#Season 1 was awesome Season 2 was SOMETHING ELSE

[icarus-mp3]

[nickmarini]

Ayden’s Build 

TL;DR: Barbarian 1, Druid  2 (Circle of the Stars), Paladin 8 (Oath of the Ancients), and Cleric 9 (Peace Domain). Feats: Squire of Solamnia, Remarkable Recovery, Warcaster, Knight of Crowns, Spelldriver, Tough.

Building Ayden was a joy and a journey. To begin we were told we had 20 levels to work with and stats of 20 across the board. The only thing I knew about Ayden from the session 0 was that he was going to be a Cleric of the Everlight and that I wanted to make him the best support character I could. I also knew that the Dawnfather was aware of the mission briefing and so would have directed his growth to the task at hand. 

Stats of 20 meant multiclassing into any class was possible and that any ability score based bonuses or proficiency based abilities were going to be very good. I figured that with a warlock and a sorcerer we’d have some pretty good counterspelling and 9th level spell access, so I didn’t worry myself about either of those, instead focusing on making sure we all survived. 

The Dawnfather and The Everlight share 2 of 3 Domains. Life and Light. The Everlight’s 3rd domain is Peace. The Peace Domain cleric is an excellent subclass and its 6th level ability, Protective Bond, was something I knew I wanted to build around. The ability to take hits for, and aid, my siblings while teleporting around the battlefield is an excellent support ability and it also lets allies in the bond do the same, fostering sibling unity and cohesion.

With the Dawnfather having Nature as his unique domain separate from the Everlight, and literally sending himself to Exandria to infiltrate a city full of the greatest mages of the age, the Oath of Ancients Paladin seemed like an obvious path. It is the nature Paladin, (his domain) and 7 levels gives you both Aura of Protection and Aura of Warding. This means as Ayden moves through the battlefield with Protective Bond he will be granting allies +5 to saves from his cha as well as resistance to damage from spells. Incredibly good going up against the wizards of Aeor he knew he would encounter. I didn’t want to go to 10 with Paladin because I didn’t want to be immune to frightened. I just felt that fear played too large a role in the reasons the gods were here and although aura of courage is probably my favorite ability going back to 3rd edition, I felt like it wasn’t right for Ayden. He had to fear in order to reinforce his need to hope. 

These two classes were set relatively quickly and then I began looking at how else I was going to build him out. 

I really liked the idea of being able to grant my allies some extra attacks and so I was looking at battle master to get commanders strike and goading attack as well as maneuvering attack to help take hits for and position my allies. Action Surge is also a great ability that could really come in handy if I needed to save someone and needed one extra action to do so. 

I was also looking at the 2nd level Divination Wizard ability Portent. The ability to fully dictate 2 rolls is very powerful in certain circumstances, especially if the numbers are very high or very low.

Both these seemed good but weren’t feeling totally right from a character perspective. They felt too forced.

As I was playing around with these two classes I was also building Aydens backstory. I really liked the idea of him being agriculturally focused, as this aspect of the Dawnfather is actually his youngest. Sun begets days, and thus time and seasons, and as civilization evolves agriculture follows. The fighter levels lent the idea that he has spent some time training under a knight or some such warrior, and I knew that he would eventually find his way to Trist to begin his tutelage and become her cleric. I liked there being these different eras of his life. 

It was around this time that I got an awesome email asking me to describe Ayden visually so that the incredibly talented Hannah Friederichs and Cael Lyons could begin to bring Ayden and the Dawnfather to life. I wanted Ayden to be a simply dressed with a shield he took from his mentor, but no sword for striking. They sent 4 sketches and told me I could mix and match as I desired. Image #1 however was exactly as I had envisioned him. It was the simplest and had this depth to his eyes that told the story of a much older soul in this 15 year old body. It was so perfect that it made me realize I had been going in the totally wrong direction with fighter and wizard. The concepts of nature and agriculture were suddenly staring me in the face. It was not wizard, but druid, and his mentor could have taught him to be a paladin as easily as fighter, but if he is the bringer of agriculture who has he brought it to? A remote tribe still hunting and gathering was the answer. Barbarian therefore replaced fighter. I can’t tell you how influential the sketch I received was. It felt like a bolt of lightning suddenly clarified everything. 

I was for sure cleric 6, Paladin 7 and now looking at druid and barbarian. 

I didn’t know Druid subclasses very well but Circle of the Stars jumped out from the pack just with its name. The Sun after all is a star. When I read its 2nd level abilities Starmap and Starry form it was so obvious. I can cast Guiding Bolt to set up those attacks I wanted to grant, and I can glow instead of wild shape and either heal more or have a massive bonus to maintain the concentration spells I knew I wanted to cast. For the keeper of time to know how to read the stars just felt right. It also feel right that the druids of a tribe that had been hunting and gathering during the tumultuous Calamity would have learned to navigate by the stars, a singular constant in an every changing age. 

Barbarian has a number of interesting subclasses but none felt like they clicked. 1 level of Barbarian though, for a character with 20 dexterity and 20 constitution, catapults your AC to 20 and it also gives you a proficiency in Constitution saving throws if you take it as your first class, again reinforcing those concentration rolls. He was found as a child by this barbarian tribe and his first class is also his first community. Barbarian was the strong foundation I would build upon. 

I was now Cleric 6, Paladin 7, Druid 2, Barbarian 1. Reorganized to be the order Ayden would have taken them in it becomes the following:

Barbarian 1, Druid  2 (Circle of the Stars), Paladin 7 (Oath of the Ancients), and Cleric 6 (Peace Domain)

4 more levels to distribute. As a player who has mostly played 3.5 (I think downfall just about doubled the amount of 5E I have played) feats are my absolute favorite things, so getting to multiples of 4 in class levels to grab some was something I wanted to do (also I didn’t have to worry about ability score increases)! I had already given one feat up by taking barb and druid but I made up for it with the human variant. I also took the Knight of Solamnia background to give me Squire of Solamnia, the prerequisite for Knight of the Crowns which would give me the ability to grant attacks to my allies without needing battle maneuvers. 

So I upped paladin from 7-8 for a feat and then decided to take Cleric from 6-9 because it gave me a feat and access to the spell Dawn. I mean the Dawnfather should be able to cast Dawn after all! 

Now to feats

1) Background: Squire of Solamnia to give me the prerequisite for Knight of the Crowns

2) Human Variant: Remarkable Recovery. I knew I’d be taking extra damage so having 5 extra hp from any healing I get might just be the difference. It also plays into his background. He had to leave the Barbarian tribe he brought agriculture to because his skin could not retain the ceremonial tattoo ink that would have symbolized his initiation into the community. 

3) Cleric 4 Warcaster to get advantage on those concentration checks, that along with proficiency and starry form of the dragon means I need to take 28 damage (56 if it’s a spell) to even have to roll, and when I do I get advantage and proficiency on the check. Getting me to lose concentration is gonna be a task. 

4) Paladin 4 Knight of the Crown getting to grant an attack proficiency times per day combos wonderfully with Starmaps free guiding bolt, conveniently also proficiency times per day. 

5) Cleric 8 Spelldriver I’m gonna be casting a bunch of spells so the ability to cast multiple each turn is going to make my support spells come out much faster. I have a big fam to take care of!

6) Paladin 8 Tough I really went back and forth between this and Inspiring Leader. Granting all my siblings 25 temp hp is amazing but ultimately I decided that as I’d be tanking a bunch of damage I’d need toughness. Toughness gave me 15 more hp than Inspiring leader would have, and I ended up going down to 14 at one point so it was a decision that very much paid off by a single HP! Don’t wanna pop a deathward if you can help it!

Last but not least we were granted 2 magic items. One very rare and one uncommon. For my uncommon I chose a cloak of resistance, a parting gift from the tribe that Ayden could not join. This upped my saves to 11s or 17s and took my AC to 23. For his very rare magic item I took a spellguard shield, inherited from the knight who brought him from the remote tribe to Trist‘s school, giving me advantage on saving throws vs spells and magical effects and inflicting disadvantages on spell effects targeting me. Combine that with resistance to spells from Aura of Warding and that’s a nasty nasty combo v wizards. 

All in all Ayden’s build is an incredibly hard to target tanky support character who can move through the battlefield protecting his allies and being an absolute nightmare for enemy spellcasters. The only thing I really didn’t fully consider was just how much damage he would take from Warding Bond which totally bypasses all those wonderfully crafted defenses. As crazy as it is, I think we barely got to scratch the surface of Aydens full potential and it’s probably good those mages decided to cast spells at everyone else because Ayden was going to be a tough character for a spell caster to crack. The Commanding Rally did get to shine allowing characters who specialized in weapon attacks to get a little extra out of those 20 level commitments. Ayden’s build was crafted to keep his siblings alive and let them shine as bright as possible together. I’m very proud of him!

If you read all this then you’re as nerdy as me and deserve a reward!

[miloformula123fan]

Could you do fic for Toto Wolff with wife reader? He opted to hold her hand during the celebration of the Merc's double podium because there were too many people. "Move through the crowd while holding hands so as to not lose one another – and not letting go afterwards". Just something fluff and comfort. Add something if it's not right. Tag me later!! Thanks :)))

sorry it's so short! but I loved writing this fluff, and honestly churned it out in like 1 hour.

also if you have older requests i am working on them, I am just also working on school work.

luckily, all my assessments are nearly done, and holidays are next week so yay! more updates :)

Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

also feel free to come in and start chatting to me in my asks, would love to get to know y'all better

and if you want to be added to my taglist lmk :)

toto wolff x wife!reader

“AND THAT IS A MERCEDES 1-2 TO THROW THIS CHAMPIONSHIP WIDE OPEN AT THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX AND 3 YEARS AFTER WINNING HIS LAST GRAND PRIX HERE, LEWIS HAMILTON HAS WON HIS 104TH CAREER VICTORY AND WHAT A WAY TO DO IT IN HIS LAST SEASON WITH MERCEDES.”

The rest of Crofty’s speech was drowned out by the cheers of the garage around Y/N as the team who had gone so long without winning, especially Lewis’ side of the garage cheered and yelled and as the pit mechanics came back from where they’d been on the fence yelling and contributed to more noise.

Y/N felt a little overwhelmed. She hadn’t really been in the garage since 2021, due to her husband’s tensions during the year and her wish to continue to just focus on her own career. She tried to insist she was the team’s bad luck charm after Abu Dhabi, until people had pointed out that she’d also been there during the dominant 2020 season. And as she had spent 2022 and 2023, which also were not great years for Mercedes, she’d agreed to do a lot more of her work remotely and come to the grand prixs. She insisted that she was bad luck at the first grand prix, and Toto had basically dragged her along to Saudi.

Maybe she was their good luck charm, she thought, as the garage exploded when Max and Sergio had crashed into each other, making both the red bulls retire. The Ferrari’s had been having problems all weekend but no one truly hoped even when they were sitting in a 1-2.

At least until they’d crossed the line. And then they’d had hope. And then the celebrations had begun. Someone had already found champagne and begun spraying it around, no one thinking about the podium, until all of a sudden everyone was and they were all rushing around and Y/N was all caught up in the rush and being pushed around by everyone, trying to find Toto until she felt a hand slip into hers.

She jumped back, not wanting some strange man holding her hand until she looked up and realised that it was in fact her husband who was trying to hold her hand.

“Sorry…didn’t realise it was you.”

“That’s okay Liebe. I’ve got you. Now lets go watch Lewis on the podium, okay?”

The second she nodded in agreement, Toto slipped his hand back into Y/N’s as he tried to push through the crowd again. Being tall and the team principal helped, and as they weren't coming for the pre podium celebrations, which is where everyone else was rushing towards. As the drivers were hugged and yelled at again by the mechanics (honestly how were they going to have voices tomorrow, and how were the red bull mechanics’ voices not very raspy after doing this practically every week for the past few years). Y/N thought she was going to have to cancel her meetings for the next few weeks as she would just be unable to talk.

Toto pushed through the throng of mechanics, pushing through the Mercedes and Williams colours everywhere, trying to get a good position at the front, and then the announcers began, and Toto and Y/N were wedged against the barrier and they decided to stop and watch the podium.

Y/N watched as Albon mounted the podium, grinning to the feral screams of the Williams mechanics to her left. She’d ended up wedged between James and Toto, smiling at James’ excitement on Alex being on the podium. She smiled at him as the noise from the Williams side of the podium celebration. He smiled back, almost bouncing up and down by the excitement of what Williams was achieving. And as Lewis, George and Bono bounded onto the podium, bringing up a round of screaming and even Y/N raised her hands. And as she raised her right hand, she could feel Toto’s hand, still intertwined with hers. She smiled, locking eyes with Toto.

His eyes twinkled as he smiled down, before his attention was brought back to the podium and yelling at the drivers.

The German and British anthems blared out, and while Y/N knew most of the words of the British anthem (it was mostly just the same words on repeat ‘god save our king’). And while Toto was able to sing the German anthem while Y/N butchered it here and there. She loved listening to her husband singing or talking in his natural language. It was very hot, if Y/N had to admit it.

As they left the podium to go back to the garage, Toto had still not let go of her hand as they continued winding between what felt like millions of people crowding the pit lane.

When they finally returned to the Mercedes garage, and walked up to Toto’s office, Toto finally let go of Y/N’s hand and started to gather up his work and laptop to get ready to return to the hotel.

“Hey, toto?”

“Yes liebe?”

“Why were you holding my hand?”

“Well, I didn’t want to get lost, and I didn’t want you to get lost, liebe.”

“Yeah, but why didn’t you let go of my hand when we got to the podium”

“Do I need an excuse to hold your hand, darling?”

“No but…”

“Then I kept holding your hand because I wanted to keep holding your hand. Is that a good enough excuse?”

“Okay Liebe.”

Toto put all his files and laptop in his left hand after shrugging on his overcoat, and then offered his right hand to Y/N.

“Can I keep holding your hand liebe?”

“Of course you can darling.”

---

taglist: @leosxrealm, @pear-1206, @tallrock35, @wolf-knights, @janeholt3

[so-much-for-the-seashells]

Baking With BF!Dean Winchester Headcanons

✨ Dean Winchester x GN!Reader ✨

*sighs in 2014 was 10 years ago* Minors do NOT interact, this is not “rizz-ing!” Off you go!

A/N: I love writing these because they’re like half baked yet surprisingly endearing thoughts and it’s fun haha.

Icons by me!

All notes are appreciated! Hope you enjoy!

Content Warning: I have a bad sense of humor and make some sex jokes but nothing too explicit, at least I think so. Definitely still 18+

( ˘ ³˘)♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎ ♥︎

-3 favorite things to bake with him

1. Pie (obvs)

2. Brownies (sometimes with pot…)

3. Cookies (all kinds)

-okay, now that that's been established...

-one day you had jokingly suggested the bunker should do a cookie jar

-this was taken seriously; not only by Dean, Sam and Cas; but also by literally every regular passerby. Even Rowena's made a batch of red velvet cookies. (We threw those ones away, we couldn't trust that they weren't poisoned, made of blood, or both)

-but if it's just the usual crew (you, the brothers, and Cas) then you have a weekly rotation

-and Dean regularly suckers you into "helping" him, even though you both knows he’s capable of being a big boy (and I mean he is a big boy if you catch my drift) and doing it himself

-those candy apple green eyes work wonders

-anyhoo

-one of his favorite, stupidly cheesy things to do is as follows:

-you’ll have a taste of the batter/dough/filling, as one does (it’s always good cause the two of you together are an unstoppable force in the kitchen) (alone is a different story- it’s usually Kraft Mac n Cheese cups)

-and while you’re trying it, making faces, he’ll look over and innocently ask if he can try it

-like “Can I get some, sweetheart?” (And yes he most certainly can get some.) (batter, I mean) (definitely batter) or “can I try some, doll?”

-and no matter how many times he’s tried it you’ll say yes

-so he’ll lean down, cupping your cheeks in his rough hands and kiss you as passionately as humanly possible

-like, these kisses could literally bake the cookies or whatever because of how hot they are

-and he’ll make sure he really gets to try it

-and then he’ll pull back with a smirk, cause he’s done it at least 30 times before and you still let him and still like melt into a puddle every single time. Without fail.

-you guys like to put on Disney soundtracks in the background when you bake. High school musical and Moana primarily, but he’s also taken with the soundtrack of Julie and the Phantoms. (He complained about the show being unrealistic supernaturally speaking and then was adamant that there should be a season two and cancelling it was a crime worthy of hell)

-also, rock, obviously. As a fan of Bon Jovi, you best believe you sell him on them and slow dance to Bed of Roses while things are in the oven. It’s only right.

-if you’re listening to heat of the moment and Sam the baby giraffe walks in he will get those sad eyes, making both of you scramble to make him something else, like some keto hidden veggie brownies or some shit, to make him feel better

-now, in specifics

-pie is for fun. You two usually make one to split for after dinner. Roughly once a month, but should be more often. Well, that’s not fair if you count creampies

-apple is his favorite, ofc. You use Mary’s recipe, and you’re the only person in the whole wide world that he trusts with modifying it in any way

-you also make them for him if he’s sick or if you guys have for some reason had a fight. The latter is rarer, but does still happen on occasion

-it’s okay though, because pie will always make things better

-cookies are almost exclusively for the jar. These are made on random frequencies, usually a lot at a time.

-he likes butterscotch a lot, and you find a way to mix your favorite flavors into either one monstrosity or one beauty of a cookie

-you guys have in fact made your own recipe. It’s awesome. Like, prized possession material.

-and then brownies

-they’re literally just pimped up store bought mix. Preferably Ghirardelli, for maximum bougie-ness

-and then sometimes you guys add some fun time grass

-you’ll do that when you just want to have a soft night. You’ll always way up to him laying on you and holding you like a koala though- may your back be prepared

-overall he just really enjoys spending time with you in any way that he can and baking is a great way to do that

-Dean Winchester is precious

-I rest my case

If you have any ideas for more headcanons, send a request! My box is always open!

Xx

[stopper-my-heart]

Nick Nelson's Comphet Hair Sweep

Hear me out. You know this gesture?

This is Nick Nelson's Comphet Hair Sweep™️.

I'll be sidestepping the trees today in favour of the forest (i.e., skipping over the other layers that any single instance of this gesture may involve in favour of the theme that unifies them: comphet).

'Comphet' = compulsory heterosexuality

For the purposes of this post, I mean that Nick uses his 'hair sweep' gesture when he's feeling self-conscious about his sexuality and is feeling compelled – from somewhere internal, external or both – to be or appear heterosexual.

Now then! Let's look at every single instance where Nick does his Comphet Hair Sweep (and a couple of times he doesn't, to support the point).

Season 1

Episode 1: Charlie's existence and awesomeness are causing a lot of confusion for Nick (a.k.a. Nick is trying to bury his sexuality head in the sand). In this episode, Nick's Hair Sweeps are all or almost all about him trying to reassure himself of or reassert for himself his heterosexuality.

1. This is one of Nick and Charlie's early "hi"s, seen during their "hi" montage. Nick: “Hi, I don't find you cute, everything's Normal.”

2. During lunch, Nick is playing rugby with the lads and Charlie is distracted by watching him. 'Coincidentally', Nick does his Hair Sweep right after Charlie looks over. Or maybe he's just feeling like he needs to be straight lad/bro-y with his rugby mates. Either way, there doesn't seem to be any hair in Nick's face that actually needs pushing out of the way.

3. Nick hears Coach Singh praise Charlie's running and looks over to watch. Nick is impressed and not staring at all.

4. Charlie tackles Nick for the first time. This physical contact is perhaps more Something than either of them was expecting.

5. Nick tackles Charlie. We don't see Nick's face while he does the Hair Sweep but all of his other faces surrounding this moment suggest surprise, enjoyment and confusion that are not solely related to Charlie's improvement at rugby. (Hello, leaves. Thanks for the reinforcement.)

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

Episode 2: For the majority of this episode, we see Nick spending time alone with Charlie. He seems to be setting aside any confusion in favour of having carefree fun with Charlie earlier on and then later explores his sexuality a bit rather than avoiding it or pushing it down. As a result, we have only one Comphet Hair Sweep in this episode, during the transition between Nick's approaches.

1. Charlie helps Nick play the drums. Nick, steeling himself a very hetero-normal amount: “This is fine. Charlie can be pressed against me from shoulder to knee and I'll feel nothing.” (Narrator: He did not, in fact, feel nothing.)

This marks a shift where, from here on out, every single Comphet Hair Sweep is because of someone else's expectations of Nick rather than his expectations of himself. He can no longer ignore or avoid or refuse to recognise that he's into Charlie.

Note that Nick googles “am i gay?” at the end of this episode.

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

Episode 3: This episode is another one where Nick spends a lot of time seeking out and spending time with Charlie, as well as defying his mates' expectations. As a result, we again have only one Comphet Hair Sweep.

1. Harry and Sai are discussing girls Nick might be able to get with at Harry's birthday party. Nick is feeling compelled to seem straight for the lads, but he also wants to shut down this discussion (his actual crush is right there and might get the wrong impression!).

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

Episode 4: Unfortunately for Nick, in this episode he has to be around other people, with whom he hides himself, more often again.

1. Imogen immediately notices that Nick looks different (i.e., happier and more himself) after he and Charlie get together. Obviously Nick needs to re-place his hair after Imogen ruffles it, but he also wants to hide that the change is related to something decidedly not-hetero.

2. After Harry chucks a rugby ball at Tao, and Nick comes to check on Tao and collect the ball, Tao takes out his frustration and anger by throwing it back at Nick. If Nick wasn't already aware of Tao's feelings about the rugby lads, from this interaction alone it's clear to him that Tao is assuming that he's like Harry because he's part of that group, just another one of the (straight) laddish lads.

3. Before the St John's rugby match, Charlie jogs over to meet his friends who have come to cheer him on. Charlie has just reassured Nick that he won't say anything about their relationship to his friends, but Nick is still nervous and feeling a need to appear straight, especially with his own friends and the rugby lads all around.

4. Darcy nevertheless picks up on something romantic between Nick and Charlie and asks Charlie about it. When Charlie replies, "We're friends" and Darcy pokes at it a bit more, we can see Nick (who's been eavesdropping) in the background doing his Comphet Hair Sweep to compensate.

5. After Charlie is tackled during the rugby match for the first time, Nick calls out to him (which he doesn't do for any other player). We then see Nick come into frame in the background and do a Comphet Hair Sweep before the camera cuts away.

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

Episode 5: Nick makes big strides towards pulling away from others' expectations of him in this episode. This is the beginning of the end of the Comphet Hair Sweep.

1. Harry throws something at Tao and Charlie, Tao retaliates with a shove and an insult, and Nick tells Harry off to stop the confrontation. However, Harry then turns on Nick, saying, "Aw, are you gay for them?", eliciting laughter from the rest of the lads. This homophobia hits close to home for Nick; he loses his nerve, stops sticking up for Tao and Charlie and does his Hair Sweep, uncomfortable but hiding behind appearing straight once again.

2. Nick invites Imogen to the park to tell her that he's not romantically interested in her. After doing so, Nick begins to do a Comphet Hair Sweep but abandons the gesture, changing it to just slightly pushing his hair to the side. This reflects Nick's decision to then be as open and honest with Imogen as he feels ready for at that moment, offering a confession of not “fitting” with their friend group.

2.5. Note that at the end of Nick's talk with Imogen, there's much more hair in Nick's face that he does not attempt to Sweep aside.

3. Unfortunately, Nick hasn't escaped Harry's grasp fully yet. He seems frustrated at letting himself continue to be confined by the group's hetero expectations but still chooses to conform, for now, though possibly deciding after this Hair Sweep that he needs to break free. (Cue animated lovebirds taking flight.)

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

Episode 6: This episode marks the end of the Comphet Hair Sweep as Nick begins to come out to people. Tara has also just publicly come out and is struggling with the fallout from that.

1. Demeera on Reddit posited that the locking music practice room is a metaphor for ‘the closet’. If we take that view, it seems especially telling that Nick does his Hair Sweep right after telling Charlie that he may be bisexual and when looking towards ‘the closet’ where Tara and Darcy are currently trapped.

2. Note that it's Nick who then shoves open the door to ‘the closet’, setting Tara and Darcy free, and perhaps himself as well. We see Nick attempt a Hair Sweep but with the ‘wrong’ hand, doing it a moment later with the other hand. So he does the gesture twice, with both hands...‘bi’ times with ‘bi’ hands, if you will. (And then he sets off on the LGBT corridor run.)

3. This is the final Comphet Hair Sweep, and, notably, it's out of frame. Nick does it when Tao looks at him -- Tao, who is the last of their friend group not to know about the nature of his and Charlie's relationship, and who Nick knows adamantly believes that he's straight.

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Season 2

After S1E6, Nick does not ever do the Comphet Hair Sweep gesture again. The only remotely similar gesture he does is in season 2 when he sweeps his hair back after his shower in episode 2. He uses one hand to pull his hair back along both sides of his part. This is a Confidently Bisexual Hair Sweep if I've ever seen one.

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Note that this post is a mixture of genuine and tongue-in-cheek. I don't plan on specifying further; I'll leave that space for you to develop your own views with less influence from mine.

Thanks for taking the time to read through and consider this!

Thank you, too, to @bairdthereader for contributing "sweep" as the term for the motion.

[lukolabrainrot]

Hey hey. Just some thoughts.

1. If Nic & Luke are together I think they will hold off on anything dropping anything publicly for as long as possible.

Why?

A. For privacy's sake. They freaking deserve it.

B. To give a good amount of time between their relationship and the exit of A. Optics matter.

C. To not draw undue attention away from Bridgerton season 4's leads. It wouldn't be fair to Luke T & Yerin.

...

2. With that being said, I think they will have to go public at some point.

Why?

A. DM has a bug up their butt about them both and is relentless.

B. They will probably have to get ahead of something leaked by a fan or a pap.

C. Choosing to go public will let them control the narrative and let them ask for privacy immediately. (While a lot of people will not respect this, it's a good start point.)

...

3. I don't think Luke's old friend group is going to be around anymore.

Why?

A. Too much funny business with the locations being revealed.

B. A is too firmly entrenched. Like an octopus.

C. Too many rumors about R & A together.

D. Nic's friend group is large and also likes privacy a lot. Luke is likely to fit in there actually. Just look at pre hbs Luke. He was meant to be in that circle.

Thank you for having anon asks on so I could purge this! I really want to know what you think. You are awesome.

Thank you, and glad you are here! I love hearing everyone's theories!

I definitely agree with a lot of this, EXCEPT for the friends part. I think (MINUS R/S/A) IF L/N are together, he will work on incorporating his friend group into her friend group, and vice versa.

What does everyone else think?

[helenakwayne]

And Then There Were Three

Thoughts on Bridgerton S3 Kanthony – spoilers abound (Alt. Title: Read Me Rant)

It was never my intention to watch Bridgerton. When season 2 came out, some of my best friends told me I needed to watch season 2, specifically. So, I did, starting from season 1, because context is important to me. I watched season 1. It was all right. I watched season 2. I had a new ship. I love Kate and Anthony, and if I’m entirely honest, I may love her quite a bit more than I love him. But I do love them together. I do think they work better as a unit than apart.

As every Kanthony shipper knows, Season 2 was unsatisfying. We felt precious screentime that should have gone to our leads was wasted somewhere else—something about rubies and American mines. It differed from the book, but we have made peace with it. We have two stories with the same, if slightly different, characters—more to love, right? But if there is something we’re all terribly happy about, it is the leads we got. Jonny Bailey and Simone Ashley have chemistry up to their yang; they make that enemies-to-lovers plotline sing, and they act out the hell out of their characters. They have both stated on numerous occasions how much they love their respective characters, and they do make them come alive in a beautiful way. Our complaints about season 2 mainly were about timing—did we have to make it all the way to a doomed wedding in episode 6? By then, Si and Daff were getting it on, leaving time to resolve everything else while we were barely reaching peak angst. We had no onscreen courtship. No onscreen wedding. No onscreen honeymoon. No onscreen Kate becoming the kickass viscountess she will prove to be (but I’m getting ahead of myself). No onscreen Anthony letting go of his psychological burdens. But our leads were together, so… yey?

Bridgerton as a show is not without its MANY problems, but I choose to watch it despite those problems. I won’t dive too much into those. What is troubling, however, is when they seem to waste outstanding opportunities that require minimal effort because of what looks like mere incompetence.

So, season 3 Kanthony… By some miracle, both Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey can come back for a few episodes. Jonny, we learn, made an almost superhuman effort to make it happen. Simone may have passed on a role to be there. They are fan favourites. They are the heads of the household, after which the show itself is named. They are excellent actors with a lot of chemistry. Episode 1, you establish they’re happy newlyweds, recently in from an extended honeymoon (and no, I do not think they went to India—not enough time); Kate’s adapting to her new role, but they both want more time to themselves, so, extended honeymoon. Ok, we can live with that. Is it frustrating that they only have about five minutes of screen time? Sure, but we can stomach it. Those were a lovely 5 minutes. They are happy and in love; they have a purpose and a somewhat logical explanation to exit the screen for a while. We can move on. We sit tight until Part 2 of Season 3 is released. We are told Kate will be pregnant! And… nothing else. So, we wait. And here they come. She is pregnant! She’s looking a bit nauseous from the ride, bless her, but Anthony is as besotted as ever, thinking naughty thoughts about his insanely hot pregnant wife and ready to shout his praises to high heaven. And that is awesome! As shippers, we are so happy for them. Look at them in bed! Aren’t they precious? Sure, their four-legged son is cockblocking Ant, and Kate is preoccupied about when to release the news, but they are the sweetest, hottest couple. Let us bask. Let us rejoice in the new Viscountess Bridgerton, running that household, caring for Greg and Eloise, crushing that party. She’s good at it, and she KNOWS it. She gloats, and she deserves it. You go, Kathani! You were born for this! And then, they have the sweetest, most perfect moment in which she tells Anthony they should announce baby Edmund is coming (because this needs to be Neddy, guys). He’s perfect in his speech, and she loves him, and he loves her. They tell the matriarchs, showing their excitement in different but complementary ways. And we love them. So. Much. So… where do they go? Where are they? Did they … poof away? We don’t know! One minute Kate was being the perfectest new viscountess, organising, hosting, wife-ing, mothering, sistering, being the meanest, toughest bitch in the ton, and then… where’s my Kate, you monsters? Anthony is wherever she is, surely, but wasn’t he perpetually busy? Wasn’t “dutiful” his primary descriptor? Remember all that paperwork he was supposed to be completing after the original honeymoon? Remember all that work he did on seasons 1 and 2? Remember all the planning and the family overseeing? Is he doing that? Where? Is Kate there, too? Well, we’ll never know. Let’s skip to episode 7, shall we? Because we must. This is Kanthony-focused, after all…

Episode 7 is a doozy because there’s so much… nothing for us. Do they look amazing? Sure. Look at visibly pregnant Kate. My brain immediately goes into protecting the Queen mode. But where is Anthony? Look, guys, I adore besotted, Kate-obsessed Anthony as much as the next shipper, but we love that Anthony because we know there’s so much more to him. We adore him because of how he grows for her. But this guy? He’s not exactly growing because he has no plotline other than being Kate’s husband and the father of her child. And if you’re here for just that, then all power to you. I am happy for you. Have at it. But that isn’t me. I need more. I need to see him trying to be who he has always been—the dutiful son, the protective brother, the respected viscount—while he is also Kate’s loving husband and Neddy’s amazing dad. The one-dimensionality of Anthony is killing me. Because we do get slightly more of that with Kate. The convo with Colin was her using all of her powers to save her new family once again. We saw a glimpse of Viscountess Bridgerton-Sharma being perfection in episode 5. But then it was taken away! It makes no sense for her to be seen running the household if she is there intermittently. Seriously, where were they? Was there an agreement that Violet would run Bridgerton House while Kate was away? Can you… I don’t know… tell us? But to add insult to injury, the things they wrote in. Ant saying he loves weddings? Kate saying theirs was perfect? You know what would have been perfect? WATCHING IT ON SCREEN. And as great as it was to know that Eddie did not marry the prince, but some dude in India who makes her oh so happy (good for you, girlie), Anthony goes on to propose leaving for India right now? NOW? With Kate visibly pregnant? With Frannie's impending wedding? Is this proof of a doppelganger? Has Newton cockblocked him to stupidity? Is this what happens when he ain’t allowed to munch to his heart’s delight? Seriously, what sort of OOC nonsense is this? And guys… gals… pals… I LOVE Kathani Sharma-Bridgerton being from India. I would commission an entire show about her life. I want to know everything about her background—from birth mom to Papa Sharma’s death to their coming to London. I want it all. Educate me! BUT THIS MAKES NO SENSE, ANTHONY! And finally… finally… as lovely as the nose-boop was, people, THAT MAY VERY WELL BE THEIR LAST SCENE ON THE SHOW. THAT WAS THE PARTING SHOT. THAT WAS IT. THE LAST DIALOGUE. And I cannot. The waste. The absolute waste. The awful writing. The missed chances.

Many would tell me to count my blessings, and I do. I will. I thank the people who made the clipped versions of seasons 2 and 3 so I can watch just my Kanthony without the extra plot. I appreciate the happy ending. And there are amazing fic writers who give me stories that are so much more fun, satisfying, exciting and fulfilling than this shoddy attempt at using two of the best talents in the business right now. Yey, baby Neddy! Yey, Viscountess Bridgerton-Sharma! Yey besotted Kate and Anthony! But, gods above… this SHOULD have been so much more.

[able-remedious]

Trolls 3 Incorrect Quotes now that the movie out now so we don’t have to wait anymore!

Thanksgiving Edition 🦃🥔🍂🍁🍽

John Dory: Welcome to the hunger games!

Poppy: this is Thanksgiving!

John Dory: that is mahogany!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clay: Viva come stuff the turkey

Viva: ok

walks in Clay: where’s the turkey?

Viva: gobble gobble

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CJ: why did they stop leaving pies on a window sill?

Keith: Too many people floating in the air when they smell it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poppy: ok on the count of three everyone say what there thankful for! 1..2..3!

Poppy: everyone here!

Clay: Viva’s mental health improving!

Viva: My mental health improving!

Bruce: my wonderful family

John Dory: my awesome reunion skills

Branch: seeing my 3 brothers again, oh and John

Floyd: me being alive

Shallow: pizza!

Kid Ritz: me being included

Aven: my life being mentally ok again

Veneer: Aven

Crimp: anti depressant

Velvet: me, duh

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Dory speaking in a serious voice: we’re going back in time to the first thanksgiving to get turkeys off the menu

John Dory: that’s right we’re going back in time to the first thanksgiving to the first thanksgiving to get turned off the menu

Branch: …who are you talking to?

John Dory: this guy right here *pointing to a mirror* he knows exactly what I’m talking about

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Branch: WHERE’S THE TURKEY?!

Floyd: it’s in the cabinet

Branch: oh

John Dory: now we know to never steal Branch’s turkey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Branch: Clay did you put the turkey in the fridge to defrost a few days ago?

Clay: yep, totally!

Branch: you forgot

Clay: what?! no! Why would you say such a thing?!

Branch: your looking up, how to defrost turkey in 5 minuets

Clay: shut up! Go mash some potato's or something

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bruce: John, you know what season it is?

John Dory: uh, Halloween season?

Bruce: yea, but do you know what else it is?

John Dory: what?

Bruce: It is “I ask you whether you’re coming back for Thanksgiving, you say you’ll think about it and then we got caught up in something that leads to you and Clay fighting, so you say you’re not coming back, which leads to me and Clay fighting and with your jointed effort you two make me cry like the world is ending, so Floyd has to put a stop to it. And eventually you come back for Thanksgiving and we have a semi-nice holiday” season

John Dory: …

Bruce: so you coming home for Thanksgiving?

John Dory: I’ll think about it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 🦃🥔🍂🍁🍽

[pinksmonkey]

The Ultimate Byler Evidence/Analysis List (Part 3)

If you missed parts 1 or 2, here they are: Part 1 and Part 2

198. Bi Mike Masterpost

199. Byler Parallels Masterpost

200. The Choices The Writers Made

201. The Significance Of Mileven Not Getting Each Other

202. The Importance Of Byler Getting Each Other

203. The Importance Of Byler Getting Each Other - Part 2

204. Moments I've Been Thinking About

205. The Painting Ensures Byler Endgame

206. Byler Canon-Comforts

207. Will's Season 5 Arc

208. Elmike's Transition

209. Mike, Will, And El's Individual Arcs Each Season

210. Mike Wheeler's Playlist

211. I Ship It Because It's Endgame

212. I Love You On Your Bad Days

213. Mike Wasn't Lying When He Said "I Love You" And It Doesn't Rule Out Byler Endgame

214. Mike Was Thinking About Will When He Jumped Off The Cliff

215. Will Needs Mike

216. So Many Things Wrong With This Post

217. Why Byler Is Endgame

218. Amount Of Byler Scenes Compared To Mileven

219. Mike's Choice Of Words

220. Fundamentally A Story About Queer Themes

221. We Should Talk About This Way More

222. The Gay Beautician/Hairdresser Trope

223. If Byler Doesn't Happen

224. You Only Need To Understand Five Things

225. Who's Getting Books And Who Isn't?

226. Crafting A Confession

227. You're The Heart

228. Pocketgate Details You Might Have Missed

229. The Piggyback Drawing

230. Green Socks

231. Byler Fights VS Mileven Fights

232. I Didn't Say It, You Didn't Have To

233. Heroes

234. The Difference Between The Monologues Is Obvious

235. "Something I Never Stop Thinking About"

236. The Importance of Tiger Pride

237. Why Heroes Will Be Back

If you have anything else you think should be added to the list, let me know, leave a link in the comments or a repost. I will continue updating this list with any new awesome analyses. Happy Byler-ing! ☺️

238. Season 1 Mike Queercoding

239. Fandom's Reaction To The Will Is Gay Theory Repeating With Mike

240. Tropes and Byler

241. The Superman Reference

242. Milevens Are Insane

243. Mileven's Season

[roobiedo]

Happy Solarpunk Aesthetic Week and Winter Solstice! ❄️

While we do celebrate here, we don't actually experience winter in my region, or any of the classic four seasons! The weather here is basically a coin toss between searing heat and torrential rain lol. So while I was musing over how to adapt a solarpunk aesthetic to a tropical lifestyle, I came up with this!

Lengthy explanations and chaotic ideas below:

Disclaimer: I am not a science-y person, so I'm not sure how any of these would technically work or what materials would go into making them. Hopefully one day someone could figure it out, but I'm just having fun sharing these ideas for now :)

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What works well both in harsh sunlight and heavy downpours, plus is already something that people here use everyday? Umbrellas! How cool would it be to have an umbrella that absorbs sunlight during the day, and turns it into a personal spotlight at night? Or perhaps it could absorb and store large amounts of rainwater, to be re-used later or released somewhere more useful?

My main inspiration for this is the bamboo. This plant already plays a huge role in our lives here -- culturally, economically, and from what I recently learned, ecologically too! Our region suffers from floods often, and bamboo can help to control the flow of water, for example through their roots providing a barrier against soil erosion, or their ability to store large amounts of water and release it gradually during drier seasons. (And that's just one of the many reasons why bamboos are awesome and solarpunky!) I thought it would be cool to have water stored in the 'bamboo nodes' of the umbrella shaft, which could then be detached and used individually, or as components in other tech!

I chose the Amazonian lily pad as the canopy design because 1) it looks big enough to cover a person, 2) it has a wide surface for solar panels to 'photosynthesize' energy, 3) its container-like shape looks as though it could hold rainwater like a funnel while it trickles into the shaft, and 4) it just looks really pretty! Realistically, this canopy might not be able to do everything at once, so I'm hoping for this tech to be modular and highly customizable -- as in, you could replace this 'lily pad' with something else that serves a different function! I did play around with some other designs, here they are hehe

Hibiscus: Our national flower! Have these bad boys growing in my yard so I thought why not. Not sure what functions it would have yet... perhaps the pistil could be a sensor for gathering weather data? Or maybe the anthers are little lights? Maybe it attracts BEES???

Mushroom: Not familiar with the fungi in my area yet so I went with the classic Amanita. Though now I'm kinda regretting because! Wouldn't it be so cool and lunarpunky to design it based on a bio-luminescent mushroom, so it would make sense for the umbrella to glow in the dark? AGH missed opportunities ;;

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Anyway while I was designing the umbrella I thought about giving the model a cool fit too, so tadaaa! A customizable pair of pants that can be worn as a shorts + half-skirt/sarong combo during hot weather, or extended to become a full pair of jeans during colder/rainy times! I used zippers as the connectors because they seem easy to sew on and I like the punky vibe it adds to the outfit. HOWEVER, I'm realising that might be inconvenient or way too time consuming for some people. Maybe buttons, magnets or hook-and-loop fasteners would be easier?

As for the shirt, idk that was just for fun. Maybe it changes colour/design based on the surrounding temperature?

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So YEAH that was my longer-than-expected idea dump for this week! Thank you for reading <3 If you have any thoughts or ways of expanding on these ideas please please please share them with me I'm just really excited to see what people think waaaaa!!! ok bye stay hydrated

[miss-eli-starfleet]

My critique of CW’S The Flash

The Flash is one of my absolute favourite shows, and I think it deserves one of these. Yes my favourite shows deserve critiques because there are changes I would’ve liked to see instead. This is all just my opinion on the show, not exactly hating it. Plus.. I saw someone else doing something similar to here goes.

Imma be clear at the start. I don’t hate WestAllen, just really really disappointed with how they were written in the latter seasons sometimes.

Props to every actor in the Flash who put all their effort into the show whether the script was cringe or not.

Season 1-2 was FIRE. No complaints. Loved the WestAllen.

Season 3 was good,

but I think they could’ve done Savitar better. Still liked him as the big bad being depressed/emo!Barry. I’ll say that I got really attached to Harry in S2 which made me wonder why they have HR there at all? The dude grew on me, and he added humour to the team, but honestly between him and Harry, it could’ve easily been Harry. Though it means he would die at the end.. so I’m glad Season 3 had HR Wells instead sorry not sorry.

The relationship between Julian Albert and Barry was so fun to watch. Which reminds me, LOVED Eobard’s appearance as Matt Letscher in 3x01. I have no idea why they continue to use Wells’ face like bruh. Your pretending as Wells is over so like why. GIMME MORE MATT!EOBARD.

I loved Frost???

Season 4 was also great.

I’d say more quality than season 3 because it was their first time against a big bad that WASN’T a speedster yet posed a more than adequate challenge to the team. The plot was nice and unique (I really loved Hazard!). I’ll say that DEVOE was kinda showing some red flags before becoming the Thinker in his relationship with Marlize, like he seemed kinda overly possessive of her. Glad that she switched to helping Team Flash after seeing what her husband had become. Loved her “Thinker’s first victim” line.

I felt like they started focusing on Cecile too much? Her role was vital to the plot at the end with helping Barry hop into Devoe’s mind to retrieve Ralph. And speaking of Ralph, I was neutral towards the character at first, but he grew on me. Also why fire him for sometning he did like 10yrs ago. That made no sense. I’d rather Ralph than more Cecile or Allegra.

LOVED ALL THE BANTER BETWEEN HARRY AND CISCO. And FROST FROST FROST!!! I liked her S4 outfit. I also think Barry’s supersuit was the best in this season.

One of my favourite episodes was “Flashtime”. Awesome awesome filler episode.

Season 5 was also great.

Barry’s supersuit was trash tho imo. He just looks like a weird deformed strawberry.

Above average but not quite as good as S4. LOVED NORA WORKING WITH THAWNE then Barry finding out and tossing her into the pipeline cell lol. Just the betrayal, and then dumping her in the middle of a random street in the future. Loved all the father-daughter moments she had with Barry. Cool to see the writers creativity in “meta-tech”.

However Iris.. bro in 5x19 she has some issues bringing up the fact Barry NEEDED to go into the Speedforce TWICE. And then her telling Barry to his face that she didn’t care that Nora was working with Thawne. Like bro, he murdered your husband’s mother and caused sm problems. And you don’t care about that?? Good to see that Barry called her out in the end.

Imma complain about freaking Sherloque again. Why not Harry? Even after what happened to him in S4, I think he could’ve figured out that Nora is secretly working with Thawne. Like dude’s still smart af.

Nora getting erased from existence at the very end.. sad :( I miss S5 Nora

Season 6.

I feel like this is when everything started going downhill. I didn’t care for Mirror Monarch. The mirror!Iris storyline was interesting to see. Idk what happened the rest of the season. That’s how much I didn’t care for this season lol. I think the other half was about Ramsey and how he wanted to make everyone zombies. Man I HATED Sue Dearborn or however you spell her name. She just took up too much screentime. This is when it started feeling like “Iris & Friends” instead of “The Flash”.

Liked to see how Barry dealt with slowly losing his speed bc he was killing the speedforce lol. Liked how the Caitlin/Frost duo became separate people. It was cool. At least we got that lol.

I think this is when Allegra comes in. I honestly can’t stand her. Like the whole her and her sister trope? Why.

The one thing I did like was Barry’s artificial speedforce gave him speed thinking. Awesome episode to watch. EXCEPT NASH. WHY. His sacrifice is useless in the end because of the whole “Iris is Barry’s lightning rod” thing. Have nothing about a speedster’s lightning rods in the comics, just didn’t like how that was written into the show. It eventually got really annoying.

Season 7.

Where do I even begin. This is when Barry’s “children” became a thing, and then suddenly speedforce!Nora wanting to kill all of them? Like what??? Where did that come from? Dion’s storyline was interesting. The rest were just.. Meh. And the CGI was so cringe.

I loved Abra Kadabra??? Why they gotta kill him off in one episode.

Does Chillblaine start coming in this season? I dislike him in general.

Season 8.

THIS IS WHEN BARRY’S ACTUAL CHILDREN COME BACK.

Now with Nora getting erased in S5, I really would’ve preferred if they gave us Tornado Twins instead. Like you can even use the same actors, but I honestly don’t really like the new Nora. I did like seeing her interaction between her and her family.

Also. Bart. I. Have. Major. Problems. I LOVE Bart but he is supposed to be Barry’s GRANDSON. Give us Don Allen instead. I did like the episode where they messed up the timeline, went back to 2013 and then accidentally reset Jay into the timeline. Also loved the episode with the whole Barry and the gamma radiation making him age hella fast. Bro was basically a zombie at the end and still overloaded the machine with the speedforce.

The. Stupid. Power Rangers godspeed arc was shit and them being Bart’s Thawne-like arch nemesis. Like boy, don’t compare Thawne with your godspeed problems. Don’t even start. Also what is with the “Negative Forces” and “Positive Forces” Power Rangers thing and then Iris’ time sickness? At this point, The Flash just started to feel like a soap opera.

I liked Chester even though he was a “replacement” for Cisco. He was unique. But the whole Allegra/Chester budding relationship where did that come from?? It just seemed very cringe and didn’t do much for the plot besides drama I guess. Khione was meh. Like just give us Caitlin with Frost in some way. I don’t care about Khione and her arc. Pls give us more Barry and not so much Cecile and Allegra.

Season 9

The show should just be renamed “Power Rangers: Iris & Friends” at this point. They made an entire episode without Barry?? Like if I pick up a Flash comic book, I expect it to be about THE FLASH. Not his random friends. Like yes, his friends can make appearances but don’t give me a whole dang episode without Barry THE MAIN CHARACTER. Also how the hell did Cecile become that OP, where is the character development.

Idk where Chillblaine comes in but I just don’t like him, not to mention that I don’t like the relationship between him and Frost. Like what.

Eddie’s Cobalt Blue arc and Red Death arc could’ve been done WAY better. I didn’t see any plot relevance in any way. It was written so poorly. Red Death was just like evil speedster!Batman or something. Please don’t bring our beloved Eddie back if you gonna write him all just jealous of Barry and him somehow becoming the new avatar of the Negative Speedforce. And what does Batwoman have anything to do with this (I believe she appears in the finale villains arc)l

There is legit only one episode I like in S9. The one that comes “full circle”. The one where Barry gets stuck in 2000, gets to chill with his parents for one day, and then comes full circle with Matt!Eobard killing Nora. SEASON 1 QUALITY. They even use the same bg music which awwww. And the “If I can spend one more day with my parents, then what would I say to them?” Line? Chef’s kiss.

Did not like the finale. His final run speech was okay about sharing his gift. Definitely would’ve preferred if Barry became the lightning bolt that struck him in S1 like in the comics.

Idk which episodes: Loved all the Amunet & Frost storyline, and then Goldface time to time appearances. Especially “Officer Chemist” lol.

[robsheridan]

Sisters of the Solstice, part 2 (start with part 1 here). In June of 1975, photographer Sera Clairmont captured the only known documentation of Sweden's mythical “coven of eternal witches,” (as some local folklore refers to them), and published them in Spectagoria magazine issue 11. These are the last of the pages that have been recovered from that issue.

From Clairmont’s text: “The Sisters are women of ritual. Complex layers of rituals for every occasion have collected upon the Sisters’ insular culture over re-generations like stamps on a well-traveled passport. At no time are the rituals more significant than in the weeks surrounding Midsommar, for that is the time of renewal.

“Each Midsommar season, the Sisters chosen for renewal give their physical shells back to the earth. Some depart in rituals of soil, and their remains are used to decorate the land, often raised to decompose as markers of the Sisters’ territory to scare away any men who dare come near. But some of the women - old souls who require stronger magick to transfer - must give themselves to rituals of flame, and [text illegible due to paper damage] reborn in flame. It is in the flame rituals where one understands the depth of the sacrifices the Sisters have endured to survive for so long without men. At dusk, the [illegible] dangerous ancient dark magick, taking a heavy toll on [illegible]… If any mistakes are made, or [illegible] too weak, [illegible] the soul will never return, [illegible] the wrong soul [illegible] …something else comes back.” [the rest is illegible]

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NOTE: Spectagoria is an ongoing work of fiction created by me. This alternate reality horror story is part of my NightmAIres narrative art series (visit that link for a lot more). NightmAIres are windows into other worlds and interconnected alternate histories, conceived/written by me and visualized with synthography and Photoshop.

If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon for frequent exclusive hi-res wallpaper packs, behind-the-scenes features, downloads, events, contests, and an awesome fan community. Direct fan support is what keeps me going as an independent creator, and it means the world to me.

[ominus-potato]

I kinda wanna draw More SMG4/Umbrella academy stuff. I feel like some of the characters could suit each other if I twist it right.

For example, if Mario is Five then whilst he’s lost in an apocalyptic future for 40 years, instead of having Delores the broken mannequin to keep him company, he can have Mr Puzzles. A broken TV who he talks to to prevent himself from going crazy. Maybe he even sellotaped a piece of paper to his broken screen and drew a little face on it?

And Bob would 100% be Klaus. Drugs, money, sex, at rock bottom, starts a sex cult, gets kidnapped by Hazel and Cha Cha (would still have to figure out who they would be) I mean it suits him pretty well.

Also, I could put Trashcube in there by making SMG1 Dave. I can picture Bob going up to SMG1 before they technically met in the army and trying to convince him to not go to war bc that’s how he dies and he doesn’t want to loose him because he loves him. Then SMG2 or someone like that (I don’t wanna make it be 2 but I really can’t think of who else would be there with 1) would be the guy screaming at 1 to “punch the queer” to get Bob to shut up and eventually make 1 join the army.

AXOL WOULD BE BEN BC HE’S DEAD AND WOULD TOTALLY FOLLOW BOB AROUND TRYING TO STOP HIS LIFE FROM GOING TO SHIT!!

Maybe Tari would be Victor bc in season 1 he was kinda wimpy bc he thought he was regular and in season 2 he had that whole sexuality and gender journey with Sissy (who would totally be Saiko. Tari x Saiko let’s gooooo)

Ooooo! Maybe Kaizo can be Saiko’s husband who she leaves for Tari!! I hate to do Kaizo like that bro but we need SOMEONE to be the toxic husband.

If Three is Diego then him and Four meeting in the asylum would be awesome. I wanna draw that scene from season 3 where Three would ask “ARE YOU INSANE?!!” And Four would reply “Sweetie you met me in a nuthouse.” So good.

I suppose Meggy would be Allison? Fuck I had something planned with her and Desti but I completely forgot it. I’ll have to figure out who everyone else would be but a few scene redraws could be fun!!

[voteformightyclocks]

Why The Bad Batch Season 3 Was Bad

Now hear me out! I enjoyed it, for the most part. And I know many fans did enjoy love it. But objectively speaking, the show had a rough Seasons 1-2 while it tried to find it's footing, and then a horrible Season 3 due to bad writing. I could never really find the words to explain how I felt but recently I discovered an actual writing technique that was not implemented, which is the core of my problem. So let's talk about that!

The technique in question is setup/payoff. Ideally, everything in your story should have some sort of payoff. Think Boromir being tempted by the ring, and then later betraying the Fellowship. Or the dwarves and elves hating each other but later on Legolas and Gimli referring to each other as friends. The setup can be truly anything, and the payoff also can be. They don't need to be these massive moments that feel epic. But ideally, every notable moment and every lore drop should be building towards something.

While nothing has to build towards something, Tech's death should have. His death was a consequence to the Bad Batch's actions, however it wasn't properly built up or hinted at. The mission was treated the same as any other mission. There was no setup for Tech's death. You could replace his death with literally anyone else in the crew and the impact would have been exactly the same. So if Tech's death wasn't paying anything off, then it should be setup for something later down the line. It's a major event, it needed to be.

Fast forward to Season 3 and we have this assassin pursuing the Bad Batch. This assassin demonstrates Tech's abilities, as well as Crosshair's. Theories buzzed around the internet that this assassin was, in fact, Tech. This would have been awesome payoff. But instead the assassin was a faceless individual. I understand where the show was coming from: "This is what the Empire wanted to turn Task Force 99 into." But that's not satisfying. There was no buildup towards the Empire removing the identity of the clones, not truly. We could have seen that through Crosshair, but all we saw was the Empire trying to control Crosshair, not erase who he was. If we in contrast did have Tech return as the assassin, that would have been different. There would have been setup for that, and then slow buildup, and then finally, the reveal.

And this leads to a major thing that I'm going to talk about that Star Wars...has a history of ignoring. It's okay for the audience to be right. They knew we were saying "Tech could still be alive!" They knew we were going to theorize about the assassin the moment we saw him. I suspect that the whole Faceless Assassins twist was implemented to try to surprise us. It sucked. It had no setup. It wasn't paying anything off. It landed as flat as Tech's death. Yes if the main assassin was actually Tech, we would have guessed it and not been surprised, and granted that would have been a slightly cheesy part of the story, but we would have been excited. It would have been proper payoff to Tech's supposed death.

So TL;DR, The Bad Batch Season 3 sucked because it abandoned a writing principle in order to attempt to shock us, and instead left a major Season 2 event and the entirety of Season 3 dangling with emptiness.

To all you writers or aspiring writers out there, don't follow that path. Even if it means the readers are right, stick to your story and don't abandon writing techniques. There is so much power in writing a story that is purely yours, and no one else's.

Until next time

[scoobydoodean]

Hi! I just wanted to start off by saying that your analyses on the characters are awesome and they really helped further my understanding of the show, so keep up the good work! :D

I was wondering, if you don't mind answering, what did you think of about Dean giving permission for Gadreel/Ezekiel to possess Sam in season 9?

I'm still a bit on the fence about how to feel about it and I thought your particular brand of wisdom might be able to help me out.

Dean had just a few pieces of information at the hospital in 9.01.

Dean knew that Sam had every intention of surviving The Trials in 8.14 and in fact Sam promised he would survive them and show Dean to the light at the end of the tunnel, because Dean was suicidal: "I'm closing the gates. It's a suicide mission for you. [...] I want to slam hell shut, too, okay? But I want to survive it. I want to live, and so should you. You have friends up here, family. I mean, hell, you even got your own room now. You were right, okay? I see light at the end of this tunnel. And I'm sorry you don't – I am. But it's there. And if you come with me, I can take you to it."

Dean observed that Sam became suicidal over the course of The Trials and that this culminated in Sam forsaking his promise and his desire to live and falling into a tailspin where he wanted to die to make himself "pure". Disturbing dialogue from 8.21: "Knights of the Round Table. Had all of King Arthur's knights, and they were all on the quest for the Holy Grail. And I remember looking at this picture of Sir Galahad, and, and, and he was kneeling, and— and light streaming over his face, and— I remember... thinking, uh, I could never go on a quest like that. Because I'm not clean. I mean, I w— I was just a little kid. You think... maybe I knew? I mean, deep down, that— I had... demon blood in me, and about the evil of it, and that I'm— wasn't pure? [...] It doesn't matter anymore. Because these trials... they're purifying me."

Dean pleaded with Sam not to kill himself in 8.23, and Sam agreed, asking, "How do I stop?"

These are the details Dean has prior to Sam falling into a coma. He believes that his brother wanted to commit suicide, but that he did change his mind and decide he wants to live.

Two other notable details:

First, Gadreel earns Dean's trust quickly by risking his ass to help Dean, and then on the phone (after being given the fake name "Ezekiel") Cas, relieved and pleased, vouches for Ezekiel. So Dean has no reason to suspect anything nefarious (and in fact, at this point, Gadreel doesn't have particularly nefarious intentions besides staying in hiding away from other angels).

Second, Dean is not the one who pleads with Sam to live in the dream sequence, getting him to say "Yes". It can't be Dean, because 1) "Dean's" face morphs into Gadreels which is clearly intended to indicate to us that this wasn't Dean speaking 2) If Gadreel was somehow projecting the real Dean into the conversation to give that speech, then Gadreel wouldn't be the one receiving the consent. It would truly be Dean receiving it and not just Gadreel pretending. Those words HAVE to come from Gadreel's mouth for the possession to work—not Dean's. We've seen angels morph into loved ones and mimic their voices perfectly several times.

With all that in mind:

After Gadreel pitches his plan to possess Sam, Dean immediately says it isn't his call to make—it's Sam's. It's after Gadreel shows him Sam falling back into the same suicidality from 8.23—wanting to die so that "no one else can get hurt because of me"—that Dean wavers. Still—at the end of the day, whether Sam agrees to live or not was never Dean's choice, and this is something I often see people get mixed up about. Dean doesn't get to choose whether Sam dies or not. It is still Sam who chooses to live. Sam does this by saying "Yes" to Gadreel. This could not have happened if Sam hadn't changed his mind about living. He doesn't know he's going to be possessed, but he has once again beaten back his suicidality and chosen to live. Sam still had hope in a good future.

Sam chose to live. He did not know he was going to be possessed. That's the issue. However, Dean did not intend to keep Gadreel's possession from Sam after it happened. Dean and Gadreel have this conversation upon leaving the hospital:

DEAN So? How's it look in there? EZEKIEL IN SAM’S BODY Not good. There is much work to be done. DEAN Yeah, but he's gonna wake up, right? EZEKIEL IN SAM’S BODY He will. DEAN So, what he does – what, is he gonna feel you inside, triaging his spleen? EZEKIEL IN SAM’S BODY He will not feel me, no. There is no reason for Sam to know I'm in here at all. DEAN You're joking. No, this is – this is too big. EZEKIEL IN SAM’S BODY And what will he do if you do tell him he is possessed by an angel? DEAN Well, he'll have to understand.

This conversation suggests that Dean's initial thought process was "We perform supernatural life-saving surgery". He just wanted to get Sam to a point where he'd wake up and they could talk. Like any situation with a relative in a coma, that person in a coma can't consent to surgery. The next of kin is the one who gives consent, because their loved one can't. They can only consent to a procedure if awake to do so. So Dean doesn't stop Gadreel from performing life saving surgery, but his intial belief and intent is that they'll put all of this back in Sam's hands when he's awake.

Up to this point, I don't actually have a problem with what Dean's done based on his knowledge. It's here at the end of the episode, where Gadreel convinces Dean to depart from his intial intent and stall, that in my opinion, the "Dean doing something wrong" part starts:

EZEKIEL IN SAM’S BODY And if he does not? Without his acceptance, Sam can eject me at any time, especially with me so weak. And if Sam does eject me, he will die. DEAN Then we keep it a secret for now. Or until Sam's well enough that he doesn't need an angelic pacemaker or I find a way to tell him. I - I... As for him being in a hospital, I'll have to figure something out. EZEKIEL IN SAM’S BODY I can erase it all, if you like. He will not remember any of this.

Dean doesn't feel good about it, but he agrees to keep quiet, because he's scared Sam will yet again make a suicidal play. Dean is riddled with guilt in the following episodes over lying to Sam, and in 9.08, Dean tries to tell Sam he's possessed, but Gadreel takes over Sam's body and stops him. Dean comes clean again in 9.09, only for Gadreel to stop Sam from receiving the news again.

So. Dean's mistake is lying to Sam. He shouldn't have lied to him. Point blank. At the same time, had Dean pushed the issue, would Gadreel have been willing to be expelled? Would he ever have allowed Dean to tell Sam the truth, from the moment he was... installed? Or was Dean screwed from the beginning, and was the idea that he got to choose any of this—any bit of it—really just... an illusion to keep Dean compliant with the possession that was keeping Gadreel under the radar?

Think about it for a second. Why did Gadreel ask Dean's permission? He didn't ever need Dean's permission to do any of this. He didn't need Dean's permission to trick Sam. He didn't need Dean's permission to remove Sam's memory of the hospital. He didn't need Dean's permission to keep the fact that he was possessing Sam a secret. He could have done every bit of this without asking. The problem was, Dean probably would have caught onto the disappearing angel act, and Gadreel would have had to get violent, and for the first part of season 9, Gadreel doesn't want to get violent! He just wants a place to lay low, and sees an opportunity to prove he's a good angel who helps humans—not just the angel who let the serpent into the garden. Getting Dean's "consent" might ease his own conscience about nonconsensual possession or be a way to keep Dean compliant or both, but ultimately, these are more questions worth weighing imo, because Supernatural loves to toy with the illusion that Dean has power in situations where he doesn’t, and in this case, he doesn't... actually have any power at all... does he?

That said, when it comes right down to it, Dean still did something wrong by helping keep the secret—by not trying to tell Sam the truth immediately because he was scared. And well. Okay. So what?

This is a show with characters who have good intentions but still make mistakes. As Cas will say about this later, "You were stupid for the right reasons". We get some great insights into the pitfalls that lead Dean down this path, and it's interesting to watch that happen and then later, see a broken mirror as Sam endeavors to prove through season 10 what Dean is willing to do can't touch what Sam is ultimately willing to do to keep Dean around.

Here's the thing—I don't believe for a single second that Sam wouldn't do the exact same thing in 9.01 had their positions been reversed. Sam and Dean have a conversation along these lines at the end of 9.13 "The Purge":

DEAN All right, you want to be honest? If the situation were reversed and I was dying, you'd do the same thing. SAM No, Dean. I wouldn't. Same circumstances...I wouldn't. 

This genuinely wounds Dean and gets brought up a few times, but then in 9.23 when it's brought up for the last time in another context:

DEAN What happened with you being okay with this? SAM I lied.

Sam never gets the chance to do the exact same thing to Dean, but he has already gone behind Dean's back to try and save his life before. He's used Dean's death to justify doing things Dean begged him not to do on his behalf. He kept the case they were actually on under wraps as he inched toward a plan to turn himself and Dean into Frankenstein's monsters in 3.15 (and really the only reason it didn't work is that Sam got captured by Doc Benton and Dean had to save his ass, and then Sam morosely helped dig the grave). Sam went behind Dean's back directly against his wishes to threaten a crossroad's demon in 3.05. In season 10, he violates Dean's consent by removing the Mark of Cain from Dean's arm using the Book of the Damned, which not only requires an overt human sacrifice of Oskar and gets a woman named Suzie killed in "The Werther Project" because Sam refuses to heed her warnings, but also results in the apocalypse... and all of this was something Dean asked Sam not to do, and Sam did every bit of it to get his brother back, and while standing in the wreckage in 11.01, echoed Dean's line from 9.13, saying, "I would do it again". Dean signed the supernatural possession next-of-kin consent form, and the fallout was Kevin and Sam. Sam violated Dean's consent and tens of thousands of people died and he said he'd do it again while they died around him.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

02/16/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast & Crew Sightings; Rhys Darby; Vico Ortiz; Samba & David; WooAsACrew; WatchPartyReminders; CrewSpotlight; LukeLemonArt Puzzle; Nes' 3K Giveaway; Acts of Grace Variety Show; FiberArtsDivision; Articles; LoveNotes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika

= Cast & Crew Sightings =

= Rhys Darby =

You've probably aleready seen, but in case you missed it, here's Rhys' latest cameo featuring storytime! Nothing like a good couple of readings from Rhys to really bring out the dopamine!

== Vico Ortiz ==

Vico posted a new photo on IG today. You're welcome. <3 Src: Vico's IG

== Samba & David Fane ==

Our lovely Nicola Dove, stills photographer for OFMD S2 posted some gorgeous shots of Samba and David today on her @filmstillsacademy on IG

== Save OFMD Crew WooAsACrew ==

More #WooAsACrew going on, real flowers being sent to Netflix! Thank you to @ tobinezumi42 on Twitter and @ KelliMZielinski on Twitter!

We made it through a WHOLE WEEK of #WooAsACrew! What an amazing job Crew! Tomorrow-- it's a day to treat yourself! Wanna read some fanfiction? Wanna eat something you don't normally get to? Wanna do something goofy? Do it! Treat Yo'Self!

== Watch Parties ==

= People of Earth =

Reminder! Feb 17, People of Earth Season 1 Watch Party Make Up starts at 9 AM EST, 6 AM PT, 2 PM GMT. Please reach out to @saveofmdcrewmates for a link to the discord server.

= Uncle Season 1 =

Uncle Season 1 Watch Party has finished! Thank you so all who were able to join! Just some highlights from #ForTheNewUncle!

== Crew Spotlight ==

Today is a lighter news day so I'd like to take some time to spotlight some fun stuff from the crew!

Check out this awesome puzzle by LukeLemon_art on twitter and here on tumblr!

= Nes' 3K Giveaway =

One of our lovely crew members, Nes Lee is having a sticker giveaway on twitter! to celebrate 3K followers! Wanna get in on it? visit @thehideoutt on twitter

== Acts of Grace ==

Hey! Have you heard of the OFMD Themed Variety show in Alameda CA? These awesome folks just had their Acts of Grace Part II yesterday the 15th! Check out some of these highlights! More pics and videos on their Twitter!

Wanna know when their next show is? Follow their socials!

Instagram: OFMD Acts of Grace

Twitter: OFMD Acts of Grace

== Fiber Arts Division ==

Reminder! The second Fabric Project of the Fiber Arts Division has been announced! Do you Applique, Cross Stitch, Embroider, or anything else with a needle and thread? They'd love to have you! Please contact @ForceMonument On Twitter, or Discord: @parrhesia_kate!

== Articles ==

27 TV Show Cancelations That Are, Quite Literally, The Reason I Have Trust Issues

All 14 TV Shows Canceled Or Ending In 2024 (So Far)

== Love Notes ==

Alrighty lovelies. It's that time again. I know it's been a VERY long week. A VERY LONG WEEK. If you have a chance, please be so very kind to yourself tomorrow. If you can, don't worry about other people's problems for a day. Don't worry about whether or not your struggles are worse or better than any other person in this world. You are allowed to struggle, and grieve and feel sadness just like everyone else. Your struggle is just as valid no matter what it is. It can feel so very heavy, but please just know it will not always be that way. If it's too heavy to bear, reach out to your crew, we're here for you, we will try to help. Find things that you love and lose yourself in them even if it's just for a few minutes. You deserve joy, and happiness and for things to feel a bit lighter. Remember to drink some water, and go outside if weather permits. Even if it's just for a few minutes, you deserve a break. We love you crew, every one of us. You're our found family and we are rooting for you.

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

In honor of the water and beach BTS we got yesterday from our beloved Samba, I figured we could use some generally beach themed gifs for tonight that sorta match.

PS: Sorry if I'm late replying to messages! Lot of wonderful folks on the crew reaching out today, I promise I'll catch up <3