#I guess this would be the updated version of that old one I tried to create a while back

[candyheartedchy]

Not for any fandom, just wanted to create a cute little cocker spaniel character.

[snorfbin]

.

[moonheavens]

moonheavens' (wolfstar) fic recs, Nov 24

hello! since my last list of fic recs is now over a year old (Aug 23), I figured it's about time for a new one, especially on the back of the recent discourse about shouting about work you love, which I'm always happy to do.

so without further ado, here are some fics I have "recently" read and loved and whose praises I'd like to sing, very loudly. please do note this only includes wolfstar or multi-ship Marauders fics.

authors, if you want to be untagged, have your fic removed or have the one line summary changed, just message me.

all recs with ao3 links below the break <3

WIPs

All's Fair in Love and Trivia, by @cancerravenclaw ~75k, Explicit, Muggle. exes to lovers years after a huge, painful break-up. I've been eating this up with a spoon and re-read multiple times so far, it's soooo good. really hot ex-sex, yet also handles the complex emotions beautifully, and I love the group dynamics.

The Labyrinth, by QuillNib ~45k, Explicit (check tags), AU. Sirius is forced to sign a contract with an A/B/O breeding facility. really interesting take on omegaverse dynamics, very handmaid's tale vibes. great writing and plot, and keeps you on your toes constantly.

How To Jeopardise Your Friendship With Remus Lupin, by @amberlink ~200k, Teen, Hogwarts. everything you could ever want from a Hogwarts-era best friends to lovers fic. beautifully written, amazing characterisations and also just super funny and sweet. I love this Remus dearly, and this is one of those fics where you drop everything else when the update email comes in.

A Song for the End of the World, by @wannabelilybriscoe ~200k, Mature (check tags), AU. zombie apocalypse wolfstar!! amazing plot so far that really keeps you guessing, with great links to canon yet entirely fresh and inventive. wonderful friendship dynamics and writing, and I would die for this Sirius (but also lowkey steal his man).

Shorter finished works (<30k)

back to the old house, by @saintlupin 20k, Explicit, First War. Sirius, Regulus and Remus get stuck in grimmauld place and have to deal with the tension between them. absolutely beautiful, and painful in all the best ways like only saintlupin can achieve.

Sirius Black and the "mystery girl", by Anonymous 30k, Teen, Hogwarts. the marauders try to guess who Sirius is mysteriously dating. this one is so much fun, really light-hearted and joyful and a great twist with the Lily POV.

What I Heard, by fishcommuter / @fishpilgrim 28k, Explicit, Hogwarts. definition of idiots to lovers; wolfstar acting like a couple and having to be told they're basically dating. light-hearted, sweet, and a lot of fun.

The Barista, the Burglar, and the Sofa, by orphan_account 21k, Explicit, Muggle. summary reads "the story of how Sirius tries to seduce a man by slowly furnishing his flat" and.. that totally checks out. absolutely hilarious and very sweet, and I too would fold if Sirius Black bought me a bookshelf.

Wishes on Stars, by Quietlemonhush and @theresthesnitch 19k, Explicit, AU. Remus makes a wish upon a star and gains a friend. without spoiling too much, this one is a wonderful journey - so sweet, so beautiful, so poetic, so heart-warming.

A Good League Hence, by @eyra 15k, Teen, Muggle. a country hotel in the wintertime. I could put eyra's entire bibliography here as they're incredible, but this is one of my favs. sweet christmas fluff with animals and eyra's ever-incredible writing, just perfect.

June: or how Sirius finally figured himself out, by MarigoldWritesThings / @marigold-hills 15k, Explicit, Hogwarts. does what the title suggests, and wonderfully so. I adore this version of pining yet oblivious Sirius, and the writing here is stunning. tender and heart-warming.

Just a Little Bit of Magic, by @cancerravenclaw 25k, Explicit, Muggle. music journalist Remus falls in love at first sight with model Sirius at a club. flirting ensues. one of my favourites ever - sensual, delicious, beautifully written. the kind of fic I'm grateful exists, and secretly wish I could write.

Tear My Chest Open, by @puuvillaa 22k, Explicit (check tags), Post-Hogwarts. Remus never goes to Hogwarts and meets Sirius, who is taken, in a writing class. complicated feelings ensue. this one was painful, but beautiful. a beautiful expression of care and tenderness.

nothing sweeter than my baby, by damagecontrol 7k, Explicit, Muggle. wolfstar dads on a date night at a Hozier concert, except it's mostly sex. ridiculously hot and sexy, yet sweet and fun. one of my favs if I want something nsfw.

Match Point, by @billspaid 14k, General, Muggle. wolfstar as husbands who are both tennis players, inspired by Challengers. exactly what you want from it; ridiculously fun. competitive yet sweet as they go head-to-head. a blast.

lunch poems, by aeridi0nis / @steelycunt 5k, General, Muggle. tourist Sirius bothers bookstore employee Remus into adoration. aeridi0nis and their gorgeous gorgeous writing never disappoints and this was so much fun. swotty Remus my beloved.

Three Card Monte, by @enjambament 14k, Teen, Muggle. I love heist AU's and this is one of the best ones out there. tensive and exciting the whole way through, and this wolfstar... I want what those bitches have.

The Right Reason, by softsilkentofu 11k, Explicit, Post-Hogwarts. wolfstar get married (as friends) to evade anti-werewolf laws. incredibly funny and heart-warming, with great writing, and a fun twist on fake dating.

Longer finished works (30k+)

Dunes and Waters, by MarigoldWritesThings / @marigold-hills 36k, Explicit, AU. curse breaker/convict Sirius is forced to work with ancient Egypt researcher Remus on a riddle. I loved the mythology aspects of this and the twist on canon, and it was beautifully written.

The Road to Sweetwater, by @euripidestrousers 57k, Explicit, AU. Wild West AU, with outlaw Sirius and bounty hunter Remus. I've been yelling about this one a lot recently - one of my all time favs, beautifully written and so brilliant. I'll be coming back to it for a long time.

The Spy Who Loved Him, by OptimisticDinosaur / @mostlyoptimisticdinosaur 35k, Explicit, AU. James Bond AU, with spy Sirius and 'man in the chair' Remus. intensely exciting and tensive, and so much fun. I really had a great time with this one.

an endless sky of honey, by @colgatebluemintygel 35k, Mature, AU. Greek mythology inspired; Sirius is a God, Remus is a mortal. that's all I'll say, you gotta go into this pretty blind, but it's just. incredible. toothpaste never misses and this one is really special.

through the gaps of sunlight, by grumposaur / @pancakehouse 48k, Explicit, AU. victorian era exes to lovers wolfstar with aristocrat Sirius... this one was so much fun, the yearning! the pining! the longing glances! I ate that shit up with a spoon.

The Waste Land, by afieryfox / @a-fiery-fox 51k, Mature, AU. Remus is a resistance fighter for the Order; Sirius joins the fight. brilliant wartime-wolfstar characterisation and a really tense and engaging plot, plus amazing writing. one of my favs of 2024.

love finds a way, by @littleoldrachel 60k, Mature, AU. Jurassic Park exes to lovers... who doesn't love dinos? Rachel always delivers with her writing and characterisations, and I'm obsessed with these nerdy, mopey versions of R & S.

Lie to Me (Another Secret), by Whoops_e 151k, Explicit, Hogwarts. Sirius is expelled from Beauxbatons and joins Hogwarts late. beautiful fic with a focus on mental health, with amazing dialogue and super tender wolfstar (one of my favs). the bathroom scene in ch40 is everything to me.

back when we were dinosaurs, by epicblueblanket / @kaaaaaaarf 37k, Explicit, Muggle. Remus and Sirius meet at their workplace, a museum in Toronto. paleontology!!! nerd Remus!!! sexy Sirius!! this has everything you want, just a perfect fic in every way.

Bonus recs that you've probably already read, and if you haven't you absolutely 100% should

Harry Potter and the Dog and the Wolf (series), by thewholeofthemoon ~605k overall, Mature. a retelling of canon (starting from POA) but with Peter captured and Wolfstar taking care of Harry, aka how we all wish canon had been. beautifully written and super original take on the story. it's long, but it's worth it for the wolfstar alone.

Hey, Sharpshooter, by @tortoisebore 200k, Explicit, Muggle. college, basketball player Remus meets figure skater Sirius. recently finished, and I couldn't not include it as this is in my top 5 most re-read and loved fics ever. it makes me want to pull out my teeth one by one (affectionately). they're engraved in my memory at this point.

on another ocean, by @colgatebluemintygel (WIP) ~133k, Explicit, Muggle. recently dumped Sirius drags Remus on a holiday across through Europe. if you haven't read this, please, please do. it's literally my favourite thing in the entire world. like, no competition. I would sacrifice my firstborn for this fic, and like, raze the city of Troy for this fic (my Helen).

Chimaera & The Wolf (series), by lostmy_keys / @lostmykeysie 337k, Mature, First War. Regulus and Remus work together to find the horcruxes. this one is popular, and for good reason; I devoured this, one of my favourite things I've ever read in my life. so exciting and tense, and the wolfstar is everything to me.

and if after all of these you’re still looking for more, may I humbly inform you I’m also a wolfstar writer myself—you can find my fics on my ao3.

and that's all, folks. this is just a small selection, I have read dozens more so if you want more you know where to find me. love always, Ames <3

[rinadragomir]

It's me trying to convince y'all to get invested in the Sword Catcher, read it all cause I tried!

1) I need someone to talk about it + see your theories/memes/edits, I NEED MY FRIENDS IN THIS FANDOM okay?!

2) listen, we have to wait about 2 years before The Wicked Powers, let's try to distract ourselves with something exciting!!

Reviews from George Martin (my beloved, listen, this man knows a good fantasy book when he sees one, trust him), Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo

Synopsis (read the full detailed version here):

In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, a young orphan named Kel is stolen from his old life to enter a new one of luxury and peril. He’s to become Prince Conor Aurelian’s body-double, shielding the Prince from all dangers. As his ‘Sword Catcher,’ he and Conor become close as brothers – yet Kel lives for one purpose: to die for Conor.

Lin Caster is an Ashkar physician, part of a community ostracised for its rare magical abilities. But events pull her and Kel together and into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King who rules Castellane’s criminal underworld.

Together, they’ll discover an extraordinary conspiracy. But can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war and the world into chaos?

Here, a boy lives to protect his Prince with his life. A girl is destined to return lost magic to the world. A Prince must choose between his heart and his duty. And thrumming beneath it all, the heartbeat of a city unlike any other. Welcome to Castellane.

Known characters: (from top to bottom, from left to right, please appreciate the wonderful arts below)

Kellian Saren - our protagonist~ was kidnapped from his family when he was 5 and brought to the palace in order to be the Sword Catcher, the body double for the Crown Prince(🏳️‍🌈?). Used to have a crush on Antonetta, now too busy spending time with Prince Conor (🏳️‍🌈?). Big spoon energy

YOU'LL SAY: Rina... bestie he looks exactly like the second guy a bit lower, why so many Will Herondale cosplayers🤨 YES YES, THAT'S THE POINT, THEY HAVE TO LOOK ALIKE, IT'S LIKE Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman in Star Wars

Lin Caster - female protagonist, doctor, is skilled in healing magic (Catarina & Clary's daughter🤨?). There is a prophecy surrounding her, that says a very powerful goddess would return one day and it would be one of the girls from her community, ~possibly her~

Antonetta Alleyne - Heir to the wealthy silk charter, her mother dotes on her, dressing her in lace and grooming her to marry Prince Conor (the next guy). Her, Kel and Conor used to have this gang😎 when they were kids, but then her mother decided to turn her into a Kendall Jenner and now she's 💅🏻not like other girls💅🏻 and makes this ew sound everytime our protagonist walks by (secretly feels something else towards him....I guess?...)

Conor Aurelian - our Prince🤴🏻definition of: So you're a tough guy, Like it really rough guy, Just can't get enough guy, Chest always so puffed guy. What else? Oh, everyone tries to kill him and he hides behind his boyfriend's back. Little spoon energy

Joss Falconet - some lazy whore, idk. He has been friends with Conor and Kel since they were all small children. He loves parties, a good time, and ridiculous exploits, but there may be rather more to him…Matthew Fairchild core?👀✨ maybe....

The Ragpicker King - he's so 😋😩🤤he lives his dark emo girl aesthetic life. Doesn’t have a name or real identity. He lives in a big black mansion in the middle of Castellane and runs the crime scene. My future husband btw

Merren Asper - part-time student, full-time poisoner, and hopeless romantic. Merren has a dreamy, cheerful personality, despite being a poisoner. Well good for him, god bless🌿 he seems like a mixture of Kit Herondale and Wylan Van Eck

I'm going to update this post in case Cassie shares some new information!

The first book comes out on October 10 THIS YEAR so~ you can pre-order🌟✨for example, I can't so I'll just wait till someone sends it to me once it's out.

I REALLY hope I managed to get you slightly invested. It seems like a really nice fantasy series and I'd like to support Cassie's new work. She gave us our beloved TSC world and I have a strong faith in her. I know it's hard to dive into a new series but let's give it a chance!

@chibi-tsukiko @hahahax30 @roseofthomas @queenhelenblackthorn @not--a--pipedream @tea-and-a-clandestine-agenda @spacehero-23 @tys-kitty @carelessflower @dustandducks @one-fond-mortal @magnus-the-maqnificent @delightfullyterrible @learningshelfcontrol @thewolfnephilim @literallytypogod @gayforcarstairsgirls @clockworkbee @elettralightwood @captainswanandclintasha @radisv @lord-jethro @luciehercndale @bytheangell

[simvanie]

Luxor Amata for Scarlett's love is embarrassing BC

Guess who is back (in an alternate timeline)? I totally forgot about the existence of bachelor challenges when I was playing with Luxor for the lust generation of my legacy, until he was old and already fully committed to his wife. I think doing a bachelor challenge with Luxor would have been really fun, but doing one myself with him now, even in an alternate timeline, wouldn't make sense for me since Luxor has already established his story and lore in my sims universe. So, when I saw @theosconfessions post for Scarlett's Love is Embarrassing BC I got this idea where Luxor can still participate in a BC in some way and let others have fun with him. I thought, what if I make an updated version of Luxor set in an alternate timeline where he hasn't met the love of his life yet and so it's entirely possible that he ends up with Scarlett? So, I gave Luxor a makeover and pitched this idea to Stacey (theosconfessions) and luckily she liked it!

Info about Luxor under the cut:

"Blondes have more fun, right?" That is what Luxor heard some of his co-stars say on the set of the upcoming series where he plays a role in. When he asked what they were talking about, they showed him Scarlett's bachelorette challenge call. Luxor's heart skipped a beat and suddenly it felt like his brain wasn't getting enough oxygen anymore. For a while now, Luxor really wants to find someone to grow old with and thinks that Scarlett might be the one. Luxor has had his fair share of official (and unofficial) relationships in the past and it's safe to say that this heartthrob already has a lot of experience in the dating field. One might attribute his need for love and affection to his childhood, in which his single mother, who tried to keep her head above water as a criminal, was often angry at him and didn't give him much attention until he was a little older. But don't get me wrong, Luxor is 100% capable of being fully committed when he finds the right person. He is charismatic, has a good heart and doesn't actually want to cause anyone heartbreak. Although his noncommittal trait caused him sometimes to suddenly jump from one relationship into the other or have multiple at once (and this 'multiple at once' can also be applied to a couple of in the bedroom activities he has had), he feels that it is finally time to settle down and find someone to build a future with. Luxor is currently a B-lister celebrity with a love for stand-up comedy and playing the guitar. He is romantically more interested in women but open to explore romantically, and has had woohoo experience with both men and women. His PR agency told him that it would be better for his public celebrity image to keep that last one under wraps for now. The life in the spotlight can sometimes be a bit hectic, and Luxor hopes that he can find in Scarlett someone to come home to, cuddle on the couch with, tell his new jokes to, go on dates with, play guitar for, have romantic dinners with, go on advetures with, visit the petting zoo with (he absolutely loves the little goats), make memories with, and to show him if it's true when they say that blondes have more fun (whatever fun for them may mean *wink wink*). And what better place to meet Scarlett than one of Luxor's favorite vacation locations, Tartosa!

Pronouns: He/him

Age: He's already nearing the end of his young adult years, but Luxor never minded an age gap in relationships and hopes Scarlett feels the same about it

Sexuality: Bisexual (currently closeted for the public image, but close friends and family know)

Traits: Noncommittal, outgoing, music lover (Luxor originally had the romantic trait here, but it's changed to music lover to make it more fair regarding the other contestants)

Career: Actor

Hometown: Del Sol Valley

I hope you like him! Can't wait to see how the drama, ✨the spice✨, and everything else unfolds in Scarlett's bachelorette challenge.

[gwennafran]

Hogwarts Thirteenth – Pale Lights Intermission 2024

Fanart for the online book Pale Lights. And Harry Potter, I guess.

One final kid’s themed intermission piece. Made before there’s more than four people in the group (the top banner says it’ll happen).

I had fun trying to update the hairstyles of 11-year-old versions of Thirteenth Brigade into something more modern. Mostly I added bangs. Against all odds, I ignored the big hats. They’d take up too much room, hide character expressions, and I liked the visual joke of Maryam using the hood in the cloak.

Angharad is *that* well-meaning Gryffindor idiot jock. On the plus side everyone will expect her to fail all her wisdom checks, so she’ll probably do great. Most likely to join a quidditch team. In her first year.

Tristan probably tried to trade places with Maryam. Or at least talk her into letting him have a Hufflepuff disguise. Song stopped them, pointing out Maryam probably would not survive wearing Slytherin colours without actually being one.

Maryam could fit into several houses. If not for the tiny little fact that nobody would want a “half-hollow”. And while it would be hilarious for the Hufflepuff house to reject her for not living up to their ideals, they’re foremost known for accepting *everyone*. Yes. Everyone.

Song is still cursed. The real question is if her curse is particularly worse than what is pretty common to happen at least every other year at Hogwarts.

[alifeasvivid]

floor is lava ch 5 teaser

“So. Um. Your-uh… that is, do you have any plans for the heat room?”

Arthur’s brow furrows. Oh. Yes. That. He can very easily see that Alfred is flustered, but he’s doing a decent job of working through it so Arthur attempts to do the same. “I… suppose I hadn’t given it much thought.”

Alfred nods. “Well, I guess it depends on whether or not you think you’re likely to mate an omega at some point. The heat room itself is pretty out of date and the upgrades are pretty easy to do and not too expensive either. I do know that you don’t plan on settling here permanently, but, you know, Charlotte could turn out to be an omega.” Alfred bites back a grin at that part. He can definitely think of an omega everyone thought would be an alpha: the one sitting right there in the kitchen with Arthur as a matter of fact.

“I highly doubt it, but yes, that’s true enough, I suppose.” Arthur gazes absently that the laptop screen, realizing he has very little idea of what actually happens to omegas during heat: school biology was rather insufficient, salacious stories swapped between other alphas clearly exaggerated, and, ah, pornography likely wildly inaccurate. He knows almost nothing about the practical requirements. “What sort of updates?”

Alfred pulls one of the books toward him. Yes, focus on the details. “Well, for starters, the current soundproofing is pretty old and has deteriorated a fair bit. The newer materials for that are better at reducing noise and they last a lot longer. The ventilation system in there right now is basically non-functional and the new versions are detached from the main system of the house, so they don’t flood the whole place with heat pheromones, which is super nice. They have these really great doors that create a strong seal—my dad and I installed one in my—” Alfred coughs. “Um. Anyway. There’s stuff that needs to be done if it’s gonna be useable and some optional stuff basically.”

Arthur tries not to dwell on Alfred's pretty pink cheeks and actually considers the situation. “I’m not sure what to do about it, if I’m honest. I do want to turn the place into a music school after Charlotte is grown. Is it alright if I think it over and let you know? I won’t take more than a day or two, I know that these things need to start moving along.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s totally fine. No pressure, it’s your house,” he says with a grin. Inside, Alfred can’t help feel a twinge of disappointment over Arthur’s response. Arthur could totally have a mate in a heartbeat if he wanted one, so maybe he just doesn’t want one.

[syppys-den]

Updated Superman mythos changes part 1

Smallville is in New Mexico instead of Kansas (though it's still in the Boonies)

Metropolis is in California instead of Delaware, mostly because I wanted to kind of wanted to make it more like old LA in that it's this city advertized as the shining city on a hill and "the place to be" that destroys you once you're there

Ma and Pa Kent's names have been changed from John and Martha to Jerry and Mia

adding onto that, Jerry is Jewish on his mother's side with Mia is black, and Mia's name is "Dunn" instead of Clark (as a nod to Siegel and Shuster's short story "Reign of The Superman" and yes I renamed John to Jerry as a not to the former, and to top it off his mother's maiden name was Siegel)

Jerry was born and raised in Smallville by his parents Vincent and Jessica Kent

Mia was from Metropolis raised by her Aunt Edith and Uncle Bill, she ended up moving to Smallville after meeting Jerry when her car broke down on a road trip near the town

Kryptonians evolved a form of touch based telekinesis (or "Tactilekinesis" as it's called) to actually be able to stand up, move and walk around on Krypton (a world with 10-11x the gravity of Earth) and this ability is fueled by solar radiation, and despite their sun Rao being much dimmer and smaller, if one were to view the everyday strength of Kryptonians on their homeworld it'd look like a race of Captain Americas basically, now take a Kryptonian away from Krypton and to a planet with 0.1x its gravity and a star that is several times brighter and larger than Rao, and I think you can guess the obvious result

adding to that, Tactilekinesis also gave them the ability to keep themselves at consistent temperatures, which is why Heat Vision and Ice Breath are a thing (though Clark may eventually learn how to channel this ability in ways other than those two)

Clark is more heavyset and chubby (like a bear or a strongman)

Krypton was basically a utopia, and instead of Noble Houses it had a system that could be called Guild Socialist Council Democracy (the means of production were owned by the workers, every major labor force had a guild and each guild was represented on a council)

Said Utopia was born from a revolution against an oppressive city-state system (probably like the versions of Krypton seen in Man of Steel, Byrne's run and the Syfy Krypton series)

Much like in Birthright, The "S" is still a Kryptonian symbol, but isn't meant to be the crest of The House of El or anything, it's meant to be the symbol of The Revolution and eventually all of Krypton

the planet was destroyed by Brainiac, who here is basically just The Sentients from Warframe (sent to another star system to colonize it and then came back and killed its creators)

Jor El discovered Brainiac's intentions when he tried checking on its progress, and when he tried to show The Council, they didn't believe him because Brainiac covered its tracks

The only council member that was on his side was Vril Dox, Representative of The Science Guild, Jor El's mentor and creator of The Brainiac Program, while he was still somewhat skeptical of his pupil's claims, he knew he wouldn't be reacting this way if there wasn't at least a good amount of truth to what he said

Lara was in the military guild (admittedly not a big change since she also was in The New 52, but I still like it as it makes her her own person)

At some point Krypton was visited by Green Lantern Tomar Re, and they learned quite a bit about the wider universe from him, including quite curiously, a distant planet called Earth with sapient life nearly identical to Kryptonians, and had managed to produce one of the greatest Green Lanterns to ever exist named "Alan Scott"

Jor, Lara and Vril teamed up to try and save as many people as they could from Krypton's destruction, they managed to change the course of The Starship Argos from The Colu System to Earth, but that wouldn't change the fact so many people on Krypton would die

In the end, they only had enough resources (including a Phantom Zone crystal/piece of Black Kryptonite they had stolen) to create a small ship that could only fit one very small passenger... Jor and Lara's son Kal El

instead of Kryptonian Women having their father or husband's first name as a middle name, all Kryptonian children have the names of their parent of the same sex (with some exceptions and caviats but we'll get to that) as their middles names until they reach adulthood (for example Clark's full Kryptonian name when he was born was "Kal Jor El")

because of the rule listed above I've had to change a couple things, for one, Zor El is now a woman but Alura is still one too, and Kara was born via something called a "Birthing Matrix" that can take one or more people's DNA and incubate a child

a Similar process was done to conceive Zor and Jor except that their parent Seyg (haven't decided their gender yet) opted to be a single parent

Kara and her family were colonists on The Starship Argos, but before the ship could make it to Earth, it was intercepted by the forces of Warworld, with only a few colonists managing to escape via pods, one of them being Kara, and thanks to the boost from her Baby Cousin flying through The Phantom Zone in that corresponding area (Still working out the details there) she was able to get out of there at near light speed heading towards Earth. of course... it would still mean she had to wait decades before she could get to Earth

[thatonecrookedsmile]

You know, one thing I don't like when I digitally color sketches is that the colors end up looking a little desaturated because of the paper. It doesn't look bad, I guess, but I have to eventually find a way to "fix" it eventually.

Anyway, today marks 6 years since BATIM Chapter 4 was released. Damn. I know I say something similar every time I recognize the passage of time, but it's hard to believe that it's been more than half a decade since this chapter came out. Time passes, I get older, it's crazy! And I wanted to do something to celebrate. I've never been able to do anything to celebrate this chapter's anniversary since 2019. Which is a shame because "Colossal Wonders" is my favorite chapter in BATIM. Some of my favorite moments from this game are in this chapter.

And every year I try to do something to celebrate the anniversary, but I never manage to do it and it sucks! And as usual, what I really wanted to do this year didn't end up happening. I'll probably do it at some point later, but there was no way I could execute the idea I had in mind in such a short amount of time. But I still wanted to post something today, so something small will have to do.

In this case, oh hey! It's Bertie and Lacie! In recent times I've been going back to old designs of mine of the human cast of the Bendy universe, and since CH4's anniversary was coming up, I thought it would be good to update my designs for both Bertrum and Lacie. It's been so long since I last drew them, so it's about time. I liked the general idea of the last versions of them that I did in the past, so I tried to keep those ideas still, in a way, but at the same time giving them new life. Lacie falls more in this case, tbh. Bert still maintains some of the previous idea, but I had to change a few details. He still looks good, tho.

I originally wanted to put Jack Fain here too, because,by all accounts, Jack Fain only came into existence with the release of CH4 and the remasters of the other chapters. As much as you can put him on CH2's anniversary,he, at the end of the day, was only introduced on April 30, 2018. Problem is, I didn't like the drawing I made of him. I don't know, it wasn't that good in my opinion. And I didn't want to redo the drawing again (this would be my third attempt) and I wouldn't have enough time to redo his part. So today we'll just have Bernie and Lacie. Sorry Jack. Maybe next time, when I show my CH2 cast designs in one place.

Once again, happy anniversary to Chapter 4! This is my favorite chapter of the game to date. It includes some of my favorites from the story, it has several surprises that caught me the first time I saw the chapter, it brought new updates to previous chapters that added things that I still like to this day (and this goes especially for CH2) And overall, it's a pretty cool chapter me thinks. 👍

That one day we can hear more from Bertrum and Lacie again.🙏 (Especially Lacie. Seriously, don't you guys think it's wild that Lacie is the only one of the human cast of BATIM who hasn't appeared in practically anything since the first game. Like, yeah, she's mentioned in the Handbook, but other than that, she's not mentioned in nothing else after, whether in games or books. I think about this from time to time. Truly one of the Bendy characters of all time)

[canmom]

since this seems to be my topic of obsession for today...

turns out Bluesky internally uses content-based addressing and IPFS. I don't have a lot of use for it since it's a Twitter clone, and I've never got on very well with Twitter. Bluesky hides most of that from the user - it looks just like any old web app backed by a central server. i need to look into this more, Bluesky is taking inspiration from IPFS but it's using its own protocol, and it is doing some good things. I think its protocols could be used for something more Tumblr-like.

there's a protocol called PubSub which sounds like it does a lot of what I want, or rather gives you the low-level framework to broadcast info across a decentralised network. you could build a social network on top of that. IPFS uses it as one way of handling mutable data, like 'my website just updated'.

there's an absolute plethora of ideas, protocols, and tools for decentralised file sharing, decentralised messaging, decentralised social networks. this broad idea space is very much the hot new thing at the moment. some of them seem like they're growing. a lot of them have glossy websites with animations and stock photos of smiling people. it's hard to know in advance what's worth paying attention to. the whole field is dense with acronyms and rather abstruse concepts. which unfortunately means the current audience tends to be limited to tech nerds (c'est moi) and crypto cultists (ce n'est pas moi. merde!).

Briar is a protocol I find personally very appealing. it's security-oriented, designed to be crazy resilient, creating a mesh network through whatever protocols are available. you use it for E2E-encrypted messaging, but also you can use it for threaded discussions and blogs. right now it's only available for phones but they're working on a desktop version. the primary use case seems to be like "you're at a protest and the gov shuts off the internet", but it would be a very sexy place to put your blog. that said, I expect it would not be very fast at all.

the major encryptable, decentralised Discord/IRC alternative is Matrix. I broadly like the look of it, but we have the same problem of inertia getting people to switch from Discord, and there's still some jank I encountered when I tried it.

there's a lot of cryptocurrency in this whole area. (not surprising since the underlying tech of crypto is also hash-based, and there's ideological overlap between crypto and torrent people, because 'decentralised').

notably, there's a companion project to IPFS, a complicated scheme called FileCoin which is designed to encourage people to host data for a certain period in return for FileCoin tokens. you get FileCoins for consistently holding onto the data, and you lose a stake of FileCoins if you delete it prematurely. these FileCoins can then be used mainly to pay other people to host data for you: you pay FileCoins to a host, and pay them again to fetch your data(!). or you can trade them for other cryptocurrencies.

I'll acknowledge it doesn't seem as intrinsically environmentally corrosive as proof-of-work crypto, or even as simply 'the rich get richer' as proof-of-stake crypto. it's not filling up HDDs with random crap either. though it does sound like it requires quite a bit of CPU work to be done in all the hashing for the 'sealing' process.

I'm still not entirely convinced of the benefit this scheme brings. crypto stuff has a tendency to go belly-up very abruptly when speculative bubbles pop, so I wouldn't be super excited to rely on FileCoin for archiving some valuable bit of data. of course any offsite backup carries risk, e.g. Dropbox could go bankrupt one day. but I'm way less convinced of the benefits of something like FileCoin than IPFS. I guess it remains to be seen if this takes off.

[wish-upon-a-star-official]

What the original comic looked like

I am enjoying sharing the history of the idea of my magical hero series with the characters in it. So I will show you all the firsts' things I have made for it, when i was working on making the old concept with animal theme for Webtoon There are two versions of it, one was the very first, and others were an updated version of that.

For example, the covers.

The one on the right was going to be the one that I wanted to use for the cover of the series. However, I made the second one due to Webtoon has limitation on size for the covers, while there is more freedom in the comic pages. The same also went for the mini covers.

Tho that has something to do with that the first image, i guessed what size it would have to be before looking it up. But even when I enlarge it, it was over the limit.

I wanted to make the covers looked cool to remind people of classic magical girl series. Which is why the original mini cover has the hero persona in like a mirror surface (I always loved it when magical girl series, like Sailor Moon, did that!!)

Now on to the... never finished first part of this series! ^^

Here were the original pages of the first episode/chapter I was working on. The idea I had is that Lucia, the girl, would wake up and try to calm herself down before she rushes out the door to an event she was working, or volunteering, at.

The idea was that Lucia was tired and honestly struggling with life. So this series not only was about a magical hero series, but about broken people, coming together to help the other, while being able to help others that were like them. So, a story on healing in a way. Now reminder, these are really old drawings. I was about 17-18 when I was working on this. But not long after i made these pages, I wanted to redo how they looked.

I like the approach to this one a lot better to the old one. I felt like adding the additional panels help bring the emotion that at the time I wanted to show. It felt more properly to when someone wakes up from a nightmare, since of course they would take a moment to figure out if they are awake or not. I was also proud of the layout of her room, since I struggle with scenes sometimes, I was happy that everything, at the time, looked decently in the right place perspective wise. Plus, I added a poster as an easter egg to another magical hero series I've been working on with A LOT of art of! ^^ Also, I tried really hard to make the first two seem to blend into each other, but it didn't turn out perfect.

Thankfully, I would say I have gotten better at comic making (or I'd like to hope so). I def may use the original starting idea for Wish Upon A Star, since it does follow the same concept. Broken souls trying to help others that are broken for the most part. I hope you all enjoyed this little blast from the past.

[helvpmevp]

A Bastard Move By Yours Truly :DD

I used to have this one friend who will not be named for very obvious reasons. We used to to be really good friends, but after a while, I decided to call quits because she wasn't exactly the nicest person in my grade. She was the type of person who would dominate conversations that she wasn't even supposed to join. She also had a habit of being VERY unsupportive of other's successes, even though she wasn't that much of a big achiever. She'd frown every single time someone other than her steps on stage to claim a prize.

A few things I remember about her is that one time when she called me a retard for liking a school field trip to the farm rather than a trip to a museum. For a little more context; our school hosted a field trip to that farm on our sophomore year. It has been years since I've been on field trips with my friends and I live in a boarding school. She isn't grateful for the blessings that came down from the sky.

Also, there are chances that both of us are autistic, but at least I was capable of making friends after leaving her, and she had the audacity to try and convince my friends that I often bullied her. Look, if you feel like you're this person, and you're reading this, firstly, fuck you. Secondly, just because you can't make any friends of your own doesn't mean that I can't have friends either.

Also, leave us alone.

Clearly, a lot of people don't like her. Apparently she wasn't smart enough to notice that.

Apparently, she was also very passionate of writing. She once tried writing a series, but it used very common tropes and everything was pretty much expected in her stories. Back when we were friends, she'd keep bugging me to read her stories. I swear I've read some of the plots somewhere before. Her writing skills were decent enough, but they weren't any special.

She had an online persona named Melur. I also had an OC named Melur for an object show that I have planned to make. Out of spite, I've turned the character into an absolute piece of shit. I've pretty much based her whole personality around her. A self absorbed conservative who is haunted by a demon that latched on to her ever since she was born.

To be fair, I did need some more obvious bastards in my object show, and I don't really have much to write about the character beforehand. Not only that, but all of the cast members are bastards in their own way. It's just that some are more obvious than others.

The Melur I made also had some good qualities. I guess I made her kinda skillful, and loyal to her friends. At one point, she dies ( just like everyone else ) and gets a redemption arc where her personality changes for the better ( however the universe this was in was a doomed one, she went back to her old self a few episodes later ).

Technically, I just made a better version of my ex friend.

Thank you for reading this. Sorry if my English sucks, we don't normally speak English from where I'm from. Maybe I'll update more about the object show.

[maidenmelanie]

I’m a Reddit lurker, and one of the places I like to lurk in is the Lost Media subreddit. I find the idea of lost media fascinating, but this one mixed with my love of metal so I had to give it a little search. I had a long weekend so, why not? Sadly I wasn’t able to find the video, but I will compile all the findings here in case someone is more search savvy or has possible connections. Feel free to share this wherever.

Anyway, this weekend a post was made to the Lost Media sub asking about Chuck Schuldiner’s last interview. A quick breakdown, Chuck was the singer and guitar player for the metal band Death. He sadly passed away in 2001 due complications from a brain tumor. This last interview with him took place in 2000, and there are multiple threads and comments discussing when it was shown, where it was uploaded, and how long the interview may be. I found several comments stating that Chuck’s nephew said the interview was an hour long. I guess it was possibly cut down to fill time constraints.

There is this very low quality clip from the interview, lasting 17 seconds. In the clip Chuck is talking about money. A user in the comments (obi-wannabekennotbi2418) transcribed what he’s saying.

"Everyone's... A lot of people been really good about it so far... uhm... ran into few problems here and there... and uh... you know when people especially when they hear you are in a band they assume you have a lot of money, that's unfortunately not true you know..." (There was a bit more at the end, but it’s hard to make out and the user didn’t have any luck)

https://youtu.be/18LWHP9m7JI?t=537  (8:57 - 9:24)

This tribute video has a longer version of the clip slowed down without any sound. It shows that it was possibly shown on an MTV News commercial cut-in. You can see Brian McFayden speaking followed by a clip from the interview. The date posted on the clip is 1.18.00 and says it was filmed in New York. After viewing plenty of MTV commercial spots and watching plenty of the channel in my youth, it was common for MTV News to do quick cut-ins like that followed by interview clips.

On MTV’s website, there was clearly a link to a video in this article and on the sidebar, which you can see in the screenshot above. This was probably the clip we see above which seems to feature more of the interview. I tried everything to get the page to load, even finding the old page that the Real media player was hosted on. Sadly the video has been fully removed from their servers. This would have been the direct link to it: http://www.mtv.com/sitewide/utils/playmedia.jhtml?id=1442580

I’m also adding a Wayback Machine link to it as well.

The two images I used in the banner were also taken directly from MTV’s website as they were used in multiple articles.

If the interview was an hour long, it’s possible MTV News was planning on showing it during one of their “Special Report” which was longer segments of their program. And this is where I hit a wall. Sadly I think unless someone has a recording of the interview saved somewhere, we will never see it.

I don’t know why I felt compelled to search for this. Maybe it’s just that I love metal so much and Chuck was a brilliant musician and seemed like such a nice guy. Combing through the news updates on EmptyWords.org left me feeling angry about the entire situation and sad that he was taken from us way too soon. Anyway, if you read this far, thank you and if you go searching, hopefully you have better luck than I did.

RIP Chuck.

[ardentpoop]

not posting the full version of this bc ppl do insane and unproductive jared vs jensen discourse w/ certain soundbites but yeah this was clearly true at least for a time; jared got first billing as the show started with sam as the main character (however you want to define that; people do insane and unproductive discourse with this too though it is simply an observable fact - I wish everyone cared to discuss the shift over the seasons instead in a non-combative and truthful way.) possibly also had to do w/ jared having more name recognition than jensen had at the time that they were both hired - like yeah jensen was an up-and-coming soap star but jared debuted on another “flagship” WB show (GG) and the last project he worked on before he started supernatural was house of wax which was a decently talked-about film albeit for all the wrong reasons when it initially came out.

I was poking around in old fan forums last night and saw some unverified stuff abt jensen’s agent having tried to get jensen’s pay updated to match jared’s after the first year of the show but the request being declined bc their contracts were set for X number of years. if I had to guess I would say this pay discrepancy probably existed for at least 3 years. I highly doubt they didn’t work something out during one of the (surely many) contract renegotiations that followed esp since jensen has publicly spoken abt being the one to - for example - get it into both his and jared’s contracts that they were to be driven to and from set rather than being expected to drive themselves. he had sway on that set well before the end this much is incredibly obvious.

anyway this is literally all just rpf fodder to me and frankly I find it deeply embarrassing when fans start sniping at each other over how Their Guy is better bc he Makes More Money or Better Headlines or whatever. these r my painted dolls from fuckass hollywood I only care abt the details of their work lives bc I’m plugging them into the interpersonal angst machine for my own amusement and that of the maybe 2 ppl who aren’t too bitter and wastefully celeb-blinded to enjoy my characters based on the actors.

[musashden]

Oliver's Option

Okay so... still in X-men brainrot. I'm sorry if you followed me for some other fandom - at the moment this is all I can think about. I imagine it'll go away once X-men '97s season ends in May. But in the mean time I'm back reading X-men comics and thinking about my long time OC Oliver Croix. Back in 2017 I rewrote his story and it's super long and detailed and if you want to read it it's over here

So what is this? Well this is just something that's been rolling around in my head for a bit now. When I talk about Oliver's origin's I alway cite that he used to be a girl named Drake that looked like a panther but somewhere along the way I made him a boy that resembles a Siamese cat (for some reason). And I looked it up and it turns out that's not true. He doesn't have the coloring of a Siamese cat AT ALL! The only thing I got sort of right were his eyes. Siamese cat's actually have dark faces and ash blond bodies - so I tried the correct color palette on him... I'm not crazy about it. Which is probably what happened 20 years ago when I picked his 'basic' palette.

Next we have what he would've looked like if he kept 'Drake's' colors. Trying to find anything about who she was on my drives was... a task. Her story is disjointed to say the least. I wrote it when I was 18 and was surprised to find it was an 'enemies to lovers' plot. Drake and Nightcrawler did not like each other at all when they first met. They nearly come to blows several times over basically nothing burgers and I could slap 18 year old me for ever thinking Kurt would fight a woman over petty shit. In the comics he never actively fights a woman - just disarms them and evades, occasionally he'll find away to knock them out but I don't think I ever seen a panel of Kurt just straight up decking a woman in the face. If you find one let me know. ANYWAY Drake was a pain in the ass, just like her dad and no one ever gave her boundaries except Nightcrawler and that's why she fell for him. She proceeds to make his life more difficult until they have a heart-to-heart blah blah blah - it's all very stupid. My best guess as to why she looks like a panther, because her father is Sabertooth. I wanted to keep in the animal scheme and or some reason didn't pick a lynx or lion. Drake's color were legit black hair and black skin. That's it. Oh and she could shoot fire from her hands for some reason. Current Oliver uses magic to do that so I guess I did keep something from her.

The combo is just me goofing off BUT I really like it! Looking at regular Oliver the word 'basic' is perfect for it. It's very blah isn't it? I'm seriously considering making 'combo' his new look. Well his 'newer' look. I just finished a comic featuring his basic look - it's not too late to go in and give him an update. The dark ears really pop and I actually like having his forehead and eye area being dark like the Siamese version. Not sure about the green eyes (his third eye is green so I think I'll keep his blue on blue eyes) For a cat-boy he doesn't really have any stripes or markings so he might get dark hands and feet or light hair on his chest. The lips are a winner. 

What do you think?

[yellowcry]

Cornplate

I heard about Encanto from one of my friends. Luckily, my local shop just had cheap copies

A crack fic because why not?

I remember it as if it happened yesterday. Probably because it happened yesterday.

I was shopping in our local cheap convenience store, when my eyes spotted something. A CD with Encanto. A Disney Movie my friend didn't stop talking about. I was somehow intrigued as she really praised it. Part of me was surprised. It was 2024, who the hell uses CD disks in that time?

Luckily, my parents hadn't update our PC since before my birth, so it wasn't a problem.

For my huge relief, it was at markdown. How could anyone miss a chance like this?

The first thing that made me feel uncomfortable happened when I unpacked the box at home. Some idiots decided that, apparently, putting two covers was a brilliant idea. They looked exactly the same, only that the second was black and white.... Okay, maybe it FAR from exactly the same. But anyway, it was cheap. There probably would be some defects.

So, as I had beaten up the computer system unit to make it run and inserted a disk, the image immediately floated. CRAP! It's a virus... PC is probably dest—

"Hola," I froze, staring at the screen. Seeing a young man in here. "You had found a true version of the movie. The one that Disney had tried to destroy." Okay, what the heck? "Please, spread this version, the world has to knpw the truth about my wife and descendants."

Okay, why does it sound like I'm in some cheap creepypasta story?

I had leaned back in my chair, opening a pack of snack. Well, I had to do the best comfort, right?

A corn growing in a pot appeared on the screen.

"Open your eyes." An old woman asked, holding a girl. The magic corn of the Madrigal family? What? What are stories are they doing these days...

The visual was showing a young old woman (not really old then) and a man that I had seen in the beginning standing in a burning field. The entire food was destroyed. But then a man dropped dead because why not and one last corn grew bright and created a huge field.

"When my children came of age, the corn had given them magic gifts to serve our fields!" I listened to the explanation, intrigued. I wonder what would a girl's gift be.

Time switched to a years later. Pacing through the routine where a Tía Pepa rains on the crops. Julieta cooks. Dolores listens to the parasites. Camilo shapeshifts to have better physical strength. Isabela grows corn and Luisa plows the land. Such a good strong family! Everyone has a... What do you mean Mirabel doesn't have a gift??

Apparently, her door had dissapeared! Poor girl, but at least her family does really good even so. Mirabel is really sweet! She's such a good prima to Tonito! And she had even make a plush corn for him!

Gladly, Antonio got a gift. I breathed out with relief, knowing that the family was good.

But then... The family took a picture with corn... They took it all and Mirabel hadn't get any! Really sad... I wish her all corn in the world!

WHAT?? THE CORN IS WITHERING?? Oh no! What if they'll be left without any food? But once Mirabel calls everyone, everything looks fine. But it was definitely wrong ten seconds ago?

Honestly, this family just couldn't't catch a break. Abuela confirmed that the corn is indeed in danger. And at the next morning Luisa acted really off.

Oh, I guess being forced to work all day wasn't fun. I thought she was happy being useful, but she is breaking from the weight of a plow on her shoulders. At least we now knew about a vision.

Bruno's room looked awful. So abandoned. You can't grow anything in here. And lots of stairs! Too many for it to be legal! And the vision has Mirabel. Of course, it's always the protagonist in the centre of everything.

Tía Pepa told how her brother ruined her wedding corn but making ber rain too hard. She ended up flooding it. And while Mirabel was bisy with a vision the family did... something. Either preparing for the dinner or crying because her gift and corn are withering.

Mirabel in a empty field. Crap, it so tense! I bit my finger, waiting for the outcome.

The dinner was disastrous. All corn is rotting! Everyone saw Mirabel in a vision. And rats grabbed it taking it into the walls! Whre a strange man lives. Honestly, if I was Mirabel, I would immediately move the hell outta here. I mean, sure, it's her Tío. But why the hell does house have an apartment inside its walls??

No, dude, I understand everything, but how tf did you manage to live in the freaking walls for ten years? Oh, well, I probably should had expected that.

They take another vision where Mirabel hugs Isabela. Honestly, Isa was pretty rude through most of the movie. But that's what siblings are for.

Their talk grows into another musical number where Isabela makes a corn that looks like somebody had injected drugs into it. Pretty normal, I'm seeing it every odd Tuesday.

The moment where Mirabel and Abuela are arguing are literally makes me cry. And the corn is all dead! NO, NO, MIRA, SWEETY, DON'T GO!

At the next morning we get to see Abuela's story. The loss of her husband made her too closed and protective. And feeling like thay have to deserve the food. I had never thought Abuela had suffered so much...

But, together the family can make a new field even without their gift! And, what's even better, the entire village goes to help. They wanted to pay back after all those years of food supply from the Madrigals.

In the end of the day, they are family. And they are in it together. This movie needs to stop being so damn sweet, or I'm gonna flood my floor with tears like I'm Pepa.

The magic returns? But, now, the Madrigals are imperfect! I hope they will get even better!

How could Disney lie about the true version? They so annoying! No, listen, guys, how about we sue them to make a true version of Encanto get the fame it deserves?