#Goose's original post tag which is for Goose

[sunrisetune]

Thoughts in re: this post going around about how bugs are animals and should be respected as such (Note: This is not a callout! Nothing in this post should be read like a callout. Thank you)

tl;dr I think that talking about respecting bugs' place in the world isn't like... helpful? Without talking about how no really the complete extinction of malaria-carrying mosquitoes (for example) would, without any "but"s, make the world better Ik that's not what that post is for though! So I add it here instead

- On one hand, it's obviously true, right but on the other hand I'm personally hesitant to reblog it bc,, unfortunately, ecofascists

Again Obviously, not everyone who talks about respecting bugs and their places in ecosystems is an ecofascist. Very few are! Way way less than I'd likely ever meet in real life! Most users on that post I'm legitimately, non-sarcastically sure are earnest about wanting people to be more normal about spiders, for example

The problem is when, like, the idea of "All bugs incl. parasites / ticks / mosquitoes / other ''Bad'' ones have a place in their ecosystem and shouldn't be destroyed" runs up against "Certain types of bugs and parasites specifically cause a massive amount of human suffering" which is Often Bc that, in my experience, is when get the people who are like "Well that's their purpose, providing evolutionary pressure to have stronger macrofauna"

which y'know,, fills me with hatred! So much And is why I have a chunk of my block list \o/

[vimbry]

I think you should first and foremost make things for yourself and not w/ other people in mind, but I think one of the most fun parts of making art w/ a decent audience would be all the little easter eggs and references you could hide in it that people didn't even realise were, until someone stumbles across a source and goes "wait, is this the origin of x ????"

[blorbocedes]

let me take you guys on a journey. one that will help you understand how annoyingly obsessive and hung up my brain can get......

so here is where our wild goose chase starts. I was going through a 2012 f1 blog's nico tag. it's actually pretty rare for early 2010s blogs to have comprehensive tagging systems so whenever I find one I try to go thru it all. and I come across this v cute nico image (cropped for posterity. payoff will be worth it promise)

here we have a picture, from 2012, and in classic 2012 fashion there is meme text on it. OP of the original pic deactivated. so I want to find the version without the meme text. pretty easy, just reverse google search right?

WRONG!

google reverse search is functionally dead and defunct and absolutely dogshit.

ok back to square one. I'm trying to sus out from whatever information I have.

the other meme watermark of f1humour.tumblr.com? deactivated.

okay 37 notes. maybe I can do something with this.

tumblr kind of breaks (?) with very old posts. so even if someone tagged it, I can't see it. ok but 14 people liked it!

of the 14 accounts only 7 actually show, including mine. so what I do is I go through 6 of those blogs, and their public archives because those accounts are all inactive for several YEARS now. and I check their blogs for April 2012.

no luck.

back to the drawing board.

the meme has a MOTORSPORT.COM watermark.

here's all the information I have: this was posted on April 24th, 2012, which means that's my upper limit on the date this could be taken. Nico got in Mercedes in 2010. So from anywhere between 2010-2012 motorsport images couldve taken this pic.

so, because I was born with excessive intelligence, I think hmmm... let me search the archives of Motorsport Images dot com. surely that is where Motorsport dot com would keep their Images.

two years of a racing driver's pictures means thousands of pictures. okay. let's start from April 2012. unfortch for keen eyed listening, April 2012 was also the Chinese Grand Prix aka Nico's first f1 win.

why is that relevant? because it means every photographer and their MOTHER took a picture of nico for his first win. over 900+ images.

while I am exhibiting extremely unemployed levels of behavior here, I don't actually have the time and brain capacity to sift through 900 images.

I go back to the original tumblr post. this time I go to the empty reblogs. there's lots!

but because there's no tags it can't help me. still I go through every one of them because you can see the blog I found the pic from @the-fastest-waffle is listed in the other reblogs even though they clearly had tags!

and I find my silver lining. from @fuckyeahf1drivers's tags

just this simple. #bahrain #lol

if this picture is from bahrain 2012 it changes everything, as in it narrows my search a shit tonne.

375 images. This means 1-15 pages and I know the exact picture I'm looking for. I feel like I'm SO close. I can't give up now. gambler mentality 💎

so I guess what. I go through all 15 goddamn pages. and I DONT FIND IT!!!!!!!!! SCREEEEEECH

now I've lost hope. if it's not from bahrain 2012 then it can be from anywhere from 2010-2012 taken by motorsport.com which is just too big a search. there isn't anything I can narrow it down with. my search is futile.

but I have one tiny little thought bugging my mind. how come motorsport images don't have the motorsport.com watermark... so I consult a fellow archivist @vegasgrandprix on the matter.

WE AS A SOCIETY NEED TO ADDRESS WHY MOTORSPORT.COM AND MOTORSPORT IMAGES.COM HAVE THE SAME FONT

finally. finally

I go on motorsport.com

which is actually kind of not super user friendly interface finding their pics if you have excessive intelligence like I do. I go into this knowing if the bahrain 2012 long shot is actually NOT when that picture is from, I'm fucked.

I filter and say a prayer.

and lo and behold.

salvation.

one person's singular tag of 'bahrain 2012 lol' led me down this spiral, where if it wasn't for that bit of information this would be lost forever because finding the version of the pic without the meme text is otherwise near impossible. google reverse search is no help, and f1 drivers simply get photographed way too much. reblogs + tags with context literally are a holy grail. this is what I imagine archaeologists feel like. so if you ever want someone 12 years after you've posted something to go down finding out, tag your posts accordingly (assuming tumblr survives the next decade)

so why did I do it? why did I spend hours of my life on this? cause it's fun. it's like a mystery and it itches at my skin. many times I'm not successful which is why the times I am feels so rewarding because it feels almost like detective work, finding and refinding something, overturning evidence. and I have a brain that just functions Like This.

and now for the fruit of my labour, if you guys still want to see. the picture I spent hours to find the original version of. sitting proudly at the time of posting at 9 notes 😌😌 here's what goes behind actually finding and archiving 2010s retired f1 drivers online. click below!

👇👇👇

👆👆👆

[kitkat238984]

I Bid This Bitch Goodbye

Summary: As Tony Khan's niece and junior producer, you were placed in charge of an auction event where fans can win a date with their favourite wrestlers.

But when you spy a face that has caused you nothing but trouble, you are determined to bring this bitch to the ground.

Notes: I meant to post this yesterday but oh well. Happy late birthday, Hook.

4339 words.

There was nothing particularly special about you. You were just an ordinary woman with an ordinary life, ordinary parents, and an ordinary education. You supposed the fact that your uncle-in-law happened to be a billionaire made you a little less ordinary than some others, but you never let it get to your head. Whilst in highschool you refused to let anyone know that were in close connections to such major businessmen in the sports industry. They would have flipped. 

The friends you made were genuine and you were thankful for that… but unfortunately the enemies you made were also genuine. Right bitches they were. 

You did try to make a living for yourself at first by working in a gas station, however, you weren’t really going anywhere with minimum wage, and the offer to work with your uncle in his new wrestling company was always on the table sooooo why not? A little career push never hurt anyone. 

You were now a junior producer, learning the backstage roles that made up the AEW family that you were so warmly welcomed into with open arms. Everyone seemed to like you there and you gained many friends in your first few months, Hook being one of the wrestlers you’d grown especially close with, originally getting along because of your similar ages, and now you acted as if you’d been friends since childhood. 

Of course, like any good childhood friend, he loved to mess with you and tease you, for example whenever you’re tasked to call him to the ring he thinks it’s a funny idea to go wandering around backstage, forcing you to go on a wild goose chase trying to find him. 

—

“I need to start keeping an air tag on you”. 

“Or maybe you should start being good at your job?” 

“I’d actually be able to do my job if you weren’t constantly playing hide and go seek”. 

—

Such a child… 

Or how about the few times he snatched the clipboard straight out of your hands and held it above his head where you couldn’t reach? 

— 

“Just give it back. I need to get back to work”. 

“No one’s stopping you from working”. 

“There very clearly is someone stopping me”. 

— 

What a dick… 

But! Today, he would regret all those times where he’d taken advantage of your job and made you look like a fool. He would be at your complete mercy and like hell would you take any pity on him; you were going to have your own back on this guy and he was going to suffer and you were going to enjoy watching it. Just like any good wrestling match. 

You walked through the hall with a proud smile glued to your face, looking forward to seeing the faces of over-adoring wrestling fans, full of hope that they can outbid everyone else for a date with some of the most favourite wrestlers AEW had to offer. 

As the organiser, you were one of the first people to arrive, only a couple of other producers and stagehands present who were setting up chairs - which were most likely to be discarded once they were in such close proximity to the wrestlers. 

Oh, revenge was sweet indeed. You made this happen, Y/N. You’re an absolute genius. 

When you proposed the idea of a charity fundraiser to your good ol’ uncle Tony about auctioning off dates with the wrestlers - not only to boost good publicity, but to give something to young children who had dreams of wrestling professionally - he immediately fell in love with the idea and told you to start making plans and secure some good people for the event. 

Those wrestlers needed to be put to good use anyway. You knew they were good for something. 

“Hey, have we got enough chairs for everyone?” you asked one of your colleagues who was setting up the seating. 

“Uhh I think so. If not, only a few people will have to stand”. 

You hum in response and start setting up the microphone and speakers before your sound guy arrives to take over. You’d hoped he would arrive soon because you had no fucking clue what you were doing. You were just tired of walking around watching everyone else do stuff. 

Whilst playing with the buttons of the soundboard, a loud, ear-piercing boom echoed through the hall, accompanied by a few pained cries you’d caused people. 

Oh, the cringe. 

You practically threw the microphone down and stepped away from the area you were working on. 

Best to leave it to the professionals. 

“Good idea. Deafen us so we can’t hear the screaming superfans later”. 

You turned to the sound of Hook’s voice to see him at the very end of the hall having just walked through the door. Just your luck for him to walk in as you embarrass yourself. But your luck was about to get better. 

“Thank you”, you replied genuinely, watching his figure moving in your direction. “You’ll need it when they’re screaming in your ears all night. Probably in more ways than one knowing your record”. 

He laughed softly and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he stood only a few feet away from you. 

“Hah you got me there, huh? A manwhore? Is that what you women call ‘em?” 

You shot him a warm, patronising smile. “Only behind your back”. You quickly changed your mind. “Oh who am I kidding? I call you that to your face”. 

You brushed past him, abandoning your post at the soundboard to help finish setting up the chairs, Hook closely following behind like a loyal puppy with his owner. 

“Nah I wouldn’t do that. Not with a fan, at least”. 

“Why’s that, fuckboy?” You joked. 

“Very funny”, he responded, rolling his eyes. “I’d feel like I'm taking advantage of their love and adoration for me or something like that. Not that I’d blame them of course”. 

You immediately stopped what you were doing and sent him a raised eyebrow. Like you’d believe that story. In the time you had known him, Hook had numerous women hanging off his arm (and that was only from what you had seen on social nights out with work), and sometimes those numerous women would be on one occasion. You were grateful you didn’t share the same hotel with him. Those were sounds you most definitely did not want to hear. 

He seemed to have noticed the scepticism written on your face and spoke before you had a chance to reply. “You don’t believe me?”, he asked in subtle disbelief. “I can be a gentleman, you know?” 

“You? A gentleman? I bet you’ve never even dated a girl before. I’ve only ever seen you walk out of bars with these ‘female friends’ of yours”. Despite ultimately joking, your teasing did have some truth behind it. For the four years you’d known him, you had never known this man to go out on a single actual date like to a restaurant or the movies or something cheesy like that. 

It didn’t bother you, of course. Or at least that’s what you kept on telling yourself. You had no reason to be jealous; you didn’t even like him in that way nor had you ever thought about him romantically. That was partially true until this moment. 

Sure you appreciated him, just the same as you appreciated all your hot friends. You work in the wrestling industry full of strong, sweaty, fit guys and girls. What did you expect? 

Fine! You admitted Hook was easy on the eyes. So what? It’s not like you’d ever wondered what those perfectly sculptured muscles he so proudly displays in the ring yet modestly covers underneath his hoodie felt like. And it never once crossed your mind what was so addictive about running your hands through his tousled hair as you’d seen him among all the women do repeatedly. 

Nope. None of that. Not. At. All… 

… 

… 

… 

It couldn’t be that soft, right? 

Stop those intrusive thoughts, Y/N! It would never happen anyway. 

“You’ll see one day”, he defended, snapping you out of your thoughts. “I’m just trying to have fun whilst I’m still young. I’m not rushing life like you seem to be doing”. 

You sensed that you may have struck a nerve with the harsh tones in his voice as he looked at you expectedly, although you quickly felt awkward, a little ashamed of yourself for criticising his early life choices and perhaps taking your jokes a little too far. 

A big apology would have to wait, though, as there was so much shit to be done before the event started and it would have been unfair if you weren’t pulling your weight enough. After all, this was your chance to show your uncle that you had what it takes to progress in the company. 

Temporarily moving the problems with Hook to the back of your mind, you opened your mouth to speak a quick ‘sorry’ with the intention of making it up to him later like buying him a drink or something. However, another voice from only a few feet away echoed through the spacious hall. 

“Hey, who’s been messing with this setup?” 

Your sound guy must have come in without you noticing because you whipped your head around to see his face scrunched up with such confusion and frustration. You winced and turned away, pretending you didn’t know anything. Perhaps there was time for one long, drawn out apology. 

Never had you been more relieved to be made fun of, hearing the sound of a snicker from a certain hooded figure standing before you to which you smiled lightheartedly in response. You should have known he wouldn’t stay mad at you for long. 

What seemed like what was meant to be the end of the conversation clearly wasn’t because Hook still insisted on standing opposite you, staring and twitching his nose as if something was bothering him. 

“What do you want?” You asked, not wasting any time and getting back to setting up chairs. 

“What makes you think I want something?” 

“Oh I’m sorry. Don’t you?” Sarcasm was basically your second language. 

Hook was silent for a few seconds, allowing yourself to secretly smirk whilst your back was turned away from him. Just wait for it. 

“Okay yeah I do want something”. Bingo. You were right as always. “I need you to bid for me”. 

You scoffed into a breathy laugh. He couldn’t be serious, right? That’s like straight up asking you on a date without actually saying it and with a lot more complications than there needed to be. He continued. 

“I’d give you the money back, I swear. I just really really don’t want to date a fan who’s desperate enough to be here to win a date with me. It’ll be chaos”. 

As much as you questioned the cruel wording, you understood where his point was coming from. The entry fee in itself was five-hundred dollars and these people would have had to have been glued to their screen, waiting for the tickets to go on sale. On top of that, they wouldn’t even guarantee a date because they’d still have to bid a ridiculous amount of money in the auction. 

You’d love to help him but you already had your sweet sweet revenge all planned out. 

“Ooo it’s sooooo nice that you’re willing to give all that money to charity, and I’d hate seeing you at the mercy of some overbearing girl - or guy for that matter - buuut no. I’m not going to bid for you. It’d be wrong of me since, if you haven’t noticed, I’m running the whole thing”. 

Hook’s silence spoke volume as he now knew exactly how you felt about him being in this auction. 

“Bitch…” he muttered, turning to the side. 

Gasp! 

“What was that?” you asked sternly, finally facing him, not having stopped setting up the chairs until now. 

“I said I… need to talk to Mitch”. He pointed to one of the guys on the other side of the room and pretended to approach him. 

You sighed before calling out whilst he was still within a few feet away, “His name is Thomas”. 

“Then I need to talk to Thomas, bitch”. 

“Oh just fuck off”. The conversation ended with you indignantly laughing at his teenager-y antics. 

— 

Every single chair that you among others had placed had someone sat in it - well, they were all allocated, at least. One crazed fan that caught your eye was standing, of course, violently shaking the person next to her who you really hoped was her friend and not some stranger she was using as a human cocktail shaker. 

It was show time. Honestly, you had no other job than to make sure everything was in check, ensuring that the auction went as you had envisioned. No introduction was needed as Tony Shiavone (who was way too happy to be the announcer for a change) went straight to it, announcing the first wrestler up for grabs, and you were quite content standing off to the side where you could watch the whole show as well as watching the crowd. 

“Coming in from St. Marks Place, he’s cold-hearted, he’s definitely handsome, and the girls go crazy for him”. 

Ha ha! Although it was the first auction, this was definitely the main event in your opinion. The one you had been looking forward to the most. 

“Weighing in at 202 pounds, he currently holds the championship for the best single life. He’s Hoooooooooook!” 

If the pool of merchandise wasn’t enough to figure out exactly how big of fans these people were, the screaming made it all too obvious. You hardly heard his song playing due to a mix of the yelling and the (hopefully temporary) deafness it caused you. 

Seeing Hook walk on stage as just himself without the aloof persona he puts on was strange to say the least. It felt as though all these people got to experience a side to him that only you had the pleasure of seeing, which you knew was absolutely ludicrous because you weren’t the only person in his life. Perhaps it was the fact that these ‘people’ were the women who were about to pay a ridiculous amount of money at a chance for his heart. 

Was this what jealousy felt like? 

No, of course not. You had no reason to be jealous. You were about to relish in the suffering he was about to endure by one of these fans. 

But what if the date… went well? What if he actually started a relationship with that woman? What would that mean for the two of you? 

You desperately tried to shake your head out of those thoughts. He said he wouldn’t romantically involve himself with a fan anyway. 

…but what if-? No! Shut up, Y/N! 

Hook’s eyes immediately met yours, eyebrows raising as if to say ‘wish me luck’, to which you smirked in a reply, reminding yourself that this whole event was meant to be enjoyable for you. 

“And we’ll start the bidding at three-hundred dollars. Oh straight in with the three-hundred”. 

The bids came in so fast that you could hardly comprehend how many bidding paddles were flying up in the air until they began to slow down as the price continued to rise to those outrageous prices you were waiting to hear. 

“Two-thousand dollars to the woman in the front here. Is there a twenty-one-hundred here?” 

The higher the bids came in, the fewer women that were left standing, eventually cutting it down to just two, and then to one, and boy were they desperate. 

“That’s five-thousand dollars to the woman at the front going once”. 

Pause. You peered at the lucky lady who had won the date with Hook and what came into your view could have made your body implode from how badly your blood was boiling. 

“Going twice”. 

Pause. It couldn’t be her, could it? But that long golden blonde hair and sharp facial features were completely undeniable. 

“Aaand-” 

“Five-thousand one-hundred!” Your voice spoke out before you even had time to think, your glare not having left the woman who stood on the front row. Her disgusting victorious smile returned her natural hideous jealous scowl you’d known for years which whipped in your direction as probably many other heads, including Hook’s, did - not that you were paying any attention to anyone else now that the woman who had been harassing you for almost two years was here in front of you. 

You were lucky you hadn’t spoken to the audience yet because you feared what kind of backlash you and the company would have received if anyone knew you - an organiser - started bidding in their own event. 

“Two-hundred!” Her voice fought back to which you quickly retaliated with a hundred dollars more. Like hell was this bitch going to get what she wanted. 

You knew Petra from highschool. She was one of those who thought she and her friends were oh so much better than you because of how much makeup they wore and how trendy their new Prada outfit was. She even bragged about her grades from time to time. After all, she did a lot of grinding on hard work to achieve those. 

“Six thousand!” 

Where the hell was she getting this money from? 

You presumed she was rich all these years, but not ‘I’m gonna buy myself a famous boyfriend’ rich. 

“Seven!” You on the other hand had no reason to worry about money. One huge benefit of working in your uncle’s business was the generous pay. Uncle Tony really did not hold out when it came to paying his staff. 

You could see Hook’s perplexed look from beneath his hoodie directed at you, most likely wondering why you had such the change of heart, but you couldn’t let your focus drift away from the burden sitting on the front row. She must pay. 

After you graduated and All Elite Wrestling had taken off, word had gotten out that you were Tony Khan’s niece, so when you mistakenly decided to post on Instagram about your new job there, the number of private messages you had received from people you had hardly spoken to in the past came flooding in, asking if you could get them tickets, or arrange a meet and greet with their favourites. 

You’d decided to ignore all of them, however, there was one who was painfully persistent that you eventually had to tell them to shut the fuck up because it was never gonna happen. That person was, of course, Petra. Every week or so it was all ‘Can you set me up with Hook?’, ‘Oh my god isn’t Hook just the hottest?’, and ‘Can’t you do this for me after all you put me through in high school?’ 

Who the hell did she think she was? A princess? Not everything isn’t her fault. 

You didn’t fail to notice the slight panic in her widened eyes after you raised the price by another thousand dollars. 

Where’s daddy’s allowance now, bitch? 

She hesitantly gestured to Shiavone to up the bid another hundred, however, now you knew she was running short of money, you felt you could wrap this up pretty swiftly. 

“Eight-thousand dollars”, you said with a smirk. You were definitely going over your limit and you’d probably have to budget your shopping for a couple of months, but boy would it be worth it in the end to see that smug face wiped clean off. 

“Nine-thousand dollars!” How many sugar daddies does this girl have? She probably knows she can leave and suck someone’s dick for another 1k. 

No matter how she got the money, you knew you had more. 

“Ten–thousand dollars!” The murmurs and Petra’s silence spoke all. You saw her visibly gulp and glance around the floor in disbelief. She wasn’t going to find another two thousand dollars on the floor so you really did not know what she could have been looking around for. She lost her pride a long time ago and she sure as hell wasn’t going to find it here. 

“And the date with Hook goes to uhh… the lady over there for ten-thousand dollars!” 

You sent Tony a small, thankful smile for not telling everyone who you were, and you were quite surprised that Petra hadn’t said anything appalling yet given she too knew that you had to have had a part in this event. She’d even begged you for weeks in advance if you could rig the event for her. In hindsight, you really shouldn’t have been at all shocked to see her here. 

One of the backstage crew gestured for you to follow them to which you obliged, leaving the noise of disappointed groans behind you. One glance at Hook before you disappeared behind the curtain told you that this situation was just as awkward for him as it was now for you. 

Your mind scoured for a suitable justification as to why you might have spoken up when you did. 

You could say it was for charity? Those unfortunate kids were about to be bathed in riches and opportunities with the amount of money being thrown at them. 

Not having any faith in your poor, disingenuous excuse, and seeing Hook making his way towards you, you decided that perhaps it would be better if you simply told him the truth. It was a valid reason after all. You wanted Hook to suffer for all the teasing he had done to you in the past but you didn’t want to torture him to death. 

“Is that why you decided to work here?” 

You stared at him with a puzzled look and he continued. 

“Because you’re a secret superfan?” 

Rolling your eyes, you scoffed and whilst waiting for an actual response to come to your mind, another half laugh, half scoff filled the silence, making his claim seem like the truth. You had not joined the AEW team because you were a Hook superfan (because you weren’t), but over the years of working alongside him in the background, you had naturally become one of his biggest fans. 

“Yeah, you wish”. You regretted the poor excuse for a comeback as soon as it left your lips. 

“Sooo are you gonna tell me why you just bid for me or are you gonna stand there all awkward?” He asked after a long hesitation. 

Yep. The truth is better than an obvious lie. 

“I knew the other woman from high school and trust me when I tell you that I was doing you a favour. She’s a slut. A tart. A whore if you will. I swear in God’s name if I ever see her again I will-” 

“Alright alright I get it. You can tell me more on our date”. 

You were glad Tyler decided to interrupt you there as you hadn’t even realised your hands clawing at thin air as if choking the very woman you hadn’t been able to get out of your life since you started working here. She had caused nothing but distractions and… 

Wait, what? 

“Date?” 

Hook chuckled at your doe eyes. “You won fair and square, right?” 

“Well yeah but I didn’t realise that– I didn’t think– I thought you wouldn’t– okay, a date sounds great”. 

“Are you sure? I didn’t think you’d want to date a ‘fuckboy’ like me”. 

Ah shit. Yeah you forgot about that. Well you supposed now would be a better time than any for an apology. 

“Look I really am sorry for that. I was–” 

“It doesn’t matter. You weren’t completely wrong. But I won’t be like that with you. How about tonight?” 

You sent a warm smile of relief. Perhaps you had just been in denial all this time because you were suddenly super excited for this date with this good-looking, hilarious, kind friend of yours. 

“Sounds perfect. It’ll probably be late, though. I have to help clean up”. 

“I’ll wait, don’t worry”. 

He edged past you and left you with your heart feeling like it was about to burst out of your chest and with butterflies hitting every inch of your stomach lining. The shaky breath you let out was quickly sucked back in when two hands gripped your hips and pulled your body close to theirs. 

“I like it when you're nervous around me. Cocky didn’t suit you”, Hook muttered in your ear. Every part of you tingled now and you felt you could hardly move. 

That would’ve been awkward if it wasn’t Hook. 

You managed to turn your body, watching him make his way to the back door, looking like he was walking down a fashion runway or something. 

Before he could reach for the handle, you called out to him, not letting him get away with the comment you had just realised he made. 

“You’re still going to pay me back, though, right?” 

He turned with a smirk and without saying anything, stuck both his middle fingers up at you before leaving the building. 

Smug bastard… 

You spent the remainder of the day with a gigantic grin plastered upon your face. You hadn’t dared show yourself on stage as the organiser after your little showdown with Petra, and you had hoped that all of those people out there would never figure out who you were either. 

Perhaps she would leave you alone now after that whole ordeal, knowing that she lost and would finally be able to accept that she will never be able to get to Hook through you. You had to give her some credit, however, because without her, some other girl would have won and you would never have been given this date opportunity. 

Instead, you would probably be eating ice cream in bed in pure jealousy rather than savouring the humiliation you had originally wished upon your date. 

Your date… Ah! Exciting! This ten grand had better be worth it. 

THE END.

Bonus: A few private messages! (I had no idea what I was doing)

Message #1

Message #2

Message #3 (Blurry schmurry. It's fine)

End notes: I would like to apologise for being naive. I thought it was cool that Chris and Hook were teaming, especially since I saw Chris Jericho's band in Feb (which was great btw) and I got overexcited at their collaboration. I scold myself everyday since he pushed Taz and took the belt.

[mllemaenad]

I really do not understand why Varric is the one pursuing Solas. I mean, I understand the Doylist explanation – Varric is a beloved character who will now have featured in three separate games, as well as multiple novels and comics.

But the Watsonian explanation is not clicking. I did my homework. I sat down and read The Missing, but that did not help at all. In fact, I have now considered my Inquisitor and am completely confident that Dirthara Lavellan's plan for dealing with the Solas problem would absolutely not be "send the ageing viscount of Kirkwall on a months long wild goose chase, with the apparent end goal of ... talking Solas out of his plan".

First, I don't see why Varric would be the most likely person to be able to reach Solas. The Inquisitor herself seems the more reasonable option.

Second, Varric is viscount of Kirkwall, a city-state notorious for setting itself on fire if you take your eyes off it for five minutes. I appreciate Alistair had a few adventures in the graphic novels, and there was that time Maric got lost in the Deep Roads but ... broadly, heading up the "Stop Solas" taskforce is a whole separate responsibility that does not seem to be something you should allocate to a man who has the Worst City in Thedas to rule.

Third ... seriously, the plan is to find Solas and have a chat? That's it? It's clearly it. All through The Missing, they keep noting that they don't really know what they'll do if they actually stumble across Solas. And the backup plan, to which Harding occasionally alludes and at which Varric consistently baulks, is to stab Solas until he stops moving. That one ... also doesn't inspire much confidence.

At this point, I'm not sure what Solas's plan entails or exactly what the outcome will be. I'm not even 100% sure I'm opposed to it. I recognise that the narrative is telegraphing that this is bad but, eh, they say that about blood magic too, and my feelings on that are much more complicated.

Surely, instead of chasing Solas all over the map like a fantasy Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, we should be researching what his scheme entails, and potentially how to disrupt it. There have to be options other than this. We have a game series littered with elven scholars like Merrill, accomplished mages like Dorian or Morrigan, thoughtful rebels like Briala or Anders and ... we're ... not ... going to do anything with that?

In both Origins and Inquisition the set up established that there was a solid plan that unexpectedly failed: the Battle of Ostagar in the former and the Conclave in the latter. While I was not a fan of how many of its established plot lines Inquisition chose to just blow up instead of actually resolving, I at least understand how both scenarios led to a rag tag band who should never have been responsible for any of this saving the world. Dragon Age 2 was about the systematic failure of government in Kirkwall and, again, Hawke is forced to act as the people in power utterly refuse to do anything reasonable at all.

Here, my question is – why are we doing it like this now, before we have to?

Ah, well. Maybe it will become clear in time. I may look back on this post and laugh.

[be-compromised]

Promptathon 2024 Masterlist

Promptathon 2024 has come to an end! With an impressive grand total of 35 fills, and 535 comments at last check. Thank you to everyone who prompted, created, beta read, commented, cheered, and took part. We hope you had fun! Watch this space for Secret Santa 2o24 sign ups coming VERY soon and maybe a little fun for Halloween…

A promptathon masterlist is now available below and on dreamwidth. If there’s any incorrect or missing information please let me know in a comment to the dreamwidth post and I'll make sure it gets updated. (Our Username Database is a handy way to keep us up to date with your online handles for crossposted masterlists.)

The main links for the masterlist go to the original dreamwidth promptathon comments for archiving, but I've tried my best to also include links to AO3 where I've spotted crossposting. Please feel free to post/share your fills elsewhere! If you're using AO3 we have a handy Be_Compromised Promptathon Collection and you can tag works as be_compromised promptathon and community: be_compromised.

If you still have prompt fills that you’re working on, or feel inspired by prompts now or in the future from any of our community events, please do keep creating. Now that promptathon is over they won’t be included as part of the event or masterlist, but they will always be appreciated :)

And on to the main event…

5 Times Clint and Natasha Cursed the Rain and 1 Time They Didn't | AO3 by @cassiesinsanity (PG; no warnings) Prompt: Tokyo wasn't their first time together in an alley in the rain

After The Threesome | AO3 by @inkvoices (Mature; sex) Prompt: After The Threesome They Both Take You Home by Sue Hyon Bae (poem here)

ain't that the worst thing you've ever heard? | AO3 by @quidnunc-life (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: Outsider POV or threesome: Woken up 3:45 by voices yelling outside my window. Turned out to be a couple in formal wear, literally standing in the road, who continued to yell back and forth at each other for quite some time, including [one] with, 'I love you!' and [the other] going back with, 'No, you don't!' Very sad that they can't make it work, but could they please have that conversation not outside our open windows at 4am?!

a masterpiece of a mess | AO3 by @cassiesinsanity (Mature; no warnings apply; Clint/Bucky with past Natasha/Clint and Natasha/Bucky) Prompt:Maybe if he was a little less fuckable we wouldn’t be in this mess.

a masterpiece of a mess (remix edition) | AO3 by @cassiesinsanity (Mature; no warnings apply; Clint/Darcy/Natasha) Prompt:Maybe if he was a little less fuckable we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Another String To Her Bow | AO3 by ultra_fic (G/K; no warnings apply) Prompt: Clint learns Natasha can shoot a bow.

Blank Slate | AO3 by @firlalaith (Teen; a little angsty but nothing bad) Prompt: One of them is de-aged. They can't be turned back, so they're going to have to grow up again the long way. (Your choice as to if they still have their memories or are completely de-aged as in they can’t remember any of their past.) The other has to choose whether to also be de-aged and grow up with them, be their friend (and maybe more if history repeats), or stay an adult and protect them (which might have to be from a distance?). Because they both know all too well how vulnerable children are, and had shitty childhoods, and want better for the person they love this time around.

Blindside | AO3 by @cloud--atlas (Teen; no warnings) Prompt: I'm so obsessed with your ex

Butterflies in Iowa | AO3 by @firlalaith (Teen; Character Death, Depiction of a Suicide, Vormir) Prompt: Lila sees Clint during the test run and the consequences

Daughter of Goose by @alphaflyer (G; no warnings apply) Prompt: In which Liho (or Lucky) turns out to be a Flerken.

desirable (and other adjectives) | AO3 by @cassiesinsanity (G; weight gain) Prompt: Clint refers to it as a bulk cycle. Natasha simply calls it getting fat.

Don't Touch Lola | AO3 by @firlalaith (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: Endgame AU/fix-it: when Clint and Natasha show up to fetch the Soul Stone it's not there, it turns out at this point in time that someone else already has it.

Every Hawkeye has a Widow | AO3 by @firlalaith (G) Prompt: (615): Your sister reminds me of me at her age. Stop her while you can.

Get by with a little from our friends by @quietlyimplode (Teen/PG13; no warnings apply) Prompt: I can do it with a broken heart

history be rhyming | AO3 by @firlalaith (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: “He’s dead. Again.”

Hope in the Rain | AO3 by @quietlyimplode (Teen/PG13; Angst(?)/ Canonical Violence?) Prompt: Tokyo wasn't their first time together in an alley in the rain

I Get By… | AO3 by ultra_fic (G/K; no warnings necessary) Prompt: Kate notices the Black Widow tattoo on Clint's arm

I must have turned bright red (I liked what I saw) | AO3 by @icantopenwaterbottlecaps (Teen; no warnings) Prompt:An adult Natasha signs up to work at a summer camp, as part of her own healing and to give back. Enter Clint Barton, who's been a volunteer there already for a while (or may have similarly been originally ordered to work there like Nat). Everyone knows him, everyone gets on with him, he trains kids in archery and teaches them how to swim and grow in confidence, and he’s just. too. damn. Nice.

In Our Professional Opinion | AO3 by @alphaflyer (Mature; no warnings apply) Prompt: Rating SHIELD safehouses

It Might Be Worth It | AO3 by ultra_fic (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: In a world of boys, he's a gentleman

lingering doubts | AO3 by fadedwings (Teen; swearing, nightmares, insomnia, and some angst with a side of cuddling) Prompt: Clint never actually broke entirely free from Loki's control / still had lingering issues until Loki died. Or until the stone that powered the tesseract was destroyed.

Not Another Moment to Waste | AO3 by ultra_fic (Teen; no warnings apply) Prompt: You took the words right out of my mouth (it must’ve been while you were kissing me).

not just another mission | AO3 by fadedwings (Teen; adult language) Prompt: You squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi

Out On the Moonlit Floor | AO3 by ultra_fic (G/K; no warnings necessary) Prompt: This is a love story. It must be; it's got kissing in it.

"Paradise Lost" | AO3 by chaed (T; no warnings) Prompt: Superior Iron Man enlists the services of nefarious assassin duo Black Widow and Hawkeye (dark!Clintasha).

Progress | AO3 by @inkvoices (Teen; a character having some anxiety in crowds and being the centre of attention) Prompt: our mutual friend has been talking us up to the other and when we finally meet, we have to tell them that we’ve been in a feud for the last six years

red light | AO3 by @quidnunc-life (Teen) Prompt: Sex work AU

(REMIX: Red Light / Little Red Lies | AO3 by @icantopenwaterbottlecaps  (Teen; no warnings) Prompt: Sex work AU

REMIX: red light / Little Red Lies / ran the red | AO3 by @asterarchers (G; no warnings) Prompt: Sex work AU

she’s gone by @quietlyimplode (Teen; angst) Prompt: When you hold me, it holds me together And you kiss me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever

The Ties That Bind by @alphaflyer (Teen; no warnings) Prompt: Clint and Natasha are having the most incredible, amazing first date - what could go wrong?

the words of another | AO3 by @quietlyimplode (Teen/PG13; discussion of mental states) Prompt: Early SHIELD. Natasha hacks into the system and reads what is in her evaluation (Psychologists, Fury, Clint, etc.)

Untitled Fill (100 Word Drabble) by @quietlyimplode  (Teen; angst) Prompt: Non sexual (physical) intimacy

what we do to each other by @poppypickle (T; beginningsofcomplicatedfeelings!fic) Prompt: Don't know what to call this situation, but I know I can't call you mine

you've been calling my bluff on all my usual tricks | AO3 by @asterarchers  (Teen and Up; no warnings apply) Prompt: Gentle Ways To Let Him Know You're Dating Each Other

[wellmetmat]

@nohoperadio tagged me in an ask meme. I was delighted to get to read their answers and delighted to be tagged. One question is about objects you have some attachment to, and I cannot post merely one or two of those; I am a compulsive fiddler surrounded by graspable objects at all times, and am furthermore very materialistic and like pleasant objects, and a few dozen of them are always tied for first place, so this question needs to be a post unto itself. Will be long, take warning.

"Show us an object in your daily life that you have an emotional attachment to - tell us a little bit about it if you want! (a favourite mug perhaps? socks with a cute pattern? dealers choice)" So keen.

Above:

1. A ring made from scrap copper sheet long ago in a workshop with someone who could solder. It is a reminder of my repeated failure to solder anything later in life. (It does recall failure, but I like its colour: heat-mottled, bright in the scratches. It looks like a speckled fish.)

2. A dark blocky figurine of a man sitting hunched over in despair, face in his hands. This is a wonderful shape to roll around: a carving with some narrative suggestion to it, which is also nearly a ball; brilliant. Because of the man's hopeless curled-up attitude, I also place it on top of stacks of paper I have yet to get to.

3. A sticker of Hans Holbein's portrait of Erasmus, whom I mostly like. It's a fine, distinctive, enjoyable portrait and I like his nose. I got this wishing to put it on either a notebook in which I finally wrote the Reformation theological heist story of my daydreams, or a suitable nonfiction book. I cannot decide on the most suitable book and have never actually written more than five thousand words of continuous story, so the sticker stays unplaced.

4. Two gifts from a friend who does Viking for his historical persona. He made the knife: blade, handle and sheath. He cut out and punch-decorated the brass bird, based on a period original.

A Herne-the-Hunter type I whittled into a camphor laurel stick.

A goose I scratched, based on a Pictish rock-carving.

Tiny toys owned by my mother. They're more than seventy years old. Their smallness always made them appealing.

A ring form I carved in wax once, then never cast (because that's harder and more steps and I went so far as making an attempted backyard furnace and it was lousy). So this, too, is a reminder of failure, but - it's a good object. It didn't reach precision, but it reached a degree of smoothness at which the compulsion to roll it round one's fingers switches on.

I pick up pretty stones and ceramic fragments as I walk, out of tactile covetousness. Some I try to make represent characters or historical people in narratives, as an aid to memory. The cracked crystal, rainbow at its flaw, stands (I decided) for Erasmus, and the blue-glazed shard for Zeus (during an attempt to learn the Hymn to Hermes well enough to tell it).

A pewter badge of membership issued by the historical society I go to, based on a Mongolian gerege.

A (bought) piece of amber whose shape suggests a koala. One day to be a return gift to the friend who made the knife. I delay because it would be good to carve it a bit first.

A pebble from Sherwood Forest. I went to England as a young adult, and was very excited, especially about Sherwood Forest and Canterbury.

A handle I carved (slightly) out of a fallen eucalyptus branch. The wood is hard; it took a lot of sanding. It is lovely in the hand now. I don't know what it should be a handle for; maybe an awl.

I was trying to write out a poem from memory, with good penmanship, for double practice. Of course I muffed both. Then I painted a marginal cassowary to express the anger and disdain my writing deserved. Then it turned out a fairly good cassowary and I couldn't stand to throw the paper out.

Spoon and brass flask-stopper.

Old example notebook. I usually carry around a notebook, and always long to fill it with good drawings and witty writings and helpful notes, and never succeed in so doing, and get attached anyway to my dismally lowbrow and feckless notes and then never throw them away. Alas.

I left my first cloak (a second-hand woolen blanket of a peculiar shade of teal) in a lovely friend's car and she SURPRISE-EMBROIDERED it. And returned it with this note pinned to it. As though I would ask her to remove her surprise embroidery! Pshaw. (The note has been in my treasure box for fifteen years.)

A work mate. I drew him. The carpark was boring.

[tiltedsyllogism]

For All Mankind fic bonanza!

As of a few hours ago, there are suddenly eight new fanworks in the FAM tag on Ao3! This is because Battleship 2024 just ended, and so all of the fanworks created for it over the past few weeks -- which, as per game rules, were hidden for the course of the game -- have suddenly become available (though they will remain anonymous for another two weeks.)

Because there are so many of them, and because most of them still bear their original posting dates and thus risk getting buried, I decided to make a compilation post! So here they are, in order of posting:

1) Now entering the studio... an Aleida and Bill friendship fic in which Aleida gets Bill the perfect birthday gift: a chance to audition for Jeopardy!

2) Bad or Mad or Wise? Irina watches, and enjoys, surveillance videos of Margo and Sergei's homes. This one comes with a noncon warning: the recorded sex that Irina is watching is consensual, but the recording and the watching are not.

3) Untitled Goose Fic A story leveraging the timeless classic trope of soulmate-bond-enforced-by-a-goose, about Ellen and Larry as platonic soulmates.

4) fade back in A post s-3 Ellen and Larry fic about an evening Ellen spends at Larry's after a minor but scary car accident.

5) Harsh Mistress A trio of drabbles (100-word ficlets) about Molly, Gordo and Ellen each having creepy experiences on the moon.

6) Wanderers Still Another Aleida and Bill friendship fic, about an evening they spend drinking together.

7) Nothing left on the kitchen shelf A long and in-depth (20k!) character study of Karen Baldwin, set post S2. At the end of her rope, Karen heads west on an impulsive road trip.

8) A podfic of Re: Re: Re: Re: Urgent: Apollo-Soyuz by PorcupineGirl Which is AMAZING (and based on an amazing story!) but also very doofy because I requested a podfic of this exact story from one of the Fandom Trumps Hate auctions I won, and it was just posted the other day. So now we have a total of two podfics in this entire fandom and they are the exact same story. But at least it's a very good story!

[compacflt]

hi!! very excited about your next batch! but i was wondering if you ever think of posting some of the (wonderful) female!mav scenes you wrote (the question mark on my computer decided to stop working but this is indeed a question)

have a great weekend!!

yeah sure! again— this isn’t finished and never will be finished, I posted the reasons below. But here are a bunch of snippets from the fem!mav/lesbian charliemav AU from this summer. Would love to hear your thoughts, because politically it gave me some pause! lol.

1. On how mav survives (the central motif of the one-shot is Mav cutting her hair with scissors which is why the emphasis here)

2. On ice (straight icemav will never work because fundamentally ice is a misogynistic cunt)

3. on sex with girly girls (one of life’s greatest pleasures)

ehhh you get the picture of what’s under the cut

4. on charliemav

5. on charlie

7. The end (post Layton mission [mav proving herself by saving ice’s life] and the end of TG86, Mav gearing up to cut her hair again in Charlie’s house)

and here, copy-pasted, were the tags i planned to affix to the charliemav one-shot, which I think explain also why I stopped writing it—maverick is insanely out of character here!

“some discussion of issues that would affect a female pilot in the 1980s in this one: SA, sexism, etc. u have been warned / i would love to talk to anyone about the politics of this one cause hoo boy i had to think about it / it’s a little personal to me too / i wouldn’t necessarily say i struggle with my gender identity but i do have a really complicated relationship with it / i think this mav is incredibly out of character / it turns out mav’s thoughtless overperformance of masculinity is so ingrained into his character that / if you make it intentional he/she turns into an entirely different character. / i often struggle with writing maverick way way too bitter (there’s something very gentle about tgm mav I struggle replicating) / & this is a VERY bitter & cynical & calculating mav as well. she has to be. But i fear i lose some of mav’s original character in the cynicism. 🤷🏽‍♀️ / that’s why i struggle writing AUs—you lose so much of the original characters who are DEFINED by the stories they’re from / if that makes sense. / i think a female maverick isn’t maverick. / you might as well be writing original fiction at that point. / this 1 shot is pretty much just original fiction. / idk would love to hear ppls thoughts on the fandom philosophy behind AUs / something i would love to think about more / top gun fanfiction / charlotte charlie Blackwood / pete maverick mitchell / Tom iceman kazansky/ nick goose bradshaw / genderbent top gun / charliemav / in this universe mav and Charlie break up and mav gets back together with Penny according to the tgm timeline btw / TGM mav might as well be a lesbian like nothing really has to change in the script at all. / post 2010 tom cruise just gives lesbian. no change necessary / soundtrack for this one is ‘I have a woman inside my soul’ by yoko ono”

I also stopped writing this one because I could not for the life of me figure out how to write goose, canonically a sexist just like mav and ice. made things difficult and a little awkward

[imagoddamnonionmason]

Be kind to yourself creatively

This post is mainly about original characters

So I wrote this sentiment in a collection of tags on a different post, but I wanted to actually write it all down in my own post.

This is the post that triggered my ramble.

On that post I put in my tags something along the lines of sharing your ocs with others helps you grow them because someone might highlight something you hadn't thought about before, which then leads to character growth. I think it then also spiralled me into saying something about making comparisons, and that when I was younger I would often find myself comparing whatever original works/characters/art I had created to other people's and that it stunted my confidence and therefore my creativity.

I suppose the reason I'm rambling about this is because I have been creating original characters for, gosh, years now and I have had a lot of time to make mistakes and I hope that I can offer advice to people who might be starting out or are just feeling a little low about their work!

So, here goes, with the full capacity of my lungs:

BE KIND TO YOURSELF CREATIVELY.

Or you'll catch a rogue Goose coming for your knees-

Seriously, be kind, because everyone has to start out somewhere and I will put money on it that no one starts out with a perfectly developed original character or works.

You're allowed to take baby steps.

You're allowed to be rough around the edges.

Never compare whatever you create to anyone else because we are all walking a different path. You may compare your newly born original character to one that has been worked on for years and therefore the comparison is unfair!

Even then, even if you compared two equally fleshed out characters to each other, the comparisons would still be unfair; you know why? Because they are individuals. No one character is the same and creativity is SUBJECTIVE.

So please, whether you've been making original characters for a long time or have only just started, remember this:

Be kind to yourself

Walk your creative path at your own pace <3

Goose

[sunrisetune]

So I was listening to the only two Train songs anyone knows (/that's a joke, sorry, sorry), and in 'Soul Sister' there's the line of like, "the smell of you in every single dream I dream~" And I know it's just meant to be describing how close he feels to her (intimating intimacy, if you will) But now I'm wondering:

[calicodreamer]

CALICO WATCHES THE SUN AND MOON SHOW: LETS GO

Lets make this clear. So, First of all I'm only covering two episodes today (ADHD POOR IMPULSE REGULATION LETS GO).

Secondly, As an apology for my silence in my never ending quest to get through all GAZILLION of the Sun and Moon shows episodes, you can have two posts in a short amount of time.

Typically warnings for Spoilers, even though this is really early on into the series, I am like, a good few episodes in? So its probably good to spoiler warn outside of the tags.

11:37 ROXANNE WOLF Chooses SUN or MOON in VRCHAT

This episode took a lot less time  for me to eventually watch due to how the last episode treated me. Frankly, I was expecting a lot more cringe than what I got, so I was excited to watch the next episode and got over the “No clicky clicky” mental block.

And I was hoping this two wouldn't cringe, and there was no intro! So My hopes were high!

And sorely misplaced. I had to physically throw myself out of my bed and to my computer to type this down so I could not click off the episode.

But like Sisyphus I am bound, and here I continue with my efforts to continue this short series.

Instead of their usual icons they have little pop up things, depending on who’s POV it is. 

So the episode opens with Sun and Moon arriving at the restaurant so Sun can go on his date with Roxanne. The restaurant is empty, Roxanne is there with her Dommy Mommy voice, and Gregory is also there (For some fucking reason, and he sounds terrible), and Roxy thinks she’s going on a date with Moon -

Oh poor Sun

But they decided to Just roll with it, and Sun takes Gregory to help him with this date for his brother. 

Sun is VERY large compared to Gregory, and I am enjoying it greatly. 

So they feed them (Roxanne and Moon, who is currently having an awful time on his date.) Pancakes, and then Sun finds a Duck (Who is actually a Goose) and tries to get Gregory to help him cook it. And he does? This is fantastic

(I am suffering)

“What are your hobbies?” “Science, the occasional murder, something serious.” Moon you are the only thing getting me through this

Sun admits to Waterboarding the Goose to kill it, Moon has a legal system in his head. 8 minutes in, I don’t wanna live here anymore. The only thing thats keeping me going through this episode is typing this

Actually the episode ends up fairly well, Sun and Roxanne agree to go on another date after Moon gets sick of having to put up with this facade being that Moon doesn’t even really like Roxanne, who gets huffy about it., which is cute, and If I wasn’t spoiled, I’d be rooting for there relationship

I was told this episode involved a murder attempt, and y’know what its okay for me to be wrong.

12:22 Sun and Moon TRANSFORM into ECLIPSE in VRCHAT

This is the introduction of Eclipse, and he just shows up to be a dramatic little fucker for a while, and bite at Moon because he’s a petty little bastard. Like - HE REALLY hates moon for some reasons.

Eclipse girlies this is the start of your buffet.

There isn’t a traditional intro, but still an Intro that I find less cringe, which is essential just Moon being like “I’m worried about Sun ™, Let me go check on him.”

and then Sun shows up and is like, “Lemme be real suspicious, and act not like Sun at all, and also gaslight Moon.” 

Moon is also getting STEADILY fed up with Not sun for a good while.

The episode starts with “And now I know that's not Sun-” which is like a KILLER LINE - I am paraphrasing the original part of that sentence.

We are introduced to another personality, and he has a killer sense of theatrics, like - I am ENJOYING this guy. He’s such a little stinker.

“Your right about the code.. Even the smallest portion of it…” _ GO WHITE BOY GO

Moon being over protective and angsty, and the first bit of Eclipse being just a part of Moon that evolved after he left Sun’s original body, which relates to this theory that I have regarding the multiple different personalities that just happen to pop up within Suns original Code, But we can get there eventually.

“People like to call me Eclipse.” Babygirl What people? we just met you.

Moon being worried about his brother for ten minutes, and I LOVE Eclipse’s voice. 

The VR models glitching around During these super serious moments are funny.

The also canonically have an editor, there is a whole other dude here, AND children in the day-care

So Like, Eclipse has been running around unchecked in Suns body for 24 hours, and Moon Loses his shit because he couldn’t tell the difference. Poor Sun has no idea what’s happening, because he wasn’t conscious when Eclipse was in the drivers seat. 

“He’s OUR eclipse.” Good line Moon Voice actor very good.

Moon feeling guilty mark one

They’re doing a good job at building up Eclipse as a threat, Poor babies

And the fact that Moon still remembers sharing a body with Sun and how much he didn’t like that

Also they have a home that isn’t the day-care and I don’t know how I feel about that (They do have like, Bunkers, and whole other house)

So my final thoughts: This is the beginning of less happy fun times and constant drama, and like, screw you wiki, lying to me about the suffering of Gregory - Even though he deserves it for his awful voice.

Moon and Sun - Still a duo that I enjoy. Though it should be Noted that Moon is much more tolerable when he's not stressed. It doesn't look like either of the boys have any real coping mechanism's right not for dealing with any emotion that they don't like. Sun looks to be internalizing most of his issues right now, while Moon is largely explosive and externalizes most of his emotions - Probably because he wasn't always able to.

More to Come

-Calico

[princeescaluswords]

This is more a comparison thought, but with the release of the X Men ‘97 trailer there’s been an increase in the “Wolverine is the real leader, Scott (Summers) is a dolt” sort of comments. Because I saw a text post about Scott (McCall)’s leadership skills I immediately made a, admittedly simplistic, comparison.

Fandom so often attaches themselves to the loud and angry characters, often the most reactionary, and declare them the most proactive and real leaders. I see it as a common thread in fandom, and one I worth a further discussion. How often characters with ideals, who consider the ramifications of actions, who attempt a steady hand are dismissed for the characters that meet our desire for action and violence.

I don’t believe I’ve fully formed thoughts on this, but it was an immediate consideration after seeing posts.

Before I tackle this question, I want to clarify that I only read Marvel Comics from 1984 to 1995 and then again from 2007 to 2013. I did read back issues during both periods, but those are the time periods where my opinion were set, and so there might be things from outside those time frames which do not impact my analysis.

The first time I stopped reading was due to two trends that simply made me uninterested. During the 1980s, the X-Men comics had adventures but there was at least some degree of being grounded in everyday life. The 80s X-men worried about fitting in with the people around them and about having a life outside the spandex and fighting off the Brood and the Marauders, etc. When Riptide put Nightcrawler in a coma, it influenced how other characters reacted to events. By about the summer of 1995, I didn't find that anymore in X-men.

The early 90s also saw the rise of the antihero in Marvel and a greater emphasis on bombast. The Punisher became a hero. Wolverine stopped worrying about his body count. There was no slow build up in the comics to a pulse-pounding conclusion; instead, there were pulse-pounding conclusions every three months. The comics I read slowly pulled away from "people with powers" and into what I referred to as "powers with a name tag attached." It was most likely me aging out of my interests.

The second time, I picked up the comics out of nostalgia and I found that there was a new level of maturity to be found in the storytelling. Characters like Captain America and Charles Xavier were being pushed out of their roles; a new generation had to learn how to protect themselves and others. And then came "Time Runs Out." It did, but in this case it was the time running out was my interest in the comics. Marvel Comics, like Hollywood, decided to go for retreads of original characters than take a risk on something new.

Both times, nuanced visions of leadership were the first thing to go. The "best" leader became the character who ignored everything but resolving the immediate problem as quickly as possible. With that criteria, Wolverine and characters like him -- lets call them what they are, killers -- were the best choice. But just as importantly, leaders who attempted to address systemic problems in the comic's world, the things that created the immediate problem were portrayed as bootlickers too inured to suffering to even notice it (various leaders of the Avengers), anxious managers whose refusal to act decisively simply perpetuated the problems (Cyclops and Spider-man), or hide-bound egoists too infatuated with their own visions and status to want to actually solve the problem.

Yes, I'm talking about Charles Xavier.

Don't get me wrong, Deadly Genesis is rightfully praised, and the terrible errors that Xavier committed there are legitimate criticisms of the character and how he approached resolving mutant oppression. But Marvel, as it frequently does, saw a golden goose and then beat it to death. Xavier barely remained a hero, instead becoming a stand-in for every corrupted politician in the history of the world. The thoughtful recognition of Xavier's sacrifice, his nobility, and his ultimate belief in the necessity of finding common ground was obliterated for the next episode of "What Did Charlie Do Now?"

The X-men wouldn't have been what they were without Charles's vision. The present writers know that too, they just resent it. I feel that Cyclops, too, has been robbed of his principles in order to become a Wolverine with speeches. When you can't tell the difference between one of Cyclops' bubbles and one of Magneto's speech bubbles, something's gone wrong. (This is not a criticism of Magneto. I thoroughly enjoy his perspective as one among many.) As far as I can tell, there are only two types of leaders in Marvel Comics who aren't villains: manipulative old people who have lost touch with the people they're trying to protect and the Voices of Generational Violence Embodied. I'm sure that there are people who enjoy that, but I'm not one of them.

[pespillo]

Hello! I hope u don't mind my questions, but regarding the Emperor's Acolyte AU, is it possible for you to elaborate further about Raine's relationship with King and his position in the Kingdom of the Red Sun? And what of Edric and Emira and their position in the moon court (i think?) I absolutely LOVE the concept and the possible exploration in the day-to-day life of the people stuck within the kingdom, INCLUDING that incredibly interesting play! How did King even find Luz's manuscript, anyway?

first of all just posted smth explaining the militia so i think thats a good point on where to start thinking abt everyone´s places in all this vv

second of all , King´s been around Raine for as long as they been turned into head of the bard coven , King always holds a certain curiosity for everyone in the castle ,but his interest turned further when he took notice of Eda´s relationship with them when he was "kidnapped" in the Owl House for a bit (if you check my #emperor acolyte au tag for a sec youll see a small fic of a scene between luz n king transcurring at that time)

Since King starts seeing the Owl Lady as a maternal figure for him (it sorta starts off as wanting to get something Luz has but really, King just needs honest affection and Eda´s doesnt feel like it has any ulterior motive) , King sorta turns Raine into a royal "advisor" bard figure but in reality he sorta rlly just wants to matchmaking them n Eda so they can form his own idea of a family ,King likes to hear their music before sleeping and they unequivocally bond over extremely similar trauma in the hands of the Emperor´s Coven, to the point it makes Raine feel extremely guilty they didnt try getting him outta it much sooner considering they are realizing this is a 9 yr old whos been treated like a dog by the worse person in the Isles not even allowed to talk to other people besides the Emperor n Kikimora, in a way this guilt drives Raine further to not leave the castle to the small rebellion that Darius n Eber been forming.

Speaking of Darius n Eber, Darius n King has a small confrontation/argument that lead to their leave, Eber at first didnt actually mind the way King was running things since it was all sorta thrilling and battle oriented , but since hes inseparable from Darius he aint gnna be ditching his buddy ya know. Darius was just trying to get information of his old mentor, because King KNOWS about the way he died because Belos told him , at least his own version of it, but the more heated Darius got at King´s avoidance of the details, he ended up saying something that made the kid snap at him like "You care more about your mentor more than Hunter, where is he now? what would your mentor think about the way you treated him up until now?" which pretty much shut down that whole conversation, parting ways.

Regarding Luz´s manuscript, it was unfinished, she wanted to join that writer´s competition just as she did in the original episode but some other adventure ended up calling up to her ,so she just sorta forgot abt it or decided it leave it for other day. When the Owl House got raided by the Emperor´s coven n everything was sent to a warehouse, King came up to that warehouse to get Owl Lady´s stuff n move it into his new castle basically , he came upon it while just looking thru Luz stuff n decided to read it through because hes nosy ( he did the same with eda´s diary before), he´s never rlly been allowed to write his own stuff even when he was taught to write and read, so he decided to take it upon himself to make it "his" novel, and subsequently his play , as a way to vent all out his feelings of the world , his feelings towards Luz and everything else, plus to make a big statement culturally for the Isles.

for Edric n Emira, they were dragged into the Moon Court for Collector´s favor , because they were essentially living around them for a good while before turning into King´s Right Hand . Odalia´s been disposed off but not killed (because Emira convinced em to Not Kill their mom as much as the twins n Amity hate her because thats already so much trauma), Alador has run off to join Darius growing group as a way to find a solution to this whole, mess.

[thispatternismine]

Feedback Fest 2024: 10 Fic Recs

It's been a while since I've done any kind of recs list post, so I thought I'd have a go at this. Instead of trying to pick just 10 fics as my favourites (Difficulty level: Impossible!), I decided to base it on which fics seem most overlooked, so I chose fics from my bookmarks that had under 500 kudos

Fandoms included: ATLA, SVSSS, MDZS, Watership Down, Star Wars, Good Omens, Untitled Goose Game All are complete, with a variety of ratings & themes (ranging from chill G to E with archive warnings)

Title: Gabriel & the Great Goose of Terror Fandoms: Good Omens, Untitled Goose Game Pairings: None Rating: G Wordcount: 4,363 Description: A strange package arrives in Heaven. An unnamed angel opens it and finds it empty. Not having the imagination to see what this implies the angel miracles the box away and continues with their daily duties, blissfully unaware that the horror that had originally been hiding in the box has already been unleashed.

Title: The Story of El-ahrairah & the Rabbits of Cloud Recesses Fandoms: Watership Down, MDZS Pairing: Tagged as Wangxian but it's background Rating: G Wordcount: 1,702 Description: The Black Rabbit of Inle and El-ahrairah are both very disappointed in the warren of Cloud Recesses, though for very different reasons.

Title: This Bed of Love Fandom: MDZS Pairing: Wangxian Rating: E Wordcount: 4,513 Description: Wei Wuxian sucks a string of hickies around the base of his throat, a perverse necklace that matches the one Wei Wuxian wears. Lan Wangji can’t help the way the corner of his lips curl at the giggle his husband gives when he draws back to look, happy that they are both enjoying themselves. Day 1 – Coming Untouched

Title: The Element of Change Fandoms: ATLA Pairings: Urzai, Ozai & his family Rating: T (the MCD is for canon character death) Wordcount: 6,862 Description: A think piece on if Ozai had been born a waterbender and how that would change his relationships with his family and, ultimately, his life.

Title: Gratuitous Fandoms: ATLA Pairing: Ozai/prison guards Rating: E (the pairing + rating should tell you all you need to know regarding warnings) Wordcount: 7,757 Description: In another version of events, perhaps, someone comes to his aid. Someone saves him, and he does not have to face degradation again, and again, and again. This is not that story.

Title: About the Acquired Blindness Fandoms: SVSSS Pairing: Moshang Rating: T Wordcount: 891 Description: Shang Qinghua isn't sure if he wants to know if his eye sockets are empty or not. If yes, then it is irreversible. How will he do his job then?

Title: I've Connected the Two Dots Fandoms: SVSSS Pairing: None Rating: T (CNTW) Wordcount: 1,242 Description: Airplane has a problem. However, as the Peak Lord of An Ding, he has a lot of practice dealing with problems.

Title: Twilight Sleep, Waking Nightmares Fandoms: SVSSS Pairing: Moshang Rating: M Wordcount: 6,111 Description: An alliance of young cultivators are looking for Xin Mo, and want Mobei-jun to tell them where and how to get it. It goes pretty badly for them, starting with the fact that their demon bindings and truth potions work. How do you torture a demon enough to make them shut up?

Title: Amongst the Crystals Fandoms: SVSSS Pairing: Moshang Rating: G Wordcount: 5,482 Description: Early one morning, Shang Qinghua is awoken by Mobei-Jun and taken somewhere. He doesn't know why, but he figures his King has a good reason. Never could Shang Qinghua predict what lay in wait for him.

Title: The Warm Embrace of Long, Sharp Teeth Fandoms: Star Wars Pairing: Reylo Rating: E Wordcount: 18,847 Description: There are stories on Jakku that every child knows. Younglings who wander off into the cold, barren night and never come back. Ever-shifting monsters, too terrible for the mind to hold. Stay close to the fire, my darling, stay close. Rey knew these stories, too. She just didn't realize she was in one.

[jsdimensions]

Important

I don't post fundraiser asks anymore. I can't donate anything, I am a minor, and my blog doesn't have much reach at all. Please look elsewhere if you need help.

with that aside,

dni:

NSFW blogs, on account of me being a minor.

Paraphiles, transid/transrace/transharm, radqueer, and proship/comship.

homophobes, transphobes, acephobes, etc.

maps, zoos, etc.

generally people that glorify serious, potentially traumatizing topics.

highly political people.

ableists and racists.

zionists.

My tag key is below the cut. If you want to find something specific in my blog, such as my art or text posts, look through there.

(Note that the tags themselves do not have quotations around them.)

"eomw" = My currently canceled utmv fanfic, Error of My Ways.

- "dimensional drift" = my object show and its development process + extra stuff!!!

- "screaming into the void" = random text posts/thoughts

- "look I made a thing" = art I made, whether that be drawing, writing, or sometimes something else!

- "cool mutual stuff" = cool stuff (mainly art) from my mutual(s)!

- "reblog" = self explanatory

- "reblogging for awareness" = really serious and important stuff that I felt needed a different tag. this tag means that the reblog contains a serious post, and I felt the need to spread awareness.

- "long post" = a very long post

- "pollease help me out here" = tag for my polls (which are usually questions to see if people would care about me doing something or not)

- "ask / request" = An ask or art request.

- "posts that made me go hehe" = self-explanatory

- "oc / [insert oc name here]" = a quick way to find content of my various ocs! here's a list of my ocs that have been included on this blog recently and the fandom they're from (if they're from any):

Iota (Undertale; Sans AU)

sona (no fandom, literally just my sona on The Web™️)

Val (Undertale; Sans AU)

Crush (Undertale; Sans AU)

Alphard (Undertale; Papyrus AU)

[REDACTED] (Undertale; Sans AU)

goose (original oc)