#C.S. Crew

[naffeclipse]

Hey, I'm making bagels right now, and it made me want to ask: what would the difference versions of the Bois (C.S, S.J, the polar crew, etc) favorite bagels, and how would they react if their YN made it for them? Also, I hope you're having a good day!

Bagel time

Cryptid Eclipse would think an egg bagel is pretty nifty and would scarf that bad boy down. If his little hunter made them an egg bagel, they would be delighted and keep expressing their gratitude over and over for the sweet gesture! Their heart takes such good care of the scary thing.

Detective Sun would prefer cinnamon raisin bagels while Detective Moon would be inclined towards blueberry bagels. If the vigilante appeared in their apartment one morning, making those delicious pastries, the boys would be suspicious that Y/N is going to bring up bad news or ask for something that is out of the question (but somehow gets granted regardless). Still, they would savor the unexpected visit before the vigilante pulls some kind of trick...

Mob Boss Eclipse would enjoy pumpernickel bagels with molasses—a strong flavor to pair with its dark and strong taste. If miraculous of miraculous, the vigilante made one for him, he would accept it graciously but offer his own gifts in return, like how they would never have to lift a finger if they came with him and they could dine on the very finest the city has to offer.

Orca Eclipse would love an asiago cheese bagel, preferrable in a sandwich form with protein like eggs, ham, and bacon. If the photographer presented him with such a divine meal, he would show his appreciation for the meal by devouring it entirely before their eyes before making sure he expresses acceptance and adoration for the gift—a very kind courting gesture indeed.

[reqxxyt]

secret relationship c.s

[unedited]

pairings: carlos sainz x f!reader

warnings: angry toto (??).. none other really

masterlist

_________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

Giggles left my lips as another pair traveled down wanting to hear them on repeat. I could feel my stomach turn as it suddenly felt tight from the lack of personal space. My hands were wrapped around his neck interlocked with his hair strands, wishing this could last the entire day but knowing this should stop. 

“Carlos” My lips quiver at the sensation he was leaving, footsteps passed by the locked door before I heard a conversation being made outside. Biting my lips quite harshly not to be heard left an indent later on. I could feel his lips twitch between a smile and what felt like a smirk as he traveled only downwards toward the collarbone. The conversation faltered and with that rose my heavy breaths suppressing a whine that leaked through my vocal cords. 

“Your race starts in only an hour. We should really not do this” My whisper was barely audible as it took everything in me to not let out sounds. His face tore from my neck as he looked down at me with a small smile. 

“Promise you’ll be here afterward?” his voice sounded a bit more pleading than usual as the corners of my lips curved upwards as I nodded. My heart still pounded as he closed the already nonexistent gap, placing a soft, sensual kiss. He left the storage room, taking a quick glance before leaving me in there for a couple of minutes checking it was safe enough for me to exit. 

Me and Carlos have been secretly dating for the past 3 months but lately have been more careless the past week because our confidence in keeping this a hush situation had risen over time where we now have secessions in storage rooms. 

I left the room and spotted my dad, the team principal of Mercedes spot me as he visibly relaxed seeing that I was okay, and stopped the search party. He was very protective of me since I turned 18 and decided to introduce myself to the drivers over time. 

“Where have you been?” his tone sounded impatient as he paced to me before we both started walking towards the Mercedes garage. “I almost had to ask them to delay the race”

“Why would you do that?” I rolled my eyes but knowing that would be impossible. “I had to go to the restroom”

“Nearly 10 minutes?” his eyes narrowed as they met mine and before I could make up a terrible lie, one of the crew members working with him pulled him aside as I sat on the chairs next to his where the monitors laid for surveillance. My eyes gravitated towards the red-blaring car as my dad sat down beside me, putting on his headset and pushing his glasses upwards. 

The lights, one by one showed before they all went off and the race began. I was silently praying for Carlos to get a podium standing knowing how stressed he had been over the season. Max had been leading and my shoulders tensed the more I leaned toward the monitor. Every time Carlos’ car would appear on the screen, my eyes would stay glued to the screen and finally blink at the next driver. I didn’t notice but my dad who sat next to me did, noticing a pattern. 

“Thought you weren’t into the races?” he whispered moving a side of the headset behind his ears. I gave him a confused look even though he was very much correct. No matter how hard he tried to get me into racing myself, I refused and focused on my studies instead. 

“Is it such a terrible thing to cheer for my dads' team?” I gave an innocent smile but he didn’t seem to be convinced. 

“Right. Even though you keep only looking at the monitor when Carlos comes on screen” he pointed out and my smile twitched downwards thinking this would be when I would get caught. After only a month, I would be the one to ruin it. Here I was thinking it would be him and his clinginess, instead, it was my inability to lie when it came to my dad. His eyebrow lifted the longer I stood silent. 

“Me and Carlos are just close friends, nothing more I swear” I really regret those words because he seemed to believe them for the moment, or at least tried. He only gave me a nod and went back to analyzing the race. 

The race had ended and Carlos had achieved P2, right behind Max. I felt my own heart leap, feeling overall proud of him. George achieved P3 while Hamilton was P4 and the entire team congratulated each other making sure to give a small congratulations to the driver after interviews and celebrations. 

“Need a ride?” my dad offered but I shook my head making up an excuse that I left some things in the garage. I instead went to the Ferrari garage patiently waiting for Carlos. I soon spotted him walking towards me with a smile making sure no one was around before lightly kissing me. 

“Congrats,” I said once, deteriorating from his touch. He thanked me and we walked out of the stadium, heading towards his car. If I had known that people spotted us entitling his car from afar, taking pictures as proof I would've driven with my dad. Like I said, careless.

“Planning to head to the after-party?” I asked even if I already knew he was unlikely to go, spending every moment he could with me in the comfort of a bed. His grip tightened on a sharp turn before he shook his head, landing his gaze on me. The way his eyes reflected the lights on the street made me want to stare at them forever, almost like stars. 

“Have to celebrate with you” His soft smile made my heart leap like it was our first date all over again. I could only smile back feeling my cheeks warm up thankful for the most part it was dimmed. 

We got to the hotel and walked together to the side entrance trying our best not to be noticed. We successfully got into the elevator and went to where my room was. What I spotted next made me stop in my tracks.

My dad was leaning against the door staring (more like glaring) at us who were now holding pinkies. My hand quickly dropped and I could feel my own heart drop before speeding up. 

“Dad-“

“Not another word. I saw the pictures. I can’t believe I almost believed you when you said you two were just friends” He scoffed at his own actions, looking away for just a second. 

“Sir I-“

“You can not have a word in this. You have-“

“Dad, you can not to him or me that way. I love you, but you have to understand that I have to make my decisions and live my own life. Stop trying to keep me hidden, whether you like it or not. I am in a relationship with Carlos. I am sorry you had to find out without me telling you, trust me when I say that I wanted to tell you myself” He stood quiet for a moment, looking between the two of us as I stood closer. 

“Y/n I gave you a simple rule” His stare softened at my pleading eyes. “But, it’s already happened, and while I am not a fan of how I found out. I can’t do anything but accept it” 

“Thank you,” I said giving him a hug to which he tightly wrapped his arms around me giving me a small kiss on my head. We let go of each other and the two of them gave each other a nod before he left. I shrugged “That wasn’t that hard”

“I need a drink of water” 

[pleasereadmeok]

A Goode year? ... 2024

Time for my usual review of Matthew Goode's (public) year. I usually sit down to write these thinking - hmm - we didn’t see enough of Matthew Goode this year and then get surprised by the number of Goode things that happened. But this year - OMFG there was hardly anything to write about. WTF? I know we have had droughts in the past but it's been a very lean year for Goode fans.

Oh well - we will make the most of the crumbs that we had.

January

December 2023's promotion of 'Freud's Last Session' continued into January and the praise kept on coming for Matthew's performance as CS Lewis.

Fans never doubted that Matthew would more than hold his own playing opposite Anthony Hopkins but it was still fantastic to have critic and audience reviews confirm our views.

These are some random reviews that appeared in January ....

Matthew Goode proves himself as a reliable character performer as Lewis. Squaring off against Hopkins is no easy feat, but the actor holds his own with quiet determinedness. [Punk Drunk Critics]

“It couldn’t be better cast, with both Hopkins and Goode slipping right into the skins of their characters and creating a sparkling chemistry. When the two are together the film makes for a mesmerizing study. “ [Keith and the movies com]

“Much of what we get is truly great material and the performances from Hopkins and Goode are exceptional.[Keith and the movies com]

Matthew Goode (“The Offer,” “The Imitation Game”) as C.S. Lewis, meanwhile, is as straightforward as Hopkins is slippery, and the two make a good pair. Lewis is not intimidated by Freud, nor is Goode intimidated by Hopkins. Both Goode and Lewis regard their older interlocutor with a mix of respect, affection and skepticism, as well as with a confident willingness to let a brilliant old showoff go into his dance. [San Fanscisco Chronicle]

Hopkins and Goode give masterful performances that transcend the conversation at hand.  [National Catholic Reporter]

February

In amongst the buzz around 'Freud's Last Session' we finally got confirmation of that Netflix series Matthew said he was due to start filming. Great news coz it's a goode one - a crime drama series, 'Department Q' adapted from the books written by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen.

📷 Netflix

The showrunner is Scott Frank who Matthew previously worked with on the 2007 film, 'The Lookout'.

Here's a summary from Deadline - Goode will play DCI Carl Morck. After a violent incident turns Morck’s life upside down, the emotionally scarred detective is charged with setting up cold case unit, Department Q, upon his return to work. At first, the disillusioned cop is happy to waste his days away, but his detective instincts are ultimately reawakened and his new department becomes a magnet for a crew of misfits and mavericks.

It got better at the very end of February coz we got the first proof of life for 2024 [we need more of those please] when Matthew attended the special screening of 'Freud's Last Session' in London. He was showing off his full 'Carl Morck' beardiness for the first time in public and we loved it.

📷 Yaffa Meskell

March

The promos for FLS kept rolling and extra screenings were added.... but then HACKETT!

Matthew joined up with Jenson Button and Hackett again to give us the Spring/Summer campaign. We got to see Matthew posing with doggies, playing croquet and looking cosy in beige (yes - BEIGE!) cardigans - so just your average trip to Seville. Although sitting on that trunk looks a bit eye watering. 😬 Ouch

📷 Tom Craig for Hackett

BUT the goode stuff kept coming coz cheeky Matthew had done a whole new movie appearance and WHO KNEW???? Well - we did ... in March.

Matthew was due to appear in the vampy movie 'Abigail' and we speculated about his role. Actually we didn't have to speculate too much coz when we found out that Abigail had a big, bad DADDY - we just knew. Vampy Dad 2 was coming soon!

April

In April we got some early sightings of Matthew doing a 'Carl' around Edinburgh including some squeally fan encounters. Loved this one from Sara Maude -

📷 Sara Maude

Sara told Edinburgh Live - "I absolutely had to get a picture with him, and I believe if you don't ask you don't get! He was an absolute delight, warm, friendly and down to earth - a true gent. To me, he is a sex god, and I was delighted to share that with him."

'Abigail' opened in April and we got to see Matthew as another vampy dad but this time - WITH FANGS!

OMG how he managed to even speak with those babies in his mouth was a mystery. But he was excellent as the supremely creepy vamp Kristof Lazar and audiences loved him too. His 'dinner' line brought the house down when I saw this 😂 Frikkin' hilarious.

Meanwhile 'Freud's Last Session' was going down well in Australia and there was lots of new praise for Matthew's portrayal of CS Lewis.

May

Oh, hello - here he is again in May. We know that Matthew is a totally geeky dad but - FISHING???

📷 James Murray

All in a good cause coz Matthew joined up with James Murray, Burn Gorman and Dominic West to catch some fishies (and put them back I hope) to promote the 'Off the table' campaign against farmed salmon.

📷 James Murray, Burn Gorman and 'Off the Table'

June

'Freud's Last Session' got its cinema release in the UK (at bloody last!) so I got to see Matthew on the big screen for the second time this year. Woohoo!

July

Nothing. Seriously, I GOT NOTHING!

August

There was a tiny update on 'Tally Ho' AKA 'Spiked' [Sort the name out guys - what's it gonna be?]

Kapers Animation gave us a few more pics of the amnesiac rabbit Walter - who will be our next crush - coz he's played by Matthew. So that's a given.

📷 Kapers Animation

Later in August 'A Discovery of Witches' popped up on Netflix in the US - which was great for the 3 people in the US who hadn't seen it yet. Seriously - so many more people discovering the joy of vampy Matthew is always GOODE news.

📷 Sky

September

Yep - you guessed it. Nothing.

October

To be fair I wasn't fully conscious for most of October so I probably missed stuff. None of the usual October golf appearances - so sad for him coz he bloody loves hitting a tiny ball with a stick. But nothing doing.

I know Matthew went on holiday with the family but that he and Sophie still found time to do something beyond kind for a very grateful fan. ☺️

November

Another proof of life at last thanks to the fabulous David Max Freedman - he knows we love BTS of Matthew and he delivered this of Goodey doing his ADR for 'Tally Ho'/'Spiked' -

📷 David Max Freedman

December

A truly bleak month with nothing. Not one scrap of news except that Department Q doesn't seem to be in Q1 for Netflix so we have to wait ...

But according to the Kapers website it looks like 'Tally Ho'/ 'Spiked' will be with us in Q1 next year

So bring it on Walt!

YEEEES!

Goode things coming... Spiked/Tally Ho, Department Q and what else? Last year Matthew was in 'talks' to possibly revisit the character of Robert Evans for something. The Wine Show season 4? Another movie or 3? Who knows? Whatever it is - it will be GOODE!

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] // Online/Offline [C.S] - one hundred and eleven* | pocket square

“So what’s going on with you two?” Yunho asked.

“Two of who?” San asked back.

“You and /yn.”

He shrugged. “We’re friends.”

Yunho turned from where he was standing at the mirror and raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?”

“Sure you are. You fake dated and you’re still just friends.”

“Friends can fake date and still be friends. No one would fake date a stranger.” He laughed.

Yunho rolled his eyes, turned back to the mirror, and went back to tying his tie.

San looked to Mingi, who was shining his shoes. Mingi shrugged, not exactly sure what conversation he was in the middle of. He nodded at San.

“So, uh. T/n was invited too, right?” Mingi started.

Yunho paused. “Was she?”

“You know she was-- Everyone was, stop pretending.”

Yunho went back to his tie. “Oh.”

“‘Oh’?”

Yunho turned, fumbling with his tie as he spoke. “What do you want me to say, huh? I stood her up last time and maybe she won’t hate me? That’d I’d honestly be lucky if she doesn’t completely hate my guts at this point?”

Mingi stood and slapped his hands away from the tie. “You were never good at this.”

Yunho acquiesced and sighed as Mingi tied it for him.

“You should make it up to her.”

“How?”

“Being there, for one thing.” San said flatly as he folded the pocket square for Yunho’s suit.

Yunho attempted to shoot him a look, but when San looked back with an expression of kind firmness, he couldn’t muster the annoyance.

“You know… y/n thinks that you could have gone to the last party but you chickened out at the last second.”

“I had to film.”

“The company scheduled filming during one of their own parties?” Mingi asked as he finished tying the tie and cinched it up as far as it would go.

Yunho looked betrayed for a moment as Mingi took the folded pocket square from San and tucked it into Yunho’s breast pocket.

“It was… Second Unit filming.”

“Did you need to be there?”

“...No.”

Mingi smiled as he finished adjusting the pocket square. “Then it looks like you chickened out.” He patted his shoulder and sat back down.

Yunho’s eyes drifted to the floor staring hard as he considered the accusation.

“Ten thousand won for your thoughts?” San asked.

“That’s a lot, isn’t it?” Yunho asked, eyes still on the floor.

He smiled. “I drive a hard bargain.” He stood and readjusted Yunho’s tie so that it was no longer noose-like around his neck. “I think that if you like t/n as much as you say you do, you’ll do something to make this right.”

“But I fucked her life up so much years ago… and for so long… how can I--”

“And she survived. And your fear that her leaving before you would ruin everything in general - nevermind purposely fucking up her life - was unwarranted. You survived.”

Yunho’s brow furrowed, confused.

San sighed. “I think that: meeting here, years later like this… I don’t think I believe in destiny. But I think that sheer dumb luck gave you a second chance that you’d be stupid to squander.”

Yunho nodded as San smoothed out his collar. 

“We so rarely get second chances in life, it would be stupid not to make this right, don’t you think?”

He nodded again. “But what do I do? What do I say? What--”

“You’re the one who’s known her all those years. That’s up to you.”

“But she’s changed.”

“Are you still the same person you were back then?”

He shook his head.

“You’ve changed so much, even from being ‘Dancer Yunho’ to becoming ‘Actor Yunho,’” Mingi added. “I’ve gone from ‘Single, Street Dancer Mingi’ to ‘Mingi Who’s The CEO Of A Dance Crew, Dating My Dream Girl.’” He looked at San. “I don’t know your whole story, but from what Yunho’s told me about you, you’ve changed a lot.”

San looked from Mingi to Yunho and nodded.

Yunho mirrored his nodding and whispered, “I just want her not to hate me anymore.”

“Then humble yourself.” San said plainly.

Mingi nodded.

Yunho looked at both of them and nodded.

c.s previous | main cast | masterlist | next

j.yh previous | main cast | masterlist | next

a/n: Humble and kindness… do you think he can do it? Do you think San can?

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[gingerfan24]

Ana (The Elder) facts pt. 1

1.) About as old as the Imperium itself as she was born during the later period of the Great Crusade to feudal world nobility (I will try to go into detail on her very messy backstory another time).

2.) Has long relied on a vast network of “wealthy and like minded patrons” in order to go about her work and travels but has recently come into possession of her own ship, The Wandering Lady, and couldn’t be happier about it (it’s also crewed almost entirely by robots).

3.) An appreciator of fine literature, she has many ancient Terran classics among her collection, including Frank Herbert’s Dune, JRR Tolkien’s various works as well as C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia (and many many more).

4.) She is also an appreciator of ancient Terran music. Among many things, she has somehow acquired (likely through inheritance) a mysterious portable musical device with the word “Sony” emblazoned across the front of it. This device has strange properties that allow it to play music from all sorts of eras of human history.

5.) Don’t ask her about what she was doing in the Badab Sector between 901.M41 and 913.M41.

6.) Undoubtedly has more heretical works in her collection as well, such as a genuine copy of In Defense of the Future: A Logical Discourse, which is the foundational text of a heretical sect active in the Calixis Sector called the Logicians.

7.) A very well-practiced biomancer, she is able to change her appearance at will and will often appear as either a beautiful young maiden or a stately old noblewoman.

8.) If you find yourself a guest on her ship you can be expected to be entertained in a lavishly and tastefully decorated dining area with a bar made from expensive Helican stone and a long dining table crafted from fine and antique Tanith lumber. Ana herself will undoubtedly be seen clothed in a fine dress for the occasion, laughing and telling tales of her escapades while robot servants busily go about their tasks around her and serving recaf, coffee, tea, amasec or whatever beverages you prefer. Feel free to sit a spell and share some tales of your own, she will certainly enjoy the company. Just be a good guest and try not to leave a mess on the carpet.

9.) Tis best to not mistake the old wanderer’s kindness and generosity for weakness. History is littered with the bloody corpses of those who have made this fatal error….

[filmmakerdreamst]

How Lyra and Will suffered as Protagonists in BBC's His Dark Materials

Despite the cast and crews open love for the novels, and the insistent diligence to stay as faithful to the source material as possible — even trying to fill in many of the gaps in the books, as seen in all three seasons of the show — the BBC adaptation never manages to capture the spirit (the only time I felt like it did was in the third season) because of the fact that every character is altered and changed. Not just adaptationally changed either like making a character dumber, softer or harder. They’re completely different characters, separated from the source material e.g. Mrs Coulter is changed from a seductive, calm character to a feral, suicidal character. I must admit, I did like the expanded self harm element that she causes her daemon. However I felt in the novel, if she were to harm her monkey, it would be ‘to keep her lust for power at bay’ rather than shame for herself.

The atmosphere was off yet the events were similar and the complete opposite at the same time. But you can’t have similar events play out with different characterisations, at least not with ‘His Dark Materials’.

Philip Pullman’s characters in ‘His Dark Materials’ are extremely charismatic, but to put it lightly, are not very palatable to say the least. As stated in @clarabosswald’s analysis, there seemed to be this weird need to make EVERY single character digestible or palatable in some way or another in the BBC adaptation, regardless of it making sense or not. I noticed this upon my re-read of ‘The Northern Lights’ that they even humanised the doctor that sexually assaulted Lyra by grabbing Pantalaimon, which was very troubling.

Now with the opposing ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ film, they changed the characterisations to make them more sympathetic and accessible to a contemporary audience. They even dug deeper with the character Edmund which I thought was a fantastic choice. But the reason why those character changes worked was because C.S.Lewis was not concerned with building character, he was much more concerned with the place of Narnia itself. He almost used his characters to explore the world of Narnia, e.g. some characters would leave one book and come back 5 books later — which is why some of the later adaptations of Narnia didn’t do as well in the box office as the first one.

The character changes in that film enriched the story without effecting it in a way, because ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ and the other books are driven by the plot. Where as ‘His Dark Materials’ is primarily driven by characters.

Philip Pullman in total contrast to C.S.Lewis, built the world (you could say he used the world) around the characters in order for them to get to Point A to Point B. But he was not concerned about exploring the multiverse so you could see the entire picture, like with C.S. Lewis.

I heard once that he described writing as wondering through a forest on a path and the path is your story. Theres a difference between the story world and the storyline. And as an Author, your concern is the storyline. It would be easy to step away and stray from the path and explore the forest and admire all the trees, but for him the most important thing to do was to remain on the path and focus on the story rather than the details along the way.

I’m not apposed to different versions of the characters or different storylines. But with ‘His Dark Materials’, those books are driven by specific character traits. And the fact that they changed them, while still being faithful to the events in the story, the story beats either don’t land or don’t hit as hard or don’t make sense altogether.

More specifically with the main characters Lyra and Will, but mostly Lyra since she’s the heart of the story.

Lyra is first and fourmost a liar, which may seem a small part of her character but its huge. Her ability to lie and get her way out of situations is the cause of many events in the books. She’s feral. She’s wild. She’s manipulative. She’s described as a ‘half wild cat’ and a ‘greedy little savage’. She can’t sit still or behave herself. She’s impulsive. She’s a leader. She gets into fights. She gets dirty. She spends all her nights on the rooftops. She’s an extrovert. She’s street smart. She’s selfish. She’s brave.

She’s an emotional and passionate human being. Thats what makes Lyra a real girl, not just a character on the page. These nuanced character traits of hers is how she pushes everything forward in the story.

All of those negative/positive aspects of her character in the books were watered down so much in the series. To the point where alot of them were removed. Not only is that incredibly dehumanising but makes the plot points where “she lies” not land as well or plot points revolving around her “telling the truth” make no sense at all.

The whole reason why she’s called Lyra Silvertongue is because she tricked the bear king with her lies, a trait which is consistent throughout the entire story — but completely nonexistent throughout the show. Her tricking the bear king in the adaptation came off as a lucky experience rather something that comes naturally to her. Even the ironic plot point of her being given the Alethiometer “a device that tells her the truth” didn’t hit as hard. They tried to establish her as a ‘liar’ in the second episode of season one then gave up completely as the show continued on.

But the weird thing is, those flaws were still mentioned by other characters in the show, when it was not the character they were developing. Characters would mention that she’s a liar, insufferable, selfish or that ‘she doesn’t apologise easily’ — which seemed like an over exaggeration since the show version of her isn’t really any of those things. This applied when characters such as Lee praised her for being ‘brave’ and ‘good’. I heard a HDM podcast recapping season 2 saying that “her character in the show wasn’t hitting the right emotional beats” to be a child of a great destiny that every character seemingly falls over themselves to give their lives for her.

TV Lyra hasn’t completely lost her flaws, but she’s not as nearly as flawed as she was in the books. She felt so contained, rather than passionate. Which felt so odd because yes, Lyra grows out of some bad traits such as her rudeness, due to the influence of Will. But she isn’t naturally like that.

They changed her so much, but also tried to keep her “the same” that her character growth which is huge in the books felt like nothing had moved at all. It kind of got reduced to a simple thing like her innocence being taken away. It was like she wasn’t allowed to have any sort of loud, dislikable reaction in any way. It felt like they were taking away her agency.

And I know one of the biggest reasons why they changed her behaviour in the TV Show is because they aged the character up to 14–16 at the start. I get it. Theres a huge difference between 12 and 14 in terms of maturity . It works for the Will & Lyra romantic scenes as an adaptational choice later in the story (because she’s allegedly 12–13 in the books).

I think Dafne Keen was an inspired choice for the role of Lyra, since I saw some scenes of her in ‘Logan’ and I 100% believe she would of pulled off Book Lyra given the chance, but by the time they started filming she was already 13/14. And in all honesty, Lyra just becomes odd looking older. She’s just not convincing as a misbehaving little girl who can’t sit still, she just comes off as a really strange child thats immature or lacking in social skills. For example, there’s a scene between Mrs Coulter and Lyra in ‘The Idea of North’ where she’s telling a lie, but it doesn’t come off natural because 1. They didn’t establish her as a liar immediately and 2. Part of her ability to lie comes from her spontaneous nature of being a kid telling stories and using her imagination. Dafne Keen didn’t really look that age, for it to look like something she would do.

They also made her relationship with Roger more of a focus in the show, which makes sense as her motivation in the later half of the books comes from wanting to rescue him. However, they made him ‘the only friend that she has’ which I found to be a strange decision because Lyra in the books has tuns of friends. I would say their friendship is more balanced in the series, where as in the book it wasn’t so much.

She forgets him a few times while staying with Mrs Coulter in the book where as she remembers him constantly in the episode ‘The Idea of North’ which felt like a confused choice to me. They were trying to have it both ways; have her be seduced by Mrs Coulter while also actively asking her to look for Roger.

The imbalance in Roger and Lyra’s friendship is important because it adds to the need to set things right with him in The Land of the Dead. It goes to the core of how everyone thinks she is selfish. She needs to save Roger to prove to herself she’s a good person.

In the book, when Lyra dreams of Roger in The Land of the Dead, the two of them have constant talks of how much he’s suffering. In the show, she just has alot of ambiguous flash forward dreams of Roger, with the story not prioritising them as important as the main plot of ‘Asriel’s War’.

When she brings this up to Will in the episode, he dismisses it instead of agreeing to go (like in the book) because of his daddy issues, no I’m sorry, because of Asriel’s War which makes sense as it’s one of the main plots in the season — where it was more of a distracting B plot in the book — but it just kind of adds to the idea that “its unnecessary” or “why are they doing this?”.

The desire to get to Roger and apologise in the show doesn’t hit as hard because there was more of a balance in Lyra and Rogers relationship plus the changes to her character just made it seem like “she just wanted to do it” rather than it being the most important decision she ever makes, to try to better herself.

While they go to the suburbs of the dead, Will and Pan constantly question why she’s doing this (a conflict that was not in the book — Will is steadfastly loyal to her by this point and Pan is too shivery to speak) while Lyra just snaps at them, making her seem mean for no reason. When she has a chat with her death, she doesn’t lie that an angel told her to do it (because they didn’t establish her as a liar properly), she just says that she wants to be good which is not a convincing argument considering what happens next.

When Pan and her have the argument while she leaves him on the doc, which is a great scene on its own (it made me cry), it also adds to the unnecessary nature of it all. It’s a scene that makes sense in the book because of Lyra’s impulsive nature, but because of her seemingly calculative nature in the show, it just looks odd. It’s described in the book that if Lyra had heard Pan speak, she would have folded and never would of got on the boat, but since the show did the complete opposite of that, It makes the scene more harsh and cold.

I think what the writers were trying to do was make it more of a mystery like ‘why is she doing this’ ‘its not too late to turn around’ a mission that appears fruitless at first, but turns out to be the greatest act of humanity — but again, I still don’t think that works because of how much Lyra’s entire character is changed. The act is not just for everyone else. It’s a major step in her character growth, to care about others.

In the Land of the Dead, obviously they had to cut out the whole section where Lyra literally looses her ability to lie while she’s telling lies to the harpies, then learns to tell the truth to the dead. This is the final step for Lyra’s character, finally learning the power of telling the truth instead of lies. They didn’t replace that with anything, only with her telling the dead true stories, which was heartwarming on its own, but obviously those story beats don’t hit as hard in the same way because like I said, its not presented as the final step in her character growth, its presented as a one off scene. This is one of the reasons why her character is pretty static in the adaptation.

In the Land of the Dead, its Lyra for the most part (apart from one instance) that keeps a cool head, while Will looses his — which again, the complete opposite. In the books, its Lyra that goes off the rails and its Will that keeps her centred.

Which brings me onto how the character of Will is changed in the adaptation, and how that effects the story from the second book onwards.

Will was brought in by Philip Pullman in ‘The Subtle Knife’, to represent Lyra’s other half — in another parallel universe literally, and also to help her on her quest to fulfil the prophecy. If it was just her on her own with Pan, it wouldn’t work and would fail.

Though I was taken aback by his entrance in ‘The Subtle Knife’ — as it was such a jarring change coming from the suspenseful cliff hanger where Lyra walks into the new world after her best friend Roger got murdered — he quickly but surely became my favourite male literary character of all time.

I don’t have as a big of a problem with his character changes then I do with Lyra, because there were at least a few times in the show where he was allowed to act like ‘himself’. Amir Wilson was perfect casting as Will. It was like the character had just walked off the page it was that good. But all together, he’s a completely different character — which I can understand. Out of all the characters, I feel he’s the hardest to pin down and his development is done in a subtle and subconscious way.

Throughout the course of ‘The Subtle Knife’, he’s incredibly off putting as he’s mostly angry and tired and then he’s in pain because of his knife wound. It works in a book format, because your’e in his point of view and you understand that he’s a child thats at the end of his tether. But it would be hard to portray that in a nuanced way on screen, unless your’e clever with it.

They unfortunately took the easy route with his characterisation on screen by making him softer. Not only that, the writing for his character was incredibly inconsistent at times.

Will from the books is fierce. He’s frightening. He’s stoic. He gets angry. He’s a strategist. He does whats best for someone. He likes to stay invisible. He’s sarcastic. He’s an introvert. He likes to stay hidden. He’s practical. He’s a child carer. He’s naturally aggressive e.g. He beat up a bunch of boys at school because they were hurting his mother. He hardly smiles. At times, especially in the second book, he becomes incredibly depressed. He’s pretty much a 35 year old man in a young boy’s body. He’s incredibly soft, but the reader can’t tell until Lyra brings that out in him.

I would say Will is a more contained version of Lyra, yet the complete opposite of her. They’re like yin and yang. They both have something that the other lacks, and that helps them both grow up. Lyra brings out a softness out in him, brings out his impulsive nature where as he helps her strategise and learn not to just rush out and do things.

TV Will suffers from the same problem that TV Lyra does.

Every negative/positive aspect about him is watered down. Revealing a quite mild character. I feel that they didn’t touch on the fact that he was a child carer enough, which is a huge part of his character. It just came off as ‘he loves his mum’ more in the show. Will being a caterer is supposed to contrast Lyra whom didn’t grow up with parents and got to live out a childhood that he was never allowed to experience. This is a theme. Every character trait that contrasts Lyra in the books isn’t present so much. I would even go as far to say that they’re too similar in the TV Show.

I was wondering throughout the second season why the storyline was static and wasn’t going anywhere. Certain plot points such as Will being a murderer, Lyra helping Will find his father, The fight for the subtle knife and Will becoming the bearer of the Subtle Knife felt tacked on or weren’t hitting as hard as they should.

At first, I thought it was because the novel was ‘the weakest in the trilogy’. I often see ‘The Subtle Knife’ as a bridge between both ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’.

But since re-reading the book, I went ‘Oh my God, its because they changed Will’s character arc’.

TV Will, the more I think about it, does not suit becoming the bearer of the subtle knife. The only times we see him fighting is in the boxing ring. He expresses incredible regret over killing a man instead of brushing it off because he was protecting his mother. Even when he’s under threat, he says ‘I don’t want to hurt you’ He even has to be persuaded to fight. There’s even a moment in the show where he says “Maybe we’re better off not fixing the knife at all.” which kind of dismisses the practical nature of his character in the book. Plus the knife being a part of him, the same way as the Alethiometer is a part of Lyra. Even the remarks that Lyra makes about him being similar to Iorek the armoured Bear don’t make as much sense, because of the fact that he’s softer.

Book Will struggles with his warrior nature, and eventually learns thats not who he wants to be. But he isn’t naturally a soft person. He learns to be through his experiences and his relationship with Lyra. Which is why it was so odd to me that they included the line in the show where Will is saying to his father in the Land of the Dead “You told me that I was a warrior; That I can’t fight my nature. Your’e wrong.” I was just like, what are you talking about? That is so not the character the show had developed. TV Will had hardly been shown to fight anyone of his own free will — it didn’t make sense to me. They were trying to have it both ways. Completely ignoring his basic character traits and flaws, yet still going through the same arc (a somewhat watered down one) one e.g. idolising his dad for his whole life, realising his dad ain’t shit when he meets him, finding Lyra missing, ignoring the task his father set him etc.

Even the task that Lyra has to help Will find his father didn’t land as well because of the fact that the two of them were bonding straight away in the show, instead of it being like ‘oh no we’re stuck with each other’ to this slow process of her and Will learning to trust each other.

I understand that you have to translate Lyra and Will’s relationship alot differently in a Show format, because subconscious development doesn’t really work due to the lack of intimate point of views. Plus it adds to the narrative to flesh out their dynamic alot more on screen. The more something is changed in an adaptation, the more it stays the same.

I have openly praised the shows depiction of their relationship in another analysis I wrote (before i re-read the books) and how I loved how they gave them more soft moments. However, I will admit now that the soft moments that they had in season 2 felt off to me because they weren’t in character. I think, looking back I would of preferred more soft moments if they were in character.

Will’s initial softness towards Lyra in the show is partially to do with TV Lyra being much less feral and less of a threat. As a result their journey is warmer and far less angstier than it was in the books.

And that in turn messes with the tension.

The element of Will being slightly dismissive of her at the start, is important to how certain story beats land. It adds to the ‘OH SHIT’ when Lyra’s been taken and the task that his father set him that he’s been dreaming of his whole life suddenly isn’t important to him anymore. Thats why it’s such a big deal when he spends most of his time through ‘The Amber Spyglass’ looking for her.

But in the season 2 finale, it ends with Will going off into the sunset, presumably to fulfil is fathers wishes. Then in season 3, he finds her missing, goes ‘whoops’ and then there’s a montage of him trying to find her. Then when he does (quite easily) — he goes on about how “since his dad died he’s done none of the things that he asked him to do’ which makes him looking for Lyra within the show feel even more anticlimactic.

Also, this is more of a personal opinion that an analytical one, I did not appreciate when Lyra brought up going to the Land of The Dead, TV Will went “I saved you. I did everything I could to save you. You told me not to but I did it anyway” which felt to me like ‘Wow brilliant, of course you had to save her’

And instead of agreeing to go to the Land of the Dead with her like in the book, they had to insert some tension from ‘The Subtle Knife’ (because they messed with the tension in season 2) and have Will go on a rant about what his dad wanted him to do, Asriel’s war, dismissing Lyra’s wishes and even having him suggest maybe her dad regretted killing her friend.

This is something that Will from the books would never ever say, let alone to the girl that he loves. He’s fully aware how much her dad hurt her and he respects her too much by that point to ever suggest something like that. Even when he does think about ‘what his dad wanted him to do’ he’s still steadfastly loyal to Lyra. They were completely undermining the turning point in their relationship and Will’s character development by adding pointless drama to extend the episodes running time.

As mentioned in a very articulate post by @mamsellechosette24601 ‘the quest to find his father and fulfil his fathers wishes’ isn’t the point at all, its Will letting go of his childhood dreams, of realising what really matters is Lyra all along.

Now I’ve seen in another analysis of the adaptation that their path to falling in love in the show is alot clearer than in the books which I can understand and agree with (to a certain extent) because the books were much more concerned with philosophy than romance. This is true for the romance between Asriel and Marisa in the Book vs the TV Show as well.

The concept behind their relationship remains the same:

“Will and Lyra are very good people who learn to trust each other when they’re at their most vulnerable, they become the only thing they have in a terrifying world of enemies. By the end, when they realise they're in love only to discover they can never be together, they make the mature choice, however hard it may be.”

But their relationship is totally different in the TV Show because of their character changes.

I would say Lyra and Will have more of a enemies to lovers storyline in the books — where as the adaptation version of them doesn’t. The screenwriters clearly tried to iron out alot of the problematic elements, especially in the beginning and focus on them being “friends” more. I’m not apposed to them doing that, but the way they did it ended up muting a few of their scenes together.

I’ve actually made an argument in my other account (against the ‘His Dark Materials’ analysis saying that ‘the adaptation did a much better job at showing when Will and Lyra fell in love’) that their relationship development was a lot subtler in the books because the characters were alot younger and more immature. And that it was more ‘obvious’ in the tv show because they aged the characters up, therefore they could have more mature conversations and scenes together.

This was before I did my re-read.

After re-reading ‘The Subtle Knife’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’ comparing it with how their relationship is handled in the TV Adaptation. I would actually argue the opposite .

In some ways, the growing romance between the two of them is much more mature (and makes more sense) in the books than in the show, at least to me. Unlike in the TV Show, their relationship never enters into neutral territory, even when they finally learn to trust each other. Theres much less emphasis on their ‘friendship’.

After their brutal first meeting — where they attack eachother — in ‘The Subtle Knife’ Lyra is immediately taken with Will and constantly thinks about him and what he thinks of her. There’s even a moment in ‘The Amber Spyglass’ where she’s trying to hide that she’s in pain while they’re walking (because of all that time she’s been asleep) because she doesn’t want to appear weak in front of him. 

The way Lyra and Will meet in the show, is reminiscent of how children meet for the first time. Though quite skeptical of each other, they instantly bond and make friends after 5 seconds, because why wouldn’t they? They’re kids the same age after all. Even though there’s still an element of mistrust there, there’s hardly any conflict between them. They don’t play off each other as much. There is one moment where he gets angry at her for making him wait, but all that is solved in a minute because of Lyra’s ‘calm nature’

Even when Lyra gives Will away by accident and says that she lost the Alethiometer, he doesn’t shout at her. There are few comments here and there but theres no real tension between the two of them.

When Will and Pan have a conversation, its presented as Pan going up to him to have a chat after he had a bad dream rather than Will finding the courage to speak to him in the book and saying ‘I think Lyra’s the best friend I’ve ever had’. This is presented more as a statement in the show because their friendship has already been established and less of a discovery (as he wasn’t reacting to her that much in the book as he had alot on his mind).

Lyra and Will even have a talk about Pan’s conversation with him afterwards in the show. But in the book, that never happened. It’s mentioned later but never discussed, because of the fact that it was a private conversation between Will and Pan.

You could say this was another problem that the adaptation had. It’s mentioned multiple times ‘YOU CAN’T TOUCH SOMEONES DAEMON’ but not emphasised why thats the case.

In the books, it’s heavily implied that touching someone else’s daemon is the equivalent of touching someone’s genitals. There’s a moment in ‘Northern Lights’ where Lyra and Iorek find Tony in the fish house without a daemon and Pan wants to comfort him but holds back because of the taboo. Thats why it’s such a big deal when Pan comforts Will and starts licking him in the book.

In the show, its quite an underwhelming scene that lasts 5 seconds where Pan strokes Wills fingers and Lyra says in a quiet voice ‘In my world, your’e not supposed to touch someone else’s daemon but you didn’t do something wrong’

And don’t get me started on the 5 second panning away shot where they’re finally touching each others daemons, instead of the moving moment from the book. It didn’t feel like they really understood the gravity of what those scenes meant and what it meant for their connection.

Again, this is more of a personal opinion. Near the end of the final book, when they enter the world of the Mulefa, Lyra and Will trust each other more than they ever have, which shows how much they’ve both grown since ‘The Subtle Knife’. Mary even describes that she never saw ‘more trust on a persons face’. But in the show, there’s this weird forced tension between them for the sake of ‘romance’. They’re suddenly awkward teenagers with each other — which was not a choice that I liked because it didn’t come naturally.

And when they have to be ripped from each other, a whole page worth of them bargaining to be together is turned into ‘I didn’t think it was possible to feel this bad.’ and ‘This is all wrong’, plus Mary and Serafina being weirdly insensitive while Will and Lyra are in different locations rather than being with each other.

This is possibly why I didn’t feel anything when they had to be forced apart because, the way it was handled felt rushed and soulless. Plus I don't really think that Dafne and Amir had enough romantic chemistry in order for it to work.

Overall, despite there being more ‘soft moments between the two of them’ Show Lyra and Will’s connection feels alot more shallow and simplified.

In the books, I got the vibe that even though they were very young, you couldn’t imagine them being with anyone else but with each other. They were each others other half. They were essentially the only family they had in a world full of enemies. There was never a moment in the books, where they weren’t already in love with each other to some degree. It went beyond the typical romantic duality.

In the show, it felt more temporary. This is mostly due to their character changes (they were too similar in my opinion). Like a connection between friends that became romantic at the end of the journey. And it’s something they’ll get over because “It won’t always feel like this” or “Its much more romantic to live for love than to die for it” or “It might not seem like it now but you have a future”

I think that was one of my main problems with the TV Show, it lacked emotion. Not just as an adaptation, but in general.

More than anything, the adaptation felt too confused. It was trying to reimagine the story while also paying homage to the original material. And thats why overall — despite my enjoyment for some of the episodes especially in season 3 — it didn’t work as well as it should have.

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: great, unique and creative worldbuilding in sci-fi

A note: most of the books on this list are ones I cherish very highly (some are on my all time favorites list!). A few had a lower overall rating for me personally but still stellar worldbuilding and are of what I'd consider good objective quality even if I subjectively didn’t super enjoy them.

For details on the books, continue under the readmore!

Other book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding

Mermaid books

Dark sapphic romances

Vampire books

Feed (Newsflesh series) by Mira Grant

Zombies and news bloggers and presidential elections, oh my! A look at the world post-post zombie apocalypse, when society has gotten back to its feet but the zombie virus is still very much active. Humanity as a whole has been forced to adapt to the ever-present threat. Largely political, character and worldbuilding focused. There is some zombie action, but it’s far from the central focus.

Shades of Grey (Shades of Grey series) by Jasper Fforde

Walking the very thin line of giving you just enough information to follow the plot and grasp the overall idea of the world, but not enough to create info dumps or hand you answers not yet earned, Shades of Grey presents a world in black and white, where your perception of color determines your place in society. Is it fantasy? Scifi? Post apocalypse? Who knows! I sure don’t! Occasionally it hands you a tidbit of information that seems like a remnant of our world and you feel like you're onto something, but then some pages later said tidbit is turned on its head and you're back to square one. It’s delightful.

This Alien Shore (Alien Shores series) by C.S. Friedman

Space opera in which humanity found a way to faster than light travel and began establishing colonies all over the galaxy, only to belatedly realize the method of FTL caused irreversible mutations and disabilities and leaving their nascent colonies to die. Much later, many of the colonies have survived and thrived, and one has found a new way of FTL travel, allowing an interconnected space society to grow. However, Earth is on the hunt for their method and is prepared to do anything to steal it. Aside from cool worldbuilding, This Alien Shore also features some interesting commentary on disability and accommodation. And there are extra-dimensional space dragons!

Ninefox Gambit (Machineries of Empire trilogy) by Yoon Ha Lee

Military space opera where belief and culture shape the laws of reality, causing all kinds of atrocities as empires do everything in their power to force as many people as possible to conform to their way of life to strengthen their technology and weapons. It’s also very queer, with gay, lesbian and trans major characters, albeit little to no romance.

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch series) by Ann Leckie

Another space opera, in which sentient spaceships can walk the ground in stolen human bodies, so called ancillaries. One of these ancillaries, the sole survivor after the complete destruction of her ship and crew, is one the hunt for revenge. This series also does very cool things with gender!

The Quantum Thief (Jean le Flambeur series) by Hannu Rajaniemi

Place this one in the category of 'accept that you're gonna be confused as hell and just let the world wash over you'. The singularity has come and gone and humans can now easily upload, download and copy themselves into new bodies, not all of them human and not always willingly. Consciousnesses and time has become something close to currency. Follows a murder mystery on Mars.

Stray (Touchstone trilogy) by Andrea K. Höst

Young Adult. Cassandra accidentally walks through a wormhole and ends up on another planet, where she tries to survive in the abandoned ruins of a long since gone civilization. When rescue finally arrives, she soon finds her troubles are far from over as she gets embroiled in a war between her rescuers and monstrous creatures from dreamlike other dimensions. Mixes scifi elements such as space travel, vr and nanomachinery with fantasy tropes such as psychic powers, monsters, and interdimensional portals.

The Peacekeeper (The Good Lands series) by B.L. Blanchard

Alternate history in which Europe never colonized the Americas. Follow Ojibwe detective Chibenashi as he travels from his small home village to a city of living skyscrapers to solve a murder. While I found the mystery somewhat lacking, the worldbuilding and look at a contemporary North America never touched by European colonization is absolutely aces.

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

South African-set scifi featuring gods ancient and new, robots, dik-diks, and a gay teen with mind control abilities. An ancient goddess seeks to return to her true power no matter how many humans she has to sacrifice to get there. A little bit all over the place but very creative and fresh.

Leech by Hiron Ennes

I mean, this is probably scifi? Like Shades of Grey it hands you only just enough information to get by, and whether its historical fantasy, an alternate timeline, or futuristic post apocalypse is hard to determine. A sentient hive mind have taken over the entire medical profession to ensure the health of their host species. One of their doctors is sent off to an isolated location where they’re cut off from the rest of the hive mind, only to realize they’re faced with a rivaling parasitic entity.

Children of Time (Children of Time series) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Millenia and generation spanning scifi. After the collapse of an empire, a planet once part of a project to uplift other species to sentience is left to develop on its own, resulting not in the intelligent monkeys once intended but in sentient giant spiders. Millenia later, what remains of humanity arrives looking for a new home.

Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

A classic following a healer as she travels a post apocalyptic Earth with an alien dreamsnake to help people. When her snake dies, she must go on a journey to find a new one. The worldbuilding feels fairly vague, but not in an annoying way but in one that makes the world feel vast and mysterious and lived in. Just like in the real world you won’t get all the answers, but you do get the feeling of the world as a whole being much larger than the character and her quest.

The Outside (The Outside trilogy) by Ada Hoffman

AKA the book the put me in an existenial crisis. Souls are real, and they are used to feed AI gods in this lovecraftian inspired scifi where reality is warped and artifical gods stand against real, unfathomable ones. Autistic scientist Yasira is accused of heresy and, to save her eternal soul, is recruited by post-human cybernetic 'angels' to help hunt down her own former mentor, who is threatening to tear reality itself apart.

The Three-Body Problem (The Three-Body Problem series) Cixin Liu

While I felt the characters could’ve been better developed, this is undeniably a well-written novel featuring an alien race and culture developed on a planet vastly different from ours. Firmly in the realm of hard scifi, this is a realistic, fascinating and slightly terrifying look at how first contact may look.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

Eurovision in space! If you lose, humanity is doomed! Good luck! The sentient species of the galaxy have chosen to face each other not in war but in a musical contest, and now humanity is invited to partake. The problem? If we lose, our species as a whole will be exterminated. While I found this book as a whole slightly gimmicky, it’s a fun and flashy experience with some wild and creative alien species.

Escaping Exodus (Escaping Exodus series) by Nicky Drayden

Seske is the heir to the leader of a clan living inside a gigantic, spacefaring beast, of which they frequently need to catch a new one to reside in as their presence slowly kills the beast from the inside. While I found the ending rushed with regards to plot and character, the worldbuilding is very fresh and the overall plot of survival and class struggle an interesting one.

The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley

More fucked up biological spaceships, this time all women edition! It’s weird, it's gross, there’s So Much Viscera, it has biotech but in the most horrific way imaginable. Had I to categorize it I would call it grimdark military sf. It’s an experience but not necessarily a pleasant one. Features a mass of slowly dying world-ships, and the conflicts arising between them as they struggle to survive. It’s also sapphic but not what I'd call romantic.

Isle of Broken Years by Jane Fletcher

Young spanish noblewoman Catalina thinks she’s done for when the ship she’s traveling on is attacked by pirates and she’s captured. Things gets worse when the entire crew is stranded on an inhospitable island where time works strangely, dangerous monsters terrorize the woods and something alien stops them from leaving. Strong Lost vibes. Lesbian romance. Admittedly quite indulgent but very fun and creative.

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang

Slow and long and literary, Vagabonds presents a world a hundred years post a war of independence between Earth and Mars, after which two vastly different societies have grown. A close look at the impossibility of a utopia and how different circumstances allow for different cultures to grow, and how the two aren’t always compatible while neither is necessarily better or worse than the other.

Mortal Engines (Mortal Engines quartet) by Philip Reeve

Young Adult. On a barely survivable Earth humanity has taken to living on great wandering cities, hunting each other across the plains for resources. Tom lives in London, but when he intervenes to stop a murder, he falls off the city alongside a strange and hostile girl on the hunt for revenge. Aside from excellent worldbuilding this also features one of my most favorit female characters ever in Hester Shaw. If you’ve seen the movie, forget about it and read the book instead.

Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota series) by Ada Palmer

Centuries in the future, humanity has deliberatly engineered society to be as utopian as possible, politically, socially, sexually, religiously. Written in an enlightenment style and featuring questions of human nature and whether it’s possible to change it, and what price we're prepared to pay for peace, this book is simultaneously very heavy and very funny, and written in a very unique style. While still human, the society presented often feels starkly alien.

A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan duology) by Arkady Martine

Mahit, ambassador of a small station nation, arrives at the heart of the Teixcalaanli Empire, ready to battle for the continued independence of her people. In her head she carries part of the personality of her predecessor, there to guide her. A look at imperialism and the conflicting feelings of hate, fear and even admiration one can have towards empire. Also features a sapphic romance!

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb series) by Tamsyn Muir

I mean, you're on tumblr, you probably already know about this one. Trust me when I say it's exactly as good as people claim. There are indeed lesbian necromancers is space (quite a lot of them, actually), but also incredible worldbuilding that keeps growing with every new installment, interesting political commentary, morally complex characters with fucked up dynamics, and well-thought out plot that keeps you guessing until the last.

Railhead (Railhead trilogy) by Philip Reeve

Young Adult. Listen, Philip Reeve is so good at absolutely wild worldbuilding, I nearly included a third series of his on this list (hey go look up Larklight okay!). In a future where humanity travel between the stars using not spaceships but a portal-connected system of sentient trains, a young thief and street urchin is hired to steal something off of the Emperor's train.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon

More AI gods!

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White

Magic in space!

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang

Angels in space!

[taeyongsfemdom]

| A Deal With The Devil: Part II |

●femdom/serial killer!reader & older!male character.

●contains: violence, weapons, kidnapping mention, drugging, taeyong being a damsel in distress, small mention of a coma.

●PLEASE READ DEAL WITH THE DEVIL BEFORE THIS ONE ⚠️ I don't want nobody getting confused.

Um, hey ya'll.....

Before ya'll cuss me tf out, let me explain!

This story is long overdue. For those who don't know, I dropped part one of this duology about two years ago (I think) and ended it on a cliffhanger. One of the reasons why this took so long is because I had so many ideas bumping around in my brain and had moments where I was like-

But at the same time, I was like-

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I apologize for this taking so long lmao! Last thing i'll say is that this will be more "action-packed" and there will be a happy disney-esque ending! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did! Also happy new year!!! Let's start the new year off with a fic! I'm also working on something pretty big that will be dropping soon! So stay tuned bitches!

Love ya'll ❤️

"That motherfucker"

You scrambled around the room trying to calm yourself down, you woke up to the sight of Taeyong not being next to you and it sent you into a panic. You knew that the man that invited you both over was behind this when you found the note sitting on a pillow.

"Thanks for bringing me a new toy. Taeyong is mine now, bitch" - C.S

you sent out a text to your assistant Mark to pull up with back-up just in case, you could handle the man by yourself but things were going to get messy. You wanted to be in style before handling Swan yourself, the grey blazer with chains hanging off it covered the yellow dress that hugged your curves and a pair of grey high heeled boots on your feet. You took a quick spin in the mirror as the loaded gun strapped to your thigh peeked under your dress before heading out into the hallway to look for Taeyong.

"Don't worry little rose, I'm coming"

The sound of your heels echoed throughout the halls, Swan's house was huge but you knew it like the back of your hand. The man was hiding the boy somewhere in the house, and you weren't gonna rest until you found him. You're eyes spotted the cracked double doors in the hallway that led into Swan's home theater, you quietly walked inside to it being empty, you jumped when the screen turned on to show various videos of Taeyong during his time as an idol. A clip of his laugh made your heart race as you felt a small anxiety attack on the rise, the screen began to distort as words appeared that said.

"YOU WON'T FIND HIM...GET OUT"

Anger took over as you ran out of the theater and back into the hallway, this was clearly Swan trying to mess with you.

"Get it together Y/N. You need to find Taeyong and get out of here"

You took a few deep breaths and checked your phone and saw that your backup had arrived. A small smile appeared on your lips as you typed out specific instructions for them to follow as you kept looking.

~

The front door creaked open as Mark, Mason and the newest addition to your team Amanda, carefully walked into the quiet house, the three of them in complete awe from how large it is.

"You're telling me that boss and Taeyong are somewhere in here?? We'll be here for hours!"

"Mason, what does she want us to do?"

"She said that she wanted me to meet up with her and find Swan. Mark, she wants you and Amanda to look for Taeyong. She said to be careful and be alert of everything around you since Swan is dangerous"

The both of them nodded as the three of them split up deep into the house, various small beeps could be heard in the halls from a hidden camera at the corner of the ceiling.

"Well, well, well! Everyone seems to be looking for my new doll. Y/N had to bring her little crew with her...pathetic"

Swan chuckled to himself as he looked into another camera that zoomed in on Taeyong sleeping like an innocent little angel.

"Mmmmm, goddess?"

Taeyong opened his eyes to sun shining in the bedroom, he rolled over to see that weren't next to him, but he didn't think much of it and assumed you were at work. The room he was in was an exact replica of yours inside of your home, the boy got up out of bed and headed to the bathroom, not knowing there was someone watching him.

"Hope you're ready to say goodbye to Y/N, little doll. You're mine now"

There was a small little breakfast cart parked next to the bed that Taeyong noticed immediately after leaving the bathroom.

"Ooh food!!"

~

"God, little rose where are you???"

"BOSS??? BOSS????"

You turned to see Mason running towards you, you ran right into her arms and hugged her tightly, she knew right away that something was wrong just by the way you were hugging her.

"Mason, thank god!"

"I didn't think I was gonna find you! What the hell is going on here?"

"It's a long story."

You pulled her in a nearby room, took a deep breath as she crossed her arms across her chest, waiting for an explanation.

"The other day, Swan made a deal with me where he wanted something in exchange for my annual company review. I was hesitant at first but I did it anyway"

"What did he want in exchange?"

Your heart started racing again.

"He wanted Taeyong. He said if I didn't go through with it, Mark would be fired. I couldn't let anything happen to him, so I brought Taeyong here and Swan & I did a plethora of things to him. After we were done, I took him to the bathroom and gave him a bath and then we went to sleep…then next thing you know"

Mason noticed the tear sliding down your cheek.

"I didn't see him lying next to me anymore, and I thought he was in the bathroom but he wasn't in there and my heart sank. I started freaking out because he's always next to me, that man took him from me and I have no idea where he is and I'm horrified that he might happen do something to him"

"Hey hey! Boss it'll be okay! Calm down"

"Mason. You know I don't cry, but I'm scared. I'm so scared. Taeyong means so much to me"

Mason pulled you into a tight hug as you sobbed into her shoulder, her hand rubbing your back. Mason has never seen you like this before in years, you rarely got emotional, but this was something very different.

"Boss, we're gonna find him! You don't have to do this alone. Mark, Amanda, and I are here to help you! Also your outfit is fabulous by the way! Wait...is that Taeyong's SuperM teaser outfit? It looks so good you, bitch!"

You laughed and hugged her again tightly as you wiped your tears away, the both of you going into the hallway to start the search up again until the sound of your phone dinging.

"Who is it?"

You pulled out your phone and found a text from Swan.

"Meet me in the ballroom. Alone"

"Fuck. I need you to find Mark and Amanda and go to the ballroom. I may need backup"

She nods as you head off to the ballroom to get your little rose back and take care of Swan.

~

"I can't believe she made me breakfast before she left! She's so sweet"

The butterflies in Taeyong's stomach started fluttering around as he looked at a framed picture of you and him that Norilyn took a while back and it made him smile.

"I wonder if she feels the same way about me"

A gloved hand opened up the door carefully as a hooded figured walked toward the boy who was distracted by the picture in his hand. He looked up and saw the figure in the reflection of the mirror in front of him, the picture fell out of his hand and shattered onto the floor before Taeyong let out a blood-curdling scream.

"NO! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!! SOMEBODY HELP PLEASE!"

~

The ballroom was extravagant as hell, the room was literally dipped in gold but dark at the same time. Your heels clicked against the floor as you looked all over for Swan, the gun you had on your thigh was strapped to was in your hand since you had no idea what the man had planned.

"Oh Y/N!!!!!!!"

You quickly turned to find Taeyong held tightly against Swan's chest as he was towering over him, a predatory grin plastered across his face as you held the gun right to him, Taeyong’s sweet chocolate eyes was filled with fear as he saw you with the gun.

"I hope you got my thank you note! My new doll and I have been waiting for you!"

"Let him go..."

You said through gritted teeth.

"I don't think I'm gonna do that! You fell into my trap and you were dumb enough to go through with it. Taeyong made this easy for me too, he really thought he was safe at home, but he was actually in the dollhouse that I created"

You kept your grip tight on the gun.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TAEYONG TO BE MINE! When I found out that you were managing him, I started coming to your company quite often to get the opportunity to see where he was, but he was never there. I remember when you invited me to dinner at your home and was shocked to find him living with you! IMAGINE WHAT THE WORLD WILL THINK WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT TAEYONG IS FUCKING AROUND WITH HIS MANAGER! I had one of my men take pictures of your home so I could create my own little version of it"

Taeyong winced in fear as the man was shouting right by his ear, Swan's large hand grazed his throat and that made your blood boil.

"You better not take a step closer, or Taeyong might end up with his throat slit open"

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HIM"

The man grinned again as he pulled out a syringe of clear liquid, the needle lightly poking Taeyong's throat. Your eyes went to the door behind him opening to reveal Mason peeking out, giving you the notion that she's ready to strike.

"GODDESS HELP ME!!!!"

"Put that gun down or Taeyong dies. Just be a good girl and obey a man for once, Y/N"

Before he could say another word, Mason ran up behind Swan and swatted him in the back of the head with the butt of her gun. Taeyong flew out of his arms and onto the floor, a bloody gash appeared behind Swan's head as you kicked him in the balls, making him scream.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH"

Mark and Amanda ran in to find you and Mason fighting Swan making the both of them stand off to the side.

You gave the man several punches right to the nose, blood getting all over your hand before he grabbed your boot, his face looked disgusting as he was covered in blood.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!"

"LET ME GO!"

Your boot smashed right into his face as he scrambled across the floor. The butt of Mason's gun hit him on the head yet again, instantly knocking him out. The both of you breathed heavily as it was finally over, your finger went down to feel his neck for a pulse.

"Is he dead?"

"No, and I don't want him to be. I want him alive! Call Kun and his team so they can take him"

"Already done!"

"BOSS!!! COME QUICK!"

"Oh God..."

Your heart dropped when you saw Mark and Amanda hovering over someone lying on the floor, you ran over quickly to find Taeyong lying on the floor unconscious.

"LITTLE ROSE?? LITTLE ROSE!!!!! TAEYONG WAKE UP!!!!

"He's alive, but his pulse his faint!"

"How did this happen???"

Your eyes went to the syringe that shined across this floor.

"Swan had a syringe at his throat filled with something. I don't know what it is but I'm gonna find out. Mason I need you to stay here while Kun cleans up! I need you to grab my suitcase that's in his office. Mason, Amanda, get Taeyong in my car so we can get the fuck out of here"

~

"This is all my fault"

You were sitting at Taeyong's bedside while he was still unconscious. One of your personal doctors came to examine him, turns out Taeyong was in a coma due to the drug that Swan injected into him. The doctor said he was gonna be just fine, and needed rest. Norilyn and Amanda were in the room sitting on the couch watching you sulk.

"Y/N, everything is gonna be fine! All he needs is rest"

"Nori, I should've never done this. It's my fault that Taeyong ended up like this"

"No it's not! It was your piece of shit boss! Don't beat yourself up over this. Taeyong is gonna be okay, how about you just talk to him, that usually helps with waking someone up"

You looked over at the boy while he laid there, even unconscious, Taeyong still looked devastatingly beautiful while rays of sunlight hit his face.

"Boss listen, I know this might be a weird suggestion, but what if you kissed him? Y'know! That true love's kiss thing? It's supposed to work everytime."

Amanda gave you a light smile, while Norilyn rolled her eyes.

"Wow that's a great recommendation A! But like, this isn't a disney movie, plus we have one little problem"

"What's the problem?"

"I can't say the L-Word"

"Oh...well it was just a suggestion"

Norilyn sighed and patted your back as she stepped out, Amanda following her before you grabbed her hand.

"Amanda, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yes, of course!"

She sat down right next to you, your hand still holding hers.

"What if I do kiss him, and...he doesn't wake up"

"Well that depends honey. Are you in love with him?"

"That's the thing, I don't know"

"What I recommend is for to you is to listen to your heart. That's all I'm gonna tell you"

She smiled at you one more time before she leaves the room, your eyes going back to Taeyong. You started replaying the love confession he gave to you a while back and that made your heart flutter, he spilled his whole heart out to you and you ran away in fear of breaking his heart, your finger moved a piece of hair out of his face as you leaned in for a second before pulling away.

"Don't freak out, don't freak out! Norilyn says it's okay to be in love, I really do think we feel the same....but I don't know. I remember the day we first met, seeing those sweet chocolate eyes right after he fell in front of me. It was like things were meant to be!"

Norilyn and Amanda peek into the room to see if anything happens.

"Does he love me? Of course he does! He's crazy about me! And I'm crazy about him...more like obsessed actually. Is a kiss even strong enough to wake him up? This isn't a fairytale but it's worth a shot!"

"Just one kiss, this moment could be it. God I wanna know! Here I go..."

"Is she gonna do it???"

You try leaning in again before hiding behind a dress mannequin, Amanda and Norilyn sighing in disappointment in the doorway. You slid behind the curtain and hid for a second before popping out and going to the bed one more time.

"Here I go, here I go, here I go..."

You leaned down and pressed your lips against Taeyong's as you kissed him, your heart fluttered for the first time a very long time. You pulled away and pressed your nose to his as his eyes fluttered open to find you glowing in the sunlight. You looked to see him wide awake staring at you with a smile.

"Goddess?"

"Oh my god...little rose!!!!"

"What happened? I had a dream that someone kissed me"

A small gasp left you as he stretched his arms, his brow raising with confusion.

"Little rose, we need to talk"

The both of you walked onto the balcony of the room, your eyes were glued to his while he smiled at you.

"I kissed you"

"Y..you kissed me?"

"I did, it's a long story that I don't have time to get into, but there is something I need to tell you"

Your hands held his tightly.

"Taeyong, I'm in love with you! I've always felt the same way about you. Ever since you told me how you felt about me, I thought about it everyday and I just had my heart locked up for so fucking long. Ever since my break-up with Dante, I was just scared to fall in love again. Until I met you, I'm sorry that ran away when you spilled your heart out to me"

"Goddess it's okay! It just took some time, I know it was kind of unexpected for me to say that to you but-"

Your finger pressed against his lips to make him quiet.

"Shhh, just shut up and kiss me”

You wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders as he leaned in to kiss you, his pretty lips felt amazing against yours. Taeyong’s hands rested lightly on your waist while your hands messed with his hair, Amanda's jaw dropped as she peeked in the room saw you both kissing on the balcony.

"Taeyong's awake....TAEYONG'S AWAKE! TAEYONG'S AWAKE!! NORI TAEYONG'S AWAKE!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

You both pulled away as you gave him a huge hug, an innocent smile was stuck on his face as he held you tightly, not wanting to let you go.

"I love you, little rose"

"I love you too, goddess"

This might not be normal fairytale, but a villian can get a happy ending too.

The End

[kyl3gutz]

fu ck it, cing on main

I have a GG oc (gasp shock the horror) and I love him very much so here's everything about him for you all.

-

Name: Mauve Roux

Age (can list how old they’d be in each game): Roughly 18 in strive

Species: Human

Origin (Nationality): Australian

Affiliation: Nobody!

Backstory: Mauve was once a young girl with a giant paint brush, aiming to become the best artist in the world! Yet.. that dream was lost a long time ago. That girl found himself, and now he’s a rough and tumble young man. The most annoying and active graffiti artist who has a bounty of about W$250,000.. of course he has his secrets. He got into some bad fights back in Australia and ended up killing some people by accident, causing him to panic and run to Illyria. Now, he runs around graffitiing things.

Personality: Mauve is an overconfident asshole to put it simply. He doesn’t care about where he is or where he’s going, he’s one to only focus on the present. His insistent ‘nemesis’ is his only real worry, and even then she’s not worth the worry! He loves art, though he finds poetry quite “trashy”.

Status (Dead or alive): Alive

Abilities: Mauve can control paint at will, he mainly uses this to create “paint bombs”. He fills vials with paint and then throws them, he makes the paint expand to cause a large explosion.

Weapon of Choice: Two spray cans with trigger attachments to make ‘paint guns’ 

Friends, family, enemies, etc: Bridget (Nemesis, in his eyes), Axl (Friends, somewhat. Mauve doesn’t mind him), Slayer (Acquainted.)

--

Moveset 

Mechanic - Paint Meter

Mauve has some attacks that will affect a meter placed over the opponent’s tension bar called the Paint Meter. If the paint meter is full, Mauve will now start doing more damage. The paint meter is reset after Mauve does a super or certain specials, after the opponent bursts, Roman cancels or does a super. If the opponent takes no damage for a long enough time, the meter will drain. 

5P - A quick jab forward, basically the same as most other characters

5K - A quick kick forward, can gatling into a second quick kick forward that will knock Mauve back after he uses it.

c.S - Mauve uses his spraycan guns to shoot small spray of paint that fills the paint meter slightly if hit

f.S - Mauve shoots a spray of paint to just a bit under midscreen, slightly fills the paint meter if hit.

5H - Mauve sprays forward twice, this move is risky but can yield good damage if hit correctly. (Probably a combo ender?) Slightly fills the paint meter if landed.

6P - Mauve does a snazzy little click upward, this is an anti air. As most 6P’s are

6K - Mauve kicks more upward, functioning as an antiair 

6S - using both of his spraycan guns, Mauve will do a long spray forward, reaching just a bit ahead of midscreen. Fills the paint meter slightly if hit. 

6H - Mauve will throw a paint bomb down on the ground, this will deal more damage the more he’s taken in a round. Fills the paint meter about 1/8th of the way if hit. 

Specials

Cover your eyes! (236K) - A Parry, Mauve will shield his face. If hit, he will then spray the opponent several times. Fills the paint meter 1/5th of the way if hit.

Not safe from me! (214H) - Mauve will throw a paint bomb all the way to the other side of the stage, it will then explode and deal damage. Stunning the opponent if hit. Fills the paint meter 1/8th of the way if hit.

Runback (63214S) - Mauve will rush forward, if this is landed he will toss the opponent as far away as he can.

Heads up! (236S in the air) - Mauve tosses a paint bomb down onto the ground, if this lands he’ll throw a second before plummeting to the ground. Fills the paint meter 1/8th of the way if hit.

Cleanup crew, stat!!! (214K) - Mauve will spray some paint 3 times to mid screen, if all three of these hit, he will then do a fourth one. Fills the paint meter 1/5th if all are hit, if not then only 1/8th of the way.

Make it rain! (236H) - Mauve will toss three paint bombs into the air, they’ll fall at different points of the stage depending on how long this is held for. Fills the paint meter 1/8th of the way if hit.

Paint Specials (Only can be used while Paint meter is at max):

Blitz! (41236P) - Mauve will do a ton of short sprays forward, this can then be chained into one of his other paint specials

Better hold on tight! (214P) - Mauve will toss a paint bomb just in front of him, this can be chained into his other paint specials..

Lookin’ Good! (236S on the ground) - Mauve will spray forward then step forward to ‘admire his work’. Thing is, if he’s close enough, he will step on the opponent’s foot. This can chain into his other paint specials.

After 5 paint specials are hit, reset the paint meter. 

Supers

Make it pour! (236236P) - Mauve will throw many paint bombs into the air, causing big damage across the screen. If the paint meter isn’t full when this is landed, fill it halfway. Otherwise, clear the paint meter.

Seven Spray Death Blow (214214P) - Mauve does two sprays forward, if both are landed then this super will continue. Mauve then sprays the opponent 4 times before finishing with his finale. He spray paints the words “Seven Spray Death Blow” onto the opponent. If done near the wall, this triggers a wall break. Always resets the paint meter regardless of how full it is when this is used.

--

Voicelines

Intro Quotes (Generic):

(P1) “You better not give up halfway!”

(P1) “You’d look better in pink.. i can paint that onto you!”

(P2) “I’ll get you good!!”

(P2) “If you turn me in after this, I’ll never forgive you!!”

Round win:

“Aha! That’s the stuff!!”

“Easy now.. you gotta let the paint dry!”

“Don’t cry.. I can’t let the paint job get screwed up!”

“C’mon, is that really all you’ve got? You’re going easy!”

Round Loss:

“You’re good.. Owch..”

“My vials!”

“Ough.. my ribs..”

“Is that blood?!”

Timeout:

“Oh god damn it!”

“Times up already..”

“You better get this done quicker next time!”

“Stupid time limit..”

Victory Quotes (Generic): 

“Hey now, it’ll wash out.. EVENTUALLY!!”

“Hmm.. did i go a little too hard with this one? Nobody likes a bruised and battered art piece…”

“Hehehe.. Better luck next time !”

Taunts (Generic): 

“I like the look of this..”

“Just needs a little on the left..”

“You’ll keep letting me hit you, right?”

“To think this is what they’re sending these days!”

Taunts (Unique):

(Bridget) “You’re off your game, Shelia!”

(Bridget) “Is this really the best you can do?”

(Axl) “Easy now! I don’t wanna paint you too badly, think of what she would say to me! Hah!”

(Slayer) “How?! How am I getting the upper hand?!”

(Bedman?) “..I’m tired, can I take a nap on that bed? Because this match is BORING ME!”

Respects (Generic):

“Oh, you’re not even dirty!”

“How do you keep getting away from my shots, it’s so cool!”

“Maybe i need to up my game..”

“You better come hang out after this!”

Respects (Unique):

(Bridget) “Ooh, yeah, you’re not playing around this time.”

(Axl) “If it helps you feel a little better, I’m not even bruised! Just very.. very cut up from those sickles.. Owch..”

(Slayer) “Ahaha.. expected nothing less!”

(Mauve) “You’re too good! I can’t let a copycat get the better of me!!”

Intro Quotes (Unique):

Normal text is Mauve, italics is the other character

Against Bridget

“Eep! You again??”

*”Yes, me again!!”*

*”Are you gonna go down this time?”*

“Nah.. are you?”

Against Slayer

“Woah.. am i in over my head?”

*”I would certainly hope not.”*

*”You don’t seem to be in quite good spirits.”*

“..eh.. eh.. eh.. eheheh.. I’m so gonna die..”

Against Mauve

“Me?! Okay, who screwed up this time?”

“Eh?! You better not be some kinda.. weird clone faker person!”

“Hey, what colours do you have there?”

“I got enough, that’s what i got! Why, you wanna collab?”

Victory Quotes (Unique):

Against Bridget

“HAHA!! Mauve wins again!”

“Now will you stop trying to turn me in?”

Against Slayer:

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod okay.. note to self, DONT PICK FIGHTS WITH VAMPIRES.”

“Hehehe.. haha.. ha.. how’d i live that!”

Against Axl

“Hey, big fella, the 90’s called, they want you back!”

Against Johnny:

“Wait, are you THE Johnny? In the flesh?! Ohmygod i am so sorry!!!”

Against Mauve

“Righto, faker! Go back to hell where you belong!”

“Well.. that was weird.”

Using moves (not including grunts or similar);

Cover Your Eyes

“Need to take cover!”

“Get off of me!”

“Try not to get this in your eyes!”

“Cover your eyes!”

Not Safe From Me!

“Over there!”

“Hey, step back a little!”

“Look out! ..or not!! Hehe..”

“Not safe from me!”

Runback

“Eep! Get away!”

“Over there!”

“Nope!!”

“Runback!!”

Heads Up!

“Up here~!”

“Hey, look up!”

“Heads up!”

“Bonk!!”

Cleanup Crew, stat!

“Cleanup Crew, stat!”

“Better know how to wash paint off!”

“Haha!! Take this!”

“Take that!!”

Make it Rain!

“WOOP WOOP!”

“Make it Rain!!”

“Hahah!! They’ll be washing this out for days!”

“SPLAT!”

Paint Specials

Blitz!

“BLITZ!”

“HAHA! CALL THAT A FINISHING TOUCH!”

“PRETTY, JUST LIKE ALL MY WORKS!”

“TSST! TSST! HOW YA LIKE THAT??”

Better Hold On Tight!

“Hold on!”

“Hold on tight!”

“Better stay still!”

“Bumpy ride!”

Lookin Good

“My best one yet!”

“Mm.. Lookin Good!”

“Better frame this one! Heh..”

“You look better like this!”

Supers

Make it Pour!

“MAKE IT POUR!”

“THIS IS MY MASTERPIECE!”

“AHAH!! WAIT UNTIL THEY SEE THIS ONE!”

“PAINT! PAINT! AHAHA!!”

Seven Spray Death Blow (two parts)

“Gotcha!” -> “SEVEN. SPRAY. DEATHBLOW!”

“This is the end!” -> “SEVEN SPRAY DEATHBLOW!”

“Now you’ve done it!” -> “SEVEN SPRAY DEATH BLOW!”

“Oh, i know what you need!” -> “And done!”

--

Mauve’s Theme - “Colours of Life”

Funky little riff goes here

(Verse 1)

Paint dries without me, a sign of safety.

How do you know I’m not around?

It’s tranquility, a real sense of security 

I’m here to break it all DOWN!

Let’s go with yellow for hope and green for guilt

Each colours knits into its own special place and-

Blue for peace and pink for im-ma-tur-it-y

It’s the Colours of life you’ll see! 

(Prechorus)

(Possibly whispered or with that radio effect seen sometimes in here?)

WOAHHH!-

DOWN ON 5TH STREET!

Ba-dum Ba-dum

HURRY UP!

Ba-dum Ba-Dum-Bum-Dum

THAT DAMN ARTIST WON’T GET BACK ON HIS FEET!-

Don’t get cocky.

(Chorus)

(Clear now)

Let me know!

When you’ll let the colours flow.

Let me know!

(HEY! HEY! WOAH!)

I won’t go!

Not without showing off my life’s work!

I won’t go!

(HEY HEY! WOA- NO!)

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no-

NOPE!

Little break here

(Verse 2)

Find yourself within your passion.

That’s good! (Let’s use Purple for-)

Find your love within the things you strive for.

Can’t forget to.. keep the show on the road. 

Can’t let it stop now! (Let’s use orange for-)

Can’t forget your goal from the inside of a hole.

That’s what my art is for!

Buried myself in shades of gray, where did it get me?

Covered in hues of red and tears of blue now-

Why can’t you see? The bad one isn’t me!!

You’re stuck in a system that pulls you on strings.

(Prechorus)

(Again go all like fuzzy here)

WOAH!-

Hey, i know you’re there!

Ba-dum Ba-dum

You can’t hide from me!

Ba-dum-bum-dum-bum-dum

Welcome to the show!

WOAHHH- NO!

Better not let myself get caught now!

The colours of life can’t be spread across the world once I’m gone!

(YEAH!)

You already know!

BUZZ OFF! BUZZ OFF! THIS IS NUNYA BUISNESS!

(Chorus)

(Clear now)

Let me know!

When you’ll let the colours flow.

Let me know!

(HEY! HEY! WOAH!)

I won’t go!

Not without showing off my life’s work!

I won’t go!

(HEY HEY! WOA- NO!)

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no-

NOPE!

Insert long break here.

(Bridge)

Why must we keep running? (and running, and running, and running-)

Why must I hide? (Secret, secret, I’m a real secret!)

Questions that can’t be answered before one!

Who are you really now?

(Hey, hey, hey!)

WHO AM I NOW?

(Woah! Woah! Woah!)

WHO IS MAUVE NOW?

(Hey! Hey! Hey!)

WHO IS HE NOW?

(Woah! Woah! Woah! Woa- NO!)

(Chorus)

CAGES WON’T HOLD ME!

Better not get slop-py now!

NOR WILL CHAINS!

(YEAH, YEAH, TELL ‘EM ROUX!)

YOU WON’T WIN!

Not without a real struggle

I WON’T GO DOWN!

(Yeah! YEAH! YEAH!!)

Or, I dunno!

(WHO AM I NOW!)

QUESTIONS UNANSWERED!

And more keep popping up!

QUESTIONS UNKNOWN!

(WHO ARE YOU NOW?)

THE PAST CAN’T HURT ME!

Or that’s what I’m meant to say!

THE FUTURE IS THE GOAL!

Or something, I dunno!

(Outro, Spoken)

Ugh, god. Was i getting poetic back there?

Damn it.. that was so cheesy..

Lameee!!~

Little ending riff goes here

—

Past Looks

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feel free to ask any questions ^.^

[fairmerthefarmer]

More character designs except this time they’re fantasy dwarves and whenever I draw fantasy dwarves they legally all need to have facial hair regardless of gender cause I think that’s cool.

Also these guys are all secretly Narnian and are also on the crew of the Dawn Treader cause I’m forever building out the crew in my mind, and it’s practicing doing my own designs. Here is some more of the crew.

The slightest amount of lore for them is down here if you care, along with general Narnia headcanons and waffling.

——————————————————————————

The dwarf on the far left is a river dwarf I’ve decided. I don’t know fully that is other than I think it’d be cool if there was a tribe of dwarves that were close to the water nymphs, and generally have great knowledge and skills that are an asset on a sailing crew.

The river dwarves are one of the reasons telmarines were scared of the water (along with the niads, however the bridge of beruna imprisoned the river god, who otherwise was also responsible for many folk tales told to young telmarine children. Their fear of water is ironic to me cause I believe there’s evidence of them coming from the Caribbean as pirates? I imagine the humans on caspians crew are like, either rediscovering their roots or the few who held on to that seafaring background. Mostly younger telmarines in the same generation as caspian, they questioned the leadership and were very happy when old narnia overthrew Miraz.)

the river dwarves are generally peaceful and most lived in hiding during telmars reign. They’re temperament is very stable and they do well under pressure. River dwarves are incredibly stealthy and only attack in necessity as self defense. In terms of stealth think like lotr hobbits, and this is a great contrast to most other dwarves in Narnia (strong strength and combat, low stealth) A lot of them abstained from fighting against telmar alltogether due to their peaceful values. They are disconnected from some other dwarf cultures which can cause some tension.

The two in the middle come from a tribe of dwarves that are blacksmiths, and also they’re siblings. The brother in particular is a toy maker by trade specifically, and loves kids. His wife (far right) has a background in carpentry. Him and his wife don’t have any but virtually adopt any child they see. The sister is always having a good time, and seafaring comes more naturally to her than smithywork ever did.

The carpentry/forest dwarves generally have a history of closeness with dryads similarly to how the river dwarves are with the water spirits. Some of that connection has been severed due to how deeply the dryads retreated and were removed when Caspian the Conqueror (not our caspian) and his descendants over-deforested. It takes time to restore that connection.

The two on the left may or may not have a situationship and the two on the right have been married for years.

Regardless of trade they’re all on the ship because they’re loyal as fuck to Caspian, the married couple kind of see themselves in a parental role to him but it’s debatable on how that actually plays out.

Also no one has a name cause I’m so bad at coming up with names.

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My thinking in general is that Narnian dwarves make up a lot of the trades, other races do contribute as well, (I’d imagine some marshwiggles work in stuff related to ships/seafaring but perhaps not travelling themselves) most fauns are more into the arts/spirituality, but some do take up trades (a couple of my designs from this post are tradespeople, one of them is a bard.)

I haven’t done many centaur designs, but my vague thoughts is that there are those who are more spiritual and practice prophecy, stargazing, advising, and those who are more into combat, and are protectors, or messengers.

—————

Gender and the ideas around sexuality I’d also imagine would be a lot more fluid and most Narnians are a lot more open than some of the more human civilizations. (Like it’s a country made of sentient trees, talking animals and mythical beings, and the human countries kind of canonically are like “what the heck is going on over there???” Or they’re afraid of them and try to colonize them, like the telmarines)

These are all half baked ideas but I’ve been fixated on Narnia since I was five and it’s lowkey the reason I spent so much time and passion into drawing and now have a career in graphic design and illustration, so. This is mostly all for me, so don’t mind how long this post has gotten. 🤠

[miniherodesktales]

Advent 15: Home Alone Cat: Part 5

'They said they'd blown up the Starbug and the crew into itty bitty pieces!' said Chicken Soup Vending Machine No. 12.

'You mean...they're all dead?' Cat asked.

'Well, yes,' said CS.

'I can't believe it...my only friends....all gone...'

'There, there,' soothed Talkie. 'Would you like some toast?'

The Cat sniffed loudly. 'Yeah, I'd like some toast.'

'Coming up.'

The Cat waited. The toaster remained silent.

'Is it done yet?'

'It may be a while....you see you have to actually put some bread in me before I can toast it. As the old saying goes: you can't make toast without bread.'

The Cat slammed the wall with his fist. 'Nothing is going right today!'

'Easy,' said CS. 'You don't know anything for certain. Someone may have survived.'

'You think so? How can I be sure?'

'I have a suggestion,' said Talkie.

'Shut up! No more toast talk! It's up to me now to save the Dwarf. It'll take cunning and it'll style. Now let me go change clothes.'

He strode purposefully down the corridor, turned around, and strode purposefully back in the right direction.

'So what was your idea?' asked C.S.

'Rimmer is always in connection with the Holographic suite, right? If I can get there, I can send a message. Find out if the boys are alive.'

'That's an idea but how you going to get there?'

Margo the Scutter came rolling past.

'Ah,' said CS.

***

'Ok,' Lister breathed. 'Let's take stock. I have a pineapple and you have a platypus.'

'Correct,' said Rimmer.

'Not quite,' said Kryten. 'You have a concussion and Mr Rimmer has a glitch.'

'That's what I said.'

'He did say that, Crouton, you should pay closer attention.'

'Maybe I'll take over,' said the android patiently. 'Starbug is a wreck but the fire is out. We're stranded but at least we're on a planet with breath-taking sea views. Mr Lister has a broken leg, while I've lost a leg. Mr Lister also has a head injury, while you, Mr Rimmer, have suffered damage to your Light Bee and are floating two inches above the ground. Thankfully we have two scutters to help us. Now that we're in a more stable situation I suggest that you two rest while scutters build a shelter. In the mean time I'll try to contact the Dwarf. It's possible that the Cat could also be in danger. Now, does that sound like a plan?'

'I feel strange,' Rimmer moaned.

'Try and sit down,' Lister suggested.

Rimmer sat down, still two inches above the beach. His eyes flashed purple.

'You guys look like toast!' he said in a voice that was not his own. 'Speaking of, would anyone like some toast?'

'Rimmer?'

'Talkie is that you?' Kryten asked.

'It sure is and, boy, am I glad to see you guys! We have a situation here.'

'We're not doing so great, either. How about you send out Starbug 4 to us? We'll need a team of medi scutters and engineering scutters to help us.'

'I'll do my best. But don't worry I guarantee there'll be fresh toast on board too! Signing out!'

Rimmer drew in a deep breath as he regained control of his body again.

'You OK?' Lister asked.

'I can taste burnt toast. It's not the worst but not the best either.'

[rey1x1]

spaceship shenanigans - group verse interest check !

welcome to the c.s. pandora, otherwise known as project pandora! we are a mixed crew of scientists, mechanics, bounty hunters, and even treasure hunters with the one goal: to explore the stars and whatever adventures they bring alongside them. join the crew as they explore new planets, strange creatures & plants, even stranger new people, and treasures beyond their imagination across the galaxy on the strangest road trip ever known.

theme: science fiction - space exploration

size: 6-8 muns (preferably 21+), 12-16 muses (all oc)

platform: discord

writing style: paragraph-based, with some 'radio' chats

[maudeboggins]

Garbo, Taylor and Crew: Production Still, 1936 by C.S. Bull

[scout-company]

Atlas—Chapter 10: Acting Captain

After Alice gives out a few more hugs to the other Humans and says some goodbyes, twice to a few of them after she rushes to her tent to grab a small one-strap bag, and after Scout promises to keep an “eye” on Alice, Scout hollers at S.A.I.L. to warp the two of them up. A short yelp starts to squeak from Alice when the world disappears into light around them, and it doesn’t finish until they materialize on the Icarus’s teleporter pad.

Materializing after a warp always gives Scout a head-rush, and she flickers with a whistle and a giggle but keeps to her feet. Alice, meanwhile, after finishing her yelp, staggers and nearly tumbles off the pad and into the wall. “Whoa—!”

Scout catches her by the arm before she can tumble too hard. “Careful there!” she bubbles, “The wall ain’t too comfy.”

“Yeah. I got that,” Alice grunts, putting a hand between herself and the wall. Carefully she steps off the pad proper, and once her feet are more solidly on the actual floor she frees her arm from Scout’s light grip.

Once she does that, Scout hops off the teleporter pad herself and bounces over to the door, making the door slide open for the two of them. Alice keeps her steps careful as if she’s trying not to set anything off, and she briefly shoots Scout a bit of a look before she steps up to the threshold herself and sees the rest of the ship. 

Then she gawks. “Wow…”

Scout brightens, “Pretty neat, ain’t it?”

“It’s…” Alice blinks several times, shaking her head a bit as if freeing herself from a freeze. She still gawks as she follows Scout past the threshold and up the stairs, eyes wide at everything. Once they start up the narrow stairs, she finally manages, “This is a Protectorate ship, isn’t it?”

“The C.S. Icarus is designated as a Protectorate medical vessel, Falcon Class,” S.A.I.L. answers, from the ships own speakers now instead of the tiny one on Scout’s translator. 

Alice yelps and almost stumbles a step, clutching the handrails for dear life. 

While she recovers and Scout giggles, S.A.I.L. continues, “I see you have brought on an extra passenger, Scout.”

“Yep!” Scout pops, “S.A.I.L., this is Alice. She’s gonna be stickin’ around. Alice, S.A.I.L.” She’s not entirely sure why she pats Alice on the shoulder as if indicating her to a specific person, but she does anyways. Alice shoots her a look for it.

“Acknowledged. Congratulations on your first crew member.”

Scout flares a bit, corona flickering in surprise as she looks up in the direction she’s designated as S.A.I.L.’s. “Wait, my crew member? I ain’t—”

“As Acting Captain under Officer Bronzemarch’s directive, you have brought on your first crew member,” S.A.I.L. elaborates before it repeats in the same even delivery, “Congratulations.”

Scout fizzes for a bit as she processes that. She glances at Alice—who just blinks—then eventually glances back up, then shrugs and continues up the stairs. “Actin’ Captain. Alrighty, then. Ain’t what I expected to hear today.”

“Were you expecting something different?” S.A.I.L. asks. Its tone never changes, but Scout can almost swear it would be drawling if it could. 

So Scout just bubbles a laugh, leaving its question unanswered. 

The conversation lapses as they ascend the rest of the stairs, the silence filled by the ship’s idle thrumming that vibrates through Scout’s hands into the corners of her brand. But as Scout crests the stairs and Alice follows a few paces behind, Alice finally says, “Boyan’s ship had a S.A.I.L. like that.”

“He had a ship?” Scout wonders, tilting her head.

Alice nods, glancing around the landing. “Sold it a year ago, though.”

“Huh. Explains why y’all didn’t have transportation.”

Again Alice just nods. Her glance fixes on the door to the medical bay for a second longer than it fixes on anything else, pulling away only when Scout meanders a step closer to the storage room door, making it open for them both. 

As they meander through the storage room, Scout observes with an idle buzz, “Yer…mighty close to that Boyan feller, ain’t ya?”

“He…was a friend of my dad’s.”

“Dad?” Scout echoes curiously, tilting her head and half-turning to look at Alice.

Alice rubs her arm and fusses with the strap of her bag, looking at the lockers and the amber lights instead of at Scout, “Dad was a Peacekeeper. So was Mom. So Boyan, he…I escaped Earth with him while they tried to fight…that…” she shudders, drifting off. 

Scout studies her for a long moment, waiting to see if she says anything else. But when she doesn’t, instead pressing her lips into a thin line as her brows twitch, Scout tries to change the subject slightly. “Y’all keep mentioning this ‘Earth’ place. Must’ve been a mighty important headquarters or whatever, huh?”

Alice stops and finally looks Scout dead in the face. And with a voice quiet enough to not wake the dead she hisses, “Scout…Earth was a planet.”

Scout pauses mid-step as she registers that. 

Oh. 

Oh.

Semyon mentioned something once about Earth being destroyed, but… Scout crackles, “W-wait a sec. If Earth was a dang planet, then how—”

“Ruin,” Alice bites. Like the word itself is painful. Her grip tightens on her bag like a lifeline. 

“…Come again?”

Alice just stares at her, brow furrowing and expression darkening. Her eyes flick back and forth a bit as if she’s trying to decipher something written on Scout’s brand until she eventually mutters, “What kind of a rock have you been living under?”

Scout flares, plasma sparking internally, “Hey now! I ain’t been livin’ under no rock! Just ‘cause I ain’t got no memories before, like, a month ago don’t mean I’ve been livin’ under a rock.” Her plasma calms down as she tries again, “So…what was this ‘ruin’?”

Alice stills, knuckles turning whiter than the walls. After a short eternity she tears her glance away and mumbles, “It…I-I don’t want to talk about it.”

Scout flickers for a moment, her plasma’s idle fizzing the only sound aside from the ship’s own thrumming stand-by pulse. Alice is more twitchy than Semyon somehow, she’s realizing. Just quieter about it. Eventually Scout dims a fraction and hazards, “Uh…sorry?” in an attempt to get Alice to unfreeze. 

And it works. Kind of. Alice releases a long breath through tight lips, sounding almost like a smaller version of the pneumatics in the doors. Her hand moves, running up and down the strap of her bag as the tension melts from her grip. Finally she shakes her head. “It’s…it’s ok.”

“Ya sure?”

Instead of answering that directly, Alice just takes another small breath, visible in her shoulders, and nods her chin forward at the door at the end of the storage hallway as she asks, “Where are we going, anyways?” 

Scout brightens—secretly grateful for the change of topic—and skips ahead of her to get the door to open. “The control room!” she declares, gesturing to the door theatrically as it opens with a pneumatic whoosh before her. “Yonder’s the actual control console; that’s S.A.I.L.’s panel,” she continues, gesturing each direction as she scurries into the room and Alice follows, eyes widening. 

Alice pauses briefly by S.A.I.L.’s maintenance panel, frowning slightly at the wireframe head displayed on the screen before its vertices manifest a face; she blinks and jerks her head back from it before looking back over at Scout.

Scout scurries across the wide control room, then once she’s gotten Alice’s attention again, she announces, “And this,” she pats the head of the captain’s chair solidly with a proud flare, “Is the captain’s chair!”

A bit of a smile tugs at the corner of Alice’s mouth as she walks over. “I’m assuming you call dibs?”

“Yep!” Scout slides into the seat fast enough it wiggles, proving her dibs. Then she turns around, waking up the main monitor on the console with a tap. 

“Whoa…” Alice mutters, eyes wide enough the rings in her brown irises catch both Scout’s orange light and multicolored flecks of light from the sundry LEDs and smaller monitors across the console. Her hands rest against the side and arm of the chair as she leans over Scout’s shoulder, face lighting up like a star. “Do you…actually know how to use this thing?” she marvels.

Scout brightens with a pop, “Yep! Well, most of it, at least. Ain’t quite sure what them buttons over there do—” she waves a hand at a cluster of buttons in the far corner of the console, all bright red and shielded by a plastic lid— “But I ain’t needin’ them yet, so it don’t matter. This is the fun part.” She taps the main monitor again, bringing up the map of the star system. Alice blinks curiously when Scout taps the planet they’re orbiting, then blinks wider when Scout taps the one two more orbits out, zooming in on the planet itself. A window pops up with another description box Scout can’t read but doesn’t need to—she knows darn well what planet it is. 

“Destination: Aaoe Veil V,” S.A.I.L. announces at Scout’s tap.

Alice jumps a bit at S.A.I.L.’s declaration, then blinks back at Scout when Scout bubbles an excited giggle and notes, “Ya might wanna hold on to somethin’—this gets a mite bumpy.”

Alice answers Scout’s note with just a blink. Then promptly sits on the floor where she was standing, clutching the arm of the chair. That works.

Once Alice nods her readiness, Scout bubbles with excitement as she hoots, “Ready for FTL, S.A.I.L.?”

“Acknowledged.”

“Burn the breeze then, buddy!”

Alice’s yelp is barely audible below the ship’s pulse.

~~~~~

<< Previous || Next >>

[aseariel]

“Fools!” said the man, stamping his foot with rage. “That is the sort of talk that brought me here, and I’d better have been drowned or never born. Do you hear what I say? This is where dreams--dreams, do you understand--come to life, come real. Not daydreams: dreams.”

There was about half a minute’s silence and then, with a great clatter of armor, the whole crew were tumbling down the main hatch as quick as they could and flinging themselves on the oars to row as they had never rowed before; and Drinian was swinging round the tiller, and the boatswain was giving out the quickest stroke that had ever been heard at sea.

C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

[cyberstardevlog]

I suppose I should make the first post on here about cyber☆star and what it's inspired by. It's inspired by a lot of things; my dreams, some themes rolling around in my head, and by the characters I chose to fit as our lovely main crew.

But more importantly, it's based upon a chapter in Narnia by C.S. Lewis. More specifically, a chapter in Magician's Nephew. I cannot get anymore specific than that, as it's been a very long time since I've read Narnia. However, when I read the book when I was young, there's a part that always stuck to me; the two main characters jump into a pool of water in a 'between worlds' area, and find themselves in a world with a red sun that's fading. It's a world that's ending. There's likely some sort of symbolism here that had gone completely over my head as a child about this dying world, but it's haunted me.

Cyber☆star was originally not supposed to have any story. It's in my nature I guess. I need to make something that little me would've wanted. I think she deserves something nice.