#I really don't know where most of this stuff comes from

[lucy90712]

Can you please make a hector fort fic where he spends all his time with his friends and spends barely time with her. Then they were supposed to go on a date together and she waits for him to pick her up, she waits for 2 hours and goes to social media to see if he has posted anything and sees on his story a picture of him and her girl bestfriend having fun playing games. So she leaves the house with her stuff. When hector comes home he realises what he has done and tries to get back in contact with her but he fails. They don't see each other for a while but he notices her walking on a busy street and tries to talk to her. (ending with fluff please)

You: good morning amor hope training goes well don't forget about our plans tonight I'll be waiting for you 

Hector: have fun in class and don't worry I'll be there at 7 as promised 

You: love you 

That was the last I heard from Hector and now it's 8:32pm and he's still not here to pick me up. He promised he promised me he'd be here and that he'd make up for us not spending any time together. I should've seen it coming as he's been doing this for weeks he's promised time and time again that he will come over or we'll go on a date and then he never shows up. When I can finally get hold of him he always has an excuse either he was busy or with friends and lost track of time but whatever it is it hurts. I've done so much for Hector I've been there for him since we were kids and I've been there for every good and bad moment of his football career but he can't even manage to show up for one day or just to see me for an hour. 

We made the jump from being friends to being a couple just over a year ago and for the longest time he was the best boyfriend ever he treated me so well was super attentive and really made an effort to be romantic and take me on dates. I don't remember exactly when it changed I think it happened slowly over time but ever since he's started playing with the first team more he's been busier with training and matches which I understand but what I don't understand is spending every evening with his teammates who he sees all day when he could see me. It might sound selfish but I just miss my boyfriend he's already missed so much like he wasn't here when I was stressed over my big exams and he wasn't here when I got the results and he wasn't here when I needed him most when my mum went into hospital and I was scared and panicking. Just a few months ago he'd never dream of leaving my side during any of those times but now he barely knows they even happened. 

I text him once then twice then three times then I called multiple times but they all went unanswered. My last resort was to message him on Instagram as I know he won't have turned the notifications off for that but I didn't need to message him Instagram gave me my answer straight away. He had posted on his story showing him out with his friends and my best friend was with them too which was a whole other level of pain. My best friend knows all about my troubles with Hector yet she went out with him and his friends anyway and didn't even bother to tell me. That was the final straw I'm not dealing with this anymore I deserve better I deserve someone who will be there for me, not break promises and definitely not someone who makes me feel like this. 

My mind was racing but I quickly worked out what I wanted to do so I grabbed my keys and got in my car. Seeing as Hector wasn't in I decided now is the perfect time to go and get all the things I have at his place and leave the spare key I have that he gave me ages ago because I won't be needing it anymore. When I opened the door I immediately saw all the little things of mine there are that makes Hector's place feel just like my own some of my books are on his coffee table and my hair ties on the sideboard by the door. I spent some time grabbing all my things while trying not to cry that I was losing my boyfriend who I thought was the love of my life. Before I left I found a piece of paper and a pen and wrote Hector a note to tell him his I felt and why I was leaving and then put my key with it. Closing the door I felt like I was closing a chapter in my life a chapter I never wanted to close and one that's going to stay with me for a long time but it has to be done. 

Hector's POV

As soon as I opened the door to my apartment it felt weirdly empty like was something wrong but the door was locked and nothing looked like it has been stolen. Still I had a quick look around and then I noticed a piece of paper on the kitchen counter. Next to it was a key and that's when I realised what was wrong all of y/n's things were gone her books, her hair ties and all of the little things she leaves here were gone and this is her key that's now in my hand not with her like it should be. I knew the note would be from her but I didn't need to read it to know what was going on and what I'd done. I had promised to see her tonight as I've forgotten about the last few dates we've planned but I did it again my friends dragged me out after training and then I got carried away and forgot about the most important part of my day proving to y/n that I will do better. I really didn't want to read the note but I knew I had to I owe her that at the very least.

Dear Hector, 

I have left my key and taken my things because I'm done. I'm done because tonight we were supposed to go out you promised you'd pick me up at 7 and you promised you wouldn't forget like you have been for the last few months but you did. Instead of trying to prove to me that you love me and that the last few months have just been an anomaly you went out with your friends and my best friend leaving me waiting for you, calling and texting you until I saw your story. I can't do this anymore I love you but I can't let you treat me like this so I'm calling it here. I've really enjoyed the last year or so we've spent together but it's time for us to move on as clearly we aren't meant to be. 

I love you and probably will for the rest of my life but this is goodbye. 

Y/n xx

Those words hurt to read. I already knew I fucked up but to see the words written in front of me made it truly hit me how much I'd hurt her. She was the best thing that ever happened to me she was always there for everything no matter what she's been by my side through every up and down and I truly thought she'd be there for everything for the rest of our lives. I wanted her there for every achievement in my career and I wanted to be there for all of her achievements too. She was the one I didn't need anyone else I didn't want anyone else but now she's left me and I don't have my person anymore and I may never have her again. 

After the initial shock I tried to text her to see if I could apologise but she had already blocked me so I tried Instagram but she had blocked me on there too. I should've seen it coming but it upset me that I wouldn't be able to reach out to her and try and make things right or at least tell her how sorry I am for fucking this all up so badly. She's gone and it's all my fault that's what hurts the most if I hadn't been such an idiot then we'd still be together but no I had to go and ruin things with the best woman in the world. 

A few weeks later

Life has been hell for the last few weeks I've really missed y/n I've missed having her sat in the stands during matches and I've definitely missed seeing her. She's been in my life for the longest time not just as my girlfriend but as my friend so not having her in my life anymore and so suddenly as well has been really hard. I've definitely not been myself all of the guys keep asking if I'm ok and I tell them I am but we all know it's a lie they know how much I love y/n and they can see how it's destroyed me to lose her. I've tried time and time again to reach out to her but of course I'm still blocked I even text her best friend to get her to talk to y/n but she says she hasn't seen her or had any of her texts answered either so I have no way of telling her that I'm sorry. 

Everyone keeps telling me I need to try and move on and they're right it's just hard everything reminds me of y/n whenever I go anywhere I see places that we've been on dates to or just places we have memories at. Today I'm going to stop myself from moping about and go for a walk to clear my head as that's what I think I need to be able to move on or at least start to. I decided to go to the nearest park and walk around as it's relaxing and it should be quiet there which is what I need. 

The park was pretty empty there was a few people around; one couple with their baby an older couple feeding the birds and a girl who was sat on a bench with a book. The girl reminded me of y/n her hair was the same colour and reading in the park is something she loved to do. As I walked closer I realised that it actually was y/n she had headphones in and the book she'd been reading in her hands like she so often did when I went to see her. Seeing her made me stop in my tracks I didn't know whether to go and talk to her or just leave her be but then I realised this is my chance to talk to her and get closure at the very least. 

Your POV

Being without Hector has been hard I've missed feeling his touch and having him next to me when I sleep. So many times I've wanted to take it all back and run back to him but I know I can't or he'll think he can treat me like that again or someone else and I can't let that happen. Today is Wednesday which is the day that I had free from classes and usually I would spend all day with Hector so I've been sat at home all day thinking about him but I can't keep doing that so I needed to get outside. To give me something to do I walked to the park with my book. I found a bench with a nice view of the trees and the little pond with a few ducks and let myself forget about the real world. 

I was so in my own world that I didn't notice when someone sat next to me to start with until they sighed which brought me out of my trance. When I looked to my side I think I turned as white as a ghost because Hector was sat next to me with a look of pure sadness on his face. It took a few seconds for my brain to begin functioning again but when it did I leapt up and tried to run away. I'm not ready to face him again not when I've been trying so hard to forget about him and move on I blocked him and separated myself from him so I wouldn't have to do this. Before I could get more than a few steps away Hector placed a hand on my arm he didn't pull me back he didn't even hold my arm tightly but having his hand on me stopped me dead in my tracks. He encouraged me to sit back down so I did and I watched as his hand moved off my arm down to my hand which he held tightly in his grasp so I couldn't run again. 

"Hector" I started to say 

"No please let me talk" he interrupted 

"Ok but you have five minutes then I'm leaving" I said

"I'm sorry and I know move said that a lot recently but I really mean it when I got home and saw the note you left it broke me having all of your stuff gone from my apartment made it feel empty and not being able to see or talk to you has killed me I've missed you so much and I'll do anything to make it up to you" he said 

"How do I know that you actually mean it and that you'll actually change I told you how disappointed I was a million times and every time you told me you wouldn't forget the next time and then you always did it's like I wasn't important to you anymore how do I know that'll change" I said 

"I know I was an awful boyfriend but losing you has taught me a lot I know I can't treat you like that and I'd never dream of doing it again this might seem to much but you are truly the one for me I don't want to ever be with anyone else so please give me a another chance and I promise I'll do better and if I don't I'll let you go" he said 

"Ok but this is your last chance if you miss any date or anything without telling me and giving me a valid reason we're done" I said 

"I'll never miss a date ever again don't worry" he said 

"I can't lie I'm glad to have you back I've missed you so much it really hurt to walk away" I said

"And you'll never have to walk away again I'm here to stay" he said 

He pulled me into his side and leant down to kiss my lips which felt so good as I've missed having him by my side and I've definitely missed kissing him. He let me sit and finish the chapter I was reading before we left the park and went back to his place as he wanted to make things up to me straight away by having a movie date at home which he knows are my favourite. He's definitely off to a good start at making things up to me but honestly I'm just happy to have him back by my side. 

[sweettjrose]

Are there any forgotten characters from the Mickey Mouse universe that you think should be brought back?

...

Honestly there are way too many characters I could say and I feel like I wouldn't really capture the truly obscure ones who really do deserve it. I've said this before but I think it's funny how there's all this craze about "cinematic universes" and yet Mickey's is so unknown and spread out among so much media. I would love for a single show or something to really capture it all.

I know @skullsemi made a post recently asking for lesser known mouseverse/duckverse. And from what I saw I would totally support bringing every character mentioned back.

But if I had to choose one... I'm going to choose something really out there. Though someone may recognize it

So long time ago they used to make these Minnie & Me books where it was essentially about Minnie, Daisy, Clarabelle, and a whole cast of young girl characters. It was made in the 90's and comprised pretty much the girls learning lessons like how to share, trying new things, and stuff like that.

It honestly was a cute idea and while I don't know if they are the most deserving characters, it would be a deep cut and probably one of the most obscure come backs.

But as I said before, I would honestly love to see something that has all the characters from all over the Mickey and Friends works in a single area.

[mollfie]

I took notes while playing and I've tried to edit them into something that makes a shred of sense.

Things I like in Veilguard:

Banter can be interrupted, and they'll continue talking. If you repeatedly interrupt, they'll start over from the beginning later on.

The banter also actually made me laugh, especially with certain companion combos. Not always but more often than not.

The companions aren't stuck in their room. You know when someone wants to talk to you or has a cutscene, but you'll also see them hanging out with other companions or just checking out places around the Lighthouse. Makes them feel like actual people with their own stuff going on outside of Rook. But I do wish you could talk to them more. I like bothering my companions. I'm fine with them repeating themselves. Just let me smooch my love interest or chat with my friends and get random flavour text. Is that so much to ask?

I like the orb and smashing enemies in the face with it. I actually prefer it most of the time to using the staff.

Can wear casual clothes instead of armour with no repercussions. Finally, some cute outfits. But not cute enough. Need more. I also miss dying outfits in different colours and dressing up my team.

It's not my fav but it's fine:

I miss being able to smooch my love interest whenever I wanted to. Let me bother everyone more. The romances are fine but I expected more in comparison to previous games.

Everyone hangs out with each other or all together (eat together, bookclub etc) but is Rook even involved? The camping trip scene was so weird. Ferelden is overrun. Where are you going? Why would these two even want to? I could maybe believe Taash being interested because they're adventurous and might be hoping to see a dragon, but even then it's so weird.

Semi related to Taash's personal storyline, I did not appreciate having words put in my Rook's mouth re: her feelings about her gender and I have seen others saying that when they play as an enby Rook it's very "third gender" rather than having any sort of nuance. This is why I'm always hesitant when companies are so proud of being inclusive, it's often so clumsy.

References:

Mage/Templar war was in the South but no one mentions really mentions much about the South. Varric?? Morrigan?? Inquisitor?? There are some letters and a few lines about what's happening but not much. Who got to be Divine, again more of a Southern issue but you think it would come up when talking to Harding or Varric. Drinking from the Well of Sorrrows. Morrigan's son. King Alistair or Grey Warden. Hawke in the Fade. Varric, my man, are we not friends? Harding, you were there even if you were just a scout! Surely you got the hot goss hanging around outside the tavern at all hours.

Surely even people in Tevinter would be talking about how the Inquisitor's old spymaster became the Divine?? Harding sort of mentions it but no one else. The Inquisitor coming along to be like "oh it's a shitshow in the South right now that's why I'm not helping you or trying to find Solas" is so stupid.

The references you do get are fine but some feel strange because they're specific enough for a fan to get them but vague enough to feel pointless because they abandoned the Keep and tracking everyone's choices. I know it's complicated because we've all played the games in a variety of ways but they started it!

I wish we had seen more of the countries. I liked the places we saw and I really enjoyed exploring them, I would have liked to see more though which is a good thing in a way? I wasn't bored by the places we got, more than they were intriguing and I wished to go further. I would have liked to see more of Minrathos outside of Dock Town, for example.

Cameos:

Re: cameos. Dorian's model looks like he got bad cosmetic surgery and veneers. What did they do to you?? However, I also hate how Alistairs looks in Inquisition so maybe I just don't like when they try to update old characters? Morrigan looks fine, but her outfit is ugly. Isabela is fine. Varric and Harding look good.

Are we unable to have cameos of characters (or references), such as Merrill, because the team are blood magic flip-floppers? She knew so much about Eluvians, blood magic, Dalish nonsense etc. She would have been a fantastic edition to the team in Inquistion and in Veilguard but apparently I can't have anything nice.

Romances:

The romances are good but once I picked my person it was weird seeing how Lucanis switched to Neve almost instantly AND how their chemistry was so much better just through banter and listening to their chats. Almost like that's what the writers intended originally and then made Rook an option later? Davrin has a sweet romance and I have heard good things about Emmerich.

Companions:

Still think I should be able to have three people tag along. Yes, it makes them just talk to each other for banter but I liked having three people.

I wish they would bicker more. Some characters are supposed to not like each other (at least for a while) but they really could have leaned into that more. Be meaner. However, saying that some fans couldn't handle Vivienne...

My main issue with all the companions is that they're really good but don't get the change to be great. I'm assuming because of development issues. Any decent writer would want to make the most of a character. You can see what they wanted to do and what they managed is good. I feel like the writers pulled their punches too much. They could have really leaned into some ideas and expanded on some aspects so much more but didn't. They all needed an extra ten minutes to fully bake.

Taash's personal stuff is fine. It's a little awkward in places but it's nowhere near as awful as people are making it out to be. It's no worse than anyone else's personal storyline or dialogue. A lot of the criticism is over-dramatic HOWEVER I do feel like their struggles were more with their upbringing as the daughter of a strict mother (who says herself that she was never supposed to have that sort of role within the Qun) in Rivain and those two identities cause conflict, and that was really overshadowed. A lot of Taash's struggles with gender make sense when you consider how gender roles function under the Qun (how their mother would have raised them) versus how they are in Rivaini society (what she was exposed to outside of the home). That's not to say they aren't nonbinary otherwise, just that the conflict could have been woven together better.

I also didn't really like the binary choices you were presented with - why do I, a stranger, get to tell any of these people what to do with their lives? I think Rook can have an opinion but there should be a third option for the character to make their own choice, perhaps based on their approval level with you or something to at least feign free will. This felt particularly insensitive when talking to Taash.

I also think some people are forgetting or deliberately ignoring that Taash is not the only lgbt or nonbinary character in the game or the series as a whole.

But, I do also think there are awkward moments (for all the characters too) where I understand what the team was going for but it doesn't quite land right. I would have actually liked a little more focus on what it's like being a qunari in Rivain etc.

Lucanis is supposed to be a big scary mage-killing demon-possessed assassin but once you recruit him he's practically shuffling about in his fuzzy slippers making coffee at 4am. I really like him but I can't help but wish they hadn't sanded down the edges. Having the Crows fight for the little guys is certainly a choice. I would have preferred them go down more of a "these Crows in this particular family think this way" so as not to undermine everything about Zevran.

Other thoughts:

It feels like the backgrounds don't really matter, they're not referenced much anyway. I was a veil jumper so you'd think Bellara would want to chat to me about that sort of thing more but no, not really. Same with race choices. It does come up but not as much as I had hoped. I also miss the tension between races, backgrounds etc. Why am I, a Dalish elf, wandering around Minrathos unchallenged?

Where's Meredith??? We had that final shot in the animated series but that's it???

What happened to Solas' agents and the uprising? I know years have passed but you'd think there's been more turmoil considering 1. the gods are real and 2. they suck

TL;DR

I had a great time playing, and it was really fun. I actually really enjoyed the finale and the game overall. But, I am concerned that this was essentially a soft reboot and so now what? What about everything we did before? What about all those other characters we cared about?

I also think I got lucky by choosing to have my Solavellan Inquisitor and romancing Davrin, just judging my chatter online.

I think if they didn't want those choices to matter then they should have had this game hav a protagonist who has no connection to Southern Thedas at all. No Varric or Harding. Have them being a literal nobody who doesn't know anything about what's going on outside of what they've directly experienced or it's very vague. They were affected by Solas' actions. They're an elf who was an agent until they realised what he was doing. Something. I just... if you don't want to make a game where choices matter then you shouldn't be working on Dragon Age. You should make something new. This was always Bioware's whole selling point and they've just tossed all that work to one side. Who made that decision?

Imagine if we'd been forced into being a specific character, similar to Hawke in DA2, and had to actually decide whether or not to support Solas as we learned about what he was actually intending to do? Imagine.

Origins still has the strongest writing. DA2 is still my favourite. But I do think Veilguard is a good sequel to Inquisiton. Unfortunately for Bioware, this is the fourth game in a series not the second. As a fourth game, there are some really weird choices. On it's own, it's a really good game. I'm still going to get my partner to play some of it to see what they think as an outsider who only knows about Dragon Age via my chit-chat and reblogging.

[fruity-mond]

We don't talk enough how Kaeya literally just. Appeared.

Thinking about how Kaeya literally has NO legal documents. So like, logically, Crepus had to forge some stuff. Where is he from? Who knows but his birthday is on Nov30- don't fact check that.

Since Kaeya was abandoned, it does actually qualify him for the Late Birth Registration law in most places, and it probably makes it a lot easier that they're in the city of freedom but STILL, Crepus having to fill that up is so funny to me because he is STRUGGLING.

This kid is seven and the only way they knew his age was bc of some wacko they met on the way to Liyue for a family trip, who was high as a kite, being like "oh ya I'm a licensed pediatrician that is a SEVEN YEAR OLD" and threw up right after. And that was all they had to go off of bc Kaeya was near meltdowns at any mentions of medical testing (he's scared they'll figure out who he actually is, but comes to the realization that there's nothing to match him to)

This kid doesn't even remember his BIRTHDAY. Crepus and Diluc literally had to assign him one. Dude, he is JUST mastering Mondstadtian, he's still stuttering. How do you expect this kid to remember if he's gotten his mandatory baby shots? And he shouldn't be expected to!! HE'S SEVEN.

Crepus, filling out the forms with Kaeya on his lap:

"Kaeya, do you know your blood type?- Wait have you gotten vaccinated?"

"…Huh"

"Archons is this why you're ill 89% of the time"

Eventually, Kaeya agrees for a medical check up bc they genuinely need info on him to fill in his legal meds reports and good fucking lord HOW is this kid SURVIVING. Why is he deficient in 9 different vitamins?? Do we even HAVE 9 different vitamins to be deficient in?? So he ends up in the cathedral for like. A solid 3 months. A month where he literally couldn't leave and 2 where he's in and out for tests and check-ups.

(Turns out he IS seven but alchemy can only go so far so still no concrete birthday)

Crepus is pacing front and back, cursing Kaeya's stupid family.

Not for leaving him, no, Crepus actually feels slightly guilty that he's grateful they left him bc it gave the Ragnvindrs a wonderful new son.

No he's cursing them bc could they really not have made it easier by leaving his STUPID birth certificate and medical records with him? If you wanna abandon him, fine! MAKE IT EASIER FOR THE PERSON TO TAKE HIM IN. GOD.

Diluc and Kaeya was NOT aware of their father's anguish lmao Diluc kept sneaking in with a bunch of trinkets and books to make sure Kaeya isn't bored. Him, Jean, Kaeya and Thoma play Uno on Kaeya's medical bed

(No one is winning but Diluc is DEFINITELY losing. Kaeya has 6 wins, Jean 5, Thoma 5, and Diluc none. He nearly accidentally set Kaeya's cathedral bedsheet on fire after his 12th loss)

At some point, Crepus just starts making shit up bc dude he just wants to take this kid in please. The kid seems to know as much abt himself as Crepus knows of him, so he's no help

(and that's not his fault but come on these documents need filling)

HE JUST WANTS TO TAKE HIM HOME AND ENROLL HIM IN CLASSES WITHOUT THE KNIGHTS BEING ON HIS ASS FOR TECHNICAL KIDNAPPING.

He tells Adelinde this in a rant once:

"You forged legal documents."

"I mean, technically? Most of them were true and obtained by legal means"

"…most of them."

"Okay lets be honest right now, Addie, this is probably the tamest crime you know I've committed"

Ragnvindr Family ily (Also I'm a firm believer that Thoma was a frequent friend in Jean, Kaeya, and Diluc's schemes)

[pandorafallz]

You know, I was searching the web for Na'vi hair styles for my Alma fic i have going for inspiration but than i found more than expectation so...

it seems right to fill the Frointers of Pandora tag with these beauties.

The author links are below to check out and such and please do if you haven't already; it's a must for BTS stuff of the game.

So'lek!! bc you don't see much with his chest gear on! Hot.

Eetu for you thirsty birds

Alma!!! my fav character. Again, you don't see skin around her neck bc she has that neck scalf Did you see the scar on her right cheek under her eye? Where did that come from?

Also, what colour would you call her eyes? I'd say brown but there's an odd contract to them. Were they going for a light brown?

Here's some Colonel Harding with all her scars. Kinda hot, even if she's a horrible person. This under-the-collar stuff is kinda useful for my fics tho 😉

Also, i really like her eyes! Such a dark blue which you don't see as often on poc characters. Maybe it's a recessive gene that's active in her character's Lore?

Honestly, i'm glad to see more of Nesim's neck bc it's hard when trying to do any art with her, finding the proportions of her neck with her Zeswa collared chest guard... painful.

Also... she's stunning! Minang too!

You know, I hate Nor's headpiece with a severe passion. I personally don't think it suits him; far too big. If it was smaller, it'd be fine but it covers up most of his head. Plus, he's not a clan leader so it's odd.

So i threw that in so you see what Nor looks like without that decor!

Link to Artist's Page/Blog; the artist did the hair styles for FoP

[plaest2k]

hey, im a young nz artist too and i like making comics/want to do something bigger when im older, and i think your stuff is genuinely so fucking cool. i love it so much. i was wondering how you pursued art after highschool, like did you go to art school? if so, where and what was that like, and if not, how’d you find the time to continue doing it? its always felt like my opportunities for a career in art specifically seem smaller living in nz, but idk your stuff inspires me to think otherwise. thank you :)

kia ora!!

thanks so much for asking, it's truly so flattering that a young nz artist would ask me for advice! <3 sadly i might not necessarily be the best person to ask...

First of all, it's been a loooooong time since i've been a young artist hahaha I'm 32. After high school, I studied architecture at university because, as you're probably aware, we don't really have art schools like our peers do overseas. But after studying for a few years, I had a major depressive episode and dropped out. After that, I ran away to Korea to teach english for a year before coming back to work in cafes for about 6 years. Back then I was pursuing a career in editorial illustration cause that's what all my favourite artists were doing but I didn't realise that it was a dying industry at the time and there weren't exactly lot of full-time professional artists here who could have warned me...

So after about 10 years of trying to piece together some kind of profession in illustration, I ended up looking for a tattoo apprenticeship which was looking pretty promising but my bosses turned out to be not-so-great people. I tried to keep tattooing on my own but that was around the time COVID hit which wasn't (and still isn't) great for a job that requires you meet face-to-face with a lot of people. So, since the pandemic began, I've just been subsisting off of jobseeker, chipping away at comics and the occasional illustration gig.

The whole experience had me perpetually burnt out for the past ~15 years and made me realise that art as a career really just shouldn't be a thing. Under capitalism, it requires either an embarrassing level of compromise, privilege or luck to pursue. All the household-name artists you know in NZ either come from privilege or got unbelievably lucky. I don't say this as a value judgment or anything, most of them are truly wonderful people, it's just what I've learned about them as colleagues who've worked together a few times over the years.

I don't fault anyone for wanting to pursue that, but if you want to make uncompromising art that makes you feel fulfilled, you can't stake your livelihood on it. Art is supposed to be a by-product of life well lived, not content to be sold.

It's why I'm making plans to go back to uni next year to switch careers into a cushy office job because, as you've observed, even if you still want to pursue this as a full-time career, opportunities for artists in Aotearoa is extremely limited.

Having said all that, there's still a lot of nuance to this whole thing that would take me too long to cover in a tumblr post, so if you'd like me to elaborate or anything or have more questions, you're more than welcome to contact me through my email: plaest2k@gmail.com!

And this offer extends to literally anyone who might be looking for advice or just wants to talk about art <3

Final thing: the thought of studying something else at college/ university and keeping your art as a hobby might sound bleak when you're young, but life is so much longer than you think. You might feel like you have limitless creativity and ideas at the moment but when it becomes your entire life, you burn through it all faster than you'd think. It's because you need fuel to inform what you make and you can't get that from just making art. Like I always say, art is a by-product of a life well lived; You need life-experiences; You need to love, hate, care, be hated and loved to make art and you can't do that if you're too busy to do any of that. Those 3 years you spend on a bachelors is nothing in comparison to a lifetime of staring at a blank page, agonizing over what to make next.

[tmbgareok]

heya JF! pennsyltucky dweller here with a question.. have you guys ever considered coming to a venue outside of pittsburgh or philly? i know you used to play at the chameleon club before it shut down and didn’t know if there were any other locations in rural-ish/appalachian PA that interested you. many thanks and see youse at union transfer!!

JF: I don't mean to sound out of touch with our scene, but for the most part we don't really book where we play. Our booking agent knows all the situations, and is very aware of how things work in different markets. Of course we have preferences--like doing two night stands feels very civilized compared with one night stands (we can sleep in, recover from the show, see some stuff, eat a nice meal or two) but in a lot of ways the "circuit' as it exists is pretty established. We've dedicated a fair bit of energy trying to expand the cities and territories we can play (we did a whole successful but unprofitable tour of Canada trying to open things up for ourselves, but the long term reality hasn't changed much) The hard truths of where we get to play or can't play seem to have more to do with shifts in the essential economic conditions in a region, or losing a savvy promoter who figured out how to be a booster for their town. We used to play Las Vegas, but things changed there. We stopped playing Salt Lake City for a decade, but now we are back. We used to play in Japan. Now few alternative bands from the US play there. We certainly played the Chameleon in Lancaster PA a lot, but if it's gone, I suspect nothing has taken its place.... but maybe something will! (It was a lot of fun while it lasted!)

[ladykailitha]

The Caged Bird Still Sings Part 13

Hello!!! We are back for another lovely chapter of this fic. It's still going strong and I have hit Act 3. I don't know how many chapters of that there will be, but I'm to the happy parts of the story. So yay!!!

In this we find out who our little elf is, and Steve makes an instant friend. Then he tries sushi with disastrous results.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Pt 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

~

Steve watched as she turned in slow motion and her eyes go wide. She then threw her hands over her eyes.

“I’m sorry to disturb you!” she shrieked. “Please put your shirt back on!”

He huffed out a laugh and then went over to the dresser and pulled out a old t-shirt. “There, I’m all dressed. Now tell me who you are.”

“I’m Robin Buckley!” she squeaked. “I’m sixteen and about to enter my senior year of high school, my Uncle Justin got me the job as a PA for the band Corroded Coffin, but my mom was worried about the band taking advantage of me, so she insisted I stay in Hawkins. Which worked out great because I got the task of sneaking stuff in your hotel room, which is also great because I’m super stealthy!”

Steve smiled, immediately taking a liking to her. “Wow that was a lot. Nice to finally put a name and a face to the person who keeps sneaking into my room while I’m showering.”

Robin blinked for a minute before she realized the implication of that. “Oh shit! You must have thought I was a creep or something. God, I’m so sorry!”

“Something like that,” Steve said, tilting his head and chuckling. “But now that I’ve met you, it’ll be easier to drop stuff off whenever and not have to wait for me to be gone or out of the main room.”

“You don’t mind that I can just walk in?” she asked in confusion.

Steve shrugged. “The cleaning staff do it all the time. Unless I put out the tag that says do not disturb, they just come in to do their job. That’s how I made friends with Carla and Juan. They’re teaching me Spanish!”

Robin blinked at him for a moment. “You’re learning Spanish from the cleaning crew?”

He walked up and flopped on the sofa, kicking his feet up. “Juan is teaching me all the swear words first.”

“Wow,” she said, sinking into a nearby chair. “Don’t you have other friends that come see you?”

Steve shook his head. “All my friends abandoned me when my dad caught me and my boyfriend on the sofa making out. I can’t tell anyone else where I am because my dad could find me and beat the shit out of me for not leaving town like he wanted.”

“Wait...” Robin said, “Are you Steve Harrington?”

He reared his head back in confusion. “I mean yeah, weren’t you told who I was?”

She got up and pushed his feet to the floor to sit on the sofa next to him. “Holy shit, dude. No one knows where you’ve been. There have rumors about you still being seen around town, but your like a local cryptid or some shit. All anyone knows is that you’ve been laying low.”

Steve sat up straight. “Wait, really?” He burst out laughing. “I guess being registered at the hotel as Steve Munson is really doing its job.”

“Yeah,” Robin said enthusiastically, “even my mom thinks your his cousin. She’s been broadly hinting that I should accidentally meet you so you can date me.” She snorted. “Which even if you weren’t over eighteen, sorry you’re not my type.”

“Yeah, what is your type?” Steve asked. Robin pursed her lips and looked up. “Come on, who am I going to tell? Eddie and the band are about to be out of communication because they’re traveling out of country.”

“Girls.”

He snorted and then snapped his mouth shut. “Sorry. Um...like I just told you I was caught with my boyfriend and you were worried about telling me you like girls?”

She blinked at him for a moment and then gave a snort of her own. “Oops!”

Steve shook his head. “Hopeless. Just a couple of baby gays in the most backwater town in the whole fucking state. At least you can tell your mom that you’re not my type.”

“That’s true,” Robin said cocking her head to the side. “She didn’t want me traveling with the band because she was afraid that they would prey on a teenage girl. Like I feel like I would be safer with them then some stranger in a hotel room, but...” she shrugged.

“Mom logic,” Steve said, nodding, “can’t argue with it and can’t make it make sense either.”

Robin threw her arms in the air. “Exactly!” She looked around the room and spotted the presents she was supposed to have leaving for him.

“The presents!”

“The shower!” Steve shouted at the same time and they both went running. Steve to the bathroom to turn of the water and Robin to grab the boxes from the sidebar.

They met back in the middle. Robin shoved the boxes at him.

“I want to know what’s in them,” she said brazenly. “I’m not allowed to peek and I really want to know about everything Eddie Munson is sending you.”

Steve laughed and shook his head. “It could be sex toys you know. Are you sure you want to see what’s in here?”

“Yes!” she huffed and smacked his arm. “Now open it!”

Steve opened the first box and inside was a beautiful yellow floor length robe with a note that said, ‘For that hot divorceé look!’

Robin raised an eyebrow at him. “Care to explain that one?”

“I was feeling down a couple of days ago because I was bored,” Steve explained trying not to laugh, “I said I felt like a divorceé who had taken her husband to the cleaners, but now was only left with riches and no company.”

She looked around the fancy hotel room like she was properly seeing it for the first time. She took in all the brass fittings, black marble, and leather furniture. It was pretty, but it was very much not a place someone lived in, only visited.

She couldn’t imagine staying here for as long as Steve had been here. “Oh.”

Steve shifted in his seat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with her pity. So he opened the other present. It was a much smaller box, he had wanted to open the big one first because he guessed it was probably clothes.

Inside was small golden music box that when he opened it it had a little yellow bird singing “Birdhouse in Your Soul” by They Might Be Giants. Only blue canary was swapped for yellow, mangling the song a little, but Steve was touched.

“What is with all the yellow stuff especially the yellow birds?” Robin asked as he handed it to her. She had spotted a lot of them as she looked around the room.

Steve laughed and told her about how he met Eddie, highlighting especially the part about wearing yellow in the middle of a metal concert.

“Oh my god!” Robin said roaring with laughter, “I think I would have shriveled up and died of sheer embarrassment if that was me.”

“That would assume I had any dignity at that point,” Steve pointed out. “My dad had tossed me out, I lost my job, and all my friends. If there were better places to get drunk in this god forsaken town, I would have gone there.”

“Have you tried getting another job?” she asked, tilting her head the side. “Like they can’t all be afraid of your dad.”

He just shrugged. “I guess I never thought about it, really. Just been trying to keep away from him.”

“But he’s been out of town for a couple of weeks, right?” Robin pressed. “Do you really think he’s going to come back and hound you just for trying to get a job?”

Steve shrugged again. “You don’t know my dad. His colleagues call him Mad Dog because he’s as tenacious as a bulldog and twice as mean. If he gets it into his head that I must be ran out of town, he’s going to do whatever he can to make it happen. He only left town because Chief Hopper stonewalled him.”

Robin wrinkled her nose but didn’t say anything.

Steve showed her all the other presents Eddie had gotten him and she was delighted with each one. But especially the necklace.

“Well now there are two birds in this cuckoo nest,” Robin said proudly. “Robin and Canary.” She held out her hand and Steve took it with a smile.

“So does this mean you won’t be sneaking around my hotel room from now on?” he asked with a lopsided grin.

She burst out laughing. “I might do a little sneaking for old times sake, but yeah. I’ll make sure to announce my presence from now on.”

“Good,” Steve said with a huff. “Get out of here so I can shower.”

She laughingly did as she was told, Steve shaking his head the whole time.

~

After Steve got out of his shower and bathrobe secured tightly at his waist, he sat down with the want ads. He had long since gotten a subscription to the newspaper for the movie times and funny pages. But now he could use it to see if anyone was hiring.

Because as much of a loud mouth asshole, Tommy had been, he had a point. He couldn’t just sit around and wait to be be rescued by Eddie. There was no guarantee that Eddie would continue to fund Steve’s life style after the band returned from their tour.

He flopped on the bed with a red pen and the newspaper open in front of him. He scoffed when he saw that Family Video was still looking to replace him, even though it had been six weeks since they fired him.

He really didn’t know how to do much. His main jobs had been being a lifeguard at the rec center and the Family Video job his dad forced him to take so that he could ‘learn how to be productive in society’ or whatever bullshit he had spouted at the time.

So he immediately disregarded anything that required typing or phone skills. With it being summer again, he could probably get his old job back at the rec center but then he would most certainly run afoul more Hank Tippets of the world. Which would be more trouble than it was worth.

There was the new mall.

Maybe he could find work there. He circled a couple of other places but decided his best bet would be the mall. He threw the newspaper aside and rolled over on his back.

He was hungry and tired and just wanted to forget about everything for awhile. So he got up and ordered food. This time was going for something different. Sushi. If he didn’t like it he could always order something else.

Steve needed to try other things and if it wasn’t on his dime or his parents forcing him to try it, why not? He couldn’t do raw oysters. But that was probably because he was six at the time and his mother forced him to try it.

Never doing that again.

He also ordered an appetizer just to double hedge his bets. He knew from the description that it was raw fish and rice. He wasn’t going into this completely blind.

The sushi arrived with his weird side of garlic mashed potatoes. Sue him, the potatoes were his comfort food. They were almost as good as the ones as his Auntie Sophie made. The recipe his mother would kill to get her hands on. And probably tried.

Look, he tried. He tried them with the brown liquid-y stuff, the red paste, and green goo. The green goo made his mouth burn like nothing he had ever experienced in his life. If he hadn’t tried the red paste first, he would have assumed it was all that bad.

So he tossed the rest of the sushi back on the trolley and begged for them to take it away and replace it with ice cream. Anything to stop the burning.

Eddie tried to be sympathetic when Steve told him that night, but Steve could tell the other man was trying so hard not to laugh.

Never again.

~

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog @beelze-the-bubkiss

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @cryptid-system

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @sticknpokelightningbolt

9- @scoops-aboy86 @kurofuckingshi16 @watermelonmite @eyehartart @dreamercec

10- @little-birch-boy @yearningagain @micheledawn1975 @blondie1006 @sadisticaltarts

[applebuttercringe]

Episode 5 immediate thoughts

Spoilers ahead!

-Oh hey it's the big guy who used to be on Caitlyns strike team.

-Get em Vi

-Jinx is betting on Vi's fights

-Average lesbian breakup experience

-Did she dye her hair black? Or did she just cry enough eyeliner onto herself that it turned it black?

-THE SISTER REUNION

-Vi is reminded by the shimmer tear that Jinx isn't fully in control of herself.

-Proud of Jinx though for being able to be in Vi presence without a breakdown

-Last time they saw each other Vi was fully ready to kill Jinx. Most brutal fight in the series. Now they can work together? Thats kinda rushed.

-Caitlyn using her detective skills again!

-"Peacekeeping operations" Yeah right Caitlyn.

-Caitlyn is full on racist

-Full on fascist

-The Caitlyn stans are gonna be fighting for their LIVES trying to defend her.

-This is the first time we've seen Mel not collected, or at least put together and considerate.

-ELORA!!!

-Mels brother?

-Mels brother!

-Well Vi got over basically all the Jinx stuff pretty quick.

-I mean this is basically what both of them really wanted, to be a family again, and it was achieved with very little ceremony.

-Did Jinx find out the mushroom aren't toxic by eating them? Does she eat every new thing she finds just to check?

-If Vi thinks this is Jinx lying why would she follow her?

-"BITCHMITTENS"

-Typical sibling behavior

-Vi is a child hitter confirmed. Considering Jinx's lingering trauma from Vi's reaction to the explosion in S1 Ep3, I'de think she would have a worse reaction to Vi hitting Isha.

-Whaarwhick is more savage than any beast in Noxus? Knowing Noxus from league I find that hard to believe.

-Wait, did Silco kill Vi and Jinx's parents? Is that why they split? I need to rewatch this frame by frame.

-Singed holding his daughter

-Singed real name is Dr. Reveck

-If Mel and Kino are surprised Ambessa has a love child, were they her hatechilds?

-Mel herself is a magical maguffin for the cult running a foreign nation. I thought she was just a super cool girlboss.

-Jinx is a jacket sniffer.

-Was Vander in love with their mom? I thought he was their adopted dad, has he been their bio dad the whole time?

-Vi defending Jinx 🥺

-Is that Singed daughter on the record Felicity is playing.

-Oh no young Silco is hot

-Felicity sounds like Jinx when she says "working up the nerve"

-That one tweet was right, Arcane music is horrifically literal.

-I don't care if it's rushed. This scene is straight out of a feel good fix it fic and I love it. Happiness and family for the Zaun sisters!

-Is this Salo after being healed by Viktor?

-Knew it

-Jayce, where ya been buddy?

-Viktor broke Jayce out so he could come see him. I mean it is probably not Viktor, it's the hexcore taking people over, but still.

-And once again the dynamic is reversed

-Just leaving Ekko and Heimerdinger in their huh?

-JAYCE STRAIGHT UP MURDERED HIM! HOLY SHIT! WHAT!?

-I THOUGHT HE WAS JUST GONNA BONK HIM TO KNOCK HIM OUT!

-WTF HAPPENED TO HIM!

Overall: Ok, so this felt rushed. The last 4 acts have been tearing these sisters apart, entirely centering on the traumas and outside forces that keep them from being a family. Then Jinx shows up and it takes one sentence to get Vi back, granted Vander being alive is big news, but Vi thinks Jinx is lying to her. Why wouldn't she be mad at Jinx?

Jayce straight up murderred a guy, I wish we got to see more of how he got to this point.

Caitlyn is still as much of a dictator as she has been all, but she does get consistently worse.

Mel is in a totally different story now.

Things are only looking up for Jinx and Vi.

Even with it being rushed I do like Jinx and Vis story here, I want happiness for them , sue me. But I don't see how they could possibly meaningfully redeem all the other characters in the 4 episodes left. Which means I think Arcane season 2 might not be peak anymore, entertaining? Yes. Interesting? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Peak? Maybe not. I still love it, but the cracks are showing.

[tiredistic]

Can you please do one where Janis gets headaches every day and Regina can’t make her feel better because nothing works? (I’m fs not projecting at all)

No Nurse?

Paring: Regina x Janis

Warnings: Sick fic, sorta. Just fluff

Summary: Janis had really bad headaches, and Regina decides to help her out

A/n: This was so cute anon, if you are still having headaches hope you feel better soon!

It was the end of the day as Janis and Regina sat at their usual spot at the back of the class.

Regina tapped her pen on her desk mindlessly as Janis was practically going insane.

With every tap it drove deeper and deeper into her head, the teacher's boring grainy voice wasn't helping either.

Regina didn't seem to notice until Janis was face down in her hands, her chest rising and sinking rapidly.

"Janis? Janis are you good?" Regina asked quietly, making sure the teacher didn't notice them.

When Regina got no answer from the girl she took it upon herself to ask for help.

Raising her hand boldly, in the middle of the lesson wouldn't be a resort most people would do, but this was her girlfriend we're talking about.

"...Yes, George?" The teacher sighed pinching his brows as if he was teaching anything actually relevant.

"i'm taking Janis to the nurse."

"Now that's not really a question is it?"

"I was going to do it either way, just look at her somethings clearly wrong."

"Whatever. Just go, be quick." He said waving his hand dismissively.

Quicky, Regina gathered her and Janis's bags, making sure to pack up because she knew she wasn't going to be comeing back.

She easily picked up the unwell girl, being that their sizes contrasted so much.

She quickly moved from the class, making her way to the exit.

"I thought we were going to the nurse?" Janis werealy asked, so softly that Regina almost didn't hear.

"They're not going to do shit but give you an ice pack. We're going to my place. Care to tell me what's gotten into you? Why'd we have to leave class so suddenly?"

"don't act like you didn't want to leave." Janis let out a small laugh but winced instantly from the pain in her head, "I just have a really bad recurring headache."

Regina bit back her words as she thought of what to say next. they approched the car and she laid Janis down in the passenger seat, before getting in herself.

"Are you like sick?"

"No."

"Water, have you been drinking water?"

"Yes, plenty"

sleep have you been sleeping?

Yes, yes yes, I've been doing everything I had to do! I don't know where it came from I just need it to disappear before my test on Friday!

Regina let Janis calm herself down, they were close to the house now.

After Janis's breathing was back to normal and her eyebrows weren't creased she spoke up, "It's stress Janis. Your too stressed out."

Janis laid there listening to Regina's words carefully.

She was entirely too tired and annoyed to listen. She shut her eyes, and much to her surprise, fell asleep.

Regina pulled up to her house parking slowly and making sure it didn't stop to abruptly to wake the girl.

She collected their stuff as she opened the front door making a clear path to carry Janis from her car to her bedroom.

When janis's head hit that soft silk pillow it was like the stars aligned. the weight and the stress almost forgotten.

Regina shuffled around for a while before returning to Janis. A choice of tea or water, and a snack was presented to her.

After a while, Janis definitely started to feel better. Her headache lifted and her girlfriend in her arms. It was calm after the storm.

[backjustforberena]

Ok, so this question has been hurting my head for a while and I had to ask this because I love your analysis of Rhaenys's character.

How do you think Rhaenys's relationship maintained with these people over the years?

Daemon, Viserys, Aemma, her mother Jocelyn, Jaehaerys, Alysanne, Laena, and Laenor.

I'm so sorry if it is too much to ask!

Hello! Okay, so I'm going to keep this brief because that's quite a lot of people and so I'm just going to go with general vibes and first thoughts, and stick with later-in-life stuff rather than childhood, and if you want me to go into more specifics or have any questions, then absolutely follow up. It's based mostly on the show but for some characters, I have used book facts and events.

DAEMON: I think the big thing that I have, as a personal headcanon (or just the way I look at the relationship) with Daemon is that Rhaenys has to make an active choice, probably fairly early on, that she cannot love him. She can't let herself. Eve has spoken before about how Rhaenys keeps Daemon at arms' length and how she has a profound distrust of him and sees him as just this chaotic element, so I think that she makes a decision that there have to be boundaries in place. Just for her own sense of safety and stability. Daemon orbits her family: they're blood but also he goes to war with her husband and son, he marries her daughter, he's the father of her granddaughters. But I think Rhaenys is just far too aware that he hurts. He causes immeasurable pain and, in the end, there's an understanding of him - he will never spite himself to help her: he keeps her daughter from her, he "murders" her son, he has respect for her but little regard.

I think the relationship ebbs and flows from enjoying his company, tolerating him and then wanting nothing to do with him. It alters throughout the years but she will never be caught out by him. I don't think she really likes him. Perhaps for the boy he was, she does - they are definitely still familial. What Daemon gives, he gets in return, I think.

VISERYS: There's love there. It's one of the relationships that I find the most tragic because they're cousins torn apart by the choices of others and the positions they find themselves in. They can never be as close as they want to be. I think Rhaenys's first loyalty is to the home and house she's built with her husband, which directly conflicts with Viserys, on occasion. I think they probably did go three years without speaking to one another (possibly missives to congratulate on births etc but nothing of note) because of the Stepstones War.

I think it does become "us vs them" with Rhaenys on the outside because his family keeps being responsible for the destruction of hers. And then we get to this place where he's having this happy family meal and she's in a crypt. When you think about how close their fathers were and how close they might have been or wanted to be, once upon a time, then that's tragedy.

AEMMA: Poor Aemma. We don't see them ever interact in the show, but it's easy enough to imagine that they were friends from childhood and family in that way. I think they grew apart, in adulthood, given the way their lives went. But we have deleted dialogue where Rhaenyra recounts coming to Driftmark with Aemma and collecting seashells with Laena. I like to imagine that wasn't too infrequent. I think they probably kept in touch via letters: neither woman had many female relations to speak to.

JOCELYN: My opinion is that Jocelyn lives at High Tide after Aemon's death, until her own. So, maintaining that relationship is pretty easy as they live in the same place. We don't know when Jocelyn dies or how. But I sort of take my opinion that Rhaenys isn't too dissimilar to her parents and that Jocelyn and Rhaenys probably relied heavily on one another. I think she would have been a very present and active grandmother: she had no other duties, nowhere else to be, nothing else to do.

JAEHAERYS: My feeling is, a bit like with Daemon and, to a lesser extent, Viserys, that when it becomes an "us vs them" she cuts the feeling off as much as possible. When Jaehaerys chooses someone else as his heir, when she is discarded, she has to stop treating him in the same way she once did. She has to choose herself, she has to be something different. I think, in the latter years, she'd only go to court if summoned. She'd only act the part in public.

I think she probably understands and sympathisers with her grandfather and the choices he made (to a point) but she doesn't agree, she doesn't find comfort in that, it hurts and she's aware that there is a danger now, to her, because of the choices he makes. I don't know if I'd say she hates him. I think, certainly by the time we get to HOTD, the feelings have been processed somewhat and Rhaenys is someone who doesn't waste time on things that won't accomplish anything.

I think it's also, likely, easier to do so because I don't think she sees him as family from her father's death onwards. The most prevalent thing he is to her is her King. And once Alysanne retires from King's Landing, she has no reason to return until Jaehaerys is on his deathbed. I imagine she'd visit him on his deathbed.

ALYSANNE: She loved Alysanne. So, I'm thinking letters, visits, dragon flights. I think Rhaenys visits her whenever she's on Dragonstone and then writes when she's in King's Landing. I think Alysanne would visit Driftmark, if allowed or it was okay PR-wise. I think that Rhaenys could have become a primary visitor or carer for Alysanne when her body and wits began failing. Alysanne never forsook her, or her children. Alysanne would understand things so many wouldn't: marriage, children, dragons, being a Targaryen. And it's reciprocated.

LAENA: Letters. So many letters. I think mother and daughter were very close. It kills me to know that Rhaenys knew of Laena's desire to not just come back home, but to remain there. To stay and be close to her family, rather than be across the Narrow Sea. For Rhaenys to know this, and to know it was Daemon who was causing the problem, tells me that Laena told her and therefore feels confident in her mother as a confidante. It's also worth keeping in mind that, for at least three years, it was just Rhaenys and Laena together - whilst Corlys and Laenor were in the Stepstones. And then it was Laena almost as an only child again until she was married.

We know how Rhaenys reacted to her death, to her funeral, to her daughters, to her legacy. Moreover, we know that Laena has been raised by her mother with her eyes wide open - it's Rhaenys who informs a 12-year-old Laena that she will not have to bed Viserys until she is 14, it's Rhaenys who overlooks the walk with Viserys and (at least I presume) picks her up at the end of it. I think Rhaenys just loved the bones off of that girl and was so proud of the woman she became.

LAENOR: Similarly, once he's married, I think it's letters. However, I don't believe they are as candid as Laena's. I think Laenor probably retreats into formality - we know that he doesn't even divulge incriminating details in letters to Laena, his sister whom he adored. There are so many things he'd just not want to discuss with his mother: things she'd worry about. I think Rhaenys visits court when she can and when she's invited. Whether that's often, I couldn't say. She does seem to be in tune with the cost the arrangement of his marriage takes on Laenor, however, when she mentions it to Corlys in Episode 07.

I don't think the distance has quite taken root but I think she fears something drastic will happen to the relationship. She sees her son's misery and she fears losing him from an emotional perspective. She fears a precipice or an implosion: a breaking point. I think she wants change, in Episode 07. Maybe she hopes that something can be done and it seems to be on her to do it, whatever it is. Maybe she'd also hope that the move to Dragonstone would help - Dragonstone is closer to Driftmark.

Of course, she does end up losing him in a way she couldn't imagine. And whatever hopes she could have had die with her.

[murfpersonalblog]

Thank you for the video! I ran it through a transcriber:

Daniel Montgomery: Rolin Jones, you are the showrunner for Anne Rice's Interview with The Vampire, which aired its second season this past year.... The two seasons are based on the first book, Interview with the Vampire. What did you most want to capture from the novel over the course of these two seasons?

Rolin Jones: Yeah, a very particular romance. The strange war that happens between a 78-year-old man and a 148-year-old man, who still have some stuff to figure out. I wanted Anne's language to make an aggressive appearance; the prose that's so lovely in there, which is sometimes the thing that falls first when you're adapting. And then, yeah, I wanted an almost operatic experience for an audience, as well, to go with it. Emotions are really, really heightened. And yeah, I don't know. Just general, you know, I wanted it to be a nervy, vibrating, weird-ass show. God bless AMC for letting us make it.

DM: And how do you decide where to deviate from the source material, you know, what to expand on, what to leave out? Like, you know, I imagine those are difficult decisions in any adaptation.

RJ: Well...there's a lot of wonderful stuff in our book, a really beautiful book to work off of. I think the challenges were a little bigger in season two, mostly because there was a lot less plot in that book. The book is almost like five meditative conversations between vampires, and then some crazy events, and then, and then you're out! And we had to kind of create a lot of plot out of that. But for the most part, yeah, we try to put as jam as much Anne as we could in there. And the basic, the basic changes you make for anything that was beautifully written as a novel and the choices that you'd have to make to turn it into something that is, you know, for actors to speak. And for it to cut over 15 episodes. I don't know, I think we cannibalized that book! There's like, there's not a lot left. It's a couple of characters that fell off, for this reason, or that reason. We made some decisions about the timeline. But I'd say, I think it was done with a lot of love. And a lot of collaboration with Anne, who is no longer with us.

DM: And Season Two, you introduced the vampire troupe led by Armand. What most excited you about bringing those characters and storylines from from the book to the screen and, you know, folding that in?

RJ: Oh, well, anytime you can shove theater into the face of TV viewers is always a good thing! I hire a lot of playwrights, and a lot of actors from the theater. So I think if there's anything we were just trying to restrain ourselves from making a lot of insider dumb theater jokes that nobody could care about. I think, we always kind of had the specter of the movie behind us ,and they did that part really, really well in the movie. So a lot started out just as, like: Oh, how are we, how are we going to do it? How are we going to justify doing this again? I think there was a caveat from AMC too: Don't repeat the movie! We've seen it! It's beautiful, it's out there! Our timeline really opened up a lot of opportunities to make it a grittier, dirtier, slightly more dangerous Theater of the Vampires than the movie, or even in the book. And the joy of actually setting something in post-war Paris. You see Paris going over the war, you see a lot of Paris during the war, and then you don't see a lot of stuff done in those those first four or five years afterwards. Which was, I think, for all of us, was a nice way to feel like you were, you know, coming into Paris in some kind of a side door. And also just numbers! We had a season one was like a chamber drama between three characters. And we got to expand it, not only with just the bodies, but in space and time to with, you know, what was going on with Dubai; and what what Louis was coming to realize was his truth along the way. So, you know, I got to cast Ben Daniels again! Ugh! <3 Best!

DM: And what was it like writing for him? Ben Daniels, in the role of Santiago? You know, that character being such a highlight of the season?

RJ: Well, we knew that's our that was our guy from the day one! Even if he was already scheduled to go be on Lord of the Rings and our dates weren't working out to begin with. He is somebody we had up on the wall. I worked with him on a TV show previously about like seven or eight years ago, seen his theater work, and know what he can do. He's just one of those really wonderful actors that can sort of turn on a dime, and take something that is very, very funny and then make it very sinister, just like that. The instrument is really huge. And we had a really hammy role for him! Which was, you know, he's just he's one of the really delicate butchers--just the right slice of ham on top of given circumstances and stuff, what a joy. And he also acts like a naughty 14 year old boy when the camera is off too. So it's a nice energy on on Sam. And he gets it like, you know, sort of like the grandad of our theater trip because they were all a bunch of theater actors who had known him growing up in the theater too. So that was a treat. You'd see it on stage. I mean, you see in the camera, there's a lot of joy. There's a lot, it feels like a theater company there. You know, nice to be with it.

DM: Now, there are more than a dozen books in The Vampire Chronicles. You're going into Season Three, you know, and you'll be covering The Vampire Lestat. Would you cover them all if you could, or is there like a specific endpoint that you have in mind?

RJ: I mean, like anything else, you're supposed to take a really good hard look at yourself and go: Do you have anything left to say about vampires? And, you know, they pay you to do this. So that's hard. And I have a three year old child and all that stuff. And who doesn't want a swim in the pool? But I think if you're really honest with yourself, you've got to say: Can you still bring it with the same energy that you brought it the first time? And for Season Three, I believe I can. And I believe our staff can. For 12...for TWELVE books!? Man! I think somewhere along the way, you got to hand that thing off. Because you're just, when you're up to writing the 540th scene of Louis, uhhh...you really need some new blood in there. I think that's a while off. You know, if I had my brothers, we'd do this, figure out Queen of the Damned, Tale of the Body Thief, maybe Memnoch? Somewhere there. And at some point, there will be somebody who already says: Oh, it clearly should be this person. And also! Vampires was--I mean, by that time, who knows how old Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson will look! They might not even look like immortals anymore! So we're just going to try, as long as AMC gives us the dough. We're trying to make aggressive things with it--we're very privileged to do it. But yeah! Look, I'm in the heat. It's hard for me to talk about Season Two, I'm in the heat of Season Three right now! I got Season Three Head in here right now. So I think I hopefully none of this all sounds really canned. It's just that I'm already in the next season.

DM: Now the show is getting a spin off about the Talamasca, who tied into Season Two. Does it complicate the storytelling process to have to factor in storylines that are happening in the same universe, but on another show?

RJ: It's fun, we're communicating with each other. You don't want to be the person that says: You can't do that, you can't do this. You want like John and Mark who are working on the Talamasca show to have as much freedom as I had. That being said, we have a couple of characters that are crossing over. So there's some communications between the two about, like, what those characters need to do in the next season of Vampire, and make sure that those things don't conflict. If anything, make sure that they can help build a better story. Like I'm reading the scripts, and grafting on the given circumstances of their show into ours. And that's cool! That's fun. And they're lovely guys too. So that makes it easy.

DM: Well, I want to congratulate you on your work on Seasons One and Two, going into Season Three of Interview with a Vampire. And thank you so much for talking to me about it!

RJ: Oh, a pleasure! A pleasure! *kisses* Gold Derby!

Interview with Rolin Jones.

Full video here 👇🏻

[misc-obeyme]

grey asmo here!

Hope you are doing fine, and congrats on 1K.

You know when you say a character and the first person that comes to your head...i think esp with obey me, there are so many media out there, that represents the 7 demons.

For example when you think of Lucifer? The first pops into my head would be a blond haired but obey me Lucifer.

Weird.. and also fun, this goes without saying, like when I picture Lilith obey me white eyes and white hair,

Like Michael everyone in the fandom agrees that Michael has long hair and blue eyes, but for me Adam from spn, or matt cohan with bluish eyes

Hello again, grey Asmo!

I'm doing well, I hope things are good with you! And thank you! Honestly I just use the follower count as an excuse to do events lol.

You know, I'm so Obey Me obsessed that right now that's the first thing I think of whenever I hear any reference to any other versions of the characters. It's happened before where I'm scrolling through Tumblr and someone says something about Satan and I'm like I don't remember that... no wait. They mean like Satan from the real world lol. Oops.

However, before Obey Me was a thing I even knew about, I always had a tendency to imagine Lucifer with black hair when I was thinking of him having a human form. I often imagined him with goat horns and legs and bat wings and the whole thing lol. Kinda Krampus style but with more red. But the more human looking version of him always had black hair in my mind for some reason.

I loooove all the Lilith designs I've seen, but I am absolutely on board with white haired Lilith. I never really considered her eyes but white eyes would certainly be interesting too!

I think with Michael, my Obey Me version of him is different from how I would think of him outside of Obey Me. When I wrote the little story for the anon who requested Michael (here), I gave him long blond hair and blue eyes with some opal in them. But that's because all of the angels in the game have the blue eyes with a little bit of yellow in them, so it was just a variation on that. And I dunno blond hair made sense to me. But I've seen some excellent Michael fan designs that I love where he looks completely different! I do hope they give us a good design when he finally shows up!

But outside of Obey Me, I tend to think of Michael as more of a classic Biblical Jesus looking guy... brown hair, brown eyes, with a beard and glasses... for some reason?? I have no idea where that's coming from lol. I really don't know why my brain imagines him that way, but I must have picked it up from somewhere??

Maybe these are all just amalgams of all the versions of these characters that I've seen or read about in various medias over the years? It's certainly interesting to think about the first version of them that comes into your head!

[pokimoko]

Hello!! i just discovered your blog and firstly i wanna say that your art is gorgeous! <33 and secondly, if youre still taking requests could i get a lesbian/non binary cheetah? /nf

Thank you! Cheetahs be upon ye!

[sergle]

There's something about like. A certain genre of posts / Online Opinions about insecurity/depression/misery/complaints that are so unhelpful that they wrap right around to being straight up hilarious. and it's the ones that are more or less written to the tone of "Feeling bad? That's gross!" Like, just so you know, don't voice your insecurities/ have low self esteem, because that's offputting! You're gross and weird. Don't be insecure about that, though. That would be stupid if you felt insecure about people disliking you for being insecure. Not attractive. You should be thinking about being as attractive as possible. You shouldn't make comments about suicide, even if you're suicidal! Keep those thoughts entirely to yourself. Make sure nobody around you knows you're thinking about this. It would Make Them Uncomfortable. It's better to keep these thoughts in your head where they can fester. Don't post OR talk to friends with complaints about you feeling miserable or depressed. Tbh people who are sad/upset a lot? Kinda a red flag! You are probably miserable because you're a bad person and you've brought this on yourself. If you don't have friends, it's because you're awful to be around. Easy! Solved the problem for you. And no, there is no nuance to this, got it? So, make sure to feel bad about feeling bad, but don't feel bad about it, because, well, that's just gross. And annoying! You might've wanted your brain rotted thoughts to be Peer Reviewed, you might have just needed to vent- you might've been hoping for some comfort, to get things off your chest. Well, don't! Don't talk about thoughts or feelings that are negative with your friends, you'd be burdening them and that's only meant for THERAPY. #SponsoredbyBetterHelp #MentalHealth like, DAMN. that's so helpful. you're so good at helping. I um really liked the part where these are all hard and fast rules that encourage keeping feelings bottled up and keeping your friends at arm's length. That's really funny of you.

[thegamingcatmom]

Uhh...y´all know you can just...not read it, right? It´s still up to you to actually click on that work and see what it´s all about. Which you´ve done, apparently. Because why else would you sit here and call ppl (who you´ve probs never met irl) all sorts of things for enjoying such fictional content? Which brings me to my other points:

...how are you gonna sit here and say that just because something is fiction that ethics and morals and values don't fucking matter?

Because that´s exactly the point. Do you think that just because someone writes about certain situations, they wanna be in those situations?? Or would enjoy putting others in those situations?? By that logic, I´m looking to get fucking chased through the woods in the middle of the night, only to get kidnapped and dragged to god knows where in Alaska.

(I mean-)

The main difference between fiction and reality is that, in fiction, you can go absolutely bonkers without hurting anyone but your own sanity.

...you're enjoying consuming that media that in real life would be harmful to other people.

Exactly. It would be harmful in real life. So I don´t see the problem here, tbh.

The argument that these characters do other crimes that are bad. It doesn't matter.

I absolutely agree. It doesn´t matter if a character has committed previous crimes or not - you can still turn them into the worst kind of monster. You can take the nicest character and transform them into your worst nightmare. That´s the thing about fiction:

The only limit is your own imagination.

It is so unbelievably disrespectful to the creators of any media...

...Huh? Are you talking about Capcom or?

If so, how exactly is it "disrespectful" to sit your ass down for hours on end to feverishly write about your favorite characters and put your own spin on them? Writing is still art, and art isn´t always pretty. Sometimes, it´s meant to be horrifying and disgusting. And, to be brutally honest with ya-

...I don´t think Capcom really cares what kind of stuff the fandom produces, as long as the hype´s still going strong. But you´re free to disagree with me ofc. ✌🏻

Honest question though: Do you know of any cases in which Capcom has openly complained about the way their fans portray these characters? I´m honestly curious about that one. 👀

Because if you said that shit to a person Irl you'd get your shit rocked, you'd get Swiss cheesed.

...Yes: In real life. Do you realize you keep debunking your own arguments?

Y'all ain't had conversations with real people in a minute. Get off the damn phone.

I mean...you dedicated a whole ass post to other ppl´s online activities. Maybe it´s you who should get off the "damn" phone? Get a breather, stop concerning yourself with the things other ppl do online. You´ll be much happier, trust me. (And I do mean that, btw.)

I don't wanna see no r@pe/noncon, no incest, no underage shit...

THEN STAY AWAY FROM IT. Why is this so hard to understand for some ppl?? 😭

It really comes down to the following:

Don´t like, don´t read. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Listen, this isn´t me attacking you or anyone else. Everyone who really knows me on here knows I´m not that type of person. I´m merely responding to what I´m seeing. And, honestly?

I´m fucking tired of seeing this witchhunt.

I´ve never experienced this kind of calling out and bashing in any other fandom. This shaming other ppl for their fictional likes and dislikes.

What gives you the right to decide what´s "suitable" for OTHERS to enjoy??

I absolutely understand that some topics just aren´t for everyone. That´s totally valid. 100%. I´m not saying you´re wrong for finding these things horrifying and appalling. Sometimes, that´s exactly what these works want to evoke in you.

But what I don´t understand is this need to stop others from enjoying that content. Content that is, in most cases, properly tagged. And that´s the thing:

Most of these work do have those tags and warnings, and y´all STILL openly complain about them? Just stay away if you can´t stomach these topics. End of the story. Problem solved.

I´m sorry (not really), but I just had to get this out because this is getting ridiculous.

Ya'll goofy mfs piss me off. Cause how are you gonna sit here and say that just because something is fiction that ethics and morals and values don't fucking matter? The reason that it's problematic is because you're enjoying consuming that media that in real life would be harmful to other people. That is why it's problematic because you are enjoying something that inherently is harmful and unethical. The argument that these characters do other crimes that are bad. It doesn't matter. It is so unbelievably disrespectful to the creators of any media to take their work and make the characters in a way that is NOT just ooc. It's you making a character who is like a morally grayer, arguably bad person and then making them commit atrocities that genuinely are some of the worst things someone can do to another person. That's what I don't understand about you guys. You need to hop off the internet and go talk to people in the real world. Because if you said that shit to a person Irl you'd get your shit rocked, you'd get Swiss cheesed. That's what's wrong with y'all. Y'all ain't had conversations with real people in a minute. Get off the damn phone. I don't wanna see no r@pe/noncon, no incest, no underage shit and yall defend it cause you're weird. They need to check y'alls hard drives istg. If you all disagree with this, please block me cause we are not for each other, Bro. I will never understand you.