#also! bee theme!

[the-forest-library]

Beat the Backlist Challenge 2024

[wasyago]

welp, didn't manage to get everything out before season 10 started, but i gotta post it one way or another so here we go! heard there was a fandom swap game going on, wanted to do a couple promts of my own :D

[lesbianherald]

kind of feel like 'write for yourself, nobody else' is bad advice. like i get where its coming from. but idk. it just feels too general. at least for me writing is about connecting with others and good writing knows how to do that. not connecting with everyone - not writing to please - but still connecting with others you know. you have to know what questions people might ask and how you might be able to get them invested etc etc.

[petitepatateuwu]

In approximately a week I binge read the entire Sonic IDW comics and fell absolutely in love with Team Chaotix. They are perfection and you can't convince me otherwise.

Also I totally didn't scream in horror while reading the metal virus arc and nothing happens to my babies there hahahahah

[miss-allsundays]

if you criticize stolas for his ignorance towards his privilege, then you should do the same when it comes to bee and ozzie— and i think mastermind did a fantastic job in proving that.

i know many of us were happy that the two sins came to blitzø’s defense… but did they really? yes, they voted in favor of hearing him out, and tried to speak for him, but they didn’t really put that much effort in, especially considering it’s someone they know who’s getting executed.

i have mentioned this a couple of days ago, but the real reason as to why blitz survived is because the court didn’t really care to find the real truth being the crime.

they just wanted a scapegoat to punish, and in that case blitzø, the lower class hellborn who tried to climb the hierarchy, was the easiest option. that’s why stolas’ ‘confession’ worked so well, despite being so vague, and so, so clearly made up. (he even used fake words !!! lol)

the trial was a lot of hearsay— they didn’t have concrete proof of IMP using the grimoire, or of committing any other crime. which means that anyone of a higher status could have said anything even slightly convincing and it might have saved blitzø AND stolas at the same time.

let me give you an example: since (as i said before) there is no proof of the grimoire being in the hands of IMP, asmodeus could have claimed they had actually been using one of his crystals the whole time. and the crystals was ON BLITZØ’S ARM!!!! which meant, that whatever andrealphus said after, would have been either:

a) him accusing a sin of lying!!! someone of higher status than himself!!

b) it wouldn’t have hold a candle against real, physical proof of the claims of said sin

but he didn’t do that, because blitzø was not worth it. and i’m not trying to demonize ozzie, but if it were fizzarolli, this trial wouldn’t have even started. the same thing could be said for bee and vortex.

asmodeus and bee, like the other sins and royals, prefer maintaining their status and cordiality with their peers rather than fight for someone that, at the end of the day, is not a central piece of their lives.

fighting would mean risking their comforts and privilege, and it is a concept so foreign to them, who have lived their entire lives like that, that it doesn’t even come up as a possibility to do more than the bare fucking minimum.

because have you seen what happened to stolas?

why would they risk losing their powers and status for someone they’re not close with?

(even though this trial is clearly rigged against him. even though a demon is going to lose his life, even though a daughter is losing her father.)

being complacent benefits them more than speaking up, and despite being marginally better than most royals, they still don’t care to show empathy to those that aren’t like them—even if they’re doing subconsciously.

[sasanka-27]

Stache bros 🥸 (inspired by my artist friends tweet)

[shallowseeker]

Up and down the stairs; away and towards safety

"Run. Take your brother and go! Now, Dean!"

(The story is after us, Dean. It's after Sam.)

We hear the warning again later in the episode, with the overlaid message from John: "I can never go home" & "We're all in danger!"

And the thing is, they are in danger—all of them—from the story itself. The road, then, becomes armor, and motion becomes safety, insisting that they keep moving. Being in one place? That's what kills them. The idea of going off-road functions like a temptation, a lure. The safety of home is just an illusion.

///

Shelter is down

Even in the pilot, Dean is quite literally a marked impala, a prey animal, always on the run. I really love the contrast of Mary and John running "up" towards the fire and little Dean running away, visually "down," away from the fire.

In trying to escape the fire, Dean descends to safety. It is this need for safety (and the safety of his loved ones) that in a very real sense eventually drives him towards Hell.

///

Later in the episode, we see Dean descend the stairs again, when he's leading Sam away from Sam's apartment (an apartment that has been, unbeknownst to them, marked for death by Azazel).

"Going down" will be a mode of movement that follows Dean pretty much his whole life. Dean goes down into the valley, into the shelter, into Hell.

Dean remains on the move for much of his life, but when he does get a true home of his own, it's underground. When he's on the run from Billie/Death in 15x18, he plunges further still, deeper underground, until he loses the love of his life in his safest spot: the bunker's dungeon.

///

Until then, the car is the safest spot they've got.

But the narrative is at work, trying to take control of the car; trying to chisel and shape its targets the way Constance tries to chisel and shape her targets.

When the car charges them on the bridge, Dean is frantic to get out of the way, diving "down" off the bridge, into the safety of another road—into movement, the churning river.

Meanwhile, Sam keeps hanging on. Sam's Taurus-like personality and stubbornness means that he's always trying to cheat a rigged game. Sam tries to stay in the "high place" and not get burned.

Sam monkey-arms and contorts himself to stay on the bridge...

...and Dean comes crawling out of the river like a drowned rat.

///

We see ups and downs for Constance's family, too.

Sam forces her to go home, taking control of the car (narrative) and hurling her into her ruined, dilapidated house.

Inside, she's faced with her guilt: and her guilt is up.

The deceased family members are upstairs. They went up, but they never came down.

These children have obviously been paralleled to the pain that Sam and Dean go through at the hands of John's cruel overpreparedness, but these two are also an off-key echo of John and Mary's innocence.

The narrative killed its "first children." Mary's body was consumed alongside John's faith in the future. They are the ones who went "up" and were murdered (Mary) and damaged (John).

///

In many ways, Constance's story is a study of opposites to the Winchesters.

Her first children were drowned. The narrative burned its first children.

Dean's mother Mary ran towards the danger (and we will see she continues to haunt her house as a supreme protector of children). In contrast, Constance runs away from her house. She killed her children.

Constance's ghost is out to prove that deep down, everyone is flawed, operating in a Luciferian mode of engineered hopelessness. She haunts the road in a Trickster-tempter-style of hunting, not just preying on "unfaithful men," but trying to prove that in fact, all men are scum, i.e. "Even if you're still faithful, I'll make you unfaithful."

Many of SPN's villains are out to bring out the worst in people; the writer's task is to prove that anyone (everyone) will break under the right circumstances:

KEVIN TRAN (APOCALYPSE): Michael doesn't want to kill you. He wants to break you. He said for me to tell you that, 'Even if you win, you still lose.' I'm sorry. 13x20 Unfinished Business

We get this from Chuck too in 15x09 The Trap, as he works to drain Sam of all hope.

CHUCK: Um, short version – Sammy lost hope, and now I'm free. Hey, take it easy on the kid. It took a lot to beat it out of him. [Chuck crushes the sphere, destroying the spell] 15x09 The Trap

We also see this attitude reflected in many of the angel characters, reaching all the way into SPNwin The Winchesters, with the OG mindset of Gabriel/The Trickster wanting to prove how horrible humans are:

GABRIEL (unhinged): When the chips are down, humanity always chooses the selfish way out! Always! 1x08 Hang on to Your Life

//

As we learn more about Mary, we unravel that she did do some running of her own—running from hunting, from her parents, from her own childhood home. But here, at least, despite being dressed in white, Mary is in many ways Constance's opposite.

John are Dean are the ones doing the running, afraid to go home. In some ways, Constance is more like John than she is Mary, as John is victimized by Mary's lies and mistakes. John, like Constance, is driven into madness and despair. And of course, John breaks so hard that he hurts his own children.

After what happened, Constance went out on the road, looking for monsters. Making monsters, too.

//

The off-key parallels continue:

A married couple burns upstairs; a pair of siblings drowns upstairs.

The Winchester family faces tragedy in the comfort of their pajamas, while Constance's family are in their daily school uniforms—the period clothing giving off an eerie feeling that they're in "work clothes." (The suit and tie on the boy, especially!)

When Constance faces them, they embrace her, loving her as they bring her to justice.

Dean and Sam are "below." Safe. Looking on as the family is reunited and can finally rest together.

//

Sam goes home.

When Sam ascends up the stairs to his apartment, he leaves safety. There are horrors waiting for him "above," as Jess too is on the ceiling, a sacrifice to the narrative gods (the audience).

Like how Zachariah had to put extra pressure on Dean in 4x17 It's a Terrible Life to get Dean back on the road, Azazel has to burn down Sam's home to get him to play ball.

Sam had roots in this little apartment; he was even looking for a way to stay nearby with regards to his interview:

LUIS: So there you go. You are a first-round draft pick. You can go to any law school you want! SAM: Actually, I got an interview here. 

So, Azazel burns the garden.

///

Meanwhile, after he notices his watch stop, Dean rushes back and kicks open the door, much like a firefighter coming to the rescue. Dean is running into the fire the same way both of his parents did, acting in his parents' stead to save Sam:

Dean quickly spots Jess, and susses out that Sam's destiny is after him, and he works immediately to get him to safety—down the stairs.

Afterward, with the memory of Mary heavy on his mind, Dean turns, knowing.

He got Sam out, but like John, Sam isn't okay.

Sam is "down and out," the light of his happiness snuffed out. This was foreshadowed by "Sam's light going out" in the headlight scene:

(We will later see Dean lose his light too, in season 7, after Cas dies.)

Sam is safe from the fire, but he's, in a very real sense, no longer the same Sam. Despite that Dean is the one wearing John's jacket, it is Sam who is now set on the path to revenge, to "becoming" Azazel.

Sam's broken.

SAM: Yeah. I kinda mean, well, like ever since my head broke, and we lost Cas. You ever feel like he's going through the same motions but he's not the same Dean, ya know? 7x09 How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters

Sam's season 7 self could be talking about his season 1 self here! Loss does things to people. (But the narrative did it to Sam so early!)

///

DEAN: So what are you gonna do? You're just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it? SAM: No. Not normal. Safe. DEAN: And that's why you ran away. 1x01 Pilot

Despite his extreme efforts, John couldn't keep Sam safe from Azazel's designs.

And Dean can't either.

[o-sunny-day]

Second big project I have in mind!!!

This ones been in the ol noggin for…flips through papers at least a year.

ILOVETHEYMIGHTBEGIANTSILOVETHEYMIGHTBEGIANTSILOVETHEYMIGHTBEGIANTSILOVETHEYMIGHTBEGIANTS

I really enjoy Flowey and Papyrus’ relationship, and honestly don’t find any interpretation of it as extremely offensive cause IT IS REALLY WEIRD Some people are like Forgettable AU and others are like Flowey Is Not A Good Life Coach ITS QUITE A SPECTRUM- and those are my 2 favorite Undertale fan creations so YIPPEE!!! I do not support the creator of Flowey Is Not A Life Coach btw- i found out about their other fics like months after I finished it

I think this song does it justice in the VIBE and the constant “im your friend, but im not really your friend, well actually im your only friend” LIKE THATS SO THEM NO MATTER WHAT INTERPRETATION YOU FOLLOW

im definitely gonna TRY to make at least a whole storyboard/animatic (i have no problem showing the whole plan i had cause ITS DEFINITELY OUTDATED I MADE IT A YEAR AGOEDHHDSHB)

lastly, proof that I used to fucking love they might be giants (and still do) (and that i have been thinking about this with an undertale amv for a while)

[yunmeng-jiang]

viscerally upset at a fic where JGY decided to go back to the Nie sect after his dad told him to kill NMJ, because "his father had done nothing but abuse him and treat him like dirt, while Nie Mingjue had never doubted him or raised a hand against him in violence" LIKE BRO DID YOU NOT READ THE PART OF THE BOOK WHERE NIE MINGJUE TRIED TO KILL HIM 3 DIFFERENT TIMES...??

[sp3ncer45]

mammon redesign or whateva more like it went to heavy hc hell ouuuhghhh mammon ouughhhhh

[galaxysugarr]

Its What you Want!!

[prompt-master]

I've seen a lot of people not liking that Queen Beelzebub is part Bee instead of Fly but I honestly like it! Not just because of the name pun, but because of the saying "like flies to honey"

[lesbianherald]

if its ok to ask, how do u find the motivation to write? i have a whole oiutline and everything i just cant seem to find the motivation to Actually Write Anything and was wondering if you had any advice ?

hello ! sorry this has been in my inbox for a while because I do not know how to answer !

typically, unless i'm in a really bad depressive episode, finding the motivation comes kind of naturally because I just love it so much and its such an escape for me. when I'm writing nothing else matters other than what I'm doing. all the noise of the world is gone and I don't have to worry about like, being a person while somehow simultaneously contemplating what it means to be a person in a really safe way.

i don't know if that makes sense. i was a very lonely kid and I think maybe it became a natural impulse for me. that's not saying my writing is better or some shit like that. some of the most brilliant writers I know struggle with motivation all the time. that's just not really my relationship with it.

But! If i'm in a bad episode or feeling stuck or like I've written myself into a hole, I typically listen to music that reminds me of whatever I'm working on. and then I listen to it all the time and visualize it in my head when I'm doing things like running errands and doing laundry.

also, for me writing works best if I just KEEP GOING and don't stop and ponder too much, Even if I HATE IT. especially if I'm just lost on a word or phrase. usually I'll just write something like "fix this later bee" or "research this later?" and move on. whose going to see it? if you're studying writing, just make sure the notes you leave have your name then search it before you turn anything in LMAO

usually when i'm writing and i note something is wrong I'll keep another tab open with a checklist of things I need to address or fix in the next draft instead of trying to make things perfect in the first. i think the need for perfection or overthinking often holds people up. I see that a LOT in my students.

sometimes in long form (feature films specifically) the urge to go back and correct becomes too much or I really do need to change something for future scenes to make sense. In that case I usually go sequence by sequence.

the fear of being 'bad' often stops people from even trying. but the only thing that will make you better is to get the "bAd" out first. Usually, I find people who really want to write who can't have something rooted in this fear.

IDK i hope that helps! Sorry it took so long.

[chussyracing]

thank you @presdestigatto for tagging me 😚

tagging @balaclavacharles @never-looked-so-good @ferrariprince16 @dobbiamo-capire @charlescherie @caffeinatedlovergirl @debushit and anyone who would like to do this - you are legally obliged to say i was the one to force you to do it

[artstantpansies]

comfort characters :3

nick chopper (oz series); leaf coneybear (25th annual putnam county spelling bee); norm (phineas and ferb); data soong (star trek tng) <3

[orykorioart]

Some old TAZA sketchies from Feb 2021.

I miss Hollis my bestie :-(