#ava you muppet

[succubus-interactivefiction]

So on a whim I decided to search and see if I could get a custom badge made for my detective and this was the first site I found. I'm actually soooo tempted to order this but it's kinda expensive, but it would be sooooo cool...yes I still say cool.

[lethalchiralium]

Imagine It | Simon “Ghost” Riley x Wife!Reader

a/n: i have an itch i need to scratch and that is simon being happy. thanks

warnings: mentions of babies, mentions of simon’s kids winnie and mellie, mentions of simon’s past a little

summary: It was just a nice afternoon, your husband’s brothers in arms trying to name your imaginary baby for you.

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“Rhia?”

“Write it down.” You answered, wiping baby food off of your finger onto a paper towel. Mellie giggled in her high chair, watching you as you brought Simon the little glass jar of mashed bananas.

Soap scribbled the name down on the piece of paper, sitting next to Winnie at the dinner table. The little girl was drawing on Gaz’s arm with a Sharpie, you just didn’t have the heart to tell him that.

“I like Ava.” Gaz piped up, looking up from his crossword puzzle. Soap looked to his friend then to you, you shook your head.

“Had an Ava in middle school who stole my hair tie and cut it into pieces, and kept doing it until junior year of high school.” You moved back to the fridge, opening it and looking into it. “We don’t have that much food, boys.”

“Ye kept a grudge this long?”

You looked over the fridge door at Soap, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Sort of. My brother handled it by getting her expelled.” You closed the fridge, walking back towards your dinner table and pulling a chair from it. You settled yourself beside Simon as he fed Mellie her mushed bananas, her little head trying to get a peak at Price at the head of the table. But, of course, he was completely disguised by the newspaper he held up, just like a grandfather. “More suggestions?”

Soap looked down at the list of names he had printed and brought, shoving the paper past Winnie and to Gaz, the man put down his pencil and took the packet in his hand while giving the Scot a side-eye.

“Just going to roll them off.”

You looked to Simon, the unmasked man glanced at you with a nervous glare. You looked to your left and spoke gently, “Make sure they’re not stupid ones. We’ll say yes or no.”

“Lila.”

“No.”

“Penelope.”

“No.”

“We’re talkin’ to yer wife, buddy.” Soap commented, Ghost had rejected the names while you just smiled at your husband. His eyes were still on his daughter, the little baby’s gaze now on her father.

“We’re not even having a baby anytime soon.” The Lieutenant commented, you nodded.

Soap shrugged, Gaz scoffed. “We get to name the next one - this is a meeting, for your information.” The Brit looked down at Winnie, she was still focused on whatever she was drawing on his arm.

“Oh, so you lot get to name my baby?” You laughed a little. “Absolutely not.”

“Well, Mellie’s my godbaby!” Soap whined. “Gaz’s gotta have one too!”

“He’s right, I’ve got to have a godchild too.” Gaz declared, Winnie switched markers from black to blue, beginning to color in some of her drawings. “This one’s Price’s.”

“I’m not popping out kids for each of you to have if we both die.” Your voice was loud and declarative, Soap and Gaz shut their mouths. “What if these are the only two we have? You gonna go to court and get joint custody?”

“Leave the lady alone, muppets.” Price’s voice echoed through the kitchen, he flipped the page in his newspaper.

Soap turned to Gaz, a mischievous smile on his face. “We shuid git married sae we have joint custody.”

You burst out laughing, hand flying to your mouth as Gaz squawked like a bird. Simon glanced at you before staring at Soap, who was cackling and saying , “Wh-What?! ’m right!”

“They’ll be adults before I die anyway.” Your husband commented, before turning back to Mellie - her little hand was reaching for the spoonful of banana he had in his hand. He moved the spoon towards her hand, her fingers curled around the plastic as her father commented, “Last time I checked, my girls’ godfather is Price.”

“They’ll all raise ‘em together anyway,” You then looked back to Gaz and Soap. “Won’t you, boys?”

“Yes ma’am.” Both soldiers nodded, now looking away and interested in Winnie’s art.

Soap began to chuckle as he grabbed her black marker. “Ye'r gonnae hae her art oan yer arm forever, buddy.” He held up the Sharpie in Gaz’s face, whose face paled. He looked down at the marker she was coloring her drawings on his arm in, seeing that it was washable before staring at you.

“You gave her the marker!”

You shrugged, nudging your foot on Simon’s calf. He glanced at you before he took the spoon away from your baby, she made a noise of annoyance and tried to reach for it again. The eight month old let out a whine, tears bubbling up in her eyes but he was quick to hand her the spoonful of banana again. Mellie giggled, taking the spoon from his hand as he said, “Thank you.”

“You gotta name for ‘em, Price?” Soap asked, yanking his list of names from Gaz and grabbing the Sharpie.

Price hummed from behind his newspaper. “Yeah, my mum’s name. Used to be a volunteer at the women’s shelter, used to help troubled kids.” He flipped the page. “Her name was Lyra.”

Your eyes shot to Simon, who looked like a fish out of water for just a moment. His eyes narrowed just a little as he went to wipe away some food from Mellie’s cheek with a wipe. The baby babbled a little, trying to grab his hand and chew on it.

You saw Price’s eyes over the newspaper, the little crinkle of eyebrows told you all you needed.

Simon knew Price’s mom from when he was a kid, at the woman’s shelter Simon’s mom went to several times. He must have been one of those ‘troubled teens’. Your hand went to Simon’s knee, giving it a squeeze before looking back at Price, who had disappeared behind his newspaper again.

“Mumma,” Winnie spoke from beside Gaz, looking over to you.

“Yeah, honey?”

“Can I color on Uncle Soap?” Her hazel eyes were big, she looked as if she was going to pop her lip out to beg. You smirked and pointed to Soap, who had a big smile on his face.

“You need to ask Uncle Soap. Did you ask Uncle Gaz if he liked your art?” You nodded towards Gaz, who stared at the Sharpie in Soap’s hand until Winnie looked up at him.

She quietly asked him if he liked his new art, he smiled and said, “Love it. I’ll keep ‘em forever.”

The girl squealed in delight before looking back at Soap, blue marker in her hand. “Uncle Soap, can I pretty please draw on your arm?”

Soap jutted out his arm, letting the little girl grab it with one hand and immediately began to scribble. Soap’s smile got even bigger as he watched the little artist, you looked back at Simon. He settled the small glass jar on the table beside Soap’s packet, moving to wipe off Mellie’s face as she chewed on her spoon.

Your arms went around Simon’s bicep, moving to rest your cheek into his shoulder to gaze at your baby. You do want another one, but it’s up to your husband - another little girl that smiles just as wide as her sisters, or a boy that loves to play firefighter with his sisters.

You pressed a kiss to your husband’s shoulder before looking at the rest of your family at the dinner table, holding your husband just a little closer. He pressed a kiss to your head before trying to take back the spoon from his daughter, who almost started screaming bloody murder.

———

Copyright © 2023 lethalchiralium. All rights reserved.

[12-seconds-to-live]

(Un)Lost: The art of war

Pairing: F12022/3!Grid! x Fem!Driver!Oc

Warnings: DNF’s, angst, a little bit of love, episodes of anxiety, Seb’s retirement, harsh words.

DRIVE TO SURVIVE SEASON 5 - EP. 1  THE NEW ERA

“It’s freezing in here” I said while I was puting my cap in my head, my Williams cap, ready to sit in the famous black chair of Netflix. “Thank you Netflix for make this possible, Bahrain is being cooking itself now” The producer chuckle.

“So, we’re going to let you introduce you and then make you a few questions. Everything clear?”

“Sure” I look for a better position in the chair and look to the camera “My name is Charlotte Robyn-Jones and I’m engineer strategist for Williams Racing Formula One Team” I said with a smile on my face. I saw the people in the back laugh and I copy the action

“You can’t lie to Netflix, kid”

“I think I just did ... Anyway, 1, 2, 3, Monday to Friday, My name is Charlotte Robyn-Jones, I’m 23 and I’m a race driver for Williams Racing Formula One Team” I tilt my head to one side and laugh “Cool”

“So cool. What’s for you to be at the top of the game right now?, obviously avoiding the question that you must  be bored about” 

“Being a woman is fantastic, except for that thing every month but I can’t complain. I have to say that it’s not easy. You can dream of some things happening but all the same time, If you really wanted, the answer is get up and look for your better options to make things happen.” I gassped and look down and to the camera. “I remenber when I told my dad that I wanted to give it a try in karting and I wasn’t even 6, he looked at me like  I was some sort of silly muppet but then he make me promise that I will do great in school and then he will help me with the racing carreer I wanted. The rest is history”

A series of videos of her carreer show up, from her beginning in karts, F4, F3 and her successfull 2021 in F2 finishing as champion, smiling faces all around and obviously a very proud Charlotte.

“You just mention your dad. What about other members in your family? Friends or even a boyfriend?” I look at the producer with a side smile

“You guys are really something else, right?” they laugh “I’m single ready to mingle. I don’t talk to much about my family, I like to be private about that. I almost dropped all this. My family is my priority and two years ago I lost my mom due cancer so...”

“I’m sorry we don’t...”

“No, it’s okay” I smiled to the camera “She’s not here but I still talk about her like she’s just in the back of the house screaming to the dog for being so silly, she’s still here and I know she’s proud” 

“Sure she is. Just to finish ... Any expectations for your team. Everybody wanted to see you in a bigger team like Mercedes or Ferrari, did you hear any rumors about that?”

“Well, certanly I did hear, but the thing is, mmm, I always believe that If you wanna prove yourself is better to start from the very bottom, understand the little things and then you’ll find success, almost glory. Being in this sport is so tricky, like, one day you won in Monaco and the next day you’re out of the points or feeling that all your pasion is going out to your body” I see everybody’s faces like I was saying something fascinating “This is sport is like war, you better watch out your back ‘cause even your own team could kill you.”

“So, this is your year to discover yourself?”

“Yes, my bingo card this year will imply me being playing the art of war that is F1″

“Okay Charlotte, this is all for today. We’ll see you along the year”

“Thanks and don’t spill my secrets. Snitches end up in ditches, they say” 

I go out of the room straight to the Williams garage. Sure thing is that this year is going to be wild, after what happened last year between Red Bull and Mercedes, man, I really don’t want to be any member of those teams.

“Hello Ms. Jones, everything all right with Netflix?” My PR, Ava asked. She was in Alex side of the garage talking to other people

“Yeah, they’re like school girls” She laugh

“Yeah, sometimes. Today is media day so since you’re ready with your Williams merch, we can start signing some caps and cards and then continue with your schedule. Or do you want to start with press?”

“Up to you really, better doing the easiest first then I’ll face the sharks” We walk to a conference room when I found Alex with his girlfriend and his PR. Last year I met the girl in a tournament in the UK and we have been really close since then.

“Oh hello you, my girl and my boy rocking together this year” Lily said and hug me, while Alex put a false angry face

“Nice to see you Lily and yes, we’re going to rock or better than that” I said she smack Alex shoulder

“See, I tould you she has spirit!”

“I know, I think that everybody saw that video of her running along the track after her win in last year championship”

That video.

Well, you don’t win F2 championship many times in your life, right?

“I don’t know what are you talking about”

“Everybody know you do”

“Shh” I sit next to the pile of merch with my face on it. It’s 9:45 so I have time ‘till lunch and more interviews.

INTERVIEW ROOM @14:20

W/ Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel

“Don’t be nervous, ok? I’m not gonna tell what to answer, you’re smart so answer like a pro”

“Like a pro? So I can say <<inchident>> or even ask about the interviewers plans for the summer?” I showed Ava a side smiled

“Please don’t and you’re going to be in between, your name is on the sofa” I enter the room and saw the amount of people organized in the back of the room with notepads, cameras and tricky looks.

“So, welcome everybody to the second session here in Bahrain, we are here with Lando Norris from McLaren, Carlos Sainz from Ferrari, Charlotte Jones from Williams, Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel from Aston Martin. Welcome to the drivers, we’re going to have a round of questions for this sesion, if that’s ok” I look at the others who nod.

“Hello, this question is for Charlotte” Great. “We want to hear your first impresions of your new team, if you have the chance to meet the other drivers and expectations for your rookie season”

I tried to smiled but I suddenly felt like I wanna dissapear and the lights we’re too bright so I put on my glasses and I hear Lewis laugh and how he copy my action and take the microphone “It’s sunny outside so there’s no need to put the  light to bright, thanks guys” And squeezed my hand.

“Yeah, lights, mmm, almost everybody saw me in the car last year when I met the team and my teammate. Everything has been great so far, mmm I spent half of the holidays with the Sainz family, there been close to my mom’s family so, yeah, Carlos and his trainer just help me to get in better shape for this rodeo, something that I’m grateful for” I fist bump with Carlos and laugh “And expectations, well, I prefer to see how it goes after the race, I sent my ideas and questions the past month so I know now that the car is fast and let’s see If we can put Williams on the top again”

Sebastian took the microphone and look at me “Do you know about engineering?”

“Yeah, I finished my degree in mechanical engineering last month, obviously online, so...”

“That’s impresive, kid” answer Sebastian

“Am I the only one scared now?” Ask Lando to everybody. Everybody laugh at that. The interview session went smoothly and not many questions were to me, since Lewis was in the room, the events of november where reminded. Questions about strategies and upgrades for Ferrari and Aston Martin and the chances of McLaren of getting a podium this year. After that, the session ended, Carlos stopped me.

“Welcome officially, girasol” He hug me in the process and we heard a cough

“Are you good, man?” 

“Since my friend here it’s so disrespectfull, nice to meet you, yo soy Lago” 

“Nunca le enseñaste bien español” I said laughing to the spaniard

“Ciertamente él fue un terrible alumno”

“Please don’t. Back to a common language” I smiled to him and oh boy! such beautiful eyes

“Charlotte, rookie, friend of this guy, fan of dogs, chocolate cake and be on my xbox the whole day” I shake his hand and he gasp

“Marry me”

“In a few years, maybe” I look to Carlos who look at me with wide eyes

“I don’t want him on family holidays, ten moths are too much now” As we were walking through the paddock, a few photographers and fans aproach us. Since Carlando were more famous that I am, so I go straight to my motorhome to lay down for a bit.

What a day.

A few headers on instagram and twitter about the conference

2022 ROOKIE READY TO DRIVE AND BEING A THREAT

CHARLOTTE ROBYN-JONES, NEW SENSATION IN THE PADDOCK

IS THIS THE YEAR OF WILLIAMS?

Mind clear and then start proving myself.

I’m a girl, yes, but right now I feel that I have a chance to be like them, it’s ny time.

A champion, one ready to fight.

I finished my day with more media duties, to 6 pm I was going to wait for Carlos who offer a ride to the hotel. While I was waiting in the parking lot, the papaya pair waved at me.

“Hiya, you must me Charlotte. I’m Daniel, the one with good looks in the team” He said with a smile.

“Nice to meet you Daniel, how you guys doin’?”

“All good, we’re heading to the hotel, ready to kick asses tomorrow?” I saw how Lando seems certanly interested in the question

“I’m feeling normal, but yeah, let’s see tomorrow. My driver arrived so... see ya” I waved at them when Carlos opened his car. Daniel and Lando saw the couple leaving the parking lot when the australian looks at the youngest

“Say it”

“What?” 

“Why do you look so shock around her? I mean, even Max who lives in a rock knew about her”

“I’ve been friends of Carlos and I never see her around, it’s weird”

“Ooow, the kid is jealous of the newie” Daniel started laughing and going to his car

“Man stop... I’m not jealous and also I’m a man!”

BAHREIN CIRCUIT @13:45 - FP1 & FP2

“Radio check, please” my race engineer said. Williams had the chance to start fourth in the two practices after Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Red Bull and Alpine.

“ And I thought my heart was detached, from all the sunlight of our past, but she's so sweet, she's so pretty, does she mean you forgot about me? Yeah, yes, I’m going to send you my playlist for the race, what dou you think?” 

“We’ll  evaluate that after practice”

“It’s not a no, I wil take it”

“Ok Charlotte, 30 seconds to start heating the tyres and whenever you ready, your flying lap”

“Copy”

“Now, we’ll have Williams coming out the pits to start practice, first our rookie Charlotte, fresh out the oven as F2 champion. She’s heating the tyres and has 15 minutes to do a few laps and see how that car goes”

On the broadcast, the faces of the team principals were on screen, with their expectations on the girl and see how she start.

“Ok Charlotte, you can start in the next lap with Leclerc and Ocon in front of you” I pressed the copy bottom. Here I go.

One thing about me it’s that I brake late but my left foot likes to keep itself on the throttle. A girl have to give it all, right?

“I feel like I’m watching the Mercedes W11 all over again. Wow! I can see a future world champion, multiple times If she wanted too”

“That car is fast” said Christian Horner looking to Max’s engineer “What the hell?” 

“Definitely it is” 

“Toto, even when she brake the car doesn’t go below 170 km/h. what?” Lewis and Bono stand beside the team principal of Mercedes.

“I think that your eight championship have to wait a bit, I can’t believe my eyes”

“That girl is the real Toretto, don´t you think?” asked Yuki to the french man

“I wanna throw myself down a hill to be honest” 

“What the f***?, which car is that?, I almost get dizzy” asked Charles over the radio

“That was a Williams, the rookie, she’s 3 seconds faster than you”

“This is going to be a long season. F***”

“Well done Charlotte. With his pace you can certanly win every race this season”

“Haha, good job to everybody from those in the factory to the ones in the garage. What about Alex?”

“As good as you, the difference is 0.337″

“That’s good”

“Yes, we’ll wait for you in the garage”

As I parked, I could heard the applauses from my team and the people around the garage. 

And yes.

A very long season ahead.

--

intro

That was fun. 

For those who doesn’t speak spanish, here the translation:

Girasol: sunflower.

Nunca le enseñaste bien español: you never taught him Spanish well.

Ciertamente él fue un terrible alumno: He certainly was a terrible student.

Hope you liked it :)

[jtl07]

Neck kisses

the first time it happens, it's an accident.

ava's sitting at the sofa, wracking her brain over the last answer in the word puzzle app she's been working on, when beatrice lays a soft hand on her shoulder and a fresh cup of coffee onto the side table and instinctively, ava turns her head, leans up intending to to kiss beatrice's cheek.

she misses but she figures she was close, an absentminded "thanks, babe" already at her lips when she hears beatrice's breath sharply stop, then after a moment, start. (ava files it away with all the notes she takes about beatrice)

*

the second time it happens, ava is starving. beatrice is at the stove, humming along to a song she continues to swear she doesn't like but here she is, swaying as she stirs something that smells delicious from several pans. she's so relaxed, so herself - it's all too easy for ava to wrap her into a hug from behind. she feels beatrice's laugh more than she hears it and it warms ava to her heart.

she props her chin atop beatrice's shoulder, loops her arms around so that her hands are resting atop beatrice's. "hey we could do something like the swedish chef," she giggles. then, off of beatrice's confused look, "yknow, from the muppets?" ava imitates the nonsensical sounds as she follows beatrice's hands. feels beatrice laugh again; feels whole.

"maybe next time, darling." then, beatrice nudges ava gently with her forehead (ava files this away in her mental folder titled 'bea = cat'), "could you set the table?"

and ava, ever eager to comply, gives beatrice another squeeze, kisses the skin in reach. she feels beatrice stiffen and she pauses, unsure now, ready to apologize - then feels one of beatrice's hands come up to squeeze her own. takes it as an answer, takes it as permission for more.

*

there are plenty of other kisses ava gives beatrice as well - her cheeks when her freckles are on display (everyday), her lips when she says something adorable or badass or both, her forehead or the back of her hand when her devotion is shining through (it's those times when ava is at a loss for words, when the only thing her mouth can do is pray against beatrice's skin).

most of their kisses happen in bed - not because of that but because they simply like to be close. it's always been a place where they could find comfort in each other and it's been no different since ava's return, since the war was won. here, in the quiet and comfort of their home; now where there's safety, and love, and time.

ava tucks herself into her favorite place, nuzzles into beatrice's shoulder, brushes her lips gently along beatrice's neck. feels the arm around her shoulders tighten; a quickened breath.

she does it again, her eyes open and curious as she does. hears beatrice moan. oh, ava thinks, it's about that - "more?" she asks, her lips hovering over where it's warm and inviting. gets her answer in the form of a hand at the back of her head and pressing her close.

*

+1

ava launches herself into beatrice's arms, cheering as their friends grumble about their win. "champions again!" ava crows as beatrice spins her around, laughing along with her.

it's as beatrice is lowering her back down onto her feet that ava feels it - the warm press of beatrice's lips against her neck - and she shivers.

when ava pulls back, she catches sight of beatrice's eyes, dark and knowing before she dips in low again - but this time she instead of a shiver, ava squeals. "that tickles!"

oh shit, she thinks, as beatrice's eyes narrow in mischief - yells as she runs from beatrice's outstretched fingers.

[eelerschoice]

Good day to you Eel Enthusiasts, tis the season!

Christmas yes, but also audioverse awards season!

Our little eel show wasn't eligible this year, HOWEVER many of our EXCEEDINGLY TALENTED cast, crew and chorus are indeed among the nominees, so let us encourage you to vote for them and the shows they are in:

Fay Roberts who plays our terribly respectable Principal Adept Weaverllyn has been nominated for zir delightful performance as noted Scots snail enthusiast William Henry Baker Blair in the nautical adventure Trice Forgotten.

The multitalented William who gave voice to gruff eeler Aberford Tackmansworth is up for a battery of awards for @TheHallowoods, writing, recurring voices (oh, so many recurring voices), music direction, sound design, and that ohso spooky art, as well as Elder Hosea in OGOA.

Rissa Montañez, who is perhaps a little too into eels as Senior Adept Lacehill, when she isn't serving the finest goth looks, is nominated for her role as exceedingly efficient Quartermaster Val Narváez in Moonbase Theta, Out.

Another audiodrama powerhouse Tal Minear plays Carrick Boater who's seen something nasty in the seawater. They are nominated for all of the R.E. Dracula things, new show sound design, art, music, direction and also for a recurring voice in Moonbase Theta, Out.

Mark Nixon one of our cat-loving Captains Helmswell, is nominated in the Direction category for Shadows at the Door: Season 3 is ambitious and star-studded with some incredibly thought-provoking stories and well worth a listen.

David "Voice Acting Career Now Old Enough to Legally Own a Business In Several Countries" Ault probably needs no introduction: he's up for new guest voice Dr, (possibly Mr if Surgeon) Clayton in Ethics Town, guest voice the accidentally blasphemous bible printer Robert Barker in the Amelia Project, and recurring roles as Lan in Among the Stacks and Arthur Holmwood, Lord Godalming [Tearful Edition] in R.E. Dracula.

(Incidentally, we welcome newcomer Abraham "Bram" Stoker to the AVA nominations, presumably the RE Drac crew have become adept at necromancy to pull this off. Stephen, I know you take your dramaturgy seriously, but this seems a little too method…)

Derrick Valen, provider of some powerful bass harmonies in our Anguilliform chorus is up for * checks notes * Gnoming it up with the October's Children crew as a guest voice in Strong Branching out. Delightful.

And last but not remotely least, Rhys Lawton, who appears as the Scrimchantry's dour school nurse and medical lecturer Acaster Selvage is nominated for his new recurring voice role as philosophical wet catboy January Johnson in Ethics Town, and also for a guest voice in * flicks over next page of notes * "The Secret of St Kilda play Something Muppets in the State of Denmark". Kudos to Strong Branching Out for some truly quality episode names…

I (Lou) take full responsibility for any errors, someone correct me in reblogs or comments if I've got any of this wrong or missed anyone.

Now go on, off you go: https://audioverseawards.net/vote/

[inksandpensblog]

What's the gladiator au?

An Animator vs Animation AU that won’t be seeing the light of day in fic form anytime soon for numerous reasons, the easiest of which to talk about being that the scope of the project grew to outstrip my capabilities at the time and now my focus is on other projects that I'd like to complete before attempting to tackle this one again, if ever.

(It's also what I'm referencing in this post. I wonder how many people a day reblog that post without knowing it's me vagueing myself about an AvA AU.)

But it was the first AU I ever came up with for this series, and I did get the first arc roughly plotted out! It would go something like this:

The plot kicks off when Orange and Alan discover that a weakened, post-Showdown Chosen has been captured (by sticks with a bone to pick about his and Dark’s rampages, though Alan and the color gang don’t know this at the time) and is being held at a "gladiator ring" or "arena" on a special-access server or website, run by human mods and admins but catering to spectators both stick and human.

Chosen is the arena's “special feature,” forced to fight in grudge matches against sticks seeking vengeance for what he and Dark did. To this end, a large screen over the ring where he fights is constantly displaying footage of Chosen and Dark destroying various stick-populated spaces. (This was before I realized that Chosen and Dark are never seen destroying stick-cities, only web pages...some of which happened to be populated almost exclusively by sticks). Nobody knows about The Showdown except the people involved in it. Nobody knows who created Chosen or Dark.

The arena keeps Chosen under control using these remote-controlled cuffs, which can do many things, including: electrocute him, force him into ragdoll-mode, control the potency of his various powers on a scale (some sticks actually want a real fight and aren't just there to beat up a muppet), and turn his powers off altogether (yes this is different from just scaling them down all the way; it's like the difference between lowering your volume to zero and just pressing the mute button).

The color gang call Purple in to help them plan a rescue, since he has familiarity with these gladiator spaces (I changed the backstory I had planned for him in this AU after AvM29 aired, so the one fic I actually have posted for this AU has been retconned, but Purple having familiarity with gladiator rings is maintained). This culminates in Yellow opening a backdoor into the arena so that Orange can sneak in as a spectator to rescue Chosen, with Green going along to keep lookout. Orange makes Green promise that if anything goes wrong, she won’t wait up for him and will retreat through the backdoor first. Green has every intention of keeping this promise.

Before the rescue is launched, Purple takes the quartet aside and tells them that there might be other sentient sticks held prisoner by the arena, and…not to tell Orange. Because he suspects that Orange would lose focus on rescuing Chosen in an attempt to rescue everybody. Purple tells them this because many arenas are supposed to be underground, and if they get discovered, there’s a very real risk that the humans will cut their losses and just delete the whole thing. Sticks or no sticks. So Orange needs to carry out this rescue as quickly and subtly as possible, no deviations.

Orange eventually locates the ring where Chosen’s grudge matches are held, and learns of Chosen's and Dark's past for the first time as he catches sight of the destruction footage. He feels conflicted about this new knowledge; finding out that the guy who saved the lives of you and your friends was once a bad dude and was once partners-in-crime with the bad dude who murdered you is pretty shocking. But Orange puts his feelings aside for the moment, rallying when he realizes that this info gives him an opportunity to get close enough to Chosen that he'll be able to grab the guy and get him outta there.

So Orange proclaims that he wants a grudge match against Chosen, showing off his scars from the Showdown as evidence of his grievance. All the other spectators that Orange interacts with have been absolutely charmed by him since his arrival (while Orange just hates every moment he spends there), so this ploy works and soon enough he’s down in the ring with Chosen. As the match goes on, Orange makes noise about wanting “a real fight,” so whoever controls the cuffs begins slowly allowing Chosen’s powers to scale up.

This goes great until Orange realizes that Chosen doesn’t know how to hold back in a fight. (Orange assumes that Chosen, having recognized Orange, has realized that this is a rescue effort. Chosen has not realized that this is a rescue effort.)

Before Orange can get punched in the nose, though, Alan enacts phase two of the rescue by…striking for copyright over Chosen. This sends an alert to the cuffs, which immediately force Chosen into ragdoll mode (literally as he’s about to punch Orange in the nose, for maximum drama), and fights across the entire arena screech to a halt as everyone realizes that an outsider has located their little operation. Orange picks Chosen up and the two make their getaway while everyone's too busy disputing the copyright claim to notice, meeting up with Green and fooling a staff member into disabling Chosen’s ragdoll-mode on the way to Yellow’s backdoor.

On their way out though, the arena catches on. The human mods discover Yellow’s communication channel and begin interfering with it, cutting off all remote contact between the color gang. It becomes a physical battle as stickfigure staff and a few of the spectators begin trying to apprehend them, and Green gets separated from Orange and Chosen.

There’s a pause in the fight when a human mod tries to end Orange’s task and all it does is make Orange angry. Chosen takes this opportunity to grab Orange and launch them towards Yellow’s backdoor. They’re almost there when whoever is controlling the cuffs toggles Chosen’s powers off altogether and starts tasering Chosen into oblivion as a last-ditch effort to stop the two from leaving, but by that point they’re close enough to the backdoor that Orange can grab Chosen and drag him through. He shuts the door and it locks behind them. Chosen is dealing with Showdown-levels of exhaustion by this point, so Orange piggybacks him to the PC, unknowingly leaving Green behind since she was unable to fulfill her promise of going through the door before him.

So ends the first arc!

After this point the AU becomes a lot less solid ideas of what will happen and a lot more vague ideas of what I want to happen. I discovered the hard way while trying to plot it out that I'm not very good at juggling multiple concurrent character arcs, especially if the characters in question aren't interacting regularly with each other. I'm also not very good at judging how much time certain plot developments should take, which left me in an awkward position as far as puzzle-piecing everyone's character growth and plot progression together into a neat chronological line.

There's also the fact that...I couldn't figure out what goals certain characters were supposed to have, after this first arc, which made it hard to write for them in any way that would advance the story instead of just dragging it along. Plus there were certain worldbuilding aspects that I...wasn't really savvy enough to try integrating into a story because I had trouble understanding them on a base level myself. A lot of it was having trouble figuring out where to start, or not knowing what info I even needed to begin working.

So yeah, this AU is on the backburner for the forseeable future.

If you have any questions about it though, I'd love to share some development notes! Feel free to ask me if you're interested.

[iagreewithlilithsrightsnwrongs]

Ava: OK, everybody’s favorite movie, go!

Camila: Sleeping Beauty!

Yasmine: Le Samourï.

Dora: Rocky.

Lilith: Godfather Part II.

Beatrice: *mumbles*

Ava: What was that, Bea?

Lilith: She said The Great Muppet Caper, which she is embarrassed about even though it’s a great movie—

Ava: “Oh, Rosenthal, I love you.”

Beatrice: *Beatrice.exe has stopped working*

idk any of these movies except sleeping beauty so!!! idk what to say lmao

whats avas fav tho???

[theoriginalmattresstester]

#10K2024 1-7-2024 PART 1

519. Willow-Taylor Swift 520. Champagne Problems-Taylor Swift 521. Gold Rush-Taylor Swift 522. 'Tis the Damn Season-Taylor Swift 523. Tolerate It-Taylor Swift 524. No Body No Crime-Taylor Swift 525. Happiness-Taylor Swift 526. Dorothea-Taylor Swift 527. Coney Island-Taylor Swift 528. Ivy-Taylor Swift 529. Cowboy Like Me-Taylor Swift 530. Long Story Short-Taylor Swift 531. Marjorie-Taylor Swift 532. Closure-Taylor Swift 533. Evermore-Taylor Swift 534. Right Where You Left Me-Taylor Swift 535. It's Time to Go-Taylor Swift 536. My Only Wish (This Year)-Britney Spears 537. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree-Brenda Lee 538. Christmas Without You-Ava Max 539. Winter Wonderland-Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga 540. It's Not Christmas Until Somebody Cries-Carly Rae Jepsen 541. A Nonsense Christmas-Sabrina Carpenter 542. Buy Me Presents-Sabrina Carpenter 543. Santa Doesn't Know You Like I Do-Sabrina Carpenter 544. Cindy Lou Who?-Sabrina Carpenter 545. Is it New Years Yet?-Sabrina Carpenter 546. White Xmas-Sabrina Carpenter 547. I'll Be Home For Quithmois-Camila Cabello 548. Scrooge-The Muppet Cast 549. Room in Your Heart-Honey Dew and Beaker 550. One More Sleep 'Til Christmas-Kermit 551. Oh, What a Merry Christmas Day-Traditional, The United States Air Force Band 552. It Feels LIke Christmas-The Ghost of Christmas Present 553. Christmas Scat-Tiny Tim/Kermit 554. Bless Us All-Tiny Tim/Tiny Tim's Family 555. Thankful Heart-Scrooge

[brookston]

Holidays 9.25

Holidays

Acne Day

Armed Forces Day (Mozambique)

Binge Day

Bruderklausenfest (Obwalden, Switzerland)

Crocus Day (French Republic)

Day of National Recognition for the Harkis (France)

Dominion Day (New Zealand)

Flag Day (Cape Verde)

Franco-Ontarian Day (Canada)

Global Day of Climate Action

Haustmanuour (Iceland)

Hazara Genocide Memorial Day

International Ataxia Awareness Day

International Coaches Day

International Day for Dreamers

Join A Cabal of International Bankers Today Day

Kamarampaka Day (Rwanda)

Math Storytelling Day

Mediterranean Coast Day

National Comic Book Day

National Day of Non Violence (UK)

National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims

National Emergency Medical Services Suicide Awareness Day

National Homage Day of Harkis (France)

National ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ Awareness Day

National John Day

National Math Storytelling Day

National 9 to 5 Day

National Open the Magic Day

National Psychotherapy Day

National Roadkill Day

National Research Administrators Day

National Schnauzer Day

National Tune-Up Day

National Wade Day

National YogaFit Day

National Youth Day (Nauru, Turks and Caicos Islands)

Old Holy Rood Eve

One-Hit Wonder Day

Open the Magic Day

Origin of Life Day

Revolution Day (Mozambique)

Salute the Sun Day (China)

Sandra Day O’Connor Civics Celebration Day (Arizona)

Santa Cruz Day (Bolivia)

Sir Hammer DeRoburt Day (Nauru)

Uno Day

World Ataxia Awareness Day

World Dream Day

World Lung Day

World Pharmacists Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

German Butterbrot Day

National Bakery Day

National Cooking Day

National Crabmeat Newburg Day

National Food Service Employees Day

National Lobster Day [official, also 6.15]

National Quesadilla Day

World’s Biggest Coffee Morning (UK)’

4th & Last Monday in September

American Indian Day (Tennessee) [4th Monday]

CASAColumbia Family Day [4th Monday]

Family and Community Day (ACT, Australia) [Last Monday]

Family Day — A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children [4th Monday]

National Eat Dinner with Your Family Day [4th Monday]

Independence Days

Canterbury South Province Day (New Zealand)

Dracul (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Present House (Declared; 2011) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Abadir and Iraja and Companions (Coptic Church)

Albino Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Any Port & Lemon in a Storm Day (Pastafarian)

Aunarius (a.k.a. Aunacharius; Christian; Saint)

Anathalon (Archdiocese of Milan; Christian; Saint)

Captain Beefheart Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Cadoc (Christian; Saint)

Ceolfrith (a.k.a. Colfrid; Christian; Saint)

Cleopas (Christian; Saint)

Day of Mercury (Travel Blessing; Pagan)

Euphrosyne of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Nmmu (Sumerian Goddess of Primeval Sea)

Feast of Nariwiinyapah (God of Immortal Water)

Finbarr (a.k.a. Barr; Christian; Saint)

Fermin of Amiens (a.k.a. Firmin; Christian; Saint)

Lancelot Andrewes (Church of England)

Mark Rothko (Artology)

Mme. de Motteville (Positivist; Saint)

Nicholas of Flüe (Christian; Saint) [Switzerland]

Robert Brackman (Artology)

Rudy the Spider (Muppetism)

Samvatsari (Forgiveness Day; Jain)

Sergius of Radonezh (Christian; Saint)

Vincent Strambi (Christian; Saint)

Yom Kippur began last night (Day of Atonement) [10 Tishrei]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Arctic Splashdown (Animated TV Show;Jonny Quest #2; 1964)

Ava (Film; 2020)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Pt. 1 (WB Animated Film; 2012)

The Beatles (Animated TV Series; 1965)

Beaucoup of Blues, by Ringo Starr (Album; 1970)

Chariots of Fire (Film; 1981)

Crash Drive or Oedipus Wrecks (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 57; 1960)

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (Documentary Film; 2015)

Evita (Broadway Musical; 1979)

Fender Benders ir The Asphalt Jungle (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 58; 1960)

FIshin’ Around (Disney Cartoon; 1931)

Freaks and Geeks (TV Series; 1999)

Get Off of My Cloud, by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1965)

Going Postal, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2004) [Discworld #33]

Heroes (TV Series; 2006)

Hotel Transylvania 2 (Animated Film; 2015)

The Hustler (Film; 1961)

I’m a Slave 4 U, by Britney Spears (Song; 2001)

The Intern (Film; 2015)

Intruder in the Dust, by William Faulkner (Novel; 1948)

I Wanna Be a Sailor (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

The Last of the Mohicans (Film; 1992)

Magic, by Bruce Springsteen (Album; 2007)

Me and Bobby McGee, recoded by Janis Joplin (Song; 1970)

The Mindy Project (TV Series; 2012)

Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2003) [Discworld #31]

Mr. Saturday Night (Film; 1992)

My Girl, recorded by The Temptations (Song; 1964)

The Partridge Family (TV Series; 1970)

The Princess Bride (Film; 1987)

Ramblin’ Man, by The Allman Brothers (Song; 1973)

A Raw Deal or Two Aces and a Pair of Kings (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 163; 1962)

The Rebel, by Albert Camus (Essay; 1951)

Rocky Draws the Line or Who’s Got My Ruler? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 164; 1962)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Film; 1975)

Ronin (Film; 1998)

Roseanna, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö (Novel; 1965)

Shark Jaws (Video Game; 1975)

Silver Spoons (TV Series; 1982)

The Story About Ping, by Marjorie Flack (Children’s Book; 1933)

Story of O, by Pauline Réage (Novel; 1954)

Strange Days, by The Doors (Album; 1967)

Stumptown (TV Series; 2019)

Those Were the Days, by Mary Hopkins (Song; 1968)

Utopia (US TV Series; 2020)

The Vanishing Private (Disney Cartoon; 1942)

X, by INXS (Album; 1990)

Young Sheldon (TV Series; 2017)

Today’s Name Days

Irmfried, Nikolaus, Serge (Austria)

Sergei (Bulgaria)

Firmin, Kleofa (Croatia)

Zlata (Czech Republic)

Cleophas (Denmark)

Ago, Agu, Agur, Ako, Koido, Koit (Estonia)

Kullervo, Oivi (Finland)

Hermann (France)

Irmfried, Klaus, Serge (Germany)

Evfrosyne, Evfrosyni (Greece)

Eufrozina, Kende (Hungary)

Aurelia, Caterina, Sergio (Italy)

Rauls, Roderiks, Rodrigo, Vingra (Latvia)

Aurelija, Kleopas, Ramvydė, Vaigintas (Lithuania)

Ingvar, Yngvar (Norway)

Aureli, Aurelia, Aurelian, Franciszek, Gaspar, Herkulan, Kamil, Kleofas, Kleopatra, Ładysław, Piotr, Rufus, Świętopełk, Wincenty, Władysław, Władysława, Włodzisław (Poland)

Vladislav (Slovakia)

Aurelia (Spain)

Signild, Tryggve (Sweden)

Rostyslava, Thekla, Thecla, Volodyslav (Ukraine)

Barrie, Barry, Braxton, Moriah (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 268 of 2024; 97 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 39 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Xin-You), Day 11 (Bing-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 10 Tishri 5784

Islamic: 10 Rabi I 1445

J Cal: 28 Aki; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 12 September 2023

Moon: 80%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 16 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Mme. de Motteville]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 3 of 89)

Zodiac: Libra (Day 3 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.25

Holidays

Acne Day

Armed Forces Day (Mozambique)

Binge Day

Bruderklausenfest (Obwalden, Switzerland)

Crocus Day (French Republic)

Day of National Recognition for the Harkis (France)

Dominion Day (New Zealand)

Flag Day (Cape Verde)

Franco-Ontarian Day (Canada)

Global Day of Climate Action

Haustmanuour (Iceland)

Hazara Genocide Memorial Day

International Ataxia Awareness Day

International Coaches Day

International Day for Dreamers

Join A Cabal of International Bankers Today Day

Kamarampaka Day (Rwanda)

Math Storytelling Day

Mediterranean Coast Day

National Comic Book Day

National Day of Non Violence (UK)

National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims

National Emergency Medical Services Suicide Awareness Day

National Homage Day of Harkis (France)

National ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ Awareness Day

National John Day

National Math Storytelling Day

National 9 to 5 Day

National Open the Magic Day

National Psychotherapy Day

National Roadkill Day

National Research Administrators Day

National Schnauzer Day

National Tune-Up Day

National Wade Day

National YogaFit Day

National Youth Day (Nauru, Turks and Caicos Islands)

Old Holy Rood Eve

One-Hit Wonder Day

Open the Magic Day

Origin of Life Day

Revolution Day (Mozambique)

Salute the Sun Day (China)

Sandra Day O’Connor Civics Celebration Day (Arizona)

Santa Cruz Day (Bolivia)

Sir Hammer DeRoburt Day (Nauru)

Uno Day

World Ataxia Awareness Day

World Dream Day

World Lung Day

World Pharmacists Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

German Butterbrot Day

National Bakery Day

National Cooking Day

National Crabmeat Newburg Day

National Food Service Employees Day

National Lobster Day [official, also 6.15]

National Quesadilla Day

World’s Biggest Coffee Morning (UK)’

4th & Last Monday in September

American Indian Day (Tennessee) [4th Monday]

CASAColumbia Family Day [4th Monday]

Family and Community Day (ACT, Australia) [Last Monday]

Family Day — A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children [4th Monday]

National Eat Dinner with Your Family Day [4th Monday]

Independence Days

Canterbury South Province Day (New Zealand)

Dracul (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Present House (Declared; 2011) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Abadir and Iraja and Companions (Coptic Church)

Albino Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Any Port & Lemon in a Storm Day (Pastafarian)

Aunarius (a.k.a. Aunacharius; Christian; Saint)

Anathalon (Archdiocese of Milan; Christian; Saint)

Captain Beefheart Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Cadoc (Christian; Saint)

Ceolfrith (a.k.a. Colfrid; Christian; Saint)

Cleopas (Christian; Saint)

Day of Mercury (Travel Blessing; Pagan)

Euphrosyne of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Nmmu (Sumerian Goddess of Primeval Sea)

Feast of Nariwiinyapah (God of Immortal Water)

Finbarr (a.k.a. Barr; Christian; Saint)

Fermin of Amiens (a.k.a. Firmin; Christian; Saint)

Lancelot Andrewes (Church of England)

Mark Rothko (Artology)

Mme. de Motteville (Positivist; Saint)

Nicholas of Flüe (Christian; Saint) [Switzerland]

Robert Brackman (Artology)

Rudy the Spider (Muppetism)

Samvatsari (Forgiveness Day; Jain)

Sergius of Radonezh (Christian; Saint)

Vincent Strambi (Christian; Saint)

Yom Kippur began last night (Day of Atonement) [10 Tishrei]

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Arctic Splashdown (Animated TV Show;Jonny Quest #2; 1964)

Ava (Film; 2020)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Pt. 1 (WB Animated Film; 2012)

The Beatles (Animated TV Series; 1965)

Beaucoup of Blues, by Ringo Starr (Album; 1970)

Chariots of Fire (Film; 1981)

Crash Drive or Oedipus Wrecks (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 57; 1960)

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (Documentary Film; 2015)

Evita (Broadway Musical; 1979)

Fender Benders ir The Asphalt Jungle (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 58; 1960)

FIshin’ Around (Disney Cartoon; 1931)

Freaks and Geeks (TV Series; 1999)

Get Off of My Cloud, by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1965)

Going Postal, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2004) [Discworld #33]

Heroes (TV Series; 2006)

Hotel Transylvania 2 (Animated Film; 2015)

The Hustler (Film; 1961)

I’m a Slave 4 U, by Britney Spears (Song; 2001)

The Intern (Film; 2015)

Intruder in the Dust, by William Faulkner (Novel; 1948)

I Wanna Be a Sailor (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

The Last of the Mohicans (Film; 1992)

Magic, by Bruce Springsteen (Album; 2007)

Me and Bobby McGee, recoded by Janis Joplin (Song; 1970)

The Mindy Project (TV Series; 2012)

Monstrous Regiment, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2003) [Discworld #31]

Mr. Saturday Night (Film; 1992)

My Girl, recorded by The Temptations (Song; 1964)

The Partridge Family (TV Series; 1970)

The Princess Bride (Film; 1987)

Ramblin’ Man, by The Allman Brothers (Song; 1973)

A Raw Deal or Two Aces and a Pair of Kings (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 163; 1962)

The Rebel, by Albert Camus (Essay; 1951)

Rocky Draws the Line or Who’s Got My Ruler? (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 164; 1962)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Film; 1975)

Ronin (Film; 1998)

Roseanna, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö (Novel; 1965)

Shark Jaws (Video Game; 1975)

Silver Spoons (TV Series; 1982)

The Story About Ping, by Marjorie Flack (Children’s Book; 1933)

Story of O, by Pauline Réage (Novel; 1954)

Strange Days, by The Doors (Album; 1967)

Stumptown (TV Series; 2019)

Those Were the Days, by Mary Hopkins (Song; 1968)

Utopia (US TV Series; 2020)

The Vanishing Private (Disney Cartoon; 1942)

X, by INXS (Album; 1990)

Young Sheldon (TV Series; 2017)

Today’s Name Days

Irmfried, Nikolaus, Serge (Austria)

Sergei (Bulgaria)

Firmin, Kleofa (Croatia)

Zlata (Czech Republic)

Cleophas (Denmark)

Ago, Agu, Agur, Ako, Koido, Koit (Estonia)

Kullervo, Oivi (Finland)

Hermann (France)

Irmfried, Klaus, Serge (Germany)

Evfrosyne, Evfrosyni (Greece)

Eufrozina, Kende (Hungary)

Aurelia, Caterina, Sergio (Italy)

Rauls, Roderiks, Rodrigo, Vingra (Latvia)

Aurelija, Kleopas, Ramvydė, Vaigintas (Lithuania)

Ingvar, Yngvar (Norway)

Aureli, Aurelia, Aurelian, Franciszek, Gaspar, Herkulan, Kamil, Kleofas, Kleopatra, Ładysław, Piotr, Rufus, Świętopełk, Wincenty, Władysław, Władysława, Włodzisław (Poland)

Vladislav (Slovakia)

Aurelia (Spain)

Signild, Tryggve (Sweden)

Rostyslava, Thekla, Thecla, Volodyslav (Ukraine)

Barrie, Barry, Braxton, Moriah (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 268 of 2024; 97 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 39 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Xin-You), Day 11 (Bing-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 10 Tishri 5784

Islamic: 10 Rabi I 1445

J Cal: 28 Aki; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 12 September 2023

Moon: 80%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 16 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Mme. de Motteville]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Autumn (Day 3 of 89)

Zodiac: Libra (Day 3 of 30)

[haroldgross]

New Post has been published on Harold Gross: The 5a.m. Critic

New Post has been published on http://literaryends.com/hgblog/renfield/

Renfield

[3 stars]

Yes, Dracula’s been done to death. It has been horror, comedy, horror/comedy, literary, children’s shows, even a Muppet. But Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War) found something unexpected in the story that Ryan Ridley and Robert Kirkman, with a little extra by Ava Tramer, captured in the script. It isn’t exactly horror or comedy or toxic bromance. It is a slaughterfest and funny, and even a little emotional. It is nearly impossible to accurately describe, which definitely was part of its problem in theatrical release. The trailers emphasized the humor (which is there), but lost the truth (which is surprisingly also there).

I’m not at all claiming this as a great movie. It is a glorified B-grade bit of near splatter-porn. But it surprised me over and over by finding the grounded touchstones in the pools of guts and blood. And the opening is beyond clever, especially if you grew up on the original Lugosi movies. The make-up artist subtly recontours Nicolas Cage (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) to look like Lugosi. And Cage, naturally, bites deep into the role with broad, blood-lust-filled verve. Shohreh Aghdashloo (Arcane) also has similar sorts of fun without ever lifting a blood-tipped finger. Her cold, calculating crime boss is chilling in its control and sweetness.

But it is Nicholas Hoult (The Menu) and Awkwafina (The Bad Guys) who build the central supports for the story, as silly as it gets. Each has their own tale and lessons to provide the other. And Awkwafina stays within reasonable boundaries with her humor, keeping the B-plot just believable enough. There are a number of supporting roles that help these two succeed, including Brandon Scott Jones (Isn’t It Romantic, Ghosts). However, Ben Schwartz (Sonic the Hedgehog) is less credible, which is a shame. He isn’t exactly in a different movie than the other two, but he needed a bit of restraint.

So, if you’re looking for distraction and some unexpected, very dark comedy riffing on very well known ground, go for this. Perhaps it was my very low expectations, but I had fun and saw more in this story than I expected. It is a tight 90 minutes, which also helps; longer and it would have collapsed entirely. But do be prepared for buckets of blood and flying limbs. It’s all so over-the-top that it becomes amusing and entertaining, unlike something more like Train to Busan, where the gore induces massive cringing. See this for what it is, an entertainment with a twist on a well-known story. And, if nothing else, watch the first, very clever, 10 minutes. If you’re still not sold at that point, turn it off.

[ofmymuses]

꒰♡꒱ —  PET NAMES MASTERLIST .

under the cut, you’ll find a total of 578 name ideas for furry friends sorted in alphabetical order!!   if you find this post useful, please consider giving it a like / reblog so i know ♡♡

abby, ace, angel, annie, allie, angus, apollo, aries, athena, autumn, avery, alvin, amour, aspen, archie, artie, ava, alice, alpha, aslan, almond, alfie, axel, appricot

baby, bailey, basil, bella, bean, bandit, betty, birdie, betsy, bear, beau, bonnie, blossom, biscuit, blue, bo, boomer, brownie, bingo, bambi, bacon, billie, bubbles, bitsy, boots, bb, buddy, buster, bowser, barbie

candy, callie, chanel, chloe, cinnamon, cleo, coco, cricket, captain, cash, champ, chunky, chancey, charlie, chester, chico, chief, cooper, chipper, cookie, campbell, clove/r, coffee, coconut

daisy, dakota, delia, diamond, dixie, dolly, duchess, dane, dexter, diego, diesel, dodge/r, duke, dexter, darcey, dawn, dainty, dora, dizzy, decker, dallas, dagwood, dew, drusilla

eden, ella, ellie, emmy, eddie, elmer, eli, emmett, echo, elvis, eva, enid, eiffel, easter, elfa, edsel, evita, elzie

fiona, foxy, fern, fanny, finn, flash, frankie, fritz, fairy, fang, fancy, ferris, fey, flo, fluffy, fly, fudge, fuzzball, finch, foster, figo, fidget, frodo, flick, frieza

gaia, gumball, gumdrop, goldie, griffin, gus, georgie, gordon, garfield, glitter, gollum, goose, grover, gremlin, gem, gidget, goober, grumpy, gulliver

ham, harry, hope, hickory, harley, henry, hazel, holly, happy, hunter, hopscotch, hershey, harvey, honey, honeybee, hilda, hutch, hyde, hugo, hiccup, hawthorne, hades

icy, indie, itchy, isla, itsy bitsy, izzy, ivory, indigo, iggy, izzy, ike, ima, inigo, ira, isabella, iman

jabba, jade, jax, jj, jiffy, joey, july, juniper, june, juno, jackson, jagger, jasmine, jedi, jellybean, jack jack, jubilee, jonesy, jimbo, jock, jenkins, jinkies, jazz, janie, jaws, jennie, jiggly puff, jiggles, jodie

king, kai, kaijo, kermit, karma, krabby, kraken, kylo, koko, kali, kash, kane, kenny, kiddo, kimmy, kip, kisses, kit kat, kitty, kiwi, klaus, kleo, koda, kona, kylie, kooper, kimbo

luna, lola, lily, lady, lucky, lovey, loki, linus, lilo, lightning, leapfrog, lemon, lemondrop, lacy, luigi, lavender, lilac, leia, levi, lenny, lewis, libby, little, link, little foot, leftie, lulu, lurk, lydia, lynx, lars, lovebug

m&m, mabel, macaroni, macy, mae, midge, milo, midnight, marshmallow, maisie, mischief, mocha, monster, monty, munchkin, muppet, magenta, magoo, magic, maggie, malibu, maxwell, maximus, max, meeko, melody, mellow, mickey, millie, mimi, minnie, mint, missy, moon, moxie, muffy, muffin, mystic

nana, nanette, nanny, nani, newbury, natwick, nico, noah, nixon, nymph, nyx, nacho, nacia, nibbles, niche, noisy, nessie, nugget, napoleon, nanook, nutella, nellie, neon, neptune, nightmare

oatmeal, ozzy, octavia, october, oddball, olive, oreo, oscar, odie, olaf, oasis, oceana, o’hara, oakley, odessa, odin, ollie, olympia, omega, onyx, otis

panda, pumpkin, pops, popcorn, patches, prince, princess, precious, pepper, paige, pongo, poppy, penny, prudence, polly, priscilla, prancer, paris, pooh, peanut, potato, piggy, peppermint, pancake

ralph, ribbit, riley, rio, raphael, rebel, rex, roo, river, rocket, rosie, ruby, rey, ranger, raven, razzle, red, reese, retro, rhino, rigsby, ringo, rizzo, rocky, rogue, rolo, romeo, ross, roxie, ruckus

spencer, spyro, sadie, sage, sabrina, sugar, scout, sass, sky, sunny, sally, storm, stevie, sammie, scarlet, snickers, sweetie, snow/y, snoop/y, suzy, sookie, sapphire, sushi, sedona, skittles, sparkle/s, sweetpea, skipper, spot, sterling, sox, scar, scottie, scooby, sprocket

tinkerbell, tank, tango, tigger, teddy, taz, turner, toto, tess, topaz, tulip, tomika, tycoon, toki, trinket, tootsie, tarzan, trouble, twiggy, tetra, tia, thunder, thor, thumper, titan, toby, twinkle, twizzler

ursula, unit, urian, ulana, unix, utopia, urmina, unique, ultra, ufo

vesper, velvet, vanilla, valentine, vito, victory, voodoo, vallisa, vallie, valino, vanessa, vandooh, van goh, vega, vee, varro

wolfe, wolfie, wagner, whiskers, wendy, willie, worm, winnie, waldo, woody, warlock, wildfire

x-tray, xandor, xampus, xandrana, xandy, xanta, xara, xena, xera, xisco, xylo

yzma, yoda, yaki, yahoo, yogi, yeti, yenga, yumi, yello, yamana, yeska

zeus, zombie, zara, zoe/y, ziggy, zeke, zelda, zero, zola, zane, zorro, zia, zazu, zip/per, zella, zsa zsa, zadie, zoro, zorra, zephyr

[disneytva]

Disney Networks October 2021 Highlights

MOVIES

Mickey's Tale Of Two Witches MOVIE PREMIERE 10/7

SPECIALS

Shortstober with Big City Greens 10/23

UNTITLED Big City Greens EVENT 10/TBA

The Ghost And Molly McGee

The Curse ; First Day Frights 10/1 SERIES PREMIERE 

Howlin' Harriet / The (Un)natural 10/2 

Getting the Band(shell) Back Together ; The Greatest Concert Ever 10/9

 Mama's Gotta Hustle ; Hooray for Mollywood 10/16 

Not So Honest Abe ; The Best of Nin-tensions 10/23

Mazel Tov, Libby! / No Good Deed 10/26

Big City Greens

Squashed 10/9 SEASON PREMIERE

TBA 10/16 

TBA 10/23 

TBA 10/26

Disney Magic Bake-Off

Disney's Magic Bake-Off "Big City Greens" 10/15

Amphibia

The New Normal 10/2 SEASON PREMIERE

Hop 'Til You Drop ; Turning Point 10/9 

Thai Feud ; Adventures in Catsitting 10/16

Fight at the Museum ; Temple Frogs 10/23 

Fixing Frobo ; Anne-sterminator 10/30

Mickey Mouse Funhouse

The Spooky Spook House! / Clarabelle's Banana Splitz! 10/1 

Minnie's Big Delivery! ; The Wandrin' Warbler! 10/15

Spidey And His Amazing Friends    

Rocket Rhino! ; Trick or TRACE-E 10/1 

Gob-zilla ; Speedy Spidey Delivery 10/8 

Good Guy Gobby ; Spider Monkey 10/22

The Chicken Squad

T-Wrecks ; Trick or Eek 10/1 

Hidden Treasure ; Cold Case 10/15

Mira Royal Detective

The Dasara Festival Mystery / The Puppy Dog Detective 10/18 

The Case of the Mysterious Necklace / The Great Donkey Mystery 10/25

T.O.T.S. Tiny Ones Transport Service 

Trunklebee's Day Off /; Happy Go Lucky 10/8

Ava And The Egg ; Teeny Tiny Tot 10/22

Muppet Babies

Oh My Gourd / The Curse of the Wereanimal 10/1 

Moon Muffins / Muppet Newsflash 10/15

Puppy Dog Pals

Halloween Puppy Fashion Show Party / Full Moon Fever 10/21

[puppetsoftomorrow]

🌈💛🧬💎!!!

🌈- Charlie or Amaya?

charlie! i love amaya but charlie is my fave lot character and i miss her everyday...

💛-Favorite season 3 character?

ooh s3 only has to be kuasa, she was hilarious. image having to make sure ur grandma doesn't bang some dude bcos she needs to bang ur grandad so u keep existing. hilarious. for s3 introductions, i love zari1 and ava

🧬-Who would you like to see a crossover with?

doctor who, that could be funny. smth wildly specific and wacky honestly, like theyre dropped on the set of a muppet movie and have to help finish production before they can leave

💎- Favorite friendship?

nate / ray and now nate / behrad. time bros forever!!

[igotublue]

- Auntie Ava omg 😭

- we get BOTH Zari’s? I’m actually gonna cry

- Esperastra or Behrastra cmon where you guys goin’ with this

- I’d blame them forgetting B’s birthday on the temporal zone but I mean Gideon remembered.. and she plays video games with him ugh we love a wholesome duo

- “babe raincouver was right there” lol Ava’s trying her best it was cute we love a dork

- Mick I warned you not to smash..

- the fact that they said “Avalance are engaged” and that’s actual dialogue.. we love actual dialogue

- also the fact that og Z is there to see it when she was the one who pushed Sara to go for it I’m soooooo fine rn

- wasn’t super into Zari and Nate at first but aight I’ll give them that they can be cute

- I wonder how in the hell John is gonna react when he gets back to all this chaos tho

- Sara playing with the baby in the background don’t touch me-

- we finally got a Zari/Astra duo and I absolutely loved to see it more pls

- Business! Behrad made me a lil’ uncomfortable not gonna lie (my mom calls him ‘weed boy’ lol gimme back weed boy)

- Behrad being all into this show is just me with legends y’all knew they did this on purpose

- me, upon seeing Gus: “that thing looks like a gremlin and a muppet had a baby”

- also me: “what kind of Beebo lookin- ass...”

- I’m so glad we got to see LITA again I missed her ok? An absolute queen.

[cupcakecoterie]

@true0neutral - Hazel, half-elf cleric

@fauxfire76 - Darvin, human bard/sorcerer

@hyperewok1 - Remi, human paladin/warlock

@miaaoi - Farideh, dragonborn sorcerer

@lindira - Clarity, tiefling rogue/warlock

Marion - Ava, human ranger

Brian - Barnabus, minotaur fighter

@lovefrometernity - Rylan, wood elf sorcerer

When I said significantly behind, I fucking meant it. At least with this one, it was mostly combat and a play-by-play of combat tends to be boring so this’ll be the highlights and thus relatively short. Okay, here we go.

We actually started with Hazel, Clarity, and Rylan, and Hazel investigating the corpse pile to find out how they died. Didn’t quite notice that they were fused together into an undead monstrosity until various arms tried to grab for her. Combat ensued.

Rylan attempted Blight, did not in fact register that Blight did not work on undead, and then started screaming. This, at least, alerted the ones back at the sled. Ava, Barnabus, and Farideh went to help out the shrieking Rylan while Darvin kept hold of baby Serra.

Clarity got engulfed by the corpse mound. Unfortunately she spent a lot of combat that way.

There were some issues with positioning solely because they were trying to fight a Large creature in a small inn room and the narrow corridor didn’t make things easy.

Rylan got pinned to the ground by a bone lance ... but managed to nat 20 the Athletics check needed to pull the lance out, and from that point just nuked it with Magic Missile.

(Side note: @lovefrometernity sounds a little like a Muppet when they scream, endearingly so.)

Then they heard a not-quite-toddler giggling, because Darvin had been curious and concerned (and a tiny bit metagamey because while he knew where the combat was situated OOC, Darvin didn’t know IC, but never mind, it still made sense IC), had come into the inn ... and, because we don’t leave not-quite-toddlers outside alone in the cold, he took baby Serra with him. Hazel was not impressed. They put Serra through Hazel’s Home Key door immediately ... and then went to look for Remi and Alisaie.

After a break, we moved to Alisaie and Remi, in the cellar. Remi told Alisaie, “Break down the door; I’ll cover you”, at which point Alisaie had to demonstrate that breaking a door down is not necessary when both parties involved have access to Dimension Door. Though that took a few seconds of poorly-timed “married argument”. They ended up a bit away from the sled (reasoning that Darvin could Dimension Door away with Serra if combat happened to follow them, not knowing that Darvin and Serra were in the other makeshift arena) and continued the conversation until the splintering of the outside cellar door indicated the approach of three young white dragons.

Alisaie fought one of them in the air, because she be like that. Remi took on the second on the ground, and when the third went for her, Legolas the dire moose stomped holy hell out if it.

Clarity was having a really bad combat-related day, since a nat 1 on a Fire Bolt ended up with her singeing Legolas.

Farideh was having a lot of fun with Chain Lightning and got her first in-game kill. So both new characters got kills in their first combats, which was nice. Hazel killed the second with Sacred Flame, and as for Alisaie ... well ... two nat 20s when raging, plus Darvin’s d10 inspiration die added to damage... Basically she took Darvin’s inspirational call of “I want to see its head fly at least fifty yards” literally.

They decided to not spend any time in the Blind Harpy building but did stay on the grounds overnight so they could investigate the cellar in the morning. Mostly because when she went to skin, scale and butcher the dragons, they found some distressing black splotches on the hide.

Be warned; what comes in the following two sessions is eldritch horror of the worst kinds. I’ll try to keep it detail-light but they saw some unpleasant shit.