#SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY

[inkyvendingmachine]

Avedone With All of This Season 4, Episode 4

��� Call of Cthulhu: Haunted Hijinx Masterpost 💀 Call of Cthulhu Season Four Masterpost (Coming Soon)

Warning: This campaign is an edited version of  a Call of Cthulhu scenario from the Tales of the Crescent City book. While a lot has been changed, there IS spoilers for it throughout these posts.

GUESS WHO FINALLY SHOWED UP!!! and also a lot of other stuff happened. I'm sorry, this one is very long because I didn't take notes, and struggle to leave out details when I'm writing from the records instead of the notes.

Art Credit: @inkdemonapologist : sketching + inking @inkyvendingmachine : concept + colouring

Somehow Jack’s car, with all its original passengers and no extras, manage to make it back to the studio. Joey immediately rushes into the studio, to go rant at Bendy about everything that happened… and possibly to go fuse with Bendy because he feels utterly helpless now after completely draining himself with panicked magic. 

But it’s probably just the first one.

Sammy and Henry arrive as well to find Jack and Peter quietly picking glass out of his broken car in something like shock. Upon getting no responses from Jack about what happened, Sammy storms off to find Joey.

Joey is all too happy to start his entire rant over again for Sammy as he works on fusing with Bendy. They were just following Peter’s leads and driving from location to location and then all of the sudden this ASSHOLE shows up out of nowhere and just stands in front of the car. Busts the car, terrifies poor Jack, and then on top of that tries to break INTO the car and abduct Peter?? It’s a good thing Joey managed to blast him out, but they weren’t even DOING ANYTHING that would have possibly summoned him NOTHING AT ALL... And on top of all that, being an absolute PRICK as he’s doing it! 

… Anyways, how was the moooob?

Sammy updates Joey on everything that happened with Johnny Nero, which is pretty much just that he had seen the Yellow sign, that Henry removed it, and that Nero was pretty intent on getting his hands on whatever the Phantom wants first. Which like… yeah, if you wanna solve all our problems and fix this mess, go ahead! But Joey’s pretty sure that’s not going to happen, so he goes back to working on his ritual.

Sammy leaves to go back to Jack, and right as Joey feels ready to start the ritual his phone rings. The special one. And it’s… Avedon??

Avedon immediately starts info dumping on Joey about everything that’s been going on already… like, all the information Joey already knows. A lot of flat “yeah?”s in reply as Avedon rambles on, until he mentions that it’s already gotten to Norman. Wait, what?? But Avedon doesn’t stop, telling Joey to meet him at his hotel room in NYC so they can go over more information. Before Joey manages to get any clarification, he hangs up. 

That’s Joey’s thing!!!

Joey is the one who hangs up on others!!!!!!!

Frustrated, Joey does try to call Norman, and… Yeah, Norman is talking in weird riddles and speech that doesn’t fit with the Normal Norman Vibes. That call is also ended with little information gained… but at least it DOES seem like Avedon knows what he’s talking about this time, so Joey’s willing to meet with him, even though he’s also feeling done with him already.

Joey finishes the ritual and merges with Bendy.

On his way downstairs, Sammy is still turning over the car event he just heard about… and the increasing evidence that Peter might actually be the Phantom’s target?? Why else would he be trying to drag him out of the car?

Sammy approaches Peter, who has since started exchanging information with Henry as they all get the last of the glass shards out of the car, and says that he wants to see if Prophet can tell anything about what happened. Sammy looks distracted for a moment, and [lack of surprise because it was actually somewhat communicated beforehand,] Prophet is here!

Prophet concentrates, and with no hesitation, mushes his hands all over Peter's face. 

The good news is that, while Prophet can tell that Peter’s been grabbed by the Phantom recently, that’s actually all that he can detect. No additional eldritch stuff, he’s not possessed, he’s not weirdly marked or damaged in a way that can’t normally be seen. Great!

But Prophet can’t tell if Peter is the target or not. For his part, Peter has been muttering that it seemed like the phantom was trying to pull information from Peter on someone else he was looking for, someone who “followed us out”, but there’s nothing Prophet can sense to confirm that… but he realizes he can sense the distortions to reality increasing throughout NYC. They’re in the air, moving about… getting stronger.

Henry can feel it too.

But that’s all the energy Prophet has, and he unfortunately misses Joey showing up and dumping his new plan of action on everyone. He, Henry and Peter are going to go find Avedon’s dumb hotel room and figure out what’s going on with him, while Sammy and Jack are going to go check up on Susie and Norman because Norman is definitely acting weird now and he’s not quite sure if Susie is in over her head or not…

Nobody objects to the plan. And with NYC losing more and more of its reality to the yellow mist rolling in, it seems important that they do something.

Henry, Joey and Peter do make a detour to Henry’s house though to make sure all is well there. The car is gone, the lights are out, things seem as they should if Linda managed to follow through and get the kids out of the city. Peter is concerned when he notices some of Henry’s wards, but don’t worry, those are supposed to be there. Henry checks them over, and they all seem good. Bendy finds a bucket of clay he and Henry's kids had played with before, and brings it along to entertain himself on any following sleepovers, since that is a thing that will probably keep happening. For once, it seems like everything is actually left alone? 

Until they look out back and find the treehouse Henry built for his kids is gone. Actually, it’s almost like all the landscaping and such in the area was just… cleared away? Or never happened. Joey meanwhile is tabbing through Henry's photo albums and makes sure everyone is still there, which they are. But the treehouse isn’t. And, perhaps even worse, there’s also an extra guy in the JDS staff photo now? Joey pockets it, since this guy seems to be in the music department according to the photo, but Joey is sure he’s never seen him before. And it’s not Alan. So. Hopefully the music boys can shed some light on this.

Henry grabs some supplies and his gun, and Joey turns him around to fix his outfit and make sure the gun is properly hidden. Avedon is 2 trigger happy, we don’t want to say our hellos by instantly showing off the weapons we brought.

Meanwhile Jack and Sammy’s drive to Norman’s is more fraught than the previous ones. Not only has he moved house again, (though at least this time they have evidence of his new address from the junk mail they took last time) but… many other roads are starting to move too. Also Sammy is driving, so, speed has been cut in the engine department too… don’t need to hit two things in a single day with all this mist building up, and any sort of navigation trouble puts even more delays in.

At least they do manage to find the place and head on in, with hope that also maybe now that Avedon has arrived Norman will stop being so “sticking it out in a house that keeps wandering off apparently.” Things seem kinda fine at first at least, like they’re not immediately shooed out or attacked or have any weird monsters hanging over the house waiting for them to try the door… But upon Sammy questioning Susie while Jack goes to find Norman in the back, the music boys find out that things are very much not fine.

Susie is… very confident with a knife all of a sudden, and very confident that she will be able to just stab the Phantom when given the word to go out and hunt him down. Y’know just… stab the guy who couldn’t be damaged by a 2 ton vehicle slamming square on into him. And when Sammy tries to argue this logic, it just becomes more and more obvious that Susie and Norman are both… in character. Susie’s speech cadence is even reminiscent of when she’s performing rather than talking normally. But they don't seem aware that their actions seem more scripted than decided.

Jack finds Norman in the back, with a hatchet and a very similar plan to Susie’s. But whatever is happening isn’t strong enough to make them completely forget themselves, and with some facts being pointed out and reminders of who they are, the boys manage to get these two actors back to themselves... kind of. There's still some weirdness going on, and this also doesn't answer the question of what could be done to prevent this happening again?

Neither Susie nor Norman really realized when it started to happen, and it took some serious outside convincing to snap them out of it at all… Do they need Henry to expel something to truly get back to themselves again??

ALSO, IF THE PHANTOM CAN’T BE HARMED WITH A CAR, WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO ABOUT THAT TOO?? THAT SEEMS CONCERNING!!!!

Meanwhile, Henry parks near the hotel they were directed to by Avedon, and the trio look upon it in… concern. First of all, it doesn’t even look like a hotel, or look like it belongs in NYC. And the entire place is surrounded by a yellow mist… and while they could wait it out or try to somehow call Avedon and tell him to come out, it just feels like the longer they wait the worse it will get. 

Really, it’s starting to feel that way for a lot of things.

But even though everything about this feels bad, they press on and enter the “hotel”. What should be the hotel lobby is abnormally empty, and when they start up the stairs… well, that’s not normal either, the stairs just keep going. Joey is flipping any rugs he finds though to make sure they don’t have stupid destabilization spells underneath them.

After a few rounds of strange rooms, weird hallways, some alien screeching outside the windows, and Henry noticing that NYC is not the city outside said windows, he stops everyone out of worry that they’re walking into a trap… and Joey agrees. But not that this hotel is specifically a trap.

All of New York is a trap.

It doesn’t matter where they go next, the longer they don’t solve this issue, the more of a trap everything will be.

They just gotta press on.

…

Aaaaand start yelling for Avedon because clearly they aren’t gonna be just walking up to his hotel room at this point.

Good news! Avedon replies! Bad news!! Only Henry can hear it for some reason!! And… Avedon can hear Joey but not Henry?? 

It’s all very confusing. They find Henry’s reading glasses on a table. Those were in his pocket how did they get there excuse me. All of this isn't fine actually.

But after a few rounds of Avedon Polo, they finally stumble across each other in a… garden. In the middle of a hotel. And of course, the first thing Avedon says is that they need to leave immediately. He didn’t know it was going to be like THIS, he just stepped out to get a coffee and suddenly the whole place is weird??? Well, now that they’re here, time to immediately leave because YEAH THAT WAS THE PLAN FROM THE START. 

Going through another door leads out into a familiar courtyard, at least familiar to Joey. He had been here a few nights ago, while invading Y’s dream, and indeed, right where he’d expect, he finds the Y twins chatting amongst themselves. Marching up to them, Joey demands to know what they’re doing and what’s going on.

They respond by addressing him as royalty.

✧･ﾟ: *Joey Drew, as Your Highness･ﾟ: *✧

Normally, this would probably inflate Joey’s ego! Currently, it sinks like a stone into his stomach!! He does not want to be part of the play!!!

Unless…

Joey suddenly wonders, because it’s the same courtyard, if they are in a dreamscape of some sort… Does he appear different than himself… and that's why they're addressing him this way?

But no, he looks like Joey, and Henry looks like Henry, and Peter looks like Peter, and Avedon is still here… except Joey also notices some of their hands are starting to turn transparent…………. That's probably fine.

He still doesn’t want to be part of their play.

The Y twins try to get Joey to go somewhere with them, and he makes up a story why they need to not do that rn, so that the group of normal fading humans can attempt once again to leave this place. 

Since it's all weird here, Joey tries his little will-what-he-wants-into-reality trick and… well it doesn't work. Instead, he finds a throne room?? and realizes that they aren’t just in Carcosa, they’re in the castle where the Yellow King’s play takes place. And Joey manages to follow his intuition from here to find some kind of portrait hallway, covered with familiar faces… all labeled as characters from the play. Not recognizing all of them, Henry starts drawing them so we have a record of it later.

But there's a few he doesn't have to draw.

One is Alan Leroy, the guy that they're becoming sure is the target of the Pallid Mask. Part of the royal family, apparently. He's a slender man, black hair slicked back, young looking, quite pretty … kinda looks like Joey…

Which makes more sense perhaps when the portrait of the eldest son in the royal family is none other than Joey himself. Guess this is why he was being addressed as royalty… but that means the Y twins are not quite in their right minds, and anything he finds them doing here is probably just play nonsense.

Also Denis is the youngest prince but who cares about that guy.

What they DO care about is the fact they’re getting more and more transparent, so the boys go to find Avedon, who is oh so helpfully knocking shit over and muttering in french, and Joey manages to get his door trick to actually work this time; he opens the door and there’s…

STAIRS!!

Everyone starts running down them, managing not to get turned around when they start making twisty turns, and get to the front door of this stupid castle in a hotel lobby.

They peek outside.

Sure enough, on the side of the building, there’s a shadow shaped suspiciously like nothing they can really identify, so it must be some sort of angel monster or something.

At this point, there’s really only one option they have: try sneaking to the car and hope it’s looking the other way, and if not, run!

Everyone agrees that this is a great plan.

And then they do that.

There’s a bit of fumbling in the middle, but the car was parked outside of the yellow mist for once, so the creature just fades out as soon as it leaves the mist to chase them. 

Well! Okay then!! That problem is solved!! Let’s go deliver Avedon to Norman so that he can take responsibility for his mad man and then maybe stop hiding at home or something!

Henry drives off, and things seem fine for now…

Until Joey swivels around in the front seat to question Avedon, and out the back window, sees something flying after them, only visible whenever it passes through the mists…

Problem… not solved.

[bisexualdawnsummers]

for that prompt meme: Ray V - green, dilemma, garage

Hi! Thanks so much for sending this prompt!

For the sake of convenience (and because it ended up being over 2000 words), I posted the finished fic on ao3. I hope you like it!

Riveted (2148 words) by TheGirlAnachronism Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: due South Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Angie Vecchio/Ray Vecchio, Ray Vecchio/Other(s) Characters: Ray Vecchio Additional Tags: Ray & The Riv, Relationship Issues, Existential Crisis, Marital Issues, Family Issues, Sexuality, Internal Conflict, Tumblr Prompt, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Pre-Canon, Pre-Season/Series 01 Summary: As soon as he laid eyes on the car in person, Ray could see his future with Ange, all the plans they’d made, crumbling away. Handing over the cash, he imagined the disappointment in her eyes, heard the hurt and anger in her voice beneath the thrum of the engine as he pulled out of the lot. It should have been enough to make him turn back.

[incorrect-prema]

Oscar: Why are you two here?

Fred: I'm here to help you!

Logan: I'm here to make things even worse!

[mah-o-daryaa]

The Cycle Repeats: Part VI

One of the key themes of the ATLA franchise is the concept of the Avatar; master of all 4 elements, the fusion of humanity and Raava, the spirit of light and order, whose sole duty is to bring balance to the world, and be the bridge between both the physical and spiritual realms. Along with this comes the idea of reincarnation, which is the premise of the Avatar Cycle, the idea that the Avatar reincarnates in a cyclic order in any of the four nations (fire, air, water, earth). Another concept related to the Avatar Cycle (although originating from the fandom) is the idea of the Avatar fixing the mistakes of their past life, which is often indicated in differences in both habitual circumstances and personalities between both predecessor and successor, and therefore differences in morality.

But what if I were to tell you that the saying "history repeats itself" is also true among Avatar incarnations? Not exactly going the same way, but rather parallels between the lives, personalities, and accomplishments (and failures) of past lives?

In this series of metas, I will be going over parallels (or in some cases, foils) between certain pairs of Avatars that lived decades, or even centuries apart, and yet could not have ever been more similar.

Equivalent Elements II: Avatars Aang and Yangchen

"Aang was an Air Nomad born in 12 BG and the Avatar during the Hundred Year War, succeeding Avatar Roku and preceding Avatar Korra. As the Avatar of his time, he was the only person capable of using all four bending arts: airbending, waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. He was also one of a select few Avatars and one of the first in many cycles to learn the ancient art of energybending as well as the first Avatar known to have actively used the technique."

Yangchen was the Air Nomad Avatar succeeding Avatar Szeto and preceding Avatar Kuruk. She grew up in a rather isolationist time for the four nations in the aftermath of the Platinum Affair. After mastering all the elements in her youth, she was eager to make a difference in the world despite her inexperience. Following her confrontation with General Old Iron in Tienhaishi, Yangchen resolved to adapt to the complex political strategy of the four nations, using manipulation, espionage, and deceit to her advantage in an era where loyalty was bought rather than earned.

Here's a thing people need to understand: No two people are exactly the same, inside or out. They might come from a different background, they might look or dress different, they might behave differently, they might even hate ATLA (which is just not cool). And yet, all humans have the same desire: good health and success. They just achieve these goals via different means.

In ATLA, the Avatar's sole goal is to bring balance to both worlds, but each Avatar achieve this goal differently. This is true for both Aang and Yangchen, as despite being from the same nation, unlike their respective successors, they differ significantly in their personal morals.

First, let's get the similarities out of the way. Both Aang and Yangchen are Air Nomads (hailing from the Southern and Western Air Temples respectively) and therefore grew up surrounded by monks or nuns. Both had an older monk/nun and looked up to said figure as a family member (Aang had Monk Gyatso as a father figure, and Yangchen had Jetsun as an older sister). Gyatso and Jetsun were also revered in their own right as spiritual leaders; however, they both sacrificed themselves to defend their fellow people (Gyatso took down at least a dozen Fire Nation soldiers during Sozin's Comet, whereas Jetsun died while accompanying Yangchen during her first journey to the Spirit World). Both were identified at young ages (12 and 11 respectively); although they both began mastery of the four elements later. Finally, both Aang and Yangchen were involved in worldwide crises during their respective tenures at young ages (Aang ended the Hundred Year War at 12 (or 112, depending on how you look at it) and Yangchen was involved in the Platinum Affair at 17).

However, as I mentioned above, Aang and Yangchen differ in morality. Aang grew up believing that all life is sacred, and while Yangchen also had the same belief initially (as seen with her confrontation with General Old Iron), she grew to slowly give them up overtime, believing that being detached from worldly affairs was a detriment to the Avatar's duty to the world. Aang was reluctant to kill Ozai because of his title as the last airbender, and he felt a lot of pressure trying to uphold the legacy of the Air Nomads on his shoulders. Yangchen, on the contrary, had no such pressure, but rather slowly gave up on her spirituality to become the Avatar (she had a freaking god-complex! Who in Tui's gills gave her the right?!).

I think this conversation between them in Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters (3:19) is the perfect example of their dichotomy:

Aang: Avatar Yangchen, the monks always taught me that all life is sacred. Even the life of the tiniest spider-fly caught in its own web. Yangchen: Yes. All life is sacred. Aang: I know, I'm even a vegetarian. I've always tried to solve my problems by being quick or clever. And I've only had to use violence for necessary defense. And I've certainly never used it to take a life. Yangchen: Avatar Aang, I know that you're a gentle spirit, and the monks have taught you well, but this isn't about you. This is about the world. Aang: But the monks taught me that I had to detach myself from the world so my spirit could be free. Yangchen: Many great and wise Air Nomads have detached themselves and achieved spiritual enlightenment, but the Avatar can never do it. Because your sole duty is to the world. Here is my wisdom for you: Selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs, and do whatever it takes to protect the world.

(Let's just ignore the fact that Aang is clearly lying about not killing anyone, shall we?)

This conversation makes it obvious that Yangchen's dark side isn't necessarily the culmination of the Anti-Air Nomad, but rather what Aang could have been had he actually killed Firelord Ozai as planned: powerful and venerated, but having long given up spirituality.

To add insult to injury, if you've read the Kyoshi novels, there's actually a glaring reason why Yangchen's advice wouldn't have worked in the long run: Kuruk. In Shadow, it's revealed that Yangchen neglected the spirits, which led to an increase in dark spirits crossing to the mortal world and attacking humans in revenge. Kuruk (then known as the greatest hunter and tracker in history) was forced to hunt them down and (because spiritbending wasn't invented yet) kill them. This caused his physical, mental, and spiritual health to rapidly decline, until he finally died at 33. Had Yangchen treated both sides fairly, her successor would have been spared (yes, her actions killed him). Aang thought that, had he actually killed Ozai, not only would he have broken his vow to the sanctity of life, and thus his culture would become extinct, but (if the Avatar can actually connect to their past lives' memories) he would've also indirectly harmed his successor (Korra) the way Yangchen did to Kuruk.

(Although this is debateable, if this is true then Aang would've either been traumatized to the Spirit World and back, or gathered the courage to call Kuruk out for lying to him. My bet's on the former.)

Therefore, I can conclude that while Aang and Yangchen are from the same nation, this isn't a guarantee that they are exactly the same person. Their different circumstances, and consequently their different views on the world and their duties, helped to shape their unique identities. In the next past, I'll discuss both the similarities and differences between Avatar Aang and his successor Korra, and discussing how the Avatar's tenure can shape that of his/her successor.

Yes, Zuko, how many times do I have to tell you I'm not finished yet? I still need to get to the big part!

<- Prev I Next ->

[randyortonofficial]

what do cody and randy sing at karaoke?

hello anon, it has been a long time since you sent me this ask

i took awhile answering because, truthfully, i could not see them doing karaoke but was trying VERY HARD to think of songs they would sing

thankfully, me and @codystonguepiercing came to the conclusion that they would sing all my life by k-ci and jojo, as well as everytime we touch by cascada

bonus points if you imagine them singing this at the bar when they go out after survivor series 2023 and get drunk

[missjackil]

I am all about "food=love" for the Winchester brothers who were deprived of both as children. It comes out a lot in "Highway of Regret" specifically but it's woven through my writing.

I'm not sure how long this has been in my Ask box, but I just saw it now. I'm sorry for the delay, I usually jump right on my Asks!

See, I don't subscribe to the head canon that the boys were deprived of food as children. Let's be serious, you don't grow 2 big strong men from depriving them of food as children.

In canon, the boys never say they were deprived or had gone hungry in their childhood. They probably weren't fed the best food, but they were indeed fed. In the famous episode that Sam wants Lucky Charms but Dean hadn't had any yet, Dean threw out the spaghettios, if he was starving and there was nothing else to eat, he wouldn't have tossed them.

He wouldn't have learned a bunch of different ways to make Mac and cheese of they didn't have the other ingredients. In s9 we learn that Dean lost the food money in a card game, it wasn't because they were left with no food, and that's why he stole it.

I think it was in season 7 when someone asks Dean if he's ever been hungry, like not eaten in 3 days hungry, and he said yes. Okay...does that mean it had to be as a kid? Couldn't that be the case while being a full grown adult on a hunting trip? I mean he did hunt for 2 years solo before he picked Sam from Stanford.

Sam and Dean missed out on some things like good home cooked meals and they seem very grateful when they can have it, but that doesn't mean they ever had to go hungry as children.

As for being deprived of love? They had love, deeper love than most of us ever have, between the 2 of them. John loved them too, but it was messed up. Definitely not a nurturing kind of love that's for sure. As toxic as it was though, he loved them and they both acknowledged it, and loved him back.

I.watch a show where these boys have been delt a shit life from almost day 1, in so many horrible ways, that I'm always scratching my head as to why so many fans WANT it to be worse than we're shown in canon 🤔

[fantasticfairfield]

There is a middle aged woman with long brown hair, bespectacled blue eyes, and wearing black pants and a black hoodie standing there with her hands on her hips and looking kind of miffed.

"Oh, really? That dumb old office has to go and dump me in the middle of some spooky abandoned old woods in the middle of the night? Whyyyyyyy?!" she complains, looking around and sighing. "Right."

She then digs around in her pocket and produces a phone, and it's right as she is beginning to pull up a contact that she notices someone else is standing there.

"Holy mother of f- Okayyyy, not an abandoned wood after all," she says, smiling at the stranger. "Sorry to sneak up on you by standing still like that. Are these your woods? Please don't tell me you have a gun, because I don't feel like being shot today. Or stabbed, so no knives either. I promise I'll get out of your woods as soon as possible, if ah, if you'll let me."

@the-haunted-office

Dwight jumped almost sky high the moment he was spoken to. Honestly he'd been on his way for a supply run. Old camping back slung over one shoulder as he'd been checking his list. Gold eyes now fixed on that other office worker. For a beat or two, he looked possibly more terrified of her than she might of been of him. Slowly though, he seemed to relax. Expression trading from fear to something weary. Bone tired. And...almost apologetic. It took him a moment to find the words. Notepad getting tucked away as he fixed the straps of his bag and tried to look more presentable. Hands tucked into his pockets. "I-I uh..No. I don't own these woods. And I don't have any weapons." There's hesitance. And he bounced slightly on his heels. Before he rocked forward a few steps. One hand extended. "Um. I'm...I'm Dwight Fairfield. It's nice to meet you."

[estellamiraiauthor]

The Stars May Rise and Fall: The Annotated Re-read (Chapter 13)

Yet again, a long gap between chapters, but I think this one will be fairly short before we get into the hell of 14 and 15 (which I don’t hate in their current form, but it’s a little painful to remember the writing of). 13 picks up where 12 left off, in part 2 of the longest night of just about any of these characters’ lives…

Spoilers under the cut, including spoilers for chapters beyond this one!

So, there are a couple of things in the beginning of the chapter that I really like, and that say something really important about Rei, I think. They go into the restaurant and are shown to a table that’s in a pretty heavy traffic section. Up to this point, Teru has seen Rei largely seek to avoid going out in public or being seen by anyone he doesn’t trust, so he asks Rei if he’s OK with being in the middle of all these people, and Rei says:

“Being stared at, you mean?” “I don’t mind if people stare at my hair or makeup any more than you do.” … “I choose to look like this. I don’t mind being stared at for something I can control.”

This was one of the very, very first sort of concepts for the character I had. It can be a little bit difficult sometimes to really “sell” the concept of a modern-day Phantom in a retelling or a fanfic. Yes, you want him to wear a mask and hide from the world because it’s a Phantom retelling, but if it’s not done right (at least for me as a reader), it can feel like a bizarre and maybe even unsympathetic reaction in a world where people tend to at least PRETEND to accept physical differences. I think the visual kei setting works in a way that some modern settings don’t, because people DO dress extravagantly and do wear masks and wigs and eyepatches and whatever else, usually probably for fashion and not for necessity, but you might never know if that WASN’T the case?

This was also kind of a personal thing for me. Back when I was into the scene, I liked getting on the train in full goth getup with black and white vampire makeup… people would stare at me if I dressed that way or not. But if I was dressed up, at least I could tell myself that it was because of my clothes or makeup. That probably wasn’t always TRUE, but I could TELL myself that, and I think being able to tell himself that is important to Rei, as well.

Then we have maybe some more subtle characterisation that was obvious to me but maybe I could’ve explained better. This restaurant has those disposable chopsticks that come joined together and you have to break down the middle, and Rei has a hard time breaking them. Teru wonders if he should offer to help, but since Rei tends to not respond well to offers of help, he decides against it, and think this little non-interaction says a couple of things about both of them.

First, a couple of early readers commented on the pretty stark difference in Rei’s ability to do things like type, Photoshop, and play the piano (which he does pretty well) vs. things like using chopsticks and writing by hand (which…not so well). Now, this does NOT come from personal experience or professional expertise… I did what research I could and based some of it on the experiences of people I know, but I definitely could’ve missed the mark. It was at least based on some kind of logic, though… typing and playing the piano are both two-handed skills to begin with, so it’s less of a “learning to do something all over again” situation and more of a “learning to do twice as much with a hand you were already using to do the thing” situation. ALSO, these are both things that Rei cares deeply about being able to do well, and basically NEEDS to do in order to earn a living writing and selling music, so it makes sense to me that he would’ve adapted fairly quickly, just by doing what he would’ve been doing anyway. On the other hand, I don’t think he really eats in front of people much. Even if he became proficient in using chopsticks with his left hand, his face is also damaged and he wouldn’t be able to eat “normally” enough to satisfy him. Until he meets Teru, I don’t think he’d have any real DESIRE to share a meal with anyone… food would just be for sustenance, so rather than attempt to do something and not be able to do it well, I think he just eats things that can be eaten by hand or with a fork, and does it when no one else is around. Same with writing… most things can be typed, and in Japan it’s much more common to stamp documents with a seal rather than signing them, so I think he just chooses to type instead, because the finished product there is going to look “normal”, where it won’t if he writes by hand. He absolutely would’ve been required to practice both of those skills in rehab, but after that I think he simply chose to accommodate in other ways rather than continuing to improve on his own.

ANYWAY, eventually Rei manages to get around to the “important things” he wanted to tell Teru when he asked him out in the first place… namely, the confession that his feelings for Teru are more than professional and that the kiss may not have been an “accident”. Their conversation here is a little cryptic… Teru says up front that he’s never really admitted his feelings to a man before, and Rei says that he hasn’t said anything like that “in years”, alluding of course to Saki, who died five years ago, but Teru doesn’t know about that yet. Rei also says that he doesn’t deserve Teru, that he’s not a good person… referring to his guilt over the part he played in Saki’s death, but he’s still telling himself at this point that he doesn’t need to address that right now (which will turn out not to be true; he DOES need to get that out in the open before he can really allow himself to be fully with Teru but OH these boys really like lying to themselves, don’t they?).

Teru offers to pay for half of the meal, even though he just spent the last of his “emergency fund” on dinner with Kiyomi. It’s not specifically stated here, but that last bit of money he has is DEFINITELY supposed to go toward rent and bills… Guess Rei isn’t the only proud one here? But Rei’s not going to let him pay, and sort of brushes the issue aside with “Well, I got a good insurance payout.”

Now, that’s not really 100% true. Assuming the other driver (who would’ve been legally at fault) had a fairly typical insurance plan here, Rei would definitely never have to pay any medical bills associated with injuries resulting from the accident, and (regardless of other income, unlike in the US) would get about $700 a month in government disability benefits. Since he inherited the apartment, once any inheritance taxes were paid he wouldn’t have any rent or mortgage payments, but all of that still doesn’t add up to “rich”. Teru and the reader don’t know about his other sources of income right now, but I don’t really think he’s trying to hide them or anything here… it’s definitely over-simplified, but I really think he just wants to say, “I have more money than I need and I know you don’t, so don’t feel guilty about letting me do this for you.”

Teru finally admits to himself that he IS attracted to Rei, but that it’s too soon for words like “love”, and suggests again that they take a taxi to the love hotel… Rei refuses, saying “You spent a year of your live learning to walk… and I spent two.” which… is certainly a Dramatic Line, but doesn’t make a GREAT deal of logical sense. Just because a person IS physically capable of walking doesn’t mean they should walk everywhere even when doing so causes them pain… but it’s Warped Rei Logic again… there are already enough things he’s lost, so he’s holding on desperately to any “normal” he’s managed to regain.

Poor Rei. Normal is so boring. Maybe someday I’ll write that sequel where everyone has finally embraced that. (I think he’s at least sort of come to terms with it at the end of this one though?)

[another-anime-daydreamer]

hii! list five things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox of the last ten people who liked or reblogged something from you (no pressure) ☺️

Sorry I have seen this in my inbox since you sent it, I just haven’t been in a good mindset to fill it out. But here we go!

(#01.) My family

(#02.) My friends

(#03.) Watching anime

(#04.) Reading manga (and regular books too)

(#05.) Going outside after a heavy rainfall and smelling nature at its finest (unless it’s summertime because down here the humidity will kill you lol)

[ruubesz-draws]

Godzilla GIJINKA!!!!! (Finally)

I'm trying different ways to add colour to these drawings Failed miserably... :')

I redesigned Mothra and Scylla. Shimo and Tiamat were fun to design!

I'm also going to post the full profile/infos about my gijinkas later too (Hopefully soon)

[hedgehog-moss]

Welcome to the great donkey contest of 2024

I must confess that I, once again, forgot the date of the yearly donkey contest, so I had to leave early (I had a restaurant reservation in another town) and have no idea what was the jury's verdict on each of these donkeys. Therefore, you are the jury. It will be heartbreaking, but I will ask you to vote at the end of the post, setting aside the known fact that all donkeys are the best donkey.

There were Poitou donkeys, Berry donkeys, Bourbonnais donkeys, Provence donkeys, Andalusian donkeys, and common donkeys who seemed to have no distinguishing features other than being acceptably donkey-shaped. I can't possibly post all my photos, so I have chosen 4 noteworthy contestants (or 3 and half, one is very small) for you to vote on. I'll add that I only stayed long enough to watch 2 donkeys demonstrate their skills, so in a spirit of fairness I will not mention anyone's job. You won't be voting based on how good they are doing their specific donkey job but on how good they are at being a donkey.

Donkey #1 — CHEWBACCA.

Chewbacca is big, and he has ears. These are his most salient characteristics. Each one of his ears looks like a separate fluffy ferret-sized mammal attached to his head, gently twitching or napping. Chewbacca's hooves are the diameter of a medium pizza and he looks very formidable but he is extremely kind. I know the most pressing question is "Can I scritch Chewbacca's ears?" and the answer is yes, but then he will immediately appoint you ear-scritcher in chief and will look very sad when you walk away to meet other donkeys.

Chewbacca's ears on their own could be enough to let him win Hairiest Donkey in any contest—but he is mixed breed, and there were purebred baudets du Poitou in attendance. Their entire identity is "the hairy one", and giving the Hairiest trophy to another donkey would result in massive spread of existentialism among Poitou donkeys.

(He is not a contestant, as I didn't have time to get a good aperçu of his personality.)

(Same for this shiny black donkey, pictured here canoodling with a Poitou lady—unfortunately I don't have photos of him in motion, but believe me when I say he was the glossiest donkey I've ever seen. When walking or trotting he shone in the sun like a freshly-polished dress shoe.)

Back to our contest.

Donkey #2 — UGOLIN.

Ugolin (who seems to go by "Glin") is a shaggy, gangly teenage boy whose main characteristic is being utterly love-starved. Left unattended, Ugolin would wander about the donkey contest, stopping in front of every child or adult he encountered, hoping someone would love him.

I was initially the only human Ugolin did not want cuddles from, because he was scared of Pandolf and seemed to think of me as his minion. Then I tied Pandolf to a tree and crouched down a few metres away from Glin, unsure if I had a chance now—and after hesitating for about 2 seconds he came over to kiss my forehead. My friend was so touched by this moment that she (somehow) got her phone to turn her photo into an impressionist painting.

"Can I scritch Glin's ears?" Yes. He is desperate for someone to pet his ears.

Donkey #3

—no, sorry, it's Ugolin again. It's very hard to get rid of him.

Donkey #3 — THE BABY.

The baby has no name. The baby has no skills. The baby is not good at anything other than being tiny enough to walk under her mum's belly. In the absence of any other qualifications she was happy to show off what is possibly the most low-effort limbo dance in the world.

"Can I scritch the baby's ears?" No. Big point against her, here. She will, however, come over if you say "awww le petit ânon <3" and let you pet her tiny nose. (More nose photos in this post if you missed it)

Donkey #ah no wait here's Ugolin again

He actually overcame his intense fear of Pandolf to come trap us in his forcefield of infinite neediness! I'm proud of him.

Donkey #4 — MYRTILLE.

Myrtille is in her mid-thirties, and did not come to the donkey fair to demonstrate any particular skills or be admired by us, but because she likes to meet new donkeys. She was not tethered to the rope and yet did not wander around to mingle with humans like other untied donkeys did; she shuffled from one end of the rope to the other like a friendly pensioner at a continental breakfast buffet, making small talk with everyone. It was hard to approach Myrtille (as a human) without feeling like a third wheel.

I don't mean to gossip, but she spent quite a while flirting with the glossy black donkey.

I love her. She's my favourite. I was not able to pet her or take a good close-up photo of her but that's okay. Myrtille is like a tempting rollercoaster at an amusement park that you are barred from by the sign that says "You must have ears THIS long to go any farther." I wish her only good things.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Kiss Kiss Fallen Tree!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[pleinsdemuses]

@fracturyd sent “c’mon, elain. dance with me.” (from azriel to elain)

The words coming out of the Shadowsinger's mouth would have been unbelievable to everyone but Elain. The new fae shared something with Azriel that nobody thought was possible. He was the one pulling her out of her self isolation, showing her the wonders of the Night Court and helping her accept her new life as Fae so when he asked her to come dance with him, she simply smiled and accepted his hand. The two of them made their way to the balcony, long and flowery gown trailing behind her as she walked beside the tall Ilyrian.

[macleod]

Just in case you hadn't heard.

[swiftmitsu]

Part 6.5 of Missing Killer

a little check in back at the castle~

_______________________________

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[chapter-master-darius]

“The mess hall works just fine. Come, follow me.” Darius says, gesturing as he begins to walk.

“I thought all creatures of the warp, regardless of origin, are daemons? Chaos aligned or not.” Bahram asks, his curiosity getting the better of him. “I admit, I don’t know much about the warp, but I do wish to learn!”

A small freighter translates into real-space just within communications range of the Revenant fleet. Its transmitted ID codes mark it as a Mechanicus vessel, though a quick analysis reveals the craft is using an outdated register - somewhere during the early years of the Great Crusade, circa 31st millennium.

[[ Attention, Astartes battle-craft. This is Aldus Trazyrae of the Crucible of Fate. My ship is damaged, and I request safe harbor amongst you while I enact repairs. If you are willing to sell me supplies or offer assistance, that would also be welcome. ]]

( @aldus-trazyrae )

Darius sips from his tea as he looks up from a data-slate, sitting comfortably in his command throne. “Eklius, anything odd about the freighter?”

“It’s register is outdated. M31.”

Darius sits up straighter. “I see. Ready a platoon of terminators. And open comms.”

“Acknowledged. Comms open.”

“Attention Crucible of Fate. This is Chapter Master Darius, Revenants of the XIVth. I will allow you to dock with my flagship, the Redemption. But no more lies. Who are you? Your register is outdated by a long, long time. Don’t attempt to run, you’re in front of an entire Legion fleet.”

@aldus-trazyrae