#and I am absolutely here for this partnership to really take off

[pttucker]

Yoo Joonghyuk pulled out his sword. It was a hard attitude that showed no more dialogue was needed. "Give me Kim Dokja. Then I will spare you." Lee Sookyung stared into Yoo Joonghyuk's blazing eyes and recalled her son's voice. Despite his many complaints, her son always looked somewhat excited. –But the story won't continue without him. Ways of Survival is such a novel. At this moment, enlightenment filled Lee Sookyung's head. 「 Incarnation Kim Dokja will be killed by the person he loves most.」 Lee Sookyung realized the true meaning of this fate. She knew who would kill her beloved son.

SEE I KNEW IT WAS GONNA BE JOONGHYUK

[durgeapologist]

I'm confused, durge. Do you like Solrook or Solavellan? Your post bashing Solavellans contradicts your recent reblogs defending them. What are your actual thoughts on these ships? Because I cannot tell.

alright i feel like this needs to be said here and now. buckle up because this is long, and probably the only time i will be commenting on this ever again.

i do not hate the solavellan ship. i have stated many times across all my socials that i used to be a hardcore solavellan shipper. i am IN LOVE with my lavellan. i literally started playing the dragon age series because i heard about the betrayal in solas' dai romance, and i am a sucker for angst. i played through dao and da2 just to romance him with my lavellan in dai.

when dav came out, first day of release, i set my world state up to be solavellan. i redeemed him and sent her off to the fade with him. point blank.

however, even before i started shipping dreadrook, i was wary of solavellan FANS. not the ship, the FANS. i am a solas lover to the ends of the earth and back. i can get behind ANY ships that involve him. what i cannot, and will not ever, get behind is the absolute infantilization of both solas and lavellan that many solavellan shippers i have interacted with engage in.

i had to leave and the solasmancers subreddit because they bashed the fuck out of epler for having SANE and NORMAL takes on solas' villainous behavior. because: YES. solas is a VILLAIN. he is an ANTAGONIST. and for some reason, most of the solavellans i was friends/mutuals and most other VOCAL solavellans i saw refused to admit as much.

they baby solas, they baby their self-insert lavellans, and they romanticize the ship without acknowledging the (imo delicious) potentials for a tragic, toxic, and morally-grey partnership. they whiddle solas down to this abused, kicked, drowing puppy that must be saved- nay, can only be saved by their adoring, kind, never-angry-always-understanding lavellans.

i also dislike immensely the way rook gets dragged through the mud, killed off, belittled, bullied, etc. by some (not all) solavellans who cannot handle solas having insane chemistry with another character. because the chemistry between dreadrook is insane.

i could drone on for hours my issues with the solavellan fans that twist and bend the relationship dynamic between the two, but i won't. it's been regurgitated by so many people so many times, and i would be adding nothing new to the conversation.

my canon lavellan romanced solas and moved on to cullen after the events of trespasser. my canon lavellan would never leave her life behind in southern thedas to follow solas into the fade for eternity, especially not after he killed varric. if your lavellan would do that, then kudos to you! really! i am so thankful many solavellans have a way to get their happy endings! i did it the one time for the novelty, and never will again.

but i can't stand solavellans who can't admit to themselves that their pairing is just as toxic as (if not more than) the dreadrook pairing, and i doubly cannot stand solavellans that baby the fuck out of the pairing. these are two grown (pixelated) adults. they are not infants. their relationship is built on lies and deceit (again, delicious dynamic to me!) and it heavily annoys me when people cannot admit that.

THIS IS ALL TO SAY: i do not hate ALL solavellans. my bestest mutuals and online friends are major solavellan shippers. i am a solavellan shipper. i just so happen to enjoy dreadrook a thousand times more, and therefore have my lavellan married to cullen in my canon world state while my rook and solas frolick off into the sunrise together.

tldr; it's a CERTAIN TYPE of solavellan FAN that i do not enjoy interacting with. i do not think ALL solavellan fans are like this. i KNOW they are not. it's just the ones that ARE happen to be the loudest in a room at any given time. that is all.

[aurae-rori]

DR RATIO ANALYSIS PT 3 BUT IT'S JUST GAY

Now, you might be saying - "Aurae, you've done part one, and part two, so why do we need a part three?" The answer is because of two things - one. I made a deal with the Tumblr Peoples that if one of my posts hit more than 50 likes I would do this analysis. Two. Mihoyo is making this shit canon. I CAN'T MAKE THIS UP. So, let's delve into my usual disclaimer, as we might have some new people joining us for the first time with my insanity.

I have been researching psychology personally for about six years, so although I am not a professional (crawling my way there through the education system. I will be one, one day.) I do have some experience with analyzing homosexuals. Psychology hours, my children. They don't call me "chronically cooking" for nothing. Maybe I should change my url to that...

NOW THAT MY LONG AHH DISCLAIMER IS OVER, LET'S GET INTO THIS! It's time to deconstruct these homosexuals like a modern airplane, because they might as well be taking off with how canon they are.

"It can't be canon," they say, but then Mihoyo DOES PAID SPONSORSHIPS WITH THESE FUCKERS BEING GAY. We've all seen the paid partnership edit. We've all seen the video where Aventurine has the audio of "nice rack" as he talks to Dr. Ratio. PAID SPONSORSHIPS. Now, if that piece of evidence isn't enough for you - let's dive into their actual relationship, which is just a HOMOSEXUAL MESS. I will be focusing more on how Dr. Ratio sees this guy as this is a Dr. Ratio analysis™, but hey, the crumbs.. we eat 'em all. Amen.

Let's start off (I say as I write this part three days later) about how people are like, 'Aven is Ratio's favourite idiot' WRONG. Ratio does NOT consider Aventurine to be an idiot and knows that he is smart and capable in his own right. While Ratio is book smart, Aven is extremely street smart and holds his own very well. Ratio does not consider Aventurine to be an idiot as he takes off his plaster head around him and actually indulges in his whims around him. This is a blatant showcase of fondness because although he is emotionally constipated and can't be affectionate through words without sounding semi-backhanded because he's never had true affection in his life, he showcases his love through actions rather than words. He's just bad at showing love, okay? But he does love Aven. Or like him, to some extent, if you don't want to see them as romantic, which is fine. However, no matter what you label their bond as, it's obvious that they care for one another.

Also, the fucking ZEST FEST that was 'keeping up with Star Rail'. He says, "wait a minute - MUTUAL?" which indicates that he has respect for Aventurine in the first place. He LITERALLY TOLD US that he respects Aventurine and he was commenting on Aventurine's playstyle & everything.. also, at the end, he was here because 'I appreciate this show's dedication to knowledge' - his TONE. Kudos to the VA because that was not convincing at all. Bro was NOT here for the knowledge, bro was here to be GAY!!! Also his little own bathtub couch. We all know Aven bought it for him. Trust, I am John Hoyoverse.

"The Charming Audacity" HUH? BRO? Okay this is hilarious to me because this is the first time that we ever really see them interact with one another, and we get absolutely bitchslapped in the fact that Dr. Ratio calls this guy's audacity 'charming'. That's GAY. That's HOMOSEXUAL.

Also, comparing him to a peacock.. a very beautiful bird.... Must I say more?

Now, the part that I really want to focus on is the part where he gives the Doctor's Note to Aventurine. This shit is important. And I agree with the people who are like - Acheron helped him. Because she did. She was a big part of it and she helped Aventurine get back on his feet in the void. Dr. Ratio is not his only reason to live, but the note, showing that someone will stay by his side? Showing that someone truly cares for him? Someone who's waiting for him when he get back? This bond that he has with Dr. Ratio isn't fake. He already has a starting point to get back to - an anchor to return to. Dr. Ratio is his anchor. Whenever he goes off to do crazy shit, Veritas Ratio will be there when he returns. Because Ratio is loyal. Ratio cares. He cared enough to almost jeopardize their plan to make sure that Aventurine was going to be okay. He cares so damn much about Aventurine that he decided that this man's emotional state after the fake betrayal was more important than all of fucking Penacony.

If you want an example of "I would let the world burn for you," it's Ratio. He's a romantic not in the traditional sense, but he cares and loves Aventurine so damn much it makes my heart hurt. "Do stay alive," he says, knowing that Aventurine struggles with living. Those three words mean the whole fucking world to someone who struggles with suicidal ideation and suicidal thoughts. Someone wants you to live. Someone wants you to stay. Someone wants you by their side.

Dr. Ratio cares. Let me say that again - he cares. He banters with Aventurine, tries to create an environment where Aventurine can feel a little bit more comfortable with the two of them, even in a place as dangerous as Penacony. He will put his own life on the line for Aventurine.

He cares. He cares so damn much. I hate gay people. They make me VIOLENTLY homophobic.

Dr. Ratio after expressing his care indirectly and complimenting Aventurine indirectly: Did I do it?

Aventurine, who has caught none of the hints:

Anyway, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[wangxianficrecs]

Rewind 2024 - A few more recs...

WangxianFicRecs - Rewind 2024

Before the year ends, here are a few more recs of stories of 2024 that found their way into our inbox! I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope, that we can discover lots of fun fanfics next year as well! - Kay

Follower Recs

~*~

Think I've missed the 2024 Rewind follower recs but I've been absolutely loving this story!

WIP Modern Cultivators AU where WWX and LWJ have just agreed to a betrothal contract - for supposedly purely political reasons but in actuality because they fell hard and fast for each other during the prior fic in the series. POV switches between the two of them as they face up to (and increasingly embrace) the concept of being cared for and loved for being exactly who they are. Beautiful writing and brilliant characterisation, every update feels like a treat ☺️ @slothwithwifi

🔒 I'm Much Older Than I Thought I'd Be

by MajorEnglishEsquire (@chuckwinchester)

E, WIP, 81k, Wangxian

Summary: “Now. Before we break for the evening, as the topic has arisen between Lan Xichen and myself, directly, in accordance with an inquiry from the Lans,” Uncle passes him the copy of a draft agreement. “I wonder if you recall your lessons on the cross-clan arrangement of cultivation partnerships.” Picks up after The Further I Go, The Less I Know.

~*~

Hello! I want to submit this fic for Rewind because I love cherry magic AU and lwj pov is so rare. It’s very funny to listen to wwx pining in his head and lwj panicking over it. - Anon

My Heart is Yours to Fill or Burst

by anancites (@ananc1tes)

E, 67k, Wangxian

Summary: On his 30th birthday, Lan Zhan gets struck by a mysterious curse: suddenly he's a mind reader! As much as he dislikes most people talking too much, hearing their unfiltered thoughts is even worse. To top it all off, he learns that his old friend Wei Ying might not be flirting with him just to be a nuisance. He might be flirting with Lan Zhan because he's actually really into him? (a WangXian AU very loosely inspired by Cherry Magic)

~*~

Delightfully hilarious. I read it over a month ago and still laugh sometimes when I think about wwx in this. @alyseofwonderland

Living Art

by relenafanel (@relenafanel)

E, 8k, Wangxian

Summary: Broke artist Wei Wuxian takes a hard look at his finances and shrugs his way into becoming a content creator on OnlyFans. Jiang Cheng sighed. “These columns are negotiable. If you want to keep this subscription, you have to replace something to break even.” Wei Wuxian stared at the spreadsheet. He hummed in thought. “I need to break even.” “Yes.” “In order to keep my OnlyFans subscription I need $65 a month. On OnlyFans.” “No,” Jiang Cheng said quickly. “If I become a content creator and earn $65 a month--” “I am begging you--” “Then I can keep the subscription. Thanks A-Cheng!” The account in question? Hanguang Jun's Reading Livestreams.

~*~

🔒 Only with Time

by adrian_kres (@Bichen-Suibian)

E, WIP, 66k, Wangxian

Summary: Thirteen years ago, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were arranged to be married as is tradition. Throughout their thirteen-year-long "courtship," things were not always as they seemed. Now, newly married, old secrets have ripped open wounds they thought were closed, and they must work together to rebuild a trust they never had and a love they always did but couldn't see. Told from alternating points of view between LWJ and WWX with frequent flashbacks to memories of their "courtship". Updates weekly.

~*~

Proud Author Spotlight

~*~

I can't believe I almost forgot to shout-out my own fic that I started this year! It's a modern AU with cultivation where Wei Wuxian loses his hand, gets taken in my Wen Qing and her family, starts a prosthetic start-up and schemes to take down Wen Ruohan from the shadows feat. Wen Yuan having a big sister, Wen Zhuliu redemption and all the Found Family vibes!

Black Sun

by thelastdboy (@thelastdboyy)

E, WIP, 51k, Wangxian

Summary: Within one afternoon, the Yunmeng Jiang Clan became a mere branch of the Wen Clan. They lost their estate, all of their assets, and Wei Wuxian – He lost an arm. All to appease Wen Ruohan. To the Jiangs, the name Wen became a curse to be hissed out between gritted teeth. To Wei Wuxian, the name Wen became something dear after Wen Ning and Wen Qing saved his life and took him in. Years later, Wen Ruohan and his sons have long since died under mysterious circumstances and Wei Wuxian has been branded a traitor to the high society of the cultivation world. Together with the remaining Wens, he turned to the civilian world and revolutionized the medical field by developing prosthetics controlled by spiritual energy. Enter: Lan Wangji. After their fight against the Tulu Xuanwu, his leg never really recovered. Years of countless surgeries and feeling as if he was living inside a gilded cage while being patronized by his family passed, until Lan Wangji finally took his chance and absconded. To Yiling.

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for these hard-working authors if you like – or think others might like – these stories.)

[kuwdora]

Saturday Morning Vid Recs - FEELINGS & THAT DYNAMIC

Alright, here is yet another post for @poetikat of vids from days gone by and the recent past. I love and adore the vids. I think people should watch them for a much-needed boost to the heart and soul.

I’m calling this collection of recs FEELINGS & THAT DYNAMIC (capital letters!) because of how big and immersive the emotional experience is while watching them.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

I Gotta Feeling by CountessMary. The Muppets (The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, Muppets Take Manhattan, and Muppets in Space). A throwback to the dance club party Club Vivid 2010. Tonight’s gonna be a good night!!!

Uptown Funk by @revolutionarygirlshati (Legend of Korra). An incredible addition to the uptown funk canon of vids!! Korra is so damn expressive!

C’mon by rhoboat. Inside Out (2015). C’mon, c’mon with everything falling down around me, I’d like to believe in all the possibilities. Perfect song and lyrics for this film. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ So many big feelings.

You Told the Drunks I Knew Karate by @settiai. Doctor Who. Amy/Rory. This is the first vid I think of when I think of this pairing, I can’t get enough of it!

For Your Entertainment by such_heights Legends of Tomorrow. Again there is something exquisite about using this song for this source. Legends of Tomorrow is so cracky and bizarre. This vid made in the earliest seasons of the show while it was airing and fucking nails it. The legends truly are here for our entertainment, bwah.

Groove is in the Heart by giandujakiss. Doctor Who/Torchwood up through 2007. This is an oldie for sure but it’s so firmly embedded in my brain that this song now exists because of this vid. The vibes of the song is really wonderful and fun. Nine and Ten, Rose and Martha and Jack Harkness and Torchwood and friends and lovers. I love how it transitions from Nine to Ten and Torchwood and back again to Doctor Who.

True Love by @findmeinthealps. Cobra Kai OT4!! This vid is such a treat because it is a tapestry of slash and Johnny and Daniel’s love for their partners throughout and and and. They all just fit together, okay. One big karate family. Each section of this vid is more delightful and full of LOVE than the next.

Take On Me Doctor Who by @trelkez. Doctor Who, classic and New Who through 2010. I heartily rec all of trelkez vids, and especially all the Doctor Who vids. Picking this one out for this list was a no brainer. There’s just something wonderful about A-Ha being used for the partnership and adventure in this show. The part at 2:01 always makes me grin because trelkez has a great sense of musicality and humor.

Garden of Your Mind by @sandalwoodbox. Critical Role, Dungeons and Dragons. This is about storytelling and imagination. AND it utilizes a really cool remix of Mr. Roger’s voice. It’s so beautiful and I cry lots about it because I’m a sap and it’s really that powerful.

Life Less Ordinary by di_br / @why-the-face. Doctor Who. Nine/Rose. Di’s vids were my go-to when I started vidding back in 2007 and I was obsessed with all her Doctor Who vids. It turns out I still am obsessed. This vid makes my heart so warm and fuzzy and I absolutely have to rec this one after all these years because the Nine/Rose feelings are off the chart and span space and time.

I Do Adore by @kiki-miserychic. Adventure Time. Princess Bubblegum/Marceline. This is another oldie, and also for a show I've never seen but always been a fandom-in-law. This vid is so, so so sweet and sapphic and shows me exactly why Bubbline was so beloved.

Carries On by @monkeyswithjetpacks. Jim Henson and The Muppets. This vid brings the big cry about, too. It’s a wonderful tribute to Jim Henson and his work. I really love the music choice here which is The Magnetic Zeroes and there’s such a wide array of different sources from behind the scenes and the muppet shows. It is so beautiful.

Previous Saturday Morning Vid Recs:

Video Games

Women!

Space and Robots

Animals

Follow the tags to keep up with recs this fall:

#saturday morning vid recs

#kuwdora vid recs

#kuwdora recs

A guide I wrote for commenting on fanvids:

How to Leave Feedback on Fanvids

[variousqueerthings]

thoughts and feelings on episode 2:

i confess, the lightning bolt connection that was ray vecchio and fraser isn't here for me, but i do think that that is good for the dynamic -- it'd be weird and OOC for fraser to immediately gravitate towards this new guy, especially as said new guy is a bit standoffish with him

that being said, i doooo wish there was more obvious "trying to figure out where he stands with him" from fraser's side. there is from kowalski towards fraser, but really it's kowalski that we don't know yet, and while i am enjoying his discomfort in having to pretend to be someone he's not and the underlying identity Stuff going on with him beyond that, i did think it was too early (for me) to hear about his doubts and reaffirming his wish to be a cop. so there's a bit of an unbalanced-ness there that i expect to right itself as the season goes along

that being said, fraser does feel like he's still keeping a distance from kowalski, emotionally. he's Very Polite And Kind, which is kind of a default setting of his, where he'd pretty much allow -- i think -- much worse behaviour in order to make a partnership (a Remit even, from welsh and ray vecchio no-less) work. not that kowalski's behaviour is bad, it's just he's not able to give that kind of consideration back, because he's something of an emotionally immature guy

the dream catcher and the party made me sad, honestly. at least the former, if im overthinking it (and when am i not) would have required a long amount of pre-planning to do, which means it was something he was making for ray vecchio and his all-in attitude towards "keeping up pretences" means also keeping up pretences with this friendship, even though... kowalski's not ray vecchio. it kind of threw me (haha) when he tossed the dream catcher, even though that was in service of the plot, because i was kinda like... idk. "you didn't get it. the point of it..." and fraser's going so out on a limb to make him feel okay, to the point of giving a bit of his relationship with ray vecchio to him and he's not really honouring that, because, again, emotionally immature. the vibe to me is fraser literally wounded, and yet triaging for someone else who hasn't noticed (yet?)

really enjoyed the precinct stuff in this, elaine, huey, welsh, i hope to see much more of them this episode

i doooo sort of wish that it didn't hinge on another investigation for corruption against ray, that was done much stronger in the duel in s2, and while they do go "yeah no, absolutely not" in this episode from the get-go, there's still an actual question of... "okay but did someone steal that cocaine????"

so overall: im not in it yet, the it being the relationship between these two men, because it's still very one-sided in terms of who's trying to make it work professionally and predicated on a former relationship between fraser and ray vecchio that is in grieving, still

also from fraser's pov, just a highly melancholy episode. feels like fraser's put on a mask that had slowly been coming off over the course of two seasons. my man fraser has returned to his shell/emotional repression and is giving of himself way too liberally right off the bat. that cannot be good for you 😭😭😭

literally s3 opening episodes are just: hey remember ray vecchio? great guy. changed my life and DNA. anyway, im not allowed to talk about him ever and i have to pretend he's still there while looking into the eyes of a man who looks, sounds, and acts nothing like him

truly haunting the narrative (thank goodness they didn't actually kill him, my heart would not have been able to take that!!!)

[bluespring864]

Of course Andy made him wait and of course Novak doesn't mind telling everyone about it.

"For me personally it was clear I wanna keep going, like, the same day we finished the tournament, so I told him that."

Which means all the "We need to calm down and reflect and then decide" stuff in press after the semifinal retirement was Novak telling the reporters what Andy had just told him.

"For him it took some time to go back and reflect on the partnership"

This ties in with Andy saying that he's inexperienced as a coach and not sure how much he really contributed, and saying that he was embarrassed by people attributing Nole's success in the tournament to him. Also worth noting that later in the same interview Nole says he feels like he played his best tennis since the Olympics in Australia and attributes this to Andy having been there.

"So I was very glad when he decided to keep going."

He says, diplomatically. Instead of going 'Thank god I managed to convince this stubborn man.'

"The plan is to go all the way."

Oh yeah I am absolutely taking this quote out of context.

"I'm enjoying the relationship with Andy."

The relationship™ making an appearance.

"We're going through the process of getting to know each other on the court in a different way."

:)

"It's obviously a new role for him, you know. He's also exploring it and trying to understand how he can excel in it."

Nole slowly realising that he may have decided to work with the one person on earth who's even more of a perfectionist than he is. Or equally as much of a perfectionist, but even harder on himself than he is.

"I'm trying to communicate as much as I can, on the court, off the court, for us to connect better."

That's great, Nole. And also: good luck communicating with the self proclaimed "poor communicator", it's good that you like a challenge.

video credit: Tennis TV, found here

[specialagentartemis]

Trick or treat! Tell me about your ace cavemen

hell yeah

the question of “what does sexuality look like in Paleolithic times, when the population was very low and dispersed, and it’s unlikely that property ownership or inheritance are factors to be concerned about?” is one that’s of interest to a lot of people, but there’s little imagination given to queerness that I’ve seen. What does being queer look like in this very, very different social setting?

Landownership is an incoherent concept here, and there’s very little distinction in material wealth to be kept private, and what clan you belong to is far more important than who your parents are directly. (I’ve also given my Ice Age community a consensus-based egalitarian decision-making system, so descent isn’t important in leadership either.) What are sexual norms in such a society?

So I’m thinking about Pendíkhia as ace-spectrum, though of course the language doesn’t exist and they don’t really conceptualize sexuality in terms of attraction and identity. There must always have been people who just… weren’t that interested in having sex, didn’t really desire it that much and preferred other types of relationships.

The “standard” normative relationship in this culture are committed pairs or small groups. You are born into one of three clans, and your whole clan is your family. Having sex with anyone born into the same clan you were is taboo, it’s incestuous. The clans are matrilocal; men move to join and live with their wives’ clan. Same-sex partners, meanwhile, are accepted as valuable alloparents; every adult in the clan helps raise the children, so having childless adults at any given time is valuable to help distribute the caretaking duty and make sure there are people to look after children and people to go off on hunting or gathering parties. Same-sex partners choose whose clan they live with based on 1) who has a pregnant sister, or a sister with an infant, who needs more support; or, if both or neither do, 2) the one with lower status within their own clan will tend to move to live with the partner of higher status within their clan. Women are encouraged to be trained as religious and medical specialists rather than men, to reduce the chance of these specialists leaving the clan. Some men may choose not to take a committed partner at all, in order to stay with their birth clan, if that is something they consider valuable to them. Summer is a time when all three clans get together and live together along the coast, a time of abundance and freedom, and unpartnered young adults are encouraged to have whatever sex they want (that doesn’t break incest taboos ofc) as a way of determining if they want to settle down and commit to any of them. (Nobody really conceptualizes romance as the root of partnership. Desire, affection, love, sure yeah absolutely. But romance as a category is just not… a thing they have.) Pendíkhia is an unpartnered adult who tried that the first summer she reached adulthood and realized she… doesn’t actually. Care. Or want to spend her time doing that, or committed to another person like that.

Kurrat meanwhile is expendable for human sacrifice partially because he isn’t interested in fucking and therefore unhelpful in preventing Neanderthal population collapse. What use are you then.

(Also partially my interest in sexuality and asexuality is a pointed refutation of a kind of baffling concept I’ve seen in MULTIPLE places—that people in the Ice Age didn’t know that sex led to babies. That they believed that pregnancy just Happened when the time was right. I find this… hard to believe.)

Also, writing asexual characters just kinda comes most naturally to me lol. I am not that interested in writing about sex. However the refutation of romance as a timeless and universal understanding IS intentional.

[inchidentally]

Um, these 60 seconds of recent content between Lando and Oscar made me realize one thing, are these two really only knowing each other for a year or their whole lives?

the audience does not know !!!

like there's a very specific 'united front' thing I can see in a lot of partnerships and it's founded on different things but ultimately manifests in a feeling of cohesion between the drivers. (and I am so sorry bc I saw in passing someone else made a similar post to this but I cannot remember who so lmk bc I don't want to be ripping off their idea !! I have my own separate feelings about it so it's not a copy but still I wish I could have kept that on my dash long enough to rb)

like most teammates fall in the neutral category of professional politeness and friendliness but also the need to push for their own advantage wherever possible. totally fine and normal. also allows for a few fireworks occasionally which is just as good for fan engagement - sometimes more - than if the drivers were always cool w each other.

aberrations like Senna and Prost, brocedes, and sebmark are not to be included - way too unique. could even throw Esteban and Pierre in there.

you've got consummate professionals Lewis and George who are both careful about cultivating their own separate images and who hold a baseline of genuine respect for each other - but part of that respect being that they both know they'll look out for themselves first. so they're very much similar and equals even in operating very independently. ultimately they want the mess to get cleaned up and to shake hands and do business as usual. I could see them genuinely having to hash out something truly ugly and shake hands and move onto their own lives no problem. which like, they clearly have lol.

then there's a situation like Alex and Logan where the dynamic is so incredibly imbalanced BUT you have someone as humanly decent and warm as Alex (even if he maybe wishes he were less so for competitive reasons) and Logan has already become very skilled at dealing with being an outsider/almost unwanted :( and it's clear that they both see how hard-working they both are and what a massive thankless task they have in trying to just achieve points - undetermined if they're mostly friendly out of trauma bonding or will remain friends after being separated but there's absolute friendliness and respect.

then there's The Charisma Guys of Daniel and Carlos and now Lando (who mooched a lot of his F1 charisma off of Carlos and then Daniel). Daniel and Carlos replicate an almost identical dynamic with all of their teammates and it's predicated on what most drivers are already well versed in, which is: playing gay for fangirls, bromance hugging/camaraderie/ribbing for sports media and fans, and taking care of their own brand and career separately from their teammate. it's a powerful tool to have especially for leveraging the popularity of whatever bromance they're in towards their own image without having to lose power over their own image. individual sponsorships being a driver's second goal after winning races and WDCs also makes this an exceptionally good skill to have. it only starts to break down when the personal fortunes of one of the drivers start to hit hard times (current example being obvious).

the Carlos and Charles dynamic absolutely pulls a lot from the charisma/bromance stuff but the huge difference is that Ferrari would - like any F1 team - not give a shit if they didn't get along and just hitched on a bland smile for the cameras. Ferrari aren't remotely behind C2 being what it is, that's all Charles and Carlos. don't get me wrong Ferrari social media teams are MORE than happy to jump on! and sure, the challenges and content are a fun bonus thing to sponsors but three things here: one is that Ferrari IS the brand and they're a top 3 team like they're not grasping for sponsors asflgaslf. two is that as many partnerships have shown, you really don't need to do that much to satisfy the brief. and third, sponsors are like 99.999999% interested in the team's standings and the drivers' individual popularity with partnership popularity coming dead bottom - the bromances are only worth it if they're engagement darlings like carlando. and charlos doesn't do anywhere near those numbers or that widespread corporate social media appeal. you gotta do major impact with crazed fans for it to at all influence a brand's decision where to put their money. so all of the pop off the screen fun and genuine enjoyment we see Carlos and Charles have is fully legit. when they're being tongue-in-cheek levels of cutesy they literally say so. 2025 onward will see how much of a friendship there actually is, but as far as them being very happy with the partnership and collaborating exceptionally well within it, they're far more rock solid and natural at it than most. and the fact that they're if anything even tighter when there's zero incentive for it ?? and when their families and fanbases and their team principal and garages are constantly feuding ?? like it says everything about how much they respect each other and actually feel affection for each other to remain such a united front and so happy and affectionate. nobody else benefited from Carlos asking his team to tell Charles' team to come celebrate his win with him. nobody else in Ferrari or on the grid made bank off of about Charles rushing to congratulate Carlos while he was still in the car. (especially not when carlando did a quick hug and it got brands and official accounts posting tiktok ship edits to the predictable delight of thousands of fangirls. and for them all to cough cough conveniently ignore the embrace with his gf to push the image further.) there is no PR benefit behind C2 that would justify them hitching on such a dramatic facade - and if anything the people around them would prefer they kept separate so that they could celebrate one without the other. whatever their relationship is after this there will always be that massive respect IN SPITE of what the world around them wants.

but Lando and Oscar are such a major aberration not just in them both being so incredibly young and arriving into F1 so hot and already being so close in ability, but their specific 'history' and personalities. they were already such an easy fit together that it surpassed the professional need for a bromance buffer - and at the same time their bond being partly on how naturally private and shy they are made them poorly suited for a PR machine.

Oscar had already said - and a lot of fans already knew - that there were several friends in common and that the shifts in careers and being separated professionally by more years than their ages is the only thing that meant they'd never crossed paths before privately. as K said back when Oscar originally opened that TikTok acc it was so long ago that he followed Max F but that Lando didn't even have an one yet.

but also as many people close to Lando have said (good example that was posted recently) and that we can often still see in streamer Lando - Lando is very much like Oscar as a person at his core. pretty much all of the 'famous person' stuff we saw him become happened after 2019 and directly because of latching onto the social lives of guys like Carlos, Daniel and Martin. he's always referred to as extremely shy and he's said before he likes for others to lead. but his comfort place is still either hanging out in private with close friends only or to get on stream and laugh with his friends. Lando himself said that he considers Oscar to be very similar to him as a person outside of F1 and for all that in some ways that seems surprising, when you look at who Lando is when he's not in Professional Mode or Party Friends Mode he genuinely really fits in with someone quiet like Oscar who loves spending hours gaming w his friends and not being in public. I don't know enough about Martin Garrix as a person but I rly honestly see that with him as well. yes there's the Party Friend aspect but for them to travel solo for two entire winter breaks in a row ?? clearly Martin is a peaceful, quiet guy on Lando's level <3

and ofc I go onnnnn and fucking on about how while we all hate it bc it means we don't get as much content, the fact is that Lando and Oscar are the type of friendship/partnership where it's quiet and private and not something that translates to a bromance on camera. it's never going to be strategic.

so the fact that they have this "twinning" thing isn't that they are identical or that they even look all that similar, it's down to actually slotting in really well with each other as people! as always who knows how deep these friendships actually go but the whole mind-reading and synchronization and total lack of drama between them as drivers comes from genuinely being similar people and liking each other - that's what we're all picking up on when we watch them together.

the fact that they honestly find it awkward as hell when the media try to get them to "package" their friendship in bromancey soundbites or when they look at the camera a bit like an intruder that's making them dance their friendship around for media, like. that's so incredibly relatable for how any of us would feel with one of our actual friends having to do all that. having a camera aimed at us and some stranger being like "so you two get on really well huh?" and practically leaning in for an expected answer ???? it would be so stupid and weird and the whole way Lando and Oscar work together in unison to dispel how weird that is is so natural !!

idk it's like there's different things to take from different partnerships and literally all of us are suckers for a fun bromance and great professional chemistry. but I think this whole universal 'twins' thing that everyone sees in Lando and Oscar is genuinely two guys who are similar in all the fundamental ways and who actually slot together in ways where they naturally just agree on everything and therefore can predict a lot of what the other person is thinking if that makes sense ??? like yes Lando has Single Guy Party Times and professional motivations where Oscar does not but for a friendship and partnership to work, those are the two least relevant things to need to be similar about y'know ??

[gingersnaptaff]

Give us some headcannons about Pwyll?

Hi, anon!! Hope ur okie! Ohhhh, Pwyll, Pwyll, Pwyll, never was a man more stupider than him. (And u can take Rhiannon's word on that!)

Okay, so, Pwyll never gets a family in The Mabinogion, but I hc his dad is the founder of the Kingdom of Dyfed, Eochaid, Mac Artchorp. (5th century king, Irish. Taken from medieval Irish narrative The Expulsion of the Déisi) Pwyll was an only child which explains why he is uh... so forthright (read: dumb) because his parents lavished praise on him from an early age because they felt bad he didn't have siblings. This was compounded by the fact Eochaid died quite early in Pwyll's life, forcing him to ascend to the throne when he was around 14 or so.

His mam, Angharad, helped him run the kingdom and when she died of Yellow Plague it ruined him emotionally. He became very closed off and surrounded himself with his foster-brothers like Teyrnon!! (Teyrnon who would later unwittingly foster Pwyll's son, Pryderi.) He left the running of Dyfed to them while he galavanted around Glyn Cuch each year because that's where his mam had a summer residence she used to retreat to. (It's also where Pwyll was born.)

After the events of Arawn and Hafgan and everything he's super good at governing and when he gets married to Rhiannon it's actually a really good partnership until, uh, y'know... the cannibalism accusations. Then they don't really speak. (I am mirroring his behaviour with Arawn's wife here. But. Worse.) They tip-toe around each other whenever Rhiannon isn't forced to become a horse, and their relationship doesn't really recover.

He LOVES hunting. Like you would expect it because that's how he ends up body-swapping but, he PROPERLY LOVES IT. He sleeps with his hounds if he goes on an expedition, he'll be the first one to chase their quarry, he literally doesn't give a shit if it's unbecoming to act likes he's a hermit in ragged clothes he WANTS TO HUNT, DAMNIT.(Normally it's Teyrnon who is like 'Pwyll, buddy, brother, bestie, u have a kingdom to run pls stop.')

In later life he goes blind. (I'm basing this on Gruffudd ap Cynan who did go blind and still ruled until he was like mid-eighties(?) He's crabby but in the end he and Rhiannon do reconcile a little. The sad thing is Pryderi's away fighting in Ireland, so he misses his father passing away as well as his funeral. Their relationship was fairly distant even though Pryderi was his dad's Penteulu (again basing this off my bestie boi Hywel ap Owain Gwynedd who - it's speculated - was his dad's penteulu.) and therefore was more or less his chief bodyguard.

Pwyll is absolutely an introvert. (Same, bestie.) He tends to let Rhiannon do the talking during the early days of their marriage because she's much better at it than he is. Also, he likes to listen.

Fuckin LOVED Cigfa. When she married Pryderi Pwyll was bouncing off the walls. They used to play Gwydbwyll together (hysterical when u consider I hc Pwyll made the game up. Like, come on, it has his name in it. I had to do it.) and she fuckin beat him.

He loves knitting actually. He does teach Pryderi, which is why in the third branch pryderi takes so readily to stitching shoes. Both love knitting socks. What? The court thinking their king shouldn't be lowering himself to knitting? When he sticks a knitting needle in ur eye then you'll reevaluate ur position. 🙂‍↕️)

LOVES SINGING. Excellent tenor voice.

Invites Arawn and his wife over for festivals. Pryderi and Rhiannon continue this tradition after Pwyll dies. Arawn is - and I cannot stress this enough- Pwyll's best bud after Teyrnon. When Pwyll dies Arawn genuinely, genuinely breaks down. He ensures that Pwyll's shade is treated with the utmost respect when it crosses into Annwfn, and also assures Pryderi that Annwfn will aid in defending Dyfed if needed/if he can aid Pryderi in any way then he need only dispatch a message.

Hey, also, Pwyll got Rhiannon her birds. Courtship gift, innit. He defo did not message Arawn going 'DO U HAVE BIRDS? CAN I HAVE SOME ?THEYRE FOR MY COOL AF WIFE-TO-BE OKAY HELP?!' Arawn is like uhhh *mouthing to his wife* help me. His wife, Alaw, is just like 'yeah how many birds do u want?'

Pwyll. Had. A. Rivalry. With. Math fab Mathonwy. Nobody knows why, but they did. (If u gotta know it's cuz Pwyll travelled to Gwynedd to forge an alliance and got so drunk he mouthed off to Math that Arawn's magic was better than Math's. Jury is still out on who's magic is better.)

When Pryderi is about 12 Pwyll takes him birdwatching. They had a v distant relationship (both v tempestuous in diff ways, the whole golden claw thing, Pryderi being appalled at how his mam was treated) but that was probs one of the best moments of both their lives. I will just say Pryderi has mixed feelings about his dad and his mam and largely considers Teyrnon to be his 'real dad.'

ANYWAYS, hope u enjoyed these hc's anon! Thank u for asking about Wisdom boi.

[teitpp]

📓 for Agatha All Along again if you don't mind (and have another), please ❤️

Talk about another unwritten Agatha fic? Oh absolutely I am happy to.

I'm gonna try to write this without giving away major Undying Heart spoilers so here we go.

So something I'm definitely gonna write is a lil sequel the the Uncharted Series called Upheaval.

And this is specifically a chance for our favorite haunted toaster Evanora Harkness to team up with a returned-from-where-ever-gone-is Wanda Maximoff.

(I do intend to ensure Evanora is no longer a toaster by then because I just couldn't get the gravity of the fic right if Wanda spent the whole time taking a haunted toaster seriously.)

Anyways, I think theyd be rather natural allies by this point. Wanda has gotten rid of the darkhold, shes come to terms with her grief. BUT shes still got a weakness for wanting her family back, for wanting families to be together, and most importantly she still going to have a really negative view of Agatha.

As for Evanora, I feel like shes the kind of villain who can justify everything by taking the moral highground. (shes like lawful evil here.) I mean she sentenced her own kid to an execution that sounds like someone who always thinks theyre right and has a pretty black and white world view. mainly that anything she does is justified because its for good.

And I've been mulling over their potential partnership. I suspect Evanora would have a pretty good pitch to her. She'll help Wanda learn magic and witchery and shell help her find her sons. If Wanda will use a bit of that chaos magic to get Agatha back under Evanoras thumb. Wandas going to fall for the "Mother who made mistakes 350 years ago and wants to reform her daughter and help her not be evil" act. All Wanda has to do is kidnap Agatha and cast a new hex. One where she takes Agathas place as the leader of the Eastview coven. she gets her two sons back form Agatha, de-ages them back to 10 and gets a second chance to raise them. And then ensures the Eastview coven forgets Agatha exists.

So this has been REALLY fun in my brain to think about because im facinated by what kind of cracks would be exposed by the hex - what evidence of Agathas existence slips through. Who in her coven realizes first that something is wrong. Whether Wanda talking to these women starts to get uncomfortable with her assumption that Agatha was evil and must have manipulated them all.

And on the other side of it, We've got Agatha who's basically Evanoras prisoner. I think what i'm coming around to is the idea that Evanora doesn't have a permanent body and so shes trying to break Agatha's spirit so she can eventually steal hers and properly come back and restart her salemite coven. (I know im really evil. why would I do this to her. Angst is FUN okay!)

The thing is, while this is happening. Billy is next door. and he may have all his memories of the time since Westview surpressed. but hes got his own magic. and hes a mind reader so I think Billy and then Tommy are going to start pushing the limits of Wandas new hex pretty quickly. Evanora wont be expecting them to be a problem. wont notice them if theyre snooping. And theyll realize pretty quickly that Evanoras not exactly mother dearest.

So I'm having fun figuring out how this is gonna work. I think part of the torment for Agatha will be watching Wanda take her place but not being able to do anything about it. So im thinking of hoe her coven and she can encounter eachother when they forget who she is. (Especially Rio. that will be some torment)

So this is all very much being workshopped in my brain right now. working on what Evanoras new form is gonna be. (Chaos magic? temporary body? is she on a time crunch? is she limited to westview. does she have any salemesque allies hiding in the basement? what kind of act does she put on for Wanda? do Wanda and Agatha interact and how? How do we keep Agatha from just telling everyone shes been kidnapped? Can Wanda shut off her siphoning power (yes definitely doing that?) does she escape and how? who does she turn up to for help? does Wanda get super frustrated with Magic? if I dunk Wanda in the hallowed water at the covens little hallowed ground retreat, what happens if the little corruption purification ritual doesnt work on her (this is a really hilarious scene in my head of her being baffled that this worked for Agatha and not her). How much do Lilias gaps complicate everything for Evanora and Wanda (LOTS its LOTS).

Another thought I had is that Wanda goes into this assuming that Agatha stole her children and taught them a bunch of evil things and was probably horrible to them. and she comes out of it realizing that Agatha is the reason Tommy is alive and the reason Billy is so well adjusted rather than scared of his own power.

The biggest question I have to mull over though is whether Evanora can remain a threat if Wanda turns on her. but thats not a problem its just a plot puzzle. honestly the best kind of puzzle.

[shadyfestivalperfection]

Sanctum Shenanigans~Oneshot

Summery: After accidentally lighting your previous magical mentor’s library on fire (it was only a small inferno, thank you), you’re sent to train under the reluctant Doctor Stephen Strange at the Sanctum Sanctorum. What starts as a clash of egos turns into a chaotic, hilarious, and oddly heartwarming partnership… especially when the Cloak of Levitation takes a shine to you.

Characters: Dr. Stephan Strange x f!Reader

Note: All Characters except y/n are not mine!

||Master List||

<Requested by Braincell Collector but never uses(my twin sister)>

You arrive on a Tuesday.

It’s raining. Fitting, really.

Your boots squeak on the wet marble steps as you stand before the massive doors of the Sanctum Sanctorum, feeling like a magical stray cat dropped at a sorcerer’s doorstep. You raise your hand and knock.

The door opens—on its own. Of course it does.

Doctor Stephen Strange stands in the entryway in full Sorcerer Supreme fashion: Cloak of Levitation resting on his shoulders, jaw sharp, expression sharper.

He takes one look at you and says, flatly, “Absolutely not.”

You blink. “Uh. Hi.”

He crosses his arms. “No.”

You frown. “But I’m supposed to—”

“I said no.”

A second later, Wong steps into view behind him, holding a scroll.

“She’s on the list,” Wong says calmly. “Master Hamir approved the reassignment after the incident.”

Strange’s brow twitches. “The incident? You mean the fire that destroyed half the Eastern Library archives?”

You wince. “It was a small fire. Technically. It only ate one corner.”

“It screamed,” Wong adds. “The fire. It screamed.”

Strange levels a stare at you so potent, you half expect to turn to stone. “And they sent you here?”

“I’m really sorry about that,” you offer weakly. “But hey—I’m very motivated to not catch fire again.”

Wong shrugs and pats Strange on the shoulder. “She’s your problem now.” And just like that, he walks off, leaving you and the Sorcerer Supreme in a painfully awkward silence.

The Cloak of Levitation floats up behind Strange, hovering like it’s curious about you. It flutters closer, sniffs at your sleeve, and then—with what you swear is a friendly twirl—gently lands on your shoulders.

Strange stares.

“…That’s never happened before,” he mutters.

You grin. “I like it already.”

⸻

Your first week is a mess.

You trip over artifacts. You spill enchanted ink on a centuries-old scroll (Strange almost combusts). You sneeze during a spell and accidentally summon a swarm of butterflies that won’t leave the Sanctum’s attic.

Strange watches all this with ever-growing exasperation.

“Magic requires control,” he says for the third time during training. “Not flair. Not improvisation. Control.”

“I am controlling it,” you grumble, conjuring a faint shimmering shield between your palms. It wobbles. Flickers. It looks a little like magical Jell-O.

“That’s not a shield. That’s a pudding with ambition.”

You shoot him a glare. “I’m still standing, aren’t I?”

He narrows his eyes. “Barely.”

Despite his criticism, he keeps training you. You’re not sure why—maybe it’s Wong, maybe it’s guilt, or maybe it’s the Cloak, which seems to adore you. It regularly drapes itself across your lap when you’re reading or playfully flicks Strange’s ear when he’s being too harsh with you.

You’re beginning to think it’s your most loyal friend.

⸻

The teapot incident is the tipping point.

It begins innocently: you’re in the kitchen, trying to make chai. You’ve always hated using regular methods—what’s the point of magic if not convenience?

So, you enchant the teapot.

Just to pour itself. That’s all.

Unfortunately, you accidentally use a partial personification spell.

The teapot grows legs.

Then arms.

Then declares itself the Tea Emperor of All Dimensions.

You scream. The teapot hops off the counter and begins converting mugs into soldiers.

By the time Strange storms into the kitchen—robes swirling, hands glowing with crimson light—the teapot has established a small monarchy near the sink and has started barking orders at a stack of possessed sugar cubes.

Strange takes one look and says, “What. The hell. Did you do?”

“I just wanted chai!”

He runs both hands down his face. “It’s wearing my cloak!”

The Cloak had, in fact, wrapped itself around the teapot like a royal robe. It looked very proud of itself.

It takes nearly an hour to subdue the teapot—Strange chasing it down with teleportation circles, you singing a calming spell under your breath, the Cloak occasionally tripping Strange for comedic effect.

When you finally reverse the spell and the teapot returns to its inanimate, ceramic form, you’re sitting on the kitchen floor, panting.

Strange looks at you.

You look at him.

You both burst into laughter.

It’s the first time he’s laughed around you.

You’ll remember that sound for weeks.

⸻

The dynamic shifts after that.

Training becomes less of a chore and more of a challenge. He teaches you better now—not just barking commands but demonstrating techniques, sharing the logic behind sigils, even making dry sarcastic jokes to see if you’re paying attention.

You surprise him with your creativity.

He surprises you with his patience.

One night, you find him in the observatory. He’s alone, surrounded by stars cast through the enchanted glass dome.

He looks up as you enter, but says nothing.

You sit beside him, pulling your knees up. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

He shakes his head. “Too many memories in this place.”

You’re quiet a moment, then ask, “Do you regret becoming the Sorcerer Supreme?”

He doesn’t answer right away.

Finally, he says, “No. But some nights, I miss the man I was before all this.”

You tilt your head. “Stephen Strange, world-famous neurosurgeon. Arrogant. Brilliant. Alone.”

He lets out a quiet breath. “Exactly.”

You turn to him. “You’re not alone now.”

He looks at you. The stars reflect in his eyes.

“I’m not?”

You smile. “No. You have Wong. And a Cloak that judges your fashion. And me.”

He huffs softly. “You nearly destroyed the Sanctum with a teapot.”

“I also fixed it. Eventually.”

A beat of silence passes. The Cloak floats in from another room and gently rests over both your shoulders like a blanket.

Neither of you speak.

But you feel it—that shift in the air.

The tension softening into something unspoken.

⸻

Then comes the breach.

A corrupted mirror dimension spell opens a rift in the Sanctum. The walls shudder. Portals flicker. You’re fighting alongside Strange on the second floor, flinging wards and defensive runes as a shadow creature claws its way into your plane.

“Y/n! Close the breach!” he shouts.

“I don’t know how!”

“Yes, you do!”

Your hands shake. The sigils blur in your mind. But you look at him—his eyes steady, unwavering—and suddenly, you remember.

Control.

Not chaos. Not instinct.

Focus. Precision. Intention.

You press your palms together, breathe, and draw the closing circle.

The breach snarls—yes, snarls—and then folds in on itself like a collapsing star.

Silence crashes down.

You collapse to your knees, trembling.

Then Strange is at your side, pulling you into his arms. “You did it,” he whispers.

You look up at him, dazed. “I didn’t think I could.”

He brushes your hair back. “I knew you could.”

Your breath hitches.

So does his.

But neither of you moves—yet.

⸻

The Sanctum Sanctorum was unnervingly quiet at night.

It wasn’t the kind of silence you found in ordinary places. It was… alert. Like the building itself was holding its breath. A sort of mystical hush that made the hair on your arms rise if you lingered too long in the wrong hallway.

But the library?

The library felt safe.

Warm light glowed from the enchanted chandeliers above, bathing the shelves in a soft golden hue. The scent of parchment and sandalwood lingered in the air—comforting. Familiar. You had a habit of sneaking in here past midnight, when the world was asleep and the chaos of magical training wasn’t looming over you like a judgmental storm cloud.

Tonight was no different.

You stood near the tall shelves in your favorite corner of the room, craning your neck to read the spine of a book on the top shelf.

“Come on…” you muttered, stretching onto your toes. Your fingers barely brushed the binding.

Typical. The one spellbook you needed had to be six feet up, guarded by dust and pure spite.

You sighed, stepped back, and stared up at it. “Alright. We’re doing this the hard way.”

Behind you, a gentle rustle stirred the air. A familiar flutter of enchanted fabric.

You didn’t need to turn around to know.

“I didn’t ask for help,” you said aloud.

The Cloak of Levitation ignored your sass and floated up to the shelf like a dutiful assistant, tugging the book free with a flick of its hem. It drifted it down into your waiting hands with a flair that could only be described as smug.

You grinned. “Thanks, buddy. Always dependable.”

The Cloak swirled playfully around your shoulders, brushing your cheek before flitting off again like it had better places to be. Probably tormenting Strange’s wardrobe.

“You talk to the Cloak more than you talk to me.”

You startled. The voice came from the hallway—smooth, deep, laced with just enough sarcasm to sting.

You turned, clutching the book against your chest.

Stephen Strange stood in the doorway, his robes slightly rumpled, his hair even more so. He looked like he hadn’t meant to run into anyone but wasn’t surprised to find you there.

You smirked, recovering. “That’s because the Cloak listens.”

He arched an eyebrow and stepped into the room slowly, his arms crossing over his chest. “It listens because it doesn’t have a choice.”

“And yet, it still has better manners than you.”

He stopped a foot away, staring at you with that unreadable expression he always wore—like he was analyzing your every move, but not necessarily judging. Just… watching.

You tilted your head. “Can’t sleep either?”

He didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he nodded toward the book in your hands. “That’s not light reading.”

You looked down at the worn cover. ‘Mystic Frameworks of Multi-Planar Barriers’. “No,” you admitted. “But I was curious. You said planar shielding was one of my weaknesses.”

Strange’s mouth quirked. “I also said you had a tendency to blow holes in reality because you rush your spells.”

You rolled your eyes. “It happened once. And it was a small hole.”

“Tell that to the stray basilisk that came through.”

“Okay,” you said with a shrug, “that one’s on me.”

There was a pause.

The kind of pause that wasn’t awkward—just filled with things neither of you had the nerve to say yet.

Then:

“Y/n.”

Your name left his lips so softly it made your heart stutter.

You blinked. “Yeah?”

He opened his mouth—closed it again. Took a breath.

“I need to say something.”

His tone was different this time. Not mocking. Not commanding.

Just… honest.

You took a step forward. “Okay.”

But before either of you could continue, there was a sharp shove against your back.

You yelped as you stumbled forward, colliding into a solid chest.

Stephen caught you immediately, his arms instinctively wrapping around your waist.

Your hands landed against his chest. Warm. Steady. His heartbeat beneath your palms betrayed nothing, but yours was thundering like a runaway train.

“The Cloak,” you whispered, breathless, “is matchmaking.”

You could feel his breath against your forehead. Close. Too close.

“I swear,” he murmured, “it’s usually not this aggressive.”

You looked up. Your noses were almost touching. His eyes searched yours—not with the calculation you were used to, but with something softer. Warmer.

The air between you shimmered. Electric. Like a spell suspended mid-cast.

Neither of you moved.

Until he did.

His lips brushed yours—tentative, like a question.

You didn’t hesitate.

You kissed him back.

Slow. Careful. Like the two of you were afraid the moment might break if you moved too fast. Your fingers gripped the fabric of his tunic; his hand slid up to cradle your jaw.

The library around you faded. The silence grew deeper. Not oppressive. Not magical.

Just… intimate.

When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against yours. His breath was a little uneven. His eyes were closed.

“You drive me mad,” he said quietly.

You chuckled against him. “You’re not exactly easy to live with either.”

He smiled—small and real. “But you make this place feel alive again.”

You felt something swell in your chest. Something warm and terrifying.

Your fingers tightened on his robes. “You made me feel like I belong. For the first time in a long time.”

The Cloak, still floating above like an enthusiastic chaperone, curled around you both like a blanket.

You didn’t say anything else. You didn’t need to.

⸻

The next morning, Wong caught you both in the kitchen.

Stephen was sipping coffee at the counter while you leaned against him, half-asleep, wearing one of his robes. The Cloak fluttered behind you like it was proud of itself.

Wong took one look and muttered, “About time.”

Stephen choked on his coffee. You buried your face in his shoulder and laughed.

⸻

The weeks that followed were… different.

There was a softness to your routine now. A rhythm that hadn’t been there before.

Training sessions still involved sarcasm, occasional fire, and the occasional near-death experience, but now there was laughter in between. Coffee shared in the mornings. Books passed across the table with fond glances. Late nights spent talking in whispers on the observatory floor, watching stars spin overhead.

You were still messy. He was still grumpy. Wong was eternally unimpressed.

But the Sanctum Sanctorum no longer felt like a gilded cage full of relics and echoes.

It felt like home.

One night, you curled into Stephen’s side on the old velvet sofa in the main hall. The Cloak tucked around both of you like a pet that had claimed its people.

“You ever think,” you asked quietly, “that we weren’t supposed to find each other like this?”

Stephen hummed. “You mean in the middle of magical chaos, talking teapots, and pocket dimensions?”

You smiled. “Yeah.”

He looked down at you. “Y/n… I think we found each other because of it.”

You met his eyes.

And you believed him.

-the end

[shukakumoodboard]

then ghost of tsushima au👉👈

@rkaln oh my god, i just realised i fecking forgot to answer your asks (and you too anon!) hkdskghdfkg. i swear i didn’t ignore you, im just a moron

so as an apology, this one is gonna be LONG. buckle up bro-mies. under the cut!

welcome to kels one sole attempt at a True Longfic. and when i say longfic, this one—if i can ever pull it off—i mean 200k+ to fit everything i want in it. JRR tolkien whomst?

anyway. this fic is yet untitled, though the favoured contender is bushidō. that being said, im not… sold on it? for some reason? but lets get onto the fic itself.

the fic plan is a heavily modified spin on the plot of the videogame ghost of tsushima, which follows the tale of a samurai named jin, adopted son of the jito of the island of tsushima, and his descent into dishonour in pursuit of saving his home during the mongol invasion of 1274. it’s, in my humble opinion, one of the best games ever made. when i say there were moments in this game that had me sobbing, with tears dripping onto hands clenched so tight to my controller i nearly broke it, i am not being dramatic in the slightest. aside from the truly brilliant plot, it has jaw dropping graphics and my favourite play mechanics of any game ever. everything in this game is awe-inspiring.

also you can pet foxes. just saying.

in this fic, lee takes the place of jin as adopted ward of the jito (hiashi) where he is effectively the “lesser” second son of the jito. first son, ofc, is neji :) to take you very briefly through the beginning, konoha (which takes the form of tsushima island in this universe) is invaded, though the invaders are, in this case, suna, led by rasa ofc. (งツ)ว

what i intend to follow is a long winded story of lee battling to save his captive family from suna, and what lengths he must go to in order to accomplish such a monumental feat, even if it costs him his honour. of course, the entire cast of thousands have roles to play—tenten, an assassin; kakashi and gai, former samurai with a painful understanding of the choices lee must make; naruto, hidden son of the former shogun, leading a band of ronin and desperately trying to bring his wayward friend sasuke home. sakura, a healer who wants to be a samurai in a time where gender roles work against her, inoshikacho working through the temples to secretly subvert the will of suna, and of course, the sand siblings, beleaguered children of a mad conqueror who work to subjugate konoha island… until, perhaps… an unlikely partnership forms. i hope it will come to no surprise that this fic is not safe for sasuke huehuueheuheuheuheeHUEUEUUHEUHUE

not only is this meant to be a long fic but its also meant to span years in time as well — so im really excited to build a universe this big. however, i wouldnt expect this to appear anytime soon. im not going to do anything public until i have a solid outline built for all my character arcs and at least a list of general scenes for chapters, and thats not going to be soon. i have three things i ABSOLUTELY want done in 2025 before i even turn my head towards this, and when i do, it will be a slow crawl of a process, especially because right now i’m also in my final 1.5 years of my doctorate, and that means all my writing juice is going towards academia lol. but one day, so help me, i will bring this fic out of my brain and onto paper!

of course, i won’t talk about a fic without sharing at least some bits, so here’s some snips from my longer-than-some-fics idea sheet! two scenes i have planned and the drafted words to a really melodramatic confession god gaara get yourself together thats ur enemy winkwonk

[fansplaining]

IWTV is the best show on TV. In today’s media environment, it is singular to be able to enjoy a show without the toxicity of the large fandoms. I have found that a majority of the show’s fans are hardcore Anne Rice fans making conversations about the show far more interesting. I am concerned of how this will change once S1 premiers on Netflix. The show deserves a larger audience and it will get it after it premiers on Netflix, but I hope the show runners remain true to the source material and continue on the path they have laid. Looking forward to future IWTV episodes.

Hello! Apologies for the delay in answering this, which I believe was in response to this article I wrote about the show and its audiences. With the official announcement this week that the AMC slate of shows are coming to Netflix on August 19th—

(also: lol Netflix, thank u)

—I was reminded to come back to it!

I totally agree with you re: the show itself, of course—but I also think you've curated your feeds very well haha. I've been observing many corners of the fandom throughout s2, partly because I was reporting on the fan/creator stuff, partly because I'm in the fandom, too. Fandoms are multifarious, and I'm not trying to paint with an overly broad brush—I've seen a ton of creativity and plenty of smart analysis etc. But I have also seen *so* much toxicity and *so* many willfully bad readings over the past few weeks, it's been shocking. Twitter in particular seems to have a literal Discourse of the Day and I don't understand how this is going to be sustainable over the year+ until s3 (lord help us all when s3 arrives lol).

There's a running joke—made so many times I'm not even thinking of a specific post—that people fear ~the Netflix masses~ will bring Bad Takes, but it seems highly likely a casual viewer will go, "Wow! Entertaining!" and move on with their lives, whereas existing fans of this show are already rocket-launching The Worst Takes at each other like clockwork (and even at random viewers who love the show but aren't a part of fandom conversations—because they don't like a person's phrasing, or the picture they chose for a post, etc etc etc).

As far as the idea that Rolin Jones or AMC will waver from their plans, I absolutely don't see that happening. AMC has long licensed their shows to large-audience platforms (Netflix in particular), but they're not making TV *for* those platforms. Jones and (IWTV EP) Mark Johnson have been pretty explicit about how they only could have made this show at AMC. I also found these post-finale comments from Jones very interesting:

I’m confident that we made the best vampire show we could make. I’m proud of the adaptation. There’s the element of second windows, how these things are going to be disseminated going forward. There does seem to be a lot of legwork done by fans. I look at 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and part of me is like, Ugh, that’s way too high. If the intention here is to make something that will haunt you and that will work 15, 20 years from now, did we piss off enough people?

There was another interview I cannot find now about how a larger viewing audience in those "second windows" means more chances for the people who really connect to the show to find it. I've loved seeing that this season, even—people who hadn't checked it out for whatever reason and have now been changed by it. When I wrote that article, fans were kind of cycling in an information vacuum, with minimal signals from AMC/the creators that the metrics for success weren't a pure numbers game. But in the final press run, they hit that message hard—they are in it for the long run, they want to make the best show they can, and they understand this is a sustained partnership with fans. I think they're going to continue taking the biggest creative swings they can, and I can't wait to see what's next.

(BTW, IWTV folks: I pulled @flourish away from their baby for 90 minutes and despite their combined total of perhaps 10 hours of sleep over the past 4 weeks lol we managed to finally record a season 2 special episode. It should be out for patrons early next week!)

[narratingvoice]

My sincerest apologies for the radio silence from this blog recently. I know, it's very out of character for me. The thing is, I've been in a bit of a pickle over the past few months. The fiscal year for 2023 didn't end nearly as profitably as I projected, not even with the hype and celebration surrounding

THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STANLEY PARABLE (2013)!

Server maintenance isn't free, you know, and neither are infinite holes. And with Unity changing its pricing structure on top of it, well, I really needed to put the old noggin to work finding a way to squeeze every last dime out of my fans provide new and valuable pieces of entertainment that will be worth your money. And that's why I'm thrilled to announce my partnership with the fine folks at I Am 8bit to bring you: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe: Collector's Edition!

It's true! Yes, I know I did a fake announcement for something similar last year, but this one is for real! A physical product that you can purchase and have delivered to your home, and play on your Nintendo Switch or Playstation 5. And this package involves absolutely no changes to the game itself, which really takes a load off my back. Since I have no presence in the physical world, I have to trust that my collaborators will deliver the finest quality items. And trust them I do. Shall we take a look at all the wonderful bonuses you'll receive?

Stickers!

Just like the ones I slapped onto Stanley's bucket, now you too can slap these stickers on your own bucket. Or anything else that currently lacks stickers on it. You will not receive a bucket to stick them on. We floated that idea, but Mr. 8bit told me he'd rather not have to lug dozens of buckets down to the post office every day. You'd look like a right idiot doing that, I agree. So get your own bucket and enjoy the thrill of sticking!

Oh, and do be aware that whatever object you affix the "Property of Stanley" sticker to, does legally become Stanley's property, and he will demand you send it to him.

More surprises under the cut!

An instructional manual!

"But Narrator," I hear you saying, "didn't you just say you're not giving me a bucket? What do I need this for?" First of all, do not interrupt me when I'm giving a presentation. Second of all, this manual is for the bucket that's in the game. I've noticed many players do not seem to know how to operate the bucket, and treat it like it's a person rather than an inanimate container. With this instructional manual, I will give you a comprehensive guide as to what a bucket can do (such as: prevent water from spilling all over your trousers) and what it cannot do (such as: love you back). I have had some harrowing experiences in the field of instructional manual writing, but I think this one is some of my finest work yet.

A figurine!

Yes, our most requested piece of merchandise is finally here! The OFFICIAL Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe Stanigurine stands 5 inches tall and is made of durable PVC. And as with the virtual Figustans, that's all there is to it. There's no articulation or any type of toy action. You don't get anything but the feeling of deep satisfaction at owning this collectible. The package only comes with one, so why not buy six copies if you really want to recreate the game in your home?

But wait, that's not all!

If you are an absolute Stanley Parable fanatic, you'll want to supplement your Collector's Edition with even more plastic tat commemorating your favourite game. And you definitely want to support me as much as possible, right? So you can also buy:

The button that says the name of the person playing the game!

For just $10, you too can have a button that says your name, presuming your name is Jim. The button will only say the name Jim and will never say any other name, no matter how often you press it. I found that a lot of players really got into the immersive experience of being Jim, so I decided to keep it that way instead of programming it to say a whole lot of names. Sorry, but there are too many different names in the world. You're Jim and you'll like it.

Vinyl albums!

When you buy the Collector's Edition, you'll get a free code to download the Official Soundtrack in MP3 format. But what if you don't like MP3? What if you're a bit more old-fashioned in your audiophile taste? Well, I've got you covered! With this 2-record set, you can listen to all the office ambience on your gramophone or turntable. Why, you could even DJ a set with it! If you do, please send me your mixtape and I'll give it an honest review. My music taste is impeccable.

An instructional audio cassette!

Yes, this is just a cassette telling you how to install and run a copy machine. Listen, I took some odd voiceover jobs here and there to pay the bills. And I figured, you lot are so ravenous to hear my voice that you'd even pay good money to hear me deliver some boring instructions. At least, that's the impression I get from the more saucy side of the fandom. So that's what you get. Do I do anything funny? You'll have to buy it and find out!

Hold on, Stanley is trying to tell me something. What do you mean, nobody has a cassette player any more? Why wouldn't they? It's the perfect compact audio format! It's got two sides, which is more than you can say for a CD, and it's a lot more portable than vinyl. Well I'm not shipping out cassette players. You can take it or leave it. No refunds.

[squireofgeekdom]

And speaking of pacific rim - it's Pacific Rim fic rec time, which is really just me reccing one series I've been absolutely loving. Mostly just pulling from my bookmark notes because I went on quite the ramble there (also! I've now read a few other pacific rim fics from this author and have enjoyed them all - and have a rec for another of this author's fic in a different fandom coming momentarily)

From Out the Ocean Risen by bluestar, 3 fic ongoing series, total 267.2k

Absolutely astounding. The writing, worldbuilding, and plotting craft in this series is phenomenal. I don't think I've ever read better Kaiju - hivemind - precursor worldbuilding.

That Ocean Is Not Silent 33k 21/21 chapters

Teen, No Archive Warnings Apply

There is also podfic for the first two fics by tinypinkmouse_podfics, which I have not listened to yet but am very excited about

Creating a safe bond between humans in the Drift is hard enough. No matter how great the need, some paths aren't meant to be taken.

Relatively short term-ish aftermath of the end of Pacific Rim. Newt's Kaiju drift consequences done so so well - visceral, gutting, and with a deeply alien and deeply felt perspective on Kaiju.

In a sense, the whole series anchors on Newt's Kaiju drift consequences, in that he cared enough about having a chance at saving people to take the risk, and that he had the love and fascination in the Kaiju to think of it in the first place.

Strange, Far Places 125k 43/43 chapters

Teen, No Archive Warnings Apply (but mind the other tags)

and podfic!

Sometimes, the aftermath is the worst of all.

Newt has a bad time in the first fic, here he has a worse time, extended and remixed, and damn is it good. And as with the first fic, it's not just great Newt characterization (and great Hermann characterization) but great everybody else, and everyone gets their moment to shine - Herc, Mako, Raleigh, and also more Tendo Choi than I think I've ever read explored before, and a lt of Hannibal's who I don't think ever gets named in the movie has her own arc. The plotting is amazing, the little details that build - it was so satisfying to catch the hints early on and see how it all slots together. And once the action kicked off - well, I did not go to sleep when I was planning to, that's for sure. Amazing mindscape stuff that y'all KNOW I love. Absolutely spectacular ending, no notes.

The Hosanna Anteversal - 108k WIP 35/? chapters

Teen, No Archive Warnings Apply

Eventual Newt/Hermann

Out from the ashes.

This fic could stay unfinished forever and it would still be worth every second. (Though I hope there's more to be shared in time! I am Very excited for what happens next) Holy Toledo. Do you like deeply weird physics bending sci fi shit? Are you an expanse fan who loves weird protomolecule architecture shit? Are you truly here for the giant monsters and how cool they are and want to get into their heads in a really unique way? Do you want to think about how we change each other and about trauma and recovery? Do you like really really good plotting and spectacular writing? Do you like Newt a lot? Yeah I think you'll love this. Images in this fic are etched into my brain and heart. Also a slowest of slow burns eventual Newt/Hermann if that is your jam, focused on partnership and trust and getting and seeing each other. The fic is still very much gen-focused overall in a satisfying way IMHO. Everything great about the plotting and worldbuilding and characters in the cast holds and the worldbuilding and perspectives on the Kaiju and precursors just get More MORE, and does an amazing job continuing and building plot/character/worldbuilding threads of the first two fics

When I say images from this fic are etched into my brain and heart... well, it's very much spoilers for the later chapters of this fic, but here's a very scribbly wip of some fanart under the cut

(if any of these sound like they're up your alley, check them out, and if you enjoy them, please let the author know with a comment&kudos!)