#and the family element

[heyblue]

It’s the best collection of individuals and they made this whole musical come to life I’m so grateful for all of them, and the way I have come to discover new music through them!! 🥹

my personal favorite moments from the listening party/live stream

Jay cradling Mico in the horse and the infant and then dropping him off a roof:

Luke as the cyclops terrorizing the soldiers with his club pillow:

Mason pretending to be Poseidon with a FORK 🔱

Jay and Talya being dramatic in their duet in Done For

then switching their roles in "there are other ways" (Talya was singing ody's lines and Jay trying to seduce her as circe lmao)

Mason (??) dressing up like a ghost for Polites' part in "the underworld" and surprising jay 😭

Jay and his mom during her part in "the underworld" 🥹❤️

Jay and Mason waltzing ???? while singing their duet in "no longer you" 😭😭😭

HE DID THE EAR THING WHILE SINGING "PENELOPE WHY YOU KNOW I'M TOO SHY👉👈"

them softies cried for the entirety of "I Can't Help but Wonder" 🥹🥹🥹🥹

I LOVE THIS CAST SO MUCH

[inkskinned]

in internet posts it is easy to cut them out of your life. they are hurting you! they aren't listening to you!

they held your hair back. they lent you lipstick. they held your hand at the train station and got you home safe. they rounded on your bully, got loud, said get fucked, spitting-mad in your defense.

they also cut the hair off again. told you that you should really think twice before wearing something like that. took you for granted. took your insecurities and threw them in your face again.

you know logically it should be easy. all the internet advice comments always read it will feel better. like an equation - if a person is rotten, you just remove them. you pull the tooth that's hurting.

but it was never a big flare-up moment. you don't live in a sitcom. they never tried to take your boyfriend or steal from your apartment. they showed up to birthdays and they wrote songs about you and bring you water without you asking. once you found out they carry an emergency inhaler for you, even though you haven't had an asthma attack in years - just in case.

where is the line? people fuck up. sometimes they fuck up badly. sometimes people have raw personalities, like a powerline, and being around them is dangerous. addicting. sometimes they can't help themselves, but you know they're trying. sometimes they are just rough-around-the-edges. sometimes they don't even realize how they sounded when they said that. sometimes it's just - you've both loved each other for so long now, the way this thing hurts goes back to the root.

and that's the fucked up part. you have pushed your fingers against the sweetheart of memory. things these days are electric, tense, harrowing. they didn't used to be. there were a lot of good days in there. sometimes you want to just close your eyes and say can this be over yet? do we still need to be fighting?

doing that would give up any chance you get of getting an apology, but you don't always know that you need an apology, you love them. once they flaked on your birthday party. once they told you to get over it, people are always dying. they also let you crash on their couch for a week after the breakup, handfeeding you when you were so sad you couldn't eat. they are also judgmental about everything, occasionally react to banal statements with an attitude that is weird and fiery. they also love you like a lighthouse sometimes, so strong they cut the storm like lightning.

but the problem is that you might be storm. you might be the thing that needs breaking. what if you are two forces who are desperately, horribly drawn to each other, shaped by the other person's passions, and both good for each other and bad in equal measure.

what if you're both just people, and you're no saint neither.

just cut them off! swallowing the saltwater, you catch yourself in the mirror. you've been shaking more than usual. there's an ache in you that is oblique, loud, impossible to soothe. is this what it looks like? when life is "easier"?

your mouth will always have a hole, is the thing, if you remove the tooth.

[aventurineswife]

Hello I was watching tangled and I got an idea for a request, what if the reader, who uses a frying pan like Rapunzel, was present during the 2.4 and 2.5 quests and then used it to smack their opponents upside the head from behind, I just thought it'd be funny to see how the characters would react to it.

Frying Pan Saves The Day!

Tags: Feixiao x Reader, Jiaoqiu x Reader, Moze x Reader, Action-Adventure, Humor, Crack Fic Elements, Battle Scenes, Unconventional Weaponry, Found Family Dynamics, Light Angst.

Warnings: Violence, Injuries, Emotional Themes, Mild Language, Comedic Violence, Dark Undertones.

A/N: Thought of adding March and Yunli but I ran out of motivation and ideas 😔😪💔

The battlefield was chaos. The abominations swarmed the Xianzhou Yaoqing like an unrelenting tide, their screeches rising above the clang of steel and the cries of wounded soldiers. Feixiao moved like a whirlwind. Her twin glaives glinted under the dim starlight, slicing through the enemy ranks with an elegance that belied the brutal carnage.

Amid the chaos, you crept through the fray, armed not with a weapon of celestial craftsmanship but an ordinary frying pan. The ridiculousness of it all wasn’t lost on you, but desperate times called for creative measures. You hadn’t intended to be here, but an unfortunate teleportation mishap left you smack in the middle of Feixiao’s mission.

“Stay back!” Feixiao barked at you mid-swing, her eyes narrowing as she cleaved an abomination clean in two. “You’re unarmed!”

“I’m armed!” you shot back, brandishing your frying pan with mock pride.

She glanced at your makeshift weapon and blinked in disbelief. “What—?”

Before she could finish her sentence, one of the creatures lunged at her from behind. Reacting on pure instinct, you swung the frying pan with all your might, the metallic clang resonating through the battlefield. The abomination crumpled to the ground, its grotesque head dented like a crumpled can.

Feixiao stared at you, dumbfounded. “Did you just—?”

“Hit it with a frying pan? Yes. Yes, I did.” you replied smugly, twirling the pan like it was the most natural thing in the world.

For a moment, the great Vanquishing General looked utterly lost for words. Then she threw her head back and laughed—a hearty, genuine laugh that echoed across the battlefield. “You’re either incredibly brave or absurdly foolish. Perhaps both.”

The battle resumed, and you found yourself trailing Feixiao, bonking abominations on the head whenever they got too close. To your surprise, the soldiers began cheering you on, some even mimicking your frying-pan antics with their shields.

When the battle was finally over, Feixiao sheathed her glaives and approached you. “You’re either a lunatic or a genius. Either way, I’m keeping you around,” she declared with a grin. “But next time, I’ll make sure you’re armed with something better than… that.”

“What’s better than a frying pan?” you teased.

“Literally anything,” she deadpanned, though the amused glint in her eye betrayed her true feelings.

The tension in the infirmary was palpable. Jiaoqiu worked tirelessly, his hands moving with practiced precision despite his blindness. His irises, dull and unseeing, remained fixed ahead as he administered his unique "nine-square grid" formula to the wounded.

You stood at his side, offering assistance where you could. The sudden attack on the outpost had left the infirmary understaffed, and you were determined to help in any way possible—even if it meant wielding your trusty frying pan against the incoming threat.

The doors burst open, and a wave of corrupted enemies flooded the room. Jiaoqiu didn’t flinch, his calm demeanor unshaken. “Protect the patients,” he instructed softly, his voice a balm amidst the chaos. “I will continue my work.”

“Got it,” you replied, gripping your frying pan like a knight preparing for battle.

The first abomination to approach you met the flat side of your pan with a resounding clang. It stumbled backward, its grotesque face now sporting a comical dent. You swung again, this time catching another creature on the side of its head. One by one, they fell, and the frying pan became a surprising force of justice.

Jiaoqiu paused mid-preparation, his ears twitching at the sound. “What… is that noise?”

“That, Jiaoqiu, is the sound of justice,” you replied, taking out another abomination with a flourish.

Despite his blindness, you could feel his incredulous stare. “Justice? With a frying pan?”

“Would you prefer I used your cauldron?” you quipped, dodging an incoming strike.

He sighed, though a faint smile tugged at his lips. “Just… don’t break anything valuable.”

When the room was finally clear, you stood amidst the carnage, panting but victorious. Jiaoqiu shook his head, an amused chuckle escaping him. “You have a… unique approach to combat.”

“Hey, whatever works, right?” you replied, twirling the pan triumphantly.

“I suppose,” he said, though his tone carried a hint of admiration. “Still, next time, perhaps consider a weapon that doesn’t double as kitchenware.”

The dimly lit corridor was eerily silent, save for the soft patter of your footsteps and the faint rustle of Moze’s cloak as he moved ahead of you. The Shadow Guard had reluctantly allowed you to accompany him on this mission, though he clearly doubted your usefulness.

“Stay behind me,” he ordered curtly, his eyes scanning the darkness for threats.

You nodded, clutching your frying pan tightly. The Shadow Guard’s somber demeanor made you nervous, but you weren’t about to back down.

As you turned a corner, an enemy leapt from the shadows, its claws aiming for Moze’s throat. He moved with deadly precision, his blade flashing in the dim light. But as he turned to face another attacker, he missed the one creeping up behind him.

“Look out!” you shouted, swinging your frying pan with all your might. The resounding clang echoed through the corridor as the enemy crumpled to the ground.

Moze froze, his eyes widening slightly as he turned to face you. “Did you just…?”

“Save your life? Yes, I did.” you replied, holding the pan aloft like a prized weapon.

He stared at you for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, to your surprise, he smirked. “Impressive. Crude, but effective.”

“Crude? This pan has saved lives today,” you said, mock-offended.

His smirk grew. “Perhaps I underestimated you.”

From that point on, Moze didn’t object when you stayed close, your frying pan at the ready. When the mission was over, he even offered a rare compliment. “You may not be a Shadow Guard, but you’ve proven yourself useful. Though next time, I suggest you invest in a proper weapon.”

“Why? This one’s served me just fine,” you replied with a grin.

He shook his head, a faint chuckle escaping him. “You’re… something else.”

[stil-lindigo]

ashes to ashes.

a short comic about the day Ash was born.

Ash's story

Red and Wolf's story

notes:

--

all my other comics

store

[dreadfuldevotee]

Popular IWTV cosplayer(s) currently getting put on blast for posting about going on haunted plantation tours and taking photos of their (white) LDPDL funko pop out front like its a cute little photo op. And ykw I won't pretend to be surprised because non-Black people, American and Non-American, think of slavery as a foot note in their antebellum fantasy or, at best, a gotcha card when they decide they wanna be morally superior. Its not an IWTV specific issue because regular degular people romp through these plantations for weddings or to talk about everything but the black people who maintained this estate so that willfully ignorant tourists could gloss over their very existence. But a racist source material breeds racist fans and TVC is ripe with both so who is to sit here and gasp and clutch their pearls like we haven't been seeing the very thought patterns that lead to this kind of bullshit

[beansoup3000]

Thinking about how Fleabag says that Claire stays with Martin because he makes her laugh like no one else. And then the very next episode Fleabag makes Claire laugh so hard she disrupts the whole room. At a silent retreat. CLAIRE breaks the RULES to LAUGH at FLEABAG'S JOKE!!!

And in that episode Fleabag also says she and Claire would make a cute couple,,,, it's about setting fleabag and Martin up as oppositional forces in Claire's life who ultimately fulfill the same need, and Fleabag does it better! Fleabag makes Claire laugh. Fleabag supports Claire personally and professionally. She even provides Claire with sexual pleasure when she gives her the vibrator for her birthday (after confirmation that Claire and Martin are Not Fucking). And ultimately, Fleabag is the only person Claire would run through an airport for!! They aren't friends they're sisters!!!

[multiverse-singularity]

Convincing the scientific community that his characterization methods are real because they're usable in different universes must be difficult for him.

[auro-cyanide]

He smells good

[flawlessflesh]

cecil is the thistle expy i made for a roleplay group i joined! he's started taking on a life of his own though...

in this rp, the mundane world and the supernatural secretly co-exist. cecil lives with his family in an underground bunker deep within washington state's hoh rainforest. the family is locked away and cecil believes he's protecting them from harm. he spends his days digging a frighteningly complex system of tunnels throughout the forest, convinced that if he can reach the black river deep inside the earth that's haunting his dreams, he'll be able to find his brother del's missing soul.

^ cecil being hounded by a good samaritan (samson's dorothy <3)

i'll share the public bio i wrote for cecil under the cut hehe

Cecil of the Talayi family began appearing in New Portsmouth grocery stores and libraries a few months ago. He isn't occupied by any work or schooling and he disappears for long stretches of time into the Hoh Rainforest.

A receipt Cecil discarded shows the following purchases: a wheelbarrow, five 50-pound bags of concrete mix, gloves, a large pack of 2x4 lumber, steel pipes, an industrial saw, and a bag of sour gummy worms (berry blast flavor).

When he was a young child, Cecil was given a home by the Talayi family. There is no official adoption on record and it is unknown exactly when Cecil was brought in. The family's head at the time, Farhang (فرهنگ), was an Iranian immigrant who made his fortune in Silicon Valley - Cecil believes he owes everything to him. Cecil was homeschooled alongside his younger brother, Del (عادل), who he helped raise. These days he is his brother's primary caretaker.

Farhang Talayi was assassinated by poisoning in 1991 by suspected corporate rivals. The murder trial was long, arduous, and inconclusive. Contemporary newspaper articles and tv footage of the investigation are archived online.

Ten years after the trial, the Talayi family moved from the bustle of Silicon Valley to New Portsmouth. Del bought property deep in the forest and built a private compound ringed by high walls. The Talayis made a few half-hearted excursions into the town's social scene, but they kept to themselves for the most part, homeschooled their children, and now have not been seen in public for many months.

Those initiated in the Secret World will look at Cecil and know he is a Protoplast - a name given to an insular race of humans whose proximity to Flesh diverged them from Homo sapiens thousands of years ago. Not much is known about Protoplasts beyond their natural skill with the Flesh font and their unusual physical characteristics: androgyny, elongated goat-like ears, hair and eyes lacking melanin, and rumors of extended lifespans. They are viewed with awe and wariness - anyone so close to Flesh should be handled carefully, of course. Most Protoplasts seen outside their clans are in the employ of the rich and powerful, a living status symbol. Cecil is no different.

[huggywuggysuppy]

Gem and Pearl chatted lightly about the WL finale on Pearl's Dec 4th stream (here) and now we know what they meant.

Among references to Pearl's wet catness, at 1:55:30:

Gem: We're both a little bit pathetic in wild life, it's fine.

Pearl: I don't know if you can call yourself pathetic, Gem. I really don't-

Gem: I think-I think I was pathetic yesterday [in the finale.]

Pearl: You reckon?

Gem: I mean I've got like the biggest target on my back ever so it's like doomed, but I think it was a little bit pathetic

Pearl: mmmmm I don't want to spoil anything otherwise I would have a full blown conversation about why you think that. But also I can't. [because spoilers]

So why'd they say all that? Spoiler analysis ahead!

Gem lost her final life to the wildcard all alone at her base, which isn't the most interesting death. Many of the CC's have mentioned that a boring final death sucks -- even in the same stream Pearl mentions she hesitates to fight reds cause she doesn't want to inflict a bad finale on them. Also, in the ep Gem muses that she regrets holding herself back so much from murder -- the "sweat" accusations are really getting to all the CC's I fear. Gem isn't pathetic, and had a lot of entertaining moments in her ep, but the death was unsatisfying.

Pearl hesitated to even post her finale in part because she thought it was boring / unfulfilling. The wet cat bit is funny (and she's sort of owning it?) but even its origin is messy. Due to Aussie ping (as she demonstrated earlier in the stream), it was straight up improbable to get a mace kill, no matter how much she tried. She was fighting lag the rest of the episode too due to the wildcard overload. That was on top of episodes worth of failed traps, storylines, and murder attempts, that were largely foiled by not having enough time to do them properly. Placed final 5 as always, but she suffered the whole way there and mostly just survived without getting any kills herself.

Most importantly: neither of them got to enjoy/execute their divorce arc plans. It's an ongoing problem with WL but especially noticeable in the finale. Neither of them wanted to rush things, but the series forced their hands! Joel kept interrupting with (valid) murder attempts, and Pearl actively tried saving Gem when she was getting attacked by the rest of the server. Everyone loves and longs for another Murder Camel team up, CC's included, but it just wasn't viable. They agreed to hold off on their foreshadowed 1v1 until Gem was red, where she then died right before the wildcards deactivated (when there was room for lore/rp.) Overall, they were punished for pacing things out.

And why wouldn't they feel bad after that? Gem died unceremoniously, Pearl slogged through the ep with very little payoff, and neither got to fulfill their season long arcs. And that's what everyone's here for at the end of the day: telling a good story! Life series is special for its specific brand of focusing on RP, which is why the "a gimmick an episode" format hurt so bad. The CC's aren't pathetic, the wildcards are the problem.

(I hope the CC's feel better after the positive reception they HAVE gotten from the ep, as we still enjoyed the season and storyline they did squeeze in. Joel's ep in particular was still fire inc the final fight, although I dream of the au where Gem makes it to the end with him.)

(Pearl's stream line about "wanting a full convo" says good things about the CC's examining what went wrong and why so many people walked away unsatisfied. It's also sweet that the girlies don't want each other to think they're "pathetic /srs" instead of "pathetic /wet cat." I trust Grian + co. will figure things out for (hopefully) next time.)

[muninnhuginn]

Still weird seeing Twilight be so honest with Yor about struggling to turn his brain off and just *be*. A good kind of weird, of course. I could never imagine volume one Twilight being so open with her (or anyone, really). This chapter was so nice with its references to all the way back then and showing how far they've come since. Still some sneaky Project Apple seeds being laid, of course, but overall, this was a pleasant checkpoint. A little calm before the next storm, which was sorely needed after the last arc

[george-the-good]

KING GEORGE VI in the grounds of Royal Lodge, Windsor, c.1930s

---

FOOTAGE: Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen (BBC, 2022)

[frozen-orbit]

I didn't expect this movie to hit me this hard AT ALL 😭😭😭😭😭 Literally changed my brain chemistry for good 🙏🏻 thank you Pixar

[landwriter]

dead boy detectives is a show whose shortcomings and strengths make total sense when you think of it as a comic on tv, ie terribly goofy expository dialogue that sounds way better when you picture it in comic book font with every other word bolded, panel-paced conversation as our heroes figure out something very obvious, fun enormous monster set pieces that used up all the cgi budget which is why all the rooftop shots look Like That, incredible snap zooms and smash cuts in montages that hit exactly like comic panels, and side characters with bland or brilliant characterization that seems to hinge on the metric of ‘how much cunt did the actor put into their line readings’

[glitter-stained]

In which I am perfectly normal about the Todd Family

One thing I really really love about the Todds (their og post-crisis introduction, not the flying todds or whatever bs recent comics have pushed through) is how they challenge us to question not only our classist prejudice and the way it frames our judgment, but also the moral weight we put behind concepts of abuse, neglect or crime.

Look. The Todds weren't "good parents". Maybe they used to be, when he was little; but there was a point after which Willis Todd didn't take care of his son because he simply was not there, and Catherine didn't take care of little Jason, instead parentifying him and putting an extraordinary pressure onto him as her caregiver. They both criminally neglected Jason and Catherine's death under Jason's care must have been pretty traumatic, after which he found himself completely abandoned.

But what does it mean to be a good parent? Is it to be a good person who is also a parent? Is it to be good at parenting skills? Is it to not abuse or neglect your children and provide enrichment and a good environment to grow in? Is it to try your best with what you have, and hope it's enough? Willis became a criminal because he needed money to feed his family and that landed him in jail, unable to care for Jason. Catherine, whether she died of overdose due to her substance use disorder or cancer or ODed as an attempt to self-medicate the cancer pains with heroin, was unable to care for Jason because of an illness (in the US, which has a horrifying medical system which is systematically violent to everyone but the ultra-rich) and had to rely on him for caregiving until her death. Does that mean they were bad people? Bad parents? Was Catherine a bad mom who tried her best, a good mom in an impossible situation, a good person who was neglectful and/or abusive but never wished to be? Does the concept of good parenting even make sense? Here's a secret about abuse: abusive parents very rarely wish to be. They often don't consider themselves so, explain their actions with justifications regarding their intent to give their child the weapons for a better life, or explain away the responsibility. But they're not wrong: if you're raised in a culture that tells you that beating your children is the way to help them get a better future, it's justified to blame and criticise the culture that told you this, and can you really be called a bad parent when you were only trying to help? Neglect is more frequent amongst the working class, and that statistics is neither a moral judgement nor a classist stereotype: it's merely the logical consequence of a system that fabricates scarcity. Of course you're not gonna feed your child if you don't have the money to feed them -and if you need to feed them and steal the money (or earn it by working as a gangster) to do so, it's a crime, and then you get caught and get sent to jail and can't feed your child anymore. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Jason, upon his introduction, is a stereotypical "bad boy", a young criminal, who steals and doesn't go to school. And tiny baby Jason, from his twelve years and three apple tall, sneers in the face of anticipated moral judgement and says fuck that you don't get to say that, I'm only doing what I need to survive and there's nothing wrong with it, I didn't have any other option that wasn't degrading and dehumanizing. And this is why I like Batman #408 so much: this character, who is so young and funny and cute and goddamn sweet, is introduced committing a crime against Batman; as an alternative to doing crime, Bruce puts him in a school/group home that teaches its students to do crime. How perfectly cool that is as an origin story? It's a literal school that makes criminals (and punishes you violently when you refuse to comply). Bruce was completely well-intentioned, he just wanted to help a wayward child, but when the system itself is fucked up, when the system is actively trying to produce crime, what option does Jason have but to escape again, and go right back to committing the same literal crime? And of course, Jason's trust in Batman-the system-the adults- is broken, to the point where he doesn't expect Batman to believe him and intervenes at the robbery himself.

So is Jason a criminal? Are the Todds neglectful? Yes. Does that make him a bad kid? Does that make them bad people? What about bad parents? How much easier is it to be a good parent, when you have the money to do so?

Anyway I love the Todd family I love the themes and critique they pose I love Ma'Gunn both as Batman's foil and Jason's introductory antagonist I wish Jason's Robin Run carried on exploring these themes I love you Catherine and Willis and Jason Todd I love you Batman #408.

[bi-hop]

They scan my brain and it’s just me rotating this sequence from one of the bonus comics for Dungeon Meshi in horror