#I need to organize my big ol playlist

[amethystwrytes]

Playlist Shuffle Poll Tag Game

Put your music library on shuffle, then list the first five songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for which one they like the most!

I was tagged by @kiestrokes (😘)

Tagging: @katieraven @lilsunflower95 @lovemepie67 @moni-logues @simp47koreancrackheads @quarter-life-crisis2 (if you all haven’t done it/if you feel like it/you know the drill)

[nieceeee]

"MATTERS OF THE HEART"

P/S credited to @wttcsms

"pro athlete character who gets featured on a tiktok for the team where the social media manager asks to see what’s in the players’ lockers. he opens up his and everyone is shocked to see stick figure drawings from y’alls kids & printed out selfies of him, you, and your kids. the domestic display is so different from his in-game personality that it almost feels like a prank, but when questioned further, he just tells the viewers, “my locker is full of reminders for who im playing and winning for."

I saw this and the story automatically popped into my head I hope you dont mind!

PAIRING: footballplayer!ony x reader.

A/N: So much fluff it will make your teeth rot! Sweet sweet Ony! This one came to my head to fast! I hope yall like it!

Being the social media manager of a football team kept you on your toes. You were used to all the antics: trash talking, flexing, the hype. It was like second nature for these guys. Your goal has always been simple, keep the fun and relatability. With this new trend, you were sure that this was going to be the perfect opportunity to showcase some of star players. 

Especially Ony.

Onyankapon AKA Ony AKA The Beast always carried a different level of mystery. Literally known as “The Beast” to his opponents. Ony was a quiet storm. Through all the post-game interviews, fan interactions, and behind the scene content, Ony normally kept to himself. He was reserved, leaning more in the background instead of the spotlight. The way he saw it, the field was his stage. Ony was the ghost outside of his highlights and the people wanted more. 

“Where is Ony?”

“Why is Ony never apart of the videos?”

“We need Ony on the screen!”

Week after week, the fans were restless. They wanted to see the beast outside of his natural habitat. And today was the day, little did you know, that it was going to happen. And not only that but it was going to break the internet in a way you never knew possible. 

You had pitched the idea for this part of the series a few months ago. The “Get to know us” playlist you had created on the team page had gained a lot of traction and the next video up was the “What’s In Your Locker?” trend. A TikTok video where the players give their fans a peek into their personal lockers to get a glimpse at their personality and lifestyle outside of the field. “It's not going to be anything too crazy. Just the basic snacks, routines, lucky charms, etc.” you explained in the meeting. 

It was going to be a piece of cake. 

Little did you know what Ony had in store for you and for the fans. 

You walked into the locker room, camera crew right behind you. They had the lighting set up and ready to go for the series. The team had finished another practice and they were doing their daily shenanigans, joking and messing around. “Okay boys! Cameras are about to start rolling!” you call out, giving them time to settle down before the red button popped up, indicating you were rolling. You grabbed the mic and started your rounds. This series would be a little bit different since it was live so everything had to flow well.

You start off slow walking over to Reiner, his southern slang and calm demeanor always setting a good tone for the videos. Chats start rolling in of women cooing over him. “Okay big Rei, my sweet guy. What’s in your locker?” you start. “Hey there darling.” He greets you. Hearts fill up the chat. He opens his locker door.  Everything is neat and organized. Clothes folded and tucked away. There was a small Texas magnet in the door holding a picture up of a young Reiner and his “nana” as he called her. Clean cut and to the point just like he was, “Sorry it's not all fancy. I’m a simple man sweetheart with simple taste.” his southern drawl croons out. 

Comments erupt in the chat “Raw. Next Question”

“Can he be anymore perfect?”

“Ain't nothing like a good ole southern man.”

“Thank you Rei.” you give him a smile and move to the next one. Your next player was Connie. He smiled big at you, legs bouncing with excitement as you approach. “Oh Lord here we go.” you giggle. “Connie Springer, do I want to know what’s in your locker today?” you ask him as you approach. “Come ooon, don't do me like that mamacita. I got some good stuff in here.” He bounces over to the door and swings the door open. If Reiner was all things order, Connie was everything chaos. 

His locker was packed to the brim, clothes stuffed into the corners. “And you wonder why you can never find anything for practice.” Jean said from across the room. Laughs echo across the locker room as Connie smacks his lips. “Whatever man. Your locker sucks. Mamacita, mira.” he turns your attention back to him. His locker door held chains with different charms, one holding the number 13. A horseshoe hung on the other side. “Y estas aquí son mis milagros. My charms from mi abuela y my tio. Son las cosas más importantes para mí.” he explained showing each charm to the camera. Again comments roll in.

“I don't know what he said but yes.”

“Can I have him please?” 

“BOOMSHAKALAKA YES LAWD!”

“Thank you C Springz. That's beautiful.” you say to him. You continue through several other players who give you different glimpses of themselves. Eren showing you his collection of skull jewelry to Armin sharing his favorite reads. You were just about to wrap up when your eyes landed on Ony. He leaned back against the bench watching you work the room. Your heartbeat thrummed in your chest as you did you best to keep your composure. His massive frame stretched out, relaxing and a small glint in his eyes. You took an unsteady step closer to him. “You can come over here. I won't bite.” his deep voice rang in your ears. 

“What I wouldn't give to be her right now!”

“OH MY GOD IS HE GOING TO DO A VIDEO!?”

“I’m so glad I didn’t scroll.”

“God, it's me again.” 

Comments scroll so fast it was hard to keep up with them. “Whoa, look who’s being a team player today.” Connie lets out. Other players try not to be so obvious with their shock but they mask it poorly. “Okay. Looks like we get a special treat today. The Beast himself is coming out of hiding.” you say softly. A small smirk curves at the corner of his lips. “Care to share what you’re hiding in there?” you ask nodding your head towards his locker. “Bet.” he says, standing and walking to his locker door, effortlessly drawing attention to himself. 

The door of his locker opens with a clank and squeaks open and the room was silent. 

The camera zooms in and widened eyes fill the room, no one expecting what they were seeing. Bright wonky stick figures drawn on white printer paper with old crayons littered the door. Scribbled names of “me and daddy” and “our family” written on the bottoms of each little masterpiece. Handmade “#teamony” craft magnets holding them together. 

“OMG ARE THOSE KID DRAWINGS?!”

“DOES HE HAVE CHILDREN?!”

“ONY WHY YOU CHEATING ON ME?”

Comments blur the screen at rapid speed. But when the camera zooms in closer, there is an eruption of energy underneath your skin. Because right underneath the lens of the live footage, pictures of his most kept secret were revealed. Images of him with a little boy holding a tiny football, selfies with a brown skin girl with slick back puffs, and then there they were. Pictures of Ony with his arms wrapped around none other than…you.

Printed selfies of you and him decorated the door. Selfies of you from date nights to casual Sundays at home during the offseason. Your face was plastered all over his locker room door. Beautifully captured domestic life shots of you, your kids, and your husband were being revealed across social media. Your cheeks heat up and skin tingled at the moment. The view count tripling. 

The locker rooms was dead silent. 

The revelation was jaw dropping. The sweet energetic social media manager they’ve grown to love and their number one player they respected and adored. Together? “W-wait…so y’all are…” Connie tries to find the words but for once was rendered speechless. “This.” Ony speaks up. “Is my motivation. These people right here. My kids Ocean and Oryan, and my beautiful wife Y/N. That's who I’m playing for.” His eyes find yours.  “Every Sunday, I put my all on the field but my heart is forever theirs.” Your chest rises and falls and you have to will the tears away. The man they knew as the beast, a tough no nonsense type of player revealing a piece of him he held so dear to his heart.

“So this is not like…a prank or anything? This is real life. Y/N is your wife?” Eren speaks out, trying to wrap his mind around the truth. Ony’s gaze stays locked on yours, pride and admiration sparkle in his irises. “Nope. This is who I play for. Who I win for.” he emphasizes walking closer to you. You try to keep the butterflies in your stomach at bay as he nears. His teammates look at you both in awe, a blanket of tension building between the two of you on camera. The views continued to sky rocket, reaching the highest the social media team has ever seen but the only thing you were focused on was your husband. The man formerly known as the beast, a feared titan amongst men, was no beast at all. He was a father, a partner, a simple being behind all the physical prowess. 

“Damn O, you been hiding a whole family from us. That’s crazy.” Jean called out. The live content that was mean to be used for snippets later slowly shifted from a what’s in my locker to all things Ony and the followers were eating it up. Comments ablaze with questions about this newfound discovery. 

“How long she been with my man?”

“How old are the babies?” 

“Chat, is this real?”

“So, what’s up? How long has this been going on?” Eren asked. “Yeah, and have we met your kids? CAN WE MEET YOUR KIDS?” Connie jumps up and walks closer. Ony chuckles to himself. “If that's okay with wifey,” he says walking up to you and wrapping an arm around your waist, pulling you into him. “Then y’all came meet them after the next game.” He looks down in your eyes. “That fine with you beautiful?” he asks softly. “Y-yes. That's okay.” you respond. Gone was the gung ho attitude from before replaced with a bashful softness only your husband normally sees.

His teammates stood there taking in the moment. Seeing a new side of Ony was something they weren’t expecting but in their hearts, they felt a shift. The leader of the team whose tough exterior stepped in the room before he did was revealing a deeper side of him resonating not only with his teammates but with every follower that was on the live.

THE LIVE!

Your mind was so wrapped up in your man that you didn't even register that you all were still rolling. You quickly turned towards the camera. “Well I hope y’all enjoyed this segment and we will catch you all in the next video.” you start to end it. Comments rushing in to tell you to keep it rolling but you knew that  you needed to wrap up and do it quickly. “TEAMNAME Signing off. See yall next week.” Ony finishes it off for you, arm tossed around your shoulder.

As the video finished, you tell the team to cut off the cameras but the energy in the room still buzzed around, still vibrating off your skin. Ony let you go and closed his locker door softly. He tosses his bag over his shoulder and walks back to you, planting a gentle kiss to your forehead. “So…that was unexpected.” you say meeting his gaze. “What can I say? Got to keep things interesting. Don't want you to get bored of me.” he smirks at you. “I could never get bored with you.” you say softly, your lips pressing against his. 

Connie walks up behind you clearing his throat. “A-aye Ony man.” he starts. “I just wanted to say eres una inspiración big bro. We all go out and do what we gotta do on the field. But this,” he swipes his hand out gesturing towards you. “This is real shit amigo." “I appreciate lil bro. Forreal.” Ony daps him up and pulls him into a hug. You bite back your smile at the overwhelming love he was receiving. Being a football player’s wife was not easy but things like this made it all worth while. 

For the first time in a long time, your husband allowed himself to be truly seen and it made your heart swell with joy. Slowly the room starts to settle down and people begin to head home. You wait for Ony to finish packing his bag so that you could leave together. “Oh shoot my phone.” you say to him. As he waits for you, you rush into your office to get your phone from the desk. The minute you picked it up, your screen was flooded with notifications.

The video had went viral. Shares, comments, and memes overtook your feed. People had found your personal page from the video and were following you. Comments about brand opportunities and business along with outpourings of love filled your inbox. You stood there for a moment to take it all in. Several sports pages showcasing headlines about

“The Real Ony” 

“Ony’s Family Revealed”

“Onyankopon and Y/N: The Beauty Behind the Beast.”

That one made a laugh escape your chest. Major sports networks were sharing all about this small encounter. “Hey, you good baby girl? I lost you in here?” Ony’s head peeked around the corner of your office. You slip your phone in your pocket and meet him at the door. “Nope. Right here with you baby.” you say to him.

Later that evening, after tucking your kids into bed, you lay up under your husband and clear out more notifications. “This is going to be a field day trying to get through.” you mumble, mind already working overtime. Blogs wanted inside scoops about everything, your relationship, your kids, etc. Everyone wanted to know the story. “Uh uh. No working in bed.” he says snatching the phone from your hand and putting it on his nightstand. “But…” you start to argue but he pulls you close and kisses the disagreement from your lips. “No buts. We handle it tomorrow. Together.” he reassures you. You cuddle in close to him. “I still can't believe you did that, you know? I thought you were okay with keeping it quiet. What made you change your mind?” You ask laying on his chest. 

He was quiet for a moment. 

“It was about time I showed everyone my heart.” he shrugs, puling you closer. 

And as you lay there, listening to the gentle beating of his heart you settled with one thing. No one. And you mean no one would ever forget this. The day Ony, the beast who played for his family, showed that his heart was as big as his game.

[fairys-dream]

"Logan and Creed escape, and talk about their happily-ever-after…"

its done. im moving on to other things. wow....1st fanfic complete.....after what? 3 months? goddamn i need to practice this shit. i have soooo many more i wanna write v_v;

read it under the cut too if u want⤵️⤵️⤵️

Leaving no room for risk, they rushed out to where Creed’s truck was parked. 

Creed and Silverfox were the only members allowed vehicles. Silverfox being less cared for by the program, and Creed obviously not having a reason to leave as long as they kept paying him and ignored his…violent ‘mishaps’. 

Creed opted for hiding out in one of his more casual homes, about a 3 hour drive out, which just so happened to be an old hunting lodge in the woods. 

3 hours of listening to various homemade cassette playlists in Creed's stereo, 3 hours of Logan having an iron grip on Creed's hand as he fought off his inner paranoia that they were already being trailed, and 3 hours of Creed hoping he was making the right move.

The combined stress in the air faded as they drove up a discrete rocky driveway, Logan smiling at the sight of the lodge coming into view, illuminated by the truck's headlights.

“This actually yer’s or are we trespassin’ on some poor guy's shack?”

“It’s mine, didn’t kill nobody fer it either. Didn’t wanna give away the location of any of my good places so soon.” 

They got out of the truck, Logan following Creed as he went to unlock the front door. 

“An’ I prefer to keep my work an’ home separate. They’ll be on our tail soon, but since their best tracker ain’t around to help, I reckon that’ll give us some time.”

Logan smirked.

“Ya sure ‘ya didn’t pick this place cuz of me?”

Creed paused. 

“...Was just the closest.”

…

Sniff sniff-

“ Partly cuz of you. I ain’t lyin’ though, it is the closest.”  

----------------------------

Inside, it was clear the lodge was meant for one person. 

The living room and kitchen were conjoined, the other 2 rooms being the bedroom and bathroom. Furniture was the bare minimum; couch, coffee table, television, a couple shelves. The walls had a couple posters, and several sets of antlers (presumably hunted by Creed's own hand).

Logan sat down on the couch as Creed started looking through the cupboards in the kitchen.

“Fuck, haven’t stocked up here in awhile…you good with beef soup?” 

“Mm, sure. I’ll eat whatever.”

“‘Kay, comin’ up.” 

Creed lit the stove and emptied the cans into two pots, leaving them to heat up as he went to join Logan on the couch. 

A large arm wrapped around the smaller feral’s waist, pulling him flush against Creed’s side, Creed’s head laying atop his. 

The blonde nuzzled his face against Logan’s mess of dark hair, breathing in deep.

“Yer hair always smells so good …nice an’ soft too…”

Logan chuckled. 

“Were ‘ya always this affectionate an’ cuddly?”

Creed continued rubbing his face against the top of the other's head, beginning to purr. 

“Ya make me like this. Make me soft . Yer a dangerous guy t’ be around.”

“Yeah, I bet I’m a real threat to yer tough psychopath reputation, bub.” 

Logan reached a hand up to scratch Creed's cheek, Creed leaning into the touch. 

“What’ll they think when they find out the scariest soldier in the force likes t’ purr like a big ol’ kittycat? ”

“Ain’t doin’ nothin’. This cat’ll kill ‘em ‘fore the thought leaves their mouth.” 

“Hm, cute. ”

Creed gave a sharp nip to Logan’s fingers, snickering as the other flinched and pulled his hand away. 

As Logan traced over the bite mark with his non-bitten fingers, he felt his mind slightly sober up from being lost in this whole…Creed thing. 

He felt something , he just didn’t know why. Only a couple of days ago he was dead set on Silverfox, where’d all this suddenly emerge from?

And why did he already know it?

“...hmm…”

“Hm? What?”

“Just…so…we were…we were a thing before.”

“Yeah. You rememberin’ any o’ it?”

“No, nothin’ yet, just…familiar.”

“Well, that’s at least somethin’, I guess.” 

Fer the best. Lots o’ shit I pulled that he’s probably better off not rememberin’…

----------------------------

They ate their midnight dinners directly outta the pot. 

"We're gonna have to go back fer Fox an’ North at some point"

Shit. 

Creed was hoping he wouldn't make that realization. Not so soon anyway.

"Naw, they love it there."

"They don’t . They hated it as much as we did."

"I loved it."

"Alright, as much as me, then. ‘Ya didn't get the same ‘special treatment’, so ‘ya don’t get a say in this."

"Cuz I didn't need it. I kick ass and don’t need t' be brainwashed into doin’ it."

" Hrmm ..."

"C’mon, let yerself relax fer a bit, yer a free man!"

"Creed-"

"Yeah, I know shorty, I know."

Creed gave his shoulder a reassuring pat, giving him a sincere look. 

"We'll get ‘em out later, promise."

Sniff Sniff....

"...truthin'."

" Barely. But, if it'll help ya sleep at night,”

Logan snorted.

Hah, it’d take it a damn miracle fer somethin’ to help me sleep at night…

“-I'll see what I can do. Don't put yer money on me bein’ able t' pull this shit off twice, though.”

Creed nervously poked at the bits of beef and vegetables in his pot with his fork. 

“Don’t even know if we’re really pullin’ it off once yet..."

Logan could sense the stress the other was feeling. Creed was always the plan guy, and he was damn good at improvising on the spot if they needed it, so he trusted in his ability to figure something out. 

Still, they were under a lot more pressure than usual. This wasn’t just the usual live or die situation, this was the rest of their lives. 

Logan put his now empty pot on the coffee table in front of them. 

“Let’s not worry about all that tonight then. I’m sure they’ll manage without us fer at least, what, couple ‘o days?”

“Couple ‘o days now, huh?”

“Could use a real vacation.”

Creed’s pot joined Logan’s, Creed wiping his mouth with his hand, then wiping his hand onto his trousers.

“Maybe you could think up a way t’ spend it this time.” 

“Hm. I might have some stuff in mind.” 

Logan leans forward and presses his lips against the other's, kissing him slow and deep.

Creed hums contently, Logan's tongue helping to calm his nerves.

After they pull apart, Logan smiles up at him. 

Creed affectionately bumps his shoulder against Logan's, returning the smile. 

And it's the most comforting sight in the world.

[gendiegremlin]

first podcast - the magnus archives

podcast i've cried over - tma and rqg

fave podcast pet - khoshekh from wtnv <3333

best music - probably w.bg. i don't listen to a ton of the music but it is the only one that i have more than one song saved. the rest sort of only have their theme songs that i can recognise but w.bg has the theme song and i also like put-me-down and ol' brush valley and others but i forgor

confusing plot - w.bg. i love it so much but there's so many people and there's time travel and tbh i only understand about half of what's going on

friends from different podcasts - i think sasha rackett and melanie king. stabby girls voiced by lydia nicholas. i just think they could show each other so much cool stuff

enemies from different podcasts - cecil palmer and jon sims. actually no cecil wouldn't mind jon i think he might even like jon but jon could not stand cecil. cecil refuses to look into anything he just sort of goes yep that's happening now and i think that would piss jon off to no extent. ceaseless watcher's special little boy vs guy who's decided that's not his problem

mix up voices - tma. i didn't notice sasha was weird until jon noticed cause i didn't recognise her voice well enough. apart from literally the Main Guys, i don't know any voices ever (actually going through them now i realise i actually do know a lot, but when i was listening i got them mixed up a lot)

know the characters voices SO WELL - rqg. i love them so much <333 i've stolen so many of their voices for my own dming cause they're wonderful i love them and their silly little voices

wish i could relisten - rqg. god that was an experience. i need to listen to the rome sidequest again for the first time. that fucking broke me

listened to more than once - i've never done a full relisten, but i've done partial relistens of malevolent, rqg, and tma. malev and rqg were done in order and then i just sort of left them, and tma i just periodically relisten to favourite episodes in no particular order

wish more ppl listened to - rqg. i don't know how many people know it but it doesn't matter cause it's not enough

what do i do while listening to podcasts - literally anything. walk to school, homework, sudoku, animal crossing, background noise (only on one's i've already listened to so i don't need to pay too much attention)

beloved character - grizzop drik acht amsterdam. i mean just look at him he's tiny he's got a silly voice he will vibrate out of his skin without something to do he has big ears and piercings HES A GOBLIN he gambled with sasha and lost on purpose he once got drunk i think and just crash-hugged sasha. what a guy i fucking love him

beloathed character - elias bouchard. every time i hear his fucking voice i go into a blind rage and i just i need to strangle him. fuck you elias i fucking hate you. that's not to say i don't love him cause god he's such a character. but also i need to strangle him i need to kill him. melanie i feel you i would also try to assassinate him every chance if i could

songs for characters - this is just me pulling from my tma playlist. tim stoker is very 'bubblegum bitch' by 'marina'. 'organs' by 'of monsters and men' is being sad about michael shelley time

podcast on constant rotation in my brain - you can probably guess by how many times i've mentioned it but rqg

podcast regrets - there's none i regret listening to. sure there are some i didn't enjoy, but i just sort of stopped listening to them and then everything was fine

fave couple - zolf smith and oscar wilde. i know they weren't actually defined in canon but i mean look at them theyre qpr. my boys <3

cool fashion - oscar fucking wilde. i mean look at him. jon sims dresses like a grandma. cecil palmer looks like a costume store exploded on him. needles from tmagp has so many spikes on them they're very punk. cel sidebottom with the mad scientist look. and i know some of those things don't sound good, but they're all wonderful and i know they would all look so awesome irl

Podcast themed ask game cause I’m bored!

1.) what’s the first podcast you listened to?

2.) what’s a podcast you’ve cried over?

3.) Favorite podcast pet? (Idk if that’s worded weird but like if one of the characters has a cat or smth)

4.) what podcast has the best soundtrack/music?

5.) what’s a podcast that you really like but find it kinda hard to follow the plot?

6.) what characters from different podcasts do you think would be friends?

7.) what characters from different podcasts do you think would hate each other?

8.) what’s a podcast where you mix up the characters voices?

9.) what’s a podcast that you know the characters so well you can recognize their breathing?

10.) what’s a podcast that you wish you could listen to again for the first time?

11.) what’s a podcast you’ve listened to more than once?

12.) what’s a podcast you wish more people listened to?

13.) what do you like to do while listening to a podcast?

14.) who is a podcast character that you love?

15.) who is a podcast character you can’t stand?

16.) what songs do you associate with a certain character/ podcast?

17.) what’s a podcast that you can’t stop thinking about?

18.) are their any podcasts that you regret listening to?

19.) whose your favorite podcast couple?

20.) whose a podcast character that you think would dress really cool?

[strange-destinations]

You mentioned transcripts of your Doctor Who RPG games. Any chance you might be willing to share them? (only if you want)

Of course! Here's The Big Masterpost of all our transcripts and audio files, updated as often as we play. Feel free to read and/or listen to as many as you want - I like to think I keep it pretty organized. Some things to note:

We pass around the GM crown from person to person, so we can all have a swing at running the game and also all get to play. So that's why our characters sometimes keep getting knocked out at the start of the arc and dragged offscreen, and why the GMing isn't consistent.

The sound editing can be a little hit-and-miss since I'm often speedrunning the editing/transcribing thing, so I apologize in advance if it ever gets funky or unlistenable. That's what the transcripts are for, I guess.

As of posting this, we've just wrapped up our fourth 'serial' and are probably going to kick off a new one next week! So now's a pretty good time to catch up with the story if you're curious.

Other links and content under the cut:

@trailmixtime's Thieves and TARDISes tag has most of our memery, art, and writing-related bonus content saved. (I have a tag for it too, but sometimes I'm a bit hit-and-miss when it comes to saving it all, so!)

I compose music for the campaign and edit it into the audio (along with sound effects and such) when the fancy strikes me. A playlist of all that original music can be found here!

The song used for the 'previously on' recap (and also the Doctor's theme) is this one. It's a banger, lads.

If you ever hear us reference a companion or some events that you are 100% sure are not canonical or even semi-canonical in the DWEU (for example, Millie or Roman) - that may be because we accidentally sort of ended up setting our game post-the Game of Rassilon, that one RPG podcast that I never stop talking about. It's very good, but you really don't need to listen to it to understand what's going on. We're just massive nerds who couldn't help ourselves.

Also, I'm extremely aware that we don't introduce our characters in very much detail in that first adventure, so I have prepared a handy little guide to the party down below (with bonus pictures!):

The Doctor (played by me!) - well, it's the Doctor. She's at a amorphous point in the future, far past anywhere we've seen in the TV series, and is very newly regenerated. In my head played by a Puerto Rican actress (a lot of planets have a Puerto Rico!). Fond of cats cradle, colors, plants. Not fond of eating.

Leela (played by @trailmixtime) - yes, that Leela. Plucked from the start of Gallifrey season one, Leela still has no idea what's happened to her husband. Working for President Romanadvoratrelundar (of course), rarely without a knife or janis thorn or two. K9's with her, also. (Good boy, K9!) Big ol' sweet tooth.

Unit-17, otherwise known as Dissent (played by @liria10) - a hospitality robot from the future gone rogue, Dissent is on a quest to reach the top of the most-wanted list. That's right, it's crime time. Eternally cheerful, just here for fun and chaos and thievery.

Caryophyllene, although we just call them Caryo for short (played by @bird-of-paradox), is a member of a a race of arachnoid psychic warrior spiders who use a scent-based language (the TARDIS is working overtime to translate, but we're managing). They're a semi-professional thief and very good at being sneaky and disruptive. We all love Caryo.

Verity Brown (played by @raindropsonwhiskers) hails from 1840s New York, where the Doctor and the rest of Team TARDIS picked her up. She was a weaver at the Ballston Mill Company until she got swept up in a bit of an adventure, and now she is having a very weird day. Down to fight, especially if said fighting involves asshole Time Lords.

Also, she might be a bit traumatized at this point. But that's all right! We're all traumatized here on the TARDIS! Ha ha haaa. We need therapy.

[highladyluck]

Wheel of Time Playlist

Mat Cauthon/Tuon Paendrag: The Soundtrack

Direct link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1LWolFwiwWQtcnQV7zceMj

30 songs, 1 hr 43 min. This is my take on the canonical arc of Mat Cauthon and Tuon Paendrag's relationship, told largely through swing music and 80s power ballads, with a few surprises here and there.

I put a lot of time and thought into this so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! There are spoilers in the playlist and track listing for Winter's Heart through A Memory of Light, since this is meant to mirror the narrative. It's organized mostly chronologically, though a few songs cover multiple books, or reference scenes placed slightly out of order, to better alternate points of view.

The order will be preserved if you have a paid Spotify account. (I know that's not ideal; I tried for several hours to get this into 8tracks through a series of increasingly convoluted methods but wasn't able to, as I don't directly own the music used.) If you can't listen to it in order, I've got the track listing under the cut so you can at least see what I was trying to do.

Track List:

1)      Royals (feat. Cory Gray) – Jake Coco, Corey Gray

“I’m no lord. I’ve more respect for myself than that.”

And we'll never be royals (royals)/

It don't run in our blood

2)      Almost There – Anika Noni Rose

Behind her veil, she was merely the High Lady Tuon, of no higher rank than many others of the Blood, but in her heart, always, she was Tuon Athaem Kore Paendrag, Daughter of the Nine Moons, and she had come to reclaim what had been stolen from her ancestor.

Ain't got time for messin' around/

And it's not my style

 3)      Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man – Sammy Hagar

“I’m a gambler, not a soldier. A lover.”

I ain't good looking, but you know I ain't shy/ Ain't afraid to look a girl in the eye

 4)      Primadonna – MARINA

 “She is my wife! Your bloody Daughter of the Nine Moons is my wife!”

Would you get down on your knees for me?/

Pop that pretty question, right now baby

 5)      Been Caught Stealing – Richard Cheese

And Mat and the others galloped out into the storm, carrying with them three Aes Sedai, two of them escaped damane, and the kidnapped heir to the Seanchan Crystal Throne, while behind them a far worse storm broke over Ebou Dar.

Walk right through the door/ Hey all right!/ If I get by, it's mine/ Mine all mine!

 6)      Luck Be A Lady – Frank Sinatra

“As soon as I can figure out how to send you home safe and sound, I will. I promise.”

[...]

“So long as you keep your promises, I will neither escape nor betray you in any way, nor will I cause dissension among your followers.”

Let’s keep this party polite/

Never get out of my sight/

Stick with me baby, I'm the guy that you came in with/

Luck be a lady tonight

 7)      Holding Out For A Hero – Bonnie Tyler

“Do you remember Hawkwing’s face, Toy?”

I'm holdin' out for a hero 'til the morning light/ He's gotta be sure/ And it's gotta be soon/ And he's gotta be larger than life

 8)      Play The Game – Queen

“I’ve changed my mind, Toy,” she murmured, placing the white stone carefully on the intersection of two lines near the center of the board. “You play very well.”

All you have to do is fall in love/

Play the game, everybody play the game/

Of love

 9)      Poker Face – Lady Gaga

Despite himself, Mat began to laugh. He threw his hat down on the floor and laughed. With everything, all his efforts, he did not know this woman at all! Not a bit! He laughed until his ribs hurt.

Can't read my, can't read my/ No, he can't read my poker face

 10)   Young Dumb And In Love – Mat Kearney

Her big eyes were dark pools a man could spend a lifetime swimming in. Her rare smiles could be mysterious or mischievous, and he prized them.

I'm talking much, and you don't make a sound/

The prettiest face and those rock-a-bye baby browns/

All I've waited for's come true/

To be young and dumb and in love

11)   Zebra – The Magnetic Fields

She was still beaming. Her big eyes shone. “She’s a very fine animal, Toy. A wonderful gift. Either you have a good eye, or you were very lucky.”

“I have a good eye, Precious,” he said warily. She seemed more delighted than even the razor called for.

so there's one thing I crave/ when my days become ho-hum and blah/ I want a zebra

 12)   Steppin’ Out With My Baby – Fred Astaire

He grinned at Tuon, who gave him a slight nod. He had missed this, dice in a common room or tavern, coin on the table, wondering how long his luck would hold. And a pretty woman at his side while he gambled. He wanted to laugh with pleasure.

Steppin' out with my honey/

Can't be bad to feel so good/

Never felt quite so sunny/

And I keep on knockin' wood

 13)   Mack the Knife – Louis Armstrong

Tuon nodded approvingly. The bloody woman was dying to see him get into a knife fight!

[...]

To him, the world consisted of his two knives and the men crowding each other to get at him, and his knives sought the places where men bleed most heavily. Some of those ancient memories came from men who had not been very nice at all.

You know when that shark bites

With his teeth, babe

Scarlet billows

Start to spread

Fancy gloves, though

Wears ol' Macheath, babe

So there's never, never a trace of red

 14)   Rescue Me – Fontella Bass

“If one army is out to kill you, then they probably all are, and there are too many soldiers between here and Ebou Dar. But don’t worry; I’ll find some way to get you back safely.”

[...]

His boot slid in a patch of blood, and as he staggered, he knew he was about to die.

Abruptly Tuon was there, left hand seizing the young woman’s wrist—not the wrist of the knife hand, worse luck—twisting so the arm went stiff and the girl was forced to double over.

Come on, baby, and rescue me/ 'Cause I need you by my side

 15)   Too Close For Comfort – Eydie Gormé

He bent his head to hers. She was far from the first woman he had kissed. He knew what he was about. Surprisingly—or then again, perhaps not so surprisingly—she did not know. She was a quick pupil though. Very quick.

Be wise, be smart, behave my heart,/ Don't upset your cart/ When he’s so close.

 16)   Fever – Michael Bublé

She laid fingers against his cheek. “I thought so,” she said in that slow honey drawl. “You’re feverish. Some of your wounds must be infected.”

[...]

Mat blinked. He gave her a kiss that had to have curled her toes, and all she said was that his face was hot?

When you put your arms around me/ I get a fever that's so hard to bear/ You give me fever when you kiss me/ Fever when you hold me tight

 17)   Burning Down The House – Tom Jones, The Cardigans

Karede felt as if Hartha had kicked him again. No, not Hartha. Aldazar. What madness was this? Cauthon looked like a man watching an arrow fly towards his face, knowing he had no chance to dodge.

“Bloody Matrim Cauthon is my husband. That is the wording you used, is it not?”

This had to be a fever-dream.

Watch out you might get what you're after/

Cool babies strange but not a stranger/

I'm an ordinary guy/

Burning down the house

 18)   Love Is A Battlefield – Pat Benatar

“The next time I see Seanchan, I expect it will be on the field somewhere, Tuon.” Burn him, it would be. His life seemed to run that way no matter what he did. “You’re not my enemy, but your Empire is.”

“Nor are you my enemy, husband,” she said coolly, “but I live to serve the Empire.”

Both of us knowing/ Love is a battlefield

 19)   Empire – Alpines

Tuon straightened her back. She had not thought to become Empress for many years yet. But she would do her duty.

[...]

Fortuona was empress.

 I'm building an empire/

I'm building with my body and soul/

I'm building an empire/

So little time and so much to do

 20)   Distant Stations – Andrew Bird

Stay well, you curious man, she thought, glancing back at the balcony, northward. Do not dig yourself into trouble deeper than you can climb to freedom. You are Prince of the Ravens now. Remember to act appropriately.

Wherever it is you are.

[...]

Thom finished by making a wavy line through the center, as one did at the start of any game of Snakes and Foxes.

[...]

Mat crouched beside a fern, unseen by the dozen or so Deathwatch Guards who stood in a ring around Tuon as she went through a series of fighting stances.

 It was a triangle/ With soft, round edges/ And a split down the middle of one corner

I waited for you/ But I never told you where I was/

I waited on the steps for you/ And I hid in the bushes whenever a car pulled into the parking lot

 21)   Black Coffee – Sarah Vaughan

I should very much like to have him back. She froze; she hadn’t meant to admit so much. She found her own emotions curious, however. She had felt safe with him, ridiculous though it seemed. And she wished he were with her now.

Black coffee/ Feelin' low as the ground/ It's drivin' me crazy/ This waitin' for my baby/ To maybe come around

 22)   Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps – Cake

“Love?” Tuon sounded surprised. “Perhaps we will come to love each other, Matrim, but I have always known I would marry to serve the Empire.”

[...]

“And do you love me?” he asked, forcing the words out.

 You won't admit you love me/

And so how am I ever to know?/

You only tell me/

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps

 23)   Best of You (with Elle King) – Andy Grammar, Elle King

“When you saw me,” Mat explained, “with a dagger in hand—as if to throw at you—you didn’t call for your guards. You didn’t fear I was here to kill you. You looked over your shoulder to see what I was aiming at. That’s the most loving gesture I think a man could receive from a woman. Unless you’d like to sit on my knee for a little while…”

 'Cause the best of me loves the best of you/

And all the rest, I can see right through/

You trust in me and I'll trust you too/

'Cause the best of me, loves the best of you

 24)   Dance Me to the End of Love – Leonard Cohen

“I’m not going to sit on your knee,” Tuon said, pulling one arm out of her robe, exposing her breasts, “though I may allow you to sit on mine.”

 Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on/ Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long/ We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above/ Dance me to the end of love

 25)   Roll the Dice – Annie Vincent

Order in one hand—something known, something she could measure—chaos in the other. Chaos in the form of a one-eyed man who knew Artur Hawkwing’s face.

Had she not just told Selucia she would bet upon him?

Roll the dice (C'mon)/ Take a chance with life, just roll the dice/ This will be your time, so roll the dice/ And nothing's gonna stop you now - no, no, woah

 26)   Short Skirt/Long Jacket – Cake

She was something incredible, though. He felt a thrill each time she gave orders; she did it so naturally.

 I want a girl with a mind like a diamond/ I want a girl who knows what's best

 27)   They All Fall Down – XY Unlimited

“A last stand,” Mat said softly. “All of us, together, at a one place where the terrain favors us.”

 One by one the soldiers stumble/

See them as they stand and tumble/

You're here with me

 28)   Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off – Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong

“I’ve had it with you,” Knotai said, waving a hand at her. “You and your bloody Seanchan rules just keep getting in the way.”

“Then I have had it with you as well,” she said, raising her head.

[...]

“I suppose you give me the opportunity… perhaps the mandate… to follow what my heart would choose, whether or not it is wise.” She stood. “General Galgan, gather your troops. We return to the Field of Merrilor.”

 For we know we need each other/ So we better call the calling off off/ Let's call the whole thing off!

 29)   Never Knew I Needed – Kathryn

“Well, I guess I’m off the hook, now. You have an heir.”

“I have an heir,” Tuon said, “but I am the one off that hook. Now I can kill you, if I want.”

Mat felt his grin widen. “Well, we’ll have to see what we can work out. Tell me, do you ever play dice?”

 You are the best thing I never knew I needed/ So now it's so clear, I need you here always

 30)   Twin Human Highway Flares – The Mountain Goats

All he had to do was convince Tuon to forsake her throne and run off with him.

  You turned to me and asked me if I'd always be your boy/

As we drove across the river into western Illinois/

And on the railroad bridge, half a mile of solid steel/

Wheels were spitting out sparks, scraping at the rails

[secondspookyseason]

Reblogging evilios’ answer bc it’s similar to my thinking but more organized. I do devotions to Dionysus and I’ve learned from other pagans that it’s really not about wine/drunkenness, it’s about altered states of all kinds. including I just saw a really good play/movie and feel transcendent. I have closed my eyes in a crowd of concertgoers and had a moment for Dionysus.

Some people also have this question about sex. Do I have to do it/enjoy it to honor Dionysus? And nah! Again, it’s about pleasure through physical experience. My pleasure through physical experience is biting into a sweet fruit. Is letting my body soften and relax. Is realizing that I do not need to deny myself comfort in order to be somehow more “holy.”

And yeah sometimes I see a big ol tree and go ‘hotdamn, it’s Dionysus.’

Other items and symbols: purple and gold, pinecones (bc of the thyrsus). My UPG is he’s represented by the suit of cups in tarot, including what that symbolizes (creativity, emotion, fluid states of being).

Oh and there are genderqueer interpretations of Dionysus! Dionysus rules.

Oh also you can make a playlist and fill it with BANGERS. Dance for the pure sensation of dancing.

not to be too dramatic or deep on main but i feel like i’ve always been somewhat apprehensive about working with/worshipping dionysus because of his super strong associations with alcohol.

my mother and older brother have traumatized me many a time due to their issues with alcoholism. i know that i don’t have to consume alcohol to work with or honor dionysus but it’s just something that’s so ingrained into my brain ,, that’s something i’ll have to work on within myself in order to be in a position to start honoring him.

if any dionysus devotees who don’t drink for whatever reason would like to weigh in with what you do to honor him instead, that would be much appreciated!!

[pinesconessecrets]

Secret Santa for Trustintoast

((Happy Holidays @trustintoast ! I’m your secret santa! You wanted “Awkward Nerd Love”, mixed with “Casual Everyday”, and “Pinescone vs. Disney World”, So I tried to combine them a little. I’m sorry that it’s Disneyland, instead of World–I’ve only been to DisneyWorld once, but I’ve been to DL multiple times, so I thought it would be easier to explain. I’m also sorry that I cut it much shorter. I wanted to make sure you got your gift, but I initially had more planned with them at the park. I hope you still like it. And if not, I could come back and fix it up for you. Thank you for the wait. I hope you had a happy holidays. Enjoy your gift!))

—

“Sunscreen?”

  “Check!”

“Change of Clothes?”

  “Double Check!”

  “Money for Souvenirs?”

  “Triple Check!”

  “Backpacks for everyone to carry their supplies?”

  “Check Check Check! We’re good babe.”

  “Well, I would expect nothing less from my favorite organizer.”

  The man in the passenger seat blushed at the compliment, hiding behind his phone. 

  From the backseat came, “I want to get some Mickey Mouse Ears!” followed by a thump thump thump!

  The driver scowled in the rearview mirror at his brother, “Greg, we’ll get you your Mickey Mouse ears, but please stop kicking the back of my seat. It’s not going to make me drive any faster.”

  Another voice from the backseat exclaimed, “I WANT BABY YODA!!!” followed by an even louder THUMP THUMP THUMP!

  “Ahhh! Mabel, what are you, five? Don’t kick the back of my seat!”

  “Why do you get shot gun, Dip n Dots!” The female voice, now identified as Mabel Pines, pouted.

  “Because I’m the one with the map!” The passenger, her twin brother Dipper Pines, explained.

  “Your map is literally your phone, open to google maps! Anyone of us could have done it.”

  “But no one would look as cute as Dipper,” The driver, Wirt, said with a light dusting of pink on his cheeks.

  “Ewwwww, gag me with a spoon!” Mabel groaned, sinking into her seat.

  “No being gross and mushy on this trip,” The last rider, Greg, huffed. He gave his brother’s seat another thorough kick.

  “Hey! Greg! Knock it off! I can still turn this car around!” Wirt warned.

  Greg rolled his eyes, leaning over to whisper in Mabel’s ear, “Yeah right. We’re stuck in traffic. We’re not going anywhere.” Mabel snickered.

  “I heard that!”

  The two backseat passengers snapped to attention, biting their bottom lip to keep from further chortling.

  “Also, we’re going to Disneyland, the “happiest place on earth!” I think a little mushiness is to be expected,” Dipper said, turning to look back at his sister.

  “Yeah, but we’re in a car for the next 2 hours, and if I have to listen to you two flirt, I think I’d rather walk the rest of the way.”

  “You’re just bitter cause you have no one to flirt with.” Mabel gasped, a hand to her chest, “You wound me dear brother! How dare you say such slanderous and true words!”

  Dipper rolled his eyes, turning back in his seat.

  “Hey! Why aren’t we playing Disney music? This is a road trip to Disneyland! Shouldn’t we be jamming out to some classic hits?” Mabel leaned forward, trying to grab the aux cord.

  Dipper smacked her hands away, “Ugh, no Mabel! How tacky can you get!”

  “You’re tacky!” Mabel snapped back.

  “YEAH, I AGREE, THIS CAR IS TOO QUIET! WE NEED SOME DISNEY MUSIC!” Greg shouted, siding with Mabel.

  “We’re going to be there for hours! We’ll get plenty of Disney cheer at the park,” Wirt tried to protest. He just knew that if they played that music, he’d wind up with a headache.

  But both his and Dipper’s words were quickly drowned out by the two excitable chantings of “Disney Music! Disney Music! Disney Music!”

  “They’re not going to stop…” Dipper muttered.

  Wirt groaned, wanting to slam his head on the steering wheel, “I know…”

  Dipper whipped back around, glaring, “Fine, you heathens! You win!”

  “YAY!!!!”

“YAY!!!!” The two simultaneously cheered.

  Mabel leaned back over, triumphantly taking the aux cord as her prize, and plugged it in to her bedazzled phone. She turned the volume up to the max.

  “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” from Lilo and Stitch filled the car.

  Dipper slammed his head back into the headrest, “Hooray~” He droned.

  Mabel sneered evilly, “Oh don’t pretend like you hate it Dipstick! In fact, If I remember, I believe it was you who wanted to play the Frozen 2 soundtrack in the car, on the way back from the theatre.”

  Dipper lit up like a Christmas Tree. He began stuttering weakly in Wirt’s direction, as if trying to save face, “T-that’s only because the soundtrack was really good this time, and had an air of folk that the first movie severely lacked. It made Frozen 2 feel more genuine to the original story. I was just really impressed this time–” 

  “Right…Right…Oh but wait…which song was your favorite again?” Mabel asked, putting a finger to her cheek, pretending to think. Then that wicked smile returned, full force, “Oh yeah! It was “Lost in the Woods”!”

  “Mabel, NO! STOP! Have mercy!”

  But there was no mercy for those who cursed Disney music.

  “Wait…which one was Lost in the Woods again?” Wirt asked. He thought back to the movie, trying to remember which of those songs would be Dipper’s favorite. Was it the lullaby song? Or the one Elsa sang?

  Mabel and Greg’s eyes sparkled with ill intent; Dipper ducked low into his seat, but there was no escaping, no hiding.

  Not when Mabel had control of the radio. And with that innocent question, the song that followed was an 80’s-esque rock ballad.

  “Oh…Oh. Y-yeah…this makes sense,” Even Wirt couldn’t hide the slight curl of his lips. He cast his boyfriend a sidelong glance.

  Dipper looked out his window, longingly. He wondered if it wasn’t too late to throw himself out of the passenger side door, into oncoming vehicles.

  …But they were stuck in the deadlock of traffic, so that plan was quickly, and regretfully, forgotten.

  —

  “Hi, can I get 8 breakfast Jack meals–”

“Wirt, I want pancakes!” Greg whined.

  “Greg, they don’t serve pancakes–” “Actually they do. You can do the mini pancakes, or the Jumbo Breakfast platter,” Mabel pointed out.

  Wirt looked at the menu, eyebrows rising, “Wow, when did they add that?” It had been a very long time since he’d eaten here. This fast food chain was more recognizable in the west coast then the east.

  “I want the Jumbo Breakfast!” Greg shook the driver’s seat.

  “Greg, are you going to finish that? I don’t want to buy something unless you’re sure you’ll eat it.”

  “Silly ol brother o’ mine, I’m a growing boy! I can totally eat all that,” Greg patted his stomach like it was a djembe drum. His stomach growled back, as if to second it’s owner’s proclamation. 

  Wirt muttered dejectedly to himself, “And the syrup in the car…that’s just an accident waiting to happen…” 

  “Sir…you’re holding up the line…” the timid voice on the speaker mumbled.

  “Yes, I’m sorry. I’m very sorry! Just give me one more minute,” Wirt apologized; he didn’t expect breakfast to be this stressful. He was almost certain that when he was little, ordering breakfast on a road trip was a simple endeavor.

  Then again, Wirt easily accepted what his parent’s ordered for him.

  “Can I order a milkshake?”

  “Mabel, It’s 7:30 in the morning,” Wirt looked at her in abject horror.

  “…And?” Mabel so eloquently put it.

  “Guys, come on, can’t we just make it simple?…Dipper you’re fine with what I ordered, right?”

  Dipper flashed his lover a guilty smile, “Well, um, actually, I was going to ask if I could order from the lunch menu instead…I prefer their lunch over their breakfast…”

  Wirt was utterly betrayed, “E tu?”

  Dipper put his hands together, mumbling a soft, but pleading, “Sorry, and thank you!”

  Wirt sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Everyone hurry up and tell me what you want–exactly what you want! Because I really don’t want to waste this poor lady’s time any further, and the cars behind me are starting to angrily honk their horns.”

  And suddenly the car was filled with a cacophony of different requests.

  “One at a time! One at a time!” Wirt cried, trying to figure out whose request was who’s. 

  Was this what it was going to be like from now one, being the driver of a road trip? Endless chatter, constant bickering, and indecision when ordering food–topped off by off key singing to the same playlist for the next couple hours. Oh this was not looking good for his sanity.

“…Sir…” the voice on the headset whimpered, sounding even smaller.

  “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Just one more second. I promise!”

  The car behind him rammed their horn. When Wirt peeked in the rearview window, he could see an elderly woman flipping him the bird.

  —

  When he pulled up to the window, the lady who handed him the food was shaking, her eyes big and fearful. She shrunk back when Wirt took the bags from her hands, as if she was expecting him to yell at her.

  Wirt understood that anxiety so well, he once more apologized for the commotion, and slipped a 20 dollar tip into her hand.

  When he pulled away, the lady seemed a little less on edge.

  —

  An hour later, and Wirt’s resistance was starting to crumple.

  After 20 songs, food sitting comfortably in his belly, and more than a couple loving looks from his boyfriend, Wirt was beginning to enjoy the ride. 

He even did the unthinkable, and turned up the dial on the radio when “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” started up. The look of shock– quickly followed by glee– from his family’s faces was priceless.

  And when he joined in singing “When Will my Life Begin” with the rest of them, he knew he was doomed.

  Goodbye Sanity. T’was nice knowing you. Come back soon.

  —

  As soon as they arrived, Wirt had to keep a tight hold on the back of Greg’s shirt, because the teen was desperately trying to run off.

  “Greg, I don’t care if you’re 13 now, you stay by my side until we get inside the park. I don’t want to lose you on the bus, or have some weirdo try to kidnap you.”

  “Ugh, Wirt, stop treating me like a child–” Greg huffed.

  “Well, you have a habit of getting us into trouble,” Wirt said, though he quickly realized the person usually getting them into trouble was himself.

  “No you!” Greg snapped, though his smirk was playful.

  “No You!” Wirt snapped back, also smiling.

  They stuck their tongues out at one another.

  Meanwhile, Mabel was dragging her brother violently towards the buses, her excitement having reached critical, “Come on Dipper, quit dragging your feet! We’re here!!! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

  “Mabel, stop pulling, I need to tie my shoe. I’m gonna trip. M-Mabel! Wirt, help me! She’s gone mad!”

  “Mabel Madness! I’M COMING FOR YOU BABY YODA, YOU WILL BE MINE!” Mabel cackled, sounding like a disney villain.

  “Wirt!!!!”

  —

  “Okay, so we should start at heading for Adventure Island and work our way around,” Wirt traced the map with his finger, showing their destined path.

  “I think we should go counterclockwise, cause the more popular rides will get populated in the evening, as more guests arrive,” Dipper argued, tracing the map opposite Wirt. 

  “BABY YODA! We gotta start with Galaxy’s Edge, because that’s going to be the most crowded of all! We want to get in a few rides early,” Mabel chimed in, vigorously pointing at the newest area.

  The three bickered about what to do, until they realized there was one more person with them, and turned to Greg to be the tie breaker.

  Greg looked at the three expectant faces, trying to decide who would be the right choice.

  He should side with his brother…but then again, Dipper was well organized…on the other hand, Mabel was his best friend…but Wirt usually knew best…but Dipper and Mabel had been to Disney before…but– “Um…Um…Maybe, we could…flip a coin?” Greg finally suggested.

  The three young adults groaned.

  “Greg, there’s three of us, and there’s no such thing as a three sided coin,” Wirt reprimanded.

  Greg squinted at his brother, then turned to address the twins, “Well then we’ll flip for Mabel and Dipper’s plan, since Wirt has been eliminated from making a choice.”

  “Hey! Wait! What? Greg!”

  —

  Galaxy’s Edge was packed when the four walked through the gates. Like a can of sardines, the group shuffled slowly through the crowds, trying not to get separated. Wirt kept one hand tightly on his brother’s, while the other hand clung to the back of Dipper’s jacket. The waving bodies made him feel nauseous and claustrophobic, but he swallowed it back, determined not to get sick so early in the day. 

  Everything would be fine as long as they stuck together.

  At least, until Mabel saw her baby yoda plush hanging from one of the open stall shops–at which point, she made a mad dash for the store, barreling a way through. Many people ducked out of her way as she ravenously charged for her prize. 

  Within seconds, the path she had carved was swallowed up by the park goers.

  “Mabel, get back here!” Dipper yelled, but she was already gone. “Wirt, can you–?”

  He didn’t need to be asked twice. Wirt craned his head to keep his eyes on her. It wasn’t hard when she was wearing a glittery red sweater, and matching sparkly headband.

  However, just as he spotted her long brown hair fluttering, he felt his brother’s hand slip out of his hold. 

  He whipped his head back around, catching a glimpse of green as his brother slipped under people’s legs, heading towards the giant Millennium Falcon building

  “Greg! W-wait! Get back here!” His voice croaked– but just like his brother, and Dipper’s sister–it was swallowed up by the crowd. 

  Panic began to bubble up in his stomach. Wild thoughts flitted through his head–one after the other, each one worse than the last. Getting lost in a big place like this– this was not good! And Dipper was dragging him in one direction, while his brother was running in the other. He stuttered over his tongue, trying to find the words to stop them, but bit his tongue in the process. The bodies swayed to and fro, pushing him and pulling him; his hands were clammy, and he could feel his own grip loosening. The feeling of anxiety mounted, as his vision grew spotty.

Not good, not good, not good, not– Dipper intertwined their fingers, squeezing, and all the previous anxieties melted away. They were stopped in the middle of the walkway, with a few annoyed people passing them by, but Dipper was looking at him with a composed smile. Dipper wasn’t often composed–they were both nervous, stuttering messes in the worst of situations. But right now, seeing Dipper’s relaxed composition, and having the man’s hands tightly holding his, he could see those few glimpses of bravery, of excitement and calculated analytics–one of the many reasons he fell for the man in front of him.

  “Don’t worry, everyone’s got cell phones. Nothing’s going to happen. We’ll grab Mabel, and then find Greg. He’s right, you know? He’s not a baby anymore–you don’t have to worry so much about him. It’s going to be okay Wirt, just breathe. I’m here. We’re going to have fun today, I promise. So relax, and just breathe.”

  Those simple words were a great start, though Wirt knew it was still going to take some convincing.

  He took a deep inhale through his nose, releasing a shaky exhale from his mouth.

  “Right…fun. We’re here to have fun.” He inhaled once more; his second exhale was steadier, “…Okay. Let’s go save the poor sales clerk from your sister.”

  Dipper’s smile turned to something more bubbly; it was clear he was just as excited to be here as the other two. After all, this was Dipper’s whole childhood, of course he would be geeking out–especially when his favorite franchise finally had its own area. But he was still trying to stay cool for his lover, and Wirt truly appreciated that level headedness right now. Dipper squeezed Wirt’s hand one more time for boosted confidence.

  The bodies swayed, but Dipper and Wirt swayed with them, keeping afloat in the massive ocean of Star Wars fans.

  — 

  From there, the group went from each area to the next, riding the different attractions, and exploring the many stores offered. Lines were long, sometimes 40 minutes long, but the group kept distracted with playful banner, and dumb word games. 

  Mabel lugged her new Yoda doll in her arms, cradling it like a newborn baby. Dipper swore he could even hear her cooing to it from time to time.

  Greg ate a churro that was sprinkled with blue candy powder–the “light side” churro saber. 

  Wirt was spooning the last of his frozen lemonade into his mouth, reluctantly wearing a pair of Sorcerer’s apprentice, Mickey Mouse ears that Greg had put on him.

  Dipper stared at his family, feeling a calming bliss that he often didn’t get to experience by himself. As he watched his family, trying to decide where to go next, what to do next, Dipper blessed his lucky stars–When you wish upon a star playing in the back of his mind–that he had such a perfectly crazy, but loving family.

  Wirt looked over, noticing Dipper’s stare, and he smiled bashfully, cheeks pink. “What are you looking at?”

  “Nothing, just…I’m having a good time,” Dipper replied.

  “Even with this heat, and this crowd?” Wirth inquired.

  Dipper leaned his head briefly on Wirt’s shoulder, and for a second–just a second– he braced his hands around Wirt’s arm, holding him like they were a lovesick, brand new couple, “Yeah…Is it preemptive to say that I don’t want this day to end?”

  Wirt laughed, the blush rising to the tips of his ears, “Well, it’s barely noon, there’s still plenty of time left in the day–so, yes. But I think I know what you mean.” Wirt ducked down, kissing Dipper’s sweat soaked, bang covered, forehead, “For my first time here…I thought it was going to be a lot worse. But I got to say, with you and Mabel here–it’s still pretty hectic…but much more enjoyable.”

  Dipper’s eyes widened, “This is your first time here at Disney?” “Dipper, I lived in Massachusetts for most of my childhood! Of course it is!”

  Dipper eyes started to sparkle, “Well then, I got a lot of lasting memories to leave you with.” He liked the challenge already.

  Seeing the adorable, childlike expression on the 19 year old, made Wirt laugh even harder, “Well I look forward to seeing what you pull off!”

  Dipper started babbling excitedly, “Oh man, we have to go on the Matterhorn next! It’s pretty fast, and a little wild, but really fun. And it’s two to a seat…so maybe you and I could share a—AH! Ohhh, I just remembered. The matterhorn macaroons are the best–you have to try them, although that’s located at the Jolly Holiday Bakery! But we’ll make sure to get some. I’ve got the perfect plan for hitting all the rides and best locations in the most amount of time, even with the long lines. Hmm, I guess I have to show you “It’s a Small World”–it’s not super fun–kinda annoying, but it’s a Disneyland staple. But if we’re going by Disney staples, then we gotta do Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain. Ohhh I gotta figure out what to do for lunch. There’s so many good choices–but also really crappy ones, so be careful. Don’t worry, me and Mabel know the best…Mabel–Hey, hey, Mabel! Where should we go to lunch!? It’s Greg and Wirt’s first time at Disney! We gotta make it special! Mabel, did you hear me?”

  Hearing that it was their first time, Mabel squealed excitedly, and began babbling alongside her brother, the two practically speaking codes. Greg and Wirt watched the two in amazement, both intrigued, and horrified–well, mostly Wirt is horrified– at the shift in fanatics.

  “I wanna go on Indiana Jones! And Oh, Pirates of the Carribean, we have to ride that too! I wanna see Jack Sparrow! Hey, hey Wirt, should we get autographs since we never got them before?” Greg chimed in, the enthusiasm contagious. This gets Dipper and Mabel squawking even more eagerly.

  “Is it true that they have giant Turkey legs here? And something called “Hidden Mickeys?” Wirt asked, trying to keep up with the rest of his family. He didn’t want to feel so out of the loop, but maybe playing along was a little much, considering the effect it was having.

  The twins looked like they’re going to explode at this point, ready to burst with all their Disney trivia and knowledge.

  Wirt sighed, mumbling softly to himself, “I’m just thankful I didn’t plan a trip to Disneyworld. I’m scared to see you guys planning out your day there.”

  The conversation stopped dead. Dipper and Mabel turned, eyes wide, pupils dilating. Wirt realized too late, that they had heard him.

  And suddenly, the conversation turned to plans for next year, and tickets to Florida, and overnight stays at cheap hotels. Epicot, and Animal Kingdom, and the water parks in summer–all the special foods and treats that Magic Kingdom had over Disneyland. His mumblings had gotten Greg excited, thinking they were really planning to go there next summer.

  The idea was ludicrous, but watching Dipper’s face, red with nervous joy, the gleam in his eyes, and his dimples deepening as he laughed, the idea didn’t seem so irrational.

  Although, Wirt would prefer a trip with just the two of them, if they were to do something that huge. Much as he loved his brother and Mabel, a place that big would be too much stress, and Wirt would really just like to focus on one thing at a time: that one thing being Dipper, in this instance.

  In order to stop the delusions from continuing and hope from blossoming, Wirt clapped his hands, and declared, “Before we start making plans for next year, let’s worry about today. We’re only burning daylight if we stand here talking about what ifs. Dipper, you promised you’d make today memorable, so let’s make some memories. I…I want to know more about this…Matterhorn macaroon.”

  It sounded strangely mature, but also incredibly dorky. He flushed as the words left his mouth.

  But Mabel had run and taken Greg’s hand, dragging him off, and Dipper had wrapped his arm around Wirt’s, pulling him along, which must have meant that his little speech had worked.

  He didn’t know what was going to happen next, or if today would be anymore hectic–of course it is, Wirt, you’re at a theme park, and you don’t even like rides–but, if nothing else, today would be an adventure.

  And Wirt quickly learned through dating Dipper Pines, that any adventure, big or small, was always going to be worthwhile, so long as they were tackling it together. And unlike Gravity Falls, there was likely to be less crazy, paranormal anomalies happening around them; they were less likely to get hurt, or fall into danger here at Disneyland–hopefully.

  They would cross that castle bridge when they got to it.

[winterwriter8845]

In Love With My YouTube Hero

Masterlist

Chapter 1

I walked into my English class where my teacher, Mr. Newman was writing our final project on the Promethean board. I sat down in my usual seat in the second row towards the window. I didn't like to be in front of the class, but I didn't want to be called on if I sat in the back. I don't have a problem with the teacher; he was a good teacher. I just have anxiety with being wrong, if he picks on me to answer a question, and I will most likely be chosen to answer if I sit in the back or the very front. I pulled out my laptop and started to prepare for the class.

I saw a notification from YouTube on my notification box. It was a notification from my favorite YouTuber, XavGame, and the thumbnail was just him sitting in front of the camera, not his usual colorful thumbnails of his face on whichever character he was playing as in a game. I pulled the video up on YouTube and watched it, as I had nothing to do for the next ten minutes before class started. Xavier, or XavGame, was a couple of years older than me, and he was my YouTube hero. His videos had always cheered me up when I was depressed or needed to distract myself. He was a very inspirational person as he would do multiple charity streams a year, most of them for donating to children hospitals or to fight world hunger. But once a year, he would use the money he got from donations to go to a poverty-stricken country and build things that were needed, like houses, hospitals, wells. He would even bring basic medicine to those who couldn't get to it.

The video went on, and Xavier went on to say that he was going on a short break. He had realized that he needed a break from making videos and traveling to just enjoy some alone time to clear his head and relax. I didn't blame him. Even being a small part-time YouTuber is hard and stressful; I can't imagine what it's like to be a full-time YouTuber that uploads videos twice a day, along with planning and organizing mission trips.

I finished up the video and clicked off the video and pulled up my Tumblr account. Someone had found out a proxy that gets past the firewalls, so everyone uses it to get on social media and watch YouTube videos. I looked through my feed and reblogged some aesthetic pictures and then looked through my message to work on writing commission. I saw that I had some new messages. I started to talk to my patrons and got the commissions straightened out.

I closed my laptop as class started. Mr. Newman started the class by greeting us. He then proceeded to tell us about our final project. Our final project was to choose a unit from our studies and write a piece of writing that goes along with that unit, and he was giving us the entire block to work on it. I looked through the units that we had been through and decided to write a Medieval narrative. I decided to write the medieval narrative in the perspective of my original character who is a pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy. I began writing, and I didn't even stop writing when the bell rang as I had my earbuds in my ears, my music blaring through them.

There was a tap on the edge of my computer screen, and I looked up to see my best friend, Teegan, standing there with her arms crossed. "Hey, T-Bean," I chuckled. My other friend, Val, and I had always called her "T-Bean" because her name is Teegan Bean.

She sat down on the desk next to me, pulling out a hair bow. She started to fix her long, wavy dark brown hair, putting it in a ponytail. "We better hurry up to Photojournalism. We've been late every day this week so far." She smiled, her forest green eyes scanning over my face and desk.

I started to put away my laptop after saving my document with my Medieval narrative in it. I closed my laptop and slid it into my messenger bag. I got up and left the English class with my bag and Teegan. We walked down the hall, taking a stop at our lockers to change our binders before arriving at the Photojournalism classroom. There were already people are the Mac computers, working on Yearbook spreads. We only have eight Macs and about twenty people, because the school won't give us funding to order more Macs, or at least more computers in general, or order more Nikon DSLRs because they literally put all the funding into the football team. Every other organization in the school must do their own fundraising to be able to compete or make whatever they're making, whereas the football team doesn't have to do fundraising and can afford to travel all over the state and don't even have to pay for jerseys. I even offered some of my own money that I make at the small shop down in town to get the cameras and Macs, but Ms. Dyer refuses every time I do.

But that's my ranting for now. I walked to my usual seat towards the corner of my room with my laptop as Teegan takes her seat at the middle Mac and begins to work on fixing some photos in Photoshop. I sat down and pulled out my laptop. I started to work on the blog that I ran on the school website. The yearbook staff had agreed to do a feature in the yearbook where we put pictures of students or teachers and the give a story about a time in high school that they will always remember for as long as they are alive. Since we get so many good stories, we decided to make a blog on the school sight to feature the ones that we couldn't put in the yearbook. We called it "the Humans of James River."

I began to transcribe stories and select photos. Once I had a few done, I started to type them onto the blog. I finished up when the bell rang. I grabbed my laptop and slid my laptop into my bag. I walked out of the classroom and down the hall to my locker. I open my bookbag and started to put my binders and notebooks in my bookbag. I closed my bookbag and shut my locker.

I walked out of the school to Ruby, my red mini cooper. I unlocked the car and put my bag in the passenger seat. I plugged my phone into my car and scrolled through my Spotify playlist. I found my playlist and put it on shuffle, and Without Me by Halsey started to play. I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

I live in a small town in Virginia where everyone knows each other; the population of my town was about 600, and that included the town itself and the rural area surrounding the town. The body count of the student body at my high school is about 400 kids, the senior class, my grade, having about 150 kids. But the high school covered about four different communities, not just the town of little ole' Buchanan.

I honestly hated it here. There isn't anything to do, and there are old people galore. But aside from the old people and nothing to do, the reason I hate it is because of my parents. I have to live with them despite me being 18 because if I leave them, they will go nuts and call the cops on me and make it a whole big deal. They're the type of parents that don't care about their kid's wellbeing, just if they have someone to baby them. They drink themselves away each night and fight with each other, or worse: take their anger out on me, despite me staying in my room and not speaking nor interacting with them at all so I won't provoke them to cause harm to me. I'm used to them hitting and kicking me, mentally abusing me, and causing me to go to the hospital for their harm inflicted on me. I, as well as others, have tried to get my parents turned, but the cops didn't have any evidence to hold against them. Then after that, my parents threatened to harm me or anyone else who tried to turn them in, so no one has tried to help me.

I eventually arrived at my house and got out. My mother was home, but my dad wasn't. That was a relief, as my dad was always the reason that my mother went to drinking. She is nice when she isn't drunk, but my father is just mean in general. I wish mother would leave him, but she wouldn't be able to support herself and me.

I grabbed my book bag and walked into the house. "I'm home, mother," I called out.

"I'm in here, Darcy." I heard her from the hallway, so she was probably in her bedroom. I walked in her room to find her walking out of the bathroom that was connected to their room. In her hand was a couple of pregnancy tests.

I looked up at her eyes. "You're pregnant."

She nodded. "Yes." She looked down.

"Who's is it?" I asked, knowing she's had a past of having affairs behind my father's back.

"Darc-"

"Who's?" I cut her off.

"His name is Mark... He's your AFDA teacher from last year...." She sighed.

"Mr. Wilson?" I felt shocked. I knew he was a good man, but I was just scared of what father would do to her if he found out it wasn't his.

She nodded. "Yes. He's taken care of me when your father wouldn't. He's a better lover than my husband is." She sat down on her bed. "You know that..." I only nodded. She looked at me. "Please don't tell your father."

"I won't. You know I won't. I just don't want him to find out on his own and hurt you..." I sat down beside her and put my arm around her shoulders. "You need to give up the alcohol. It'll hurt the baby."

She nodded. "I know. I'm trying to stop."

I leaned against her. "Go live with Teegan and her parents and I. Or go live with Mark."

"I don't know... I'll talk to Mark."

"You need to live with him. He can take care of you." I looked over at her. "Please. If not for me, then do it for the baby. I don't want dad to be the reason you lose the baby."

She nodded. "I know." She stood up. "Enough of that for now. I'm going to go pick up something from North Star. Do you want anything?" North Star was a restaurant near my town that had the best food. It was very small, but it was very popular, so the seats filled up fast.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "North Star? You rarely eat anything from North Star."

"It's the baby." She chuckled. "Do you want anything?" She repeated.

"Hmm, I'm feeling a bacon cheeseburger. I have a charity stream tonight, so I'm not going to eat a lot, and I didn't eat at school so I'm very hungry.

"Okay. I'll order our food."

I smiled. "Here, take some of my money." I pulled out my wallet and handed her some money for both of our meals.

She smiled at me. "Thanks, sweetie."

I smiled as I walked into my room. I walked in and sat my book bag down on my bed. I made sure everything was neat before I walked over to my computer desk.

[eledritch]

So reading all of you amazing works as well as following the content of other lovely Sheith shippers has inspired to finally write some fan fiction and contribute too! It’s been literal years since I’ve written anything though, and of course the story that got me really excited is going to have to be a multi chapter monster. As the master of long and complex fanfics, any advice for beginners?

Good!! I believe in you.

Sure, why the heck not :’) been awhile since I made a big writing tips post and I feel like I have some new things to offer since the last one. I don’t know if your fic is gonna be an AU or canon-compliant, but since my specialty is long and complex multichapter AUs, this is mainly gonna be about that.

First, you can check out my ‘writing tips’ tag for my own tips and tips from others on tumblr: http://saltyshiro.tumblr.com/tagged/writing-tips

The most important advice I can give to you as a writer is to READ. I don’t read nearly as much as I used to, but I still try to when I can. Reading was what gave me the inspiration and knowledge I needed for worldbuilding, which is a vital part of not just AUs, but any long and complex fic. You need to be confident about writing the world you’ve stuck your characters in. You have to know that world better than anyone.

More often than not, books aimed at children actually have better worldbuilding than books for adults. There are exceptions to this (a lot of sci-fi, like Dune & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, for example, as well as dystopian fiction like The Handmaid’s Tale), but some of my favorite worlds remain those from children’s books. They include:

The Ever After in the May Bird & the Ever After series

The absurdist and time-period defiant world where anything goes (as long as it’s unfortunate) of A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Other World in Coraline & London Below Gaiman’s adult fantasy novel Neverwhere

The world populated by various small animals like mice, rats, and squirrels in Redwall by Brian Jacques

The medieval kingdoms of Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

The eerie surrealist circus world of The Palace of Laughter by Jon Berkeley

I’m also currently working my way through the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, which is some INCREDIBLE worldbuilding in a high fantasy setting.

So what do all of these have in common? Well, contrary to popular belief, I don’t think you have to go Full Tolkien and write a brand new language as well as six thousand maps for your world. Nope. None of that is required. All that is required is that you LOVE the world you created. Love the heck out of it. Even if it’s a shitty world. Doesn’t matter. It’s YOUR shitty world. 

The more you love this world of yours, the more you’re gonna want to write about it, and the more reluctant you will be to let yourself drop the project. The pitfall many fanfic writers (and writers in general) fall into when writing long works is that they get burnt out and tired of their own story. You can’t get tired of your story if you keep adding to the world and finding new things to love and explore within it.

Worldbuilding reflects onto your characters, too - people are in many ways a product of their surroundings, after all. If your world is shitty, then your characters might end up a little shitty, too. But - and here’s the clever thing about this - because you love your world so much, and because your characters are an integral part of that world (they should be, if they’re your protagonist/villain/etc), you end up loving your characters, too. It feels like a betrayal if you stop writing their stories, and the world you’ve created should at this point feel almost like a real place, albeit within your head and your imagination. And when that happens, writing about your world and characters doesn’t feel like a chore or an obligation anymore. It feels like an adventure.

That being said, human brains have limits and it shouldn’t ALL exist in your head. You gotta take notes, do some doodles and simple maps if you’re into that, and also use resources made specifically to organize worldbuilding. I tend to just use good ol’ fashioned pencil and paper, but I’ve heard this tool is pretty good for digital organization:

https://www.notebook.ai/

Additionally, don’t be afraid to uh....“borrow” from other worlds that have been made before. The sooner you understand that everyone kinda steals (respectfully) from everyone (i.e. the lion king is hamlet; romeo and juliet is heavily inspired by the greek myth of pyramus and thisbe), the better off you’re gonna be in worldbuilding. You can, and unavoidably will, use worlds you’ve read about and/or experienced in the past in your own worldbuilding. It becomes a patchwork of your own, and once you have a base for your world, it becomes increasingly easy to add onto it and expand with more original ideas.

It can also be helpful to do a ton of research. Say you want your world to somewhat resemble Victorian England. How are you gonna know what that was like? Watch movies set in Victorian England to understand the aesthetic and speech. Watch documentaries to get a more factual basis. Read books set in Victorian England for the language and the societal ideas. Go on a Wikipedia or Google deep dive - almost always, you will end up in a much more interesting place than you expected. Listening to music can also be super helpful to get into a particular tone you want to see in your world, or can help you find the tone if you’re not sure what you want yet. I have playlists for most of my stories.

And, finally, understand that there’s always room for growth. I know my worldbuilding can be better than it is, so with every new story, I strive to make a more vibrant, vivid, lovable world than before. And guess what? Usually, not only does it work, but I also enjoy myself while writing more.

The key to long and complex fics is genuinely enjoying what you’re writing. You may be able to bullshit and slog your way through a shorter fic, but not a 200k monster. Another important key - know where your story is going to end up. 

You need a goal to work towards. Maybe it’s a scene you’ve been wanting to write since you came up with the story. It doesn’t have to be the ending, but it helps if it is. You should know the ending by at least the middle of the story. I’m pretty sure I’ve written stories where that wasn’t the case and I was just flying by the seat of my pants, seeing where my world and characters took me next...which is a valid way to approach writing, but riskier, and ultimately rather frustrating when writing fics since you can’t exactly go back and insert foreshadowing for the ending you didn’t know was coming, lol.

I find late-night brainstorms best for figuring out how I want to end stories. I’ll open up a word doc, think for a good while, and then just start typing. Type it out stream of consciousness style. It doesn’t need to be a good explanation of the events, it just has to be an explanation. (This is also helpful in long stories for writing down reoccuring elements you don’t want to forget, such as slang, societal titles, a promise a character made to another than they really need to bring up again sometime...)

For example, here is my stream of consciousness brain-spew for my fic Seal It With A Kiss (this did not all end up happening quite like this, but here it is, warning for nsfw mentions lmao):

Witch Classes: Apprentice, novice, journeyman, master/magus, archmagus

The Wastes – western desert wasteland, Keith is from Blackwater, three days’ ride from the Citadel. It’s bordered by the River Acheron to the west, on the other side of which are the lands where Keith’s father lived with his first wife. The ocean is to the north, with the island of Cobao directly south of the Citadel.

The Citadel – centrally located, perched among Asphodel Peaks, near the lowland Oscuran Woods. Capital, Altea City, is three days’ ride to the east. Shiro’s grandparents live to the south on the shores of Lake Lucanus, a major fishing outpost bordered by the Dalterion Swamplands to the south.

THE VOID: mysterious dimension (or entity?) accidentally opened by witches eons ago (oops), which created Hell and unleashed demons/monsters/old gods (Voidborn). It is made up of what witches call infernal magic – a powerful and supposedly corrupted/corrupting form of quintessence. The Void is largely unknown and inaccessible to humans. Few return, and those who do are always changed by it.

HELL: Thought to be a reflection of the Void on a more physical/less abstract plane. Hell is made up of many pocket realms, including Daibazaal (one of the largest, ruled by the Galra), and Stratonikeia (ruled by Hecate). It is populated by Voidborn, who carve out sections of it for themselves in warlord-esque fashion.

Neither Hell nor the Void are inherently “evil,” though most witches consider them so, and they are dangerous. While the most well-established Voidborn rule with law and order, many other parts are lawless chaos centered around power struggles, and all Voidborn are morally gray to an extent.

VOIDBORN: Despite their vast differences, all Voidborn derive power from human souls & quintessence. Often generalized as demons, Voidborn are secular beings with no “holy” counterpart (i.e. angels), however, they come in many forms:

SPECTERS: generally the weakest Voidborn, they lack corporeal form and often “haunt” areas with histories of death, grief, and bloodshed, frightening humans and feeding off of their fear.

MONSTERS: a large and varied group of Voidborn, not as intelligent nor powerful as demons. They are the mostly likely to directly attack/kill/eat humans and are often hunted, with trophies of their heads displayed outside remote villages to ward off other monsters.

OLD GODS: a more rare group which often overlaps with greater demons; old gods can be benevolent if appeased (i.e. through ritual sacrifice, favors, offerings, worship, etc). They define territories for themselves and over time can become deified by local peoples, since old gods have been known to protect their lands and the people within them in exchange for worship.

LESSER DEMONS: more intelligent than monsters but less powerful than greater demons and old gods, they often rely on contracts and trickery to get their way. They are known to be petty, cruel, and ugly.

GREATER DEMONS: highly intelligent and powerful, they are dangerous beings who chiefly use contracts, torture, manipulation, and possession to take power from souls, which they crave more than any other Voidborn.

*Haggar has been cloaking Keith from Krolia so she cannot find her son since Keith went to the Citadel*

Shiro was captured by Haggar, who experimented on him (gave him the arm, which is powered by infernal energy/Void quintessence and began to corrupt his soul/erode it) and used him as a gladiator, until she managed to capture and slay Kurobasanir, whose quintessence she combined with the remnants of Shiro’s soul. His soulless, empty body was left to fight in the arena as a kind of robotic killing machine, while Shiro’s self became entangled with Kurobasanir. Because Kurobasanir was dead but Shiro was alive and so determined to stay alive, Shiro’s soul (primed with the Void energy which allowed him to stand up against Kuro) took control, though he gained Kurobasanir’s memories, abilities, and personality, while losing/forgetting his own. However as time passes with Keith, Shiro’s subconscious (ironically the only part of him which is still conscious/knows who he is) begins to break through, making him more ‘human’ as he starts to remember who he is/have doubts that he is really Kurobasanir.

He is unable to shift into any other human but Shiro, falls in love with Keith (demons are supposedly incapable of love), experiences sudden surges of emotion/nostalgia and feels protective towards Shiro’s family/horse/possessions/etc, is mostly unaffected by spells that should exorcise or defeat demons, and acts differently than the original Kurobasanir according to the late incubus’s friends. Because Kurobasanir was a sadist, but Shiro is not, so when he fucks Keith in front of the other demons, they know something’s up because he’s not hurting Keith at all.

What he doesn’t remember/know, though, is that this whole thing is a trap set by Haggar in order to lure Keith, who is a cambion (half demon, half human) to her so she can experiment on him in her quest to gain immortality so she can stay with Zarkon forever without surrendering her soul/turn her own soul into a demon’s essence. Because cambion, once mature, are effectively immortal and have a soul, while still retaining dormant Void magic within them which allows for their immortality and more demonic qualities. They are also extremely rare, and Haggar only knows of Keith because Hekate (Krolia) was her mentor and mentioned him.

So when Keith and Shiro go to find Shiro at the Samhain Tourney, Keith sees Shiro’s soulless body fighting and goes to break him out of his cell in the intermission; Shiro, not recognizing him/caring about him/trained to kill on sight tries to kill him, Keith is horrified and unable to bring himself to hurt Shiro, so he is saved by Kurobasanir, who realizes the situation fully once he comes face to face with the body that was once his, realizing his (Shiro’s) soul has been transferred into the incubus’s.

Before he can tell Keith this, though, Keith is captured by Haggar (who he recognizes as Honerva) and the two are separated. Keith cries alone in his cell, thinking Shiro is gone for good and also thinking Kurobasanir betrayed him and/or will be killed or tortured, leaving him utterly alone again. Lots of time passes and Keith realizes Haggar is trying to break the bond between him and Kurobasanir, because they’re both trapped and the contract must be sealed via sex. So Keith is in agony (and very very horny) because he can’t touch Shiro, and the contract is on the verge of breaking (and causing a great deal of pain and harm to both of them, since it was broken against their will) when Hekate/Krolia shows up, kicks BUTT, and bc she’s Mom of the Year, rescues Keith and brings him to Shiro while explaining on the way what happened. She also mentions that Keith’s father left because he was fulfilling the contract Hekate had with him, which was that because he was infertile she would bear him a “human” son (Keith), who would be blessed by her and live a happy/prosperous life, but in exchange Keith’s dad would only get sixteen years with his son, and then Hecate would take his soul.

As it turns out, though, Hekate/Krolia grew pretty darn fond of Keith’s dad (he’s a human teddy bear hedge mage unfazed by demons, what’s not to love), so he’s just chilling in Hell with her and had planned to come back and tell Keith the whole story, but when he returned Keith had gone off to the Citadel & Haggar was hiding Keith from Hecate.

So Keith and Shiro reunite and they’re so desperate for each other that they basically end up fucking while escaping (Keith is VERY EMBARRASSED but Krolia is like boi I am the mistress of dark magic, I don’t care, get that demon dick, proud of u son. Plus Shiro does his best to hide Things), cue a very wild scene in which both Keith and Shiro are kicking ass while fucking, since Shiro has regained his powers and Keith is Restored By The Power of Shiro’s Dick. Amen. Hallelujah.

Thankfully they finish up by the time they find the Holts, who were being forced to do alchemy stuff in Haggar’s lab. Haggar’s druids attack them, but Keith, who has read up on Honerva’s magic/theories, and Krolia, who mentored Honerva and is now pissed at her bc she tried to use Krolia’s son for her experiments, defeat the druids and are about to destroy Haggar’s research. Then Haggar bursts in, and in a desperate attempt to save her life’s work tells Keith that she can separate Shiro’s soul from Kurobasanir if he spares her/her work. Shiro is actually the one who hesitates, since he thinks Keith deserves much better than him and should have him fully human, as he appeared in their future together. But Keith has made up his mind – he loves Shiro in any and every form, and he’s done with Haggar’s shit. Furious at the thought of what she did to Shiro and planned to do to him, Keith’s magic creates a massive explosion which destroys the lab as Krolia uses one of Haggar’s traveling crystals to take them all away from Daibazaal.

Krolia takes them to her realm of Stratonikeia, a much more chill part of Hell. Because it’s Samhain and everyone is partying, Hecate’s palace is hectic and full of drunk demons and debauchery bc demons just wanna have fun, okay? Krolia makes sure the Holts are given safe accomodations so they can rest up and receive treatment before returning home. Meanwhile, Keith and Shiro are very shaken and Keith is weak from using so much magic to destroy Haggar and her lab. He and Shiro manage to escape the party and get to a balcony or something, where Shiro tearfully apologizes for everything, saying he understands if Keith wants to break ties after their contract is over, and that he wishes it didn’t have to end like this. Keith is quiet, then tells him that nothing is ending, pointing out that apparently he’s also immortal, and that technically Shiro gets his immortal soul in return for completing the contract. Shiro misunderstands, panicking and assuring Keith he will not take his soul and will leave him alone, but Keith cups his face and says he wants Shiro to have him forever, because he loves him, and never stopped loving him. Disbelieving but hopeful, Shiro embraces him gently, and when they kiss Keith begins to show his demonic characteristics (little horns, glowing eyes, tail, reddish scales).

Epilogue – Keith and Shiro get married. In Hell. It’s beautiful. They also have the most romantic, tender, kinky demon/cambion sex ever. They’re in love and together forever :’))

*

I hope that helps, dear!! Best of luck in your writing endeavors. 

[doctorwestcott]

I’m having a hard time becoming better at organisation and such. I just want to get my life back on track. Any good ways to do so?

Hi Anon! Here are three ways I get back to feeling a little bit more together. To note, these ways don’t work for everyone and everyone has their own way of getting their shit together, but these tips always work the best for me.

-I’m a big list maker. Every time I’m feeling a bit chaotic, I sit down and make a list of all the things I need to do. Each time I accomplish something, I cross the list off and I feel a lot more productive.

-Having a clean room is always a good start. My mom is very very organized. Our house seriously looks like a museum because it is so clean and everything has a place. I always feel better when my room is really clean with open windows and a candle flickering somewhere in my room. I always like burning a lavender candle because lavender is scientifically known to have a calming effect, but really it is whatever scent makes YOU feel better!

-Make a plan of action. Like lists, this is my favorite activity. A plan of action could be in a planner or on Google Calendar that sets up notifications that can go directly to your phone or even just a plain ole alarm and a piece of paper. I like to make a google spreadsheet for studying purposes to keep myself more on track. Here is a link to a subject planner, a weekly planner, and a link to some good music to get you motivated:

Subject Planner

General Weekly Planner

Studyblr Playlist– Spotify 

Check that out if you’re interested! 

Don’t feel bad if you’re feeling disorganized. The first step to getting back on track is the intention and everything else will follow. Just plan, pull up your big person pants, and execute that plan.

I’ve also found additional resources that echo the things I do, but also have other tips:

How to Organize Your Life

How I Totally Changed My Life to Finally Get Organized

Get Back on Track

Good luck Anon and all who read this. Hopefully, this helps! You’ve got this!!

[the-poutine-routine]

Have you talked much about Valse Triste? Could be fun to go back to their first senior fd!

Ok… let’s do this *cracks knuckles* *plays vm spotify playlist*

Hi anon! I mean I’ve mentioned Valse Triste I think...? But never have I ranted about it in great detail, so... um yeah... I guess I’ll do that now.

Overall thoughts:

I think as a whole Valse Triste was super fitting to who Tessa and Scott were as skaters at the time. The music had both a sense of levity and of maturity that matched the situation of being a couple of kids thrown into a competition with a whole bunch of seasoned ice dancers. I guess the main thing that stood out to me as they performed was- to steal one of the commentators’ phrasing- how automatic they look. Even after skating together for only ten years (I know, it’s such a short amount of time), they fall into hold together so easily, they always know where the other is on the ice. Moreover, they look so prepared, they go through all the elements so smoothly and precisely as if they never have to even think about what’s coming next. 

They look like they have something to prove.

So I love Valse Triste, it’s probably one of my favorite programs of theirs (that’s a lie, they’re all my favorites). I guess I see it as almost a pre-cursor to Mahler. It has the same sort of mood that I can’t quite find the words for right now... a brightness and joyfulness but with the faintest undertones of melancholy (damn, I sound like a pretentious asshole). 

It’s almost like with Mahler they’re just a couple of kids dancing, showing the world what they’ve got; while with Valse Triste they’re just a couple of kids dancing, showing the world that they have something to give.

Initial notes on the limitations of my analysis: 

Normally I like to give my overall thoughts (see above) at the end of these nonsensical rants, but this got insanely long and in depth (and illustrated) so I’m adding a break.

ALSO, normally when I’m doing analyses it’s from a specific competition and I’m comparing vm’s scores to another team, however, with this one, I’m not really out here arguing that Tessa and Scott were lowballed, so more than anything, I’m comparing them to themselves at present. I’m not saying that they were better or worse at any given time (although obviously Valse Triste was more than ten years ago, so they did make a lot of improvements from them until 2018...)

And, as always, I am no ice dance expert so everything that I say may or may not be complete and utter bullshit.

Oh, one last thing! I get super in depth about the program and all its elements yadda yadda, but then I have a blurb about why IJS isn’t that great of a judging system at the end so that might be worth while to read even if you don’t care about the rest of my rambling soooo yeah...

Ok hi! Hope you’re doing well!

Anywho, here’s the video that I watched. I used Worlds because, in theory, that should be their best skate / the best representation of the program as a whole. 

Ok, so here’s the protocol:

The judging, base values, component scoring, etc. have all obviously changed quite a bit since 2007, however I’m too lazy to re-learn IJS based on the 2007 system, so we’re just going to have to make do with my knowledge of the 2018 system. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Technical Element Scores (aka me blabbering incoherently because I wrote this part after doing PCS and my brain no longer wants to be organized):

The first thing I noticed about the TES when looking at the protocol was that while vm got everything called (because they’re freaking legends. Oh my god.), they didn’t have super great GOEs. I guess this kind of makes sense, particularly in the lifts you can kind of see them setting up for them rather than letting them flow with the program.

I think to give this entire shit show of a post a bit more organization, I’m going to break each element down by type and give some quick, spur-of-the-moment, rapid-fire thoughts. Kapeesh? 

Lifts:

I think it’s interesting how accurate of a representations Tessa and Scott’s lifts can be to the timeline of their career. The lifts in Valse Triste are all very low to the ground. Tessa has her head almost touching the ice in the straight-line lift, for example.

While the strength and balance needed to execute the lift are very obvious from looking at it, it’s not big or reaching outward like good ol’ cunniliftus or the curved lift from Prince and Moulin Rouge do. However, this isn’t a bad thing, it’s actually more fitting with the program and with who they were as skaters at the time. While they were spectacular ice dancers even back then, they also were just a couple of kids. Having huge lifts in this particular program probably would not only not fit musically, but also almost make it seem as if vm were trying too hard... if that makes sense? (Sorry, it sounds like I’m throwing shade, I promise I’m not, I really do like the lifts and think they’re perfect given the program).

Step Sequences:

Although this isn’t necessarily a technical attribute, I guess what stood out to me most about the step sequences were their confidence. They execute each turn so exactly, there’s no long drawn out edge going into them, every thing about the step sequences ooze self-assuredness, sort of like they’re saying “We’ve practiced this ten trillion times. We know what we’re doing. We’ve got this.”

Spin:

Honestly, I don’t have all that much to comment on this. A spin is a spin is a spin. What I notice more than the spin itself is the transition into and out of it, how quickly they execute it, and the speed with which they move out of it. 

Twizzles:

Again, not much to say here... they’re twizzles... Scott does get a bit off on the second one but somehow manages to save it and come out at the same time as Tessa which is pretty amazing hehehe. 

Program Component Scores:

Obviously, little baby 2007 Tessa and Scott had a bit of work to do before they became the Ultimate Ice Dancers Supreme™ that they are now, so there component scores were all in the 6-7 range (which is still pretty darn respectable), rather than maxing out in the 9-10 range like they did (crying that I have to use past-tense) in their later career.

Skating Skills:

Honestly, they’re fine? I mean yes they’re very good, but they still do have some work to do. I don’t know… they have very good edges and extensions as per usual, but they do seem to lack a bit of the up-and-down smooth knee bend movement that is super representative of Canadian skating and that they have boatloads of later on in their career. On a bit of a tangent, however, areas in which they do need to improve their skating skills almost lend themselves well to the program (the power of negative space, eh?). They add to the sense of innocence and youth of the program? As in as much as I love the Valse Triste, I think a lot of its meaning and pizzazz would not at all be fitting to a present day vm. 

Linking Footwork / Movement:

So I’m going to equate this to the part of the score that’s now called “Transitions” because… yeah… I just am, I’m assuming it’s more or less the same thing. The transitions were actually one of the main things I noticed upon my re-watching of this program. I don’t want to say that their transitions were simpler than they are now, per se, as that makes it seem like they were bad back in the Valse Triste days, but they kind of were… simpler. Rather than using turns and footwork to link together elements, Valse Triste more used crossovers, mini lift-like moves (Tessa looping a leg over Scott, etc.)

 and body movements to move from one element to the next. Now, in some ways, this is nice- especially as someone who is not an expert on every. single. ice. dance. element. (particularly those from 2007)- as it really accentuated … oop, writing pause, Come What May just came on and I need to take a sec to look forlornly into the distance … OK SO it really accentuated where each element ended and another began. However, if we’re thinking about flow, which is something that every program really should have, more full? (that’s a weird word, I know) transitions help the more modern vm programs to seem a lot more cohesive than much of their earlier work.

Choreography:

I know that technically on the protocol sheet, “Performance” comes before “Choreography” ties in to what I just blabbered about regarding transitions so… Ok so yeah, not going to lie to y’all, I’m not really a huge fan of Marina-esque choreography. She uses a lot of hops (brief side note: apparently vm got criticism for using hops to pick up speed, but this was literally part of the choreo. What gives?) and pauses as transitions which not only breaks up the elements and takes away from the cohesiveness of the program as a whole, but also doesn’t always make sense given programs with particularly um… ethereal… music, such as Valse Triste, or Mahler, or Seasons. 

That being said, something that the choreography does do very well, is being matched appropriately with the music. Although some of this obviously plays into the “Musical Interpretation / Timing” score, the fact that specific body movements or elements were chosen to go at certain points in the program as the mood and temp of the music evolves is very telling of a well-choreographed program. A prime example of this is how the circle step sequence (starting here) is set to a much more lively piece of the music, which makes sense choreographically as they are required to complete multiple turns in quick succession. 

Performance & Interpretation / Timing:

So, I’m just going to lump these two together because I’m lazy, because I can, and for reasons that I’ll explain in a hot sec. As always, I think Tessa and Scott did a stellar job of performing this program. Something that they excel at more than probably any other team ever…? is portraying characters and I think this program is a prime example of that. They make use of every body movement and ensure that everything is timed perfectly with even the smallest accent in the music. 

Ok so sort of a choppy transition here, but in skating, I am kind of a huge fan of facial expressions (which doesn’t necessarily make sense, as I’m totally one of those people who will beat someone up if they say that figure skating isn’t a sport, but that’s besides the point). The video is not the best quality because like… 2007… but even without being able to see specific minute details of either of their faces, you can tell that they are emoting. For example…

…here you can sort of see their faces and what they’re doing with them which is great, obvs, but more than that you can almost tell the emotion that they are feeling / portraying from their extensions and from their overall body language / movement. They really emote through their entire beings which is a skill that many ice dance teams don’t even come close to doing.

The limitations of IJS:

That hot sec that I mentioned in why I lumped Interpretation and Performance together? That one? Yeah, that hot sec is right now. 

Ok, so, one of the things I struggled with in trying to separate out each specific program component to look at is that any skating program is meant to be viewed as an entire entity. Yes, there are individual elements and individual components that all make up the program, but any skater and choreographer worth their salt (is that a saying? I don’t know) will try to add some sense of musicality and flow to a program, whether it be through having a storyline for the program or simply having certain movements that tie everything in the program up in a neat package from beginning to end. 

This being the case, it’s really hard to look at a program and parse out which movements are part of choreography, what pieces are thought up by the skater themself as part of the performance, etc. So… yeah it was hard. 

Another thing to note is that judging bias is a real thing. In this case I don’t think any biases necessarily came from judges being paid off or playing favorites or anything, but simply due to expectations. It’s not even anything to do with vm themselves, but with every newer senior team. First of all, when a team is placed higher in world rankings, they will skate in a later group at Worlds. This means that in the later groups there is a much higher expectation for the teams to do better and thus when a newer / lower ranked team is particularly good, the judges might be blindsided a bit and not give them that high a score simply because they did not expect that team to be good and consequentially do not see them as good (psychology, anyone?).

Another result of being in an earlier group is that the judges and tech panel aren’t going to want start right off the bat by giving all +3 GOEs and 10.00 component scores. There needs to be somewhere for the scores to go throughout the competition. So pretty much the earlier teams might be scored particularly harshly as they are pretty much setting the bar and being a baseline off of which all the other teams are going to be judged for the rest of the competition. (I mean technically, teams aren’t supposed to be compared to one another but like………)

Wow wow wow ok you made it! Yup, that was very long and probably made no sense and had like twenty different moods because I skipped around while writing it, but maybe you thought it was worth the twelve hours it took you to get through it? Probably not...

Anyway, thank you so much anon for inspiring my ranting :) 

[un-pearable]

(roughly) in order:

Rude Mountain by Penny Parker. okay look i-

very different from my usual tastes but oh i love it now. ty!!!!

Brother by The Organ (totally normal about this song and you know whom)

oh HELL yeah i need to explore more genre and language wise and this is so so so good… every single song rec from you is just. stunning i need to listen to you more often agshdjd

okay 38 is We Can from heroes and. well. anyway for funsies take another, #37 is Take Tonight by the Family Crest

oh hello again fall out boy >:] this was in my big ol playlist last year heck yeah ty for reminding me!!

sure i’ll do the wrapped thing but i need New Music so gimme one of your songs and it’s number and i’ll give you mine :]

[cloudsaysthings-archive]

| FALLOUT OC INFO SHEET |

Info sheet done by @madddraws. (thanks for making this, i really needed to actually organize his character info for once…)

Info is under the cut; be wary, as there may be triggering information below.

Name: Jackson Seth Schmidt

Nickname: Jack, Blue, Bullseye

Age: 30/240

Height: Exactly six feet tall. (1.82m)

Weight: 205 lbs. (93kg)

SPECIAL: S:9 P:8 E:8 C:9 I:8 A:7 L:4

Eyes: Hazy Blue

Hair: Brown

Body type: Muscular, medium

Status Pre-War: Former soldier, artist (although his art career never truly took off :/)

Status Currently: General of the Commonwealth Minutemen, part-time gun for hire

Relationship Status: Widowed, currently in a relationship

Spouse(s): Nora (deceased), Piper Wright

Sexuality: Demi-biromantic demisexual

Gender: Cis male

Ethnicity: White (German, Greek)

Family: Edward (father, presumably dead), Elizabeth (mother, presumably dead), Sadie (sister, presumably dead), and Jason, (brother, missing and presumed dead)

Languages: English (first language), German, (second language), French

Disabilities/Illnesses/Injuries: Suffers from multiple mental disorders: Cyclothymia, PTSD, Anxiety, Insomnia, and Depression. Right shoulder has been subject of multiple injuries, including laser burns, bullet wounds, and dislocation, still occasionally sore. Lazy left eye. Has had multiple spells of carpel tunnel in right hand and wrist, still occasionally sore. Chronic migraines, although have become much more rare. Suffers from vertigo and dizziness as well.

Allergies: Pollen.

Scars: Freckles on upper back and near neck from sunburn, Long scar on left eye from knife fight with a Chinese soldier, scar on lip from the same knife fight, scar on chin from a fight with the Diamond City Security, small right eyebrow scar from the same fight with DC Security, small cut on the bridge of his nose from the same fight. Scar on his left palm, as well as multiple scars on his left wrist. Light claw scratches on chest and stomach from a feral ghoul attack.

Physical traits: Pocked neck and rough face, big nose, light and barely noticeable beard, thick eyebrows, full lips, straight teeth (wore braces as a kid), bags under eyes, bright eyes.

Voice: The usual male protagonist voice with a light Bostonian accent that is only apparent every now and then. (Trust me, it used to be worse.)

Clothing: Riot Gear Coat, Mercenary hood, Blue scarf, wastelander coat, Kellogg’s arm armor, Minutemen General coat, Grandpa Savoldi’s hat, white tank top, navy blue suit, literally any plaid for flannel shirt he can find, combat boots.

Fashion Style/Lifestyle: Anything comfortable/anything that can protect him.

Weapon of Choice: M1 Garand rifle with Piper’s name carved into the barrel and blue tape covering the grip.

Skills: Marksman (he has a great aim with guns), knife combat, hand-to-hand combat, can play multiple musical instruments, artist (drawing), great poem writing, great aerobatic skills

Weaknesses: His mental illnesses, hotheaded and short temper, can be cowardly at times, past light addiction to mentats, can also be a bit of an asshole at times as well

Poor skills: Writing legit stories, painting, being strategic, stealth

Affiliations: Commonwealth Minutemen, allied with Railroad

Former Affiliations: Brotherhood of Steel

Enemies: The Institute, Nuka-World Raiders, eventually the BoS, anyone who gets in his way

Neutral Affiliations: Far Harbor, Acadia, Children of Atom

Religion: Formerly Christian, none

Likes: A good whiskey, cigarettes, comics, being helpful, ANIMALS, sarcasm, tinkering with things, drawing, playing music, singing, time with Piper and friends, reading, practicing his aim, the perfectly preserved pies after he gets them out of that stupid Port-A-Diner

Dislikes: Chem usage, racism, betrayal, lying (even though he does lie a lot), raiders, painting, rudeness, stealing

Hates: Murder/killing, any type of abuse, those stupid Port-A-Diners, cannibalism, socializing

Friends: Pretty much most of the companions, Sturges, Albany Fisher (my Lone Wanderer), Garvus Manchester (my courier)

Acquaintances: Strong, Hancock, Porter Gage, and Old Longfellow

Former friends: Mags, the leader of the Operators

Enemies: Elder Maxson, Kellogg (deceased), Angry Warren (my raider OC), and Bishop Montgomery (an oc to be released that is in the making)

Pets: Dogmeat

Fallout OC friends/family: Gene (@vkm11), Patti Helter (@werewuffgoth), Elenora Clarke (@laurenallyse), Nate Blackwell (@failout4) (others may join this list in the future)

Personality: An ambivert, Jack is a quiet person when you first meet him. As he becomes your friend, he will begin to open up to you more. He is a person who has high respect for everyone, including his enemies (like the ones listed above) for their strong desire to defeat him. He is a very charismatic man, one of many words. He is sarcastic and at times silly, but can be serious as well. He can be your best friend but can also be your worst enemy.

Favorite color: Navy blue

Favorite foods: Deathclaw steak, deathclaw omelettes, Takahashi’s good ole Power Noodles, cram, potato crisps, salisbury steak, perfectly preserved pie, fresh melon, grilled radroach, grilled radstag, InstaMash, Sugar Bombs, bubblegum, YumYum deviled eggs, Dandy Boy apples

Favorite drinks: Whiskey, all types of Nuka-Cola, purified water, beer, Scotch, Sunset Sarsaparilla (when he goes to the Mojave)

Favorite sweets: Listed above in favorite foods

 OTHER INFO: 

Once again, beware of triggering content. 

His story/introduction, copied from his roleplay blog:

Jack was born on December 21st of 2047 in the state of Rhode Island, where he lived for the first five years of his life. He later moved to New York for the rest of his childhood and teenage years before moving to Boston, Massachusetts. There, he went to college at Suffolk University along side his future wife Nora.

Later, he was drafted into the Resource Wars where he fought in Anchorage for his first two years of service, and fought in China for the rest of his time in the army. Jack retired after a horrible army experience, and married his fiance, Nora, when he returned. The two lived in Sanctuary Hills in the House of Tomorrow, had Shaun, and were put into the vault in 2077. The rest of his story is history.

MENTAL HEALTH HISTORY

Jack was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder when he was twelve, and cyclothymia at fourteen. His mother’s side of the family had a long running history of depression and bipolar disorder, so it was no surprise that he had cyclothymia (another form of bipolar disorder) and depression. 

Following his return from war, he quickly developed PTSD and insomnia. His PTSD became so bad that it hindered his relationship with Nora, so much that she dropped him off at the Parsons Insane Asylum until one day, his wife realized that dropping him off at Parsons was a mistake, and took him to see his sister (who was a psychiatrist/therapist). 

He has little recollection of his time in Parsons. Occasionally, he gets random flashbacks of his time there, experiencing memories that he didn’t remember. Over time though, after he stopped seeing his sister for PTSD, he slowly got better with the help and support of his wife. After waking up in the wasteland, it became progressively worse (luckily, not as bad as it was after he retired from war). 

Jack suffers with self-harm after leaving the vault, yet quickly recovers from it, to only have his suicidal depression return later.

FANFICTIONS

His main fanfiction is Fallout 4: Purple, which is currently being rewritten from chapters one to twenty one. Purple starts after meeting Father in the Institute, as he picks up Piper from Diamond City and begins to fall for her.

I will be eventually writing a prequel story to Purple, based on his time from the moment he left the vault until he meets Father.

I have also written an AU fic for him, called Wastelands featuring Elenora Clarke (belonging to @laurenallyse). The Scharke AU states that neither Nate nor Nora were murdered in Vault 111. In this AU, Jack and Elenora are together.

The Scharke AU is also present on Jack’s roleplay blog, @implicit-hero, as well as Elenora’s roleplay blog, @ecotonebeing.

PLAYLISTS

I have four playlists made for him.

[LEAVE ME WITH A RAZOR]

This playlist is his general playlist.

Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/screwyouimcloud/playlist/72HJM83G0Zo1kyItgUaNwS

[WORDS. WHAT ARE WORDS?]

This is Jack and Piper’s playlist.

Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/screwyouimcloud/playlist/03Zaz6Zx09iMi77uZbz2ND

[I NEED A DAMN BREAK]

Jack and Piper’s angsty playlist.

Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/screwyouimcloud/playlist/29JweWZuVULsjMUiPHUZbm

[AS YOU WISH, MY DEAR]

The Scharke playlist for Jack and Elenora.

Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/screwyouimcloud/playlist/6NwCxLOwesspbwhUKzXWs9

Anyways, that’s all, folks!

[eponymous-rose]

Weird request, but you summarize stuff. I've only caught a few episodes of Critical Role but am curious about Kima and Allura. What's the story there? Don't worry about spoilers, I'm never gonna get caught up on this show anyway, but I am curious!

Oh gosh! Okay. This actually dovetails nicely with some logistical stuff I need to figure out for reasons, so hey, here’s my really long-winded summary (and other folks, please chime in if I get something wrong, there’s a lot of ground to cover here ranging from pre-series to right up where we are now):

So, basically, Allura (human wizard) and Kima (halfling paladin of Bahamut) were part of the same adventuring party, and their exploits culminated in a big ol’ boss battle fifteen years before the start of Critical Role against an ancient red dragon named Thordak. Their party managed to seal Thordak in the Elemental Plane of Fire, but in the process three members of their party were killed (Sirus, Dohla, and Ghenn), leaving only Kima, Allura, and their elementalist friend Drake Thunderbrand standing at the end of it.

In the wake of the battle, the three of them went their separate ways, despite the romantic relationship that had developed between Kima and Allura. Allura accepted an offer to become a member of the Council of Tal’Dorei in the capital city of Emon, but Kima wasn’t exactly keen on a political position and traveled north to the holy city of Vasselheim instead, where she worked with Highbearer Vord, the leader of the Order of Bahamut. Kima mentions in early episodes of the show that she and Allura would still try to meet up every few months for drinks, but their lives were pulling them in different directions. 

Matt’s made it pretty clear that Allura still spent a lot of time thinking about Kima during those years---in his playlist he posted way back in 2015, he says of Allura: “So long as protecting the realm means protecting this one person, then all the toil and challenge is worth it.” Kima also wound up struggling a lot with her faith in the wake of all the evils she’d seen, and frequently butted heads with Highbearer Vord and the more straitlaced folks she worked with.

Fast-forward fifteen years, when Kima starts to get visions of a terrible evil brewing under the dwarven city of Kraghammer and rushes in half-cocked. Allura starts to get worried after several weeks pass with no word and hires a group of adventurers that she’s worked with in the past to go find Kima---the adventurers, of course, are Vox Machina, and this push was the impetus for the first on-stream plot arc of the show.

Vox Machina manage to get Kima out of a bad situation in the Underdark, and then they all wind up embroiled in a conflict against a particularly corrupted beholder named K’Varn, who’s managed to get his hands (eye-tentacles?) on a Horn of Orcus and is sort of chilling with his mind flayer pals as a lowkey champion of the god of undeath, which is not fantastic. VM kill K’Varn, and together with Kima (who’d been turned to stone by a basilisk, thus beginning her longstanding pattern of bad luck on missions involving VM) just barely manage to escape via teleportation circle back to Emon.

After a Weekend-at-Bernie’s-esque pub crawl with Kima still in stone form, the party finally manages to restore her, and they all head over to explain the events to Allura. Allura is delighted to see Kima again, and they have a tearful reunion. Kima does travel with VM back to Vasselheim to seal the Horn of Orcus in the Platinum Sanctuary (a temple of Bahamut), leaving Allura in Emon. VM eventually moves on to the next plot, leaving Kima in Vasselheim.

Once VM finishes dealing with the next major arc of the show, the end result is a tiny floating, spinning ball in a forgotten ziggurat under the human city of Whitestone that also happens to nullify all magic for a wide radius in its vicinity. You know, your standard everyday stuff. Completely out of their depths, they ask Allura to travel to Whitestone and check it out while they return home to Emon, a decision that possibly winds up saving her life.

Allura heads to Whitestone and brings Drake Thunderbrand on board to evaluate the situation with the orb. When some of her arcane connections with cities across Tal’Dorei start to go dark, she heads back to Emon to report in to VM at their Keep just outside the city and figure out what the heck’s going on.

She and Drake arrive to find the party in the middle of a very serious argument, on the verge of an all-out brawl, over a magical skull housing some sort of entity that claims to be able to grant any wish. Why is a wish particularly tempting right now? Oh hey, turns out four ancient chromatic dragons, the Chroma Conclave (excellent 80s band name), just attacked Emon, killed most of the Tal’Dorei Council, made a beeline for and destroyed Allura’s home, and are spreading out to destroy most bastions of civilization across the continents of Tal’Dorei and Wildmount. When VM reveals that the leader of the group was Thordak, the same dragon that Allura and Drake barely survived sealing in the Plane of Fire, Allura is in shock.

Allura and Drake head out to the ruins of the Cobalt Reserve in Westruun to try and find some information that could help them defeat the Conclave. VM eventually make their way to Vasselheim in search of allies, and are startled to discover that the city is unaware of the devastation happening across the ocean. When Kima finds out about the destruction of Emon, she’s frantic and her first thought is to find a way to get to Allura. VM manage to assure her that Allura is as safe as anyone can be right now, and Kima joins them on their disastrous journey to the sunken tomb, where they face another beholder and Kima is nearly killed by a long fall in the battle. In the aftermath, she makes her way with the party back to Whitestone, and finds out for the first time that the leader of the Conclave is indeed Thordak---the news puts her into an uncharacteristic state of panic.

While VM travels around in search of ancient weapons to help defeat the Conclave, Allura eventually turns up in Whitestone, which has become the unofficial seat of a new war council. By the time VM shows up again, having killed one member of the Conclave, Kima and Allura are both there to greet them. At this point, the two of them have moved into a house in Whitestone together (there’s a cute moment where Vex knocks on Allura’s door early in the morning and Kima answers it in a too-big nightshirt) and are helping to coordinate studies of the orb under Whitestone as well as the defense of the city itself, once it becomes clear that forces are amassing there. Kima takes out a would-be assassin who comes after them in their home (part of an elaborate rakshasa revenge plot; Gilmore pulps his assassin, it’s a whole thing).

Kima winds up accompanying VM on their mission to Draconia to kill Vorugal, a member of the Conclave, and discovers before leaving that another member of the Conclave, Raishan, has been (in disguise) in Whitestone for some time, that she knows all of their secrets and could wipe out the last form of resistance in an instant, and that the party has worked out a very shaky secret deal with her, since it turns out they all want to kill Thordak. Despite Scanlan’s attempts to modify her memory to make her forget this revelation, Kima knows about the infiltration, and agrees to move forward with the plan regardless. The party manages to kill Vorugal and return back to Whitestone, at which point Raishan’s identity is revealed, for better or worse, to the entire war council.

Kima and Allura go to Fort Daxio to help coordinate troops for a final push against Thordak, who has settled down over the city of Emon and is slowly shaping the land into some sort of super-evil volcano. As you do. At Fort Daxio, Gatekeeper Xanthas, a former ally from Emon, reveals himself to have switched allegiances to work with Thordak, and manages to cast a Feeblemind spell on Allura. VM shows up in time to take Xanthas out and reverse the effects of the spell, at which point an extremely shaken Kima and Allura have their first “on-screen” kiss.

After Thordak is defeated, and Raishan escapes an attack from VM in the immediate aftermath of the battle, Kima and Allura accompany VM to Raishan’s hideout on the Island of Viscan, which once served as the home base of long-dead necromancer Opash. After some shenanigans with gravity-reversal and a whole lot of undead bodies, the party battles Raishan, with both Allura and Kima coming very close to death in the fight. In the aftermath, the party tries to escape the island with their dead and wounded... and discovers when their first spell fails that this island has some defenses in place against transportation magic.

Allura eventually manages to put down a teleportation circle and step through, but Kima hangs back a second, telling VM that something looks off about the circle. Before anyone can decide what to do, Kima resolutely steps through after Allura, and they both vanish. Keyleth manages to scry on them and discovers that they’ve landed in open ocean somewhere, which is bad news if you happen to be in full plate armor, like Kima. Through a complete fluke of a dice-roll (natural 20 on a perception check), Keyleth manages to spot them from the beach---swimming in the wrong direction and already exhausted---and Vex shoots out after them on her broom. 

She grabs Allura, Allura grabs Kima, and bookish-wizard Allura, zero-strength-modifier Allura manages to roll a natural 20 on her strength check to hang on to Kima until they get to safety.

In the aftermath, Allura and Kima are helping to put things back in order in Emon, ensuring together that more shadowy organizations like the Clasp don’t make too much of a bid for power in the chaos. When VM heads out on their next adventure, Kima makes sure to tell them that if they see Highbearer Vord, they should just pretend they haven’t seen her; she’s staying with Allura.

[poeplepound]

!!! i !!!! love these guys so much!! theyre so spectacular omfg !

also i tried to do this once already ! and i was very far into a very long info dump about these guys and i was ALmost done ,,, and my browser crashed, but im doing it again anyway because i need it (i might make typos and sound like a bum jus btw)

sean bonnette and benjamin gallaty started releasing musci together in 2005 after having worked together in a coffeeshop in pheonix arizona - sean was 18, and the buds released their debut album “candy cigarettes and cap guns” and have since released four other full albums, a handful of singles, two eps, and a compilation

sean has a bachelors degree in social work, and has always been working in homeless shelters, volunteering with youth programs, and trying to give a voice to one of the largest groups of stigmatized humans on our planet

candy cigarettes and cap guns was released when sean (30 y/o) was only 18 - and he has since recieved lots of negative feedback on offensive content in ajj’s older songs - to this, sean apologizes but says , quite frankly , that he was a yung edgy boi at that time in his life, and even if his music was offensive then , it represents a time in his life and hes not going to let its content discount that relevance

this is similar to how ajj changed their name from “Andrew jackson jihad”, sean and ben publicly decided to stop using the old band name because they aren’t muslim and have to right to use the term jihad as a part of an aesthetic - neither of the guys expected ajj to get so big, and andrew jackson jihad was adequate for a yung edgy boi garage band

ajjs vast discography centers around themes of social anxiety, privilege, depression, mania, loving how horrible life is, making the most of nothing, being nothing, and how wonderful our shitty planet is

ajj is considered folk-punk, and to a certain degree i agree with that, but to me music genres are irrelevant, and often times musicians fail to fit a category

the idea of organizing music by genres is restricting to a musician and songs and music grow as people do.  in an interview with verbicide, sean said that he acknowledges ajj’s influence on “folk punk” but how the identification of what folk-punk actually is is very vague and unclear, what really Is folk-punk?

ajj has albums that are way more based in folk music, and some that are way more based in punk - some songs are very poppy, some kind of choral in nature - but somehow, ajj has a very cohesive, recognizable sound that never fails to impress and comfort me

this is in part to sean’s wonderful lyrics, they are so very very raw and uncut - he is incredibly relatable while staying poetic, and i admire that So Much.  his use of metaphor in his lyrics has alwasy been apparent, but even more so in his more recent albums, and his political commentary songs are more prevalent in older songs - but they stay SO RE l AT a b LE !! every time i listen to ajj, i feel so whole and accepted and like im listening to my deepest internal thoughts and feelings in the form of beautiful lyrics and entrancing music

when asked if sean’s lyrics are a reflection of a darkness inside of him, he usualyl replies by saying that hes no darker than anyone else is - he just has a way to express and expel that darkness.  after the release of knife man, sean was asked if his emotional songs were about his past and what he’s been through as a person, and hes replied by saying that a lot of what he sings about is stuff that hes seen through his job, and learned about through people he’s met and interacted with.

shortly before christmas island was recorded, sean’s grandfather passed away.  his grandpa had lived with him from the time he was 13 tot he time he was 18, and he was a very major male role model in his life.  christmas island has lots of imagery around death, and a lot of the songs on the album personify grief and death.  sean has said that christmas island is an album about “pre-grief” meaning the way that people feel bad about death and grieve loses before theyve even happen, just beause they know theyre coming.  sean’s grandfather’s death was not unexpected or sudden, and he died very happily - surrounded by all of his grandchildren, and the feeling of knowing someone you love will die shortly is what fueled a lot of the tone of christmas island.

sean is a big big fan of 90′s hip hop, and a lot of his lyrics and writing style is heavily influenced by his favorites - aesop rock, brother lynch hung, biggie, and ol dirty bastard (seriously sean is SO Iconic)

i’ve been listening to ajj since their release of “knife man” in 2011, i could never pick a favorite album of theirs  - i love each of them and theyre each incredibly important to me

their 2007 album “people who can eat people are the luckiest people in the world” gave me a completely new worldview , and showed me that the world is incredibly imperfect, and humans are incredibly imperfect, but life is so worth living, and there is still so much good amazing stuff in the world

in 2008 they released the ep “plant your roots” and in 2009 “cant maintain” - both of theses eps were the first time i had found relatable emotional music that felt so accurate to myself - it was raw, it was unapologetic, it was beautiful, and it was sad.  these eps have an incredible tone, and theyre both so different (cant maintain being more light and - dare i say - playful) but still so connected and deeply rooted (pun intended ;) ) in my head as near perfect expressions of my feelings

“knife man” was released in 2011 and it came into my life at a time where i was trying to learn about myself and discover who i was, and this album guided me in such a strong positive direction - it introduced me to white privilege, taught me about forgiveness, how to be unapologetically me, but still let me stay in touch with my dark, cynical, pessimistic side of myself - knife man is somehow so negative but still so positive and i think thats how a lot of real life is, and ajj captures that incredibly well 

knife man was the first ajj show i ever saw, and i will never forget how captivating sean is when he preforms, his body language and his expressions reflect so much of what he’s singing, theyre so true

in 2014 they released “christmas island” and im not gonna lie when i first heard it i really didnt like it - i thought it was too poppy, and not raw enough like how ajj usually is - it felt wrong to me.  but alas, i kept listening, and i soon fell in love with this album.  it is indeed poppier than their other stuff, and when it came out in may of that year, i didnt really want to like it that much - and so i avoided it, and once Taylor Swift’s super poppy 1989 came out that october, i avoided it Even Harder because i felt like 2014 would be the year of great musicians selling out to labels to gain hits.  eventually, i let myself sink into christmas island - i allowed myself to like it, and boy o boy did i fall in love. i saw the show and i cried. the album seamlessly ties together themes from older albums - optimism, death, unrest, self-loathing - but it introduces a new style to seans words - theyre less direct, less blunt, less in-your-face , he starts using metaphors that dont make sense the first time you listen, his lyrics take on a new type of poetry on this album - and its beautiful

christmas island is softer, its more about introspection and knowing why youre the way you are - its about emotional intelligence - this album taught me how to know whats happening, and how to accept it and learn form it and let myself dream and live, despite how shitty stuff is, and i love it.

in 2016 “the bible 2″ was released, and i waited to listen to any of it until i went to see the show - i binged the album twice through right before i went to see them, and i had really really mixed feelings about it - some of the songs i didnt understand, i didnt like the sound of some of them, and i felt like they got very preachy.  once i saw them play the song “small red boy” though, i was 110% hooked - it suddenly made sense to me as an album.  the sound is so personal to me, and i connect with the radio static and the messy raw noise, and the lyrics take on such a poetic, innocent tone, and all the songs are equal parts inspiring, funny, and dark.  i really really really truly love this album.

this is kind of just a silly extra, but in 2015 they released a single called “keep on chooglin” and i honeslty dont understand what most of the song means, but its really a bop and its poppy and upbeat and positive, and i can gather that basically to “choogle” is to be yourself unapologetically and just do your own thing and basically fucc the haters, and its a nice song to listen to if youre feeling down because the lyrics are funny and the message is bright

ajj’s discography has gotten me through some of the hardest years of my life, and have seriously, literally, kept me from killing myself on so many occasions and i am forever grateful - if i had not stayed alive until now, i would miss so much and i would throw away my life, just because i didnt feel like making it, and now i can say in full confidence that this band has ridded me of all my suicidal ideation , and if anyone is down here reading this, im gonna make an ajj “dont die” playlist that i Will post here

in 2012, ben gallaty recorded a couple songs under the name wiccan babysitter, adn then a few years later (2016) he recorded a few more under the name benjamin galaxy - he compiled these songs in 2016 onto an lp, one side being the wiccan babysitter ep and the other being the ben galaxy ep.  i didnt know this was a thing until recently? which is weird? but i have listened through the lp many times - i still dont have a strong grip on what the songs mean, but i can say that the wiccan babysitter/benjamin galaxy lp is super comforting to me as well.  the sound is unique and different from ajj, but it is still warm and whole feeling, and the lyrics are still relatable to me, and i want to read more about what ben wrote about and why, but im having trouble finding info on this project

im mostly done for now, it’s very late at night, and i have work tomorrow morning, but i’ll leave u with this - youre an irreplaceable human soul with your own understanding of what it means to suffer, and thats a huge bummer