#apparently I can't just add things I have to re-do them

[aces-and-kings]

The Aces-and-Kings Carrd (2023)

[theminecraftbee]

Doc's about four beers in by now. It's just enough to loosen his lips, especially with Etho eating most of the pretzels so Doc can't eat them. Compared to almost any other hermit under these circumstances, Doc seems barely tipsy at most, but, well, it's not like Beef needs him drunk to vent his latest frustrations at the world, he just needs him tipsy enough not to notice he's talking.

"--and I just don't understand why people are so surprised, man. You--you all have teased me too much to be surprised!" Doc is saying. "Ren laughed at me. Laughed!"

He also, for the record, seems to need to complain about... apparently his husband? Which is new. Beef had been surprised. He's not going to say so, yet, because this is Doc's very belated NHO bachelor party--can they call it that when it's more "sitting around a TV drinking, eating snacks, and not doing anything because they're all too old to be partying", and when Doc is very clearly not a bachelor?--and that would be rude.

"That dog," Bdubs says loyally. "I can kill him for you. I'm the judge so I wouldn't get arrested and I'd make sure you get all his money as a widow."

"No, you can't kill him, man, I still need him for tax benefits!"

"What taxes?" Etho asks, sounding vaguely panicked.

Everyone stops to consider this.

"Beneficial ones," Doc finally says.

"I don't think that's what--I think you're misunderstanding your English again," Beef says.

"No, I'm always right," Doc says.

They sit in companionable silence for a few moments. Someone shouts on TV. The show is in Swedish. Beef has no idea what's happening. He's honestly just kind of waiting for someone else to notice.

"It's just. I don't get it, man! Why are you all acting so surprised I called Ren my husband? You! You all know me!" Doc says, somewhere between accusing and despairing, and hm, maybe these beers were higher alcohol content than normal, if he's already on despairing? "Ren and I have been--after season eight, making it official, it is only a natural thing, yes? But we had--he's asked to have my puppies. You've heard him say our babies would be beautiful."

"That dog," Bdubs says loyally again, this time in a much more suggestive tone.

"More than once," mutters Etho.

"It's not--I mean, we all knew you and Ren were... how do I put this?" Beef says. "It's not surprising that you two are. Er. Help me out here."

"Boning," Etho says.

"EXCUSE YOU?" Bdubs says, scandalized.

"Yeah. Boning," Beef says. "Doing the horizontal tango. Probably some vertical ones too. I mean, you're definitely into some things--"

"Fighting dragons," Etho dryly adds.

"THAT WAS STILL GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE," Bdubs shouts, apparently over being scandalized and moving straight to offense.

"Two seasons later? Man, you just wanted to wring as much alimony out of me as possible," Doc says immediately.

"And? I'm a judge now, I know these things."

"My point," Beef says, before they can start arguing again, or before Etho can point out that they hadn't ever really been married to get divorced in the first place. "My point. We, uh, all knew you two had a thing. It's just, uh, marriage is... different! It's different, and--"

"You didn't INVITE ME TO THE WEDDING!" Etho says, finally unable to hold it in. "Whyyyyyyyyy? Doc, I thought we were friends! I thought we were friends, Doc! I wanted to go to the wedding!"

"It, it was a little thing," Doc says. "A common law marriage as much as--"

"Hey, wait, why didn't I officiate it, huh?" Bdubs says.

"That's not fair, you can't be mad at me for not inviting you to the wedding, the moon had just exploded!" Doc says.

"It had?" Etho says.

"Yeah, well, I exploded too and I still would have shown up," Bdubs says.

"I don't remember an explosion?" Beef says.

"Wait, the moon did something?" Etho says.

"Focus," Beef says. "Look. Doc. Also, love you man, but I always figured that if anyone was going to propose, it was going to be Ren."

Doc scoffs. "Clearly you don't know my husband, then."

Everyone waits for him to elaborate. Ren, after all, is the one known for dramatic emotional appeals. While Doc is equally dramatic--that's why Beef is throwing a bachelor party for the great fit as opposed to off showing him that Big Salmon can still show someone how to sleep with fishes--he's not exactly great at emotions. Surely, he will elaborate on why Ren would never be the one to propose between the two of them.

He doesn't.

"Anyway, I think it's been obvious for, for years, and you all are morons, and--why is the TV in Swedish?"

"THANK YOU!" Bdubs says. "I thought it would be rude to point out."

"Oh, I like it, though," Etho says as Doc changes the channel to a home improvement show. Yeah, sure. Fits the vibes of this bachelor party as much as anything else. Beef grabs another beer. He pauses.

"Wait, you said a common law marriage. That means you haven't actually had a wedding yet, right?"

"Not really," Doc says.

Beef considers being reasonable, and then he lets it go.

"Dibs on planning it," he says.

"WHAT?" Bdubs says, rounding on Beef.

"I--hey, I didn't agree to this!" Doc says, as Beef begins negotiations with Bdubs. Etho laughs, louder than he normally does, and throws an arm around Doc.

"Let it happen, man. Let it happen."

It's a good party, and a good night.

[hell-heron]

Show VS books - Theon's choice

So, I was hoping to post this for show VS books day and also to have time to rewatch the show to factcheck my impressions, which was not possible as my streaming service failed me, so I welcome any corrections about what I am writing. (Please no insults or like. Objections to the general concept of comparing an adaptation to its source material or of sharing critical thoughts about things you don't like. I think these are fine and fun things to do, if you disagree, just do not read this lenghty tome).

Still, I wanted to talk about the way Theon's choice between fighting with his family and remaining loyal to Robb is framed in the show, even before taking a very obvious Stark-goggles view the way it did in the following seasons. In my opinion, the show handled the ACOk storyline very movingly with great acting and some great writing, but still fell into the trap of conveying a certain amount of "shouldn't it be a no brainer to pick friend who values you over bio family that hates you?" in ways that in many cases weren't the writing's fault as it was impossible for a TV show to convey the same nuances as the book, but in some other cases might have been avoided. Here's how imho:

Theon swearing fealty to Robb explicitely, everyone's favorite bugbear. Not one I am particularly attached to, because really I think Theon's situation of being sent, while technically a hostage, to negotiate an alliance with his father and being refused remains legally ambiguous and kind of unprecedented whether or not he swears specific words of fealty. If he didn't swear it in the books, did he not effectively do it by arranging an alliance with Robb anyway, even though he couldn't know whether that alliance would really work out, meaning it was always a conditional loyalty? If he did, is it really binding/something he had a choice about? Still, it gives a very different impression to the casual viewer.

General less established worldbuilding on the taboo of kinslaying and taking arms against family which is just inherent to the medium of short-season TV show VS enciclopaedic saga and couldn't really be helped

Not seeing Theon's inner thoughts on the matter of family, another thing which can't be helped, which show his attitude as more nuanced as he's very aware and critical of the toxicity of his father and brothers but still has an expectation of being welcomed. Thus the hint that he remembers being loved and valued as a child even in a broken dysfunctional way and so reasonably expects to be again on his return

Ditto re: Theon's thoughts on the political situation of the islands which he does have an understanding of and feels a sense of duty to improve, mixed with the desire for glory and being a hero to his people

Starting with some things that can be helped: absolutely 0 sense of the Islands as being in a crisis, destroyed, in poverty, or being damaged by Robert and Ned's host or having somewhat substantiated desires of revenge, besides the deaths of Rodrik and Maron.

Actually expanding on this point bc the show chose to not get to any extent into what the relationship between Theon and his brothers was like. In the books, Theon remembers being abused by them and only expresses a desire of revenge when it helps justify himself to his family, developing a frequent theme in the books that vengeance is often very much not a simple and natural feeling but selfish and weaponized. The show understandably doesn't get into this sort of thematic/psychological analysis, so why not use the deaths of Theon's brothers as something that has a bit more weight in his choice? It was not difficult or time consuming to add some comment about their childhood or about mourning them etc, not as difficult as doing some of the other stuff I mention on this list lmao. It would have built more sympathy for him.

Theon is apparently getting no official welcome besides his sister's initiative to seduce him (Its possible Balon sent Yara and Yara independently decided to seduce him, but it meshes kind of weirdly with the way she lets Theon in on his own and then makes her cinematic entrance in the middle of the conversation) in the book, while Theon is unhappy with Aeron due to his desire to have his parents welcome him instead and Aeron's change and attitude to him, he's objectively a perfectly good person to send to fetch the heir, as a close family member and a priest with great authority and respect.

Theon has no one who loves him on the islands, no mother, no Dagmer, no childhood friends he finds he can't quite connect with again, no Wex, no men who choose to remain loyal to him at Winterfell. Wex is particularly interesting because, while some interpret the offering of a disabled bastard squire as a sign of the ironborn noble families's disdain for Theon, I think it's actually a fairly normal feudalistic exchange of favors. After all Theon is asked to take Wex on as a squire as payment for his horse, so certainly with the understanding he's doing the Botleys a solid by giving an opportunity to a boy who would otherwise not be allowed many, and Lord Botley later champions Theon's claim against Euron. So this little detail could have been a helpful shorthand for Theon succeeding in developing some kind of relationships and loyalty on the islands which he could think he might have developed if he had time and proved himself

Theon in the show is given a ship for his diversion raids while Yara gets 30 ships that appear to be the entire deployed force (??), which is a lot more extreme than "Victarion gets the whole fleet, Asha gets 30 ships, Theon gets 8". The book arrangement feels like an insult to Theon but is reasonable for someone who was never a captain before and who's unknown to his father. The show arrangement is a lot more of an open insult that doesn't really allow us to understand Theon's hope to improve his standing.

Probably couldn't have been helped, given the tight timeline of the show, but: book Theon gets a shining military success, though one of modest proportions in his victory against Benfred Tallart's sortie, before he undertakes the mission to Winterfell, which makes the plan seem somewhat less dumb. Also taking Winterfell being his own idea rather than it being pushed by show!Dagmer shouldn't have huge weight in this but it does make his choice seem more motivated (by his own rage and revenge, for his own political aims) and less pathetic

Moving the pivotal execution of ser Rodrik so early after Theon's taking of Winterfell undercuts the slow descent into despair and violence that Theon experiences in the books. We're supposed to think Theon made an irremediably wrong choice when he burned the letter to Robb, rather than having several chances to stop himself on the path to becoming a child murderer which he for various reasons doesn't take.

While Alfie and for once imho the writing as well do a great job of conveying Theon's pain and trauma for what he went through at Winterfell, it was evidently chosen not to focus or even explicitely mention outside the worldbuilding videos (iirc) how Ned would have been expected to execute him and his fear of that. Skipping the Beth parley is obviously a factor in this (which I will never understand, btw, it seems so perfectly made for TV...) , but even the very beautiful emotional moments that were scripted to replace it just focus on other things. The dialogue with Master Luwin for example has Theon associate fear with the walls of Winterfell, in a line so good I frequently forget it wasn't in the books, but still there's a writing choice to center a fear that comes from a sense of intimidation and inferiority towards the people who defeated his family rather than the material reality of being constantly up for execution. That completely recontextualises the situation and his relationship to house Stark

The matter of Theon's men loyalty to him deserves some expansion in general because like... GRRM, for all that we tease him for the "what was Aragorn's tax policy" line, does invest much time and attention in portraying in detail the choices of all his leader characters, their popularity and relationships with their followers. So even Theon whose leadership skills are not very important gets the sketch of a nuanced political situation. We know that Theon leads his men into several missions before Winterfell, that he's able to convince Dagmer to support his plan to take Winterfell and that his men follow him in this high-risk mission, that he punishes them for fighting over plunder and for committing rape, that he has some of them killed and that he executes Northmen to give them a semblance of justice and is haunted by both, that he doesn't feel like they would keep the secret of the murdered boys' identity, that they grow restless and ambivalent during their time in Winterfell but still do their duty, that one of them specifically takes issue morally with him using Beth against her father and wishes they could just have an open battle, that he offers them the chance to surrender rather than die with him and they are reluctant to refuse it but most do it. There was never going to be anything like that in the brief plotline of a minor character, obviously, but needing to simplify, was really "they knock him out and hand him over to the enemy" the best simplification? It was for the theme they wanted to convey, which is that there was a right and a wrong choice obvious from the start and that poor Theon, understandably and tragically, chose wrong.

[milniar-problemsolved]

I have still only seen the first episode of acolyte, but because of various reactions I've seen on here I might just not watch the rest?

so instead I'd like to say:

jedi temple sitcom.

padawans having to sneak in/out of the temple in big baskets of string lights and decorations (because there's a festival coming up and the Jedi are in charge of some of it) just to send a package via the Space Mail

the kids running from their crèchemaster to play hide and seek with an unwilling temple guard who tries to corral them back and keep an eye on them until the message goes out to the crechemaster

BAKING SHENANIGANS

"just be careful." "Yes, master." *cut to speeder chase*

Searching for some obscure information in the archives and finding Everything But That

"alright who put their fanfiction in the archives" (it was battlemaster cin drallig as a padawan)

padawans excitedly participating in their padawan friends' homeworld traditions

Jedi knights and masters excitedly participating in their Jedi knight-and master friends' homeworld traditions

"hey how many flips do you think I can make off this wall if I slow myself down with the force?" "One." "No no no I'm thinking at least like... thirteen. Well, only one way to find out!"

"WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOURE ALLERGIC TO ____ I DIDNT KNOW" and also "NO STOP EATING ____ YOURE ALLERGIC. NO YOU CANT JUST FORCE PURGE IT. STOP."

bowling but the pins are on the ceiling. Yes you have to get the ball up there by curving it up a pillar. You can't just float it, you have to do it with style.

Secretly embroidering things onto Jedi knights' cloaks when they're not paying attention.

the caf vs. tea debate that breaks out between the senior padawans Every Year during exam season. Caffeine has been measured. Arguments have been written up and taped to the walls. It's a great stress reliever.

an initiate very much trying to follow the will of the force but apparently the force wants them to make a specific Jedi master watch cartoons. Why.

sneaking in tookas

sneaking in birds

sneaking in various friends

accidentally "sneaking in" an undercover Jedi shadow that a knight befriended who now has to pretend not to know what the temple looks like on the inside because they're socially awkward and don't want to admit to lying

"alright how did you get paint up there. Actually how did you get up there in the first place. And how did you get PAINT?" (A statue now has purple hair and make up. It's re made every time someone tried to get rid of it. It's like the cone on the head of the statue.)

Might add more if I get Ideas

[laporcupina]

Hi! I’m re-reading your SGA stories again and I really enjoy how you made Atlantis your own and populated it with so many characters who feel realized. May I ask, as someone who also writes but struggle with creating and writing OCs, how do you go about creating them and making them interesting? Is there a secret sauce?

First off: thank you! The flippant answer is that my OCs are born out of the lingering trauma of being a fanficcer in the 1990s when every OC, especially every female OC, was assumed to be a Mary Sue until proven otherwise. (Wanna know why some of my SGA stuff is still missing from ao3? Because I thought my OC-heavy stuff didn't belong on the platform. The trauma is real.) My character creation wears those scars.

The more useful answer is to (a) look around you at the people you know and (b) play to your writing strengths.

For (a) I don't mean fictionalize your friends and family, although you should absolutely borrow. Pretty much everyone you know has traits you have identified but don't necessarily think about first when thinking about them: they're funny or they're bossy or they hate vegetables or they are naturally athletic or they are so scatterbrained that they would forget their head if it wasn't permanently attached. They're good at some things, bad at others, they have hobbies and ambitions and desires and all of that factors in to how you interact with them. You send a particular picture/meme/tweet/text to some people and not others for considered reasons even if you don't think too hard about why you make those choices.

This is how you build a character: give them some traits and build their dimensions and have them interact in your world in 3-D. You don't have to do all of the development at once, but start off with a framework, say a thing they are good at, a thing they're bad at, a quirk (not A Quirk, just something notable), and something extremely human about them and see where those data points hit stuff in your story. Example: on Lorne's team, Suarez is introduced as extremely OCD about his gear, a guy who posed for a USMC beefcake charity calendar (and is very tired of getting crap about it), the team's best marksman, and the only one of the three who doesn't speak Spanish. He's the least ambitious and intellectual of the three, but that's not explicit. He doesn't like being in another galaxy and that is.

For (b), playing to your strengths is sometimes working around your weaknesses. I'm terrible at physical descriptions of people -- I can't 'see' people in my head, so I don't describe them in any detail. On Lorne's team, Reletti's blond, Ortilla's gigantic, and Suarez is apparently good-looking enough (or shredded enough) for the calendar. And that's frankly more than most of my OCs get. Nancy Clayton's only descriptor is that she dyes her hair purple. Over in the MCU, I'm pretty sure I've never given Miranda Tung anything beyond a bit of a drawl because she grew up in Greensboro, NC. So I double-down on what I can do and it works well enough. If you can paint word pictures of people, absolutely add them to your character sketches! Just, you know, don't do that thing where you write "the blond said to the brunet" because you don't like using too many pronouns. ;)

[romanestuffsposts]

Hi there love! 💜

Here comes the fic about Christmas, it’s not the bigger one nor the best one but I hope you still like it ❤️

Enjoy!! <33

(Yes I’m a bit late but 🤫)

****

Warnings : fluff, opening present, Christmas mornings, pet names, comfort, reassurance, kisses

Parings : daddies!Stucky ; Daddy!Bucky x Papa!Steve x Little!Reader

Summary : it’s Christmas’s morning! ❄️🎄

****

It's morning Christmas and you couldn't be happier, the night before you couldn't fall asleep for the life of you. Your Daddies thought they were going crazy, you wanted to stay up and to see Santa so you could thank him and ask him how he was doing to grow his beard because you want to have longer hair, you wanted to know his tricks.

It's first morning in a long time that you were up before your Daddies. You usually are a heavy sleeper and they often have hard times waking you up but today it's otherwise.

 You tippy toes to their bedroom and climb in bed with them, you stay perfectly still until you can't take it anymore and jump in the soft mattress.

Your Daddy groans, his eyes still closed. You giggle as you keep jumping, that until a hand wrap around your ankle and make you fall.

You fall in between your Daddies "you're the worst sometimes" your Daddy jokes while wrapping his huge arms around you. You keep laughing while your Papa, who's the cause of your fall, comes closer to you.

You jokingly groan and turn your head away "smell baddddd"

Offended, he puts his hand on his heart and gasps "keep acting like this and you won't open any presents today" he teases pointing at you.

You pull your tongue at him and wiggle your way out of your Daddy's arms. You hadn't forgot what your goal was for this morning;

Wake up ✅

Explaining your dream to Bucksie ✅

Waking up your daddies ✅

Opening present ❌

It's finally the time..

You run downstairs and smile when you see all the presents under the tree.

You quickly drop on your knees in front of it and excitingly wait for your Daddies.

It's not until ten minutes later that you see them walking down the stairs. They thought they would have time to take a coffee to fully wake up but apparently now is not the time.

Once their butts are on the couch of the living room, near the tree, they look over at you and nod "let's see what Santa brought you’’

You squeal and turn around to grab the first gift. Your face got redder and redder the more you open gifts, you notice it was things you couldn't stop looking at through the windows of the stores and now they're in your hands. That's crazy!

You suddenly went all shy after opening the last gift, you're not used to have all the intention on you- except when your home with your daddies- but today felt different.

"what's wrong, princess ?" Your papa frowns when he notices your head low. He's concerned that you don't like one of your gift or are disappointed for any valid reasons.

come mere, wavy re pals me space between them. It took you a moment to get up and climbing on the couch but your Daddies are patient men- sometimes- and gently wait.

"You don't like one of your gifts ?" Your Daddy asks, caressing your hair.

You shake your head because that's not the case, you absolutely love all of the gifts you just received. ‘’Then what's going on ?"

had all gifts I wanted" you mumble, looking down. Your Daddies frown, not understanding

"well if you had the gifts you wanted why are you so sad ?"

because he not here to say tank you"

your Daddies's gaze sotten after ine sweet words that just came out of your throat, your Papa leans down to kiss your head "that's really sweet of you to think of that baby." Yes it absolutely is. Don't feel sad about it, we can write him a letter where you can thank him in and say all the things you want to tell him, how does that sounds ?" Your Daddy adds.

You look up at him "we can ?"

He chuckles and nods his head "of course we can" he learns down and kisses your nose "and we will

Your smile comes back again and you nod your head "otay!"

You jump off of the couch and run upstairs to go grab your pens and papers to write the most perfect letter you can

"Well, that went better than I thought it would" your Daddy sighs.

Your Papa chuckles and pats his thigh "there's still next year"

[pharawee]

Sorry to bug you, but could you give me the cliffs notes on what happened to Best and Chahub and the issues with 9naa? Thank you

Sure thing!

So basically when Best and Chahub's series Check Out first aired on iqiyi it was unavailable to watch in many countries. This prompted the director of the series to give an interview saying that the series was too explicit to show on any other platform such as youtube, and that they were looking into maybe broadcasting it via onlyfans.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with onlyfans and what it's used for, but you could argue that it's a very strange thing to say for a professional director who would probably be better off showing his series on other platforms more suited to traditional longform entertainment (like gagaoolala, the patron saint of queer media 🙏).

Add to that that pornography is illegal in Thailand, and any mentioning of it in an actor's portfolio is probably... not that great.

The director further said that during the filming of the intimate scenes they decided to do away with all protective clothing because it just couldn't be done otherwise (decades of spicy scenes in film beg to differ but ok). The actors were fully naked. They didn't decide this beforehand but directly on set. Many fans have later speculated that due to the stressful and time-sensitive nature of a film set, this might have been coercive and exploitative.

The scenes that were later shown in the series were actually not especially spicy. Certainly not spicy enough to call them "25+". Actually, they were so unremarkable (as far as spicy scenes go) that the series has since been re-released on youtube (albeit probably as a cut version? I'm not sure. I haven't watched it) - the very platform 9naa was so sure would ban them if they even so much as looked at the upload button.

Throughout the whole shock value promotion (because what else could it possibly have been?) the actors themselves stayed strangely quiet. They're apparently on record saying that they value their intimate scenes as art. That's it. There was no further promo. There were no follow-up jobs. Best and Chahub weren't in the special ep (according to mdl Best was but I can't remember him showing up hm). They were either quietly dropped by 9naa or bid their time until their contracts expired.

None of this is especially scummy or even illegal (at least as far as we know). It does leave a sour aftertaste however, because companies like 9naa always have the upper hand over their actors. A lot would have to happen for an (inexperienced) actor to speak up because breaking contracts and NDAs would mean losing their jobs and potentially being blacklisted and/or sued (even Yoon Phusanu only came forward after Y.Ent had already broken contract by not paying him until a set date).

So if a company makes weirdly sensational claims that they later either conveniently forget about or passive-aggressively backtrack on, then that's weird. If they show no interest in promoting their own talent and have a strangely high turnover rate for rookie actors, then that's even weirder.

And this isn't an isolated case. 9naa had a whole series planned with MFlow Entertainment. Beyond the Star was supposed to star actors from both companies, only for MFlow to later finish and broadcast the series on their own due to "differences in vision and work attitudes", editing out as many of 9naa's actors as they could. Weird, don't you think?

And, most recently, Cheque Wacharawee (from 9naa's Venus in the Sky) withdrew from any follow-up projects in a letter posted to his instagram because he had concerns due to work attitudes and couldn't even reach 9naa's lawyer (notice that he too only spoke up after 9naa had already violated his contract). 9naa reacted days later with their own very subdued announcement that has since been deleted. Very, very weird.

Who do you think is to blame here? The actors (most of whom are inexperienced and in Chahub's case haven't really acted since), MFlow (a small but reliable company that makes series that aren't always the most cohesive but at least the actors seem happy 🙏) or 9naa who's at the centre of it all?

Personally, as a fan of both Best Vittawin and Cheque Wacharawee, I've decided to no longer support or watch anything by 9naa. Kiseki Chapter 2 sounds nice and I hope its leads are doing well. Maybe the company has since learned from their previous unprofessionalism but people should at least be aware that they have something of a shady track record.

And if you want to support Best, you can watch his new series Knock Knock Boys which is set to release soon. 💜

[ceescedasticity]

Unforsaken, 11d

(All sections on tumblr)

(AO3, lagging behind but more polished)

While Glorfindel talks further to Eluréd-and-Elurín/Alphsîr-and-Alphlîn and Celeborn hovers awkwardly to the side, everyone else finishes setting up camp and tries not to gossip too obviously.

A top matter of discussion is why Eluréd and Elurín are using different names.

Risyind figures they wanted to use different names to suit the different lives they were taking.

Khitwê suggests they might have thought someone would react to the "Elu" negatively, as he gathers their namesake is somewhat… contentious?

Legolas says Thingol isn't that contentious… but if they didn't want history and politics following them everywhere, well…

Zuste says she was just assuming they couldn't remember their original names.

Oh right peredhil may not experience elvish clarity of childhood memory.

Elladan and Elrohir (and Arwen) actually have very elf-typical early childhood memories, or at least feel like they do. How much that's organic and how much that was helped along by family and community patching up any holes is impossible to say at this point.

Which is to say, both Celeborn and Glorfindel know about the peredhil childhood memory thing, but they don't know know about it. It may not have occurred to them. Elladan figures someone should probably remind them later.

(Sharlinnu thinks automatically forgetting infancy sounds like a pretty good deal at this point but elects not to bring it up and inevitably derail the conversation.)

Gimli as well as the Hirnedhrim had no idea that elves did remember their infancies. Gimli and Zena would like to be able to remember; Zuste and Dyn would not.

"—And I'm surprised you do, Zena. What are you expecting to remember that you would want to?"

"Maybe I want to know if Dielina is telling the truth about baby you biting everyone you met."

(Dielina is five years older than Zena, who is three years older than Zuste. The goblin-men of Dunland mostly came in runs like that — three to eight inside a decade or two, then longer gaps. …While the Fair Orc was busy being dead, apparently.) (There were, of course, a number of older yet siblings around to raise them, at the time. They're just all dead now.)

Elladan steers the conversation onto safer (if irrelevant) ground by starting to recount all the biting Dúnedain children he had Elrohir have met over the centuries.

(The Sons of Fëanor do not say anything.)

(In addition to not wanting to attract attention, Celegorm really doesn't have anything to say.)

(Maglor knows knows about the peredhil childhood memory thing, having been witness to Elrond and Elros realizing they had lost things. They tried not to make a big deal out of it, especially in front of him, but. He knows knows.)

(He also knows that two small children focused on each other will not, necessarily, use each other's names enough to be well reminded of them.)

(Maglor is quite sure they don't remember whose name was whose.)

(He is saying nothing.)

*****

Elladan and Elrohir make the nightly palantír-call to Arwen as quietly and unobtrusively as they can, and report the confirmed arrival of their great-uncles. Swan-uncles.

"They don't seem to want to talk to anyone right now," Elrohir says.

"They don't seem to particularly want to be here," Elladan adds. "I don't think they would have come if Caraxitári — the Queen of the Geese — hadn't pushed them to."

"I think she's hoping they'll… re-acclimate?" Arwen offers.

(Re-imprint. The Queen of the Geese is hoping they'll re-imprint on the correct species.)

"I'm not sure whether there's any chance of that if they don't want to…"

When the conversation dies down, Gimli comes over to see if he can talk to Aragorn for a few minutes. He needs to share Celeborn not only calling Gimli a 'hero of the last war' but calling Gimli's people 'staunch allies'.

"Did he mean my people at Aglon? Erebor? The Line of Durin? Longbeards? He can't have meant all dwarves—"

"Honestly I think he was probably just trying to emphasize that they could trust you specifically…"

Meanwhile Zena is, by popular Zuste and Dyn's request, retelling the story of That Time Four Of Our Siblings Went Up To Those Marshes Where The Border-River Meets The Greyflood And Had A Survival Horror Experience Involving The Local Swans.

****

Glorfindel gets as far as showing Alphsîr and Alphlîn what it looks like when he gathers his power in order to apply it. He's starting to talk them through the process when one of the Geese circles overhead.

"That's Caraxitári," Alphsîr says. "She means it's time for us to sleep."

He still sounds very stiff and awkward but that is definitely disgruntlement.

"If you're living like swans that does make sense?" Celeborn offers. "Would you like to overnight here, or return to the Geese?"

"…We'll stay," Alphsîr says finally.

They turn back into swans, and settle themselves in the grass.

After a while they fall asleep.

Celeborn sits down right where he was standing. "What's the strongest thing we have to drink?"

Glorfindel: "…Sorry, but we didn't think this was the sort of journey that would allow for alcoholic indulgences."

Glorfindel is not saying: Also you and Maglor between you have polished off at least half of Imladris's remaining liquor stores since this whole thing started and I might want some of that at some point, did you ever think about that!

Celeborn: "Legolas Thranduilion. Do you or do you not have a few skins of Mirkwood moonshine somewhere in your baggage."

Legolas: had not realized Celeborn knows about that

Glorfindel: "If you're hung over tomorrow I'm not explaining it to the twins. Either twins."

[neonscandal]

Which villain do you find most interesting? geto, toji, kenjaku or sukuna and why? Thank you for responding, I love your analyses.

Hiiii, thanks for reaching out! I've kinda answered this before but, when it comes down to it? I'm still partial to Geto.

When it comes to the most cunning? Kenjaku takes the cake. Man has been playing the long game and apparently has every base covered with a will that survives generations, bodies and reason.

When it comes to the most unhinged? Sukuna. He serves at the pleasure of his own villainy and doesn't get hung up on morality or purpose. He eats, kills and inflicts harm indiscriminately. A true villain in that sense.

Toji is brilliant at being a mercenary but, ultimately, is simple in his motivation. I think we're missing key pieces of his background story that would make him a more compelling antagonist but, as it stands, he's managed to make a huge impact on the story while still largely being a mystery to us.

What I find most interesting about Geto isn't that he's necessarily the most developed of the bad guys nor was he the most successful (clearly). But his motivations are the most human. Geto was a Good Guy TM. He tried to walk a Righteous Path TM. He wanted to do the Right Thing TM. And the pressure of that drove him off the rails when faced with the fact that... being Good gets you nowhere. His suffering wasn't noble. The people he saved weren't necessarily worth saving. He had to reconcile the untempered worldview of a child with the unforgiving reality of a world that would see him work himself to a demonstratively bloody end. How desperate must the situation to have been to have made such a radical change?

I still think we're missing a great deal of insight into his back story but I'm not sure if we're going to get it, especially since we can understand how/why he "broke bad" without needing to know whether he had good parents or not or how he spent the ten years between becoming a curse user and fighting Yuta. But, from what we do know about him, the gap between who he was and who he died as is a major casualty of the society he was indoctrinated into and should be mourned accordingly. Not to mention the fact that, of the good guys that we generally root for, most of them couldn't completely condemn him in spite of his defection and the violence therein (re: Gojo, Ieri and Nanami).

Isn't that so curious? He should be polarizing with the things that he's done, unforgivable, even. But in the hearts of those who knew him, they still can't bring themself to forsake him which I think is more a testament to how messed up the society that he's operating within is. They must acknowledge the "no way out" aspect of their situation, the onslaught of being outnumbered and overwhelmed, but simply at a loss for how to change it. Geto, as an antagonist, adds a really compelling emotional and moral complexity to the universe in which the story is set.

I also maintain that he is just as critical to the story as we see it now as Toji, Sukuna or Kenjaku because, without Geto, we wouldn't have seen Gojo's imprisonment. He is as imperative as he is undervalued, a necessary catalyst disguised as a pawn.

[aalghul]

I'm not adding this to the post bc I don't wanna invite argument from the OP, but re: the "DC doesn't whitewash bc the batfam is diverse" I can't help but notice the way that the OP stuck to the Main Batfam with two exceptions: Kate Kane and Luke Fox.

I can accept Kate being included in the batfam, but why Luke Fox? Who has ever included Luke Fox in the batfamily?

I'm sure an argument can be made about his inclusion, but like... in that post, it really just reads as the OP trying to shoe-horn in a second black man to add to the diversity argument. At least to me? Because genuinely, why is he on there?

Like. If we're including Luke on this list, then why not Tam? What about Terry and his brother I can't remember the name of right now (I'm an embarrassment), or Helena, or Jean-Paul Valley, or Maps, or Harper? All of them except Helena and maybe Harper (I know nothing about her tbh) arguably have more of a claim to being "batfam."

Also, why did they write about Babs as if she counts toward diversity because....she's a redhead???? Why did OP bring up the percentage of redheads in the world, in a post about WHITEWASHING?

Also, the OP literally bringing up the whitewashing of Damian as...an argument AGAINST the idea that there was whitewashing?

I'm so baffled. How do you write out that post without realizing what the words you're typing actually mean. Why did OP think that making an argument about the batfam even means anything about the broader DC as a company. I can't stop thinking about this sorry for the long ask, it just made me feel nuts

that’s definitely what op was doing because truly why isn’t the rest of the fox family there? it’s not even that luke’s the only fox that’s also a bat….because that’s also not true. it would’ve helped their argument to include the others, but my guess is they don’t know anything about them and (like you said) only included luke because he’s the only black gotham vigilante besides duke they could think of lol

i have to assume that if they’d brought up helena it would be something along the lines of “they made a white character black! but she’s still white because that’s what she was originally of course so she can never actually be white washed” (which is what they said for dick lol)

the red hair thing actually made me want to cry because why are we bringing up white red haired women in a conversation about racial diversity?

well apparently because damian was white washed the first time he appeared (because the al ghuls were only allowed to be as sympathetic as they were in SOTD when they looked white) he should always be white. if white washing is the base and standard then how dare anyone want change. i guess

[tlbodine]

Overthinking Goosebumps

It's been a long, ugly year for me. So I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that I've be craving some intense comfort and nostalgia this fall. Which is, I think, why I found myself gripped by a sudden and intense desire to re-read the the Goosebumps books.

Like every horror-loving Millennial, I cut my teeth on R.L. Stine books. The Haunted Mask was the first chapter book I remember reading, checking it out from the library on a whim. I was 7 years old and completely enthralled.

I spent my weekly $5 allowance on Goosebumps as often as I could and read them from libraries all over the country as we traveled. I didn't have a complete set -- my interest waned by the end of the run, as I'd shifted over to Animorphs -- but I did have a couple dozen of them that I foolishly donated. I haven't touched one of these books in 20 years.

So when the craving hit, replacing my copies felt expensive and daunting. They're collector's items that are worth more than the $3.99 I paid for them in the first place. So I tried to quell my craving by watching videos of people who had done a "read every Goosebumps book challenge," except that just made me want to read them more.

Then I found a bunch of them in audio. They just so happen to be the perfect length to knock out in a day or two of commuting - 2-3 hours per book. A perfect indulgence. I started listening and discovered that not only was I enjoying myself, but that I even had some big thoughts! So, hell, why not blog it?

No promises that I'll blog about every one that I read, and no telling how far I'll make it into the series before my enthusiasm wears off, but for now...I'm overthinking Goosebumps.

So follow along at the "#overthinking goosebumps" tag and come tell me about YOUR experience with these books!

Some General Notes

There are a few things that are kind of a given for every Goosebumps book, which I'll acknowledge here so I don't have to re-tread the same ground over and over in future reviews:

Every chapter ends on a cliffhanger. A lot of those cliffhangers are fake "gotchas" and a lot of the stories rely heavily on practical joker characters in order to add some conflict. Sometimes this is more annoying than others, but I can't really fault Stine for doing it. These were pulpy books for young reluctant readers. When you're 7 years old, this kind of stuff keeps you engaged.

Every book has a twist. At least, most of them do. Some of these twists are better than others. I'll probably talk about a lot of them, but just...you have to go into this anticipating that a lot of these books are shaggy dog stories.

Adults are useless. That's just middle-grade fiction for you. Kids don't want to read about parents solving problems. They want to read about kids having cool adventures.

Oh yeah - I also may mention the TV show from time to time, but I was not much of a fan of the show. I know a lot of other people are nostalgic about it, but I didn't like it as a kid and it certainly hasn't aged well. The effects look cheap, the acting is uniformly terrible, and the episodes generally aren't well-adapted from the books. So sorry if I piss on your parade when I bring up episodes in relation to the books. The theme song is a banger though.

The average Goosebumps book is around 20-25k in length. Stine released a new one every month for the entirety of its 62-book run. He was writing these in a couple weeks. EDIT: Apparently he did employ some ghostwriters, which is news to me and makes me sad, but I still respect him anyway. His background in magazine and TV writing really shows through with these, both in terms of speed, process, and humor.

(I admire the hell out of R.L. Stine. I got to very briefly meet him at NYCC and thank him for his influence. It was great.)

Ok. Fangirl flexing over.

Looking forward to re-visiting these books and giving some of the ol' classic T.L. Bodine deep-dive treatment to them ;)

[angelwiththeblue-box]

clothes sharing ….

i acknowledge that this has been sitting in my askbox for like two years however we're moving on from that (also this is so much longer than intended <3)

.

Chase was very particular about clothes. The texture had to be right, the size had to be right, it couldn't be too thick, and he couldn't layer certain clothes. He specifically re-tailored his mission suit so he could wear it without feeling like he wanted to rip it off. (He did appreciate the almost tank top design, with the leather cutting off at his shoulders to give way to a stretchier fabric. Still protective and more mobility.)

It wasn't like he was insistent about his clothes being a certain way just to be obnxious, he knew how people already saw him, no need to add fuel to the fire, it was just... how he was.

So when Kaz came around and started wearing his shirts (not on purpose or in any sort of malicious way, he just... grabbed the first shirt he saw, whether it was Oliver's or Chase's, and called it good) Bree shot him a look, wondering why he was letting Kaz do this, knowing that the shirt might be different after Kaz took it off, it would feel different, or be stretched out.

Unfortunately, Chase was very gay and Kaz looked really cute in Chase's clothes. (This was, to be clear, long before they started dating. Chase had a tendency to fall fast, feelings slamming into him like a bullet train and Kaz in his shirts was not helping said feelings.)

It was fall. Not cold weather, but cold enough that it warrents a jacket. Chase was the smartest man alive, he checked the temperature before the five of them went out. (It wasn't anything fancy, one of Skylar's friends was having a birthday party, it was mostly superheroes, but a couple of bionic heroes made the invite list, and a few regular people too, normos as the Mighty Med trio call them)

He had a good outfit for the day temperature, but as night fell and Chase and Kaz were heading back to the tower, the cold was starting to seep into his bones. (Oliver was hanging out with a couple of superheroes, and Skylar and Bree had beelined for the dance floor the moment they arrived.) Kaz leans on Chase as they walk down the streets, city life filling the silence the way it never did back in Mission Creek. Their hands brush together and a spark shoots up Chase's arm, and he's suddenly thankful for the darkness so Kaz doesn't see his face heat up.

"You cold?" Kaz asks, his shoulder nudging Chase's, and Chase shakes his head, trying to hid his shivering. "Chase."

"A little. But it's fine, we're almost at the Tower anyway." Chase says. (They still had about twenty more minutes of walking. Chase didn't mind the walk, he liked hanging out with Kaz. He wasn't as big a fan of the cold. Curse his California blood.)

"It's not fine, c'mon Chasey, you told me you'd tell me things!" Kaz whines. Technically, he told the team he'd let them in when he started feeling like... well like shit, but apparently it can be applied to feeling kind of cold too.) "Here, take my jacket." Kaz pulls off the sweater he's wearing, a dark maroon that complemented the white button up he had on underneath.

Chase immediately protests, "Kaz, Kaz, no, I'm fine."

"Liar." Kaz shoves the sweater into Chase's arms and works on cuffing the sleeves on the button up, one of his burn scars curling down his arm. "Chase, if you don't take the fucking sweater I will light myself on fire, so please just put on the sweater."

"Kaz-"

"Chase." Kaz's voice softens and he rests a hand on Chase's arm. "It's okay to let people help you, you know."

Chase nods, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. He pulls on the sweater, preparing for the scratchy feel that certain sweaters have, but it doesn't. It's soft and worn out, and the sleeves are long enough that he won't pull on them. Chase knows, logically, that it was just luck that Kaz wore a sweater that Chase could stand to put on his body, but in his traitorous heart, he can't help but wonder if Kaz-

"I can feel your brain working from here, Smarties. I did notice your aversion to fabrics, I'm not an idiot." Kaz shoots him a smile, one that lights up the city and Chase wants to melt. "Now, c'mon." Kaz holds out his hand to Chase, who takes it with a small smile. "I think maybe we should have a movie night, just us. You warming up, Chasey?"

Chase nods, the heat emanating from Kaz better than any sweater.

[bellofthemeadow]

Summer of '03 | Joel Miller x Female Reader

Series Masterlist

Rating: M for Mature (18 + no minors allowed)

Word Count: 2.8K

Warning: All warnings on the Series Masterlists, will update if necessary (Re-iterating, no minors allowed! Thank you)

Chapter Summary: You finally arrive in Texas, a world so different from your home in New York. You find that living next door is a man who confuses you. You can't figure out if he's just a stereotipically angry Redneck or the man of your dreams. Ah well, you've got the summer to figure the puzzle that is Joel Miller.

Notes: Hello everyone, welcome to my new story :D This one is going to be quite different from my last story as I am delving into the realm of enemies to lovers! I am so excited as I don't think that any other PedroBoys fits the bill las well as Joel Miller!!! LMK what you think of it, I always love to read what you think of my work and I would also be really stoke to speak with all of you.

I am also working on a taglist at present, so I should make a post probably tomorrow, so if you want to be added to the tagged post, let me know and I'll be happy to add you!

Hope you all enjoy :D

Welcome to Texas

Apparently, your entire life fits neatly into an 8x6 cardboard box, which is somewhat embarrassing. When you made the spontaneous decision to uproot your life and leave New York, little did you know that packing would only take 25 minutes and leave you with so little. However, every item inside that box was a testament to your independence. You had purchased each item with your hard-earned money, not relying on your parents or receiving them as gifts from an ex-boyfriend. Every single thing inside that box was truly yours.

As you set down the box in front of the small suburban house, you squint your eyes taking in your new home for the foreseeable future. You had to admit, it had a certain charm that you found refreshing. The tiny house was a stark contrast to the high-rise condo your family had in New York or the overly opulent summer home in the Hamptons where you’d spend your summer. This place felt nice and quaint, exuding a sense of simplicity that you were craving. The row of houses boasted a similar style, either one or two floors tall, constructed with reddish-coloured brick. The driveways were impressively large, accommodating even bigger trucks. It really does seem like 'everything is bigger in Texas'.

Everything about this neighbourhood screamed quiet suburbia. Since it was still early afternoon on a Sunday, you spied some kids zooming down the street on their bikes like a wild bunch of Tasmanian devils, while a cluster of older ladies powerwalked on the sidewalk and seemed deeply engrossed in their gossip. The sight made you chuckle, they kind of looked like a swarm of salmon with their pink velour tracksuit. You were kind of impressed. In this heat, the only thing you wanted to do was lie down on the cold floor for at least two hours or stick your head in the freezer for a minute—the jury was still out. But that was probably because of your New Yorker sensibilities. Most of the people you spotted going about their day seemed completely unfazed by what you would categorize as temperature from at least the 4th circle of hell.

You sighed and put your arms high above your head, interlacing your fingers and giving your back a much-needed stretch. As depressing as the sight of the lone cardboard box holding your entire life was, you were glad that you didn't have a lot of stuff to take with you from New York. The drive had been almost unbearable. As a New Yorker, you didn't have many opportunities to drive that often, and this trip had actually been the first time you had driven your brand-new Alfa Romeo GT. It was a Christmas gift from your grandma, chosen for both sentimental and practical reasons, and you decided to take it with you as you up hauled your life to literally the other end of the country.

No one in your family had understood why you wanted, no, needed to leave, except for Granny Mabel. While your parents scolded you as if you were still a pigtailed little girl, timidly requesting seconds at dinner, Granny Mabel simply glanced at you, winking beneath her oversized Givenchy glasses, as she took a generous sip of her red wine. In that fleeting moment, you knew that no matter what unfolded, you would have the approval of the lionesses of New York’s Upper East Side.

But after what felt like three days of almost non-stop driving, you were ready to declare that you didn't even want to look at your car for at least a week. You felt like you had your share of driving to last you a lifetime. Although you knew that wouldn’t really be possible. After all, Texas was not known for the same kind of public transportation as New York. Ah well, when in Rome—or in this case, Texas.

As a few neighbours started to cast curious glances your way, you became aware of the possibility that loitering around an empty porch on an early Sunday afternoon might raise suspicions. You opened your handbag and rummaged through it, moving aside packages of half-eaten candy bars, a couple of lipsticks, emergency wet wipes, and tampons before you finally found the paper your friend Robbie had given you before you left three days ago.

Scrawled in your friend's messy chicken scratch, were an address and a name: "Joel Miller." Beneath it, a hasty note explained, "Joel was Great Aunt Ruth's neighbour. He was helping her with the property ever since he and his daughter moved in next door. We asked him to hold onto the keys until someone could come to take care of the house after Aunt Ruth passed away. Joel knows you're coming. Take care, my dear, and I'll miss you. New York won't be the same without your judgy ass!"

A smile spread across your face as you read the words. Robbie had been the most important part of your life in New York. You both met during your first year of college. You were studying pre-med, while he pursued performing arts at NYU, dreaming of a future on Broadway. Instantly, you connected with each other. Despite your family's legacy of surgeons, you had always yearned to be on the stage. So, in your first year, you took a theatre elective and met Robbie. The two of you became inseparable. His apartment in Brooklyn provided a refuge from the suffocation you felt at home, and you ended up spending most nights there. By the fourth month of your friendship, you even started contributing to some of the utilities, although Robbie insisted you didn't have to. But you didn't mind. Your parents had money, and you used a lot of hot water, so it was the least you could do.

And now, here you were, on the other side of the country, ready to take a break and maybe have some fun! You silently prayed to any gods out there, hoping they would listen and guide you toward figuring out what you truly wanted in your life. Happiness seemed to be slipping away with each passing day, and you hoped this summer would bring some clarity. You looked back down at the piece of paper, making a mental note to call Robbie once you got inside the house to thank him and reassure him that you were alive after that long trip.

For now, you needed to escape the scorching heat before you melted away. Your hair was beyond recognizable because of the frizz humidity brought out, and sweat patches were forming under your armpits. You cringed at the situation but tried to reassure your growing anxiety: "Who cares what Joel Miller thinks? You thought. You've been through more embarrassing moments than being sweaty in front of a middle-aged dad." Memories of laugh-snorting vodka cranberry all over your crush Colin Robertson's shirt at a post-finals party two years ago came rushing back. You were convinced you had permanently stained his favourite white Lacoste polo with cranberry, judging by the disdainful looks he had given you ever since. So, dealing with a middle-aged redneck should be a breeze in comparison.

You hurriedly made your way to the neighbouring house, desperately hoping that Joel Miller would be there. The thought of being stuck outside indefinitely made you want to cry. You tugged at your jean shorts, which clung uncomfortably to your sweaty thighs, and adjusted your oversized "1991 - Walt Disney" t-shirt, a hand-me-down from your older brother. You tied it in a knot at the front, revealing a sliver of midriff. It dawned on you that you needed to buy more weather-appropriate clothes—an item added to your ever-growing to-do list.

As you stood in front of Joel Miller's house, you hesitated. What if Robbie had forgotten to inform him about your visit? Would Joel think you were some kind of psychopath? He’d definitely think you were a little crazy. Taking a deep breath, you firmly knocked on the wooden front door. When, after a solid minute, there was no response, a sinking feeling of disappointment washed over you, suggesting that Joel Miller might not be home after all. You decided to try ringing the doorbell—once, twice. As you debated whether to attempt a third ring or call Robbie, you heard noises from behind the door, followed by a loud exclamation, "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, give me a minute!"

You felt yourself turning pale, and you began fidgeting with your rings, mentally preparing yourself for whatever was about to happen next. The door was ripped open, and your temperature skyrocketed as you faced the man in front of you. Joel Miller was... not what you expected. He loomed before you, tall and imposing, with a mess of dishevelled brown hair crowning his head. What you first noticed was the broadness of his shoulders, it made your mouth go dry as you started to imagine what it would feel like to hold these shoulders in the throws of passion. You could almost picture yourself under him, naked and sweaty, holding unto him and leaving kitten scratches on his powerful back. Your eyes started to take the man in front of you, he was clad in low-hanging sweatpants, his powerful thighs and defined waistline were accentuated. Your gaze was transfixed on him, unable to look away. You were certain you spotted what had to be an impressive bulge in the front of his thin pants and you wanted nothing more than the check if he was as well endowed as he seemed to be. Joel Miller was a man unlike any you had encountered before, emanating a potent blend of masculine confidence and ruggedly handsome charm. You felt insignificant and childlike in your own outfit. What would he think of your sweat-soaked Disney shirt, your perspiring face, and your overall dishevelled appearance? You wished you could rewind time and change into one of your nice little baby-doll dresses, the one that deliciously played on innocence and sinful seduction, you always felt your most confident in them. At least, you wished you had freshened up before meeting this man. Your mother had always emphasized the importance of first impressions, and now, as you observed the fury in his warm brown eyes, it seemed like you had utterly shattered any chance of making a favourable first impression.

The deep baritone of his voice snapped you out of your reverie, as he demanded, "Who the hell are you?" You stammered, "Ehh, I am so sorry to bother you..."

"You better not tell me you some kinda salesman? 'Cause if ya woke me up from the only full sleep I’ve had in two weeks to sell me some bullshit air conditioning, Imma get real fuckin' mad!” You gulp and squirm under his angry stare. "I reckon the appropriate term is salespeople, to be inclusive, you know." Your voice squeaks in an embarrassing sound. What the hell was wrong with you? You weren't some kind of shrinking violet, but at this moment, under Joel Miller's hard stare, you felt like dying. Or at least digging a hole and hiding inside.

"I am really sorry to bother you, Mr. Miller," you try to muster a modicum of confidence, "I am a friend of Robbie Levitt." When Joel's face remained impassive, you felt like it was his permission to keep going. "He is… was Ruth Kaplan's nephew… ehh, the lady who lived…"

"I know who Mrs. Kaplan is," Joel Miller cuts you off and stares at you, squinting his eyes. "You that rich kid from New York?" You feel yourself groan inside, fucking Robbie babbling about your business to everyone. As much as you loved the guy, he was a complete gossip. You simply nod your head, feeling quite unable to say anything, completely tongue-tied.

"You’re late," Joel Miller's words are biting and sharp, and they are cutting into you, making you feel small and childish. "Late for... what? I'm not sure I follow," you say softly.

Joel Miller sighs loudly and shakes his head. "That Levitt kid told me you'd be here yesterday evening, waited late for you to come around, princess." You feel yourself grow even hotter, either from the embarrassment of seeming flaky or from the nickname; you aren't sure yet.

"Oh," you softly say. "I am sorry, I didn't realize. Robbie just said to be here over the weekend. I didn't realize you'd wait for me."

"So , what? You thought that because you some kind of rich important lady from the city you could waste my time? ‘Cause I’m just some redneck contractor from Texas, right? Who cares if you waste everyone’s time, imma right?” His stare is hard and you don’t know what to do or say without making him even more mad. “It’s not like that, I never thought… I am really sorry.” You settle for, thinking it’s your best bet so as to not antagonize him further.

A low growl, “It's fine," he responds curtly and abruptly. It doesn’t sound fine; you think as he looks like he is 5 seconds away from slamming the door in your face. But my god, everything about this man is hard, his words, his face… his body. You don't know if you should love it or hate it, but as your eyes fall to his hard pectorals you feel yourself falling into the former category. "Wait here." He disappears inside his house before returning with a set of keys he promptly drops into your hands. "Here you go."

"Thank you ever so much, Mr. Miller. And I am really sorry again about last night… And for waking you up and everything" You cringe as a dismissive twitch of the head serves as his feeble reply. As you pivot away, trudging along in a pitiful display of humiliation toward Ruth's house, the air fills with Joel Miller’s deep voice once again “Here's a life tip, sweetheart. When someone doesn't answer the door, maybe ya need to take a hint. Not all of us can afford endless days off or live in a rent-free house. Some of us have real jobs, princess, and those of us that do appreciate every bit of peace we can get.”

You feel like crying, tears gathering up in your eyes, but you won't let them fall. You won't give Joel Miller the satisfaction of knowing that he made you cry. So, you settle, "Sure... I apologize for everything. I didn't mean to be a bother." No answer, so you take it as your cue to leave, feeling dismissed like a child at school.

You turn around and try to muster your best fake smile, the same one you used for your mother and father and give a little wave. "Hope you can get back to sleep soon. I'll make sure to not be in your way again." And you scurry away as fast as your legs can.

Summer of fun and discovery is off to a great start, you think sarcastically, as you rip Aunty Ruth’s door open and let the tears fall. Goddamn it, why did you have to antagonize the most handsome man you'd ever seen in your entire life? Joel Miller, you think. You should despise him. He was unnecessarily mean and condescending. Sure, you had been in the way, but how were you to know he would be sleeping at 1 pm on a Sunday? You groan, at this point anyway, he probably loathed you. Yet, strangely enough, you had never encountered a man who could twist your insides as intensely as he did. In the 5 minutes conversion you had with him, you felt your inside growing hot and your belly erupting in a million of butterflies. You wonder what his eyes would be like if they weren’t hard and angry. They were brown and warm, so you imagined how they would feel raking over your skin with longing or desire. Yeah, that’s not going to happen, you think as your mind cringes back to the awful words he said.  

Joel Miller. Even the mere sound of his name left a strong, lingering flavour in your mouth. You squirm, feeling conflicted, not knowing whether to yearn for his strong domineering presence or simply try your best to avoid him like the plague this summer. You shake your head, you'll sort out your feelings, or whatever hormones this man triggered, later. Right now, you just need to find the damn freezer and try to cool down. However, after meeting Joel Miller, you're well aware that the fire inside you will continue to burn hard for some time.

Next Chapter

[blackstarchanx3new]

Creations AU, But I obnoxiously over explain it PT 3

Pages 61-90

Back at it again with Mike and his silly little adventures in Freddy's.

Huh.

What'd you see.

Stop being vague.

Who are these creepy masked people???

The bullies from FNAF four

Damn if only there was an entire side comic FNAF 4 cough cough I made about them that will explain that lol. We'll get to the side comics I promise. ;)

Whatever he saw, he's terrified to re-live.

Ouch.

Someone got hurt-

What the hell are you apologizing for exactly?

What'd you do?

None of those people in the masks were you...

We can tell cause they actually had a skin tone lmfao.

Oh that could use some cream.

So that's why "the bite" kept making Mike uncomfortable...

This kid got his head munched on.

And it wasn't ACTION but LACK of action he's cowering in fear from a child over.

Side note this panel out of context is hilarious and I won't pretend it's not.

Hi Bonnie! :D

He is the best.

Damn okay.

What's reality?

Ominous poster of the yellow Freddy for sure isn't important.

Haha Mike ya have episodes like this often? Often enough he composes himself afterwards.

He's utterly bamboozled Bonnie apparently SAW the kid he was chasing so...maybe.

That smirk is unsettling.

So this part of the building used to be "Fredbear's" the place Michael's favorite animatronic "Spring Bonnie" is from and mentioned earlier. Fredbear is clearly the one who bit the child.

I'd be scared too Bonnie thousand yard stares are concerning.

That's hysterical coming from the clearly possessed giant rabbit but go off I guess-

He's obviously trying to make Mike feel better which is nice of him. UwU

Aww. Hug how sweet.

So now we know a bit more about Mike. Let's review:

This nameless kid Mike saw die was obviously Michael's brother Cody Afton from all the context clues we've been given:

Mike's reaction to Micheal bringing up Fredbears, due to it being a traumatic event.

Cody being "Bit"

Mike doesn't seem TOO sure they're the same person but we know it is.

Mike blames himself for not doing anything at the time to stop Cody's head from getting crunched.

Mike's grasp on reality is...Flimsy. Self admittedly he thinks it's flimsy and he knows when he needs to go home when it's too much.

Mike is desperate for comfort over his trauma with Freddy's and Bonnie's a cool dude who'll give it.

You'd think Bonnie would be a bully from his intro but he's actually a super caring guy, he just can't stand people who purposely cause problems.

Bro comes in clutch with the hugs.

You can see why Freddy would run to this guy to solve issues haha.

So from those first panels we know 1 thing:

He had no clue Ennard was in the room with them. So add stalking to the list of creepy things that clown robot has done so far.

My god it's an old man-

He's Micheal's dad! :D William Afton!

Alright I'm gonna stop being goofy and vague for a moment:

It's obvious he's evil as fuck and for the people who like to bitch he has a personality in this comic or ANY media where people give William a personality: Stop making excuses as to why you write him one note you cowards, you can give him a personality without condoning what he does lmfao. Only a bad writer would say you HAVE to make him one note for him to work. Fucking morons actually you are stupid if you believe that.

If you wanna make him cartoonishly evil with NO redeeming qualities: Cool. Whatever. Just shut the fuck up don't act like yours is "Better" because you can't think of ways to make him anymore interesting.

Everyone's William caters to their tastes. Nobody's is PERFECT. I only judge stupid vapid bitches who complain about other interpretations while blowing smoke up their own asses. Because an ego isn't pretty on anyone lmfao.

The idea giving William a personality makes you a terrible writer/person needs to die I'm sorry that's such a stupid as fuck idea idk who came up with it but kindly stop writing and stop giving writing advice. UwU With love~ From me!~

Anyways I've spoiled William is a bad person who does a bad thing, Won't say what yet but all the death in the building can give ya some ideas. And apparently because William is bad guy there's "Rules" on how to write him. From a bunch of 12 year olds who dunno how to write but I digress.

I detest the idea of that. Because let's be real all FNAF characters are blank slates and the idea of squashing creativity is dumb. Literally go wild with your FNAF AUs.

Rant aside: William seems to be a bit of...An ass.

Just slightly manipulative and rude language towards his only living child it's fine-

Ah yes. He also demands physical affection.

We get Michael's age, he's 23 aka still a damn baby.

Also, William and Michael are British.

Since we're on voices:

Mike Schmidt would sound like Legoshi from Beastars lmfao. I imagine Bonnie with a new York accent. Freddy sounds like a lady.

We finally get to see what Ennard and Michael interact like together...

Michael doesn't seem to put up with him.

Ennard's kind of a prick.

Also apparently they have a HISTORY.

One that involves Michael talking shit about his father...

For people who know shit about the games: Yes Ennard is possessed by the same person from the games.

Hah Michael tricked him.

Okay so everyone in Michael's life is manipulative towards him.

Neat.

Also Ennard is a raging hypocrite.

Also conformation William is an owner not just a robot maker. (Can't remember if this was brought up earlier again some of these pages are 2 years old lmfao)

Also this comic assumes you got SOME Fnaf knowledge. I'd hope it's still interesting for those of you who are here for my other stuff! XD

Like ouch Ennard ya don't gotta be such a jerk.

Also Mike is cute.

This panel unironically is one of my favorites because this man doesn't scream in terror at any of the terrifying robots:

It's the gay guy he's trying to befriend he screams like a little girl at.

Another help wanted joke about the Faz token under the cupcake in the office.

Michael just wants to hang out with Mike obviously.

Despite all the shit he's clearly going through dude puts on a very pointy smile.

This man is built like a cat.

Lol they made pizza together. How cute.

Hah bro is apologizing for something he didn't even do nor has control over-

Is it obvious Michael is abused yet?

Going real unsubtle here: Everything about Michael shows off he has been abused in some way shape or form.

Michael wants to think he's being friendly for reals despite clearly having second thoughts due to Ennard.

Bro is desperate for a connection with someone.

Also

Pff.

Mike c'mon Bonnie's so sweet how could you- X'D

Few things: William doesn't "Let" Michael do things.

If it wasn't apparent he was controlling as hell before it sure is now.

Also Michael is embarrassed of his interests.

Also the locker:

Again we see an instance of Michael going by "Mike" as his locker literally just has a piece of paper tapped over it adding the rest of his name lmao.

Michael is used to being toyed around with that is sad.

Bonnie continues to be a sweetheart even when he's off screen. X'D

Mike attempts to relate to Michael's interests once again.

Also another instance of Bonnie lying his ass off about how close Michael and him are:

He knows Michael's locker combination and puts gifts in there lmao.

Mike clearly likes that plush a lot. Maybe he likes Chica a lot lmao. Who knows.

One thing to note:

If Michael's working day shifts and night shifts...when does he sleep?

Grant it, it isn't ALL THE TIME but still bro's sleep schedule must be OBLITERATED.

Oh hi giant floating head in the hallway you're stalking Michael too huh?

This is just two sides of someone's brain arguing with itself that the entire positive interaction they just had was terrible AND the other party hates them.

And that comparison only makes more sense down the road.

Yeah Michael you tell him. You don't need to take that from him.

Jeremy's a cool dude.

Also the fact the kids pay no mind to this argument is funny.

Also Ennard taking genuine offense to Jeremy being a better friend lmao. Anyone can be a better friend than Ennard. X'D

We hit the image limit but oh boy. So much joy in this update.

[dilfiam-afton]

Do you take one-shot requests? I was wondering if you could maybe write William reacting to the reader kissing his scars? I really enjoy the one you wrote with William being insecure and the idea of the reader kissing his scars popped into my head

Why yes I do!

"It adds character"

Summary: Just because William hates his looks doesn't mean you can't love them, right?

Per usual, I try to keep this as gender neutral as I can, and the reader is of age!

It was a lovely, yet (unfortunately for you) rather early summer morning in Hurricane, Utah. The sun wasn't up yet, and it was rather cold in the early mornings. Well...You wouldn't be up so early anyways if it wasn't for William! William loves starting his days super early; waking you up with soft kisses, before he moves on to take his morning shower while you prepare breakfast for the two of you and then finally, have breakfast together before he needs to leave for work. And with William being the tradition loving man he is, he expects adores it, when you lay his clothes out for him in the morning. Gestures like that make him feel more appreciated - but today you forgot.

So, naturally, you decide to fix your little mistake before he takes notice by simply laying his clothes out now. You snuck into the bathroom, balancing a neatly stacked pile of clothes in one hand, using the other to open the door. Apparently you hadn't thought of fixing your mistake early enough because William had already finished his shower and was now standing in front of the bathroom mirror, applying some sort of ointment to his springlock scars. The man chuckled to himself upon looking at you through the mirror. "Thank you, love. Almost thought I had to get my own knickers!" you jokingly rolled your eyes at him before giggling. "Would it have killed you to, though?" you joked along to which William replied with an exaggerated nod. "What is that lotion anyway?" "Oh, this?" he held up the little tin of ointment, the label on it read 'scar ointment' "this is s'posed to make up for the dumb mistakes you made when you were younger which left you permanently disfigured!" and even though he said it in a sing-sang, joking tone you didn't feel he meant it lightly.

"Oh..come on now, Darling." you stepped closer to the man, already having placed his clothes on the bathroom shelf, "you're not disfigured!" "what else would you call all this, then?" william wildly gestured all over his scarred body. You shrugged, letting a finger run over one of the many scars of his back. "I'd say-" "careful there!" you quickly pulled your hand back, startled by his sudden loud voice. "I'm sorry, Dear. They're just sensitive" william quickly apologized "ah I see. Is that what that lotion is for?" "What, the ointment? No. It's supposed to make them look less...obvious, brutal." oh. After a few brief seconds of silence, you simply asked him why he'd want them gone. He chuckled "why would I not? Not exactly pretty, are they?" "well I like them!" you quickly blurted out - "they make you unique! Just like the small toothgap you have. It's just those little things that...I dunno..just add character"

"If you say so." was all he replied before he continued massaging the ointment further into his skin. For a brief moment you just stood there, not knowing what to do. Did you offend him? Sighing, you did the only thing that came to mind - pressing your lips to his scars tenderly, before reaching around him to get some of the ointment to help him with the scars on his back. At first he tensed up as your little lips first met the tender flesh but he quickly re-gained his posture. The both of you stayed in comfortable silence and all his scars were now kissed and well covered in the ointment you left to start breakfast.

A few minutes later you already found William sitting at the table, smiling sheepishly. "What are we having?" "Eggs and bacon on toast sound alright?" "It'll do" "Did I upset you?" William let out a long sigh before replying "not really, no. I'm more upset with myself than anything. See, I used to be the charming, handsome businessman. And now? People think I'm hideous, an Idiot, even! Every so often children at the diner ask their parents 'what happened' upon seeing me and more often than not their parents reply with something like 'things like that happen when you do something that's dangerous and dumb for money!'" he let out a huff "I just don't like the way things turned out for me. After the accident, my ex wife didn't want to touch me anymore. My own children were afraid of me! Even henry would sometimes grimace in disgust when I rolled up my sleeves and he saw the scars." You put a plate with food in front of him, before gently wrapping your arms around his shoulders as he sat and just simply started eating. "Sorry anyways. Not your problem, I know. Situation just really bothers me is all.." "awh..I get that" you kissed his temple, caressing him, silently comforting the while he complained until he had to leave for work.

You were even more determined to make him feel loved than ever now.

{Should I make this a mini-series as well, maybe? Y'all tell me. Anyway! I'd suggest anyone who wants to send in a request of their own to look at my rules, I pinned them :3}

*1 - LOOK AT HIS LITTLE TOOTH GAP AWJWJWJQJE

Also! Nuudels William and I have the same teeth. So does Willem DaFoe.

Picture belongs to @6simp_nuudel9 on instagram

[soup-du-silence]

YES TUMBLR, I KNOW YEO TAGGED ME, IM AWARE, YOU DONT HAVE TO SEND ME A PUSH NOTIFICATION EVERY HOUR, I WAS AT WORK!!!!

Taico tagged me too apparently but I didnt get a notif for that??? ok

Last Song: The DJ is Cryng for Help. Excited to be the oldest bitch at the AJR concert this summer.........again lol. Love/hate relationship with the new album but they put on a good show

Favourite Colour: red! I need to re-dye the red in my hair I am considering this a reminder.

Currently watching: We've been on youtube lockdown pretty much ever since Vanguard debuted, but with the boys in japan for holofes/their upcoming 3D debuts, their schedules have been inconsistent. Alisa's a very hardcore Betellion meaning if Bettel's streaming she has him playing on at least two screens simultaneously and is active in chat, and Im a very normal Hakkito meaning I usually get through like 65% of Hakka's streams, eventually, if I have time. We'll throw on Shinri or Altare if we're caught up or there's nothing else happening. I made the mistake of introducing Alisa to HBomberguy and she's been filling the gaps with her 500th rewatch of the Plagiarism or Pathologic vids while the stars are busy. But also we're watching Dungeon Meshi! Izutsumi soon!!!!!

At this precise moment in time Alisa's watching the new JapanEat upload. (We love this guy)

Sweet/Savoury/Spicy: Spicyyyyyyy I love spicy Im a terrible cook and i only know how to season with cayenne. i dont know when exactly i started equating "flavor" with "pain" but it is what it is. I'm kind of reaching the stage in my life where I need to be more careful about what I put in my gut because sometimes just too much pepperoni will fuck me up for 24 hours but also what if I ignored my aging body and didn't do that?

Relationship status: I've been with Alisa for 15 years! We met in the Meet the Robinsons fandom on livejournal/deviant art

Current Obsession: Four years late to the party Twisted Wonderland finally got its hooks into me! (Add me on EN: ZyEdsarR) I'm very mentally unwell about Scarabia. None of the fanfic on AO3 is scratching the itch so I'm spending too much money importing doujin. It's great but it takes a month to get like eight books and oops one of them is just a straight up fanfic and im sure its banger but I can't google translate my way through 60 pages of japanese text, one of them is solid porn which, yknow, cool, but it was probably something I was in the mood for when I placed the order a month ago and now I want story, and I have to sit down at my desk with good light to translate with my phone camera when what i CRAVE is to lie in bed on my side reading fic on my phone until 2 am. I'm dying, squirtle. (Anyone got good fic recs? there is WAY too much fic for pickings to be as slim as I feel like they are)

Last thing I googled:

none of these recipes look like the amazing shit they gave us at Falafel King so wish me luck