#Ashton’s my favorite can you tell?

[mommymilkersmac-n-cheese]

Can’t wait for the fics about the group actually noticing Ashton’s panic attack. Craving that sweet sweet Ashton angst hurt/comfort chronic pain oml.

[eadwulfs]

I think if they had them (and didn’t want them) he would have got them thangs hacked off back alley style

[towards-toramunda]

I will never be over this look. Look at them. LOOK AT THEM! THEYRE SO COOL! THEY LOOK LIKE A SUPERHERO! Bell’s Hells really is the X Men of exandria, Ashton and Imogen’s art alone proves it.

[animatroniclovingsylveon]

🏳️‍🌈💎 <-also for ask game

🏳️‍🌈 Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?

Yes! I'm transmasc, biromantic, and asexual!

💎 What’s your most prized possession?

Okay I'll give one more. I've been trying to collect every Raichu card from the English TCG and I've gotten a good chunk of them, so i'd say that's probably up there :>

[ashtonisvibing]

because my friend- never responded to my message to them about this, uhhhhhhhhh introduction to my oc fern + the angsty lore i came up with, because i gotta share it with someone :3

so, fern (ey/em) is an angel. not related to christianity, i just have no better term, and ey're basically an angel. well- technically an angel in training, but semantics aside. there's a whole hierarchy that i haven't planned out yet, but the highest (ignoring the highest of them all, only known as the "higher one". i'm so creative) of them all are the all-seers. they work as it says on the tin, they see everything and make sure all the "lesser beings" stay in line

anyways, fern's sent down to earth to start eir training to become an angel, and while down there ey meet a fallen angel (my friend's character). which, y'know, would be tolerable... if ey didn't also befriend him. and even go so far as to grow feelings for him. and the all-seers don't miss anything.

however, the all-seers decide to give fern a single chance. when ey come back for eir evaluation, if ey tell the truth about befriending a fallen, ey will be forgiven and can become an angel. ey're never told about this information. so, on the day of eir evaluation, ey lie in the hopes that the all-seers can be tricked.

but you can't trick the all knowing.

so fern is punished. all of eir powers are stripped away, ey're branded with the mark of the fallen, and eir wings are burnt so badly they become black and unusable. ey're then tossed back down to earth to painfully wander the city streets until ey find eir friend again

and i mention all this, cuz i wanna share something else, and it's that i think after getting used to being a fallen and basically having as much freedom as one could have to explore themself, ey start getting a HEAVY interest in the kink community and learning about kinks and such. and yes, ey do discover ey have some kinks of eir own, but it's mostly just learning for the sake of learning

[vexing-imogen]

Now that Critical Role has dropped an entire album, and not just an EP, I thought I’d do a short & sweet review. Nothing crazy, no ratings or anything, just for fun

Overall Impressions: it’s a fun, if incredibly niche, holiday album. They know their audience, and they’re playing directly to them. I feel like they struck a good balance between parodies and original compositions. I love that each cast member got their own song, even those that may not be as confident in their singing. The ballads really stand out, and end up being 3 of my top 4 songs

Track 1: Winter’s Crest Welcome (spoken word by Matt Mercer): a nice little intro/lore dump. I think it’s cool that Winter’s Crest is going international (likely thanks to Taste of Tal’Dorei lbr)

Track 2: Winter’s Crest Festival Time (Matt Mercer as Pumat Sol): when I tell you this song has been in my head for weeks. Fun and catchy and a little silly. Matt sounds great even in a goofy character voice. The bridge where he’s in (I think) four part harmony with himself? Wild

Track 3: Silent Mind (Laura Bailey as Imogen Temult): my favorite song off the album, to the surprise of absolutely no one. I knew Laura could sing, but goddamn. Chills

Track 4: Naughty & Nice (Sam Riegel as Scanlan Shorthalt): Sam has such a great voice for a jazzy, sexy song like this. And they really nailed the vibe, I knew it was a Scanlan song immediately

Track 5: Nothin’ Under the Tree (Taliesin Jaffe as Ashton Greymoore): this song rocks, pun fully intended. I never knew I needed a Christmas song I could headbang to until now. And Taliesin sounds fantastic. I fucking love it

Track 6: O Mighty Nein (Liam O’Brien as Caleb Widogast): oh, Liam, my heart. This song is so sweet and beautiful, and I was almost in tears by the end

Track 7: Twelve Days of Grogmas (Travis Willingham as Grog, feat. Ashley Johnson as Pike): it’s fun, it’s stupid, it’s catchy as hell. Another earworm that’s been in my head since it dropped. It is so perfectly Grog, and Pike’s little asides are the icing on the cake

Track 8: Cold Inside (Marisha Ray as Laudna, feat. Matt Mercer as Pate, Sam Riegel as FCG, Travis Willingham as Chetney, and Laura Bailey as Imogen): knowing that Marisha is likely the cast member that is least confident in their singing abilities, I’m so glad she did this song. Laudna is the perfect vehicle too, her character voice is more distinct than Keyleth or Beau, and she has a flair for the dramatic that Marisha can really lean into without worrying about how she sounds. For a song that people were advertising as an Imodna song, I wasn’t expecting it to be so funny. I think my favorite bit was the deadpan “I think that’s just arson, Chetney”. And then Imogen coming in at the end, you can just hear the eye roll and the fond smile

Track 9: Winter Anymore (Ashley Johnson as Yasha Nydoorin): this song is so achingly tender and yearning. Ashley has such a gorgeous voice, I’m in awe. I was initially unsure if she was singing as Yasha or Pike, but I love that the lyrics could apply to both. I love that despite the overall sadness of the song, there’s still an air of hope

Track 10: Deck the Bear (Liam O’Brien as Vax’ildan and Laura Bailey as Vex’ahlia, feat. the rest of the cast as Vox Machina and Matt Mercer as Trinket): another silly, goofy one, though admittedly this one is my least favorite from the album. I do like the ensemble song, and Matt’s bear noises are incredible as always (will he ever feature in a song not in a character voice? spoiler alert: yes lol)

Track 11: It’s Critmas (Critical Role cast as themselves): yet another earworm. This was tied with Silent Mind for my favorite song from the EP, and it’s still definitively in the top 4. Again, I love the ensemble, and everyone getting their moment. It’s catchy, it’s fun. It’s Critmas

[pawthorn]

dude reading your meta for the first time literally can't tell if you hate ashton or not OP and that's fucking hilarious

Ashton is my favorite of the Hells.

No hard feelings Anon, I get it, but it’s wild to me that fandom has progressed to the point where you can’t point out that a character has a limited point of view without it being seen as possible hate.

I think Ashton is wrong, but their pov makes sense based on his life experience. It adds drama. It makes us wonder what the party as a whole will do next.

Characters can be myopic and smug and petty and hypocritical, I don’t care as long as they’re interesting.

Ashton is interesting.

[81folklore]

older - LECLERC

pairings: charles leclerc x male!singer!reader (fc: luke hemmings)

summary: singer yn ln releases a love song with his boyfriend, and the public are not prepared for who it is about

authors note: this has been on my mind for SO LONG. i honestly dont like how many fics ive been doing on the same people (charles, lando etc) but whenever i go to start a new one on my list for someone else i think of something that i have to do😭 also in this reader is not a part of 5sos but close friends with the 3, wfttwtaf is readers album and older is exclusivly the readers song

authors note 2: i wanted to quickly clarify i am NOT speculating that charles or luke are gay/queer and this is not my intentions. luke obviously sings older and i find it easier to visualise it this way, while the reader in this is male, this could also be read as gn!reader. this is FICTION please do not tkae this as me speculating anything

authors note 3: i didnt really know what i was doing with this so its kind of all over the place and very rushed :/ but then again when arent my smau all over the place?? also can you tell i hate writing comments by the way i just dont😭

masterlist

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we started this song together back in 2020 and picked it back up at the end of 2022

'Older' was originally a voice memo of a 50’s-style love song that we wrote together, then forgot about. when thinking of concepts for my debut album i stumbled across the memo and fell in love with it all over again, but i put it aside yet again as to me, it deserved more than the album

the song has changed a lot from the original voice memo, but the meaning has stayed the same throughout. despite all the beauty, the ups and downs of a long-term relationship over many years, there’s inevitably going to be the worst moment of your love because one of you is going to lose each other

capturing those feelings in a song was tricky but ultimately we wrote from the heart and i think it shows in the song itself

this has always been a song between us, so having him play on this song was very importnt to me and im glad he said yes

older is now yours

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im very pleased to announce a very special one off show at the Royal Albert Hall in London this November 18th. I will be playing a bunch of tracks from my debut album and may be joined to play some others aswell! Tickets on sale this monday at 10 am BST. Lots of love always, yn x

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thank you for an incredible night at the royal albert hall

looking back at the best night of my life, i need to thank each and every one of you who allowed this dream to come true, i will never be able to thank you guys enough

performing in my dream venue, with my favorite people in the world was something i never thought was possible and yet here i am, writing this still on my high from last night

thank you to my friends; michael, ashton and calum who took the time to come to london and perform their songs with me, thank you for always loving me and agreeing to my crazy ideas

to my team and everyone who worked to make this night as special as it could be, thank you. thank you for making my htoughts a reality and making this night as wonderful as possible

thank you to the staff who worked throughout the show to make sure everyone was safe, well and looked after. you truly do not get as much credit as you deserve and i apreciate the hard work you put in to keep everyone happy

thank you to those who joined me, i wish each and every one of you who wanted to could have been there. thank you for singing along and listening to me pour my heart and soul into my music

thank you for letting me do this x

view comments

user55: not the pcd hitting already☹️

user1: and im supposed to pretend i didnt see yn and 5sos perform os/co??

user89: CHARLES?? YN IS DATING CHARLES??

user91: AND HE CAME ON STAGE?? AND THEY PERFORMED OLDER??

user50: i cant believe i saw this all happen live

user47: THANK YOU TO WHOEVER WAS RUNING THE GRAINY LIVESTREAM I OWE YOU MY LIFE��🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️

ashtonirwin: thank you for everything yn. youre a real life angel

user16: NO CHARLES MENTION??

user9: BESTIE HE HAS A WHOLE POST

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after having time to process this show, I feel so overcome with gratefulness. my music means so much to me and seeing so many people resonate with it in a live space was so special for me.

charlie, my life would literally fall apart without you and this would have never happened without you giving me the confidence to do so, i hold so much love and admiration for you

thank you for joining me on such a special night and performing our song with me, thank you for sticking with me through it all and thank you for allowing me to share this part of my life with you

i sometimes wonder where i would be if i didnt find you, if i wasnt blessed with your love. i try to think about the times before you, before us, but both feel impossible to do after feeling your love

life with you is so special and i promise to always cherish and love you

merci de m'avoir laissé vieillir avec toi, merci de m'avoir laissé t'adorer, merci de m'avoir choisi (thank you for letting me get old with you, thank you for letting me adore you, thank you for choosing me)

yn x

tagged: charles_leclerc

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charles_leclerc: mon ange, je t'aimerai toujours (my angel, I will always love you)

charles_leclerc: je suis tellement privilégiée d'être celle que tu aimes🤍🤍 (I'm so privileged to be the one you love)

yourusername: vieillir avec toi ne semble pas si effrayant🖤🖤 (growing old with you doesn't seem so scary)

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Physical Fitness

[at the beach] Sonia Greene: oh howard this was such a lovely idea! Greene: a romantic seaside picnic and just the two of us! Greene: and we've got your favorite food right here - untoasted white bread! Greene: isn't this nice? HP Lovecraft: [sweats, stares at ocean] right sure

HP Lovecraft: Hey! Quit kicking sand in our faces! Sonia Greene: that man is the worst nuisance on the beach! Aleister Crowley: [grabbing Lovecraft] listen here, I'd smash your face, only you're so skinny you might dry up and blow away!

Crowley: [to greene, as he manhandles lovecraft] look babe, why don't you drop that zero and get with the hero Crowley: i'll show you how a real man kicks sand in people's faces! Crowley: THE GREAT BEAST!!! DO AS THOU WILLT!!!!

Lovecraft: The big bully! I'll get even some day! Greene: oh don't let it bother you, little boy Greene: i'll fix you up a nice big meal, put some meat on those bones Lovecraft: and that'll help me build muscle? Greene: [sweats] um muscle? um sure yeah muscle

Poe: howard, you need to stop letting aleister pick on you Lovecraft: but he's twice my size! he's all buff cuz of all the mountain climbing! Poe: you could start working out? Lovecraft: you mean physical labor? Lovecraft: sport?! Lovecraft: [sweats] like a common cornishman?!?

Poe: you should try it Poe: a good regimen of rowing and swimming helped me build mass Barker: oh come on edgar Poe: no really! Poe: [removes shirt, revealing he is super swole] Barker: Barker: oh right Barker: right i forgot about that

Mary Shelley: listen up nerd you don't need exercise Shelley: what you need is one of these [flips switchblade] Poe: oh come on mary, what if he gets attacked when he doesn't have knife on him? Shelley: dunno, that's never come up

Shelley: next time aleister gives you shit, you give him one of these [pantomimes shivving] Poe: mary, violence never solved anything Shelley: it does if you're good at it Poe: Barker: ah ha ha she's got you there edgar

Lovecraft: Darn it! I'm sick and tired of being a scarecrow! William Hope Hodgson says he can give me a real body. all right! i'll gamble a stamp and get his free book Lovecraft: i'll just not eat this week to afford the stamp

William Hope Hodgson: are you "fed up" with seeing the huskies walk off with the best of everything? Hodgson: sick and tired of being soft, frail, skinny or flabby? Hodgson: i know because i myself was once a puny 97 pound "runt" Hodgson: today, I am two separate gorillas

Hodgson: give me 5 weeks and my body building plan will turn YOU into the bronzed adonis you were meant to be Hodgson: through a dynamic combination of cardiovascular training, lifting big kegs, and standing in the desert while getting your balls tanned by an ultraviolet machine

Lovecraft: wow, how's you get so buff?? Hodgson: from constant brawling during my navy days Lovecraft: w-wait Lovecraft: you're a sailor?? Hodgson: yeah you should know from my popular lecture series about how much the navy fuckin sucks ass Lovecraft: [sweats]

Hodgson: ugh, i tell you Hodgson: it's just impossible to pay the bills with pseudoscience fitness programs catering to mens' insecurities Hodgson: i'm gonna pivot to weird fiction instead Hodgson: that's where the big money is

Hodgson: what if a bunch of pig men attacked a big house Smith: [on phone] hey clark ashton? it's me! your cousin! marvin smith! Smith: you know that new horror genre you're been looking for? Smith: well, listen to this! [aims phone at hodgson]

[haitherecaringmonke]

NRC staffs meeting Lucille’s Pokemons

Dire Crowley - Klefki

“Miss Beaumont please tell your monster to give me back my keys !”

Moves: Astonish, Play Rough, Fairy Lock, Flash Cannon.

It can be said that Klefki is one of the strangest monsters that Crowley has ever encountered in his entire life.

While he expected monsters looking like animals, he never expected one to look like a key-chain.

Klefki, like many Fairy types, is rather mischievous. And like many of Lucille’s Pokemons, he greatly dislikes Crowley for all the bs the man had put his trainer through.

Since Crowley decks himself in keys, Klefki felt obligated to steal from him. And just pike any other Klefkis, this one will not let go of the keys he had stolen from the Headmaster.

One time while Lucile was out cold after a long day of doing Crowley’s tasks, Klefki stole one of her enclosure keys and unlocked the gate to a certain padlock.

Crowley’s screams can be heard all the way from RSA as he was being chased by Kleki, who is leading Tyrantrum right to the masked man.

Divus Crewel - Eevee

“What an adorable little pup, and to think you can become one in eight different forms when you grow up!”

Moves: Tackle, Swift, Baby-doll Eyes, Quick Attack

It’s no surprise that Crewel is a fashion icon with the most fabulous outfits, but at the end of the day, the man is still a designer, and a lot of times designers have art block.

This is not good for Crewel, so he went outside to get some fresh air, maybe drop by Ramshackle to see if he can came up with any ideas by seeing the Pokemons.

While the man is scrolling through Lucille’s PokeDex, Eevee came over to him and curiously sniffed his pant leg.

Crewel was quite curious of this little fox dog thingie, he had to admit that it was quite adorable. He was well behaved and let the older man pet him as he pleases.

It wasn’t until Lucille told him how Eevee can have 8 different evolutions did Crewel’s interest piqued.

Upon seeing the eight different Eeveelutions, his mind exploded with inspirations. He thanked Lucille, took her PokeDex and Eevee with him and left.

About a week later, Crewel (begrudgingly) returned a very pampered Eevee to Lucille. She did received some new outfits inspired by the Eeveelutions as well as outfits inspired by the Pokemons on her Main Team as compensation though.

Mozus Trein - Meowscarada (Puss)

“You know, you might be my favorite monster out of the bunch”

Moves: Flower Trick, Energy Ball, Fake Out, Dark Pulse

The first time Trein met Puss is when he wandered into the lecture hall on accident. The professor was about to leave when Lucius spotted the humanoid feline creature lurking behind the door.

Lucius, being somewhat territorial, attacked the poor Magician Pokemon, who could only dodge out of fear. Trein had to step in and intercept.

Despite the scuffle, Puss didn’t stop visiting Trein every chance he get to show off some of his magic tricks and the poor man doesn’t understand why.

It wasn’t until later on when he asked Lucille why Puss keeps visiting him, turns out Trein and Lucius reminds Puss of Lucille’s father and his old and aggressive Purrloin. Trein felt honored at the statement, as for Lucius, it might take a while for him to finally warm up to the Magician Pokemon…

Ashton Vargas - Aqua Breed Tauros (Fernando)

(There’s no gif of Aqua Breed Tauros so please have this gif of regular Tauros instead)

“Hahaha! You have raised quite a fantastic beast Beaumont!”

Moves: Horn Attack, Zen Headbutt, Raging Bull, Aqua Jet

It all started when Lucille asked Vargas if she could have some of her Pokemon out so they could let out some steam instead and the man happily agreed, claiming the more the merrier.

So Lucille let her Pokemon out, mostly the ones that are active and have lots of energy to burn, with Fernando being one of them.

Fernando, other than running with the other Pokemon, also had another mission being chase after some of the students that are slacking off when Vargas wasn’t paying attention.

It worked very well since nobody wanted to be ran over by a water bull.

Fernando received some hearty pets from Vargas while his trainer received a pat on her back (that almost toppled her over)

Sam - Runerigus

“What do you say fellow ghost? Would you like to help me out at the shop?”

Moves: Shadow Ball, Earthquake, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide

Sam first meet Runerigus when he wandered into Sam’s shop on accident because he was curious about the presences he felt coming from the shop.

Had it not been for his friends on the other side, Sam would have thought the Pokemon is a statue/mural of some kind and he might have accidentally sell him to someone.

Sam enjoys Runerigus’ company and vice versa. Runerigus is also very careful with navigating around Sam’s shop as to not damage anything (because Lucille can’t exactly afford to pay for the damages)

Runerigus offers Sam his help whenever the man lets him stay around his shop. As a few unfortunate students have discovered that Runerigus is very good at spotting thieves.

[distant--shadow]

Do you have any favorite imogearne moments you'd like to share? Could be big moments or small moments, anything that stands out to you. Love your art btw!!!

ohhh, off the top of my head? okaaayyy-

Imogen telling fearne to not go to wondering round the back area by herself, fearne pulling a face at her and Imogen being instantly weakened, "she's so charming!" the gay panic is so real

when Imogen looks for the "bubble bead" thinking she has it after laudna asking who does, and in fact fearne had it hidden away under her ear, just love the playfulness that's something Imogen needed/needs so much

on that note, fearne rocking the cable cars, of course.

them bonding over shitty parents and both letting their violent tendencies show

all that bonding over both being ruidis born. period talks and kissing. yes.

when laura/Imogen gets confirmation for the first time that her circlet blocks out all of the background static, and everyone's so happy for her and fearne is all "you don't even know what I'm thinking now" and wiggling her eyebrows and Imogen is like "I can probably guess..."

the two of em rolling Nat 20s to buy smut. my women.

Imogen sharing her apple with fearne whilst they're on their witchy bitch Whitestone mission

"FEARNE. SIT ON ME." "OKAY!"

uhmmm fearne as the leaf sheep sea slug and Imogen fucking losing it at the thought of kissing her/eating her ass once she remembers she is a sea slug, and then feeding her a good berry afterwards caus she feels guilty for siphoning power from a lil guy.

fearne sticking up for Imogen that time ludinus crashed their meeting in the office at the University. the two of them in their chairs interrogation style with fearne being all sassy was 2 much 4 me.

[SPOILERS] just a lot of episode 108, for me, dragon riding goes without saying but also more trauma bonding and looks etc etc. them navigating their feelings on possibly being the vessel and potentially together is actively killing me, fearne ignoring ashtons set up of "I've got my pillow and blanket and I'm heading to the meadow" to instead reach for Imogen and ask for her to dream...

I know I will have forgot some things here, but they're my women. I love their dynamic so much.

(thank you! always happy to read that people like my drawings and also enabling me to chat)

I also have intentions of clipping a bunch of these, life's just been busy!

[utilitycaster]

Apologies in advanced for the long ask, but i think it is telling that the sort of people who argued for Predathos to be released, and that the Prime Deities deserved to be killed, are the same type of people who would turn around and argue that Solas has a point and that the Veil should be rent open. Hilarious, considering that the talking points usually used to argue in favor of either one are at complete odds with the other.

Both fandoms are guilty of ripping characters agency away so that they can't be blamed (that wild take from a few weeks back that Solas' whole deal was that he was basically manipulated by Mythal into trying to take down the Veil vs. The arguement Bells Hells "had no choice" regarding their decisions in Predathos' lair), arguing that both parties goals is to "save the little people" and then not being able to actually put to words how their grand plans would actually help against systemic issues (also, in both situations, no one actually asked the "little people", who are portrayed as NOT being on board with either plan), and would rather risk a cataclysmic event to "change the status quo" (and feeling antagonistic towards storylines where people are doing that work to dismantle systems because it's "not enough"), it's just more of the same.

Both fandom groups having a history of not being able to handle anyone who does not share their opinion can't be a coincidence either.

Insanely, I also can imagine that if, say, Taliesin says something less than positive about Ashton during the upcoming wrap-up (and he very well might, considering his history, that he was likely playing with a similar theme that he has with many of his characters and never intended for Ashton to always be "right", but to have the assumption that they are "right" and putting a force of personality behind it and seeing what happens) that any diehard Ashton stans would immediately disavow Taliesin of having any understanding of the character a la how the DA devs obviously have no understanding of Solas (a character they wrote) because they made him a villain.

Anyway, you don't have to post or respond if you don't want to. Just wanted to vent to someone who understands the frustration, being in both fandoms, and how annoying it is to see this approach to interacting with media, but, if you have the time: what do you think draws this type of fan in? What about both these stories appeals to them? Why do they inspire such strong feelings?

Hi anon,

Re everything pre final paragraph, agreed. I mean, we've already seen this re: Taliesin saying, repeatedly, in character and out, that Molly is dead and Kingsley is a separate person and this is very much his intention, and people ignoring that. They may not disavow Taliesin but if they don't, they'll either decide secret messages are being sent to them via Morse code blinks or that others in the cast made him do it, or attack other fans who have absolutely no control over this.

I started writing out a very long and in-depth answer to what draws this fan in/why they like these stories, but I think it comes down to something much more simple. It’s not confined to Veilguard nor Campaign 3 by any means, but it certainly does exist there: To quote @burr-ell in conversation, “too many people want RPG to mean ‘im the specialest birthday boy and god's favorite princess and if you're mean to me i get to blow the whole building up’ and not like, playing a role in a game.” 

We are also very specifically talking about the responses to these works on Tumblr, and there is a specific culture here of "our modern world is uniquely awful and my life is harder than that of a medieval serf [it’s not] therefore the only valid response to bring about a better world is drastic and often violent complete destruction of the status quo without any interrogation of what specifically to keep and what to destroy [it’s not], but because anything less than perfect and rapid action is problematic [it’s not], doing things is bad [it's not], so I balance eternally in a space of miserably doing nothing and telling myself I am virtuous for doing so [they’re not]." It’s a uniquely ignorant, ahistoric, self-absorbed, and utterly ineffective mindset for achieving any material goals in the real world, which I do think is why they are so drawn to fictional options, where they can briefly escape this entirely self-imposed powerlessness without having to like, work on themselves as a person.

This leads to this idea that agency is something that only the most privileged have, so if you have agency, you are privileged and therefore bad unless you use it to prop up their belief that they're the most special birthday boy. And finally I think the immersive nature of RPGs attract people who really want to sink into and over-identify with a character, though again that’s not exclusive to fantasy nor RPGs.

And so: the world needs drastic change, but change has to come with someone with agency, which can only be the domain of privilege (old white man) but maybe a little bit other (elf) so that he Gets It. But he would have stuck to the Status Quo [which in this case is specifically the Veil and the Gods but not like. Other problems, because Status Quo is what these people use to mean Big Impossible Problem That Only The Specialest Birthday Boys Who Never Did Anything Else Before In Their Life Can Solve and not like. Tevene slavery or Dwendalian Imperialism] had he not experienced Trauma or Manipulation. This gives him a Motivation, and also, because Trauma or Manipulation confers Total Absolution by removing Personal Agency But Permitting Action, he is never to be questioned in his goals [Until it’s Critical Role Campaign 3 episode 119 and you realize with the sickening crunch of the single cell of your brain falling to the base of your skull that your pure as driven snow agencyless yet still battling the gods babies Bells Hells have suppressed the story of Aeor for apparently no effect other than to almost get Liliana killed; have just stopped Ludinus; done what he was going to do anyway, and come up with another answer after the gods gave them a bunch of presents and now suddenly they are such good people for saving the gods (that they themselves put at risk, because to not put them at risk is to perpetuate the status quo, and the gods are bad because Bells Hells specifically are not treated by the gods as their favorite princesses except they definitely are, at least compared to the common people whom they don’t talk to, and also the good thing to do about bad people is to suppress the story of what you think their crimes are; anyway how dare the people of Vasselheim not weep with gratitude and kiss their feet when Bells Hells point a nuke at their lives' purpose. Extremely rude of them.)]

In short a lot of people project onto/identify very strongly with a character or characters whom the narrative, deliberately (Veilguard) or who the fuck knows the intent (C3) portrays as selfish and entrenched in their own pain to the point that they see pain inflicted on others as not just a necessary evil in the pursuit of their goals, but also their birthright to relish in, as the specialest birthday boy who was denied this. And if you as a viewer are like huh! Solas (or Ashton, or Laudna, or Imogen) is being an asshole, then first off, you are DENYING THEM THEIR BIRTHRIGHT, OPPRESSOR and second off you are PERSONALLY ATTACKING THE TUMBLR USER WHO IDENTIFIES WITH THEM and therefore you are EVIL and ATTACKS ON YOU ARE JUSTIFIED and thus they can feel like they are tearing down the status quo of evil bnfs [arbitrary term for people who sometimes maintag a coherent argument these fans do not like that gets more notes than their post did] because they will never, ever, do anything in real life other than uphold the status quo through inaction and an inability to care about other people, and post online about how revolutionary they are while better people actually do the work.

[ellovett]

☣️🍳Krahn n Akna revival!!!

ive redesigned my twst kronk and yzma to their true and FINAL form [im fr this time cos im really happy with them] !!

complete bios under the cut blehh 😋

rbs>likes !!

Name: Krahn Quiroz

Age: 31

Height: 210 cm

Homeland: Sunshine Lands

Affiliation: Night Raven College Staff, The Squirrel Scouts

Occupation: Head-Chef of the cafeteria, Teacher's assistant, Scout facilitator

Subject taught: Science-centric subjects since he mainly assists Akna in teaching

Favorite food: Papas a la Huancaina

Hobby: Dabbles in a LOTTT of hobbies, but cooking is his main one!

As the Head Chef, Krahn is one of the few friendly faces in the Night Raven College staff, he has that warm and welcoming aura to him that's able to put anyone at ease just by being around him. He's popular with the students by how nice he is, and he's friends with a lot of students that pass by the cafeteria for lunch. He and Akna are a package deal, and are often seen together, and even gets dragged into helping Akna with her schemes. Krahn may be rather dim witted most of the time, in fact he isn't exactly the brightest tool in the shed, but ultimately he has a heart of gold, and is genuine in everything he does.

Trivia:

Krahn is very athletic and has inhumane stamina, you could say he's a gymbro, he can run around the field track for like 10 hours straight and not even show ANY signs of fatigue.

also serves as a scout facilitator for an elementary scout group in his off time! he's great friends with the kids there, they often just go hiking to explore nature ..and to learn how to talk to squirrels.

Great friends with Ashton, they're workout buddies!! Though Krahn isn't too keen on Ashton's … raw egg eating habits.

His hugs AND his spinach puffs are life-changing

Name: Akna Yglesias

Age: 35

Height: 185 cm

Homeland: Shaftlands

Affiliation: Night Raven College Staff

Occupation: Substitute Alchemy/Potions professor

Subject taught: Sciences [Alchemy, Potions, and Biology]

Favorite Food: Ceviche

Hobby: Making potions, studying alchemy, trying to take Divus' place as Alchemy teacher

Theatrical, grandiose, and short-tempered, Akna Yglesias is a teacher at Night Raven College who has a very commanding presence and is someone who knows exactly what she wants and goes through various lengths to get it. As a substitute not only does she fill in on unavailable science teachers, she is also responsible for co-facilitating science-centric clubs. Her schemes to take over the teaching position for herself are over-the-top and her jealousy moreso. She's a genius in alchemy, but Divus had long been established as the Alchemy Professor when she started working in NRC, and has vowed to take him down ever since.

Trivia:

Values lab safety more than anything, and always changes her clothes into something more appropriate for her classes. Enforces this onto Divus and her students as well, much to their dismay.

Is one to call Divus out on any mistakes he makes, she's a substitute after all, shouldn't she help? Give him a nudge? A rough shove even?

Has a very close familial bond with Krahn, a bond that has existed way before their years working for NRC

During her years of working, she's constructed a secret lab in the undergrounds of the campus, and all without Crowley's knowledge, how Crowley hasn't figured it out even she can't tell why.

[kaitheenbydoesthings]

My favorite moments so far, in no particular order:

Everything Grog says

Ashton

Keyleth telling all of Vasselheim to get their shit together

Laudna/Marisha prodding Keyleth about "the feathered guy who got turned into a little marble" & Keyleth's response

Marisha "It's my character I can bully her if I want to" Ray

Vex's reaction to Laudna having Delilah in a Soul Gem "I might sleep well tonight, thank you."

Keyleth recounting VM adventures to the Hells

I'm totally forgetting some and will add more later

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Copycat - Josh Dun x Reader

Pairing: Josh Dun x GN Reader

Warnings: None! Super fluffy <3

Word Count: 690 - nice and short!

A/N: I got my hair toned back to the copper colour I normally have today so thought I'd write a little imagine/drabble where the reader gets matching hair with Josh.

“Are you sure you want to come?” Josh asked, putting on his shoes. His hair had grown a lot more than we’d expected it to on tour so he was making an errand to a salon. 

“Yeah, why not?” I smiled, leaning against the doorframe of our hotel room. 

“Well I’m going to get it dyed too Y/N. Tyler asked me to do something for the new album so it’s gonna take a while.” He finally stood up and grabbed his phone and wallet. I put on a hoodie and quickly ran after him towards our car. “Are you just gonna sit there the whole time?” Josh asked, pulling out of the parking lot. I shook my head as I plugged my phone into the aux and played ‘Drive’ by Ashton Irwin, one of our favorites. 

“I��ll get a cut too. What’s your plan for coloring it?” I’d already had a rough listen to some of the band’s new music so had an idea of what the aesthetic they were going for was. 

“Probably keep my natural color on the top and dye the underside red. I know it sounds weird but it’ll look cool, trust me.” We parked right in front of the salon and Josh quickly got out to open the door for me. Josh had already started talking to one of the workers when another came and escorted me into a chair on the other side of the salon than him. 

“So, what are we gonna do? Tell me the plan,” the hairdresser beamed. She had long bright pink hair and a huge smile on her face. 

“Well, my boyfriend over there, he’s getting his hair dyed a red color and I want to surprise him by doing the same. I like the current hair color I have but I just want highlights of the red if you know what I mean,” I tried my best to describe what I want without drawing attention to myself. The hairdresser knew exactly what I was describing and asked her colleague what color she was mixing so she could put the same on my hair. I sat in the chair chatting away while she washed, cut, dyed, washed again, and dried my hair. Luckily Josh was taking the exact same amount of time–I was even finished before him! We spun the chair around so I could get a glimpse of my hair before Josh could see it. 

“Oh I love it! Thank you!” I hugged the hairdresser before she handed me a branded beanie to hide the hair till we got back to the hotel. We quickly exchanged numbers so we could meet up next time I was in the city.

“He’s going to love it Y/N! Oh and I can’t wait to see you again, we should get coffee next time you’re around,” she beamed, before walking me to the front to meet Josh. His hair looked amazing, the exact shade of red I had. He looked happy which always made me happy. We paid for the services and walked out to the car. 

“So, are you going to show me your haircut or are you going to hide it under that beanie for the rest of eternity?” He laughed. 

“Are you sure you’re ready? It’s going to blow your mind Dun!” He nodded eagerly, “Close your eyes then. I’ll make sure it’s not frizzy.” Josh placed a hand over his eyes while I took off the beanie and ran my fingers through my hair till it looked good. “Okay you can look now.” He opened his eyes and they instantly went wide. 

“Holy shit,” Josh never swore, which instantly concerned me. Had I gone too far? Did he hate it? My brain darted and dashed in every direction trying to figure out what I could do to fix what I had done. “I’m so lucky. You’re beautiful… you’re gorgeous. Not to mention the fans are gonna go crazy about this, Tyler’s going to love it!” He cupped my face as he pressed his lips to mine. “You’re my number one fan Y/N.”

"“Always and forever.”

//

Please submit any requests y'all have! I love to write so let me know if you've got any!

[whisperingspinesliterary]

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the library.

As far as wrap-ups go - I'm a little late. And as far as intro posts go, well - I'm not quite sure this is the best way to start. But here we are. You may call me Whisper; I'm 28, a life-long reader, self-taught writer, an avid gamer, and a movie enthusiast. I've been in a years-long reading slump, and finally managed to crawl my way out of it in early 2024. Trust me when I say, my love of reading is something I never want to forget about myself again. So here I am!

I had a blog years ago, but I couldn't even tell you what I used to write about. I decided, in order to keep in my rediscovered booksphere, why not start a blog to log my adventures in reading and maybe even talk about my own books that I'm crafting and movies that I love? A catch all place for story lovers. I'm also starting a YouTube channel, which you can watch HERE. It has some new videos, as well as some old writing videos from last year when I originally started posting on it.

I'm so excited to be diving into this endeavor!

As a whole, 2024 was a hell of a ride. Both in life and in books. I spent most of 2024 unemployed, which hasn't happened since I was a teenager. (I still am unemployed; it is a rough market out there...) But I also found some new favorites and read books that I will gladly never touch again. I started tracking my progress on StoryGraph (you can follow HERE). It's an app and website that was created and is owned by a black woman. I find it much more intuitive and user friendly than GoodReads. It also gives more in-depth breakdowns of your reads up to the current! Honestly, I can hardly navigate the GoodReads app.

Last year, I tracked 12 novels, 29 manga, 1 audiobook, 2 novellas, roughly 17 short stories, and only DNF'd 2 books. Pretty solid for just rewetting my feet. My goals this year are to read 25 novels (about 2 a month), 3 complete manga series, and double the amount of short stories I read. I think they're pretty reasonable goals, and I'm looking forward to challenging myself!

I have a bad habit of judging books based off their covers. My very first read of last year caught my attention because of its stunning cover. It was the whole reason I bought it. A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poison is a detective novel set in 1920s London. It follows 23-year-old Saffron Everleigh as she struggles with being a woman botanist working at University College London in a time when women in the sciences weren't respected. She finds herself wrapped up in a mystery when a department head's wife is poisoned at a party she's attending, and the professor she works under is the main suspect.

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons is Kate Khavari's debut mystery novel. Honestly, you can tell a bit in the writing, and especially in the way that Saffron handles certain aspects of her mystery. But overall, I really enjoyed the book. I found Saffron delightful to follow and her seedling romance with Alexander Ashton to be adorable. I liked it so much that I bought and read the subsequent sequels - A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality and A Botanist's Guide to Society and Secrets. I'm looking forward to A Botanist's Guide to Rituals and Revenge, which is releasing later this year.

I'm a huge fan of Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, and Franklin W. Dixon’s Hardy Boys. So these books absolutely tickled my fancy. Each mystery gets more intriguing, and the world around Saffron keeps growing and getting richer. My only issue is that in Flowers and Fatality and Society and Secrets Saffron just seems to get angry for no reason. Everything irritates her, and her character is slightly changed from her original personality in Parties and Poisons. As a whole, I give the series a 3/5 and definitely would recommend giving it a read!

I followed Up A Botanist's Guide with a complete genre leap. I dove head long into My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. It was her debut book, which may be why it falls a bit flat. Just as the title suggests, we follow Korede as she cleans up after her sister, Ayoola, who has a tendency to kill her boyfriends. As a massive horror fan, I was so disappointed in this book. I really, really wanted to like it. It was such a good premise, and the beginning was so strong. But that's all it has going for it in my eyes.

Ayoola decides to go after the man that Korede has a crush on at work. We're supposed to follow Korede's moral push and pull in the wake of another of her sister's murders while keeping the man she loves from being killed. However, it's never really felt. It's just a bit of wishy-washy back and forth inner dialogue. The climax didn't really hit a screaming pitch. It just kind of...comes and goes and then the book is over. Leaving us with an unsatisfying ending. You end up right back at square one, where the novel began. This is one book I would say not to waste your time on.

Luckily, I wasn't disappointed for long. I discovered a new favorite completed series. It was advertised comparing it to Howl's Moving Castle - which is my all-time favorite book and movie. I didn't think twice before I bought the first book. The Lord of Stariel is a gaslamp fantasy series. It has a historical type of fantasy setting, where magicians, enchanters, and illusionists practice true magic. Fae are still creatures of myth, but it doesn't stay that way for long.

The series follows Hetta Valstar, the estranged daughter of the Lord of Stariel. When he dies, she has to go back home to the estate of Stariel - a sentient Fae land that bonds with a person. The first book suffered similar to A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons - when the climax came, they talked it out instead of it actually being climactic. But each subsequent book in the series gets better.

It has dangerous magic, a swoon worthy suitor, and an utterly whimsical world to get lost in. It even has a spin off book, A Rake of His Own, which follows Hetta's brother, Marius. I devoured all five books in about two months. I simply could not get enough. As a series, it's a 5 out of 5 and I can't recommend it enough if you like fantasy.

Sometimes, in the middle of reading a long series, you need a bit of a pallet cleanser. I broke up my reading with a book set in our own world. My Roommate Is a Vampire by Jenna Levine is a monster romcom, a genre I didn't even think existed outside of comics and manga. The book follows Cassie Greenberg, who's an artist struggling to make a living. She finds an advertisement for an apartment and quickly learns that her roommate is a bit of a weirdo. It definitely gave me a chuckle and had a bit of unexpected spicy. There are parts where the story gets serious, and the tone shift can make it a little muddy. But it's one of those books I'd recommend for anyone looking for a light read. The companion novel, My Vampire Plus-One, recently came out and I can't wait to sink my teeth into that one!

In real life, I don't have ton of friends who read books and most of those who do don't read the same books. So, I was surprised when my friend's wife let me borrow her copy of The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. And even more surprised by how much I loved it. It's a cozy, enchanting story about a man named Linus Baker, who works at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He goes and evaluates orphanages that home magical youth. Every day he trudges through a never ending, grey storm. But one day he's summoned by Extremely Upper Management and sent to a house on an island, where he must decide if the children there are too dangerous.

I cannot put into words how charming this story is. I love all the characters, how warm the world feels, and the soft, subtle way that Linus and the head of the orphanage, Arthur Parnassus, fall in love. This was another book that I absolutely devoured. I can't sing its praises high enough. It's just a fun, feel good read. I loved it so much that I bought the recently released sequel - Somewhere Beyond the Sea. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my TBR. I can only hope that it lives up to the same standards as the first one.

Right at the end of December, I managed to squeeze one last book. I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones was my final read of 2024. It's a memoir written by adult 30-something-year-old Tolly Driver as he reminisces about 1989 - the year he became a slasher. I liked the idea; seeing everything from the killer's point of view, finding out what was going through their mind. However, I was sorely let down.

Tolly's narration is a stream of consciousness. Apparently, the whole thing is supposed to be type out on receipt paper. He bounces around from 1989, to previous years, to his present adult self and back. There were spots I had to read three or four times before I released which time period everything was taking place in. There were spots where the sequence of events or the actions of the character were unclear.

As a whole, I found the whole thing a bit ridiculous. It's supposed to be a horror thriller, a serious story about a serious character. But reads like a parody/comedy horror that's taking itself way too seriously. There were supernatural elements that could've been interesting. Tolly's transformation into a slasher was like an infection and the "powers" it gave him just pulled me out of it. I just found that the whole story fell flat. I read the whole book because I was too curious what ludicrous thing was going to happen next.

I'm normally a huge fan of horror comedies, but not when I go in expecting it to be a real, solid horror story. Anybody looking to read a decent horror book, I'd say pass this one over. But if you're looking for a horror parody, then you came to the right place. I'm disappointed since I've heard such good things about Stephan Graham Jones as a horror novelist. However, this was just not the book for me and ended up with a 2/5 on my StoryGraph.

As you can see, 2024 was definitely a wild year for my reading list. I found new series that I absolutely love and some books I will happily never read again. I'm looking forward to many more adventures this year, and I can't wait to see where those books take me. I especially can't wait to bring you all along for the ride!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you again soon!

- Whisper

Let Me Know: Have you read any of the books in my wrap-up? If you did, what did you think? What books did you read in 2024?

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