#Me taking this screenshot because I love this exact shot so I needed it with Ashley

[flame2ashes]

Finally finished Tuchanka......

[lexithwrites]

sorry for the long read but this is important (aka lets talk about plagiarism)

hello! so, if anyone remembers the other day i posted a lil snippet for a smutshot involving remus/sirius/james. originally, someone got very upset about the lack of tags and accused me of writing SA—it was not SA, it was teasing someone and edging them, but i digress. people misread things all the time and thats whatever—and they privately messaged me accusing the same thing and saying i needed to tag better as i had triggered them. i deleted the post not wanting to upset anyone else, apologised for upsetting them then whilst trying to explain my work and explain how it wasnt SA, they blocked me. that's fair and i moved on learning my lesson as i clearly did something wrong.

what isn't fair, is rewriting said work for yourself and posting it on YOUR ao3 account.

i was sent the story and commented:

you deleted this post almost immediately and proceeded to say it isn't plagiarism. this is the definition of plagiarism btw:

that's what you did. it's the exact same scenario, it's a threesome, and the dialogue is VERY similar. the premise for the scene is the same. I've got some screenshots of both works below to highlight this:

MINE:

THEIRS:

now this isn't word for word, obviously, and theirs is a longer one shot with other plot points involved, but these scenes are similar. the dialogue in particular is similar. its a slap in the face honestly; to be given shit by someone and then see that they decided to use it for themselves.

there is always consent in my work, i've never had anyone say before that this is an issue as my finished works have discussions of safe words and safe sex and boundaries. pretty much everything i've ever written that involves sex has a conversation regarding safe words. i clearly tagged it wrong and i will admit that. i will take the blame for that and tag accordingly from now on.

but you used my work for your own. and also (since you added this to the ao3 post i'll include it) you admitted to using my work:

'inspired by some drama'

YOU REWROTE WHAT I MADE. YOU USED SIMILAR DIALOGUE. THE SAME SETTING. YOU JUST MADE IT YOUR OWN AND ARE ACTING LIKE THAT ISN'T PLAGIARISM??

like—

just because you didn't think i would 'appreciate' being mentioned does not mean you do it?? you literally admitted to 'tweaking' it and writing it yourself. this is such stupid fucking drama and so unnecessary what did you want to gain from this??

do not use other peoples fucking work. SIMPLE.

also i shouldnt have to say this but dont give this person shit. dont send hate in my name, its not worth it and not the point of this post whatsoever .im not naming them, they know who they are even if they've blocked me. i dont care if you see this, honestly i hope you see it. just please take plagiarism seriously because its annoying af and weird

ANYWAY have a lovely day <3

[seventeenlovesthree]

Quick thoughts on the Digimon Adventure 25th anniversary PV

First things first: It got me incredibly teary. It was beautifully nostalgic while still giving it a fresh paint to some degree. I feel like this is what Butterfly could have been if Toei decided to merge Digimon with One Piece - because just like it's the case with OP openings, there are always so many things going on that it takes numerous rewatches to see what's going on. So let's break it down, shall we?

So the PV was an overall homage to some of Adventure's most famous/prominent scenes - but instead of re-animating it 1:1, they merged several scenes that didn't happen in the exact same way. The only 1:1 shots could be seen when the 8 kids got their "sad moments montage" each. So, what's new, what's memorable, what does the PV tell us about the characters?

They animated the novel scene of the baby Digimon meeting their partners - which was absolutely adorable. If you didn't go "awww" at Tsunomon, Tanemon, Pyocomon, didn't chuckle at Pukamon and didn't melt at Koromon, I cannot help you!

Then we got the montage - and the amount of "low res shots" I will take in the next few weeks will be insane, because they were absolutely beautiful. But let's go step by step - I will not discuss every moment, just my favourites, since we got A LOT of group shots!

Here we already see a lot of common themes: First of all, Taichi is depicted to be incredibly curious, basically exploring the entire time. Of course he radiates happy MC energy overall, which I will always adore, but also seems more serious than we're used to. (Unless... he's bickering with Yamato. Which is a common theme for him after all, but I will get to that in a second.) The other theme is Mimi's >o< face, which I will never get tired of. They really hammer down the point that she is NOT happy with the situation they're on and finds something to complain about throughout the first few episodes;

We even get a merge of episode 5 and 10 here! Koushirou is usually seen thinking and theorizing (before he's being interrupted by something/someone). Sora's theme overall is... Being pretty chill, I'd say? We'll get to that in a minute as well. Yamato is the resident cook of the group (THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH EGGS THOUGH) and Takeru's job is just being adorable (meanwhile Hikari unfortunately suffers from a severe lack of screentime, but that was to be expected)...

But what about Jyou, you may ask? I feel like he'd deserve his very own post, because... Boy is straight up not having a good time and may or may not have several life crises in a row. Aside from Mimi, Palmon and Taichi, Jyou might provide the best low res screenshots and, like I said, I will have a blast looking for them.

I also really love the snowball fight there. Oh look, Takeru is attacked by snowballs again, where have I seen that again in the past 12 months??? Sora's helping Jyou to build up his safe space, meanwhile Koushirou has to play mediator between Taichi and Koushirou (welcome to your life for the next 30 years at least, my boy). Speaking of Yamataishirou...

You may have noticed that the scenes are out of order - and I also noticed a little mistake in this screenshot here! hile it is true that Taichi, Agumon, Yamato and Koushirou were missing from the group and the others were ordered to mediate - Patamon was not Patamon yet though, but still Tokomon!

Again, there are so many scenes to show, and I will just post a few more, but will only talk in more detail about two scenes here;

I absolutely ADORE the Gennai scene, oh my God. There was absolutely no need for these absolute dorks to collapse on top of each other, and yet here we are, 5/6 are, once again, not having a good time... And THEN THERE IS MIMI, who we saw complaining the whole time, and now she's having the time of her life falling on top of her found family pile (Sora and Koushirou in particular by the way). Meanwhile Takeru is just like... What the heck did I just look at. Absolutely amazing. 10/10, would watch again.

In case you haven't noticed, I feel like Mimi got pretty much the biggest piece of cake in this PV - and thus we were blessed by the most beautiful Jyoumi scene we've seen in a while. Wholesome. 10/10, would watch again. Also, Sora just enjoying her tea - GOOD FOR HER.

I just love all of this so much, I do love the following montages, the fight against Apocalymon, the ending got me teary again... I love them all so much.

[italianpersonwithashippersheart]

Only Friends Ep 5 Thoughts

PRE-EP: I want to start by saying that I think that I got a handle on Mew's character now. Thanks to a couple of great posts and that screenshot about Jojo talking about Mew being a swiftie and listening to King of My Heart currently as of ep 4. My current stance (in brief) is that this is a guy who is feeling big things(love/like) for the first time ever, and is making a lot of concession to his checklist and perfect guy mindset because he doesn't want to stop seeing Top and potentially not feel like that anymore. He is well on his way of falling in love. I do still half wish there was a more Manipulative side to Mew, but I made my peace with it not being there. I hope the ep doesn't make me re-think everything again and maybe gets me some confirmation about self-aware Mew is this moment, that would be nice.

Onto the EP

Sand EP!!!! I love that Sand this is set up is basically my life was routine and normal and then Ray came along. And I can't decide if that sounds more like a rom-com setting, or a sci-fi/fantasy one.

Sand as a bit of anger problem I think, not in a super obvious dangerous way, but in a quick to anger, quick to throw hands way. Nothing new but I feel like I should point it out, because people have been acting like we have not seen Sand's flaws since the first ep.

QUEER SOLIDARIETY!!! We love to see it!!

Ray really is the disprutor to Sand's everything. Do you guy think they fucked?

Cockblocking count: 2

I love Nick and Sand little smiles as they exit the kitchen, also their friendship banter is immaculate.

Top instilling the doubt. I can see the Mew will get/steal the hostel from Ray agenda getting stronger.

How do Ray and Sand go from cute to hot in like 5 sec

STOP TRYING TO TAKE GLASSES OUT OF PEOPLE THAI BLS!! I FUCKING MEAN IT!!! Glasses are a totally normal part of life, do not take out Mew's glasses or so help me!!

Also Top suggesting the Lasik and then saying but I do like you better looking a bit nerdy is just 10/10 I love it.

I love that you can see Boston really doesn't care for this particular course (because he is doing out of family obligation). Also love that you can see the exact moment Boston's thought turn not safe for work.

Boston is chosing violence on poor Nick today. He is happy and wary at the same time. And it also feels so much like the calm before the storm.

You know the fact that Boston can't ever answear any of Nick's question without dismissing it as love stuff, like baby other people need more then you do. You have to give him something. Also love Nick going I want to know if I can sleep with others too, that is what I wanted him to say.

So someone already tried to take a secret video of Boston having sex. Also Boston seems to be either working on his thoughts in real time, or it's all rouse for Nick's benefit and that was the plan all along. I can't decide.

Cockblocking count: 3 (now with more then one couple)

Good to know Sand's Mom and his connection to the go-go bar. Also that was such a nasty trick. Like come on, you got him worried for nothing. Not the best Mother in the world is she? She loves him but she so flighty. Sand shouldn't be shouldering your debts and his school, You should not be bragging about that.

Top-Mew being shot more romantic rather then then sexy and a little more fade to black feels like a delibarate choice. A very interesting one.

I love them, the more they make me root for Ray and Sand the more the future hurts already.

Cockblocking count: 4 - or 5 since they techinically cockblocked each other

If you stop at the right moment you can see the exact second his heart breaks after Ray sad we're friends.

Sand no longer wants to be alone with Ray - because of that we're just friends comment. He does't sleep with Friends Ray he told you that.

I can't decide if I love or hate Boston right now. Because like Sand needed to know, but also dick move.

He fully admitted to the picture, probably because of the alchool. Boston deserved that punch.

WAIT!!! They even screwed???? I thought that was a lie?????? why repeat it now like he believes it??? It makes no sense to repeat a lie right now and like that?

Thier friendship is already falling apart.

NOOOOOOOOO WHY WOULD YOU HURT ME LIKE THIS JOJO!!!!!!!!!!!!

The preview looks interesting. It also looks like they are going for the lasik. I should have known, it was too good to be true. Glasses don't last long in BLs.

My thoughts on Mew are still solid. But now it feels like Mew is even less self aware then I thought/hoped. Which is a dissapointment. Of course he might be, and this is all just a ruse. But I don't really know anymore.

[katieqnmr]

Camera for St Cats 😵‍💫😁

As I’ve said before, I was really nervous about doing camera for the first time ever (basically) I had made Orla promise me a beautiful camera team, and now I had to do the work. The thing is, I was scared that even doing all the preparation I possibly could wouldn’t ensure that I would feel ready to film…

But I had to get over the fear and once I instead began to be excited about what the project would look like I was able to delve into researching what I wanted the camera to tell about the characters I’d written. I almost think camera and writing is a god-level combo, it’s perhaps too much power(?) but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy having so much input into the characters I had spent so much time with the previous months. Also orla kept me in check ;)…

In part of my preparation for camera, I browsed a ton of film stills on shotdeck, which I had to get a free trial for. Shotdeck is really great. The stills are super high-quality and feel like they pulled from a range of films. I still think they’re lacking a few but for what I needed, it did a great job. Even though I love drawing, I’m not a huge fan of storyboards, because I feel like I just get lost in all the details and take so long to do them that they don’t serve as a useful reference point anymore. I can’t seem to be able to hand in half completed work, and stick figures would never satisfy the desire I have for detail.

So? The solution is to find as many screenshots as can explain what I was thinking. My first port of call was Normal People, because Orla had found some shots of it when we were discussing the moods of each scene, and I was just taken immediately. It had the exact kind of realism but beauty that I wanted to capture. I loved the use of lens lengths too. It felt really personal but didn’t stray into documentary territory.

Confession: I still haven’t watched Normal People (neither has Orla!) but I don’t think I had to to understand the shots. The fact that I didn’t know what each scene was saying, yet I could feel so much and get so much character depth means that they did a really good job.

I used stills from other films as well, especially scene 3 I was always referring back to this 4 shot from Waves, (DOP Drew Daniels). ^ but Normal People formed the bulk of my inspiration for this exercise specifically. There were also plenty of scenes where I came up with shots with no inspiration, except for the medley of whatever stuff is in my brain (hard to find a source for that). I was able to visualise exactly what I wanted without having to storyboard it, and it also gave me a really good idea for the lighting of each scene. I could adapt each to be personal to what I wanted. There were no shots that were exactly mirrored in Saint Catherine‘s, because I obviously wanted to use my own creativity. There is one shot (6.1) that is very inspired by normal people, but we changed the focus to be on her other eye in Saint Cat’s.

Seeing the shots already existing made me feel less nervous, and I think as a beginner allowed me to begin to be confident in what I was going to create. I also found this incredibly specific shot from a music video that had the softness of light that I wanted from Scene 7.

I also really enjoyed the chats I had about lighting with Alex who is clearly the most passionate and talented gaffer I’ve had the pleasure of working with haha - he had such good ideas about how we could achieve each shot. When I had questions about where we would light from or what kind of light we would use, he had an answer. Alex is just incredibly knowledgeable and adaptable, and I felt like I was in very safe hands.

As the shoot went by, I felt like I was able to really imbue the film with my own creativity and perspective. I feel so happy that I was given the freedom to explore what I wanted to. The shoot itself was so calm and days just flew by…we were finishing early or on time every day, and everything felt like it was going a very easy pace! The Saint Cat’s shoot is definitely the one I felt most at home and most inspired by. :) I loved doing the cinematography for Saint Cats, and I wish I had found the confidence to do it earlier.

[invinciblerodent]

looking through the literal 600+ screenshots I took from the Morphic Pool onwards, and, uh. few small things.

did Astarion always stand with his hip just even so slightly knocked to the side. Did this man always have this little Pose going on. Did I just forget while I wasn't playing a dwarf and couldn't see below roughly the level of his waist that he just... default stands like he's about to say the most incredibly flippant bullshit ever.

this one conversation with Gale was 3 lines. it's also a repeat of a conversation I already had with him. in horrible lighting. I took 45 shots of it.

final shot tally for Karlach: 75. Astarion: 84. the final tally for all my shots of Gale, in which he is making one of the three same exact bloody faces he makes, in the same robe he's been wearing for half the game: 245. yes, he's just standing there.

my reaction to being emotional appears to be spamming F12.

thanks babe, it's the fact that I have 20 WIS to your 10. But tbh it's more concerning that you know this though, because that means you still felt the need to ask me to let your blow yourself up three godsdamned times KNOWING that I'm twice as wise as you and have so far told you several times.

just look at him. he looks so exasperated. so bloody tired.

"love, we had this same conversation all of 15 minutes ago. i'm willing to tell you to please don't as many times as it takes, but after the third time this past hour, i am starting to get the feeling that you just want the heroic self-sacrifice for narrative purposes, and don't actually feel all that strongly about the whole Mystra thing."

[hey-sherry]

Act VI Screenshots and OPINIONS and spoilers and yeah yeah

Here we go! The place from all of those trailers! :D

(Some screenshots have been brightened up to look better on Tumblr)

The pre-rendered cut-scenes are gorgeous in this game, I wish there was more because I want to look at all the art in its beautiful glory.

I was quite happy with the white lilies as a guide, as I use them a lot in my own art because they remind me of a canal where I grew up... quite similar to this swamp, actually! So this area felt a little bit like home. A dreary home, but nevertheless! I thought that the choice to either follow the instructions or just explore the swamp a bit more felt really organic. We don't follow the main quest in this house, so I had fun getting lost and looking at the sunken cabins and getting eaten by the alligators. I wish there had been a side-quest or perhaps a special secret area to find, but it's also not really a time for that, so that's fine.

For Frogwares, the water lilies may be a subtle reference for Water Lily Games that released the SH hidden object games? Not sure, but it fits!

I got "lost" in precisely one place, and that is right after Watson shot down the bodies to feed the alligators. For some reason, it took me about a dozen deaths to realise I need to go back to the boat, and not continue forward. lol. Sherlock Holmes I am not!

This is as good as place as any for a mini-rant, but here goes (and yes, you have heard this one before): I am so annoyed with how random the beard thing is. They both have it, then in the cut-scene they don't, then Watson randomly gets a stubble, then then... I was never a fan of it, but the inconsistency made it worse. It made a lot more sense towards the end of the chapter and I'm okay with that.

The outfits, too! I love changing outfits in TA and CO, it's half the fun for me. But TA snaps the outfits back so often (or prevents me from picking a new one entirely!) that it's just not really fun. I completely understand that a certain outfit may be needed so you don't look like a complete clown in a serious cut-scene, but yeah... it's been kind of frustrating in the last few chapters.

Rant over, onwards! :D

I didn't take a cap of The Void (just gonna use the Dishonored term here), but I loved that puzzle SO much!!! It was just the right amount of challenging, the mirror puzzle was super cool in concept, and Sherlock having to kill himself as he calls out for Jon and Watson was just *chef's kiss* the manpain and agony I've been hoping for. Yes, I like to suffer, and I like to see my blorbos suffer. Very normal!

Watson taking the reins at the end of chapter was so great, I love to see him more confident and assertive.

The weird trance... then the exact moment from the CO ending (apologies for the derpy screenshot)... yes yesssss very gooooddddd

I enjoyed this chapter IMMENSELY!

You don't say 💀

And what a way to end the chapter! LOVED it. Oh, the redesign for Champagne and Lucy is really neat, and I really liked both of them as characters.

Now I'm ready for some quality drama, weee!

[ikilledamanforthisurl]

Minami x6 you are okay boss everyone needs to recharge sometimes……. Im actually extremely head empty today so apologies if this is like just Entirely Words V_V But real real…… I wish there was more general discussion of Majima's relationship with his family because iirc it wasn’t even something he asked for initially but he gets it Anyways and now he just has to deal with it. But not only that it soon becomes somehow The Biggest Family in the tojo which leads now to Majima basically being responsible for like so much of the clan to the point where he’s constantly getting threatened because there’s no one else TO threaten anymore the tojo is in such shambles…. and well how are you expecting him to act normally and kindly in this sort of situation. I wish the games took it more seriously because I feel like at least w what we see of Nishida Majima's casual violence and abuse is treated a bit too Jokingly but like I get why he’s Like That. World is a hell the cycles just keep continuing forever! Also nah you’re okay for tangents I also actually love Majima a lot I just feel myself break out into hives whenever I have to witness fandom Majima Family stuff where a lot of it treats it as though it’s just like funny cutesy hahas and not like an Organisation of extremely violent and fucked up people who realistically probably don’t know how to really interact with each other and the interesting ways this could be shown. Like i love shitposts top but come on gang. Png

Also I hope you don’t take this poorly but I have no idea who Aratani is <///3 I couldn’t find him on the wiki and Im not super far yet in the yakuza franchise so you’ll have to excuse me if your points In Regards to majima family members which one actually is taken seriously and which one is not Im just nodding along. But YES real I loooveeeeeee the whole minor theme of like reputation and stories in yakuza…. I think Kiryu is the most notable example of this with how much reverence people put on his name and how it affects like important characters (nishiki most obviously but also Ryuji and the whole debate of “There can only be one dragon” etc) but Majima would definitely also have stories about him that would spread far and wide and it doesn’t matter if they’re true or even real at all because it’s the Image that lingers and that would affect the people around him too most importantly to this discussion Minami. Wants to be somebody ism IS real and i am shaking it around by the neck

Minami might be a lil side character goofy guy but he is my friend and ill put the work into developing him if i must. RGG hire me for my spin off game where you are a employee at Majima construction and you do building minigames and get to hang out with and get to know better Nishida and Minami respectively amen. And i hope the playlist making of one day goes well <33

FEAR NOT! i have pickture of the sulking wretched fiend.....

I'm afraid i don't have a screenshot of him not going on about his whole deal but he's literally patriarch-gunner personified....... Aratani (and most other M.Family men that i'll ever mention for a while besides Minami and Nishida) is a Dead Souls exclusive! i am currently watching a playthru of DS because i've already exposed myself to spoilers a'plenty cause idrc + i think having the most atrocious watchorder of Yakuza is really really funny. We've gone from all of Y0 shown to me by an ex > a lil bit of Y1 > Dead Souls > and then imma do either Y7 or Y3. i enjoy making things harder for myself

also ive had the exact same wishful thinking to myself....... sidecharacter spinoff game...... where u just hang out with them or some shit whatever. most loserific iteration being a Minami focused one because Who Even Wants That but i'll own it idc i have ideas. i have plans. the haters (rggstudios legal team) will sabotage me etc etc. i'd like to think i could have an okay shot at balancing the At First I Lol'd with the But Then I Serioused in a way that's satisfying 'cause both are integral to these characters to me. just like, two more seconds of thinking implications of Anything through would do this series Wonders

but sidetracking cause you mentioned M.Construction and its got me Thinking Again cause like.... i like the idea of balancing Nishida + Minami as opposites in many ways who clash and struggle to fit in with the other. they're not perfect opposites by any means but they function pretty closely. i like stressed, decent Nishida representing the side of the family involved with M.Con while lenient punk twat Minami is firmly planted in the Yakuza side. if Junior Leader is at all involved with a training position then that kind of helps prop up this idea a little bit.... though, ofc, there would be plenty overlap, having so many men on payroll practically requires you to make jobs for them, so it's not like the Family is divided into these two sectors or anything.... lots of mixing of shifts goes down no doubt. whether there is a method to this assignment is another story entirely (probably depends on each person's strengths, abilities, whether they applied for sitework specifically, or as punishment/reward)

(shit i made up territory) Minami is probably assigned to M.Con worksites often.... probably as punishment 'cause you already know this man got the 80HDeez he can't sit still and not cause trouble for the life of him. it both keeps him in one place and occupied while still holding over his head that he Fucked Up, Dummy. oh great, now I gotta deal with Nishida's bullshit (petty squabbling ensues in the office that's my setup to get the two to interact on a regular basis anyways.... there's lots of fun to be had with these two, but so little actually bridges them together. they're SOOO WORSTIES but they work on the other ends of the Family. one's at Oyaji's beck-and-call and the other is kept as far away from Oyaji as possible the millisecond he annoys him a lil too much. one belongs in finance and requires anxiety drugs while the other can't dress himself and needs rehab. oh my god theyre so (crushes them in my hands like putty

[cosalphonse]

not trying to be mean but i am curious why you refer to brotherhood's artstyle as ugly. i think it's perfectly fine? other anime are wayyyyy worse

okay i'll preface by saying 1. the post where i said bh had an ugly art style came from me just being annoyed as hell and in reality it's not that bad 2. everything i'm about to say is, as always, just my own opinion so Take That As You Will 3. i'm not a professional artist, i'm simply a hobbyist, so what i have to say doesn't come from much of a professional background

but with that out of the way, i'm just gonna try and focus this discussion on character art. i'm gonna start by just comparing the eds side by side

like, it's hard for me to pinpoint what exactly makes me prefer 03 ed, but something about his design just feels so much more aesthetically pleasing. 03's style is just so iconic, most of ed's most iconic and recognizable renders are ones that are from the 03 style

here's a few in-show screenshots from each. here i wanna point out two things that bug the hell out of me that are prominent in bh's style: the huge eyes and the coloring of ed's hair. just, look at how Huge bh ed's eyes look in comparison to 03's (this problem is even worse in the female characters) and this is 100% just personal preference but i HATE the fact that the lineart of ed's hair is different than the rest of his body. like, it makes it feel so inconsistent to me. sure, bh ed looks fine, but for me when i prop him up next to 03 ed i'm just like.... what happened to you sweetie. also i'm not gonna fully compare adult eds because i am WAY too biased towards cos's character designs but i'll just say that i also dislike how ed ages in bh, he feels so awkwardly bulky and Square and his age progression in 03 just feels so much more realistic and natural.

okay moving on to more screenshots. just so i don't make any unfair comparisons, i'm going to compare these Exact Same Shots in 03 vs bh

like.... again this is all just preference but i prefer the thinner lines, the consistently colored lineart, the more grounded coloring. and there's just something about the eyes, the way 03 does expressions, that elevates it to a whole other level. because look at the Difference between ed's expressions here, like wow. 03's is so subtle but nuanced, i love the way his eyebrows furrow and the little lines under his eyes. in bh he's just.... mildly worried. which is fine, like yeah this scene isn't super emotional or sad so it doesn't NEED to be stellar, but 03 took this small moment and elevated it with a deeper level of expression.

since we're talking depth of expression in 03, here's an even BETTER example of just how FAR 03 pushes its expressions and how poignant they are

03 ed's reaction to seeing al be shattered by scar

bh ed's reaction to the same exact situation. LIKE? THERE'S NO COMPETITION. and again i don't really know all the technical terms so this might be due to better directing rather than better artstyle, but this is one of my absolute favorite things about 03's art. it feels so much more emotional because of these incredible expression. and bh is so lackluster in comparison, like even in bh scenes that i think are powerful (like ed busting open the gate when he sees al's body), i think they could be even more powerful with deeper expressions

i could definitely talk more about this but it's getting late and i also don't want this to become a full on essay so i'll just wrap it up by saying that bh is not that bad, and yes, there are tons of anime that look way WAAAAAY worse. but i still think that in comparison to 03, it falls short to me

[lightsovermonaco]

His Good Sweater: Chapter 5

Masterlist

Shoutout to @acollectionofficsandshit for being my sounding board and beta reader! She's the absolute best a girl could ask for, thanks my love!

Word Count: 3.0k

Recommended song: "The Heart is a Muscle" by Gang of Youths

You woke before the sun, Pierre's bare chest pressed to your back and an arm slung over your middle. You wiggle in his grasp, trying to be sneaky as you turn to face him but ultimately waking him. You run a finger over his lips as they curve upwards before biting lightly. You draw back and he laughs quietly.

"Morning," You whisper, head throbbing slightly. "I feel like I got hit by a train."

"Knocking back four or five shots in a few hours will do that to you." Pierre stretches, arching his back and exposing his neck. The slight mark you left the night before had darkened into a true, unmissable bruise. The reminder of it sent a thrill down your spine, and you couldn't resist ghosting your lips over the hurt.

He sighs, cupping your chin and bringing your mouth up to his. The kiss is lazy, both of you still too ensnared by sleep to put any heat into it. 

You stayed tangled in him until Yuki called to remind Pierre they had to be at the airport by eight. You helped him pack as slowly as you could manage, a stone settling in your gut. When the time came, Pierre hadn’t wanted to leave, only relenting when Yuki called again to say the jet was waiting on him. 

The longing wasn't something that normally hit you this hard when Pierre left. It was new, the edges raw and unhealed when you poked at it. Everything on campus Tuesday reminded you of him, from the sunlight hitting the lab table to the rare cloudless blue of the London sky. 

Just when you’d gotten over the sting of his absence, the news broke. Charles sent you the link to the article, simply captioned, 'You will want to read this.'

Gasly snogs mystery girl in London bar, the headline read. And fuck, that was a grainy picture of you standing between his legs, fingers tangled in his hair. You scroll through the article, heart in your throat, praying you weren’t called out by name.

By some small miracle, whoever had taken the photos hadn’t gotten one of your face. Against your better judgement, you checked the comments.

That was where your name came up. Fans had connected the dots. Your hair had been up that night, but it was the exact same shade as the picture. Your instagram had been filled with photosets of London for months, and Pierre had flown out early before Silverstone. Clearly he had been meeting someone. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that you were the one in the photos, even if the article didn't mention you directly.

The first DM didn’t come for a few hours. It was nasty, the user hurling cruel words at you that struck your chest like tiny knives. Plenty more followed, threats and names alike. 

Gold digger.

Does she really think she deserves him?

He could do so much better.

You couldn’t bear attending classes. You sent Pierre the link to the damning article and stayed in your apartment and sobbed. The fans- if they could even be called such a thing- pulled no punches. Every DM and comment struck home, until you eventually had to turn your phone off and curl up in bed, defeated.

People are cruel, you thought, wiping the tears that streak down your cheeks. 

You kept your phone off for a few hours before you gathered the courage to check it again. You immediately uninstall any and all social media, unwilling to let it affect you further than it already had. But messages pour in, most from Pierre and a few from your brother.

Hell yeah! Was all your brother sent, along with a screenshot of the article. Your mouth twists, the memory of the comments washing over you again.

Pierre’s messages were the ones that broke you. There were close to a dozen of them, accompanied by missed calls and panicked voicemails. 

“Are you okay? Please pick up the phone, my love, I need to hear that you’re okay. I love you. Please call me back.”

The last message, time stamped from a half hour earlier, simply said, “I’m getting on a plane.”

A fresh sob wracks your body. You press a hand to your mouth, trying to silence it. God, he was so pure hearted. You knew the comments would hurt him just as much as they hurt you, if not more. He would blame himself, when in reality, it had been a mutual mistake. Either one of you should have recognized the risks of your actions. But you couldn't let him risk his career for it. You could make it through… somehow.

I’m okay, you type, hating that you had to lie. You don’t need to come to London.

I’m already in the air, He informs you, and you curse softly. He would have hell to pay upon returning to Austria, even if he had somehow convinced Tost to let him leave at the last minute.

I'll be there soon

The flight from Vienna to Heathrow was about two and a half hours, which meant you had that long to pull yourself together. You didn’t want Pierre to see you broken. You shower and change into slightly less ragged sweatpants and an oversized shirt. You grab your laptop, quickly emailing your professors to apologize for missing lecture unannounced and informing them you wouldn’t be there the rest of the week either. You'd need time to sort out your head before facing your peers.

Pierre’s knock came far too quickly. You’d barely assembled your face into a mask of resolve before the door opened. Whatever semblance of control you'd managed to construct came crashing down at the sight of him. He looks just as distraught as you, eyes red and cheeks flushed.

Before he says a word, he gathers you in his arms, tucking your head to his chest. Your lip wobbles, and when he whispers “I’m so sorry,” the tears fall in earnest. For less than a week, you’d been on top of the world with Pierre by your side. You’d gotten to enjoy the idea of being his girlfriend for six days before reality stepped in and ruined it.

You clutch at his shirt, fighting hard to piece yourself back together. Now that he was there, the dam had burst and no amount of willpower could keep the sobs back. 

Pierre sweeps you up, one arm under your knees and the other keeping you tight to him as he carries you to your bedroom. He climbs into bed, shoes and all, and keeps you in his lap as he strokes your hair. He sniffles, softly enough that you know he's trying to be strong for you.  The realization that he's crying too just makes it hurt that much more.

"I'm sorry," He whispers again and again, as if the two syllables were the only ones he remembered. You can't find your voice to tell him you don't blame him or how much his presence means. 

Instead, you press your face into the soft cotton of his sweater. He doesn't move except to stroke a calloused hand over your hair. You let his presence wash over you until your breathing turns more even and your fingers stop trembling. 

"H-how were you able to leave Austria?" Your voice shakes, but you tilt your head up to face him. He quickly wipes away the wetness on his cheeks with a sleeve.

"I just left. The only one I told was Yuki. He said he'd cover for me. I saw the comments and I couldn't think straight. I didn't want you to believe them." The look he turns on you is an apology. "When I called and it didn't even ring, I had to get to you."

"I don't think you'll be welcomed back with open arms," You point out, and he presses a tender kiss to your brow.

"They can be pissed at me all they want. I don't care. I needed to be here." You wouldn't admit it, but he was right. The fact that he'd risked everything to comfort you helped you ignore what those users had said. Nothing could ever erase the words, but Pierre’s presence dulled their impact.

“I already petitioned for the article to be removed,” Pierre says softly. “Don’t know if it’ll amount to anything, but it’s worth a shot.”

You nod and wipe your nose on your sleeve. “It’s so much worse than I imagined.” Pierre’s cheek comes to a rest atop your head, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on your arm. “I get that I’m not the only one that loves you. But it’s like they don’t remember that I’m human.”

“People are bold when they're speaking to a screen instead of another person.” 

"It was so much easier before anyone knew," You say, words dipped in longing. Rumors had never swirled when you had kept your distance, you'd made sure of it. But now that the secret was out… Would your life be spent dodging threats and dealing with negativity?

He pauses, thumb stilling. “Do you… Do you want it to go back to the way things were before? When we were... friends?"

Your head whips around. “What?”

“It isn’t fair that you have to go through this because of me,” He explains. “I hate the fact that I’m the one causing you pain. The way you’re being treated is only because I live in the spotlight.”

“It’s not your fault,” You assert, placing a hand on his stubbled cheek. “Please don’t blame yourself.”

“Maybe it would be easier if we-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” You say sternly. You force him to look at you, his eyes storming like the sea. “We’ll figure it out. Our emotions got the best of us last week. We just have to be more careful, keep this behind closed doors. We don’t need to flaunt it, right? Just tell the press that you want to keep your private life private, and I’ll take a break from social media. We can figure it out.”

Pierre nodded in agreement. His voice is scratchy, like he had swallowed gravel. “Alright.”

“It’s us against the world,” You tell him, “And I couldn’t ask for a better teammate.” Your lips ghost against his in an attempt to reassure him. He returns the kiss, firmer and more confident. Your hand slips to the nape of his neck, drawing him in as your tongue glides against his lower lip. 

Last week, you’d fucked. But tonight, the sex was something else entirely. It was soft sighs and languid kisses, whispered words of adoration and promises of endless love. Above all, it was an affirmation. Pierre loved you; heart, mind, and soul. In every sense of the word. He would let nothing come between you and himself. Not his career, jealous fans, or the thousands of miles that may sometimes separate you.

Pierre offered you his heart, and you accepted it without question.

**********

The few precious hours Pierre managed to give you were enough to keep you afloat the rest of the week. The break from seemingly endless lectures helped to reset your mind and give you time to focus on yourself.

Pierre called as often as he could, and texted when he couldn’t. You filled him in on the little things you did to keep busy, like how you spent all of Sunday rearranging your tiny apartment so that your bed was as close to his in Austria as you could get it. Monday night, you fell asleep on Facetime with him as you tried and failed to write a term paper for your architectural history class. 

Pierre’s visit and subsequent calls had made you feel invincible. But the moment you walk into the lecture hall on Tuesday, everyone’s eyes are on you: the first test of your newly minted confidence. Chin held high, you meet a few of their stares and take your usual seat at the front. The moment you start to question yourself, if you're ready to face the scrutiny, your phone buzzes with a text from Pierre.

Ignore them. Remember that I love you. I’ll call you tonight.

Once again, he somehow knew exactly what you needed to hear. It amazed you that a handful of carefully selected words could grant you so much strength. But it was proof that Pierre recognized and accepted your fears and was willing to help you work through them. 

You take a breath, letting the whispers of your classmates fade until they were nothing more than a faint hum. You turn your focus on the professor as she enters, falling into your usual cadence. Easy. You could ignore the gossip until they got tired of it and left you alone. Their fascination couldn’t last more than a few days. 

You made it through the rest of your classes and walked home without incident. No one ran up to you and demanded you explain your relationship with Pierre. Your worst fears had been abated. The stress of it rolls off your shoulders when you make it to your apartment. It was already 7 o’clock, but Pierre hadn’t called yet. Seeing as Austria was an hour ahead, you weren’t sure he would hold to his earlier promise.

Your stomach growls, and you leave your bag next to your bed before heading to the kitchen. Dinner was a box of macaroni and cheese, simple but delicious. You couldn’t stop yourself from glancing at your phone every few minutes, hoping to see Pierre’s name on the screen. 

Coming to terms with the fact that you probably wouldn't be getting a call, you settle into your favorite chair and crack open your laptop. Term papers didn't write themselves, and you still had a few thousand words to write. You lost yourself in theories and articles for a few hours before your phone breaks your concentration.

You awake?

A smile splits your face. Yeah. Working on this never ending term paper.

I'll leave you to it. Love you, sleep tight.

You laugh quietly. You agree with his 'school first' mentality most of the time, but there were exceptions to every rule. You call him, heart stuttering when he answers.

"You're supposed to be writing."

"Well, nice to hear your voice too," You say playfully. "It was boring me anyway. Who wants to read twenty pages comparing Roman and Greek columns anyway?"

"I'm pretty sure your professor does," He says with a laugh that warms your bones. If only he were standing in front of you so you could feel his chest rumble beneath your fingertips. Wanting to see his face, you switch to a video call.

"I was wondering how long that would take," He teases, smile wide and welcoming. 

"I miss you," You say softly, padding to your bed. You'd accomplished enough that you could push off writing more until tomorrow. "I wish I could come to Japan this weekend."

"Me too, my love," He responds, voice tinged with longing. "It's one of the more challenging circuits on the calendar. And you've always wanted to visit Tokyo."

You weren't surprised that he remembered that silly dream of yours. "Send me something that reminds me of you." You flick off the lights before climbing under the covers, pulling them up to your chin. "Something cute and sweet."

"I fly out tomorrow night to meet Charles. I should have some extra time to do some window shopping."

"You and Charles going on a date?" You tease, propping your head on a hand. Now that you were cozy, it was hard to keep your eyes open.

He shakes his head. "He's been… helping me with the press. Tackling it all."

"Oh." The mood sours. You decide not to dwell on it, turning to humor instead. "Give him a kiss for me as a thank you."

"He would love that," Pierre laughs. Comfortable silence blankets you, broken only by Pierre humming softly. It was a song you recognize as one of his favorites; it must have been stuck in his head.

"What time do I have to wake up on Sunday?" You mumble, struggling to stay awake while he was unknowingly serenading you.

"Do you want to watch the prerace stuff?" Papers shuffle softly on the other end as he figures it out for you. "If you do, probably like 3:30. If not, the race would be at five your time, so maybe 4:30."

"That's early. You're lucky I love you enough to sacrifice my beauty sleep."

He didn't hesitate before responding. "Luckily you don't need sleep to be beautiful."

Your mouth curls in a sleepy smile. "When you say things like that, I hate the distance between us even more."

Pierre scrubs a hand over his face. "I don't have a break for another month or so."

"I know."

Silence falls again, both of you lost in your own heads.

"You should sleep," He says finally, and you nod. Your first class was only 6 hours from now. "I'll sing to you if you promise to close your eyes and try to sleep."

Despite your best efforts, you yawn. You often called him for a song when you couldn't sleep and the time difference permitted it. Just hearing his voice was soothing enough, but a song? It was heaven. "Shouldn't be hard to do." Sleep came within minutes, Pierre's soft song your lullaby.

Tagging: @flashcal @sunshinesewis

[wannabecatwriter]

All the story asks not asked by others, please and thank you :)

😁Coming right through!

1. what’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story?

2. describe your story in three words or less

For Chronicles: Second Chances, Life.

For Witchy Days: Family, Magic, Love

3. describe (insert character here) in three words or less

I'll pick Anna and Jasper.

Anna: Emotional, Apprehensive, Artistic

Jasper: Fixer, Caring, Solid

4. how did you choose the name of your story?

For this one, it was pretty obvious. Anna is the sort of person who always expects something bad to happen. For Witchy Days, I needed a new name, since the story was no longer going to be focused on Barron and Sylvia.

Rest under cut.

5. how do you choose your characters’ names?

They are usually named after other fictional characters, or if I just like the name. Other times you just see a sim/person and think, "they're an Anna or a Rachel."

6. how long have you been working on your story for?

Witchy Days, with the BC has been around since 2017. Chronicles started in 2020, a little before the pandemic started. But other stories on this blog have been around since way before that, more like 2015.

8. what about your story are you proud of?

That sometimes, a character is going to have an arc I didn't initially even think of for them. Which is, I suppose, also an arc for me.

9. what about your story are you looking to improve on?

Dialogue!!! Not going to lie, I always feel like the dialogue doesn't flow smoothly for me.

10. is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? is there a definitive end?

Chronicles is mostly planned out. I'm still ironing out some kinks, but the reason I started working on it was that I already knew where things were going. It does have a definitive end, but knowing my schedule and how often I flip around, I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get there. Witchy Days is still full of some questions and I'm thinking of it going on for a bit more.

11. why have you decided to tell this story? are there any messages or meanings within it?

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I sort of had a dream about the main couple of Chronicles. Didn't know their exact appearance and all, but I sort of knew their vibe. And I wanted to tell about them. I think it's a story about accepting that bad things can happen in life - and about moving forward anyways.

12. do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium?

I play a little bit. It's hard for me to make new sims without giving them stories, though.

16. what about the process do you enjoy?

Seeing my characters and their lives come to life.

17. what about the process do you hate?

The technical aspect of it. Getting the game to cooperate can be a drag.

18. choose a song that reminds you of your story.

I already mentioned that Inseparables by Zaz and Pablo Alboran reminded me of Anna and Jasper. So does Kiesza's Crave.

19. choose a song that reminds you of (insert character here)

Stars by Sixx AM is Polina and Atherton's song from Witchy Days.

21. choose your least favorite shot so far.

This one came out very underwhelming, because I couldn't really pose him once he was in the water.

22. choose a favorite character from your story so far.

From Chronicles: I love Demarcus and Candace. Kevin too. They're a fun bunch and I'd love to chill with them, if they had been real.

From Witchy Days: I feel like Sylvia and Terra would both be really cool to spend some time with.

23. choose your least favorite character so far.

From Chronicles: Josie, Kevin's ex. She's really something, and not in a good way. Also, even though he played such a big part in Anna's life and she loved him, Rudy, big time. Why? If he had made her aware of some things about himself earlier, his former drug addiction, for starters, I think that whole mess could've been avoided. But he hid it from her, even though he supposedly loved her.

From Witchy Days: I wasn't a big fan of Bristol when he was younger, but I think getting stranded on a cursed island was enough of a wake-up call for him to become better.

24. are there any characters who remind you of yourself?

Anna! Seriously, we have a lot in common. And probably Jasper too, to an extent.

26. have other sim stories inspired you?

Always! Sometimes I read the stories you all write and just feel blessed that I stumbled upon them.

27. what genres would you describe your story as?

Chronicles: Melodrama (???)

Witchy Days: Fantasy

28. if you could reproduce your story in another medium (movie, novel, comic, etc.) what would you choose and why?

I think Chronicles could do well as one of those family drama tv shows. As for Witchy Days, a cartoon. I feel like fantasy stories just do better in the animated format, where you don't have to worry about bringing special effects into a live action movie/show.

29. what would your story’s rating be? (G, PG, M etc.)

To be on the safe side, I'd go with PG-13 for all of mine.

30. if you were leaving simblr and had to choose another creator to continue the story for you, who would you ask?

I haven't shared enough of my plans for the stories with anyone. But some of the people who sent me sims for the BC could probably handle Witchy Days if it came to it.

31. drop some random trivia about your story.

I started learning how to make sims 3 tattoos all so I could make a custom tat for Anna, because I headcannon that she really wants to get one. I still haven't made one for her 😂

33. Recommend another creator's story.

I'll just give a few blog names, they all have great stories.

@dandylion240 @storiesbyjes2g @treason-and-plot @nocturnalazure @pixel-bloom @helenofsimblr @budgie2budgie @softpine @pink-chevalier @someone-elsa @zosa95

I'm probably missing a bunch more, but these are some good suggestions to start with.

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Master Kohga Age of Calamity Trailer Analysis

I’m a speedy boi time for some thoughts on today’s new trailer

Ok first off THIS SHOT. Very important. Look at the Sheikah Slate filter. Last trailer I was able to write it off as some thematic choice since Robbie and Purah were Ancient Sheikah Scientists, but THIS trailer does not have that same connection. Couple this with this screenshot [credit to @rachelsmusicallife​ thanks for pointing this out to me!]

I’m under the impression that these cutscenes might be part of an overarching theme of reliving memories through the Sheikah Slate. Kinda fleshed out out theory on how this might be related to eggbot here.

“Hehehehe... Look. What. You. Did...”

The camera motion here is handheld (yes I know it’s not literally handheld but it has that feel) with Master Kohga here literally holding the camera. I’m assuming because this scene is from the direct POV of another character, perhaps Link. Which would make sense, since he is apparently accusing us of doing something. The lighting is also super weird, we’re in the Yiga Hideout (the area with the large pit where we fight Kohga in botw) but the sun is just setting with a shroud on the area. Although, I can’t exactly place the time of day because I’ve been through the hideout my fair share and no time of the day really lines up with this scene (because of the snowy Gerudo Highlands in the background, so the glistening of the sun is different) 

This is by the Great Plateau. I’m thinking near the Outpost Ruins considering this isn’t Gatepost Town since they Great Plateau’s entrance is not in view. In fact, I could probably specifically place this right....HERE

Flag poles, juts in the Plateau walls, road directly perpendicular to the Plateau. If my three years of staring at the Botw world is correct, [please Nintendo it’s the only thing I’m good at] then I’d say they’re at the Outpost Ruins. The only thing is that the houses seen here are mainly wood, while the ruins have clear stone walls

Well...I don’t mind.

This is not Master Kohga. Different voice actor, new character design, new villain! I’m assuming he’s some sort of second in command or captain, given he duel wields Windcleavers. Also not how he doesn’t have a scar on his mask in this scene

Further note, look at that chimney!!! I love that chimney, I haven’t seen that chimney before... it’s in a style that I can only really place in Castle Town, but the location is clearly not there, so best assumption is that this is another prominent Hylian Village. The Hateno style archway at the bottom right seems to support so. The house shingles definitely mean this isn’t an outpost or military ruin...[this weekend I’d love to hope into the game myself and place it exactly] the background cliffs mean this isn’t Gatepost Town either. The rock formations look like a turn by Scout’s Hill, of the western breach by the Outskirts Stable...I wouldn’t put the Rauru Settlements out of the question either. All in all, I’m hesitant to connect this scene with the other scene because one clearly has a dirt path, and the other a stony road. Plus the house shingles are different

Ok I can pretty much place this scene exactly. At least the bottom one, the top one is a separate scene that doesn’t flow into the other one (you can just tell by the framing and continuity) 

You can see the Great Plateau entrance, the line of sight is at an angle, placing this backflipping Yiga man somewhere here. Only inconsistency would be the trees, but perhaps it’s just grown over after a hundred years, you can even see a building in the middle of this forest in center left of the map.

Link is chasing Backflip Benny over here through to the exit of town, (you can see the town entrance/exit archway on the bottom right, similar to the one seen in the chimney pic) AND you can see that Backflip Benny also has a fresh cut on his mask, presumable gained after fighting Link, which is why he teleports away at the end. 

So that places these two shots definitely after whatever conversation happened on the roof. Yay for timelines! 

The stupendous Chief of the Yiga Clan! Master Kohga!

This takes place at some ruins of some sort. The rocks on the top right actually look Edlin or Akkala, but that might just be the lighting. The stony slabs and etches actually remind be of Zonai, but that doesn’t really seem right...I’ve never seen those designs before I don’t think...you can see from the way the stone slabs are angled that they lead to a circular pattern. It could be the circular pit at the Yiga Hideout, but that area is just sand, not stone. The smooth, plain style of these ruins is actually more in line with Gerudo Ruins so that might actually be the case; we know the Yiga have a history of taking Gerudo Ruins as their own (The Yiga Hideout is canonically an old Gerudo architectural dig)

I’ll also note that this scene has the same lighting as the first shot, and the last two shots which we’ll see later. 

*maniacal laughter* Oo? TWO new characters I see???? O????? 

This is definitely the Yiga hideout, you can tell from the wall design, plus the lanterns, and the general comfort of Master Kohga and Backflip Benny in the background. But, elephant in the room...who are YOU dear sir? 

I’ll talk more about them later, but just keep that Calamity glowing thing in their hand in mind for later.

He’s gonna kill you all...to DEATH! 

This is Master Kohga speaking again, if you couldn’t tell from his....very dramatic and in character dialogue. Maybe this game will actually make me like him now alsdfkjsdlk

Obvious is obvious, this is the Yiga Hideout again, similar lighting to the first opening shot, I’m thinking this might be sometimes before it though, considering he has his minions around. Maybe Link fights off the goons, which prompts him to ask “Look what you did” but we can’t know for sure. 

Also there’s grass? So maybe that other shot isn’t the hideout. Also a spotlight???!? Jazz hands?!?!? Leave it to Kohga to defy the fourth wall huh.

Also I haven’t mentioned this yet but NEW MUSIC it’s so good aughghug I can’t wait.

And...we end on another Sheikah Slate fade out on this mysterious new character. Eyeliner says: Avatar Kyoshi

Ok but seriously I have THOUGHTS!! So firstly, they’re obviously working with the Yiga Clan, perhaps they’re the reason why the Yiga are in the Gerudo to begin with considering they have the Gerudo symbol on their cape. [Cause am I the only one that thought it was weird that the disgraced Sheikah people are living in Gerudo, and not like...closer to Kakariko, or their suposedl arch nemesis of the Royal Hylian family?] Also note that this scene most definitly takes place in the Lost Woods. Perhaps they need something with the Master Sword...or are ambushing someone...hmm..

Based on that rock formation in the background I’m thinking somewhere in one of these three general areas but I really need to just pick up my switch sometimes soon and find it exact...so bare with me it’s only from memory but I’m pretty sure of myself when it comes to locations

My money’s on this being the true mastermind and antagonist, notice how their eye circlet is the same of that of the Calamity goop eye 

This person has...yellow? Brown? Hazel eyes? And light hair with a braid? I don’t think they’re Sheikah, but definetly not Gerudo either. So that leaves them to be some Hylian. A Hylian with an evil Ancient Core. 

[It’s definitly some form of Giant Ancient Core. But there’s runes on the side of it that I have yet to translate]

Thinking on their idenity for another second, you’ll notice that they wear a black robe, but their cape with the Gerudo crest is actually torn and tattered. So, perhaps they were disgraced? A runaway? Or perhaps it’s a disguise, perhaps a spy playing both roles on either side of the war? 

There’s an old theory that the fortune teller who initally told King Rhoam of the prophecy was actually part of the Yiga Clan. Seeing as, their actions led the King to dig up the Guardians, and cement the deaths of thousands of people. So, putting points in order here

Evil Magic dude

Works for the Yiga

Has connected to people in power 

Has an evil Ancient Core

Could it be that this mastermind fully knew that the Guardians would eventually be corrupted? Could they be the “fortune teller” that encouraged the King to excavate the Sheikah Technology? Sheikah Technology, that would be an insult to the Yiga Clan considering their people were banished for creating them in the first place? Hmmm....

Final NOTE! Remember that one scene in the other HWAOC trailer with Zelda holding a mysterious object? 

Hmm...Sheikah Scientists, weird egg robot, and now an evil Ancient Core...you may also remember Daruk mentioning in dialogue that something was wrong with Rudania...and cutscenes from Urbosa and Revali might point to the Yiga being close to the Divine Beasts...lots to chew on. I’m thinking the plot of this game will heaviliy revolve on the idea that there was some sort of plan that led to Ganon corrupting the Guardians and Divine Beasts, but we’ll see!

[threecrowsinatrenchcoat]

Paint My Spirit Gold

Dukeceit Week Day 2: Green/Yellow

Fans of the YouTubers "Deceit" and Remus "The Duke" Sanders start to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the two of them are more than simple internet pals.

AO3 Link: [here]

Word Count: 2187

Warnings: n/a

@dukeceitweek <3

-

[ID: A screenshot of a Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It features a watercolor-style painting of a snake. The snake appears to be made of melting chocolate, and there is a large bite taken out of its tail. Cherries and jam are leaking out of the snake at the bite wound. The snake's expression of horror is overly-exaggerated to the point of comedy. The caption reads: "liked your snake boi, @SerpenThyme. thanks for the inspo." /end ID]

- 

A notification ding cut Janus off mid-sentence. 

“Wow, someone left their cell phone on, so professional,” he said, giving the camera a dramatic eye roll. That someone was him, of course, because he was the only one in the apartment- just him and the running livestream- but that was no excuse not to be a drama queen about it. He finished wiping flour off his hands and grabbed his phone to silence it; but the notification made him pause. He flicked his eyes up toward the camera and gave a slight smirk.

“My goodness, I’m famous,” he drawled. “The Duke himself has graced little old me with some fan art.”

Most of the comments in the chat wanted him to show it, so Janus opened up Twitter to see the full post he’d been tagged in. It was a watercolor painting of the coiled-snake chocolate sculpture- lovingly named Jake by his viewers- he’d made for his YouTube video last week; it was wearing an expression of such comedic horror that Janus had to stifle a laugh. He flicked his phone screen toward the close-up camera on his counter so his viewers could see.

“How kind of you, Remus,” he said. “All of you should go scold him for what he’s done to poor Jake here.”

Most of his viewers would know he was joking- after all, they were the ones to nickname him Deceit when he provided neither a real or fake name for his online persona. They knew full well what he was like by now.

The oven timer dinged. Janus silenced his phone and set it aside.

“And our first batch of cookies is done. You know, why don’t we show the Duke some appreciation?”

-

[ID: An Instagram post by user @SerpenThyme. The photo is an artistically-framed shot of a stack of sugar cookies with green, yellow, and pink icing. Propped up against the stack is another cookie, with an intricate icing-drawing of an octopus. The photo appears to have been color corrected to have high contrast, low saturation, and a dark vignette at the edges. The Instagram user @OctoDukie is tagged. No caption. /end ID]

- 

“You know, I have often been accused of actually being a little old lady, what with my fondness for knitted jumpers, rocking chairs, and incredibly fucked up murder mystery books. Today I am doing nothing to dispel this accusation, by making soup.”

The studio was dark and empty aside from Remus' workspace. Everyone else had left long ago, even his own brother, which meant that it was officially ass-o'clock in the morning (or, as most people called it, somewhere between 1 and 2 a.m.) But Remus was stuck in hyperfocus, honed in on putting the last touches on a commission that he'd been putting off for weeks. It's not that it was a tough painting- once he'd gotten started, it was actually a very creatively satisfying piece- but man, executive dysfunction could go suck a dick

“French onion soup, specifically. Because while I do like to pretend I am a classy bitch, I am also, regrettably, a lazy bitch with a distaste for anything that takes longer than one bottle of wine to make.”

Remus hated working in silence. It was stifling, almost suffocating. His brain needed noise like his lungs needed air. So when the studio had grown still and silent, Remus had flipped open his laptop and queued up some YouTube videos. 

“So we have here three pounds of onions that we need to slice up, pole to pole. You’re going to cry no matter what, so if you have any memories you’ve been repressing since middle school, now is an excellent time to dredge those up.” 

And if it happened to be 90% SerpenThyme videos, well. Sue him. 

“Now the first rule of caramelizing onions: fast and sloppy is always better than slow and thorough… at least, that’s what every man I’ve ever slept with tells me.”

Remus choked and glanced over to his laptop screen just in time to catch Deceit's trademark smirk directed at the audience just for a moment. It was the deadpan delivery that always got him. Remus could barely hold onto a joke long enough to get through it without cackling mid-punchline, but this fucker could say the funniest shit like an off-hand comment. 

He wiped his hands off on his jeans (what use were clothes if you couldn't use them as paint rags?) and pulled his laptop across the table.  He typed out a quick comment, citing the timestamp of the joke, and after it was posted, he shut his laptop. 

'Cause ass-o'clock was short for "get-your-ass-home-or-I’ll-kick-it" o'clock. 

-

[ID: A screenshot of a YouTube comments section. The first comment is by user TheDuke, and reads: "10:42 wow, rude." The second comment is a reply by user SerpenThyme, and simply reads ";)" /end ID]

-

Janus plopped down on the couch with a slight groan. He didn’t need to stream today, but he really hated missing days. Besides… he was fine. Really. 

He adjusted the camera until he was happy with the framing, and then checked the settings on his streaming software. Satisfied, he started the stream, and watched as his usual viewers rolled in. 

“What do you mean I’m not in my kitchen?” Janus drawled, addressing the chat. He glanced around with an expression of faux-shock on his face. “My goodness, when did that happen?”

He chuckled, and then gestured to his surroundings. “Yes, we are in my living room today. If you must know, my closest and most trusted friend tried to murder me today- yes, Virgil, it was attempted murder and nothing less- and I survived with nary a scratch… and a broken foot, but that is beside the point. Anyway, I’m not allowed to stand for long periods of time, and I may or may not be somewhat inebriated by pain pills and couldn’t stand even if I wanted to. So we are cooking from my couch today.”

Janus paused for a few moments to read the chat messages as they popped up. A few get well soon’s, a few theories about the “attempted murder,” Virgil- who moderated his chat for him- vehemently denying the “attempted murder” but otherwise refusing to clarify the event, and a large volume of wtf why are you streaming today, take care of yourself comments, which made him smile. But one particular comment caught his eye, almost lost amid the torrent of an active chat: wait this kinda looks like the Duke’s living room?

“Oh, VampSuga,” he said, addressing that commenter in particular with a slight smirk. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about. Anyway, since I can’t reach my oven from here, I thought some no-bake cookies were in order. For these you will need-”

-

[ID: A screenshot of a Discord conversation. The text reads:

“VampSuga: Ok ok hear me out. Dukeceit. 

Starstruck96: who?

IneffableSnek: lmao

FeralBeauYasha: lol

VampSuga: Deceit and Remus Sanders! They’re totally dating. I will die on this hill. 

FeralBeauYasha: Isn’t the duke w/ PatPat?

IneffableSnek: no thats his brothers bf

FeralBeauYasha: ohh

VampSuga: Did anyone see Deceit’s stream today? I swear that’s the Duke’s livingroom. 

StarStruck96: idk that seems like a stretch

IneffableSnek: no wait i kno what u mean

IneffableSnek: im watching the duke’s old videos and that one where he shows off all his old weapons he’s in a living room kinda like deceit’s 

FeralBeauYasha: They were acting all cute on twitter too

VampSuga: DUKECEIT”  /end ID]

-

"Hey guys, been a while since you've seen my face and not just whatever my hands are busy with, when it's within YouTube's terms and conditions I mean. They used to be way more lenient…" Remus trailed off for a moment, then shook his head sharply and plastered on a grin. 

"Anyway! In June me and a few other creators did a fundraiser for the Trevor Project, and y'all smashed the goal, so I let you decide what video I'd make this month." He paused, and gestured to the mountain of clothes piled behind him on the bed. "And you had so many juicy ideas to choose from, but you decided to dress me up like a Barbie instead."

Remus paused to scroll through his phone for a few moments. "Ah, ok, here we go. Twitter user YoonIsMyCat- oh, BTS, nice- sent in this first outfit. Uh… future Remus, put up the post here somewhere." He gestured vaguely to his right. "Y'all went with either a fuckton more clothes or a fuckton less clothes, which I respect. Apparently this outfit is called…” He squinted at his phone. “Amish chic? I take it back, no respect at all.”

Remus cycled through the outfits his viewers sent in, which ranged from the aforementioned “Amish chic” to “2008 rave attire” to “ok now you guys are just fucking with me” (which consisted of one of those big puffy snow coats, lime green in color; booty shorts with the shrug text emoji across the ass; fuzzy pink boots; and a yellow cowboy hat to top off the whole thing. It was awful. Remus loved it.) The mountain of clothes on the bed gradually became a mess of clothes spread across the floor instead, until there was just one outfit left. 

“Ok so Twitter user VampSuga sent me this outfit that I’m gonna call ‘sexy librarian.’ I couldn’t find this exact sweater online, but-” he paused for dramatic effect, before brandishing a sweater toward the camera like a bullfighter. “My boyfriend had something that was close enough.”

Remus hopped up from the bed and switched off the camera so he could change.

“They’re going to lose their minds,” a voice drawled from the doorway. Remus threw his shirt at him.

“Shoo, I’m getting naked.”

-

[ID: A Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It features a selfie of YouTuber Remus “The Duke” Sanders, a Hispanic man with his hair dyed green and styled into a spiked mohawk. He is wearing a yellow knitted cardigan over a black button-up shirt. He is grinning widely at the camera. The caption reads: “my viewers pick my outfits! now live on youtube. go see what i look like as a sexy librarian!” /end ID]

-

DukeceitStan

first and only dukeceit shipper ig

DukeceitStan

wow there’s so many of you now! Hi!!

DukeceitStan

i want this to be canon so bad omg

DukeceitStan

i mean just look

[image]

how 

[image]

cute

[image]

[ID: A series of three gifs featuring Youtubers SerpenThyme, aka Deceit, and TheDuke, aka Remus Sanders. Deceit is a black man with long, dreadlocked hair, and vitiligo patches along the left side of his face. Remus is a Hispanic man with green-dyed hair styled into a mohawk, many ear and facial piercings, and tattoos covering both arms. Each gif is edited so that the highlights are tinged yellow when Deceit is seen, and tinged green when Remus is seen.

The first gif depicts a close-up shot of Deceit’s hands as he carefully decorates a cookie with green and yellow icing. The cookie art he is working on appears to be a half-finished octopus. The gif then fades into a mid-shot of Remus, with his back to the camera, facing a canvas. The canvas is blank, and Remus appears to be laying out paints on a table to his left. 

The second gif depicts Deceit seated at his couch, facing the camera. He has many ingredients spread across his coffee table (including oats, cocoa powder, and butter) and appears to be in the process of laying out several more. The gif fades to show Remus seated at a similar couch with a similar coffee table in front of him. The camera is angled slightly downward to better show the myriad of knives spread out across the table. Remus is gesturing wildly with a morning star held in his hand. 

The third gif depicts Deceit in his kitchen. He is pulling on a bright, yellow knitted cardigan, and smirking toward the camera. The gif fades to show Remus in his bedroom, seated on his bed. He is holding up a similar-looking cardigan toward the camera and grinning. /end ID]

- 

“Remus, it’s almost two in the morning. Come to bed.”

“I’m coming, sorry. Twitter distracted me.”

“Mm. I can’t believe the bird app is more distracting than I am.”

“You should try harder.”

“Come to bed and maybe I will.”

“Ok, ok, I’m coming. Hang on though, is it cool if I post this?”

“Sure. They figured it out anyway.”

“Sweet. Ok, Jannie, I’m coming.”

-

[ID: A screenshot of a Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It reads: “Dukeceit is canon.” /end ID] 

[mrvdocks]

Nightcall P.1

Request/Summary: Kurt is obsessive over a model and kidnaps her, taking her along for the ride of the night. 

After

The flurry of phones ringing off the hook and background noise felt foreign to you, it was just a buzzing in your ear. You pulled the safety blanket around you closer, grabbing it in fistfuls. You don’t know how long you’ve been here, but it feels like hours. The fluorescent in the room probably only made you look even worse for wear than you were hours before, but it didn’t matter now. In a span of 24 hours, your life had changed. 

The guarded door opened and an officer pulled up a chair in front of you, dropping photos of the gruesome scene you’d seen firsthand. She slides the photos closer, her thumb obscuring the killer’s face. You didn’t need to see it a second time.

“You were found in the residence of Mr. Kunkle, with one Jessie Adams and a John Doe, who seems to have been the victim of Mr. Kunkle’s spree amongst others.”

Even his name brings chills down your spine. 

“I already told the police everything.” You say groggily, your throat still sore from the whole ordeal.

“Yes, but there seems to be some doubt on your partnership with Mr. Kunkle. Footage, eyewitness accounts,” she’s studying you no doubt. Any sort of tick or movement you made without thought that could somehow lead her to think you were lying about anything you had explained earlier. 

“What was your relationship with Mr. Kunkle?” She pries, bringing multiple photos of Kurt to be splayed out in front of you. Some good, some bad, some….disturbing. 

“I - none. He just knew me through the socials.” 

“And you were also the target of his mania.” There’s something unsettling in how much she’s liking interrogating you. You ignore it. 

“You think it’s my fault he did this.” 

It was not your fault. None of this was. Kurt was just too power hungry. Maybe you were too trusting. You didn’t want to see Kurt for what he really was until it was too late. 

“I’m not saying it’s your fault, but your compliance does seem suspicious.”

“I-I didn’t know him very well. He was just my Spree driver for a day. But he was always nice to me.”

“He was also your kidnapper.”

“Like I said, he was a nice guy.” Your voice breaks. 

They’re all nice guys until they aren’t. 

“And you didn’t think to call the authorities when you were alone? Were you helping him lure these people?”

You can feel her eyes burning into you. 

“I’m not stupid,” you cry. “I know how this sounds. But I’m telling you, he gave me a ride and then he - all of this. Oh God.” 

You bring your shaky hands to run through your worn and tired face, specks of dried blood still prominent even through many washes with soap. It’s another way Kurt managed to stay with you. 

“Let’s start at the beginning,” she sits back with her arms folded. “And spare no detail.”

Before

He scrolls through your feed for the millionth time today.

Photos of you on your daily walks, exploring hidden LA gems, posting places you were shooting at, people you were hanging out with, all at the touch of a button for him. The bell notification alerts him, telling him that you’ve posted. He taps the screen in the blink of an eye, meeting your face as you giggle about falling while skating. 

You pout as you show the damage, remarking that it was lucky you weren’t shooting that day otherwise you would’ve had to cover up on such a hot day. 

In a vain industry, you try to keep yourself humble and that’s what he loves about you. Though he’s never met you, he thinks you could live up to the image he’s created of you. One that matches your optimistic and humorous one. 

He re watches your story, pausing at random moments where he screenshots and saves to his photos. His home screen is a shot of you in black and white, seemingly topless from chest down and looking back with an enticing smile. He loves the way your hair frames your face, the way pieces of it were meticulously picked out to give it a sort of messy look.

You could make anything look good, he thinks.

Bobby gives him a hard time about you, bragging about how he knows you and that although you’re more well known than he is, you are the one who should be grateful for his exposure.

Kurt thinks it’s bullshit but he wouldn’t be surprised if it were true, maybe you’d come around to meet him one day.

The vibration of a text brings him out of his daze, seeing Bobby’s name in big bold letters. 

He can’t believe his eyes when he opens the text. It’s an off guard video of you behind Bobby, giggling at something on your phone before noticing that he’s recording and flashing a cheeky smile and a peace sign.

“Found your girlfriend.” Bobby mocks before erupting into hysterical laughter.

Kurt replays it until his phone dies, Bobby’s words echoing in his head.

An idea pops into his head, it would be difficult if he didn’t know your exact routine but thanks to your fan accounts and the power of gossip blogs, it’s a definite success. 

He calls Bobby immediately, hearing him and his entourage in the background as they talked about a video idea. 

“What do you want, Kurt? I’m busy right now.” His annoyance is clear but Kurt is way too focused on you to notice.

“I need a favor.”

It’s amazing what the internet contains about a person. It’s also quite terrifying. Through just a few minutes of research, he’s found out your schedule along with where you went to school, where you live and your closest friends. 

In a photo Bobby had taken, the location of the next shoot you had taking place somewhere was barely visible.

He connects the dots, thinking about how your involvement could help him get  #TheLesson out and make him a household name. 

And it’s exactly what he does the day of. He parks near your neighborhood, foot bouncing and anxiously looking at his phone. He declines the others in hopes of finding you according to the schedule. You almost never use your real name on anything when going out but he recognizes your fake name and location, he puts the car into drive and talks himself up. 

He parks across the street, giving him a better view of you.  

His heart skitters when he sees you look in his direction, your brows quirk up as you give him an easy smile and cross carefully. 

You stop and bend to meet him at the passenger window, “Kurt, right?”

His name coming out of your mouth is something he’s dreamed of since he first saw you. He almost pinches himself to know if this is real. 

He knows he’s grinning like an idiot because you laugh at his speechlessness. 

“Sorry,” he motions to the backseat, “Hop in!” 

“I take it you know who I am.” 

You’re not oblivious to your recognition, but with some guys it was just always a hit or miss. They either wanted you to take your top off or asked for some weird things.

“Are you kidding? I’m like your biggest fan.” He beams, going back on the road. 

You’re not good at accepting compliments, so all you can manage is a shy smile and a, “Thanks!”

You notice his set up of cameras and ask him about it, to which he says they’re just for protection. Throughout the ride you learn more about him, particularly that he was going something the next day called The Lesson. He had a very particular view about this digital world you both lived in, talking about these odd jobs he’d been doing along with trying to build up his following. In between talking about himself, he mentions Bobby and the events of last night from the video. 

“Oh right, Bobby.” You roll your eyes at the mention of his name. 

Bobby was a pain in your ass sometimes, acting all high and mighty all the time and just like he was the overall shit. 

“Yeah he’s alright. He could just tone it down a little.”

“Oh yeah - definitely, he was the same when he was a kid. Just pure chaotic energy.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

In between other conversations, Kurt brought back the spotlight to you, asking you about different people you hung out with. It was pleasant conversation, you felt like you were talking to an old friend and letting off some steam. The red flags hadn’t gone off just yet. 

To let loose and make you live a little, Kurt races past a red light and nearly misses being in a collision. 

It startles you but he assures you there’s no danger. 

“You trust me right?” He asks, glancing back to you.

“I mean, yeah.” 

The confirmation is validation to him. It’s all he needed to begin.

He picks up another passenger, an older man who definitely did not hide the way he was staring at your body. You’re thankful for sitting a little father from him but when Kurt initiates conversation with him, everything goes downhill.

“I know you from somewhere.” The man points out, his obvious staring makes you cringe as you stay silent.

“You’re that model, I’ve seen your stuff around Westwood. Bangin’ body.”

You can feel the anger in your chest rise as Kurt finally notices.

“What’s going on?” He glances to the back, meeting your shifting eyes.

The man ignores him. “Sweetheart when someone compliments you, the nice thing to do is smile.”

That did it.

“Excuse me? I don’t owe you shit!” You grit.

“Whoa! Whoa! Sir you can’t be saying that anymore.” Kurt changes lanes, ready to stop if the situation gets worse.

“She should be proud she doesn’t look like her people. All of ‘em just fat and lazy.”

“Excuse me?! My people?” You’re sure you don’t look the least bit intimidating but it doesn’t matter. You were willing to kick this man’s ass if need be.

Kurt pulls off the the side of the road, “Alright, get out.” 

“What? No, I paid for this ride fair and square. I’m not leaving for shit. I can say what I want.” He says adamantly.

“Sir if you make those comments again I’m going to have to cancel the Spree.”

Something clicks in Kurt’s head as he remembers the water bottles. 

He motions for you to take the passenger seat which you do without much hesitation. 

Kurt waits a minute before merging again, glancing at the man every so often and taking more desolate streets. You don’t notice the absence of cars and you definitely don’t notice when the man takes a bottle and practically chugs it. 

Kurt smirks as he slows down. “Hey maybe you should let them know you’re not going to make it.”

Confused, you glance at Kurt and then at the man who’s now starting to grab at his throat and coughing violently.  

Your eyes widen as you attempt to get Kurt to stop the car but he doesn’t move, instead he keeps his eyes trained on the road.

“Kurt, stop the car.”

The man’s coughs get worse by the second and he turns a very bright red. 

“Kurt! Stop the car!” 

You’re frozen, helpless to watch the man as he tries to grab at Kurt from behind but coughs up blood and passes out in the backseat. You slink back in your seat, utterly terrified of what just happened. 

Adrenaline and fear course through you. You side eye Kurt who is not as affected by this as you are as he merely readjusts his camera. 

You begin to hyperventilate and try the passenger door. When it doesn’t budge you shut your eyes and cry.

“I won’t say anything. I won’t I promise. I promise, Kurt. Please.”

Kurt sighs as he retrieves a piece of cloth from his pocket. Your eyes widen as he comes close and pins you in your seat and smothers you with the cloth. You struggle under him, pushing against his chest to no avail. 

The smell of the chloroform inundates your senses and in a matter of seconds you feel your eyes roll back and everything go black. 

Once you’re knocked out, Kurt takes both your phone and the other passengers to knock suspicion off of him. He has plans for the racist prick in the back, but for you, he has much bigger plans.

[lover-of-queens]

theory time! This post is a response the the wonderful work that @lesbianologist​ did with their theory that Farah played a role in rescuing Bloom from Aster Dell. 

You can find that post: here. I recommend reading it both in general (because it brings up several interesting points) and before reading this post. 

I’m doing this as a separate post instead of a reblog because my own theorizing was getting LONG and I didn’t want to clog up the reply section on her post. 

I’m going to borrow one of @lesbianologist ‘s screenshots, if you don’t mind! I’ve been staring at this image for much longer than I would care to admit and I just can’t determine if it’s Farah or Rosalind. When the figure turns her head though, her hair looks like it’s in a high ponytail (Farah) and not a low one (Rosalind).

What we see is important, what we don’t see .  . . also important. The shot is incredibly blurry and there’s no close up, we’re led to believe its Rosalind based solely on Beatrix’s narration of her memory, not what we actually see on screen. Which is interesting because in Bloom’s memory we DO get that closeup of Rosalind’s face at the beginning of episode 3. I think there’s maybe two answers here, the first is that it is Farah in that shot in episode 4 and she played a role in the rescuing of Bloom as @lesbianologist​ suggests. The second is that production realized they could maybe save time/effort by just taking the shot of Farah standing in the wreckage and blur it & change the lighting, thinking that we wouldn’t investigate enough to know the difference. That being said, I don’t think that the second answer discredits the first.

So, next part I want to deep dive into is the “i think farah rescued bloom, not rosalind” theory ( @lesbianologist​ ). There were a couple lines of dialogue in the last episode that have always bothered me because I could never figure out what the implication was behind them:

Bloom: “You hid me from Miss Dowling.” ….

Rosalind: “The guidance you needed was love. Farah couldn’t give that to you. Vanessa and Michael could.”

In my own theory post, I said this “I’m also really interested in the direct comparison between Farah and Bloom’s adoptive parents – if Bloom hadn’t gone to them, she would have gone to Farah? It almost seems as though the direct comparison implies that.”

But I just couldn’t figure out the how of it all. The Farah as Bloom’s mother theories are cute and I will read fic about them but I’ve never seen them going that way in canon. Because a) we’ve seen what Farah looks like around the time Bloom is born and while the jacket is puffy yes, I find it hard to believe that she could have recently given birth. b) the references to the Dragon Flame and that Bloom was kidnapped by witches have me convinced they will be going the Domino route for Bloom’s backstory (link given to the wiki for anyone not familiar with the original cartoons).

So, if Farah did play a role in rescuing Bloom at Aster Dell, then I think it could definitely explain that exchange between Bloom and Rosalind. Maybe Rosalind was a part of Bloom’s rescue too and she later thinks that Farah couldn’t raise Bloom, so off to Earth and Vanessa and Michael she goes! And the mention of Farah is important in that exchange because later Rosalind mentions something abt taking Bloom to Earth because she would be safe from burned ones there. That reason is strong enough to stand on its own, so why bring up Farah unless there’s more going on.

The one thing that gives me pause is how shocked Farah seems when Bloom brings up Aster Dell and her connection to it. The shock could just come from hearing Bloom bring it up or other things. But how Farah phrases one of her lines is interesting:

Farah: “If Aster Dell is where you’re from . . .” - The “if” is the part I’m focused on here. Because it suggests that Farah doesn’t really know about Bloom’s origins. Could she be lying to Bloom and she does know that she picked her up from the wreckage of Aster Dell and just doesn’t want to admit to it in the moment? Maybe. I’ve also seen theories that if Rosalind has the power to implant memories then maybe she can also take them away, and so maybe Farah did rescue Bloom and then Rosalind stole both Bloom and Farah’s memories?

The question I keep coming back to is how much of our disbelief do the writers want us to suspend. There’s a lot about what happened after Aster Dell that we just don’t know but I’d never questioned the Beatrix and Bloom aspect too hard. As in, I know we’re dealing with magic but am I really supposed to believe that Rosalind could just go into the wreckage of Aster Dell and walk out with two babies and nobody else there would notice that ??? To me, it makes more logic if like @lesbianologist​ suggests the rest of them, or Farah at the very least, also played a role in the rescue.

That being said I do think Rosalind was the one who took Bloom to Earth and not Farah. Rosalind is a liar for sure, but she also knows things about Bloom that Farah doesn’t - the dragon flame and being kidnapped by blood witches. And I believe those things to be true because it does mirror the original cartoon. 

Also, in that scene in episode 5 between Bloom and Farah, Bloom says “Why did [Rosalind] put me in the human world?”. Farah doesn’t say anything here to contradict that. Though if anyone wants to go with the theory that Farah was the one who took her to Earth, you could argue that with the burned ones around Farah didn’t have time to get into what happened. Though, when the danger is over in episode 6, if Farah was the one who took Bloom to Earth then I would have thought during their conversation would have be a good time to tell her. But you could probably counterargue that too! 

Again, there’s a lot here that's vague for this exact reason! They want us theorizing! I really adored reading @lesbianologist​ ‘s theory and appreciated all of the effort that went into it. I’ve offered some of my own thoughts but I really have no idea where the writers are planning to take this! I’m very interested to see what we’ll find out as it relates to this theory. 

And I think we will get some answers to how Farah found Bloom sooner than we think. The Fate Prequel Book is coming out in August and here’s some of the description for it:

Prequel or any kind of accompanying books occupy an interesting place in canon but I am looking forward to seeing what new stuff we find out here. My guess is they won’t drop anything major (wanting to save the big reveals for the screen) but we may get some new interesting clues and hints to help continue theorizing.

[barrykoeghan]

time to rant about how i think the dance in emma (2020) is way more effective than in p&p (2005) 

let me explain (buckle up this is long)

“they feel like they’re the only ones in the room/they only see each other”

p&p (2005) tells it to you right away and then shows it to you

emma (2020) there’s a whole fucking journey to get to it 

in p&p, it starts with this: 

there’s a boy, there’s a girl 

the camera follows them one at the time until they meet in the middle during the dance

the conversation heats up, they stop stopped dancing. effective.

then, they start dancing again

it’s the last shot you see before it cuts to this:

then they’re dancing alone in a room bla bla bla until it ends we all know how this goes

and then it cuts to this

the fucking cuts:  - it inexplicably cuts to other shots that are not continuous with the last shot you just saw. why. i have no clue. it doesn’t really add anything. you’d think it’s like a quick reminder that oh they’re not alone in the room, but having watched it again, i don’t get that vibe. i just get “they’re alone, now they’re not” and there’s no explanation for it other than you know they’re gonna hook up and this was meant to be a moment. there’s no loud noise that brings them back that could explain this kind of cut, there’s nothing.  - i would have wanted a smoother transition. maybe digitally remove people one by one, or use one of those secret cuts for one shots when people block the camera by walking in front of it to then, again, smoothly see that oh people were here but now they’re not but you’ve been here the whole time you didn’t have to fuck off somewhere in another room to be alone. it happened all organically. - really fucking irritated about it. i really like SEEING them alone in a room, but it feels a bit patronizing in a way, as if they weren’t able to convey it or were too lazy to show this feeling in other ways  

it’s kind of ordinary? - having seen emma, i can’t find anything spectacular about the way this was filmed. it’s just the camera playing ping pong from the same spot, then the camera circles them. i love the flow this has because you get the horizontal match of ping pong at the start (as it reflects their discussion -- very nice) and then, once they’re alone, it starts flowing and moving more freely. fucking wonderful. but you could also do that with any other scene and it would lose this meaning because there’s nothing else that makes it special. - and because of that, it doesn’t seem to be much visual storytelling happening, and by that i mean if you were to only look at the screenshots or watch it without audio, it doesn’t give you much to go on. two people dance and seem to talk, they stop, they look angry at each other, then they’re alone in a room dancing again. the dialogue and the music basically provides most of the storytelling in this scene, which, you know, it’s perfectly fine, but you’d think a scene that has this much impact would have a bit more?  - all you get are three images from the same pov: her alone, him alone, them together. do i want more? no, it’s perfect the way it is. HoweverTM:

they actually visually tell you they’re alone before they show you they feel like they’re alone in the room - the filming already preps you for the big moment. they only focus on them. that’s it. that’s the whole scene pre-alone scene. they focus so hard on the characters that you already know they feel like they’re alone; they’re having a heated conversation in public during the middle of a dance. they already feel like they’re alone. otherwise, what’s the purpose of it all? if i can assume this from the context and how it was shot, why do i need another reminder? why both? why not just one of them?

dumb complaint, but the opening shot... - it gives you zero context. a good thing about it is that they show mr darcy first as to say hey this doesn’t happen often, this is special, buckle up. but then again, it starts with a somewhat close up and they never go in or out until they’re in the room on their own. there’s no perspective to it. i’ll call myself out and say it’s a really stupid thing to be upset about because, for example, if i wanted to show someone feeling lonely, you could fill a frame with their face and show there’s nothing else but them, EXCEPT the most effective way to show this would be a wide shot where they are indeed alone or in a corner. both are GREAT it depends on the context of the scene, of course, but my point is, why not just take the opportunity you have. you can open with one wide shot and never come back to it. at least you’re acknowledging this isn’t just about them. (it IS just about them, but since we already KNOW this by looking at the scene before it cuts, them being alone doesn’t have as much of an impact as it could)

it’s stupid how much i used to LOVE this scene and now i can’t even find anything to ramble on. it’s the same two things. it’s not like i have much to talk about.

so now there’s emma who just fucking went for it and annihilated p&p’s dance

there’s a context shot. this is it. you’re not meant to spot them, you’re meant to know they’re going to dance with lots of people surrounded by lots of people. this is important for later on.

now you get introduced to two important angles (hell yeah) 

this voyeuristic candle pov that makes me want to fucking nut. this is my favourite pov. it’s meant to be her point of view, but as you’ll see in later shots from this angle, the meaning also doubles as OUR pov, like we’re intruding and watching from afar. i think this is very efficient because you get variety, personal interpretation, and depth. depth as in you’re behind the candles and they’re in front, you ask? no! the most important aspect is the horizon line!! they become the horizon line, and the people we barely make out in the back become just shadows in the background, and therefore, unimportant. you don’t need to make them leave the room to make it seem like they’re alone.

and then there’s this one, his point of view, but still not an over the shoulder look, so it’s still as if we’re looking from the side, but we’re not intruding as much, because this just sets the tone, they haven’t even begun dancing. there’s no need for two of these candle shots. the horizon line & background people thing still applies to this, but in a less dramatic and obvious way. 

then we cut to this:

the smartest thing about this is that 

1. you’re still intruding

2. the camera faces the side of the room with the most people (take note of the band)

3. in the second shot, it feels very intimate even though they’re surrounded by people so much so they block us from fully seeing them

then we get the first part which is only filmed this way once. (again, as an introduction to give you context.)

there’s a few important things here 

the movement because they don’t insist on focusing on them at first to give you the vibe in the room, you get a lot of people moving in front and behind the two we’re kind of supposed to be focusing on. i think this is brilliant. it makes you want them to be alone, but they’re not there yet. you have to wait for them.

the lookTM even though the camera moves often and the shots change, we see him looking in her direction whenever he can. it’s so SIMPLE and it adds to two aspects: 1. the whole voyeurism thing; you’re catching him do this, it’s not meant to be a focus point 2. they’re slowly starting to show signs that they’ll feel like they’re alone in the room. the whole “staring at someone and being so enthralled by them it feels like it’s just the two of you” 

now we get a subtle change. the camera switches sides and faces the other way. there were five visible musicians and we don’t see them anymore. remember when i said i would have liked for p&p to slowly remove people from the room? THIS is how you can do it, and all that was done was filming from the other side of the room. not only that, but there are only two couples next to them from this angle, unlike the other where there were three or four i can’t remember.

this is a nice way of controlling the crowd. are there more people in the background? we don’t know because we get a couple hiding them from us, keeping yet again a low people count, and then we get our two idiots literally blocking everyone from us and them

this has the exact same intensity as when darcy and lizzie are dancing in that empty room and yet. you get the effect of an empty room without having to vacant the whole place down. 

this is also when it starts to get real romantic up in here. up until the twirling, there were a significant amount of people in the shots, but now, you’ll start seeing less and less (with one exception) of them. doing it gradually builds up great tension and makes you feel like you’re part of it.

it takes up until now to have our first close ups. the neat thing about it is they’re doing the same moves that first introduced the concept of them blocking out people in the room. filming like this (from the outside in) also induces the feeling of blocking out people

then we get a surprise midsection shot:

i thought about this a lot because it has the same vibe as the cut in p&p, but the thing is, 

all the previous shots were from head to waist and the face close ups. there were NO close ups NO focus on anything specific. it’s kind of the visualization of “what happens under the covers” and i don’t know about you but......

bedroom eyes much??

they still are in the room, people are STILL dancing, we still SEE them in the background, but the camera focuses on the two. they’re simple shots in theory, but along with the whole journey you’ve just been through, it means so much more. these close ups are more important than they should be. the more they dance the closer they get, the more isolated they feel. 

now there’s this part which i ADORE. she advances to him, but in a way, since it’s not a typical over the shoulder view, it feels like she’s coming toward us too. it’s done so slowly too, almost hesitantly, and the next shot of her back preps you for the next big moment.

before it happens though, there’s a quick throwback to the fact that there’s still people. autumn de wilde really said i got you bitch they’re not alone. it’s a weird thing, i’ll tell you, but i kind of adore it. it’s like getting cold water thrown in your face because we forgot.

i would have gifed this part but i’m lazy. their dancing come to a stop. just like how it did in p&p (before it CUT) and emma just yeets away from him in that last shot to continue dancing, like she too forgot herself like what just happened to us with that cold water shot. (the next shots prove he too has been splashed in the face and it’s not a one sided thing, or something WE looked too much into)

having yeeted away to take their place to dance again, the camera pans over to them. it follows them. like they were trying to escape all this and what just happened was clearly private. 

and then the shots become more like they were at the start. wider. there’s people in frame again. but then they twirl to stop in front of the camera, blocking them again. they know.

and then you see why they stopped. if you look closely in the background, they danced on their own. this isn’t part of it. nobody’s dancing, they’re still in position, waiting. these two just went off on their own. 

because they feel like they’re the only ones there.

it cuts to her dress again, them holding hands again. we’ve been prepped for this, but this time, knowing they weren’t MEANT to do this, it feels much worse.

and they retract, because that’s that. what more can you do.

and then it ends here. it’s too late, and you don’t need another reminder they weren’t alone. 

it doesn’t matter anymore.