#I dunno- at the very least I’m going to entertain the thought of going if only to get myself to start working on this damn cosplay again

[inga-don-studio]

I’m not seriously going to fool myself into thinking I can get the headcrab zombie cosplay ready for the anime/manga con in a couple weeks. Surely not. Rational thought would never.

And yet … 👀

[suzukiblu]

Day eleven of “obligatory sugar baby Kon” behind the cut. tw: implications of past grooming/abuse and the inherent problems that causes for someone who was in that situation and hasn’t processed it trying to have a relationship with someone actually age-appropriate. prev: (( chrono || non-chrono ))

“Uh–is it?” he asks, not really sure what else to say. Or more like, not really sure what else to say that would not sound both desperately, desperately horny and desperately, desperately weird. 

“I dunno,” Kon replies, giving him a quick, sheepish little smile. “Just makes me feel good, that you think I’m worth, like–taking out and showing off, or whatever. Like–without the S-shield on, even.” 

“The S-shield would definitely make date night a lot harder to enjoy, yeah,” Tim says, torn between wanting to kiss him and wanting to dissolve the entire entertainment industry and all of Kon’s previous romantic interests in acid from the ground up. Slowly. Kon blushes again, his smile widening. 

“And, uh–and that,” he says, glancing sidelong. “And that you wanna hang out with me without anybody interruptin’.” 

I want to hang out with you until I overthrow Gotham AND Metropolis and then I want to install a zeta between them and the biggest beachfront property you’ll let me buy for you and any little Kon 2.0’s you let me make you, Tim’s most insane self thinks and his slightly more rational current self does not say, because he has at least some small and tiny and miniscule scraps of self-control. 

Like, barely, and only lasting until the fifteen-year sidekick-to-supervillain plan goes off, but still. 

“I definitely don’t want anyone interrupting, no,” he agrees instead, and Kon beams at him again and then ducks in and kisses him again–just a quick little peck, but definitely still a kiss. Tim, belatedly, realizes that Kon might actually be getting more up in his space than he was before the whole . . . script issue happened. Just–standing closer, and leaning in a little more often, and things like that. Not in a demanding way or anything; just like he wants to be there a little more often. 

Like maybe he’s a little more comfortable being there, now. Or like maybe he thinks he can do it without anything being–expected from it, maybe. 

Tim doesn’t even know if Kon’s doing it on purpose or not, but he’s definitely noticing a difference either way. Just–there is very much a difference there to be noticed. 

He is definitely, definitely not going to be able to find out who any of Kon’s exes are before he goes supervillain. That’s just not going to work out for his timeline at all. 

Also Bruce would absolutely get upset if he found out about whatever he ended up doing about it, and he’s an emotional support sidekick, not, like, an intern or whatever. He is not here to cause problems, he is here to facilitate Bruce’s mental health, help him manage his paranoia, and minimize the amount of overkill beatings of petty thugs and small-time criminals. 

Admittedly Bruce managing his paranoia is not going great, but it’s a process, alright? He’s doing his best here. 

“So like, if we do go shopping again, wanna pick something out for me to wear for you next time?” Kon asks, still beaming at him. Tim’s brain attempts to reboot a couple dozen times before he manages to remember how to string a coherent sentence together. 

“Yes,” he says in an almost normal-person voice. Maybe. Theoretically. He . . . hopes, anyway. “Uh–yeah. That sounds, uh–like something I would like to do.” 

It’s a little harder to focus on the supervillain thoughts with Kon both wearing that expression and actually asking him to buy him something–especially specifically something he wants to wear for him–so that’s helpful for keeping to his timeline. But also, uh–embarrassing, kind of, because usually Tim is better at thinking than he currently is being. Like, his normal thought processes are a lot more involved than Kon’s so hot and Kon’s so CUTE and hurr durr pretty boy. 

He definitely still wants to ruin some people’s lives, but first he wants to get Kon dinner and dessert and buy out a boutique or four for him, and just like, a small suburb. Or town. City. Tri-state area. 

And also to pick out something for him to wear “next time”, since apparently Kon still wants there to be a next time that he sees Tim Drake and also just like . . . just the whole thing with the picking out something for him to wear thing, because Tim only has so much self-control, alright? He is doing his best here, but he’s only an emotional support sidekick, alright, he’s not made of stone. 

Seriously, Kon asked him to dress him and asked him to buy him something. Tim is not actually sure if he’s more thrilled about actually getting Kon to specifically ask him to buy something for him or frazzled over Kon offering to let him pick out something for him to wear. Just–god. Tim is just not even–Tim does not know what he’s feeling right now. Just–whatever it is, he is feeling it. 

He wonders if it would be, like, a little too pathetic of him to maybe get Kon another crop top. Or, uh, a little too thirsty of him. 

. . . probably, yeah. Probably definitely, in fact. 

. . . . . . but like, if Kon sees one he likes, it's not like Tim's gonna say no or–

Anyway. 

[g1rld1ary]

camp counselor!james potter x reader 2

wc: 1989

cw: swearing, nothing

prev

TAG: @lovemenotts

Camp had started in full swing, as expected. You’d spent the whole day jumping from task to task; handing out bandaids, sorting out friendship dramas (how were there already dramas when the kids had been there twenty minutes?) and introducing yourself to the new campers. Things were going smoothly until dinner had finished and the whole camp was packed into the underdeveloped amphitheatre, ready for a night of singing and speeches.

You and James had commenced the evening with an official welcome, only one or two undermining comments on each side. James’ performative traits could come in handy but they annoyed you to no end, resulting in several pointed elbows when he ventured too far off track and approached stand-up territory.

“So what’d you think?” He asked after you’d started off the music for the night, hot on your tail.

“I think you need to fall out of love with yourself a little,” You quipped, not sparing much of a look at him.

“C’mon, you’re so convinced I’m not taking this seriously but I didn’t mess it up at all!” He whined, tailing you as you weaved your way over to the cabin group you were in charge of. There was one girl missing but you weren’t too worried, the seating arrangements weren’t mandatory, it just tended to happen on the first night of camp.

“You didn’t mess up but you are bloody annoying,” You hissed before switching on your smile as you sat down next to your campers, shooing James away to do the same. He gave a two-fingered salute and turned on his heel, you couldn’t tell if the action was sarcastic or not.

The night played on, featuring sing-alongs to 2000s classics and performances from some of the musically inclined counselors. You were even treated to a comedy set by a few fourteen-year-olds (dumb jokes that you all laughed at anyway — you were just glad they were all clean as you’d reiterated at least six times).

From behind you, you felt a tug on your shirt. A camper was leaning over to you from his seat, eyes glancing all over the place.

“There’s a girl crying near the toilets,” He said.

“What? Who? Why?” You couldn’t help the questions tumbling from your mouth. The boy shrugged.

“Dunno. She had purple glasses. Dunno.” God, sometimes you just loved kids and how insightful they could be. You did, however, know who he was talking about. Your missing camper, it was her first night at camp and so you had an inkling of why she might be crying. You thanked the boy for letting you know and climbed out of the bench seat, weaving past campers and counselors alike.

You were preparing your best soothing methods when you approached the toilet block only to find your camper wasn’t alone. Or crying very much at all. Instead, she was wiping the tears off her cheeks as she giggled at whatever James Potter was telling her, curled up next to her against the wood-panelled wall.

You stopped in your tracks to observe the pair. James’ glasses had fallen down the bridge of his nose slightly, but he made no move to fix it as he gestured wildly, clearly telling some ridiculous, exaggerated story of camps gone by. Below his natural aptitude for entertaining, though, was something softer. The way he’d glance at the girl, Gracie, between every sentence to gauge her changing mood. The comforting pat to her knee or shoulder when she made a reply or sniffled.

You’d seen James as a counselor before, obviously. You’d both been in camp since you were around eight years old and had progressed at about the same rate; becoming general counselors the same year and then moving up to head counselor. So you knew at some level that James was theoretically mature and responsible and good with kids. Not that the ‘good with kids’ part was necessarily in doubt before — everyone at camp certifiably adored him, but you thought that was because he was loud and interesting and funny. Now you could see that it was because he was soft. James Potter was warm, sunlight on a lazy afternoon, he was affectionate and he cared. That’s why everyone loved him. Though the loud, funny and interesting thing certainly helped his case.

You began to feel like a bit of a creep just watching them and approached, coughing to make your presence known before sitting down in front of the two, not caring about how your denim cutoffs would have dirt on them when you stood up. James looked up with wide eyes and it almost seemed like he was glad to see you, though that didn’t make much sense.

“What’s going on here?”

“Gracie’s feeling a bit homesick, she’s never been away from home before,” James explained for you, still rubbing a comforting hand up her arm. You figured that was the case. Gracie was eleven, still just a baby.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You asked her, “I’m your cabin leader.” Gracie hesitated then looked up at James.

“She’s a little afraid of you,” He stage whispered and your mouth dropped open.

“Me? I’m not scary, am I?” You played for the crowd, exaggerating your gestures to appear less threatening and accusatory. Clearly, the two had had more of a heart-to-heart than you initially thought as James answered for her once again.

“You have to admit you’re a bit intimidating, love. You command attention, you’re scarily organised and you’re a little bossy.” He trailed off into a joking tone and you rolled your eyes.

“Firstly, don’t call me ‘love’, Potter, it’s unprofessional. Secondly… I guess you have a point — not about me being bossy though. I’m not bossy.” You directed the last sentence at Gracie at the same time that James teased you for ‘being delusional’. Gracie giggled though, the last of her tears drying up. You caught James’ eye for a fraction of a second, just enough to convey the agreement that whatever you were doing was working.

“What can I do to make you less afraid of me?” You asked her and James answered once more.

“I’m already on it, actually. I was just telling Gracie here about the time you tried the obstacle course four years ago.” You groaned dramatically, covering your face in very real embarrassment.

“You are so terrible,” You whined, “That was honestly my most humiliating camp moment. I was so cocky and had the most over-the-top trash-talk known to man, then wiped out on the first obstacle.” You couldn’t help but join in with James’ laughter, and Gracie wasn’t far behind, girlish giggles far higher in pitch than yours or James’.

“Really?” She asked when she could catch a breath.

“Really,” You affirmed, “It was a total wipeout too, I went sliding right through the mud and was covered head to toe in front of the whole camp. I couldn’t get the mud out of my hair for days! I’m sure James still has some of the photos hidden away somewhere. I definitely learnt my lesson about getting too arrogant that day.”

“I definitely do,” James agreed, sticking his tongue out when you made an offended face.

“Will we get to do the obstacle course this summer?” Gracie asked, boundless enthusiasm growing in her eyes.

“Absolutely we will! Maybe we’ll even get this one to participate again.” James cocked his head in your direction.

“No, no, no. I swore on that day I would never embarrass myself like that again,” You hid behind a laugh, not wanting to admit how much the incident haunted you.

“Please, you have to!” Gracie all but squealed, clapping excitedly. You pretended to consider it for a moment, then gave your most diplomatic answer.

“Maybe. It’ll take some serious convincing though.”

When you were sure Gracie was thoroughly convinced you ushered the three of you back in the direction of the amphitheatre. Gracie ran ahead, becoming eager to rejoin the camp traditions that you and James had successfully talked up. You and James dawdled behind, not quite so pressured to return to the event you’d experienced so many times.

James threw an arm around your shoulder, forcing you to adopt his step pattern.

“We make a pretty good team, don’t you think?” He asked, just a hint too cocksure for your liking.

“You wish, Potter,” You stuck your tongue out childishly. After a beat of silence, you softened, “You did good today. I didn’t know you had that in you.”

“Was that a compliment?” He asked, smile growing wide across his face. You almost felt the need to cover your eyes, the blinding shine illuminating the dirt path ahead of you.

“Yeah, don’t get used to them,” You grumbled, trying to pull away but James just held on to you tighter, practically pushing his weight onto you as you tried to keep your path straight.

“You’re warming up to me,” He sang. You rolled your eyes so hard you thought they might fall out. Not wanting to lead the conversation to any sappy territory you changed the subject.

“Did you really have to tell her about the obstacle course?”

“I knew you wouldn’t mind, not really. Did you want me to tell her about the first time we all got drunk instead?” You shook your head violently fast, the memory bringing colour to your cheeks even years later.

“Alright, moment over!” You ducked away from his hold on you, conveniently in time for you both to approach the amphitheatre and presumptuous eyes again. James followed a few steps behind, a dumb grin on his face you didn’t catch.

“So there was a moment?” He called, just quiet enough that it didn’t attract attention from the campers. You stopped to turn back to him, making sure he could see you rolling your eyes. Yet, you reluctantly returned the handshake he initiated — a dumb, overly intricate routine you made up in the rare instances he wasn’t completely annoying or making fun of you when you were both twelve — a silent agreement that you’d done something good together, a suggestion that maybe working with him wouldn’t be as infuriating as you assumed.

“Already falling for James?” Lily asked that night, safe in her corner of the cabin. If it didn’t require getting out from under the cozy covers you would have hit her.

“The fuck are you talking about, Evans?” You snapped with no ferocity, pulling small laughs from the other girls in the room.

“We saw you returning from a suspicious time out in the woods. What heinous acts are you two committing in there?” Marlene added with a teasing lilt. You wished they could see you rolling your eyes.

“For your information, we were comforting one of my girls. She just ran ahead and you know I don’t do running in the dark.”

“And yet, you didn’t look like you hated Potter with the heat of a thousand suns?”

“He did a good job, it’s whatever. He’s softer than I am.”

“Until now because you’re falling for him and you’re gonna be in love by the end of the summer,” Dorcas sang gleefully. You protested loudly before giving up, three against one too much for you to handle at that time of night. You punctuated the end of the conversation with a decisive flip to face the wall, bringing your blanket with you. You ignored the lingering giggles in favour of sleep, apparently the only place you could avoid talk of James Potter.

[miss-tc-nova]

Not Vil - Vil Schoenheit x Reader

Okay, listen. Listen Linda! I know this isn't great, even though this is kind of the concept you were thinking of. I hope you still find this one silly and somewhat entertaining, but just you wait. I had another idea too.

So stay tuned!

Premise: Vil is taking his character a bit too far

Words: 926

~~~~~

               I feel my lips purse, willing myself to keep my mouth shut. This is important to him. This is for a project—for his career. Plus, it would cause quite a bit of drama.

               But damn if I don’t slap Vil Schoenheit, I better get a Partner-of-the-Year award.

               For the past thirty days, the actor has been testing method acting—the kind people use in TV shows and movies, pretending that they truly are the character both on and off camera. I think part of the excitement comes from the fact that this is a main character role and he wants it to be his best yet. And it wouldn’t be bad, if Vil wasn’t playing such an eccentric, flirtatious, goofy character. It was kind of cute at first, and maybe I even enjoyed the extra flirting a little bit. But then it got old.

               Vil’s excessive monologuing on the beauty of every person he came across bordered on the realm of Rook. Everyone was lovingly compared to some beauty or another, which is very awkward for most of these self-conscious NRC boys. He began willing joining in on the antics of the first years, which was fun for a day, but became overbearing when he quickly began leading the group into even more shenanigans—several of which I became responsible for. And for all the poise and confidence that Vil exuded, this “character” was naïve with such childish notions of relationships. I did not need any more roses or for him to start fawning at the thought of a kiss. I didn’t even get the kiss in the end.

               Now, I’m sitting here, going over my homework, sitting alone in Ramshackle for some peace from that overbearing character.

               The foyer door opens. Ramshackle is still very much bare and under-furnished, leaving me fully exposed to whatever guest let themselves in.

               “There’s my beautiful muse.” The higher tone of his voice actually sends unpleasant shivers down my spine.

               “Oh. Hi sweetheart,” I greet, hoping my tone stays even.

               Hands cupping my face—a big Vil no-no—the young man squishes my face as he presses kisses all across my face. After at least a dozen, I shake him off.

               “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! How was your day, darling?”

               I drag a sleeve across my face. “It’s been alright. Trein gave an essay assignment and I’ve been working on it since class ended.”

               “Hm? Let me see.”

               Before I could say anything, the page disappears. I didn’t need help; I didn’t even ask. But here’s this wacky, flamboyant character waxing poetic about some treaty between humans and fae. Hell, I’m not even sure what he’s talking about and have long since tuned him out when, once again, his attention turns on me.

               Fingers tip my chin higher. With eyes clearly clouded with rose-tinted glasses, he coos at me.

               “What I wouldn’t do to place a tender kiss upon that beautiful face of yours.”

               The answer is obviously leaning in. I can’t even remember the last time Vil gave me an actual kiss or curled up with me for our weekly movie night. Hell, he won’t even hold my hand as we walk across campus anymore—too busy monologuing about some purity or other. I’m sick of this. This is not Vil and I’ve had enough.

               If he wants to be this character, then fine. He’s that character.

               “Mmm, I dunno. That sounds a bit too forward if you ask me.”

               A hand finds his chest. “Forward? I didn’t offend you, did I?”

               “No, by all means you flatter me, but such behavior would be improper, don’t you think?”

               The slightest twitch of his brows seems to say some signal has reached him.

               “Perhaps the impropriety lies with me. I would be honored if you would grace me with a kiss.”

               “Excuse me?”

               With pouting lips, Vil tilts his head. “Kiss me.”

               “Kiss you?”

               “Please?”

               I turn my head away, waving a hand dismissively. “Sorry, but I’m dating Vil Schoenheit.”

               The man freezes. Blinks.

               “But I’m…”

               I watch, waiting for the ball to drop.

               He sighs, shoulders relaxing with a hint of defeat on his face.

               “I’ve gone too far, haven’t I.”

               A smile tugs at my lips. “Maybe a little.”

               His head falls back, arms open to beckon me into his embrace which I gladly step into. Caressing hands rub at my back, his chin resting atop my head.

               “I’m sorry, my gem.”

               Giggling, I hold tightly. “If you don’t take this crappy methodism out of your acting techniques, I’m breaking up with you. I refuse to date all your characters.”

               “That’s a bit harsh.” Even his voice holds some laughter to it. “You could’ve said something sooner.”

               “Yeah right. You would’ve nearly burst into tears and begged me to tell you what you could change…in character.”

               He sighs. “Oh fine. I would have.” Leaning back, Vil gives me a smile—a true, gentle, sultry Vil smile. “So, how should I make it up to you?”

               I walk my fingers along his chest. “I think you owe me an extensive spa day for all the stress you’ve put me through.”

               Amethyst eyes take in my face. “Mmm, you may be right. You might be starting to develop frown lines.”

               I glare.

               “I’m kidding, my gem. I would be happy to spoil you. Are you going to pick the movie tonight?”

               “I’m going to pick the most childish, goofy, outlandish movie I can find.”

               Again, he sighs. “The price of acting is forever a steep one.”

~~~~~

Alternate - The Worst Method

Nova’s Twisted Wonderland Masterlist

[sophie-hatter-jenkins]

Auburn

A microfic written for Day 1 of Jily Week 2024, run by the very lovely @sunshinemarauder and @kay-elle-cee, and inspired by the theme Love is in the Hair - one of those iconic 'wow' moments!

647 words

Rated G

A flash of red catches James Potter’s eye for the very first time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James Potter was twelve years old the first time he really noticed Lily Evans’s hair. Obviously, he’d seen it plenty of times before, just like he’d seen Sirius’s hair or his Mum’s hair. The difference was that he hadn’t ever looked at it properly before. 

The day it happened, he and Sirius were in their usual seats in the Potions classroom, at the bench in the back right corner; the one that was least visible from Slughorn’s desk and therefore offered the most potential for messing about. 

Sluggie had finished his opening lecture on the topic of Swelling Solution - or at least that was what James assumed he’d been talking about, since that was what was written on the board, but he honestly hadn’t heard a word; he’d been too busy scribbling notes to Sirius. In fairness, Swelling Solutions did sound like they could be quite entertaining, and the idea of slipping some into the pumpkin juice at the Slytherin table convinced him that it might be worth actually putting a bit of effort in for once.  

He and Sirius played Spell, Shield, Serpent to decide who had to go and get their ingredients from the supply cupboard. Sirius lost, and made a rude gesture at James as he scraped his stool back along the stone floor. James smirked at him, then started to flick through his textbook looking for the right page, when a flash of red caught his attention; Evans, sitting next to that greasy loser Snape at the bench immediately in front of him, had flipped her hair back over her shoulders.

Her hair, he noticed, was remarkably thick and shiny, and James idly considered asking what Sleekeazy products she used. It was a very unusual colour, too. Auburn, he thought it was called; not an obnoxiously bright red, like the Prewett twins, but a darker, richer shade altogether. It seemed to change as she moved her head, the lamplight creating rose gold highlights and purple-plum shadows amidst the rich chestnut. 

As he watched, she picked up three sections from near the front, and began to weave them together, nimble fingers dancing a fascinating waltz down her head. She deftly pulled more and more strands into the pattern as she went, and the repetitive movement was oddly hypnotic. It left James entranced.

She’d just reached the nape of her neck when Sirius returned.

“How the hell is she doing that?” he muttered. 

“How is who doing what?” asked Sirius, dismissively.

“Evans.” He nodded towards her. “Doing that with her hair, behind her head, without a mirror or a charm or anything.”

“Oh. I dunno. Oi, Evans!” called Sirius. “James wants to know what you’re doing?”

Quite unexpectedly, James felt his skin heat with embarrassment at the thought that Evans might know he’d been looking at her. It was the strangest feeling, one that was completely unfamiliar. James decided that he didn’t like it, not at all. 

Lily shot them a disdainful look as she secured the tail of her hair with a band. “I’m plaiting my hair, obviously. You know, so it doesn’t get in the way while I’m brewing.” She looked pointedly at Sirius’s collar length locks. “Maybe I should teach you?”

Sirius looked horrified. “What? Like a girl? No way!”

Evans rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the ingredients on the bench in front of her. 

“Why are you so interested in Evan’s hair all of a sudden?” asked Sirius, curiously.

“I’m not,” huffed James.

And he wasn’t. He had far more important things to think about after all, like Quidditch trials, for instance, and how he and Sirius were going to sneak their Swelling Solution out of the classroom without Sluggie noticing. Resolute, he started measuring out dried nettles to add to his mortar. He wasn’t going to think about Evans’s hair ever again; he was sure of it.

[marengogo]

UGH!-10: It's Too Early For This Shit

Nuts - by RM  [Right Place, Wrong Person]

[Music is a very big part of my life and I’m MOSTLY INCAPABLE of writing without music, so I just thought I’d share what I am listening to while writing this]

–🐺–🐺–🐺–

⚠️ super angry post ahead ⚠️

I've just opened the blue bird App and I'm already done for the day.

"the travel show should've been these two. I'm very fond of their dynamic", "so true. It would've been more interesting more fun and less drama", "Heavy on the less drama. We'd also be having discussions too, the way we are massively ignoring the current one is sending me-", "ikrrr😭😭 also actual and long conversations between them" ...

Is it so fucking hard to just not give into the people you swear on your life you are "protecting your fave" from? Is it so hard respecting your faves decisions? Is it so hard to ... I dunno ... express your frustration without having to shit on someone else who has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING?

So you are frustrated that 🐰solos, 🐻solos, and 🐰🐻ers are in 🐥's business as always? Okay. AND? That should never stop you from watching the show your fave worked so hard on! You support your fave, you show him that his will, wishes and opinions do matter and YOU REPORT THE MOTHERFUCKERS, YOU IGNORE THE MOTHERFUCKERS, AND YOU MOVE THE FUCK ON, FFS!

It is really as simple as that.

KPOPPIES and their mamas have been against 875 since time immemorial, yet here we are, supporting them because supposedly we think they are worth our support and them pursing their dreams. Imagine going "I wish 875 disbanded because we have to report antis everyday" ... in 2024? on the Blue Bird App? Really now?? Where've you been Fam?! On Blue Bird Dot Com IT BE LIKE THAT. In K-MEDIA it be like that. In The Streets of the World with ignorant people It be Like THAT!!

Being AMI is not easy. It is frustrating many a time, it is angering many a time, it is downright aggravating many a time, but you'll never see me disrespect ANY of the members because other people in the world are dickheads. NO BRO.

You sad? Stay off SM for a day or two. You mad? Bitch with your friends offline, rant on a post, and/or start boxing, I dunno! But whatever it is ALWAYS 👏🏾 AIM 👏🏾 YOUR 👏🏾 RAGE 👏🏾 AT 👏🏾 THE 👏🏾 RIGHT 👏🏾 TARGET 👏🏾 .

Certain people resorting to hate 🐥 and viceversa IS NEVER going to be 🐰's fault and viceversa .

🐥 loves all his hyungs, and arguably 🐿️ is the one he is closest to. But he also loves all "his" maknaes, and you don't have to believe he is even close to 🐰 but YOU WILL RESPECT the fact that for a good 7 years at the very least ever since GCF Tokyo came to be, both 🐥 and 🐰 seem to really not give TWO FLYING FUCKS about what any of us have to say about the time they choose to spend together. So much so that, not only did they do a whole show together, but where and with whom are they now? 🦻🏾 ...

Yes. I thought so.

Also more interesting more fun ... actual and long conversations you are just a hating hoe for that. Two people not being chatterboxes doesn't mean there is anything wrong with tem. Not your cup of tea? Move on alone, no need to shit on it. Sure 🐥🐿️ may have a more "marketable" dynamic from 🐥🐰 but maybe, just maybe, 🐥 wasn't completely aiming at entertaining, in fact on multiple occasions they even said they weren't sure if this would air at all, but they weren't bothered.

In fact, if you ask me, this particular show aired because it wasn't like every other show so hellbent on trying to entertain. It aired because this were two people who actually ended up entertaining while constantly reminding themselves that they had to, and mainly failing to do so. So fuck you wholeheartedly.

If any of the other members want to have their show I'll be up for any pairing, any trio, etc and it will be just as special and interesting in its own way. If it ends up being shit ... I can assure you it will probably not air which would be a shame because i would watch anything my boys want to show us.

Just, it would be great if for once, some people could stop the hate-comparison and try the appreciation-despite, it goes a long way, and for the looks of it, 🐥 & 🐰 are not going to stop until their 50 so ... yeah.

I'm so fucking angry obviously,

Marengo.

PS - If anyone tries to come at me saying that I hate 🐥🐿️ I'LL END YOU.

[3terna15unshin3]

Rockstar

Matty won't shut up about Este's success

1103 words

—

a/n: Once again this was not requested but I looooovveeee the idea of Matty being Este’s biggest supporter through big moments in her career so here i wrote about it🥰🥰 it’s a bit short but lmk what u think!

(I wrote an entire 15 chapter fic of this universe! Read it here if you want more Matty and Este😌)

—

“A 35,000 person capacity festival is just unfathomable to me. I can’t even picture that many people—let alone going up and performing for them. Being present in the crowd at your headline set back in 2019, where I specifically remember being impressed by you and your rockstar-esque poise and confidence, I can’t help but wonder if these crazy performances are an easier pill to swallow now? With that experience?”

Matty humbly shot down the ‘rockstar’ comment.

“That’s very kind, but I mean the festival crowds are something I really will never get used to. The pure size of them is one thing, but there’s also this energy of needing to win them over. Keep their attention. It’s a lot of pressure, so I don’t think I can say that I find it easy.”

The interviewer nodded their head in understanding, comfortably sat on a chair across from Matty and asking him a few questions before him and the band took the stage at Big Weekend 2023 in Dundee.

“Yeah, totally. And I’m sure it’s interesting going straight into a summer full of these big festivals straight after the break you’ve just been on, right?” They asked.

He draped one leg over the other before answering. “A bit. It’s always nice to warm back up with a headline show since that’s where we feel the most comfortable. Also—as silly as it sounds—three weeks was a long fucking time. For me, at least. When we’re in an album cycle and touring the shit out of it, it’s so rare for us to stop for that long.”

“What do you get up to when you’re off nowadays? I can sense a workaholic vibe from you, so is that time spent in the studio? Jumping to the next thing now that Being Funny has been out and heard and loved?” The interviewer said in a thick Scottish accent, shuffling their cards as they spoke.

“You sensed the vibe correctly,” Matty confirmed, “though it’s not entirely ‘work’ to me, I guess. It’s just the way I make sense of the world, sort of dunno what else I’d do. So yes, I did write and I am working on the next album. But I didn’t get around to it right away, since I spent some time celebrating first,”

“That’s a very artistic answer, Matty. That writing isn’t work and is ‘the way you make sense of the world’,” They joked, earning a sheepish chuckle from Matty. “May I ask if you were celebrating anything in particular? The success of your UK tour?”

“It wasn’t that self indulgent,” he explained, “I was hoping you’d ask because I love talking about it. My girlfriend is a writer for The Guardian, and she just had a huge piece of hers published. She’s the real rockstar out of the both of us, to be honest.” Matty’s face immediately lit up at the chance to gush about Este, figuring she wouldn’t mind.

He thought back to moment she gave him a call to break the news with a fond smile.

“Hi, love.” he said after he picked up.

Este was bursting at the seams with joy to say what she said next. She couldn’t even bear to greet him a ‘hello’ back.

“It’s going to be on the front.”

He dropped the chopsticks once gripped in his hands. “You’re fucking joking.”

Her smile was so wide it hurt her cheeks as she paced around the small office she shared with a few other writers she worked with. She giggled, nodding even though Matty couldn’t see her.

“17th of May. They chose mine as the Culture spotlight,” Este explained, “So there’s a snippet headline on the cover, and then you’ll flip to Books & Entertainment and my name will be the biggest one. Not just in my usual column.”

“You’re fucking joking me!” He repeated himself, audibly joyful with a volume so high she had to pull her phone away from her ear.

“Matty, you’re screaming. I hope you’re not in public,”

He was, and didn’t care. “I’m at a very nice and small Japanese restaurant that is so quiet that every single person here is looking at me like I’m crazy, for your information. Este’s on the fucking cover!” Matty exclaimed equally as loud.

She heard busy and happy commotion in the back, making out a few congratulatory remarks from the guys and the touring crew. Blush crept onto her cheeks, trying to squeeze a ‘thank you’ through to them between Matty and his continued rambles.

“I’m just so fucking proud, baby. Every time I get to read the newest thing you write it somehow tops the last—I don’t know how you do it. Actually, it’s quite annoying. Seems too effortless. It’s about time they print your name all big!” he endlessly complimented.

“I love you so much.” Este shortly said.

He could hear the grin in her voice. “Can’t be that much if I love you more,” Matty argued, “Sorry that was a bit cringe. Hann is rolling his eyes. You’re in love too, bro! Don’t act like I’m weird for it!”

“Her name’s Este Manansala, by the way. M-A-N-A-N-S-A-L-A,” Matty spelt out her surname to make sure they got it correctly, “She writes on books and literature, so it was an article about Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, a new novel out. A really, really thought-provoking conversation about white vs. minority authors—the nuances of being an author of colour. From a great perspective, too, since she’s Filipino and a woman and an immigrant. You should go read it,”

He stared down the camera lens to the hypothetical viewers, as if he could say it straight to them.

“But hell, check out all of her past stuff as well. Genuinely the most humble and intelligent human I’ve ever known. Plus I’ve written pretty much every love song of mine since like 2019 about her, so if you like my music then you have her to thank as well. Anyway—I’ve just overtaken this interview to talk about my girlfriend—sorry, mate.” apologised Matty, though he wasn’t all that apologetic.

“Don’t be sorry! I love it. She sounds incredible,” The interviewer beamed, matching his energy and feeling the admiration Matty had for her through the air.

“She is.” He smiled wide.

“If she really is the rockstar like you described, I feel like I can say that you’re her groupie.”

They belly-laughed together. Matty pictured Este’s smug expression and the way she’d definitely use that line to tease him in the future.

“Oh—I’m telling her you just said that. She’ll love it. Because you 100% can.”

[domini-porter]

It's very hard not to ask twelve questions, but I'll restrain myself...

CMYK: What inspired you to write the fic this way? (You can take this to mean the ending, the character dynamics, whatever)

Diaphananthe hedoniana: What do you like best about this fic?

Hi hello thank youuuuu!

As for CMYK, that started as most things do (for me, at least) with a single image, which was Jane seeing Page 67 and having a super-awkward reflexive reaction in front of Maura, which I thought was both funny and mean, but if anyone needs someone to be mean back, it’s our Jane.

More broadly, the setting and plot emerged from that one image—that it would be some murdered artist (which makes Jane uncomfortable and defensive to begin with), who worked in erotic art (double discomfort/defensiveness, also I’m a fan of both high camp and highbrow erotic art, so, write what you know)(I painted a full-length Tom of Finland beefcake on a door in my apartment. one of the main ones). Also it let me bring in Constance, a classic example of a character that started out okay, got questionable, and then disappeared, with massive emotional consequences that were never addressed.

So. That’s the how! I’m adjacent to the art world (not in a Constance Isles way) and it’s such a wild assortment of people, so it was really entertaining for me, personally (I strongly believe you should entertain yourself first). The rest—plot, etc—evolved sort of organically, like it almost always does. Which brings me to the end, which people have been mixed on, for the most part.

The ambiguous/bummer/more realistic ending is sort of because I hadn’t actually determined the sequence of events for the murder, or exactly how all the players were involved (it’s a very high-wire sort of writing process, particularly when I haven’t written ahead before posting a chapter). And at first I worried what I ended up going with would feel like a cop-out, or cheap storytelling, or ruining the whole thing—which are ways people have described it—but I realized that either of the possible Shiny Bow endings I’d been tossing around felt even cheaper, like, I’d just done 80k words in a very grounded, consequence-rich universe, and the natural conclusion is that (LIGHT SPOILER) you don’t always get what you want just because you’re right. To have them march in and smugly call out the Big Bad would have been the cop-out, for me (so to speak).

Once I decided how it would all shake out, it was super-important to work with the tone, and the placement of narrative clues, so that it didn’t come out of nowhere, but did happen unexpectedly for the characters and the reader. Because it do be like that sometimes. And I get why people find it unsatisfying or disappointing, and honestly, I kinda hope they do. Because it is unsatisfying, and it is disappointing, but it’s not unearned. (I still obsess over those comments, tho, don’t worry)

I dunno if this is what you meant at all. I hope it is! A few other bits of minutiae, just in case: I hadn’t done any big writing (of anything) for years and years prior to CMYK, and a lot of what I’d done before was some flavor of AU, so the contemporary setting felt novel to me, just like the post-apocalypse or the Gilded Age. I started from Jane’s perspective because it was more easily accessible after such a long disconnect from the material (whole other topic), and stayed with it instead of alternating both as a way to not have to get inside Maura’s head, and to set myself a challenge to write from a single perspective, which is way less convenient than just following other characters for a while. Constance Isles is possibly my favorite minor character (sorry Giovanni), mostly because of her potential, and because of Jacqueline Bisset (watch La Cérémonie as soon as you possibly can). I started a sequel and then I got stuck on it (turns out I’m not nearly as interested in biotech as I am the art world); I will force myself to finish it someday, this I pledge to you all.

As for Diaphananthe hedoniana: the thing I personally like best, that is truly just for me, is the writing, as unhelpful as that sounds. I really set out to do elevated crack (psychoactive sex pollen) as sincerely and with as much craft as possible; it was mostly meant as an exercise in literary smut (not erotica. smut.) but the longer I sat with it the more uncomfortable I got with the basic concept, and since I’d once again tried to ground the fantastical in reality, my trusty ol’ ethical buzzkill started going on and on about trauma and consent. And since I’d gone into it attempting to personal best my prose, I had to keep doing that even though it took a hard turn.

All this is to say: I’m pretty proud of it, just from a craft standpoint; I really leaned into my tendency toward lyrical maximalism, which I usually don’t let myself do. I’m also p proud of the dialogue, particularly the scene with both Angela and Frankie; not just the way it hits the ear or the family dynamics, but the pacing of the scenes, especially being able to write (a tiny bit of) slapstick, which is both hard and exhilarating, particularly in a story as emotionally extreme as that one.

And I did PB my prose, I think. Def PB’d the smut, which I’m also not unhappy about. 

Thank you again for enquiring! And, even more, for kicking off this round of Everybody Loves Us Tonite, one of my favorite parts of this hell site; I'm so proud of this tiny little fandom and all of its flame-carriers <3

[jackiebrackettt]

ermmm hello i am here for writing prompt what about this :

late night conversation between gill and chip, maybe about how gill wears his heart on his sleeve and chip both admires that about him and think its stupid, wishes he was more like him but also knows he couldnt get away with it cuz hes not gill, just has a lot of conflicting emotions about gillion and doesnt like how vulnerable that makes him feel. something like that.

(Prefacing this with i haven’t been caught up on riptide for a while now so this is ambiguously set somewhereeee around whatever era you think it works best thumbs up emoji)

Chip can’t sleep. An annoyingly more frequent occurrence he’s been dealing with. And he knows that lying there will probably be better for him in the long run—at the very least, no one will ask him questions about why he’s awake in the middle of the night—but he drags himself out of bed, anyway.

He’s antsy. His legs aching like they need to move. So, he does.

He heads to the kitchen first. Picks up a snack to entertain himself with while he mopes around on deck. Maybe he’ll go to the crow’s nest, and stare out at the sea��try to spot their next destination, even though it’s far from being in eyesight. Or maybe he’ll climb out to sit on the figurehead. Dangle his legs over the water.

Or—

Or maybe, he’ll go talk to Gillion. Who’s leaning against the railing, staring down at the waves below them. Huh.

“Hey, Gill.” He keeps his voice quiet, and decides not to comment on the way Gillion makes an aborted movement to reach for his sword. “Couldn’t sleep, either, huh?”

“I suppose so.” Gillion sighs.

“So,” Chip sits up on the railing, and takes a bite of his snack, “what’s got you up?”

“Just… thinking.” Gillion shrugs. “You?”

“Oh, I was just hungry.” Chip lies. And, well, he didn’t actually consider it a lie until he realised he was saying it to Gillion. “I mean… I dunno. Just felt like I had to move. And why not grab a midnight snack, huh?”

“True,” Gillion sighs again, “very true.”

“Do you, uh, want some?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Do you… want to talk about it?”

“There’s not much to talk about. I think…” Gillion hesitates. “I think I’d rather talk about nicer things now, you know?”

“Yeah, sure, I can do nice.” Chip wracks his brain for anything light-hearted. “It was, uh, sweet how you bought that kid that book back at port. Or, well, used my money to buy it.”

“Thank you.” Gillion smiles, but it’s a tired thing. “The ability to learn is a great thing. I wouldn’t want to bar anyone from that if I can help it.”

“Yeah, yeah, always the hero.” But even as he rolls his eyes, it comes out much more fond than he’d want. “Someone’s going to exploit you for that, you know? Well, again.”

“Maybe.” Gill’s eyes catch his now, and something nervous scrambles around in his chest. “But it’s worth it.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Chip darts his eyes away, and coughs. “It’s—it’s good. Yeah. And even though I think it’s kind of stupid! I… I do admire you for it… I guess.”

“Thank you, Chip.” The smile on his face is a little more lively now. “And, you know, since you’re well versed in scamming people, maybe you can help me notice the difference.”

“Oh, I’ll try.” Chip promises, with a false bravado. “But once you’re on the path of honour, and doing good it’s, like, impossible to drag you off it, man.”

“Well, I promise I’ll listen to you.” Gillion rests his hand on Chip’s knee, and despite the coolness of his skin making its way through Chip’s pants, he feels warm. “I know you like doing good, too.”

“Well, I don’t know about—I mean, I’d like to, but—” Chip bites his tongue—trying to stop the meaningless rambling so he can gather his thoughts. “Well, I’m not you. I don’t do all that… hero crap.”

“Oh, don’t say that! You’ve helped a lot of people, Chip!”

“Shut up, you know what I mean.”

Gillion laughs a little. Squeezes his knee, before withdrawing. Chip kind of misses the touch.

For a moment, they both lapse into silence. Thoughts swirl around Chip’s mind, none of which he’s particularly interested in entertaining.

He finishes his snack, and claps Gill’s shoulder.

“C’mon.” He jumps back onto the deck. “Let’s go try and sleep, yeah?”

“Okay.”

Gillion sends him another smile that he has to look away from. Too much for the complicated tornado spinning through his brain right now.

He remembers when he wanted to get Gill to laugh at one of his jokes. Properly laugh. He used to think Gill was so uptight.

But kindness, and all the associated emotions come easy to Gill in a way they don’t come to Chip. And maybe he’s a little jealous of how easily Gillion can express his love for his crew without wrapping it up in anything else.

They say goodnight to each other. Chip checks on Jay, but she seems to be sleeping fine—didn’t even wake up when their conversation drifted closer to her.

And Chip tries to fall asleep.

[louisisalarrie]

Ooh, please tell me more about how Shiall today might relate to Larry? I’ve been keeping an eye on Niall, and I have so many thoughts, but I’m mostly just confused!

heya anon, and welcome to the show!

now, I want to start this off by saying I haven’t had much to do with the Shiall stuff, so I’m not an expert on it. But, here are a couple of my thoughts as to why this is an interesting turn of events, and what this means for larry.

so, it’s been pretty interesting seeing all the Shiall stuff online since the show happened. And well… I’ve seen a lot of larries/ziams also now start shipping Shiall, which is interesting, and while Shiall has never been as big as Larry or even Ziam, it blew up the fandom and even got headlines in the press. So… let’s have a deeper dive.

Now… people have believed in Shiall or at least entertained the idea of them together since at least 2017. It’s not a new thing whatsoever. But since the show of them performing together, it has become pretty huge. And there are a lot of solos reaaaaallllyyyy hating that, and it’s becoming a bit beefy between the niall girls and the shiall believers (which is yikes because can everyone just be nice to each other for a god damn second Jesus Christ) so it’s now dividing nialls otherwise pretty chill fandom. Which is new for him, and will be interesting to see how it’s handled. But so far in the press? It’s going well for him.

He’s gotten a write up in a few outlets which all have a similar headline of “Niall Horan Surprises Fans by Bringing Out Shawn Mendes at London Concert” (US Weekly). But, Rolling Stone really went all out here:

Now, I dunno about you… but adding “fellow lover boy” and “that’s my boy” to a headline 100% grabs attention and maybe implies a bit more than just pals. In my marketing and journalism experience/study, this would absolutely fall under seeding and somewhat subconsciously sways the reader into further curiosity about Niall and Shawn’s relationship.

What’s funny about this, is 1 week prior to the show, Elle posted this article out of quite literally nowhere. Shawn and Camila haven’t been spotted together since (to my knowledge) April of 2023 when they were photographed kissing at Coachella. So… why was this dropped a week prior?

Anyway, Niall is still signed to Modest mgmt, who we’ve watched control narratives and PR ops for the last 13 years. So, it’s safe to say we can see a bit of a pattern here, but it feels different this time too… right?

Niall’s mgmt would 110% know about the Shiall rumours. They’ve been around for over 6 years, and have continued to grow in popularity over the past couple of years particularly. It’s very obviously a topic that the fandom talk about, and that a lot believe in. So, to allow niall to bring on stage someone who his fans believe he’s actually dating as opposed to his “gf” who was also in the crowd that night (not that literally anyone cared lol) feels very freeing. Do modest and Niall not care about the rumours? Is it actually true and he managed to convince his team to let him do it in exchange of staying with his gf for longer? Or is it something entirely different?

Well… it’s a tricky one.

Modest have been well known to closet artists for years. We’ve seen it with larry, and other young men too. So, why the change of heart? Essentially encouraging rumours by giving this the go ahead, and rolling stone weirdly quickly posting that article with those particular words in the headline, why now?

It’s good PR, sure. It’s beneficial for Shawn to get back into the headlines more after not performing for 12 months, and gives nialls tour a bit of a boost. But i would argue that it’s encouraging Shiall. And I would also argue that modest have actively tried to squash gay rumours for years with larry (we will talk about the Union J shit show another time and just stick with larry for this) so it’s interesting that they’re encouraging it. But it’s been a pretty nice little test drive for larry, hasnt it?

In no way has Shiall divided the fandom to the same point as Larry, but the love we all saw for shiall (whether we believed in them being romantically linked or not, it was incredibly wholesome) from around the fandom was very loud. I saw a hell of a lot more positive chats than negative (and I looked deeper than just my timeline) and so it was pretty safe to say that it went well for the most part.

People are saying that niall might have done it behind his team’s back because Shawn was placed in Paris hours earlier, but that’s just a reminder of something we already know that we can’t trust photos to be released on the same day at the same time they are taken, but I think he’d get in a hell of a lot of trouble for that. So I’m not on board with that idea.

So I guess to put it down to a couple of options to sum this up:

a) modest has flipped the script and is okay with Shiall because they’re actually not dating (unlike how they handled larry because they were) and it’s all just rumours and niall and his gf aren’t bothered from it so it’s fine because it’s some good publicity

b) niall and Shawn actually are dating and his team is seeding a coming out, testing the waters with the fandom, perhaps try to encourage larry to sign with them again due to how “free thinking” they are now

c) nialls contract allows him to have more control over different aspects of his career so he was able to just invite him up there no matter what narrative is being pushed in his personal life

So… what’s this mean for larry and why have I rambled on for 3-5 business days?

Well…

Niall is dealing with the same rumours with Shawn as H and L do with each other. He is actively showing the fans that believing in a relationship between two dudes in fact doesn’t ruin their lives and families and their girlfriends are crying all the time, and he’s also showing other mgmt teams that you can do this shit without the world falling to pieces (aka the V*nes and Az*ff losers) whether or not it’s true. It’s a very small step in the right direction, but it’s a really good one. So I think yeah it’s important to see what this means for Larry and their next steps, because niall has made it look pretty simple. But I think we should keep watching this all very closely.

[blueikeproductions]

So another EarthSpark thing that came to my attention was Ratchet and Drift were pitched into being in EarthSpark.

Neat.

They were pitched as having trying to look at the Cyber Sleeves the kids had, with Ratchet and Drift having scientific and philosophical thoughts on what they are despite not having a solid answer.

Also neat.

They were also pitched as being married.

Not neat.

This stranglehold IDW has over Transformers needs to end yesterday. I liked IDW, but it’s clear Hasbro wasn’t feeling it anymore, and the attempt at a reboot didn’t help. Not to mention, toys made with the IDW cast in mind don’t appear to sell well. Tarn appears to be the exception, because it’s Tarn, and he’s awesome, but I’ve also never personally seen him in person in stores. Fellow comics original Jhiaxus yes however, so take that as you will. It’s also why so many people were surprised two nobody IDW2 robots, an Autobot and an Acenticon, were getting toys. Even hard core fans have no idea who they are or much desire for these two, and I say that with my open fondness for Autobot Scrounge.

The couplings in IDW always felt kinda forced… I’ve often viewed them as crack ships, some working slightly better than others. I thought Chromedome and Rewind was handled the best, and I’d be very open to seeing them in EarthSpark as (one of) the gay couple(s) in the show.

Drift and Ratchet being a couple comes kind of out of nowhere. I get there was this opposites attract thing going on with an atheist and religious guy, but the joke got old quickly. Besides some implications Drift and Rodimus were more of a thing, age differences are a sticky point for me. A lot of the main couples amounted to twenty something kid hooking up with grandpa or grandma. I know age is more of a suggestion in TFs, but it always bothered me. Tailgate Cyclonus also fall into this for me, but I also preferred their dynamic being a plucky son and stand offish father learning to care for each other. The moment it became romantic I lost interest and felt kinda creeped out T’be honest. Same with Drift and Ratchet. Ratchet’s said to be super old, not quite Kup or Alpha Trion old, but he’s up there. Drift in comparison is about Hot Rod’s age, and met Ratchet at a clinic on Cybertron when Ratchet was already older than dirt… The two being a crusty grandpa who loved his grandson but doesn’t quite get his interests was a dynamic I liked.

I just think there’s better options romantically for Drift and Ratchet. Closer in age too. I imagine in the interest of fairness the EarthSpark versions would be closer in age. RiD15 Drift, to me at least, seemed a bit older than Bumblebee and was more of a stern but well meaning uncle/father to Sideswipe, Jetstorm and Slipstream. Prime Ratchet felt married to his job meanwhile…

Admittedly I’m surprised Drift was entertained at all. A lot of the IDW original characters seem to have been benched in media for the time being, and Drift’s role in Cyberverse was lauded as the most idiotic thing the show did for both supporters and detractors that even the writers regret using him that way. It kinda feels like that particular instant sorta sullied the character for some frankly…

If we do get Ratchet back in particular, since we have Steve Blum reprising Starscream, I say let’s get Jeffery Combs to reprise Ratchet. Drift I’m not sure. It’s easy for me to say Eric Bauza should return, but maybe there’s a better alternative for a potential EarthSpark Drift.

I don’t think you can really do the proposed plot anymore since that ship has sailed, but there’s a role for Ratchet and Drift, just not as a couple. Ideally, just make a new couple. Gears having a boyfriend would be funny, someone who can see through his sourball antics, or give Pipes an aquatic mode boyfriend he was wanting. -checks- Hmm I dunno have it be Pipes and Waverider, that could be fun.

[gorogues]

Fictober 2023

Prompt number #4 Fanfiction Fandom: Flash Rogues Rating: G – General audiences Warnings: None Notes: Science doesn't work that way, shhh.

Day Four: “Do you even know what this means?”

Roscoe had been hard at work in his lab when Axel flounced in -- which was odd, as he was certain he’d double-locked the door.  Either way, he ignored the youth who was literally dancing around his worktable as he soldered.

“Dude, it’s time to get up and do stuff, you can’t sit here all day,” the kid said after ten lonely minutes.

“Watch me,” Roscoe replied without looking up.

“Come on, I want you to show me some cool tops or whatever it is you do all day.  Mark told me you made a machine gun top once, which is way more interesting than one that spits glue.  I wanna see it shoot something!”

Finally Roscoe got up, heading out of the room to look for any other member of the Rogues to babysit the toddler; he found nobody.  The entire building was oddly deserted, seemingly leaving him as the only adult around.  Strange.

Somebody will pay for this, he brooded to himself, and resumed his work with a distinct scowl on his face.  Axel, of course, was still around and in search of entertainment.

“C’mon man, just show me your coolest stuff and I promise I’ll be quiet for a while.  Just one of the absolute coolest weapons!”

“Have you thought about playing in traffic?  I hear that’s pretty cool,” Roscoe snapped, but Axel just smiled and pulled out a strange blob from his satchel, which he held in his palm.  It glowed a bit and hummed, and even changed colours as the two of them watched.

Curiosity finally got the better of the older Rogue, against his more reasoned judgment.  “What is that?”

“Dunno!  I got it from Alchemy’s lab.  It was labelled 'methyl-glyceryl trinitrate'.  Looks neat, huh?”

Roscoe went pale.  Chemistry wasn’t his field of expertise, but he understood explosives very well.  “Do you know what that is?  And do you know what this means?”

“Gonna guess by the look on your face that it’s bad,” Axel replied, though he didn’t seem overly concerned.

“Levelling the entire city block is frequently bad, yes, unless you’re observing from a safe distance.  We are not, and based on the increasingly rapid colour changes it’s probably extremely unstable.  I cannot say it was nice knowing you.”

“Same, same.  You’re weird and mean and you remind me of my dad, but at least we’ll go out with a blast!”

“Your…dad..?!” Roscoe exclaimed with bewilderment, but he didn’t have time to finish the thought.  Alchemy’s blob suddenly enlarged itself and shone with a blinding light and—

--and it soon ended.  The blob abruptly went inert, turning a sickly pale colour and remained that way as they stared at it.

“That’s it?!” Axel demanded incredulously.  “What a complete rip-off!  I wanted a huge explosion!”

“I…suppose Al’s experiment was a failure,” Roscoe concluded, relieved but at a loss to explain what had just happened.  “I will have to let him know, for his notes.”  And perhaps kick his ass for leaving explosives for the toddler to find.

“I’m gonna go find something else to do,” Axel announced sullenly as he left the room, and it was quietly blissful for a moment but Roscoe quickly realized he’d better not leave the kid unsupervised.

“Wait, ah, give me a moment and I will demonstrate the machine gun top for you,” he said hurriedly through gritted teeth.  Then he paused, frowning.  “And just what did you mean by ‘remind me of my dad’?”

[cq-studios]

⛓️Remus/Freya:

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

23. Favorite picture of this character? (Or 14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.)

(For this)

12. So disclaimer, there is not enough scenes of these characters for me to make many interesting headcanons at this point (especially with Freya… I’m sorry girl but all you’ve done so far is give exposition) but I’ll give you the thoughts I’ve had so far… which again isn’t much lol

For Freya’s headcanons first up is that she’s a nerd, a dweeb some might say. She sounded very enthusiastic explaining pieces and the Astral Plane to Player, and she must’ve explained that about 100 times before considering her job (or well, at least however many times drifters show up and choose to wield Keyblades I guess). My other one is that she could be a furry? I dunno man, it looks like she has cat ears?

For Remus he obviously collects trash that washes up on the beach (and that trash is probably from the massive drowned city, thats under the water, and probably has bits a pieces of itself stolen by the tide) so maybe he’s interested in old technology, or just relics from Daybreak Town in general. I also think he’s going to be an incompetent keyblade wielder or something. Like just sucks at his job, or at least doesn’t care enough to do it well lol

23. Either the GIF I found somewhere of Remus getting slapped across the beach or Remusmemus… which is also him getting slapped across the beach lol

I’m just wildly entertained by this kid getting slapped across the beach I guess

[rondo-of-blog]

Holy Seven Subscriptions, Batman!

So I’ve been reading a lot of comics lately. Like, a lot of comics. I’ve been going out on a limb, and honestly? It’s paid off! Yes, I’ve gotten to read solid comic book storytelling recently - and lots of it. And what do I have to show for it?

Seven different subscriptions to DC comics series, and one to a Marvel comic series. :’)

[Spoilers for various comics! If you see the title of a book you don’t wanna get spoiled on, leave!]

If you’ve been following me for the past several months, you’ve probably heard me rave about the current ongoing Catwoman comic series as it’s been written by Tini Howard. You’ve probably also heard me blab about the latest Harley Quinn series since Tini Howard took it over. Both comics are absolute delights that I’ve had a blast with, but that I’ve also talked at length about, so… won’t be going into that. Not this time, at least.

And that includes you, Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain, also written by Tini Howard!

So what does that leave us? Well, why don’t we start with Batman! Written by Chip Zdarsky. At this point I really should start expecting it, but I keep being surprised by just how dang much I’m enjoying myself with this series! It’s got action, it’s got Batman coming down from the Moon to land back on Earth, it’s got it all!

With stories as convoluted as the series has been telling, I really would’ve thought it all would’ve come unraveled several issues ago—after all, how the hell could a story take Batman to the Moon, back to Earth, into another damn dimension, rapidly jumping through several damn dimensions, and then back to whatever we call main Earth??? By doing it all very well, apparently!

Next we have Poison Ivy, which I read on the glowing recommendation of my partner in life and in love, Cluster! I spent weeks telling them I’d get around to reading it eventually, then one day this past week I went and read all 13 issues that’re out right now. And what’s there to say about them? Well…

They’re great! They’re all fucking great! I’ve never blown through 13 issues so quickly, but G. Willow Wilson had such an impressive story to tell that I couldn’t stop for anything. Pamela’s great in it, so is Harley when she eventually shows up, and so is… Batman! Didn’t know he’d be part of this series, but it works!

G. Willow Wilson is another writer, like Tini Howard, where whenever I see her write a character I just want to see her write them all the time. I dunno, if perhaps they could just hand the keys to the whole damn DC Universe to these gals I think we’d be onto something!

Besides that, Cluster and I finally said “what the hell” and read through all 9 issues that’re currently out of The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing. The verdict?

It made us laugh~

To be more specific, Matthew Rosenberg does an excellent job of making a hilarious and entertaining Joker comic series that features a metric fuck-ton of Joker in it. There’s so much of The Joker, there’s actually two men called The Joker in it!… Or three. Well, the third one was impersonating the first one. Or is it the second one?

It’s these sorts of questions that any Joker series worth its seltzer would have readers asking! I’m really glad we’ve taken a chance on this series, after spending months joking about its very silly title that doesn’t seem to actually tie into the story itself so far. We’ll see if there’s any further developments on that front later!

Last month and this month, however, I started on two brand new limited series! Limited series that I wish were ongoing series, and that I hope end up becoming ongoing series when they hopefully do ridiculously-well! I am of course referring to the latest volume of Cyborg, and Steelworks!

For Cyborg, I’m really interested to see where it goes. Morgan Hampton made known his intentions of taking Vic in a direction we’ve not seen before, ahead of issue #1’s release, and the sudden death of Vic’s father Silas proved he meant it.

While Silas died very early on in the original continuity Vic lived in, his presence after the New 52 reboot was used to great effect in David F. Walker’s Cyborg issues. Lots of work was done expanding on their fraught relationship, but it looks like we’ve closed the book on that before it could reach a happy ending… or have we???

There’s a lot to take in, a brief appearance from the Titans that made my heart swell, and overall I felt like the first issue set us up nicely for a damn good story—one that, again, I’d love to see turn into an ongoing series, but we can’t have everything all the time.

Steelworks had another strong beginning with issue #1, which came out… this month! I’d been anticipating it since its initial announcement, and Michael Dorn did not disappoint in the writing department. I’d also like to give a special shoutout to Sami Basri and Andrew Dalhouse for their contributions in the art department (line art and coloring, respectively)!

It’s not every day I get to read a comic that just looks as good as comics used to back when I was taking good comic art for granted, but Steelworks #1 is a damn good-looking comic! With art this solid, there’s nothing interrupting me from getting sucked into the story - and damn if this isn’t the beginning of a story that immediately grabbed me!

Something that’s easy to take for granted, but that not every comic manages to pull off, is telling a story that wins you over on its ideas. Maybe this is just me being picky, but I’ve read a comic or two in the past year that’ve gone really hard on the moral core of a story that I just… really can’t relate to. You’d think superhero comics wouldn’t have such a hard time being relatable to someone who doesn’t want people to spend the rest of their natural lives rotting in prison or whatnot, but you’d be surprised.

Steelworks #1 starts with a bang. With ideas that’re bold, and probably outside the realm of what people usually look for in a superhero comic, but that I can honestly sympathize with. No one comes off as a two-dimensional cardboard cutout, everyone feels real and able to be connected with at least on some level.

It’s a limited series, but if it does well enough? Who knows what could happen. In this case, I don’t know that they could’ve gotten Michael Dorn for longer than just a limited series’ run, so there are benefits to the format!

So yeah. That’s now seven subscriptions to DC comics series, to only one that Marvel’s been able to put out.

Does DC know it doesn’t have to be winning so hard at comics? It would’ve been fine if they were just putting out a couple good series here and there, which I thought they were before I gave these other series a try. Turns out, they’re really putting out some quality shit!

And I still have Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor to start picking up next month! Geez!

I’m a very happy camper when it comes to comics, nowadays. Right now, I only have one comic series I pick up every month that routinely and utterly disappoints me. I may end up writing about it on this blog, in lieu of tweeting, what with how its fanbase just loves to tank my mental health with threats & harassment!

Until next time!

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By the way, you can now read the blog on my website, at https://feliciarondo.com/rondo-of-blog. Check it out! :)

[creatorofuniverses]

Gt July Day 14 – Instrument

For this prompt I decided to work with characters from a WIP I haven’t actually shared anywhere, titled Prisoners of Fate. Hopefully there’s enough context in this little drabble to make it entertaining!

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“Hey, Professor!”

Druin blinked and looked up. The moniker was, despite not describing him at all, instantly recognizable by now. The goliath – or human, as they were apparently called – had decided that Druin looked like one of their esteemed educators. Since Druin was not, in fact, an educator (he was a thief, mostly) and had not been in control of his current outfit, which apparently made him appear to be something he wasn’t, he was forced to take the nickname as an amusing epithet this particular human insisted upon. It wasn’t like Druin was going to tell somebody tens of inches tall that the nickname was erroneous; and it really wasn’t the worst, all things considered. The assassin he was stuck living with these days called him worse names on the daily.

So Druin said, “Yes?” and waited to see what the fuss was all about this time.

“You said you played an instrument, right?” BJ, all six foot three of him (absolutely ridiculous, who on earth needed that much height) looked down at Druin where he sat on the kitchen table (all five and three quarters inches of him). A smile split the human’s tan face, his ice-blond hair hanging down into his blue eyes a bit, and he had the air of somebody with a secret they were about to break.

Druin wasn’t going to be the one keeping him on a line. “That’s correct,” he replied, “I played the wyndiwere, it’s a string instrument. Eight strings.” He had learned, since living in the part of the world populated by humans, that they had a plethora of instruments of their own. Nicky, the human they were – prisoners? Guests? Reluctant companions? – of played a guitar. Druin’s old instrument was closer to a lute, or perhaps a gourd banjo with a shorter neck and more strings. He missed it, as with most aspects of his lost, normal life, on the daily. “Why do you ask?”

BJ’s grin grew a little wider. “Becaaaaauuse,” he teased, drawing out the word to an abominable length, only to follow it up with a quick, “I have a present for you!” He drew his hand out of his jacket pocket and reached over to deposit something near Druin. Druin stood even as the hand – big as he was, if not a bit more – withdrew once more. What was left was a relatively small wooden instrument, a little less than the length of Druin’s arm span. Its shape was newly familiar, and Druin soon recognized it as a miniature version of the acoustic guitar Nicky played. “Found it at some fancy toy store downtown, thought you might like it. It probably doesn’t play very well but, I dunno, maybe you could rebuild it? I figured it was worth a shot at least.”

As BJ rambled, Druin picked up the instrument and looked it over. The feeling of smooth wood beneath his russet brown hands soothed something in his soul he hadn’t realized he had missed quite so much. He adjusted the guitar, holding it like he had seen Nicky do before, and experimentally plucked one of the strings without bothering to press down on any of the frets.

The string made an unpleasant, tinny little twang and he and BJ both winced. “Ah,” said Druin. He examined the top of the neck, fiddling with the metal knobs inserted there. “This may need tuning. Or re-stringed.” The current strings seemed to be made of plastic, that strange, semi-solid material that humans so loved using whenever they could. This was not a good material for them. Druin had seen Nicky’s strings on his much larger guitar, and they were definitely not made of plastic. Perhaps he could borrow some of the thinner ones. He turned the pegs on the neck experimentally once more and said, “But all told, I’m impressed that humans made an instrument this small. I can work with it.” That was more than he had expected from a goliath creation, given that their fingers alone were nearly as long as a regular faefolk was tall.

“Yeah, it was one of the nicer ones for sure,” BJ agreed. He set his chin on the table to be closer to Druin and grinned. “But I thought you might like it! Glad it could work.”

“Likewise.” Druin was almost surprised to say so. His circumstances weren’t exactly within his control, and if he had his druthers, he wouldn’t be here at all; but he was here, and it was objectively rather nice of BJ to buy an instrument for Druin, no matter how small and in need of fixing. So, he held the guitar in his hands, and let the comforting weight of an instrument fuel his gratitude. “Thank you.”

[ashacadence]

Baldur’s Gate 3

This is just my impression so far and why I’ve been not so active. Yes I like the game and having fun with it. Or at least to a degree. I can see the replay ability with it but I’ll get to that in a second.

The game in on itself is addicting. I get the itch and I just fall into that hypnotic grind of wanting to explore, look through stuff and bring the maps to life the more pockets and paths I find. It’s nice and there’s neat fights or really cool places to see. All very beautiful scenery. The environment stuff and the interactions of discovering hidden treasures or characters noticing something as filler info. Super cool. I’ll find myself just trying to look for hidden paths to navigate or spot something that catches my eye to go and look.

The fucking camera is annoying. Also the movement/pathing tracking or whatever can sometimes be it’s own worst enemy. I dunno if it’s better to play on the controller or not but I doubt it with how complex and easier it is to simply stick with mouse and keyboard. I just wish the camera pan and zoom was better instead of fighting it.

The characters in on themselves are entertaining and each are unique in their own special ways. Now, I’ve only been limited to the main three with mine but I’ll get to that in a sec. Lae’zel I’m still ehhhhhh on. I get why she’s prickly but oh boy she tests my patience some times. Also she hit on me at some point that had me sputtering and cackling.

I didn’t choose option 3. I chose 2. The screenshot had my mouse at that third one.

But y’all should have heard me laughing. Even if she was turned down she took it well but still with that confidence of “pssh you’re missing out.”

Girl…I’m trying to bang the vampire man okay. Maybe Halsin. Dunno yet. Haven’t gotten that far.

Shadowheart and I are good friends. She’s a little cinnamon roll but oh so blinded by her religion. Shadow babe hun you are so much more if you let yourself be more.

Astarion, I love his sass. We will either be best buds or friends with benefits or more. Don’t care. Happy to chat with him and have him around. His sass is great.

I would love to talk about more but here’s the thing. This is all the active people I have besides wyll who just doesn’t have enough for me to engage all that much with and I blame the writing for the game. He’s a very nice guy who’s in a bad situation but just doesn’t have that oomf for me personally just yet. Halsin I’m just now starting on his quest so I can get him in my party.

I missed my chance to get gale and karlach. This is where the start of my frustrations go where the game is unforgivable in making it obvious or segues on hey you should find this person like gale for one. Didn’t realize he was a random thing that’s seemingly dangerous and my instinct was oh let’s avoid this. Like come on. Karlach apparently was timed and I couldn’t get her after wyll gets his first punishment. Very unfair I thought. I been hearing karlach is an amazing character but nope. Won’t get that chance unless I restart back to wherever and/or replay the game entirely. BS

I’m trying to be vague as possible from spoiling and not giving too much big story info away so forgive me on the wyll part but that made me irritated. Because I wanted the whole deck of characters and be in on the know.

Also I think it’s BS of the game to only be four members when traveling. Should be 5-6 at least. Dunno if it’s just game coding and all that where that can be potentially be harder to process the different character AI and whatnot but man.

Extra members would be super helpful especially in big fights that are literally meant to beat the shit out of you. Some fights I had to redo two-four times. Some I had to weasel around and not just go in. Don’t care as this may be a subjective debate on how you play the game or how the game is but honestly it’s a bit counter intuitive. One of the big boss fights I won’t say I spent nearly three hours on. I was thinking omg am I even going to be able to continue because the game is that big of a jerk to players. I’m playing on balanced. Medium essentially or normal. Not that it matters but I also heard story teller or previous difficulty is not that much different either. There have been moments of progress I would make only to get knocked back an hour’s worth some times that makes me head desk. I try to save as often as I can.

But ya some of the fighting I just dread knowing it’s somehow going to be ass in some way because there’s hardly much of a means to prepare for everything unless you do. Then of course you retry with a different set up and the game may still be a absolute dick. It’s a matter of luck in a fight.

Like common sense at least to me hits with up close combat. Lot of the times my characters will miss on some swings that’s completely dumb in my book. You have this giant monster three feet in front of you and you miss a arc swing?? How?? I get that’s just how the spirit of dnd is but this is where computer vs tabletop comes into play on this scenario. It’s just how it’s coded and gotta live with it. Save a lot. Retry.

But ya some of the scenarios in or out of combat and just even the dice rolls will sometimes be absolute garbage on occasion. That’s just how it is on that too.

It’s a love hate with this game and there’s just some cases and things above like I wish the game was a bit more straightforward on like gathering more members and where and how to find them and time frames. Hell even one part in act one to do a certain something was on a time frame that I didn’t know about. So I’m just always anxious that everything is pretty much timed.

I do enjoy the game but I just have criticisms on it. I’m not hating on the game don’t raise pitchforks at me. It’s very entertaining and taking up my time because I’m fixated on it.