacrifice. Her sacrificial animal is the pig. Indeed, the opening credits also show a pig being killed. So the question for me is: Who is the pig that will be sacrificed to Ceres? Traditionally, people used sows for that purpose. I do think that in this case, however, it will be a boar (Frankly, I wouldn’t bet on my ability to tell a sow from a boar, but I’m going to claim the pig in the opening credit looks more like a boar, doesn’t it?). And whose thoughts wouldn’t immediately jump to Cameron? In the opening credits, Cameron is associated with a the statue of an idealized male. He represents the pinnacle of a certain, much envied form of masculinity. The opening credits close on the image of a male statue, not at all disimiliar to the one used to represent Cameron, toppled and shattered.  Ceres/Demeter is also the mother of Prosperina, abducted by Pluto/Hades. Albie’s grandpa gleefully recounts the story to Portia on their outing in the second episode. What he leaves out is the part where Ceres/Demeters in her rage about the rape of her daughter is ready to doom all life on earth, refusing to let anything grow and bringing about eternal winter, until Zeus/Iuppiter intervens and forces Pluto to work out a compromise with Ceres. The story is ultimately about the devastating potential of female, and more specifically, maternal wrath (and also suggests that Ceres doesn’t care much about collateral damage). Some of this is echoed by the local legend about the moor’s head, the stranger killed by his deceived paramour. Sure these are stories about men taking whatever they want by all means necessary, and thinking they can get away with. But in these specific stories, they very much don’t. And isn’t it interesting that in the opening credits, Daphne is represented by the image of two babies? Clearly, she is the character in this show most strongly associated with motherhood and fertility.... and she does have some reason to be unhappy with Cameron.

I think that finally getting to punch Cameron in the face might be enough for Ethan to get it out of his system. He might not be the one to kill Cameron. But at this point there are probably quite a few people who have witnessed Ethan and Cameron fighting. Which would probably make Ethan a likely suspect should Cameron be murdered. Which might be very convenient for Daphne. All this time she’s been practically pushing Harper towards an affair with her husband, taking her to the palazzo to get her out of the way, so that Cameron could compromise Ethan and undermine his relationship with Harper, speedrunning intimacy with Harper by revealing darker and darker secrets, planting and continuously re-inforcing the idea that extra-marital affairs are the best way to regain power in the relationship, and then making herself rare in a convenient moment, to give Harper and Cameron an opportunity for a little flirtation. I thought she did that in accordance with Cameron, so that they could neutralize the threat of Harper, who would probably veto Ethan’s investments in Cameron’s projects. But maybe her true aim was to manipulate Ethan into lashing out at Cameron, to have a convenient fall-guy... Cameron seems the type to be blissfully unware how much Ethan must truly loathe him and just doesn’t realize that he’s playing with fire, but Daphne is probably a lot more perceptive, and might find a way to use that to her advantage.

[izacore]

The kid scenes (from that IG post) ARE unsettling. It’s clear that Louis is comfortable with his image and how he presents as a straight dad lad all the while knowing a large portion of his fan base thinks it’s all BS. He loves his fans for supporting him, but also resents them for questioning him, and his fans feel the same way about him (love him for who they think he actually is, but resent him for lying). It’s so toxic, and it certainly makes it hard to trust his actions as being earnest vs. manipulative.

In a story about your personal struggles how you can erase a partner who was with you during one era and into another for nearly a decade and not be side eyed into deep space is beyond me. Bro. What. (I fully support E in keeping herself out of this mess and wish her happiness and peace bc this shit is wild). Not even one line about her support? Didn’t his grandpa ride hard for her during 1D days? Yeah don’t lie about that relationship and give us a sea of rainbow flags but include awkward child interactions and talk about how hard it is to leave him while living across the world.

It’s giving heartburn and bad aftertaste. How much one can tolerate is individualized. And yes, he’s closeted, but no one forced him to make a damn movie (not that he shouldn’t have, but it’s not like his motive was entirely altruistic, it is marketing for him!). Literally no one in the GP cares about his sexuality so far as I can tell. Harries want to think he is as straight as they come. He did his LA stunt for industry and could have then just called it a day.

Rant over! Please save us with your Succession takes.

[echrai]

My grandmother went to be with all of her loved ones who had walked before her on the morning of May 7th, and I can only imagine that she greeted them with as much rejoicing there as she ever did here.

Unlike my grandfather, my relationship with my grandmother is the furthest thing in the world from complicated. It was always easy. It was comfortable. It was home. She was baking bread and cookies homemade fudge and cross stitch and crochet and french fries at the Burger King at Andrews Air Force base. For the majority of my life my grandfather was an incidental accessory to the brightness that was my grandmother, and it broke my heart when that light dimmed at all eleven years ago when Sharon died.

I really think that it shattered both of our hearts in similar ways. We could barely look at each other for years without crying. Each of us a memory of what was lost and how alone we felt in holding it. She lost a daughter. I lost a mother. But we had each other in the middle of it all. An anchor to the grief we couldn’t articulate.

My grandmother was stacks and stacks of books and old movies and the air and space museum and the library of Congress. Music. Humming along with the radio. She was Christmas morning presents in a pink chair covered in an afghan. She is a bookmark in every book. She was orange juice in an old Tupperware cup. Raspberry tea with too much honey. A chocolate pudding snuck before bed. The soft humming click of a sewing machine. Click of her low heels and swish of her pocketbook on a Sunday morning. Hiss of hairspray. Turning pages of the hymnal to make sure I was keeping up with the verses.

Piano, and choir, and handbells. Sunday school. Church dinners. Oxen Hill farm. Making lunch for Grandpa before he went to work and greeting him with a snack when he got home. She is me standing on a chair in the kitchen to help knead bread. She is magnets on the never used front door. She’s a stuffed otter, and a seal, and a Garfield pillow. She is every new family child’s star baby blanket. She is my baby blanket. She is my Puck, when a tiny one year old wouldn’t put down a stuffed cat. She is the scolding I got after cutting the eyebrows off a mink teddy bear hiding under the coffee table.

She is hummingbirds. She is a stained glass Angel on the tv stand. Grapes from the backyard. Bubbles and playing in the bathtub water. Mickey Mouse computer games.

She was souvenirs from every trip. She was handing me a new book to take home every time I visited. She was always asking if I had met anyone that made me happy, and she was delighted when my answer was finally yes. She took a sum total of 24 hours to find her way to a God that loves my wife as much as I do. And who would never hesitate to be in my corner.

She was an only child from rural Indiana who joined the navy to have a future that looked different than her parents. She raised three children in Maryland, South Carolina, Florida, and California while my grandfather was deployed. After her children were grown she became a research librarian, never stopped learning new things, and was sharp as a fucking tack.

She was easy with praise and with joy and support and also firm in what she thought was right and wrong. She was the gentler, softer half of their marriage but she was also someone you never wanted to cross. They were equals in every way and loved each other fully. She followed where Troy led, and often waited until he came back to lead her where she intended them both to end up.

She was my eternal constant, the reason for my name. The first person to hold me when I was born. She took me to the nursery, carried me herself while my father stayed with my mother. My entire life she was a steady presence that I counted on to be there. Always safe. The last piece of home. I knew she would be gone one day but I would be lying if I said I was ready. I’ve always known that losing her would be the next axis shift in my world and it is.

Fair winds and following seas Meme. I love you.

[fratboykate]

Listen. Absolutely make tomato war 2.0. We want the pain. We want the fluff. We want it ALL.

Also I feel like as soon as Kate's kids are unhappy, she tells her vagina to shut up. The babies are always her priority. She will NOT let them feel less than the most important things in her life.

But also like... they're used to Yelena being a workaholic? Like school events get missed here and there, and yeah, it hurts, but they're used to it? And Kate HATES it. She's had talks with Yelena. She's had talks with Alexei about it because Melina has some similar issues.

Give us tomato war 2.0. Give us the kids wanting to see mama, but she's staying with grandma and grandpa for now because her and mommy need to figure some things out and Kate's angry crying because Alex is so calm through all of this but then Kate hears her sobbing in her room one night.

I have zero will power when you dangle angst in front of me so here's a five minute pain blurb you basically forced me write at 2:30am :) lol

---

10:37pm

Yelena trudges into the dimly lit bedroom she shares with Kate. To her surprise, it’s unoccupied. No trace of her partner. Weird. Yelena just walked by Kate’s office and the light was off. Their kitchen and living room are empty too.

She tiptoes into the kids' rooms, where she gently kisses their foreheads without waking them up. Still, no Kate to be found. WTF?

Despite feeling the weight of fatigue bearing down on her, Yelena decides to check the guest room, the one that is often used for naps or quiet reading. There she finds Kate lying in bed. Yelena is more than familiar with the sound of Kate’s breathing when she’s asleep and that’s not what she hears, so she turns the light on.

"Babe, why are you in here?" Yelena asks, puzzled. Silence. Yelena prods, still not realizing anything is wrong. “Kate…I know you’re awake.” Yelena knits her brow and steps further into the bedroom, sitting on the empty side of the mattress. Now she can see that Kate’s eyes are wide open, but she’s perfectly still and quiet. Yelena chuckles. “Are you ignoring me?” Kate says nothing and instead flips around, turning her back to Yelena. Yelena scoffs, starting to lose the sliver of patience she has left at this time of night. “Real mature, Kate.”

"I'm trying to avoid an argument." Kate snaps, voice low and strained.

“An argument about what?”

“What day is it today?" Kate’s words carry an undertone of anger.

“Wednesday.”

“What’s circled on the calendar in red marker on this Wednesday? What’s been circled FOR WEEKS?”

“I don’t know, Kate. I haven’t memorized the calendar by heart. It’s on the fridge for a reason.” Yelena retorts, her frustration rising.

“Yeah, it’s on the fridge, so we all know where we have to be and when. That's the entire point.” Kate bites back.

Yelena falls silent, feeling the tension between them thickening. She allows her fatigued body to fall against the headboard.

“Is that all you’re going to give me?” Yelena’s voice is softer, almost pleading.

“The calendar is still on the fridge.” Kate remains cold and distant.

Yelena petulantly hops off the guest bed and shuffles over to the kitchen. Kate stays, immobile. Moments later, Yelena slowly tramps back into the bedroom but doesn’t move to the bed this time. She closes the door behind her to keep their voices contained and once it’s closed, she presses her back against it before crossing her arms over her chest.

“Why didn’t you call or text me?”

That sets Kate off and she lifts her head to glare at her wife. How is this HER fault?

“BECAUSE THE CALENDAR IS ON THE FUCKING FRIDGE! I shouldn’t have to chase you to show up.” The silence and tension grow even heavier. “He was sad you weren’t there. He’d never say it, but I know he was. You could tell.”

“Wasn’t he a tree in the background?”

Kate sneers.

“Jesus fuck dude, how do you make everything that’s not about you sound so unimportant? Yeah. He was ‘a tree in the background’, but he was damn good at it. Not that you care, apparently. You didn’t even ask.”

Yelena hangs her head.

“I’m sorry. I am. I should’ve looked at the calendar more closely...I had a breakthrough. It was a mistake. Wrong beaker into the wrong burette which...could’ve gone terribly, but...it didn’t.” Yelena becomes animated, excited even over what she’s about to share. “Turns out the altered residues in the polymerase are solvent-exposed and…”

“I don’t care. I don’t. You probably could’ve come to the same conclusion tomorrow morning. It’s not an excuse.”

Kate cuts her off, weary and exasperated. Yelena allows her words to trail off, realizing that Kate isn’t interested in her work. The quiet lingers.

Yelena can sense she’s let Kate down but doesn’t know how to make it right. It seems like she’s perpetually asking for forgiveness lately, but it also never seems to be enough to make up for anything. It’s like nothing she does is enough. For any of them.

“You’re right. It’s not. But I can’t do anything about it right now. It happened. I’ll apologize to him tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Will he? Because to be honest, I think we’re all a little sick of your apologies.” Kate’s words are laced with bitterness.

Yelena feels a lump forming in her throat. Deep down, she knows Kate’s right, but the surge of anger and frustration those sentences trigger inside the blonde stop her from being objective and level-headed.

“You’re being unfair.”

“I’m not doing this with you right now.” Kate tells her flatly and with finality.

Kate lies back down and covers herself with the duvet completely. Yelena can only see the shape of her under the covers.

“Doing what, Kate?” Kate says nothing. “You’re insufferable sometimes. You know that?”

“Must’ve learned it from somewhere.” Kate mutters from under the blanket.

“I tried to talk to you, tried to fix it. Remember that.”

“I don’t need to remember shit, dude. That’s you.”

“Good night, Katherine.”

Yelena shuts the light off and steps out of the guest bedroom, a surge of emotions and the weight of her mistake coursing through her. Kate wipes the single angry tear that escapes. It’s not worth it.

[bakedspoonie]

Praying this hurricane doesn’t hit us cause if it does I have to evacuate to my grandmas and my entire extended family hates us now. They’ve been getting worse and worse since trump and its escalated a lot the past few months. I feel so isolated and sad, they are so mean they’ve always been kinda mean but now it’s including aggression not just words.

I haven’t seen my brother or nephew in almost a year (since my partner came out) and it sucks cause I really love my nephew he’s so funny and awesome. I’m missing watching him grow up cause my brother spent too much time with our grandpa growing up and actually listened to the jackass instead of saying “you’re being weird I’m gonna leave you be for a while” like I did.

He also is getting so cruel towards our mum he won’t speak to her or visit when she’s in hospital and dying. I live with her so I get to see how much his refusal to speak to her hurts her. And I don’t understand why he doesn’t talk to her anymore, she’s always been a great fucking mum but he’s never thought so. She was very honest with us growing up which I appreciated but I don’t think he did, she never hid reality from us while always keeping us safe from it. She didn’t believe in lying to your kids and taught us how people actually work and think (yay psych nurse). She told us to be kind to everyone and the importance of every person not for their out put or labour but because they were a living being and that alone makes them important and worthy of a safe and healthy life. She never lied about her childhood which was filled with some of the worse abuse imaginable, she taught us how to protect ourselves from that same abuse. She told us warning signs and how to get out of dangerous situations. And that advice has honesty has saved me from many dangerous situations. i just don’t understand how we could be so different with the same parents, mum said my disability forces me to develop more empathy and made me appreciate her lessons in how to read and manipulate people into helping you. Doctors won’t help unless you push the right buttons so that’s a skill I had to learn to utilise young but my brother says it’s he worst thing she taught us. The thing is manipulation can be neutral or even good it’s a matter of how you use it. Like the time my mum manipulated a doctor into giving me an mri and it turned out I had a mass in my brain. Or when I manipulated a camp counsellor into allowing the autistic kid in our group to sit with his older brother during his groups swim period. The kid hated the water and his brothers group did crafts during that block, we could stop the meltdowns and stress by simply letting him colour with his brother. Took three days of careful reading and manipulation of adults (I was a teen) to get them to understand the kid wasn’t just “throwing a fit to get his way” he was in actual distress and it was such an easy fix. The adults took credit of course.

[the-firebird69]

We have a couple things to go over not that much the sun is sitting here bored but he has to work with us but still you people are rude losers and we're making a note of who and we are going to circle back and smack them around and he's a loser and he's been a loser for a while and it keeps losing stuff and last night he got attacked fiercity and he lost about 1/10 of his Force and in Oregon Washington and DC and overall it's about 2%. That's a big loss for someone and it's this person and it is John remillard and he's trying to blame our son and it just does not pay we just a lot less tolerant but John remillard is stealing from him as a matter of course and daily routine so how do you tell someone don't do it our son tried to express it cuz when when John remillard was young he learned the hard way don't try and mess up the English language it's a scam by someone else stuff like that but it doesn't come across enough it doesn't work enough and we have to get to work so we're going to come into town and start breaking heads that's what works out there they lost more leadership pretty soon I'll be out we are hearing that the leaders are planning to go out there within the next few days we're also hearing that they are going after minority morlock and they say for not listening regarding the buffet so we're going to beat up the Mac morlock. Several more things are happening

-the rings are being fought over quite a bit people are figuring out that Tommy f is not nice doesn't care about them and he wants to take over by force and we don't want him to we are going to go ahead and stop him and he will have to capitulate or disappeared.

-her son is having a lot of issues with finances he's always on the edge doesn't have extra funds ever and they're constantly trying to ding him when it's already past empty practically and it is a matter of survival he reminds us every day because it has not changed and he wants action on it and we do need to do it and we do need to make it work and he's mentioning the letter it says we don't have record of your name and your investment and that's wrong we know they have names his name and we know they have his records in the investment companies and they're lying so it's kind of a waste of time to send it back because they'll just send some stupid letter it says we don't know what you're talking about and such and so he's looking at and saying I'll send a letter that says you have my name I work there I had investments where are they and they'll send a note back we don't have your number from the letter and stupid s*** like that. So to make a long story short they're sitting here bothering him about this as well as taunting him as well as trying to torment him and taking more pennies and he says we have to dispose of these idiots they have no plan against them the empire and they have absolutely no backbone for it and that's what it is they have no strength whatsoever and it just keep threatening him and nothing comes of it or doing as much as we can to get our son stuff and that's all we respond to and it's ridiculous s*** what's happening here is so stupid so we're going through it and we're finding out who has the biggest problem and there are a few individuals but when you look at it closer they're keeping him afloat and they have a problem too this huge pile of idiots that don't know anything about life that's screwing up everything and they are huge assholes to them and our son said he got huge on the wings of the empire so Stan started to do it and he said we have to and to see and he's trying to figure out something he's a brilliant guy and he's in trouble and nobody's helping and he's doing a little bit and that's what he can do and he gets messed up like Garth gets completely turned around and his mom and mac and it's terrifying it's not right for him to have help they can't do anything but that's the way it is that's all we have to deal with and his grandpa bowed out so here we go with that okay that's what that's all we got right now is Camilla and who knows who's going to be VP usually it's someone weak please do not say Justin that guy is such an a****** you stand there asking for money in a sense is I don't have any money and it says you know I'm poor I know you have wealth and the guy will just not shut his f****** mouth it is a damn nightmare here and Justin knows it's wrong but he just keeps doing it so our son looks at him and says what is the matter with you do I have to sue you he's saying a different way and finally shut up but really he's not handling what he's doing very well and he's attacking these people and they don't act like it and they don't make up for it we need to get our programs going and to stop this jackasses from ruining his life completely and we need to do it now and I'm looking for volunteers now we need a lot of you okay this place is heavy a day and night it's too heavy we need a lot of volunteers and I'm asking right now for you to come in and show up and start working on anything here anything that you want to work on you think would help your people or and/or him he needs it now we welcome any form of help it is terrible here for Christ's sake get your asses in here and do something about it and I'm saying it it's me and I'm the running this whole program in the entire universe and I want people in here in my office to fix this s*** so I don't have to listen it's ridiculous you're yelling at me because retards want you to and they don't do a f****** thing that works now get in here

Thor Freya

Olympus

[paintdlady]

HOTD SEASON 2 SPOILERS

On one hand, I’m glad Blood & Cheese didn’t focus on showing us the violence. But on the otherhand, I think Helaena should’ve had a bigger reaction than grabbing her other baby and dashing after she just sacrificed the other without hesitation.

Like I’m trying to hold space for the idea that Helaena didn’t kick and scream because she already saw this in her dragon dreams, and like Rhaenyra, Helaena was already grieving her son's death because she's been having her dreams about it for a while now, and she was just raised to be quiet and keep her head down.

But I think we should’ve seen her acting more nervous in her first scene, like repeating about the rats and being quietly frustrated no one is taking her seriously or understanding her. I would've liked to see her being a little cagey and perhaps over-protective of Jaehaerys, fretting a little more over him and insisting to the guards and Criston that they aren't to leave him alone, please don't leave him alone.

Because it did take me out of the moment to see there was absolutely no guards in between the children's room and Alicent's room. Not even one just patrolling the hall?

And in the scene itself, I feel like more pressure should’ve been put on her. It doesn’t even have to be physical or sexually violent threats (like in the book?), but it could’ve been Blood insisting she was lying because she did give her son up too easily. And then just as he begins to lunge for the other kid, she insists. She doesn’t even have to scream and shout, she could just blurt it out more forcefully and looking so pleadingly to Cheese that he knows she isn’t lying. Because even if she was already mourning her son, it's hard to see her not have more moments/details that set up how much she dreaded this moment.

I think what was missing was this feeling of inner conflict, because I think it could've even been interesting if she reacted in the opposite direction and we were shown that Helaena was actively detaching herself to Jaehaerys beforehand - that she refused to have anything to do with him, thus forcing the maids to tend to him alone and/or making Aegon step up in terms of caring for the boy since Helaena could barely even look at Jaehaerys since she started having her dragon dreams about Blood & Cheese. And then that way, it would've flowed better to then see her try once to buy them off and then feel so defeated that she points to the boy and flees with her other child, internalizing the fact that her dragon dream had come true just like she feared.

This is, of course, just me spit-balling my initial thoughts and trying to figure out why the scene didn't land as hard for me as I had been hoping it would - as someone who doesn't really care for gratuitous violence.

I also just think we got too much of Blood & Cheese themselves, they never should've had as much screen time as they did and instead should've been in the background just like the rest of the B&C foreshadowing. We should've seen their faces maybe once before while Daemon hired them and then we should've focused back on Helaena or any of the other Team Green members.

I think it would've been so eerie to see them floating in the background, walking through the throne room as Aegon drunkenly rants about his grandpa and mother, and then brushing past Criston Cole as he went to Alicent's room after just leaving Aemond's. Our main characters think nothing about these supposed rat catchers, they're so busy watching the sky for vengeful dragons that it's easy for Blood & Cheese to slip right under their noses without a trace.

Instead, I feel like a lot of the suspense was lost in following them and getting an explanation of how they broke in, and a feel for who they are as characters. Did we really need to know them? Did we really need to see how they bumbled around while talking crudely, kicking poor dogs, and making quips about cocks?

Less is sometimes more, and I think even letting them remain faceless could've been so interesting.