#also not sponsored or anything I just really like the project

[moonrise-digital]

One of my favorite things I ever worked on is this piece I did for the developers of Peripeteia.

I highly recommend checking out their game. They post updates at https://x.com/90sGraphics

[cas-couture]

cas couture.

cas couture is an upcoming community-based sim magazine focused on fashion. what sets cas couture apart is that we will not allow permanently paywalled cc to be featured in the magazine and aim to highlight the numerous, talented cc creators in the community :)

we are looking for simblrs who would like their stories/cc/creations/sims/pretty-much-anything ADVERTISED (for free, this is not a cash grab) in the APRIL 2025 ISSUE!

as cas couture is community driven, we need YOUR participation!

( more info under the cut !!! )

we want to put the spotlight back on this community and appreciate active simblrs. we want to encourage blog interaction and actually make the community ~feel like a community!

what will advertising look like?

sponsoring might look different across different spreads, it might be an ad for a movie/ tv series (i.e., this would advertise a sim story), an ad for a product/ designer (i.e., this would advertise a CC creator) and so on.

we're pretty much open to advertising anything! :) if you have any ideas for how you would like your creation advertised, let us know!

what are the requirements to sponsor?

you must be 18+ to apply

this is for fun!!!! pls remember that :) and also pls don’t be zionists or trumpies or homophobes or racist or anything else awful because :( and that’ll be another reason why we can’t have nice things :(

submit this sponsorship form (set aside 10 mins to fill this out, if your sponsorship is accepted, have some pictures/content ready that you would like us to use!)

reblog this post so i know ur for real about wanting to advertise!!

you would reblog and boost and interact with the April issue when it releases on April 11 :) (this would run on an honor system because I'm not a weirdo, but........ like if not enough people do it, it probably won't be worth the effort of making all the ads if no one's going to read the first issue/ interact with it? the point of cas couture IS blog interaction!!!!)

deadline to submit a sponsorship form is April 1. if you are making your own advertisement, it is April 10.

faq

i'm an editor for the magazine already, can I apply to sponsor?

yes, you totally can! we would just request you still fill out the form and once we confirm your sponsorship, we would just ask you to make your own advertisement, as it would probably be the quickest method :)

can I make my own advertisement as a sponsor?

yes, you totally can! once you're accepted as a sponsor, we will send you more information on the canvas size and other regulations <3

how many advertisements are you accepting?

there is no set number, it's more like... how many advertisements we can crank out in time for April 11 :) if you are willing to create your own advertisement and submit it by April 10th, the chances are 99.999% that we would accept :)

why is reblogging this post a requirement in order to apply for sponsorship?

because it'll show that you're truly willing to ruin your impeccable feed with simblr community content! if you're not willing to do it now, you probably won't want to later :( cas couture can only fuel itself on my hopes and dreams for so long until it burns out :( the aim is for blog interaction, making (age-appropriate) friends and having a good time!!!!

thank you for supporting cas couture! you're helping fund the nepo babies'-- i mean, interns'-- matcha addictions-- i mean, education!

asking da community for some support <3

as this is totally a community project, i'm going to tag some community members who really helped the last post reach the masses (I'm sorry, I'm annoying for tagging!!!) and current editors (I'm going off the top of my head, I'm sorry if I miss anyone!!!) on the team for the April issue!!!! if you don't like to be tagged, I'm sorry!!!!! <3333

@householdbinary @jokiyo @simafrassx @olivetelfie @my-kwy @southernfriedsims-blog @ratwoman161 @harvestsims @mmonetsims @kdplayssss @liyahssims @fairytailtow @crazy-hazy-sims @aliengirl @strangegrapefruit @thebramblewood @thefoxburyinstitute @missatan

psst, we're still accepting editors for the April issue!!! learn more about the roles available here!

[hexhomos]

Hello fellow Jayce defender.

First off, virtual kisses on both your cheeks for your Arcane analysis. They're refreshing to read, and insightful as well.

Something that's always bothered me about the way fans interact with Jayce is assuming that he's always the one making the mistakes in any of his relationships. It's almost funny in a way how they strip other characters of their autonomy and arcs just so they can point out how Jayce is failing his partners.

With Mel and Viktor especially, there's this narrative that Jayce simultaneously ignores both of their needs while also prioritising one over the other. Either he neglects Viktor to go and swoon over Mel, or he abandons his relationship with Mel to go play science with Viktor, or he neglects both to go do his own things while they suffer through their own plots.

And it's fascinating how incredibly mistaken these people are, and also how they reduce his character to only being important when he's in a relationship.

I'm here like, "hey, do you wanna discuss the reason for how Jayce seemingly knows how to navigate the ways of high class society very easily is probably because he's had to rely on sponsorships and donations for most of his youth to find his research because his house is too poor to be able afford it?"

Or "It's canonical that Jayce only ever had one friend in his youth before Viktor, and that was the daughter of his main sponsor, do you think it's interesting that this indicates he probably had difficulty making or maintaining friendships and that this is possibly a symptom of the Academy mainly housing elite and rich students so they couldn't relate to his struggles and he couldn't relate to theirs?"

But no, people just want to hate on him for not being the picture perfect boytoy in a relationship.

And I mean, it's not like it's just reduced to Jayce either. So many other characters have had similar treatments where they're reduced to either their most basic qualities or mischaracterised entirely. And I'm really not trying to be the fandom police or whatever - everyone interprets differently - I just find it frustrating is all.

Anyways, you're cool.

YES I never have time to talk about this bc people don't give a fuck but in Jayce's journals we even see him stewing with envy and petty rage at this star-rising student on the academy that he sees as the example of a perfect prodigy (in opposition to how much Jayce fucks things up...)

It also strongly suggests he's on a scholarship, which ties into his suicide attempt.

Jayce is keeping his experiments a secret from everyone to avoid the blowback and isolating himself further and further when they don't work. Jayce is flawed! He's proud of his dream pitch to the point of hilarity. Jayce doesn't like socializing, he does it out of obligation! Even when he's being raised to a councilor position in s1 he's PANICKING. He doesn't want the fucking job, he doesn't like the parties nor the people, his truest honest self is that moment in season 2 where he declares the lab was always his home, and so was Viktor.

But even then he subsumes his own wants spends most of s1 trying to attend to the needs of other people. He routinely asks Viktor if he's alright, if he wants to come up to do the presentation, if he's sure those experiments are safe, etc. He tries to make Heimerdinger proud despite his constant rejections of their projects, and only turns on him when he threatens viktor's wellbeing. The reason why he doesn't announce anything on progress day is that he Was listening to Heimers so-called wisdom and it only bit him in the ass. Jayce gets himself in trouble with the council by being too naive and assuming his new post will allow him to crackdown on Piltovan corruption aided by the Hexgates. Majority of the complaints wrt relationships I see people making of him are just wildly exaggerated. "He was neglecting viktor" bro he talks about viktor in nearly every scene he has with mel 😭 viktor is the one who isolates himself and randomly disappears at times bc he's a grown man with his own boundaries.

Jayce's entire life is defined by the transactional nature of his existence, his work, the patronage receives - all depending on how much he can play the showpony role without fucking it up. It's not a comfortable position. Jayce is stressing out the whole damn show because if one person isn't pissed at him, someone else will be, and it always comes down to revokable money, investments, social standing. if he really was as uncaring and well-off as some claim he wouldn't give a shit. He could just coast along life, but that's not what he's doing ever. He only 'frees' himself in season 2 by abandoning his life's dream and the rotten reality that existed around it. Which is kind of bleak, but at least its over.

[vettelsvee]

GOODBYES ARE BITTERSWEET | Sebastian Vettel ✩₊˚.⋆PART 6: LITTLE WHITE LIES [PREVIOUS PART] [NEXT PART]

goodbyes are bittersweet masterlist | a not so secret santa project ‼️ f1 masterlist | ao3 | ask anything or let's talk!

ferrari sebastian vettel x ex gf!female reader (smau)

summary: seb just wants y/n to accept that contract, and he's going to do everything he can to make it happen. also... the sebastian vettel fandom goes wild when her ex girlfriend does her comeback

warnings: curse words, bad language. mentions of cheating. faceclaim: emma stone, hanna prater

taglist: [ @saltycomicsanimalssalad @hc-dutch @mycenterfold @simplyamberj @spitesfvl-blog @jaydaaasworld @lottalove4evelyn @zoeyjadetice2010 @jehun @ferralari @cosmoscoffeee @mcmuppet @myescapefromthislife @sleutherclaw @youre-on-your-ownkid ]

a/n: surprise, i posted again! and first smau! I've been wanting to do one of this for a long time, so i hope you like it (please tell me)! feedback (please let me now what you thought of this!) and reposts are truly appreciated. and also comment me your thoughts and theories on the story pls!

© VETTELSVEE (2024). please, do not steal, copy or translate my works. thanks for reading!

MAY 25TH 2018

JUNE 1ST 2018

ynyln just posted

ynyln moving on from him is impossible when i still see it all in my head in burning red... see you on june 15th x (more news coming soon... in july <3)

user1 omg are we having red mv? this is ALL red coded

user 2 THERE'S NO WAY SHE DID THIS ↳ user3 wait what is this about? ↳ user 2 user3 take a closer look to the pictures 😁 ↳ user4 i'm not getting it... someone explain it?

lewishamilton it's good to see you finally achieving your dreams! ❤️🙏🏿 ↳ ynyln can't wait to see you soon lew! missed you lots x

user6 she's absolutely insane for posting this pictures... i gotta love her ↳ user7 why is it with the pictures she chose to post? aren't they related to what her song says? ↳ user6 take a look at the twitter thread sebsrrari just posted!

user8 EXCUSE ME MISS YLN? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH THAT "SEE YOU SOON"? ↳ ynyln maybe redbullracing can give you a hint... ☺️ ↳ redbullracing ynyln, do you really want us to post certain something we have already saved? ↳ ynyln redbullracing you know i do! i don't know what are you waiting for?

user9 wait wasn't she dating sebastian vettel back in the day? it seems like she's recalling her years with him ↳ user10 i'm 110% sure that the quote goes to seb ↳ user11 and the fact that lewis has left a comment... they know i'm sure

user12 if this post has anything to do with seb... the og wag fandom is going to rise from the ashes and go WILD.

redbullracing just posted

redbullracing We are so delighted to announce that from now on we will officially become the main sponsor of our former golden girl, ynyln, who just started her career as a singer. Also... she will be joining us for the 2018 German Grand Prix next July! More details coming soon.

user1 THEY POSTED SEB AND Y/N OH MY GOD ↳ user2 is this some kind of throwback? weren't they dating a while back? 😯

user3 ok but the fact that they posted that picture makes me think maybe seb and y/n never really lost touch... could this be the start of something more than just sponsorship? ↳ user4 exactly thought this! there's definitely something more going on

user5 seb and y/n together again in 2018 does this mean they're dating again or is it just for promo? ↳ user6 probably promo... ↳ user7 or maybe they know something we don't... ↳ user8 really why posting a picture of them together when they broke up a while ago? ↳ user9 user8 WAIT THEY WERE DATING? ↳ user8 user9 yes! twitter is now full of their story, it's quite a romantic one but also bittersweet... it didn't end well according to most of people

user10 of course seb's the reason y/n's getting back in the spotlight ↳ user11 seb and y/n have way too much chemistry for you to say that ↳ user12 exactly! seeing her again after going viral without us knowing, and her being with seb again, is making me think there’s more to this story!

[lovesim09]

Free Labour?

As you know, Cale has a lot of people, so he also has a lot of expenses. Even though he calls himself trash and often talks about using people, does he really exploit them and give nothing in return?

The only people he uses in my opinion are Rasheel and Pendrick. However, in Rasheel's case, he listens to orders from the Dragon Lord, and he afraid of the two oldest dragons. When it comes to Pendrick, as an elf he is not interested in material gains. His ability can heal and can be used on people with a dark attribute. It is very easy to convince him to cooperate, just tell him that he is doing a good deed, or say that a dragon would like him to help the Cale group. I remember at Castle Leona, Eruhaben wouldn't come empty handed and who did he take with him? Yes Pendrick. He even took him to another world with him. The wind elementals don't get anything from him either, but these adorable creatures are so happy that he hears them and talks to them 🥹. They also have a lot of fun when it comes to destroying everything, robbing people, etc.

So is Cale really taking advantage of his people?

▪︎Children, I'm not just talking about kittens and Raon. I'm also thinking about wolf children. First, Cale didn't want to take them to dangerous places. When it comes to wolf children, they appear during fights when he's sure they won't be hurt too badly. Cats and Raon are always close to him or hidden. They never fight directly. Lock is the oldest but he doesn't even take him often because he's still a kid. And he always tries to make sure that nothing will happen to him. Even during the war he told him to stay close to him and protect Raon nothing more. He's the one who got them a new home, he probably gives all the children pocket money, with the wolf children he may not do it directly, but they definitely get money too. I am also sure that the Henituse family helps financially with them. In addition, he never forget about gifts. Accept that you are a father.

▪︎Choi Han, homeless and poor. Cale gave him money, arranged for a new sword, new clothes. A new house, a place to train. He also arranged better graves for the dead residents of Harris village. It also gave him a reason to distract himself from this traumatic event. Choi Han did as Cale asked in gratitude, but he actually got more than Cale in their transaction. Even when Cale sent him to Lock's village, he gave him potions, and they're not that cheap. Don't fool yourself, Cale.

▪︎Rosalyn. He became her sponsor. She has her own lab in his house, he gave her mana stones. Do I need to remind you how many billions, was that? Traveling with him gave her more than one opportunity to grow and develop, and more often than not, she did. In the future there will be a free city where she can build tower, he also has a project for a tower. I understand that having a future Mage Tower Master as a friend is beneficial, but you still spent too much. He scams himself again.

▪︎Molan family. In this case, his family did a lot for them. They got jobs, Beacrox learned how to cook. They had a place to hide. Later, Cale gave them a chance for revenge. He literally blew up the island for Ron. They got their home back and Cale also helped regain his foothold in the underworld. And he was supposedly trying to get rid of them so that they would travel with Choi Han 🙄.

▪︎ Sun twins. He saved their lives, hid them, gave them shelter and a home. He cleared their names, gave them a Church to control. Saint Jack is the Pope, the head of the Church, even if he is not officially named that at this point. He gave them divine artifact. He helped them in the rebellion so that their homeland would not have a civil war and would not be taken over by other countries. Okay, they helped him weaken the empire, thanks to the rebellion. So in the future, the title of empire may be taken away from them. They still got more benefits as if Hannah was still alive thanks to you and Mary.

▪︎Tiger tribe. He gave them Harris village, with the consent of Deruth. The clothes they are often described in. The dojo uniform was bought by him. He gave them an opportunity for revenge. You gave them a home where they can run wild (poor monsters in the Forest of Darkness), you got gifts from them but it's nothing compared to the benefits they got.

▪︎ Crown prince Alberu. Cale gave him precious dead mana from the dragon, thanks to him Taylor is on his side,Duchess also went over to his side. Support of the Henituse family, the richest family in the Roan kingdom. Cale helped him develop Roan militarily, he gave him mages. The alliance between the kingdoms was formed with his help, after all, he was the one who had a connection to every single person there. Not to mention emotional support. Ok he can give him a headache, extra paperwork, but he still has benefits. Thanks to him Alberu can become the first Emperor of Roan Empire. He doesn't even realize that he has become an Emperor maker.

▪︎Mary and dark elves. Mary got a bunch of bones from his backyard, he gave her dragon bones. She has a new home, he gave her the opportunity to travel. Dark elves and Mary have been accepted by the world, the Church can't even touch them. Helping him in the fight they got dead mana, became stronger. He also gave them the opportunity to go wild during the war. I haven't forgotten how they behaved in the empire and Molden Kingdom. In addition, he tried to reduce the pain Mary felt. No wonder the dark elves like him so much and always help him.

▪︎Eruhaben. Even if he didn't want at first, Cale helped him extend his life. Cale supports him financially after ARM robbed him, all alchemical ingredients are bought by Cale, gave him lots of mana stones. Eruhaben adopted himself into his family. He helps them because he does not want young people to suffer and be hurt.

▪︎ Whale tribe. They appeared so often that they are now part of the family. Paseton was saved by him. He helped them destroy the swamp from which the mermaids were getting their poison. He destroyed the mermaid base along with the island. He gave them the opportunity to take revenge on ARM for helping the mermaids. Even Archie can show his true character around Cale. At first it balanced out how much help Cale got and how much they got from him. However, as the story progressed, those as part of his family were happy to help

▪︎Mila and Dodori. In their case, it's hard to say. Dodori is obsessed with the heroes and would like to write a book about Cale and others. Cale has also become his teacher. Mila is a supportive mother. Later they too were adopted themself into his family. Cale has an affinity to dragons, probably through dominating aura.

▪︎Elves. They were his people for a while, they even called him Commander . He helped the World tree, in return they were supposed to help him. They tried to help Bud find his people, but it was a trap.

▪︎Clopeh. I know, he had no choice. But Cale spared his life, allowed him to create a new legend with the wyverns. Then Choi Han and him helped him obtain the technique to use dead mana, which made him stronger. He also gave him a sword to be his guardian.

▪︎Dragon half blood. Even though he was his enemy, Cale gave them the choice to live or die. Then, he made him wash dishes, his people put his soul in the bones of a dragon. It really sounds awful, but the most important thing for Half Blood was that he had a choice. Even as an enemy he was given a choice, something he had never had in 900 years. In addition, he was able to experience a normal life during the time he worked for him. Even in the second part he saved his life and gave him a name. Something he had wanted for 900 years 🥲.

So yes, all this time the people he helped got more benefits than him. But he will still argue and call himself trash.

[sunderwight]

Thinking about Alpha Timeline Jayce and Viktor, from the very first iteration of events, the one Mage Viktor is from and thus also the one where no mage went back in time and rescued Jayce and his mom from the blizzard. If such a thing exists and it's not just a big ole paradox, anyway. But I like to think that it does, it makes sense. There had to be a first version of events, right? One that wasn't yet tampered with by magical intervention in the timestream, the one where Viktor did indeed just destroy everyone. Alpha Timeline Jayce included.

A timeline where there was no mage to rescue Jayce and his mom from the blizzard. I imagine this means Ximena dies, but Jayce lives long enough for some other form of help to find him. Maybe that form is also magical, maybe some mage lights a fire for him or does something else that's less flashy but still leaves an impression, a yearning in young Jayce for the power to have potentially saved his mother.

I don't recall what the deal is with Jayce's dad, if he's dead or not or when he died if so, but for the purposes of this timeline let's assume that if he's still around during the blizzard period he nevertheless doesn't survive long after Ximena's death. Jayce inherits the Talis hammer factory, but he's still just a kid. He lives as something of a mascot/figurehead for a while, at least until various shareholders sell the business off to competitors and his inheritance is, more or less, bartered out from underneath him while he's still too young to understand what's going on. By the time he hits his mid teens, Alpha Timeline Jayce has lost the last connection he had to his parents and his more peaceful childhood existence, and has been exposed to the cynical and often two-faced machinery of Piltover's social system. He's still not much of a politician by nature, but this time that knowledge of self comes with a lot of bitterness and self-recrimination attached. Being "careless" (read: a minor) cost him his family legacy (that he wouldn't have particularly wanted in the timeline where he could have kept it, not that he knows that).

With positions in the academy highly coveted and sponsors limited, Jayce's road to becoming a scientist is a lot more difficult the first time around. House Talis isn't even a respectable middle-class family, it's barely even a recognized house anymore, and forget about getting sponsored by Cassandra Kiramman, Jayce basically has to rely on luck and several other mid-class houses to cobble together enough support to attend the academy. This version is a lot more like League Jayce (also a Jayce Giopara by the time he meets Viktor, perhaps?), and a lot more paranoid about letting anyone do anything for him, a lot more aggressive about sticking his name directly onto any project he's even tangentially involved with because otherwise he knows the credit can be swept out of his hands and leave him just holding the bill afterwards.

This causes him to butt heads with Alpha Timeline Viktor, who is also struggling along (even more than Jayce, given he still comes from the undercity of course), with both of them vying for positions as assistants to more established academy members, and access to funding. Viktor thinks Jayce is a blowhard with too much flash and ego, and smarts from a few incidents of Jayce stealing the credit and spotlight from him (Jayce can do this mostly just by not going out of his way to acknowledge Viktor all the time, by virtue of Viktor's even less "respectable" background), and Jayce finds Viktor's prickly attitude and conflicting standards (i.e. Viktor not really wanting to be put in leadership positions on projects but then getting miffed when Jayce does what he's seen every other project leader do) to be frustrating.

On the other hand, Jayce also treats Viktor as a respected peer in terms of intellect regardless of his background, and Viktor still becomes the first person to take any of Jayce's theories about technology and magic seriously. I imagine they meet before the Apartment Explosion Incident in this timeline, by virtue of Jayce actually getting into the academy sooner and having to grind more for it, since he has no parents to either be reluctant to see him depart from the family business or help him find sponsorships. So when the apartment break-in does happen, and Jayce's experiments with magic are uncovered and he's initially disgraced, Viktor still helps talk him off the ledge.

Because this version of Jayce is less idealistic (though still not a bad guy by most standards), this version of Viktor is more cynical also. He has less of a tether to the notion of scientific pursuit as something pure and joyful. When they work together they're often arguing quite a bit. This version of Viktor also ends up being closer to his League counterpart, using proto hextech inventions and combining them with cybernetic implants from an earlier stage to do things like create "safety features" for mine workers that bypass their autonomy in the name of avoiding human error. Jayce, who had his livelihood and his family's business swept out of his hands by being bypassed "for his own good" in his youth, doesn't take well to these incidents. Meanwhile Viktor sees this direction as the only one that might yield the results he needs to possibly cure his illness, trusting even less in some idealized vision of him and Jayce just science-ing their way through the problem. The schism between them over Jayce's increasingly public success and political trajectory is also wider. Viktor keeps even more of his personal struggles to himself and has even less sympathy for Jayce's packed schedule, while Jayce is even more baffled and annoyed by Viktor's mercurial moods and private projects.

Jayce and Mel also have a rather more cynical dynamic, I imagine. This version of Jayce doesn't need any bonus motivations to pursue his own political best interests or secure his personal position, but there's still a mutual attraction, so Mel pulls out a card from her mother's playbook and is like "well that was fun, no need to take it too seriously" after they sleep together, and Jayce is kind of expecting it and doesn't go in for the cuddles. He still definitely wants the cuddles though.

Despite his more contentious and less contentious relationships overall, Jayce still wants deeper connections with the people around him, in fact. And he still gets attached, even if he's worse at expressing it. And he still rushes to commit mad science to save Viktor's life, against Viktor's stated wishes to destroy the hexcore instead. And Viktor still leaves him afterwards. And Jayce is still fucked up about it. But, he's also more invested in The Grind and his council position, so instead of hibernating in his lab he throws himself more into handling the current political crisis. Which means he isn't there when Heimerdinger and Ekko break in. Thus he never leads them to the anomaly, or goes there himself, and that whole plot arc never happens. Ekko and Heimerdinger just workshop some possible treatments for the tree and are still trying to fix it by the time shit hits the fan.

Ambessa does still launch things into martial rule under Caitlyn of course, except this time she gets to "secure" one of the scientists behind hextech (Jayce). Despite being a bigger douche in this timeline, though, Jayce is still not really onboard with making hextech weapons for Noxian soldiers to use against the underprivileged, and since he and Caitlyn aren't as close in this timeline either, he gets to go through his Tour of Pain courtesy of Ambessa's attempts to coerce him. So Jayce goes "missing" by way of being imprisoned, a state of affairs he manages to escape after Singed leads Vander/Warwick to Stillwater and Ambessa gets distracted by hunting down the werewolf with a much more biddable mad scientist in hand.

Jayce makes his own way to Viktor's commune, and Viktor is like, oh hey there you are, good news I'm not mad at you anymore, would you like to become one with me? Whereas Jayce is like, Viktor what the fuck, you left to go start a cult? Why is that hot? Ugh no forget it we can unpack that later, soft maybe on the becoming one thing does it involve sex no wait shelve that, there's a Noxian takeover we have to deal with first. So the fight that badly injures Viktor is actually against Ambessa in the commune, with Singed explaining to Jayce that they can save Viktor but they have to sacrifice Vander to do it.

To his credit, Jayce is like, no I learned my lesson from last time. We're only doing mad science to resurrect Viktor if he signs the consent form first. Which Viktor does, because Ambessa and her forces are still out there and he and/or the hexcore and possibly also Jayce even managed to convince him that all of this is necessary to save everyone, and also because this version of Jayce being less of an idealist has led to a version of Viktor who is less of one as well. Machine Herald Viktor basically steamrolls the Noxians and then was welcomed back to Piltover openly as a hero.

Uh-oh.

So Jayce figures out that Viktor's "glorious evolution" is in fact a huge problem in the eleventh hour and after he's unwittingly led him back to the anomaly he needs to finish his ascendance, but by then there's nowhere close to the resources necessary to put up much of a fight about it. He mostly tries to fight Viktor alone or with whatever allies he can grab last minute (Mel if she hasn't left for Noxus yet, maybe also Vi and/or Jinx who are likely to be on the warpath about Vander, Caitlyn if she's nearby, etc), and he only gets anywhere with that because Viktor still wants him to join with him willingly.

But anyways, it fails, Viktor "wins", and then gets to sit in the ruins of his triumph and lament. I imagine that when he starts tinkering with alternate timelines, there is a part of him that still thinks he's correct on some level. Like clearly something went wrong in the process, because the end results haven't worked out as he'd hoped, but he's not sure what exactly it was yet. But maybe Jayce will know, because Jayce was always good at catching things that Viktor missed (and vice versa)? The version of Jayce which Viktor merged with... it didn't work right. It wasn't supposed to result in Jayce being gone, being silent, like this. Viktor can't hear his voice to ask him questions anymore, so the first thing he goes looking for in another timeline is Jayce.

But he miscalculates a little bit (first time doing anything remotely like this, even a "perfect" hextech god needs some margin of error), and he ends up finding Jayce when Jayce is only a child, stranded in a blizzard with his mother. Viktor rescues them, but he's still trying to win an argument in his head about it, so he's also very "look how cool I am" about it. Like behold, New Jayce, I am going to win so many arguments even though I'm also reeling from being wrong about something that might have actually been the most important argument we ever had. Aren't I nearly perfect? Once you finish baking into a hunk you can tell me what part of the equation wasn't completely right and then I really will finally be completely perfect. I am prepared to wear down your skepticism and -- wait why are you looking at me like that? You're looking at the magic, right? Uh... look see, here's a rune! Magic, that's... that's the thing. To be looking at that way. Okay gotta go bye!

It takes a few iterations before Viktor arrives at the "there is no prize to perfection, only an end to pursuit" conclusion about where he actually did go wrong, and by then he's made rescuing Jayce + Ximena and being flashy as hell about it a standard part of the process. You will pry baby Jayce's awestruck look of wonder from his dead robot hands actually. Also clearly he is doing a better job of this than the original mage who couldn't even rescue Jayce's mom about it. Loser. His ego also needs to consolation prize if he's going to accept that overall Asshole Grownup Jayce was, in fact, more right than he was. At least at first.

He has mixed feelings about all the subsequent Jayces being sweetie pies, too. Like obviously it's a net improvement for both Jayce and the other versions of Viktor that he has better emotional regulation and is less of a gloryhound, but it also makes it all the more obvious that even though he can speak with versions of Jayce, the OG is still gone. Surprisingly few iterations of Jayce turn into dickheads, and even fewer respond to the revelation of Viktor's apocalypse by turning against him, even though Viktor initially assumed that would be the standard. They all definitely have thoughts on the situation, and none of them want their own timelines to be doomed, but most of them do also try to and help Viktor. Most of them are still willing to follow his advice. Even after everything.

It is... humbling.

By the time he gets to Arcane Jayce, he's not even prevaricating or showboating (much) anymore. He shows Jayce his human face, lets things unfold as they will, is simultaneously detached (he doesn't get Jayce out of the pit he's fallen into, Jayce has to do that himself) but also romantic ("only you can show me this") and even lets this version have OG Jayce's hammer to replace the one he had to dismantle for his leg brace. This is Jayce simultaneously at his best, his lowest, his brightest, his most noble, and most different from the first and yet still perhaps most different from Viktor's preconceptions about him rather than the core of his true self. Mage Viktor told himself he was refining his evolutionary process, but in reality what he ended up doing was distilling different versions of Jayce, unlocking the formula for the one that could stop him.

But also wouldn't leave him.

[alicelufenia]

From Long Prices to Long Odds - yep, I'm starting Pale Lights

While chipping away at my re-read of A Practical Guide to Evil, and with patch 8 of Baldur's Gate 3 STILL a ways out, I've started reading ErraticErrata's next big project - Pale Lights.

Right away I can tell how much the author's improved since book 1 of the Guide. We've got two point of view characters for our journey through the subterranean, post-apocalypse world of Vesper. Tristan Abrascal - orphan, street rat, and thief, with a vendetta to settle against the nobles who've wronged him; and Lady Angharad Tredegar, a noble in exile with nothing to her name save her sword arm and unshakable sense of honor, who has sworn vengeance against her family's killers, even as she's dogged by assassins at every step.

Both from worlds like night and day (or I guess that would be Gloam and Glare in this world), they could not be more different, but fate has set them on the same path; to survive to see their enemies punished, they must first survive the trials on the island - the Dominion of Lost Things - alongside other competitors from all walks of life, in order to escape their past and join the Watch, that special band of elite god-killers that toe the line between civilization and the monsters who lurk in the endless dark beyond the points of light.

And it really isn't any big spoiler or anything to mention contracts, basically pacts with supernatural beings for power and guidance. Both our main characters have them—Tristan with a minor god of luck (he's literally her only follower) called Fortuna, the Lady of Long Odds, who only he can interact with, and is constantly snarking at him; while Angharad's contract is with a mysterious entity of few words known only as the Fisher. Many other characters possess contracts that are detailed to varying degrees, but we get the closest look at them through our main characters, both patrons being just as different from each other as their human charges.

It's only a few chapters in that the supporting cast expands immensely, with over a dozen other competitors shipped off to the same destination. Some are paid for by a sponsor, like our protagonist duo, others are here by their own expense, mainly a group of Sacromontan nobles for whom getting even partway through the trials will gain them status with their families. And some are here because they have no other choice, forced in by debtors and legbreakers to pay with their lives or their eventual service in the Watch. Think Man in the Iron Mask meets And Then There Were None.

Keeping track of so many characters early on has been a challenge, but luckily the extremely prolific @gwennafran has created visual guides per chapter of the entire cast, their origins, abilities, affiliations, and status of living or dead or mia. It also serves as a handy reference to visualize what everyone looks like, the cast being just as diverse and multicultural as in the Guide, except everyone's human this time around.

Where the Guide draws from Mediterranean Europe and North Africa for its naming conventions and cultural touchstones, Pale Lights starts us off with a very Central and South America-inspired setting. Place names like Izcalli and Sacromonte, the nobles of the latter being referred to constantly as infanzones (literally minor nobles in Spanish), are just a few early examples. Right now the scope is very limited, starting in one city before moving to a "deserted" island, which is actually totally occupied by hollows, or "darklings", the extremely indigenous-coded pale-skinned people who have completely adapted to living in the total dark of Vesper, away from any pits of Glare (the perpetual light shining through cracks in firmament above, where most civilization gathers). Especially given we're already exploring class dynamics of nobles and non-nobles, I expect we'll also find the "Red Eye cultists" to be more than they appear at first.

I'm only 16 chapters in, and already am very much hooked. Both Tristan and Angharad serve as excellent foils for each other; pragmatist vs idealist, street smarts vs noble scion, untrusting to a fault vs too honorable for her own good. It's all very delicious, and I have reasons to root for both of them even as their beliefs and methods remain anathema to each other. One of the coolest things about a primarily single-perspective narrative are those times when you can see that character from an outsider's view, and because each chapter or two flips between protagonists, we get an impression of how both of them come across to other people, giving us a chance to be out of their heads for a bit.

Dunno how often I'll post live reading thoughts on this one, but I'll certainly try, including anytime I finish a book; which right now is just the two. But hey, at least with this one I'll be catching up to current releases, which is a nice change of pace.

[yaytheboop]

I absolutely support paying artists and supporting creators, and seeing the quality of Watcher's videos especially lately I've understood that it wouldn't be sustainable for a while now. I will never say that I expect anyone to come out with so much high-quality content so regularly without being financially compensated for it.

That being said, I think the way they've gone about this has just not been the smartest. First off by doing this so suddenly with no warning, and also having a big countdown to it when it's actually quite a sad thing to see them go. Like it felt like they were counting down to a party but then it was a funeral that took place instead, and even the mood of the video they put out was quite somber. I think it put the wrong expectations in fans (me included), which just made the shock even bigger than it needed to be (especially for this sort of announcement).

I think they actually were quite respectful of the fact that people wouldn't be able to continue to follow them over to WatcherTV, but the comment about "making it affordable so everyone could subscribe to their plan" and then it being $60 a year was kind of insulting. It would have been better if they'd been realistic about it and said that they understood that it might be a steep price for some, but that they hoped it would be affordable for some of their subscribers while still giving them the chance to produce high-quality content or something along those lines.

What I don't understand however is how this is supposed to be sustainable in the long run? Because if I'm someone who's scrolling Youtube and comes across one of their old videos, I'll watch them all there. If I'm scrolling and come across one of their newer videos, and see that the rest of those videos are behind a paywall, then I'm gonna continue to scroll, I won't pay $60 to watch someone I previously didn't really know.

I don't know businesses, especially businesses in creative fields, and definitely not USAmerican businesses in creative fields, so I'm not sure how this would work financially. However, I think there's one of two things they could have done to make it easier for us as fans to transition, as well as still earn them some of that extra revenue (to start with):

They could add a free subscription with ads on their streaming service. I don't know how easy that is, getting sponsors and incorporating pop-up ads on a service, but that's an option.

They could have started out by putting some of their bigger projects on the service, but still regularly making content on Youtube that was not as produced or financially

I think having their own streaming platform is a good idea because then they won't be bound by Youtube's restrictions and have more creative freedom, as well as the whole economic side of this. The way they're executing it however is just alienating and frankly a bit insulting to the fans who have been with them for so long and supported them through so much and now suddenly can't watch anything new anymore with barely any warning.

Yeah, this became very long but I had some thoughts that I just needed to air.

[cherriebbyyyy]

Been seeing a lot of ppl talking about the difference in marketing/PR of Carlos at Williams vs Ferrari and him taking on these brands but I think do forget to mention or note the fact that Ferrari has the money and pre negotiated contract with sponsors and that probably supplemented his salary like the Peroni vs Estrellla Galicia thing.

I feel like people talking about this and praising William for “letting” Carlos be more free are not putting enough respect on Ferrari™ the brand because they don’t need as much publicity Ferrari has a name outside of racing so that comes with the the privilege of being able to say no to things like the “fast and the furious podcast” which wouldn’t really add since their niche and 10k* subscribers are presumably wouldn’t add anything to Ferrari like the interview he did for the “Nude Project” that has 882k subscribers and 1.7m views over 8 months and a more diverse fan base as they interview, musicians and other athletes. Williams on the other hand does need the help in getting more of a dedicated fan base and catching new fans that are getting into f1 and also showing off how much Carlos Sainz does wanna be there and the future of the team. 

Ferrari had also changed their market and tailored it to the C2 strength they did all these fun challenges because Carlos and Charles liked them they make everything a competition and it’s entertaining. You can see the shift already in tailoring it towards Lewis as well, drawing a bigger focus to the classiness that is Ferrari and Lewis, who has a more tailored image mashing those things together. And I see Ferrari trying to marry brands more than make it like this suffocating thing that people are making it seem.

To me it also makes sense for Carlos to capitalize now while he still has some of that Ferrari following and brand eyes on him because you don’t know really how the Williams car will be and even though for me, I know he won’t fade to the back he might for other being in the midfield. Like all eyes were on him seeing what his next move would be and he is making moves. 

Because I don’t know, it’s seeing everybody say he’s free from Ferrari in relation to his brand in his image is like yeah but I don’t think it says suffocating of a thing that people were making it seem.

*note about the fast and the curious I looked at the view mark for the Carlos thing because it came out nine days ago and it has 36k views and timewise. They have an interview with Lando that came out 10 months ago and that only has 46K views and that seemed like the best comparison and it seems like it wouldn’t have had the same growth in 8-9 months from now. Again just saying that Ferrari probably wouldn’t gain anything from that and I don’t think Carlos’s at Ferrari would either the same way Carlos at Williams will.

[commanderchr1st]

So in this time I've unplugged a lot (like, social media... not so much internet. I'm hopeless when it comes to games, toys and treats) and this site does suck but it's lack of moderation and population is a bit liberating.

I haven't worked full time in like... a year almost now, which is great. I've worked full-time pretty much since I was 18, and when I wasn't I was a full time student and working part time, or when I wasn't working I was taking 21+ credit hours... it sucked.

So, a year of actually being able to reflect and get help has been fucking great. I figured out a lot of my sleep problems were due to nocturnal seizures I was having, and it's very likely this was caused by deprivation of sleep, stress, and largely inappropriate amounts of caffeine (maybe in my past, stimulants in general).

Nevertheless, I've been able to heal and look back introspectively at what I've been through in the past 10 years, fucking finally. It's kinda shit that I have to enter my 30s with all this shit going on, but I feel so much closer to my actual friends and family than I have in my life I think, and I also have never felt healthier (even though my body is repairing, and like... I've lost a lot of muscle mass which sucks, but I've also lost a lot of fat, which is great). No caffeine at all since I started my anti-convulsants , I've been off cigs for years now I think, I don't drink. I smoke a shitload of weed, I'll be honest. And there are some psychoactive drugs that I'm willing to experiment with again, but I'm truly in no hurry to do so until I've been six month seizure free. And truly I think I've done enough to my body in the past 16 years, drugs, work, bad practices... even little things like not looking at ingredients closer in my food and shit like that. So, I'm just a Seth Rogan-type now with that shit I guess.

It's clear after all this help I've gotten that I'm also not as crazy as I thought I was... deeply, deeply flawed... but not super crazy. Now that I've actually had time to have normal conversations with people in my community I see how seriously manufactured their worldview is. I'm not even saying that to be pedantic, it's just TV, cops at 5PM on Fridays... Fent laced weed in EVERY joint, neighborhood watches sponsored by municipal police forces (and you know the attorney general and department of state are taking most of that municipal funding, so every complaint about your neighbors lawn helps contribute to the national war machine), cookouts with the racist secondhand clothing store owner. I think it's a little crazier to think it's normal to spray rainbow chemicals in your lawn or scream at your wife at 11PM on a week night outside on your front lawn and believe that shit, but hey, who am I to judge?

With that said! I have a long way to go, I have a lot of patience to learn, and it's going to be a long ass few years. Even though I have the opportunity to, I cannot stand to work at a federal organization or corporate-sponsored project that only fuels this fucking machine. We are all trying to make it out there, I have the privilege not to participate right now.... I think I'm going to try to continue to be self-employed. It's not great money and I'm largely living paycheck to paycheck, but I've been working less and it's been better for me. I've been looking into non-profit or community jobs... not even because I'm passionate to do so, I just hate to participate in anything that is DIRECTLY involved with this shit. A lot of my previous experiences have been runt jobs at really shitty corporations, and I am not eager to return to this.

[krotecho]

"Axolotl chose you to be my trial buddy, which makes you my legally appointed chaos spouse. We're in this together, cupcake. Till Weirdmageddon do us part" Chapter 1, 'Welcome to marriage, Sucker! No refunds.' This art piece is sponsored by no one, you can buy absolutely nothing in a link that isn't in my bio. I love designing clothes, I suck as hell in that, but I love doing it. My take on a Reader's wedding attire from "Till Weirdmageddon do us part" by @selfless-solipsist, which you can read on wattpad and ao3 for sure. But go to author's socials and stuff to know that. I'm just unpaid marketing team :3 (She doesn't know I'm litteraly making my whole online footprint about her fics recently xD) I'm that one annoying sales person in the office, but in a form of a chaos goblin, that just wants to support great talent of a friend I have. Okay, so I need to bitch about my life also, so uni is hard (actually it's easy my brain makes interactions hard), my dorms are hell and I don't have friends I can physically hang out in a city I'm living currently to study. So shit fuck, my life is shitty, but hey I feel good about it. My sleep schedule is shit even with exact hours I go to sleep and wake up. I have no clue how do I manage to do that, if I'm being honest. I'm just amazing. I recently picked up my reaaaally old project. It was a way of escaping from reality when I was like twelve and my favorite pony toy didn't have a mane anymore. That last part is a lie, I had some struggles in elementary school. (And frankly I also didn't own any pony toys, ever I think) I just have trouble with making friends. Anyway, who cares about that. I came back to my old project! And that project was dogshit (Do you catch, that I swear a lot? I'm sorry and not in the same time). I was a weird kid, now you know why I didn't had much friends, and the plot was weirder than me back then. I'm working on it now to resemble something that isn't morally questionable, thirteen year old's fanfic to reality. I do a good job with that. I'm not that good with writing, be it english or polish, but anything I write now is an improvement. But, Echo, that post is about a fanart for a fanfic you like, why do you suddenly talk about your work? Because when I have time, I'm making designs for my own characters, and I'm spamming on tumblr with them. And I wanted to do a heads up. Because I'm nice like that. Also my old art dump is incoming. Beware. And as a bonus, you can have some shitty thing I tried to make in Krita, on my sketch I made in notebook, when I edited things. It's awfull, sorry bestie (I know you are reading this. I just know :3), I can't do better now

It was supposed to glow, but I can't really work with a mouse or a touchpad, after a class I have hate-love realtionship, more on the hate side. Happy christmas or something, everyone!

[lemonhemlock]

What do you think about how Helena doesn’t do anything for the team she’s on in both the book and the show? It seems like the rest of the characters have the responsibility and does something to benefit the side they’re on

yeah, it's not great. they had the chance to do something really interesting with helaena and expand (at least a little) on her book version, but she somehow ended up with even less than in FB. in the books, at the very least, she was present during some political talks and she expressed a desire for restraint in the face of bloodshed that aegon heeded (alongside her mother, true, she wasn't the only voice advocating for that). but what does show!helaena do? she sits in rooms all day and embroiders. they really are so averse to giving her an activity, any activity for that matter.

rhaena, for example, is currently perhaps the least developed of the tb children, but we know how she longs for a dragon to either hatch or to claim. she goes to the vale. she has at least the sliver of an objective: keeping jeyne arryn as an ally. meanwhile helaena is not even recognised as a dragonrider, even though she also claimed dreamfyre when she was nigh a child. dreamfyre is never even referred to as helaena's dragon, let alone visually depicted next to her. thank god we have a scene with dreamfyre and aemond, though! and this was such an easy thing to do, they could have made her a horse girl (dragon girl) and had her at the dragonpit tending to all the stray, riderless dragons.

i have always said that they could have leaned into that little tidbit about her being beloved by the smallfolk and showed her getting involved in charity works or sponsoring events or infrastructure projects, something that would work towards her maintaining a good image in the city. it's not like these are things autistic-coded people are incapable of doing!

it's so frustrating bc they gave her the gift of prophecy only for it to have no bite and no stakes. she utters vague, weird metaphors to her interlocutors and they look spooked or confused for a couple of moments. cassandra motif, yes, but what are they actually doing with this trope other than the most basic, descriptive, straightforward depiction of it? i understand that ewan has hinted that aemond will investigate (?) this gift of hers, but will this end up being just another instance in which helaena's arc is subsumed by someone else's?

when does she do anything for herself? when is she an initiator of anything? they turned her into this passive observer that exists so that alicent could feel bad about her life choices, aegon could act awkwards towards and aemond could covet. what's her opinion about the war? about rhaenyra? about becoming queen? it's so infantilizing. it's like their image of an autistic person is someone who sits alone in a room all day and waits for things to happen to them.

in a way it is weird because it's not like she lacks character traits, she just doesn't do anything with them

not even getting into the b&c debacle and how little impact the most traumatizing concept in asoiaf-verse ended up having on her. but, you know what? even so, with this decision to minimize this torturous event, what exactly is the pay-off here? why are they still writing her in such a static way? her arc is going nowhere, because she never seemed to have one in the first place.

[astroyongie]

Enhypen August Reading 2023

Note: please take it lightly and have fun

Heeseung

Love: For the moment he isn’t dating anyone but he has been very close to someone, and specially he has been flirting and having dates with this person whenever he can. He does want something serious with them, but for now the person haven’t given their green light. Heeseung likes them a lot and he can’t help but turn into a small kid whenever they are around

Career: Things are going extremely well for him, not only does he has secured self projects that he was able to secure, he is also building his own name and his own idol empire the way he wants. His sponsors and company are being very nice and supportive or all the dreams he wants to get 

Self: Heeseung is doing well, he is spending a lot of time alone lately but that solitude has been helping him finding his own self. He is also becoming a lot more independent and not being so much behind his members for things. He is learning to do things by himself 

Jay

Love: currently he is single but he is looking for someone that he could love and have a relationship with. Jay really hates not being in a relationship, but his idol life and his schedule also isn’t very convenient to get into a relationship that can be healthy and last long enough. 

Career: things are a little bit shaky for him in this area as well, because he has more delays than his peers, however he still has faith that everything is going to go well, now that things changed a little. Jay knows this team will keep by his side to support him

Self: He has been having a very hard time lately, because he cannot deal with the bad mouths. Either it’s people pointing on his flaws, people talking aggressively or bad to him or even mean comments on the internet. He is trying is best to stay deaf to all of it, but it’s hard 

Jake

Love: Just like Jay, Jake is also single at the moment, but it was for pure choice. He decided to break up with his last partner (soloist idol) because he didn’t trust them with other people. He believed that his partner would cheat on him if they could so he decided it would be better to end things instead of being potentially humiliated 

Career: he is being very resilient about everything that has been happening. He also put his idol carer in the hands of the ones that work with him (company and sponsor) and he is just accepting everything that comes his way 

Self: he is probably having some dependance issues here, this could be anything and everything, but it seems Jake has been a little addict to something lately that helps him going through his days 

Sunghoon

Love: he is still in a relationship with his non idol partner and everything seem to be going well fo him. He loves them dearly and he as been very kind to them. I believe that Sunghoon has been taking care of them emotionally and financially as well. He wants to be able to provide for them 

Career: he is full of creativity and there’s so many projects he has been signing and working on. He wants his name to be known outside Enhypen and he is working very hard for it 

Self: honestly his aura is positive lately, a rosy pink color, he is very altruist and tries to help those in need by being generous enough. I believe that Sunghoon is also probably doing donations 

Sunoo

Love: he is also single at the moment, and mostly focused on his mental health at the moment rather than on his love life. Sunoo is very close to love lately and he has no patient nor the need to focus on love or on people altogether 

Career: at least when it comes to his career, he is very positive and confident that things are goin to work on his favor. He works enough and he believes in himself and on his idol talents. It’s probably the only area of his life where he is stable and happy 

Self: i see a lot of anxiety around him, being being always worried about everything and trying to do things way too quickly. His aura is red and very racy, he needs to rest and to stop putting everything on his shoulders 

Jungwon

Love: Jungwon is still on his relationship with his idol partner and things are okay as well. They are both stable, in love and working toward a very healthy relationship. Don’t have much to say other than he is okay 

Career: he is also very happy with his career situation at the moment, he is learning to let go of things that don’t matter and focusing more on things that can bring him wealth and success. Jungwon is learning a lot lately and just living his life as he should 

Self: is aura is yellow lately, he has been very faithful to his partner, to himself his members and his responsibilities. He is also happy and just joyful in general and wants everyone to know about it 

Ni-ki

Love: without much surprise he is single and he is also healing because of some disappointment he got lately. There was probably someone he had a crush in that couldn’t give it back in return (and even if they could, he couldn’t) so Niki is frustrated and sad 

Career: He is being very brave and tries to fight everything that comes his way. Niki is very well supported when it comes to his career but he also had to make some choices that demanded a lot of him emotionally 

Self: he is doing well, his aura is rather on purple tons and also he has been liberating a lot of seductive energy and feminine people are usually being very attracted to him lately 

[hazbinsponsoredbyvee]

"Mel and I have been going through our archive of security footage, and we decided to share some of it with you (via her writing it up, of course). She'll try to share them mostly in order, but who fucking knows if that'll work out or not. Also, there's no telling how quickly she'll be getting these out, cause she's working on other projects, too. "This first one is from shortly after the 'Sponsored by Vee' fic and is an accounting of what happened immediately after Velvette, Valentino, and I signed the contract with the hotel. Specifically, breaking the news to some of the *cough* other residents. You'll also get a peek at us doing some of the work to set up this website. Enjoy."

Keep Your Enemies Closer

Vox didn't bother to knock when he arrived at the Hazbin Hotel because part of the point of signing the contract yesterday was that he had (more or less) free reign of the place. He was an official partner of the hotel - as were Valentino and Velvette, technically, but they didn't see the merits of this project as much as he did.

Standing behind the bar, Husk was the first person to notice his arrival. His eyebrows shot up in surprise before he scowled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Husk," Vox greeted him coolly, ignoring his question altogether as he walked up to lean against the bar. "Been a while. Get me my usual. And then you can tell Lucifer that I'm here. He's expecting me."

His eyes narrowed, a low growl spilling out at the order. "I ain't doing shit for you. You do know Alastor's just upstairs, right?"

"So what? You gonna tell him I'm here like a loyal pet?" he taunted.

"It is a little tempting," he admitted with a shrug. "There's always the hope you two will end up killing each other. But then again, I don't really feel like listening to you two bitch at each other like an old married couple."

"Hilarious," he sneered dryly.

"Oh, Mr. Vox!" a voice suddenly rang out, and Vox immediately straightened up, turning to face the Princess of Hell with a charming smile.

"Princess Charlie, a pleasure to finally meet you! How was your vacation?"

"It was great, thank you!" She rushed forward, shaking his hand energetically. Her girlfriend followed close behind her, keeping a careful eye on Vox. "Dad caught me up on everything you're doing for the hotel, and I'm really excited about working with you!"

"What?" Husk demanded, looking between them. "Tell me this is a joke."

"Nope," Vox answered silkily, popping the 'p'. "We signed a contract with Lucifer yesterday. The Vees are officially sponsors of the hotel."

"Charlie, this is a terrible idea. You should really talk to your father. Get him to void the contract."

"It's okay, Husk," Charlie assured. "He called and talked to me about it before they signed anything. And you know him, the contract was thorough. Valentino isn't even able to enter the property now, so Angel is even safer this way!"

"You don't know them like I do," Husk sighed.

"I don't like this any more than you do," Vaggie chimed in. "But after talking to Lucifer about it, even I have to admit that the hotel could use someone with his expertise. It's not ideal, but the contract is airtight. There shouldn't be any problems, and if there are, we'll handle it," she finished with a significant look to the Overlord.

"There won't be," Vox assured. "I would be an idiot to sign a contract with the Devil and then try to screw him over."

"If the shoe fits..." Husk muttered under his breath, and Vox gave an annoyed roll of his eyes.

Charlie swiftly put her hand on Vox's arm, ushering him away from the bar. "Why don't you wait in the lounge, and I'll go get my dad?"

"Sounds great," he agreed with a smile, allowing himself to be led to a small lounge off the main lobby.

He only had to wait a few minutes and then Charlie returned, now flanked by both her girlfriend and her father, who greeted Vox with a brilliant smile.

"Hello again! I have to say, I was kind of surprised to hear from you so soon. You really wasted no time getting to work."

"I told you, I approach all my projects with the utmost dedication," Vox reminded him, meeting his eyes with a suave smile. "I started work the second the contract was signed."

"Wow. You really didn't have to do that, you know. I wasn't expecting anything until the end of the week."

"Please, what better use of my time could there possibly be? You're worth every second," he assured, leaning in slightly. "So, let me show you what I've come up with? I assure you, you won't be disappointed."

Lucifer chuckled. "Oh, at this point, I don't think you can disappoint me."

A small gasp reminded them both that they were not alone in the room, and they both turned to see Charlie, one hand over her mouth and the other grabbing Vaggie's hand as she took a step back. "You know, I just remembered that we have to go take care of... um, something else! So, we'll leave you two to go over stuff, and Dad, you can fill me in later!"

Before either of them could respond, she had left the room, dragging her girlfriend behind her. Vox blinked. "What was that about?"

"I have no idea," Lucifer said, staring dumbfounded at the door for a second before he shook his head. "Well, you want to have a seat, and we can take a look at those website designs?"

They settled on the couch together and spent the next hour reviewing the mock-ups Vox had made for the hotel's website. Lucifer didn't hold back on telling him what he did and didn't like, which Vox appreciated because it helped him to know what direction to go in, but he also wasn't a total dick about it, like some clients could be. But speaking of total dicks...

"Just what is going on here?" a voice emanated from the shadows in the corner of the room, and then a moment later, Alastor stepped into the light, glaring at them both through narrowed eyes.

Vox would be lying if he said he hadn't been looking forward to this moment since Lucifer had agreed to his proposition - fucking with Alastor wasn't the only reason he'd wanted to partner with the hotel, but it was definitely a contributing factor. Still, he hadn't seen his rival in person in a little over seven and a half years, and for a second, he was completely overwhelmed by a barrage of conflicting emotions. Why was he still in love with him after all this time?! It made him want to kill him all the more.

Thankfully, Lucifer needed no time to gather himself, and he wasted no time responding with a smirk. "Oh, did I forget to tell you? Vox and his friends have partnered with the hotel." He rested a hand on Vox's shoulder, and the touch helped to ground the television demon in the moment. "He's already proving to be such a great help - he's designing us a website and everything! I think he's proving to be the greatest asset the hotel has!"

A gleeful, mocking smile cut through Vox's screen. He knew Lucifer was just trying to piss off Alastor, but he could enjoy that even more than the compliment itself. Fuck, he liked the guy more every time he opened his mouth.

"The hotel doesn't need a website," Alastor instantly objected.

"Uh, if you want to reach people in this century, you do," Vox scoffed. "But I wouldn't expect someone as outdated as you to understand."

Alastor's full attention shifted solely to Vox, and the television demon's screen glowed a little brighter as he smirked. "I see you still think that putting out as much useless noise as possible is the way to gain traction."

"It's not useless noise, it's marketing."

"It's unnecessary. As are you," he added, leaning forward with a mocking grin.

Vox scowled. "You just hate the fact that I'm making you irrelevant. As usual."

"Please, you're as delusional as ever. I suppose I'm not surprised that you fell for his drivel," Alastor snidely addressed Lucifer. "But let me assure you, he is not needed here."

"Well, that's not your call to make, bellhop," Lucifer retorted dryly. "And the decision's already been made. The contract was signed yesterday."

"Then rip it up," he hissed, waving a hand dismissively.

"No. Charlie and I agreed this partnership is for the best for the hotel. If you don't like it, then leave. It's not like you're actually needed, now that I'm here."

Vox made absolutely no effort to cover up his derisive laugh, enjoying the way Alastor's ears flicked in irritation. But of course, the Radio Demon compensated for his agitation with a sharp smile trained on Vox. "Wouldn't that be ironic? You insert yourself into the hotel just to get close to me and then I turn around and leave?"

"Who said I'm here to get close to you?" Vox demanded with a scoff. "Why would I care about your washed-up ass when I now have an alliance with the King of Hell himself?" He rested his forearm on Lucifer's shoulder, leaning against him. "If I want to get close to anyone here, it's obviously him. Respectfully, of course," he added with a grin.

Lucifer laughed good-naturedly, a hint of a smug smirk on his lips. "Of course. Can't say I blame you."

Alastor's eyes narrowed to slivers. "You may be able to convince him of anything with a simple stroke of his ego, but I know you better than that, old pal."

"Oh, fuck off," Vox groaned exasperatedly.

"Could you just let us get back to work already?" Lucifer complained. "The grownups are talking."

"And do you even know what you're talking about?" Alastor shot back. "I've been with the hotel longer than you have. If you insist on this ridiculous website, I will be far more knowledgeable about how to represent us." He hit Vox with his microphone staff as he spoke, pushing him aside so that he could wedge himself on the two-seater couch between them.

"Hey!" Lucifer protested as he was shoved unceremoniously off the couch.

"Are you fucking serious right now?" Vox griped, even though he wasn't entirely opposed to the way Alastor was now pressed against his side. "You want to help with the website?"

"Well, I'm not leaving it to you. So, go on, show me your little designs."

"Maybe if you show me your bedroom," he suggested in a low voice, fixing Alastor with a sly smirk as he slid an arm along the back of the couch. Vox may have long since accepted that he'd ever get what he wanted from Alastor, but he was still holding out hope for a good hate fuck one of these days. There was still something between them, after all, even if Alastor was incapable of actually caring about anyone other than himself. At some point this tension between them had to snap, right? But whether that ended with them fucking or one of them finally killing the other remained to be seen.

Alastor made a noise of disgust in the back of his throat. "Never going to happen."

Lucifer grumbled under his breath, oblivious to their exchange as he walked around to sit on the arm of the couch beside Vox while the television demon pulled back up his holograms.

Predictably, Alastor was much more critical of his designs than Lucifer had been, and naturally, he was a total asshole about it. But it was nice that Vox had Lucifer to back him up on the things they both agreed on, and even when the fallen angel did agree with Alastor, he was at least nicer about it.

"I don't see why you and your compatriots are featured here," Alastor voiced once he had run out of other things to nitpick.

Vox rolled his eyes. "Because I'm here to make your lives easier - or at least the lives of those who actually matter here. So, we'll be helping answer people's questions, and all that. Well, it'll mostly be me; they're not as dedicated to this project as I am."

"Yeah, I kind of got that impression," Lucifer remarked. "Especially, uh... Valentino, was it?"

"Yeah, he's not thrilled I decided to pursue this partnership," he admitted with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He blames the hotel for taking his favorite whore away, so he's sulking about it. Sorry if he gave you attitude yesterday."

"No, it's fine," he waved off. "I mean, I definitely can't say I like the guy, but it's not like I'll have to deal with him much. I was just a little surprised you're with someone like him."

"Well, it's not like Vox can get anyone else," Alastor laughed cruelly. "He has to settle for the bottom of the barrel because Valentino's the only one who will give him the time of day!" He gave Vox's antennae a teasing flick as he spoke.

Furious sparks of electricity crackled along Vox's frame as he whipped his screen towards the Radio Demon. "Fuck you!"

He just laughed, his smile growing even more delighted at the reaction he had evoked.

"I find that hard to believe," Lucifer objected matter-of-factly. "Vox is successful, competent, and handsome. I'm sure there's plenty of people out there who would be interested in him!"

Vox's anger faded at the praise, and he redirected his attention towards Lucifer with a grin. "You're not wrong. But I work long hours, so I don't have much time for all that. Valentino's just more convenient."

"Well, I still say you can do better than him, but I get it. I've thought about trying to get back out there, but... heh, easier said than done.... Having someone was definitely easier. Not that it was about what was easy with Lilith, I didn't mean it like-"

"Oh, please don't start waxing on about your failed marriage," Alastor exasperatedly interrupted his rambling. "If we could get back on topic. You're going to be answering questions on behalf of the hotel?" he demanded of Vox.

"You'll all have access too," he explained impatiently. "Not that I expect you to do anything with it. You can fade into the background where you belong, while the rest of us answer the people's questions."

"That won't be happening. Assuming anyone actually uses this thing, I'm sure they'll want to hear from me, anyway!"

"Doubt it. But I'm fully expecting to handle most of it myself," he continued, turning back to Lucifer. "You shouldn't have to worry about it too much, if you don't want to."

"I don't want to put too much on you," Lucifer protested. "You were just saying how you work a lot."

Vox smiled and reached up to give his thigh a reassuring squeeze. "This is my work. Don't worry about it, it's nothing I can't handle."

Lucifer's gaze darted down to the hand on his thigh, an unreadable look passing over his face, and Vox quickly snatched his hand away, worried that he might have gone too far. It wasn't unusual for him to flirt a little in business negotiations and similar situations, using it as a tool to get his way. But with Lucifer, he'd started to find himself pushing that envelope more than he normally would, flirting with him without even thinking about it. When he'd first realized it, he'd tried to stop, but it wasn't like Lucifer really seemed to mind, so he admittedly hadn't tried that hard. He shouldn't take that as permission to touch him willy-nilly, though; he was still the Devil, still his King.

Vox cleared his throat. "Sorry," he muttered.

Lucifer blinked at him, and a soft smile touched his face. "Oh, you're fine. I just, uh, don't want you to feel like you have to handle everything. I don't mind answering questions, and I know Charlie won't, either. I'm sure some of the others will be up to it, too."

"Right. Great." He nodded. "But I'll still be able to help. I'm not just building you this website and then leaving you alone with it."

"I appreciate it." He smiled at him before he shifted his focus back to the hologram in front of them.

Vox took the opportunity to study him, searching for any sign of discomfort, any sign that he had crossed a line. He really didn't want to ruin this alliance he had just gone through all the effort to forge, and also... he enjoyed Lucifer's company. They got along surprising well, and Vox would prefer not to lose that. Thankfully, Lucifer didn't seem tense or upset. There was still a gentle smile on his face, and a strand of hair had gotten loose from under his hat, falling into his face in a way that Vox had to admit was pretty endearing. It was so not fair that the Devil himself was so damn attractive.

"Vox, are you listening to me?" Alastor snapped.

"What?" he looked over at him, doing his best to suppress a blush he felt rising to his screen. How long had he just been staring at Lucifer? "Course not. Why would I care what you have to say?"

Lucifer snorted, while Alastor scowled.

"Actually, I think we've covered just about everything," Vox continued before Alastor could repeat whatever he had said, which of course only annoyed him more. "I'll send over the final design for you and Charlie to review, and then we can go ahead with the launch," he told Lucifer as he got to his feet.

"Sounds great!" Lucifer jumped up with a grin. "I'll walk you out."

Vox paused, smirking back at Alastor as he also stood. "Guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other now."

"Yes, I suppose we will," he agreed, and a dangerous smile spread over his face as he stepped closer until they were mere inches apart. "I think I'm going to have fun making you regret this little business venture of yours."

He huffed a laugh, refusing to back down. "Give it your best shot." His eyes darted down to his lips, tantalizingly close, but Alastor was already dissolving into shadow with just the echo of a deranged laugh.

"Prick," Vox muttered, shaking his head as he turned back to Lucifer, falling into step beside him.

"Sorry about all that," Lucifer sighed.

"I'm used to it." He could have added that a good part of him enjoyed their back-and-forth and it was one of the reasons he was even here, but he figured that was best to keep to himself.

"I had fun, though. Despite the party crasher," Lucifer continued as they stepped outside. "You have some great ideas. I think I'm going to like working with you."

"Likewise." Vox met his eyes with a grin and was caught off guard by a sudden, unbidden urge to kiss him. Oh, fuck. He already had his sights set on one unattainable guy; he did not need to add another to that list. He coughed and quickly turned away from him. "I'll be in touch!"

"I look forward to it."

Lucifer lingered outside the hotel, watching Vox condense into electricity and jump into one of the nearby drones, then he shook himself out of his reverie and stepped back into the hotel.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Someday when I have a more consistent schedule I really do wanna have a YouTube channel. And I’ve wondered about sponsorships. I’ve gotten offers on this very blog before to participate in one of those stupid ads for drop shipping crystals that project your birth sign or whatever that I’ve turned down.

I’ve wondered though. Because on one hand sponsors pay good money and money is a thing that is required to live in this day and age. But also I feel like if I ever took a sponsor nobody could ever fully and completely trust my opinion on anything again.

There’s this YouTuber I love whose channel is called Swell Entertainment. And she comes across as being very honest but also she takes sponsorships. And a big part of her channel is review content. So sometimes I wonder if she’s pulling her punches slightly because she still wants to be marketable. But I don’t hold that against her because she’s living in LA for god’s sake and sponsorships provide much more reliable income than other methods.

It’s kinda sad that advertisement is almost required to make a living creating internet content.

I pay for YouTube premium not just because I wanted to get rid of ads on my smart tv, but because creators get more money per view from YouTube premium subscribers. I can’t afford to subscribe to a dozen patreons but I can afford one cheap subscription.

I hope if I ever have a channel big enough to have sponsorships I either take them extremely rarely for stuff I actually care about or don’t take them at all. Because I want to be able to just have opinions about stuff openly. But the sad truth is that money can be an issue. So. Who knows? I certainly don’t hold it against people who take sponsorships. That’s just how the industry works nowadays. They need money to live. And if you have adhd which many creative types do contractual deadlines can really help you get stuff done. And sponsors can get you experiences like vacations and luxury hotel stays and free reviewer copies of books and video games. Who can blame them? There’s so much stuff available to you from sponsors that can improve your quality of life and help you make your business better. Money to hire editors and voice actors and writers and animators, buy better equipment, rent out a sound stage.

But. Idk. A lot of those sponsored products aren’t that good. And a lot of people are susceptible to advertising. It works on a lot of people. Especially when it comes from a face they trust.

The tradeoff to take sponsors or not is a difficult one. Honestly and truly. And it’s very probable that I’ll never be popular enough to actually have to make a decision on these things. But I still think about it every time I see a sponsored segment. What levels of calculation have gone into that? None? A lot? I’ll never be allowed to know because that would be bad for business.

[devildogdemon]

Bracing myself for committing potential Everlark sacrilege here. Still, I’m curious: Does anyone else ever dabble in the What If/headcanon that Peeta made up his original crush on Katniss? That in the beginning, it really was all just part of his and Haymitch's plan to hype Katniss up, and help boost her favor as the super rare chance for a District 12 Victor? But in the course of the first games, and particularly while committing to the star-crossed lovers act in the cave, he ended up actually falling in love with her?

This was actually my original interpretation the first time I read the first book. That all the rest of the backstory is still true: Mr. Mellark pointing Katniss out, Katniss singing the Valley song, etc. But it was just how Peeta remembered her, not the beginning of years-long pining.

Quick disclaimer: I'm not trying to argue for this headcanon's legitimacy. In fact, I now know it's not true. While writing this post, I remembered that Peeta told Katniss during the Victory Tour he was jealous of Gale before he officially met her. So by his own words, Peeta's crush predates the first Hunger Games.

Still, reading the first book on its own, it’s a headcanon I always come back to, and I think works in its own way sometimes.

For one thing, it’s a bit beyond my suspension of disbelief that Peeta was reaped alongside the girl he was silently obsessed with for 11 years. It feels way more like convenience to me than destiny or anything like that. Not to mention, this is supposedly a crush that began and persisted long before Peeta hit puberty.

But it’s not just the realistic aspect that draws me to this hc. It's also because I love how much it contributes to the 'accidental soulmates' aspect on Everlark. The idea that these two were not meant to fall in love. That if their lives went the way they thought or planned, they never would have spoken. They would have rarely crossed paths, if at all. They would have married different people, if anyone when it came to Katniss, but Gale would be the sole candidate if she did. And they would have lived out their days and died as strangers. But through a series of completely unforeseen, bizarre circumstances in this cruel world that brought them together in the most horrific of ways, from it emerged a real bond between them. Even if it started as a charade for sponsors, it morphed into a real bond of love and care that was genuine, and beautiful, and selfless, and real.

My take is essentially that Peeta took his mother's final words to him about Katniss as bitingly true, not that that made them any less hurtful. And from that point forward, he figured if he was going to do something worthwhile before his inescapable death, it would be to help his District. And the way to do that would be to help the girl who could do that better than he ever could.

Sure, there are things like him keeping hold on Katniss' hand during the chariot ride, and teasingly prodding her for a kiss while she's treating him. But...ok, I hesitate to project onto a boy who was and is leagues above me in every way (feel free to flame me for this). But as a former 16-year old boy myself, who was roughly that age when first reading the story, I kinda figured he just wanted to experience a taste of romance before his inevitable death? Like the PG version of "I don't want to die a virgin."

Anywho, gonna whistle past that embarassing hot take lol. But I think this hc gels well too with all his actions Katniss finds questionable: telling her everyone was watching her during the chariot ride, the crush revelation, teaming up with the careers to throw them off her trail, and fighting Cato. He's doing it all for her to win, even at the expense of himself. Not because he has feelings for her (yet), but because he believes in her.

But it's at the point when Katniss finds him in the mud bank, and she does everything in her power from then on to keep him alive, that maybe his feelings for her take a turn for the real. She shouldn't be trying to keep him alive. It’s of no benefit to her whatsoever. But she refuses to let him die. She will not even discuss it. It makes zero sense to him. No one's ever valued his life this much, even his own family. Why is this girl he barely knows, who never noticed him before, suddenly sparing no expense to keep him alive? To the point of risking her own life for him?

This comes to a head when he tries to rebuke her for going to the feast:

"No! Just don't, Katniss! Don't die for me. You won't be doing me any favors. All right? "Maybe I did it for myself, Peeta, did you ever think of that? Maybe you aren't the only one who...who worries about..what it would be like if..." "If what, Katniss?" "That's exactly the kind of topic Haymitch told me to steer clear of." "Then I'll just have to fill in the blanks myself."

On that last line, I took that as Peeta seeing for the first time that Katniss actually does care about him. More than anyone ever has. That she wants him to live, just as much as she wants them to win. And that's when he truly falls for her. Sadly, he makes the mistake of presuming she feels the same way. That's the only blank he filled in incorrectly.

But did he, though? Because what follows that last line is the first kiss between them that makes Katniss feel "stirring in her chest" and "wanting another." This whole conversation made her want to shut the world out, because "whatever I'm feeling, it's no one's business but mine."

So maybe their feelings for each other kinda awoke at the same time? And deep, deep down, the two of them could sense that shift in emotion toward each other. Where performance became reality. For Peeta, much stronger. But for Katniss, she's not quite there yet.

Now yes, I'm aware Katniss gets Peeta to tell the story of his crush AFTER this happens. But as Katniss points out prior to this, he's the silver-tongued one. Not to mention an established good liar. So keeping with the idea this was when he first noticed her, maybe he blends the facts here a little, and decides to make this the point of where his crush began? He probably had it in the vault anyway since the interview.

Finally, I thought this better explained Peeta's anger at the end, when the mask is finally lifted for him. Because logically, why would he think what started as an established act would become real for Katniss? As Katniss says, they were strangers who'd never spoken before all this. Is it because he still thinks she can't lie? Well she proved him wrong there, if only for a moment. I thought the more likely reason he thought Katniss' feelings for him became real, is because that's exactly what happened to him. As I mentioned before, his presumption wasn't entirely off, and Katniss' words that "not all of it" was for the Games are true enough. But it doesn't make the revelation any less crushing for him.

I really do wonder sometimes what kind of story this would have made for if Suzanne took this approach in the sequels. I know now it's an incorrect headcanon, but I'm curious if anyone else ever shared it while reading the first book, and wonders the same.

If you read all my silly ramblings about a now-debunked headcanon, I am both eternally grateful and eternally sorry. Feel free to share, concur, roast, or do whatever in response. Thank you and may this ship be ever on your dashboard :)