#actually i feel like i should post more og stuff now

[sunshades]

One thing about canto VI is like. I see so many people predicting it'll be about Fighting Evil Wife or Breaking Codependent Toxic Relationship and I just kinda think that would suck? If the major theme isn't grief AND love and the way both are seen as like Kinda Weird/inappropriate in the setting of the city. Then I'll be very sad.

[jamcarven]

Something I’ve noticed in jlb’s more recent writing is that she’s appealing a lot more to like the “tiktok” audiences. idk if that makes sense 😭

but like her books are getting FREAKIER by the SECOND. for example in the that night in prague excerpt there were so many instances of sexual innuendos. and before anyone comes for me I GET THAT AVERYJAMESON ARE LIKE THAT, they were in the og trilogy and they are now and honestly love them for that. but I feel like in the og trilogy jennifer kept it more up to interpretation, there was more suspense and tension than outright nods to it. (like that one time jameson came in covered in mud and he he was like “guess” — that scene is actually ingrained in my mind)

Now this wouldn’t bother me if it was like that in the beginning but the fact that she’s slowly adding more of this into her series shows that she’s getting influenced by audiences who want more of that, and idk how to feel about it. Like how savannah and rohan are meant to be enemies to lovers or something? and they have that whole toxic thing going on. I actually really liked them but I don’t think jlb is the best at writing stuff like that. I feel like she should stick to what she’s better at. also like old jlb would NOT have let that “savvy” “british” thing slide THOSE NICKNAMES WERE ATROCIOUS THE ONLY TIME IVE DOUBTED JLB’S JUDGEMENT

or maybe i’m reading too much into it who knows 🤷‍♀️

Though I prefer her old style more I genuinely don’t really mind her new one. And anyways jlb is making money either way she can do what she wants and I’ll still love her for it

here are the instances I was talking about (spoilers for that night in prague and games untold!)

I love long tig posts they actually make me so happy

[thewebcomicsreview]

Hate to tell you this, but the HSBC update just got updated.

I get that they wanted to keep the Hell Arc confined to page 666, and it'll make the archival experience pretty cool, but hard refreshing the site didn't let me see the update to the page due to cache bullshit, I had to use a different browser. So let's liveblog now before it breaks again:

Looks like we're back to Tavros. I guess it makes sense that the first path to update would the one where they could reuse the talksprites.

So, as directly stated by Davepeta, Vriska is trapped in a time loop, where Tavros doesn't remember anything that happened the previous day, just like in the movie Groundhog Day. That Davepeta called out the movie explicitly in-universe as the reference makes me wonder if events will follow the rough plot of that movie. It's clearly what Davepeta wants to happen, but...Vriska....

Anyway, Vriska offers to let Tavros decide what to do today, for the first time. It took two whole years for her to try that, but she is the Thief of Light and not letting anyone else decide what to do is literally her cosmic role and stuff, so I guess that tracks. And what Tavros wants to do is....play a game.

Last update I said that Vriska saying she's done some things wrong while shrugging and laughing is the ultimate distillation of Vriska, but her having won everything and being miserable about it is also the ultimate distillation of Vriska. She's a woman of contrasts, that Vriskers.

The use of the phrase "session" here outs this line as having Deeper Meanings. Having SBURB sessions over and over so we can play forever is literally Dirk's plan, and most of the fandom is assuming a Candy session is coming.

So, even though they're talking about playing FLARP (the troll DnD game, which is apparently PvP), this is also an argument over whether or not Homestuck should continue. You can't really "win" if the game keeps going, but that doesn't mean you're stuck doing the same thing over and over.

I know Vriska is Problematique, but I'm still taken aback by her 2000s kid usage of "gay" as a general-purpose insult, and not just because trolls don't have a concept of "straight" or "gay". Apparently she doesn't even know what it means and learned the word from Da-

Oh, it was just to set up this line for people to screenshot. Alright. Fine.

brb, gotta go post this in the hard to use reaction images channel on the discord and have someone complain it's easy to use.

Tavros accuses Vriska of projecting her own fears onto him, and then gets into a tangent about being a "soft" female fairy and Vriska takes him up on playing this new "game for girls" and he panics and changes the subject. There's a...lot....going on there.

Vriska starts to have an actual breakthrough, when suddenly Aradiabot appears. Wait, is this where Aradia and Ult!Dave went?

We fade to black and I thought that was it, but apparently not. This being a visual novel makes it feel like a much bigger update than it is, and also kind of makes you read each line a bit more carefully. It's a good way of having multiple meaty (or, um, candy-y) updates in a short stretch of time, and that's kind of an important part of the "feel" of Homestuck that no one can really replicate.

Oh, I do not care for this talksprite.

The downside of this format is that it's harder to liveblog, I think, but basically Aradia is complaining about the Vriska Cycle of "Do bad thing, self-flagellate to be redeemed, repeat".

Vriska justifies it because she has to take action and set people straight and stuff, and if this conversation/game isn't leading to the return of "(Vriska)", the OG timeline Vriska who died and got a ton of character growth before post-retcon Vriska stole her girlfriend, then what is it building towards?

A lot of these lines make good single-panel memes. Yes, Vriska, you are the problem in nearly every situation, even (especially) when you're also the solution.

Aradia sa- oh for fuck's sake this is unreadable, guys. Anyway she says that getting into a routine leads to stagnation and slow death, which, mood, but also is about Homestuck itself as much as it is about Vriska.

Jesus Christ, how long is this update? This page is a full on Pesterquest game when the other five routes are finished.

Oh, okay. That's it. Vriska levels and we get a bunch of fire-themed pun ranks for her, of which Skinner's Bane is the best

[mcytblr-archive]

Early MCYTblr Interviews: georgeeehd

today's interviewee is reese/georgeeehd/lmanburg/tommyofcolor! dreamlying member, mcytblr og, and the person who discovered that dream wasn't registered to vote. below is a transcript of questions and answers!

Q: What was your experience in wider MCYTblr?

A: I don’t have much experience with wider mcytblr. Maybe I used to reblog Grian stuff on my main blog, before all this DSMP shit. There wasn’t much of a Dream community when I started posting, much less one for DreamNotFound (surprisingly, Dreamnap was the popular ship of the two early on????? so bizarre to me), so I dug out my microcosm immediately. There was never a wider myctblr for me.

Q: What was your experience in critblr/dreamlying specifically?

A: The notion that dreamlying is the spawn of critblr is interesting to me, because I agree with you now, but I wouldn’t have at the time. Critblr was a tumblr community. Dreamlying was a friend group, predating critblr. I considered myself dteamblr for a really long time— I never felt aligned with the critblr movement because that was always Jason’s territory, really. I don’t mention it to nitpick or to scold, but like, I’m into this archiving thing, too, so I wanted to opine on how we label these groups. Maybe there should be a distinction made between what we considered ourselves vs. what we actually were.

My experience in proto-critblr was pretty cushy because it was all mine. Me and my contemporaries had a following, we were respected, we had smart things to say, we were funny, established, etc. Think, “The School of Athens.” I definitely grew a bit of an ego with how popular I was, which I’m sure will come across in this interview, haha.

At times I felt a little unchallenged, like people were only agreeing with me not because I was right, but because I was saying anything at all. At the same time, I was incredibly defensive and insecure, so the little pushback I might have gotten would bother me terribly. I was probably overreactive and mean. I was fifteen then, and I’m nineteen now, so there’s lots of things I would’ve handled differently, if I could.

In terms of my experience with dreamlying, I like what Ozzie had to say. We were all just very, very good friends. There’s not much else to it. In my first discord server, “dream lying” was a hidden messaging channel where we could critique Dream Team freely. “Dream lying” was supposed to parody the phrase “dream truthing.” So we were basically this tiny little secret society, at the start. There was no way we wouldn’t have hit it off.

Q: Are there any events that stand out to you?

A: A lot. Too many. Some are more personally relevant than historically relevant, and I don’t really know where to draw the line. The voter registration fiasco was a big one, but there were other smaller things… I was always in some fuckin’ controversy or another! The magic 8 ball says, Ask again later.

Q: Was being in MCYTblr an overall positive or negative experience for you?

A: Undoubtedly positive! I don’t even know where to start with this question. I met a lot of wonderful people that I still keep in contact with today, right? But beyond that, I feel like being in this community helped me grow a lot, like, personally. I was thinking and writing a lot. I learned so, so much, about people, about the internet, about fandom, about myself. It was such an expansive experience.

I guess I should mention that my time with mcytblr was incredibly stressful. My involvement in the fandom weighed heavily on my mental health. I felt very watched, and I still do. At my worst, I was hospitalized. (I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t mention my mcyt-induced mental hospital stint in my mcyt interview.) None of that really moves me, though, ‘cause it was all just part of the experience, and I find it all pretty funny, looking back.

Q: A few people have mentioned the account mcyttruth in relation to you, specifically around a callout post. What happened there? [I had misremembered-- I meant to ask this to Jason lmanburg, not Reese lmanburg.]

A: The mcyttruth callout wasn’t about me, but my discord server, dteamblr 2. I was not as involved here— at this point, critblr was in full bloom, and this server was like a rendezvous for people who liked dreamlying and modcord blogs (modcord was another friend group, like dreamlying, but critblr-based).

Regarding that callout specifically, I don’t know. Probably, there were too many r-slurs, too many jokes about hating Ranboo, the usual. There were a lot of callouts (for me or for people I was friends with), and I never really took them seriously. I mean, honestly, the url “mcyttruth” alone is derivative. Do you know how many times I’ve read the words “mcyt” and “truth”? Everything about this is a blur to me.

Q: I suppose I would ask-- given the current events surrounding many of the creators who were popular in 2020/2021, do you feel that dreamlying has been vindicated in their criticisms of creators?

A: Yes, but I would have said yes in 2020, because who these people are was as obvious to me then as it is now. Our criticisms weren’t like, headcanons that we made up to be mean, they were plain old observations. Wilbur was openly mentally ill, creepy, and generally dismissive of other people. Not to say that there aren’t good things about him either, but, of course this is the kind of guy to make his girlfriend clean up after him. There’s a million cautionary tales about guitar stringers with floppy hair under a beanie, whiny song lyrics, and a masturbatory approach to self-loathing.

Dream’s not this person anymore, so that’s not why I bring it up, but think back to when his old Reddit account was exposed for being active on r/The_Donald. That was everything we were ever talking about! That was Dream being exactly who he was— a young white man from Florida. I love Dream, always have, always will. Acknowledging that he is/was a whole person with flaws and unsavory politics, I think, is truer fanhood than the idolization everyone puts him through.

You use the word “vindicated” to acknowledge that we were heavily criticized ourselves. Most of that was on the basis of privacy— you know, whether or not it’s okay to speculate on people’s personal lives. It doesn’t matter that we were “right” so often, that we still are, and always will be, because people will focus more on the original sin of having speculated in the first place.

I used to love vindication because it made me feel smart, like I could see things that no one else could. Now it just makes me sad. I don’t think it has anything to do with smarts, nor would I care if it did. I think people just don’t let themselves think that far. You know, “I don’t want to make assumptions,” “It’s none of my business,” “It’s not that deep,” etc. Maybe there’s no instinct to look deeper at all. It really just makes me sad.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add/have archived?

A: I’d like to ask everybody to stay critical. The hivemind response to recent events have shown me that this fandom remains as shallow, unthinking, conformative, elementary… as it was four years ago.

Thank you for conducting these interviews in the first place. It's nice hearing everyone’s voices again.

[moonspirit]

BEWARE BC I'm about to just rambling here... (sorry, English is not my first language and this is long)

But can you imagine Annie and Connie being the new chaotic duo?

As Connie has always been the og aruani third wheel, and also, the first time you see Connie laugh after Sasha's death is when he sees Annie stuffing cake down her mouth (bc it remembers her of Sasha). I can see them being friends after all the trauma 🫠

I can imagine in a Post-Rumbling world Annie and Connie being the ultimate duo of messiness. First, you have Connie, who, by himself is already the personification of chaos. Then you have Annie. Annie, who never had real friends, Annie who never was loved. And now she is loved !!! She has friends !!! And omg she doesn't know why, but Connie is her favorite one At the beginning she thinks that if she didn't have Connie, it's either Jean or Reiner, who, btw, she hates most of the time (she doesn't but they have a special dynamic), or Jean, who is the perfect mix of a dork and a jerk (he refers to him as de jork) So Annie thinks: HE IS THE ONLY ONE SANE HERE AND ALSO SHE CAN TALK ABOUT HOW SHE THINKS ARMIN IS THE CUTEST LITTLE THING ALIVE WITHOUT FEELING WEIRD BECAUSE CONNIE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS THAT THEY HAD SOMETHING GOING ON. But no, actually Annie loves being around Connie because deep down she is just a chaotic silly little girl just as he is.

They meet up to talk shit about everyone they know while drinking wine and eating cake (strange combo just like them) Connie asks Annie for advice about women (bc Connie is kind of a wh*re) and Annie gossips about Jean and Pieck, bc they are dense idiots and obv she, also, talks about ARMIN (OMG CONNIE DIDN'T YOU SEE HOW HE TOUCHED MY BACK TO MAKE ME HOT !!! ANNIE, HE JUST GRABBED YOU BC YOU WERE CROSSING THE STREET)

everyone is freaking out. WHAT DO YOU MEAN CONNIE AND ANNIE ARE FRIENDS? THE BIGGEST DUMBASS ALIVE AND THE QUIET BUT LETHAL GIRL ARE FRIENDS???

When Reiner finds out he wants to cry (Annie does'nt do that stuff with him) Jean wants to run away bc THE ChAOOOOS and Pieck just finds it funny but she is lowkey jealous bc she can't get Annie to open up but aRMIN????

Armin hates it but loves it. He loves that Annie has her very first real friend, and Armin knows that Annie reminds Connie of Sasha (But he is absolutely terrified of them when they are together). BECAUSE HE HAS TO BE THE ACTUAL ONE WITH BRAINCELLS AND BTW CONNIE KNOWS TOO MUCH ABOUT THEIR SEX LIFE.

AND ALSO, CONNIE THINKS HE IS A FUCKBOY HE THINKS HE IS THE KING OF FUCKING BUT THEN ANNIE TALKS ABOUT HER SEX LOFE WITH ARMIN AND HE IS SHOCKED.

Their dinamic:

Connie: God, that Hizuru ambassador is such a bitch.

Annie: Yeah, you're right. She should disappear.

Connie: Ikr. OH. OH.

Annie: We should kidnap her.

Connie: Yeah, we should, bestie.

Armin: (he knows they are perfectly capable of kidnapping that poor woman) What if we don't (?)

Another one:

Connie: And then, she said that a lasted more than her lovers, that I was the best a I had in bed and I thought, god, I just did preliminaries.

Annie: That's too sad, I come three times in preliminars. That poor girl has a terrible sex life.

Connie: ARMIN MAKES YOU COME MORE THAN TWO TIMES?? HOW YOU DO THAT

Annie: Sex.

AGDJSLSNDHSKS- HAHAHAHKAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA Anoooonnnnn this ask is goooold!!! Help I'm bursting a lung xD

Connie and Annie should absolutely be explored more - post canon they have sooooooo much potential to be idiots together! I think they'd be extremes on the energy spectrum: Connie always raring to go and Annie just wanting to sleep. But WELP, this is now a very dangerous and dumb combination and once they're together, they cannot be stopped!

I think it's really funny actually, because post-canon Annie actually gets up to some really dumb shit (everyone's rubbing off on her :<) and who better to encourage it than the most enthusiastic guy on the planet? Connie ey? She can also trust him to go along with her super secret spy missions and not tell anybody (well... For a while anyway.)

What's ALSO good about these two is how Connie... Is always the first to get the Latest and Most Exclusive Aruani News. They've just got together? He knows. They've just had their first kiss? He knows. They're holding hands? He knows. They're fucking? He kno-

Armin: "NO, PLEASE, DON'T KNOW!"

Tho honestly, if you add Pieck to this duo, everything spirals dangerously out of control.

Also:

Armin: (he knows they are perfectly capable of kidnapping that poor woman) What if we don't (?)

*wheezing* AKSKSBXKSLAZHOAKANAHSVDBKAKA HELP-

[the-s1lly-corner]

I LOVED the Caine x stoic reader with a tail and was wondering if you could do another part but this time a little cute one shot and if you don’t do one shots then HC are just as ok:)

More hcs for Caine x tailed!stoic!reader !

Theres a cool ig acc I follow that posts unnerving (fictional) stuff since I'm into creepy stuff but yall

There are not many pictures that make me so. Very uncomfortable but theres this one image of like, a stuffed animal that just. Gets under my skin. So uh uh, here I am over a day after seeing it still too scared to leave my room at night

Anyways uhuh its 3am and I cant fall back to sleep because of that damn picture

Anyways! Writing this on mobile since I'm too anxious to leave my room to get to my computer; so typos are gonna be more prominent <\3 probably

I really should have reread the original post before I started writing this, but mobile wont let me save half answered asks in drafts + cant access my archive on mobile so uh uh, if I repeat some stuff from the og I apologize

I feel like he would try to get you to be more emotive.. like get you to be more outwardly expressive in your feelings; before coming to terms that that's just how you are ! As long as you're not bottling things up he quickly becomes accepting of it !!

That one ship meme where character a is tired and stone faced while character b is energetic and shaking with energy

That's you guys, pretty much

Honestly I think he would give himself a tail, assuming he can give himself one... he probably could given his powers... ueueue you guys match...

Have you guys ever seen superjail? If so you guys know how the warden is like. All wibbly wobbly? Has like, noodle limb physics and can shapeshift and wrap himself around people ect ect

This is more of a general hc but I think caine can do that, minus the shapeshifting.. though now that I think about it dont know if wardens shapeshifting was an actual in universe ability or just a visual gag.. its been a while since I watched superjail and I never finished it <\3

He sings himself over your shoulder while gushing about his day then asking you for every little detail about your own

Ooouuugh if you have a longer tail he will give you accessories for it , if you want!! Like bows and clips and ribbons and the like !! Pays very close attention to your style so he can get you stuff that fits your aesthetic...

Sometimes gets matching accessories with you.. ueueue

[random-mailbox]

Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - College AU

I am back this week with some College AU stories! You can check out the previous 52 weeks of recs at the end of this Crystal Tokyo post (link).

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

Party On Campus - Luvdarain5

A bit of OG anime characterization on aged up Serena and Darien. Amy and Serena get invited to a college party by Zoi, which goes swimmingly until it doesn't.

i send you a sign, send you a signal - @hellomomo

Usagi decides to take a 300-level Emotion and Motivation Psychology class, solely because Mamoru mentioned he would be in it, making her term project on "goals" - getting Mamoru to fall in love with her (and writing a paper about it).

Wish You Would - @idesofnovember

Usagi slipped into a college party for the food, claiming to know the host's roommate TO the host's roommate, launching a sequence of exchanges that will drive Mamoru to seriously consider what he wants.

Better Than Dreaming - @wishwars

Returning a textbook Mamoru left behind at her library table should be quite simple. Except Usagi may have gotten more than she bargained for by going inside after hearing sounds emanating from his dorm room.

Stuff Tippy Wrote -- Sailor Moon edition: Chapter 5: right hand, yellow /Chapter 6: The day after Twister - @tiptoe39

At a college party, Usagi gets pushed into playing Twister by Rei and Minako against the one person who has been poking fun at her (no matter how cute he looks when he actually smiles!). 

And we are lucky to get a peek at the day after too! Where Usagi and Mamoru try to figure what happened and what's next.

Summer's Day - Please, more like Moonlight- @midnightdrops

Starting with a disclaimer: this story is amazing BUT it is not complete - Dr @midnightdrops has an outline for the remaining chapters already completed but is currently drowning in work. 

In this non-senshi College AU, Mamoru tries to figure out how he is feeling about his polar-opposite girlfriend, while external forces work on ripping them apart. 

The Secrets We Bear - Tumblr Snippets -  @lilliebellfanfics

This link is to some of the shorts that were published for Dendy Week 2022 (are part of a larger story that @lilliebellfanfics is working on) but are amazing as stand-alone chapters, exploring Mamoru navigating his new powers, university life and priorities. 

And last but not least, you should explore @caelenath 's musings in her Mamoru in College tag here on Tumblr - amazing little snippets in there!

That's it for now! I will do another fic list post soon. In the meantime, you should explore some of the prior lists and all the amazing content coming from the @senshixshitennouweeks!

[acaplaya-musings]

Voiceplay Be Prepared - thoughts and commentary

Gonna try to just talk about vocals and arrangement stuff here, because I will be doing a VoicePlay Visuals post for this too, but we'll see. I do know the original song very well though - in fact I rewatched the OG like the other day or something after I saw that picture of Layne and Cyndi that hinted at what Voiceplay was up to. Anyway let's go!

(Put below the cut because this is a lot of just me rambling)

OKAY SO SLEEPING IN THE COLD BELOW HAS BEEN KNOCKED OFF ITS PERCH FOR FAVOURITE VP SONG OF 2024

The opening percussion fill thingy from Layne honestly reminds me a lot of the start of the Moana medley, and apparently I wasn't the only one to think that! A few other Patrons mentioned it, and there was even a very brief throwaway joke about it in the BTS! I have since compared the start of the Moana Medley to the start of this, and they're not identical, but there are still definitely similarities, and it's not actually all that common for VP songs to start off with that sort of drum-like percussion anyway.

Trying very hard to not talk about the on-screen stuff here, because I'll be leaving that for Voiceplay Visuals, but I just have to put it out there that Geoff looks amazing here, and the ACTING OH MY GOD. This is like Oogie Boogie 2.0 in terms of how much Geoff is moving around and embodying the character! Alright now back to vocals/arrangement

Okay so next thing that must be mentioned - the rap! According to a snippet from Layne in the Patreon post description, there was some uncertainty as to whether the dialogue should be kept in or not, which was an issue that VP also faced for their cover of Hellfire last year. When Layne asked Patrons what they thought, it was basically a 50/50 split, so not very helpful, rip. So he thought "What if we keep the dialogue but do it in a way that it feels like it's part of the song -> a 'rap'?" So yeah basically Layne wrote that rap section to be a stand-in for the original dialogue, and honestly it works so well!

This song features Mykal Kilgore, who is one of the OG members of "VoicePlay", way before it was called VoicePlay! I'll say a bit more about him in my Voiceplay Visuals post, but basically he was "one of the screaming high tenors" (Patreon post's words, not mine!), and yeah it shows! That high note on "long live the king!" was hella impressive!

(And if you're thinking "man I kinda wish I could hear more of what Mykal sounds like", first of all, he actually did some covers with Postmodern Jukebox like 7 or 8 years ago (and I apparently have seen one of them before? Watched it by total coincedence at some point? A cover he did of Since You Been Gone). And also, a treat for any of you who've read this far - you might be hearing him with Voiceplay again sooner or later...)

This is actually the third time that Geoff has sung Be Prepared with VoicePlay - the second time was of course the 2019 Aca Top 10 Disney Villains video, but the first time was for VoicePlay's "Once Upon An Ever After" album all the way back in 2012. It was part of a Lion King medley track (just audio, they didn't make a video for it), and so it wasn't the full song (honestly the shift is a little weird, because it jumps from "the lights are not all on upstairs" to "the point that I must emphasise is", like there's no rhyme connection!). Furthermore, the lead was shared between Geoff and Earl, similar to how it was for the Aca Top 10 part. Geoff took the opening verse, Earl took the chorus, and they each got a final line at the end.

And MAN has Geoff come a long way in his vocal abilities since 2012, like yeah duh obviously but STILL.

According to one of the Patrons, the lowest Geoff gets in this one is E1 (via subharmonics of course), and honestly the fact that that's basically child's play for him at this point is crazy. Like I literally had a moment of "oh only down to an E1?" because I know he can go lower, and then was like "wait what do I mean 'only' an E1, that's still objectively low!"

Geoff's voice... what the hell do I say about Geoff's voice? Like the timbre when he's in his upper chest range here, the resonance on the low notes, the GROWLS, like yeah okay obviously I adore his visual performance in the video (and visual everything about him), but that all would be nothing if it didn't come with some of the most amazing vocals you've ever heard in your life!

I love how Geoff goes down on the word "upstairs", and the way he does so with the little growl at the end, oooh it gives me happy shivers!

Low-key funny how there's a sudden low drop on "even you can't be caught unawares", because it does, in fact, catch you unawares (or it did with me anyway!)

Also you'd think I'd fully be used to Geoff's low notes by now, but to steal the phrasing of another reactor I recently started watching, the low drops here are potent! Like literally went down to my stomach (and then some) and even made my heart skip a beat the first couple of watches (and obviously the visuals really help give it a bigger impact).

Oh my god that slow slide down on his last "be prepared" line??? Literally that last syllable alone is stretched out for just a fraction under 10 seconds (I timed it with my phone's stopwatch), INSANE.

I cannot WAIT for reaction videos to this - Kaz, DJ, and Mortius are all gonna lose their goddamn minds!! (Also how many reactions/reaction video titles are gonna include "I was not prepared", lol, low-hanging fruit joke but it's so real)

Alright, I'm off to go watch the video for a third time - this is practically my new Hellfire (said with much love for both - I still love their Hellfire cover a whole lot), and we're not even in October yet!!! (though because of the release delay, we're quite close!)

(As of the public release, I've actually watched this at least half a dozen times, listened to the MP3 track, the karaoke track, and watched the BTS video for this twice. I. Am. Obssessed.)

I'll leave you with a comment and reply from the Patreon post that amused me when I saw it: 😄

[sapphire-weapon]

Hey so, full disclosure but I was that anon who talked about the poll and Barry and Hunk's positions in them. Normally I don't ask stuff in anon but I was feeling spicy today (I did it automatically because I'm a fucking idiot and didn't feel like re writing everything lol).

Anyway, polls. I know polls. I did really stupid daily ones for several months starring various Resident Evil characters. I've also been in the fandom for 26 years and have seen the popularity of characters sway and fade.

Now, something I really need people to understand about popularity polls is... ranking means way less than you think. It's the actual AMOUNT of votes that is most telling. Here, I'll post the image.

Out of approximately 51,000 votes, Ashley got 473. That's a little less than 1% of total votes. Keep in mind she was also a big player in the fantastic remake of the most loved Resident Evil game that is currently the most recent mainline title in the remake timeline.

Rebecca was in an ok movie recently and Hunk... people like to snap necks I guess. Or they like his mask (me). Barry's dad bod got him his spot.

Basically, these kinds of polls are more along the lines of "The top 5 or 6... and then everyone else".

And as for my "Combat Ashley" comments, I was responding to the ask right before mine that wanted her to come back like that. That is the only way I ever see people suggest that she come back and it is so out of character for her.

Claire is my favorite character and I hated it when people would say she was more "mature" at 19 because she could fire a gun. Weapons won't make Ashley a fully realized version of herself. Me saying Ashley should stay true to her character doesn't mean I dislike her. Maybe the people that want to change her character so drastically do though...

Ffs I'm an OG Ashley defender! I LOVE HER!

And speaking of Claire, Capcom already has a hard enough time finding a spot for her now that she took a more pacifist route.

And she has 3,926 votes.

And is in 4th place.

So...

Yeah.

man i've seen this poll before, and it still fucking blows my mind that luis and steve are tied

and lbr it's not even "the top 5 and then everyone else"

it's leon and then everyone else. jill isn't even in swinging distance of him.

let's make this easier to see.

this is just the top 10.

[k-058]

My opinion on the recent pixar movies part 2! :3

So I'm back here talking about pixar! Yay! :D I should really talk about animated stuff more.

Anyway, This will be an update from a old post I made a year ago. I said that I loved the new pixar movies, (besides Lightyear) and was excited to watch Elemental.

Since I watched it, and after also watching Inside Out 2, I'm gonna share my opinions on them!

Elemental: So I gotta be real, I was really expecting more from this story. I do love the story of the fire people. they're shown as outcast in the large city, And with the story from Amber's dad, it's a great message about immigration and how people that immigrate deal with the struggles of their journey. (Whether that be leaving your home, dealing with racists shits, etc.) However, I didn't really got into Amber and Wade's relationship that much. It's a good relationship don't get me wrong, but sadly, it's a kind of relationship that has been used over and over again. It feels like a mush of tropes that also extends to the entire movie. From the usual dad not liking the boyfriend, to the fake out death with Wade. And I didn't laugh at any of the jokes they took a shot at. Though, tbf, I've already seen multiple movies like this, and that's probably the reason I feel more sour with this one. 6/10 Kind of repetitive, but still good.

Inside Out 2: OMG THIS MOVIE GOT BE SOBBING WTF PIXAR?! So, going into this movie, I had my expectations low. I knew most pixar sequels are DEFINATELY worse than their ogs, so I wasn't going to expect that much going into it, but DAMN IT this movie went above and beyond of expanding the world of inside out, by bringing in more ideas that are fully in the plot of this film. How the strings form Riley's personality, how we bottle up certain memories so we "don't think about them right now!", how we store our deep secrets in a secure, almost FBI/CIA looking building. And the characters! OMG THE CHARACTERS!! Usually sequels would either completely reset the characters to how they were at the start of the first movie, or completely replace their personalities, but all of the characters, especially Joy, maintain how they were at the end of the first movie! They also give Joy another character arc! Letting Riley who she want's to be and not something Joy, or Anxiety wants her to be. Which speaking of which, ANXIETY IS PERFECT!!! Not only is she such a relatable character, (uh oh) she's also, and the concept of anxiety in this movie as a whole, is honestly one of the best interpretations of it. However, the part where I started to sob, was right after the anxiety attack, and Riley making her own self, when the trail of lights from Joy to the panel, and Sadness saying: "Riley wants you", and Joy starting to pilot, it was just a gut punch of joy and sadness all at once. It was...beautiful. I was crying until the credits rolled, and after the movie ended I kept saying "FUCK YOU PIXAR! YOU MADE ME TURN INTO MY 6 YEAR OLD SELF AGAIN!!" I have already watched this movie 10 times, and it's not getting old. I LOVE this movie, and it's now one of my favorite Pixar movies of all time. 9/10 Great ass work Pixar! (Now actually respect your animators!! >:( They deserve it for working hard of making this AND your other movies great!!)

[emblazons]

a post in defense of (a very much alive) S5 Jonathan Byers

under the cut b/c this is more frustrated commentary than strict analysis, and you shouldn't have to read if you don't want to.

I feel like it must have come from the dry spell between seasons, but I have to say it: all of this “Jonathan is gonna die and that means Stancy could happen” stuff lately is not only giving "I just like angst for its own sake," it's lowkey nonsense if you look at it thematically (in context of the Jon/Nancy/Steve madness yes, but especially in context of the Byers family).

—like? Friends.

Given the Duffer’s track record of refusing to fully kill off major characters even when it could have made sense to (cc: Hopper and Max), I don’t think anyone is actually meeting their end, but let’s be SO serious about who is actually likely to get axed: the boy with a mom, brother, step-sister and girlfriend who have been central to every single moment in this show…or the one they've put into a triangle we all thought was over until S4, who they’ve honestly written into a corner, & whose primary drive in four entire seasons was getting a girlfriend and protecting a bunch of teenagers?

I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's just talk Jonathan.

The Duffers (Matt especially) have openly gotten upset at even the notion of Mike dying because "that's depressing" AND "that's Nancy's brother" (showing the familial ties are a HUGE part of what would keep them from ending someone), in addition to them saying they've thought through every imaginable scenario" on who might die—

—and you think its Jonathan whose meeting his end? King of championing "not liking what you don't have to" and the outcasts in all areas from music taste to being queer...after all the Byers have been through and knowing The Duffers write toward championing the outcasts and those who embrace their differences?

That, combined with the fact that the only "evidence" I've ever seen for him potentially dying has been that speech he gave to Will in the SBP somehow being connected to (you guessed it) setting up angst for Will...I'm gonna take a hard and wild educated guess based on the entirety of the rest of the show and say that was literally written so Will could catch a goddamn break, not as a death tag.

The fact that Noah confirmed it wasn't in the Duffer's OG script, was written day of filming + was done because "it was important for people to see will wasn't alone" is evidence enough for that.

Even so, the fact that there are still at least 4 unresolved plots Jonathan is part and privy to makes his death even less likely, because it wouldn't make sense for resolving anything for him to die at all, never mind in the episodes before our supposed timeskip.

Jonathan's messy relationship with Nancy, the fact that he's the only one who actually knows Will is gay, and the fact that he's the only other character who saw & understood the ULTIMATE Chekhov's gun in the form of that painting (on top of also having a longstanding relationship with Mike )should make it clear he isn't going anywhere from a narrative perspective...and I'm not even sure where the idea that he would die popped up, other than fandom warping the canon and projecting onto the plot.

The Duffers have always been clear about not doing things solely for the sake of surprise + not liking things that don't make narrative sense...and Jonathan's death would be both of those things, done solely for shock value.

I just. Be so serious right now. if you want to imagine the weight of Jonathan dying SOLELY for fandom angst DO THAT...but don't pretend like his death in the show wouldn't be the most poorly foreshadowed thing in this entire show, on top of not matching a single theme of the ongoing Stranger Things narrative. ☠️

Put some respect on his name lmao

Bonus: If you really want to talk about character's dying (and not just jump into angst for its own sake): they haven’t given Steve a proper love interest EVER outside of Nancy, made Dustin cry over Eddie instead of staying close to Steve S4, and haven’t ONCE referenced that boy’s family properly more than a few times in passing (and only by Steve himself).

He is the only character who craves normalcy despite this show being about championing the outcast, was supposed to die seasons ago but stayed because Joe Keery was so beloved, and has now been written into a corner where every single person who is central to him (esp Dustin and Robin) either have a new love interest or are worried about something else more than him, which...if you want canonical evidence for a possible death, you're looking in the wrong corner of this love triangle.

[juniperhillpatient]

Chaos Theory sounds so good!! I hadn’t heard of it until now. I’ll definitely be adding it to my list. I love a good found family series! I’ve only watched 2/3 (?) of the newer Jurassic World movies. I still need to watch the Original Jurassic Park movies. Which one is your favourite?

Fair warning you have triggered a topic I’m very autistic about there’s a TLDR bolded & surrounded by TLDR disclaimers at the end of this post lol —

I love all Jurassic Park content even the objectively kinda bad stuff aghhh it’s such a special franchise to me <3

My favorite of the movies is the original like. It’s just a classic. A great adaptation of the book’s themes. (& the book is good but im aware not everybody had the patience for that & that’s ok don’t worry the movie is great in its own right too, I actually saw it before I read the book & loved it so much I read the book which is kinda the reverse of the usual order of events for me lol).

It’s just. A brilliant thriller that all other movies attempting to put audiences on edge should take notes from. One of the most amazing stunning pieces of cinema with practical effects that will ever be made. If you like the Jurassic World movies I feel like the Jurassic Park sequels are skippable but the original at least is mandatory viewing. Then again I think the original Jurassic Park is mandatory viewing for all movie fans.

Then there’s the Jurassic park sequels which…. are great & all because hiii dinos I mean I like them but also if I’m being so honest they blend together in my head there’s nothing particularly stand out about them I’m so sorry. I like them for what they are which is fun Dino movies.

I clown on Chris Pratt & he does deserve it BUT the start of the Jurassic World trilogy WAS what was needed to revitalize the franchise whether a lot of og fans want to admit it or not. It’ll never be the brilliant original & it’s not trying to be & that’s ok it shouldn’t! It’s fun cgi & bigger louder scarier monsters & here’s a hot take - the trilogy eventually does some pretty interesting stuff as far as exploring what a post Jurassic Park technological innovations world would look like & the discussion on cloning & biological warfare is actually pretty surprisingly clever for an action movie starring Chris Pratt.

NOW.

Chaos Theory is great & I’m glad I got you excited about the idea but unfortunately it will probably mean nothing to you if you don’t watch Camp Cretaceous first & I KNOW I know that’s an annoying thing to say. I know that’s overwhelming. I’d be over it already if someone told me I have to watch another show first to get into this show they mentioned but I’m sorry it’s a follow up series that will make no sense without Camp Cretaceous & Camp Cretaceous is also really really good.

I will say this. I struggle with attention span & Camp Cretaceous & Chaos Theory are both shows I found impossible to turn off because the characters are engaging & the action & pacing are just so enticing it’s like a delicious drug for my adhd brain.

If you love a good found family you will LOVE Camp Cretaceous. It’s a show that keeps me, a seasoned horror fan, stressed & tense & gripping the edge of my seat but it also has some of the most compelling characters & dynamics I’ve seen in a show. What makes it a quality boost for the franchise in comparison to the fun but ultimately shallow in terms of characterization Jurassic World movies is that it does what the original does in even more intensity given the series format - it makes you CARE. These aren’t just vaguely likable action heroes (like Chris Pratt & the hot ginger & their adoptive creepy clone daughter I can’t be bothered with their names rn) these are kids whose insecurities & trauma & relationships you relate to & care deeply about!!!

Anyway. TLDR: if you like the Jurassic World movies I highly recommend you at least check out the original movie if nothing else. Camp Cretaceous as a show actually stands on its own if I’m being honest & if you love found family it’s kinda a must see it does it so well & you WILL want more & Chaos Theory Is a rare brilliant flllow up (so far as of season 1) to a show that actually had a decently satisfying ending overall. It does a really good job going just a little darker than the original while feeling true to the characters & themes. I mean the Jurassic World movies are helpful for context since they’re all part of the same cinematic universe but it’s not hard to pick up context clues. You should watch these shows regardless if you watch anything else in the franchise if you like exciting shows & found family. TLDR over.

Also like I haven’t even talked about what the shows are about lmao — Camp Cretaceous: A group of teen campers at Dino camp get abandoned after Dino’s in the theme park get free. Horrors & bonding over horrific trauma ensue also lots of horrifying reveals & mysteries & conspiracies regarding the evils of humanity that fit in with the themes of the franchise about greed & exploitation & lots of fun animated Dino’s & brilliant use of what I think of as the Batman Animated Series rule. (If you haven’t heard me talk about this to sum up - BtaS is brilliant of course. It was tv y7 but it’s famously a bit dark. That’s because it took the ratings rules as a challenge in creativity! Scarecrow can’t be a serial killer? Ok. Instead he has poisonous gas that makes you see your worst nightmares!) It’s Tv y7 & that means no fun but ultimately forgettable Dino’s chowing down gory style onscreen. Instead you get much more creative & terrifying shots of things about to happen or characters in terrifying situations. There’s a scene with a woman trapped on a boat with two hungry Dino’s closing in that comes to mind.

100/10 highly recommend as a show. Chaos Theory picks up years after (spoiler) the (surviving?) campers are rescued & now they’re all young adults & it’s a lot darker & one of them was investigating a conspiracy & now she’s dead (or IS she?!). It also uses the Batman the Animated Series rule in some GENIUS ways like a particularly haunting shot of a boy staring at his fathers face as a raptor taps his claw against the fathers forehead & a return shot of the boys face. I could go on & on about why this show is pure genius.

Anyway stan Camp Cretaceous & Chaos Theory for slowburn nuanced sapphic representation a racially diverse main cast complex found family a cast compelling characters each so enticing it’s hard for me to pick one favorite excellent mysteries & exciting tense well done action & thriller moments. I cannot recommend these shows highly enough. Camp Cretaceous has a bit of a slow start the first few episodes if im being honest when they’re just like. At Dino camp. But TRUST me when it picks up it stays picked up & it does not slow down.

Anyway I did a tldr then kept going because talking to me about anything related to this franchise is like hitting a button that gets me talking & then I just don’t stop thank you so much for the ask I’m done for now 🫶🫶

[jojoqin]

Why the remake cabin kicks the OG’s ass -an analysis 🔎

Basically it has to do with a lot of elements. Sound, cinematic framing, how well written the entire segment is in general. All that sweet jazz. Also sorry in advance, I had to gifmaker some shitty gifs because I needed examples 😭💀

So I read up on a lot of filmmaking for this post about what makes a good set piece. At the start, the game already sets it up by subconsciously familiarizing the player with the cabin; making it one of the first areas we pass by. There’s something about how you see it in its position; in between the trees, sort of in the same center as the bridge, very by itself. Clearly it’s important. Later, the Saddler mindfuck scene at the church actually shows us why the villagers are on the chase. And it's all tied to how well realized the cult theme is in the entire story. It puts a slightly more sinister spin on the villagers' motivation compared to the og where it sometimes feels like they're purely used as obstacles.

And yes there’s actually PAYOFF this time. No more "vamanos" and the villagers just leave. Or for Luis to ask "so what now?". This time the villagers' condition gets woven into new exposition and a new goal; the Plaga ordeal inside the characters. And the end scene defines Luis role. A great set piece should have a well written purpose to advance the plot forward. And we actually experience first hand the whole hive mind thing instead of getting a 5 min Saddler monologue about it.

Talking about the technical stuff in scenes too. Like listen to the music and audio during the run up towards and after Luis closes the door, the music become this muffled droning as soon as the door is shut. It indicates that you've entered a different space that's more confined and sheltered from the outside w/o immediately breaking the ambient tension. Not necessarily an upgrade from the og but in the og, the escalating music stops because the payoff is seeing Luis. Whilst the remake still likes to remind you that you're still in a weird situation.

I also talked before how the camera loves to follow characters. In this shot you follow Leon forward and then you’re backing up behind Luis in this continuous camera movement. And see how tight the camera sticks behind Leon’s shoulder? He takes up like 75% of the frame at one point, with the camera subtly zooming in even though Luis is the focus. There’s a visceral feel in the confrontation, how its putting pressure on Luis just by how the scene is directed.

And the sound during that is like auditory storytelling. I know my audio doesn’t quite do it justice because it’s been compressed to shit so y’all might want to seek out the actual scene. But when Luis hits the wall here, the strings fade out and the sound of the rain is brought forward. Audio-wise, it’s like it’s bringing our focus to the presence of Luis and Ashley. It's also just ASMR af.

Another example of the fluid camera transition from earlier is when Ashley hides. The camera leads away from her and it follows that same “leading away” movement when it transition cuts to the window with Leon going into frame. Like look how seamless it tells action w/o having to do a lot of harsh cuts unlike the gif of the og below. The remake tends to show multiple activities either within the same shot or following a visual style so that it's easy to digest.

And holy shit, the way the music just disappears when our dudes take position here is so FUCKING GOOD. Because all you hear is the echo of the cult chanting and the ASMR patter of rain. I think of the silence as equivalent to taking a deep breath. And it’s funny because the sound effect when the scene transitions to the player is just this very intense and layered sound of exhaling. The way the camera also pulls back in the cutscene so that there’s no break from scene to gameplay just makes it so immersive.

Also those two shots we get from Leon and Luis’ perspectives before the gameplay is kinda interesting too. Very “Main Character POV” angle because the camera is positioned at the guys’ eye level, as if we the audience are directly in front of them. At that moment we sort of take the place of the characters as the player. The “it’s game time” line is so hype because it actually does feel like it’s being said to us.

I think the writing for the fight itself is way better than in the og. There's a real rhythm to how the conflict happens; a somewhat story structure. The setup, the moment things go to shit, the resolution. The setup happens in the cutscenes and as you're battling the early wave of villagers. The Plaga baddies I see as the first climax, because they only start conveniently popping up around the time you're scrambling to get the new boards. You get them up and there's your sort of downtime, the 'falling action' before things ramp up again.

There’s a clear transition to "the moment things go to shit" phase; it's all the elements working together in the entire segment. You get a visual cue which is the ladder, an auditory cue of the noise upstairs, and then you get the in-game cue from Luis. And the musical cue is particularly what the remake does best. Like often when it wants to change up the pace during a certain part, they'll simplify the track but make it a bit deeper to build up this new adrenaline.

And every big set piece needs constrasty elements to show different perspectives. I believe just the simple imagery of seeing the mob outside as you're constantly having to kick the ladder is so effective because it shows scale. It makes us actually feel that the problem is as big as it is. It's a smart show of perspective especially after starting the fight in a confined area. This part of it was kind of weird in the og. Even though there's a mob, you could always stare out some window and it'll just be a void there (probably due to the graphical limitations).

But before you even trigger the Bull Head dude's cutscene, like again, you already hear an auditory cue of him. Also his addition makes the scene a true "everything is going to shit" moment. You kinda need that enemy as a standout variety. Like the og is iconic but it's very straightforward with the ambience and the enemy encounter. In the remake, everything is an escalating bombardment to the senses. Especially on the first playthrough, at this point you're on your last leg, no heal, no shotgun/rifle ammo left, the cult chanting is overwhelmingly loud now. It's funny but also apt that when Ashley saves the guys, she's enveloped in this holy light. Even the camera angle that's positioned lower looking up visually puts her in a higher position than the audience.

[autisticcole]

Heheheheheho I have gotten some of the Dragon Age books (🏴‍☠️) and this is gonna really let me dig into some stuff, especially my favorite guy Cole, cause now I can read his OG appearance, I want to see how much stuff Cole says, especially during his quest actually makes sense, and how much is in-universe "both sides are right"ing about not listening to what Cole wants to do.

I am mainly talking about Spirit!Cole thanking Inky for not making him change... Despite the fact that thoughout Cole's quest Solas ignores what Cole wants (Like being binded) & wants to do (Kill the guy who beat beyond beating a 12 (at most) year old (most likely, it isn't outright stated (to my memory) the Templar who fucked up the paperwork was also one of the ones who physically abused him, but I feel it's a pretty safe assumption) & got that child killed due to neglect & faced no consequences) but ultimately the choice that causes Cole to thank the player for not changing him is the one where you listen to Solas over Cole (Or well Varric, who also doesn't let Cole do what he wants but is closer to what Cole would have done if he had went alone for the confrontation) & in this route I would say Cole's character changes a lot more, especially as he forgets the original Cole, which... Rubs me wrong, but I'll save my more detailed thoughts for 1. After I fully read Asunder & 2. Either a full Cole analysis or a detailed post about my thoughts on his quest & routes (& maybe how I'd rewrite them, as a Autistic person & a ally to the aroace community)

Anyways my point is that I want to see how true it is characters rejected or wanted to change Cole, I want to see what leads him to feel that having two men argue & tell him who he is supposed to be & do only to have a third person decide out of those two's options for what he should do is remotely a situation where he's been accepted.

[featherlumina]

8, 12 and 17 for the ask game 😁

Thank you so much @duttfisch! Apologies for the Genesis spam below, haha. XD

8. Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about.

GENESIS BEING INCLUDED IN THE NIBELHEIM INCIDENT. People treat this like some unholy retcon, the greatest narrative sin Square Enix could've committed via the Compilation. And I for one think that's a complete over-reaction.

Seriously. Sure, Sephiroth's definitely not in a good mental headspace by now, but having Genesis water the freshly planted seeds in Seph's mind in the reactor only serves to drive him further down in a really believable way. I always found it a little odd how quickly Seph seemed to spiral in the OG (admittedly Rebirth handled it better), so I think the addition of Genesis makes the scene more fleshed out and raises even more questions for Sephiroth to investigate in the manor.

And a fun one for good measure that's been disproven by Nomura himself - the fact that everyone is like 'hurr durr Genesis can't come back cause Gackt says no / Square won't pay for his likeness'. Admittedly less people are using this as a 'ew no Genesis is icky he can't come back' now, but it was SUPER annoying for like a decade up till this point.

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them.

Feel like I should be putting my clown makeup on at this point because yep, my answer's Genesis! Again! XD Between the rest of the awesome peeps / moots on Tumblr who've argued for why Gen actually is or has the potential to be really interesting, I think it's fairly obvious why, but I'll summarise my view.

Basically, Genesis suffered from poor writing. Between that and the intense LOVELESS quoting making up the majority of his dialogue, I can see why it frustrated people. But if you look beyond that you'll discover some really neat stuff:

Having Genesis (and by extension, Angeal) as prototypes to Sephiroth actually makes boatloads of sense scientifically. You can't expect ShinRa to pop out Sephiroth on the first try, can you?

Genesis can basically go toe-to-toe with Sephiroth for an extended period of time, which is just... insane, when you think about it. Cloud and Zack have both reached similar heights but Sephiroth is just on a whole other level, so the fact there are a select few who can last against him is just really neat.

Bro had his world shattered and understandably lashed out at the company that shaped and controlled his entire existence. We're on Zack's side for Crisis Core, but it's pretty clear the real world-destroyers are ShinRa, and I think Crisis Core could've done a better job at helping us see Gen's perspective a bit more.

His aesthetic is just gorgeous, let's be honest here. That red coat is iconic and I want it. Superb character design (bless you Gackt for choosing red over black or white.)

Canonically he was well-liked and respected by the majority of SOLDIER, given that he convinced so many SOLDIERs to leave with him. People don't just follow you to the ends of the earth willy-nilly. Also, despite being an 'introvert' and averse to large people groups, he displayed kindness and gentleness with his younger comrades. Gillian called him 'such a good boy' for a reason, damn it!

...and I probably have more, but my hands are tired. XD

17. There should be more of this type of fic/art.

Honestly, I'm a sucker for hurt/injured/degrading Genesis and him both going through trauma and then being comforted and cared for by his loved ones. It's a major part of why I started Thing With Feathers after all. XD

I also love seeing how people explore Genesis' relationship with his changing body/his wing. I could read stuff about that for days.

Also would love to see more written redemption arcs for Genesis, whether it's through 'what-if' AUs or post DoC.

Lastly, I'm not hugely into overly sexual stuff, so any of the above fics without anything explicit is just *chef's kiss*. Of course I understand that many folks love the spicy stuff on its own or mixed into a plot, and that's okay! Just not my cup of tea is all.

[josephslittledeputy]

WIP... Oh shit, its actually Wednesday??

Tagged by @wrathfulrook @clicheantagonist @marivenah @cassietrn @the-silver-chronicles @socially-awkward-skeleton @direwombat and I thiiiiink that's it... sorry if you've tagged me & you're not on here, its been a hot minute since I've posted a wip wednesday & my memory is basically Swiss cheese

Tagging anyone who wants to self indulgently share a WIP! Feel free to tag me, I love to read new stuff :)

**Also terribly sorry in advance cause this turned out to be a bit longer than I thought it would be**

WIP 1: OG Verse - fun times with Celeste & Gabriel

He has to resist the urge to throttle her, lest he ruin the inside of his house filled with years of carefully handpicked items, ones he held a certain fondness for. "You ruined my life, Celeste. Or do you not recall?” "Your life?" She tilts her head in mock curiosity. "What life? The one where you were sent anywhere they told you to go, like some mongrel with a barely slackened leash?" “Excuse me?" “We can pretend otherwise. Keep up the illusion that your life was marvelous, picture perfect even. But we both know the truth, don't we?" She takes a step closer. “You were nothing but the High Council’s defanged pup. Cluelessly doing their bidding before I freed you. If anything, you should be thanking me." "Thanking you?" He clenches and unclenches his fist in an attempt to suppress his anger. "Hate me if you must, fight me even, but do it later. Right now we must get out of here. If they do not know where I am yet, they soon will. What do you think will happen once they realize one of their precious dhamphirs has been under their nose this whole time?"

Celeste truly is the nicest individual you'll ever meet :))

Including this little snippet from Gabriel's pov as well cause idk, I just really like it

Unbidden worry strikes him. He listens, waits, and when his ears pick up the sound of soft, even breathing he lets out a breath of his own. Celeste and the baby were still there, unharmed, perhaps even sleeping. It brings an odd sense of comfort, reminiscent of times long forgotten, times he didn’t want to remember. If he did, he’d have to remember what brought them to a halt in the first place and he had a job to do. Grief and old wounds had no place here, at least not at the moment. Kicking his boots off, he treks into the bathroom and gently closes the door behind him. It’s a simple design: Shower to his left, toilet to his right, and a sink with a mirror above it directly across from the door. Leaning against the sink, he ruffles his short, black hair that's shaved on the sides and traces his fingers over an old, faded scar. It runs down almost the whole length of his face, going over his left eye and stopping just shy of the corner of his mouth. Overlapping it is another, only this one goes across his face horizontally, over the bridge of his nose and from cheek to cheek. The only thing that remains of the old Gabriel are his blue eyes, once full of life and mischief, now faded and dull. Turning away from his visage, he heads toward the shower and turns it on, stripping down while he waits for the water to heat up. He doesn’t need a mirror to see the multitude of scars and tattoos that adorn his body. Aching for another drink—if only to dull his senses and lingering memories once more—he curbs the yearning and steps beneath the water.

WIP 2: They Watch From The Pews

Willa squirms, trying to dodge cold fingers that reach out to trace over the letters, caressing them with a sadistic fascination that makes her stomach curdle in disgust. Disgust quickly transforms into a desperation to get away once he finally reveals the knife kept hidden behind his back. “Usually I’d peel the sin off but… I think this will suit you much better, don't you?" Pressing the tip of his blade into her skin, he teasingly drags it across her skin. "Tell me, Deputy, how did you feel when you got the news of Samuel's death?" "Chipper." She spitefully answers with a sneer. John heaves a dramatic sigh and presses the blade down harder, prompting tiny beads of blood to bubble up as he traces over the letters of her tattoo. "You can make this easier for yourself, you know." "I've heard that before. Got me a bullet to the leg." "Because you ran. My men only acted accordingly." "Fuck you and your men, pussy." "My, what a mouth on you." He tuts and makes a deeper cut. Her teeth sink into the leather in her mouth, denying him the satisfaction of hearing her make a noise. Without pause, he moves onto the second letter, brows scrunched up in concentration as he goes over the lines again and again. It isn’t until he’s on the last letter that she finally breaks with a muffled groan. He stops, lifting his eyes from his work. “Comfortable?”

John & Willa are bonding so well. Truly, I think they're starting to get along!