#I just want to see more of that funky little lion

[punkrock-bottom]

Not enough Darius Maynor fanart on this webbed site for my tastes

[gaybananabread]

hiiiii!

could I please request day 21, ‘costume’? I’d like lee Pomni and ler!jax if we can do that! Thanks ever so much <3

TickleTober Day 21 - Costume

~Okay, I wrote Jax VERY different to how I did the first time. One, he's a huge asshole, but I still choose to naively believe he isn't all bad. Call it optimistic character study. Thank you for requesting, and I hope you Enjoy!~

Lee: Pomni

Ler: Jax

Summary: Caine's adventure for the day leaves each character in an interesting costume, with some having more features than others. Jax gets paired with Pomni and quickly runs out of patience. Instead of his typical violence, he chooses a less painful route of getting his “payback.”

Warnings: none! This is a tickle fic, so if you don’t like that, scroll away!!

“This is stupid,” Jax grumped, tugging at the collar of his lion onesie. Caine had decided to have everyone wear a costume for Halloween that day, but had neglected to ask anyone of what or who they’d wanted to be. He just randomly assigned one with a snap of his fingers.

“I didn’t even think we could change our clothes…” Pomni said–mainly to herself–as she flicked the little bell on the collar of her cat onesie. It was quite soft, and she liked the warmth it provided. Well, simulated warmth, but still. She thought she could remember having something similar once, but…the memory was just out of reach.

“You can’t! I have control over your digital bodies, so only I can alter them! Isn’t that exciting?” Caine got right in her face as he explained, making Pomni yelp and jump back. The bell jingled softly with the movement, glinting in the light of the tent.

“No. Not even a little.” Zooble’s monotone response came from nearby. They were less than pleased; Caine had apparently decided they’d make a good zebra, adding more funky patterns to their body.

“We’ll see if you still feel that way after today’s adventure!” Caine’s chipper words made the group groan, save for Ragatha and Kinger. She was in a Panda onesie, while Kinger had been dressed as a goldfish. With his eyes, it was actually rather fitting.

“Today’s adventure is Trick-or-Treat Team-Up! You’ll each be split in pairs of two to explore the tent and knock on doors with the pumpkin symbols! Whichever team gets the most candy wins!”

That actually didn’t sound too bad. Nobody could sense anything dangerous or annoying about it, even if they’d rather be relaxing.

“The teams are: Pomni and Jax, Ragatha and Kinger, and Zooble and Gangle! If anyone chooses not to participate, Bubble has volunteered to go in their place!” Caine gestured proudly to the dead-eyed bubble beside him, her sharp teeth greeting the players in a smile.

Zooble narrowed their eyes, knowing they couldn’t leave Gangle to such a fate. With a sigh, they grabbed the ribbon girl’s hand and went off to find the first door. The other groups followed their lead, though Ragatha lingered a moment, grabbing Jax’s lion tail to get his attention.

“Jax, I need you to promise me that you won’t be a complete jerk to Pomni. The last adventure really shook her up, and I don’t want a simple adventure to become something evil.”

Normally, he would’ve brushed her right off, but that look in her eyes…it kinda scared him. Ragatha was dead serious, actually showing an emotion besides worry or happiness.

“Fine, fine, whatever. I won’t break the clown.” Jax rolled his eyes, but Ragatha could tell he at least sort-of meant it. She left after that, the sounds of her re-explaining the rules to Kinger slowly fading out as they left.

“C’mon. The other teams already have a head start, and I’m not losing an easy challenge.” Jax started walking before Pomni could answer, forcing her to jog to keep up with his long strides.

“R-right. I’ll shout if I see a pumpkin door.” Pomni trailed a step or two behind him, struggling to keep up with his pace. She was much shorter, making it hard to match him.

It only took about two minutes for Jax to almost break his promise.

“Ugh- can you stop that?!” The rabbit man whirled around, glaring down at Pomni as he jabbed a finger at her chest. The small bell on her cat onesie had been jingling with every step, slowly driving him insane.

“I don’t think I can. It’s attached, and only Caine can alter our outfits.” Pomni shrunk back a bit from the yell, but she’d been growing used to his douche-ery. It didn’t bother her as much anymore.

“D-*ploink* it.” Jax groaned, running a hand down his face. Of course he’d gotten stuck with the one person whose costume made annoying noises; that was just his luck. “Walk lighter then. I don’t wanna hear it.”

Pomni sighed, walking only on her tip-toes. She quickly fell much farther behind doing that, stuck about a yard away from him at all times. Surprisingly enough, she was the one who spotted their first door.

“Ooo, over there!” Pomni pointed to one of the doors, a bright orange pumpkin symbol sitting atop the red.

Jax slunk over to it, a small hum of recognition leaving him. Instead of knocking like any sane person would, he took a few steps back, then charged at it. His foot slammed into the red surface, blowing it open. Instead of candy, he received a bucket of green slime to the face.

“Gyack! Oh you motherf-” Before he could finish that sentence, another blast of slime shot out, this one carrying a note. It smacked him in the face, making Pomni giggle.

“Shut up, clown girl!” Flinging some of the goo at her, he unrolled the note and read it out loud. “‘Too hard. Trick-or-Treat, not Beat-for-Treat.’ This is so dumb!”

“I mean, you did kick the door down. It probably got mad and took the candy.” Pomni stated the obvious, absentmindedly tapping the bell on her onesie.

“It’s a door! They don’t have feelings!” Jax snapped, narrowing his yellow-and-black eyes at her. “And what did I say about that stupid bell?!”

Pomni narrowed her eyes in return, challenging him. She’d had about enough of his mean attitude. “It’s Caine! For all we know, he made it an AI NPC! Maybe you should think about that stuff before you just do things!”

“Oh, that is IT!” He was done playing nice. Jax tackled her, loathing the cartoony thump their bodies made as they hit the ground. He was going to start a fight, but Ragatha’s sort-of-threat lingered in his mind. When that woman got mad, she got livid. He’d rather not face her wrath, but he needed some kind of retaliation…

Oh, right. Duh.

Jax dug all eight of his purple fingers into her sides with an indignant huff. “This’ll teach ya to show me some respect!”

Pomni squeaked loudly, sounding almost exactly like a dog toy as she descended into pitchy laughter. Jax couldn’t help but chuckle at the sound of it. There’s another item for the “Weird Things Our Bodies Do” list.

“Jeez, you sound like a dog toy! You’re lucky nobody’s modeled after one; you’ve got two reasons for a pooch to maul ya right now.” Jax smirked, giving one of the ears on her onesie a little tug.

“G-GEHEHET OHOHOFF! JAHAHA- squeak OHO GOHOHOD!” Pomni quickly started to lose it, kicking and squirming beneath him as he went for her worst spot. It was hardly fair; he’d guessed it so soon! “WEHEHE’RE GOHONNA LOHOHOHOSE!”

“I don’t really care about that anymore. He didn’t even say there was a prize.” Jax just shrugged, his eyes becoming half-moons as his smug grin grew wider. He was clearly enjoying himself. “This is much more gratifying work.”

“B-BUHUHUT YOUHUHU *squeak* YOU SAHAHAID YOUHU WEREN'T LOHOHOSING AHAHN EHEASY *squeak* CHAHAHALENGE!”

That was impressive, Jax had to give her that. Laughing so hard, yet she still managed a complete, coherent sentence.

“Changed my mind. Don't you know people are progressive?” Jax asked innocently, his tone barely containing the teasing sarcasm in his words.

“THAHAT’S NOHOHOT- *squeak* SHUHUHUT UHUP!” Pomni wriggled beneath his hands, trying to shove them away. Jax seemed to be stronger, though, locking his arms and preventing her escape.

There we go.

“And that's not proper grammar. It's a shame, really; the literary arts are dying. You're a part of the problem, Pomni.” Jax was just saying anything he thought had a chance of annoying her at that point. It was kinda jerky, but it was a lot better than what he'd wanted to do.

“F-*boi-oing*K YOUHUHU!” He was so smug about everything! It was killing her, though a small sort of her was enjoying it. Touch wasn't exactly common in the circus; while the current touch was maddening, it still made her feel a bit better. More alive.

“Nah, I've got plans this afternoon. Thanks for offering, though.” Jax snickered at his own immature comeback, giving both her sides a hearty squeeze.

The rabbit man was more than happy to continue for at least an hour, but the sound of distant screams and spooky sound effects made him think. They probably still had a chance of winning, even after the lengthy distraction. Jax was always one for impulsive decisions.

The tickling ended just as abruptly as it had started, Jax standing and offering Pomni a hand up. She took a minute just to lie there, draping an arm over her face as she giggled.

“Youhu…are a bad person.” Pomni huffed as she begrudgingly took his hand, a small grunt leaving her when he tugged her up from the ground.

“No duh.” Jax chuckled at her flustered state before looking around the hall. “You need water or anything? You're useless to me if you pass out.”

Pomni was a bit shocked by that. He was…asking if she needed something? Genuinely, it seemed? Sure, he was an asshole about it, but it was still shocking.

“Uhm…no, thank you?”

“Good. I didn't wanna make the trip anyway.” He glanced down the hallway of doors before shaking his head. “Don't think he put any more candy doors over here. We're checking behind the stage.”

Then he just walked off, leaving her with all those confusing thoughts and not a single answer. Great.

Pomni hurried after him once again, the bell on her onesie costume jingling once again. That time, however, the jingling noise only made Jax smirk.

Cute…

[science-lings]

Totk Theory: The Sages, the Dragons, and the Zonai

Ever since botw I've been interested in where the champion's powers came from. With totk, that question was answered, or was it? Sure, each sage has an ancestor who had the same abilities, but both Dinraal and Farosh have corresponding powers to existing sages despite being draconified Zonai. (see the stiff white hair with glowing sections, long ears, and thick stubby eyelashes)

Rauru's stubby little horns are also pretty dragon-coded

But, how could that be? the Sages of Fire and Lightning aren't Zonai, and there are no more instances of repeating abilities. Except with Zelda inheriting her power over Light from Rauru, her Zonai ancestor. Despite looking nothing like a Zonai herself.

Rauru and Mineru were the last of the Zonai, or at least, the last 'pure' Zonai. Rauru and Sonia had to have a child to continue the royal like to the point where Zelda contained both of their kinds of magic. Who says that the Zonai of 'long long ago' didn't get friendly with the other races, most notably, the Gorons and the Gerudo.

This could also explain why there are a few notable Gerudo in the past with gray skin, a very uncommon trait to have. Perhaps that's why Ganondorf is even able to obtain and utilize the secret stone in the way that he has, because he's got Zonai blood, more than most of the sages, or at least the ones with useful magic. (let's be real, being able to turn yourself into a ghost wouldn't be the best power to have in a fight.)

Perhaps that's why Farosh flies the length of the Gerudo Highlands, getting as close as she dares to the desert that she may have once called home, and why Dinraal coasts by Death Mountain's foot. perhaps there was once a bloodline that carried the power of ice in Lanayru, maybe it stayed dormant in some sheikah inventor that incorporated their power into the sheikah slate. (good idea for an oc huh)

I just think it's odd that we're meant to believe that the Zonai just... died out. We're led to believe that they were godlike and mighty and full of magic, but also able to disappear without much explanation. But maybe they didn't die out, they just became a part of Hyrule, a part of her people. Maybe there weren't many of them to begin with, and they connected with the people around them. Leaving only Rauru and Mineru as the last of them left who could be considered fully Zonai.

This could also explain why the Heroes aspect looks so funky, bc they're part Zonai, part... something else, or many something else's, something with a lion tail that has the little poof on the end. The Ancient Hero is supposed to have existed long after the zonai (Rauru and Mineru) died off, in the time of the first calamity, but they're still very obviously closely related to the Zonai.

TLDR: Hyrule is absolutely full of people who would procreate with alien dragon people and it has some funky effects on their descendants.

also disclaimer: I don't mean to make the whole Zonai bloodline kind of thing sound so eugenics-y, I know the wording isn't perfect on this post but I'm also not sure how else to word it, so just know that I don't mean to offend anyone or sound weird when it comes to fantasy race intermixing. This is genuinely just a theory for fun and I don't want to sound rude to anyone.

[hantheheart]

LANCELOT HEADCANONS

hes a cat magnet. they just kinda congregat near him. there's an entire corner of the Liones' Castle courtyard with a tree that he goes to nap in that the cats of the castle all flock to so they can snuggle with him

my "The 4Knights are all disney princess adjacent" propoganda continues to live

Dogs also like him but in the way dogs like cats and the cats dont really like the dogs

he's definetly hissed at dog in human form at least once in front of the group and never lives it down

he acts all smart and shit but he can be hilariously gullible when it comes to stupid human customs, especially regarding high society bullshit. Donny and Jade are the worst at messing with him about this, but Tristan can and will continue to always be the one he never realizes is pulling his leg about it until someone else realizes and messes with him about it

There is a specific something about hearing Gwen and Tristan saying "my boyfriend" about Lance that gets him all happy. It just makes him all fuzzy to know that two of the people he cares about most, care about him as much and that he gets to say they're his and he's theirs. He doesn't say pet names but if one of them calls him by one, he gets all bashful and huffy but he really adores it.

He's a little SHIT and gets huffy when Gwen and Tristan won't let him fight off their suitors at balls and shit. His solution is to be mean to everyone but them and be arm in arm with one of them as often as possible. He has to be physically stopped from growling at the people who keep trying to "introduce" their kids to them to try and start something Best part is him not realizing that people are also trying to set their kids up with him. Forgets him being a prince of a kingdom is a big deal, even if Benwick is technically a small kingdom at that point Lancelot being so confused by when Tristan and Gwen being huffy at people for trying to steal their boyfriend "Why are you two mad?" "That girl was throwing herself at you!" "She was not, she was talking a lot though." "Lance. She was flirting with you." "…. why would she do that??" "……" "Lancelot Benwick, you may the most oblivious person I know." they both know how to handle high society bullshit, but they know Lance doesn't so as fighty as he is about them having suitors, they're also antsy to fend off people who want to court Lance and he just never realizes cause they do it high society style by being politely mean

he's touch starved AND Touch adverse usually, but when it comes to the people closest to him (mostly a Gwen and Tristan, but applies to others like his parents and particularly Percy Platoon) he has a habit of reaching for pulse points. Just to feel some proper proof under his fingers that the person is real. (For Canon, its residual instincts from while he and Jericho were in that Chaos Realm. For Chaos Cult, it's because my man stresses so hard he starts seeing shit and has horrible nightmares. And Slice of Life AU, its leftover trauma from when he, Gwen Tristan and Nasiens got kidnapped, the moment that seperates SOL from CCK) Absolutely makes him accidentally seem really romantic and suave when he kisses Gwen or Tristan's wrist, will make them so flustered

Scares the shit out of several people regularly by reaching for the pulse point on the neck, no one ever gets used to it Ban is the only one who's safe from that cause hes so fuckin tall

In Canon universe, his canines are much longer than the average person, mostly because he tends to lean more wild than human. In Chaos Cult, all his teeth are noticeably sharper than a normal person's, which is entirely intentional on his end to be more threatening. Slice Of Life is the only universe where his teeth are almost entierly normal looking

He's bitey so in most universes, he will draw blood

I still think if he could, he'd have so many of those funky lil throwing knives ninjas have in anime and shit Like the ones Mei uses in FullMetal Alchemist Kunai?? I think they're called?? But yeah he's a knife collector to me, he has some funky ones he's bought during his travels and just a bunch of tiny knives he can throw at people in addition to the arrows

He's neurodivergent as hell but I don't know if he's ADHD, Autistic or AuDHD

he can deadass purr. its really deep and rumbly and he gets really embarrassed about it. this boy more animal than man even when he odesnt want to be He's stupidly touchy. Like absurdly so

Hand on one of his partners as much as possible, sometimes they gotta swat him from sticking a hand up their shirts. Not even in an nsfw way, he hardly even realizes he's doing it, just searching for ways to have his skin against theirs. Definitely an offshoot of the pulse point thing.

ooo it being a side effect to Ban's time in purgatory and making Lancelot having a different body temepture so it's him readjusting his body tempture

EQUILIBRIUM

He also just. Doesn't have much in the way of boundaries anyways. Keeps leaning on people and things, side effects if being lil fuzzy creachure so often

He's the type of kid to decide who the favorite parent is depending on which will give him what he wants. Yes he has weaponized puppy eyes on them both and it has worked (more on Elaine than Ban)

Bans loyalty in family feuds (AKA Lance wants something and mom said no) can be bought over with promises to do stuff together. This has ranged from sparring, napping, reading (and then falling asleep halfway through book) and little father-son trips to other kingdoms

Despite his personal nonsense, his parents describe him as favoring the other. ask Ban and Lancelot is a momma's boy, Elaine would call him a daddy's boy

i genuinely do think that as Lancelot gets his head out of his ass and lets himself be more caring of the rest of the gang (Percy Platoon + Tristan Platoon) he gets such bad fucking anxiety that he's gonna inadvertently get them all killed. especially after Jade dies. He is, without a doubt or exaggeration, the strongest and most experienced of the group. He's the weird defacto leader regardless of anything people might argue on. Like?? Percy and Tristan both clearly tend to follow his lead and the Percy Platoon trust Lance pretty strongly. Tristan platoon do whatever Tristan says and i think as they get older Chion learns to chill his shit, especially regarding Lancelot.

The fucking pressure??! All of his friends- pretty much everyone he gives a shit about- would follow his lead if he were to be confident enough to decide to go straight after Arthur or to go to the heart of Camelot. sure, some people might weigh in opinions and other plans, but he's always been good about having plans and he can take on pretty much any Chaos Knight. So it become more "can he make the judgement of whether the others are ready for the fight to come" and whether he can protect them until then *And can you even imagine*

If he makes the wrong call, if he overestimates even one of them

the panic and desire to keep his friends safe could make him want to over prepare and wind up pushign the entire gang to take longer than they need to to go after Arthur, potentially winding up with someone having to decide to tell Lancelot he's over doing it- or *worse*

that they're running out of time that they have to act before there's nothing left to save, that they might've already lost so much

or EVEN WORSE, HE DECIDES NOT TO RISK THEM AT ALL AND DECIDES TO GO FIGHT ARTHUR ALONE

DO YOU KNOW HOW INSANE I WOULD GO IF THAT ENDS UP HAPPENING

HE BAILS ON THE GROUP TO DO THE DEED HIMSELF AND ENDS UP GETTING HIMSELF FUCKED UP OR CAPTURED

[ambrosiagourmet]

thistle for ask meme!

Thistle :0

First impression

No joke I was convinced early on that Laios & the party were making like a huuuuge leap in assuming that Thistle was the Lunatic Magician TM like guys you can't just go accusing every random person you find in a living painting of being the manager. Alas... he was, in fact, the manager.

Impression now

He's so jester coded👍

I think Thistle is very interesting and a great foil to Marcille, which I looove. They are both magic elf(-ish) advisors, they both get caught up in wanting to help the people around them live longer, they both become dungeon lords in pursuit of that... I think Thistle's story as it is works well for the narrative and I don't necessarily think he was underutilized exactly, but it is a little hard not to want A Bit More sometimes. Even if I do think it would be hard to add that more in without sacrificing some of the pacing overall :')

Favorite moment

I was initially going to say the ending for them, because I do love it, but you know what? I've got a more interesting answer. My favorite Thistle scene is.... this:

This fundamentally changes the trajectory of the story. In trying to find someone to stop the Winged Lion, Thistle launches Marcille into becoming the next lord of the dungeon. The next victim of the Lion. If Thistle hadn't resurrected Marcille, then the plot would have played out totally differently. She wouldn't have been able to finish unsealing the book. Laios would have been on his own when the canaries came. Would they have just cleaned everything up more easily? Would it instead have become something worse? Would Laios somehow have unsealed the book and become the lore of the dungeon right away?

I dunno. But this action reshaped Marcille's life, and Laios', and so many other people's. And it was done out of a desire to keep fighting. To not give in.

Augh idk. It's good. Their connection is good.

Idea for a story

Thistle & Chimera Laios.

But not just a "Laios gets eaten by the dragon instead," I think it would be cool to explore an AU where for some handwavy magic reason, Laios gets his soul bound up w/ the dragon during Falin's resurrection, and he gets poofed into a dragon form.

There's a note somewhere that says that chimeras start popping up the more the lord of the dungeon starts to lose their hold on things, but having met Laios before might help Thistle eventually realize that something is Off about the dragon. From there... well maybe he starts to ask questions and gives Laios more freedom to actually answer, and things could continue from there as Laios gets enough humanity back to start to understand what's happening, and also Thistle takes more time to question the Lion's plans rather than just continue to act. They'd be stuck together, probably with Laios still under Thistle's control, but maybe as they figure out more of the truth, they'd actually work together? Need to rely on each other? I'd like to see how each of them would deal with that situation...

PLUS then on the flip side I think switching Falin into the group part way through the story (rather than at the start) could be really interesting. So the adventures on that side would be fun too.

Unpopular opinion

umm idk. Is Thistle widely regarded as a Marcille foil? Because if not then why. They are so inchresting. funky little mages.

Favorite relationship

Hmmm okay so like obviously Thistle & Marcille, but also as seen in my story idea I want to explore more of Thistle & Laios bc their interactions were fun, soo... I'll just say the Dungeon Lord quartet as a whole. I like when people draw art of them all together. Let them bond through shared trauma. And also all of them have tried to kill at least one other person there at some point. It's great. They should go on brunch dates.

Favorite headcanon

This post about Thistle's goal to eat a meal with Delgal fundamentally rewired my brain

[skyscratch-wc]

First off, I love how you combined everything for Power of Five. I haven’t seen a rewrite that removed the StarClan vs Dark Forest stuff and I think you’ve done something super cool with it! I was wondering if you’ve thought about romance for the Five - are you keeping canon pairings or getting Funky with it?

Aw thanks! I'm glad that you like it! One of the core things I wanted to address in this rewrite was how StarClan being so omnipresent drove the plots, in my opinion, way too much. I also wanted to make atheist cats like Mothwing, Cloudtail, etc. more believable and honestly, add more variety of belief in the clans.

As for your question, I think I'm gonna do a little of both! Here's what I've been thinking so far:

Jayfeather: he'll stay single, but have a really close, teasing friendship with Willowshine. Think two friends who do nothing but insult each other, but also really love each other and would defend one another from anything. Jay is aroace and really doesn't have much interest in romance.

Lionblaze: I think I'm going to keep LionCinder, but change some small things about how they get together, etc. Cinderheart is not going to be a reincarnation of Cinderpelt anymore, she's just named in honor of Cinderpelt. Instead of it being about her being reincarnated and him being a prophecy cat, it'll be about both of them finding their identities and becoming more comfortable in their own skins. Lion is bi and definitely had a thing for Berrynose when they were younger.

Hollyleaf: Holly is a lesbian. She will probably have a fling with Heathertail at some point since they will grow up together, but Heather will ultimately end up with Holly's brother Breezepelt. Beyond that I'm not sure where I want to go with her. I kind of like aunty butch lesbian vibes for Holly. I might also decide to give her a cross clan relationship to really push her conflicted feelings about the rules and warrior code in Skyfall... (cough cough Hazeltail cough cough). Although any permanent romance for Holly wouldn't be until after this arc. She's got so much on her plate in the arc that I can't imagine trying to add any more than some flirting or a brief relationship.

Flametail: I'm not sure about Flametail. He's straight, and I'll probably give him a love interest in some capacity since Holly and Jay won't really be getting one. Most likely I would pair him with either Olivenose or Shrewfoot, since they are both mollies that are roughly the same age as him. I'd definitely like the chance to flesh out ShadowClan background characters more.

Dovewing: Eventually I think she'd end up with Tigerheart (Goldenheart in Skyfall). It wouldn't happen in this arc, it would be in Skyfall AVoS, but I think I would keep DoveTiger. How they meet and all that would be different, because the circumstances are very different in Skyfall, but I could see Dove helping Golden free his clan from Darktail since Dovewing has prior experience with Darktail when he and his rogues were attacking SkyClan.

Thank you so much for your ask!

[wordy-little-witch]

My brain is all over the place so I'm gonna mix n match my stuff with the only common theme being Buggy and hyperfixation.

But like. Age regression. Not the funky cool supernatural kind in fiction, the coping mechanism (I like the fiction ones too tho but for this, it's coping mechs)

Just. Buggy and Shanks both having had a frankly RIDICULOUS amount of childhood trauma and both turning to different methods to cope. Buggy got introduced to age regression both bc he already kinda sorta did t involuntarily without KNOWING and then when he brought on some people to his crew with experience in psychology and therapy for whatever reason.

He got dragged to self care hours, kicking and screaming at first and then more willingly. Turns out the "off vibes" were actually severe psychological distress, PTSD, etc. Who knew? Anyway yeah.

Cabaji, Mohji and Ritchie were the ones who were first aware of Buggy's "fuzzy episodes" as he called it. Was hard not to be in close quarters on a tiny ass ship holding three nearly grown men and a growing lion. As the crew grew, even when they got the Big Top, they were still mostly aware of things. Ritchie in particular always seemed to just... Know when Buggy was blurred out and needed a hand. Or to have smth to cuddle and pet.

Mohji actually brings it up in HIS therapy sessions without naming names. Just "hey how can I help with [x,y,z]?" There's some hums and haws before finally herspist is like "sounds like it could be anything, so I can't definitively say. Keep doing whatever has worked so far, I guess,but take care of yourself too. Maybe recommend your friend talk to a professional, like me or one of the other doctors."

Buggy is vehemently against it for a good while until he finally reaches a point that he's getting frustrated. He's scared and mad and decides he'll ACTUALLY consider it - then during one of his own sessions, he gets triggered into a panic attack, which spirals due to exhaustion into him just... clicking out. Surprise. Looks like it's happening whether he wants it or not.

Through this and subsequent meetings and experimenting, he gets told that what he's doing is a blend of regression and dissociation. They decide to try to separate thebtwo to see if maybe they can turn this from a defense to a decompression method.

Buggy still can count on one hand the number of people he trusts to know this - but it does help. He's doing... a lot better actually, with this. It doesn't fix everything, but it DOES help him stay steady enough to work on the things that need fixing. Cabaji, Mohji, Ritchie, and later Alvida are also finding themselves enjoying the time they spend together when Buggy wants or needs company. They also start picking up on some smaller things about Buggy that have turned the odd quirks and strange habits into smth more, start getting puzzle pieces to the bigger picture.

They secretly start a hit list but that's for another time.

Impel Down was an absolute hot mess, and the recovering from that and the subsequent summit war was not pretty. Just when things started coasting again on slightly smoother waters, Crocodile and Mihawk show up with the instatement of the Cross Guild.

Might just make a tag specifically for my agere stuff bc Buggy is my little blorbo and I shamelessly project on him so I may throw all my clown themed thought here

[bonefall]

Bonefall, local cat historian, teal blood? Idr, monster factory enthusiast. What’s next, you follow our great leader Jim Pickens? /silly

I dabble in a little bit of everything. Didn't know who Jim Pickens was (but hey I did recognize him when I googled him from Six Feet Under), but I do also like Columbo a lot. I love funky little frizzly wifeguys and backwards whodunnits

Other weird interests I have;

Modern Fire Emblem, mostly Three Houses and Awakening, been playing Engage with my buddies though and I kinda like... as a raw experience I don't like it, but I'm having a BLAST basically making an OC out of the main character with my friends, it's great!

Animated movies in general, I'm always looking for funny bad ones to watch with my partner and my friends.

"Oh cool!! Do you have any recommendations?" PLEASE GO WATCH THE ANGEL IN THE CLOCK, I watched it blind with my friend group thinking it was just gonna be something low-budget and funny but oh my god, it snatched our kneecaps, we were crying at the end, please go watch it

I fucking love Care Bears. I'm obsessed with them.

I do like Pokemon but, honestly, I've kinda fallen out of love with it because of the past few games. I used to be really into it

I like Digimon more these days

I usually turn out for whatever the newest queer animated series is, if you know what I mean. I was a closeted teenager when Korra happened and I've kinda 'followed' animated shows being allowed to be progressively more openly gay, building off the victories of the last, and it makes me feel super fuzzy to see it

So Steven Universe, She-Ra, I've been meaning to watch Owl House because I know I'm gonna love it, etc.

Though honestly I'm kinda hoping to start seeing more adult-oriented stuff... much as I appreciate what kid's media can do these days, I want to see more animated adult fantasy with more mature themes

HunterxHunter is my favorite anime

Ginga was one of my formative baby animes, I was really into it when I was a kid along with Warriors

I was there when The Lion King Fanart Archive was huge, my first OCs were Lion King fankids and such.

I still play Impressive Title, which is an old MMO made by one dude in like, 2008, that's now public domain and anyone can make a server with the base code

I really love watching bad Christian movies, like, Lion of Judah, Noah's Arc 2007.

[im-smart-i-swear]

If funky guys had become paladins of voltron which one would be in which Lion?

back in the VERY early days of this whole au(like. buddys-name-was-still-ryou early) i wanted to base every clones personality/character on a diffrent lion.... but over time it slowly stopped fitting their personalities and i kinda abandoned the concept lol. though you can still see some remnants of that in . certain design choices...

going back to this concept after uhhh two years?? i think? was definetely interesting! all the characters changed WILDLY since then and i tried to re-assign the lions to fit the changes........ it was surprisingly hard

i couldnt for the life of me decide in a few cases, so instead im just gonna give the most suitable options lol

tashi & soup - im putting these two together beacuse- and i have NO IDEA how that would work- theyre copiloting the black lion! they function the best as a duo and separating them would NOT be a good idea in a situation as stressful and complicated as piloting voltron. they barely manage to keep everyone alive on a good day... also picking only one of the two as The Leader just feels wrong

buddy, ideally, would like to stay as FAR AWAY from voltron as psyhically possible, thank you very much- but nothing in this cruel world is ideal, so they get the red lion:) i actually have this whole story idea where basically stickbug ""goes rouge""(like. some sort of 'sleeper agent mode' left over by haggar gets activated by accident??) and runs away to do some evil shit so buddy goes after him(on a whim)(alone)(without telling the others) and while searching for him they bump into fUCKING VOLTRON- so they form a very uneasy truce until they find stick. and at some point buddy finds out he can pilot the red lion! its awful he hates it:/ he pilots anyway cause his loved one is in danger(this whole thing is way too complicated to talk about here lol)

i had A LOT of problems figuring out the last three..... they changed so much that i just cant rlly fit them into these categories anymore... but i tried!!

ORIGINALLY stickbug was supposed to be based on the green lion but he doesnt fit it as well anymore....... i think taks does pretty well tho! shes very bold and iquisitive and a pain in everyones ass<3 plus loves learning about diffrent planets' unique ecosystems n stuff. stick IS very curious and likes exploring so he still kinda fits? but hes not as forward as taks, so yeahhhh im very torn on this one

i have NO FUCKING CLUE what to do with blue. all three of em could propably fit there ngl....

yellow could either be taka or stickbug- taka is the youngest and the brightest, hes what brought all of them together in the first place(it takes a village to raise a child)....... buuuut hes not really a 'puts the needs of others above his own' kind of person? hes still a kid and NOT ready for that kind of responsibility. soup is an OBVIOUS choice here of course, but im not sure- honestly, the more i think about it, the more stickbug starts to feel like the best option here? ok hear me out: stickbug, for most of his life, had very little power over his life. even while with the funky guys(ESPECIALLY in the beggining, these bozos were dysfuctional as fuck) there were moments when the others would talk over him bc 'hes a kid', and even without that theres still his people pleasing problem wnich meant he often disregarded his own good to make other ppl content. so, taking this scrawny guy desperate for control over his life and putting him in the toughest, stongest, most resilient lion- basically i think he deserves to go a little apeshit. as a treat. let him wreck shit for once

honestly it kinda funny im stting here and calculating all of this like a mad man where IN THE ACTUAL SHOW the paladins switch the lions like pokemon cards

realistically speaking i think they would all trade and switch em a lot and then squabble over who gets to pilot yellow bc they ALL want to wreck shit sometimes:)

[missyourflight]

some stuff i read and watched in june:

taskmaster (s1-5): haven't done an early seasons rewatch in so long, s4 and 5 are basically perfect 2 me. incredible that mark watson manages to be both my favourite type of taskmaster guy (hopelessly despairing) and also nearly won the thing lol. nish forever obviously

silo: got well into this! probably at some point apple will stop throwing millions at sci-fi shows but i'm going to enjoy their folly in the meantime

mission: impossible ii: hadn't seen this one! the weakest of the lot but the john woo of it all is undeniable

mission: impossible iii: PSH outrageously good as the villain, hi keri russell

mission: impossible - ghost protocol: so much fun, especially the sequences where you can see brad bird's animation brain going

mission: impossible - rogue nation: ILSA my beloved, the opera sequence is so gorgeous, no notes!

mission: impossible - fallout: it's good when henry cavill reloads his arms, it's better when tom cruise is sprinting around london rooftops and breaking his ankle etc, my most basic trait is that i Love when they're in london like oooh tate modern. anyway i'm very ready for dead reckoning

asteroid city: the bits about making art really got to me! the vending machines were cool!

joint security area: crash landing on you prepared me for this, blank check weren't lying when they said it was homoerotic, song kang-ho forever etc

dodie smith, the town in bloom: the most delightful narrative voice i've read in Ages and v funny. easy to sell me on 1920s theatrical shenanigans

k patrick, mrs s: So hot and butch, i liked the butch friendship stuff almost more than the sex stuff. more sexy lesbian novels Please

kj charles, the secret lives of country gentlemen: another winner from KJC, my most reliable romantic comfort reads. this time it's smugglers!

alice slater, death of a bookseller: sticky little thriller about being poisoned by true crime, great sense of place, So many pints of dark fruits

laura kay, wild things: bisexual disaster in love with her best friend, tragically very me- and also george russell-coded, god i want to swim in a pond again

SOME STUFF I SAW AT ROCK WERCHTER

the dj on the first nigt who played a mash up of i'm gonna be (500 miles) into temperature and then the 1d cover of one way or another into little lion man (deeply cursed fandom flashbacks etc)

weyes blood with candelabras and glowing hearts and amazing adam curtis projections on the big screen behind her

king princess sending the gay girls of belgium absolutely wild - "you wanna hear a sad lesbian song?"

matty healy is a dickhead but he's very good at being the frontman of the 1975. like if ben whishaw was straight and kind of disgusting

stormzy!!! literally the rain was pouring during blinded by your grace pt 2

mumford and sons - this whole festival was like being borne back ceaseless into the past but the cave still fucks me up, marcus really in his ken marino era, face-wise

PUP - i do believe if this tour doesn't kill you, i will to be a wholly perfect song, they had a trans flag on stage, best vibes of the festival

sigur ros - sometimes you just want to be in a massive barn with thousands of people with your faces turned up in the dark feeling like you're inside the sound somehow

muse - fucking incredible live band still!! every time i'm see them i'm floored by how hot chris the bassist is and then i forget about it and then i see them again and i'm poleaxed etc. they had a tech meltdown during knights of cydonia at the encore so we got showbiz instead!!

christine and the queens - beautiful and terrible as the dawn

jacob collier - asked if we wanted to get funky then put on a special hat, bit george russell-coded in the face

arctic monkeys - sometimes you just want to be in a field with one of your oldest friends singing the songs of your youth!! i love the 70s act actually! there are so many sexy songs on AM!! the skies finally cleared for the beautiful full moon, thank you belgium, good night

[aubins]

(Fading Blow: 2d20=9, 7. Hit x2 w/ +1 Str: -4 HP. Tibarn HP: 6/6)

Ah, an archer. At the sight of the weapon most behated by every Hawk, Tibarn lowers himself down to the ground and shifts back to the human-like form. This one is probably more safely faced on equal level to the walker.

"Yuri of the uhhh Blue Lions, huh? Alright, let's see how this goes." He smirks. "I don't normally punch students, but a battle's a battle and this is all I've got." Indeed, as one not in the slightest knowledgeable with beorc weaponry, untransformed Tibarn is only left with what nature saw fit to grant him, and some extra funky equipment he found that looked easy enough to attach to his hands.

"Don't take this personally."

With that, he rushes towards Yuri, sending two strikes towards the other's chest area - it's not like he wants to give the poor guy a concussion and kill him - before retreating a step.

"Alright, show me what you've got!"

Yuri of the Blue Lions. It's been a while since they've heard that one. You couldn't really call them a patriot— Faerghus could go up in flames for all they really cared, so long as the people they loved were safe— but it's the part they can play best. They did it for four years, and if an Ashen Wolf wanted to join in the fun of the Battle of the Eagle and Lion, they had to pick a side.

Blue, yellow, or red— it's all the same to them.

“Didn't realize I was so famous,” they drawl with a quirk of their lips, an arrow spinning idly in their hand. “That's me. But a battle's no fun if you hold back. There's no need to patronize me. We're all here for a good time, yeah?” And a good time didn't have to be a long one. Yuri knows themself, if nothing else. If it was a battle of strength that they had to fight, they would lose rather handily.

Yuri [1.5/5HP] heals +0.5HP from Prayer Ring. Yuri uses Deadeye with the Killer Bow. ROLL 1D20+2: 7! Hit! -2HP [Base] + -0.5HP [Deadeye] = -2.5HP

Still, it doesn't mean they have to go down without a little bit of a fight. They cough sharply for air as their opponent's blows connect in quick succession, matching his retreat with two steps backward of their own. It could've been worse. He could've gone for their face instead, and it would be a shame to have bruises bloom where they can't easily hide. These injuries they could cover up just fine.

Muscle memory guides the arrow to its nocking point, drawing back the bowstring until it's reached its full draw. If the old man's rigorous training was good for anything, then they can at least do this in their sleep, arms aching with the ghost of the memory of days spent shooting until their arms were sore from the effort.

“Satisfied yet?” they ask as the arrow flies free, the faintest grimace crossing their expression. “I didn't realize I was here to put on a show. I would've put on my nice clothes if I'd known.”

[sesamestreep]

Nick/Jess, 15!

15. i’ll save you a seat (from this prompt list)

IT’S MILLER’S TIME

The bestselling author of the hit YA series ‘The Pepperwood Chronicles’ opens up about seeing his work adapted for television, his new novel, and becoming a father.

LOS ANGELES - The lunchtime crowd at Gogo’s Tacos in Silver Lake is more plentiful and aggressive than the colleague who recommended the spot for my interview with Nick Miller led me to believe it would be on a weekday, which means I spend the twenty minutes between when I show up (ten minutes early) and when he arrives (ten minutes late and convincingly apologetic about it) fighting off other patrons who are convinced I’m lying about expecting someone and want to steal his seat. His appearance in the busy restaurant is welcome for more reasons than one.

We’re here to discuss the new Netflix adaptation of his bestselling book series, The Pepperwood Chronicles, into a television series. The first season, which drops this Friday on the streaming platform, takes on the Herculean task of adapting the first book in the series (clocking in at 628 pages) into just eight episodes of television. It’s a highly anticipated project for the army of Pepperheads out there, who want to see if Sebastian Stan truly has what it takes to embody the titular grizzled New Orleans detective from Miller’s beloved novels, but it’s not the only project that’s been occupying Miller’s time lately. He’s also got his debut novel for the adult market, the stylishly-titled HoBo, which draws heavily on his childhood in Chicago, coming out in November. But the project he’s most anxious to brag about is one he had—by his own admission—very little to do with, aside from the original idea. The lion’s share of the credit belongs to his wife.

“This is Reggie,” he says, stretching his phone across the table proudly, swiping through dozens of photos of a pleasantly chunky infant in a Chicago Bears onesie. “Oh, and that’s Mario,” he says, when we get to a photo of a dog sniffing the same baby, asleep in a car seat and wearing a hooded jacket with bear ears.

“I know he looks like a funky little alien right now, but my wife says that most babies get really cute around the six month mark,” Miller says, after suddenly remembering that he has tacos he could be eating. He takes an enormous bite of one before making a face. “God, don’t print that. My son is already adorable. I love him.”

We debate whether or not I can actually print that comment (guess who won) for a few minutes before Miller finally allows us to move on. I ask, given his penchant for drawing details from his own life to use in his novels, if this recent development for him means we can expect the next Pepperwood installment to find Julius Pepperwood and his leading lady, Jessica Knight, contemplating parenthood. 

“I don’t know about that,” Miller says, with his mouth full. “It’s not that one-to-one for me. Yes, Pepperwood is based on me in some ways, but in many other ways he isn’t, you know? Same goes for Jessica Knight. She’s based on my wife, definitely, but I’ve never felt constricted by that. I’ve always felt like the characters follow their own path, though they take inspiration from my real life.”

In this answer, Miller has given me both an articulate response and neatly sidestepped giving any confirmation of further Pepperwood installments, which forces me to ask the question directly. His face goes blank for a moment afterwards, and he spends a while chewing before he attempts to answer.

“I’m not saying no,” he finally replies, wiping his hands on a napkin, while looking thoughtfully into the distance. “But I’m also not saying yes. There have been people—and my wife tells me not to read the reviews or the comments, but sometimes, you know, shit happens and you see some stuff—there’s people who think Pepperwood is too happy now. They liked him when he was tortured. Now, he’s got the love of his life by his side, he solved his brother’s murder, he made peace with his father. It’s like, where’s the tension anymore? But at the same time, I don’t want to make him miserable again just to sell more books.”

Miller talks about Pepperwood (and Knight and all of his characters) like they’re real people, a fact he shrugs off when I point it out.

“Of course,” he says. “Of course they’re real to me. It’s important to remember that they’ve been with the readers for six books now, but they’ve been with me for longer than that. And they don’t leave me alone when the book is done, either, like they do for my readers.”

They don’t seem to leave his readers alone after the last page, actually, if the healthy fandom producing fanart and fanfiction online are any indication. Miller, of course, has thoughts.

“I’m pleased about it,” he says, with his usual Chicago-born nonchalance. “It’s always made me happy that my work resonates with people, especially young people. I didn’t see that coming, in the beginning. It wasn’t supposed to be a YA series.”

The origins of The Pepperwood Chronicles are the publishing world’s version of a Cinderella story. Miller initially published the first book in the series himself at the encouragement of his friends, hawking the hand bound (!) copies at local bookstores with the encouragement of his then-girlfriend, as well as his future wife (“Two different women,” he clarifies. “It’s a long story.”) The hefty novel all about the seedy underbelly of New Orleans very quickly found a devoted fan base amongst a surprising audience: teenage girls. Where other authors might have bristled, Miller instead took his unexpected champions in stride.

“Like, there was definitely some initial shock to get over,” he explains. “If I’d known I was writing to teenagers specifically, I would have cut, well, a few things from that manuscript.” He’s referring delicately to some pretty explicit sex scenes and graphic violence, which definitely get toned down in later installments of the series. Confronted with this, Miller shrugs and says only, “That’s show biz!”

Speaking of show biz, how does he feel about the Netflix adaptation of his work?

“It was really interesting,” he offers, thoughtfully. “I’m grateful they didn’t ask me to write it, because it turns out I’m a terrible screenwriter.” Before I can ask him to elaborate on that, he continues, “But the team really did check in with me a lot and they made sure the tone felt right, and the changes they had to make worked with my understanding of the world and the characters. I felt like they really respected Pepperwood, which obviously means a lot to me.”

Miller is being generous, of course, considering he and his wife are both executive producers on the series. When I mention this, however, he waves it off. “They still could have told me to fuck off with my opinions,” he says.

As for working with his wife in that capacity, he’s more than happy to sing her praises. “She’s great. Aside from myself, she’s the person I trust most to get Pepperwood, you know? Like my editors and my agent and everybody, they’re amazing, but if I’m really stuck, Jess is the one I can turn to and be like ‘does this work? Or does it suck?’ And she’ll tell me. She’s always been that person for me. She’s the first person I shared the first draft of the first book with, so her input is invaluable. Or is it valuable?”

“They mean the same thing,” I tell him.

“That’s stupid,” he replies. “I mean, I’m not calling you stupid. The English language is stupid sometimes. My wife’s input is very important to me, is what I’m saying. Her instincts are spot on.”

And they should be, after all. When she’s not producing the Pepperwood TV series with her husband, Jessica Day (yes, you’re reading that right. Miller’s wife and the inspiration for his character Jessica Knight is named Jessica Day. Check the dedication on the first Pepperwood novel if you don’t believe me) works for Scholastic, as a part of their team that handles community outreach to K-12 schools across the country. (Miller’s publishing deal is with an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in case anyone is worried about favoritism.) Before that, she worked briefly in the nonprofit industry and as a middle school teacher and later vice principal. 

“She understands the demographic perfectly,” Miller summarizes, fifteen minutes into an endearing monologue about how great his wife is. “I think the writers for the TV show liked having her around even more than having me. She really knows her stuff.”

When I follow up a few days later with Ms. Day for comment, her husband’s remarks amuse but don’t surprise her. “He’s always giving me too much credit,” she says, humbly.

Does it weird her out at all, to have so many people so intensely invested in the fictionalized version of her love life?

“It’s funny. I know the names are really similar and obviously Nick borrows things here and there from our real life,” she says, “but I really don’t feel like Jessica Knight is me. So I don’t take it personally at all.”

This isn’t the first time this attitude has come up in interviews. Last year, when casting was announced for the Netflix series, Day made headlines for defending the production’s decision to cast British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Jessica Knight after many fans claimed she didn’t match Knight’s description in the books.

“Gugu’s a very talented actress. I’ve seen her screen tests and she will blow you away when you see the show, I promise!” Day took to Twitter to say at the time.

“She capture [sic] JK’s energy perfectly,” she added in a further tweet. “Please welcome her to the Pepperwood family as we have!”

Now, Day is less diplomatic in her response. “It was a small portion of fans who were upset,” she says, “but they were the loudest contingency. It was very upsetting, and honestly tacky. So what if she doesn’t look like me? The character isn’t me, first of all. And the books are set in New Orleans, for God’s sake! It would be stupid if the entire main cast was white people.”

When I accuse her of saying the quiet part loud, as the kids say, Day seems nonplussed. “It’s those new mom hormones, I guess,” she replies, as a baby cries in the background of the phone call as if on cue. “I just don’t give a fu…dge.”

Miller, during our interview, feels similarly. “The team went with the best people for the parts, and we made it clear, my wife and I, that they absolutely weren’t trying to cast our doppelgängers. That wasn’t the point. Honestly, it would have freaked me out if they had.”

So he doesn’t think he and Stan look alike? 

“No, not at all,” he says, automatically. “Do you?”

“He kind of seems like a more Hollywood version of you, yeah.”

Miller takes a long time thinking this over. “That’s…huh…”

In order to distract him from the existential spiral I’ve inadvertently led him down, I switch us over to the topic of his new book, HoBo. It’s made several lists of most anticipated books for this fall (including this publication’s) but there was a while there where Miller feared the manuscript would never see the light of day. 

“The publisher thought it was too dark for the teen market,” he says, without any of the smarmy pride one would expect from the average male author accused of being ‘too dark’ by The Man. “I had no idea! I thought Pepperwood was too dark for teens and they loved it! So, there was a bit there when I was like, ‘okay, so this is the end, I guess.’”

Miller isn’t being melodramatic either. There was a moment, according to him and confirmed by his editor, Merle Streep, where they considered parting ways. Luckily, they came to an understanding once the dust settled and Miller pitched the novel, then titled “Chicago Hobo”, for the adult market. The source of this brilliant solution? You guessed it: Jessica Day.

“My wife’s a genius,” Miller states. “It was so simple and yet none of us could see it. Of course they should market the book to adults, if they thought it was too gritty for teens. Obviously.”

Day, however, downplays her contribution. “The issue with the manuscript came to a head on our wedding day, if you can believe it. On our honeymoon, it was all Nick could talk about. He was worried he’d never publish another book again. I suggested he send the manuscript around to other publishers to see if there was interest, but pitch it as, you know, a book for grownups. I thought it would make him feel better. I had no idea that the minute he did that, his original publisher would come back to him with a deal.”

But that’s exactly what they did. He’s also on the hook for three more books after that, though he’s cagey with details about if those will be HoBo sequels, further Pepperwood adventures, or something else entirely.

“We’re in a really pivotal moment,” Miller says, looking a little bit sweaty as he admits it. “We’ll see how Pepperwood does as a TV show, we’ll see how people feel about HoBo when it comes out.” He pauses to laugh. “We’ll see if being a father completely fries my brain and I never write another coherent sentence ever again.”

Early reviews and chatter are saying that the new novel is every bit as cinematic as The Pepperwood Chronicles, which suggests a screen adaptation is more a matter of “when” than “if.” It is, by Miller’s own admission, even more autobiographical than Pepperwood (the preteen narrator is Travis Tiller, called “Trick” by his friends, so do with that what you will). It���s based, in many ways, on his childhood in Chicago, but it’s also equal parts dystopian speculative fiction and superhero origin story, with a heavy pour of magical realism to wash it down. The cinematic universe practically writes itself.

“We just don’t know,” Miller replies vaguely. No matter what I do, I can’t get him to speculate on bringing this book to the small or big screen. “I don’t want to jinx anything,” he adds, frantically, after many such questions.

Fine. But, as pure speculation, what actor does he think, potentially, has what it takes to bring the eponymous hobo to life on screen?

“Rock Hudson,” he says, after much bullying.

When I inform him that Rock Hudson is dead and has been for more than 30 years, Miller looks crestfallen. What about preteen Trick Tiller, then? Is there anyone Miller would entrust to play his younger self?

“Cate Blanchett,” he replies.

When I point out that she’s both older than him and a different gender, he frowns. “She played Bob Dylan, though,” he counters, confused. I concede that he’s got me there.

We return to the much safer topic of conversation that is the current adaptation of one of his novels. What’s he most looking forward to now that the show is finally premiering?

“Getting to go on a date with my wife,” he says, sincerely, with the dead-eyed stare of a sleep-deprived new parent. “Seriously. We’re getting a sitter to watch the baby, we’re bringing a few of our close friends, who are all getting sitters for their babies. It’s going to be really fun. It’s going to be a classic mess around.”

A what?

“Don’t worry about it,” Miller says.

Is there anyone whose opinion he’s particularly anxious about, when it comes to the TV show? Or even his new novel?

“I’m always worried about what the fans think. I want the Pepperwood fans to like the show. I want them to like the new book, even though it’s not about Pepperwood, you know?”

Does he think there will be crossover?

“Absolutely I do, yes,” he says, emphatically. “The kids who read Pepperwood when it first came out—this is terrifying to say, but—they’re grown up now. They’re in college or they’re young professionals. HoBo is written for their age group now. It will be marketed to them.”

It’s kind of like they’ve grown up with him.

“Don’t say that,” Miller replies, putting his head in his hands dramatically. “I’m gonna have a panic attack. Having an actual biological child is scary enough.”

Speaking of scary, to distract him from another existential crisis, I ask if he’s been starstruck at any part of the process of turning his beloved novels into a TV show, and his answer is surprising to say the least.

“I mean, I was a little bit starstruck meeting Alfred Molina the first time. He was already in costume as Schmith, too, which was an extra level of weird,” he says, referring to the iconic love-to-hate-him villain of the first Pepperwood book and a supporting player in many of the series’s other installments. Still, Miller eventually got used to the idea of Doc Ock himself being in the show. 

“Oh, I know my big starstruck moment,” he adds. “When Taylor Swift tweeted about the trailer. That was like…Woah! Is this really happening?”

That’s right. When the show’s first trailer debuted in March, the Grammy-winning singer took to Twitter to express her excitement.

“I can’t believe how good this looks,” she tweeted with the emoji of the cat making the Home Alone face. “Is it September yet?!?”

Can we take his excitement over this interaction the confirmation we’ve all been waiting for that Nick Miller is a Swiftie? 

“I don’t know what that is, but I like her. She’s really talented. When my wife’s upset, she likes to listen to Taylor Swift and cry while she drinks pink wine,” he says, before taking a troubled pause. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that.”

Day laughs when I tell her this anecdote during our phone call and gives me the go-ahead to print it. “It’s true,” she says. “Who cares?”

So, if they had to pick a Swift song to represent Julius Pepperwood and Jessica Knight’s relationship, what would it be?

Miller’s answer is simple: “You should ask my wife.”

Day’s response, on the other hand, is more complex. “I think it evolves over time, you know, from book to book. Probably in the early books, before they get together for real, it’s ‘Out of the Woods’ or ‘Wildest Dreams.’ Maybe even ‘White Horse,’ if you want to go back into her catalog.”

What about for her and Miller?

“That’s easy,” Day says, and the smile is obvious in her voice. “I’ve always thought of ‘Mine’ as our song of hers.”

This conversation mostly just confirms Miller’s assertion that his wife knows his characters just as well as he does. It also begs the important question of whether he’ll use this big moment in his career as leverage to arrange a meeting between Swift and his wife.

“I don’t know,” he says, honestly. “Maybe? I should ask Jess. She might kill me if I pulled that on her with no warning.”

As our meal and interview come to an end, I can’t help asking Miller a question that has been on my mind the whole time: with all this talk of how great and inspiring his wife is, and how integral to his creative process she’s become, does he happen to identify as a Wife Guy?

“I don’t know what that is either. You keep saying these things—I’ve never heard of them before,” he admits. “But I like the sound of it. So, yeah. I guess so. Unless it’s a bad thing. In which case, no. Was that—did I answer your question?”

In this case, just like so many of Nick Miller’s characters before us, we might have to make peace with an ambiguous ending.

•

The Pepperwood Chronicles premieres exclusively on Netflix this Friday.

[whatisgoingonpaul]

Looking at the deleted scenes

so my last post looking into a scene to hear what they said was a deleted scene and that honestly got me on a kick now about looking though them all. This one is mainly going to be just taking about them/details more then a what I heard post. So here we go.

1- fighting over rooms

This was in the script and the book but never made it into the film, Sam was in the room Michael wanted and they fought for it. So this scene is the context behind Sam bolting down the stairs “MOM PLEASE! Ma! You gotta help me!” “S o o n”

Sam’s got a serious comic collection, which he organises(I see the hulk but no Batman)

Sam mumbling the song he later sings in the tub!! (Ain’t got no home)

“oh no no no, this is MY room. You, spidey and richie rich and the rest of the boys are outta here.” Michael I love you.

“My way or the highway bud” Sam I love you

Michael: I’ll flip you for it *LITERALLY PICKS SAM UP AND FLIPS HIM UPSIDE DOWN*

Sam bites this man in the leg- Michael also notably mumbles ‘lil shit’ as his brother rushes away laughing

Y’all I am in LOVE they are literally just siblings

2- Kitchen that night

This was also script/book. I mean duh because it’s a deleted scene. Basically just talking after dinner

Lucy has two big pictures of her mother ‘hi mom’

Sam is trying to fix the stereo but it keeps popping also Sam wearing the bandana! Cutie lmao

The stereo starts playing lost in the shadows (also like how when Dwayne hits it, it plays good times)

Michaels “sammmmmmm”

Michael just “I dunno if I’m going back to school” he dead ass went ✨I wanna drop out✨

Sam swoops in and starts dancing with Lucy it’s to cute I’m gonna explode

Sam and Lucy dragging him in , Sam straight up head locking Mike and Lucy’s dance is gonna

3- extension of Michael following star

Honestly this should have stayed in. It gives star a bit more character and it also makes Michael slightly less creepy in his actions. THIS IS WHERE THE PHOTO OF LADDIE COMES FROM!

Star: are you following me?*laugh*

Michael, confidently: yea, I am

Star:

How star is laughing and smacking gum watching this dork

Laddie like :0 the whole time

The way she says “well, talk” In a half laugh

SAM ACTUALLY CUTS THEM OFF FROM THEIR CONVO WITH “moms here” that’s why she goes off

LADDIE NOTICING SAMS VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE COMIC!!

“She wants me , all of me” - Sam Emerson 1987

4- Michaels job

Self explanatory, honestly I think this scene should have been kept in for little more past actually establishing that the movie is longer then a few days. Really it’s more like a few weeks

The drunk dude laying on the beach left over from the night before

Hhhhhhhh shirtless Michael hhhhhh

SAM AND THE FUN TUBE I REMEMBER THIS FROM THE BOOK

This kid is trying to read a comic in the ocean

Sam gets splashed by the surf nazis

Michael gets tricked by hair lmao

5- video store that afternoon

Weird note but Maria is called Marie? However in all media she’s called Maria??

Marie gives her little backstory, how she owes max

Max is busy during the day you see

Lucy is such a sweetie “there’s my boys! :D” “my sons my sons”

Michael trying to give Lucy his left over Christmas money and all that 🥺

Sams “bye mike!”

6- talking again

Second night extended talks

They used to come spend summers in Santa Carla

M: where’s your little brother?

S: hes not my little brother

The audio cut out :(

7-

Grandpa asks Lucy about her boss “oh you know him?” “Oh I’ve seen him around”

GRANDPA WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

“Yea if i knew I was gonna live this long I woulda taken better care of myself”

8- morning

Sam watching the stuffed mountain lion

Nanook going after the rears of the stuffed hunting dogs- sir-

“Chill out Nanook”

Sam gets noosy and looks in on the Taxidermy and Grandpa chooses to gross him out lmao

“Nanook, this is my life , I come from a broken home. My mom works all day, my brother SLEEPS all day and my grandfathers possibly a alien who stuffs chipmunks” SAM I LOVE YOU

Sam sneaks a bit of grandpas weed

I’m going to sob I’m gonna sob it’s like a bit of the leaf! Sam baby never change

Grandpa walks in- Sam gets offended and tells him to stop with the Indian walk (this implies that he just straight up sneaks up on Sam non stop lmao I love him)

This blends into the “let’s go to town” scene

9- Michaels “morning after

The video I’m watching titled it this and I’m losing my shit so I’m keeping it. ALSO AGAIN THE MAGGOTS AND THE BRIDGE SCENE ARENT ON THE SAME NIGHT. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT IN TO ESTABLISH THAT

Michael not being able to lift his weights

“I can’t remember to much, not after the Chinese food that looked like maggots” Sam slowly putting down his apple lmao

“Hey mike, you think grandpas a alien?”

Mike “mom and I didn’t wanna tell you two early” lmao

Nanook and Michaels salty feet. I still don’t get this part

“That was some pretty funky Chinese food”

MICHAEL IS NOT WEARING ANYTHING UNDER THE ROBE AND HE HAS FUCKING TIGHTY WHITIES

Mike just placing his full hand over sams face

10-

Went over this last night

Max having thorn sit shot gun

His baseball cap that’s it just his hat

11- max and Lucy date pre phone call

Again for  character development , like star. Like he doubles as a love interest and villain you think they’d leave the little parts with him in it in the movie

Max saying “I know what it’s like to be alone”

He says protecting mother in Latin(I think?) then English - NERD

“Lioness with her Cubs” she laughs THEYRE REALLY CUTE- STOP

“I think my mothering days are just about over” “well, they don’t have to be” SUBTLE

Max trying to show off with a fancy order shsisososososos

Max goes all out and spoils with the expensive order and Lucy is all !!! ☺️ no one touch me

They’re actually really cute and it makes me so mad they cut out moments like this for him and star? Because even with these they don’t get that much time but they get that much more character

13- Mike they’re here! Introductions

Should have been kept simply because there’s a huge gap

“This guy looks more like a zombie”

“Should I run him though?”

MICHAELS EYELINER

Mike is so sarcastic

“David! It’s David isn’t it?! He’s the leader! David ansisosososoos” mikes deflated “yea”

In conclusion these all should have stayed in the film and I am still upset over this. Also if there’s any more or any one that I missed: gimme

[marauderspog]

I could go with knowing Regulus' birthday tho. Trying to make it up with astrology and funky number pseudoscience is fun but you know. :D

There’s a lot of dates for his birthday in the fandom so I thought I’d take a stab at working it out.

His birthday has to be between September 1960 and August 1961 to work with him being canonically a year below the Marauders.

Regulus Black - Birthday Headcanons

WARNING: I KNOW NOTHING OF ASTRONOMY, ASTROLOGY OR ANY OTHER STAR RELATED THING. I KNOW MATHS , LOGIC AND MARAUDERS HEADCANONS THO, SO LETS GO

~ 1st September 1960 ~

Young Regulus and Sirius being annoyed that Reggie is only just in the year below

‘Mother, can’t Reggie just come to school early?’

Sirius really did not want to go to Hogwarts on his first day, because it would mean leaving Reggie alone on his birthday

They both got up really early to sneak outside, look at the stars and let Reggie open his present

Later that day, it was just him and Kreacher so they had a little tea party to celebrate not that his parents would ever acknowledge his birthday

Birthday party on the Hogwarts Express every year after that

~ 26th September 1960 ~

Regulus is the heart of the lion headcanon one!

His birthday is half a year away from James, and James will never let him live it down

‘Sorry babe, you can drink when your older’

‘I’m only fucking 6 months younger than you, and bloody taller, you prick’

One of the oldest in his year and basically a parent to the younger years, and helping calm them down when some older years pick on them

~ 25th December 1960 ~

His parents celebrate neither his birthday nor Christmas so it was just the Black cousins and Kreacher celebrating on that day when they were younger

When Hogwarts came around, the Marauders found about Regulus’ birthday around fifth year, cut to all of them staying at school over the Christmas break that year

The Great Hall was decorated with tinsel and a birthday banner, and Reggie almost broke into tears

Started calling it ‘Regmas’ as a joke, but it stuck

Reggie finally got to experience both a Christmas and a birthday and he couldn’t be happier

The next year, there was some presents from certain Hogwarts professors besides the familiar wrapping of Reggie’s favourite house elf

All house elves are invited to the birthday party

James kept making mistletoe jokes until the girls trick him into getting under it with Reggie, let’s just say they were blushing for hours after

~ 31st December 1960 ~

Born at around 11PM on the 31st so he’s barely born in 1960

Attends a Marauders New Year party during his fifth year and keeps smiling to himself because it’s the first birthday he’s been with more than two people

Sirius gets drunk and tells everyone how happy he is that his baby brother is growing up

Drunk Marauders sing Harry Birthday and Reggie almost cries of happiness

So many party games, including truth or dare where James ends up confessing

‘Prongs, kiss the hottest person in the room’

‘Sirius...’

‘I’m flattered, but I love Moony’

‘Ew, no mate, no offence, but I was gonna ask if you’d kill me if I kissed Reggie?’

‘Oh go ahead- WAIT, REGGIE?! THAT’S MY BABY BROTHER!’

‘Ignore him, please go ahead, love’

~ 28th February 1961 ~

Wanted it to be 29th of February but sadly 1961 is not a leap year, so this is an adapted version of that idea

Reggie being born at midnight on the 28th, so him and Sirius can never work out when to celebrate

On leap years, they’re so fucking confused about when to celebrate since they barely ever are allowed to celebrate at home

Reggie just pretends that his birthday has already gone when anyone asks to save them the trouble

Even when they weren’t speaking, Sirius makes sure to send a letter to Reggie at midnight on the 1st, to remind his brother that he’s always there

Most years Reggie just sneaks out of his dorm on his birthday to hang out with the house elves at midnight

One time he bumped into James, so it became a tradition for them to spend the night laughing and chatting in the kitchen or library

James just likes seeing Reggie comfortable and happy

~ 27th March 1961 ~

Regulus is the heart of the lion headcanon 2!

Birthday is the same day as James’

Sirius makes jokes that his two second favourite people share a birthday (the first is obviously Remus)

James and Reggie alternate what they do on their birthday, but usually end the day cuddled up on James’ bed talking about quidditch

After James graduates, Regulus is invited round for their birthday (as well as all their friends obviously)

Euphemia and Fleamont absolutely love Reggie, they buy him presents and invite him to come over more often after telling him many embarrassing stories about James while James blushes

~ Any Date in May 2061 ~

According to things I’ve seen please don’t quote me on this Regulus is most visible in May

Birthday stargazing with James using cheesy lines and Regulus reciting facts he was taught as a kid as they cuddle under a blanket

Birthday dates to Hogsmead with James, getting many sweets to share in the library later that day

Birthday quidditch matches where James promises not to go easy on Reggie and fucking panics one year when Reggie falls off his broom and ends up in the hospital wing

James just freaks out and refused to leave Reggie’s side, even after being told everything was fine

James and their friends end up bringing duvets and pillows down so they don’t have to leave Reggie alone

Remus and Lily find a spell to project muggle films on the wall for all of them to watch Regulus, Sirius and Mel are fascinated

~ 31st August 1961 ~

No one knowing when Regulus’ birthday is because it’s already happened the day before they go back to school

James is outraged when he finds out that the Marauders have never been able to celebrate his birthday in school

So they start making the first day of school Reggie’s honorary birthday with a giant sleepover in the Gryffindor common room

So many baby Black jokes, which Reggie fucking hates

‘Sirius I’m fucking taller than you, if anyone’s the baby it’s you’

First time they celebrate his birthday outside of school, James takes him to see a quidditch match, then to the local pub to see the rest of their friends, and finally back to their flat for Reggie to read the books he got for his birthday

~ Literally Any Date From September 1st to August 31st ~

I tried to find a correlation between November 3rd (Sirius’ birthday) and the Sirius star

Couldn’t really find anything (again I don’t know astronomy so please feel free to prove me wrong if you do!)

Only thing I saw was that Sirius is apparently more visible in Winter, but November is technically in Autumn so wasn’t really anything with that

By that logic, She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named could have made his birthday any date with no reasoning but we’re not gonna accept that

So any date for his birthday is acceptable!

SPEECH - SIRIUS, JAMES, REGULUS

Feel free to comment which birthday you prefer, even if it isn’t one listened! And sorry if I got some astronomy things wrong, please correct me if I’m wrong and I will happily edit this post accordingly!

[multi-lefaiye]

OC Name Meanings Tag!

Thank you for tagging me @albatris!

Rules: Search and post the meaning of your OCs’ names (if you made their name up or they go by a nickname, post an explanation of how it came to you)! Bonus if you can find something for their last name too

Okay, this is gonna be fun because name meanings is actually kind of an Interest of mine. Like I don’t always keep meanings in mind when naming characters but I like to sometimes because it makes brain go brrr. My favorite is when a name is chosen kinda incidentally and it ends up really vibing in terms of etymology.

In case y'all can't tell I am an avid fan of behindthename, which is going to be the main source I use for this unless I can't find something there or if I want to look into things more for fun and flavor.

Anyway enough stalling <3 I'm going to do the cast of A Modern Ghost Story, mainly because the cast of The Ruins of Memory all just has nature names and I'm thinking a lot about my funky little ghost hunters <3 Under the cut in case this gets long.

Sydney "Syd" Ambrose - Sydney is a variant of the name Sidney, which comes from a surname that is derived from a place name that means "wide island." After looking into it a bit more, it can also mean "wide meadow" or even "from this place" apparently! Neat! And apparently the name Ambrose ties back to a word that means "immortal," which. Considering the themes and characters in this story. That's very interesting actually.

Yara Key - Yara has a couple of possibilities, based on the specific origins, but the ones that are most interesting to me are "friend, helper" (the Arabic meaning according to behindthename, which is probably the one her parents had in mind) and "lady of the lake" (the Tupi meaning, according to a Wikipedia search). Huh! As for their surname, it has a few potential meanings, but the one I find the most fitting is that it can trace back to Gaius, which means "to rejoice." That vibes.

Roach - So originally a part of me wanted to do Roach's full legal name, but I'm not sure yet if that's a spoiler and also I don't really want to share it b/c their name is Roach and that's what matters. Anyway I named them Roach for fun, but they chose the name Roach specifically for the connotations of being "unkillable" and like. Survival. There's a reason for that. We'll get there.

Oliver Cox - There's a couple of potential meanings for Oliver, but the one that I like the most is "ancestor's descendant." Just think that's neat. I don't know if it has any application b/c Oliver isn't super developed yet but it's fun to think about. Cox, meanwhile, is a patronymic form of a name that means "rooster." I think he'd like that.

Juno London - Juno is named after the queen of the heavens from Roman mythology, and his name possibly means "young." This is a little interesting b/c they're one of the oldest characters in the cast, but they were made an immortal at a very relatively young age. Their surname is taken from the place, but it apparently can mean "from the great river," so I might have to take that and run with it a little.

Asher King - Asher's name means "happy, blessed" in Hebrew!! I think this is interesting because they're one of the more serious characters in the cast, and she isn't really much for smiles. However.... that may change.... we will see...... As for her surname, there isn't much complicated there. Its name just means king. "Blessed king" is Asher's full name <3

Apollo - Apollo is named for the figure in Greco-Roman mythology, and there are a few different theories for what this name means!!! The ones I find most interesting, though, are "strength," "father lion/father light," and "to destroy." Apollo isn't super developed as a character yet, but the "father light" one is very interesting... also just in general naming him for the god of prophecy and the sun was a Conscious Choice I won't go into too much depth about rn.

And, finally, as a bonus:

Jimmy - I think Syd named their dog Jimmy mostly as a joke or because they thought it would be cute, but Jimmy comes from the name James, which means "supplanter." Neat!

--

Okay I'm gonna make this an open tag but I also am going to tag @dr-runs-with-scissors because I love learning about your characters,

But also anyone who wants to do this. Please feel free to do so. And absolutely feel free to tag me if you want me to see it; name meanings are my Passion.

[antiv3nom]

Oooooo also for the asks how about bsd and 5,8,9,10,11,12,16,18

hewwo again!!!! lets gooooo

5 - The character who gives me the greatest gender envy

ranpo. something about that funky little man is just...gender. yk? him and sigma as well, sigma is less my gender vibes than ranpo is but he is DECIDEDLY gender

8 - The character with the greatest wasted/unexplored potential

hmm this is a tough one honestly, but i really think we could get more out of yosano? shes. such a great character and i think she could have more great moments but for a lot of the series we dont really see her much? from what im remembering at least. i really need to watch the series again

9 - The character I’d most enjoy feeding to a pride of ravenous lions

fukuchi.

10 - A ship I would gladly go down with… and then become Davey Jones, so I can continue to captain said ship for eternity

shin soukoku <3 <3 <3 i really wasnt expecting to like the ship that much in the beginning and enemies to lovers typically aint my thing but i just...something about them, man. its just...so neat

11 - A ship that makes me want to look into the camera like I’m on The Office

FOR SURE SOUKOKU THOSE BITCHES ARE SOOOO GAY AND ITS JUST. THEYRE SO MUCH

12 - A ship I’d like to blow to smithereens with canon cannonballs

im. look. to each their own. but i really dont like dazai/atsushi, it just really doesnt vibe at all with me and im. very :/ about it

16 - A scene/moment that makes me really emotional every single time

AKUTAGAWA'S DEATH GETS ME SO HARD IT HURTS SO FUCKING BAD

18 - A plot hole that makes me want to tear my hair out

lord i feel like the book is just. such messy territory. i need to reread/rewatch the series so im probably not remembering everything about it but LORD is there so much potential for just. Fixing Things with the book, yk? idk its just. a lot in a single plot device